text: During a hearing at the Kleberg County Courthouse, the Honorable Dick Alcala, has denied a motion filed by Kleberg/Kenedy County District Attorney John Hubert to recuse 105th District Court Judge Angelica Henandez.Alcala says the DA cant file a global motion and must file a recusal on each individual case. Hubert must file a cause number for each case individually. The motion that was filed by Hubert was seeking a blanket recusal and does not follow the state court rules of procedure.Rudy Trevino is covering the hearing in Kleberg County and will be bringing more updates as they become available.

subset: commoncrawl


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Writer, Editor, Teacher
To see some of the independent bookstores where readers have found or ordered Magpies, check out the Publications Page.
If you would like a signed copy, they are available from Miami's great Books & Books, 305-442-4408.
The latest...
New short stories:
My story "The Tree Man" is in the inaugural issue of Wraparound South. Read it here.
My short story, "Mary Anne's Tan," is featured in Fort Lauderdale Magazine (read it online here).
Illustration for "Mary Anne's Tan," Fort Lauderdale Magazine
"Morning Glories" will be in Fifteen Views of Miami from Burrow Press, a collection of lightly linked stories, due out in November. (Rumor has it there'll be a launch part & reading at Miami Book Fair International.)
"Dancing in the Dark" will appear in Trouble in the Heartland: Stories Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen, to be published by Gutter Books Dec. 1, 2014. (Part of the proceeds will benefit the Bob Woodruff Foundation.) Read more about the project, from editor Joe Clifford. (Draft cover by Chuck Regan of Zelmer Pulp.)
Fall 2014
I'll be among those teaching at the FGCU Sanibel Island Writers Conference, Nov. 6-9.
To see more details about upcoming book group meetings, workshops, and conferences, please go to the Events page.
Around the web
I was among those who took part in a discussion of "Submitting Etiquette" for The Review Review.
Geoffrey Philp interviewed me for his blog about the writing life and the class I'm teaching in Literary Journalism.
Laura Valeri interviewed me for Bookslut.
You can hear me reading my poem "Polylingual" at the start of this short slideshow about the WLRN and O Miami Poetry Festival "That's So Miami" project. Just follow this link and scroll down.
Recent publications
My short story, "Conchology," was published in the Spring 2013 issue of Real South Magazine.
An essay I wrote about the rise, fall, and rise again of Biscayne Boulevard appeared in the Spring issue of FORUM, the Florida Humanities Council magazine, in their series on writers' favorite places.
left: Spring issue of FORUM, Florida Humanities Council
Recent Events
July 27th, along with poet Weslea Sidon, I taught a writing workshop at the Bass Harbor Memorial Library, on Mount Desert Island, ME.. Using the overall theme of "Islands," the workshop drew upon topics including history, memory, myth, nature, community, isolation, boundaries and journeys.
That evening Sidon & I read from our work at the library, with a reception and signing. Events are free and open to the public.
More info here.
In May 2014, I taught two workshops, "Crossing Paths: The Map of Opportunity in Story" and "The Measure of Change: The Short Story," at the Grub Street Muse & the Marketplace Conference in Boston, MA. Information here.
March 28 & 29th I read fiction and took part in a panel on Place and Crime Writing (with Vicki Hendricks and Mary Anna Evans) at the Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers Conference in Fairhope, AL.
On March 22nd, along with Margaret Cardillo and Jim Gustafson, I taught at the 2014 Florida Gulf Coast University Creative Writing Club MiniCon.
My workshop was on "Using Fairy Tales and Myths to Develop and Add Depth to Stories."
March 18th, I spoke about M.F.K. Fisher, ground-breaking food writer and memoirist, at the Miami Culinary Institute, as part of Miami Dade College's celebration of Women's History Month. The talk included a tasting of some of Fisher's dishes, prepared by the students of the MDC Culinary Institute.
January 31st, I was part of the LitChat Literary Salon, held at the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, but available to all via Twitter using the #litchat hashtag. The event kicks off with "Memoir as Message" at 1 PM, and my panel, "Publishing Pathways," was at 5:30, followed by a reception to celebrate the 5th anniversary of #LitChat, and the presentation of awards to Mitchell Kaplan of Books & Books and to the Betsy's Writer's Room.
Over New Year's, I talked about "Masquerade Plots," gave a reading, and took part in a panel on submitting your work to magazines and contests at the Hands On Literary Festival in New Orleans (which included a masquerade ball), Dec. 30, 2013-Jan. 1, 2014. Write ups on my talk and the conference here and here.
December 8th, I spoke about "Jane Austen's Tips for Writers: What Fiction Writers Can Learn from Pride and Prejudice" at the Jane Austen Society of North America South Florida chapter's celebration of the 200th aniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, at Nova Southeastern University's Alvin Sherman Library. Full schedule and details here.
You can see photos and posters from my adventures on the literary trail on the Scrapbook page.
Magpies ~ Gold Medal, Florida Book Awards
Publishers Weekly says of Magpies: "Barrett portrays adult lives with minimal flourishes and a powerful command of setting. Florida is electric with the tension of "all that can happen"—hurricanes, sinkholes, and a boom-and-bust history. It becomes as eerie as it is richly imagined, whether stories take place in an Art Deco building or a gas station. One of the year's finer university press offerings..."
In The Rumpus, Joseph Olshan writes: "Sentence for sentence, Barrett is a superb writer. Her work brims with original ideas, questions and philosophical musings, the product of a probing intelligence and a highly literate sensibility. But what separates her from many contemporary short fiction writers is her consummate story-telling ability."
Chauncey Mabe asks "Why does Lynne Barrett hate me?" in his review.
Melissa Slayton in the Apalachee Review says, "Fans of Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad or Tony Earley's Here We Are in Paradise will enjoy Lynne Barrett's third collection of short stories, which won the Florida Book Awards Gold Medal for General Fiction. Barrett's aesthetic blends a wry take on contemporary American culture with a unique awareness of the Florida landscape. Within this book, one is as likely to encounter an overwrought editor as a sink hole, a gossip columnist as a tropical depression....This collection is tightly crafted yet eclectic."
Emma Trelles says Magpies is "an assemblage of delightfully strange stories" in her New Times list of best things about Miami.
Featured in LitBridge, December 2012.
The book launch at Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL is described in this great blog by Geoffrey Philp.
Magpies is published by Carnegie Mellon University Press and distributed via University Press of New England. For more about the book, see the Magpies page. And while there, learn about Sterling Mulbry, the artist whose painting is on the cover. Info about the Florida Book Awards here.
WLRN Topical Currents Interview
You can hear my conversation with Ariel Gonzalez on WLRN's Topical Currents by going to the About Lynne page or download the full show's MP3 here.
Conversations around the web
"Angles of Belonging," my guest blog about having grown up in NJ, being a "Florida writer," and the many ways characters can connect to place, is at Lisa Romeo Writes.
Dena Santoro has written an appreciation of the (bad) girls in my short stories, at Like Fire.
At The Writerly Life, Gerry Wilson and I discuss thinking about a story's edges and the ever-challenging issue of trying to get too many things done.
Necee Regis interviewed me about Magpies (and compared reading the collection to eating Belgian chocolates) at Beyond the Margins.
On Casey Pycior's blog, The Story is the Cure, we discussed, among other things, my story "Links" and unanticipated consequences of writing about the dot com world.
Laura Richardson interviewed me about Magpies, plot, editing, and much more for Sliver of Stone Magazine.
Angela Kelsey has done a four-part (they're short!) interview with me on her blog. Topics covered include how suspense is created in literary stories, and tips for writers.
I teach in the Creative Writing program in FIU's English Dept, and often speak at writers' conferences around the country. I'm immensely proud of my students, and you can read about some of their many achievements on my Teaching Page.
I was honored to be chosen as one of the 2012 Florida International University Top Scholars, and to be featured in a full-page ad for the university in the Miami Herald.
In 2011 I received an FIU Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentorship, and I previously received one for Excellence in Research.
With FIU President Mark Rosenberg at the 2012 Top Scholars Reception, April 2012.
Other projects:
As editor of Tigertail, A South Florida Annual: Florida Flash, I looked for very short prose works to explore the edges and overlaps between lyrical and narrative approaches. Fifty-four authors with connections to Florida contributed prose poetry, flash fiction, and flash nonfiction of no more than 305 words—a number representing the original South Florida area code.
More about the collection, and the radio contest it inspired, on the Works Edited page.
"What Editors Want"
Glimmer Train republished "What Editors Want" in their Bulletin of Sept. 1, 2011. When The Review Review published "What Editors Want," an essay about the submission process, it "went viral." As editor Becky Tuch reported in their weekly newsletter: "Over at The Review Review, things have been more than a little insane. For one thing, Lynne Barrett's article... 'What Editors Want...' spread around the globe and back, earning us coverage in the L.A. Times and The New Yorker. Yeah, we were pretty excited."


