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Finding the right school which provides quality education and promotes overall growth of children is the primary goal of parents when kids reach the schooling age. Children may already go to school such as a childcare centre as early as five years old and in some, cases even earlier.
However, choosing the best school for children may not be easy as it sounds. Whether the child is a first-time student, a transferee due to change of residence or moving up to a higher school level, parents must determine how to decide which school is ideal for the child. After all, not all school caters to the needs of all children.
First and foremost, parents must know the qualities and preferences of the child. These may include the child's learning abilities and special skills that need enhancement. Children who excel in a particular area have to be placed in schools offering programs for it. Likewise, children with learning disabilities have to be enrolled in schools which promote development.
Second, parents must also consider the beliefs and ideals of the whole family. Moreover, their financial status also affects the choice of school.
Third, the school must fit in with the parents' general idea of a reputable school through in-depth awareness of its qualities and reputation.
Mission and vision
Parents must fully understand the mission and vision of the school to determine whether it corresponds to their concept of education for their child.
Teaching method
Similarly, it is important to know how the child will receive his or her education.
The syllabus will provide a background on the educational advancement of a child. Moreover, the syllabus would help determine whether the school can provide quality education suited for the child.
Check for a well-stocked library, a well-equipped technological facility such as science and computer laboratories. Facilities for creative pursuits such as a theatre or a gymnasium are some features that parents must consider.
The teachers, personnel and students
The individuals who comprise the school population will all be involved in the education of the child so it is noteworthy to identify whether they project a positive ambiance for learning.
It is recommended that parents should be aware of the policies and are able to analyze whether they can subject their child to these.
This should be a main concern since parents are entrusting their child to the institution during most days of the week. Know the safety measures allotted such as first aid and emergency drills.
Parents' involvement
Schools which allow parents to get involve in school activities are preferred by most parents. Most children show more enthusiasm in learning when they see their parents closely involved in various school activities.
Finding the right school for a child requires the time and dedication of parents. It is recommended that parents research on various schools and compare each. School visitations are also advised to get closer and first-hand observations. Parents can take along their child during these school visits. Thus, parents can ask the opinion of their child. Later on, parents may use these opinions to help them decide which school best qualify for their child.
Grunty's day care nursery is a long established Nursery School based in Blackpool. Grunty's is part of Partington's Holiday Centres


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Box Office: Did Tammy Overtake Transformers?
Jul 6, 2014 7:43 PM EDT
Transformers: Age of Extinction held on to the top spot at the box office over the holiday weekend, despite experiencing a 63 percent dropoff in its second week, Box Office Mojo reports. The fourth film in theTransformers franchis… Read more

subset: commoncrawl


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Selland Auto Transport
Netstar Addressed Unique Requirements and Achieved Impressive Cost Reductions
Selland Auto Transport
Selland Auto Transport is an industry leader, providing on-time and damage-free vehicle transportation. Founded in 1967, Selland has grown to operate a fleet of 225 trucks and trailers from 9 locations. Such rapid growth, combined with dedication to providing customers with the best service requires extensive internet and voice capabilities.
Furthermore, Selland works directly with ports and terminals which are government owned and have strict regulations resulting from 9-11 to improve site security. Because of this, it was difficult to find vendors capable of working within the parameters of those facilities.
When Netstar approached Selland they were intrigued by the possibility of cutting costs and consolidating their telecom bill. Although they thought they had control over their telecom expenses, and they had hired auditors in the past, Selland was open to having an independent expert opinion. As a condition, Selland's preference was to stay with their current carriers.
Netstar Solution
During the Cost Reduction, Netstar accomplished the following:
- Consolidated the number of carriers
- Eliminated redundant services
- Dramatically reduced Long Distance rates
- Decreased invoices from 16 to 9
- Coordinated proper personnel and permits to obtain port access to install services and troubleshoot
- Presented Selland with two options
- Cost savings with their current carrier
- Possible savings with another carrier
- Facilitated Selland's choice to move carriers
- Implemented all changes
Selland Auto Transport Benefits
Netstar presented a carrier that met the needs of Selland's multiple locations, saving the company $66,933.08 (56% of their telecom expense) the first year. Despite their original hesitation, Selland decided to switch carriers at most of their locations, greatly simplify their network and billing. The savings Netstar found allowed Selland to reinvest in their employees in the form of benefits and incentives. In addition, the improved infrastucture enhanced network performance and daily operations of the company in all of their locations.


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In Yoga, Better Breathing Through ... Beatboxing?
Those who have taken a yoga class understand how each pose facilitates breath.
Ask yogis how controlled breathing has affected their health, and they'll reel off the benefits. And if you're hesitant to accept mere anecdotes, scientific evidence backs up their claims.
Recent clinical studies show that pranayama, a type of rhythmic breathing used in yoga, can reduce sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, addictions, and PTSD symptoms, while improving mental quality of life.
This summer, Ben Rivet and Tori Reynolds, founders of the Go W/ the Flow project, found an unconventional way to take pranayama to the next level. In May, the pair left their home base in Dayton, Ohio and began a two-month tour of the West Coast to share their distinctive yoga program: a 90-minute class in vinyasa—a quick-moving, flowing style of yoga—that combines Reynolds's improvised teaching with Rivet's unique style of live and looped acoustic guitar.
"Yoga means union," explains Reynolds, who is currently being certified in the 500-hour Live Love Teach program. "Our mission and hope was that our class would bring people together, get them moving, get them to breathe more, and as a result, prompt them to become actively involved in their communities."
Rivet agrees that the effects of yoga flow from the mat into a person's lifestyle and out into the community, including greater self-control, increased mindfulness, and improved mood. "This is how a community grows," he says. "You have a large group of people who are taking care of themselves, which frees them to take care of other people."
In other words, the moment you take responsibility for, listen to, and connect with your body, you can start to take responsibility for and get involved with the world around you.
This love for community and passion for yoga is what led Rivet and Reynolds to take their Go W/ the Flow class on the road. The tour, which started in Vancouver and ended in Denver on Aug. 6, offered a combination of studio and community yoga classes. Participants had to sign up and pay for studio sessions, which were usually more intimate and intense, while the free community classes could take place anywhere from street corners to parks and even coffee shops.
The goal was to share this experience with as many people as possible. So if Rivet and Reynolds could find a place to lay their mats, they made it happen.
In addition to connecting participants with their environment, each class is designed to give participants a burst of heightened energy and, most importantly, get them reconnected with their breath.
That's where Rivet's music comes in. According to Reynolds, the music is what makes a Go W/ the Flow class special. Each class provides a live soundtrack Rivet improvises to match the flows and rhythms of the class.
Having tried it in Seattle last month, I can tell you this is not a typical yoga experience. I am no yogi, but this class allowed me to connect with my body in a new way, and I owe all of that to the driving force behind the class: the music. I was able to hone in on what my body was feeling and act accordingly. Meanwhile, the breathing allowed me to forget my surroundings and turn my focus inward.
Rivet lays down a groove on his acoustic guitar and then stomps a pedal that "loops" the beat, causing it to play over and over again, and freeing him up to play something else along with it. He uses these loops and rhythms to pace the breathing for the class: four counts in, four counts out. He also shapes the music around what the class is doing. When a pose gets hard and you think you can't go on, he builds the music. When it's time to relax and clear your mind, he backs off. The effect is motivating. It encourages participants to dig deep and, just as the name of their class implies, go with the flow.
"This isn't a practice to do all the time," Reynolds says. "It's meant to revitalize your yoga experience and allow you to hit the reset button. Whether you are an experienced yogi or a beginner, this is meant to be a growing experience."
The response from the tour has been unprecedented.
"It's rare that a teacher takes the time to emphasize the importance of breath the entire class and to keep everyone's breathing in sync," says Christina Johnson, a six-year practitioner who took Reynolds' class at Hauteyoga in Queen Anne, Seattle. "Ben understands something that is missing from most classes that incorporate music—that the music can facilitate breath. Go W/ the Flow couldn't be fully realized without Ben's music."
Johnson credits the class with advancing her practice and ability to breathe.
"I generally don't hold poses for quite as long in my vinyasa classes," she says. "But through the tempo Ben created and Tori's queuing for breath, I accessed the deepest part of my practice and found energy in poses that I usually exhaust in when practicing. Classes often speak to the importance of breath, but Tori and Ben have structured their class so that it is the fundamental element."
As for me, though I entered the class feeling anxious and rushed after getting lost in Seattle transit, I left it feeling inspired, strong, and connected. Like many others who have taken the class, I felt "high on breathing," as Reynolds describes it.
Go W/ the Flow has found an unusual way to teach the importance of breath, something I think many of us of tend to forget about. As yoga increases in popularity, it's important to remember its purpose and what it can do for our bodies. To reap the healthy benefits of yoga and feel the calm that it brings, we must remember to breathe.
"When we are stressed, we hold our breaths—taking a deep breath when you are doing something extremely challenging resets your focus," Reynolds says. "Whatever you are looking for in your yoga practice, you're not going to find unless you really breathe."
Go W/ the Flow's summer tour may be over, but classes will resume on August 22. To find out more about where you can experience a Go W/ the Flow class, visit http://practiceyogadayton.com/web/gwtf/calendar/.
Cooperative financing and community land trusts keep rents affordable and homeownership within reach.
A sense of history and community tugged at the heart of Mindy Fullilove and pulled her back to the Jersey home she'd forsaken.
Jay Walljasper on why "profitable economic function" is sometimes less valuable than empty space.


