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I thought this was a funny comic but I didn't clear it with the goons first so I'm sort of flying blind here.So, uh, I wanted to talk about something today that, uhm, some people, might consider to be a sensitive topic. I certainly don't mean to offend anyone, and if I do I sincerely apologize. But, uhm, I just wanted to say, as respectfully as possible that maybe, uh, this whole, how do I put this, feminism thing, may be getting a little, well, out of control...
It's always difficult to speak any sort of criticism of feminism simply because you have to qualify every goddamn statement you make. It's like being white and talking about any problems in black communities. You can't just come out and say, "There is a lot of black men in jail because of rampant fatherlessness and here's how I think we should solve it..." even if you actually know what you're talking about. No, you have to qualify your statement.
Look, I have a lot of black friends. I love black people and they love me. It's just that fatherlessness is a big problem in these black communities and it results in a lot of kids who get in trouble with the law and do poorly in school and I swear I'm really not racist COSBY SAID IT OKAY PLEASE DON'T HURT ME. And then you curl into a fetal position and sob.
It is with great reluctance that I qualify my statements today. Yes, I happen to have a lot of black women friends. Okay, there.
The Something Awful Forums prove that the witch hunt is alive and well. Like a modern day Salem, threads are organized not unlike ancient tribal hunts in order to find the slightest bit of racism, sexism, and homophobia, real or not, on the forums. Those found to be in contempt of the powerful circle jerk lobby are ostracized from this vile sub community and eventually banned.
The offenders are then thrown off a cliff as a test to see if they are really racist/sexist/capitalist and if they don't scream "NIIIIIIGGGGGGEEEERRRRRR DEEEEAAAATTTTTHHHHHH!!!" as they plummet to a gory death, their account is reinstated. Of course, dying is also bannable on the forums, which is one of the more sensible rules around here.
Fortunately, the only one that can ban me from the front page is Lowtax. And until he does (tomorrow when he wakes up), I'll just have to speak my mind right here. I've learned some things about feminism and it isn't all ice cream and lollipops.
The patriarchy likes to get together on Wednesdays at the YMCA (light refreshments provided) to talk about how much to cut women's pay for the week and think of new inherent male privileges to add to the ol' checklist.
Male privilege. Oh boy, here's our privilege. Men are more likely to be the victim of a violent crime. I'm incensed. How could the patriarchy allow this?!
When is an animated GIF just a joke and when is it socially irresponsible?For all the bitching women do about it being super duper scary to walk home at night, men are more likely to be victimized in public areas and by someone they don't know. I walk home every night from the bus stop to my apartment, a distance of about a mile. I should be flipping the fuck out!
But I'm not, because the probability of being the victim of a violent crime is actually pretty low, and has been going down nationwide since 1994. What an outrageous idea, the world just might not be as bad as you think it is.
Another one of the patriarchy's main goals has been to put up barriers to education for women. But we must be doing a shitty job because there are more women in college than men. Ugh, I told you we should have put a wall scaling test in the application!
Something Awful is in the process of changing hands to a new owner. In the meantime we're pausing all updates and halting production on our propaganda comic partnership with Northrop Grumman.
Dear god this was an embarrassment to not only this site, but to all mankind
Landmarks and statues around the world: old, boring and could use an update.
Join the SA Forum photoshop goons in their quest to make horror wholesome!
Yes, there are finally enough games for a new round of One Sentence Reviews
The Something Awful front page news tackles anything both off and on the Internet. Mostly "on" though, as we're all incredible nerds.
Copyright ©2024 Jeffrey "of" YOSPOS & Something Awful


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Fast & Furious 8 is already the sixth biggest hit of 2017 at UK cinemas, behind Beauty and the Beast (£68.8m), La La Land (£30.4m), Sing (£28.4m), The Lego Batman Movie (£27.0m) and Logan (£23.8m). It is certain to overtake the lifetime total of Fast & Furious 6 (£25.3m), and end up second in the franchise rankings for the UK, behind Fast & Furious 7 (£38.6m).
Second-placed The Boss Baby and third-placed Beauty and the Beast were also unchanged from last week. Beauty and the Beast's £68.8m total puts it in eighth place in the all-time UK box office rankings, just below Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (£73.1m).
The top newcomer: Their Finest
The week after Fast & Furious 8 and the week before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 was hardly the most attractive weekend to release a potential blockbuster – and indeed there were none. That gave Lionsgate an opportunity to roll out its second world war comedy drama Their Finest, based on the Lissa Evans novel Their Finest Hour and a Half. A cast including Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy encouraged a relatively wide release into 458 cinemas, and an opening gross of £850,000 (including £24,000 previews) resulted. Site average was an OK £1,857.
Apt comparisons are hard to make, but Tamara Drewe, starring Arterton, kicked off with £616,000 (including £7,000 previews) from 358 cinemas in September 2010.
Distributors get understandably testy when it is suggested that they have picked a release date to clear problematic inventory, but it's hard to contest that 21 April saw the arrival of three studio pictures with questionable commercial appeal. Warner Bros offered the optimistically titled Unforgettable, starring Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson in a defiantly trashy melodrama that aspired to past classics such as Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. Box office of £271,000 from 363 venues yielded an average of £745.
The studio misfire No 2: The Zookeeper's Wife
Universal countered with The Zookeeper's Wife, featuring Jessica Chastain as the woman who helped save lives at Warsaw zoo in the second world war. This film would have probably fared best at independent cinemas and the boutique chains, but those venues are already being served by Their Finest, The Handmaiden and The Sense of an Ending. Universal released into a multiplex-skewed 216 cinemas, yielding box office of £101,000, and a weak £469 average.
The studio misfire No 3: Rules Don't Apply
Warren Beatty had the misfortune to be the man handed the wrong envelope when announcing best picture at the Oscars in February. His woes pile up with the release of his passion project Rules Don't Apply, about aviator mogul Howard Hughes. Without the halo of awards attention, this was always a tricky to film to position, and it would have benefited from some love from the independent cinema sector. With little forthcoming, Fox released into 223 cinemas, grossing £47,200, for a woeful £211 average.
The market
Despite a bewildering 22 new films released last Friday, box office fell 46% from the previous frame, and it is down 23% on the equivalent weekend from last year, when top title The Jungle Book achieved a stunning hold in its second week of play. Look for an upward bounce this coming weekend with the arrival of the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel.

subset: commoncrawl


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Our free fractions worksheets, being colorful and interesting, help them in practicing these skills one at a time. The story help them in developing their reading skills and relating to the math problem more easily. To ace math fractions, they need is practice and that's what we provide here in a fun and easy manner. These free printable fraction worksheets are perfect for teachers, homeschooling mothers, parents who are looking for something different from their monotonous curriculum.
These free printable math worksheets for kids form as math help. Kids can utilize their math skills in these math puzzle worksheets which is filled with math problems for kids. We know that math for kids is not too easy and so these free math worksheets will provide right kind of math practice. Download these fun math worksheets which are free printable worksheets. You can also directly print these math practice worksheets. Use them today and get math practicing started! Simply click the print button and get set to help your kids master in math!
These free fractions worksheets are engaging and put across math problems in a manner that makes kids would want to solve them. If you don't see any math topic, ask. We are adding new free math worksheets all the time.


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National Program
If additional negative charge is immediately available in the cloud in the vicinity of the initial return stroke, the additional charge may start to move toward ground in the conductive path left by the initial return stroke. These subsequent leaders are called dart leaders. Because the channel is already established, the charge can move down the main channel in a much smoother manner than the stepped leader, and at a much greater speed (Figure 1). Like the stepped leader, another return stroke will occur when they reach the ground. Because dart leaders just follows the main discharge channel, subsequent return strokes are not usually branched.
Typically, a negative flash of lightning will be comprised of an initial stepped leader/return stroke followed by 2 or 3 subsequent dart leaders/return strokes. Multiple return strokes will cause the lightning to flicker. While not all negative flashes have more than one return stroke, some negative flashes have been observed with more than a dozen return strokes.
Figure 2 shows the various components of a lightning flash including the stepped leader, positive streamers, the return stroke, and three dart leaders/return stokes.
All of this happens in a fraction of a second (Figure 3) and cannot be discerned by the human eye which is overwhelmed by the bright return stroke.
Figure 1 | Figure 2 | Figure 3 |
Learn about Slow Motion Video Of Lightning Flashes or return to Contents page
US Dept of Commerce
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Weather Service
1325 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Comments? Questions? Please Contact Us.


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- This event has passed.
Group Qi Gong Class with Patrick Giguere
October 10, 2023 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Qigong is a practice of self-healing and mindfulness. It activates the body's natural healing response by stimulating the circulation of bodily fluids, and by promoting the flow of the body's electric and magnetic currents. During Qigong practice, we place awareness on our breath, and any bodily sensations and emotions. It's an opportunity to feel more deeply inside ourselves and become more aware of what we are feeling. Qigong is a meditative practice in that we focus our awareness on our life force. We give our minds something constructive and helpful to focus on. Qigong practice teaches us to embrace the cycles of nature and life rather than resisting them.
Patrick Giguere holds an M.S. from the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2012), and a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy (2004), and is fully licensed and insured in North Carolina and Massachusetts. Patrick is certified in medical Qigong, a certified Reiki Master, and well-versed in rehabilitative exercise. He has helped many patients with a wide variety of conditions, including musculoskeletal injuries and pain, neurological conditions, sleep disorders, digestive issues, stress/anxiety, migraines, chronic illness, and more.


