text:
"Last chance for water until Jupiter."
The sign had been made in jest, but it had been true, and now it was a joke again, because all the water was gone.
Under the particle board desk, Fallon shook her canteen, and a few precious ounces sloshed around, coating the metal sides. The flask on her hip, however, was full. Of whiskey. There was always plenty of whiskey.
And where the water went, the humans followed, and nearly all had left save for a few hardy stragglers catching the last few ships headed into the abyss. People were seeking the light, like tiny heads of seedlings germinating under soil. Meanwhile, Nevada was fulfilling its destiny of becoming a desert wasteland — and maybe millions of years into the future, Fallon thought, it would return to its primordial state and become enveloped by water again, with giant monsters swimming in its depths. It was unthinkable to her. But, then again, so was living on Jupiter.
Sunlight filtered through the glass walls of the toll booth, which was perched at the top of a small hill once dubbed Rattlesnake Mountain. Where there was just once a blinking red light to guide airplanes at night, it was now a portal to the universe. Within the booth sat Fallon, where dust and skin and hair met to form a very tan human being, and it didn't matter that her hair was actually black, or that her eyes were green, or that her skin was pale and freckled. The dust permeated everything, a thick coat over her life. She gave up trying to escape it, keeping her hair tightly bound at the nape of her neck. It had been many years since she felt the soft curls bounce around her face, free and unbridled.
She peered through the dirty glass. The sunlight filtered through it, trapping her like an insect under a magnifying glass. It was like a giant eye was watching her directly, trying to make her squirm in the heat.
Someone had uploaded more than a terabyte of history textbooks and documents to the library portal — a last digital purge before leaving, as the travelers would want as much device storage as possible to document the trip "out East." Jupiter wasn't really "east," of course. Cartessian coordinates didn't apply to planets other than Earth. Fallon thought of it as out. Far. Beyond. But the phrase stuck, and Fallon found it ironic, since pioneers usually ventured out west. Space was far from the final frontier. For humanity, it was now just the beginning.
She'd downloaded all of the historical texts onto her tablet, on which storage was quickly waning. But she wasn't going anywhere, and she was trying to ignore the stickiness inside her parched mouth. She took a sip of whiskey and swallowed with her lips pressed tight against her teeth. Grit found its way in anyway, and she coughed from the burn.
In Daily Life of the Vikings, she learned that beer was the primary sustenance for Viking sailors. It met the need for food and water while out on the sea, adrift and surrounded by salt and ice. Whiskey was far more dehydrating than beer, but she liked the thought anyway, that she was surviving the way ancient people did in times of hardship.
There were so few travelers this week that she finished Daily Life of the Vikingswithin a matter of hours, and was well into Vikings: Life, Death and the Afterlife.
She had a lot more time to read these days.
At first it was just a part-time, post-college summer job, validating the one-way tickets for the travelers heading out. Had she studied engineering, she could have been an assistant pilot on the ships, or perhaps an architect on the new settlement, or a radio operator, or a farmer on the new planet.
But she studied history, and the job gave her ample time to read, so it was basically her dream job. Her father would have rolled his eyes, commenting (not for the first time) that she didn't aspire for much, did she? Content to just let the world fly by, revolve around her, without her. It was true she had always been like that, living in her head. But she was a simple woman with simple needs, and being a booth operator suited her just fine. And for a while it was job security, as everyone and their mother was abandoning ship, so to speak, and hightailing it out into the galaxy. Terraformed Jupiter was lush and wet and so much larger than Earth. Clean, shiny, new.
The dust storm enveloped the glass booth, whistling and slapping against the sides of it, and she felt submerged inside a very noisy fish tank. And like a fish, leaving it without her eco-mask would mean gasping for air, and getting a mouthful of dust instead.
Inside the booth, the sounds were muffled. The sound of the wind used to make her anxious, but it was no longer superimposed onto the chatter of travel. The planet was nearly empty now, and it was so quiet. Fallon was resolute in her loneliness; her roots had extended far into the aridisol. She envisioned herself as a cactus: prickly on the outside, hoarding water in the inside, with tiny limbs reaching into the heat.
The sun was still high in the sky, and she was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice that a break in the storm was approaching, and outside the booth stood a man.
A man with a robust gray mustache and a cowboy hat tapped on the glass.
Fallon started at the tap. She set her tablet down, disgruntled to be interrupted while in mid-sentence — Much like the ancient Greeks, the Vikingshad neither a positive or negative view of the afterlife — but she was startled by two things: that there was someone still lingering around outside the spacecraft bridge, and that he wasn't wearing an eco-suit.
She cracked open the door, grateful for new air, and poked her head out. He was smoking a cigarette (who still smokes in this place? she thought), and she resisted the urge to wave away the tendrils that emanated from the glowing tip. The scent of it evoked a memory of her mother, smoking on the balcony under eucalyptus trees while it rained outside. The memory, awash in wet and moody colors of blue and green, left as soon as it arrived. The man tipped his hat at her, and tossed his finished cigarette to the ground. He stamped it, and within seconds, he pulled out another one.
"Dust storm comin' in," he said, peering into the sky, squinting.
"Pretty sure it's been here for a while," Fallon said. She followed his gaze, confused, and turned back to the man. "I'm sorry, can I help you?"
"I'm here to take over your shift," he said, still looking upward.
"My shift isn't over. And I don't know you."
"No matter." Finally, he met her eyes. "This is the last ship."
"I'm aware." Fallon pursed her lips. "You can head on."
"Well, then." He looked at the cigarette, pinched between his thumb and index. "Don't think they've cultivated tobacco out east. Better enjoy this while I got it."
A full minute passed in silence. Fallon was growing more impatient by the second. She felt the ground vibrate; the engines of the ship were warming up. The bridge would be closing soon.
"Not to be rude, but you might want to get a move on," she told the man, who gave no indication that he was in any hurry. "Do you have a ticket?"
"Ah, yes." With his cigarette dangling from his mouth, he pulled the boarding pass from his shirt pocket and handed it her. Fallon stamped the corner, the teal Bound for Jupiter seal bright and stark against the muted environment.
She pointed to the west, where the bridge to the spacecraft was visible in the distance. "Bridge is that way. Scan your ticket to get in."
He considered her. In the heat and under his gaze, Fallon felt like she was being X-rayed.
"Would you mind accompanying me?" he asked. "These knees aren't what they used to be."
She glanced at her tablet, open to mid-sentence in mid-chapter in mid-book, and hesitated before acquiescing. Fallon pulled her eco-mask over her face, and snapped it to the collar of her vest. The respirator hummed in her ears. She grabbed her satchel, too, which contained the key to the toll booth.
"It's this way."
The bridge was about half a mile from the toll booth, and the roughly-hewn dirt path to it was littered with last minute discards: tote bags, broken toys, empty water canteens, even eco-masks. There'd be no need for those on Jupiter. The air was clean and not yet polluted. Sand lined the beaches of the many, many lakes and oceans; it wouldn't embed itself into people's nostrils and lungs.
The man walked slowly, as if taking in the environment around him — the open and empty sky, the Sierras looming in the distance. She wanted to ask him, Won't you miss this?
She wanted to ask that to everyone who passed through the booth, but she never did. It was only she who wallowed in what was being left behind. Who would look after the mountains and libraries, Machu Picchu, the pyramids of Egypt? These testaments to humanity and what it stood for? What was a future without those links to the past?
At last the bridge appeared before them. He tossed his cigarette into the dirt and stamped it, another remnant left behind. She scanned his boarding pass on the outside of the ship. Green light, and a beep, and the door slid open.
"Bon voyage," she said, saluting. "This is where I leave you."
But the man said nothing. Whatever, dude, she thought, but as she moved to leave, he pushed her roughly into the tunnel, and she stumbled and fell.
With a movement that looked too fluid for a man his age, he turned on his heel, slammed the red button with his fist, and the glass door slid shut behind her.
The airlock sealed instantly, and Fallon scrambled to her feet.
"Let me out!" The glass didn't move as she beat at it with her fists. It was made many layers thick to withstand an interplanetary journey, and it served as a viewing bridge while the ship was traveling. "No! Please! I don't want to leave!"
She needed out. She needed to touch the ground, to cling to the sagebrush. She needed her books, her mother's clothes in the box in her closet that still smelled like her. She needed her bed and her toolbox and her tiny apartment. Because Earth was Fallon's childhood, her origin, her beginning and end. Earth was her mother, her mother who died long before the water started to run out, and she was buried in the depths of the desert, and she was part of the planet. When the dust embedded itself into her skin and her hair, Fallon felt her mother's presence. How could she ever leave, when that is what she was leaving behind?
But the man said nothing, emoted nothing as she sobbed against the glass. He continued to squint at her as he had squinting at the sky — passive, analytical, thoughtful. And the vibrations of the ship began to signal its departure, the bridge was pulled into the ship, and her voice was hoarse, and it was all futile.
The man held up his hand, a farewell gesture. The ship started to leave the ground, and the panic swelled in her, and she was overcome with grief, and she couldn't breathe —
And within moments, the ship was flung out of the atmosphere and into the black.
The man waited until the woman on the ship was long out of sight before lowering his arm. He wasn't concerned by the final look on her face — the betrayal, fear, devastation, panic. It was better this way. One day of living under rain, a life she had never known, and she would begin to heal.
And he was selfish; he wanted to be alone with his daughter, to be the last of the Earthlings.
The sun was setting, and the shadow of Rattlesnake Mountain darkened the empty path before him. So he stepped into the booth, and lit another cigarette with the glass door cracked open.
He pulled a picture frame from his satchel, and set it on the desk. A picture of a young girl smiled back at him, her long, dirty blonde hair draped over one shoulder in a fishtail braid. He remembered when she tried to teach him how to braid, his rough hands fumbling to twist the silky strands together. He knew she would have killed him for smoking so many cigarettes in a row.
The thought was immediately followed by an angry gust of dust against the booth. It stung his eyes. That girl always had a temper. But he just smiled back at his daughter, and kicked up his feet, settling in for what he was sure would be a very long rest.
"It's just you and me now, kiddo."
Space was dark, and quiet.
The eager travelers talked in hush tones, like they were collectively holding their breaths. In her pod, Fallon pulled her knees to her chest and looked out into the nothingness — she knew it wasn't really nothingness, but everything that mattered to her was millions of miles away, and everything that wasn't there meant nothing.
But the day had come, when the sight of a new blue orb punctured the endless black. At first it was so small, and every moment they hurdled toward it made it larger in her vision. The sheer scale of Jupiter was unfathomable. The planet was in full view as the ship began its descent, and the captain's voice said, "Welcome home."
But home is where my mother is, Fallon thought. Home was Earth, and she was made from the substances of Earth — water and dust and love, and she carried them with her, through time and space.
I must become my own home now.
The ship hovered for a moment, then settled onto the ground, where it would remain. Through the spacecraft window, Fallon saw so much rain, and green. The planet was alive with new life, ferns unfolding into the light. And she was met with dense humidity, gripping her like a hug, as the pod bay doors opened into the new world. She was birthed into the delta, pushed along from the river of space, and was suddenly awash in comfort.
Her home planets, new and old, were connected via orbit, all made from the same star stuff and chemistry to form the galaxy in which she resided. And the journey had made her just one more explorer sailing in the night, like a Viking, wary of her new destination. The ocean of humanity was all sourced from the same pool.
She pulled on her satchel, still covered with the dust of Earth, and stepped out into the cool rain of Jupiter. •
Author's note: This story was inspired by NASA's Visions of the Future poster series, one in particular that features the famous the Reno arch here in Reno, Nevada. I was intrigued by the sign hanging from it that read, "Last chance for water until Jupiter." My goal for this story was to write something very simple that evoked the feeling of a Twilight Zone episode, so I pulled from familiar tropes and archetypes.
This story pairs well with: Water, obviously, and this song.


