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$75.88 $116.74
This is an A++ Grade Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan. All the pictures and videos were taken in natural sunlight to showcase their true color and all the tiny details that make each of the stones unique.
A+++ graded lapis lazuli is very difficult to find as the majority of its kind do not meet this standard, which is why these specific Lapis Lazuli is highly sought after.
This royal blue crystal features subtle pyrite streaks, giving it a metallic flash.
This Lapis Lazuli was carefully polished to have an amazingly smooth feel in the hand. There is 0 artificial dye. The color of the gem is 100% natural.
Weight: 769 grams
Size: 14X10X3 Cm
Treatment: natural
Origin: Sar e Sang, Badakhshan, Afghanistan
Pictures are taken in natural light without any editing.
All of our goods are made from 100% real stones that were chosen for their vibrant colors and potent natural energies. When sourcing gems, we do not support mines that engage in child labor, utilize exploitative labor practices, or harm the environment. You can be confident that nothing negative or destructive has happened in the process of sending your stones to you.
These wonderful blue stones, said to be in existence since the beginning of time, are used extensively in Crystal Healing with both the Throat Chakra and the Third Eye Chakra. This peaceful stone is said to be a wonderful aid to communication in addition to repel negative energy and psychic attacks
Lapis Lazuli, y definition, is made up of the following three minerals:
Lazurite: Na6Ca2(Al6Si6O24)(SO4,S,S2, S3,Cl,OH)2
Pyrites: FeS2
Calcite: CaCO3Lapis Lazuli is an incredibly rare gemstone. Its complicated chemical makeup requires ideal geological conditions for formation. Thus, lapis lazuli is mostly found in Afghanistan and Chile. Only these mines produce commercial-grade lapis lazuli.
Lake Baikal in Russia and Baffin Island in Canada also include areas of smaller, lower-quality lapis lazuli, but it's too poor to use in manufacturing. Geologists have not verified other lapis lazuli sites. Blue stones are not lapis lazuli.
The Hindu Kush mountain range borders the northern Afghan deposit, Sar-E-Sang. 4,000 meters high. Lapis lazuli was mined there for almost 7,000 years. The mountaintop mine is snow-covered and hot in summer. Wolves live in the sparsely populated area. Political insecurity in Afghanistan has reduced lapis lazuli exports from this region.
Both lapis types are high-quality, yet they differ. Afghan lapis lazuli has a deep blue tint with gold specks but few white or gray streaks like Chilean lapis. Because it has more blue-violet lazurite to compensate for other minerals like calcite, Afghan lapis is sometimes softly violet.
Pyrite, calcite, and other chemicals do not influence stone clarity. Chemical impurities make the stone beautiful.
Golden pyrite flakes evoke a starry night sky, while white veins make the stone look playful or like wisps of cloud striping the sky. Lapis lazuli can resist these minor chemical changes, but its composition is so complicated that it is unlikely to occur anywhere else. It's a rare semi-precious stone.
Worry Stone Crystal Healing Wellness Metaphysical Thumb Stone Gift Positive Energy Protective Powerful Throat Chakra Psychic Energy
The photos are captured using natural light and are listed without any modifications.
International customers must provide their phone numbers because the shipping carrier requires.
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I'll do my best to meet these shipping estimates, but can't guarantee them. Actual delivery time will depend on the shipping method you choose.
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
Just contact me within: 3 days of delivery
Ship items back to me within: 7 days of delivery
Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value.
Please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
Retailers are welcome! Get the best rate and quality directly from the first hand.
Just provide us with a sample photo of your desired rug, and choose the color, quality, and size. We will Knott it within or less than three months.
In the case of returns outside of Canada, there might be an additional duty and brokerage fee across the border. For that said duty, the customer is liable for those charges.


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SAUSALITO, CA (ASRN.ORG) -- Count your blessings this holiday season. It's good for you.
While it seems pretty obvious that gratitude is a positive emotion, psychologists for decades rarely delved into the science of giving thanks. But in the last several years they have, learning in many experiments that it is one of humanity's most powerful emotions. It makes you happier and can change your attitude about life, like an emotional reset button.
Especially in hard times, like these.
Beyond proving that being grateful helps you, psychologists also are trying to figure out the brain chemistry behind gratitude and the best ways of showing it.
University of Miami psychology professor Michael McCullough, who has studied people who are asked to be regularly thankful, said: "When you are stopping and counting your blessings, you are sort of hijacking your emotional system."
And he means hijacking it from out of a funk into a good place. A very good place. Research by McCullough and others finds that giving thanks is a potent emotion that feeds on itself, almost the equivalent of being victorious. It could be called a vicious circle, but it's anything but vicious.
He said psychologists used to underestimate the strength of simple gratitude: "It does make people happier … It's that incredible feeling."
One of the reasons why gratitude works so well is that it connects us with others, McCullough said. That's why when you give thanks it should be more heartfelt and personal instead of a terse thank you note for a gift or a hastily run-through grace before dinner, psychologists say.
Chicago area psychologist and self-help book author Maryann Troiani said she starts getting clients on gratitude gradually, sometimes just by limiting their complaints to two whines a session. Then she eventually gets them to log good things that happened to them in gratitude journals: "Gratitude really changes your attitude and your outlook on life."
Gratitude journals or diaries, in which people list weekly or nightly what they are thankful for, are becoming regular therapy tools.
And in those journals, it is important to focus more on the people you are grateful for, said Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis. Concentrate on what life would be without the good things — especially people such as spouses — in your life and how you are grateful they are there, he said.
