text:
Start with a single search on Youtube (Indiana 1992), then surf the recommendation algorithm to another video about 25 times, then press them all together like dried flowers.
Start with a single search on Youtube (Indiana 1992), then surf the recommendation algorithm to another video about 25 times, then press them all together like dried flowers.
We are Wreck & Salvage, and we're video remixing addicts. Why do we remix video? It's like asking your heart why it beats or your lungs why they breath. Your views, comments, likes and shares are our currency, and you are much appreciated.
If you haven't seen the first (vimeo.com/87153842), the Sequel is just as bleak.
A pre-processed and triple-layered Superbowl commercial sandwich made with 90% lean bear and puppy meat, slathered with dreams and power and guaranteed to change your world.
Russell Brand and Marc Bolan have revolution on their minds.
David Attenborough narrates the MTV video music awards.
New Wreck & Salvage video. A friend requested a remix on Syria. "Holding a mirror to the previous week of Syria in the media." Enjoy the awkwardness.
A culmination of Syria, Snowden, Prism, Jay-Z's new album, Obama, Putin, McCain, and a video asks to be made. It's been a while, first edit since switching to FCPX.
Supercut of commercial cliffhangers from Storage Wars.
QUICKTIME HD / WINDOWS HD / MOBILE / Torrent
What would the ultimate screensaver look like? Starfield simulation? Virtual aquarium? Fireplace scene? ALL OF THEM TOGETHER?
Recut Obama's 2011 State of the Union address. We are focused mainly on pavement.
Source footage: State of the Union (Enhanced)
Quicktime 720p | Windows | iPod
In Simple Jack, a sweetly retarded man is begrudgingly cared for by his friends, Kate and Ben.
I think most Lost fans either secretly or openly hate Jack.
This was before I bought stop motion software, when I was recording each stop for 1 second of video. I'd collect it in 1 second live shots, and change the speed in FCP. It's a very primitive, yet effective animation technique. The song is an original from one of the crew, Adam Quirk, who now lives in Brooklyn.


