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Is Subcomandante Marcos the next Gandhi?
"Like Gandhi in his loin cloth, Marcos and the Zapatistas who in September 2006 will follow him and fan out across the land have already pronounced that they will refuse gifts (even symbolic ones) of any kind during this upcoming marathon tour, they will not open any bank accounts, they will not be riding first-class… their vanguard, or scout, the masked Marcos, will, in a sense, live off the land… that is to say, strictly and only on the support of the simple and humble people who struggle."
The planned tour of the country will run from January 9th (2006) to June 25th, and will hit each of the Mexican states along with Mexico City. It just so happens that July 2nd is the date of the presidential elections. Could this be seen as a campaign tour?
After Marcos returns to Chiapas, unfortunately probably not as the president of the country, a second wave of Zapatistas will leave the southern state to join forces with other like minded people around the country.
"In other words, indigenous Maya – primarily of the Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolabal and Chol ethnic groups – with 22 years of experience as Zapatistas and a heritage of 514 years of experience resisting impositions from above and outside will go to the places and people throughout Mexico that their vanguard, or scout, Marcos recommends. Some of them will be going to live, work and organize for six month tours of duty, implanting themselves in communities, in the homes of real people, near workplaces, factories, farms, organizations and collectives, where thousands upon thousands of other Mexicans will be able to observe and collaborate, up close, with Zapatista organizing techniques and other ways of being."
The next year or so in Mexico should get very interesting. With the leftist, Lopez Obrador in the running for president, and now Marcos and the Zapatistas making a concerted effort to reach out to the rest of the country, changes may very well be afoot.
Good News from South America...
Hunger Strike...
Thursday, September 15th, 2005
Hunger Strike Grows at Guantánamo Prison
Washington, Sep 15 (Prensa Latina) Dozens of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, a Cuban territory illegally occupied by the US, have joined a hunger strike, bringing the number refusing food to 128.
Eighteen prisoners have been hospitalized, including 13 who are being tube-fed.
According to their lawyers, in the latest of a series of hunger strikes since 2002 by detainees, as many as 200 prisoners were involved in the protest, demanding release or immediate trial.
Many of the inmates have been held without charge for more than three years. The Guantanamo prison holds about 500 prisoners from nearly 40 countries.
The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which has provided lawyers for many detainees, says some prisoners have threatened to starve to death unless they are put on trial or released.
The CCR has also claimed that at least three detainees were abused by the military's Extreme Reaction Force.
"rebuilding" = lining big corporate pockets
The corporate elite of America and the West are really making a push to make their version of reality the prevailing one around the world. It looks like New Orleans is headed towards gentrified bliss while the poor will get to move into beautiful new public trailer parks. You gotta love it.
Kill 'em All...
"Lt. Gen. Steven Blum of the National Guard said 7,000 National Guardsmen arriving in Louisiana on Friday would be dedicated to restoring order in New Orleans. He said half of them had just returned from assignments overseas and are "highly proficient in the use of lethal force." He pledged to "put down" the violence "in a quick and efficient manner.'"
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco called the looters "hoodlums" and issued a warning to lawbreakers: Hundreds of National Guardsmen hardened on the battlefield in Iraq have landed in New Orleans.
Like I mentioned in my previous post, it's nice to see such concern for the poor, sick, and elderly of New Orleans. Treat them like criminals for not succeeding in the corrupt capitalist American Consumer Culture.


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The Presentation of Our Lord
The Presentation of Our Lord
February 2
Luke 2:22-40
40 days after his birth, Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem.
This digital package includes large JPG, PNG, and TIF files. After purchasing the artwork, an email will be sent to you with a link that allows you to download the art onto your computer.

subset: commoncrawl


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Blog suicide
This is how fed up I am with all the silly games bloggers play. I am " " this close to pulling the plug. Seriously. Only trouble is, if I go, so does everything else. Do you want this site or not? If anyone wants it, write me or whatever, I'll leave it up for you, then I'm pissing off.
Should I count to ten before posting this? Or just post and be damned.
Emend; The blog stays then, thanks for writing. Apologies if anyone sincere was offended. Patience has a limit.


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It started as one blogger's challenge to write every day for 31 days one October. Faithfully, she added post after post to meet her challenge.
But, realizing how lonely it was to blog alone, Myquillyn Smith (The Nester) invited a few friends to join her the next year. And just like that, a habit was formed.
Today, the challenge is open to bloggers everywhere. A new post. Every Day. For 31 days. Easy, right? Here's the catch: all posts have to be on the same topic.
Exciting? Yes. The thought of digging into one topic for 31 days is exhilarating. Just think of how much you would have learnt at the end of that time!
Scary? Definitely. The idea of writing every day for 31 days is nail-biting, heart-pounding, knee-shaking scary. But.
If I never did the 31 day challenge, nothing dramatic would happen. The earth will not stop spinning. The stars will continue to shine. Everything will be as it was and should be.
But. If I do this challenge …
This challenge is for you too. Accept the challenge to write for the 31 days of October. Don't have a blog? That's okay. Write in your journal or a notebook.
Or this could be the opportunity you've been waiting for to start the blog you always wanted.
Scared? I know. But, if we never leave our comfort zones, how will we know what we're capable of?
So, here I am. Three days from the start of the month. Accepting the challenge to write (and post) every day this October.
I hope you'll join me as I explore the topic: 31 Days on Marriage in the Bible. We will spend October pulling out the lessons on marriage that are found in God's word.


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California's housing crunch is exacerbating a public health crisis -- a deadly hepatitis A outbreak among the homeless - The Washington Post
How is San Diego facing the challenges of Homelessness and Hepatitis A ?
Forum for Homelessness
The Outbreak of Hepatitis A
How to help the Homeless . Donate
AHF Offers Free Hepatitis A Vaccinations . San Diego County
Your Local Health Department provides information about Hep A vaccinations. The free program is funded by the Federal Government via emergency funds through your local and/or state Dept of Health


text: Peer reviewing is one of the core processes of science. While the typical blind system helps to improve original submissions, there are opportunities for academic publishing to learn from open source practices (commits, bug reports, feature requests, documentation, etc.), which are entirely open and done in public view. But beyond, with greater significance, peer reviewing offers a good opportunity to illustrate how the characteristics of the open source model can favor simultaneously the acknowledgment of programming efforts, a high quality evaluation standard, but also reproducibility and transparency. Code has to be considered as a full research object in geospatial development. It should be made available in full and examined as part of any contribution, like the article going with it. A good example is the Journal of Statistical Software. Created in 1996, it publishes articles and code on statistics and algorithms. The contents are freely available on-line, code snippets and source code being published along with the paper. An advantage of this approach is to prevent the propagation of "black boxes". The approach clearly also adds value to code by acknowledging programming efforts as scientific contributions. But publishing code along with a paper also results in the ability of subsequent research projects to build on this basis. This ability is even becoming a requirement for publicly funded research projects. In addition, we may notice that code malleability provides the researcher with the opportunity to adapt the software to the scientific questions, instead of being constrained by the limiting functionalities of the software. As regards education, there are two key freedoms inherent to open source software and practices that offer potential pedagogical wins for geospatial education. First, "free as in beer" allows students to indefinitely install software on computers without license limitations. A consequence of this unconstrained context is a greater degree of exploration and discovery by the students working by themselves and at their own pace. But there is still a long way to go before all the benefits are fully realized. Indeed, current demands and offerings are focusing on "buttonology", which consists of learning how to use tools constrained by software licenses carefully negotiated over the years by universities. It raises then some important questions regarding the role of geospatial education. Is it not to train students to equip them with the skill sets and knowledge so that they are ready for, and can create, the future geospatial labor market? Therein, we can consider the second freedom, "free as in speech," as able to empower the students by revealing the logic of particular algorithms and computational concepts. Open source code—as text—is available for reading, manipulating, and understanding. The expected advantage is that students' engagement with fundamental concepts is deepened in a way that is per se not possible with closed source software. In other words, students come to see geospatial methods not only as tools they can use in their own research, but as possible subjects for research.


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The Elgin County OGS Research Team has an exceptional amount of available information which is not online for your family tree research for members & non members alike. Visit the Elgin County Website for details at www.elginogs.ca
The Elgin County OGS Website makes research at a distance very easy for searchers by providing a multitude of free online searchable documents.
Elgin OGS members have the ability to post their search requests on the website or through the Talbot Times. Visit the Elgin OGS website for details on search requests.
The Talbot Times Newsletter & Talbot Times tidbits also seeks family history articles, Elgin County history to publish and send out to members. The majority of the membership is at a distance which also affords a vast research pool in it's own right. Visit the Elgin OGS website to find back issues of the Talbot Times which contain valuable information.
The Elgin County Blog will post valuable information which becomes available between meetings & newsletter publications. If you have an article you would like published send it to for publication at email@example.com
Monday, December 30, 2013
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WADE CREEK HOUSE ANTIQUES opened in 2007. Located in an old 1940's home, we have expanded many times so there are many areas for you to browse. Located on an acre in Estacada, Oregon, your children can visit with our chickens (yes, we sell eggs) as you look around.
We are much more than an antiques store. We host community fundraisers, have two OUTDOOR VINTAGE MARKETS every summer and hold classes and workshops throughout the year. You can find details BELOW.
OUR VENDORS LOVE TO SHOP FOR YOU. They specialize in old, rusty, antique, primitive, vintage, recycled, revived, repurposed, salvaged, scavenged, chippy, farm, collectibles, indoor and outdoor décor. Come and see what they have found for you!!
SUMMER HOURS April - OctoberMonday - Saturday 10a - 6p and Sunday 11a - 5p
WINTER HOURS - November - March
Monday - Saturday 10a - 5p and SUNDAY 11a - 5p.
Monday - Saturday 10a - 5p and SUNDAY 11a - 5p.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Our monthly newsletter
was emailed tonight. Are you on our mailing list? The newsletter lets you know what is going on and keeps you in the loop.... our classes, fundraisers, markets, and events. To get on the email list, find our Newsletter Sign Up on this blog in the right column. This is not viewible on your phone. or you can stop by, call, or message me through our Facebook page.....
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Amyris Biotechnologies today announced new additions to their Board of Directors, all of whom are formerly associated with BP. As I have suggested before, Amyris is presently the company to watch in the race for direct microbial production of biofuels (see "The Need for Biofuels Produced Using Synthetic Biology").
Note that, in the "About Amyris Biotechnologies" blurb at the end of the release, biofuels now dominate the stated goals of the company. I wonder if this might eventually squeeze out the original focus on inexpensive malaria drugs:
Amyris Biotechnologies (www.amyrisbiotech.com) combines break-through technology and unique insights in the transportation fuels sector to bring environmentally friendly fuels to market. Amyris believes its microbial technology will allow it to reduce the production cost of artemisinin-based anti-malarial treatment to a fraction of its current cost. Amyris is leveraging its technology platform to provide a cost-competitive bio-gasoline, a bio-diesel, and a bio-jet solution that works in current engines and distribution infrastructure without compromising fuel performance. All Amyris biofuels are designed to provide consumers and end users uncompromising alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. Amyris is a privately-held venture-backed company whose investors include Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), and TPG Ventures.


