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Danice Picraux is a pioneer, but don't let her catch you saying that. Born, as she says, at the "head of the baby boom" in 1946, she was raised in the aftershock of World War II. It was a time when, like a rubber band pulled too taut, the nation snapped back to traditional gender roles. The United States fled from the cultural phenomenon of women working during wartime. Returning to pre-war gender norms with a glaze of extremism, the '50s model of the powdered, curled and aproned white housewife was born.
The women's movement was forged with great force and small steps. Picraux took a few of them herself. She's served as a state legislator in the 25th district for 22 years. She was the first female caucus whip in half a century and then the first female majority leader in New Mexico's Democratic party. During her time in office, she lobbied for women's rights and equality. She is a staunch supporter of abortion rights, and she made domestic violence a crime for the first time in the state's history.
Her accomplishments span far beyond women's issues, as she shepherded groundbreaking school finance legislation and ushered in many of the health care bills of the last two decades—including those that provide Medicaid and other coverage to low-income residents. She also fought for green technology and a living wage.
But ask Picraux about her accolades and victories, and she'll hesitate. "It's hard to say these things and not sound like you're building yourself up," she says. Picraux doesn't want to brag. She has proven her leadership for more than two decades, but she doesn't really want to talk about it.
"People used to ask, 'Does your husband support you in this?' And, 'How are you going to bring up your kids?' "
Danice Picraux
Yet this seems like the perfect time to bring it up. Because after holding onto that House seat through 11 election cycles, Picraux has decided to retire from the Legislature.
She got her start in politics at the age of 10 in New York City, where she was born. She remembers standing shoulder-to-hip with "the union dudes" handing out Adlai Stevenson for President leaflets in 1956. They eventually just gave her the remaining stack and walked away, leaving her to campaign solo. On Election Day, a couple of family members had fallen ill, but she remembers insisting that they to get to the booths.
"My mother was a ward leader," she says, reflecting on the origins of her love for the democratic process. "My mother was born about 1916. There was World War I, then the Nazi era and the Depression. The Democratic Party and Franklin Roosevelt became very important. Somehow it's in our blood."
Even though Picraux says politics "not only held a fascination but a magnetism," she never considered entering the field as a young woman. While pursuing a biology major at New York University, though, she stumbled upon a political science class that lit her up. She eventually minored in it, "but I took enough for it to be a major," she adds with a smile. She went on to receive a Ph.D. in international relations from Claremont Graduate University. Her thesis was on the intersection of American farm policy and the creation of Israel.
"Social change is like that. It's not like someone writes the script."
Danice Picraux
Somewhere in the mix, she got married, moved to New Mexico when her husband found a job at Sandia National Laboratories and had three daughters. It wasn't until 1990 that Picraux considered running for office, and the only reason she did was because a friend suggested it. Susan Loubet is one of the founders of Ms. magazine and at the time was involved with New Mexico's Democratic caucus. They met in the kitchen at a children's party, she says, and the two quickly became friends. When a seat on the caucus opened, Loubet convinced Picraux to run. That's why Picraux refers to herself, tongue planted in cheek, as "a woman in the kitchen who just fell into this."
The first race was close, with a handsome male opponent with "the best 60-second knock in the business," Picraux says. She beat him by a mere 101 votes.
In that initial quest for election, and in the races that followed, Picraux would often get asked strange questions when knocking door-to-door. "People used to ask, 'Does your husband support you in this?' And, 'How are you going to bring up your kids?' " she says. Even in the early '90s, it was a mindset that didn't surprise her. "We didn't have a workplace where women were the way they are now," she says. "We didn't have a Hillary Clinton back then."
Today, although women still fight for equity in pay and treatment, "the whole quality, the texture has changed," she says. Picraux witnessed that shift and benefitted from it, she adds. "On the other hand, I was there and helped it change."
It's that last point, though, that Picraux seems to realize as she's saying it. Although she's spent her political career battling for women philosophically, through legislation and in practice, she still says, "I never thought of myself as a change agent." Reflecting on how women's roles in society have shifted and how the transformation took place, she adds, "You don't feel it; you just do it. ... Social change is like that. It's not like someone writes the script."
Today Picraux's daughters are grown, and all three of them are either studying or working in fields that not long ago were difficult for women to enter. "I've got an engineer. I've got a chemist. Soon I'll have a geneticist," she says. Her daughters are also the reason she's decided to retire. With their families congregating in Southern California, Picraux and her husband have decided to join them. But Picraux likely won't be out of the game for long. "Clearly, neither my husband nor I are stay-at-home folks who watch television," she says. "Some way or another, we'll be involved."
Even after two decades in politics, Picraux hasn't lost her love for the process. In fact, she speaks of it as though saying goodbye—even if only for a little while—is like leaving an old friend, one you've grown to admire more with time. "Politicians verbalize your hopes and dreams," she says. "And we try to make them come true."


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My first novel: a retrospective – Part 1
First, if you're not interested in reading about past or current writing projects of mine, then it's okay to simply skip this one. I won't be offended 🙂
Well, you're still here, so if you're reading this blog in reverse order, i.e., most recent post first, then this one may not really make sense. For context, go back and read this post, then come back here.
Now, as for why I'm writing this particular post (and the several that will eventually follow), I'm not sure. I suppose it could be in response to my earlier blog entry noted above, the one where I talked about my first attempt at writing many years ago. It got me to thinking about lots of things, like who I was way back then, what I was trying to do, and what exactly it was that I accomplished and didn't accomplish. The more I thought about it, the more details I remembered about what I'd done and why. So of course, I figured I may as well share them here.
I expect very few will find my earlier journey in life/writing all that interesting. I think the two who will enjoy this most will be my two sons, who, while they were quite young, were there with me during that time of my life. In the years since then, though they knew I had an interest in writing and that I'd worked at it for awhile when they were little, I never shared much about the experience with them. So, I hope at least they find this interesting reading. If anyone else does, then even better.
So, there I was. It was 1988 and I wanted to write a book. The only problem? I had no real understanding of how to go about it. All I really knew at the time was that I needed a computer for word processing. After a bit of research, I went out and bought an inexpensive (ok, cheap) machine with all of 640K memory, a 20 megabyte (that's right, mega and not giga) hard drive, a monochrome (gold) monitor (graphics? who needs graphics), and an Okidata dot matrix (remember those?) printer. Not the most impressive equipment, but as far as I was concerned it was light years beyond having to cut my writing chops on an old-fashioned typewriter. I'm not sure I could have dealt with smacking those large, heavy keys for word after word after word, then having to make all those manual revisions one page at a time. Ouch. My hat is definitely off to all those writers who succeeded before computers and word processors.
Now the owner of new computer and a copy of PFS Write (a nifty word processor 23 years ago, it has since all but disappeared), I took off on my journey. As I recall, it was late at night the first time I sat down in front of the computer. I also remember that, as I sat there waiting for words to magically form in my head, somewhere off in the distance I could hear a dog barking. Inspired, I went on to write the first scene of my first novel, which I later entitled, "The Light". Interestingly enough, that first scene remained in the final draft of the book, but it ended up later on in the story.
After that, most days I sat down and continued typing away on my book. Sometimes it would be in the morning before work; more often it would be late at night after everyone went to sleep. And sometimes, needing a little extra time with the story, I'd write it out in longhand in a notebook while hanging out with the kids on the weekend while their mother worked. Of course that was a double-edged sword: I got some additional writing done, but then I had to spend yet more time typing it all into the computer. I still have those notebooks, by the way, and occasionally, just for fun, I go back and read through what I scribbled in those pages. It's fun, because as I read the words and sentences that I wrote so many years ago, I'm magically transported back in time. I can see myself sitting at our old dining room table, busily writing away while the boys played and ran around the house. Good times.
Several months later, I surprised even myself and completed the very first draft of the book that had, somehow, come out of my imagination. Good, bad, or indifferent, I was thrilled when I wrote these last two words:
I was elated and filled with an amazing sense of accomplishment. I'd set out to do something and I did it. Many people say they want to write a book someday, and I'd just done it. Ah, sweet victory. Of course, what I didn't realize at the time is that I'd really only just begun the journey of completing a novel.
Halloween in August
So last year, it was Christmas in July (see my post from my old blog). This year, it's Halloween in August. Yep, that's right: time for the Halloween stuff to come out. I don't mind, though, because I always enjoy the holiday season. So what if it shows up a little early 🙂
He was arrested for what?
Getting arrested for child porn, weapons and drugs was only the start for this guy. From the local newspaper:
When serving the warrant Oct. 6, officers found and seized multiple photograph clippings of small children, pornography magazines, sexual gratification items, processed marijuana, several bottles of personal lubricant, a loaded .45-caliber handgun, metal knuckles, an assault rifle and other items.
Am I a terrible person for literally laughing out loud when I read the list of items (in bold font) seized from this guy's house? Perhaps. But I did.
Apes Redux
WARNING: If you don't like hearing about a movie you think you might see, then don't read any further.
Being a big fan of the original Planet of the Apes
though not necessarily the sequels, it was a sure bet I was going to see the new ape movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I had high hopes. After all, I still remember my folks packing us kids into the family car and taking us to see the new sci-fi movie about talking apes at the local drive-in theater. Yeah, you heard that right. A drive-in movie, complete with the klunky, metallic speaker (broken volume knob included) hanging on the window, a snack bar within walking distance, and even a playground for kids. I'm not sure, but I think drive-in movies are almost extinct these days, which is too bad. Anyway, I digress. Back to the monkeys.
It was a nifty idea to try and kick start the old monkey movies into new life, to add to the lore surrounding the ape mythos. But it just didn't work for Debbie and me. Basically, I felt two things while watching the movie: anger and boredom. I was angry at the way the central ape character, Caesar, was treated throughout most of the movie. I realize by saying such a thing that I'm actually complimenting the movie in the realism of the apes that were created. And I suppose that's true; they were very well done. So kudos to the filmmakers for that. But, I didn't go to the movie to feel bad, nor get treated to a movie-length piece of PETA propaganda. If I want to feel bad about animals, I can easily do that on my own time.
Okay, so once I got over being mad at every human being alive, I simply started not to really care all that much. There was a sense of ennui that settled over me as I watched and munched popcorn, mainly due to the lengthy setup for the premise, which, to both of us, took way too long. We went expecting a quick start and then lots of apes revolting against all the bad humans. Instead, we had plenty of geeky science techno-speak and lab shots leading to the creation of the stuff that makes apes smart, then just a relatively small amount of monkeys going crazy. To be honest, by the time the movie ended, I really assumed it must have been a two and a half hour picture. Instead, it was really only one hour and forty-five minutes. I guess that tells you something.
I think the most fun I had during the movie was after I noticed the first reference to the original, classic film. Once I saw/heard it, I was ready to catch others if they came along. In all, I caught only three, but they were good ones. Here are they are (in order, for whatever that's worth):
"It's a madhouse. A madhouse."
A Charlton Heston movie playing on a TV.
"Get your hands off me you damn, dirty ape."
For anyone else who sees/saw the movie, were there any other references to the original?
BTW – I really had no intention of talking so much about the movie. I started out planning to mention only the three references to the original film, but then I just got caught up in the moment and kept typing. My bad.
So Rise of the Planet of the Apes, in my opinion, is a movie worth a rental if you've seen all the other ones on your list, or if you're a big James Franco fan. As for me, I don't plan on seeing it again.
It sure had some great looking apes, though.
MNF Redux
Yesterday was Monday, which of course meant football.
This Monday was special, though, because Debbie and I were joined by our first visitors of the year: Jeremy, Kelly, and of course, our granddaughter, Charlotte. She was her usual sweet self and spent the evening eating and playing with everything she could get her hands on.
Despite the ridiculously bad service (the first time ever), we all managed to have fun just hanging out.
Of course, Charlotte loved her grammy time as well 🙂
He thinks he's a lap dog
Norman, our ten year old mini-Schnauzer, is a wonderful, if neurotic, family pet. You can read a bit more about how Norman came to be with our family by checking out the first post from my old blog: pagan-and-proud (Norman) Now, two years later, Norman is well integrated into our household and has developed a number of daily routines. For posterity, I've recorded one of those things he likes to do several times during the day while I'm working.
Apparently, in Norman's world, he thinks he's a lap dog, and he likes to make sure I remember that throughout the day. Unfortunately, what Norman doesn't realize is that: 1) I have to stop working every time he comes in for his lap time; and 2) he's really not small enough to fit comfortably on a lap, at least not for very long. On the plus side, he sure is a sweet mutt and probably one of the most affectionate dogs I've ever had the pleasure of having in the family.
So, these days if you want some pot, you can pretty much go to any street corner, walk into your local collective, and buy some of what's called "medical marijuana". Yeah, that's right: medical marijuana. Purely medicinal purposes, huh? While I believe there are a (very) few legitimate uses of marijuana for so-called medicinal purposes, I can assure you that in and around this fair city, we have way more potheads than truly deserving patients. These days, pretty much any complaint will get you a "recommendation" (that's what they call it, a recommendation … not a prescription) for marijuana; in fact, it's become so popular and lucrative that a number of doctors fly in each week to hand out "recommendations" to the many who are willing to stop by their office, complain, and, oh yeah, pay up.
It's basically just a big joke, and we all know it, right? Right. So why am I even writing about it? Well, on my way home today, I had to drive through downtown. When I stopped at a red light, I looked to my left and noticed a nicely painted sign on the window of a local business. After a double take, and recovering from laughing, I whipped out my iPhone and snapped a quick pic of what has to be one of the most clever names for one of these dispensaries that I've ever seen. Sort of makes it sound like a place you might take grandma for her arthritis pills.
Hmm … so that's what they are, huh? Compassionate relief centers. Uh, yeah …


