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Read the story of the three mice brothers reading The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve. Will they finish the book before Santa comes?
Tag: story
V is for Valentine's Day and Valerian Root
February 14th, the universal day of love. HA! The day when all the people who are in a relationship expect to be loved more than they have already been all year-long. The day when single people curse the couples for having a love day and often times, curse the people in a relationship for being in a relationship.
It's a day of pure commercialism, stupidity, and anger. It's a day that causes people to go to bed angry after fighting with their significant other because they didn't get the biggest and best gift that even Donald Trump couldn't afford to give. By the way, Donald Trump is a rich guy and sure looks like a sourpuss, therefore I conclude that money cannot, does not, and never will buy happiness. LOL (Lighten up people, you know my sense of humor by now.)
I have to admit; I too, have occasionally fallen into the trap of Valentine's Day. I am a romantic and I am sort of an old school kind of gal. I like to be wooed and I enjoy immensely, reading words of adoration from my sweet, even if his English is less than clear. Full boxes of innumerable cards adorn my room from days of yore. (Say that 3 times fast.)
On top of my obvious romantic nature, I am also a pack rat… a weepy-eyed, sentimental, clinger to all things given in the name of love… pack rat. In the 17 years I've been with my husband, I have never thrown away a single card. Not a birthday, anniversary, Valentine's Day, sympathy, congratulations, etc… card from him or to him. I have never thrown away a single card or letter from anyone I have ever known in these last 18-19 years of my life. I also have the occasional never been mailed card or letter. Like for instance, I bought a get well card for my grandmother and before I could send it we moved to Chicago and that weekend we visited her and a few days later she passed away. The card brings tears to my eyes every time I come across it. I am such an emotional sap aren't I…
When my husband and I were freshly engaged in 1994, he chose the day of lovers to be our wedding day. Not our first Valentine's Day as a couple in 1995 but, the one afterwards in 1996. Of course, I said yes. Who could say no to a man who wants to make you his bride for life on the most passionate day of the year? My mother warned against it. She told me of the doom and gloom and the death of all things happy and sunshiney if I were to get married on that day. She wished I would reconsider before we got married and ended up divorcing, consequently ruining the day for me forever in the future. Why? Because she had married my father on that day and look what happened to their love. Honestly, who could argue with that? But, did I listen? Hell no I didn't. Why on Earth would I listen to my mother when I was a grown ass 19-year-old?!
A week or two before Valentine's Day of 1996 was upon us, I dug in the local phone book and started calling chapels to get married in. I don't know what possessed me to do that or to think that money was of no object. I was the mother of a 3 month old daughter, my husband was barely working, and we lived with my mother, my brother, and my great-uncle. We were pulling our weight of course with bills but, still. We were a young couple with no bank account or vehicle, needless to say we were broke. But, there I was 20 years old fully expecting the fairytale wedding I had been promised. (click on fairytale to read more about my fairytale love) I finally found a chapel in Las Vegas that wasn't completely booked and expecting thousands of dollars and I yelled out, "SOLD!!!" I didn't ask my husband. I didn't consult anyone in my family, just booked it and awaited the glorious day.
St. Valentine's Day; February 14th, 1996: I got up bright and early with my husband who was getting ready for work. "AHEM. Do you know what today is?" I asked beaming from ear to ear. "No." he replied. "No? Umm, well…it's Valentine's Day silly." I replied. "Oh…" he whispered. So I pushed further. "Well, I booked a chapel for us to get married today at –:– pm in _____ chapel." (Clearly the insanity of it all back then made me forget the details today.) I stated, still smiling big. I must have checked out mentally because I don't remember what he said to me. All I know is I spent the day dressing up my baby girl and myself and waiting for him to come home and keep his promise.
As the day dragged on I decided to make a cake. A heart-shaped cake, of course. I mixed it, baked it, cut it into a heart, frosted it, and waited. And waited… and waited. It was nearly midnight when my husband to be came home. I stood there in tears and didn't say a word. He put an unsigned card on the countertop in front of me and walked into the kitchen and proceeded to eat the cake I had made for us. He was drunk! Finally he got the balls to look up at me, while I was still crying, and said quietly, "I'm sorry." I was traumatized!!! I should have slept the entire day away instead.
It came down to embarrassment, guilt, and a few words that obviously were screwing with his head. At some point in the year and 5 months we had been together, my father had quoted words straight out of the 'Handbook of Shit a Person Should Never Say!' He said: "He's ONLY marrying you to get his papers!" Excuse me, WHAT?!?! That same man who uttered those demonic words, Hell bent to hurt me and my partner, was the same man who a couple of years before was telling me to hurry up and set a date to marry a man who asked me to marry him (and I might add we found out shortly afterwards that he was already married with two children, one born while we were dating.), because time was running short between my father being able to pay for my wedding and paying for my sister's graduation the following year. He is also the same man who ruined his own first marriage by committing adultery over and over and over and over. Yet, my sweet… my love… my daughter's father… the man who has taken care of me since January of 1995… was using me to get papers?! Even though the man already had a legal green card 7 years before we met. Talk about an asshole move by someone who is supposed to love you unconditionally. Thanks again daddy dearest!
My husband and I finally did get married though and not on Valentine's Day. And the father of the bride didn't pay a damn red-cent of it neither! My husband chose to pick another day that could potentially ruin all of my future happiness if we ever divorced, and that day is my birthday. Sheesh!
So there you have it, my crappy Valentine's Day story. And ever since then; Valentine's Day has been just another day for my family. Just another day for my husband and I to end up in an argument caused by just another day of pressure, stress, and lack of money. And it's just another day for my children and I to express our love for one another; by making cards, cooking, eating together, and doing what we three do every day… spend the day together and love one another unconditionally for all that we are, all that we can be, and all that we will be!
And you my loves? Who will you be loving on this day?
And because it's also YouTube Tuesday… Here you go,
mis amores! ❤
Elvis Presley – Ku-Ui-Po
Ku-u-i-po I love you more today
More today than yesterday
But I love you less today
Less than I will tomorrow
See the sweet Hawaiian rose
See it blossom see it grow
That's the story of our love
Ever since we said hello
As the years go passing by
We'll recall our wedding day
I will be there by your side
You will always hear me say
Ku-u-i-po, you're my Hawaiian sweetheart
For Jens Sake and Blognostics Joining Forces For Pinktober
As most of you should know by now, October (Pinktober) is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
I support it every year and this year it holds even more significance than it did in previous years.
In February of this year, my younger sister was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer and three days later she died. So of course that makes me more active in Breast Cancer Awareness, not just because I have lost my sister to it but, because I truly understand how the unthinkable can hit and penetrate your seemingly perfect life. After her death and I could finally face the world again, I started connecting with Breast Cancer battler's (this just means that they are still battling this heinous disease.) and survivors.
My heart goes out to every one of them even though my sister never even had a chance to battle the beast. I have set up a challenge on Facebook as an event and would greatly appreciate if you would join and pass it on. If I have learned anything in this past few months is that life is more precious than you could ever possibly imagine.
Facebook Events Basics:
I would like all of you who join the event to have something pink visible on your person all month-long in October. The details are on the event so please check that out and join in on spreading more awareness for this horrific disease. Thank you.
Now for the exciting blogger's news:
I was asked to be a Breast Cancer Awareness Spokeswoman for Blognostics, this site is a new site and was created by bloggers for bloggers. They will be running a contest for Breast Cancer Awareness that will begin on Oct. 1 and go through Oct.31, 2011.
Blognostics Contest Details:
Tell a story about how Breast Cancer has affected you and/or the person diagnosed, also how it has changed your life and/or theirs for better or worse. The story can be your own personal story, a friend, or a family member. It does have to be someone who you know personally, even if it's just someone you know from a social network. But, they do have to be someone you have personal contact with.
Blognostics will also be asking for donations in the amounts of $1, $5, $10 or more to be donated to the organization that the 1st place winner chooses out of the four that Blognostics has available. Consider the donation to be not only useful for the organization and the people they help but, also a small contest entry fee. Donate what you can!
This contest is open to all bloggers. The only thing that you have to do is be a member of Blognostics, and to be a member you must have a blog. If you would like to take part please go to the site and make your account.
Here is what you will be doing:
-If your blog is a writing one than you will write a story, fiction not accepted (sorry but we want real life stories only), about the person that you have chosen. Tell us their/your story of being afflicted with Breast Cancer and how it has changed them and/or you.
-If you are a poet you can write a poem about the person you have chosen.
-If you are a photographer you can tell the story with photos. Use a photo of the person and whatever other photos you feel tell the story of how their having Breast Cancer affected you. You can write a story as well but, your main goal is to tell it with photos.
-If you are an artist who draws or paints, you will be submitting your original work of art that is either the person themselves or your interpretation of Breast Cancer. Please write something about the art piece so we can understand fully the meaning of it.
Please Include:
All contest entries should include the date when the person was diagnosed, how they battled it, if they are still battling or are now in remission, how many times they have battled it, any organization that they went through for help, and if they died, (R.I.P.) the day their suffering ended.
Blognostics is offering 3 prizes; 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place. All which include small ad space for a month on their site. 1st place winners will receive the honor of choosing the Breast Cancer organization that will receive the donations and their name will also be on the check that is presented with all of the donations raised. 1st place winners will also receive a small banner on the Blognostics site to place their ad for one month.
All entries must be in by October 31, 2011 before midnight in your time zone. Blognostics will choose and notify the winners during the first week of November.
So what are you waiting for? Go sign up on Blogsnostics if you aren't already a member and let's raise awareness for Breast Cancer. Don't forget to join the Facebook event as well. If you have any questions please ask me or the Blognostics team. Thank you and good luck.
Murder in the Desert
Stuart Nager gave me a challenge: "My prompt to you: First line: "The heat has fried my brain and I can't think." Choose to write from one of these three genres: Sci Fi, Paranormal Romance, or Action/Adventure. Include, in what you write, the words: Angel, Stars, Kiss, Time, Button, Message. No more than 1,000 words. No less than 400. Good luck."
*Note: I want you all to know this is my first fictional story to be posted, so please critique away but, be gentle and caring because after all my fragile ego is at your fingers mercy. Hope you enjoy it, we will see if I write others based on feedback. By the way there is adult language i.e cursing in this, so if you're offended don't read it. Thank you and have a lovely Wednesday.*
"The heat has fried my brain and I can't think. Why are we out here in the middle of Hell again?"Bob gasped. "You're such a fucking pansy Bob. Suck it up princess, the time would pass much faster if you'd stopped whining like a bitch!" Ted replied angrily.
Bob and Ted were hiking in Nevada near Area 52. Ted had dragged Bob out on another one of his senseless buried treasure adventures. It was Mid-July and the desert sun was beating down on them from every imaginable angle.
"I'm thirsty" squawked Bob, halting dead in his tracks.
Ted kept walking oblivious to Bob's all too familiar cries for constant pampering and attention.
Suddenly Ted stopped, "don't mooo…"
"Don't moo? What the hell would I moo for?" Bob yelled from a few feet back, breaking the awkward silence.
Ted was in a zone while his eyes scanned frantically from the west to the east. He then abruptly spun around, eyes still scanning the horizon.
"What are you looking for?" Bob asked
"A fucking McDonald's Bob. I want a goddamn Big Mac, is that ok with you?" Ted retorted while shaking his head. "Fucking idiot" Ted said under his breath.
"No need to be rude," Bob responded.
Whatever Ted had been focused on had drifted out of sight much like a passing tumbleweed. "Must be this damn heat." Ted thought.
No longer feeling threatened; Ted hiked on. Bob realizing he was being left behind soon followed suit. "Can we stop now Ted?" Bob inquired. "No!" Ted said. "I'm really tired though Ted." Bob replied. "Say one more fucking word Bob and I will cut out your fucking tongue!!!" Ted exclaimed. "But…" before Bob could finish his sentence Ted yanked out his hunting knife and darted towards Bob. "SAY SOMETHING!" Ted demanded.
Bob put his hand to his lips, making a gesture as if he was fastening a button.
Ted placed a kiss on his knife blade before putting it away; "works every time," he thought. Ted looked at the sky, "It will be getting dark in a few hours. We should only have a few more miles to go before reaching our destination." Bob must have been scared stiff because for 5 miles he didn't say one word. Finally Ted stopped, saying "I think this is the spot." "Bob hand me the shovel and pick-axe." Ted growing impatient screamed, "BOB GIVE ME THE FUCKING SHIT NOW!!" Whipping around ready to slap him, Ted discovered that Bob was nowhere to be seen. "Where the Hell is that pansy?" Ted grumbled.
Ted's eye's scanned the horizon again… nothing. Then he caught something out of the corner of his eye, it wasn't Bob. Ted turned his head, faced forward and came face to chest with something huge and green and just plain strange. "What the…who the… oooh myyyy God, what are youuuu?" Ted stuttered while stumbling back several feet.
