text:
2015 Journal
Quote from Tenderly Embracing All the Ways That I Feel and I Am by Robyn L. Posin
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Healing the Wounds of Mean Mothering
Part 5: The Possibility of Transforming the Inner Critic
- Robyn L. Posin
We weather the storms of grief and rage over giving up the hope that we can ever get – from outside of our selves – the loving for which we've hopelessly yearned all our lives. Then, we dedicate our selves to developing and expanding our capacity to consistently and whole-heartedly make space for, connect with, listen to and tenderly practice re-mothering our (till-now) disowned, love-starved little inner selves. We, at long last, are finding the unconditional love we've hungered for: we are giving it to our selves. We know in our bones that love is not something one ever needed to earn – it is grace, our birthright just for being alive, and our own loving inner-mother is, albeit belatedly, now bestowing it upon us.
Sometimes along the way, we can even begin to engage with and embrace our inner critic with tenderness and caring. We understand that her mistreatment of us has been her way to keep us safe from abandonment: keeping us believing the myth that it is we who are/were unlovable/unworthy rather than that our damaged mothers were simply incapable of loving us.
As we embrace this misguided internalized mean mother/inner critic, we can help her gradually to let go of this terrible, now outdated role, that she's had. Treating her with gentleness, we comfort her when she rears her head out of fear that we are endangering our selves by breaking the code of loyalty to our mean mother's image of us; by seeing our selves as lovable and worthy. We remind her that we no longer have to protect our damaged, broken mothers by crippling our selves in order not to be abandoned. We remind her that we are safe now, that we will never abandon or stop loving our selves, even when we may not be at our most shining.
As we gradually become the fiercely protective, unconditionally loving mothers to our selves that we wish we'd had, we can maybe even grow into feeling compassion for the impaired, emotionally limited mothers we had. We can, perhaps, come to accept that they did the best they could with the consciousness available to them – even though it was far from what we needed.
And, maybe we cannot come to that place. Either way is okay.
Part 4: A Path to Healing the Mean Mother Woundedness
by Robyn L. Posin
The journey of re-mothering our abandoned, neglected, wounded and shamed inner little ones can begin with us carving out some small regular bits of time (as little as five minutes twice a week can be a good start) and some safe, private space for inviting them to come and share their feelings with us. It can be helpful, in whatever way appeals to us, to make that space feel sacred, special for just these meetings.
It may take a while to hear from the little ones, they need to know they can trust we really mean to be there for them if/when they show up. A good way to start each time is by apologizing to our little one(s) for having ignored them and their feelings for so long. Reassuring them that, even though we are feeling quite awkward and uneasy with all this, we are committed to developing a caring connection with them and hearing both how they feel and what they need from us. It can also be helpful to ask them to let us know what they need from us in order to feel safe enough to come out to visit and talk with us.
Sometimes, once they trust we really mean to hear them, they will simply speak in our hearts. Still, having fat colored pens and a blank drawing pad or journal available in which to write or draw using our non-dominant hand can provide a tangible way for the little ones to communicate with us using written words or images.
We may simply use journaling to dialog with these cut-off parts of our selves. We practice speaking to and treating our neglected inner selves with the loving they've never received. In this practice, we are developing a loving-inner-mommy/caregiver voice. Often, this loving voice is the one with which we speak to anyone we love and care about when they're suffering or upset. We already have the voice. What we need now is to find/give our selves the permission to use it with our very own selves.
We need to remember to remind our selves to be patient – it can be very slow going. And, we need to remember to remind our selves to applaud every baby step along the way of our developing relationship with these little inner selves.
Healing the Wounds of Mean Mothering
Part 3: Beginning the Journey of Healing the Woundedness
It's sad but true that, if we didn't get the loving mothering, valuing and acceptance we all need and deserve as children, no amount of it coming from outside can reach through the time warp to our wounded inner little ones. Only when the who we are now has developed a relationship with those little ones and is already giving that love to our selves, can others' love come in to support our current self in that re-mothering process.
The work of healing from/transforming this terrible legacy begins with accepting that, at this stage of life, we must learn to provide for our selves the loving for which we yearn: it's an inside job. It requires letting go of the hope that what we craved and continue to crave can ever come from anywhere else. As we work at this incredibly difficult and painful letting go, we simultaneously begin turning inward to listen for and to the love-starved, abandoned and neglected little ones within us.
Letting go of the hope of ever getting it from the outside is one of the hardest things we ever have to do. As we let go, we may feel enormous grief at the finally acknowledged, irretrievable loss. We may feel furious for having been ripped off of our birthright and for having spent so many years fruitlessly contorting our selves, looking outward instead of inward for the love and acceptance we need to thrive. These are the feelings that we have held at bay by our continuing to hope.
Allowing, and providing safe space for these storms of emotion as they arise and pass through us, we begin the process of turning inward, of opening our ears and our hearts to the pain of the inner little ones that we, our selves, have continued neglecting all these years. In this practice of sitting-as-two, our grown-up, functioning adult self becomes available to hear and engage with the little ones' emotions and needs. This is the gateway to developing our capacity to lovingly re-mother these inner little ones, to developing an inner-good-mommy/caregiver.
Healing the Wounds of Mean Mothering
Part 2: How the Wounding Happens
We come into this life totally dependent, with (I and others believe) an organismic trust that we will be welcomed and loved (with what these days is called healthy attachment). When we are met with less than that, our infant selves begin adapting to preserve what little might be available. (An example from my own life: my body remembers staying quiet, lying miserably cold and wet in my crib because the one who came when I cried would jerk me about roughly with sharp poking fingernails. When I waited quietly for her to come when she felt like it, I would not be treated as roughly.)
We begin, even before we have words or concepts for it, to believe that it is our failure, our lack that is the cause of our deprivation or mistreatment. We start on the road to trying to be better/gooder girls/more of whatever we think might unlock the loving we are not getting from our mothers.
By believing it is we who are lacking, we can keep holding onto the hope that, should we only find the key, the right way to be, our mothers will finally love us as we yearn to be loved. Were we to understand that the absence of that love has to do rather with the damage in our mothers that leaves them unable to love us, we would lose all hope. To feel our helplessness, the futility of our desperate attempts to be lovable in the face of their lack of the capacity to love is too devastating to tolerate. With a convoluted kind of loyalty, we as children, and later as adults, "take the rap," finding presumed inadequacies in our selves to account for the unloving behavior from these damaged mothers: e.g., we are too needy, too ugly, too clumsy, too fat, too stupid. Our vicious inner critics keep the myth alive and keep us ever striving and always failing to feel worthy just as we are.
Often we go on to choose partners who treat us as our mothers treated us. This affirms the myth of our unworthiness, keeping us loyal to our mother's image: "see, no one can love me any better than she did, it must be me that's the problem."
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Healing the Wounds of Mean Mothering
Part 1: The Toxic Legacy of Mean Mothering:
Those of us who were raised by cold, critical, emotionally or physically abusive, unavailable and/or neglectful mothers, almost inevitably find our selves tyrannized by vitriolic inner critics. These viciously undermining voices lead those of us with such histories to treating our selves in the same damaging ways our mothers have treated us.
Despite how we try or what seeming wonders we accomplish in our lives, these undermining voices keep us from ever feeling we are truly worthy or lovable. Their litany can also keep us feeling shamed and diminished by any needs we might have that we cannot deal with on our own. We feel we are never enough or else that we are too much/overwhelming. We keep searching for what magical thing we might do that could finally silence those inner voices that turn everything we do into nothing of value. Yet each such thing, once achieved, becomes valueless; the critical onslaught continues unabated.
Similarly, no matter how many other people value and love us, no matter how many accolades we garner along the way, it does nothing to invalidate the belief in our own ultimate unworthiness. As the famous Groucho Marx once suggested: "Why would I want to join any club that would have me as a member?" – we believe that anyone that treasures our flawed selves is either stupid or deranged or not seeing clearly when they value us or tell us we are lovable. It's a terrible plight, this toxic legacy of wounding by damaged and damaging mothers that leaves us feeling so unworthy, so undeserving of love.
Those of us with this heritage are legion and, it seems, almost everywhere in the developed world. That so many women who mother are themselves so damaged, speaks volumes about the soul-destroying cultures in which almost all women are raised.
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Applaud the Baby Steps
Healing Our Inside Voices - One Path - Part Three
The Consequences of These Influences
The pressures and prohibitions from the larger culture and from our family of origin get internalized, becoming a less than conscious template for acceptable behavior; an internalization of myriad external voices becomes a chorus drowning out our own authentic inner realities. We lose any sense of our center. When we step out of line, these internalized voices harangue us to make sure we shape up so that we'll be safe from external retribution. These critical voices, meaning to protect us, are themselves often painfully harsh and punitive.
Freeing our selves from the tyranny of these now-internalized oppressive voices is a process that begins with observing their messages rather than taking them in, believing them and being directed by them. It helps to explore and try to identify the source/lineage of any inner voice that makes us feels diminished or not-okay. Giving each such voice a name (e.g., the hatchet lady, the judge, the slave-driver, the production manager) allows us to see our selves as separate from it.
With journaling, we can enter into dialog with each voice and uncover what purpose it believes it serves, what it fears and from what it is trying to protect us.
In this dialog, we are liberating and connecting more fully with the voice of our own wise, inner-knowing self. From this self, we can begin to address those fears, transform those undermining influences and build loving, gentle support for the truths of our own inner knowing. And, we can begin to find ways to open our hearts to the needy, upset, sad or angry parts of our selves that, till now unattended, live on hidden away inside of us.
Hearing Our Inside Voices – One Path - Part Two
Hearing Our Inside Voices – One Path - Part One
Journaling-in-depth allows us the opportunity to listen to our untended parts, to begin to nourish them, to help them feel their ways through their feelings.
Journaling-in-depth allows us to bring into awareness the often less than conscious shaping influences from societal, cultural and familial messages, to begin to challenge their truths and their relevance to our lives.
Journaling-in-depth allows us to begin separating our authentic inner voice from the internalized chorus of these external messages.
The Impact of Outside Voices
We are all, to some greater or lesser degree, affected by living in a crazy-making, toobusy, out-of-balance world where the cultural trance of more, bigger, faster, do-it yesterday sets the bar for what makes us feel worthy. Media images of success and beauty bombard us daily, liminally and subliminally, with idealized and photoshopped standards against which we are encouraged to measure ourselves. Inevitably, our merely human selves fall short of these impossible standards. It's a world that is feelings-phobic, particularly averse to any emotions of the so-called dark or shadow sort (namely, anything other than joy or bliss.) Is it any wonder that even those of us fortunate enough to have had fairly positive parenting in our families of origin frequently find ourselves dealing with the sense that we're either not enough or too much to be considered worthwhile or lovable.
We may hide our sadness or depression in order not to be seen as a "downer," a pariah. We may feel ashamed or guilty about the slightest bit of anger or rage – it's so not what nice girls should feel or else it's so "unevolved." And, particularly poisonously, some currently popular New Age flap would have us believe that letting ourselves feel any so called negative emotions will only attract more of the same. Therefore, this framing insists, we should avoid such at all costs. Never mind that stuffing them can wreak havoc in our bodies and psyches!
July 2015
During the months since last I wrote here (at the end of February), I've been reveling in the annual miracle of spring blossoming into the fullness of summer in my garden, the meadow and around Ojai. Yet, until today, I've not felt moved to chronicle either that unfolding or my own.
Along with the many other droppings-away of years-old rituals and habits that began for me last November, writing here almost monthly has no longer felt as organic as it once did. Lately, I've needed simply to be immersed in whatever I've been drawn into. It's felt as though coming away from the immediacy of my life to reflect on or write about it would interfere with its natural course. I've not wanted to step out of the flow. For no particular reason I can discern, it now seems right to do that, so here I am.
Last month, the gardeners cut down the almost chest high wild grasses in the meadow along with a first-in-ten-years-here sprinkling of wild lupine. Now, the returning annual carpet of pale pink wild morning glory is punctuated with random clumps of golden California poppy, purple-headed artichoke and blue common phacelia (that, in my past ignorance, I've called bachelor buttons). The kitties, losing their stalking veld, have at last ceased acting as seed-dispersal units daily depositing all manner of stickers throughout the cottage. Without the high grasses the meadow, as always, looks vaster.
The garden in containers around the cottage is at its lushest. Lavish greenery serves as background to so much vibrant color: roses in red, deep pink, yellow, butterscotch, lavender and magenta; gallardia, rudebeckia, milkweed, nasturtium, day lilies, marigolds, kangaroo paws and dahlias in yellows, golds and oranges; platycodon, petunias, lavender, lantana, freeway daisy, lisanthus and Lily of the Nile in shades of purple; dianthus, lisanthus and Shasta daisy accents in white; begonias in deepest reds.
