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clay creature heads, work in progress.
Dear book illustration researcher-student,
Every time I receive your email for an online interview, I'm not sure what to do: should I help you come up with better questions for your thesis, or a better email to secure you an interview? Leaving me wondering what to do keeps me thinking for so long that eventually I forget if I have replied or not. I apologize for that. So, to avoid this in future email interview requests, here are suggestions I think that will get you a successful email interview from me, and perhaps importantly from popular foreign illustrators who might be busier, less patient and understanding than me, haha! :-)
1. Review at least the basic rules in grammar and check your vocabulary. I admit, I don't write that well too but I always take time to review and revise. Though I prefer an informal (conversational) tone of email, it won't hurt writing down a respectful, undemanding, and well-thought-out request. No highfalutin words necessary, just keep it nice and friendly. Always assume that the recipient is busy, say what you mean in short and direct sentences. A simple but effective outline consists of: a greeting!, personal introduction, your thesis topic, type and/or schedule of interview, then your questions (shoot it right away). For me, sending your questions right away is my gauge whether you have done your research or not, and to know if you'd really thought about your questions, which brings us to...
2. Never, ever (!) send a blind-shot or generic email to every illustrator/artist you can find. Ask yourself: do I like receiving spam mails? It works the same way. Although it's much easier now to touch base through the internet, contact only illustrators whose works are really relevant to your concept. To save time, please spare your interviewee the burden of answering general questions you can already find through diligent research. Filter your questions according to their style and ideas. But first, do your homework in getting their previous interviews or publications if there are, then if you think you need more data, that's the only time you email them with additional, again, relevant and specific questions.
Hint: Personally, I think for student projects in illustration (like children's books, comics, or editorial print and web) which usually require a printed output (or online publishing) and meant for public consumption, there's really not much data you can get from illustrators. Sure you can learn some of their techniques, style, or journeys in their creativity or conceptualization but what's important is your personal vision in solving an illustration problem. Some, if not most illustrators still work intuitively like artists do and might not be articulate enough about their processes. You can only infer yourself analyzing how their work solved a particular problem in illustration and how will this information be relevant to your chosen topic. It's your ideas about their work that matters and who knows, you might discover something insightful that the illustrator might not even be aware of.
Since illustration projects are meant for publishing, all projects should be audience-specific and target audience oriented. Hence, interview or get data from your target audience more than the creatives. You should have acquired techniques and developed style in your previous courses.
3. Get only pertinent data for your bibliography to credit sources. In my experience as a researcher, I have not read in any research manuals of style like the APA, MLA, etc., that there's a need for your sources' signature, photo, or whatever proof of your interviewee's presence. A recording of the interview, and not the interviewee, is enough. This may be part of your school's absurd (honestly, I find it really insulting to student's integrity and capability) requirement, but this request will most likely turn you down an interview.
Encourage your advisers, department heads, and dean against this requirement. How can you trust yourself having the confidence in undergoing a research project if they can't trust you in the first place? I think, this requirement is just their excuse for not verifying your work individually. And besides, regardless of how you got your sources, quality and credibility will definitely show in your research anyway, so there's really no shortcut in completing your thesis.
I hope you'll find these suggestions useful for your research. Good luck!
If you like this article, please click on the ads to support my art projects.
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Daytona Sensors WEGO IV Dual Channel Wideband Exhaust Gas Oxygen Sensor System
Daytona Sensors
Ultra-Bright Daylight readable blue LED Display with auto dimmer for lighting conditions.
Analog Outputs for your Dyno or datalogging software included. Easily plug in to your HP Tuners Pro unit, SCT Handheld, etc…
Highly accurate over AFR range of 10.3-19.5:1 AFR (error less than .1 AFR)
Free-air calibration quickly/easily done with adjustment dial
Standalone datalogging software included – with inputs for RPM. You can use this system to record AFR if you like; as well as another input such as RPM if needed.
Software capable of generating histogram data for wideband AFR error calculation – easily copy and paste into your tuning software.
Your unit can be modified to display LAMDA (decimal point will be off one space if you purchase AFR model)
Software allows you to select fuel type: E10, E85, Ethanol, Methanol or User Defined.
RETURN POLICYOur return policy lasts 30 days. If 30 days have gone by since your purchase, unfortunately we can't offer you a refund or exchange.
To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging.
Several types of goods are exempt from being returned:
- Downloadable software products
- HP Tuner Credit purchases
- Online courses
- Live/private seminars (although a one-time reseat date change may be authorized if your seat can be filled, last minute cancellations will not be refunded)
Refunds (if applicable)Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also notify you of the approval or rejection of your refund.
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Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary.

subset: commoncrawl


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St Louis Cathedral New Orleans
St Louis Cathedral New Orleans is one of the most recognizable landmarks as well as one of the most popular attractions in the city. The Cathedral, or Basilica of St Louis, as it is often called, is the oldest cathedral in the United States that has continually been in use since its inception. The history of this grand cathedral in New Orleans dates back to the early 1700s. The first church built on the site was constructed in 1718 and over the course of the next 70 years was expanded upon. 1789 saw the third permutation of the church raised to the designation of cathedral. It is named for the only canonized King in France's history, Louis IX.
St Louis Cathedral New Orleans is located in the historic French Quarter, rising up over Jackson Square on Place John Paul II. It is not only vitally important in a functional sense in that the Archdiocese of New Orleans makes its home here, but it is also significant to the city as a tourist attraction—one that gives insight into the decidedly weighty influence European Catholicism has had on the city. St Louis Cathedral tours are very popular amongst visitors of New Orleans. In many ways the Basilica of St Louis is like the face of the city. It faces Jackson Square and regularly offers masses, even during Mardi Gras. When there is a political happening or a national event taking place in the city, you will usually see broadcasters reporting form the site of the cathedral. It is a holy place and a stately construct in a city that is normally known for its partying, music, and food. It is revered not only by resident Catholics for its historical significance and importance in their lives, but also by those making the trip to the city (Catholic or not) who also appreciate its beauty and relevance in the cultural and community development of New Orleans.
St. Louis Cathedral tours are given everyday for free. You can tour the Basilica of St Louis itself and other features of the grounds like the Ursuline Convent, the oldest building in the entire Mississippi Valley. The guides are very knowledgeable and can relate to you the impressive history of the cathedral. They will explain why the cathedral needed to undergo so many renovations, rebuilds, and expansions, from fires, water table issues, to architectural conventions used to deal with the natural topography of the area. The architecture inside the cathedral is most impressive and many of the sculptures, reliefs, and décor remain in tact after hundreds of years.
If you are booking a trip to the city, you should consider putting the St Louis Cathedral New Orleans on your list of attractions to see. If you are interested in attending St Louis Cathedral Mass during the week of Mardi Gras, services are held at 9 and 11 a.m. the Sunday prior, and at 7:30 a.m., 12 noon, and 5 p.m. on Ash Wednesday. Ashes are distributed at each one of these masses. If you are unable to attend mass at this oldest active cathedral in the U.S., you can still take one of the St Louis Cathedral tours before heading out of town.
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We had a good day today. All is unnervingly relaxed. That may have something to do with the fact that I`m not hosting Christmas. My poor mum headed off to the supermarket before Zaki and I had even surfaced at 8 o`clock. How terrible a daughter am I? On second thoughts, don`t answer that!
Wishing to blow away some cobwebs, we headed off in the horizontal rain and mildly strong winds to the park at nearby Montacute House.
We were one of a handful (and that`s exaggerating slightly) of visitors in the park with the main house closed.
Granny and Zaki strode off in the direction of the swings resembling horses and made from recycled something. Couldn`t quite work at what.
See? Happy and smiling. No bumps at all...until about 5 o`clock this afternoon when I was in the sitting room and heard a bit splatty thud from the next door dining room. I called out Zaki`s name and there was that awful silence before he wailed. He had somehow slipped and hit his forehead on a wooden chest. A large blue egg sized bump appeared fairly rapidly. Homeopathic remedy Arnica and frozen peas in a tea towel were administered along with lots of cuddles and a rapid emotional recovery was made. The Christmas photos should be interesting though.