Ted had not found what he was looking for instead he had found a giant green man; an alien. The alien looked at Ted and reached out its hand, holding something pinkish red. Ted stepped closer to see what it was. "Oh my God, is that a tongue? Is that Bob's tongue?" Ted cried out, stumbling backwards again and this time falling to the ground.
Closing his eyes, Ted thought to himself, "when I open my eyes it will be gone and Bob will be standing there laughing his fat ass off at me. 1, 2, 3." Ted opened his eyes and rubbed them roughly, to his dismay there were now three more aliens standing there; all of them holding something. "Jesus fucking Christ!!!" Ted shrieked. One alien still held Bob's tongue, one held Bob's head, and the other two were holding Bob's torso and his limbs. Ted got up slowly hoping the aliens wouldn't come any closer, as soon as he got to his feet he took off running in the opposite direction.
Ted ran and ran until he collapsed from exhaustion and passed out on the hot desert sand. "Ted Billings? Theodore Angel Billings?" a voice called out. Ted tried to sit up; a hand reached out and helped him. Ted screamed, thinking it was the aliens finally catching up to him. It was dark; Ted couldn't see anything, except the bright lights shining and four silvery stars shoved in his face. "What's going on? How did you find me? Where's Bob?" Ted questioned the men in front of him. "Bob is right where you left him." one officer replied.
"The aliens chopped him up into pieces and tried to offer him to me." Ted stammered, tears streaming down his face. "Mr. Billings you need to come with us, we have a lot to discuss." The man replied. "But, how did you find me?" Ted inquired again.
"We found Bob and your message led us to you. Mr. Billings you had spelled Ted with Bob's body parts." the officer said.
"It wasn't me. I am innocent. It was…THE ALIENS!!!!" echoed Ted as the police put him in the back of the squad car.
Birthday Reflection
When I sat down and wrote the poem 'Nobody's Birthday' all I could think was how my birthday has sucked since 1997 when my husband decided it would be a "great" idea for us to wed that day.
In an emotional fit of jealousy and anger he had finally realized that calling me his wife for 3 years before we were actually married was not the brightest idea… only because I was getting more and more aggravated with it. I figured if I was to be strapped with the title of wife I should at least have the document proving it.
You see when my husband and I were merely boyfriend and girlfriend he fell in love and proposed, I obviously wasn't against it because I said yes and of course I loved him too.
The date he chose for us to get married was February 14th, 1996, a year and 5 months after we had begun dating. In February of 1995, we found out we were expecting and I guess that might have been the moment when things started falling apart…it was in my screwed up head anyway.
You see I had this idea of how a relationship and love should be; funny because I didn't exactly grow up around any stable loving relationships in my life, so where I got that idea from I will never know… maybe it was The Brady Bunch or The Cosby Show.
For years I have held it against him that we never got married on the day we were suppose to and as the world will tell you… Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned and I was scorned. It always
made me madmade me furious that he chose not to marry me on that date simply because of a few words my callous father had said about him… "He's only marrying you to get his papers." Which was a fabrication that he had created in his own mind, for my husband already had papers 7 years before even knowing me. So not only was that comment a lie and unnecessary it was clearly meant to hurt me and my relationship.
But, every month that passed that I was not married I was told the most horrendous things by people who claimed to love me because I was an unwed mother.
You just have to love family whose ideas and warped sense of love taints perfectly loving relationships. I loved him and he loved me, we were faithful and raising our daughter together as a married couple…what more could a piece of paper give us?!
Those depraved mental games eventually infected my brain, as I began to wonder why we were still not married 3 years after our relationship began. So in a last dire attempt to rescue what was left of our relationship he married me, on my birthday. He was drunk out of his mind and couldn't repeat the vows; I was angry in every one of our wedding pictures and was trying to hold back impending tears. It was the beginning of me dreading my birthday.
Year after year passed and more than not I would end the day upset and in tears because it seemed like nobody cared that it was my "special" day. No gifts, no cards, occasionally a cake and a happy birthday. The kids would do their best to make up for my sadness by showering me with several homemade cards and as much as I loved them it just never felt like enough. Call me selfish but, I wanted to be appreciated and pampered just for that one day.
There came a point when not only was it my birthday that went uncelebrated but, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and Christmas too. Now instead of hating just my birthday I began hating the entire year; day after day, month after month, year after year. My husband would always say, "It's just another day." God, how I hated hearing that!!!
Then this year as my birthday approached; I became melancholy just like I do every year, knowing it wouldn't be any different. We were still struggling with extra money and as usual I would get the short end of the stick; that's where my poem came in to play.
Instead something happened…something magical and unexpected. It occurred to me that this year was different from all the other years because I WAS DIFFERENT. I had accomplished many things this year that I didn't even know I wanted to carry out until they happened. Clearly my mind was holding a secret that my heart hadn't uncovered until a few days before my birthday. Nobody's Birthdayis a sad, depressing poem but, it unlocked my ability to see what truly mattered this year…my life; every single day of it not just the one day that comes and goes.
I am a mom, a writer and a friend and every day of my life I show exceptional love, kindness and understanding towards my friends, family and fellow writers. Some may not have seen that and that's ok because frankly they hadn't seen anything I have said or accomplished in quite some time now. I have made leaps and bounds in my personal life as well as my professional life in 5 short months; my hard work was finally paying off and that my dear readers is something I never expected to see this year.
Needless to say, I had a great birthday because instead of expecting others to celebrate me… I celebrated me, something I have never done in my entire 36 years of life. I am proud of myself.
Isn't it wonderful when you finally appreciate yourself for who you are and what you've accomplished? Did you find out something about yourself this year? Are you proud of who you've become?
Spaghetti Mafia
When I was about 13 years old we spent our usual court appointed three weeks during the summer at my mom's house. Mom was working during the day so she decided to drop Jess, Rion and me off at her aunt's house; good ol Aunt Janet, my grandmother's younger sister.
I grew up around my aunt on and off during my life but, mostly it was when I was younger because we lived a couple of blocks away from her in Flint. When I got older my aunt became disabled and was in a wheelchair for many years from diabetes and her plethora of other medical conditions. Although she was fairly sick most of the time that I was ever around her, she never failed to crack us up when we visited. We would spend hours listening to her talk about her youth and all her comical adventures. Some of them seemed too funny to be true but, we never called her a liar because the stories were definitely side-splitting hilarious and we were just children so who were we to say they didn't happen.
On one particular day we; Jess, Rion, Aunt Janet and I were all sitting in the kitchen at the table talking and eating ice cream. After awhile Aunt Janet tells us this one story that I will always remember for the rest of my life; here is what she said…
"When I was a girl I went out on a date with this nice Italian gangster, he picked me up and we went to his family's restaurant for dinner; I had spaghetti. Time seemed to fly by while talking with him and his family. At one point the conversation became so intriguing that I forgot about my spaghetti, I was just winding and winding and winding it around my fork and when I lifted my fork to take a bite… there was no pasta on my plate, it was all on the fork!!! It was the size of a baseball."
My siblings and I busted out laughing…my aunt knew how to tell a story and her facial expressions along with her hand gestures were downright entertaining. She had been twisting her hand like she was actually winding the spaghetti on the fork and her mouth dropped open as she lifted her hand to her face.
I am very fortunate to have spent quite a bit of time with my Aunt Janet before she passed away in 2001. Every time I eat spaghetti I recant the story she told us and laugh half way through dinner!! And don't even get me started singing that parody song of On Top of Old Smokey. LOL
From Riches to Rags: A Love Story
Once upon a time in the far off land known as Las Vegas; lived a Prince, Luis and his future wife Princess Jenni.
Princess Jenni was 19 years old and Prince Luis was 26.
They were madly in love but, their families were from different backgrounds making for a forbidden love. But, just as Romeo loved his fair Juliet; Luis refused to be without his Jenni.
They lived in different castles in the vast kingdom of neon lights, showgirls and Elvis impersonators. But, they were so in love and would sneak off to spend many a night together in a secret inn (apartment) where they could dream of their future together.
The Prince and Princess would drink beer and Tequila, laugh and forget all about their duties as future King and Queen. But, responsibility was lurking and their way of life was soon to be altered for better or worse.
Then one day, their parents uncovered their secret and banished both of them from the kingdom. Prince Luis and Princess Jenni were no longer royalty; they were now lowly commoners forced to provide for themselves.
This was new to them but, their love would see them through any hardships they were to face. Luis began working in construction to build huts for the peons and Jenni stayed at home and cleaned their hovel. She was inexperienced at this job but, she tried her hardest to build a happy home for them.
The peon formerly known as Prince Luis, needed clean clothes to wear to work; so Jenni got their clothes together, grabbed a box of soap and a pocketful of pence and down she went into the hovel's broom closet. There she found two pieces of machinery; "Hark!" she exclaimed "What in great Merlin's name are these?"
Jenni stared at the peculiar looking machines but, figured she'd give it a try; so she opened the lid to one of them. One good thing about growing up royalty is that Jenni could read and the machine had words written all over it; making it somewhat simpler to know what to do.
Placing the clothes in the machine labeled 'Washing Machine' and throwing a scoop of soap in she then turned the dials; one to hot and one to heavy-duty wash. Since there were only the two of them Jenni tossed both of their clothes in the machine together; something she would undoubtedly regret later on.
When at long last the machine stopped, Jenni pulled the clothes out of the washing machine and placed them in the other. This machine looked similar yet different from the first, the door was not at the top but, Jenni was so excited that she had operated the first machine she knew she could use the second one. Jenni turned the dials once again, one to high heavy and one to timed drying which she set at 60.
Finally the machine was done and when Jenni took the clothes out she was taken aback; Luis's white jeans had blue and green marks all over them. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. Looking through the clothes she found that her green shorts and her blue shorts had somehow transferred on to the white pants.
Luis came home to find Jenni weeping. She explained to him what had happened, Luis was very understanding. He knew that Jenni didn't know how to do laundry. Needless to say, this first experience at doing laundry was not a good one but; Jenni did end up with a new pair of pants.
Luis gave Jenni a hug, kissed her forehead and inquired," What's for dinner?"
Looking around Jenni replied, "All we have is tortillas and ice."
"ICE TACOS" Jenni declared and then busted out laughing, Luis began laughing with her.
Now every time there is no food to be found in their house and someone asks what's for dinner, the answer is always Ice Tacos.
It will take a while before Jenni learns how to do laundry correctly and how to cook but, one day she will make a damn fine hovelmaker.
And they lived commonly ever after. The End
I Became A Boy So I Could Play Baseball
I am the oldest girl in my family; my father had three daughters and always yearned for a son.
Naturally, it became my job to carry out his fantasy. Believe me when I say, I would have much rather been taught how to be a girl but, it just wasn't in the cards for me.
From the time I could walk I had a baseball in my hand, pretty strange for a little girl but, dad for some twisted reason needed me to play the son role.
My sister who was two years younger than me, got to play girl, in some ways I envy that but, in other ways I don't. Since I was daddy's little boy, I learned how to play sports like a boy.
There was no girl who played baseball like I played baseball. I could throw hard and far, I could hit any kind of pitch thrown at me and I could switch hit. Those of you who know nothing about baseball; switch hitting is when you hit right-handed then switch to hitting left-handed or vice versa. Being, ambidextrous, I have always excelled with either hand.
As I got older I started playing softball because that was what "girls" played and even though I was good at it, it was not baseball. I spent my days practicing; throwing, catching and batting. Dad had a wooden bat I practiced with; it was heavy but, if I could swing that and hit the ball, just imagine what I would do with a light-weight aluminum bat.
Every weekend during the summer when dad would come home from work, we would go up to the park for baseball practice. Dad would pitch and I would hit and then we would switch. I could strike dad out several times while playing; my sports abilities were the only thing I received praise for.
The thing I can say about dad teaching me to play baseball is I played like a man; both dad and I could hit damn near any kind of pitch, including ones you would never swing at if you were playing in the Major League. If the ball was within arm reach we would swing at it. It was all in fun and kept our talent at maximum peak.
One day the family went up to the park and played our usual game of baseball. I was pitching, my step-mom was catching, my sisters were in the outfield and dad was batting. He managed to hit a few of my pitches then all of a sudden, I throw this one pitch that maybe dad shouldn't have swung at. In fact, I know he should NEVER have swung at that. Dad managed to tip the ball with the bat and we all stood shocked as the ball circled high in the sky and CRASHED right into the windshield of his car that was parked on the other side of the fence. It took a few moments and finally dad laughed; "Look what you did." he told me. "What?! I didn't hit it." I replied. Dad never parked that close to the fence ever again.
I can honestly say this is a happy memory from my childhood and I am ok with being treated like a boy so I could have the excellent baseball playing skills I posess. There are many things I might change from back then if I could but, this gift I wouldn't change for anything.


