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|Filed Feb. 22, 2005
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Marlin W. Ingebretson, Plaintiff and Appellant
Marla K. Ingebretson, Defendant and Appellee
No. 20040156
Appeal from the District Court of Traill County, East Central Judicial District, the Honorable Cynthia Rothe-Seeger, Judge.
Opinion of the Court by Kapsner, Justice.
Douglas A. Christensen, Pearson Christensen, 24 N. 4th St., P.O. Box 5758, Grand Forks, ND 58206-5758, for plaintiff and appellant.
Wayne T. Anderson, 2108 S. University Dr., Ste. 103, Fargo, ND 58103-5348, for defendant and appellee.
Ingebretson v. Ingebretson
Kapsner, Justice.
[¶1] Marlin Ingebretson appeals from a divorce judgment awarding Marla Ingebretson permanent spousal support of $1,500 per month, arguing the award was improper in light of Marla Ingebretson's trial testimony. Because the district court did not adequately explain its decision in light of the testimony heard at trial, we reverse and remand for reconsideration or further explanation of the award.
[¶2] Marlin and Marla Ingebretson were married in 1985. They have two minor children. Marlin Ingebretson was 41 years old at the time of trial and Marla Ingebretson was 40. Throughout the marriage, Marlin Ingebretson was the owner and operator of Ingebretson Air Spray, Inc., an aerial application business in Mayville. Marla Ingebretson earned a degree in elementary education at Mayville State University and held various jobs, including dental assistant, elementary teacher, Head Start coordinator, home daycare provider, and helping with Marlin Ingebretson's business during the summer months in the early years of the marriage. She stayed home for four years to raise their children and then returned to the workforce. At the time of trial, she was working as a kindergarten teacher with monthly income of $1,458. Marlin Ingebretson's average monthly income for the prior five years was $6,074.
[¶3] The parties enjoyed a comfortable standard of living during their marriage. They lived in the home Marlin Ingebretson was raised in, accumulated assets valued at nearly $600,000, and vacationed at destinations such as Walt Disney World, Hawaii, the Bahamas, South Dakota's Black Hills, and a resort in Minnesota.
[¶4] Marla Ingebretson's pretrial documents requested "a reasonable amount of spousal support" and her post-trial proposed findings of fact provided for an award of permanent support of $1,800 per month. She testified on direct and cross-examination that she thought she would need spousal support of $1,800 to $2,000 for ten years. Her only explanation for the request was that she "took some advice from [her] lawyer." Marla Ingebretson submitted and testified to monthly expenses of $5,911, but then testified on cross-examination to monthly expenses of approximately $3,000. The trial court found Marla Ingebretson's monthly expenses to be $4,851. The court further determined she was a disadvantaged spouse and ordered Marlin Ingebretson to pay permanent spousal support of $1,500 per month.
[¶5] Marlin Ingebretson filed a motion to amend the judgment. The district court entered an amended judgment following a hearing on the motion, but did not amend the spousal support obligation. Marlin Ingebretson appealed to this Court, arguing the spousal support award was not based on the evidence and the doctrines of judicial estoppel and judicial admission apply to Marla Ingebretson's testimony about her support needs and prohibit an award of permanent support.
[¶6] A district court's decision on spousal support is a finding of fact that will be set aside only if it is clearly erroneous. Staley v. Staley, 2004 ND 195, ¶ 7, 688 N.W.2d 182 (citing Sommer v. Sommer, 2001 ND 191, ¶ 8, 636 N.W.2d 423). A finding is clearly erroneous when it is induced by an erroneous view of the law, there is no evidence to support it, or a review of the entire record convinces this Court a mistake has been made. Id.
[¶7] An award of spousal support should be based on consideration of the Ruff-Fischer guidelines. Staley, 2004 ND 195, ¶ 8, 688 N.W.2d 182; see Ruff v. Ruff, 78 N.D. 775, 52 N.W.2d 107 (1952); Fischer v. Fischer, 139 N.W.2d 845 (N.D. 1966). Factors to consider under the guidelines include:
the respective ages of the parties, their earning ability, the duration of the marriage and conduct of the parties during the marriage, their station in life, the circumstances and necessities of each, their health and physical condition, their financial circumstances as shown by the property owned at the time, its value at the time, its income-producing capacity, if any, whether accumulated before or after the marriage, and such other matters as may be material.Staley, at ¶ 8 (quoting Sommer, 2001 ND 191, ¶ 9, 636 N.W.2d 423). The district court's decision should be rationally based, but it is not required to make specific findings on each factor. Staley, at ¶ 8.
[¶8] The district court found Marla Ingebretson's monthly living expenses to be $4,851 and Marlin Ingebretson's monthly expenses to be $3,266. The court acknowledged that teaching positions are difficult to obtain in the Mayville area and budget restraints make continued employment uncertain. The court further found:
Marla has been disadvantaged by this marriage. This is a long-term marriage and Marla contributed to the financial growth of the marital estate. Marla worked for Marlin prior to the marriage as well as during the early years of the marriage in various capacities in his business. Marla mixed chemicals; cleaned airplane windows; did the book work; set up the billing system and computer system; answered the telephone; took air-spray orders; ordered and picked up chemical; and helped rake the gravel runway before it was asphalted. Even though Marla is a teacher, her earnings will likely never come close to the earnings of Marlin.
Further, the parties enjoyed a significant standard of living during the marriage, which included extensive travel to Mexico several times; the Bahamas; Hawaii; Disney World; the Black Hills; Red Lodge; Montana skiing approximately seven (7) times; to a lake resort near Park Rapids many times; Texas; Oklahoma; and Colorado. Additionally, Marlin went hunting annually in South Dakota, traveled to Reno, Nevada several times, hunts pheasant on a game preserve in Bejeau, Minnesota annually, hunts dear [sic] annually and made several trips out of state to hunt elk.
The Court finds that Marla is in need of permanent spousal support and finds that Marlin has the ability to pay permanent spousal support in the amount of $1,500 per month.
[¶9] Section 14-05-24.1, N.D.C.C., provides, "[t]aking into consideration the circumstances of the parties, the court may require one party to pay spousal support to the other party for any period of time. The court may modify its spousal support orders." This Court has frequently stated a preference for rehabilitative support rather than permanent. See, e.g., Sommers v. Sommers, 2003 ND 77, ¶ 17, 660 N.W.2d 586; Fox v. Fox, 1999 ND 68, ¶ 21, 592 N.W.2d 541. However, we have acknowledged "when there is substantial disparity between the spouse's incomes that cannot be readily adjusted by property division or rehabilitative support, it may be appropriate for the court to award indefinite permanent support to maintain the disadvantaged spouse." Sommers, at ¶ 17. "Permanent support is appropriate when the economically disadvantaged spouse cannot be equitably rehabilitated to make up for the opportunities and development she lost during the course of the marriage." Staley, 2004 ND 195, ¶ 16, 688 N.W.2d 182 (quoting Riehl v. Riehl, 1999 ND 107, ¶ 11, 595 N.W.2d 10). This Court has not endorsed income equalization as a measure of spousal support, but has recognized that a difference in earning power can be considered when determining spousal support. Sommers, at ¶ 17.
[¶10] The district court's findings, while detailed, do not provide an adequate explanation of the decision to award permanent support when Marla Ingebretson testified she only required support for ten years. While it was not erroneous for the district court to award permanent support, it was erroneous to do so without providing sufficient explanation for its decision in light of the testimony heard at trial. We reverse and remand to the district court for detailed findings justifying the award of permanent spousal support or an amended judgment changing the award to rehabilitative support. Because "[q]uestions of property division and spousal support cannot be considered separately or in a vacuum, but ordinarily must be examined and dealt with together," Sommers, 2003 ND 77, ¶ 15, 660 N.W.2d 586, and because the property division may have influenced the award and structure of spousal support, Fox, 1999 ND 68, ¶¶ 20-22, 592 N.W.2d 541, the district court may, if it amends spousal support, also reconsider the property distribution.
[¶11] Marlin Ingebretson argues the district court's finding on Marla Ingebretson's monthly expenses is clearly erroneous. A party's need is a factor the district court can consider under the Ruff-Fischer guidelines. Staley, 2004 ND 195, ¶ 8, 688 N.W.2d 182. Marla Ingebretson submitted monthly expenses of $5,911 at trial. She testified on direct examination that even if she delayed working towards her master's degree, her monthly expenses would still be about $4,900. Marla Ingebretson's testimony on cross-examination indicated her expenses were lower than those submitted. She listed $60 for counseling and therapy, then stated neither she nor the children were currently attending. She admitted she was not currently paying a monthly life insurance premium of $60. Marla Ingebretson further testified her listed expenses for credit card bills were short-term and the bills would be paid off within a year at the listed rate. She testified other expenses were speculative, or had been listed "just in case." When asked what her current actual expenses were, Marla Ingebretson stated, "around $3,000 . . . give or take."
[¶12] The district court found Marla Ingebretson's monthly expenses did not include $1,000 for continuing education or $60 for homeowners insurance. By removing these expenses, the court concluded Marla Ingebretson's monthly expenses were $4,851.
[¶13] This Court gives deference to the district court's findings when the district court was presented with conflicting testimony. Montgomery v. Montgomery, 2003 ND 135, ¶ 11, 667 N.W.2d 611. "The trier of fact can best evaluate testimony because it observes the demeanor and credibility of the witness, and we do not substitute our judgment for that of the trier of fact when reasonable evidence supports the findings." Id. It was not clearly erroneous for the district court to place greater credibility on Marla Ingebretson's testimony indicating higher monthly expenses.
[¶14] "To be awarded spousal support, the district court must find the requesting spouse to be 'disadvantaged.' A 'disadvantaged spouse' is one who has 'foregone opportunities or lost advantages as a consequence of the marriage.'" Weigel v. Weigel, 2000 ND 16, ¶ 11, 604 N.W.2d 462 (internal citations omitted). Marlin Ingebretson argues Marla Ingebretson is not a disadvantaged spouse because she was employed in her chosen field throughout much of the marriage and continues to work in that field.
[¶15] Marla Ingebretson's employment in her chosen field does not mean she had not made sacrifices and foregone opportunities as a result of the marriage. The district court found Marla Ingebretson was a disadvantaged spouse because she contributed to Marlin Ingebretson's business prior to the marriage and during the early years of the marriage when she was not employed as an educator. Marla Ingebretson also left the workforce for four years to stay home with the parties' children, enabling Marlin Ingebretson to continue building his business. Based on the record, the district court's finding that Marla Ingebretson was a disadvantaged spouse is not clearly erroneous.
[¶16] Marlin Ingebretson argues the doctrine of judicial estoppel applies to Marla Ingebretson's testimony on her spousal support needs and prohibits an award of permanent spousal support. This Court has declined to decide whether judicial estoppel applies in North Dakota. See generally Meide v. Stenehjem, 2002 ND 128, ¶ 15, 649 N.W.2d 532; BTA Oil Producers v. MDU Resources Group, 2002 ND 55, ¶ 14, 642 N.W.2d 873.
[¶17] We have said the following about judicial estoppel:
Judicial estoppel prohibits a party from assuming inconsistent or contradictory positions during the course of litigation. See State v. Profit, 591 N.W.2d 451, 462 (Minn. 1999); 28 Am. Jur. 2d Estoppel and Waiver § 74 (2000); 31 C.J.S. Estoppel and Waiver § 139(a) (1996). The underlying rationale for the doctrine is summarized in 28 Am. Jur. 2d Estoppel and Waiver § 74 (footnotes omitted):Meide, 2002 ND 128, ¶ 15, 649 N.W.2d 532 (quoting BTA Oil Producers, 2002 ND 55, ¶ 14, 642 N.W.2d 873).The fundamental concept of judicial estoppel is that a party in a judicial proceeding is barred from denying or contradicting sworn statements made therein. Judicial estoppel is a judge-made doctrine that seeks to prevent a litigant from asserting a position inconsistent, conflicts with, or is contrary to one that she has previously asserted in the same or in a previous proceeding; it is designed to prevent litigants and their counsel from playing fast and loose with the courts, and to protect the integrity of the judicial process. Judicial estoppel doctrine is equitable and is intended to protect the courts from being manipulated by chameleonic litigants who seek to prevail, twice, on opposite theories. The purpose of the doctrine of judicial estoppel is to reduce fraud in the legal process by forcing a modicum of consistency on the repeating litigant.The doctrine applies only where a party's subsequent position is totally inconsistent with its original position, and does not apply where distinct or different issues or facts are involved. Profit, 591 N.W.2d at 462; 28 Am. Jur. 2d Estoppel and Waiver § 74; 31 C.J.S. Estoppel and Waiver § 139(a).
[¶18] Assuming, without deciding, the doctrine of judicial estoppel applies in this state, we conclude the doctrine would not bar the district court's award of permanent spousal support. Marla Ingebretson's position following trial, requesting permanent spousal support in her proposed findings, is not "totally inconsistent" with her trial testimony requesting support for ten years. Marla Ingebretson did not change her position on whether she needed spousal support, but simply requested a longer term. In addition, we have recognized the district court has broad discretion in making an equitable distribution of property and allocation of spousal support to address the individual needs of divorcing parties. Glander v. Glander, 1997 ND 192, ¶¶ 8, 12, 569 N.W.2d 262. The exercise of that judicial function is not limited by the specific requests of the parties so long as the basis for the decision can be discerned. We note, for example, that while Marla Ingebretson testified she needed support for 10 years, she requested support in a greater amount. Spousal support is based upon the parties' needs and ability to pay. Sommer, 2001 ND 191, ¶ 10, 636 N.W.2d 423. Balancing these factors, a trial court may adjust both the amount and duration. The need for spousal support and ability to pay such support may be dependent upon the amount and nature of property distributed to each former spouse, including whether such property is income-producing. Id. at ¶ 16. The doctrine of judicial estoppel would not prohibit the permanent award. But where a party appears to have requested support for a limited period, it is incumbent on the court to explain such award.
[¶19] "[T]estimony unfavorable to one's own contention can be a 'judicial admission' if it is 'deliberate, clear and unequivocal.'" Malarchick v. Pierce, 264 N.W.2d 478, 480 (N.D. 1978). The majority rule, adopted in North Dakota, states the trier of fact has the responsibility of deciding the issue based on all the evidence, even when a party gives testimony that conflicts with her position. Id. Marla Ingebretson's testimony is not a limitation on the court's authority to structure an award of spousal support under N.D.C.C. § 14-05-24.1, provided the court articulates a valid reason for exceeding the duration requested.
[¶20] Where the evidence in the record does not support an award of permanent spousal support because the recipient testified she needed support for ten years, and the court has not articulated a reason for exceeding the duration of her request, we conclude the award of permanent spousal support was clearly erroneous. We reverse and remand for detailed findings or an amended award.
|Carol Ronning Kapsner
William A. Neumann
William F. Hodny, S.J.
Gerald W. VandeWalle, C.J.
[¶22] The Honorable William F. Hodny, S.J., sitting in place of Maring, J., disqualified.
Sandstrom, Justice, concurring and dissenting.
[¶23] I agree with many things written by the majority, but I disagree with its analysis that permanent spousal support might be appropriate when only rehabilitative spousal support had been requested.
[¶24] Spousal support is appropriate when a party has been disadvantaged as a result of the marriage. Weigel v. Weigel, 2000 ND 16, ¶¶ 11-14, 604 N.W.2d 462; Brown v. Brown, 1999 ND 199, ¶ 32, 600 N.W.2d 869 (quoting Riehl v. Riehl, 1999 ND 107, ¶ 9, 595 N.W.2d 10) ("A 'disadvantaged' spouse is one who has 'foregone opportunities or lost advantages as a consequence of the marriage and who has contributed during the marriage to the supporting spouse's increased earning capacity.'").
[¶25] In the case of long-term marriages, permanent spousal support may be appropriate, but it should not be the norm when rehabilitative support can overcome the disadvantage resulting from the marriage. In view of this Court's longstanding position that rehabilitative, not permanent, spousal support is preferred, see, e.g., van Oosting v. van Oosting, 521 N.W.2d 93, 100 (N.D. 1994); Welder v. Welder, 520 N.W.2d 813, 818 (N.D. 1994); Wiege v. Wiege, 518 N.W.2d 708, 711 (N.D. 1994); Roen v. Roen, 438 N.W.2d 170, 172 (N.D. 1989), I would conclude that permanent spousal support is inappropriate when only rehabilitative spousal support has been requested.
|Dale V. Sandstrom


