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Polypodium.—Common Polypody.
The rhizome and tops of Polypodium vulgare, Linné.
Nat. Ord.—Filices.
COMMON NAMES: Common polypody, Rock polypod, Fern-root, Rock-brake, Brakeroot, Female fern, etc.
Botanical Source.—Polypodium has a perennial, creeping, irregular, brown rhizome, with membranous scales extending to the caudex or base of the stipe. The fronds are 6 to 12 inches high, distiched, green, smooth, deeply pinnatifid, being divided into alternate segments, nearly to the mid-vein, which are linear., oblong, obtuse, crenulate, the upper ones gradually smaller, parallel, a little curved, about a quarter of an inch wide. The stipe is naked and smooth. The fruit is borne on the lower surface of the frond, in large, distinct, golden dots, sori, or capsules, without any indusium, round, in a double row, and becoming finally brownish (W.—Eaton).
History and Description.—Polypody is common on shady rocks, in woods, and mountains throughout the United States. The root and tops are used in medicine. The root is of some length, 2 to 4 lines in diameter, frequently crooked, with chaffy scales, which are readily removed, and having many delicate, knobby rootlets. It has a peculiar, rather unpleasant odor, and a saccharo-mucilaginous, somewhat sickening taste. Water extracts its properties. Its constituents, according to Hager (Handbuch der Pharm. Praxis), are fatty oil (about 8 per cent), resin, some tannin, mannit, dextrose, dextrin, starch, malic acid, and a sweet substance resembling glycyrrhizin.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This plant is pectoral, demulcent, purgative, and anthelmintic. A decoction or syrup as been found very valuable in pulmonary and hepatic diseases, and a strong decoction is recommended as a purgative, and for the expulsion of taenia and other worms. Dose of the powdered plant, from 1 to 4 drachms; of the decoction or syrup, from 1 to 4 fluid ounces, 3 or 4 times a day.
Related Species.—Polypodium adiantiforme, a West Indian plant, is regarded by the natives as a pronounced antisyphilitic, and medical testimony seems to confirm its reputation in that direction. The Central American fern, Polypodium friedrichsthalianum, is said to possess like virtues, and to be a remedy against the bite of the Mexican insect, toboba (New Idea, 1885; from Dragendorff's Heilpflanzen).
King's American Dispensatory, 1898, was written by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D.


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Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, center watches play between Dayton and Stanford during the first half in a regional semifinal game at the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2014, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Welcome back to BracketRacket, the one-stop shopping place for all offbeat NCAA tournament needs. In today's edition, we plumb Richard Sherman's psyche, debunk Peyton Manning's talismanic quality, examine Mitch McConnell's phobia and go channel-surfing with John Calipari. Without further ado:
Stanford was getting sliced-and-diced again as the second half began, right in front of his eyes. Somebody had to step in.
"They need a lockdown defender," a member of the CBS broadcast crew said.
Conveniently, one happened to be sitting nearby. Two if you count Condoleezza Rice.
Richard Sherman's seat at the South Regional in Memphis was a row in front of hers (from Twitter: https://bit.ly/OZBii9 ). But then he got his tickets from Tim Tebow (same agent.).
Rice has been a fellow, a professor and the provost at Stanford, and U.S. Secretary of State, but apparently she doesn't have as much pull. Either way, and other than Dayton clocking the old alma mater 82-72, they appeared to be having a grand time.
You might recall that Sherman, who plays cornerback for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, made sideline reporting hazardous duty for a few minutes a few months ago (via YouTube.com: https://bit.ly/1g5GN4H ).
But Thursday night, he was his off-the-field self, which is to say both engaging and chilled when AP freelancer Clay Bailey asked whether it was tough watching his team get beat without jumping in.
"Not when it's not your sport," Sherman replied coolly. "It's easier to watch when it's not your sport."
That explains a lot.
Meanwhile, the last guy who crossed Richard Sherman's path in his sport probably regrets it still.
That would be his opponent in the Super Bowl nearly two months ago, Denver Broncos quarterback and Tennessee alum Peyton Manning.
Manning's Vols face Michigan on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium — aka "The House That Peyton Built," by turning the once-sorry Indianapolis Colts franchise into a powerhouse before he left town in late 2011. Even if he doesn't put in an appearance during the game, someone asked Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin whether some of the old Manning magic might rub off on his team.
"I hope so," Martin said. "He's texted me several times wishing us good luck."
Decide for yourself whether that's a good thing. There's the recent Super Bowl loss, then there's the time Manning turned up at the women's Final Four at Indy in 2005, when Pat Summitt's Lady Vols lost to Michigan State. And just last October, the Colts spoiled Manning's "homecoming" and ended Denver's quest for an unbeaten season with a 39-33 win.
The Vols will understand if he has a previous commitment to honor — somewhere else.
For a guy with two teams still in it, Mitch McConnell probably can't wait for the tourney to end. It's been one headache after another.
The senate minority leader was raised in Louisville, got his B.A. there, and by most accounts is a rabid Cardinals fan. But he got his law degree from Kentucky.
AP's intrepid congressional reporter, Donna Cassata, tried to get him on the record last year about which team he backs. She looked on helplessly Tuesday as McConnell — who was in the middle of a back-and-forth with reporters about the Ukraine — sidestepped the question yet again, ahead of Friday night's Louisville-Kentucky clash at the Sweet 16 in Indianapolis.
"You know, I didn't get this far in my line of work by answering questions like that," he said to laughs. "That is the hottest issue in our state."
McConnell briefly distracted the gathering by citing an article he'd read that when "college basketball is on, there are more eyeballs watching college basketball in the Louisville, Kentucky, media market than any other media market in the country. So it is a passion in our state."
OK, we get it.
So who you got?
"My law school classmate, the governor, has refused to take a position on this important game," McConnell finally said, "and I think he's got it right."
By recent standards, that was practically a command performance. The other question McConnell has been ducking lately is how a clip of Duke basketball players celebrating their 2010 national championship wound up in a campaign video that hit all the state's other touchstones: horse racing, bluegrass, guns and American flags.
The images of the team in white and blue reveling as confetti rains down was on for no more than a split-second. Even so, a few of those "eyeballs" saw it and nearly popped out of their passionate owners' heads. McConnell's campaign blamed the mistake on the vendor. Might it have been pressure instead?
The incumbent Republican is up for re-election in November, likely against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. If nothing else, she was a lot more candid about her bracket. She picked Wichita State to beat Kentucky (didn't happen) and Florida to beat defending champ Louisville in the title game.
Not saying McConnell's campaign shouldn't be nervous.
But at the moment, Grimes seems more focused on winning her office pool than the senate seat.
Waiting around to play a basketball game can be tough on the nerves. With so many of his highly regarded freshmen finally fulfilling their promise, Kentucky coach John Calipari is worried more about egos.
At Thursday's news conference, he repeated the instructions he gave his young Wildcats when they were finished with practice and under lockdown (presumably) in their hotel rooms. He'd rather they stare at blank walls and then hear about how good they've become.
"Don't watch any TV," Calipari began. "Watch the History Channel, watch Biography, watch the military channel, watch movies and don't read anything, don't look at anything."
He better hope his players aren't nearly as sharp as some his fans (see above). Because the way March Madness is settling in, UK basketball will probably make a cameo on all those channels and more.
We suggest Animal Planet's "River Monsters", which was the go-to show for UConn star Shabazz Napier last year when he wanted to avoid any mention of the tournament. OK, so UConn was barred from last year's NCAAs because of academic sanctions, but they weren't going to get mentioned, anyway. Not only that; it's all fishing all the time.
"I love fishing," said Napier, whose Huskies face Iowa State on Friday night in New York. "And I could get the smallest fish, but I think it's the biggest fish ever."
Quit bragging.
In honor of the bluegrass state, STATS offers handicappers this tip: Based on the experience level of the teams, each of Friday's four regional semifinals is a potential mismatch. Looking at total tournament man-games on each team's roster entering 2014, the matchups break down this way: Michigan State (49 man-games) vs. Virginia (three); Louisville (53) against Kentucky (nine); Michigan (47) battling Tennessee (five) and Connecticut (23) vs. Iowa State (nine).
And they're off!
"People grieve for a year after the game. People celebrate for a year after the game. I've tried to not make it bigger than it is. But it doesn't work." — Calipari on the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry.
Regional Semifinals
South Regional
At Memphis, Tenn.
Dayton 82, Stanford 72
Florida 79, UCLA 68
West Regional
At Anaheim, Calif.
Wisconsin 69, Baylor 52
Arizona 70, San Diego State 64
Regional Semifinals
East Regional
At New York
UConn (28-8) vs. Iowa State (28-7)
Michigan State (28-8) vs. Virginia (30-6)
Midwest Regional
At Indianapolis
Kentucky (26-10) vs. Louisville (31-5)
Michigan (27-8) vs. Tennessee (24-12)

subset: commoncrawl


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Where is the PageRank of my website? If you suddenly saw, that your PageRank is disappeared, do not worry! Your webpages are not nullified.
On April 15, 2016, Google has officially removed toolbar PageRank to the general public. Meaning, internally Google will still be using the data, but it will no longer be visible to the public.
For the uninitiated, PageRank is used to determine the overall authority of a website on a scale of 0 to 10 (PR0 - PR10). For the calculation and determination of Pagerank, Google uses a complex algorithm to consider, inter alia, the value - quality of inbound links from other websites. PR of a webpage, affects the ranking in search results.
The green bar of Pagerank score is gone, so how will we know now the value of a webpage? Perhaps interactions of visitors is the best indicator.
Trabica's specialized staff, is here to help you, by optimizing your webpages!


