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"In Pursuit of Purpose and Meaning"
Delivered by President Shirley M. Tilghman
June 2, 2009
It is a great pleasure for me to continue Princeton's longstanding tradition of letting the president have the first word at Opening Exercises and the last word at Commencement. First, my heartiest congratulations go out to each and every one of you -- to our newly minted master's and doctoral candidates, who have done so much to invigorate the academic discourse on our campus and advance the frontiers of knowledge, and to the members of the class of 2009, who have left an indelible mark of their own on our University community. You have successfully overcome every obstacle we have put in your path -- those 8:30 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays (I taught one of them); those elusive A's; a library that closes its doors at 11:45 p.m., just when you are working up a head of steam; those distribution requirements that prevented you from taking all your classes in classics as you had planned to do; and those general exams that required you to be a walking encyclopedia. You survived SARS, avian flu, pink eye, thesis-related carpal tunnel syndrome, whooping cough and swine flu. It is a wonder that any of you got to Commencement today with your health and good humor intact.
Now a great deal has changed in the few short years you have lived and studied on this campus. The world watched in horror in the fall of 2005 as Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, abandoning thousands of people -- mostly African Americans -- on roof tops and in the convention center. And yet, last Nov. 4 the world watched in wonder as the same country elected its first African American president. In 2005 you created your first Facebook page and began sharing every waking moment and thought with the world. Today you are down to communicating with just 140 characters on Twitter. And of course, you arrived at Princeton during one of the greatest bull markets in history, and you leave having witnessed the world economy in free fall.
Everyone in this audience, I suspect, has been touched in one way or another by the consequences of the market crash. I know that some of you have used the market downturn to re-evaluate your career goals; others have had to change plans for the coming year because opportunities have evaporated. Luckily for you, the education you have received at Princeton -- an education that we rightfully claim does not prepare you for one job but for many jobs -- puts you in remarkably good stead in an uncertain time. The skills and traits that we strived to instill in you -- critical thinking and writing, a finely tuned moral compass, a disciplined work ethic, a commitment to excellence in whatever you choose to do, compassion for those less privileged and a devotion to service -- will serve you well whatever comes next. And as you consider the ways in which the world has changed, and imagine your place in it, we hope that your Princeton education will fuel your search for both purpose and meaning.
At the risk of being accused of trying to turn the proverbial sow's ear into a silk purse, let me suggest there has never been a more opportune time to be a seeker after purpose and meaning. Everywhere you look there are enormous problems -- many of them created by my generation, I will confess -- that will take the hard work and dedication of every one of you to fix. The profligate burning of fossil fuels over the last century now threatens the future of the planet, and it will be up to you whether we are able to replace a carbon-based economy with one that is powered by vibrant green technologies. The world is also in dire need of voices advocating for religious and ethnic tolerance and understanding -- to counteract the ignorance and hatred that drives so much of today's violence both between states and within them. The growing inequality of opportunity that our broken K-12 education system has imposed on too many children in this country will only be reversed by talented and committed teachers, who will ensure that every child in America has a chance to fulfill his or her potential. Our inefficient health care system is on a path to bankrupting the entire country unless we find a way to more equitably share the costs and benefits of medical care. And of course, somebody has to fix the world economy.
These problems are truly daunting, but individuals armed with a Princeton education have never been known to shy away from hard challenges. Year in and year out, Princeton invests its considerable resources -- well, maybe a little less considerable than a year ago -- in its students in the belief that we are preparing young men and women to become leaders and to change the world for the better. I have every confidence that you, like Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the class of 1976, the nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court and a trustee of this University, are ready to embrace this task today.
In addition to educating leaders and problem-solvers about the complexity of the global challenges before us, Princeton has also historically defined its purpose as helping to find solutions to those challenges. Through the research and scholarship that our faculty and graduate students perform, the University contributes to both social change and economic progress.
We are justly proud of the many contributions that Princeton faculty have made over the years -- from Professors Steve Pacala and Rob Socolow's "wedges" concept, which demonstrates that it is possible to substantially reduce carbon emissions today through the adoption of multiple existing technologies; to Emeritus Professor of Chemistry Ted Taylor's development of Alimta, a drug that is now saving and extending lives of cancer patients; to the Center for African American Studies' Toni Morrison Lecture that each year provides a national forum for a distinguished public figure to address the impact of race in America; to Professors John Ikenberry and Anne-Marie Slaughter's Princeton Project on National Security that laid out a sustainable and effective national security strategy for the United States. These examples, and many, many more that I could name, reflect Princeton's commitment to being "in the nation's service and in the service of all nations."
As important as it is for the University to directly address the pressing issues of the day through its teaching and scholarship, it is equally vital that we celebrate and vigorously defend the exploration of ideas for their own sake, without regard to immediate utility. To give you an example: When Professor of Mathematics Andrew Wiles retired to his attic for seven years in pursuit of a solution to Fermat's Last Theorem, a problem that had withstood 350 years of attempts by number theorists, he was acting in the great tradition of intellectual inquiry for its own sake. In this deep recession, when there have been numerous calls for universities and colleges to provide job training, as opposed to a liberal arts education, and to offer degrees that are "good for something," it is even more important that we defend the curiosity-driven search for meaning that has been an integral part of the tradition of universities going back to the Middle Ages.
Nowhere is this search more palpable than in the creative and the performing arts. That is not to say, of course, that these disciplines do not engage us with the world. No one could have seen the great modern dancer Judith Jamison in Alvin Ailey's ballet "Cry" without coming away with a deeper understanding of the plight of African American women. It was impossible to watch Meryl Streep anguish over the choice of which of her children to condemn to the gas chamber in William Styron's "Sophie's Choice" without staring into the abyss of the evil of the Holocaust. Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with its more than 58,000 names of the dead and missing carved into granite, powerfully captures the tragedy of that war, just as Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor, so ably performed by the Glee Club this spring, can be heard as a profoundly uplifting religious experience.
As Neil Rudenstine, Princeton class of 1956, a former Princeton provost and Harvard president, has said, "When we are reading 'Anna Karenina' or 'Dubliners'; when we are watching 'Othello' or 'Riders to the Sea'; when we are wrestling with Thucydides or reciting Keats, Yeats or Seamus Heaney, we know that we are about as close to the vital signs of human experience as any representation is likely to take us. ... If we are fortunate and alert, we may gradually learn how to see more clearly the nature and possible meaning of situations and events; to be better attuned to the nuances, inflections and character of other human beings; to weigh values with more precision; to judge on the basis of increasingly fine distinctions; and to perhaps become more effective, generous and wise in our actions." Or as the poet Wallace Stevens said more succinctly, "Art helps us to live our lives." Art reveals meaning -- through the process of creation and the process of observation.
At Princeton we are committed to folding into a seamless continuum the making and the study of art. Both are deeply creative human endeavors; both are essential to the vibrant life of a great university, and when they happen in close proximity to one another, the sum is always greater than the parts. I come to this conclusion from the perspective of a scientist, having seen the tremendous synergy that can happen when an experimentalist and a theorist collaborate on a scientific problem. The same, I believe, can happen when artists and critics occupy a common space, something that colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to provide.
