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I wrote a post a few years back on the difficulties that can ensue when you're just trying to get started on your Lean Six Sigma or quality improvement initiative. It can become especially difficult when you have many potential projects staring at you, but you aren't quite sure which one will give you the most bang for your buck.
A project prioritization matrix can be a good place to start when you need to choose which projects to focus on, as it can help you logically select optimal improvement projects against their weighted value, based on your company's predefined metrics. The matrix can help you determine which projects offer the most value for your effort.
Here's an example of a project prioritization matrix and a value by project graph that was completed using a template in Companion by Minitab:
While the example above is only comparing two projects, you could use the matrix to compare many projects. And the graphs above make it even easier (and quicker) to tell visually which projects will provide you with the most value for the least effort.
As you begin your project prioritization matrix, it's important to consider how your company will define the selection criteria, as well as the assignment of weighting factors to the criteria. If you don't take a little time up front to work with your team to define these items, you may end up with matrix results that provide an inaccurate view of which projects are considered optimal.
Best practice: for the weighting factor for your criteria, it's typically made on a 1 to 10 scale with 1 being a negative effect and 10 being a positive effect.
In the example above, selection criteria—such as financial benefits, customer satisfaction, leverage, and repeatability—were chosen. It's probably best to have at least three selection criteria, but no more than five or six, as too many can become more difficult to manage.
These examples may get your team brainstorming the criteria that will best aid in selecting the right projects for your particular initiative.
Speaking of brainstorming …
How can you come up with the selection criteria?
Brainstorming may work as an effective method for your team to come up with the right selection criteria for your matrix.
There are several different methods you may choose for brainstorming—including idea mapping, fishbone diagrams, and CT trees.
You'd likely use an idea map to structure and organize brainstorming results relating to a central question. Here's an example:
Fishbone diagrams (also called cause-and-effect, C&E or Ishikawa diagrams) help you brainstorm potential causes of a problem—and see relationships among potential causes. Here's an example of a fishbone that identifies the potential causes of delayed lab results:
(There are many different types of fishbone diagrams—Simple, 4S, 8P, DOE, and Man Machines Materials. Take a look at this post from my colleague Eston that goes into further detail about the different types.)
A CT Tree, or critical-to-quality or critical-to-cost tree, is used to identify and to organize the inputs that are critical to your customer. This CT tree shows what inputs are critical to reducing the number of defects in a manufactured product:
Now you can use a white board, or even just pen and paper to brainstorm, but Companion offers brainstorming templates for idea mapping, fishbone diagrams, and CT trees. What's neat about using Companion is that the factors you enter during your brainstorming session can be drag-and-dropped and/or autofilled into other tools, reducing the need to re-enter data.
What's your secret to selecting optimal improvement projects?


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Insomnia or sleeplessness is a condition that often causes annoyance, and by depriving the person of his natural rest, results in interference with his activity during the day. When it becomes a habit, it may pose a serious menace to health.
Causes and Symptoms: Insomnia may be due to a variety of causes that keep the person awake altogether, or result in disturbing dreams and unrefreshing slumber. There are many people with a nervous temperament whose sleep is much more liable to be interrupted by trivial causes than that of their easy-going neighbours. In temporary cases of sleeplessness or dreaming in which the affected person suffers from disturbed nights now and then, the cause is usually to be sought in some external source of irritation. A slight degree of pain; uncomfortable surroundings, such as insufficient covering in winter or a hot and humid night without a fan; an overfill] stomach causing discomfort; or a nagging worry may prevent the brain from attaining the degree of relaxation which is a prerequisite of sleep. Other factors such as extreme worry overwork, voluntary limitation of the hours of sleep, and grief may lead to, a habitual lack of sleep. Poisonous substances circulating in the blood, as in the case of a fever or an infection, neurasthenia, or nervous weakness may also cause loss of sleep.
Read entire article
Thursday, March 13, 2008

subset: commoncrawl


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Summer is here! So it's time for all of us to slather on some sunscreen and head out into Eudemons Online for the hot, new Summer Events!
Starting on July 16th, there will be 4 unique events during the months of July and August that you're sure to make you feel the heat!
These great Summer Events will consist of four quests, everyday: Picking Berries (10:00-11:00), Crazy Turkey (14:00-15:00), Secret Park (18:00-19:00) and Treasure Quest (22:00-23:00). You can do these 4 quests each day, and you will earn Flower Cards that can be traded in for great new things like Eudemons, Items, Garments, and more!
And not only these, but TQ Team has also held the 2nd exciting edition of the Flying Mount Tournament!
And to help with those high electric bills, there will be a new Shopping Rush happening during this time, with some fabulous deals that are sure to help you stay cool! For more details on this sale, just keep your eyes on the official Eudemons Online site!


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Indians http://www.authenticbaltimoreorioleshops.com/Chris-Tillman-Jersey manager Terry Francona trusted Corey Kluber to keep the Yankees from scoring.
Brett Gardner homered twice and Gregorius also connected for the Yankees, who overcame a 2-0 deficit and won the Division Series by beating Kluber in Game 5 last October.
New York is 30 games over .500 for the first time this season, and for the first time before the All-Star break since 1998, when it won the World Series.
Yankees All-Star ace Luis Severino only pitched five innings, but manager Aaron Boone got four hitless innings from Adam Warren, David Robertson (6-3), Dellin Betances and closer Aroldis Chapman, who got three outs for his 25th save — in his first appearance since Saturday because of a sore left knee.
Every win's a good win, Boone said. That was a good win up against a Aaron Ekblad Jersey great pitcher. Up and down the lineup we had big at-bats in big spots. On a night when Sevy didn't have his best, the rest of the guys were able to come through in a big way.
He's gained a greater level of confidence in himself, too.
Gibson struck out nine batters over eight easy innings for the Twins, who handed Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell his shortest start of the season and beat the Rays 5-1 on Thursday night after a two-hour rain delay.
Just had to add to the caffeine and keep the body loose, Gibson said.
Eddie Rosario hit a two-run homer in the seventh against reliever Chih-Wei Hu for more cushion, but Gibson (4-6) was already well in control on his way to consecutive wins for the first time this year. He gave up five hits without a walk, and the only run he permitted http://www.officialfloridapanthers.com/Adidas-Aaron-Ekblad-Jersey came on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Kiermaier in the eighth.
Hopefully he pitches as well Chris Tillman Womens Jersey in the second half, Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said, and gets a lot more wins to show for it.


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A project to improve traffic congestion on I-5 between SR-55 and SR-57 is moving forward. The section of I-5, used by more than 390,000 motorists each day, is currently subject to delays that are expected to increase over time. By 2030, the number of daily travelers is expected to rise to 464,000 – an increase of 19 percent.
OCTA, in partnership with Caltrans, will add a second carpool lane in each direction to relieve traffic congestion, alleviate bottlenecks and improve traffic operations on this corridor within the cities of Santa Ana, Orange and Tustin. The project also includes removing the I-5/Main Street carpool on- and off-ramps.
The project is in the final design stage. In this stage, project information is reviewed and updated, the scope of the project is refined, and data is collected on a number of factors such as the latest traffic operations, utility locations, existing road and bridge conditions, terrain and soil properties and drainage.
Experts including transportation planners, engineers, environmentalists, landscape architects, geologists and others use the data to develop a complete set of project plans that include a refined estimate of the construction costs and best practices for the construction phase.
The plans are about two-thirds complete. Construction is expected to begin in early 2018 and continue through 2020.
As the project moves through the final design stage and toward construction, the OCTA outreach team will continue to keep residents, businesses and community leaders informed.
To schedule a presentation or for additional project information, please visit our website. Information is also available on Facebook and Twitter at OCi5CentralCo.


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Gluten-Free Results
88 products — Hormel Foods
"Q: Do you have a listing of Jennie-O gluten free products?
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Important: We try to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information available. However, please keep in mind that manufacturer policies and formulations can change at any time, and that some information listed on this site could be out-of-date or contain unintentional errors.
Remember to always read product labels and check with the manufacturer directly if you have any concerns.


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Gives you wings
Sue Salinger over at ballotvox spotted the following: "Even if you're an Obamamaniac, the angel wings in this photo may seem a little over the top — but the graffiti is on an old sewage drain, so maybe that balances things out. However you read it, it's a great picture, no?"
More on the location
Jeffrey Tayler notes that:
The shot is from a beach in Pacifica, the locals call Linda Mar. The Google map calls the beach Pacific State Beach.