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If only we knew …what government collected data could be made publicly available
By Micah Sifry, Editorial director, Personal Democracy Media (
From government:
-what data is currently collected by every agency and could be made available for public re-use, engagement, etc. (four years after the Open Government Directive, we still don't have this);
-the baseline metrics of public engagement with government agencies and services, online and off;
-the contact, address, and budget information for every government agency and elected official, down to the most local level, in digital form.
-the full size, budget and purview of the "national security" sector.
From the private sector:
-Who wants to open up their platforms to deliberate civic engagement, building on the organic civic uses that now happen incidentally on their services (for example, people have created pages on Yelp rating local post offices and DMVs; Waze users post locations of potholes)
-Who wants to tweak their platforms to encourage a more educated public (for example, convert dumb interactive polls on news sites into interactive quizzes that push basic facts about government out)
From citizens:
-What questions does the public most turn to the government to get answers for? What tools would help members of the public answer those questions more effectively?
-Do you want to meet other citizens like you who share your concern or interest? If a government website offered you that opportunity, would you use it?
Did you ask a good question today? Help the Good Question Project find and highlight good questions asked in public.
The Tags: Budgeting . Collaboration . Metrics . National Security . Open Data . Platforms . Private Sector . Questions


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To protect the health and safety of our community and staff, many Sutter County offices will be closed to the public starting March 20, 2020 until further notice.
For Immediate Release:
The Sutter County Sheriff's Department is investigating a report of an unidentified man who impersonated an off-duty sheriff's deputy and attempted to pick up a 16-year old Yuba City boy last night (10-11-05) at approximately 7:00 PM, in the South Yuba City area.
The incident occurred in the 1400 block of Jodi Drive. The boy had driven to a friend's house in the area. As he stopped his car, he observed a maroon colored, newer model mini-van stop behind his vehicle. The suspect approached the victim and identified himself verbally as an off-duty sheriff's deputy. The suspect was holding a flashlight and repeatedly shined the light in the victim's face.
The suspect accused the victim of speeding and demanded that the victim provide his personal information including his name, address and telephone number. The victim refused to give his personal information and the suspect became upset. At one point, the suspect asked the victim to follow him (the suspect) to his house. The victim refused to comply and the suspect then returned to his personal vehicle and drove off, turning southbound on Yolanda Drive. The victim called his mother and told her of the incident. The mother immediately called the sheriff's department and reported the incident.
The suspect is described as a male, approximately six foot tall, with grey hair and a grey mustache. The suspect was also described as having a large belly and walked with a slight limp using a cane.
Anyone with information concerning the identity of this suspect is asked to immediately contact the sheriff's department at (530) 822-7307. The public is also advised to ask to see the valid identification provided by a law enforcement agency of anyone claiming to be an off-duty peace officer and to contact their local law enforcement agency if they have concerns about the validity of the officer's identification.
Contact Person:
Jim Denney, Sheriff-Coroner, (530) 822-7312


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On the need for game criticism
Greg Costikyan has been saying this for a decade or more, but this is well-written at least:
The truth is that, for the most part, we don't have anything like game criticism, and we need it — to inform gamers, to hold developers to task, and to inform our broader cultural understanding of games and their importance and impact on our culture.
We need our own Pauline Kaels and John Simons — and we need to ensure that when they appear, no one insists that they attach a damn numerical score to their writing, because that is wholly irrelevant to the undertaking of writing seriously about games.
Permalink • Posted in: gaming, geek-culture


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This Man Realizes That Having A Bud Light Vendor Follow Him Everywhere Isn't So Great
September 9, 2017 2 Comments
Be careful what you wish for. In Bud Light's new spot, a guy gets an ice cold Bud Light from a vendor at a Jets game (though if you're a Jets fan, I think you'll need something stronger). He wishes out loud that it would be awesome if the vendor was around all the time. And then he is. Dude's wish starts out well when they're hanging out in the living room and when he's taking a shower, but then it goes awry. Loud offers of ice cold Bud Light aren't really what you want when you're sleeping. Or in a work meeting, a movie, and even worse, at a funeral. After our protagonist sees the poor vendor standing out in the rain when he and his buddies are toasting over Bud Lights at a bar, he decides it's time to return the Bud Light guy to his natural habitat: the stadium. The vendor is played by Billy Cowart.


