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Monday, December 29, 2008
Who is Going to Watch the Playoffs?
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
5 Hour Energy
Anyway. how disappointed is the company that the two athletes they got to endorse the product are Braylon Edwards and Osi Umenyiora? Those are two terrible endorsements. Honestly, how many people even know who Osi Emenyiora is? Sure he was great last year, but he hasn't played at all this year. And Braylon Edwards – everyone who drafted him in fantasy football regrets it, so the 5 hour energy people must be super pissed off. As I watched his commercials I was wondering how many takes it took to get him to say his lines without dropping the bottle.
At least they didn't go with Plaxico.
Week 17 Early Picks
Quick Picks:
At Tampa Bay
At Green Bay
At Philadelphia
At Minnesota
NY Giants
At Houston
At New Orleans
At Atlanta
St. Louis
At Cincinnati
Kansas City
At Baltimore
At Indianapolis
At Pittsburgh
At NY Jets
New England
At Buffalo
At Arizona
At San Francisco
At San Diego
Not a lot of games jump out at me as sure winners. I'll probably take it easy this week, enjoy the Holiday, make a couple small bets and get ready for the playoffs. I do like New England -6.5, though.
I'm at work, so I'll have to clean this post up later. Posting will be probably be lighter than normal the rest of the week.
Immage from fanpop
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Jimmy Johnson is Trying to Scam You
One thing struck me as odd, the star of the infomercial: Jimmy Johnson.
Here is the link to Jimmy Johnson's Better Trade page: Jimmy Johnson Keynoter
There is a video at the bottom where he is giving the Keynote speech to a crowd. It's not as sleazy as the infomercial, but about a minute into the video he starts making fun of how Jerry Jones always gives the exact same speech.
Unfortunately, I can't find a video of Johnson on the infomercial, but here is one without him: Better Trades
Wikipedia Word Count
Kwanzaa - 2500
Festivus - 2966
Christmas - 5626
Hanukah - 7010
I figured Christmas would have been #1, and honestly I figured there would have been more on Festivus.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Week 16 NFL Picks
My early pick of Colts –6.5 covered last night. I really should do more to cover the Thursday games, but I don't get them on TV so it is hard for me to care about them.
Ravens +4.5 @ Cowboys
The Cowboys looked like all their problems went away after they won, and Ed Werder looked like an asshole. Well, Ed Werder ain't no bitch. He is going to come hard at TO after they lose this game. Also, what is about the worst thing Tony Romo's sore back could ask for? The Ravens Defense. Bigger question, for my fantasy Superbowl do I play Owens or Jerricho Cotchery???? Fucked either way.
Steelers –2 @ Titans
I'm changing my mind on this game. It is weird to see the Titans getting 2 points at home, no Albert Haynesworth is a huge problem. After this game, the Titans are going to look like they got kicked in the face.
Dolphins –4 @ Chiefs
The Chiefs just sucks. The Dolphins can make the playoffs. Arrowhead doesn't mean shit when the Chiefs are 2-12. This one is a lock.
Patriots –8.5 vs. Cardinals
JJ Arington and Boldin are probably going to miss this game. Larry Fitzgerald fantasy owners rejoice. As does the Patriots defense. Cards are basically locked into their playoff spot and the Patriots are fighting for theirs. Also, the last time the Cardinals traveled to the East Coast they lost 48-20.
49ers –5.5 @ St. Louis
49ers should win this one, but it's week 16 and both teams are out of the playoffs. So, don't bet on this one unless you REALLY trust Mike Singletary.
Falcons +3.5 @ Vikings
Both teams fighting for the playoffs, but without Pat Williams, I'm going to take the points. I figure the half point will be crucial.
Saints –7 @ Lions
The Lions completely, absolutely, unapologetically, suck to an unholy degree. Plus, Brees needs 2 huge games to catch Marino. Luckily for him, he gets the lions this week.
Giants –3 vs Panthers
I really do not know about this game. My guess is that Carolina is not really as good as they have been the past couple weeks. We will find out Sunday night.Buffalo +6.5 Broncos
Chargers +3.5 @ Bucs
For pure Schadenfreude reasons, I really want to see the 8-8 Chargers in the playoffs and the 11-5 Patriots miss the playoffs. That would be great.
Jets –4.5 vs Seahawks
See Dolphins @ Chiefs.
Texans –7 @ Raiders
Wouldn't surprise me if the Raiders won, but I can't side with Jamarcus Russell. Every time I watch him play he looks worse. And fatter. It is astonishing how awful of a quarterback he is. I have McFadden and Fargis on my fantasy team, so I have been forced to watch too many Raiders games. And he makes me angry every week. I have called him every cuss word I know and he literally makes me sick to my stomach he sucks so fucking bad.
Eagles–4 @ Redskins
The Eagles are looking really good, and it seems the Titans peaked too early. If the Eagles get into the playoffs they are peaking at just the right time. If they don't get in, McNabb will probably look even dumber for not knowing about ties in the NFL.
Bengals+2.5 @ Browns
If you or anyone you know bets on this game, please call 1-800-g-a-m-b-l-e-h-o-l--i-c---a-n-o-n-y-m-o-u-s.
Bears –4 vs Packers
If you haven't figured it out, I'm betting on teams that are trying to get into the playoffs over teams who have no chance of making the playoffs.
I'm not betting all these games, though. Only Dolphins, Saints, Jets, Bears, and maybe the Steelers and the Patriots.
I think I'm starting to get the hang of blogging, I made Deadspin and The Big Lead this week, so I'm proud of that. I'm trying to focus more on the sports part of the blog since football is by far my favorite sport. Once football season is over, I'll post more on non-sports stuff. Also, I fucked up earlier in the week and only picked 12 games. I'm an idiot. Sorry.
Thanks for reading, and as always I welcome all comments and critiques.
*Photo from si.com
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Cracking the Glass Ceiling (Update on Hannah Storm)
Is it wrong that the first thing I thought was Pretty Woman and Condoleezza Rice?
Slobber Moment = Comedy Gold
I found that to be hilarious: "It was just a slobber moment."
I think he was trying to be serious, and it was still really funny. I tried to come up with some funny examples that were not near as funny as "slobber moment":
- Sorry I banged the babysitter hunny, it was just a boner moment.
- Sorry I threw up all over the cat, it was just a vodka moment.
- Sorry I kept throwing the ball to Jason Witten, it was just a gay sex moment.
- Sorry I didn't show up for work last week, it was just a I didn't give a shit moment.
Baltimore Sun
From The Big Lead
Cleveland Indian's Wives
"Front, from left, Pamela Moore, fiancee of Jason Michaels; Jaclyn Ayers, fiancee of Aaron Laffey; Abbie Blake, wife of Casey Blake. Back row, Kate Wedge, wife of Eric Wedge; Christine WIlliams, wife of Dan Williams; Molly Peralta, wife of Jhonny Peralta; Amber Sabathia, wife of C. C. Sabathia; Kristen Lee, wife of Cliff Lee."
It accomponies an article about the women's charitable efforts. It keeps them busy while thier husbands play baseball/bang groupies. Sadly the article doesn't mention anything about slumpbusters.
Statistical Evidence of CC Sabathia's Fatness
Paul Lukas does pretty cool work for ESPN's Page 2. This time he is writing about Yankee's signing CC Sabathia. He poses the questions "Will CC have the most pinstripes in history?"
The answer, probably.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Warning! This Post Contains Pictures of Cheerleaders
I was watching the Ravens/Steelers game last Sunday, and when the camera cut to the cheerleaders, I saw something unfortunate. Male Cheerleaders. Seriously. Dude cheereleaders at an NFL game. This is an absolute atrocity!! There should only be 2 images shown during the broadcast. Football and Hot Chicks.
Hot Chicks is not just limited to cheerleaders either. I'm always down for picking out random hot chicks from the crowd (Jen Sterger, Fuck Da Eagles chick, etc). In fact, I have always thought broadcasts of football games did not show enough hot chicks. Do I really need to see that 3 yard run again? Hell no. Show me some tits.
But please, oh please for the love of God do NOT show the coaches.
or the guys in the booth:
Cheerleaders are the main source of hot chicks shown during NFL games, and the Baltimore Ravens are absolutely ruining that tradition. I mean look at these clowns. Who the hell wants to look at dude cheerleaders? Nobody. That's who. Not even there mom/girlfriend. Trust me. They are too busy looking at Visanthe Shiancoe's cock(http://deadspin.com/5104415/visanthe-shiancoe-becomes-a-big-bright-shining-star.
I maintain that no football game can lose quality by showing hot chicks between the football action.
The producers of NBA games have figured this out. I normally don't watch very much basketball, but if they keep showing this smut, I'll watch every night:
I did some research and found a couple links about the male cheerleaders:
Professional Cheerleader Blog
Business Net
Male cheerleaders get to stand on the sideline of NFL games and touch hot cheerleaders on the ass, but they have to be male cheerleaders.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Hannah Storm is Trying her Breast to Boost Ratings
Holy Shit! Hannah Storm wears low cut shirts!!
Like I said, I don't regularly watch the show. But does she always wear shirts that are cut that low? Am I making this too big of a deal? If Erin Andrews wore something that revealing, would my boner EVER go away?
One other thought, Josh Elliott is hitting that, right?
NFL Week 16 Early Picks
Here are my early picks for Week 16. Unfortuantly, I didn't do so well last week (6-8-2). Fortuantly, I have decided to add a picture of a hot chick to my pics. So here is 2007 Playmate of the year, Sara Jean Underwood. Google can help you find NSFW pictures.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Defending Dick Jauron
Reviewing the facts: 2:06 left on the clock, Second and 5, Bills own 27 yard line, Bills up 27-24. The Bills are trying to run out the clock.
Jauron calls a play action roll out pass. A pass is a great playcall because if the Bills run the ball, the clock will stop at the 2 minute warning. So as long as the Bills pass play takes 6 seconds or longer, the clock will stop at the 2:00 mark.
A play action roll out pass takes longer than just a 3 step drop back. Plus the QB is outside the pocket so he can throw it away without fear of an intentional grounding penalty. The Jets had the line of scrimmage stuffed, so a pass play had the potential to catch the defense off guard and pick up the first down.
Unfortunately for the Bills, the play ended in an absolute worst case scenario. It might not have been best call in the history of football, but it was hardly such a bad call that he deserved to be fired on the spot. Don't blame the playcall, blame the execution.
Besides, how can you blame a guy that looks this retarded?
I Hate Chris Berman
During the halftime show, he did the highlights for the Cowboys game and when they showed Tashard Choice's 38 yard touchdown run to clinch the game, Berman called him "Rashard Taster's Choice".
He also went to the commercial by saying Brandon McDonald, E I E I O!!!
I really want that fat fuck to swallow his tongue.
My wife looked up from her book to say, "This guy is horrible, how did he get this job?" Umm, I'm guessing it had something to do with deux, deux, deux's and Hand Jobs.
Just a guess.
I pulled this video off of youtube, but it probably orginated at http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/
Endangered Animals
If they would have used this frog in my 10th grade Biology class, Coach Beacher wouldn't have had to kill 75 frogs with a ball peen hammer.
The Goliath Bird Eating Spideris going extinct - good. That thing is fucking huge, and might decide it wants to eat me. I hope blogging is one of the direct causes of its extintion, because it is scary looking:
