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I have written this for the benefit of those who are curious about why I have chosen to leave the Church of Scotland.
(For the brief summary version of this explanatory statement, see my previous post here.)
Jesus, the Christian, the Church, and the Bible
1. What is involved in being a Christian? Is it simply a matter of saying that one is a Christian, or of believing certain things about Jesus Christ? Does being a Christian affect the way a person lives?
I believe that being a Christian involves faithfully and obediently following Jesus.
In the New Testament, Christians are usually called "believers" (because they believed in Jesus and in his message) and sometimes called "disciples", because they were committed to learning from him and obeying him. When Jesus sent the apostles out to make disciples of all nations, the apostles were told to teach these new disciples "to obey everything I have commanded you." Obedience is not only part of the Christian life. It is at the heart of the Christian life. Jesus says "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it." (Luke 11:28) He says "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. " (John 14:23).
Obedience involves aiming to do what God says we should do, and aiming to avoid what God says we should not do. This does, however, involve a struggle, because our natural inclination is to seek to please ourselves, rather than to seek to please God. Becoming a Christian involves a new start, and a changed (and distinctive) life. Hence the apostle Paul writes: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. " (Ephesians 5:8-11) Similarly, Peter writes "As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." " (I Peter 1:14-16)
2. Why does the church exist? Is it something that was invented by the early followers of Jesus because it seemed like a good idea to them? Or was it God's idea? And what is the church for, anyway?
I believe that the church is an important part of God's plan, and that one of its most basic functions is to try to ensure that Christians are faithfully following Jesus.
In the New Testament, the word "Christian" (or "Christians") is used a total of three times. The word "church" (or "churches") is used over a hundred times. While most uses of the word "church" are found in Acts, Revelation, and the various letters of the apostles, Jesus himself speaks about the church. In fact, he calls it his church – he says "I will build my church." By "church", he means a body of people – the people who will believe in him and follow him – his disciples – in other words, Christians. This tells us that the church is important to Jesus, and that it is a basic part of God's plan.
Furthermore, Jesus tells us that he is concerned about how his followers should live, and in particular, how they should relate to one another. He is concerned, for example, that they should love each other. He is also concerned that they should encourage each other to be faithful to him (which is surely a part of loving each other.) He told his disciples "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault." And he goes on to explain that the church has a role to play when a Christian is not willing to accept correction from other individual Christians. He says "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. " (Matthew 18:15-17)
The Westminster Confession of Faith (the Church of Scotland's official statement of faith) speaks of the role of the church as "gathering and perfecting" Christians. (To "gather" them means to bring people to faith in Jesus – to bring new people into the church. To "perfect" them means to help them grow spiritually so that they follow Jesus more faithfully.) It seems to me that the New Testament, where it addresses churches, says more about the role of churches in 'perfecting' Christians than it does about their role in 'gathering' them.
3. Do Christians have to be part of a church, or can one be a good Christian without being a member of a church? And what obligation do Christians have to their churches?
I believe that because the church is a basic part of God's plan, it is the duty of Christians to be members of a church, and to be accountable to their churches.
The Bible often speaks about 'the church' – meaning all those who believe in Jesus Christ. However, the Bible also speaks about 'churches'. (There are 35 mentions of "churches" in the New Testament.) By this it means congregations. Since all Christians are part of "the church", they are also obliged to be part of a church (in other words, a congregation). The Bible knows nothing of people who become Christians, but then choose not to be part of a church. When people became Christians they joined together with other Christians to form congregations of people who met together. (Acts 2:41-47)
Why were Christians to join together with one another? The New Testament tells us that Christians have an obligation to help each other. In particular, they have an obligation to encourage each other to follow Jesus faithfully, and to correct each other when someone is not living or behaving as a Christian should.
The teaching of Jesus (Matthew 18:15-17) (see section 2, above) makes this point clearly. Similarly, the apostle Paul tells the Christians in Corinth that if churches are aware of their members openly doing something wrong, they are not to ignore it, but are to address the problem: "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? . . . Expel the wicked man from among you." (I Corinthians 5:12-14) Writing to the Christians in Thessalonica, Paul says that Christians have a duty to respect the leadership of the church, and to expect those leaders to correct them when they do things that are wrong: "Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you." (I Thessalonians 5:12) The Letter to the Hebrews, speaking about church leaders, (13:17) says to Christians "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you."
These passages assume that churches have a membership, for if there is no church membership, how do leaders know who they are to admonish, and who is to submit to their authority? And when Jesus says that his followers are to "tell it to the church" when a Christian does something wrong, this assumes that we know who the church is. This shows that church membership is not optional. All Christians have a duty to be part of a church.
Furthermore, these passages assume that one of the most basic purposes of the church is its "quality control" function – encouraging Christians to obey God, and to correct those who are not obeying God. Hence these passages all assume that Christians have a duty to listen to and submit to their churches.
4. How can Christians know what Jesus wants them to do, and how he wants them to live?
I believe that the teaching of the Bible is the way that Christians can know how to follow Jesus faithfully.
The words of Jesus, as we find them in the New Testament, point us to the Bible as the way to know what behaviour is pleasing to God. When Jesus is tempted by Satan and, in reply says "It is written" and then quotes the Bible (Matthew 4:4, 4:7, 4:10), he clearly means "What God has said in the Scriptures is the final word, and there is no arguing with it." We never find Jesus saying "It is written that thou shalt not, but I say unto you that it is OK." On the contrary, he condemns those who permit the written word of God in Scripture to be set aside. And so we read in Mark 7:6-13: "He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honour your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."" For Jesus, what is written down in Scripture is the word of God, and it is not negotiable. Scripture is the supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined. For Jesus, holding fast to God's word in Scripture is crucial; setting it aside is unacceptable.
Doing what Jesus commanded us, therefore, does not just mean doing the things that he tells us to do in the four gospels. It also means obeying the instructions of God that we find in the Old Testament. Furthermore, it also involves obeying the teaching of the apostles as found in the New Testament. Jesus told the apostles, "If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." (John 15:20)
5. Can a body legitimately call itself a Christian church if it does not hold to the teaching of the Bible? Is it permissible for Christian churches to depart from the teaching of the Bible?
I believe that it is necessary for Christian churches to hold to the teaching of the Bible.
It is almost two thousand years since Jesus promised to build his church, and then sent the apostles out into the world to make disciples of all nations. Over the course of those years, many bodies have claimed to be Christian churches. These bodies have differed from one another in their belief and practice. The differences have been so great that questions have been raised about whether some of them actually were Christian churches. The Westminster Confession says that some churches are more pure than others, and then says "The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some [churches] have so degenerated, as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan." In other words, even the best churches are not perfect, and some churches have moved so far from the teaching of Jesus as to cease to be Christian churches in any meaningful sense.
Since Jesus pointed to the Bible as the word of God which is to be believed and obeyed, it seems to me that it is an essential characteristic of Christian churches that they acknowledge the Bible to be the word of God, and that they hold that the Bible is to be believed and obeyed. Furthermore, since it is the duty of churches to try to ensure that their members are faithfully following Jesus, they will not be able to carry out this most basic duty unless they hold that the Bible is to be believed and obeyed. It therefore seems unlikely that a body that does not hold that the teaching of the Bible is to be believed and obeyed can function properly as a Christian church.
6. Can a Christian church be accurately described as holding to the teaching of the Bible if it does not require that those in its top leadership positions hold to the teaching of the Bible?
I believe that for a Christian church to hold to the teaching of the Bible, it is necessary that it requires those in leadership positions in the church to hold to the teaching of the Bible.
In any organisation, more will be expected of leaders than is expected of ordinary members. This principle is expressed in the Bible in different ways. In Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus, he explains the qualities that church leaders should have. (See I Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-16). In particular, he makes it clear in his letter to Titus that church leaders are to hold to the teaching that they have received: "He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it."
This principle has always been recognised (at least in theory) by the Church of Scotland. That is why all ministers and elders in the Church of Scotland are required to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is to ensure that they believe the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. And one of the main reasons for that is that it should ensure that the decisions taken by churches and church courts are consistent with the teaching of Jesus and the Bible.
7. Does the Church of Scotland actually hold to the teaching of the Bible?
I believe that the Church of Scotland has demonstrated that it does not hold seriously to the teaching of the Bible, because it has demonstrated that it does not expect those in leadership positions to hold to the teaching of the Bible.
In order to determine whether the Church of Scotland holds, in practice, to the teaching of the Bible, we need to listen to what its leaders are saying. If the Church of Scotland does hold to the teaching of the Bible, one would expect to see that expressed in the actions and words of its leaders. In particular, one would expect that if the actions and words of a church leader indicated that this leader did not hold to the teaching of the Bible, that action of some sort would be taken to correct the person concerned.
The reality is that over the years, ministers and elders in the Church of Scotland have often done things that indicate that they do not hold to the teaching of the Bible. Other people have pointed to several examples. I will limit myself to just one matter – the matter of sexual behaviour. I choose this example for three reasons. First, because it has been extensively debated and discussed over the past 25 years; second, because the debates and discussion have been well documented; and third, because it clearly shows what leaders in the Church of Scotland actually think about the place of the teaching of the Bible in the life of the church.
In particular, the question of sexual relationships between people of the same sex is significant because on this matter, the teaching of the Bible is unambiguous. While there have been those who have tried to argue that the Bible's teaching on this matter is unclear, it seems to me that there is no real doubt that the Bible clearly teaches that sexual relationships between people of the same sex are unacceptable to God. Christian scholars have been almost universally agreed about this for two thousand years, and that remains the view of most biblical scholars today. In fact, this is admitted by many who are in favour of allowing those in same sex relationships to become ministers in the Church of Scotland.
Since it is the duty of churches to try to ensure that their members faithfully follow Jesus, it is seriously worrying that, at the 2015 General Assembly, 63% of those who voted, voted in favour of a measure that says those in leadership positions will be allowed to do something, without censure, which the Bible clearly says is unacceptable to God. This tells us that a very large proportion of those in leadership positions in the Church of Scotland are either unaware of what the Bible says, or are confused about what the Bible says, or do not regard the Bible's word on the subject as final. The fact that these people are in positions of leadership within the Church of Scotland indicates that something that is absolutely basic has broken down within the Church of Scotland.
If the Bible gave the impression that same-sex sexual relationships were something which God was not particularly bothered about, one could be forgiven for not being too concerned about this. The Bible, however, makes it clear (Leviticus 20:13) that this is something God takes seriously.
If the courts of the Church of Scotland can be completely confused about such a simple and straight-forward matter as same-sex sexual relationships, it seems to me that they can get absolutely anything wrong.
8. Most Christians living in Scotland – and in many other parts of the world – have several churches nearby. They therefore have a choice about which church they should be a member of. What sort of church should they choose? What is the main factor that should guide their choice?
I believe that Christians, since they are obliged to be part of a church (and to be accountable to their church), should seek to be part of a church which will guide them in faithfully following Jesus.
When I was ordained to the ministry of the Church of Scotland, one of the questions that I was required to answer was "Do you promise to be subject in the Lord to this Presbytery and to the superior courts of the Church, and to take your due part in the administration of its affairs?" I believe that it is right for ministers to have to answer such a question. I believe that ministers should have to promise to be subject to their Presbytery, and to the higher courts of the church. I also believe that this is simply an extension of the duty of all Christians to listen to their church and to obey its leaders and submit to their authority.
But behind the Biblical instruction for Christians to obey their leaders and submit to their authority, lies the assumption that those leaders are able to provide faithful leadership. This does not mean that one expects those leaders to be perfect or infallible. It does, however, mean that one expects those leaders to have a reasonable knowledge of the Bible's teaching and to be faithful to that teaching.
To put it another way, it is the job of the church to exercise quality control over its members, and in order to do so, it needs to exercise quality control over its leaders. That is why ministers and elders in the Church of Scotland are required to subscribe to a confession of faith. It is also the reason why the New Testament says that those who are in positions of church leadership should hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that they can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
A church that is not willing to ensure that its leaders hold firmly to the teaching of the Bible, does not itself hold firmly to the teaching of the Bible. A church that does not hold to the teaching of the Bible is lacking an essential and necessary characteristic of a real Christian church, because it will be unable to carry out what is one of its most basic tasks: to guide its members in following Jesus faithfully.
Since one of the main reasons that Christians are obliged to be part of a church is so that they can be guided in faithfully following Jesus, then Christians should seek to be members of churches that hold firmly to the teaching of the Bible.
(I might add that there will be those who will argue that a congregation within the Church of Scotland can be a church that holds firmly to the teaching of the Bible, despite the fact that the Church of Scotland as a whole does not do so. And there is enough truth in this to give it a certain plausibility. However, I would say that it is highly naive to imagine that congregations in the Church of Scotland are not much affected by what happens at Presbytery and General Assembly level. The reality is that what happens at Presbytery and General Assembly level most certainly does affect and influence congregations. The impact is rarely dramatic, but over the course of decades and generations, the influence is inevitably enormous.)
It therefore seems to me that a Christian who is seriously committed to following Jesus faithfully, would, given the choice, be better off not being a member of the Church of Scotland, but should, rather, seek to be part of, and accountable to, a church that holds to the teaching of the Bible.