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Sometimes the information superhighway isn't so super, even in this day and age. Firstly, because some people still don't use it, so information doesn't always pass across the world instantaneously; and secondly, because sometimes the information crossing that superhighway is not what you want to hear.
I found out yesterday (Sunday) that my Grandma passed away last Tuesday. Her funeral took place at 2:30pm today AEST.
My parents were just arriving into Bucharest on Sunday, and finally had access to internet after not having reasonably priced access to phone or internet since they heard the news from my Uncle, and my Uncle is a Luddite (this is not a criticism, just a statement of fact), thus the delay. My Uncle had tried to call me a number of times, but he doesn't have to make international calls often, and it turns out he was only pressing '0' once before the UK country code 44, so his calls must have been going to someone else's Australian mobile number.
Either way, despite the fact I knew this was coming, it still felt horrible reading those words in the Gmail email preview as I clicked through to read the full message from my parents. It was like a kick in the guts, and after a relatively positive couple of days previous, was even harder to take.
When I left Australia I told my Grandma to look after herself, and that I'd be back for her 100th birthday. That last day I saw her, I knew I'd be emotional, but was totally unprepared for her crying as I hugged her and kissed her on the cheek and said my goodbyes. I was trying not to cry before I left, but as soon as she started I couldn't hold it in any longer.
I remarked to my parents about it, somewhat in shock, because my Dad's family have never been big on emotion. My Grandma, like all of her immediate family including my Dad, generally held her cards close to her chest. I mentioned it to my Uncle last night when we spoke on the phone finally, and he said that she told him about it when he visited the next day, and even she seemed surprised by her own behaviour.
We both knew that day there was a pretty strong chance this would be the last time we would see each other. Neither of us said that, but our tears were pretty clear indication that we knew, though I'm sure we both hoped otherwise.
As with my Mum's mother, I only really got to know Dad's mum better as I got older, over the past few years. With living in different states most of my life, my interactions with Grandma were intermittent and brief. Probably the longest amount of time I spent with her was staying with her and my Uncle in 2002 because I was then living with my parents but they'd gone away for a couple of weeks. Not being able to drive, their then home in the Gold Coast hinterland wasn't as accessible as needed for getting to work, buying groceries, etc., so I stayed with Grandma and Uncle John.
Visiting Grandma about every second week during the time I lived in Brisbane (September 2009 to January 2011), we built up something of a bond, though generally not through conversation or shared interests. It just happened, maybe because there are so many things I have inherited from her - good and bad: stubborn Aries traits; small (especially facial) features; worrying and over-thinking things; a love of crosswords (shared with both Grandmothers).
I also keenly understood her frustration with and rebellion against being placed in a home. It was a necessity - she was no longer able to look after herself, and it was too much for my family to take on, due to a very bad fall - but to go from being fairly independent and active to being in a hospital and then not being able to go back to your own home was something I understood would be very hard. My Uncle did take her to visit, but it must have been so hard for her.
She did end up enjoying the home, despite her initial feelings. The staff there were absolutely wonderful with her, and she quite clearly touched a nerve with them. Despite being of a generation preceding political correctness (I would often cringe at things she said, but knew it was just a generational thing, that she did not hold prejudices), staff of varying ancestry at the home loved her and joked with her. She often displayed a cheekiness with the staff that we as a family rarely saw, and I finally got to see more of that over the past few years.
Also generational, I know many of the things I do (nude self-portraiture), the way I live my life (living with a partner before wedlock, piercing my nose), were concepts she would not have understood / did not understand (she did stop staring at my nose-ring when talking to me after about a week), because her life was so utterly different to mine, but she rarely judged, to my knowledge. Her comments, when she did make them, seemed more concerned than judgmental.
I do regret never asking her about Grandpa and her relationship with him. I would have liked to hear her talk about him, but I suspect she wouldn't have opened up much about that. Unfortunately she burnt a lot of papers and photos at one point, but letters my Uncle passed to my Dad give an impression of their love for each other, and their affectionate joking, with Grandpa referring to Grandma by her sisters' pet name for her, Scraggie Aggie.
I know my wanting her to reach her 100th birthday was utterly selfish, and even though she didn't reach that milestone, I'm still proud of her. Since soon after I left Brisbane she was on oxygen, so was pretty much bedridden, and her quality of life dropped quite substantially. She would make comments to my parents about 'how much longer', quite clearly tired of life, so it was really just time; I would not have wanted her to hang on for the sake of a number, or for me.
For all that I know that, it was still hard to receive that email yesterday, and still very hard today.
The portrait above was taken on my Dad's birthday in 2007, about a year before she had her fall and was put into the home.


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What upset Mindy McCready's father so much that he had his daughter committed to a treatment facility?
E! News has exclusively obtained the petition filed yesterday by Tim McCready that resulted in the singer being ordered away for up to three weeks to undergo mental-health and substance-abuse evaluations.
"Since boyfriend (David Wilson) shot himself she has been in bed for 3 wks," wrote the elder McCready. "Sleeps all day. Drinks all night and is taking Rx drugs. Not bathing or even helping take care of her 2 children."
David Wilson arrested three weeks before his death, jailed on Christmas Eve
McCready's sons, 6-year-old Zander and 9-month-old Zayne, had been removed from her care by the Department of Human Services earlier in the day.
"Screams about everything," wrote a DHS attorney in an additional summary explaining why Tim McCready was pleading with the court to take action. "Trying to hit father. Is not making any sense of an conversations with anyone. Very verbally abusive to Zander (6) son."
In agreeing to McCready's "involuntary admission" to the Cleburne County Behavioral Health Center, the judge wrote that "there is cause to find there is clear and convincing evidence that Respondent is in imminent danger of harm to herself or others, suicidal or gravely disabled."
Investigation into David Wilson's death is ongoing
Yesterday's court filing also notes that McCready previously received treatment at Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute in Nashville.
Tim McCready's move came a week after his former son-in-law, Billy McKnight, filed several motions in family court expressing concern over McCready's fitness to take care of her children and requesting full custody of their son together, 6-year-old Zander.
According to court documents obtained by E! News, McKnight requested a criminal-records check on his ex and anyone she has caring for their son; that she be required to submit to drug and alcohol testing; and that she be ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation and present their son for evaluation, as well.
Mindy McCready blasts idea that David Wilson was cheating
"McKnight believes that the mental and physical stability and condition of McCready is in controversy," his attorney, William Z. White, stated in the filing.
Furthermore, he requested in the filing that a licensed social worker be made to observe McCready's home environment and interaction with Zander, and, if he regains full custody "to develop his relationship" with his son, McKnight wants his ex to pay child support.
"McCready's fiance recently, tragically and allegedly committed suicide upon the premises where McCready and Z.M resided," White states. "Based upon McKnight's knowledge of McCready's previous emotional and psychological health, McKnight has grave concerns for the welfare and safety of Z.M. while in McCready's sole and unsupervised care so soon after the death of her fiance."
"To date," the lawyer's filing continued, "McCready has refused to allow any of McKnight's family to visit with Z.M. since her unlawful removal of Z.M. from Florida to Arkansas on or about November 30, 2011. "McCready has concealed Z.M.'s condition and whereabouts from McKnight since the alleged suicide of her fianc while upon the premises and possibly in the presence of Z.M."
McKnight is concerned that "McCready may be allowing persons of questionable reputation and character to be around" their son, the filing concluded.
See pics of more famous moms, dads and kids