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The State of Indiana is joining with 15 school districts - including John Glenn here in Michiana - in a lawsuit over how the Affordable Care Act could impact part-time workers.
We had a chance to catch up with Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller - who filled the suit - during a stop he made in Elkhart today.
The state and districts don't think the I-R-S should be allowed to fine governments who don't meet the "employer mandate."
That's part of the act that defines full-time as working 30 hours a week, not the 37-and-a-half used by the state as full time.
Zoeller says, "I think as their attorney I want to ask the courts whether the IRS has the authority to require us to change the way our schools and our state government does business."
Zoeller is hoping to get an answer by the end of next year.
WSJV-TV FOX 2858096 County Road 7, SouthElkhart, IN 46517
Switchboard: 574.679.9758News Phone: 574.679.4545Station Fax: 574.294.1267Email: email@example.com


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You might be a webcock....
With apologies to Dean Allen
Merlin Mann who probably coined "webcock" before I even knew I was one.
DAILY VIOLET: What happened with my Security BSides talk
It had been decided months ago that I would give a talk at Security BSides San Francisco. The subject of my talk was up in the air until just before the conference started, and the organizers were okay with that, but to not inconvenience or surprise the organizers, I decided to present the same…
If, when you bring out the big gun to promote your social media expertise, it's an email chain letter.
if you retweeted a link to a post on an SEO blog entitled "how to increase your twitter followers."


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HoopsHype Sam Presti rumors
The Oklahoma City Thunder has named Darko Rajakovic as assistant coach, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. Rajakovic has spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Tulsa 66ers, the Thunder's NBA D-League affiliate. "Darko's diverse basketball background, knowledge of the game and ability to develop players at a high level were clearly apparent during his time in Tulsa, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to add him to our staff," said Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks. "His understanding of the core tenants of what we do, thanks to his time in Tulsa, will maintain a level of consistency that we value and his various head coaching experiences internationally will provide another layer to our coaches." NBA.com
All three of those picks worked better than expected. Durant and Westbrook are perennial All-Stars, and Ibaka is one of the best defenders in the NBA. Presti was astute, but he admits luck played its part. "We'll be the first to say that we've had a tremendous amount of good fortune. Nobody in our organization is taking credit for the development of Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook," said Presti, a Concord native and former Emerson College player. "Our focus was on building a team that was capable of sustainable competitive success. We felt like building through the draft and building an identity for a team over a period of years was the best approach for us. It's really so much about the individual team and organization and how they see their envisioned future." Boston Globe
Buford asked Sam Presti, then a front-office intern, to compile a video of Parker's highlights. After Buford's insistence, Popovich finally relented and watched. Popovich gave Parker another shot, bringing him in for one workout — this one ended prematurely. This time, he'd seen enough. Popovich was convinced. Grantland
In his first public comments since the conclusion of the Thunder's season, Sam Presti on Thursday ended all speculation surrounding Scott Brooks. The general manager said the coach is coming back. "Scotty, I think, did an excellent job," Presti said at his annual season-ending news conference. "I understand we all have a tendency to look at the last game or the last series. I respect that. That's part of sports. I can't do that. I'm looking at a body of work. I'm looking at an understanding of what drives our success and the way in which we've gotten to this point." Oklahoman
The Thunder journeyed to the Western Conference Finals this year for the third time in four seasons and came two wins shy of reaching the NBA Finals. In the process, OKC won 59 games and captured its fourth straight Northwest Division championship. "We'll never take for granted, in Oklahoma City, the opportunity to raise a banner in Chesapeake Arena, as we did with our fourth division title," Presti said. "We won't take for granted 59 wins. Those are things that we respect, we cherish and most importantly we understand will be hard to replicate." Oklahoman
A few weeks ago it seemed unlikely that Porzingis would keep his name in the draft. The 18-year-old Latvian was projected as a potential top-10 pick next year. But sources now say Porzingis has received a promise from the Thunder to draft him in the first round. There's no way he'll be around at 29, so the Thunder's pick at No. 21 is the target. The question is whether that will be high enough to get him. Porzingis going in the late lottery to mid-first round is no longer a pipe dream for this skilled 7-footer with tremendous upside. ESPN.com
Anthony Slater: Sam Presti said its been 'an adventure' trying to get Caron Butler into OKC because of weather delays. Should join team tomorrow. Twitter @anthonyVslater
Ken Berger: After consultation among team, Westbrook and agents, "returning to play was the correct next step," GM Sam Presti said. Twitter @KBergCBS
The Oklahoma City Thunder waived center Daniel Orton, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. Orton appeared in 13 games with the Thunder during the 2012-13 season, averaging 2.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.0 minutes per contest. NBA.com
"How do you think the team has gotten better this off-season?" It was an inquiry that dismissed any preconceived notions and disregarded all pessimism that had been built by a relatively stale summer. And it forced Presti to think, requiring the Thunder general manager depart briefly from his script and spell out how exactly this team could be better when its inactivity primarily suggests it's gotten worse. "Well," Presti said, "I think it all comes down to how you define 'better.'" And with that, Presti spent the better part of the next 30 minutes detailing his definition during his annual preseason news conference. Along the way, he expressed excitement and extreme confidence in his club, choosing to view widespread question marks not as concerns but as opportunities. "We're excited about the opportunity to build on the success and strengths of last season," Presti said, "and we think we have an opportunity to do that." Oklahoman
As excitement builds over Saturday's start to training camp, Westbrook is eagerly anticipating his long-awaited return from the knee injury that cut short his 2013 postseason. Westbrook has not yet been cleared to resume full basketball activities, and neither him nor team officials are providing a timetable for when that final obstacle will be overcome. "We expect him to take part in parts of camp and work his way through different parts until he's ultimately cleared for unrestricted activity," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. "But it's all going to be contingent upon how his body reacts to the additional load that he'll be carrying." Oklahoman
Darnell Mayberry: Statement from Thunder general manager Sam Presti: "We are aware of the situation and take this matter seriously. We are in the process of gathering more information and have no further comment at this time." Twitter @DarnellMayberry
The saying goes "One can judge a man by the company he keep." That gem of a quote is credited to Euripides, 480 B.C. Yet, it could just as easily apply to Oklahoma City Thunder chairman Clay Bennett. Since bringing an NBA franchise to his home state, the Oklahoma City native has stayed pretty much in the shadows, letting general manager Sam Presti be the public face of the organization. However, the business mogul and civic leader gave Oklahomans a rare glimpse into his personal life when he was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. What stood out to them most about his induction was who he chose to present him. He went with NBA legend Bill Russell. Bennett didn't choose the Hall of Fame center just to show off. He did it for the simplest of reasons. Russell is a friend. "I have had a very nice relationship with Bill," Bennett said. "I thought it might be fun to bring him to Oklahoma. And let others hear and enjoy him as I have. He was very gracious to accept. I am honored he would be here." Tahlequah Daily Press
The Oklahoma City Thunder has named Robert Pack and Mike Terpstra as assistant coaches, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. They join Rex Kalamian, Mark Bryant and Brian Keefe on Head Coach Scott Brooks' bench. "We're excited to add Robert and Mike to our coaching staff for the upcoming season," said Head Coach Scott Brooks. "These additions bring diverse backgrounds to our group that will help the further development of our players." Pack joins the Thunder after spending the previous three seasons as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers where he served as the head coach for the Clippers' entry in the 2012 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Prior to that, he spent one season on the New Orleans Hornets bench. NBA.com
Darnell Mayberry: Thunder GM Sam Presti on Fisher: "Derek has proven to be a valuable member of our team and we are excited to have him back." Twitter @DarnellMayberry
Any rumor missing? E-mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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THIS DEAL ENDS 5/1. TigerDirect now boasts a best of Web deal for the Samsung LN40B750 40-inch LCD TV. This set has a full HD picture, HD tuner for hidef content, 150,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, PIP, 2ms response time, 240hz refresh rate and USB inputs for picture viewing.
It's $1,369.96 – $370 coupon (KLY1714) + $0 S&H = $999.96!
Don't forget TigerDirect's $370 coupon: KLY1714 (expires: 5/1)


