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Monday was our first day feeling healthy. I am so thankful for our health and am continually making an effort to keep us fighting off the germs. Probiotics, lots of garlic, manuka honey (NOT for babazies under 1 year) are just a few of my tricks. We enjoyed the day lounging around the house and napping.
Tuesday was a little bit rougher. I was still overwhelmed with recovering from the flu week, and I missed my Herb class. I was so upset! I know it was probably for the best since we JUST got better and forcing Sonja to be out and about would have been risky, but I really, REALLY loved my Herb Mama classes!
In regards to feeling better; Sonja has recovered from the flu but part of that is a sensitive digestive track, her stomach was adjusting and resuming pooping. Unfortunately, her poop was a gold, yes, gold, color and clay like. It bothered her quite a bit and she cried for at least 5-10 minutes all three times. Wiping was the worst, because her poor bottom was inflamed. (p.s. I know that sometimes this Real Talk freaks some non-parent friends of mine out, but I feel like I have an obligation to discuss the not so cute things that are part of being a parent)
Otherwise, we were back to normal... Until bed time, when she was doing her acrobatic nursing session and attempted a head stand and ended up rolling into my face, splitting my lip wide open.
Wednesday was a BUSY day. I took my mom to the airport in the morning, then rushed home to meet a student and do a private art lesson. My sister watched Little Miss while I tutored. After that, we headed to Lux for coffee, Midwives Rising for open hours, Town and Country Farmer's Market for a few much needed items, handcrafted honey and balsamic, and then to Scottsdale Fashion Square for our monthly Godiva freebie, baby TOMS for Cucpake and an Anthro. splurge, the first of many, I just found out I have access to an Anthro. DISCOUNT!!
I've been waiting MONTHS to get these items, and unexpected paycheck did the trick!
Turns out my mom got sick on the flight to MI, I bet she wishes she hadn't stopped by to bring me lunch while I was taking care of a sick baby. Sonja brought down, Daddy, Uncle Wayne, Aunt Gretchen and Grandma with her stomach bug. Yuck!
On Thursday Sonja and I went to work. Like, real work, like the job I was doing while pregnant work. I was working for my uncle while pregnant as his office manager. After Cupcake arrived, I realized how unrealistic it would be to pay someone to watch her while I worked and pumped. So, I stopped. But now that Little Miss is a bit older and more independent; we tried out bringing her to the office with me, while I took care of some much needed organizing and managing. We were there for about 3 hours and she slept for about 1 and 1/2 of them. I think the arrangement might actually work for some extra cash for our household and a little less stress for my uncle.
Friday, we returned to our normal swim schedule with Uncle Wayne. Since Cupcake was sick last week, we skipped it. This week, she was so comfortable with the water; I was actually able to dunk her! I counted, 1.2.3. blew in her face, then dipped her in and out. She hardly reacted, and didn't cry at all! So excited for her to become a little fish in the water.
I LOVE this swimsuit but it's 3 years old and I really wish I could afford a new one...
Friday night we headed to Interdependent an art opening at The Eye Lounge, I loved a few of the pieces and so did Sonja.
The Modified.
Saturday we went to the Phoenix Public Market, and got some fresh veggies!
Then came home and relaxed...
On Sunday we went grocery shopping. Is it just me or is everyone else spending $200 on food a week?! My garden is transitioning for fall and everything is dying. We've been seriously over budget for the past few weeks now. After breaking the bank we headed home and Hub's parents stopped by. Cupcake got some quality time and I got a mini break. During nap time, I attempted to back up my computer and realized I couldn't find my hard drive... freaking out a little. Sunday evening it was Soba Noddles for dinner and Gelato Spot with friends.
I even gave Sonja a little bite of my Dairy Free Pineapple gelato.
She loved it, of course.
In other Sonja news, she is loving sticking out her tongue back and forth and waits for you to do the same. She is dancing and singing with music. She is giving kisses and hugs without being asked. She smacks her lips together and prefers you do the same (as if you were making a "ba" or "pa" sound). She has also been exploring everything, pulling down books wherever she can find them and opening all the kitchen cabinets. She is mastering her throwing and tossing skills. She is running! Her favorite song is Johnny Cash's Devil's right hand. She still has no teeth.
New vacuum = new box = new toy.
She is also doing her darnedest to rip this mirror off the wall...
Happy Momma Monday!
p.s. got a second? please vote, click the banner below and then the owl on the left, please and thank you.

subset: commoncrawl


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I no longer know what to do. I can't fix this, don't have a clue even where to begin. I miss my grandparents. They would always take me in and make things better. I had a safety net when they were around. My mother has been a great help to me, but I think we've taken too much from her already. I know she loves me and would do whatever she could for me, but she just doesn't have the space or resources to take us in if it comes down to that.
I am broken, perhaps beyond repair.


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While we were away in North Wales I joked to the husband that the last time I felt this bad I was pregnant, we both laughed it off not thinking it was a possibility. I put that thought to the back of my mind and decided I needed to make an appointment with the Dr to check my blood levels. When we got home I continued on the really tired, not being able to do much and sleeping all the time path and one morning, while I was still half asleep, not really thinking and for no other reason that I can fathom other than it was there, I found myself picking up an unused pregnancy test left over from months ago.
Around 30 seconds later I was staring in shock and disbelief at the result, it was positive? But...How? (Don't answer that, I know how!) I walked out of the bathroom in shock just as the husband was waking up 'what have you got there?' He said 'what's wrong?' I just handed it over and watched as he turned white then left him to it as the girls were waking up.
I went around for the rest of the day in shock, I was pregnant? The husband and I had agreed that we weren't going to do this again. We had decided that there was too much heartache and pain and that was it, we were sticking with our 2 beautiful girls. How could I be pregnant again?
Before long and after lovely people talked sense into me, I spoke to the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit got a scan arranged and found out I was around 6 weeks. The midwife was great, she told me she was at the end of the phone whenever I was worried about anything and she scheduled me another scan at 8 weeks.
The next 6 weeks went by so slowly, ticking along second by second aware that at any moment I could miscarry this precious precious baby who, so clearly to me, desperately didn't want to be forgotten. Here we are at 13 weeks. Its been a roller coaster ride full of anxiety but I finally feel like I can sigh a breath of relief today. The danger is not over, it has not passed, my baby will need to continue to fight to be born, but we made it through the first trimester. 1 down 2 to go, bring it on!


