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First Date TAG
First saw this over at HardbackHoarder, check it out! I wanted to do it myself, so that's exactly what I am doing. If you want to do it after reading, then this is me tagging you. Have fun! This tag was written in advance, but when I wrote it, I ultimately decided to wait until Valentine's Day to publish it (so it will be interesting to revist my answers and see if I end up publishing more than one tag on this day).
1. The awkward first date – a book where something felt off. It wasn't a bad book, but lacked that spark for you.
I am going to go with Blind Spot by Laura Ellen. I gave this book 3 stars, and you can check out a short review here on Goodreads. I read this book in a day. It was good, I enjoyed it. But there was something missing for me. The story concept was interesting and different, and I would recommend it because, again, it was a good book.
2. The cheap first date – book that turned out less than you expected.
There were a few books that I was contemplated putting down for this question, but I decided to go with Love, Ish because I was really expecting a heart-wrenching story about a young girl who has cancer, and there were moments that were sad, but overall, it was just a let down from my expectations. You can find my review here. I gave this book 2 stars.
3. Well-prepared first date – better than expected.
I am going to go with Strangelets by Michelle Gagnon. This was a DNF for my sister, and I decided that I would still give it a shot because it was available for me to read, and I think I was reading it for a challenge. I wasn't expecting much from it because my sister didn't like it (and at the time I felt like our reading tastes were similar, and they aren't really - there are some books that we both like but overall our tastes are different), and I ended up almost loving the book. I ended up giving it 4 stars, and if you want to see my review of the book, you can check it out here on Goodreads.
4. Hot but dumb – pretty book, not so hot on the inside.
For me, this would be Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler. I wanted to read this book because of the cover, and I wasn't expecting a 5 star book, but this ended up being a 2 star book. I just couldn't relate at all to this book or the characters, and I'm pretty certain, I didn't really care for any of the characters or even what was actually happening in the story.
5. Blind date – book you picked up not knowing anything about it.
I picked up Unbecoming of Mara Dyer a few times, and never really knew what it was about, which was one reason I never read it, but a friend told me it was amazing - and didn't tell me what it was about. I'm pretty certain, she lent me the book, but I could be wrong. I ended up loving this series, and I never knew what was going to happen next because I read this series "blind".
6. Speed dating – book you read super fast.
P.S. I Like You by Kasie West. I absolutely love Kasie's books, and when my sister got this book (one of the few books we both love), I had to read it. Confession time: I "borrowed" it from her room while she wasn't home, and because I had to read it before she got home, I ended up reading it in about 3 hours in one sitting on my bed without getting up to eat or anything. It did help that I find her books addictive and I really didn't want to get up, but that's the fastest I've ever read a YA book.
7. The rebound – a book you read too soon after a book hangover and it kind of ruined the book for you.
So, I really don't have an answer for this because whenever I get book hangovers, I just skim and reread my favorite parts of the book, until my hangover is over. And then I read another book, so I really haven't had this experience.
8. Overly enthusiastic date – a book that felt like it was trying too hard.
This was a tough question for me but I ultimately decided Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer. Some parts of the story felt like a stretch to me. I did actually enjoy this book. I gave it 3 stars. It wasn't a bad book, but it was at times, a little over the top. I read this back in 2014 so I'm trying to recall my thoughts about it, but I'm pretty certain I felt this way at times when reading it.
9. The perfect first date – book that did everything right for you.
There are so many books I could list here, but I'm going to mention one that I have never mentioned on my blog before and that is Changeling by Philippa Gregory. I actually am having a hard time getting into the second book sadly, but I loved this book. I loved the plot and the characters, and everything about it.
10. Humiliating first date – book you're embarrassed to admit you liked/embarrassed to see reading in public for whatever reason.
This question is another question that I really don't have an answer for. I don't really get embarrassed by books that I read. I mean I would read the Warriors series by Erin Hunter in public, and those books are about cats. I also read MG books in public. And books that I would potentially be uncomfortable reading in public are books that I don't read.


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We drove over the river and through the woods and yep, we're at Grandma's house! All the presents have been wrapped (in dishtowels!)...
the cookies have been baked...
And now it's time to go sledding! There's 18 inches of snow at Grandma's house - a true winter wonderland!
Christmas Breakfast
Here's what I'm planning to make for Christmas breakfast tomorrow morning: Streusel-Topped French Toast Casserole from the November issue of Cooking Light magazine. It may not be healthy but it sure sounds delicious! Do you have any special recipes you make during the holiday season?
Blogging Break
I'll be taking a little break from the blog and social media so that I can spend some good time with family and friends. I'll see you back here in the New Year, OK?
Wishing you a very merry holiday week and a grand start to the New Year!

subset: commoncrawl


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Glendale Golden Twirl Nilgiri Winter Flush Black Tea
Sold Out
Glendale grows some its finest speciality teas during the winter months and this tea is no exception. Characteristic of a delightfully rich flavor of sweet fruits and slight citrus, the floral undertones of the cup is immensely energizing. The leaves are twirly and long with a combination of light green and silvery shades. The liquor is bright and glowing.
An exotic limited edition winter black tea, manufactured on order at the scenic terrains of the Glendale plantations in souther India.
Know your Tea Click on to read more
Tea TypeBlack Tea
EstateGlendale Tea Estate
OriginNilgiri, India
Flush/SeasonWinter Flush
Date of Picking2nd Jan, 2015
SpecialtySingle Estate
Glendale Tea Estate Established in the year 1835, the Glendale tea estate is located right next to the scenic city of Coonoor in southern India. It is a dignitary of the famous Nilgiris range and lies at an elevation ranging from 4000 to 6000 feet above sea level. Due to the cold, dry and misty climatic conditions, their leaves are characterized by a brisk and golden color which distinctively bestows the savory floral aroma in their teas. The total planted area constitutes 525 hectares which yield approximately 3000 kgs per hectare. Glendale is among the most recognized Nilgiri tea plantations and follows all global production standards.


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I just have to share this exciting find that I bought last week at a Thrift Store in the Twin Cities! I was so excited and right away, thought about the Summer Reading Program for libraries.
Here it is:
I Love it! I Love it! I Love it!
This year, the theme is "One World, Many Stories"!
What a better way to explore the world, but by traveling with a suitcase??? Did I mention that I LOVE it!
Many more smiles,
Shari Ellingson


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Here's the problem, it doesn't work as well as it's marketed. It is incredibly slow when you have big files, or too many pictures. Photos go up relatively easily, sometimes videos have issues uploading. It gets pretty frustrating. Also, it has recently been taken out of the iTunes store. This isn't the first time this has happened. If you're going to go for a file transmission app, you should probably find one that is more stable than Pixelpipe. I can still see the videos I've already uploaded to the website, and their blog is still around and says they've completed Symbian signing. Before that their post was about Pixelpipe for Android. I don't think this application is worth the hassle, considering now you can't even find it on the iTunes store. There are other apps out there that have similar functions that work better overall.
For more file transfer applications, check out Jennifer's DropBox post.