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Sara Olsen (Founder, CEO)
Sara started SVT Group in 2001 with the vision of catalyzing the adoption of accounting for social value as a standard business practice. She is also the co-founder of the Global Social Venture Competition, author with SocialEdge, and a globally recognized public speaker. With SVT she has designed systems that today reveal the impact of over $2.5Bn in over 23 countries. These systems recognize the cross cutting relationships between impact and financial performance in industries including clean technology, housing, public health, the arts, agriculture, social media, and finance.
Sara attended Dartmouth College and received an MBA and MASW degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Chicago. She considers her most valuable education, however, to come from teaching public high school in Mississippi and helping start a social enterprise at Shorebank Corporation in inner-city Chicago.
Wendy Dougherty (Senior Consultant)
Wendy has over fifteen years of experience implementing international development programs at the World Bank and for USAID in twenty countries across four continents. Wendy is a KPMG alumnae and has experience monitoring multi-million dollar grants and providing strategic advice on grantmaking effectiveness for international funders, private and corporate foundations, and public charities such as the The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Chevron Global Fund, Hewlett-Packard Company, Mattel Children's Foundation, F. Hoffman – La Roche, Ltd., and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Wendy's sector knowledge includes global health, education systems, gender equity, entrepreneurship, and micro enterprise. She is fluent in Spanish.
Wendy received her Master of Pacific International Affairs from UCSD's School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. She received her B.A. from Duke University. She currently serves as Board Chair of School-to-School International, a nonprofit organization that supports quality education and school health in Africa.
Shubha Kumar (Consultant)
Shubha possesses deep expertise in strategic planning and evaluation in the social impact industry. Formerly the Chief Operating Officer of an international humanitarian NGO, she is a consultant to various domestic and international non-profit, philanthropic, and government agencies, corporate social responsibility departments and private service providers, in the primary areas of: strategic planning, monitoring & evaluation of programs, capacity building and training, healthcare management, and systems development. She is also the first American PhD (and one of the first worldwide!) in Social Return on Investment (SROI) Analysis and has pioneered this approach within the global health and development industry, developed a curriculum on SROI delivered in over 11 African countries, created an online training on SROI (www.globalsroi.com), and given multiple talks worldwide on this subject. Shubha has also designed and co-taught several graduate-level courses in the areas of healthcare management and business development at UCLA, where she also worked as a research associate in various departments for 5 years.
Shubha received her PhD in Healthcare Management & Policy, Master's in Public Health (MPH), and Bachelors in Biology from the University of California Los Angeles. She is fluent in English, Hindi, and Spanish (and speaks some French).
Priya Patil (Senior Consultant)
Priya is an accomplished social scientist and development professional with deep experience in impact measurement, philanthropy, and social action. She brings 12 years of experience leading social investment and impact efforts in emerging economies for USAID, World Bank, UNFPA, and the Nike Foundation.
Priya received her PhD and masters degrees from Johns Hopkins University, and a bachelors degree from the University of Chicago. Priya also sits on the advisory board for Tipping Point Community, a venture fund focused on poverty alleviation in the San Francisco area.
Erin Rogalski (Consultant)
Erin brings expertise in both investor relationships and impact quantification to SVT's work. Hailing from a corporate finance background, Erin has spent a majority of her career in banking and mergers and acquisitions. She applies those skills to challenges in the identification and measurement of various types of impact, and to the communication of the benefits of such impact to prospective capital sources.
Erin holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and spent one year as a post-graduate global fellow at The Indian School of Business. Erin received her BS in Management/Finance from Case Western Reserve University.
Camille Dubois and Hugo Aruajo (Co-Leads, Latin America)
Hugo brings a background in impact management and global product supply chain management to SVT. For Kimberly Clark he managed marketing for a line of baby products made with shea butter that were produced in the US for sale in México. He understands the buy-side perspective of the shea value chain. Hugo also has significant experience conducting field research and developing a benchmark of best practices for Fairlink. Hugo also collaborated with Ashoka Full Economic Citizenship Program, and Walmart, on this type of research and analysis. He has coordinated and conducted field research across 10 Latin American countries. He is also trained in Social Return on Investment analysis and the Global Reporting Initiative.
Hugo has played a role in spurring the Coconut Carbon Industry and its derivatives. He also consulted to Ashoka, Kimberly Clark and Rioverde (an NGO working with more than 400 women) on their Social Marketing strategies. He is fluent in Spanish, English and French.
Camille specializes in international market research and agricultural value chain development. She has conducted field research in Senegal, has worked closely in rural communities of Chiapas, Mexico, and has researched business models that generate positive social impact in Latin America. Camille co-founded Sustentavia with Aruajo.
Camille holds a master´s degree in Euro-Asian Business and International Management from ESCP-EAP. She also has a BA cum laude in Communication & Marketing. Her native language is French, and she is fluent in Spanish and English.
Karina Kloos (Consultant)
Karina contributes to the efforts of those bridging social science research with social justice efforts. As a PhD student at Stanford University, she utilizes quantitative and qualitative methods to study social movement organizations, political mobilization of ethnic minorities, and nonprofit/NGO evaluation. Her research is informed by experience in nonprofit consulting, the start-up of a nonprofit evaluation platform, and work with NGOs in the United States, south and Southeast Asia, southern Africa, and the Middle East. Further, her knowledge builds from her educational background in international business (BA, University of Notre Dame) and international relations (MA, AGSIRD, Paris).
Karina currently serves on the program evaluation committee of an educational organization in rural Cambodia, PEPY, which continues to inspire and inform her ongoing inquiry into more effective processes of empowerment and opportunity around the world.
EcoShift Consulting
EcoShift helps organizations understand and reduce environmental impact, lower costs, manage regulatory risk, and enhance their brand. EcoShift does the technical planning that enables strategic decision-making to reduce climate impact and increase sustainability. Core services include GHG Inventories, Carbon Reduction Strategies, Life Cycle Analysis, and Energy Assessments. EcoShift consultants also engage in climate policy and program design, as well as provide advising to public and private organizations on greenhouse gas reduction policies.
Environmental Capital Group
ECG advises large institutional investors on how to address environmental challenges while creating substantial shareholder value by investing in clean energy and technologies. From 2008-2010 ECG measured the net environmental benefits of some $9 billion in private equity assets, the largest such undertaking known to SVT, demonstrating that the environmental impacts of privately-held companies can be measured at a massive scale, both economically and credibly through a peer-reviewed process. The firm also facilitates and brokers public-private partnerships, such as The P8 and the Asia Pacific Partnership, to catalyze investments in low-carbon technologies.
Social Enterprise Associates
SEA is a consulting firm offering business acumen, managerial experience, financing opportunities, and practical research to business and community efforts seeking social good. We foster 'triple bottom line' solutions supporting entrepreneurs, their organizations, and industries where they operate.
Veebit Labs
All too often corporations don't know what motivates their employees, or financial advisors feel stumped about what their clients value most; Veebit specializes in quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools to measure the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and communities, and build communication exercises that generate ongoing engagement. The result is a vibrant organizational culture or relationship that gives employees and customers a voice, and provides management and advisors with invaluable market intelligence.
The Veebit Value ProfilingTM service is applied to research involving both internal and external stakeholders and can inform a wide array of projects, from employee training and engagement exercises, to targeted marketing strategies and sales campaigns, to consensus building around CSR initiatives and investment portfolio policy statements.
Brett Galimidi (Partner Emeritus and Advisor)
Brett specializes in using information technology, entrepreneurship and innovation to solve environmental and social problems. With the understanding that people and the environment cannot be separated, Brett has led numerous groundbreaking projects in conservation and sustainable business that recognize that people and the environment cannot be separated.
Brett is the co-author of Social Return on Investment: a Guide to SROI Analysis (Lenthe Publishers, 2006), co-author of the Social Edge blog SVT on Impact (produced by the Skoll Foundation) and author of several research papers on development- and environment-related topics. He holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Management from Yale University and a BS in Anthropology from UCLA.
Bryan Martel (Advisor: Environmental Investment Strategy and Technology)
Bryan is the Founder and Managing Director of Environmental Capital Group, which works with institutional investors and others to deploy significant investments into environmentally sustainable opportunities. ECG measures and reports on the net environmental impact and performance of approximately 200 companies in 24 top cleantech funds initially valued at nearly $9 billion.
Before ECG, he was the Founder and CEO of Mobius Technologies, a material science/clean-technology company. At Mobius, Bryan led the development and commercialization of a world scale recycling process with operations in the US, Europe, and Asia. Prior to Mobius, Bryan worked at The Dow Chemical Company and Bechtel. He received engineering degrees from Berkeley and is a registered Professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of California.
Bill Davis (Advisor: Information Systems and Business Intelligence)
Bill is the CEO of the GATE. He has earned the "Go-To" label by CFOs and CIOs in organizations that are facing tough decisions, tight budgets and deadlines that have an option or goal to leverage technology. He specializes in business intelligence in the financial services, banking and consulting industries, including major projects with IBM and American Express.
Bill studied Cognitive Science at Cornell University and has extensive experience providing merger and acquisition due diligence, performance management analysis, and other business intelligence services. He brings extensive experience to ensure projects adhere to strict disciplines within the relevant life cycles for minimizing risks and guaranteeing success.
Pin Kwok (Advisor: Corporate/Social Venture Partnerships, Southeast Asia)
Pin specializes in visioning and development of long‐term strategic partnerships between social entrepreneurs and corporations. She and Stefan Jacob co-founded the BOP Hub based in Singapore with Jack Sim of the World Toilet Organization. Prior to devoting her career to the social impact space she held various roles in Citigroup – strategic planning, business development, process optimization, and organizational consulting.
Pin received her MBA from UC Berkeley, where she co‐chaired the Global Social Venture Competition. She holds a B.S. magna cum laude from New York University, is fluent in Mandarin and speaks basic French.
Kirsten Gagnaire (Advisor: Social Enterprise Business Models, mHealth, Ghana)
Kirsten is a pioneer in the social enterprise field with more than 15 years of experience in global concept-to-execution program management, specifically in multi-stakeholder public health and child welfare. She has worked with Ashoka, Grameen, KPMG and numerous others, and founded Social Enterprise Group, where she partnered with Gifford Pinchot III and Bainbridge Graduate Institute to develop Sustayne®, a social venture development methodology, and roll it out nationwide. She is a champion of the mHealth field, and possesses exceptional ability to communicate cross-culturally, manage diverse staff, create commonality between stakeholders, and adapt respectfully to social customs and norms.
Kirsten studied business administration at Seattle University, and has conversational command of French, Russian, and Bambara.