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End of the Road
Powered by Noodles Signing Off
Unbelievably today marks exactly one year since we left the UK on our long, long flight to Singapore. It has been one of the best years of our lives. Anyone that knows us will know just how much fun we have had. We have had some incredible experiences and met new friends from all over the world.
Before we left the UK we read a lot of articles about how much travelling long term changes you. We don't think we have changed majorly but there are small things that we think differently about. We have travelled living out of a backpack for 365 days and neither of us has missed anything we left behind. We purposefully did not bring our phones with us, and we are so glad, the amount of time you see friends and couples sat out for dinner, all heads down into their iPhones, is ridiculous.
The most immediate change we have recognised is our perception of how people live. A lot of people may criticise our choice to travel and ask us why we are running away from settling down and a stable normal life. The answer is, we are not running away from anything, we are running towards things we want and embracing life. Some people may accept it now but expect us to settle down in the future. We have learned that we do not have to; we can do anything we please. Success in life in our opinion can never be measured in a job, a house, a marriage or in money. To be successful is to be happy no matter what that is. We would never criticise anyone for wanting these things, it is just not important to us. If this trip has taught us anything it is that life is precious and flies by in a flash, people should do what makes them happy while they can. Why live your life working in a job you hate in order to fund a house you don't really want, just so by the time you have retired you can have the stability and luxury to do what you actually want to do….. do it now.
This is our last blog post for Powered by Noodles. Tomorrow is our last day and Thursday is took up entirely with travelling back home. Sri Lanka has been a perfect final destination for us, the right mix of things to see and do as well as the beautiful beaches to laze on. We have seen the most of the country and it has been one of our favourite places of the whole trip.
It is not the end though, we have definitely caught the bug and intend to see a lot more. Neither of us are happy going back to the 9-5, living for the weekend mentality. We are looking forward to going home, spending time with the people we have missed, but we are already itching to hit the road again and see somewhere new….
Posted by Chelsandliam 23:41 Archived in Sri Lanka Tagged sri_lanka hikkaduwa Comments (1)


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Good morning everyone! I have to post this super quick - I forgot to set it for auto-post last night so I have to post quickly and then get busy getting ready for work.
I posted this card yesterday on Crafting with Deedee's Digis and I really love this image. I used Gingerbread Holiday stamp set and am so pleased with this card....
One year my Mom decided she and the kids were going to make gingerbread houses for other grandmother and a neighbor. My kids were still pretty little so you can only imagine how well these houses were put together - but in our eyes, they were magnificent! This memory was triggered when I saw Deedee's Gingerbread Holidays set for the first time. I colored this with every color of "icing" I could think of. And if you look close, you can see that I added coarse glitter to the gumdrops along the eaves so that they looked like real gumdrops.
And since every home is decorated on the inside, this one is too. I carried the the candy cane theme to the inside and added a simple and very sweet sentiment (also included in the set) to finish it off.
Card stock: Neenah Classic Crest, Chocolate Chip, Real Red (SU!)
Paper: Christmas Stack (DCWV)
Copics: E33, E34, E37, G00, G02, R02, R27, R29, RV000, RV02, RV06, RV10, Y15, YG00, YG03
Tools: Cuttlebug, Candy Cane embossing folder, 1 1/4", 1 3/8" circle punches, scallop punch (SU!)
Embellishments: coarse glitter (Martha Stewart)
I do hope you like my card and that it inspires you to build and share Holiday memories. Have a super sweet day!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
4 Encouraging Thoughts:
- Kathy and Lucky said...
Really love this and how you have the glitter on the candies, cute.
- December 8, 2010 at 7:11 AM
- Sheri Gilson said...
Super sweet card Mel!! Love the fun gingerbreads!! Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!!
Hugs~Sheri - December 8, 2010 at 10:12 AM
- Stef H said...
oh this is just darling!!!! wow!
hugs :) - December 8, 2010 at 6:57 PM
- Sandy said...
You did a beautiful job on this card. The coloring is blended so well and the gingerbread people are darling! I love the striped paper for the inside too!
- December 8, 2010 at 8:52 PM
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Cloudflare Announces Project Fair Shot, A Digital Waiting Room for Fair and Efficient COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
Project Fair Shot to offer free service for any government agency, hospital, pharmacy, or organization facilitating the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines
San Francisco, CA, January 22, 2021 — Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the security, performance, and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, today announced Project Fair Shot to offer a free and fair way for vaccine distributors around the world to use digital queues to safely scale their efforts. Project Fair Shot will enable any government, municipality, hospital, pharmacy, or other organization facilitating the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine access to Cloudflare Waiting Room, a transparent digital queue that sits in front of any registration website for people to know where they stand in line to sign up for a vaccine without leaving home. By relying on Cloudflare's global infrastructure, Project Fair Shot can scale regardless of demand without requiring organizations to dedicate limited IT resources to code changes.
"It's been incredible how quickly the scientific community came together to develop multiple COVID-19 vaccines. At Cloudflare, we wanted to lend our technical expertise and infrastructure to now help ensure the vaccine is fairly and efficiently distributed," said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. "With Project Fair Shot, we're providing our Waiting Room technology at no cost to ensure that any organization charged with distributing the vaccine can do so in a way that is equitable and without requiring new technological investment."
Cloudflare Waiting Rooms can be deployed in front of any registration website without requiring engineering or coding. Each person requesting a vaccine appointment will get confirmation that they are in a queue. When their time is up, they will be directed to the organization's signup page. Waiting Rooms can be further configured by each distributor to provide registrants with their estimated wait time, and in the future, to send alerts as their turn approaches. While Project Fair Shot makes this available at no charge to vaccine distributors, Cloudflare Waiting Room also allows organizations of all kinds with high demand for a resource — be it concert tickets, new edition sneakers, or vaccines — to allow individuals to queue and then fairly allocate access.
Vaccine distributors can sign up on the waitlist today at http://projectfairshot.com/org.
About Cloudflare
Cloudflare, Inc. (www.cloudflare.com / @cloudflare) is on a mission to help build a better Internet. Cloudflare's platform protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare have all web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine's Top Company Cultures 2018 list and ranked among the World's Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company in 2019. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Cloudflare has offices in Austin, TX, Champaign, IL, Seattle, WA, New York, NY, San Jose, CA, Washington, D.C., Lisbon, London, Munich, Paris, Beijing, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "explore," "plan," "anticipate," "could," "intend," "target," "project," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of these words, or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our plans and objectives for Project Fair Shot and Cloudflare Waiting Room, the benefits to customers from using our products, the expected functionality and performance of our products, our technological development, future operations, growth, initiatives, or strategies, and comments made by our CEO and others. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 10, 2020, as well as other filings that we may make from time to time with the SEC.
The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.
SOURCE: Cloudflare


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Beyoncé – Moon River (Mancini/Mercer cover
Any month with a new cover by Beyoncé is a big month. Admittedly, her piano-crooning "Moon River" like so many others have piano-crooned "Moon River" – and for a Tiffany's ad no less – is slightly underwhelming. But we'll take what we can get, and, even if the approach is hardly novel, Beyoncé's got the pipes to deliver. Continue reading »


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One of the main features of Firefox 3.7 is its advanced support for multi-touch enabled devices. During the MozCamp and JRSL event in Chile, Marcio Galli painted the Firefox logo using a development build of Firefox, a touch screen laptop, a simple drawing application, and his finger. Here's the video of demo:
The drawing application as shown on the video was written in JavaScript utilizing less than 70 lines of code. To illustrate how simple the app is, here are most of the codes used:
var canvasctx = null;
function initCanvas(ww,hh)
gCanvas = document.getElementById("canvas");
var w = ww;
var h = hh;
gCanvas.style.width = w + "px";
gCanvas.style.height = h + "px";
gCanvas.width = w;
gCanvas.height = h;
canvasctx = gCanvas.getContext("2d");
canvasctx.clearRect(0, 0, w, h);
// imageData = gCtx.getImageData( 0,0,320,240);
var canvasctx = null;
function load() {
function color(rr,gg,bb) {
gColor = rr+","+gg+","+bb;
function listenTo(event) {
canvasctx.arc(event.clientX, event.clientY, 20, 0, Math.PI*2, 1);
document.addEventListener("MozTouchMove", listenTo, false);
If you own a touch-screen computer or laptop running Linux, Windows, or Mac, you can test the drawing application HERE. But first you have to download and install the development version of Firefox 3.7, which you can get HERE.
The stable version of Firefox 3.7 that will have full multi-touch support might be released in May-June 2010. It will utilize Gecko 1.9.3 engine.
The stable version of Firefox 3.7 that will have full multi-touch support might be released in May-June 2010. It will utilize Gecko 1.9.3 engine.