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Dieter Kiessling
people in mirrors
The photographer Dieter Kiessling (*1957) creates portraits that address the relationship between photographer and person portrayed in a powerful and expressive way. His approach, however, differs fundamentally from that of classic portrait photography: the person opposite becomes a person parallel. The photographer and the person portrayed stand side by side and look at each other in a mirror. By means of this inversion, he not only makes the preconditions of the medium visible. He also portrays himself in the act of taking photos. The result are 100 precise and authentic double portraits, which can be viewed in the new publication.
Here you'll find all our PHOTO books.
Prices incl. VAT plus shipping costs
ready to ship today,
Delivery time appr. 3-5 workdays
August 2018
29,50 × 22,50 cm
216 pages
102 colored illustrations
Hardcover, bound
Languages: German, English
Text by
Dr. Stefan Gronert
Design by
Rolf Hengesbach, Wuppertal / Dieter Kiessling, Düsseldorf


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Easy and cute homemade baby cake
by Parker
(Los Angeles,CA)
Can someone give me ideas for making a homemade cake for a shower? I want it to be cute but it can't be that diffcuilt to make.I dont just want a basic sheet cake. I dont care about flavours it more about decorating the cake.
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SeminarsWorld in Portland ,Oregon
Join our expert SeminarsWorld in Portland to network and learn with your peers in small-group, topic-intensive seminars aligned with the PMI Talent Triangle®, while you earn up to 28 PDUs and 2.8 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).
Register by 18 June for early bird rates, and through 29 July, save on guest rooms at the DoubleTree by Hilton Portland.
SeminarsWorld in Portland – Hotel & Conference Location
1000 NE Multnomah St.
Portland, Oregon 97232
Seminar Pricing
Fees include tuition, seminar materials, certificate of completion, continental breakfast, and lunch. Government employees will be eligible for special discounted government rates available in 2018. Employees must register online and indicate the registration as Government. Registrants will be asked to provide their government ID onsite. If attendee does not provide government ID, they will be charged the regular pricing fee. Any organization registering a group of at least 3 individuals to a specific SeminarsWorld location is eligible to send one additional registrant to a seminar at the same location at no cost.Group discounts apply to the same SeminarsWorld session and location at the same pricing
Visit the event website from here
See Also
Mega SeminarsWorld in Orlando , Florida
SeminarsWorld in Berlin, Germany
SeminarsWorld in Dallas,Teksas, USA
SeminarsWorld in Boston, Massachusetts
SeminarsWorld in Seattle, Washington
PMI Global Conference 2019 Philadelphia, PA, USA
A dedicated Career Coach, Agile Trainer and certified Senior Portfolio and Project Management Professional and writer holding a bachelor's degree in Structural Engineering and over 20 years of professional experience in Professional Development / Career Coaching, Portfolio/Program/Project Management, Construction Management, and Business Development. She is the Content Manager of ProjectCubicle.


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The University of North Carolina at Greensboro is proud to announce a selection of clinical services designed to enrich the knowledge and lives of the people of our community. Please visit the links below to learn about some of the services offered, and how you can get involved in these programs.
The UNCG Psychology Clinic is an outpatient facility offering affordable, high quality mental health services to all people from the Triad area. A non-profit organization, the Psychology Clinic is housed within the Psychology Department at UNCG.
The UNCG Speech and Hearing Center, in operation since 1967, provides a comprehensive service program for diagnosis and therapy in language, speech and hearing for adults, adolescents and young children. The Center is a modern, handicapped accessible facility on the UNCG campus. The Center has eight therapy rooms and observation suites, a large pediatric language room with an observation suite, and two diagnostic suites for hearing evaluations and hearing aid fittings.
The Nicholas A. Vacc Counseling and Consulting Clinic is a state-of-the-art training facility dedicated to providing a wide range of affordable counseling services to the members of the UNCG and greater Greensboro communities. Counseling and consulting services, provided by advanced graduate students and supervised by licensed counseling faculty, focus on strengths, developmental issues, and positive outcomes.


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Harris Treaty
The President of the United States of America and His Majesty the Tycoon of Japan, desiring to establish on firm and lasting foundations, the relations of peace and relationship now happily existing between the two countries, and to secure the best interest of the respective citizens and subjects, by encouraging, facilitating and regulation their industry and trade, have resolved to conclde a treaty of amity and commerce, for this purpose, and have therefore named as Their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:
The President of the United States, His Excellency Townsend Harris, Consul-General; of the United States of America for the Empire of Japan, and His Majesty the Tycoon of Japan, Their Excellencies Ino-oo-ye, Prince of Sinano, and Iwasay, Prince of Higo, who, after, having communicated to each other, their respective full powers, and found them to be in good and due form, have agreed upon, and concluded the following articles:
There shall henceforth be perpetual peace and friendship between the United States of America and His Majesty the Tycoon of Japan and his successors...
In addition to the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate, the following ports and towns shall be opened on the dates respectively appended to them, that is to say: Kanagawa, on the 4th of July, 1859, Nagasaki, on the 4th of July, 1859; Niigata, on the 1st of January, 1860; Hyogo, on the 1st of January, 1863.
... Six months after the opening of Kanagawa, the port of Shimoda shall be closed as a place of residence and trade for American citizens. In all the foregoing ports and towns American citizens may permanently reside; they shall have the right to lease ground, and purchase the buildings thereon, and may erect dwellings and warehouses....
No wall, fence, or gate shall be erected by the Japanese around the place of residence of the Americans, or anything done which may prevent a free egress and ingress to the same.
From the 1st of January, 1862, Americans shall be allowed to reside in the City of Edo; and from the 1st of January, 1863, in the City of Osaka, for the purposes of trade only. In each of these two cities a suitable place within which they may hire houses, and the distance they may go, shall be arranged by the American Diplomatic Agent and the Government of Japan....
The Japanese Government will cause this clause to be made public in every part of the Empire as soon as the ratifications of this Treaty shall be exchanged. Munitions of war shall only be sold to the Japanese Government and foreigners....
Duties shall be paid to the Government of Japan on all goods landed in the country, and on all articles of Japanese production that are exported as cargo, according to the tariff hereunto appended. . . .
The importation of opium is prohibited; and, any American vessel coming to Japan for the purposes of trade having more than four pounds weight of opium on board, such surplus quantity shall be seized and destroyed by the Japanese authorities. All goods imported into Japan and which have paid the duty fixed by this Treaty, may be transported by the Japanese into any part of the empire without the payment of any tax, excise, or transit duty whatever.
No higher duties shall be paid by Americans on goods imported into Japan than are fixed by this Treaty, nor shall any higher duties be paid by Americans than are levied on the same description of goods if imported in Japanese vessels, or the vessels of any other nation.
Americans committing offenses against Japanese shall be tried in American Consular courts, and, when guilty, shall be punished according to American law. Japanese committing offenses against Americans shall be tried by the Japanese authorities and punished according to Japanese law. The Consular courts shall be open to Japanese creditors, to enable them to recover their just claims against American citizens; and the Japanese courts shall in like manner be open to American citizens for the recovery of their just claims against Japanese....
Americans in Japan shall be allowed the free exercise of their religion, and for this purpose shall have the right to erect suitable places of worship. No injury shall be done to such buildings, nor any insult be offered to the religious worship of the Americans. American citizens shall not injure any Japanese temple or shrine, or offer any insult or injury to Japanese religious ceremonies, or to the objects of their worship.
The Americans and Japanese shall not do anything that may be calculated to excite religious animosity. The Government of Japan has already abolished the practice of trampling on religious emblems.
The Japanese Government may purchase or construct in the United States ships- of-war, steamers, merchant ships, whale ships, cannon, munitions of war, and arms of all kinds, and any other things it may require. It shall have the right to engage in the United States scientific, naval and military men, artisans of all kind, and mariners to enter into its service. . . .
After the 4th of July, 1872, upon the desire of either the American or Japanese Governments, and on one year's notice given by either party, this Treaty, and such portions of the Treaty of Kanagawa as remain unrevoked by this Treaty, together with the regulations of trade hereunto annexed, or those that may be hereafter introduced, shall be subject to revision by Commissioner s appointed on both sides for this purpose, who will be empowered to decide and insert therein, such amendments as experience shall prove to be desirable.
This Treaty shall go into effect on the 4th of July, 1859 . . . This Treaty is executed in quadruplicate, each copy being written in English, Japanese, and Dutch languages, all the versions having the same meaning and intention, but the Dutch version shall be considered as being the original....