I Said this Wasn't a Sports Blog
I think it is about 20 minutes long, and it is really well done:
From http://kottke.org/
To post something at least every other day.
To post at least one thing per week that is actually good.
To have 1 person read this blog, other than my dog.
To have 1 person leave a comment.
To get a link from one of the main blogs that I read daily (Deadspin, TBL, etc)
[Wow. I did not expect to have anyone read or leave a comment on this blog in the first week, much less have it on Deadspin. However, I also did not expect Andre Ware to flash the shocker at the Heisman ceremony. Commentor JRR42 says that it was not the shocker, but it was a hand sign for the Houston Cougars. I know a girl that went to the University of Houston, and I think the shocker might as well be the hand sign for the Cougars. Hi-OH!!]
More goals:
Have 1 person subscribe to the RSS on this blog.
Have this blog be the first result on Google for "not a sports blog"
Have one of my friends (who don't know I have this blog) send me a link to something on NASB.
Keep the blog active until football season starts in 2009. (If I can make it through the boring summer, I think I might be around permenantly)
That is a pretty good start on my goals, I'm sure I will have more, and I can always come back and update this post later.
Thanks to Deadspin, JRR42, and Andre Ware for helping me acheiving a couple of those goals.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Andre Ware is Shocking
Heisman Prediction
Sam Bradford
On Monday December 1st I placed a bet on Bradford to win the Heisman. He was an even money bet. I figured if Oklahoma beat Missouri for the Big 12 championship, he would win the Heisman, and Oklahoma was a 17 point favorite. By Friday the line on Bradford had moved to -350. Earlier this week the line was up to -500, and earlier today I put another bet on Bradford at -300. I just checked the lines at sportsbook.com and as of 6:00 central, here are the odds:
Bradford -400
McCoy +550
I decided to make my second bet on Bradford once I saw that these guys projected him to win: http://www.stiffarmtrophy.com/
I remember two weeks ago when I saw Bradford was even money, I thought it was too good to be true, so hopefully this will be a lucrative wager for me. But, if Bradford doesn't win, expect me to get on here and unleash a shitstorm on the voters.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Week 15 NFL
Packers -1.5 at JAGS
The Fred Taylor quote killed any chances I had of picking the JAGS to cover again. He said this is the worst team he has ever played on. Yikes. Plus I think Aaron Rogers still has a lot to play for even if the Packers don't.
Lions +17.5 at COLTS
DAMN that's a lot of points. If the Colts win by 2 touchdowns AND a field goal, they still don't cover! Vegas just barely made the big enough, so I'm changing my mind on this one and taking the points.
Skins -7 at BENGALS
This line moved a little, but not enough. The Skins lost a couple offensive linemen, but the Bengals have lost their soul. They have been outscored 69-6 in the last 2 weeks. Clinton Portis seems pretty fired up for this game, he might score 3 touchdowns and then donkey punch Jim Zorn.
FALCONS -2.5 vs Bucs
The Bucs gave up 950 rushing yards and rushing 12 touchdowns last Monday. The Falcons have two really good running backs, and they are at home. Less than a field goal is a gift.
DOLPHINS -6.5 vs 49ers
I am HUGE 49ers fan. I don't believe they are that good. I've seen Shaun Hill play in person, and he was truly, remarkably terrible. There is no way they cover 3 straight against the AFC East. A related note. I absolutely hate it when people don't pronounce the "H" at the beginning of words. the 'H' should sound like Hugh (like in Hefner) not Ewww (like somebody just shit their pants.) One of the many reasons I want to kill Tony Kornheiser every Monday night.
Seahawks -2.5 RAMS
Apparently the Seahawks don't suck. The Steven Jackson situation closely resembles the Clinton Portis situation, only I think Portis' is constructive and Jackson's is destructive. Just a hunch. I will not be gambling on this game, because I would feel like I had to watch it, and that would be miserable.
Bills +8.5 at JETS
One of my main gambling rules is: Always take Trent Edwards on the road against Brett Favre. Wait, what? This was another game where I changed my mind. 8.5 is just too many points. Plus I enjoy screaming "BEAST MODE" every time Marshawn Lynch touches the ball. He is stupid fast.
Titans -3 at TEXANS
The Texans are on a roll. They beat the Browns, the Jags, and the Packers!!! Which is awesome, except all those teams kind of suck. That being said, I think the Texans year could have been a lot different if it wasn't for that fuckin hurricane. That was this year right? Why is no one talking about this? I think it screwed their team pretty bad. Also, the Titans are REALLY good. They are still undefeated right? That whole thing with the Jets didn't really count did it?
RAVENS -2.5 vs Steelers
The Steelers have played (and won) two big games in a row. I think it catches up with them here and they lose this one. It will probably be close, but a field covers, so i'll take *gulp* Joe Flacco against the Steelers defense. That doesn't sound very good. I'll take the Ravens defense against Ben Roethlisberger. Much better.
PANTHERS -7.5 vs Broncos
One list is a lot longer than the other. And they are at home.
Chargers -5.5 at CHIEFS
I can not bring myself to bet on Tyler Thigpen. I just can't do it. I know the Chiefs have been putting up big numbers, but Thigpen has only won 1 game. And it was against the Chiefs. Plus, the Chargers are not out of the playoffs yet. If they win their next two AND Denver loses their next two, they play each other for the AFC West title. Also, this is the fantasy football playoffs, and LDT hasn't had a big game in a while. I think LDT is going to make up for his less than steller performance and he will explode these next two weeks and earn championships for a lot of grumpy owners.
CARDINALS -3 vs Vikings
I switched my pick on this game. Arizona has been pretty good against the run, and Vikings haven't been too good against the pass. Also, I trust Kurt Warner a whole hell of a lot more than I trust Tarvaris Jackson. In related news, I agree with Will Leitch when he says the Cards have their division clinched, they aren't getting a bye, so sit Warner and let Leinart get some practice/take some beatings. http://deadspin.com/5104672/the-playoff-buzzsaw-that-is-the-arizona-cardinals
Patriots -7 at RAIDERS
Lock of the week. The Raiders took four straight days off after they got Gorrila Masked by San Diego last Thursday. I don't get it. They got beat 34-7 in prime time on semi-National television. That tells me they need more practice, not less. I could understand taking it easy for a couple days. But no lifting, no stretching, no conditioning, no video. Nothing. For 4 days. Randy Moss feels disrespected.
Giants +2..5 at COWBOYS
The second to last game at Texas stadium might be remembered as the game when TO choked Jason Witten to death on the sideline and had to be taken away in hadcuffs. Owens being jealous of their relationship is just weird. This whole thing has a 'fatal attraction' kind of feel to it. And after hearing some of the quotes from anonymous Cowboy's player I wouldn't be surprised if Owens shows up with a black eye on Sunday. Probably not as distracting as the Plaxico Burress shooting last week, but at least the Giants haven't been all over Sportscenter for their off the field stuff this week. Take the money line.
EAGLES -14 vs Browns
ESPN has to be kicking themselves for this game. A 14 point favorite. Two historically dumb coaches. One who weighs 400 pounds and who I'm quite sure stuffs cheesesteaks into his pockets. The other who has fans performing animal sacrifices to get him fired and to have Bill Cower save their franchise. And KEN DORSEY!!!!!!! (22-46, 150 yards, 0 TD's, 2 picks) The Eagles might not cover, but there is no way in hell I would bet on the Browns.
Blog Notes
I will be positing more today. Including my finalized football picks.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Early Look at the BCS Bowls
USC -10 vs Penn State
Penn State and USC both got the shaft in the BCS, they both only lost 1 game. And both losses were in close games on the road the week after they beat Ohio State. But neither was ever really considered for the BCS Title Game. That sucks for them. I think it will be a good game, but I can't see Penn State winning, so I'll say USC covers.
Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech vs Cincinnati
Ugh. I would much rather watch House than this game. Actually, I would rather get kicked in the balls than watch this game. I'll take Virginia Tech and I won't be betting on the game.
Sugar Bowl
Alabama -10.5 vs Utah
Did you know that Utah has beat USC in the Las Vegas bowl in 2001, and they beat Pittsburgh in the Fiesta bowl in 2005? Its true. They are 7-0 in bowl games since 1999. Can they PLEASE get a little respect and be in the conversation for the BCS Title Game?? No, ok. Bama covers.
Fiesta Bowl
Texas -11 vs Ohio State
Ohio state has no business being in this game. They lost 2 games this year, and their best win is against who? Michigan State? Northwestern? I still think Texas is playing for a split national championship. If they dominate Ohio State and Oklahoma squeaks by Florida the AP could vote for Texas. I really hope there is a split championship so that it proves (again) the BCS doesn't work. Texas will win this game by at least 21 points.
BCS Title Game
Florida -3 vs Oklahoma
Oklahoma has the best offense in the country! The killed Texas Tech!! they won the Big 12!!! They have scored 60 points five games in a row!!!! Bradford is going to beat Tebow for the Heisman!!!!! Why in the world are they 3 point underdogs???
Because they actually suck. Their defense is atrocious, as is the entire Big 12's. Florida has looked just as dominant as Oklahoma, their team was here last year, they have the best quarterback in college football, and they are going to dominate this game on both sides of the foorball. Oklahoma has lost their last 4 BCS bowl games. They gave up 48 points to West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl last year, and they are going to lose this game too. Badly. Florida rolls by two touchdowns.
I will be placing a decent wager on Texas and a small wager on Florida. I'll take another look at these games after Christmas, so there is a good chance I'll be changing my mind. Later in the week, I'll pick out some other games that I will be betting on as well. Please leave a comment or send me an email if you agree, disagree, or have any inside information: email@example.com
NFL Week 15 Early Picks
Also, it would be disingenuous if I didn't mention that I am a total badass when it comes to picking NFL games. I've been killing it this year, and I can only expect the trend to continue. Home team in CAPS, my picks in BOLD.
BEARS -3 Saints
Packers -1.5 JAGS
COLTS -16.5 Lions
Skins -6.5 BENGALS
FALCONS -2.5 Bucs
DOLPHINS -6.5 49ers
Seahawks -3 RAMS
JETS -7 Bills
Titans -3 TEXANS
RAVENS -2 Steelers
PANTHERS -7 Broncos
Chargers -5 CHIEFS
Vikings +3 CARDINALS
Patriots -7 RAIDERS
COWBOYS -3 Giants
EAGLES -14 Browns
What the hell?!?! 15 favorites and 1 underdog? Hey, I don't make the lines, I just beat them. Although, I'm quite sure I'll be changing my mind by Friday.
The early best bets are the Patriots, Titans, and Bears
Monday, December 8, 2008
Welcome to Not A Sports Blog
Contrary to what the name might suggest, I will be writing about sports. A lot. Especially football. I decided to go with the name "Not a Sports Blog", because I plan on writing about other topics as well, and I don't want to piss off anyone who only expects sports. That's why I'm letting it be known from the beginning that this is not a sports blog.
I hope that clears things up. So let's get started.
I always appreciate feedback, so please email at email@example.com or leave a comment.
Thanks for stopping by.