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Do you remember the episode of 'Friends' when Rachel cooks Thanksgiving trifle and accidentally puts in beef sautéed with peas and onions? Everyone hates it but Joey's like 'Jam? Good. Onions? Good. Beef? Goooood.' This recipe worked out like that moment, except for the fact that all of it was intentional and all ingredients were savoury, I just didn't know how it would turn out…
Anyway, this was my first time cooking Pollock, and the first time I've eaten it in a very, very long time, and happily, its natural smokey taste worked brilliantly with the chorizo and kidney beans. If you would rather use a different fish I believe haddock would work very well, as although being a slightly more meaty fish, its pungent taste would work compliment the chorizo.
– 2 fillets of pollock (lieu noir)
– 400g kidney beans, washed
– 10 slices chorizo
– 1/2 sliced white onion
– 1 green birsdeye chilli, finely chopped, seeds left in tact.
– 100g chopped green beans
– 1 red pepper, roughly diced
– 1 crushed garlic clove
– 2 ripe beef tomatoes, diced
– Small handful of curl-leaf parsley, torn (I wasn't expecting it to work with the chorizo but it really did!)
– On a high heat, cook the chorizo for 1-2 minutes before adding the garlic, pepper and onion until softened.
– Turn the heat down to a low-medium heat before adding the kidney beans and tomatoes, stir until they turn into a pulp.
– Add the green beans, stir and leave to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
– Add the pollock and season with beaucoup de freshly cracked black pepper and organic sea salt, leave for a further 5 minutes.
– As you're stirring, break the pollock into chunks but be careful that the chunks don't get too small.
– Ladel onto plates or into bowls, garnish with parsley and tuck in.


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¡buenos dias, barcelona!
Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of the next trip!
$2,995 - Flights from LAX included ($1,000 deposit to reserve)
A 7-day getaway to our FAVORITE city in the world and the Costa Brava!
Join us in the city that started our love of travel AND Coast to Costa, itself. We will be bringing you on a 7 day long fiesta filled with all things Spanish: vino, tapas, discotecas, siestas, Dali, shopping, dancing....did we mention tapas?? Not only will we be living it up in our beautiful home in Barcelona but we will be taking a two day road trip to the Costa Brava and staying in Dali's seaside town of Cadaquéz!
Price Includes:
Roundtrip flights from LAX (We can accommodate other cities, please contact us for the rate.)
Breakfast daily
Transportation from the airport & private van service to the Penedes wine region, Figueres, and Cadaques
Five night stay in the chic neighborhood of Eixample in central Barcelona just steps from the best shops, bars, and restaurants
Two nights in Cadaques, the seaside town that was home to Dali
Entrance to Salvador Dali's house and museum
Three private wine tours and tastings in RIDICULOUSLY, beautiful wineries (One is a national park that we access via Jeep)
Personal translator
*All rooms are double occupancy unless single occupancy is requested at an additional fee
Price does not include:
Most lunches/dinner (typically $10-20 per meal including drinks), beer and cocktails
Tips for our on-the-ground team
Travel insurance - we've partnered with Wanderwell for all your travel insurance needs. At least one percent of your insurance purchase price will be given to TreePeople, a 1% for the Planet nonprofit verified to be making a positive environmental impact,
What we do!
Explore the city...
In Barcelona, we will wander in and out of the best shops, restaurants and galleries in the city. We will take our time and enjoy all of the architecture and plazas along the way. Time moves slower here...and so do we!
Some serious food.
We will be eating our way through the regions top culinary delights. From roasted incredible standing room only tapas in Barcelona to freshly caught seafood on the Coasta Brava, Spain WINS the food game.
Two day Dali road trip
We will be taking a private van up to Dali's hometown of Figueres to see his home and museum before heading for two nights to the gorgeous seaside village of Cadaqués.
Gaudi's Barcelona
Check out some of Guadi's interestingly beautiful architecture throughout the city like Park Güell and the Sagrada Familia
Meet the winemakers
After years of working in the restaurant AND travel business, we have made friends with some of the best winemakers in the region. We will be touring three award winning organic wineries...do they drive you through a national park in jeeps while drinking wine, you may ask. Why, YES, they do!


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Q: I was brought up Christian and went to a Catholic school for many years. There were many things I disagreed with growing up. When it was time to marry, I married a Muslim man. This opened up a whole new world to me. I am trying to learn as much as I can about Islam. Recently I started praying. Still there are so many questions I need answered. As a Muslim I need to pray 5 times a day Christians however pray differently. So since Christians pray another way does this mean they are any less? Muslim believe that Allah wants you to do all of these things such as pray 5 times a day, wear a hijab, eat only halal meat, and so on. So Christians do not do these things. What will happen to Christians on the judgment day? How do I really know what Allah wants me to do in order to be strong, spiritually?
A: What may happen to Muslims or non-Muslims, we believe that Islam is the final and the most comprehensive message of God to humanity. Everybody is invited to study this religion, and nobody should be compelled to accept it. The best way to learn is to read books, look at the right web sites, talk to scholars, and associate with Muslim communities, and so forth. Certainly prayer is a powerful path towards spiritual strength.
Q: I am a Caucasian female who has in the past year discovered Islam. I'm almost addicted to learning what I can about the religion. I've never understood, respected, or admired any other religion as much as I do Islam. A Muslim coworker opened my eyes to it. He would speak about religious or spiritual matters with me just as small talk and he was always impressed by my feedback. He finally told me one day that my ideas and view on life are "so Islamic". I had never been told this before and since I only knew of the Islam that which was broadcast in the American media I had to do research of my own on Islam. I bought a book simply titled "Understanding Islam". I was very shocked at how much I agreed with and understood. He was right. The natural ideas I have thought were all my own and my own view of life were all in this book! Anyway, months later we got married! My next step is to convert. I just have to overcome this fear of society judging me when they see a white, blonde-haired, blue eyed girl wearing a hijab. Also, my family would eventually accept it but not easily. I have not yet gained the courage to wear the hijab. I'm 27 years old, brought up in this materialistic environment. Anyway, before I convert I would like to be fully educated on Islam. I want to learn how to pray and I of course would like the guidance of a muslimah. Can you help me?
A: It is a tremendous blessing to make a friend who has true faith in God. The bond of faith is an excellent reason to get married. Congratulations for this wonderful realization! From what I read, you are already a Muslim. What is left is simply a declaration of faith. There are many things you can read, but the best way to learn about prayer is to join the group prayers, especially the one on Fridays. During the Friday prayer, we at the Islamic Hose of Wisdom not only do the prayer but have a sermon about moral, social and political issues in our society. If you are close by, you are welcome to participate. You must wear the hijab to perform the prayers, and then gradually adjust yourself with the hijab. The first step is to project a modest serious image by keeping your legs covered and your eyes lowered. As a new Muslim whose former social support network may now be shaky, you should learn about Islam without alienating your family. Wearing hijab step by step may reduce your family backfire. Take it slowly. Practice wearing a scarf outside on rainy or windy days would be the best start.
Q: I know we Muslims get judged by our good and bad deeds and we have the Holy Quran, but my question is, will Christians and people from other religions all go to hell because they are not following the right path, and they don't know about our religion?
A: Islam doesn't teach an exclusive doctrine. There is no such thing as chosen people in Islam, nor the doctrine of Vicarious Atonement (that is, to believe that those who lived before the death of Christ are in a bad shape before the Throne of God.) Islam's beliefs about the other faith communities is mentioned in Chapter Baghara, 2:62. " Those who believe in the Quran and those who follow the Jewish scriptures and the Christian and the Sabians, any who believe in Allah and the Last Day and work righteousness, shall have reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve." Allah knows best which individuals have true faith.
Q: I embraced Islam when I was in the US Army in Saudi Arabia in 1995. I got out of the Army and currently lie in Europe and work for the US Army as a civilian. When I accepted Islam, despite several hard times, I still believed and practiced. Slowly but surely, by the Grace of Allah, I was able to learn a lot, had a circle of good Muslims around me, and even though I had problems and trials of this life, I was happy and at peace. Then after sometime, I got married to a Muslima. To make a long story short, I had to divorce her because no matter what we tried we could never see eye to eye and several other reasons. Also, from the start of my marriage my faith started to fade slowly. Due to the fact that I am an American and most brothers at the mosque I attend are Arabs, I was getting criticized because of my divorce and because I am American. I would try to just be patient in that situation, pray, and ask Allah for guidance. Even though I tried everything I could to build my faith, I was fading back into my old self. I slowly started to fade from being with brothers because it seemed as if no one wanted to associate with me. I slowly stopped praying, stopped going to Jummah, and then slowly my faith faded. I realize that only Allah knows the heart of a believer or disbeliever no matter what, I couldn't seem to get my faith back. I think that my heart was dying and began to go back to my old ways before Islam. I got the total negative belief that Allah didn't want me in the Deen and I started to give up. This led me only to a road of serious social, economic, and mental problems. I don't sleep very much, I don't like my existence, and I reached a point of total negativity that I even now doubt that my sins would ever be forgiven, that " I am going to hell anyway". All my life, I've been told by one person or another that I would be nothing ....ranging from my parents, teachers, fellow soldiers, my ex-wife, and even more painfully, my brothers in Islam. The fact that people told me this used to motivate me to try harder at anything I did until I heard it from Muslims. Now I have very little motivation and have been just going through the motions of life for a few years now. Going to work at a job I hate, working for people that are ruthless and cold-hearted, and (worst of all things) not living for the sake of Allah. Even though I was a soldier and I work for the Government, I never had the desire to do this. I joined the Army due to the situation at the time. I was one of the top 5% of US students when I graduated from high school and could not go to school due to the lack of money. Even though I am no longer part of the Army as a soldier, I do work for them. This also was a major factor in my downfall. I no longer have the desire to work for the Government because I feel that my life is passing me. I always had the goal of getting my Ph.D. and starting my own business. After I accepted Islam, I wanted the same goal but to use it to help brothers all over the world to empower themselves. Now it's just a dream. After 9/11, I started to really search my soul. I realize that my belief in Allah is still there but very limited. I see that Allah has power over everything and that there is a difference between Islam and Muslims. My questions are: After reading in the Qu'ran that once you accept the faith and turn from it that Allah will give those people the punishment of this life and the next. How in my situation do I repent? Is a sin to seek professional help? I ask this one because I've been told that it's never good for a Muslim to seek it and I never have. Can you explain the true meaning of fate to me? Last and hardest, is there any way that I can get my faith back in Allah and myself?
A: Dear Brother, your faith is dwindling because you are trying to become someone you are not. You are a Muslim because Allah chose you as a Muslim. The Quran says Allah wants to forgive you time and time again. There are a lot of people in the world who don't want to see you succeed. They are not your friends. In some cases you will have to persevere alone. But everything comes from Allah. If your job is making you depressed quit. Ask Allah to help you find an alternate source of livelihood. Allah didn't take you this far to let you down. Sometimes a person has to hit rock bottom in order to bounce back. It is time for you to ask Allah with total honesty for what you really want. So don't act too religious. But never doubt that you are Muslim. Be true to yourself, so Allah can send you the person who is right for you, and together you can journey on the path.
Q: Is eel (a kind of fish) halal or haram? Also, please explain the criteria for the seafood to decide whether it is halal or haram.
A: Concerning sea animals, only the fish that have scales are permissible for food. It is not necessary to have complete scales, but at least a few. There are books that have instructions on what types of fish have scales and are halal.
Q: I recently broke up with my non-Muslim girlfriend because she did not want to observe the basic Islamic Modesty regarding dress (I am not talking about headscarf). I wanted her to wear long-sleeve shirts and pants, but she refused, saying it would be too much for her, especially in the summer. She did not like my interference in her way of life. She had agreed to nominally convert to Islam after marriage, but was finding it difficult to understand why she should change her lifestyle to bring it closer to an Islamic one. Please let me know if I should make any efforts to patch up with her, hoping that she may change sometime in the future (although there is always the chance that she may not change).
A: Allah says in the Quran "Invite all to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious." (16:125). Keep talking to her if there is any hope of improving her knowledge about Islam. Help her to become more modest and understanding about Islam.
Q: Many scholars today say that preaching [da'wah] to non-Muslims using their Bible is haram. That this is not the method of the holy Prophet. But on the other hand we find this method of to be so fruitful and so many Christians are embracing Islam through it. What do you say?
A: How can it be haram, while the Quran itself argues with the People of the Book [Ahlol ketab] and mentions certain verses from the Bible and Torah to prove certain points?