text:
Origin has quickly become very popular amongst the gaming community. It offers its customers the ability to purchase Electronic Arts' exclusive titles such as FIFA, Battlefield, Need For Speed and many more AAA titles. Furthermore, it offers great deals on older games as well. Oh, and lets not forget, the supreme Origin Access, that provides access to multiple titles for a very low membership fee of $4.99/month or $29.99/year. Digital distribution of games is deemed to be much better since its technically permanent and cannot be lost, as opposed to the traditional physical discs. Origin offers the digital distribution of its games in the best way possible. That being said, Origin is only limited to EA's titles, and other titles are not available for digital purchase on it. If you are a PC gamer looking for portals to purchase new games digitally, here are the top 7 Origin alternatives you can use:
1. Steam
Probably the biggest game marketplace on earth, Valve's Steam is the undisputed champion of digital distribution of games, offering more than 15,000 games for its users. Steam offers great deals on various products, including the annual Steam Summer Sale which provides further discounts.
Like Origin, Steam has its own app that provides seamless and easy download of all purchases made. Steam is generally the first one to receive any games, plus it offers the best support for any game developing company, thus making it the only digital download source for such games in most cases. If you want to explore the huge catalog of PC games, Steam is certainly the best option to go with.
Good Old Games or GOG is a digital distribution website for games, which focuses particularly on classic and old games, which date back to the 1980s. In the midst of forever evolving technology, we often forget how great those old games used to be. It might be just for the nostalgia of it, but GOG offers access to all those old childhood games. Heck, games that were the best sellers at the time when most of the gamers today weren't even born.
The interface on GOG is very similar to that found on EA's Origin. GOG focuses on providing games which do not feature the digital rights management (DRM) and has further optimized its game catalog and runs them in DOSBox format, so that whichever game you choose to buy, works on any modern machine you wish to run it on.
Mainstream gaming is great, especially for multiplayer, since everyone is playing it. But after a while, you just want to try out something different, something fun in it's own weird way. That's exactly where the indie genre comes in. The thought process, the vibrant graphics, engrossed gameplay and a different ideology of looking at things is what defines the indie genre. If you are someone looking for the best indie games, ITCH.IO is the best portal to satisfy your desires. Focused directly at the indie genre, ITCH.IO offers a huge catalog of over 60,000 indie games.
EA Origin does focus on indie games as well, but ITCH.IO takes that focus to a whole new level. While ITCH.IO offers games focused on just a specific genre, it is nonetheless one of the best digital games distributors. For what it's worth, indie genre is something that needs to be promoted more, and ITCH.IO seems to be doing it pretty well.
4. Green Man Gaming
While the previously mentioned GOG focuses on bringing classics to the modern systems and ITCH.IO focusing on indie genre of games, Green Man Gaming lacks a focused system like this. Despite that, Green Man Gaming is currently the number two digital game distributor worldwide. How, you ask? The answer is pretty simple. Deals, deals and more deals. While Steam offers its major sales once per year, Green Man Gaming has all round sales on all of its titles.
Browsing through the various games in the library is such an easy task on Origin, and Green Man Gaming maintains the same functionality. Green Man Gaming has been around for quite some time now, and everyone who loves saving a few bucks off their pockets is definitely fond of this website.
Furthermore, your Green Man Gaming account doubles up as an account for Playfire as well, the social network for sharing one's gameplay achievements. Despite having the same games as other portals, Green Man Gaming might just be able to offer you the best deals, making it a strong contender.
5. Humble Store
Made famous for its 'bundles', the Humble Store is another great Origin alternative for purchasing digital copies of games online. While the video library is full of games linked to Steam only, the Humble Store does focus primarily on DRM-free games. Furthermore, similar to the marketing tactics of Green Man Gaming, the Humble Store offers superb sales all year round.
The Humble Store donates 5% of all purchases made to the Wikimedia Foundation. In addition to all the sales, The Humble Store, like Origin, also offers great bundles that make up for most of their sales. If you're looking to buy loads of games together, make sure to check out the bundles and offers here.
6. GamersGate
As mentioned previously, Steam is the king of digital game distribution, and in order to become a worthy competitor, one must have something unique about themselves. While many rely on offering straight up discounts, GamersGate have introduced their own virtual currency, the Blue Coin. Basically, customers earn digital credit in the form of blue coins for every purchase, plus small bonuses for participating in the GamersGate community, like posting game reviews or answering help topics. Blue Coins can then be used in place of real money for any digital purchase on the site.
While Origin does offer select games on being part of the Origin Access, it still requires a paid membership, while GamersGate provides freebies to its members for just being an active member. While the game catalog that GamersGate offers is not that big, the Blue Coin system is certainly a feature that sets it apart. Basically you get rewarded for simply being a part of the gaming community, and those rewards can be redeemed for new games. Definitely worth a shot in my opinion.
Some More Origin Alternatives
While the above mentioned websites should do more than enough to provide you with the huge plethora of games available for the PC master race, there are other portals out there as well that offer various deals across some titles that the mainstream websites mentioned above might not. Direct2Drive, which was initially IGN's old game store, now runs as an independent business, which provides an alternative to digital game distribution sites. While it may not have the best deals as compared to its competitors, it still offers same great discounts on games not available otherwise. Another great alternative is the Windows Store, that hosts majority of the games made for the Windows platform, as well as some Xbox titles that were ported for the PC.
SEE ALSO: How to Increase Download Speed of Games in Origin
The Best Origin Alternatives Out There
While Origin is a great software for experiencing the AAA titles, it is limited to the titles produced by Electronic Arts only. If you're interested in experiencing other titles as well, and prefer digital download to physical discs, our list pf the best Origin alternatives should come in handy for you. So, try them out and let us know the service you are using in the comments section below.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
John Marrs is a freelance journalist based in London and Northampton who has spent the last 20 years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines. He has written for publications including The Guardian's Guide and Guardian Online; OK! Magazine; Total Film; Empire; Q; GT; The Independent; Star; Reveal; Company and Daily Star. His debut book The Wronged Sons is a tense psychological thriller with over 240 5 star reviews on Amazon. His second book Welcome To Wherever You Are is a suspense thriller and an Amazon #1 best seller and his latest book The One (previously A Thousand Small Explosions) has been picked up by Random House and is being relaunched in January 2017.
Follow him on Twitter @johnmarrs, on Instagram @johnmarrs.author on Facebook, facebook.com/thewrongedsons/
As you know I hold myself fully responsible for your incredible success and absolutely deserved recognition, but what has been the highlights for you since releasing your debut novel The Wronged Sons?
There are possibly too many to mention. But I'll give it a shot… the first is that I had no idea how much readers would want to talk to me about that first book and then the subsequent ones. And TBC has played a HUGE part in writers interacting with readers. I loved the two birthday parties TBC has thrown and meeting people in the flesh that I've have online banter with. Another highlight has been watching my books being downloaded around the world and having readers Facebook and Tweet me. But having A Thousand Small Explosions (now called The One) picked up by Penguin Random House and the film and TV rights optioned by Urban Myth Films is by far, the most exciting thing to have happened to me. Even now, months after the contracts have been signed, going from self-published to traditionally published still hasn't sunk in. I feel as though you, Tracy, and TBC members have all been on this journey with me. We started around the same time, you and they got behind me and now we're going in a new direction none of us could have foreseen.
Can you tell me the inspiration behind your 3 books?
The ideas tend to come to me in the most unexpected of places. The Wronged Sons stemmed from a reader's true life story in The Guardian's Family section; Welcome To Wherever You Are was inspired by my backpacking travels in my early twenties and The One came from planning my wedding and walking down a London escalator. Random, eh? But what inspires me to write is to entertain readers; to write books that they enjoy, to create characters they'll love or hate and I'll throw in some red herrings and twists and turns en route. If I can do all of that in a story that people want to read, then that's my inspiration.
What is your writing process, do you plan everything in advance, use Post Its, develop the characters etc…?
I'll type into my phone storyline ideas, characters, situations etc as and when I have them, then I'll write a very brief description of what'll happen in each chapter. I don't see the point in planning in great detail as it's more fun just writing and letting the story take on a life of its own. I don't write methodically; I'll do a chapter here, a chapter there and mesh it together at the end. I aim to do at least 1,000 words a day, even if it's just rubbish. I'm very easily distracted so it gives me something to aim for. On a good day, I can rattle out 3-4,000 words, but those days are often few and far between!
What's your favourite takeaway?
Something Thai or Domino's. Although I don't tend to do as many takeaways now as when I was single!
What advice would you give to other people who want to write a book?
If you want to write a novel for the challenge or because it means something to you, then it's never been easier to self-publish online. However, if you want to write something to make money, then pick a genre that is commercially successful – no matter how great a writer you are, there's no point in writing about the secret lives of Lithuanian pig farmers if it's a subject that nobody's going buy.
Do you read your reviews? What's the funniest/worst one?
Of course I do! But I never, ever respond to them. It's their opinion regardless of how much I might disagree. My favourite review (of The Wronged Sons) reads: "Horrible story. Nightmarish. I wish that I had never read it. Please, please pick a less evil story to write next time."
Can you tell me about your next book and when we can read it?
The One comes out in paperback in May. But before that, there's a new, slightly re-written version of The Wronged Sons coming out on Amazon's own imprint label, Thomas And Mercer, and probably with a new title too. Book four will be out in 2018. The first draft is almost complete, and it's a psychological thriller in the vein of The Wronged Sons.
Your latest book The One (previously A Thousand Small Explosions) is about taking a simple DNA test to find your soulmate. Even though you just got married would you take the test if it was available?
If I was single, then yes. But as I'm a happily married man, no. I address it in the book, that there's so many people out there who think the grass is greener on the other side. Often it's not and we need to stop and smell the roses on our own side of the fence and appreciate what we have.
As a full-time journalist can you tell us any juicy gossip or funny stories about the celebs you've interviewed?
I won't name names, but at a fashion shoot, one pop star's agent warned us the celeb thought she was a size 10, but she was actually a 12-14. So before she turned up, I had to cut every label out of her clothes or she'd throw a hissy fit if she saw what she was really fitting into. Another celeb once hit me in the stomach with a large, red sex toy and winded me, while another lady was so out of it, twenty minutes into the interview she suddenly became convinced I was the singer with the Pet Shop Boys. She wouldn't believe that I wasn't.
Finally, have you made any New Year Resolutions and what are they?
To eat more healthily and go to the gym more often. And be more disciplined with my writing. I expect to have failed all three of them by the end of the month.