Grateful people "feel more alert, alive, interested, enthusiastic. They also feel more connected to others," said Emmons, who has written two books on the science of gratitude and often studies the effects of those gratitude diaries.
"Gratitude also serves as a stress buffer," Emmons said in an e-mail interview. "Grateful people are less likely to experience envy, anger, resentment, regret and other unpleasant states that produce stress." Scientists are not just looking at the emotions behind gratitude but the nuts-and-bolts physiology as well.
Preliminary theories look at the brain chemistry and hormones in the blood and neurotransmitters in the brain that are connected to feelings of gratitude, Emmons said. And the left prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is also associated with positive emotions like love and compassion, seems to be a key spot, especially in Buddhist monks, Emmons said.
However it works in the brain, Emmons said there is little doubt that it works.
Emmons, who has conducted several studies on people from ages 12 to 80, including those with neuromuscular disease, asked volunteers to keep daily or weekly gratitude diaries. Another group listed hassles, and others just recorded random events. He noticed a significant and consistent difference. About three-quarters of the people studied who regularly counted their blessings scored higher in happiness tests and some even showed improvements in amounts of sleep and exercise.
Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan studied different gratitude methods and found the biggest immediate improvement in happiness scores was among people who were given one week to write and deliver in person a letter of gratitude to someone who had been especially kind to them, but was never thanked. That emotional health boost was large, but it didn't last over the weeks and months to come.
Peterson also asked people to write down nightly three things that went well that day and why that went well. That took longer to show any difference in happiness scores over control groups, but after one month the results were significantly better and they stayed better through six months.
Peterson said it worked so well that he is adopted it in his daily life, writing from-the-heart thank you notes, logging his feelings of gratitude: "It was very beneficial for me. I was much more cheerful."
At the University of North Carolina, Sara Algoe studied the interaction between cancer patients and their support group, especially when acts of gratitude were made. Like Peterson, she saw the effects last well over a month and she saw the feedback cycle that McCullough described.
"It must be really powerful," Algoe said.
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Classes designed for Intermediate Youth, ages 6-14.
Asano Youth Classes offer world-class instruction preparing young players for the joys of taiko performance in a supportive and creative environment.
Through careful guidance, students will further their studies in taiko in order to perform exciting LATI pieces, eventually to become a member of the Asano Taiko US Youth Performance Team!
Every Tuesdays and Thursdays, $60/Month


text:
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Bayberry Petal Dust
Bayberry Petal Dust
Light Green Matte Pigment.
Petal Dusts were designed for dusting sugar flowers and surfaces such as fondant, royal icing, and chocolate. Can be used for art projects on surfaces like Slime Jelly, Clay, Candles, and more! We suggest decorating removable accessory pieces if decorating edible goods.
What is Petal Dust?
Petal Dusts are deeply pigmented matte dusts - they have zero shine and are FULL COLOR pigments! Petal Dusts add the perfect touch of color to any master piece!
- Use for cake, cookie, and chocolate decorating!
- Use for creative projects!
- All of our petal dusts are safe for decorating purposes & intended to decorate accessory items.
- Mix equal parts petal dust with a mixing medium such as lemon or vanilla extract, even water. Once you have your mixture to your liking, you can dust onto any surface!


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This theme utilizes the latest features of the fast and slick Warp theme framework. It comes with a broad range of layout and module variations as well as a neat typography to style your content. Read on to learn more about this theme and its features:
- Available for Joomla and WordPress
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- Flexible template and column widths
- All Warp framework features are available
Theme Styles
We provide different style variations of the default theme. In addition to these styles we added several other style settings like colors and fonts. Combining the different style options allows you to create your own unique theme design.
Theme Profiles
We created some nice theme profiles using the different styles, colors and fonts, you can choose from in the theme administration. You can create your own profiles and even assign them to different menu items. Click on one of the profile images to load it.
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This theme comes with the default Warp6 module layout. The blue module positions allow to choose a module layout which defines the module alignment and proportions: equal, double or stack. You can easily add your own module layouts. The two available sidebars, highlighted in red, can be switched to the left or right side and their widths can easily be set in the theme administration. For modules in the blue and red positions you can choose different module styles. Take a look at the module variations page to get an overview.


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Claxton, Philander Priestley
28 Sept. 1862–12 Jan. 1957
Philander Priestley Claxton, educator, was born in Bedford County, near Shelbyville, Tenn., the son of Joshua Calvin and Anne Elizabeth Jones Claxton. He traced his lineage to nineteenth-century settlers who immigrated from England, first to North Carolina and subsequently to Tennessee.
Claxton's early education was given in the public schools of Bedford County. He was graduated from the Turrentine Academy near his home in 1878 and that fall entered the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, from which he was graduated in 1882 with a B.A. degree. Five years later he earned his M.A. degree from the same university. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Delta Kappa.
A number of institutions later conferred upon him honorary degrees: Bates College, Lewiston, Me. (1906), Litt.D.; Western Reserve University (1912), The University of North Carolina (1914), Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa. (1915), and University of Maryland, College Park (1921), LL.D.
Few men of the last hundred years in America have been as completely dedicated to educational expansion and progress as was Claxton. Upon graduation from the University of Tennessee, he went to North Carolina to teach in the public schools of Goldsboro (1882–83); in the following year he was superintendent of schools in Kinston. Then he went to Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. (1884–85), for special graduate study in educational methods and practices. He spent the following year traveling through Germany, analyzing the school systems and absorbing the cultural philosophy of the country's educational leadership. He visited England, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and again Germany in 1896 and returned to Denmark for further observation in 1930.
