text:
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
K is for Kite
Back to the post at hand!
How flying a kite pertains to flying through life - sort of.
So I don't claim to be an expert at flying a kite... if you've seen me you'll know I spend more time running and watching it drag on the ground than having it in the air.
It's that embarrassing moment where the child next to you is giggling and had it up in seconds and you swear they're giggling because YOU can't fly a kite.
I'm on a tangent.
Flying a kite, writing, and life in general all have steps to follow.
1. Kite - Make it.
2. Writing - Write it.
3. Life - Live it.
Basic concept right? Seems easy enough. Then comes the obstacles.
1. Kite - Where in the hell is the wind?
2. Writing - Where has my character gone?
3. Life - Why isn't there any hot water?
So you're back to feeling somewhat defeated until the positive comes rolling in.
1. Kite - WIND!
2. Writing - WORDS!
3. Life - WATER!
So you can have good days and bad days it's all just part of flying the kite.
Is it a good day or a bad day for you?
71 comments:
- David L Macaulay said...
interesting metaphor - I read the Kite Runner recently, it gave me a whole new take on kites...
- Wed Apr 13, 06:31:00 AM
- Lindsay N. Currie said...
Love it Jen! Today is going to ne a good day...I feel it;)
- Wed Apr 13, 06:33:00 AM
- Lauracea said...
Many congratulations for the MS request - you must be high as a kite over that :)
Kite, writing and life - I'm going to make all of them fly and that's a promise.
- Wed Apr 13, 06:48:00 AM
- Ellen Brickley said...
Congratulations on the full request, Jen, best of luck with it!!!
- Wed Apr 13, 06:51:00 AM
- Liz P said...
Congrats on the MS request! That's fabulous news! :)
- Wed Apr 13, 06:52:00 AM
- Lindsay said...
Congrats again on the full MS request. I'm so excited for you :)
- Wed Apr 13, 06:53:00 AM
- Anne K. Albert said...
I always aim for a good day. Kudos on the full request! Whoo-hoo!
- Wed Apr 13, 07:05:00 AM
- Carrie said...
Congratulations on your MS request. That is so exciting. Great K word too.
- Wed Apr 13, 07:06:00 AM
- Anne Gallagher said...
Great post! Congratulations on the full request. All the best to you!
- Wed Apr 13, 07:10:00 AM
- Laura Pauling said...
Congrats on the full! Enjoy the high!
- Wed Apr 13, 07:13:00 AM
- Amy Wood said...
Congrats on your full request. Wishing you lots of luck!
Great idea for K. Great job comparing the three!
- Wed Apr 13, 07:16:00 AM
- Siv Maria said...
What I really feel like saying right now is "Go fly a kite" ha ha, don't mean it just couldn't help thinking it.
- Wed Apr 13, 07:27:00 AM
- J. L. Jackson said...
Congrats on the request. My fingers are crossed for you.
- Wed Apr 13, 07:43:00 AM
- Sylvia van Bruggen said...
Awesome news about the request. Good luck!
- Wed Apr 13, 07:48:00 AM
- Thomasina said...
I'm loving this post and it makes so much sense. Today I'm having a not-so-good day, which is all because of these stupid seizures. I'm hoping that as my day goes on it will get better. Congrats once again on the ms!
- Wed Apr 13, 07:53:00 AM
- Chris Phillips said...
Time will tell about how this day is going. Congrats on your full!
- Wed Apr 13, 08:30:00 AM
- Samantha Sotto-Yambao said...
Congrats on the full request! You're flying high! :D
- Wed Apr 13, 08:35:00 AM
- Matthew MacNish said...
I'm so excited for you!
- Wed Apr 13, 08:38:00 AM
- Bish Denham said...
CONGRATULATIONS JEN! Keeping my fingers crossed for you (and my toes and legs....)
- Wed Apr 13, 08:46:00 AM
- Paula Martin said...
Congrats on the request- and good luck with the MS!
- Wed Apr 13, 09:07:00 AM
- Kerry said...
Hi! I was about to say "go fly a kite" - I see it has been done lol.Thanks:)
- Wed Apr 13, 09:31:00 AM
- Cindy said...
I'm hoping for a good day full of hot water and K inspiration (I haven't figure out what to photo yet).. but it's certainly too early to tell
Congrats on the request :)
- Wed Apr 13, 09:40:00 AM
- Katie Mills said...
congrats Jen!
- Wed Apr 13, 09:41:00 AM
- Shannon O'Donnell said...
Congrats on your full!! And this post is too cute for words! :-)
- Wed Apr 13, 09:48:00 AM
- Teenage Bride said...
This is a great dau Jen! Congrats over and over!! I am so proud of you.
ps I gave you a little shout out in todays post!!!!!
- Wed Apr 13, 09:51:00 AM
- Jeana said...
I'm so happy for your FULL request!
- Wed Apr 13, 10:17:00 AM
- Dafeenah said...
Congrats on the request! Don't forget us little people when you become rich and famous!
- Wed Apr 13, 10:21:00 AM
- Laura Marcella said...
After reading this post, it's a GREAT day!
Congrats on your full MS request! I'm hoping big things for you, Jen!
- Wed Apr 13, 10:21:00 AM
- Talli Roland said...
Hehe! A great Jen post. Congrats on your request, lovely! :)
Today is a good day.
- Wed Apr 13, 10:26:00 AM
- Nicole Zoltack said...
Congrats on your full request! :)
- Wed Apr 13, 10:34:00 AM
- Stephanie said...
Congrats!! Wishing your lots of luck!!
I wrote about kites today too. So pretty and amazing when you actually do get them up there! But yeah, a lot like life...ups and down and days when things just do not work no matter how hard your work at it.
- Wed Apr 13, 10:47:00 AM
- San said...
What a great K and perfect for today :) I just saw your comment on my post and replied but wanted to come here anyway to see your K and say CONGRATS to you, Jen!!!
How exciting and breathtaking (life is all about those moments...)
And, I would say, today is a GOOD day for me. One of my new friends got some life altering good news and that puts a smile on my face.
Rock on...er...write on and YAY!!!
- Wed Apr 13, 11:19:00 AM
- Sarah Allen said...
Congratulations!!! I am so excited for you :) Best of luck with all that querying and submitting!
Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
- Wed Apr 13, 12:14:00 PM
- Alex J. Cavanaugh said...
Congratulations, Jen! I bet you're high as a kite right now.
- Wed Apr 13, 12:20:00 PM
- upinthecosmos said...
Nice! I think my kite is caught in a tree today... LOL. It's ok though, it happens often and usually it's no worse for the wear so it's up & sailing again in no time:-)
Stop by and give K is for Karma a read:-)
- Wed Apr 13, 12:34:00 PM
- Ru said...
- Wed Apr 13, 12:40:00 PM
- Marjorie said...
I think I need strong outside motivators in order to long term writing. It's so hard to get through!
- Wed Apr 13, 12:47:00 PM
- Kathryn said...
CONGRATS Jen!! Are you checking your email a thousand times a day? I would be. :) Good luck!
- Wed Apr 13, 12:53:00 PM
- Brianna said...
Congratulations, Jen!
I appreciated your positive and inspiring post!
- Wed Apr 13, 01:00:00 PM
- Candyland said...
Cute metaphor! Today is just a "day." Not good or bad :)
- Wed Apr 13, 01:24:00 PM
- Beth Mann said...
Congrats on your full request, Jen. That is definitely news to be celebrated! My kite's getting a little battered by the wind right now - looking forward to slightly calmer days ;)
- Wed Apr 13, 01:42:00 PM
- Michelle in a shell said...
I love the comparison & analysis of kite/writing/life.... Think I'll hold on to that idea for a while!
- Wed Apr 13, 01:44:00 PM
- Jennifer said...
Congrats I will keep my fingers crossed for you!
- Wed Apr 13, 01:45:00 PM
- emy shin said...
Congratulations on the full request, Jen!
And that's such a fun metaphor -- and very apt, too!
- Wed Apr 13, 02:09:00 PM
- Eliza said...
Yay, congratulations :-)
- Wed Apr 13, 02:20:00 PM
- Michael Di Gesu said...
I wrote about Kites too....
- Wed Apr 13, 02:30:00 PM
- Ann said...
Congratulations Jen. Fingers and toes crossed for you.
Aren't you the clever A-Zer!
- Wed Apr 13, 02:36:00 PM
- Tessa Conte said...
Congrats!! I never did manage to fly a kite without crashing it...
- Wed Apr 13, 02:39:00 PM
- Crystal Pistol said...
It's a good day on all accounts! Yay for words and kites and life!
I'm lying about the kite but yay for words and life!
- Wed Apr 13, 02:42:00 PM
- Aubree said...
i always wanted to fly a kite but never got to :( i think i had some cheap ones that didn't work. or maybe they did and i just couldn't fly them for crap!
and congrats on the full ms request! :D
- Wed Apr 13, 03:11:00 PM
- S. said...
A good I hope!
http:// mymotherfuckedmickjagger.blogspot.com
- Wed Apr 13, 03:28:00 PM
- Cheree said...
Congrats Jen. I only got mine last week so I know exactly how you fee. Love the metaphor. I've finally got my kite up for a new project, so I'm saying it's a good day.
- Wed Apr 13, 03:29:00 PM
- Jennifer Hillier said...
Cool analogies! Kites are SO like writing... unpredictable, you only have so much control over the process, beautiful, scary, exhilarating.
Is today a good day or bad day? It's both. Kinda started out horrible, but it's getting better. :)
Congrats on the full request, my friend... SO FREAKING EXCITED for you!
- Wed Apr 13, 03:37:00 PM
- Jeanne said...
Writing is always a good day for me. I do have a cold and am recovering from a broken leg but those are physical issues. Its the emotional issues that keep you grounded. So you will see me limping around, blowing my nose, coughing and frantically writing down ideas for the A-Z blog.