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Wendy Heijne's style is all about colorful clothes with geometrical forms. For this season she's inspired by Himla Klint's abstract paintings and Sonia Delaunay's painted textiles.
Describe your design in three words.
"Feminine. Graphic and colourful."
What's your style philosophy?
"I design for contemporary women who have a busy lifestyle and surround themselves with personality, creativity and quality. She has a cool style and wears her dresses with elegant confidence. She knows what she wants and refuses to compromise. This modern woman is not afraid to express herself by wearing colour or outstanding pieces. The ideal wardrobe for her is a mix of 'entrance pieces'. I love the idea of mixing them, styling these pieces together and dressing for the mood and the schedule of the day."
Is there a symbol that would represent you?
"The female symbol. I am a true feminist and believe in the huge potential of women. I have been working with amazing women before at H&M, a company that exists out of 70% women and I meet talented women almost daily. Unfortunately, I also see that woman are underestimating themselves and sometimes play down their performances. I believe that you can have a feminine style and do things in your own way, not compromising and adjusting to standards set by men."
Where did the initial concept for your brand come from?
"The concept focuses on a trend already seen in other industries – the ability to customize products according to your own taste. In a modern society where women are well aware of trends and style, it amazes me that customers are not offered opportunities to interact with the designer and cannot exert a personal influence over the design of the garment. I want to change that!"
What's your label's signature pieces?
"Feminine dresses cut with geometrical forms in different colours. I aim for the perfect balance between the soft female curves and the straight lines. For example, our bodycon dress named Work (it) all Day with diagonal colour blocking in black and powder pink."
Going forward, what direction will the brand take?
"First we have to find our customers and start interacting with them. My ambition for the future is to continue developing our "Customise" concept and start integrating new technologies (3D-printing / laser cutting) directly into the creation and production process. I would like Studio Heijne to be known as a high tech company making beautiful fashion."
Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
"Barack Obama, Kate Bush, Roksanda Ilincic, Beyonce and Hilary Clinton."
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Kanske: The Swedish word for maybe, I use it even if I know I am sure."
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
"I might have quit my job at H&M earlier and start to work at more high end companies, too learn about how they relate to quality and be part of their design process."
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
"I am not a nostalgic person; I love thinking about the future! But the aesthetics of the roaring twenties appeal to me and I would definitely like to meet ground breaking female artist Sonia Delaunay and brilliant fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, among others."
See Studio Heijne's collection SS17 here.


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Deferiprone or deferasirox for cardiac siderosis in β thalassemia major (reply)
- 1 MRI Laboratory, Fondazione "G. Monasterio" CNR-Regione Toscana and Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa, Italy
- 2 Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Clinical Physiology, CNR, Pisa, Italy
- 3 Ematologia II con Talassemia, Ospedali Riuniti" Villa Sofia e V. Cervello", Palermo, Italy
- Correspondence: Alessia Pepe, MRI Laboratory, Fondazione "G. Monasterio" CNR-Regione Toscana and Institute of Clinical Physiology, Via Moruzzi, 1 56124 Pisa, Italy. Tel: +39 050 3152818. Fax: +39 050 3152166. E-mail: alessia.pepe{at}ifc.cnr.it
- deferiprone
- deferasirox
- cardiac iron burden
- thalassemia
We thank KM Musallam and Ali T Taher 1 to have given us the opportunity to comment on our study more extensively. Firstly, to date, the goal of the physician responsible for the management of thalassemia is to tailor the chelation therapy for each patient according to the iron status in crucial organs like the heart and the specific efficacy of the different chelators. Thus, formal comparison in this phase are recommended. Our study is retrospective and this issue is clearly stressed in the paper.
Considering all three treatment groups together (desferrioxamine, deferiprone and deferasirox) we found a significant difference in the active treatment duration (P=0.001). At multiple comparisons, only desferrioxamine had been started significantly earlier than deferiprone and deferasirox but the time of active treatment was more comparable between deferiprone and deferasirox (P=0.100). Moreover, the group with longer active treatment was not the most effective. This supports data suggesting that not only the time of treatment but also intrinsic proprieties of the drugs explain their efficacy. We categorized patients who received the drugs for similar intervals of time and compared them in a secondary analysis. Because the duration of deferasirox therapy ranged from one to five years, we restricted the analysis to this duration of active chelation therapy. There were 30 patients in the deferiprone group, 24 patients in the deferasirox group and only 9 patients in the desferrioxamine group. The duration of the treatment was more homogeneous (P=0.442) in these treatment subgroups than when the overall groups were compared. Results of the comparison between the deferiprone and the deferasirox subgroups are shown in Table 1 and confirmed results observed when the overall groups were considered. Confidence intervals are also reported.
We tried to reduce the bias due to the retrospective analysis by reporting data to support the homogeneity of the three groups analyzed. The deferiprone and deferasirox groups showed comparable basal mean serum ferritin levels; therefore, we cannot attribute the results concerning the deferiprone group to a lower baseline iron burden. We agree with Musallam and Taher 1 regarding the complex relationship between cardiac iron and total body iron balance. In a cross sectional analysis in patients with a long history of chelation treatments, cardiac T2* does not correlate with serum ferritin concentration. Serum ferritin levels cannot be used, therefore, to predict cardiac iron. 2 Due to the comparable baseline ferritin levels, the lower heart T2* values found in the deferasirox group seem not to be related to a higher initial total iron load. Moreover, in all three groups at comparable levels of excellent/good compliance there were no significant differences in the basal mean serum ferritin levels in the 12 months before starting the active treatment and the mean serum ferritin levels in the last year of the active treatment. There was no significant increase in the mean serum ferritin levels in the deferasirox group as stated by the authors. However, we do not intend to draw attention to this. In fact, basal mean serum ferritin levels in the 12 months before starting the active treatment could also refer to many years before (see the active treatment duration) and the mean serum ferritin levels in the last year of the active treatment do not reflect the entire follow-up time between the two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans (15–21 months).
Knowledge of the iron intake in our study population would have improved the interpretation of the data but unfortunately we did not have the information available in the data base. Comparable pre-transfusion hemoglobin level, percentages of splenectomized patients, and standardized and homogeneous transfusion regimens in our study population do not mean comparable iron intakes, although an imbalance in one group is unlikely. Moreover, multicenter randomized clinical trials, in which a significant number of the patients in this observational study had been previously enrolled, suggested blood transfusion requirement was comparable among the different chelation treated groups. 3– 5
However, we perfectly agree with Musallam and Taher that large prospective studies comparing the efficacy of deferiprone and deferasirox in removing and preventing cardiac siderosis are needed. All retrospective data should be developed first and only after that should prospective data be collected. We have recently presented our prospective data to the 2010 ASH Annual Meeting in which the changes in cardiac T2* expressed as mean difference were measured in a large cohort of thalassemia patients who had received one chelator alone between the baseline magnetic resonance imaging and MRI follow-up study at 18 ± 3 months. 6 These preliminary data confirm deferiprone monotherapy to be more effective than deferasirox in improving myocardial siderosis and a comparable efficacy between deferasirox and desferrioxamine.
The information provided by the authors about contributions from persons listed as authors and in acknowledgments is available with the full text of this paper at www.haematologica.org.
Financial and other disclosures provided by the authors using the ICMJE (www.icmje.org) Uniform Format for Disclosure of Competing Interests are also available at www.haematologica.org.
- Copyright© Ferrata Storti Foundation
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Here it was late February, and I still had a positive balance with the Christmas gift money I received these past holidays. The last $90 was burning a hole in my pocket. Note that when it comes to received gift money in any form, if I'm not living under a bridge starving in the cold, I WILL spend that money on something fun.
So I purchased a new tablet – an Amazon Fire HD 6. It's from the very bottom of the model line, with only 8GB of memory and a 6″ screen, but was highly rated in the "bang for the buck" category. And the price was close enough to being in budget ($99).
I harbored no expectations of it replacing any mobile device I already own. All my other devices are Apple products, either OS X or IOS driven, and tightly married to each other in multiple ways. I am however looking forward to seeing how far the Android platform has progressed since my last personal experience years ago.
First thing I noticed after taking out it of the box? They're not lying when they tell you it is one sturdy mobile device. It was delivered with a long toss up onto my front porch. It was a very cold day and I first heard it hit the wall hard and then the floor. So not seeing it with a broken screen was a plus, and it does indeed feel very sturdy in your hand.
After getting it registered and setting the options I wanted, I was pretty impressed with the platform. Navigation is fine. The standard mail, contacts, calendar, calculator, clock, and web browser apps all have the required feature set and then some, and are easy to use. The Help feature is also well put together and I used it quite a bit just to get familiar with the tablet. The camera lives up to expectations after reading the specs before the purchase: front-facing VGA camera and a 2 MP rear-facing camera. With the HDR option on, a steady hand, and good natural light, you can get a decent picture with the rear-view camera as long as you view it on the device (or similar sized screen). This falls into the "you get what you pay for" category.
I was able to access my Kindle books, and the easy interface to Amazon Prime is a plus. Viewing TV shows and movies is very good, with a surprisingly sharp picture and true color presentation.
I searched the Amazon app store for my core apps, and installed them. Alphabetically: Bank of America Online, Fidelity Investments, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Netflix, Optimum, Tumbler, Twitter, Vine, WordPress, and Words with Friends. Almost all of these work as I would expect. I did notice that compared to the same current Apple IOS versions of these apps, many seemed to be older versions in presentation, but I didn't see any features I use missing. The exception is Words with Friends which I eventually deleted as it was an older version in more than just the presentation. I then loaded up a very nice text editor (Notepad) that has some scripting language syntax smarts, a robust "file explorer / finder" type utility (ES File Explorer), and a good voice recorder (Easy Voice Recorder). I am pleased with all.
My first "smart phone" was a Motorola Droid which was a great phone at the time, but being forced fed OS upgrades eventually and permanently cratered many of the phone's features and apps long before my 2 year contract with Verizon was up. When I reported these issues to Verizon and Motorola responses varied from a tone of "too bad, so sad", to "you need to upgrade your phone". With more than 6 months on my contract, this left me with a smart phone camera that was basically unusable – it would take pictures that you could preview after they were taken, but were then not available as the photo gallery function no longer worked. Also, a couple of apps I had used daily stopped working after different OS updates (and the apps were never updated to address the issues).
As to any similar bad vibes encountered with my Fire HD, the only ones which surfaced were hit during the search for additional "nice to have" apps, as I mentioned in the voice recorder app search. I wanted to limit my app installs to those apps which stated they were compatible with the Fire HD, but very few (I remember only one) stated that fact.
Although I've only had the device for two weeks, I have to say I'm liking it. I hope to keep liking it because my iPad Mini is getting old and for what I currently use that device for (tablet feature / function requirements have lessened since I retired), using an Amazon Fire HD instead of shelling out $500 for a new Apple iPad would be great. But some more positive time with this tablet needs to elapse before that decision is made.
NOTE: Amazon reports the Amazon Fire HD 6 in this format is no longer available. The comparable tablet at this point is the Amazon Fire HD 8. I do still keep my Fire HD 6 updated and current, and drag it out every once in a while to hit the web.