At the moment, Bok choi, arugula, mustard greens, cress, bronze leaf and romaine lettuces, three kinds of kale, cherry tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, along with peppermint, spearmint, rosemary and two kinds of oregano provide for daily salads and sautéing greens. Hanging baskets of strawberries offer a small handful of ripe berries every morning.
The mini orchard at the edge of the meadow provided mulberries and a first (mini) crop of blueberries last month. There are tiny Meyer lemons, baby apples of two varieties, a very few still-green Mineola tangelos and a bounty of baby persimmons all still slowly developing. The plum, apricot, Mandarin orange, Persian mulberry and ruby red grapefruit trees are growing well even though not yet bearing fruit in this, their second year on the property. A Bearss lime tree that seemed moribund after the January frost has recently started setting forth new branches; so glad I hadn't yet dug it up!
The frost-devastated jade, schefflera and split leaf philandenron plants have abundantly re-leafed as have the sage, mint and freeway daisy plants that I cut back just a couple of weeks ago (they'd all gotten too leggy). Everything grows so quickly in these long hot days, despite a much-reduced watering schedule. We're all finding ways to conserve water use in the face of this terrible drought and, so far, my garden is managing to thrive on less water than it's been used to in the past.
Last month the crickets returned to the meadow after their winter absence. A new (or returning) mocking bird has taken up residence and discovered it likes the resonance that comes with performing its hilarious repertoire while perched on the metal cap atop my chimney. The hawks and their nattering crow companions are around in renewed numbers.
The garden is always a reminder of death and rebirth, of growth that's invisible or underground for long or short periods of time before blossoming forth again. In the middle of our endlessly busy, always in motion, more-bigger-faster-done-with-it-yesterday cultural craziness, this reminder is so healing, so affirming of the naturalness of seemingly fallow time. And, it reveals again and again that cycles of cutting back (by frost or pruning shears) strengthen and prepare for new growth in its own time.
This reminder brings me daily comfort as I deepen into doing less and less of anything in these months since the shift in me last November. That shift had come on the heels of almost two years of resting-on-my-laurels after the intense seasons of getting both my book and the workbook out into print. For all the endless clamor in the healthy-aging media about the importance of developing both new mental and physical challenges and strong social networks as well as the similar messages about the importance of getting out in public to market one's books, all I'm up for doing these days is hibernating: reading, being with (and by) my self and my sweet kitties and – only if and when the spirit moves me – tending the garden, the seed feeding- and humming-birds; walking and doing the occasional bit of yoga/free weight/Pilates/restorative exercise. The stretches between serious housecleaning grow longer and longer. Though I automatically keep up with the kitchen and bathroom surfaces and do daily cat-hair removal with my trusty static brushes, sticky rollers and stick vacuum, my tolerance for dust keeps expanding. A bone-deep need for order in my space keeps the cottage always looking/feeling neat and tidy despite the thickening layers of dust.
There are projects waiting for my attention: making replacement slipcovers for all the furniture in the studio (the Ikea bedspreads stockpiled in the shed waiting to be cut and sewn); making new covers for all the sun-bleached throw pillows (the yards of caramel, black and white mud cloth waiting there as well); replacing twenty ten-year old solar path lights with the new ones stowed in my shed; some further writings about the process of healing the legacy of woundings from the neglectful, abusive, cold or mean parenting by damaged mothers; some writings on the importance of allowing our selves to feel, honor the messages of and safely release our anger; possibly putting together a chapbook of the shorter, more recent essays written for the Compassionate Ink Facebook page. At the moment, it all feels like too-much-work. I have no inclination to address any of it. I trust that at some point, just as I've turned up here to write this, an organic flow will move me into any one of these projects.
I'm fascinated by how comfortable and freeing it feels to not be pushed by having these projects waiting in the wings. For many years, I've been dedicated to waiting for the energy to organically emerge and lead me into any doings. Still, having or seeing things in my life or space that needed addressing could push me to trying to instigate the arrival of such energy. Now, despite having these several clear to-dos in the background, I have no yearning for the get-up-and-go to rise in me. This feels to be a more-profound-than-ever surrender into allowing Spirit/my deep self to be in charge.
Part of this surrendering has included having less contact with even the precious women in my tiny circle of intimate friends. Though we all live in our lives deeply connected with our selves, at times merely hearing tales from their busier, more complex and peopled lives can feel exhausting/overwhelming. I'm the happiest I've ever been simply tending the various living beings in and around my cottage. I still have occasional, mostly by phone, visits with my dear friends, random street-meet conversations with women I know while I'm wandering around town doing errands and spend about 17 hours a month with the dear clients I see on two days every other week. Yet, I realize that, more and more, I'm inclined to get what little social fix I might want from dipping in and out of being with the characters in the books I'm reading or listening to on CDs.
Sometimes, briefly, I slip into outside-eyes, momentarily wondering if it's really okay to be this pulled away from everything and everyone. Yet, since this withdrawal feels so incredibly nourishing and right-for-me-now, such outside-eyes concerns fall away quickly. I've no way of knowing if this is simply an indeterminate fallow season, prelude to some new cycle of moving back out into the world/connection or whether it's a path that I might continue on for the rest of my days. I don't seem to care one way or the other and that pleases me.
Amazingly enough, the Grandmothers arrange to take me on learning journeys even in my much-narrowed Universe. One morning this past month, I woke to discover the four hummingbird feeders outside my desk window densely carpeted with bees. The hummers couldn't get near the feeding ports and there were random bees coming into my study through the gap that I leave between the French doors so the kitties can come and go as they please. I was kept busy doing catch and release of visiting bees all morning. Since, for these last dozen years, I've been highly allergic to bee stings (always carrying an Epi-pen to prevent going into anaphylactic shock), this was not a workable situation. Nor was waiting till the bees left for their hives at dusk. Instead, I found a local bee specialist who, for a sizeable (but well worth it) service call fee, came by within the hour to take down the mobbed feeders and shake loose the bees.
According to this kind man – who hangs sugar water feeders on his property for the bees that live in hives there – the bee population in Ojai is in distress, struggling to find adequate nourishment in the midst of our severe drought conditions. Some scout bee had obviously found the bonanza of my eleven feeders filled with sugar water and (as I remember learning in graduate school) gone back to its hive to do a waggle dance that communicated to its hive mates the exact coordinates they'd need to find their way to this bounty. Now here they all were!
Oh, the challenges of feeding hummingbirds and orioles! Though I'd long ago solved the problem of marauding ants by using ant moats (hanging water-filled cups from which the feeders then descend), the bee problem was perplexing. One possible solution: taking down the feeders for a period of time so the bees learn not to come there any more. Unfortunately, doing this would give the hummers the same message. Not, for me, an acceptable option.
Instead, briefly, I tried a set of smaller-capacity dish feeders whose design supposedly makes it harder for the bees to reach the sugar water that hummers, with their long tongues, would be able to reach. The bees persisted, sigh! Someone on Google suggested using peppermint, lavender or citronella oil in the moats of these dish feeders; bees supposedly are repelled by these scents while hummers could care less. Alas, this approach regrettably led to numerous bee-drownings in the moats filled with water and drops of the peppermint oil that was meant to repel them, sigh! Every day, Google research brought new possible solutions; none of them worked. I persisted, nonetheless.
Then, a Japanese gardener on Google and the local bee specialist provided the perfect answer. A sort of if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em plan. So, I am now feeding bees as well as orioles, hummers and seed feeding birds. Using a more concentrated sugar solution in them, I hung three new formerly-hummingbird-now-bee feeders in the persimmon tree at the near edge of the meadow but not too far from the patio. The idea: have the sweeter solution entice the bees away from the patio feeders so that the hummers could have unimpeded access again. Alas, once the ants found these new feeders, the bees avoided them. Mayonnaise on the hangers helped keep the ants away till three more ant moats arrived from Amazon. Now, at last, the hummers can, un-harassed, get at their feeders (the larger capacity ones that, unlike the dish feeders, work for both the hummers and the orioles). The orioles feed on the patio but also at the bee feeders when the bee population there abates intermittently throughout the day.
The whole process of figuring out what to do reminded me of something I once read about gardening: "weeds are what we call the things that are growing where we don't want them to be growing." The bees were being a nuisance only when they were somewhere I didn't want them to be. I didn't want to get rid of them; enough of them are dying off already. I just needed them to know their place here. Now they do. It was interesting to see that though I was perplexed until I found a resolution, I never felt annoyed or angry at the bees; I understood they were only trying to find nourishment and survive.
Anger at them only came much later. I'd been being so careful around the bee feeding area, mindful to not agitate or threaten them so I they wouldn't sting me. Then, on a Saturday a month ago, getting down off the ladder (barefoot) after re-hanging a feeder on the patio, I stepped on an unseen, moribund bee. (Even before all this business with the bees, I'd occasionally find a dead or dying bee on the patio.) Of course, it stung me – on the bottom of the middle joint of my big toe.
I got so pissed! It felt so unfair. This bee clearly hadn't gotten the memo about what a Good Samaritan I was being to his tribe.
I absolutely hate what it feels like after I give myself the shot of epinephrine – which I, nonetheless, always do immediately. Taking some Benadryl, vibrating with the speediness of the drugs as I gathered what I needed to take care of my self at the Emergency Room (always where one goes after taking the shot that immediately jacks up your heart rate and blood pressure as it averts the anaphylactic reaction to the venom), I, while pouring my take-along tea, scalded my hand. Crying with frustration and agitated from the drugs, I calmed my self enough to drive the two miles to the hospital. There, the usual drill: blood pressure, heart and oxygen monitoring till my heart rate (120) and blood pressure (180/66) returned to normal. This trip it took almost three hours for that to happen. Fortunately, I had my tea, a sweatshirt for warmth and a good book. And, our small-town, recently remodeled, quite beautiful, well staffed and never busy ER is as good as it gets as a place to hang out when you must. Unfortunately, despite the meds, I still was having lots of allergic all-over itching for a good part of the time. They couldn't give me a Benadryl shot because I'd be driving my self home. It seemed more bother than I was willing to go through to get someone to come take me home and then have to deal with both the people contact and the issue of retrieving my car. So, I made do with ice packs piled onto to the worst of the itchy areas. It was good I hadn't had any pressing plans for my day.
I couldn't believe it when, just exactly three weeks later, I got stung again! This time I was way over on the far side of the property doing my laundry when a bee flew up my pant leg. I knew not to rub at it but, when I pulled my pants away from my body hoping to give it more room to escape, I obviously scared it into stinging me on the back of my thigh (my right side this time). Oddly, I was much calmer about all of it this go 'round. Came back to the cottage for my shot and some Benadryl, doing calming breaths the whole time as I again (but without incident!) prepared my take-alongs and headed to the ER. The sting felt less painful and the drug-speediness seemed more tolerable this time. The ER nurse and the intake people couldn't believe I was there again. Well, neither could I. This time everything went back to my normal levels (72 and 108/60) within a half hour and I left for home just an hour after arriving there. Apparently, all stings are not equal. The venom from the dying bee was way more intense than that from the in-my-pants bee. And, the calming breathing helped me not get so wound up from the epinephrine. Still, I was pretty pissed that I'd gotten stung twice in three weeks even though I've now been feeding hordes of bees for many weeks and been so mindful around their feeders and of where I put my bare feet. Ingrates!
There was a distressing sidelight to this misadventure. After using my Epi-pen for the first sting, I went to the pharmacy to replace my inventory (it's always safer to have two around in case one doesn't do the trick). I keep my prescription with Rite Aid so that I'm in a nationwide computer and could replace my pens anywhere I might be when I'd need to do that. They come in a two-pack and, this past November, I'd had to replace the two unused but expired pens I had on hand then ( a not-uncommon experience) . I was shocked at the time to hear that, even with my Plan D Humana drug discount, the cost to me was $350.00. The previous two-pack, purchased a year before that, had cost $250. I'd thought, even at $250, the pricing was outrageous; especially since, without the drug plan discount, it would cost almost twice that. This time, another seven months later, the replacement cost was $375: utterly insane. People who can demonstrate indigence can usually get this sort of essential drug free or at nominal cost by going through whatever time-consuming rigmarole the specific drug company might require. Fortunately, I'm among the people who can actually afford such a price. But, what about the whole, huge number of people in between: those who don't qualify as indigent but who can't handle such an exorbitant fee for a life-saving medication for themselves or their children who have any sort of serious allergies. I can't believe how crazy and out of control Big Pharma is.
Despite living in a world that gets crazier every day (Donald Trump running for president; unarmed African-American men being shot by police almost daily; ethnic cleansings in so many places; lunatic shooters showing up weekly; ISIS and Boko Haram creating murderous havoc) I'm filled with enormous gratitude for the blessings in my life: for being able to, and feeling free to, live the outlier way that feels so nourishing to me; for (my bee-sting adventures and allergy-eyes exhaustion notwithstanding) feeling healthy, strong and happy both with my life and with who I am at seventy-four and a half; and, perhaps most of all, for having issues as minimal as the bees-in-the-hummingbird-feeders be, at this moment in time, the biggest challenges I have to face. I know this may not always be the case, but I'm delighting that it is for now and for however long it may continue to be so.
That's all there is to tell about life in my little corner of paradise at this moment. Wishing you gentleness….


