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Happy Tuesday!
I wrote this short story earlier in the year. I got the idea one quiet winter day when I was all alone in one end of a rather large house that is not my own (don't worry; I was allowed to be there… I don't just pop in at strange houses :o). I wanted to explore the sense of strangeness when we are alone in unfamiliar surroundings and the way the brain works when we dream, how it pulls from our experiences and presents us with a combination of memory and imagination that is terrifying and amusing at the same time. So I hope you enjoy it!
The Red Room
Her eyes fluttered open, and for a moment all she saw was a blur of dark colors that looked like a watercolor gone wrong. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. There was such an ache in her head, such an awful ache that wouldn't go away. She opened her eyes again and tried to make sense of her surroundings. The room was dark, and rain beat against the curtained windows with the sound of a hundred heartbeats. Her head pounded. What an ache! What an awful ache that wouldn't go away!
She sat up and steadied herself. She was on the floor, flattened out on the soft, thick, creamy carpet. It smelled like roses. She looked over at the window curtained with heavy scarlet drapes that blocked out any light from outside. That's why the room is so dark, she thought. She tried to stand up. The room tipped and her head hurt. What an ache! Why wouldn't it go away? The rain beat mercilessly on the windows. The incessant pounding echoed in her brain. If only her head didn't hurt so much!
She took stiff, wobbly steps toward the window. The carpeted floor heaved up and down like earth during a quake. She began to fall. In desperation she reached out and grasped the heavy curtains, hanging onto them as if her life depended on it. She ran her fingers over the rich scarlet fabric. She could tell it was scarlet even in the dark, though she didn't know how. This is velvet, she thought to herself. Velvet curtains. The owners must be rich. Then it occurred to her that she didn't know who the owners of the house were. She didn't know what house she was in. She had never been to this house before. She didn't even remember going there in the first place. In fact, she remembered nothing before waking up on the soft creamy carpet. If that terrible headache would only go away, she might be able to remember!
A feeling of helpless panic crept from her heart up to her throat and aching head. It paralyzed her feet and froze her hands. She was welded to the spot where she stood, arrested by a fear that was nothing more than an endless, bottomless chasm of emptiness. There was nothing in her mind, nothing but that horrible ache.
She willed herself to move. In one sharp action she threw the curtains open. The window was long, reaching from the floor to the ceiling and made up of dozens of small, crystal clean panes. She looked out and saw nothing but dark gray fog and hundreds of raindrops dashing against the glass. It was evening, she determined, but there was nothing more she could tell.
She turned back toward the room to look about. The window had let in little light, but enough that she could make out the room. It was shaped like a long rectangle. There were six windows, three on one wall and three on the opposite wall. They were all draped in scarlet velvet, and all of them were drawn except for the one she stood at. The walls were papered in a crimson that matched the curtains. A massive four-poster bed sat between the two walls. It was dressed with scarlet silk hangings and a matching silk duvet decorated with white ribbon roses. Next to the bed there was a dark wooden nightstand, and on it sat a lace doily and picture frames. She dashed over and grabbed at the photos like a madwoman, searching for a clue to where she was.
But none of the pictures held any indications; there were no portraits of the house's owners or any other people for that matter, only little nature scenes. One was a sketch of a bluebird perched upon a weathered wood fence, and one was a watercolor of purple daisies next to a similar fence. They were probably made by the same artist, she mused, setting them down. In the last frame was a photograph of two hemlock trees in the forest. A rocky stream ran between them, and the sun shone down onto their needles, which caught and filtered the light into brilliant rays that touched the earth gently. The scene was beautiful; it caught her by surprise. It looked so familiar, as if she had been in that very spot in the woods once, as if she herself had taken the picture. But that was impossible. She had never used a camera in her life; she had never been to the forest. She had never been anywhere but this Red Room, at least she thought so. Perhaps she had gone to the woods once, but she didn't remember. If only her head didn't hurt so much! If only she could remember!
She put down the picture and turned, shivering. The pounding in her head had stopped, but a dull ache had taken its place. Maybe there was something she could take for the pain. Maybe there was someone else in the house who'd lend her some medicine. There might even be a doctor, she thought.
She crept to the door. It was an old, heavy door, probably oak, with panels in it. It was painted white like the creamy carpet. Its knob was glass and faceted like a diamond. She reached out and grabbed it. It was cold as ice, and the sound it made when she turned it sounded like the shattering of icicles on a clear, frigid day.
She pulled the door open slowly and peeked out. She was at the end of a long, windowless hallway where the walls were papered in rich textured burgundy and candles burned in iron sconces, casting eerie shadows on the shimmering crimson walls. My room is in its own wing, she thought, at the end of the house. For a second she wondered why she had called the Red Room hers, but the thought escaped her when a flash of lightning and clap of thunder made her jump. The storm outside was getting more violent, and so was the pain in her head.
She took a deep breath and shut the door behind her. The hallway stretched long and endless before her. Now that she was in it she could see huge gilded frames on the walls. The paintings in them were more pastoral scenes, no likenesses of people. She wondered why the owners of the house didn't have any portraits of themselves, or at least of their ancestors. She had thought that that's what rich people with big houses did.
As she walked on, the paintings became stranger. Not because of what they portrayed, but because of the sheer number of them. The walls were covered with frames, covered with scenes of barns and waterfalls and farms and animals, all lit by the eerily wavering candlelight. Every painting struck a chord with her; every scene reminded her of something. It was as if all her memories had been painted and put out on the walls for all to see. Except there was no one to see them, and none of the memories were in her head. Oh, why did she have this wretched headache? She couldn't think!
She felt as if she'd been walking for over an hour when she came to a door on her left. It was the first door she had come across since her own door. (Why did she call it her door anyway?) She turned back, wondering if she'd still be able to see it. The door to the Red Room was no more than a yard behind her. She shook her head and blinked. How weird; she could've sworn that she'd been walking in the hall for hours! It was the headache again, messing with her brain.
She turned again to face this new door. It was like her own: heavy, paneled and white. The knob was different though, made of smooth glass, black as obsidian. She took it and turned it. The door swung open noisily. The owners should really take better care of their doors, she noted. The hinges need oil. She stuck her head into the room beyond.
The room was small and had only two windows, unlike the Red Room. The curtains were silk, with a pattern of black and white diamond shapes so striking that they made her dizzy. The walls had a pattern of red and black hearts painted onto them. The shapes faced up and down, sideways and backwards, spinning and swirling until she wasn't sure if the floor was the ceiling or vice versa. The black table and chairs in the center of the room were her only sources of orientation. She crept to the nearest chair and collapsed into it, burying her head in her hands while the colors and patterns spun and cavorted around her. Her head! Why did it have to hurt so much? Why couldn't she think?
She opened her eyes slowly, trying to ease herself into her overwhelming surroundings. I'll look at the table first, she decided. I'll study the table. Then I'll look at the windows and get used to the windows. Then I will study the walls, but not too much. I can't look at them too much. She let her eyes roam over the table, but not beyond its glossy black edges. The table was a long rectangle that extended from one side of the room to the other. There were matching chairs set at it, all empty. The table itself, however, was not. It was covered with millions of playing cards: Aces and Queens and Kings, Clubs and Hearts and Spades. The sight of them was dizzying, mimicking the motion of the walls and curtains, spinning her round and round and pushing her to and fro. She shut her eyes again. I hate this room! She screamed. Then she realized, for the first time, that for as long as she had been in the house she hadn't said a word. She hadn't even actually screamed. All her talking had been in her mind. That confused her, but it was a minor issue compared to the one at hand. She would think about talking after she got out of this horrible room.
She willed her eyes open and stared down at the floor, hoping to see the creamy white carpet that had been in the Red Room. But instead, the floor was hard and painted, painted with the shapes of red and white spades. Her heart lurched. She stood suddenly and dashed toward the door in panic. She tripped on something, she didn't know what, and fell onto her hands and knees. She moaned while the shapes danced and her head spun and the entire room seemed to be laughing at her, mocking her. She scrambled on all fours, her eyes fixed on the white door that was still open. She could see the hallway beyond, with all the ridiculous paintings plastered onto the wall. Her head felt as if it were split open. She wished she had stayed in the Red Room, in her room. She was almost to the door now. Why was her room red, anyhow? She didn't even like red. At least, she didn't think she did.
She finally collapsed onto the floorboards of the hallway, the patterns of the Room of Cards still dancing wildly behind her. With one last burst of effort she grasped the obsidian handle and pulled the door shut with a resounding slam that echoed throughout the endless hallway. She threw herself against the hallway wall and covered her face with her trembling hands.
When she finally calmed down the candles were burning low in the sconces and the shadows were growing darker. The air had grown colder, as if all heat had been sucked away. She reached for the obsidian doorknob and pulled herself up, slowly and stiffly. She wondered how long she had been sitting there. She felt as if she had fallen asleep.
The hallway stretched on, as far as her eye could see. She contemplated going back to the Red Room to rest. The headache was still there. It annoyed her. Why wouldn't it go away? I need to get out of this house, she thought. I don't care what's out there; I have to find a door and get out. She wondered again why she had thought these words instead of spoken them. I must not be able to talk, she decided. I don't really want to anyway.
She walked on, away from the Red Room and the horrible Room of Cards. She walked for a long time without coming upon another door. Her feet grew tired and her head began to throb with her tired pulse. Finally a door came into view. She ran to it eagerly. Perhaps this was the way out, or if not, perhaps there was someone who could show her the way! She grasped this door's handle. It was made of stamped brass. It was cold in her hand, just like the door to the Red Room had been. She threw a glance toward the end of the hallway where she had just come from. The Red Room and the Room of Cards were only a few yards away.
Her heart leapt to her throat and in fright she pushed open the new door. A new room greeted her, a huge one. Dark, glossy wooden floorboards were laid in a herringbone pattern that ran from her feet to the ends of the room, under a domed ceiling and crystal chandelier and past a great fireplace, until it met with burgundy walls. There was a roaring fire in the hearth, a fire that radiated warmth and light. This room was not like the Room of Cards. This room was friendly. Her head was feeling better; the throbbing was fainter now.
She walked toward the center of the room. It's a ballroom, she realized, and then she wondered what a ballroom was. There was something wrong, though. Ballrooms are supposed to be clear of furniture or obstacles to better make for dancing (Oh, that's what a ballroom is). But in the middle of this dance floor, right under the chandelier, was a huge, polished grand piano. She knew what it was called before she remembered what it did, which was ridiculous. I'm losing my mind, she thought. I've never seen something like this before. How should I know what it's called? She stroked the silky edge of the lid. Her fingers itched to touch the keys, and that frightened her. What would they do? They were black and white like the curtains in the Room of Cards. Would they spin and swirl and mock her too?
She found herself sitting down on the soft cushioned bench. It was the strangest feeling in the world, as if her hands knew something she did not. Her fingers ran over the keys tenderly, exerting no pressure at all. The keys were smooth and cool. Ivory, she remembered suddenly, they're made out of ivory.
Her left hand automatically positioned itself. Her fingers set themselves upon the keys. She wondered what her hand was doing just as her right hand began to do the same thing. It found its place on the keyboard and waited for her command. She pursed her lips and studied her anticipating hands. Why don't they move? She wondered. What are they waiting for? She exerted the tiniest bit of pressure, and suddenly her fingers began to move, pushing on the keys in an automated pattern like eerie clockwork. She was so surprised that for a moment she sat and stared as her hands kept on moving. Then slowly, she began to hear music. It wasn't just a cacophony of keys being pounded upon; it was real, sweet, beautiful music, and she was making it.
Her hands moved up and down the keyboard, trilling, harmonizing, singing. The sounds that came from the instrument were sounds she didn't know a piano could make (how could she? She had never seen one before). The piano became a waterfall, a flock of singing birds, a thunderstorm, a summer breeze. The music wanted to make her laugh and cry and dance. Her heart welled with a feeling she couldn't name.
Then her heart stopped. A new sound had joined the sound of the piano. It was high and sweet and strong. She jerked her head swiftly from side to side, looking for the noise's source in startled surprise. Her hands were still playing. What was that lovely noise? It complemented the piano perfectly. It was the mist to the waterfall, the plumage to the birds, the lighting to the thunderstorm, the perfume of the summer breeze. She held her breath; the sound stopped. She breathed in again, and it resumed. Then she realized that the sound was her own voice. She was singing. I can sing? It was beautiful. Where'd I learn to sing? It was the first time she had used her voice in this house. I need to get out of here. She must be dreaming. If only my head didn't hurt so much!
The singing stopped; the music stopped. She held her head. It was throbbing, and she was freezing. Her fingers were stiff and numb. No wonder they had stopped playing. She looked over to the hearth. The fire was reduced to a few glowing embers that were growing cold one by one. The heat was seeping out of this room, too, and the shadows were lengthening more and more. She was frightened. She couldn't waste any more time in this horrible house. She had to leave.
She raced down the corridor, away from the Red Room and the Room of Cards and the Ballroom. The air was getting colder and colder with each passing second. The candles in the sconces were burning out one by one. The hall behind her was drenched with darkness. Panic was beginning to overtake her, a fear she realized was unreasonable. But she ran faster, as if fear were something that could be outrun.
A white door came into view on her right. She ran past it. I won't waste my time on a nightmarish room. I need to find the front door. I need to get out of here. Another door was on her left. Does this house ever end? There were pictures all over the walls now, and they weren't even in frames anymore. The walls were plastered with paintings and sketchings from the floor to the ceiling. She ignored them; she hated the sight of them. It was as if the walls were screaming to her, "Look at us! Look at our paintings! Aren't we beautiful? Look at us!" They made her want to scream herself.
Finally, a staircase going down. She grabbed the banister and jumped down two steps at a time. The lights in the hall behind were all extinguished, and the ones in the windowless stairwell were quickly being snuffed out. It was as if a Shadow was chasing her through the mad corridors. Her only option was to keep running.
She got to the bottom of the staircase and found herself in a wide entry-like room. There was a huge red Persian rug in the center, and the rest of the room was taken up by clocks. Grandfather clocks, mantle clocks, cuckoo clocks and pocket watches all ticked together in perfect unison. It was enough to drive anyone mad. She clamped her hands over her ears. Her head throbbed with every resounding tick. The Shadow was on the staircase behind her, and the air was tinged with the scent of ice. Her eyes roved over the room, desperately searching for a window.
There was only a door. Tall, white, and with a steel handle. She shivered, but the Shadow was behind her. She had no choice. She dashed across the room and pushed the door open, throwing it shut behind her. She could feel the Shadow against the door; the door grew cold as It tried to get in. But she wouldn't let that Shadow get any further. She pushed the lock on the handle. The Shadow couldn't get in now. She was safe.
She turned to assess this new room. It was unlike any other in the house: it was completely white. The floor underfoot was made of shiny white tiles. The walls were painted white, with a feathery gray and white patterned border that ran around like a ribbon. The room had no windows but was brightly lit by harsh, sterile florescent light overhead. The place was empty except for a cluster of white curtains in the center. She took a step forward. The air was cold, but not icy. It was a coldness that was simply a sanitized emptiness. No warmth, not softness, no comfort. Just hard, sanitary emptiness.
The air smelled odd. She sniffed and tried to place the scent. It was so familiar! But what could it be? She stepped forward and touched the thin white curtain. I know that smell. It's the smell of something clean, no… she sniffed the curtain, it's the smell of something that was dirty, that someone is trying to make clean. Disinfectant. It's disinfectant. The curtain was drenched in that strong smell; in fact, the room was reeking with it now. Where is it coming from? Her head was hurting again. She pushed the curtains aside to reveal a white, cold, sterile bed. It was an odd bed, not at all like the sumptuous one in the Red Room (My room, I miss my room). This bed was metal, with weird white gates that rose up on either side, like a cage to keep someone out.
Or maybe to keep someone in, she leaned in closer. The bed was empty, neatly made with a thin white blanket and pillow. She cocked her head and circled around it, puzzled. She had never seen such an odd bed. Oh wait, yes I have. It's a hospital bed. She ran her finger over the plump pillow. What's a hospital, anyway? She touched the clean white side table that had a little pot of purple orchids on it. Orchids, I like orchids. Especially purple ones. It's nice to have color in a white place like this. I always said that if I were ever in the hospital they should get me purple orch –
She stopped and bent down. Her heart was pounding and her head had begun to hurt again. (Why won't this terrible headache go away?) The orchids. Purple orchids. She did like them, so much. They were her favorite flower. Purple was her favorite color. She hated red. (Why is my room red if I hate red?) And somebody knew she like purple orchids. Somebody had gotten them for her. This was a hospital bed; this was a hospital room. She was in it. She was in the hospital. And someone had gotten her purple orchids.
She gently stroked the delicate flower petals, and then she stopped in shock. When did that get there? She looked at her left hand. Where did that come from? She held her fingers up to her face. Was that there this whole time? It was a ring on her third finger. It was a silver band that circled around her finger in intricate curls and weaves that surrounded a single, tiny diamond. At least, that's what she thought the stone was called. It was white.
She had forgotten about the ring. She had forgotten she even owned it, that it was even on her finger. She wondered how she could have forgotten it. Looking at it made her happy, warm, content. She smiled and tasted salt on her lips. She reached up and touched her face. It was wet. She was crying.
What is this? What am I crying for? She didn't know she was capable of crying. She didn't know what crying was until she had done it. Why should I be so sad? She looked that the ring again, hoping it would bring up the joyful feelings again. But she only tasted more tears, and her shoulders began to shake. She cried harder and harder until she was sobbing, and she still didn't know why.
Her head had ached during her whole time in this awful house, but now it throbbed more and more with each sob. She had never hurt so much in her life, at least not that she could remember. The pain was excruciating. The pain made her angry. She wanted an explanation. Why did she have such a headache? Why was she crying? Where was she? She wanted to go home!
"Home," she moaned, not noticing the sound of her own voice. She collapsed onto the white bed. She needed a rest. She needed to sleep. Maybe if she slept her head would stop hurting. Maybe she'd understand what was going on. She'd rather go to her own room and rest, but it was so far away. And the Shadow was outside too; she'd have to outrun It and she was too tired to run. And anyway, her room was red. She hated red. She burrowed underneath the thin white blanket and snuggled against the plump white pillow. She shut her eyes. Sleep came upon her like a piece of granite.
She slept on for hours and hours, or at least it seemed so to her. It was the best sleep she had ever had, from what she could remember, which wasn't much. As time went on she heard voices, distant, echoing in her brain. She propped one eye open. All she saw was a blur of dark colors that looked like a watercolor gone wrong. She closed her eyes again. Her head still hurt. She slept again. More hours passed. She slept more.
It felt like days, weeks, or years later when she felt herself coming back into consciousness. She could hear the voices again, becoming clearer and clearer. She had been swimming in the deep waters of sleep and was slowly coming back to the surface. The one voice was very intelligible now; it was youthful and deep. A man's voice, she decided, though she didn't know what a man was. Oh wait, yes she did.
"It's been three weeks now," the man said anxiously. Her heart skipped a beat. That voice! She knew that voice!
"There's still hope," answered another voice, a woman's voice, but I don't know it. "It happens all the time. They're under for weeks or even months and then they come back."
"What if she doesn't come back?" asked the man. Oh! I know him! I know I do! "It's been so long already." Ugh, who is he? Why can't I remember? "Three weeks. For three weeks the clock has ticked and the hours have passed and she hasn't shown any sign of coming back." Who is he? If this wretched headache would only leave me alone!
"She will," reassured the woman's voice. "I promise, she will."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," he retorted dejectedly. He's crying now. Why is he crying? I don't want him to cry!
"Listen to me," the woman's voice grew firm. "She'll come through it. The doctor specializes in cases like this. And he's very hopeful. She'll come through. Just stay positive. Be strong, be strong for her."
"I'm sorry I snapped at you like that." The man sniffed and cleared his throat. "It's just hard to put a brave face on something like this."
"I understand; believe me I do."
"I just can't believe it," his voice was shaking. "We were on our way to New York, you know, visiting the museums and concert halls. She wanted to see The Met. She loves art, you know. Her favorite art is nature stuff, like Monet. She can draw pretty well herself, too. She's done all these paintings, mostly woods or animals or flowers. Never people. She says she can't do them well enough. She takes awesome pictures, though. I've always told her she should be a professional at it."
There was a squeak of chairs as the woman sat down.
The man went on. "She wanted to see a Broadway play, in New York. She loves music. She's an amazing musician. Her piano playing could put any of those concert guys to shame. This one time, she was playing at a wedding. Her cousin's, I think. There was supposed to be a singer, too; they had rehearsed together the night before. But at last minute the singer got sick. I don't remember how. But she… she sang in that singer's place; she sang and played. It was beautiful. She was so beautiful." He began to cry again. No, no, please don't cry! It hurts me when you cry! Stop!
"But anyway." He composed himself. "That was gonna be our big trip, New York. Our summer vacation. Last summer we went to visit my brother in Florida. He's got a house on the beach. We stayed there for a week on the beach; it was great. We stayed up all night playing cards until we were so tired we laughed ourselves silly. She hated that, though. The cards. She could never understand Poker or anything. She always lost, never even had beginner's luck. She claimed that the cards were mocking her." He took a deep, shaky breath. "Maybe they were. Maybe they were unlucky cards."
"Now now, don't say that," said the woman. "There's no such thing. She'll come through, just wait and see. And next year you can take another vacation, another wonderful vacation."
His voice quivered. "Maybe, I don't know. I can't go through that again! I can't do that again!"
"What do you mean?"
"The car! The car was all torn and twisted and crushed! And she was inside it! Why couldn't it have been my side? Why couldn't she have been driving, instead of me? My side was fine! I had a few scratches and bruises, but otherwise I was fine! It was just that idiot on her side; I'd wring his neck if he were still alive. I'm almost glad he's not."
The woman was silent.
"But it was horrible!" His voice trembled sadly, angrily. "The car all twisted, she all bloody, all… all hurt." His voice reduced to a whisper. "Her head was hurt, really bad. Covered in blood. I'll never look at the color red the same way again."
I don't like red either! But my room is red, and I hate it! I hate it!
"I don't know what to do," he admitted, sounding lost. "What if she doesn't wake up?"
"She will," the woman said, her voice shaking. "She will."
He began to answer, but stopped, choking on his words. Please don't be sad! Please don't cry! I love you! Please don't cry!
Her head was hurting again, pressing, pounding, burning. She felt herself drifting back into sleep. No, please no! I need to talk to that man! I know that man! I love that man! She was being pulled under, into the deep again, into the dark water. She thrashed and struggled and squirmed. Her head pounded with the rhythm of her heartbeats. Please don't send me back into that house! I don't want to go back! It's so quiet! I'm so alone! Please!
Her eyes fluttered open, and for a moment all she saw was a blur of dark colors that looked like a watercolor gone wrong. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. There was such an ache in her head, such an awful ache that wouldn't go away. She opened her eyes again and tried to make sense of her surroundings. The room was dark, and rain beat against the curtained windows with the sound of hundred heartbeats. Her head pounded. What an ache! What an awful ache that wouldn't go away!