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Key To The Rockies Lodging has been specializing in Keystone, Colorado vacation rentals since 1991. And that knowledge of the market has given us an insight to the housing market that few possess. Key To The Rockies Real Estate can provide you with vital information about the market, potential growth areas and most importantly, where you and your family will have the greatest memories. We deliver dreams to those who have relocated to our amazingly beautiful county and to those who are blessed to have a second home. No one knows Keystone, Breckenridge or surrounding areas better than Key To The Rockies Real Estate. Here in Summit County when one is asked how their day is, most respond, "I'm livin' the dream!" We hope to share that dream with you too.
Long time resident Mike Magliocchetti has a unique perspective of the market and is a full time "local". Mike has been one of the most trusted names in the lodging and real estate market and is dedicated to superior customer service, market knowledge and marketing expertise that far transcends the mainstream.
Striving for excellence has become a tradition at Key To The Rockies Real Estate. Key To The Rockies is dedicated to providing personalized service that creates customers and friends for life.
The strength of Key To The Rockies Real Estate comes not only from our past, but our ability to embrace the future. Our capability to accurately project future trends affecting our customers, friends and clients assures you of being in the best hands possible. You will benefit from our knowledge and expertise in Summit County. And the trust you place in us is what makes us the successful team that we are today.
So, please be sure to drop by, or give us a call.
We have the keys to your next home!


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If you're looking for a perfectly wonderful eco-friendly gift for your child, Artterro Arts & Crafts Kits can't be beat. The best thing about Artterro art kits is that they offer open-ended craft play that allows your child to use his imagination versus simply following art kit directions. Additionally, every single Artterro art kit is sustainable, fairly made and seriously affordable. My kids were lucky enough to get to test out three amazing Artterro Arts & Crafts Kits. Keep reading to see what we thought of these all-in-one craft kits and to learn more about the eco-perks of both the kits and the company who makes them.
Eco-friendly Perks of Artterro Arts & Crafts Kits
- Safe and sustainable: Artterro uses safe and high-quality natural materials in their kits, such as 100% wool felt, 100% post-consumer waste decorative handmade paper, glass and wooden beads, cotton thread, hand batiked cotton fabric and copper wire.
- 100% sustainable packaging: Each Artterro box is not only made with easily recycled materials, but each kit comes with a bonus project as the box can be re-purposed into a frame for your child's finished artwork.
- Imaginative: Each kit comes with a full set of instruction sheets that are easy to understand. However, the best part is that the instructions don't mandate a finished product. Your child uses the instructions to learn, say how to use decoupage paper, but then comes up with the finished idea all on his own. Very creative and open-ended play is the result.
- Green retailing: Artterro's retail display units for stores are made from 100% renewable bamboo.
- Green printing: All of Artterro's packaging inserts and marketing materials are printed on recycled paper (most of it 100% PCW) using vegetable based inks and renewable energy.
- Giving back: To help create jobs, Artterro kits are assembled at and shipped from the non-profit Goodwill Industries in Milwaukee, WI. Additionally, Artterro has donated kits to Project Kids in Cambodia.
Collage Jewelry Kit
The Collage Jewelry Kit comes with everything your child needs to create 6 unique jewelry pieces. Materials include fun supplies such as beautiful decoupage papers, wooden jewelry elements such as a bangle, beads and pendants, plus tools like twine, glaze, brush, findings and an idea sheet. My son Cedar showed some interest in the Collage Jewelry Kit, so I wouldn't say it's a 'girls only kit.' However, my partner's daughter Katana spent more time than Cedar playing and crafting with this kit. So, in my house anyway, the kit had more girl appeal. With very little help from me, Katana learned how to use the decoupage papers and glaze quickly to make many cool pieces of jewelry. Cedar decided to mix and match elements of this kit with the Artterro Creativity Kit to make a mask ornament and some other cool projects. In the end, the kids made some surprisingly 'professional' looking jewelry with this kit and gave it a thumbs up.
Creativity Kit
The Creativity Kit was our least favorite of all the three kits we sampled. However, that doesn't make it a bad kit. Our house is simply jam packed with basic art supplies as it is, so the types of materials offered in this kit were already all over our house. Now, on the flip-side, if your child has few art supplies or is just getting old enough for crafts, then this would be a great kit choice. The Creativity Kit comes with plenty of materials that allow for total freedom of creativity. Included are fancy handmade papers, beads, wool felt shapes, needles and thread and more. Your child can come up with his own idea for a project or use this kit to make the suggested greeting cards, bookmarks, ornaments, gift tags, small sculptures and more. In all, this art kit has enough supplies for about eight projects.
Paint With Wool Portrait Kit
Hands down the Paint With Wool Portrait Kit was the house favorite. Every single person in the house – three kids and two adults tried it out and LOVED it. None of us had ever done wool needle felting, and this kit was a super fun introduction to it. The kit comes with enough materials to make four 4-inch pieces of art. If you're unfamiliar with wool felting, how it works is you poke colorful bits of roving wool bits into the base felt shape with a felting needle. The wool can be used to paint pictures of just about anything you can imagine. No glue or sewing required. Jade, the oldest kid in our house, had a pretty easy time learning to do this. The younger kids took a little longer to catch on, but once they did, they had a great time. Due to the very sharp needle and the learning curve, I suggest that only kids 8 or older use this, and even then, having an adult around is a good plan. Overall, this kit was the biggest hit with everyone, and we'd highly suggest it. In fact, this kit inspired the kids and now they're interested in more advanced wool felting projects.
*SAFETY TIP: At one point or another each of us accidentally poked our finger with the needle, so be careful!
What other kits are available?
There are tons of fun arts and craft kits available at Artterro, such as the awesome looking Bubble Wand Kit, the Bookmaking Kit, and the brand new Wool Felt Bugs Kit shown above. In all there are currently a dozen amazing art kits available, all of them offering a taste of something new and creative for your child. While each kit already offers stand-alone fun, keep in mind that all the kits come with materials that can be mix and matched for even more projects. Best of all, these kits are incredibly affordable considering how eco-friendly they are, which makes them the perfect birthday or holiday gift for your child's friends too.
You can purchase Artterro Art Kits online or find a store near you that carries them.
+ Paint With Wool Portrait Kit $19.95
Images courtesy of Artterro & Jennifer Chait.