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One of my favorite things ever from the Match Game, the early version of the show recorded in New York City.
Lauren Bacall was a frequent guest on Match Game. She was great. We had so much fun in the green room joking around, one day when I called her Lauren, she said: "please, call me Betty, that's what my friends call me." Wow! What a thrill to hear that! On this early Match Game show video clip from the 60's, she tells Gene Rayburn that I'm her 'secret passion'. When I spy the camera is on me, I ham it up a bit. I spent like 40 years looking for this clip and found it minutes before her 90th birthday, 9/16/14. Lauren died about a month before, on 8/12/14. Please forgive the old video quality, but you'll get to see the original Match Game set in glorious black and white.

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Comical Processing: You Write The Cartoon Caption Winner September 5, 2013
Congratulations to Scott Griffin of Mount Vernon, Ind. He penned the funny line that made us laugh the most.
"Comical Processing" features drawings by award-winning cartoonist Jerry King. It's our way of letting you take a break from all the serious stuff you deal with at work — by coming up with appropriate light-hearted captions.


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Stacking the Shelves (14): Balzer + Bray Care Package, Alien Invasion & Others/
This weekly linkup is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Visit her site to see what everyone else has gotten their hands on recently.
The other day Fernando came home from work with a package that looked like a pillow. I was expecting anything, so I was incredibly surprised to find that the lovely people at Balzer + Bray had sent me a few of their upcoming February 2014 releases. Needless to say that package along with a few others that have come in over the past few weeks have my book card filled for quite some time.
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Her Dark Curiosity by Meghan Shepherd
Avalon by Mindee Arnett
Evertrue by Brodi Ashton
We Will Destroy Your Planet by David McIntee
She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
Antigoddess by Kendare Blake (won from the awesome Pabkins over at My Shelf Confessions)
Johnny Hiro: The Skills to Pay the Bills by Fred Chao
Not shown: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski (e-ARC through Netgalley)
Thank you to Balzer + Bray, Tor, Random House and Macmillan for their generosity.