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This poster done by Half Hazard Press is for the Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration featuring Warren Haynes and the Chicago Philharmonic Highland Park, IL. Its an 18"x24" 3-color print with an AP edition of 40 going for $50 each.
The artwork for this print was based on the song 'Scarlet Begonias' and depicts the female character from the song in free fall with a sense of peacefulness to represent the idea of her "slipping away" or being let go by the narrator. The background and framing are inspired by the formats of playing cards to tie in some of the poker references.
Buy it at www.HalfHazardPress.com

subset: commoncrawl


text: > None of this is helping. I respectfully disagree with this point of > view. Further, in the universe I happen to be in, even 3/4 is at best > "rough" consensus --- lets stop screaming and figure out a compromise. IMHO, 3/4 is a strong consensus given the number of people participating in that opinion. Nobody is screaming. However some people are behaving unreasonably. Keith -------------------------------------------------------------------- IETF IPng Working Group Mailing List IPng Home Page: http://playground.sun.com/ipng FTP archive: ftp://playground.sun.com/pub/ipng Direct all administrative requests to email@example.com --------------------------------------------------------------------


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Have I mentioned before that my job doesn't suck? I mean I am treated to amazing wines daily, travel to France and Spain and am always finding myself dining in some of the best restaurants, thanks to connections I have made or because of trade tastings or when suppliers take us out to eat and enjoy their wines….I mean dealing with the general public is not always easy, we are on our feet all day and hoisting 40 pound cases all day does take its toll but man o man the perks are pretty freaking cool…..there is just one problem, some of these treats make me throw up a little.
Being a part of the food and wine community means that you are often putting things that are, a bit out of the norm in your mouth and most of the time that is not only not an issue, but a pleasure however there are still some things that no matter how many times I try them, no matter how special and rare they are just seriously make me wretch….with time a few things have been moved from the "hate it" to "I can swallow it" arena and in the case of the once loathed snot rockets or oysters they shot up from "can't even think about trying one" to "Oh my…I love them" so there has been some progress but….
There is this sense that if you don't like something it is because you either haven't tried it or you have unrefined taste, not a good thing when you are sitting across the table from people that look to you for your palate, it's troublesome, sometimes uncomfortable and has on more than one occasion sent me walking quickly to the ladies room to expel the mouthful of inedible taste treats….embarrassing, but true. Most of the things that find their way to the back of my throat and flip that ol' gag reflex switch are those with "questionable" textures, creamy, soft and gelatinous often means, gag, wretch and expel. Top that texture issue with really strong flavors like in the case of offal and I am so queased out that I might just be done eating for the rest of the day!
I have eaten blood sausage in Paris, snails in Normandy and baseball sized chunks of Foie Gras in Cadiz, I did survive it and have tried all of those things on many other occasions with little or no change in my aversion, it may make me appear unsophisticated on occasion but I'm doubting yacking on the table is going to do much for my sophistication level either. The older I get and the more entrenched in the world of wine the less I worry about it, I'm secure in my wine palate and have learned through many trips in really top notch restaurants how to dance around even the trickiest of menus, and on the rare chance that someone calls me out on my avoidance of certain foods I just say, "Hey you can have your caviar, guts and bugs. I'm fine with what I have here" seems to work well and the people that love those things are thrilled there is more for them.
There is one more palate nightmare for me, one other place that makes me feel like a turd for not only not liking them, but for actually gagging on them once in a while and that is over extracted California Chardonnay and Cabernet….I know, I know but there have been times when I am running through a mass of California Chardonnay and half way through I notice an extra umpf in my spitting….a little push if you will, then I get the goose bumps and the shiver and I know, " I am about done with these". It happens less with Cabernet but with the really gooey, super soft ones? Yup, "Think I'm gonna barf".
So as it turns out, expensive and rare means nothing to my palate, I need structure, texture and balance, I don't have a stunted palate….just a really picky one! Is it any wonder that I am a Champagne, Burgundy and Loire lover, all of which have pretty high acidity and very little by way of creamy. So there you have it folks, the confessions of a fancified French Wine Buyer that cannot gag down the "goo".
How Trump made summits a joke
1 hour ago