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An opportunity is an opportunity in film industry despite of how big or small one it is. But yes, there are really a few opportunities which can be considered very big of lifetime . Getting an opportunity to any heroine in India to pair up with Superstar Rajanikanth is one of such big opportunities to mention. Then, how can one afford to miss that? Definitely we can expect any heroine to put her maximum efforts to impress the living legend Rajanikanth. So does the young and sexy lady of bollywood Sonakshi Sinha for "Linga".
Usually, heroine roles are not much highlighted in Indian film industries, when it comes to playing an opposite role to some big stars then there will only be romance or dancing scenes left for any sort of heroine, but few heroines do their best in their small role and prove themselves on screen. Sonakshi sinha comes into this category with her lots of talent and hits. Sonakshi is now playing a lead role in Rajinikanth's "LINGA" which is carrying on shooting work at Mysore palace. Sonakshi with her talent impressed Rajinikanth and whole film unit is also shocked with her dedication towards work.
Speaking about this, one of the film unit members said "It is Sonakshi's debut in the south and we all are quite fascinated, including Rajnikanth Sir, with how she has adapted to the South Movies so quickly! Even though it is a completely foreign language for Sonakshi, she has been pretty quick with the shooting and all the scenes are coming out perfect in the first shot itself!"
Way to go you lucky lady, already Aishwarya impressed the superstar in "Robo" and now its your turn. Make it big honey, no wonder it would be your memorable experience for the rest of your life.

subset: commoncrawl


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- edited description
take topological ordering into account when adding/dropping dependent cols/tables
roles = db.Table('roles', db.Column('customer_id', db.Integer, db.ForeignKey('customer.id')), db.Column('company_id', db.Integer, db.ForeignKey('company.id')), # db.Column('role_id', db.Integer, db.ForeignKey('role.id')) ) """ class Role(db.Model): id = db.Column(db.Integer, primary_key = True) name = db.Column(db.String(64), index = True, unique = True) description = db.Column(db.String(256), index = True, unique = True) customer = db.relationship("Customer", uselist=False, secondary=roles, backref="role") """
INFO [alembic.autogenerate] Detected removed table u'role' INFO [alembic.autogenerate] Detected removed column 'roles.role_id'
sqlalchemy.exc.InternalError: (InternalError) cannot drop table role because other objects depend on it DETAIL: constraint roles_role_id_fkey on table roles depends on table role
Inverting the order of the operation did the right thing.
Comments (5)
OK well the column remove isn't even needed really, you're dropping the table..
oh, different table, never mind.
so anyway, yeah, table adds/drops column adds/drops don't separately take dependency sorting into account. this might require a breaking up of how these different diffs are generated because adds go in one direction while drops go in another, and it can get pretty complicated. you'll have to manually edit your file for now in this case.
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Tuesday, April 11, 2006
I was getting ready to play a round last Saturday but this little bug in my head was telling me not to..I haven't done my taxes. I made an effort to dedicate the whole morning in doing my return. I was running into a few problems with the online TurboTax program, but was able to debug it and ended up finishing it Sunday night..hooray.
I received the Callaway HX Pearl's but wasn't able to use them so I'll have to give you guys a report after I play this coming Saturday. I did get to examine them close up and they have this interesting pearl luminescence shimmer to it. The cover seems a little harder than the HX Blue I'm used to playing though.
Posted by Andrew at 4/11/2006
2 comments:
- Rich said...
I'm up all night working on my taxes and just realized that the 15th is a Saturday- Wohoo! That means they aren't due until Monday the 17!
So now I'm back to procrastinating and reading all my favorite golf blogs :)
- April 13, 2006
- GolfNomad said...
Do they need to be postmarked by then or actually in their hands..hopefully the latter. :)
- April 13, 2006
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View of Gardiner Stone
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel
This is a view of the GARDINER double-sided stone. Notice the small headstones surrounding the large one.
For the parents, they simply say Father and Mother and for Dorcas and Jabez their children the smaller stones bear their initials.
There is a G plot marker in the foreground. The nearby graves are of the surname CHAMPLIN.