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Sagrada Familia: Carrer de Mallorca, 401, 08013 Barcelona. To avoid queues, you can pre-book your tickets online: here
You might also like:
Life in the South of France. Scarf Art app at the Apple App Store and on Google Play. Bag inserts at maitaicollection.com
Kind of sort of figured out this fantastic architectural specimen would garner a post of its' own!
I love the little lizzie peeking inside...all of God's creatures deserving of a peek!
So, cool are your pictures of the progress side by side! Such progress has been made in really a short amount of time given the task at hand.
Speaking of cool, you are the epitome of cool, darling friend, as you have changed very little in your comparison pics! Now that's pretty cool!
Excited to see what you have in store for us next! As always, thank you for taking us along!
Big hugs, T xx
In looking back at these pictures, the transformation since 2009 is truly astounding! All sorts of images are playing in my head as I scroll thru. While I know a little about this man and his architecture, I am itching to know more! Thank you!
Now you, beautiful one, also grow more beautiful with added years,too! Your smile tells it all!
Love and gratitude, T xx
And you have the coolest ideas, my darling friend! Brilliant thinking to get Jerrine as our writer on board. I am all for it!! The history of the church and architect is absolutely fascinating.... it would make a great movie or documentary. Hope you are enjoying a lovely and happy weekend! Biggest mwahs. xx
DeleteI was so hoping that it would be the Sagrada Familia. How could it not be? It has to be considered one of the greatest and most fanciful and totally emotional pieces of art ever put on this earth. How could one not have a gut wrenching, physical and emotional response when entering this masterpiece? There are simply no words for its magnificence and its reverence for the natural world.
Every detail is astounding, and as great as the tree support columns are, as well as the light and the color and the sculpture, it's the little lizard that got to me - that lowly little lizard with his very own portal to all that magnificence and holiness.
You did a fabulous job capturing its joy and unique beauty for all of us, and I well remember your post back in 2009. Yes, great progress and changes have been made, but you have remained as you were six years ago, perhaps even better.
Thanks for this great gift of the Sagrada Familia. I think Gaudi would appreciate it, too. I read that he was so immersed in his work there and so emotionally involved with his labor of love that he actually slept in the church in a small bed in the corner of the construction site. He would not leave it even for a night.
Many thanks,
Jerrine and MT, a perfect one,two punch! MT and her outstanding photo skills and detailed descriptions coupled with Jerrine's elegant embellishments make for a perfect box set suitable for sale on Amazon! I know I would buy it!
Thank you both!
Big hugs, T xx
Awwww, Trudye, I am touched, and of course, I'd be happy to be combined with MT in an Amazon boxed set.
The first set will go to you . . . gratis, of course.
Jerrine, I will be happy to do the "press tour" for the project.
MT, this is one your most breathtaking posts! You've captured this wonderfully spiritual cathedral in all of it's glory. Your attentive eye caught the whimsical little details (the 'lil lizard!) that could easily be overlooked admist the grandeur.
....and I love the details of your equally lovely look!
BTW, what is your secret anti-aging potion?!
thanks, haverford. After all, a girl can't have too much good press!
Darling Jerrine, Your descriptions are so very elegant, beautiful and evocative... Trudye is right, you should write a book! I'd be honored to provide the visuals. Trudye will be our producer, and haverfordgirl the press attaché! There will of course be a lot of travelling and research involved, and FUN! And since it's a BIG production, there will be jobs for every swan in LeSalon! What do think? Please say yes!!! Much love x
DeleteFabulous pictures showing the progress of the new chaptel into the cathedral .
Contrary to you who stayed the same beauty between 2009 and 2015....
Dearest Mai Tai,
Your description of the Sagrada Familia is fabulous and you really captured its beauty and magnificence! I believe that the efect ot the light inside of the basilica is magical and quite unique.
It was so interesting to see the development made in the last 6 years! You, my dearest Mai Tai, remain as beautiful, if not even more beautiful! <3
How thoughtful of you to capture the little lizard peeking inside the church. :-)
Thank you for this beautiful and very useful travellogue. Wamest hugs, Manuela xx
So happy you enjoyed the trip to the Sagrada Familia, my dearest Manuela! A truly astonishing leapse has been made in the church's construction in the past six years, I couldn't belive my eyes! The little lizard was such a lovely touch.. one of hundreds of wonders, big and small, in this magical place <3 Hugs xx
DeleteChère Maitai
Merci de ton descriptif très fourni de la sagrada que j'avais vue en 2006 que de changements que d'évolution de plus en plus belle de plus en plus magique
Par contre toi tu n'as pas changée en 6 ans tu est toujours aussi fabuleuse Bravo!!!!!!!!!
Bises et belle fin de semaine un peu trop ventée a mon gout
I'm speechless- your description of the archtitecture is so precise and just to the point- if you're looking for another job...there you go! Together with the artistic pictures I will save it as my personal travel guide for the next visit. How lucky I am:) Even better - I also saw the cathedral last in 2009, so I really appreciate your side-by-side pictures. The work progress is amazing and the overall impression is completely different - which is so not true for yourself:))) No visible age progress! That's real beauty...
Looking forward to the next part! And thanks, Jerrine, for your background information!
I was speechless too, dearest Katja! The place just blew me away, and as you say, it couldn't have been more different from when we both saw it in 2009 (how fun to have been there in the same year as you, hasn't time just been flying since then?). The light inside is extremely lovely and soft, and works true wonders on the complexion ;-) xx
DeleteWonderful travel adventure I have been going on with you around Barcelona, as it has been such a long time since I was there myself and has been so wonderful to see the progress of the Magical SF, simple love your birthday gift bracelet also may I ask how do you find it on the wrist does it have weight similar to the Kelly dog?
Have a good week ahead
Jane x
Thank you for coming along, dearest Jane! Hope you'll enjoy the final part, and that you can go back to Barcelona one day soon. Re the braclet.. the Karla is lightweight, and weighs just a little bit more than the Kelly Dog (KD is 19 gramm, the Karla is 29 gr). The KD has a looser fit, the Karla's wrist circumference is 17cm. Hope this helps, and have a lovely weekend! x
DeleteStunning! Thank you for sharing all your wonderful photos and narrative - I just have to visit one day. Looking forward to the final part.
ReplyDeleteThis post completely captivated me. I had no idea such a structure existed on this earth. Jerrine described the effect so eloquently, and the little lizard with its own view of heavenly delights seems to have touched us all. Thank you so much, dear MaiTai, for sharing this wonder with us. I especially enjoyed seeing the progress from 2009 to 2015. You look, if anything, younger and fresher today than you did then!
With much heartfelt aloha,
Fifi, you are most kind. You get one of Trudye's boxed sets, too!
Love to you,
Awww, thanks, Jerrine! My provincial eyes have been opened since discovering this blog. And now Barcelona is added to my wish list. How delightful it would be to travel the world!
Fifi, I would happily be your travel mate. Maybe we could talk Trudye and MT into coming along, too. Wouldn't we have a ball? The noise from all the chattering would be deafening!
Return hugs,
PS - When you're in the South of France this coming winter, you really should consider a little side jaunt to Barcelona. It's really not that far, and when you're on the highways in the southwestern part of Provence, you actually see signs for Barcelona. I was quite shocked the first time I saw them. I was sure I was going to end up in the wrong country.
Sounds like a plan Jerrine! What merry mischief we would make!
Counting my frequent flyer miles as we speak!
Happy weekend to all,
T xx
Count me in, dearest friends!!! Merry mischief indeed!!
Fifi, couldn't agree more with you on Jerrine's writing... hers is the finest, wittiest and most elegant I know!
Have a fabulous weekend, dear lovely swans xx
I'm in full agreement with all comments above!! I, too, was so hoping for a single La Sagrada Familia post :) Your photos and text exceeded my hopes!! This post reminds me of traveling with 3 dear girlfriends about 15 years ago. We visited many amazing places in a short period of time and finally realized we'd run out of adjectives! We decided then we needed just sound effects to try to express our joy, awe, and state of being overwhelmed by beauty. I can't spell those sounds, but please know I'm hearing them in my head...mmm, hmmm, mmm, mmm....thank you for the wonderful reminder!! (And please know the 2015 photo of you falls into the sound effect category too! Stunning!!)
Did I see a new member in your family? Welcome Ms Kelly Etoupe!
By the way I really enjoyed the visit, I love la Sagrada Familia (Ladies I'm not only focussed on H bags!) and I'm jealous because you look younger every year!
XX Catherine
Oups .... my head is in the clouds .... Ms Kelly is an oldie but llike you it looks brand new ;-))))
Chère Catherine, Ms Kelly is so thrilled to be still passing as new! But you are right, I've had her for several years. I am thrilled too, although not quite as well preserved as her ;-) Have a lovely weekend! xx
DeleteIt is now official. It is possible to look spiffy wearing sneakers while sight-seeing in a city. This shouldn't thrill me so much, but it does. All of your other posts that I have seen of you in NYC and Paris show you wearing proper shoes. Like Roger V. Which I don't find comfortable. But now I will wear my sneakers without fear of being a fuddy-duddy.
ReplyDeleteLove the sneaker and 7/8 pants look! Do you wear ever wear socks with them? I find it more comfortable with socks. Barbara xxx
ReplyDeleteP.S. Your DS is missing in 2015! Must be in boarding school? Tell him we miss him! Barbara xxx
ReplyDeleteSuch a moving post, with the glorious and the touching side by side. My mother fell in love with Sagrada Familia when she saw it in the 1950s, even though she did not live long enough to see the incomparable interior. I was blown away by its grace and grandeur when I saw it for the first time two years ago. There's something thrilling about the idea that these beauties will keep on unfolding till at least 2026. For a structure that calls to mind sunlit groves and expanding galaxies, this stately pace is exactly right. Your post captures so many beauties, including the shimmer of time. Superbly done!
xoxo, Azalie
What beautiful photos you took, as always - thank you for sharing! Barcelona's a lovely place to celebrate a birthday; my husband and I celebrated dual birthdays there in 2005. It's wonderful to see the progress on la Sagrada Familia since then - thanks especially for doing the comparison shots to show the differences!