text:
Thank You For Contacting Valjean Society, Inc.
We value each and every visitor to our site and look forward to assisting you with all of your needs.
You can contact us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by clicking here or calling (480) 648-8560.
We look forward to serving you.
ValSoc CEO & Founder
Michael Harris


text:
As American Craft Beer Week begins to wind down this weekend brings to you a few instances of the well known drinking activity, the pub crawl. Between tonight and tomorrow there are 3 different pub crawls going on in South Florida. Here's the skinny on each.
Friday, May 18th
Clematis Craft Beer Pub Crawl
They will be hitting up all the craft spots of downtown West Palm Beach including World of Beer, Roxy's, Grease and Gratify. Things start at 7 pm at WOB.
Saturday, May 19th
Boca Raton Pub Crawl
The spots are Funky Buddha, Lion & Eagle Pub, Biergarten and O'Brian's. There will be a special bus that you can use for $10 as many time as you like that will take you to each location. The event is from 4 pm – 7 pm.
Saturday, May 19th
Ales on the Ave Pub Crawl
Delray spots Mellow Mushroom, Park Tavern, Tryst and Coffee District will by your places to be. Things start at 3 pm at Mellow and goes from there.
So if you want get your crawl on this week any of these would certainly be a good choice. I unfortunately have to work this weekend but will be stopping by Coffee District Saturday night to have a couple and hang out. Enjoy!


text:
Privacy Policy
We at Friends of Sinn Féin USA recognize and fully accept our responsibility to safeguard your privacy, confidentiality and security. We value your trust very highly, and pledge to you that we will work to protect the security and privacy of any personal information you provide to us.
Friends of Sinn Féin USA may share your information with third parties such as payment gateways in order to provide and improve our online services. However, we will not sell or rent your personal information to anyone. This includes your name, email address, and any other personal information.
This Website and Cookies
When you visit www.friendsofsinnfein.com for the first time, a "cookie" is sent to your computer. This cookie identifies you as a unique user whenever you visit the site. Such cookies allow Friends of Sinn Féin to improve our internet services and to be more responsive to the needs of our online visitors. Friends of Sinn Féin does this by monitoring user trends and patterns as they navigate the site. In keeping with our commitment to privacy, Friends of Sinn Féin will not reveal cookie data to third parties except as required by a valid legal action. The cookies we use do not detect any information stored on your computers.
What Information Does Friends of Sinn Féin Collect?
Friends of Sinn Féin does not collect any unique information about you (such as your name, email address, etc.) except when you knowingly choose to provide such information as in the case of the signing up to our newsletter or making a donation. Otherwise, we only collect such anonymous information such as time, browser type, operating system, and IP address. That information is used to provide more effective service to our online visitors. For example, Friends of Sinn Féin may use browser/operating system information in developing future projects on the Web.
Terms and Conditions
These terms and conditions outline the rules and regulations for the use of Friends of Sinn Féin's Website. Friends of Sinn Féin USA is located at 420 Lexington Ave Rm 300, New York, NY 10170, USA. By accessing this website we assume you accept these terms and conditions in full. Do not continue to use Friends of Sinn Féin's website if you do not accept all of the terms and conditions stated on this page.
The following terminology applies to these Terms and Conditions, Privacy Statement and Disclaimer Notice and any or all Agreements: "Client", "You" and "Your" refers to you, the person accessing this website and accepting Friends of Sinn Féin's terms and conditions. "Friends of Sinn Féin", "FOSF", "Ourselves", "We", "Our" and "Us", refers to Friends of Sinn Féin USA. "Party", "Parties", or "Us", refers to both the Client and ourselves, or either the Client or ourselves. All terms refer to the offer, acceptance and consideration of payment necessary to undertake the process of our assistance to the Client in the most appropriate manner, whether by formal meetings of a fixed duration, or any other means, for the express purpose of meeting the Client's needs in respect of provision of the Friends of Sinn Féin's stated services/products, in accordance with and subject to, prevailing law of Ireland. Any use of the above terminology or other words in the singular, plural, capitalisation and/or he/she or they, are taken as interchangeable and therefore as referring to same.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we exclude all representations, warranties and conditions relating to our website and the use of this website (including, without limitation, any warranties implied by law in respect of satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and/or the use of reasonable care and skill).
The limitations and exclusions of liability set out in this Section and elsewhere in this disclaimer:
(a) are subject to the preceding paragraph; and
(b) govern all liabilities arising under the disclaimer or
in relation to the subject matter of this disclaimer, including liabilities arising in contract, in tort (including negligence) and for breach of statutory duty.
To the extent that the website and the information and services on the website are provided free of charge, we will not be liable for any loss or damage of any nature.