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our statement as FakePress lives at the crossroad of the other
discussants' statements. Intertwined within the intersectual meanders
of eXpanded design (Canevacci), augmented architecture, our reflection
takes a complementary perpective. Within the magmatic, reactive,
animated editorial landscape outlined by the other discussants, we
would like to focus on the specific theme of future of publishing
Our observation is partial since we are part of a strange publishing
house. Why should we create a publishing house? Publishing has become
a central activity in the contemporary era. Goods we buy every day in
supermarkets are complited filled with information (e.g.: barcodes),
and even our public identities (on blog, sites, socialnetworks)
require a continuous activity of publication.
FakePress is a think tank that aims at exploring the next steps in
publishing practices and tools, and investigate about the
opportunities given by location based technologies and by novel
approaches to knowledge dissemination, communication and expression.
Our not-books (or fake-books, if preferred) are platforms that enable
the expression of multiple points of view, an emergent, recombinant
poliphony in continuous mutation. We promote the term "augmented
truth" in a world that is completely encoded, indicating the
possibility to create stratifications on ordinary truth, opening it up
to new interpretations and continuous re-codifications. This is our
political-poetical statement as publishers.
While in the past the work of the publisher could be described as
reviewing manuscripts, editing, marketing and distributing books
through booksellers around the world, we are wondering what changes
when networked people access, produce, share, extract and remix
contents through a variety of devices. What happens when interfaces
and enabling technologies transform places, spaces and objects in
"surfaces" for publishing. How a publishing house may be still
relevant when contents are at the centre of a potentially infinite
relationship with other text and multimedia objects, and are accessed
through paper and digital devices, via web, on mobile phones as well
as through architecture and objects?
Let's make an example to describe what we are investigating at the moment.
Imagine a washing machine, a white washing machine like the one you
may have in your house. Imagine that there is a mobile app that
recognize physical components of the washing machine and retrieve
contents on demand such as instructions on how to use the washing
machine or tips to foster sustainable washing practices. Well, who is
going to publish this content? A group of activists could be
interested in publishing content to foster education on sustainability
and may suggest to use natural detergents. A company producing
chemical detergents could be willing to publish some content to
promote their detergents; some consumers may want to publish their
reviews on the washing machine and, of course, the washing machine
factory may want to highlight the distinctive features of its washing
machine; its competitors would be willing to publish some alerts that
say that there are other (potentially) better washing machines
available on the market. A magazine like Wallpaper may end up
reviewing the washing machine and the national consortium of washing
machine producers want to add its positive review. The white washing
machine (as billions of other physical objects) may become the arena
for new kinds of publishing strategies (and battles) and almost every
object could start hosting additional contents.
This is an extremely interesting time and some publishers (like our
company) are wondering if and how they can re-shape their traditional
mission in order to continue to represent a fundamental crown in the
publishing engine. As a publishing house we are still trying to
understand potential business models that guarantee an economic
viability for this kind of augmented reality publications.
FakePress' experiences in one and a half year of existence have
produced a quantity of concepts, projects and technological
infrastructures (and, obviously, books!) that is quite amazing, and it
highlighted how this is substantially a research and experimentation
process: return on investment is not always guaranteed, but the
motivations, desires and importance of experimenting new grammars and
"new ways of writing on the world" still remain our priority.
Therefore we were wondering how the list imagines the future for a
publishing house that wants to explore augmented reality
(location-based, object-based, multi-author, open-ended, cross-medial
Thanks and a big hug,
(Federico Ruberti, Luca Simeone, Oriana Persico, Cary Yungmee Hendrickson)
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Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven
Recorded April 11, 1941
Track Time 3:27
Written by Wesley "Kid" Wilson
Recorded in New York City
Louis Armstrong, trumpet, vocal; George Washington, trombone; Prince Robinson, tenor saxophone, clarinet; Luis Russell, piano; Lawrence Lucie, guitar; Johnny Williams, bass; Sid Catlett
Originally released on Decca 3756 (Originally issued as "New Do You Call That a Buddy," probably a typo)
Currently available on CD: It's on the eighth volume (1941-1942) of the peerless Ambassador series
Available on Itunes? Yes, on two budget, no-name sets.
The ol' Itunes shuffle picked out a winner tonight, though it's one that I don't have to spend TOO much time talking about. Instead, it features some of my favorite elements of classic Armstrong: a minor key, a dark-hued trumpet solo and two minutes straight of Louis Armstrong, Master Storyteller.
First, a little background. The song was written by Wesley "Kid" Wilson, someone Armstrong had a little history with. Wilson was a partner with Leola B. "Coot" Grant, a popular vaudeville duo and Armstrong backed them on four Paramount sides during his first stint in New York in 1925. Wilson returned the favor by later recording another original composition, "Toot It Brother Armstrong." "Do You Call That a Buddy" is almost something of a funeral version of "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You." The way it goes, the "buddy" in the title phrase, slept with the singer's wife/girlfriend/lover, causing the somber vocalist to sing about how well he treated his old friend, only to see it blow up in his face, building up to a crescendo every time he thinks about seeking violent revenge.
According to some quick online research, Wilson himself persuaded a young Louis Jordan to record "Do You Call That a Buddy" for Decca in 1940. Jordan had been recording for the label since the end of 1938 and hadn't cut anything that remotely resembled a hit. On September 29, 1940, Decca had Jordan record a vocal version of Charlie Barnet's instrumental hit, "Pompton Turnpike," while "Do You Call That a Buddy" (with "Dirty Cat" added a parenthetical subtitle) was relegated to "B" side status. According to John Chilton's Jordan biography, Let the Good Times Roll, "Do You Call That a Buddy" proved to be the more popular of the two, not quite reaching the chart but still selling 62,000 copies and putting Jordan on the map. Jordan's one of my heroes and I think it's a good idea to take a few minutes to dig his somber take on Wilson's tale of infidelity:
Great stuff, though Jordan doesn't pick up his horn (Chilton writes of Jordan's alto playing on the number but there is none). There's traces of the signature Jordan humor as he gets worked up about what he's going to do to his buddy, but really, it's a pretty chilling vocal performance. Within a year, Jordan was singing about the same theme, this time threatening to move to the outskirts of town. That record was a smash and the rest is history...
Though Jordan's "Do You Call That a Buddy" didn't exactly top the charts, it was big enough to inspire a number of covers, including versions by Larry Clinton and the Andrews Sisters (it was at this point when Don Frye's name magically appeared as a co-composer; Frye had written some of the Andrews's biggest hits but I don't think he had anything to do with this one). Naturally, it made perfect sense for Decca to pass along the tune to Jordan's session-mate, Louis Armstrong. Armstrong was a major influence on the alto saxophonist, who played on an Armstrong session for Victor in December 1932 (the one with the "Medleys" of Armstrong hits).
Decca, ever restless of settings for their trumpet-playing superstar, had recently begun embracing the past. After years of recording pop songs, Armstrong began looking backwards a bit in 1939, remaking earlier OKeh recordings such as "Rockin' Chair," "Hear Me Talkin' To Ya," "Save It Pretty Mama," "West End Blues," "Savoy Blues," "Confessin'" and "Our Monday Date." In 1940, Armstrong reteamed with Sidney Bechet, his old recording partner from the 1920s, and even cut a remake of "Sweethearts on Parade."
That same year, a young George Avakian discovered some unissued Armstrong sides from the 1920s in the OKeh vaults. He immediately had them reissued, something that would have made him sainted in the jazz community if he had done nothing else after (though thank God he did!). Avakian found some recordings by Armstrong's "Hot Seven," a famous name in jazz history. Perhaps aware of this, Decca decided to dust off the name for two sessions in March and April 1941.
The sessions yielded eight results but they are hardly known today and I think I know the reason why. People hear the phrase "Hot Seven" and immediately conjure up audible images of 1920s New Orleans small band classics like "Potato Head Blues" and "Weary Blues," with an fat tuba bottom and a joyous cacophony in the ensembles. The 1941 Hot Seven sessions are the polar opposite. They sound like 1941, not 1927, and I think this is important.
Armstrong was always looking ahead. When he remade those earlier OKeh tunes he did so in souped up new, swinging arrangements. When he was placed in a deliberately old-fashioned setting, as in the Bechet date, he played like it was 1940, not 1924, proceeding to stubbornly blow over and through Bechet, creating something of a fractious atmosphere. And when he had to revive the old "Hot Seven," he selected what was basically a New Orleans lineup, but made sure the horns had arranged parts to do. He also recorded some novelty numbers, many with band vocals, and even an old standard, "I Cover the Waterfront." On "I'll Get Mine Bye and Bye" he played a daring, almost strikingly modern solo. He sounds like he's having a great time and the band is truly an ancestor to the All Stars with the finest cats from the Luis Russell band, including George Washington on trombone, Prince Washington on reeds and the entire Russell rhythm section anchored by the one and only Sid Catlett. Thus, it's easy to dismiss these "Hot Seven" recordings if you're only looking for the Armstrong of 1927. But if you want to give the Armstrong of 1941 a try, give 'em a listen and I think you'll be presently surprised.
So with the preamble out of the way, let's get to the main event, Armstrong's cover of "Do You Call That a Buddy." You can listen along by clicking here.
Righteous. Isn't that opening trumpet solo haunting? Armstrong loved minor keys and he really responds to the shadowy nature of the tune without resorting to high-note fireworks. He always loved that descending chromatic run when dealing with minor tunes (he even sang it on "Summertime" and "I Will Wait For You"). Robinson and Washington lay down a solid bed of harmonies over which Armstrong begins his preaching, backed by the soft, yet soul-shaking brushes of Catlett. I get the chills when the rest of the band drops out for a couple of bars and it's just Armstrong's horn and Catlett's prodding brushes.
Armstrong's trumpet, though he plays a lot of melody, also has some husky, modern touches in his note choices and the way he bends the hell out of a couple of them. The little flickers he adds to some of his phrases also always catch me by surprise.
But then it's time for the vocal, Armstrong calling for everyone's attention. I love Louis Jordan to death but I think I Armstrong's personality outshines him on this one. After the opening "Look here, boy" and "I don't dig you," Armstrong keeps the hokum to a minimum, but you can definitely hear him smiling as he delivers some lines, especially the threats of violence. First he threatens to shoot him, then kill him, then finally, poison him, pronounced "pie-zin" in Pops's unique New Orleans-ese (thanks to the great Al Basile for setting me straight!).
It's a remarkably chilling, yet fun vocal, and it's hard not to start chiming in with the band's "yes, yes," "no, no," responses. Notice, Armstrong sings some different lyrics--perhaps this is where Don Frye came in, even though he wasn't mentioned on the label? Anyway, Armstrong's in great voice, without much voice, and the little slice of scat in the coda is delicious.
(Also, Jordan must have enjoyed this record himself. At one point, trombonist Washington, yells out, "Shot him in the foot, boy, shot him in the foot!" Nine years later, when the stars aligned and Armstrong and Jordan teamed up for their only session, Jordan repeated the exact same thing, breaking Armstrong up on the greatest ever version of "You Rascal You.")
"Do You Call That a Buddy" has lasted as a standard til this day, mainly adopted by blues bands. B.B. King recorded it in 1965 and YouTube features a couple of other blues bands doing effective live versions of the tune. Even Dr. John recorded it not so long ago. The song is pretty much can't-miss if you have the personality to carry it off...and goodness knows Pops had that personality!
I hope you enjoyed this look at a forgotten Armstrong gem from 1941. It looks like the Itunes shuffle is enjoying this period as I just gave it a spin and it looks like I'll be back later this week with "Among My Souvenirs" from 1942...as well as some exciting personal news: will my wife be giving birth to little Louis or little Ella? We'll know this week...stay tuned!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Now, Do You Call That A Buddy
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Friday, December 31, 2010
More Winter Memories
Where do I start when I have so many memories of childhood winters?
There's the time my mom went sledding with us. She thought it would be cool to build a ramp for the sleds to launch off of...and it was...until she cracked her tailbone and had to sit on an inflatable donut for two weeks.
There's the time that she surprised us by building a snow dragon. It was creative and amazing, and I wonder if any of us still have a picture of it...
One winter we had so much snow that we didn't need sleds. We built our own luge tracks and slid down them in our snowsuits.
Or there was winter when my brother built an igloo out of packed snow. My sister and I built a fort next to it and we bombarded each other with snowballs. Our fort fell, but his igloo only lost the roof.
And since it's New Year's Eve, how about a memory related to that? It doesn't have much to do with snow, but it has a great deal to do with what made my childhood winters so special: my family.
For many years, my father took on a second job in addition to running the family farm. Our little dairy farm wasn't very lucrative, and when you add three kids into the mix, a second income was a necessity. So, my dad worked at a local manufacturing plant where they made the plastic parts used in vacuum cleaners.
It was a horrible job. I think his blood pressure took quite a beating during the time when he worked there. The only positive was the year-end bonus.
In the grand scheme of things, I think my family would have been better off with a cash bonus, but as a child, this was better: a $50 gift certificate to the local grocery store.
Did we spend it on milk and eggs? Absolutely not. On December 31, Dad would take the certificate in and spend it all on our New Year's Eve party. He would stock up on everyone's favorite junk foods and sodas. The grocery store hosted a movie rental section, so he'd grab enough movies to make it past midnight. And every New Year's Eve, the five of us would pig out, watch movies (pausing only for the ball drop over Time's Square), and prompt each other into staying awake long enough to ring in the new year.
We may not have always had much in terms of the material things, but I learned from a very early age that material things don't matter as much as having the love of your family and having memories of good times with them.
Happy New Year. May everyone find 2011 to be a year of happy memories...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Snowy Days
Winter isn't what it used to be.
Growing up in Northern Pennsylvania, I was accustomed to snow. Tons and tons of snow. If there weren't at least six inches blanketing the ground, then we considered it to only be a "dusting". It wasn't a "storm" until we had over a foot of snow in one snowfall. And school closings? Well, that required at least two feet of snow! None of the namby-pamby closings that we get nowadays!
I'm starting to sound like an old codger now...
I remember one year when it seemed that there wasn't a day that went by that we didn't get snow. We had back-to-back nor'easters that year and each one dumped between three and four feet of snow. Our house was at the top of a small but steep hill; our barn was about fifty yards away, at the bottom of the hill. I think that my parents sledded to the barn that first morning; it was the only way to get there.
Later that day, since school was definitely closed, we all bundled up and went out to start digging. The plow my dad had used to dig us out the week before had broken, so we had to shovel everything by hand. That meant: a fifty yard path from the house to the barn, including one that led from the upstairs of the barn to the downstairs. A similar path to the car, parked at the bottom of the hill. Then, from the car to the end of the driveway? A wide enough path that the car could drive through it. From the car to the end of the driveway? At least a hundred yards, probably 150. That's alot of snow.
We were chipper about it. My parents, brother, sister, and I dug right in...only occasionally pelting each other with snow. We decided to start at the bottom of the hill and work our way toward the end of the driveway. As we shoveled, I discovered that it was easier to chop downward into the snow with my shovel. It loosened the snow and made it easier to scoop and toss. I shared this info with my family, and soon we were chopping and scooping like champions!
Rumble, rumble.
I heard a strange noise and looked up just in time to see the top eighteen inches of snow shift and slide toward me about six inches. We had inadvertently set up perfect conditions to cause an avalanche! Not a true, bury-your-family-alive sort of avalanche but an avalanche all the same.
We went back to scooping, no chopping, after that.
You know, as much as I hate shoveling the measly amounts of snow we get now...I really miss those days. I could probably blog endlessly about my winter memories of growing up on the farm...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Art Room Studies: Final Two
These are my two favorite images from this series. The top one is the picture I envisioned capturing when I first saw all the frames on the wall.
The bottom one? I just really like it.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Art Room Studies #3: Point A to Point B
Do you think art gets anxious? Do you think a blank canvas gets tired of waiting for someone to cover its surface and create art? Or that a camera peers at you accusingly, waiting for you to get off your butt and go out to take some photographs?
I wonder these things as I stare at this stack of frames. Are they tired of waiting? Does art hunger to be created?
My camera is looking at me right now. It wants to go out in the blowing snow and play. Yet here I sit in my flannel pajamas, inches away from a roaring fire, unwilling to give up my toasty warmth for 40 mph winds.
Do you think art will forgive me today?
Friday, December 24, 2010
Art Room Studies #2: Painted Frames
When I was in school, I belonged to an enrichment program that allowed me to participate in educational opportunities beyond the normal classroom. Among other things, I got to participate in a weekly elementary news broadcast (including anchoring it a couple of times), visit the Corning Glass Museum and a Wild West museum, and learn how to do computer animation.
My favorite year of participation, however, was when I was a senior. I wanted to do something that I would enjoy for my senior project, but I went to the group's advisor feeling a little melancholy. I didn't know what I wanted to do.
She gave me a catalog (I don't know what it was called) filled with anything and everything that anyone could possibly need to make any sort of project. It was a little overwhelming. Still, I sat and flipped through the pages, looking for something that would interest me.
Then, I saw it. I had watched the show on PBS while babysitting my cousins in the summer. I had been enamored with the idea of trying the same techniques.
The Bob Ross Oil Painting Starter Kit.
You might know who he is. Aging hippy with a gentle voice and puffy, curly hair. He always painted "happy trees". I loved watching him work, and suddenly, I had my chance to try to oil paint like him!
Then, I saw the price of the kit. $128. I didn't have that kind of money. My parents didn't have that kind of money, not to put toward a box of paint and brushes anyway. $128 would feed us for a month.
At that moment, the advisor came over and asked if I'd found anything. I told her I had but that it was $128, expecting her to understand that I couldn't afford it and to hopefully offer a cheaper alternative. She looked at the item and the cost and said, "Okay! We'll buy it for you!" I wasn't sure that I'd heard her correctly.
"But...it's $128."
"That's fine," she said. "We'll order it out of the budget." She smiled brightly at me before looking back at the page. "Wouldn't you rather have the full kit, though?" She pointed to the larger kit that cost nearly $200.
"Well, it would be...um...the other one's fine," I stammered.
"Eh, we'll just order the big one." She circled it in pen and walked back to her desk to phone in the order.
To this day, I'm quite sure there was no budget for the Enrichment program. I'm quite sure that I had a fairy godmother who wanted to give me a chance to fulfill a dream.
I still have the kit. These sixteen years later, it's still in my basement. I'm afraid to open it; I'm sure the tubes are full of more oil than paint. Probably, I should just throw it away...
Maybe next year...
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Art Room Studies #1: Buckets and a Cabinet
I'm terribly tired this morning (so much so that I just had to delete: "I'm teribbly tiered"). I wish I could come up with something wise and interesting to say about each of these shots....
....Nope. Nothing coming to me. Except to say these are my least favorite of this series. I like them, but I have some others that I like even more. And one that I LOVE.
Stay tuned! Ha ha!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
New Project: Art Room Studies
I have a new project!
Well, I should say "had" as I've already finished processing the pictures. But since this is the first I've shown anyone, we'll stay in the present tense.
I stopped into the graphic arts room a couple of weeks ago, and while I was talking to my colleague, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screenprinting frames hanging on the wall. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I asked if I could bring my camera in (like a graphic artist would say no).
So, camera in hand, I started snapping. I started with the frames because I just thought they were so cool. I snagged a couple of other shots, too, so as not to snub the rest of the room. Honestly? Most of the other shots got canned. The frames really were my muse.
For the next several days, I give you:
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Cathedral of Learning
My brother-in-law gets to go to school here:
I get to "go to school" in the typical bricks and mortar construction from the seventies that one sees scattered all over the state, if not the entire country.
It just doesn't seem fair somehow. I put in my dues in high school. I dealt with the drama and the stress. And now I'm back. You'd think that being on the other side of the desk would change things.
It doesn't. It's still stress and drama. Still in a institutional environment.
I wonder if things would be different if, instead of going to school, we all went to the "Cathedral of Learning" or to some other interestingly named building. I wonder if it would be different if our school looked like this rather than...well...rather than what it looks like.
Would it be a happier place? Or would it all still be about standardized test scores, about students becoming nothing more than a number charted and graphed by faceless droids? Would it still be about jockeying for position at the right hand of an administrator, even if it means alienating your colleagues and stepping on them if it means little more than a lateral move?
I think I'll go back to college...
Monday, December 20, 2010
Castles in the Air
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." ~Henry David Thoreau
I have been building castles in the air since I was a little girl. Some of my castles have been typical, I suppose. Wanting to meet Prince Charming. Wanting a fairy tale wedding. Most little girls dream of such things.
There were a couple of castles in the air that had to float away. I wanted to be a famous singer, but I don't have much of a singing voice. I wanted to be a supermodel, but I'm built like Great-Grandmother Smith; she was a short, sturdy woman. I wanted to be a member of Scooby Doo's gang, but hey--I'm not a cartoon!