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Abigail Adams to Mary Smith Cranch, 28 April 1798
Abigail Adams to Mary Smith Cranch
Philadelphia 28 April 1798
my dear sister
I have just received yours of the 23 April and I sit down to answer your inquiries respecting the building I wrote to dr Tufts my Ideas upon it.1 I should think the East Chambers the best for a Library and I do not see any inconvenience from having the stairs to it without doors like going into a store as mr Tufts store is built.2 I pray neither the dr or mr Black when he comes will say any thing about the Building. I mean to have it all done Snug, and the Library removed if I can before I come, and I pray the dr to inform me of the cost which I design to Secure monthly from my expences here—3 I know the President will be glad when it is done, but he can never bear to trouble himself about any thing of the kind, and he has no taste for it, and he has too many publick cares to think of his own affairs
you mention Betsys Shaws illness. I did not know She had been sick, except the beginning of the winter. I am allarmd for her
The caps are at the bottom of the Box sent to cousin Betsy. I see by the papers that the vessel is arrived. if she is not at home you may open the Box I never received the Letter in which the Dr Mentions having inclosed the plan. tell the dr if four or 5 Hunderd dollors will meet the object, I will remit the remainder to him as he shall have occasion.—
The Child is very well let mrs Black know—
the weather yesterday was very Hot and is like to be so to day. I had a very full drawing Room last evening— I must close them in May. I cannot have them in Hot weather. I went yesterday to return Some visits, and where ever I past, I received a marked notice of Bows & the Friends in the street in their Way noticed me. I thought nothing of it, untill my attention was caught by a Bunch of Tradesmen they lookt like, who at the corners of the street saluted me as I past with their Hats— in short we are now wonderfully popular except with Bache & co who in his paper calls the President old querilous Bald blind cripled Toothless Adams4 thus in scripture was the Prophet mocked, and tho no Bears may devour the wretch, the wrath of an insulted people will by & by break upon him—5
I have not time to add more than my Love and Regards to all Friends / from your / affectionate sister
A Adams
RC (MWA:Abigail Adams Letters); addressed: "Mrs Mary Cranch / Quincy."
1. AA's letter to Cotton Tufts has not been found.
2. Cotton Tufts Jr., for whom see vol. 1:15 and CFA, Diary description begins Diary of Charles Francis Adams, ed. Aïda DiPace Donald, David Donald, Marc Friedlaender, L. H. Butterfield, and others, Cambridge, 1964–. description ends , 5:82, ran a store in Weymouth (Bond, Watertown Genealogies description begins Henry Bond, Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Boston, 1855; 2 vols. in 1. description ends , 2:725).
3. In his letter to AA of 12 May Cotton Tufts estimated the cost of construction at Peacefield to be between $600 and $700, of which he needed $200 to $300 before July. In a letter of 28 May he revised the estimate to closer to $700, excluding the cost of painting, and he repeated his immediate need for cash to meet expenses (both Adams Papers).
4. The Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 27 April, printed a letter warning Americans against alienating "the only nation upon earth, from whose amity she can expect permanent advantage." It claimed that because the United States "is destined to occupy a superior station" it would be "ludicrous to suppose" that JA, with his "cankered murmurs" and traits quoted by AA, along with the "venal machinations of the Executive tide-waiters, cake-catchers, meat-mongers, bubble-gulpers—the Harpers, Otis's and Sewalls, can have any other effect, than to afford additional and experimental proof of the folly of trusting such men with power."
5. "And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them" (2 Kings, 2:23–24).


