text: Tauck Events Events One Nation: The Tauck Washington, DC Event 2018 Quick Info Close Quick Info One Nation: The Tauck Washington, DC Event Tour Length: 5 Days / 4 Nights Begins: Washington, DC Ends: Washington, DC Activity Level: Level 2 Walking / standing for one to two miles at a time, uneven steps & cobblestones. Group Size: > 40 Departures2018 Full Itinerary Duration: 5 days Price: from $5,490 Ken Burns Event – New for 2018! Co-crafted with filmmaker Ken Burns, for five days and four nights, The Tauck Washington, DC Event examines the enduring strengths and values that make our country so special, from American democracy to the promises of freedoms in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, the sacrifices and resilience of the American people, and all that unites the United States and embodies its motto, E Pluribus Unum – "out of many, one." Tags: USA Tours,South / Mid USA,USA Tours,South / Mid USA,new,Premier-events,one-week-tours,ken-burns,National-Parks


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There are a few short conversations involving named female characters about something besides a man.
Umi, Ryoko, Miki, and Hana talk about breakfast and work.
Umi, Nobuko, and Sora talk about their lunches at school.
Hana talks to Umi about how she's doing a good job of managing the lodging house, though the conversation turns to Hana referencing Umi's deceased father.
Umi and Miki talk about Miki leaving Kokuriko Manor.

subset: commoncrawl


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Vodafone is today giving away eight free tracks for every customer who visits its Music Store.
For 24 hours, a selection of eight pre-chosen songs are on offer from the likes of Lily Allen and Lady GaGa for all site visitors.
The Free Music Friday giveaway marks the arrival of 350,000 DRM-free songs on the site from both major labels and independents.
Stripping away DRM means that buyers will be transfer anything they have downloaded to their mobile phones, PCs or iPods.
News of the promotion comes as Vodafone recently confirmed plans for its own application store for third-party applications.
Launching later this year, the store will differ from rivals such as the Android Market and Apple's iPhone App Store by adding the cost of downloads to customers' bills rather than charging it to their credit cards.


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The restoration process is simple and easy to do. Painting contractors can do it quickly and easily. Homeowners commonly do it themselves. The restoration process is illustrated here: Six Steps to Restoration with Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer. The first three steps are explained below:
Here's One Reason Why This Is The Only Technology That Works:
Here's Proof:
Here's Another Reason Why:
Here's Proof:
Here's What Professionals Need to Know:
Section IV, paragraph 8.6 of Restoration of Rotted Wood with a Flexible Penetrating Resin.
Here's How an architect can specify the products for Restoration or for Painting.
Here's More Proof:
Here's Another Reason Why:
Wood naturally contains water, typically 8% to 15%, even 25% or more in humid environments such as around boats or in chronically humid climates. The solvent system that carries the natural wood resins of Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer into the wood has to be capable of dissolving that water, so that the penetration show in the prior examples can happen. Products made using water-repellent petrochemicals such as benzyl alcohol cannot do this. None of Smith's products use benzyl alcohol.
Here's Still Another Reason Why:
How did Steve Smith come to invent this?
Here's Steve Smith to tell you in his own words:
Being a chemist and a physicist, I was able to approach the problem of wood rotting and paint failing scientifically, which no one else in this or any related business ever did; there were and are many people making epoxy products, but none of them had a comparable background and were able to approach the problem by identifying the root causes of wood failure and product failure.
Peeling paint and rotting wood on wood building exteriors has been common since buildings were first made of wood; there never-before has been a truly effective solution. The conventional maintenance for peeling paint consisted of scrape, putty and paint, and again in a few years scrape, putty and paint. No one realized that the wood fibers themselves were rotting in a thin film under the paint (fungal spores are in the air, everywhere), and its bond to the wood then failed. This increased dramatically in the fifties, when lead oxide (a white pigment) was removed from primers and paints due to growing concerns. There was no substitute provided, and without this mild but effective preservative, even good-quality wood began to rot sooner. The faster-grown wood used on residential and commercial building construction a few decades later had much of its natural rot-resistance bred out of it by the lumber companies whose focus was entirely on making more lumber faster. Even the highest-quality paints were failing sooner on wood with little rot-resistance.
So, there was an abundance of failure and a complete vacuum of effective solutions. Because I am a scientist I had the ability to observe and to understand what others could not. I was thus able to develop this modern and effective technology. You can read more about the details of the development of my technology here.
My first customers were people with rotting wood on their wood boats, in the early seventies. The Marine environment is vastly more severe than the Architectural environment. After a decade of exceptional performance on boats, the products spread quickly into the architectural marketplace where they easily outperformed the hundred-year-old wood-maintenance technology and products that were all-there-were in the paint, hardware and building-supply stores. Everyone clearly understood that if it worked on a boat, it would definitely give superior performance on a building.
After forty years, word-of-mouth about Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer is on every construction-related and boat-related forum where people tell others about the product. Even if they don't use the full name (I admit it is quite a mouthful, but I believe in naming products for what they do) but only two or three of its words, it's Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer that they are talking about.
Look for my name on the container; that way you know it's genuine.
------Steve Smith
Now, here's more information about the product, its performance in different temperatures, and the Cold Weather
Formula for use in colder weather, even down to freezing.
The long working time (pot life) of these products mean
they will retain their penetrating and moisture-dissolving ability for
more time.
Working in cooler weather?
Use Smith's Cold Weather Formula™
The Cold Weather Formula™ of Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer was developed because sometimes repairs such as restoration of deteriorated wood, repair of osmosis-damaged fiberglass boats, and/or adhesion-promoting priming for sealants or coatings must be done in the winter.
The particular kind of resins that must be used in Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer in order to obtain all its usual performance features, which have made the product famous, do not cure well below about 50° F and essentially stop curing by 40° F. This is a normal characteristic of these products, and has been well known to chemists for half a century. If used in cold weather, after a few days they cure in an incorrect manner and do not develop optimum properties in the wood.
Early in 1991 the genius in the research department of Smith & Co. discovered the fundamental reason why this is so, and discovered Smith's Dual Synergistic Catalyst™ which makes it possible for these resin systems to develop a full and predictable cure at temperatures down to 28° F, slightly below freezing!
The entire formula was redesigned to take advantage of this new technology. The new formulation behaves essentially the same in freezing weather as Smith's Warm Weather Formula™ does in moderate weather. Smith's Cold Weather Formula was designed to absorb as much water as the existing system does from wood or osmosis-damaged fiberglass laminate, and in addition to dissolve the ice crystals that form in damp materials subjected to below-freezing conditions.
The product line was further improved in 2001 when the solvent formulation
was upgraded to give a 50% increase in moisture-dissolving capabilities.
Smith's Cold Weather Formula of Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer mixes one-to-one by volume as does the Warm Weather Formula. Once mixed, it is recommended that the product be used within its "pot life", although it will be fluid for much longer.
Smith's Cold Weather Formula of Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES) was designed to be used in the temperature range of 28° F - 65° F. The table of pot life and full cure times below illustrates this.
It is a necessary part of the wood restoration process that the solvents be allowed to evaporate out of the wood before paint or filler is applied. The solvent blend in Smith's Cold Weather Formula evaporates about as fast in cold weather as the solvent blend in Smith's Warm Weather Formula does in warm weather.
The solvent blend of Smith's Cold Weather Formula has a milder odor, as well as evaporating about six times faster. These features allow restoration work to be completed sooner and to be done in the winter, when most products do not work properly.
Restoration of wood inside a house, such as in a bathroom, a door threshold or the inner part of a window sill, should be done with Smith's Cold Weather Formula rather than Smith's Warm Weather Formula when the house is occupied, due to the much milder odor and more rapid solvent vapor dissipation of this version.
Nighttime temperatures are usually much less than daytime temperatures and so night provides less progress towards full cure than day. This makes Smith's Cold Weather Formula valuable when the daytime temperatures are in the 50° F ~ 60° F range and/or night temperatures are in the 30° F ~ 40° F range.
Please call us directly for U.S. retailer near you.
Buy CPES in Europe (send email)


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The only photo I could find was at the Victoria tourist office with bike and lock.
One easy rider bike, lock included!
I'm still going strong at the triathlon thing. I know I should report about it more here since it takes up all of my blogging time. I began lake swimming this season with my first wetsuit. Our pool is closed for 3 weeks, so more open water swimming is in the forecast.