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The Finatrade Foundation, corporate social responsibility arm of Finatrade has presented 250 protective coats worth, GH¢10,000.00 for use by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research.
This donation according to Mr. Elias Daher, Group Human Resource Manager of the Finatrade Group of Companies is in recognition of the Institute's tremendous contribution to medical research and health in general in Ghana and the sub-region.
He indicated that Finatrade has supported the Research Institute in times past by covering the cost of the purchase of a microscope.
"We already have a strong relationship with the University of Ghana and we are happy that as a company the Noguchi Memorial Research Institute is one of the research institutes we are extending our support".
The Executive Secretary of the Finatrade Foundation Mr. John Awuni in a brief remark said the Finatrade Foundation's activities focus on the areas of agriculture, education and health.
"We are aware that the Institute always adheres to international standards, and this donation is one way of supporting them to continue to provide high quality and safe medical research and practice to the whole country."
According to him, the Foundation since 2003 has supported over 200 under-graduate and post graduate students studying agricultural related courses in four of the country's public universities.
He pledged the Foundation's commitment towards supporting the health sector in the area of research and assisting less privileged patients critically ill and in need of surgery.
The Director of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Dr. Kwadwo Ansah Koram thanked the Finatrade group for their kind gesture and pledged the commitment of the institute to make maximum use of the protective coats.
He said the coats had come at an appropriate time and was of good quality with a long life span.
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Navarre's Matt Cronin threw a perfect game Thursday night against Niceville, leading the Raiders to a 7-0 victory over the Eagles on the road.
Cronin, who is committed to playing college baseball at Arkansas, struck out 12 of the 21 batters he faced in the impressive win.
The Raiders tallied six hits, which Michael Sandle racking up two hits. Sandle signed earlier this week with South Alabama. Cronin came through with one hit and also drove in a run. Dusty Rogers, Aaron Macedo and Micah Daniel all racked up hits as well.
Navarre jumped in front 2-0 after one inning and pushed its advantage to 4-0 after two innings. The Raiders capitalized on six errors by the Eagles as well en route to the District 2-7A victory. Navarre is now 10-7 on the season.
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Growing up has sure changed since I did it all those years ago... Or at least that's what a teenager will try to tell me. However, the reality is that growing up hasn't really changed that much at all. Parents are parents and teenagers are teenagers and everyone is still doing just about the same things today--as it was in 1977 when I was Makala's age.
It seems to me the issues are just about the same now, as I felt when I was nearly 15. She wants independence, freedom, true love and to start her own life. I want to see reasons to respect her and trust her as she does so. If there is one thing I want my kids to learn it is that feeling I had as a teenager. I was brought up to feel that the most important thing I could do was earn my parents trust and respect. With that I could count on my parents to support me with the dreams I had in life.
If I am learning anything about parenting teenager's it is that sometimes a mother just needs to Shut-Up and let the chips fall where they may. My older kids did not cause me too much stress as teenagers, there were normal rebellion actions, typical growing up mistakes and very few extreme situation that needed me to intervene. I look back and see where I could have handled some situations differently but, overall I am happy with the mother I was for both of them.
Bless her heart, Makala is more like me then either one of the older two were. She is the romantic, outgoing, energetic, bright sunshine of life that I always felt inside too. I am very aware that It is not helpful to see myself in my daughter--but, with Makala it's very hard to ignore. I actually can understand how she gets herself into the social messes she does. It is easy to be a target when you live your life in the spotlight. What I see in her is that outgoing--in your face--personality, I have had to control all of my life.
Some morning when she walks out the door for school, I just remember those 3 inch, multi-colored, platform shoes I had to have so I could ride my bike... and be seen. Her current trademark is Zebra Print. Which would be fine except in True Makala form she seems to push it past the limit and to the extreme. I hope to God she gets through her teens and KEEPS this part of her spirit... I expect her peers will beat her into some kind of submission to an acceptable limit. Makala will always push the boundaries. I think the next few years will be about teaching her to recognize the limits.
I know that growing up is not easy and while the Issue are the same--the World is not. There are some awful risks in life out there today. There is more reason today to teach teens how to navigate the systems and find their way to live life. The next few years should be very interesting and hopefully successful for all four of my children.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
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Sunday, December 11, 2016
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Tiny dancer
Kemiry has been dying to do dance for years. We have done little dance classes here and there. It thisnis her first official dance class with recitals and all.
Anyone who knows the kemernator (oh, we can't call her that anymore.) knows that she is a little on the... socially inept side (she is shy.) if you remember dance class from two years ago, she would sit with me and cry just during practice.
But she is a growing beauty. She performed absolutely beautifully. And she had so much expression. She even blew kisses as she was leaving the stage.
The only slight mishap, and I say slight with a tone of sarcasm, was when she threw up before her final performance. I don't think she was sick or nervous, she had a very fast outfit change and I think it stressed her out to the max. We're going to have to do some exersize she in quick transition. I truely think she had no idea what to expect and it got the best of her.
I am so incredibly proud of her. She has come a long way in the past few years. She has grown into a beautiful blossoming PRE TEEN!!! Yikes.
One recital down, probably a mission more to go. Good job beautiful girl.
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Thursday, May 28, 2009 | 0 Comments
What do the codes in your SMS mean?
Have you ever received an SMS from your bank, service provider, or a company, that has been prefixed with codes? For example: An SMS from ICICI Bank that reads: IZ-ICICIBANK. Ever wondered what these codes really mean?
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) introduced these codes in order to curb bulk SMS providers from unsolicited commercial communication. Now that these codes are implemented, the sender can be traced, if necessary, as these codes reveal the location, the name of the company and the service provider.
This is how the code should look like:
XY-name of the company
X = Code of the service provider
Y = Location
Which means, IZ-ICICIBANK would be:
I = Idea Cellular (service provider)
Z = Maharashtra (location)
So, I am sure next time you get an SMS with a code like this, you'll know what it is
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | 0 Comments
Complete programming tutorials - Bookmark for sure
Many newbie programmers search a lot for tutorials pages to learn some codings starting from "Hello world" to some advance programming and to put an end this , here is a complete tutorial of almost all programming language in a single page. Do bookmark this page for future reference.
Introduction to C Programming
C Optimization Tutorial
Compiling C and C++ Programs on UNIX Systems - gcc/g++
Building and Using Static and Shared C Libraries
Programming in C: UNIX System Calls and Subroutines Using C
C Programming Class Notes
ANSI C for Programmers on UNIX Systems
Sams Teach Yourself C in 24 Hours
Sams Teach Yourself C in 21 Days (4th Ed.)
The Standard C Library for Linux - Part 1: file functions
The Standard C Library for Linux - Part 2: character input/output
The Standard C Library for Linux - Part 3: formatted input/output
The Standard C Library for Linux - Part 4: Character Handling
The Standard C Library for Linux - Part 5: Miscellaneous Functions
Programming in C: A Tutorial
An Introduction to C Development on Linux
C Programming Course
C Language Tutorial
CScene: An Online Magazine for C and C++ Programming
C++ Tutorial
Understanding C++: An Accelerated Introduction
An Introduction to C++ Class Hierarchies
Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming Using C++
Compiling C and C++ Programs on UNIX Systems - gcc/g++
C++ FAQ Lite
C++ Programming Language Tutorials
Reducing Dependencies in C++
C++ Exception Handling
Part 1: Unicode
Part 2: A Complete String Class
Making C++ Loadable Modules Work
Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days (2nd Ed.)
C++ Portability Guide
C++ Tips
C++ Language Tutorial
CScene: An Online Magazine for C and C++ Programming
C++ Libraries FAQ
CGI Programming Tutorial
CGI Programming 101
CGI Manual of Style
CGI Developer's Guide
CGI Programming Unleashed
Sams Teach Yourself CGI Programming with Perl 5 in a Week (2nd Ed.)
CGI/Perl Tips, Tricks and Hints
A Tour of HTML Forms and CGI Scripts
Reading CGI Data: URL-Encoding and the CGI Protocol
CGI Programming FAQ
A Brief Tutorial on CORBA
CORBA 2.0 Specification
CORBA Tutorials
Sams Teach Yourself CORBA in 14 Days
Linux Network Programming, Part 3 - CORBA: The Software Bus
CORBA Program Development, Part 1
CORBA Program Development, Part 2
CORBA Program Development, Part 3
Emacs: The Software Engineer's ``Swiss Army Knife''
Emacs FAQ
GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual
Programming in Emacs Lisp
GNU Emacs Manual
A Tutorial Introduction to Emacs
EMACSulation: Internet-ready!
EMACSulation: Ediff - An Emacs interface to diff and patch
EMACSulation: Emacs as a Server