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JCI akan menyelenggarakan Public Speaking Championship. Acara ini akan digelar Sabtu (24/4). Peserta dapat memilih salah satu tema berikut ini:
- The global struggle for survival is not natural, but man-made, and can be eradicated.
- Sustainable development begins with individuals taking action, starting with the implementation of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.
- Improving sanitation does more to increase the human life span than any type of medication or medical procedure.
- Responsible production and consumption is an obligation of businesses and individuals in order to advance global development
- Discrimination, poverty and lack of equal opportunities for all citizens restrict economic growth.
- Peace will only be achieved when those who believe its possible take action to create peaceful communities
- The best solution to the global refugee and migrant crisis is not to stop it, but to develop a long-term integration strategy so that immigrants strengthen the local economy and society.


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Tuesday, November 1, 2011
#NaNoWriMo KickOff and Update
Especially since the month of October ate me up. Work's a little insane, meaning I've had to bring projects home over the weekend and work on things in the evenings, too. I work for a small, academic publisher, and we're gearing up for a conference that starts in about 2 weeks. So now's the last push to get these projects finished and printed before the conference. Which means overtime. Which means more money, sure, but it also means less writing time.
My hope is to make it through to about the 15th or so, then attempt to reenter the blogging community. I think it's possible.
In the meantime, I'll be NaNo-ing again. Starting at about the time this blog post goes up. If you'd like to add me as your buddy on the NaNo site, my user ID is Rosie-C.
Good luck with NaNo this year, everyone. I'll see you soon :)
6 comments:
- Wendy G. Ewurum: Blog Author said...
I'm so intimidated by this whole NaNo thing Rosie. You are very brave and so are the other writers
- November 1, 2011 at 8:36 AM
- Hart Johnson said...
Good luck with your work deadlines and NaNo! We will see you on the other side for blogging!
- November 1, 2011 at 9:14 AM
- Robin Weeks said...
I just added you as a buddy. This is my first year and I'm so excited!
- November 1, 2011 at 8:39 PM
- Carol Riggs said...
Good luck!!! Write those fingers off, girl!!! And don't forget to have fun while you're at it. :)
- November 2, 2011 at 2:36 PM
- LTM said...
Hey, welcome back, honay! And good luck with NaNo! Don't overload yourself, now~ <3
- November 3, 2011 at 10:20 AM
- Theresa Milstein said...
Good luck with NaNoWriMo. I'm cheering you on!
- November 3, 2011 at 2:07 PM
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Laura Robson was among several top players not to have been given an out-of-competition drugs test by the International Tennis Federation last year, it has emerged.
Robson, who became the first British woman for 15 years to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2013 and secured a career-high ranking of 27, was tested between four and six times by the ITF during tournaments but not once under its whereabouts or surprise-testing programmes.
The news may come as a surprise to many following calls from the likes of Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for more rigorous testing in tennis.
Men's world No 7 Juan Martin Del Potro and women's world No 8 Jelena Jankovic were also not tested by the ITF out of competition, according to figures it released on tests conducted on individual players.
Those figures show Murray, Djokovic and Serena Williams were tested between four and six times out of competition, while Federer and Rafael Nadal were tested seven or more times each.
Robson, Del Potro, who won four titles last year, and Jankovic, who broke back into the world top 10, could have been tested out of competition by their countries' national anti-doping organisations.
It is also highly unlikely the ITF made no attempt to test them outside of tournaments. Had it tried to do so during the one-hour period in which players are obliged to make themselves available for testing every day, their failure to attend would be classed as a missed test. Three missed tests in an 18-month period would result in disciplinary action.
Had the ITF attempted to surprise the players with a test outside of this one-hour window, that would not be classed as a missed test. There is no suggestion any of the three players have a 'missed test' on their records.
The information released on tests conducted on individual players followed February's publication of the ITF's overall figures for blood and urine tests in 2013.
Those showed a huge increase in the number of blood tests, particularly out of competition, which shot up from 63 in 2012 to 449 as the ITF began to implement a biological passport programme among its biggest stars.
Dr Stuart Miller, of the ITF, who oversees tennis's anti-doping programme, on Tuesday night explained the figures published on individual players.
He said: "There are always going to be outliers in testing numbers. That's how distributions work. There are lots of players with average numbers, there are some with extremely high numbers, there are some relatively low numbers.
"There are also times where we try to test players, particularly out of competition, and those missions are unsuccessful. That would account for some of the discrepancies that might be noteworthy on the whole list."


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Beautifully handmade contemporary jewellery made especially for you.
See what my clients have to say ….
"Can I just say how over the moon I am with this lovely ring! It was commissioned as a birthday present for me and Chloe did an amazing job with the whole thing – right from helping to choose the emerald to re-sizing it to sending me the finished article. It looks even better than the photo! I can't thank you enough and am already thinking about the next one!" … PB, London, UK