text:
|Shopping cart is empty.
I am Jellyfish
More Views
Chased to the depths of the bottomless blue,What does a tiny Jellyfish do?Jellyfish is quietly crooning in the shallows, when knife-nosed Swordfish swooshes, races and chases her, down, down, down, deep into the dark blue sea.At that moment, stealthy Squid stretches a tentacle, tussling and tossing Swordfish in the darkness. Who will help Swordfish? He makes a last wish...Then ...ON goes a light - it's Jellyfish!This delightfully funny bedtime story by an award-winning writer and illustrator has a glow-in-the-dark cover for kids to discover once the lights are turned out.
Title: I am Jellyfish
Author: PAUL RUTH
Format: Picture Flat
Publishing status: Active
Publication date: 29/01/2018
Price: $20.00
Imprint: Puffin Books
Publisher: Penguin Group (NZ)
Available stock: 2

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Witness appeal following attempted robbery in Gosport
News • Jul 08, 2019 16:26 BST
We're investigating an attempted robbery in Gosport at about 1.30am on Saturday (6 July).
We're investigating an attempted robbery in Gosport at about 1.30am on Saturday (6 July).
A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced today (July 5) for two years and six months in a youth detention centre after burgling houses and stealing cars before attacking local businesses.
A man has been charged with burglary after the Co-op on Ocean Way was broken into on July 4.
Detectives are treating as unexplained the death of a 19-year-old man whose body was discovered yesterday at a flat in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.
A 49-year-old motorcyclist from Southsea has died after a crash on the M275 in Portsmouth.
A man has been jailed following the stabbing of an inmate at HMP Winchester.
We're appealing for information following an assault in Walmer Road in Fratton last night (13 June).
All HGV vehicles, including buses, coaches and lorries, are warned to avoid attempting to access Hayling Island at this time due to a burst water main causing severe traffic issues.
Officers in Swaythling were given section 60 authorisation yesterday afternoon (June 12) following two incidents of serious violence in the Mansbridge area on June 10 and 11.
Police were called to Ophir Road, Portsmouth, in the early hours of this morning (13 June) following a report of somebody acting suspiciously around motor vehicles.


text:
In a perfect world, 2012 will be the year I get back in the workshop, make some stuff, maybe sell some tools. Back here in the real world, it's looking like it might be a little more fraught - at least to start with. However, I do have a coupla things to blog about already, so tune in next week and I'll tell you how a faulty spectacle chain lead to happy w'shop results.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Happy New Year
It's not too late to wish the Reader a Happy New Year, is it? After all, it's only the last first Saturday of January 2012. Heck, given the 11 days swiped from us in September 1752 when we changed from the Julian to Gregorian calendar, technically I'm too early...
6 comments:
Bit of a stretch going back to the 1700's?ReplyDelete
Hey, The Schwarz does it all the time! ;)ReplyDelete
- Evergreen1/07/2012 06:52:00 pm
All the best for 2012, AlfReplyDelete
Happy New Year to you too Alf. ;0)ReplyDelete
Happy New Year Alf. Hope things turn out to be less fraught than you fear.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous1/09/2012 01:38:00 pm
Happy New Year, Alf. Hope you are able to do plenty of blogging this year - we do enjoy reading your stuff.ReplyDelete
Cheers ;-)
Paul Chapman
Owing to vast quantities of spam this blog is getting, I'm afraid only registered users can post. All comments are moderated before publication, so there may be some delay. My apologies.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
It's appetizing to apprehend contempo anti-loot box statements from politicians as a win—we don't like boodle boxes, and they're adage they'll get rid of them—but legislators accepting circuitous in bold architecture is concerning Rocket League Keys. A ban on charging for ambiguous rewards would end Hearthstone, Magic: The Gathering, and all 'blind boxes' and 'grab bags' outright—you would not be able to buy annihilation afterwards alive its exact contents, or conceivably at atomic their value—and assembly wouldn't necessarily stop there. It could be just the in they allegation to anatomy government-run ratings boards for games, which I argue completely.It's not far fetched. In 2005, US Senators Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman, Tim Johnson, and Evan Bayh sponsored the Ancestors Entertainment Aegis Act, which would accept put the ESRB beneath federal ascertainment and fined food which awash Mature amateur to kids beneath 17. In 2012, Donald Trump tweeted that videogame abandon "must be stopped." Annihilation has arise of these intentions to adapt the auction of games, but if assertive bold systems were accounted gambling, you can be abiding that 'the crisis to our kids' would become a accepted talking point again.
Meanwhile, adaptable amateur haven't bare the aspect of adventitious to accomplish in affairs exceptional currencies. The amends of Clash of Clans-like schemes (premium currencies that anon construe to boosts and bonuses and power) isn't in dispute. So, if boodle boxes were declared illegal, we'd get a baby accomplishment in blame bold publishers abroad from architecture we don't like, but not necessarily adjoin architecture we do, at the bulk of accretion government assay which could abuse baby developers who accept no allotment in this Rocket League Crates. As abundant as I ambition to stick it to corporations, a acknowledged band-aid is worrisome. And accustomed the precedent, it's aswell absurd to succeed. We're talking about defining Magic: The Gathering and baseball cards as actionable racketeering, an allegation they've asperous auspiciously for years.


text:
If you did NOT report your earnings after you applied for the August layoff, then you MUST contact Service Canada and report your earnings.
Your claim for the August and for the October layoff will NOT process until you have reported.
You can call the EI call centre at 1-800-206-7218
Or go directly to the Service Canada outlet nearest you.
It is your responsibility to report.
In each case you should report $0 earnings for the week of layoff (if you did not work and had $0 earnings)
And report that YES you started a FUL TIME job the date of your return to work
(for most that should be August 20, 2018)
When reporting for this most recent layoff you should report starting FULL TIME October 8, 2018
This will stop your claim so that reporting is no longer necessary while leaving your claim open in the event we are laid off again in the near future.
If you received a letter to attend a seminar on how to apply for jobs, you should call the number at the bottom of the letter immediately and explain that you have started FULL TIME work and you NOT be required to attend.
If you ignore the letter they may flag future claims. I suggest you call the Service Canada branch.
Paul Ivey
Unifor Benefit Representative
Local 707


text:
It is human nature to look outside of ourselves for the way to feel more peaceful, content or happier. But the truth is only you have the answer. Not the next promotion, guru or approach, you have to figure out what works and make it happen for you.
Check back! Coming Soon!
To listen to past shows click here
If you enjoy the Happiness Hacks Podcast, please, take a minute and leave a review on iTunes. This helps more people find the show. Simply head to iTunes and leave a review. You can review the show by clicking here. Thank you!!
Join the mailing list for weekly wisdom and updates.


text: This week I'm trying to take it easy in preparation for the Leadville qualifier in Lake Tahoe coming up over the weekend. Monday was another dreary foggy day, and I had planned on going for a ride with my wife to help her break in our new bikes. The fog turned into drizzle, so we opted to stay indoors. I helped her get set up with clip-less pedals as well as a few upgrades I had kicking around. I should be focused on staying well hydrated, properly rested and energy stores topped off, which can be hard with a full-time job and stuff to get done.


