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Delta Books, 1998
Marc Woodworth, Editor
A lot of my writing is not terribly civilized. Sometimes I listen to songs by very smart writers who assume that the world is a civil place with certain formalities that people follow, but I don't see things that way. My own experience tells me that life is not like that. That's why I write the way I do. I grew up with people in my face, pulling my hair, saying, "You're the whitest girl I've ever seen." At one point, after I cut my hair short, I was mistaken for a gay boy and got beat up for that. I couldn't win! Although the degree of uncivilized behavior I experienced might have been in part a product of the neighborhood where I grew up, I find that the world as a whole is not particularly civilized.
I didn't go out looking for fights as a kid, but if it was necessary, I'd fight. Fighting was a daily thing where we lived. It was more than being a white girl in a very mixed neighborhood, I was a target because I was a particular kind of girl. I was always reading and interested in books. I didn't like the world of the street because I wasn't well adapted to it. I was better suited to the worlds I read about, so I developed a fantasy life. But I also knew that if I didn't fight, I'd get picked on even more. Fighting was necessary to maintaining my own self-respect.
My family lived in East Harlem for five years before moving to the Upper West Side. Right after my mother's first marriage ended, she met my stepfather in Los Angeles, they fell in love, and he took her back to New York, to East Harlem, where my stepfather's mother had a house. My mother had never been to New York-she grew up in the Midwest-so "Harlem" didn't mean anything to her. She didn't know what she was getting into. When I asked her recently what she thought when we moved in, she told me she was just happy we were living in a three-story house instead of an apartment. We lived there because there wasn't any other place to go.
I'd fall down our narrow red linoleum-covered stairs all the time because I was off in my fantasy world instead of paying attention to what was in front of me. I remember coming face-to-face with the little nails sticking up out of the linoleum on many occasions. I liked to play in the front yard, which was a plain concrete patch enclosed by an iron fence topped with little spikes, but I really adored playing in the backyard with its weed tree. It was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn kind of tree, a tree with no name, that would drop little seeds that I loved to play with. There were caterpillars on the branches that I'd get to walk up my arm. Beyond the tree was a part of the yard that was dirt. Because we were in a courtyard, whatever people would throw out their windows landed there. My mother didn't allow me to go to that part of the yard, but every so often I would do it anyway, travel all the way across our lot to the place where most of the stuff was. I was fascinated by all this junk. I loved finding little fuses back there. You could clear away the dirt from a fuse's window and see a little blue thing inside. I'm still a bit of a packrat. I collect stuff and keep it with me. Some of what I collect now is intellectual-ideas or facts that I keep in my notebooks-but some is still physical-little things that I hold on to.
I was the oldest child, and both my parents worked, so I had a great deal of responsibility from a very young age. We occasionally had baby-sitters, but they weren't always available. After we moved out of East Harlem when I was a bit older, I would take care of my brothers and sister for hours. That was the way things were. Even though I was dealing with the daily realities of life, like taking care of my siblings, I was always in my own dreamworld as well. I'd baby-sit by putting on puppet shows for my brothers and sister. I was always inventing characters and making up stories.
I had some fears as a kid, but I was also relatively fearless. Maybe that's a result of living half the time in reality and the other half in fantasy. I found it frightening when my parents would argue, which they did constantly. My stepfather had a very explosive temper. That's the one thing I feared above everything else. The rest of the world was fine compared to that. I wasn't afraid of going places or doing new things. I would do just about anything or go anywhere. I'd get a notion in my mind and just follow it.
When I was eight, I decided I'd had enough of living at home. I was going to live in the park. I thought I could live on grass and certain weeds that grew there. So I walked uptown to the park by myself, eight years old, through Harlem from 102nd and Broadway, where we were living by that time. When I got to the park, a black boy of twelve or so came over and asked me what I was doing. He said he was looking for a girlfriend. I told him I couldn't think of anybody. At one point he kissed me on the lips, just a little, gentle kiss, but I started to cry and began to think that maybe I didn't want to run away after all. That scary feeling of being out in the world by myself and seeing gangs of men hanging around on the street has stayed with me. It was frightening, but I kept going anyway.
Once I got to the park, I realized it wasn't going to be quite the picnic I thought it was. Still, I stayed for several hours instead of going back home right away. By that age I'd already taught myself not to feel fear and pain by stripping down what I felt so I could put a line around those feelings. If I gave fear a shape and texture, I could "handle" it. I could describe the sensations I felt to myself and, by putting a name on them, make them less overwhelming. The problem with using this technique is that you find yourself doing the same thing with joy and happiness as well. You limit the pleasure from good things because the minute you feel something you say, "This is what it is," and squash it with a name. My intellect has always been more responsible than my emotions for how I respond to the world. Emotion is something I've become gradually more familiar with, but as a kid I wasn't really sure what my feelings were. I felt safe in the world of ideas and imagination, and that's where I continue to feel safe most of the time although as I've grown older, I've begun to feel more.
Both of my parents were political, and their politics came out of the neighborhood. It was a politically charged time. I remember the Kennedy campaign coming through East Harlem. The booklet about Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty included a picture of my sister looking out the window. We couldn't get away from politics. They were everywhere. So I grew up in a very politically active and aware household. My stepfather was always trying to teach us what lay behind advertising, for instance. He had a real hatred for America's corporate mentality. No Walt Disney. No Barbie. My mother was interested in feminism, and she and my stepfather wanted to make us aware of the roles men and women assumed in society. My mother wanted me to understand that as a woman I could do pretty much whatever I wanted to, that I didn't have to use sex or sexuality to define myself. For example, she encouraged me to play ice hockey when I was twelve. Why not? But the organizers of the team wanted me off the ice. They said, "What if she gets a scar? Who's want to marry a girl with a scar?" Who cares if a girl has a scar? This was twenty-five years ago, well before sports were as integrated as they are now. That's just one example of how my parents tried to let me know that being a woman shouldn't turn you into a stereotype. I took those lessons seriously growing up because they were such a big part of the atmosphere at home.
My stepfather felt that being an artist was the only sane thing to do in this society. My stepfather was and is a writer-novels, short stories. He wrote constantly. When he wasn't writing fiction, he'd make up songs for us. Although I remember standing on a box in the backyard and singing "I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah" (the wrong words) to "She Loves You," the first song I really responded to deeply was one my stepfather wrote for my brother Matthew. It was loosely based on Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"-"Where have you been my blue-eyed son?," that format. It was in a minor key, and I thought it was so beautiful and very serious. He put me in the song too, which made me feel really special. I remember the verse: "'Who will you marry my handsome young man? / Who will you marry my dear?' / 'I'll marry my sister, her name is Suzanne. / She has a butterfly fan.'" I felt celebrated; he'd written about me. Every so often he'd go off to teach or take a job of some kind, but he would realize pretty quickly that he couldn't stand to be hemmed in and come back to writing full-time. He'd write all night and sleep during the day. I had a great respect for his work and the life he led as an artist.
He loved it when I started writing poems at six or seven and encouraged me to keep at it. When I was seven, he saw me with a book and asked if I had been reading the stories he'd given me. I said, "No, I don't like those kind of books." He asked me what kind of books I liked, and I brought him the unabridged edition of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. He didn't believe I was really reading it, so he asked me to read two pages out loud. After I answered his questions about the meaning of what I'd read, he called my mother over to tell her that I was actually reading and comprehending Huckleberry Finn. They thought it was a little odd for me to be reading like that at seven, but they were proud that I could and encouraged me.
Given the artistic environment at home, it wasn't surprising that I went to the High School for the Performing Arts. I loved it there even though I was something of an outsider. It was very disciplined and gave me a real structure, which I liked because my family life often had none. There was always a bit of pandemonium at home, so I really responded positively to the strict routine at school. I focused on dance. I loved the atmosphere of the dance studios-the wooden floors, the big mirrors, everyone dressed in pink or black tights, the musicians accompanying us-and the feeling of ritual the classes had. You were considered a serious artist at that school. When classes ended, I went to a private studio on scholarship, so on a normal day I danced for seven hours. That helped me learn about the discipline art requires. I took dancing very seriously and was very ambitious. I was considered aloof. In my junior year other students grumbled because they thought I was acting like a prima ballerina. They'd call me Prima because I sat in front, off to the side always, but in front. I was extremely competitive and in my own world.
Even though I graduated with eight academic awards and was in the top five of my class, I was disappointed because my prospects as a dancer weren't as promising as I wanted them to be. I knew my technique would never be as good as that of the best dancers. At eighteen you're mature enough to know whether you're going to reach that level and I realized I couldn't. In my disappointment I gave up performing as a dancer. My teachers encouraged me to do more academic work and not to have all my hopes in dancing.