Following his first visit abroad, Claxton served as superintendent of schools in Wilson (1886–87) and then went to a similar position in Asheville for six years (1887–93). After these eleven years of public school work in North Carolina, he became in 1893 instructor of pedagogy and German at North Carolina State Normal and Industrial School (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro), an institution established two years previously. He was promoted in 1896 to professor of pedagogy and director of the Practice and Observation School and continued in that work until 1902.
In 1902, Claxton left North Carolina—and left it, because of his work toward better schools and more intelligent emphasis on teacher training a much more education-conscious state—to become professor of education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Four years later he was named professor of secondary education and inspector of high schools there.
This expansive experience in modern educational programs made Claxton a logical choice for the post of U.S. Commissioner of Education, which he filled with great credit to himself and great value to the nation for ten years (1911–21). When he resigned as commissioner, he became provost of the University of Alabama at University (1921–23) and then returned to his first concern as superintendent of schools, Tulsa, Okla. (1923–29). His final professional position was the presidency of Austin Peay Normal School, Tenn. (1930–46), which he undertook at the age of sixty-eight, when most men retire. He was elected president emeritus of Austin Peay upon his retirement and retained that title until his death eleven years later.
Throughout his career, Claxton received some chiding for changing jobs so frequently; his studied reply was first an admission of a constantly "shifting base," with the explanation that his whole field was so new that many areas and institutions sought his innovative educational leadership.
He was editor of the North Carolina Journal of Education (1897–1901) and the Atlantic Educational Journal (1901–3). His professional affiliations were many and varied: he was a long-time member of the Southern Educational Board and for one year chief of the board's Bureau of Investigation and Information (1903); superintendent of the summer school at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn. (1902, 1911); director of the Playground Association of America and the Moral Education Board; chairman of the executive committee of the National Storytellers' League; vice-president of the American School Peace League and the School Citizenship League; member of the executive council of the National Education Association; member of the board of awards of American University, Washington, D.C. (1915–21); director and member of the executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America; chairman of the Committee on State Educational Bill, Tenn. (1907–9); delegate to the World Federation Education Associations; and member of the American Association of Administrative Superintendents; the National Student Forum on Paris Pact (1929–38); the Federal Board on Vocational Education (1911–21); the National Committee on Highway Engineering and Highway Transportation (1920–21); the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission; the Committee on Codification of State (Tennessee) School Laws (1909–11); the Committee on Revision of State (Oklahoma) School Laws (1927–29); and the American Geographical Society.
Claxton was the author of From the Land of Stories ; joint author, with M. W. G. Haliburton, of an edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales ; and joint author, with James McGinnis, of Effective English (1917) and Effective English, Junior (1921). In addition, he wrote a large number of pamphlets, periodical articles, and speeches on a wide range of educational topics.
Claxton was married first (December 1885) to Varina S. Moore of Goldsboro (d. 1891); they had one daughter, Claire. His second marriage (September 1894) was to Anne Elizabeth Porter of Tarboro (d. 1905); they had four children, Henel Elizabeth, Calvin Porter, Anne Elizabeth, and Robert Edward. On 23 Apr. 1912, Claxton married Mary Hannah Johnson of Nashville, Tenn.; their two children were Philander Priestley, Jr., and Mary Payne.
After retirement, Claxton continued to make his home in Clarksville; he died there at the age of ninety-five. Memorial services were held in Clarksville, and interment followed in Knoxville, Tenn.
Claxton was a pioneer in modern education. He was interested in educational administration only as it gave opportunity for improved teaching methods. Although he believed in methods, he stressed the content of instruction. He is credited with inaugurating and promoting the now familiar six-three-three plan: six years in elementary grades, three years in junior high school, and three years in senior high school, as preparation for college admission. He consistently stressed the responsibility of the federal government in education.
J. McKeen Cattell, ed., Leaders in Education (1932).
Nat. Cyc. Am. Biog., vol. 15 (1914).
Who Was Who in America, vol. 3 (1960).
Additional Resources:
Finding Aid for the Philander P. Claxton Papers MS.0278. University of Tennesee Special Collections: http://dlc.lib.utk.edu/spc/view?docId=ead/0012_000273_000000_0000/0012_000273_000000_0000.xml;query=claxton;brand=default
Claxton Hall at the University of Tennessee: http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/image.php?rec=534
Philander Priestley Claxton, University of Tennessee History and Culture: http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=271
Claxton Family Papers, Tennesee State Library and Archives: http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/manuscripts/findingaids/86-024.pdf
Image Credits:
Philander Priestley Claxton. Image courtesy of National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Tennessee. Available from http://www.tnportraits.org/7625-claxton-dr-philander.htm (accessed July 19, 2013).
1 January 1979 | Green, C. Sylvester


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For months now, many analysts and experts who study the economy have told us to expect a recession. Inflation has been high. Some industries are cutting costs and laying off thousands of people, preparing for harder times. But Mark Zandi says now some signs point the other way. He's the chief economist at Moody's Analytics. Good morning, Mark.
MARK ZANDI: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: So what evidence suggests that we might be OK?