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5x7, oil
This small painting is of a small creek that runs into the White River.
In Cotter, Arkansas.The creek wound around a rocky
refine and through large boulders sitting in the base of
The creek. I didn't paint the railroad bridge overhead.
Not painted today, but this was painted at a Plein air outing as a "small work"
While at the outing.
I haven't had as much time to "daily paint" this
Weekend. The 30 paintings in 30 day
Challenge I joined (along with
Almost 1200 other people) by
Palette knife painter, Leslie Saeta.
I am about 7 paintings short this month, and hope to
Be able to
finish the rest of the month.
I also do some posting in
I would love for you to join the email link
On this blog and receive a.notice when I post.
Feel free to comment On my work, I would love to hear from you!

subset: commoncrawl


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As you may have heard, today is National Sanctity of Human Life Day…a day to remember the millions upon millions of lives that our nation has lost and that have been turned upside-down because of abortion.
In honor of this day, I thought I'd post a video of a speech given by Gianna Jessen. Gianna is a 32 year-old survivor of an abortion. That's right. SURVIVOR. As in, she was the baby being aborted. You'll hear her amazing story in the video.
Today her Twitter simply said "I Lived."
I like that…and I like her. I think you'll see why. Girl's got SPUNK!
One of my all-time favorite books is The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers. It's a fantastic novel about a young woman faced with a choice about what to do when she finds herself pregnant in the most tragic of circumstances. I first read it in college and couldn't put it down.
Well, It just so happens that I came upon an extra (slightly used) copy of that book yesterday that I wasn't sure what to do with…and it just so happens that today is National Sanctity of Life Day…so…how about a blog giveaway?!
If you would like a chance to win my extra copy of the book, simply leave a comment on this post (one comment per person, please) before 11:59 pm this coming Sunday night. I will select a winner by either a random number generator…or just drawing one out of a hat. 🙂


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Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit
Drew Manning is a Personal Trainer that gained 70 lbs. just so he could see how it feels to try and lose weight. He did this so he could empathize with his personal training clients. Check out his reveal on Good Morning America.
'Fit2Fat2Fit' Author Drew Manning's Top 5 Weight Loss Mistakes to Avoid | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo!:
His website also documents his journey more if you are interested.
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Elijah cuddling with Kelvie... Kent made him raise his hand... so cute!
My little lovies in their first jeans jumpers...
The face of naughtiness... I told Hudson several times that he was not allowed to have more crackers, but continued to go for more..
My little miracle and her sweet little smile! She is starting to show her little personality and her sweet spirit!


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This game was played solo using 40mm 16thC figures and Rough Wooing.
Something about the fortress on the map combined with siege batteries said "16thC" to me so here we are in France with the English behind the walls of the town of Belmont being besieged by the nobles and mercenaries of the King of France. 4 companies are placed for each unit of infantry or cavalry.
As another dawn approaches, a sally port slides quietly open and 6 dice rattle across the table allowing the English border horse to sneak 18" across the table without being seen, just 3" short of the battery position. Confusion strikes the English as the French guns open fire (sighhh, yet another cautious light cavalry commander leading a raid). As the French scramble to arms and rush piecemeal to the rescue, the English archers spread out to cut off any relief attempt, the sword & bucklermen rush the gabions and the border horse spur forward to distract the Landsknecht pike. The gun unleashes a hail of fire (tied melee) while the cavalry teases the pikemen (no hits either side). An amazing melee now takes place as turn after turn the dice fly as additional English troops join the fight but with as many as 9 dice being rolled at one point, turn after turn, no one can roll higher than a 3.....twice leaders are unhorsed....
Meanwhile, the French shot begin to pick away at the English bills who have deployed to cover the retreat of the storming party while heavy lancers come thundering forward led by the Sieur de St. Lambert in person. A first charge is chopped apart by billmen and at last the English foot scrambles over the gabions, slaughters the gun crew and drives back the supporting Landsknechts. A rush back to the gate takes place but Sir Perry, in command of the English foot, is forced to stand and cover the press of fleeing men. The weight of armoured lancers is too much and he and his band are ridden over. The lancers press on and cut down more English, pulling up only when the portcullis drops in their faces.
As the remnants of the sortie musters inside the gate, the Earl tallies his losses. According to his counselors, Grant & Asquith, he could afford to lose 25% of the sortie and still call it a success, 12 stands went out, 9 came back. He looks over the wall at the gaping pit where the French battery had stood at dawn and smiles grimly.
In late 2008, in an effort to get myself playing more games, I decided to play all 52 scenarios from Scenarios For All Ages by
Charles S Grant and Stuart Asquith. More than that, I decided to play them in order, 1 a week, starting on Nov 5. I knew I wouldn't
manage to play every week so I set a deadline of Dec 31st 2009. With a little help from my friends, I made it with a day to spare.
In the end, I played 52 games in 60 weeks. 34 solo games, 15 face to face games, 3 Play-by-Email mini-campaigns
17 other gamers from 4 countries participated, (Canada 11, US 4, Ireland 1, Argentina 1)
11 'periods' were played - 20/25mm Ancients (3), Prince Valiant 40mm skirmish (9), 40mm 16thC (10),
40mm semi-flat War of Polish Sucession (1), 40mm AWI (2), 40mm Pirate
Skirmish (5), 40mm early 19thC fictional (17), 15mm ACW (1), 25mm Zulu War (1),
20mm WWII (1), 20mm 1960's fictional (2)
I posted a brief report on each game on my webpage. I am shutting down my website so I am re-posting
the reports here, starting at Game #52 so that they will eventually appear in order. The reports were written in a variety of voices and tenses (sometimes all mixed together!) and it was tempting to rewrite them but I have left them as they were originally written with only very minor corrections, particularly to things like links.
To avoid copyright issues and save myself work, I have not given the details of the scenarios. Having a copy of the book will help make sense of the reports. The book may currently be purchased from John Curry at http://www.wargaming.co/ as well as from booksellers like On Military Matters and Caliver.
My Other Blogs
Sunday, October 16, 2011
7 July 2009 Scenario 28: Raid from a Fort.
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Sales Meeting today; role play starts at 830AM. Bring your energy and enthusiasm! My fast start class is at 11AM. 1031 Exchange c
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The breadth of topics is staggering. There are courses for virtually any era, event, or major personage from history. If the arts are your thing you can learn about music from the age of Gregorian Chant to Stravinsky or painters from Fra Angelico through the post-modernists. Want to learn more about a given author, some of the great classics, or how to get more out of your reading? Perhaps you want to learn how to do mental math, learn games to make numbers fun, or help a student with their trigonometry. There are courses for all of those as well. If you want the concrete facts of science, or the more indeterminate studies of philosophy and religion, courses abound in their catalog. If you want practical application there are courses in leadership, finance and economics, health and nutrition, communication skills, and critical thinking to name a few.
I have, over the years, posted reviews on some of these courses, even though they are not regular audio books per se. What has prompted this blog post is the fabulous fact that these courses, at least the ones that are available in audio format, are now available from Audible, an audio book subsidiary of Amazon. I make it a pretty firm tenet not to outright peddle products or endorse any companies-that is not what my blog is for, and I think my readers don't want to be advertised to-but if you are interested in these courses, you will not find a better source than Audible (who is not paying me either cash or products for this blog post). Members of Audible pay a monthly fee of about $15.00, and for this you get a monthly credit. Each credit will pay for one course; I looked up some of the longest courses that I knew of, and none were more than one credit. Considering that most of these courses cost between $35-$60 if you are a non-member, if you are seriously interested in them, I would recommend joining as a member. In addition, Audible often offers the opportunity for members to purchase three credits for about $35, making your savings even greater. You can buy from Audible without committing to a monthly membership, but your costs will be higher than a member's, because in addition to their monthly credit, members also get better deals on items they choose to purchase if they do not have credits available. Whether you are a member or not, Audible is still the best deal for The Great Courses. Let me
give you an example. The course entitled The American Civil War is regularly priced $249.95 on The Teaching Company's website; even on the short once yearly sale you would pay $64.95 (and not every course goes on sale every year). Audible offers it for $52.95 for non-members and $37.06 for members choosing not to expend a credit. However, if you are a member you can get it for your monthly credit price of less than $15.00, or a bit more than $11.00 if you are using extra credits you bought on special.
So why, you might ask, should I buy these courses at all if they are readily available from public libraries? I guarantee you that you will want to listen to them many times over. They are so information dense that it will take that to truly absorb everything that they have to impart. And they are so enjoyable that listening more than once is a pleasure. When we have checked them out from the library I have also had difficulty finding time to listen to the longer series before they are due back, and invariably there is someone with a hold on them so that they cannot be renewed.
If you are interested in learning more about Audible's offerings, here is their URL:
If you want more information of the courses themselves, beyond what is given on Audible's site (it is not very extensive), the URL for The Teaching Company is here:
Exploring The Teaching Company's site is also a great way to discover more about those lecture series that they have available on DVD, which you might want to look for at your library. Or likewise, you can learn more about the audio versions even if you decide not to purchase them from Audible but choose instead to try to procure them from your library.
I hope that my many reading friends, especially those of you who enjoy non-fiction, choose to give The Great Courses a try. There is something for everyone, and you will, I guarantee it, enjoy every minute you spend with these top scholars as they share their enthusiasm for their various fields of specialization.


