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Dec 31, 2009
Happy New Year!
From the Anonymous Bloggers
Coming soon…
10 Responses to "Happy New Year!"
AK Born and Raised Says:
January 1, 2010 at 12:52 am
Best wishes for a Happy New Year!
Jim Says:
January 1, 2010 at 1:55 am
Just wanted to wish Ann, Victoria, and your families a Happy New Year! I believe 2010 will be an excellent year. Special greetings to Roland.
seattlefan Says:
January 1, 2010 at 12:14 am
Happy New Year to you all as well! Wishing you all the best.
Peace, Love and Happiness in the next year.
Country Girl Says:
January 1, 2010 at 12:27 am
Happy New Year to ALL.
Wishing you health and warmth and lots of food this winter. My New Year letter to all my friends has the story if your family, of last winter. I am telling all I know about adopting a village or connecting up in some way. I am working toward doing all I can to come up sometime next year. I'm 73 with a bit of a bum leg, so not sure how much help I could be, but we will think of something. I will write to you personally about that.
Blessings for 2010 and Much Love from me and mine to you and yours,
Sherry Stewart
Maria Says:
January 1, 2010 at 4:39 am
Every best wish for a joyous, abundant, peaceful and laughter-filled New Year.
Martha Unalaska Yard Sign Says:
January 1, 2010 at 1:08 am
Happy New Year! I'm with my other family in Northern CA and my mother and I just made funny hats out of last year's calendars and leftover Christmas ribbons.
Kath the Scrappy Says:
January 1, 2010 at 4:02 am
Just a couple minutes more and Ann, Vic, Roland can start the midnight cheers.
Happy New Years and may this next year bring health, fish, and happiness.
Bill of Wasilla Says:
January 2, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Happy New Year, all you well known, anonymous, people!
M. Paul Says:
January 3, 2010 at 1:50 am
There is this ritual I once read of, or heard explained, in a film about a native group up north and their new years celebration. Not really new years but the beginning of a year which started by the first sighting of the sun after the winters darkness. It was said that if one greeted the sun the first day a sliver of it rose above the horizon then the sun would guaranty one would see the next. I really liked the idea but as I live below the 66th parallel there is never a day the sun does not fail to rise above the horizon; of course that does not mean we get to see it every day. Any way, I felt fortunate to see the sun rise above the mountains the morning of the first, said my greeting to our sun, and was grateful for years past and for the future yet to come!
Pat, Washington state Says:
January 3, 2010 at 4:45 pm
A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.
Remember that you have so much support, literally from all around the country and beyond. You are, as always, in the prayers of many of us.


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Christmas Rap was partially inspired by the success of Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis," arguably the greatest Christmas-themed rap song ever. This old school compilation is the closest thing to a consistent Christmas rap album you'll ever find. It features the aforementioned Run-DMC hit "Christmas in Hollis," Derek B's "Chillin' with Santa," Sweet Tee's "Let the Jingle Bells Rock," and the playful "Dana Dane is Coming to Town" by Dana Dane. It's not a traditional album, but it definitely makes a great stocking stuffer for fans of 80's hip-hop
Track Listings
1. Christmas in Hollis
2. Let the Jingle Bells Rock
3. Dana Dane Is Coming to Town
4. Ghetto Santa
5. Christmas in the City
6. Chillin' With Santa
7. He's Santa Claus
8. That's What I Want for Christmas

subset: commoncrawl


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I wore this outfit yesterday, out to breakfast with my sister and a friend. It was a really beautiful day and on the way home, we had the windows open and Owl City blaring. It at least felt like one of the most beautiful days this summer, and it was just what I needed. I feel like summer is over, or very nearly, and I can't explain how much I'm dreading winter. Because frankly, there are only two season for me, and if it's not summer, it's winter.
I really, really love these colors together. Dark blue and light pink. I really haven't worn them together much before, but I think they're so feminine and pretty. I added lots of gold jewelry and wedges to emphasize the girly-ess of this outfit.
I thought this pose would be cute. Not so much.
I love the details of this necklace, so pretty!
Shirt: Old Navy. Found here.
Skirt: Pink Zone.
Shoes: From a friend. Similar here.
Necklace and bracelet: My sister's.
Ring: Old Navy.
Earrings: Kohls.
What? You're not following me on Facebook or Bloglovin'?! Well, don't worry, all you have to do is scroll up to the top of this page and click the "Follow this Blog" and "Like" buttons. There.


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The whole airline business is a mystery to me. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be susceptible to the same business principles that govern every other business, but it seems to have some enigmatic ability to swallow money. What other business would lose money when it routinely sold out or oversold its market-priced product? I have been on a couple dozen or so flights in the last year and every single one of them was packed to the gills. In most cases, the time I spent waiting at the gates was punctuated by the now-familiar "We need a volunteer to take a later flight" plea - always entertaining since no one volunteers and, somehow, the flight boards and departs anyway. Are the extra people stowed in baggage? Vaporized?
And don't I remember that the incentives used to grow in value the closer you got to departure time? Said offers from Las Vegas to Chicago, then Chicago to Albany, last Thursday were evidently fixed at a free round-trip ticket for the future and a later flight for the moment. But the later flights were 9 hours later from Las Vegas and over 24 hours later from Chicago. What the heck did they think the volunteers (had there been any) would do in the meantime? Well, OK, 9 extra hours in Las Vegas would be a kick, if potentially expensive, but who flying from Chicago to Albany on a Thursday evening would likely have the flexibility or the interest to wait until Saturday morning?
I usually fly Southwest. Although the flights are tightly packed, at least some of the other amenities of flying are still intact. My US Air and United flights on Thursday were a rude awakening to the new realities of non-Southwest flights. To check a bag now costs $15. This may or may not be an offensive nickel-and-diming of customers, but the upshot is that people now haul on board everything they possibly can, either to avoid this fee or to avoid the potential hassle of lost baggage. But the plane is packed, the aisles are too narrow for rolling suitcases to be rolled, and the overhead bin space is insufficient. So the unfortunates who board last end up having to check their bags anyway. I presume there is no $15 fee in this case - the flight attendant didn't mention any fee in her oft-repeated "If there's no overhead space, bring your bag to the front and we'll check it for you." This bringing the bags to the front business was also ludicrous - the aisles are TINY and packed with people organizing themselves into seats evidently designed for a species much smaller than most adult travelers. Suppose the extra $15 actually collected on bags checked in the terminal is enough to offset not only baggage-handling costs, but the extra fuel it takes to cool the plane during the now even slower boarding process?
Airlines obviously are saving money by deferring decor maintenance. Both my Thursday planes showed all the signs of hard use. I guess the mechanical maintenance is kept up to snuff (we got where we were going without incident), and I'm a firm believer in "first things first," but do the seats and seat pockets have to be falling apart? Do 10-20% of the tray tables, lights and air vents have to not work? Do the wings and wing flaps have to be adorned with what look (alarmingly) like black skid marks? Does the whole experience have to be so much like taking the bus, but at 5-10 times the cost?
On the US Air flight, I was charged $2 for a bottle of water. This is OK, I guess - it would have cost at least that much to buy a bottle of water in the airport - but the collecting of money and making of change was a ridiculous waste of flight attendant time. And how does the money process work? Do the poor flight attendants have to account for every can, bottle, styrofoam cup and dollar to make sure it all matches up at the end of every flight? Does some idiot in accounting think this effort is without cost? Why on earth don't they just charge $5 more for each ticket and keep the complimentary soft drinks, the customer appreciation that goes with free stuff, the extra $5 from everyone, including people who get no drinks or buy alcohol, and the flight attendants' focus on quick service and safety? What passenger wouldn't pay $329 instead of $324 for the ticket? Is whatever the airline manages to net from the airborne-convenience-store approach worth making me think they're cheap bastards with whom I'll not fly again unless there's absolutely no other option?
The flight attendants on the US Air flight were also incredibly cranky. This might be because they're also now functioning as sales clerks or maybe it's because of the dowdy uniforms they still have to wear - the contrast between their 1950s "air host and hostess" apparel and the "I could comfortably sleep in this" clothing of most passengers is hilarious. Or maybe it's because they don't get paid enough or treated with respect. Who knows? But it seems to me that any business that "recognizes that you have a choice in air travel, appreciates your business, and hopes to see you on another [insert name of airline] flight again soon" might also recognize that it would be a plus to instruct its customer service personnel to treat the customers like fellow human beings instead of annoying scum.
Having said all that, both my flights arrived early. I was resigned with my usual air-travel serenity to the connection being a problem, but the only difficulty I encountered (if you don't count feeling like a sardine in a seen-better-days tin) was the distance I had to trudge between the two gates at O'Hare. Obviously, it was my lucky day. Too bad I couldn't stay home and use that luck at a blackjack table.