text:
A Guide to Budgeting for Baby Boomers
In retirement, taking it easy is becoming a lot harder to do.
Take, for example, the most disconcerting finding of Allianz Life Insurance Company's recently published Generations Apart Study. Nearly half of the 2,000 baby boomers (ages 49 to 67) and Generation Xers (ages 35 to 48) who were surveyed now regard credit cards as an acceptable way to plug a cash-flow hole.
When did the three-legged stool of retirement planning — Social Security + retirement-specific savings (pension, 401(k) and IRAs) + personal savings — become so wobbly?
Well, the economic crash certainly didn't help. Between investment losses and protracted unemployment, both generations gave up a lot of economic ground. Increasing longevity is also a factor. But for fixed-income earners, at least (boomers, mostly), the problem is exacerbated by interest rates that have been exceptionally low for an extraordinarily long period of time.
Consider the case of retired spouses who collectively receive $2,500 per month in Social Security benefits (the 2011 per person average was $1,181), plus a combined $2,000 per month in pension and/or 401(k) benefits (also based upon per person average account balances with 2% annual distribution) for a total of $4,500 in fixed-income earnings per month, pretax.
Also suppose the couple managed to sock away $500,000 in personal savings over the years. Before the crash, interest on an account of that magnitude could reasonably be counted on to generate an additional $2,000 per month toward the couple's post-retirement income, which would have raised the total to a not-too-shabby $78,000 per year.
Today, however, that same savings account likely generates less than half of that amount, leaving the couple $10,000 to $15,000 short. Meantime, their cost of living hasn't declined. If anything, rent, food and utility expenses are higher today than they were seven or eight years ago.
Therein lies the problem.
Our fictitious couple's three sources of post-retirement income are fixed. If the expense side of their budget is as limited, the only way to balance the equation will be with borrowed money—hence the increasing amounts of mortgage and nonmortgage indebtedness the Allianz study cites
Simplifying the Budgeting ProcessSome time ago, I wrote about the 25% approach to household budgeting for recent college grads. I suggested creating four categories of budgeted expenses and, as a starting point, to limit each to 25% of pretax salary: taxes, including employee contributions for employer-provided benefits; rent or mortgage payments; nonmortgage debt payments, including for credit cards, student and auto loans; and living expenses, including for food, insurance, utilities and, hopefully, a savings stash.
Budgeters would then be able adjust the dollar values of each of the categories (except for taxes, because they are what they are) to suit their personal circumstances. For example, if his or her debt payments total less than 25% of pretax income, the excess can be used to fund additional savings or discretionary expenses. In contrast, debt payments that total more than 25% will require the budgeter to offset that with lower-cost housing or to cut back on his or her living expenses to bridge the gap.
Boomers can take a similar approach.
Start by totaling all your sources of income and estimating the taxes you'll be obligated to pay on that total (don't forget to adjust for tax-deductible mortgage interest, if your home is financed, and for other qualifying expenses).
Once you've calculated that amount, take what's left over and divide that by three. The result should represent the maximum you can afford each year for rent or mortgage payments, all your other debt payments and your living expenses. As before, you may shift excess dollars between categories as long as the aggregate dollar value remains constant.
Planning for the FutureThe Gen Xer's approach to this task is a bit more complicated. That's because their budgets involve forward projections.
Start by reviewing the annual update you should receive from the Social Security Administration. In that you'll see how much you've paid into the system to date and an estimate of the monthly benefits you would receive that are based upon that amount (note that this will vary depending upon the age at which you begin to draw down your account). So, too, should your corporate human resources department be in a position to ballpark the value of the pension benefits you can expect upon retirement.
As for your 401(k), IRAs and personal savings accounts, a Time Value of Money calculator (such as this one) can help you to determine the future values of each.
Enter the amount you've accumulated thus far ("present value"); the additional contributions you plan to make annually, quarterly, monthly, biweekly or weekly ("payments"); the term over which you intend to do that (which is expressed in numbers of "periods"), and the rate of return you can reasonably expect to earn over that duration ("interest"). Once done, solve for the "future value."
At that point, you should have a sense for the extent to which the three legs of your post-retirement wealth will yield enough to fund the future you have in mind. If not, you've got some decisions to make.
For example, you may elect to continue working for a few years more. Perhaps you have the means to supplement the contributions you're currently making to your retirement-specific and other long-term savings accounts. Then again, you may have to rethink the cost of lifestyle you had hoped to enjoy.
Either way, it's important to view this method of budgeting as a zero-sum game. Otherwise, you'll be tempted to cover a shortfall in the worst possible way: with equity-diminishing reverse-mortgage loans, high-rate credit card debt or some other form of financing that can end up compromising an already challenged financial condition.
This story is an Op/Ed contribution to Credit.com and does not necessarily represent the views of the company or its partners.
More from Credit.com:What's a Good Credit Score?What's a Bad Credit Score?How Credit Impacts Your Day-to-Day Life


text: Sega Rally Championship Easy Driving Car: ----------------- Hold X and press [Enter] to select any car at the car selection screen. Unlock All Tracks: ------------------ At the options screen type XXY . Unlock Lake Side Track: ----------------------- At the main menu press X + Y , then select any game. Full Screen: ------------ Hold X and press A at the car, race, or, mode selection screen to remove the dashboard and display. Easy Way to Get the Stratos Car: -------------------------------- To get the Stratos Car the Easy way go to the Menu Screen then Press X,Y,Z,Y,X select a mode. At the Car select screen to select the Stratos move to the Celica and press down to select the AT transmission and the Delta to select the MT Transmission. Hyper Car: ---------- Hold Down X and Press Enter to choose your car at the car select. It looks the same but it is easier to handle. Lake Side Course: ----------------- To get the Lake Side course Finish the Championship overall in 1st place. At least 9th on the Desert course, 4th on the Forest course, and 1st on the Mountain course. After that it will be in all things even in the Championship. Mirror Mode: ------------ Hold Y and press Enter at the game select mode in Arcade mode. Ultimate Ghost Car: ------------------- Go to Time Attack. Where it says 3 Laps or Free Run, hold X and Y and select 3 Laps. Stratos car: ------------ Type XYZYX at the main menu, then select a mode. Highlight the Celica on the car selection screen and press [Down] to select the AT transmission, and the Delta to select the MT transmission. Easier handling car: -------------------- Hold X and press [Enter] to select any car at the car selection screen. All tracks: ----------- Type XXY in the options screen. Lake Side track: ---------------- Press X + Y at the main menu, then select any game.


text:
What two factors are essential to healthy farming. Listen to Elaine as she divulges the secrets needed to prevent disease and promote healthy plant growth.
This is an excerpt from Elaine's Amazing 2 day course " True Fertility Workshop" jammed packed with 6 Film's and a workbook to jot down your progress.