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Tag: OHC Articles
Book Review: From Coors to California: David Sickler and The New Working Class
Captured in part through the Oral History Center's interview of Sickler, the labor activist's winning personality and creative intelligence is evident throughout all the essays.
By Lisa Rubens, Oral History Center Historian and Academic Specialist, Emerita
At 19 David Sickler, with ambitions to run his own horse ranch, went to work for Coors Brewing Company. It was the best-paying job he could find in his hometown of Golden, Colorado. But the working conditions there were so deplorable, the control William and Joseph Coors had over the lives of their workers so complete—and as Dave would learn over the government of Colorado and some of the most powerful right-wing institutions in the nation—that David committed himself to the labor movement, first as a union shop steward and then as head of the Brewery Workers Local 336. He led a strike against Coors in l977 and organized a national boycott of the beer that lasted ten years. This catapulted him into the leadership of the AFL-CIO and some of the most critical labor struggles from the l970s through his retirement in 2015.
Newly published by UCLA's Center for Labor Research and Education, From Coors to California: David Sickler and The New Working Class is a collection of six essays written by scholars and labor activists that focus on key industries and constituencies Sickler targeted and the strategies he employed during his nearly fifty year career as a labor organizer and leader. The book is based substantially on an oral history that I conducted for the Oral History Center in 2014: David Sickler: A Lifetime as Labor Organizer, AFL-CIO Leader and Champion of Immigrant Workers.
An essay on the Coors strike discusses how Sickler became close friends with the San Francisco gay-rights activist Howard Wallace, having determined that gay bars in the City—and Latinx communities in Los Angeles—had the highest consumption of Coors beer in the country. They were able to stop the sale of Coors in most bars and kept distributors from handling Coors—a strategy replicated throughout the country. Another essay on immigrant worker organizing shows how Sickler brought those who most trade unions considered threats to their movement, and who had been excluded, into unions and ultimately into the political mainstream of California. This took a lot of commitment, courage, and finesse. A new generation of Latinx leaders emerged from campaigns against California's rabid anti-immigrant and labor Propositions l87 and 226. When longtime labor activist and California state assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 2005—the first Latino mayor—he appointed Sickler as his senior labor advisor and commissioner for the powerful public works department. Other essays examine the role Sickler played coordinating political strategies of various unions and establishing labor think tanks and educational programs.
Sickler's winning personality and creative intelligence is evident throughout all the essays. The book will serve as a case study for labor organizing: already at book parties held at several labor centers around the country, a separate session has been convened for union representatives. There is also a useful bibliography and photographs that chronicle the narratives. As William Coors often repeated, one of the biggest mistakes he made was hiring David Sickler. As the oral history and this new book demonstrate, David Sickler was the better for it and so has been the history of the labor movement and social justice.
From the Oral History Center Director – OHC and Education
For an office that does not offer catalog-listed courses, the Oral History Center is still deeply invested in — and engaged with — the teaching mission of the university.
For over 15 years, our signature educational program has been our annual Advanced Oral History Summer Institute. Started by OHC interviewer emeritus Lisa Rubens in 2002 and now headed up by staff historian Shanna Farrell, this week-long seminar attracts about 40 scholars every year. Past attendees have come from most states in the union and internationally too — from Ireland and South Korea, Argentina and Japan, Australia and Finland. The Summer Institute, applications for which are now being accepted, follows the life cycle of the interview, with individual days devoted to topics such as "Project Planning" and "Analysis and Interpretation."
In 2015 we launched the Introduction to Oral History Workshop, which was created with the novice oral historian in mind, or individuals who simply wanted to learn a bit more about the methodology but didn't necessarily have a big project to undertake. Since then, a diverse group of undergraduate students, attorneys, authors, psychologists, genealogists, park rangers, and more have attended the annual workshop. This year's workshop will be held on Saturday February 3rd and registration is now open.
In addition to these formal, regularly scheduled events, OHC historians and staff often speak to community organizations, local historical societies, student groups, and undergraduate and graduate research seminars. If you'd like to learn more about what we do at the Center and about oral history in general, please drop us a note!
In recent years we have had the opportunity to work closely with a small group of Berkeley undergrads: our student employees. Although the Center has employed students for many decades, only in the past few years have they come to play such an integral role in and make such important contributions to our core activities. Students assist with the production of transcripts, including entering narrator corrections and writing tables of contents; they work alongside David Dunham, our lead technologist, in creating metadata for interviews and editing oral history audio and video; and they partner with interviewers to conduct background research into our narrators and the topics we interview them about. With these contributions, students have helped the Center in very real, measurable ways, most importantly by enabling an increase in productivity: the past few years have been some of the most productive in terms of hours of interviews conducted in the Center's history. We also like to think that by providing students with intellectually challenging, real-world assignments, we are contributing to their overall educational experience too.
As 2017 draws to a close, I join my Oral History Center colleagues Paul Burnett, David Dunham, Shanna Farrell, and Todd Holmes in thanking our amazing student employees: Aamna Haq, Carla Palassian, Hailie O'Bryan, Maggie Deng (who wrote her first contribution to our newsletter this issue), Nidah Khalid, Pilar Montenegro, Vincent Tran, and Marisa Uribe!
Martin Meeker, Charles B. Faulhaber Director of the Oral History Center
Patricia J. Greene: Recombinant DNA Technology in Herb Boyer's UCSF Lab in the 1970s
Now available online, an oral history with Patricia Greene: Recombinant DNA Technology in Herb Boyer's UCSF Lab in the 1970s. Interviewed by Sally Smith Hughes in 2006, this interview in the series on bioscience and biotechnology in Northern California documents Greene's contributions in the Boyer lab to making recombinant DNA technology in the 1970s more efficient and productive.
George Halvorson, Chair and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, 2002-2013
Today we are thrilled to release our substantial life history interview with George Halvorson, a former Chair and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest providers of health care. Halvorson has been listed several times on Modern Healthcare's "Most Influential People in Healthcare" roll call, reaching the #6 position in 2012. Halvorson headed up the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals from 2002 through 2013. Before that, he served as founding CEO of HealthPartners in Minnesota. Since his retirement from Kaiser, Halvorson has devoted his time to promoting the benefits of early childhood education through California's First Five initiative and to addressing social difference and tensions through his own Institute for Intergroup Understanding.
In 2016, Karen Ignagni, herself one of the Most Influential People in Healthcare and former CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, wrote this of Halvorson:
George Halvorson has led an extraordinary life that is filled with accomplishment, introspection and leadership. These tapes beautifully capture what he did, but what's especially riveting is how he did it. In listening to the complete set, you come away with nothing but admiration for the sheer magnitude of what this curious, big thinking, self-aware but personally modest man has accomplished.
I've known George for approximately 25 years and believe leaders from different stakeholder communities will find these interviews both inspiring and challenging. While all of us know how successful George has been, these interviews explain how his career unfolded, what drove him, and how he created the circumstances that allowed him to lead very different organizations.
As listeners, we have a front row seat for his thought process, his choices and his perseverance. We learn what a formative experience it was for George not to become the CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, how it made him available for the leadership role at HealthPartners, and how he forged new relationships with physician groups and hospitals long before health policy leaders were suggesting this was the path to the future.
We learn how George worked with Key employers in Minnesota to attack rising healthcare costs, create product transparency and pave the way for a pathbreaking buying cooperative. At the same time, we learn how a busy and successful executive constructed and implemented a plan to bring healthcare coverage to the people of Uganda and teach leaders from the World Bank how to achieve that objective efficiently and effectively.
Even though I had the pleasure of watching George's transition to Kaiser Permanente, I enjoyed listening to him describe why he made the change and what he set out to accomplish in that key delivery system. At that point in their careers many CEOs might have chosen to simply enjoy the ride. Not George Halvorson. He chose to make Kaiser a leader on safety long before it was top of mind for others in large health systems. We learn about his quest to attack sepsis and reorient his hospitals' processes to make that possible. We also learn about what it took to form a strong partnership with the Permanente medical group and exactly what made that work over time.
But that's not all. George was a leader in helping to pass the Affordable Care Act. Here he gives us an inside look at what that responsibility meant to him and how it impacted the country. George has been an actor on the national stage, but what is particularly fascinating is his ability to explain what he was thinking, why and how that crafted his strategy. As a listener, you are transported back in time as he recounts his experience.
George's introspection as a prolific author makes him a skilled raconteur. You root for him, you admire him and you are delighted that you listened. Many CEOs have experiences worth sharing but few have the ability to teach. George Halvorson has that gift, and these tapes make it possible for us to learn, to admire and to respect this unique individual who dared to dream and had the courage and skills to lead.
Video excerpts:
Ian Carmichael: A Life in Geology, Teaching, Research, and Administration
We are pleased to announce the completion of our oral history with Ian S. E. Carmichael. Carmichael, who passed away in 2011, was a professor of earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley, and an expert on volcanoes and the underground processes that shape them. Carmichael was the chair of the UC Berkeley Department of Geology and Geophysics from 1972-1976 and 1980-1982. He was associate dean for research in the Office of Provost for Research (1986-2000), associate dean for academic affairs in the Graduate Division (1985-2000), and acting director of the UC Botanical Garden (1997-1998). He was director of UC Berkeley?s Lawrence Hall of Science from 1996 to 2003.was a Professor of Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley. Read his obituary here.
Welcoming our Newest Historian and Interviewer: Todd Holmes
We are proud to announce the arrival of a new interviewer at the Oral History Center, Todd Holmes. Todd is joining us from the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University, where he was a researcher and Affiliated Scholar. Todd completed his PhD from Yale University, where he studied the political history of California and its impact on national politics in the late-20th century. His book manuscript is called The Fruits of Fracture: The Corporate West, The United Farm Workers Movement, and the Rise of Reaganism in American Politics. We were intrigued by Todd's interests, skills, and promise as an oral historian, and thought he would be a great addition to our group, helping us with our series on Politics and Government; Business; Food and Wine; Natural Resources, Land Use, and the Environment; and Social Movements.
We thought it would be appropriate to conduct an oral history interview with Dr. Holmes to learn a bit more about him and to share what we learned with you. Although Todd's doctorate in history was from back East, he in fact hails from California. He grew up in Roseville, northeast of Sacramento, with both sides of his family farming in the Central Valley. As a child, Todd showed a passion for history, especially the history of US presidents. But unlike many, he persisted in his passion by earning a B.A. and M.A. in history from Sacramento State, resulting in a comparison amongst some of his relatives between him and the Forrest Gump: "Well, Todd just kept going to school because no one told him he had to stop." At Yale, Todd broadened his interests in subfields of history, and other disciplines as well, including political science and anthropology, which was particularly facilitated by his four years as coordinator of the interdisciplinary Agrarian Studies Program.
In this interview, Todd also discusses the evolution of his dissertation/ book project, which views the rise of Reagan's brand of politics through the lens of the struggle between the California farmworkers movement and what he calls the Corporate West, a unified front in California that coalesced partly in response to labor organization in California's farms and fields in the 1960s. Todd's extensive archival research ranged from politicians to corporate ledgers to the documents of the United Farmworkers. But it was the oral history collection here at the Bancroft Library that he feels helped him to understand what was going on beyond the documentary record:
… there's no archival material that could give you this type of insight. Reagan's business advisors, Holmes Tuttle, Henry Salvatori, the kind of influence and relationships and how that worked. There is no paper trail. Holmes Tuttle didn't write letters with Ronald Reagan; he talked to him on the phone every single day.
Todd then went out on his own to interview housewives who made the consumer choices that supported the boycott, labor activists whose views revealed a range of perspectives on the farmworker movement, and larger growers who stood to lose from the UFW grape boycott. In these interviews, Todd realized the extent to which political identity in his story failed to cleave neatly along lines of party affiliation, occupation, socioeconomic status, race, or ethnicity. As one example, Todd recounts his interview with a self-identified conservative housewife who supported the grape boycott.
Notwithstanding this political complexity on the ground, Todd argues that the farmworkers' bid for social justice ultimately produced a better organized, more broadly based conservative movement in California and, later, in the entire United States.
So at the end of the day you could say that the movement did this, this, and this. The unintended consequence is you just strengthened and galvanized and politically mobilized the very corporate entity that you thought you were challenging… And that kind of insight, what really pushed me to look at that, came from talking to a number of growers who had been in agriculture for a very long time.
It is from this conclusion that the interview turns to a discussion of the purpose of oral history, which is usually understood as a practice of social justice in itself, of redressing an imbalance in the documentary record that favors, well, the record keepers, the winners of history. While this is an important goal of oral history, Todd recalls that oral history is essential to understanding how people make sense of their world in every conceivable context, including the governance of the state of California.
After Todd completed his PhD, he took a post-doctoral fellowship at the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University, where he again immersed himself in an interdisciplinary environment that was devoted to historical scholarship, policy research and educational outreach about the region he knows best. At the Bill Lane Center, Todd became intrigued by the possibilities of working in a para-academic environment, one that is devoted to public history and making use of new technological platforms to reach more people: researchers, policymakers, students, and a curious public.
We are delighted to have Todd join us, and we look forward to collaborating with him on large oral history projects and on new ways to present our work online, using the latest tools to do so. Watch these pages for Todd's contributions to the Oral History Center!
Paul Burnett, Oral History Center
From the Director: Celebrating the Oral History Class of 2016
The 2015-2016 school year recently wrapped up at the Oral History Center with what has become a new and thriving tradition: the annual Oral History Graduation! In late April or early May over the past four years, we have hosted our commencement ceremony in which we celebrate the oral histories completed over the past year. This special event gives us an opportunity to thank our interviewees for the often considerable time they give to our projects and to the sponsors who make those projects possible.
This year we were especially honored to have many of our interviewees in attendance, including: former head of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission Will Travis, labor leaders Dave and Carole Sickler, former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, Emeritus Vice President for Health Affairs for the University of California Cornelius Hopper, jazz pianist Gildo Mahones, former City College of San Francisco president Del Anderson Handy, St. George Spirits founder Jorg Rupf, Berkeley legal scholar Jack Coons, winemaker Zelma Long, paleontologist Bill Clemens, and, last but not least, Bernice Grimes, Kay Morrison, Mary Torres, and Marian Wynn, who were interviewed for our Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front oral history project. We also were honored by attendance of Howard Friesen, who along with his late wife Carmel provided OHC with a substantial endowment that will allow us to develop ever more important projects in the years to come.
At this year's Oral History Class of 2016 event I had the privilege of introducing our excellent staff members to the attendees. It is always a special occasion when we add a new person to our team and this year I was thrilled to introduce Todd Holmes as a member of our staff for the first time. Todd started with us in mid-April and in just six weeks time has already started to make important contributions to the intellectual life of the office. I encourage you to check out the "From the Archives" piece Todd wrote on our 1978 oral history with former California Secretary of State March Fong Eu. You'll also want to see the excellent profile on Todd written by our now seasoned oral historian Paul Burnett.
Martin Meeker
Charles B. Faulhaber Director
New Oral Histories in the Global Mining and Materials Research Project
We are proud to announce eleven new interviews for the Global Mining and Materials Research Project, which focuses on key transitions in technology, policy, and geopolitics that have brought mining to its current state worldwide. These eleven new interviews feature leading metallurgists, software engineers, experts in mine health and safety, executives in the fields of industrial minerals, coal mining, and hard-rock mining, and an executive director of a mining association. We are most grateful to these narrators for taking time out of a busy schedule to speak to us about the evolution of the mining industry over the past forty years.
These interviews were funded with support from the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST), The Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society (TMS), and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
From the Archives: March Fong Eu, Pioneering Woman in California Politics
This month we pay tribute to March Fong Eu, former Secretary of State and member of the State Assembly in California. Fong Eu was the subject a major oral history interview conducted by the Center in 1978. From an early age, Ms. Eu was considered a trailblazer, earning a BS in Dentistry from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Education from Stanford University. In 1966, after years of work in local politics, she announced her candidacy for the State Assembly. Although bold and inspiring, the move garnered little support initially from the Democratic Party. Even Nicholas Petris, a Democratic incumbent in Eu's district who knew her well, gave his endorsement to another candidate. "When you're pressed to endorse candidates, sometimes you ultimately make a decision as to the one that?s going to win, more than the person you prefer," Eu would recall. "Maybe he just felt that it couldn't happen that I would win: There was only one woman in the legislature; women just did not get elected. And a Chinese woman at that."
March Fong Eu proved them wrong. She won the Democratic primary, and went on to win in the November election, becoming not only the second woman elected to the California Legislature, but also the first from Asian ancestry. After serving four terms, she successfully ran for Secretary of State in 1974, becoming the first Asian American woman elected to a state constitutional office in the United States. She would hold that office for the next two decades, resigning in 1994 to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Federal States of Micronesia at the request of President Bill Clinton.
March Fong Eu's accomplishments in Sacramento were many. In the Legislature, she pushed to abolish paid toilets in public buildings, an unfair and discriminatory feature for women, and spearheaded many successful policy campaigns in the fields of education, public health, consumer affairs, farm pesticide safety, family planning, environmental protection, and tax reform. As Secretary of State she instituted innovations such as voter registration by mail, at-large absentee balloting, internet reporting of all election-related data, and the inclusion of candidate statements in ballot pamphlets. Throughout her thirty years of service, Ms. Eu stood as a pioneer in California politics, opening doors for the number of women who followed. As she would later observe, her tenure in Sacramento helped many "accept the fact that change is here and change has come."
Excerpts from her speech, 'The Self-Sufficient Woman' February 1973
If there is one field where women must be especially self-sufficient, it is politics. I say this not only because I could cite statistic after statistic about the small number of women in elected offices. I say this not only because I could talk about the virtual void of women in higher political administrative positions?. But my saying women have to be especially self-sufficient in politics has to do with a kind of ?seriousness syndrome? which is part of the double standard in politics…
When women have fun, there seems to be a massive male overreaction. When one burning took place of a uniquely female garment of support, all of a sudden all women seeking legal justice and social equality were frivolous, crazy bra-burners. If I may speak jocularly, I wonder if someone revolting against the rather unusual athletic mystique in this country were to burn a uniquely male garment of support, whether there might be a similar reaction.
Maybe if some men had to bear and rear unwanted babies themselves, they would understand better our resentment of laws relating to our reproductive systems. Maybe if some men let their wives involuntarily control their income, they would understand better our resentment of present discriminatory statutes directed toward women as a class. And maybe if some men were raped, and, in pursuit of justice, they found that they had to reveal humiliating information about their past lives- maybe then they would understand the anger of women who feel they are doubly wronged by rapists and the laws concerning rape.
I guess what I am saying is that I believe it is about time that some men need to do some honest rethinking about their perspective and prejudices.
Being one of only two women in the California Legislature, in the last six years I have been in a good position to see the emerging political activism of women and I am delighted by it…
I am confident that the two constituencies for whom I have become something of a symbol will continue to grow in power and influence so that no longer will they feel that they are constantly being 'White-Maled.'
Todd Holmes, Oral History Center
David Sickler: A Lifetime as Labor Organizer, AFL-CIO Leader and Champion of Immigrant Workers
David Sickler: A Lifetime as Labor Organizer, AFL-CIO Leader and Champion of Immigrant Workers
David Sickler has a long and distinguished career as a labor organizer, as a leader within the AFL-CIO and as an innovator of efforts to organize immigrant workers. At 18, he began work on the bottling line at Coors Brewing Company in Golden Colorado, soon becoming a shop steward and then business manager of Brewery Workers Union, Local 366. Following a strike in 1977, AFL-CIO President George Meany picked Sickler to head the national boycott of Coors Beer, a struggle that lasted ten years and led to a successful resolution, and became a model campaign emulated by other unions.
In 1986 Sickler was appointed AFL-CIO Regional Director as well as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles-Orange Counties Organizing Committee. Following passage of the Immigration Reform Act in 1988, he established the Labor Immigrant Assistance Project and the AFL-CIO Immigrant Workers? Association. Subsequently he was the senior labor advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, as Commissioner of Public Works, and as Executive Director of Employment Relations at the L.A. Department of Water and Power.
Beginning in 2009 Sickler was Southern Regional Director of The California State Building and Construction Trades Council. He has served as Chair of the UCLA Center for Labor and Research Advisory Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pat Brown Institute.


