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Hello! Long time no blog. I'm still working on Delugional, my puzzle game. As it's (hopefully) nearing release, I want to talk more about the creative and development process.
I apparently promised, many moons ago, to talk about prototyping. Prototyping is a crucial part of game design.
Here's the thing. You're trying to do something new in your game, whether it's a new mechanic you invent, or a novel combination of existing elements. That's important – ultimately your game's identity is whatever you put in it that's new.
But your cool new idea might not work. Plenty of ideas that're promising on paper just don't turn out to be fun in practice. The history of innovation in games is littered with noble failures.
That's where the prototype comes in. The aim is to take your risky, novel idea, and construct the simplest, quickest test that answers the question: is this fun?
I made a couple of initial prototypes for Delugional – at the time only knowing I wanted to make a puzzle game of some sort. The purpose was to find a fun 'core mechanic' with enough depth to build a whole game around.
I thought it could be interesting to make a game inspired by physics simulations. The first prototype took this inspiration very literally – it was a 'simulation' of particles that could collide with each other, and off the walls, the idea being that you 'won' by finding the right initial configuration for the particles to end up in their proper places.
Here's a picture.
You can see I didn't sink any time into pretty graphics. I also put barely any work into the interface. The puzzles were created directly in code, and I even 'solved' them by editing the code. That's all I needed to be able to explore the mechanic.
It took me a couple of days to code the basic interactions between particles, along with a dirt-simple UI, and another day or so to play around with it and reach a verdict.
The verdict? Thumbs down. Quoting straight from my notes at the time:
What I don't see here is 'manageable complexity.' This is something that good puzzle games have. Meaning that the problem is complex, but breakable into smaller parts. …
I don't see that here. I think the problem is that the simulation component places a big inferential gap between the effect the game enables you to have, and the outcome you're trying to achieve. Solution steps are either trivially obvious (this atom's will hit that one) or effectively unforeseeable (multiple atom interactions and multiple reflections rapidly lead to a board situation that can't be inferred by a player from the initial configuration; that in turn makes it impossible to reason about the effect that small changes to the initial set-up will have). The latter is compounded by the fact that (in my opinion) key simulation rules are non-intuitive.
You can see I was pretty critical of an idea that I'd initially been hopeful about. That's what you should do in the prototyping phase: generate ideas prolifically, and cull them mercilessly.
Eventually I hit upon a prototype that had legs. That's a story for another post…


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If you can't see my vlog here you can go over to my YouTube Channel: Surprise You Are A Mom!
Another week passed by. Can you believe we are entering June?! Time has passed by so fast.
This week we were expecting to do our floors for the second floor but our special order didn't arrive on time. Either way I've attempted to be proactive and start moving our things downstairs.
Hope to have this flooring done with soon.
I moved my daughter's kitchen right by my kitchen. And ever since then she has been using it more than before. She loves to play cook and offers us dinner and coffee. It's too adorable.
It's been pretty much normal. Other than Sunday. We adopted two puppies! Well one is a year old it's a male named Carlos. The other one is 2 months old it's a female. It is very unexpected of us.
We won't have them til the following week.
Our local animal shelter is participating on the ASPCA Rachel Ray's Challenge. Basically 50 animal shelters nationwide are competing to see which one has the highest adoption rate to rescue animals. The highest will win money for the animal shelter to continue to save more animals.
How was your week?
Any name suggestions for our new furry babies?
Love to hear from you so comment down below :)
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subset: commoncrawl


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Contemporary Improvisations for Solo Piano
Arranged by Larry Dalton
Following the style of the popular piano folio Gospel Improv comes the latest signature collection for solo pianists: Hymprov: Contemporary Improvisations for Solo Piano. This dynamic piano folio features 12 tasteful contemporary arrangements of classic hymns appropriate for any contemporary or blended worship setting. Arranged by talented veteran Larry Dalton at the medium difficult level, the addition of chord symbols and performance notes will help pianists to better understand the harmonic structure of each arrangement. Specific insights into the "art" of improvisation are also included for pianists wanting to incorporate fresh, new harmonies into their playing.
Quick OverviewPiano Folio
Product Features
Difficulty: Moderately Advanced
Release Date: July 27, 2007
Ordering Information
- Song Titles
Song TitlesBe Thou My Vision traditional Irish hymnCome, Thou Fount of Every Blessing Robert Robinson, traditional American melodyCrown Him with Many Crowns Bridges, Thring, ElveyFairest Lord Jesus Anon, Willis, Nockels, NockelsI Must Tell Jesus HoffmanI Sing the Mighty Power of God Watts, Gesangbuch der HerzoglJoyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee Henry van Dyke, Beethoven; add'l chorus by Hall, AustinLove Divine, All Loves Excelling WesleyO the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus Francis, WilliamsThere Is a Fountain William Cowper, traditional American melodyThis Is My Father's World Babcock, SheppardWe Gather Together Netherlands folk song
- Clip Art
Clip Art
Thumbnail JPEG File Link TIFF File Link 080689438387.jpg
- Reviews
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I've set my goals and tasks on my To Do list link to each one of those. I'm not being too smug, as I'm well aware that we're only five days into the new year, but being proactive has to be better than fire fighting.
There'll still be fires to fight, but hopefully I can sometimes get in first.


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This was my first year having Thanksgiving at my house. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing, what if the turkey was dry? What if I didn't make enough food for everyone? Or burned something? But I am so proud of myself because everything turned out amazing!
I had never made a cheese cake. Or a pumpkin pie. Or home made pie crust. BUT I did all of that in this one delicious recipe (Well, 2 actually. Crust and the pie). Every body loved it! It is definitely a keeper and the pie crust was awesome!
I found both recipes on www.allrecipes.com :)
Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake:
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.
Pie crust:
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup white sugar
6 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter or margarine, and cinnamon until well blended. Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.
2. Bake at 375 degrees F for 7 minutes. Cool. If the recipe calls for unbaked pie shell, just chill for one hour.


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It has become manifest that the Rule of Law has collapsed in Malaysia.
Even if Anwar Ibrahim were to be found guilty of sodomy, the court of public opinion would have acquitted him. Even if the Deputy Prime Minister were shown to be wholly unconnected with the events underlying the Altantuya murder trial, that court would have already found otherwise. It would not matter if all the police officers, prosecutors and judges in the country were to say otherwise or if all the untruths, one way or the other, were undone. Malaysians, or at least a very large number of them, have lost faith in the system.
The Rule of Law does not exist merely for there being present the institutions of the administration of justice. Courts, prosecutors, a legal profession and a police force do not in themselves give rise to the Rule of Law. That can only occur if they collectively function in a manner that allows for the full confidence of the Malaysian public. Without such confidence, these institutions are nothing more than empty shells.
There is no longer a basis for continued public confidence in these institutions. Where the police and the Judiciary are concerned, this is a state of affairs that has for all purposes and intents been formally recognized by two Royal Commissions of Enquiry. The office of the Attorney General is suborned to the Executive and its impartiality has been put in doubt, its decisions and conduct having become increasingly questionable. The legal profession has been largely neutered by self-interest or the need for self-preservation.


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Stamp- whiff of joy-willow in summer breeze, coloured in with H20;s
Friday, 21 May 2010
Stamp- whiff of joy-willow in summer breeze, coloured in with H20;s
11 comments:
i know that language it means "beautiful card!"
and it sure is lovely colours you have used x
enjoy the weather if its sunny in your neck of the woods x
Suzie Qx
What a lovely card Emma. I love this paper, one of my favorites. Such a beautiful WOJ image. Great colors. Thanks for joining in at SSC.ReplyDelete
Hugs xx
Hee hee Love the title, Know that feeling! I love the card this week its so bright and cheery. Thanks for joining in with us again this week on MAWTT HazelxoxReplyDelete
I love the papers you've used here! Nice job!ReplyDelete
thanks for joining us at Stamptaclar This week.
great card hun and have fun playing with your new camera. So know what you mean by the title sometimes I end up using one of the challenges I will be entering but perhaps I might use your idea next time.ReplyDelete
hugs Clare x
she's lovely. I really like the layout and papers too. Such a pretty card.ReplyDelete
I like your blog design too! the monkey and giraffe are so fun! lol..Thank you for joining us at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge.
BTW, you son is very handsome and i learned what PKU is thanks to you :) Thank you for the education!
Such a sweet card, love the image and the design papers are just great! Clever idea that title, gonna use it next time when I'm struggling to come up with a title again! Thanks for joining us at SSC, GemmaReplyDelete
Beautiful card! I love the trees on the background paper!ReplyDelete
Thanks so much for joining us this week at Stamptacular Sunday! ♥ Good luck on the challenge!
Dee (Spryte)
Hi Emma, wow I love your bright and sunny card! Great take on Hazel's sketch, which was fabby! Thanks for joining us over at MAWTT, hugs Heidi xxReplyDelete
Ha ha ha ha ... love your card title Emma - funny I sit for ages trying to think of something witty and end up with "birthday boy" or something equally as boring!ReplyDelete
Lovely card BTW!
Lol!!! Love the title!!Fab card & what a lovely image. Thanks for joining in with us at MAWTT this week xx Clare xReplyDelete


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August 3, 1947 - September 13, 2016
Teddy Harold Clark, 69, of Medford, Ore. passed away Tuesday, September 13, 2016. He was born August 3, 1947 in Fallbrook, Calif. to Charles Harold Clark and Lola Montez Klein.
He is survived by his daughter, Amber Clark; adopted son, Gary Clark; sister, Judy Clark Harper; brothers, Jerry Clark and Nick Clark; the joy of his life, granddaughter, Brooke Clark; and his beloved little dog, Annie.
At his request no services will be held. Hillcrest Memorial Park & Mortuary in care of arrangements.