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At the beginning of Moshe's oration to the Jewish people in the book of Devarim, he says to them:1 "G‑d, our L-rd, spoke to us at Chorev (Sinai), saying: 'Very much have you dwelt near this mountain. Turn around and head toward the Emorite highlands… Behold, I have placed the land before you. Come occupy the land….' "
In one of his comments on the phrase "Very much have you dwelt," Rashi2 notes: "Very much greatness and reward have you received for dwelling at this mountain — you made the Mishkan , menorah and vessels [for the Mishkan]; you received the Torah; you established judges, leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds."
However, the Jews first received the Torah, then established judges, and only then erected the Mishkan. Why does Rashi change the order of these events? Another question: why does Rashi single out the menorah from all the vessels in the Mishkan ? Why not simply refer to "the Mishkan and its vessels"?
There is yet another puzzling matter: The entire subject of G‑d's directive to "turn around, etc." is not even mentioned in the book of Bamidbar, which deals explicitly with the journey from Sinai. Why is this directive mentioned only in Devarim ?
The reason this information is included in Devarim is that Moshe wished at this point to remind the Jews of the course of events, beginning with the time they accepted the Torah at Sinai until the time he addressed them. His point was that G‑d had wanted the Jews to enter Eretz Yisrael soon after receiving the Torah; it was only because of the sin of the spies that they were forced to remain in the desert for 40 years.3
In order to help emphasize this point, Rashi explains that Moshe made note of three things the Jews achieved at Sinai, "you made the Mishkan , menorah and vessels [for the Mishkan]; you received the Torah; you established judges, leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds" — specifically, these events and objects, in this order:
Before the Jews entered their own land and adopted a lifestyle similar to other nations, it was necessary for Moshe to caution them against forgetting their uniqueness.
Moshe therefore had to reinforce the Jews' feeling of being "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,"4 so it would become so deeply ingrained within the people that, even upon entering Eretz Yisrael, they would remain "a special treasure among all nations."5
This is also why the Jews dwelt at Sinai — it was then that they became a complete "holy nation," something that involved three general factors:
The main reason for the Jews having to become a holy nation — "You must be holy for I am holy"6 — was because G‑d in all His holiness dwelt in their midst. This indwelling was accomplished through the Mishkan and its vessels, which served as a constant residence for G‑d's holiness.
Since the emphasis here was on the indwelling of G‑dliness that permeates the Jewish people even after they settle in their land — a holiness that differentiates them from all other nations — Rashi therefore singles out the menorah, which served as "a testimony to the entire world that the Divine Presence resided among the Jewish people."7
Thereafter comes the fact that "you received the Torah," i.e., that the uniqueness of the "holy nation" achieved through the indwelling of the Divine Presence in the Mishkan sanctifies the daily conduct of the Jews. This is accomplished by accepting G‑d's Torah and living according to its teachings and lessons, applying them to one's daily life.
And in order to clearly know the teaching of the Torah, it was necessary to appoint judges, who taught the Jews not only the Torah itself, but also its practical applications in their daily lives.
Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXIV, pp. 12-17


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Ha ha ha…apparently I forgot about blogging over the summer. Whoopsie. In my defense, I was busy drafting the first part of my next novel work-in-progress (a pirate fantasy with bits of Sleeping Beauty, and Greek and Norse myth thrown in), as well as editing the finished draft of another novel (about a Russian ballerina vampire paired with a smart-ass NYC detective). Oh, and I managed to write a novelette this past month, too (a Red Riding Hood reboot)!
See? I was legitimately busy. Yep. Totally not avoiding the blog as if I had only half-brained ideas on what to write…of course not!
Why Stories Always Come First
In all seriousness, I wasn't trying to avoid blogging, dear readers. But when I'm not working at my day job or spending time with my family (including a husband who broke both of his ankles this summer, poor thing), then I'm holed away somewhere working on my next novel project. And querying. Not going to talk about the querying today though. *bites nails at that thought with a small eep*
I love writing. Love. There is nothing better than sitting down on a Saturday afternoon and having the words flow from my fingertips, sharing in the laughter and tears of my characters as I write their heights of triumph and depths of despair. And yes, I do enjoy sticking my characters in a tree and pelting them with as many rocks as I can. Or dangling the promise of danger and romance, only to snatch it away, leaving my characters cursing my name. I think Hess, the dashing male counterpart to my pirate captain main character, can attest to that. He's probably mad at me now, given he's quite enamored with Aurora, the fearless pirate whose ship he's snuck on board; only problem is that she's a woman on a quest and has no time for romantic dalliances. Poor Hess. But hey, at least he hasn't been thrown overboard! Yet…
See, when Hess and Aurora or any of my other characters demand to be heard, I'm obliged to continue writing their story. That makes up for the occasional spells of silence (like now – picture me glaring at my pirates and mentally yelling at them to start talking again). Sometimes those spells of silence are a good thing, however, as I turn to writing short(ish) stories to keep my writing chops up. That's how I came to write my recent fairy-tale retelling of Red Riding Hood, which I'm currently polishing with the help of some lovely CPs. And that fairy-tale retelling has inspired another potential novelette length story that I'm mulling over and about to write soon…if the pirates don't start talking (hint hint, says the writer to her inner thoughts).
Anyway, that's partially what I've been up to over the summer, besides lovely vacations, editing, and grumbling over the process of obtaining a writing retreat in the woods (more on that soon). Thus endeth my poor excuse for not blogging. Annnnnd now it's October! Yeesh.
~Elaine, who is rather random on this fine Saturday afternoon
How do you keep your blogging momentum going? Do you find it necessary if you're in that writing groove? (Non-writers who are bloggers, please chime in, too! I always like to learn from others.)


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Real estate professional Jennie Heal puts her skills as an auctioneer to work for good causes.
By Roger Grody
Supreme Auctions provides an alternative marketing strategy for sellers of luxury real estate. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based firm's President, Jennie Heal, explains, "We saw an opportunity to provide owners the ability to sell their property in a more expedited manner and many times for far more money than traditional real estate can bring." She reports the process has been embraced by sellers, listing agents and buyers.
Since its founding 15 years ago, Supreme Auctions has achieved a 94-percent success rate while selling in 70 different countries. "We're very selective about the properties we auction, accepting only about 10 percent that come to us," says Heal, a veteran broker with extensive experience in international marketing. She joined the company more than 12 years ago as director of marketing before ascending to the position of president. The auction process is familiar to Heal, as this is a prevailing means of selling luxury manors and estates in her native England.
Growing up in rural Somerset, Heal frequently attended auctions with her father, a farmer who enjoyed bidding on cattle and antiques. "I was bitten by the bug at an early age, but remember him saying, 'Keep your hands in your pocket,'" says Heal of those childhood experiences. Even after joining a real estate auction company, the seasoned professional's development as an actual auctioneer occurred very much by accident.
"I was attending an event to raise money for my son's school, and the auctioneer never showed up," recounts Heal. "One of the parents said, 'You work for an auction company … why don't you do it?' and I found myself on stage." After her reluctant debut, another parent commented, "You're really good at this!" When she decided to get serious about auctioneering, Heal attended the Texas Auction Academy and additionally the Professional Ringmen's Institute.
Heal now serves as a charity benefit auctioneer at approximately 50 events per year, but spends a considerable amount of time before each auction with representatives of the nonprofit organization. "I want to thoroughly understand their missions so I can be as effective as possible in raising money for them," says Heal, who views herself equal parts salesperson and auctioneer. "I see myself as a conduit from the nonprofit to the audience and frequently conduct additional pledge donations at the conclusion of the live auction," she explains.
"I was attending an event to raise money for my son's school, and the auctioneer never showed up," recounts Heal. "One of the parents said, 'You work for an auction company … why don't you do it?' and I found myself on stage."
Bringing the spirit of Sotheby's or Christie's to those nonprofit galas, Heal's work has benefitted a diverse array of charities, including Ronald McDonald House Charities, YWCA, Phoenix Zoo, Arizona Foundation for Women, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Legendary for covering all costs of a child's care, as well as the family's travel, housing and food expenses, St. Jude is a particularly personal passion of Heal's, whose brother is a brain tumor survivor. The non-profit has selected her to conduct auctions across the country and Heal never declines an opportunity to raise money for its world-class treatment and research.
Back at her day job with Supreme Auctions, Heal is creating a culture in which giving back to the community is strongly encouraged.
Last year, she and her staff participated as a team, cleaning facilities for Family Promise, an organization that rescues homeless families from the streets. This year, they are planning to work together on a Habitat for Humanity house.
Heal, who lives in Scottsdale with her husband and two children, loves the outdoors. "Any day I am not sat behind a desk is a great day," she quips.


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JADS is a unique cooperation between the Province of North Brabant, the Municipality of 's-Hertogenbosch, Tilburg University and Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). We offer various data science programs. From bachelor and master programs, to EngD (formerly PDEng) education and professional education. Besides, we help organizations shape their data driven future.
At JADS, researchers and students work closely with the business community. In addition to education and research, JADS also offers space for innovative, data-driven entrepreneurship and public-private partnerships.
Impact. Growth. Progress. To embed Data Science into society and continue scientific development. This we achieve by challenging each other, being curious and sharing knowledge. We do this together with students, teachers, scientists and entrepreneurs – from a wide range of sectors and disciplines.
Data science has never been sexier. We've known that for years. And we also want to entice others to make an impact with data. This is only possible by working together and connecting people, sectors and industries.
We aim to make an impact with data science, to make a contribution to society and provide answers to complex issues. By pioneering, we lead the way. And that produces surprising results. This progress makes us proud and fuels our passion for science. That's why we can truly say: We do cool stuff that matters. That is how we make a real difference with data.
See below our latest organizational chart (click for a larger version).
JADS serves as an ecosystem in the province North-Brabant, focusing on value creation for business and society based on data insights with a foundation in education and research.
It acts as a hybrid ecosystem enabler and linking pin connecting regional ecosystem players to applied research throughout JADS in addition to data science related start-ups in 's-Hertogenbosch.


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Dearest seminarians,
Lent, which are about to celebrate, is an important time of the year that gives us an opportunity to prepare ourselves to better gather the fruits of the mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Such fruits can be summed up by the virtues that shine forth in the at once extreme, tremendous and sublime act of the gift of the Son of God, humbled and beaten, on the cross. Jesus says, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (…) For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it" (Lk 9:23-24). These words challenge every baptized person who intends to live with authenticity the call to be Christian, that is a call to holiness. But in an entirely unique way, they exhort all those who are called by God to carry on the mission of Christ the teacher, Chief and Shepherd, to live them in fullness: "He summoned those whom he wanted (…) that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons" (Mk 3:13-15). Therefore, every man who enters the Seminary as a baptised person, and all the more so as one who is called, must meditate upon these words and make them his own.
"Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps" (1Pet 2:21). "To follow in the footsteps" of Christ literally means to walk with Him, where He walks, as He walks. It is therefore a commitment that, from the outset, must factor in sacrifice, because a gift of love without reservations, as is the Son of God's love for us, necessarily comes up against difficulties, incomprehension, mockery, persecution. That is why, if we truly wish to be disciples, we must accept to carry the cross every day, opposing anything that, inside and outside of us, clashes against the law of the Spirit: "I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want" (Gal 5:16-17).
The penitential practices therefore provide a very precious opportunity for us to test our capacity for self-giving and to "train" ourselves to do so without reservations. Lent is just one such opportunity, but it is nonetheless a very special time: contemplating the suffering Servant, especially through the pious practice of the Way of the Cross, teaches us not only to accept but even to love sacrifice, if it is practiced for the love of Christ and of our brethren – following the example of Simon of Cyrene (Mt 27:32; Mk 15:21; Lk 23:26) and of what is confirmed by the centuries-old wisdom of the saints – as a way to partake of and sustain his suffering and his plan of salvation.