text:
HomeCreative Paths of urban tourism
Creative Paths of urban tourism
Percorsi creativi di turismo urbano
Published on Thursday, July 07, 2011
Many cities have experiencing an extraordinary development in terms of tourists' interest. As a result, tourist development is linked not only to cultural, territorial and economic processes, but also to those dynamics typical of modernity. What is more, it is increasingly integrated with social, functional and urban transformations which reveal themselves to be specific of modern city.
Nowadays tourists do not limit themselves to the mere tour of sites, but rather they pursue an emotional experience through a complex and diversified route, where the stopping places are not only streets, squares, crossroads, palaces, churches, historic buildings, but also meeting places, shops, restaurants and cultural centres. Thus, the "Others", together with the inhabitants, liven up the city at the point that they contribute to create the right atmosphere, based on a shared conviviality.
The conference, organised by the University of studies of Catania (Italy), the department of Economics and Quantitative Methods and the faculty of Economics of Catania, aims at imposing itself as the starting point for a shared analysis about the link between creativity and tourist practices inside the cities. What is more, it will imply an approach based on different disciplines and methodological standpoints, ranging from geography to economics, as well as from sociology to town planning, not to mention marketing and the best practices of the professionals working in the sector. This means overcoming the separation among disciplines in order to identify new ways of local development through tourist practices.
Moreover, such an approach implies an analysis of the tourist sector based not only on scientific rigueur and empirical studies, but also on new "ideas" practicable through innovative tools of visual culture (dvd, videos, pictures, design, digital images). The main aim of such new tools is to propose unprecedented experiences where the authenticity of places is mixed together with the artificial "mise-en-scène": that is to say, creative and innovative paths explicitly conceived for the new "pilgrims" of modernity, yearning for worshipping different objects and places.
Furthermore, the different sessions of the conference will give the opportunity to evaluate the capacity of tourist enhancement showed not only by the traditional attracting factors, such as the artistic and cultural heritage or the wine-and-food tradition, but also by other catalysers for which creativity is the distinguishing element: that is to say, the leisure industry, the film industry as well as the masterpieces of "starchitects", that spread such an evocative urban iconography that they exert an enduring influence on tourists' destination choices.
As a consequence, the main aim of the conference is to catch as well as deeply analysing the perspectives and potentialities of urban tourism, which has been increasingly imposing itself as a tool of promotion for the city economic development, apart from showing itself as a driving force for the whole urban fabric in terms of socio-cultural improvement.
Call for Papers
Paper proposals should be focused on the following thematic issues or, better, "tourist outlooks":
1st panel: Cultural heritage and tourism: a predictable relationship?Topics of discussion: Which attractive power can the Cultural Heritage have?
In the last decade, the boom of cultural tourism seems to have exhausted its ascendant phase. Even if it is still valid in the cities of art, it should rather be regarded in a wider way, if compared to the past. In effect, it is widely held that different causes and attractive factors regulate the market. As a result, the city must reinvent its image as well as the functions of its cultural products, in order to satisfy the new typologies of demand.
Furthermore, the new technologies exert a growing influence on the processes at the core of the cultural attractive factors. The virtual sphere will substitute the deeply-rooted images of the cultural heritage. Which role can the technological innovation play in the future for the enhancement of the immaterial heritage?
Thus, we should evaluate whether the current relationship between the enhancement of cultural heritage and the increase in tourist presences should be analysed from new standpoints.
2nd panel: "Starchitects" and the attractive power of contemporary architectureTopics of discussion: "Starchitects" and the power of the big-names architecture
The typological heterogeneity of planning interventions and architectural styles differentiates the modern metropolitan cities where, among fashion, design and entertainment, "starchitects" leave a brand on museums, theatres, stadiums, cultural centres, which become real works of art.
Modern architects, as renowned big names of modern town planning, travel across international airports, many of which they have designed, so that they go from west to east, from the Pacific ocean to the Atlantic one, by modifying through their imaginative projects megalopolis and small-scale cities, as well as new towns and the ancient ones. How should they be regarded? As worldwide famous and shrewd professionals, brilliant designers of bold projects, or as modern planning experts of "falsification" and "mise-en-scène"?
3rd panel: New practices of consumption and urban spacesTopics of discussion: The city of leisure: spaces of recreation in the "city that-is-not-there".
Functional specialised factors often modify the already existing urban layouts, through targeted interventions of requalification, in order to destine them to the places and activities of the leisure industry, such as shopping, "movida", sport, wellness, not to mention urban parks, urban beeches, aquariums, aquatic parks, bio-zoos, fairgrounds and waterfront areas: these are real fun machines, where the artificial elements often have wide appeal.
The Dysneylandisation of places is such a complex phenomenon that its controversial aspects should be considered and analysed not only from the strictly tourist point of view, but even from the social and territorial one.
4th panel: Routes of celluloid, tools of urban identitiesTopics of discussion: The construction of urban identities through cinema.
The languages of images, which has been created by the iconographic power of postcards, pictures and cinema, has supported the diffusion of the urban visual culture.
As a result, the so-called "Kodak-effect" generates curiosity and interest about places so that it often creates experiential maps.
In effect, the urban image has always been influenced by the directors' outlooks. Nowadays, the current proliferation of television series has showing unprecedented consequences in terms of tourist presences. Is it a new Eldorado? Or is it about just another illusion for the development of marginalised territories?
5th panel: The foodies, tourists with gusto in the multiethnic cityTopics of discussion: Wine-and-food tourism in the multiethnic city.
The current outbreak of wine-and-food tourism seems to suggest that the set of meanings attributed to food is increasingly wider if compared to the past.
Food, for nourishment or whim, has become a social chance of encounters and cultural projection, in addition to being an economic and highly representative factor of territorial identity.
As far as the identity implications are concerned, the city has been losing its attractive role in recent years, if compared to the agricultural or rural territories. However, the cities, especially the greater ones, can become testing grounds for new and complex identities linked to their wine-and-food legacy, owing to their cosmopolitan potentialities.
Apart from our Mediterranean diet, should the new wine-and-food resources be enhanced?
Full papers will be collected in the proceedings of the conference.
AbstractAn abstract of max 250 words, followed by 3 key-words, should be e-mailed by July 15th, 2011, in a Word file, to the following address: email@example.com.
The abstract should be preceded by the paper title, in addition to the name(s), the academic affiliation and the e-mail address of the author(s).
In the email object the prospective presenters should indicate the session which want to participate to.
The acceptance will be notified by July 30th , 2011 to the e-mail address indicated in the abstract.
The prospective presenters should confirm by September 1st , 2011 their attendance at the conference as well as at the day trip scheduled for the last day of the conference.
Fees100,00 Euros (senior)
80,00 Euros (PhD students, research fellows, companions)
The fees include the attendance at the conference, the social dinner, the coffee breaks, the guided tour, the one-day trip and a copy of the Proceedings.
Full papersFull papers should be e-mailed by October 30th , 2011, in a Word file, to the following address: firstname.lastname@example.com.
They will not exceed 30.000 characters. Referees, graphics, tables, maps, pictures should be included.
Notes for authorsCharacter: Times New Roman, 12
Spacing: 1,5
Images: jpeg format
Notes: at the bottom of the text
Quotations marks: guillemets («…»)
Referees: Harvard system
Referees List: at the foot of the text, according to the following example:
Books: Vallega A., Le grammatiche della Geografia, Patron, Bologna, 2004.
Papers in journals or books chapters: Betti S., Porto C.M., «Il commercio ambulante nella città contemporanea marchigiana. Analisi e prospettive di sviluppo», in Geotema, 38, 2009, pp. 18-29.
Proceedings: Manzi E., «Stereotipi del paesaggio e del territorio: l'Italia del luogo comune geografico», in Di Blasi A. (a cura di), L'Italia che cambia. Il contributo della Geografia, Atti del XXV Congresso geografico italiano (Taormina, 1989), Catania, 1989, II, pp. 35-44.
Collective books: Cirelli C. (a cura di), Gli spazi del commercio nei processi di trasformazione urbana, Patron, Bologna, 2007.
Deadlines:Abstract: by July 15th , 2011
Confirmation of acceptance: by July 30th , 2011
Confirmation of participation: by September 1st , 2011
Conference: September 22nd -24th , 2011
Full paper: by October 30th , 2011
- Geography (Main category)
- University of Catania
Catania, Italian Republic
- Friday, July 15, 2011
Attached files
- tourism, creativity, urban practices
- Teresa Graziano
courriel : tgraziano [at] unict [dot] it
Reference Urls
Information source
- Teresa Graziano
courriel : tgraziano [at] unict [dot] it
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Creative Paths of urban tourism », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, July 07, 2011, https://calenda.org/204939