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Sunday, October 4, 2009
Worst supporting actor winners
Kevin Kline in A fish Called Wanda: I know a lot of people like this performance, but I DESPISE it. He takes it WAY over the top and its incredibly annoying. George Chakiris in West Side Story: I love this movie, but Chakiris really doesn't do anything special here. I would have nominated Russ Tamblyn (who played Riff) instead. Jim Broadbent in Iris: A cringe-worthy performance in which I thought Broadbent was trying to channel Geoffrey Rush in Shine, another awful performance. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men: A lifeless caricature in which Bardem adds nothing special to. Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show: I didn't hate this by any means, but it's not an oscar-worthy performance by any sense, especially since Johnson's more worthier co-star Jeff Bridges was also nominated. Well, that's all I could come up with right now. Please comment! Note: Not in any order.
4 comments:
- Andrew: Encore Entertainment said...
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! Russ Tamblyn. Russ Tamblyn. I have nothing against Chakiris but like I said when I reviewed this...Russ is way better and George does nothing for me. Granted, I'm not a woman...but still. Zilch.
- October 4, 2009 at 8:14 PM
- joe burns said...
Totally agree.
- October 5, 2009 at 4:27 PM
- Tom said...
Javier Bardem's win is probably one of the worst ever. You forgot Jason Robards in "Julia". It doesn't seem like he's in the movie for more than 5 minutes and just sleepwalks through.
- October 11, 2009 at 12:26 PM
- joe burns said...
I didn't see Julia. Good to know that somebody else didn't like Bardem's performance
- October 11, 2009 at 1:11 PM
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text:
- In C++, what is the difference between method overloading and method overriding?
Overloading a method (or function) in C++ is the ability for functions of the same name to be defined as long as these methods have different signatures (different set of parameters). Method overriding is the ability of the inherited class rewriting the virtual method of the base class.
- In C++ what is the difference between a static variable and global variable?
A static variable declared outside of any function is accessible only to all the functions defined in the same file (as the static variable). However, a global variable can be accessed by any function (including the ones from different files).
- In C++ why is the void pointer useful? When would you use it?
The void pointer is useful becuase it is a generic pointer that any pointer can be cast into and back again without loss of information.
- What are the defining traits of an object-oriented language? The defining traits of an object-oriented langauge are:
- encapsulation
- inheritance
- polymorphism
- What is polymorphism?
Polymorphism is the idea that a base class can be inherited by several classes. A base class pointer can point to its child class and a base class array can store different child class objects.
- What is the two main roles of Operating System?
As a resource manager
As a virtual machine
- What is pure virtual function?
A class is made abstract by declaring one or more of its virtual functions to be pure. A pure virtual function is one with an initializer of = 0 in its declaration
- Suppose that data is an array of 1000 integers. Write a single function call that will sort the 100 elements data [222] through data [321].
quicksort ((data + 222), 100);
- Why are arrays usually processed with for loop?
The real power of arrays comes from their facility of using an index variable to traverse the array, accessing each element with the same expression a[i]. All the is needed to make this work is a iterated statement in which the variable i serves as a counter, incrementing from 0 to a.length -1. That is exactly what a loop does.


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We had a special visitor join us this week at rehearsal! Dr. Amir Rezvani, a professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University, graciously spoke to us about the famous Persian poet Hâfez and his many works. Hâfez is the most beloved poet in Iranian culture. His works are open to […]
Archive for February 2016 | Monthly archive page
15 Feb 2016
Comments Off on Rehearsal Cancelled – Monday, February 15
by melbivdevoe
No rehearsal tonight due to inclement weather. Check your email for suggested pieces to practice this week!
07 Feb 2016
Comments Off on Women's Voices Chorus Mini-Concert
by melbivdevoe
Women's Voices Chorus Mini-Concert Sunday, February 7, 2:00 p.m. University Place 201 S. Estes Dr., Chapel Hill Our winter concert was snowed out, but you still have a chance to hear us sing! We will be performing the a cappella portion of the concert this Sunday, February 7, at 2:00 p.m. and again at […]
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Wrong inmate who was released from Sioux Falls jail still on the run
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A 28-year-old inmate who was wrongly released from a county jail in Sioux Falls because he had the same name as another prisoner is still on the run more than a day later.
Adrian Ray Watson was accidentally freed from the Minnehaha County Jail on Monday, July 23, when staff mixed him up with another prisoner by the same name who was to be released on a personal recognizance bond ordered by the court..
Both of the men were from Sioux Falls.
While Watson, who is wanted on charges of robbery and assault was let free, the other inmate who was supposed to be released was let go shortly after the error was discovered, said Warden Jeff Gromer.
The Watson who is still loose had charges filed against him when he was at the home of an acquaintance and got into an argument with her that led to a physical altercation. He was being held on a $2,500 bond.