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Brazil [AX 2012]
Updated: March 21, 2017
Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2
This section of Help provides information about functionality and features in Microsoft Dynamics AX that are specific to Brazil. Procedures or other Help topics for forms and reports that are specific to Brazil include (BRA) in the topic title. Functionality for Brazil is available only to legal entities whose primary address is in Brazil.
For a list of planned and released features that are specific to Brazil, refer to the Brazil localization report.
For additional information about localization features, refer to the Microsoft Dynamics Localization Portal.
Announcements: To see known issues and recent fixes, use Issue search in Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services (LCS).


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Sign at a local Restaurant
That is where we are heading next, to Peas on Earth. http://www.peasonearth.co.za The owner is a couple called Niki and Colin and they have a small Organic farm. I am ecstatic to be going back to "farming".
The farm is about 30 km outside of Kei Mouth, so it is not a major move; just down the road and Kei Mouth will still be our "local" town. I do like Kei Mouth, it is an eccentric and off the wall kind of place full of characters of note, but I am a farm girl by heart.
The harsh reality is that the small towns are ghost towns out of season. I have to say that I do see myself as a bit of an expert on living in small towns. You either come here to retire, with money already made or you have an existing business, like a Food Zone or the Bottle Store. It is real hard to actually find work and the population is too small to really sustain any kind of year round business. It is a beautiful place with lovely weather and long beaches and lush bushes and fresh air and all those things, but it can become hell in paradise.
Paradise lost?
I also applied for a position as Organizational Assistant at a place called Zuvuya/Impendle http://www.impendle-ecotourism.org.za (Organic farm/Self sustainable farm and Eco tourism). I made it past the first round, filled in a questionnaire, that was two days ago and I haven't heard from them since. I guess we will just have to wait and see.
It takes a lot of organizing the keep things running smooth; basically a lot of these communities are also businesses. It takes commitment and lots of planning to keep things on track. It also needs funding and a Perma culture garden. I say perma culture because it is a whole system of self sustainability, not just a matter of growing food for profit.
Peas on Earth and Impendle are both small Green Businesses. I have spoken to Colin and he knows that if the Zuvuya happens I will be going, simply because they also have the Ecotourism side, but for now, it is me and the Peas.
We are moving the end of the month.