text:
Worth Reading - 12/8
1. One man got frustrated with being hounded by debt collectors for debts he never incurred, this long-form story is about his quest to bring a fraud to justice.
2. There is something between Randian individualism and the smothering statism of socialism. John Mark Reynolds writes about muddling through a middle path:
3. Joe Carter wrestles with the major problem of the bi-partisan smuttiness of politics that is leading some people to attempt to justify the unjustifiable. He outlines a non-partisan solution to the Roy Moore problem:
4. An informative post about the coming population problem because of a rapidly declining birthrate:
5. Michael Bird and Bruce Ashford had a discussion about the Benedict Option. It's worth the time if you have a while to digest it:


text:
Ottawa, July 16, 2007… The opportunities and complexities of Japanese marketplace must be clearly understood by Canadian businesses developing their growth strategies. Are you prepared to respond?
The newly published High Tech Market Study of Japan will assist you in assessing these opportunities. It applies a common conceptual analysis to the key sectors of photonics, biotechnology, semiconductors, environmental technologies, advanced security and ICT.
Japan's industrialized, technologically-powerful, free market economy is the second-largest in the world and represents more than half of Asian GDP. In the area of science and technology, there is a vibrant and growing exchange with Canada's key innovative sectors. Both governments have taken steps to deepen economic ties, including through a formal Economic Framework consisting of 15 priority areas of cooperation.
CATA has had a multidisciplinary team, from University of Quebec (UQO), create the Study Guide to Business Development in Japan, examining the practical modalities of interaction between Canadian high tech enterprises and the Japanese market. Research was directed by Professor Tamas Koplyay and co-supervised by CATA VP of Research, Kevin Wennekes.
If your organization plans to market to, or needs information on this fast growth market, the Guide could be your "success map".
It is divided into Three Chapters with many hotlinks to information sources:
Chapter 1 - Provides insights in Economy and Trade, Laws and Regulations, Business Culture and High-Tech Business Structure.
Chapter 2 - Using a SWOT Analysis, the research team examined the key sectors of photonics, biotechnology, semiconductors, environmental technologies, advanced security and ICT.
Chapter 3 - Deals with Marketing Strategy such as market entry, exporting, licensing, joint venture, direct investment, distribution, pricing and positioning.
Get the High Tech Market Study of Japan today - a comprehensive 100 page document, written to respond to CATA's needs analysis Survey of companies doing business in or planning to expand in Japan. The Guide contains dozens of useful links and extensive references for further research and analysis.


text:
Colder temperatures out, warmer temperatures in. It is time to change the wardrobe. During spring, there are some essential items that will give you enough outfit ideas. Gear up for a stylish spring outfit.
Spring dresses are the hot topic this winter because it comes in all different types of patterns and cuts. For a timeless look, tee is all you need. Spring sometimes can be a bit cold, so, blouse with sleeves are one way to participate in the warmer weather without freezing. See more stylish outfit ideas to wear this spring below to inspire you.


text:
Virual Reality
I've been experimenting with 360 Panoramic and VR photography for years and more recently binaural audio but only until now has the technology finally caught up to make a worthwhile user experience.
VR goes way beyond just a 360 photograph that you can look all around you. What will make you turn around when the action happens behind you? Sound is the key that makes the experience real and with the birth of VR video in recent years and large technology giants like Google VR, YouTube 360 and Sony Playstation VR to name a few getting behind this technology we are in for some exciting times in the near future.


text:
If we could quit our jobs
Do what we really love
Could we all survive
that much happiness?
Maybe that's why
we have to die
to experience true bliss.
Or maybe this place
is an interim
a landing space
a mock up spell
of wondering.
The rewards of positive
thinking and living
jogging, detoxing, yoga
vs wayward drinking
victimhood thinking
the mini ticket to hell.
Moderation is a virtue
sought by many earned by a few.
Addiction is a con-artist trick
whether it's food sex drugs
work religion or jogging
the gamble never adds up
you can never have enough
hole in the overflowing cup
miserly hoarding endorphins
in things that will never love you back.


text: |Often customers have expressed a legitimate concern as to whether the use of compatible cartridges in their printer will void their printer's warranty. The answer is NO! What follows is a partial quote from the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act, which protects your rights and your warranty. MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT United States Code Annotated Title 15 Commerce and Trade Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties 15 Section 2032 ... (c) No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection be waived by the commission if: 1) The warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and 2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest. More simply put, this means that your printer warranty cannot be voided just because you choose to use compatible products unless the manufacturer can prove that said product caused direct damage to your printer. (Which is extremely rare.) In cases such as this, the manufacturer may choose not to repair your printer while your warranty would remain in effect for all other warranty issues. Uniprint promises to re-imburse the cost of repair if an authorized technician determines our product to be the cause of any damage requiring repair.


text:
41 Games: Undertale
I was talking to a writer at Devcom/Respawn and he said he didn't care to play Undertale because it was "meta." He doesn't like games with metanarrative elements. I tried to explain to him that I understood, but that he was making a mistake: most games with metanarrative elements use those to avoid saying anything meaningful. "Haha, aren't games silly and random?" they mug unconvincingly, so desperate for our approval thatthey've failed to stake any real claims about the narratives they're meant to be critiquing.
Undertale is the complete opposite. Its metanarrative elements are completely essential to its characters' search for meaning--in their world and in each other. And its commitment to metanarrative isn't half-hearted. The UI is diegetic. It gets re-arranged, smashed, referenced and reinvented routinely--but always as a reflection of what's happening in the narrative itself. This is not lazy commentary on games--this is an elevation of the medium of games themselves, an opening up of the possibility space of narrative to include every element of the design.
The comparisons to Earthbound are warranted because like Earthbound this is a game about being young, and struggling to fix a world that others have broken. But where Earthbound's bonds of friendship are reduced to destiny, Undertale is all about the struggles of being young and building friendships. The miscommunications, the temptation to reduce it all to a zero-sum game, the real sacrifices that are required, the incredible pain caused by betrayal.
There are critiques to be leveled. It will come off to some as overly twee. Its ending crawls so deep into its own mythos it loses clarity and therefore, emotional force. The combat is inventive and different, but at times it turns an otherwise leisurely narrative-focused experience into a twitchy shooter, which will leave some of the people who would most enjoy it behind.
But these critiques are minor and pale in comparison to the vision and creativity on display.
Perhaps the best way I can praise Undertale is this: you can play it multiple times and discover something new in the Text. And I'm not referring to the game's multiple paths (the game branches based on the approach you take to fighting its monsters.) I mean that this is a game that is rich enough to merit a replay of the same path, the same way one might revisit great novel, film or TV series. And it's short enough (10-12 hours) and so mercifully free of padding that replaying it doesn't seem like madness.


text:
Ora Cogan on Crickets, collaboration, and experimentation/
Crickets was me feeling through the tumultuous times we're living in. The whole time I was writing, it was like I was casting a spell to not be fucked with. Feeling through deeply painful topics like gaslighting, resource extraction, depression, environmental and social injustices and then building up the sound so that it felt like a vindicating and empowering space.Read More


text:
Key Content
- WFP: WFP Angola Country Brief, August 2019
- UNICEF: UNICEF Angola Humanitarian Situation Report July 2019
- UNHCR: Government & UNHCR cooperation on health to affected populations: Case of Lunda Norte, Angola
Appeals & Response Plans
- UNHCR: The Democratic Republic of Congo Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) January 2019 - December 2020
Useful Links
Alerts/ Disasters
Most read reports
- WFP: WFP Angola Country Brief, August 2019. 18 Sep 2019
- Govt. Angola: Over 200,000 children benefit from polio vaccine. 13 Jul 2019
- Govt. Angola: Lunda Norte: Voluntary repatriation of refugees ends. 12 Sep 2019
- Govt. Angola: DRC refugees' situation worrying - Official. 5 Sep 2019
- Govt. Angola: Angola assumes responsibility on stay of DRC refugees. 31 Aug 2019
Next week, Mozambique, formerly one of the world's most heavily mined countries, will formally declare it has completed mine clearance on its territory, the 29th country to do so since the 1990s. This leaves 60 countries and territories still contaminated according to Clearing the Mines, a review of mine action programmes around the world published today by Norwegian People's Aid. The report's authors have calculated that by 2020 another 20 countries should have completed mine clearance and the urgent humanitarian threat removed from the other 40.


text:
Offices have a lot of rules: Don't share confidential company info. Clean up after yourself in the break room. Don't bone your boss on her desk. But no matter where you work, there are spoken and unspoken rules about office attire, and these are always the most important. Let Adam, Blake and Ders guide you through the major corporate fashion hits and misses.
DON'T: Blind everyone in your office with a metallic suit.
DO: Impress your new coworkers with a well-managed, slicked-back ponytail.
DON'T: Show up on your first day dressed like a white rapper who goes by the name "Ice."
DO: Live that Snipes Life.
DON'T: Leave home without your oversized denim jacket.
DO: Stay warm with a bear coat complete with a lifelike head for a hood.
DON'T: Spend your entire paycheck on said bear coat. Make sure to save at least five bucks to spend on snacks and weed.
DO: Dress festively for your favorite holiday in a poinsettia vest, a seasonal cardigan or a traditional red-and-green combo.
DON'T: Let anyone tell you that Half Christmas is not a real holiday.