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|New Camper Cabin
|New Outdoor activity space, including basketball courts and playground games
|Supports one cabin of 12 campers for one 2-week session
|Provides one week of meals for all campers
|Supports 6 Teen Advancement Program participants
|Provides coach bus transportation for 100 campers from Boston to Poland, ME & back
|Full cost to send one teen camper to our 4-week Internship for Staff Training, Education & Placement (INSTEP) program
|Full cost of 2-week session for one camper
|Funds leadership skills presentation for our teen programs
|Campership to assist one child to go to camp for a 2-week session
|Funding for one of our weekly events such as our Camp Out & Talent Show
|Provide one child with treasured arts and crafts supplies for the summer
Donate online or send donation to:
Agassiz Village
238 Bedford Street, Suite 8
Lexington, MA 02420
Many companies support the charitable interests of their employees, retirees and employee family members. A matching gift from your company or place of business is a great way to maximize your investment in the future of a deserving child who attends Agassiz Village Summer Camp. Most employers will have a form or on-line program to request a matching gift. Please check with your employer today!
In-kind services and donation of goods play an important role in meeting the needs of our campers.
Below are WISH LIST items and services we need most:
If you wish to donate an item or provide a service, please contact the office at 781-860-0200.
Agassiz Village appreciates your gift of stock or securities and the benefit it will have on the hundreds of deserving youth that come to our camp each year.
Please contact us for more information.
Celebrate the special moments by honoring someone special in your life while providing the gift of smiles and laughter to a deserving camper. Provide Agassiz Village with the name and address of your honoree and we will send a note on your behalf acknowledging your generosity.
We are honored that you are considering Agassiz Village to celebrate the life and memories of your loved one knowing the positive impact it will make on a deserving child. Please include the name and address of the family member to be notified, as well as your name and address for acknowledgement.
Families may wish to set up a memorial fund in memory of a loved one. Simply provide the address below to those interested in donating and we will acknowledge those gifts with a note to them. We will also provide you with the names and addresses of any donors that contribute to the fund. Please feel free to call the office with any questions at 781-860-0200.
A planned gift can be as simple as a bequest through your will. Your attorney can arrange a specific amount; a percentage; or even all or part of the residual of your will. Consult your attorney or accountant to determine tax benefits.
You can also consider these other planned gift options:
Please feel free to let us know if you have included Agassiz Village in your will or estate plan so we can properly recognize your generosity. We hold all information and discussions in the strictest confidence.
Volunteers Needed!
Your gift of time is critical to our success and always appreciated! If you are interested in any of the volunteer opportunities below, simply call our office at 781-860-0200.
Visit Us!
Visit the camp during the season to meet our kids and to experience what it's like to be an Agassiz Village camper. We have three formal visitation days on the Saturdays during each session in 2015: July 11, July 25, & August 8. Each coincides with our Camp-wide Carnival event!
Please contact the Lexington office to let us know you are coming.
Corporate Partners
Deustche Bank
Loomis Sayles
Prime Motor Group
Partner Agencies
William Hirshberg Award
The William Hirshberg Educational Scholarship Award is given to campers and staff who most embody the spirit and practice of Bill Hirshberg.
Bill was known for his leadership skills, kindness, generosity and cooperative nature. He had a special gift of making people feel good about themselves. Recipients of the award have made a positive impact on campers and the overall camp community, by creating a spirit of support and goodwill towards others.
The educational scholarship is intended to be used by the recipients to further develop their potential. We thank the Hirshberg family for generously funding this important award.
12th Annual Golf Outing Sponsors
Deutsche Bank
Loomis Sayles
The Seaport Group
BNP Paribas Citi Credit Agricole
Credit Suisse Cynthia & Theodore Berenson Goldman Sachs
HSBC Jefferies JP Morgan
KeyBank Morgan Stanley Prime Motor Group
RBC Capital Markets ScotiaBank UBS
Wells Fargo
Tee Shirt Sponsor - MarketAxess
Beat the Board Member Sponsor - Societe Generale
Third Annual Maine Course Sponsors
Event Sponsors
Prime Motor Group
American Holt
Theodore & Cynthia Berenson
Participating Restaurants & Vendors
Anna's Taqueria Bon Me The Butcher Shop
Cakes to Remember Island Creek Oyster House Kappy's Fine Wine & Spirits
L'Andana La Voile Lincoln Tavern & Restaurant
Moksa No. 9 Park Pauli's North End
Polar Beverages Piperi Mediterranean Grill Riva
Samuel Adams Sportello Stir
Tavern Road West Bridge Bacardi


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Working in the IT Team constantly provides new challenges so every single day is unique and refreshing. Each challenge is a new opportunity to hone your IT skills and develop as a person. Everyone in our team fills an irreplaceable role and is a unique asset to the company. Together we have one goal in mind. We strive to be the best in the industry.
Kevin, System Architect
Working in our self-organized development team is a great experience. It brings out the best in every single team member.
Adam, DevOps Engineer
What I appreciate most in my team is the good work organization. A clearly defined plan of tasks for each day result in the smooth running of the work and a sense of accomplishment of my responsibilities at the end of the day. Efficient communication within the team also makes the job a lot easier to do.
Łukasz, Scrum Master
What I like most about working in this team is the professional approach of each employee when they undertake a problem. It's something that gives satisfaction to everyone who works in our team. Besides this, we simply feel good about working together.
Marta, IT Project Delivery Manager
The approach used by our company requires searching for new technologies. This allows us to compete with other companies that have been in this segment of the IT industry for longer than STATSCORE. With this in mind it is difficult not to talk about the continuous development needed by everyone here.
Tymek, Developer


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I was wide awake by 5 am, a good 2 hours earlier than my usual waking time, but I decided to get up, and here I sit in jeans and a red long sleeve tee shirt doing something I haven't done in a while. LJ blogging. I wear tee shirts now after avoiding them for seventy-odd years. And long sleeves too. I haven't worn long sleeved shirts for many years. I'm wearing red because Kathy asked me too. That's a color I don't often wear at this time of the year. You know, Christmas, red apparel, rotund man with a white beard. Little kids tend to follow me.
Logan and Angelina will be here later today -- a music concert to attend at the venerable Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. I look forward to seeing them this weekend. A virus caused them to miss our Thanksgiving feast. As I write, Kathy is in the kitchen making pies, pecan and pumpkin.
I have a new toy that I brought myself for Christmas, a $50 Raspberry Pi computer kit. The Pi is a small low-cost educational computer developed in England as part of an effort to encourage math, science and technology at an early age. The hardware, about the size of a bandaid box, combines a general purpose processor with an ARM for graphics processing. The Pi is powered by a phone charger supply, interactive input is via a usb wireless keyboard and mouse, and a HDMI port provides display output for a 1080p hdtv. Internet access is done through a wired ethernet connection or through a wifi usb dongle. A SD card provides up to 32 gigabytes of long-lived memory and the pi has 512 megabytes of ephemeral memory on the board. There are also 20 programmable I/O lines for digital experimentation. The favored operating system is a stripped down XDE Debian Linux called Raspian. Out of the box, the Raspberry Pi runs at 700 mhz, but can be overclocked over 1000 mhz. I'm running about 950. Respectable, not speedy, but then the Raspian window system is not a memory and cycle hog like Microsoft Windows.
In addition its use as a beginning computer for school children--the Raspberry Pi supports a full suite of software: web browsers, office, Mathematica, Minecraft, and software development tools--other popular uses for the Pi are streaming Internet media boxes and robotic controllers. One company has used it in a mixed-drink maker product.
My plan is less ambitious. I want to use our tv as a standalone and continuous mp3 player while displaying a slideshow of family pictures. I've tried doing this before with old retired computers with limited success. Retired computers tend to have hardware issues; they were retired for a reason, and don't run long unattended. Also I used a full-blown operating system with provided display and sound software and the result suffered from performance problems. With the pi, I hope to avoid performance problems by using the underlying linux command-driven components without the overhead of the window system.
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On December 11th, 2014 04:17 am (UTC), wandertrust commented:
Very cool and sounds like your plan for the Pi could work. Keep us posted on your success with it. :)


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Amazon now offers VMware vCenter plugin to import VMs into EC2
Amazon has made available a plugin for vCenter that will allow users to import VMs into EC2 right from VMware Virtual Center.
The new Amazon EC2 VM Import Connector is a virtual appliance (vApp) plug-in for VMware vCenter. Once installed, you can import virtual machines from your VMware vSphere infrastructure into Amazon EC2 using the GUI that you are already familiar with. This feature builds on top of the VM Import feature. The Connector stores separate AWS credentials for each vCenter user so that multiple users (each with separate AWS accounts) can use the same Connector. The account must be subscribed to EC2 in order to use the Connector.
You can download the Connector from the AWS Developer Tools page. You'll need to make sure that you have adequate disk space available, and you'll also need to verify that certain network ports are open (see the EC2 User Guide for more information). The Connector is shipped as an OVF template that you will deploy with your vSphere Client.
After you've installed and configured the Connector, you can import any virtual machine that needs the following requirements:
- Runs Windows Server 2008 SP2 (32 or 64 bit).
- Currently turned off.
- Uses a single virtual hard drive (multiple partitions are OK) no larger than one terabyte.
Source: http://aws.typepad.com/aws/2011/03/ec2-vm-import-connector.html
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text: McEneaney is 62. She lives and works in Philadelphia. I think what's interesting about her is that at first sight she seems a Grandma Moses type…but she did go to art school and I think it shows. Her titles are kind of tongue in cheek, her paintings are surprisingly sophisticated when you really look. So…really look! ( I love her self portrait in the bathing cap)


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On 4 June 2009 US President Obama went to Cairo to make a speech to the Muslim world, where, among other things, he addressed the question of political reform and democracy in the Middle East. In February 2011 one Al-Jazeera columnist has associated the tumultuous changes in Egypt and Tunisia to the persuasive technique Inception, the film in which Leonardo DiCaprio tries to plant ideas in individuals' minds by infiltrating their dreams. Larbi Sadiki writes, 'A precedent has been set in Tunisia, and Egypt is on the move. Whilst the challenges are awesome, the seeds for planting democratic dreams have begun by the display of people's power in Tunisia.'
For political communication analysts eager to evaluate the impact of Obama-type speeches, public diplomacy campaigns, American movies and TV as cultural exports, or other methods through which ideas may be planted in the minds of foreign publics, can we isolate the impact of those efforts when so many other factors come into play? Did Obama successfully use the power of inception, or would the last few weeks' changes have happened anyway? This raises the larger problem of explaining outcomes whose causes may be extremely long term and difficult to identify – political scientists still struggle to explain revolutions. Certainly, in the coming weeks, months and years it will be interesting to see whether US public diplomacy teams claim any credit for incepting change.
And now Condi is claiming to have got there four years earlier, writing in the Washington Post here.