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This is the *really long* story of how pregnancy has affected the athlete within me. Grab some dinner, and enjoy the novel.
Oh the exercise! I always used to picture myself, mighty pregnant,
rocking a circular baby-bump, doing yoga in my living room. These
daydreams, mind you, occurred when I was not pregnant or even planning on
being pregnant. I just thought I'd be a rad exercise-mama-to-be,
motivated, energized, inspired, fit, strong, beautiful.
When I suspected Edu and I had made a wee-baby, sure that God indeed
had blessed me with the gift of carrying life, before I took the actual
pregnancy test, I was had run 6 miles one day, 3 the next, walked for
hours, and didn't feel the least bit run down. After taking the test,
seeing it was indeed positive, and feeling superb (zeeero icky first
trimester symptoms at this time), I had a confirmed feeling that
pregnancy + exercising throughout the next 9 months was going to be RAD.
Then reality hit: we arrived home from Mexico City, Edu came down
with the flu, a snow storm hit our hometown, and the all-day nausea
commenced. I attempted, morning after morning, to crawl out of bed at
5:00am and get my butt movin'. There were mornings where I turned
prenatal workout DVDs on, lifted up 2 5lb weights, and almost instantly
put them down and sat on the couch, trying not to get sick to my
stomach. Nausea is a pain, man! Anyhow, that went on for months.
I did, however, accompany the hubby to Green Lake once a week for a
listen-to-your-body run. Each step felt different, every run, jog, and
walk was different than the last one. It was glorious, it made me a
happy pregnant mama, and hubby grinned from ear to ear seeing his wifey
do what she looonged to do throughout her first pregnancy! The only
issue, of course, was that I was running 3-6 miles only once a week,
with little to no movement Sunday through Friday. So the hopes of
running a half marathon while pregnant (high expectations) or even
maintaining my running stamina at all...were kinda shot.
Thankfully, though, like all strange changes this pregnancy has
brought on, life has MUCH improved since that first trimester! Not only
can I eat every color of the rainbow now (oh, green!) But nowadays I've
been FULL of energy. Enough energy to hop out of bed (okay, I still
crawl slowly and sometimes grumble along the way) and get my exercise
Two DVDs I have purchased along the way are: The Perfect Pregnancy
Workout, led by a cirque du soleil athlete, Karyne Steben, and 10-Minute Prenatal
Pilates Solutions. I LOVE how both girls are mighty pregnant, and in The
Perfect Pregnancy Workout there are modifications for each move: easy,
moderate and intermediate. So I can do each move depending on how I'm
feeling - even if I'm feeling a little weak, I might attempt the
intermediate version of the move so I can secretly feel like a rockstar.
The Prenatal Pilates DVD is a little slower, but the girl's energy is
great and I can always grab heavier weights if I want more of a
challenge. All in all, I prefer me the cirque du soleil workout girl!
A few weeks ago, on a lovely Saturday, I attempted ye ol' 5K jog at
Green Lake. Eduardo was recovering from Boston, so we decided to jog the
first lap together. The moment we started I was filled with happiness. I
love the feeling of a good run, of being outside, of being at my
hubby's side. But within 5 minutes or so, I felt awful. My legs seemed
like dead weights, lifting one in front of the other would call for an
army. It wasn't fun, or easy, or as natural as it has been in the past. I
told Eduardo to go on without me, and let the pity party commence. I
stopped to walk.
I have always felt like a rockstar for never stopping during a run. I
have slowed the pace to a barely-jog before, but had never stopped to
walk. I try to make it a habit to pray at the start of each run or jog,
and my top prayer is to help myself + my hubby listen to our bodies
during the run and STOP if we're not feeling good. This came from many
running injuries that could've been a lot less serious if only we had
done that very thing: stopped. You know, when your knee hurts in a
strange way and you decide to run 6 miles on it anyway, 'cause you're a
normal, stubborn human being who wants to get a good run in no matter
what the cost. But when I had to actually stop for the first time,
simply because I didn't "feel right" (cause I was 4 months pregnant), it
kinda hurt my pride (praise God, right?) And I kinda cried about it.
The awesome part is that after I stopped to walk for a handful of
minutes, I got the urge and energy to jog again. So I picked up the pace
and was able to finish 4 miles. It felt so good! And now? I'm
completely done with feeling too proud to walk, have stopped to walk
TWICE since then, without crying or cursing my body. It's so freeing!
Anyhow. Pregnancy has let this mama run (jog) again, a few times a week,
4 to 6 miles depending on how the legs (and tummy weight) is feeling.
And walking breaks are no longer needed, but also are no longer feared.
God is good. God is amazing. God is sovereign. God is present. God
hears our prayers. God sticks by our side even when we ignore Him. God
is INCREDIBLE!
And exercise and pregnancy live strong :)


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"We can try this. I won't put any pressure on you, but make me a promise," I whispered to him.
"What?" he rasped out.
Sigh, what a sweet sweet book! I had had it with annoying heroines so I decided to read an MM book. This turned out to be the book I needed. Very emotional yet steamy in parts 🙂
Second Chances is the story of Mark Jennings. Mark's mother is in hospital, dying from Liver disease… add to that a stressful job plus the fact that his boyfriend Brian cheated on him – Mark is at the end of his wits. He decides to get a massage to relax, and that's how he meets Antonio. Antonio and Mark become fast friends, Mark admittedly has a small crush on Antonio, but Antonio is straight.
The book is told in Mark's POV, in a span of about 10 years or so. It is a highly emotional book… I've only read two MM books before this and both were heavy on the erotica… this one is more emotional… heartbreaking… a touch too dramatic if you ask me (more like a soap opera at times) but all in all I enjoyed myself. Why? Because Mark is the kind of guy you root for. Having gone through so much, lost so many important people in his life… you just want him to find his bliss.
What I absolutely loved is how heartfelt the book was. I enjoyed seeing Mark and Brian's life… Antonio learning about himself… Robbie (a foster child) getting a second chance at life… it was all very beautiful… and very sad at times. Again, I will say that some of the things were a bit much. I didn't find Antonio and Mark's meeting natural… seemed too weird to me. Then the whole Robbie and Jacob thing was a bit much… and the epilogue, again a bit much… but overlook these things and you find yourself a beautiful story of forgiveness and love.
4 Stars.
Amazon Buy Link – Second Chances by TA Webb


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Not to worry - I'll make it less busy! This is just a WIP screengrab straight from Illustrator.
I will paint over this in Photoshop later, to mark out the dark areas, because Illustrator doesn't play well with gradients (at least not the gradients and glows I need). I'll also make a dark version that shows the level when Otis and Fawn are apart.