Marjorie Garber, the noted art critic, has commented: "The paradox of the artist is the paradox of human agency in the making of something that takes on a life of its own." Each generation will view a work of art through its own unique lens, finding new insight or perspective. It is this process of examination and re-examination that is the province of the scholar, but without the artist who sets everything in motion, there would be nothing to examine. When we created the Lewis Center for the Arts in 2006, named in honor of its founding patron Peter B. Lewis of the Princeton class of 1955, it was our ambition that every Princeton student have an opportunity to create a work of art, and through that revelatory experience to appreciate more fully how art enriches and informs the search for meaning in our lives.
If we have succeeded, I am now looking at 1,881 future patrons of the arts, and we need every one of you. As a society we cannot afford to neglect what the literary scholar Helen Vendler called "the thirst of human beings for the representations of life offered by the arts, the hunger of human beings for commentary on those arts as they appear on the cultural stage." In difficult times like these, we must be doubly protective of the arts, much as the Roosevelt administration sustained countless artists, musicians, actors and writers through the Works Progress Administration in the depths of the Great Depression. We must do so not simply for the sake of struggling artists, but for the sake of the future of our society.
And so, as you walk, skip or run through the FitzRandolph Gates today, as educated citizens of this and many other nations, I hope you take from this place a sense of purpose that is drawn from an understanding of the major challenges of our day and a lifelong search for meaning through engagement with the arts. If you do, you will be carrying forward the spirit of Princeton and all that this place has aspired to teach you. And I expect you will continue to do as you have done at Princeton -- which is always to aim high and be bold.
My warmest wishes go forward with you all!


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subset: commoncrawl


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Data, Data Everywhere…Where Do Banks Start?
The late CBS News correspondent, Charles Kuralt, was famous for his "On the Road" segments as he crossed the country to report "America's people and their doings." In the process, he wore out six motor homes in search of stories.
In my role as a product innovator, I focus on the cash management needs of companies and in particular the receivables products offered by banks. Although not as tireless as Kuralt, my recent assignment allowed me to interact with almost all of the top 40 banks and more than a hundred companies to better understand their current data challenges. While not all of my findings are surprising, they pinpoint what is impacting the financial services industry.
"We Need Help"
In a recent focus group with a dozen accounts receivables managers, the lament was made clear. They described the daily pain of finding and applying invoice details for payments, and the struggles they're experiencing as B2B payments shift from paper to electronics, especially ACH. In another conversation, one executive from a top five bank said, "The ability to put data to productive use is worth $.03 to $.04 in earnings per share (i.e.: $50-60M) if only applied against tying together customer behaviors across major bank verticals to identify fraud."
This captures the challenges that span the complete spectrum of data handled by banks: Completely unstructured and random transaction data, to the highly normalized data from analytic engines. The volume and types of data that banks must deal with are quite diverse.
The net-net: There are serious data challenges and opportunities for banks.
"Collecting Data Isn't New. Applying It Is."
It may take the sting of losing a major client to an aggressive competitor for a bank to realize it needs to make a change in how they approach data. As one bank product manager related, "We lost a major house account that was with the bank for decades because we could not meet their data needs to better manage their receivables."
Deloitte Consulting, in an article by Omer Sohail, pointed out, "Banks always have had a lot of data and they collect a lot of data. The issue has been not leveraging all this data. More than 70 percent feel they're not leveraging the data to the best of their ability."
Surveyed bankers are less than thrilled with the state of analytics technology in their companies.
"About 16 percent said their analytics tools were "rudimentary" (meaning, spreadsheets and basic reporting tools); the majority (50 percent) said they had basic reporting tools with limited predictive analytics. Only 6 percent said they have the highest level of technology, including reporting and predictive tools, plus tools for analyzing unstructured data, with prescriptive triggers and alerts. A third (30 percent) of the bankers said their organization doesn't even use analytics in its strategy because it lacks proper technology and infrastructure."
It would appear from the study results the journey to harness Big Data has a long road in front of it for most banks.
The Vexing Conundrum
Herein lies the fundamental challenge of big data for banks: Customer versus internal focus.
Is the challenge tilted in favor of one versus the other? How do you fund both the transaction needs of customers and the analytic needs of the bank? Banks are strapped for discretionary R&D funding for new customer-facing products as they address imposed regulatory compliance issues. In the process, little is left for the customer in the way of new products that address their fundamental needs.
The conundrum is addressable if an overarching framework is applied. The two end needs must be complimentary and not compete in order to succeed. As banks begin to develop a strategy to make sense of their vast amounts of data through analytics and new products, the starting point needs to be holistic. By incorporating the customer's fundamental need for transaction services, which feed both the bank's and customer's needs for improved analytic insights – including fraud protection, payment trends or improved cash management tools – banks can begin to bring order to data. These guiding principles for success should be considered as banks construct their data strategies without spending a fortune. Any new data strategy must include both needs in order to secure funding.
Over the course of 24 months, and having accumulated hundreds of thousands of air miles, I've learned new cash management information products present a significant challenge to banks. They are awash in data, yet have not been able to aggregate, normalize and synthesize it for new product development.
In the next article, "Big Banks and Receivables Mass Data," I'll address the necessary steps to harness big data. And guess what? I won't tell you to invest in a pricey big data solution.
Lawrence F. Buettner is a senior vice president at Wausau Financial Systems, which provides receivables technology for financial institutions. He has 30 year of experience in financial treasury management, and was an SVP at First Chicago.


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With the official filing window about to open on July 1, it'll be interesting to how many others jump into the race.
Tim Morgan has done nothing to deserve anyone's vote. He went (100%) along with everything Gorman asked for. We need free thinkers on the new board. He ticked off teachers and parents with his support of pfp. He backed Gorman on everything from budget proposals (note: not cuts)to the continued existence of learning centers and bright beginnings (which Gorman talked about cutting but the board would not). We need new blood.
Has he left district 6 folks to run at large? He is already on board or has he forgotten? Maybe a little education is in order for Gorman Jr..
Why is this a blog when so MANY OTHER unanswered questions about CMS are out there? The Observer has become a joke when it comes to reporting on CMS.
Will anyone do anything about athletic directors only teaching one class and getting a salary plus supplement?
Tim realizes that with old Joe and Trent leaving, the apple cart will certainly be upset. He and his brother figure they can get someone "friendly" to their cause appointed in district 6 and then get Tim elected at large. This mean that they have a better shot at "convincing" the other new person (Kaye will most certainly be re-elected) to go along with the asinine and destructive policies instituted last year.
See bob realizes most people in district 6 see his brother as controlled by the chamber. Moving to at large and using savvy media techniques, they will be able to dupe the populace into voting them in. Or so they believe...I am sure he will have plenty of money backing him up...
Unfortunately they do not realize that the forces that organized to protest summative testing and kill 546 will CERTAINLY have a long enough memory to be actively reminding the voters where Tim really stands. Only question is does he have to leave his current position as district 6 rep before the election?
Good luck...you're gonna need it.
Anon 4:47
Enough of your bit-ching...name the schools and the AD's and something will be done. If you don't have names, then shut up. Your incessant whining needs to stop.
5:11, I don't think he has to leave his old post unless he's elected to a new one. George Dunlap ran at-large and when he wasn't elected he kept his district seat.
celebration time
The $64,000 question? Will Kaye run?
I'm not a political strategist but I've lived here long enough to know that winning two Republican at-large seats in this city will be nearly impossible.