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Thursday, April 30, 2015
New from CRUZFOODZ: Canadchiladas
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 8:52 AM No comments:
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Jackson Browne Live 1975: Before the Deluge
Jackson Browne and David Lindley live at the Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA, September 7, 1975. Live concert remote broadcast produced and engineered for WMMR by Dennis Wilen.
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 7:28 PM No comments:
Labels: bryn mawr, david lindley, dennis wilen, jackson browne, main point, wmmr
Friday, April 24, 2015
Steeleye Span Live 1972: Cam' Ye O'er Frae France?
Steeleye Span performs Cam Ye O'er Frae France? a song about the (failed) Jacobite Scottish Catholic rebellion against the Protestant throne and the war's loser, Bonnie Prince Charlie. Broadcast live in concert from the Main Point in Bryn Mawr PA and produced for WMMR by Dennis Wilen. December 1972.
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 10:36 PM 1 comment:
Labels: folk rock, live, main point, remote, steeleye span, wmmr
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Always rinse and sort your beans, and discard foreign objects
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Jackson Browne Live at the Main Point: For Everyman
Jackson Browne and David Lindley perform For Everyman in a live show broadcast from the Main Point in Bryn Mawr, PA, September 7, 1975. Produced and engineered for WMMR by Dennis Wilen.
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 9:43 PM No comments:
Labels: 1975, david lindley, dennis wilen, jackson browne, main point, wmmr
Monday, April 20, 2015
I'm not sure these plants originated on Earth
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 5:03 PM No comments:
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Jackson Browne Live 1975: For A Dancer
Jackson Browne (piano) and David Lindley (violin) live at the Main Point in Bryn Mawr, PA September 7, 1975. The live remote concert broadcast was produced and engineered by me, Dennis Wilen, for WMMR, The Radio Station.
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 7:23 PM No comments:
Labels: concert, david lindley, dennis wilen, jackson browne, live, main point, wmmr
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
Hillary Clinton: Soft on tacos, soft on Iran!
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 11:28 AM No comments:
Friday, April 10, 2015
LAPD Apologizes for Bogus UPS Alert; Urban Myth Has Long History
The Los Angeles Police Department has retracted an emailed alert—supposedly from Homeland Security—warning of terrorists posed as UPS drivers.
The proof that it's a paranoid urban legend has been circulating for years, but that didn't stop the LAPD's West Valley Division from sending out an email alert Friday afternoon warning of terrorists dressed as UPS drivers.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, $32,000 worth of used UPS uniforms had just been sold on eBay, the LAPD message repeated.
These uniforms could be used by terrorists dressed as drivers to deliver bombs.
Follow-up email retracted the warning and apologized 73 minutes after the first 2:15 email blast.
The alarming notice came through Nixle.com, an Internet portal that enables subscribers to "get secure alerts free from your local police":
There has been a huge purchase, $32,000 worth, of United Parcel Service (UPS) uniforms on eBay over the last 30 days.
This could represent a serious threat as bogus drivers (terrorists) can drop off anything to anyone with deadly consequences! I
f you have ANY questions when a UPS driver appears at your door they should be able to furnish VALID I.D.
Additionally, if someone in a UPS uniform comes to make a drop off or pick up, make absolutely sure they are driving a UPS truck. UPS doesn't make deliveries or pickups in anything, except a company vehicle.
If you have a problem, call your local law enforcement agency right away!
TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! Tell everyone in your office, your family, your friends, etc. Make people aware so that we can prepare and/or avoid terrorist attacks on our people!
Thank you for your time in reviewing this and PLEASE send to EVERYONE on your list, even if they are friend or foe. We should all be aware!This is not the first time this message has scared cyberspace. The Washington Post saw it in 2003 and Internet myth busting sites such as Snopes.com have listed it for years.
Why did the West Valley LAPD send this out via Nixle?
Someone at another California law enforcement agency sent it to West Valley, said the next Nixle alert:
Hi Dennis Wilen,
Community Message has been issued by the LAPD - West Valley. Friday April 29, 2011 3:25 PM PDT
UPS Uniforms *** UPDATE ***
Unfortunately the info re: UPS Uniforms came from another Law Enforcement Agency in the State of California purporting the validity of the information.
This "INFO" is, apparently an Internet myth. However, the advice is good in that you should always verify the delivery service has arrived with their own company vehicle.
Our deepest APOLOGIZES from the LAPD WVY Area !!!
For full details, go to https://local.nixle.com/alert/4685249/?sub_id=434590.
Contact Information:
Rudolph Valadez
West Valley Area
818-374-7630 31197
UPS Director of Global Media Services Norman Black has heard it all before.
"This urban legend resurfaces every few years," he told Brentwood Patch in a phone call from Georgia. "I never know where it will come from next."
The worldwide delivery service takes special care to track its distinctive brown vans and uniforms, he said, and noted that any driver would be happy to show identification when asked.
"I don't know why this story would crop up again now," he said.
"Maybe it reflects people's fears."
Originally reported, written, illustrated and published by me, when I was the editor of Brentwood.Patch.com
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 2:48 PM No comments:
Labels: doh, hoax, lapd, pat.com, snokes, terror, ups uniforms, urban legend
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Jacarandas are blooming in Los Angeles
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 11:04 PM No comments:
Labels: bel air, bloom, flower, jacaranda, linda flora drive, los angeles, purple, roscomare road
Friday, April 3, 2015
Happy Passover!
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 3:25 PM No comments:
Labels: four questions, matrix, morpheus, passover, pesach
Thursday, April 2, 2015
מאקסוועל הויז איז כשר פאר פסח
This is the 1922 ad by Maxwell House Coffee in the New York Yiddish newspaper the Daily Forward informing new immigrants that coffee "beans" are actually seeds from coffee berries, not legumes, and are therefore Kosher for Passover. The marketing outreach was successful and led to the improbable popularity of the Maxwell House Passover Haggadah, the free prayer book used by American Jews for a century.
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 8:37 PM No comments:
Labels: beans, forward, haggadah, judaism, kosher, maxwell house, not hebrew, passover, seder, yiddish
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Senator Ted Cruz debuts new campaign poster
Posted by Dennis Wilen at 7:13 AM No comments:
Labels: gop, immigration, racism, ted cruz, xenophobia
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Jan 16, 2017
Minority New Head Of Allentown School District
The other day I received the following comment on an older post. So where is your story on the first black superintendent of the Allentown School District??? I noticed you and Bernie conveniently neglected to bring that up??? Well, first off, Bernie and I write two blogs completely independent of each other. When we cover the same story it is only by coincidence. I tend to publish only one post per day, putting me behind the news cycle. However, this topic wss indeed on my short list. The Allentown School Board members were very pleased with themselves about the three finalists being minorities. Articles mentioning Mr. Parker's selection, featured the fact he was the first minority superintendent in a system where minorities are now the majority.
I don't know what is involved in improving the district, but I'm fairly certain it is not the color of the superintendent's skin. I do not believe that the role model concept applies here. I do not believe that students at Raub Middle School either know or care that their superintendent is African-American. One need only look at the large urban school districts to know that having minority school administrations isn't enough to make a difference.
Role models must be much closer to home, if not in the home itself. I wish Mr. Parker and the district well. If there are improvements it will result from his insights, not his complexion.
3 comments:
- ironpigpen said...
So much for Dr. Martin Luther King and his 'crazy' notion of a "color-blind society".
- January 16, 2017 at 9:01 AM
- doug_b said...
Detroit? Detroit? They have a really good track record:
"According to estimates by The National Institute for Literacy, roughly 47 percent of adults in Detroit, Michigan — 200,000 total — are "functionally illiterate," meaning they have trouble with reading, speaking, writing and computational skills. Even more surprisingly, the Detroit Regional Workforce finds half of that illiterate population has obtained a high school degree."
- January 16, 2017 at 9:07 AM
- Iman Trek said...
Thank you for chiminng in. No, they picked a minority that they can control. I mean in actuality they should have picked Orlando Ramos if it is really about racial make-up. 63% of the students in the ASD are hispanic. I still don't understand why George white of Lehigh is deciding what is best for Allentown. You are right Mr Molovinsky, race shouldn't be the deciding factoer on who is a finalist. They are either setting this guy for the good ol' Obama blame Game or they are truly out to lunch.
- January 16, 2017 at 12:32 PM


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Friday, November 1, 2013
Foodie Friday: Sweet and Salty Munch
While Halloween is over, you may still have a Halloween event or two to attend. This Sweet and Salty munch would be an awesome last minute addition to bring. And it isn't just for Halloween, sub in some different holiday candy and sprinkles and you have a whole new way to enjoy this treat.
There really is something about the sweet and salty taste in here that makes it so you just can's stop munching it. So watch out. This can be very dangerous to have around!
Head on over to Bloom Design for the recipe.
Posted by Kristi Smith at 11:23 AM
Labels: cook
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Am I the only one who feels like B'89 is vastly overrated?
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Brenkster Tools Inc.
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Graz, Austria
Posts: 367
Re: Am I the only one who feels like B'89 is vastly overrated?
Originally Posted by
El Payaso
I think we'll see the total transformation in Ledger's Joker more than Bale's Bruce.
because bruce and joker are two different persons? holy comiccontinuity, batman!
i don't know if batman 89 is overrated, but i don't like it. and that's not because of the matter of fact that i'm a "batman begins" fanboy, i never liked the old filmseries anyway, mostly bcause of the fact that they all felt too much like any random superhero movie - IN MY OPINION - and i'm not really a fan of superheromovies at all, not even a real fan of superheroes. i just love batman, and begins was - IMO - closest to what "i" expect from a batman movie. overall - it was okay, though, 'wouldn't say it is one of my favorite movies.
it's pretty funny if people say that everybody should love and respect batman 89, because without it, we wouldn't have got begins. are you serious? do you reall think that nobody would ever have got the idea of making batman movie like begins without burton? well, if that's really what you think, fine... i respect it for being an important movie to many people, and i respect it for bringing superhero-movie to a darker and much more serious status-quo, but didn't superman-the movie already do that?
besides that: my favorite bruce wayne ever is val kilmer, come and bash me.
Last edited by batpawn; 07-05-2008 at
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This morning started well and just got better!!
I had a fabulous walk with my two dogs out in the early morning sunshine and came home to find that a pair of our slippers had been chosen for an Etsy Treasury - what an honor.
If you would like to have a look at all the other wonderful items in beautiful fall colours heres the link
and have a look at Freedom's shop - just love it.