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Sweater: J. Crew (on sale for $21!) | Blouse: Nordstrom Rack | Leather Leggings: Anthropologie | Scarf: Vela | Bag: Kate Spade | Booties: Nordstrom | Sunnies: Ray-Ban | Watch: La Mer | Lips: Stila Aria
This sweater is actually the only Neon item in my closet! It's extremely bright – my sister calls it my construction worker sweater – but I love it! Paired with all black and touches of leather and a zipper edge scarf it makes the look edgy yet feminine at the same time. The neon color is an unexpected pop of color during these bitter cold winter days. The best part is this sweater is on sale for $21 and comes in a bunch of lovely hues! Snag your fav color before it sells out!


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Well. This is sad.
Author Ray Bradbury Dies at 91
On my Delicious account, I just linked to the poem that inspired one of his best stories, "There Will Come Soft Rains." (The story can be found here.) Written in 1950, it's an old-fashioned kind of science-fiction story, perhaps, but Bradbury's unique, iconoclastic style cannot be mistaken.
It's too bad we don't have the future he wrote about (except for the nuclear holocaust, obviously). I could think of a lot worse things than living in Bradbury country.
June 6, 2012
"Today is June 6, 2012"
Well. This is sad.
Posted by Unknown on 6/06/2012
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Cyberchase: Race of the Stairs
3m 49s
In order to reach the Good Vibration of Shangri-La, Hacker chooses the stairs with bigger steps, and the CyberSquad must choose the stairs with smaller steps. Both sets of stairs grow at a steady rate: the smaller steps double in number each time they grow, while the bigger steps increase in number by one each time. The CyberSquad members were initially worried that they would not be able to catch up to Hacker, but they end up reaching the Good Vibrations before him.


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GoPro is Quitting Drone Business Blaming Tough Rules in US and Europe
Hi-tech camera firm GoPro is quitting the drone market saying politicians and lawyers had made it impossible for it to be successful.
The company said hundreds of jobs would be lost as it blamed "a hostile regulatory environment in Europe and the United States" for putting paid to its Karma drone venture.
Air safety officials in the US, UK and continental Europe have raised concerns about drone strikes on commercial aircraft.
Meanwhile, privacy campaigners and police forces have issued warnings about people using drones to spy on neighbours or other members of the public.
In a trading statement, GoPro said its Karma drone would be the last one it would make. Once current stocks had been sold, that would be that.
GoPro blamed tough new legislation in the US and Europe for the collapse of its drones business (JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)
The Karma drone was first unveiled in late 2016, but at $799 struggled to compete on both price and reliability with its rivals, such as DJI.
All Karma units were recalled in November that year after a fault was found that caused the machine to lose power.
In its earnings report, the company said that although the Karma "reached the #2 market position in its price band in 2017, the product faces margin challenges in an extremely competitive aerial market".
Together with the tough legal positions in the US and Europe, said GoPro, "these factors make the aerial market untenable".
As a result, GoPro founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman will reduce his 2018 salary to $1 and the company will slash at least 254 jobs to fewer than 1,000 worldwide.
It hopes the moves will save $80m (£59m), and it now expects fourth-quarter revenue of $340m (£250m), a hefty downgrade from its previous forecast of $470m.
Source: GoPro grounds drones business blaming tough rules in US and Europe