If Tim wants to win, he needs to change his political affiliation to unaffiliated. I've voted for Tim and Kaye. It will be as difficult for Tim to win an at-large seat (especially if Kay runs) as it would be for a Democrat to win District 6 which Tim currently serves.
Either way, Tim will stay on the board even if he looses.
Never did figure out who's side Trent Merchant was on beside Trent Merchant's.
Tim has a decent shot at winning. Yet if he runs, he'll risk the political aftermath of a loss when he already has a seat on the BOE. So running for this spot would really demonstrate his commitment to what he believes in.
Or what his brother tells him to believe...
Tim has a decent shot at beating Kaye? I'm not so sure about that.
Have there ever been two Republicans at once who have served at-large? Don't get me going on gerrymandered districts.
Tim certainly won't win a majority of teacher votes after supporting a 2 million dollar pay-for-performance compensation plan in Fashion Design, Theater and Yearbook.
My vote is with Kaye on this one.
who cares? He's just using this to move up the ladder. He's a future (and current) politician.
He has been a horrible advocate for his district. Our schools get no money and are stuffed to the gills. Take a look at one of his area's school supply lists and compare it to, oh, Nations Ford or even Cotswald. The difference is amazing. I will not vote for him and doubt people in his district will. He is going to lose.
9000 teachers and many more parents will vote against him. Suburban parents will vote against him for the blatant mistreatment of schools there. He has been useless.
anon 8:44 - he knows those in his own district won't vote for him. That's why is is trying to hoodwink everybody else!
You get what you vote for and in my opinion, Kaye McGarry is the only board member worthy of even serving.
The rest are status quo, entitlement, progressive driven spendthrifts.
Dear Mr. Morgan, you will be held responsible at the polls for your inability to exercise control over your Superintendent.
Timbo, if this board is any indication of your popularity you might want to consider making the successful transition to dicatator of a small middle eastern country.
Why does the Observer refuse to identify this man as the brother of Bob Morgan, president of the Charlotte Chamber?
Timmy is just a yes-man for the Uptown Mafia (especially the construction people like Chamber chair Pat Rodgers who built all those unneeded schools that got closed).
Say NO to the Mafia
Say NO to the Chamber
Say NO to the Morgans
Isn't one of Tim's claims to fame the push for outsourcing? There are a lot of examples where government agencies outsourced support and then the taxpayer paid to put the pieces back together. Private sector support agencies often profit by paying people less and cutting benefits. Can paying the people who feed students, clean classrooms and drive buses less than a living wage somehow improve the wellbeing of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community? These people are part of our community and our neighbors. My preference is a stabile trustworthy workforce supporting the community's children. I would like to see Tim wear a great big flower on his left shoulder and speak to the working class sometime.
Let's get wall street types like Mr. Morgan out of here.
Only people with a background in education should be allowed on the board. Everybody else wants to get rid of tenure (which isn't fair).
We need someone who will support ALL the children.
District 6 has had FOUR school board representatives since 2005! Are we tying to outpace school superintendents? What happened to stability and continuity? No wonder constituents in District 6 feel under represented. Has any other distrct had this much turnover? Who replaces Tim if he wins an at-large seat? Not voters in District 6. This is how we got stuck with Liz Downing and a failed school bond referendum.
As a resident of district 6, I assure you I will not vote for Tim Morgan. His constituency was loud and clear in opposition of the number of tests CMS students must take as a result of Dr. Gorman's ill conceived plan to measure teacher effectiveness. Tim Morgan only represented his own views with no concern for the voters's concerns or the students in his district. I want a school board composed of leaders that truly represent their constituents.
Charlotte voters, listen to the people from D6 and DO NOT vote for Tim Morgan. He is a puppet for his brother and Gorman.
It doesn't matter who is elected in District 6, any other district or at-large.
Have you stopped to look at the overall numbers and what has transpired over the past decade and beyond within CMS?
The minority and poverty rates continue to increase within CMS as does the enrollment but the number of whites and middle class blacks continues to decline.
The County is about 60% white yet CMS is only about 33% white.
Mecklenburg County poverty rate is at about 29% yet CMS poverty rate or those on FRL is at 52%.
People who settle here with non-school aged children either move when the time comes to put them in school or send them to private schools. Many just don't move here at all, rather settling in Union County or Ft. Mill.
Rhonda Lennon is my elected representative but my son attended high school in McElrath's district where my vote can't touch him.
I would bet that many people in District 6 could care less who gets elected, as they send their kids to school elewhere or don't have any kids at all.
Wiyle, please run for school board!!!
I think you are mistaken about where parents in District 6 send their children to school. I would bet the vast majority have their kids enrolled in CMS schools. Why? Because after many years of having a school board that refused to build schools where the growth was (Arthur Griffin once stated he would never allow another school to be built south of Highway 51) and after many protracted assignment battles during which the board tried to continue shipping those coveted District 6 kids anywhere but close to home, District 6 finally has good schools throughout the district with fairly reasonable assignment. And why are those schools good--is it because they get all the best stuff or is it perhaps magic? Or is it because, despite extraordinarily large classes and despite receiving the least amount of funding from the system, families and students work really hard to make their schools great.
There are many schools in the other districts which have a community with the same ethos and they succeed as well. Some continue to say that it's unfair to have schools with such communities, that we should spread these families around the system to even things up. I would say that we need to push our less successful schools to model themselves after the more successful schools--won't happen overnight but with hard work and a stable faculty and long term principal I believe any local community can make its schools strong. We need board members who believe this as well. Perhaps then we won't be losing families and students to surrounding areas.


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In most cases, the chute clean-out tool is conveniently fastened to the rear of the auger housing with a mounting clip. Should ice and snow become lodged in the chute assembly during operation, proceed as follows to safely clean the chute assembly and chute opening.
Warning: Never use your hands to clean a clogged chute assembly. Shut off the engine and remain behind handles until all moving parts have stopped before unclogging.
Step 1
Release both the auger control and the drive control.
Step 2
Stop the engine by removing the ignition key.
Step 3
Remove the clean-out tool from the clip which secures it to the rear of the auger housing (location may vary by model).
Step 4
Use the shovel-shaped end of the clean-out tool to dislodge and scoop any snow and ice which has formed in and near the chute assembly.
Step 5
Refasten the clean-out tool to the mounting clip. Reinsert the ignition key and start the snow blower's engine.
Step 6
While standing in the operator's position (behind the snow blower), engage the auger control for a few seconds to clear any remaining snow and ice from the chute assembly.


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With more than a half dozen wildfires burning across the state, Colorado is facing its worst wildfire season in over a decade. From the High Park Wildfire, west of Ft. Collins, to the Waldo Canyon Fire, west of Colorado Springs, more than 35,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and over 180,000 acres have been destroyed. The fires have eased with the help of cooler temperatures and lighter winds—as of Wednesday, the High Park fire was 100 percent contained and the Waldo fire was 80 precent contained with some evacuees being let back into their neighborhoods. A second body has been located in a burned home while others are still reported missing.
Colorado Towns Cancel July 4th Fireworks over Wildfire Danger


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Guys. I am off to Paris in an hour to launch 'Les Nuits aux Etoiles," which is the French translation of an early novel, 'Starry Nights'. The book is being published by France's most prestigious imprint, Actes Sud. And the event is being hosted by Yves Carcelle, who is the President of the LVMH Group. I am fortunate to have two such powerful brands for my French debut!!