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Category: Writing
My favorite things of 2018
Normally the freelance journalist's life is an endless cycle of pitching, waiting, scrambling, panicking and pitching again. This year I've been spoiled with ongoing engagements with select editorial and corporate clients that have allowed me to mostly avoid pitching panic altogether. I dare say it's been the best year of my freelance career so far, in terms of both finances and fulfillment, and I hope 2019 continues just the same way.
I love how everything slows down at the end of December anyways (and after being full-time freelance for six years, I know to lean into it and prepare for it rather than fight it). I've been looking back at what I've accomplished in the past year and thinking about what I want to achieve in the next. Here are some highlights for me from 2018:
My favorite stories I wrote
All of my favorite stories this year appeared in the English edition of Handelsblatt, where I've been a freelance editor since last summer. Handelsblatt is Germany's leading business daily newspaper, and my editor there has given me a lot of room to explore topics interesting to me and other expats:
- The Berlin way of urbanization: This four-part series explores the urbanization and gentrification of Berlin, an endlessly interesting topic. My editor supported my obsession as I over-reported this for six months.
- The German war against drafts: On the other hand, this story I wrote in half a day and received more emails in response than anything else I've written all year.
- Fraktur and the psychology of type: In a way I had been preparing my entire life to write this article about the intersection of historical typography and German politics.
- Expats beware: Germany uses dodgy tactics to snatch church tax: My own experience led me to write this story about how Germany's church tax system confuses expats.
- Why Germany's two-tier health insurance system is so complicated: And again my own trials with the health insurance system led me to create this guide for expats that includes a flowchart for better decisionmaking.
My favorite stories other people wrote
- The Cut: "Maybe she had so much money she just lost track of it" by Jessica Pressler. Like everybody, I was obsessed with this story about a woman who faked her way into New York society, kicking off the summer of scammers. I still want a Fake German Heiress T-shirt.
- New York Times: "What is Glitter?" by Caity Weaver: This wins the distinction of story I most wish I'd written this year.
- The Atlantic: "The Perfect Man Who Wasn't" by Rachel Monroe. Another scammer and incredible long-form storytelling.
- The Verge: "Bad Romance" aka Cockygate by Sarah Jeong. This story about algorithm-gaming romance authors on Amazon is thrilling and ridiculous.
- Daily Beast: "How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald's Monopoly Game and Stole Millions" by Jeff Maysh. I wouldn't say I'm super into true crime, but this list is sure saying otherwise.
- New York Times: "The Baby Formula Crime Ring" by Chris Pomorski: Once again with the true crime!
- New York Magazine: "Worst Roommate Ever" by William Brennan: True crime and real roommate nightmares!
Assorted other favorite things from 2018
- Bruno Bartlett, the very thicc cat: I was here for Bruno from the moment the Chicago-area animal shelter posted a picture of him standing on his hind legs that went viral. His instagram is one of the best things to come from 2018.
- The raccoon that scaled a skyscraper in St. Paul: A harrowing tale!
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Always a delightful show, with extremely crafty costumers and set designers.
- How to F*&@ up an Airport: A four-part podcast from Radio Spätkauf detailing exactly why Berlin can't have a nice airport.
- Wild Wild Country: I love a good cult story, and in addition to watching the Netflix documentary, I devoured the Oregonian's original reporting on the Rajneeshees from the 1980s.
The best books I read this year
- John Carreyrou, "Bad Blood": The true story about the rise and fall of Theranos — yet another addition to the scammer canon.
- Ijeoma Oluo, "So You Want to Talk About Race": I want every American to read this book.
- Michael Idov, "Dressed up for a Riot": A very funny memoir about a Russian-American who moves back as an adult to run GQ in Moscow.
- Virginia Eubanks, "Automating Inequality": Real talk about how algorithms perpetuate existing subconscious bias.
- Camille Perri, "When Katie Met Cassidy": It's a romantic comedy about two women, and it's just begging to be turned into a movie.
What were your favorite things you read this year? Let me know in the comments — I have not yet maxed out my browser tabs.
my '90s music zine, or how i became a writer
The earliest sign I was meant to be in magazines came in junior high school. One of the English teachers' flagship assignments was the magazine project: Each of us had to create (in the pre-computer era) a 24-page magazine on a topic of our choosing with articles and advertising. I made mine a music magazine from 1985.
The cutting and pasting really resonated with me, and I started making a monthly music zine, which I continued for two years, eventually reaching a circulation of about 30, including the school librarian.
When I was home for Christmas, some high school friends brought up Music News and asked if I still had any copies. Oh boy, do I ever. I scanned the whole shebang and post it here for you as an annotated PDF for your enjoyment.
I'd describe Music News as a time capsule of what it was like to like alternative music as a teenage girl in the Cleveland area from 1996 to 1998. It also includes some really bad clip art. But looking at the back issues I'm blown away at how much of a writing voice I already had as a teenager. My punctuation and style have improved, surely, but it still sounds very me. And my taste in music hasn't changed that much, either. I made a Spotify playlist of the best 1996-1998 jams mentioned in my zine. Hope you like time travel!
And PS: I started making zines again a few years ago. Check 'em out here!
a magazine pitch that totally worked
Back when I was a baby freelancer, pitching felt like a mystery. I knew in theory how to write an article pitch, sure, but they were usually half-baked. I usually didn't know what the what was yet and wanted an editor to tell me what to do.
In the last nearly two years as a full-time freelancer I've come to appreciate how much research and tailoring needs to go into a pitch if you want to place an article in a major magazine. Not only do you need to know why you're pitching the story to a particular editor at a particular magazine, but you need to have a convincing case as to why they should care. This takes a ton of time to prepare, but when all those elements align, you'll have a much better success rate.
When you're just starting out as a journalist, it's also hard to find good examples of successful pitches. So I thought I'd share this recent successful magazine article pitch of mine:
Hi, [editor's name],
I'm a freelancer here in Cincinnati, and [mutual acquaintance] suggested I get in touch with you about this story I'm working on.
A man trained as a kosher butcher emigrated from Lithuania in 1886 to serve an orthodox Jewish congregation in Cincinnati. Behr Manischewitz eventually became the patriarch of a mechanized matzo empire that led the world in matzo production — and ruffled rabbinical feathers. The family's history illustrates the story of Jewish life in Cincinnati: Like many Jews, they settled in the West End in the late 1880s and moved to Avondale as they became more affluent in the 20th century. Eventually, the Manischewitz headquarters moved to New Jersey in 1930, and Cincinnati's matzo fame waned. But Behr and his wife remain buried in Covedale.
I've done extensive research on the family in local archives and would love to tell the Manischewitz story for Cincinnati Magazine. There's a wealth of interesting historical imagery and maps to go with the story, and I have a few ideas for interview subjects.
My writing credits include Wired, HOW, Family Tree Magazine and other national publications. This story could be great for April 2014 to coincide with Passover. What do you think?
- I had already done about three months of research by the time I wrote my pitch.
- This was a cold pitch — I had never worked with Cincinnati Magazine before.
- I sent this pitch in June 2013, proposing it for the April 2014 issue. That might seem excessively early, but I got a call back within a week and sold the story. It was due in January 2014, which gave me even more time to research.
You can read my piece about the Manischewitz family in Cincinnati Magazine's April 2014 issue.
grazing + finding creative inspiration
A consumer packaged goods expert recently divulged to me that she never, ever looks at her competition. That really took me by surprise, because I always over-research everything. (My local branch librarians know all about me and my extensive interlibrary loan requests.)
Instead of looking at the competition, she told me, she examines parallels. What else do people in the target market desire? [Related: this customer profile worksheet from my book.] How can she make the product remind them of those other things, or draw on the best qualities to incorporate into her own design? For a high-end chocolate product, for example, she might look at Sephora's prestige cosmetics packaging for inspiration. She pays no mind to Hershey and Nestle.
She confirmed what I've been thinking lately, that the best ideas come when you're looking where no one else is. I love trolling through old books and magazines. You might love hiking in the woods or beachcombing or looking at art or gardening or visiting factories. All of these places are rife with things that could inspire you to make something you've never made before. Chris Glass refers to this as grazing. Cows do nothing but chew on grass all day. It doesn't seem like they're doing much of anything. But if they didn't graze all day, they couldn't produce milk. It might not feel like you're working when you graze, but without taking that time to browse and nibble and ruminate and digest, you can't make anything of value. This video of Chris Glass's talk from Creative Mornings Cincinnati (which includes his bit about grazing) is 43 minutes of awesome:
I know a lot of writers, artists and designers who straight up don't read blogs about their industries. When you spend a lot of time "keeping up" it can start to feel like an echo chamber. There's a difference between keeping up on the news and falling into a state of obsessed self-flagellation. This is even applicable to journalists. Sure, there are lots of interesting blogs about the journalism business, and it's important to follow your competitors to make sure your coverage is on point. But staying inside your bubble of contemporaries isn't going to help you find great story ideas. Lisa Congdon recently illustrated this quote from Jack London: "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
Hunting down your inspiration should also help with avoiding committing plagiarism and following trends. Craft trends bug the hell out of me. It's not that I hate mustaches (except that I totally do) — my problem is more with the idea that some crafters feel like they have to jump on a bandwagon to be successful. It's much better to be a trendsetter than a trend follower, and to do that, you have to look outside your field. If you're a crafter, stop scrolling endlessly through Pinterest. When you're trying to develop a new product or design, look at anything other than other crafters: grocery store displays, florists, flea markets, old magazines, architecture books — whatever gets you going.
I also kind of hate pre-packaged "inspiration" for crafters, designers and artists. The idea that someone can hand you a pile of stuff to be inspired by seems counterproductive. It just keeps the same aesthetics and motifs circulating. (I also really really have no patience for step-by-step craft books. Partly because I hate following directions, but also because I don't see the point in making something to look exactly like something someone else made. You feel me?)
We recently had an Etsy #craftparty here in Cincinnati, and as people were arriving, I made examples of what people could do with the materials we had. But I wasn't making things for people to imitate or really following the provided instructions at all. I let myself go with the flow and make whatever felt right at the time. Being truly inspired is allowing yourself to be in the moment and do what you feel. And all of what you've seen and read and digested before helps you find your way.
Michael James Brody, Oct. 31, 1948 – Jan. 26, 1973
Michael James Brody Jr. made the news in January 1970 as he offered to give money from his $25 million fortune to anyone who needed it. Newspapers called him a "hippie angel," a "giveaway millionaire." But as the attention grew overwhelming and checks started bouncing, he withdrew from the public eye, resurfacing only occasionally amid legal problems, killing himself three years later in Upstate New York.
When turned 21 on Oct. 31, 1969, Brody got access to his part of a trust fund set up by his grandfather, Chicago oleomargarine millionaire John F. Jelke. Brody had graduated from Butler University that year, where he'd been a member of Phi Delta Theta.
On Jan. 10, 1970, Michael James Brody Jr. — arriving back in New York with his new wife Renee after a honeymoon in Jamaica, for which they'd bought out all the seats of a Pan Am 707 for more than $7,000 — announced he wanted to give away his fortune. He broadcast his phone number and home address and welcomed all comers. By some accounts he was worth $25 million or $26 million or $10 billion; in a report on NBC the fortune was $50 million:
His wife, Renee Brody, says of her husband, "Michael has always had Cadillacs and Corvettes. He thinks everyone should drive them. All he wants is a chicken farm and 13 children." …
Mr. Brody is seen playing his guitar. After the performance he claims that he is a wizard at the stock market. He kisses his wife then talks about wanting to build a spaceship but says he needs time to "get his organization together." He then states that he has received millions of dollars in pledges for his "Harlem project."
Brody said, according to the New York Times:
"Money hasn't made me satisfied. I wasn't satisfied until I found Renee. Now I have everything I want — love, fresh air, food. So why shouldn't I give my money away?"
The New York Times reported on Jan. 11, 1970, that Michael and Renee, married Jan. 3, had met only three weeks before, at Brody's home in Scarsdale, NY. (The Times reported Renee had sold him hashish.) The Times reported on Jan. 17 that many people were taking Brody up on his offer of free money. Hundreds of telegrams poured in from Western Union; the Scarsdale police said their switchboard was tied up with calls from around the country. Brody opened up an outpost office at 1650 Broadway in New York City.
He is reported to have given $2,500 to a man with mortgage trouble, $1,000 to a taxi driver, $500 to a heroin addict, $100 to a barber who opened a door for him and $100 to a newsboy who sold him a paper — all on Thursday.
But as the flood of money-seekers overwhelmed the office and phone lines, Brody briefly disappeared, and the Scarsdale National Bank and Trust Co. said his accounts didn't have enough money to cover his checks. Brody's interactions with the hungry public alternated between "kneeling before them on the sidewalk," playing his guitar to the crowds and "shouting obscenities," the Times reported Jan. 18. He shouted at one point in Midtown:
"If you don't leave me alone, I'll kill myself and you'll all die. I need seven days and then I'll save the world."
Brody's estimation of his fortune was grandiose — his father said the inheritance was about $3 million; his uncle said it was less than $1 million. As Brody escaped to Puerto Rico on a charter flight with close friends and a reporter, the needy and the curious stood vigil at his Broadway Avenue office.
Brody was reportedly paid $3,500 to appear on the Ed Sullivan show on Jan. 18, 1970 — alongside June Allyson, Muhammad Ali and Minnie Pearl — and play a Bob Dylan song, "You Ain't Going Nowhere." In this recording of an original song called "The War is Over," he said all the proceeds from would "go to peace":
Songs about Vietnam and Nixon weren't in short supply in 1970, but some of his lyrics are worth noting:
"President Nixon, if you'd seen me in Washington DC last week, we could've ended it all
I'm really not a freak, I'm just trying to do my thing and end the war in Vietnam
I've no bitterness against you for locking my friends away too
Let your Secret Service kill me if that's what you want to
Makes no difference, I'll be reborn in Biafra"
RCA Records signed him on Jan. 21, and newspapers reported his first single might be out by the end of the week:
On one side is the unpublished Bob Dylan song that Brody, 21, sang without any particular distinction on the Ed Sullivan television show last Sunday, accompanying himself on a 12-string guitar he learned to play a few weeks ago. On the other side he sings one of his own songs, "The War is Over."
Brody mostly fell out of the public eye, until April 21, when the Times reported he was being held temporarily in a Bay Area psychiatric center. At the San Francisco Airport, Brody had claimed he was kidnapped and injected with drugs against his will for a number of days prior. In May, he was arrested on drug charges in New York. He later said much of his conduct was the results of hundreds of doses of LSD. Michael and Renee had a son, Jamie, later in 1970.
In December 1971, Brody was arrested for calling the White House and threatening President Nixon's life in a series of phone calls.
[US Atty. Randy] Roeder said Brody first called the White House Sunday and said he was coming to Washington on Christmas and burn himself as a form of protest.
He repeated this call Monday, according to Roeder, and gave the Secret Service agent on duty the telephone number he was calling from.
Secret Service agents went to the South Norwalk, CT, home where Brody was staying to talk to him. Then, Thursday, Dec. 23, 1971, he called the White House three times.
First he said he had called off the self-immolation, then he said he was just going going to burn his thumbs, and it was during the third call that he made the threat on the President's life, according to Roeder.
Roeder quoted part of Brody's final conversation as, "This is Michael James Brody, I'm going to kill President Nixon tonight … don't bother to come and get me because I'll be gone."
He was arrested two hours later, and released later Thursday on a $10,000 bond. But hours after being released from jail, the home he was living in with his sister in burned to the ground. Police found him sitting on the front lawn, and he was arrested and held on a $100,000 bond.
The next time Brody appeared in the New York Times was July 1972 — Roeder said he was going to ask for a dismissal of the charges of threatening the president. Brody had been in psychiatric care since December, according to his lawyer.
Michael James Brody shot himself on Jan. 26, 1973 — 40 years ago today — in the home of his father-in-law Robert Dubois in Shokan, NY. Newspapers reported he was separated from Renee the previous year. The Village Voice reported rumors that he'd been talking about suicide for months before the final act.
All that exists of Michael James Brody Jr. online, aside from copious newspaper articles in archives, is a tribute website with fewer than 50 views and a YouTube channel with the one video and similarly few views. I only found out about the story from this tiny item in a 1970 encyclopedia supplement:
In a 1991 New York Magazine article, his former wife, Renee, said:
"It's so hard to believe that we all lived through that. My attraction to Michael was almost supernatural. I really felt as if it were destiny — that we were meant to live through these things. … It was a very idealistic time for America. It seemed like a great idea to give away all his money. At least in theory."
how to pitch a story to a magazine
While I was on my crafty book tour, I took a brief detour between Pittsburgh and Cleveland to talk to Jacquie Marino's magazine publishing class at Kent State's journalism school. I love any excuse to visit my alma mater, but I was especially stoked to talk about the current state of magazine publishing and how I went from being an undergrad to having a magazine career. Our discussion focused a lot on pitching, because proposing stories to editors can be really intimidating when you're just starting out. Here's a recap of my advice for new magazine freelancers:
What kinds of stories should you pitch?
One of the things Jacquie wanted me to address was the importance of magazine freelance writers having a specialty. Think about prolific magazine writers today—lots of them have a specialty or interest area that they keep revisiting: Rob Walker focuses a lot on marketing and consumer culture, Farhad Manjoo writes about technology, Hanna Rosin focuses on feminism and American culture. I remember being in college and doing lots of profiles and lots of event coverage. That kind of stuff is rarely going to fly when you're a freelance writer.
Personally, I write a lot about craft, art, design and web culture. I've been a participant in those subcultures for years, and when I was in college it first clicked that I could draw story ideas from my experiences. Also, some of the people I met back then are now doing awesome things! (Kate Bingaman Burt and Mikey Burton, I'm looking at you.) Magazines want stories that no one else can tell. When you're interested in unusual things, you're much more likely to find them.
And finally, when you're developing a story for a magazine (no matter whether you picture it as a full-length feature or a tiny front-of-book piece), you need to supply a solid angle. Unless you've got a standing relationship with a magazine or editor, you can't just throw them a general idea (a story about a restaurant, or a profile of a school teacher) and expect them to pick an angle for you. (It's especially important when pitching major, national magazines that have seen everything—and might be entertaining multiple pitches on the same timely subject.) When you have a great angle with a great idea (Why are there so many new pie restaurants in the area? Or how a school teacher broke bad to get her students the supplies they needed), that's when an editor will look twice at your pitch.
What magazine should you pitch your idea to?
There are lots of resources for finding magazines and figuring out what kinds of stories they accept and how they want to be pitched:
But before you start sending out the same story pitch to every magazine, you should know this: The more a pitch is tailored to a magazine's specific audience, voice and needs, the more likely it is to get accepted. So before you even start writing a query letter, you should be able to articulate why that magazine needs your story. And that means not only looking at their writers' guidelines and Writer's Market entry, but reading a couple back issues and understanding how they might treat your story.
Sounds like a lot of work? It is!
How do you make contacts at major magazines?
Having a personal relationship with an editor makes all the difference when it comes to getting out of the slush pile. Some writers' guidelines direct you to email your pitch to a generic editorial email address, where it's likely screened by an editorial assistant and may never get seen by an assigning editor. One way to get around that issue is to target a specific department in the magazine and figure out who edits it, and find that editor's email. The other way to get around it is to make some new friends.
Twitter is an amazing resource for freelance writers. Follow editors and writers from the magazines you love, and you can get in on their conversations and see what they're talking about and interested in. Occasionally editors even post about job openings they have at their publications. I've also had great success targeting editors by using LinkedIn. I'm not suggesting that you send connection requests to every editor of every magazine you love. But LinkedIn is a great research tool for finding connections you might have with editors. For example, I discovered that the managing editor of a publication I love actually lives in my city. So I emailed her to introduce myself and invite her to lunch. She works from her home office, so she was stoked at the idea of getting out for once! After a great conversation, she invited me to send her any ideas I had.
That kind of "informational interview" is exactly what you should go for when trying to meet editors in person. They don't want a hard sell on some pitch, and you don't want to come off as needy or only interested in them for their job. Editors are people too! :)
How should you pitch your story idea?
In short: However the publication requests freelancers do it. Most magazines have instructions or advice for pitching on their websites under "submission guidelines" or "writers' guidelines," most often in the Contact or About section. (Search Google for "submission guidelines" site:URL to find them faster.) The magazine resource links above sometimes include this, but you'll get the most up-to-date and detailed info by going straight to the source.
When I was in school, paper queries were still de rigueur. (And we even included SASEs for snail mail followups. Ew.) But with rare exceptions, no magazine editor today wants paper pitches. Email is the standard — never call to pitch. The only exception here is if you have an established relationship with an editor, and you know that he or she is cool with phone calls, and you've set up a time to chat. Calling to cold-pitch? I've been on the other side of the desk here. Magazine editors are usually doing a zillion things at once, and it's kind of inconsiderate to push your pitch on someone who is not prepared for it. If you need an answer as to whether I want to buy your story right now, or whether you can have the assignment right now, the answer is going to be no.
But you'd never do that, right? Right. So back on the lines of how to pitch your story idea: When you've come up with a good match with your story idea and the angle and the magazine, and you're writing your query letter, it's best to pitch with a specific department of the magazine in mind. (Need query letter examples? I love the ones Allison Winn Scotch posted here.) It shows the editor you know the magazine and understand how they might treat your story idea. And when you're a new freelancer (or even if you're just new to the magazine), pitching smaller pieces is the best way to increase your chances of selling them.
When should you pitch your story idea?
If your story has a time hook (like something Christmas-related, for example), you've got to pitch it at least three months in advance for a monthly magazine and six months in advance for a bimonthly magazine. Totally serious — and that might even be cutting it a little short.
Some smaller magazines plan out their editorial calendars entirely each year for the year ahead, so if you have a good relationship with an editor, it's worth asking when their planning meetings happen so you can get your ideas in before the deadline.
More generally, I wouldn't send a pitch via email on a Monday or the day after a holiday. Editors are usually crazy busy on Mondays. I also wouldn't send pitches late on Fridays, because then you'll be wondering whether they got the email, but the editor likely won't get back to you until the next week, and who wants to put themselves through that kind of torture?
I hope this FAQ of pitching stories to magazines was helpful. Anything I missed? Post it in the comments!
Middle Class Problems vs. Robert Falcon Scott Problems
One hundred years ago, Sir Robert Falcon Scott spent his last hours scrawling missives to loved ones in a frozen Antarctic hut. The British explorer had intended to be the first man to lead a team to the South Pole, but when he arrived, it turned out Roald Amundsen had beaten him there. To add insult to injury, Scott and his entire party died on the way back to the coast—bummer.
There is but one moral of Scott's story: Modern life ain't so bad. All middle class problems fade in comparison to Robert Falcon Scott problems, which were thoroughly documented in the diary and letters he left behind. For example:
Middle class problems: "Ugh. I need to get gas, but $3.85 a gallon is practically a crime against humanity."
Scott problems: "We can expect little from man now except the possibility of extra food at the next depot. It will be real bad if we get there and find the same shortage of oil. Shall we get there?"
Middle class problems: "Why even have a sample sale when the only shoe sizes they have left are 5 and 11?"
Scott problems: "Things steadily downhill. Oates' foot worse. He has rare pluck and must know that he can never get through. He asked Wilson if he had a chance this morning, and of course Bill had to say he didn't know. In point of fact he has none."
Middle class problems: "I wanted to go to the mall for lunch, but the only parking spots still open were on the roof of the garage."
Scott problems: "No idea there could be temperatures like this at this time of year with such winds. Truly awful outside the tent. Must fight it out to the last biscuit, but can't reduce rations."
Middle class problems: "Who sets the thermostat in this office, the abominable snowman?"
Scott problems: "The cold is intense, -40 at midday. My companions are unendingly cheerful, but we are all on the verge of serious frostbites, and though we constantly talk of fetching through I don't think anyone of us believes it in his heart."
Middle class problems: "Seriously, scheduling meetings before 9 a.m. should be illegal."
Scott problems: "He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wake; but he woke in the morning—yesterday. It was blowing a blizzard. He said, 'I am just going outside and may be some time.' He went out into the blizzard and we have not seen him since."
Middle class problems: "If I see one more 'Shit People Say' video, I'm going to lose it."
Scott problems: "We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more."