- Wed Apr 13, 04:13:00 PM
- Sara B. Larson said...
I've never thought of kite flying in that way before. Thanks for the fun analogy. :) I'm having a there's no wind in my sails kind of day, where I can barely drag my butt around to take care of my kids. So tired... want sleep... ;)
- Wed Apr 13, 04:15:00 PM
- Roy Durham said...
so that how you do it. lol good post
- Wed Apr 13, 06:19:00 PM
- Jemi Fraser said...
Wonderful analogy! I'm lucky - I have a whole lot of good days! I may not get everything done, but that's just life :)
- Wed Apr 13, 06:39:00 PM
- Courtney B said...
I just found your blog and I am LOVING it!!
- Wed Apr 13, 08:06:00 PM
- Elizabeth Twist said...
I'm having a pretty good day today, Jen. And I am so happy for you! Congratulations to you and Jules. Fingers and toes crossed.
- Wed Apr 13, 08:17:00 PM
- Paul Joseph said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Wed Apr 13, 08:29:00 PM
- Paul Joseph said...
Congrats on the manuscript request!! That in itself is a huge accomplishment. Wishing you the best.
- Wed Apr 13, 08:30:00 PM
- Kathi Oram Peterson said...
Congrats!!! Hope your kite flies high!
- Wed Apr 13, 08:37:00 PM
- Ella said...
Congrats Jen; I also did kite~
- Wed Apr 13, 09:01:00 PM
- Anne N Kenny said...
I'm crossing my fingers for good news on your full! Good things will happen, I know it!
- Wed Apr 13, 09:15:00 PM
- Jai Joshi said...
Best wishes on that manuscript request!
Kites are so much fun. We used to take our kite to the park on windy weekends and run around trying to catch the wind.
- Wed Apr 13, 09:41:00 PM
- Lynda R Young said...
congrats. I hope the ms sticks :)
- Wed Apr 13, 11:00:00 PM
- Catherine Denton said...
This really puts it into perspective! And a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS!!! That is exciting news. *fingers crossed*
My Blog
- Thu Apr 14, 07:49:00 AM
- Bluestocking Mum said...
Two good days in a row, it must be a record.
Well done on the MS request. Fingers crossed.
Like David, Kite Runner came to mind as soon as I read kites. It's one of my favourite books.
- Thu Apr 14, 12:58:00 PM
Enjoyed the post. CONGRATS on the MS request. Fingers crossed for you.
: )
- Thu Apr 14, 07:18:00 PM
- Melissa Dean said...
- Thu Apr 14, 09:45:00 PM
- Lisa Galek said...
Congrats! That's awesome! Fingers crossed for you!
- Thu Apr 14, 11:34:00 PM


text:
By Billy Rooney
Big 12 Campus Correspondent
There is no bandage large enough to cover the heartache of losing a parent, especially at a young age.
For junior, Hayley Harvey, the support and comfort from her K-State Rowing family was tremendous.
Harvey's mother, Karen, passed away after a long battle with breast cancer on October 11, 2012. Karen had first been diagnosed with breast cancer when Hayley was five years old. After going into remission she remained cancer free until she had a relapse when Hayley was a freshman in high school. After numerous radiation treatments, she was in remission yet again. Unfortunately there was one last relapse, when Hayley was a freshman in college, which would eventually lead to Karen's passing last October.
The subsequent support she received from her teammates has been uplifting and inspirational.
Teammates were more than willing to make the trip to Quinter, Kan., a small town with a population just over 900, for memorial service held for Karen Harvey.
"We had a memorial service that was held at the Quinter High School Gymnasium, because that was really the only place big enough to hold all of the people that came," Harvey said. "Several of the girls on the team drove the three hours from Manhattan to Quinter to show their support."
The support wasn't limited to the memorial service though. This spring season everyone on the team has chosen to where pink bracelets for every rowing competition that reads, "She's Somebody's Hero, In Honor of Karen Harvey."
"During races, when our coxswain is calling out strokes for people in the boat, they will give strokes 'for Momma Harvey'," Harvey explains, "as another way to remember Mom during a race."
Harvey's own personal way of remembering her mother is by wearing a pink breast cancer ribbon in her hair during every race, as well as frequently wearing pink in her everyday wardrobe.
Harvey, who is now in her third season as a member of the team, says that she missed a few weeks of school, as well as one of the races in the fall, while she was home spending time with her mother in her last days.
Head coach Patrick Sweeney and assistant coach Stephanie VanMatre have been extremely proud of how the team has supported her both emotionally and as teammates.
"I remember the summer that she informed us that her mother had another relapse," says VanMatre. "Our girls did a great job of backing and supporting her, but Hayley's strong will was what got her through most of that difficult time."
Given the unique nature of how most of the team become rowers after playing other sports and with little to no experience in rowing whatsoever, it has created a unique bond that few other sports really have. Nearly everyone literally starts from the bottom learning how to better themselves at the craft, enabling teamwork and pushing aside egos. If the rowers in the boat don't work as a unit, the boat can't move fast. That teamwork has carried over outside the boat as well for the Wildcats.
"Everyone supported her in their own way, as well as a team. But this is a pretty close team anyway, so this wasn't an overwhelming situation," explains Sweeney. "I can't say there was a Hollywood motion picture to be made of this, simply everybody was just there for her all the way through and we will continue to do that."
Whether it be something as subtle as a wristband or the team collectively calling out in remembrance of her mother in the middle of a race, Hayley says the support has been a vital part of living without her mother.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
An old clich� says one play doesn't define a game's outcome.
An old cliché says one play doesn't define a game's outcome. In Thursday's match-up against the Marshfield Lady Blue Jays, the Waynesville Lady Tigers squad was devastated by one play in the closing seconds of the team's first overtime period this season.
Down by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, Waynesville clawed its way back into contention throughout the second half before taking its first lead at 42-40 on freshman Kallie Bildner's made hook shot in the paint with less than three minutes remaining in the contest.
About battling back within striking distance, Waynesville coach Brittany Matlock said her team would have been in much better shape if "we didn't dig ourselves a hole."
"If we would've had the same intensity we had in the second half and in overtime in the first half, I think we wouldn't even be in that situation," Matlock said.
Resilient, the opposing Marshfield unit held its ground and forced an overtime period by trading three-pointers with the Lady Tigers and knotting the score at 47-all.
In the extra period, Marshfield's junior guard Lauren Aldridge took charge and sank two consecutive field goals to take a 51-48 lead.
But in the ensuing three possessions, senior guard Hannah Finger netted a deep jumper and recorded a steal on defense, which set up sophomore Chelsey Howser for a chance to recapture the lead, but Howser capitalized on only 1-of-2 bonus free throw attempts to knot the score again at 51.
By this point in the contest, players on both teams were huffing and puffing and it showed in lackadaisical offensive play. Both Waynesville and Marshfield committed turnovers in the final minute of the game, which gave Waynesville the ball with 6.5 seconds remaining.
The inbound pass was stolen away by a Marshfield guard and by hustling up the court in desperation, the Lady Blue Jays' Peyton Greenlee (fr.) hucked a shot from just below the elbow and was fouled just before the buzzer.
The Waynesville squad could only watch in shock as Greenlee sank the go-ahead free throw with 0.0 seconds remaining on the game clock to win, 52-51.
Still smiling, Matlock addressed the late-game foul after the dramatic conclusion.
"What can you do about it?" Matlock asked. "We always tell the girls that one possession doesn't define us as a team; one possession didn't decide the outcome of that game."
Indeed, there were several factors that stuck the Lady Tigers with another notch in the loss column.
After committing 4 shooting fouls in the first quarter and several more in the second, Marshfield added 10 first half points on 10-of-13 free throw shooting.
"We try to stress to the girls hands off and getting in correct position," Matlock said. "The officials call what they see and whether or not coaches agree or disagree with the call, we have to live with it and move on."
Waynesville adapted to the situation created by first half foul trouble and we much more poised on defense in the second half.
Another issue, a gaping zone defensive scheme, also gave Marshfield two early three-pointers which immediately pushed Waynesville behind, 9-0 in the first quarter. Once again, Matlock's team hung around, corrected help defense and eventually took a lead late in the game – though it didn't last long.
In the team's first overtime contest this season, Matlock said never having been in that situation provided the experience needed to move forward and compete in close games down the stretch.
"I try to look at the positives in this," Matlock said, "for it to be close like that and us having to push and fight back, we learn from it, grow from it and move on."
If anything, Matlock said the game could "light a fire" under her players and push the Lady Tigers over the edge and help them compete as conference games ease their way into the tough schedule.
The Lady Tigers (8-9) move into Ozark Conference competition next week and are scheduled to play Rolla on Monday at 6 p.m.
Scoring summary: Waynesville – Bildner, fr., 14 points; Howser, soph., 11; Hannah Bland, jr., 11; Leslie Larson, sr., 6; Dorothy Adams, sr., 3; Hannah Finger, sr., 2; Jordan Laughlin, jr., 1.
Marshfield – Aldridge, jr., 24; Greenlee, fr., 10; Maddie McCall, sr., 9; Samantha French, soph., 6; Madison Clark, sr., 2; Lilia Theobald, soph., 2.
*Notes: Organized by the Waynesville High School FCLA, the Lady Tigers players and coaches donned pink-colored gear last night to support breast cancer awareness and research.


text:
Yes indeed another espresso recipe, but I don't think you are going to mind back to back espresso recipes as this is one kicked up treat. I've taken the rice krispie treat added some cream cheese, espresso, toffee bits and a few other things. How many of you out there are coffee junkies? I am too and I just love finding new ways to use espresso in baked goods, and yes we can also say savory goods because espresso is used in sauces isn't it? Can I tell you these treats were absolutely fabulous. If you do make this, be prepared to eat it all. The combination of the espresso with the cream cheese with the added layer of toffee bits will make you keep going back for another bite, then another, and then another, then you wrap it all up and put it all away vowing NOT to eat another bite. But then five minutes later there you are unwrapping the plastic wrap to 'just have a small bite'. Am I right?