As I get older, I find that I still build castles in the air. I find, too, that it's the same castles over and over again. The wind will blow one away, so I'll build the next one. When that one drifts off on the lazy haze of a balmy summer evening, I'll put up the next dream. I wouldn't say that I'm fickle, but I do tend to jump from one dream to the other depending on my mood.
I dream of being a writer. I've finished two projects and self-published them. I've made a couple of dollars. Most importantly, with one of them, I impacted a couple of lives and helped some people through some difficult times. I wish I had more time to devote to writing. As it stands, I have a jump drive full of beginnings and ideas. But they're just castles in the air...
I dream of being a photographer. More than just as a hobby. I don't have grand ambitions of making a living by it. It would be nice to make a supplemental income by it. It would be even nicer if that supplemental income supported a full-time income made by writing.
(Insert heavy sigh here.)
Thoreau would shake his fist at me. I have filled the air around me with castles; where I get hung up is on building the foundations. The castles? They're fun to build. They require minimum effort sometimes. After all, it is only necessary to lean back, close my eyes, and imagine.
The foundations? Rolling up my sleeves and getting my hands dirty? That's another story...
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Companion Piece
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Hear That Whistle Blow
"Leaving Town"
My husband loves trains. Many of the men (and women) in his family worked on the Lehigh Valley Railroad in a time when much of the area's industry and jobs depended on the railroad. I think he must have inherited a gene that makes railroads and trains one of his favorite pastimes. In fact, though it is currently being rebuilt, we have a permanent O gauge train layout in our basement.
I, too, love trains. When I was in fourth grade, we took a field trip to the Lancaster area. We gawked at the Amish and visited the Choo-Choo Barn in Strasburg. I fell in love. I found the Amish fascinating, and I decided that I wanted a train layout.
Little did I know that I'd someday have a layout in my basement!
Anyway, there are still numerous railroad tracks in the area, some relatively abandoned and some daily used. The set at the top of the page are behind one of the local banks. It's not often that you get to see a train on them, but it does occur occasionally. I had to make some cars and buildings disappear from this shot, and as I processed it, the cloudy texture made me think of all the steam being released from an engine as it pulls out of or into a station.
The picture below may be, to me, my crowning achievement so far, however. I think I may need to get out there and spend a little more time working on the railroad...
"Two Seasons Meet"
Friday, December 17, 2010
On Their Own
To explain the picture at the bottom, let me say: Pigeons remind me of doves, and mourning doves are my favorite bird.
Living in the country, we had to catch a bus to and from school each day. My brother, sister, and I would walk down the hill from our parents' house around 7:30 each morning. Depending on the weather, we'd hang out at the end of our driveway or we would sit on my aunt's front porch.
In the warmer months, the trees on the other side of the road would be home (or at least resting place) to a couple of mourning doves. Their distinct call (Coo-ooh, coo-coo-coo) was always so calming and peaceful. I would get a kick out of trying to call back, and I think I was able to have more than one conversation with these beautiful birds (though what we said to each other is beyond me).
Somewhere along the way, someone told me that doves mate for life, and that cemented my love for them. Who doesn't love a creature that can make a lifelong commitment?
A couple of years ago, I heard a mournful sound from the front yard. Under the big hedge was a mourning dove. Someone had callously shot her with a dart. She was trying to fly, so confused and so hurt. I couldn't remove the dart, though I tried. She let me hold her and sooth her. I made her a nest in the mulch and set her there. She lay still, breathing heavily. I brought her a small dish of water. I told her I was sorry.
The next morning, she had died. From a tree across the street I could hear a mourning dove calling. It was low and quiet, so full of sadness...more so than I had ever heard from a mourning dove before. I am still quite sure that it was her mate, calling to her in a sort of hopeless desperation.
I'm not ashamed to say that I called back. I filled my call with sadness and with apologies; I wanted him to understand that she would never return his call again. He was silent a moment before calling back, a short outcry, before he took wing and flew away, passing over my head...alone.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Big Red Building
How does one not notice a big red building?
My husband and I had went out to dinner last week. As we passed through town, I was looking out the window, looking at Christmas decorations and not really paying attention to much else. Then, I saw it. I've seen it before; I've known it was there, but I never really SAW it before.
Yet, there it was. The roof coated in a light dusting of snow. The sunset orange against the red bricks. Glorious.
Some sort of manufacturing building decades ago, it now sits predominantly dormant. There used to be a gym inside and, at one point, an indoor archery range. Now, nothing as far as I know.
Last Saturday, we stopped at the bank which is right in front of this ol' beauty. I came prepared:
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Lead Foot Finale: Into the Setting Sun
It's hard when something you love comes to an end.
I started this little series as a lark. My only intention was to pick on my husband's inability to take his foot off the gas pedal and let me take a picture. I didn't really expect it to turn out as it has, and I definitely didn't expect it to affect me as it has.
I'm not a professional photographer or graphic artist. I have a decent camera. I have Photoshop, and I'm self-taught on it. I believe I have a good eye...even at 80mph.
But I have so much more to learn. I have images in my mind that are beyond my ability, and I want to learn how to bring them to life. I think I've made positive steps in that direction, but I want to go further. I see the images that show up on my contacts photostream, and I think, I want to make something like that! Will I ever be able to make something like THAT?
This series has been a step in the right direction, I think. It's all about practice, about multiple attempts, about not saying "Good enough" and striving to say "Good." About working toward "Great."
Thank you to everyone who has followed this little journey. Now...on to the next adventure...
The Grand Finale...
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Lead Foot #10: Sunlight on a Red Barn
Sometimes it's hard to let go.
This is a great barn. Bright red, hex signs, stable doors along the bottom. Just a lovely little bit of rural architecture. We were going so fast that I nearly missed catching its picture. And between the speeding car and my motion as I spun to snap a photo, there's a great deal of blurring in the original.
I should have deleted it.
But I couldn't. It's just such a pretty, quaint little barn! I mean, look at it! How could I delete it? Could you have hit that button?
Don't answer that.
So I worked on it. I sharpened. I duplicated and multiplied. I textured and textured. I contrasted and adjusted. I started over and did it all again.
It's just not a good starting photograph. I should have let it go, but I couldn't. I wanted so badly for it to work out that I just kept going, kept processing. I felt like that proverbial movie doctor who keeps using the crash cart paddles long after the patient has expired.
At what point do we just let it go?
Monday, December 13, 2010
Lead Foot #9: A Fleeting Glimpse
The fields lay fallow and the birds fly away, seeking food from backyard bird feeders and fast food restaurant parking lots.
The transition from autumn to winter can be a real downer. All the color is gone. Nature is going to sleep. Even those who love winter sigh to themselves.
As I looked at this picture and thought about what to title it and what to say, I noticed two flashes of color. The first is the red barn. A neat little burst, but not enough to make my heart sing.
Then, the second one. That flash of brilliant blue in the upper right corner. The promise of spring in the crisp air. Just a fleeting glimpse, but enough. Enough...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Lead Foot #8: Abandonment Issues
Why do we leave things behind?
This old barn sits alongside Route 309. The farm to which it must belong is across a very dangerous intersection. As you can see from the original picture, there's even a sign warning of the sharp curve on which the intersection is located.
I suspect that this barn was largely abandoned when 309 was built. As I said, the intersection is located right on a curve. Who wants to try to cross the road there, especially on a slow-moving tractor. Or even worse, with a horse and wagon?
That being said, there are other abandoned barns and houses scattered all over the county. Is it so easy to leave things behind?
Do destitute families leave with tearful backward glances, devastated at the family's inability to maintain the land/farm/home that they worked so hard to keep? Or do they leave dry-eyed, stubbornly refusing to weep over what is soon to become the past? Is it a mixture of both?
How do we abandon something we once loved without it leaving a hole in our heart?
Friday, December 10, 2010
Lead Foot #7: Storm's Coming
When I was little, our house didn't have a basement, just a rough foundation. For the most part, this was no big deal other than the fact that we didn't always have enough storage space. Besides, all I knew of basements was that they were dark and musty and usually full of foul spiders who would surely attack me if I lingered too long.
The only times I longed desperately for a basement were the nights when we might have a tornado.
I grew up in Northern Pennsylvania. We didn't have tornadoes. They were a wonder mentioned on the world news reports or used as fodder for disaster movies. As far as I was concerned, I never had cause to worry about a tornado. Well, for a while, anyway.
One summer night, we had some strong wind storms come through. Our house shook and rattled, and my siblings and I thought it was great! We turned off the lights and played spooky games with the flashlight. In the midst of our fun, there was a loud roaring noise. Cool! The wind was really adding to the atmosphere of our games!
An hour later, my dad was down at my uncle's house (about 300 yards downhill from our own). One of his trees had been uprooted. This wasn't just any tree, mind you. My uncle had three trees in a row, three giant pine trees. Each was easily forty feet tall. The trunks, at the base, were about six feet in diameter. I used to crawl under the lowest branches and use the trees as tents; I could walk upright under the tree's weighty boughs because there was so much clearance.
The center tree had been completely uprooted. A circle of dirt that was twenty feet across was all that remained once they hauled the tree away. My dad called it a "cyclone" but to my ears that simply meant "tornado."
That summer was very stormy, and a couple weeks later another wicked storm blew through. Through a living room window, I watched the clouds roll across the pasture, and my mom peered over my shoulder.
"Look at how green the sky is," she said. Indeed, it did have a yellowish-green cast to it. "That's a tornado sky. If we ever have a tornado, you have to get your brother and sister and run down to your uncle's basement." She patted me on the shoulder and walked back out to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
My mom didn't know it, but she terrified me that night. I spent the entire evening at that window, watching the clouds and listening for a telling freight train roar.
Ever since then, I've had the occasional nightmare about tornadoes. In my dreams, I can never get everyone down to my uncle's basement in time. And even now, when the summer storms hit, when thunder quakes the house and lightning streaks across the sky, I watch to see if the atmosphere has turned to that ugly, greenish hue.
Lead Foot #6: Primitive Uncommons
"What is a primitive uncommon?"
I asked myself that as I processed this picture. I've always admired this barn and have wanted to capture a picture of it. Since we always fly by at speeds best not mentioned, the sign on the barn is nothing more than a blur most times.
This is the first that I had the chance to read the sign. Granted, it's not entirely interesting, but the idea of "primitive uncommons" is.
I mean, I know what primitive antiques and decor are. Though it doesn't fit into my house's overall decor, I've managed to sneak in a piece or two. My sister-in-law has much of her house adorned in primitives.
But what are primitive uncommons?
I thought about it off and on all last night, coming up with and discarding theories. The English teacher in me was going nuts. I didn't want to just look it up; I hate resorting to that.
I decided, however, that this morning was it. If I didn't figure it out, I'd look it up. I stared at the picture, reading the sign one more time in the hopes than the answer to this elusive mystery would present itself.
It did.
Two different sets of objects.
I read the sign wrong.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Lead Foot #5: Homeward Bound
Wearied to the point of collapse, Lt. Benjamin Castle staggered through the remains of a corn field. The soles of his boots were nearly worn through, and each dried stalk of corn made him wince as it stabbed into his tired feet. His blue, wool uniform--once so proud, so debonair--was covered in dust and mud. The hole where the bullet had torn through his hip was blackened and crusted with his blood.
Reaching the crest of the hill, he paused to catch his breath, hands on his knees and panting with exertion. Straightening back up, he looked down the hill. His heart swelled with joy and his vision blurred with sudden tears. "Home." He looked down over the white barn he and his brothers had so carefully built ten years ago, the hex signs still visible though faded. The summer house he had built for his wife.
He knew that, just beyond the barn, his house was waiting. His wife, unaware that he would be home soon, would be playing with the boys and getting ready to start supper. A laugh bubbled in his throat and he found himself racing down the hill, whooping with unsuppressed glee. Home.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Lead Foot #4: Rise Above
No one's life is perfect. There are some who will pretend the case is otherwise, but their lives tend to be more imperfect than most. I know with all certainty that my life isn't perfect. True, it has had its perfect moments of sublime bliss, but it has also had discord, sorrow, and hatred.
It's life.
Life shouldn't be a continuous plateau. It should have its ups and downs. That is how we grow as human beings and how we learn to value the good things we have.
I have held the same philosophy for many, many years. In life, when faced with difficulty, we have two choices: Rise above or sink below.
I tell my students (as I'll someday tell my son), when they're in the midst of some petty drama, that they need to "Rise above." Rise above the drama, the petty rivalries, the gossip and lies.
It generally doesn't change the situation, but they're in high school, a bastion fraught with drama.
I'm okay with that.
I'm not okay with adults who don't rise above. Perhaps a major character flaw or fault on my part, but I have no patience for adults who throw themselves pity parties, who let their circumstances defeat them. Maybe someday I'll meet an adult whose circumstances make me reevaluate my stance. As it stands, I have yet to meet an adult in my life who is truly the victim of all circumstances, who has no hope of rising above...
But enough pontificating. When I saw the tree in the photo I snapped (back at 80mph), I thought about how it was rising above the dark clouds. It's not rising into the blue sky. It's rising to meet the storm clouds.
I like that. I like that very much.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Lead Foot #3: Heaven's Buck-Toothed Grin
I didn't notice it for quite a while.
I was focused on processing the print, on duplicating layers to add sharpness and glow. My mind was on the colors and on the use of textures.
When I finished all the technical work, my brain tried to wrap itself around a title for the print. The clouds are so dark and turbulent compared to that bright patch of blue sky. The blue sky reminded me of a metaphor for hope, and I had initially contemplated an appropriately matching title. I even saved the image with that title.
Then, I saw it. I wanted to unsee it instantly, but my brain had already latched onto the image. In some circles, it's called "matrixing," where your brain tries to make sense of a random pattern. "Matrixing" explains why people see ghosts in photographs where all there is are random tree branches and a barn owl.
Anyway, no ghosts here, I'm afraid. That would have been too much to hope for.
Nope. I've got a big, ol' buck-toothed grin.
See it? Look again. Those perfectly positioned white clouds at the peak of that bright blue sky.
Even heaven has a sense of humor.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Lead Foot #2: Curves Ahead
I didn't mean to get the speed limit sign in this shot. Frankly, I didn't even see it. Though it's cautioning my husband to drive at 40mph, I'm quite sure we were going much faster than this posted limit. Ol' lead foot isn't much for cautionary signs, it seems.
I nearly deleted the shot when I saw it. Who wants a road sign in there anyway?
Then, I looked at the warning of "curves ahead" and the ominous clouds in the sky and thought, Why not?
As I post this, I'm chuckling at the irony of this post today. The morning has been full of curves. A little more than a dusting of snow fell overnight making the roads, sidewalks, and wet hallways of the school a recipe for a disastrous fall (close, but caught myself). My first period of the day is a period in which I can get work done, so of course, I did nothing after school on Friday, figuring I would do it all first period. Nope. I'm covering a freshman class. (Thank God, they're honors and have work to complete. I can quick put this together.) I ran around before homeroom and got forty minutes of work done in about ten minutes.
What curves are going to be thrown at me next? I'm sure there are more to come. Murphy's Law dictates it.
Still, if you look at the picture, there's hope. See that stretch of blue sky? That pure, white cloud?
Just have to make it there and hope abounds that I will!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Lead Foot #1: The Farmstead
Whenever my husband and I travel south, we tend to take the same route. It leads us past several rural farms, and I'm always seeing old barns that I'd love to take pictures of. We never stop so I can do that, though, because of a variety of reasons: we don't have time; our son will want to get out; there's no place to pull over; etc.
It tends to drive me nuts, though. My mind is capturing all these great photos, but my camera remains snuggled away, lens cap on.
I was excited when I saw that this shot turned out fairly well despite our cruising speed of 60mph. I'm quite infatuated with the whiteness of this barn and its overall structure. The corn crib next to it is a nice element that I never really noticed before. And I'm glad I captured the "window" at the barn's peak. Not really for looking out and enjoying the view, these "windows" allow air into the hay loft so you don't spark a fire in the summer when the hot (and sometimes damp) hay is being stacked. The air also prevents the hay from rotting. Not even cows want to eat rotten food.
When I pulled the picture up in Photoshop, the first thing I wanted to do was to get rid of the power lines. In some cases, I have enjoyed the added touch of electrical lines, but I thought they were overwhelming and distracting in this case. Getting rid of them, however, would have left an empty mass, so I simply traded them for a great texture from Distressed Jewell. I think this is one of my favorite textures that she's created.
That done, and with the background looking like an aged oil painting, I added an overlay texture by Jerry Jones at Shadowhouse Creations (see my blogroll). I love the way you get the impression of brush strokes and more aging across the entire photo.
Throw in my favorite bird brushes and a signature and voila! I'm reasonably satisfied with the outcome!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Fast Photos with Ol' Lead Foot
My darling husband is very supportive of my photography habit. On weekends when we don't have plans, he'll take me on "photo safaris" so that I can snap some cool shots and feed my need to be creative.
The problem is his lead foot.
The drive will start slowly enough. We'll pull over a couple of times. Then, it kicks in. Soon, we're zooming over hill and vale at 80 mph. Scenery is zipping by faster than I can say "Cheese!" Not wanting to nag, I'll drop hints like "That barn sure is pretty!" or "Ooh! That'd make a cool picture." He responds with a grunt and a nod. Manspeak for "Me drive fast."
Today, I decided to poke fun at this little phenomenon and take some blurry shots as we sped through the countryside. But then I had an idea.
My challenge: Take random, out-the-window, super-speedy shots and make them look good. I managed to get about a dozen shots that are more than just a blurred mess, so over the next dozen-ish days, I'm going to see what I can do!
Here's a sneak preview at some of the shots I have to work with:
Wish me luck!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Fathers and Sons
It must be difficult to be the only son of an only son.
So many expectations, hopes, and dreams ride on you. Will you follow in your father's footsteps? Will you follow the path that he always wanted but couldn't attain? Will you provide the heir to these family dreams?
It's a lot to live up to. My husband is the only son of an only son; so is my father.
So is my son.
It's likely that our son will remain an only child, and I wonder what sort of impact this role will have on his personality, his decisions, his life. I know my husband strives to please his father, even now. And I know there's no one like his father who can make my husband feel like he's a seven-year-old...in all the best and worst ways.
I think it's probably like that for all fathers and sons. Caught between the roles of father and friend. Trying to teach while still learning.
And still, in those fleeting moments of grace, you see the relationship at its best. When they forget about their respective roles and just get lost in the moment...
Thursday, December 2, 2010
All Is Right with the World.
I had given up.
I searched again last night. Every spot that I had ever left them. The corner by the closet where we keep our shoes. Under the bed. Under the cabinet in the bathroom. I even checked my son's diaper bag because, hey, you never know.
Still no sign.
I looked down at my feet. They were shoved into an old pair of bright red chenille socks. Said socks are stretched beyond repair. They constantly slip down my feet, forcing me to walk with a sort of kick step so I don't trip over the empty fabric pouches which are flopping five inches ahead of where my toes actually are located. I have to shuffle over the hardwood and linoleum so as not to slip due to the lack of rubber nubbins on the sole of the socks.
Even through the fabric, I could see my feet glaring at me in accusation.
I fell asleep, weary yet restless. My dreams were unkempt and blurred, moving too quickly for me to maintain any control over their direction. There was a journey. A beautiful road. An idyllic village. I remember turning around, backtracking, leaving Nirvana behind as I sought something that eluded me. I couldn't reach my destination. I was running late. Nothing was going right. Everyone was laughing, even me, but my laughter was forced.
When I woke up, I felt dreadful. Lack of sleep. Pounding head. After using the bathroom and calling in to work so I could schedule a doctor's appointment instead, I padded softly back to my darkened bedroom. Settling back into bed, an image appeared in my mind. A single remembrance of a moment from my dream, frozen in time. It was of my mother, standing in my bedroom, looking through the white laundry basket that sits in front of my dresser.
Could it be? Would it be so easy and obvious?
Hesitant. Halting. Unsure. I approached the basket. Folded jeans and t-shirts lay on top, ready to be shoved into dresser drawers or simply pulled out of the basket and worn. Under the top layer, a pair of lounge pants I had thrown into the basket a few days ago, intending to get one more wear out of them and then forgetting they were there.
I dug in, pushing aside neatly folded clothes, diving for those pants. A cuff appeared, then part of the leg. I pulled and stopped. A flash of color in the darkened room. Bright pink. I stared, joy thumping in my heart.
I found my comfy socks.
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text:
Route: 711 and Winding Stairs
60+ miles
3 hrs 34 min
avg 16.2
Today was the hardest ride of my life. Tons of climbing. I really pushed myself to stay up with Dallas on the Climbs. Josh and I were in a ~10 min 30 mph 2-man pace line on the way home. Amazing ride but very hard. At the end of the day I was too tired to stretch and fell over everytime I tried.
I hit a new landspeed record of 45 mph today (I would break that again later this week with a 47 mph).