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We have all seen old windows up for grabs on our neighborhood forums and in the aisles of The Rebuilding Center. Once you've snagged these single pane lead-filled beauties, what next? Here are some ideas of how you can reimagine old or unneeded windows.
Coat Rack
Supplies Needed
- Window
- Knobs or hooks
- 1"x4" piece of lumber
- Screws to fasten it all together
- Your favorite images
Cut your piece of lumber to size and fasten to the top of your window frame. This will be a shelf for your coat rack. Find your favorite knobs and hook and attach them to the front bottom of your window frame. Glue or tape your favorite images of your friends and family to the back of the window facing forward. That is all that this quick DIY project takes. You can always finish the shelf with paint to match your window frame. With the exception of your favorite images, all the items can be found at the Rebuilding Center.
NOTE: To avoid splitting of the wood, pre-drill smaller holes in your frame before fastening screws.
Supplies Needed
- Window
- Knobs or hooks
- Chalkboard Paint
- Screws to fasten your hardware
This is another simple DIY project. Paint the glass pane with your favorite colored chalkboard paint. Fasten your favorite hardware, keep in mind your needs based on where you will place your chalkboard. If you will have it in your kitchen, it could be cute to hang tea towels or your favorite coffee mug. If you want to hang it in your office or kid's room think about the hardware you will need for your use. Some alternatives to using chalkboard paint are dry erase board paint or magnetic paint. Once the paint is dry, you are ready to go!
Supplies Needed
- Window frame
- 1"x6" piece of lumber
- Hook screw
- Chain
- Screws to fasten your lumber
- Potted plant
This DIY project is great for an empty window frame or broken window reuse. Carefully remove the glass from your frame. Cut the lumber to the length of your window frame. Ensure that the 1"x6" is wide enough to provide stability to your frame. You can use wider or narrower wood depending on the height of your frame. Fasten the lumber to your frame with screws. Pre-drill a smaller hole and screw your hook in the top of the inside of the frame. Before you add your plant to your pot, drill holes for the chain. We used a metal pot; you may have different requirements depending on the type of pot you use. Ensure that the chain is the right length based on where you want the pot to hang. Connect the pot to the chain, add your favorite plant and hang the chain on the hook.
Supplies Needed
- Lumber
- Screws
- Hinges
- Knob
This DIY project requires more cutting and fastening than the above projects and could be a nice day project. The dimensions of your cabinet will depend on the size of your window. For this one I used 1"x2", 1"x6", and 1"x8" pieces of lumber for the sides and the back. I also used two rows of 1"x2" for the shelves. Your window will be the door. I measured the length of my window and added an additional 5". I added 2" to the bottom so the door doesn't drag on the ground and I added 3" to the top so I can have an exterior shelf. Fasten three sides of your cabinet together using a 1"x2" strip for the rear and 2"x2" for the sides which also doubled as what will hold my shelving in place. So ensure the placement of the 2"x2"s on the sides match. Also make sure all the lumber is even height to avoid any teetering that might occur. Next cut the shelving and place it on the 2"x2" strips. You can fasten it in place but there is really no need. I found it easiest to place the cabinet on its back to install the door (window). Placing your hinges strait and at the same depth is important for the door to swing open with ease. Add your hardware and you are ready to go!
NOTE: The window I used was very heavy so when the cabinet was open it would tilt forward. This standing cabinet will have to be mounted to the wall to use.


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Day 33: Lausanne/
Number of kilometres today: 32.7
Total kilometres walked from Canterbury: 920.1
Total steps since Canterbury: 1,303,838
Today was a relatively easy walk through woodlands with a few steep climbs, alongside from village to village until I found myself walking excitedly downhill to Lausanne. It was cloudy most of the day. The sun looked like a small silver moon. I still managed to get sunburnt.
Lausanne is beautiful but feels too big for me after a month spent largely in small villages and most of my time spent alone in the middle of the countryside. I had thought to stay here for my rest day but the reality is it is expensive and if I stay here, I won't rest, I will end up walking everywhere to look at everything.
I have walked for 16 days without a break and only 4 of those were under 30 kilometres. My feet are really sore and need a break. I have spent a lot of time in the last few days on bitumen and concrete which is really hard under foot and I have noticed how much firmer the sole of Red Beasts Mk 2 are compared to the old ones. Tonight no amount of massaging is getting rid of the soreness. They feel swollen and bruised.
I have booked myself into a hotel for 2 nights In Vevey which means just a 26 kilometre walk tomorrow then I will have a whole day of rest in which I really hope to put my feet up and let them and my legs o nothing or at least very little and recover from the last two weeks and prepare for crossing the Alps.
I am gutsy and determined but I am a little nervous. I was reading the blog of a pilgrim who walked the Via Francigena last year and there is a section from Martigny to Orsieres that is really challenging, well her guidebooks described it as treacherous. Mine describes it as not liked by some walkers. I looked at her photos and there are some quite steep and narrow descents and I am worried about how I will manage that with The Devil on my back and my whinging knees. Her and her friend sent their packs ahead by taxi and this may be something I need to consider.
Just not right now. The only thing that matters right now is a good night's sleep.
View from my window. Sunset over Lake Geneva.
And that purple shade on the horizon, that's the Alps. I laugh a little hysterically every time I look at them. Soon I will he crossing them by foot!


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Attendees will have the option to attend up to three workshops during the retreat.
Friday Evening Session - 4 pm to 6 pm
Provisional Cast on and Grafting with Jen Heinlein
This class was in such high demand last year we are offering it again, but with an extra hour. Join Jen Heinlein, Master Knitter, and learn how to graft your knitting for lovely invisible seams. In this session, learn how to do a crochet provisional cast on, and how to use Kitchener stitch to join the ends of a flat piece of knitting. Materials TBD.
Cabling without a Hook with Celeste Young
Also back by popular demand! Celeste Young is a Master Knitter and author of Knits of a Feather and Baby & Me Knits. Join her in this session to learn how to knit cables without using a cable needle. This technique will speed up your cable knitting and make it less finicky! In this class, you will learn this great technique, and practice your new skills using Celeste's Ropes and Rings hat pattern (pattern provided by Celeste).
Materials: Approx. 150 yards worsted weight yarn (pattern calls for Cascade Sateen Worsted); Size 7 16" circular needles; 6 stitch markers; cable needle (same or smaller size than knitting needle); post-it notes; pencil or pen for taking notes
Darn! Repairs with Ana Campos
So you got a hole in your beautiful hand-knit sweater. Now what? In this class, we will learn two types of darning: visible and invisible. You can apply these techniques to any knitted project, from socks to sweaters. Materials TBD.
Saturday Morning Session - 9 am to 11 am
Portuguese Knitting with Ana Campos
Back by popular demand! Join Ana Campos, Master Knitter and dyer of Toil & Trouble yarns, and learn how to knit Portuguese style! We will cover two ways to do the Portuguese knit stitch, and the very easy Portuguese purl - all with the flick of your thumb. We will also cover how to do increases and decreases in the Portuguese style. Portuguese knitting is more efficient and easier on your joints, so it can help reduce strain and fatigue.
Embellish Your Knitting with Lauren Devereaux
Join Lauren Devereaux and add an arsenal of fun embellishing techniques to your repertoire. This class will cover how to add an after-thought pocket, i-cord garment closures, duplicate stitch designs, and embroidery techniques. Use these techniques to add beautiful details and closures to your projects! Materials TBD.
Beautiful Seams and Finishing with Julia Farwell-Clay
Join Julia Farwell-Clay, designer and sweater expert, and learn how to finish your knits like a pro! As a wielder of the pointy sticks, do you cower before you pick up a single needle with a hole in one end? Let this session convince you that a good mattress stitch is every bit as satisfying (and fun) as a yo k2tog. We'll also look at buckle-free button bands and other tips for elegant finishing. There will be a small amount of knitted homework in the form of two 4" stockinette stitch squares.
Two-Color Brioche Knitting with Carrie McGowan
Brioche knitting is a technique that creates a lofty, super squishy ribbed fabric. When worked with two colors, it creates beautiful contrasting vertical stripes. In this session, Carrie will offer a refresher on basic brioche, and then teach you the ins and outs of two-color brioche. Before the end of class, you will start a gorgeous two-color brioche cowl. There will be a small amount of knitted homework to be completed prior to class.
Saturday Afternoon Session - 2 pm to 5 pm
Intro to Basket Weaving with Theresa Hlushuk
Join Theresa to create a small oval basket using the "stop and start" method. This basket is great for holding small items. You will use reed material from the inner core of the Rattan Vine from the jungles of South East Asia. This class is for any level, no prior basket weaving experience necessary. There will be an additional fee of $10.00 for materials payable to the instructor.
Knit or Crochet Fairy Catchers with Julia Farwell-Clay
A little like Dreamcatchers, Knitted Fairy Catchers are a fun way to display small knitted lace or repurposed swatches, with added beads and bling, nature's treasures found underfoot, ribbons, leftover bits of handspun, or all of the above. Teacher provided materials are all you need for your first. Warning: these are addictive! Additional Materials fee: $4.
Illusion Knitting: Concept and Design with Jen Heinlein
Learn how to create designs hidden within stripes! Illusion knitting uses garter ridges, strategically knit in two contrasting colors, to create a hidden picture in your knitting! We will practice the skills required to accomplish this feat of knitting trickery and learn how to design our own.
Materials: Two shades of worsted weight wool in highly contrasting colors for best demonstration of the effect; US size 8 or 9 knitting needles for knitting flat; stitch markers; a pencil; eraser.
Design Your Own Mosaic Motif with Celeste Young
In the first half of this class, you will learn the basics of Mosaic Knitting. In the second half, you will design your own motif and learn how to transform it into your very own cowl design. Mosaic Knitting is a clever colorwork technique that uses slip stitches to create beautiful multi-color designs. Materials TBD.