As a side note: I don't know if young kids should eat this because of the espresso in it, but you can use your own judgement. I highly doubt you'll want to share anyways.....
espresso-cream cheese rice krispie treats
print recipe
3 TB salted butter
4 oz. cream cheese, room temp
2 Starbuck Via's (the medium one)
A good size pinch of sea salt
10 or 11 ounce bag of mini marshmallows
8 ounce bag of chopped toffee bits (1 cup used in bars, remainder used for sprinkling on top)
6 and 1/2 cups rice krispies
Spray a 13 x 9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a very large 6 or 8 qt. pan, melt the butter and cream cheese over low heat (low heat, do not let the cream cheese burn or cook!). For these next steps, please work fast. Once melted add in both the starbuck via's, then a good sized pinch of sea salt, stir. Using a rubber spatula immediately add in the marshmallows—all the while keep an eye on the bottom of the pan, don't let it burn! Ok to take pan off heat for a bit if needed. Once marshmallows are added just keep stirring until melted; you will be stirring a lot. After its melted take off the heat, add in the 1 cup of toffee bits, quick stir, and then add in the Rice Krispies until well combined.
This is when you have to work fast and stir until well combined; making sure to get the bottom well combined as well. (recipe by dawn finicane) Once all mixed then transfer mix to your prepared pan and push down into pan with spatula or water-wet hands. After it's all smoothed over this is when I like to add a small sprinkling of sea salt to the top, then the rest of the toffee bits. (you might have to push the toffee bits down into mixture to make them stay in place. Place in fridge to set and cool. They need to cool completely before cutting. You will need a very sharp knife to cut these into bars.
Cut into bars or squares with a sharp knife. Depending on how you cut them they should make about 15-20 bars.
espresso-cream cheese rice krispie treats
59 comments:
You know, rice krispie bars always make me reminiscent of childhood. Some of my best memories have everything to do with the scotch-a-roos my mom made for picnics in the summer.ReplyDelete
Love this more "adult" rendition. Best use I've seen yet for those Vias!
This brings back fond memories of my (then little, now six foot four) nephew eating about a dozen Frangelico brownies one Christmas...at least we know they didn't stunt his growth! These look wonderful.ReplyDelete
Sound goog. I wish there was something to use to make them stick together instead of the bag of marshmallows? I hate using a whole bag of marshmallows for my rice krispie treats.ReplyDelete
You are a genius.ReplyDelete
barb- maybe melted peanut butter?ReplyDelete
here's what you do: get a small box and line it with paper towel then get some plastic wrap and wrap up 4-6 of these and place them in the box, tape up the box and mail it to me....sound good?ReplyDelete
great idea with this rice!ReplyDelete
mmmmmmmm I love rice krispy treats and ummm...yes coffee addict right here...so whats not to love? I think its very cool that you used the via. I recently tried nescafe's version of the vias and its very good as well (and much cheaper)- right in the regular coffee aisle! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend Dawn! You always succeed in making me want to bake MORE!ReplyDelete
To think I was perfectly content sipping my espresso - this would be a waaaaay better way of getting my morning fix!ReplyDelete
YUM!!! Perfect for me = coffee addict! Always looking for ways to sneak espresso into my treats!ReplyDelete
I think you just gave a whole new meaning to the phrase rice krispies treats. These are something that I would have loved to open up that little blue package to find. Beautiful.ReplyDelete
I can live without a single drop of coffee (as I never drink it) BUT dessert laced with coffee flavours i.e. tiramisu, or something mocha flavoured, stand back because I'm digging right in! I grew up in a household where it was perfectly fine to have a smidgen of wine (at Communion or with a meal) or whiskey (for stomach aches) as a kid, so scant amounts of coffee for kids is not a big deal, in my opinion :DReplyDelete
Don't buy the rice burgers! They are not yummy!ReplyDelete
Absolutely brilliant!!!!ReplyDelete
These are the most delicious rice krispies I've seen!ReplyDelete
blowing peachkisses
The Peach Kitchen
peach and things
You seriously make the most amazing, UNIQUE desserts I have ever seen. I wish I was your neighbor.ReplyDelete
Coffee toffee genius!!!!!!ReplyDelete
I've never seen cream cheese used in Rice Krispie treats. Glad it works! My worry would be the Krispies would get soggy too fast. Sounds like it's not a problem.ReplyDelete
Leave it to you to totally amp up and beautify the rice krispy treat. Looks fab!ReplyDelete
Krispie treats for the kid in all of us!!!! Love it DawnReplyDelete
This I can sink my teeth into!! Very nice!!! I love espresso flavored anything!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous4/17/10, 11:11 PM
I love this grown up version of rice krispie treats, yum!ReplyDelete
I am totally a coffee junkie and I can see how you'd eat the whole pan!ReplyDelete
Espresso rice crispy treats that is just divine. Pure indulgence. Great post. Cheers!ReplyDelete
YES!!!! I want this. I miss making them all the time. i remember i'd just scoop them up, while they were still slightly hot. All those bits stuck on the spoon.ReplyDelete
no, we wouldn't have to worry about any little kids getting their paws on these if i'm around. no ma'am. incidentally, dawn, i'm loving your espresso treats--keep 'em coming!ReplyDelete
Dawn you did not dissapoint!I have to try that Via I see you are a big fan! Thanks for posting!ReplyDelete
Right up my street. Keep 'em coming dawn! All coffee is good, and these are so good!ReplyDelete
Good god, Dawn. Where do you get these ideas?? You are a genius. This is actually a tricky one for me because I don't do marshmallows because of the gelatin (not veg). But I do SOOO love everything you have going on here, I may try to find some of those vegan marshmallows and give them a try. Either way, brilliant job!ReplyDelete
I was clicking random links when I stumbled across your blog, only to see this as your first recipe. Can I just say how much I love it? I've been looking for a way to use up some espresso powder, and this sounds like the perfect way to do so!ReplyDelete
Espectacular postre, me encanta. Un saludoReplyDelete
I love the twist on classic rice krispie treats. Also, as a fellow Massachusetts resident, I really appreciate you're use of wicked in the banana shortbread post- "wicked ripe" really is the only way to adequately describe the banana.ReplyDelete
These sound wonderful!ReplyDelete
Oh this is such a great idea!ReplyDelete
Rice Krispie treats for grown-ups! You are the master of creative inventions as always. Enjoy the sunshine today!ReplyDelete
Holy crap, I want those all! I love the idea of cream cheese in them, I need to try it.ReplyDelete
I looove using espresso with chocolate. You are just so very creative and I love it!ReplyDelete
That is so clever, Dawn! You've taken an old favorite and brought it into adulthood!ReplyDelete
Lord have mercy, do these look INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! These would be a TREAT AND A HALF.....sigh........ :)ReplyDelete
Hi Dawn, This looks like a treat to try!ReplyDelete
You are such a creator!!
Thank you~
One word: YUUUUM.ReplyDelete
You have such a lovely blog, girl!
Delicious recipe, as always :)
Have a great night!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
I so would not share. These are the kind of treats I covet. Toffee bits too. How can a girl go wrong with these?ReplyDelete
beautiful, as usual!ReplyDelete
I don't drink coffee but I can gobble coffee desserts up in a split-second :) The additions of toffee and cream cheese are particularly nice touches and complements to the coffee :)ReplyDelete
Espresso is you new fav ingredient and it makes these classics treats soooo sophisticated too. GREGReplyDelete
FABULOUS!! I always love what you come up with! I need a few of those babies today!ReplyDelete
hmm, i am not a coffee junkie, and i usually gravitate towards peanut butter in such treats like these :)ReplyDelete
ps- i'm about to sign up for a tri in lakeville (cranberry tri fest)... is that anywhere near you?
Love your version!ReplyDelete
It's been ages since I've had a rice krispie treat and these look so adult. and so evil. I can handle that.ReplyDelete
Now these are some creative krispie treats. Nice incorporation of the espresso & cream cheese. Yum!ReplyDelete
I'm not kidding I gain weight when I'm on your site!ReplyDelete
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What an inspired rendition of Krispy Treats. I am another one that loves to use coffee in cooking and baking.ReplyDelete


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Friday, July 24, 2009
[Druid] Nerfing stamina the right way part 3 - unask the question
First, I'd like to say that I really appreciate folks taking the time to look at their fellow tanks in their raiding guilds and do their own legwork on this. It was good to get largely reasonable confirmation that the numbers were correct for other people and that the relative numbers compared to other tanks were at least on par. It gave me some insight as to what is fair and reasonable. For instance - is it okay if druids are below warriors sometimes, depending on gear choices and profession choices? Must they be a bit higher?
But in the end, I think that this sort of stamina nerf would be fair and reasonable across the board, relative to tanks.
The question that wasn't asked but should always be is this: is it fun? Well, clearly being nerfed is never, ever fun. On the flip side, being sat because someone else happens to be playing an overpowered class isn't much fun either. So balance is somewhat important for a lot of people in raiding guilds fighting to get a spot in that guild.
But how many of those out there are there, really? How many people would be benched if (for example) paladins, not druids, had the 15% health lead?
It's not an easy thing to answer. With DPS, it's very simple: either you bring amazingly useful buffs for the rest of the DPS or the raid, or you put out great DPS. This is mitigated by things like 'do you stand in stuff' and 'do you loot whore', but for the most part, we know where DPS stand. If you buffed one class's DPS by 20% over others, tons of people would reroll to that class, and tons of people would welcome them with open arms into raiding.
With healing and tanking I think it comes much more down to the player, not the class. Healing has occasionally been measured by healing meters (which is stupid), but most of the time you bring the healer with the mechanical capabilities you need (Chain Heal, CoH, MC, whatever) or the better role to play (awesome tank heal, awesome movement, etc). It rarely comes down to raw healing output. It's not nearly as quantifiable.