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It was really really foggy this morning when I headed into town. It started to let up a little bit later in the morning, but it was really kind of pretty in places, with the water and trees near the state lakes.
The fields and the trees are really starting to turn. You can tell fall is approaching.
This was 10am... looks more like 6am huh?
We did find a couple of toys at the store... and one of them was a stuffed puppy.. so that sufficed.
I never ever fail to get a few good laughs when I'm with this kid. As he started to go in those play tubes , in the play area at Burger King, he stopped abruptly, turned around with this weird look on his face. I asked him what was wrong.. he said, "it smells like stinky feet in there". hahah
Projects with Page Frames Clear Acrylic shapes
I was honored to asked to contribute to these books, and am so pleased with them.
The book has photos and step by step instructions on how to make this one.
And here is one I did since then, using Alcohol inks , transparency, and and image from Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage.
I just cut two lighter light acrylic sheets to the same size, stamped on the bottom one and sandwiched them together with some fine iridescent glitter in between. It's sealed with metal tape from Ranger.
I'm working on some with crystals added , that should make great sun catchers. We'll see.


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July is my birthday month.
The big 43 is coming in just a few days.
I've noticed lately that I must be approaching middle age.
Here's a few reasons.
Yes, this just a gratuitous shot of Luke Bryan but he represents County Music that I have taken a huge liking to.
1. It's catchy.
2. I can understand the lyrics.
Sad, right?
Another reason is NJ is going through a God awful heat wave right now.
Both of our vehicles are lacking a/c because it broke.
I will run only necessary errands, bitch the entire time that's its ungodly hot, come home and not leave again unless it's absolutely necessary.
I've noticed the veins.
The varicose veins are appearing on my legs.
Like left & right.
I figured I'd get Secretary Spread before I got those since I sit on my tushie all day
I guess working on my feet all those years didn't help.
Finally, I am going to bed at like 10pm exhausted but the six year old is just getting started.
He is out lasting me at the end of the day.
I'm sure there are many more reasons but my middle aged brain isn't working properly.
Tell me, how do you know you are getting older?
Saturday, July 06, 2013
How I know I am getting older...
Posted by Meghan at 3:08 PM
Labels: Me, Random Posting
1 comments:
- Tonja Treece
How I know I'm getting older? Johnny Depp just turned 50. 50! I used to watch him on 21 Jump Street!
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Bond Cheat Sheet
As David Kaye notes, treaty-power advocates everywhere may be breathing a collective sigh of relief with the Supreme Court's decision in Bond v. United States. I'm not so sure how big a difference it makes, given the Senate's persistent refusal to put an expansive treaty power to work. From an academic perspective the decision is a big let-down. No big pronouncements on Missouri v. Holland, the treaty power, the future of federalism in a different world.
On the substance, we have Jean's excellent post below as well as Curtis Bradley's characteristically precise analysis on AJIL Unbound. As Curt points out, the straight-up application of the federalism clear-statement rule in the foreign affairs context is significant. Perhaps a little tension with Charming Betsy? But this is incremental stuff, not the kind of ruling that marks a major pivot on the Court's part in foreign relations law. The money quotes in the majority opinion relate to domestic affairs of a decidedly mundane kind, as Roberts decries an application of the treaty that "would sweep in everything from the detergent under the kitchen sink to the stain remover in the laundry room."
The Court may have understood this to be too freaky a case on which to peg a major ruling (hence also the silence from the Left side of the Court). The parade of horribles may be theoretically long and broad when it comes to imagining the ways that treaties might subsume core state authorities. But when it comes to making that specter a little more concrete, Justice Scalia is left conjuring up a multilateral "Antipolygamy Convention" with which Congress then trumps state intestacy laws. Really? (Scalia is known to write his concurrences and dissents from scratch. That was once a good thing; now it may be a bad. His concurrence here has a sloppy feel to it.)
For his part, Justice Thomas walks us through the original understanding of the Treaty Power in calling for its limitation to international relations. With due respect to the many rigorous scholars of an originalist orientation, I must admit that I have less patience for this oracular stuff the older I get. It never coughs up determinate answers. (How could it, in this context perhaps more than any other.) In what should be a candidate for SCOTUS understatement of the year, Thomas concludes: "I acknowledge that the distinction between matters of international intercourse and matters of purely domestic regulation may not be obvious in all cases."
As foreign affairs law becomes increasingly doctrinalized, with a slew of major cases over the last 15 years, this is one area that will now remain up for grabs (the persistence of the century-old Holland decision notwithstanding). Maybe that's not a bad thing for methodological and pedagogical purposes. As the Court plays the Marbury card more frequently (Scalia does it here), a last-word mirage rises in which the Court seems to be calling all the shots. But the new global architecture is far too immense and intricate for the Court to stay on top of it. Better to stay attuned to non-judicial mechanisms of constitutional evolution.
6 Responses
Great analysis. I must disagree with Curtis on one point, however. If the Constitution requires a "clear statement" to abridge States' rights, that requirement must also apply to ambiguous treaties, shouldn't it? After all, the Executive's power is no broader.
I would wonder why this would be so. If the legislation is pursuant to the Treaty Power it seems awfully parochial to have a "clear statement" rule derived from structural concerns, rather than acknowledge that the treaty making power is in the federal government and binds the United States as a whole. After all, the states gave the treaty making power over to the Federal Government when ratifying or acceding to the Constitution.
Federal postal employees were potentially endangered. Wasn't this really an indirect review if prosecutorial discretion?
Thomas Welch – good point. There seems to be pretty short shrift for the federal postal workers coming across these chemicals on the mailboxes I believe some 24 times. Maybe that was a problem of argument – but a very good point you make.
Isn't all this an absurd reaction to a slightly singed thumb? A common assault at the most.
Even administering a noxious substance surely would have been over the top. Has anyone assessed the costs so far? Will the attorneys pay? [silly question]
An afterthought:
Was it 'battery' acid?
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Azur & Asmar
American Dreamer
Quest for Fire
All Franck-Olivier Bonnet films
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
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Here in New York, the sun only broke through the clouds last week — which means we've been deprived of our favorite warm-weather activities for a truly tragic eight months now. That's over half a year with no park naps, no bare legs, no rooftop sun-basking, and, perhaps most tragically, no vanilla Mr. Softee with rainbow sprinkles. But, this is the week that all that changes — and we're letting this lookbook by The Loved One be our ultimate spring inspiration.
Photographed by Emily Alben, the lookbook stars Ashley Symone Lee, whom TLO owner Hannah Metz calls "our beloved shop girl," and Erin Cherry, "a muse and customer." The ladies frolic in sunny parks, indulge in ice-cream cones and diner hangs, and generally have the kind of idyllic, vintage-y, vaguely Twin Peaks-esque existence that we secretly suspect people in L.A. have year-round, while we East Coasters are shivering under piles of shearling.
Click on to see the whole, candy-colored shebang — and check out The Loved One's online boutique here.


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MLA 2010: NLM® Online Users' Meeting: Questions and Answers
NLM Update PowerPoint Presentations
NLM Online Users' Meeting: Questions and Answers
NLM Online Users' Meeting: PowerPoint Presentations
[Editor's note: These are the questions and answers from the NLM Online Users' Meeting at the Annual Meeting of the Medical Library Association in Washington, DC, May 24, 2010. The answers may have been modified to provide more complete information.]
Are there plans to integrate the PMCID with PubMed® records? I've received several requests from faculty who are doing grants and have said that they have to report the PMCID numbers in their grants and so inevitably what they have to do is go back in to PubMed Central® and look each one up and the PMCID.
The PubMed Central ID (PMCID) was integrated with PubMed citations in 2008. You can find it on the MEDLINE® and XML display formats but most easily on the Abstract format (see Figure 1). [Editor's note: See Skill Kit: PubMed Central® ID and PubMed® for additional information.]
Will any of the Go Local partners be continuing and, if so, how do we get to those Web sites?
There are two current partners, North Carolina and South Carolina, who did not use the NLM system to build their Go Local sites. They will continue with their own locally-hosted system and their URLs will stay the same. There are a few partners who are considering pursuing their own local solution. At this time I'm not aware of what their URLs might be. [Editor's note: See NLM® to Discontinue Support of MedlinePlus® Go Local for additional information.]
Will all of MedlinePlus® be available for preview for the redesign?
The online preview of the MedlinePlus redesign contains screen captures of some of the English and Spanish pages with descriptions of the key features of those pages. When we get closer to releasing the redesign this summer we will be able to let the medical library community know in advance that the release is coming and we will give you the specific date. We do know that people have training materials that they need to update. If you have concerns about updating your training materials, please contact us through the redesign preview or through the feedback form on our site.
Please consider including a feature to make uploading to DOCLINE® easy. This feature was available in the past but not a lot of people used it and it was dropped. Centralizing our system would make our lives easier.
There are a lot of challenges to that but we know that our libraries would like us to automate updating of serials holdings. We are considering options.
MLA 2010: NLM® Online Users' Meeting: Questions and Answers. NLM® Tech Bull. 2010 May-Jun;(374):e16c.