text:
What if the Church organized its life around a commitment to discipleship and not just mere evangelism? What would the Church look like if it acted consistent with its calling to teach disciples to observe all that he has commanded? How should the Church minister in the world if those commands are not just about personal belief and piety but about the way we conduct every aspect of our lives in the Creation that exists by, for, and through Christ? How would the Church's forms of expressing its identity and message be different if Christians realized that cultural life isn't just a convenient and arbitrary conduit for evangelism, but the way that our obedience, faithfulness, our new life find concrete expression in the world, but not of it?The four lectures (titled "Christ and Creation: Two Adams and a Fall," "Creation and Redemption: Salvation and the Fulfillment of Humanity," "Creation and Culture: Real Reality and Cultural Order," and "Church and Culture: Discipleship and All of Life") are now available for purchase. You can find ordering information, brief quotes from each session and a 38 minute audio portion (MP3) of the first lecture at the conference lecture page.
"If Christians cannot communicate as thinking beings, they are reduced to encountering one another only at the shallow level of gossip and small talk. Hence the perhaps peculiarly modern problem - the loneliness of the thinking Christian." - Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Ken Myers on What We Do After Evangelism
2 comments:
- Danielle said...
Personally, every church or Christian grouping that I have been to (besides Lakewood) seemed to thrive on trying to convince people that they weren't really saved, even though they thought they were. Either that, or they'd take delight in trying to convince them that their faith was too "lukewarm" or not really up to par. This was done by constantly challenging by asking questions with a negative overtone during sermons and conversations.
It seemed like they all spent half their time trying to get non-believers to believe, and the other half trying to get believers to believe tehy weren't really believers.
- July 19, 2006 3:17 PM
- Neil said...
Churches need to do a better job of discipleship. As the saying goes, Jesus said to make disciples of all nations, not just converts of all nations. I see so many Christians who aren't growing and learning at all.
- July 20, 2006 7:13 AM