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The conversation about lack of diversity in gaming is one that will not cease until women and men of color see themselves in video games that speak to them. Diversity is not some odd notion or an anomaly in the real world, however in the tech industry, there still lies a great deal of disparity between whites and people of color on the development side of gaming.
The website Black Game Developers is working to change that. Created by Catt Small, Arthur Ward Jr. and Chris Algoo, the site was launched after they were tired of getting bitter criticism and push back from white developers who turned a blind eye to their concerns for diversity and its lack thereof.
Cat Small says, "We just got tired of people being negative about diversity in games without actually highlighting the work of Black game developers. We were also tired of seeing people telling others to 'make your own game' or asking them to 'name 5 X black game developers'."
Jamie: What is blackgamedevs.com?
Arthur: It's a site made to try to find and list Black game developers so that we hopefully boost awareness and promote their work.
Catt: BlackGameDevs.com is an alphabetized, open-source list of Black game developers, artists, audio makers, and companies.
Chris: Blackgamedevs.com is a growing list highlighting Black game developers and Black-owned game companies.
Jamie: Who created blackgamedevs.com and why?
Arthur: Along with Catt and Chris, we created the site since we often hear the question: "Can anyone name any Black game developers?" and to be honest, I can't name as many as I'd like to have off hand which reinforced the idea that yeah, there's a representation problem. So here's a list where we can see their work, and ultimately support that work ideally.
Catt: Chris, Arthur, and I created the site after witnessing a lot of frustration about the lack of diversity in games as well as game development. People often talk about the problem, but we wanted to give people a way to actually start supporting diversity. The list serves to help people find Black game developers to support. Many of the people listed have games for sale as well as Patreons.
The other reason we created the list was to to show that NUMEROUS Black game developers exist. There may not be nearly as many Black developers as there are developers from other racial groups, but there are some. I think Chris, Arthur, and I were all tired of hearing others say people of color aren't interested in game development and that if we want change in games, we should make our own. We're already doing so!
Chris: Catt, Arthur and I created this list. The huge influx of hate on the #GamesSoWhite hashtag was definitely a big push, at least for me. In a broader sense, we're all game developers and we're all gamers. We are very aware that game creators are often white men, and create games based on their own experience. We'd like to see more creators and more games that pull from a deeper well of stories.
Jamie: What do you expect to get out of this website?
Arthur: More visibility for Black game developers. We say we want diversity in games which is nice, but priority for me is to see an increase in diversity of content creators. The real solution to the diversity issue is to get more diverse creators into positions that they can have creative agency in. Diversifying content is nice yes, but it'd be nice if it was based on the experiences and such of the creators rather than secondhand where someone does research in order to write a character and such… If you check out that list, you'll see that many are creating a variety of games that have a different cast of characters than you're used to seeing from the big devs. Ideally, I'd hope that supporting the work of black devs such as these, it'll help provide motivation to continue and grow as well as sustainability.
Catt: I expect people to use the website as a gateway to discover amazing Black creators of games. I also hope people who argue that Black people don't want to make games will realize that we are here, working hard to do our thing.
Chris: For one thing, there's now an easy URL if anyone wants to find a black game dev. We also want to highlight and celebrate these developers, and let other developers of color know that there are others like them out there.
Jamie: Why do you believe there has been such a negative reaction towards the outcry of diversity in gaming?
Arthur: I don't know honestly… To me all I see is diversity in games doing is adding more content and not removing existing content. All I see are more stories being told, and cultural knowledge, lore and experience being shared. I'm guessing they're afraid of losing what's already there, which won't be the case. I grew up in very diverse areas, from school till now, and have seen and interacted with people from all over the world, so being against diversity is such a foreign concept to me that I can't understand.
Catt: People are used to certain kinds of games – their games – and now others are asking for change. Change is scary, and I'm sure the people who are pushing back don't understand why representation is important. Some of them have always been represented and others just adapted to dealing with the lack of representation.
Many people probably think we should just deal with the way things are, but I don't think we should if games are to mature. It's not like there won't still be "traditional" kinds of games and games with White male protagonists. We'll also have lots of new games, and overall the hope is that more people will enjoy games. But again, change can be terrifying, and I have a feeling much of the resistance is out of fear.
Chris: Privilege. The people who have been represented throughout gaming and the game industry are noticing that other people want a seat at the table, and this makes them uncomfortable. Combined with people's tendency to behave online in ways they never would in person, you have a huge amount of hate.
Jamie: What can we do as people of color to support MORE Black game developers?
Arthur: Support. Encouragement. Amplification. Daily you'll see people pointing out bigotry, racism and lack of diversity and that's important. However it's equally if not more important to celebrate the work that Black developers are doing. Make sure they know you see them. Make them feel wanted. Encourage them to continue working on things. Think about time as a currency. Who are you spending it the most on?
Catt: Please buy games made by Black game developers! Support them on Patreon. Share their work. Show the world that they exist and are working to change games by making their own.
Chris: Fortunately, there are quite a few things! You can find Black-developed games (perhaps via our handy list), play them and share them. If you need a new member for your studio, you can look to hire a Black game developer. You can also encourage new developers via mentorship, encouragement and events such as game jams.
Jamie: Any suggestions for Black gamers that are interested in getting started in development as to what they should do?
Arthur: Just get started. I like to point to lists such as http://ludumdare.com/compo/tools/ or http://www.pixelprospector.com/the-big-list-of-game-making-tools/. Checkout some of those tools. Find something you like using and use it to make something. Make anything. Make a tool if you want. You might outgrow your tool after a while, but at that point, you'll know what you'll be looking for in an engine, audio too, etc. Getting started is so important. You can't make something if you don't make anything. It looks hard, and it is! However if you start small and gradually build bigger and bigger (or stay small, that's perfectly fine too!) you'll find it easier and easier to make certain things, however you'll probably want to do things more complex, and it'll be tough. But remember, what you find easy now used to be difficult. Keep trying, you'll get it.
Catt: Start making small games. Your huge ideas will probably be too complex to make when you start out, so write those down and stow them away for a few years. The first few games you make will probably be bad, but the point is to just make things. After a few games, you'll start to improve.
Chris: Start small, and start easy. Use a tool like Construct 2 that lets you get off the ground in an hour, and make games that you can complete in short time periods like a week. And share them with people! Once you feel up to it, you can join a game jam, which will be an intense but satisfying experience that will leave you with a finished game. One more thing – your first few projects won't be as good as you like. That's ok! You're still learning. Being comfortable in that awkward phase is hugely important to getting better.
Jamie: What do you hope people will take away from checking out this site as a resource?
Arthur: You are not alone. There are more like you out there. In fact, add yourself to the list. Together we can make things better.
Catt: I hope they'll understand that Black people are making games. I also hope the site will encourage more Black people to get into game development. I used to feel very alone as a Black female game maker, but the list helped me feel a lot better!
Chris: We hope that game developers of color will know that there are lots of others like them, in all positions of the industry. We hope this will inspire them and lead them to create great things!


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+ When : Saturday, October 27th, 2018 (from 21:30 to 04:00)
+ Where : SUD @ Basel, Switzerland (Burgweg 7, 4058 Basel)
+ What : Cabaret Bizarre (dark cabaret show and dresscode party with Frank Sanazi, Vendetta Vain, Chris Lynam, Mish Madisch, Chris Oh!, Glü Wür, Divine Putain, DJ Miss B'Havin', Blake, Lord Nevermore, Fabrice Noir)
+ How much: 39 chf if you buy your ticket online HERE , 45 chf at the door!
The empire is slowly resurging with power that no one can stop
The emperor duly emerging, reclaiming his place at the top
The lowly are bowing before him
The mighty are destined to fall
Come take your place and adore him
There's a place in his heart for us all
On stage:
Frank Sanazi (London)
The ultimate master of ceremonies... he'll bring a nation to its knees but an audience to the very edge of ecstasy.
Vendetta Vain (Edinburgh)
Vanity meets insanity as levity battles gravity. Your hearts will be in your mouths as your jaws hit the floor.
Chris Lynam (London)
There is no great genius without a touch of madness. If measured by his madness, his genius knows no bounds.
Mish Madish (Zurich)
Behind every man lies a great woman... behold our Empress, primed to undress and impress.
Chris Oh! (Auckland, New Zealand)
When night falls another empire springs to life whose master demands the ultimate sacrifice.
Glü Wür (Barcelona)
The body politic is bound together by a kinetic sculptress whose knots are not to be messed with.
Divine Putain (Strasbourg)
In the underbelly of the empire a noble savage crawls through the darkest corners of his twisted mind.
DJane Miss B-havin' (Dark Diamonds)
Blake (Noir Bizarre)
DJ Lord Nevermore (Freaks Syndicate)
Fabrice Noir (Noir Bizarre)
For further information:
Doors: 21:30 h
Shows will start at 23:00 h
Explore your imagination and challenge reality.
Use the power of divination to choose your transformation.
Pick your card! The Emperor, The Empress, The World, The Judge, Strength, Bateleur, High Priestess, Pope, Hierophant, Charity, Justice, Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Fool, Maison Dieu, Star, Moon, Sun, World,… MAGICK !!!
and then...dark cabaret, occultist, aleister crowley, rubber, fetish, clowns, weimar berlin, the golden age, venus in furs, boudoir, gothic, weird dreams, militia, black magic, 1920's, 1930's, fate….
General rules:
Full Fantasy Costumes Only! No Cheesy & Cheap Fancy Dresses! Absolutely NO street wear! No Sneakers!
The decision at the door is final! No exceptions!
Enforced dress code: the management reserves the right to refuse entry!
PLEASE MAKE AN EFFORT OR STAY AT HOME! 18+ only !
Illustration and artwork: Shaltmira
Lyrics: Des O'Connor


text: Hooray! I'm a BritMums blogger of the week! I'm dancing around like a lunatic right now! Thank you so much BritMums!Check out their brilliant website and their very lovely post about my little blog here! Blog Bits & BobsLucy Heath1 June 20123 Comments Facebook0 Twitter LinkedIn0 StumbleUpon Reddit Tumblr 0 Likes