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As I wrote in my last post we toured fantastic Atlantis during our port stop in Nassau, Bahamas. Part of the tour included a walk through the famous Atlantis Casino.
It is here that we saw four exquisite glass sculptures by the artist, Dale Chihuly, that were commissioned specifically for the casino by the owner of Atlantis, Sol Kerzner. Our tour guide informed us the glass sculptures are the only thing that you can photograph in the casino.
The gorgeous Temple of the Moon, consists of over 900 separate pieces of cobalt blue and opalescent white glass.
Its counterpart, Temple of the Sun, has more than 2,300 yellow, orange, and red elements radiating from a fiery globe atop a replica of a Mayan temple.
The magnificent Seaform chandelier is made up of over 900 sealife forms of jellyfish, anemones, squid, and seaweed in delicate shades highlighted with silver and gold. It took Chihuly only three weeks to create. Measuring approximately 10 feet by 12 feet, it hangs over the High Rollers area of the casino.
Dale Chihuly describes making the Crystal Gate sculpture: "Sol (Sol Kerzner, developer of the Atlantis resort) came to my Seattle studio many times over the following nine months, and after viewing the beginnings of the moon and the sun he told me about a crystal gate he planned at the entrance to the casino. He wanted to use real crystals, and the piece would be about six feet high. But then he decided that the scale wouldn't be monumental enough for the space, and asked me how I might do the piece in glass. Of all the pieces for Atlantis, the Crystal Gate was the most challenging and difficult. We redid it about five times before we could make glass and armature work together. Finally, I set about making an eighteen-foot-high Crystal Gate out of 3,100 hand-blown crystals."
Each one of these glass sculptures is valued at approximately $1,000,000.
For more information visit http://www.chihuly.com/.
All photos in this blog post were taken by me during our visit to Atlantis in May, 2013.


