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Berlei Women's Womankind Everyday Bra - Blush Rose
This revolutionary bra uses lightweight 3D spacer technology to mould to, and flatter your natural shape for pure comfort and amazing support.
Available in women's bra sizing - see size chart for correct fit!
- Berlei underwear
- For women
- Style: Womankind Everyday Bra
- Model no.: YYCR
- Colour: Blush Rose
- Breathable stretch cotton against skin
- Soft microfibre outer layer
- Stretchy shoulder straps move with your body
- Flexible spacer cup is light and breathable
- Unique double faced cup
- Underwired
- Materials: Nylon/elastane
- Machine washable
- Designed in: Australia
- Please note: Change of mind returns will not be accepted for this item due to hygiene reasons
Berlei has made a commitment to designing innovative women's garments that enhance, sculpt and transform to bring out the best of a woman's figure each and every day. Their stylish intimates offer superior support and are made to be worn by the real women of Australia.


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The similarities between Ian Fleming and James Bond are explored in the first major exhibition on the life and work of the secret agent's creator.
For Your Eyes Only looks at Fleming's experiences working for intelligence during the Second World War and examines how they influenced 007.
On view will be rare material such as the author's desk and chair from his Jamaican home Goldeneye, where he wrote all the Bond novels.
Fleming's annotated manuscripts, correspondence, clothes and photographs are displayed alongside exhibits from the Bond films including Daniel Craig's bloodied shirt from Casino Royale and the bikini worn by Halle Berry in Die Another Day.
The exhibition, at the Imperial War Museum in London, has been mounted to mark the centenary of Fleming's birth and is accompanied by a book For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond by Ben Macintyre.
For Your Eyes Only runs from Thursday until March 1, 2009.

subset: commoncrawl


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Hello, hello (a little over a year after my last post...)!
I've been working on getting my blogspot moved for quite some time now & the time has finally come. Along with the upgrade here, I've also jumped back on the minted bandwagon with some notebook & oval art print designs. I would be so honored to have you vote for my work! Find images & links below to do so. Thanks always for your support, patience & kindness!!
vote for "the Inspiration Gang" here (voting ends 8/18).
vote for "Today's Dreams" here (voting ends 8/18).
vote for "a Good Day" here (voting ends 9/2).
vote for "Coffee & Ice Cream" here (voting ends 9/2).
many thanks & see you again soon :)


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Full Circle Adventures gets your mind and heart outdoors, discovering the edible plants in the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Our Guided hikes include: wildflower and edible plant hikes, Wild Forage and Feast workshops, Hiking Sacred Places, interpretive hikes to ancient indigenous sites or important wildlife habitat and interpretive snowshoe outings.
Full Circle Adventures | Alberta, Canada
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Latitude: 50.278809 Longitude: -114.397202 Elevation: 5644 ft
the best travel advice comes from the people who live here
Julie Walker
Latest Contributions
Favorite Saying
The nature of the journey often determines the destination.
Favorite Activities
Hiking. XC Skiing, Solo time in the woods, photography and Canoeing. I love to really get to know a place. Each creek and meadow has a " special place" a sweet spot, I love to take the time to discover these. Spending time with the edible and medicinal plants. When I am foraging, a new level of awareness for one plant occurs and the unique leaf pattern or berry shape suddenly stands out! This is the verge of the magic moment of really aligning with the natural world again as we once did.
Travel Style
I like to travel and meet people.When hiking, skiing or canoeing, staying in huts and hostels is a great way to be outdoors and to meet people who also share the joy of being outdoors.
The edible plants, wildflowers and human history of Alberta's Southwest is a life time adventure. From Banff townsite to Waterton, the stories of the people, their encounters with the wildlife and how they have lived on the land, fills me up with a sense of connection and belonging. I love making this knowledge part of your experience in the most fun and interactive way I can!
Types of Experiences and Trips Provided
Interpretive hiking programs on edible plants, wildflower, human and wildlife history start up in late May and run into September. Additional offerings are: spiritual retreats and Grade 7 school programs.
A private guided hike to a "secret" location as the season finale!
Local Knowledge & Certifications/Training
Julie Walker is certified in Wilderness First Aid, is a professional member of the Interpretive Guides Association, the Canadian Association of XC Ski Instructors, and a member of the Alberta Council For Environmental Education. She has been guiding from Lake Louise to Waterton for over 20 years.
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Contact Information
Full Circle Adventures
Printed MapGuide
Get a printed mapguide by mail


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New Zealand adventure legend Chuck Berry talks us through our fear of falling. As a Red Bull Athlete, it's in Berry's job description to dream up ideas others would dismiss as "crazy" and make them reality.
Adventure has always been in his blood; a motorcycle wreck in 1997, which broke his neck, didn't put him off, nor have more recent close shaves with the sides of buildings. Berry is a sucker for "anything that's exciting, that gets the pulse up… your blood racing."
World renowned for B.A.S E. (Building. Antenna.Span.Earth.) jumping, his first attempt at this daredevil sport was in 1989, in the USA. Berry recalls that in those days there wasn't the large, world-wide community of jumpers that exist now — just a small handful of people who knew, or knew of, one another. He next jumped off a large TV antenna tower in Milwaukee with a group of Americans, before returning home to New Zealand and taking the first leap off Skipper's Canyon Bridge near Queenstown.
Nearly two decades on, Berry made his first building jump in 2008, from the spectacular KL Tower in downtown Kuala Lumpur. Berry must have felt that he had nearly 2 decades worth of catching up to do, because he then proceeded to leap off the KL Tower 36 times over 3 days. He recalls seeing what tricks he could do as he became more familiar with the tower, eventually hanging off the side like a villain in a movie about to fall to his death. The City now opens the building once a year to allow B.A.S E jumpers to do their thing.
With a life as action-packed as Berry's it can be tough to identify stand-out moments, but he tells us that his experience of parachuting into the world's biggest sinkhole in China was "absolutely mind-blowingly sensational." Berry distinguishes this from other jumps which involve parachuting from well above ground level and landing on terra firma; the jump into the 680-metre deep hole near Chongqing — aptly nicknamed Xiaozhai Tiankeng or Heavenly Pit — required a skilled landing inside a crack in a wall at the bottom of the hole.
A huge part of the appeal associated with these death-defying feats for Berry is the "beautiful transition" from land to air and back down again. In contrast to our life of being literally stuck to the earth, B.A.S.E. jumping involves "running off the planet; all of a sudden you're free… the floor has fallen away" — which results in a dramatic and complete re-conceptualisation of three-dimensional space.
Berry emphasises that these feats are not as crazy as they may initially appear. He argues that it all comes down to having faith in ourselves, in our abilities, and in preparation. When there is no room for mistakes, there is no choice but to avoid making them in the first place — which negates the need for a backup system. Clearly, this rules out jumping off things willy-nilly and hoping for the best. As Berry says, "If you've got a really good Plan A, you don't need a Plan B." The focus is therefore on ensuring that the initial plan is strong and well thought out. There will always be unknowns, but Berry contends that it is simply a case of controlling that which is within our power: choosing the right conditions and building enough altitude into the plan so that there is room to adjust in case of the unexpected This philosophy distances what he is doing now from his younger, more reckless days, where he recalls he would "jump off anything."
The reason they can jump is that they believe they can… all adventure is about the belief that you can.
Chuck Berry
Working through the risk and the details needed to surmount them is part of what makes these adventures so rewarding for Berry. He is well aware that his life is on the line with every jump, and he is betting everything against his ability to handle whatever comes at him: "My life is in my hands and it's my responsibility. I can't afford to put that into anyone else's hands." It is about getting into a sharply focused mindset where he knows he simply has to give "the performance of a lifetime." After that, it's not scary at all, but pure fun.
Inspired by true-life adventure stories, where people survive a tragic accident and struggle against incredible odds, Berry suggests that we can reach that same level of engagement in our existence without actually having to be in such an intense life or death situation. Challenge as a choice, rather than a state of emergency, can still lead us to a deep appreciation of how lucky we are to be alive. Further, Berry argues that challenging ourselves in this way and coming out the other side helps us to realise that we are capable of so much more than we might otherwise think.
It is the self-sufficiency and self-knowledge associated with these challenges that has allowed Berry to continue pushing the boundaries. He loves the process of imagining something completely out of the ordinary, combined with the challenge of making it happen in reality. The latter is crucial, as "until you actually do it you haven't proven anything: There's no point in sitting around theorising.
Berry gives the example of the Red Bull tent parachute (as in: promo tent), which he used for a jump from a helicopter in 2013 No one believed it would work, except for Berry — and it did. On what sets aerial adventurers apart, it is simple: "The reason they can jump is that they believe they can… all adventure is about the belief that you can." He explains that those who consider his escapades "crazy" are those who judge based on their own skill set, which need not apply to others.
So whose expectations will Berry confound next? He has been busy dreaming up a catapult system to fling him off the edge of a cliff, and is also keen to fly a plane through a tunnel. He is motivated by taking things out of context: a tent isn't supposed to belong in the sky, nor a plane in a tunnel. "They don't normally go together," he says, "but I think they can."
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Worship Participant Opportunities for Children and Youth
In the past—and for many of us growing up—the Church often put children in Church School or would babysit them in the basement while adults worshiped. With the realization that children are an integral part of the "Whole People of God," children have been invited "up from the basement" in recent decades, to be included in the worship of the Church. But often they are still expected to be "seen but not heard." Not at St. Timothy's 9:00 a.m. Eucharist!
The 9:00 am Eucharist at St. Timothy's invites the participation of people of all ages, particularly the children and youth of the parish. Church leaders of many denominations have found that such participation in the worship of the Church gives young people a greater sense of purpose and belonging in the Church community. We encourage your family's participation in these different areas of service. If your children are not scheduled and are interested in any of these roles, please contact the Parish Office at 474-4445.
Youth in the 6th grade and up serve as Acolytes at the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist. Some youth also serve at the 11:15 a.m. Eucharist. Acolytes are typically scheduled to serve one or two Sundays each month and are called on to substitute at other times. Training for new acolytes is provided in the fall, or mid-year by arrangement. Acolyte schedules are sent out quarterly and reminders are sent to acolytes the week preceding scheduled times. If an acolyte is unable to serve as scheduled, please contact John Flandermeyer or the Parish Office as soon as possible.
Contact: John Flandermeyer (email@example.com)
Many of our children and teenagers sing or play instruments. We invite anyone who is interested to share their gifts at the 9:00 a.m. service during the Offertory or at the Ministration of Communion. The congregation is tremendously supportive of our young musicians and we regularly hear from a very wide range of musical abilities. If your child is interested in sharing their musical gifts with the congregation, please contact Dan Parsley.
Contact: Dan Parsley( email@example.com)
All children in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades are invited to serve as ushers at the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist. Ushers are typically scheduled to serve once every 5-6 weeks and are called on to substitute at other times. Responsibilities consist of passing out bulletins in the foyer before the service and taking up the collection at the Offertory. Adult ushers assist during Communion. The usher schedule is sent out quarterly. If your child is unable to serve as scheduled, please call the Parish Office as early as possible so that we can arrange for a substitute.
Children in the 5th grade and up are invited to serve as Readers/Psalmists on Sunday mornings at the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist. These Readers/Psalmists are typically scheduled to serve once every four to six months and are called on to substitute at other times. As with acolytes, schedules are sent out quarterly and reminders are sent out the preceding week. Reminders include the text for the given Sunday, as well as a description of what to say before and after the reading. Parents of younger lectors are encouraged to go over readings with children in advance. If your son or daughter is unable to read at a scheduled time, please contact the Parish Office as early as possible.
Families, couples and individuals serve as Oblationers. (Oblationers are the people who bring the wine and bread to the altar at the Offertory.) All who attend the 9:00 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Eucharist are encouraged to participate in this way and we rotate through members of the congregation. If you or your family have not been scheduled and you would like to be, please contact the Parish Office.