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Kodachrome 2017ZooeyReleasedSet during the final days of the admired photo development system known as Kodachrome, a father and son hit the road in order to reach the Kansas photo lab before it closes its doors for good.
Avengers: Infinity War 2018Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet WitchIn theatersThe Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
Yesterday the Film Independent Filmmaker Grant And Spirit Awards Nominees Brunch was held and Elizabeth attended looking gorgeous as always.
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all teams picked up runaway victories in their season finales Wednesday.
Los Alamos' baseball team crushed the Capital Jaguars 15-2 in five innings, while the Los Alamos softball team won 11-1 Both games were played in Santa Fe and both games ended before the full seven innings.
In baseball, Los Alamos (17-9, 11-1 in 2-4A) clinched its fifth straight district title Saturday with a road sweep of Española Valley and qualified for the state Class 4A playoffs. It won 15 of its last 16 games to close out the season.
As it has done in most of its recent wins, the Hilltoppers jumped out to a big early lead and didn't look back. They pushed four runs across in the top of the first and four more in the top of the third to put the game out of reach early.
The lowly Jaguar baseball team (0-23 overall, 0-10 in 2-4A), which has a doubleheader against crosstown rival Santa Fe before it can mercifully put its 2013 season to bed, has been outscored 308-45 and has managed just 14 runs in 10 district games.
Just across the way, the Hilltopper softball team pounded out 10 hits and scored four runs in the top of the fourth to put the Jaguars away.
The Hilltoppers finish the district season with a sparkling 10-2 record (14-11 overall), but can only hope the Bernalillo Spartans stumble in both ends of a doubleheader Saturday against Española Valley for them to earn a district title.
The Spartans are 9-1 in district and topped Santa Fe 5-2 Wednesday, rallying for three runs in their final at-bat to win. The Spartans, who went 2-1 against Los Alamos in 2-4A play, own the tiebreaker between the two teams.
Los Alamos ends its regular season on a four-game winning streak.
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Welcome to Aspire - Aspect's blog featuring blogs from Aspect staff and others in the autism community. The views expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect). To be considered as a guest blogger on Aspire, please send a brief outline of your topic and your credentials to Aspect via the Contact Us page.
50 years of being brilliantly different
Thomas Kuzma
Date posted: 21/07/2016
This week o nthe blog Thomas talks about the 50th anniversary of Aspect and meeting up with some old future leader friends.Read more
Emperor and a Gentlemen 2: Diversity Boogaloo
Thomas Kuzma
Date posted: 23/06/2016
This week on the blog thomas talks about his adventures in Supanova! He also talks about being in the Diversity panel in one of Supanova's SeminarsRead more
Lessons Learned!
Thomas Kuzma
Date posted: 16/06/2016
This Week on the blog Thomas Goes back through his past 25 years living on planet earth and what thinks about what lessons he has learnedRead more
Working Class Part 3: Do or Do not Advocate, There Is No Try
Thomas Kuzma
Date posted: 29/03/2016
This week on the blog Thomas talks about advocating in the workplace and what it means to advocate, some say it is about talking about your disability, but you would be surprised what it really is about.Read more
Lord of the blogs: The Return of the Aspie!
Thomas Kuzma
Date posted: 14/03/2016
Guess who's back! Thomas returns to the web waves with a blog on self confidence and what are some strategies you can use to build it up.Read more
Visual communication: from research to practice
Date posted: 28/01/2016
We regularly recommend visual communication strategies because people on the spectrum often have strengths in visual learning. This is especially important in our work through Aspect Positive Behaviour Support where communication can replace challenging behaviour.Read more
Neurodiversity and looking through the lens
Date posted: 14/12/2015
Guest blogger Amy Smith discusses the concept of neurodiversity and how this often misunderstood model plays a key role in helping people on the autism spectrum, their neurotypical loved ones, and organisations like Aspect in providing assistance and support.Read more
Why 'no' is a choice
Tom Tutton
Date posted: 01/09/2015
Everyday people make choices, big and small, trivial and life-changing. Choices vary from whether or not to eat a double -coated chocolate biscuit, what movie to see, career or study options, and starting or ending relationships. In fact, researchers, conference speakers and book authors interested in how decisions are made, point out that there is often too much choice in our everyday lives.Read more
Mentors: the Knowledge Maker
Thomas Kuzma
Date posted: 11/06/2015
today on the blog Thomas talks about mentoring and how it can benefit lives.Read more
An Eventful Life!
Thomas Kuzma
Date posted: 24/04/2015
This month on the blog Thomas talks about the recent events that went on at Aspect. From World Autism Awareness Day to the Recognition Awards, it has been almost like a rollercoaster ride!Read more