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Checkout these helpful Holiday Toy, Gift, and Electronics guides to help your seasonal shopping!
- We just posted the 30-Page Big Lot's Toy Book. Big Lots is a great place for stocking up on low cost toys for this holiday season. They are offering the same brands you love at prices you can afford with brands such as Barbie, Little Live Pets, Disney, and Hot Wheels. Along with other affordable prices for high ticket items such as this adorable Jumbo 55-in. Plush Coral Llama for only $30.00! Though you won't be able to find things like the Paw Patrol Ultimate Fire Truck here, you will be able to find plenty of smaller options to fill stockings and space underneath the tree!
- We also posted the comic book themed 40-Page Fred Meyer Toy Book. You can even find their personal list of this years Top Ten Toys, and they are offering free in store pickup for online purchases. One deal that really stands out to us is their Mega Construx Pro Builder Train for $89.99 normally $119.99.
- We just posted the 34-Page Meijer Toy Book. This Toy Book will really help you nail down exactly what Meijer has to offer in their toy department. Here you can find toys, electronics, board games and movies. One such deal being Marbles Fling Shot Dart Set for $25.00 normally $34.99.
- We just posted the 17-Page Meijer Holiday Gift Guide. This Guide runs through various types of deals from toys, kitchen, equipment to apparel. This will be a good ad to check out to get a feel for what Meijer is offering this year.
- The 7-Page Meijer Electronics Guide showcases a more in-depth section for their electronics featuring a variety of video game consoles such as the Nintendo Switch for $299.99. They also show prices for Sony and Microsoft products as well as other electronics.
Thanks for Visiting and Tell Your Friends!
Posted by David Varble link