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If your business has a new project, you are likely to hire new set of workers. But at some point, you are torn between hiring freelancers and hiring full-time employees. These days, you can easily find freelancers of any field on the web. These kind of workers usually work on contracts, and are paid either per hour or per project. But before you place your ads on free job listing sites, here are some tips that will help you decide which worker you should hire.
When the project is only for a short period of time
Most likely, you already have an idea on how long the project will take. If the project will only take a few months, say 2 to 3 months, hiring freelancers is a better option. Obviously, you will not need those workers once the project is done, and therefore it's just practical to hire temporary workers only. After all, you can still contact them if there are similar projects in the future; that is of course it their work is excellent. But yes, you can still find similar freelancers.
When you don't want or don't have time to train people
Newly-hired employees are required to undergo series of training before deployment. If you don't have enough time to train people or you simply don't want to, then hiring freelancers is for you. Besides portfolio indicating years of experience, freelancers usually have samples that will prove that they can do the required task. Therefore, you don't really need to train them. All you need to explain are the requirements and the specific instructions for the job.
When you want to avoid extra work and expenses
Freelancers are the responsible for the filing and paying their taxes, health insurance and other benefits. By getting freelance services, you are not only saving money for space and supplies such as electricity, you are also avoiding yourself from extra work. In fact, this is really one of the main reasons why freelancers are getting more popular these days. Freelancers may have also higher pay than employees, but cheaper in terms of overhead costs.
There are other cases when you should prefer hiring freelancers, but it's still depends on what you like. However, there are tasks that are somehow intended for freelancers only. This includes web design, article writing, social media marketing, virtual assistance and other related online jobs. Understanding when to hire freelancers or employees can definitely help you avoid having headaches, and can also help your business grow with less expenses.
If you need any kind of professional freelancer, we at Amojobs can help you through our long list of job categories, online and offline. We have carpenters, painters, carpet cleaners, landscape designers or other offline professionals, along with online freelancers. We also don't require registration fee, and we don't have hidden fees. But more importantly, we only send payment to freelancers once you approve their work. This is to protect you from scams.
For more information, feel free to join us any time at http://amojobs.com/


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This is the story of two sisters... who in many ways, were different.Perhaps because the book reminds me so much of growing up with my big sister, it makes me so happy every time I read it:
One liked to chase fireflies through the grass... while the other liked to lie back and look at the stars.
The two sisters were alike in many ways too. They both like horses... and sugar-snap peas fresh from the garden.
And a pile of leaves was never safe with those sisters around.
They fought over the piano...
And both felt the day would not be complete without a swing after supper.
Last week, Jake erected the girls' swing set .. all for the total cost of $40! Not too shabby, eh? We paid for 2 new big girls swings (which Hazel was initially leery of, but now LOVES) and one yard sale slide. The rest of the set came from the house of a friend of Jake's whose kids had outgrown the set. I snapped the above picture to show how Jake, the rock climber, managed to stand the set-up without my assistance! IMPRESSIVE :) Yesterday during some gloriously warm Spring weather, I was thrilled when both girls spent a huge chunk of time playing on their own outside now that they have their own "playground".
Speaking of SISTERS, recently Houdini Heidi has perfected the art of climbing out of her crib, unscathed. We're not sure how she does it, but we're thankful our little climber manages it without injury! Recently I put the girls to bed and knew they were up to mischief, but let it be. Eventually their squeaky voices quieted and I was relieved that they fell asleep... until I checked on them and was shocked to discover them sleeping in the same bed!
|umm... let's pretend my 2-year-old doesn't have electric cords by her head!
Because, you see, they loved each other so very much.These two sisters sure do love each other! Hazel is always quick to call Heidi her "best friend" and tell us all the amazing things they are going to do together once Heidi gets bigger. In the meantime, they're finding plenty of laughter (and mischief) together:


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Hamid Karzai says, yes, he receives about $2 million annually from Iran, but the cash is a donation and covers governmental operating costs. The U.S. makes such payments, he says.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan —Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Monday acknowledged that his office regularly received large cash sums from Iranian officials but insisted there was nothing untoward about the payments.
The New York Times, in an article in Monday's editions, described the periodic transfer of bulging sacks of currency to a senior Karzai aide and strongly suggested that the money was meant to curry favor on behalf of the Tehran government in policy matters.
At a news conference in the capital, the Afghan leader acknowledged receiving semiregular cash payments totaling around $2 million annually from Iran but said the sums were meant to defray governmental operating costs. Other countries, including the United States, make such donations as well, he told reporters.
"The government of Iran assists [the presidential] office," Karzai said. "Nothing is hidden. … Cash payments are done by various friendly countries to help the presidential office — to help expenses in various ways."
Hours before Karzai's disclosure, Iranian authorities in Kabul dismissed the allegations with gusto.
"Such baseless rumors by certain Western media are raised to create anxiety in the public opinion and impair the expanding relations between the two friendly and neighboring countries," the embassy said in the statement released early Monday, according to the pro-government Fars news agency.
But the revelations also could serve Iran's interests, underscoring its continued influence in the region even as Washington attempts to isolate Tehran over its continued pursuit of sensitive nuclear technology.
The episode illustrated the complex regional politics at play in Afghanistan. Karzai, who has spoken publicly of the possibility of the West abandoning Afghanistan, has openly courted neighbors such as China and Iran, as an apparent counterweight to the influence of the United States and other allies.
The incident also comes at a time when Karzai and his administration are under intense pressure to clean up graft and corruption in public life. Although Karzai's Western backers have been struggling to establish transparency in financial transactions involving his government, it is not unusual in Afghanistan for large sums of money to be disbursed in a much more informal manner.
American military officers in the field, for example, are sometimes given a considerable cash stockpile to be distributed to local tribal elders for projects at what is more or less their on-the-spot discretion. Such spending, intended as a bulwark against the insurgency, is sometimes referred to as using cash as a weapon.
The flap over Iranian money also comes as Karzai is locked in confrontation with the Western diplomatic community over his plans to suspend use of private contractors to safeguard humanitarian and development projects before the end of the year.
Western governments have expressed agreement that such security firms should be phased out eventually but argue that the Afghan security forces are not yet ready to step into the role such companies fill.
Karzai spent much of the weekend in negotiations with senior U.S. and Western officials over the issue and fielded a phone call from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Afghan administration has indicated willingness to sign off on individual aid projects requiring private protection, but the West has balked at the effective granting of veto power to Karzai for development and humanitarian assistance.
Also at issue is whether the money that would have been paid to private security firms -- a multibillion-dollar business -- would be funneled instead to the Afghan security forces, by way of Afghanistan's Interior Ministry. Western officials have informed the Karzai administration there is no such plan in place.


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Just over five years ago a young lady named Rachel Odem fell off a rope swing while trying to swing out into a river. Unfortunately, Rachel fractured her L1 lumbar vertebra and her spinal cord was compressed over 60%. Originally, the initial doctors who treated her said they would not even consider surgery as an option and that she would need to change her lifestyle because she would probably be wheel chair bound from now on.
For obvious reasons, her mother was simply not satisfied with that outcome and after talking with her sister she found out about a doctor in Houston who may be able to help.
The doctor she contacted was Houston Spine Surgeon Dr. Richard Francis of Spine Associates and although it had been eight days since the accident by the time she was able to get her daughter in to Houston to see him, he did perform surgery and after just 10 months Rachel experienced a complete recovery.
Following is the exact text of the testimonial Rachel's mother posted online on May 26, 2014…
"5 Years ago today, My Daughter, Rachel Odem, suffered a tragic accident when she fell off a cliff 25 foot while swinging into the river on a rope swing. Rachel's L1 was fractured and compressing her spinal cord over 60%. She was unable to move from the waist down. The doctors in Waco, Texas said: "Change your lifestyle, you will probably be confined to a wheelchair. They would not consider surgery. But, through my sister, WrettaJo Jodi Vanek Schaefer, we found our hero, Dr Spine Associates Richard Francis, MD. I transported Rachel to Houston ASAP. It had been 8 days since the accident. Dr Francis performed surgery and repaired Rachel's injury with great expertise and skill. And then, he told her she would walk again. Her family pulled together for a full rehab and after a few complications, Rachel made a full recovery in 10 months with Dr Francis by her side. In 2012, She ran for Miss Rodeo Texas and won 1st runner up, standing tall and beautiful. Today, she has a wonderful career and lives a very happy life. In fact, she is in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic this week on vacation having fun in the sun! Dr Richard Francis is not only an amazing Christian man, he is also an outstanding Doctor with skills and expertise I have never known. We are very blessed to know him!! We will always love him!! Love, Donna & Rachel Odem and family!" — Donna M. Odem Nichols
Richard R.M. Francis, MD is a recognized leader in orthopedic spine surgery in Houston Texas. Dr. Francis has built a considerable reputation by taking a conservative approach while employing cutting-edge technologies and has dedicated his practice to treating patients with spine disorders for almost a decade.
Dr. Francis of Spine Associates has offices in both Beaumont and Houston Texas:
5420 West Loop South,
Suite 2500
Bellaire, Texas 77401
Phone: 713-383-7100
Fax: 713-383-7500
One Folsom Building
3820 Pointe Parkway
at Folsom Drive
Beaumont, Texas 77706
Phone: 409-767-8221
Fax: 409-785-4200
For additional information or to contact Dr. Francis' office please see the website at: http://www.myspineassociates.com/
Company Name: Online Authority Source
Contact Person: Keith Robinson
Email: Send Email
Phone: 713-416-3529
City: Houston
State: Texas
Country: United States
Website: http://www.onlineauthoritysource.com/