EMACSulation: Customizing Emacs
Basic Emacs
EMACSulation: Templating Mechanisms
Emacs Macros and the Power-Macros Package
Polyglot Emacs 20.4
Advanced Programming in Expect: A Bulletproof Interface
Automating Tasks with Expect
What Can you Expect?--A Data Collection Project Using Linux
Professional Programmer's Guide to Fortran 77
Fortran 90 and Computational Science
User Notes on Fortran Programming
Fortran Programming for Physics and Astronomy
A Fortran 90 Tutorial
Using GNU Fortran
Fortran 90: A Course for Fortran 77 Programmers
Fortran 90 for the Fortran 77 Programmer
Introduction to Fortran
GIMP Tutorial Index
A Tutorial for Perl GIMP Users
A Scheme Tutorial for GIMP Users
GIMP Guide
The GIMP User Manual
Pseudo 3-D with GIMP
Graphical Photocomposition with GIMP
Creating Text with the GIMP
Creating Fire Effects with the GIMP
Creating and Editing Animations with GIMP
GIMP-Perl: GIMP Scripting for the Rest of Us
Writing a GIMP Plugin
GIMP: The RRU Tutorial
GIMP User FAQ
Script-Fu Tutorial
The Quick Start Guide to the GIMP, Part 1
The Quick Start Guide to the GIMP, Part 2
The Quick Start Guide to the GIMP, Part 3
The Quick Start Guide to the GIMP, Part 4
Application Programming Using the GNOME Libraries
Part 1: Everything You Need to Get Started
Part 2: Building a Sample Genealogy Program
Part 3: Adding File Saving and Loading Using libxml
Creating GTK+ Widgets with GOB: An Easier Way to Derive New GTK+ Widgets
Handling Multipel Documents: Using the GnomeMDI Framework
Livening Things Up: Graphics Made Easy Using the GNOME Canvas
Developing Gnome Applications with Python - Part 1
GDK Reference Manual
GLib Reference Manual
GTK+ Reference Manual
The GIMP Toolkit
GTK V1.2 Tutorial
Drawing and Event Handling in GTK
An Introduction to the GIMP Tool Kit
Constrained Dynamics
Continuum Dynamics
Differential Equation Basics
Energy Functions and Stiffness
Particle System Dynamics
An Introduction to Physically Based Modeling
Rigid Body Dynamics I
Rigid Body Dynamics II
Scientific Visualization Tutorials
Gnuplot - An Interactive Plotting Program
GIF Animation Tutorial
HTML Table Tutorial
HTML by Example
How to Use HTML 3.2
Creating a Client-Side Image Map
Advanced HTML: How to Create Complex Multimedia Documents for the Web
The ABCs of HTML
Sharky's Netscape Frames Tutorial
ILU Reference Manual
Using ILU with ANSI C: A Tutorial
Using ILU with Java: A Tutorial
Using ILU with Python: A Tutorial
ipchains: Packet Filtering for Linux 2.2
Setting Up IP Masquerade
Setting Up IP-Masquerading
Ipchains: Easy Links to the Net
Linux Networking Using Ipchains
Enterprise JavaBeans Tutorial
JavaBeans Short Course
Introduction to the JavaBeans API
JDBC Short Course
Essentials of the Java Programming Language, Part 1
Essentials of the Java Programming Language, Part 2
Writing Advanced Applications for the Java Platform
Fundamentals of Java Security
Fundamentals of Java Servlets
Introduction to the Collections Framework
Introduction to CORBA
Fundamentals of RMI
Java Language Specification
Java Tutorial: Servlet Trail
Java Virtual Machine Specification (2nd Ed.)
Glossary of Java and Related Terms
The Java Language Environment
Java Look and Feel Design Guidelines
Story of a Servlet: An Instant Tutorial
Introduction to Java
Java2D: An Introduction and Tutorial
Java Servlet Tutorial
comp.lang.java FAQ
Brewing Java: A Tutorial
Shlurrrppp ... Java: The First User-Friendly Tutorial on Java
Swing Tutorial
Swing: A Quick Tutorial for AWT Programmers
Thinking in Java
Java RMI Tutorial
Java for C++ Programmers
The Advanced Jav/aJ2EE Tutorial
Hacking Java: The Java Professional's Resource Kit
JFC Unleashed
Java Developer's Guide
Java Developer's Reference
Sams Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days (Professional Reference Ed.)
Java Unleashed (2nd Ed.)
Java 1.1 Unleashed (3rd Ed.)
Java Game Programming Tutorial
Java Networking FAQ
Java Tutorial: A Practical Guide for Programmers
Sockets Programming in Java
Programming with Java - Part I
Programming with Java - Part II
Setting Up a Java Development Environment for Linux
Understanding Java
Beginner's Guide to JDK
GUI Development in Java
Java Servlets: An introduction to writing and running Java servlets on Linux
Introductory JavaScript Tutorials
JavaScript Authoring Guide
Client-Side JavaScript 1.3 Guide
Client-Side JavaScript 1.3 Reference
Core JavaScript 1.4 Guide
Core JavaScript 1.4 Reference
Server-Side JavaScript 1.4 Guide
JavaScript FAQ
JavaScript Tutorial
The Way of JavaScript
Voodoo's Introduction to JavaScript
JavaScript Tutorial for Programmers
JavaScript Primer
EchoEcho JavaScript Tutorial
Sams Teach Yourself JavaScript 1.1 in a Week (2nd Ed.)
Common Lisp Hints
Common Lisp the Language (2nd Ed.)
Lisp FAQ
Lisp Programming Tutorial
Lisp Tutorial
LISP Tutorial
Common Lisp HyperSpec
An MPI Tutorial
Tutorial on MPI
MPI: Portable Parallel Programming for Scientific Computing
Tuning MPI Applications for Peak Performance
MPI: From Fundamentals to Applications
MPI Tutorial
MPI: The Complete Reference
Introduction to Parallel Programming Using MPI
Basics of MPI Programming
The Soar 8 Tutorial Home Page
Source : smashtech
Monday, April 06, 2009 | 0 Comments
Stuff people put on their resumes - Funny
I don't know who put this list together, but according to the source, these are all real, none of them are made up.
1. I am very detail-oreinted.
2. My intensity and focus are at inordinately high levels, and my ability to complete projects on time is unspeakable.
3. Thank you for your consideration. Hope to hear from you shorty!
4. Enclosed is a ruff draft of my resume.
5. It's best for employers that I not work with people.
6. Here are my qualifications for you to overlook.
7. I am a quick leaner, dependable, and motivated.
8. If this resume doesn't blow your hat off, then please return it in the enclosed envelope.
9. My fortune cookie said, "Your next interview will result in a job." And I like your company in particular.
10. I saw your ad on the information highway, and I came to a screeching halt.
11. Insufficient writing skills, thought processes have slowed down some. If I am not one of the best, I will look for another opportunity.
12. Please disregard the attached resume-it is terribly out of date.
13. Seek challenges that test my mind and body, since the two are usually inseparable.
14. Graduated in the top 66% of my class.
15. Reason for leaving last job: The owner gave new meaning to the word paranoia. I prefer to elaborate privately.
16. Previous experience: Self-employed-a fiasco.
17. Exposure to German for two years, but many words are inappropriate for business.
18. Experience: Watered, groomed, and fed the family dog for years.
19. I am a rabid typist.
20. I have a bachelorette degree in computers.
21. Excellent memory; strong math aptitude; excellent memory; effective management skills; and very good at math.
22. Strengths: Ability to meet deadlines while maintaining composer.
23. I worked as a Corporate Lesion.
24. Reason for leaving last job: Pushed aside so the vice president's girlfriend could steal my job.
25. Married, eight children. Prefer frequent travel.
26. Objective: To have my skills and ethics challenged on a daily basis.
27. Special skills: Thyping.
28. My ruthlessness terrorized the competition and can sometimes offend.
29. I can play well with others.
30. Personal Goal: To hand-build a classic cottage from the ground up using my father-in-law.
31. Objective: I want a base salary of $50-$60,000 dollars, not including bonus. And some decent benefits. Like a retirement plan, health insurance, personal or sick days.
32. Experience: Provided correct answers to customers' questions.
33. Education: Graduated from predatory school with honors.
34. Never been fired, although it could happen anytime now.
35. I have happily been a "kept man" for the past 10 years.
36. Have extensive experience in turkey manufactures as well as new product development and implementation.
37. I am accustomed to speaking in front of all kinds of audiences. I make points as well as I can.
38. Personal: Five children. Dog: Jasper. Cat: Morris. Gerbil: Binky.
39. While in military, was instrumental in creation of a treat detection system.
40. My compensation package at my last job included a base salary of $64,500 with excellent benefits including flextime. I am looking for a position in which I can work a more flexible schedule.
41. Hire me and you won't regret it - I am funny, cute, smart and creative… really.
42. Referees available upon request.
43. Previous rank: Senior instigator.
44. I have recently sold my home and I now live in a large RV so I will be able to relocate quickly.
45. Reason for leaving: They stopped paying me.
46. Cover letter: Desire the chance to showcase my delightful personality, intelligence and superior judgment, which are so hard to find these days.
47. Personal achievements: Successfully played "Chop Sticks" on a toy piano with my big toes.
48. Objective: To obtain a position where I can make a difference, infecting others with my professionalism, enthusiasm and dedication.
49. Strengths: Impersonal skills.
50. Special interests: I like any projects that are fun.
51. Please explain any breaks in your employment career: 15 minute coffee break while working at a home improvement store.
52. Vocational plans: Sea World.
Source : Madconomist
Sunday, April 05, 2009 | 0 Comments
Copy Text from Image - Free tool JOCR
How many times you have felt the need to copy text from images ? I am sure wont be less then ten times. Most of the time, when we require the Text part from images we just start typing the whole Text part by referring to the image. This seems to be only option we have.
But guess what if its whole scanned document do you think of typing whole document as viable solution? if not then here good freeware application JOCR which enables you to capture the image on the screen and convert the captured image to text.
JOCR is useful tool to revive the protected files whose text can not be copied. JOCR enables you to copy text from any files and images on the screen such as protected Web pages, PDF files, error messages. The program offers several capture modes.
Screenshot of JOCR Image Capture and Character Recognition Tool
JOCR requires Microsoft Office 2003 or higher version. If JCOR does not work, please manually install "Microsoft Office Document Imaging" (MODI) that is included in the setup file of Microsoft Office. You can find MODI under "Office Tools" of the setup file.
Download JOCR Image Capture and Character Recognition Tool
Source: BlogDNA [Techsurface]
Friday, April 03, 2009 | 0 Comments


