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Wednesday, November 17
trey's TVO Interview on Bullying
Wednesday, November 10
No you hang up...
I CHALLENGE you —Today CALL someone you really like!!!
" No, you hang up."
"No. You hang up first."
"No you hang up."
Wow! I miss those days of a good old fashion phone call, snuggling under the blankets, talking for hours to my latest crush. Remember those days when you liked someone and they actually asked you for your phone number, and you wrote it down on a piece of paper or even more romantic they would write their number on the palm of your hand and you wouldn't wash your hands for days because every time you looked down at that number you would smile. Remember?
Remember those days when your phone would ring and you would jump over furniture to answer it nearly breaking your neck in the process?
How the sound of their voice on the other end would make you think indecent thoughts. And you would hold your pee for hours because you didn't want to get off the phone and it would be too embarrassing for them to hear you flush!
Oh, those were the good old days when you actually picked up the phone and called somebody or even better yet they took the time out to call you! What happened to good old fashion phone conversation? Now I'm asked for my BBM number, Facebook and e-mail addresses. I've had my share of far too many email romances that lead absolutely nowhere! And even if they ask for my number they never use it, baby, it's texting all the way!
And I know I'm not alone in wishing for some phone etiquette and the return of some good old fashion phone courting. I've spent many hours with my single friends dissecting people's lack of phone manner. Our conversations usually sound like this.
"Well he hasn't called even though I gave him my number two months ago, but he does text me every day to say have a great day! And he did send me a Facebook message yesterday! trey, do you think he's interested?"
I'm at a lost for words! I just can't get into this new behaviour. I think it's impersonal. Honestly- quite rude! And I know that we all lead busy lives but I believe if someone is TRULY interested in you and wanting to really get to know you, they will take some time out of their busy day too just say "hi." And maybe my standards are too high but I'm sorry, a quick note on Facebook to arrange our first date is not sufficient!
Yet, I'm a hypocrite. Most of my friends and anyone who even wishes to remotely communicate with me, knows the best way to reach me is to either text or e-mail me. I'm notorious for not returning calls. Five years ago, after reading that most successful people never answer their phone during the day because it lessens their productivity. I immediately stopped answering my phone. I listen to my voice mail about every other day.
Yet, when I'm REALLY interested in someone. I take time out of my day to spontaneously call to just say "hi"-- I want to take that time. I need to talk to you.
And my assistant will know that she can interrupt whatever I'm doing so I can take your call.
And I know you're "The ONE" because I'm always dying to hear your voice so I will find the precious time at the end of my busy day to dial your number to just tell you goodnight. And my heart beats faster when I see your name on my call display and I will high jump over furniture just to answer your call.
And I will hold my pee and we will talk for hours and hours until someone eventually fall asleep on the phone…
Saturday, October 16
Living, simply: a life-changing roommate
Trey Anthony
Special to the Star
He moved in. A small cardboard box, neatly fit under his arm. Two sticks of celery, a loaf of brown bread and a jar of almond butter. I asked him what time his moving truck was coming. He calmly expressed that this was all he had. All that he wanted.
This was my new tenant/roommate, David. He explained to me that he was a minimalist. He believed he didn't need to have tons of worldly possessions to make him happy. And happy he was.
With great curiosity I watched him as he meditated in the morning and evenings. He read many books. Burned incense. He had deep and insightful conversations with friends who showed up in long, flowered skirts and Birkenstock sandals with wild flowers or jars of home made jam. I thought they were weird, silly hippies. They tried to engage me as they questioned the true meaning of happiness. I would have none of it: I was on a quest to conquer the world! Be a millionaire! Climb the ladder of success!
They could not possibly be a part of my world, where all my friends were striving to buy a bigger house, more brand-name clothing, a Mercedes, another computer. . . We were never satisfied. Never full.
With envy I watched David prepare simple yet delicious raw food meals. He chuckled as I reacted in horror at reading my credit card statement, realizing I spent nearly $185 on a meal at some fancy restaurant of which I couldn't recall the name.
And as I stared in frustration at my over-stuffed closet and complained that I had absolutely nothing to wear. David would breeze by me in his simple white T-shirt and brown cords. An outfit I had seen on him many times, yet each time he retrieved the outfit from the dryer he would smile and pull the T-shirt over his head, eager to start a new day.
I would come home to find him humming softly to himself as he chewed on a piece of celery while reading a book. Me, stressed and tired from another day of long meetings, talking to people whom I really didn't care about, battling rush-hour traffic.
But I wanted to buy more things, have more zeros in my bank account, so I took on a night job that I told myself I needed to make ends meet. I felt proud that I had bought my first home and I was only in my mid-'20s. However, I realized that I spent more hours in my car than I actually did living in my brand new fancy suburbia home. I expressed this to David and he stated quietly, "Trey, we all make choices."