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Roof Addition Framing
Adding a roof to a porch requires creating a framed roof area and attaching it to the existing house. The most common attachment locations are along a wall surface and the roof's fascia board.
To attach roof joists to a wall, use a horizontal support board, called a ledger, attached on the wall surface with joist hangers to hold the joists. Attach a second ledger atop posts on the outside edge of the porch to create the exterior frame.
Footings and Flooring
If a patio roof addition projects beyond the existing porch surface, builders must construct footings to support the roof addition posts or wall framing. Although local building codes specify acceptable footing types, common options include poured footings and precast concrete piers.
A wide variety of flooring materials are suitable for covered porch floors. Interior floor coverings are suitable for enclosed, covered porches.
Homeowners should use outdoor flooring materials for open-air or partially exposed porches, such as natural stone tile or decking lumber.
Roofing Materials
While many homeowners prefer to cover a porch roof addition with roofing materials that match their home's existing roof, all types of roof covering materials are acceptable for porch and patio covers. Popular options include asphalt roofing products, such as shingles and rolled roofing and rigid roofing panels.
Rigid roofing panels are available in both metal and plastic. Plastic roofing panels are clear, translucent or opaque.
Clear and translucent panels allow light to enter a porch from above, providing a sunroom effect.
Enclosed vs. Open Air
The primary design decision is a choice between an enclosed and an open-air porch. Although you can easily enclose an open-air porch later on, building the entire addition at once might save money and effort.
Homeowners may fill an enclosed porch's openings only with screens or with windows and screens. Enclosure with windows and insulated walls transforms a covered porch into a sunroom suitable for winter use.
Alternatively, open-air porches offer more comfort than enclosed porches in hot and humid climates.