text:
INDEPENDENCE COUNTY, Ark. – An early-morning accident claimed a life Saturday in Independence County.
Early Saturday, Jaxson Bailey Steele, 20, of Swifton, was driving a 2019 Honda ATV west on Pageant Island Road in the Magness community. At 1:29 AM, Arkansas State Police's crash summary report says the Honda slid off the roadway into a ditch.
The vehicle overturned. The report states that the driver was thrown from the ATV into the ditch as it flipped. The young man died in accident.
Weather conditions were cloudy but the roads were dry at the time of the accident, the reporting officer said. Sheriff Shawn Stephens was listed as the officer who completed the report.


text:
CCCTC graduate of the month
Sierra Maney attended the Clearfield County Career and Technology Center (CCCTC), graduating in 2016 from the Culinary Arts and Food Management program. During her time at CCCTC, Sierra indicated her instructor, Mr. Dan Schleiden, taught her about working hard and took the time to work one on one with each student. Sierra said that coming to the CCCTC prepared her for college and the skills, work ethic, and environment helped her stay focused and excel in the program. Sierra chose CCCTC because she wasn't sure what she wanted to do after high school and knew this would be the best way to explore. After graduating from the CCCTC Culinary Arts program, Sierra attended the IUP Academy of Culinary Arts, completing her externship with Wegmans in State College, where she is now an employee. Sierra Maney is only one example of how CCCTC graduates use their education to strengthen the industry in their field of study. To enroll in our Culinary Arts and Food Management Program at CCCTC, call Holly Ryan at 814-768-4603 or visit www.ccctc.edu.


text:
Stay Connected
Sign up to receive text messages from us in the case of an emergency situation (example: severe weather cancellation of an event). Opting-in is easy, and you can opt-out later if you want to.
Check out the pdf below for more info.
Size : 87.742 Kb
Type : pdf
Sign up
Via text messages
Via e-mail
Enter this number:
(630) 427-4778
Text this message:


text:
Grim news has emerged from Qatar, where preparations for the 2022 World Cup are underway. Even though construction on the stadiums has yet to begin, The Guardian reports that the working environment for Nepalese migrants amounts to slave labor. And it's probably going to get worse.
The trouble can be traced to Lusail City development, a $45 billion town being built from scratch that will eventually be home to a 90,000-seat stadium. There, countless Nepalese men have been working in 120-degree heat for days at a time without access to free drinking water and without being paid. Incredibly, it is estimated that one worker per day died during the summer work season.
The Guardian investigation also found that the contractor failed to provide workers with ID cards, relegating them to the status of illegal aliens, and forced them to live 12 to a room in conditions so squalid that illness has rapidly spread. The situation is so bad that at least 60 workers have fled to the Nepalese embassy in Qatar in order to escape.
The real trouble is that there's really no escape, and with the bulk of the World Cup construction still to come, there's a decent chance we'll hear about more malfeasance. "We'd like to leave, but the company won't let us," one worker told The Guardian. "If we run away, we become illegal and that makes it hard to find another job. The police could catch us at any time and send us back home. We can't get a resident permit if we leave."
For what it's worth, the Lusail Real Estate Company overseeing the project is looking into allegations of poor labor conditions highlighted by The Guardian and says it "will take appropriate action against any individual or company who has found to have broken the law or contract with us." But this is just one subcontractor among many, and there's nearly a decade before the big event. Human rights advocates are not optimistic about what's to come. [The Guardian]
Image via Getty


text:
Welcome to GynHälsan Fertility Clinic and Minerva Fertility!
At our fertility clinic in the central part of Uppsala we carry out infertility investigations and treatments such as IVF, donor-IVF and insemination. Furthermore, we offer the possibility to freeze oocytes and sperm for fertility preservation.
Couples as well as singles are welcome, and you can turn to us if you live in any country within the EU.
No referral is needed and we offer treatment without waiting time.
The clinic is centrally located close to the Central Station in Uppsala.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport is located nearby.
Read more about us on our new website www.cmedicalfertilitet.se
+46 (0)18 - 12 80 17
We provide fertility related consultation and conduct infertility examinations.
We offer treatment depending on what our examinations show.
The arrangement and strategy used for the advised treatment is always
read more >
Our treatments:
-hormone treatment for stimulation of ovulation
- insemination with the man's own sperm, or alternatively, donated sperm
- IVF/ICSI; also known as sperm injection or assisted fertilization. The couples´ own eggs and sperm are used, alternatively, the treatment is carried out with donated sperm and/or
eggs (donor-IVF)
- egg freezing and sperm freezing for fertility preservation
read more >
Investigation and advice on infertility is fully funded by the County Council for persons with a Swedish personal identification number; others pay privately.
Parts of continued care/treatment are financed by the County Council, while other parts are privately financed. The possibility of making partial payments is available.
read more >
Personalized treatment
At our clinic we have staff with a high level of competence within the field. We focus on the patient, competency and a flexible way of working. Every treatment that is conducted is individually adapted, based on the background of the patient as well as findings in our examinations.
Some of the health care provided is financed by the County Council (for patients with a Swedish personal identification number), while other parts are fully paid in private.
GynHälsan Fertility Clinic
Kålsängsgränd 10 d, 3rd floor
SE-753 19 Uppsala
+46 (0)18-12 80 17
The clinic is centrally located near Uppsala's Central Station