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My name is Parker. I am 13 years old. Thank you for looking at my Blog! I hope my posted images will let you know that when you stay true to your heart, you will never be alone. I create these comics to express different experiences or lessons I learn in my everyday life. If you have a particular story or idea for me, let me know! I will do my best to create images that will express whatever you are feeling. You will never be alone!
All photos on this site were taken or scanned in by my mom!


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Weekly Events
Worship Service - Sunday at 9:30am - Johnston YMCA in NoDa
Bible Class - Sunday at 11:10am - in the Trolley Room upstairs in the Johnston YMCA
Other Meetings:
Men's Bible Study - Thursday at 7:00pm - Upstairs at the Johnston YMCA
Women's Bible Study - Wednesday at 7:00pm - Upstairs at the Johnston YMCA
GROW Groups:
Join us for our Growth Group Launch February 3, 2019
Interested in getting involved? Contact us so we can plug you into our family.
Past Events
4th Annual NoDa Christmas Tree Lighting Event
Sunday, December 3, 2017 | Johnston YMCA
Men's Tool Exchange
Saturday, December 2, 2017 | Johnston YMCA
Women's Christmas Party
Thursday, December 9, 2017 | Maleah Burrows'
The 30th Anniversary of the YMCA Community Prayer Breakfast.
Thursday, April 27, 2017 | NASCAR Hall of Fame
We will be having an Easter Egg Hunt out on the front lawn after services on April 16th! Please join us!
There is a lot of tension in our country between different people groups and we hope to strengthen our community by creating a space for conversation and growth.
Carolina Bible Camp is also hosting its annual fundraising banquet on April 1st at 5:30PM at the camp.
Please join the Johnston YMCA and Community Blood Center of the Carolinas on Wednesday, March 29th for their First Annual Spring Blood Drive!


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Carciofi Ripieni
Confessions and Carciofi
Sometimes when we are out in public, Giuseppe pretends not to know me. Such occasions have occurred in public busses, ferries to Capri, airports, shopping malls and most recently, the misleadingly named electronics store, Expert, in Castellammare di Stabia. These events usually follow the same arc: I sense general Neapolitan chaos is about to erupt; Giuseppe tells me to calm the f*ck down; I develop an imperious American attitude; Giuseppe walks away and whistles 'o sole mio; I loose all grip on reality and respond to said chaos in much the same way Joan Crawford responds to the Pepsi Boardroom in Mommie Dearest…'Don't fuck with me fellas. This ain't my first time at the rodeo.'
I am ashamed to admit I caused a similar stir at the Expert electronic store last week. If Best Buy sets my teeth on edge, and the Container Store stresses me out, the Expert turns me into a vitriolic jingoist on the warpath to establish law and order in a wayward Naples. It is said that Ancient Romans considered the Solfatara volcano crater in Pozzuoli (outside of Naples) the entrance to hell. I am fairly confident that if these Ancients were around today, the Expert electronics shop in Castellammare would be considered the modern day equivalent.
When we arrived there last week, Expert was particularly infernal. Some crackpot Samsung flat screen TV promotion was going on and Giuseppe along with half of greater Naples had arrived to claim his half-price, half-baked television set. Imagine roughly 1600 Neapolitans waving newspaper coupons, refusing to mind queues and shouting in brash unison, "where is my TV?" as if we were all awaiting WWII flour rations. I was feeling a bit febrile that day and with the mayhem mounting, I predictably degenerated into one of my 'mommie dearest' moments.
Neapolitans, my latest target, had become my wire hangers. I screamed at Giuseppe for his lack of consideration for my delicate American constitution, I cursed the South of Italy for its general lack of order, I berated Expert for its lack of service. And just around the time Giuseppe commenced whistling the familiar 'o sole mio, for reasons I still fail to understand, I threw at plastic water bottle at him. Instead of hitting Giuseppe, the water bottle ricocheted off a combination washer/ dryer, past a squat lady with a bouffant and struck a large man, with a prominent gold crucifix and possible connections to a certain unsavory criminal organization, directly in the chest. Giuseppe took one look at me and dragged me out of Expert.
After quickly smoking a Slovenian Marlboro, Giuseppe haphazardly maneuvered our car out of the Expert parking lot/three ring circus, and I, per usual, returned to my normal Zen-like disposition, roughly two minutes post eruption. As we crossed the border between Castellammare and Gragnano, I noticed an old man selling festive looking, early spring artichokes by the road. I had to have them, and thinking it best just to placate me, Giuseppe acquiesced, purchasing a dozen beautiful globes.
Naturally I had no idea how to cook them. These artichokes, known as Mammole, or Roman artichokes, have no spiny center and are more tender than their Californian counterparts. What had initially attracted me to these chokes, their festive looking greenery, now stymied me. I was unsure how to clean them, and had no idea what part to cook and what part to discard.
Silvana, my friend and favorite cooking teacher, set me straight. First, as I learned, the artichokes must be soaked overnight in a bath of water and lemon. After that, things are easy. It is important to note that cleaning Mammole Roman artichokes is easier than cleaning Californian artichokes because there is no obnoxiously spiny center.
Other than that, just snip of the tough outer leaves and leaf tips and cook away. Artichokes are of course typical of the Roman diet. This recipe comes from Silvana's mother Elvira, who was considered a bit racy in her time because she read books about regional cuisine and occasional cooked new dishes. Silvana has inherited her mother's incredible culinary prowess. Her stuffed artichokes are a hybrid of traditional Roman cooking methods and Neapolitan ingredients. As Silvana calmly cleaned the artichokes and reminisced about her mamma, I completely forgot about the traumatic day's events at Expert. The new flat screen TV remains un purchased but who needs TV when one has carciofi.
Carciofi Ripieni
Serves 6 as a secondo and 12 as a contorno
12 Roman artichokes (If you are unable to find Roman Artichokes, you can substitute Californian artichokes but there are additional cleaning steps as I will outline.)
2 lemons, cut in half
5 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
Cracked pepper (to taste)
3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 whole garlic cloves
3 cups bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan
1 ½ lbs fresh Italian Sausage
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
If your artichokes come still attached to their stalks, cut off all but two inches of stalk. Discard the chopped off stalk
Shave the remaining, attached part of the stalk with a carrot peeler to remove rough fibrous exterior
Pull off the tough outer leaves of the artichoke and discard
With scissors, cut off the pointy tips of the artichoke leaves (which are really more aptly called petals because the artichoke is a flower)
Place the artichokes in a large bowl or your sink and cover with water
Add lemon halves and soak overnight or for at least four hours
When soaking is complete, prise open the center of the artichoke globe with your thumbs to prepare for stuffing. (If you are using Californian artichokes with spiny centers, slice artichokes in half and remove spiny interior with a spoon.)
Chop off remaining artichoke stalk, cut into half-inch coins, and set aside
Whisk eggs, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons parsley and minced garlic in a medium bowl.
Add Parmesan and bread crumbs and stir with a wooden spoon until porridge like in consistency.
Add one half of reserved artichoke stalks to breadcrumb mixture
Stuff each artichoke with breadcrumb mixture, using the back of a spoon to firmly press down. (If you halved your artichokes, their appearance will differ but they can be stuffed just the same.)
Removing sausage casing, crumble sausage and place over breadcrumb mixture inside artichoke, pressing firmly into each artichoke globe
Place artichokes in one large, wide brimmed sauté pan or two medium, wide brimmed sauté pans. They will fit snuggly.
Top artichokes with an additional grating of Parmesan, remaining parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.
Scatter the remaining artichoke stalk coins and whole garlic around the artichoke globes.
Add three cups of water to sauté pan (or divide evenly between two sauté pans), bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes
Add potatoes, cover and simmer for additional 30 minutes
Uncover and simmer for an additional ten minutes, allowing cooking liquid to reduce slightly.
Serve family style on a large platter with braising juices drizzled over artichokes