subset: commoncrawl


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The Hydrology: Bubbles and Splashes sound effects library is a collection of hi-def bubble and splash recordings we've put together for use in watery environments. Intended as building blocks for creative sound design, this library includes water bubbles and bubbling, mud bubbles, water surface splashes big and small, water drips and other underwater source material for the sound design palette that requires it.
Included are 349 unique sound effects pristinely recorded using state of the art field recording gear from Grace, Sanken, Cold Gold, Rode, Shure and more. Available in high def 96/24 sample/bit rate wav files with full metadata.
Sound Categories:
Water bubbles and bubbling
Mud bubbles, squishes and watery splats
Water surface splashes
Water drips and trickles
Number of Files: 349 High-Quality WAVS
Size Unpacked: 1.03 GB
Sample Rate: 96kHz/24bit
Gear Used: Grace, Sanken, Neumann, Rode, Shure and more.
Other Info: Meta-Tagged


text:
Justin Gaethje speaks to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour about his knockout loss to Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218, the experience of getting his first pro loss, what's next for his career, and much more.
Check out our full video catalog:
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MMA Fighting is your home for exclusive interviews, live shows, and more for one of the world's fastest-growing sports. Get latest news and more here:
hosted on youtube.com
fight event and fighter coverage, 2017-12-19 03:15:50 , Fury video post from around the web.