text:
Tissue Paper Painted Fall Leaves
Toddlers and Preschoolers will love this autumn project. Simply pile small pieces of torn tissue paper onto a sheet of paper and spray with water. The colors from the tissue paper will bleed onto the paper and will merge, mingle and blend to make beautiful subtle patterns. Using fall colored tissue paper (reds oranges and yellows) and cutting out the finished art work into leaf shapes makes beautiful fall leaves. Mount the leaves onto a paper branch for a beautiful fall picture.
Project Info
|Under 15 minutes
|Submitted by
- Pen (Brown is ideal)
- Spray Bottle of water
- Tissue Paper in Fall Colors (Reds, Oranges, Yellows)
- White Card or Paper
- Tear the tissue paper into small pieces
- Scatter over the card or paper
- Spray with water
- Leave to dry completely. Then remove the tissue paper pieces.
- Cut out leaf shapes from the dried. colored paper
- Draw veins on the leaves with a pen
- If desired mount the leaves on another sheet of paper. You oculd draw a tree trunk and branches in brown marker or cut out a branch from paper and then arrange the leaves on those.
- You must ensure that the spray covers the entire paper - the colors will only spread where the tissue paper gets wet
- Not all tissue paper bleeds color - make sure that your tissue paper does before starting this project!
✶✶✶✶✶ Not yet reviewed
Useful supplies- our picks from Amazon for this project:
Related Books- our picks from Amazon for this project:
Related Projects
Project Themes autumn easy fall preschool rainy-day tissue-paper toddler Search by keyword


text:
Here is the new gun notes..
As I type this we have 2 days left in March and a crazy winter it has been. Here in northern Arizona we normally get 20 to 25 feet of snow every winter. This year we have about 3 feet so far, a mere dusting. Other areas that normally don't know what snow is are getting what they consider blizzards. Even down in the deep south. The northern states continue to get slammed with snow storm after snow storm. A really crazy year. Much colder than normal. It's that damn global warming.
Not a whole lot happening in the gun world. Ruger's new plant in the southeast is up and running. Apparently the new American rifles will be coming out of that plant along with a lot of much needed parts. Speaking of parts, they are still non existent for the most part. I have several thousand dollars in parts ordered from TC that have been on order for almost a year but nothing yet.
The ammo situation is still stagnant for the most part. There is plenty of 223 and 308 around but most other calibers are scarce at best. There are several new ammo companies that are just now releasing their new 223 and 308 ammo. When they say the demand for it, they ordered equipment and began to tool up to build it. Now they are finally beginning to produce it and there is no demand for it. One such company is Silverado Ammunition. The ammunition looks great, the packaging is great, but there is simply not a lot of demand for it with the glut of 223 ammo out there.
The situation with rimfire ammo is still bleak. I got one of the mail order catalogs this week from one of the top mail order companies. They were very proud that they have 22 LR ammo. It is in 250 round milk carton type containers and priced at only $38, plus shipping. Now 250 rounds is 5 boxes of 50. And $38 works out to $7.60 a box. Add in the shipping and mishandling and you come out to better than $8 for a box of 50 rounds??? That is something to brag about?? And this ammo is a company that I have never heard of, a company that makes ammo and milks goats for a living. Things are really getting crazy. But I guess that is better than the $150 to $160 a brick of 22 LR we find on gunbroker. I would rather just tell the people asking that we don't have any than rape them for that kind of money. Like the old saying, "what goes around, comes around". It will all come back to bite you in the ass eventually. Every Friday and Saturday we have a constant run of folks coming into our gun shop from California, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico looking for any 22 rimfire ammo. And it is like this all over the country. The 22 Magnum ammo seems to what is completely out of stock everywhere. We haven't seen any of that in months.
On the positive side (there really is one), some of the guns promised are actually being seen in small numbers here and there. Unfortunately some of the new firearms are getting something less than a rousing welcome. Those being the several new companies that are bringing out their own AR-15s. Now I know I am supposed to call them Modern Sporting Rifle or MSR but that sounds so childish. They are AR-15s, why give in to the liberals who hate the term and don't want to hear it. Screw them. It is a damn AR-15, so call it that. If it offends the liberals, that is just tough. This giving in to the whiners and cry babies really bothers me. Just like all the companies that are bringing out no lead bullets. There has never been a condor to die from lead poisoning yet the bullet and ammo companies are rolling over and crying "don't hit me again" and kissing the liberals butts. There is my pet peeve for the day. Now where was I? Oh yes, lots of new AR-15 companies out there that are running about a year late. One year ago anything they brought out in the AR line up would have been gobbled up immediately. These days ARs are a glut on the market with over 30 companies making them. Unfortunately a lot of these companies probably won't be here this time next year.
Speaking of AR-15s. Those of you that buy stripped lowers to build your own, my recommendation is to buy one that has a serial number on it. Apparently the ATF is clamping down on guys that buy the lowers, build guns and sell them without a serial number. You can build it without a serial number but you can't sell it. yet a lot of them are getting out on the market with no serial numbers on them. Pay a few bucks more and get one of the lowers that has a serial number on it.
The U.S. Marines are now being issued the new Colt M45A1 1911s. These are replacing the M45 Expeditionary Unit pistol and the M9A1 service pistol as the issue sidearm for many of the Marine special operations units. This is the first Colt pistol delivered to the U.S. Military since World War 2. To go along with it, Winchester is producing a new 45 ACP ammo especially for these pistols called the Win 1911.
Ruger's new SR-762 has been shipped in small numbers. We got one this past week. It feels to me much like the old original FN-FAL rather than an upsized AR-15. The almost $2000 price tag may slow down sales a bit but I think the gun will be a good one for Ruger.
Several companies have thumbed their noses at California and refused to sell their handguns in that state. This is due to California's micro stamping that is now the law of the land in commie country. This law requires all semi auto pistols not already on California's approved handgun roster to include micro stamping in all future guns. To comply with this insane law, the firearms companies must micro laser-engrave a gun's make, model and serial number on 2 parts of the gun, including the firing pin. In theory all this info would be imprinted on the case head upon firing (many of you know the size of a firing pin, this would be like putting all this info on the head of a large needle) and the "experts" there could read this and tell where the gun came from and by backtracking could come up with the owners name. And guns that are already on the "approved gun list" would not be exempt from this either. If the company changes anything about the gun, even the grips or some small internal part, then they are no longer on the approved list and must do the micro stamping dance. So far Ruger and Smith & Wesson along with a couple of smaller companies have told California to take a long walk off a short pier. Hopefully more will join them. The bad part is this is exactly what California wants. They want no guns in their state at all and the people this will hurt are not the idiot politicians in California, but the average shooter.
There has been strong rumors in the wind over the past year that Obama will enact a law that will ban foreign guns from coming into the states. Several gun makers are working to head off this ill advised law. Glock is now building guns here in the states. Some parts are still coming in marked "Made in Austria" but the new Gen 3 Glock 17 and 22 are made here in the states. The new model 42 is made here and more are to come. Several other foreign companies are following suit, doing their best to set up manufacturing plants here in the states. One of those is Steyr who opened up a huge plant in Alabama recently. They will be producing the Steyr, Merkel, and Anschutz firearms in the new plant.
2014 is the year slated for most of the reloading manuals to be updated. Norma Ammunition is doing so in a big way. Norma has been making ammunition for well over 100 years and this is just their second edition reloading manual. For those that have been around for a few years the name Norma is well known. Way back in the mid to late 70s I used a lot of Norma Auto Mag brass and Norma 44 Auto Mag ammo. It was and still is great ammunition and great brass. This new reloading manual will be a welcome addition to my reloading bench.
I talked to one of the head honchos at Legacy Firearms recently. He said they were getting a LOT of orders for the new M1 Carbine chambered in 9mm. and their new Model 86 rifle which is an authentic reproduction of the Winchester 1886. The gun is chambered in 45-70 with a 26" octagonal barrel. Their model 92 is another extremely popular rifle. This one is the reproduction of the Winchester 1892 and comes in 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum and 45 Long Colt. The M-1 Carbine also comes chambered in 22 LR.
I mentioned the new M-1 Carbine in 9mm to a friend recently and he looked at me strangely and said "why in hell would they do that?" Well, to me it makes a lot of sense. For home defense a 223 or 308 AR type rifle really doesn't make any sense. If you miss the bad guy, which would be normal in a low light late night scenario, where is that bullet going? Out the door or window, and down the street to someone else's house. The 9mm would have no recoil, limited range if the bad guy is missed and limited pass thru problems. Plus the gun is simple to operate, unlike an AR might be to some older people. Any older man is probably familiar with the operation of the M-1 Carbine and teaching a lady to operate one is a 5 minute deal. There have been several other handgun cartridge rifles in the past that I thought were excellent home defense weapons. Marlin's Camp Carbine in 9mm and 45 ACP were two good ones but were not as popular as they should have been. Introduced in 1985 we were not as concerned with home defense back then as today. If they brought them back today they would be a good seller for sure. Ruger's 44 Magnum semi auto carbine is another great home defense weapon as is their newer 9mm and 40 caliber carbines. All great guns for home defense but looked over in most cases in favor of the more powerful carbines.
Recently we introduced our new Kentucky Bowie. This one is a smaller more compact Bowie than out others that we have had thru the years, The new Kentucky Bowie has an 8" blade and features a more curved handle. It is a more compact, easily carried Bowie. This one will be on a custom order basis as is normal, with a 6 week delivery, and with a modest $300 price tag. As in our other Bowies, each knife will be numbered and can be personalized at no extra charge if the customer wants. It seems that a lot of gun makers have introduced knives in their gun line up. Colt has a new knife, as does Browning, H&K, Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Winchester and Kahr. I will have to say that I am not a knife person and my designs are probably a long way from the normal knife design, but I design then from a hunter's standpoint. I don't like fancy little gimmicks. I just want a knife that will do what I want it to in a hunting camp.
Speaking of hunting camps, our most recent HHC (Handgun Hunter's Challenge) is now history. This was our 80th handgun hunt since January 1987. We had a full house that weekend. Someone in Alan's family booked some other hunters in there the same weekend and it was a true full house. We also had more folks show up than I had planned on. I try to get everyone to let me know if they are going but we ended up with 7 or 8 more than I had planned on. That is no big deal as it worked out fine. We had one or two of our people that didn't get their animal as they were a bit wilder and more illusive than they had thought they would be. All in all it was a great weekend with a lot of new folks and even more of the regular Misfits that make just about every HHC. Our next HHC will be on October. I will book it in June and let you know the dates at that time.
Til next time, stay warm, stay well and take a lady or youngster shooting. They are our future.
God bless,