text:
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- 341 Visitors


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Public speaking is. It can be really scary. Making a presentation can be hell for some people. Even hearing the word can make people quake in their boots.
I am in the business of hosting, organising, creating and giving presentations and workshops, I get to speak to a lot of people about this topic and know lots of people thoroughly dislike it. So I thought I'd pass on some of what I know. I hope it helps.
Note: This post is not about crafting a workshop, just things you can do to be a better, less nervous presenter.
A lot of people think they suck at giving presentations and are always really nervous and find it incredibly stressful and they wish they could do it better and they didn't get so stressed about it. The truth is, most people are actually better than they think they are and even if you do give a bad presentation it is like they say in the UK "Today's news is tomorrows fish and chips paper". It is soon forgotten.
I think many people see quite a few presentations that could be a whole lot better and people also forget them immediately and move on within minutes as they have so many other things to think about. I'm sure you do that too. It is normal. Know that your fear is unwarranted. However real and scary it feels at the time.
My initial reflection is that I don't think it would be a good thing to completely take the stress away, because it can also be a good driver for someone to ensure they try their hardest to succeed.
For a lot of people though, panic sets it, anxiety levels rise and they freeze. Sound familiar?
How can you get over that? I don't think there are any ways to completely get away from that feeling, maybe hypnosis or some NLP training might help. For me, the best way to overcome something, is to become competent at it. Practice it until is becomes second nature or at least less scary. Lean in to it. Learn from it. What exactly is it that scares you? Name that emotion, once you know the beast's name it is easier to tame.
If the unknown becomes known, it really can be quite straight forward.
You can take away some of the sting by already feeling good about yourself in front of a group of people, if you already know the subject by heart (otherwise you would not have been asked) then it is the physical part of presenting, knowing what to say, how to say it, how to stand, how you come across that is the hard part. Feeling judged or possibly being rejected or ridiculed is a very scary prospect. But it needn't be. You have to get past that and change your paradigm.
When you learn to drive, you hardly know which pedal does what, there are so many buttons to press, mirrors to look in, rules of the road to learn and there are all these other moving vehicles coming towards to at great speed and people stepping out into the road and you need to remember which order to do things in. Maybe you remember the term MSM? (mirror, signal, manoeuvre) it becomes automatic after a while (or should do).
Anyway the point I am trying to make here is, after a while, driving becomes semi-automatic, you don't realise your foot goes on the clutch to change gear, you don't realise that you are signalling already before you make that turn, you don't even realise that you are glancing in the mirror before you pull out or reverse, you don't realise that you are going through the gears as you join the motorway, you are concentrating on all the other idiots on the road.
You can do the same with presenting, it takes practice and is about learning the good habits, not the bad ones. Forget thinking that your audience is naked, it doesn't work. Don't fidget, rock backwards and forwards, don't wave your hands all over the place, don't click your pen, don't tell jokes. Just tell yourself you are great, it'll be fine, tell yourself you are a great presenter and that they are lucky to have you there. Be positive. Be brazen, fake it until you make it. Know that you come across better than you think you do, people can be so forgiving. And I bet that some people in the audience are thanking their own god that it is not them up there giving the presentation and so are on your side already, even before you have said the first word.
Positive thoughts are all well and good, but you also need some concrete physical techniques to go with them. What you need to do is learn some techniques to help you look and feel confident in front of your screen/whiteboard, on stage, whatever.
The first thing I would say is to think about the driving analogy. Practice the basics until they become automatic.
What else would I advise? How do I prepare?
Firstly, it helps to realise that everybody is nervous before giving a presentation, everybody. No exceptions. From Presidents to professional speakers, from managers to salesmen. If you are not nervous, you are overconfident and can come across as arrogant and insincere. No-one likes a know-it-all. Be authentic. There is no harm in saying you don't know everything, you can always get back to someone with the information at a later time.
Nervousness is normal. Embrace it. People will understand and look past it. It's just a fleeting thought that might go through some peoples minds, but then it is gone.
Secondly, It helps me to remember that silence is golden, by this I mean, don't be afraid to have moments of silence after important statements. Don't keep speaking like a machine gun just to fill the gaps. People need time to digest or even translate to themselves if in a multinational environment. Plus if you are speaking in another language than your mother tongue, your way of saying or explaining something may need to be digested. So give people that space to absorb. Take your time. It also gives you time to think about what you are going to say next (win-win). Think Captian James Kirk. (not really)
Thirdly, pace yourself. Get into a rhythm and people will also tune into your rhythm or accent.
Preparation is a must (if you have the luxury). If I have have the time to prepare I make sure I have the first 5 minutes of the presentation learned off by heart. It's like driving the car the first few times, once you have started driving, you can relax a little and you get into the flow. The more you can prepare the external things, the more you can concentrate on getting the internal feelings ready.
Things like: Always try to make sure the room or location is set up as you need it, that the technolgy works and you know where it is 😉
I always make sure I have eaten a little, had a good night's rest (if possible), have plenty of water (to avoid dry mouth syndrome), have done some breathing exercises and maybe even a power pose or two (yes, they really work. A lot of that can be done in the bathroom or in your car or somewhere out of the public eye).
Practicing your presentation is a must do. Burning those lines into your memory banks can save you going blank halfway through the workshop. Make sure you are as familiar as possible with the material you will speak about. Anticipate questions.
Try to include a story or two, add a personal anecdote if you can, give people something they can relate to.
Recording your presentation as a practice technique can tell you a lot about how you come across. No need to do a video, although that can help you see how you stand or what your annoying mannerisms may be. Recording yourself can sound really weird, your voice sounds different inside your head. It also shows you how many times you say 'um' or 'aah' or 'you know', or what ever verbal ticks you might have, it can also make evident how you pitch your voice, your tone, your rhythm. Then you can adjust accordingly, or at least be aware of it.
Recording yourself speak has many benefits and you can even use your mobile phone to record yourself (there's an App for that) or your computer (Audacity) or a dictaphone if you really want to invest in a tool. One major benefit for me is that it helps make the presentation much more natural sounding. When you write a presentation down it can come across as very stiff and formal. If you read it out loud, you automatically adapt it for speech and ad lib and change things around so they sound better. You can then transcribe that back into the written text so that the next time you practice it it has already been improved upon.
You can also join clubs such as Toastmasters, you can start off going as a guest (someone you know probably knows someone who is a member, ask around), then, if you like it you can sign up and get to practice the art at a higher level. It is not necessary to do this, but if you really want to come across well and it is an important part of your job and you hate it, you can learn to love it by becoming proficient at it. But that can be considered over the top if all you want to do is give the odd presentation.
So, you have written your presentation, made your slides and are waiting outside the room or on the way to present whatever it is you have prepared (btw, always have a back-up with you).
Make sure you are presentable, clothes, hair, teeth etc. Have some water with you (if poss).
Enter the room confidently. Smile, breathe, say hello, look people in the eyes. Be aware of how you are standing, no shrinking, head up, breathe slowly, go over the first lines in your head.
Introduce yourself and thank everybody for coming along.
I always try to start off on an upbeat note, it sets the tone for the rest of the workshop.
Some people apologise for being late or not as prepared as they would like, to give some excuse for a possible bad presentation, DO NOT DO THAT, it lowers peoples expectation already.
Act confident, smile, say hello to anyone you know. Maintain eye contact with people. Be polite. Breathe.
I always think back to my school days when I would see other children from other classes come into my classroom and ask to borrow something from our teacher or give some information, I never really knew what. I never looked at those kids and thought, "what a loser". I was always in admiration for them have the courage to do that. I never go to a presentation or workshop these days and expect the person to fail, it doesn't even enter my head.
What you have to realise is that everybody thinks like that. People don't want you to fail, they want you to do well. People are far more concerned about learning something or thinking about something entirely different to whoever is up there standing in front of them.
Your presentation can and should be practiced, in front of a mirror, your family, friends or your cats if you wish. Really, just ask a friend or colleague for some feedback. The more you do, it the less scary it will be. Watch other peoples presentations on You Tube. (Ted Talks?)
You can also practice the way you stand, find something to do with your hands, make sure you are breathing properly, make sure you speak at a natural speed, not too loud, no shouting allowed, no whispering either. If you have a quiet voice, it is not a major issue so long as everyone can hear you. Maybe you could use a microphone if that is the case.
Sometimes having a naturally quiet voice can be an asset, if the topic is good, it can make people listen to you more intensely. It can be theatrical to use quietness as part of the presentation, but of course projection is the key, everybody has to hear you or the message is lost. You see, people really do want to hear what you have to say. Never think that what you are saying is already known, sometimes you can clarify something for someone that hadn't quite grasped that nugget of information. Or they may not have heard something in that context before. Believe you are useful and you will be.
You also need to connect with the audience. Try to maintain eye contact for at least two to three seconds per person, or long enough to complete a full phrase or sentence. Effective eye communication is the most important nonverbal skill in a speaker's toolbox.
If I am feeling a little unsteady or nervous, I move towards the audience, I get brazen, if someone asks a question, answer or ask them to wait until the end so you don't lose your flow. You are boss whilst on the floor. Take charge.
To recap:
- Be prepared – know your stuff
- Practice – practice – practice (posture, voice and content)
- Use the nervous energy to boost your confidence
- Be bold – fake it until you make it
- Realise everyone is rooting for you, nobody wants you to fail
- Ask questions, put the audience on the other foot
- Make eye contact
Did that help? What else would help you? maybe I am missing something that could help you. Let me know.
With love


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I am actress, still trying to make my foothold strong in Bollywood. I had made a debut in Bollywood in 2004 but that went unnoticed and I moved on to south industry.
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The Initiation (1984)Director
One Minute to Zero (1952)Actor
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In Old Oklahoma (1943)Actor
List of Larry Stewart movies
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A Facebook friend's status said something like "Toni is making homemade pizza tonight," and I immediately thought about the best pizza I've ever had in my life (from "The Best Italian Cafe and Pizzeria" in Gatlinburg, TN).
Check this out:
|Brazilian Béchamel..................
| 16" Med $19.95
18" Lg $22.95
|A rich white sauce with green pepper, onion, celery & seasonings on a thin crust; complimented by several different flavors.... Chicken, Red Pepper, Spinach, Pineapple, Mild Banana Peppers & topped lightly with Feta cheese, finished with Pesto. You'll never know till you try it!


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This week I'm taking a break from making resolutions; I have a few that I am still working on diligently, and making one change a week can get overwhelming. I'm going to focus on the first three for the rest of January (I promise I'm scheduling that trip. Really. I am.).
I've been stressed out about money lately. I'm practice building, business starting, and adjusting to life in a new city. I'm waiting to hear on admission to a Masters degree program. I feel like my life is moving full-speed ahead while I am stuck in a weird state of limbo, and a really not-fun state of being broke.
My coach training brought up a tough topic the other day (while I was in the middle of feeling awful about not having an income that amounted to more than a hill of beans): reserves. Those things in life that keep us feeling secure and moving forward as long as we have a little extra of them stored up. When I was working full-time, I had a nice little reserve of money built up, and while it wasn't an enormous sum of money, it was enough to make me feel secure.
I knew this transition was going to deplete my cash reserve; this was one of the reasons I focused on creating such a thing in the first place. Still, watching my bank accounts decline is a hard thing for me, so this topic of monetary reserves was difficult.
Until my trainer brought up an interesting idea: what if we look at other parts of our lives as having possibility as a reserve? Time, health, energy, love, family, fun, community are pieces of our lives that could be looked to for that necessary security. I started thinking about what I have that isn't money, and I quickly realized I do have reserves. I have to be willing to accept the support I get from those reserves in order to access them, but what a relief to realize I'm not totally depleted.
My challenge for myself (and for you) this week is to think about what my reserves would look like if they were completely filled (this includes money). This ties into all of the resolutions I have so far made, so this is my action for the week.