text:
This was not supposed to be my next free weekend.
Why do I bother making plans some times? I was supposed to go to Lafayette this weekend, but that was planned before Mother Nature unleashed severe weather to cause flash flooding and regular flooding on us. The paying job sent us home early Thursday and told us not to come in Friday, I canceled my plans for the weekend and treated myself to a normal bedtime. Meaning I set up Brain.fm on my cell phone and tried to go to sleep.
Only for the flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service to keep interrupting the program. Don't get me wrong, overall I like the warnings and think they are an excellent idea, but not when I'm trying to sleep. Not only did the emergency signal wake me up most of the time, it also just stopped the Brain.fm music. When my regular Friday alarms went off, I still had half of the eight-hour session to go.
Most of the major rain happened overnight and the system didn't stall over us like it did Texas and north Louisiana. The bad news is all the rain that north Louisiana got has to come down through us. Places that usually don't flood flooded this time and the rivers have just gotten started.
Unfortunately, I found leaks in my new roof. I called my roofers, but they're all flooded in too. They'll probably reach me Monday or Tuesday.
The rain eased up and I hit the yard to see how bad the water is around me. These two pictures show how high the creek and Natalbany River are behind the house. It's hard to see through the undergrowth, but the water is right there.
I had to rake out the ditch before I hiked down to see how bad the bridge was. It counted as my workout today. The black mounds are the leaves and pine straw that I pulled out of the water's way.
After that was done, I hiked down to the high water blocking the bridge and chatted with my neighbors down there and the DOTD worker and State Trooper that also swung by to check on us. The neighbors had used their vehicles to block their driveways because stupid motorists keep driving until it's obvious they can't go any further and then they peel out trying to turn around. That's bad enough, but they always fly down Pumpkin Center Road like it's the Interstate. Even with weather like this, even with knowing everything is flooding.
The water wraps around the back of the yellow house until it ends up across the street from my house.
My parents kept their weekend plans so now I have to take care of Mom's chickens. My dryer died last weekend, so that's going to make doing laundry interesting if it keeps raining. I need to pick up a few supplies and I hope I can reach a store tomorrow. And then I get to concentrate on Zy's Universe and the computer upgrades I need to do all day.Read Free!
The BookWorm


text:
Earlier this week, the House voted 251-166 to send Kucinich's impeachment resolution to committee, a maneuver that allows the Democratic leadership to freeze the measure indefinitely. While many dismiss Kucinich's mission as futile and irrelevant, it has accomplished something important and that is to place Bush's misdeeds into the historical record. In these "times of universal deceit" that's no small feat.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Kucinich: Articles of Impeachment (Part 3)
Posted by Red Tory at 5:52 AM
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text:
Jesus answered, "Healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn't come to invite good people to turn to God. I came to invite sinners." (Luke 5:30-32 CEV)
Not the righteous, but sinners…can it be that Jesus is really interested in sinners? Would He really rather hang out with them than with the righteous?
Perhaps the answer lies in the "Father's business." What is the Father doing? What is His work? If the Father is in the process of redeeming and reconciling the world to Himself, His will dictates with whom Jesus will spend time.
It is instructive to note that in this story, also found in Matthew chapter 9 as well as Mark chapter 2, the righteous or at least self-righteous come complaining to Jesus about the people with whom He is spending His time. The text indicates their tone was one of grumbling. It almost seems that there is a bit of jealousy among them. I find this very interesting because they seem bound and determined to try and discredit Jesus, yet they are offended that He is choosing to spend time with someone other than themselves.
What is up with this kind of thinking? It could be that these people wanted to spend time with Jesus, but only on their terms? Wherever He was the self-righteous always managed to show up, yet they always seemed upset and disappointed with Him.
One could argue that they hung around Him because He was stealing their influence and their supporters and they wanted to minimize the damage, but then they didn't count the tax collectors and sinners as their followers anyway. It strikes me as odd that they would object to Jesus hanging out with a crowd they rejected. It wasn't like He was cutting into their support with tax collectors and sinners. They had already rejected this crowd.
Perhaps, they simply didn't want Jesus to have any followers. That may explain some of their angst, but it really does appear that they were actually offended when Jesus actually sat down with these folks. It bothered them that Jesus was doing more than just striding quickly through the downtown. It bothered them that He was actually interacting with the street people and profligates. It bothered them that that He wasn't doing what they thought a religious leader should be doing.
But what could have offended them to the extent they spoke with the tone of one who is wounded and somewhat disenchanted? Could it be that they believed, perhaps hoped, He was who He said He was? Could it be that they wanted to be in on the action, but couldn't quite bring themselves to let down their guard? Could it be that they were hoping Jesus would somehow affirm them?
They seemed bent on disproving Jesus, but why? They represented a whole system, but He was just one person. They had an entire culture on their side. Why was He such a threat to them? I believe in answering some of these questions, we might be able to better understand our motivations in dealing with the culture around us.
In nearly all organized religion, there is a political element present. You gain status and authority by virtue of paying your dues to the system and investing some skin in the game. Influence comes through following the right channels whether spoke or unspoken.
To a certain extent each religion has "touchables" and "untouchables." You don't particularly gain friends or influence in a religious system by going against the code. Try as we like to be objective, there always seems to be some group or practice that is not acceptable within our constructs of what pleases God.
For the ultra-conservative, anything that pushes the envelope of orthodoxy is unwelcome and suspect. For the more progressive, people or practices that remind of tradition or law are unwelcome or suspect. It seems that we have a predisposition to religion whether that religion is newly formed or carried over from ages past. We simply have a hard time functioning without developing an acceptable pattern of worship and behavior according to our perspective. But our perspective often proves to be a bit faulty and as a result, we have a hard time living as objective Christ followers.
Perhaps it is because we have a certain bitterness or fear towards people that we think don't "get" our perspective or understanding of the Gospel. I am amazed at how many new Christians today revel more in being saved from "religion" than in being saved from sin. Many glory more in a new way of "church," than in a new life. For them anyone still adhering to the traditional systems of worship is in bondage and they can tend to be cautious and even resentful towards them.
On the flip side, those from the traditional religious side of things have their own template through which they view the newer expressions of worship and freedom of lifestyle. They tend to view those with new or unorthodox expressions of worship as being crude and irreverent or as being bound in their own selfishness, arrogance or self-will.
Like the religious leaders of Jesus day, we may find it hard to envision Jesus sitting down with the "other" group and actually eating and fellowshipping with them. We all like to believe that Jesus has a softer spot in His heart for us than for the "other guys." We all want to have the edge when it comes to God's favor and grace. In short, we have a desire to be vindicated in our pursuit of God. In our arrogance we can be tempted to mock the simple mindedness or naiveté of those who seem "bound" by one thing or another.
Romans chapter 14 and verse 10 asks two interesting questions followed by a profound truth, "But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." These questions are very pertinent to the discussion here. For the more orthodox, the tendency is to pass judgment and condemnation on those who don't hold the traditions. Whereas, for those operating under a new system of church, free from the constraints of tradition, the temptation is to show contempt for those still adhering to traditional systems.
The quoted passage ends with a statement that has a great leveling affect for any who would try and claim moral high ground in religious significance, "…we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ."
So why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners? Why does Jesus receive a visit from Nicodemus (John 3)? Why does Jesus eat in the house of Simon (Luke 7:36-50)? Why does Jesus converse with the religious leaders in the temple? And how is it that He seems to disrespect His earthly relatives in Luke 8:19-21? It is Because He is about His Father's business.
I believe in stating, "I didn't come to invite good people to turn to God. I came to invite sinners," Jesus wasn't pushing either group aside. Instead, He spoke a word that leveled the playing field. He wasn't rejecting "Law" abiding citizens, but He was inviting them to admit their sinfulness. He wasn't choosing a particular set of behavior as special, but rather inviting all to come self-righteous and "sinner" alike.
I take comfort in the fact that all had equal access to Jesus, He ate with them all. He associated with them all. True He rebuked some and consoled others, but He LOVED THEM ALL. His Father's business was to bring them to righteousness through the Life of His Son.
Being self-righteous was of no merit and being sinful was of no merit. But Jesus made it clear that if you knew you were a sinner, you were invited into His grace.
Jesus, in eating with sinners shared such a beautiful picture of equal access. "…Not the righteous, but sinners"—He invites sinners from both camps to fellowship in His righteousness.
Somehow the Apostle Paul got it right in communicating with Timothy when he wrote, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." For Paul, it appears that He didn't break the world of prospective worshippers into two or more camps with one being closer to God. He started with a faithful saying which colored his interaction in sharing the Gospel. I wonder if I can say the same thing with equal clarity and charity.