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"Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter."Atlas Shrugged, page 410-413
— Francisco d'Anconia, Atlas Shrugged
There are people who consider themselves liberals who are essentially liberals in the tradition of Hayek. Such people, at the rare higher intelligence levels, often note that they don't have a problem with money and trade, that they have a problem with stolen money and unfree trade that is protected by force from competition. These are not problems with earned money. ...They are problems with central bank war profiteers who print money from nothing, and use coercive legal tender laws to force individuals to accept it. That isn't earning money, it's stealing it.
Stolen money is the root of all evil. The theft of money allows for the product of theft to be accepted as a representation of labor. The use of money to represent labor (voluntary manual labor or voluntary intellectual labor) is almost universally accepted. However, when money is stolen, it allows value to be claimed by the valueless. Something that is normally acceptable to all (money earned by free trade, and free trade itself: the exchange of labor for a representation of labor) is then often reinvested in the marketplace of theft, the political marketplace.
Most people only see the evil of that reinvestment (lobbying, campaign contributions that go to the biggest looter and wealth redistributor, payment of political favors, payment to coercive government institutions, payment to social engineering government programs, payment to world-government projects of the central bankers, payment to set up schemes that loot the productive --such as carbon credit trading). This gives rise to narrow-minded socialist liberals rejecting the concept of money, when what they should be doing is pointing out the massiveness of the theft involved in fiat money.
Rand never fully opposed fiat currency. She viewed it as less immoral and wrong than outright obvious government coercion, or as a "stopgap measure." Her institute eventually took a strong stance against fiat currency manipulators. Prior to that, the greatest opponents to fiat currency were more mainstream libertarian philosophers such as Murray N. Rothbard, G. Edward Griffin, and Harry Browne. Of course, Ron Paul has been consistently against the immoral manipulation of the currency supply by the powerful few.
In a way, fiat currency is the laundering of labor. Imagine that the central bank prints a billion dollars and uses that freshly printed money to pay armed DEA stormtroopers to raid an apartment full of hippies who were growing marijuana in their apartment. The marijuana was a good and the sale of that marijuana was a service. That good and that service are taken off the market, by force. The lives of the marijuana growers are then violated, as are all their freedoms under the now defunct and legally non-existent "Bill of Rights." The apartment is now vacant, and perhaps months of rent is not paid. Nobody wins from this naked aggression.
But when the agents who were paid for the raid are paid, they receive something that falsely appears to be a "representation of labor."
There would be very few people saying "money is the root of all evil," if there was a free market in money.
So, how is there not a free market in money? Can't an individual still buy gold and silver coins?
Well, yes and no. The government doesn't like it when you're very successful at buying gold and silver coins, which is why they created the "legal tender laws." If your gold and silver coins become very popular, you will be raided by government stormtroopers, and they will confiscate your belongings. They will confiscate your computers, your gold and silver, your customer records, and your entire physical plant, including the real-estate your business occupies. That is precisely what happened to Bernard von Nothaus, the originator of the Liberty Dollar.
The federal tax code, as enforced by the IRS and U.S. Treasury, is unconstitutional and "null and void" and only enforceable via criminal action by a criminal government ("All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution, are null and void." Chief Justice Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 5, U.S. (Cranch) 137, 174,176.). you will be targeted for arrest and put in prison, like Irwin Schiff was. Irwin's crime was speech, which makes him a political prisoner whose only crime was civil disobedience to illegitimate and unconstitutional "laws."
The AOCS (American Open Currency Standard) has not yet been raided, but they are not yet as large and successful as the Liberty Dollar was. Since the AOCS also represent a means of U.S. citizens escaping the loss of their life-savings via inflation, it is likely they too will eventually be targeted by government aggression, once they have enough money to make it worth stealing. By this coercion and theft, the government generates stolen money, not earned money. It is "stolen" because it is an inferior product, competitors are not allowed to compete with it, and all people in the U.S. and world economy are forced to transact business with it. U.S. citizens (more properly termed "submitizens" since a citizen has a say in the form of law and government he lives within, whereas a "submitizen" lives under the laws of the central bank --as all residents of the USA currently do) are forced to use the U.S. dollar as a representation of their labor.
By forcing someone to represent their labor with low-cost pieces of paper that only one small group of people (central bankers) has control over, everyone is stolen from to the extent that the bankers mint excess currency, and divert it to programs that are not voluntarily purchased on the free market. I didn't voluntarily pay stormtroopers to raid and imprison Irwin Schiff --the treasury printed money to do that. I didn't pay stormtroopers to raid peaceful marijuana growers, forcing the trade of marijuana into a violent black market, --the treasury printed money to do that. I didn't pay stormtroopers to raid Bernard von Nothaus's "Liberty Dollar," or federal prosecutors to overstep their bounds, persecute, and imprison him with a prosecution-rigged jury --the treasury printed money to do that. So, the people who print the money can use that money to redirect labor, even though their act of printing the money via a government-enforced monopoly is actually subtractive to the representation of labor. This is true both because government enforcement interferes with all other forms of labor, and because the act of printing the money inflates the currency (at zero labor cost to the printer).
So what about all the constructive goods and services the dollar pays for?
...I did buy groceries with money that the treasury also printed, (because I was afraid of being raided by government stormtroopers for "violating the legal tender laws" if I used an alternate currency). So, if I said to the grocery store owner, "Money is the root of all evil" he would rightfully look at me as if I was, myself, evil (unless he fully comprehends the nature of fiat currency, and its full propensity for government manipulation. At which point, he still would not know how I was interpreting the term. Possibly, I have a stupid socialist conception of money, or possibly I have a high-level comprehension of money, or a mix of both. In short, language doesn't serve to make us political allies in this situation. ...Simply qualifying the statement as "Stolen money is the root of all evil" quickly clears up this source of frequent and great misunderstanding.). After all, the money I gave to him paid for the producers of tomatoes, canned beans, foreign luxuries like dark chocolate, etc... That money also paid him to feed, clothe, house, and school his family. So, when the money is used to represent labor such as that, as well as my labor which paid for the groceries, it is the root of all good. It is the root of "finding ways in which we can voluntarily interact with each other," as well as voluntarily distribute goods and services. Earned money is the mechanism that allows pricing to work.
When central bankers print money, they are not earning it. They are using positions of privilege to extort the ability to create "money" out of thin air. After the money (representation of labor) is stolen this way, it then goes into the economy and is earned, but at a lower economic hierarchical level than the purpose it was printed for. So, the greatest masses of money (previously possessed only by the most productive members of society,, before the Federal Reserve Act and later, when there was a perception that the dollar was at least marginally-related to gold) are now increasingly possessed by the least productive, most-thieving members of society. As the Federal Reserve tries to bail out failing institutions, their immense but unearned responsibility (irresponsibility) for stabilizing the market via harsh decisions will more obviously fail.
Since the general public doesn't understand this, and incorrectly blames the central planners (laughably) for "creating laissez-faire economic policies," let's go back to the individual's perspective:
Without the legal tender laws, I would have traded a gold or silver coin to the grocer, because that currency would be in common circulation, since it always outperforms the dollar, long-term. The value of that coin would have fluctuated in terms of foreign fiat currencies, or even the government's own quasi-governmental fiat currency. But it would be easy for the same computerized apparatus that lists price changes in terms of dollars in the grocery store to list price fluctuations in terms of weights of gold, silver, and copper. (A one ounce silver coin is now worth approximately $30 in Federal Reserve Notes, and pre-1965 U.S. quarters and dimes are approximately 71% silver, and can easily be used as silver money.) One gram pieces of gold are already sold in foreign airports, bonded to plastic cards from which they can be easily collected at a later date, if need be. Therefore, as a representation of labor, gold and silver are very good, because they can never lose their core values, as scarce industrial metals or jewelry metals.
The great hope of the future is in the use of bitcoins, or an even more advanced future form of digital currency, whose value is measured in terms of network connectivity or computer power (perhaps calculations-per-second), or via evolving parallel institutions that make the enforcement of the legal tender laws impossible. The discussion of "countereconomics" in Samuel Konkin III's "The New Libertarian Manifesto," explores options for increasing individual liberty that do not involve electoral participation (he was morally opposed to voting). The following books also reveal further options for increasing individual freedom, (typically without Konkin's opposition to effective pro-freedom electoral participation, and sometimes exploiting synergy with it): Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice, We, The Jury, Jury Nullification: The Evolution of a Doctrine, An Essay on the Trial By Jury, The Freedom Outlaw's Handbook.
The singularity or economic catastrophe will ultimately kill the enslaving institution of central banking, if it hasn't already been killed by those who love individual freedom. Hopefully, us human-level intelligences will get to enjoy some time free from fiat currency for some simple mammalian pleasures. A positive first step would be to demand passage of Ron Paul's Free Competition in Currency Act. If this act is not passed, you will continue to be looted, and your life savings redirected to socialist boondoggles and active violence against the innocent.