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On September 13th of 2015, we welcomed our first baby to the world. A brand new beautiful daughter, weighing 8 pounds and 11 ounces. We had a very calm (and very quick) water birth at the San Antonio Birth Center, in San Antonio, Texas. We had two great midwives, a doula, and a photographer. However, when we first found out we were pregnant, this wasn't our first plan…
(all the photos posted are taken by Brittany Brooks Photography of San Antonio, Texas)
We found out we were pregnant January 1, 2016. I KNEW I was pregnant literally 2 weeks after conception. I just felt different, something wasn't right. I remember going to our families house for Christmas. The only thing I had an appetite for was the super sour pasta salad. It oddly tasted VERY good to me, and I had thirds! I felt bloated, I had some cramping, and my nipples were extremely sensitive! Something wasn't right! I had talked to my sister about it and she laughed hard, telling me there is no way I could know that early.
Something else funny that happened… one evening my husband and I were getting ready to go out to dinner. I was putting on my socks and shoes and all of a sudden our dog began hacking and trying to throw up. My husband tried to quickly move him away from the baseboards, and ended up shoving the dog over my foot and he threw up all over my foot! I started bawling my eyes out!!! I was so mad, and was crying so hard!
So I made our first appointment with the OB/GYN I had been seeing annually. We did the initial sonogram (yes, there was definitely a baby in my belly) and had the first few appointments. As time went on, I quickly realized that I wasn't liking the doctor I was assigned. The place I went was where everyone went, a group of doctors in the medical center. Every appointment we waited 45 minutes to be seen for 5 minutes. She would go on and on about how I need to stop gaining weight. In her defense, I had gained 30 pounds the first trimester! But a lot of family stuff was going on and I just couldn't handle it. I had the problem of being nauseous, and the only thing helping was eating. I remember her exact words since they stabbed me right in the heart… "Just let yourself throw up. Throwing up isn't bad, and at this point would be good for you so you quit gaining weight." What really made me mad was my husband agreed with her! >:( Each and every appointment she would insult me and talk down to me as if I didn't know what I was doing. I had very bad lower abdomen pain that I kept questioning her about. Taking pain medication to help with it wasn't something I did naturally. She said "If you weren't pregnant, would you go to a doctor to get checked out?" Of course I would! It hurt, and there wouldn't be a reason for it to hurt! She looked at me as if I was stupid. She then would reply, "If you were in a lot of pain, you would be taking painkillers." She had also prescribed me medicine to help with my nausea. She had me get off of it when I told her I was only taking 1 a day instead of 4. When I informed her that the 1 a day kept me from throwing up every morning, she told me it's a placebo effect and that I didn't know what I was talking about.
Okay, Okay, maybe I am using this to vent a little. But it was bad! Our last appointment with her was the 20 week appointment. At the end of the very short appointment, she just left the room. My husband and I looked at each other wondering if that meant we need to leave? Was the appointment over? She never even said bye… Yup, the appointment was over. I dreaded going to the prenatal appointments, and I was so done with her crap.
Somewhere, something told me to come up with a birth plan. I did some researched and watched some videos and had decided that I didn't want pitocin. I was okay with main management, but did NOT want to be induced at all. I kept trying to come up with ways to tell our OB. And then it hit me… I need a new doctor! I need to find someone else I can talk to comfortably. I called the Doctor's office and asked to switch to a different doctor within the same practice. The lady I spoke with on the phone didn't think there would be any issue with switching, so I was pretty happy with my decision. A week later, someone contacted me back to let me know the doctor denied my request and I would not be allowed to switch since I was so far along in pregnancy…. Whaaat!? I was barely 22 weeks pregnant! I had maybe 5 appointments with this doctor and I was too far along to switch? I asked the lady on the phone, "So ya'll are going to force me to stay with a doctor that I can't even talk to?" and she said, "Even if you were able to switch, you may not end up with that doctor delivering your baby at the hospital.. did you think about that!?" Uh.. yes mam, I did. And I was willing to take that risk. The next thing out of her mouth was,"Where would you like us to transfer your records?"……
HOLD ON… so I am too far along to switch to a different doctor within the SAME practice… but you are completely comfortable with kicking me out!? Are You Kidding Me!??!!??
I immediately called the San Antonio Birth Center since I had them in the back of my mind and explained my situation. They couldn't believe what had happened. I had my records transferred to them and they gladly accepted me!
I had my first appointment with the San Antonio Birth Center and it went about 2.5 hours! There was a lot of basic questions, but mostly the midwife was getting to know me and getting to know what I wanted. I had some appointments after that to sort of make up for lost time, and every appointment went over the hour that was assigned to me. This is a common thing I've heard about the difference between Obstetricians and Midwives… one is in and out in 5 minutes and considers you just a number while the other actually treats you with respect and tries to get to know you as a person.
At the time I wasn't completely comfortable with my decision just because of the unknown. I was a first time Mom choosing to have a natural labor and birth without even knowing what labor and birth felt like. I was choosing to go against the norm of being "safe" in a hospital setting in case anything ever went wrong. I was choosing to have care provided by "non-doctors" and "non-professionals" who didn't know what they were doing. What everyone was most shocked about was that I was choosing to not have pain medication handed my way when labor got hard.
We decided to sign up for a class called Birthing From Within. We learned the different ways women cope with pain. We learned to not be afraid of the unknown, and to not be afraid to be vocal. Surprisingly, every woman in the class was afraid to make a peep while in labor. Why is it that society makes us feel like we can't have a voice? Why are we embarrassed to be loud? I can't say that I was completely comfortable with it all after the class… but taking that class allowed me to have 100% complete trust in my body and that I just had to follow its lead.
Birth Day
After about a week and a half of consistent contractions and false labor, it finally happened.
The day before birth day, I contacted our doula to come over and just be with me. I had had enough! I was 3 days passed my due date, I was huge, I was in pain, and I was so done with all the consistent contractions leading up to nothing. She came over and massaged my feet, applied pressure points to try to start labor contractions, she talked to me and gave me an enormous amount of love. She showed me how to use my breast pump and then went with me on a walk around our neighborhood. Later that evening we met my Mom and Stepdad at Red Lobster. All of a sudden, I started having contractions that were a bit more intense and actually stopped me mid-conversation. They weren't bad enough I had to breathe through them, but they were definitely getting more intense. Of course, this was making my mom very excited!
Throughout the night, the contractions kept waking me up. I couldn't get comfortable, and sometimes I would have to breathe through them to get by. Still, though, I wasn't sure if this was real. I had made so many false calls within the last couple of weeks, I was going to make sure this was real before I call anyone again. I texted our doula to update her and I told her "If these contractions aren't real, then labor is going to totally suck!" She told me GO FOR A WALK! She forced me to go walk right away. come home, take a break, rest, and then go back for a walk. Since it was a Sunday, my husband was with me and went for a walk with me. We did about a mile and a half and then took a break. I began coloring in an adult coloring book with really cool designs, needing to stop and breathe through the intense contractions. A couple of hours later I get another text from her saying "GO FOR A WALK!" Okay, I was starting to get pretty annoyed… but my husband wanting to do things right, dragged me out the door and we went for a walk. We talked about 2.5 miles total throughout the day. After that last walk, we got inside and I laid on the couch saying "I am taking a freaking nap! I don't care what anyone says!"
3 very intense contractions later, POP! "God damn, my water just broke!" were the exact words out of my mouth! (For anyone offended, sorry. I didn't mean to say God's name in vein, but it was like what you see in the movies. Pop, huge gush everywhere!) All over the couch. All over a comforter I had been using. All over our rug. All over everything.
My husband panicked, called our doula and called our midwife. About 30 minutes later I was half naked and on my birth ball moaning and groaning with pain. My husband frantically called our doula and she came over to relieve some pain. After about an hour of being there with us, she said the words every mom in active labor doesn't want to hear… "It's time to go, we need to get in the car." In all the birthing classes we took, we were told that if someone told you it was time to go and you didn't want to get in the car, then you knew it was real active labor. I told our doula, "No!" and she responded with, "See, this is proof that it's real!" I walked out in a bra and panties and an open robe on! My modesty was out the window by this point.
When they tell you that the car rides suck… believe them! THE CAR RIDE SUCKS!!!! Being in active labor in a car is the worst thing in the world! I was sure everyone looking at me through the window thought I was dying! I was screaming, nearly pulling the handle off the roof of the car, and basically naked. At this point, my husband called my Mom to tell them we were headed to the Birth Center and that they could head that way too. (They were the only ones I was informing. They were the only ones I asked to be there without a job or a role to play.) We arrived to the birth center and I remember sitting there waiting for the contraction to finish before trying to run to get inside. I looked to the right, saw our birth photographer, and ran left where I had to stop and hold onto our doula through another very intense contraction. This point was the only time I recall seeing our photographer until after our precious baby was born. When you are in labor land, you are gone.
The next things I remember… our midwife asking for a urine sample. Me complaining about having to give her one. Me peeing in a cup, ditching my underwear in the hallway, and then walking to the room I had chosen to birth in. No one was in there, I started having a contraction, I yelled asking where everyone went, and they all came running. Apparently I was supposed to go into the room where we had our appointments at to be checked. No one told me this was the plan! I was there to have my baby!
They checked me, I was 5 cm dilated, and the midwife started the water to the tub. Let me tell ya'll… a warm bath tub is absolutely perfect for managing pain while in labor!
I got in the water and never got out. The midwife kept asking me (which I never heard, but remember my doula asking me while she was closest to me) to get out of the tub to go pee in the toilet. I kept saying I'm peeing in here LOL! Yes folks, pee and poop are a part of living! And I did both while laboring! Remember, all modesty was gone, I didn't care that people had to fish my poop out of the tub. I was only in that tub for 3 hours before my daughter was born. The last 30 minutes I was pushing, and I didn't even realize I was pushing.
Guys, no one tells you "Ready? Push, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10." No one does that when you are having a natural labor without pain medication. Your body knows what it needs to do! I had no idea that at the end of the contractions, me grunting and needing to poop was actually my body pushing my baby down.
I asked my doula, "Am I in transition yet?" and her response was "Oh honey, you were in transition a long time ago." Between contractions I made jokes, laughed, talked, and was my normal self according to my husband and doula. It was almost 10 pm when my Mom decided to take my stepdad home. She told me that our midwife told her "she's coming to the end of labor and pushing, but since it's her first baby she could be here another 3 hours or so. Go ahead and go home and come back, you have time." Literally right after they left, the midwife asked my husband to call my Mom back and tell her to turn around and come back. I screamed my baby girl into this world! She came out sunny-side-up, with the cord wrapped around her neck, and her shoulders got a little stuck. I had to get in squatting position for her to come out completely, but over all I had zero complications (besides having 3rd degree tearing). She came earth-side calm, peaceful, so happy to be in my arms!
Welcome to the world Baby Claire, born September 13, 2015 at 10:07 pm. 8 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches long.
Some important things I learned from this
- The only people who should be at your birth are the ones that have a job. And each person should have only 1 job, not 2 or 3. If we had hired our doula to also do photography, I wouldn't have had her full attention when I needed her the most. I didn't want her to ever leave my side, and every contraction I called for her.
- Know what type of labor you want. Know your coping method. Take a class. Take several classes. We wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for the class we took.
- Trust your body. I hear so many Mom's tell me that their doctor wants to schedule a C-Section because their body forgot how to have a baby. I'm sorry… your body knew how to grow and make this baby, your body definitely knows how to birth a baby too!
- If you aren't happy with your provider, don't settle! Find a new one ASAP! You are the most important person in your birth space, your voice should be heard. The people you pick to be on your birth team should be there for you to honor you, not there for themselves for a pretty penny. Hire people who love their job and are in it because they love birth.
- Most importantly, hire a birth photographer! You will want to remember this! All these beautiful pictures I have of me and my doula, I would have never known this was our relationship during labor and birth. I do not remember this at all. I don't remember kissing my husband and him being affectionate. Hire someone to take photos, and make sure that's all they are there to do!
The OB/GYN we had was Dr. Satterfield from Seven Oaks Women's Center in San Antonio, Texas.
The 2 midwives on our team was Erika Obert and Cindy Lockhart from San Antonio Birth Center in San Antonio, Texas.
The 2 midwives who attended our birth was Cindy Lokhart and Alisa Voss Godfrey (which our birth was her 924th birth!)
Our AMAZING Doula was Desiree Sangiuliano-Jemal from Pretty Sweet Doula.
Our AMAZING Birth Photographer was Brittany Reynosa from Brittany Brooks Photography.