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Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Vinyl District Takeover | Jump Back Jake
It's Question & Answer time with Jump Back Jake's Jake Rabinbach.
Question: What year were you born?
Question: What's your sign?
Question: Where were you born?
Yes, we know you like to say that, but where did you grow up?
Question: Ok, sure we get it, you spend a lot of time on youtube, but are there other relevant websites you troll? What do they teach you about your life, career choices, financial future?
Question: "Jump Back Jake" is both your name as a person on Earth but also refers to the 4-piece band that records together and plays "gigs." Are you the leader? How does the band make decisions? When you make "final calls" that will make/break the future of the band, how do you find solutions to the "tough problems?"
Question: A lot of your recent material like "King of Romance" and "Call Me Your Man" deals with love and relationships. Do you find that people hear these bleak songs about your life and feel they need to "give you advice" about how to be happy in your life and find a suitable mate that will make you feel complete for your whole life? Who's advice do you take?
Question: What are some records you have enjoyed recently?
Question: We noticed that all of the answers to the previous questions were links to Amazon.com order forms. Why did you (if inadvertently) endorse them as the #1 retailer of digital music when itunes is clearly lapping them?
Question: This whole "only answering questions with links thing is a little cute and maybe a little antagonistic/condescending considering we are buying you lunch (do you always order a double scotch with your vegan burrito at 1pm?) and that you are sitting at the same table with us. But we understand that speaking only through an Apple designed interface is "forward thinking" and equally as effective as a conversation. That said is there anything you can tell us about your new EP, "Call Me Your Man" before we pick up the tab and exchange awkward goodbyes?
Jump Back Jake - Call Me Your Man (Mp3)
Approved for download!
Stream the complete 'Call Me Your Man' EP right here.
Posted by Jon at 1:41 PM
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Campaign Journal: Bad Day
Morwain's previous journal entry: Lockdown
Last night, I thought I'd truly hit rock bottom in my Riddleport residency. I was wrong. So so wrong.
The day seemed to start off well enough – if you don't count being woken up by a bucket of cold water thrown upon me. One of Bruiser's friends – a weedy man who was somehow rattier than the ratling – had come to free her, and the rest of us in the process. This was all on the condition that we did a little job for him – bring in a 'pretty boy'.
I've stayed long enough in Riddleport to know that 'little jobs' typically involves theft, extortion and bodily violence, especially when they start to talk in that impenetrable thieves' code. Normally, I wouldn't get involved, but when the ratling agreed to go, I did too.
So I followed Bruiser and her hammer-wielding friend I'd dubbed Claws – was she even human, I wondered – down to the warehouses where the 'pretty boy' lived. I tried to get to know the ratling better, but he was reticent. No surprise there – I can't imagine Riddleport takes kindly to what they think is a Whisker. Despite the creature's numerous off putting qualities, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for it.
The sympathy was short lived. As we arrived at the warehouse, we found six heavies guarding the only way in. We argued a bit about how to distract them, when the ratling took matters into his own hands.
The little bastard threw one of his bombs at us, neglecting to actually warn us first. He deliberately missed, but the same cannot be said for the poor bystanders that got caught in the blast.
There was no time for guilt. The guards had drawn their weapons and were heading towards us. Quickly, I blinded them with a swirl of glittering dust as the others dispatched the others with sickening violence.
Did I mention we were supposed to do this without attracting any attention? The smart thing to do would have been to flee. But I had no choice – I'd follow the mad ratling to Abaddon itself if I had to.
We entered the pitch black interior of the warehouse. I could hear the ratling scuttle off somewhere, but had no idea where. So I stayed close to Bruiser and Claws who are, for all their faults, efficient at killing things.
A pair of red eyes watched us from the shadows. Sensing danger, I cast a protection spell on myself. A moment later, an armoured skeleton charged at me from the dark, his weapon clanging uselessly against the magical armour I'd summoned.
Shocked, I stumbled back and gave him the evil eye, but his smile told me it hadn't worked. Of course; the dead do not feel fear. My hexes were useless. I stumbled back, my mind desperately racing for a way out, when Claws crushed smashed the skeleton to pieces with her huge warhammer.
But there was something else there – a metal snake. The lesson of the skeleton fresh in my mind, I cast a misfortune hex to help the others defeat it.
It is easy to become arrogant when you can turn other's minds as easily as I can. But this reminds me that there are things out there that I have no sway over. The witchcraft that my patron has afforded me is but a small taste of its vast powers. If I want to live long enough to feed off of the rest, I must be clever.
The pretty boy – a cypher mage, Bruiser had let slip – lay beyond the door. But when we opened it, we found only a room of red. Worse, there is someone – or something – at the door of the warehouse, waiting for us.
This has turned into a very bad day indeed.


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Seeing the strange belts
like little mouth masks
hung on bamboo poles
I often wondered:
What kind of clothing was that,
so funny-looking
in front of almost every straw-thatched cottage?
'But you boys don't bother about that!'
Until one of my aunts told me
on a showering afternoon.
It was only when I began to date
a girl in a major city close
to Beijing, many years later,
that I came to know them
as nothing other than menstrual rags
(a taboo of female blood?)
although they actually looked
more like shrunken flags
than thick masks.
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Changing the Foundation of Being By Elenore Snow
Like many psychotherapists, I have a trauma history that informed my career path. I lived the first twenty-seven years of my life with trauma so deep that I had a day self and a night self who did not know of each other's existence. This kind of "dissociative identity disorder" happens when trauma begins very early, is long term, and is of a scale of horror beyond what most people can imagine.
When I discovered that there was more than one of "me," I was crushed. I found that I was losing time and that the dissociated response to trauma had left me vulnerable to abuse. During time lapses, I was continuing to be abused by my father and his cohort as I had from my earliest years.
I was used to not sleeping because of nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance, and hyperarousal. My well-intentioned therapist did not seem comfortable with these occurrences. I think it wore on her to sit with me twice a week in this terrible state of anxiety. So she recommended that I see a psychiatrist for sedatory medication to induce sleep.
Thus began a seven-year de-evolution of a life in which my interiority, with its pain and wisdom and aliveness, was eclipsed by medical complications, such as seizures at bedtime, as the trauma was suppressed and suppressed and suppressed. My doctor's counsel was to increase the dosage so that the dose increased one hundred times. Desperate to stop the cycle of dissociation, and the ways that losing time threatened my safety, I pushed and pushed myself to follow the dose adjustments.
I experienced, in due course, loss of short-term memory and, as written up in two consecutive years of neuropsychological testing, a diagnosis of "moderate cognitive impairment, multiple domains." My days were spent in isolation, recovering from my nights. I had a new medication to add to the list, the Alzheimer's medication Namenda, which the doctor prescribed to try to stop the seemingly inexplicable dementia onset.
Finally a neurologist advised me to get off everything and see what might change. It was not easy, but I was able to start over––not just with the practicalities of rebuilding a life but with the basic tools of feeling and grieving and being in relationship with my trauma history.
My Heart Could Love
During this time of transition and loss, I spent hours in the library. Somehow I found my way to the Buddhist section in the back of the stacks. Running my thumb across the spines of books, I found You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh.
At age fifteen, I had heard an audio Dharma talk in which Thich Nhat Hanh told a story of an American soldier in Vietnam who had made bomb sandwiches, which he left on the edge of a village to avenge the death of his dear friend. Hiding behind a rock to watch the act of vindication, the soldier watched as children poured out of the village, delighted with the sandwiches until they began to writhe with pain. Many years later, he was still tortured by the horror of what he'd done. When Thay taught him to work with the breath and to practice service-oriented action, he began to experience some healing.
Twenty-five years later in You Are Here, I came across the story again. The seeds that had been planted so many years before were watered and began to flower. I was living the daily reality of early dementia diagnosis because my brain had been injured by a toxic intolerance to medication. Despite or perhaps partially because of my severely diminished cognitive ability, it dawned on me that my heart could love even if my high IQ and ability to think were lost to me. Acceptance became a very intimate experience. I could do this––I could open my heart. I brought home a six-CD audio set of Thay's, and his teachings bathed my essence in a way that was alive and true and transformative.
As Thay's student, I strived to be as still and as present off the cushion as on, to water seeds of compassion, and to dampen the kindling of fear and reactivity. I learned to have tenderness and care for the "other me," who saw the world as a trapped wild animal might. Those were brave and difficult days as she learned to integrate into me and I learned to hold space for all the ways terror informed her.
Thay's counsel to practice with a Sangha prompted me to come out of my long season of loneliness. I walked into a room full of people that I sweetly felt I remembered. My "first conversations" were awkward as I allowed the slowest part of me to emerge into the world. Self-compassion and meditation practice were to be my mainstay in learning to move forward.
Woven Together
I also researched everything I could get my hands on about helping a traumatized brain become a compassionate one. Eight minutes a day of loving-kindness practice could rewire the brain to a new, gentler worldview. Fifteen minutes a day of mindfulness practice could strengthen the parts of the brain that were most alive in advanced Buddhist practitioners with over ten thousand hours of meditation practice, whose world lens was that of true compassion.
Rewiring my brain into integration was, and still is, a humbling challenge. Many days I felt like Sisyphus, pushing a rock uphill only to have it roll back down, over and over.
I wasn't just learning how to organize my own grocery list. I was learning how to feel, how to relate, how to grieve, how to resume the trauma healing that had been suspended by taking the many medications in my early days of recovery. Resilience, I learned, was not just getting back up again after being knocked down––it was also about making choices toward serving collective transformation that arose from the personal wound itself.
Two years into the healing process, through the most miraculous turn of events, I integrated my prior Hollywood career as a producer with my love for neuroplasticity and spirituality. I started to make a movie on transformation that offers a road map for all of us. The movie, Becoming Snow, is a documentary in which I interweave my own story of trauma and transformation with interviews with the key figures whose insights specific to healing trauma were seminal in my finding my way out of the darkness. In having let it all go, I was given back all of who I was and something more––an aspect of interconnectedness to what is good and beautiful and true, flowing beyond me and through me.
One person I interviewed was a traumatologist, Dr. Robert Scaer (author of The Body Bears the Burden and Eight Keys to Body-Brain Balance). Dr. Scaer discusses the fallacies of trying to treat trauma victims with painkillers: "Pain in chronic trauma victims is phantom pain. And so, it is not due to tissue damage; it is due to memory. And so you are treating memory with a painkiller and that makes no sense whatsoever. You're not treating the physical disability; you are treating the memory and further corrupting the memory. Medication will produce some analgesia, but it won't effectively stop the pain and the emotional response to the pain, which is what keeps the kindling going." He goes on to describe the thousands of patients he saw over twenty years, whose chronic pain was not helped by back surgeries and other intrusive treatments.
Our most progressive researchers, such as founder of interpersonal neuorobiology Dr. Dan Siegel, have found that medications not only do not heal dissociation; they also suppress the integrative fibers in key places, such as between the right and left hemispheres (in the corpus callosum) and between the "upstairs" and "downstairs" brain (reptilian/limbic and neocortex). A brain that is biochemically compartmentalized produces a consciousness cut off from itself.
Many of our war vets come home, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and are only prescribed medications. Society's failure to recognize their terror and trauma adds the wound of invalidation and expresses something terrible in our culture: the willingness to avoid and suppress suffering instead of healing the root by meeting it fully and compassionately.
Practicing discernment with the use of medication is crucial. In moderate doses, medication can help people stabilize enough to engage their own abilities to bring healing to their trauma. With bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, and other illnesses, medication can save lives.
For me, overmedication obstructed my ability to learn healthy attachment and compassionate relationship with the unbearable traumatic events of my life. Thay's teachings of turning up the thermostat of warmth in the cold of the pain itself, of holding our fear or anger like a baby, of staying with the breath, were simple and direct ways to transform the trauma in my consciousness. As I opened my heart to the part of me that bore the pain––with the greatest tenderness, quietest acceptance, and trust that love heals––I opened the possibility of transformation.
Sometimes we think that heavy trauma needs to be hit heavy to transform. It goes against mainstream thinking to meet such suffering with subtlety and softness. But water, with its gentle flow, is the universal solvent that carves the deepest canyons. So too, the flow of compassion can carve healing into the hard wiring of the deepest pain when healing is our heart's true desire. When we can be in a depth of presence, mindfulness, and compassion to ourselves and to others, we are a great resource to us all.
Editors' note: If you are taking medications and are considering changing dosage, please consult your doctor to minimize risk of harm.
Elenore Snow received her MSW from Smith College. She has a private practice specific to transformation, working both with rewiring the brain through neurofeedback and with a depth/intersubjective approach to healing the wounds of trauma in consciousness. She is a teacherin-training in the field of Applied Existential Psychology and co-author, with Dr. Betty Cannon, of The Spirit of Play. She is the creator/producer of the documentary Becoming Snow and its companion memoir, Letters to Tenzin.