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Welcome to the new home of IR Thoughts, Mi Islita.com blog about news, papers, and theses relevant to information retrieval, data mining, and search engine technologies. This blog replaces the version over at http://www.miislita.com.
Why a new home for IR Thoughts?
I've several reasons for hosting the current blog with a free service like WordPress.
I'm designing a grad course on data mining and search engines for a local university. This involves reviewing of candidate textbooks and the design of lab experiments from scratch. I've been asked to teach the course, too.
In addition, I'm trying to organize a local conference on Data Mining and Search Engines for the end of this year. All this takes away time from me at Mi Islita, which in turns means that I would need a blog wherein I don't have to worry about technical troubleshooting, maintenance, and support.
I've also some reasons for not hosting the blog with the current ISP. Saddly to say, they don't seem to have acceptable technical support for blogs. This might explain several connection problems experienced by some of my readers from all over the World.
For burocratic reasons, I prefer not to host at this time with the university. Since I decided long ago switching to a better blog system, why not use a recognizable (and free) service like WordPress?
All this motivated me to have a blog somewhere in the blogosphere, but with a minimum of maintenance. For those interested in legacy posts, just contact me to see if I can help.
Why not hosting my WordPress blog in-house and keep the traffic, anyway? Well, I can do that at any time, but let shut for a 12-month test drive and we go from there. Anyway, site traffic is not an issue for those conducting IR research. If some have better ideas -like donating me hosting space- let me know.
Enjoy the ride.
Dr. E. Garcia


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Even those the four guys - Brian Arnold, Casey Ellison, Ashley Ellison and Scott Fraker - don't sing together anymore, it was just like old times when they took the stage. They sang plenty of familiar favorites that the crowd loved. The response from the audience when they first took the stage was incredible!
Here are a few clips from the afternoon and my favorite moment of the year!


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Thursday, November 4, 2010
a giant suburban rat
remember the one in soho? this one lives on long island. he looks like he's got money.
10 comments:
- Babzy said...
i don't like rats but this one is funny :)
- November 4, 2010 at 3:31 AM
- Bibi said...
I know the Soho one! You have BIG rats over there...I'd like to see this one get airborne if you release that cable/weight. But then, maybe he'd deflate....
- November 4, 2010 at 5:19 AM
- biebkriebels said...
I am curious why the rat is standing in the street, it is a very big one.
- November 4, 2010 at 6:59 AM
- Marlene said...
LOL, you do find the strangest things to photo.
- November 4, 2010 at 9:26 AM
- Daryl said...
So funny. He replaces the Union picket lines and draws attention to issues .. tho I am not sure what he's doing on Lungisland
- November 4, 2010 at 11:33 AM
This rat is fancier then what one normally sees in protest. :-) PGma
- November 4, 2010 at 12:06 PM
- Kay L. Davies said...
I'm pretty sure I saw one in New York when we were there -- must have been '08.
This one looks like he has more savoir faire, which probably comes with money. LOL
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
- November 4, 2010 at 2:39 PM
- Dianne said...
did he win a local election!?
- November 4, 2010 at 6:11 PM
- Hilda said...
He reminds me of our politicians.
- November 5, 2010 at 4:17 AM
- Bergson said...
only rats can smoke
- November 5, 2010 at 5:47 AM


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Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Polaroid Pumpkins
Halloween has arrived in Polaroid-land. Above, the day of pumpkin carving, Mabel cheek to cheek with the jack o'lantern she drew (and the grown-ups carved). Below, crouching with menace in her gargoyle costume – along with a tall friend – on top of the beloved straw mountain at the pumpkin farm. Other festivities, amusements, and a Big Birthday follow.
The postscript below features three of Mabel's small friends who are at present staying at my house. The green alien came several weeks ago and the little dinosaur came last week, while the stick person only arrived this morning. What they all three have in common is that Mabel asked me to make clothing for them. For the stick person I also had to contribute arms and a head. Soon they will be returning to Mabel's house, but until then they pass their time as shown, pretending to be opera singers.
at 6:00:00 PM
Labels: autumn, birthdays, children, families, fashion, fathers, festivals, friends, granddaughter, opera, Pacific Ocean, Polaroids, San Francisco, toys


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Interrupting My Silence For Irony, Then Resuming My Hiatus
A long, long time ago, back in 2006, an eon in Internet time, there was a blog that was devoted to dead blogs. It was called The Best Dead Blogs. It had links to blogs that had died, that had stopped having posts, ones that were cool. Or interesting. Only one thing, though. The Best Dead Blogs blog has itself been dead since 2006.
The irony of this has overwhelmed my defenses against posting. It may overwhelm you, too. Or not. And now, without further commentary, I am back to my hiatus and my silence.
If you're monitoring me to see whether I can really stay away, can really keep from posting, please forgive me this entirely explainable lapse.
Etiquetas: dead blogs, irony, the best dead blogs


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In a few days, stores worldwide will ruin the sanctity of Thanksgiving. Instead of sitting down to some bird and some stuffing, consumers will line up in the cold all because department stores continue to open their doors earlier and earlier each year.
Below, check out the top 5 reasons why Cyber Monday kicks the cranberry sauce out of Black Friday:
1. It makes Mondays better
Mondays suck. The Mondays after Thanksgiving are especially sucky because you were teased with a mini vacation, only to return a few days later expected to resume work activities. Cyber Monday allows you to make the assimilation back to reality smoother by buying things that will make you smile. Yay!
2. Gives us a reason to procrastinate at work
Instead of roaming Buzzfeed for outrageous articles, or scrolling through Facebook for cat memes, shop the day away on Cyber Monday. If your supervisor asks what you're doing, tell him it's market research or something.
3. You don't have to deal with the mayhem
4. You can shop in your underpants all day
Anytime you can do anything in your underpants, watch movies, cook dinner, eat dinner, etc… chances are it's a win. Grab that laptop, cell phone or tablet, sprawl out on the couch, and own those Cyber Monday deals like they stole something from you.
5. You save as much as you would if you shopped on Black Friday
Statistics show that deals on Cyber Monday are as good, and often better than, Black Friday sales. Plus, with all the above benefits, why on earth would you walk out of your house on Black Friday anyway?
And in honor of Cyber Monday, Speakman® will be offering our Vintage™ and Retro™ 6 Jet Solid Brass Shower Heads in Polished Chrome. To take part in this incredible, one day only deal, make sure you visit here on Cyber Monday.


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$1 million bond set in Clare Co. child sex abuse case
A Clare County man faces 27 felony counts in connection with a sex crime investigation spanning two states.
Michigan State Police from the Mount Pleasant Post report officials learned 41-year-old Jason Neil Shannon, of Sheridan Township, had been trading child sexually explicit materials with another man in Kansas. Department of Homeland Security agents and Wichita Police Department investigators conducted an investigation in Kansas, which led to the development of Shannon as a suspect. Shannon is a registered sex offender in Michigan.
Officials' next step was to serve a search warrant at Shannon's home, during which computers and equipment used in the downloading and distribution of sexually abusive material were seized.
Officials later discovered Shannon and his female companion, Crystal Little, 32, also of Sheridan Township, might have been sexually assaulting a child. Both subsequently confessed to investigators, a media release states.
Tuesday, a warrant listing 27 felony counts was issued by Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis against Shannon in the 80th District Court. The charges include criminal sexual conduct, child sexually abusive activities, using a computer in the commission of a felony, providing sexually explicit material to a minor, sex offender registration violation, a habitual offender status and weapons offenses.
Little faces charges of criminal sexual conduct, providing sexually explicit material to a minor, and aiding and abetting.
Shannon and Little were arrested without incident Tuesday, and remain in the Clare County Jail.
Each was arraigned in the 80th District Court today. Shannon's bond is set at $1 million. Little's bond was set at $100,000.
Also involved in the investigation were the Michigan State Police Sixth District Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and the Clare County Sheriff's Office.