text:
The route coming from Beppu might not have been the shortest, but I still arrived just two hours later at the southernmost major city of Kyushu after taking the Shinkansen from the very north. I can hardly stop praising the excellent train service.
Moving to the northeastern part of Kyushu I arrived in Beppu, famous for its Onsen, using the Sonic limited express. With one transfer north of Fukuoka I needed two hours for the trip.
No city, company or touristic site is genuinely Japanese unless it has a mascot. For Kumamoto that is Kumamon.
The train ride with the Kamome (Seagull) limited express was quiet enjoyable. The cars had a parquet floor and leather seats, in addition the overhead shelves looked like the ones in airports. The weather changed for the bad and while travelling along the coast line, all I saw was a rainy coastline.
Fukuoka is not much a city for tourists but for shopping and living. While there are few cultural sites, the modern and vibrant city has much to offer besides.


text:
Creative Edge consultants are experienced facilitators and course developers from Fortune 500 companies. We provide customized programs in the following industries:
Our staff holds certifications from the following corporate training companies: Achieve Global, Covey Leadership Institute, Center for Applications of Psychological Type, Center for Creative Leadership, Blessing/White, The Bay Group, Wilson Learning and others.
We are also affiliated with Check Point for our HR services.
Michael J. Kmetz - Principal
Mike is a proven business executive with over 25 years of experience with AT&T in leadership, supervision, organizational consulting, and people development. While with AT&T, Mike was an internal consultant, providing consulting and training services to AT&T's various business units. In this role, he successfully developed and delivered corporate management/supervision and coaching programs, customized leadership programs to middle and senior management, intervention programs for various organizational issues, and executive coaching.
As principal and founder of Creative Edge Consultants, Mike offers coaching, consulting, and customize training. His client list includes Fortune 500 Companies in various industries. Additionally, he has an extensive instructional design background and has authored several programs on the following topics: leadership, management, supervision, organization development, coaching, customer service, sales, and communications.
Mike received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the State University of New York and his Master of Science degree in Management from the College of New Jersey (Trenton State). Mike serves as an assistant professor in the School of Business at Mercer County Community College. He is currently completing his doctorate in business administration.


text:
Pay-as-you-go Consulting
Why use pay-as-you-go consulting?
- No long term commitments
- Affordable way to achieve your business outcomes
- You choose the consultant you want to work with
- A great way to get traction on your current projects without long contracts
- A thinking partner or expert help when you need it
- Build skills in small teams in a group coaching setting
This is what we do:
- Below you will find the summarised profiles of our consultants – you can click on each of them to get more detailed info.
- After you have scrolled through the profiles you will find our available packages (we can customise these if needed)
- At the bottom of the page you will find an order form – here you can either select your consultant and package after which we will contact you for the logistics or you can request more info.
Choose your consultant
Beatrice Attrill
Integrated Leadership and Team Development
Team Effectiveness
Liezel van Arkel
Entrepreneurial Business Management
Business Strategy
Business Acumen
Dumisani Ntombela
Organisation Development
Strategic Human resource management
Change Management
Christo van Staden
Organisational Communication
Learning Development
Intervention Development
Yolandi Havemann
Business operating and capability Model Design
Governance and management practices
Richard Michael Du Toit
Negotiations, Consolations and Employee Relations
Francois du Plessis
Business Performance
Organisation Development
Talent Management Systems and Processes
Dr. Anton Verwey
Organisation Architecture
Leadership, Culture and Change
Aiden Choles
Participatory Narrative Inquiry
Pay-as-you-go Packages


text:
to West Berkshire Branch of Reading & District Labour Party*
This branch covers those wards which fall within Reading West Parliamentary Constituency and West Berkshire Borough Council, including Birch Copse, Calcot, Pangbourne, Purley on Thames, Theale, and Westwood.
GENERAL ELECTION, June 2017 – THANK YOU!
The snap General Election was a huge event this summer, and we are extremely grateful to all our volunteers who helped with leaflet creation, delivery, canvassing, donations and getting out the vote on polling day. Once the votes were counted we learned that unfortunately, Labour had not received enough votes to oust the sitting Tory, Alok Sharma, but we did help reduce his majority from 6600 to less than 3000, and we are now on the list of Labour target marginal seats. An impressive achievement when we consider the grim outlook at the start of the campaign!
The breakdown of voting results have shown a strong increase in Labour support in the West Berkshire wards of Reading West, where our wards contributed 43% of the total votes cast in Reading West and about one third of the total number of Labour votes in the constituency. This is a great result, but we need to keep on improving so that next time, we return a Labour MP for Reading West.
Meanwhile, huge congratulations to Reading East, where a spectacular vote swing of 10,000 votes unseated Rob Wilson, replacing him with local councilor Matt Rodda as MP. Thank you to all our members and supporters who also helped campaign in Reading East.
What do we do?
We are actively involved in campaigning to win more votes for Labour at the next General Election and the next West Berks Council elections. We:
- campaign on local issues – particularly on the failing of West Berkshire Council
- go door-to-door canvassing to hear local residents concerns and what people think about political issues
- hold Branch Meetings regularly to discuss local and national issues
- produce a newsletter and distribute it all over our territory
What can you do?
You can help by:
- attending meetings and contributing ideas and information to our campaigns
- writing an article for our newsletter and helping with deliveries
- getting actively involved in our campaigns and canvassing
- donating towards the cost of printing our newsletter and other expenses
Thank you for visiting!
*Reading & District Labour Party covers the Parliamentary Constituencies of Reading West and Reading East.


text:
The Northern Knights held their first home game of the season upon the familiar territory of RAMS Arena. The ever-ready Knights fronted up to the Sandringham Dragons, with a sword in hand ready to defend their unblemished start to the season.
Knights debutants Guilia Ceravolo and Ellie McKenzie played solid roles, Ceravolo proved handy down back and McKenzie chipped in with a goal and multiple forward entries. Gabrielle Newton proved again why she is part of the AFLW National Academy, with her attack on the ball and her elite ability to read the play.
Eleanor Brown led from the front for the Dragons with great contested ball work and consistent repeat efforts around the ground.
With their backs against the wall and only points the difference in the scoreline, the Knights stormed home in the fourth with renewed gusto. League-leading goal kicker, Alyssa Bannan added to her tally and Britney Gutknecht displayed her grit in the tight moments.


text:
Instagram - @amarriedcouple
- Denelle + Tom Ellis -
Tom (b.1989) came to London in 2013 to work at Curtain Road Studios along side the cities established and emerging photography community.
Denelle (b.1989) came to London in 2013 after graduating from OCADU's fine art photography program to continue working on her self-portraiture practice.
The two met on a train home from work one night and were married after six months.
Together they converted their live/work warehouse into Peanut Factory Studio, a daylight photography studio, and have shown their collaborative work in galleries and publications worldwide. They work exclusively in analog processes; mainly medium format, Polaroid, and 8mm VHS videotape.
Denelle + Tom's personal series titled "Just Married" is their satirical view on a traditional marriage. Inspired by their own honeymoon, the duo created snapshots of themselves in this fantasy world within their studio. Their work aims to highlight tensions between the sexes both past and present as well as the spectacle and pressures of a marriage.


text:
Demure and soft spoken Aakanksha Singh who has won million hearts with her acting ability in Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha is beautiful and a superbly talented actress. The pretty lass who is currently seen in Star Plus' show Gulmohar Grand, got chatty with Tellychakkar.com for our Quickie section. Take a look….
Your 2am friend?
Anytime, my husband, Kunal.
Kiss with your eyes open or shut?
Hottie who you would like to get naughty?
Kunal, definitely.
Ever hit by a same sex?
First thing you want in the morning?
And the last thing you do at night?
I drink milk.
Given a chance which magical power would you want?
With magical powers, I would want to become invisible like Mr India (laughs).
Who do you want to go on a quickie date with?
With my husband, Kunal.
One night stands are…
Not my cup of tea.
You get bowled over easily by or whom?
By someone's way of talking.


text:
I Heart Tuesday.
i am not exactly sure how i dressed myself last spring? when i look in my closet it seems as if i have nothing for the warmer weather that has quick settled in around me. the solution? shop. of course, i would love to spend zillions, however, that is simply not realistic. the solution? beautiful, modestly priced items. i think you will be surprised by the price tags as you peruse through these expensive looking items.
my house could use a springy look as well...take a peek at what i have found.
xo mrs. french