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Jeff Towns is one of the world's leading Dylan Thomas experts. An antiquarian bookdealer by trade, based in the poet's home-town of Swansea, Jeff was originally known, both locally & globally, as 'Jeff the Books'. He is now known simply, affectionately and professionally as 'The Dylan Thomas Guy'
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When it comes to Dylan Thomas Jeff has been there, seen it, read it, loved it, borrowed it, begged for it, bought it and even gotten the tattoo…seriously it's on you tube!!
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Jeff is still an active and evergreen antiquarian bookseller, a published author, a public speaker, documentary maker, regular media commentator across the written press, TV & radio, and more recently an artistic consultant specialising in all things Dylan…..hopefully this site will assist you in finding out where Jeff, AKA 'the Dylan Thomas guy" can best help you…


text:
From Jesus to Christ
Lecture II
6 October 1911, Karlsruhe
Yesterday I tried to give you a picture of a form of Initiation which ought not to exist, according to our valuation of human nature. This Initiation, as we have seen it in Jesuitism, leads to the acquisition of certain occult faculties, but if we bring a cleansed and purified occult vision to bear upon these faculties, they cannot be considered good. It will now be my task to show that the Rosicrucian way is characterised by all that high regard for human nature which we recognise as equally our own. But we must first be clear on certain points.
From explanations given previously in various forms, we know that the Rosicrucian Initiation is essentially a development of the Christian Initiation, so that we can speak of it as a Christian-Rosicrucian Initiation. In earlier lecture-courses the purely Christian Initiation; with its seven degrees, and the Rosicrucian Initiation, also with seven degrees, have been compared. But now we must note that with regard to Initiation the principle of the progress of the human soul must be strictly maintained.
We know that the Rosicrucian Initiation had its proper beginning somewhere about the thirteenth century. At that time it was recognised by those individualities who have to guide the deeper destinies of human evolution as the right Initiation for the more advanced human souls. This shows that the Initiation of the Rose-Cross takes full account of the continuous progress of the human soul and must therefore pay particular attention to the fact that since the thirteenth century the human soul has developed further. Souls which are to be led to Initiation in our day can no longer adopt the standpoint of the thirteenth century. I want especially to point this out because in our time there is such a strong desire to label everything with some mark or other, with some catchword. From this bad habit, and not for any justified reason, our anthroposophical movement has been given a label which could lead gradually to something like a calamity.
It is true that within our movement the principle of Rosicrucianism can be found in all completeness, so that we can penetrate into the sources of Rosicrucianism. So it is that persons who by means of our anthroposophical training penetrate into these sources can properly call themselves Rosicrucians. But it must be emphasised just as strongly that outsiders have no right to designate as Rosicrucian the anthroposophical stream we represent, simply because our movement has been given—consciously or unconsciously—an entirely false label. We are no longer standing where the Rosicrucians stood in the thirteenth century and on through the following centuries, for we take into account the progress of the human soul. Hence the way indicated in my book, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, as the way best adapted for gaining access to the Higher Worlds must not without further explanation be equated with what may be called the Rosicrucian way. Through our movement we can penetrate into true Rosicrucianism, but our movement extends over a far wider domain, for it embraces the whole of Theosophy; hence it should not be labeled Rosicrucian. Our movement must be described simply as the spiritual science of today, the anthroposophical spiritual science of the twentieth century. Outsiders, particularly, will fall—more or less unconsciously—into some kind of misunderstanding if they describe our movement simply as Rosicrucian. But an outstanding achievement of Rosicrucianism since the dawn of modern spiritual life in the thirteenth century has been to establish a rule which must also be ours: the rule that all modern Initiation in the deepest sense of the word must recognise and treasure the independence of the most holy element in man's inner life, his Will-centre, as indicated yesterday. The occult methods there described are designed to overcome and enslave the human will and to set it on a predetermined course; hence a true occultism will rigorously avoid them.
Before characterising Rosicrucianism and present-day Initiation, we must mention a decisively relevant point: the Rosicrucianism of the thirteenth, fourteenth and even of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has again had to be modified for our time. The Rosicrucianism of those earlier centuries could not reckon with a spiritual element which has since entered into human evolution. Without this element today we can no longer understand rightly the fundamentals of all those spiritual streams which arise from the ground of occultism, including therefore any theosophical stream. For reasons we shall see more exactly in the course of these lectures, the teaching of reincarnation and karma, of repeated earth-lives, was excluded for many centuries from the external, exoteric teachings of Christianity. In the thirteenth century the teaching of reincarnation and karma had not yet entered, in the highest sense, into the first stages of Rosicrucian initiation. One could go far, up to the fourth or fifth degree; one could go through what was called the Rosicrucian studium—the acquiring of Imagination, the reading of the occult script, the finding of the philosopher's stone—and one could experience something of what is called the mystical death. One could reach this stage and acquire exceptionally high occult knowledge, but without needing to achieve full clarity concerning the illuminating teachings of reincarnation and karma.
We must be clear that human thinking progresses and now embraces forms of thought which, if only we follow them out logically—and this can easily be done on the external, exoteric level—lead unconditionally to a recognition of repeated earth-lives and so to the idea of karma. The words spoken through the lips of Strader in my second Rosicrucian drama, The Soul's Probation, are absolutely true: namely that a logical thinker today, if he is not to break with everything that the thought-forms of the last century have brought in, must come finally to a recognition of karma and reincarnation.
This is something deeply rooted in present-day spiritual life. Just because this knowledge has been slowly prepared and has these deep roots, it emerges little by little, as though independently, in the West. It is indeed remarkable how the necessity of recognising repeated earth-lives has independently made itself felt—though certainly only by outstanding individual thinkers. We need only call attention to certain facts which are quite forgotten, intentionally or unintentionally, in our present-day literature. Take, for example, what comes out so wonderfully in Lessing's Education of the Human Race. We see how Lessing, that great mind of the eighteenth century who at the zenith of his life gathered up his thoughts and wrote the Education of the Human Race, came as though by inspiration to the thought of repeated earth-lives. So does the idea of repeated earth-lives find its way, as though by inner necessity, into modern life. It has to be taken into consideration, but certainly not in the way that ideas of this kind are considered in our history books or in cultured circles nowadays. For in such cases resort is had to the familiar formula that when a clever man grows old, excuses must be made for him. So it is said that although we may appreciate Lessing in his earlier works, we must allow that in later years, when he came to the idea of repeated earth-lives, he had become somewhat feeble.
In more recent times the idea occurs sporadically. Drossbach, a nineteenth-century psychologist, spoke of it in the only way then possible. Without occultism, simply by observing nature, he tried in his own way as a psychologist to establish the idea of repeated earth-lives. Again, in the middle of the last century, a small society offered a prize for the best essay on the immortality of the soul. This was a remarkable occurrence in German spiritual life, and is very little known. Moreover, the prize went to an essay by Wiedenmann which tried to prove the immortality of the soul in the sense of repeated earth-lives: certainly an imperfect attempt, but it could not be otherwise in the fifties of the last century, when the necessary thought-forms had not developed far enough. One could quote various other instances where the idea of repeated earth-lives springs up, as though in response to a postulate, a demand, of the nineteenth century. Hence in my little book, Reincarnation and Karma, and also in my book, Theosophy, the ideas of repeated earth-lives and of karma could be worked out in relation to the thought-forms of natural science, but with reference to human individuality in contrast to the animal species.
We must, however, be clear on one essential point: there is an immense difference between the way in which Western men have come to this idea simply through thinking, and the way in which it figures in Buddhism, for instance. It is most interesting to see how Lessing came to the idea of repeated earth-lives. The result can of course be compared with the idea of repeated earth-lives in Buddhism, and even given the same name; but the way taken by Lessing is very different and is not generally known. How did he come to this idea?
We can see this quite clearly if we go through the Education of the Human Race. There is no doubt that human evolution gives evidence of progress in the strictest sense. Lessing argued that this progress is an education of humanity by the Divine Powers. God gave into men's hands a first elementary book, the Old Testament. Thereby a certain stage of evolution was achieved. When the human race had gone further, it was given the second elementary book, the New Testament. And then Lessing sees in our time something that goes beyond the New Testament: an independent feeling in the human soul for the true, the good, and the beautiful. This marks for him a third stage in the education of the human race. The thought of the education of mankind by the Divine Powers is worked out in a lofty style.
Lessing then asks himself: What is the one and only way to explain this progress? He cannot explain it otherwise than by allowing every soul to participate in each epoch of human evolution, if human progress is to have any meaning at all. For it would have no meaning if one soul lived only in the epoch of Old Testament civilisation and another soul only in the New Testament epoch. It has meaning only if souls are taken through all the epochs of civilisation and share in all the stages of human education. In other words, if the soul lives through repeated earth-lives, the progressive education of the human race makes good sense. So the idea of repeated earth-lives springs up in Lessing's mind as something that belongs to human destiny.
In a deeper sense the following underlies his thinking. If a soul was incarnated at the time of the Old Testament, it took into itself whatever it could take; when it reappears in a later time it carries the fruits of its previous life into the next life, and the fruits of that life into the one following, and so on. Thus the successive stages of evolution are interlocked. And whatever a soul achieves is achieved not only for itself, but for all mankind. Humanity is a great organism, and for Lessing reincarnation is necessary in order that the whole human race can progress. Thus it is historical evolution, the concern of humanity as a whole, that he takes as his starting-point, and from there he is impelled to a recognition of reincarnation.
It is different if we trace out the same idea in Buddhism. There, a person is concerned merely with himself, with his own psyche. The individual says to himself: I am placed in the world of maya; desire brought me into it, and in the course of repeated incarnations I shall free myself as an individual soul from the necessity of living again on earth. This applies to the single individual; all the attention is centred on him. That is the great difference.
Whether a person looks at the process from within, as in Buddhism, or from without, as Lessing does, his gaze takes in the whole of human evolution. In both cases the same idea emerges, but in the West the path to it is quite different. While the Buddhist limits himself to concern for the individual, the man of the West is concerned with the whole of humanity. He feels himself bound up with all men as a single organism.
What is it that has taught Western man the necessity of realising, above all, that his concern is with all mankind? The reason is that into the sphere of the heart, into his world of feeling, he has received the words of Christ Jesus concerning human brotherhood: that it is beyond all nationality, beyond all racial characteristics, and that humanity is a great organism.
Hence it is interesting to see how Drossbach, although his thinking is still imperfect, because the scientific ideas of the first half of the nineteenth century had not yet produced the corresponding thought-forms, does not take the Buddhistic path, but a universal cosmic one. Drossbach starts from the thoughts of natural science and observes the soul in its cosmic aspect. He cannot think otherwise of the soul than as a seed which goes through an external form and reappears in other external forms, and so is reincarnated. With him, this idea turns into fantasy, for he thinks that the world itself must be transformed, whereas Lessing thought correctly of short periods of time. Wiedenmann, too, in his prize essay, brings the immortality of the soul into logical connection with the question of reincarnation.
So we see that these ideas appear quite sporadically, and it is right that in spite of faulty modes of thinking they should spring up in minds such as these, and in others also. The great evolutionary change which the human soul has undergone from the eighteenth to the twentieth century is such that everyone today who begins the study of world progress must above all assimilate those thought-forms which lead quite naturally to the acceptance and making credible of the ideas of reincarnation and karma. Between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries human thought was not sufficiently advanced to come by itself to a recognition of reincarnation. One has always to start from the stage reached by the most highly developed thought of the period. Today the starting point must be that form of thinking which, on the basis of natural science, regards the idea of repeated earth-lives as logical—which means hypothetically true. So do the times advance.
Without describing the Rosicrucian path in detail today, we will bring out what is essential both to it and to the way of knowledge at the present time. The characteristic of both is that everyone who gives advice and guidance for Initiation will value in the deepest sense the independence and inviolability of the sphere of the human Will. Hence the essential point is that through a special kind of moral and spiritual culture the ordinary interweaving of the physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego must be changed. And those directions which are given for the training of the moral feelings, as also those for concentration in thinking, for meditation—all this makes finally for the one goal of loosening the spiritual texture which binds together the physical and etheric bodies, so that the etheric body does not remain so firmly fitted into the physical body as it naturally is. All the exercises strive after this lifting out, this loosening, of the etheric body. Thereby another union between the astral body and the etheric body is brought about. It is because in ordinary life the etheric body and the physical body are so firmly united that the astral body cannot normally feel or experience what is going on in the etheric body. Because the etheric body has its seat within the physical body, our astral body, and our ego perceive only what the physical body brings them from the world and enables them to think of through the instrument of the brain. The etheric body is too deeply embedded in the physical body for it to be experienced in ordinary life as an independent entity, as an independent instrument of cognition, or as an instrument of feeling and willing.