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We are currently looking for a new sponsor to help us build on our recent success.
Most students row at some point during their time at Cambridge, and races like the Lent and May Bumps draw huge crowds of non-rowers, alumni and city dwellers alike. This means that a partnership with a Cambridge boat club the perfect opportunity to promote your company among a community of some of the brightest young people in the country.
Girton College Boat Club in particular has is made up of over 80 active members, as well as our partner the Infidel Boat Club, our 70 strong alumni group which is growing fast.
Our sponsor would gain the following benefits:
- Recruitment opportunities: publicise events to our 750 undergraduate and graduate students, host events on College property, advertise to alumni.
- Brand promotion: display your logo and recruitment opportunities on our website and social media, promote your company at University and national rowing competitions, advertise your brand on rowing kit and equipment.
- Student and staff contact: attend College networking events, information evenings and boat club functions for alumni and present students.
- Your representative would also be in constant contact with our Boat Club Committee, who would listen to and work on any other requirements you might have.
In return, a sponsorship deal would help us build on our strong first division positions for both men and women in the collegiate league, the Bumps races, as well as raise our profile outside Cambridge. To do this we would use sponsorship funding to invest in better coaching and entry to national competitions.
If you would like more information, please contact the sponsorship officer.


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The Lord gave Jamie a Word for the Bride of Christ On Monday, 25 February 2013 and this Word is as timely today as ever before!
"Keep God and The Kingdom on your mind! For when the Kingdom of Darkness increases, you must stay focused on God's Kingdom that you are operating within while here on Earth. And how you will defeat the Kingdom of this World is through the renewing of your mind. You must stay in focus of what you are allowing yourself to think about. Control your thoughts or they will control your life, your walk and your destiny. There is no one greater in this war to ME, than you! Choose to think as I did when I walked the Earth. Yes, the very things I tell you today are the things I operated in when I was there. When opposition comes, and it will, you must learn this trait. You must learn this and Master it! Your mind and your thoughts will be what will win the fights and war to come. For, as you are transforming from the inside, you will transform the environment around you. Do not be afraid and do not waver, My Child. Greater are you, for I live inside of you, than he that rules this World. You've got the answers; all of them are inside of you. Develop "The ME" in you! Develop HOW TO control your mind. And in doing so, you will develop your victories and desires. Hold on to Me and My Word! CONCENTRATE! CONCENTRATE! CONCENTRATE!
"Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. 5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. 6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail 7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. 8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]."


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What we do
Live6 Alliance is a nonprofit planning and development organization that has a mission to enhance quality of life and economic opportunity in Northwest Detroit. The organization acts as a conduit between the institutions and their surrounding communities, with a particular focus on the McNichols and Livernois corridors. The organization actively serves the community in the following six program areas:
Real estate development
Business attraction & retention
Residential stabilization
At the center of Live6 Alliance's place-based investment strategy is Detroit's Livernois and McNichols (6 Mile) commercial corridors. These corridors have long served as a vital backbone for the City, hosting a mix of shopping, employers, housing, and institutional activities, while connecting people and neighborhoods. Two of Detroit's primary higher education institutions, University of Detroit Mercy and Marygrove College, are located at the meeting of these corridors. The area is defined by some of Detroit's greatest assets — the Detroit Golf Club and Palmer Park offer world class open spaces, the historic Avenue of Fashion hosts businesses built on a long-legacy arts and culture, and strong and stable neighborhoods offer a diverse mix of housing that Detroit families have called home for decades.
Live6 Alliance was formed in 2015 through a partnership of community, philanthropic and city stakeholders led by the University of Detroit Mercy.


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LOS ANGELES, April 16 (UPI) -- Singer Engelbert Humperdinck has sold his Brentwood home in the Los Angeles-area for $2.1 million.
The Mediterranean-style five bedroom house has 5.5 bathrooms, a living room with high ceilings, a large office, a wine cellar, a sauna, a spa and a master bedroom suite with a fireplace, reported the Los Angles Times Saturday.
The pop singer, who debuted at the London Palladium in 1967, purchased the property in 2002.
He bought the Brentwood house after selling his longtime Holmby Hills home, known as the Pink Palace, which had been once owned by actress Jayne Mansfield.


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Urgent Care in Missouri City, Cypress, and Katy TX
If you are injured playing sports, you may need to visit an Urgent Care center. That's because these facilities give you all the convenience of an emergency room without the hassles involved. You won't have to wait all day to be seen. The professionals at Excel Urgent Care will take your needs into consideration and give you the best treatment possible. Also, we have state-of-the-art tools and equipment so that you can get the thorough exam that you need and be correctly diagnosed.
If you break a bone, we can give you an x-ray right away. In our clinic, you'll be seen immediately and you don't even have to travel to another location because we have x-ray and lab services on site. If you need blood work done, our facility offers that, too. Everything is right here in our office. It just doesn't get any easier! So, if quality, speed, and peace of mind are what you need, our professional staff can assist you. It's not necessary for you to go another minute in pain.
Visit Excel Urgent Care when you need a high-quality Cypress, Missouri City, or Katy, TX urgent care facility. Our experienced staff is eager to provide the best possible treatment for your situation. Call us today for an appointment.


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In the News
Carbon milestone a reminder of things to come
May 13, 2013
House farm bill cuts deeper than last year
May 13, 2013
Wyo. takes time leasing 'potentially massive...
May 10, 2013
BLM pressed in committee on fire, sage grouse and...
May 10, 2013
Mont. farmers adapt to climate change
May 10, 2013
Enviro group appeals BLM decision to extend Colo...
May 10, 2013
Sequester seen as test for 'pretty lean...
May 9, 2013
BLM Wyoming's oil, gas lease auction nets $8...
May 8, 2013
Coal mine smoldering poses fire risk in SW Colo.
May 8, 2013


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...so near as we stand face to face in my mind but realty claims you for another day. Hand upon the glass seeking to feel something I let go long ago. A subtle warmth from the other side of the glass hints and teases memories of a forgotten fire and then it slowly fades. Pausing in my thoughts to endure the remembrance of my mistake and its consequence. Indecisiveness and not knowing which way to turn. A silent retribution experienced now from choices I made long ago. The hurt caused by me and my actions taunt me daily. An answer to my search, left behind. So many unknowns to navigate so may things I wish I could change, regret and its companion loneliness, reminding me of the one constant thing in my life..
I said goodbye.


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Historic Lock 19 Project
A Model of True Collaboration
Project initiated as 2012 Canal Clean Sweep event
Clifton Park town officials joined the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County and community partners to offiCially open the Historic Lock 19 Footbridge on Monday, April 29. The new bridge, built with help from several local companies and students from Shenendehowa High School, offers the public the first access between the lock's dual chambers in many years.
The footbridge was built at no expense to taxpayers. Volunteer engineers, contractors, chamber officials and students all donated their time and resources to make the project possible. Significant
cleaning and clearing of brush was completed before the project was even possible.
'The new Historic Lock 19 Footbridge provides unprecedented public access to an important part of Clifton Park's heritage,' Town Supervisor Phil Barrett said. 'Clifton Park is fortunate to have an active chamber, many dedicated volunteers and local companies who are committed to improving our community. The Town Board thanks everyone who worked to bring this project to fruition .'
The project started in April 2012 as part of Canal Clean Sweep events. Once volunteers cleared overgrown brush from the Lock 19 area, 80 Shenendehowa high school students worked under the
supervision of professional engineers to design, construct and promote the footbridge. Construction was completed late last year.
Douglas Ford, the 2012 chairman of the chamber's Board of Directors, was an integral part of the project. Ford is the Director of Sales and Operations at Curtis Lumber, which donated the majority of - the materials used on the bridge.
'It was a privilege to work with our business partners, students and Supervisor Barrett's Town Hall team to make a real tangible difference right here in our community,' said Chamber of Southern
Saratoga President and CEO Pete Bardunias. 'This public-private partnership is unique in our Chamber's history and is something that should form a template for similar activity in the years ahead.'
More than 1,700 volunteer hours and tens of thousands of dollars worth of donated material and labor went into the project. Community partners included:
- Turner Construction,
- Curtis Lumber,
- Momentive Performance Materials,
- SMRT Architects and Engineers,
- GE Power and Water,
- William J. Keller and Sons Construction,
- AJS Masonry,
- Shenendehowa Central Schools,
- Gil Van Guilder Land Surveyors,
- Siena Fence Company,
- County Waste,
- Trex, Legacy Timber Frames
- The New York State Canal Corporation.
Historic Lock 19, located in the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve, was part , of the 1842 enlarging of the Erie Public access to the lock is via a trail at the end of Ferry Drive.
Many community partners contributed to the construction of awooden bridge providing public access to historic Erie Canal Lock 19.
Front Row from left to right: Phil Barrett- Town of Clifton Park Supervisor, Doug Ford - Chamber of
Southern Saratoga County and Curtis Lumber, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, Mike Mansion - Office of Senator Hugh Farley, Pete Bardunias - Chamber of Southern Saratoga County CEO/President, Dr. L. Oliver Robinson - Shenendehowa Central School District Superintendent, Jean Lorch - Shenendehowa High School Administrator, Brian Stratton - NYS Canal Corporation Director, Jim Wachala - Chamber of Southern Saratoga County and Turner Construction. Download printer friendly version of this article published by The Canalway Trail Times.
Photo Gallery: Lock 19 Canal Clean Sweep
August 15, 2012 key partners in the Lock 19 project broke ground for the new bridge, picnic area, and observation platform.
Historic view of Lock 19, part of the 1842 enlarging of the Erie Canal in the hamlet of Vischer Ferry, was almost lost in the woods on the fringes of the Nature Preserve. Thanks to an army of Chamber partners and volunteers this storied structure is now a place to visit and explore.
Lock 19 before the clean up - Crews from the Town of Clifton Park, County Waste, and volunteers from the community removed trees and overgrowth to begin restoring the historic site.
Lock 19 Clean Up Project with Canal Commissioner Brian Stratton and Pete Bardunias
Lock 19 Clean Up with Jim Wachala and fellow clean up Volunteer
Lock 19 Clean Up with Pete Bardunias and Barb McHugh
Lock 19 clean up with Dan Kumlander
Upcoming Chamber EventsView All Events »
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aimee wise BOOK EVENT-FEB. 4, 2016
A presentation by
Thursday, February 4, 2016
9:00 a.m.
Calvary Church Golden (Rooms A&B)
1320 Arapahoe St., Golden, CO 80401
With humor and discernment, Aimee Wise invites the reader into her Irish Catholic childhood, reveals candid insights into her life as a young nun, and recounts her unique experiences in Africa as a medical missionary—a vocation that had come to define her. Over the course of seventeen months in 1970s rural Malawi, the steady accumulation of unrelenting conflicts—a clash of worldviews, a patriarchal church, and the sensual but innocent first love—all propel Sister Aimee through a cascade of crises and losses she could never have anticipated.
"In 2010, I immersed myself in journals, letters, and photos from my time in Malawi, Africa, to write my memoir, Of Human Clay: the Making and Breaking of a Nun. The images that surfaced—especially of villagers using the disease-ridden Shire River for drinking and bathing while nearby wading cattle polluted that same water—triggered memories that collapsed the miles between my home in Georgia and my former life in Malawi.
After publishing that memoir in 2013, an intense desire to make clean water available to the deserving Malawian people drove me to search for an organization that installs wells. I found Freshwater Project International, a small U.S. nonprofit focusing solely on Malawi.
Their grand vision is: Universal access to clean water and sanitation for all Malawians.
Within two months, Freshwater Project International installed a well in a Tengani village, a desperately poor area where I lived for three months in 1970.
All the income from my book sales went toward that well, which has brought a new chance for life in a community I still hold in my affections.
Within Tengani Tribal Authority there are 125 small villages and 30,000 people. My vision, mirroring that of Freshwater Project International, is that every person in those villages has access to clean water, something we in the West take for granted. Driven by a desire to raise funds to bring more wells to Tengani Tribal Authority, I resurrected poems and stories languishing in a file drawer and shaped them into a second book, Word Clay: Molding Memoir into Poetry. All proceeds from the future sales of both these books, and the E-book version of Of Human Clay will go toward drilling more wells. The sequel to Of Human Clay, which many readers have asked for, is expected to be available in 2016.