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Lycoming County in Pennsylvania is hosting substantial gas drilling and soon will be home for a 69 megawatt wind farm that Duke Energy is now constructing. See http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2011091301.asp. The wind farm will provide enough emission free energy to supply 20,000 homes. It is scheduled to begin operations in September 2012.
The Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation will buy all the power for 25 years from the Laurel Hill Windpower project, locking in power prices at today's low levels. Very smart. This purchase also demonstrates that Pennsylvania can benefit from selling renewable power to supply the needs of other states.
Meanwhile Pennsylvanians can encourage wind power and renewable energy development in the Commonwealth by buying green power products that source their supply from projects located in Pennsylvania. Buying Pennsylvania wind or renewable energy cleans the air and creates jobs right here. Buying a national green energy product may help Texas but will not benefit Pennsylvania much, with the exception of displacing global carbon emissions.
Once Laurel Hill is completed, it will join the 70 megawatt North Allegheny wind farm in Blair and Cambria counties as Duke Energy's second Pennsylvania wind farm.
Duke Energy plans to have 1,500 megawatts of wind energy operating nationally by 2013 and have another 5,500 megawatts of wind in its development pipeline.
Discussion about key facts in energy, environment, the economy, and politics. Tired of ideological junk? This is your place.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Duke Energy Constructing New PA Wind Farm In Gas County
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JVS is pleased to announce the hiring of Keisha Chandler as WoMentoring program Manager.
Chandler, who has extensive experience in the fields of mentoring, dispute resolution and mediation, served as program manager for Step Up Women's Network which seeks to empower teenage girls to reach their educational goals. She takes over JVS' innovative WoMentoring program, which has been pairing women at a professional crossroads with established mentors in their fields of interest for the past 15 years.
"Helping people improve and transform their lives is a noble pursuit and I'm really excited to be a part of it," says Chandler, a native of Inglewood. "Work is so much more than who we are and how we define ourselves. To be proud of the place where we spend more than half our lives is an opportunity that everybody should be afforded."
"One challenge will be providing the right context for success," she adds, "preparing mentors and mentees for the breakdowns and the speed bumps, but also communicating that just because you face those barriers does not mean you failed as a mentor, or a mentee."
Chandler earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Mills College. Being the first member of her immediate family to attend college taught her the importance of finding guidance from people outside her family.
"That wasn't a formal mentoring situation, but it definitely served that purpose," she says. "I was always a kid who pushed myself to unlock my own potential and that naturally put me in the position of seeking other people's advice and direction."
Chandler spent five years with Peace Talks Mediation Services of Playa del Rey, the last two and a half as Director of Operations. She returned to school in 2008, earning a Master of Public Health from USC in 2010. At USC, Chandler studied under another mentor figure, Dr. Tess Cruz of the Institute of Preventative Research. While in school, Chandler produced a brochure on post traumatic stress disorder among female military veterans.
In 2010, she became the program manager for Step Up Women's Network of Los Angeles, a nonprofit which seeks to ignite girls and women to fulfill their educational and career potentials. Chandler was in charge of Step Up's after school and Saturday mentorship program, supervising a staff of 12 and 120 volunteers and helping to secure 25 paid summer internships.
"It's all about shoring up confidence," she says. "You don't have to swim alone. There's a lifeguard here if you get into trouble."
Evan Henerson, Media Relations Manager
6505 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: (323)761-8888 x8866
Email: email@example.com


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Hello everyone,
Today I'm going to show you Unicorn Farts by Perception Nail Lacquer. Amy from Mani-Mommies on Facebook was giving the lucky person who sent over 7 people to like their page a full size bottle of Unicorn Farts and I was the lucky person!! I was so excited because I really wanted it, but was unable to buy it.
Anyway, it didn't disappoint even a little bit. In fact I think it's even better in person.
So, on to the pics!
Caption should read: ERMAHGERD DO NOT TASTE THE RAINBOW!! LOL
Anyway back to the polish. Unicorn Farts is a pretty lilac purple with what I would call a scattered holo.
This was 2 coats plus 2 coats of Gelous and 1 coat of Out The Door. This one is a top coat EATER!! But that doesn't matter because it's super pretty :)
It was a little on the thick side but not bad and was easy to apply.
And despite the name it didn't have a funky smell, so Unicorn Farts must not smell that bad.
This is a winner in my book and I will surely buy more!
You can find Preception Nail Lacquer on Facebook here and on Etsy here.
Don't forget to follow Mani-Mommies on Facebook too! Click Me
They are such sweet ladies!
What do you think of my first Indie review? Have you gotten any Perception Nail Lacquer polishes?
Friday, August 24, 2012
My first Indie polish review!!
4 comments:
I love my Unicorn Farts, Perception Lacquer has so many wonderful polishes!!! If you don't have any, you MUST get at least one, you will have to get more!!! I promise!!! Love your post good job!!ReplyDelete
Wow! Amazing holo!ReplyDelete
I have nominated you for the versatile blogger award, here:
I think you did a very nice job on your first Indie review ;-) I can really see the holo glitter in the pics!ReplyDelete
I love UF. So glad you got to get a bottle!! It looks beautiful on you! :)ReplyDelete
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♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Gender Equality at 9/25/2007 01:37:00 PMI was looking through recent research papers posted at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) when "The Sexual Orientation Wage Gap:The Role of Occupational Sorting, Human Capital, and Discrimination" by Heather Antecol, Anneke Jong, and Michael Steinberger caught my attention. It provides some preliminary answers to the question of why income differences persist among gay and lesbian Americans relative to their heterosexual counterparts--both married and unmarried. The authors investigate three reasons for these differentials: occupational sorting (some may choose more lucrative jobs than others), differences in human capital accumulation, and labor market discrimination. Using sophisticated economeric models that I need to read up on, the results appear to differ for gay and lesbian Americans.
Lesbian women earn more than their gay and heterosexual counterparts regardless of marital status due to their higher levels of human capital accumulation (read: education). On the other hand, while gay men earn more than their cohabiting heterosexual male counterparts, they earn less than those who are married. Unlike for lesbian women, this result is attributable mainly to workplace discrimination. However, top-earning gay males earn nearly as much as their married counterparts, while the advantage of top-earning lesbian females narrows. For sure, these are interesting findings that are bound to generate spirited discussions about sexual orientation and wage differentials. In any event, there is no definitive answer to the question posed in the title. Here is the conclusion from the paper:
Recent public and legislative debate has focused on earnings differentials between gay and lesbian Americans relative to their heterosexual counterparts. Sound policy must be based on addressing the underlying causes of these wage differentials. Using the 2000 U.S. Census we show that gay men face a wage penalty relative to their married counterparts, but enjoy a wage advantage relative to their cohabitating counterparts.
Given these patterns, it is unlikely that there will be a simple explanation for the sexual orientation wage gap. In fact, the explanations likely differ depending on whether the sexual orientation group under consideration enjoys a wage advantage or suffers from a wage penalty relative to their heterosexual counterparts. Therefore, we explore three potential explanations—occupational sorting, differences in human capital accumulation, and labor market discrimination—using an analysis of the mean wage gap. Specifically, using the Oaxaca-Blinder (1973) decomposition, we find that differences in human capital accumulation, particularly education, are the main reason behind the observed wage advantage enjoyed by lesbian females relative to their heterosexual counterparts (irrespective of marital status) and gay males and their cohabitating counterparts, while occupational sorting and discrimination play only a modest role. However, we find that the entire wage penalty suffered by gay males relative to their married counterparts is driven by discrimination.
Unfortunately, analysis of the mean sexual orientation wage gap overlooks that the gap is not uniform along the entire distribution of wages, thus we expand our analysis by examining the determinants of the sexual orientation wage gap along the entire wage distribution using a DiNardo, Fortin, Lemieux (DFL) decomposition. We find that while gay males experience an average wage penalty relative to married males, top-earning gay males earn wages nearly identical to their married counterparts. In addition, the wage advantage of top-earning lesbian females relative to their married counterparts is smaller than the average advantage. While the non-uniformity in the sexual orientation wage gap along the distribution of wages does lead to some small differences in the relative roles of our three alternative explanations across various portions of the wage distribution, the main conclusions from the analysis of the mean wage gap persist.


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I am trying to come up with a memorial to honor our babies. I always had a regret in the back of my mind that we never did anything when we lost our first baby. Now I will not let it go this time. We are trying to come up with names for our babies, I just can't stomach the thought of my poor beautiful babies with no names. All along I have felt in my heart that our first baby was a girl and the second was a boy, so those are the names they will get.
But how do you find the perfect name? How do you come up with something so perfect that more than likely no one but us will ever use them? I want to hear someone say my babies' names. I want and need to be validated that my babies are real, they were here, even for a short time, they were here!
Even though we only had weeks, those weeks were filled with more joy than I can describe. We were happy, life was good. How do I capture that in a name? A memorial? Nothing seems good enough for my babies.
My babies are so perfect and always will be, how do I honor that?