And even less quantifiable is tanking. Tanking has a lot to do with odds and minimizing odds. It has much more to do with being in the right place at the right time, using your abilities the right way, and allowing others to do the right thing. Yes, you can look at health and armor and avoidance and make guesses as to how well a tank could do compared to another tank - and that does happen from time to time. But the bigger limiter isn't class; it's skill.
Now, with DKs a couple things happened. For starters, they were really stupidly overpowered. It wasn't a small degree, it was a huge one. Second, their abilities matched up really well to the encounters. But most importantly, every guild had a TON of DKs waiting in the wings. If you needed another tank, plenty of people would chime in and be happy to go to town. With Naxx, alts had gear, main specs had secondary pieces, etc. It was easy to find a DK with enough stuff ready to tank at least at a decent level, gear wise - and with their overpowered abilities and stats they could find success.
But is the same thing true for ferals? Not really. Having to start from level 1 on a reroll of the flavor of the month is a big difference than getting a ridiculously geared 55 that rolls through early content. Are there a lot of guilds out there with feral tanks waiting to burst on the scene? I don't think that's really true. I can't reasonably study spec/class populations in raids and who gets to do what; I'll leave that to the smarter folks like Flyv. But anecdotally, I hear a lot about not many ferals are seen tanking, or many have chosen to do DPS more than not. It's hard to find a feral tank on my server, and harder to find a good one. Anecdotally, I don't think the population of good feral tanks is particularly high.
So if there's no real danger of people rolling a new feral, and not a lot of guilds have ferals, is it okay if they're not balanced?
I used to think no - it's never okay that they're not balanced. It's not good for the game no matter what. But I talked it over with my wife, and she changed my mind.
The thing is, people do want to have fun playing their character. Some people have fun playing the underdog type - the one that is underpowered but they want to show that they're so awesome they can do well with it anyway. (this, I think, applies to a LOT of protection paladins out there, or did - I know it did for me when I was playing it). Others want to be creative and figure out new, better ways to do old things.
Others want to feel needed - that something they bring to the table isn't done by others. That makes them feel important .
And others simply want to feel like they're super powerful - not only relative to the content they're fighting, but relative to other players. They want to nuke everything and laugh. They want the big numbers, the big crits, the giant stamina. Heck, some don't even care if they're ridiculously awesome tanks; high stamina beats overall survivability, right? It certainly can when trying to find a PUG.
Everyone feels these to some degree or other, but the point is that all of these things exist for people. And I think for a lot of people, if you took away the health and armor advantages that druids have, they'd really cease to be fun. At that point, they wouldn't be overpowered relative to other tanks. They'd be the same - except they'd have worse cooldowns, a more boring rotation, no armor graphics, weird buggy behavior, odd itemization and no real unique abilities.
If you get rid of that, what's left? And it's not a matter of 'why would you bring one' - you'd bring one because they're a good tank, and good tanks are in short supply. No, it's a matter of 'why would you play one?' I think Blizzard did a really exemplary job of making the death knight not only viable but really fun to play; the resource system and the way the trees work along with the graphical awesomeness of the DK made for an excellent hook.
But I don't know whether bears really have those sorts of things.
I'm not saying that everyone would abandon ship if something like a nerf in health combined with a fixing of cooldowns happened. I know I wouldn't; I'd once again figure out how things worked and move on the best I could. Many others I know are the same; they're happy because they can MT anything and do it well, and they're no longer constrained by stupid mechanics requiring shields. Others are just happy they get to tank at all. Yet others really love playing druids because druids are awesome in their own right.
But I do think for many people it would make them change. It would remove the parts of being a druid tank that are fun for them - the big numbers, the feeling like a mighty meat shield. With that gone, they'd move to something that gave them that feeling in some other way.
So right now, I'm not really supporting any big nerf like this would be. Maybe next expansion bears can be revisited heavily, and when that happens things like making bears care more about druid abilities, rotations, interesting shifting mechanics, resource management, itemization and graphics can be fixed. And if bears need a stamina nerf now, perhaps a small one will work to do the trick and balance them reasonably.
But I don't think there's a need for it, not yet at least. Because sometimes, fair and balanced isn't what people want, and it's not what's actually fun.
31 comments:
ßears are way op on thorim atm... I usually tank up to 10 stacks on our 25 man runs...
- July 24, 2009 at 2:23 PM
Wow, well for once I have to agree with you entirely, every sentence and every thought. I count this as a major breakthrough my dear tanking colleague, because there's not a single shred of math to prove any of your conclusions. I would say that with this single post, you have demonstrated to me that you understand more about wow's design than 50 more posts abot gear, block, stamina and fire resistance would ever convince me. Keep up the great work. Being avidly multidimensional in ones thinking is a good thing, and very rare, in wow as in other areas of life.
- July 24, 2009 at 2:57 PM
- Alyson said...
I agree absolutely with this post. I think it would be a mistake to nerf feral tanks now, even slightly, because *any* nerf will push players away from the spec; not necessarily very many but, as you say, there aren't very many bears out there right now. I wouldn't be surprised if a number of people abandoned their bears after the nerfs in 3.1 which, while required, left a bad taste in some mouths. I don't think it's worth risking the spec population over a smallish nerf, and I expect Blizzard feel similarly.
- July 24, 2009 at 3:40 PM
- Michael said...
Sometimes your blog grows faster then I have time to read it :)
I agree to the point that Bear's health and time to live scales too well with STA - mostly because there is not much else. But I don't see the need to nerf it, because the way the game currently works.
a) CDs have become more important then high health - a CD saves the day, but the differences between 2 tanks in health are not big enough that a bear can take more hits.
If the tank is hit with 20k, Warrior has 40k and Druid 50.... it does not really matter with all the overhealing, Mana still not the real issue, and MT healers spamming the biggest heals because it's the only way to keep the tank alive.
b) if you stack STA only your threat is taking a hit
In my experience (ok, we are not that good a guild still working for our first Yoggi 25 kill) the issue is less the enrage timer - it's more keeping the fight short and DPS happy. IMHO if your DPS is threat capped they loose concentration, and errors will come.
I met a bear tank last week in Sunwell, who exactly went the STA route - PvP gear, STA trinket, Jeweler and Leatherworking... 53k HP... wow..... as Cat I could out-threat him while almost sleeping even if he got enough time and was never rage starved.
c) I'm convinced that the 5% difference in avoidance are more worth then just "less damage dealt" - with hits bosses also often apply stacking debuffs. Evading one of them is double helpful.
d) let's assume for a moment we bring all tanks in line - so Bears loose damage, health and armor, get more avoidance AND CDs AND threat AND a bigger toolbox (can someone say "interrupt" or "shield slam") - and then the difference between Bear and Warrior/DK/Paladin is only the graphics. I'd like a little bit more flavour please.
As GC stated on the forum....there is some value in simply watching the tank distribution. I'd agree that bears currently are a touch too strong - but think the solution should not be in reducing health further - but rather cutting harsh down on avoidance (for all tanks btw)
Rauxis, chosen of CAT
- July 24, 2009 at 4:00 PM
- Jacemora said...
What I dislike right now is that feral tanks lost our niche.
I hear a lot of this...
"lets have the DK tank Mimiron because of all his CD's"
"Lets have the warrior tank X boss because his spell reflect"
"Lets have a DK tank Vezax"
"Let's have the pally do it for consecrate"
"Lets have the DK tank it, we need an AoE tank"
Seriously, Feral tanks have nothing that is perceived as special by most groups.
Sure, we have some pretty cool.. downs... lol... as well but no one seems to know or care about what they are. I don't heal, but I don't hear healers saying "no, we really want the bear tank because his cool downs will make this easy"
Pally in the hallway at Thorim can free themselves from the hamstring. They can also cleanse themselves on Steelbreaker... Warriors can disarm in the arena... it goes on and on.
Us bears no longer stand out for anything... and that is why I am happy to be in Kitty just about exclusively now.
Sorry if that was very eloquent but I am usually typing this stuff between chasing my 2 year old around the house.
- July 24, 2009 at 5:20 PM
- Jacemora said...
Lets just say I miss... "Hey, let's have Jace tank this guy, he does almost all melee dmg and hits really hard."
- July 24, 2009 at 6:04 PM
- Derrick said...
We're definitely at a point where all the tanks are close enough that skill is a deciding factor, not class.
I agree entirely with K here: you could nerd bears, and it may be justified, but really you'd just be slapping players who've got nothing else anyways. I know I stopped bear tanking (as my primary role) with wotLK, because kitty dps was fun due to the complicated 'rotation'. I tanked in Vanilla wow as a feral because it was HARD, and just kept with it into BC but lost interest in it (and stopped playing entirely) after a few months. It wasn't hard anymore, it just became boring.
I wouldn't want bears to go back to being heavily disadvantaged tanking, don't gete wrong. I just want bears to be more interesting to tank with. All they have of interest right now is big health pools, and that's not an interactive feature really.
I want more tools, more situational abilities, more stats to be useful so that there are actually hard choices to make when gearing. Give me that, and nerd stamina all you want, I'll be happy.
- July 24, 2009 at 7:33 PM
- Derrick said...
Fantastic post, btw. "is it fun?" is a question that needs to be asked and discussed a lot more.
- July 24, 2009 at 7:35 PM
This post seemed a lot more real and it's nice to see that side of you, K. The one that shows you're not all numbers and a person enjoying their class.
I agree with this post 100%. All tanks are close enough that each and everyone of them can tank all encounters. Some may be more advantaged than others on certain fights but I think that adds a bit of flavour.
I'm a bear, and I enjoy it. I don't like having such limited abilities and apart from Leader of the Pack, I don't feel like I bring anything to the raid. I don't enjoy having to spam swipe to keep aggro on groups of mobs. I enjoy being at least an option for main tanking a boss because I have high armor and health. But aside from that - we do have nothing.