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LOS ANGELES — The 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles came after the shortest awards season in decades. Going without a host for the second straight year, Sam Mendes' World War I tale "1917" had been the favorite to win best picture at the awards show, but South Korea's entry "Parasite" pulled off the upset of the night, winning the best picture Oscar and becoming the first foreign-language film to take home the biggest honor in film.
Bong Joon Ho's class satire has been one of the season's darlings, despite failing to garner any Academy Award nominations for its cast.
On the Oscars red carpet, the unwelcome guests of chilly air and hard rain arrived along with nominees who got there early.
The downpour didn't dampen the red carpet looks of celebrities like Billy Porter and George MacKay of "1917," but crews did have to scramble to make sure water didn't get onto the carpet.
Here is the full list of nominees and winners from the 92nd annual Academy Awards.
RELATED: 'Parasite' makes history as first international film to win best picture Oscar
Best Picture
"Ford vs. Ferrari"
"The Irishman"
"Jojo Rabbit"
"Little Women"
"Marriage Story"
"Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood"
"Parasite" -- winner
Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo, "Harriet"
Scarlett Johansson, "Marriage Story"
Saoirse Ronan, "Little Women"
Charlize Theron, "Bombshell"
Renee Zellweger, "Judy" -- winner
Actor in a Leading Role
Antonio Banderas, "Pain and Glory"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "One Upon a Time...In Hollywood"
Adam Driver, "Marriage Story"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker" -- winner
Jonathan Pryce, "The Two Popes"
RELATED: How to watch the 2020 Oscars on TV and online
RELATED: Oscars 2020 predictions: Which nominees are most, least likely to win
RELATED: Oscars 2020: Where to watch this year's nominees
"The Irishman" - Martin Scorcese
"Joker" - Todd Phillips
"1917" - Sam Mendes
"Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood" - Quenten Tarantino
"Parasite" - Bong Joon Ho -- winner
Actor in a Supporting Role
Tom Hanks, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"
Anthony Hopkins, "The Two Popes"
Al Pacino, "The Irishman"
Joe Pesci, "The Irishman"
Brad Pitt, "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood" -- winner
Actress in a Supporting Role
Kathy Bates, "Richard Jewell"
Laura Dern, "Marriage Story" -- winner
Scarlett Johansson, "Jojo Rabbit"
Florence Pugh, "Little Women"
Margot Robbie, "Bombshell"
Adapted Screenplay
"The Irishman" - Steven Zaillian
"Jojo Rabbit" - Taika Waititi -- winner
"Joker" - Todd Phillips and Scott Silver
"Little Women" - Greta Gerwig
"The Two Popes" - Anthony McCarten
Original Screenplay
"Knives Out" - Rian Johnson
"Marriage Story" - Noah Baumbach
"1917" - Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
"Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood" - Quentin Tarantino
"Parasite" - Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won, story by Bong Joon Ho -- winner
"The Irishman"
"The Lighthouse"
"1917" -- winner
"Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood"
Production Design
"The Irishman"
"Jojo Rabbit"
"Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood" -- winner
Costume Design
"The Irishman"
"Jojo Rabbit"
"Little Women" -- winner
"Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood"
Film Editing
"Ford vs. Ferarri" -- winner
"The Irishman"
"Jojo Rabbit"
International Feature Film
"Corpus Christi" - Poland
"Honeyland" - North Macedonia
"Les Miserables" - France
"Pain and Glory" - Spain
"Parasite" - South Korea -- winner
Documentary Feature
"American Factory" -- winner
"The Cave"
"The Edge of Democracy"
"For Sama"
Documentary Short Subject
"In the Absence"
"Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)" -- winner
"Life Overtakes Me"
"St. Louis Superman"
Animated Feature Film
"How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World"
"I Lost my Body"
"Missing Link"
"Toy Story 4" -- winner
Animated Short Film
"Dcera (Daughter"
"Hair Love" -- winner
Live Action Short Film
"Nefta Football Club"
"The Neighbor's Window" -- winner
"A Sister"
Original Score
"Joker" -- winner
"Little Women"
"Marriage Story"
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"
Original Song
"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" - "Toy Story 4"
"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" - Rocketman -- winner
"I'm Standing With You" - Breakthrough
"Into the Unkown" - "Frozen 2"
"Stand Up" - "Harriet"
Visual Effects
"Avengers: Endgame"
"The Irishman"
"The Lion King"
"1917" -- winner
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"
Makeup and Hairstyling
"Bombshell" -- winner
"Maleficent: Mistress of Evil"
Sound Editing
"Ford vs. Ferarri" -- winner
"Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood"
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker"
Sound Mixing
"Ad Astra"
"Ford vs. Ferrari"
"1917" -- winner
"Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood"
RELATED: The Oscars went hostless without a hitch last year. It wasn't always that successful
RELATED: Most memorable red carpet looks from the past year