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I made this shadow box for Emma for her room.
The shadow box is framed in 10" x 10" frame which is 1" deep to give room for the embellishments.
I used Stampin up papers and Alphabet stamp and embellished with beads and charms from BEADERS COMPANION with ribbons, lace, buttons and gems from my stash.


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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Ballot Reform
Thinking about the reason we use a little box with white balls and black cubes in a secret ballot where all members of the Lodge must vote, you have to go way back to the 1700s. Masonry grew up with the United States growing into a nation. It became customary for each hamlet to have its own Masonic Lodge rather than one Lodge drawing from many different communities. As such the local town Lodge was in a village where everybody knew everybody else. Outside of the few big cities of that time like Boston, New York and Philadelphia, Americans lived in communities small enough in size for an individual to know every single person in that town. Therefore everybody needed to vote on a petition in Lodge because everybody knew the applicant. And everybody also knew what everybody else was doing. Private lives were not so private. If you did something you shouldn't or acted in a manner that drew attention you can be sure that everybody else in town knew about it. Therefore it became necessary to shield those voting in Lodge from having their decision spread all over town. Rejecting an applicant could have serious repercussions especially if you were the only one to drop the black ball. Without a secret ballot any vote could be held up to ridicule thus putting undue pressure on the voter to go along with the crowd. To make a truly independent decision away from pressure and to avoid the mess of paper and pencil the present system was devised.
And for its day that system worked very well. But today is quite different or as they used to say, "This is not your grandfather's Chevrolet." Today we are much more mobile than our ancestors. I live in a suburb of Dallas 20 miles outside the core city. The population of my town was 28,000 in 2004 when I moved here. It is today over 50,000. Two hundred years ago in this population I would be living in one of the largest cities in the United States. The Dallas/Ft. Worth population today is 6.1 million.
I know about 15 people in my town and I would dare say everybody else is in a similar situation as I am. Casting a mandatory vote on somebody I have never heard of is not only silly it is downright dangerous. Yes we all rely on the Investigating Committee to do their job and inform us, but that committee in many jurisdictions is not a standing committee but one appointed as the need arises. Those who serve on the Investigating committee are far from professional investigators and the job they do is often very amateurish. If the investigation is superficial and only the sponsor knows the applicant then we often times are at the mercy of he who recommended the applicant.
And thus has risen abuses in this system. First we are blackballing men who should be Masons. But because they are the wrong skin color, speak with a foreign accent, are not Christian or happen to be a person we have had a run in with, well then a little black cube takes care of that! After all we must remember that Masonry in the USA is a WASP society. Since he who rejects does not have to answer to anybody then he can black ball for no good reason and there is no way to stop him. One Mason in a Lodge can and has black balled good and worthy applicants over and over again, voting his prejudices, and the system has no way to prohibit this abuse.
Conversely we are admitting men who should have been blackballed. Because nobody knows the applicant besides his sponsor and the investigation is far from thorough many a man slides in that should have been kept out. I am sure many of you who are reading this have served on an Investigating Committee. Let me then ask you, the reader, if you have ever asked an applicant if he should become a member and he would be voting on a petition would he hesitate to vote for acceptance of a black man? I'll bet that one in a hundred would ask a question like that. That's because we don't screen personal beliefs, outside of a belief in Deity, just actions.
If we are relying so heavily on our Investigating Committee to properly inform us, the vast majority knowing nothing whatsoever about the applicant, why don't we make the Investigating Committee the decision maker? We have a three member committee, majority rules. All that would be needed for acceptance or rejection then would be a minimum of two votes. No balloting, no white balls, no black cubes, just a vote of three members who have done a good investigation. The Investigation Committee then would decide who is accepted and who is rejected.
Before investing them with this power we would have to do few things. First let's make them a standing committee each member serving three years. And let's make the first committee consist of a one year term, a two year term and a three year term. Thereafter every election or appointment would be for a three year term. This way one of the three comes up for replacement every year.
Second let's send any Investigating Committee members to school to learn how to do an investigation the right way. This could be a course offered by an outside agency or school or Grand Lodge. Perhaps part of the investigation process now might be an FBI check and a credit check.
Lastly let's invest each member with the inability to say anything about their investigation or the person they are looking into. This would be just like the silence of the lawyer/client relationship or the Priest in the Confessional. So it's still a secret ballot, but now a secret among three. Not even the Worshipful Master should know what went on in the decision making process.
Now any member of the Lodge who has reason to reject an applicant can present whatever evidence they have to the Investigating Committee. But what has to happen here that heretofore has not is that the objecting Brother has to have a good reason. No longer will a man be able to be kept out of Masonry for no good reason like prejudice. Conversely those that should not be accepted have a far better chance of being caught with a permanent, professional Investigating Committee performing an in depth investigation.
What we will have succeeded in doing then is to remove this process from amateurs, from guess work and from a method of total permissiveness void of enforceable voting guidelines. That ensures better protection of the Lodge and an increase in fairness.
2 comments:
- Tim said...
I must say, your idea is a good one. Having just endured a very unpleasant balloting experience ( I was the one that cast a black ball) even when all protocal is followed, people being human, egos and assumptions run deep.
- May 9, 2008 at 7:41 PM
- Wayfaring Man said...
You cite that casting a black ball could be "downright dangerous" which begs the question dangerous to whom? Or to what?
Certainly there is nothing revolutionary about the practice as it has continued since at least 1717, and for all those blackballs dropped during that time - someone surely could earn a Ph.D. by calculating them - the fraternity has not been destroyed. Even during the height of Anti-Masonry following the Morgan affair, the secret ballot was not used against us. Instead they attacked us for cronynism, our oaths, and our supposed all-pervading influence on society.
What then is downright dangerous about a member casting a blackball? The fraternity has survived after having blackballed those men we have shunned, and provided that its traditions are left intact, I should think it will continue to survive regardless of the balloting procedures?
Although I certainly agree that in the history of blackballs, there surely have been some, possible many, that were improperly dropped - but shouldn't that be the decision of the member? Should we not trust our brothers to vote well for the interest of Masonry? Do we need more government within the lodge to assure that they do?
- May 27, 2008 at 2:07 PM


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This awesome challenge is being hosted by April over at Good Books and Good Wine. It seems like a great challenge, so I thought I would check it out! I am going to post one of these every two or three days, interspersed with book reviews. Enjoy, and feel free to join in!
Day 9: Why do you blog about books?
I thought this was going to be a long and convoluted answer, but it really isn't. I started blogging about books because I want to be an author someday, and I thought that blogging about books and posting book reviews would be good for me in a few ways. One, it would help me identify what it is in other writing that I didn't like so I could avoid those pitfalls in my own. Two, I hoped it would bring me into the fold of the publishing world a little more.
And then there is reason three, which is why I continue to blog about books. I just love to read and to share what I think about what I read. I don't think my opinion is the be all and end all, and I love talking to people with differing opinions from mine. A conversation about books is always a good time, in my mind. I mean, come on. I tried to get my husband to read The Hobbit with me before we saw the movie so we could have our own little two-person book club!
So, what makes you blog about books?


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Photo by Bill Roseberry
The Civic Memorial Eagles are all smiles while posing with their Class 3A Jersey Regional crown on Feb. 19. The CM girls' basketball team entered the Highland Sectional on Feb. 23.
The youthful Civic Memorial Eagle girls' basketball team spread their wings and learned to fly in 2014-15.
It makes the future look bright on the Bethalto hardwood.
For a team with no seniors on its roster, CM turned some heads this season. On Feb. 26 the Eagles made a valiant effort to secure the second sectional title in school history and the second one in a row. CM fell 36-31 in a physical Class 3A Highland Sectional final to a gritty Massac County squad.
Rewind to last year, when the Eagles advanced to the super-sectional round of the playoffs for the first time ever, ultimately losing to Quincy Notre Dame 42-27 at Millikin University.
CM graduated seven seniors from that 31-3 super-sectional team and only returned sophomore Allie Troeckler with any tangible experience. Troeckler averaged 13.1 points per game as a freshman to lead the team off the bench. Journey Coffman (50 points) and Katelyn Turbyfill (70 points) also contributed a little as sophomores.
Enter this season and many basketball pundits thought it was a rebuilding year for the Eagles, but a 26-7 campaign and a berth in the sectional finals spoke differently.
Troeckler grew into a formidable force in the area, averaging a team-best 21.0 ppg, 8.7 rebounds per game, 3.09 steals per game and 2.55 blocks per game. She was second in assists with 2.42 per game.
She also reached 1,000 points for her career this season, set the single-game record for points with 44 against Taylorville on Dec. 13 and set the single-season mark for rebounds at CM with 288.
Troeckler was joined in the starting lineup by juniors Turbyfill (8.7 ppg) and Coffman (5.2 ppg), as well as sophomore Kaitlyn Kappler (1.5 ppg) and freshman Alaira Tyus (5.6 ppg) to form a solid unit. Tyus led the Eagles with 2.91 assists per game.
CM head coach Jonathan Denney wouldn't call the success a complete surprise, but he admitted it came quicker than expected.
"I was, but I wasn't. I knew we had some pieces to the puzzle, but I thought a run like this might have been a year away," Denney said. "They were a year ahead of time and a lot of kids did some really good things as freshmen, sophomores and even the juniors who were untested from last year. I thought there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle there and a lot of coaches aren't feeling sorry because we are having everybody back, but at the same time we're going to have a target. We've made a couple nice runs the last couple years. This isn't a given we're going to be back here winning this thing next year just because we have everybody coming back."
There were a slew of other contributors in '14-15 who should progress for next season, too.
Junior Kalyn Troxell (4.0 ppg) and freshmen Kaylee Eaton (5.5 ppg), Elizabeth Buckley (1.9 ppg) and Cassie Hall (0.5 ppg) also supplied valuable minutes to the Eagles' cause.
Improvement was evident when CM bested Highland 63-56 in the Jersey Regional finals and then Salem 55-46 in the Highland Sectional semis. The Eagles lost to Highland three times and Salem once during the season to make up four of their six regular-season losses. The other two defeats came to eventual Class 1A state runner-up Calhoun.
Denney insists improvement is the key to future success. The offseason dedication of the girls will foretell what will be in store for the '15-16 season.
"I think the girls really need to make the commitment to excellence in the offseason and fix the little things like foot speed, speed and agility, get stronger. I'd like to see each and every one of them put five to 10 pounds of muscle on," he said. "That includes Troeckler and Turbyfill. I think everybody's got to get stronger and it's going to help their mental toughness and when you get in a game like (Massac County), maybe you don't get out-toughed next year."
Troeckler pointed to the bad taste the loss to Massac County left in the mouths of the Eagles as a driving force for a commitment to excellence.
"It just makes me want to get after it and get it next year that much more than I did before," Troeckler said. "To see that we have everybody returning and see how far we went this year, it just shows that we can go that much further next year."