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Tag: Artifical Intelligence
Fractal Music
Fractal geometry, a relatively new field of math, provides a means to create mathematical descriptions of sound. It differs from classical geometry in that it doesn't use formulas to define shapes; it uses iteration (1). Fractal shapes are made in two steps. First, a rule is made about how to change a shape. This rule… Read More ›


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Business beyond powerpoint: The tech to win all pitches
By Julian Harlow | January 9, 2014
If you want to differentiate pitches to investors or clients, there are alternatives to PowerPoint that can make your presentation stand out.
Microsoft's PowerPoint software has been around for close to a quarter of a century now, and the program's success has led to PowerPoint becoming shorthand for any sort of visual slide presentation. However, that success has also led to people becoming jaded with slide presentations.
If you are searching for ways to differentiate your pitch to investors or clients, there are alternatives to PowerPoint that can help make your presentation stand out. If you are already an expert at creating PowerPoint slide decks, pushing yourself to try an alternative program can give you a different perspective on how to make the most of the visuals that accompany your presentation.
One of the most prominent challengers to PowerPoint is Prezi. The most noticeable characteristic of Prezi presentations is the ability to zoom, pan and twist as you move between slides. Prezi says the animated moves allow presentations to more effectively show how slides and ideas are related to each other and to your presentation as a whole. Users can even import existing PowerPoint slide decks as the basis for a Prezi presentation, making it easy to see what can be achieved with the software.
However, the ease with which animations can be used creates the temptation to overuse them, which in turn can make a presentation more confusing or simply take attention away from the presenter and their message.
Haiku Deck
Haiku Deck takes a different approach by cutting presentation slides down to their essential elements - text and images. Focusing on these elements, Haiku Deck seeks to get the most out them and prevent one of the most common mistakes made by those creating presentations: including too much information on each slide. One of Haiku Deck's attractions is that it not only provides good-looking presentations, but makes them quickly and with minimal effort, allowing presenters to spend more time on more important aspects such as refining and practising your pitch.
A possible drawback to Haiku Deck is that by restricting options, all presentations can start to appear similar, having a look that has been compared to social media site Instagram. Whether this provides the level of professionalism you want your business to project is something to keep in mind.
Well-known presentations such as PowerPoint and Keynote are popular for good reason, despite criticisms. Phrases such as "PowerPoint Hell" tend to come from the misuse of these programs, rather than the functionality itself - a danger that is just as prominent for those deciding to use alternative programs. If you are already proficient in PowerPoint but want to shake up your presentations, you can instead look at the plethora of advice and tips available online to PowerPoint users.
No matter what visuals and sound you use to accompany your presentation, an effective pitch is still reliant on you as the presenter and the ideas you are presenting. If calamity strikes and you are unable to use any technology to back your presentation, you should still be able to speak confidently and give your audience a clear image of your ideas. Experimenting with alternative presentation software is most worthwhile if it helps you to reconsider just how you use the technology, and how it can be used to improve your pitches.