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Friday, August 5, 2011
Blackberry Cobbler
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 pint (more or less) of blackberries sugared to draw the juice (or frozen from last summer)
Preheat your oven 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a 12x12x2 baking pan. In bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and enough milk to make a thin batter. Pour mixture over butter. Do not stir. Pour berries, juice and all over this and again, DO NOT STIR. Bake for 40 minutes. Enjoy.
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May[be]456 [th]
May - sorry this is so long, but just when it looks like nothing is going on, sweet surprises manifest themselves!
Wednesday May 4
Pre openings at the usual suspects, which still have free wine, how anachronistic. It is OK to tip the bartender!
Lecture at PICA on the work of Willem de Kooning by the authors of a new biography. An interview with the authors is available at www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php de Kooning was a leading abstract expressionist who did not self destruct at an early age. 7PM Weiden and Kennedy SW 13th St and Everett. $10
Opening by the Pacific Switchboard at Albina Press: Jennifer Gleach, Courtney Nyman, and Hayley Barker 4637 N Albina at Blandena 8-10PM
Thursday May 5
Excellent people watching and art talk, talk, talk at the Mark Woolley Gallery and later Gallery 500
At Holocene, a Hush Records soundcase, the sound of Hush is so onomatopoeia, with soft sweet singer songwriters, their eyes on their shoes and their hearts on their sleeves.
At Augen, a chance to see an Albers print. Josef Albers was a founder of the Bauhaus then later fled the Nazis, coming to the US to teach, launching the careers of many artists of the 50's and 60's. He is the author of a classic text on the interaction of color, illustrated by the prints.
Simon Norfolk shows large photographic landscape prints, with varying scale, from intimate to medium - beautiful, until you find they hide graves of the Bosnian civil war from the text accompanying each. Blue Sky Gallery
Everett Lofts are always a surprise, often pleasant, Check the Pause gallery for an installation involving sod and porn and a brilliant installation composed entirely of random lists at the Residence gallery, both by Harvest Henderson. Hope to see more from this artist. David Candler, also a force in the local DJ and electronica community, has constructed large collages of candy wrappers and small obsessive collections of related printed objects at Starling. Shows may be seen by appointment throughout the month - phone the gallery or see if they answer if you knock on the door!
Mary Mattingly, PNCA graduate, now in NY presents her photographs, videos and installations. 'While in residence at Duende in Rotterdam, Mattingly delved into art prophesy as a comment on contemporary society. Developing a new rationale for mobility and convenience, she introduced the world to wearable homes as an abstract concept and a modern reality. "In my work, as a result of a build-up of homogenization among products, architecture, leisure activities, and even thought, there is a return to primal man," says Mattingly. "I begin the process by creating wearable-houses; sculptures that are portrayed as being a necessity in the future, as our environment crumbles around us. People will have the ability to be completely nomadic."' Mary Mattingly is also infamous with Paul Mittendorf for their art hijack performance at Art Basel Miami. Amidst a high end international art show, Paul and Mary constructed a pirate liferaft filled with artists' works, many from Portland, and landed on Miami Beach. High end galleries, collectors and artists, assuming their project was part of the show pitched in to help! A NY dealer has decided to finance a repeat performance in New York City and Venice, Italy of Liferaft. Opening 6-9 PNCA Feldman Gallery NW 13th and Johnson
Just Be Toys/Design shows a new crop of young Japanese manga-anime illustrators, many of them women.
Send your Seattle friends to see Portland artist Laura Fritz's vaguely disturbing laboratory experiments (www.laurafritz.net) at the Soil Gallery all month. Opens Thursday May 5
Friday May 6
SE art gallery openings. The _Hall Gallery presents a group show "The Personality Test" 7-10:30, Newspace Photo opens Liz Haley, Eric McCormack and Video Installation by Patrick Halm and the New American Art Union shows the collage - paintings of Lisa Dejohn. Other spaces may be open as well, look for fliers at any of the aforementioned spaces. Locations at www.seportlandartwalk.com/ there is a rumor of some sort of art bus touring some of the spots.
PICA lecture and booksigning by Justine Kurland and Jon Raymond. Kurland's career was launched by the show "Another Girl, Another Planet" curated in 1999 by Yale's Gregory Crewdson. It was roundly criticized as representing an unholy admixture of art, fashion and pornography by the New York arts establishment and dubbed "panty photography", but that did not stop Kurland from producing more landscapes with unclothed women. Her latest work combines landscape and figure, shot in a post fire forest. The work illustrates a short story set in Oregon environs by arts writer Jon Raymond, cofounder of Plazm Magazine. Kurland's work has evolved from illustrating a fictional Tom Sawyer runaway adventure, with all girl protagonists and set in our time. Later she photographed unclothed women in the landscape living fictional utopian lives together. Her latest work documents real life intentional communities, modern tribes and Renaisance fairs in the Victorian style of early photographers such as Julia Margret Cameron. 7PM Weiden and Kennedy SW 13th St and Everett. $10
Book reading and signing by Richard Speer, Willamette Week arts critic, and gonzo arts journalist, of his new bibliography of the painter Matt Lamb. Lamb rose from the mean streets of South Chicago to great success in business until a near death experience caused him to liquidate all of his holdings and pursue outsider art-style painting. Powell's Downtown 7:30PM FREE, Reception after and viewing of some of Lamb's work at the Mark Wooley gallery
Talk by Mary Mattingly "The New Breed" - ' How will people make due in nomadic conditions? Mattingly will chart how a neoliberal ideology is bringing us closer to this future-present reality and how we can combat this through creative types of resistance. Followed by, in conjunction with Red76, participatory Little City building - magic markers, knives and cardboard, and free beer, have at it! Talk 5, building after - PNCA Stevens Studios 1432 NW Johnson FREE
(More on Little Cities: With more questions than answers we set out on our project, Little Cities. Designed as a series of parties Little Cities is a project set in place to try to investigate these complicated questions through simplistic, childlike actions. While at the same time, a process designed to create new homes, new communities, and new ways and situations for people to think about what a home is.
Little Cities Build Your Own House parties are pretty simple. Guests are greeted by a room filled with cardboard and various supplies, markers, paint, glue, etc, etc...And, for the rest of the night we make houses out of cardboard, listen to music, have some drinks. That's that. The following morning we ask that party guests return to the site of the previous night's party. We'll have some coffee, sit around and talk. Try to figure out a place that we all agree on that is a special place, a place that we, collectively, would like to homestead. Taking our homes in hand we venture out onto the streets taking the trek towards our new homeland. Placing our homes in this newly homesteaded area we are all the new stewards of this land. There to look over it, see that everything is okay, watch out for it.
As time goes on, and more and more people get together for these parties, an invisible community of Little Cities will start to grow across the country, linked by the people and ideas that came to the parties, sat down, cut up some card board, listened to some music and maybe drank a beer with someone they hadn't met before. Invisible communities of Little Cities comprised of people who spotted an outcropping of discarded cardboard, junk and trash strewn across the grass or pavement, who realized upon a closer look that it wasn't trash at all.
Mattingly would make a great collaborator for City Repair Project activities)
And sight unseen, an A+ for spirit, no doubt: at Reed Vitamin A, a student art organization dedicated to promoting art and creative boondoggle among the Reed College community, presents "Danger and Safety". Work in the exhibition explores the delicate and sometimes disturbing relationship between vulnerability and security that permeates our lives both locally, nationally, and beyond.9 a.m. - 9 p.m., weekdays, Hauser Memorial Library. This event is free and open to the public. For gallery information call 503/777-7790.
May 14 Events
Holding Hands - an benefit art sale for Andrea U'Ren - will be Saturday May 14 6-9PM at 207 SW Pine in downtown Portland. Andrea's yet undiagnosed medical problems have resulted in large medical bills without insurance coverage. Join an outstanding group of local artists in supporting Andrea's health care needs in a silent auction of their work. Have a drink, hug a friend, sing a song, snuggle up to a special craft table where you can create a beautiful momento for your lapel. All of the proceeds go directly to Andrea's medical fund.
Artists include Brad Adkins, Paul Arnsmeyer, Chandra Bocci, James Boulton, Inge Bruggeman, Clearcut Press, Bruce Conkle, Nan Curtis, David Eckard, Harrell Fletcher, Emily Ginsburg, Sam Gould, MK Guth, Sean Healy, Stuart Horodner, Kristan Kennedy, Horatio Law, Chris Moss, Melody Owen, Chris Rauchenberg, John Ryzcek, Wilder Schmaltz, Mungo Thomson, Joe Thurston, Andrea U'ren, Heather Watkins.
Later at the CenterRing, from 8PM until dawn, join many beautiful Portland DJ's musicians and healing sound artists in Legacy, a benefit for Phenix's mother's medical bills. Info Line 503-282-2616.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
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Here's the surprising twist in Mecklenburg County's investigation into alleged misspending at a Christmas charity for children: Officials said a county employee returned more than $33,000 months ago, but auditors didn't account for it.
The county's audit department released this memo Tuesday.
Here's what officials say happened:
In June, county auditors released an audit of the Christmas program. It said they'd collected about $138,978 in receipts of about $162,000 at issue. Here is the first audit memo.
On Tuesday, the auditors released a "follow-up and clarification" to that audit.
It said an employee had returned $33,776.23 in February and March.
On Tuesday, Internal Audit Director Cornita Spears said an employee had been advanced the money and was returning what was unspent or that had been used for personal items.
- Doug Miller
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
County: Employee repaid $33,776.23
Posted by Doug at 7:30 PM
Labels: DSS, Mecklenburg
2 comments:
- Cedar Posts said...
Without a doubt, this is just the start, only the tip of the iceberg.
From what I'm hearing this type of funny book keeping is everywhere at CharMeck GovCo.
- November 19, 2009 at 5:21 AM
- JAT said...
Are county employees reporting these interest free-loans to the IRS? At minimum they might be liable for the imputed gift of not having to pay the market interest rate for the use of these funds.
At $33K this blows past the $10K safe harbor limit for such loans and gets into really tricky tax code stuff.
- November 19, 2009 at 8:50 AM
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|Best Wishes from Suki and Sallie
A virtual tour of my art work with commentary, reflections and explanations. Plus drawings and photographs from my collection of things good, bad and otherwise! (To contact: firstname.lastname@example.com)
|"Gladiolus alatus", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2016
|Remember, Suki, Santa is watching!
You better watch out, You better not cry, You better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town.
He's making a list, He's checking it twice, He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice, Santa Claus is coming to town.
He sees you when you're sleeping, And he knows when you're awake, He knows if you've been bad or good, So be good for goodness sake.
|Info about Toronto's 1999 Snowstorm
|Fourth Sunday of Advent
|"Protea witzenbergiana - Swan Sugarbush", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2016
|Suki waiting impatiently for me
to come home
|The boys getting ready to tear
into their Christmas gifts from me.
|Third Sunday of Advent
|"Leucospermum cordifolium -- Pincushion Protea", drawing by Sarah "Sallie" Thayer, 2016
|Cape Sugarbird
|Second Sunday of Advent