ZANDI: Well, it all boils down to inflation. Inflation has been our No. 1 problem. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates very aggressively in an effort to quell that inflation. And we're getting some good news there. We're seeing oil prices down, natural gas, other commodity prices. The economy's doing a good job adjusting to the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier in the year that's the cause of the higher - previously higher oil prices. We're also getting good news out of China. They're ending their no-COVID policy, and that's key to supply chains and getting prices down for a lot of products that got disrupted during the pandemic. And I guess also important is wage growth in certain parts of the economy starting to moderate. And that's really important with regard to service price inflation in sectors that are very labor intensive, like health care and hospitality. So lots of good news on the inflation front, and that's key to keeping interest rates from rising much more. And that's key to avoiding recession.
FADEL: So if it's not a recession, what is it? And we're completely out of the woods?
ZANDI: Good question. You know, it's important not to be Pollyannish here. I mean, it's going to be a tough year dead ahead. So some people have been calling it a soft landing. It just doesn't feel like an apt description of what's dead ahead of us. It's going to be uncomfortable at times. So not a recession - we're not going backwards - but it feels like economy that's going nowhere fast. So I call it a slowcession.
FADEL: A slowcession. If inflation is fading, as you mentioned, does that mean the Federal Reserve can just stop raising interest rates at this point?
ZANDI: I don't think are going to stop now. They've got - they've told markets and investors and everybody else that they're going to raise rates at least a couple more times. So I think they'll follow through on that. But the good news, Leila, is I think that will be the end of it. So a couple more rate hikes, quarter point each time - that would put the fund rate target, the interest rate they control, at 5%. And I think that should do it. And if that's the case, then we've got a really good chance of getting through this without going into recession.
FADEL: And what does that mean for regular people? I mean, right now we're seeing these layoffs, these cost-cutting measures to get ready for a possible recession. Does that mean that will stop?
ZANDI: Well, layoffs are actually quite low. I mean, they're high in the tech sector, parts of financial services, media. You know, we're seeing it. But across the economy, layoffs are about as low as they've ever been. I would expect them to pick up. You know, again, the economy's not going to get through this without some struggles. So we'll see higher layoffs. But I don't think we're going to get the kind of layoffs that would be consistent with lots of job loss, and that would be recession. So it's going to be uncomfortable, more layoffs, but not something that is consistent with lots of lost jobs and much higher unemployment.
FADEL: The House Republicans are threatening not to raise the U.S. debt limit. Is it possible that the government could provoke a recession?
ZANDI: Yeah, great point. You know, the economy is going to be vulnerable in the next 12, 18 months. And to get through without a downturn, we need a little bit of luck. We can't get hit by another shock, like the pandemic or the Russian invasion. And a breach of the debt limit, which is, you know, coming up here this summer - if we actually stop at the Treasury and the government stops paying its bills on time - that would be a big shock. And it would, even in a strong economy, would push us into recession. Given the vulnerable economy that we're living with, that would be very catastrophic. So lawmakers got to get this done on time.
FADEL: Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. Thanks, Mark.
ZANDI: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOWP SONG, "TYPICAL SPANISH RAPPER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
What We Do For Love
Anne Pfeffer
Publication date: May 21st 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Thirty-eight year old Nicole Adams has given up on finding love. Instead, the single mother focuses on the things she cherishes most—her sixteen-year old son Justin, her friends, and her art.When she convinces a prominent Los Angeles museum to feature a piece of her work, a large-scale installation, she thinks her life has finally turned a corner.Then Justin brings a girl, Daniela, home to live with them. Daniela's angry parents have thrown her out of the house, because she's pregnant with Justin's child. Shattered, Nicole takes Daniela in and, in so doing, is drawn into the inner circle of Daniela's family—a frightening world of deceit and violence.Nicole struggles to keep life going as normal. Forced to deal with people she doesn't trust or like, fearful for the future of both her son and the grandchild they're expecting, Nicole wonders if she can do what she tells Justin to do: always have faith in yourself and do the right thing.
Funny how one's life can make a U-turn.
My life made two. In a single day.
I started that day as a mere potter—yes, a person who hand-makes vases and dinner plates for a living—wearing borrowed clothes and driving to the most important interview of my life. A few hours later came U-turn number one: the board of directors of CCMLA, the Contemporary Crafts Museum of Los Angeles, offered me a place in their upcoming show!
In an instant, I had become an artist. I pondered this fact wonderingly as I drove home that afternoon. I was to provide them with a brand-new, never-before-seen mural in ceramics, an installation piece. My wall would be located at the entrance to the exhibit, the first thing you saw as you walked in. This was my chance, an incredible opportunity.
I was an artist!
It didn't bother me that desperation clearly underlay the board's decision. All the better when I saved the day with a great contribution to their show!
I hoped.
Flushed with success, I revved my ancient Toyota, Bernice, up to twenty-two miles per hour. We practically skipped over the potholes as we barreled our way up the Trail of Terror. This was the name my son Justin had given the rutted, one-lane road that wound its way up the side of Laurel Canyon to our house.
Of course, I was a fill-in, hired at the last minute. I'd gotten this job when Miriam Fletcher, a customer of mine who happened to be on the museum board, moaned to me that an artist had dropped out of a show scheduled to open in six weeks. "We're in such a pickle! We don't know what to do!" Though her crepey neck revealed a senior citizen, Miriam otherwise projected youth, running long acrylic nails through her cropped, bleached and spiked hair, her copper earrings swinging.
My cue to pipe up. "I'm sure I could help you!"
Miriam trained her eyes upon me. She had recently ordered customized hand-made pieces from me to give to her granddaughters—a miniature tea set for the youngest and a statuette of a mermaid for her older sister.
"You do such beautiful ceramics work, Nicole!"
"What you've seen is my commercial work, which I do through my business Clayworks. I create as an artist under my own name." That is, I hoped to create as an artist under my own name, if I could ever get the proper start.