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Recently, my sister and her husband moved from a high-rise condo back to a ground level townhouse. They decided they are just too young to live in a high-rise building and they longed for the advantages of a garage, a garden, a neighborhood. Plus, my brother-in-law really missed b-b-qing outside! I was there the other day helping them hang all their paintings. They're pretty settled after just one week, except for the rugs, which had to be cut down to fit the new floor plan. Both of them are die hard collectors - just of very different things. My sister likes to collect antiques, French and English. My brother-in-law likes to collect - well, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves!
My sister and I collect many of the same things, but for some reason, her collections are much better than mine! For instance, I'm very envious of her masonware collection - her pieces are more varied and unique than mine and I love going over to her house to examine her masonware. Since we collect the same things, we've often gone out on the search together, which is great fun. When we were first starting out collecting, we would go to the Round Top Antique Fair twice a year to buy new pieces. On birthdays, we try to gift each other a new piece, if we can find something affordable. Now we both collect on Ebay occasionally, but you have to be very careful. I've been burned a few times when a reproduction was sold to me as an antique. Over the years, we've seen our collections increase in value. For example, a transferware plate used to cost us around $50 or $60, but now we are lucky to find one under $100. Antiques are a great investment, as long as you can find a buyer.
Regarding the interior design of the townhouse, originally my sister hired designer Billy Francis who worked with them on their previous home. Francis, who passed away recently, was a well known Houston designer who eventually moved to NYC to live, though he retained business ties in Texas. He used a color scheme of rusts and blues in various shades. The mark of great design, her upholstery all coordinated throughout the home, allowing them the flexibility to move furniture from one room to another, as needed in the new townhouse. Below are a few pictures of their new townhome with an emphasis on their collections. Enjoy!!
As you enter the townhouse, you get your first glimpse of her wonderful Masonware collection. Here are three jugs in the same pattern and a platter of a different pattern.
The living room with its fabulous antique french screen. We found this at the Mews in Dallas when we were antiquing there many years ago.
One of my favorite pieces of my sister's: an antique French bonnetiere. Here her English pewter collection is on display. Some of these pieces are over two hundred years old.
On the side table next to the sofa, is a collection of mauchlineware boxes - small boxes from Scotland made of wood from plane trees.
Also in the living room, another French antique piece holding her collection of blue and white spongeware - notice the jugs up on top of the buffet.
Going down the center of her Rose Tarlow dining room table are more Masonware jugs - all of various sizes. At dinner parties, she puts matching flower arrangements in each jug.
Against one wall are two buffets holding her magnificant collection of Masonware - ironstone made in England in the Mason factory. Most pieces are from the 19th century.
A close up of my favorite Masonware pattern: yellow scale.
Under a collection of botanicals, more Masonware - Bandana pattern jug in a bowl and large platter.
In the family room, another French buffet displays two collections: blue and white transferware and yellowware.
A closeup of her superb blue and white transferware. Her yellowware isn't too shabby either!
On the shelves, a small sampling of her collection of antique biscuit tins.
In the family room, another biscuit tin rests on her coffee table.
The master bedroom features beautiful Manuel Canovas material. The bed rests under a collection of antique furniture prints.
Master bedroom: A close up of her antique French desk.
Close up of the master bedroom.
Pair of antique French beds in the guest room.
My brother-in-law's office filled with sports memorabilia.
The star of the memorabilia: bobble head dolls from college football teams and favorite baseball teams of his youth. Totally organized in a system only he truly understands, this collection of dolls is priceless. These dolls are original, made of papier mache - not the cheap plastic or wood dolls sold today. Many of these dolls, if not all, are extremely rare - this collection took quite a determination to finish and it still is not complete. He's lacking a few bobble heads that he wants. Despite that, the breadth of this collection is phenomenal. It's a unique collection - few in the country have anything close to rival this.
Close up of the bobble heads - this shelf features baseball teams. Don't they have the cutest expression?
The personality of his collection: on the left, the University of Texas football team. On the right, the University of Oklahoma football team. In between, the symbol of the famous OU-UT rivalry: Big Tex from the Dallas Fairgrounds where the game is played each year.


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Welcome to the Misadventures of Widowhood blog!
In January of 2012 my soul mate of 42 years passed away after nearly 12 years of living with severe disabilities due to a stroke. I survived the first year after Don's death doing what most widows do---trying to make sense of my world turned upside down. The pain and heartache of loss, my dark humor, my sweetest memories and, yes, even my pity parties are well documented in this blog.
Now that I'm a "seasoned widow" the focus of my writing has changed. I'm still a widow looking through that lens but I'm also a woman searching for contentment, friends and a voice in my restless world. Some people say I have a quirky sense of humor that shows up from time to time in this blog. Others say I make some keen observations about life and growing older. I say I just write about whatever passes through my days---the good, bad and the ugly. Comments welcome and encouraged. Let's get a dialogue going! Jean
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Snow, Snow and More Snow!
19 comments:
I'm sorry that the girls didn't show up as promised. Not good at all. I hope they show up soon. It could happen.ReplyDelete
Can't wait to hear more about the book. I'm guessing there are many treasures you'll find in that book.
Have a fabulous day and be careful on that snow. ☺
I got a narrow, path cut to the front door because tomorrow I have a prescription for an injection coming from UPS that I can't let go back to their routing station which would happen if they can't get to my front door.The rest of the snow out front is going to set a few days as a test to see if the girls come down. It's supposed to melt over the weekend which is the only reason I can chance letting it set that long. If they don't show up, then it's going to be a long, hard winter of lugging that little snow blower around. The sling comes off at the end of the month but I still won't be able to use that arm for pushing or lifting. When I was a kid I remember days like this when the schools were closed and spending all day going around the neighborhood making money shoveling. Times sure change. If the girls don't need the money before Christmas, what are the chances they'll show up afterward?ReplyDelete
Oh gosh! Winter is starting early!!! It's been cold but sunny here. Today is grey and the rain is supposed to start. But at least it is rain, right??ReplyDelete
Is there a high school nearby? I'd bet they would put out a notice for you ... or some students could gain volunteer hours to shovel? Not to mention a $10 tip!
You need a village ...Replies
No high school near-by but I see some of their kids when they are at the senior hall where they do stuff for credit. That program is run pretty tight---volunteering credits have to be done at facilities where their hours are documented by program directors. A lot of these kids are so over scheduled between between school and sports, etc. that they struggle to get their volunteer credits in before the end of their semesters. From the looks of kids who get off the school bus near-by there are very few old enough to shovel snow in my neighborhood which is the problem. (It's newest neighborhood with no houses over 14 years old.) Throwing money at the problem won't help. In 5-6 years I'll have it made because there is a crop of little girls growing up close-by who all love Levi and call me "Miss Jean." Cute little girls.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 18, 2014 at 5:54 PM
I am sorry to hear about your snow and checked my local news in northern New York which apparently is having very similar snow fall and closed roads and schools. I am 3,000 miles away for a month and although it is not warm on the east coast of England, it is a very pleasant 50F. I think I'm losing my desire to live in snowy lands! good luck clearing the snowReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you! A half hour before dark a boy about ten came by and wanted to shovel my driveway. I have a driveway plower but I asked him to widen out the sidewalk from my front door to the driveway, which he did. I was so happy and told him to please come back. He's really too small for the heavy snows but we get a lot of light ones, too. I was so happy he came knocking on my door! I paid him double what he asked for.Delete
P.S. England would be a great place to visit. Enjoy your time there.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 18, 2014 at 9:53 PM
I don't envy you the early snow. We have been lucky to be on the eastern edge of this arctic air mass -- some unseasonable cold but just a coating of snow. I hope the girls show up, but it's in the nature of adolescence that their brains haven't finished developing yet and the part that develops last is the part that exercises judgment. The result is that adolescents sometimes evaluate situations in ways that seem totally loony to grown-ups. I had similar problems one winter with a pair of neighborhood brothers who were supposed to keep my back steps shoveled up from the driveway to the door while I was in PA, but in fact only showed up to shovel when they heard I was home and trying to get in. Sigh. (At least I didn't have my arm in a sling and could do it myself.)ReplyDelete
I chuckled at the irony that the climate change program might be cancelled because of the effects of climate change. -JeanReplies
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has trouble getting teens to show up when agreeing to do a job. We had over 18 inches of snow so far and looking down the street, there is no sign the girls even shoveled at the house where they live and there was no school today. It's amazing what we women living alone can do when we have no other choice.Delete
You can hardly count on anyone nowadays--especially young people. They probably felt it was too cold to go outside. Cold it is for sure. We keep getting forecasts of your snow coming this way, but so far....nada--just bitterly cold. I would loved to come across letters that an ancestor had written--what a delightful gift you are getting.ReplyDeleteReplies
It's a wet, heavy snow and hope you don't get it. I seem to be at ground zero for this storm. Schools are all closed again today. I think the worst of our storm ended up north of you.Delete
My niece says she has all the letters she and my mom exchanged while she was in college. what a nice collection that is and will be for her own grandchildren one day.
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2014 at 12:08 PM
Jean :ReplyDelete
I really hope & pray those girls show up to clear your driveway. I so agree with stepintofuture about teenager brain I don't understand their reasons sometimes for not doing things which are required & then later find someone else's to blame. I am dealing with our own teenager I will be so happy once he gets into good college. & in his chosen field of study. I really pray you get yourself out of that snow for us no snow but bitter cold here in NJ
I don't have much interaction with teenagers and I was one so long ago I've forgotten what they are like. But things are looking up here. Two kids about 12 showed up a half hour ago and re-shoveled my sidewalk. The girls I hired are still no-shows though. Thankfully, I have a driveway plower but the street still hasn't been plowed so I'm still not going anywhere. Schools were canceled again today. How long before you'll know if your son gets in the college of his choice? He seems like such a caring kind of kid. I'm sure he'll do good in the medical field.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2014 at 12:12 PM
I didn't mean to be writing totally anonymously. Sometimes I am not able to edit after I write so I apologize for that. Writing again means that I checked the local weather in northern NY and a state of emergency has been declared but south of our house.ReplyDelete
It also gives me an opportunity to comment on the letters that your niece has of correspondence between your mother and her mother. A few years ago my cousin gave me copies of letters between her father and my father while they were both in Europe during WWII. I found them so fascinating especially as my father was still in his twenties and marriage and family were long in the future!
What a treasure those letters are! I'll bet they'd even have commercial value as a book, especially with a little research on their units and places they were stationed added in and photos included of the two young letter writers.Delete
I wish comment boxes had edit an edit feature, too!
Oh, you must be in the Arctic Blast Zone! We've had uncharacteristically cold (well, cold for us - 20's at night/40's day) and clear sunshine, blue skies for over a week in NW Washington State. A bit cloudy today….the drizzle likely to return with temps in the 50's. We moved here in 1982 after deciding we no longer wanted to deal with Illinois winters -- more like you are having now. Yes, the rain gets old, but we don't have to shovel it; we have green year-round; and it's not frigid cold. Stay warm, Jean, and don't stress about shoveling!ReplyDeleteReplies
I am in the Arctic Blast Zone---West Michigan close enough to the Big Lake to be getting a ton of record setting, lake effect snow right now. I can see why people like living in milder climates, especially as we age, but for me to pick up and move with no back up support in another area is not an option for me. I just hope this snow event isn't the first of many big ones for this season.Delete
I can't believe you have snow already. It was 10 degrees here this morning. That's very cold in our neck of the woods for this time of year. I hope you don't get too many cancellations this year. It has to be disappointing when you've signed up for something and they cancel. I hope you can get your snow issue resolved. It will be tough for you otherwise. I would not count on those girls ever showing up. I think they've already forgotten about you, but I hope I'm wrong.
Your book sounds very interesting.Replies
We are setting records for the amount of snow and how early we've gotten it. It's crazy!Delete
I've already counted the teen sisters out. I waited as long as I could and when some little kids showed up asking to shovel, I gave them the job. They really don't have a clue what they are doing (putting snow on top of bushes, etc.) so I'll have to be more on-hands with instructions if they come back. I hope they do! Next time I get out I'm going to look at those fancy shovels you push and have wheels and a turn blade. I think once I lose the sling at the end of the month I'll be able to use one of those...but I will clear it with the doctor first at my next appointment.