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This is relevant both in career as well as in life!
Right from our birth we always look up to someone to take inspiration from and learn from. As children we get inspired by parents and often mimic them.
As we grow out of parents we get inspired by a friend who is extremely talented. We have a need to get associated with him or her and be with that person all that time.
At work we get impressed by good leaders and tend to follow them, learn from them as well. While growing we also follow and learn from various gurus who make a lasting impression on us.
All this is okay to a point, but where it gets a little confusing is as we tend to find challenges in life we start to get more and more dependent on that person.
At career we latch on to the person and move alongwith him or her wherever they go. If they quit and leave to join another organization we follow suit. We lose our sense of identity and our individual confidence to move into any role without the person.
We lose our inner strength and appreciation of our individual skills and become totally dependent on that person. It leads to an inner conflict and continuous dissatisfaction throughout our career even though we may appear to be going up the ladder and earning good money.
In life we start following the guru and become a fan and a follower. The guru becomes bigger than the teaching. We lose perspective and get totally caught up with the guru. This again leads to inner conflict and loss of inner strength. This makes us become even more dependent on the guru.
In both cases as time progresses we become weaker and weaker and more dependent on that person which is a self – defeating goal. We lose respect for ourselves and others also don't respect us since we have lost our individuality.
At the end of it nothing is achieved by this.
So remember one simple rule in life.
Don't follow a person, follow their teaching and learn from them.
This also allows us to respect other leaders and gurus in equal measure and learn from them. An approach which is empowering and highly rewarding.


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The latest international news, analysis and features on the HIV epidemic from Avert. Share your views and expertise with your peers in the comments box below the articles.
2015 has been a momentous year for the HIV response and global development. Bold commitments have been made to accelerate efforts towards the common goal of ending AIDS as a global public health threat by 2030.
This World Aids Day, British politicians and HIV activists from around the world held a panel discussion at the UK government offices to explore HIV testing and treatment access challenges for marginalised groups, including men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs and transgender people.
As we mark the 28th World AIDS Day, I reflect back on the unprecedented progress made in response to a global health and development challenge affecting hundreds of millions of people. I also look back on what has been harder to make progress on, and why HIV-related stigma remains one the biggest challenges we have yet to fully overcome.
To mark World AIDS Day (1 December 2015) HIV charity AVERT has launched an animation to help people overcome fears and worries about HIV – something which is stopping millions of people from getting tested for the virus.
Nearly a year in the making, AVERT's award-winning information is now even more accessible and user-friendly – designed with those who use it most in mind.
Delegates at last week's International Harm Reduction Conference in Kuala Lumpur called for a leaked UN briefing paper on drug policy reform to be officially released.
New report published by the Global Fund outlines how its investments helped save 17 million lives.
New HIV testing guidelines from the World Health Organisation aim to improve and expand testing services globally. The guidance includes a new focus on the importance of community testing to increase take-up of testing as early as possible after infection.
The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) relating to HIV and AIDS – halting and reversing the spread of HIV – has been met and exceeded, as announced by UNAIDS today.
The MDGs were established in 2000 – with targets ranging from reducing extreme poverty, to combatting HIV and AIDS, to providing universal primary education to all children by 2015. The sixth MDG relates specifically to halting and reversing the spread of HIV and AIDS by 2015, and achieving universal access to treatment for those who need it.


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Delicious sweet pie , best served warm with sour cream , whipped cream or icecream. Reduced complexity , ready in 1 hour 20 minutes.
FOR PIE DOUGH ( 400 gr )
• 250 gr of white flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 150 gr of butter sliced into cubes
• 15 ml of cold water
• 200 gr of peanuts
• 150 gr of powdered sugar
• 30 gr of butter
• 6 apples
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 2-6 tablespoons of sugar
Step 1
First of all prepare the dough: Put the flour with salt, sugar and butter into a bowl and mix until it becomes a homogeneous mixture and the butter is creamy. Add cold water and knead until the dough is soft and well bound. Dress up the composition in foil and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before using it. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C or 320 degrees F .
Step 2
On a flour surface spread the pie dough and cut 2 circles of 30 cm. Place a circle into a tart shape dusted with baking paper.
Step 3
Prepare the caramel with peanuts: In a pan , at medium heat , stir the sugar with the butter , mixing continuously , until the butter melts. Mix until it reaches boiling point and until it begins to get a darken color. Add peanuts. Immediately pour caramel mixture in the tart shell.
Step 4
For the apples filling all you have to do is to mix sugar with the spices, and cut the apples into cubes. Put them in a tray ovel caramel hazelnut tart, then place the other circle of dough over the pie. Easily press with fingers dipped in water the edges of both discs to seal them. Grease the top of the pie with beaten egg yolk and bake for 25 minutes.
Step 5
SERVING: Serve it warm , with sour cream , whipped cream or icecream.


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Happy New Year! (2018 Goals)
Happy New Year!
I'm so excited for 2018, because I have so many goals!
Every New Year's Eve, I get a little sad. Maybe it's my nonstop existential crisis making me panic every time I feel more time passing. Maybe it's the constant reminder that I'm getting older, despite the fact that most people would say 25 is still young. Whatever it is, I always feel sad to say goodbye to the current year.
But once the new year begins, I'm ready to hit the ground running. And this year, I'm super excited to devote my 2018 to growing myself as a writer, artist, and entrepreneur.
Here are my goals for 2018!
- Get YUP Productions, Cice's and my film & video startup, off the ground. (Another post will be coming soon with more details on this!)
- Release a third Furever Home Friends book!
- Reintroduce Furever Home Friends stuffed animals for sale.
- Sell 1,000 copies of Furever Home Friends books.
- Sign a book deal for my YA novel One Final Vinyl.
- Publish my new-adult sci-fi novel Sculpt Yourself.
- Finish the first draft of my new YA novel 90's Kids.
- Shoot a feature film with YUP Productions (again, more on this later!)
- Do more school visits, author panels, and vendor/craft fairs.
- Going off of that...have a table at Printer's Row! And the Children's Book Fair! (These are Chicago literature festivals, for those of you in different locations.)
- Attend more small business conferences.
- Shoot two web series with YUP Productions (...as I'm sure you've guessed, more info will be coming about this soon!)
- Help three of my editing clients with Writer's Confidante get their books published! (They're SO close!! Almost there!)
- Post at least 3 blog posts per week...even when grad school is in session!
- Complete 3 more quarters of my grad program at DePaul.
- Lead the Sacred Heart Debate Team through a championship season! (I put this in there just for you guys, since I know a few of you subscribed to my blog.)
- Catch up on my book reviews!
- Do a few art commissions.
So it looks like there's a lot on my plate. But the good news is, 2018 is just starting! I have a whole year to get all of this done!
And if I don't accomplish all of these goals, guess what? No one dies. The world keeps turning. Always aim high.
But since ALL of those goals were work related, and I've had two people very close to me tell me that I work too much and need to take care of myself as a human. (They were my mom and my husband--you can't get closer to me than that...unless Chewie suddenly learned to talk.) So, just for kicks & giggles, I decided to add some goals relating to my "personal life," whatever that is.
Here we go:
- Give Chewie longer/more frequent walks, except when it's below freezing. If necessary, start waking up at 6:00 am to have time to give Chewie the walks he requires.
- Remember to shower at least 3 times a week. (This should be easy to remember--3 blog posts per week, and 3 showers per week. I'll create some kind of mnemonic for that, I'm sure.)
- Remember to eat at least 2 meals on ALL days.
- Learn some vegetarian recipes. Eat lots of tofu. That shit's good.
- Learn to meditate. Maybe. I'm not sure if I'm sold on it yet.
- Be more stylish. Always look nice as a positive representation of myself, The Furever Home Friends, and YUP Productions.
- I guess that means I'll have to change out of pajamas before leaving the house. Most of the time. If it's just a quick walk with Chewie, then you can pry pajamas out of my cold dead hands.
Ugh. Self-care is the worst. It's so much work! I'd rather work on WORK all the time instead. One day when I'm rich and famous, I'm going to pay other people to eat and sleep for me. That was a joke. Sort of.
What are your goals this year?