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Can Humanities Grants to Universities Be a Bridge to Something Bigger?/
The humanities are on a roll.
Perhaps it's some perverse byproduct of the Trump effect, but recent developments suggest that funders increasingly view the humanities as something that's not simply relegated to the hallowed halls of academia, but a concept that can benefit individual communities, job seekers and society as a whole.
This isn't news to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sure, much of its work in the humanities space aims to redefine the field across university campuses. That type of work, as we'll soon see, continues. But Mellon has always intended for its work to reach the larger population.
Take news out of Maine. "At a time of deep division in the country," said Kate McCormick of the Morning Sentinel, "some institutions are turning to the arts and humanities to bring people together in conversation about the fundamental qualities—and questions—that make us human."
That's the underlying premise behind the University of Maine at Farmington's digital commons project comprising programming and discussion around 24 works of art, literature, film, video games or other forms of creation identified by Mainers as "particularly meaningful at this moment in history." The project received a $500,000 grant from Mellon.
Now, let me step back for a brief moment.
I recently spoke with VIA Art Fund President Bridgitt Evans about the specter of public funding cuts to the arts. She cited three challenges for organizations moving forward into an uncertain future.
First, the need to increase support for the arts at the "grassroots level." Second, the need for institutions to stay relevant without resorting to "continuous expansions" and "blockbuster exhibitions." And third, the need for more locally oriented projects and programs to "diversify away from a heavy concentration of thought leadership and philanthropic capital in just a few cities."
The University of Maine's digital commons project accomplishes all three goals. Commenting on the project, its director, English professor Kristin Case, said, "It's bottom-up rather than top-down. It's not a university dictating, it's a community deciding together."
What's more, the project can be replicated elsewhere, an attribute that undoubtedly appealed to Mellon. "The creation of a statewide digital 'commons' of artistic, cinematic, historical, literary, and musical work has the potential to become a national model for public liberal arts colleges and state humanities councils who create, share, and disseminate knowledge in behalf of the common good," said Eugene Tobin, a senior program officer for Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities at the Mellon Foundation.
I admit I never thought I'd say this, but keep an eye on rural Maine. This Farmington gift comes on the heels of this piece, which reports that the Portland-based Libra Foundation expects to spend as much as $10 million to revitalize the Maine town of Monson through arts-based development. Some interesting stuff is happening up there.
Ultimately, Mellon's support for UM envisions universities not as walled-off compounds full of introverted Ph.D.s, or—to quote Evans again, "elites"—but as organizations that can connect with ordinary people around the arts, an aggregator collecting and transmitting cultural experiences from the community.
In related news, around the same time, Mellon awarded a four-year, $1.5 million grant to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for an initiative, dubbed Humanities for the Public Good, designed to "integrate the humanities into UNC's broader curriculum and foster new humanities-related avenues of public engagement," particularly among diverse communities.
Which brings me to another big priority for Mellon: equipping liberal arts students with the skills to excel in the modern workforce. This month, it awarded Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania a $300,000 grant to support a proposed program called "Confronting Challenges with Confidence: Humanities for Our World Today."
"Our students will hone the humanities skillset that many employers, when surveyed, have highlighted as essential," said Kristi Kneas, the college's dean for academic affairs and faculty development. "While integrating that humanistic perspective with technical expertise gained in other disciplines, they will better be able to address important, real-world questions."
This gift comes a few months after Mellon awarded $2.145 million in grants to the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and the University of San Francisco for a new transfer program to help underserved and underrepresented students earn four-year degrees in the humanities.
By this point, you may notice a common theme in Mellon's gifts to the University of Maine and Elizabethtown College. In each case, the humanities are a bridge to something bigger or deeper. In the former, it's a gateway to larger community discussions on place, creativity, and a grassroots appreciation of the humanities. In the latter, it paves the way toward meaningful post-graduation employment.
Does that mean Mellon isn't concerning itself with the more administrative machinations of the university humanities experience? Of course not.
A recent piece by Isaac Kaplan in Artsy claims "The Way We Judge Humanities Professors Is Broken—This Initiative Could Fix It." The initiative in question, HuMetricsHSS, is the brainchild of a team of academics and researchers. By this point, you can probably guess where it's getting some of its funding.
The initiative aims to fix a specific problem in academia. According to Kaplan, professors of the humanities are evaluated according to criteria generally developed for the hard sciences. Yet, these criteria don't ascribe meaningful value to published work.
Here's an example.
A professor publishes work. Currently, one of the metrics that most impacts an academic's institutional standing is the number of citations the work receives, creating the false impression that "more citations" equals greater value. As Kaplan notes, an academic may simply publish an "extremely provocative" piece rather than one that is truly valuable.
And so HuMetricsHSS wants to develop a metrics framework from values. These values include equity, openness, collegiality, quality and community. While I won't go much further into the nuts and bolts of their approach, I would like to underscore two related points.
First, we see this challenge in the arts world as organizations attempt to measure engagement. It can be a subjective thing, and measurement for measurement's sake doesn't always convey the true scope and depth of an arts experience. The folks behind HuMetricsHSS are aware of this, which brings me to my second point.
Their task won't be easy. The current measurement system is deeply ingrained across academia, and change, as we know, is hard. And yet I'd argue that this is precisely why Mellon helped to fund the project in the first place.
Step back and view these recent gifts from a higher altitude, and Mellon's larger, more holistic approach toward the humanities comes into focus. Whether using the humanities to engage communities or re-imagining how humanities professors are assessed, each seemingly stand-alone initiative fits into a larger and interconnected framework.
I even went so far as to give it a name last year: Mellon's "Humanities Vision Wheel." It didn't catch on.