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Thursday, October 27, 2011
Hiamoe O Ka Nalo Meli
He po anu o ka po nei, ua hiamoe ke-ia nalo meli maluna o ke-ia kale one i ka papahele mua o ka hale.
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Lopaka's almost daily blog concerning beach life, in the Hawaiian language. Comments and corrections are welcome! Aloha, r


text: Thanks everyone ! I am trying to get a trailer lined up for tomorrow. The mower isn't new and I can evidence of past repairs, however I think if it's going to be a quality peice of gear, it's worth much more to put a few $$ into IT, rather than to sink money into my 20 year old Murray Ride-on which has been abused all it's life ! (right?) IE: you wouldn't dump money into a K-CAR, but you'd put a few bucks into a Jetta TD, eh? Mike in NB Mike, Coreen & Corey Smith 699 Rte 616 Keswick Ridge NB Canada E6L 1T1 ----- Original Message ----- From: Sandy Cameron To: Mike & Coreen Smith Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 12:35 PM Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] OT: Kubota 3cyl Diesel tractor-opinions sought At 07:05 PM 25/05/2006 -0300, you wrote: >Pardon my slightly off-topic post, but you guys are the BEST when it comes >to diesels. > >I have a chance to get what I think is a good deal on a 1998 Kubota Lawn >tractor.TG1860 >3cyl 18hp, 43.9CI,(719.4cc) diesel. 54" deck, 650hours on the machine. >I currently have 2 acres of old farm field to mow. Bumpy and rocky, but >mostly flat-ish terrain. >I am beating my poor spine to death wtih an old 1988 Murray (MTD) 14hp/42" >cut right now. > >What should I do? If thats the liquid cooled 3cyl Kubota, its one of the best diesel engines ever built. I cant speak for the deck, but a neighbour has a 4cyl kubota tractor, loader and backhoe, and it is high quality goods. Sandy


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Thursday, January 21, 2010
Random Thoughts
Because of my winter blues, I keep looking at these pictures on a weekly basis:
This is how Caleb and I are going to celebrate our 5th anniversary. We're taking a 4 night cruise to the Caribbean in June. I can NOT wait!! We've been saving for this trip for a long time. It will be the first cruise for both of us and we're both very excited. Elliana will not be coming along. She will be splitting time with Caleb's family and with mine. I will miss her SO much, but I know she's in good hands and with people she loves.
As I've mentioned before, my daughter is very funny and very smart, but I often joke that she is smart in a bad way. Here's a perfect example: as I was trying to rock her and put her down for a nap this afternoon, she took her pacifier out of her mouth, then threw it across the room, and exclaimed "Uh-oh"! She knew that by doing this I would have to turn the lights on and get up to find the pacifier. I had to try really hard not to laugh. Seriously! Where does this girl learn these things?! I only wish I could catch her doing these things on video.
Can't you just see the mischief in her face? This is one of her 1 year photos we had taken a few weeks ago:
Her latest favorite thing to do is to move piles of toys from one side of the room to the other. Or she likes to bring us anything just to hear us say "thank you". She always looks so proud of herself and smiles so big when she brings us something. I love her.
Changing subjects. I've mentioned before that watching The Bachelor is one of my guilty pleasures. Does anyone else think that Jake was an interesting choice for the Bachelor? Don't get me wrong, he's a really nice guy and he's good looking and all, but something about the way he interacts with everyone bugs me a little. I can't put my finger on it. Oh well, I'm still watching anyway. ;)
My next Dr's appointment (in February) can't come soon enough for me. Caleb and I are ready to begin "trying" for our next baby. Well, we can't exactly try when my body won't cooperate. For those of you that don't know our history, I have PCOS and it's become very clear to me once again that I'm not ovulating. I hope that's not too much information.
I have a date with Caleb tomorrow night and I am very much looking forward to it. We're going to dinner and then a hockey game. Before we had Elliana, we would go out to dinner all the time! I never knew how much I took that for granted.
Anyway, I'm sorry this post was so random. I better get going now. I just heard Elliana wake up from her nap.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
6 comments:
- Mindy said...
Praying that God would miraculously give you another miracle! Blessings
- January 21, 2010 at 4:54 PM
- Rebecca said...
I hope the doctor's appointment goes well for you. I just went yesterday to get back on metformin. Susannah finally stopped nursing last month and my body has gone crazy again. Elliana sounds so much like Susannah in attitude. Susannah can be outright defiant when she wants too. Anyhow it looks like we'll be in Loveland in March, not sure on exact times yet but hopefully for about 3 weeks.
- January 21, 2010 at 5:50 PM
- Courtney said...
I like random posts because it gives me an insight into your daily lives. I LOVE Ellie stories so please keep them coming. I don't get to spend enought time with my niece.
And oh yeah, take lots and lots of pictures of the cruise so I can talk Jeremy into one for next summer (or our whole family together) =)
- January 21, 2010 at 6:49 PM
- Sarah said...
I'd love to hear about the cruise deal you found. I am thinking about that for our seventh this summer, we've never been on one. I'll be praying for that second baby to come sooner than later, but I bet if you do the same formula this time around, with the clomid and such, it won't be long;).
- January 22, 2010 at 10:42 AM
It's always fun to read your random thoughts of life!! I'm so excited for you for the 5 year cruise you and Caleb will be taking!! It sounds so fun--I can't wait to see the pictures!! =) I hope I can talk Dad into one someday!! Elliana is growing so fast--her personality cracks me up!! =) She is so fun!! We will be praying for you and Caleb as you start planning for another baby.
I love you,
- January 23, 2010 at 9:57 PM
- Dareth said...
Love the random!
And I am hooked on the Bachelor this season...
- January 25, 2010 at 1:30 PM


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Washington, DC (July 14, 2017) Congressman Steve Pearce released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018:
"Each year, I examine every aspect of the NDAA to ensure it supports the critical missions taking place at our bases in New Mexico and provides the vital protections our service members need when fighting for our freedom. Equal in importance, the NDAA has the responsibility to support and assist military families. The legislation we passed toady not only accomplishes these goals, but also takes needed steps to reform and modernize the way our military operates so it can be ready to take on the threats of tomorrow.
Over the last decade, our nation's military has not been given the support it needs. Troop levels dwindled to vulnerable levels, equipment deteriorated, and training resources became more scarce. This is unacceptable and it is Congress's responsibility to do everything possible to correct it. Whether or not we agree, we are fighting a generational war. From military installments to combat resources, modernization must occur military wide. More time and funds should go towards research, development, evaluation, and training so that service members can have the confidence in the critical missions they're deployed to carry out. This also will prioritize installations like White Sands Missile Range, which tests next-generation missile defense systems that are required to stand up as a fighting force for democracy. We cannot send our troops into battle with decades-old equipment; our service members deserve better. This bill will modernize the current weapons systems for next generation fighting.
This year's NDAA additionally prioritizes transparency and efficiency within the military. For the first time, the Department of Defense (DOD) will be audit ready, ensuring the funds intended to protect and aid our troops is actually being spent in the best interest of national security. It isn't enough to just provide the budget, we must hold our military leaders to a higher standard.
A major example of past failures within the DOD budget this is the adoption and procurement of the K-46. Rather than thoroughly testing and evaluating the aircraft prior to purchase, the model was developed and paid for without ensuring it was operational. The F-35 incurred similar delays and deficiencies in development. In total these two projects alone produced over a billion in excess cost due to mismanagement. With appropriate reforms to these processes, our military's spending will go further – ultimately aiding the troops and their families.
Congress has the responsibility of honoring the commitment to our service members. This year's NDAA is a reflection of our steadfast commitment to combat the enemy while improving our forces for future threats. I stand by my promise to service members in New Mexico and across America that I will only support efforts that provide troops with the resources they need to return home to their loved ones. This bill today is a step forward towards tackling the readiness crisis of our military, and I'll continue supporting efforts that improve our nation's defense."