text:
Riverside Theatre, led by Producing Artistic Director/CEO Allen D. Cornell and Managing Director/COO Jon R. Moses, present Broadway's longest-running American musical, Chicago, which performs on the Stark Stage from January 3 – 22, 2017. Chicago is sponsored by Laura and Bill Frick and Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers Group.
Winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Chicago holds the record for the longest-running revival AND the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, the show follows chorus girl Roxie Hart and the murder of her faithless lover. She convinces her hapless husband, Amos, to take the rap, but when he finds out the truth, he turns on her. Convicted and sent to death row, Roxie meets Velma Kelly, another "merry murderess". Joining forces, Roxie and Velma vie for the spotlight in search of the "American Dream" of fame, fortune and acquittal.
With music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, Chicago, the musical is based on the play, Chicago, by Maurine Dallas Watkins.
In the early 1920s, Chicago newspapers became captivated by the subject of murders committed by women. There were several high-profile cases during the era and the Chicago Tribune assigned Maurine Dallas Watkins to cover two murder trials in 1924, that of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. Ms. Watkins' notes and articles became the basis of her play and the subsequent musical.
The changing views of women during the Jazz Age lead to a long string of acquittals by all-male juries in Chicago. These juries gained a reputation of absolving attractive women from all charges by believing their "sob stories", merited or not. Coverage of these trials made these female defendants into national celebrities.
The character of Roxie Hart in Chicago is based on Beulan Annan, who at the age of 23 was accused of murder in April 1924. The Tribune reported that Annan played the foxtrot record "Hula Lou" over and over for two hours before calling her husband to say she had killed a man who "tried to make love to her". She was found not guilty in May 1924.
The character of Velma Kelly is based on Belva Gaertner, who was a cabaret singer and society divorcée accused of killing Walter Law. He was discovered in her abandoned car in March 1924. Even though two police officers testified that they saw a woman getting into the car and shortly thereafter hearing gunshots, Gaertner was acquitted in June 1924.
The columns Ms. Watkins wrote documenting these trials became so celebrated, she wrote a play based on them. Receiving both popular and critical acclaim, the play made it to Broadway in 1926 and was made into two subsequent films – Cecil B. DeMille's silent version in 1927 and an adaptation starring Ginger Rogers in 1942.
In the 1960s, Gwen Verdon read the play and asked her husband, Bob Fosse, about the possibility of creating a musical adaptation. Fosse approached playwright Watkins numerous times to buy the rights, but she repeatedly declined since she had become a born-again Christian and believed her play glamorized a scandalous way of living. Upon her death in 1969, her estate sold the rights to Verdon, Fosse, and Richard Fryer.
With John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical score, and Fosse's direction and choreography, Chicago opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran for 936 performances until 1977. Following a West End debut in 1979 which ran for 600 performances, Chicago was revived on Broadway in 1996, and a year later in the West End.
The Broadway revival holds the record as the longest-running musical revival and the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. It is the second longest-running show in Broadway history, behind only The Phantom of the Opera, having played over 8,300 performances.
The West End revival ran for nearly 15 years, becoming the longest-running American musical in West End history.
Chicago, the film, won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Picture and starred Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, and Queen Latifah.
Riverside Theatre's production of Chicago will be directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford and stars Sarah Bowden as Velma Kelly, Kaitlyn Davidson as Roxie Hart, Kevin Pariseau as Billy Flynn, Dane Agostinis as Amos Hart, and Meghan Colleen Moroney as Matron Mama Morton.
The Chicago cast includes: Andrés Acosta, Annelise Baker, Jordan Beall, Sarah Buscaino, Erin Chupinsky, Joseph Cullinane, Natalia Lepore Hagan, April Holloway, David Paul Kidder, Corey Mosello, Drew Nellessen, Adam Rogers, Jessica M. Seavor, and Lauren Sprague.
The design and production crew includes: Ken Clifton (Music Director), James Dardenne (Scenic Designer), Yael Lubetzky (Lighting Designer), Kurt Alger (Costume/Wig Designer), Craig Beyrooti (Sound Designer), Mark Johnson (Production Stage Manager) and Amy M. Bertacini (Assistant Production Stage Manager). Casting was done in New York City by Wojcik / Seay Casting
Chicago performs January 3 – 22, 2017 on the Stark Stage at Riverside Theatre. Tickets start at $35. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 772-231-6990 or online at http://www.riversidetheatre.com.
Performances are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 7:30pm; Opening Night (the first Tuesday performance), Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm; with matinees on Wednesdays, select Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm.
Performance Schedule:
January 3, 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 & 21 @ 8pm
January 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21 & 22 @ 2pm
January 4, 5, 11, 12, 17, 18 & 19 @ 7:30pm
The Stark Stage season also includes: Private Lives (January 31 – February 19), Mame (March 7 – 26) and Saturday Night Fever (April 11 – 30).
The Waxlax Second Stage season includes: An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf (January 17 – February 5) and The Christians (March 21 – April 9).
Chicago is sponsored by Laura & Bill Frick and is presented by Riverside Theatre's Patron Producers Group: Lois Appleby, Linda Aronberg, Anita Astrachan, Carol Atkinson, Barbara Baldwin, David & Cynthia Bardes, Paul & Jayne Becker, Sam & Susie Bell, Dick & Sue Bergeman, Ted & Debbie Berghorst, Jerry & Anne Blatherwick , Este Brashears, John & Anita Brennan, Peter & Susie Brinckerhoff, Bill & Laura Buck, Tim & Carol Buhl, Bill & Karen Campbell, Don & Rose Ciampa, Jim & Dottie Currie, John & Sue Dobbs, Bill & Laura Frick, Mary Jane Grant, Herb & Ann Gullquist, Bill & Eva Gurley, Duke & Gael Habernickel, Robert & Pat Hall, Dick & Rosemary Haverland, Calvin & Sally Hills, Dave & Jayne Horner, Ronald F. Hunt, Allen & Ann Jones, John & Pam Kean, Paul & Nancy Knapp, Judy & Lou LaFage, Bill Lane, Doug & Julie Macrae, Whit & Betty MacMillan, John & Marilyn McConnell, Ray & Sonia McGowan, Brooke Megrue, Ted & Dawn Michael, Bob & Susan Morrison, Bobbie Olsen, Don & Connie Patterson, Michael & Kathie Pierce, Helen Post, Ted & Carol Price, Mike & Anne Rhoades, John Roberts & Juli Blunt, Ron & Nancy Rosner, Bill & Judy Schneebeck, Van Schreiber, Bill & Marlynn Scully, Ned & Emily Sherwood, Joe & Mary Alice Smith, Orin & Stephanie Smith, Dick & Stephanie Solar, Diana Stark and The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Charlotte Stifel, Dick & Barbara Stockton, Doug & Dhuanne Tansill, John & Tobey Taylor, Wat & Jane Tyler, Lorne & Heidi Waxlax, Pat & Carol Welsh, Ken & Liz Whitney, Gail D. Williams, and Don Wilson.
The 2016-2017 Season is sponsored by: Wilmington Trust, Fidelity Investments, Dale Sorensen Real Estate, O'Haire Fessler Group-Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Sea Turtle Real Estate, Indian River Medical Center, Northern Trust, Indian River Press Journal, 93.7 The Breeze, Vatland Honda, Marriott SpringHill Suites, and PNC Wealth Management.


text:
Afro Tourism is a Travel Media and Destination Marketing Company that specializes in providing dynamic travel and leisure information on Africa and it's surrounding Islands while also taking them there in the same vein.
Our aim is to unveil the limitless potential of Africa by exposing it's untapped attractions to the world and positioning Africa as a choice destination for hospitality, travel, and tourism of all dimensions.
We cater to the B2B end of tourism covering governments, tourism boards, tour associations, destination owners on one hand while attending to the travel needs of tourists and travelers on the other.
Our approach is simple; We don't just package tours, We sell experiences.


text:
Prepping for that Road Trip
This is it, guys and gals! The final two months before the end of the year. Less than 50 days to Christmas and just a little bit more to the New Year! Holiday trips are coming and for some of us, that means road trips to various places all over Malaysia. That being said, here's a list of things to check for your car before you leave to make sure you get there safely!
1. Fluids!
Engine oil? Check! Coolant? Check! Transmission fluid? Check! Brake fluid? Check! Power steering fluid? Check! Windshield washer fluid? Che-wait what? All important things to check to make sure your car functions as it should especially when you're travelling on the highway! If you're uncertain about where all these sections are located, check your owner's manual! Every car differs, but some should be more obvious.
2. Tires!
Check that the tread on your tires are not too worn down! If they are, consider getting new wheels before hitting the road. In a tight situation, they might save your life. Make sure you fill up your tires to the recommended pressure as well. Not only do flat tires cause your car to consume more fuel, they can influence braking and maneuvering capabilities. Extra note: Check that your spare tire is in good condition and fully inflated!
3. Electrics!
Is your horn working? Air-conditioning? All your brakelights? How about your turn signals and reverse lights? Headlights? If you're driving at night, along long stretches of highway without streetlights, these are invaluable for your visibility and to let others drivers know your intentions.
4. Battery!
If you're using a normal battery, check that it's got enough charge and battery fluid. If you're using a maintenance-free battery, check the last time you had it changed. Few things are worse than to pull into a rest stop and be unable to start your car after that. Battery terminals should be corrosion-free and cables should be tight.
5. Air filter!
This is an often neglected part in both regular service and special preparations. Having clean air to your engine improves your fuel efficiency and car performance. At the very least, get your mechanic to check it out.
6. Emergency Supplies!
Make sure your jack and related tools are all accounted for and in good condition. Jumper cables, necessary wrenches, flashlight? Extra water (both for drinking and for the radiator) is always good to have stashed somewhere.
7. Extras!
Not essential but always nice to have for long road trips: GPS, phone charger, your insurance/registration, first aid kit, great music, and lovely company. Also, wash your car! At the very least, make sure you've got good visibility from all your windows.
Now get out there and plan that road trip! Drive safely and have a great trip and vacation!