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Coby Electronics 20GB Digital Multimedia Device(Audio Player, Video Player, Video Recorder, Photo Viewer)PMP-3520 for $69.99
The PMP-3520 20 GB Portable Media and MP3 Player with Video Recorder from Coby is a portable media player with a 3.5″ LCD screen, video recording, SD memory expansion slot, an integrated speaker and 20 GB of internal storage. The player can input and output video and audio using standard A/V connections, allowing you to use it as a handheld device or to connect it to a home theatre for playback or recording. It also plays back all standard computer video formats, MP3 music and digital camera images. This is a great solution for anyone looking for a portable personal media player.
Coby Electronics PMP-3520 20GB Digital Multimedia Device for $69.99
The PMP-3520 20 GB Portable Media and MP3 Player with Video Recorder 3.5″ Screen from Coby is a portable media player with a 3.5″ LCD screen, video recording, SD memory expansion slot, an integrated speaker and 20 GB of internal storage. The player can input and output video and audio using standard A/V connections, allowing you to use it as a handheld device or to connect it to a home theatre for playback or recording. It also plays back all standard computer video formats, MP3 music and digital camera images. This is a great solution for anyone looking for a portable personal media player. And the price is also good for 20GB portable MP5 player.
V-Touch 8GB MP3/MP4 2.8″ Touch Screen – 2MP Camera – Expandable MiniSD – VL-875-8GB-BLK for $69.99
V-Touch Personal Media Player represents the new generation of MP3/MP4/MP5 players. If features design that is highly influenced by the latest iPhone products from APPLE. The V-Touch Personal Media Player is the latest in touch screen media players. It features a beautiful 2.8″ color TFT screen with an easy to use navigation system. It supports playback of AVI, MP4 and 3GP videos at 320×240 resolution. The unit also plays back MP3 and WMA audio files. There is a built-in speaker for those who choose not to use headphones.
The V-Touch also features a built-in 2.0 megapixel digital camera which records both stills and videos. It also works as a webcam when connected to a computer through the USB port. The V-Touch has a MiniSD Card slot should you wish to expand your storage space.
The V-Touch also has additional features such as a voice recorder, FM Radio (with presets and internal recording), picture viewer, calendar and text reader functions!
Zvue 30906 Spirit 1 GB MP3 Player, Pre-loaded with 15 Patriotic Songs -Great Gift! – 30906 Spirit 1GB for $10.99
This is one of least expensive 1 Gb MP3 player we ever seen. It has all common features, including backlit LED screen, a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery, built-in speaker, voice recorder with built-in microphone and USB2 compatible port. The Spirit supports MP3, WMA, and WAV audio formats, so it's ready for your music collection. You'll get seven equalizer presets so you can choose one suited to your taste, along with shuffle and repeat features for your current musical needs. The device supports ID3 Tag so you've always got song info at your hands, as well as Lyrics file (.LRC) support for displaying lyrics (third-party Software needed).
Sandisk Sansa e250 2GB MP3 Player, FM tuner, FM on-the-fly Recording, Built-in microphone, Video, Expandable Memory- SDMX4-2048R for $26.99
The Sansa e250 2GB Digital Multimedia Device is the flagship product of SanDisks audio line. Created by the leaders in flash memory, this flash-based player provides everything you need for music, photo, and video clip playback. The very attractive, sleek design includes a 1.8″ TFT color screen with advanced navigational features and an easy to use interface. You can also avoid scratches and cracks with the durable Liquidmetal backing. The Sansa e250 2GB Digital Multimedia Device provides superior sound playback and supports Microsoft PlaysForSure subscription music. The SanDisk Media Converter supports most image formats to enjoy photos and small personal videos. Also included is a USB cable and white earbuds.
Nokia 500 4.3″ Touchscreen Auto Navigation GPS – Bluetooth, Text-To-Speech, MP3/Video, Built-In FM Transmitter – 02702Z1 for $99.99
Nokia 500 Feature Rich GPS is a great travel companion.
Apple iPod nano 8GB Digital Multimedia Device – MB261LLA for $99.99
Audio Player, Video Player and Photo Viewer with 2″ Color LCD and 8GB Flash Memory.
Is this the coolest and best iPod ever?
What makes an iPod an iPod? It can't be the interface, because Creative says it designed that (natch). Could it be the clickwheel? Well the new iPod touch doesn't have one of them so it can't be that either, really. So what is it?
The answer is a word that begins with 'q' and ends with 'uality'. It's made by Apple, and Apple makes quality products. That's almost all you need to know.
Centon 4GB moVex MP3 Player (Black) – 4GBMP3-001 for $22.66
Centon 4GB moVex MP3 Player is a great little unit. With an integrated USB connector you can use the MP3 player as a flash drive as well as a traveling music player. Listen to hours of your favorite music where ever you go. Easy to use controls make the Centon MP3 player the choice of avid listeners. Plays multiple formats and bit rates. Plug and play USB 2.0 direct connection is built in. Small size lets you take your music anywhere.
SanDisk Sansa e270 6GB Digital Multimedia Device – e270 SDMX4-6144R for $39.99
The Sansa e270 6GB Digital Multimedia Device is the flagship product of SanDisks audio line. Created by the leaders in flash memory, this flash-based player provides everything you need for music, photo, and video clip playback. The very attractive, sleek design includes a 1.8″ TFT color screen with advanced navigational features and an easy to use interface. You can also avoid scratches and cracks with the durable Liquidmetal backing. The Sansa e270 6GB Digital Multimedia Device provides superior sound playback and supports Microsoft PlaysForSure subscription music. The SanDisk Media Converter supports most image formats to enjoy photos and small personal videos.
Archos Gmini 402 20 GB Portable Media Player with Camcorder and 2.2″ LCD Screen- 500705 for $99.99
The Archos Jukebox Gmini402 is a revolutionary personal entertainment system. Incorporating music (MP3), photo (JPEG, BMP), video (MPEG4) and portable data storage in to a compact, stylish, handheld device with USB connectivity.
This 'one-of-kind' product is the ultimate in personal electronics!. With a generous 20Gb hard drive, you have the room to store 1000's of photo, mp3 music files, full length movies, etc.
The Gmini402 series bring a whole new dimension to portable entertainment.
Archos Gmini402 supports MPEG-4 SP and stereo sound. Near DVD quality up to 720×480 @ 30 f/s (NTSC), 720×576 @ 25 f/s (PAL), AVI file format (including WMV9 SP protected files) up to 352×288 @ 30 f/s and 800 Kbits. The Gmini402 supports MP3, WAV, protected and unprotected WMA(DRM9&10 "To-Go" Music).
Ellipse 2GB Video, Music, Pictures MP3 Player
What I like about Invion Ellipse 2GB Video, Music, Pictures MP3/MP4 Player:
Make sure that you have chosen the right interface. If you want to switch between interfaces, you have to delete all previously recorded files before you would be able to work with another interface. This may cause a bit of confusion at the beginning.
What I don't like about Invion Ellipse 2GB Video, Music, Pictures MP3/MP4 Player:
So, to make short summary of my first impressions:
James Rivington published review of Creative Zen Mozaic MP3/MP4 player at "Techradar":
As a low-end MP3 player, the Creative Zen Mozaic is well worth a look. Despite the American spelling, there really isn't much to dislike about this one, and there's plenty to love.
At launch, the 2GB version costs £50, which is remarkably cheap when you stop to consider what you're getting for your money.
The second-generation Apple iPod Shuffle costs about £32 for nothing but 1GB of memory and a clip to attach to your clothing.
But for £20 more, the Zen Mozaic offers you a whole world of fun.
Feature rich
The 1.8-inch colour screen is very low res, but it's perfectly adequate and makes navigating through your music very easy.
And just like with the Mozaic's big brother, the Creative Zen X-Fi, as well as listening to music, you can also look at photos, watch videos, make voice recordings and listen to FM radio.
That's a hell of a lot for just 50 quid.
The Zen Mozaic also has a built-in speaker so you can play your music out-loud. This feature is not as good as on the Zen X-Fi. But it still services a purpose – you can play friends a sample of a song, or listen if you've forgotten your earphones.
Why the name?
The Mozaic name comes from the nature of the interface design. The controls are very easy to use – easier than the Zen X-Fi in fact, due to the nice big buttons. It's perfect for kids, grannies and anyone with short fingernails.
The Zen Mozaic becomes less of a bargain as you add more memory though – the 16GB version will set you back around £120 on launch – that's more than twice the price of the cheapest version. And it's only £20 less than the 16GB Zen X-Fi, which is better in almost every way.
So if you're looking for a very good value, cheap MP3 player. This one will do you proud. It's got it all. But don't be tempted to buy one with a larger capacity – because you might as well buy the Zen X-Fi if you need to store more songs.
Sony 4 GB Walkman Video MP3 Player for $94.85
SanDisk Sansa Clip 2 GB MP3 Player for $34.21
Creative Zen 8 GB Portable Media Player
Buy New: $99.99
Ellipse 2GB Video, Music, Pictures MP3 Player 1.8 LCD – Ellipse 2 manufactured by InVion will cost you almost nothing. Sale price is $17.99 with free shipping.
The Ellipse II MP3/MP4 Video player made by InVion has a Slim & Portable design that is packed full of features, very common to generic MP3/MP4 player. 1.8″ screen, 2 GB of memory, SMV video playback, e-book reading (if your eyes are good enough to read from 1.8″ screen). Battery life is not terribly long, something around 6 hours of video playback, which is very common for inexpensive players from China. Good overall product with the price that rocks!
Apple 30GB iPod Video 5th Gen (BLACK) – MA446LL/A -Reconditioned
5th generation iPod with video playback features the same 2.5″ display, but now it's 60% brighter! Perfect for iTunes 7, which ushers in movie and video game downloads. Another update that will help out with all that new content is the battery. This iPod has up to 14 hours of music playback, and up to 3.5 hours of video playback. You also get a newer set of white Apple earbuds, and best of all, a lower price!
SanDisk Sansa Fuze MP3 Player 4GB – Blue – SDMX14R-004GB-A70Sale Price: $69.99
"The SanDisk Fuze is an eye catching MP3 music player that users will enjoy for its looks, capabilities and incredible value," said Eric Bone, vice president of product marketing for Sansa, SanDisk's audio/video product line. "This new MP3 music player combines some of the best features found on other SanDisk Sansa products, including great sound quality. It's yet another strong offering by SanDisk.
SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8GB MP3/MP4 Player is waiting for you, priced for $79.99
With audio playback for up to 24 hours, 5 hours of video playback, internal rechargeable battery and microSD/microSDHC slot for additional content expansion, Sansa Fuze 8GB (SDMX14R-008GS-A70) marks the next wave of music & video players.
Creative ZEN 16GB multimedia player
Reasonable Priced for $145.99
It's a great option for anyone looking for a great-sounding, pocketable MP3 player with an excellent, video-capable screen and plenty of extra features.
Archos 405 Media Player with 3.5″ LCD display
Sale price: $89.99
The Archos 405 (Gray) is a versatile, expandable portable media player (MP3, MP4, MP5) which can handle all your digital media needs. The 405 has 2GB of flash memory and a SD card slot to make it fast and easy to access your favorite music, video and photo files.
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Sandisk Sansa e250 2GB MP3 Player
You can get this recertified Sandisk Sansa e250 2GB MP3 Player with microSD expansion slot, FM tuner, FM on-the-fly Recording, Built-in microphone, Video playing capability for $29.99 with free shipping.
Read more
Apple MA146LL/A iPod Black Video 30GB MP3 Player
Priced for $149.99
Apple iPod Video player does not require introduction. Some features of Apple MA146LL/A iPod Video MP3 Player include 2.5 inch (diagonal) QVGA transflective display with over 65,000-color liquid crystal display and white LED backlight, 30GB of storage space for music, photos, movies, and typical computer files.
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8 GB USB portable MP3/MP4 digital media player with camera
Order today for $84.99!
Watch videos, listen to MP3 files, dial in your favorite FM radio station, and take pictures with this 8 GB USB portable MP4 digital media player with 2.8-inch color touchscreen!
Creative ZEN 2.5″ Black 8GB MP3 / MP4 Player
Price: $89.99
This is a beautifully designed product, with intuitive and responsive controls and and incredible screen.
Sandisk Sansa e260 4GB MP3 Player, FM tuner, FM on-the-fly Recording, Built-in microphone, Video, Expandable Memory
Sale price:$39.99 (Refurbished)
e260 supports MP3, WMA and Audible formats with up to 20 hours of battery life.
Good deal, even considering that this is reconditioned player.
SanDisk Sansa Clip 4GB MP3 Player – FM Tuner, Voice Recorder – Silver
Price: $63.63
The Sansa Clip plays MP3, WMA, secure WMA, and Audible file formats. Enjoy up to 15 hours of play time with the internal rechargeable battery
SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4GB Flash Portable Media Player on sale for $79.99
Listen, watch and play all day with 24 hours of battery life and room for up to 2000 songs1. The new Sansa Fuze from SanDisk is your portable music machine with 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of storage. Watch your favorite video clips on the Sansa Fuze's 1.9″ color screen. Jam to FM radio with 40 preset stations, play with the built-in voice recorder, and share your photos wherever you go. Choose from five electric colors: blue, red, pink, black or silver. Incredible battery life in a 0.3″ thin device—the Sansa Fuze marks the next wave of music & video players.


text: After studying Interior Design in Italy and working for top Interior Design companies in San Francisco and Oxford, Kristina decided to open Hart Habitats. She is passionate about interiors that are warm, eclectic, and sophisticated. Kristina works closely with her clients to realize their tastes and Interior Design needs. She prides herself on being efficient and having great attention to detail. Kristina believes strongly that beautiful, well-designed spaces have a profound effect on one's well-being. She strives to create interiors where people feel uplifted and can thrive. When not in the studio, Kristina enjoys traveling, hiking, and visiting museums and brings the inspiration she gleans from these experiences to her projects.