The efforts in concentrated thinking, according to the instructions given nowadays—and given also by the Rosicrucians—the efforts in meditation, the cleansing of the moral feelings: all these finally produce on the etheric body the effect described in my book, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds. As we use our eyes for seeing and our hands for grasping, so eventually we shall use the etheric body with its organs, but for looking into the spiritual, not the physical, world. The way in which we gather together and concentrate our inner life works for the independence of the etheric body.
It is necessary, however, that we should first permeate ourselves, at least tentatively, with the idea of karma. And we do this when we establish a certain moral equilibrium, a balance of the soul-forces of feeling. A person who cannot to a certain extent grasp the thought that 'in the long run I myself am to blame for my impulses', will not be able to make good progress. A certain equanimity and understanding with regard to karma, even if only a purely hypothetical understanding, are necessary as a starting-point. A person who never gets away from his ego, who is so dependent upon his narrowly limited ways of feeling and perception that when things go wrong he always blames others and never himself; a person who is always filled with the idea that the world, or a part of his environment, is against him; a man who never gets beyond the results of applying ordinary thinking to whatever can be learnt from exoteric Theosophy—such a person will find progress particularly difficult. Hence it is well that in order to develop equanimity and calmness of soul we should make ourselves familiar with the idea that when something does not succeed, particularly on the occult path, we must blame not others but ourselves. This does most to help our progress. What helps least is always wanting to lay the blame on the world outside, or always wanting to change our training methods.
Our attitude in such matters is more important than perhaps appears. It is better to test carefully, at all times, how little we have learnt, and to seek the fault in ourselves when progress is not made. It is a quite significant advance when we can make up our minds always to seek the fault in ourselves. Then we shall see that we are making progress not only in farther off things but also in matters of external life. Those who have some experience in this field will always be able to testify that by accepting the blame for their own non-success, they have found something that makes precisely their external life easy and bearable. We shall get on much more easily with our environment when we can truly grasp this fact. We shall rise above much grumbling and hypochondria, above complaining and lamenting, and pursue our way more calmly. For we should reflect that in every true modern Initiation he who gives advice is under the strictest obligation not to penetrate into the innermost sanctuary of the soul. With regard to this most inward part of the soul, therefore, we have from the start to undertake something for ourselves, and we should not complain that we are perhaps not getting the right advice. The advice may be right and yet the results may not be satisfactory, if we fail to make the resolve I have indicated.
This equanimity, this calmness, once we have made our choice—and the choice should come only from a serious resolve—is a good ground for meditation concerned with thoughts and feelings. In everything founded on Rosicrucianism an important point is that in meditation and concentration we are always directed not to dogma but to the universally human. The deviation of which we spoke yesterday takes its start from subject-matter that is first given to the aspirant for holding in his mind. But what if this subject-matter had first to be tested by occult cognition? What if it were not in any way firmly established in advance? We must take our stand on Rosicrucian principles, one of which is that we are not in a position to decide about anything which is supported only by external documents, for example, the accounts of what took place as the Event of Golgotha. We must come to know these things first by the occult path; we may not assume them beforehand. Hence we should start from the universally human, from that which can be justified by every soul.
A glance into the great world, marveling at the revelation of light in the sun, feeling that what our eyes see of light is only the external veil of the light, its external revelation, or, as is said in Christian esotericism, the glory of light, and then yielding oneself up to the thought that behind the external sensible light something quite different is hidden—all this is fundamentally human. To think of, to gaze on, the light spread out through infinite space, and then clearly to feel that in this infinitely extended element of the light something spiritual must live, something which weaves this web of light in space; to concentrate upon these thoughts, to live in them—here we have something universally human, presented not through dogma but through universal feeling. Or again, to perceive the warmth of nature, to feel how through the universe, along with the warmth, something moves in which there is spirit. Then, out of certain relationships in our own organism with the feeling of love, to concentrate on the thought of how warmth can exist spiritually, how it lives pulsing through the world. Then, to sink oneself into what we can learn from intuitions given to us by modern occult teaching. Then to take counsel with those who know something in this realm as to concentrating in the right way upon world thoughts, cosmic thoughts. And further, the ennobling, the cleansing, of moral perceptions, whereby we come to understand that what we feel to be moral is reality. So we rise above the prejudice that these moral feelings are something transitory; we realise that they live on, are stamped into us as moral realities. We learn to feel the responsibility of being placed in the world as conscious beings, together with our moral feelings. All esoteric life is fundamentally directed towards universally human experiences of this kind.
I will now describe how far we can go through exercises which take their start in this way from human nature, if only we devote ourselves to a clear-sighted examination of our own human nature. From this beginning we come to a loosening of the connection between the physical body and the etheric body, and to a new kind of knowledge. We give birth as it were, to a second man within ourselves, so that we are no longer so firmly connected with the physical body as before. And in the finest moments of life we feel the etheric and astral bodies as though enclosed in an external sheath, and thereby know ourselves to be free from the instrument of the physical body. That is what we attain. We shall then be led to see our physical body in its true being, and to recognise how it affects us when we are within it. We become aware of the whole working of the physical body upon us only when we have in a certain sense come out of it, like the snake which after casting its skin can look upon the skin from outside, though feeling it as a part of itself. Through the first stages of Initiation we learn in like manner to feel ourselves free from the physical body, and learn to recognise it. At this moment quite special feelings will steal over us, which may be described as follows. (There are so many different experiences along the path of Initiation that it has not yet been possible to describe them all. In Knowledge of the Higher Worlds you will find much on the subject, but there is a great deal more.)
The first experience, open to nearly everyone who turns from ordinary life to pursue the path of knowledge, leads us to say, in accordance with our feeling: 'This physical body as it is, as it appears to me, has not been formed by myself. Most certainly I have not made this physical body, through which I have been brought to be what I am in the world. Without this body, the Ego which I now regard as my great ideal, would not have arisen within me. I have become what I am only through having kept my physical body riveted upon me.'
At first all this gives rise to something like resentment, bitterness, against the Cosmic Powers. It is easy to say, 'I will not cherish this resentment.' But when there arises before us in melancholy majesty a picture of what we have become through being bound up with the physical body, the effect is overwhelming. We feel something like bitter hatred for the Cosmic Powers on this account. But now our occult training must be so far advanced that we overcome this hatred and on a higher level can say with our whole being, with our individuality which has already come down into repeated incarnations, that we ourselves are responsible for what our physical body has become. When we have mastered the bitterness, we experience the perception, already often described: 'Now I know I am that very thing which appears there as the changed form of my physical being. That I am myself. But because my physical being was crushing me to death, I knew nothing of it.'
We stand here before the significant meeting with the Guardian of the Threshold. But if we come so far, if through the strenuousness of our exercises we experience what has just been said, then from out of what is common to human nature we recognise that we are as we are in our present form as the result of preceding incarnations. But we also recognise that we can experience the deepest pain and must work our way out beyond this pain to the overcoming of our present existence. And for every man who is sufficiently far advanced and has experienced these feelings in all their intensity, who has looked upon the Guardian of the Threshold, there arises of necessity an Imaginative picture, a picture not painted by constraint, as in Jesuitism, from passages in the Bible but a picture that each man experiences through having felt, in a general human sense, what he is. Through these experiences he will quite naturally come to know the picture of the Divine Ideal-Man, who like us lived in a physical body, and who like us in this physical body felt all that a physical body can bring about. The Temptation, and the picture of it as presented to us in the synoptic Gospels, the leading of Christ Jesus to the mountain, the promise of all external realities, the desire to cling to these outer realities, the temptation to remain attached to matter: in short, the temptation to remain with the Guardian of the Threshold and not to pass beyond him appears to us in the great Imaginative picture of Christ Jesus standing on the mountain, with the Tempter beside Him—a picture that would have arisen before us even if we had never heard of the Gospels. And then we know that he who wrote the story of the Temptation depicted his own experience of seeing, in the spirit, Christ Jesus and the Tempter. Then we know it is true in the Spirit that the writer of the Gospel has described something that we ourselves can experience even if we knew nothing of the Gospels. Thus we shall be led to a picture which is similar to the picture in the Gospels. We gain for ourselves what stands in the Gospels. Nothing is forced upon us; everything is drawn forth from the depths of our own nature. We proceed from the universally human and bring forth the Gospels afresh through our occult life. We feel ourselves at one with the writers of the Gospels.
Then there arises within us another feeling, a next step along the occult path. We feel how the Tempter has grown into a powerful Being who is behind all the phenomena of the world. Yes, we learn indeed to know the Tempter, but by degrees we learn in a certain way to value him. We learn to say: 'The world spread out before us, whether it be Maya or something else, has its right to exist; it has revealed something to me.' Then comes a second feeling, a quite definite one for every person who fulfils the conditions of a Rosicrucian initiation. The feeling arises: 'We belong to the Spirit Who lives in all things, and with Whom we have to reckon. We cannot in the least comprehend the Spirit if we do not surrender ourselves to it.' Then fear comes over us. We experience fear such as every real knower must undergo; a feeling for the greatness of the Cosmic Spirit who pervades the world. We are in the presence of this greatness and we feel our own powerlessness. We feel also what we might have become in the course of the earth's history, or in that of the Cosmos. We feel our own impotent existence so far removed from Divine existence. We feel fear in face of the ideal we must come to resemble, and of the magnitude of the effort which should lead us to that ideal. As through esotericism we must feel the whole magnitude of the effort, so must we feel this fear as a struggle we take upon ourselves, a wrestling with the Spirit of the Cosmos. When we feel our own littleness, and the necessary struggle laid upon us to attain our ideal, to become one with that which works and weaves in the world—when we experience this with fear, then only may we lay fear aside and betake ourselves to the path, to the paths which lead us to our ideal. And if we feel this completely and rightly, there comes before us yet another significant Imagination. If we had never read a Gospel, if mankind had never had such an external book, a spiritual picture would rise before our clairvoyant sight.
We are led out into the solitude which stands clearly before the inner eye, and we are brought before the picture of the Ideal Man who in a human body experienced all the immeasurable fears and anguish that we ourselves can taste in this moment. The picture of Christ in Gethsemane stands before us, as He experienced fear to an overwhelmingly intensified degree, the fear that we ourselves must feel on the path of Initiation, the fear that wrung from His brow the Bloody Sweat. That is the picture we encounter at a certain point on our occult path, independently of all external documents. So we have, standing before us like two great pillars on the occult path, the story of the Temptation experienced spiritually, and the scene on the Mount of Olives experienced spiritually. And then we understand the words: Watch and pray, and live in prayer, so that you will never be tempted to remain standing at any one point, but will continually stride forward.
This means that first of all we experience the Gospel; we experience everything so that we could write it down just as the writers of the Gospels have described it. For we do not need to take these two pictures from the Gospel; we can take them out of our own inner consciousness; we can bring them forth out of the Holy of Holies of the soul. No teacher is needed to come and say: 'You must place before yourself in imagination the Temptation, and the scene on the Mount of Olives.' We need only bring before ourselves that which can be developed in our consciousness through meditation, purification of our common human feelings, and so on. Then, without constraint from anyone, we call forth the Imaginations which are contained in the Gospels.
In the Jesuit spiritual movement the pupil had the Gospels given to him first, and afterwards he experienced what the Gospels describe. The way we have indicated today shows that when a man has taken the path of the spiritual life, he experiences occultly that which is connected with his own life, and thereby can experience through himself the pictures, the Imaginations, of the Gospels.