Besides dancing at school and the studios, I'd written all these songs and had begun to play them at auditions. I felt I'd have a chance to shine more if I focused on writing instead of dancing. One of the pianists for my dance classes knew I wrote songs and told me that I wouldn't do well in the world of commercial music because I was so shy and the music business was so horrible. He suggested that I buy the Village Voice to find where the little coffeehouses were and then go audition at them. He said it was a very gentle scene that I'd be comfortable with. So I read the Voice and went to one coffeehouse in a church basement on Eighty-sixth Street. There was a woman there named Mary Grace in a long white dress playing an autoharp and singing "Wild Mountain Thyme." I said to myself, Okay, I can do this. Mary liked my songs, and she gave me a booking seven months from the date of that audition-the following year-January 2, 1976. So that was my first gig.
Once I started auditioning at music clubs in the Village at eighteen, I realized that I was surrounded by men who were mostly in their thirties. In that world I was very young and precocious whereas in the dance world I was already considered mature, nearly too old to get where I wanted to go. I felt happy playing and hanging around at folk clubs in the Village. I'd heard that the way to break into the scene was to try the Bitter End first, then graduate to Folk City, and, finally, if you're really good, play at the Bottom Line. I took this advice as strict gospel. So I went to the Bitter End and tried to get a gig there for two years. I'd go down once a month or so, sing my songs, get rejected, come home, and prepare for next month. I'd come back with new songs or a different outfit-the most ridiculous costumes-and the same guy, Stefan, would be there. He'd say, "Oh, hi," then listen to me and say, "Well, no."
Finally after two years of this it occurred to me that I could try Folk City, just forget the path my friends had told me about and jump ahead to the next club. I found the idea of playing at Folk City really daunting because of its association with Bob Dylan, but to my surprise, I found a great group of people there I really liked and who liked me. We could talk about songwriting together, which I found to be really exciting. I loved the group of people at Folk City. For the first time in my life, I felt that I'd found a tribe I could belong to.
Even though I wasn't a typical folksinger, nobody really cared. It was the Village, and everybody was into poetry anyway. I was never considered a folkie in that scene; I wasn't asked to play the big folk festivals because I wasn't well known enough and my style was considered very idiosyncratic. That's why it was shocking to me when I got the record deal and found myself being touted as a traditional folkie. I wrote "Cracking," for instance, in 1980, when that kind of song was considered anomalous and more than a little strange in the folk world.
During those years I was also in college. Out of everything I was doing, I was least passionate about studying. I faked my way through a lot of assignments. I bluffed my way through my first philosophy test and, to my surprise, got an A, so I thought I could fake it all the time. It worked until my adviser pulled me out of my junior colloquium and told me that writing stream of consciousness wouldn't do. She asked me to drop the course and take it again when I felt like reading the books. She kicked my butt. She was right to. I wasn't doing any of the work. Instead I was hanging around the theater and performing music whenever I could get a gig. There were also boys. I was always attracted to someone new. I was completely infatuated by people. I'm still that way a little; I fall in love easily. I have a reputation for being aloof, but I really become very infatuated-with bands, people, characters-and then let an infatuation take over for a while before I return to my neutral corner.
When I graduated from college, I worked at a publishing company. I didn't give up my day job until about ten months before I actually signed a record contract. Even then I gave it up with a lot of hesitation. I felt that it was stupid to quit a good job for some pipe dream. I wasn't convinced I would get a deal, but my manager finally insisted that I give up the job and play more regularly. There was also a moment when I had to choose between starting a family or signing a record deal. I chose the record deal and gave up that particular relationship-along with the possibility of having a family. That decision stayed with me for a long time, but now I have a family, a husband and a daughter, so I didn't have to give up that part of life in the end. Even though I gave up the chance back then, I have a different version of it now. Other than that, I couldn't say what I've sacrificed in order to do what I do. Perhaps I could tell you twenty-five years from now. It's something that I wanted to do so much that I put everything aside for that one thing.
I still feel conflicted because I don't always get to spend as much time with my daughter as I'd like, given my work. It's not always easy to balance time with my family and working on the writing and singing. Music comes as second nature. I've been a performer for twenty-five years. Being a mother and being a wife is more difficult for me. I've been a mother for two years and a wife for one year, and I find that there are some things involved with those roles that I'm just not trained for. It takes as much discipline to be a mother and a wife as it does to do anything else. It takes all your imagination, all your involvement, so much more energy than you'd ever dream. But then you have a nearly perfect day that makes it all worthwhile. Maybe it's a Sunday, like one we had a few months ago, when the three of us are actually home together with no pressing issues, commitments, or illnesses. Everything's peaceful. All three of us are happy. We get to spend a lot of time with Ruby, who eats right on schedule, then takes a nap. Those are great days.
Being pregnant really changed my sense of myself as a woman. I was really big. I know some women who stay small even when they're pregnant. If they're very thin beforehand, they stay thin throughout the pregnancy and then go back to how they were. I assumed I'd be like that. I wasn't. I was much bigger than I expected to be. When you're pregnant-especially the way I was pregnant, which was huge-you can't hide it. I had a sense of myself as a very big person in the world. When I walked down the street, people would move out of the way. In the past I might have been anxious about how big I was, but in this case I felt great. I started to wonder how big I could possibly get. It occurs to you that you'll lose control completely and keep expanding until you're inconceivably enormous-out to there. I felt like one of those sexy Italian women you see in pictures. That was a lot of fun for me. I felt comfortable and womanly.
You can't pretend to be androgynous in that state. In the beginning I thought it would be cute if I could dress like a potbellied man. I'd see one and feel a kinship for the silhouette. I could wear my suspender pants, the really big baggy ones, with an undershirt and look like a paunchy man of fifty, but by the eighth month you're not interested in looking like a potbellied man. All you want to do is get dressed and go eat something. Your breasts are too big, your rear end's too big to pretend you're a guy. It's not useful. It's not necessary. I was biggest in June, and I found I was more comfortable in dresses and sandals. That wasn't my style before.
So you eat, you sleep, and then this wonderful child comes out, but you don't feel like you have any control over that process, over her, over her character and who she is. It seems to me she was born fully formed. When you're writing a song, you can manipulate things a bit more or throw out what you don't like. Ruby, on the other hand, is her own creation. Maybe it's just that she ahs an unusually strong personality. I've seen children who were more subject to the editing process than she is. With her, I have a very strong sense of negotiating with a person whose will is as strong as mine. To see so much of myself in her was kind of shocking when she was only three days old. You figure, She's a baby; of course she's going to be cooperative; of course she's going to breast-feed, but then you find you're facing this really strong-willed person saying, "No, I won't." She'd go thirteen hours without eating rather than give in. Songs don't normally resist that strongly. She has her own coded ways of dealing with the world. She'll arrange her dwarfs in perfect symmetry; if I mess the pattern up, I'm in trouble. I can never tell when she's in one of those moods when things have to stay just as they are. Her code is not the same as mine, so I have the sense of working at a puzzle. Ruby's a big mystery to me.
The fact that Nine Objects of Desire is more sensual than some of my other records is directly related to my pregnancy. The new sensuality made me feel really weird at first. I wasn't prepared for it. When I was pregnant, I felt filled with life, and I felt really happy. I ate well, and I slept well. I felt much more useful than I'd ever felt before. That was the climate this album was conceived in, and my feelings at the time are reflected in the work. For example, "Birth-day," which is about giving birth, is a song that had to be written by a woman.
That said, I've never thought the fact that I'm a woman was important to my work. I've written songs that men could sing. I've written songs that women don't necessarily identify with. I've had men come up to me and say they completely identify with "Small Blue Thing" while some women tell me they don't feel any connection to that song at all. A song like "Cracking" could have been written by a man or a woman. But then there's "Birth-day." I think that I can go either way. I don't think gender is aesthetically defining for me.
That's not to say that being a woman isn't an important part of my identity. I still consider myself a feminist. I don't go to demonstrations as often as I might, but I still feel strongly about the movement that first affected me a lot when I was twelve or thirteen. Books like Sisterhood Is Powerful have stayed with me. I'm not sure why feminism is such a reviled thing in so many quarters today. Perhaps it's because of the stereotypes associated with it. To me, a feminist belongs in the same category as a humanist or an advocate for human rights. I don't see why someone who's a feminist should be thought of differently. The humanist umbrella covers all of those things whether you're working for children's rights, women's rights, or social justice. Gloria Steinem is still as vital a presence as she has ever been. She's been consistent as a good leader, a good speaker and writer. She's reasoned and balanced. There's nothing hysterical or shrill about her work. She's not any of those things people would have her be. When it comes to feminism, what people are responding to negatively is the caricature of someone who's militant or doesn't shave-that kind of thing. It's only the caricature that's outdated as far as I'm concerned.