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Spy [Inflitrator]
Ex-military medical droid. Re-purposed to infiltrate and sabotage
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Cooking and entertaining ponies.....
So I had to laugh at this pic...I was trying to get a good close up of NeNe eating....but this is what I got and it looks like the sun is shinning out of his as*. I pretty sure he thinks it does but I love this pic!
This is NeNe apparently very concerned that the airplane over there was going to eat his dinner. He would grab a bite look up and stare...
These are the BEST cookies I have ever had in my life! My mom got me a holiday cookie cookbook for Christmas and these are in there., I was looking for something different to send with John for training and these looked interesting....They are sooo good...I don't remember what the name is but I call them Mountain Volcanoes....its a mix of cream cheese, coconut and pecans in the middle, and chocolate drizzled over the top....soooo goood....
Posted by Christy at 9:54 AM
2 comments:
Sunshine out his butt...that's hilarious! Think I know some people who think that way...ReplyDelete
And I seriously need that cookie recipe. Looks AMAZING. Okay, maybe my hips don't need the cookie recipe, but bravo on such a yummy looking picture :)
Cookies were awesome! I will send you the recipe, they seem to take forever to make but as SOOO yummy!!ReplyDelete
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Flowers are easy. At least, flowers outdoors in bright sunlight are easy. Flip on the macro, get up close, compose, focus, click.
Here's a question: are digital cameras cheating? They certainly seem to make photography quite a bit easier.
Likely, however, I'm happy with a far inferior result than someone more serious would be happy with. I'm thinking some of these will eventually hang in places like my bathroom, above my couch, in my kitchen, my front hall.


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Re: Story, April 17, "Raider reminders are all around"
To ensure that future generations are cognizant of the bravery of Lt. Col. Jimmy Dolittle and his crew, and the importance of their mission, a more important street should bear his name.
Hollywood Boulevard comes to mind, as I'm unaware of any local significance to the name. I understand this process has obstacles, but they pale in comparison to what these men achieved.
Thomas J. Connair III, Fort Walton Beach


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College News
Vance participates in panel on Universal Design
U. Sean Vance, Assistant Professor of Architecture, was part of a three-person panel and workshop hosted by the School of Social Work which discussed "Universal Design" and the ethos of inclusion. The April 9th workshop drew experts from architecture, adaptive technology, and the science of information to discuss the mindset behind Universal Design. Central to the conversation was, "what motivates someone to design society in a way that is intentionally constructed to be equally usable by EVERYONE regardless physical and cognitive ability levels?" The event was sponsored by the Students with Disabilities and our Allies Group (SDAG) and the School of Social Work.
Apr 10, 2014


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It's been about two weeks since I've shifted base and I can't help but feel out of place, still.
This is where I grew up, this is where I am supposed to feel at home, these are the people who I should be able to connect with; but I guess the pieces aren't exactly fitting in its puzzle.
Well, for starters, I'm moving back to this place after about a decade now and needless to say that it's nothing like what I remember it to be like.
It's more crowded, shallow to the core, intolerant of the 'other person', expensive to no limit, and I can go on and on and on but again, every new place feels the same for an outsider.
Some say that the reason I find things difficult to accept here, is because I shifted with half a heart. Now you can call me patriotic or a fool, but there's absolutely no way that you can leave your home, your country and your people to go and live elsewhere where you have no rights as a resident. Can you?
So then I thought of those who have lived away from their towns for ages trying to make a home away from home. Yes they've made a life for themselves, more money than they expected to make and continue to do so. And I have only one question for them, 'Are you happy living away in another country?'
My point here is that why can't you use your talents and knowledge where it's more required? Why does our nose go sniffing money after we're out of college? Why are we running behind travel agents and passport offices the minute our final results are out? When did this trend occur? And why isn't it fading?
Do we have responsibilities towards our country or are these just words put together to frame a sentence that doesn't mean anything?
What do you think? I'd like to know…
Picture courtesy: http://faithatthebeach.com/2013/04/23/feeling-out-of-place/


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1 Samuel 6 (NRSV)
The Ark Returned to Israel
The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2Then the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us what we should send with it to its place."
When the Philistines first captured the Ark of the Covenant, they thought it was a great victory. But as time went on, the Philistines began to regard the ark as a burden, not as a trophy.
3They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and will be ransomed; will not his hand then turn from you?"
4And they said, "What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?"
They answered, "Five gold tumors and five gold mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for the same plague was upon all of you and upon your lords.
The Philistines had five major centers, each with its own ruler or lord: Gath, Ekron, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Gaza.
5So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and your gods and your land. 6Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had made fools of them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?
Five gold tumors and five gold mice . . .
. . . what kind of offering is this?! Some commentators think this gift may indicate what kind of calamity might have struck the Philistines. One suggestion is hemorrhoids, and although that ailment can be very painful, the text seems to indicate something more serious.
Several commentators mention that Josephus indicated that it was "a very destructive disease" involving dysentery, bleeding, and severe vomiting. Josephus also mentioned a great plague of mice that accompanied the disease. Although no direct mention is made of the plague of rodents, when the Philistines sought to placate Jehovah's wrath upon them by returning the ark, they sent five golden tumors and five golden mice as well.
The severity of the disease and the fact that rodents were involved lead many scholars to conclude that what afflicted the Philistines was bubonic plague. Bubonic plague gets its name from the buboes, or tumorous swellings, in the lymph glands. It is well known that rats and mice are the main carriers of this disease, for the fleas that transmit the disease to man live on rodents. The disease is accompanied by great suffering and pain, and the fatality rate may run as high as 70 percent in a week's time. Small wonder that the Philistines were anxious to return the ark to Israel.
The ancient Philistines were very superstitious. They, like many others during the world's history, believed that an image made to represent an actual object might be used to ward off evil powers. Such appears to have been their thinking in making golden images of the tumors and the mice and sending them as a "guilt offering" (verse 8 ) with the ark back to Israelite territory.
7Now then, get ready a new cart and two milch cows that have never borne a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8Take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off, and let it go its way. 9And watch; if it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance."
A two-fold test: the cows had not been trained to pull a cart, and they would not have willingly left their nursing calves. Only the Lord could have the cows go to Israel!
10The men did so; they took two milch cows and yoked them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the box with the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12The cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went; they turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.
13Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they went with rejoicing to meet it. 14The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh, and stopped there. A large stone was there; so they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the gold objects, and set them upon the large stone. Then the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and presented sacrifices on that day to the Lord.
The Israelites were careful to let the Levites handle the ark, as was commanded by the law (Numbers 4:1-6, 15). Beth Shemesh was a priestly city (Joshua 21:16), so priests were on hand.
–David Guzik
16When the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.
17These are the gold tumors, which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; 18also the gold mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and unwalled villages. The great stone, beside which they set down the ark of the Lord, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.
The Ark at Kiriath-jearim
19The descendants of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the people of Beth-shemesh when they greeted the ark of the Lord; and he killed seventy men of them. The people mourned because the Lord had made a great slaughter among the people. 20Then the people of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom shall he go so that we may be rid of him?"
21So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you."
We don't know why they picked this village. Perhaps they had good relations with these men and thought they would take good care of the ark. Perhaps they had bad relations with them and wanted the LORD to curse them. Whatever the reason, the men of Kirjath Jearim received the ark and it stayed there for many years until King David brought it to the city of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6).
–David Guzik
7) And the people of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord, and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. They consecrated his son, Eleazar, to have charge of the ark of the Lord.
From Hosea 6:
"Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
HERE is a Marty Haugen rendition.
The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