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Listen: Andrew Motion on Van Dyck's Self-portrait
- National Portrait Gallery
- 25 November 2013
Heading to the National Portrait Gallery to see Van Dyck's stunning Self-portrait? Take out your phone to hear an illuminating audio commentary from poet Sir Andrew Motion.
From 1999 to 2009 Andrew Motion served as poet laureate, a position established by Henry VII in the 15th century for the official poet to the monarchy. The poet laureate and court painters led parallel lives in the Stuart court – when the wife of a courtier died suddenly in 1633, Van Dyck painted her deathbed portrait while Motion's 17th-century counterpart, Ben Jonson, wrote her eulogy – making Motion the perfect spokesperson for this self-portrait of one of Britain's greatest court painters.
Just call 0300 034 9990 on your mobile phone to hear his commentary on the portrait, which highlights details of the painting, explores Van Dyck's life and work, and entreats listeners to donate to the appeal. You can also donate £5 straight from your phone by texting VANDYCK to 70800.
If you can't wait till you get to the gallery to hear Andrew Motion's commentary, listen now:
Venue details
Entry details50% off with National Art Pass
Saturday - Thursday: 10am � 6pm
Friday: 10am � 9pm
Closed 24 � 26 Dec


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Some of the best films out there are ones recounting the lives of real life people whose actions changed the world for the better or worse depending on the circumstances. These films, when done right really dig into your core to feel what they had to go through for their particular struggle. The latest Cesar Chavez brings along a great cast including Michael Pena, Maerica Ferrera, Rosario Dawson, John Malkovich, but does it do this man's struggle for his people justice or should it have been left in the fields?
Cesar Chavez follows the birth of a modern American movement telling the story of this famed civil rights leader and labor organizer torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers. Passionate but soft-spoken, Chavez embraced non-violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle to bring dignity to people. The story of Chavez isn't one that features anything action packed but is intriguing to see the struggles and trials that he went through for his people. This film does a decent job to take you on the journey without trying to pull the heart strings and make it sappy. Here they let the film play out like his life allowing you to just step to the outside and look in and learn more about the struggle. Michael Pena takes on the lead role and does a great job with the part. He is always great so it is great seeing him get to headline a film and knock it out of the park. The rest of the cast do a good job bringing it all together and seem to have real chemistry with each other. The film is interesting and informative and will surely open the eyes to those that may not understand what the workers were dealing with then, but the film still never quite packs the punch it needs to really get you to feel their struggle. It is so by the numbers telling the story it fails to really suck you in to feel the real suffering these people were going through. This doesn't ruin the movie, it is just more of a missed opportunity. This is likely due to the fact that they merged his struggle for the workers and his struggles as a husband and father together which took some of the focus away from the workers issues on some level.
Despite not quite packing the punch you might hope for in this important historical story, the film still works and manages to entertain thanks to the performances by everyone involved. Much like most films regarding important moments in history this film should be seen for that alone and will likely not only entertain, but enlighten those that know little about the struggle and make it even more clear to those that already know of the history.


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Polish government signs accord with Gdansk shipyard workers 1980
On this day in 1980, representatives of the communist government of Poland agree to the demands of striking shipyard workers in the city of Gdansk. Former electrician Lech Walesa led the striking workers, who went on to form Solidarity, the first independent labor union to develop in a Soviet bloc nation.
In July 1980, facing economic crisis, Poland's government raised the price of food and other goods, while curbing the growth of wages. The price hikes made it difficult for many Poles to afford basic necessities, and a wave of strikes swept the country. Amid mounting tensions, a popular forklift operator named Anna Walentynowicz was fired from the Lenin Shipyard in the northern Polish city of Gdansk. In mid-August, some 17,000 of the shipyard's workers began a sit-down strike to campaign for her reinstatement, as well as for a modest increase in wages. They were led by the former shipyard electrician Lech Walesa, who had himself been fired for union activism four years earlier.
Despite governmental censorship and attempts to keep news of the strike from getting out, similar protests broke out in industrial cities throughout Poland. On August 17, an Interfactory Strike Committee presented the Polish government with 21 ambitious demands, including the right to organize independent trade unions, the right to strike, the release of political prisoners and increased freedom of expression. Fearing the general strike would lead to a national revolt, the government sent a commission to Gdansk to negotiate with the rebellious workers. On August 31, Walesa and Deputy Premier Mieczyslaw Jagielski signed an agreement giving in to many of the workers' demands. Walesa signed the document with a giant ballpoint pen decorated with a picture of the newly elected Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla, the former archbishop of Krakow).
In the wake of the Gdansk strike, leaders of the Interfactory Strike Committee voted to create a single national trade union known as Solidarnosc (Solidarity), which soon evolved into a mass social movement, with a membership of more than 10 million people. Solidarity attracted sympathy from Western leaders and hostility from Moscow, where the Kremlin considered a military invasion of Poland. In late 1981, under Soviet pressure, the government of General Wojciech Jaruzelski annulled the recognition of Solidarity and declared martial law in Poland. Some 6,000 Solidarity activists were arrested, including Walesa, who was detained for almost a year. The Solidarity movement moved underground, where it continued to enjoy support from international leaders such as U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who imposed sanctions on Poland. Walesa was awarded the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, and after the fall of communism in 1989 he became the first president of Poland ever to be elected by popular vote.
(More Events on This Day in History)
American Revolution
- 1777 Sam Mason survives Indian attack
- 1955 William Cobb demonstrates first solar-powered car
Civil War
- 1864 Battle of Jonesboro leads to fall of Atlanta
Cold War
- 1951 William O. Douglas calls for recognition of PRC
- 1985 Los Angeles mob attacks Night Stalker
- 1886 Earthquake shakes Charleston, South Carolina
General Interest
- 1888 Jack the Ripper's first victim murdered
- 1897 Edison patents the Kinetograph
- 1939 Germany prepares for invasion of Poland
- 1949 Actor Richard Gere born
- 1908 William Saroyan is born
- 1928 Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera premieres in Berlin
Old West
- 1777 Sam Mason survives Indian attack
- 1935 FDR signs Neutrality Act
- 1959 Sandy Koufax strikes out 18
Vietnam War
- 1955 Dulles supports Diem's decision not to hold national election
- 1965 Ky refuses to negotiate with the Communists
- 1967 Senate Committee calls for stepped-up bombing
- 1970 Thieu government maintains control of Senate
- 1972 U.S. weekly casualty figures hit new low
World War I
- 1916 American soldier Harry Butters killed in the Battle of the Somme
World War II
- 1944 The British cross the Gothic Line


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I have been a Professional Corporate Portrait Photographer in London for the past 25 years and in that time I have enjoyed photographing many people within their corporate environment, capturing images that ensure people look Professional, relaxed and approachable.
If you feel I can be of any benefit to you and your company, be it for the web, brochure, advertising, company reports or events, please do contact me.
(These web files have been optimized for mac monitor viewing. If you are on a PC monitor, images will vary considerably in colour and saturation.)


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Using a Bookcase!
2 comments:
- The Feathered Nest said...
I love this Nancy!!!! How neat that you use more than just the front to be organized! I hope you are doing so, so good...and that you had a beautiful Christmas! Thank you so much for your visit and comment sweet friend ~ never worry about not commenting, I've noticed in the last year or so that comments have fallen off quite a bit. I still can't help myself though, I LOVE to share, and love my blog...even if I only post one little image ~ it's just my thing. I hope you and Johnny are so happy and healthy and I wish you both a wonderful new year precious friend!!! hugs and love, Dawn
- 02 January, 2013
- Susie from Bienvenue said...
Howdy ho Miss nancy! This post makes me want to place a bookshelf in every room. Really! This year, like every 1st of the year, I'm trying to get me life organized. Trying is the key word haha. Hope you had a wonderful holiday as well. Hugs! Susie
- 03 January, 2013


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Welcome to my blog! My name is Peter Smith, which is stubbornly hard to google, so I am adopting the alias Petros Jordan. Petros is Greek for Peter, meaning "rock", and it is also my maternal grandfather's name. Jordan is my middle name, my father's first name and his mother's maiden name.
I have a B.A. in philosophy from Boston College and a J.D. from UConn. Currently I work as an attorney for a firm in the New Haven, CT area. Since I was a kid, I loved to write short stories, poems, and small books. Now I'm working on a fantasy novel which I hope to publish later this year.
This blog isn't really about me. It's about the things that fascinate me: writing, fantasy, history, maps, language, philosophy, and humor. If you like these things too, then please feel welcome to join the conversation!
Updates are every Sunday.
Please feel free to email me at email@example.com