I wouldn't characterize my work, however, as directly political. I'm not trying to make a point as a feminist, for instance, when I write a song. I write most often about things that are very personal to me. When I'm writing, I'm dealing with what's in front of my face. Of course, sometimes when you write personally, you are also writing about society, obliquely reflecting topical issues, but not in a way that people would expect you to or in the way that someone trying to make a point would. I don't care about making a point.
So it was a big surprise to write a song like "Luka" that became so popular in part because it was written from the perspective of a boy being abused by his parents. I suppose you could see certain songs I've written as products of more than a purely aesthetic impulse. You could say that "Cracking" is about mental health, "Fifty-Fifty Chance" is about attempted suicide, or "Men in a War" is about posttraumatic stress syndrome. I don't know why "Luka" should take off, and not those songs. Maybe at that moment it touched a nerve in society that the other songs didn't, at least not in such a widespread way. I got a lot of letters from people in child abuse agencies complaining to me about "Luka," saying that I'd written it "incorrectly" and that the correct thing to do is empower the child rather than make him feel bad. I didn't follow that way of thinking about the issue. Because they made me so angry, I kept those letters for a while before throwing them away. My correspondents wanted me for a cause and felt I hadn't expressed myself according to their rules.
There are other songwriters who have written about child abuse in the "correct" way by taking the point of view of the neighbor, for instance, and describing the situation in a civilized way. As I said before, I don't think being civil as a writer is always adequate to the reality. There are moments onstage when I cringe at the prospect of having to sing my own words. They're not always pretty, but they reflect something I've seen or understood, however unseemly it is. I do write about horrible things, but not exclusively, and when I do, there's another level there as well. Yesterday, for example, I was being interviewed by a very young girl on television who asked me, "Why do you write about suicide and amputation, things like that?" I tried to explain to her that I was not writing so much about literal amputation in "Men in a War" as I was using amputation as a metaphor. I'm writing more about a psychic state than a man with no leg. But trying to explain that in the heat of the moment when the microphone is in your face and the camera's rolling can be sort of daunting.
I don't think my writing's limited to "those kinds of things," as my interviewer dubbed them. I do write about a wide range of topics. Not everything's about the painful side of life. I write about romance at least as much as I write about, say, psychic amputees. But I never want to get to the point where I write a safe song or one that represents my sense of a subject in order to appear civilized. There has to be some kind of urgency there. What I like best in other writers' work are the lines or passages where the urgency behind the words makes the language really sing itself.
When I was preparing to write a song for the Dead Man Walking sound track, I read the book by Sister Helen Prejean on which the film is based. There were a few pages where you could really feel her fear and anxiety in the words. She describes what she sees, how she feels-all her physical sensations-when she went to the jail to meet the killer for the first time. In those descriptions the words begin rhyming, seemingly of their own accord.
There's really beautiful alliteration that sparkles on the page. I knew those descriptions were where I needed to go in order to write the song. Because the rhymes were already there, it was just a question of pulling them out and putting them together. The experience of making a song from that heightened, urgent passage was much more powerful than if I'd chosen some other moment. If I don't feel that something really needs to be written, I'd rather not write it.
When I was pregnant, I was having a great time, so there was no reason to report back to the notebook that I felt happy. It was enough to feel good, to eat breakfast or-and I found great pleasure in this-eat two breakfasts. What was I going to write, "I had sausage today"? That's not something for the notebook. It was probably the mostŠcontented is not the right word because it makes you sound like a big cow in the middle of a field eating grassŠlet me say instead it was the most joyful I'd ever felt. I just didn't feel like writing anything. The urgency wasn't there, so I let it go.
That doesn't mean that what I feel compelled to write about is always directly about what I'm doing at any given time. Writing is always personal in some way but not always in a direct way. Writing dramatic monologues, which is exactly what I'm doing in many of my songs, allows me to put on a different face. Every single song that I've written from a character's point of view mirrors something that was going on in my life but not always in an obvious way. In "Casper Hauser's Song," for example, I'm telling the truth about Casper Hauser, and I'm also telling the truth about myself. What I make the character say about himself has to be true to that character and at the same time reveal something about my own life. I'll work it both ways by using a line like "I want to be a rider like my father," which Casper Hauser actually said while he was playing with a toy horse. In my life I want to be a writer like my stepfather. In that line it's a play on words-"rider" and "writer"-that creates the connection for me. I love the doubleness of words. Certain kinds of jargon, the language of physics, for example, take on a double meaning when you use them in a song or poem. There are certain words that sing to you out of these other disciplines. They leak, in a sense; a phrase that means something very specific in one world becomes poetry when it enters another world. It's like creating a secret code.
There are some songs that work exactly like that and others where the double meaning is more about experience than wordplay. When I wrote "Calypso," I didn't take on the voice simply to be a figure from Homer. There was someone I was involved with who was constantly leaving at the crucial moment. So by writing from Calypso's perspective about losing Odysseus, I was also expressing my own point of view. Almost all my songs have that double quality. I've been inventing voices like that since I was a kid putting on puppet shows. You could have different characters talking to one another, but of coursed each character was also in your own voice. Writing this way allows me to step out of myself. It takes me away from my own ego and leaves room for listeners to put themselves into a song. Writing in other voices is almost Japanese in the sense that there's a certain formality there which allows me to sidestep the embarrassment of directly expressing to complete strangers the most intimate details of my life. It allows me a neutral place to put the stuff about myself so that someone can talk to me about Luka or Casper Hauser without my completely revealing myself.
This distance creates a form of politeness or discretion that acknowledges the fact that we're not all intimate. We can be friendly, we can be pleasant to one another while we talk, but we're not intimate. In society today I find myself puzzled sometimes by having to look at the body of someone in an ad or a movie, for example, who's not my lover or child. Why should I have to look at her breasts? Do I know her? No. For some reason, the climate in our society right now is one of premature intimacy with everyone wanting to get to know one another quickly, right away, with all the details. Ultimately that kind of knowledge doesn't mean much. It makes life like having a stranger sit down next to you on a bus and tell you all about the most intimate details of her love life, leaving the bus right away and being replaced by the next person, who does the same thing. That's not a relationship. It's not even very human, really.
It's striking how commercially viable that impulse for instant intimacy is right now, especially in songs and writing. Just spill your guts and you're on. I love my niece and think she's a wonderful girl, one who's very passionate and eloquent about her feelings, so I'm interested as a close relative in her emotional life, but if I were a stranger and she were a performer, I wouldn't pay twenty-five dollars to see her throw a fit. I don't want to pay to see a stranger purge herself. Writing in other voices other than your own allows you to organize yourself and arrange an experience in words that have a form. I favor T. S. Eliot's aesthetic of impersonality. He doesn't have to blurt out his intimate feelings to make the Four Quartets, for example, deeply moving. I prefer to arrange a song in a way that has order and beauty.
There are other things I need to work on as a writer. How do you write about those moments when you are fulfilled or feeling completed? Maybe you need to write more anthemic songs, like U2, to do that. I haven't found a way to write about falling in love with my husband, Mitchell. How do you match that feeling of almost operatic passion? We weren't able to fling ourselves together in the way that we might have were we younger or in different circumstances. He was married. I didn't want to be involved with someone who was married. Plus we were working together in a professional situation, so we stayed apart. There was that odd feeling of being apart but feeling this thing growing that neither of us was talking about. If I could have walked away from the relationship, I would have. It should have been the easiest thing to do because he was everything I didn't want in a person: a producer and a keyboard player who was married with a child. No way! At the same time there was this amazing sense of inevitability, a feeling that this was something that had to happen. It took six or seven months before we were finally able to work everything through. All of a sudden I started to understand the feelings in operas where people are singing to one another across the stage. That made sense in a way it never had before. Some of the emotion was because of the restraint we had to exercise. There was also a great feeling of risk. How do I write about that? I don't know. How do I write about those six months when I was feeling things I never felt before? I don't know yet. That's the job. The older I get, the longer it takes to filter experiences so they can become songs. "Tired of Sleeping" took eight years; "Stockings" took ten; other songs take fifteen. By the time I'm seventy-five I should have it all worked out pretty well.
Copyright © Suzanne Vega. All rights reserved.