And now I had. I could hardly wait to tell my son the news. After sixteen years of single motherhood and hard work, struggling to support myself and Justin, I couldn't blow this chance. And yet, I'd never done anything like this before.
A twelve-by-nine foot mural. In just six weeks.
You can do this, I told myself. I had to. Letting the museum—and myself—down was unthinkable.
I could practically hear the snap-crackle-pop of my nerves.
I pulled into what we called the car park, an open space situated beside the house at the top of the Trail of Terror, big enough to park a half dozen cars. Justin's Ford Focus wasn't there.
When he got home from school, which should be any minute, we would raise a toast, our champagne glasses filled with sparkling apple cider.
The day was unseasonably hot, and I was boiling in Bernice, her air conditioner long dead. Thank heavens my hair had stayed up all day in the deliberately loose knot that I'd coaxed it into this morning, with pretty little bits of hair hanging down around my face. A chignon, according to the YouTube tutorial. One more degree of humidity and my whole head would have coiled itself into a giant Brillo pad right there before the entire board of directors.
And thank goodness I'd been able to borrow my sister's striking red-and-orange color-blocked linen dress, which had given me just the boost of artist/business woman confidence that I'd needed. Now though, its linen skirt was hopelessly creased and hiking up around my hips. I bounded out of the car and proceeded along the circuitous route that we all used to enter the house, going through the rickety side gate, and past what was technically our front door, which no one ever opened. Instead, I followed the path that ran along the side of the house toward the yard and pool, giving a glance to my irises and roses, which grew under our bedroom windows.
The white, yellow, and purple irises stood tall and elegant, but it was the roses I really loved—the fluttery, home-grown variety that came in every color of the sunrise. I would have to harvest some for tonight's dinner table.
As I reached the yard, I stepped from the cool shade of the side path into direct, hot sunshine. The sliver of Los Angeles ahead of me that appeared on clear days like this one, the perfume of herbs and blooming plants, the swimming pool that shimmered invitingly—except for my college years, this had been home all my life. Along with my sister Caroline, I'd inherited the small, dilapidated house on its magnificent parcel of land in the Hollywood Hills. At today's prices, neither of us could have ever afforded to buy it.
Entering the house as always through the French doors off the living room, I waltzed into my bedroom. It was the beginning of a new era. Soon there would be no more making pottery on consignment! No more sets of dinnerware for twelve!
I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Of course, I would continue to operate Clayworks. Those dinner sets paid the bills after all. Still though, there was now a chance I could taper off the business over time, if I could sell some of my more creative pieces. Imagine me, finally, at age thirty-eight, beginning to show in museums and galleries!
I changed into my regular daywear—a sleeveless cotton blouse, long flowy skirt in the coolest feather-light cotton, and Teva sandals.
My old friend Mike Sawyer would be over to eat with me and Justin, as he did most weeks, once or twice. Maybe I'd give them both my wonderful news at the same time.
No, I couldn't wait that long to spill the news. I knew I would tell Justin the minute he walked in.
Hearing the muffled noise of a door opening, I sprinted to the kitchen, where my son, home at last, would for sure want to hear all about it.
I stopped short when I saw that Justin was not alone.
Author Bio:
Hi! I grew up in the desert around Phoenix, Arizona, where I had a bay quarter horse named Dolly. If I wasn't riding, I was holed up somewhere reading Laura Ingalls Wilder or the Oz books or, later on, Jane Eyre and The Grapes of Wrath. Horses eventually faded as an interest, but I ended up with a lifelong love of books and reading.After college and eight years of living in cold places like Chicago and New York, I escaped back to the land of sunshine. I now live in California, one mile from the Pacific Ocean, with my dachshund Taco. I have worked in banking and as a pro bono attorney, doing adoptions and guardianships for abandoned children.As a writer, I'd always been interested in children's books, since they had meant so much to me as a kid. I've found I especially like writing books about teens and twenty-somethings, an age where you make so many decisions about who you are and how you want to spend your life.I love hearing from readers, so please write to me any time at my website www.annepfeffer.com.


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Chapter XXXIV.—Of Gallus Cæsar.
Gallus, having accomplished these things, was unable to bear his success with moderation; but forthwith attempted innovations against the authority of him who had constituted him Cæsar, himself aspiring to the sovereign power. His purpose was, however, soon detected by Constantius: for he had dared to put to death, on his own responsibility, Domitian, at that time Prætorian prefect of the East, and Magnus the quæstor, not having disclosed his designs to the emperor. Constantius, extremely incensed at this conduct, summoned Gallus to his presence, who being in great terror went very reluctantly; and when he arrived in the western parts, and had reached the island of Flanona, Constantius ordered him to be slain. But not long after he created Julian, the brother of Gallus, Cæsar, and sent him against the barbarians in Gaul. It was in the seventh consulate 382 of the emperor Constantius that Gallus, who was surnamed Constantius, was slain, when he himself was a third time consul: and Julian was created Cæsar on the 6th of November in the following year, when Arbetion 383 and Lollian were consuls; of him we shall make farther mention in the next book. 384 When Constantius was thus relieved from the disquietudes which had occupied him, his attention was again directed to ecclesiastical contentions. Going therefore from Sirmium to the imperial city Rome, he again appointed a synod of bishops, summoning some of the eastern prelates to hasten into Italy, 385 and arranging for those of the west to meet them there. While preparations were making in the east for this purpose, Julius bishop of Rome died, after having presided over the church in that place fifteen years, and was succeeded in the episcopal dignity by Liberius.