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Manuel Deboxer Archive
Manuel Deboxer Getting Fucked By Two Big Anonymous Black Cocks
If you love big uncut cocks and big black cock, you are going to love this new video from Maskurbate. Manuel Deboxer, the sexy Latino with a huge uncut cock is the center of attention in this interracial anonymous fucking video. Today is Manuel's real life birthday and he thinks his friends are coming by
Straight Muscle Guy Takes His First Ever Cock Up The Ass
This new scene from Maskurbate is hot for so many reasons. First, it features two hung muscle guys that are absolutely beautiful, straight guy Elio and gay porn star Manuel Deboxer. Second, it is the first ever flip fucking scene to appear on Maskurbate. Elio and Manuel start off with some horseplay, trying to put


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|Click here to embiggen
Compound Interest explains the chemicals that give leaves their color both when they are green and when they change color in autumn. Further explanations are available in their post.
Leaves are green because of chlorophyll, yellow because of a combination of carotenoids and flavonoids, red because of carotenoids combined with anthocyanins, and orange when only carotenoids are present.


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"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted here, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
Shadows of a Down East Summer: An Antique Print Mystery
By Lea Wait
Publication date: April 1, 2011
In the summer of 1890, two young women posed for artist Winslow Homer on the coast of Maine. What happened that summer, the secrets the women kept, and the lies they told, changed their families forever. Now, more than a hundred years later, one of their descendants has been murdered, leaving to antique print dealer Maggie Summer the family papers that may finally reveal the truth. Maggie's vision of a relaxing vacation in Maine- antiquing with beau Will Brewer and visiting his Aunt Nettie- turns into a murder investigation. Maggie must discover which of the family myths are based on reality, before someone she cares about becomes the next victim. With the centennial of Homer's death in 2010, there is renewed interest in his work and in the renovation of his studio in Prouts Neck, Maine, where some of the novel's action takes place.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Waiting On Wednesday
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* FREE DELIVERY ON ALL LOCAL ORDERS * Automatically Applied At Checkout * For more details visit our Coronavirus Information page *
Salisbury Oak
Regular price
If you want a dining table set that demands attention and stands proudly as the focal point of the dining room, the Salisbury Oak Dining Table with 6 Trent Dining Chairs fits the bill perfectly.
The quality oak that you can expect from all pieces in the Salisbury Oak dining range ensures that this is a dining table that has clear visual impact. The rustic oak appearance is enhanced with contoured edges and dovetail joints, meaning that this oak dining table looks great and feels great too with a dependable sturdiness that you need from a dining table. The piece will last for years and stand the test of time with its hard-wearing lacquer finish.
An obvious advantage of this oak dining table is the fact that it is an extending table. The butterfly style leaf, which is positioned in the middle of table stores neatly and unobtrusively under the table top when not in use. For large family gatherings and special occasions, or just when you want a bit of extra table space, the table can be extended to ensure there is enough room for everyone.
Paired with 6 of our contemporary velvet Trent Dining Chairs, designed for comfort and style. These luxuriously soft velvet fabric and rubber wood legs chairs with plush cushioned seat pad and ornate scroll high back dd an understated elegance to any dining room.
Dining Table: (H) 80 cm x (W) 85 cm x (L) 120-165 cm
Trent Dining Chair: (H) 108 cm x (W) 46 cm x (D) 62 cm


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When I first started blogging, I was a bit isolated. I wrote posts every so often, and I got some views and comments but not much. I started commenting on other people's blogs and built some confidence and great relationships with people.
**There are TONS of great bloggers, but if I listed everyone this post would be endless.
And I'm @yaperfectionist, so if you ever have any questions or just want to chat, feel free to tweet me!
She loves reading for the escape it gives from reality and enjoys crying over books, swooning over characters, and laughing out loud over funny lines. She is a semi-recovering Netflix addict and a middle child of three.
You can find her on Twitter @yaperfectionist & Goodreads.


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Another Good Reason To Quit Smoking
Taxes will rise again each year to 2020.
Spring has sprung a 13 per cent price hike on smokers.
From September 1 the tax on cigarettes will bring the cost to 70 cents per stick.
The cost of loose leaf tobacco will also spike by 17 per cent in a move that will raise $360 million over four years.
It follows new laws passed by parliament in August to ensure loose leaf tobacco is taxed the same as cigarettes.
Taxes on tobacco will rise by a further 13 per cent in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm slammed the increase, arguing the taxes paid by smokers was at least 17 times the cost smokers imposed on the health system.
"A 30 pack of Winfield Blues currently retailing for $32.50 will rise to $35.20," Senator Leyonhjelm said.
"That's a $2.70 price hike that will make poor, addicted smokers worse off."
AAP/Triple M


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With Ireland's match against England fast approaching this Sunday we have teamed up with Dtwo Bar, Garden and Club on Harcourt Street to give our community the chance to win an unreal prize. During the Six Nations coverage they've got stadium style seating with decorations all over the venue, special prizes on the day for Best Supporter as well as a face painter popping around the venue to ensure you are sporting your country's colours.
With the launch of their brand new BBQ Area in the Beer Garden there's no fear of needing to leave halfway through the match to satisfy your hunger after a few pints. You can choose from a variety a mouth-watering dishes, from tasty burgers to the more extravagant pig on a spit. There's always a good bit of banter whilst watching the match in Dtwo, and this promises to be the perfect place to watch the match on Sunday!
So the great news is that we've got a tasty little prize for one lucky member of our community.... You can win a BBQ for you and 5 mates, plus a complimentary bucket of beers to watch the game in style with at Dtwo! All six of you will also receive Dtwo goldcards which will give you entry for yourself and two guests into Dtwo whenever you want (excluding special events). So want to be in with a chance of winning this slick prize?
How to Enter:
Answer the following question in the comment section below:
Ireland are playing A) France B) Wales C) England this Sunday?
Entries close at midnight Friday 27th of February 2015 and the winners will be announced on Saturday 28th of February. For more info head over to Dtwo's website and check them out on Facebook and Twitter.
Best of luck!