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Refill Cartridge Systems
Our Bulk Ink Refillable Ink Cartridge Systems offer extreme reliability and genuine savings, when compared to using the original oem ink cartridges.
We are the leading Experts of Compatible inkjet inks and media for Epson and Canon large format printers. Our own range of Pro Chrome compatible inks are manufactured to match colour, gamut range and fade resistancy matched to that of the original oem inks.
Our friendly technical sales team have many combined years experience in the large format printing industry, so are able to offer you expert advice in assisting you with the right products for your business. We are constantly updating our product range to keep up with new ink and printer technologies and are committed to exceeding expectations. We pride ourselves on customer satisfaction.


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Virginia Mason 2018 Dreambuilders co-chairs from left: Gregg and Jane Blodgett, Katerina and Misho Hubka, MD.
On Saturday, May 12 Dreambuilders raised a record-breaking $4.5 million for Transforming Health Care with Team Medicine at Virginia Mason. Event co-chairs Katerina & Misho Hubka, MD and Jane & Gregg Blodgett were joined by philanthropic and corporate community leaders to celebrate this annual event. A generous group of supporters came forward with leading gifts to match every "Spotlight on Giving" gift above $1,000. This event would not have been possible without the generosity of these donors, our Dreambuilders co-chairs, event sponsors, Virginia Mason corporate partners and numerous donors and volunteers. Photos and videos from the event are available online.
Mark your calendar for Dreambuilders May 11, 2019


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This notice is from the archives of The Notice Board. Information contained in this notice was accurate at the time of publication but may no longer be so.
Congratulations to Jonathan (Jay) Merkley, who was awarded the 2016-2017 MacLachlan Prize. Jay is the second recipient of this award, and received a prize of $200 for his achievement.
This award was established on Professor Ian MacLachlan's retirement from the Department of Geography, University of Lethbridge. In recognition of unfailing commitment to student success and mentorship, it is awarded annually to the student in 2nd year Economic Geography who best displays enthusiasm for and a commitment to the sub-discipline.
Sheilah Ayers | email@example.com


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The Auckland Trotting Club has fast-tracked moves to make racing at Alexandra Park the most lucrative in Australasia for all starters.
From August, every starter at any Alexandra Park will earn at least $400 for its connections.
The club has indicated they were looking at incentives for every starter from early next year, but with Harness Racing New Zealand bringing in guaranteed returns for all starters nation-wide, Alexandra Park has brought its move forward.
ATC president Bruce Carter says the returns will be $250 per starter for the owners of each horse and $150 direct to the trainer.
The connections of horses placed first, second or third still get a higher percentage of the stake but it means the industry's battlers gets guaranteed returns.
"The Auckland Trotting Club takes its responsibility of supporting the industry as a whole extremely seriously and as such we need to look after our owners and trainers. They are critical to harness racing's future," says Carter.
He says the scheme will be monitored with the view that if it is supported by the industry, the ATC board will potentially grow the incentives for owners and trainers for the 2017/18 season, and looking to improve stakes in the 2018/19.
The ATC will have more financial flexibility once they start to receive revenue from their comprehensive real estate developments at Alexandra Park and could look to increase the incentive to $500 per starter, made up of $300 to the owners and $200 for the trainers.
That was initially the numbers mooted when the incentive scheme was first announced but it was slightly reduced because of the move to bring the scheme in earlier.
Boosting the incentive further will depend on the support from trainers.
Meanwhile, a fourth Australian has accepted an invite to next month's Harness Jewels at Cambridge, with two-year-old trotter Illawong Byron coming. Illawong Byron joins other Aussies Arms Of An Angel, Heza Bromac and My Kiwi Mate.


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Chapter 5
I believe the largest progression occurring in Elie during this chapter was his alteration in religious perspective. Although Elie had lost part of his faith prior to this section, it is made very clear that through the experiences of this chapter that he no longer has any trust in God. He consistently speaks of rebellion against God and believes that God is dead. I believe that Elie puts most of his anger and distress onto God and uses such rebellion to focus on himself. While Elie has moved to sel-preservation rather than faith, he still admires his father and is glad to be with him.
- "What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance? What does Your grandeur mean, Master of the Universe, in the face of this cowardice, this decay, and this misery? Why do you do on troubling these poor people's wounded minds, their ailing bodies?" Page 66
- "Blessed be God's name? Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night, including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the furnaces? Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar?" Page 67
- "And I, the former mystic, was thinking: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God. When Adam and Eve deceived You, You chased them from paradise. When You were displeased by Noah's generation, You brought down the Flood. When Sodom lost Your favor, You caused the heavens to rain down fire and damnation. But look at these men whom You have betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, and burned, what do they do? They pray before You! They praise Your name!" Page 68
- "I knew that my sins grieved the Almighty and so I pleaded for forgiveness. In those days, I fully believed that the salvation of the world depended on every one of my deeds, on every one of my prayers. But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt to myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger" Page 68
- "I did not fast. First of all, to please my father who had forbidden me to do so. And then, there was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer accepted God's silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup, I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, or protest against Him." Page 69
- "I ran without looking back. My head was spinning: you are too skinny… you are too weak… you are too skinny, you are good for the ovens…"Page 72
- "I began to laugh. I was happy. I felt like kissing him. At that moment, the others did not matter! They had not written me down." Page 72
- "'Don't talk like that, Father.' I was on the verge of breaking into sobs. 'I don't want you to say such things. Keep the spoon and knife. You will need them as much as I. We'll see each other tonight, after work." Page 75
- "I was afraid of finding myself alone that evening. How I longed for an order to run! The military march. The gate. The camp. I ran toward Block 36." Page 76
- "Where is God's mercy? Where's God? How can I believe, how can anyone believe in this God of Mercy?" Page 77
- "... my right foot began to swell from the cold. I could not stand on it. I went to the infirmary. The doctor. a great Jewish doctor, a prisoner like ourselves, was categorical: "We have to operate! If we wait, the toes and perhaps leg will have to be amputated." Page 78
- "I made up my mind to accompany my father wherever he went." Page 82


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Parenting Forgetful Behavior
By Deborah Godfrey
"Dad, where's my backpack?"
"Mom! I forgot my lunch! You have to bring it now!"
"Where'd you put my sweatshirt?"
Do any of these statements sound vaguely familiar? At Positive Parenting, we have a saying:
"A child who always forgets has a parent who always remembers!"
Many of the complaints I hear from parents have to do with children's irresponsible and forgetful behavior. It usually begins early, around 4 or 5 years old, and peaks when a child hits junior high. What happened between us happily picking up our screaming toddler's bottle that rolled under the couch and giving it to her and the preteen screaming at us that she can't find her favorite jeans and us snapping at her that if she didn't keep her room such a mess, then maybe she could find the clothes she wants?
First, parents often don't realize how much young children can do. Many toddlers are very capable of understanding our words and body language, even when they cannot communicate that verbally. So in the example above, when a child is distressed, we often "rescue" the child. This is a natural, normal response! The "saving" of a small child from their distresses is the way in which bonding occurs between parents and children. When a child cries because he is hungry, we "save" him by feeding him. When a child cries because she is wet, we "save" her when we change her diaper. This mechanism occurs instinctively under normal circumstances, and bonding between parent and child is established. The problem occurs when we "save" a child from an activity that she is capable of completing herself. So when her bottle rolls under the couch, you do not need to "save" her from starving right now. Now is the time to help her problem solve. You could play a game, "Where do you think your bottle went?" And start looking under things and behind things and help her to find the bottle. This way, she begins to learn self-sufficiency with your loving guidance.
Think of something that you are doing for your child that she could be doing for herself. Give this to your child as a new responsibility. In this way, you build her self-esteem and are teaching self-reliance.
The next complication occurs around the time that children start school. They forget their lunch, homework, sweaters, backpacks, library books…and on and on! They forget, and we nag, yell, complain, threaten and punish. Nothing seems to work! Here are 3 rules to teach children responsibility:
- Stop remembering for them
- Don't say "I told you so!"
- Don't tell them what will happen, let the consequences do the talking for you
So the first thing parents need to do is stop reminding! When parents remind children, they rely on the reminders and become incapable of remembering for themselves. We parents cannot understand why they don't remember since we tell them over and over! But it's the telling them over and over that creates the irresponsibility! The second thing we need to do is STOP saying "I told you so!" or "See what happens when you forget?" In this case the child is focused on how mean we are or how stupid they are, and not on learning to be responsible. And finally, stop telling them how the world works, let the world and the natural consequences in it teach your child. When you tell them, then they will focus on you as the teacher and not learn from the way the world works. What I love most about this parental response is that I can make myself be the safe haven when that big bad world is teaching my children. For example, when Michael, my son, would forget his lunch, I would have a sandwich and food ready when he got home. "Wow, you must be starving! Here, have a sandwich!" If he tried to blame me, saying "Why didn't you bring me my lunch!" I would just say, "You must have been really hungry from forgetting your lunch, you need another snack?" And he would see it was his responsibility and not mine, and I was actually soothing him.
Finally, over time you can help your children be more responsible by teaching them how to think. When you tell them what to do, they don't learn. When you ask questions, in a loving way, they learn to use their brains.
When you find yourself telling your child to do something, phrase it in a question instead.
For example, instead of saying, "It's time for school", say "What time do you need to leave in order to be on time?"
Instead of saying, "Remember to turn in your library book" say "How are you going to remind yourself to turn your library book in on time?"
Instead of saying, "Do your homework" say "How much time to you need to do homework this evening?"
More than anything else, this style of communicating will create kids that learn to remember, be responsible and accountable for their actions. You have so much to do with how your children learn to think, how they react and how they communicate. By asking questions, you become a master teacher of the very communication you want your children to learn to be successful in school and their lives.
Thank you, Kathy, for sharing this great photo of Aly with me!
Deborah has been teaching parenting classes for over 20 years. Her kids are 28, 23 & 22 and wonderfully self-sufficient!