I stomped up the stairs thinking to myself, it must be nice to do nothing all day!
Why would he want to live like that? Doesn't he want anything out of life?
One day he packed up his little cardboard box and said he felt a desire to leave. Maybe travel a bit. Hitchhike across Canada. Maybe see the world? Maybe work on a farm. He and a few friends were thinking about perhaps getting a place somewhere.
Where? He wasn't sure where he would end up, but he knew it was time to move on. And then he was gone.
Ten years later I still think of David. Now as I fight the desperate need to try to slow down my life, simplify it, I think about him as I try to respond to my growing desire to move on, go somewhere. Where? I don't know.
I think of him as my friends and family shake their head in disbelief and talk quietly among themselves that I must be crazy to want to give it all up to just move somewhere quiet, buy a small little house, get out of the rat race.
I think about him as I realize that I now have all of this stuff. Things that I thought would make me happy.
I think about him as I examine my simple desire to have a small room by a lake with a window, and more time to write. I think of him when I admit to myself that all I really want is more time to see my friends. More time to laugh with my brother. Maybe go visit my sister? See my cousin's new babies? More time to read. More time to write. More time to prepare home-cooked meals. More time to burn candles, light incense. More time to question the true meaning of happiness.
Wednesday, August 25
Mission: Be a better dog mom
Published On Wenesday August, 04 2010
Trey Anthony
Special to the Star
If I thought there was a chance that my dog might read this, I would never ever write this.
I've never been a dog person. I'm even surprised that I have a dog! Yet, in one of those stupid lovey dovey moments with my partner, I decided to accept a cream colour bundle of fluff that we affectionately called Samara. We promised that the dog would bind us to each other for eternal life and we would never ever break up!
Six months later I was partnerless and two chocolate brown eyes stared up at me, questioning if I had a clue what I had just signed up for. And that's how dog life started with Samara and me.
I worry about Samara and all of my inner conflicts play out with her and are magnified. I worry that she might get fat, and what her fatness would say about me as an owner. When the other dogs don't play with her in the dog park, I think she may lack social skills or maybe she has really bad doggy breath.
I constantly compare myself to other doggie mommies. One encounter with a friend who's one of those "crazy dog people" left me feeling that sooner or later someone was going to turn me in for being a lousy dog mom. My friend who has two dogs revealed to me that she cooked all of her dog's meals, organic meats and brown rice. Lovely. She also baked them their own treats!
I was grateful that Samara would never know anything about the dog life she really should be leading.
Had I let Samara down by giving her plain old chicken-and-rice dry food?
And treats? When I remembered to buy them, they were usually on sale or if she was lucky enough, a piece of my peanut butter sandwich. Who has time to bake treats? Some people really don't have a life. I tried to conceal my bitterness at my friend's obvious doggy hierarchy and smiled weakly.
However, she decided to kick me while I was down, revealing that she took her dogs out for 45 minutes three times a day. Separately, so they could have one on one time with her. My guilt played out as I recalled Samara's hurried walks packed between my need to write, attend meetings, go out to theatre, check Facebook, pick up groceries or watch Oprah.
I wanted Samara to be able to brag about me some day to her friends in the doggy park. A change was on the horizon.
My mission was to be a better dog mommy, a decision that changed Samara's life and my own. First, better dog food. As I became more conscious of the food that I was giving Samara I also became more aware of the junk that I was putting into my own body. I started reading labels more. I bought more fruits and vegetables, and started eating more salads
I scheduled a veterinary appointment for Samara. I then promptly booked a physical for myself. I figured I didn't want to kick the bucket before Samara.
I scheduled longer walks and cut out Oprah. These walks gave me time to think and be in the moment. I started to appreciate the morning air, birds flying, butterflies singing... you get my point.
On one of our walks I discovered a small deserted park with a set of swings. I haven't been on a swing in about 25 years so I jumped on. It was so liberating. Samara looked at me like I had just lost my mind and started barking and nipping my ankles.
I also threw in some patience. I vowed I would give Samara the time to stop and sniff nearly every blade of grass that she came across. I would not pull on her leash or tap my foot impatiently. I then applied the act of patience in my own life as I tried to be more patient with others and myself.
I also decided to love her more, really love her, like I wanted to be loved. With patience, kindness and appreciation. No more "Miss Critical." This big love spilled over to myself. As I spoke lovingly to Samara and appreciated her efforts to be a good dog, I used that same voice to validate my attempts to being a good human.
I also learned to cuddle with her. I learned that I liked having her close by, I liked having her count on me, and I learned that I loved having her around because she is always happy to see me.
Most of all I love having someone who thinks I'm the best even if I still give them discounted treats.