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Brazilian prosecutors allege Samsung is violating labour laws by forcing employees at its Amazonian plant to work 15-hour shifts.
A worker in Samsung's factory in Zona Franca de Manaus, which sits on the banks of the Amazon, is given just six seconds to prepare a box containing a mobile phone battery charger, headset and two instruction manuals. This task is expected to be carried out up to 6,800 times in single shift.
This is the situation in the factory according to Brazilian prosecutors who have instigated legal action against Samsung for allegedly violating labour laws in the country. The South Korean giant employs 5,600 workers at its Manaus plant suppling products including TV, smartphones and air conditioning to countries in Latin America.
The legal action follows an inspection of the plant in May 2011 along with 1,200 formal complaints by workers and over 2,000 requests for temporary removal from the factory floor (of up to 15 days) on health grounds.
The speed at which employees are expected to work seems to be the main issue at the factory. According to a report in Brazilian newspaper Tribuna Hoje the investigators found that a Samsung TV is placed in its cardboard box every 4.8 seconds while an entire smartphone has to be assembled in just 85 seconds.
However this is not the only issue. Investigators from the Regional Ministry of Labour are alleged to have found workers carrying out 10-hour shifts entirely on their feet, while others carried out 15-hours shifts in total. One worker was discovered to have worked 27 days straight without a break.
Samsung, in a statement, said it was conducting "a thorough review of the complaint," and promised "to fully cooperate with the Brazilian authorities."
It added: "We take great care to provide a workplace environment that assures the highest industry standards of health, safety, and welfare for our employees across the world."
The prosecutors' office is claiming more than 250m reais ($108m; £70m) in damages from the company for serious violations of labour legislation.
Prosecutor Ilan Fonseca told the Tribuna Hoje newspaper that the factory had been subject to very high incidents of illness with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among the most prevalent problems. Prosecutors estimate that if working conditions don't improve, in the next five years 20% of all employees will develop a MSD.
Samsung has previously come under fire for labour violations in China last November when it admitted excessive overtime and fines for employees at one of its suppliers - with the New York-based China Labour Watch saying employees at one of Samsung's suppliers worked 16-hour days with one day off a month.


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Time: 1:00PM – 5:00PM
Location: Lunch Rock upstream
Fish Landed: 9
Arkansas River 07/17/2011 Photo Album
On the way to camping at Alvarado Campground near Westcliffe with Jane I stopped at Royal Gorge Anglers to chat with Taylor Edrington. I asked him where I could fish, and he told me that flows at Grape Creek were 6 cfs, extremely low, and areas were closed due to forest fires. He informed me that the area south of the Arkansas River was actually in a state of drought and was vastly different from northern Colorado which is floating on snow melt. His suggestion was to try edge fishing the Arkansas below Salida. Per Taylor, "don't even wear your waders and cast within six inches of the bank."
Salida was too far to drive from the Alvarado Campground, so I spent Friday setting up camp, mountain biking and hiking the area. On Saturday Jane arrived and we did another mountain bike ride and then a two hour hike and cooked dinner and enjoyed the beauty of the area. On Sunday after packing up camp, we strolled around Westcliffe and explored the shops and had a tasty lunch on the patio at one of the restaurants. After lunch Jane headed back to Denver and I headed to the Salida area to try edge fishing as recommended by Taylor.
I parked at lunch rock just above the Wellsville bridge. It was extremely hot, probably in the mid-90's so I initially took Taylor's advice and just wore my shorts and my front pack. I assembled my Sage 4 weight and bounced down the rocks and tied on a yellow Charlie Boy hopper. I worked up the stream for a bit but didn't have any luck with the Charlie Boy so I switched to the old standby, yellow Letort hopper. I was just hopping from rock to rock and popping the hopper within three feet of the bank, and in short order I picked up two brown trout and photographed them. After landing the first two I failed to hook one, and then I broke off the hopper on a hook set.
The hopper was producing reasonably well, but I decided to try a Chernobyl ant for more buoyancy as my next fly. This produced a third brown, and then from a position six feet above the water on some rocks I hooked and landed a nice rainbow on the Chernobyl. I had to hoist the fish up to my level and then toss it back down.
Next I reached an area where the water fanned out and was fairly slow and shallow, but there were a bunch of willows along the edge. Normally I could have walked out on a rocky gravel bar, but I couldn't get in good position without my waders so I skipped this area. But the going was getting rough because the vegetation was tight to rapid current, and I found myself scrambling up and down the bank to get around these tough access spots. I decided to go back to the car and put on my waders. I moved the car a bit upstream to where I ended my fishing and put on my waders in the 90 degree heat and returned to the river.
Next some black clouds rolled in, and I heard some thunder so once again I returned to the car and dug out my raincoat and wrapped it around my waist under the waders. Finally I returned to the river ready to fish and started getting into a rhythm. I wasn't catching fish in every likely sheltered lie along the bank, but frequently enough to keep me enthusiastic and moving along.
At another point I spotted a very nice brown that appeared to be in excess of 15 inches within a foot of a large rock sticking above the surface. I was careful in my approach, but he didn't respond to the Chernobyl ant. I added a copper john dropper in hopes the big guy might grab something subsurface, but that didn't work and the brown disappeared.
I left the copper john on as a dropper and kept working up along the bank picking up nice browns along the way. My last fish was a beautiful rainbow that grabbed the copper john. The rainbow charged out into the fast water, and I had to work him up and allow him to run several times before landing. After releasing the rainbow I looked at my watch and it was approaching 5PM, and I still had a 3 hour drive ahead of me and unpacking all the camping gear, so I quit for the day.


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Thursday, October 31, 2013
Butterflight Baby Card
Stamps: House Mouse, Cloud9 Designs
Paper: Gina K Designs, DCWV
Ink: Memento Black, Archival Watering Can
Misc.: Copic Makers, Wink of Stella Clear, Ribbon
I used Wink of Stella to put a touch of glitter/shine in the little flowers. What you can't see from the card is the sentiment I used on the inside of the card. I love Cloud9 Designs sentiments. I wanted a religious sentiment for Christine, and one that went with this fun image. The one they have went PERFECTLY with it: "With every little baby's birth God sends His love and joy to earth."
I guess you are wondering what is up with all the "mouse" cards this week, and I can honestly say it just happened that I reached for these cute guys this week. I love them all!
I am entering this card in the following challenge:
Until next time!
6 comments:
- MiamiKel said...
Absolutely adorable! What a sweet card, love these little guys - just wish I could color them decent! :) Yours is fabulous!
Happy Halloween!!
- Thursday, October 31, 2013 at 3:51:00 PM EDT
- Lorraine A said...
Gorgeous card Winnie :-) the image is adorable and I love the colours and CAS design, I am sure the happy parents will love this :-)
thanks for joining us on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Lols x x x
- Sunday, November 3, 2013 at 11:56:00 AM EST
- Jo Nevill said...
Great card, I love the image you used.
Thank you for joining us at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge this week
Jo x
- Sunday, November 3, 2013 at 12:44:00 PM EST
- Melissa Bove said...
Beautiful card! Such a sweet and lovely image!
Thank you very much for joining us this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!
- Sunday, November 3, 2013 at 2:55:00 PM EST
- Geri Neumann said...
Love this House Mouse image. Wish I had it. I like the blue organza ribbon you used, it's perfect on this card. Hugs, Geri
- Monday, November 4, 2013 at 1:21:00 PM EST
- Tania said...
What a sweet baby card. Great colouring.
- Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 1:33:00 AM EST


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Mid- Summer
July 30, 2014 1 Comment
Summer outfit inspirations!
Picks: TAHU, indulgy, pinterest, SJ
beach life, style, travel
July 30, 2014 1 Comment
Summer outfit inspirations!
Picks: TAHU, indulgy, pinterest, SJ
July 23, 2014 2 Comments
Hi guys,
Location : FAT VILLAGE, FT.LAUDERDALE
Art has always been a big part of my life, so when I went to the Fat Village Art District located in Fort Lauderdale, I knew right away that their colorful grafitti walls would be perfect backdrop for my photos.
Fat Village Arts District is the only urban arts district in Fort Lauderdale, and one of the largest in Florida. The village is populated with open artist's studios, galleries and a live theatre. Together, the businesses host one of a kind events that include painting, photography, sculpture and many other
Outfit pictures by Victoria Logis,
Art photos by me
July 20, 2014 1 Comment
Happy Sunday! 🙂
Hope you guys are having a good weekend so far and that you're spending it on the beach!
For me -it was always all about the ocean and about the beach; Since I can remember I always wanted to live by the ocean and be able to look at it everyday. It was always all about the view, how gorgeous it was, how it made me feel and also about all the activities one could do at the beach. Therefore I was inspired to write this post after visiting few ocean view apartments within last few days.
There's nothing better than waking up and looking at the shimmering horizon.
Sometimes you're lucky enough to live by the water and enjoy the view everyday.
If not- there's always a nautical decor that you can count on. You can incorporate it into your home and make it feel like you're by the water.
I'm attaching few inspirational photos that may I hope you like.
photo source; tumblr, pinterest, elle decor,
July 10, 2014 Leave a comment
July 7, 2014 1 Comment
First of all thank you guys for reading the blog, the stats were booming yesterday- much appreciated! 🙂
Striped tee (or shorts) are always a go- to staple. This pattern is perfect to mix and match (you'll see the way I style it in the upcoming post). I love pairing different prints and colors all together. Especially now that Summer is in full swing, stripes are perfect to wear on the beach, boat or out to dinner.
You can also use stripes inside your home.You can jazz up your interior design with a relatively safe print, using striped patterns. Stripes can hide flaws in your interior, but they can also change the feeling of the space. Vertical stripes can make the walls look taller while horizontal stripes make the space look bigger. Make sure you know how you want to change your space before you paint it or put up a wallpaper
Happy Monday!!
Photo source; T.A.H.U, indulgy, pinterest, SJ,tumblr
July 7, 2014 Leave a comment
Shirt; J.crew
Shorts: Levi's
Sandals; Ralph Lauren
Bag; Clare Vivier
Shades; Ray Ban