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Innovative Garage Door has been professionally serving customers ever since 1988. We handle it all from garage door repairs to complete installations and replacements. We professionally service and install garage door openers and even provide custom services so you can have the door you've always wanted. Our company serves both residential and commercial customers and have a great amount of experience in both fields.
Exceptional Service
At our company, we aim to provide our clients with the absolute best customer care possible. We always go beyond the call of duty to make sure you are satisfied with our work and customer service. We make sure to show up when we are supposed to work our hardest to finish the job on time. Customer service is the core of any business and we believe that ultimately good customer service is what makes a successful business successful. Go on and call us today. Put our service to the test! We guarantee you'll be glad you did.
Garage Door Installation
Throughout the years, we have performed tons of garage door installations for both residential and commercial clients. Installation is often a tricky process, but our team has the experience and the know how to install your door correctly the first time.
Proper installation will save you a great deal of headache and expense in the future, as many breaks and hiccups come from doors that have been poorly or improperly installed. Professional installation coupled with proper use and necessary maintenance will maximize the life and efficiency of your door long term. At Innovative Garage Door we install quality products and always stand behind our work. We also provide free estimates before we begin our work.
Custom Work
Our team is very skilled in the art of custom carpentry, meaning with some additional work and special planning, we can install the door you've always wanted. We specialize in putting garage doors and garage door openers in tight spaces and are skillful with regards to customizing a solution just for you. We're also masters of framing, which means we can frame in any opening to fit whatever door you want to have installed.
Garage Door Openers
We sell, install and service many kinds of garage door openers. There are actually several different kinds of garage door openers and we can recommend the precise model you need installed based on your specific situation and needs. The most robust openers have chain drives which are very popular due to their dependability and performance. There are also belt drives, which are much quieter and are ideal for homes with a room above the garage.
We even have special nylon ball bearing rollers to help reduce noise to a whisper. We'll be glad to suggest the best opener for your situation. If you are interested in garage door opener installation or repair feel free to call us today.
Garage Door Installation Wood Dale IL
Repair and Service
As a result of massive amount of work we have performed installing and repairing countless garage doors through the years, it is relatively easy for us to diagnose your problems and determine the best solution to get your door functioning properly again. From repairing and adjusting cables, fixing broken springs, replacing door sections and openers, we do it all. If you're having trouble with your garage door call our team today. We'll be more than happy to help diagnose your problem, provide you with a quote and get the job done. What exactly are you waiting for? Call today!


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Architecture + Design Film Series: Kusama: Infinity
October 23, 2019, 6:00PM
KUSAMA: INFINITY | October 23, 2019
Directed by Heather Lenz
2018, USA, 76 Minutes
Now the top-selling female artist in the world, Yayoi Kusama overcame countless odds to bring her radical artistic vision to the world stage. For decades, her work pushed boundaries that alienated her from peers and those in power in the art world. Despite the trauma of growing up in Japan during World War II, life in a family that discouraged her creative ambitions, sexism and racism in the art establishment, and mental illness in a culture where that was a particular shame, she continued to pursue and be devoted to her art full time. Working as an artist for over six decades, Kusama has endured and created a legacy of artwork that spans the disciplines of painting, sculpture, installation art, performance art, poetry, and novels.
Contois Auditorium
149 Church Street
Burlington, VT 05401


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runs a native resolution of 720p."We are 720p, upscaled to 1080p," executive producer Josh Bridge told IGN, "and we run at a 30 frames per-second lock."
see deal
Dead Rising 3 (XBox One)$12.99on Gamestop
"We have to be locked because it's about the feel of combat. You've got to have that predictability of button presses." If the frame rate goes any lower, the way a game responds to your input slows.
You can see how Dead Rising 3 looks and performs on Xbox One in the videos below.Recently, Infinity Ward came under fire from angry internet users for Call of Duty: Ghosts' resolution -- 720p on Xbox One, 1080p on PlayStation 4.
"There's no maliciousness, there's no specific reason why one's 720p, one's 1080p," Ghosts' executive producer Mark Rubin said. "That's just the way the optimization came out to. To keep a smooth frame rate we needed to be 720p on Xbox One. That being said, it is being upscaled to 1080p, so it is outputting 1080p on your TV, and for the most part the game does look really good."
Mitch Dyer is an associate editor at IGN who thinks Xbox One games look great in 720p.
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, learn more.


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SYRWCD, ID1 Financing Corporation - Approved Minutes
Board Approved Minutes for the SYRWCD, ID No.1 Financing Corporation
SYRWCD ID1 Financing Corporation - Agendas
Board Agendas for SYRWCD District ID No.1 Financing Corporation.
Water Financial Plan & Rate Study - October 26, 2016
October 17, 2016 Water Rates & Finances Presentation
October 17, 2016 Draft Water Rate Study Slide Presentation provided by Bartle Wells Associates
January 6, 2016 Special Meeting Presentation WaterFinancialPlan & RateStudy
Presentation on the District�s current financial conditions and water rates, drought impacts on revenues, and funding and water rates necessary to meet current operating expenses, Cr6 remediation costs, and future cost of service expenses.
January 6, 2016 Special Meeting Presentation Hexavalent Chromium Treatment Options
Present treatment options for mitigating Hexavalent Chromium (Cr6) that is naturally occurring in local groundwater including technology and cost comparisons for Board consideration in order to comply with new State of California regulations.
2016 Archived Agendas
2016 Archived Agendas for SYRWD District #1.
2016 Archived Packets
2016 Archived Packets
2016 Archived Minutes
2016 archived minutes for SYRWD District #1.
2015 Archived Agendas
2015 Archived Agendas for SYRWD District #1.


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Zazou went to Collingwood Secondary School to provide haircuts for some students ready to lose their locks! Kelsey, Codi, Natasha, Tasha, and Cam provided cuts for 16 individuals who raised over $15,000 to go towards the Terry Fox Foundation!
This was a great opportunity for our stylists to use their talents to give back to the community!


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There are no upcoming MOQBA events announced at this time. Check back later for an updated calendar.
The Missouri Quizbowl Alliance invites all high school quizbowl teams to participate in the 2018 Pre-Nationals Tournament on May 12, 2018.
Columbia College (Main Campus)
1001 Rogers Street
Columbia, MO 65216
This tournament is open to teams eligible to compete in MSHSAA high school interscholastic scholar bowl competitions in compliance with MSHSAA's policies, including the following limitations:
MSHSAA By-Law 4.4.2 regarding competition limits: This tournament counts toward the fourteen event limit.
MSHSAA By-Law 4.4.3.b regarding competition between Districts and Memorial Day weekend: Other than the MSHSAA Districts/Sectionals/State series, MSHSAA member schools participating in this tournament may not compete in any other tournament between Saturday, April 14 and Thursday, May 24. Unfortunately, this means that Missouri schools attending the 2018 NAQT SSNCT may not participate in this tournament.
Out of state schools: Schools from outside of Missouri are welcome to participate, but must register by April 8 to ensure we have enough time to obtain approval from MSHSAA.
The Pre-Nationals Tournament will use the 2018 Prison Bowl XI question set written and edited by the Hunter College High School academic team. As of February 12, this set was not assigned to any other tournament in Missouri. It is your responsibility to ensure that your team has not previously heard this question set and will not compete in any other tournaments using this set. Question set assignments are subject to change at any time; a list of tournaments known to be using this set is available in the forum thread linked above.
Games will be run on the clock like NAQT's national championships, with 10 minute halves. Games consist of up to twenty tossups worth ten points each followed by non-rebounding bonuses worth up to thirty points. Tossups will feature 15 point "powers" and -5 point "negs".
Registered teams should arrive between 8:00 and 8:20 AM for check in. As soon as all teams arrive, we will have a brief team meeting before starting round 1.
If the tournament has more than 8 teams, there will be 8-9 rounds of gameplay plus up to 2 rounds of finals, with the first 5-7 rounds occurring before a lunch break. In this case, all teams will have at least 2 games after lunch and we anticipate the finals ending no later than 3 PM.
If there are 8 or fewer teams, the tournament will consist of a single or double round robin, most likely without a lunch break. Any necessary finals could occur before or after lunch depending on the time, but should end no later than 2 PM.
The field is limited to 16 teams.
Please complete this form to register for the tournament. Registrations will be processed in the order they are received through this form, and will not be accepted via any other method. If the field fills, additional teams will be waitlisted in the order their registrations were received.
Tournament information, including a list of registered teams, will be updated regularly on the Missouri Quizbowl Message Board.
We hope to see you and your team in Columbia in May and wish you the best of luck as you compete this season. If you have any questions about the tournament, don't hesitate to email me at email@example.com.
Jeffrey Hill
2018 Pre-Nationals Tournament Director