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In another of the ongoing series with Anglican and Christian poets this religion writer chose to interview Jewish poet and translator Peter Cole. One of his agents suggested a Jewish poet, though Ofer Ziv of Blue Flower Arts knew the series was made up of Christians and Anglicans.
The mystic, poet, secular Jewish married man of letters who is a scholar is reticent to use the word "God" in an interview, and even reticent to admit to a belief in the Almighty. Yet this religious and spiritual scholar and poet has a recent book of translations of works from the Kabbalah in the book titled The Poetry of Kabbalah: Mystical Verse from the Jewish Tradition.
This ancient discipline of understanding the Almighty in the Jewish tradition is a mystical and mysterious exercise in religious practice that continues into our own day–this 21st Century. If one asks, Where are we going, even in the Christian community, it does good to look towards the mystics be they Christian or Jew. This eminent and if not celebrated translator Peter Cole fits the bill of man who finds the kind of no God experience of mystery in the Kabbalah work. That is, if this Religion Writer may takes some liberties based on visiting the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco where a room of men and women heard him speak of Kabbalah, read from his new book, and talk of matters poetic and scholarly in the Jewish tradition. Peter Cole was on tour in March, and as a guest in the house of the Jewish Community, that though not Temple, is certainly a specific place of community life and interest; Peter Cole makes a noteworthy presentation and appearance, even so far as to engage the audience with his translations and his own poetry. Here are two samples of his translation work from the new book of Kabbalah writings:
The stakes couldn't be higher: extraction of
light from the container of sound; ascent to the
Throne of God and direct vision of His Glory;
the eradication of coarseness and the forces of
darkness; a path to redemption, sometimes
through sin; the achievement of erotic union
on high — which is to say, the sacred marriage
of feminine and masculine aspects within the
Deity. "Great is the power of the poem recited
for the sake of heaven," writes one late-
seventeenth-century North African poet. "It
unites all the [spiritual] qualities
like a sacrificial offering, aligns the [heavenly]
channels, and gives rise to effulgence in all
worlds — above and below."
The poet explains: In this Kabbalistic context, poems not only depict a mystical process, they produce it . . . In other words, the hymns of the Jewish mystical tradition demonstrate how song — almost magically, and at times with actual magic — can conduct and preserve transformative knowledge, even for those who don't quite know what they know. Moreover, they show how a vision of the manifold linkage of all things and all degrees of thought and feeling might be registered in the cadence and weave of a line of verse, a series of wedded sounds in the air.
To rise on high
and descend below,
to ride the chariot's wheels
and explore in the world,
to wander on earth
and contemplate splendor,
to bask in the blessing
of the Crown
and sound Glory,
to utter praises
and link letters, to utter names
and behold what is
above and below,
to know the meaning
of the living
and see the vision
of the dead.
To ford rivers of fire
and know lightning.
—from The Poetry of Kabbalah
Poem by the poet:
Only by sucking, not by knowing,
can the subtle essence be conveyed—
sap of the word and the world's flowing
that raises the scent of the almond blossoming,
and yellows the bulbul in the olive's jade.
Only by sucking, not by knowing.
The grass and oxalis by the pines growing
are luminous in us—petal and blade—
as sap of the word and the world's flowing;
a flicker rising from embers glowing;
light trapped in the tree's sweet braid
of what it was sucking. Not by knowing
is the amber honey of persimmon drawn in.
An anemone piercing the clover persuades me—
sap of the word and the world is flowing.
across separation, through wisdom's bestowing,
and in that persuasion choices are made:
But only by sucking, not by knowing
that sap of the word through the world is flowing.
—from Things on Which I've Stumbled
Translation by the poet:
TO THE SOUL by Avraham Ibn Ezra, 1092
Sent down from a luminous fountain of life,
drawn from a sacred place, and pure,
created as one, though not with form,
and greater by far than honor or wisdom—
why were you ushered into the world
and then in the dark of the body imprisoned?
At first its sleep seems sweet to you,
but in the end it's hard and bitter.
Put the pleasures of Time behind you,
unless in exile you'd always wander.
Consider your glory, for this is your Good,
to serve the living God in awe:
take counsel while living within this world—
and be bound in the one-to-come with the Lord.
—from The Dream of the Poem, trans. Peter Cole
Perhaps you has reader are not familiar with the name Peter Cole, or even Madonna, a Hollywood figure who studies Kabbalah as well. She is a part of the ever popular movement towards that mystery of ancient Judaism. But she is a singer, and like other Hollywood types we don't take their study seriously, unless we are fans. Peter Cole is taken seriously in the Jewish community and among academics and religious types.
If you as reader have heard of this list of notable organizations, This religion writer thinks you will agree they are impressive. These are the titles and awards held and worn almost like an unseen necklace by poet/translator Peter Cole.
Winner of the 2010 TLS Risa Domb/Porjes Translation Prize, Jewish Book Council Winner of the 2007 R. R. Hawkins Award, Association of American Publishers Winner of the 2007 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Humanities, Association of American Publishers Winner of the 2007 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Literature, Language, and Linguistics, Association of American Publishers Winner of the 2007 National Jewish Book Award in Poetry Finalist for the 2007 National Jewish Book Award in Sephardic Culture Peter Cole is the recipient of a 2007 MacArthur Fellowship Peter Cole is a winner of a 2010 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
They are ones Princeton University Press notes. Here is another "award."
As one scholar and poet says of this seeker of God, this man involved with the ineffable, adding another acclamation to the poet's list: "Peter Cole is a true maker. His extraordinary learning is deep and personal, and his poems, like his translations, are powered by a large spiritual quest to link and light the world with words. He stands with amazement before great mysteries." —Edward Hirsch
His most recent work that brought him on the tour, which came down to local communities in the Jewish world USA, even to the County Community Center in my own area, Marin County. The Poetry Foundation: The work is Peter Cole's The Poetry of Kabbalah: Mystical Verse from the Jewish Tradition … from Yale University Press. It is a handsome hardback, Yes.
In this literary study of religion, for Peter Cole is an intellectual and well educated man, too, When attending his talk at Jewish Community Center of San Francisco this religion writer kept wondering as others have, do the mystics, those who study mystics and in particular Kabbalah, those who are poets, too, and of course the ones seeking Union with God—do not they tell us something of the way the Church needs to go. In a recent conversation over coffee with the Rector of the Episcopal parish I attend located north of San Francisco, the Rector spoke about having to know about his flock, their spiritual need, and even the Church's spiritual needs as well. In the coffee shop Peets we talked of the poet and what vision or understanding is offered in such work and of course in such thought.
In the New Directions published work, the poet again creates a gem for those interested in the mystery of God, and in the religious poetry of history, especially those of the Jewish faith, the recent work, Things on Which I've Stumbled, published 2008 is the book from which earlier examples found in this article of his poetry are posted. This man Peter Cole has a body of work. The recent book is listed this way:
The Poetry of Kabbalah: Mystical Verse from the Jewish TraditionTranslated and Annotated by Peter ColeYale University Press, April 2012Co-edited and with an afterword by Aminadav Dykman
In an interview in Bomb magazine with Ben Lerner, the poet says:
Ben Lerner I'm interested in how your work as translator and as poet relate, how one practice influences the other. How does translating from different epochs and geographies—the Hebrew Golden Age in Muslim Spain, the contemporary Middle East—shape your sense of the present in which your own composition takes place?
Peter Cole They relate like the closest relations—usually loving, sometimes hating, often hovering, and occasionally smothering. Ultimately they mean, quite literally, the world to one another. I began translating as a poet to get inside other poetries that appealed to me and also to bring them back to friends. One thing led to another: the modern to the medieval, the American to the Middle Eastern and Andalusian, which in turn led back to the American (my own). Now, in a sense, it's a little like Chuangtzu's predicament, the Chinese philosopher who was so deeply released into his dream of being a butterfly that when he woke he didn't know if he was Chuang-tzu who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly who was dreaming he was Chuangtzu. I used to want to separate the poet from the translator in me, but that's no longer possible, nor is it desirable. On the contrary.
This excerpt, "Peter Cole by Ben Lerner," was originally commissioned by, edited, and published in BOMB Magazine, Issue 105, Fall 2008, pp. 40-7. © Bomb Magazine, New Art Publications
The Aspen Writers Foundation presents "Translating the Middle East" with Peter Cole and Rob Spillman
Aspen Summer Words 2011
Coexistence: A Lost and Almost Found PoemBy Peter ColePeter Cole
And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel, with a loud voice: —Deuteronomy 27:14
Over the border the barrier winds,
devouring orchards of various kinds.
Cursed be he that taketh away
the landmark of his neighbor.
And all the people shall say, Amen.
The road was blocked in a battle of wills—
as the lame and sightless trudged through the hills.
Cursed be he that maketh the blind
to go astray in the way.
And all the people shall say, Amen.
The army has nearly written a poem:
You'll now need a permit just to stay home.
Cursed be he that perverteth the justice
due to the stranger (in Scripture).
And all the people shall say, Amen.
Taken away—in the dead of night—
by the secret policeman, who might be a Levite.
Cursed be he that turneth to smite
his neighbor in secret murder.
And all the people shall say, Amen—
as peace is sought through depredation,
living together in separation.
Cursed be he that confirmeth not
the words of this law—to do them.
And all the people shall say, Amen.
Source: Poetry (June 2008).
In the work, The Dream of the Poem translator Peter Cole also writes of Arabic poetry. For in the era of research on Jewish poetry, there is also the Arabic. In his presentation that this writer attended in San Francisco, it is noteworthy that he says Jews lived in the Middle East. So they were greatly influenced by that geographic proximity, and the translator did in the work The Dream of the Work: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain reflect the poetry of the era in its historic perspective, as is done in this work mentioned published by Princeton University Press. Jews also lived in Spain, and again they reflect the poetry of the era in its historic perspective. Princeton says this of the poet and the book in their promotion text:
Hebrew culture experienced a renewal in medieval Spain that produced what is arguably the most powerful body of Jewish poetry written since the Bible. Fusing elements of East and West, Arabic and Hebrew, and the particular and the universal, this verse embodies an extraordinary sensuality and intense faith that transcend the limits of language, place, and time.
Peter Cole's translations reveal this remarkable poetic world to English readers in all of its richness, humor, grace, gravity, and wisdom. The Dream of the Poem traces the arc of the entire period, presenting some four hundred poems by fifty-four poets, and including a panoramic historical introduction, short biographies of each poet, and extensive notes. (The original Hebrew texts are available on the Princeton University Press Web site.) By far the most potent and comprehensive gathering of medieval Hebrew poems ever assembled in English, Cole's anthology builds on what poet and translator Richard Howard has described as "the finest labor of poetic translation that I have seen in many years" and "an entire revelation: a body of lyric and didactic verse so intense, so intelligent, and so vivid that it appears to identify a whole dimension of historical consciousness previously unavailable to us." The Dream of the Poem is, Howard says, "a crowning achievement."
Peter Cole wrote answers to questions from his home in New Haven, Connecticut:
PM: Why as a secular Jew do you write Jewish poetry?
PC: I'm not sure I can explain that, except to say that my poetry and my Jewishness come from what feels like the same, deep-seated place in me. Perhaps they're adjacent, or merely aligned. In any case, while I by no means write an exclusively Jewish poetry, much of the poetry that I do write has an informed notion of Jewishness at its heart.
As a scholar interested in things holy, do you find your faith and understanding of God even made more deep and real? This not only in your work of poetry, but in your translation work–specifically your recent book, The Poetry of Kabbalah: Mystical Verse from the Jewish Tradition.
I wouldn't call myself a scholar. I'm a poet who is drawn to a certain kind of scholarship, or who, at any rate is not put off by it. And that involvement with it certainly intensifies and enriches my engagement with the world as a Jew.
The many years of work on this book have of course deepened my understanding of the world of Kabbalah and my faith in the work of words, but not my faith in the word "God."
Do you find yourself a peace person as Jew in Jerusalem?
Do you have children?
In what manner are you a part of the Jewish Community if not a practicing Jew with membership in a Temple?
Jews are "part of the Jewish Community," whether or not they observe the mitzvot, or commandments, or belong to a synagogue or Temple. Some are active in that community, some are passive. For some, that community provides the core of their identity; others define themselves against that community. Being Jewish has as much or more to do with how one is raised (and behaves) as with what one says one believes.
I live a deeply Jewish life, and Judaism is very much at the center of my concerns as a human being and as a poet and translator. I'm fluent in Hebrew and live a large part of my life in the language. I've also worked extensively with a wide range of Hebrew literature, as well as with Arabic literature. I'm a citizen of Israel (and of the U.S.), and have been a resident of Jerusalem for thirty years. I live the rhythms of the Jewish week and the Jewish year.
Why did you move to Jerusalem and then return to USA.
I moved to Jerusalem initially to study Hebrew, fell in love with the language and the city, and decided to stay. I still live there, but my wife and I also spend part of the year in the US. By and large, we now divide our time evenly: January through June in New Haven and July through December in Jerusalem.
Of the Hebrew poets and writers in this and the last century, who comes to mind as a favorite and why?
Avraham Ben Yitzhak was a legendary early 20th-century Hebrew poet whose entire body of work consists of 11 poems, two of them masterpieces, and the others sublime in their various ways. I've always felt very close to his poetry. I translated his Collected Poems, Avraham Ben Yitzhak (Ibis Editions, 2003).I also hold the work of the contemporary Israeli poet Aharon Shabtai in very high regard and have translated a good deal of it, most recently in War & Love, Love & War: New and Selected Poems, Aharon Shabtai (New Direction, 2010).
In the Bible, what book or section speaks to you as a poet and translator?
I seem to be drawn, steadily, to the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus, the parts of Leviticus treating sacrifice, and the parts of the Book of Exodus treating the construction of the sanctuary.
I am looking for a quote from you of a Biblical kind, even short reiteration of the story part that sticks out in your mind.
"Choose life."
Have you taught University?
Yes, I've taught at Middlebury College, Wesleyan University, and Yale University. I'll be teaching at Yale again next spring.
And if so, where and what kind of student do you like?
I like all sorts of students, so long as they're curious and willing to work hard.
Do you want to say something about any poets or poetry of the spiritual or religious kind in general?
Generally speaking, I try not to use the word "spiritual" or "religious" in relation to poetry unless they have historical referents to a specific poetry, genre, or cultural context.
I see by the notes on your wife, a literary woman, that yours is a kind of marriage some will call, literary. Do you find your marriage that way?
No. Adina and I do what we love, and it's been our great fortune that what each of us loves overlaps with what the other does. Our lives are "literary," in that literature is at their core. But so are other things.
Do you find yourself engaged in the world and lives of those you bring alive in translation and poetry?
It seems that way from the radio interview you did with your wife about your recent book, Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza: http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2011/05/16/sacred-trash-a-treasure-trove-of-the-cairo-geniza/ .
Deeply—otherwise, why bother? Both poetry and translation should extend one's sense of self and world. The way out is often the way in, and the reverse, fortunately, is also true.
And So the Skin . . .
And So the Skin . . .
By Peter ColePeter Cole
And so their pounded hearts
were worn—
like a badge
or talisman,
that canceled
almost all their blindness—
creation's linkage depending
on a drive itself
derived from a kind of kindness
or desperation, the sense that one's
at any rate
the space for time—
water has it, flowing
(even from a faucet . . .)
and here the black swan glides across it—
as the sunlight's suddenly on my back,
and now the skin along it's warmer,
which lets me walk by the river . . .
Source: Poetry (June 2008).
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Interview: Poet/Translator Peter Cole talks about Kabbalah and his Jewish poetry
1 comment:
- Doug Tilley said...
Hello I'm Doug from San Diego Califorina. I checked out your profile on blogger.com and thought you might like my blog. It's
12stepsmadesimple.blogspot.com I'm new at writeing, blogging and this Social networking stuff and I'm juat trying to figure it all out....
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text:
Daily Gospel Devotional 2013: The voice of value
"Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow"©
Labels: Daily Gospel Devotional
"Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow"
Sunday, March 03, 2013
Daily Gospel Devotional 2013: The voice of value
Luke 6:24-26…
False prophets deliver false promises. It is not that what they say won't come true, but that they are false promises because they are built on false premises. Things are of little value if they are not of lasting value. The things they are aiming at cannot ultimately deliver any true satisfaction.
As a contrast to the way of the Word, the way of the world may seem like the lap of luxury as compared to the promise of pain. Oh, but true prophets are so because they have true spiritual eyes, they can see into the future, and they know that they must live for today by having an eye for tomorrow. Jesus is their guide, and now His Word has been revealed. Do you see it here?
Jesus had taught them that true disciples will be blessed, but they would have to go through the pain to get to the promise (Acts 14:22). Now Jesus calls us to see into the future of the false, and realize that the promise of earthly prosperity is fleeting and failing. Their money is a counterfeit comfort, and their fullness will turn to famine (James 5:1-5). Their laughter will turn to lamentation (James 4:9). Their approval is the sign of apostasy (James 4:4).
The Bible's "woe" is also our "whoa", as in "hold your horses!" If all we want to do is to ride off into the sunset of success with the same dead dreams the world has we aren't seeing straight. Yes we can use and steward some of those things in this life, but that is the point, they are to be used, not abused, and they are not to be our focus (Matthew 6:19-34 / 1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Do you value the vision of Jesus?
"Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow"©
Labels: Daily Gospel Devotional
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- At 2:10 PM, Even So... said...
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text:
When I woke up I was pretty hungry so I polished off my leftovers; stirfried chicken and portobello mushrooms with fresh homemade guacamole. It was pretty satisfying... but then it happened.
Bored cravings. One of the problems of working the night shift is when your day off comes around, you're stuck being awake all or most of the night with nothing to do. And when I have nothing to do and nowhere in particular to go, my mind and stomach get together for a little pow-wow. Hey, let's bug her for some action! they conspire and then proceed to poke and prod at my senses until I give in and eat something extra.
Luckily, I haven't had this problem since I went primal two weeks ago... but then again, this was the first time my brain and stomach and I were really alone together. I'm not hungry, I told them, but they bullied me into agreeing on a shopping trip to the 24-hour grocery store down the road.
Shopping List:
Bacon (5.5 lbs) $23.50 omgwtf
Jar of Sun-dried tomatoes
Jar of Roasted Red Peppers
Cherry tomatoes
Greek Honey Yogurt (not so primal, sadly... the sugar in it makes it a decadent now and again treat)
Almond butter (freshly ground thanks to the machine at the store)
Total Bill: $47 bucks
Considering I was wanting to eat eat eat, this shopping list isn't that bad. What's bad about it is the price tag, especially since I haven't figured out how to budget my shopping trips appropriately yet. It's a skill that I never learned on a convenience food diet, unfortunately.
When I came home I swallowed some yogurt with a couple spoonfuls of bedtime blueberries and then made a B.A.S. with leftover meat hash made from the Everyday Paleo cookbook. The salad was too big, unfortunately, thanks to my brain and stomach plotting against me, and I forced down the whole thing. I feel a bit ashamed but this is a habit that I am always fighting to stop. At least it was a salad.
So. Going into my third week, I've learned these things: I need a better food plan that doesn't involve me purchasing things on the fly, and I need an emergency plan in case of random food cravings.
In a random side note, I've started taking Vitamin D and fish oil supplements, since I'm convinced I don't get enough sunlight living like a vampire and because I've probably had a lifetime of Omega-6s.
Enough about food, what're my plans for today? Well, I go back to work tonight so I guess I'll hit the hay in another hour or so and sleep off that freaking BAS. And then walk the dog before work.
Note to self: Start working in Primal movement!