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Directed by Jaume Balaguero
Starring Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Stephan Enquist
Released on October 3, 2002
Running time 1h 42m
Rated PG-13 (For this review, I watched the unrated version)
Genre: Horror
First off, just because I'm LDS, don't expect me to moan and complain about Anna Paquin's recent revelation of being bisexual. I still think of her as a fellow human. However, I think she's made a potentially damaging mistake. That's all I will say. I'm not here to talk about Paquin's sexuality. I'm here to review Darkness. And no, it has nothing to do with Darkness Falls, thank heaven.
Our story begins with a prologue that actually has something to do with the rest of the film. However, by the time the film was over, I had completely forgotten about it, so screw it. Yes, I know, I just pulled this gimmick in my The Haunting of Molly Hartley review, and I already regret bringing that thing up. But I definitely remember one thing about the prologue. The same bloody flashes are recycled throughout the movie again and again and again. It's PG-13 blood, but blood nonetheless.
I know that the title says "Darkness", but during the title sequence, the title is completely unintelligible.
We transition to a small American family that has moved into a "never before inhabited" house in Spain. Where in Spain? Madrid? Seville? Valencia? The film doesn't say. It's probably near "Seaport, Eastern Mediterranean", or "Somewhere in China". Why have they moved into this house that has "HAUNTED" written all over it? I think the film mentioned it once or twice, but I've forgotten. Something to do with the father, Mark (Iain Glen) (Oh, hai, Mark {No, I will not be reviewing The Room in the future}) going back to school? I don't know. Anyway, we are also introduced to Maria (Lena Olin), Paul (Stephan Enquist), and Regina (Anna Paquin, who I wish I could see more of in True Blood {don't judge me}). Strangely, Mark is Scottish, Maria is Swedish, Paul is Latino (I think), and Regina is Canadian. What a racially diverse family that clearly cannot exist in the real world. Another interesting thing is this: despite having lived in the house for three weeks, the family has still not completely unpacked. Wow.
Before I go into the stringy, tough, overcooked meat of the plot, I must mention that just barely before it does, we hear a voice on the radio talk about an impending solar eclipse. But not just any solar eclipse – a SPECIAL type of solar eclipse that happens only once every forty years. Gee, I wonder if this is going to be a plot point.
Anyway, the plot kind of takes off when Mark begins to suffer from periodical mental breakdowns, and Paul becomes afraid of the dark for the first time. Paul also begins drawing crude drawings of generic children having their throats slit. This disturbs Regina, but Maria brushes it off.
And then we are introduced to the type of gimmick that makes up the majority of the scares throughout the movie: a shadow, or, in this case, g-g-g-g-g-ghooooost walking across the screen accompanied by a thump or instrumental sting. Not only is it not scary, but it gets old quick. The second most frequent scare in the movie is lights flickering and/or going out.
The plot thickens, like a meaty stew left out in the sun, when Regina and her boyfriend Carlos (Fele Martinez) come up with the idea that something is wrong with their house. They meet the house's designer (Fermin Reixach), who tells them that the house was intentionally designed to be egg-shaped in order to suffice for a supernatural ritual involving the entity Ouroboros (mentioned only once in the entire film), where seven children must be sacrificed by "hands that love them". The phrase "hands that love them" is seriously overused. This ritual must coincide with – GUESS WHAT? – the eclipse that occurs only once every forty years! I told you it'd be a plot point. Because OF COURSE the next one is imminent.
And then the plot sours like burned bread when, for some strange reason, Regina learns that her grandfather was one of the cult that attempted to perform this ritual forty years ago. There actually were seven children in the previous ritual, but not only did the grandfather not genuinely love Mark, but Mark escaped.
Regina races back home to find her father in the middle of a nervous breakdown which has caused him to attempt a pill overdose. However, this caused him to choke. Regina and Maria perform an emergency tracheotomy on him, but this inadvertently kills him. Considering that Regina and Maria genuinely love Mark, the ritual is now complete. What does this cause to happen in the real world? I don't know. The film doesn't say. Anyway, the darkness in the house kills the lights and Maria. We also see a poorly rendered figure that will eventually be perfected in the Grave Encounters duology. The darkness – wait, what? When was the darkness in this house ever sentient? Anyway (I really say that a lot), Carlos arrives and picks up Regina and Paul in his car and drives away. But UH-OH! PLOT TWIST! The REAL Carlos then arrives at the house and is killed by the darkness. It is revealed that the Carlos driving Regina and Paul away is a trick played on them by the darkness, and the film ends as they drive into a dark tunnel.
I must mention two particular scenes. One, in which Mark finds a photograph of three bald men with black, wide, hollow eyes. Two, about forty minutes from the end, in which Regina finds this photo in the darkened house. However, the center man is missing from the painting, leaving a black blotch on the photo. To understand why I found this so creepy, just look up the The Hands Resist Him painting urban legends. Damn, is it creepy. It is a major pity that Darkness chose not to utilize this idea. Upon seeing this sequence, I literally shouted, "Oh, NO!" and then was incredibly disappointed that the idea was not used.
Anna Paquin was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in The Piano. You would be hard-pressed to find out how, as she gives a dismal performance in Darkness. This film hurts even more considering that this director, Jaume Balaguero, directed the fantastic REC and two of its sequels.
It also hurts even more that despite its plot holes, subpar acting, and cheap scares, Darkness was on the cusp of actually being half decent. The "missing man from the painting" scene was SO CREEPY!
Close but no cigar.
Final verdict: 1 out of 5 stars. It would have gotten a .5/5 if not for that one scene.


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Saturday, February 11, 2012
Cancún narco violence claims fifth victim in 2012
The events unfolded about 4:30 p.m. when a taxista was flagged down by three men who asked to be taken to a certain location. When they got there the men seized the driver, bound and gagged him and took off with the cab. He freed himself and summoned police.
Within minutes officers located the taxi nor far away. Alerted by a banging noise coming from the trunk, they opened it and discovered two men who had been shot in the head. One of the victims was already dead. The second, who police say was 18, was gravely wounded and expired soon after at a local hospital. A narcomensaje, or executioner's warning, was left with the victims, both of whom had been bound and shot with a .9 mm handgun. Their bodies showed evidence of beating and torture.
Cancún area authorities say these are the fourth and fifth narco executions since Jan. 1. A war between two vicious cartels - Los Zetas, who are powerful all over Mexico, and Los Pelones, a local upstart group known for contract murders - is being furiously waged in Quintana Roo state.
Postscript: Police say that these victims were nothing more than small time independent drug dealers, known as chapulines, without connection to any cartel. That's what got them executed. Being a sole proprietor on the street in Cancún can lead to a quick death sentence.
Apr. 29, 2012 - A contract executioner who worked for both Los Pelones and Los Matazetas has confessed to these murders, say Cancún police. He was arrested April 25.
Los Pelones killer in Cancún also may have been hit man for Los Matazetas: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.mx/2012/04/los-pelones-killer-arrested-in-cancun.html.
Taxi drivers, Mérida police on edge after latest murder of local cabbie: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/murder-of-another-taxi-driver-has.html.
Cancún, Riviera Maya, under the thumb of los narcos: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/02/mexicos-caribbean-riviera-maya-in-hands.html.
Los Zetas control half of Mexico, including Yucatán, says top prosecutor: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/01/yucatan-and-half-of-mexico-belong-to.html.
7 comments:
- AnonymousFebruary 25, 2012 at 6:42 PM
This is not good, since I'm moving to Playa shortly. Now a question - what can one do to stay out of trouble there? Are they really taking over business?ReplyDelete
I have a lot of posts dealing with Playa del Carmen; this is only one of many. You may want to check some of them out . . . like the above link entitled "Riviera Maya, under the thumb of narcos."ReplyDelete
Now to your question. If you had told me you were going to be visiting Playa for a few days just as a tourist, I'd tell you not to give things a second thought. Enjoy yourself, stick to major tourist attractions (beaches, restaurants, stores) and don't stray off by yourself into unknown territory, especially at night.
But you're MOVING there? As in buying a home? I'd do a very thorough investigation were I you. Quintana Roo state has significant security issue -- anyone in the know will tell you so -- and things could get much worse before they get better. There is a general perception that police forces Q.R. are ineffective at best, and "on the take" at worst. Those kinds of factors can quickly affect real estate values in any community. I have Mexican friends who left that area and moved to Mérida just to get away from chronic security issues (especially people with young(er) children). I'd proceed with caution, no matter what local real estate agents in Q.R. may be telling you. They're far from objective about such things.
- AnonymousFebruary 29, 2012 at 4:32 PM
What about staying in the resorts there? Are they owned by cartels? Sneak in your room at night kind of thing?ReplyDelete
Is it a bad idea to tour the mayan ruins if you are staying at the resorts in the riviera area? Everything we travel we follow common sense travel safety, however I've always been worried about being in cross fire type of situations.
In 2010 we went to cabo and it was surprising to see military on so many corners, a huge navy battleship, to see trucks of military with machine guns drive by. It was the first time I have ever seen that in person. It was unreal.
Last year we stopped in Cozumel and Roatan on a cruise, and I remember a local in Roatan trying to get us to follow him to go try an iguana at this restaurant. We turned him down, he was persistent and seemed nice, but you never know.
One question I'm eager to know is, when you travel to these places, everyone seems so happy, so nice, it is hard to tell if they are good or bad. Would you say most resort employees are good? Or do cartel and gangs work at these places?
I have enjoyed reading a lot of your articles, even the ones that have nothing to do with the area I am interested in. It's very insightful.Replies
- AnonymousApril 1, 2012 at 7:00 PM
same question as above. Your thoughts? Thinking about staying at Barcelo Maya Palace deluxe for a week and visiting the Tulum ruins and Xel-ha. Should this tourist visit be avoided?Delete
I'd not worry about it. Just use common sense, stick to high traffic tourist areas and everything will be fine.ReplyDelete
Hi-I have been to the Riviera Maya many times and last year drove to Chiquila from Playa and took the ferry over to Isla Holbox for a few days. This year we are planning on driving from Cancun to Xcalak for some scuba diving and possibly do some sight seeing in Tankah Bay. We will be there September 15th through the 20th. We have never been this far south. Previously we have not ventured too much farther south than Tulum. What do you advise?ReplyDelete
I never advise. I only report. I cover Q.R. and Riviera Maya extensively, mainly because nobody else does so in English (and very few in Spanish). But I would recommend ordinary security measures such as avoiding night driving, settling into one's accommodations by early evening and avoiding conspicuous displays of wealth in any form (cash, jewelry, etc.). Those things serve travelers well any place, of course, but particularly in this country.ReplyDelete