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Hey Before I start talking about the track there are a few things I want to say before. Unlike other tracks I've made this track contains the work of about seven weeks of mapping, driving and being frustrated The track is obviously dedicated to my friend Nils for being awesome and my best friend. However, I'd like to thank some more people who helped me making this track...DMW for some inspiration and a lot of feedback FT»Rast for being my main source of inspiration for this track in terms of transition and wickedness NitroGuy! and the MX family for testing my track The track itself is extremely difficult unless you're very familiar with the behaviour of the island car, it will take a lot of time to get a clean run, espiecially since there are lots of tricky spots in the track. I apologize for the difficulty of the track, but it's just what the track became like when I absentmindedly built the track. Despite being difficult the track also features a lot of transitions and jumps and waterbumps in it's length of two minutes - the track is from it's start until it's end packed full with adrenaline and action while being entertaining once you got the line it takes. Without a doubt this is the most intense island FS I've built so far. Aside of the action there is as always some scenery - this time I kept it a bit smaller to keep the track enjoyable even on less good computers (if you don't have 60 fps you're screwed I guess ) - and some MT. Intro, GPS and cameras for loops and walls (except for the last wallride, it's easier to get with camera 1 I think) and Outro are included. Awards Thanks DMW! Thanks pacha! I took out the last wallcam since I really cannot drive well with these cameras and I didn't got that thing once with camera in several tries so I took it out. I'm sorry you have trouble with the waterbumps, but I guess it's also a high matter of the line you take since it does work or does not work depending on a few millimeters of steering. Thanks Coma! Thanks TipUnitedCreator! Thanks s8ndm8n! Thanks mower! Thanks FT»Mandark! Glad you like it, was hard work to get it working! Thanks Owen J! Thanks Bitzer! Thanks OLDA_X! Thanks Fulax! After all I think you should give the track a try and if you can't finish it you should really watch the GPS or the track's video here. Enjoy!Also have a look at these great tracks ...
Spaghetti alla Carbonara by MXplanet
No Tolerance for Imperfection! by FT»Rast
»Eistee aus der Dose by timmy_gk


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The 'Mill Valley Cabins' designed by american firm Feldman Architecture are two extensions to an existing family home in Mill Valley California. housing a studio and yoga space, also used as a private guest home, the strategy was to integrate the wooden structures into the steep hillside between the trees and to minimize the intervention on site.
Read the original post @ designboom


text: 2009/10/18 Steven D'Aprano <steve at remove-this-cybersource.com.au>: > That confuses me. If I call: > > y = mydict[x] > > how does my knowledge of what to do if x is not a key relate to whether > the language raises an exception, returns an error code, dumps core, or > prints "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy" to stderr? > > You seem to be making a distinction of *intent* which, as far as I can > tell, doesn't actually exist. What's the difference in intent between > these? > > y = mydict[x] > if y == KeyErrorCode: > handle_error_condition() > process(y) > > > and this? > > try: > y = mydict[x] > except KeyError: > handle_error_condition() > process(y) Nothing -- because both of those are at the level of code where you know what to do with the error condition. But if you weren't -- if, for example, you were in a library routine and had no idea how the routime might be used in the future -- the latter would just become: y = mydict[x] and the problem is passed on until it gets to somebody who does know. In the former case, though, you still need all the error handling code even though you don't know how to handle the error, *and* you need to exit with an error code of your own, *and* your client needs error handling code even though /they/ might not know how to handle the error, and so on. > Neither assumes more or less knowledge of what to do in > handle_error_condition(). Neither case assumes that the failure of x to > be a key is an error: They both assume that calling handle_error_condition() is an appropriate response. >> That's why they have the overhead that they do. > > Exceptions don't have one common overhead across all languages that use > them. They have different overhead in different languages -- they're very > heavyweight in C++ and Java, but lightweight in Python. As others have pointed out, Python exceptions are cheap to set up, but decidedly less cheap to invoke. But I'm not making the efficiency argument, I'm making the clarity argument. I don't /quite/ believe that Premature Optimisation is the root of all evil, but I wouldn't avoid exceptions because of the overhead. In the rare cases where the response to an exceptional condition is time (or resource?)-critical I'd consider that case to need special handling anyway, and so wouldn't treat it as an exception. >>> Python uses exceptions for flow control: >> >> Yes, and in some cases I think that's a serious language wart. Not >> enough to put me off the language, but a serious wart nevertheless. > > I think exceptions are a beautiful and powerful way > of dealing with flow control, much better than returning a special code, > and much better than having to check some status function or global > variable, as so often happens in C. They're more restricted, and > therefore safer, than goto. They're not a panacea but they're very useful. I agree completely -- when they're used in appropriate circumstances. Not when they're not. > I think you're confused about what list.index(obj) does. You seem to me > to be assuming that [1,2,3].index(5) should return the item in position 5 > of the list, and since there isn't one (5 is out of bounds), raise an > exception. But that's not what it does. It searches the list and returns > the position at which 5 is found. Yes, sorry, brain fade. But my point remains that the authors of index can't know whether the item not being in the list is an error or not, can't know how to handle that case, and so passing it to the client as an exception is an appropriate response. > No, it's not being killed from outside the program -- it's being > *interrupted* from *inside* the program by the user. Who -- unless AI has advanced further than I thought -- is *outside* the program. -- Tim Rowe


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Team Tom's Bicycles
THE Social Networking site for all things related to the Tom's Bicycles Racing Team.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Bike Snob Responds to MC SpandX
You know a You Tube video has gone "viral" when Bike Snob decides he needs to comment on it.
His cynical review
is worth a read if only because it makes you watch the video one more time.
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text: A conveyor is an apparatus that transports stuff from one area to another. It's normally employed in major industries to make their work flow smooth, but a conveyor is a really versatile bit of machinery which may be also featured in fun children's toys. For many toddlers' toys, a hand-cranked conveyor system is typically used. […]Read More


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Filed under: Ian | Tags: al franken, norm coleman
I've not discussed Former Senator Norm Coleman's legal challenge to Senator-elect Franken's victory in the 2008 Minnesota Senate race, largely because the coverage over at TPMDC has been so good that I don't really have much to add. Two recent reports over at TPM, however, strike me as interesting.
The first is a report that GOP megalawyer Ben Ginsberg, who previously ran the Bush/Cheney '00 and '04 legal teams, has withdrawn his petition to be temporarily admitted to practice in the Minnesota courts so that he can appear on behalf of Former Senator Coleman. Ginsberg's most prominent role on Coleman's legal team has been a serious of press conferences levying increasingly wild-eyed accusations against the integrity of Senator-elect Franken's victory.
The second noteworthy story is a report that Coleman's legal team may have intentionally withheld key evidence from team Franken in order to prejudice the outcome of the trial.
Those who have followed the Franken/Coleman saga know that the trial has been a comedy of errors—Coleman witnesses confessing to improperly casting their ballots, judges issuing exasperated ruling against Coleman then withdrawing them for fear of an appeal, Coleman growing increasingly insistent that the only acceptable course is to disenfranchise everyone who voted last November and call a do-over. With the latest report that team Coleman may have intentionally failed to make required disclosures, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Coleman's attorneys will be hit with sanctions.
Of course, this is pure speculation on my part, but perhaps Ginsberg didn't want to be listed as a counsel-of-record because he hopes to avoid being sanctioned by the Minnesota election court.
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Friday, September 19, 2008
F-ing Google Blogger Ate My Post
11 comments:
- Little Earl said...
Yeah I've been getting that "autosave failed" message all day. I think we should just wait a while and see which way the water flows.
- September 19, 2008 at 4:37 PM
- Herr Zrbo said...
Yeah, it's definitely messed up. I'm in the act of rewriting my post but it's being really weird. I'm just going to save what I have and come back later. Sheesh.
Coming to the party LE?
- September 19, 2008 at 5:03 PM
- Peter Matthew Reed said...
ou should compose your posts in a text editor and then paste them into the blogger editor. Simple!
- September 20, 2008 at 12:10 AM
- Herr Zrbo said...
The cut/paste function doesn't work (at least for me) in the editing box. Or am I missing something here?
- September 20, 2008 at 10:14 AM
- Little Earl said...
Peter it is far from simple I must say. Often when I paste text from a different source the spacing comes out all wrong, for example.
Zrbo, you should try Control C/Control V for cut/paste. Sometimes I get the mouse options and sometimes I don't.
By the way, I think I see your Number 2 published on your own blog, so I'm not sure if you really lost it or not.
- September 20, 2008 at 11:37 PM
- Peter Matthew Reed said...
But you can edit the spacing in the html editor... wait. You mean you don't write your posts in html! OMG I am going to have to rewrite a chapter of my memoirs.
- September 21, 2008 at 1:12 AM
- Herr Zrbo said...
That number 2 entry on my blog is incomplete, that's only the part that I managed to salvage.
- September 21, 2008 at 1:30 PM
- Little Earl said...
Oh, well exquease me.
- September 21, 2008 at 10:46 PM
I found this site using [url=http://google.com]google.com[/url] And i want to thank you for your work. You have done really very good site. Great work, great site! Thank you!
Sorry for offtopic
- November 12, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!
- November 17, 2009 at 10:05 PM
SenincenceSes [url=http://wiki.openqa.org/display/~buy-bactrim-without-no-prescription-online]Buy Bactrim without no prescription online[/url] [url=http://wiki.openqa.org/display/~buy-differin-no-prescription-online]Buy Differin no prescription online[/url]
- December 19, 2009 at 10:39 AM