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No picture this week, sorry... but nothing has changed and I wasn't motivated enough to pose for my weekly shot! :)
How far along? 14 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Up one more pound to ten, but I'm blaming it on constipation... If I could poop, I'd be 3 pounds lighter!!!
Maternity clothes? Yup
!Stretch marks? No, thank god!!
Sleep: Still loving it, but now I'm able to stay up until 8:30 or 9:00... Wahooo!!
Best moment this week: Hearing baby's heartbeat after my yardwork scare...
Movement: Nope, still waiting.
Food cravings: Baked spaghetti
Gender: Not a freaking clue anymore :(
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Going out and having a good time with friends (can't drink, can't stay up late)
What I am looking forward to: Taking Hammy on our first vacation to Arizona!!
Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy each day - it FLIES by...
Milestones: Being able to take vitamin C pills without puking... yea me!!


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As one of the backers for Young.Black.Nappy.'s Kickstarter campaign my pledge entitled me to a receive one of their first t-shirt designs if it campaign was fully funded. Thankfully it was! For weeks, I wanted anxiously for my t-shirt to arrive after I heard the great news. The day finally came....
Not only did I receive my highly anticipated tee, but YBN sent a few other goodies too, including a bookmark, sticker and business cards.
It was definitely worth the wait and I love my "Fist Up" tee!
If you're interested in getting on or checking out some of their other dope designs, head over to YoungBlackNappy.com!


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Portable Vaporizer Reviews
The portable vaporizer industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world today. This is due to 3 things happening on a very large scale. 1. More and more people are easing off of nicotine and turning to portable e-cigs and vaporizers 2. New laws and regulations are being passed in favor of the cannabis industry 3. Cannabis is being more widely seen as a plant that helps fight illnesses and diseases. These 3 things are the main force behind what is driving the success in the portable vaporizer industry. Continue reading our portable vaporizer reviews to help choose the device that's right for you.
To supply this rapidly growing consumer base, we have seen a giant increase in portable vaporizer manufacturers. We're going to touch on some of the very best the industry has to offer. In order to do this we will break it down into each type of portable vaporizer. The types of portable vaporizers are as follows:
To read portable vaporizer reviews please select from our list of posts below.
- Best Vape Pens 2017 - Covers various types
- CBD Pre Filled Vaporizers
- 3 in 1 Vape Pens
- Best Dry Herb Portable Vaporizers
- Concentrate Portable Vaporizers
- Disposable Hookah Pens
- Rechargeable Hookah Pens
Portable Vaporizer Reviews
Some of the most notable portable vaporizers (which are covered in the above review links) are the PAX 3, DaVinci IQ, G Pen, Grasshopper Titanium, Dipper, Mighty and Crafty, Atmos Boss and V2. These are some of the biggest players in the portable vaporizer industry. Many new innovations are being introduced to vaporizers just as they have been to other portable devices. Portable vaporizers are beginning to get smarter. By that, we mean they are being built with software that connects to your smart devices. There are now smart vaporizers similar to your 'smart phone'. If connectivity is something that you are looking for in a portable vaporizer, you are currently limited to the PAX 3 and DaVinci IQ.
The software in these devices is still pretty primitive, you can really only control the temperature and monitor your sessions air flows. In time this technology will play a much larger role with some devices. If quality is something you are looking for, both the PAX 3 and DaVinci are built very well and are backed by 10 year warranty's. There is just one company that has a longer warranty than these. Grasshopper Vaporizers has the best warranty in the industry, they offer a lifetime warranty on their devices.
Celebrity Portable Vaporizer Review
Another portable vaporizer review (more of a editorial piece) you may find interesting is the one we covered on Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg with their G Pen. They are collaborators with Grenco Science on the Double G series. You can have a look at the Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg G Pen here.
New Innovative Portable Vaporizers - Newest Vaporizers
We have done some coverage on two of the newest models of portable vaporizers to hit the market. The Dipper is a new type of dab pen that converts into a regular oven vaporizers with the flip of its mouth piece. The Dipper is a dabbing pen that will cater to many vape enthusiasts and allow more people to try concentrates in a new way. You can read the Dipper Vape Pen Review here.
Image above Hydrology 9 Portable Vaporizer
Another cool looking portable vaporizer that we thought you may like to see is called Hydrology 9. The Hydrology 9 is a water vapor bong type device. It uses patent pending water filtration technology to help deliver one of the smoothest hits. Read more about this device on our Hydrology 9 Vaporizer Review.
Thanks for reading our post on portable vaporizer reviews, we will be updating this post to reflect new devices as they enter the market. Feel free to subscribe to our e-newsletter below. We help to keep you up to date on new and innovative vaporizers.


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Storm Shoreditch High Street London is a stone's throw from Shoreditch High Street Station directly opposite the famous Ace Hotel, bordering Bethnal Green, Brick Lane and Spitalfields.
The site is located in the heart of the highly desirable Shoreditch Triangle, right at the core of East London's hipster haven, on the High Street itself. Not only does it target the young, creative pedestrian crowds who frequent the area, but it also reaches heavy traffic going towards Liverpool Street. This stand-out portrait site offers advertisers the opportunity to reach a valuable audience of trendy, young urbanites. It's in close proximity to a huge number of popular social hot-spots and London's Tech City, which is Europe's largest and most influential digital hub, as well as the exclusive members club and creative hive, Shoreditch House, and vibrant pop-up mall, event and fashion space: Shoreditch BOXPARK.


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Knowledge Management Advisor
Job Description
*Preferred location: London, United Kingdom; Position location to be determined by home country of successful candidate within a jurisdiction (Country or US State) where WVI is registered to operate.
The purpose of this role is two fold: to maximize the potential of advocacy practitioners to bring change for children, through ensuring the right knowledge is available when needed in World Vision's campaigns. This entails comprehensive gathering of information from our global campaign to end violence against children as well as promoting this information to encourage learning. The role will develop systems that capture and aggregate data from multiple campaigns, prove the contribution to change and identify paths and products to increase knowledge of effective advocacy models. The KM Adviser is also responsible for building a global network of practice for advocacy, promote a culture of excellence in this network and support the members to develop the skills and capacities to achieve a better performance of the campaign.
Allied to this is the collection, collation and analysis to demonstrate the contribution of advocacy to the World Vision Partnership's overarching strategic goal. This data also provides significant insights for the progress of the campaign.
Contribute to the development of a culture of learning and improvement within the advocacy community for adoption, replication and scale up of internal and external best practices in relation to the new global campaign.
Ensure a systematic collection of internal and external information and data relevant to the achievement of Global campaigns team learning and accountability objectives.
Ensure a global monitoring and evaluation of the global campaign and an adequate circulation of information for accountability purpose.
Respond to special needs and special projects.
Gather, collate, report and analyse data which shows the contribution of advocacy to the partnership's overarching goal.
Bachelors degree in relevant area – development, international relations, social sciences, communications, Knowledge Management, Child Protection.
Capacity to manage an important amount of information, summarize it and package it for communication with different groups of stakeholders.
Strategic, creative, pragmatic and innovative thinking.
Min 3 years' experience in relevant field (campaigning, advocacy and/or communications).
A successful track record in coordinating / managing and communicating information in a large and complex environment.
Strong project management experience with excellent analysis, writing, documenting & editing skills including high competency in Microsoft Excel.
Experience of working in a complex, international and cross-cultural environment.
Ability / experience influencing people to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
Effective in written and verbal communication in English.
Experience of working on large scale public campaigns or advocacy actions.
Experience in developing and delivering campaign strategies.
Practical advocacy and campaigning experience in different national contexts, particularly in developing context.
Good knowledge on monitoring and evaluation (M&E).
Experience in producing curriculum, case studies, analysis and substantial reports.
Experience mobilizing supporters and influencing key decision makers on development issues.
Field/ national office experience, along with understanding of the organization to allow for efficient and timely coordination of information and stakeholders.
Work Environment:
The position requires ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally up to 15% of the time.


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❤ 8 / 1993
Love is…
being able to keep cool when he makes the floors dirty just after you have cleaned them.
7 Comments to '8 / 1993'
o_O it's not true!
I object!
This is not love, this is serenity. ^_^
girls, this is really love :D
awwww! this is love cause if it were me i would die1
sorry i am a clean freak! lol
lol… just dont do it intentionally
i guess if she or he loves you, he won't make the floor dirty after you have just cleaned it,isn't it?
coz it's love, he will appreciate your work, and try to keep it :p


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I love reading and writing, listening to music, and dancing like no bodies watching. I love to laugh even when nothings funny (yeah im weird like that) My favorite music is Rock, metal, New age that sorta thing People think im weird but i dont care because i KNOW im weird I love writing poetry and sad love stories or anything thats mystical I dont discriminate because i know how it feels im fun loving and dont care what people say about me <3
And im a total potterhead and anime geek..gotta love em!
Yes i love fanifictions too, ill even right a few!
╔═╦══╦═╗ Put this on your
║╩╣║║║║║ page if you ARE or support
╚═╩╩╩╩═╝ Emos
Fave music: Rock, Metal, Gothic, New Age, a little bit of Techno and Pop
Fave Bands and Artist:
A7X (avenged seven fold)
Bullet for my Valentine
Within Temptation
We Are The Fallen
Lorrena Mckennit
Linkin Park
Green Day
Lady Antebellum
Incubus Succubus
Death Cab for Cutie
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
My Chemical Romance
Rev Theory
Rob Zombie
Dragon Ritual Drummers
Breaking Benjamin
Avril Lavigne
Maroon 5
Sick Puppies
Rise Against
FFDP (Five Finger Death Punch)
Hollywood Undead
ETC ETC!!! MORE! lol
║██║♫ Paste this on
║██║♫ your page if♫
║(O)║♫you love♫
╚══╝♫ music♫
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste
(")_(") bunny into your profile to help him gain world domination!!!
- in the sky
- JoinedJanuary 23, 2012
- facebook: Destiny's Facebook profile
AmythestRose Aug 16, 2015 06:03PM
Chapter 1 of Remember Me is up please comment ur thoughts and voteView all Conversations
Stories by Destiny
- 24 Published Stories
I Knew Love
1 0 1
Short free style story/ poem form about the reality of when a mother loses her children.
Losing Myself-dark poetry
745 20 5
I wrote these poems when i was going through a really tough time, took a lot to share them. But, hey poetry i...
1 0 1
2 Reading Lists
- Reading List
- 4 Stories
- Reading List
- 12 Stories