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Guest Post: June 26th Share
When I got to the farm last Wednesday, the clouds had just parted after a major rainfall. A huge puddle, the size of a miniature pond, had formed in the driveway. Given the weather we've had since then I'll bet that pond's grown, and then some!
Not such great weather for strawberries, which were on their way out when I spoke to Marisa that day. Ah, the fleeting fruits of summer. I've read some pretty fun-sounding recipes for fancy jams and preserves this week (Pickled Strawberry Jam whaa?), but ultimately I prefer my berries one at a time, shared with someone I love.
June 26th Share:
Baby Bok Choy
Garlic scapes
Kohlrabi (with greens)
Mustard greens
Sugar Snap and Snow Peas (green and yellow!)
So what did we do with our share?
The food coming out of our kitchen has been super simple as of late. Whether it's the weather, or just the freshness of the ingredients, I've been craving super-simple combinations. Easy on the budget, and the dishes too!
Have I mentioned how much I love greens? I do. I eat them daily, and my favorite might be greens and eggs for breakfast. I've done this with the mustard greens, kohlrabi tops and bok choy (mixed greens are extra yummy!). Simply wash and chop, then steam in a pan until any water clinging to the leaves has evaporated. Add some oil, salt, pepper, soy sauce, maybe a dash of vinegar, and once they're cooked just toss them on a plate, rinse the pan and cook your egg (scrambled or over-easy, depending on the day). I call it "superhero food."
The garlic scapes I diced and fried in a cast iron pan with Two-Potato Hash (russet and sweet potato). The remaining scapes I plan to cook two ways: half I'll use to gussy-up some leftover roast chicken and olives. And I've got a real hankering for Sweet Pea Risotto, one of my favorite dishes ever, which will only be enhanced by adding garlic scapes.
I don't have any formal "recipes" to share with you today, but never fear brave reader! There is an extensive library of recipes, tailored just for you CSA shareholders, right here on this website. So after you're done here, I hope you'll head on over to the CSA Recipe Library and find some inspiration.
Until next week! Ever faithfully, The Mystery Blogger


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I kid all the time that I am just waiting to hear of someone teaching Yoga and Beer Pong. It's funny, but also…likely. Perhaps, I should go trademark that right now.
A downside of yoga's enormous popularity in the U.S. combined with the swell of yoga studios is that you have people who are really good at business, but lack a depth of knowledge and experience in yoga, opening studios and then offering yoga teacher trainings as a way to stay afloat financially. Buyer, beware!
I'm on an email list linked to my daughter's school area. This came in recently:
"Completing <GeneralYogaSchool's> 200 Hour Teacher Training program during my senior year of high school, I have been a certified Vinyasa Yoga Instructor for about a year now. I have taught various private classes, some specific students include: runners, swimmers, a water polo team, and an equestrian team, and I have also lead a class catered towards stress/anxiety. I have experience teaching beginners (including some super cute kindergarteners), and can develop classes geared towards the needs of whomever I am teaching.
I would be happy to set up a class for any group who is interested. And based on interest, I will also be looking to teach an early Tuesday morning Vinyasa class (6:30-7:30?) for adults. Please get in touch with me if you are interested! Send me a text (614) xxx-xxxx or email email@example.com
Because I got to live in the 1980s, I can say this: "Gag me with a spoon!"
She got one thing right, she is an instructor; she is not a teacher. At maybe 19 years of age, you are not able to teach a yoga class geared towards the needs of whoever you are teaching. New yoga instructors, stop offering this kind of thing! Studios, stop telling your new "instructors" to offer classes geared towards anything but a very broad and generalized population that is already healthy and fit. At the very least, teach them not to dabble in yoga for mental health unless they've had an IAYT-certified training in it!
You can't considered yourself an experienced yoga teacher until you've got at least ten years of teaching notched; and, for the love of all things wise, don't attempt to teach others how to teach yoga before you're nearer that 20-year marker. Your experience of yoga must simmer, must be fired through a handful of life's trials, before you can start to understand the constancy of stira and sukha, before you can stand strongly in the raw and vulnerable hrydaye, before you can handle another human being's fragility. Yoga isn't just about stretched hamstrings and an upbeat attitude. Let's show some respect.


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How is Chia-Direct able to supply a high quality product for a low price?
who is Chia-Direct | wild cultivation | organic farming | fairtrade | local impact and social responsibility | high quality and low price | freeze dried
Chia-Direct – directly from the farm to the customer with a high quality product for a low price:
wild farming: Chia-Direct uses existing native forests for its berries and fruits providing great quality. In native forests biodiversity is in balance so no expensive pesticides are used to control unwanted insects and mould. Compared to mono cultures, wild farming is zero cultivation cost and zero pesticide cost. Read more
organic farming: wild farming enables organic farming almost automatically. Read more
fair trade: Chia-Direct supports well being of local communities by paying a fair price. Paying a fair price to the community provides commitment which result in a more efficient production and higher quality. Read more
freeze dried techniques eliminates costly waste and provides a very high quality product to the consumer. In respect of Acai freeze dried Acai contains double the amount of Antioxidants compared to its competitor. Read more
Chia-Direct supply chain: selling online gives the opportunity to sell directly from the farm to the customer. Communities are paid a better price so commitment is ensured. From the farm to the processing facility the produce arrives "just in time". We can do this because we have direct sales with the customer. Sales projections are more accurate and therefore more efficient with less waste or batches that are left over. Selling to an importer and then to a wholesaler blurs this accuracy. Besides, wholesalers want to make a profit so this increases the price. Sometimes intermediaries mix different batches so that quality is not stable.
Traditional Distribution Chain:
Chia-Direct.com Chain:
learn why sustainable agriculture is more profitable then large scale industrial agriculture


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On Point - 43 - Luis Martinez: A Digital Denny's for the 21st Century
Denny's recent push in the digital space. Denny's irreverent tone on social media. Social media's ability to focus on a certain audiences, and the freedom to "have fun" with millennial audiences. Maintaining a legacy brand while investing in the digital brand. How diners are innately unifying. The secondary use of restaurants as gathering spaces. @Luis_A_Martinez


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Uncharted 3: Multiplayer Beta
I'll be honest. I love Nathan Drake. I know that in this day and age of "open" sexuality, it's still odd for a man to say he loves another man, especially if that other man happens to be a fictional video game character. However, I love Nathan Drake. I played through the first Uncharted in a few days. I'm not saying I took my time. I'm saying I got my first platinum trophy in a few days, and I loved every minute of it. Well, I did yell at the television a few (dozen) times, but in the end, it was possibly one of the most satisfying game experiences I've had since defeating Ruby and Emerald Weapons in Final Fantasy 7. It was satisfying in more than just a gratification of platinum though. I didn't have to slog through hours of farming exp with the right leveling gear to do it. It was just enjoyable. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was just as enjoyable as Uncharted, with the same unparalleled graphics and storyline, but it is important to mention the introduction of multiplayer.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception looks to be another breathtaking game. One of the most exhilarating aspect of Uncharted is the dizzying heights, and as someone who feels dizzy on the third floor of an apartment complex, I can tell you, I loved being able to rock climb the sheer face of an old Spanish fort from the safety of my living room. I also liked hanging on for dear life while clinging with my fingernails to a train destined to lie at the bottom of some very high cliffs. Drake's Deception will have similar vistas, but it's the multiplayer that I'm interested in reviewing now. When first introduced in Uncharted 2, the multiplayer aspect was a poorly-implemented system of "run around, shoot some bullets into the air and hope your Internet connection is fast enough to register the kill first". I still enjoyed it, but the leveling up was long and drawn out, the ranked system didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to it, and you could choose your character, but not customize him or her (or it, if you know what I mean). That's where Uncharted 3 is beginning to shine. You can choose what hat/sunglasses/Hawaiian shirt combo looks best on your good friend Sully, and then whip out your customized M9 and waste some noobz while knowing you look like a fashionable gentleman. I also liked the cursing allowed to some of your actions. If you happen to throw a grenade against a wall and it lands at your feet, your character yells, "Shit!" just like YOU just yelled (though I've heard the f-word a time or two as well…in both settings). You also get to design your own emblem, which will be displayed around the map if you are the number one score in the game. I designed a sideways hand with a ring around it to indicate a slap, but I'm not good enough to have spotted my emblem during gameplay…yet.
There are no one-shot kills unless you manage to pick up a power weapon, which is a little discouraging. If I take my sniper rifle and put a bullet center mass, that guy is going down, but in Uncharted 3, I have to hopefully pump another round into him before he gets to cover. As an aside…make sure to use your cover!! I think one of the best 'fights' I had with someone was when the two of us were far from our teams and utilizing the cover to its fullest advantage. He jumped above me, so I swung out on a ledge, jumped down, fired some rounds, threw myself behind a box all while he was chasing me down. We ended up back to back against the same box, so I threw myself over the top while he rolled away to the side. We both came up shooting again, but I rushed in and smashed him with my gun. For once, the melee actually worked. When I say that, it appears to have some problems. If I melee someone, he or she just turns around and melees me back, so I smack him or her again for the kill, but for some reason, they get one last melee as well. I can't tell you how many "Retaliation" medals I got simply for the lag melee kills. I'm talking dozens of these things, which affects my play ability when I'm kicking some ass and taking some names. However, if you think this is different than Uncharted 2's similar "feature", you're dead wrong…it's just one of those things I had hoped they were going to fix.
At least they gave the sniper rifles a scope this time. In the entirety of the Uncharted series, your sniper rifle has a tiny circle for its "trajectory". You put someone's head in that circle and squeeze off a round…they're dead. In Uncharted 3, you now have what appears to be a fisheye scope that zooms in with crosshairs. I like the graphic change, but the usefulness has decreased with this new style. The scope jumps around a lot! One of the first week 'best performances' was a guy who whips out his sniper rifle and blasts three (or was it four) enemies in about a second. Bang, bang, bang, everybody's dead, Dave. Now, to do that from a moving vehicle shooting at another moving vehicle while the enemies are ducking behind cover is truly a feat to be revered. I know my skill doesn't extend that far, but for the average player, I think the new scope system might be a hindrance.
They also added a new feature of 'treasure hunting'. Every time you kill another player, there is a small chance they will drop a treasure. You can collect groups of these treasures to unlock rare clothes and accessories for your character. Be warned! Running out of cover to collect a treasure is an easy way to get killed. Make sure you are completely safe before picking up your newfound glory. A second new feature is the 'buddy' group. Before a match begins, you may be randomly assigned a buddy. If the two of you are firing on the same enemy and manage to kill him, you can perform a group celebration. It may be a fist bump or high five to share in the defeat of an enemy. Be warned! Just as running out to collect treasure can be fatal, running out to perform a high five with your buddy can be just as detrimental. I can't tell you how many times the buddy system was active, and the first thing my buddy or I did was run out to celebrate…just to get gunned down. Having mentioned it, you can also taunt the enemy, which has a new flavor of customization to it. You can choose whether your taunt is a 'point and laugh' or 'kiss' representation of your feelings for deafeating an enemy. If you can manage to level up your taunting abilities, your rewards are greater.
Overall, the gameplay hasn't changed since Uncharted 2's foray into multiplayer. The "shopping" has changed, as the levels to unlock new weapons and attachments are fairly steep. In the first week, I think I made it to level 10, whereas I had reached level 10 in one day on Uncharted 2. My second complaint has to do with the odd height characteristics. If Nathan Drake can jump two feet in the air and his reach is eight feet, he can theoretically jump up and reach the top of a ten foot wall. However, for some reason, he can't seem to jump over a two-and-a-half foot barrier. He just keeps running up and putting one foot up while falling backwards. Since Drake is the basis for the physics, ALL characters have a ten foot reach and the same propensity for getting stuck on heights between two and three feet. The biggest example of this is on the Chateau level as soon as the "Villains" spawn, you can run forward and try to climb the stairs…but if you manage to get right in the middle, there's a two-and-a-half foot wall. To the right is a little planter that requires you to jump, and to the left is some wall-climbing handholds, but hit that middle and you're stuck.
In conclusion, the new multiplayer beta shows a ton of replayability and customization for your characters. The gameplay mechanics haven't changed much, but you shouldn't fix what isn't broken. Unless you wanted to fix the stupid melee thing…that might be worthwhile.