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Irvine Housing Blog
Open House Review: 27 Ensueno West
Posted: 18 Oct 2012 05:00 AM PDT
Today, I stumbled upon 27 Ensueno West, an older but remodeled home not too far from where I live.
The basics:
HOA dues are $85 per month and there are no Mello Roos taxes.
I have been inside other houses of this same model many times, so I already knew the layout and was curious to see what upgrades had been made. The first thing I noticed was attractive wood flooring throughout most of the house. The living room is immediately to the right upon entry and, oddly, is the only room in the house with carpet. It is new, but it's Berber, which I don't like and it seemed out of place since no other rooms are carpeted. The living room has vaulted ceilings and is painted a nice shade of yellow. The room is also sunken one step from the hallway and dining room, which is immediately behind it. The dining room is painted dark red and is more spacious than other dining rooms in the same tract.
At the back of the house, the kitchen is to the right and the family room to the left. The kitchen has been fully remodeled with high end, stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. A huge island in the middle doubles as a breakfast bar/dining table, though it only has seating on one side. All of the wall space is covered in various shades of small bluish-gray tiles. The cupboards are white, providing a nice contrast to the dark granite, tiles and steel. With ample counter, cupboard and drawer space, the only thing missing is a large pantry.
Down one step from the kitchen is the family room. It has a white brick fireplace and white mantel, with a sliding door out to the backyard.
Also downstairs is a half bath that has new fixtures, paint and wainscoting, but original counter and cabinets. A small laundry room (no sink) sits between the bathroom and the two-car garage.
Upstairs, there are four bedrooms and a loft. All of the rooms share the same wood flooring as downstairs. The three secondary bedrooms line up along the back of the house. One room is slightly larger than the other two and has bigger closet, but they are all pretty comparable. One has a large curtain instead of closet doors. The rooms all share a bathroom that hasn't been remodeled at all. It has one sink and a tub/shower combo with older tile. While it is in good condition, the gold fixtures and outdated tile definitely show their age.
The loft overlooks the living room. It has two ceiling fans and a dark blue accent wall (the rest is painted beige like the upstairs hallway). The current owners have it set up as a gorgeous office, though I have seen it used as a playroom in other homes of the same model.
The master bedroom is fairly large with space for a small sitting area in addition to the bedroom furniture. It has three windows facing the front of the house, a ceiling fan, and a mirrored walk-in closet. The bathroom has been partially remodeled. The espresso colored vanity is new, with two sinks, brushed nickel fixtures, and lighted mirrors. The surrounding walls are covered in small gray tiles. However, the shower (which is in a separate room), hasn't been remodeled at all. It has the original white tiles and old metal doors.
The backyard is a good size for the neighborhood, with a large grassy area and a patio. The house is near the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. A walk two blocks down a quiet greenbelt takes you to the large community swimming pool, clubhouse, and Santiago Hills Elementary School.
The biggest drawbacks to the house are that the windows are original and the bathrooms are mostly not remodeled. I also don't like the step down into the living room and family room. Otherwise, it's been beautifully updated and is in a good location. I think it's a little overpriced. The sellers are looking to move quickly and would prefer a short escrow, so I would think a lower offer might be accepted.
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This was an incredibly hard list to make. This is strictly my own opinion and what missions I think are the best.
Honorable Mentions- Tip of the Spear, Halo (Halo 3), Cairo Station, The Silent Cartographer, Shutdown, The Quarantine Zone, High Charity, Regret, Tsavo Highway, Outskirts
10. New Alexandria – Halo: Reach
This has been a personal favorite of mine since I first played this wonderfully fun and inventive mission. Driving a falcon from decayed skyscraper to decayed skyscraper gave a fresh feel to the Reach campaign and brought me back to the New Mombasa missions in Halo 2 but I'll get to that later. The DJ brute easter egg remains one of the best in the series as well as perhaps the funniest apart from the Johnson-Elite romance in Halo…
Read more >
These are my personal favorite weapons in the entire Halo series.
Honorable Mentions: Spartan Laser, Sniper Rifle, Fuel Rod Cannon, Covenant Carbine
10. Assault Rifle- I had to put this on here at. This is the standard weapon for action in Halo, suitable to near any situation in the campaigns and multiplayer. In Halo 1 this gun had was a monster with it's high magazines and fire rate. The assault rifle has lived on the series (minus Halo 2) and had several versions of it from The Suppressor to the Plasma Repeater.
9. Shotgun (the one in Halo: Reach)- The shotgun is also a standard action weapon for the series and I love it. This is the best close quarters weapon, especially in the campaigns when taking on elites in narrow hallways or hordes …
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These are the top ten maps in the Halo series in my opnion. Now you should know my Halo expereince really took off with Halo: Reach but I have played many of the great classic Halo maps from the original trilogy in the MCC, forge remakes anf the actual games themselves. Enjoy!
Honorable mentions: Guardian - Halo 3, Sanctuary - Halo 2, The Pit - Halo 3, Midship - Halo 2, The Spire - Halo: Reach, Exile - Halo 4
10. Zanzibar, Halo 2
Many would rank this map higher and rightfully so (there are just 9 more maps i like better). This is one of the most unique maps in Halo's history as it is a landmark map for Halo 2 and 3. This map offers intense action from it's open areas, the beach, the platfrom next to the wheel, to the small corridors in the st…
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Portland's Police Internal Investigations Auditing Committee ( PIIAC ) has shown a fairly consistent strength in the last few months. Their second and third quarter monitoring reports highlighted several important issues. However, they are still forbidden from using case numbers or details about appealed cases, making statistics more or less meaningless to the general public. The combined second and third quarter reports indicate that PIIAC heard 11 new appeals. In eight of the cases, they affirmed bureau findings; one other case was held over til the fourth quarter, and one was sent back for more investigation. The other case was sent to City Council to change the finding (as reported in PPR #9).
This was a case in which police removed a teenager suspected of a sex crime from school without notifying the boy's parents. The Internal Affairs representatives came up with at least three separate reasons why they felt it was OK for the officers to have clearly violated a General Order regarding parental notification. (It should be pointed out that at the time Captain Bill Bennington was still in charge of IAD, and that Capt. C.W. Jensen has been a lot more forthcoming since taking over in June.) One reason given was that the Oregon Revised Statute [ORS] regarding this procedure says to contact the parents "when practicable", versus the General Order [G.O.] which says "when possible." Lieutenant Radcliffe of the Detectives Division noted that the ORS was newer than the G.O., and that since the G.O. was written in 1988 it clearly needed to be updated. (That pesky old constitution must need a few tweaks too after 200 plus years!)
The next explanation was that the child's parents or legal guardians are required to be contacted-- and the police claimed that they felt the school principal was acting as the child's legal guardian at the time.
But PIIAC's citizen advisors were outraged. Citing their own feelings as parents and citizens, they chided Internal Affairs for not finding misconduct, and sent a recommendation to City Council to change the findings to "sustained."
With Earl Blumenauer in Washington, only 4 Council members were present. The Mayor voted not to change the findings in order to allow Chief Moose to make the decision himself. The other three voted yes and the finding was changed, the officers found to have violated General Orders.
The fallout from this case was very interesting--Jeff Barker, then the Portland Police Association President, wrote a long diatribe in the July Rap Sheet titled "Cop does his job, Committee demands discipline." The gist of the article is that Barker feels PIIAC was being "nit-picky" for insisting the Bureau take action when a G.O. was violated. He contends that the detective "does a good job, gets a predatory child molester out of circulation, and gets in trouble for a technical violation." This attitude may seem righteous since the crime described is heinous--but if we indeed are innocent until proven guilty, imagine if your rights were violated as you were brought into custody.
What makes Barker's article more interesting is a piece he wrote for the August 6, 1996 Oregonian, singing PIIAC's praises. It appears that when the Oregonian printed an editorial calling for public inquests into police misconduct, Barker suddenly became a big fan of the "nit-pickers." He wrote that PIIAC could not be confused as "a rubber-stamp-organization reluctant to criticize the Police Bureau." He goes on to detail ways in which "the auditing committee has produced significant changes in the way the Police Bureau investigates allegations of police misconduct." Hmm. Wonder which Jeff Barker just lost his bid for another term as President of the police union?
Also reflected in the monitoring reports is that PIIAC is taking the mediation program for complaints against police very seriously. [For a first-hand account of the mediation process, click here .] They had people from the Office of Neighborhood Mediation appear at PIIAC meetings in August and November to report on the status. While the presentations were confusing, they were able to determine that only 3 cases had been successfully mediated while seventeen were left open as of late September (three more were completed by November). While the program has excellent potential to lower tensions between the community and the police, six mediations in three years is, as noted by PIIAC, "completely unacceptable." Apparently other cases dropped off the list because one or the other party withdrew or the complainant could not be found.
Also in the Third Quarter report: A reserve officer called into IAD for questioning resigned his badge in the middle of an Internal Affairs interview when the investigator pointed out the inconsistencies in his story. This is encouraging in terms of Internal Affairs taking their role seriously, although an independent investigative body would still be preferable.
PIIAC's second quarter monitoring report contained a response from Chief Moose regarding the "Distraction technique," a term used by officers to describe blows or other pain doled out to suspects while trying to gain compliance (see PPR #9 for other info). Moose explained that police need a way to "justify and document the rationale for an increase in the level of force used," despite the fact that the training division and Internal Affairs both admit that "Distraction technique" and "Distraction blows" are terms and actions which are not bureau-approved.
We would like to encourage you all to attend the PIIAC meetings. While they can get bogged down in process, and sometimes details are kept from the general public, they are quite informative and sometimes entertaining. Two police officers (including Capt Webber from the Training Division) came in and demonstrated police tactics for removing a suspect from a vehicle. The sight of an officer getting compliance holds on his supervisor was amusing, while at the same time informative and provocative--where do we draw the line between "necessary" actions to take a suspect into custody and misuse of force?
PIIAC can be reached at (503) 823-4126.
People's Police Report #10 Table of Contents