text:
Qubool Hai 7th April 2015 Written Episode Update
Qubool Hai 7th April 2015 Written Episode, Written Update on TellyUpdates.com
Scene 1:
Location: Shaad's and ahil's residence
Sanam tries to know more about how their love story blossomed, and shaad is tensed. Misbah wonders why is she asking as if she doesnt remember anything, and asks shaad to spill the truth. He says that he never proposed but mutually decided to spend their lives together. Sanam is tensed. Misbah sees through the differences, and decides to try it out, saying that he should propose to her right now. sanam says that this isnt needed as they are already married. but misbah insists, while the others too tease and coax him into proposing to her, as to how much he loves her. both of them are tensed, but the people dont let go. Shaad finally gets down on one kneee, and takes off his ring. She wonders that this is probably the most bful of
A sudden bad intuition makes ahil clench his fists and disturb him in his deep sleep induced by the new bride, while he mutters asking sanam not to do so, as she cant.
Finally, Shaad extends out his hand to don the ring on sanam's hand, while she is terribly disturbed, while across borders, ahil too is terribly worried in his sleep. she finally retreats her hand away, and wonders why is she so tensed, to wear this ring. Misbah asks why is she trembling so much. Sanam says that its nothing like that, and goes to freshen up. Misbah takes this chance to surf through her room, while all others including shaad are worried searching for the ring. Misbah finally finds shaad's watch that has been alerted by sanam's watch, that she stealthily had pressed, while extending sanam's hand out for shaad. Shaad finally finds the ring, but doesnt show it to anyone, whereas sanam comes and says that they shall find the ring tomorrow. He conceals the ring, and apologises for not being able to propose. She makes him promise, that he would take her to the site of their first meeting. He tensedly asks why. She says that she wants to know everything about their romance, her connection to her past. He promises her that he shall take her there tomorrow. she smiles at him.
Meanwhile, misbah finds the watch, and sits by the poolside, and breaks it to pieces, and then throws it in the water. She says that his minute by minute connection to jannat is broken, but she has suffered enough due to jannat, but now its become easier, as her love story shall end where it started, as when they go to their meetinfg site tomorrow, it would be fatal for shaad. She taunts that shaad's last night is today with jannat, as tomorrow his death is imminent and thats Shashi kapoor's promise.
Early morning, sanam wakes up with a start, wondering why is sh feeling so restless, that she is being distanced from her love, when everything is right. She goes out to find out where is shaad. As she comes down, the others are eating at the dining table. She is invited for breakfast, along with shaad's father insisting her, and she complies. misbah is tensed. she picks up a conversation reminding shaad of his promise to Jannat, to get her to the place where they first met. Jannat invites them all. But wazira asks what shall they do. Misbah pinches her, while sh then says that they can come along. Misbah is happy when she concedes, and asks shaad's father to come too. they all decide to tag along. shaad and sanam notice that wazira is tensed.
While he searches for the watch, shaad is frustrated that jannat called everyone. she comes in saying that she wants him to spend quality time with his father. He is mesmerised, as she takes the dupatta and it lands on his face and then slides off. He asks about the watch and she says that she hasnt seen, but it doesnt make a difference, as they are together. He is hesitant, while she assures that they are already connected by the heart, and they shall go and come back together and when she is with him, she isnt scared. She keeps her watch there too. She takes him out finally.
Scene 2:
Location: Ahil's residence
gazalla and razaak are shocked as to how the potion that the new bride has concocted fr ahil, so that he falls madly in love with her. The new bride tells gazalla that this love potion shall work only when he isnt thinking of sanam. She says that hence she would administer it to him, when he is unconscious, as she cant risk a mistake with ahil and for achieving this, she would send everyone out of the house tomorrow. Gazalla is tensed and boggled and asks what then. she is asked to clean the swimming pool by then and leaves hastily. they both wonder what shall happen to sanam and ahil, as this lady wont let them unite.
Scene 3:
Location: Shaad's residence
meanwhile, misbah is getting ready and asks wazira to pack one of the dresses and angrily leaves. And as wzira complies, a revolver falls out. she is shocked to see it. later, when misbah returns she doesnt find the revolver, and is angered. Meanwhile, wazira is thinking of disposing off the revolver in the gutter, before shashi kapoor finds out. misbah hollers at her to stop, but she makes a mad dash. Misbah rushes after her, while wazira has the revolver hidden underneath her dupatta. As she collides into shaad, it slips and falls under the centre table. He notices something falling, but doesnt realise whats it. he bends down to try and feel it, and then get it out, while wazira and misbah watch tensedly. wazira hopes that shaad gets this revolver, as that would ensure their family's safety. Misbah notices the khurpi kept, in a pot, and hides it stealthily. The screen freezes on Misbah and shaad's tensed faces.
Precap: The new bride drags an unconscious ahil across the hallway and then drops him in the pool. She then mixes the love potion, which starts mixing in the pool waters. She starts a countdown from 10, while gazalla and razaak are tensed that he might die of suffocation.
Update Credit to: Rimjhim


text:
Dec 1, 2017
6 Potato Gnocchi Recipes to Indulge Your Winter Carb Cravings
Raise your hand if you start craving carbs as soon as the temperature dips below 60 degrees. Raises hand. We'll concede that there are few foods that can compete with pasta when it comes to satisfying a hankering for comfort food, but gnocchi is arguably one of them. Ranging from a sweet potato gnocchi in a parmesan cream sauce to a genius crockpot ragu served over buttered gnocchi, we're willing to bet you'll love these recipes (yes, even if you're partial to pasta).
Click through six potato gnocchi recipes that are pure comfort food in a bowl.


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Come hop aboard the Berry Applicious Celebration Blog Train.
Train Rolls 14th January
Please Leave The Designers A Little Love If You Download There Products
Remember we are all in different time zones, so if a part is not posted, please check back later.
Here are the train stops:
Caroline B. ScrapDesign
You can download my part here


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Monday, January 24, 2011
It's All Over
Rachel - 13
Andy - 12
Karen - 18
Kathy - 9
Maxine - 20
Amy - 7
Tayrn - 23
Dawn - 3
PagebyChapterbyBook - 4
Good jobs, guys, on avoiding duplicate numbers...first time that's happened.
And the winner, according to the Random Number selector found on my sidebar is: number 23, Tayrn.
Number 23 was actually the third number between 1 and 25 selected by the generator. Two unchosen numbers, 2 and 10, came up first.
Congratulations, Tayrn. Please send me an email with your mailing instructions and I will get the audio book out to you ASAP.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest, and thanks for the kind words you shared. That kind of encouragement and feeling of community is what makes a lit-blog so much fun.
1 comment:
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(Refiles with added crossheads and annotations, amends stocks and bonds graphic to reflect closer date range)
* G4 benchmark debt performance: reut.rs/2hMQF0O
* Equity indices dashboard: reut.rs/2hPnydk
* Major volatility indexes: reut.rs/2hO1bF7
* Market shock absorbers: reut.rs/2fvmQ40
LONDON/NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Before this week's jolt from rising North Korea tensions, world markets had rarely if ever been calmer or more buoyant.
Despite intense political uncertainty over the past 18 months surrounding the unexpected election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and Britain's surprise decision to leave the European Union, volatility in key equity and bond markets had tested some of their lowest levels in a generation.
The S&P 500 this week completed a run of 15 consecutive closes less than 0.3 percent in either direction, a level of stability not seen since 1927, according to Deutsche Bank.
Wall Street and MSCI's broadest measure of world stock markets are at all-time highs.
Yet as the escalation in nuclear tensions between the United States and North Korea has shown, confidence can very quickly evaporate.
Volatility spiked on Wednesday and Thursday to some of its highest levels since May. The rise in implied volatility on Wall Street was the second biggest in nearly a year.
The big question now is whether these gyrations quickly dissipate, as with so many similar spikes over the past year, or whether current events were a trigger for a more durable correction to one of the longest-running bull markets in history.
Below is a dashboard of charts that aim to capture the big picture of how market developments unfold.
(Click images for full size)
STEEP DROPS A FADING MEMORY ON WALL STREET (click here for interactive graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2fvKFIV)
Reporting by London and New York markets teams