So rightly in the Allat. ms.; the variant Γαλλίαν is inconsistent with the context.
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10 Common Mistakes In Logo Design
With the power of the Web, and more eyes watching than ever, it's important for a business to communicate its unique message clearly. The easiest way to recognize a company and distinguish it from others is by its logo. Below, we go through 10 common logo design mistakes that you should avoid if you want to create a successful and professional logo.
1. Designed By An Amateur
Avoid websites that promote ridiculously cheap logo packages. You get what you pay for.
A professional business should look professional. New business owners often invest a lot of time and money in property and equipment, but do not often match it by investing suitably in their logo.
Here are the most common reasons why many logos look amateurish:
The business owner wanted to save money by designing the logo quickly themselves.
A friend or relative who claims to know a little about graphic design does it as a favor.
The wrong people are commissioned. (Local printers are not likely proficient in logo design.)
The business outsourced the job via one of several design competition websites, which are mostly populated by amateur designers.
The job was given to an online company that offers really cheap logos.
All of the above can result in disastrous outcomes. If your logo looks amateurish, then so will your business. A business should know where to look when it wants a new logo.
Here are the advantages of hiring an established and professional logo designer:
Your logo will be unique and memorable.
You won't run into any problems down the line with reproducing it.
Your logo will have a longer lifespan and won't need to be redesigned in a couple of years.
Your logo will look professional.
2. Relies On Trends
Trends (whether swooshes, glows or bevels) come and go and ultimately turn into cliches. A well-designed logo should be timeless, and this can be achieved by ignoring the latest design tricks and gimmicks. The biggest cliche in logo design is the dreaded "corporate swoosh," which is the ultimate way to play it safe.
3. Uses Raster Images
Standard practice when designing a logo is to use vector graphics software, such as Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. A vector graphic is made up of mathematically precise points, which ensures visual consistency across multiple sizes. The alternative, of course, is use to raster graphics software, such as Adobe Photoshop. A raster graphic — or bitmap, as it's commonly called — consists of pixels.
Using raster images for logos is not advisable because it can cause problems with reproduction. While Photoshop is capable of creating very large logos, you never know for sure how large you will have to reproduce your logo at some point. If you zoom in enough on a raster graphic, it will appear pixelated, making it unusable. Maintaining visual consistency by making sure the logo looks the same in all sizes is essential.
The main advantages of vector graphics for logo design are:
The logo can be scaled to any size without losing quality.
Editing the logo later on is much easier.
It can be adapted to other media more easily than a raster image.
4. Contains Stock Art
This mistake is often made by business owners who design their own logo or by amateur designers who are not clued in to the laws on copyright. Downloading stock vector imagery from websites such as VectorStock is not a crime, but it could possibly get you in trouble if you incorporate it in a logo.
A logo should be unique and original, and the licensing agreement should be exclusive to the client: using stock art breaks both of these rules. Chances are, if you are using a stock vector image, it is also being used by someone somewhere else in the world, so yours is no longer unique. You can pretty easily spot stock vectors in logos because they are usually familiar shapes, such as globes and silhouettes.
5. Not Designing For The Client
You can often spot this logo design sin a mile away; the cause is usually a designer's enormous ego. If you have found a cool new font that you can't wait to use in a design, well… don't. Ask yourself if that font is truly appropriate for the business you're designing for? For example, a great modern typographic font that you just love is not likely suited to a serious business such as a lawyer's office.
Some designers also make the mistake of including a "trademark" in their work. While you should be proud of your work, imposing your personality onto a logo is wrong. Stay focused on the client's requirements by sticking to the brief.
6. Overly Complex
What better analogy for thumbnail images than fingerprints? You'll notice the intricacies of your fingerprints only when looking at them really close up. As soon as you move away, those details are lost. The same holds true for highly detailed logo designs.
When printed in small sizes, a complex design will lose detail and in some cases will look like a smudge or, worse, a mistake. The more detail a logo has, the more information the viewer has to process. A logo should be memorable, and one of the best ways to make it memorable is to keep things simple. Look at the corporate identities of Nike, McDonald's and Apple. Each company has a very simple icon that can easily be reproduced at any size.
7. Relies On Color For Its Effect
This is a very common mistake. Some designers cannot wait to add color to a design, and some rely on it completely. Choosing color should be your last decision, so starting your work in black and white is best.
Every business owner will need to display their logo in only one color at one time or another, so the designer should test to see whether this would affect the logo's identity. If you use color to help distinguish certain elements in the design, then the logo will look completely different in one tone.
8. Poor Choice Of Font
When it comes to executing a logo, choosing the right font is the most important decision a designer can make. More often than not, a logo fails because of a poor font choice.
Finding the perfect font for your design is all about matching the font to the style of the icon. But this can be tricky. If the match is too close, the icon and font will compete with each other for attention; if the complete opposite, then the viewer won't know where to focus. The key is finding the right balance, somewhere in the middle. Every typeface has a personality. If the font you have chosen does not reflect the icon's characteristics, then the whole message of the brand will misfire.
Bad fonts are often chosen simply because the decision isn't taken seriously enough. Some designers simply throw in type as an afterthought. Professional font foundries, such as MyFonts and FontFont, offer much better typeface options than those over-used websites that offer free downloads.
9. Has Too Many Fonts
Using too many fonts is like trying to show someone a whole photo album at once. Each typeface is different, and the viewer needs time to recognize it. Seeing too many at once causes confusion.