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Here's a guy close to the hearts of many who like to get a good laugh out of the shortcomings of other people while the girls he stalks would rather have him at least a mile away from their personal space. PinoyCosplay brings you: Siopao Master.
Once upon a time in a far away planet, there lived an obnoxious king.
He was friends with some other fat pink alien.
His attitude was as foul as his breath. All his subjects hated him. He was so bad that an evil wizard, his long lost twin, decided to curse him.
Suddenly, he was sent to planet Earth to live the life of a normal human being.
At first, he was amazed. The women were beautiful.
However, he soon realized that he had nothing. Once a king, now a pauper.
He was distraught. He had no idea how to live without all the luxuries of being a king.
In order to survive, he tried all sorts of jobs.
Call center agent.
Secret agent.
Siopao vendor.
He even tried priesthood.
But it was all too much. He wasn't used to the lifestyle of the working class.
His inner demon took over. He went insane.
He started doing bad things. Like taking upskirt pictures of women.
Vandalizing cups of Starbucks in his hatred for capitalism.
Groping Ronald McDonald.
It all went downhill from there. He became miserable and lonely.
He began molesting anime posters and statues of Disney princesses.
Dating toy figures.
Drinking alcohol.
He even learned how to brush his teeth.
For now, only time can tell what the future holds for him. He was last seen sleeping on the streets with nowhere to go to.
Giving away free hugs.
If you're lucky, you can probably find him on sale at the nearest supermarket.
Friday, October 29, 2010
PinoyCosplay Presents: Siopao Master
Posted by picture


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Celebrating the life of Mary Margaret Swan
Be the first to share your favorite memory, photo or story of Mary. This memorial page is dedicated for family, friends and future generations to celebrate the life of their loved one.
We ask on behalf of the family that you keep your comments uplifting and appropriate to help all who come here to find comfort and healing.
Leavenworth , Indiana
Mary Margaret Swan, 92, died peacefully surrounded by her loving daughters and husband of 71 years. Mary, who was born in Bicknell, Indiana to Anna Cole Williams was raised by her mother and kind stepfather George Turner. As a child of the Great Depression, Mary became a trailblazer in business while raising 6 children. She was a well-known real estate agent in Southern Indiana during the 1970's and 1980's establishing Swan Realty with her husband, Sam. Mary was also an accomplished artist and poet. She was a founding member of Hayswood Theatre in Corydon, Indiana. Later in her life, Mary bought and sold antiques and opened her own store, The Cabbage Patch. To this day, her rare books and postcards can be found on her eBay account. Her parents, her son Richard and her granddaughter, Carly Marie Birkla as well as her sisters Edna Atkins, Rosie Parr, Georgie Turner, Ellen Roberson, Francis Kane and a brother David Adamson preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband, Sam Swan, her 5 daughters, Sandra Drewry of Eaton, Ohio, Sheri Swan of Terre Haute, Indiana, Melissa Swan of Louisville, Kentucky, Kelly Birkla of Leavenworth, Indiana and Beth Swan Wilson of Evansville, Indiana. Mary was Mamaw to 13 grandchildren, as well as many great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren. Mary was a lifelong member of the Leavenworth Presbyterian Church where she will be memorialized Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 1PM. Visitation will be from 3 PM to 8 PM Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at Gehlbach & Royse Funeral Home in Corydon, Indiana and 12 PM to 1 PM Wednesday at the church before the service. Memorial gifts may be made to the Carly Marie Birkla Scholarship Fund in care of the Community Foundation of Crawford County.
3 PM to 8 PM Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at Gehlbach & Royse Funeral Home in Corydon, Indiana and 12 PM to 1 PM Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at Leavenworth Presbyterian Church in Leavenworth, Indiana
1 PM Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at Leavenworth Presbyterian Church in Leavenworth, Indiana
Cedar Hill Cemetery in Leavenworth, Indiana
To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Mary Margaret Swan, please visit our Tribute Store.


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First of all, it isn't just another of those expensive toys you can buy online but a custom creation made by an Italian named Bordin Luca.
It all began when Luca saw a man driving a model truck on an online video. Being an avid fan of American trucks and especially the Peterbilt 359, Luca decided to build one for himself. And as so often happens in these stories, one thing lead to another and it became a larger than life project.
Luca first constructed the cabin out of lightweight fiberglass with the help of a wooden frame. He then used plastic polished in the right way to resemble chrome. After many hours and painstaking attention to detail, the cabin was ready and it was time to move on to the underpinnings.
Two 1.5 mm thick steel pipes were sufficient to create a sturdy frame that could withstand heavy weights. However, a truck, even an R/C controlled one, is useless without an engine – the more powerful, the better. Luca ended up using a 36-volt 750 Watt electric motor that drives the twin rear wheels via a sprocket-drive chain.
At 2.10 meters long and 180 kg (close to 400 pounds!), the scale model is anything but a toy. But as you can see in the videos, the power is enough to allow the little truck to pull a new Ford Mondeo Station Wagon with considerable ease!
The problem is that while electric motors are great for torque, they fail in the sound department. Luca's solution? He installed a Tamiya sound model simulating all the sounds of an actual truck and to make it even louder, he placed an audio amplifier and two coaxial speakers just to make sure that everyone will take notice.
To make it more realistic, Luca went one-step further installing a two-tone horn and a disco-sourced smoke-making device for the exhaust pipes.
The nine months of hard work have paid off and Luca is deeply satisfied with his one-of-a-kind creation. However, the resourceful Italian says he is not done just yet as he plans to build a 5-meter long trailer for the model!
Story References: Peterbilt359
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Amazing Custom Built 1:4 Scale Peterbilt Radio Controlled Truck that can Haul a Real Car!
3:49 PM Car Videos, Cars, Electric Vehicles, Gadgets, Offbeat News, Trucks No comments
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Nairobi, Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
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These NFL Players Have Something Very Interesting To Say Before The Super Bowl
March 27, 2016 ENTERTAINMENT No Comments
Before Super Bowl 50 goes down between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers, YouTube's Bad Lip Reading has produced a video that aptly rings in the big game. Using real footage of NFL players, they came up with some of the most hysterical voiceovers of all time.
The video already has 33 million views, so you know that this hilarity is the real deal.
Priceless, am I right? The 30 other teams that didn't make it to the Super Bowl will at least be able to get a laugh out of this.


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Сайт поиска работы №1 в Украине
Score4Life Lmt
- Сайт:
Score4Life is the online lifestyle concept, gathering internationally active people to create great memories. A lot of online users are fed up with fake and useless experiences of meeting through internet. Being the fist in the market to offer activates as «ice-breaker» between members, Score4Life has exceptional chances to be among leaders of online networking. It has been built from GirlsPowerTeam passion to provide members with real, healthy and tasteful activity solutions.
Сейчас размещенных вакансий нет.


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Custom Twitter Background
Budget $30-60 USD
I need 2 options of Twitter background created for the same company. First background must look as I describe and I will provide images to work with. The second background should be created by the designer however they feel is best. Backgrounds must fit around new Twitter layout.
Designer must be willing to make edits after submitting the work if needed. Changes will be small and if more than one round of edits is required the designer will be paid an extra $20 per major edit.
Tight timeline on this and I need the work done by tomorrow evening. Please send examples of prior work and let me know that you can deliver within 24hrs of winning bid.
See attached file for example of how Background #1 should look.
Décerné à:
Please see PM for more details.
9 freelance font une offre moyenne de $36 pour ce travail
Hi ready to start. Check PM
Hi please check Your PMB, Thanks...
Hy i am interesting in this task please see your PMB for details Thanks in advance.
I'm interested in your project. See your PM.
Check PM,.........
Hi, Please check Pmb, Thanks
hi check your PMB
=============== Greetings from WWWBuilders================== Pls PM


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Welcome to my blog. My blog includes entries about my experiences. And I will add more entries from time to time, so please check back often.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Best Etertainment For Christmas
Christmas is around the corner and I haven't thought what to give to my husband. However since he mention this db25 cable. I said to myself will I guess this could be a good present to my husband. It has good features for his audio system and it designed for the highest level of audio performance. Having a good audio system in our home is the best entertainment in our home.
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Today's Bento
Top: noodles, teriyaki stir-fry, and there's ponzu in Pokémon's head
Bottom: cabbage and salsa, cheese, greens miniera
Cabbage and salsa is one of those things I picked up from my dad. He has a number of interesting food preferences left over from the days when he lost something like 40+ pounds (I'm not sure exactly how much since I was little when he started his weight loss). One of those is shredded cabbage with salsa. I've modified it by sautéing the cabbage first, but it still keeps the heart of this odd combo that I've grown to like.
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
etsy shop- Puddletonbaby
Sally from PuddletonBaby makes GORGEOUS blankets. I had the pleasure of being introduced to her by my friend Bernadette. The items in Sally's shop are amazing, be sure to check them out!
Posted by bopbopdesigns at 10:26 AM 1 comment:
Monday, March 8, 2010
Where they end up...
Posted by bopbopdesigns at 7:13 AM 2 comments:
Labels: Allsion, where they end up
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At "Mission Control," they'll track the space shuttle Discovery's orbit, watch it hurtle through space on a giant television and talk to the astronauts during the nine-day April mission.
Pretty heady stuff for elementary school students.
At Jarrettsville Elementary, one of only 15 schools worldwide selected for "radio contact" with the shuttle, the students say they're ready to turn a spare classroom into their headquarters for tracking the spacecraft.
And when they get their moments to talk to the astronauts, many of the students say they know just what they'll ask.