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Media reviews written by eight young cousins for kids worldwide. Mostly books, and movies. Our grandparents watch television.
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
By Ellen Emerson White
176 pp. Scholastic. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)
Rating: ? Stars
I haven't read or reviewed one of these books for a while but don't worry around twenty of them are still coming. I decided to read the 'Titanic' in particular because of a girl called Lily who I played with for a while in my old school. She always wanted to play act the Titanic and after pretending to be on a giant boat with her I wanted to read the book.
This book is about a girl called Margaret who is an orphan at an orphanage. One day she is lucky enough to be chosen as a rich american lady's companion on the Titanic. While on the Titanic she makes friends with her steward Robert. Sadly on the way to New York they hit an iceberg and the impossible happens. The Titanic sinks. Luckily Margaret is saved on a lifeboat, but sadly her friend Robert drowns.
Ages 9 and up should read this book because it would be brilliant for all ages that can read very well. It is set in 1912 on the Titanic and a little bit in London and America. It is very interesting to read the history bit so I would advise no one to skip it.
Posted by Bellusaurus sui
Labels: ? Stars, 9 years +, 9 years and up, Bellusaurus sui, Ellen Emerson White


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Hagerstown City Police are searching for a city girl reported missing Nov. 12 by her mother.
Jennifer Michelle Sikes, 14, of 30 Wayside Avenue, was last seen at the Valley Mall by a friend on Nov.12, police said.
Police said when the girl did not return home from North Hagerstown High School, her mother searched her bedroom, finding clothes and makeup missing.
Sikes is considered a runaway, police said.
She is described as being 5 feet, 4 inches tall and 125 pounds, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and long, dark blonde hair, police said.


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Around the Tubes
It's a brand new week and another weekend is over and more conventions are wrapped up. Any news that you all thought was excited? Sound off in the comments!
While you decide on that, here's some comic news and reviews from around the web.
Around the Tubes
The Daily Dot – Meet the stunt performer behind Daredevil and Captain America's fight scenes – A cool spotlight on the hard workers that don't get enough credit.
The Comichron – 2016 turns positive with strong March: Walking Dead Vol. 25, Batman, Power Rangers lead lists – Some interesting stats.
Around the Tubes Reviews
CBR – Batgirl #50
In These Times – Black Panther #1
CBR – Black Panther #1
Talking Comics – Broken Frontier Anthology
CBR – The Fix #1
The Outhousers – Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #2


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Caffeine addiction is a problem that affects many people. Caffeine is a stimulant of the methylxanthine family that occurs naturally in various plants. Aside from coffee, caffeine is found in energy drinks, chocolate, some prescription medications, some types of tea, cocoa, diet supplements, and cold remedies. The average worldwide caffeine consumption rate is about 70 mg per person per day. If you experience any of the following issues, you may be a caffeine addict.
Over 30 clinics in the UK and 22 Outside of the UK from Thailand to the USA.
Calls us on 0207 193 7552 or fill in a confidential form to get more information.
Alternatively Get Your Free Caffeine Addiction Help Guide
About Caffeine Addiction
In its mildest form, caffeine addiction is marked by a headache and feelings of fatigue and irritability when deprived of caffeine. Due to the widespread consumption of caffeinated products, the true prevalence of caffeine addiction is unclear. The National Coffee Association's 2013 National Coffee Drinking Trends study indicates that 83 percent of Americans consume coffee. A 2010 study by Harris Interactive found that one third of the American workforce requires caffeinated products to function at work, and that nearly forty percent of workers need two or more cups of coffee to make it through the workday.
Research suggests that long-term consumption of 300 mg of caffeine every day can impair the nervous system and create symptoms such as nervousness, a red face, tachycardia, rambling, and muscle spasms. At high enough levels, caffeine consumption can result in chromosomal damage, though the threshold is unclear. Pregnant women and nursing mothers should abstain from caffeinated products, as the caffeine may be harmful to the child.
The lethal dose of caffeine in humans is estimated at 3 to 8 grams (30 to 80 cups of coffee) in one day.
Treatment Of Caffeine Addiction
The main goal of treating caffeine addiction is reducing caffeine intake to a safe level. Treatment generally occurs on an outpatient basis. Severe cases may be treated on an inpatient basis at an addictions treatment facility, but this is rare. Treatment duration depends on the severity of the addiction. The mildest cases may be treated in just a few weeks. Treatment generally lasts one to three months, but can last up to six months or more in severe cases.
Caffeine addicts are advised to gradually taper their intake, cutting out one of their daily caffeinated beverages every three days and replacing it with non-caffeinated products such as herbal tea. Quitting caffeine cold turkey is not advised, as it will trigger withdrawal symptoms. Caffeine withdrawal is characterized by headaches, decreased energy, muscle aches, irritability, and constipation. Insomnia and flu-like symptoms can occur in severe cases. Caffeine withdrawal generally lasts two to nine days, starting 12 to 24 hours after your last dose. Symptoms are generally most severe within one or two days of your last dose, and gradually lessen.
Post Rehabilitation Of Caffeine Addiction
The post-rehabilitation prognosis for caffeine addiction is usually positive. Recovering caffeine addicts are advised to maintain a low level of caffeine intake by drinking decaf or a coffee-decaf mix, reducing brewing time for coffee and tea, and opting for caffeine-free soft drinks. Non-caffeinated tea, such as herbal green tea, is also an option. A regular exercise regimen in a bright setting can help, as the bright lights stimulate the brain, and the exercise releases endorphins that will improve one's mood. A diet that is rich in fresh fruits can increase mental alertness, as fruits contain natural sugars that create a healthy energy boost. The goal is to prevent the addiction from recurring. As the goal of rehabilitation is to develop lifelong self-control habits, the process of learning to control one's caffeine intake can last 1 to 5 years.


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Friends with Boys is another graphic novel. It has awesome illustrations and great dialogue. I think that reading graphic novels is cool; there are pictures to read as well as words.
|"I don't get why people don't like the Leia hair. It combines two of the greatest things in the world: science fiction and breakfast pastries."
At the onset, seventeen year old Maggie is starting high school, after being home-schooled for her entire life. At home, she had her three older brothers to interact and learn with. Although they attend the high school where she is beginning her school career, Maggie feels alone in the big world that is a public high school.
Maggie's story is all about her finding her niche in high school. She makes friends with Lucy (her first female friend) and her brother Allistair. She gets to see her big brothers in different lights than at home. At the same time, Maggie has to deal with being haunted by a 19th Century ghost of a widow of a ship captain lost at sea.
I love Maggie's tomboy style and attitude. She tackles issues head-on, and isn't afraid to like what she likes. I'm finding (and have been told) that I like a good coming of age story. Maggie finds herself and I liked it. :)
♥ Meg xoxo


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Pair strike up unlikely friendship during hospital visit
Wendy Richard and Jade Goody have bonded over their cancer ordeal.
The pair bumped into one another at London's Royal Marsden Hospital on Tuesday.
Big Brother star Jade, 27, who has had a cervical tumour removed, is just starting treatment with chemotherapy.
'They got on really well and spent hours chatting,' says a source. 'They are helping each other. It was Jade's first chemo session and it was absolute agony. But she thought Wendy was lovely — and talking to someone going through the same ordeal seemed to help them.'
This week, former EastEnders star Wendy, 65, revealed she has terminal cancer.
She's marrying long-term partner John Burns, 45, today.