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amg review
This album, the audio complement to a video of the same name, presents an episode of the television series The Bell Telephone Hour broadcast on January 28, 1964, in tribute to Cole Porter. Porter, who would die later the same year, was hailed primarily by the show's hostess, Ethel Merman, who had starred in five of his musicals on Broadway. Joining her was Gretchen Wyler, who had had a featured role in Porter's 1955 show Silk Stockings, along with John Raitt, a Broadway star not generally associated with Porter, and singer Martha Wright. Also joining in was pianist Peter Nero. This cast managed to get through 52 Porter titles in 47 minutes, which should give some sense of how much attention they gave to each song. Most were merely alluded to in lengthy medleys, given a chorus or a verse, although Nero performed "Night and Day" in its entirety and the show's orchestra did "Begin the Beguine." Merman dominated, which was appropriate, since many of the songs she sang had been written with her in mind. The disc adds six tracks from another Merman appearance on The Bell Telephone Hour four years earlier on January 29, 1960, during which she sang a more varied program including works by Irving Berlin and George and Ira Gershwin. As a result, this is largely an Ethel Merman album, even if Cole Porter's picture is on the cover. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi


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Bald Cypress | Cacti | California Bay Laurel | Douglas Fir | Fremont Cottonwood | Great Basin Bristlecone Pine | Joshua Tree | Longleaf Pine | Quaking Aspen | Red Mangrove | Red Maple | Resurrection Fern | Seagrasses | Shagbark Hickory | Skunk Cabbage | Southern Live Oak | Sundews | Truffles | Venus Flytrap | Wild Rice
This widespread plant parasite plays a critical role in the lives of birds and mammals
By cultivating these native plants on your property, you can feed wildlife and enjoy the fruits of your labor during holiday meals and other times
NWF and its partners are helping landowners in the South bring back one of North America's most diverse and threatened ecosystems
Climate change may disrupt the chemistry of milkweeds; gardeners can help monarchs by planting more of these critical host plants
For centuries humankind has explored the mystery and power of fungi, a vast class of organisms that have been culturally, spiritually, ecologically, biologically, and gastronomically significant throughout the ages.
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text: Comments on: Google teams with Biden to host 'fireside' video chat on gun control Back to the article » Charlie Spiering • | January 23, 2013 | 12:00 am Google is teaming up with Vice President Joe Biden to host a video conversation with voters about gun control. Described as a '21st-century spin' on President Roosevelt's fireside radio chats, Google is hosting several "Google+ fireside hangout" events with top Obama administration officials. The chat with Biden will be hosted tomorrow afternoon. "During his 30-minute hangout, Vice President... Web URL: http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2519481 Share this article on Facebook or Twitter Print this article


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From Proteopedia
|1fjd, 20 NMR models ()
|FirstGlance, OCA, RCSB, PDBsum, TOPSAN
|save as pdb, mmCIF, xml
The hPar14 protein is a peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase and is a human parvulin homologue. The hPar14 protein shows about 30 % sequence identity with the other human parvulin homologue, hPin1. Here, the solution structure of hPar14 was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The N-terminal 35 residues preceding the peptidyl prolyl isomerase domain of hPar14 are unstructured, whereas hPin1 possesses the WW domain at its N terminus. The fold of residues 36-131 of hPar14, which comprises a four-stranded beta-sheet and three alpha-helices, is superimposable onto that of the peptidyl prolyl isomerase domain of hPin1. To investigate the interaction of hPar14 with a substrate, the backbone chemical-shift changes of hPar14 were monitored during titration with a tetra peptide. Met90, Val91, and Phe94 around the N terminus of alpha3 showed large chemical-shift changes. These residues form a hydrophobic patch on the molecular surface of hPar14. Two of these residues are conserved and have been shown to interact with the proline residue of the substrate in hPin1. On the other hand, hPar14 lacks the hPin1 positively charged residues (Lys63, Arg68, and Arg69), which determine the substrate specificity of hPin1 by interacting with phosphorylated Ser or Thr preceding the substrate Pro, and exhibits a different structure in the corresponding region. Therefore, the mechanism determining the substrate specificity seems to be different between hPar14 and hPin1.
Solution structure of the human parvulin-like peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase, hPar14., Terada T, Shirouzu M, Fukumori Y, Fujimori F, Ito Y, Kigawa T, Yokoyama S, Uchida T, J Mol Biol. 2001 Jan 26;305(4):917-26. PMID:11162102
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
About this Structure
1fjd is a 1 chain structure with sequence from Homo sapiens. Full experimental information is available from OCA.
- Terada T, Shirouzu M, Fukumori Y, Fujimori F, Ito Y, Kigawa T, Yokoyama S, Uchida T. Solution structure of the human parvulin-like peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase, hPar14. J Mol Biol. 2001 Jan 26;305(4):917-26. PMID:11162102 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jmbi.2000.4293
Proteopedia Page Contributors and Editors (what is this?)
Categories: Homo sapiens | Fujimori, F. | Fukumori, Y. | Ito, Y. | Kigawa, T. | RSGI, RIKEN Structural Genomics/Proteomics Initiative. | Shirouzu, M. | Terada, T. | Uchida, T. | Yokoyama, S. | Isomerase | Parvulin | Peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase | Riken structural genomics/proteomics initiative | Rsgi | Structural genomic