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|Me wearing: my new Letter sweater by Chinti & Parker, with a Joie skirt and Opening Ceremony for Keds trainers.
Chinti & Parker have done it again! I'm obsessed with their easy to wear cashmere jumpers and this 'Letter sweater,' a new addition to my collection is cheering me up no end.
I love the signature Chinti cream and navy colour combo. which helps create its very graphic look that is perfect for now, well let's faced it: all this horrible weather hardly inspires a head-to-toe brightly coloured ensemble. Plus who doesn't love an initialed number?
Other letter C treats I've been coveting are: Annoushka's best-selling 18ct gold and diamond pendant (which I actually bought for my little sister Charlotte on her 21st birthday a few years back). And this lovely, summery initial C friendship bracelet new-in at Kabiri by Dana Levy, a total gloomy day pick-me-up!
|Mythology Alphabet C pendant by Annoushka.
|Dana Levy Alphabeta C friendship bracelet at Kabiri.
Click the links above to shop these alphabet buys.


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Namely, an episode of Red Dwarf, "Out of Time". In it, beyond the rest of the plot, the crew of Red Dwarf cross paths with themselves, from far in their futures. And they are shocked at what they see.
Future Rimmer: Haven't you anything better than this hogwash? We're used to the best!
Future Kryten: Kryten, we're epicures now. We travel through history enjoying the very best time has to offer.
Future Rimmer: Dolphin sweetmeats, roast suckling elephants, baby seal hearts stuffed with dove pate. Food fit for emperors!
Future Lister: We socialize with all of the greatest figures in history, the Hapsburgs, the Borgias.
Future Kryten: Why, only last week, Louis the 16th threw a banquet especially in our honor.
Future Rimmer: The man is a complete delight, urbane, witty, charming.
Kryten: He was an idiotic despot who lived in the most obscene luxury while the working classes starved in abject poverty.
Future Rimmer: Well, we certainly didn't see any of that while we were there!
Future Kryten: And his wife's an absolute cutie.
Future Cat: I think they're our favorite hosts. If you don't count the Hitlers.
Kryten: The who?!
Future Rimmer: Providing you avoid talking politics, they're an absolute hoot.
Kryten: You're good friends with the Hitlers?!
Future Kryten: It's just a social thing. We don't talk about his work. We just have a few laughs, play canasta, and enjoy the odd game of mixed doubles with the Goerings.
Kryten: I don't believe what I'm hearing!
Future Rimmer: Look, you have to understand we travel back and forth throughout the whole of history, and naturally we want to sample the best of everything. It's just a bit unfortunate that the finest things tend to be in the possession of people who are judged to be a bit dodgy.
Kryten: Herman Goering is a bit dodgy! What has become of you all? You've all abandoned your morals, been seduced by power and wealth. All you're interested in now is indulging your carnal desires.
Future Rimmer: And could we tell you some stories about that!
Kryten: I don't recognize any of you! You're just amoral self-serving scum, freeloading your way through history!
And with that, the Red Dwarf team are moved to kick their future selves off the ship. Seeing how they change, they hope to escape the fate of becoming who they're destined to become. And then they blew up...You have to go and watch the episode.
I don't want to completely judge Rodman based on next to no information. He's there with the Harlem Globetrotters, and they are doing some goodwill work. I am all for that. It's just I wonder how much entertaining the little dictator and his select audience will do.
Anyway, being reminded of this episode, I wanted to tie it to our political environment, and something that does happen too often. How people cross paths with government and often become corrupted by access and the goodies that come.
(Of course, this scifi tale is a little too perfect. No example for the current world can match it. They go on to literally befriend and pal around with Hitler! No hyperbole, it is what they do. The story makes a nice extreme case.)
Plenty seem to get lost in the glamour, the money, the soirees, the proximity to power, the cocktail parties, being treated as important. Often we see journalists enter the Beltway scene and get invited to events and parties. They are good ways to connect with interviewees, makes contacts, and learn details for stories. So I can't fault the engagement.
But it's the balancing act that follows that troubles. A piece too hard on the Senate Majority Whip might get you uninvited to an event. Or a report on some trouble with an oil lobbyist will a source to clam up. Or critical stories on the White House leads to people from it refusing to do your show. And you're asked to lighten blows, or pass up stories, so as to not rock the boat of your access.
Beyond that you may just become friends that you frequently interact with. We've seen this with reporters embedded with troops, travelling with generals, or just following a presidential campaign. You spend days and months together and you...well, let's be honest, it's a variation on Stockholm Syndrome. Suddenly a scandal doesn't need to be broken. The violent way troops handle an incursion into a city following losses is something you have no right to question. When the general violates the uniform code it's just not for you to challenge.
It's all so easy. Just go along to get along. And, if you are "good enough", you may get that front page column at the New York Times. You may be the go to talking head for the afternoon cable hosts. You may become the host of Meet the Press. And then you can look back at who you once were, back at the start, and scoff just like the Future Crew of Red Dwarf do.
And like Future Kryten, you can say to yourself, "Good grief! I can't believe I used to be such a stuck up pompous prig." And you can get back to memorizing your soft ball questions for John McCain.
|Red Dwarf
And, I know, "Jack? Why Red Dwarf?" Hey! It works. Just be happy I didn't feel the need to explain or connect thematically what happened to Winnie the Pooh on Red Dwarf.
Now let's all walk away.