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How to Survive a Quarter-Life Crisis
The postcollege years tend to be all about survival—finding a job, a roommate who doesn't eat your food or steal your clothes, a solid boyfriend. Then, just as you begin to feel as if you've got things under control, it happens: a "Holy-crap-I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doing-with-my-life!" freak-out.
If you're in the 25-to-35 age range and this is resonating, congrats: You're officially having a quarter-life crisis, something two thirds of young adults experience. Experts describe a QLC as a sense of panic that your life—career, relationships, etc.—isn't where you want it to be. (There's good reason that Hannah, Lena Dunham's character from HBO's Girls, is so damn relatable.)
QLCs can be a bitch, as you may have already discovered. But as many as 80 percent of survivors say they feel happier and more satisfied with their life post-crisis, according to interviews conducted by Oliver Robinson, Ph.D., of the University of Greenwich in London, an expert in QLCs. He discovered that QLCs have four distinct phases; ride 'em out and the odds are good that you'll emerge on the other side feeling more awesome. It's time to power through.
Stage 1: You Feel Trapped
Maybe you've been working at the same dead-end job for three years. Or you're still with your college boyfriend but feel he's coming to the end of his shelf life. Whatever has you tangled up, you want out—but you also fear that changing course now (quitting the job, dumping the guy) would pretty much be A. Total. Mess.
MOVE ON If you've been unhappy for a year or longer, it's time to bite the bullet and take action despite the chaos it may cause, says Meg Jay, Ph.D., author of The Defining Decade. But you need to think long-term payoff here: "Don't just cut and run," Robinson warns. Rush big changes and you risk making the same mistakes. Instead, start with a test run to figure out what you really want, advises Samantha Henig, coauthor (with her mom, Robin Marantz Henig) of Twentysomething: Why Do Young Adults Seem Stuck?
If it's your love life that feels claustrophobic, think back to see if you can pinpoint when you started to feel dissatisfied—before you dump him, says psychiatrist and self contributing expert Catherine Birndorf, M.D. Once you can ID what's irking you, you need to actually talk to your guy about it. (Otherwise, how will he know that you're unhappy and something's gotta change?) If things with the BF don't start to improve after several talks, or if you're just not into him anymore, it's time to update your relationship status.
Along the same lines, if your job is the problem, resist the urge to peace out. Hey, you still have to cover the rent and bills. Take six to eight weeks to think things through and make some small initial changes. Try to determine what other fields might interest you, and then dabble in them. Request new and different responsibilities at work (brainstorm a killer marketing plan if you're in sales) or sign up for a class at a local college.
Figuring out where your true interests lie might take a while, but doing it now will make you way less susceptible to the infamous midlife crisis, which, according to Jay, is a helluva lot harder to get through than a QLC. (By then, you'll likely have kids and even more bills to worry about.)
Stage 2: You're Mourning Your Past Life
After much soul searching, you've quit (your job, or man, or both). And now your stomach feels like it's sinking into the bottom of your Frye boots. Given the uncertainty about what your future holds, you're experiencing some mega anxiety and missing simpler, more familiar times, Robinson says.
MOVE ON "Even if you initiated it, change can bring about a sense of loss," Dr. Birndorf says. Take a weekend to let it all out, sister. Curl up on the couch in your pj's and pout about dumping a perfectly nice guy or berate yourself for having stayed in a going-nowhere job for way too long. Don't try to distract yourself or drown your sorrows in vodka sodas—just wallow. "It's potentially painful, but taking this break to self-reflect lets you process what happened and move forward," Dr. Birndorf notes. That said, about 15 percent of people in a QLC do develop a more serious mental health problem, according to Robinson. Get some help from a pro if the sadness becomes life-disrupting or simply sticks around for too long.
Stage 3: You're Second-Guessing Yourself
Hello, roller coaster of emotions. You've upended your life and are exploring new passions, whether in the bedroom or the work world. One day your mood's on the upswing, and the next you're listening to Bon Iver on loop, feeling despondent ("What the hell was I thinking?!").
MOVE ON Don't worry if something you thought you'd like turns out to be a major drag (e.g., after a month of apprenticing at a bakery, fresh bread smells rancid to you). If career love takes a while to find, fear not—quarter lifers leave jobs faster than any other age group, government data shows. So keep sampling—that's normal.
"You'll get through this stage by staying focused on how you're feeling as you strive toward your goal," Marantz Henig says. Be sure to appreciate the process so you can enjoy little victories without stressing too much about the endgame. You're on Pinterest 24/7 anyway, so while you're there, create a vision board to help you stay motivated and remind you of your passions. And every week, pinpoint one thing you'll do to achieve your goals, such as joining an online-dating site or upgrading your résumé—and then do it. "This will keep up your momentum, so you don't fall back into old habits," Jay says.
Stage 4: You're Back, Baby!
It may take months or even a year (or more), but when your QLC is over, you'll know. You'll feel relieved, settled and, yes, happy, Jay says. New job? Check. Better guy? Thank you, OkCupid. And although you'll probably always have some doubts, Jay notes, your life won't feel bogged down by indecision and glumness.
MOVE ON But wait, you just kicked a QLC to the curb—shouldn't you settle in to stage 4 and enjoy? Sorry, but no go. "It's important to keep taking time to make sure that you're happy," Robinson says. Luckily, after your QLC is over, you'll have a higher "happiness IQ"—your radar for when something in life doesn't feel quite right. "You'll recognize it and be able to make tiny tweaks to fix the problem before things start to get out of control again," Marantz Henig says.
Finally, each day, take one minute after waking up or before going to bed to be grateful for what you have and where you are. These quick, reflective hits help remind you of all the things going right in your life, Robinson says, and you'll be less likely to let the little things get to you in the future.


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ORANGE COUNTY — In recognition of American Heart Month, Bon Secours Charity Health System will offer free cardiac screenings from 2-6 p.m. Tuesday, St. Anthony Community Hospital, third-floor conference room, 15 Maple Ave., Warwick.
ORANGE COUNTY — In recognition of American Heart Month, Bon Secours Charity Health System will offer free cardiac screenings from 2-6 p.m. Tuesday, St. Anthony Community Hospital, third-floor conference room, 15 Maple Ave., Warwick.
Call 888-606-2255 to preregister or for more information.
GOSHEN — To assess the risk of venous disease, Bon Secours Charity Health System will host free leg-vein screenings from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday.
Screenings will be held at 30 Hatfield Lane, Suite 309, in Goshen.
Each screening will include a physical examination and a review of the patient's medical history. If further evaluation is needed, an appointment for testing and treatment can be scheduled. General information about venous disease and its causes will also be available at the event. Refreshments will be served.
Preregistration is required for the screenings. To make an appointment, register at bschs.bonsecours.com/bschevent or call 888-606-2255.
PORT JERVIS — The latest in lower-extremity prosthetics technology will be presented from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Amputee Support Group meeting in the Bon Secours Community Hospital conference room, Port Jervis.
Jonathan Hess, assistant clinical director at the Middletown-based Prosthetic & Orthotic Associates will present this program.
This free monthly support group, which takes place on the last Thursday of the month, is open to all individuals affected by limb loss, as well as their family and friends.
For more information, call Karen Little, clinical coordinator of rehab services at Bon Secours Community Hospital, at 858-7110.
TOWN OF WALLKILL — Orange Regional Medical Center now offers a free monthly total joint replacement discussion group that meets from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month at the hospital's Community Health Education Center at 110 Crystal Run Road, Town of Wallkill
The group unites people who have had — or are considering — a total joint replacement, providing an opportunity to gain knowledge and share experiences.
Individuals who have had joint replacement surgery are encouraged to share their experience with those who need support and information. Patients, friends and family members are welcome.
The discussion group is facilitated by Kathy Mikulski and Linda Tully; both have undergone total joint replacement surgery and will share their experiences with the group and answer questions.
For more information, call 888-321-6762. To learn more about Orange Regional's Bone & Joint Center or about total joint replacement, visit ormcspineortho.org.
HUDSON VALLEY — Orange Regional Medical Center's Healthy Heart Program will conduct free cardiac screenings at various Hudson Valley locations.
This mobile program provides a medical history review, and cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure screenings.
Screening dates and locations include:
-- Feb. 26 — 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m., ShopRite at Monticello, 46 Thompson Square, Monticello.
-- Feb. 27 — 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Middletown Community Health Center, 10 Benton Ave., Middletown.
-- March 4 — 8 a.m.-noon, YMCA of Middletown, 80 Highland Ave., Middletown.
-- March 6 — 7:30 a.m.-noon, Orange Regional Medical Center Wellness Wednesday, 707 E. Main St., Town of Wallkill.
-- March 8 — 9 a.m.-noon, ShopRite at Warwick, 153 Route 94, Warwick.
-- March 12 — 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Hudson River Health Care, 888 Pulaski Highway, Goshen.
For more information, call 333-1509.


text: Try this sweet and spooky cake/ cupcake topper DIY using our free printable template! Materials + Template + Printer + Black cardstock + Craft knife + Cutting mat/ magazine + Tape + 5 bamboo skewers + Hot glue gun & glue + Scissors 1. Print out template here 2. Tape the template to your piece of cardstock so it doesn't move around. 3. Cut out each bat with craft/ exacto knife. 4. Cut each skewer at a different height. 5. Using your hot glue gun, glue the back of each bat to top of skewer 6. Place in cake and voila! Enjoy!


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Taller Serra was founded due to the interest and pleasure of handcrafting contemporary jewelry. Based in Mexico City, their work stands out for its unique and avant-garde design pieces, combining traditional metalwork and knitting of silver and crystal beads in an innovative manner, without forgetting our Mexican arts and crafts. Its pieces are very wanted, cherished, and handcrafted by Designer Cynthia Serrano, who along with her production team (which is an essential part of Taller Serra), work together, coexist, and talk about their lives, while at the same time their hands and eyes focus on each piece. Nowadays, Taller Serra products are distributed among high-category sites, offering the final buyer a unique and high quality item. Taller Serra stands out for being original and offering high quality products, its creations match any taste, they are easy to wear, and they have a functional and trendy style, which allows the user to wear among their other jewelry one that reflects the Mexican style combined with the best of jewelry worldwide.
This ring belongs to the Upsala collection. Made of .940 silver and hand knitted magenta- colored crystals.
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Taller Serra
Taller Serra is a workshop of jewelry makers led by the skilled and experienced designer, Cynthia Serrano. Taller Serra, based in Mexico City, is inspired by the techniques of a Mexican handicrafts heritage. The team creates unique pieces of jewelry beautifully textured with metalwork and stunning pieces of crystal. The woven patterns pervasive throughout Mexico remain the inspiration for these widely admired pieces of jewelry found in the best boutiques and museums throughout Mexico and beyond.


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Loop and repeat YouTube videos, repeat any part or the whole YouTube video, play YouTube videos continuously with VideoEndless
Your videos will automatically start looping from beginning to end, and you can arrange the loop time via slider below the video.
All you need to do is to drag the slider to arrange the time range to loop your favourite parts of the video.
With this option, VideoEndless lets you to loop your favourite videos with any time range and listen to your favourite songs without ever having to hit the play button again.