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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
7 Questions For...a college student with cerebral palsy
An amazing woman named Erin Breedlove recently found this blog, for which I am grateful. She's a college student with cerebral palsy who's studying to be a musical therapist and has a blog, Empowering People And Changing Lives. As Erin writes, "Though my CP is mild, I feel the social effects of it almost daily. Everything from the stares by ignorant people in the aisle of the grocery store to the frustrations of being nineteen years old and unable to drive as of right now seems to get to me.... I know, though, that I am blessed." Erin's supersmart, funny, enthusiastic and really inspirational. See for yourself!
How old were you when you were diagnosed with cerebral palsy?
I was diagnosed at 14 months of age, but the injury that caused it was congenital. The complete cause is still unknown, but the considerable factors are that I was born as "Twin A" and at 26 weeks gestation. At birth, I suffered a brain hemorrhage with a "grade 4+" bleed, which means that I was losing more blood from my brain than my body was equipped to handle at the time. In addition to cerebral palsy, I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which is an excess of cerebrospinal fluid on the brain. My parents, my doctors, and I all believe that both injuries are connected; however, they are two separate injuries that result in two separate conditions. "Twin B," Caitlin, is absolutely fine; she's s a broadcast journalism major at the University of Georgia.
What prognosis were your parents given?
My parents were told that I would never walk, talk, read, write, or drive. The doctors didn't expect any sort of functionality out of me. In fact, I began proving them wrong when I was two years old and could spell my name. When I was four and a half, my doctor was "breaking the news" to my parents that I would have to be placed in a wheelchair. Not even a year later, I took my first step. Since then, I have graduated high school with a 3.91 GPA and gone to college. The only thing that hasn't come for me yet, but will very, very soon, is driving.
Growing up, which therapy was most helpful to you, and why?
The 15 years of physical therapy that I have gone through due to its rigor and its nature of strengthening muscles that are necessary for many vital life skills. The therapist that taught me to walk is my angel. She worked with me from the time I was two months old until I was five-and-a-half to ensure that I could walk. Physical therapy's main focus for me, as with many others with cerebral palsy, was to strengthen my "big" muscles (i.e. the muscles that you use to walk, play, and climb, such as your hamstrings and your hips). I find myself applying the skills that I learned in physical therapy as a young child on a day-to-day, and sometimes even hourly, basis. For instance, when I put on my clothes, the stretching and the coordination involved are possible due to the exercises and the many years of therapy to which I committed myself.
What's been the biggest challenge for you?
That's a really tough question. In a broad sense, the biggest challenge, and the one I've faced for my entire life, has been dispelling the stereotypes that people have regarding people with cerebral palsy and disabilities in general. Simply because I "walk funny" doesn't mean that I can't achieve my dreams. Simply because I sometimes have a hard time with the physical act of handwriting doesn't mean I can't type 85 words per minute with one hand!
In a narrow sense, one of the hardest things that I have had to learn has been washing my hair with one hand. I'm female, and fortunately, but unfortunately, I have a thick head of hair, so it has been difficult. However, just as with anything, with practice, persistence, determination, and willpower, anything is possible!
Why did you decide to become a music therapist?
Music therapy combines all three disciplines in which I've seen myself at various points in my life: a healthcare professional of advanced degree, a music teacher, and a special education teacher. It will give me the opportunity to become a healthcare professional and will give me the opportunity to obtain knowledge from a medical, musical, and special education perspective. One of my mentors, David Knott, leads a session in a Youtube video that inspired my final decision. You can also read more about my inspiration on my blog.
Music therapists are certified by the American Music Therapy Association. Thus, I will complete my undergraduate degree in music therapy, which will include both courses that are therapy-intensive and those that are music-intensive. Those that are therapy-intensive study the methods and practices of music therapy such as the characteristics of certain impairments and the ways in which music therapy can best serve those populations.
The music-intensive courses are no different than those that a music major must take. They include courses in music theory, in certain instruments and the methods used to learn and play those instruments so that a student may gain proficiency, and music history.
The "methods" courses will be tough for me, but there have been some modifications made for me in those areas. The methods courses consist of courses in stringed instruments, in brass instruments, in percussion instruments, and in using the voice as an instrument. Music therapy majors are required to have three of the four methods courses. Since voice is my primary instrument, I will take the vocal methods course. I will also take the percussion course, but instead of taking the brass and strings courses, i will take seven semesters of a mixture of sign language and a nice hodgepodge of things that will benefit me in my therapy career such as psychology courses and special education courses.
There is also a requirement of guitar proficiency, as stated by our certifying board. Thus, the music therapy department will be teaching me, despite all of my dexterity issues, to play the guitar! I am more than excited, and I plan to post videos of the experience to my blog quite often!
Upon completion of my coursework, I am required to spend 1,080 hours in an internship with a board certified music therapist, as stated, yet again, by our certifying board. I'm already looking into internships in Illinois, Ohio, New York, Georgia, and Tennessee. At the termination of my internship, I will move on to take the certification test. Then, I hope to become "Erin Breedlove, MT-BC (Music Therapist-Board Certified)" and begin my Master's program, while working as a Graduate Assistant for my school. After practicing for a few years, I hope to attend Florida State University to obtain my PhD in Music Therapy, largely influenced by my current adviser, mentor, and dear friend.
What kinds of things do you love doing in your spare time?
As a college student, I'm inclined to say, "Spare time? What's that?" In all honesty, though, in the spare time that I do have, I absolutely love to blog. I've just found a sense of community within the blogosphere, and it has really shown me that I can exercise another of my passions, which is creative writing, while educating others regarding an issue that is so near and dear to my heart.
In my spare time, I also work with individuals with special needs in a variety of volunteer settings. Mostly, now, however, it has been in the music therapy and related settings, but I have worked with these special people for seven and a half years, and it has been the best seven and a half years my life has ever seen!
I'm also the president of our organization for disability advocacy on campus in which I am responsible for coordinating awareness activities to educate the campus community in terms of the lives of people affected by disability and the issues facing the disability community.
What's the most important advice you'd give to a parent of a special-needs child?
Never, ever lose faith or give up hope in your child and/or his/her abilities. The going may get tough, and the hope may run short, but your child can sense whether or not you support them, no matter the age. Don't let yourself use the words "You can't" or "You're different" when around your child. Sure, there may be things that they cannot do, and you may know them from a medical standpoint, but let me assure you, friends, that miracles happen each and every day. Frankly, as one of my dear friends says, "What is normal, anyway?"
Your child can sense your support, and there is an endless stroke of gratitude in them when they become independent adults for the times that you didn't lose faith and the times that you encouraged them to be all that they could, despite the limitations that they may have had and the challenges that they may have faced.
19 comments:
Thanks for posting this interview with a bright, articulate, strong young lady who happens to have CP. What a beautiful story she has! I will definitely have to check out her blog.
I am thankful for the advice that she gives parents. I needed that reminder not to get caught up in what I am told or even what I see right now, but to hope for and believe in great things to come!- AnonymousDecember 29, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Erin & Ellen, I am so inspired! I'm the mother of a non-verbal 5 year old with apraxia.