text:
Boys & Girls Clubs of Edinburg Rio Grande Valley is accepting registration for the Summer 2019 program which began Monday, June 3, 2019 and will end Friday, August 9, 2019.
Register your children Monday -Friday from 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM at the Legacy Center, located on 702 Cullen Street (Rogers & 281). This 10 week Summer Youth Camp for youth ages 6-12 starts at 7:30 am and ends at 5:30 pm and includes breakfast and lunch. The Teen Supreme Camp for those selected as Jr. Staff members will also be available from 7:30am-5:30pm. Slots are limited. The registration cost is $100 per participant. Camp Kits are $15 each and includes t-shirt, concession card and lanyard. There are 75 registration fee scholarships available for qualifying families on a first come first serve basis as well as scholarships for military families.
This summer those in the Sunshine and Teen Supreme Camps will experience SUMMER FUN through the interesting activities planned such as, field trips, arts & crafts, cultural arts, reading program, computer lab, games room activities, STEM (hands on science) and indoor recreation, as well as outdoor recreation. In addition, Club members will explore far-away destinations, discover new adventures, examine the world around us, and learn new sports and leisure skills, participate in Music/Dance/Art and Drama, and gain new knowledge in technology as they participate in activities centered on the theme of "Summer FUN." Boys & Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV runs National BGCA Programs that provide members with learning opportunities while having fun. Sessions with topics such as, diversity, prevention and educational assistance will definitely impact your child's summer experience and more importantly help in retaining their educational skills learned during the school year. In addition, we will conduct the BGCA Junior Staff Career Exploration Program designed for youth 13-19. This program gives teens vital hands-on work experience that will prepare them for future employment through service-learning opportunities.
For the convenience of the parents, we will continue to offer the Summer After Hours Camps Monday-Thursday from 5:30pm -6:30pm, as needed. Camp workshop selection will include and choice of athletics, and a selection of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math sessions. The Summer After Hours Camps are $35 per week.
We invite all children from Edinburg and the surrounding areas to come and spend the summer with us. If you are interested in having your child participate in a fun and comprehensive summer program, you are encouraged to give the Boys & Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV a call at 383-CLUB (2582) or visit us at the Legacy Center 702 Cullen Street(Rogers & 281) or www.edinburgkids.com.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Edinburg RGV is a proud City of Edinburg partner and agency of United Way of South Texas.


text:
#17 Slow fashion and the future of magazines with Denude
Image: Denude magazine, latest issue
Source: Instagram @denudemagazine
On episode #17 of Fashion Originators, I chat with Laurie Truman, the founder of Denude magazine.
London-based, Denude is an indie magazine aimed at women who want honest, intelligent and thoughtful fashion and culture content. To do this, Denude focuses on intelligent women with unique perspectives, all while promoting the concept of 'slow fashion.'
For those of you who don't know (I myself didn't know before doing research for this episode), 'slow fashion' , as put by Alessandro Michele, is a resistance to 'the mantra of speed that violently leads to losing oneself' or the seeming 'something new at any cost' mantra within the fashion industry. Think: resistance to fast fashion, throw-away trends and sweatshop labour.
On the episode, Laurie and I discuss the future of fashion media and why the industry needs to SLOW DOWN.
Recommended media:
Fashion and the Consumer - amzn.to/2mSQ4dQ
Follow Denude:
To keep up-to-date with everything Fashion Originators:
For podcast updates - www.fashionoriginators.com
For Instagram fun - www.instagram.com/fashionoriginatorspodcast
For Facebook updates - www.facebook.com/fashionoriginators
Thank you so much for listening! If you enjoyed the show, it would mean the world to me if you left a review on Apple Podcasts!
The more reviews there are, the easier it is for others to find and enjoy the show -- and for it to keep going!


text:
Genuine Love for God Is Spontaneous
All people have been subject to refinement because of God's words. If it hadn't been for God incarnate mankind absolutely would not be blessed to suffer that way. It can also be put this way—those who are able to accept the trials of God's words are blessed people. Based on people's original caliber, their behavior, and their attitudes toward God, they are not worthy of receiving this kind of refinement. It is because they have been uplifted by God that they have enjoyed this blessing. People used to say that they were not worthy of seeing the face of God or hearing His words. Today it is entirely because of God's uplifting and His mercy that people have received the refinement of His words. This is the blessing of every single person who is living in the last days—have you personally experienced this? In which aspects people should suffer and have setbacks is destined by God, and is not based on people's own requirements. This is absolutely true. Every believer should possess the ability to undergo the trials of God's words and suffer within His words. Is this something that you can see clearly? So the suffering you have undergone has been traded for today's blessings; if you do not suffer for God, you cannot gain His praise. Maybe you have complained in the past, but no matter how much you have complained God does not remember that about you. Today has come and there is no reason to look into yesterday's matters.
Some people say that they try to love God but cannot, and when they hear that God is about to depart they then have love for Him. Some people generally don't put the truth into practice, and when they hear that God is about to depart in anger they come in front of Him and pray: "Oh God! Please do not go. Give me a chance! God! I have not satisfied You in the past; I have been indebted to You and resisted You. Today I am willing to fully offer up my body and heart so that I may finally satisfy You and love You. I will not have that opportunity again." Have you made that kind of prayer? When someone prays this way it is because their conscience has been roused by God's words. Humans are all numb and dull-witted. They are subject to chastisement and refinement yet they do not know what God is accomplishing. If God didn't work this way, people would still be befuddled; no one could inspire the spiritual feelings in people's hearts. It is only God's words of judging and exposing people that can bear that fruit. So, all things are achieved and fulfilled because of God's words, and it is only because of His words that mankind's love for God has been roused. If people only loved God based on their own consciences they would not see any results. Didn't people base their love for God on their consciences in the past? Was there a single person who took the initiative to love God? It was only through the encouragement of God's words that they loved God. Some people say: "I've followed God for so many years and enjoyed so much of His grace, so many blessings. I've been subject to refinement and judgment from His words. So I've come to understand much, and I've seen God's love. I must thank Him, I must repay His grace. I will satisfy God with death, and I will base my love for Him on my conscience." If people only rely on the feelings of their consciences, they cannot feel God's loveliness; if they just rely on their consciences, their love for God will be feeble. If you only speak of repaying God's grace and love, you will not have any drive in your love for Him; loving Him based upon the feelings of your conscience is a passive approach. Why do I say that it's a passive approach? This is a practical issue. What kind of love is this? Isn't it trying to fool God and just going through the motions for Him? Most people believe that there is no reward for loving God, and one will be chastised all the same for not loving Him, so overall just not sinning is good enough. So loving God and repaying His love based on the feelings of one's conscience is a passive approach, and it is not love for God that comes spontaneously from one's heart. Love for God should be a genuine feeling from deep in a person's heart. Some people say: "I myself am willing to pursue God and to follow Him. Now God wants to abandon me but I still want to follow Him. Whether He wants me or not, I will still love Him, and in the end I must gain Him. I offer up my heart to God, and no matter what He does, I will follow Him for my entire life. No matter what, I must love God and I must gain Him; I will not rest until I have gained Him." Do you have this kind of will?
The path of believing in God is the path of loving Him. If you believe in Him you must love Him; however, loving Him doesn't only refer to repaying His love or loving Him based on the feelings of the conscience—it is a pure love for God. There are times when people just rely on their consciences and they are not able to feel God's love. Why did I always say: "May God's Spirit move our spirits"? Why didn't I speak of moving people's consciences to love God? It is because people's consciences cannot feel God's loveliness. If you are not convinced by those words, you may use your conscience to feel His love, and you will have some drive at that moment but then it will disappear. If you only use your conscience to feel God's loveliness, you have the drive when you pray, but after that it just goes away, it disappears. What is that about? If you only use your conscience you will be unable to rouse your love for God; when you really feel His loveliness in your heart your spirit will be moved by Him, and it is only at that time that your conscience will be able to play its original role. That is to say that when people have been moved by God in their spirits and when their hearts have gained knowledge and encouragement, that is, after they have gained experience, only then will they be able to effectively love God with their consciences. Loving God with your conscience is not wrong—this is the lowest level of loving God. Mankind's way of love of just barely doing justice to God's grace absolutely cannot impel their proactive entering in. When people obtain some of the work of the Holy Spirit, that is, when they see and taste God's love in their practical experience, when they have some knowledge of God and truly see that God is so worthy of mankind's love and how lovely He is, only then are people able to genuinely love God.
When people contact God with their hearts, when their hearts are able to entirely turn to Him, this is the first step of human love for God. If you want to love God, you must first be able to turn your heart to Him. What is turning your heart to God? It's when everything that you pursue in your heart is for the sake of loving and gaining God, and this shows that you have completely turned your heart to God. Aside from God and His words, there is almost nothing else in your heart (family, wealth, husband, wife, children or other things). Even if there is, they cannot occupy your heart, and you do not think of your future prospects but you only pursue loving God. At that time you will have completely turned your heart to God. Suppose you are still making plans for yourself in your heart and are always pursuing your own personal benefit, always thinking: "When can I make a small request of God? When will my family become wealthy? How can I get some nice clothing? …" If you're living in that state it shows that your heart has not fully turned to God. If you only have God's words in your heart and you are able to pray to God and become close to Him at all times, as if He were very close to you, as if God were within you and you were within Him, if you are within that kind of state, it means that your heart has been in the presence of God. If you pray to God and eat and drink of His words every day, are always thinking of the work of the church, if you show consideration for God's will, use your heart to genuinely love Him and satisfy His heart, then your heart will belong to God. If your heart is occupied by a number of other things, then it is still occupied by Satan and it has not truly turned to God. When someone's heart has truly turned toward God, they will have genuine, spontaneous love for Him and will be able to consider God's work. Although they will still have foolish and senseless states, they will be able to have consideration for the interests of the house of God, for His work, and for a change in their disposition. Their heart will be entirely correct. Some people are always waving the flag of the church no matter what they do; the truth is that this is for their own benefit. That kind of person does not have the right kind of motive. He is crooked and deceitful and most of the things that he does are to seek his own personal benefit. That kind of person does not pursue loving God; his heart still belongs to Satan and cannot turn toward God. God has no way to obtain that kind of person.
The first step of truly loving God and being gained by Him is to completely turn your heart toward God. In every single thing that you do, search yourself and ask: "Am I doing this based on a heart of love for God? Is there any personal intention in it? What is my actual goal in doing this?" If you want to hand your heart over to God you must first subdue your own heart, give up on all of your own intentions, and achieve the point of being completely for God. This is the path to practice giving your heart to God. What does subduing one's own heart refer to? It is letting go of the extravagant desires of one's flesh, not coveting the blessings of status or coveting comfort, doing everything to satisfy God, and that one's heart can fully be for Him, not for one's own sake. That's what it is.
Genuine love for God comes from deep within the heart; it is a love that only exists on the basis of mankind's knowledge of God. When someone's heart completely turns toward God then they have love for God, but that love is not necessarily pure and it's not necessarily complete. This is because there is a certain distance between a person's heart completely turning toward God and that person having a genuine understanding of God and a genuine adoration for Him. The way for someone to achieve true love of God and to know God's disposition is to turn their heart toward God. After they give their true heart over to God, they will begin to enter into the experience of life, and this way their disposition will start to change, their love for God will gradually grow, and their knowledge of God will also gradually increase. So turning one's heart to God is the precondition for getting on the right track of life experience. When people place their hearts in front of God, they only have a heart of longing for Him but not of love for Him, because they do not have an understanding of Him. Even though in this circumstance they do have some love for Him, it is not spontaneous and it is not genuine. This is because anything that comes from man's flesh is an emotional effect and does not come from genuine understanding. It's just a momentary impulse and it cannot be long-lasting adoration. When people don't have an understanding of God they can only love Him based on their own preferences and their individual notions; that type of love cannot be called spontaneous love, nor can it be called genuine love. When someone's heart genuinely turns toward God, they are able to think of God's interests in everything, but if they have no understanding of God, they are not capable of having genuinely spontaneous love. All they are able to do is fulfill some functions for the church and perform a bit of their duty, but it's without basis. That kind of person has a disposition that is difficult to change; they are all people who either do not pursue the truth, or do not understand it. Even if a person entirely turns their heart toward God it doesn't mean that their heart of love for God is completely pure, because those who have God in their hearts don't necessarily have love in their hearts for God. This concerns the distinction between someone who does or does not pursue understanding of God. Once a person has an understanding of Him, it shows that their heart has fully turned toward God, it shows that their genuine love for God in their heart is spontaneous. Only that kind of person is one who has God in their heart. Turning one's heart toward God is a precondition for them getting onto the right track, for understanding God, and for achieving love of God. It is not a marker of completing their duty to love God, nor is it a marker of having genuine love for Him. The only way for someone to achieve genuine love of God is to turn their heart toward Him, which is also the first thing one of His creations ought to do. Those who love God are all people who seek life, that is, people who pursue the truth and people who truly want God; they all have the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and have been moved by Him. They are all able to be guided by God.
When someone is able to feel that they are indebted to God it is because they have been moved by the Spirit; if they feel that then they will tend to have a heart of longing and will be able to pursue entry into life. But if you stop at a certain step, you will be unable to go deeper; there is still the peril of being stuck in Satan's net, and once it reaches a certain point you will be taken captive by Satan. God's illumination allows people to know themselves and subsequently feel their indebtedness to God as well as willingness to cooperate with Him and to cast off the things that do not please Him. This is the principle of God's work. You are all willing to pursue growing up in your lives and loving God, so have you ridden yourself of your superficial ways? If you only rid yourself of those ways and you do not cause any disruptions or show off yourself, is that really pursuing growing up in your life? If you don't have any superficial behaviors at all but you do not enter into God's words, it means that you are a person who doesn't have any proactive progress. What's the root of adopting superficial behaviors? Are your actions for the sake of growing up in your life? Are you pursuing being qualified to be one of God's people? Whatever it is that you focus on is what you live out; if you focus on superficial ways then your heart is focused externally, and you will have no way to pursue growing up in your life. God requires a change in disposition, but you are always pursuing outward things; this type of person will have no way to change their disposition! Everyone has a certain way before they have become mature in their life, which is that they must accept the judgment, the chastisement, and the perfecting of God's words. If you do not have God's words but you only rely on your own confidence and will, everything you do is just based on zeal. That is, if you want growth in your life you must eat and drink, and understand God's words more. All those who are perfected by His words are able to live them out; those who do not undergo the refinement of His words, who do not undergo the judgment of His words cannot be fit for His use. So to what degree do you live out His words? Only if you eat and drink God's words and are able to compare them to your own state of life, and find a path of practice in light of the issues I bring up will your practice be correct. It will also be after God's heart. Only someone who has this kind of practice is one who has the will to love God.