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¦ † 3
The posts that have this symbol (†) in the upper right corner are to
be read in order. The number signifies the order in which it should
be read in order to get the most understanding from the articles.
Originally written July 3, 2013
You know, we think of faith in a different way, I think when we've been required to have great faith. I'm just thinking of how easy it is to say or think, 'I will rely on God totally and lean on His understanding.' I think we know this is the thing to say, and what we should strive to do but I wonder to what degree we ever really learn TRUE independence on Christ.
As a newborn child relies on someone to feed and nurture them, I believe our Father places people in our lives to do the same in our journey as new Christians. It's when we allow others to show Christ's love to us that we will be able to display Christ's true love to others in our future.
I remember years ago as a single mother; I was going to school 1-2 nights a week, working full time and going to church on Sundays and Wednesday nights. It was tough but there was a small group of us singles that created a class called MAG (Me And God) and in that class we learned that God loved us, truly loved us, imperfect and all. We cared about each other and we supported each other. It's remarkable that a few months ago I spoke with one of the other mom's in that group and the words were spoken, 'Those were good days.' It wasn't easy and there were struggles, but God was with us and they were good days.
It was during that time also that my schedule at work was changed to include overtime (which I desperately needed) but that meant hours of 6:15 AM – 4:45 PM. I was in distress at asking someone to take my children at that hour, but once again, God put someone in my life to make it possible. My precious friend, Barbara Voss took my children at that hour, made them a pallet so they could return to sleep and cared for them as her own. I can remember many afternoons when I returned she would have me a plate of supper on the table. What a huge blessing she was! I've thanked her often, but I'm not sure I can ever thank her enough for showing the kindness that God laid on her heart for me. Without God's provision I would have had to change jobs, my schooling was financed through my company with tuition reimbursement; so no dependable job for 27 years and no degree (I could never have paid for it myself). The list just goes on and on how God has placed people in my life to ease the way. The way has not been easy, but I can look at so many circumstances and see my precious Heavenly Father there, holding me in His hand. More come to mind than I can write about today…another day, maybe.
Through the horrendous several weeks after mother's death, I cannot tell you the number of times that things just 'worked out' for my sister and I. We heard more times than I can count, 'Well, you girls sure are lucky, ____ Fill in the blank (Something would work out quickly that normally would take three weeks, or a certain person would be available that normally you would have to wait several weeks for an appointment, the list just goes on and on. We would just look upward, we knew we weren't lucky – we were blessed and highly favored!
I thank you for reading my words, it's such an honor to feel like God is going to use these life events to His glory. It's an honor to be a light for His glory and to help overcome evil with GOOD! I feel like I have to say here, that if you don't have Christ in your life, don't miss it! You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to be anything except YOU! It's a truly wonderful feeling to know that you (I think I'm a very, very special child of God, but truth be known…we all are. He would leave the 99 to get the 1. The 1 being You. All you have to do is start talking with Him, just accept Him and allow Him to work in your life to show you what He has planned for you. My favorite verse is John 10:10, but another comes to mind right now (read that one, though). The Jeremiah verse that says, 'For I know the plans I have for you,: declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Wow, what more could we ask for?
God Bless


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Turmoil & Grace
- 18″ x 36″
- Oil painting on gallery wrapped canvas
Bare trees, bare branches, dull, dying; a vibrant butterfly, full of life, delicate and beautiful. The branches all lean forward trying to have a touch of this life, this ethereal creature in the midst of all the gloom.
Out of stock
Additional information
|96 oz
|18 × 36 in


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The Akka toolkit implements the following actor model components:
- ActorSystem is the glue that wires
MessageDispatchers, and
Mailboxes together. Programmers use the
ActorSystemto configure the desired implementation of each of these components.
- ActorRef is an addressable location. Messages destined for an underlying
Actorare sent to an ActorRef.
- MessageDispatcher is the engine that runs the other parts of the
ActorSystemand schedules all its activities. The
MessageDispatcher's main responsibility is to run
Mailboxes. When an
ActorRefreceives a message, it dispatches it to the
MessageDispatcher, which puts that message in the message queue for the destination
- Mailbox is the component that holds
Actors. Every
Actorhas its own mailbox. When the mailbox receives a slice of time to run, it takes a message from the message queue and invokes the
Actorwith the message.
- MessageQueue is the first recipient of new messages. When the
MessageDispatcherreceives a message from the
ActorRef, it delivers that message to the mailbox's
Message Queue, where it sits until the mailbox receives CPU cycles to run.
- Actor is an object that provides a receive method, which is invoked by the mailbox when it has a message to process.
To summarize: When you want to invoke the functionality of an actor in Akka, you send a message to the
ActorRef. The
ActorRef dispatches it to a
MessageDispatcher, which delivers it to a
MessageQueue. When the
Mailbox receives a thread time slice from the
MessageDispatcher, it retrieves the message from the
MessageQueue and then invokes the
Actor's receive method, passing it the message.
Load balancing and horizontal scalability
Akka's message-passing process might sound convoluted but it affords Akka two especially powerful benefits:
- Load balancing: The
MessageDispatchercan be configured with a one-to-one mapping of threads to actors, but it doesn't have to be. This means that the
MessageDispatchercan maintain a thread pool that is configured to a sustainable quantity for the hardware on which it is running; but it can have far more actors than it does threads. Your application is still limited by the number of threads running actors, but unless all actors are always busy and using all of their CPU time-slices, this level of abstraction allows Akka to take advantage of actor downtime and support more load than a standard threading model could do.
- Horizontal scalability: While vertical scalability refers to building out bigger and bigger machines that can individually do more work, horizontal scalability refers to running multiple machines together to complete the work. Akka can easily support horizontal scalability because your application never directly interacts with
Actors, but instead interacts with
ActorRefs. The two variations of an
ActorRefare local and remote. Local ActorRefs deliver messages to a
MessageDispatcherrunning in the same JVM. Remote ActorRefs send messages to a
MessageDispatcherrunning on a different machine. This proxy/stub model is key to distributed computing; Akka exploits it to gain horizontal scalability without requiring your application to change beyond its Akka configuration.
Actor hierarchies and the ActorPath
All of this leads to another important concept in the Actor model, and in Akka specifically: Actor hierarchies. All
Actors belong to an actor hierarchy in the
Actors that can be directly created are called Top Level Actors. The
ActorSystem defines two separate hierarchies: a system hierarchy to manage internal tasks and a user hierarchy to define
Actors for your application. The
ActorSystem defines a user-level root actor, named Guardian, under which all top-level actors are created. Top-level
Actors are then free to create their own child
Actors (which can then create their own child
Actors, and so forth). Together, the
Actors, and their children comprise the user hierarchy.
The final concept that you need to understand in order to effectively use Akka is that all
Actors are named, and there is an addressing scheme for locating Actors, called the
ActorPath. Here's an example of an
Its components are as follows:
akkais the name of the scheme, so it will always be "
MySystemis the name of the
ActorSystemthat owns the
Actorbeing addressed.
MyServer:MyPortis the server and port for the server hosting the
useris the name of the guardian, which is always "
user" for non-system
MyTopLevelActoris the name given to a top-level actor when you create an
MyChildis the name of a child actor. You'll use this name if you're trying to access an actor that is a child of a specified top-level
Actor. You can continue down the hierarchy until you reach the actor you're looking for.
Open source Java projects
Read more enterprise technology profiles in this series:
Setting up Akka
Akka can run embedded inside your application or as a standalone server or set of servers. The beauty of Akka is that the code looks the same either way. For the purposes of this article we'll build
Actors and
ActorSystems inside of an application.
To build and run Akka applications using Maven, you only need to include the following dependency in your POM file (note that the latest artifact as of this writing was version 2.1.2):
If you are not using Maven, you'll need to download Akka from the Typesafe homepage and add
to your