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Prince Charles continues his doomsday scaremongering. He demands that people should "change their lifestyles so they consume less petrol, food and other resources":
Mankind faces extinction, the Prince of Wales has warned, unless humans transform our lifestyles to stop mass consumption, run away climate change and destruction of wildlife
He referred to a "sustainability revolution" that would force people to change their lifestyles so they consume less petrol, food and other resources.
"History will not judge us by how much economic growth we achieve in the immediate years ahead, nor by how much we expand material consumption, but by the legacy for our grandchildren and their grandchildren," he said. "We are consuming what is rightfully theirs by sacrificing long-term progress on the altar of immediate satisfaction. That is hardly responsible behaviour. There is an urgent need for all of us to concentrate our efforts on sustaining, nurturing and protecting the Earth's natural capital and, moreover, reshaping our economic system so that Nature sits at the very heart of our thinking."
Read the entire article here
Reality check 1:
Accounts released by the prince's Clarence House office show that Charles spent £1.08 million (€1.2m) on air and rail travel in 2010-2011, a rise of 56% from the previous year.
Charles's spending is spiralling out of control. Why on earth are taxpayers continuing to fund his lavish lifestyle when public services are being cut," Republic spokesman Graham Smith said.
Reality check 2:
Clarence House, the former London residence of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, is the Prince of Wales' current official residence. Previously, he resided in an apartment at St James's Palace. Charles also holds a private estate in Gloucestershire, Highgrove House, and one in Scotland, the Birkhall estate near Balmoral Castle and also previously owned by the Queen Mother. Upon the occasion of his marriage to Diana, Charles had reduced his voluntary tax contribution from the profits generated by the Duchy of Cornwall from 50% to 25%.
In 2007 the Prince purchased a 192–acre (150 acres of grazing and parkland, and 40 acres (160,000 m2) of woodland) property in Carmarthenshire, and applied for permission to convert the farm into a Welsh home for him and the Duchess of Cornwall, to be rented out as holiday flats when the royal couple is not in residence. Though neighbours said the proposed alterations flouted local planning regulations, the application was put on hold while a report was drafted on how the alterations would affect the local bat population. Charles and Camilla took residence at the new property, called Llwynywermod, in June 2008.
In 2006 the Prince bought a house in the village of Viscri in south-eastern Transylvania, one of the Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania designated in 1993 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; in 2008 he bought another house in the village of Valea Zălanului / Zalánpatak in the Székely Land region of Transylvania, a 16th century village probably founded by one of the Prince's Transylvanian ancestors. Both properties are rented out as guest houses when the Prince is not in residence
My free advice to His Royal Highness: Why not begin by changing your own lavish lifestyle? It might increase your credibility as an environmentalist.
This is not quite enough :
Britain's Prince Charles has converted his 38-year-old Aston Martin to run on biofuel made from surplus wine, his office revealed Tuesday.


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This picture isn't the best quality, but if you look closely you will see Bella's nose.Hey Guys!
I had to use it! LOL She's always around when I take pictures and gets herself into half the pictures I take.
I had to use it! LOL She's always around when I take pictures and gets herself into half the pictures I take.
Just thought I'd do a quick review on Slatkin & Co. 3-Wick Candles. You can buy this brand of candles at Bath & Body Works. People always ask me what my favourite products are from Bath & Body works and I always answer "the 3-Wick Candles"! I bought my first 3-Wick Candle around Christmas of this past year and I've used nothing but these candles since. What I love about these candles is that there are always new fragrances to choose from, they burn for hours, AND they burn evenly all the way down. I currently have 6 candles which I keep on the mantle of my fireplace.
About Slatkin & Co. 3-Wick Candles:
- Highly fragranced candle created exclusively by Harry Slatkin and developed and tested by our team of Home Fragrance experts.
- Made using the highest concentration of fragrance oils, an exclusive blend of vegetable wax, and lead-free wicks for optimal performance.
- Burn time of approximately 40-65 hours.
Have you tried these candles?


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UC sales students
Dedicated to Advancing the Sales Profession through Academics, Professional Experiences, and Research
The Center for Professional Selling is dedicated to promoting the field of professional sales to all UC students and developing graduates who are extremely prepared for a successful sales career. The Professional Selling minor is a great complement for students in other majors, like Finance, Fashion Design, Engineering or IT, to build upon and strengthen their career options. Each year more and more students declare a Professional Selling minor. For students enrolled in the Lindner College of Business, a Professional Selling minor enhances the opportunities established in our PACE curriculum.
Similar to other programs in the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, the Center for Professional Selling combines classroom teaching with experiential learning to provide a unique opportunity for our students. We partner with industry representatives to offer a wide variety of engaging activities for both our students and corporate partners – mock interviews, elevator speech practice, classroom sales competitions, networking socials, workshops and the bi-annual Sales Expo. Each of these activities develop our students' skills and helps prepare them for a prosperous career in sales.
Our courses include
Sales Expo - held twice a year, this sales-focused career fair matches sales students with companies needing qualified salespeople. The companies represented have immediate full-time positions, internships or co-op rotations available for our current students and soon-to-be graduates.
Varsity Sales Team - an elite group of selected professional sales students who represent the UC Sales Center at regional and national colleagiate competitions.
Sales Leadership Club -- a student-run organization where students have a great opportunity to establish themselves as leaders and ensure professional growth directed towards the field of sales.
Our sales students after they presented at the Dean's Advisory Board meeting.
Helping Women Conquer 'Confidence Killers' research article featured in BizEd Magazine.
Noted researchers and authors offer workshops to sales executives.
Publication and presentation of sales research at professional conference and in academic journals by UC faculty and doctoral students.
The UC Sales Center is a proud member of:
To learn more about a career in sales or becoming a Sales Center partner, contact:
For more information, please email firstname.lastname@example.com


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From Jane Dark's Sugarhigh!:
Born four years apart: two faces of one feeling...both in their own languages named after the crow...Who is he talking about? (Click through to find out.)
A few recent Astral Weeks topics have featured this bewitching bird—Ekaterina Sedia's The Secret History of Moscow and Endless Things, the culmination of John Crowley's Aegypt sequence. (Crowley's Livejournal page is found at crowleycrow.livejournal.com.)
Now feast your gaze on the ominous crow symbol on the keyboard of the Personal Days cover (and done white-on-black on the spine)...What does the crow signify in my novel? You will have to read it to find out! Get your copy online today—or stroll over to the store and purchase it!
* * *
Check out the crow at Crawford Doyle on Madison Avenue:
UPDATE: Rocketlass sends in a PD sighting from 57th Street Books in Chicago!
Labels: crows, Ekaterina Sedia, John Crowley, Joshua Clover, PD Sightings, Personal Days


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Wednesday, 28 August 2013
New Sample!
A new sample for my portfolio of fairytale characters waiting at an airport. I've tried to make the scene as busy and fun as possible, though I especially like the little pigs. Turn around from sketch to final was around a week; but a week very well spent.
I'm currently working on a new sample piece based on two of my favourite things- bears and camping! I'll upload some bear character sketches when I get a new scanner. In other news, I'm still working on 'The Wolf and the Seven Kids', and have started colouring pages, whilst tightening up some of the roughs.
Friday, 9 August 2013
Goodbye Lincoln!
I'm so pleased all the work has paid off (and that I'll never have to see that dissertation again!). I'll miss Chad Varah House, and all the people I've met- it's been a great three years.
In the meantime I've moved away from Lincoln, and England altogether, as I now live in Scotland! I live opposite an old church, five minutes from open countryside and footpaths, with views of all the hills. And best of all, I'm on a bus route to Edinburgh! Already planning on going to the International Book Fair, as I'm eager to check out the Children's book sections. However, the plan for tomorrow is the Zoo, so I can get an annual membership card- so expect many animal drawings!
I'm currently illustrating an updated version of 'The Wolf and the Seven Kids', due to be published later this year; and progress is good- with the characters designed, and halfway through the roughs. I wont post anything here until its finished! Now Im settled in my new place, I can get on with updating my portfolio and more sample pieces! I think I'm set for a busy year...
Here's a teaser of what I'm working on for my portfolio;
(For anyone in doubt at the photo, I'm the central one in the Morbid Angel shirt)
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
sketch - lady on train with coat
Posted by Stuart Marsh at 7:59 PM No comments:
Labels: train sketch
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
bear arrow II
Posted by Stuart Marsh at 7:24 PM 17 comments:
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Icosium Kafe
Ross and Crystal and I went to have crepes at Icosium Kafe. We went to the one in Andersonville near an apartment we were looking at. I had been there a few times before and really loved it. They also have another location somewhere in lakeview I think.
Posted by Stuart Marsh at 3:34 PM No comments:
Labels: crystal warren, ross gerbasi
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
lake shore crash
This is a car that got sick of being trapped on lakeshore during the Chicago blizzard of 2011. They crashed through some trees and a concrete barrier before just stopping at the rail almost going into the lake. There were no survivors. We had access to the shore via ABC world news.
Posted by Stuart Marsh at 9:30 PM 1 comment:
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
sketch - man on train with bug eyes
Posted by Stuart Marsh at 10:25 AM No comments:
Labels: Eyes, train sketch
Monday, January 31, 2011
bear arrow
Posted by Stuart Marsh at 1:14 PM No comments:
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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It has been a couple of weeks since my last entry. I have been a busy little bee since the beginning of Nov. and it is only the middle of the month! God has been giving me so much grace with all the different things that are on my plate right now. In the past two weekends, I have helped put together an awesome Mad Hatter Tea Party bridal shower for my friend Erin and yesterday, I put together a Chili Cook-off for our church which was so much fun! Although, I would not have been able to do any of this without God's help! At times I have felt the stress and anxiety try to creep up in me but I would give it to God and almost immediately an overwhelming sense of peace would come over me. God never leaves us or forsakes us!
As the holiday season is approaching quickly, I realize how much I need Jesus in my life and how in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life, He just wants us to stop and spend time with Him. When we give our concerns to Jesus, He always works it out!
Earlier this week, I was meditating on the scripture from Luke 10:40-42 about Mary and Martha:
Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
As I was reading this scripture, Jesus had pricked my heart when it mentioned that Martha was distracted by all the preparations and was overwhelmed with "work." I had to check my attitude and my heart because that was what I was feeling. I realize that God has given me giftings to plan and administrate but I can not lose sight of what is important and that is to partner with Jesus and allow Him to take care of all the details and instead spend time with Jesus rather than be worried with things that I can not control!