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What is Bladder Cancer?
admin | Feb 02, 2010 | Comments 2
The bladder is a hollow body organ which is located in the lower abdomen of a human body. It stores the liquid waste which is produced by the kidneys known as the urine. The Urine passes from each kidney into the urinary bladder through a tube called urethra.
An outer layer of muscles environs the inner lining of the bladder. When the bladder is full with the waste, the muscles along the bladder wall tighten to allow the urination. After that, the urine leaves the urinary bladder via the urethra tube.
The walls of the bladder are linked with the cells which are known as the squamous cells and transitional cells. More than 90percent of the bladder cancers begin in the transitional cells. This kind of bladder cancer is known as the transitional cell carcinoma. Only about 8percent of the bladder cancer patients have squamous cell carcinomas.
Men are more likely to develop the bladder cancer than women, and older people are affected more. Up to 90percent people who are affected by the bladder cancer are over the age of 55. Exposure and introduction to some chemicals used in manufacturing industry like dyes, paints, hairdressing supplies, paint thinners, etc is associated to getting a higher risk of having bladder cancer. The smokers are also at a higher risk for development of bladder cancer.
The symptoms and signs for bladder cancer may be; loss of weight and appetite, pain in the abdomen or back, pain in urination or urgency in urination. The most common and obvious symptoms of bladder cancer are to have blood in the urine during urination. If a person is having blood in the urine, does not mean that the person has bladder cancer, there could be other infections which can lead to blood in the urine.
Filed Under: Bladder Cancer
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text:
Saying bye bye to Big Wednesday has paid off big time for Lotto.
The lottery game has enjoyed more than a 15 per cent boost in weekly sales after its operator called time on the Big Wednesday variant in October last year.
Lotto New Zealand's annual report reveals sales for the year to the end of June were up 9 per cent to just more than $974 million - the group's second-best result.
"More people are playing our games more often," said chief executive Wayne Pickup.
Despite the sales boost from introducing Lotto twice a week, the game still missed its target for the year by $18m and sales across all its games were $25m shy of the year's goal as Instant Kiwi and others fell short.
It made a net profit of $204m which is distributed to community initiatives by the NZ Lottery Grants Board.


text:
Spencer recognizes successively likenesses and unlikenesses among phenomena (the effects of the Unknowable), which are segregated into manifestations, vivid (object, nonego) or faint (subject, ego), and then into space and time, matter and motion and force, of which the last is symbolized for us by the experience of resistance, and is that out of which our ideas of matter and motion are built.
In some cases it appears to have segregated from a basic eruptive magma, and in other cases to have resulted from metamorphic action.
Blacks and whites are segregated in all schools.
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The lode was an ore channel of great dimensions included within volcanic rocks of Tertiary age, themselves broken through pre-existing strata of Triassic age, and exhibited some of the features of a fissure vein, combined in part with those of a contact deposit and in part with those of a segregated vein.
Thirdly, there can be no doubt that the Christians had recently assumed a much bolder attitude, and thus segregated themselves from the mass of those unorthodox sects which the Roman could afford to despise.
Von Buch laid stress on geographical isolation as the cause of production of varieties, the different conditions of the environment and the segregated interbreeding gradually producing local races.