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Illiniboard Predictions
Was just checking out the predictions for the Illini's Ball State game over at Illiniboard.com. They range from one brave soul who predicts a Ball State upset 28-27 to the guy who predicts a 59-10 romp for the Illini.
I took an average of the 22 predictions I saw and the consensus is 36-21, Illinois.
They are predicting Illinois to score 10 more points than their average and Ball State to score 13 less than their average.
On the flip side they are predicting Illinois to score 10 points more than Ball State usually allows and for Ball State to score about a point and a half more than Illinois usually allows.
We'll see whether these poor man's Nostradamuses are right. I'm guessing that this will be a close game somewhere in the low 30s.


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I can't believe our angel baby turned 3 months on Tuesday. We had her pictures done with cousin Isabella and they are C-U-T-E!! I can't wait to post them. We'll be visiting the Easter Bunny in a few days and going to see the cherry blossoms in DC. Hooray for Spring!
The girls: Zoe, Sheri, Audrey
Love that baby face!
Looking at Dad


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And I did it with a little help from Saveur magazine.Snow crab legs from The Fresh Market
Once a year Saveur publishes a special issue entitled The Saveur 100. Traditionally they invite only food writers to submit ideas for this issue, but last year they asked readers to toss in ideas for a 101st item. What came in was so great that Saveur dedicated this year's issue entirely to readers. They were polled on favorite food finds including recipes, web sites, ingredients, kitchen equipment and even culinary superstars. I'm getting a little off topic here, but a few of my favorites from the list are:
Farmhouse dinner at Talula's Table, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Pyrex glass measuring cups
What topped my list - and made the front cover of the issue - came in at number 16: crabs and spaghetti. Seems really odd yet alluring at the same time, right? Here's what Al Leo of Gonzales, Louisiana, says about the recipe he submitted:
When I was a kid, I couldn't wait for summer to come so that we could go crabbing in the bays near Wildwood, New Jersey, and my grandmother could make crabs and spaghetti. She did it the old southern Italian way, by frying blue crabs in olive oil with garlic and butter and putting them right into the tomato sauce to finish cooking. (You can also use king crab legs) It was pretty messy plucking the meat out of those crabs, but that sweet, delicious sauce was to die for.
After reading that, I knew this would be the recipe that would win me the crab battle. My first stop was Schnuck's to round up the everyday items (onion, garlic, etc.), but I made a special trip to The Fresh Market for the crab requirements: 1 lb. thawed frozen cooked king crab legs and 1 lb. lump crabmeat. Unfortunately, they didn't have king crab legs, but their snow crab legs were on sale for $4.99/lb., so I took my chances with that.
Serves 4
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. thawed frozen cooked king crab legs, cut into 3" pieces
1 tsp. celery seed
3/4 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
8 leaves fresh basil, plus more for garnish
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 28-oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 tbsp. half-and-half
1 lb. lump crabmeat
Kosher salt, to taste
1 lb. spaghetti
1. Heat oil in a 6-qt. pot over high heat. Add crab legs and cook, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer crab to a plate. Add celery seed, chile flakes, basil, onions, and garlic to pot; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 9 minutes. Transfer mixture to a blender along with tomatoes and half-and-half and puree. Transfer puree back to pot over medium heat. Add reserved crab pieces and any juices from plate and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Add lump crabmeat and continue to cook for another 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt, cover, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, bring an 8-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and transfer to sauce; toss to combine. Serve garnished with torn basil. Crack crab leg pieces to get at the meat inside.
Here is last week's competition.
The above ingredients have now been pureed with tomatoes.
Here is the final result. Success!


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Eating dinner in the stallion barn at Eliza Park is nothing new.
The permanent inhabitants do it every day, not to mention it being a regular occurrence for the stallion handlers (especially with the hours they keep during the season!).
But The Night Sparkles is a horse of a different colour, so to speak.
Organised by Macedon Ranges Wines, The Night Sparkles promises to be an evening of 'pure decadence' in Eliza Park's stallion barn, commencing at 6.30pm on Saturday 20 March.
This black tie event will feature sparkling and table wines, paired with a gourmet degustation menu prepared by recognised Melbourne chef Andrew Blake (a far cry from the steak sangers and Lucerne normally degusted in the stallion barn).
And just to top off what sounds like a night to remember, there will be commentary by the suitably appellated, Jeni Port, a leading wine journalist.
Cost of a ticket for The Night Sparkles is $165 per head and for further information, visit www.macedonrangeswine.com.au or phone 03 5428 2228.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Posted by About Us at 7:31 PM
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So this one took me a while to get out there. I set another personal distance record, which will remain unbroken until April 27, 2014 when I run to complete the full marathon distance. It was an interesting Saturday morning, being that I could not start at my normal time, which meant the folks I ran with normally on Saturday mornings would not be there with me. Due to other commitments, Liz had to attend a meeting for work and we also had a gathering with group of friends planned. The trick was to somehow get a 20 mile run in starting at 1:15 and being back and ready to go by 4pm. Whoa! I was sure I could do it.
Around 1:10 I headed out the door after Liz returned home. I had my route planned, engrained in my head, and the will to finish. I did change up my fueling plan a bit from prior long runs simply since I had no idea what to expect. I had strategically planned to deplete my four 7oz bottles of water at some point during mile 11. I also had a packet of Strawberry Gu Chomps and Strawberry/Banana Gu energy gels I was actually averaging a 10:05 pace for the first 12 miles.
Part of my fueling plan was that the 12 mile mark would be at the entrance to the Rollins Savannah. While being the first time there this sprint, I knew from last year that there were water fountains at the entrance and I could refill my water bottles there to keep me going.
Insert Problem
The water fountains weren't open, in fact, they had plastic wrap all around them and there was no way I could get water out of them...shit.
With 8 miles left in the plan, I had to somehow tackle that without any water. I knew this would be difficult even though I was feeling pretty good. Out of frustration with the Lake Country Forest Preserve District, I posted on Facebook that the fountains were out of service. A fellow member of the running club messaged back and forth with me, and planned to bring water to me at the north entrance of the preserve. Holy Smokes, Thank you so much Elizabeth Lupo! I was able to get water around mile 16 and refill my water bottles. Having gone 5 miles without any water, I was still too dehydrated to continue. I was able to get to 17.75 miles.
I was really hoping to see what hitting the wall felt like prior to my full marathon. I'm confident that my experience with the 17.75 distance was NOT the wall, but rather a hydration issue. Going from sipping water around every half mile to not having any water for 5 miles had to have been the cause. I know the dreaded wall comes at a different place for everyone, some at 17, some at 20, some at 22 or any other number.
My hope is to be able to push through the wall when I finally run the 26.2.


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For your convenience we are proud to offer washers and dryers at no charge in our guest laundry, a well-equipped exercise center, and our Candlewood Cupboard convenience store which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We also have an outdoor BBQ pavilion so you can grill your dinner just the way you please.
The hotel is conveniently located near the Minot International Airport , MOT, Minot State University and the Dakota Square Mall.
تواصل معنا، متواجدون على مدار 24/7


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Thursday, October 28, 2010
things i accomplished today ...
5 comments:
- Jen said...
not eating chocolate? am i not the only one to have a goal of not being bigger than Jennette at her baby shower? :) You certainly accomplished a lot today! I loved the pictures, he really looks different to me, and I saw him not that long ago!!! Also, I was meaning to ask you- what does your hubby want for his big day, besides the big book of lawyer jokes? speaking of lawyer jokes, have you read The Mill On The Floss? Along with being one of the best works of literature ever, it makes some wonderful cracks at lawyers. you would like it i bet. it turns out I had a lot to say to you and should have done that in an actual email... :)
- October 28, 2010 at 8:23 PM
- janica said...
i would add... and i blogged today to your list:)
- October 28, 2010 at 8:52 PM
- Shawn AND Chelsey said...
what a productive day!!! :)
- October 28, 2010 at 9:09 PM
- Diana Hulme said...
wow - he is SO big! and totally adorable. that halloween costume is so cute!
- October 29, 2010 at 9:16 AM
- Erika and Jason said...
I can't believe how big Lincoln is getting. I really wish that I was there so our boys could play together and we could go on walks! I miss you guys, you should really think about staying there next year!
- October 29, 2010 at 10:32 AM