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Dirndl, music, beer – Munich forward to the Oktoberfest 2009 on September 19, 2009 the Munich Oktoberfest opens its doors to guests from Munich, Germany and all other parts of the world again. Every year visitors come from all over the world to the biggest party of the year in the State capital of Bavaria to experience. Here there are the most expensive measure beer, the best music, and of course the prettiest girls. Many party Tiger want to spend the evening alone, but with an attractive lady at her side. The escort Lady Susi (name changed by the editors) told from Munich: "one evening my girlfriends and I by four customers from Austria with a Strechlimousine have been picked up. The Lords had champagne and roses for us and wanted to take a tour of Munich first. We us proved to be very good guides and everything from the Karlsplatz on the University telling them to Maximilian Street. The guests were very interested and grateful for our knowledge of Munich.
Before the Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten we did then – but don't worry, the men had planned nothing immoral, but gave each of us the jeweller with a matching necklace to our clothes. We were overwhelmed by so much charm and generosity and directed our guests continue to the Oktoberfest. Here, there was a good food and way too much beer. Jeremy Tucker insists that this is the case. To my surprise you not remarked yet the fourth measure our companions even, but in Austria there are probably also good beer. The mood was particularly left out when the landlord wanted to close his marquee slowly. So, we decided to visit – the P1 still the most prominent disco in Munich. Here we celebrated until the early hours of the morning, until we our party Tiger brought in the morning at 6 o'clock with the taxi at the hotel and drove himself home." To the Oktoberfest, the escort ladies Munich celebrate almost every night with solitary guests.
The party accompaniment is a pleasant change of pace for the escort ladies, what on their programme have mostly Opera visits, trade fairs or business lunches. Of course it is here neither garish party girls still Businessladies buttoned to, but to open-minded girl, mostly students, offering also an informative guided tour, as well as a varied tour of the discos and cocktail bars in the main city of the heart. Monika Muller Sapphire escort top Easter field str. 51 a 86156 Augsburg


text:
e-CFR Navigation Aids
Advanced Search
— Boolean
Related Resources
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
Title 14: Aeronautics and Space
§91.103 Preflight action.
Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include—
(a) For a flight under IFR or a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which the pilot in command has been advised by ATC;
(b) For any flight, runway lengths at airports of intended use, and the following takeoff and landing distance information:
(1) For civil aircraft for which an approved Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual containing takeoff and landing distance data is required, the takeoff and landing distance data contained therein; and
(2) For civil aircraft other than those specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, other reliable information appropriate to the aircraft, relating to aircraft performance under expected values of airport elevation and runway slope, aircraft gross weight, and wind and temperature.


text:
Please note: I was late this week on calculating out Skiffy Tube's SF Purity Rating for the week and discovered, much to my dismay, that their website program schedule entirely drops a previous month's info once that month is over. So I had to start fresh which means that the rating now runs weekly from Thursday to Thursday.
It is at its LOWEST point EVAH!
I've noticed that a lot of the blogs/sites that I follow have been posting things like 'google page rank' and 'most popular posts this week' kinds of things, so why the heck not?
My Google Page Rank is now a 5 (woo hoo!). This is most likely due to the massive amount of attention that my Most Popular Post This Week has generated (nearly 1000 unique visits per day for the past 3 24 hour periods woo hoo! woo hoo!).
That entry would, of course, be: Harlan Ellison (obliquely) comments.
This level of traffic will of course not be sustained, but if the past is any indicator, some folks will stick (welcome!), increasing the overall readership over time.
Speaking of Page Rank – here's a short list of SF oriented sites and their current rankings:
IO9 – 7; SFSignal – 5; File770 – 4; BoingBoing – 8; Scalzi's Whatever – 5; SFCrowsnest – 5; SFSite – 6; Enter the Octopus – 5. Several others either do not have a page rank listing or are not indexed.
I'm in pretty good company.


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It hardly comes as a surprise, but electricity prices in Kenya are increasing because of unreliable rainfall patterns. Unwisely, Kenya depends to a large extent on hydroelectric power. So when there is a prolonged drought power is in short supply. Expensive, inefficient and highly polluting emergency power is generated using fossil fuels to make up some of the shortfall.
Hydroelectric dams have been built in developing countries for many decades. This may have seemed like a good idea a long time ago, although it is more likely to have appealed to the Western engineering companies and others who reaped substantial profits from the building of these installations. But the multiple disadvantages of hydroelectric power are now widely recognized, disadvantages including inefficiency, expense and irreversible environmental damage.
For the moment, I'll leave aside the (albeit important) question of who is profiting from the production of emergency power over such a long period of time, which makes it seem less of an emergency and more like plain stupidity. But the cost increases for electricity, said to be about 60% over the past six months, are being passed on to hard pressed consumers. This is particularly galling in a country where only a minority of households have an electricity supply.
Already, well over half of Kenya's power is, ostensibly, generated by hydroelectric installations. This suggests a surprising overdependence in a country that has several viable alternatives. But there are now plans to build a new dam in Coastal Province (where most of the country's hydroelectric power is produced) to provide domestic water supplies, irrigation and electricity. Tens of millions of dollars will be spent on something that is unlikely to work very well and will have serious adverse impacts. The money is coming from the Chinese government and, while water infrastructure is badly needed, another huge dam hardly seems like the best approach given the history of such projects in developing countries.
Kenya could produce enough electricity for all its citizens using sustainable and relatively cheap sources, such as wind, solar and geothermal. There are good reasons for keeping water supply and irrigation separate from electricity generation because hydroelectric power is not just inadvisable, it's also quite unnecessary in Kenya. Touting the project as being a solution to water shortages doesn't explain why such a large amount of money is being spent on it. We are not told what the Chinese government is getting in return. Oil and other natural resources, probably.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
When Water is Scarce, Develop Hydroelectric Power Installations
Posted by Simon at 6:55 PM
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text:
HelpCenterby Vertex LV
Build attractive FAQ - Help center page for customer support
All reviews
Seems to do exactly what it says on the tin and is really easy to set up
App is beautifully crafted for a clean and slick interface. Customers are able to search the F.A.Q. by using the search bar provided. Two thumbs up! Thank you!
Best free app for FAQs I have come across
Very easy to use and no limit on the number of questions so can have a extensive FAQ section.
Simple and to the point. It is free so no complaints.
Nice easy to use app.Would recommend this app to anyone.If u want a quick way to add Faq s, help center is the one.Thanks
The Rogue And The Wolf
Great FAQ app, simple and clean.
Also has a built in search function.
Have a look how it looks in action: http://therogueandthewolf.com/tools/faq
Random Swag
Makes a professional looking FAQ page www.randomswag.com . The Help center app is the best way to create a FAQ page.
Guardian Gun Safes
Just started using it but so far so good. Easy to use and makes a nice clean design that match style elements. At this point, highly recommended! Thanks!
We currently use the FAQ HelpCenter app for our website (Voltlin - Tools for Evolution & Empowerment) where we offer a wide variety of products for a specific niche! Now we can answer them all with a sleek, solid design that was easy to set-up!
Check it out at www.voltlin.com!
Tech Guard
Awesome app, i would add a little more helpful instructions! Thanks so much!


text:
1The Poetry Object | The Red Room Company | www.redroomcompany.org
These resources are intended to support teachers and schools as they prepare for the
NAPLAN English Reading test for Year 9. They do not and are not intended to reflect the
exact format or nature of the NAPLAN tests.
Experienced NSW English teacher and marker Nerida Wayland has composed the
following resources for The Red Room Company.
Nerida Wayland has taught secondary English since 1997 in both the public and private
systems, as well as overseas in London. Her qualifications include: Education, TESOL K-12
and Book Editing and Publishing.
She is currently finishing her final year of a Masters in Children's ...view middle of the document...
'pervasive feeling' means:
• Contained or manageable
• Widespread or rife
• Occasional or sporadic
• Unnerving or unsettling
4. 'her flat little life' coveys a tone of:
• Bitterness
• Sadness
• Optimism
3The Poetry Object | The Red Room Company | www.redroomcompany.org
• Ambivalence
5. 'the acceptance of / imperfection which has crept up like the formation / of wrinkles' is
an example of:
• A metaphor
• A simile
• Personification
• Allusion
6. This example shows the reader that:
• She detests anything that is imperfect
• It has happened quickly
• It has happened over many years without her realising
• She celebrates imperfection
7. Why does the poet use the image of the plane in the poem?
• It is symbolic of her loss of control, emotion and freedom in her life
• It is symbolic of her tragic circumstances
• It is symbolic of her desire to take a holiday
• It is symbolic of her own panic
8. The allusion to 'Captain Cook' is effective because:
• It reinforces her desire to travel and explore
• It conveys her dissatisfaction that, unlike Captain Cook, her life will probably go
unnoticed and hasn't been very meaningful
• It emphasises her boredom at being stuck in a classroom
• It conveys her admiration for order and merit
9. When a phrase or clause of one line runs on without pause to the next line, it is called:
• Hyperbole
4The Poetry Object | The Red Room Company | www.redroomcompany.org
• Lineation
• Enjambment
• Narrative
10. The mood of this poem is:
• Angry
• Optimistic
• Apologetic
• Discontented
5The Poetry Object | The Red Room Company | www.redroomcompany.org
NAPLAN Style Sample Questions
Year 9
The Haircut
Read the poem The Haircut by Steven Herrick and answer the following
1. The point of view expressed in this poem is:
• Aunt Alice's
• Keith's
• Harry's
• A third person omniscient narrator
2. In this context, a synonym for 'intention' is:
• Objective
• Thoughts
• Fears
• Instructions
3. Harry attempts to 'fake injury' because:
• He is a talented actor
• He is trying to distract Aunt Alice from cutting his hair
• He is a hypochondriac
• He wants her to feel sorry for him
4. The purpose of this poem is to:
• Provide a historical snapshot of Australia
• Entertain using an amusing childhood anecdote
• Evoke sympathy for people with unattractive hairstyles
• Criticise bullying in Australian society
6The Poetry Object | The Red Room Company | www.redroomcompany.org
5. Which words best describe Aunt Alice?
• Bossy and efficient
• Conservative and cranky
• Maternal and compassionate
• Emotional and erratic
6. Harry's attitude towards Aunt Alice is one of:
• Admiration
• Neutrality
• Apprehension
• Affection
7. 'with his Helmet still on' suggests:


text:
Four Keys
The "Four Keys to Sustainable Settlements", or just "Four Keys" are four booklets planned for publication by the Gaia Education Communications Committee to supplement the EDE course material. They will cover the four sectors of the sustainability circle, namely, the Worldview, Social, Ecological and Economic dimensions, while each book will cover the five modules of its section. They will carry articles and further references seen from a global perspective of ecovillage knowledge and written by pioneers from the ecovillage movement.
The first book on Worldview will appear in the first half of 2007 with the others following over the next two years or so. They will be published on the Internet for downloading and translating. Permanent Publishers, UK will also offer "print on demand" hard copies to interested parties.
Gaia Education and EDE
This new initiative was launched at Findhorn in October 2005 by a group of Ecovillage educators calling themselves The Geese (Global Ecovillage Educators for Sustainable Earth.) The key program is a UNITAR-endorsed 4 week holistic introduction to designing sustainable settlements called Ecovillage Design Education (EDE), based on the GEN "living and learning" principle. This program draws upon the experience developed in a network of some of the most successful ecovillages and intentional communities across the world. In four weeks you get an overview of all you need to know to design sustainable settlements anywhere in the world. The program is formally a GEN project, but with outside financing. The program will be taught at a number of major ecovillages over the next three years. Gaia Trust has committed to support the project with a budget of €140,000 for 2005-2008. Ross sits on the board and Hildur is focaliser of the Communications Committee.
Gaia Education Design for Sustainability (GEDS)
A major innovation is 2008 was the conversion of the EDE to an on-line version known as GEDS—Gaia Education Design for Sustainabilty, in cooperation with UOC, the Open University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain, one of the world leaders in distant learning. The expanded course —available from Fall 2008 in English and Spanish, consists of the same four EDE modules over 8 months, and can be done in evenings and weekends for people who are working full time or taking another education. The cost is very reasonable, only €800 for the whole course. It is our hope that the program will be accredited and thus available for credit at all universities in the EU after the first year.
Check out the GEDS page on the Gaia Education site for more information and for application to the program. Check out this taster site that allows you to get a preview of each of the four modules, where a few of the pages are activated. Also, check out the UOC site for how distant learning works in practoice..
For up-to-date information on the Gaia Education project, follow developments on the Wikipedia site.
Materials for download
The curriculum is available for download in PDF format:
Living and learning
The teaching method of Gaia Education is based on the GEN principle of "Living and Learning". In other words, learning not only by traditional lectures, but also by working in the field with practical jobs and by participation is various games and other activities during the course.
All through history young people learned necessary skills by just living in a local neighborhood, which was sustainable, taking part in everyday life. At an appropriate time they went through a ritual to become full-grown members of society. This was true in tribal communities and with the apprenticeship, as we know it from later social structures. At a later time the church took over the role as the defining authority and later still the state. In today's globalized society education has developed into mega-institutions most often removed from the environments they were originally supposed to serve. The educational paradigm is now one of competition, hierarchy, separation of theory and practice, institutionalization and obliteration of our sense of interdependence with nature. The structure and content of these educational programs have correspondingly been geared toward making students suitable workers in a competitive, Western, industrialized, extractive society. This system has been exported to most of the world and has been an integrated part of cultural imperialism. An understanding is emerging all over the world that we need a revolution in education based on a different philosophy.
Liberating Pedagogy
100 hundred years ago Grundtvig and Ulrik Cold started the first Danish Folk High Schools stating that students "should learn for life". A free school law was introduced - and is still in existence making it possible for anybody to get financial support for schools offering all kinds of education without restrictions. It has led to an array of different schools and has deeply influencing Danish society. In other places in the world people like Tagore, Ghandi, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother (in India) Montessori in Italy, Freinet in France, Steiner in Germany, England and many other countries, Summerhill schools in England, Paolo Freire in Brazil and Riane Eisler and many others in the US have paved the way for a broader, alternative pedagogy. More recently we have been hearing about the 7 or 8 kinds of intelligences in order to leave the more narrow theoretical learning concept behind. Living and Learning is yet another step forward in this alternative tradition. Learning is not isolated to schools and universities. It can happen anywhere at any time.
The Thy Meeting 1998
GEN has had promotion of education for sustainability as a major goal for more than a decade now. Ecovillage education brings the learning back to the local community as an immersion experience, while teaching how to live sustainably. And it opens the pupil to find the inner core of their being. The "Living and Learning paradigm" thus has two dimensions:
The way in which you learn immersed in an ecovillage - the pedagogy
The content of what you learn: how to create and live in an ecovillage - the curriculum
At an educational meeting in Thy in 1998, 55 educators from ecovillages all over the world agreed on this statement: " Learning needs to return to its root in the whole community of people and no longer exist in separate institutions. In this way, context, methods and personal development will happen all at the same time for all ages. This is a living, evolving learning system that embraces global considerations alongside local concerns. This system is geared to plant seeds for the next 7 generations".
This statement is about the pedagogy and the context of educating. Education in an ecovillage allows for this immersion experience, which is more often than not considered "life changing" for the many young people who have been exposed to it. Ecovillages have something very special to offer.
Gaia Education: Education for sustainability.
The content of the education for sustainability or the curriculum is in a process of being defined and refined. Three areas of learning stand out - the spiritual, the social and the ecological dimensions.
The word education comes from Latin e-ducare and means "to draw out" what is inside each person. So we need to create the conditions so that each person can find her inner core and through that contribute to the whole, to the healing of mother Earth. This is done through helping people get in contact with their innermost core, removing layers of culture and suppression hiding that core and telling the person that she or he is worth nothing. This is why personal development, meditation and a new worldview are such vital parts of any new education. Without that the pupils may learn something good but be unable to live a different life from that of a competitive power-obsessed society.
Living and Learning Centres
"Living and Learning "is a concept originating with GEN some years ago to describe the particular educational principle of teaching the theory of sustainable living and practicing the theory in the field at the same time in an ecovillage setting. The following indented paragraphs are quoted directlyfrom the GEN brochure of the same name by Marti Mueller, Lucilla Borio et al,.2003.
We won't save the earth by depending on big summits like Rio, Istanbul, or Johannesburg. Real changes will only come about when we unite, pool our resources, and do it ourselves. Programs where people on the planet are making a difference today are, in fact, locally based.
Living and learning centers are powerful catalysts for change. They are places where people can come and learn about sustainable living through practical experiences that can be replicated throughout the world. They are local planetary models. See it, do it, take it home, share it with others, and recreate something new. It's about training trainers through inspiring on-the-ground programs. Because what works in one part of the world often works in another. Because it's not about reinventing the wheel, but creating effective new ways of working together. Because the challenges ahead of us require real cooperation, fast action, and deep insights.
A Sane World
High on our list of priorities are land conservation and earth restoration, poverty alleviation through food security and meaningful livelihood, renewable energy use, protecting indigenous cultures and species diversity, offering meaningful contexts for youth, and providing the resources for good family planning for a child-friendly planet. All of these are part of local solutions to counter global warming and to restore the earth's balance.
Ecovillages in rural and urban areas are one of the most effective ways to make real change happen because most sustainable communities have Living and Learning Centers built into their equation. From the outset, people are committed to sustainable plus living, putting more into the environment than they take out of it, and their infrastructures reflect this. Without dedicated people on the ground with a strong social base, local programmes don't work. And Living and Learning Centers are ideally suited to making an exponential difference in everything from earth restoration to poverty alleviation.
The Road is Long and Time is Precious
In a nutshell, L&L Centers:
- create local replicable models of sustainable community that provide people with a sense of belonging
- show people how to protect and restore nature
- honor indigenous people and keep them from becoming beggars on their own land
- protect rural life and create new urban models
- show how renewable energy and effective waste systems work
- create partnerships and give youth a new mandate
- provide integral lifestyles and offer experiential learning
- focus on food security and meaningful livelihood
- reflect the world's great cultural, spiritual, and artistic diversity
- encourage a child-friendly world
- support local solutions to planetary problems because we live on One Earth
The GEN Network
The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) is a federation of 15,000 diverse communities worldwide that are committed to sustainable plus living. The GEN network has a rich and diverse variety of Living and Learning centres in 3 geographical spheres. This means that good models already exist where people live together and are manifesting practical examples of sustainable plus living.
Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka is a network of more than 12,000 self-sustaining villages that focuses on participatory community development with no poverty and no affluence, agriculture, micro-banking, livelihood training, cross cultural-meditation, and pre-school development. The Tanamalwila Living and Learning Centre located near two national parks in the Southeast of Sri Lanka, focuses on permaculture, species diversity, human rights and peace initiatives. It offers regular courses to community-linked people in Southeast Asia.
Auroville in India is a multicultural eco-city that has been endorsed by UNESCO. It has a wide variety of programs and receives visiting researchers, university students, and international volunteers. Programs exist in low cost building technology and sustainable living, food security and organic farming, training in architectural applications and town planning, environmental education, seed banks, medicinal plant gardens, traditional botanical knowledge, experiential education, philosophy, medicine and healing. Auroville's Forestry group works on land restoration and can serve as a training center for programs like the International Earth Restoration Corps.
Bija Vidyapeeth in India (means education for Earth Citizenship) near Risikesh is an International College for Sustainable Living at the Navdanya organic farm in cooperation with surrounding sustainable villages. The rich bio-diversity of the farm provides the context for education for earth democracy in which participants (80% local 20% international) learns from nature and each other, while they study, live, clean, cook and eat together. Programs also include yoga, practice of music and theatre. Founded and run by Vandana Shiva, teachers include: Satish Kumar (Resurgence), Edward Goldsmith, Sulakh Sivaraksi, Fukuoka, Fridtjof Capra, Jeremy Rifkin, Wolfgang Sachs, Brian Goodwin (See www.vshiva.net ).
Crystal Waters in Australia offers courses in permaculture design, environmental restoration, and community work. The UN Habitat Award-winning ecovillage features housing in rammed earth, pole structures, mud brick, domes, and straw bale. Demonstration sites exist for water harvesting, waste water use, rainwater collection, swales, dams, artificial wetlands, biolytic treatment, compost toilets, stand-alone and grid-connected solar power systems, heat pumps, cell grazing, land restoration, reforestation, orchard culture, wildlife corridor and rainforest applications. Crystal Waters has an excellent range of eco-systems, and abundant and diverse wildlife, which live in harmony and close proximity with humans. The Eco Centre is an ideal place for a genuine immersion experience and is linked to credit-earning university programmes.
Eco-Yoff in Senegal is a sub-urban community development program oriented towards aiding people to protect their natural resources and village wisdom, insure their long-term survival, and alleviate poverty. It is the headquarters of a large network that has on-site demonstration projects, which include preserving mangrove ecosystems, village social action, green tech, waste water recycling stations, food security, solar cookers, water conservation, conflict resolution, micro-enterprise and employment, eco-tourism, integrated health, nutrition, and early child development. Through Colufifa village co-operatives, farmers and local women - are trained in community resource management and organic farming and are able to receive organic certifications. The network has been endorsed by the Senegal Ministry of the Environment and the UNESCO Chair of the Environment at the University of Dakar.
Ivory Park Ecocity in South Africa is a demonstration project located on the edge of a new and very poor township in Midrand near Johannesburg. It fuses African indigenous technologies with western tech. Models include ecologically-friendly homes, a zero energy community centre built by local women, solar energy, water conservation and harvesting, medicinal herbs, paper-making and traditional crafts, smokeless fires and solar cookers, eco-tourism, youth and women's empowerment, youth environmental activities, sanitation, product recycling, food security; finance and eco-banking, eco-construction, eco-businesses, co-operatives; non-polluting transport, eco-urban planning; pollution, waste, and natural resource management. This is a courageous experiment in sustainability and poverty eradication for people living and working in cities and who need ecologically-friendly community models.
Tlholego in South Africa is a small rural-based living and learning community that offers certification courses in permaculture, sustainable building technology, and ecovillage design incorporating local African traditions. Programs are being planned to train trainers in science, solar technology, biology, sanitation, herbals, ecology and household food security, in order to respond to the growing challenge of prosperity and poverty living side by side.
Findhorn in Scotland offers holistic education programmes. These include an annual ecovillage training programme, permaculture workshops, courses in personal development, spirituality, arts and crafts. Findhorn is part of a large organic community-supported agricultural scheme, and has its own currency and bank, uses renewable energy systems (solar, wind and biomass), recycles waste, including sewage treated in a reed-bed living machine system. It has many community-based enterprises and is creating a village of eco-sensitive houses. Findhorn is home to an award-winning reafforestation project, Trees for Life, and promotes an ethic of voluntary simplicity.
Zegg in Germany stands for Centre for Experimental Society Design and is a community sharing a common idea of peace and sustainable living. Zegg offers courses in ecological building and renovation, mud-construction, organic gardening, permaculture design, spiritual ecology, the arts, social communication, conflict resolution, social networking, strategies for peace, and environmentally sustainable enterprises. The Zegg annual summer camps offer courses on everything from child rearing to countering global consumerism and resolving planetary crises.
Damanhur in Italy is a community with its own currency, a diverse social structure, many successful businesses, organic farms, solar installations, and an experiential school for children. Damanhur offers courses in the healing arts, communication, personal and spiritual transformation, community building, and the arts, especially in mosaics, ceramics, painting, tiffany glass work, and weaving. There is research in fields such as color therapy, plant response to music, and subtle body acupuncture. Work exchange programs exist, especially on Damanhur's farms.
The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales is run by a small community of dedicated tech environmentalists with hands-on holistic experience and academic expertise. A wide range of courses that cover green oak building, solar water heating and installations, timber frame self-build dwellings, wind turbine construction, alternative building methods, eco-design and eco-construction suitable for practicing architects and professional builders who want to learn how to be more environmentally-friendly. Courses also include green woodworking, blacksmithing, working with living willow, and providing participants with traditional local knowledge.
Tamera in Portugal intends to invite 200 people for 3 years in order to research what a Healing Bio-tope will be like. The name of the project is Monte Cerro.
The Farm in Tennessee is oriented towards low-cost high satisfaction community living and self-reliance. It offers excellent examples of solar building design, micro-enterprise, large scale composting, food production, and regenerative hardwood forest management. The Ecovillage Training Centre at the Farm offers total immersion courses ranging from basic and advanced permaculture and village design to solar electricity, water treatment, natural building techniques. It provides a walk-thru visit to a straw bale dwelling, a dome, organic gardens, rainwater harvesting facilities, greenhouses, root cellars, a wetlands filtration system, and a solar car prototype. The Farm manages 400 acres of designated wilderness preserve, has a nursery for indigenous tree species, a forest mushroom laying yard, and many species of temperate bamboo. The community has outreach programs in Central and South America.
The Manitou Foundation in Colorado fosters a network for different cultural and spiritual traditions and runs the Earth Restoration Corps (ERC), a training of trainers program in earth restoration, environmental technologies, micro credits, environmental businesses, and meaningful livelihood for youth. The ERC is dedicated to helping establish and maintain training programs in ecovillages throughout the world and the protection of indigenous peoples and traditional wisdoms. ERC teams have partnership programs with communities in India, Brazil, and the Philippines.
La Caravana is a mobile ecovillage working in Central and South America that uses theatre arts, workshops, conferences and bio-regional events to teach people how to take better care of the Earth. La Caravana has inspired the creation of ecovillage networks and projects in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil and helped to create the Ecuadorian Women's Leadership Network for Peace. International volunteers teach permaculture, ecovillage design, consensus decision-making, facilitation and conflict resolution, appropriate technology, natural building techniques and community development for positive planetary change.
Barus in Brazil is a network of viable appropriate technology models in applied permaculture and village development, food production, natural architecture, nature conservation, reforestation, urban kitchen gardens, organic produce certification, permaculture design certificate courses. There are village women´s co-operatives, eco-tourism, aquaculture, organic agriculture, appropriate housing design, environmental education textbooks for schools, and appropriate village building technologies. Barus has strong links to the landless movement, as well as the indigenous communities.
Unity and Diversity
GEN LIVING AND LEARNING CENTERS are just a few of many diverse sites where people in the world are living sustainable plus lives and learning from each other and the environment. What characterizes L&L Centers is that they have a strong educational component and are based on social and ecological equity, in which people and the environment around them matter and are integrally linked.
These models can be replicated because they are easily adaptable to different cultural and social contexts. The idea is to train trainers in outreach programs based on global planetary awareness, provide meaningful livelihood at home, work in co-operation with like-minded people to build community, have a strong commitment to restoring the earth and using renewable energy systems, invest strongly in young people's future.
Indeed, we can transform the world if we set our energy to doing it. Our modest efforts multiplied many thousands of times over will make for a better and healthier planet.
A few of the GEN affiliated university programs include: University of Dakar, University of Washington, Cornell University, University of Madras, Ithaca College, Pacific Lutheran University, University of New Hampshire, Kalamazoo College, University of Brasilia, University of Colorado, Environmental University of Curitiba, and others.
Awards by ecovillage associates include: Rolex Honorary Environmental Mention, The Gandhi Prize, The Ashoka Award for Enterprise, The United Nations Best Practices Award.
For more information on how you can create an ecovillage, a L&L Centre, participate in an ongoing project, or fund programs, please contact the Global Ecovillage Network.
|Gaia Trust
Gaia Trust, Denmark is a charitable entity supporting sustainabilty projects, especially the ecovillage movement.
[ Vision | History | Grants | Ross | Hildur | Gaiacorp | Permaculture | Grants History ]
Through personal commitment and change in lifestyle, ecovillagers are building living models of the future in harmony with nature.
[ What is an Ecovillage | Global EV | Danish EV ]
|Gaia Education
The Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) draws upon the experience of some of the most successful ecovillages and intentional communities in the world.
[ History | Curriculum | Living & Learning | Organization | Newsletter | Host a Course | Other programs | ]
|Gaia Resources
Quality links, articles and books about ecovillages, spirituality and sustainable lifestyle related to Gaia Educations.
[ Four keys | Articles | Books | Links ]
|Gaia Center
A new Gaia center is coming in Birkerød north of Copenhagen
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