text:
'Bob' the dachshund poses with his family inside the the chapel at their new funeral home in southern Alabama. Source.
Darius Heskett, 56, and his dachshund 'Midget,' labored for two and a half years, assembling tree limbs, pieces of telephone poles and other river flotsam to create Chaunté Groove, a construction of pure whimsy where Heskett and Midget would rest while on their river walks in Napa Valley, California. The structure appeared on the front page of the local paper, then the city tore it down amid fears someone could get hurt playing in it. Source.


text:
Pen Argyl Borough Manager Robin Szmoda was with Jennings as he spoke to Council. She said borough efforts to attract private investment were unsuccessful.
Conservative or Liberal, Deist or Pagan, Jersey transplant or Lehigh Valley native, we're all in this mess together. Let's talk. Let us do no harm. Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Thursday, September 08, 2016
Jennings: "The Slate Belt Has Been Long Neglected by All of Us"
Pen Argyl Borough Manager Robin Szmoda was with Jennings as he spoke to Council. She said borough efforts to attract private investment were unsuccessful.
31 comments:
Looks like the king of poverty is branching out into Main Street management. CACLV should stick to providing food, clothing, housing assistance or other services. Those boroughs would be better served by a joint Main Street program run by an entity with truly altruistic motivations.
- September 8, 2016 at 12:24 AM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
12:24,Jennings is not "branching" out, as you state inaccurately. As my own post makes clear to even the dumbest reader, Jennings already runs three NPPs. Also, if you had even the faintest notion of knowing what you're talking about, you'd know that state funding for Main Street programs has dried up. You'd know that Jennings' Rising Tide has already lent over $4 million to small businesses. Finally, what is more altruistic than eradicating poverty? That is what Alan has done his entire liefe while you can't even sign your name. I can only do so much with stupid people, and yu definitely fall in that category.
- September 8, 2016 at 12:34 AM
After flaunting Northampton County law and hiring a former county administrator that gave him county contracts. He should be ignored by the new county council. The guy does what he wants because no one hold shim accountable.
Fair and Balanced Reporting!
- September 8, 2016 at 12:49 AM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
Your use of the word "flaunting" is inaccurate. Look up the definition before you misuse words. Jennings hardly flaunted anything. He made very clear to the Exec and to Council what he wanted to do. There was an agreement and Council thereafter decided to take no action. Thy then adopted a goofy ordinance that would prevent employees from sitting on nonprofit boards. The revolving door law was never intended to apply to this situation. Also, the subject here is NPP, not something that happened five years ago. Stick to the topic or I will delete you.
- September 8, 2016 at 12:56 AM
Rev Al and Jesse J do the same thing. Find a (corporate) mark, tell them you will be going to the press with the fact they are racist, or make a "donation." Repeat over and over.
- September 8, 2016 at 6:33 AM
- Ray Nemeth Sr said...
This may all be well intentioned, but if you want to stimulate real wealth producing jobs, the politicians may want to relax regulations, to encourage business, zone more commercial space, definitely need property tax elimination, as a small businessman for 40 years, one of the biggest obstacles is government, if Bill Gates, the founders of Hewlett Packard, and most businesses had obeyed all the rules and had the rules we have today, they would not have been successful. Most successful business started in garages and basements, then when they grew they expanded, today the rules require you need a $5000. a month overhead before you can start. Small business numbers have been declining, not increasing, less small business and you will have less big business in the future. Many small business's today do not only not succeed, but are saddled with a debt into the future, because of the cost of opening a business. I know this approach is anathema in todays environment, but government can not produce jobs, they can only provide a fertile environment for businesses to be started and grow.
- September 8, 2016 at 8:31 AM
Perhaps this will expedite some warehouse development up that way.
- September 8, 2016 at 9:28 AM
12:34am Bernie Ohare:
No one is against helping those in need, but this is outside of what CACLV is best at doing and just a way for Jennings to power grab. Remember, your original take on mayor Pawlowski was positive. Just saying you should be wary of Jennings' motivations, not CACLV.
The Slate belt knows their issues best and could set a up a joint main street program on their own. This would NOT be dependent on State main street funds. Jennings is seeking long term commitments from businesses, the slate belt boroughs could set something up to do the same and maintain local control of their own main street business development program.
- September 8, 2016 at 10:22 AM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
12:34, Repeating an ignorant comment does not make it wise. This is NOT outside what Jennings does. He runs three of these already. You question his personal integrity and don't say who you are? That's rich.
- September 8, 2016 at 12:25 PM
Kudos for Alan Jennings. He's doing what Don Cunningham and the LVEDC should have bee doing for years.
- September 8, 2016 at 12:29 PM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
Just deleted a number of anonymous personal attacks posted by cowards.
- September 8, 2016 at 12:30 PM
Mr Jennings intentions are the purest of pure!
- September 8, 2016 at 1:26 PM
Any reason East Bangor or Rosetp aren't included? Or are they considered part of Bangor for this. Or did I miss something all together.
Also, I have always thought Portland has great potential, but figured it was handicapped by flooding issues.
- September 8, 2016 at 5:57 PM
It's an interesting change in tone, very conservative. Use private funding, lower taxes.
- September 8, 2016 at 7:00 PM
Not a fan of the narcissistic, often uniformed and bad mannered Alan--isnt 32 years doing the same shtick long enough?
However promoting economic development in the Slate Belt is in the region's interest and particularly Northampton County. While everyone laments the alleged "neglect" of the northern tier when there was the possibility (in the late 90s) of actually measuring--quantifying in dollars and cents--the County's dollars spent in the slate belt (think employees and their benefits; paid vendors, grants, allocation of state program funds, allocation of hours spent by departments) it was Slate Belt council people who resisted. Hmmmm perhaps we would find a very generous slice of the County pie (in excess of their actual percentage of the County population) has been consumed by the good folks of the northern tier.
Regardless kudos for doing something constructive.
- September 8, 2016 at 7:40 PM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
Hank, There is a consortium of four boroughs who teamed up for regional efforts, and they were making annual contributions to fund them. East Bangor and Roseto said No, mist likely bc their finds are too limited. They might very well seek an opportunity to participate.
- September 8, 2016 at 7:55 PM
Looks like CACLV is packing up their tents and moving on to the Slate Belt now that the West Ward Neighborhood Partnership failed to maintain sponsorship.
- September 8, 2016 at 8:30 PM
In defense of LVEDC, their staff has been working in the Slate Belt for years. The Portland Industrial Park was built with the guidance and help from a LVEDC staffer. The Techo-Block project was built on land the county owned but the Green Knight EDC used LVEDC staff to draft the incentive program they used to assist the actual developer. LVEDC also managed a year long employment incentive program for Techo-Block. If I am not mistaken, LVEDC staff also assisted in the formation of the original Slate Belt Council of Governments.
- September 8, 2016 at 10:15 PM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
No need to be defensive. LVEDC exists primarily to attract bigger businesses, as Cunningham demonstrated quite effectively in his recent presentation to local governments. It still does work the slate belt, to be sure.
- September 8, 2016 at 10:35 PM
Lack of further county funding of the current boro partnership group led to this take over for obvious financial reasons. Control now goes to Jennings instead of local wishes. John Brown starved the current partnership between the boro's to death. Jennings no white knight and he pays his people less than a sustainable wage. Hopefully the state tells him no. He needs to retire and cede power. The Slate Belt does not need his robin hood act.
- September 8, 2016 at 11:00 PM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
Just deleted yet another anonymous personal attack. They will not be allowed.
- September 8, 2016 at 11:06 PM
Neglected? We've been used and abused by the county for decades. HUD rentals alone dominate the boro of Bangor. Slumlords dominate the local scene. Nearly 50% of all residences in Bangor are rentals. That is insane and leads to way too many problems for a small boro to overcome. Jennings gonna change that dynamic?
- September 8, 2016 at 11:25 PM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
Jennings never suggested he would defeat poverty in the slate belt. But he will bring some $ from local businesses and try to make a difference. You seem to think he shouldn't even bother. That's a shitty attitude.
- September 8, 2016 at 11:29 PM
Code enforcement alone is nearly impossible with so many dwellings going uninspected and that leads to safety issues and continuing problems associated with renters who have no stake in the community due to the conditions they must accept. The job is huge. I want to hear what the plan is. Bangor is a mess and is clearly the most distressed boro in the region.
- September 8, 2016 at 11:33 PM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
OMG! A constructive comment at long last! I don't think that's his gig, but I suppose inspections will be required for any home rehab.
- September 8, 2016 at 11:36 PM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
Also, though Bangor certainly looks distressed, the poverty rates in Roseto and Portland are higher.
- September 8, 2016 at 11:39 PM
NPP is not a regional program. It is target oriented to a specific area of concern. No way you have an impact across an entire region. The state is not gonna buy a regional deal. Fix the most glaring situation and tthat is downtown Bangor and the rentals close to the business district. Maybe..just maybe..they can put a dent in this thing.
- September 8, 2016 at 11:40 PM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
The investors will not contribute unless it goes beyond Bangor. I doubt you have the faintest dea what the state will do.
- September 8, 2016 at 11:43 PM
John Brown has caused this uproar by slowly defunding a solid regional program that was supported by the individual boro's. None of this had to happen and it was inevitable that we now face a corporate take over by CACLV as a way of trying to save some essential initiatives. It will fail and the boro's will walk away because they will have little or no say in what happens. Jennings will decide what is needed, not the towns. This power play will fail and rightly so.
- September 9, 2016 at 8:34 AM
- Bernie O'Hare said...
I am shutting down commentson this thread. Some asshole keeps posting the same OT criticism of Jennings over and over. There have been attacks claiming that he lives in a McMansions in LowerMac, when he in fact lives in an Allentown row home. This is an outright lie, and I believe the person who posted it knows it is an outright lie. This is classic defamation, and I know two people who are very good at it.
- September 9, 2016 at 10:17 AM
Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification!
- September 9, 2016 at 4:09 PM