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The Family Center is the parent-directed section of Children's Special Healthcare Services (CSHCS) through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The primary purpose is to help shape CSHCS policies and procedures and to help families navigate the CSHCS system.
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The Story of a Reclusive Heiress and Her Empty Mansions
When heiress Huguette Clark passed away at the age of 104, questions arose about the circumstances surrounding how she set up her will. Pulitzer Prize winning author Bill Dedman investigates her story in his new book. Photo: The Estate of Huguette M. Clark from the book "Empty Mansions."
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... what a jewel relative died in the circumstances surrounding how they set up their well a rather strange when you do when that Milton is an heiress worth hundreds of millions of dollars ... for such a nice when you get black passed away ... at the age of the hundred in four New York Stock Israel medical center ... just over two years ago filter prize winning author ... Bill Denman he called when the story he wrote about in the recently released ... Inti mansions book written with ... distant relatives Hall Park known Junior bills ... on set with us lunch break right here Hi there I would do well you stumbled into quite the story here yes the people living in reading about and get in the media just AAU and large over the last couple weeks how you first get interested in this we were shopping for house in Connecticut ... office to result in here you little that out of our price range ... and I saw this house at the top of the charts twenty four million dollars ... but I saw the records online that the house had not been occupied ... since nineteen fifty one ... takeover talk to the caretaker ... and he asked me ... do you think maybe she's been dead all these years ... Jana nicer house in California didn't live there and she had fifteen thousand square feet the view we all want overlooking Central Park ... at seven E second St ... she hadn't been there in twenty years ... so we decided to try to find out what was going on it turned out ... she she was a senator's daughter copper miners daughter he was a base to serve in the civil war and here was his daughter alive during the Obama administration ... in two thousand and ... eight seed in the hospital for how long the auction of seven thousand four hundred nights you ... mentor took twenty years and two months she lived in Beth Israel and its credit ... and the contact with her family which is where this sort of dispute began over ... on her estate onesie Diane military called a candle of backing for the recent summit but and not sell ... there were two whales right yes very simply she signed two bills the first will ... get five million dollars to nurse ... and left everything to where we go she had no well that's her relatives ... these are just a relative's descended out from her father's first marriage ... they hadn't seen her since the nineteen fifties most of them had never met her ... she was a shy quiet artist quite lucid ... with very little contact with her family ... they came for to challenge the will and in a settlement ... which would be approved by Judge this Friday ... of the family's hitting thirty four million dollars ... plus their legal fees and estate tax is covered ... on the nurses giving back some of the thirty one million dollars in gifts and she received and getting nothing else but the biggest in a fishery is a charity at her home in Santa Barbara California a charity for the Arts ... she was a very generous want any mention same thing and she was boosted I hear your call off the record of all I've cardinal of December out that ... the invading contact Yaron at a sounds like an audience that they ... Abeles from Masuda said she was not typical him to take a lesson ... Waikiki ... I only care ... about the Fed can get ... but it did turn led ... to a victory ... for non ... a tablet here with your family there ... the thought ... that she ... but to go home to move ... when he he he ... the fifth of April ... so I think it can often prevent bone to pick it ... up so you don't ... take the tough critic of the the the ... recently seen intact about why ... here's the good woman who remembered having a return ... trip tickets on that I can we couldn't go because the boat sank she explained ... she had a perfect memory ... she wanted to play chess in her eighties she ... painted ... she just had feared she didn't do well with strangers ... she thought her family was up to get her money that proved to be true ... she yes I was afraid to go back to ... her native France she said ... there might be another revolution ... she she had for years ... she come with them living quietly by herself ... and giving generously to friends ... receiving letters from children all around the world ... it was quite surprising to find how on top of things she was you know it's interesting because the distances were strong message to people close confidante of working relationships with the wealth they such as nurses attorneys and accountants to be ... very careful about how these things unfold but ... I know everyone's gotta wonder after all your reporting and news from getting his hands here ... a few writing the movie is their routine work either maybe or maybe a movie in the works ... what indeed Woodside dispute comes down on failed OT did surprise me to learn that she was so elusive ... she was in control by her ... attorney an accountant ... she was the most frustrating find in the world they couldn't get her to sign real couldn't get her to do what she wanted ... she inherited her father's stubbornness and will for us ... she wasn't a spoiled child ... but the but she knew her online GM's very cautious ... and commanding ... one of the nurses try to get her to go home she say what you could live in apartment she find that matters to learn not ... to cross ... not cost are all right Bill thank so much being with us the name of the book is anti mansions and has been a much thank ...


text:
I created ad hoc network in network manager. and set static ip address. When i am going to connect with other pc, its not connecting with that.
i followed this link enter link description here
Right-mouse click the NetworkManager icon (top right)
Select "Edit Connections"
Click the "Wireless" tab
Click "Add" to edit a new wireless connection
On the wireless dialogue give the connection a name, e.g "Mochudi".
SSID: "Mochudi". The SSID will appear on the NetworkManager of your other Peers
Mode: Ad Hoc *
BSSID: leave blank *
MAC Address: leave blank *
MTU: leave as automatic
Click "Apply"
Click "Close"
If fixed IP addresses are required edit the IPv4 Settings Tab before closing NetworkManager above:
...as above then...
6a. Click "IPv4 Settings Tab"
* Select Method "Manual"
* Under Addresses click Add
* Type your Address: 10.42.43.1
* Type the Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: leave blank or 0.0.0.0
6b. Click "Apply"
- Click "Close"


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One Night with the King is an historical epic film that was released in 2006 in the United States. Based on the novel Hadassah: One Night with the King by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen, One Night with the King is a dramatization of the Old Testament Bible story of Esther.
It's not your typical sword and sandal. It reminded me somewhat of a modern interpretation of the King and I without it being as good of course. You can pick on this film a little. It can tend to be a little hammy and the script is a little lightweight, but it's a pretty little film. It's a 1960 Bible Story, so it's gonna come across as silly in some spots. Nice toga guy! The critics bashed it. The general audience gave it high marks. I think you've got to be in the mood for a 1950 or 1960's Bible epic that was made in 2006. From a scriptural standpoint, it's taking a lot of poetic license.