Using a maximum
of two fonts of different weights is standard practice. Restricting the number of fonts to this number greatly improves the legibility of a logo design and improves brand recognition.
10. Copies Others
This is the biggest logo design mistake of all and, unfortunately, is becoming more and more common. As mentioned, the purpose of a logo is to represent a business. If it looks the same as someone else's, it has failed in that regard. Copying others does no one any favors, neither the client nor the designer.


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Next week is easily the best week of music releases so far this year. While most weeks may have one or two big releases, this next week has so many interesting listens for fans of all genres, a few of which have me giddy in anticipation.
Here's just a sample of the smaller releases coming this week. For jazz/hip-hop fans, you have pianist Robert Glasper's Black Radio 2, the sequel to his smooth album Black Radio featuring guest spots from Jill Scott, Common, Lupe Fiasco, Norah Jones, and more. For you Odd Future fans, Mellowhype drops their new album on Halloween. For hip-hop heads who want to look outside the Americas, UK synth-funk hip-hop group band Paper Tiger (not to be confused with the incredible Minneapolis producer/Doomtree affiliate of the same name) has a new album coming. Metal fans can check out new albums from Toxic Holocaust and Skeletonwitch. Garage-rock/soul/funk-rock fans can feast their ears on the new album from White Denim. And those are just the smaller cool releases I wanted to highlight. Here are the top 5 reasons that the 29th of October is going to be a quite exciting day in music.


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Getting my kids to wear sunscreen every day can become a tedious and frustrating task during the summer. I get it. It's really not all that pleasant to rub a greasy lotion all over your body.
But using sunscreen is a necessity. Every day.
Here's why sunscreen is needed daily:
"Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital examined survey data from more than 100,000 nurses participating in the Harvard Nurses Health study and found that those who had at least five blistering sunburns when they were 15 to 20 years old had a 68 percent increased risk for common skin cancers like basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas and an 80 percent increased risk of the deadlier melanoma by the time they reached middle age."
There are a few ways to inspire your children to wear sunscreen that don't involve holding them down!
1. Lead by example. Show your children how you wear sunscreen and reapply throughout the day. Be a good role model!
2. Make it fun. Make up a silly sunscreen game-Simon Says put your sunscreen on your toes. If the application process is fun they're more likely to wear sunscreen.
3. Let your child pick out their own sunscreen. My kids are very particular about the scent and texture of the sunscreen they use. Every summer I buy a few of my favorite safe brands and let them pick. All three of my kids will only wear sunscreens that don't make them turn pasty white when applied. This year I added a few sunscreen sticks into the mix and they were grabbed.
4. Have everyone put on their own sunscreen. I know…we want to make sure every square inch of skin is protected. Even if your little ones don't do a very good job, this is a great habit to create from an early age. You'll thank me later. You can always go and do touch-ups if needed.
5. Talk about being sun smart. Explain to your kids why we all wear sunscreen. At some point they'll understand and hopefully continue applying their own sunscreen as they grow.
Please remember: Don't use a spray sunscreen. While spray sunscreens are convenient (I'm the first to admit that!), many spray sunscreens-especially the aerosol sprays-contain ingredients that don't belong on your skin. Also, when you spray sunscreen you are likely to inhale the fumes and this is a much more direct route of exposure than when you apply the sunscreen directly to your skin. It goes directly into your lungs.
How do you get your kids to wear sunscreen?
photo credit: Boudewijn Berends via photopin cc


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Smart Spiders Learn Best Way to Snag Prey
A spider sitting in its web waiting for a fly to buzz by may seem passive, but new research reveals these arachnids can spend time in their webs strategizing about how best to detect ensnared prey.
Orb-web spiders learn to take the pulse of lines on their webs that are more likely to trap insects, the new study finds. When a bug gets snarled in a spiderweb, its struggles to free itself cause vibrations, which travel to the center of the web where the spider perches. The vibrations alert the spider to its prey.
Scientists knew that at least one type of web-weaving spider, Cyclosa octotuberculata, pulls on the radial, spokelike threads of its web as it sits and waits in order to increase the tension, all the better for vibrations to travel. What's more, the spiders apply more tension to vertical sections of the web than horizontal sections, said Kensuke Nakata, a researcher at Kyoto Women's University in Japan, who conducted the new study.
"Vertical web sectors are wider than horizontal web sectors, and more prey are expected to hit on vertical sectors," Nakata told LiveScience. "This makes me imagine that the spider actively adds more tension on threads in vertical sectors in response to more past prey capture in these sectors." [What?! Photos of Bats Snared in Spider Webs]
Training spiders
To find out if that was the case, Nakata captured wild spiders and allowed them to build webs in a laboratory setting. Each spider was given one live fly a day for a meal. About half of the 27 spiders in the study got flies delivered to the vertical components of their webs — either above or below the web's center. The rest got flies on the right or left of the web.
Nakata then allowed the spiders to rebuild their webs at will, a process that occurs daily in the wild and about every four days in the lab. When the new webs were ready, he took photographs of the webs with the spider sitting in the center, and then gently removed the spider to photograph the web alone.
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By measuring the difference in the web's strands in these two photographs, Nakata could determine the intensity with which the spider was pulling on each strand. He repeated the process five times per spider, each time with a new web.
Learning and waiting
The photographs revealed the spiders were learning. Those spiders that got their meals in the vertical segments of their web pulled harder on vertical strands. Those that were used to flies landing to their right or left put more tension on the horizontal strands. Nakata reported the results today (May 28) in the journal Biology Letters.