All set for the soiree . And all set to answer questions on the luscious Carla Bruni ....plus, anything else the press throws at me. Wish me luck!!
This appeared in the Asian Age\Deccan Chronicle :
Ji haan.What Soniaji wants, Soniaji gets! God is also great, ji! He likes Sonia. What a bhet! That too one day after International Women's Day. Am I thrilled to bits?? Nope. I have never been pro-reservations. And that cuts across the board. I don't believe in subsidies and quotas. But my far worthier sisters say, I am being silly about this. Super sensitive and even selfish. Theek hai. I guess we should be rejoicing, and eventually I too may get co-opted. But till such time, I'm keeping the bubbly on hold. My biggest and main concern is that the bill does not remain a naam ke vaastey grand gesture, in the same tradition as our Jai jawan! Jai kisaan! programmes, which sounded terrific as slogans and won elections for the then leaders…. but left those poor jawaans and kisaans exactly where they were…where they still are.
I am in distant Dubai, attending the Emirates Writers' Festival,and it seems slightly surrealistic to be talking about the women of India being on a collective high, especially to the ladies here, who look away uncomfortably and change the subject when the topic of womens' rights comes up. A lovely woman who has written her first book based on a true story of a thirteen year old local girl who'd been married off to a much ,much older, much ,much married man, lowers her voice to confess, " We have to be careful what we say… and who we say it to. I would have preferred to write a stronger book, but I also knew it wouldn't get published." A poet seated at the same table, nods his head sympathetically, but says nothing. His own poems on exile are filled with yearning for a different life. But even poets know when to hold their tongue.
Later, the same evening, I listen to Martin Amis, the star of this festival, talk about dealing with age. He discusses vanity and fear, insecurity and loathing. I wonder whether his talented wife is in the audience listening to him, and where she fits in,especially when he reads a passage from his latest book 'The Pregnant Widow." My mind is only half here. It has been a tumultuous two days in India. We'd like to believe the world was wearing blinkers and not watching the disgraceful Rajya Sabha drama… the shame and chaos … those demeaning demonstrations of protest from so-called 'netas'. I cringed at the images and wondered whether Lalu is so used to dealing with cows, he can't tell the difference between his farm animals and us ! As for Mulayam, what is it they say about taking the man out of his mohalla but not the mohalla out of him? Hours of unbearable suspense later, came the historic voice vote. Strangely enough, the world remained somewhat impassive and indifferent to India's 'Mahila Moment'. When the topic did come up over dinner here in Dubai ( in a vague and distracted way), a few British journos said something like, " Splendid! Splendid! Jolly good show." That response depressed me still further.
Earlier in the week I had attended a panel discussion on the subject and come away disheartened by the shallow and superficial reactions from some of the participants who seemed to believe all it takes to alter the destiny of our women is a piece of legislation. A magic wand waved by India's fairy God mother, Sonia Gandhi, and voila ! we'll be singing, 'Aall eez well." I wish I could share their optimism. I wish I could believe India will witness dramatic change on account of a percentage in parliament that is meant to take care of its most neglected resource – women. 'Songs of Sorrow, Songs of Joy', was the poignant title of an exhibition featuring the works of several women artists. The driving force behind the show (which was a fund raiser for 'SPARROW', a valuable archival centre), is the committed and dynamic Dr.Laxmi who is trying to preserve the oral and visual histories of women. At the elegantly presented function on the lawns of the jewel-like Bhauji Lad museum, Laxmi spoke about the house sparrow in India, which faces imminent extinction and when she mentioned how it was possible for that sparrow to create a ball of rice out of each painstakingly picked grain, it said it all. Through that single image, it was possible to predict the future of our women. Even as Laxmi and the artists present celebrated the successful start of the initiative which had managed to raise over ten lakh of rupees via a raffle, the aftermath of the rowdy, disruptive scenes that had interrupted the smooth passage of the bill a few hours earlier, were being played and replayed on news channels across India. We were left to console ourselves that with any luck, perhaps ten years down the line, Songs of Joy would outnumber Songs of Sorrow, at least for those women who would directly benefit from the bill. But despite our feelings of hope and cheer on that mellow evening, perhaps most of us knew in our heart of hearts, it would be foolish to over-invest in the instant magic promised by this breakthrough legislation.
About the same time as we were coming to grips with the euphoria of the moment, history was also being at the Oscar's ceremony, with the first woman ever to win the most coveted statuette ( the award for Best Director). And oddly enough, I thought to myself, " Why the hell are we making such a big deal out of this? Doesn't that say something? Something not terribly impressive? If we need to draw attention to the winner's gender, and make it into a battle of the sexes, we are guilty of continuing the stereotype… of segregating winners and losers, not on the basis of merit, but according to the male-female divide. This is astonishingly passé, even embarrassingly old fashioned. Ms. Bigelow's win had nothing to do with her being a woman. At least one hopes so. For if it did, it would be yet another strike against feminism in its more evolved avatar – ooops, wrong word!
Back home in India, Lalu is still waiting for the cows to come home.


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Guest Blogger
Positioning your website for the future ... or not
There are 7 billion people on Earth. The Mobile Marketing Association of Asia says that of those 7 billion, 6 billion own a cell phone—1.8 billion more than the amount of people who own a toothbrush. Clearly, mobile technology has taken over our world and is here to stay. This new, faster-paced world has forces us to evolve to a new kind of cell phone: the smartphone. In addition to making phone calls, this device helps us text, entertain ourselves, surf the Web and, more and more, make purchase decisions. Websites are often the place where customers first interact with a brand. You could think of your website as the OPEN sign in the front window of your storefront. With this in mind, I worked with my team to conduct an investigative study on how the top companies in the country are positioning their websites to engage with consumers in the mobile space. The results were surprising. Mobile Design vs. Responsive Before diving into the results, we need to differentiate between mobile-optimized design and responsive design. Mobile-optimized refers to a website that has been designed specifically to fit the viewing area of a mobile device. This mobile-optimized site is served up instead of a company's usual (desktop monitor-size) website when viewed on a mobile device. In other words, the company must maintain two separate websites. A responsive website refers to a single website that adapts automatically to fit the viewing area of whatever device is being used allowing for optimal viewing on desktop, tablet, smartphone and even new types of devices as they come to market. Responsive design is a more cost-effective solution to support both existing and unreleased hardware. It is important to note that mobile-optimized and responsive websites are different from mobile apps, which are small, self-contained programs that reside on a mobile device. The new trend of consumers relying on their smartphones to aid them in purchase decisions can be beneficial for a company, but it can also be harmful to them if they are unprepared. Business Insider found that 61% of people surveyed said that if they tried to access a website on their mobile device but couldn't because it wasn't optimized for mobile, they would visit the website of a competitor. How the Big Guys Fared To discover how top companies are using mobile optimization, we took a look at the top companies as listed nationally by Fortune Magazine and Inc. Magazine, and locally by Crain's Cleveland Business and determined how many of them have mobile-optimized websites or responsively designed sites. The results were surprising, to say the least. Our statistics show that 76% of top companies reviewed have not yet noticed the importance of and need for mobile optimization in today's world. Also important, though not as surprising, is the small number of these companies that have taken the extra step past mobile optimization and made their websites responsive. A total of 96% of these companies do not have responsive-designed websites. How Should YOU Respond? So, if the majority of the top companies in the country aren't currently embracing mobile-optimized and/or responsive designed websites, why should you? The real question is this: Do you want to be ahead of the curve or behind the eight ball? Your customers are adopting new technology and new devices every day, and with the purchase of these products come new expectations and demands. Customers take it for granted that they can use their device to compare prices, gather information, shop and complete a hundred other tasks. The research proves that customers expect today's businesses to cater to their need of simplified and easy-to-access information on all their devices. Considering this, you may want to re-evaluate how your company uses mobile optimization and responsive design in your marketing strategy before your competition beats you to it. It's not a matter of IF your customers will demand the ability interact with your online presence through their mobile device—it's a matter of WHEN. And when that time comes, make sure your front door is open, inviting and ready for business.