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Season's Greetings!
I am thoroughly excited to have joined the urban planning program and Columbia GSAPP. It's such a privilege to work with a community of accomplished faculty, staff, students, and alumni. With its long and storied history, the program has a wealth of experience and energy to draw from, of course not without challenges. The first months of my directorship have been an extended listening tour, with students individually and in group discussions, with our talented faculty and especially those deeply engaged in practice, with our alumni and associated planning organizations, and with our partners at and beyond Columbia GSAPP.
Articulating a vision for the urban planning program has been on our mind a lot lately, not the least given the challenging time we are in. With our home base at Columbia GSAPP and New York City, I see our program connecting the study of the built environment with grounded analysis of socioeconomic and political conditions in globalizing cities, while anchored in sustained engagement with practice and policy. Our curriculum will integrate a humanistic view of the lived experience of urban dwellers with deep understanding of the social, physical, and environmental challenges faced by planners. We will continue to explore the tensions among market forces, civil society, and the goals of planning, paying particular attention to the role of urban analytics and the quest for social justice. Students will learn to analyze and influence collective decisions and efforts to develop and enhance cities and communities towards healthy and sustainable living, social representation and integration, and environmental stewardship.
In the coming months, I hope to continue conversations about how to grow and strengthen our program, and look forward to hearing from and talking with many of you whom I have yet to meet. Students are excited about the spring semester, when the career week (February 7-17), studio reviews, and thesis presentations will all take place, through which they will also connect with alumni and planning organizations. At the 2017 annual conference of the American Planning Association in New York City, we will be hosting an alumni reception on Monday, May 8 – hope to connect there as well.
Happy Holidays!
Weiping Wu, Professor and Director
We welcomed five new full-time faculty members to the program this year: Assistant Professor Hiba Bou Akar (joining us in the spring), with ongoing research on questions of urban security and violence, and spatial politics in Middle Eastern cities; Visiting Professor Nicholas Klein, with expertise in transportation planning and sustainable forms of travel; Assistant Professor Leah Meisterlin, with academic and professional commitment to data-driven research and design, visualization, and critical analysis of sociopolitical, cultural, and economic contexts; Visiting Professor Kian Tajbakhsh whose work relates to the culture of urbanism as well as the governance of cities and metropolitan regions; and Professor Weiping Wu as the Program Director, an internationally acclaimed scholar working on global urbanization with a specific expertise in issues of migration, housing, and infrastructure of Chinese cities. While our dear colleague Elliott Sclar is experiencing "the joys of emeritus status" (in his own words), he continues to be active with several engagements including advising doctoral students and directing the Center for Sustainable Urban Development at the Earth Institute.
After an extensive search process, we are pleased that Margaret Wiryaman will join the UP office as the Program Manager on January 9, 2017. Managing the urban planning program in a full-time capacity, she will coordinate student advising, career services, program administration, and budget. Margaret is a Boston native and received her B.A. in English and Urban Studies from Tufts University, where she worked in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. After graduating, Margaret joined a management consulting firm to nonprofit organizations in the arts, healthcare, higher education, and human services sectors. She looks forward to meeting the Urban Planning community at GSAPP and beyond.
We are also thankful to have the continued support of Leigh Smith, who will assist both the urban planning and historic preservation programs.
Our first-year students will be participating in five studios in Spring 2017. Three of them are based in New York City and two will be traveling to global locations. Four adjunct faculty members (Eldad Gothelf, Floyd Lapp, Ethel Sheffer, and Douglas Woodward) will be leading the former – much appreciated. As a start to collaborate with other programs at GSAPP, the Belfast studio will be led by design faculty Professor Richard Plunz and planning faculty Nicholas Klein, and will involve both architecture and planning students. We also welcomed a new instruction team of two Spanish designers (Jose Luis Vallejo and Belinda Tato). The five studios are:
Spring 2017 will feature new courses that meet growing student interests (thanks to Krithika Prabhakaran for coordinating a student survey) and enhance our program strengths, including Complete Streets Seminar; Design and Planning for Risks, Crisis and Disaster; Digital Restructuring of Urban Space; Exploring Urban Data with Machine Learning; On Spatial Exclusion and Planning; Practicum: Residential Planning in Global Cities; and Social Entrepreneurship and the Urban Built Environment. We are excited to welcome several new adjunct faculty members to teach these: Kate Dunham has worked in a number of global cities in residential design/planning and also teaches in GSAPP's real estate development program; Thaddeus Pawlowski works in NYC Department of City Planning, including in the Mayor's Office of Housing Recovery Operations during Sandy recovery; Kazuki Sakamoto, a UP alum, has been teaching at Barnard and works for Goldman Sachs in the technology division; Kairos Shen was the chief planner for Boston for more than a decade and also teaches at MIT; and Dr. Laura Wolf-Powers, an expert in economic development, has taught at U Penn, Harvard GSD, and Pratt.
Congratulations to second year UP student Sahra Mirbabae for being awarded the TransitCenter Transit Policy Innovator Scholarship by the Advancing Women in Transportation, Greater New York Chapter. This scholarship was granted with the intent to support women who are planning on pursuing careers in the realm of improving transit policy and governance.
Students are actively engaged in a wide range of internships, including BFJ Planning, BuroHappold Engineering, FCNY Community Planning Fellowship (7 students assisting community boards), Monadnock Development, NYC Department of City Planning, NYC Department of Transportation, Philip Habib & Associates, Regional Plan Association, and Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council.
This semester UP organized three tours to agencies and firms within New York City to give students exposure to different careers and opportunities available to urban planners. The three visits were to the New York City Office of Emergency Management (NYCOEM), New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), and HR&A. Each visit provided unique insight into various projects, skill-building, and ways to implement academic learning into practice.
Seven UP students attended the NYCOEM Tour on Sept. 23. The event began with a presentation from Jim McConnell, Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Data and Special Projects, where he showed students how GIS data is quickly gathered and implemented to make strategic maps for city-wide emergency situations. Following the presentation, students were given a tour of the agency by UP alum Heather Roiter Damiano, Director of Hazard Mitigation.
Eighteen UP students attended the NYCEDC Tour on Oct. 28. The event started with a short presentation about NYCEDC, a not-for-profit corporation that promotes economic growth across New York City's five boroughs. GSAPP alumni who work in construction/assessment, real estate development and consulting gave short presentations about their work, and after the presentations students had the chance to mingle with employees.
Established by urban planning students from Columbia University's GSAPP, the Urban China Network (UCN) serves as an international platform that allows students, scholars, experts, and entrepreneurs who care about urban development issues in China to communicate and interact. On October 15, UCN held the 3rd Urban China Forum with the theme Sharing Smart and Sustainable Urban Development in Chinese Cities. Scholars from top universities across the world and practitioners from the NYC Department of City Planning, CDP, and a law firm came to Columbia GSAPP and discussed urbanization issues in China. The forum generated plenty of positive feedback from the guest speakers and audience. UCN would like to extend the greatest thanks to the director and program's support and everyone's participation in the Urban China Forum.
PSO organized a Fall hike this semester to Anthony's Nose. Eleven planners braved the cold rainy day to to climb the peak, a part of the Appalachian Trail, along the Hudson River. To our delight, the rain stopped as soon as we got off the Metro-North train, and we enjoyed a nice picnic at the top of the peak while taking in the scenic views overlooking the Bear Mountain Bridge.
PSO also organized the annual Thanksgiving UP potluck, which was hosted at the UP lounge. It was a full-house with a large number of planners in attendance who enjoyed a light-hearted evening complete with food, drinks, music and laughter!
Students and Faculty celebrated the end of the Fall semester at the annual Pecha Kucha Night and URBAN Magazine issue launch on Friday, December 9 (thanks to organization by the UP Program Council and URBAN Magazine). The Pecha Kucha presentation format gives each presenter 20 slides with 20 seconds to explain each slide. This year's theme was climate change, and professors Kaz Sakamoto, Leah Meisterlin, and Peter Marcotullio, all of whom will be teaching courses in the Spring, approached the theme from a variety of angles, from ways to collect data to the future of energy in the United States. Following the presentations, GSAPP's student-run journal, URBAN Magazine, released their Fall edition, which features articles and illustrations from students and faculty.
Cher, a digital platform-as-provocation and part of a year-long strategic intervention on the platform economy commissioned by the 2016 Oslo Architecture Triennale: After Belonging, launched its beta-form in September with the opening of the Triennale in Norway. The exhibition in Oslo included a chroma key photo booth installation representing portions of the project's research and position. In November, Leah co-hosted a finissage roundtable at the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen to review and discuss the project. Related speaking engagements this semester included presenting on critical datapractices at the AIA Center for Architecture (hosted by the Center's social science committee) and delivering a talk on data analysis and visualization with respect to "Geographies of Difference" at the School of Visual Arts Design Research program's lecture series. In October, Leah co-presented a paper at the Urban History Association conference that introduced spatial methods of analyzing the relationship between New York City's street grid morphology and its patterns of land use.
At Columbia, Leah continued to work with the Rikers Education Program and Columbia's Center for Justice, teaching the Rikers Studio in Architecture and Urban Planning. She was also selected to speak alongside some of the country's most incredible women leaders at the annual Columbia Women's Leadership Conference. Leah also recently received a grant from the University's Provost office for the exploratory phases of a new research project, "DISTANCED: Intersectionality & Gendered Experience of American Urban Space," which will begin in early 2017.
As the Vice President and President Elect of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Professor Weiping Wu organized two big-ideas sessions at the association's annual conference in Portland in November. One was titled Global Displacements and the Ethics and Politics of Planning, and the other Rendering Spatial Justice: Building the Institutional Infrastructure for a Spatially Inclusive City. Addressing timely and important issues, they both attracted large audiences. She was invited to speak at the Harvard University's Decoding Asian Urbanism conference, at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, on a panel on Can China Truly Innovate at the Overseas Press Club, and on a panel Design for Survival: Presenting the United Nation's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at Design Miami. Her two recent publications include ""Urban Residents' Attitudes toward Migrant Workers: General Assessment and the Role of Social Participation" in an edited book Confronting the Challenges of Urbanization in China: Insights from Social Science Perspectives, and "The Reshaping of Social Relations: Resettled Rural Residents in China" in the journal Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning.
Looking for at least one positive from the recent national election, let's launch a massive new infrastructure program to upgrade and expand our facilities and services! These efforts usually stimulate the economy and put people to work. A dual funding strategy is needed that focuses on state of good repair/ normal replacement and implementing delayed expansions. With the national budget focused on Social Security /Medicare payments and fighting wars, innovative and new funding sources are needed. Fortunately, many innovative approaches exist but they need to be applied much more than they are currently used. A national infrastructure bank, transit impact fees and public-private partnerships are just a few examples. However, a major new potential funding program, that also has bipartisan support, deals with taxing foreign corporate profits. The current untaxed amounts are estimated to be between $2-3 trillion dollars. If these were taxed at the required federal tax rate of 35%, the yield could approach 1 or more trillion dollars. In addition, we should also apply the lessons learned from the Obama stimulus package of 2009 during the deep recession. Then and now we had one party in charge in the executive and legislative branches so timing is crucial to have this initiative effectuated. Floyd Lapp, FAICP
The Lectures in Planning Series (LiPS) planning committee brought together a wide range of thought-provoking lectures for the GSAPP community. The speakers engaged students and faculty by discussing their work and bridging the field of urban planning with various disciplines, from health to politics. The semester began with a former UP Director Susan Fainstein's talk on diversity in planning, and her emphasis on a "just city." Annette Kim discussed her years of field work in Ho Chi Minh City developing methods of spatial ethnography to understand the city's vibrant street life, which was published in her book, Sidewalk City: Remapping Public Space in Ho Chi Minh City. Other speakers focused on the role politics plays in development, such as Visiting Professor of Urban Planning Kian Tajbaksh, who presented his work on understanding how different types of institutional design make a difference in planning outcomes by using the case study of Tehran, Iran. Michelle Wilde Anderson from Stanford University presented a timely talk on the unintended consequences of government spending cuts on rust belt cities. These LiPS lectures gave students and faculty new perspectives on topics in urban planning, and planned spring semester talks promise to be equally engaging. Faraz Butte, M.S.UP 2018
The Lectures in Planning Series (LiPS) is a student-run initiative of the Urban Planning program at Columbia University's GSAPP. All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information or to make program suggestions, email email@example.com.
The year 2016 marks 100 years of New York City's historic zoning ordinance. The GSAPP UP Ph.D. students, with leadership by Professor Elliott Sclar and with support from the UP faculty and Dean Andraos, held a series of events to critically engage with zoning policies in New York City and in other cities and regions around the world. The first event took place in March, and featured a New York-focused panel reflecting on the zoning centennial that was moderated by New York Times critic Charles Bagli. On the evening of December 8, GSAPP UP, the Municipal Arts Society (MAS) and the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) jointly hosted an event commenting on a recent MAS report, "The Accidental Skyline". In a panel moderated by Edith Hsu-Chen, the Manhattan Director of New York City's Department of City Planning, scholars, practitioners, developers, and architects reflected on the recent advent of "supertall" towers in New York City and the role that zoning has played in facilitating such development. The event also featured a tour of a new MCNY exhibit, "Mastering the Metropolis: New York and Zoning: 1916-2016". Eric Goldwyn, a GSAPP UP Ph.D. recent graduate, is the associate curator for this exhibit, which is on view at MCNY through April 23, 2017.
On December 9, the GSAPP UP Ph.D. students held a day-long conference, gathering planning scholars and practitioners to critically engage with zoning as a regulatory instrument for planning, architecture, design, as well as an agent for economic, environmental and social justice. The agenda for the conference was to recenter zoning as an object of study at the heart of planning and to consider ways that it can be treated as a powerful tool for practice, while also remembering zoning's 'dark' role in promulgating racial exclusion.
The day of events commenced with opening remarks by conference organizers Valerie Stahl and Bernadette Baird-Zars, followed by a welcome by Dean Amale Andraos. The keynote speaker, Harvard Graduate School of Design Professor Jerold Kayden, kicked off the discussion by outlining six propositions to contextualize the direction of zoning in planning scholarship, practice, and education: zoning is not planning; it is reinventable; it is for sale; it should revisit privileging neighbors and communities; it should be transparent and understandable; and it should be taught in design schools.
The conference was then organized into three panels. The first panel, Exclusionary Zoning: Technical Processes of Social Segregation, was moderated by GSAPP UP Professor Lance Freeman. The panel articulated the detrimental historical legacies and continued effects of discriminatory zoning today. The speakers were University of Maryland Professor and Dean Sonia Hirt, NYU Professor Ingrid Gould Ellen, UNC-Chapel Hill Assistant Professor Andrew Whittemore, and Berkeley scholar Moira O'Neil. The second panel, Zoning in Situ: Enforcements and Circumventions, moderated by GSAPP UP Professor Weiping Wu, presented evidence of the ongoing subversion of zoning regulations in cities around the world. The speakers were SIPA Assistant Professor Paul Lagunes, Harvard Assistant Professor Sai Balakrishnan, University of Illinois at Chicago Professor Rachel Weber, and McGill University Associate Professor Raphaël Fischler. In the last panel, Inclusionary Policies: Zoning's New Hope, moderated by GSAPP UP Professor Emeritus Elliott Sclar, discussants presented forward-looking policies that are currently using zoning as a bargaining tool to capture public benefits for urban residents. Speakers included New York City Housing Commissioner Vicki Been, UP Ph.D. Candidate Lauren Ames Fischer, Director of the Department of Land Use at the Sao Paolo Municipal Department of Urban Planning Daniel Montandon, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Community Planning and Development at HUD Harriet Tregoning.
Click here to see full event details and watch a video from the event.
Nausheen H. Anwar, UP Ph.D. '07, is currently Associate Professor City & Regional Planning, Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts (SSLA), Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, Pakistan. She has been busy with two post-docs (first at Harvard University and later at the Asia Research Institute, National University Singapore), and researching, writing and publishing on various interrelated themes such as infrastructures, urbanization, gender and climate change; her work focuses on Pakistan. Nausheen is the recipient of several grants. This includes a 3-year CAD 500,000 IDRC grant on understanding the links between gender, vulnerability and violence in urban Pakistan; Final Report can be found here. In a new AHRC/EHRC grant, Nausheen has partnered with the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London to investigate climate change and the gendered politics of land dispossession in Pakistan, looking specifically at mega-infrastructure projects that involve Chinese foreign investment.
Sarah Bowen, M.S. UP '00, has been with Michael Baker International for 12 years focusing on hazard mitigation, floodplain management, and resiliency planning. She would love to hear from alumni and students working on or interested in similar topics. Her most recent win is her firm's third update of the Pennsylvania State Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Gavin Browning, M.S. UP '08, has just completed a project called Housing Works History, funded by the Graham Foundation. It is a history of the housing and services built by the organization Housing Works, and it will launch on February 21 at the New York Public Library. More information about the Graham Foundation can be found here.
Maurie Cohen, M.S. UP '87, is Professor of Sustainability Studies and Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is also Associate Fellow at the Tellus Institute, co-founder and Executive Board Member of the Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI), and Editor of the journal Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy. His most recent book is The Future of Consumer Society: Prospects for Sustainability in the New Economy (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Nan Ellin, Ph.D., M.S. UP '83, is now Dean at the University of Texas Arlington since January 2015. Since she has been Dean, the sponsored research of the Institute of Urban Studies has grown exponentially (by 1,200%). This article just appeared in the October issue of 8D Magazine8, a popular Dallas city magazine. Also, this interview appeared in Columns, the Dallas AIA Magazine. She would be happy to meet with any Columbia alumni who may be interested in teaching at UTA.
Dr. Harvey Fialkoff, M.S. UP '75 / UP Ph.D. '83, currently lives in Israel and works as a planning consultant and university lecturer in planning. Some examples of the planning projects that he is currently involved in are: a new neighborhood in Tel Aviv on a site of an airport that is schedule to be closed, a revitalization of an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem and a policy study for diversity and inclusion for the Ministry of Social Equality.
Alexandria Fiorini, M.S. UP '15, works as an environmental planner at LSA, an employee-owned consulting firm in California. She is also currently working on National Environmental Policy Act and California Environmental Quality Act compliance for the California High Speed Rail Project.
James Garland, M.S. UP '02, has worked in various modes within the U.S. Department of Transportation for over 14 years. His career has led him to positions in Atlanta, Seattle, and now Washington, DC. Currently, James is the Team Leader for the Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program at the U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration. The TPCB Program is designed to help decision makers, transportation officials, and planning practitioners resolve the increasingly complex issues they face when addressing transportation needs in their communities. This comprehensive program for training, technical assistance, and support targets State, metropolitan, local, regional, and Tribal governments, transit operators, and community leaders. James is currently launching a new effort surrounding the concept of Megaregions, in addition to implementing the recent reauthorization bill better known as Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act.
Ebru Gencer UP Ph.D. '07, is the founding director of the Center for Urban Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience, a non-profit research organization based in New York City and also the Chair of an advisory team to the UN Office for Risk Reduction.
Jennifer Jacobs Guzmán, M.S. UP '07, has been working at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development since 2007, first in the agency's Planning Division then a role working with the agency's Strategic Planning team. Since 2013, she has been working with the agency's Division of Special Needs Planning, which is responsible for managing two loan programs for the city that serve low income homeless, disabled and senior New Yorkers. Jennifer currently live in Mamaroneck, NY with her family, and serves on the board of the Washingtonville Housing Alliance, a small affordable housing organization In Mamaroneck.
Dan Hewes, M.S. UP '15, has been actively working in NYC since graduation this past May. He was a manager at a NYCHA non-profit and is now doing project development for a site called Gowanus Bay Terminal (GBX) in Red Hook (which was also the same site as his studio in 2014). He would love to stay in touch with the current class and is offering any students to reach out if they are interested in wanting to learn more.
Patrick Emmanue Ramos Jalasco, M.S. UP '15, is currently workings for Palafox Associates in the Philippines. Palafox Associates is a multi-disciplinary firm that mainly focuses on architecture and urban master planning. The firm is doing a lot of urban planning projects since urban planning has become a salient issue the past few years. A lot of cities and municipalities in the country do not have any land use/urban development plans so a lot of city government officials seek the firm's help in creating land use plans for their respective cities. Patrick's advice for students is to take advantage of the resources at Columbia. There are a lot of resources outside of GSAPP that are just as crucial to planning, and they're paying tons of money for their education so might as well learn as much as you can from a prestigious institution.
Andrew Lassiter, M.S. UP '16, graduated in May and has been teaching for the past semester in the Center for Labor Studies at SUNY Empire State College (in the program coordinated by UP faculty Moshe Adler). And this past semester he started a research position with a Tel-Aviv based startup called Madlan that is expanding to NYC. His recommendation to current students, is to recognize that it's never too early to start networking. Go to conferences, lectures, and presentations, follow up with people you meet, and put yourself out there. Use your thesis as an opportunity to meet people in the areas of the planning world that interest you!
Joyce Nasozi, M.S. UP '08, has worn many hats since graduating in 2008, but for the past five years, she has been running her own home decor company. She currently lives in New York City and works with local tailors and importers, as well as fair trade artisans in Uganda to produce her collections, available online and at a variety of independent stores throughout the country. It is her spin on social entrepreneurship, and much of her model is based on what she learned in urban economics curing her studies at GSAPP. Please visit her website here.
Cuthbert A. Onikute, M.S. UP '13, is running a business in Guinea-Conakry that collects and process solid waste in secondary cities into things like fertilizer, briquettes, recyclable materials, and energy. They are currently serving over 450 customers and aim to be serving 1200 customers within the next three months. Our goal to be serving over 5000 customers within the next 12 months and over 8000 within the next 18. If any students are interested in gaining hands on experience, using their GIS experience, or just with a social enterprise working in fast growing cities of West Africa, Cuthbert would be happy to chat with any students who may have an interest or questions.
Devan Reiff, M.S. UP '01, is currently a planner with the City of Oakland, California. During the last nine years, he has worked on long-term planning processes, citywide rezoning, and retaining the City's major sports franchises (Oakland Raiders, Oakland A's and Golden State Warriors) while promoting new development at the publicly-owned Coliseum site; managing a once-a-decade City Council redistricting. He is currently working on a new permitting program for mobile food vendors. GSAPP students and alumni are welcome to contact him to discuss the ever-changing planning landscape in the Bay Area.
Sonal Shah, M.S. UP '08, is an architect-urban planner with 12 years' experience across two dozen cities in India. She currently leads ITDP India's urban planning research, projects and publications and their upcoming program on Gender and Sustainable Transport. Some relevant projects include formulating a state level transit-oriented development policy in Jharkhand, coordinating street design and public space improvement in Prahlad Nagar (Ahmedabad), participate as a Committee member and review chapters of India's first Urban Roads Manual. Some of her past work included engendering India's national urban planning guidelines, improving pedestrian accessibility in Mumbai, public space design in Naya Raipur, formulating a redevelopment policy and urban design proposal for the textile mill lands in Mumbai. Sonal has presented in national and international conferences such as Walk 21 (Munich), Ecomobility Coference (Changwon), Mobilize Yichang, Urban Planning and Violence (Ahmedabad), ConnectKaro (Mumbai). She has also conducted workshops/ taught Master classes at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Studio-X Mumbai, KRVIA Mumbai and with students of the JJ School of Architecture and Barnard. An active participant of the Columbia Alumni Association of India, Sonal has been instrumental in conceptualizing the Chai and Chat talks - a series of small informal conversations between prominent Columbia alums and other alumni in India. Sonal looks forward to being more involved with the urban planning program to encourage more India-based studios, internships and placements.
Maxwell Sokol, M.S. UP '12, was elected President of the American Planning Association (APA) New York Metro Chapter. He will assume this role in January 2017. In August, he was also promoted to Lead Planner at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Brian Stokle, M.S. UP '06, co-wrote a white paper for the San Francisco Bay Area think tank SPUR on planning a second Transbay crossing which is similar to a Trans Hudson Tunnel, but longer. He is also advocating with the small but effective group, Connect Oakland, calling for the removal of a freeway, and replacing it with a transit rail tunnel, boulevard housing, office and other development. He is currently working as a planner at the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department. Recent projects include shadow studies, preparing managed retreat of Ocean Beach due to sea level rise, and planning for improving some parks through community outreach.