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Cu Bocan | Highland Park | Jameson | Shelter Point | Tullibardine | Wyoming
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Published December 2010.
Whisky Magazine Issue 91
Music special part - Back to the seventies - Fettercairn and much more....
Published October 2010.
Whisky Magazine Issue 90
Music Special - Ailsa Bay - Independent Bottlers' Challenge and much more....
Published September 2010.


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This morning, I woke up and received exciting email from Anthropologie <3 <3
20% off full priced pants, shirts, skirts, Now through Sunday!!
Remember I said I have some cute stuff in my shopping bag already??
Well, today.. I had to purchase them!
With 20%off and my birthday coupon code, 15%off..
Here are what I bought today!
I tried this at my local store this morning. I ordered S but I might have to exchange it to M..
I saw this in store the other day, and thought it'd be cute to walk with this in Kyoto!
Oh, this was so perfect. I tried it on, and really wanted to get it right then. I'm glad I waited a bit.
These three items are love at first sight! I tried on the pants, fits TTS, never seen the necklace or the sandals in person, but I have a high hope!!
All of these are for my trip to Japan! I'm sooo excited!
Did you buy anything with this promo?? or your birthday coupon??


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Actaea spicata (spicata Actaea) is a plant of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). The species is on the Dutch and Belgian Red list of plants as very rare and moderately decreased in number. The plant in the Netherlands in South Limburg. Actaea spicata occurs in humid forests on slopes, calcareous soil.
The plant is 30-60 cm high and has trifoliolate leaves and feathery leaves one-to twofold. The stem is branched. Actaea spicata blooms from May to June with small white flowers in ovoid clusters. The flowers have four to ten petal-like leaves, honey. The berries are black.
Actaea spicata is also used as ornamental plants for use. Furthermore, there is seed of commercially available, often in wild plant mixtures.
Source: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoffelkruid
See also: International Flower Delivery, Florist
Perbedaan Shrink dan Skin Blister pada Mesin Kemasan Plastik
4 bulan yang lalu


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Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...
As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided
The Mime Order is the second book in the series by Samantha Shannon. The story hits the ground running, picking up where Bone Season ended.
Pagie might have escaped Sheol I but she is still in danger and only time will show us who she can and can not trust. Paige is now the most-wanted person in London. Leaving her with no choice but to return to the life she used to know. Just when she thought her life couldn't get any more complicated the Underlord and his gang are murdered.
Throughout the story you also get a better understanding of the world Paige lives in. The mind games and manipulation you see unfold helps you to get a better understanding of the relationship between the Underlords and the community around them.
Paige was a very strong character. She is realistic and intelligent, although at timea she has a react now and deal with the consequences later mentality.
This story is a combination of action, magic, hope and revolution. Therw are so many twist and turns that will keep you guessing to the end. Not to mention the last three pages will leave you begging to find out what will happen next.
If you read book one, then you need to read book 2!
Thank you Bloomsbury for this ARC


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Apparently, he took offense to a NBC Nightly News report this past Friday that has disclosed how the troops are not buying the "support the troops, oppose the mission" line taken by so many in the anti-war movement.
In fact, he wanted them taken aside for re-education:
I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people.Never mind that the troops have freedom of speech, too. Or does Arkin only believe in free speech for those who support his agenda?
But then, Arkin gets worse. See below:
These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect.It seems like shades of Seymour Hersh's comments this past November.
Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order.
Arkin even tries to excuse his present snit over the troops calling out the anti-war movement on its hypocrisy:
Sure it is the junior enlisted men who go to jail, but even at anti-war protests, the focus is firmly on the White House and the policy. We just don't see very man "baby killer" epithets being thrown around these days, no one in uniform is being spit upon.Really, Mr. Arkin? I guess he did not bother to ask Joshua Sparling about his experiences with the anti-war movement. Seems some saliva got fired off there, Mr. Arkin.
Then again, Arkin seems to enjoy raising the specter of doom at the notion of the anti-war movement being called out:
So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?Seems to me that Mr. Arkin's got some paranoia issues. But that is not excuse for what Arkin fires off next:
I can imagine some post-9/11 moment, when the American people say enough already with the wars against terrorism and those in the national security establishment feel these same frustrations. In my little parable, those in leadership positions shake their heads that the people don't get it, that they don't understand that the threat from terrorism, while difficult to defeat, demands commitment and sacrifice and is very real because it is so shadowy, that the very survival of the United States is at stake. Those Hoover's and Nixon's will use these kids in uniform as their soldiers. If I weren't the United States, I'd say the story end with a military coup where those in the know, and those with fire in their bellies, save the nation from the people.
But it is the United States and instead this NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work.Mercenaries? Mr. Arkin, this is just too far. The volunteer military we have today is probably the best we have had in the history of this country. In Desert Storm and the war on terror, they have liberated three countries with less than 5,000 dead total. The all-volunteer force has worked. Indeed, they get paid far less than in many civilian jobs and still have to pay federal income taxes, not to mention various state taxes.
Mercenaries? I don't think so, Mr. Arkin. Your mask has slipped, and the truth about your contempt for our defenders is out there for all who wish to see it.
It is sick and disgusting. Before you sanctimoniously lecture our troops about "supporting the people", maybe you need to refresh your memory that American troops have been fighting and dying to make sure you had the right to spew your libelous comments about them.


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I'm not sure that any movie can do justice to John Bunyan's literary masterpiece, Pilgrim's Progress. However, a recent movie telling this story is worth watching. Our family enjoyed watching Pilgrim's Progress - Journey to Heaven. Because the film has a relatively low budget, the special effects are not Hollywood quality. Despite this, the movie is still well-made, well-acted, and faithful to Bunyan's wonderful allegory of the Christian life. Below is a short video that tells more about the film. I encourage you to watch it.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
2 comments:
- Lew A said...
I chuckled at "amazing special effects"...
it looks like it would be a fun movie to watch though... hopefully the acting isn't as bad as it looks.
- November 4, 2008 at 4:07 PM
- Eric said...
I agree. Those special effects were anything but amazing. However, it is still worth watching, basically because it sticks pretty well to the story line of Bunyan's classic. They did have to leave some sections out, otherwise the movie would have been 5 or 6 hours long.
- November 4, 2008 at 4:21 PM
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|3.2 miles in 36:34 min. I walked part of it.
Between grad school, teaching, parenting, moving, and writing, I had COMPLETELY forgotten about the scale, and my goal to lose 10 lbs before my vacation. Still, oblivious, I caught a bug that my husband had earlier in the week, and on Friday, when I was in the middle of a work day, I started getting so woozy, that I literally had to sit at the back of the room in my desk chair while my students worked on their projects. Then after 5th period, I puked in a trashcan behind my podium. That seemed to also launch a 12 body-ache fest. I had the worst night sleep and couldn't take anything for the pain, because I was afraid I'd throw it up. The next day I could only eat a slice of bread, a few flour tortillas (non-consecutively), and a cup of fruit.
|Right after my run, I decided to update my motivation panel. Notice I put a rock-climber on this one?
By yesterday night, I felt somewhat better, but still plagued with exhaustion. I managed to do one load of dishes before collapsing back into bed. In the morning, I stepped on the scale for the first time in a while. I knew that because I'd been so sick, and, consequently, not eating, that it had to be low, but I never expected it to be 159! I may just meet my goal after all. I have to, or I can't go on vacation with my family. I only have 2 lbs to lose by next Sunday. It should be easy, assuming my health snaps back. Today, I could only make it through sacrament, and then I had Rick take me home. I've been sporadically napping ever since. But, I'm hoping to be able to go rock climbing twice this week, if possible, and running in between. My diet is doing fine, my appetite--thankfully--diminished since I've been sick. (Remember, I have a voracious appetite and, when I'm not careful, can turn into binge-eating.)
Working toward a deadline like this is an excellent motivation tool for me. It's in between goals that's a challenge. It's not hard to rewire my body to be healthy, but my mind is often trickier. It seems to convince me that I'm hungry when my body says I'm not. Whispers that I need another chocolate chip cookie even though my tongue already tastes like bile, because I've eaten too many. I'm hoping to carry out this goal until after the holidays. Like add another 7 lbs onto my goal and put something meaningful on the chopping block again. Like...giving up my dog or something. Oh, geez. That would be AWFUL. Ok, not that. But something.


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So here we go. Another week of idiots thinking they can hiss and catcall to me. For no reason at all. Ok so it hasn't been all that bad this time but it still left me feeling annoyed.
Harasser 1) I'm sitting on a bus with my boyfriend, then we decide to move seats because there wasn't much leg space. After we move, we hear two young men sitting two seats behind us cough and the word 'twats' being said at the same time. I knew it was at us. And I'm sure it wasn't an accident that they somehow came out with that word when they coughed! And both of them as well. Hmmm.
Harasser 2) Still on the bus, almost at our destination. I look out the window and see a van. And surprise surprise, I saw a nice view of a middle finger sticking up at the back window. Charming. What could I of done? Smiled and waved? Of course not. I happily gave them the finger back! Before the idiots drove on.
Harasser 3) This happened the day after. I was walking home from my boyfriends house and I wasn't in a very good mood. Well certainly not in the mood to be whistled at! Yep, but thats what happens when you are in a 'don't mess with me' mood and you have the 'don't mess with me' look on your face. It's called intimidation!
Dam so I've really taken some crap this week. As I said, it's not really shocking or anything but still frustrating! I've had enough. I can't go anywhere…
[Editor's note: Here is a second submission from Clarice]
I do apologise, I know I've already sent one story yesterday but I just have to add this bit in… First of all, I had another harasser. This was after I sent the story. So… Harasser 4) I'm waiting for a bus to go home from the supermarket and just as the bus was coming, two boys on bikes rode past and shouted BITCH! at me. I could not say anything back to them. I was livid. It ruined my evening and I felt powerless. What did I do to deserve this crap? And to top it off, when I told my gran she just laughed and said 'perhaps it wasn't aimed at me'. It was.
Then to get my frustration out, I ranted about street harassment on an anger site. Most of the responses I had were awful. One said 'you love it you slut' another 'show us your tits bitch' and the one that saddened me the most was from a woman telling me it's what men do and I should deal with it.
Yeah sure. Fine. Im a woman and because I have a vagina then I should deal with it. Ok from now on I will, after all boys will be boys (sarcasm)
– Clarice
Location: Wales, UK
Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.