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Internet restrictions across the world
(AP)—Envoys in Dubai signed a new U.N. telecommunications treaty Friday that a U.S.-led delegation says endorses greater government control of the Internet. The U.S. and more than 20 other countries refused to ratify the accord by the 193-nation International Telecommunications Union.
Here is a look at Internet restrictions and availability at selected countries and regions around the world:
Internet use is extremely restricted with many of North Korea's 24 million people unable to get online. Some North Koreans can access an internal Intranet that connects to state media. Members of the elite, resident foreigners and visitors in certain hotels are allowed full access to the Internet.
Most Western social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are blocked in Iran, as well as political opposition and sexually explicit websites. But proxy server sites and other methods are widely used to get around the official restrictions. Iran has announced plans to create its own domestic Internet with fully monitored content, but international experts question whether such a complete break from the worldwide Net is possible. Earlier this week, Iran accounted it had developed its own YouTube-style video sharing site.
There are more than 500 million Chinese online but they contend with an extensive Internet filtering and censorship system popularly known as the "Great Fire Wall." Censors police blogs and domestic social media for content deemed pornographic or politically subversive and delete it. Many foreign websites, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the New York Times are blocked. Searches for controversial topics such as corruption scandals or jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo return error messages. Users evade controls using proxy servers.
Tight control, slow connections and high costs mean only around 5 percent of Cubans have access to the global Internet, with another 23 percent relying instead on a government intranet with very limited content. Web access is mainly via public facilities where people must first register with identification.
Political sites deemed threats to the state are often blocked. Since the Arab Spring, authorities across the Gulf have stepped up arrests of bloggers and others for posted considered offensive to rulers or advocating political reforms.
Internet censorship is prevalent across former Soviet Central Asian republics, but the strongest restrictions have been recorded in Iran's authoritarian neighbors to the north, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Controls are strictest in Turkmenistan, where social networking sites Facebook and Twitter are out-of-bounds, as is video-sharing site YouTube and numerous news websites. Uzbekistan has taken a less extreme approach, but sites critical of the government are blocked as a matter of course. Tajikistan, which is like those countries also ruled by an unchallenged strong-man ruler, has twice this year barred access to Facebook after web-surfers used the site to post material critical of government officials.
The government restricts access to the Internet and closely monitors online communications. The U.S. State Department's latest human rights report said the Eritrean government monitored email without obtaining warrants as required by law, and that all Internet service users were required to use one of the three service providers owned directly by the government or controlled through high-ranking members of the country's sole party. But the vast majority people do not have Internet access.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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We've shown you how to kick your clutter habit, but why trash all of those things you don't need when you could make some money off of them? In this guide, we'll walk you through how you can appraise your items, where to sell them to make the most cash, and how to avoid geting screwed in the process.
One of the reasons it's so hard to declutter is because we look at an item that we don't need and remember how much time or energy or cash it cost from us to obtain. Selling that stuff may not bring back the time or energy, but it can bring back some of the money—money you can put towards the things you really want, (or save for your future).
Of course, you could definitely donate your unwanted items to worthy charities that will accept them, and even get valuable tax deductions in the process while helping a good cause. But if you're looking to make a little more money back, that's what we're going to focus on here.
Table of Contents
Choose What to Sell and Determine Its Value
In 2005, Kyle MacDonald, a canadian blogger, rose to internet stardom thanks to some savvy appraisal skills and amazing bartering techniques. He started with one red paperclip, and managed to barter item for item until he ended up with a two-story farmhouse. His story is an amazing read, but all Kyle was really able to do is identify people who valued his stuff more than he did, and who had something valuable to him. Photo by Katherine Johnson.
This is the nature of appraisal and bartering. We're not going to suggest you barter all of the junk you want to get rid of, but we are going to talk about how you can look at the junk you think has no value at all and figure out how much it might be worth to someone who wants it. Here's how:
Look up the item's retail value, brand new. The first thing to do is find out how much it would cost you to replace an item you want to get rid of. While you're searching, pay attention to how easy it is to obtain the item again. If you can't find the same item, look for reasonable, similar replacements and note how much they cost.
Look up the item's sale value, used. Now look around at sale sites like Amazon, Craigslist, and eBay to see how much people are selling the same item for. Make a note of how much they're asking for, and what prices auctions close around. Also keep an eye on how many people are selling the item and what condition they're selling the item in.
Then, determine your selling price. If you see the item widely available new but not available used, you may be able to sell your item easily as long as you price it well. In contrast, if you see the item is difficult to find new but widely available used, you may have a hard time selling unless you're willing to undercut everyone or the condition of your item is better than most. The same is true if an item is easy to find both new and used. However, if your item is difficult to find both new and used but sale prices are high, you may have something unusually rare and can price accordingly. Assess the condition of the thing you want to sell, compared to the sale listings you've seen, and set your price. Don't shoot for new retail unless you know your item is rare—your best bet is to use other used or sale prices are a barometer. Photo by Steve Snodgrass.
You can follow these steps for just about anything you want to sell, assuming you want to get the most possible money back for it. Remember, there are other factors to consider: if you're selling to someone online, you have to account for shipping and insurance. If you're selling locally, people may expect values because they're picking something up or taking it right off your hands.
Similarly, if you plan to sell at a garage, yard, or community sale, the culture may play a role in how much you can get—not just the value of the item. We've discussed some of these specifics before, and we'll offer item-specific tips later, but keep it in mind when you're appraising the things you want to clear out of your home.
Finally, remember: if you can find someone to whom the item you want to get rid of is extremely valuable, moreso than it is to you, make sure to get how much they think it's worth. That's what made Kyle's experiment a success.
Electronics, Books, Video Games, and Computer Equipment
We're no strangers to selling electronics, gadgets, and even video games for the most possible cash. Check out those guides for more detailed suggestions, but here's a crash course in your best options for consumer electronics:
Amazon Marketplace has, far and away, the best overall selling experience. If you have an Amazon account, you can sell your unwanted electronics and consumer goods, and the site even helps you set pricing for your items and lets you note the condition of your item in your listing. The biggest benefit of using Amazon Marketplace though is that you get to attach your item directly to the Amazon listing for the product, so anyone shopping for it will see your used item listing along with new ones. If it's not available new, they'll still see it under "new and used." Just watch out for the cut that Amazon will take, which can be pretty steep. Photo by digitpedia.
eBay, despite all of its changes over the years that have made the site far more hostile to sellers, is still a popular destination if you're looking to offload a ton of stuff. Price yourself close to or better than the competition and your item will be sure to sell. The only thing you have to watch out for is the fees that eBay takes from the sale of the item, and then you'll likely have to deal with PayPal to process payment for the item. You'll also need to carefully craft your listing to make sure it's easily found, eye-catching, and better than the competition. It's not difficult to do: all you need is a good photo, a well-written description, and some savvy timing. If your item is valuable, eBay is probably worth it. If you're selling small, cheap stuff, skip it or sell it on eBay as parts, targeted at DIYers and hackers who'll buy it and fix it up. You never know who'll be interested in your old gadgets.