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Saturday, June 28, 2014
Which Gunmen are the Most Dangerous?
Hi Humans,
The NRA says that more guns will mean less murders because they say law abiding gun owners provide protection from criminals. I assume they imply that vigilante amateur gun owners will provide quicker protection than professional police. Actually the opposite is true as demonstrated by scientific study instead of the B.S. that the NRA pulls out of the air. The states with higher gun ownership have higher homicide rates as demonstrated by a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Also statistics published by UNODOC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) report that only 5% of homicides in the USA occur in the course of robberies. Most homicides are committed by relatives, friends, and neighbors. This means that one is more likely to be shot and killed by a gun owning neighbor or relative who goes beserk or angry than a robber, and therefore one has more to fear from the "lawful" gun owners than criminals. But what do I know. I'm just a dog.
Friday, June 27, 2014
In the Neighborhood
Hi Humans,
When Dad and I go strolling around the Streeterville neighborhood in Chicago, most buildings (including residential ones) either have a no gun sign like the one pictured above or no sign one way or the other. But the Board of our building, in their great wisdom, choose to display a sign which says guns are allowed in the common areas of the building. They are out of step with the community. To say that allowing guns in the halls of the building prevents crime is not true. If we dogs were on the Board, we would have more common sense.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Gun Ownership and Gun Homicide
Hi Humans,
The NRA says more guns in the community creates greater protection from gun crimes. It doesn't make sense to this little doggie, but many humans with their big human brains believe that stuff. We dogs are not so gullible. Anyway, a research study was done last year at the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health and published in the American Journal of Public Health which correlated gun ownership with homicide rates in each state in the USA. And surprise surprise, more guns = more gun homicides!
Here is a copy of the abstract in PUBMED (US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health )
Am J Public Health. 2013 Nov;103(11):2098-105. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301409. Epub 2013 Sep 12.The relationship between gun ownership and firearm homicide rates in the United States, 1981-2010.
Siegel M1, Ross CS, King C 3rd.
Author information
Michael Siegel is with the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Craig S. Ross is with Virtual Media Resources, Natick, MA. Charles King III is with Greylock McKinnon Associates, Cambridge, and Pleiades Consulting Group, Lincoln, MA.
We examined the relationship between levels of household firearm ownership, as measured directly and by a proxy-the percentage of suicides committed with a firearm-and age-adjusted firearm homicide rates at the state level.
We conducted a negative binomial regression analysis of panel data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting Systems database on gun ownership and firearm homicide rates across all 50 states during 1981 to 2010. We determined fixed effects for year, accounted for clustering within states with generalized estimating equations, and controlled for potential state-level confounders.
Gun ownership was a significant predictor of firearm homicide rates (incidence rate ratio = 1.009; 95% confidence interval = 1.004, 1.014). This model indicated that for each percentage point increase in gun ownership, the firearm homicide rate increased by 0.9%.
We observed a robust correlation between higher levels of gun ownership and higher firearm homicide rates. Although we could not determine causation, we found that states with higher rates of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
As an American Jewish doggie, I am concerned that the Presbyterian Church recently voted by a narrow margin to divest itself from stock in 3 companies (Hewlett Packard, Motorola, and Caterpillar) because they do business in Israel including the West Bank. I do not agree with the minority of Jews in Israel (and outside Israel) who favor increasing settlements in the West Bank. I think the settlements are a burden that Israel doesn't need. Having said that, divesting in Israel simplistically ignores the fact that the problem goes 2 ways. In the 1990s Israel created the Palestinian Authority as a first step in a process that was aimed at creating a Palestinian State (2 state solution). During that time an atmosphere of trust was developing in both the Israeli and Palestinian people. In 2000 Ehud Barak, the prime minister of Israel, offered the Clinton/Barak Plan to Yassir Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Authority which would have created an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It would have removed the vast majority of settlements. However, it would have required the Palestinians to compromise by ceding Jerusalem to Israel and giving up the return of the descendants of Palestinians from outside to Israel. The return of Palestinians was and still is impossible because it would change the demography of Israel. There are many Jewish refugees in Israel from the Arab countries. They have moved on with their lives. As for Jerusalem, Arafat didn't even counter offer with a compromise. His answer was an intifada with suicide bombers. This destroyed the atmosphere of trust that had been built up between the 2 peoples. Later Barak tried a unilateral approach to the 2 state solution by removing the settlements from the Gaza Strip and unilaterally withdrawing. The result was the election of Hamas which totally rejects the existence of Israel and started shooting rockets over the border into Israel. The failure of liberal governments to make peace resulted in the election of right wing governments in Israel, first under Ariel Sharon and now Benjamin Netanyahu. The fence (wall) built to keep out terrorists from the West Bank along with targeted assassination of terrorist leaders (really terrorists) has brought relative peace and security along the West Bank border (compared to the Intifada). So, what do you want the Israeli people to do? Attempts to hand over territory to an independent Palestinian state have resulted in war and terrorism, not peace. The surrounding Arab countries (Iraq, Syria, Egypt, etc) have descended into terrible chaos. The Arab Spring has been a disaster. Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan have remained for now an island of relative peace and prosperity compared to their neighbors. I don't think the leaders of Israel or Palestine really want change right now. The Palestinian leadership is able to play the victim without any responsibility.
So, divestment will accomplish nothing except possibly creating a good opportunity for investment in the 3 targeted companies. One wonders why in the tumultuous Middle East, the Jewish state is the focus of divestment. In the long run, some changes will have to occur, but I don't know what. I am just a little dog with a little doggie brain, so I don't know all the answers.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Priority, Dog or Gun
Hi Humans,
In our condominium building in Chicago, there are stringent restrictions on where dogs may and may not go in the common areas. There are no restrictions on where guns can be carried. Does that make sense to you in your big human brains? It doesn't make sense to me in my little doggie brain.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Gun Anarchists Here and There
Hi Humans,
You know I live most of the year in Southern California in the district of Scott Wilk, the state representative who opposes gun control and misinterprets the Second Amendment for that purpose. However part of the year we live the urban life in a condominium apartment in a large building in downtown Chicago. It is a little confining in a small apartment compared to the freedom of my doggie door and side yard in California. but the advantage is that Mom and Dad (the humans with whom I live) have more time to spend with me when we are in Chicago.
Recently Dad noticed a disturbing sign which has appeared next to the front door of our Chicago building. The sign essentially says that guns are allowed in the common areas of the buildings. This allowance is not limited only to home owners but only says the gunman may not commit a crime. It says nothing about the mental health of the gunman and does not say how one can tell an OK gunman from a criminal. Then it goes on to say that a criminal should be aware that if he commits a crime in the building he does so at his own risk because there are people with guns in the building. This sign was apparently approved by the Homeowners Board. Now there has been a controversy in the community between those favoring gun control (including the Mayor and Police Chief of Chicago) and those opposed to gun control (the NRA and other gun anarchists). Dad sent an e-mail to the Chairman of the Board of the building requesting removal of the sign because the only purpose it serves is to present a certain political point of view which is not the point of view of all the homeowners (and certainly not ours). The Chairman of the board gave a standard anti-gun control answer. He was concerned that a guest of a homeowner might feel uncomfortable carrying a gun through the common area on the way to a visit. Why should a guest be carrying a gun? Why shouldn't he feel uncomfortable? The building has a great security system and there are plenty of police in the area, but the Board Chairman feels that his vigilantes make him feel more safe. Really? Even a little dog like me can see through this crap.
Humans, it seems these gun anarchists are everywhere and will continue to impose their will on you if you don't say anything.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Pseudoreligion in Iraq
Hi Humans,
I see on the television that a group of Humans who call themselves ISIS (whatever this acronym stands for) and are members of the Sunni branch of Islam posted movies on the internet showing them shooting and killing their prisoners who are adherents of the Shiite branch of Islam. It is said that they posted their cruel misdeeds to encourage the Shiites to retaliate which will further divide Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites, thus promoting their cause of creating a Sunni state in Iraq and Syria. This is all being done in the name of religion (supposedly for God). But is this really religion? Does God favor one side over the other? It depends which side you happen to be on. I suppose the best approach to objectivity in the matter is to ask why Human people believe in God in the first place. It seems that as humans developed language and the ability to look at the past and wonder about the future, it became obvious that each creature (Humans included) has a limited life span. This leads to the question of what happens after life, or is there any meaning to existence, any order, any purpose? So humans developed ideas of deities, entities with human qualities and endless life who rule over all us mortal creatures. They also came up with ideas of an after-life where humans go after death. Of course they weren't always clear about what happens to little dogs like me and other creatures. They found it enough to account for themselves. As time went on they refined belief to be of one God which seemed to make more sense than multiple ones. Also they developed science which gave progressively developing partial answers to what is going on but to this day has no clue as to why. So modern religion remains the best we have for why (or in other words the purpose of life), and science is the best shot at what (the details of what is going on). Science and religion each has its purpose and are very compatible as long as each sticks to what it can do best. Unfortunately there are Humans in either discipline who use that discipline for ulterior motives. The ISIS criminals (and they are criminals) did not do their crime for God. They did it to gain power over others. They did it to provoke the Shiites to desire retaliation against Sunni tribal leaders who they believe will now have to depend on ISIS for protection. I would call this perversion of religion pseudoreligion. Historically it is not unique in Islam. Others have used it in the past. But nowadays it seems to be most perfected by certain Moslem groups.
The question for America is what to do now. There is no good answer. The previous Republican administration foolishly pulled America into the mess. Bush broke Iraq and the American people have spent a decade trying to fix the damage. President Obama has won back some of America's power and stature in the world in spite of obstruction by the Republican Congress. But as for Iraq, it has been like putting Humpty Dumpty back together. So at this point, how much is it necessary for the U.S. to participate in continuing to reassemble the Humpty Dumpty of Iraq? What is now in America's interest?
Who can America depend on? Of the 3 major groups in Iraq, the most reliable, stable, and friendly to the U.S. have been the Kurds. Their military successfully beat back ISIS. They have been consistently friendly to America and America's allies (including Israel). They have also come to terms with Turkey and produce oil which they ship out through Turkey. Of the other 2, ISIS is definitely America's enemy because of their behavior and alliance with Al Qaeda, the guys who attacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. As for the Shiite government in Iraq, they have done a lousy job of creating a united Iraq in spite of all that America has done to prop them up. Let Iran spend their money and lives to support their fellow Shiites in Iraq. From the point of view of America's interests, the only reason to help in supporting the present Iraqi government would be to deny an ISIS sanctuary for the Nine Eleven enemy. On the other hand, an ISIS nation of bad guys in Western Iraq would provide an address that could be bombed when they do bad things, as opposed to a shadowy unfindable terrorist group.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
This Should Be on the Door of Every Public Building in America
This should be on the door of every public building in America. And it should be strictly enforced. Americans, stand up and free yourselves from the gun anarchy of the NRA. Vote out politicians (like Wilk) who pander to the gun bullies and hide behind the Second Amendment.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Yet Another Gun Murder
Hi Humans,
Yet another gun murder has happened in Oregon. It has become common place nowadays for the mentally disturbed to act out in this way. This time it was an insane teenager who terrorized a school, killing another teenager and wounding a teacher with his gun before killing himself. The story is too common. How can this happen? Insanity is not more common in America than in other civilized nations. Most American people are not barbarians or more vicious than the people of other first world nations. America is for the most part a progressive innovative country constantly invigorated by the addition of hard working upward striving immigrants. But the American people and cowardly congressmen (like our Mr. Wilk in Porter Ranch) have somehow allowed themselves to be pushed by the gun bullies into the present gun anarchy which allows any screwball to obtain a gun. Even in the more progressive states, there are enough loopholes that allow crazies to obtain guns at gun shows, online, from aquaintences, or by gift. Still the NRA and the other gun bullies push against gun control. They hide behind the Second Amendment (which they misinterpret). Humans of America, it is time to take back your freedom from the NRA. Elect congressmen who will support universal background checks and make modern gun control laws to keep guns out of the hands of screwballs and criminals.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Freedom, Safety, Anarchy, Government
Hi Humans,
You humans many years ago got together and invented the idea of government. You realized that there was a disadvantage to having everyone run amuck and not sharing, especially as humans increased in number and started living closer together and competing. Some governments went too far and made the advantages of government only for the most powerful people to the disadvantage of the less powerful. So not so very long ago (in the grand scheme of time) some humans came up with the idea of democracy which is a compromise between anarchy and government. Now there are a small number of people called Libertarians who want to return to a minimum of government bordering on anarchy in every aspect of life (at least they are consistent). There are a larger number of people in a political group called the Right who are selective in their desire to limit government. For example the gun bullies want absolute anarchy when it comes to guns. They value their guns above the safety of their fellow citizens. Some Rightists favor no regulation of business and industry even when their business practices are detrimental to the common welfare. However those very same business anarchists look for every way to take charity from the government (their fellow citizens) in the form of tax advantages and industrial subsidies. Those very same gun anarchists and industrial anarchists promote the strictest government control over personal ideas of what is moral and what is not.
I guess you guys will have a continuous debate over what is the appropriate role of government. We dogs have no say in the matter. We just live in your world and hope it doesn't affect us too much.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Gun Violence in Las Vegas
Hi Humans,
Yet another deadly episode of gun violence occurred today in Las Vegas, Nevada. A male and female of the humans species shot and killed 2 policemen who were having lunch, then shot a civilian human. Then the female killed her male partner and then herself. This insanity keeps going on and on. Yet it does not stop the gun bullies and the NRA from promoting gun anarchy and claiming that it is their right under the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The Second Amendment provides for "well regulated" state militias (the National Guard), not anyone can own any kind and as many firearms as he or she chooses without regulation. Crazy people exist, but we don't have to create a gun anarchy that allows them to arms themselves for any purpose. When will the American people stand up to the gun bullies? How many more senseless massacres have to occur? When will the cowardly senators and congressmen who pander to the NRA be voted out of office?
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Hooray for the Wisconsin Center
Hi Humans,
Today I would like to heap praise on a human institution. As you enter the Wisconsin Center (a major convention center) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, there are signs on the doors that say that guns, knives, and weapons of any kind are prohibited inside the Wisconsin Center. I guess the people of Milwaukee don't agree with the NRA that more guns create more safety.
More Gun Violence
Hi Humans,
More gun violence in the news. One crazy human killed and wounded people at a university in Seattle before he was subdued. Another screwball started shooting at a court house in Georgia until he was shot and killed by a deputy. In both cases the offender was a private individual with a gun. Private gun ownership did not stop violence. In Seattle the gunman was stopped with pepper spray and people jumping on him. In Georgia, the gun that stopped the offender was used by law enforcement. The irrational NRA idea that private gun owners will somehow stop gun violence is not true. The gaping holes in the gun laws of the USA allow mentally disturbed humans from obtaining all kinds of guns. As long as that deficiency continues, so will the gun massacres.
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Tuesday, May 26, 2015
last minutes booking to mafia 3days/2nights
Day 1 ; Pick up from your hotel and transfer to airport to catch coastal flight to mafia,the flights depart either morning at 1030am or 1545, arrive mafia and our driver will meet and greet then transfer to mafia lodge for full board basis ,( 3 meals - Breakfast /lunch and dinner ).
Day 2: full day in mafia exploring the the beautiful of this unspoilled island..relax at the lodge or you can book any excurssions on arrival like snorkeling /diving book with mafia lodge direct while there.
later dinner and over night at mafia lodge.
Day 3 : after breakfast you will decide what to do, from morning to 1200 noon whenour driver will meet you again to drive you to the airport to catch coastal flight back to Dar, when arive in dar, our driver will be at the airport waiting for you to transfer you back to your hotel or transfer ypu to international terminal to continue with travel back home.
this is will be the end of the package;
2nights stay at mafia lodge.
return flights.
return transfers in mafia and Dar es salaam.
not included:
park fees which is paid direct to the marine park gate usd 20 per day.
Cost per person usd 550
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You're St. Melito of Sardis!
You have a great love of history and liturgy. You're attached to the traditions of the ancients, yet you recognize that the old world — great as it was — is passing away. You are loyal to the customs of your family, though you do not hesitate to call family members to account for their sins.
Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!
I enjoyed this, and I've been thinking of more questions and answers that would indicate different Church Fathers.
How about selecting an early Church Father and try to put answers to the questions that would be characteristic of that person – then share them in the comments section?