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Take Three: Melissa McCarthy
Craig from Dark Eye Socket here with Take Three. Today: Melissa McCarthy
Take One: The Nines (2007)
The three things that struck me most about the twisty-turny Ryan Reynolds sci-fi drama were Melissa McCarthy. (Reynolds' much-bared torso came a close fourth). In the film's three loose-linked segments she plays: Margaret, a perky PR handler; Melissa, a TV actress version of 'Melissa McCarthy'; and Mary, a housewife. There's plenty of mystical musings about 9s being everywhere and meaning everything – though thankfully not as much number mumbling as there was in The Number 23 – but it sort of makes its own kind of brain-beaten logic by the end.
The second and third sections give McCarthy lengthy scenes opposite Reynolds: she aces "Melissa"'s cringe inducing pissed-off moment where she's told she's being dropped from a TV show by this narrative's version of Reynolds, and in the is-it-a-show-or-is-it-reality? final segment "Mary" gets an emotional scene which nicely shows off McCarthy's vulnerable side; in both segments she's quietly phenomenal, often showing Reynolds, and everybody else, up.
But the actress really excels in the first section, as the troublingly bubbly PR keeping Reynolds' fire-starting actor under house arrest with knowingly witty pleasantries.
I didn't mean to eat my way into a ten-year shame spiral, but I did!
There's an unsettling Truman Show-esque weirdness to this Melissa incarnation that the giggly sarcasm she uses can't hide. With three roles, McCarthy gets to display triple the versatile character work in one decent movie.
Take Two: The Back-Up Plan (2010)
There's only one good reason to watch The Back-Up Plan and it's McCarthy. She's in a mere handful of scenes, but she's the one joyously likeable aspect making the investment worth persevering with. If you latch on to McCarthy as focal point, you can make it through this variation-on-a-theme RomCom. (This variation dishes up artificial insemination via Jenny from the Block as its novel MO).
She plays Carol, one of a pair of new-age mothers who practice alternative birthing, spiritual feeling and clap-happy wellness. McCarthy embraces her small, purely-for-laughs role with gusto. She chants and bangs on a drum during her partner's birthing scene; she plays it, as she does all her scenes here, with a knowing expression as if she might just burst into laughter at any minute (hence why keeping your eye on her is essential in wringing maximum funny-bone potential from the film – she inspires complicity).
It's perfectly natural, sometimes the bowels just release..."
she offers, whilst mimicking that exact action with her arm yet still managing to bang her 'birth drum'. Here, as with several other of her roles, McCarthy is more implicit to the comedy than her more famous co-stars. It shouldn't be too long now until comedic set pieces, or, actually, entire comedies revolve around her.
Take Three: Bridesmaids (2011)
First a couple of statistics: over the last thirty years, since 1980, and looking only at same-film-same-year paired lead/supporting Actress Oscar nominations, there have only been four out of thirty-one female pairings nominated for comedy roles: Hawn/Brennan in Private Benjamin; Andrews/Warren in Victor/Victoria; Griffith/Weaver (Joan Cusack also) in Working Girl; Cher/Dukakis in Moonstruck. That last pair, who both won, was in 1987 – twenty-three years ago. Time for another, don't you think? Kristen Wiig and McCarthy look like the best candidates to me. Doesn't it just feel... right that they should be nominated? I don't think "mere" Golden Globe nominations will suffice. Oscar nominations would be icing on the cake for Bridesmaids to complete its estrogen-fuelled assault on comedy cinema.
But irrespective of possible award success, McCarthy, as Megan, is splendid in the film. She's one of the essential components of the bridal-based hilarity. Her comic timing is exemplary in every scene: on the plane, leg aloft, confidently seducing a not-an-Air-Marshall-Jon (Ben Falcone, McCarthy's husband) with the 'heat from her undercarriage'; stealing nine bowed and barking party favours; sinking to new lows for comedy highs during a dress fitting accident ("don't look at me!!"); and her pitch-perfect line delivery and smartly filthy manner , particularly at the pre-wedding gathering ("I'm glad he's single 'cause I'm gonna climb that like a tree").
But there's also heart and depth to McCarthy's performance. It's in the moment when she playfully literalises the phrase 'life will bite you on the ass' by shaking Annie (Wiig) out of her moody funk, only to follow it with a funny and heart-wrenching speech about her school years and subsequent adult success. Astutely, McCarthy just about prevents her voice from breaking into tears as she delivers her lines. Taken with all her earlier moments, this seals the deal: her supporting performance is one for the ages. For any possible Oscar voters reading this *cough* McCarthyforthewin *cough*
Three more key films for the taking: White Oleander (2002), Life as We Know It (2010), Gilmore Girls (TV/2000-2007)


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CLARIN ("Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure"; www.clarin.eu) is an ESFRI initiative which aims to create an eResearch infrastructure that makes language resources (annotated audio and video recordings, text collections and corpora, lexical resources, ontologies, etc.) and tools based on language resources and language technology (speech recognizers, lemmatizers, parsers, summarizers, information extraction and text mining systems, etc.) available and readily usable to scholars of all disciplines, in particular the humanities and social sciences. It was established as an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) in February 2012. In 2013, Vetenskapsrådet (the Swedish Research Council) approved a proposal for Swedish membership in CLARIN, including a Swedish national CLARIN organization. The process of setting up SWE-CLARIN is ongoing, and it is likely that Sweden will be able to join the CLARIN ERIC during 2014.
Språkbanken is the national coordinating institute for SWE-CLARIN.
More information about SWE-CLARIN is available on the national website sweclarin.se.
Page updated: 2015-11-19 11:15


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Over the years I have slowly switched to paraban free sulphate free shampoo to avoid stripping my hair of its natural oils. I do not blow dry unless absolutely necessary like maybe 2 - 3 times year , if I do then it is usually in cold setting. I also do not use hair products or setting sprays . Over the years I have figured natural ways of curling my hair by scrunching or over conditioning if I want it straight.
I swear by coconut oil (virgin). It does wonders for your hair and skin. I use Schwarzkopf moisture kick spray to keep it moisturised during those hot summer days when hair tends to dry out in the sun.
For those who gym and feel the need to wash your hair often , give your hair plain water baths and limit shampooing to twice a week.
Organic argan oil which is readily available in the US , is my split end and dry end saviour (apart from regular split end trimming). Just a few drops applied to hair ends regularly. It is not too oily so u can go out with it.
I also use the occasional curd and lime mixture on my hair which keeps dandruff at bay.
For those who use a lot of hair products I advise the use of clarifying shampoo once a month to break down the chemical build up on hair.
Last thing is stimulating hair massages - love em.
The only chemical abuse my hair goes through is hair colour once a year - but I also try to follow it up with good hair care which includes weekly conditioning at home and weekly oil massages at the salon...
Try these tips and i am sure you will notice a remarkable difference in the quality of your hair :)
- Shalini


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I was sceptical about the benefits fitted clubs would offer, however I decided to see what a difference they could made to my game. Bruce was very professional, he had an excellent knowledge of what was on the market and which could suit me best. We looked at a range of club heads and shafts and the right fitting for me. I was very impressed and the results on the golf course are great; hitting more fairways and short game much improved. I would certainly recommend having your clubs fitted by Bruce.
Had a set of 3 Miura wedges fitted and hand made for me. WOW!!! They look absolutely great and are clearly a quality product. Based on my grip Bruce fitted them with the new Golf Pride MCC Plus 4 grips which give me much better grip and feel and add to the beauty of the wedges. They are top quality and play great. I will be back.
I first experienced Bruce's work when he replaced a driver shaft for me, which I had broken when practising. I am a left-hander and was having problems getting a hybrid that suited me and gave me confidence when I looked down at it. I went to Bruce at Optimum and we went through a thorough and detailed fitting process. The result is a hand built a Wishon 775 hybrid 3. No Hooks, No Slices. The ball is going long and straight. It looks great, gives me confidence and it has become my go to club for longer distances.
Went to Optimum Custom Golf Clubs for a putter fitting. The process was impressive, as I had never thought to have my putter fitted. I am now putting much better and with a putter that fits me. Since being fitted I have won 1 tournament and played to my par in others . Have now arranged a fitting for a set of Miuras – they look great!
I broke the original shaft in my driver. Bruce @ Optimum replaced it with a shaft that suited my swing, and had it back to me the next day all for a surprisingly reasonable cost. I am now hitting the ball longer and straighter than ever before. I couldn't ask for better service or results.