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A month or so ago I received an email from a young protestant who wondered: "What good is monasticism?" His arguments and observations were pretty similar to others I've heard over the years. I recall my older brother once asking me, "If a hermit is in the desert and is very holy, what good does it do since no one knows he's there."
These questions, of course, come from our modern mindset in which good and bad are measured only on utilitarian grounds. Things are good if they are "useful." Some of the worst ethics ever produced by the human race were utilitarian in character. In the name of "usefulness," millions of people have been murdered. It is not a very useful category (forgive the pun).
A few brief observations:
I am a married priest, not a monastic, but I know how much we need them. Orthodoxy is a maximalist religion. We write canon law based on the maximum good (in most instances) and then, by economy, apply that canon to individual cases. I want monastics setting the bar higher than I can reach – so that I will keep reaching.
Our task as Christians involves the sanctification of all life and time – returning everything to its right relationship with God (or at least recognizing the sanctification of all life and time). Thus the world does not need the Church to be more like the world, but more like the Kingdom of God which reveals the truth of the world in Christ.
May the good God deliver us from the temptation of utility and help us to be useful to the Kingdom. The two can be very different things.
A final question: For the sake of how many righteous does the Lord spare our wicked world today?
Author comments have a tan color background for you to easily identify the posts author in the comments
Thanks for writing such logical and hopeful articles. Through your blog I find myself each day becoming more and more aware that Orthodoxy is everything it claims and more. God willing, I hope to start the process of being united to Christ in his One, Holy, Catholic Church.
Thank you!
Someone said very much the same thing in a comment on my blog, and my response was to query the utilitarian assumptions. I'll try to put in a link to your post too, as I think you deal with it more fully. If you have time, perhaps you might like to have a look at the comment, and see what you think. How widespread is this utilitarian viewpoint? It seems a strange coincidence that someone should ask the questions one day, and you should respond the next!
God bless you, Fr. Stephen, for writing this! I, too, am amazed that your postings address issues living in my mind and speaking to my heart.
As I learn about the role of monastic life in Orthodoxy, I continually thank God. When we were catechumen, I greatly benefited from hearing Mother Melania (sp?) speak at a women's retreat. We heard such encouragement and practical instruction in how to draw close and live in the God who loves us — we were an audience of mostly mothers, grandmothers and businesswomen present. Obviously God is present in this role and wills the monastic life to be a part of His Bride, the Church.
May God bless you on your journey!
Fr. Stephen,
"I am a married priest, not a monastic, but I know how much we need them. Orthodoxy is a maximalist religion. We write canon law based on the maximum good (in most instances) and then, by economy, apply that canon to individual cases. I want monastics setting the bar higher than I can reach – so that I will keep reaching."
Since I was received into the church, I've been wondering (and asking around) about the view that monastics live an ideal. To be honest, instead of feeling inspired (which I do sometimes), I mostly feel defeated. If that is our ideal, then what are we waiting for? Why aren't we all doing this? Why am I not doing this? Is married/family life somehow less holy? Are the rest of us just living 2nd class Christian lives? Why is it never the reverse? Based on reading Genesis, I would more likely think that married life is the ideal?
Economia makes more sense to me in terms of God's overall ideal–as we never really live up to it. The monastics inspire me in the sense that they show that living a holy and Godly life here on earth is possible (or at least more possible than I was previously ever led to believe as a protestant) and that we can know God. And I'm very grateful for the prayers of the monastics on behalf of our world. I don't see them in a utilitarian way I don't think. We are all working out our salvation.
But does "ideal" not by its very nature imply ideal for everyone? Help?
I apologize if this is too much for the blog setting. If so, please feel free to move on, and we can talk about this more another time.
Thank you,
Your penultimate paragraph is especially helpful in exposing both the promise and limitations of any discussion of "utility." If we expand our horizons beyond the "one-story modern universe" to include the reality of heaven and hell, angels and demons, and the coming Kingdom… well, then, all sorts of things may be "useful" – like the intercessions of hermits in the desert, the lighting of candles, the sign of the cross, as well as acts of charity and self-discipline that are rebuffed or unnoticed.
As you note, those "useless" things may be profoundly useful in the working out of our salvation and the witness of the Kingdom of God. May God deliver us from thinking that we know what's useful and enable us to be faithful and longsuffering!
While I agree that we need monasticism, I also see the wisdom of what Fr. Schmemann (of blessed memory) called a "monasticism without the desert."
To be sure, monastics provide a powerful witness of forsaking the kingdoms of this world for the Kingdom of Christ, but no more so that the married couple living the faith on a daily basis with all the temptations and distractions of modern life.
Monasticism is certainly a God-blessed path to salvation and union with Christ, but so is the ascesis of marriage, and so is the "monasticism without the desert" many faithful believers struggle for every day in their work toward salvation.
I guess I get nervous when monasticism is somehow held up as the "angelic life" as oppossed to the living of the life of faith in the midst of the "desert" of modern America. I also fear "guruism" which can sometimes rear its ugly head.
Monasticism is important and valuable. Thank God for our precious monks AND thank God for those who struggle daily outside thr monastery in this present desert.
I do not think the monastic life is a model of the "ideal" life. Christ is the only model for any of us. But, by necessity, someone who is not incumbered with the world can fast and pray in a manner that I probably cannot in my life as a married man. This doesn't make one state superior to the other. There are aspects of marriage and family that are not available to the monk, a different form of ascesis, but it is not necessarily superior to the life of a monk.
(Incidentally one of my children, when she was a teen, said she thought of our home as a monastery with me as the abbot – if that were so then we had a badly run monastery
The ideal for each of us is Christ. Christ within you the hope of glory, to quote St. Paul. In whatever position or station of life we find ourselves, we seek to live into Christ.
But there is a necessity for monasticism, just as there is a necessity for married people.
I think I affirmed this in my answer to Alyssa. The monasticism without the desert was also a favorite topic of Evdokimov. I generally gathered from Evdokimov that he expected to see monasticism in its traditional form disappear. But he was writing in a different time. Thus far, monasticism has been flourishing again, either postponing Evdokimov's vision or showing it to have been mistaken.
I do not think that it's "useful" to compare or measure married life and the monastic life. Both are more like each other than not.
Let me build the case a little more formally. One of the problems of the criticism of monasticism is the argument from utility (as I wrote about above). Monasticism, if anything, refutes this argument by its very nature.
Marriage could easily be justified by its utility, but I think this is a mistake as well. If anything, monasticism helps reveal the true nature of our life with God (that it is not a utilitarian life). By the same token, the purpose of marriage is not utility either – but the service of the Kingdom. It's why we crown people in weddings.
I was told by the priest who brought us into the Church, Fr. Nicholas Dotson that Orthodoxy is not an either/or faith but a "both/and" way of life because it is holistic and inclusive if you will…
There is no you have to be one thing or the other in Orthodoxy.
Monasticism in the United States is still considered exotic and foreign and any number of things that the average American just cannot see the need to be, when in fact it is the ultimate Christian expression of love and devotion to Jesus Christ.
On the blog Ancient Church there is a wonderful posting by Mother Ephrosynia of the Convent of Lesna, France; called: Monasticism in the 21st Century: A Viable Alternative or a Forgotten Ideal? here is the part that has always touched my heart:
"We do give up a lot in monastic life. My arms have ached after holding my friends' children, knowing that I would never hold my own. But the Lord has given me many children of the spirit amongst the young novices that I work with in the monastery. A monastic will never know the special intimacy and closeness that is the blessing of an Orthodox marriage. And a married person will never know the spiritual kinship of a monastic community. There are no vacations from monasticism, no sick days, no time off. But every day is a feast.
"Monasticism", one of the Optina elders said, "supports the entire world. And when there will be no more monasticism the Dread Judgement will be upon us.
And for those of us that are drawn to this way of life there simply is no other way to live. One writer described it like this: "Some people are very single- minded by nature. And there are ideas that permeate the lives of such people down to the very last detail. Everything beautiful, joyous and of consolation in this life is overshadowed for them by the memory of one thing, by a single thought: that of Christ Crucified. No matter how bright the sun might be, how beautiful nature, God's creation is, how tempting faraway places might seem, they remember that Christ was Crucified, and everything is dim in comparison. We might hear the most beautiful music, the most inspired speeches, but these souls hear one thing: Christ was Crucified, and what can ever drown out the sound of the nails being hammered into His flesh? Describe to them the happiness of a family life, of a beloved husband or wife, of children, but Christ was Crucified, and how can we not show the Lord that He isn't alone, we haven't deserted Him. There are those that are willing to forget everything in the world so as to stand by His Cross, suffer His suffering and wonder at His Sacrifice. For them the world is empty, and only Christ Crucified speaks to their hearts. And only they know what sweetness they taste still on this earth by sharing in the eternal mystery of the Cross and only they hear what He says to them when they come to Him after a life full of incomprehensible hardships and inexplicable joy.
Lesna Monastery, Provemont, 5/18 December 2000.
St. Sabbas the Sanctified"
I encourage everyone to read the whole of this article
Our martyrdom comes in many forms, we must support our monastics especially because understanding is low in this country.
Christ is Risen!
the handmaid,
I agree with Barnabas' point of view and sympathize with Alyssa's confusion.
While I don't think Fr. Stephen is guilty of this here, I do think a certain idolization of the monastic life (and often a fetishization of certain exterior monastic forms) is rampant in our contempory Orthodox discourse and results in the type of disconnectedness that Alyssa feels and an effective abandonment of a more holistic synthesis between monastic life and the parish/married life.
In 10 years of being Orthodox, I've found in almost every parish that either monasticism is treated as an historical oddity and dismissed out of hand or is elevated almost to the point of idolatry and envy. Where is the understanding and preaching that both monasticism and the married life lead to salvation and have things to teach each other, but that each has its own very particular forms, mindsets, practices, and unique opportunities that are not always compatible with each other?
I think it is an overstatement to claim Evdokimov or Schmemann wanted "monasticism in its traditional form disappear." As Schmemann pointed out in his journals, what he wanted to disappear was not the monastic life but, as he put it, "the whole vaudeville of klobuks, cowls, stylization, etc." In other words, it is the guy in the parish who never bathes, who wears 5 prayer ropes, grows a beard and thinks if you don't do every kathisma during Matins or less than three metonias before an icon, you aren't really Orthodox. We all know that guy, and he is getting his misconception from somewhere.
Evdokimov wrote of what he called "interiorized monasticism", which is very similar to Schmemann's concept of "monasticism without the desert." Here, the virtues and wisdom of the monastic life are not simply mimicked and thus distorted, but mindfully practiced in ways that integrate into and intimately support the very holy and unique struggles of contemporary urban/married/parish life. I think these are ideas worth exploring.
So often the monastic life is held up, not simply as an example of one type of Orthodox life that a few are called to, but as the only legitimate Christian experience. Rather, we should be "equip[ing] the saints for the work of ministry" (Eph 4:12); a ministry that is not to be found in cenobitic monasticism for most of us, but life in the parish, life in the home, life in the world.
Gee everybody – I didn't say it was better – just that it's necessary – clearly instituted by God – not based on utility. Karl, I did not say that Evdokimov or Schmemann wanted it to disappear. Evdokimov simply thought that it would in the modern world and be replaced by "interior monasticism." But I think that this is not happening.
It certainly isn't to be idolized or idealized. It is quite interesting to me that just as thousands of parishes churches have been reopened in Russia, so have hundreds of monasteries. Orthodoxy there is growing again and in the form it had for centuries.
The American experience has been fairly unique in its formation, with monasticism only gradually being visible. But in most Orthodox countries, parish church, monastery, all are just part of what Orthodox Christianity looks like.
And, for the time being, we have all kinds of silliness in parish life and probably will for some time to come until we mature as a church in this land and become more stable. But we live now in the situation as we find it.
I'm not saying there isn't and shouldn't be a balance. Of course there should. We're not there yet. But just because some people idolize monasticism or fetishize some practices associated with it is not a reason to refrain from speaking of it in the traditional manner of the Church.
Fr. Stephen,
You wrote, "Gee everybody – I didn't say it was better – just that it's necessary."
I'm not sure where anyone in this thread is disagreeing that monasticism is necessary. Protestants like your original interlocutor may have questioned its ontological importance, but we Orthodox aren't. And I certainly don't think anyone is saying we shouldn't talk about it.
I think my questions are more along the lines of : "How is an Orthodox layman's relationship with monasticism supposed to be experienced in ways that are beneficial for both the monk and the laymen? Can we laity develop an 'interiorized monasticism' that transfigures and *translates* the lessons the important insights the monastery teaches us or is the monastic life limited to the exterior circumstances of traditional monastic life? If not, how does is this translation occur? Etc…."
And my comments certainly shouldn't be read as an attack on you. That is why I prefaced my thoughts with, "I don't think Fr. Stephen is guilty of this here…."