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Those who cook with sunflower oil may have noticed in recent years that some brands are now labeled as "mid-oleic." This refers to the balance between polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats in the oil, which are linoleic acid and oleic acid, respectively. Mid-oleic oils are the result of an initiative by the sunflower industry to move away from hydrogenation, which causes trans fat.
Traditional Linoleic Sunflower Oil
Traditional sunflower oils have fallen into two categories, one high in oleic acid and the other in linoleic acid. Linoleic acid is one of the essential fatty acids in the human diet, and linoleic varieties of sunflower oil contain nearly 70 percent polyunsaturated linoleic acid. Another 20 percent is in monounsaturated oleic acid, and the remaining 10 to 11 percent is saturated fat.
Traditional High-Oleic Sunflower Oil
High-oleic sunflower oil is radically different in its makeup. It consists primarily of monounsaturated oleic acids, at around 80 percent of the total. Saturated fats and polyunsaturated linoleic acid make up the balance, in equal proportions. High-oleic sunflower oil is important in the manufacture of food products, because it remains stable without hydrogenation and will not go rancid in long storage. This makes switching from linoleic to high-oleic sunflower oil an easy way for manufacturers to reduce trans fats.
Mid-Oleic Sunflower Oil
Mid-oleic sunflower oil takes a middle position between the two traditional oils, with oleic acid accounting for roughly two-thirds of the fat content, polyunsaturated linoleic acid at roughly 25 percent, and about 9 percent saturated fat. Mid-oleic oil retains high enough levels of linoleic acid to remain an excellent dietary source, but the relatively high levels of oleic acid make it less prone to rancidity and breaking down, eliminating any need for hydrogenation and the resulting trans fat.
Development of Mid-Oleic Oil
Mid-oleic oil is not the result of genetic engineering, but straightforward, old-fashioned hybridization. Researchers at various agricultural concerns cross-bred linoleic and high-oleic cultivars until they were able to produce a sunflower that consistently produced the desired levels of poly- and monounsaturates. The industry's producers trademarked the name "NuSun" to differentiate the new sunflower and its oil from those already on the market.


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In my article explaining the meanings of plastic recycling codes, I listed the various types of products for which these different types of recycled plastic are used. In other words, I described what happens to the plastic you put in your recycling bins. If you read that article, you will discover that those circular arrows, which seem to indicate a never-ending stream of recycling, again and again, are misleading. Many times, recycled plastic is turned into products that are not themselves likely to be recycled. This is known as downcycling.
When is recycling considered downcycling?
Well, first, let's try to figure out what true recycling is. Just because you reclaim a material and use it to make something else does not mean you are really REcycling. Why? Because a true recycle is a closed loop. In other words, real recycling is taking a material and using it to produce the same product, over and over. Glass is recycled, therefore, because you can turn it back into glass over and over. This is because, over time, glass is still essentially glass. The same thing goes for metal. This doesn't mean that it is always practical to recycle, but metal can be used to produce metal, over and over again, without end. It doesn't degrade over time. So, in order for recycling to truly be recycling, the resultant product must itself be recyclable.
While metal and glass are theoretically (although not always practically) infinitely recyclable, plastic and paper, unfortunately, are not.
Let's start with paper. Have you ever wondered why one-hundred percent recycled paper isn't used for paper products containing recycled paper? This is because the quality of paper degrades as it is turned into mulch and back into paper. Paper starts out as very long fibers of wood pulp material. Then, once the paper is once again ground up and turned into a pulp that can be used to make paper, the resultant fibers are very short. This cannot be used to make high-quality paper.
So, when paper is turned into paper, it is downcycled. The resultant product is both inferior, and many times, not itself recyclable. Recycled paper can easily be turned into paper towels, for instance. Paper towels are a low-quality paper and they cannot themselves be recycled, especially since we use them to clean up household messes. Toilet paper is another example which probably needs no explanation.
Downcycling of paper is still very valuable! It reduces the need for virgin wood in producing many types of paper products. However, the best way to decrease the need for virgin wood pulp for paper is to reduce our use of paper! Nowadays, more and more companies are going paperless. Opting for paperless invoicing is one way to reduce the use of paper. You can also use cloths or sponges for household cleaning instead of paper towels, when possible.
The same that is true of paper is true of plastic. Many of the products produced with recycled plastic are not themselves recyclable. I listed many of those products in the article linked above. If you (and I hope you do) drop off your extra grocery bags in the grocery store bag drop-off bins, you may assume that they are all turned back into plastic bags. While many are, much of this material, along with other plastic films, are not used to make bags, but instead are used in products such as composite lumber, pipe, buckets, fencing, etc. Some of the products are actually recyclable but are quite unlikely to be recycled because they usually must be dropped off at specialty locations, and not all municipalities have these locations. Others, like composite lumber, cannot be recycled and will ultimately find its way into the landfill. Most plastic, in fact, will.
You can see that semantically, the term downcycling doesn't make sense. There is no cycle but instead a series of steps that ultimately lead to a landfill. The term is used simply to differentiate this type or re-use with true recycling. And, where there is downcycling there is upcycling.
What is Upcycling?
Notice that, in both recycling and downcycling, it is the raw materials we are concerned with. A glass bottle has its form destroyed when it is recycled, but the raw material, glass, is not lost and can be made into more of the same material. This can be true of plastic, whether it is recycled or downcycled. Upcycling, however, is not concerned with raw material, but with the form.
Many old products can be used in ways they were never intended. An old door, for example, may make a great shelf, workbench, or even headboard for your bed. A pallet, whether plastic or wood, might be used for all sorts of purposes. The wood from pallets can be taken apart and used to make new things, or the pallet itself could be used as the basis of something else. Today, upcycling is very trendy and is an industry unto itself. A search of the popular selling site Etsy will reveal thousands of such products, where old products have been used to make new handcrafted ones. So upcycling means that we simply repurpose a product for whatever our needs, and imagination, can reveal.
Terracycle, which I've mentioned before at CulinaryLore in my article about greenwashing, is a company that specializes in upcycling. Their products are made from reclaimed materials, especially food wrappers. I mentioned this company in my article about greenwashing, where I first mentioned upcycling. If you read that article, you will see that, in my opinion, not all upcycling is created equal and sometimes upcycling is just another type of greenwashing.
While recycling of any kind cannot be condemned, it is important to know that the term is misleading and that most products and materials eventually end up being thrown away. Recycling, then, while valuable, is just a band-aid. This doesn't mean you should stop doing it, though. Remember those grocery store bag drop-offs? Well, they are for much more than just grocery bags! In a later article, I'll explain all about it.


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|Matthew Dillon <dillon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
|Hiten Pandya <hmp@xxxxxxxx>
|Mon, 28 Jul 2003 04:54:11 +0100
:Have you looked at RaidFrame, which is present in 5.x? I heard rumours :that RaidFrame is much better than Vinum in terms of performance.
Moving RaidFrame and/or Vinum to userland under DragonFly would be an extremely interesting and useful project, not so much because you would want to run them in userland, but in order to build and prove out a userland infrastructure for DEV that is robust (e.g. survives someone killing the user process!). I should have DEV converted into a message-passing subsystem early next week (it's the next thing on my list!).
Such a project would make an excellent undergrad paper. In fact, it would make an excellent Grad project as well. There are simply a ton of things that could be investigated.
Last time I tried to run RaidFrame on FreeBSD 5.x, it was extremely unstable. It panic'ed and done a lot of obscure things. JFYI.