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Philip J. Berg - Obama Birth Certificate Suit DISMISSED
Looks like word has just come down that U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick on Friday night rejected the suit by attorney Philip J. Berg, who alleged that Obama was not a U.S. citizen and therefore ineligible for the presidency.
Surrick ruled that Berg lacked standing to bring the case, saying any harm from an allegedly ineligible candidate was "too vague and its effects too attenuated to confer standing on any and all voters."
Holy cow.
Judge Surrick may have just repealed the Constitution of the United States.
Who's responsibility IS it then to enforce the qualification clauses of Article II?
I'm presuming Philip J. Berg is going to appeal.
I'll let you know as soon as I find any chatter about the details on that ...
Berg lawsuit on Obama birth certificate reportedly dismissed - Free Republic
Judge rejects Montco lawyer's bid to have Obama removed from ballot - Philadelphia Daily News
Labels: Barack Obama


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Here is the second journal I made. You can see more tips on how I made this in my post from yesterday. I did make this one a little different. I still used the Imagines Word of Mouth cartridge for all the matching paper. You can see it's the same Journal word cut I used on my last Journal. Though it is the same cut it looks totally different with the my paper color choices and where I used my glitter this time. I also added gems to some of the letters.
I stitched on the mat and on the doily that I ran through one of my embossing folders.
I will try to find the name of it and do an edit.
Here I added a button I found at an estate sale. I bought a bunch of vintage buttons. It looks like it has little chunks of Mica in it that match both the blue and grey on the papers. I cut a hole in the cover to stick the button in and attached it with a 3D zots. This adhesive holds things on tight.
I inked all the edges with a grey ink.
Out of Character =
*Journal at 3.5inches
Easter 2010 =
doily cut at 5 1/2 and then I cut it in half , ran it through my cuttlebug, inked the edges with blue and sugared the edges with iridescent glitter.
I used that shape that come with the Imagine again,which is similar to the a cut you can find free on the Cricut Craft Room Basics digital cartridge available through Cricut Craft Room. It was cut at 4.5 inches and then I cut it in half.
The matting behind the word journal is just cut by hand.
I am going to be posting a card real soon. I hope to have it ready to post by tomorrow. Please leave a comment, I like to hear what you like!


text: Angel Welp, an Elizabethtown resident and Westport Central School graduating class of 2008, has been hired by the international design firm of Tony Chi & Associates in New York. Welp graduated from the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston in 2013 with her master's degree in architecture. While in college, she studied abroad in Germany for a semester and has traveled through Europe, India, and Iceland.


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In my family we remedy the overcrowding by heading outside to shoot guns. That time was made extra special this year when my dad gave Sam his first Red Rider BB Gun.
Jack put on his gloves in case they decided to shoot a squirrel instead of a can and he needed to go get it. Luckily that didn't materialize into anything.
In the suburbs of Houston (or at least the one I live in) we don't shoot guns much. We also don't have many trees in our yards that are taller than our homes (or us). I regularly long for wide open spaces and my friends wonder why I am not more at home here. Well.....
That is because this is where I spent the first 18 years of my life.
There were more trees around the lake then and the bridge wasn't there, but my house was. My dad sold our home 6+ years ago to Texas A&M and what you don't see in this picture are the educational buildings that now sit on it for the Bringle Lake Campus.
My mom planted this Magnolia Tree and it sat right outside of my brother's bedroom window. It was much prettier then and hasn't weathered the construction well. We took the kids there the day after Thanksgiving to let them fish where mom grew up but we quickly discovered that A&M not only killed my tree but my fish too.
I miss you Texarkana, tall trees, fall colors, and wide open spaces. Until we meet again...


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Philadelphia: The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office is seeking adult neighborhood volunteers to serve on Youth Aid Panels. We are looking for special people who are willing to give their time and energy to help steer first-time juvenile offenders away from the criminal justice system and toward productive life choices.
"This is the perfect opportunity to support your community," says District Attorney Seth Williams. "Just a few hours a month will have a tremendous impact on the City."
Each Youth Aid Panel is made up of community volunteers who are extensively trained by the District Attorney's Office. Thirty-one panels operate throughout Philadelphia with at least one in every police district.
The Youth Aid Panel program is open to first-time juvenile offenders charged with misdemeanors or minor felonies who would otherwise appear before a judge in Juvenile Court. The offending juvenile must first admit involvement, and then he/she is required to enter into a contract with the Panel. The contract could require anything from a community service project, written essays and restitution to attending workshops on subjects such as, retail theft, conflict resolution, and auto theft impact. One panel member is assigned to monitor each juvenile's progress and adherence to the contract until all terms of the contract have been fulfilled. If the juvenile fulfills all terms of the contract the case never goes to court and the record of the arrest is expunged. If the juvenile fails to fulfill the terms of the contract, he/she will have a hearing in Juvenile Court.
There are two key elements of the Youth Aid Panel program: 1. To give first-time offenders a second chance to avoid a record and 2. To hold the offender accountable to teach them the seriousness of their actions as well as the effect their crimes have on their victims and the neighborhood as a whole.
The Youth Aid Panel program now handles a significant number of more than 6,000 juvenile cases brought each year into Philadelphia's Juvenile Court system. Nine out of ten juveniles who enter the Youth Aid Panel program successfully fulfill the contracts they make, and the overwhelming majority will never again return to the justice system. In 2010, 517 juveniles entered into and completed contracts and performed more than 5,279 hours of community service and paid restitution for damages. Across the city, 185 volunteers donated 5,565 hours of their time.
If you are interested in helping kids by becoming a Youth Aid Panel Volunteer please call 215-686-7600, 215-686-6305, or 215-686-6310 and ask for Youth Aid Panels or leave your name, address, and phone number and someone will contact you immediately.


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Selasa, 19 Agustus 2008
Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte - Reborn Of Classic Handset With Carbon Technology
Being a geek is not a bad thing, as long as you know how to glamour yourself.
Nokia in their press release has announced that they had introduced Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte - the reborn of their classic Nokia 8800. Wow, it's been a long time since the classic Nokia 8800 release (it was released on April 2005) so, what's new about this metallic beauty?
Surprisingly, They didn't give latest offers given by other competitor's products. The latest Carbon Arte model only brings 3G, a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, build-in memory that can be expanded to 4 GB by flash memory, and OLED display with anti-fingerprint coating. And the bad news is, it is Europe-bound tri-band GSM phone, so it won't be usable in some part of US.
So, what's special from this reborn oldies? Well, the press release said it's body case on front and back side made by combination carbon fiber, titanium, and stainless steel materials. Quite simple tricks, but it's enough to rise up its price to €1,100 ($1,600) .
You see, you've got good offering. You'll have this glamorous phone with extended memory up to 4 GB ( the original 8800 only had 1 GB extended memory), better camera, and fantastic body case, only for about $ 1,600... Oh, don't forget to pay tax too. It will be on market on fourth quarter of 2008. Don't miss it!
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Dan Whittle, the director of Unions 21, on the need for unions to renew and make themselves relevant to the 2011 public.
Dan Whittle is the director of Unions 21
In the aftermath of yesterday's day of action, unions will be analysing how they and their arguments have been portrayed in the media, and the effect on public opinion – as no doubt will Left Foot Forward. Though tactical considerations come first, the think tank Unions 21 is calling on the left to take part in a far wider strategic debate on how unions renew their public image for the long term.
In a publication to be launched on Monday, contributors argue that we have a tremendous opportunity to re-present unions as relevant and effective.
Unions have not had such a high media profile for years.
More than half the population backed the aims of the March 26th March for the Alternative according to YouGov – but a third of people still see unions as old fashioned.
So what can unions do? These are three of the 'tough love' ideas our contributors have put forward:
1. Ensure that middle aged white men in suits and ties are kept firmly in the place that reflects their minority in unions
If trade unions are represented in the media by people who "are not like me" there is less chance of the union message getting through. The members unions put in front of the media should be broadly representative of the cross section of ages, of gender, of race that the movement represents.
2. Perform a social media audit
Facebook, Twitter and blogs are ever more important sources of information – and as trust in government, public institutions and almost everything else declines, people increasingly rely on their friends or even celebrities for their news and opinions.
Left Foot Forward contributor Mike Harris recommends unions should perform a social media audit to identify their most highly networked members and involve them in delivering their communications. High profile supporters can be used to attract new interest online and well crafted online 'asks' can be used to build support and membership.
3. Drop the jargon
Writer and trainer Paul Richards argues that trade unionism, like every other walk of life, has developed its own slang, jargon and insiders-only language, every bit as impenetrable as polari, doctors' slang, cockney rhyming slang, computer hackers' slang… He reminds us that talking about collective bargaining, constructive dismissal and transfers of undertakings is language impenetrable to most people and off-putting and alienating to many.
There are many more ideas for renewing the union offer in the publication, copies of which will be available at the launch event in Parliament on Monday (July 4th), in the Grimmond Room, Portcullis House, from 6–8pm and afterwards online; email me – [email protected] – to find out more.Like this article? Sign up to Left Foot Forward's weekday email for the latest progressive news and comment - and support campaigning journalism by making a donation today.