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|Next: References
Previous: Urban areas
Over the past 100 years the state of the terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments has declined in virtually all respects. Environmental degradation and resource depletion have escalated particularly over the past three decades due to the cumulative impacts of rapid growth in population, intensive agriculture, urbanization and industrialization. The priority list of environmental challenges includes land degradation, deforestation, declining biodiversity and marine resources, water scarcity, and deteriorating water and air quality.
A major reason for these adverse environmental trends in Africa is that most people and countries are poor. Their poverty is both a cause and a consequence of environmental degradation. However, the main cause of many environmental problems is the persistence of economic, agricultural, energy, industrial and other sectoral policies which largely neglect - and fail to avoid - harmful impacts on the environment and natural resource base.
Another reason for poverty results from the political instability of many countries over the past few decades. Where such instability has resulted in civil war, the human and environmental effects have been even more devastating.
Poverty also exists in spite of the wealth of Africa's natural resources. Many Africans are unable to benefit from this wealth, partly because it is very unevenly distributed across the continent and partly for complex reasons connected with Africa's socio-economic history over the past 100 years.
A number of key issues dominate Africa's environmental problems. These include:
In general, regular monitoring, assessments and public reports of the state of the environment are particularly crucial prerequisites for better policy and decision-making. They are also cost-effective. While the large external debts of many African countries are a major concern, many of the same countries also have growing 'environmental debts' where the cost of remedial action will be far greater than preventive action. A 1990 World Bank study estimated the longer-term losses to Nigeria of not acting to prevent environmental degradation at more than US$5 100 million per year, which then represented more than 15 per cent of GDP (World Bank 1990). Some environmental losses are irreversible. Groundwater polluted by industrial and agricultural chemicals cannot readily be cleaned. Top soil washed or blown away in a few years takes centuries to replace. Extinct plant and animal species are lost forever, as are their potential health, economic and other benefits (UNEP 1993).
On the eve of the 21st century, African countries are reconsidering some conservation practices and community-based approaches which prevailed in their societies in the 19th century. For example, inter-cropping and agroforestry were traditional farming practices well into the 20th century. Using community-based approaches, several African governments have achieved notable successes in wildlife management.
Data on environmental conditions and trends need to be improved but also combined with existing economic and social data to provide a better basis for sustainable development planning and decision-making. Many African governments still prepare separate reports on the national economy, on health and social conditions, and on the state-of-the-environment while neglecting the linkages between these issues.
The key challenge is to reduce poverty. New approaches that put the poor at the top of the environment and development agenda could tap and release the latent energy and talents of Africans to bring about development that is economically, socially, environmentally and politically sustainable.
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Previous: Urban areas


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Everyone overpacks. It's just something inside all of us. We worry what if we need this or oh I might need that if this happens but then you only end up needing half the stuff you brought. Imagine the inside of your closet. (If you're like me then it's a little jam packed…especially with shoes) Now imagine all the clothes that you wear in a month or even just a week. Say 7 shirts for a week and 4 or 5 pair of bottoms, a pair or two of pajamas, and a couple outfits to work out in. When you think about it like this it doesn't really doesn't sound like a lot. When you take this week of clothes and multiply it by 16….it's a little difficult to fit into a 62 inch suitcase that can weigh no more than 50 pounds. I know what you're thinking…"What?! They're not going to let this girl do any laundry?" No, they will let me do laundry once a week but still….being a typical girl I pack lots of clothes (and did I mention I have a whole other suitcase for my shoes?) Thankfully, my wonderful mother is a master at rolling my clothes up into little balls so they fit in the tiniest space, which means I will definitely have to learn the word for iron in French.
I feel very Carrie Bradshaw saying this second part like it would be something she would write about in her column. Doesn't it feel like just when everything is going smooth and nice every once in a while that something has to come and break it apart? I'm totally not complaining about going to France, just that Chris and I haven't fought in what seems like months and we are constantly finishing each other's sentences (SUPER CHEESEY right?), I'm finally getting along with my sister for more than a day at a time (It's a very love hate relationship), I'm closer with my dad and brother than I have been in a long time, my mom and stepdad are amazing and all that is about to be broken. I'm sure things will go back to being like this way when I get back from France but it would be nice for things to stay like this for just a little longer. I just love them all so much.


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I know I said I wouldn't post until September 9th, but I couldn't hold my excitement in any longer. Guess what?! Choices, Voices, and Sole was nominated for Best Sex or Relationship Blog last week!!!
Now, what does this mean? Well, a few things. First – I have amazing readers and at least one of you was kind enough to nominate me, and I am beyond appreciative. BEYOND appreciative!
Second – it means for the second year in a row, I've had the honor of being nominated for at least one Black Weblog Award. Excited doesn't begin to describe how I feel. But being nominated is just the beginning; once the nomination period ends, I'm going to need my voting warriors to show out this year and put Choices, Voices, and Sole over the top. I know we can do this! Mostly because you all are amazing.
And third – it means I have even more work to do to continue to improve the blog, what I offer here, and most importantly, the quality of my writing. I hope you're just as excited as I am to see the improvements.
Thanks lovelies!!!
(Oh, and PS – it's very likely the next blog post will actually be on September 11 instead of the 9th. Don't hate me!)


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SELF Project Board Meeting in Mumbai from 26th Jan to 1st Feb 2007.
The Board meeting was organized with the international partners from Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Bulgaria, Argentina, India to discuss the issues related to budget, progress, of the project. The Board discussed on several issues pertanining to the SELF project related to the SELF Platform, Legal Standards, Communication strategies, Learning Standards, Quality Assurance Strategies, Technology.
Collection of Photos of the Board Meeting
SELF Board Members in Mumbai


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My Week...
Blue Denim Skirt: Target
Sandals: Nine West
Button Down White Shirt: Gap
Blue Sweater: JCrew
Cream Linen Pants: JCrew
White V Neck T Shirt: JCrew
Blue Sweater: JCrew
Heels: Nine West
Jeans: Hudson Skinny Jeans
Sandals: Steve Madden
Green Tank: Old Navy
Brown Sweater: Gap
Dress: Target
Shoes: Max Studio
Mother's Day Tea in my classroom was a success! All of the moms (and a few dads) enjoyed themselves very much. The kids were amazing and worked so hard.
Glass Vases
*glass jar
*colored sand
*1/4 cup tacky glue
*1/4 teaspoon water
mix well and paint over glass then sprinkle on sand
*let fry


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"Are there not some of you who have set up a desired experience between yourselves and Jesus and are looking at it rather than at Him? You want a great shower, when perhaps it is His purpose to fill you drop by drop? You must lay down this strong will, this desire for the experience of a great blessing, and be content with Jesus, simply Jesus!" Alfred Cookman 1800's
I love to hear from you. And to prove it– for the rest of April, anyone who leaves a comment box will get his or her name thrown in a pot. I'll send out a signed copy of Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy to a lucky winner on my birthday, April 30th! Kind of like a Happy Birthday gift in reverse!