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We woke up to a foggy and muggy start across the area. We're in for another summer-like afternoon with highs in the low 80s and a mix of sun and clouds.
Along I-70, including downtown Indy, and south, we have a 30% chance for a passing shower or storm today. We'll have many more dry hours than wet overall, but if you live where you see the green on the map, keep the umbrella handy! No severe weather is expected.
Friday will be a BEAUTIFUL day! Unfortunately the forecast for Saturday has deteriorated. Scattered thunderstorms will be likely Saturday afternoon and evening. Few storms could be strong and we're looking at 70% coverage. We'll have more clouds than sun on Sunday, but overall it will be the better of the two days this weekend.
Seasonal temperatures make a comeback late in the weekend into early next week.

subset: commoncrawl


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You Shall Be as a Firebrand [50th Anniversary]
It's relative, of course, this business of anniversaries. 50 years is a long time to be married. The 50th is a really small class reunion. 50 years is not too long since a prize wine was corked. And, really, it's not all that long for a congregation to have been gathered. Some years ago, I served the First Unitarian Society in Hudson, Massachusetts, which is currently celebrating its 150th anniversary. After that ministry, I served another congregation in Massachusetts, which was gathered in 1680. I was installed as the 38th minister of that congregation. While my wife and I were on sabbatical in England, Wells Cathedral was celebrating its 800th anniversary.
So, what's fifty years?
But notice the heading of your Order of Service this morning. It says, "Celebrating 50 years of the rebirth of liberal religion in Atlanta." As you heard in Dr. Gable's fine sermon last week, and as you've read in our history, this congregation has its roots down into the 19th century with Unitarian and Universalist congregations bringing the liberal religious message here to the deep south.
Those early missionary ministries came to a sad end. We might say they "crashed and burned." I won't re-state the whole history. It's enough to say that, in 1948, our forebears in the Liberal Christian Church of Atlanta, mired in the mud of southern racism, denied membership to an African American. The minister resigned. The congregation fragmented into schisms. Finally, the American Unitarian Association, which held the deed, sold the property. Liberal religion in Atlanta was in ashes. And that might have been the end of the story.
But there was a stirring in the ashes. And that's another story – the story of the Phoenix that great plumed and fabulously colored bird that serves as icon for this congregation and for the once-devastated city of Atlanta. Hans Christian Andersen told one of its stories. The phoenix was born, he wrote, in the first rose to bloom on a bush beneath the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. "His flight was like the flashing of light," Andersen wrote, "his plumage was beauteous, and his song ravishing." But, when the forbidden fruit was plucked and Adam and Eve banished, a spark from the flaming sword of the guardian cherub fell into the nest of the Phoenix, and the bird was engulfed in flames.
Not the end of the story, of course: from a red egg nestled in the ashes there arose and fluttered aloft a Phoenix reborn. The great and awesome creature gathered its strength, spread its great plumed and painted wings, and took the skies again.
The ancient and majestic Phoenix bird has been for aeons the symbol of death and resurrection, destruction and renewal. This new, vital, exciting, and ever-growing city rose out of the ashes Sherman left in his march to the sea. And this religious community, time and again renewed for "new occasions and new duties,"1 rose up from its ashes to grow strong out of the vision of those faithful people who gave it new birth. Fifty years ago, a new strong breeze of faith fanned the ashes. Determined people, several of whom are still active among us, people who never lost heart or hope, began to rebuild the congregation. The light of liberal religion was rekindled: Plucked from the ashes.
But the United Liberal Church was reborn into dark times. That congregation opened its doors as the first integrated congregation in Atlanta – as far as we've been able to determine as the first integrated congregation in the south. It was an oasis in a dry and hostile land. Those people of color, welcomed into the Sanctuary in 1954, were not welcome in the precious dining room of Rich's Department Store – to say nothing of the public toilets or drinking fountains. "White only" and "Colored only" signs were still very much in evidence throughout the city and still very much taken for granted.
In 1954, there was yet a long, sad, and violent journey to be taken. It would be almost another troubled decade into the future when dynamite blasts struck a Baptist Church in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four children who were getting ready to participate in the Sunday Service. There were forty-one racially-motivated bombings between 1947 and 1963 in Alabama alone.
It would be another troubled decade when Unitarian Minister, James Reeb, was killed on the street in Selma in 1965. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. That baseball bat wielding, racist embarrassment to any enlightened citizens of the south, Lester Maddox, would be governor from 1967 to 1971. Oh, there was a long way to go from the darkness of 1954 to the dawn of any more hopeful time.
Plucked as a firebrand. Into and through those dark and perilous years the Unitarian Universalists of Atlanta were a source of light, a place of welcome, and a stalwart example of righteousness in the best sense of that term – that is, religiously just and true to moral principle. Think again of the myth of the Phoenix bird as Hans Christian Andersen told the story. She is reborn out of the burning of the one who went before, rising out of the ashes of tragedy.
Now consider this image. The glowing embers of the Phoenix nest – and the story carried forward in the words of the Hebrew Prophet, Amos, "You shall be as a firebrand, plucked from the burning." A firebrand is a torch, a torch pulled from the embers and ashes and held aloft to light the way. And there can be no doubt that the bearers of that light, the dedicated laypeople and ministers through the past fifty years of liberal religion in Atlanta, were the inspiration for the justly proud community that celebrates today.
"Ours the years memorial store, honored days and names we reckon, days of comrades gone before, lives that speak and deeds that beckon. From the dreaming of the night to the labors of the day, shines their everlasting light, guiding us upon our way." Risen from the ashes like a great Phoenix Bird. Plucked from the ashes like a firebrand. A true believer might well assume that God had something great in mind for a people planted in such unpromising ground 150 years ago, holding them up in the light through dark decades of bombings, beatings, hangings, unjust wars, and all manner of evil.
What will it be, Dr. Gable asked in her sermon last week – what will the mission be that will galvanize this congregation as the civil rights movement and the peace movement fired and unified and grew it decades ago? Paula admitted that she didn't know the answer. I don't know what one great and true mission there might be either. I don't know that there will be such times that call for one great and true mission again. But that does not mean that there will be nothing for a congregation in the tradition of heroes and prophets to do. New occasions teach new duties. There is plenty to do.
The very earth itself is crying out for salvation. And you know it's not going to be saved by more logging roads through the forests or oil rigs on the tundra, or by corporate comrades-in-arms belching pollutants out of their chimneys.
There's another fifty years of witnessing there.
There are thousands of individuals and families – and not only poor individuals and families – who have been or who are soon to be financially ruined by some catastrophic illness because they are not protected by insurance.
There's another fifty years of witnessing there.
There are children dying horribly of abuse because the systems that are supposed to protect them are inadequately funded. There are not enough investigators, and too many are incompetent or overworked.
There's another fifty years of witnessing there.
There are men and women who are executed, put to death deliberately and with forethought, often innocent, poorly represented, men and women. In a barbarism that embarrasses us before other nations.
There's another fifty years of witnessing there.
A woman's right to choose: Watch for it. Get ready for it. Roe vs. Wade is going to fall. The government is going to wrap its arms around the religious right in gratitude for its theocratic support and deny the human rights of same sex partners. Talk about a civil rights movement.
There's another fifty years of witnessing there.
And let me say something about the moon and Mars – nothing romantic, mind you. I like the moon. I like Mars. I like to look up at them. But we have been to the moon and there was nothing there. And from what I can see of Mars, there's nothing there, either. And will returning to the moon and traveling to Mars galvanize our nation, unite us and inspire us? Certainly it will; for several months; and we will be united and inspired and we will do precisely nothing with our inspiration – just as before. And several trillion dollars later into this exploration of space there still will not be space for the homeless, for the aged, or for the sick in mind and body.
Get your cross-trainers, your fanny packs, your water bottles, and your posters and placards ready. I don't know if there is one grand, unifying mission – but there is certainly fifty years of witnessing to do. "But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Amos, again.
There is other work to be done, continuing work. It is the continuing work of discovering our religious selves and of being a religious people in community. The religious community is inspired by its faith and history to do justice. But doing justice is not the purpose of religious community and religious communities that have forgotten that have eventually lost the power of faith to change hearts, minds, and lives.
I was reminded of the old days a year or so ago when I received a letter from a woman complaining that, in an era when people in the world are hungry and homeless, seventy-five percent of our church budget goes to support ministers, staff, education, and programs. She was criticizing the church for being what it is instead of something else.
There were heroes during the civil rights movement and during the war in Viet Nam whose actions, and in some cases, whose martyrdom was grounded in their faith. There were also heroes who had no interest whatsoever in the faith of the religious communities, the spiritual health of the people, or in the church as a place of worship. They attempted to make the church something else. They used it for their own ends, believing that those ends justified any means. In many cases, the churches they used were destroyed; their resources depleted, their spirits broken, and their people bitterly and permanently divided. When the civil rights and Vietnam War eras came to their inconclusive ends, those who had come to use the churches left them.
Frankly, I was embarrassed for our Unitarian Universalist movement during the decade or so after those eras of social upheaval. We waded about knee-deep in pages of questionnaires and occupied ourselves with endless surveys to "discover Unitarian Universalist identity," to find out why our tiny little religion exists at all. We were like an empty shop waiting to see what would go in its windows next. It was a long time before some of us dared to suggest that perhaps what we could do in our religious communities is consider faith, community, spirituality, and the religious as a reason for our existence.
There was that time when God's death was proclaimed, when the centuries-old light of faith dimmed, and it seemed that no one cared. Then a mission was thrust upon us. We had glorious purpose! The forces of evil were lined against us and the trumpets called us from our fading dreams to do battle.
But as Solzhenitsyn, in Gulag Archipelago, writing of the Russian prison camps, said "If only it were so…simple! If only there were evil people somewhere committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the dividing line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being, and who is willing to destroy his own heart?"
That is why we are called to be a people of faith first and out of our faith, immersion in our religious history and our religious experience become a people who seek justice. Our reaching out is to be inseparable from our reaching in to know our own hearts, inseparable from our inward heroic spiritual journeys in which we find our power, defeat our monsters, and return to do justice.
A mature religion helps us to come to rediscover what was once obvious – that we are related, that the inner and the outer are the same, that what injustice is is a wound in our own being, a hunger in our own souls, cold and sickness in our own spirits. In his powerful little book about racism, The Hidden Wound the poet Wendell Berry writes that slavery made a wound in the mind and soul of the American people from which we have yet to recover.
To heal and nurture the Spirit in which our own spirits participate, and to do good that is a deep and lasting good, it is not enough to go out to save the world, as if the world were something separate from us and its suffering people and even its cruel people not like us. The first of the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism speaks of our affirmation of "The infinite worth and dignity of every person…" and the Seventh Principle affirms "The Interdependent web of which we are a part." We come to know in our faith, through our worship, our sharing, and our learning together, that those two principles are woven together. The worth and dignity of every person is grounded in the interdependent web of all being.
There is an astounding sculpture by Philippe Wolfers of a beautiful swan that is looking down in horror to see a snake striking death at its breast. As we look at the sculpture longer, we see that the serpent that has struck the swan is not another creature but is part of the swan itself. There is no "they." In wounding "them" we wounded "us." Racism, violence, greed – all manner of evil – are not separate aspects of reality or of the devil. William Carlos Williams wrote "I am…the brutal thing itself."
As we make the spiritual journey in the company of religious community, we rediscover not only ourselves but also ourselves in kinship with all people, our relatedness to all of being. We find that the evil against which we struggle is within us as well as in the world, and that our mission in the world is inseparable from the mission to our own spirit. We seek to do justice in the world because our own spirits cannot be whole apart from the wholeness of the earth or apart from each torn and ragged being in earth's every corner.
1 James Russell Lowell


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Kuznetsova vs. Serena
|Date & Time
|Tuesday July 5, 2016, 9:00 PM (EDT)
|The Line
The Line -- Over/Under:
|TV Channel
Serena Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova meet in the fourth round of the 2016 Wimbledon.
Serena Williams is coming off a straight sets win over Annika Beck that took less than a hour. In the victory, Serena won 25 of 29 first serve points and racked up 25 winners and 14 unforced errors. Serena is coming off her best performance yet, as she lost just three games and won 86 percent of her first serve points. In her last two matches, Serena has 79 winners and is finishing her points quickly. Serena should steamroll her way to the finals if she keeps playing this way. Serena looks to make her eighth straight grand slam quarterfinal appearance. Serena has won 10 straight matches on grass.
Svetlana Kuznetsova is coming off a three set win over Sloane Stephens that took two and a half hours. In the victory, Kuznetsova won 43 of 77 first serve points and racked up 24 winners and 29 unforced errors. Kuznetsova was able to bounce back after getting down early and won a third set that took 14 games. Kuznetsova does have 46 unforced errors in her last two matches, but she continues to find easy to win and serves well when the pressure is on. Kuznetsova has five victories over top-10 players since 2015, including two this season. Kuznetsova has a chance to make her first grand slam quarterfinal since the 2014 French Open. Kuznetsova has won six of her last nine matches on grass.
These two have met 12 times in the past and Serena has won nine of those meetings. The most recent match came in this year's Rome Masters, a match Serena won in 14 games. Kuznetsova did beat Serena in this year's Miami Masters. This will be the first match on grass.
Kuznetsova is dangerous considering she does have a win over Serena this season. However, Serena has played cleaner tennis up to this point and sees the open door to another final with Garbine Muguruzagone.
Give me Serena in straight sets.