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Unions are urging Governments around Australia to keep the Safe Schools programs running as Federal Government funding for the anti-bullying and sex education programs ends.
Conservative Party leader Cory Bernardi said, "Never has there been a more misnamed program in the history of government objectives. It's not about anti-bullying. It's Marxist propaganda".
The Safe Schools program created a nationwide storm over its alleged promotion of radical gender theory and the sexual nature of some resources.
Federal Opposition leader Bill Shorten has refused to rule out reintroducing the controversial program should Labor win the next election.
"It's conditioning kids into accepting or even experimenting with a same-sex attraction. It paints as a homophobe, abnormal or a bigot anyone who wants to stick up for traditional values and the reality that there are only two genders," Senator Bernardi said.
The South Australian Senator has told Peta Credlin on Sky News the program is totally inappropriate for younger Australians.
Cartoon by: Ryan Fletcher
To join the Conservative Party, click here.
Share this important information with your family, friends and mates - Like Australian Conservatives on Facebook to stay updated.


text: How to Find Long Tail Keywords Welcome to chapter 2 of the ultimate guide to keyword research. If you haven't seen our other chapters, take a look. In this guide we cover: The Google Keyword Planner How to Find Long Tail Keywords? How to Work Out a Keyword's Commercial Intent How to Evaluate a Keywords […]Read More


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1. Preheat oven to 400°. In 3- to 4-quart baking dish, combine all ingredients. Evenly spread mixture in dish.
2. Bake casserole 25 to 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
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D2.5 Report of the art-science collaboration
The report resented here is a result of the proces of organising the BrainDance performance in Brussels. This was shown in September at the BEAF'17 (Bozar Electronic Arts Festival). During the preparation of the BrainDance performance, BrainHack partners have explored in debts the process of mentoring art-science collaboration in the area of theatre. A number of shortterm residencies at TLU offered to artists and scientists have accompanied this work. Modern theatre is going through transformation where new media and neurotechnologies allow for collective co-creation where spectators become spectactors. A new level of mutual understanding and compassion between performers and spectactors can emerge from a dynamically evolving performance shaped by collective emotional experiences. BrainDance has embraced a number of emerging research topics such as neurocinematics, neurochoreography and collective brain-computer interfaces
The report further describes the art-science collaboration experiences during the proces of preparing for the BrainDance performance.


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Black chicks wild beach sex *** . . Kate, Elizabeth believes that the website is the very best on the web, I understand you here it all day everyday, but hey we are only tellin' it like it is. I recently bought a camera, so I hope the quality in these pics is alot better then the remainder. We hope to get some good requests on what type of pics the nudist crowd wants, she'd rather have the voting people determine than me. She hopes she can be in the HoF with at least one of these, but if not let her understand a pose that will. All comments is appriciated, be type or be $%@#$!** !!!!!! Thanks kate and nudist fans for making this all possible, NO BETTER HABIT THAN THIS........
se faire branler par ses délicieux pieds gainés de bas..et ensuite lui lécher sa belle chatte avant de jouir sur ses seins!!quel beau programme!!
OMG, what a cutie!
I have a big loufa! Lixxxx firstname.lastname@example.com
pic Four is best. You have a pretty face,beautiful breasts and a hot curvy body! Iâd like to see utter frontal smiling into the camera please.
Also an impressively post, love her slender figure and lil' little titties, pic Six is to die for! Love the pretty fun-loving face and smile, her impressively slender little figure, such a sweet bootie, such gorgeous silky black cunt hair inbetween her gams, what a
Viva L'Italia..amo donne Italiane e avendo visto queste photo le amo anche di pui..Irene sei veramente bella spere di vederti un altra volta...a presto e tanti saluti dall'Australia
Ralph T
nip movie pls
I would love to pack her box with juice. post more juicebox..
Your pussey still has lots of plasticity and you should be a good lay for all us guys. Showcase us some facial cumshot O pics please
I like the sign on your mirror, "Hippies Use Backdoor". I'll be a hippie and use your backdoor. I'll eat on your back porch. I'll camp on your back porch for days. It's a hell of a back porch.
SUPERB, WILL U SELL THE Crimson SATIN THONGS?
you have very lucky bastard because you are fucking this hot babe...please send more of her... I want to jack off to her pics...
Votado superb nomas por esa mamada!!
I love the sexy crimson garb. Nothing sexier than a slit slightly covered by crimson undies. I would love to get a liplock on that sweet cunny and bean. Thanks for the very sexy pics.
LG M.u.J.
I'm a face & eyes man, but you look so sexy, stunning, gorgeous & desireable, the face MUST match. It's nice witnessing a genuine lady with class who can be so hot sugary & sultry with taste. You inspire fantasies.
Another supreme post and you just keep getting sexier. Thanks for sharing! Please keep them coming!
nice job!
Looks like she's closer to 50. I think I see some liver catches sight of.
LETS SEE SOME PAINTED Pink cigar
Love your "Clam Shell" cunt.
those look very old, but she was nice on the eyes for sure. Lov those tits and thicket would love to see more of that bootie today.
As Webcam would say "Dumbass"
NICE FEMALE REAR Completes
hold still, unspoiled beauty, while i put my tongue in it to keep it dry -- & maybe make it a little bit wett ;)
How do I become an "official fan" Love her
Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww You Are Gorgeous!!! Stunning Hotttttt Enormously Sexxxxxxxxxxxxxxy and Oh Soo Beautiful,,,)Dressing Hottttttttt Super-naughty and Sexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxy,,,)Showing Off Every Precious Desirably Delicious Inch Soo Hotttttt Kinky and Oh Are Y
Adorable, but whoever took these pics needs to switch camera angles, too many up-the-nose shots...
Looks like pic's Four and Five are from St Martin excellent place to string up out
Just have to say, your nymph is Absolutely Incredible! A true asset to VoyeurWeb. Thank you so much for sharing, and Sheekri I look forward to each & every post you are in:)
Wish it was my town
Sweet meat. S
Please do not he
superb just doesn't come close. Beautiful
Nice booty. Have more? Bum tanlines?
Ohhh! Coralie, sont dA©licieux, je mettrais sa bite dans le cul jusqu'A l'orgasme. Je veux voir plus de vous email@example.com
you a twelve year old ? her goodies . fucking hell man , cram her cunt jizm on her face and fuck her up the booty.
OMG you are so Hot! Fantastic pictures! Please send more. Youa€™re drop dead gorgeous and have an awesome assets. Thanks for sharing.
OH YEAH I'D PISS ON THOSE PUFFIES. Perky UP AND OPEN Broad
I knew as shortly as I spotted the names, I would not like it. I was right.
we can have some joy.
oh yea nice donk
keep your viewers glad and keep sending pic's......
I choose you with your face not blurred. Thank you about your all smiles :-)))
My eyes are burned now .....
Take it off Mahi. You know you want too right ;)
A very beautiful & sexy photo set.
Love those kinks, very sexy
WOULD LOVE A LAYOUT OF JUST HER HAVING HER Donk
Or at least, one of the finest for my taste. Astounding. We want to see more and we want to see stronger stuff.
Well, you have amazed me. In fact I'll have to go and spend a little 'me time' in the bathroom after viewing this pics.... Ooooohhhh.....you have a good figure honey......very feminine.......thanks for sharing it ......got any more pics of you, FANTASTIC! You are 100% ultra-cutie firstname.lastname@example.com Cuuuuuuuuum!
Katy, you get more sexy with every post. Lots more please xxxx
One sexy figure, you luck fellow. Want to share her?
Oh honey you are gorgeous! I truly loved pic #5 I hope you keep posting, Would love to see more!
Excellent pics. You have a fine eye. These women are outstanding. Thanks for sharing. Love to see them more and keep them coming.
luv your smooth-shaven + slick + humid + salty gorgeous cunt
She is a sexy lady!!!!!
Take that thing out to the field, and put it out of it's misery.
A True Asian Delight !
Gorgeous. firstname.lastname@example.com
I wouldv been hard the entire time if she was infront of me looking like tha.
Wow. Fine Bod
nice tits and thicket. would indeed like to eat your cooch.
glad 'Xmas,
breath taking donk. lookin forward to that pic for a lengthy time. thanks for showin us and please post more
The brilliant woman
Salutoni, Andrea - 39 enne di Verona.


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News from the exhibition match against the Nomads, and a relaxed weekend of personal development in Nanaimo.
Apr 24 2012
Apr 16 2012
Furious George doesn't like to talk about his feelings.
So we made a slideshow.
Apr 12 2012
Furious George vs The NomadsComments Off on Furious George vs The Nomads
British Columbia's Best Take Each Other to Task
Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 10 2012
Furious George has officially commenced full practices for the season, kicking off the first week of closed sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and a long one coming up on Saturday.
Apr 5 2012
USA Ultimate's college series is ramping up, with qualifier tournaments fast approaching, University of Victoria's Kevin Underhill (FG #89) stirred up interest in getting the varsity squads together with the competitive teams for some scrimmages. Naturally, it rained.