text:
- Armed With Chalk, Trump Supporters Are A New Breed Of College Republicans http://www.newsweek.com/students-trump-old-row-chalkening-445923 … #TheChalkening
- Trump team vows to win delegate majority as rivals prepare for open convention VOTE #Trump2016 #OnlyTrump http://wpo.st/S2NT1
- Trump will be on Judge Janine tonight. Everyone watch-- lets make it her highest rated show ever!!! Share this!
- The American people are sick of the Corruption in Washington! Vote Trump!
- Manafort is fine tuning Trump's election machine and just gave supporters great news! http://newsninja2012.com/?p=47235 #TrumpTrain #AlwaysTrump
- Ivanka & Eric Trump are DemocratsGuess they'll vote for Killary in primary! @KockaAnnette http://www.westernjournalism.com/this-surprising-revelation-about-donald-trumps-children-may-worry-his-supporters/ …
- Our Founding Fathers would be cheering on Trump and telling us, "Good job, Patriots!" Well done. VOTE #Trump2016
- Trump Kids Can't Vote For Dad https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/04/trump-kids-cant-vote-for-dad …
- BATTLE OVER TRUMP INTENSIFIES http://bit.ly/1MmHltJ
- Surprise: Trump Still Hasn't Paid Out $6 Million Raised For Veteran Groups http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2016/04/08/surprise-trump-still-hasnt-paid-vet-groups-6-million-raised-n2145215 …
- GOP is trying to steal nomination from the winner (Trump) not block an insurgent catching up 2 frontrunner (Sanders)
- Political 'Hunger Games' roils Trump's inner circle http://politi.co/1UQstXc | AP Photo
Saturday, April 9, 2016
#Trump Supporters Are A New Breed Of College Republicans (Armed With Chalk) Trump on Judge Janine tonight
Posted by RK Ball at 2:17 PM
|Polling on Social Media was more on target in 2016 election than the expert news media