Karl, thanks for the clarification and I apologize for being a little sensitive. I have some funeral duties later today and I'm probably a little anxious as always. It's an old habit of about 25 years. Forgive me.
I think the discussions you suggested are outstanding. I will dig around for some things to post that might be useful in promoting that discussion.
My experience this summer at St. John the Baptist Monastery in Essex was truly amazing. I had been told that it is one of the healthiest monasteries in the West – and though I've not been to even a fraction of the others, I can see why someone would say that. I recommend it to any who can get to England.
I will say that the experience taught me more about the Jesus Prayer than 20 years worth of reading. And it taught this without any books or "teachings" on the prayer. It was simply being with the monks and nuns twice a day for 2 and a half hours of the Jesus Prayer. There (as in most monasteries) the tradition of the prayer continues.
It may sound like a small thing, but even the pace of the prayer was different. I realize in hindsight that my use of the prayer over the years has been too fast, too anxious. I learned a "pace" of the prayer that is part of the legacy of Mt. Athos through Fr. Sophrony.
Today when I pray the prayer, I can "hear" the prayer as it was prayed there and I find that I enter again into that same experience. Simply as a living repository of experienced knowledge, there is no substitute for such places.
This is traditionally one of the roles of monasteries among many others.
"As angels are a light to monks, monastics are a light to those in the world." – Saint John of the Ladder
Monastics live the angelic life as an icon of the age to come. Thus, their state of life is "higher." This doesn't mean that marriage is bad, dirty, corrupt, or any of those silly things. No, marriage is a means of salvation for the majority of people and is blessed by the Church. Monasticism, however, is the fullest expression of taking up the Cross and dying to the world. These men and women forsake all to focus on repentance alone. In countries with a living Orthodoxy the pious faithful understand this, and there isn't a big inferiority complex about it (I'm not aiming this at anyone here). The pious in the world and those in the desert support eachother in a harmonious, symphonic way, calling out with joy, attesting to the Resurrection of Christ.
Monasticism is essential to the life of the Church; it is a guard against complacency, heresy, and the ills of secularism that we in the world have to wage a bloody war against. The monastics help support us most of all by their prayer and experience in spiritual warfare, and also in the example of their life; simplicity, brotherly love, and repentance – these are the ways of the Christian life, married or monastic. They always show that there is more that we can do in our Liturgical life, in our prayer life, and in the way we deal with eachother. There is always more sacrifice and more grace. This is why I think it is a good idea for seminaries to be attached to monasteries… but that is a different thing we could go into.
There is one Christian life that all are called to live, one of fasting, prayer, and repentance. The monastics are like the pro's of this… they live a life totally devoted to it (ideally) without the distractions that we have to face in the world; they are like Shaq or other NBA players. They hone in on training themselves up for the Game. However, this does not mean that we can't play basketball. We may not be able to focus 100% on training, but we can still learn to play. We can learn layups, free throws, dribbling, etc. Maybe some of us can learn to dunk and do intricate dribbling tricks. We are all called to play the game according to what we are given, and as long as we multiply the talents given to us we are blessed in the Kingdom.
I recommend going to monasteries and being edified by our brothers who try to live the angelic life. And especially, pray for them!
Fr. Stephen,
Thanks for that follow up. It is certainly a shame that we Americans have scant access to monasteries and thus have a more academic engagement with monastic thought and practice.
Speaking of St. John's in Essex — we had Sister Magdalen at our parish several months ago for a retreat. Her books, such as "Conversations with Children" are simply stunning in their depth, but meeting her and listening to her was a real treat. She was thoroughly steeped in the monastic life but was imminently practical, poignant and "real." What was so enjoyable about listenting to her was that she clearly understood the actual realities of lay life and could thus effectively and authentically communicate her wisdom gained as a monastic.
Perhaps that is one step — simply more person to person contact between monks and laymen; each sharing with the other the realties, struggles, and joys of their respective lives in Christ and in the Church.
I spent an afternoon along with a lay friend of mine in conversation with Sr. Magdalen at St. John's. It is a conversation I will treasure. Incidentally, she really likes America in a British sort of way. She is truly one of those quiet giants of prayer. She is currently translating some of Fr. Sophrony's work (I think). I look forward to it.
Following up on Andrew – in most Orthodox countries, things like exorcism are more often conducted in a monastery than in a parish, just because "some come out only by prayer and fasting." And this is just a tip of the iceberg. I'd like to have that kind of resource near my parish.
Monasteries are oftentimes a place of intense rehabilitation of spiritual ailment and physical ailment that oftentimes a parish isn't quite equipted to handle.
By the prayers of Elder Joseph and Elder Sophrony (among the countless other saints who intercede for us) we are having a boom of monastic life in America that will continue with time. Young parish priests are being instructed by the spiritual sons of spiritual giants at places like Saint Tikhon's and Holy Trinity. The monasteries of Elder Ephraim are flourishing, and I think his spiritual sons and daughters will establish even more once he has gone on to his repose. This will be a wonderful thing; also with the foundation of monasteries by other jurisdictions, we will have a wonderful chorus of monastic fathers who will rise up in our own backyard. This is what will bring about a truly Orthodox Church within America… American Church Fathers, bishops from the monastic ranks of American monasteries, priests who are given guidance by experienced Elders, pilgrimages, etc. This has the possibility of uniting the faithful around homegrown saints in a beautiful way.
A monastery is a sort of nexus, a hub. People from all different nationalities and jurisdictions go there and are mutually edified, and discover their common life in Christ. Some stay and become monks, and others take home the way of prayer and spread it to their families, parishes, and communities. I think the beginnings of this are happening in America.
Fr. Stephen,
Thank you for what I consider a gentle reminder that we have those persons in our Church who have set themselves aside to lead lives of intense prayer and fasting, and that it is by those prayers that the world is held together.
I personally do not possess the grace for this vocation, nor necessarily the desire, but I have learned through a fair deal of experience to appreciate it.
I have had the privilege of attending a parish where there have been monasticd present, and have also visited at both St. Tikhon's and a tiny monastery, St. John the Theologians in Hiram, OH. I remember distinctly being able to pray Matins and Vespers at St. John's during Lent in 2002, and though there were but 3 monks present, I came away realizing that it was the simple prayers of simple monastics in hundreds of monasteries like St. John's that literally held the world together, kept it from flying apart at the seams.
I understand the points that others have made as well, but know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my own life has been immeasurably enriched through my encounters with "the angelic ranks"
Father, you wrote about the significance of what you learned about the Jesus prayer at St John the Baptist in Essex. I too have been fortunate to visit there — twice, if only briefly each time. And even more than the experience of the Jesus prayer itself — I too have been helped by recalling that (usually) English-accented voice slowly, deliberately saying the prayer earnestly yet with scarcely any emotion — is my memory-in-feeling of the special humility and joy of the place. Such humility and joy to experience, to savor, and to carry back with me to my mundane daily life. Can we possibly be grateful enough to those whose lives are dedicated to communicating such grace to those whose lives they touch!
Wow, that was quite a flurry of responses. I appreciate all of the various and thoughtful replies, and especially the clarification on not making the monastic life superior to married life.
FWIW, I'm a single mom of two relatively young children and there has been a lot of giving up of self for the sake of others in ways I never would have imagined before I had kids, and definitely not before I became single with kids. Now being single at this point wasn't my personal choice really–but it sure has been a lesson in dying to self–one which I must face every single day with almost every thing I do/every decision I make.
Admittedly, I'm quite different from the monastics because again, I didn't choose this life I'm living now (I think Fr. Stephen addressed that issue in another brilliant post yesterday), though they have voluntarily chosen their life of asceticism. But there is a certain amount of repentance I do each day as I look at the faces of my son and daughter and consider the pain they must endure/face because of their parents' sin. And as awful as divorce & its consequences have been, part of me thinks that it has been for the salvation of my soul. I pray that it will work out for the salvation of my children's souls as well.
Perhaps because of this I have been somewhat sensitive (or over-sensitive?) to talk of the monastic life in ways that make it sound grand & the life of the regular folk not so grand (not that Fr. Stephen has done this, I was originally just asking for simple clarification). But the fact is I have listened to some people talk as if living anything less than the monastic life is really just less.
Thankfully, another priest clarified for me that though we are not all called to be monastics, we are all called to be ascetics. And coincidentally, he used the home as metaphor for the monastery–though in his case, his wife was the abbott. He told a monk he was visiting recently that he was pretty sure his abbot was more demanding than that at the monastery–because his wanted to know his every thought, emotion, movement, etc. Well, he said it better & more graciously than I am, but you get the idea.
I agree with the suggestion that those who grew up around monasteries seem to have a more integrated view of life in the church than let's say…us converts. At least that has been my short experience in the local parish. I remember being confused when I first started reading the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov—I just didn't know what to make of it or how to interpret or apply it. But as I went on I just became grateful that so many people were able to benefit from his life of dedication to God, for his prayers on our behalf, of the spiritual insights he was able share with us passed down through others. And I was amazed to read of him being physically transformed as well as being internally transformed. By the end of the book, his life gave me hope. And he felt like an old friend and guide. And I'm happy to see him each time I enter our church.
The prayers of parents for their children, according to the Wedding Service, is the foundation of homes. Your children have in you and your prayers their foundation. I literally think my life was saved by the prayers of my father-in-law who was praying for his daughter's husband since the day she was born. His two daughters married clergy (the other is presbyterian). His youngest son is Orthodox and his other son could be someday (I think and pray). Two of his grandchildren are married to Orthodox priests, and the others aren't old enough yet for these things to be manifest. But the prayers of parents are indeed powerful.
I would also agree that no sacrifice is greater than that of parents for their children. When you read the life of St. Silouan his estimation of his father's own spiritual maturity is staggering. I'll make a post of it – perhaps tonight. Give us something to enjoy.
By way of a small celebration and thank you – Glory to God for All Things passed it's 150,000 view this morning – all this since October. I am deeply grateful for the community who passes through our web portal (or something like that). May God bless all of you.
Thanks for the Father Sophrony reading suggestions. Prayers for the illumination of the catechumen please!
I think it's a little silly to compare monasticism and the married state. You put your life into God's hands, and let Him point you in the right direction, period. In my case, it was the married state, which still shocks me, since marriage was *never* part of my Master Plan — but obviously, it was part of the Master's Plan. So how could it be "less" than monasticism? At the same time, it's clear that He does call others to the monastery, so how could that be "less" than the married state? He puts us where we need to be in order to grow in Him, that's all!
I'm a Protestant, but it seems to me Protestants often miss the point of monasticism. Yes, St. Athanasius says Christ was crucified so all could see it. But his argument (if I remember correctly) is that otherwise we would not have believed it, not otherwise it would not have been effective. So I don't see any reason why our taking up our cross must be seen. Are we not united in Spirit even when absent if the flesh? We hardly see the Blessed Virgin's cross, yet the Fruit of her womb is Salvation.
Please don't assume my comments were a denial of the importance of monasticism. Far from it.
In fact, it was at a monastery and through the direction of monastics that helped me into Orthodoxy. It was these same monastics that warned me about the temptation to fall into guruism from a monastic setting.
In this very healthy spiritual Orthodox monastery here in the good ol' USA I came to appreciate what my former Protestant life was missing by not having a catagory for monasticism. They taught me that the whole point of the monastic life is both spiritual health and intimacy with Christ. Their calling, their grace was in this monastic life for the blessing of the whole Church.
I am grateful to God that He gave me the opportunity to have at least a small taste of this blessed work of the monastic life and for these monks who influenced me for the Orthodox faith.
Isn't there a story of a desert monk who thought himself far advanced in the spiritual jpurney only to be told of a couple in the city who were more advanced that he in the spiritual life?
This isn't to say one path is better than the other. Only to suggest that the best path is the path that will best move each of us toward a full, intimate, and healthy spiritual life in Christ where we enter most fully into His life through the ascesis of the faith.
As I have come into Orthodox in the married state, while I originally found monasticism a bit troubling, it has actually become yet another points of joy for me in my journey. To see a religion that takes seriously the example of Christ and some of the rather ascetic admonitions of St. Paul is refreshing, especially as it also encourages me to practice ascesis in ways practical while married, and also that my own calling is valid and to be strengthened.
An Orthodox friend of mine recently pointed me to a great essay by F. Georges Florovsky on the Ascetic Ideal and the New Testament. I apologize if someone else has already posted it on this blog, but here it is just in case they haven't:
It is indeed an excellent essay. I don't think it's been posted here before. For my two cents, you can almost never improve on Florovsky.