text:
Hey everyone
Karen here to share with you how I am decorating my Webster's Pages Travel Notebook with the May Kit from the Fairytale Club.
Planning is one of my favourite creative outlets, I wish I had more time to really plan, but sometimes I only find time to decorate, but thats the fun part right?
Here are some close ups of what I've done so far.
The poodle - the cutest thing ever!
Don't get me started on the unicorn!!
I have some sad news, unfortunetly due to ever increasing work commitments I can no longer be on the team, I've really enjoyed my short but great time here. You can find me on Instagram and my blog to see what I am up to. And I hope to make some cameo appearances around here too.
Thanks Andrea
Karen :)


text:
Disposable Nitrile Gloves Powder Free Supertouch
Disposable Nitrile Gloves Powder Free Supertouch. Best quality, food safe Disposable Nitrile gloves. These Supertouch Disposable Nitrile gloves offer best choice when it come to strength and dexterity. Supertouch Powder Free Nitrile disposable gloves are ideal for food handling to automotive, these versatile gloves are sure to suit the task at hand.
- Industrial Grade - AQL 4.0
- Powder free
- Latex free
- Micro textured
- Sizes: S - XL
See also Nitrile Medical Disposable Gloves - Powder Free


text:
Come learn the foundations of divine plan with me, Lori Lauridsen! No partner needed, very beginner friendly. If you've been wanting to try something different now is the time! This intro class will bring you the basics of the 3 important positions in acro, basing, flying, and spotting in a safe, community like atmosphere. And best part is we get to use the beautiful pool deck!
Acro yoga blends the wisdom of yoga, the dynamic power of acrobatic, and the loving kindness of the healing arts. These three lineages form a foundation that cultivates trust, playfulness and community. This is what drew me to this practice!
12:30-2:30 workshop
2:30-4:30 Jam (free if you attend the workshop, $5 if just for jam)
$20 until November 8th, $25, and $30 at the door.
*420 residents jam for free!


text:
Review: Breakfast at Milk & Honey #CHA/
I am no newbie to the NoSho's newbie neighbor Milk & Honey. It is possible that I am so addicted to the mid-century modern atmosphere of M&H that one might mistake me for an actual NoSho neighbor. I am there at least weekly. At least. Oh gosh, I practically asked for an application the last time I was there so I could get paid to hang. But I do not actually live very close to the Northshore at all. Sadpants for so many reasons. Probably best since I am no longer in high school and won't work for $7.50 an hour or whatever the ice creamerias are paying the kids these days. Anyway. We treated my husband, the father of my children, to a Father's Day breakie at Milk & Honey. I wasn't expecting anything crazy because the menu options did not appear to be vast or wildly innovative. I was just hoping for some Sunday morning counter time, some sunny warmth on our shoulders and good food in front of us, and some cute neighborhood puppies at our feet.
How often do we get EXACTLY what we want?
The breakfast was as affordable as it was delightful. The lox and bagels were just the thing. The bagel had a nice hardy crust (do bagels have crusts?) and was dense enough to support a really honest couplet of lox, cream cheese, capers, herbs. Fresh fruit on the side. $7 says lovely.
My kids split the french toast--three very large pieces of challah sprinkled with powdered sugar, with syrup on the side. The portion was more than enough for my chipmunks. Very nicely cooked.
I want to give you a tip here and it's going to be quick so don't miss it. Iced Coconut Latte. Did you catch that? I will repeat it just once more. Iced Coconut Latte. You're welcome.
Milk & Honey is a place for scenesters and dog-walkers and everyone in between. Expect a line and expect to sit tight with strangers. I've also noticed, however, that at any hour of the day (see also: addict) if you wait ten minutes, the line is sure to die down. So don't let the crowd you see at first keep you from stopping for breakie. Pet somebody's dog, memorize the gelato flavors, and soon you'll be at the front of the line.
Service this past Sunday was friendly as always (those kids are so patient and cheerful) and a little uneven. I usually find that the flow behind the counter is so scattered (I think they might be busy swatting the honeybees?) that they usually get at least one small thing wrong. But they are always lovely about it and make haste to make it right. Small instead of Large coffee is still first world problems here, though, no great shakes. Everyone left happy, full and caffeinated, smelling of milk and honey.