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volunteer by emailing email@example.com
NOTE: Because of security issues, there will be no bag check-in.
We encourage you to have a family member or friend take care of that for you or leave your clothing in your car. We may be able to handle special issues. Please see staff early on the day.
If you plan to drink a beer or two after the race you are expected and required by law to have photo proof of being of the legal age. A wrist band will be issued to you at registration.
Bring a photo I.D. on race day. This of course is in accordance with state law.
This is a popular and competitive running event that is sanctioned by USATF in accordance with all rules and restrictions.
As a condition of that sanction, we must forbid baby joggers in the race. For purposes of safety too, the use of headphones are strongly discouraged (you don't need to be oblivious and lost in the groove with your ear buds in the midst of more than 3000 runners around you).
These rules are imposed for the safety of all participants. Please spare us, and you the embarrassment of being asked to leave the course and perhaps ruining your day.
NOTE: Any conduct such as using anything other than provided portable toilet facilities which are found in abundance will also be grounds for disqualification. You should be easy to I.D with your bib number and you could be barred for life. We have eyes everywhere so please don't embarrass the event or yourself.
Remember we are guests of the Endicott Estate neighborhood and the town of Dedham.
Please respect your running events, your volunteers and fellow runners. Cheers.
Register for Citizens Ramble Online ( stand by )
Register online for the USATF National Masters 10 Km Championship
~ 2020 USATF National Masters 10 km Championship ~
There is $10,000 in prize money offered with the 2020 USATF National Masters 10K Championship.
2020 USA Masters 10 km - Prize Structure
Prize money winners must have a current 2020 USATF membership prior to the race
to be eligible for prize funds.
Another look at the course is at mapmyrun.
The Ramblers will begin their journey at the Endicott Estate.
Be sure to check out our course highlights page for information on Spectator Venues, Joyce Readings, Viewing Times and photos of Dedham Landmarks.
This is a large, serious and very competitive athletic event.
Absolutely no baby joggers, in-line skates or unauthorized bikes will be tolerated on the course during the event. This is a matter of grave public safety. Violators will not be allowed to proceed in the race.
If you compete wearing headphones and place for prize money, you may be disqualified subject to rules by USATF.
This is in compliance with national rules of USATF, which is the sanctioning authority of the James Joyce Ramble 10 km.
No dogs are allowed on the Endicott Estate grounds per order of the town of Dedham for liability reasons. We love dogs, but not in large crowds of people. Sorry.
The lover of dogs race director is available to dog-sit though not on Ramble weekend.
The Awards Ceremony will commence at around 12:30 p.m.
As usual, there will be a host of refreshments and food offerings at the Ramble Post-Race Soiree on the Estate lawn. Our thanks to Blue Ribbon Barbeque and Jacks Abby Brewing among others. Please bring photo identification for consumption of adult beverages.
We are most pleased to announce that once again one of New England's long- respected songwriting talents Dennis Brennan talents will perform at the 37th Annual James Joyce Ramble with his band the Dennis Brennan Quatro.
Just some of his Dennis's press reviews:
"Rule No. 1".stretches nuanced lyrics tightly over elemental rock-and-roll frames. Bits of Tom Petty pop up in the opening track, 'I Got My Own'; elsewhere, Brennan recalls such angry young Brits as Graham Parker and Joe Jackson... Brennan's latest release deserves attention."
Ben Greenman/The New Yorker
"Comes on strong and packs a punch... Rule No.1 makes good on the flashes of brilliance on his two previous efforts, Jack -In -The -Pulpit and Iodine in the Wine (Upstart/Rounder)."
Brett Milano/Boston Phoenix
" When he sings of broken promises or words left unspoken, you feel the heartbreak and you sympathize... The truth is never in black and white but always in the shadows... music is melodic and nuanced... seducing you with understated grace."
~Ken Capobianco/CNC News Group
"A rootsy, hard-edged rocker with the barroom soul of the pre-Woodstock Graham Parker and the unsparing insight of a working class poet." Chicago Sun-Times
"Writes and performs exceptional, roots-aware rock songs... with a personal fervor."
~ Paul Robicheau/Boston Globe
"Last year Dennis Brennan released Jack in the Pulpit, which was the year's best blue-collar rock album even if it was largely ignored... Iodine in the Wine... reaffirm[s] the notion that he's one of the most underrated roots-rockers around."
~ Washington Post
"That a talent like Brennan can stay relatively unknown is one of the travesties of the biz, but it also makes his music special for those lucky enough to find it"
~ Stereo Review
"Brennan... has his hands full as both a romantic and a working man in grappling with an unsmiling fate. Even at his most downbeat, though, he suggests greater possibilities through the ripping conviction of his music, the intelligence of his poetry and the passionate strength of his vocals."
~ Chicago Sun-Times


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|A. Soare
|Re: bug#4596: file completion in *shell*
|Thu, 8 Oct 2009 16:27:05 +0200 (CEST)
Unfortunately, I closed the session. 1 week ago. But the bug reproduced to me many tiomes, and it will repeat. If I have time when it'll repeat, I will solve it alone. > > > tags 4596 moreinfo > stop > > "A. Soare" wrote: > > > I have a shell opened , and even if I am in the directory /x/y/z, > > when I press <TAB>, it expands the completion from the directory > > "X", not from Z, as expected. > > Emacs tries to keep track of which directory you are in, but it is > straightforward to confuse it. Eg: > > emacs -Q -f shell > cd ~ > alias foobar=cd > foobar /tmp > > and Emacs will still think you are in ~/. > > So we need to know what you did starting from emacs -Q to confuse it, > before we can say if it is something that can reasonably be fixed. > > ____________________________________________________ Les prévisions spéciales Amour sont sur http://astrocenter.voila.fr/voila
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Canada overcame a three-run American lead to take home the gold with a speedy final run in the women's two-person bobsleigh competition in Sochi on Wednesday.
It is the second consecutive gold medal for Canada's Heather Moyse and Kaillie Humphries, the reigning world champion bobsleigh pilot.
Lauryn Williams and Elana Meyers of the US held a strong lead through the first three runs. Their final run was their worst, however, and they finished with a total time of 3:50.71, more than a second slower than the Canadians' gold medal-winning 3:50.61.
Despite missing the gold, the silver means Williams is now a part of an elite group of athletes who have won medals at both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games. She won gold in the 4x100 metres relay at the 2012 London Summer Games and silver in the 100m at the 2000 Athens Games. Meyers took bronze at the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010.
The other US team, of Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans, managed a 3:51.61 to hold third place through four runs. It was also the first time the US has taken two medals in one bobsleigh race. Canada held second until the final run.
The USA's most famous bobsleigher, Lolo Jones, and her partner Jazmine Fenlator finished in 11th place. As the USA's third-best team, their low performance was expected. Jones is the 10th American to compete at both summer and winter Olympics.