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Safety not PUC's top priority, execs say
Sacramento --
Top executives and others at the California Public Utilities Commission told interviewers that the agency has an overly cozy relationship with the utilities it regulates and fosters a lackadaisical culture that discourages tough enforcement and fines, according to a confidential report obtained by The Chronicle.
The report by a business consulting group found that public safety was not the top priority at the agency that is responsible for ensuring the safety of gas pipelines and other utility-related infrastructure. Instead, the PUC remains focused on pursuing affordable rates and environmental concerns, workers said.
Business Advantage Consulting of Folsom (Sacramento County) studied the PUC at its own behest as the agency drew criticism during the federal investigation of the PG&E gas line explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people in 2010. Critics said the agency should have better regulated the utility to ensure that it adhered to safety regulations.
Top PUC officials have previously acknowledged that public safety was not the highest priority before the San Bruno blast, and they pledged to change. In August 2011, Commission Executive Director Paul Clanon told a legislative committee, "The days of assuming a pipeline is safe unless we have reason to think it isn't - those days are over."
Utilities not challenged
But agency staff members who were interviewed late last year said that public safety is still not a priority and that efforts to enhance it aren't taken seriously.
Some said internal efforts to focus on safety are nothing more than lip service, and they said Clanon exhibits "antisafety" attitudes and behaviors with his resistance to challenging utilities and levying fines.
Business Advantage Consulting reviewed PUC documents, interviewed 15 commission executives, including Clanon, and held focus groups with other staff members in an effort to create a change in the commission's operating culture regarding public safety.
No names are attached to the concerns raised, but those quoted had a wide variety of criticisms about the PUC and its public safety responsibilities.
"If we were enforcing the rules, we would not have to worry about a safety culture. If we were holding the utilities accountable and doing what we were supposed to be doing, San Bruno would never have happened," one person told interviewers.
Another said, "There has been a lot of lip service to safety. I have not seen enough action yet to back up the talk."
On the relationship between regulators and utilities, the report stated: "Several respondents report that both commissioners and PUC staff members have close ties to the industries that they are supposed to be regulating. This has resulted in reluctance on the part of commissioners and the PUC to impose significant fines and other consequences."
One person interviewed said, "The regulated industries and lobbyists come to the PUC and see how casual the attitude and culture is here. As a result, they don't feel that they have to comply - they are not worried. The message to them is that we are not paying attention."
'Views and perceptions'
The 24-page document states: "The issues identified in this report represent the views and perceptions of the respondents. This report is not an evaluation of the objective truth of those views and perceptions."
A statement from the commission in response to the report provided to The Chronicle asserted that the commission "has made safety an underlying principle in all of its actions." About the report, the statement said, "The report is the result of the informal survey; it is not an analysis of our safety culture or conclusions by our consultants, but a reporting-back of what some employees said in informal focus groups."
The report, and the PUC's efforts to fulfill its public safety requirements, will be discussed Wednesday at a legislative hearing at the Capitol, where Clanon is expected to testify.
The commission is determining how big of a fine to levy against PG&E for the San Bruno explosion, but the agency must first determine whether PG&E violated state rules.
Both the PUC and PG&E are headquartered in San Francisco.
In describing an "overly cozy relationship" with utilities, one person interviewed said, "For years, the commissioners did not want to levy fines for safety violations. The culture was, 'We will work with the utilities without using the stick.' "
Another said, "Safety staff did not feel empowered to suggest large fines because the commissioners would not approve them."
The Assembly Budget Subcommittee 3 on Resources and Transportation's analysis of the report states: "While the commission is to be applauded for bringing in a third party to help uncover and expose its safety culture issues, these findings are not only troubling but may surpass a consultant's ability to solve."
A year ago, PUC officials went before the committee and requested an additional $6.5 million from the Legislature for 46 additional safety positions.
But the Legislative Analyst's Office found that the commission had 31 vacant positions in its consumer safety division - money they could have spent for new people but didn't - and the Legislature ultimately approved about half of the PUC's request.
Developing a strategy
The commission has not requested more safety positions for the division in this year's budget.
"We will use the results of the report to help us define what we need to change, develop strategies and actions to implement the changes, and ensure accountability as the process continues," the PUC statement read.
The consulting firm sent the report with a date of Jan. 25 of this year. Clanon sent it to directors at the commission on Feb. 11. The next steps include the development of a strategy to create a safety culture, coaching sessions, assessments and finally a report on results.
Online: See the report at http://bit.ly/XPYIK3.
Wyatt Buchanan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Stolen Sharp
Stolen Sharp Page Content
Stolen Sharp Overview
A stolen Sharp is a common item reported stolen to the police. This is why Stolen Lost Found Online covers stolen Sharp information, Sharp theft prevention tips and the free Stolen Sharp Database, to help you in your time of need and get your stolen Sharp back.
How To File A Stolen Sharp Police Report
The first step in any occurrence of theft is to report the incident to the police immediately. This helps you recover the stolen item if it gets confiscated and helps with an insurance claim process on the account an official police report is required to file a claim.
Here are the general steps to file a police report:
- Call the non-emergency phone number for the local police station or law enforcement agency where the item was stolen.
- Obtain the physical address and go to the police station or law enforcement agency.
- Once there, go to the stolen property department if applicable.
- While creating a stolen property police report it's important to provide the theft detective or clerk with as many details as possible, especially the item's serial number, any identifying marks or stickers. Also include when, where and how the item was stolen.
- Once you have completed the report, be sure to obtain a copy and retain it for follow-up and recovery.
It's important to file a police report for theft, no matter how big, small or valuable the stolen item is, because it helps the police know a thief's (or thieves) M.O. and to control theft by using crime data to increase patrol in areas with a high or rising crime rate. Sometimes an area's theft rate can skyrocket because people don't report theft incidents because the stolen item isn't of high monetary value. This is called petty theft and is how a petty thief can continue stealing because the police are not made aware of their activity.
How To Report A Stolen Sharp Online
Get the world on your case! Here are the steps to create an online Stolen Sharp report for free:
- If not yet registered, click the "Register" link at the top right-hand side of the page or click the "Report" button at page top.
- Enter your information and click the "Register" button.
- Open the email account used for registration, open the verification email and click the link in the email body or copy and paste it in your browser address bar and press the "Enter" or "Return" key.
- Log in to the Stolen Lost Found Online website
- Click the "Report" link in the main navigation bar or the "Report" button at page top.
- Select the appropriate category.
- Select the appropriate sub-category.
- Select to post as Stolen.
- Enter as much information about the Stolen Sharp as possible - the make, model and serial number are especially important. Also helpful are any identifying marks and photos if available.
- Click the "Submit" button.
That's it. Once the Stolen Sharp report is submitted it will post on Stolen Lost Found Online immediately and will appear on the search engines within a day. By reporting online you literally make a world of difference for recovering your Stolen Sharp, long into the future.
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Stolen Lost Found Online is dedicated to providing the most current and concise Stolen Sharp information. If you have any stolen Sharp information, theft prevention or consumer protection tips you would like to share, please let us know. Thanks.


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cmmo necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 103 diseños de 24 diseñadores freelance.
Mellino Law Firm LLC
The Mellino Law Firm LLC, located in downtown Cleveland, is dedicated to the vigorous pursuit of justice and compensation for injured people, especially children, who have been injured because of medical malpractice. The firm's basic philosophy is that maximum results are achieved through individual attention to the unique circumstances of each case, strict attention to detail and a relentless advocacy for clients.
Our current clients and potential clients - people injured or the families of people who are injured by the negligence of others.
Colors: Navy blue (no strong preference for accent colors)
Design elements: Include the abbreviation for the firm name (MLF) or just M
Include a globe
I like Underdog. I know that image is copyrighted but the idea that we represent the underdog really resonates with people. So I am just throwing the idea out there that if that concept could be conveyed in a logo somehow, it would set us apart. Hope that's not too off the wall but there is a little history behind that.
I will be using it on newsletters, cards, and letterhead.
** 10/27: after reviewing the new layout of my site with my website designer, I'd like to incorporate this image:
as part of the logo and include the burnt orange accent color into the logo ****
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Peter Pan Flies In To Deliver Natural Peanut Butter Spreads
Seemingly untouched by the recession, the natural segment is driving growth in the peanut butter category, as dollar sales increased 9.4 percent this year, according to SymphonyIRI Group. Currently, natural peanut butter accounts for 17 percent of all peanut butter sales.
In response, ConAgra Foods Inc., Omaha, Neb., rolls out Peter Pan 100% Natural. "Peter Pan is already the fastest growing peanut butter brand with dollar sales increasing more than 6 percent this year," says Karl Sears, vice president and general manager of ConAgra Foods. "We expect even more sales momentum as more people begin to incorporate natural foods into their diets."
All three no-stir varieties -- Natural Creamy, Natural Crunchy and Natural Honey Roast Creamy -- are made with 100 percent natural ingredients and contain no high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, trans fat or preservatives.
"Some natural peanut butters are perceived as being too expensive, difficult to stir and having oily pooling on top," adds Sears. "Peter Pan Natural peanut butter spreads were developed to directly address these consumer barriers by offering the brand's perfect blend of 'peanutty' taste at a great value. Priced the same as the original Peter Pan varieties, there's no need to stir and no pooling on top."
Suggested retail price is $2.21 for a 16.3-oz. jar and $3.67 for a 28-oz. jar. (Natural Crunchy is currently available only in the 16.3-oz size.)


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Record Quarterly Product Revenue, Profit and Cash Flow
Milpitas, CA, January 28, 2010 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), the global leader in flash memory cards, today announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 3, 2010. Total fourth quarter revenue of $1.24 billion increased 44% on a year-over-year basis and increased 33% sequentially. Total revenue for fiscal 2009 of $3.57 billion increased 6% from $3.35 billion in fiscal 2008.
Fourth quarter net income, in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), was $340 million, or earnings of $1.45 per diluted share, compared to net loss of ($1.76) billion, or ($7.78) per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and net income of $231 million, or $0.99 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. The GAAP net income for fiscal 2009 was $415 million, or $1.79 per diluted share, compared to net loss of ($1.99) billion, or ($8.82) per share, in fiscal 2008.
On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes the impact of acquisition-related charges, share-based compensation expense, impairment of goodwill and acquisition-related intangible assets, non-cash economic interest expense associated with the cash-settled convertible note, and related tax adjustments and valuation allowance, fourth-quarter net income was $277 million, or $1.18 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of ($359) million, or ($1.59) per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and net income of $176 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. The non-GAAP net income for fiscal 2009 was $427 million, or $1.84 per diluted share, compared to net loss of ($466) million, or ($2.07) per share, in fiscal 2008. For reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP results, see accompanying financial tables and footnotes.
"We delivered a terrific fourth quarter in 2009 - our best performance ever in product revenue, profit and cash flow. These results demonstrate the success of the actions that we took this past year, including restructuring our captive supply and diversifying our OEM and retail channels that resulted in unit sales growth of 55% and gigabyte growth of 100% compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. Product gross margin was sharply higher due to continued strong cost reductions and stable pricing," said Eli Harari, Chairman and CEO, SanDisk. "In 2010, we look forward to solid growth in our markets with a continued emphasis on profitability."
SanDisk's fourth quarter 2009 conference call is scheduled for 2:00 P.M., Pacific Time, Thursday, January 28, 2010. The conference call will be webcast and can be accessed live, and throughout the quarter, at SanDisk's website at www.sandisk.com/IR. To participate in the call via telephone, the dial-in number is 719-457-2631 and the dial-in password is 1423107. A copy of this press release will be furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission on a current report on Form 8-K and will be posted to our website prior to the conference call.
A complete reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP information referred to in this release is provided in the attached tables.
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements about our business prospects and outlook, our expectations for fiscal year 2010 and our expectations regarding our business, including our retail and OEM businesses, and continued cost reductions, that are based on our current expectations and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate and may significantly harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others:
Future results may differ materially from those previously reported. We do not intend to update the information contained in this release.
SanDisk Corporation, the inventor and world's largest supplier of flash storage cards, is a global leader in flash memory - from research, manufacturing and product design to consumer branding and retail distribution. SanDisk's product portfolio includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders, digital audio/video players, USB flash drives for consumers and the enterprise, embedded memory for mobile devices, and solid state drives for computers. SanDisk (www.sandisk.com/corporate) is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 company with more than half its sales outside the United States.
SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder(s).
SanDisk Supporting Document(.pdf)
|Investor Contact:
|Media Contact:
|Jay Iyer
|Ryan Donovan
|(408) 801-2067
|(408) 801-2857


text:
Hi people,
I'm a recent convert and, mostly, I like what I see.
When I was using Outlook / Outlook Express with ZA, there was an option to report spammers and phishers to ZA but I can't see how to do this from PocoMail / Barca.
I've had a look round here but can't see any previous posts: has anyone got any thoughts on this, please?