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It is time to share some work. I was lucky to find some extra time to be creative over the Thanksgiving week. It was a very productive week. None of these cards are very complicated, but as I have stated before I am learning to appreciate the simpler side of things. :) Plus I am so close to my magical number of 100 projects, I can almost taste it.
Project #91-Live, Laugh, Love
I received a new Club Scrap kit.....Fire and Ice. Totally LOVE this kit. Love the colors, patterns and stamps. I used the kit for the first two cards. The card below is a direct 'lift' from their Club Scrap newsletter.
Supplies: Stamps (Papertrey Ink/Sentiment), card stock, pattern paper (Club Scrap), ink, die (Papertrey Ink and Just Rite Stampers), ribbon and rhinestones.
Project #92-Quote Card
My favorite stamps from this set are the circle stamps. I can see getting a lot of use out of them. :)
Supplies: Stamps (Club Scrap), dies (Spellbinders), ink, embossing powder, Gelatos, card stock and fibers.
Project #93: Note Card
My embossing kick has continued this week. :)
Supplies: Stamps (Unknown), card stock, paint, ink, embossing powder, card stock and brads.
Project #94: Hello
This is one of my favorites from this week. Why? Because I used one of 'those' tools for this card. You know the type of tool I am talking about. One you buy cuz it was a good deal, but then it sits in a drawer. I used my Making Memories Tag Maker for the card. Even better, I used a sticker! I hardly ever use stickers and I don't have very many left in my stash, but it sure was fun to use one. :)
Supplies: Stamps (Postcard/Unknown and Sentiment/Papertrey Ink), card stock, pattern paper, tags, brads, border punch, sticker, ink and rhinestones.
Project #95: Note Card
Note sure about this card. It looked a lot better in my head. LOL! Still, you know I am going to show it to you anyway. Sometimes it just does not work out the way you planned it. That happens to all of us. :)
Supplies: Stamps (Vintage Image/Unknown and Sentiment/Papertrey Ink), die (Spellbinders), misting spray, old toothbrush, ink and pearls.
Project #96: Holiday Cheer
I used a lot of items this week that I don't usually use. On this card I used gold/glitter embossing powder. I am definitely NOT a gold or a glitter girl, but it just felt right for this card. Very, very pleased with the result. :) But don't think that means I will be going out to buy a bunch of glittery. No way!
Supplies: Stamps (Background/Unknown and Sentiment/Papertrey Ink), dies (Spellbinders), embossing folder (Spellbinders), ink, embossing powder, card stock, brads and pop dots.
Project #97: Quote Card
This card was so simple to make.....but I totally LOVE it!
Supplies: Stamps (Club Scrap), ink, paint and card stock.
Whew! That is a lot of cards. It is such a good feeling when I get in a creative zone. Even better when I have the time to stay in the zone.
Thanks for stopping by!


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Well, it was a flop. A big wet fish-slap in the face, a Nickleback's Rockstar or (the one without Arnie) Conan the Barbarian-style hilariously calamitous flop.
Since this blog wasn't really going anywhere, and I'd lost all momentum like a fat guy driving to the gym passing a cake shop, I've decided I needed a new aim. Something a little more mature is what I hope it can be, as well as relevant and topical.
So I've canned this blog, and carried on my incessant, dreary and down-right pointless rambling (albeit disguised by a more "professional" approach) at http://brokennewscan.wordpress.com/ .
Click away, and be unenlightened.
You can, of course, read all the old delights from my old defunct blog below, but be warned, there are no guarantees of any resounding epiphanies as a result of reading the gripping original material.


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Things We Slacked
2 hours ago
Reach thousands of readers everyday. Please contact me for details about becoming a sponsor on La Dolce Vita.
i love her quotes. there's a similar one: 'you must do the thing you think you cannot do.' It's so simple, but so powerful. (It was actually my senior quote back in h.s.)
- Jessie -


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Still, on more than one occasion, I've found myself questioning my ability to parent, constantly searching for that daggum validation.
Today, I found it. Or rather, it found me.
At this point in my Step-Whats-It-dom, I am on a first-name basis with the school counselor. We used to share emails and phone calls rather often (toooo often!! I told myself). But over the last few months, they have lessened.
That is, until this morning - the first day back to school after spring break... at 11am... when the direct line to my office phone rang. I know that number. I know who that is. I can feel my face getting hot already. Hello anxiety. Hello school counselor. There is nervous laughter on the other end of the phone as she tells me that P's English teacher is in her office, and they haven't talked with me in awhile. What does that mean? How have we not chatted often enough this year already? Then she says, "Courtney... Are you sitting down?"
I literally rolled across my office in my desk chair and prepared to grab my inhaler for whatever startling detail about my step-kiddo she was about to tell me. I stop when she says, "It's good. It's great. P entered one of her essays into a national competition - and she WON. Courtney, she won the grand prize. P is going to Washington, D.C.!"
I wanted to say a million positive things. I wanted to say how proud I was and that I knew she could do it. I wanted to tell her I loved her and I was so happy to be involved in this moment. I wanted to tell her something. Anything! But the words didn't come to me. Heck, oxygen wasn't even coming to me at that point. And suddenly, I realized I was sobbing at my desk. Huge, can't-hide-behind-them, grasping-for-breath, kid-like, gargantuan bucket of tears because I am .so.very.proud. I know this child didn't come from my body, and I didn't carry her for 9 months. I don't know every story, and I sure don't know every wound. But I know in that moment I didn't feel like a Step-Whats-It. I felt like a mom. I'm so proud of her. I'm proud of this girl. I'm proud of who she is, and I'm proud of what she's done, and there aren't enough cells in my worldly human body to be able to express the magnitude of that feeling.
And the thing that gets me the most... The thing that still has me choking on my own breath is that she is being recognized for something she created, all on her own; for an ability nobody on this planet has but her. Even with missing huge chunks of her childhood and experiencing things no little girl should ever have to witness or feel, she was able to create a magical piece of work that not only impressed the people who love her, but a group of strangers who saw so much potential in her that they want to fly her to our Nation's Capital and shower her with additional knowledge and encouragement. She is going to gain an experience so few people have the opportunity to do.
She deserves it. And that is the validation.
[And she's beautiful to boot]


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Welcome back to my Virtual Book Tour! Since February 1, we've been celebrating Black History Month and the release of my newest picture book D IS FOR DRINKING GOURD: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN ALPHABET BOOK. I'm glad you've stopped by to join in the fun!
Today, we're visiting the blog of Lorrie Flem. She's the publisher of
Teach Magazine, the great magazine for home-schooling families. Click on the link to read the interview about D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet!
Just for Kids!
Here are some picture books on my bookshelves at home. I thought it might be fun for you to look these titles up in your school or public library or get them at a bookstore and read them, too.
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
Goin' Someplace Special by Patricia C. McKissack
In the Hollow of Your Hand: Slave Lullabies, with CD, sung by Alice McGill
Black Cowboy Wild Horses by Julius Lester
Masai and I by Virginia Kroll
Pass It On: African-American Poetry for Children, selected by Wade Hudson
Back Home by Gloria Jean Pinkney, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Momma, Where are You From? By Marie Bradby
Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkney
Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco
Here's the Top Ten list from last week. There are so many African American writers that it's impossible to list them all, but here's a start:
The Top Ten African American writers
1. Langston Hughes
2. Alex Haley
3. Maya Angelou
4. Gwendolyn Brooks
5. James Baldwin
6. Toni Morrison
7. Alice Walker
8. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
9. Lerone Bennett, Jr.
10. Virginia Hamilton
Saturday's Trivia Q and A:
Saturday's question was:
Which woman was appointed as Secretary of State in 2005 for the United States?
a. Mary McLeod Bethune
b. Carol Moseley Braun
c. Condoleezza Rice
The answer is: c. Condoleezza Rice. In 2001, Condoleezza Rice became the National Security Advisor, a very important position in the government of the United States. Then in 2005, she became the Secretary of State. This influential position often puts her at the side of the President and takes her all around the world.
Today's Trivia Question:
Who was a famous inventor?
a. Lewis Latimer
b. Madam C. J. Walker
c. Lonnie Johnson
d. All of the above
Submit your answer by posting it as a comment to today's blog. It won't be published on the blog, but your name will be put in a hat to be drawn for 5 prizes to give away at the end of the tour. Check back in tomorrow for the answer!
Coming tomorrow:
On day 19 of my Virtual Book Tour, we'll be stopping by to visit Brown Sugar & Spice again. This wonderful bookseller specializes in books about Black History for children and families. A new video will be posted there where I answer questions from students in Pomona Unified School District!