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MPAA Rated – PG
It's 1:40 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right
The Big Year Movie Stats & Links |
Starring: | Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, Jack Black |
MPAA Rated: | PG |
Released By: | Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment |
Release Date: | January 31, 2012 |
Kiddie Movie: | It's safe for them, but not too funny. |
Date Movie: | My wife fell asleep, but thought the parts she was awake for were okay. |
Gratuitous Sex: | Some talk and hints but no one gets it on. |
Gratuitous Violence: | Just some slapstick, birding violence. |
Action: | Nah. |
Laughs: | Chuckles. |
Memorable Scene: | There is a touching scene with Brad and his dad. |
Memorable Quote: | Nothing really. |
Directed By: | David Frankel |
Cool Things About the Blu-ray: | "The Bird Migration" featurette about the making of what kind of cool. |
It's a movie that has three, comedic powerhouses in the likes of Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson. It's a movie that is ripe for making fun of a culture many might find odd – namely birding. It's a movie that's rated PG? Uh oh. It's "The Big Year." Okay, maybe not that big of an "Uh oh," but an "Uh oh," none-the-less.
So, it turns out a "Big Year" in the birding world has to do with an informal competition among birders (people who like to spot birds), in trying to spot the most species of bird in a period of time. For our movie, the lead Big Year-er is Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson). For our movie we have two other main characters, Brad (Jack Black) and Stu (Steve Martin). Brad is in a dead-end, no fun job, Stu is the elder statesman of a company and looking to retire, and Kenny is a lost soul whose relationships always fall apart because he likes birds.
And so it's a new year, and for a movie length we get to see our three birders travel the countryside in search of birds, and the competition is fierce. Yup, things start out kind of calm, with the birders calling a magical phone number telling them where the next, magical sighting seems to be, and they all flock to the various locals. They are cordial, nice even, until it starts to come out that they are trying to get the Big Year record, currently held by Kenny. Kenny, of course, doesn't like this, and some trickery starts to happen. And all along hilarity is supposed to ensue, or at least lessons about life.
Here's the thing – I felt like "The Big Year" wanted so much to be like a mockumentary about birders, kind of like the movie "Best in Show," but sadly it tried to keep things a little too nice, namely the PG rating, to push the funny to the next level, which is too bad because Wilson, Black, and Martin do their best to be their funny best – it's just the movie can't get there.
It's not that I didn't like "The Big Year," because I sort of did, but I just wanted more. It was a nice enough movie to hang out on a couch and relax for an evening, and it's kid safe if you want them around, but don't expect a lot of hilarity, just some chuckles along the way to find out who actually has the "big year." 2 ½ stars out of 5.
As far as the Blu-ray, as a lot of birding is scenic-oriented, it looks beautiful, and is beautifully shot, so it will look great on your big-screen. The deleted scenes are probably better off deleted, the gag reel isn't that funny (I'm finding that most movie-people can't put together a decent gag reel), but if you do want a nice explanation of how the movie was made, it does have a great featurette called "The Bird Migration" to help along.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!