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An Iliad: A story of war and grief
How can one make a modern-day audience hang on every word of a three-thousand-year-old story? An Iliad, a one-man show directed by the McGill Classics department's Lynn Kozak and produced by Chocolate Moose Theatre, proves that remakes of classic texts can be executed in both a skillful and entertaining way. The play takes the form… Keep Reading


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Many open source books are written in asciidoc, in order to read the book in kindle, I have to convert it to mobi file. Here's a quick note on how to convert files.
- Use asciidoctor to convert asciidoc book to docbook
- Use pandoc to convert to epub
- Use Calibre to convert epub to mobi
asciidoctor -d book -b docbook5 book.asciidoc -o output.docbook pandoc -f docbook -t epub out.docbook -o book.epub
Then use Calibre to convert epub to mobi files


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Former finance boss Trevor Manuel believes there is a chance of ANC branch numbers being manipulated, a situation which may lead to the party's national conference in December crashing before its third day.
Speaking at the annual Eric Molobi memorial lecture at the University of Johannesburg on Thursday night, Manuel said the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) elected at the Mangaung conference in 2012 was the product of a "gross manipulation of membership and branch systems" to construct a conference of "unthinking and disengaged delegates".
"The NEC elected at the Mangaung conference in 2012 does what it is told; there are very notable exceptions. It was the product of a gross manipulation of membership and branch systems to construct a conference of unthinking and disengaged delegates," he said.
"The likelihood of the conference collapsing into a heap at the point of the credential stage on days one and two is high."
"The stakes are very high this time round... The ill-conceived NEC elected at Mangaung produced on its watch a crisis of illegitimate provincial executive committees that in turn oversaw the creation of poor regional executive committees and in turn destroyed the branch structure in the main."
He said he had a hunch that, come the December conference, there will be "prospects of fresh manipulation of numbers"
"...And if this is so, the likelihood of the conference collapsing into a heap at the point of the credential stage on days one and two is high. If the conference does proceed, the same awful situation will play out," Manuel said.
He lambasted the party and its leadership, saying it had declined "to the point of rupture".
"Of this great history, very little remains because it appears to be in the interest of those who have been elected to leadership now, and those embedded in key roles in public office, to serve only their masters, not the people," Manuel said.
He then commented on the country's legal institutions, saying that they were "cut down in their youth".
"I wish that I could attribute all of this destruction to the president, but he doesn't act alone. In fact, he mainly gets others to act on his behalf. The origin of this regress is in the ANC.
"Today we must ask why the National Prosecuting Authority, the Scorpions who became the Hawks, the Crime Intelligence units in the [police], the general [police], the National Intelligence Agency and State Security Agency, the lower courts, the South African Revenue Service and even the Public Protector have all been rendered incapable," Manuel said.
"They've all been destroyed because their presence as upholders of the law do not serve the interests of the elite. To this long list, one must add Parliament."
Commenting on the state of Parliament, Manuel said ANC benches act as a pillar of support to President Jacob Zuma, using their numerical advantage to "block rational inquiry into constitutional violations".
"I wish that I could attribute all of this destruction to the president, but he doesn't act alone. In fact, he mainly gets others to act on his behalf. The origin of this regress is in the ANC," Manuel said.
Offering up advice to the party, Manuel said what South Africa needs an ANC that will honestly evaluate its performance since 1994; analyse whether the policy decisions it took have been implemented, and, if not, find what the impediments were; take action, not rhetoric, to remedy the situation and agree what cadre is best equipped to alter the party's course for the future.


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På denna sida hittar du filmer hämtade från olika medier såsom Facebook, YouTube samt egna inskickade filmer.
The Volvo Amazon is a mid-size car manufactured by Volvo Cars from 1956 to 1970 and introduced in the USA as the 122S at the New York International Auto Show in April 1959.
The Amazon shared both the wheelbase from its predecessor, the PV, as well as its tall posture and high H-point seating — while offering three model configurations: 2-door sedan, 4-door sedan and wagon. In 1959 Volvo provided front seat belts as standard equipment on all the cars, including the export models, becoming the world's first manufacturer to take this step — later becoming the first car featuring three-point seat belts.
When introduced, the car was called the Amason (with an 's'), which derives from the fierce female warriors of Greek mythology, the Amazons. Kreidler, German manufacturer of motorcycles had already registered the name, and the two companies agreed Volvo could only use the name domestically (i.e., within Sweden), modifying the spelling to Amazon. Subsequently, Volvo began its tri-digit nomenclature and the line became known as the 120 Series.
The Amazon was originally manufactured at Volvo's Lundby plant in Gothenburg and subsequently at the company's Torslandaverken, which began operating in 1964. By the end of production, 234,653 four-door models, 359,917 two-door models and 73,220 station wagons had been produced, 60% of them for export — for a total of 667,791 vehicles.


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This Spring is so "Cool" & "Refreshing" with the Minty trend!
Personally I don't quite think that the mint colour complements my skin tone as it makes me look a little darker and dirtier looking.
Despite this, I am still unable to resist this fresh vibrant colour and have a few pieces of clothing in Mint.
I had this pair of Mint colour capri from Mango from seasons back, or should I say eons back.. If my memory doesn't fail me this Mint capri is at least 7 years old. *gasp*
Many times I have contemplated donating it away in the past 7 years, as I always have problems trying to pair it with any thing except white which was very boring I must say. This problem led to the reason why I wore it for less than 10 times in the past 7 years.
I am so THANKFUL I didn't give up on it!
With the Mint trend breezing into Spring, inspirations are just everywhere on the internet.
And this picture was what I was inspired by…
credits: unknown.
I forgot where I got this picture from and hence I am unable to provide the link or credits to this person.
If this picture is yours, please let me know so that I can update the credits.
Top: Taiwan, Mint Capri: Mango, Slip-on Wedge: Charles & Keith
Ring: Thailand, Watch: Casio
If I had taken a picture 7 year ago with this capri maybe it would look like this. 😛
Linking up with Transatlantic Blonde & Pleated Poppy.
Have a good day!


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We would like to offer you, as a Miles & More member, a perceptible added value and create an even more attractive programme. To achieve that, we are continuing to develop the Miles & More programme. To keep this easy for you to use at the same time, we, together with our joint operators, have established new, easily-understood regulations and have made these transparent for you through the new data protection regulations. It is a matter of special importance for us to ensure that you have full transparency.
The new data protection regulations will enter into effect on 01.12.16.
Miles & More routinely collects the following data from you:
- The card number assigned to you when you opened your Miles & More mileage account ("Miles & More card number").
- Personal data you specified in your enrolment form as well as voluntary personal information you provided in the course of the enrolment or one of the further processes, such as in your profile ("Master Data").
- Information accumulated while earning and redeeming miles ("Programme Data").
- The data required to administer an awarded status, such as the status type or the accumulated status miles earned by you ("Status Data").
- Data collected regarding visits to our online presence or through other communication media (e.g. click data), used exclusively in a manner that ensures your anonymity.
In addition, you can opt to give us permission to receive further information about you, with which you will get even more relevant and specially tailored offers.
Further information regarding data collected by Miles & More can be found at www.miles-and-more.com/privacy-statement-online
4. What data will be passed on to the joint operators and partners of the Miles & More programme in the future?
Data can be submitted to the joint operators of the programme (a listing can be found at www.miles-and-more.com/joint-partner) in the following cases:
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The only time data will be submitted to Miles & More partner companies that are not joint operators is when you have requested a service through us involving a partner company (e.g. an award).
No, an exchange of the members' data between joint operators and partners does not take place. An exception hereto is that airlines belonging to the Lufthansa Group (as listed at www.miles-and-more.com/joint-partner) can administer the Master Data of their members and the programme data collected by an airline of the Lufthansa Group in a joint database.
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The subject of data protection is of utmost importance to us. We guarantee the integrity of the information entrusted to us by complying with the highest standards of security in our company and all along the supply chain. That applies not only to our IT systems, but also to our staff and service providers, as they are also very sensitive to issues concerning the protection of data. This is exemplified by the fact that data about our members is only stored in Germany and is therefore subject to the especially strict German data protection regulations.