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Dear Campus Community:
This week a number of posters have appeared on campus that include anti-Semitic rhetoric. The language used violates our Principles of Community, as well as the Regents' Principles Against Intolerance.
In accordance with our well known 'time, place, and manner' rules, we have instructed that the posters be removed. We urge all in our campus community to use this opportunity to reinforce our values as a campus, and to report any further incidents.
We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure we have a campus climate that is safe, welcoming, and respectful for all.
Nils Gilman
Associate Chancellor-Chief of Staff
Associate Chancellor-Chief of Staff
The Daily Cal, the UC Berkeley newspaper was uncharacteristically silent on the incident.
It took an article in Algemeiner to fill in the blanks for concerned community members
|An antisemitic poster at UC Berkeley. Photo: Nanette Asimov/Twitter.
From Algemeiner
The posters began cropping up when UC Berkeley announced it was reinstating "Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis," decried by a campus watchdog group as "a classic example of antisemitic anti-Zionism."
One such poster referred to a coalition of 43 Jewish, civil rights and educational organizations that had written an open letter expressing concern about the course and disappointment in UC Berkeley's vetting process, calling them "advocates for a foreign state" who "seek to control our freedom of speech and academic expression."
It also claimed that the Israeli government was directly involved in the suspension of the course.
Another poster underscored the large US military-aid deal with Israel, snidely telling "non-Jews" that they had better "pay up and shut up" in the face of "Jewish bullies."
No group has claimed responsibility for the posters
The Daily Cal weighs in on the posters here
The Daily Cal weighs in on the posters here


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Sunday, February 7, 2010
Foreclosures and ghost suburbs
Lately I have been corresponding with Brent Teasdale, from Georgia State University and his research partner Lynn Clark from the University of Akron. They are scholars looking at the financial crash and its impact on neighborhood crime, especially the home foreclosures.
They are among the first to study this in detail. From what I can see they are among the most thoughtful. In a forthcoming article Brent and Lynn ask:
How do we create sustainable neighborhoods in the midst of the urban (and, by 2009, suburban) foreclosure crisis, where old neighborhoods that were viable are now decimated with boarded up homes, where residents are faced with declining property values, vacant lots, fewer long term residents, and an increasing presence of absentee investors or landlords?
Great question! Here's another: What if the recovery stalls, or worsens? That's what Severin Sorensen suggests in his new book Economic Misery and Crime Waves.
What happens then? Is there evidence one way or another? Thanks to Brent and Lynn, there is!
They talk about "ghost subdivisions", places where the new economy creates unsold and unoccupied tracts of new housing.
Ghost subdivisions are new housing developments that have not been sold or occupied by residents. In such places CPTED is crucial.
For example, in Atlanta legal changes were required for the issuance of occupancy permits to new homes. Certificate of occupancy permits were not issued prior to appliances being placed in new residences. When appliances were installed prior to actual occupancy, the permit signified to potential criminals the presence of the appliances in homes that did not have guardianship. This led to residential burglaries in new developments and the theft of these appliances.
Brent and Lynn also examine what happens when neighborhood foreclosures crosses what in SafeGrowth we call the neighborhood threshold, also known as the tipping point?
When a home goes into foreclosure, especially if it is vacant, home values can decline. This can lead to poor upkeep and decreased informal social control, in CPTED terms diminished territorial reinforcement. Because of a high potential for the buyer to be an absentee property investor or landlord, there is increased risk of criminal activity as the area suffers visible signs of physical decay.
They tell us why mom and pop corner stores, so important in neighborhood life, cannot survive the new economy:
Triggering the demise of mom and pop stores
Economic competition from big box stores (where residents drive to shop) means that smaller stores must have lower prices. But lower prices in a smaller consumer base (usually within walking distance of those smaller stores) results in a reduced profit margin.
This is especially a problem when residents find their housing values declining due to foreclosures, general aging of the housing stock, increased tax burden for schools and services, or a slowing of the urban/suburban economy. In these circumstances the success of a sustainable and safe neighborhood is put at risk.
Brent and Lynn's full article will appear in the March issue of CPTED Perspective, the International CPTED Association newsletter.
3 Replies so far - Add your comment
- Severin Sorensen, CPP said...
Gregory, salient post. In addition to vacancies creating additional crime opportunities, is the vandalism done to the vacant housing units themselves that further deteriorate neighborhoods and create blight. Within my book that you referenced, Economic Misery and Crime Waves, [Thanks], I outlined how a home in Atlanta valued at $320,000 went into foreclosure when the homeowners stopped paying the payments, as the underlying housing prices meant the property was underwater. Subsequently, the family was evicted, and the vacant housing unit was vandalized, stripping all copper piping, copper wire, appliances, etc., leaving only torn up sheet rock and flooring in the unit. The physical structure, merely a shell of where a home once stood is now for sale for less than $30,000. Surely this is a modern tragedy with many victims that is being repeated over and over again in this difficult economy.
Severin Sorensen
Sikyur LLC
- February 10, 2010
- GSaville said...
Severin, that is a fascinating, and tragic, story. It makes me wonder: the neighborhood is now in disarray, so the community lost; the bank gained virtually nothing back from their loss, so they lost; and the owners have lost their home, so they lost. Can mortgage companies and banks actually still delude themselves into believing the credit and mortgage system works for anyone?
The question now is this: If you are right (and your well-researched book convincingly suggests you are) that this is a modern tragedy with many victims that is being repeated over and over again in this difficult economy...then HOW many victims and HOW many times will it be repeated until someone wakes up?
Or until major portions of our entire residential fabric is lost beyond hope?
- February 10, 2010
- Betz said...
Walking the area makes sense, but not without a walk or short drive at night, say 9pm or later. Responsible families DO NOT have school age children (middle or high school) aimlessly wandering about in groups. It might not be the worst idea to approach such a group and ask for dirctions just to observe if they are rude or courteous, welcoming or fearful.
- February 25, 2010