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I received an email yesterday from the instructor of my Coursera Fundamentals of Personal Fiance MOOC course that began with the sentence:
There will be a final exam in this class, as stated in the syllabus.
Puzzled, I stared blankly back at the screen. Maybe I didn't read the syllabus closely enough, but for the life of me I couldn't completely remember a final exam. The last time I took an exam for anything I was in college and the last time I was in college was, well, a million years ago. I started to wonder what this "final exam" would be like. I've taught a few online courses throughout my teaching career, but Coursera claims to be in a league all of its own. What would their final exam look like, how would it be administered, and most importantly, how would the instructor grade thousands of student entries?
Even in traditional classrooms, more and more students are submitting their work through email or educational portals hosted by the school. I don't accept hard copies anymore just like I certainly don't accept hand written assignments. I give my students a due date and they know the rest. The tricky part is getting meaningful feedback back to them in an efficient manner. It would be silly to print everything out and mark their papers with a red pen, but its always a hassle to save their work to my hard drive and fuss with track changes or editing software. Multiple choice is one thing, but what about written responses? Its gotten to the point where I simply type out a paragraph at the end of the paper expressing my notes, praises, and/or corrections and then put a grade. But is that enough?
First, start with these 6 Examples of Teachers Using the THREE RING Portfolio System for Authentic Assessment and then below are some ideas of tried-tested products that may aid in online course assessments and evaluation:
1. Dragon Naturally Speaking takes voice and moves it into text making it easy for instructors to speak their corrections rather than type them all out. When you have over thirty, 30 page papers to grade, you don't want to spend all week at your computer. I don't know about you, but I'm definitely loosing my eye sight.
2. I'm also someone who would rather write out my corrections by hand, as opposed to type them on screen. I find this quicker and more authentic. "Inking" or "Digital Inking" is a way to literally write out what you want to say on a tablet and then that written message can be sent to anyone. Your handwriting stays intact. Digital inking is also great for drawing pictures or diagrams. You can use the technology in programs like Photoshop.
3. Another great thing that teachers can use in their classrooms and for evaluations is screen capture or screeningcasting. I found this great WP blog that has a video about how one teacher used screencasting in his classroom. If you're too lazy to click on the link, the video is embedded below:
Jing is another product that allows users to take screenshots, capturing an image of what they see on their computer screen, and also record screencasts. Screencasts are recorded video of up to 5 minutes of onscreen footage. On the website, Jing claims that this service is great for education: "Give your students the information they need, when they need it. Use Jing to record your feedback as you grade papers, or take a snapshot to share with your class. Your students can even use it to collaborate, or ask questions!" Sounds good to me.
4. Google Docs is nothing new, but for those who have been using Google applications and products for a while, you may have noticed its become much more user friendly over the years. Google Docs is a free software product through your Google email that allows you to store 2 GB of documents online. Google Drive is a great and easy way to share documents with other people. They can edit, view, or both. This service is great for teachers because each student can send in their document, you the teacher can make edits online and then share it with that student. No need to print, no need to save documents to a hard drive. You can ever make folders to keep every class organized.
I hope you read this entry closely because I've emailed you the final exam. I expect it back to me by Friday. Good Luck!
– Dr. Drew


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We'll be at Le Pain Quotidien in Washington, D.C. from 10 am – 12 pm!
Have you ever wanted to sit down and have coffee with other like-minded women business owners who are serious about their business? Are you ready to connect with women who are interested in growing relationships and not just increasing sales? Or have you ever wanted to talk with women who just *get* the ups and downs of owning a business?
We founded our monthly coffee and networking series for women business owners over seven years ago. The series is designed to be an intimate conversation with like-minded women who want to build professional relationships in person.
We invite a different Her Corner member and business owner to co-host each event with us and to moderate a discussion about business ownership.
Come see why Her Corner has become the go-to resource for women growing their businesses.
COST: $10/person
What one member recently said about our monthly coffee + networking meeting:
"What sets Her Corner apart from other women's organizations is that it attracts women who are serious about building their (real) businesses. Her Corner members are here for business advice and support around issues such as how to scale, production challenges, and marketing for growth.
We'll be at Le Pain Quotidien in Washington D.C. from 10am – 12pm!
4874 Massachusetts Avenue NW,
Washington, D.C. 20016


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The images on Christine C. Quinn's television a few years ago would seem to have been a worst nightmare for everyone — including her — involved in a highly anticipated new attraction for tourists and locals.
The cameras were filming up on the elevated train line in Chelsea, which was soon to be called a "park in the sky," and showed the sprawled body of a woman, murdered and dumped there.
Ms. Quinn, the City Council speaker, recalled the scene this week, not with a shudder, but with a broad grin.
" 'Law & Order: S.V.U.,' " she said. "My favorite!" On Tuesday, She stood somewhere in the vicinity of the spot on what is now the High Line, at the ribbon-cutting of its new extension. "The body was up here," she said with pride. That is when she knew: "We had made it."
The High Line park turned two years old this month, commemorating the occasion by doubling its length to about a mile, from Gansevoort Street to West 30th Street. Among the many facts and figures people keep track of in this much-studied park, essentially found space on a crowded island, are statistics that tell whether crime has found it, too, and the numbers are in.
Or more accurately, the number is in: zero. The police, the city's Department of Parks and Recreation and the founders of the High Line all say there have been no reports of a major crime — assault, larceny, robbery, worse — since its opening.
"Are you disappointed?" Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly asked on Tuesday.
Certainly curious. Not a single stick-up? No fights? How many other mile-long sections of New York City are this safe? The questions come not long after someone opened fire Thursday on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk after what some witnesses described as a perceived dirty look toward gang members. Apples and oranges, yes — Crips have shown little interest in the High Line, and the drinking that is said to have fueled the Boardwalk shooting is forbidden there. But the tale of two walkways suggests that what the newer one is doing to curb crime is a combination of passive and active, design and deterrence.
It is strenuously policed. Parks Enforcement Patrol officers walk the High Line all day. They have written, as of Wednesday, 362 summonses for quality-of-life infractions, roughly one every other day. A vast majority were for drinking. Others were for dogs and bicycles, also forbidden. Officers and employees in the park, who are not permitted to be quoted by name, said the total could be quite higher. Most people get off with a warning.
By comparison, officers in Central Park wrote 3,275 summonses in the past two years, nine times as many written in the High Line, but Central Park saw 19 times as many visitors last year. The police have taken two complaints at the High Line, a spokeswoman said: one in March for graffiti on a staircase and one, just Wednesday, from a man who said he had lost his wallet but did not think it had been stolen.
Other features of the High Line keep crime out with obstacles as obvious as a padlock and as subtle as the psychological effect of a nearby window. Most of all, there is the design itself, essentially a chute with a handful of entries, all closely watched.
"You see the cameras up there," Mr. Kelly said, pointing. "This is a much more controllable space. You know who's going in and who's coming out."
A thief would have to plan carefully for a getaway, using one of the staircases or elevators. "It's not like you can jump off," Ms. Quinn said. "Well, you can, but it's not going to end well."
Those access points are locked up at 11 p.m. in the summer, perhaps the greatest preventer of crime. Other city parks are "closed" at night, but that does not stop people from entering. At the High Line, trespassing, while not unheard of, is rare, usually somebody dropping in from an adjacent building.
And those buildings are extremely adjacent. The park's designers turned to the late, great Jane Jacobs for guidance on keeping out crime, adopting her "eyes on the streets" theory, in which windows facing the street bring a feeling of security. Several buildings, including new ones like 245 Tenth Avenue, which partially leans toward the park, seem close enough to high-five someone inside.
"Empty parks are dangerous," said Joshua David, one of the founders of Friends of the High Line. "Busy parks are much less so. You're virtually never alone on the High Line."
Police officers patrol the High Line sporadically. Most of it falls in the 10th Precinct. An officer from that command strode north on the High Line Thursday afternoon. He said he was heading toward the new Section 2, which he wanted to check out in case of an emergency someday.
And, he added, "it's a nice walk."


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Services to Local Authorities
Fostering for You provides the following placements for children placed by local authorities.
- Long Term placements
- Short term or 'bridging' placements
- Respite placements
- Emergency placements
- Parent and Child placements
- Special needs placements as follows:
a. Remand placements
b. Special behavioural needs placements
c. Placements for children with disabilities
d. Short Breaks placements
We aim to provide foster carers within a maximum of 20 miles of all local authorities within our current area of recruitment/service provision (see WHERE WE'RE RECRUITING for details)
Working in Partnership
Our services to local authorities are based on working in partnership to jointly promote the welfare of looked after children.
For us working in partnership entails the following:
- Frequent and open communication
- Regular consultation with all parties
- Transparency in decision making
Through which we aim to promote the following:
- Openness, trust and honesty between all parties
- Shared goals and objectives
- Improved coordination between all parties
- Longer lasting relationships between all parties including Fostering for you and its local authority customers
- Better outcomes for children and all parties involved.
Placement stability
Promoting the stability of placements made with Fostering for You is a key objective for our service and we do this by means of the following:
- Enhanced and advanced, quality training for foster carers
- Therapeutic support for foster placements
- Highly responsive professional and practical support for foster carers
- Careful matching of children with foster carers to ensure that they are placed with carers who are best able to meet their needs
Quality assurance
The Fostering for You management have years of experience in the successful implementation of quality child care services and therefore attach great importance maintaining an effective quality assurance process.
Fostering for You quality assurance is based upon the following:
- Identifying clear bench marks for the performance of all aspects of the fostering service
- Systematic monitoring of all aspects of the service to ascertain the extent to which they are meeting the requirements of the fostering service
- Acting to improve and enhance systems for service delivery, or make other interventions whenever it is apparent that these systems are not performing at the required level
- Monitoring outcomes for children and taking the required steps to ensure that these outcomes remain in accordance with the following; that every child should:
1. Be healthy
2. Stay safe
3. Enjoy and achieve
4. Make a positive contribution
5. Achieve economic wellbeing


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Jillian Batherson doesn't have any movies playing in theaters.
If you feel like heading out, check out other movies in theaters.
Wild Oats
I Saw the Light
The Lucky One
Meeting Evil
The Ledge
The 5th Quarter
The Dukes of Hazzard
All Jillian Batherson films
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2020 FANDANGO MOVIES.