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many English schools situated at the heart of the city, a person can find himself at the perfect location to discover more of the capital, enjoying the sounds and sights and witnessing the vibrancy of everyday life here. All of these help in improving his learning experience. If you are looking to take an English language course, here are the reasons you must get it in London.
You Can Choose from a Range of English Language Courses
Regardless of your age and abilities, you can pick the best English course for you in the city of London. The city lets you learn the language for educational and academic purposes, for your career or just for self-improvement. You have the option to study the language only or with other subjects like Design, Fashion or Art.
You Complete a Course from an Internationally-Recognised Location
London's English schools like Nacel ESL (Former Twin Towers College) undergo regular inspection to guarantee high standards of teaching, welfare support, accommodation and facilities. You get qualifications that the world recognises and every school provides support to make sure that its students can maximize their London experience.
Employers, colleges and universities around the world value English language skills. Improving your English is an excellent investment for your future, whether you wish to work in an international environment or study in a country whose primary language is English.
You Can See London Beyond the Classroom Walls
London connects with many of the best of the United Kingdom. Studying English in the city allows you to explore the famous sights here and what the rest of the country has to offer. London is a good exploration base since you can take a bus, plane or train to nearly anywhere. During your course, you can even go for short trips in the weekends. While exploring each place, you get to meet a lot of native speakers you can interact with. This provides you first-hand experience and training as you use the English language in real-life situations.
You Experience Living Like the British People
Your chosen English school will help you get your accommodation in London. You can choose to stay in a private accommodation, a student residence or with a friendly family. For many foreign students, living with a family is a good option to better interact with locals and learn how their way of living. And such interaction will let practice interacting in English.
You can Have Many Job Opportunities
London has many job opportunities and a number of students decide to stay here after completing their English course. Also, a lot of them find work during their studies for more money. You don't need to have excellent English to get a job here. Local cafes, shops and restaurants have positions for students. And because you are surrounded by English-speaking people everywhere, your English will easily improve without you realising it.


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RV Forum flags - click HERE
I have a computer connected to my wall 38' TV, I like it for watching TV and movies but not for the web.
We don't watch that much TV but would enjoy watching DVDs or streaming Netflix if in a campground with WiFi. We don't even have the trailer yet! Negotiating the price right now....wish us luck.
Wow! Now that's one BIG TV! Big wall, for that matter.
Anyone have any experience wall mounting an all in one computer with a built in TV tuner and using it as both your computer as well as TV/DVD player?
My tv is a 46 incher. Bigger is better
You misread his post. He said 38' (foot)
I think it was a typo...
Ya think?
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On 13th July The Convo Club met for the first time, it was a beautiful evening filled with food, laughs and heartfelt chats. Jasmin and I collaborated on this concept after bringing two similar ideas together, and birthing the idea of a 'club' that meets a number of times each year, and is purely focused on facilitating conversation between women. I'm talking deeper stuff, questions, thoughts and opinions on different topics. July was all about Love & Relationships.
We were very lucky to have some incredible sponsors on board, who I'd love to thank for their generosity in being a part of this special evening.
The Convo Club with be meeting on the Gold Coast in Australia, on 14th September and 16th November. Be sure to grab your ticket if one of the upcoming topics resonates.


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Assisted Living Facilities near Pana, IL
Pana, IL Assisted Living Facilities
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Pana assisted living communities provide those in the Pana, IL area a senior housing option that allows for independent living while also providing helpful assistance when needed in a senior community.
Seniors in Pana can move on from the responsibility of managing and maintaining one's own home and choose to live in one of the 1 Pana assisted living facilities that offer supervision and assistance with activities of daily living when needed.
Disclaimer: We DO NOT check license status for facilities and DO NOT ensure each property is classified as an "assisted living" facility. We try to list all senior living companies in a given area, some might not be licensed as assisted living. We strongly urge every consumer to conduct due diligence on facilities they are considering. This includes but is not limited to verifying the license status of a facility, researching inspection reports and complaints and visiting facilities in person.
Some page content retrieved from Google Places
- What is Assisted Living?
- Who Lives in Assisted Living?
- Services Provided
- Staff and Administration
- Quiz: What type of care is right for me?
- Talking to a Parent
- Assisted Living Costs
- Ways to Pay for Assisted Living
- Putting Together a Financial Plan
- If You Can't Afford Assisted Living
- Planning Your Social Security to Better Pay for Retirement
- Prescription Drug Assistance
- Choosing an Assisted Living Facility
- Moving Out of the Family Home
- Moving Into an Assisted Living Community
- Resident Activities
- Resident Health
- Medication Management and Adherence Education
- Safety
- How Tech Advanced are Facilities?


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For writers: what is Outer Limited POV?
I received an unusual email the other day. It was from this author saying that she was going to use an excerpt of my book Invisible as an example in her revised book for writers about Point of View.
Apparently I'm a bit terrific at writing 'Outer Limited Point Of View', something I've never heard of before, and certainly nothing I was trying to do, but hey, I'll take it.
According to her blog, this is what Outer Limited POV consists of.
Outer Limited (Hemingway called this the "fly on the wall POV"): "limited" to the "outer" things in story, only what can be observed, ostensibly objectively. No thoughts, feelings, motivations of ANY characters are revealed. Reader only sees/hears what can be observed/heard.
Without a doubt, Outer Limited is the most difficult POV to successfully maintain for any length of time, but it is just like a movie without any voice-over, so I suspect the reason more authors don't use it is (1) because it's so difficult to maintain successfully as every word can reveal subjectivity and author is supposedly objective and invisible, and (2) because it's difficult to create the emotional connection between readers and characters unless author is extremely skilled at realistic dialogue and convincing character development.
Apparently Outer Limited POV is often used in crime fiction. Obviously, Invisible is far from being a crime novel, but just so we're clear, here's how my outer limited POV segment was written. This is the part where Jazmine finds out she's got the main part in the play.
"I don't think Miss Fraser was all that understanding. In fact, I think she got a bit cross. She certainly sounded annoyed with Angela when I picked up the phone and had this conversation with her:
Miss Fraser: Jazmine, I've had some bad news.
Me: Oh. Um. What is it?
Miss Fraser: Angela's quitting the play. Her other commitments have become too pressing and important. And The Secret Garden is coming last on her list.
Me: (a little bit uncomfortable): Oh. Really? She's quitting? That's not, um, good, I guess.
Miss Fraser: No. Absolutely not. With two weeks to go, and her having the main part, we have a bit of a problem.
Me: (Thinking, why is she telling me this?) Oh yeah. That's hardly any time. What can you do?
Miss Fraser: Well, actually, this is why I'm calling you. I know that you know the part and I have seen you act and I think you would be the best person to take it on at this stage.
Me: (Completely stuck for words with absolutely nothing coming out of my mouth) um, um, gasp, splutter
Miss Fraser: Jazmine? Are you still there?
Me: Yes. Sorry, I just don't know what to say.
Miss Fraser: Well, you have to give me an answer. I'm asking you if you will play Mary.
Me: I don't think I can do that. I mean, I'm not an actress. I didn't try out for the play.
Miss Fraser: Jazmine, I think you have proved to me and to yourself that there are many things that you think you can't do that you actually can do. I don't need to tell you what they are. What I am telling you is that I believe you can do this. And I would like you to do this.
Me: (Still trying to stall for time) Isn't there someone else you can ask?
Miss Fraser: Of course there is. There is always someone else I can ask. Quite honestly, a dozen girls would bring me flowers every day for the next two weeks if they thought they could have the part. But I'm thinking about the production and making it the best play possible. I have seen you do the part, and I know you can do it very well.
Me: (Still in shock) I… Well…
Miss Fraser: Come on Jazmine, choose. It's yes or no. I'm hearing the old Jazmine, the one who just wanted to hide and let life pass her by. But I've seen a new Jazmine in the last few weeks. I'm sure you don't want to go back to where you used to be. Now, what's it going to be?
Me: (Feeling absolutely terrified but completely excited) Yes. I'll do it.
Miss Fraser: Excellent. We won't have any costume issues. Obviously, you are the same size as Angela, but we will have to work a little bit more this week to make sure that you know all the scenes and the stage directions.
Me: (Head spinning) Wow. I can't believe it.
Miss Fraser: You'd better believe it. Opening night is a fortnight away. And there's a lot to do before then. I'll see you on Monday morning. Make sure you study the script, eat a good dinner every night and get lots of sleep.
For more about POV, I recommend you get the book, Mastering Point of View. I'll be getting a copy because clearly I need to learn something!


text: Opening up for Beartooth was British metalcore lot Blood Youth, who I also shot at Download in the summer. They were ok - nothing spectacular and nothing particularly bad either. The crowd really got into them but, as you can probably tell, I didn't think they were that much to write home about. Anyway, here's a few frames.


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The debate over a 'liquor-free-Kerala' has taken a communal turn with two powerful Hindu organisations questioning the Congress government's steps towards imposing prohibition, which have found support from leaders of Christian and Muslim communities.
Vellappally Nateshan, the leader of backward Hindu organisation Sree Narayanad Dharma Paripalana Yogam, has said the government's move would affect members of his community in the liquor business.
Taking on the Catholic bishops who had threatened to bring down the Congress government if steps for prohibition were not initiated, Nateshan has even asked whether the Church was ready to stop using wine during mass. He alleged that those bars which have been shut belonged to Hindus and those open belonged to Christians.
Archbishop Francis Kallarackal said Nateshan's comment smacked of communalism. "Wine is used in mass as part of Christian faith. That practice will continue until the end of the world," he said.
On Saturday, another influential Hindu leader, G Sukumaran Nair, general secretary of upper class Hindu outfit Nair Service Society, joined the issue. Nair said the government decision was impractical.
The decision for liquor-free Kerala stemmed from rivalry within the Congress, and was driven by pressure from Christian and Muslim allies.
"This is the outcome of a battle to enhance one's image. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was forced to succumb to the pressure from allies Kerala Congress (a regional Christian party) and Indian Union Muslim League. A practical approach to enlighten people to abstain liquor is required to address the liquor menace," Nair said.
On the other hand, Jamaat-e-Islami's Kerala chief T Arifali said the government should have the courage to implement the decision to close down bars as the bar lobby would try every trick to defeat the government's decision.
Christian and Muslim outfits in Kerala have been at the forefront of agitations demanding complete prohibition. Their community leaders have stood behind Congress state president V M Sudheeran on the issue.