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For some reason today I feel colorful. I had an awesome breakfast and made my very first nutella strawberry pancake! It's soooo good!
Oh I know this is random but I wanna show off my favorite japanese doll.. my husband sport it for me when we went to disney world! She's been my favorite since then! Isn't she colorful?
Thanks for checking out my little story haha My mood today was just simply random! Hope you enjoyed yours!!!


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They've previously tackled alien invasions, gang violence in New York and how to raise a happy family, but this week computer games wrestle with an even more pressing issue: climate change.You can read the rest of the article here.
Arriving on PCs on Tuesday and Macs shortly after, the British-made Fate of the World puts players at the helm of a future World Trade Organisation-style environmental body with a task of saving the world by cutting carbon emissions or damning it by letting soaring temperatures wreak havoc through floods, droughts and fires.
The strategy game is already being hailed by gaming experts as a potential breakthrough for such social change titles, and welcomed by climate campaigners as a way of reaching new audiences.
While traditional mainstream games have focused on action, sports and increasingly casual genres, Fate of the World features data from real-world climate models, anecdotes from the polar explorer Pen Hadow and input from a team of scientists and economists in the US and UK.
It has been developed by Oxford-based games designers Red Redemption, whose previous browser-based climate game for the BBC has been played more than a million times since it was launched in 2006.
Monday, November 01, 2010
I'm writing a Page 3 computer game
Opened my newspaper this morning to find page three devoted to the game I'm writing. If I read the Sun, that would involve topless women. But I'm a Guardian reader and the game is Fate of the World, which challenges you to save the planet [or destroy it]. Here's an extract:
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JMP notes they came across several fully functional McAfee sites in various geographies, languages and currencies, which were being powered by Digital River. They could not verify this with management, but they believe that these are preliminary tests for now and no formal contract has been reached. While there are many variables that could impact McAfee's potential contribution if the deal were to happen, firm's back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests a conservative 15% increase to their 2011 adjusted EBITDA estimate, if the entire consumer business – new sales and renewals – in all geographies is moved to Digital River. JMP is maintaining 2011 their adjusted EBITDA estimate of $97.9 million (consensus at $93.7 million) awaiting a potential deal. However, they are raising their price target from $31 to $34, as they believe this information removes two major overhangs for the stock – it highlights the value proposition of the platform as an old customer potentially comes back and exhibits that the software category is not fully penetrated as once thought.
As of now, it appears as if Digital River is only running tests for McAfee, but JMP believes that the implementation of a test indicates that conversations and negotiations, regarding the transition of McAfee back onto the Digital River platform, are well underway. They could not reach management for a comment prior to publishing this report. However, Figure 1 shows what they believe to be a reference to a Digital River landing page. Interestingly, the site seems to be live for a number of countries, as can be seen from the screenshot below.
How could this impact estimates?
The firm does not think that there is a contract between Digital River and McAfee as of yet. While the timing ofan announcement is unclear, they would mention that from discussion to contract to launch could take several months. Sans any new large client signings, Digital River will be undergoing a restructuring of its workforce as soon as Symantec fully transitions off its platform, which is scheduled for June 30th. Once Digital River undergoes its restructuring, it will not have the resources to expedite the launch of such a large client. Hence, they believe that Digital River will use the pending transition of Symantec to expedite the closing of the deal.
From a back-of-the-envelope perspective, JMP notes that in calendar 2009, McAfee's consumer business generated $714 million in revenue. In the same period, Symantec generated $1.8 billion in consumer revenue, of which approximately 80% was online. Applying this 80% ratio to McAfee's consumer business would imply eCommerce revenue of approximately $570 million that Digital River could help transact.
Net net, assuming a take rate of 10%, they believe that McAfee could easily generate $57 million in revenue and at Digital River's current margins, it would imply incremental EBITDA of $15 million, which would raise their 2011 estimate by 15%.
Notablecalls: See the huge gap on DRIV's chart in October 2009? That happened when Symantec announced they would take online sales in-house.
McAfee isn't as big as Symantec but would still account as bagging an elephant. It would re-validate DRIV's platform. Kaspersky took its solution in-house several years back and returned to the Digital River platform in 2009. Who knows, maybe Symantec will do the same?
I think DRIV has a fair chance of trading up a full 1pt on this.
Kudos goes to Sameet Sinha & his team at JMP Securities for excellent research! Keep up the good work, guys!


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After a recent outage where our OMS host was bounced, we found that OMS wouldn't start. The WebTier started without issue, but OMS didn't.
:oracle:/u01/app/oracle/middleware/oms/bin >./emctl start oms
Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 188.8.131.52.0
Copyright (c) 1996, 2011 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Starting WebTier…
WebTier Successfully Started
Starting Oracle Management Server…
Oracle Management Server is Down
Checking the OMS log: /u01/app/oracle/middlware/gc_inst/em/EMGC_OMS1.log only provided me what I already knew
2014-03-05 10:26:56,571 [main] DEBUG oms.StatusOMSCmd processStatusOMS.239 – console page status code is 404
I hen checked the EMGC_OMS1.out log: /u01/app/oracle/middleware/gc_inst/user_projects/domains/GCDomain/servers/EMGC_OMS1/logs/EMGC_OMS1.out
Which provided me with the following notice. Apparently the sysman password was changed in the repository, but not in the credential store.
Repos details fetched from credstore
Fetched repository credentials from Credential Store
Invalid Connection Pool. ERROR = User credentials doesn't match the existing ones
Failed to verify repository
We can change the sysman password in the repository by using emctl.
/u01/app/oracle/middlware/oms/bin/emctl config oms -store_repos_details -repos_host <host> -repos_port 1521 -repos_sid <SID> -repos_user SYSMAN -repos_pwd xxxxx
* Note replace the XXXXX after -repos_pwd with the actual password for your system, as well as the <host> with your host.
At this point I received an error message that I didn't capture concerning the weblogic password being incorrect. The next step is to change the weblogic password.
1. /u01/app/oracle/middleware/gc_inst/user_projects/domains/GCDomain/bin
. setDomainEnv.sh — this will set the environment variables
2. cd /u01/app/oracle/middleware/gc_inst/user_projects/domains/GCDomain/security
3. cp DefaultAuthenticatorInit.ldift DefaultAuthenticatorInit.ldift.20140305 — this file will be changed
4. java weblogic.security.utils.AdminAccount newAdmin newPassword .
* note there is a DOT at the end of the command line. Ensure that the JAVA_HOME and the CLASSPATH are set correctly
5. cd /u01/app/oracle/middleware/gc_inst/user_projects/domains/GCDomain/servers/EMGC_ADMINSERVER
6. mv data to data_yyyymmdd
7. cd security
8. Modify the boot.properties file to have only these two lines:
9. ./startEMServer.sh
Now I receive
<Server failed to bind to the configured Admin port. The port may already be used by another pr ocess.>
So there apparently are already processes running that our bound to the same port. A ps -ef|grep weblogic shows me the processes. I kill the processes and run the start again this time successful.
Once the server comes up return to the change password for the SYSMAN and the OMS and this time it should be
And lastly I start oms ./emctl start oms
It takes a while and I was bombarded by alerts since oms was down for a few days but it did in fact startup without issues.
Still need to investigate why the the passwords appeared to have changed since last startup.


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It's a great way to use up all the little balls of left over yarn and end up with a really groovy blanket.
Yep, painting the frame gives it a completely different look...instead of hunter or hunting cabin....enchanted forest in a Grimm's fairy tale!
I also found a complete set of pink Boontonware!!! I'm going to use these! They were pretty dirty and stained up. Magic erasers work wonders. I got the whole set for $7.95. Hopefully they won't break as easily as glass when they inevitably hit my slate tile floor.
Chickens in the mist...and boots.
Baby chicks are growing!