Depending on what it is you're selling, you may be able to find specialty sites that are willing to make the process easier. We've mentioned a few for video games, and a few more for cell phones, but your best chance to make the most money is still with the big guys. You could also turn to Craigslist here since you can set your own price and no one takes a cut, but whether you'll waste months waiting for decent offers is impossible to guess. Craigslist is great for some things (as we'll see shortly,) but it's a crapshoot with small electronics.
Books are a bit of a special case. We still think Amazon and eBay are great avenues to get the most money back, but if you're selling textbooks, don't forget sites like Chegg and Half.com. Check out our guide to selling textbooks for more tips there. If you're looking for more places to sell your books, the five best places to buy cheap textbooks are a good starting point for sellers too.
Clothing and Apparel
Clothing can be a difficult sell. You have to hope that someone needs the size you have available and that someone is willing to pay what you're willing to sell. That doesn't mean you can't get some decent cash for them, you just have to set up shop in the right conditions. Here are a few suggestions:
Etsy is well known and highly regarded as a great place to sell crafts and things you make yourself, but it's also a great place to sell clothing you already have. The community there is already looking for items like apparel and unique clothes, so it's a great place to put your own up for sale to see if you can get some good money for it. Photo by Maureen Didde.
Threadflip is a relatively new site that shows a lot of promise. The community is bustling, and while the site does have some restrictions on the kinds of clothes you can sell, it's a great marketplace for your brand name and good-condition clothing.
Craigslist lets you sell to your community directly instead of the internet at large. In some cases, that can work to your advantage, since more people in your community may be surfing Craigslist for bargains on things like children's clothes, but at the same time your audience will shrink. Again, your best bet here is to lot your items and sell them together.
Organize a community sale, yard sale, or sell at a local market. Sometimes the best way to get the most money back is to avoid selling your item online entirely. With apparel, sometimes people just need to see it in order to buy it, and an item sold is better than an item cluttering up your home because the listing has been up on Craigslist for three months. Get together with your neighbors and organize a community sale for your block or apartment building. If you have a local message board or neighborhood community page, sell your items there—odds are people will be more likely to buy clothing directly from a neighbor, childrens and baby clothes especially.
eBay is kind of a last resort here. If you can pimp your sale on your own, it might be worth it to draw attention to your clothing items. The trouble with eBay is that you depend on someone searching for your exact item or type of item to find yours and bid on it. Your best bet if you're going to use eBay is to bundle your clothing into lots and sell them all together. This works really well with children's and baby clothes.
There are tons of speciality and custom sites for selling clothes on the web, and they're worth exploring (you can grab some suggestions from this Quora thread.) You can also consider listing your clothing items on speciality clothing forums, subreddits (like /r/malefashionadvice), or message boards, if the listing fits.
Keep in mind that most of them have small communities, are targeted at specific markets (women's clothing, baby clothing, designer clothing, vintage clothing, etc), and thus have relatively small communities. Still, if you have a closet full of what those communities want, by all means sign up and sell.
Toys and Children's Items
We mentioned children's clothing, but toys and games also tend to sell fairly well, assuming we're not getting into collectibles and rare toys. Remember, do your research—especially with toys—before just throwing them up online somewhere, or else you may be selling a rare collectible for five bucks in a lot of "old toys" on Craigslist. As long as the items you have to sell are in good condition and not collectibles, here are some places to get decent cash for them:
Amazon Marketplace is a great resource for selling toys and games, you might be surprised to know. Since they're items with clear names and descriptions, you can sell them easily as long as they're in decent condition and able to be boxed up and sent out. Action figures out of their packaging or a full playset that's been put together already might be a tougher sell, but if you have some games still in their boxes, puzzles, or small toys easily packaged, it's a great way to go. Again, just mind the selling fees. Photo by John Morgan.
eBay has a wide audience of people looking specifically for individual toys and games at decent prices. If you do your research, it's also a great place to offload items that have become collectibles that you want to get rid of. Again, mind the fees from eBay and Paypal when you do this, and set your prices accordingly so you get the most bang for your buck.
Host a community yard or garage sale, or look for local consignment shops. Selling toys online can be particularly rough—almost as much as selling clothing. There aren't too many sites dedicated just to buying and selling toys, but you may be able to organize a Family-to-Family sale in your community where parents can get together to swap and sell items they no longer need for their children (including clothing) for items they do need. Alternatively, local consignment shops that may be picky about clothing may be less so about toys and games. Hit up Yelp to find some near you that accept secondhand items and give them a call.
Expensive or rare collectibles are a bit out of scope for us here, but if you have something that's especially valuable, you'll hopefully find out when you do the research we suggested you do earlier. If that's the case, you can always eBay or Craigslist it for its appropriate value, but your better bet may be to find a real appraiser who specializes in that type of item and seek their advice on keeping it in good condition or selling it appropriately.
Household Items and Small Appliances
Small appliances like blenders, microwave ovens, kitchen gear, and even household small electronics like humidifiers, space heaters, vacuum cleaners, and other items are all great things to sell online. Selling them in person works too, but they often have specific model numbers that can be easily researched. You're better off putting them in the hands of someone who really wants exactly what you have. Also, selling them online offers you the broadest audience possible. Try these sites:
Amazon Marketplace is perfect here because you can tie your item directly to an Amazon product listing, and we can't stress how beneficial that really is. When someone is researching specific models of appliance, they'll usually wind up at Amazon, and they'll see your listing. That's a huge benefit. Again, Amazon takes a huge cut for this because they know they're popular, so be warned. Photo by Chris Hunkeler.
Of course, yard sales, and community sales are an option here, but these types of items are more likely to hold their value than some others that people want to touch and feel before purchasing. You can definitely sell household items and electronics at a yard sale, but odds are you'll get the same or better money for them online.
Furniture and Large Appliances
Large appliances and furniture items break off from smaller household goods largely because they're next to impossible to ship—and even if you did ship them, it's unlikely the money you'd make from the sale would make them worth the shipping cost. In this case, offline methods rule. Here are a few to consider:
Craigslist has all but replaced the newspaper classifieds (which isn't as lucrative, but worth checking) so it's a natural place to list large furniture items. Couches, entertainment centers, beds, dressers, even large TVs that you want to get a good price on but don't want to ship anywhere are perfect. Since you're selling to your neighbors and your local community, you can specify that you want the buyer to pick up the item. Everyone wins. Photo by The Living Room.