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Such was the success of this meeting that Symposia have been held annually since 1966. To date they have been organized in about 20 different European countries, some having been visited more than once, attracting marine scientists not just from Europe but from all over the world. Details concerning topics for discussion at the Symposia and all aspects of organization are left to the inviting institution. One, or sometimes two or three topics are chosen which normally reflect the interest of the inviting body. This restricts somewhat the number of participants but allows for an efficient exchange of ideas and discussions.
At the first meeting in Helgoland an ad hoc Committee was organized consisting of a representative from each European country attending that meeting. Such a Committee meets during each year's Symposium. The purpose of the Committee meeting is to ensure the informal nature of these Symposia and their continuity, and also to give advice to inviting institutions when necessary. There is a President, who holds office for 3 years and is supported by a Secretary. The late Harold Barnes of the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Scotland, was elected the first President. He was followed by presidents coming from France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Austria and Wales.
The first EMBS were held at Helgoland in 1966 and hosted by Biologische Anstalt Helgoland. But already in 1967 the 2th EMBS was arranged in Bergen, Norway with University of Bergen as host. Also the 18th EMBS was arranged in Norway (Oslo) with University of Oslo and Norwegian Institute of Water Research as hosts.
29 years lather the EMBS-arrangement is back in Norway (Arendal) with Institute of Marine Research as host. The 47th EMBS will be take place in Arendal, Norway, September 3 – 7, 2012.


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The University of Washington computer science department sends more than half of its grads to just four companies: Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. And while those tech giants pay well — on average more than $100,000 for software developers — they've certainly moved well beyond the startup phase.
So, what's it going to take to get more computer science grads to consider making the startup plunge?
Hearing from folks like Isilon co-founder Sujal Patel — who sold his Seattle startup to EMC for a cool $2.25 billion in 2010— certainly can help. In one of the most compelling and informative talks I've seen on the wonders of the entrepreneurial journey, Patel laid out no fewer than six reasons why startups are better than big companies.
Speaking at the University of Washington's Industry Affiliates Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Patel said he was "absolutely shocked" upon learning that the majority of computer science students headed to those four big companies. He also pledged to help fix that issue.
If anyone were to sing the praises of startups, Patel is the guy.
After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1996, Patel landed a $48,000 per year junior engineering job at RealNetworks (when it was still known as Progressive Networks). He worked his way up through the organization, watching the company grow from 100 people when he arrived to 1,000 employees when he left.
"I gravitated to startups because I really liked the idea of having a huge impact on a business, and I loved the idea of being able to stretch my wings and really be able to show what I was capable of," said Patel, who continues to run EMC's Isilon unit. "And I really liked the idea of starting a company eventually, and I thought what better way to figure out how to start a company than to be in a company at a very, very early-stage. That was a really important decision that shaped who I was."
In 2001, Patel co-founded Isilon with UW grad Paul Mikesell. And after many ups and downs — including a rocky period in 2007 in which the company nearly died — Isilon roared back to life. It sold to EMC for $2.25 billion in November 2010, marking one of the largest tech transactions on record in the Northwest in recent years.
"On the fun side of things, I've got to tell you, as (Isilon) got bigger and bigger, the fun got less and less," said Patel. "There are fun things at $100 million of scale and $200 million, but there is nothing like being inside a young, small, focused organization where every single person is rowing in unison and you are trying to move as fast as possible … trying to innovate and disrupt an industry."
Patel started his talk by asking students to share their perceptions on the advantages of startups, commenting on each of the remarks, including comments from UW professor Ed Lazowska and yours truly. Here's what Patel had to say:
Exposure to all Sides of the Business
"The larger an organization gets, and I've seen this now within the Isilon organization, which inside of EMC is well north of 1,200 people — big companies, you have narrow jobs. You have narrow focuses. You have predefined boundaries, and it is difficult to get outside of them, whereas at a startup, particularly those that are under 50 people, you have a huge opportunity to play a generalist role. You can ask to be involved. It is a big advantage to grow your career."
Reward Potential
"Large companies typically pay more, and they pay more stable currencies. They pay in restricted stock units, as opposed to options. They pay more in cash and signing bonuses. And there is certainly less risk associated with those larger organizations, but there is much, much more upside and much more potential and reward inside startups."
Exposure to Change
"Startups are incredibly dynamic. Some of them go through a bell curve, and you see the whole thing. Some of them don't really get to escape velocity, but they are exciting nonetheless."
"You are able to go and tangibly connect the work that you do and (have an) impact. There's huge ability to impact, which, frankly, you just don't have as companies get bigger…. It's difficult to make a connection between the work that you do, and the impact that you have on the world. And, for me, that's one of the big things about being inside of startups and being an entrepreneur: What impact are you going to have?"
Springboard to More Interesting Things
"One of the things that we're incredibly proud of at Isilon, is that we had so many people who grew up in the organization, and used the organization, as a springboard to do great things."
"You get to go and stretch a lot of different muscles as opposed to being involved in one thing. There are tons of other things that are advantageous, right? Smaller companies are tighter groups. You hear countless times that they are friends and they live and breathe and eat that startup. They have an incredibly dynamic environment that they love. There's a huge amount of passion. People really like the fact that small organizations typically aren't political organizations. There is very open communication within these smaller organizations. You typically have lots of transparency, and you know what is going on. And you also get to use your own brain to try to pick a winner when you go to a small company. When you join a Google, you are joining a company that's in at least three or four major businesses, and about 100 other smaller businesses. It's difficult to predict where they go and what's going on. It's much easier to have an impact at a smaller company."
After listening to the explanations from the audience, Patel offered his own short list of reasons of why he loves startups, drawing heavily on his experience at RealNetworks.
"It was an incredibly fun and dynamic atmosphere. We were doing something on the Internet that had never been done before," he said.
1. Fun: "Absolutely making sure that I found a place where I could have a ton of fun, where every single day, I wanted to jump out of bed and go to work, and have fun."
2. Have an Impact: "I wanted to be able to connect what I was doing on one computer to how the world was changing."
3. Accelerate career growth: "I had already made up my mind that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, so I said: 'Great, I need to figure out how to grow my career in any job I take.'"
4. Swing for the fences: "I was willing to trade off the stability and reward of a large company for the risk-reward of a startup company."
Patel added of his experience: "I always felt like my RealNetworks was like learning in dog years."
Previously on GeekWire: Seattle's unlikely hero? How RealNetworks sparked the region's startup community


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With a former CAG official making fresh allegations about 2G allocation losses, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar today questioned the integrity of the government auditor and demanded that truth behind the CAG's presumptive loss estimate of Rs 1.76 lakh crore be made public.
"Certainly some of the findings of the CAG have now become very doubtful. People are entitled to know what is the truth that has now come out," Kumar told reporters outside Parliament House.
His reaction came after CAG's former Director General R P Singh had questioned the body's estimates of presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
"After completing the audit of Ministry of Telecom, which was under my direct charge, I prepared a draft audit report covering each and every aspect ... My report did not contain any loss figure," Singh had said.
The Law Minister said, "I think the conversation between the chairman of PAC and CAG without knowledge of other members of the PAC should be made public" and added there is "need to preserve the integrity" of Constitutional institutions like CAG.
The CAG report, which was tabled in Parliament in November 2010, had pegged the revenue loss to the exchequer on account of allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 at 1.76 lakh crore raising a political storm.
The controversy over 2G spectrum allocation also led to cancellation to 122 licences by the Supreme Court.


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MACHESNEY PARK — A fall craft fair and bake sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 25 at GPS Faith Community, 10714 N. Second St.
Handcrafted items, art, decor and homemade baked goods will be available for sale. The fair is also looking for vendors.
Free admission; costs vary.
For information: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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I was just fiddling with some random concept drawing when I was live the other day. I couldn't even tell you what this character is because it is a completely random sketch. Although since it looks a bit spooky, I will place it in the Halloween category. This drawing is basically a ghostly being with a skeletal looking face. The body is wispy like a ghost, and the the arms and hands are of bones as well. Looking at it again, it kinda reminds me of a flying Reaper or something. Hey, maybe I will call this tutorial "how to draw Reaper". Yup, that's it. Obviously this isn't your common looking Reaper, it is a bit modified to a point where it looks like a made up creation. You can also customize your Reaper by adding a scythe or another weapon of your choice. The idea for this creepy character came to me when I watched a series called "Dead Like Me". It's a pretty cool series, and I have yet to watch the rest of season one, and then season two. Anyway, have fun learning "how to draw Reaper", step by step. I will be back with more exciting tutorials for you all later. Peace out people, and have a happy drawing Friday.
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About the conference
Clojure/West is the newest conference creation from Alex Miller (aka @puredanger). Alex has been running the Strange Loop conference in St. Louis since 2009, smashing together the worlds of functional and dynamic programming languages, concurrency, distributed systems, web and mobile. Since early 2010, Alex has also been part of a team using Clojure at Revelytix.