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Abelardo's Breakfast Burritos/
So I have been to Abelardo's a few times for lunch and dinner and have been impressed with the value and taste. They serve authentic mexican food like the torta, tacos, burrito, quesadillas, and enchiladas.
You'll also find great Mexican drinks like Horchata and Tamarindo. I have been wanting to visit for breakfast and try the sausage, egg, cheese, and potato burrito. Of course it was delicious and packed full. Order hungry as the burrito is quite large and impressive. So check out the many locations in the Des Moines area.
Abelardo's - 300 Grand Ave., West Des Moines, IA 50265 - (515) 274-9727
Abelardo's - 2510 Ingersoll Ave. - Des Moines, IA 50312 - (515)243-3743
Abelardo's - 5525 Mill Civic Park Way - West Des Moines, IA 50266 - (515) 440-0323
Abelardo's - 5525 Douglas Ave, Des Moines, IA - (515) 278-4749


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As I type these words I feel like Prince Charles' fingertips. Or where ever his brain is located. Is this story an answer to his question "whatever love means?" If this is love, then it makes everyone thoroughly miserable. They are fighting back the tears, digging their nails into the palm of their hand or turning their face toward a rain-soaked wall. But as an Anglo-Saxon what do I know? Maybe this is normal. [Read more…]
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS (1957/8 France)
SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959 United States)
If you've never seen it, it's going to feel like something you've seen a hundred times before. And you probably have, but it was done here first. To be successful, two guys dress up as women, and then one falls for a real woman (Marilyn Monroe) — so how does he tell her without her hating him for keeping the secret? [Read more…]
PRINCE LESTAT The Vampire Chronicles (Anne Rice)
Open this novel and you will be swept away into imagining times long ago, far away places, beautiful immortals, contemplating social, political, even scientific issues. You get to live inside the head of some truly tragic beings who somehow still find the strength to see the wonder of life all around them. [Read more…]
Belle de Jour (France 1967)
Maybe all girls dream of being a prostitute. That's a surreal thought! Moving on… the first glimpse of our main character, Séverine, occurs during a masochistic nightmare (or maybe its a welcome dream) where her husband betrays her on a coach ride through the woods. She awakens in bed, where we discover she has had dreams like this before. [Read more…]
OF HUMAN BONDAGE ( W. Somerset Maugham)
This is an amazing achievement and is rightly said to be Maugham's masterpiece. So neatly written and with such scope. The book is an account of man's hopeless entrapment in the human condition: our inextricable bond to our body, to carers and school, religion, society, lovers, and finally to our mortal end. [Read more…]
Forbidden Planet (1956 United States)
What strikes me about this film is that the settings stirs imagination in us about things we subconsciously like to experience. On repeat views I am reminded of its brilliance. Standing apart from other sci-fi films, even contemporary ones, FB evokes cosmic wonder and amazement: an other-worldly sense of adventure and exploration, far removed from Earth. [Read more…]
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES from Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov (1900 – 1986)
"There are all sorts of books which describe how to meditate and what formulas to pronounce during these meditations. I do not deny that they are beautiful, useful and effective. But there are two words which are never mentioned, words which for me are the most powerful of all, words which clarify, which harmonize, and which heal, and these words are 'thank you'. [Read more…]
DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT (1995 United States/France)
This can be quite an addictive spoof. Once is not enough. Particularly for traditional horror fans who do not find Scary Movie 4 to be worth of their time or intelligence. One of my many favourite lines is uttered by Renfield after he's been caught peeping at Lucy. Thrown into a prison cell, he pleads with his captors: "I didn't see anything! I didn't see anything!" After they close the door and leave him alone, he leers: "I… saw… everything!" [Read more…]
Mysterious Island (1961 UK/USA)
A vivid re-telling of the Jules Verne novel, with changes made necessary by the change to the medium of film. The women do not appear in the book. A love interest was necessary. Perhaps I should say a thigh interest, judging by Beth Rogan's lack of modest dress here. [Read more…]
THE NIGHT WATCH (Sarah Waters)
The story is told in three parts, starting with 1947 and finishing with 1941, so you are starting in the middle. As this novel is character driven, the book isn't about what will happen (which is what plot-driven books are all about) and tying up loose ends; Waters is concerned with what has happened.
[Read more…]


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Shadow of the chairman
Hey look, there's a bald guy in a painting over there. Actually, Tiananmen Square is the world's largest square and the People's Republic of China was proclamed here in 1949 by Mao Zedong at the Tiananmen gate which features his portrait. When he died in 1976, one million people gathered in the square and his body can be seen today on open display in the mausoleum.
[Reine at Tiananmen Square, Beijing]


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I understand a problem like this has already been asked, but I have not found an answer that makes it clear. A force is applied to a box on a table(lets ignore friction), and the box moves with some constant velocity. In this case, acceleration is equal to zero. The net force does not. How can we explain this?
$$ \sum F = F_{app} = m a $$
The acceleration $a = 0$, but $F_{app} > 0$.
Can someone clarify this for me?


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The ONE Campaign took their initial research on how donors are faring when it comes to funding the Ebola response to the next level. Today saw the release of the interactive Ebola Tracker. Here is how donor countries compare:
Sorry that it is really small. The UK comes out on top for pledged money as a percentage of GNI. Here is how the US is doing:
Go play around with it here.


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The American Chemical Society announced recently that it would begin making select articles from its archives freely available on its website:
One new peer-reviewed research article from any ACS journal will be selected to be freely available every day; the selection of these articles is based on recommendations by the scientific editors of ACS journals from around the world. As a service to the ACS global community of researchers, the articles listed below will remain open for all to access and read.
The program is called Editor's Choice, and the selected articles will be promoted and available from the ACS Publications Home Page, as well as via Facebook and other social media.
ACS Editors' Choice Home Page: http://pubs.acs.org/editorschoice/
FAQs about the ACS Editors' Choice: http://pubs.acs.org/page/policy/editorchoice/faq.html
You can also sign up to receive updates on the open access articles that will be added daily: http://acsopenaccess.org/alert-me/


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Ideas on How to Make Beautiful Easter Eggs/
Feeling creative this Easter ?
We have some great inspiration and ideas on our EGG ART board on Pinterest.
Stylish black and white patterns. from Make Room for Design
Patterns carved into eggshells from Lush Home
Some Bunny Loves You
From Ron Beck Designs
Beautiful colors with natural dyes from Just Short of Crazy
How to make vibrant colored eggs from McCormick
Hungry for more about Easter eggs?
Egg Dyeing 101 from Epicurious
Want even more Spring and Easter inspiration?
Check out our 'SOME BUNNY LOVES YOU' board for Bunny and rabbit references and inspiration.
Follow ARTOPIA MAGAZINE on Pinterest
We're famous for resources, inspiration and ideas for ARTISTS


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Checking back in with next summer's most anticipated movie, Iron Man 2, we have some new updates about War Machine, the armored battle suit worn by Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes, who will be played by Don Cheadle in the sequel, taking over the role from Iron Man's Terrence Howard.
The first update comes from Cheadle himself, talking about his performance as Rhodey/War Machine armor and hinting at how much screen time the actual armor will get. The second update comes our way via Sam Rockwell, who stars as Iron Man 2's evil mastermind industrialist Justin Hammer, the man who (we now know) will be responsible for creating the War Machine armor and sticking Rhodey in the cockpit.
Both of these updates come our way via MTV Splash Page, who have been diligent about keeping up on all things Iron Man 2.
First let's check out what Don Cheadle had to say about playing Rhodey/War Machine:
"I think the character that I play, my CGI character worked as much as I worked," he said. "The stuntman worked as much as I worked. It's a huge undertaking. It was great. It was a really different experience than I have worked on before."
And what about snagging the role from Terrance Howard - were there any hard feelings between the two actors?
"Terrence is a friend of mine...But the actual playing [of Rhodey], I just felt like it was my role. I wasn't made to feel like I had to sort of take care of what was done before. I really feel like I could make it my own."
I like what Cheadle says about his CGI and stuntman counterparts 'working as hard as he did'; it at least suggests that we're going to get some good War Machine sequences in the movie. As for the Terrence Howard thing... no offense to Howard but I think people quickly got over the re-casting "scandal" once they learned an actor the caliber of Don Cheadle was being tapped as a replacement...
Onto the interview with Sam Rockwell, from which we have this lovely video:
In case you didn't catch the vid, here's the quote you want to pay attention to:
"Don's character, Rhodey, needs to work with me. He has no choice...So we team up and we build this fabulous War Machine."
We already know from earlier reports/photos that Iron Man 2 will focus (in part) on Tony Stark's attempts to keep the Iron Man technology out of the hands of those who might misuse it (including the government), while simultaneously trying to fulfill his obligations as a newly-outed hero. An MTV interview with Don Cheadle during Comic-Con this past summer also hinted at growing friction between Tony and Rhodey, as the former sets off down his own path, while the latter has to honor his obligation to the military.
Just check out this video from that Comic-Con interview and then tell me if YOU think we'll be seeing an Iron Man vs. War Machine showdown:
Finally, some big news: Splash Page's most recent talks with Cheadle revealed that the actor will indeed have a starring role in The Avengers! Will War Machine be joining in the adventures of Captain America, Thor and Ol' Shellhead? Will he be an obstacle in their path? Either way, we're all eager to find out!
What do you think about the latest word on War Machine in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers? Are you on 'Team Cheadle' or are you still cheerleading (in vain) for 'Team Howard'?
Source: MTV Splash Page