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Seasonal Spotlight: Cranberries
When there's a nip in the air, you can count on many things. One such thing is that there will be bags of cranberries available at your local supermarket. Nothing heralds the coming holidays quite like piles of bright red berries.
Cranberries are tart berries that grow on low shrubs in acidic bogs. Their range is mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. Although most Americans associate cranberries with New England, they also grow in Canada, the northern parts of the United States, and Northern Europe. You may be surprised to know that Wisconsin, not Massachusetts, is the #1 producer of cranberries in the US.
Native Americans introduced cranberries to the colonists during their first winter in the American colonies, which is why they are traditionally associated with Thanksgiving. Cranberries in America were first cultivated in the early 1800's in Cape Cod. A common misconception is that they grow underwater the whole year; this is untrue. Most of the year, the cranberry beds are above water, and when harvest time nears, the beds are flooded. Cranberries ripen in September and October when the berries turn red. Special machines pick the berries off the bushes, and the berries float to the surface of the water, where they are corralled off and directed to bins.
95% of cranberries are processed into juices and sauces; only 5% of the cranberry harvest is sold in whole form. Cranberries have high concentrations of vitamin C and are considered "superfoods." They help prevent kidney stones, tooth decay, urinary tract infections, and boost the immune system.
Do you have any favorite cranberry recipes to share?
Recipe: D.I.Y. Cranberry Jam
Recipe: Fresh Cranberry Scones
Recipe: D.I.Y. Cranberry Sauce
(Images: Wikipedia)
8 Comments
Wild Rice and Cranberry Soup
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 carrot, finely chopped
* 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
* 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 3 cups vegetable stock
* 1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
* 1/2 cup dried cranberries
* 1 cup milk or half-and-half
* 2 tablespoons dry sherry
* salt and pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery, and onion, stirring occasionally, until the carrot is tender, about 8 minutes.
Add the flour and stir until smooth. Gradually add the vegetable stock, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pre-cooked rice and cranberries. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries are softened and plumed, about 15 minutes.
Stir in all the remaining ingredients. Stir occasionally until warmed through. Season to taste. (From A Beautiful Bowl of Soup cookbook)
This cranberry upside down cake from Everyday Food is so delicious (and easy). It's a staple whenever I can get fresh cranberries (fresh that have been frozen and thawed don't work).
The only change I make is to put the spices into the cake, rather than into the sugar in the bottom of the pan - they get lost there and add so much more to the cake itself.
I made a cranberry salsa recipe from VegWeb for Thanksgiving last year; it was unfathomably delicious. (Okay, to be fair, I completely winged it when it came to amounts, didn't use any serrano peppers, made my own skins-on cranberry sauce instead of using canned, and didn't serve it with cream cheese. So it was more inspired by the recipe, but whatever.)
I have a HOST of Cranberry recipes. My parents are suppliers for Ocean Spray, and they send me a few gallon-size freezer bags each year,
Ain't NOBODY getting my grandma's cranberry bread recipe, but I can also point folks to a couple good other recipes I've tried from a couple different Moosewood cookbooks: a cranberry tea cake, from their "Sundays At Moosewood" book, which had a fairly moist sour-cream cake base layered into a springform pan with a cranberry, almond, and brown-sugar mixture; and a cranberry chocolate tart from their "Moosewood Celebrates" book -- this used a crumbly sort of crust pressed into a tart pan, you made a sort of relish out of the berries, and when the tart shell cooled, you melded down some chocolate, drizzled half into the shell, spread the relish into the shell, and then drizzled the other half the chocolate on top. That definitely worked.
I adore lemon cranberry muffins; orange cranberry are lovely, too! I usually pop a few in smoothies when I make 'em, too. My mom and dad just went out picking cranberries a couple of weeks ago; they grow wild at the beach near our house in Atlantic Canada.
Mom always makes her own cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and Xmas, and it's very simple and much nicer than the canned stuff. Simply put about a cup or more of cranberries in a pot, add sugar to taste, let it sit for a bit, then slowly bring to a boil over a medium heat until the cranberries are nice and softened up. She also puts some orange zest in hers, and sometimes a bit of orange juice as well.
Cranberry Gin Sodas! http://www.aliciakachmar.com/blog/food/cranberry-gin-soda/
Good cranberries will bounce when you drop them! If they don't bounce, they've gone rotten.
Good cranberries will bounce when you drop them! If they don't bounce, they've gone rotten.
Oh, Cara_Mia, you've reminded me of something -- when I was a little girl I would "help" my mother make cranberry bread, and I appointed myself the official cranberry freshness tester. I just remember very solemnly dropping each single individual cranberry onto the table to see if it bounced while my mother did all the rest of the work. In retrospect I wonder why she didn't go nuts.