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The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
Matthew 8:33-34
A farmer went to the hardware store to buy a saw so he could clear some trees. However, just a week later he was back at the store to return the saw.
"This saw doesn't work," he complained. "I've been working all week, and I've only been able to cut down two trees. It's wearing me out."
The clerk took the saw, pulled on the handle and cranked up the chainsaw. It immediately roared to life.
Surprised, the farmer said, "Wait, you mean it turns on?"
Sometimes, we all miss the point. In today's scripture, Jesus encounters two demon-possessed men, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, drives the demons out of the men and into a herd of pigs. The pigs promptly run toward a cliff, jump over it and drown in the sea.
The people from the nearby town, who had been terrorized by the possessed men, came out to see what happened. For the first time, they saw these men clean, dressed and sane. And what was their response to this? They asked Jesus to get out of town. Instead of rejoicing with the healing of these men, they were angry that Jesus had hurt business. Instead of focusing on healing, they focused on the ham.
We live in a very cynical, hammed-up world that desperately needs the healing offered by our Lord. We're the only people who can give that to them. It's usually pretty easy to get caught up in the negative details of the world. Just turn on the TV and you'll be overrun by bad news and celebrity drama. We can miss the spiritual point and be overwhelmed by the mess. Or we can make a choice to show them the difference that Christ has made in our lives.
Today, pray that the Lord will help you to look past the world's ham, and to offer to others His healing.
Reflection copyright © 2017 Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


text: AMRITSAR, INDIA — Fresh clashes between Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab were reported Saturday as a bitter struggle for Sikh political leadership headed for a showdown. Punjab, where most of India`s 12 million Sikhs live, was generally quiet last week when militants held a ``Genocide Week`` of prayer meetings to mark the first anniversary of the army assault on Amritsar`s Golden Temple. Moderates, led by Singh Longowal, 54, have called their own meeting in the shrine Sunday and supporters said they expected 50,000 Sikhs to attend. Longowal`s militant rival, Joginder Singh, 83, drew 12,000 followers to a meeting Thursday.


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(My lovely commenter, code16, helped me recover my post that got lost. Thank you, Code16! And thank you, Just A Slut, for also offering to help. Here's my post, brought back from the dead:)
My evening with The Doll was nice. I felt neither exceptionally distant nor exceptionally mushy. When we got upstairs I had him don an outfit of my choosing: pink and black stripey over-the-knee socks, pink and black panties, and a slim-fitting (women's) plain black t-shirt. I went into the kitchen to start dinner cooking while he changed, and when I came back into the living room and saw him standing there all leggy and stripey and narrow and pantied, I literally had to catch my breath.
(Hey, you! You over there, who thinks dominant women get their "power" from being less interested in sex than men are and that women in general aren't as visually driven as men. Yeah, you. SUCK IT.)
But yeah. I had guessed The Doll's sizes exactly right…everything fit perfectly. And it's been a while since I've had access to a boy in panties and stripey socks (two of my very favourite things). So I forgot how to breathe for a minute and my heart hammered in my chest and I was honestly just so visually stimulated that I didn't even know what to do. (A conundrum magnified by the fact that I'm not ready to have sex with him yet…so all this lust has nowhere to really go.)
I slowly and tentatively ran my hands over him, standing there in the living room. Grasped his shoulders so I could turn him around and feel up different areas. Was seized by a sudden wave of violent lust that made me claw his chest and bite the back of his neck as he moaned and pushed his ass against my hips. I turned him back around and we kissed for a while, and then I had to attend to the food on the stove.
When I came back into the room with dinner, The Doll was lounging on the couch. Long-limbed people look especially artistic and interesting when they lounge, in my opinion; he was quite lovely. We watched more of his Red Dwarf DVDs, but I'll admit there were a couple of episodes I really didn't follow at all: once we finished eating I got distracted by smacking The Doll's ass. He's pretty pale and it was fascinating to watch my red handprint slowly appear on his white skin.
Then I got curious to see how many smacks he could take in a row, so I hauled him down the couch by his legs (he's so easy to move! Dude's skeleton is made of balsa wood or something) and then held his ankles in the air with my left hand while wailing on his ass with my right. In-between smacks I would lightly draw my fingernails over the reddening skin, which made him gasp and squirm; the spanking had sensitized him.
By the time I was done spanking him, his ass was radiating heat like a fireplace – and continued to do so for hours afterward (later on, I applied an ice pack to the red areas – as much to make him screech at the temperature contrast as to reduce any pain he might be having. :D)
And there was a bunch of making out, and he massaged and caressed my feet for a wonderfully long time, and when I showed him that I like having the soles of my feet smacked and then skritched (similar to what I did to his ass) he did that for me, too.
As fond as I am of The Doll, I still have no particular sense of meshing with him. We have never, for instance, had one of those effortless conversations that meanders all over the place and before you know it, hours have passed. It's always just, you know, one of us making a remark and the other responding…and then that topic is usually exhausted so we sit there until someone else comes up with a new thing to say.
So I think The Doll may never be more than a friend with benefits to me. I hope we're on the same page and there doesn't end up being an awkward mismatch of feelings. I don't want to pre-empt possible awkwardness by telling him these feelings outright – he's not showing any signs of being more attached than I am so the "just so you know, this is probably not going to go anywhere" speech would seem mean and more than a little self-centred.
And also I wonder sometimes whether I'm still too fresh off my breakup with Minx to fall for anyone, but maybe one day down the road my defences will lower and suddenly The Doll will be more of an option. Probably not, but…no need to cut off my nose to spite my face.


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Bitter Blood
Rachel Caine
404 pages
Released: November 6, 2012
Publisher: NAL
Source: the publisher
You can read the Goodreads summary here.
I was very happy to see Bitter Blood in my mailbox when it arrived, since I read Black Dawn (it was my first time reading a Morganville Vampire book) in April and loved it so very much. You may recall the epic battle of the draug in Black Dawn. Well, in Bitter Blood the town of Morganville is starting to recover, but of course you know somethings going to come up for Claire and her friends. It doesn't seem like they ever really get a chance to sit down and relax - which is a good thing, because the constant action in this series is what keeps it interesting!
This time around the vampires in charge are getting a little power happy - insisting every citizen of Morganville carry an ID card. The human cards indicate their blood type whereas the vampire cards allow them one free kill a year. The humans are trying to hold on but Claire isn't going to take this sitting down. Meanwhile, a ghost hunting television show comes to town and manages to get in the way of everything.
I think it was the ghost hunting subplot that caught my attention the most, since I'm into those kinds of televisions shows in real life. The crew was completely oblivious to everything around them and managed to get in the way several times. It was a hoot to read about.
There wasn't as much action in Bitter Blood as Black Dawn, but I was still turning those pages for the personal drama in the lives of the Glass House residents. Eve and Michael feel like they aren't getting enough privacy in their own home and then Claire and Shane have a little of their own drama towards the end of the book. They both seem like such great couples to me, I hated to see any sort of tension in their relationships. I'm really interested to see how those story lines continue in the next book.
I'm still platonically in love with Claire. I think she's such a strong female lead and some of the things she said in Bitter Blood made me think she's grown a lot as a character since the first book in the series. It just reiterated to me that I need to go back and start reading this series from book one.
Four stars! Bitter Blood is another great installment in The Morganville Vampires series and of course I was left at the end wanting more... especially when it comes to Claire and Shane. I'm really looking forward to reading Fall of Night when it comes out this coming May. If you haven't started this series, you absolutely must!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Bitter Blood (The Morganville Vampries, #13)
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Wasco Co. SWCD
USDA Service Center
2325 River Rd. Ste. 3
The Dalles, OR 97058
Office Hours
Monday thru Friday
Closed Holidays
Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD) prohibits discrimination against its employees, partners, and participants for services and employment, on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, and sexual orientation. WCSWCD is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Annual Tree & Shrub Sale
2018 Plant List (pdf)
The 2018 Tree and Shrub Sale is over.
The new list for 2019 will come out in the Sept/Oct issue of the GROUNDWORK.
The tree and shrub list is available in the Sept/Oct issue of the GROUNDWORK. Trees and shrubs are specifically chosen for the arid climate of Wasco County and surrounding areas in the Columbia Gorge. Native and naturalized, most are particularly suited for riparian plantings. Shrubs are mostly fruit bearing for wildlife plantings. Plants are bareroot, however, Ponderosa Pine and Douglas fir can be plugs (though we won't don't often know until we complete our nursery order) and Willows and Cottonwoods are cuttings.
Payment is required at the time of order. The deadline to reserve your order is typically around the end of January following publication of the order list. We place our nursery orders based upon customer orders. Therefore, species selection may be limited on orders placed after the deadline. Money will be refunded for those plants ordered after the deadline that we are out of. For those making large orders of a particular species (100 or more), please call ahead, the earlier the better to ensure availability from the nurseries.
We will continue to take orders after the deadline until all plants are sold. You can call after the deadline to see what we have left of a particular species to ensure availability prior to placing your order. Plant stock is typically received the first week in March. Orders are filled in the order that they are received and purchasers will be called immediately when the order is put together.
The links below are for plants typically found on our plant lists. However, we do try to change some species from year to year. Click on the plant names to access pdfs directly on the USDA Plants Database. All but Noble Fir, which is a linked pdf document on this server. All links open in new windows.
Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District
Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District
" Serving the people of Wasco County since 1942"
Annual Tree & Shrub Sale
"-the first stop for all your natural resource needs"
Douglas Maple
Red Alder
Red Osier Dogwood
Douglas Fir
Wild Mock Orange
Quaking Aspen
Cottonwood - cutting
Austrian Pine
Oregon White Oak
Golden Currant
Woods Rose
Peachleaf Willow-cutting
Coyote Willow-cutting
Douglas Spirea
Noble Fir
Ponderosa Pine
Rugosa Rose
Copyright (C) 2015 Wasco Co. SWCD All Rights Reserved
Ph: 541-296-6178 ext 3
Fax: 541-296-7868
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Our Mission: To work cooperatively with others to promote and encourage conservation and wise use of natural resources.