Whatever happens, I hope they balance it correctly.
- July 25, 2009 at 12:42 AM
Kalon said: Maybe next expansion bears can be revisited heavily
I agree this needs to be done. But I still want some bear flavor.
I'm a freaking bear. I eat hits, have nasty claws and armor. I'd be fine if we had to care about more stats if they did useful and bear-like things.
That being said, I MT for my 10 man centric guild and the OT is DK. It is all skill, being able to be a control freak and knowing when to hit buttons.
Also I ran H HoL on the PTR tonight and it seemed like I was taking more damage. Not sure why.
- July 25, 2009 at 1:33 AM
Our tanks for Uld25 are: DK tank, Warrior tank, Pally tank... and our boomkin swaps to his tanking 2nd spec if we need him to--as in, one of the other tanks is taking the night off.
There's no point in gearing up more tanks than you need and more often than not you need cooldowns more than a giant health pool.
Going through Uld, besides Thorim the only hardmode I've seen that I can really go "yeah a druid would be reeeeally good for that" would be Steelbreaker. And for that, the druid just doesn't have enough cooldowns to make them viable.
So I guess my point is, sure, people who have Bears around and love and adore them probably keep them. But at least on my server, I don't know a single guild in any level of progression LOOKING for a feral druid, and it's been that way for all of WotLK. So what's the big problem with having a giant health pool?
My druid's currently nicely Naxx-25 geared and would be brought to Uld10 as mainly kitty with some bear action every once in a while. I rolled my bear because my main's a priest and I'm squishy as hell and I'd really like to go RAWR at some big mean nasties. I don't wanna scratch their rears.
- July 25, 2009 at 7:03 AM
- Jacemora said...
Think about this...
You have 4 tanks, one of each class. All 4 are very capable players, know their stuff, never screw up.
Which one do you pick to tank and which do you pick to DPS on any given encounter seeing that they are all dual spec for Tank/DPS.
What I have seen is the Feral druid will be the first to be asked to DPS instead of tank. Our gear itemization makes us the first choice to make the swap. Warrior DPS is not that great, most raids LOVE DK CD's, Pally would need just about 2 full sets of gear to swap and keep up.
There are no fights (except Thorim Hard) where you would pick the druid to stay the tank.
That is what I think is the issue and why you are seeing more druids in kitty form.
Put back fights that lean to ferals tanking them so we get to tank something every now and again.
Sure, we can MT everything in the game right now, but as GC pointed out... we don't.
- July 25, 2009 at 7:51 AM
- Grumpy Misanthrope said...
What I have seen is the Feral druid will be the first to be asked to DPS instead of tank
This is exactly the problem I pointed out in the first screw bears by nerfing them to the ground post.
Most small guilds have tons of non-druids who "can" tank. Pallies, death knights, warriors - whether they actually do or not is a different issue, but they do enough that ferals are often forced into DPS. I, for one, don't want to DPS on my druid. If I want to DPS, I'll play my mage or my DK or my shadow priest. I want to tank on my druid.
Every time Bears get nerfed, I get more pressure and fewer chances because of it. And all proposals like Kalon's do is take the fun out of playing a druid because they just server to reduce our opportunities further. If things keep trending like they have been, Druids are going to be stuck in a position like they were in Vanilla, where they are given one opportunity - DPS (okay, 2 if you can stomach healing ever again after having raided in vanilla) and anyone who wants to tank will be shown the door.
- July 25, 2009 at 11:47 AM
- Derrick said...
We're in no danger of bears not being *allowed* to tank - unless you've got a shitty guild anyways. The reality is that bears are really just as good of tanks as any other.
The problem is that they're very good at their other roles too, whereas the other classes... not so much.
This is often due, I think, to a high degree of crossover between bear and cat gear. Yes, it's different. Yes, you enchant/gem differently. But there are a lot of pieces that while not optimal are certainly not BAD in either role.
Even aside from bear/cat; other common druid specs are very useful to have too. Obviously, resto is always wanted, and boomkin bring a very nice raid buff too if you're not getting it elsewhere.
Furthermore, as others have said, you've got "grandfathered" tanks. When you're guilds MT's have been running forever, they tend to be warriors, so they're typically already in the roll. A guild only needs a couple raid tanks after all.
So, given raid tanks supply greatly exceeds demand; and that there are so many very useful druid specs, and so few druids proportionally... It's inevitable.
- July 25, 2009 at 3:51 PM
- jacemora said...
This is exactly right derrick and why I think they need to bring back boss fights that favor a druid tank. They don't have to be impossible without a druid tank just noticably easier with one.
- July 26, 2009 at 7:50 AM
I don't think that's the solution either, because then you're essentially putting warriors or paladins or death knights in a bad spot, which isn't fun for those players and isn't fun for those guilds that don't happen to have a feral druid available. Propping up a class through encounter design is bad for that class (e.g., warriors in TBC).
I think the simplest short term solution is a Glyph of Barkskin that makes it a 2 min cooldown for 40% reduction. It's not ideal, because it essentially duplicates the abilities of other classes, but it at least puts us on even footing in the current cooldown-centric climate. Though since they've said that's going to be going away (believe it when I see it), maybe the cooldowns won't be as important. The taunt bonus on T9 is certainly suggestive of radically different encounter design, not that there's been much to indicate it being necessary on the PTR thus far.
Bears really do need to be redesigned almost from the ground up. Our abilities need more interactivity, our mitigation and avoidance need to be more dependent on the dps stats on our gear, rather then flat talent bonuses, but it needs to be done in such a way that we retain the flavor that was established when we came into our own as tanks in TBC. Depending on how you characterize that flavor, this may be a difficult task, as I know at least some people who consider our flavor to be "doing more with less".
- July 26, 2009 at 9:26 AM
- Kiulia said...
Yes more interactivity would be nice, but that's a big design change. I'm not sure about a barkskin glyph however. Glyphs are supposed to be optional, and that sounds a little too far down the mandatory path. If everyone feels complelled to use this glyph (which I think they would) then it's a bad glyph. Doing more with dps stats would be nice; of course this is going to mean a nerf to our standard stamina/dodge/armor to compenstate, as per Savage Defence.
- July 26, 2009 at 2:29 PM
- Shortbusman said...
In my experience (Hodir hardmode), bear tanks have to give up quite a bit of stam stacking to hold threat vs other tanks. I can attain stupid health, but at the cost of getting bosses yanked off me repeatedly by great dps. Hodir,Mimi, and Yogg hardmodes require massive threat gen. which we lack w/o stacking more agi vs stam.
- July 27, 2009 at 6:54 AM
I'm an officer, raid leader, and main tank in my guild, so I'm pretty lucky that if I want to tank, I get to tank. Pretty much end of story. Now, my guild is pretty far behind the curve as far as progression goes, and we are fine with that. We can't all be on the bleeding edge. Heck, a previous poster says they are still working on Yogg 25, and calls his guild bad. Mine hasn't even seen that far into Uld 25 or 10. We all run at our own pace, and it's all good.
The thing about bears getting nerfed over and over again isn't that they become unplayable. My problem is that when I run in PUGs, as I often do to learn fights that my guild isn't on yet, or just to get a leg up on gear so I can be the best I can be, nerfs hurt my chances to get a tanking spot. When the last patch in BC dropped that nuked our health down at the same time that they nerfed all the raids, I was denied a tanking spot because "Druids just got f***ed with the nerf". Yeah I lost a few thousand health. But I was still capable. But PUG is less likely to give you a chance. Shoot, it was just a few months ago I was asked if I was defense capped. Obviously a non druid raid leader trying to get a solid tank is going off what he knows. If he knows Druids just took a hit to their HP and don't know druid tanking very well, he is less likely to give a druid a chance.
That's my beef with the nerf. I've found that while I may log on after a Tuesday patch and have 2k less HP then I did before I am still able to do all the things I used to do. Blizzard isn't out to ruin my play experience, I'm sure of it. What hurts my play experience is when everybody hears about the nerf, and then assumes I can't do my job. And it's hard to convince a PUG other wise when there are 10 DKs in LFG with better cool downs. Just my opinion.
- July 27, 2009 at 9:38 AM
- Derrick said...
Coley makes a very good point, though I think it applies a lot more broadly than just bears. There's such a bad misunderstanding in the wow community at large, were 'not the best' reads as 'worthless'. While competent players know that it takes a very significant problem to make a class/spec so bad that you wouldn't want a good plater playing it along; pugs tend to become highly judgemental when not really understanding the situation.
This attitude the extends to other low and sometimes midrange guilds, and worsens the already bad public impression of the class.
Yes, that's meaningless if you're a member of a stronger guild, but a huge majority of players are not. Blizzard really needs to keep this in mind when repeatedly needing classes. If Random Joe in Dalaran thinks bears are poor tanks, and there are few around to begin with, then he hears they are getting nerfed AGAIN, he's unlikely to give one a chance.
That rolls in, then, with the 'we only need 2-4 tanks' issue. Why let the already (apparently) disadvantaged tank come in when you've already got lots of tanks (your primary tanks, then all the dps dual specs and alts who are itching for thier shot.
It's a very frustrating situation for many.
- July 27, 2009 at 10:09 AM
These are social problems though. Its not blizzards fault. They really cant control ignorance. If you're stuggling to play wow because people are dumb no matter what, what's the solution? Should blizzard "dumb down" the game, so dumb people dont have an excuse to be dumb any more?
Since my tank is my main, whenever I do a pug, I pretty much take control. Coming from a good raiding guild, I'm nearly always pugging beneath myself. The kinds of players who respond to "nerfs" they know nothing about are not the sort of people I want to play with anyway. Ultimately, I pug for practice, and potentially to meet great new players. But I dont expect Blizzard to fix my bad pugging experiences. They gave us guilds for that purpose.
- July 27, 2009 at 12:02 PM
- Tyyr said...