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Romans 6:20 - 7:6
Recognizing Life and Death
Paul is leading us readers/believers to reflect on a deep level what has happened to us in the event of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. We might say, 'Nothing happened to me personally. I wasn't there.' Paul responds, 'But you were!' Because of who Jesus is, as both God and us and Israel's Messiah, he calls into himself every person who trusts/ believes in him to share in his death and resurrection/eternal life and in his Spirit.
But its hard to get our minds around this experience. We're still living very ordinary life.
We are like Israel after the Exodus, idealizing Egypt compared with hardships faced in freedom. We romanticize the 'freedom' of the destructive life called 'sin.'


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It was a hot summer day in Vietnam but our ladies were still engrossed in cooking tasty dishes for the charity lunch. We love making our efforts to exchange people smiles. While you're looking at these pictures you can feel the charming atmosphere with local people in Hue. We are very happy to contribute our little efforts to our community which helps poor people overcome difficulties. Even it was just a small lunch but we have learned a lot of things about the meaning of this life. We realize that we're luckier than others, so we have the responsibility to give a hand to these people.
If you want to help us organize these meaningful meals for disadvantaged people, you can donate any amount of money. We appreciate all your help.
[give_form id="5587″]


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Weight for me!
I wanted to buy weights so I could exercise at home, but I didn't know what size to get. Instead I saved money by creating my own from two milk cartons. I washed them out and added water. One litre of water weighs one kilo, so I can add more as I get stronger.
Patsy Davies, Lee-on-the-Solent, Hants


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Join the North Fulton Master Gardeners to learn about the importance of pollinators and steps you can take to help them thrive in your garden and landscape! RSVP for this free workshop via MeetUp or by emailing coordinator Rosie Davidson.
All Upcoming Workshops
Want to find out more about a workshop? Simply click the name or image for all the details!
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Earlier Event: August 5Terrarium Building Workshop at Garden*hood
Later Event: August 18Freedom Nation Excursion: MOLDOVA


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For many of us mommies and daddies out there, we have lost babies- through miscarriage, abortion, stillbirth, and like our family, loss of an infant.
We have found that people have a tendency to diminish our pain, either because it is difficult and awkward to deal with, because they do not understand the pain of losing a child, or just plain ignorance. These are usually people who are not extremely close to us, or did not know our sweet daughter.
We lost our baby girl at 3 months of age. She was my daughter, my child, my flesh and blood, my family. Losing this is losing innocence. This innocence cannot ever be found again. We have found peace, joy, appreciation for the small things in life, but innocence, no.
A few months after Ava's death, one of my aunts was commenting on how few family members we had lost in our family (we come from a large family). She commented on losing her mom and dad, my grandparents, and then said that we had lost no other members. I sat there incredulously. I had just buried my baby girl a short 4 months ago. Ignorance. And ignorance hurts. Just because my Ava had such a short life does not diminish who she is or was as a person. She is a person, no matter how small.
She changed my life, her daddy's life, her grandparents and aunts and uncles life in a swift instant. She continues to change with sister and brothers lives as time moves on. She will always be a part of our family, who we are, and who she has made us. She has made me understand my Heavenly Father's love for me in a way I never would have understood. He loves me unconditionally, no matter my pain, my sin, or the bad choices I make. This little girl, no matter how small, was still a person, is still a person. She continues to shape me, as a mom, as a supporter of others experiencing loss, as a daughter of the King needing saving. HE is good, no matter the pain we experience.


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Welcome to the Mine. We dig special and unusual treasures!
Home About Us Ordering & Shipping Contact Us Jewelry
Tibetan made, this is an attractive tooth pendant made to look like lapis and coral. I believe it is lapis dyed bone inlaid shaped as a fierce tiger tooth. Adorned with red enamel and tibetan symbols. This is an nice weighty, attractive pendant.
overall pendant dimensions: 1 7/8" L x 5/8" W
All clearance items are not subject to any other sales and/or discounts. Since these deals have been offered at an all time low price they are non-refundable - once they are gone they are truly gone!
Copyright © 2007 - 2018 The Turquoise Mine


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Who: Registered Scouts and Scouters
What: Skiing, Snowbarding or Tubing at Trollhaugen
When: January 12th - 14th, 2018
Where: Fred C. Andersen Scout Camp, 186 Andersen Scout Camp Trail, Houlton Wi 54082 and
Trollhaugen Ski Resort, 2232 100th Ave, Dresser WI 54009
Why: To complete the Snow Sports Merit Badge and to have some Winter Fun, of course!!
Estimated Cost: The Cabin and food cost of the campout will be $35 per Scout, $20 per Adult
The Trollhaugen Cost will depend on the Activity selected Listed below are the prices listed from the Trollhaugen Website and will be in addition to Cabin / food cost
Skiing / Snow boarding Chairlift ticket Cost for 13 years old and older is $46, for those 12 and under the price is $36, if you need to rent equipment the prices are listed below.
Rental Equipment for 13 years old and older
Skis, Boots, Poles $29
High Performance Ski Package (through the ski shop) $45
Snowboard Package $29
Rental Equipment for 12 years old and under
Skis, Boots, Poles $23
Snowboard Package $23
The cost for snow tubing is $19 for (2) hours and $3 for each additional hour
Departure: Otter Lake Elementary on Friday, January 12th at 6:00pm.
Eat supper before arriving.
Returning: Sunday around 12pm. Scouts will be dropped off at their homes.
Sign-up: Sign-up Online. Cancellations after February 6th will be charged $35.
We will be staying in the Peterson Cabin, sleeping pads are provided.
This camp trip will consist of both indoor and outdoor activities, pack accordingly.
Wear Class A uniform with a Class B underneath for traveling
Check the weather forecast to see how cold it might get and pack accordingly.
If you have any questions, ask us at the troop meeting, or contact Eric Bergquist at
651 329-3270. (email: firstname.lastname@example.com)
Camping >


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Sunday, November 11, 2007
some deeply-valued empathy for religious minds
I wouldn't say I have a religious mind—a spiritual mind, yes—but I am committed to appreciating, as best I can, religious perspectives in contemporary political life (as time allows; it's not a high priority), especially relative to Habermas' interest.
Today, I defended Habermas' openness to religious voices in "the public sphere" against a misreading of his intent in the current issue of Philosophy & Social Criticism, beginning with somewhat expressive reaction to the abstract of the essay before writing today in light of a careful reading of the article.
I'll eventually transpose those two discussions into a single posting here (or perhaps a Webpage).


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Each problem of New Electronics has a mixture of common sections and distinctive content providing electronic design engineers with a practical, applicable data resource in an thrilling and compelling format. So she added a transformer to spice up the voltage to 5V, which was greater than enough to make her flashlight work. These new electronic innovations transmit data such as acidity, strain and temperature levels or pictures of the esophagus and gut to your physician's laptop for evaluation.
It was not clear if that alert was related to the brand new restrictions on electronic units. The brand new electronics requirement didn't have a lot noticeable affect on the movement of passengers by the B1 checkpoint on Monday. You may get around this by making what's known as "a special declaration of curiosity" for very expensive items at test-in, and paying an additional payment.
It's true that the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) has released recommendations on transporting the batteries within the maintain, and their US counterpart banned them as cargo. Some experiments which have been made possible via the provision of such excessive purity crystals are described, together with some latest work on semiconductors.
Someday in early 2005, a postdoc seen that in the course of the initial step of the printing course of, the rubber stamps we use to print the ultrathin silicon may generally be slightly stretched in dealing with simply earlier than contact with the thin silicon. "All the time, you separate the bomber from the bomb – that makes people in the cabin rather a lot safer," mentioned Sally Leivesley, a threat management expert.
This is able to then generate a current from the new facet to the chilly facet so that mild emitting diodes (LEDS) connected to the tiles would gentle-up. The thicker the layer of magnesium oxide, the longer it takes for water to get via, and so the extra slowly the machine dissolves.