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Fairhope regularly shows up on "Best Places to Live or Retire" lists, among those are Money Magazine and U.S. News and World Report.
Fairhope was first settled sometime around November of 1894, where Alabama City used to be. The Fairhope Industrial Association founded the town as a Utopian colony espousing single taxation. The colony's principal founder was social philosopher Henry George. He had twenty-eight followers, the basis of the city's original citizens.
Their goals were to establish and conduct a model colony which was to be free from all kinds of private monopoly and where they could secure city members equal opportunity, as well as rewards for individual efforts. The first citizens of Fairhope Alabama pooled money to purchase some land, including Stapleton's Pasture, located on the eastern edge of Mobile Bay. The city fathers divided the land into long-term leaseholds. Rent paid all government taxes and this simulated a single tax.
A corporation called Fairhope Single-Tax is still in operation. It has 1,800 leaseholds, spread out over 4,000 acres both around and in Fairhope, Alabama. In the 1910 version of "The Landlord's Game," a precursor of "Monopoly," Fairhope Avenue was included.
In 1907, educator Marietta Johnson founded a school called Organic Education in Fairhope. John Dewey praised the school in his 1915 book Schools of Tomorrow. Both Johnson and Dewey founded an association called Progressive Education. Other noted intellectuals regularly wintered in the city, and it was a magnet for artists and writers. The esteemed writer Upton Sinclair often visited the city.
Over time, the city has moved from a Utopian experiment to an intellectual's and artist's colony, and then on to an affluent suburb and boutique haven.
Residents and tourists have witnessed the jubilee phenomenon for over fifty years. A variety of aquatic animals, which include flounder, blue crabs, eels, catfish and stingrays move to very shallow water. The timing of jubilees are unpredictable, but they occur during the summer months, usually just before dawn. If you are lucky enough to be in Fairhope during a jubilee, grab a net and you will certainly catch dinner. The phenomenon is thought to be caused by a lack of oxygen in the water due to decaying vegetation.
Weeks Bay National Estuarine Reserve boasts a wide variety of wildlife and plant species in a swamp forest. There is an elevated walkway, so the visitor can walk easily through the wetlands. This is one of the few places that you can see a pitcher plant bog in the wild. These plants are carnivorous, but don't worry-- they only eat insects. Early spring is the time to see the pitcher plants in bloom, but other plants are in bloom all the way into late fall. Pitcher plants create an ecosystem that can not be found anywhere else on Earth.


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It was everything that I wanted it to be: simple, elegant, and easy; and on top of that, we had the MOST gorgeous day in March. All week it rained, but on Saturday, the weather was to die for.
Everyone says that something will go wrong on your wedding day. Luckily, or oddly enough, nothing went wrong...the only thing that I remember going wrong happened the night before at our rehearsal dinner: I forgot my cell phone in my hotel room.
It was like I was completely lost.
We ended up getting it (thanks to my BFF, Colleen and her husband, Tyler!) and everything went fine, but honestly, that was the only stress I had all weekend!
Planning our wedding was a breeze. Honestly, I planned most of it the month after we got engaged and after that, I only had a few minor things to work on here and there. I knew what vendors I wanted to work with, I knew how I wanted things to look, and I knew all of the work I needed to do.
I've planned weddings for friends in the past, so doing my own was a walk in the park!
Friends and family kept asking what they could do to help and were confused when I said I didn't think I needed any help...on top of planning our wedding, I was also in the middle of planning a huge fundraiser, selling my house, moving, and trying to find a new job. So I had a few things on my plate to say the least!
Luckily, all of the vendors that I chose to work with made our day super easy!
So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite wedding pictures!
Skyline salon is amazing. Not only is the location and view awesome, but the staff is so great. We brought in mimosa's that morning and then they served us lunch all while getting primped and pampered.
|Lincoln sent me my favorite, an edible arrangement to snack on while we were getting ready!
The view while you're getting your hair done...(oh, and those are my shoes)
The Old Mission Church in Fairway that we got married at was BEAUTIFUL
Our first look :)
|I think we had the best looking wedding party ever. Duh.
|My parents and my sister and her cute fam; isn't Mason growing like a weed!
|Lincoln's parents
|My cute Grandpa!
|Most of our nieces and nephews posing before the wedding; aren't they cute?!
My Besties from Grade School (and before!) that helped me on the day of the wedding (and before!)
My other BFF's from college!
Our rings. Just hangin' out on a tree branch.
My dad walking me down the aisle.
This would be where I didn't hear the minister whisper that we were supposed to kiss...so I just stood there like a dork while Lincoln was waiting for me to give him a smooch. Oh well, it made for some laughs during the ceremony!
Our sweet ride...
Our florist was amazing. She not only captured what I wanted the reception site to look like to a T, but she flew in peonies from another country so that I would have some for my bouquet. I can not say enough good stuff about Rosemary at Final Touch Studios!
You guys, the food at our reception was SO GOOD. Californos knows how to throw a party. All of our guests for days and weeks after our reception keep talking about how good the food was. One friend had five plates. Yes, it's a guy, and he's also super skinny. It's not fair.
We had a photo booth that produced some hilarious pictures and a table set up with pictures from pretty much all of our immediate families weddings.
One of my BFF's, Monica made our delicious cake!
We're married!
The Mikey Needleman Band performed at the reception; if you're in the KC area you HAVE to book them. They're so fun!
Lincoln's dad busted some moves on the dance floor with the grand kids!
My mom tore up the dance floor, too.
And then I rapped to Vanilla Ice on the microphone
If you've followed my blog for awhile, you'll know that getting a microphone at a wedding is pretty common for me, remember?!
Theta sisters!
My most favorite picture of the whole wedding:
I guess he didn't like the champagne?


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Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come at the strangest moments, as I am driving down the road or while I am exercising. It also can take many forms. Sometimes I just get an idea for a series of colors, sometimes an object is the beginning of a quilt. I never really know how the next one will start.
I saw a wall hanging in a shop when I was in Seattle, WA a few weeks ago. It was an embroidered and beaded piece of fabric that came from a ceremonial robe. I was amazed at the amount of work that went into creating it. I did not take a picture of it. I do not want to copy it. I keep thinking about it though. The one aspect that keeps returning is the use of tiny mirrors in the design. They were sewn down across the corners. I've never seen mirrors used as an embellishment, but I am ready to give them a try. Well, as soon as I come up with a design that can use them. It will come. I'll probably wake up in the middle of the night, or have to stop my morning workout to sketch it out.
Keep your mind open and the ideas will flow. If I try to work to hard at it I will have writer's block, staring at a blank piece of paper. I am sure it is turning over in my subconscious, working out the details.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
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I cannot believe how excited I am to come back from my very short vacation and read that the Food Guide Pyramid will be laid to rest. Rest in peace buddy, it has really been fun. I don't know about any of my colleagues, but I have never been a fan or used this tool in my practice and I am excited to see that the USDA is moving forward with hopefully a more progressive tool.
As some of you know the USDA launched the food pyramid in 1992. It is a pyramid that provided examples of how many servings to eat of specific food groups: grains, breads cereals, dairy, meats, fruits, and vegetables. Although the pyramid did give a visual example, it was not user friendly when deciphering good fats verse bad fats or whole grains verse refined grains and such. The pyramid has had some makeovers over the years but has still been found to be confusing and unfriendly.
According to reports, the food guide pyramid will be replaced with a new icon this Thursday June 3, 2011. It is thought that the new icon will be portrayed as a plate with four recommended portions of meat, vegetable, fruit, and starch. The plate will also recommend a dairy to go with meals as well. It is thought that the new plate will be more user friendly and allow the public to visually focus on some of the recommendations published in January including eating smaller portions, switching to low fat or non fat milk, and drinking water instead of sugary drinks.
I am awaiting the launch anxiously as reports state the USDA spent two million dollars on development and promotion of the logo, research and focus groups, the creation of a website, and marketing techniques for the next year.
I myself use a portion plate when working with clients and have a very high success rate when it comes to weight loss. Keep on the lookout for the USDA's new launch on Thursday and stay tuned for another blog to review this new fabulous icon.


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There are some places in India where the disturbance of the mosquitoes causes many serious diseases due to which people also die annually. All Out has brought its latest product All Out Total Double Power Against Mosquitoes in House so that it can kill more than double mosquitoes from the earlier cases. It has become faster and stronger than its earlier products. All Out Total Double Power Against Mosquitoes in House provides effective protection against the mosquitoes transmitting diseases such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, and so on. They are specially designed for the mosquitoes and the flying insects. As they are nontoxic, they do not cause any harm to the human beings. All Out Total Double Power Against Mosquitoes in House has neither any smoke, nor any sound and thus it is safe to use at home. It is also convenient, stylish in design and economical as it can serve for continuous forty five days without refilling. The mode can be increased in All Out Double Power 45 days Refill when the buzzing sound of the mosquitoes increases. The active mode of the machine kills a great amount of mosquitoes and gifts you with a good sleep.
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I have no exact measurements for this bake, just go by feel and estimation.
Baked potatoes in thermal pot. When cooked, peel skin and mashed the potatoes. Add some butter, pepper salt and dried parsley. Mix well and set aside.
I used canned corn beef easily purchased from supermarket. Simply mashed or loose up the beef in a bowl.
Get a ramekin or baking dish, fill the 1st layer with beef followed by a thick layer of mashed potatoes and spread out evenly.
Finally, baked in oven 180c 10 - 20 mins or till cooked.