I used to tank primarily in BC, but haven't tanked more than trash since Wrath's release. Nerf after nerf hasn't made the spec unplayable, but why bother?
If you had a favorite restaurant that you'd been eating at for years, and then suddenly started getting bad service over and over again, would you go back? So why would people want to play a class (or spec in this case) where the majority of the changes being made are all nerfs? I feel like new graphics are being tossed as us as a peace offering.
- July 27, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Yeah but Tyyr, the problem with that argument is that we're still thoroughly fine (OP even) to tank all the current content up to Algy25. Every single boss, every single tanking role, every single hardmode. If they hadnt "nerfed" armor, we'd be at 70k by now. If they hadnt "nerfed" health, we'd be at 65k. You're saying those options - which are thoroughly game breaking - would mean you'd have more fun on your druid?
If people dont like constant readjustments, they should play a 1-shot game with no new content, and no progression over many years, like an FPS.
- July 27, 2009 at 12:49 PM
- Artymus said...
Let's also not forget that Druids are getting a 4% to 6% (depending on their AGI or dodge rating) nerf to their Dodge this patch. Doug said that on the PTR he seemed to be taking more damage then on live. That's probably due to you being hit more then you're used to. Please don't say this is being done to all tanks, because other tanks have more types of avoidance then just dodge. It hits Druids the hardest. I don't gem fully for stam, but with the agi % change I'm starting to think I should. If you nerf stam as well, then I think that I'll just have to stop bear tanking and have the DK's and Pally's in my guild take over. I'll be much more beneficial to our small 10 man progression guild as cat / resto then a Bear tank.
- July 27, 2009 at 1:10 PM
- Tyyr said...
It's the constant picking that's driving me mad, not the fact that they want to balance the game. I've seen posts and math on blogs/boards all over that predicted a lot of the issues that are occurring. Why the constant band aid fixes?
Cat's got a pretty big overhaul in wrath, but bears need a redesign to something that will scale similarly to other tanks and give us a bit of stability for a while.
- July 28, 2009 at 4:45 AM
- Derrick said...
Well, there is an easy answer to "Why the constant picking."
It is, quite similar to warriors, that there are fundamental issues with the bear's overall design that make it scale very poorly. Bears have always either gained too little off gear, or too much. As a result, as each tier of gear comes and goes, they need more fiddling to keep them more-or-less balanced.
Not saying it's right or wrong, but that's how it is. Thus, it's my dearest hope that they just "rip the bandaid off fast" and do a serious chunk of redesign for us (and warriors) come the next expansion.
Expansions are the best time for that, as you've got 10 or so levels to "grow" into your new class, you don't need to re-gear yourself mid-tier. It's very much easier to deal with than sudden shifts at level cap.
I honestly believe that a total redesign of a few points is necessary:
1) Overhaul rage mechanic entirely. Likely base it on something more energy-ish, but not a pure copy of energy/combo points - something unique, but more tuneable than rage now.
2) A more interesting toolbox for bears, so tanking is more involved than it is now.
3) Vastly lowered avoidance, coupled with lower heals and appropriately lessened boss damage.
- July 28, 2009 at 5:57 AM
Shifting Mechanics
I had this awesome pipe dream of perhaps a talent that allows bears to aquire combo points, and allows cats to generate rage.
Of course this would be insanely OP unless they really reworked the feral spec. Which would probably make some ridiculous nerfs and make alot of people angry.
But the idea of shifting from bear to cat to use a finishing move or to have full rage when you suddenly need to tank would be awesome, and it would probably involve a method of combat that involved a lot of shapeshifting.
Seems like a lot of fun to me, don;t know how others would feel.
- July 28, 2009 at 1:04 PM
A groud up redesign of the bear tank could be interesting indeed.
I would imagine it going in a completely different direction.
It just does not make sense that this bear... a bear that is smaller than most hunter's pet bears even have armor as good as if not better than plate.
However bears as far as wildlife goes are much more agile than humans. So perhaps a tanking style that involves a whole heap ton of avoidance, and perhaps make bears the tanks that does the highest damage while tanking.
Fix Savage defense and buff it up, make more of our threat rely on the damage we do. Moreso than ever before.
Make us quick agile avoidance and mitagation tanks. Something that has never been seen before in wow. We would have to rethink stuff, but we would definitly be unique as far as tanking goes again.
- July 28, 2009 at 6:12 PM
- Grumpy Misanthrope said...
Derrick, I believe you're wrong about druids not being "allowed" to tank by the average group...Our cat damage right now, even after the last nerf, is still better than Fury Warrior or Ret Pally, but a decent margin. Prots of both classes can tank anything and Most people think "Make them give us the big numbers" when it comes to druids.
Like I said, I hate DPS on my druid. It's not fun. I like tanking, but my tanking slots keep going to people who are less capable of DPS than I. Because Bears keep taking nerfs.
I honestly believe that before the next expansion, only guilds run by feral MTs will have feral MTs. Everyone else is going to be pushed into DPS because they are better at it than the other possible alt-tanks.
Of course, you can't nerf cat too much or you wind up truly back in the vanilla wow world were healing is our only option again. The only real answer is to quit nerfing bears until all 4 tanks can 1) be approximately equalized and 2) pick a friggin niche for each tank and make that niche work.
- July 28, 2009 at 8:00 PM
- dtc said...
So I read most of Kalon's blog and it has been excellent. I am in the position of many of you where I have become the main tank of my guild but have seen my position slip recently, first in uld progression it was to a DK tank, and I agreed with that fully especially because of CD utility of DK's in ulduar fights. But just this week I took a back seat to a less geared, less experienced, Pally tank because "they got mad buffs in the patch." Time will tell with that but it has already seemed off base.
But my question that I am debating and can't seem to find a clear answer on is this: With the dodge/agi nerf and the new +30 stam gems, is it worth it to gem straight +30 stam in all slots? (except ones perhaps with a strong stam bonus)
I am in full T8.25 and have almost all non-hardmode bis. I did some elementary math on it today and I can't see why i shouldn't gem all stam? Thoughts would be appreciated.
- August 6, 2009 at 10:37 PM
- Derrick said...
Huh. Post patch, lots of tanking and dpsing, here's my experience:
mitigation nerf was minor, about 2%. Meh. Everyone lost some, too, so the delta is a lot smaller.
I'm still doing fine tanking, and I don't kit for max stamina - I push lots of agi, too, so it'd likely hurt me more than you stam stacking bears.
Incidentally, the cat nerfs? Bah. I'm still pulling OP dps.
The sky hasn't fallen.
- August 7, 2009 at 12:21 AM


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Thursday, January 7, 2010
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This morning from 3rd & Stewart.
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Seattle is quite a beautiful city, no doubt about that. The Belltown neighborhood doesn't swing that way. Much of it is downright hideously ugly. If not for all that ugliness, there'd be nothing to see. I've lived here for 20 years and I've only just started taking notice. Please join me on this odyssey of unsightliness as we try to figure out why poor Belltown looks so bad.


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I'm not much of a dancer.
Actually, that might be giving me way too much credit.
I am an awful f'n dancer. Probably one of the six or seven worst you'll ever encounter.
My dancing "style" is the same as pretty much every other white, Midwestern dude you've ever met. I slide my feet around haphazardly. I clap (completely out of rhythm) and snap with my hands. Occasionally, I'll pick someone up and swing them about in what appears to be an act of violence, but is really just my ill-fated attempt at "swing dancing."
I'm basically a walking, talking full-body seizure when I'm on the dance floor.
Despite that fact, it seems that one of my patented dance moves (the "Gravey kickstep") recently made it to the big time.
It's going by the name "the sloppy swish" and is prominently featured in a Saturday Night Live skit that is—admittedly—nearly two months old already. Given how old and out of touch I am, however, it seems wholly appropriate that it's finding a place on my blog now.
Without any further ado, here is Mokiki performing "the Sloppy Swish" on SNL from November:
Now, I don't want to brag, but seriously, I've been rocking that move for years and I've been doing it waaaaaaaay better. It's one of the few moves that I carry in my arsenal and I'm happy to see it finally getting the national attention it deserves via this rockin' video.
The dance move alone makes for a good video, but once you toss in the fact that it is accompanied by an oddly-catchy tune and an always pleasant Anne Hathaway cameo and I think we've got ourselves a winner.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to perfect my move before I challenge Mokiki and zombified Anne Hathaway to a dance-off.


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For the record, I have always been a sucker for the under dog. Or
maybe I should say, the under canary......and
now, the under horse. Plus, I hate bullies.
Exhibit A: The collie I saw on the side of I-85, a multilane
highway near Charlotte. It was getting dark. I had a
three hour drive ahead of me. When I saw her, I went to the
next exit, turned around and made my way back. She was
eating roadkill but I lured her into my car with a 3-year-old
granola bar I found in the glove box. She slept all the way
home. She thanked me for saving her a few days later by presenting
me with five puppies.
Exhibit B: When I was a youngster, we went to a canary
store. Yes, in Spain, they have canary stores. I spotted the
forlorn little canary sitting on the floor of the cage. I had to
have THAT one. We took it home and within hours he
turned out to be 1) a she, 2) not so much the forlorn little
canary and 3) in fact, quite the little canary trollop.
Exhibit C: When I lived in North Carolina, I looked out
my dining room window one day and saw a group of kids
walking standing out in the street. One boy kept knocking
another boy's books out of his arms and onto the ground.
Papers flying everywhere. When he would gather his things
and stand back up, the bully would knock them down again.
I ran out of the house yelling. I helped the boy gather his
things and asked the bully if he would like me to do the same
to his books? No? Good. I warned him that if I saw anything
like that again, I'd follow him home and tell his parents.
After that, no more problems. Sweet waves from the rescued
boy and his little sister every afternoon.
Greg says this should have all been a warning to him.
But, it is too late now.