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Karin came closest so I'm giving her the fabulous prize! She figured it had something to do with the 1918-1919 pandemic, and she was right.
In the photo above, Pasadena Public Library staff don masks during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 that spread to 20 percent of the world's population and killed more than half a million people in the U.S. and 50 million worldwide.
Some people have been freaking out about the Swine Flu lately, but it's nothing compared to this post-World War I pandemic.
Pasadena Star-News headlines included these:
City to manage all influenza hospitalsHere are some of those same library employees unmasked.
Red Cross sells over 8000 masks
Police are busy with arrests: Persons on streets with no masks compelled to go to court
Gauze protectors may be removed at 5 o'Clock this evening: City returning to normal as influenza greatly lessened
They worked in the building located in what was known as Library Park (now Memorial Park). This is a postcard with a color-tinted photo. Note the bicycles against the retaining wall at lower left.
Here's a wider shot of the park.
Here's what's left of that library (many thanks to Petrea).
I've always been intrigued by this photo taken in 1920 of Pasadena City Librarian Jeanette Drake (in white) and two unidentified people. That's the Pacific Electric street car barn across the street.
Still worried about Swine Flu? Rest easy by reading the latest update here.
Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library.


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I have been writing this post over the last few weeks, filling in bits and pieces here and there when the thoughts are clear. I have written it because almost everyone we encounter these days wants to know how things are going and how we are doing. They are such pure, innocent and well-intended questions, but it is soooo difficult for us to answer in one or two words at this point. While some of this post is about our pregnancy with Jellybean and how it has been changed by Gracie's death, much of it is about our grieving and healing process since Gracie's death. It is written from Susan's perspective, although much of it is applicable to pretty much both of us. Although we have been relatively open about some aspects of our grief and healing over the last 9 months, there is much that we have not really disclosed or openly shared with others. There are many questions that, for various reasons, people are afraid to ask. So here are some answers in black and white. It is meant to inform, not to offend...so please don't take anything that is said here personally. This has been a very emotional process for us, and our emotions are still pretty raw...and sometimes raw emotions lead to blunt statements. As we have moved through the early phases of Jellybean's pregnancy, there has been a surge of new and old emotions, and I am sure that the surging will continue. But, in the meantime, here is a snapshot of where we are.....
First of all, I feel the need to extend heart felt thanks to those who have been there for us over the last 9 months. Although many of you usually feel like you don't know the 'right' thing to say or do, you have nonetheless been there to offer support and love when it has been needed most. Unfortunately, you are in the minority. As we have come to learn, many of the people in our lives feel compelled to say or do something, but because they don't know the 'right' thing to say or do, they generally say and do nothing. I say this not to make people feel bad, but to let those people know that they are not alone in their reactions. I was in the same situation when friends of ours suffered a full term loss a few years ago - I desperately wanted to say or do something for them, but I simply could not relate to or understand the impact of what they were going through, and consequently said and did nothing to offer much support. Now, more than ever, I feel like such a schmuck for that, but it has helped me to understand why people might react the way that they do. The random (even if they are sometimes a little awkward) words of encouragement and acts of kindness and love are appreciated...please keep them coming if you feel so compelled, even if you are not sure they are 'right.' You might be very surprised by how appreciated your gestures really are. (I have been surprised to learn that there are some people who are so profoundly affected by death in general, or who have been so profoundly affected by Gracie's death for one reason or another that they just cannot face it or address it. If a time comes that this changes, you know where to find us.)
During a random conversation about 6 months ago, I told someone that what I was hoping for was not pity from other people, but sympathy. The looks of pity were starting to get old at that point, but I was also having some frustrations in conveying my grieving process to others. I said that I completely understand that everyone suffers the loss of a loved one at some point in life, and I am no different. I acknowledged that I am certainly not the first person to lose a child or suffer stillbirth, and that our loss did not make us 'special' in that regard. I also said something to the effect that no matter how much you think you are prepared to deal with death, when it comes, it just rocks you and in the long run it's very hard to be 100% okay with it. She agreed with me, but then told me that she had lost her husband, an adult child and a toddler grandchild within a span of several years (I was unaware of any except the husband) - the last was about 5 years ago. The loss of her husband was expected after extended illness; the loss of her son and grandchild were unexpected (and not connected to each other). She told me openly that while she mourned the loss of her husband a long time (and still does), that she was prepared for it and relatively at peace with it, primarily because he was no longer suffering. She said that the unexpected nature of death is a completely unique circumstance that can and will rock anyone that it touches. She said that unquestionably, the unexpected death of her grandchild was harder to accept than even the unexpected death of her adult son. It was an interesting conversation, full of insight and perspective...it gave me hope with regard to my own grief and made me feel a little better about the lengthy process that was still ahead of me. It's a conversation that I will remember and appreciate for the rest of my days.
Unfortunately, we have encountered a some folks over the last several month who have had a different opinion about our loss... people who openly downplay the lasting effects of Gracie's death. While this is not (thankfully) something that we run into on a regular basis, it is pretty bothersome when we encounter it. Just as an example, a few months ago someone asked me if I didn't think it was creepy that I carried pictures of a dead baby with me. Shortly after that, I was asked by someone else if I was "over" "the baby thing." While the source of this particular question definitely must be taken into consideration, I was still floored. I was shocked that anyone would have the gall to ask if I was "over it", and I was even more astounded that Gracie was being referred to as "the baby thing." We think about and miss Gracie every day. This will never change. Her loss and her absence is something we will never, ever get over. For the most part, the pain has dulled a little bit since August, but we will never get over it...and in our eyes there is no reason to get over it. She was our child - our first born child. She grew inside of me to a very viable age, and then she died. Something was taken from us that can and will never be replaced. Some people give the appearance of downplaying it because they don't know how else to address it - this does not bother us. On the other hand, some people downplay it because she was stillborn; in all reality there is no difference between death coming 25 hours before her birth or death coming 25 hours after her birth - in the end I carried her for 36 weeks and in the end she is dead.
I have been told that we cannot live in the past forever. (Most of this ties in with the people who view Gracie's death as something relatively insignificant in the overall scheme of life.) These comments always leave me wondering and pondering, and I always come back to the same basic thought. To the world you are just one person, but to one person you just might be the world. There is no question about it - Gracie had become our world, and we were prepared for her to be our entire world forever (at least until she had to share the spotlight with a younger sibling - hopefully all parents out there can relate to this). Then our world was turned upside down. Everything had shattered...lightning had struck...we had hit the impossible odds...however you want to say it... Ultimately, every expectant parents' worst fear was suddenly our reality, no matter how hard we wished otherwise. It was our reality. So, based on this, we have an opinion on the whole living in the past thing. We are not living in the past. We are living within our reality, which spans past, present and future. This reality started on July 31, 2009 and will continue until the days that we die. We will forever live in the reality that one of our children will always be missing when we are gathered around the dinner table or Christmas tree. We will forever live in the reality that our first born will never be here on August 1st to celebrate her birthday. We will forever live in the reality that her siblings will only know that she existed because we will tell them so ... not because they live with her, know her and love her. And, until we are done having children, we will live in the very real fear of lightning striking twice. Sure, reality will get a little easier as the years pass, but it will always be reality - not the past.
All of that said, I can say that for the most part, we are 'okay.' We have survived. We have continued to put one foot in front of the other. So many people have commented on how strong we are. Thank you for giving us this credit, but we want people to understand that there is a stark difference between strength and survival. What we have demonstrated is our ability to function in work and survival modes - it is not something that we consider to be strength. In the early days there was one decision to make: stay in bed and let this literally kill us or get out of bed, go on with life and grieve while we do it. We have continued to get up every morning and go to bed every night. The rest is simply a matter of survival, not strength. There is a song that includes the lyrics "This is...How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life and you survive..." It can't really be summed up any better than that. That said, there are days that are much easier than most and there are days that are much harder than most. There are still days that we wish the rest of the world could/would come to a complete standstill with us; instead we stand still and watch everything moving and spinning around us as if all is right in the world and nothing had ever gone wrong. Some days require little effort to get through, but there are days that a complete meltdown is just around the corner. Meltdowns generally come without reason, and many times without warning; they can be brief or they can last for several days. They are fewer and further between, but the intensity is certainly no less.
We continue to grieve every day because all we have left after 36 weeks (8 months) of pregnancy are a few pictures and small mementos. We grieve every day for what we will never experience with Gracie...we will never see her roll over, sit up, stand up, walk, talk, go to school, fall in love, get her driver's license...all of the things that you look forward to when you become parent. We grieve because we never saw her open her eyes…because she never took a breathe…because she never felt our touch on her hands, back, belly or face…because we never had the opportunity to discover her personality other than what was evident while I carried her. We grieve because we believe that Gracie could be here with us. Please do not interpret this to mean that we place blame on anyone (our