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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
4 Comments:
- said...
Awww.... Loewenstein is having a big sad because the Western Media didn't move the Japan Earthquake to page eleven and put this non-news on the front page.
Does Loewenstein's ego have any bounds? Does he really believe that the whole world gives a shit about things he thinks are important?
- said...
Such news barely registers in the West
Given that post was lifted from a blog called "alternativenews.org" whose sole news topic is Israel and Palestine, and the story is about an event at an Israeli University, I would imagine such news barely registers anywhere.
In fact, there is no evidence that this has been registered as newsworthy by any Arab state.
Further more, Ants has zero comments on the post, so even his anti-zionist groupies could not give a shit.
But he just had to mention the word "West". That loathsome entity that continues to feed him.
- said...
Jenin, Jenin... is that the story of a young woman's journey of discovery from Milan to Minsk? If not, I ain't interested...
- said...
The zero comments on Loewenstein's post doesn't necessarily mean nobody commented. Antony Loewenstein routinely censors comments with which he disagrees. There could have been dozens which never saw the light of day.
Of course that would mean that dozens of people read his posts, so never mind.
Well you made a long journey from Milan to Minsk, Jenin Jenin. You never stopped hoping. now you're in the Pinsk, Jenin Jenin. When the nay sayers nay you picked up your pace. You said nothing's going to stop me so get out of my face. I'm having adventures all over the place, Jenin JENIIIIIIIN!


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On September 15th,
Austin started a six week project with several
other students from his school.
They competed in the
Tennessee Valley BEST
(Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology)
Robotics competition.
Six weeks ago they were given a box of parts and shown
a "playing field" of objectives that they needed to design a robot
to be able to accomplish.
Last Saturday, October 27th was their competition...
There is a lot more involved than just building a robot.
In order to compete for the BEST award,
they have to prepare an Engineering Notebook,
a CAD/Solidworks Notebook,
an Oral Marketing Presentation,
a Marketing Book with also includes an
Interview from the judges
The picture above is of our marketing booth.
Kayla and Ashley were all dressed up for the
theme of the competition...
Warp XX
The inside of their booth looked like the inside of
a Space Elevator.
The kids named their robot ASTRO.
It is an acronym for something, but I can't remember
off the top of my head what it stands for.
In the picture you can see the 10 foot pole that the
robot had to climb. There were "game pieces" on the floor that
the robot had to pick up and carry up to the top and
put in the bucket on top.
Here is another shot of ASTRO trying to make the bottle
exchange. Overall the kids did an outstanding job!
There were a lot of robots that could only climb up and
down the pole, but not play any of the game pieces.
Some robots never even made it off the ground.
At the end of the day the kids racked up with awards.
Here is a list of their accomplishments:
1st Place Oral Marketing Presentation
1st Place Mascot Dance Off
2nd Place Project Engineering Notebook
2nd Place SolidWorks/CAD Design Award
2nd Place Game Day T-shirt Design
3rd Place Exhibit and Interview
3rd Place Most Photogenic Robot
3rd Place Most Robust Robot
4th Place Overall Robot Performance
and the big one of the day
2nd place BEST Award
All of their hard work paid off and the kids
were so excited!
They will advance to the
regional South's BEST Competition
at Auburn University in December.


text:
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Mary Worth 1,057
Today's Full Strip
12 comments:
Oh LiZa, you nutty kid. I thought you had some Charlie Sheen tiger blood in you, but it turns out you just didn't like your job. This is how your life ends, not with a bang but with Mary spouting inane platitudes. Looks like there's a Charterstone Pool Party in our near future.
- July 2, 2011 at 7:03 AM
- heydave said...
Our long national nightmare is over. Maybe.
- July 2, 2011 at 8:56 AM
LiZa cries giant black tears of relief now that Mary has straightened out her life.
- July 2, 2011 at 9:58 AM
- Gina said...
I had a similar thought -- platitudes about failing to make the turn are pretty cold, coming from the woman who sent Aldo to his fiery death.
- July 2, 2011 at 10:53 AM
I may need to stop reading, just like I did with the Foobs when they went into repeats. This storyline had some potential and now it's fizzled out with a simple lecture from Mary. Liza will go off into the sunset with a checkered suit selling 1996 Dodge Neons. That is not right. We were owed some drama, darnit.
- July 2, 2011 at 11:56 AM
And Giella, with his pens cold in the snow, sat puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without boxes, it came without birds, nothing was splattered, scattered or stirred. Giella thought, as he sketched hands touching face, what if this story moves at a much slower pace? What if Moy, he thought, doesn't write for my skill? What if LiZa, perhaps, is more static than Jill?
- July 2, 2011 at 12:04 PM
duckduck, that was wonderful!
I vote they can Moy and hire you to write the strip.
- July 2, 2011 at 2:10 PM
I'll give Moy credit for an unusual plot twist. Usually the relentless protagonist (let's say, a salesperson) realizes the meaninglessness of her profession and finds fulfillment in a more helpful profession (say, nursing)!
Moy has turned this scenario upside-down! Are you bored with providing care and comfort to those in need? Why. switch to a career in sales!
- July 2, 2011 at 2:54 PM
Wow! Who can argue with life altering wisdom like Mary's?
- July 2, 2011 at 4:05 PM
I only check in on MW every week or so. Is this the same storyline with the stalker nurse?
Why hasn't Mary put the mojo whammy on her and wiped her puny little merely-mortal brain already? Isn't there a "TEH INTERNETS AM SCARY!!1!" storyline waiting in the wings?
- July 3, 2011 at 2:59 AM
Too soon.
- July 3, 2011 at 8:38 AM
This story started on April 1, and we can only assume that if finally ended today, July 3 (of the same year, thankfully!). It is probably not the longest MW story ever, but certainly the longest MW story about nothing. I say the next adventure of Mary and Friends better have a little zing, or more newspapers will cancel the strip - and what will we make fun of then, huh?
- July 3, 2011 at 3:47 PM


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606 6033 Gray Avenue, Vancouver MLS®: R2195178
Welcome to the Prodigy by Georgie award winning builder Adera. This rarely find bright south-west corner unit features 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. A gourmet kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, top quality construction, beautiful engineered wood floors. Located in Wesbrook Village, right beside treeline. Very convient location, walk to Save-On-Foods, restaurants, cafes, shopping and transit. Norma Rose Point Elementary (K-8) and University Hill Secondary catchment. One parking and one storage locker.
Taxes (2016): $1,691.30
- Bike Room
- Elevator
- In Suite Laundry
- ClthWsh
- Dryr
- Frdg
- Stve
- Drapes
- Window Coverings
- Garage Door Opener
Site Influences
- Golf Course Nearby
- Greenbelt
- Private Setting
- Recreation Nearby
- Shopping Nearby
Similar Listings
Listed By: Luxmore Realty
Disclaimer: Listing data is based in whole or in part on data generated by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley Real Estate Board which assumes no responsibility for its accuracy.


text:
I have lofty dreams. The one we'll discuss today involves my balcony patio, growing a culinary herb garden, and my obsession with outdoor living spaces.
I'll be the first to admit to having a rather dismal outdoor area. There's no reason for this. I live in a charming old apartment that is fabulous and wonderful in every way besides that I've neglected my patio space big time! Which is a shame because it's the main entry point when I come and go, and the first impression my home makes on guests! My early childhood was spent in southern California and my memories of this time involve my mother's sun-baked patio garden, my uncle's tidy rose garden, my aunt's deck covered with twisting grape vines, and of course, my grandmother's tiny, magical apricot orchard. A few years back I visited a friend of a friend's patio garden and fell in love with the space. And I've had the best of intentions ever since.
Last year's attempt at an herb garden was a good one. I planted seeds early, cultivated the tiny growths, transplanted them into pots, watered, and made sure there was plenty of sun. There might have been too much sun. Last summer was one of the hottest on records (think 115 degrees...for a week...die) and my plants just withered up in what seemed like an afternoon...boo.
This year, I've got a plan. The seedlings have sprouted! I've got nasturtium, marigold, basil, mint, chives, thyme, dill, lavender, and lots and lots of catnip in the works. Cause I know a lot of cats. I'm going to harden them off them before replanting in larger pots. Brainstorming has begun on a "catio" solution...I might even be looking at decorative pillows in the near future! I've pinned inspiration here and here and here and here. Also on my side: a new neighbor whose simple patio table and mat is much more in line with my aesthetic than the previous tenant's cluttered decor that I had to literally climb over to reach my door. They took the cow skull with them, but left behind the groovy concrete painted mushroom statue. The boyfriend feels really connected to the concrete mushroom so maybe I'll work it in somehow. ;)


text:
Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora says that General Manager Jerry Reese is trying to make him "look like a greedy pig" for turning down the team's contract offers. But Reese says he has no hard feelings toward Umenyiora.
"I don't carry grudges. That is the offseason, that is part of the job," Reese said on 98.7 ESPN Radio, via the Star-Ledger. "In the offseason there is always some controversy about contracts. It is not just one person, it can be several different people with contract situations. That is part of my job, it is never personal, I don't think it is personal with respect to players and it definitely is not personal with respect to me. It is just part of the business. We will get through this and we will see what happens moving forward. It is part of the business. It is not a big problem for me to have guys say some things. I think sometimes some people say things that they obviously really don't mean. Everybody is trying to make as much money as they can for themselves and their families and everybody understands that and it is not personal."
Reese also reiterated what he said before Umenyiora offered his most recent complaint, saying that the Giants believe they'll be a better team if they have Umenyiora on the roster this season. But they're also not ruling out trading him.
"I'm not going to discuss Osi's contract situation with you guys. I can say this to you, though: the New York Giants are a better football team with Osi Umenyiora on our team," Reese said. "We respect him as a football player. Our goal is to have Osi play football with the New York Giants and retire as a Giant. That is what we would like to do first. All of our options are open as I have said before but Osi makes us a better football team, I do know that."
At the moment it appears that Umenyiora will play out the final year of the seven-year contract he signed in 2005, which gives him a base salary this season of $3.975 million. That would allow Umenyiora to test free agency in a year, at the age of 31, and see if any team will make him happier than the Giants.