text:
In retrospect, most things seems simple and clear. In retrospect, every challenge pairs with growth. In retrospect, life becomes a movie where the pain of the temporary never quite hits because the hope can be seen on the horizon. Looking back at my time abroad, I can see the lessons, colorful memories, and true friendships. I can see the journey from when I arrived to where I stand now. However, I am not done yet. I have two weeks left in India. Two weeks left to soak it in, to finish my internship, to travel back to Jaipur, to visit with my friends, to finish writing a 20 page paper, and to give a final presentation. Two weeks left to thank the place that has welcomed me, pushed me, broken my heart and put it back together, and that has filled me with awe and exhaustion. I am trying to ground myself in gratitude, to not wish the time away.
However, there are times in every day when I cry for the slow turning of time. Typically, I am not an overly emotional person but something about the last month at my internship, uprooted from my program friends, my supporting teachers, and host family, has left me stuck deep in homesickness (In my program, I take classes the first part of the semester; the last month of my semester is comprised of an internship – not classes). I have managed the majority of my study abroad experience only minorly scathed from the burn of being far from home. There have been days when everything I love feels as far as it is and days when I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through. Yet, each of these days were met by a small group of people from roughly the same place and adapting to the same space at the same time as me. Here, at my internship, I have had to build a whole new community with people from different places, all adapting to India at different paces. However, building up support one loving, kind person at a time, I have found the courage to stand.
I am ready to be home. I am ready to see my family, friends, boyfriend, and dog. I am ready to lie on my couch against a warm fire, go on long runs in the snow, and eat my favorite holiday foods. I am ready. However, readiness doesn't change reality. I want to say that I am holding to hope, grounding myself in gratitude, and appreciating my fleeting time left. There are some moments where I feel like I can and some moments where I feel like those words simply fall through my mouth without sticking to my heart. As I write, as I let the frustration out, as I cry to both my dearest friends and strangers, I realize that even when the words feel empty, I am making it. I am soaking it up, I am feeling this fully. I am ready to be home but I am not going home just yet and I am finally allowing myself to sit in this uncomfortable space of heartache. I am here and I am managing. I am smiling, crying, learning, and loving. In retrospect, I know this time will bring growth. In retrospect, I know my reflection on my time in India will be too full to put into words. In retrospect, I know I will miss the excitement, the life, and the color of these days. Instead of diving with energy and joy, today, I am just trying to feel it all. Thank you for those who read, good luck with finals, and know that you are capable of making it to the end.