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Crime Scene sells forensic supplies and detective clothing to the public. We are also home to an interactive detective game. | View Crime Scene Cases |
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Great product! Be careful with the bichromatic powder. It stains.. even surfaces you think you can just wipe clean (like ceramic bathroom countertops). Have some 409 on hand. Otherwise, be careful with you dust for prints.. don't dust anything valuable, because the powder might stain it pretty badly. Practice on stuff you can just throw away, like plastic water bottles, FedEx envelopes, etc.
Date Added: 01/09/2006 by Sam Hulick


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High Stakes in the South China Sea | The Diplomat
by Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt
Coverage of the South China Sea territorial dispute has tended to paint the story as that of a giant China flexing its muscle over a handful of smaller Southeast Asian states. But while China's increasingly assertive behavior shows its willingness to exploit the weaknesses of other claimants, the picture is not as simple as is it is often portrayed. Vietnam and the Philippines are pushing back against China, and many countries are stoking tensions in the sea. Together, their actions leave plenty of room for open conflict to break out.
Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David Mercil/Wikimedia Commons


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Crime Scene
The San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate.com blog on crime in the Bay Area and beyond.
Monthly Archive for March, 2013
Foul play suspected in case of missing San Bruno woman
Investigators are asking for the public's help in finding a San Bruno woman who was reported missing more than a month ago, police said Friday. Cecilia Zamora, 36, who was reported missing on Feb. 15, may be the victim of foul play, according to San Bruno police. Her family hasn't heard from her since Feb. […] [Read More]
Giants fan held in post-game beating
A Giants fan was arrested Thursday night for allegedly stomping on a man's head during a fight after an exhibition game at AT&T Park against the A's, police said. Officers said they saw Trinidad Ortega Juarez, 19, of Millbrae tussling with a 25-year-old man on Willie Mays Plaza at about 10 p.m., according to police […] [Read More]
Prosecutor, falsely arrested, ordered to pay bank $50K
San Mateo County prosecutor Sharon Henry went to a Bank of America branch in Noe Valley five years ago to deposit a check and got arrested for check fraud because of a manager's mistake. San Francisco police took her to jail, chained her to a wall, did not let her take her diabetes medication and refused […] [Read More]
Alleged victims of priest outraged by prison release
The news that confessed pedophile priest Patrick Joseph McCabe had been released early from an Irish prison shook Greg Horne, who said the priest abused him while he was a student at St. Bernard's Catholic School Church in Eureka from 1983 to 1985. "Take every human emotion you can have, put it in a blender […] [Read More]
Cops bust alleged "Go Ravens" Super Bowl scammer
A Florida man has been arrested and charged with scamming a 49ers-loving Hayward couple who had expected to get Super Bowl tickets but instead received a package with a message reading, "Go Ravens! LOL!" Robert Quan Pham, 37, of Gainesville, Fla. posted an ad on Craigslist in which he claimed to be a Baltimore Ravens […] [Read More]
Man trapped in 'It's a Small World' wins suit
A disabled man who spent more than half an hour trapped in Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride in 2009 has won $8,000 in damages from the amusement park, the man's lawyer said Tuesday. Jose Martinez, a resident of San Pedro (Los Angeles County) who is in early 50s, was stuck in the "Goodbye Room" […] [Read More]
Criminal probe in PG&E worker's death collapses
While Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is fighting a $176,000 civil fine for alleged safety violations in the 2010 death of a lineman in Solano County, local prosecutors and a state regulatory agency are fighting over who is to blame for the collapse of the criminal probe of the utility. Earlier this month, the three-year […] [Read More]
Oakland cops: Rookies take to the streets
For the first time in four years, the Oakland Police Department graduated an academy of fresh recruits Friday. To some residents in a city with the state's highest violent crime rate, the additional 38 officers are much-needed help. But particularly in neighborhoods beset by a generational loop of crime and antipolice sentiment, the job can […] [Read More]
Woman arrested for faking crime to avoid deportation
A woman allegedly orchestrated a robbery of herself, her 16-month-old baby and another woman in San Rafael to qualify for an immigration visa, authorities said Friday. Josselin Yuliana Rodas, 29, was arrested by San Rafael police Thursday on suspicion of making a false police report, conspiracy and willful cruelty to a child, police said. Investigators […] [Read More]
Archie, beloved service dog, stolen from sleeping BART rider
Kerrin Lanahan was riding BART back to her San Bruno home Wednesday night with two bags, one on either side of her. She dozed off during the ride, tired after a long night at a San Francisco SPCA fundraiser. When Lanahan, 31, woke up, she found someone had snatched one of her bags, and she […] [Read More]
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Clever people.
At Speck, we believe in going all in. If we aren't constantly striving to craft the best cases, discover the freshest ideas, and build the cleverest team, why even bother showing up?
Some of the Speckans who lead our company:
Irene Baran
Chief Executive Officer
Irene has been passionate for the consumer electronics world for 27 years. She started at Monster Cable in 1985 — then a very small specialty accessories company — and helped grow it into a significant consumer electronics brand and served as their COO for 16 years. She married John Jahraus and had two kids along the way: Michael and Kate, before joining Speck as CEO in 2006. She is now enjoying building a business that enhances the devices people love. Her family likes the outdoors and spends time skiing and hiking together.
Mark Lemma
Chief Financial Officer
Mark started back in the 80's as a CPA and has been in accounting and finance ever since. Over the last 13 years Mark has worked for consumer products companies in senior financial roles. He is an avid triathlete who has completed numerous sprint, Olympic and half-Ironman triathlons.
Rusty Everett
Executive VP, Sales
Rusty is a 20+ year veteran in the CE business and made his first mark at another famous Bay Area brand. He has been at Speck over 4 years and helped grow the company to a very recognized and fun global brand. His passion is snowboarding which is why he lives in the mountains with his wife and two boys. In his spare time he loves to build project vehicles like his supercharged 2011 Jeep Rubicon.
Pamela Kelly
VP, Global Marketing and eCommerce
Pamela has made a name for herself building big-name consumer brands with energetic, fun and, well, successful campaigns that demand attention. Her past work has found her rubbing elbows with such illustrious names as Sonic the Hedgehog, Barbie and The Sims (and a few real people, too). She brings to Speck a dedication to creating unique and imaginative strategies, something that earned her a spot on Advertising Age's prestigious Marketing 100 list. When she isn't cooking up new and exciting ways to tell the world about our sleek, form-fitting Specktacularness, you can find Pamela making jewelry, playing tennis and spending some QT with her family.
Tim Brophy
VP, Manufacturing
Tim was so preoccupied with his 34 children and numerous projects that he oversees that he was unable to get us his bio, regrettably. However, he wants you to know his favorite show is American Idol and his favorite possession is his Justin Bieber poster. In his words, "I have the fever!"
Jarret Weis
VP, Product Development
Jarret got his start project managing accessories at Monster Cable, working his way across mobile, power cells, Apple and gaming. Now, he is the proud leader of Gadget Geekery at Speck. When he is not busy heading up Product Development, he can be found trying to automate his home through his iPhone, or enjoying the great outdoors—hiking, cycling or snowboarding (while simultaneously tracking his route and stats, also on his iPhone.)
Bryan Hynecek
VP, Product Design
Bryan loves making things. He "geeks out" about every aspect of it, from the tiniest nuance of how a person uses something to the latest and greatest manufacturing technology. No, seriously... he obsesses about it all. As unique a trait as that is, he's managed to find an entire group of people that geek out in the same way, put them in a room at Speck, and together they continually crank out compelling product.
Darryl Chang
Corporate Controller
Pamela Dresbach
VP, Customer Service and Operations
Her mom used to tell her she would be the head of the complaint department when she grew up. Turns out, Pamela's mom was right! Along with providing excellent customer service, Pamela's passions include her family, classic American muscle cars, fostering bottle-baby kittens, and owning a certain ridiculously tiny dog. If you want to make Pamela happy, you need to feed her excessive amounts of bacon.
Rich Morgan
Director, Operations - Supply Chain
Rich has a varied background in the consumer electronics industry and now manages Speck's supply chain operations. He enjoys traveling and sports, including coaching his son and nephew's soccer team.
Alex Fast
Director, IT
"There is nothing as permanent as the temporary." Alex demonstrates this saying by moving from being a paramedic into IT and then into day trading and finally back to IT again. Through these adventures, he's lived in places as diverse as Israel, the San Francisco Bay Area and Thailand.
Chris Gibbins
Director, Global Brand Protection
With 18+ years of consumer electronics experience, Chris has tackled multiple facets of the business ranging from Retail, Multiunit, and Territory Management, to Corporate Buying, and Product/Business Development. When not chasing down the next greatest product gizmo or business opportunity, Chris, his wife and son can be found either cooking, grilling, golfing, skiing, mountain biking, or enjoying a fine local brew.
David Burns
Director, Development
David Burns channels his love for extreme sports and rugged travel adventures for inspiration in his development, production, and operations projects.
Chris Novak
Director, Engineering
After enjoying 30 years designing MacBook laptops at Apple, Chris found himself looking for a start-up company that could use his experience. He succeeded in R&D projects at Hi-P North America and Panasonic before cracking his whip at Speck. Since his arrival, he went from a team of one to a team of nine in just 18 months.
Ralph Merrem
Director, Production
Ralph started his career as an engineer building cars at BMW in Munich. After moving to San Francisco to study business, he joined technology companies in Silicon Valley. His strong experience in managing teams and developing products took him to leading companies in consumer electronics. Ralph has experience in the areas needed to bring products successfully to market, including operations, product development, product management, marketing, and sales. At Speck, Ralph is focusing on building great products, which is one of his passions.
Eric Ronberg
Director, Sales - Specialty Retail
A crazy sports fan that played baseball, basketball and golf growing up, Eric started his career in the sporting goods industry, then transitioned into the electronics industry, where he has been for 14+ years. Today Eric still enjoys basketball, golf and running, while enjoying time with his family and friends.
Scott Harris
Director, Sales - Americas
Scott has been involved in the consumer electronics industry for nearly 15 years specializing in sales strategy, pricing and sell-through strategies.
Rajeev Mehta
Head of Quality
A former Air Force pilot and goes by "Top Gun" after 5 pm, Rajeev focuses on elevating our material and logistical quality standards to some of the best in the industry. If he's not reviewing quality controls, he can be found improving his golf swing.
Of course many more people help Speck operate on a daily basis make the best cases that fit you. From our accounting team to customer service, the marketing group to the tireless designers in product development, everyone has a role here at Speck. Yup, that's just how we roll. Learn more about us.


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Categories > Celebrities > Fall Out Boy > Crying, I Can Feel You
Crying, I Can Feel You12 Reviews
A Patrick One Shot
Crying, I Can Feel You
(#) chocolatechortle22 2009-04-19 01:49:13 PMi liked it its not one of those disgusting patrick stories, its a good one and i LOVE the line i love you always have and always will. wish i could use it but i can't
Crying, I Can Feel You
(#) HoboINTHESewer 2011-09-25 07:52:28 AMBeautiful, absolutely beautiful. :) I love it. I love Patrick, and I love this story.


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Meet inspirational one-legged soccer player Nico Calabria
Nico Calabria is a first-class football player, capable of scoring from distance and running off to celebrate after scoring with an amazing bicycle kick.
PHOTOS: Amputee gets creative with Halloween costumes
A Paralympian and amputee got creative with his Halloween costume.
'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend
South African "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, was […]