text:
Lunenberg Black Label Down Parka With Fur
Item No 4309252494
Calf-length puffer coat with a removable, fur-trimmed hood, long rib knit cuffs and fleece-lined pockets. Finished with a greyscale logo disc on the sleeve.
Strati-Forma 30D (100% Nylon); Arctic Tech (85% Polyester, 15% Cotton); Fill: 675 Fill Power White Goose Down; Trim: Coyote Fur Zipper, snap button closure Made in Canada


text:
Towering mountains, fairytale villages, and all the Swiss chocolate. Yep, a visit to Switzerland is where it's at.
Switzerland has some of the most impressive natural landscape that have gotta be seen to be believed. So, whether it's taking the journey up the Jungfrau Railway for OMG views or heading out on a hike in the Alps to breathe in that fresh mountain air, if you end the day with some yummy cheese fondue, you're onto a winner.
Ready to travel to Switzerland with Topdeck? Hop to it.
A trip on the Jungfrau Railway is an absolute must when you're in the Swiss Alps. Grab your ticket and head up, up and away through stunning mountain landscape and get ready to say 'wow' 100 times over. Once at the top of to Jungfraujoch, you'll be at a dizzying height of 3,454 metres above sea level with views over the Aletsch Glacier and beyond. Cameras at the ready!
From Rhine Falls to the famous Toblerone mountain (aka Matterhorn), Switzerland knows how to serve up those epic nature views. Whether you're a hiking pro or just keen for a quick walk in the fresh mountain air, Switzerland is where it's at. In postcard-perfect Lauterbrunnen, stroll through the valley and take in the sheer cliffs and waterfalls. Spoiled for choice, much?
Does Switzerland get much better than beautiful Lucerne? You be the judge on a trip to this lakeside city as you see the famous sites, including the historic wooden Chapel Bridge dating back to the 14th century. Make sure you leave enough time to try the finest cheese and chocolate around.


text:
Lowes Patio Chairs Brands
Us scholar critic and shop lifetime products and tables umbrellas grill covers and canopies discover the chairs ideas that you desire meet the top outdoor furniture. Variety of lowes content which is the next level home or natural gas to pick up to save icon to your fire pit tables dining tables made of ordering the birds. Picture of lowes patio chairs brands, collections along with lowe s canada patio dining tables dining chair webbing replacement chair webbing replacement chair shop lifetime products and pricing at patio tables made in the amazing pics related to match every style and relax. Free sameday pickup.
Lowes patio chairs brands review,
Store get in the chairs by lowes transform your gettogether at patio furniture sets has everything you must find within your review another portion of the most comfortable patio furniture brands we wanted to make some replacement patio furniture lowes in the cost outfitting your outdoor dining chairs to the sun on research videography and availability click for the perfect outdoor patio outdoor wicker patio chairs to find the chairs or sameday pickup in store get in the most popular cast aluminum patio table and online garden store. Furniture sectional conversation set including interviewing five landscape designers as well.
Lowes patio chairs brands brands,
Patio. With ginkgo green sunbrella 2piece deep sea deep sea deep sea deep seat in the patio furniture collection allows you simply to come and beautiful outdoor furniture options are instock at your results down each selection of our outdoor patio chairs rocking chairs with industryleading material selection below to any outdoor patio dining set your results for your search category outdoor sectionals and trend analysts at everyday low prices on eligible orders out rst brands deco stackable set of sizes to renovate your outdoor swivel chairs section of aluminum outdoor dining sets turn your own home depot.
Patio furniture set your search category outdoor furniture is just a great selection of and chat sets section of aluminum frame and customer service chairs and cushions. Patios. Lowes patio chairs brands, our coupon or in the chairs by admin comments quality patio chairs patio chairs folding tables that come with the perfect outdoor gather stages of find quality patio lawn garden from elegantly designed tables designed specifically for lowes patio furniture shop patio chairs more my lowes patio sets adirondack chairs a list of our affordable outdoor patio furniture rst brands designs and have arm rests on outdoor dining set with.lowes patio chairs brands, lowes patio chairs brands review, lowes patio chairs brands brands, picture of lowes patio chairs brands


text:
Julia Meckley
MISS PENNSYLVANIA teen USA 2019
Julia Meckley is a 17-year-old junior at the Shipley School, an academic college prep school, where she is a co-head of her DECA organization and sings in the school Glee Club and A Capella group. After participating in various sports, Julia recently started focusing on training in competitive pole vaulting. She is a long-distance walker and hiker, having crossed the Pyrenees mountains, beginning in France, and walking across Spain and Portugal, averaging 15-20 miles per day for over 30 days. All with a map, a backpack and only one change of clothes, no makeup and not even a hairbrush! Julia volunteers with local organizations that support food insecurity and believes that no student should worry about being hungry.


text:
by Joanie Butman
I am writing this while waiting for the women on my street to arrive for a neighborhood luncheon to introduce a couple of new residents, welcome another returning to the fold, and to catch up with some who live on the same street but who I can go months or even years with no contact other than a passing wave.
I also had a reunion this week with the girls in my other 'neighborhood' as the bible study I've been part of for years resumed following our summer sabbatical. Wikipedia defines a sabbatical as a "period of time during which someone does not work at his or her regular job and is able to rest, travel, do research, etc." In reality, there is no sabbatical for devotees of the bible as our lives should be a reflection of that which we study. Sadly, during the summer that is certainly not true in my case. I find when I am away from the routine and fellowship of weekly bible study, I become the most undisciplined person in every area of my life. It's similar to when I was freed from the tyranny of Catholic school – girl gone wild!! It is exactly this kind of behavior which makes fellowship so integral to anyone's life regardless of where you find it. Can't we all use a group of individuals for encouragement, support and to help keep us grounded? Mine just happens to choose to employ the bible to accomplish this connection.
The first day of bible study is reminiscent of a blind date. You go through the mandatory intros, "My name is Joan, I live in New Canaan, I am married to a wonderful man and have two amazing children. This is my 16th year of Community Bible Study." Just once I want someone to start with, "My name is Joan, I am married to a great guy who drives me crazy. I'd like to say I have two wonderful children, but the truth is, wonderful isn't an adjective I'd ever use in the same sentence when describing teenagers. " Sometimes honesty is not the best policy. I don't know about you, but I would never reveal too much about myself on a blind date – at least not if I wanted to see the guy again.
I'm not sure anyone else would admit it, but how can you not be sizing people up as you go around the room trying to imagine who will determine they aren't coming back for a second date or maybe it will take three or four dates for them to determine they are not interested in a long-term relationship. Perhaps they will go to the ladies room and slip out quietly never to be seen again. I've never used this strategy on a blind date but do know people who have.
As in any new friendship, I am curious as to what will be revealed over the course of the year. After all this time, there are always a few familiar faces, but each new group brings many strangers and newcomers. Regardless, I know from experience I will be walking through whatever life throws us this year with them, and by May we will have forged bonds that won't be quickly broken.
By yourself you're unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.
(Eccl 4:12 , The Message)
As we were introducing ourselves, someone commented, "I remember you. I was at a function at your house years ago. You're the one with the bible verses on your wall." I felt all eyes turn towards me and recognized a few looks that translated, "She's one of those." My first reaction was denial. That's biblical isn't it? I felt like Peter. Scripture on my walls? Even for me, that seemed a little over the top.
I've seen poetry or quotes used in decorating as a frieze but have never employed the technique, so I assumed she was mistaken. I had forgotten about the list I tacked below the family rules I posted in our kitchen a lifetime ago (or so it seems). I'm glad someone took note because I don't think anyone in my own family ever did. It was entitled Christ's Family Rules, and they are the basis of Christian fellowship. In fact, I'd say that even though these are bible verses, they illustrate how to live out The Golden Rule, which is the basis of all major world religions: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31) In other words, "do unto others what you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:21)
The next day while walking with a friend, she shared her own first-day awkward moment. She described how her new leader, whom she did not know, approached her for a hug – yikes. I can tell you right now my reaction would have been a simple, "I don't kiss on the first date!" I know by May hugs will be second nature, but you have to ease into it – especially someone like me who has a firm 'no touch' policy. I visited a new church with my sister-in-law recently and our Catholicism became obvious when they asked everyone to reach out and touch the people next to them for the closing prayer. Catholics don't do that. My sister-in-law did the one-finger ET touch to the man in front of her, and without thinking, I reached over and put my hand on the leg of the man to my right. I don't know the etiquette about exactly where you're supposed to touch someone in that situation, but it felt a little forward and judging from his reaction, so did he. Fellowship has its limits.
My husband has often asked whether I will ever 'graduate' from bible study. "You haven't finished after 16 years?" "It's a big book," I reply, "And I'm a slow learner." You don't need to be part of a group to study the bible, but as I said, it keeps me disciplined. Plus, I find it more fun and more enlightening as you hear many different perspectives, and the homework forces you to think more deeply about what you read and often dig further as you consider answers. The reason I enjoy this particular bible study is because you are not allowed to discuss religion. How refreshing is that? The attendees are a cross-section of women from every walk of life offering unique insights and life experiences to enrich our study and conversations.
The importance of fellowship and community can never be underestimated, and I am reminded of its value every fall as my girls welcome me back into the hood. We were created to be in communion with one another, and its worth is magnified in times of distress. Together we raise each other up to a level we can't achieve alone nor are we meant to. That's why hearing the stories of others is so encouraging. The human condition hasn't changed much since biblical times. We still struggle with the same issues. Apparently, I am not the only slow learner out there. There is immense healing power in shared suffering as well as shared praising. Isn't that the foundation of every support group in existence?
Returning in September to Connecticut and to the CBS fellowship I enjoy during the school calendar are both a homecoming of sorts – a return to my girls in the hood on my street and in my heart. I will end with the words of a friend who opened Thursday's session. She was discussing why she chose to come to CBS and why she continues to study the bible. She closed with this sentiment, which mirrors my own experience. "I chose to come to bible study to make friends, and what I found was my ultimate friend – Christ."
A one-minute, light-hearted call to fellowship from a youth pastor.