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Many upgrades and renovations on this lovely home on private, level lot. Wood floors throughout living areas on main floor with tiled kitchen. Wall of windows in family room overlooks brick patio and park like setting in the rear yard. First floor bedroom/office with ensuite bath. Spacious master with 2 additional bedrooms on second floor. Bonus over the garage with built ins and gas fireplace. Upgrades include: sump pump 2019; exterior painted, new gas water heater, renovated master bathroom with freestanding tub, dehumidifier installed in crawl 2017; kitchen renovated in 2016 with new cabinets, granite countertops, tile floor; roof replaced 10 years ago with 50 year shingles. Oversized side load garage and circular driveway. Subject to a ratified contract with contingencies. Owner wishes to continue to show the property and will consider other offers.
One Ford's Colony Drive, Williamsburg, Virginia 23188
(757) 258-4000 - firstname.lastname@example.com
Copyright ©Ford's Colony Realty, All Rights Reserved
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HR inquiries to the International Centre
We try to count the numbers of inquires regarding international researchers we get, this can tell us what kind of issues are important and where there is problems.
One inquiery is someone contacting SIM with a question/issue regarding an international researcher(s) and/or his/her family.
We try to log the following information:
- Type of communication: phone, email or meeting in person
- Date of inquiery
- The different topics of the inquiey (before 2016 we only counted the main topic, now we try to count all).
The inquiery can come from an international researcher, his/her spouse/partner or it can come from a department wanting information about procedures so they can inform a researcher.
We use these statistics in order to learn more about the needs of the international researchers coming to UiB, and about researchers at UiB going on research visits abroad. We try to match the information we publish and our services with the inquiries we get. The statistics is also reported to Euraxess every half year.
These statistics and the evaluations we do after we have organized activities are part of our quality assurance system.
Inquiries spring 2013
A total of 333 inquiries came to SIM in the spring semester of 2013.
MEDIA: 68 % of the inquiries came by email, 19 % by phone and 13 % through visit at SIM.
• 30 % of all inquiries were primarily about immigration rules, procedures, etc.
• 13 % of the inquiries concerned housing/accommodation
• 13 % asked about salary and tax, tax cards, tax return, tax arrears?
• 9 % was about courses and activities at SIM
• 5 % about employment opportunities (mainly at UiB)?
• 4 % inquired primarily about social security and insurance
• 4 % concerns bank services and credit cards
•Other inquiries have been about: Outgoing mobility, Norwegian courses, schools and kindergartens, retirement, health services, employment of spouse / partner, rules and routines when moving from Norway, and questions about the rules and procedures at UiB.
Inquiries spring 2015
A total of 275 inquiries came to SIM in the spring semester of 2015.
MEDIA: 71 % of the inquiries came by email, 16 % by phone and 12 % through visit at SIM.
• 24 % of all inquiries were primarily about immigration rules, procedures, etc.
• 16 % was about courses and activities at SIM
• 15 % of the inquiries concerned Norwegian language courses or cultural training.
• 10 % about accommodation/ housing.
• 8 % inquired primarily about social security and insurance


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petfood.com > Dog Food > Dry Dog Food > Item # 493487
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Product Reviews by Customers


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Chy an Bara3272
1.3 miles NW of Penzance / Sleeps 4 + cot*
7 Nights from £389
Ms Culmer September 2018
Lovely old cottage with everything we needed for a week. Decor was simple and relaxing, furniture all comfortable and it was very cosy with the fire lit. The location was great for getting out and about in that part of Cornwall and there were loads of good pubs etc in the area.
The housekeeper was helpful and friendly, as were all the other people we met in the village. We loved being able to make a cuppa and eat saffron bread as soon as we arrived - a nice touch. We would stay there again.
Mrs Thomas August 2018
A very comfortable and tastefully decorated cottage.
Ms Fowler October 2017
Very good location for seeing west Cornwall. A cosy cottage with very comfortable bed. Parking nearby was not a problem, even though it was never outside directly.
Mr Mehl August 2017
A really nice house with good bathroom and very good working technique (hot water and heating, wireless).
Frau Schumacher July 2017
The house and the location is very good with lots of excursion options. We would be happy to come again.
Mr Lappin June 2017
A very pleasant stay in Madron. We were made to feel welcome by the housekeeper and the locals and there's a nice pub nearby, the landlord was very nice and welcoming. Overall it a very nice holiday in a good location, just a few minutes drive to all the amenities and the sights of West Cornwall. Would recommend.
Mrs Petrovic June 2017
Needs to depersonalise the cottage e.g empty food cupboards and freezer. Also make up all beds and make sure bins are empty. It's probably the worst one we've had yet!!!!
Reply from Classic Cottages
Thanks so much for your review. Regrettably, it appears that there had been an oversight which meant some dry goods had been left in the cupboards, a couple of items in the freezer and an item in the bathroom bin, for which we apologise. All beds should have been made up but there was a misunderstanding regarding whether the second bedroom would be used - again we are very sorry and in future all beds will be made up irrespective of the number of guests staying. Despite these little problems, we're glad you found the cottage comfortable overall. Classic Cottages
Mrs Impey May 2017
Welcoming, warm, clean and comfortable cottage in a delightful location. Well-appointed for walks and getting around by bus.
Mr Kernick April 2017
Excellent cottage.
Fantastic setting.
Great pub opposite - very cosy and well presented
Miss Pilling April 2017
Excellent location to explore the south west of Cornwall. We had a lovely long weekend over Easter. The cottage met our needs and was as described. We were two couples and the cottage was the perfect size for us. Being so close to St Michaels Mount, Minnack Theatre, Penzance and the beautiful beaches of south Cornwall was ideal - we had ten to twenty minute drives to see everything we planned.
Loved our mini break and loved the beautifully historic cottage!
Mrs Unwin December 2016
Lovely cottage, very well equipped and has a warm and cosy feel. We found the cottage to be in a good position for visiting beautiful beaches and interesting places to visit and many walks with our two dogs in Cornwall. We found local areas to shop for provisions and we found many places to eat at night which accommodated the two dogs.
Mrs Philpott October 2016
Well presented cottage, in a good location. Would love to return.
Mrs Brown October 2016
Beautiful, peaceful and well equipped cottage in a good location for exploring Southern Cornwall .
Good or bad, we publish all the reviews left by the guests who have stayed in this cottage, with the few exceptions stated in our Review Guidelines.


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This absolutely beautiful home has been lovingly and sympathetically refurbished to a very high standard. With its high specification and extensive catalogue of features, this home is bound to satisfy the most particular of wish-lists. Artfully decorated the home enjoys open plan striking kitchen/dining/living and adjoining media room/lounge; spacious 4 bedroom accommodation with the main serviced by a walk-in wardrobe and well appointed ensuite; the family bathroom offers a feature claw foot bath with shower over, vanity and toilet. Effective heating is provided by a ducted heatpump system, a logburner and extensive double glazing ensuring a warm and comfortable ambience. A fabulous indoor/outdoor flow is offered from the living to the NW facing outdoor entertainment area and the most fantastic childrens play area featuring the ultimate playhouse! Plentiful off street parking provided. In Prime Belleknowes this much loved family home appreciates the benefits of a top location, close proximity to many good schools and is just minutes from the city centre. You will be impressed!
Link to 3D Tour: https://goo.gl/BCdE9Z
Phone to view


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As National Margarita Day approaches, savor your beverages, folks, because they may be your last -- or the cheapest they'll ever be.
A shortage of blue agave -- the main ingredient in tequila -- is putting tequila producers in a sticky situation as the high global demand for tequila remains unfettered.
According to Reuters, the demand for tequila has caused a shortage of the plant.
The shortage has caused blue agave prices to rise six-fold. Soaring prices, according to Reuters, have producers worried they will not be able to meet the global demand.
It takes anywhere between eight and 10 years for an agave plant to reach maturation to be used in the production of tequila, and one tequila supplier said he has been forced to use plants before they've fully matured.
"They are using four-year-old plants because there aren't any others," Marco Polo Magdaleno told Reuters. "I can guarantee it because I have sold them."
In 2011, only 17.7 million blue agaves were planted in anticipation of the 2018 demand. Figures from the Tequila Regulatory Council and National Tequila Industry Chamber show that approximately 42 million plants will be needed to satisfy the demands of registered companies this year.
If there's any good news, it's that some of the biggest sellers of tequila say they haven't felt the effects.
Bigger sellers such as Patron and Tequila Sauza told Reuters they have not had a problem acquiring agave and "forecast that their inventories will keep growing."
Copyright 2018 by KSAT - All rights reserved.


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Skift Take
The former TSA chief is busy pushing his new book with TV appearances, newspaper interviews, and chats with anyone who will listen. Will the decision-makers finally decide to tune in?
Building the TSA from scratch in the months following 9/11 seemed an insurmountable task, unrivaled in both scope and size. In Permanent Emergency, former TSA administrator Kip Hawley vividly reconstructs the breakneck pace at which this gargantuan security agency came about and how it came to be an institutional [mess].
Tags: security


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Parish School of Religion
This program is designed to nurture the faith of the children of our parish from pre-school through eighth grade. Classes are scheduled on Wednesday from 5:30-6:45. Classes for Middle School (6-8) meet on Sunday evenings. Preparations for the reception of First Reconciliation and Eucharist are done in the second grade through the PSR program with parents. Registrations are held in mid-August or anytime you move into the parish. The cost of the program is $45 per child.
Contact: Susan Mantzey, Director of Religious Education


text: When accommodation becomes discriminationCBSA conducts balancing act between rights of workers, customersBy Liz Foster09/08/2014|Canadian Labour Reporter|Last Updated: 09/08/2014 For employers, the issue of competing human rights can be a difficult balancing act. What happens when customers require accommodation that could potentially impact the human rights of employees?Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) managers found themselves juggling these competing interests when a small group of Hindu priests — known as sadhus — were allowed to avoid screening by female border guards at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Travelling through Pearson's Terminal 3 on the evening of July 28, the group requested only to be served by male officers in order to comply with their religious beliefs. To Read the Full Story, Subscribe or Sign In Remember Me Forgot Password If you are a current Subscriber, please click here to set-up or update your login information.