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Some important aspects of timing the reception of the sacraments. Section 256 in whole:
256. In regard to the time for the celebration of the steps of initiation, it is preferable that, if possible, the final period of preparation, begun by the second step, the penitential rites (or by the optional rite of election), coincide with Lent and that the final step, celebration of the sacraments of initiation, take place at the Easter Vigil (see RCIA 8). Nevertheless before the children are admitted to the sacraments at Easter, it should be established that they are ready for the sacraments. Celebration at this time must also be consistent with the program of catechetical instruction they are receiving, since the candidates should, if possible, some to the sacraments of initiation at the time that their baptized companions are to receive confirmation or eucharist.
It's not as strongly urged as it is for adults, but the preference is for the child catechumens to observe a Lent and Easter Vigil as adults would. What isn't clear is that if children are deemed ready at another time, should the parish engage "another" Lent to prepare with them? That would be the understanding for adult catechumens.
Note that the vocabulary has shifted for the young catechumens: the rites do not speak of "scrutinies," but of a single "penitential rite." (RCIA 295-303) The rite also links this observance to the sacrament of penance for baptized children. I would assume that the penance liturgy for First Communion and/or Confirmation candidates would be linked to this penitential rite, assuming the groups are meeting, praying, or otherwise engaged together as "companions."
The rite stresses that while Lent and Easter are important liturgically, the children must be really ready.
One aspect I've missed in the past: the coordination, if possible, of the parish's First Eucharist and Confirmation efforts–both catechesis and liturgy–with that of the young candidates for baptism. How many parishes manage to do this? Would or should a bishop accommodate his schedule for a parish that coordinated such ministry, or make allowances over and above the parish that didn't?


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[Ash International # 12.3] CD + DL
Limited edition, spot varnished sleeve
Release date: 19th May 2017
Front cover image: Linn Meyers.
Artwork: Philip Marshall
1. Removed 1
2. Removed 2
In 2000, The Wire wrote of Chartier's work: "it's worth stretching the ears in search of Chartier's sequences of exquisitely sculpted sonic events, as gorgeous detail bodies forth out of the shadows"… the same holds true today.
Formed over the course of 5 years, Removed was a process of removal/erasure.
Only trace elements appear from what was. Their interactions merely a ghost of a composition — subtle echoes across the sound spectrum. A glacially paced progression of discreet relational sonic events and flows.
Inspired in part by the rigorous line drawings of American visual artist Linn Meyers, whose 2011 untitled drawing graces the cover, Removed draws the listener in to follow patterns. Meyers often creates large scale on-site works that transform a space into durational installations of seemingly endless lines. Seen from a distance these lines appear as almost natural ripples in a wall surface, but deeper, upon closer inspection, the delicate echoes and fluctuations of the artist's hand arise from the density of details.
Chartier's precise sound compositions work in a similar manner. Austere and shimmering, the two compositions of Removed beg for careful listening on headphones. Or let these 2 compositions play quietly amplified across your space. Either way, a physically captivating dimensional experience.
Removed is a continuing reflection on major aesthetic elements of Chartier's artistic language as it has evolved through the years. This is Chartier's first new solo studio album since 2013's field recording exploration Interior Field and 2012's purely digital Recurrence, both released on LINE, US.
Richard Chartier (American, b.1971) is a Los Angeles based artist and is considered one of the key figures in the current of reductionist sound known as both "micro sound" and Neo-Modernist. Chartier's minimalist digital work explores the inter-relationships between the spatial nature of sound, silence, focus, perception and the act of listening itself.
Chartier's critically acclaimed sound works have been published since 1998 on a variety of labels internationally. He has collaborated with noted composer William Basinski, sound artists ELEH, CoH, Taylor Deupree, AGF, Yann Novak, and German electronic music pioneer Asmus Tietchens. In installation form, he has created works with multimedia artists Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand, visual artist Linn Meyers, and projected light artist Anthony McCall.
Chartier's sound works/installations have been presented in galleries and museums internationally and he has performed his work live across Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America at digital art/electronic music festivals and exhibits. In 2000 he formed the recording label LINE and has since curated its continuing documentation of compositional and installation work by international sound artists/composers exploring the aesthetics of contemporary and digital minimalism.
Boomkat (UK):
Excellent, Barely-there micro-minimalism "In 2000, The Wire wrote of Chartier's work: it's worth stretching the ears in search of Chartier's sequences of exquisitely sculpted sonic events, as gorgeous detail bodies forth out of the shadows...; the same holds true today. Formed over the course of 5 years, Removed was a process of removal/erasure. Only trace elements appear from what was. Their interactions merely a ghost of a composition - subtle echoes across the sound spectrum. A glacially paced progression of discreet relational sonic events and flows. Inspired in part by the rigorous line drawings of American visual artist Linn Meyers, whose 2011 untitled drawing graces the cover, Removed draws the listener in to follow patterns. Meyers often creates large scale on-site works that transform a space into durational installations of seemingly endless lines. Seen from a distance these lines appear as almost natural ripples in a wall surface, but deeper, upon closer inspection, the delicate echoes and fluctuations of the artist's hand arise from the density of details. Chartier's precise sound compositions work in a similar manner. Austere and shimmering, the two compositions of Removed beg for careful listening on headphones. Or let these 2 compositions play quietly amplified across your space. Either way, a physically captivating dimensional experience. Removed is a continuing reflection on major aesthetic elements of Chartier's artistic language as it has evolved through the years. This is Chartier's first new solo studio album since 2013's field recording exploration Interior Field and 2012's purely digital Recurrence, both released on LINE, US.
ambientblog (net):
It has almost become a genre in itself: reductionist minimalism, exploring deterioration (think Basinski), or exploring the artefacts of multiple digital copies (think Alva Noto).
Or: exploring what is remains after removing important details – think Richard Chartier's latest album (his first new studio album under his own name since 2013).
It's a famous Miles Davis quote: "Don't play what's there, play what's not there."
Which is exactly what Richard Chartier does here on this album.
It took a five-year process of removal/erasure to form these two pieces (26 and 23 minutes).
"Only trace elements appear from what was".
Only Chartier himself can probably tell what 'was' and what has been removed. But the result is a fascinating 'ghost of a composition' which presents a sonic universe in itself. An infinite and timeless universe.
Two ways of listening are recommended: you can play it quietly amplified across your space, changing the atmosphere of your surroundings in the truest sense of 'ambient music'.
Or, listen carefully on your headphones (be sure to listen on a decent system and using a lossless audio source) to hear all the captivating details of this 'glacially paced progression of discreet relational sonic events and flows.'
I recommend doing both, though not at the same time.
Brainwashed (USA):
With both of his primary projects releasing new material at nearly the same time, it becomes tempting to compare and contrast Richard Chartier's academic-tinged solo work with the slightly campy (at least in presentation) Pinkcourtesyphone, and at the superficial level there is a lot of similarity. Both Removed and Something You Are Or Something You Do are slow, sparse works that at times drift into near silence, but besides the mood and presentation, the actual compositional approach separates them most. The two are rather distinct works that each capture part of Chartier's style extremely effectively.
Right from the onset of "Removed 1" (one of two lengthy pieces that comprise the album) the more clinical tendencies of Chartier's work are on display. What sounds like the ambience of an empty room is presented: a bit of still air and only a hint of environmental sounds slip through but are not at all easily decoded. Subtle panning makes it clear that there is actually something to be heard, as empty and spacious though it might be. Eventually more distinct sounds appear: icy and slow, but they carefully drift in and fill out the mix. The piece stays extremely hushed for most of its duration, but it is that subtlety which makes it so captivating. Eventually the entirety of the piece becomes more commanding, a pastiche of rich electronics and sounds that at times rumble the low end, and at others are near tinnitus inducing. Towards the end he gets a bit more forceful with the larger, more enveloping tones that appear, but it is clearly an experience designed for headphones.
For "Removed 2", Chartier once again accomplishes quite a lot drawing from an intentionally limited array of sounds. Opening with a passage of what almost could be wind, the volume is adjusted here and there but on the whole the piece stays rather consistent. It is comparably even more sparse: a gentle hum through frigid air for much of its opening. There are multiple changes and developments throughout the piece's 23+ minute duration, but they are so intentionally minute and understated that significant attention is required to appreciate them.
cover imageSomething You Are Or Something You Do, the latest Pinkcourtesyphone release, seems like a proper fit for the cassette format. For a project so tinged with vintage imagery, the medium is perfect. The analog imperfections of the tape work as well, as the gentle hiss adds to the barbiturate haze in its own way, but would have been entirely distracting for Removed. Right at the start "But it Felt/In Other Dreams" is far more commanding: a hazy, almost spacy wall of sound extending out with just the right amount of rumble to it. Despite some shimmering passages that shine through, it is a rather bleak and haunting bit of music, amongst the darkest in the PCP catalog.
The other side of the tape, "She Who Controls" is cut from a similar cloth, but has a greater density and sense of texture to it. The errant crackle gives a nice depth to the frigid roar that surrounds it. Compared to what preceded it, there is less change and more sustained, cavernous like dynamics to the piece. Structurally it is as stripped down as Chartier's work on Removed, but with more demanding, forceful sounds. The ending is perhaps the most striking part of the composition, however, with a quick transition to lightness and bell-like tones that are far less oppressive than what preceded it.
On the surface, Richard Chartier's solo work and Pinkcourtesyphone may seem quite alike: both are projects of lengthy compositions, often kept at rather quiet volumes, and comprised of sparse, electronic tones and textures. Listening to them back to back, however, the distinction is very clear. Removed comes from more of a sound art background: classically minimalist with staunch attention to detail and structure. It is clinical, but not cold or inhuman in its character. Comparatively, Something You Are feels less rigid, yet there is a malignance in its enchanting ennui. It feels structurally looser, and a greater sense of rawness due to the more dissonant sounds Chartier is working with. But what it comes down to is that the two sides of this one brilliant artist's work compliment each other perfectly, and both are essential listening, in my opinion. [Creaig Dunton]
Posted on October 11, 2017 by Damian Van Denburgh
Summer heat and my windows are open. John Cage famously said, "There's no such thing as silence," and New York City is your overachieving proof, offering up the pulverizing symphony anyone would expect to hear from a major metropolis at midday. Whining sirens and blatting car horns, thundering trucks and the odd, dopplering helicopter. On a smaller scale, an insistent, overheated sparrow on the fire escape chattering like a miniature teletype machine. The ringing hum of thousands of unseen air conditioners set on high. The sound of ozone dying. And underneath it all, and evident only when the surface noises cease, the air filter sound of the city itself, a kind of oceanic wash of silty air and endless traffic, rising up and combing through the buildings, playing them like tuning forks.
Within this welter of music/sound/noise, plays Removed by Richard Chartier. It hisses and swells, it ebbs and flows. It hums like the city. Sculpted over a period of five years through the careful removal of sound from its original musical surface, Removed is a monument to loss, to erasure, to the revelation of the remainder.
And in this exact moment as I write, the music has disappeared once again as the ring of a circular saw on the sidewalk out front crescendos its way through the room, drowning out everything else. But as the blade spins to a stop, a chiming sound emerges from the music to replace it, a chime that melts to a tone, a hazy drone that reminds me of having my hearing tested as a kid, of wearing cheap headphones and pointing to my ears to indicate where the sound was appearing in my skull, and feeling for the first time in my life that my skull was an actual space, a habitable kind of theater that I was suddenly sharing with this stranger who was putting these warm tones inside me to see how I reacted to them. I hallucinated tones during those tests, pointing to my ears at random in absolute certainty that I was hearing something. And it's this particular quality of Removed that I find so compelling. I've played it four times today and each time that it came to a stop, I was convinced that it was still going, that the high keening sound I was listening to was on my stereo when it was actually outside my window, in the street, in the air. Not here, not anywhere. Gone.
In the age of the anthropocene, what does it mean to make music by subtraction? When something is removed, something else is revealed. An indentation, a smudge, a shadow. The palimpsest. And if you remove sound but there's no such thing as silence, then what remains? Is it new life? Half life? At various points in Removed there are passages when something emerges that a non-musician type such as myself can recognize as "musical." Not exactly a melody per se, but notes, harmonizing notes. Only they sound deeply subaquatic, softened into something rich and strange, certainly post-"musical." And the sensation created is that they are reaching a listener (me) only after passing through and being transformed by whatever medium they've become absorbed by. What's coming through are the ghosts of the original material. Or new forms, new beings altogether. Addition/creation by way of subtraction.
Which reminds me. Probably the most notorious example of this in the world of visual art is Robert Rauschenberg's Erased de Kooning from 1953. The story is that Rauschenberg approached Willem deKooning with the idea of taking one of his drawings and erasing it, thereby transforming it into a new work. Rauschenberg was looking to repurpose the eraser as a drawing tool, but needed "something that was a hundred percent art…" something he considered deKooning's work to be but not his own, conveniently enough. After a lengthy discussion with Rauschenberg spent working past the idea that he wasn't looking to simply destroy his art, deKooning agreed and gave him a drawing, but one that he figured wouldn't be easy to erase and that he himself would miss. The drawing, according to Rauschenberg was "done partly with a hard line, and also with grease pencil, and ink, and heavy crayon. It took me a month, and about forty erasers, to do it. But in the end it really worked."
Rauschenberg, in an interview years after the fact, labeled the piece and the gesture "poetry."
Chartier, who also makes music as pinkcourtesyphone, has a history of collaborating with visual artists to create immersive experiential works. In the case of Removed, the work isn't directly collaborative, but it was inspired in part by the artwork of Linn Meyers, which adorns the CD cover (a media format on the edge of disappearing?), with Chartier not erasing Meyers work a la Rauschenberg but instead providing a kind of interpretive accompaniment for the kinetic and psychic force fields that inhabit and haunt it.
What remains here in its vanishing fashion is glacial, mysterious, persistent without being insistent. Music that's there/here even when you think it isn't. I've read suggestions to listen to this with headphones or to play it quietly in the sanctuary of one's choosing. But I think you should play it loud and in the open. Feel every droplet of its hiss. Feel every grain. Don't hide this music. Don't protect it. Let it be overrun, let it be infiltrated by what's around. Let it get swept aside and let it wash back in. There will always be more.
In the age of the anthropocene, "removed" could be a euphemism for extinct. So much of the noise of life now is the noise of destruction, the sound of suicidal greed replacing everything with reflections of itself. In the naked space of revelation, before something new rushes in to fill it, Richard Chartier has given us a glimpse of the spirit of what used to be. Listen while you can.
Further information/reviewsFor more information, please visit this product's webpage.
Track 1: removed (extract)