text:
"She healed me. She broke me. I set her free. But we are in this together. We will end this together. The rules of this ancient game can't be broken."
Nila Weaver no longer recognises herself. She's left her lover, her courage, and her promise. Two debts down. Too many to go.
Jethro Hawk no longer recognises himself. He's embraced what he always ran from, and now faces punishment far greater than he feared.
It's almost time. It's demanding to be paid.
The Third Debt will be the ultimate test...
Releases: April 17, 2015
Click to Buy the Indebted Series on Amazon:
Pepper Winters wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero, the better, and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex… her books have sex.
She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends.
Her debut book Tears of Tess is followed by Quintessentially Q and Twisted Together. You didn't think Q could stop so soon, did you? Her other two titles, Last Shadow and Broken Chance will be coming soon.
Social Media Links:
I'D GIVEN MY heart to my enemy.
I'd fallen.
There was no bottom to my affection. No limit to what I would do to protect it.
Jethro was mine and it was up to me….
…up to me to end this.
I was no longer trying to save myself.
I was trying to save him.
From his nightmares.
From himself.
From them.


text:
A game where one person drops a duece in a bag, then you and your friends proceed to walk nonchalantly down a street with the bag of shit, taking little pieces out at a time and smearing it under peoples car door handles. Even though you may never see the persons expression, thinking about it is rewarding enough. Best if done at night.
"Oh man i gotta shit, and I'm pretty bored. Hey guys let's play handle the shit!"
by Mark Sev May 09, 2006
buy the domain for your recipe site


text:
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
24 days until my BIRTHDAY!!
Yessssss!! Can not beleive that is only 24 days until my birthday!! As I share with you, this days have being amazing for me! Family, good/old friends and YOU! Is such an amazing feeling!! But yesterday night (everything can not be perfect!) I have a lil accident in the stairs (at my house!) and I went to the doctor today and I have something in my foot ligaments!! ARGHHHHHHH it hurts a lot!! but God is awesome and I am here!! so I have to be thankful cause it could be worst.
GOODNEWS!! since I am not going to be able to create a LOT in this days (I hate pills!) so I have a Challenge for you!
Everyday, starting today, I am going to post a theme, color, sketch, element, technique, anything you can use to create a project (it can be a card, a tag, a Scrapbook page, a mini album, anything!!) showing what I have mention and you can enter for a CANDY!! from me!! and I am going to select a WINNER on December 11 (My bday is on Dec. 8, but the 9 is Sunday, on Monday is my DH's birthday so on Tuesday I am going to celebrate here!!)
If you have any question, feel free to contact me!
TODAYS hint!!! is PINK!! cause is my favorite color to create!! it have to have something PINK!! My card is coming tomorrow cause my foot still hurting me and I can not get it attached now!! I did it, take the photo but the computer is slow!!
Have FUN!
3 comments:
- "Jany" said...
Hope you get better soon. I know how hard is that pain since I had the same accident a few years ago. I chatted with you today but didn't know. I did heard you telling your daughters something but didn't wanted to ask a thing.
Will try to create something on Saturday and Sunday.
- Jan Scholl said...
hurting feets is not fun. stay off the feets.
- Rosalyn López said...
Ya trabaje lo mio rosado! Mañana lo bajo a mi blog, ya que no encontre el cable de la cámara. Te adelanto que es algo diferente!!!! Eso si bien Girly!!
Cuidate mucho y descansa!
tqm, Rosalyn
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text:
Pretty hot, huh?
So hot that they were almost sold out and only available in half a size too small and a full size too big. Weird, how things work out like that, right? I crossed my fingers and bought both.
Turns out the only saying is true: I can only wear ONE pair of shoes at a time. Which means one pair, size 10, is now available: $40.
If you're interested, email me:
email@example.com. Washington, DC area only. Please bring your own little socks to use in trying them on.


text:
I've been doing some serious walking as part of a Weight Watchers program, trying to get in my 10,000 steps a day but usually happy if I hit the 7500 mark. Anyone who knows me realizes that this is a true commitment because I am no athlete. Never have been and never intend to be. The fact is that I do not enjoy physical exertion. In fact I have many humorous stories about my attempts at sports. Most of them involve equipment malfunctions of which I was unaware until I practically collapsed. I cannot imagine the "runner's high". My favorite endorphin rush comes with good food.
Today, however, I took a second walk because I had several things on my mind and in my heart that needed to be sorted out, considered under a big blue sky, stretched out across the cotton fields that wait for harvesting. I reversed my usual walking course, hoping for a fresh perspective. I walked into the sun at first, quickly shedding my sweatshirt, finding myself squinting even with sunglasses. I surprised the various dogs and horses that are used to my appearance from the opposite direction. And I wasn't far from home before the ideas that had been so sluggish while sitting at home began to bubble to the surface.
Halfway around my walking course I started speeding up. I started using my arms to propel myself a little faster, clenching and unclenching my fists as I thought my thoughts and wondered my wonderings. The several tasks that had weighed me down earlier at home now seemed to be pushing me forward. I found myself hurrying to get back, aware of a new momentum that was more than physical. I guess I felt "impelled". It's the first time I have ever associated this feeling with physical exercise.
We Sisters of Charity have a community motto (from 2 Corinthians 5:14): "The love of Christ impels us." I hope that my ministry is always impelled by that love but the reality is that it's easy to just slog along. So maybe this memory will rise up to remind me of what it feels like to be impelled- physically and mentally as well as spiritually. And maybe this is my version of a "runner's high".