So, it came as no surprise that when some tenants we had
at our trailer in Chiefland were traveling a lot for work, I
offered to help take care of Bill, the horse. Roxanne was
afraid of horses but she had bought him because his previous
owner was pregnant and not riding any longer. She kept him
as a companion because her boyfriend was gone a lot. Plus
the dog she rescued - Snoopy.
When money got worse and they had to move out, I had
been taking care of Bill on a regular basis. We agreed that I
would take him, on the condition that if I ever didn't want
him again, I would give him back to Roxanne. Bill is about
12 years old, a QuarterHorse/Thoroughbred mix and super
mellow. A great horse for a novice like me. Up until then, I
had spent maybe six hours in a saddle over my entire 49 years.
So, I moved Bill to Cypress Station where he lazed
around with Thunder, the pony and Isabella, the goat. He
never wanted to leave them to ride because they would cry
when I took him out. One of the visiting grandkids started
calling him Gillbert. When Thunder and Isabella went back
to their original owner, I moved Bill to another place where
he gets to see other horses more regularly and there is easy
access to riding trails.
Now, his feet and coat are looking great. He stuffs his
face with grass all day and with sweet feed, alfalfa, carrots
and peppermint candies all night. He lets me clean his feet
and put stuff on the soles to make them less tender, so he
won't stumble. I scored the deal-of-the-century on a used
saddle at a tack yard sale but he is such a sweet horse that
you can ride him bareback and without a bit - just a rope halter.
When I haven't spent enough quality time with him, he
shows his displeasure by turning away from me and not letting
me pet him. After he has made that point, he then sticks
his face in my face, so I will be forced to kiss him on his nose
and rub his chin. I'm usually sitting in a chair when that happens.
Reading a book with one hand and rubbing his chin
with another as he stand towering over me until he decides
he has had enough.
So, there you go. My latest underdog. The 1,000 pound
horse that I renamed BillBert. So, if were wondering why my
Mini-Cooper smells like manure and has hay stuck in the
carpet, now you know.
Ada Lang is staff reporter for the Cedar Key Beacon and can be contacted at 352-493-4796 or email@example.com.
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Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Merry Christmas!
I'll have an update and pictures from Christmas either tomorrow or the next day. In the meantime, I wanted to give my readers, who have been following Julian's story, a little update. Although just yesterday, Mimi thought that Julian wouldn't make it to see Christmas, he did. Not only did he hold on until today, but he woke up with a big smile, asked for coffee and donuts, and was a chatterbox throughout the day. I couldn't be happier or more thankful that the Averys will have these nice memories of their last Christmas all together. I would like to share this poem that Mimi wrote last December before Julian had been diagnosed with brain cancer.
About Christmas...
What is it about Christmas that reminds us how much we miss someone?
What is it about Christmas that reminds us how lonely we are ?
What is it about Christmas that reminds us how selfish we can be?
What is it about Christmas that reminds us how unfriendly we can be?
Christmas should be about giving
Christmas should be about helping
Christmas should be about loving
Christmas should be about remembering
Remembering on Christmas Day that it is all about Him,
Remembering on Christmas day that it was all about us,
Remembering on Christmas day how little He was
Remembering on Christmas day how great He is
Never forget on Christmas day that someone is in our heart,
Never forget on Christmas day that we are not alone
Never forget on Christmas day to be giving
Never forget on Christmas day to open your home and your heart.
Because It was on Christmas day that God sent us His son
Because it is on Christmas day that we forget most about God
Because it is on Christmas day that we should always remember
that love , hope ,peace and trust dont only exist on Christmas day...
50 comments:
- kristymccray said...
hi dawn!
i enjoy reading your blog, and i was excited to read about your trip to NYC. speaking of big trips--i am coming to chicago dec. 27-31! i've never been before. any suggestions for the newbie (besides LOTS of warm clothes--i'm from california!).
thanks! :)
- December 26, 2007 at 2:11 AM
- bucketgirl said...
Merry Christmas - thanks for the laughs! About that stain on your countertop/choppingblock/tabletop - have you put something with bleach in it (I use soft scrub) and let it sit there for an hour? This is how I get juice/coffee/etc. stains out of all my porous surfaces with no damage. Happy New Year, too! - AC
- December 26, 2007 at 3:46 AM
The Tooth Fairy does not come on weekends or holidays. Ask all 4 of my kids, they'll tell you.
- December 26, 2007 at 6:43 AM
The tooth fairy recently didn't make it here when she was supposed to, too. So I "e-mailed her" to let her know that we would be ot for the day if she wanted to come then. When we got home my daughter ran to see, and there was her $ and a letter from the tooth fairy saying that her molar mobile had broken down on her way here the night before and how sorry she was about being late!
- December 26, 2007 at 6:44 AM
- Carla Stream said...
Lately my children hand me the tooth and I hand over a dollar. Transaction complete.
What a sweet, sad poem. I am always melancholy at Christmas. Haven't seen my family in 5 years, missing my grandma and my babies in heaven. Remembering Him too.
- December 26, 2007 at 7:26 AM
- Deb in OPKS said...
That is a beautiful poem. It is so easy to get caught up in all the chaos and life in general that it's hard to keep the true meaning of Christmas front and center sometimes.
- December 26, 2007 at 8:07 AM
- Gregg, Mandi, Lucie, Griffin said...
What a beautiful poem, thank you for sharing. This family is in my prayers
Merry Christmas to your family!
- December 26, 2007 at 8:41 AM
- Keri said...
So I'm not alone in the failure to remember to play tooth fairy? I have used the excuse that it was a holiday and the tooth fairy does not work holidays, it was raining and the tooth fairy can't fly in the rain because her wings will get wet and the list goes on and on.
- December 26, 2007 at 8:57 AM
- JO said...
Oddly enough, the tooth fairy has made visits to our house in the middle of the day, when the tooth was sitting unattended on the shelf. I guess the tooth fairy does overtime sometimes.
- December 26, 2007 at 10:17 AM
Hi Dawn, Merry Christmas to you and your family. That poem was so beautifull and true! I wanted to tell you that on Christmas eve I was driving down the road and I saw people walking with two live raindeer! I had to turn around to investagate. Sure enough..they must be rental deer because they had a trailer parked down the street and they were walking them to a house for pictures. How cool is that? My hubby said they might be caraboo deer. They even had lights blinking on their antlers. Kristine in Michigan.
- December 26, 2007 at 10:33 AM
Dang those glitchy air traffic controllers! The Tooth Fairy is always getting delays from our house too. Sometimes she has to fly down the road (ATM) before she is allowed near our house.
Mimi's poem is what it is all about. Julian is what it is all about. I wish their family peace during this hard time.
Oh yeah just because everyone seems to say this
<<~~ Look at me! I'm 1st! I'm 1st!!
- December 26, 2007 at 11:48 AM
- My Semblance of Sanity said...
Merry Christmas, dear friend!
- December 26, 2007 at 12:22 PM
- Jenifer said...
Praise God that Julian's family was able to spend this holiday together. I pray that his family is at peace with all that is going on and know that others are thinking and praying for them during this difficult time. Thank you for the updates.
- December 26, 2007 at 1:25 PM
- South Carolina Mom said...
I read that poem on Julian's care page and was reminded of both how fortunate and how selfish I truly am. I take for granted every day the health of my children, and find myself complaining about their noise and toys and everything else that goes along with having 3 kids under age 5. I am ashamed to write about my complaints, especially because I bet Mimi and countless others who have experienced the death of a child, would gladly give anything to have their child back.
Thanks for the reminder, and I glad to read you had a Merry Christmas.
- December 26, 2007 at 2:18 PM
I knew there were problems with air traffic control but had no idea it affected Santa and the Tooth Fairy too! Wow!
Very powerful poem!
- December 26, 2007 at 2:21 PM
- Brenda said...
I have always found the toothfairly is quite unreliable. Beautiful thoughts about Christmas.
- December 26, 2007 at 3:04 PM
- roseys madhouse said...
I personally think that the tooth fairy is busier than Santa, with all the children loosing teeth throughout the world so I think that is why the tooth fairy can sometimes forget to call in, I love that the tooth fairy always can call in a few days late though!
Could you imagine the caos though if Santa was a few days late????
- December 26, 2007 at 3:11 PM
- Patty said...
Thank you for the update on Julian! I am keeping him and the family in my thoughts and prayers.
- December 26, 2007 at 5:11 PM
- madridmom said...
I know just what you mean about the tooth fairy. My son lost a tooth a week or so ago on a Wednesday, but our paycheck wasn't going to hit the bank till Friday and I knew I didn't have ANY MONEY AT ALL in the house. He asked if he should put his tooth under his pillow that night and I said something like "I think you should wait a day or two. The tooth fairy's schedule is probably full for tonight." Big brother chimed in with some lame but plausible explanation. My son was fine with the wait but I felt bad that I couldn't even scrape up 1 euro (we live in Spain) that night.
- December 26, 2007 at 5:25 PM
Thank You for the update on Julian and the Poem.
That is exactly what Christmas should be about!!
Hope your new year is great!
- December 26, 2007 at 5:39 PM
SO glad to hear Julian made it through, that's wonderful news!
- December 26, 2007 at 5:43 PM
Do you write out Christmas family letters? If so, would you post yours on this blog? It would be very interesting to read what you have to say!
- December 26, 2007 at 5:53 PM
The poem is amazing.....I think from time to time we all need reminding to stop and hold dear to the ones we love and give thanks for the grace we live with every day
- December 26, 2007 at 6:02 PM
- Shellie said...
Maybe the Tooth Fairy and Santa have a restraining order against each other because they didn't come together at my house either. At least the Tooth Fairy had an excuse this time, because she is perennially late at our house too. I was also so excited for Julian having such a great day yesterday!
- December 26, 2007 at 6:14 PM
- Terri H said...
Dawn, there were several times the tooth fairy ended up stuck in labor freezes, strikes, stalled negotiations over labor contracts, mechanical failures, and other such stuff. It's okay to forget the teeth.