This entire experience, as anyone might imagine, has impacted our view(s) on the world...in many, many ways...... I have a hard time accepting that "everything happens for a reason" (even though I am a believer that everything does happen for a reason) with regard to Gracie. I have a hard time listening to people say that it was all part of God's plan, and that she must have been needed more somewhere else - we needed her here just as much. I have a hard time listening when people say that she is in Heaven with this person or that person – those are the people that were supposed to prevent this from happening in the first place. I have a hard time accepting that Jeff, Gracie and I were destined for this long before Gracie was even a thought. I just do.
I also have a hard time with the fact that baby death is almost taboo. No question about it, it's an unpleasant thing to think or talk about. I have heard several comments over the last 8 or 9 months about 'unnecessarily freaking out' expectant parents by talking about it or educating about it. Believe me, I get that. I get it 100%, and to a degree I am on board with that mindset. However I can say, with no hesitation, that I wish it was something that had been thrown in our faces during pregnancy. I would have rather been a little freaked out by valid information than been blindsided like we were. Because we have friends who lived this nightmare 2 1/2 years before Gracie's death, we had a very rough idea what would happen once we got the confirmation that Gracie's heart was no longer beating. When I say a very rough idea, I mean we knew - before we even got to the doctor's office for confirmation - that labor would be induced and I would give birth to our dead baby girl. Aside from that, we were completely blindsided. After it happened to our friends, I should have known more about it, but I lived in the land of make believe - it wouldn't happen to us. In the end, I wish we had known more about what is possible with every pregnancy. I really, really do.
Other people's pregnancies and babies are generally a very weird thing for me at this point…and to a degree, this pregnancy with Jellybean is also a weird thing. I would never wish this fate on anyone for any reason...and I am happy every time someone takes home a happy, healthy baby...but sometimes the ugly green envy creeps up. My mind wonders why that girl and that girl...and that girl, who obviously can't even take care of herself, can go home from the hospital with living babies and I cannot. The envy creeps up when I see someone with a pregnant belly...and then I remember that I have no idea what she has been through to get to this point, and no one knows what horrible unforeseen events might lie ahead of her. Friends of ours are expecting a baby in June. Somehow, my subconscious managed to push this info all the way into the back of my memory banks, and I actually 'forgot' for about a month and a half that they were expecting. (Sorry, guys.) When I realized this, I was mortified...absolutely mortified. I felt like the most selfish, self-centered and self-absorbed person on the face of the earth. After discussing it with a few other 'baby loss moms', I realized that I wasn't alone and that it was something that I really didn't have much control over. Still, it's pretty mortifying to me that this even happened.
I am horribly afraid for other pregnant couples, even those that we don't know. I see them becoming more and more excited as they get closer and closer to their due dates, and the fear I feel is incredible. I remember being in that same happy, excited and naive place as we crossed the 8 month mark, and having no idea what was only a few days around the corner. I am so, so fearful that others will unexpectedly stumble upon the same fate and find themselves as the newest members of this awful club. It is something that I cannot explain beyond this, but I ask everyone who reads this to understand and remember that no one is immune. It happens...more often than anyone wants to admit...and often without warning. It can shatter worlds and leave you feeling more alone in a crowded room than you could ever imagine. I hope that our experience is the closest that any of you get to understanding this heartache. Please - talk to us or read more about stillbirth if you want to be at all proactive. We will share our story with anyone who wants to know.
With all of this said, I arrive at our pregnancy with Jellybean. Suffice it to say that we are very excited, but totally petrified. It is easy to say that we have no reason to expect the same outcome with this pregnancy, but we really had no reason to expect that anything would happen to Gracie. I want desperately to go back to the naive people that we were a year ago and enjoy every minute of this pregnancy with nothing but carefree delight. We went through our pregnancy with Gracie knowing that babies could die, but lived each day with the mindset that it couldn't and wouldn't happen to us. Life is different now, and we almost expect each day with Jellybean to bring disaster. On some levels, it's almost easier to expect that disaster will strike with the hope that if it does, it won't be quite as devastating since we are expecting it. Bad plan? Yep. Realistic? Nope. Does it help us to get through each day just a little easier? Yep. Speaking for myself, I am doing everything I can to do to not lose all enjoyable moments of this pregnancy to fear. I look forward to feeling Beana move every day...I look forward to our next ultrasound and seeing her moving around...I look forward to watching my belly grow. But with each passing moment, I am still afraid.
We have learned in recent weeks that Jellybean is a girl. This brings with it bittersweet emotions. We were so ready to bring home a little girl in August...especially Jeff. When we initially learned that Gracie was a girl I saw a some of the glimmer disappear from his eyes for a brief time, since he was really wishing for a boy initially. It didn't take long for him to adjust to the idea of having a little girl, and he was so ready to bring home (and spoil, despite what he says) his little princess. Having another little girl will certainly allow him to do just that, but it will be so much different than it would have been with Gracie. We will always look at little Beana and wonder. We will wonder how much of Gracie really lives in her...how many similarities or differences there really are that we will never be able to see. For a long time I will look at her and think about all of the things that we missed with our beautiful first born. She will wear the clothes that we bought for Gracie. She will sleep in the bassinet that was ready for Gracie. We will love her with all of our heart for who and what she is, but it will be a little bittersweet for a while.
Earlier in our pregnancy we learned that there is a higher than average possibility that Beana may have Down Syndrome. While it is certainly not something that we sit around and hope for, if she does have Down Syndrome, it will certainly not be the end of the world. This is something that we have gotten a lot of feedback about from the people around us, and I want to sound off a little bit. Again, it's not meant to offend, just meant to express my opinion. The odds of anyone randomly ending up with a dead baby are roughly 0.625%. We ended up with a dead baby. ~ The possibility/probability of Gracie having Down Syndrome based on the first trimester screen was 1:47 - this means that if you lined me up with 46 other women, there is about a 90% chance that I would be the one whose baby was born with Down Syndrome. I completely understand that this is a screen, not a diagnostic test, and I completely understand that there can easily be false 'positives' with the screen. I also understand that there are cases of Down Syndrome that this screen will not detect. All of that said, the professional assumption at this point, based on the medical information available for review, is that Gracie very likely had Down Syndrome. ~ Based on the first trimester screen, Beana's odds of having Down Syndrome are 1:39. Everything that applied to the 1:47 probability applies to the 1:39 probability. Does that mean that Beana will definitely have Down Syndrome? No. Do I understand that? Absolutely. Do I need people to point this out to me every time it's discussed? Not really - being reminded that it's only a screen and not a concrete diagnosis doesn't help me feel any differently or more confident about the situation. Why? Because, as much as I would love to be an optimist at this point, I must be a realist. We are 2 for 2 with regard to hitting the very slim and unlikely odds. There is also a very good possibility that, if Beana has Down Syndrome, all of these events are connected to each other - not just random coincidence. If that is the case, it is going to have a significant impact on further expansion of our family. So, while it is certainly easier for me to assume that Down Syndrome 'won't happen to us', in my eyes it is not realistic to do so since we do have seats on the 'it did happen to us' wagon. I would rather expect the 'worst' and hope for the 'best' Some will say that I am going glass half empty on this one, and that is fine - everyone is entitled to an opinion. With the way life has gone over the last year, I simply need to go with the realism over optimism on this one. (We are encouraged by the fact that there were no obvious markers for Down Syndrome seen on the the latest ultrasound, but we also know that many kids are born with Down Syndrome after showing no markers on ultrasound. Right now, we simply take comfort in knowing that there are no obvious heart defects!)
As we prepare for Beana's arrival, I will spend (and have already spent) many hours thinking about all that lies ahead of us with regard to medical intervention. I will put endless thought into weighing the fact that women have been having babies for centuries without medical intervention against all of the marvels of modern medicine against Gracie's demise. We are firm believers that, while modern medicine offers such amazing things to those in the minority that need help getting through pregnancy and/or childbirth, for the most part women can give birth to healthy babies without significant medical intervention. I believe that many women don't do enough to educate themselves about pregnancy and childbirth and do not make their own decisions, and in the end, many allow themselves to be turned into 'sheep' by the medical community. We are now in the aforementioned minority and it sucks...and to be quite honest, I am sometimes pretty much still in denial about being part of that minority. I still believe that I can give birth to a healthy baby without all of the bells and whistles, but I am scared to death to do so. I am so petrified of lightning striking twice that I have purchased the sheep costume. It's still in the package, but it's definitely here. (And I am pretty sure that Jeff has also purchased one.) So, while we will prepare again for Beana to arrive via a natural and unmedicated birth, we will also think every day about the fact that bringing home a living baby may require us to abandon our plan, as well as our medical standards and values...this really seems like a no-brainer, and it will be a no-brainer if it comes down to it. But that doesn't mean that we will feel any better about abandoning our values...it just means that in wanting so desperately to bring a living baby home, there were chances that we weren't willing to take.
So there you have it (if you made it this far). Whether you consider our 'position(s)' to be right, wrong or indifferent, this is where we are. Perhaps it is nothing new to some of you, perhaps it is more than some of you wanted to know, perhaps it simply gives a clearer picture. Regardless, there it is.