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Prevent Close Encounters
Construction is among the most dangerous industries and in recent years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that there are more than 800 fatal on-the-job injuries to construction workers annually - more than any other single industry.
Fall hazards can be found in a variety of work activities, including:
- Working from ladders
- Work on rooftops, near skylights, or floor holes
- Working near excavations or pier holes
- Working on scaffolding, scissor lifts or boom lifts
- Using make-shift platforms or scaffold-like surfaces including buckets
- Inside of attics or overhead crawlspaces
- During road construction on bridges or overpasses
Fall hazards and Fall prevention MUST be a part of your annual workplace safety training program and while you may have a longer OSHA annual compliance training component in your training plan, it is still a good idea to have a safety meeting on fall protection and fall hazards identification at least quarterly. During these fall hazards safety meetings, make sure to incorporate these important points.
- Workers must recognize possible fall hazards, especially when working at heights above 6-feet from a lower level. In general construction activities fall protection is required when working at heights above 6-feet from a lower level.
- If unprotected sides and edges exist, a guardrail may be an option to prevent fall hazards.
- Workers should never be exposed to a fall hazard without proper fall protection in place.
- Fall hazards at ground level must be protected.
- Barricades, temporary barriers, and warning lines may help alert workers to possible hazards.
- Danger, warning, and caution signs must be used properly to warn workers of possible hazards.
- When working on scaffolds, employees must have fall protection such as guardrails installed when they are more than 10-feet above a lower level.
Weeklysafety.com is offering 10 free safety meeting topics (totally free! no obligation!) and this set of 10 free safety topics includes a toolbox talk on identifying fall hazards. To get your 10 free safety meeting topics now, click the button below.


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What is Visual Communications?
The 63-66 credit hour AAS in Multimedia provides students the skills necessary to prepare and produce multimedia presentations, websites, animations, audio/video presentations, etc. In order to advance in a Visual Communication: Multimedia (VCM) course, a student must make a letter grade of C or better.
For more information, check out our program brochure.
What are my career choices?
At commercial printers, newspapers, public relations firms, ad agencies, and other printing operations. New jobs are opening in retail and businesses developing digital photography, in-house printing, web design and Internet business.
What are my degree, diploma, or certificate options?
Degrees and Transfer
- Video Production Track
- Multimedia
- Video Production
- Web Design
Length of Program
You can earn an associate in applied science degree in two years if you maintain full-time status.
This information should not be considered a substitute for the . You should always choose classes in cooperation with your faculty advisor to ensure that you meet all degree requirements.


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This is the third of the Dailies Breakdown posts. Few things first though, it seems that Facebook limits the number of photos in an album to 200, so for the most recent daily, make sure that you are viewing the Dailies II album. I am also working on adding another page on my web site for the second album. To my surprise, the Dailies page is the most popular page on my site. Thanks to all the follow along. Now for today's nitty gritty….
As many photographers do, I too spend a lot of time along walking with a camera in search of and on the lookout for the next victim to turn into pixel data. Ready to freeze that next spontaneous moment into photo history. Having a limited-controllable camera at my fingertips has proven to be priceless, this entire collection of Dailies would not exist without it. When I came across this abandoned child's trike I immediately when into capture mode.
Checking out the different angles and how they played nice or not so nice with the composition. I know that I wanted to capture the scene that I came across: downtown, rainy and wet pavement, abandoned kids trike, mysterious, late at night. It was pretty late if I remember, about 12:45. Quite late for such a toy to be sitting unattended in a public park when it's more ideal location would be in the garage or shed. My first reaction was spinning multiple 360's looking for a child that might be lost. After nothing looked too supisious, I found myself making up a story that maybe this was the parking spot for some little tike's vehicle. Their very own VIP parking spot. I can see them now, pulling up, jumping out and flipping the toy keys to bellhop.
Battling the time between I push the button and the the time that it actually captures the image, I got three shots before a car passed into my background. I had already pushed the shutter release button and initiated the capture countdown as the car surprisingly came to a full stop, instead of the rolling-stop that Sheboygan drivers are so famous for. The fourth shot, above, was the one that made the edit. Having the car in the background added another layer to the photo that I really liked, a bit like a spontaneous moment.
Your thoughts? What story do you see?


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Surreal Salon brings POP-SURREALISM to la's capital city
Surreal Salon, the annual exhibition celebrating the growing quality, popularity, and diversity of the pop-surrealist/lowbrow movement, returned to Baton Rouge Gallery for its eleventh year in January 2019. The exhibition, held January 3 - 31, 2019, in partnership with the LSU School of Art, once again featured works from artists around the world, giving audiences a unique multi-sensory experience with one-of-a-kind contemporary art typically not often presented in this region.
Over the past eleven years, Surreal Salon has included works running the gamut in terms of media, including paintings, photography, ceramics, textiles, mixed media works, and more. Artists from all corners of the United States and five different nations have been featured in previous exhibitions and with Surreal Salon 11, a new group of artists joined them.
SELECTED WORKS in SURREAL SALON 11
Click here to check out the full roster of artists in surreal salon 11
The Surreal Salon Soiree
One of the most anticipated events of the year in Louisiana's capital city! A night of art, live music, interactive experiences and so much more, The Surreal Salon Soiree is unlike any other night in the region! In 2019, the event again saw attendees channel their own pop-surrealist visions into unique costumes for this special night.
In addition to enjoying the work of more than 45 artists, attendees had the unique opportunity to enjoy a jaw-dropping live performance from Japanese action comic punk band Peelander Z, incredible puppets from Clay Achee, and much, MUCH more.
During the Soiree, James Flynn's "Epiphany" was named as Best in Show for the exhibition by Surreal Salon Juror Camille Rose Garcia.
Stay tuned for details on Surreal Salon 12, coming in 2020 to Baton Rouge Gallery!
surreal salon 11 SPECIAL GUEST juror: Camille Rose Garcia
In past years, we have been honored to enlist jurors for Surreal Salon that represent some of the most influential names in pop-surrealism, including Juxtapoz co-founder Greg Escalante and artists such as Ron English, Greg "Craola" Simkins, Liz McGrath, and Josh "Shag" Agle.
This tradition continues in 2019 with none other than Camille Rose Garcia serving as Special Guest Juror for Surreal Salon 11, thanks in part to a partnership with the LSU School of Art.
Garcia, the child of a Mexican activist filmmaker father and a muralist/painter mother, has become one of the pop-surrealist movement's most well-known painters. Her layered, broken narratives of wasteland fairy tales act as commentaries that blend pop culture references with a satirical slant on modern society. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally and in publications such as Juxtapoz and Rolling Stone.
"There are few artists with the influence over the past 25 years of pop-surrealism and lowbrow art cultures quite like Camille Rose Garcia," explained Juxtapoz in February 2018. "To call her royalty is almost an understatement: she is not only one of the most famed female painters of her generation, but she practically invented a style of folkloric, narrative-based, cartoon-goth painting that we see so much today around the world."
Garcia gave a free and informal talk at the LSU School of Art on Monday, January 28, 2019 in conjunction with Surreal Salon 11. Her presentation touched on her own work, her more than three decades as a professional artist, the state of pop-surrealism today, as well as the collection of works featured in Surreal Salon 11.
Pictures from 2018's Surreal Salon Soiree
All photos courtesy of Julia Rose Photo.


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THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Tortilla Coast
1460 P St. NW Send to Phone
202-629-3280 | Make Restaurant Reservations
OpenLunch & Dinner daily, Brunch Sat.-Sun.
- Dress code: Casual
- Full bar
- Outdoor dining
- Take-out available
* Click here for rating key
THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Tortilla Coast Restaurant Review: Tortilla Coast's Logan Circle location showcases the Mexican cooking of a Texas native who knows how to assemble enchiladas, create an unusual nacho platter without the customary beans and melted cheese (but with crema, corn tortilla pieces and vegetables), and blend a starter bowl of melted cheese with spicy chopped chorizo. Freshly made guacamole is a specialty, crafted with flavorful ripe avocados. For those who like to socialize, the restaurant's happy hours are abuzz with loads of chatter and margaritas. And the weekend brunch has its own fans --- expect some Tex-Mex delights, such as chilaquiles and Mexican french toast.
GAYOT's Annual Restaurant Awards honor America's best chefs, as well as promising newcomers and a top restaurateur.


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04 Jul Congratulations to winners in our sponsored Property Council awards
A big congratulations to international developer Frasers Property for its "Beaches" project which took out the top award in Natural Habitats sponsored Urban Land Developments award in the recent NZ Property Council awards.
"Beaches" at Coast Papamoa is the final 'jewel in the crown' of the wider Coast Papamoa Beach development, which has been 10 years in the making. The exclusive beachfront community was created by utilising the particular provisions of the Tauranga City Plan to form a neighbourhood of 23 properties, while preserving a culturally important dune, and 23 shares in the protection and maintenance of the adjacent Conservation Zone and the dune itself.
Being master-planned means that every street, every footpath and every tree has been planned to be in synergy with its spectacular coastal surroundings, which is also consistent with the remainder of the Coast development. As a result of this meticulous attention to detail, you will find additional features at Beaches over and above those found in standard subdivisions, including more street trees, beautiful timber boardwalks, cobbled inserts to walkways and landscaped garden beds.
Congratulations to owner and developer – Frasers Papamoa Limited, Landscape Architect – Boffa Miskell, and to Aurecon NZ Limited Limited Civil who were the Engineer Surveyors / Planners.
Winning merits in our sponsored award were Jennings Jersey Redevelopment, in Auckland submitted by Housing New Zealand Corporation, and the Richmond (Stage 1) development in Auckland submitted by the Wilshire Group.