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weawow is a weather forecast service with beautiful photos by photographers.
You can enjoy weather forecasts with beautiful photos in various locations which can not done with conventional weather forecast in text format.
You can see beautiful scenes through photos in realistic visual such as fair, cloudy, rainy or snowy day and heat or cold. It makes possible to plan your travel more fulfilling.
Also, weather photo is not the same everyday for that location. Photo varies every day based on weather, season and the number of "wow".
Through weawow weather forecast you may encounter unexpected wonderful scenes which used to be boring weather forecast before.
Furthermore, if you take wonderful photos, you can post photos as a photographer and sell photos.
Royalty rate is 75% which is the industry top-class. Through daily weather forecast search, you can showcase your photos to people all over the world.
Si vous prononcez notre service "wíwow" nous serions heureux. Le "Wea" de notre nom vient du mot "Weather" (météo).
|Nom de la compagnie
|weawow Inc.
|Date établie
|1er novembre 2016
|2-26-1-602, Tsurumaki, Tama-shi, Tokyo, Japan
|Kei Shinohara (Facebook, Linkedin)


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We are often asked "How do we write personal wedding vows?". I thought it would be helpful to pull together some of the best personal vows we've heard (with permission of course) as well as a mini-how to guide to help a couple through the personal vow writing process.
Couple questions you and your soon to be betrothed should answer prior to embarking on this great journey of personal vows is: do we want to exchange personal vows?
First and foremost, why should you write personal vows? Most couples by the time they become engaged have experienced a lot of life events. They have been through passing of relatives, kids from prior marriages, prior relationship challenges and healing, job changes, job loss, promotions, home buying, just to name a few. Through life's ups and downs you have learned about each other and you have learned what the other person needed during these moments. You know how to cheer your partner up, comfort them, celebrate with them, some of these we learn the hard way, but we learn. Personal vows are your expression of this. They are your commitment to one another of what you promise to your partner.
How to write them?
There is no wrong way to write personal vows. They should be spoken from the heart. Once you start it will pour out and they you can sculpt them into semblance.
To start pick an opening (any opening will do) and then let it flow from there. Most openings change a couple times as you are sculpting them at the end.
Opening 1 sentence
- Option 1: I Justin, promise to love you Krista
- Option 2: Krista, from the moment I met you…
- Option 3: Krista, I promise to
- Option 4: Krista, I know you were the one when..
Basis of Relationship 2-4 sentences
- This is where you would talk about your history and why/how you knew he/she is the one
- Humor (not off color humor) is always appreciated
- What you love about him/her
- Favorite qualities about him her
Personal Vows & Promises as many as needed 4+ sentences
- What do you promise/vow
- I promise to always be faithful
- I promise to always be there when you get home at night
- I promise to always let you play your drums
- I promise to never make you pick up your socks.
- I vow to be a strong provider who will always be there for you
- I vow to never use all of the hot water
- I vow to always walk the dog when we have foul weather!
Closing 1 sentence
- A closing is not necessary but when done well can really close up vows beautifully (think BOOM! & dropping of the mic not literally)
- Couple examples
- Krista in front of all of our friends, family and loved ones, you have made me the happiest man alive. I am a blessed man.
- Krista I stand before you today blessed and humbled that you said "yes", for that I will spend the rest of my life making you the happiest woman in the world
- Krista when we are 90 years old and no longer able to hear, I will still be listening.
Do's & Don'ts
- Don't embarrass your significant other
- Do embarrass your self. Talk about a flaw or something that you promise to fix or work on.
- Don't turn this into a personal therapy session of everything you want to improve within your relationship
- Do use humor, a small dose of humor is always appreciated to to break up the seriousness of the moment
- Don't turn this into a comedy routine
- Do speak from the heart; this is a special moment that you will remember forever. If you are ever going to let your guard down, now is the time.
- Don't read personal vows off of a cell phone – not appropriate. No cell phones at the alter (terrible for photos)
- Do print your personal vows on a nice index card and give them to your officiant in advance so he can pass them to you during the proper moment in the ceremony.
- Do give a copy of your personal vows to you maid of honor as a back-up
Important Recommendation
Nominate a neutral third party to read both of your vows. This can be your offiicant, friend or family member. It is important that you do this to ensure that length and general tone are similar.


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Archive for May, 2009
Ode To King Of The Catchphrase, Pittsburgh Penguins' Announcer, Mike Lange . . .
Similar to the Pittsburgh Steelers' legendary announcer, Myron Cope, if you don't live in Pittsburgh you probably haven't heard much about the incomparable Mike Lange, the long time play-by-play man for the Penguins.
If you have yet to indulge in the wacky one linerism that defines the calls oozing from Mike Lange's tongue, then you are in for a treat.
Check out the compilation below:
In the spirit of the Stanley Cup Finals, I have worked up some of my own calls that I think would make Mike Lange proud. I did say he was incomparable, however he actually lives in the same development as me, so that make me qualified to try my very own:
- Put the coffee on Ethel, dessert has been served
- Someone call him a cab, he just got shut off
- Mash those potatoes Ma and save me a beater
- Stroke the kitty cause that shot was PURRRRFECT
There you have it. Just a few attempts at Mike Langeisms – for better or for worse . . .
Think you can do better?Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )
It's Time To Eat Crow . . .
PITTSBURGH WANTS DETROIT: No one in the Pens organization will say this. So I'll say it for them. Bring on the Red Wings. Even though the Chicago Blackhawks aren't dead yet, they are excrutiatingly close to their demise and to be honest, I'd rather take on Detroit.
Sure, there's that sense of redemption in having the oppotunity to beat the team that beat you last year on the biggest stage in your sport. And that would add to the ecstacy of hoisting the Stanley Cup and bringing it back to Pittsburgh. But could it get any better than that?
Oh yes. It could . . . being able to wash the sour taste Marian Hossa left in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization and
fanbase's mouths as he choose a single year deal to play for the team that won the Cup over them just a season ago, would be a bonus.
After playing in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals with the Penguins, Hossa said he'd "definitely take less money to play on a winning team." So he promptly spurned a four to five year deal at over $7 million annually, that would have given him stability on a squad fresh off a finals run, featuring the league's two best players, opting for a one year deal at $7.4 million to play for the Champion Red Wings who can't put butts in the seats.
I guess Detroit got the SELL OUT they were looking for . . .
The question is, did Hossa's departure actually help the Penguins? Would Pittsburgh have had the cash to sign more players and gain the depth and experience needed to make their incredible second half season and playofff run if they had inked him?
The addition of Stanley Cup Champions Billy Guerin, Chris Kunitz and Ruslan Fedtenko have injected a stability and calmness that has enhanced the Pens' conspicuous "we've been here before" attitude that they have adopted throughout the playoffs. They seem more confident and driven having experienced the bright lights of a deep playoff run and aren't fazed by the magnitude of their success so far. We'll see if the outcome is different if the Red Wings beat Chicago tonight to make it the first Stanley Cup Finals rematch since the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders in 1984. And we all know what happened then . . .
By the way, Guerin (14) has 2 more playoff points that Hossa, who has equaled the production of the other winger Pittsburgh brought on this year to play on Crosby's line, Chris Kunitz, and not to mention Pens' defenseman, Sergei Gonchar, with 12.
It's time to eat crow, Hossa.
Or should we say, it's time to choke on Penguin? Pittsburgh is going to be shoving the puck down Detroit's throat.
But I'm not bitter . . .Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )
It's Just Manny Being Barry . . .
Or A-Rod. Or Roger.
Except they were never suspended for 50 games during the season for testing positive for a banned substance. Was it performance enhancing drugs? Or PEDs as "they" call them? That always reminds me of PEZ when I say it . . . just not as fun to pop . . .
I always wondered if Manny Ramirez juiced. He seemed to always be big, there wasn't noticeable unnatural body morphing going on over the years, so I thought he was clean. And he still may be. There are other banned substances that aren't steroids, per se, and of course Manny's camp denies the violation is for PEDs. Check out his statement:
Statement from Manny
"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons. I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."
Here's my favorite part of that statement:
"I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing . . ."
I wonder what his personal health issue was. I guess he'll have a lot of time to straighten it out . . .Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )
That Dude . . .
You know that dude . . .
No matter what type of sports fan you are, there's that dude . . .
The dude that seems to have your team's number EVERY time. You involuntarily start to dry heave when you see him on TV making an amazing play. You actually hate him. And if he happens to get injured, you don't feel bad.
You know that dude. Or dudes . . .
At this very moment, there are two players that I want to punch in the face.
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals: He always answers. It's the match up the NHL dreamed about all season. Sid "The Kid" Crosby versus Alexander "The (puke) Great" Ovechkin in the playoffs battling for bragging rights in a well documented hate – hate relationship. Through two games, he has responded to every goal and has matched Crosby's 4 goals in the series with 4 of his own. His excessive celebrating and lack of respect for his competition makes him the NHL's version of Terrell Owens, except he doesn't drop the puck and is leading his team, not destroying it. I can't stand him.
Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays: Spitface. It seems like every time the camera is on him, he is spitting on the mound. In between EVERY pitch. Annoying. Even more annoying is the fact that the Red Sox just can't figure him out. His ONLY two wins this season have come against Boston. Since his stellar Game 7 performance in the ALCS last year, which earned him MVP honors, Garza has dominated my team. In his last start versus the Sox, he engineered a 13-0 win with 10 strikeouts, taking a no-hitter into the 7th inning before Jacoby Ellsbury got to him. That clobbering made Garza 7-1 with a 2.54 ERA in 10 career starts against Boston. ARGGGHHHHHH!
For now, that's who I am hating on . . .
P.S. Of course, you would love to have that dude on YOUR team . . . Jerks.Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )