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Wednesday, December 31, 2014
The first washes of a watercolor are likely to be covered by succeeding washes. So why include them in the first place?
Because watercolor is transparent, the first washes can influence the second or even third wash. The first wash may also determine the temperature of the finished painting. Will the painting be primarily warm or cool? The first wash may provide the relief from the final temperature. A warm undertone may be the contrast for the cool dominant hues.
In this painting of a Roman piazza, I wanted a warm hue to dominate the painting. I flooded the middle part of the paper with yellow ochre. Then quickly I extended the first wash with cooler, more neutral hues. After all was dry, I placed darker, but same temperature colors on top. If you glaze a cool over a warm or a warm over a cool, you will probably wind up with "mud".
Finally, be bold with the underpainting. If it is too diluted, it can't do its job. The white of the paper can fool you into thinking you've gone too dark, but the second wash will prove that wrong.
Happy glazing!
Posted by Carol Jessen at Wednesday, December 31, 2014 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, December 29, 2014
In my previous post I showed you the value sketch for the painting of St. Mark's Plaza in Venice. I painted it this morning and it was just yucky! There wasn't enough going on. There weren't enough interruptions in the straight line of the bottom of the building, and my brush strokes got too careful and slow. What to do, what to do?
I remembered all the little cafes around the plaza, and of course, the crowded square. I decided that some umbrellas would echo the domes and by placing them where I did they also repeated the oblique line of the shadow coming from the bell tower. I kept the sky quiet, and the large shadow area is also without texture. That way the "action" stays in the focal area of the buildings and with the people sitting having their espressos.
I think the rapidity of my strokes helped to keep the shapes simple and not too overstated. In my first attempt, I used flat brushes which lead me to define the edges too carefully. I switched to a big mop brush in the second painting which caused me to be looser.
The lesson of the day was to speed up my painting process and keep the details to a minimum.
Posted by Carol Jessen at Monday, December 29, 2014 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Merry Christmas!
I spent my Christmas Eve sketching the value study for the painting of St. Mark's Plaza in Venice that I will do today. It's from my collection of slides I took in Europe many years ago. The lacy quality of the buildings and the big shadow from the bell tower attracted my interest.
One more advantage of doing a value study before you paint is that it gives you a chance to think about color choices. Since the sun is behind the buildings, I decided that the sky should be a gradation of yellow. That choice leads me to think that the complement of yellow--violet--should be featured in the silhouette of the architecture. That contrast will enliven both colors.
I'll keep the details in the interior shape of the cathedral to a minimum. The abstract shapes of the piece are then emphasized and the color should further carry the day.
What a happy way to spend my Christmas day while the turkey is in the oven!
Posted by Carol Jessen at Thursday, December 25, 2014 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, December 12, 2014
Finding Subject Matter
After going through the same stack of photos for the umpteenth time looking for something to paint, I suddenly thought, I wish I could paint some of my photos of Europe. Only trouble is, they are on slides. I didn't want to burn up the slide projector bulb finding and then sketching or painting the great scene.
I solved the problem by projecting my slides on the wall and then photographing the projected image with my instamatic camera. It worked great, and now I have about fifty photos to work from this winter when I'm in Florida and the weather isn't cooperative.
I'm still a convert to the belief that a value sketch is a desired first step to creating a well designed painting. So here is the value sketch and painting of a couple of tin mines along the coast of Cornwall, England.
Posted by Carol Jessen at Friday, December 12, 2014 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, December 5, 2014
With all that's been happening in my hometown these days, I just haven't felt like painting. Sometimes our emotional state affects our ability to concentrate on our painting life. But finally I forced myself into the studio. I combed through my photos and found a pic I took in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut years ago. I returned to an old theme: dockside subject matter. I also love painting reflections in water and boats. Finding quiet in this kind of setting soothes my anxieties.
I'm thinking that with Christmas coming, maybe I ought to try a snow scene. A return to thinking about painting leads to actual painting.
Posted by Carol Jessen at Friday, December 05, 2014 0 comments Links to this post
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Serverius, the Weaver of Mirages is a custom champion based on the Guild Wars 2 Mesmer
}} }}Serverius throws a illusionary greatsword to the target enemy that bounces to the nearest unaffected enemy up to 3 times, dealing magic damage and them 35% for 2 seconds.
|description2 = The first enemy champion stuck by the blade will summon an Illusionary Berserk that will spin in the place for 2 seconds, dealing damage per second to all enemies in the area. |leveling = |cooldown = |cost = |costtype = mana |range = 675 }}Serverius summons a giant illusionary blade from the ground, impaling all enemies in the area and dealing magic damage to all enemies inside the blade's area.
|leveling = |cooldown = |cost = |costtype = mana |rang…
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Wouldn't It Be Nice to Win the Lottery?
Did you ever play that game where you imagined you won the lottery or came into a large sum of money and daydreamed about all the things you would do with it? I know I have. I thought about the house I would buy, the car I would drive, the charities I would give to and businesses I would invest in. The funny thing is that I've actually never played, but dreaming about it was always fun.
It sure would be nice to win the lottery. Or would it? I got to thinking about this again after the news about Neal Wanless, the 23-year old rancher from one of the poorest counties in the U.S. bought $15 worth of lottery tickets in a town called Winner and wound up being the big winner of $232 million dollars.
Wanless, who is single and lives with his parents on the family's 320-acre ranch in South Dakota, said he's going to buy a bigger spread of land, repay the townspeople for the kindness they have shown his family and spend his fortune wisely.
"I want to thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity and blessing me with this great fortune. I will not squander it," he said. I hope that's the case for Neal, for history has shown other lottery winners haven't had the greatest fortune with their fortunes.
Take for example West Virginia's Jack Whittaker, who won $315 million on Christmas Day, 2002. Five years later Jack blamed the new riches for causing his granddaughter's fatal drug overdose, his divorce, his inability to trust and for the hundreds of lawsuits filed against him.
"I don't have any friends," he told The Associated Press in 2007. "Every friend that I've had, practically, has wanted to borrow money or something and of course, once they borrow money from you, you can't be friends anymore."
This isn't the case for every lottery winner, but there are countless stories on the web about winners squandering every last cent and wishing they had never even purchased the ticket. What every lottery winner eventually finds out is that true joy does not come from any amount of money.
On the surface it seems to me like life would be so much easier having that much cash in the bank, being able to buy whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But it's not true. Happiness derived from money is fleeting. It won't last because it's not designed to give us ultimate joy. We were made to find our full joy, satisfaction and treasure in worshipping and being in relationship with our great God. Jesus said to his disciples in John 15:11, " These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
Matthew 6:24 says, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." The danger of winning the lottery or having any amount of money for that matter is that it can lead us away from our great Savior and prohibit us from finding complete joy in Him.
Perhaps a wise prayer for us to meditate on is found in Proberbs 30:8-9:
"..give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."
Chris Carr permalinkJune 8, 2009 9:21 pm
This is great — I didn't even realize you had a blog. You appear to have a writing gift and I would encourage your development of that gift.
June 8, 2009 9:28 pm
Excellent post, Jason! It's so true that money does not bring happiness and that only the Lord can really satisfy us.
I find it very difficult to work and own a business in a culture that believes the exact opposite and seeks to pull every dime away from me that they can. I can truthfully say that finding a balance is a juggling act. Too much compassion and the lack of desire for money can lead a business down the road to failure. Yet, greed and desire for worldly treasure is not from the Lord and does not please Him. How do you think that we can find a peaceful coexistence between being successfull in sales without the desire to have more money?
June 9, 2009 11:15 am
Its very hard, for me at least, not to resent God for not giving me the wealth of lets say Donald Trump & Bill Gates when I feel I can do more to further HIS Kingdom with it than them. They are probably writing checks to charities because its financially better for them (write-off) plus they are charities that are non Christian organizations.
I constantly have to say to myself "Don't judge" or "It's God's Plan"
Whew that is hard to do. Im exhausted just thinking about it. 🙂
Aaron Carter permalinkJune 9, 2009 10:49 pm
Thanks for the imparted wisdom. It is always a conscious effort to make sure my goals are not worldly and that I am following God's will, especially when it comes to career goals. It all comes down to what am I worshipping, the Creator or created things? I am learning that true joy is through being fully satisfied in Him.
LnddMiles permalinkJuly 21, 2009 9:05 pm
Pretty cool post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say
that I have really liked reading your blog posts. Anyway
I'll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you post again soon!
rochanda permalinkSeptember 2, 2009 8:28 pm
i dont agree with you all when you say that money dont buy happiness.it does for me because all my life i have been a giver and i get more joy out of giving to the needy and helping people then just keeping it all to myself.i have a daughter who has sickle cell disease and i could certainly contribute more to that organization and educational organizations that will help kids go to college.


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February Lady came in a close second. She will be on my needles at some point closer, or after, Rhinebeck. I'll probably wait and see what yarn I may be able to purchase for it at the Festival. So Yvonne and Kim, I'm not messing around with your bet on the Lady.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day weekend!


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After the slight disappointment from the baguettes, I decided to seek out Alex Goh's other book, Magic Bread. By the way, when I was raving to you guys in this post about Magic Bread by Alex Goh, did you think such a book actually existed? I mean magic bread sounds so um, fake, made up, right? I looked for the book in the library and managed to get a copy!
|from Magic Bread
Magic Bread has a recipe for a basic sweet bread dough and I decided to bake Butter Sugar Bread. This recipe uses gelatinised dough together with the main dough.
|in goes the gelatinised dough
So in conclusion, Magic Bread beats World of Bread, taste wise. In terms of softness, magic bread does have a bit more fluffiness. Magic Bread is no longer sold in Singapore and it is very unlikely you can get it anywhere except Malaysia. If you live in Singapore you can borrow it from the library. Just give me a chance to return the book first!
To be honest, I'm not a big fan of soft white bread. Singaporeans love soft white bread. I prefer the tougher, wholegrain bread. I feel the direction of my learning journey needs to go towards rustic wholegrain.


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SIT TESOL Certificate in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Program Duration
3-6 Months, 2-4 Weeks
Participation Guidelines
Worldwide Participants.
Cost in USD per week
Contact Provider for Cost Details
Language Skills Required
- English
Experience RequiredNo
Students must have a high school degree and show a capacity for college-level education including a good understanding of the English language and solid writing skills. Students must remain calm under pressure, be willing to accept the authority of your trainers, commit to conveying a difference of opinion in a respectful manner, and be willing to work as a positive team player.
All applicants must submit an application along with a one-page essay. Non-native speakers typically have a minimum TOEFL score of 600 on the written test or 250 on the computerized version, an IELTS Band 7.0 or higher, or a CEF C1. Non-native speakers must also have a second interview to ensure their listening/speaking skills are adequate to take the course and to teach English. All participants must show a willingness to plan and teach in groups and to work reflectively.
Minimum Education
High School
Application Procedures
- Written Application
- Phone/Video Interview


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Vitamin That Is Seldom Talked About Could Be Majorly Impacting Chronic Kidney Disease And Diabetics/
Vitamin K is often overlooked by Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes patients because it is not highlighted as an important vitamin or one they should closely monitor. This, however, is unfortunate. While studies have shown that only one in four Americans get their recommended vitamin K daily intake, those with Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes are even more likely to be deficient in the vitamin due to digestive disorders, rigorous medicinal therapies, restricted diets, and nutrients withdrawn from the body.
Recommended Reading: Vitamin Supplements That CKD Patients Should Consider Utilizing And Others To Avoid
Vitamin K deficiency could cause very serious and even life-threatening complications such as bleeding, Osteoporosis (bone disease), Varicose Veins (painful and swollen veins that bulge out, mainly in legs), Cancer, calcification of arteries, and Cardiovascular (Heart) Diseases.
Recommended Reading: CKD Patients Should Be Aware That A Frequently Taken Daily Supplement May Be Harmful
Moreover, increasing the intake of vitamin K may lower the risk of developing Type II Diabetes by as much as 51%, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This is important to know as many people with Chronic Kidney Disease are also highly susceptible to Diabetes. Moreover, an excess of 44% of those with Chronic Kidney Disease are also Diabetics which is in fact the leading cause of Kidney Failure. Those with Diabetes may be surprised to learn that vitamin K also reduces insulin resistance and thereby assists in improved outcomes.
Recommended Reading: Key Vegetables CKD Patients Should Be Eating This Winter To Avoid Illnesses
The likely question you now have is, "What does this mean for me and what can I do about it?" Vitamin K is typically found in green leafy vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and Spring onions. Ask your Dietitian in what amounts you should be eating vitamin K rich foods and how to monitor appropriate levels. If you are persistently deficient in the vitamin then consider discussing the option of supplements with your Healthcare Team. Also, if you are finding it difficult to incorporate vitamin K or other essential vitamins into your diet because of dietary restrictions or other health concerns, pick up a $5.00 copy Fight Kidney Disease and Diabetes. The 60+ page cooking guide is only on sale for the remainder of Kidney Month. Time is running out to get it on sale, so RUN and grab yourself a copy Today!
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"8 Health Risks of Vitamin K Deficiency." Http://health.india.com/. Health.India
"Foods Rich in This Vitamin Reduce Your Diabetes Risk by 20%."Http://articles.mercola.com/
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