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Vauxhall Corsa VXR (2015 - 2018) review
- Low starting price
- Good engine
- Great gearchange
- Sophisticated suspension
- Needs Performance Pack for fun
- Bumpy ride with Performance Pack
- Poor emissions and fuel economy
At a glance
- New price: £19,355 - £21,765
- Used price: £6,730 - £13,955 Explore used prices
- Typical used monthly cost: £166 - £344 Get details or apply now
- Fuel economy: 37 - 37 mpg
- Road tax cost: £145 - £235
- Insurance group: 30 How much is it to insure?
- Low starting price
- Good engine
- Great gearchange
- Sophisticated suspension
- Needs Performance Pack for fun
- Bumpy ride with Performance Pack
- Poor emissions and fuel economy
Vauxhall Corsa VXR rivals
Make no mistake: the Vauxhall Corsa VXR has its work cut out. It takes aim at a group of well-established hot hatchbacks such as the Ford Fiesta ST, Volkswagen Polo GTI and Renaultsport Clio 200 Turbo.
Especially sharp to drive
And it's a considerable step forward from the out-going version, which bafflingly was actually more expensive.
To start with, that list price can't be ignored. When you're looking at kit vs cost vs fun, the Corsa VXR is up there with the class leaders.
And if you pick the Performance Pack (£2,400 at time of writing) you'll have a car that'll handle as well as almost anything in its sector. Thanks to a clever diff, sophisticated suspension and brilliant brakes, there isn't a huge amount that can get near it when driven flat-out.
Enthusiast's car
Which is somewhat prophetic since that's what Vauxhall expects a lot of VXRs to spend time doing. The target market for this car is a young petrolhead likely to venture onto the odd track to find out about both theirs' and the car's limits.
They're also likely to spend a portion of their time sat with mates discussing their Remus exhaust, turbocharged petrol engine and Recaro bucket seats. Rightly so, some will say, since otherwise why bother with the VXR at all?
But actually, without said Performance Pack, the VXR is still great to live with. It loses a lot of the fizz which brings excitement on track, but gains a composure that means it'll be easier to live with every day. Its only problem is several of its rivals do this better, including the excellent Polo GTI.
Plenty of kit
Still, the littlest VXR is rammed with equipment for its modest asking price, and you can add more still thanks to options packs. For instance, those worried about safety might want to pick the Technical Pack, which adds a raft of kit designed to help the driver stay as safe as possible.
While its running costs may leave a little to be desired – especially in terms of fuel economy and tax – we're expecting Vauxhall to bring a highly attractive PCP deal to the table.
Having driven the previous version of this car, we were very pleasantly surprised with just how accomplished it was considering the favourable price tag. It's capable of being both super-hatch and slightly softer too, but its Achilles heel is that it can't be both at the same time. You'll need that Performance Pack for the former, and you'll pay a few grand less for the latter, lesser model.
To find out more, read on for our full Vauxhall Corsa VXR review.


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Little vineyard wedding at New Kent Winery | Aubrey + Sean | Virginia wedding photography
This was one of those magical days... the weather had predicted rain, yet there wasn't a drop of water. The weather was literally perfect with only the slightest breeze flowing, and a 5-minute shower early in the day. And the sunset, oh the sunset was plain ethereal. These two have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to portraits. A truly beautiful day for a truly beautiful couple!
Venue: New Kent Winery | Catering: Garnish Culinary & Event Specialists | DJ: ShoDJ | Hair: Bryan Knavel at Simplicity in the Fan | Makeup: Bombshell Salon | Bride's jewelry: Earring Nation (necklace: family heirloom) | Bride's dress: Impressions from Jeanette's Bridal | Bride's shoes: Badgley Mischka | Florist: Vogue Flower Mart | Groom's attire: Bonobos | Bridemaids' attire: Amsale from Jeanette's Bridal | Transportation: Winn Transportation


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The gala features music, hors d'oeuvres, and is the first opportunity to purchase art and meet some of the artists. This event is open to the public, and admission is $10 at the door with ample, off-street parking available at no charge.
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: October 27Bouquets of the Heart
Later Event: March 2Celebration of Creativity "Art Exhibit and Sale"


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Come join us in celebrating St. Patrick's Day at the Outer Space in Hamden, CT.
We are the opening act for the evening's entertainment at the Outer Space.
This is a great venue for music with good food and a terrific selection of craft beers. Plenty of safe parking is available.
Admission is free for our performance (but donations accepted). There will be a cover charge to see the other bands that will be performing after us starting at 9:00 pm.
The Outer Space
295 Treadwell Street, Hamden, CT 06514
phone) 203-288-6400


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"Greater love hath no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends"
BLACK, Thomas James Melville
Service no 2933
7th Battalion
Born Grassdale, Vic.
Son of Timothy BLACK
Of Railway St., Euroa, Vic.
Occupation prior to enlistment Labourer
Enlisted 17 July 1915 at Melbourne, Vic.
Returned to Australia 15 December 1919 per 'Nestor'
BLACKWOOD, Victor
BLACKWOOD, William Roy Douglas
BLAKE, William
BLICK, Leslie Colin
BLOOMFIELD, Bertram Benjamin
Bertram Benjamin Bloomfield who was killed in action on 21st July 1916 at Fleurbaix in France was the son of Mr. Benjamin James Bloomfield. He was born in 1876 and entered the School in 1891 and left in 1892. After leaving School he was in business in Melbourne, and enlisted on 7th July 1915. He left Melbourne in the following November in the 31st Battalion, and after about seven months in Egypt was sent to France. He had been promoted Corporal, and was doing good work. He lost his life in the first action in which the Australians took part in France.
War Services Old Melburnians 1914 - 1918
War Services Old Melburnians 1914 - 1918
BLORE, George Thomas
Service no 5557
21st Battalion
Born Heyfield, Vic.
Husband of Esther G BLORE
Of Queens Mansions, Esplanade, St. Kilda
Occupation prior to enlistment Clerk
Enlisted 22 December 1915
Killed in action 04 May 1917 in France
Aged 36 years
Commemorated Villers-Bretonneux Memorial


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Before you begin a catering enterprise it is smart to put together a comprehensive business plan. It's possible you'll want to take into account the following key questions to help decide in case you are prepared to begin writing what you are promoting plan. If things are going nicely, your plan will help you consider how you can re-put money into what you are promoting. Read Develop your online business plan that will help you within the business planning process.
This shall be totally different depending on your online business mannequin, however might include data on where you will commerce (like a house office or exterior premises), the number of workers you may must make use of, what their roles shall be and any equipment or tools you will need to run your online business.
Attend a Small Business Victoria, Business Planning Necessities workshop and get the instruments, templates and assist it is advisable fast-track your success. That is the place you may embody your ideas for promotion (online/conventional strategies), as well as the way you physically plan to sell your product or service (brick-and-mortar, ecommerce, and many others.).
Not solely will you be much less prone to get funding if you happen to copy a enterprise plan, you may be greatly reducing your chances of success since you did not write a plan that is right for your specific business, its specific location, target market, and your unique services or products.
You want to use it to boost funds to start out your enterprise. Once you have full the business plan template we've created under, please contact your native office for additional steerage into launching a enterprise. Product or Service: Here you possibly can embody a breakdown of what your services or products is, its distinctive features, any patents you could have, in addition to any future products you want to develop.


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Happens all the time. Twice this week. Vendor Database, something happens, runs out of space for the logs, got a problem. SInce iis a vendor database, and since our best practice for IT support is to get on the phone, why sound we worry? One reason is that if the database is in full recovery mode and backups break (we use MS DPM), the log will grow and we have to do something about it.
If the transaction log is too big, it is not getting purged. that will happen if the db is in full and a backup occurs. Assuming that the log doesn't grow so fast it messes stuff up. It can happen if the db is simple and we outrun the save to disk function.
In another way of looking at it, we will have a problem if we run out of space. One bad log can mess up the entire volume. Or the log file might not be set to autogrow, and in that case we might have a problem if it is not correctly sized. Also, indexing and bulk-imports can add to the log faster than we anticipate and what was once good is now bad.
Just to make sure it is straight, we usually expect that the backup and the size of the database will grow as new records are added, but the right-sized log should be truncated often enough that we don't see IT grow. After the backup, it is empty\emptier although the file size is the same (because all the space will be needed, like a high-water mark) and the percent used will increase throughout the process until the log is truncated again. If the log is shrunk and we DO need to grow it, it can be a slow process and the db will be unresponsive during the growth.
Shawn McGehee in SimpleTalk
DBCC SQLPERF(logspace)
will report on the size of the log(s) and the percent used like this:
DB Name log (MB) log % used Status master 1.992188 41.7402 0 tempdb 379.4297 23.68777 0 model 0.7421875 54.93421 0 msdb 417.3672 3.173259 0 MedicatDB 5809.742 0.3472498 0 BB_admin 19.99219 24.47489 0 BBLEARN 135.4297 2.817277 0 BB_stats 1872.992 12.3829 0 BB_cms 19.99219 20.68191 0
We can try to backup the log file with t-sql or run a manual DPM job. We can try to create a second log file on another drive temporarily to get the database to continue to respond. It that works, we can continue our usual maintenance.
In this example, a new database was create, an insert without commit performed and another tranaction started. Since the first log entry (which was the MinLSN or oldest record stil needed) was at the start of the log, the attempt to backup the log, which should have worked, did not result in clearing unnecessary Log entries, since
if a log file is filled and needs to grow (and autogrowth is turned on), it can be enlarged by increasing the size and additing more/new virtual log files (VLFs). The new parts of the log will need to be initialized. . If the settings for autogrowth have small increases, and autogrowth is common, we will have lots of little VLFs. and the log is fragmented. reading these VLFs will make a restart of the server slow due to the need to read each of them
We can count the VLFs with a DBCC command Loginfo (undocumented and unsupported)
USE DatabaseName
DBCC Loginfo;
Autogrowth is the issue, we can create and manually resize the log file easily with a reasonable number of VLFs – getting there with a number of autogrowths creates unnecessary virtual log files.
another approach is to change the recovery model from full into simple and shrink the log.
DBCC SHRINKFILE (file_name, target_size).
Following this, change back to full and immediately do a log backup to restart the LSN chain. If the log is too large, usually there are too many VLFs as well.