Bring them to a community sale or flea market, or hold an open-house or moving sale. Flea markets, open-air markets, and neighborhood yard sales or community sales are a great way to offload furniture like old dressers, bed frames, and even large electronics you want to get a good price for. Culture may play a role in how much you make this way, and be prepared to haggle and negotiate. You'll also have to deal with the hassle of getting the item to the sale in order to sell it, but it might be worth it to deal with a large number of buyers and set your own price. Check Yelp for open-air markets in your area and see if they're willing to rent you a table for a weekend, or organize a collaborative sale with your neighbors for your block, community, or building. Together you'll be able to turn a tidy profit on some old large items. Alternatively, you can do it yourself and have an open-house moving sale, and let people come in and make offers on the things you want to get rid of. Just make sure to keep an eye on a bunch of strangers in your home, okay?
Sell them at auction. Long before there were sites like Craigslist and eBay, most people who had a lot of large items to get rid of but didn't want to sell them in their yard would put them up at local auctions. The auction scene is still bustling, and there are plenty of sites that can help you find one near you. Auction Zip and the National Auction List can all help you find an auction by location or category. Once you've found one, you can reach out and find out how to list your items. Of course, the trouble with auctions is that they're auctions: you have no control over your final sale price, and it's a roll of the dice that the item will sell at all, much less for what you wanted to get. Still, it's a great option for large items, especially if they're in good condition.
Obviously, Craigslist gives you the most control here and we'd suggest going that route first. I can't count how many people have quickly sold large items on Craigslist and all they had to do was wait for the buyer to show up, take it away, and collect the money. Be careful though, it's not all roses.
Art, Collectibles, and Other Personal Items
Art and collectibles are tricky things to sell because you really want to make sure you get your item in front of someone who explicitly wants it. It's not impossible, but in this case it's absolutely critical that you do your homework before selling to properly judge its value. If you don't think you can do it alone, or if you're looking at something you know is antique but have no idea how much it's really worth, stop now and get it properly appraised by a professional. Photo by _e.t.
That professional can then give you some advice on where to sell your item to get the best result, or even work with you (for a cut of the sales price, of course) to get it in front of the people who are most likely to buy it, whether it's at auction or a private sale. If you have a lot of antiques, collectibles, or other items in your home you need to get rid of, consider holding an estate sale to get rid of it all quickly.
If you have collectibles that don't warrant that kind of attention, you can always head over to Craigslist or eBay to list it with other collectibles there.
Go Forth and Sell, But Don't Get Screwed
If you've been following along, you should have options to sell all of your excess junk for the most possible money. Remember, the best way to sell furniture isn't necessarily the best way to sell electronics, and that's not the best way to sell books or clothing. Regardless of what you sell and where you sell, check out our tips to avoid getting scammed to make sure your transaction goes as smoothly as possible. Photo by Quazie.
Similarly, we have some useful tips to help you craft the perfect listing, get all the details right, and avoid coming off like a scammer yourself so your listings get the most attention and sell quickly. Selling on Craigslist deserves its own guide since it's so easy to get screwed selling there. If you're buying on Craigslist, we have some tips there too. Do your homework, appraise properly, and pick the right venue for the right gear, and you'll make some good money from the things that either have no value to you, or you know you could just do without. In the end, you'll have a cleaner, clutter-free home and money you can use to buy the things you really want, spend on the important things in life, or spend on experiences instead of things.
Title photo by Dustin and Janae DeKoekkoek.


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Monday, February 8, 2010
Focaccia Bread - Blue Monday
Focaccia for the body and grape hyacinths for the soul.
From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The fog's still thick and I'm craving soup. Not the thick and heavy variety. I want a soup with vibrant color to chase the chill and gray of winter's end away. Remember the tomato soup of childhood? That's what I want. Ours was always served with grilled cheese sandwiches and a tall glass of milk. My soup no longer comes from a can and I haven't had grilled cheese in years. Somewhere along the line, cheese covered breads replaced the sandwiches of my childhood lunches. One of my favorites is focaccia. It's really easy to make and is the perfect accompaniment to a lovely tomato or minestrone soup. I'm fairly specific in the ingredients I choose for mine. If my choices don't spark your fancy, substitute any toppings you'd like for yours. Here's the recipe I use.
Focaccia...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil, divided use
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 cup sliced oil-packed roasted peppers or 8 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded provolone cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1) Dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand 5 minutes. Combine flour and salt in work bowl of food processor. Stir in yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil. Process until ingredients form a ball. Process 1 minute more. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 2 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place dough in oiled bowl; turn once to oil dough surface. Cover with clean kitchen towel. Let rise in warm place about 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
2) Punch dough down. Let rest 5 minutes. Press dough into oiled 10-inch cake pan, deep-dish pizza pan or springform pan. Brush with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Press peppers or sun-dried tomatoes over dough dough,staying about 1 inch from edge. Sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and let rise in warm place 15 minutes.
3. While dough completes final rise, preheat oven to425 degrees F. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
Cook's Note: If mixing dough by hand, combine flour and salt in large bowl. Stir in yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil until ball forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Proceed as directed.
You might also enjoy:
Whole Wheat Olive Focaccia Bread
Apple-Onion Bread with Cheddar Cheese
Muenster Cheese Bread
This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday
This recipe is linked to:
Wild Yeast - Yeast Spotting
35 comments :
- black eyed susans kitchen said...
I always thought that foccacia bread would be an ambitious undertaking. Yours looks delicious! The grape hyacinth is one of my favorite signs that Spring is on its way.
Susan - February 8, 2010 at 12:35 PM
- Allie and Pattie said...
Oh, I LOVE foccacia and make it frequently! I will definitely try your recipe-you make everything look so wonderful. Your blog is one of the first I check every day!
xoxo Pattie - February 8, 2010 at 12:37 PM
- Inspired by eRecipeCards said...
love this... and dipped in the soup .. or those fancy dipping oils I seem to collect... yum, great post
- February 8, 2010 at 12:41 PM
- The Blonde Duck said...
Now I want a grilled cheese and foccacia!
- February 8, 2010 at 1:01 PM
- Kim, USA said...
Haven't eaten Foccacia bread, wish I could someday ^_^
BlueMOnday-Chairs&Flowers - February 8, 2010 at 1:19 PM
- D said...
Mary, that looks absolutely delicious and I have both sun dried tomatoes and red roasted peppers. Hm, which one shall it be? first? ;)
We have been fogged in for one day too many at this point. I am looking for just a little sunshine. - February 8, 2010 at 1:32 PM
- EJ said...
hyacinth is gorgeous.
Snow so Deep - February 8, 2010 at 1:43 PM
- Juliana said...
Foccacia with bell pepper and sun dried tomatoes...looks so tasty...and the hyacinth picture is awesome!
- February 8, 2010 at 1:59 PM
- Coleens Recipes said...
That is a beautiful focaccia!! Just gorgeous.
- February 8, 2010 at 2:44 PM
- ♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...
Delicious foccacia ....
- February 8, 2010 at 2:45 PM
- George Gaston said...
Mary, what a fantastic looking focaccia bread. I bet the aroma in your kitchen was amazing while it was baking, too.
Many thanks... - February 8, 2010 at 2:55 PM
- Federica Simoni said...
wow splendida questa focaccia!
- February 8, 2010 at 2:58 PM
- T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...
I like the idea of focaccia as "adult grilled cheese."
- February 8, 2010 at 3:28 PM
- SmilingSally said...
Oh Mary, how I wish I had a bowl! Happy Blue Monday.
- February 8, 2010 at 3:34 PM
- noble pig said...
I love the peppers in here Mary.
- February 8, 2010 at 3:43 PM
- Lyndas recipe box said...