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World famous couples therapist Sue Johnson once said basically that when she started doing therapy with individuals or families, it was like having afternoon tea and when she started doing therapy with couples, it was like being on the freeway with two Mack trucks headed at each other from opposite directions with her in the middle. I have totally been there!
It can be uniquely challenging to remain hopeful in couples therapy, especially when most couples wait until their relationships are highly distressed before they seek therapeutic services. For example, a couple came in for their first therapy session and described their relationship challenges. At the end of our meeting, I explained that even though I understood that some of the betrayals had caused a lot of pain, there was no reason to believe that they could not reorganize their relationship into the type of marriage they both wanted. One of the spouses appeared surprised and said, "Really? How?" As I explained a course for change, I realized that my view from the therapist's chair made it easy for me to be hopeful because I saw improvement in highly distressed couples every day. In contrast, most clients have little access to the marital challenges their friends and neighbors are experiencing, and as a result they often think they are suffering alone with no end in sight.
The emotions in couple relationships tend to be highly reactive. This is often the most important relationship to people, and when things aren't going well the level of distress escalates at a rapid-fire pace. The emotional temperature in the room can shift instantaneously and, as a result, when deep emotions are accessed couples may feel terrified and even disoriented. However, it is always the case that the commitment and effort of both people in the marriage toward a common goal of bonding has power to triumph over any events which have disconnected them in their history. While I believe that a marriage is very hard to improve alone (and I have experienced disappointment with cases in which I only had the dedication of one partner), it is important for couples to know that even if they have never had the type of connection they seek, it doesn't mean it's out of reach.
Additionally, even if a couple has achieved connection, it can take time to integrate new patterns of closeness with old, disconnecting habits. As one of my couples in therapy walked into the room, I could tell that things were not going well. The wife marched in with arms folded and positioned herself on the far end of the couch, turning away from the middle. She clearly did not want to share the same piece of furniture with her husband. He had a familiar, "I'd rather be anywhere but here," look, and took his place on the opposite end. "I can see you are both in pain … do you want to help me understand what is happening right now?" I asked. Immediately, the wife began sobbing and explained that after our last session, they had felt connected, and she was hopeful, but then life happened and they had a large escalated conflict. Her husband corroborated her story and added, "We feel like we have slipped back further than before." I validated the pain that comes from losing connection. Sometimes couples in therapy may feel more distressed than when they began, because as they experience a movement toward connection, it provides relief and hope. However, as old patterns re-emerge, they can be overwhelming and appear to wipe out any possibility of maintaining new growth.
Here are some suggestions for remaining hopeful during Couples Therapy:
1. Imagine that the Relationship can be Different
When a relationship has been negatively colored by conflict, distance or betrayal, it can be hard for couples to even envision that it can be different. I will validate that I understand it is hard to even imagine that it could be better, based on their experience, and then guide them toward visualizing improvement. Having a conversation about how they want the marriage to be, if they were to imagine change, is an important first step in reaching goals.
2. Recognize that Negative Patterns Don't Change Overnight
They just don't; or at least they don't on a durable basis. Relationship interactions are so rehearsed over a period of months or years that couples will react to one another anticipatorily. I have seen couples escalate over the raise of an eyebrow in their partners. Just like practicing a musical instrument over time generates automatic responses, so do marital interactions. It takes time to generate new patterns, which will often seem awkward and difficult at first.
3. Recognize and Celebrate Small Successes
Often negative emotion is so absorbing that it can instantaneously wipe out memories of anything positive in the relationship. I will often show couples "Angels and Demons," a print by M.C. Escher to demonstrate how quickly the dark part of the print jumps out at them, and that it requires more careful examination for the lighter parts to emerge. Similarly, the "dark parts," of our spouses jump out at us, but intentional seeking can help us see the positive parts. Sometimes if a couple comes in discouraged, I will remind them of a time when I saw them connecting in a positive way, and they realize they had forgotten because they felt so hopeless in the moment.
4. Communicate to Your Spouse that You Know it has been Difficult, but that You Want to Create Something Different with Them
As couples navigate new effective processes, I will often suggest a way they can slow it down — by narrating out loud, that even if they aren't sure how, they do want something better than what they had before. I've had several couples report how useful it was for them to get caught up in a familiar negative pattern, and slow it down by saying, "Let's try something different."
5. Acknowledge that Your Reactivity is Likely Related to the Fact that This is the Relationship that Matters to You
Couples receive very paradoxical messages from each other, and often don't realize that the reactive behavior they are seeing is a result of how important they are to their partners. Spouses who seem unreachable and emotionally withdrawn often become so because it is so hard to see disappointment in a partner. Thus, while they look uncaring, the opposite is often true. They disconnect as a way to try to bring the emotional temperature down in order to prevent conflict and potential disruption to the relationship. They in essence disconnect because they do care about the relationship. Pursuing partners who often appear critical and blaming are also frequently misunderstood. They are often lonely and want their partners with them, but in desperation, they often raise the volume in a way that paradoxically pushes their partners away. When I point out that I couldn't get the same reactivity by saying the same things, because I don't matter to them, they can see that this is the case.
6. Recognize that Just by Showing up to Therapy, there is LIKELY at least a Part of the Spouse that Wants the Relationship to Work
As a marriage therapist, I am very aware that most people would prefer to be just about anywhere else besides in my office. Therefore, if they bothered to show up and expend resources for the relationship, they at least in part want the relationship to work. There are occasions when people will show up just to say that they "tried marriage therapy," when they have no commitment and no intention of saving the marriage, but in my experience, this is far less frequent. Overall, if both people are committed to the marriage, showing up is a sign that they are on a pathway to repair.
7. Remember that the most important variable of change in the equation is YOU!
Once after I explained to a couple how I thought the relationship could change, one of the partners expressed surprise and explained that a previous marriage therapist told them they had only a 10% chance of making it. I explained that I knew of no reliable metric for accurately predicting specific outcome since the most important variable of change is the couple. Just as a medical doctor can prescribe but not enforce various treatment protocols, a marriage therapist cannot follow you home and make you behave a certain way. Hours spent away from the therapy room always trump the limited time in the therapy room. I can attest to the fact that couples who improve in therapy are almost always the couples who are really trying to connect throughout the week when they are not in session.
Remember, if you need to, ask the therapist to tell you what your marital strengths are. If your marital therapist can't tell you that, you might want to consider switching therapists.


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We're sharing FunStitch Studio Summer Camp projects and giveaways all month long. Our online camp includes lots of fun projects from FunStitch Studio authors, book giveaways and more. FunStitch Studio is a children's book imprint from C&T Publishing focused on supporting kids as sewists, embroiderers and quilters with quality information and projects. Learn more about FunStitch Studio Summer Camp here and find links to our family campers here.
Each of our FunStitch Studio Summer Camp families are doing projects from FunStitch books. Heather from The Sewing Loft and her girls worked on some hand stitching inspired by A Kid's Guide to Sewing.
Heather writes,
- "Watching her pick out colors and sewing it all together was a blast. Her best line was, 'Dang, the knot's on the wrong side again.' It was great to see her in action. The only help she wanted from me was threading the needle. Other than that, she really wanted look through the book and figure it out on her own."
Learn more about the girls' stitching in Heather's post, and join us a little later for another free project from one of the FunStitch authors! (Don't miss the author project we shared last week, the super-fun Gnome Game.)


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The Yu Yu Kobo Coffee Shop has to be the best run coffee shop in Tokyo. They have the best beans and the friendliest of owners. Not only is he friendly he knows his beans. Yuji Urakawa has worked in coffee all his life and is a retired veteran of a large Japanese coffee company.
But, it's not all about the beans and the roast in this store. After retiring, Yuji decided he wanted to live his own life at his own pace. He also wanted to become part of his community so he decided to open the shop so that he could communicate with the locals and give something back at the same time.
He says we are well on our way to an aging society, not only in Nagasaki, but all over Japan. Older people around 60-80, who are living by themselves visit his shop to have coffee and enjoy the conversation. Sometimes they can make new connections with other customers there and he is trying to help them expand their connections by offering a cozy atmosphere at his shop. He hopes his customers can make connections not only with old people but with younger people, too. He says, "The most important thing is not selling the products, but the value in meeting and communicating with people. The business will follow after those things."
So be it that it's not all about the beans, he does have a wide selection from around the world, which he roasts there in the shop while you wait. Roasting of the beans doesn't take long and if you haven't caught on yet, he likes to talk. So he usually keeps you company with a nice cup of coffee or a glass of ice-water depending on the weather outside and a great bit of friendly smiles, nods, and small talk.
The coffee beans are fun to see and when you finally decide on which flavor you want you won't be making a mistake no matter what your taste, be it sour, bitter, or mild. Yu Yu blend is the most popular and consists of four beans mixed together. He suggests to wait 24 hours before grinding the beans, but says if you want the flavor go ahead and grind them and use them.
He has all the things you need to make the perfect cup of coffee at home. There are filters for this and for that. There are strainers, presses, and percolators, too. And don't forget all the cups and sugar cubes. He of course has a few machines of his own that he does all his wonderment with there in the shop. You can get the beans whole or he can grind them for you.
The big machine he does the magic roasting with is really something to see as well. And it is an art that he works in front of you as he meticulously separates and measures the beans before gently pouring them into the shiny bags of heaven he presents to you when he's done.
The place doesn't sit many, but there is never much of a crowd. And if there is a crowd, there is actually some talking going on between tables. It's a refreshing place. Just the smell of the freshly roasted beans is worth popping in for and make sure you take something home as a prize. You'll definitely be leaving having made a new friend.
Yu Yu Kobo accept orders by telephone or fax.
Tel/Fax: 03-3530-7295
Nagasaki, Tokyo


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If you have a large amount of garden, household or business rubbish to dispose of, skip hire often proves the most effective solution. HIPPO can make this process quick, simple and cost-effective. Simply let us know where you live, choose a skip size to suit your needs, then make a booking right here.
If you're reading this, you probably need to hire a skip in Ruislip but don't know where to begin. HIPPO has your back. Skips from HIPPO come in 3 handy sizes, from the big 6 yarder, to the huge 8 yarder, up to the mammoth 12 yarder! All you need to do is enter your postcode, and we'll do the rest - we will give you an instant price from our database of trusted companies. Why bother taking the arduous journey to the tip when you can get rid in one go with skip hire from HIPPO? In Ruislip, skips on public land always need a permit. But fear not, as HIPPO organise it on your behalf.
If you're looking for a reliable, hassle-free solution, look no further than HIPPO. We make skip hire as simple as ordering a pizza! HIPPO offers three separate waste removal services right here on the website. You could also consider HIPPOBAGs or our HERE TO CLEAR solution.