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The Federal Funds, Prime and LIBOR Rates
The Federal Funds Prime
Understanding the Funds Rate
Perhaps less clear is whether a change to this interest rate, known as the federal funds rate, impacts you on a personal level. If you have a credit card, an adjustable-rate mortgage or a private student loan, it probably does. Many variable-rate financial products are tied to either of two benchmark rates—prime or LIBOR. And while the Fed doesn't control these rates directly, they do tend to move in the same direction as the federal funds rate.
According to U.S. regulations, lending institutions have to hold a percentage of their deposits with the Federal Reserve every night. Requiring a minimal level of reserves helps stabilize the financial sector by preventing a run on banks during times of economic distress. What happens when a U.S. bank is short on cash at a given time? In this case, it must borrow from other lenders. The funds rate is simply the rate one bank charges another institution for these unsecured, short-term loans.
So how does the Fed influence this rate, exactly? It has two main mechanisms it can use to achieve the desired target rate: buying and selling government securities in the open market and changing the required reserve percentage.
How the Fed Manipulates the Interest Rates
When the Fed buys or sells government securities in the open market, it adds or reduces the amount of cash in circulation. This way, the Fed dictates the price of borrowing among commercial banks. Let's say the committee agrees that the economy needs a boost and decides to reduce its target rate by a quarter of a percentage point. To do this, it buys a specific amount of government securities on the open market, infusing the financial system with cash. According to the laws of supply and demand, this influx of cash means private banks aren't able to charge each other as much for loans.
Therefore, the rate for overnight lending among commercial banks goes down. If the Fed wants to increase the rate, it could do the opposite by going into the open market and selling government securities. This reduces the amount of cash in the financial system and encourages banks to charge each other a higher rate.
Changing the required reserve percentage has a similar effect but is seldom used. Reducing the required reserve percentage increases excess reserves and cash in the system. The opposite is true when increasing the required reserve percentage. The reason that this is not a very common approach by the Fed is that it is considered the most
powerful tool for influencing economic growth. Given the magnitude of the U.S. financial
system, its movements are felt worldwide, and a minimal change in the required reserve percentage
could have a bigger impact than desired.
Relationship to Prime
While most variable-rate bank loans aren't directly tied to the federal funds rate, they usually move in the same direction. That's because the prime and LIBOR rate, two important benchmark rates to which these loans are often pegged, have a
close relationship with federal funds.
In the case of the prime rate, the link is particularly close. Prime is usually considered the rate that a commercial bank offers to its least risky customers. The Wall Street Journal asks 10 major banks in the United States what they charge their most creditworthy corporate customers. It publishes the average on a daily basis, although it only changes the rate when 70% of the respondents adjust their rate.
While each bank sets its own prime rate, the average consistently hovers at three percentage points above the funds
rate.1 Consequently, the two figures move in virtual lock-step with one another.
If you're an individual with average credit, your credit card may charge prime plus, say, six percentage points. If the funds rate is at 1.5%, that means prime is probably at 4.5%. So, our hypothetical customer is paying 10.5% on their revolving credit line. If the Federal Open Market Committee lowers the rate, the customer will enjoy lower borrowing costs almost immediately. The Federal Funds Prime.
The LIBOR Connection
While most small and mid-sized banks borrow federal funds to meet their reserve requirements—or lend their
excess cash—the central bank isn't the only place they can go for competitively priced short-term loans.
They can also trade eurodollars, which are U.S.-dollar denominated deposits at foreign banks. Because
of the size of their transactions, many larger banks are willing to go overseas if it means a slightly better rate.
LIBOR is the amount banks charge each other for eurodollars on the London interbank market. The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) group asks several large banks how much it would cost them to borrow from another lending institution every day. The filtered average of the responses represents LIBOR. Eurodollars come in various durations, so there are actually multiple benchmark rates—one-month LIBOR, three-month LIBOR, and so on.
Because eurodollars are a substitute for federal funds, LIBOR tends to track the Fed's key interest rate rather closely. However, unlike the prime rate, there were significant divergences between the two during the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009.
The following chart shows the funds rate, prime rate, and one-month LIBOR over a 10-year period. The financial upheaval of 2008 led to an unusual divergence between LIBOR and the funds rate.
Fed Funds data
(Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
Part of this has to do with the international nature of LIBOR. Many foreign banks around the world also hold eurodollars. As the crisis unfolded, many hesitated to lend or feared that other banks wouldn't be able to pay back their obligations. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve was busy buying securities in an effort to bring down the funds rate for domestic lenders. The result was a significant split between the two rates before they once again converged.
If you happened to have a loan indexed to LIBOR, the effect was sizable. For instance, a homeowner with an adjustable-rate mortgage that reset during late 2008 may have seen their effective interest rate jump more than a full percentage point overnight.
Special Considerations
Two of the most prominent benchmark rates, prime and LIBOR, both tend to closely track the federal funds rate over time. However, during periods of economic turmoil, LIBOR appears more likely to diverge from the central bank's key rate to a greater extent. For those with a LIBOR-pegged loan, the consequences can be significant.
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It is rightly said that youth is the age of angst, confusion, turmoil and unresolved issues. Getting to select a career line, through formidable, can also be an easy affairs. You should need to complement your propensities and abilities; this may necessitate change to match the other and vice-versa. This is an important decision because you will be devoting enormous time of your life for your job in your forthcoming life.
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Listed below are some of the packages that MBA provides you for a promising career:


text:
Categories > Celebrities > 30 Seconds to Mars
Ode to Shanimal1 review
An ode to Shannon Leto. Warning: All views expressed in this fanfic are the views of the authors alone and said authors take no responsibility for offence that may be cuased by these views.
Ode to Shanimal
(#) Cerediwen 2007-07-10laughs Nice, and nods Kinda true but Shannon is more wonderfully wonderful in his own unique and totally awesome way smiles
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text:
Healthy Weight & Body Image during Sleep: Guided Self-Hypnosis Exercises
This audio program of self hypnosis for weight loss and healthy eating instills positive behavioral change while promoting a healthy body image during the receptive mind-state of sleep, an ideal environment for enhanced learning and behavior change.
A perfect complement to the Healthy Weight & Body Image program, this compelling hypnosis for losing weight also serves as a stand-alone therapeutic tool and sleep aid, designed to enhance and deepen restorative nighttime sleep while reinforcing motivation and success through this hypnosis for healthy eating.
Guided imagery is a mind-body technique that consists of hypnotic suggestions, healing words and positive images, set to soothing wave sounds, to achieve the specific healing goals of healthy eating and positive body image. Repeated listening ensures maximum, cumulative and lasting impact. A separate track of continuous wave sounds ensures that the listener can stay in deep sleep long after the guided narrative of the self-hypnosis to lose weight is over.
This evidence-based Health Journeys™ self-hypnosis for body image and weight loss was written and narrated by noted psychologist and behavioral health expert Traci Stein, whose superb voice and expert content delivers some of the most powerful and effective personal change tools in production today, and scored to soothing, sleep-inducing wave sounds engineered by the Cleveland Orchestra's Bruce Gigax. It is an ideal mind-body resource for psychologically healthy, lasting behavior change. The track list is as follows:
- Introduction (2:43)
- Imagery with Ocean Sounds (32:49)
- Ocean Sounds (40:36)
Especially helpful for those who have sabotaged their own best intentions during the daylight hours, or for anyone who feels they can use the extra help available from the potent, receptive mind-state of sleep, this exciting new audio program of self-hypnosis to lose weight is the perfect platform for Traci Stein's superb technique and nuanced, psychological approach to building a strong body image and self-concept.
Listen to an audio sample and see for yourself why Dr. Stein's popular guided self-hypnosis audios get such consistent rave reviews and referrals from therapists, health care providers, counselors, family and friends alike. (75 min.)
Item Number: 22257225
|Item Number
|Traci Stein, PhD
|Sample 1
|HJ SMPL Healthy Weight and Body Image during Sleep.mp3
Traci Stein, PhD, MPH, is a practicing psychotherapist, health educator, author and Columbia-trained clinical psychologist, who is ASCH-certified in clinical hypnotherapy. Her passionate commitment to mind-body healing has spanned two decades.
|Apple ID


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Protetores da Floresta
Recent searches
Quick Links
The forest speaks.
But before listening, we need to take
a close look at it.
For decades, human activity has disturbed the balance between fauna and flora. A tour into the Amazon forest guided by those who are reconstructing this history is the best way to connect with nature and meet real Guardians of the Rainforest.
Episode 1
Guided by the biologist Andre Rezende and the parabotanist Delmo, we will discover the biodiversity of the Carajás National Forest, the Vale Zoo and Botanical Park, and the famous golden parakeet, a species threatened with extinction
Episode 2
In this episode, we take off on a helicopter trip to see the partnerships that contribute to the conservation of the forest.
Episode 3
The Brazil nut tree is an icon of the Amazon Rainforest, but it restricted to some conservation units. Researchers will show us the complex operation to maintain this species in an episode about the recovery of degraded areas.
Episode 4
t's time to learn about the forest's DNA, the genetic codes that reveal important information and point out new and promising paths to science.
Check out Vale's activities
The Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade) and Vale are working together to protect the largest area of continuous forest in the south and southeast regions of Pará. Conservation of this area is an important measure in reducing global warming due to the maintenance of the forest carbon stock. This is just one of the examples of the partnerships forged by Vale to protect the Amazon.
Vale is reforesting pasture areas acquired in Serra Sul by creating ecological corridors in addition to restoring the region's fauna and flora. Since the start of the project, 1,045 hectares have been reforested and 3,853 are being recovered through partnerships established by the Vale Fund.
The company has invested R$ 792 million in research in biodiversity and study of species genomes and climate change through the Vale Institute of Technology (ITV). ITV is dedicated to research and studies focused on sustainable development and mining, which help understand future scenarios according to climate change, forecast which forests are at risk to be extinguished, and understand the types of native vegetation in a region.
The Biopark Vale Amazônia, maintained and managed by Vale, is in a Federal Conservation unit within the Carajás National Forest. The Park was created in 1985 in an area of 30 hectares, which is home to native species of Amazonian fauna and flora including birds, agoutis and monkeys that live freely in the areas of visitation, providing visitors a unique experience of immersion in the Amazon rainforest.
"Biodiversity is important to humanity because it is the source of medicines and ecosystem services, but it was taken for granted until recently. This area of more than one million hectares is one of the last preserved areas in southeastern Pará. Certain endangered species, such as the harpy eagle, only occur here."
André Cardoso
"When we started to work on the hardpan in the Carajás National Forest, we initially thought that there were about 200, 300 species in that place, but we ended up identifying more than 1,100 species. We conduct a genetic study on plants, animals, fish and water; water has a particular importance in this process because it collects all the information from the forest. The DNA of all this biota surrounding is in the water. This work is called metagenomics or metabarcode, which means over studying a species to collect all biodiversity information with one single environmental sample. We cannot lose this genetic heritage before we understand it."
Guilherme Oliveira
Manager of Scientific Knowledge at ITV.
"A mature forest system is the result of millions of years of learning accumulated through natural. By analyzing and learning from this system, we can create productive systems to meet our own needs. That is why this practice is considered to be a regenerative agriculture; we regenerate life in the soil and, from that, we grow."
Marco Oliveira Bellotti
Agricultural engineer from Earth University and consultant in Agroforestry Systems in Canaã dos Carajás.
"Extractivism is life: we live off the forest and in harmony with it. My dream is to see the cooperative becoming a reference not only for cooperatives in the state of Pará but also worldwide. There are people who depend on the forest standing."
Ana Paula Ferreira
President of the Extractive Cooperative of the Carajás National Forest.
The AmazonIt is urgent to keep the forest standing and to value and promote sustainable development opportunities for local populations. Vale has been in the Amazon for more than 30 years helping ICMBio protect approximately 800,000 hectares of forest, an area equivalent to five cities of São Paulo.
Fotógrafo: xxxx