Bookmarked, this is lovely focaccia bread, Mary...I must try it!
- February 8, 2010 at 3:57 PM
- pigpigscorner said...
The bread looks really rich and delicious!
- February 8, 2010 at 4:11 PM
- Bob said...
That looks wicked good, I love foccacia. Course I love grilled cheese too. Heh.
- February 8, 2010 at 4:45 PM
- La Cuisine d'Helene said...
Love your pictures today for Blue Monday.
- February 8, 2010 at 5:47 PM
- skr said...
Wow that focaccia looks SO good! ;]
- February 8, 2010 at 7:41 PM
- Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...
Hi Mary
Your focaccia looks nice and thick..."good to the tooth" as we say. We have a long wait to see grape hyacinths growing in the garden..expecting a foot of snow on Wednesday! - February 8, 2010 at 9:09 PM
- Foodiewife said...
First... loved the grape hyacinths. So pretty, and I wish I could see them up close and person (too warm where I live). Focaccia is so easy to make! I need to remember that. I'm with you on banishing canned soups, too. Homemade soups are fun to make. It's great how you made the transition from grilled cheese to this lovely bread. Blessings, Debby
- February 8, 2010 at 10:28 PM
- Velva said...
Your foccacia looks delicious. I would love to tear off chunks and dip it in a fruity olive oil sea salt and pepper. I love foccacia.
- February 8, 2010 at 10:36 PM
- Debbiedoos said...
I love that bread! I could eat the whole thing that is the problem!!~ YUM! Happy Blue Monday!!~
- February 8, 2010 at 10:56 PM
- Marice said...
wish I could have a taste of that foccacia :) and that grape hyacinth, havent heard and seen any of that.. looks interesting! how does it taste like compared to regular grapes?
u may view mine here - February 8, 2010 at 11:23 PM
- My Little Space said...
Foccacia bread! Looks wonderful... Well, I love any kinds of bread! hehe..
- February 9, 2010 at 2:37 AM
- Claudia said...
What I love about focaccia bread - is you can decide at 3 p.m. to make it and it is ready. So easy, so versatile - I always have yeast and flour for those days when I have a craving. Yes, I'd use your ignredients! Deliciously cheesey in the best possible way.
- February 9, 2010 at 9:46 AM
- Zurin said...
id like to reach out and grab the whole thing for myself! it looks so darn good!!!
- February 9, 2010 at 10:04 AM
- Cherine said...
This foccacia looks perfect!!
- February 9, 2010 at 1:10 PM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Cherine, thank you for visiting One Perfect Bite. I hope you'll become a regular and join us often.
- February 9, 2010 at 2:05 PM
- happily retired gal said...
Foccacia is a favorite of mine and your soups look sooooo tasty! It's just after 1pm here so it's no wonder I'm hungry ;-)
Hugs and blessings,
Small Reflections - February 9, 2010 at 4:11 PM
- Janine said...
Yum !! I am making this one!!
- February 10, 2010 at 10:24 AM
- Karen said...
I'd choose this focaccia over a grilled cheese sandwich any day! I haven't made any in a while. Next timie I do, I'm going to use the peppers and sun-dried tomatoes.
- February 10, 2010 at 11:46 AM
- Katy ~ said...
Your focaccia bread is gorgeous!
Hope you're feeling better. - February 10, 2010 at 2:28 PM
- bj said...
Any fresh baked bread HAS to be one of the "wow" factors of life. I COULD live by bread alone, I'm pretty sure.
This one sounds so delightful...Thanks.
O, and Mr. Sweet and I have tomato soup (canned) and grilled cheese sandwiches regularly...one of our favoite lunches, year 'round. :) - February 12, 2010 at 10:16 AM


text:
Therefore, DO NOT, under any circumstances, give her attitude.
If you do, we at Grumpy Neurology, P.C., cannot be held responsible for anything she may do to you. And believe me, you don't want to find out.
Any attempts to give Mary attitude are at your own risk. So don't say I didn't warn you.


text:
Dodgers start Brad Penny, RHP (14-4, 2.88) vs. Steve Trachsel, RHP (6-8, 4.48).
Dodgers: 72-65 (3rd place NL West, 4.0 GB; T-2nd place WC, 3.0 GB; W2)
Cubs: 70-66 (1st place NL Central, 1.5 GA, L1)
Current postseason odds for the Dodgers, from Baseball Prospectus: 30.0%
From Dodgers.com, the scouting report on the starters:
Dodgers: Penny struggled against the Nationals on Wednesday afternoon, allowing six runs on eight hits while striking out only one in five innings. The righty didn't figure in the decision, despite leaving the game down, 8-3. The Nationals just peppered the All-Star, putting the ball in play pitch after pitch, and Penny didn't help his cause, leaving his fastball up in the zone too often. Penny is 2-2 with a 2.60 ERA in seven career starts against the Cubs.Cubs: Trachsel will likely make his first start for the Cubs since Sept. 3, 1999. The right-hander, acquired by the Cubs from Baltimore for two Minor Leaguers, was needed for his experience. He also had a solid August, posting a 2.37 ERA last month. The only player left from his first stint with the Cubs is Kerry Wood.
From Inside the Dodgers, the lineup:
Furcal, SS
Pierre, CF
Kemp, RF
Kent, 2B
Gonzo, LF
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
LaRoche, 3B
Penny, P


text:
Russian passenger jet crashes, killing at least 4
MOSCOW - A passenger airliner careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport and partly onto a highway while landing on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing at least four people.
MOSCOW - A passenger airliner careered off the runway at Russia's third-busiest airport and partly onto a highway while landing on Saturday, broke into pieces and caught fire, killing at least four people.
Officials said there were eight people aboard the Tu-204 belonging to Russian airline Red Wings that was flying back from the Czech Republic without passengers to its home at Vnukovo Airport.
Emergency officials said in a televised news conference that four people were killed and another four severely injured when the plane rolled off the runway into a snowy field and partly onto an adjacent highway, then disintegrated. No collisions with vehicles on the major, multilane highway were reported.
The plane's cockpit area was sheared off from the fuselage and the tail section partly torn away.
The crash occurred amid snow and winds gusting up to 30 m.p.h., but other details were not immediately known.
A spokesman for Russia's top investigative agency, Vladimir Markin, said initial indications were that pilot error was the cause.
The state news agency RIA Novosti cited an unidentified official at the Russian Aviation Agency as saying that another Red Wings Tu-204 had gone off the runway at the international airport in Novosibirsk in Siberia on Dec. 20. The agency said that incident, in which no one was injured, was due to the failure of the plane's engines to go into reverse upon landing and that its brake system malfunctioned.
On Friday, the Aviation Agency sent a directive to the Tupolev company's president calling for it to take urgent preventive measures.
The plane that crashed Saturday took off from Pardubice airport in the Czech Republic. Jan Anderlik, the director of the company that operates the airport, told Czech public television that the plane underwent a regular technical check before takeoff and no problems were discovered.
Prior to Saturday's crash, there had been no fatal accidents reported for Tu-204s, which entered commercial service in 1995. The plane is a twin-engine midrange jet with a capacity of about 210 passengers.
The Red Wings airline is one of the holdings of Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev, who also owns the British newspapers the Independent and the Evening Standard.
Vnukovo, on the southern outskirts of Moscow, is one of the Russian capital's three international airports.