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Setting up a Raspberry Pi for a kiosk display
A while back I put together a dashboard display screen using a Raspberry Pi, recently I was doing it again and had to dig through to work out what I had done before.Read more…
Static site generation with Hugo
In December 2016 I started re-writing my website to be generated as a static site. I wanted to make the blog the same as the rest of the site, and move it off Tumblr, as it had been using the same theme as my original website.Read more…
Response to 'Look Wherever You Want'
This blog post is a response to Elisabeth Shuker's blog on the 8th of May 2014, which itself is a response to Gary Turk's spoken word video 'Look Up'
I would recommend reading / watching these.
Whilst I agree with the disarmament of Gary Turk's video, I think it is wrong to suggest that technology is a blank canvas. I would say that whilst the majority of human creative works are neither inherently evil or good, and can be used for both purposes, the things we create are not created neutral.
Technology can shape and change us as much as we shape and change it. And all things we create have a manifestation of our worldview within them. This is most clear in storytelling media: films, books and TV have a message behind the story, they create a world which has a moral basis and structure and as we absorb ourselves into their culture our worldview and moral basis can be shifted by them (both towards or away). This is not always the case, but I would argue that our perception of the world is created through our previous experience, which may often come from or relate to created worlds in story telling media.Read more…
Tablets and why I don't like the iPad
Having used an iPad for the last week whilst working on URY's Radioplayer Webview, as part of a hack-week (more on that soon I hope) I have come to the informed conclusion that I don't like it. I've always been reserved over the usefulness of tablets, and mostly think of them as pointless: I can either use my laptop or my phone, both of which I normally have with me. The iPad in particular has frustrated me because it is basically a large iPhone iPod touch, which I don't like much either. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike apple. I am currently writing this on my MacBook, which I think is great, and I'm a massive fan of Logic for audio related work. However I feel the current tabletisation of OS X is making it weaker, not better.Read more…
Fun with Flexbox
In the course of the past few days I have discovered parts of CSS that I never knew existed, but have often wished did in some form or another. Amongst these is the calc() function which lets you calculate values for properties, such as calc(100% - 3em).
The one I'm most excited about for the moment is Flexbox or the Flexible Box Layout Model. I first discovered this from Paul Irish, on his flexbox tutorial over on html5rocks.com however as warned I soon discovered the issues with the changing spec of flexbox and the many versions implemented (or not implemented) by different browsers.
The issue is as browsers implement moving specification and then it changes drastically so much to break everything. So now there exists the 2009 spec (display: box) which is in quite a few browsers, some mixed up 2011 stuff from a transitionary period which doesn't exist in browsers but is scattered across the internet in various guides as 'how to use the new flexbox' (display: flexbox) and lastly the current implementation (at time of writing) which is implemented (at least partially) in all modern browsers.Read more…
A short time spent with multiviews
I've recently been building a new website, well newish. It's a re-design and replacement for a website written a couple of years back and made in the CMS Drupal. I also recently read (albeit rather old) an article on URIs not changing. Now this prompted various thoughts into my head, some of which I had had whist designing this other website. Such as why do I have to have .html on all my URIs? The old site most of the content was coming from didn't (I know this is down to mod_rewrite for fancy SEO urls by Drupal, but all the same).
So I started to try and find out what Sir Tim was on about here, something really simple you can add that makes it 'just work' that doesn't sound like any web development I've done before… There seemed to be lots of posts from people who had also read the article and were looking for the answer, but no-one else seemed to know it, nearly everyone pointed to use some variant of mod_rewrite to various degrees of complexity. But then I found the answer, it really was quite simple, enable MultiViews in your apache config for that directory, and it would 'just work' you could even have it auto detect language setting from the browser.
A quick update and build later and both the site I was working on and my main website were extensionless and wonderful. However this was not to be the end of the story.Read more…
It's Summer! (though it may not feel like it)
So it's now the summer holidays for me (3 months from The University of York, thanks =P), well it has been for a couple of weeks. A lot has happened this term, exams, finishing project work, finishing the year, exploring the campus, discovering URY history, hanging out with friends, going to Whitby, and all sorts of things that I can't remember due to the busyness. It has been busy, but it's been great fun. Even with the pressure of exams, which never bother me too much however I'm glad to say I passed the year fairly well and shall be continuing onwards on my journey of becoming an Engineer in Computing.
With a rapidly diminishing 3 months ahead of me (it always goes quicker than you think, particularly the longer you have, I find…) I have a fair amount planned, and a fair amount ready to be filled with all kinds of randomness my friends might come up with to do.Read more…
Y u no blog post?
So it's been a little since my last post, and I'm currently leaving you hanging as to what to do with iptables. So I thought I ought to write a quick post.Read more…
Free cookies for everyone!
Or rather, no cookies until you've finished all your vegetables and opted-in (mostly the opted-in part).
So I discovered today, or possibly rediscovered, about the ICO cookie regulations that were actually put in place last year, but the good old UK government decided to give webmasters/website owners a year to comply before allowing the ICO to take any action.
Basically, because most Internet users are not the most savvy of people, according to the ICO (and I might have to agree with them to some degree there), they don't want people to allow themselves to unconsciously allowing data about themselves or their browsing etc. to be stored in cookies on their computer (or other device).
In 2003 there was legislation that websites had to allow users to be able to opt-out of cookies if they wanted to. But in 2011 that got re-written to be you have to have informed consent from each user that cookies are given to.
This comes into force soon, and as a person who is normally fairly hot on news of this nature, I find it surprising and slightly worrying that I only found out today properly what it's all about.Read more…
Tired and blogging
So I got back to York today, and after an evening of actually doing some work, then not a lot decided to have an earlier night. It was going to be the earliest for a few weeks.Read more…


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Mali : le MNLA dément avoir accepté de parapher l'accord d'Alger
Selon Reuters, le MNLA dément l'information donnée par le Premier ministre et selon laquelle une paraphe de l'accord d'Alger est prévue entre Bamako et la Coordination des Mouvements de l'Azawad (CMA) le 15 avril à Alger.
Voici le récit de Reuters en anglais
Mali says rebels to initial peace deal, prompting Tuareg denial
(Reuters) – Mali announced on Thursday that northern rebels would give preliminary approval to a U.N.-brokered peace proposal next week but a northern Tuareg separatist group said it was not ready to back a deal.
Despite mounting pressure from the government and Algerian-led mediators, the Tuareg-led separatist coalition has so far refused to initial the accord, saying it did not grant enough concessions to the desert region they call Azawad.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's government said in early March it would sign the proposal.
Diplomats hope a deal will lead the separatists to disarm, freeing up Malian and international forces to tackle Islamic militants, who remain a threat despite a 2013 French-led military intervention in the country.
"The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) will initial the proposal on April 15, according to the prime minister," Malian state television said, referring to the Tuareg-dominated body that brings together five separatist groups. A spokesman for Prime Minister Modibo Keita also confirmed this.
Earlier this month, representatives of the northern movements and mediators returned to the Algerian capital Algiers, where the document was hammered out after months of talks, in an effort to salvage the peace process.
The deal aims to prevent future revolts by Tuareg-led insurgents who have risen up four times since Mali's independence in 1960.
In the most recent rebellion in 2012, they allied with Islamist militants and briefly seized the desert north.
A letter sent by Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra to the CMA coalition on April 6 and seen by Reuters expressed "satisfaction" with its decision to initial the accord.
Lamamra invited them to a ceremony on 15 April in Algiers alongside the government to initial the agreement and discuss the next steps for a final signature.
But Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, spokesman for the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), said that CMA had since changed its mind. The MNLA is the dominant armed group within the CMA.
"There are not enough assurances, not enough explanations and too many unknown factors following this letter," he told Reuters. "Once our proposed amendments are taken into account then we can initial this and possibly sign it later."
Attaye Ag Mohamed, MNLA human rights representative, also dismissed the government's announcement. "No decision has been taken by the MNLA on whether or not to initial (the document)."
Mali Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop criticized what he said was a small group of "radical, extremist individuals" for blocking progress toward peace in a speech before the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.
"Those who, in spite of everything, chose to stand in the way of peace will give the international community no other choice than to isolate them … and impose sanctions."
(Additional reporting by Adama Diarra in Bamako, Souleymane Ag Anara in Kidal and David Lewis in Dakar; Editing by Joe Bavier and Crispian Balmer)


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