This skill would allow wild spiders to catch prey with less fuss and less web repair, as even a strong web can hold a struggling insect for only so long, Nakata said.
"This study illustrates that spider's amazing cognitive ability," he said. "When we wait for a telephone call that is important and we know it is coming, we may gaze at the phone receiver to pick it up as soon as possible upon ringing. What I found in this study is that spider's behavior is essentially the same."
The spiders' spatial learning abilities may also serve them well when building their webs, or when relocating webs to new areas, Nakata said.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.


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The Handy Item I Always Pack: "A reusable filtered water bottle—it saves you money, keeps you hydrated, and eliminates waste—win-win."
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roasted cauliflower curry
with chickpeas and cashews
- 3 baby cauliflowers (375g)
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup (75g) raw cashews
- 3 cups (750ml) water
- 400g can chickpeas (garbanzos), rinsed and drained
- 200g green and yellow beans, trimmed and halved
- 200g baby spinach leaves
- natural Greek-style (thick) yoghurt, to serve
curry paste
- 1 cup (150g) raw cashews
- ½ cup (125ml) boiling water
- 6cm-piece ginger (50g), chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons sea salt flakes
- Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F). Place the cauliflower, garam masala and 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large bowl and toss to coat. Place on a large oven tray and cook for 20 minutes or until tender and lightly charred. Add the cashews and cook for a further 3 minutes or until golden.
- While the cauliflower is roasting, make the curry paste. Place the cashews and boiling water in a small bowl and set aside for 5minutes to soak.
- Place the ginger, garlic, garam masala, turmeric, fennel, tomato paste and salt in a small food processor and process until finely chopped. Drain the cashews, add to the processor and process until smooth.
- Heat the remaining oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Add the chickpeas and beans and cook for 4–6 minutes or until tender. Roughly chop the roasted cashews. Add the cauliflower and cashews to the curry and serve with spinach leaves and yoghurt. Serves 4
Photography: William Meppem
donna hay team
Hi S K, we haven't tested the recipe with almonds, however, if you give it a go, let us know.
Hi, this looks divine. We have a cashew allergy and was thus wondering if Raw Almonds could be substituted? Thank you.
Cathy Hunter
Delicious! I added a whole chilli to the paste for some heat also a smalll tin (165mls) of coconut milk to the sauce. I had some chicken thighs to use so seared them in olive oil and garam masala and added them to the curry. Definitely a keeper.


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A week or so ago I was glad and excited to attend the final leg of a rolling wizard rock show titled Riddikulus! 2012. For those who don't know about Wizard Rock I'll try and break it down, but I must admit it reads weird and can only truly respected and understood when listened to. Wizard Rock is music inspired by the work of J.K. Rowling and the world of Harry Potter, both the books and the films. The people who perform this music are profecient, talented and in most cases create original music as well. Most of the music would fall under the non-category of the Anti-Folk movement in my opinion. These musicians would fit easily on a bill with Brook Pridemore, Jeffrey Lewis, Kimya Dawson, The Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players, etc as well Nerd Rock groups like Kirby Krackle or Ookla The Mok. In the Wizard rock world bands like Harry and The Potters and Draco and The Malfoys have made a bit of attention outside of the genre, but there's tons more talent in the genre that is deserving of a wider audience.
Riddicukulus only featured a few of the acts, but it was still a large assortment and very varied. Following I shall show some select photos, one each of each performer with links to where you can discover them best yourself followed by a link to Youtube Playlist featuring 20+ videos from the concert.
Jay Stolar and Grace McLean are Lily& James. When not doing Wizard Rock they are seperately very talented musicians. I've provided links to their pages on their names.
Tianna Weasley at the time this was recorded was known as I SPEAK TREE. She has her performance name to Tianna and the Cliffhangers.
Grace Kendall is also known as Snidget and is also a member of Carpe Geekdom.
Steph Anderson is the front person for Tonks and The Aurors.
This is Justin Finch-Fletchley.
Here is Lauren Fairweather
Finally is Matt Maggiacomo who goes by the band name The Whomping Willows.
Now as promised, a link to the playlist, which I shall also embed below (which may or may not work)


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The 2020 BC Winter Games kick off less than a month away with more than 1,000 of B.C.'s top young athletes and over 1,000 of BC's best emerging athletes set to give it their all in Fort St. John.
Competing in 15 different sports, youth athletes from every corner of the province will be in the northern B.C. city from Feb. 20 to 23 to represent their regional zone at the games.
For many, this will be their first experience at a multi-sport event of this size, and will be supported by over 300 coaches and over 190 officials.
Special Olympics athletes will also be competing in speed skating and figure skating and athletes with a disability will compete in skiing-cross country and basketball-wheelchair.
"Fort St. John, known for its northern spirit and energetic sport community, is ready to welcome the province," said Alison Noble, BC Games Society president.
"Athletes, coaches, and officials will have the opportunity to compete at quality sport facilities throughout community and experience all that these multi-sport Games have to offer."
Volunteers in Fort St. John have been preparing for the past 18 months to host the games. There will be over 1,600 volunteers working to ensure the participants have exceptional competition and a first-rate experience with opening and closing ceremonies, special events, and wonderful hospitality.
"We are excited to be hosting the games and hope that everyone has a great time in their competitions, as well as in Fort St. John," said Darren Snider, president of the Fort St. John 2020 BC Winter Games.
"Our hope is that all participants and visitors to Fort St. John leave having had an unparalleled experience, with new friends and with a new understanding of our northern city."