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Explore Our Hotel
Our Holiday Inn Express hotel in Kittanning, PA Hotel is Near the Allegheny River
In Armstrong County, you'll find our Kittanning hotel located just one mile from the Allegheny River, where families can enjoy fishing, water skiing, boating and swimming. We are just minutes away from Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, Lernerville Speedway, Indiana University, Smicksburg Amish Country, Fort Armstrong Folk Festival and Crooked Creek State Park.
Enjoy shopping at the nearby Franklin Village Mall, Hilltop Shopping Center and the Pittsburgh Mill Galleria Mall. A variety of restaurants and cocktail lounges are located in the surrounding area.
Be sure to enjoy our Express Start Breakfast and 24 hour complimentary coffee located in the lobby. Business and leisure travelers alike will enjoy our 24 hour Business Center. Take a dip year round in our indoor heated swimming pool. All rooms in this non-smoking hotel come with microwaves and refrigerators. Stay connected with free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel.
Whether traveling for business or pleasure the Holiday Inn Express & Suites-Kittanning is the right hotel for anyone visiting the Kittanning area.
- Black-out Shades
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Bathroom/Personal Care
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Hours of Operation: 5:30 AM to 11:00 PM
Fitness Center Type: LIMITED
Fitness Center Equipment:
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Hotel Details
13 Hilltop Plaza
Kittanning, Pennsylvania 16201
United States
Check In: 3:00 PM
Check Out: 11:00 AM
Check-in Age: 18
Parking + -
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Over the past several months, I have had the pleasure of reading through a considerable number of the tales penned by the formidable Clark Ashton Smith. I started with the collection The Return of the Sorcerer, and subsequently moved on to The Tsathoggua Cycle (from Chaosium). After that, I simply printed up and read numerous stories from the wonderful 'Eldritch Dark' website.
I think that I've now read through all, or at least most, of Smith's Zothique, Hyperborea, Poseidonis, and Averoigne stories, as well as many others.


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Colby Denton, whose story, BIG FAT DISASTER, will be thrust into the limelight in March/April 2014, asked if she could introduce herself to UncommonYA readers. Colby told me that she's had enough of hiding in the shadows, and she'd rather speak for herself. She says she's been silent long enough.
I'm Colby Denton. I'm fifteen years old, and I live in Texas. I used to live in the Dallas area until my dad cheated on my mom and stole from his campaign and investment firm clients. He was a candidate for senate, running on a family values platform. . . The irony is not lost on me, either, so go ahead and laugh. I'll join you.
The F.B.I. seized our house as evidence of Dad's crimes, since he paid it off with stolen money. My mom, sisters, and I would be homeless if my dad's sister, Leah, hadn't offered to let us use an old mobile home that's behind her house.
Now, I live in this little bitty town in East Texas called Piney Creek. This place is so tiny that K-12 grades are in the same school building. I wish there was no Internet here. If there weren't, maybe what happened to me—that video of me dressing that showed up on Facebook. . . <em "mso-bidi-font-style:="" normal"="">man. Anybody got a Rewind button for my life?
I've been standing on stages, smiling, and waving at strangers for as long as I can remember, but the truth is, I hate the limelight with a passion, which is one reason that I don't fit with my family. I mean, honestly, there are so many reasons I don't fit in, at least a hundred of which are the extra pounds I carry, but hating the limelight is a biggie when your mom is a former Miss Texas.
I've always been pretty much alone, even when I was surrounded by people who wanted something from my parents. I've hidden behind a smile while rapid-fire thoughts seemed to be propelling me toward a binge, and I counted the moments until I could get behind closed doors with my Snack Stash to try to stop the feelings that felt as if they would swallow me whole.
When I found a photo of my dad kissing another woman, then found out about his crimes, I didn't think my life could become more disastrous than it was.
Then, I moved to Piney Creek.
And the video happened.
And tragedy struck.
And there was no "Rewind" button for my life.
And. . .
Read my story to find out what happened.
Find Beth Fehlbaum, the author of BIG FAT DISASTER, online!
- Video of Beth reading a Dear Teen Me letter
- Beth's website
- Reviews of The Patience Trilogy
- Reviews of Big Fat Disaster
Enter Beth's December Giveaway! You could win an Apple iPad 2!
Preorder BIG FAT DISASTER, and check out Beth's other books!
Big Fat Disaster, Courage in Patience, Hope in Patience:
Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound
** This post first appeared 12/16/13 on UnCommon YA*