Have fun
- December 26, 2007 at 6:16 PM
Thank you, Dawn, for the reminder of just what Christmas is really about. Many blessings to Julian and his family.
While we don't get too carried away with the commercial aspect of Christmas in our house, sometimes all the hustle and bustle make me forget that just loving family and friends is gift enough this time of year.
Sandy in Tucson
- December 26, 2007 at 7:08 PM
My heart is full after reading that amazing poem. God Bless and keep this amazing and strong, wonderful family. Our family thinks of you.
- December 26, 2007 at 7:35 PM
Hi Dawn, and Merry (belated) Christmas! I have been reading your blog for months, just never commented... I HAD to today because I swear this is the first time I've seen ZERO comments at the time I read it. No, I do not expect to be number 1 :) I just thought since it was an anomolous (is that spelled right?) Ok ok, WEIRD, occurence for me, I'd do something out of the ordinary. I am 16 weeks pregnant with my 1st, and want at least 4. I figure all this reading of your blog is like studying for a test :) Thank you SO MUCH for all the laughs and for sharing your insanity with the rest of us, you're amazing :) Have a great New Year!!
~ Brandie
- December 26, 2007 at 7:53 PM
So glad that Julian was here for Christmas. How wonderful that God allowed that special, wonderful gift for his family.
- December 26, 2007 at 8:03 PM
- Manic Mom said...
Oh, God bless little Julian, and thank Him for giving his family this one last gift of being able to share Christmas together.
- December 26, 2007 at 8:09 PM
- France said...
Inspiring poem!
I was on your blog yesterday, and this morning, upon waking up, I remembered reading somewhere: "WD-40 removes permanent marker"
here's a source for this tip:
Thanks for your blog!!
- December 26, 2007 at 8:13 PM
WOW! It is showing no comments on my end! Anyway, don't feel bad, the tooth fairy very seldom gets clearance to land at our house the first night and sometimes not even the second night. I just use the excuse that their room must have been too messy for the tooth fairy to be comfortable coming into their room! LOL BTW...LOVE your blog!
- December 26, 2007 at 8:34 PM
- Nancy said...
Wow..with tears in my eyes. I'm so happy that Julian and his family had one more Christmas together.
- December 26, 2007 at 8:34 PM
Well said, beautiful.
- December 26, 2007 at 8:52 PM
- Rick said...
But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish. Psalms 9.18
- December 26, 2007 at 9:02 PM
- Kate said...
This doesn't actually have anything to do with your recent post. It's just a little something that I found online that may or may not help you remember things and stay a little bit organized. (At least as organized as you can be with all the work you deal with.) But anyway it's a free email based personal assistant for reminders, contacts, etc. http://www.iwantsandy.com/
- December 26, 2007 at 9:03 PM
Is this the part where I say, OH my am I first, am I first? Big Deal! I just wanted to wish you and your family a very Happy Holiday season and to say how much I feel for Mimi and her family. What they have to go through. No mother should ever have to see their child suffer like poor Julian is. But as I'm sure both you and Mimi know, God has His plans for us, and he must need a special angel right now.
On a lighter note, I want to thank you for making so many people's day. You bring out the best of bad situations, I wish I could gleen some of it through your writings. You make us look at things in a completely different way, kinda like seeing the glass half empty or half full. I wish you the best in the future with your book, I can hardly wait to read it, you so deserve all the attention you are now receiving, and please just block all those naysayers out, they are just small hateful people who deserve not even a nano second of your time or thought. God Bless you and your family.
Diane Haynes
- December 26, 2007 at 9:13 PM
Merry Christmas, Dawn!
I hope that Santa was good to you and to all your family. (My 2 year old's favorite present was for some reason the Wellies she received -- she insisted on wearing them ALL day yesterday over her PJs, except when she was painting and please don't ask why that's the exception, as I have no idea.) What were some of the favorites at your house? I can't wait to see the pictures!
I was SO glad to hear that Julian made it to yesterday (and hopefully today and tomorrow and many more). It cracked me up that he asked for coffee and donuts! That had to have made everyone around him smile.
Happy Boxing Day to you all!
- December 26, 2007 at 10:03 PM
- ea said...
there have been a few times at our house where the tooth fairy has "gotten confused about which pillow to look under" (no cash in our wallets) but she got it straightened out the next night!
God is so good - and cares about the most significant details (Julian enjoying Christmas day HERE with his family!)
Loved the poem...
- December 26, 2007 at 10:40 PM
Thank you for sharing this poem written by Mimi. I am glad their family got to enjoy Christmas with Julian. It broke my heart to think of them buying a burial plot for him. They are in my prayers and thoughts, because I know how hard it is to lose a child.
- December 26, 2007 at 11:21 PM
That poem is so fitting for Christmas and for Julian, bless his sweet soul. Thanks for printing it Dawn. My heart goes out to his family!
Tell Lexi not to spend all her tooth fairy money in one place! lol
- December 26, 2007 at 11:31 PM
Thank you so much for this poem; I'll never forget it!
Thank you so much!
God bless,
- December 26, 2007 at 11:49 PM
" I couldn't be happier or more thankful that the Averys will have these nice memories of their last Christmas all together."
I share the same emotions.
- December 27, 2007 at 6:32 AM
- Tc said...
My daughter has lost two teeth so far and didn't know it at the time. Once eating chicken and once in her sleep. So the tooth fairy is not getting much work around my place so far.
- December 27, 2007 at 7:24 AM
Here in Kansas at our house, there is a special tooth fairy that rides with Santa in his sleigh! The Christmas Tooth Fairy. The tooth must be left under the tree instead of under their pillow!! Hee Hee! Another fun routine I started is that if you lose your tooth on a Monday it's extra special because it's More Money Monday in Tooth Fairy Land! (this all started when my son had a very very loose one...just barely hanging by a thread, and it was driving me insane looking at that dangly pearly white, I wanted it out so so bad!) He was refusing to let me pull it, so I came up with the idea that if he pulled it that night, a Monday, he would get more money...well, it worked! Long live More Money Monday!!! Now, his little sister has just lost her first two, one of which SHE pulled herself on a Monday!
Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year!!!
- December 27, 2007 at 9:04 AM
- Tami said...
Oh, I'm so happy that Julian was able to spend one more Christmas with his family, please let Mimi know that she's in my thoughts, I would love to give her a hug and tell her to hold him tight. From a mom that lost a son, I know the pain she's going through.
- December 27, 2007 at 1:16 PM
Thanks for the beautiful poem and for the Julian update. What a brave little man! He has brought joy to hundreds through your blog. And also thousands of prayers have been offered for him and his parents. Much love to them.
- December 27, 2007 at 8:44 PM
- Becky said...
Oh, that poem was BEAUTIFUL! Mimi shows such great strength of character and deep faith even during this storm raging in her life. I'm so thankful Julian got to have one more Christmas with his family. Continued prayers for Julian and his family. Thanks for keeping us all updated!
LOL on the tooth fairy and Santa sharing cookies and milk!
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, Dawn! Gods Richest blessings in your New Year!
- December 28, 2007 at 5:02 PM
- TheMFamily said...
Alright, I read your blog every week at least. I finally need to comment. I love Julian's mom's poem. So sweet and beautiful. I am glad they got to spend Christmas with him. I come from a large family with 10 kids and there were just too many teeth that kept falling out for my parents to always remember to leave money. Course we all knew it was them. Lol! The 4th child felt so terrible when she got nothing for her first tooth. My dad walked into her bedroom with his change jar of about $5 and dumped it on her bed! We were all shocked since we each only got $1 for our first tooth and basically nothing after that.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. Keep sharing your stories. I can totally relate to them and they remind me of when I was growing up. My poor parents!
- December 28, 2007 at 7:40 PM
- Heather Turner said...
OMG I thought my house was the only one with a slow Tooth Fairy! My poor kids think the Tooth Fairy just doesn't have enough magic to get to all the teeth in one night.
That is awesome that Julian and his family were able to spend one more Christmas together.
- December 29, 2007 at 7:04 PM


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With the explosion of dance, it is more important than ever to establish high teaching and ethical standards and to distinguish qualified teachers based on training, certification and experience.
Why Become Certified
Perhaps you have a few years experience as a dance teacher, and a following of students, and are wondering why you need to participate in a certification program. Today, there are more dance teachers than ever. It is sometimes hard for potential students to recognize the difference between you and other teachers. To remain competitive, you need as many ways as possible to set yourself up as a better, more recognized and respected teacher.
Knowledge is power. Because the dance industry is not license regulated, we professionals must take on the task of self-regulation and demand the highest standards for ourselves and the public. Employers will change and demand higher standards from their teachers when the public does; and the public will demand the change as they learn of the value of certification.
How To Become Certified
Certification is available through the Member Organizations of the National Dance Council. Below is a list of certifying organizations. Check the Directory section of our web site for the Member Organizations and learn more.
Certifying Organizations of the National Dance Council
- Arthur Murray International (AMI)
- Dance Teachers Club of Boston (DTCB)
- Dance Vision International Dancers Assoc. (DVIDA)
- Fred Astaire Dance of North America (FADS)
- National Dance Teachers Assoc. (NADTA)
- North American Dance Teachers Assoc., Inc. (NADTA)
- Pan American Teachers of Dancing (PAN AM)
- U.S. Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (USISTD)
- U.S. Terpsichore Assoc., Inc. (USTA)


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1 (interjection).A war cry chanted when someone (male or female) stumbles, trips, or otherwise falls over in public, to the amusement of others and the embarrassment of themselves. The chant is often accompanied with an elbow-drop being inflicted on the fallen victim.
2 (noun) An instance of the above occurrance.
2 (noun) An instance of the above occurrance.
"We were walking down the street when a man tripped up, so we rushed over and gave him a She Fell Over."
by cgb March 10, 2003
by Anonymous May 19, 2003
by She fell over May 18, 2003
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