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FedEx Adds 4,000 Efficient Delivery Vehicles, Doubles EV Fleet
Image credit: LA Wad, used under Creative Commons license.
FedEx has already made some pretty impressive sustainability moves. From converting 92 trucks into diesel hybrids through installing a huge rooftop solar array to announcing that all new buildings will be LEED certified, it's almost as if these guys are aware that their business model is heavily energy dependent, and they are vulnerable to price shocks and supply interruptions. Now the company has launched another major initiative—adding over 4000 fuel efficient vehicles to its ranks, and doubling its fleet of all-electric vehicles. (Admittedly the "doubling" is less impressive when you see how many they have...)Announced last week, FedEx's latest push for more fuel efficient vehicles sees the company adding hybrid-electric vehicles, piloting low-weight composite vehicles, and upgrading thousands of conventional vehicles to more fuel-efficient choices. It also sees them "doubling" their purely electric vehicle fleet, though once you drill down into the details, you see that in reality this means going from 19 to 43 globally. Nevertheless, the move shows both a diversification of suppliers for its EV fleet, as well as a broader geographical spread, and the company is also working with researchers from Columbia University to model impacts on the energy grid.
In terms of boots-on-the-ground impact on emissions though, it's the announcement that the company will upgrade 4000 vehicles (10% of its fleet) to more efficient stock that will have the most immediate effect:
"On high-mileage routes, FedEx is upgrading vehicles with 4,000 fuel efficient, lower emitting BlueTEC clean diesel Sprinter Vans. Each Sprinter is at least 100% more fuel efficient than the most commonly found alternative it replaces. Since launching our first Sprinter in 2000, we have put close to 1.4 billion miles on these more fuel efficient vehicles, saving over 66 million gallons of fuel compared to their predecessors."
Much like GE's commitment to purchase 2500 electric cars, FedEx's ongoing efforts to cut energy use and support cleaner transportation will have a ripple effect far beyond the specific emissions cuts created. It's becoming increasingly evident that industry-wide system innovation is the only way to create lasting change on the scale that is needed, so the more that big players like FedEx and GE put their weight behind a whole range of technologies, methodologies and services, the more they can use their leverage to create even broader change.
More on FedEx and Sustainability
FedEx Makes Major Move Toward Sustainability: All New Buildings to be LEED Certified
FedEx Converts 92 Delivery Trucks to Diesel Electric Hybrids
FedEx to Install US's Largest Rooftop Array
FedEx Absolutely Positively Building New Solar


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Divorce Attorney Farmington Hills MI – Michigan Divorce Lawyer Assisting Clients throughout Farmington Hills
What do you need to know about the divorce process in Farmington Hills? The first step in any divorce is for one of the parties to file a complaint for divorce. Chapter 552 of the Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL) includes the statutes that govern divorce proceedings in Canton. Under MCL 552.6, after the plaintiff files a complaint for divorce, the divorce proceedings can commence. In Michigan, parties can only seek what is called a "no-fault divorce." This means that anyone who files a complaint for divorce does not have to allege fault of the other party, but instead only must allege that there has been a breakdown of the marriage.
It is always important to work with an experienced Farmington Hills divorce lawyer, even if you and your spouse have come to an agreement over certain terms. You will need an advocate to ensure that your voice is heard and that you obtain the best outcome from your divorce as possible.
Elements of a Divorce in Farmington Hills, Michigan
Every divorce has its own set of facts and nuances, and as such no two divorce proceedings look exactly alike. However, almost all divorces will have to deal with the following:
- Division of marital property
- Spousal support
- Child custody and visitation
- Child support
- Division of Debts
- Division of Retirement Assets
If there are no children from the marriage, of course, then the court will not address issues of child custody, visitation, and child support.
What is My Spouse Does Not Want to Get Divorced?
Many residents of Farmington Hills have questions about how divorces progress when the other spouse does not want to get divorced. Since Michigan is a no-fault divorce state, as we mentioned above, only the plaintiff (the person who files the complaint for divorce) needs to allege that there has been a breakdown of the marriage. Even if the other spouse disagrees, the divorce process still can move forward.
Farmington Hills Division of Marital Property
When you get divorced in Farmington Hills, Michigan, the court will need to divide marital property. In Michigan, courts divide property based on a theory known as "equitable distribution." It decides how a division of marital property—both assets and debts—would be equitable to both parties. Equitable can mean "equal" in some cases, equitable distribution often does not mean that the property is divided equally between the spouses.
How does the court decide what is equitable? It looks to many different factors, including but not limited to:
- Length of the marriage;
- Needs of both parties;
- Earnings and potential earnings of both parties;
- Source of the property;
- Needs of the children from the marriage; and
- Fault in the marriage.
While there is no need to prove fault in order to get a divorce in Farmington Hills, fault can play a role in the way a court distributes certain property, or in how the court awards alimony. If you have concerns about the division of marital property—especially if you have substantial separate property that you are worried will be subject to division—you should discuss your case with a Farmington Hills divorce lawyer as soon as possible.
Contact a Divorce Attorney Farmington Hills MI
Even when divorces are not contentious, they are still extremely complicated. Do not hesitate to seek advice from an experienced divorce attorney in Farmington Hills. An advocate at our firm can speak with you today. Contact the law offices of Paul J. Tafelski for more information.


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Kendra Wilkinson has admitted that she doesn't think of herself as famous.
The reality star, who recently landed a new show on WE TV, told People that she is aware of her status.
"I never ever see myself as a celebrity or famous so I poke fun at that," she said. "I just say what I do. I have no talent. I have nothing to offer."
Wilkinson explained that she enjoys filming reality shows but explained that she knows her fame could come to an end at any time.
"I'm very aware of what I do and I'm very aware of how quickly my career could end," she said. "Every season I cross my fingers and hope the show gets picked up but it's out of my hands and in my fans' hands."
Wilkinson's new show Kendra on Top will premiere on WE TV in the summer.
> Kendra Wilkinson: 'I'm more conservative than people think'


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Israel is not particularly well known as a sporting nation, but sports fans that visit Tel Aviv will find that there is plenty to do.
Basketball fans should do their best to go and watch Maccabi Tel Aviv, a club that dates back to the 1930s and plays in the Menora Mivtachim Arena in downtown Tel Aviv. The team has won an impressive six EuroLeague championships, an Adriatic League championship, 52 Israeli League championships, and more. They have a number of famous former players such as Brian Randle and Jeremy Pargo.
The city is also home to a football team, also named Maccabi Tel Aviv. It is Israel's oldest and most successful football team, being one of only three Israeli teams to ever progress to the UEFA Champions League group stage. The team play at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, and while Israeli football may not be the best in the world, there is always a great atmosphere at the matches and an enjoyable experience for any sports fan.
If you are looking to do some sports yourself then you can enjoy cycling and running tracks in the Yarkon Park and also along the seafront. Those who are runners can take part in a number of events run in the city each year. There is a night run and a marathon, and they always have amazing atmospheres.
Of course, as Tel Aviv is on the sea, you will find that there is the chance to do a number of water sports such as surfing, sailing, windsurfing and more. You will find a number of places that let you rent equipment and also provide lessons.
If you love sports and you are in Tel Aviv, then don't worry, there is plenty for you to do and watch.


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Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has acquired a minority stake in UK-based production company Eleventh Hour Films.
Under the deal, SPT will distribute Eleventh Hour's drama series and films worldwide.
The company has produced series such as Foyle's War for ITV, New Blood for BBC1, Vexed for BBC2 and, most recently, two seasons of ITV's Safe House.
Eleventh Hour's senior management team comprises Jill Green, Eve Gutierrez, Paula Cuddy and Nicole Finnan.
The investment follows the recent news that Eleventh Hour will produce an eight-part adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider teen spy novels for SPT. The latter's international distribution and production units are collaborating to fully fund the series.
SPT Distribution and Eleventh Hour are also in partnership on other projects, including eight-part Anglo-American paranormal drama series Rendlesham, which is inspired by real-life events in the 1980s. They are also working on drama The Caine Mutiny, an eight-part event serial adapted by Horowitz from the novel by Herman Wouk.
Green, Eleventh Hour's CEO, is a seasoned creative force in the UK, having previously set up and run Greenlit Productions.
Gutierrez joined Eleventh Hour as head of talent and executive producer after working alongside Green at Greenlit Productions, where she produced ITV's critically acclaimed series Collison and Injustice.
Cuddy, the company's creative director, previously developed Sky's Strike Back with Left Bank Pictures, which is also part of the SPT group, and script-edited BBC medical drama Bodies, as well as working on BBC1 soap EastEnders.
Eleventh Hour MD Finnan joined the company from Ruby Film and Television. Prior to that, she was the commercial and finance director at Ecosse Films for 10 years.