text:
Ajisen Ramen Japanese Restaurant
I went to the Aeon Bandaraya Melaka branch.
The external of the shop is not really attractive. I barely know it is a franchise.
No particular Japanese decoration, except some Japanese words(日本語)and some red lanterns.
While the internal, you really can't differentiate what kind of restaurant it is if I didn't tell you the name Ajisen and if I cheat you it's an western, you wouldn't know too, right? (-__-|||)
First, the menu. No tax, but 10% service charge.
Large variety of food, ranging from Ramen, rice, set, side dish, dessert and drinks.
As usual, I like some green tea(お茶)during meal. Typical Japanese style cup.
Chicken Teriyaki and rice set
As you can see, it consist of (12 o'clock clock wise) chicken terriyaki, salad, carrot pickles, soup and steam rice.
No no no...
you don't need to control your saliva, just let it flow...
Hubby choose Vegetable Curry Ramen
Although its vegetarian. it is great in value too, you can see the sweet corn, mushrooms and all kinds of agro. Great for vegetarian but for those who is no diet ;)
Like what we expect the curry is rather sweet than spicy, typical Japanese spicy limit towards curry.
As for me, I took Chicken Teriyaki Ramen
(when I was paying I was like -__-||| how could it be more expensive than set?!)
The Chicken is not very tender but well marinated. Perhaps it took too much time to marinate, the texture loose it original tenderness. But that is what I hate hate most.
What I hate most is the burned garlic.
I hate garlic.
I hate it so far and will hate it for the rest of my life.
And when it is burn some more! Can you imagine how I feel? *>.<* Perhaps instead of spicy sigh, all the restaurant should have garlic sign too to indicate garlic-ed dish *XD* Oklah, they have something to be praise too. Their Ramen is extremely filling. It might looks very little at first, but when you much on it, you can feel the solidity of the noodles. I was over Ramen overdose that day...
Japanese Deep Fried Tofu
Rm5.50/3 pcs
Hubby ordered it. The skin is very crisp but the inner is very soft. Hubby claim that it has nothing special, but I personally think that its great.
Japanese Dumpling (gyoza)
OMG *>.<* this is the best Japanese Gyoza that I ever taste. Most unprofessional gyoza turn out to be very yucky, even in some highly rate restaurant. But this is really out of my mind! The soup has very high savoury taste, so are the soya sauce. I really didn't expect it will turn out to be an enjoyfull buy. But the best gyoza in my life so far is still Chinse gyoza, made by Esquire Kitchen before they change their style to fast food chain restaurant.
Taste bud indulgence: 8/10 (A lil bit unexpected, but some are good some are just so so)
Purse saver: 7/10 (I can't believe eating set is cheaper than eating Ramen itself 0.0 )
Atmosphere: 6/10 (More like a western restaurant, but the overall service is quite decent.)


text:
Friday, August 20, 2010
Of samples and Miley
6 comments:
- Tracy Regusci said...
Oh what a story! You are an amazing mama! Aj had to have a urine sample done too and I thought I was going to be doing the bag thing, but my doctor just told me to put cotton balls in his diaper and then ring them out in the cup. I can only imagine! You guys are in our prayers
- Fri Aug 20, 10:41:00 PM
- Joanie said...
Thinking of you! So proud of ALL your babies - they all are troupers!
- Fri Aug 20, 11:12:00 PM
- Brian & Rachel Davis said...
Oh dear, what a day! What a trooper! I'm glad you have yesterday complete and I hope you have some results really soon!
- Sat Aug 21, 09:26:00 AM
- Angela said...
You are a great mama, and a great writer! I felt like I was right there with you...hoping and wishing for that pee and trying to tune out Miley. ;)
way to go heldt kids! i'm proud of you, too! great job! can't wait to have you in my classes this fall!
ms. angela
- Sat Aug 21, 10:27:00 PM
- Mike Thomas said...
I am writing to ask for your permission to include your posts on
AdoptionExperiences.com and include a link to your blog in our
directory. We would
include a link back to your blog fully crediting you for your work
along with a profile about you listed on AdoptionExperiences.com .
Please let us
know as soon as possible.
Mike Thomas
- Mon Aug 23, 05:11:00 AM
- Lisa Leonard said...
hey friend! praying for some resolution here. and that mary lu can gain some weight. that whatever is going on isn't a big deal. she looks like she's thriving to me. love you!! xo
- Thu Aug 26, 04:25:00 PM


text:
Android applications are written in Java. You will need to know Java. I knew this before I started but knew very little Java. So whilst learning to develop Android applications I knew really I would be learning Java. I had hoped that the various Android development books would also be a nice introduction to Java along the way... but no.
I have been doing my Java learning in the background, using a book (see left) and a great set of video tutorials. The videos are even more suited to the aspiring Android developer because whilst learning Java you are also learning how to get the best out the Eclipse IDE which most Android development books/tutorials recommend. The only downside of the videos is that they are in SWF format. I spent a little bit of time converting them into something I could watch on my Advent Vega tablet.
The book (Beginning Programming with Java) is about to get a revision so it might be worth while you holding out for it. To be honest the video tutorials are in my opinion a better introduction to Java. Plus they are FREE!


text:
There are two art events this month: I'm in Together Gallery's "Family Quilt II" show, which opens this weekend, and Awesome But True Sean Christensen organized an art sale at Cosmic Monkey Comics which takes place on December 19 and 20.
And in January I'll have a never-before-shown painting in Pony Club's "Self Psyche" show. What an exciting blog post.
Happy holidays.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
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text:
Yesterday, after almost two years of not competing, I had the amazing opportunity to jump into a 5km road race in downtown Oklahoma City. It was an odd, yet a very exciting day. Yesterday, I witnessed, felt and understood that no matter what kind of fitness or what type or athlete you are, at the end of the day, the satisfaction of completing a race and crossing a finish line is the same for all.
My goal has been to gradually regain my fitness and remain pain free. So far, so good.
I know its going to take me a while until I get back to prime shape, but I am willing to go through the slow process. I feel that if I keep the consistency and remain healthy, I have a shot of qualifying to the 2016 Olympic Trials. This set back has allowed me to look back and appreciate all the accomplishments until the 2012 Olympic Trials. I look back and Im very proud of all the miles, workouts and the races done. I want to be able to experience that one more time. I want to know what it feels to run fast again.
Saturday, December 14th was a great day. It was the day, I stepped on a starting line since January 2012. It was a local 5km in Oklahoma City. Home of my younger sister Alicia and her husband Luke. It was so much fun to go through the process again. It was wonderful to have my brother in law racing and my sister waiting for us at the finish line.The night before the race I was anxious. I was afraid I would fall into a deep sleep and sleep in. That fear of missing an important date. The morning of the race was epic, 25F and 30mph winds and to make the race more exciting, I missed a turn a km to go. This event took me back to my junior college years, click here and you will understand what I am talking about. Well, after I found my way to the route, I found myself speeding my way out to the finish line.
Racing again was one of the best feeling ever. I did exactly what I intended to do: I had fun, I raced my heart out and gave it my all. This experience reassured me that running and racing is something I I love and it is and will always be part of who I am.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Sunday, December 1, 2013
There is no day that I wake up or go to bed without thanking God for all the good and not so good of my day, week, month or year.
According to Wikipedia, Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.
Here a few of the things, people and events I'm sincerely grateful for:
I'm grateful for my family. It means the world to me to make them proud. Every single one of my siblings teach me something about life. A few of them have become my best friends, confidants and great supporters.
I'm thankful to have my mother alive. I admire her wisdom and treasure her advise.
Im grateful for my injuries and health. Thanks to my rib injury that kept me out of consistent training for a year and a half I was able to start working as an assistant Coach at Adams State. It's been a great experience. To be part of an amazing program has truly elevated my professional game. Now, after 3 months of consistent slow training Im glad Im getting my health back. I look forward to a solid base and in a few months get back to competition. This experience has allowed me to grow, appreciate my health and all the running accomplishments.
Forever thankful for being part of In The Arena (ITA) . Thanks to ITA my dream of becoming an Olympian still alive. In the process I get to work and meet the most amazing kids in the planet. Kids that teach you the real meaning of life. Kids that truly make the best of what they have. Kids that in many ways are shape my life. To have the opportunity to change the direction of a kids life is true blessing. I'm grateful for that calling. I'm thankful for Amory philanthropic ideas. For her efforts to make them true. Her love and passion for the organization reflect upon the smiles of all those kids we work with. I'm grateful for all of those donors who believe and trust in our missions and give athletes and children alike an opportunity to believe and dream.
I'm grateful for all this wonderful years as a professional runner. All the races, trips, wins and defeats. Im thankful for my life!
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text:
Saturday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. 24 homeschool high schoolers, under the imitable direction of Mrs. K gave a stellar performance of Macbeth. Using the Dover edition as their script the kids worked for 6 days straight, practicing for 6 hours a day. Costumes created by Ana & Jannell (click on their names to see even more fantastic pictures and a video!), make-up by another high schooler, dry ice, smoke bombs, sound and group t-shirts provided by Shelly and Nora. It was...AMAZING!
The weird sisters.
Miss. I (the black haired witch, above, did the choreographer). Fantastic performances by all 4! Viking Man recited the "toil, toil" speech right along with the hags.
Lord and Lady Macbeth. Stellar performances by Feeche and the beautiful and talented Miss. A.
Take note, boys. This is the kind of gal you don't want to catch!
Banquo gets knifed. He perished admirably. Really, a great on-stage death.
Banquo returns to torment the evil-do-ers.
Great costuming, great on-stage movement!
Macduff confronts Macbeth.
The 2 Lords and Lady Macbeth. C. (on the left) played Macbeth for the first 2 acts and set the stage admirably. Feeche took over from there.
The gangs all here. I'm so proud of them I could burst
and all I did (besides go over Feeche's lines with him several times) was to show up and applaud!
The beautiful and talented Directress, flanked by her girlie and the crazy lady.