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The New NAG Team!
We are so delighted to have hired two extraordinary people to join the Northfield Arts Guild team: Rachel Haider as the Performing Arts Program Manager and Heather Lawrenz as the Visual Arts Program Manager! The full team will be in place on May 11!
Rachel Haider
Heather Lawrenz is a jewelry designer who grew up in Eagan, and has resided in Northfield with her husband, Daris, and sassy Mini Schnauzer, Ruby since 2003. She brings over 20 years of retail experience to this position, including management of two Northfield businesses: Glass Garden and Trinket Foundry.
Heather has a BA in Fine Arts and Biology from St. Olaf, and since graduating, has immersed herself into the local arts community of Northfield. Since her time as a 5th-year Art Apprentice, she has served as a committee member of Studio ArTour, and is Co-Chair of the Fine Craft Collective.
As a result of her love of networking, Heather is most excited to expand community awareness of all of the amazing programs the Northfield Arts Guild offers, and to grow the Visual Arts opportunities at the Guild.


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Welcome to PhysicsOverflow! PhysicsOverflow is an open platform for community peer review and graduate-level Physics discussion.
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In (2+1)-d, instanton effect leads to a linear potential between charges. If we have two particles with opposite charges in this case, since linear potential diverges when the distance between the two charges goes to infinity, it is energetically favorable to produce two more charged particles to neutralize the original two particles, instead of letting them separate as far as possible. This is basically the argument on confinement of (2+1)-d EM field.
It looks the essential element in this argument is the presence of a potential between charged particles which diverges when the distance goes to infinity, so does logarithmic potential lead to confinement? If so, we know that in (2+1)-d charges interact via a logarithmic potential, then why cannot we conclude that (2+1)-d EM field is confined without considering instanton effect?
I think the answer is no, so how strong should the potential be in order to have confinement?
It's not in 2+1d linear EM field that there are instantons, rather in 2+1d nonlinear gauge theory. The 2+1 d free EM field is not confining, but has logarithmically rising potential, and a force that falls off as 1/r. The 1+1 d linear EM field is confining, this is the Schwinger model, but this is not a surprise as in 1d, the potential is automatically linear.
The logarithmic potential in 2+1d does mean that particles can't separate, but it is not the technical definition of a confining potential, which is that the particles should have a behavior similar to that of the 1+1d Schwinger model, that they are linked by a string with tension.
That's not a full answer, you presumably want to know what the spectrum of 2+1d QED looks like, is it all logarithmically confined positron states. I don't know the detailed spectrum of this theory, but it can be calculated, so it's a good question, but I think the question should be worded more clearly, so that it doesn't seem to be talking about instanton effects in QED. But +1, because I know what you mean.
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HAMPTON, Va. – Hampton Police are investigating a bank robbery that occurred late Wednesday afternoon.
Shortly before 5 p.m., officers responded to the 1st Advantage Credit Union in the 5300 block of West Mercury Boulevard.
According to police, the suspect walked into the bank and gave the teller a note demanding money. Police say the suspect was armed.
After receiving the money, he left the bank and ran away in an unknown direction.
The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-30s, wearing a green colored knit cap, eyeglasses with long brown hair covering his face, a brown jacket, and blue jeans.
Anyone with information that will assist police is encouraged to contact the Hampton Police Division at 727-6111 or the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.


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The She's Going to Pop baby shower decor and food helped set the party mood, but the true fun lies in the games and the memories created during the shower.
Shower Games
We did three simple, but fun party games. The round ottoman in the center of the living room was the perfect landing spot for a game tray. The tray included everything we would need to play the games. Of course, we made sure everything coordinated with the party colors.
The first game challenged guests to guess the diameter of the mom-to-be's belly. Each guest was given a baggy with 3 yards of yarn. We used the same ombre yarn from the invitations. We passed around the scissors and everyone had to cut a length of yarn. The objective of the game was to cut a length of yarn equal to the mom-to-be's waistline. Whoever was closest won.
This game is always fun to watch. Some guests hold the yarn up and try to eyeball it. Others wrap it around their own waist as if they were pregnant. The only rule is they can't actually wrap it around the pregnant belly before they cut. Once everyone cuts their yarn, one by one they wrap it around the mom-to-be's waist to see who guessed the closest. The winner guessed within 6 inches. The worst had enough yarn leftover to tie a bow.
The second game was the diaper cake memory game. My sister made the most adorable three-tiered diaper cake. It was stuffed full of sweet little gifts for baby. We had it out at the beginning of the shower and took it away before the game started. To help everyone out a bit, we brought it out and twirled it around once right before the game started. Everyone was given a minute to write down everything they saw on the diaper cake. The guest with the highest number of items won.
We put the diaper cake on my white cake stand and wove a color-croodinating ribbon through the slots. The cutest part of the cake was the topper. We bought a cute set of socks and mittens. The socks had little plastic pieces inside to shape them into little baby feet. We set the pair on the top tier of the cake.
The last game was the he said/she said pop quiz. Before the shower I sent a pop quiz to my brother and my SIL. They both answered the same questions separately. During the game, I read a question and one of their answers. The guests had to guess who said it, him or her. To make it a little more fun, we made everyone use props to answer. If they though she said it, they had to hold the tiara up to their head. If they though he said it, they had to hold the pacifier up to their mouth. If they thought the parents both said the same thing, they had to hold up both tiara and pacifier.
Here is a snippet of the pop quiz and their answers:
What was the worst baby name you came across?
He said: Velveeta or Unique
She Said: Olga
Which would you rather do change a dirty diaper or use the booger sucker thing?
He Said: booger sucker…it's funner to say
She Said: Dirty Diaper
What is one thing your mother taught you that you think will be helpful to you as a parent?
He Said: listen for silence – that's when you know they're up to something
She Said: Later in her life when it comes to food…my mom always had a rule you have to try everything once. After you tried it and didn't like it you can eat something else. (usually meant you were on your own)
Each shower game winner got to choose a mystery door prize. These cute lunch-bag-sized gift bags were only 49 cents each at Target. We had one winner for the yarn game, one winner for the diaper cake memory game, and two winners for he said/she said. The prizes were either a large jar candle or a set of hand sanitizer, lotion, and body wash.
Party Favors & Memoirs
When the guests arrived, we asked them to write a note to baby and self-address an envelope. The notes to baby were placed in a jar and given to my SIL at the end of the party. The self-addressed envelopes were also given to her along with a set of thank you cards. Having all the envelopes addressed will make it easier for her to send thank you cards.
The Notes to Baby sign, as well as Fill a Bag and Please Take One signs, were made with leftover pieces of the tablecloth. The white frame is the Tolsby from Ikea for 99 cents. It is the cutest table top frame for party signage. You can even have signage or pictures on both sides. I adhered a label to a piece of tablecloth cut to size. I put the sign inbetween the plexi-glass and inserted it into the top of the frame.
We also gave my SIL a 12 x 12 pink plastic envelope filled with party elements for scrapbooking. We gave her a sheet of each scrapbook paper we used, a piece of tablecloth, a napkin, a cupcake liner, ribbon from the diaper cake and stand, a popsicle stick wrapped with all the washi tapes, a tiara, a pacifier, and a yarn baggy. At the end of the party we added all the notes to baby and the signs used throughout the party. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of the party memories gift :(
The party favors turned out adorable and you would not believe how inexpensive they were to make. To go with the pop theme we wanted to use bubble bath for party favors. We bought a large 64 oz. bottle of milk and honey bubble bath at Walmart for $2.50. We found these squat, wide-mouth 8 oz jars at Walmart too. They were a set of 4 for $3.99. With one jug of bubble bath and two packs of jars, we made 8 favors for about a $1.31 each.
We filled the jars to the brim with bubble bath. To dress up the jars we used a skinny piece of washi tape to wrap around the lid. I made and printed the labels on full sheet label paper. The labels said "Thanks for popping by to shower Andrea" and in small print it said, "milk and honey bubble bath".
I found the ombre tray at Target for $9.99. After settling on the ombre napkins, I could not resist this tray. The colors were perfect!
Did you miss the food and decor post? Click here to see the rest of the pink and orange pop party goodness.