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41st Annual Juried Exhibit
Juried by Benjamin Hickey, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Masur Museum of Art
June 23 – July 29, 2017
June 23–July 29, 2017
Friday, June 23 at 5-7pm
Kayla Shaggy: Durango artist with a dark aesthetic
by Patty Templeton / DGO Magazine
July 19, 2017
(See You Later, oil on panel by Allison Leigh Smith, 2016 Annual Juried Exhibit Best in Show)
The Durango Arts Center is pleased to provide a professional juried exhibit for artists working in all media. In its 41st year, the Annual Juried Exhibit was expanded to a national competition to broaden creative expression, both in and outside of our community; accepted multi-media and installation work; and provided a new online platform for submissions. The juror of this year's exhibit, Benjamin Hickey, also provided free onsite portfolio reviews and critique to any artist regardless of their acceptance into the exhibit.
Best in Show: Kayla Shaggy – Hell
2nd Place: Heather Kelley – Tabula Rasa
3rd Place: Barbara Dixon Drewa – The Next Chapter
Honorable Mentions:
Mary Lou Murray – Durango Dusk
Clifford Tresner – End Goals
Allison Leigh Smith – Wrented: A Tribute to Charley
Deborah Sussex – Kenosha Pass. Mile. 78/9,969ft
Rosemary Juskevich – Blue Silo
|Cheryl Berglund
|Sam Bridgham
|Dustin Cook
|Julie Crews
|Robert Cross
|Michael Darmody
|Rebecca Dash
|Philip DeHudy
|Barbara Drewa
|Margy Dudley
|Tina Farrow
|Caryl Goode
|Abigail Heuss
|Madeline Jacknin
|Rosemary Juskevich
|Heather Kelley
|Dorothy Kerns
|Rebecca Koeppen
|Sarah Kriehn
|Jen Manganello
|Margaret Mayer
|Carol Meckling
|Jane Mercer
|Marge Meyer-Nugent
|Paula Miller
|Mary Lou Murray
|Kathy Myrick
|MaryAnne Nelson
|Audrey Peck
|Marten Pinnecoose
|Tom Richard
|Richard Robertson
|Mary Rodman
|Danny Rodman
|Kayla Shaggy
|Thomas Siggia
|Allison Leigh Smith
|Jed Smith
|Deborah Sussex
|Clifford Tresner
|Dean Wyatt
|Nancy Young
|Robert Zahner
When I jury an exhibition I am careful to treat the process as a singularity. The pool is unique and has to be treated as such. Often times the work is so varied there cannot be a unifying theme or concept that brings it all together. If that is the case, I become the unifying theme. This is an uncomfortable concept for me because, in essence, I am creating a portrait of myself with work presented to me in an arbitrary fashion; by those who choose to enter. Generally, I feel my job as a curator is to facilitate the ideas of others, but due to the fairly impersonal nature of the jurying process, my perspective drives the exhibition more than it normally does when I am working intimately with an artist or artists. In my mind, the selection process works like this. On the first level I weigh the technical ability of the work I want in the show, and balance that assessment with my sense of whether the selected, or soon to be selected, artists seem to achieve the goals they lay out for their work.
After that, I consider how the work affects me.
If I felt an affinity for a work of art, I accepted it. There is a fair amount of hedonism associated with selecting a juried competition. To deny the pleasure of selecting art for this exhibition would be disingenuous.
By and large the majority of the entries conveyed a sense of place I found moving. Many, but not all, elicited a sense of visiting family in the West during summers growing up. I have family in Colorado, Montana, Washington, and Idaho. There is another biographical strand running through this exhibition. I have a fondness for highly conceptual works of art. Artwork, usually of a highly representational nature, conveying a sense of place paired with fairly abstract, concept heavy art may seem like an unnatural pairing, but they both resonate equally inside me. These two competing ideas create an interesting tension in this exhibition at the Durango Arts Center.
Best of Show:
The overwhelming use of stippling, or layered individual marks used to create value, form, and texture, in Kayla Shaggy's Hell (italics) gives one a sense of what Hell's supposedly infinite vastness might be like to behold. Every square inch of Shaggy's composition tells a story of eternal torment. Guilt, violence, retribution, this is a piercing cautionary tale of human frailty.
Second Place:
Heather Ryan Kelley's Tabula Rasa (italics) is an interesting meditation on the passage of time. Kelley used chance bumps and spills in the studio over seven years to serve as her Mark making system once she etched the words, "THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LET BLANK." A great deal can happen, as well as be taken for granted over seven years. I also enjoy the sardonic provocation Kelley's words represent.
Third Place:
Barbara Drewa's trompe l'oeil still life, The Next Chapter (italics) is a portrait of an unknown sitter, or perhaps the United States. Familiar objects made elusive bring their symbolic power to the fore. It's a cumulative effect and possibly a reading assignment.
DAC is grateful for the generous support of our exhibit sponsors who enable culturally innovative programs to exist in our community. The premier sponsor of the 41st Annual Juried Exhibit is Maynes, Bradford, Shipps & Sheftel LLP.
The 41st Annual Juried Exhibit is made possible by the 2017 exhibits season sponsors: Friends of the Gallery, Mary Lyn and Richard Ballantine, Don and Judy Hayes, Russell Engineering and Oxford Asset Management.
Barbara Conrad Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday
10am – 5pm
Entry to Durango Arts Center galleries is always free. The galleries are closed to the public on Sundays and Mondays.
Coming of Age
DAC branches out nationally with 41st annual juried show
Stew Mosberg
Durango Telegraph, June 22, 2017


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Players & Recorders Rentals
Players & Recorders Rentals
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CDs, MP3s, cassettes? WOVA has the audio player to fit your needs. Our audio equipment will be music to your ears.
WOVA offers the finest audio player and recorder rentals in Los Angeles. Please call us toll free at 866-900-3827 or 310-659-5959 for more information, or place your order online.
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Tuesday, February 15, 2005
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Los Angeles is 72 suburbs in search of a city. -- Dorothy Parker
About Me
- Name: marissa
- Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Despite being raised from birth to hate L.A. I don't. I like it. A lot.
Previous Posts
- my sister went for a walk in central park today a...
- (non)mobile homes
- orgasms and architecture
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- hot property - slightly less disappointing than la...
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- I love a bargain
- fuzzy math
My Other Blogs
- Curbed LA
- RadarWaves
- About Alice
- Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems
- The Tender Bar
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- Assassination Vacation
LA-related Links
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Just found a great set of instructional materials on the Church year and how to use the books for each. From Holy Transfiguration Monastery Publications. It's a treasure trove.
(HTMP) - Besides presenting Holy Transfiguration Monastery's books themselves, this website was conceived to explain and illustrate what the Church books are and how they are used.
We begin with The Liturgical Year Introduced, a series of diagrams that show when the Menaion, Triodion, Pentecostarion, and Octoëchos are used throughout the year, the difference between moveable and immovable feasts, and how they work together...
Site available here.


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|We Are Not Thugs
It's me, RedEye again. When you finally decided to address the uprising in #Baltimore you referred to the people as thugs and criminals, yet you ignored the savagery of the police. But that's not the reason EYE am writing to you today. Eye am writing because EYE realize although you were a community organizer in Chicago, you weren't raised in the Hood, you were raised in Hawaii by your white grandparents. Since you've surrounded yourself with people who don't look like Michelle and your mother in law, you might not be aware of the code words used by some (not to be confused with all) white folk. EYE am here to decode the code words for you.
1. Thug is the new N-word, and no, I don't mean news. As Richard Sherman said it's the acceptable way of calling black people Ni**er. You might want to inform your press secretary of this because a lot of those Thugs are your base. You know, the people who voted for you. The people who proudly wear their Obama hats and T-Shirts. The people who swell up with pride every time they see you, and your family. EYE dare say, you wouldn't be occupying the White House today had it not been for us Thugs.
2. Criminals are code for black and poor. It is the prevailing thought by some (not to be confused with all) white folks that poor blacks are criminals because they are well.....black and poor. If you care more about a CVS, which can be rebuilt, you are part of the problem, not the solution. EYE am just saying.
3. Riots is code for black people unifying protesting against injustice. In case you've forgotten our founding fathers said NO army policing on our soil, so why is it every time black folks dare exercise their First Amendment Rights, Governor's roll out the government-funded, taxpayer issued Weapons of Mass Destruction like they are getting ready to put down a slave revolt? When white folks assemble it's a celebration, but when black folks assemble it's a riot.
EYE must say EYE am disappointed you and the Baltimore mayor resorted to name-calling, that is so GOP.
Little more than four months before pivotal congressional elections, President Obama on Friday defended his economic policies and berated congressional Republicans for blocking many of his initiatives.
"They don't do anything," Obama told supporters gathered at a band shell near a Minneapolis lake. "Except block me, and call me names."
While EYE have your attention, let me say THIS, the majority of Thugs, EYE mean black folks, are more afraid of the Police than ISIS, whoever the heck they are.