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Title: Into the Rain
Series: Daughter of Fire - Book Three
Author: Michelle Irwin
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: Feb 28th, 2016
Publisher: Bottom Drawer Publications
Evie Meyers and Clay Jacobs have found paradise in the remote wilderness. Hidden away at the ends of the Earth, they are certain no one can find them. The illusion is shattered when Evie's former lover Aiden crashes into their sanctuary.
The tension caused by the fae's arrival escalates when they discover the reason for his presence. An ever-present foe has kidnapped someone precious to his court, and he needs Clay's help for the rescue. The mission will take them straight into the Rain. The path is a dangerous one, filled with dark secrets and old lies.
With echoes of the past surrounding them and a shadowed threat lurking nearby, both Evie and Clay must put their trust in the hands of an enemy. How will they find a way to reconcile their prejudices and make it out alive?
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Michelle Irwin has been many things: a hobbit taking a precious item to a fiery mountain; a young child stepping through the back of a wardrobe into another land; the last human stranded not-quite-alone in space three million years in the future; and a time-travelling madman in a box. All of these feats and many more were achieved through her voracious reading. Eventually, the cast inside her mind took over and spilled onto the page.
Michelle lives in sunny Queensland in the land down under. A lover of love and overcoming the odds, she primarily writes paranormal and fantasy romance.
Social Link:
Hosted by:


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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday that Herman Cain has withdrawn from consideration for a seat on the Federal Reserve's board amid a focus on past scandals and doubts about his qualifications for the role.
Cain is a former CEO of Godfather's Pizza who dropped out of the 2012 presidential race as he faced allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity. The issues resurfaced after Trump said he intended to nominate Cain to the central bank's board of governors.
Trump tweeted Monday that "My friend Herman Cain, a truly wonderful man, has asked me not to nominate him for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board. I will respect his wishes."
Cain's nomination was all but doomed earlier this month when four Republican senators said they wouldn't vote to confirm him if he were nominated. The GOP holds just a three-seat majority in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to say 10 days ago whether the chamber would confirm Cain.
"There were so many things about (Cain) that were red flags," including his lack of understanding of monetary policy, said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton and longtime Fed watcher. Cain has served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City but didn't participate in any interest rate decisions in that position.
Trump is also considering conservative ally Stephen Moore for a separate vacancy on the Fed's seven-member board.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned the Republicans against using Cain's withdrawal as a "pathway" to approval of Moore, calling him "equally unqualified and perhaps more political."
"Mr. Moore, like Mr. Cain, poses a danger to the economic stability of our country," Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. "Mr. Cain clearly saw the writing on the wall and withdrew his name from consideration; hopefully Senate Republicans will again voice their deep concerns and force Mr. Moore to do the same."
Trump's picks of Cain and Moore raised concerns about the Fed's ability to remain politically independent. Last fall, Cain co-founded a pro-Trump super political action committee, America Fighting Back PAC. It features a photo of the president on its website and says, "We must protect Donald Trump and his agenda from impeachment."
The potential nominations surfaced after Trump spent months attacking his pick to lead the Fed, Jerome Powell, and other Fed officials for raising interest rates four times last year. Those rate hikes hurt the stock market and were unnecessary because there was no inflation threat, Trump has said.
At a meeting in March, Fed policymakers indicated that they expected to keep rates unchanged this year, a sharp change from December, when they suggested that they would lift short-term rates two more times.
The Fed board, along with presidents of the Fed's regional banks, plays a critical role in the U.S. economy, holding meetings to debate and vote on whether to raise their benchmark interest rate. That rate, in turn, affects everything from mortgage rates to the interest rate on auto loans and the interest paid on savings accounts. The Fed typically increases its benchmark rate when it worries inflation is about to accelerate, or cuts it to accelerate growth.
Like Moore and Trump himself, Cain has criticized the central bank's policies. In a 2012 Wall Street Journal column, Cain argued that the Fed's low interest rate policies had distorted the value of the dollar. He advocated a return to the gold standard as a way to control inflation, a position that most economists disagree with. Many economic historians argue that the gold standard, which fixes the dollar's value to a specific amount of gold, worsened the Great Depression.
Cain dropped out of the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination after allegations that he had engaged in sexual harassment when he led the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. An Atlanta woman also said she had conducted an extramarital affair with Cain for more than 13 years.
Cain called the allegations false but said he had "made mistakes in my life."
Before leaving the race, Cain had proposed a "9-9-9" tax plan that called for replacing the current tax system with a flat 9 percent business and individual income tax, and a 9 percent sales tax.


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by Ron Pollack
(Editor's Note: Ron Pollack is the executive director of Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers.)
Since Medicare Part D went into effect in 2006, prescription drugs have been an integral part of the Medicare benefit package. So, the question of how seniors can save additional money on medications often comes up, but so does the question of how the entire Medicare Part D program can be more cost-effective and save taxpayers money without jeopardizing enrollee benefits.
Q: Will closing the Part D "doughnut hole" really save beneficiaries money?
A: Many seniors may not be aware that the infamous "doughnut hole," or gap in coverage, is closing thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Before the health care law was passed, if beneficiaries reached the initial limit on total drug expenses ($2,970 in 2013), they had no prescription drug coverage until they spent an added $3,700 out of their own pockets. But in 2013, people in the doughnut hole are receiving discounts of 52.5 percent on name-brand drugs and 21 percent on generics. These discounts will result in significant savings for about 4 million Medicare beneficiaries in 2013. More importantly, the discounts will continue every year until 2020, when the doughnut hole will be completely eliminated.
Q: Where can we find more value for Medicare dollars?
A: The best opportunity for finding smart savings in Medicare is looking for better deals on what Medicare pays for prescription drugs.
Plans that offer coverage under Medicare Part D are run by private insurers, and Medicare is prohibited from negotiating directly for discounts. An independent 2011 study by the Department of Health and Human Services' Inspector General found that drug manufacturers provide an average 19 percent discount to Medicare Part D plans, while state Medicaid programs receive a discount of 45 percent for the same drugs. This is a substantial savings that could be passed on to beneficiaries if Medicare was allowed to negotiate prices like Medicaid does.
Q: In what ways can Medicare get a better bargain on prescription drugs?
A: Substantial savings could come from obtaining discounts on drugs used by low-income beneficiaries. In fact, before Medicare Part D was enacted in 2003, drug manufacturers were required to provide discounts to low-income beneficiaries. Legislation that has been introduced both in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, and the President's budget proposal, all call for these discounts to be restored. Estimates show that these discounts could save the Medicare program anywhere from $120 to $140 billion over the next 10 years.
The savings from these discounts could be used to improve other aspects of Medicare, or to reduce the deficit.
Q: Would higher discounts in Part D affect the pharmaceutical industry's research and development work?
A: Research and development actually thrived at the same time many of these deeper discounts were in place in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Q: Are there other ways for Medicare to save money on prescription drugs?
A: Other options for lowering the cost of the Part D program include allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers (like the Department of Veterans Affairs does), and letting Medicare operate its own Part D plan alongside private insurers. These alternatives are more complicated than the discounts discussed above, but they are worth considering in the future.
Q: Why do we need to search for savings in Part D?
A: In today's economy, leaders in Washington have tough choices to make about health care spending. It is true that Part D costs less than initially forecast, but that is because enrollment is about 25 percent lower than originally projected, and because increased use of generics has slowed drug spending overall. These developments should not prevent us from looking for better value for taxpayer dollars.


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In the latest body of work by author and photographer Claiborne Swanson Frank, the artist set out to explore what modern motherhood means in the 21st century. Turning her lens on 70 iconic families of mothers and children from such celebrated names as Delfina Figueras, Carolina Herrera, Lauren Santo Domingo, Anne Vyalitsyna, Aerin Lauder, and Patti Hansen, Swanson Frank's stunning portraits capture the emotional bonds and beauty that frame the primal relationship of a mother and her child. Complementing her work is a series of questions-and-answers, in which Swanson Frank delicately tasks each mother to look within themselves and express what being a mother truly means to them. Their answers, while exceedingly thoughtful and introspective, are also amusing, fascinating, and moving. Each one of these deeply intimate and stunning portraits will captivate and inspire readers as they embark on this profound journey that reminds us all of the power of motherhood and the great gift of love.
- 280 pages
- over 100 illustrations
- English language
- Released in April 2018
- W 9.84 x L 12.9 x D 1.57 inch
- Cloth Hardcover
- 6.07 lb


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Welcome to the official site of the 24th Missouri Infantry Volunteers! We are a Civil War reenacting unit made up of authenticity-minded living historians who are committed to accurately portraying the Union soldier in the Western Theater of the Civil War.
"Reenacting is more than a hobby. Pastimes such as stamp collecting, building model airplanes, or tending a garden are ends unto themselves, and carry no particular higher connotations. But ours is a greater calling, and involves a responsibility to accurately recreate some of the darkest but most important days of our nation's past. Therefore, we have an obligation to do it right, and to the best of our abilities. We owe this to history, to the memory of those we represent, to our fellow Americans - and to ourselves!
-Cal Kinzer


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Philippians 2: 1-13
Imitating Christ's Humility
2 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Shining as Lights in the World
12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.


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Whew! It's November and crazy baking is coming up for the holidays. This month, Tuesdays with Dorie is letting us post recipes out of order to fit our eating schedule! If you look around the TWD posts, you'll probably find Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake (selected by Katya of Second Dinner). I didn't have time to find chestnuts so I skipped to the November 17th selection: Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies (picked by Pamela of Cookies with Boys).
You can find Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies on page 76 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Pamela of Cookies with Boys picked a HUGE winner. These cookies are way delicious! Have you checked out Pamela's blog? Such a great baker, chef and mom! I love reading her blog!
Easy to put together and full of yummy spices - including a pinch of black pepper! I only baked off a few and froze the rest so I can pull these out during the holidays. Yum!
Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies
Page 76 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Check out Pamela's blog on November 17th for the recipe.
Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!