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|About this Recording
8.570019 - SIBELIUS: Songs, Vol. 1
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was born in 1865, the son of a doctor, in a small town in the south of Finland, the language and culture of his family being Swedish. It was at school that he was to learn Finnish and acquire his first interest in the early legends of his country. His musical abilities were soon realised, although not developed early enough to suggest music as a profession until he had entered university in Helsinki as a law student. His first ambition had been to be a violinist. It later became apparent that any ability he had in this direction was outweighed by his gifts as a composer, developed first by study with Martin Wegelius, then in Berlin and, more effectively, in Vienna.
In Finland once more, Sibelius won almost immediate success in 1892 with a symphonic poem, Kullervo, based on an episode from the Finnish epic Kalevala. There followed compositions of particular national appeal that further enhanced his reputation in Helsinki. During this period he supported himself by teaching, as well as by composition and the performance of his works, but it proved difficult for him to earn enough, given, as he was, to bouts of extravagance, continuing from his days as a student. In 1896 he was voted the position of professor at the University of Helsinki, but the committee's decision was overturned in favour of Robert Kajanus, the experienced founder and conductor of the first professional orchestra in Helsinki. As consolation for his disappointment Sibelius was awarded a government stipend for ten years, and this was later changed into a pension for life. The sum involved was never sufficient to meet his gift for improvidence, inherited, perhaps, from his father, who at his death in 1868 had left his family in some difficulty.
Sibelius continued his active career as a composer until 1926, his fame increasing at home and abroad, particularly with his series of symphonies, the first in 1898 and the seventh in 1924. An eighth symphony was probably completed around 1932, but was destroyed. The rest was silence. For the last 28 years of his life Sibelius wrote next to nothing, remaining isolated from and largely antipathetic to contemporary trends in music. His reputation in Britain and America remained high, although there were inevitable reactions to the excessive enthusiasm of his supporters. On the continent of Europe he failed to recapture the earlier position he had enjoyed before the 1914 war in Germany, France and Vienna. He died in 1957 at the age of 91.
Sibelius wrote around a hundred songs. Most of these are settings of Swedish words, texts in what was, after all, the composer's first language, with eight settings of German verses and a handful only of Finnish, although a larger proportion of his choral works use texts in this language. It is natural that the German songs have enjoyed wider international currency, leaving other songs generally to those more familiar with the language of the texts.
The earliest of the songs included here date from 1888. 'Serenade' [Track 16] was the first song by Sibelius to be published and is a setting of a poem by the Finnish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, many of whose poems Sibelius set. The son of a sea captain of Swedish descent, Runeberg was born in 1804 and taught classics in Helsinki. He has been regarded as Finland's national poet, writing in Swedish and author of the ballads of Tales of Ensign Stål in which he was able to draw on military acts of heroism in the struggle against Russia. He died in 1877. The other song from 1888 is a gently lyrical setting of a poem by Baeckman, 'En visa'(A Song) [17]. From the same period comes the forthright and challenging 'Orgier' (Orgies) [19], a setting of a poem by Lars Jakob Stenbäck. 1891 brought Sibelius's first setting of Runeberg's 'Den första kyssen'(The First Kiss) [18], set again in 1900 and published as part of Op. 37 [3].
In 1892 Sibelius published a group of seven poems by Runeberg, not a song cycle so much as settings of separate poems with no particular narrative connection. Here included is the fourth song, 'Våren flyktar hastigt'(Spring is Flying) [2], which the composer later orchestrated, a sensitive reflection of changing moods. Individual poems set in the last decade of the century are 'Souda, souda, sinisorsa'(Row, row, duck) [10], with Finnish words by Forsman who, as others of his generation, later changed his name from its Swedish origin to Aukusti Valdemar Koskimies, in consequence being sometimes known as Forsman-Koskimies. 1899 also brought a setting of 'Segelfahrt' (Sailing) [12] with German words by Johannes Öhquist, a Finnish writer who also used the pen-name Wilhelm Habermann.
'Illalle'(To Evening) [1] takes another Finnish text by Forsman-Koskimies, written for his fiancée Ilta Bergroth and therefore concealing a double meaning in its title. It is included among the seven songs of Op. 17, and was written in 1898. Following it in Op. 17 is 'Lastu lainehilla'(Driftwood) [9], again in Finnish, with a text by another writer, Ilmari Calamnius, who took the Finnish name Kianto. It dates from 1902.
The group of six songs published as Op. 36 opens with 'Svarta rosor' (Black Roses) [4]. This setting of a poem by the Swedish painter and poet Ernst Abraham Josephson was made in 1899, its accompanying arpeggios breaking off for climactic moments of dramatic declamation. The fourth of the set, with its gently rippling accompaniment, is a second setting of the poem 'Säv, säv, susa'(Reed, reed, rustle) [6] made in 1900, with the earlier version made shortly before [20]. It is among the best known of Sibelius's Swedish songs and sets words by Gustaf Fröding, his characteristic alliteration making an immediate appearance. The set ends with 'Demanten på marssnön'(The Diamond on the March Snow) [8], a setting of a poem by the poet and playwright Josef Julius Wecksell.
The five songs published as Op. 37 start with a second setting of Runeberg's 'Den första kyssen'(The First Kiss) [3], composed in 1900 and finding a place for dramatic romanticism. The fourth of the set, 'Var det en dröm?'(Was it a Dream?) [7] again takes a poem by Wecksell, and the D flat major fifth, 'Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte'(The Tryst) [5], with its histrionic ballad-like opening, sets a poem by Runeberg. Another setting of Tor Hedberg's 'Soluppgång'(Sunrise) [21], written in 1902 and first recorded here, differs from the version in Op. 37 primarily in its vocal line.
Six German songs of 1906 make up Op. 50. The second song, 'Sehnsucht'(Longing) [14], sets a poem by Emil Rudolf Weiss, with music that seems to prefigure post-war Weimar. The third, the melancholy 'Im Feld ein Mädchen singt'(In the Field a Maid Sings) [13] has a text by Margarete Susman, describing the girl's lament for her dead lover. The moving and effective fifth song, 'Die stille Stadt'(The Silent City) [15] chooses words by the German poet Richard Dehmel.
A rare attempt at an English setting is heard in the 1909 'Hymn to Thaïs'[30], with a text by the composer's friend Arthur Borgström. The words 'Thaïs, she who cannot be forgotten' seemed to have a certain resonance for Sibelius, although the language was not one with which he had unlimited familiarity. The same year brought a setting of Josephson's 'Vänskapens blomma'(The Flower of Friendship) [22].
The six songs of Op. 88 are dated 1917 and include settings of three poems by Frans Mikael Franzén and three by Runeberg, united by their subject of flowers. These are sung in the Finnish translation by Johannes Gebhard. The first song 'Sinivuokko'('Blåsippan': The Anemone) [23] is a delicately evocative little work. It is followed by the tenderly plaintive 'Kaksi ruusua'('De bägge rosorna': The Two Roses) [24]. The third song, 'Valkovuokko' ('Vitsippan': The Wood Anemone) [25] continues in the same mood. It is followed by the lively setting of a Runeberg poem, 'Vuokko'('Sippan': The Primrose) [26]. 'Villiruusu'('Törnet': The Thorn) [27] brings a certain drama, and the group of songs ends with the poignantly lyrical 'Kukkasen kohtalo'('Blommans öde': The Flower's Destiny) [28].
Chronologically 'Narsissi'('Narciss': Narcissus) [29] is among the last of Sibelius's songs, written in 1925, with Swedish words by Bertel Gripenberg, a leading literary figure of the composer's generation, translated into Finnish by Kyllikki Solanterä. It has a perfection all its own, a song that is an example of the composer at his best in this handling of a small form of which he is equally in command.
Keith Anderson
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The Founder and Leader of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Mr Altaf Hussain has strongly condemned the suicide blast on Abdara Road in Peshawar near the office of the UN Refugee Agency. Expressing his grief and sorrow on the deaths of several innocent persons in the attack, Mr Hussain said that wave of extremism and suicide attacks was aimed at destabilizing Pakistan. He said that the elements that were killing innocent people in order to weaken Pakistan and bringing a bad name to Islam were enemies of the humanity.
Mr Hussain extended sympathies to the grieving families of the people who lost their lives in the blast and prayed for the good health and speedy recovery of the injured, including women and children. He demanded of President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik to take serious notice of the suicide blast outside the UN office. He called for effective steps for protecting the life and property of the people. He said that practical steps should be taken to foil the conspiracy bring hatched for creating instability in Pakistan.


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This just in: We've been Breeding the Nutrition Out of Our Food. Oops.
(Antidotes here, here, and here. Or track down some arugula or purslane at your nursery and start a planter full of phytonutrients to toss in your summertime salads).
Faced with a fridgeful of whole foods in my post-Pollan kitchen, I set out to discover what on earth to do with them.


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End of Software Support for EOS 4.15
End of Software Support for EOS 4.15
Date: May 23, 2017
Last Updated: October 20, 2017
Software Version: EOS 4.15
The Arista EOS Life Cycle policy defines a 30 month lifecycle for each major release train. The EOS 4.15 software train will reach the 30 month timeline on March 18th, 2018 [updated on October 20th, 2017]. At that time, EOS 4.15 will be considered End of Support with no further official software support on this version from Arista. This notice is intended to serve as a reminder of this upcoming event. Customers running EOS 4.15 should work with their Arista sales team to discuss possible upgrade options. In addition, a general EOS upgrade recommendation can be found at: Software Downloads page.
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