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Emirates Avenue: Turning a Steady Profit Without Ambition to Scale
Unlike many of the interviews I've done lately with entrepreneurs who are very aware of their own spin, chatting with Julien Pascual of Emirates Avenue was refreshing.
He's simply very laid back about his approach to Emirates Avenue, an electronics e-commerce site that he launched in Dubai in 2009; he wasn't speaking in marketing soundbites or trying to convince me that Emirates Avenue is the best thing since sliced bread.
Yet when asked how the company differentiates itself from competitors, Pascual says very candidly, "We make money."
By keeping a small team, and aiming for fair prices and on-time delivery, the site is making money with a model that works, seemingly without ambitions to scale.
They deliver smartphones, iPads and other Apple products to their customers within the UAE in less than 24 hours, offering payments exclusively via Cash on Delivery (COD). They are only just beginning to accept credit card payments this month.
Pascual came up with the original idea for the startup while on a trip to Dubai. "I came to visit my wife here and I looked online to buy a phone and I couldn't find anything," he explains, "so I said, ok, let's build something."
When they first started, Emirates Avenue was the only electronics e-retailer in Dubai, Pascual explains. Now he says there are over 35 different sites doing the same thing.
Their website, which looks like something out of the late 90's, is colorful but extremely basic (maybe even slightly tacky), but it gets the information across, showing you exactly what you are likely to be looking for. Perhaps this template exists for a reason, the menu bar simply lists their most popular five products instead of categories. Regarding the site's bright design, Pascual interestingly notes, "When we introduced our frog mascot, orders increased by 20%. People must have felt more reassured by the fact that a company with a mascot must be trustworthy."
The site also occasionally offers flash sales whenever retailers offer them good deals; they don't have a set schedule.
This approach suits Pascual's laissez-faire attitude; when asked if Emirates Avenue has aspirations to expand or grow in the region, he confidently says, "No. We had a few tests, but the problem is that regulations are very different in the countries around us."
When asked about the number of users they have, Pascual said honestly, "we don't really track them or focus on them." He says that the competition is too obsessed with keeping track of and signing up more users. Emirates Avenue simply doesn't find it as useful.
Frankly, this is bad business practice as an e-commerce startup, so it's unclear whether Emirates Avenue doesn't want to talk about its users. At some point they likely collect at least some information to make sales projections and choose which products to feature on the menu bar. Perhaps Pascual is focusing on another day job, but Emirates Avenue is definitely following the approach, "If it's not broken, don't fix it," letting a functional model continue without much iteration.
Undeterred by Competition
Though there are several electronics e-commerce platforms in the UAE, Pascual explains that only about two or three actually make money, one of which is Emirates Avenue. "We don't base our prices on competition … we base them on the market price," adding that sometimes they don't have the cheapest prices, but customers still remain loyal.
One of their major competitors, JadoPado, started in 2011, has been expanding its business since its launch, receiving a boost from the closure of Mizado earlier this year. Their extremely fast delivery and sleek user interface are making them a rising player in the space. But Pascual insists that he hasn't seen a decrease in business since JadoPado opened.
He explains that he doesn't have any animosity towards any of his competitors and there is plenty of space in the market for them to coexist. Adding that, similar to their remaining competition, the only time Emirates Avenue felt a flux in business is when Mizado and Nahel closed, increasing their market share and driving new customers to their site.
He offers a lesson he learned from the failure of Mizado, "I think they spent a lot of money very fast, they were focused on the long term," he explains. "When you have so much money to start and you spend it all, it is very difficult to get it back."
Many consumers are frustrated over Mizado's failure, he adds. "They closed, and the people are stuck with their phone or device, with no warranty. It's difficult for people when you spend $3-4,000 and suddenly you lose your warranty, but people feel safe with us."
It seems that customer loyalty due to consistency is the startup's biggest asset. And in today's aggressive startup market, where many startups struggle to get off the ground, it's a curious case. It seems that either their laissez-faire approach masks a deeper competitiveness, or the market simply isn't saturated enough that a first mover has to work hard to maintain market share.
Either demand in the market exceeds supply, or Pascual is simply happy to keep the company profitable without expanding beyond is team of four; perhaps scaling to Saudi Arabia isn't worth the cost in the near term.
For electronics customers, many of whom may have been first-time online buyers when they came to Emirates Avenue, simplicity and reliability can be more important than a stylish interface or quick expansion. If there's a lesson to be learned from their example, it's that e-commerce companies that offer a product in demand, focus on reliable delivery, and offer COD have a good chance of success.


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U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced on Monday that Beekley Medical of Bristol is this week's "Murphy's Monday Manufacturer."
Beekley was founded in 1934 in West Hartford as a printing and lithographic company. Today, Beekley is a medical device manufacturer of products that help improve communication, productivity, accuracy, and the patient experience. Their products include modality-specific skin markers, biopsy grids, specimen containers, aromatherapy tabs and other patient care devices that are used in CT-Scan, Mammography, MRI, Radiation Oncology, Emergency, Outpatient Surgery, Elder Care, and other clinical settings.
Beekley's association with the medical industry began in the 1960s with the introduction of the Kwik-Chart, a widely adapted, hospital charting sheet. In 1974, the company moved to a larger facility in Farmington, and in the early 1980s, the company moved to Bristol, where they introduced the X-SPOT – the first-ever professional skin marker for diagnostic imaging. Soon after, Beekley introduced the Beekley Skin Marking System for Mammography, a first-of-its-kind concept that uses specifically shaped markers to help physicians identify particular areas of concern and interpret breast imaging. In 2009, Beekley relocated within Bristol to their specially constructed Beekley Growth and Innovation Center, where the manufacturer continues to operate out of today. The company employs 94 people and offers their associates an onsite fitness center, annual health and wellness screenings, profit sharing, and a 401K match, in addition to other benefits.
"Beekley's products help doctors around the world better serve their patients every single day, and none of it would be possible without the hard work of Beekley's Connecticut team," said Murphy in a press release. "I'm grateful for Beekley's nearly 90-year commitment to Connecticut manufacturing, and I'm excited to see what innovative products they bring to market next."
Ayn S. LaPlant, President and CEO of Beekley Medical, said, "Manufacturing and innovation have been part of Connecticut's economic DNA from Eli Whitney to Samuel Colt to Stanley to UTC. Beekley Corp., one of the 'Best Places to Work in CT,' is enthusiastically committed to continue our state's long legacy of manufacturing new and novel, high value products. We are proud of the fact that Beekley's products help save lives – we could outsource our manufacturing to other countries and maybe save a few fleeting pennies, but we would rather manufacture in Connecticut where we know our great workers make perfect product every single time."


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01/13/2017 – Ephemeris – Perhaps we'll see a nova in 5 years, 2022
Jan 13. This is Bob Moler with Ephemeris for Friday, January 13th. The Sun will rise at 8:16. It'll be up for 9 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 5:26. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 7:12 this evening.
Professor Larry Molnar from Calvin College in my home town of Grand Rapids and his students discovered that a star, [KIC 9832227,] that was monitored by the Kepler exoplanet finding satellite in the northern constellation of Cygnus the Swan may explode in about 5 years. The star is actually two so close that they share their outer atmospheres, someone described it as two peanuts in one shell. The two orbit each other in 11 hours now, and the period is shortening at an accelerated rate as the two approach each other. Astronomers think that it will repeat the fate of a star that exploded in 2008 in the constellation of Scorpius. Such explosions, when seen are called Novae. A Nova like this could make the star briefly 10,000 times brighter than it originally was. [Current magnitude is 12, which is visible in moderate sized (6″ or 150 mm) diameter telescopes. 10,000 times brighter equals a 10 magnitude bump, which would make the star 2nd magnitude. Magnitudes are like golf scores the lower the magnitude the brighter the object. Blame Hipparchus.]
Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.
Note: The text in brackets omitted in the broadcast.
The position of KIC 9832227 is circumpolar or nearly so for northern Michigan. So it's up all or most of the 24 hour day, so no matter the time of year this baby blows, we should be able to see it.
For more information click here: https://calvin.edu/news/archive/astronomy-prof-student-predict-explosion-that-will-change-the-night-sky.


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(QuantumActivist.com) Prepare to take a dis-continuous leap. There is a revolution going on in science, a genuine paradigm shift. While the mainstream remains materialist, a substantial number of scientists are supporting and developing a new paradigm based on the primacy of consciousness.
Dr. Amit Goswami is a pioneer of this revolutionary new perspective within science. He shares his vision of the unlimited potential of consciousness as the ground of all being -- and how this revelation helps us live better. Recognized as one of the world's brilliant minds, Amit has recently appeared in the movies "What the Bleep Do We Know?" as well as "The Dalai Lama Renaissance" and authored over a dozen books from textbooks on quantum mechanics to consciousness and the New Science.
We trace Goswami from his early years in India. Away from the religious teachings of his childhood, he sought his path through nuclear physics. He has now come full circle through quantum insight to the very religious axioms of his youth. With daring style, the "Quantum Activist" presents wisdom with humor, recounting Amit's journey, the message, and what it means to us all.


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I haven't been updating this blog for a while now as my schedule is always flooded with school (drats!), but I just want you to know that I'm still here and this blog is still (trying to stay) alive! Hahaha.
I also haven't done much personal work lately, except for the doodles I drew on my tab and my sketchbook the past three nights. I used the Autodesk Sketchbook App, so if you'd like to try it, it's available for free and premium versions on the App and Play Store. :)
Anyway, here's a brief summary of what happened during my "absence". From top left to bottom right.
- One of the more recent photos, this was taken on Friday this week, at Bigg's Diner during dinner.
- During a sudden trip to the mall, in the midst of submission deadlines. Hahaha. One can never have too much free time.
- A forehead morning, during last week - projects and exercises. I wonder if my brain's as large as my forehead. Haha.
- This was during a trip to Legazpi (have to update you on this one!) with my Aunt from Germany. That was the best weekend I've had for a while!
- It's been a while since I drew anything traditionally, and after a clean-up during the weekend, I thought I'd freshen up my charcoals and sketchpads. (Sad, neglected pads.)
- Trying out typography (poorly executed, still) with a brush pen. Ain't there yet, girl.
- There are days when I have to bring my laptop to school to catch up on projects, and during our submission for a Midterm Exam/Project, my laptop was working over-time. Shot at our department library/theater.
- Another recent art, drawn on my tab in a little under 45 minutes. I'm actually enjoying the process. It feels different than a graphics tablet, but it offers the same level of sensitivity.
- Lunch at McDonald's, after church last, last, last Sunday (yeah, it's that far back). Just so you're wondering, my brother and I bought the same bullet necklaces, so, you know, because we wanted to. Haha.
- When my aunt had to go back to Germany, and with my brother still rooting for steak, mom decided to cook steak for us, her style. Hmmmm.
- I'm sure you can relate when I say that often, caffeine helps keep the sense awake, and during "Hell week" (exams), this kept me going, along with listening to Demi Lovato, JoJo, Ailee, and Papa Jack (a radio DJ).
- Memories! This one was shot when we were at Donsol with my aunt. This is another event which I just have to rely in another post!
As you can probably tell, The whole 2nd week of January to the first week of February was super full. So, my apologies for not updating in the previous days! I had time today, since I just finished an animation exercise, and since I couldn't be bothered to review for an exam I have for Politics and Sound Design class. Oh well. At least something came out of my laziness.
Have a fun, stress-free week ahead!