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In the spirit of sharing what we love, the collective at the The Juniper Room will be putting out a playlist of our favourite tracks we've been enjoying each month, for two different moods: Chill and Boogie. Below are playlists for the month of May - our first installment. Enjoy, and stay tuned!
For a download of the playlist, click here.


text:
Your Custom Text Here
Day On The Terrace at Peninsula Hotel
The Service Club Of Chicago Day On The Terrace at Peninsula Hotel
Jaime Vela, Sylwia, Kathy OMalley Piccone, Nikki Friar and Marina with US Navy Seals
Sylwia with Kathy OMalley Piccone
Oscar Night by Sylwia Designs and Swarovski Co.
Sylwia Designs and Swarovski colaboration
Swarovski and Sylwia Design Oscar Night Event.
Las Vegas Emerging Designer Showcase
Style Chicago runway show.
Style Chicago runway show.
Spring/Summer 2012
The Service Club 2009
Maria Pappas Excellence Award
Chicago Social. Kathy OMalley Piccone wearing Sylwia.
Sheridan Magazine
The Service Club of Chicago with Hazel Barr.
Time Out Magazine


text:
You really need to modify your CV to suit the job you are applying for. Especially if the requirements ask for a 1-2pg max CV. It is asked for a reason and if you can't stick to that (though as impressive your career history may be) it says that you don't follow directions or read instructions. That makes an employer think "what will they be like working in a structured environment?". First impressions make a difference.
The reason for also seeking a short CV is that, for example, 30 years of exhibition history may not be relevant Mostly, employers want to see current or recent practice. So from the last 5-7 or even 10yrs tops. Just put 'various exhibitions for the last two decades. Full list on request' or something similar. If you don't have any recent practice for the last 5yrs, go to the closest point and work back 5yrs from that.
Be aware of formatting and style. Keep text black and Ariel or San Serif font in a size 11 or 12 preferably. This is not a school project so don't include a pretty cover page with a photo of you or your work -that takes up your maximum page limit. You are creative so adding a coloured heading or header or logo is fine (just my opinion), just don't make it super colourful as it detracts from the content -remember you still need to be professional.
- Tailor your headings to include relevant information
- alter/modify your CV to suit the job you are applying for
- Use headings and bullet points
- Order your headings most relevant to least relevant -remember you want the mostr important information seen first.
- List from the most recent to oldest
- exceed maximum page requirements or
- include what has not been asked
- use curly font or very small font
See similar posts of mine "How to write an Artist Statement" and "How to write an Artist Biography"


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Smartphone Applications Include Health-Care and Fitness Options
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
It was a hot, air-conditioner-worthy day last summer when Chester Marl came home from the hospital. The newborn slept remarkably well through the night.
Once the weather cooled off, his parents stopped running the air conditioner in their Seattle home. Chester bawled for nights at a time.
His parents soon realized he was missing the soothing hum of the machinery.
His father, Brett Marl, who uses the popular iPhone, went to the iTunes Web site in search of a solution and found White Noise.
For 99 cents, the iPhone application offers 40 sounds that aim to soothe you: waves crashing, crickets chirping -- even an air conditioner humming.
For the next four months, the infant slept with his father's iPhone in his crib and White Noise tuned to "air conditioner." The monotonous buzz kept the baby sleeping soundly and his parents happy.
"It's a cool app," Marl said. "It doesn't really do a whole lot, but it was of tremendous value to us."
One of the highlights of having an iPhone, Marl and other users will tell you, is the plethora of applications you can download. Independent developers have created thousands of applications that offer games, music, maps and access to news and weather updates.
Other smartphones, like the BlackBerry and T-Mobile G1, also have applications, but the iTunes online storefront, which lets independent developers sell applications for the iPhone, has resulted in more than 15,000 choices and more than 500 million downloads.
Health care and fitness makes up an entire category, with 745 options that range from the gimmicky to the useful.
They include custom diaries, calorie counters (that track what you eat), pedometers (that track your every footstep) and period trackers (yes, they track your monthly period). There are also apps to track your smoking habit, your blood pressure and your contractions at the end of pregnancy.
Added bonus: There's no commitment involved. Users say they often try apps a few times and then never use them again. Many cost 99 cents, some are even free; at those prices, it's easy come, easy go.


text: by Jim Uttley Those outside of Portage la Prairie may not be aware that not only is there an island in our city, but also Portage is an "island" in a sea of farmland. Thousands of hectares of farmland dot the landscape for miles in every direction outside the city limits. Many of the people who live on and manage these farms frequent Portage businesses and city services. If you're wondering who some of these people are, we'd like to introduce you to an incredibly positive and future-looking farmer's wife by the name of Yanara Peters. Mark and Yanara Peters live on a third-generation farm northwest of Portage, north of 227, about a mile from the Portage Diversion Bridge. You will not meet a more fun-loving, funny woman than Yanara. She spent the first half of her childhood in the Laurier area before moving at the age of 12 to not far from McCreary. "In Laurier, we had dairy and my mom worked full-time," says Mrs. Peters. "We mixed farmed, had chickens and all that comes with that, and beef. Every now and then, my parents got sheep for us kids." When they moved to McCreary, "it was more beef and a few pigs for us kids. We did 4-H," she says. "We worked the hogs and we each got a calf and raised that calf." When asked what was the most exciting thing about growing up on a farm, Yanara said "the diversity of the animals and the freedom of our childhood." "We could easily spend the whole day out in the pasture, exploring and building forts, and no worries about safety and such. We played for hours out by the dugouts and our parents were never worried about us." Maybe we should ask her parents? "Just the freedom that came from living in the country and having lots of space to play and explore," Yanara stated. "We did work to earn some of our own money and we did have some chores but not as much as some of the other kids…" she acknowledges with a chuckle. "For my mom, it was probably more painful to teach us than to do it herself," she laughs, "to be completely honest." Every spring, Yanara and her siblings "got a big box of little white chicks and then we would raise them for eating in the fall." When asked if it was painful to give up these chickens for slaughter, Yanara replies rather non-chalantly, "We had no qualms with raising these chicks and then killing them when they were mature. We got to cut the head off and pluck [the feathers] and all of that. For us, it was just the cycle of life. That's how it is." She went on to explain that it was the same thing when they went fishing. "We'd catch the fish, fillet them on site, bring them home and cook them for dinner." Yanara says that as a child they also did lots of gardening. "The weeding wasn't so much fun but picking and shelling peas with family in the kitchen was fun." Yanara always believed she would become a farmer's wife. "I put in my grade 12 yearbook that I wanted to be a farmer's wife. 'Most likely to become a farmer's wife.'" Her husband took over his parents' farm. Mark's father is mostly retired but "he actually does a bit of custom work for the farmer that rents our land," Yanara says. "He does field work." The Peters have three children. A son lives in Vancouver. "He's not a farm kid." Their middle daughter is married and has a child. Her husband is a driver for a cement company. Yanara's youngest daughter is 17 and in high school. The Peters' farm has faced crises and struggles. "Through our experiences from the generations in the past, we've heard those stories of hardship and struggle and we choose to be positive because we know that in the end, it's all going to work out." One of those crises has been the flooding of their farm land. It wasn't an issue this year but a couple years ago "it was a major problem for us," Yanara says. "Just the flood diversion and the way it is operated has been an issue from the start, primarily for my father-in-law. The fact that he barely had a voice in what the government did." The Peters have had a lot of loss especially with the value of the land because it has changed with the water seepage. "The diversion and the trouble that creates has been a big problem for our family." Floodway near the Peters farm during the flood. But Yanara and her family have a strong faith. "My parents are thrifty and we're thrifty and we have a very strong work ethic, positive outlook and family values." On her father's side, she has French and Métis roots and her mother is Mennonite. "My husband grew up Mennonite and I went to a non-denominational church as a child. I guess our upbringings were close enough that it all worked out," she says half joking. "Actually, we did go to a Mennonite church. The one that my husband's parents founded with a few other families." Yanara and Mark attended there until their kids were teenagers. They currently attend the Portage Alliance Church. Among Yanara's many interests are history and old buildings. "I love old buildings, especially the old farms and barns. I remember my grandparents doing farming in older buildings like that and the work that it took to do so. I have great respect for the lifestyle that we seem to have lost now." Photo by Yanara Peters Photo by Yanara Peters Photo by Yanara Peters "I just love walking through these old buildings and trying to imagine what life was like living in that era. Was it hard or easy?" "Our original home did not have running water until I was five," she says. "We had an outhouse and had a cistern where we would pump water into our kitchen and then in the wintertime, we would have baths in a galvanized tub. We'd heat the water with one of those portable water heating coils you put right in the water. And I'm not that old!" When asked what camera she uses to take her photos, Yanara replied, I just take the photos with my iPhone." Mark and Yanara Peters and a pile of potatoes. Photo by Yanara Peters Now if that isn't mind blowing! "I don't really do a lot of editing with them. I just take a bunch of photos and post a few on Facebook. I also pass them around. Now that she's a farmer's wife, Yanara loves gardening. "I didn't when I was a teenager. It was drudgery to me but now I do." "To put a dry seed in the ground and watch it grow is just amazing to me and then to be able to eat to provide that for myself and my family, I really appreciate that. I love it," she says and you can really tell she means it. How long will the Peters farm? "As long as it is profitable for us to earn a living," Yanara replies. "My husband thoroughly enjoys all aspects of farming. He's a very good manager of time and resources and he's very skilled in many areas. He loves that challenge. They've tried to adapt to different things. One year they traveled to the Niagara region in Ontario to investigate sweet potato farming. Mark taught himself a lot about that and they tried it for a while. He's tried several other ventures, trying to be diverse. Mark Peters had a special heart shaped rock built into a shed for Yanara. "We went from selling sweet potatoes to becoming seed potato vendors. The future with that is looking a little less favorable than it was a couple years ago." But her husband planned ahead and built the shed in such a way that if potatoes don't work out, it can be a multi-purpose building. "It can be rented out as a workshop for some local mechanic or something else." The key for the Peters (and many farmers) is to "stay diverse and open-minded when looking towards the future." In offering words of advice and encouragement to a young farmer's wife, Yanara says "be as much a support and encouragement to your husband. Try to make yourself available to help wherever you can. Always be encouraging. There is a lot of stress involved in farming. Always be ready for change and be ready to adapt. There's no doubt that Yanara has been an encouragement and she's prepared for change. After all, she loves to diversify! 2 Responses Karen Gross June 20, 2014 Great write up and pictures! Yanara's life makes me almost nostaligic about the dairy farm that my parents bought when I was ten, but cows are definitely not critters that I have loved! http://odetocritters.blogspot.ca/2014/04/i-love-cats.html Reply Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.