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Approximately 500 tourists come through the Southern Ocean to Eastern Antarctica each austral summer, while 40,000 take the route from South America through the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula.
Why do so few people take this route to Eastern Antarctica and the Ross Sea?
Because it's hard, unpredictable, rough, riddled with ice, and the journey simply takes a much longer time. But the journey can also be exhilarating, and I'm the type of person who looks at those words and think "yeeessss..a real adventure!" I wanted to go to Eastern Antarctica because it was unique and I like going the hard way, where few people tread. More than anything, I like to really explore.
"I believe it is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown. The only true failure would be not to explore at all." —Ernest Shackleton
Even though, like Shackleton, I thrive on the unknown, I understand that I'm in the minority. Most people want to know everything they can before they take such a trip; they want to be prepared. Even though the expedition through the Southern Ocean to Eastern Antarctica is completely unpredictable due to weather, there are a few things that are predictable about this expedition cruise.
What to expect when Expedition Cruising to Eastern Antarctica
You will likely get seasick
This is some of the roughest seas in the world, and you will be navigating through them for 7 to 10 days before you reach Antarctica (3 to 4 times longer than the Drake Passage to the peninsula). Even if you aren't prone to seasickness, bring something. In the roughest waters, probably half of our ship was not feeling well. I found myself lying in bed, pretty miserable for the first 3 to 4 days when we were in rough waters. And yes, I was taking various medications and nothing worked completely for me. However, the good news is that the term 'get your sea legs' isn't a myth. I did get my sea legs and then was fine the rest of the time.
Bring more than one option for sea sickness as different things and combinations work for different people. I started off using the Scopolamine Patch (prescription necessary from the US), then switched to Stugeron/Cinnarizine (only found in the UK over the counter), and that seemed to do better for me. People also had motion sickness wristbands, ginger tablets, and Dramamine. And if you are really in a bad situation and nothing seems to work, then the onboard doctor can typically help with stronger medication.
Whatever you do though, don't let the seasickness deter you. Most everyone 'found their sealegs' after a few days. Plus, every day isn't rough, you have calm times and once you actually reach Antarctica everything calms down.
You will struggle getting on/off the zodiac
The way you do landings and get ashore on an expedition cruise is by zodiac raft. You will board the raft from a gangway on the ship and then get off on shore. Sure, it sounds easy – but it isn't. Sometimes it's completely flat and easy, but the majority of the time the swells are moving both the ship and the zodiac furiously. You have to step off the ship and onto the zodiac trying not to fall in the boat or in the water. It does take some balance and athleticism. There are sailors and expedition staff to assist you, but realize this isn't a cake walk.
In addition, getting on and off zodiacs at the landings isn't necessarily easy either. Most of our landings were wet, which means you are greeted by crashing waves and rough waters as you swing your legs over the raft and walk to shore. Once again there will be people there to help you, but realize that this isn't as simple as just stepping off a boat and onto shore. People fall, and get wet occasionally.
You will get great food
The Spirit of Enderby is not a luxury expedition ship – it's functional, and no frills. I personally feel that it's perfect this this kind of small ship expedition cruising. However the one thing that was luxury on the cruise was the food. Chef Ed and Chef Max fed us 3 meals a day for 28 days and never repeated any lunch or dinner menu item. I was expecting basic meat and potatoes food, instead I got Indian curries, seafood, Asian hot pot and dumplings, chowders, rack of lamb, steak, decadent desserts, and every kind of fish you can imagine. The Chefs took so much pride in putting out a beautifully plated meal in some of the roughest waters on earth. It was impressive to watch and even better to eat.
See exactly what it was like to cook at sea on a ever-moving ship!
You won't make it to everywhere on the itinerary
It's about the journey, not every little destination on the itinerary. The Antarctic is unpredictable, and so are the itineraries. This is probably the biggest reset of expectations you have to do if you go on this trip. You will likely not see everything that is mentioned on the itinerary. I talked to Rodney, our expedition leader and founder/owner of Heritage Expeditions, and he confirmed that managing people's itinerary expectation is one of the biggest challenges.
"People see what we see on past expeditions on our website and trip logs, etc – but we can't repeat that, and so then we have to manage those expectations. If it was repeatable and predictable then I wouldn't be here…and everyone else would be here. "
I agree with him 100%. I don't want a reproducible vacation, I want an expedition – a journey to the unknown. If you are looking for a reproducible vacation then head to the Antarctic Peninsula, or Mexico.
On our trip we actually didn't make it to one of the big itinerary draws – the McMurdo Sound. There were miles of ice that made it impossible to get into the sound and see the historic huts. Sure, it was disappointing, however we were able to see many other places that weren't expected like Coulman Island, the Balleny Islands, and we were able to spend more time on Inexpressible Island. It's just a tradeoff, and either way, you get to experience an Antarctica that few people see.
You will get tired of being social and struggle to find alone time
The beauty of this trip is that it is a small ship with only 48 passengers. However, you are with those same 48 people for an entire month for every waking moment. Every meal is a social experience, you are expected to go eat in the dining room and eat with everyone. This means there is a social pressure to chat with people during that time. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal – but some mornings I woke up and just desperately wanted to eat without having to chitchat. I simply wanted to be alone. I'm a very social person, but there were few moments of alone time on a ship of that size. You can find some solace in your cabin, in the library, or out on deck if it isn't stormy.
Luckily I had a SUPER roommate who I got along with wonderfully so we made sure that we had time alone in the room and quite frankly we didn't mind being together in the room either. She is a painter and I am a writer, our cabin was our little creative 'home' and we complemented each other. However, you don't always get that lucky at the roommate roulette. Some struggle with roommate relationships which can make the social aspect of the expedition even more challenging.
I personally think you just have to go into it being realistic. It's going to be challenging to be on a small boat with people that you like and don't like. But just keep in mind that this is not life or death – it's simply 28 days…and the prize is that you get to go to Antarctica!
People will get injured
The Southern Ocean is rough, the ship is continuously moving, bobbing, and swaying and inevitably there are accidents. We had to have one person emergency evacuated off the ship, and another did break ribs (he was able to stay on the ship though and still do the landings on Antarctica!). There is likely some sort of injury every trip. Just try your best to make sure it's not you. You are required to have emergency evacuation insurance for good reason. Plus, there is a doctor on board who can assist and advice in emergencies, as well as provide sea sickness meds.
It takes a while to get used to the movement and until you do you have to hold on at all times. Sometimes the seas were so rough I nearly was rolled right out of bed. Chairs fell over, drinks spilled, and my roommate about took a header into a wall once.
You won't gain weight
You would think that with 3 glorious meals a day and 2 deserts a day you may gain weight. The good news is the chefs plate all of the food into very reasonable portion sizes, and you eat what you are given. There are no extras or seconds. So in a way, the portion control is what saved me. And if you want snacks, there's always a piece of fruit available, but really no junk food at all.
Plus – since the ship is always rocking, you actually do use your core muscles more than normal in everything you do. Simply standing is work on a ship in the Southern Ocean. There are also opportunities to do hikes every time you do a landing. Take all the opportunities you can to move and work some of the delicious desserts off!
You will get wet
Bring rainproof everything, you will absolutely without a doubt get wet and so will all of your stuff.
You will be cold
It's Antarctica folks, so yes, it's cold. However it's probably not as cold as you think it will be since it is the austral summer. Our coldest morning temperature was 28, that's not too bad, and most of the time I didn't even wear gloves. However, once the wind starts to blow, it's cold. Weather changes fast and the days where we had storms or big wind it was quite cold. The zodiac rides are really the coldest part typically. Even on shore you can normally find some respite from the wind.
Your camera/video gear will be pushed to the limit
You are traveling to one of the harshest environment known to man, you better be sure your camera gear can handle this tough environment. Dry sacks, LensCoat Raincoats, straps for securing your equipment (I nearly lost my phone and camera to the wind a number of times), cloths to wipe them off, and extra batteries (I brought 5) are all good to have. Bring two cameras if you can as a 'just-in-case' backup. Various people on our ship had their equipment fail at different times.
You will be at the mercy of the expedition leader
You do give up control whenever you travel with a group. But you also give up control even more so when you are on a ship in a remote part of the world. So be prepared to be flexible and have faith. Our expedition leader, Rodney, had been coming to Eastern Antarctica for 25 years; he knows it better than anyone (truly anyone). You have to put your trust in him to make the right decisions for landings and safety. Sure, it's always up to you whether you want to go ashore or not on a particular landing, but it's the expedition leader working together with the captain of the ship who calls the shots on where, when, and how the stops are made based on their expertise.
You will forget something that you wish you had
Yes, you can find great Antarctica packing lists, but there's always something you wish you would have thought of! I had a number of those moments of, "Damn, I wish I would have thought of that…" on the ship. Here are a few of the things I wish I would have brought with me.
Clothes line and clothes pins or pin-less clothes line
Plug Adapter (the ship has New Zealand and UK style plugs)
Travel coffee mug – it would have been great to have around the ship for tea.
Ski goggles for those really windy and bright days.
Dishwashing/cleaning gloves – the sturdy plastic ones can be used as waterproof protection over your glove liners. They are a perfect cheap solution for the zodiac rides where you often end up wet due to sea spray and waves.
See my Ultimate Antarctica Packing List
Antarctica packing is much more than just ensuring you have warm clothes! Before you go, make sure you have all of these Antarctica items!
You will have a once in a lifetime experience
Some of these things I mentioned may seem a bit daunting, but I can't stress enough that the reward outweighs any inconveniences. It's really just that magical. If everything goes smoothly then it's not really an adventure is it?
I love this type of travel, it's what makes me the happiest, and I know I'm not alone. Today people want to feel like they really are going some place unique and having a one of a kind experience, and that's exactly what an expedition cruise to Eastern Antarctica is. After all, only 500 people a year go there, and where else on earth is that the case?
Check out some great Ross Sea reads before your trip!
Follow my Travels.
I was a guest of Heritage Expeditions on this trip, however all opinions are my own.