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One Year ago, plus eleven days, I began the biggest transformation my home has ever experienced. Dehoarding doesn't happen in just an hour like on TV. It takes a while. My mentor, Mrs. Passion, warned that it would take 6-9 months. I'm at the year mark and still not done. I blame it on life. Six kids and a crazy schedule tends to shoot the best laid plans out of the water. You know the whole two steps forward, one back.
However, I am still progressing – in the right direction as well. I've been itching to show you progress, but I'm such a fruity-tootie perfectionist that I want to wait until everything's done. Then you'll get the WOW effect to the oomph degree. Now I'm kicking myself, because makeovers don't happen in one post. Unlike 'Hoarding, Buried Alive' on TV, the work to declutter can take weeks, and sometimes months, and in my case I'm now in it a whole year. One of my biggest lessons: Procrastination equals Pain… and anxiety. Neither of which is fun to deal with. In the past I'd bury them with more projects and stuff. Now I'm confronting them head on. I still don't like pain. But getting through it is finally worth more than letting it fester.
Case in Point: Never, and I mean never let your house scream at you for a paint job like this.
Twelve years ago we paid an arm and a leg to have a professional paint it. Within 5 years we noticed the paint bubbling, and three years ago we really knew it needed to be done. But the unbloggable happened and stuff like painting the home retreats to the back of your mind. When we started the whole transformation process a year ago we knew that our first outside order of business was to paint the home. This summer we realized that if we didn't tackle the project now we would be forking over thousands to replace the siding as well.
So began the most painful home improvement project we've tackled to date. Believe it or not twice as stressful as retiling the kitchen floor. What we thought would take a week has turned into four weeks of nightmarish adventure. Add in the fact that we've never attempted a project to this magnitude which played into the tension as well. We helped a friend paint her home and it only took 6 1/2 hours from start to finish. Yes, a lot of people showed up to help. It gave us a false sense of confidence that it would be easy-peasy.
We pressure washed our home for nearly three days trying to knock off all the chipped paint and not tear up the siding. The results were disappointing.
Sure we got a lot of paint off but there was still too much chipped paint hanging on by a thread waiting to be scrapped.
Some of the siding didn't survive and had to be replaced. In replacing some of the siding we also discovered shortcuts taken by the original builders where they had cut corners, not laid down the vapor-barrier in full which led to rotten wood underneath the trim and siding near the bottom. So some lower trim had to be totally ripped off. Our efforts to save money by doing the job ourselves ended up costing us as much as paying someone else to do it. But only because we had to replace damaged sections caused by our procrastination. The only redeeming note of comfort is that I don't think a professional would have fixed the damage, just covered it up.
Abner, my boy, was my rock. He and his friend Chet put in hours daily for nearly two weeks scrapping the paint down to this.
Our favorite tool of choice was an angle grinder with a steel wool bristle brush. The paint sander attachments made for chipping off paint didn't last nearly as long. So we were thrilled with the recommendation of the steel wool attachment.
Another hard lessons to learn was don't buy cheap tools. We burnt through the motors on two angle grinders and even a paint sprayer before we bit the bullet and bought the proper equipment.
Poor Abner had to also deal with the nasty heights. Our home sits on a hill which makes two stories nearly three on the backside. Thankfully we've the best friends in the world who loaned us scaffolding and ladders, ropes and harnesses. Friends are the best. So glad I'm not a recluse.
Triple glad I've got a son willing to help.
Then there was another couple of days spent caulking every corner, window, door, and siding seam.
Since we were down to bare wood on two sides of our home it only made sense to prime before we painted.
We were blessed with some more wonderful help our first day of priming. Our church was wrapping up a community service project for Northwest Day of Service and many members stopped by after the community project to give us a hand with our adventure. It's amazing how many hands can make quick work of taping up and priming.
And another lessons learned was…
Teenagers all will volunteer for any work if they get to be on a roof. I had to pray like crazy that no one would get hurt. I think I drove a couple people bonkers with my worry. Sorry Prince Erik.
Here's my manly men priming the back side of our home, while dancing on boards in the effort of trying to give me a heart attack. I am not a fun person to be around when I'm worried. Yet they survived me.
And as for the what our home looks like now…
Well, it's painted…
mostly, except for the trim…
however… it's raining…
but we beat the rain. Our home is safe and protected and we learned some valuable lessons.
* If you want something done right – do it yourself or find someone you really trust to do the job correctly.
* Plan on it costing more than you thought.
* Don't skimp on tools.
* Plan on it taking three times as long as you thought it would.
* You'll also be amazed at how many wonderful people there are that are angels on earth. To the S.V.'s of the earth and especially to Abner's friend Chet and his family. They are the best sort of friends one can every hope for.
*Abner learned he wants to get a great education to land a great job, earn some big bucks to pay someone else to do the work so that he will never have to ever do something like this again. That's my boy – he's a dreamer like me after all.
There, now you know the before and during part. I'm praying the liquid sunshine lets up so that I can show you the after pictures by Wednesday or Thursday. Until then I've got to tackle the housework and laundry that's been piling up while I was distracted outside.


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Master is Colette Gale's erotic retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo. The original idea of the story, the revenge Edmond Dantes carries out on the men who falsely imprisoned him for years, and the characters are kept in this retelling (including the many disguises Edmond wears after he leaves prison), but those are really all that are similar to Alexandre Dumas' original story. What Gale adds to his tale is a whole lot of erotic sex and a happy ending.
Gale's story isn't a bad one, and this piece of erotica is far better than the last one we read by this author, Bound By Honor, the erotic retelling of Robin Hood's story. Master doesn't go off the rails into a vortex of freaky perversion like Bound did, although there are some wild parts in this one too. The scene in which Dantes, disguised as Sinbad the Sailor, and Mercedes, his love he lost when he was imprisoned, watch two servants of his put on a sexual show is scorchingly hot.
Quite interesting to me was the fact that most of the characters are all in their forties when the erotica really begins in this book. Gale is forced to work within the age parameters Dumas originally designed, but you don't find many romance books about women in their forties being such sexual creatures. If the reader can get past the fact that in the time period in which this story is set, a forty year old woman was basically what a sixty year old women is like today and think about what women in their forties are like now, then all is well. If not, then thinking of Mercedes doing what she's doing for most of the book is a bit of a stretch (and not a pleasant one, I guess).
In addition to the main love story between Dantes and Mercedes, Gale includes another love story between the Count of Monte Cristo's slave Haydee and another of his slaves, a mute named Ali. Haydee is in love with Ali. Even though Monte Cristo has saved her from a life of horror as a slave in an Arab harem, he does not want Haydee sexually and treats her like a ward. However, Ali won't reciprocate Haydee's affections because he sees her as his master's. It is up to Haydee to seduce Ali, which results in some pretty sexy parts of the story. Gale's telling of this love affair is a little ham handed, but in some ways it's quite nice. It's interesting that in the original book, Monte Cristo ends up with Haydee, not Mercedes, and Gale includes a statement in the beginning of the book to the effect that this book is for anyone who knew that Haydee was more a midlife crisis than a real love.
Overall, Master includes a lot of story and a lot of disguises for Edmond Dantes, in addition to a lot of sex, but it's not a bad way to spend an evening if you're looking for some erotica based in post Napoleonic France. Gale knows how to write a sex scene, no doubt. I just could do without the word quim so much.
Mercedes Hererra & Edmond Dantes are resurrected in Gale's retelling and embellishment of the classic The Count of Monte Cristo, now entitled Master.
Master follows the original novel with Dantes' false accusation and imprisonment of fourteen years before he makes his escape and calculates the revenge on his enemies, which he carefully executes with ruthless cunning. Added to the original is Mercedes' story of devastation in believing him dead, subsequent suffering, and sacrifice over the years. As Edmond carries out his vengeance, he struggles with his long buried yet resurfacing feelings for Mercedes even though he believes she has betrayed him. Their journey toward redemption and long sought after peace spans more than two decades. Ultimately, they must choose whether forgiveness or bitterness will be their legacy.
Colette Gale does earn a commendation for writing an erotic novel that is, in fact, a novel. Along with very steamy intimate scenes, the author delivered a story worth reading. The main characters are written with satisfactory depth and the supporting characters are developed nicely to create interesting layers within the story. Perhaps most surprising was the likability of Mercedes, as heroines in erotica are often (in this broad's opinion) lacking in personality beyond ridiculous feistiness. This was not the case with Mercedes. Gale's character showed a quiet patience as confusing events enfolded around her as well as a reasonable boldness and strength of will when necessary. This was no petulant, whiny girl, but instead a woman comfortable with her sexuality, who played the hand life had dealt her, and proved herself a formidable opponent in the battle of wills with the resurrected Edmond.
Obviously, when reading erotica one encounters an abundance of sex and Master is no exception to that rule. Gale's love scenes are not for the faint of heart. This author allows the characters to let their freak hair fly on more than one occasion, which at times is a bit much. Overall, Master, is ....well, masterful.
Recommendation: *** + _ (three and one-half stars)