text:
What I noticed about The Pepper Kids website is that they offer a lot of chic and modern stuff that I would love to own. The products I received came very nicely packaged. I was very happy with the quality of the products too.
To buy the set of bib and burp clothes I have received to review, please go to The Pepper Kids to make your purchases.
Many thanks The Pepper Kids for generously offered 1 Dwell Studio product as a giveaway prize to one of my lucky readers. The giveaway winner may select any Dwell Studio that is less than $50 (S&H included). This giveaway is open to US residents only please.
How to enter:
In order to enter my giveaway, you MUST be a public follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect. To follow me, click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog. If you are not a follower and you enter my giveaway, ALL of your comments will be automatically forfeited.
1). Please go to The Pepper Kids and then come back to tell me which Dwell Studio product you would like to win (you MUST be a public follower of my blog to enter this giveaway, and your profile can not be set at private).
How to earn additional entries (please leave a separate comment for each additional entry):
2.) Blog about my giveaway- with a link back to here, when you leave the comment make sure you include the URL of where your post of my giveaway is. Please do not copy and paste my review over to your blog, please write about why you would like to win this giveaway and provide a link back to this post. The Contest ends June 5th, 2010 at 11:59pm PST. Blogging about my giveaway earns 2 additional entries.
3.) Add me as a friend on Facebook for 1 additional entry.
4.) Follow me on Twitter for 1 additional entry.
5.) Grab my button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.
6.) Grab my "Summer Haven" button and display my button on your blog or website. Then come back to tell me what your website or blog address is, make sure to leave an url address so I can check it. Grabbing my button is worth 5 additional entries. If my button is not displayed on your homepage but it is posted elsewhere, you will not be eligible to win with your additional entries.
7.) Retweet this review and giveaway by clicking on the "retweet" button on the bottom of this post. (Right next to where you click to leave me comments). After you retweet, please leave me the url of your tweet so I can check. If you do not know how to check your tweet url, please read this post for step by step instructions. You can retweet once a day for 1 entry each time. NOTE: You can only use the "retweet" button once. If you want to retweet everyday, please tweet the following: " I want to win The Pepper Kids giveaway@ http://www.sugarpopribbons.blogspot.com/ " for 1 additional entry per day (please leave me the url so I can verify your tweet).
8.) Become a fan of The Pepper Kids on facebook for 1 additional entry.
9.) Follow The Pepper Kids on twitter for 1 additional entry.
Read the fine print:
* Lucky winner or winners will be selected through True Random Number Generator.
* If your profile page does not show your email address, please include your email address in your comment. For example: sugarpopribbons at yahoo dot com -- so that I may get in touch with you if you are selected as the giveaway winner.
* Each giveaway winner has 48 hours to respond to my email about getting the awesome giveaway prize to him/her. If the winner does not reply to my email within 48 hours, I will choose another winner using the True Random Number Generator.
* I do contact each winner via email. If anyone is curious about who the giveaway winner is for any of my giveaways, please go back to the original post of that giveaway. Once a winner is selected through random.org, I will post a screen shot of the the number random.org picked. You will be able to see which number has been selected and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can cross check who the giveaway winner is.
*I received a free product (or products) for review purposes. I did not receive any form of compensation from the company. All opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway. My reviews are not always positive, but they are my personal and honest opinions. Other people's views and experiences with the product or products might be different from mine.


text:
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser Review
10 comments:
Makes it look brand new! I believe I've seen a liquid version of this around too. I don't own a beauty blender - the idea is still really new to me even though this has been out for a while, haha!ReplyDelete
xx becky / star-violet.comReplies
Beauty blenders are really great!! At first I didn't want anything to do with one because I've never used a sponge before but now I love it!Delete
Oh wow this really does sound amazing! I hate cleaning mine it takes agessssss so I'd definitely appreciate this!!! xxReplyDeleteReplies
You would love this cleanser!! It makes cleaning it so much better lol!Delete
- AnonymousJanuary 12, 2014 at 10:22 PM
i have never tried this before :) I always use my MAC brush cleanser to clean it :) great post doll !! xxReplyDelete
I haven't tried an acutually brush cleaner on it, but I have one so I should try that too!Delete
yes. i am trying out different brands and have even made my own solid cleanser before.i would suggest trying the brush cleaner from michael's or an art supply store. i recently featured it on my frend's beauty haul.ReplyDeleteReplies
I will definetly try that!! I never though to go to micheals for paint brush cleanser! Thank you for the advice!Delete
THANKS for this review. Seriously I had this in my online Sephora cart and now I know I need to get it if it worked for youReplyDeleteReplies
It's amazing!! I'll never go back to using dish soap lol!!Delete


text:
When I was twelve years old, I sat in the back seat of my dad's car rifling through the beach bag looking for something to drink. I saw the word "lemonade," opened the bottle, and took a swig.
"Dad?" I said. "This lemonade tastes weird."
My dad peered in the rearview mirror and calmly told me, "That's because that's not lemonade."
I gave him a confused look.
"That's alcoholic lemonade," he said.
I promptly proceeded to spit out the window and dab my tongue on a towel, following that up with a dramatic montage that involved me asking my dad what was going to happen, was I going to be drunk, was I going to die?
When I was 23, I poured some of the punch bowl contents into my cup at a party, being sure to plop the enticing sorbet on top. I then filled up my cup again. I was really unexpectedly emotional that night. I found out later that was spiked punch. Considering I had zero tolerance for alcohol, that may have explained my emotional state. Maybe.
When I was 24, I was playing with my plastic water glass and my friend's plastic whiskey glass, which looked exactly the same. I took a swig of what I thought was water, then immediately spit into the cup. I told my friend I'd pay for a refill of his whiskey. He denied the offer. He wasn't mad; he was simply amused.
Those are the only times I've ever had alcohol in my life.
In the first five minutes that I begin talking to someone new at a restaurant, based on my ordering, they ask me two things:
1. Why are you vegan?
2. Why don't you drink?
Despite my attempts to steer the next 30 minutes of conversation in another direction, the table topics continue to revolve around my lifestyle choices, usually due to incredulity and discomfort from the other party because, ohmygod they could NEVER give up cheese and have I really NEVER had alcohol?
It exhausts me.
I'm so very tired, people, of being the spotlight of attention just because I am different from you. Just because I make unique choices. Just because I make you uncomfortable.
I don't sit at that table and lecture people on their cheeseburger and the beer they are sipping, but somehow, my salad and water make people uncomfortable.
I am all for deep and meaningful conversations, but this is not going to turn into one of those. This is going to be 30 minutes of you trying to mask your judgment of me but failing miserably. This is going to be 30 minutes of me hearing the same insulting jokes I've heard a hundred times before. This is going to be 30 minutes of me taking deep breaths while the walls close in and I get backed into a corner with no one to defend me but myself, bored at this point and just waiting for the organic leap to the next tête-à-tête to determine if you'll ever be able to get past me being different.
Why do I have to explain myself? Why does my being different make you uncomfortable? Why do you feel you have to defend yourself when all I've said is "No, I don't drink" and "Yes, I'm vegan"?
Since I've already put out there why I don't eat animals, I'll talk about my sobriety, since at this point in our table talk, without knowing my full and short-lived relationship with liquor, you're probably weighing the odds of me being a recovering alcoholic or a crazy religious nut. I can assure you, I am both. (Just kidding.)
I don't owe you an explanation for why I don't drink, but I'm going to give one to you anyway. And you're probably not going to like it. You're probably going to have some reflexive retort back at me because I've somehow hit a button I didn't know was there to push. Or maybe, just maybe, you'll say, "huh" and move on.
I don't drink because I want to be in control. I don't drink because I like reality. I don't drink because I like to be present in the moment, no matter how shitty it is. I don't drink because I like to face my problems head on and then learn and grow from them.
For the record, I don't smoke pot for the same reasons (and yes I live in Seattle where I CAN HAVE ALL THE POT IN THE WORLDDDDD).
I am in fact often mistaken for being drunk–sometimes the drunk person–at a bar because there I am making my own dance floor with my signature crazy legs moves, singing at the top of my lungs, laughing my loud and wild and pure and unrefined laugh, and making an utter fool out of myself with absolutely no care in the world.
Maybe I am weird because I'm different. Because I naturally have no inhibitions. Because I'm not easily embarrassed. Because I'm okay with staring my fears and insecurities in the face without any vices and letting the world wash over me leaving me scarred and scared and oh-so-bring-it-on ready.
Because I want to always be wholly, truly, honestly and authentically me.
My lifestyle choices don't define me. I am not just a vegan and just a sober person. I am a woman who craves integrity and humor, who has insane attention to detail, who is increasingly more curious about the natural world and our role in it, who loves love, who speaks her mind, who has lived here and there and done this and that.
So please. The next time you meet someone who is different than you, don't define them by a label. Accept that they are different, embrace that they are different, ask yourself why their being different bothers you, make a mental note to address that issue with yourself later, and move on.


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The starter kit is a great investment at just $189 ($285 retail and a free business supply pack valued at $90) and join Stampin' Up! thru me HERE. It's risk FREE!
I have always been creative, I used be Graphic designer in Japan and joined Stampin' Up! In 2010 when I first time knew the Stampin' Up!
- For $189 you choose: Up to $285 worth of Stampin' Up! product for your kit. That's $96 in FREE product. Products in the kit can be from any current catalog.
- Free shipping: The kit ships to you FREE, for another $9.95 savings
- Fill your wish list at a minimum 20% discount: Once you join, you can stock up and save 20% or more on your favorite Stampin' Up! paper, stamps, inks and tools PLUS earn more free and discounted products thru Stampin' Rewards and special promotions.
- Be first! Receive FREE catalogs and an opportunity to preview and purchase new products in advance–one of my favorite benefits.
- Earn extra income and/or free products! Stampin' Up! offers a fun opportunity to share your passion for stamping and earn extra income and product. The choices are yours!
- DO IT JUST FOR YOU! There's no obligation to host workshops or parties, sell products to others or personally purchase anything beyond the kit!