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I was at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Oregon chapter retreat at Silver Falls this weekend. I had a wonderful time! Authors, an editor, an agent and lots of talent! So since this is so late, here's a quick list of the books I read in case you're looking for a particular title.
Preschool Storytime
Our theme was "Birthdays."
The Fairytale Cake, by Mark Sperring
Happy Birthday, Mouse1, by David Wood and Richard Fowler
The Secret Birthday Message, by Eric Carle
Benny Bakes a Cake, by Eve Rice
I told the story Ask Mr. Bear on the magnetic board.
Toddler Time
Duckie's Rainbow, by Frances Barry
My Car, by Byron Barton
Baby Time
Baby Faces, by Margaret Miller


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Do leaders make a difference? Political change under Matteo Renzi
- Room:
- Graham Hills 512
- Time Slot:
- Monday 10th April 14:15 - 15:45
- Panel Chair:
- Professor James Newell (University of Salford)
- Panel Members:
- Professor giliberto capano (Scuola Normale Superiore)
- Dr Mara Morini (University of Genoa - DISPO)
- Mr Alberto Sonego (Università degli Studi di Roma Tre)
- Professor Rossana Sampugnaro (Dipartimento di SCienze Politiche e Sociali)
- Dr Antonio Tursi (N/A)
The Italian constitutional referendum, which looks likely to be held in the autumn, will have dramatic consequences for the career of the current Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, whatever its outcome. Either the proposed reforms will be voted down, in which case, Renzi is likely to find it extremely hard to continue, or they will be supported, in which case the Prime Minister is likely to be strengthened and may seek to pose as the 'father' of a new constitutional settlement for the country. At the same time, following a trend set by Silvio Berlusconi from 1994, Renzi is reputed to have an unusual degree of power and an unusually high profile as compared to the average for post-war Italian prime ministers; for he has been said to exemplify those processes of presidentialisation whereby, thanks to the significance of leaders in electoral processes, they are able to acquire increasing autonomy of their parties and thereby assert a predominant role vis-à-vis their parliamentary majorities. But if this has been the case – and it is not something that can be assumed – then we would expect Renzi, as leaders generally, to have made more of a difference as compared to their counterparts in years gone by. That is, we would expect them to have been more successful in realising their ambitions, in implementing their programmes, simply because of their enhanced power as compared to the power of past leaders. Which obviously begs the question. So the panel will, in the aftermath of the referendum, take stock of the Renzi premiership and to ask how much difference it has made to the trajectories of Italian politics and in what those differences mainly consist.


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a. grabbed The Help by Kathryn Stockett and SPF 55 by Neutrogena and headed straight to the pool
b. called someone else and went to lunch
c. finally booked that massage
d. nailed down my plans for Hawaii
None of the above! I went to the bungalow and did hard battle. I dealt with shelves housing National Geographics culled a dozen years ago when I taught 7th grade social studies. I bested the corner of detritus recently visited by the bunny who hopped in for a visit (see earlier post). I checked every marker for ink in every desk pencil box, ditching the dry, jettisoning all but the juicy. My inner Henry David Thoreau was simply shrieking, "Simplify! Simplify!"
So it was inevitable, canyon school that we are, to find fossilized mouse dookie in those places unvisited by human hand or feather duster for over a decade. But my deep worry is that some of the dookie is not that old. Ew.


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I think Lev Grossman wrote this book for the adults who have read Harry Potter, Narnia, and other classic fantasies. Magic in those worlds was taken for granted and the question about where it comes from is not considered. The young people who find themselves in the Brakebills School take the training in stride but when they graduate they question what they can use their skills for. One of their instructors named Fogg asks them this question.
"Sometimes I wonder if man was really meant to discover magic," Fogg said expansively. "It doesn't really make sense. It's a little too perfect, don't you think? If there's a single lesson that life teaches us, it's that wishing doesn't make it so. Words and thoughts don't change anything. Language and reality are kept strictly apart - reality is tough, unyielding stuff, and it doesn't care what you think or feel or say about it. Or it shouldn't. You deal with it, and you get on with your life."
The central character, a mathemathically brilliant young man named Quentin, has always been fascinated by a series of books called Fillory and Further about two brothers and their two sisters who discover a hidden world called Fillory (sound familiar?). Throughout his time in Brakebills he hopes to be able to access Fillory which, he is convinced, is real and where he feels he will find a home. After their graduation Quentin and his friends embark on a vacation to find adventure in Fillory.
The reader will enjoy nods to several fantasy classics. The venture of these young people is difficult and painful at times but the reader is carried on to see if they succeed in finding Fillory and their place in this or any other world.
Fun quote: The thick plottens.
My rating for this book: +++
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Magicians (2009)
Posted by The French Connection at 6:01 AM
Labels: action, adventure, anger, college, fantasy, friendships, magic, New York, relationships
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As for my own mother, we went out yesterday in celebration of mother's day. There is a little festival I go to every year the day before mother's day. They have good music and tons of flowers and crafts. My mom and *B* and I went together this year. We picked up all sorts of interesting things. I bought a geranium plant from the boy scouts and a painted gourd bird nest for the chickadees in my yard. I also bought some mandarin coconut homemade soap. I can't wait until I learn to make soap myself. Geraniums remind me of my grandmother, and I decided it would be nice to have them around. My mom bought an ostrich fern and cake-in-a-jar. I will learn how to make this. And, of course, I'll post it for all to see :o) It was a chocolate-irish cream cake in a mason jar - fully cooked. Oh was it delicious. We ate it with our fingers in the middle of the street. We also had fresh homemade funnel cake, pressed lemonade, and I had a crab cake.
Today, my mom and I are going to see my grandparents. I'm taking my genealogy software to fill in some of the gaps I've been missing on my grandfather's and grandmother's father's side of the tree. I'll post more on the genealogy project a little bit later.
Happy Mother's Day!


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Matt Moore must be one of the most under-appreciated quarterbacks in the NFL. The man started 12 games for the Dolphins last season, throwing 16 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions. To top it off, he completed over 60% of his passes. He might not be the best QB in the NFL, but he certainly wasn't the reason they were losing games last season. The 'Phins won 6 of the 12 games he started for them. Unfortunately for Moore, the Dolphins traded away the one great receiver they had, meaning that he will be the sacrificial lamb at the beginning of this season. Matt Moore will play 6-8 games before being supplanted by Ryan Tannehill. I don't see Moore having a good season simply because he has no one to throw to.
We can take a look at the group of nobodies that will line up outside for the Dolphins. The leading receiver for the team will probably be Davone Bess. Now Bess is not a terrible player; he did have a better season than any receiver wearing a Jaguars uniform last season, but I just cannot imagine him having a 1000 yard season. Brian Hartline also has an opportunity to have a great season, but I haven't really seen anything to suggest a break out season. I would prop Anthony Fasano up as the man to grab from the Dolphins receiving corps, but this tight end has never had more than 39 receptions in a season. As much as I like Fasano, I think Hartline and Bess will beat him out for receiving yards this season. The Dolphins did draft a pair of receivers at the end of the draft, but they are no more promising than any of the guys already mentioned in this blog. The Dolphins could actually use a guy like T.O. to give them some kind of option in the passing game, but I don't see that happening.
The one winner in all of this is Reggie Bush. After initially faltering last season, Bush rushed for over 1000 yards in 15 games, on 216 carries, while maintaining a 5.0 yard-per-carry average. Those numbers suggest a player who is going to carry the ball more like 280 times this season, and while he might drop off of that lofty yard-per-carry number, he should stay consistent if he can stay healthy. As we know from his days in New Orleans, Bush can definitely work as a pass-catching back, meaning that he should get plenty of dump-off looks when those lame receivers cannot beat their coverage. If Bush has a tough year, second-year-man Daniel Thomas should pick up the slack. Most people bet against Bush last season and picked up Thomas in fantasy drafts. Thomas never really got off the ground, though, and was essentially a non-factor in the passing game. This all adds up to a back I would probably not draft at any point unless Bush gets injured or looks bad in the preseason.
All of this adds up to a Miami team that is going to struggle moving the ball through the air. This team could live off of the screen pass and running game this season, or they could have Bush bust out the wildcat formation from years past. The instability in the passing game should improve the value of Bush, pushing him towards a top 10 ranking amongst running backs. Only time will tell if his small frame can handle the beating that comes with being a premier back, but he is certainly the only Dolphin player who is worthy of an early pick in any fantasy draft.


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Brit – Hits
Stand in front of the house where Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull lived, peek in an apartment without curtains and see an original Andy Warhol picture on the wall, walk in the same street where Mary Quant showed her miniskirt in the early sixties. So, buy a baguette where Annie Lennox working to finance her career, hunting for antiques in the markets of the city, on Saturday morning, and admire the pastel-colored houses. But also, walking only to see hats shops, enjoy the magic of an ancient square or the quiet of one of Europe's largest terraces. This is London of the great classics, the London of which much has already been written and that many know and love, both for what it is famous, and it is for that which is still unknown. Continua a leggere "Brit – Hits"


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this summer is going to be a GOOD one:)
we have trips planned, time off and a super-duper uncluttered (for the most part) house:)
i am still working on embracing my inner minimalist though. one part of me wants to keep things, but the better, more rational part of me KNOWS that in order to be happy, i need space!
i am going to try and use up most of my paper supplies to get some old pictures done...but i will be going all digital once that is done. sooooooooo...
i have been doing a little research:)
just read and enjoy:) life is good.