Tuesday, July 6
Not quite ready to be a dyke with a tyke
Now fast forward a few years — okay, fast forward quite a bit — and life looks a lot different. I have the property, not in the suburbs, but a cool, chic downtown condo. No husband — by choice . . . and no kids.
And when you hit your mid-30s you are bombarded with the question. I know many of my straight friends in their 30s are in a panic about not being able to pop one out or even being able to find a man to just do the damn deed with!
For years, being queer has allowed me to bypass the annoying baby bullet question. Because when I announced I was queer, that announcement pretty much confirmed to my family that this womb was now out of service. But a few baby-happy lesbians messed that up for me, and I am now surrounded by endless gay friends popping out babies by the dozen or taking a trip to the local Children's Aid Society to adopt. The single, queer, independent, happy, funky, cool, artist (i.e., me) is now a dying breed.
Of course, this baby-booming epidemic in the queer community has not escaped my grandmother or my mother. They now have a renewed sense of hope that my queer womb can be saved and restarted. My grandmother has taken out the baby starter cables and happily chases me around the house. Upon seeing the new bundle of joy of my two favourite lezzy friends, my grandmother declared, "Trey why don't you just go tomorrow to where they went and go and get a baby!"
So last month I found myself in a wonderful two-day intensive course called Dykes Planning Tykes — a workshop for queer womyn planning on having children. I must admit I felt a little out of place, being that I was the only single womyn there and everyone else was partnered up in lesbian couple bliss. However, the course did not disappoint. Every mystery on how to have a child without having the convenience of a hot-blooded male partner beside you was discussed.
I learned more about ovulation and what goes on down there than I cared to know. I learned about good sperm, bad sperm, swimmers, known donor and unknown. I was thinking I could actually do this until the last day, when they brought in gay couples, singles . . . and their children.
My academic baby bliss was abruptly destroyed by the reality; the noise, the chaos, the baby poop, the frayed expressions on the mothers' faces, the children running around the room screaming at the top of their lungs — that was just a bit too much for me. I had to take a deep breath and wonder whether I was really ready for this and was this something that I wanted to do alone.
As much as I present as a strong, capable, independent womyn, I'm scared to have a child on my own. I want to have a partner to share the responsibility with. I want us to read bedtime stories together, attend school recitals together, and take turns staying up when little Johnny has the flu.
I want partnership.
And yes, in so many ways I have thumbed my nose at tradition, but deep down there is something in me that wants that, wants it more than I know. And maybe it's because I'm the product of a single parent household and have romanticized what a "family" is, but I know for me that's what I want.
So for now I will just revel in the role of being cool Auntie Trey, who lives downtown, rides a scooter . . . and doesn't push a stroller.
(Published in the Toronto Star on July 3, 2010)
Monday, April 19
The girl with the big nose and the zit at the end of it.
Grade six. A group of James Town girls ganged up on me and told me that I thought I was better than them and that I was a stuck up snob because I actually did my homework and because I spoke with an English accent. I was never invited to sit with them at lunch, got teased in the cafeteria and resorted to going to my only friend's house for lunch. At her place we watched Young and the Restless, ate our lunch in silence and tried to not fantasize too much about what it would be like to actually be one of the pretty popular girls allowed to eat lunch in the school cafeteria.
Grade seven. My growing enormous breasts became the running joke for all the young boys. Boys would grope me without my consent, pull my bra strap and ask me if I got a black eye when I ran. I prayed daily for my breasts to just disappear.
Grade eight. I got nicknamed taco bell because I had a "big" ass and every time I walked by the boys would make the sound of a bell, and everyone would laugh. Ironically, I now do 100 squats per day trying to get this so called "big" ass back!
Grade nine. Five girls came to my school to kick my ass for dating the most popular girl's "boyfriend", a guy who never called me back and took me out on a "date" which I ended up paying for.
Grade ten. A popular boy stated to anyone that would listen that I would be pretty if my nose wasn't so big! It didn't help that every time I got a new zit it would appear at the end of my "big" nose. I promised myself I would get a nose job as soon as I turned eighteen. My Grandmother agreed. I still secretly worry about my "big" nose.
All of these things happened to me in school and I remained silent. I never told. Suffered in silence. Never once did I come home and share with my family what was going on. I never complained to any teachers. I had little faith that the adults around me would view me as worthy to protect. School for many years was not a safe place for me. And I'm sure many of you can relate to my stories and have even worst stories to tell. And now I'm in my thirties and can laugh at how ridiculous it all was, but back then there were moments that I felt my world was coming to an end. When you're a teenager you can feel so alone, things can just seem so life shattering, just so hopeless. In high school, tired of the alienation, tired of not "fitting in", and throw in some good family drama, I had had enough…suicide became a viable option.
She came home and hung herself.
I am in disbelief. Saddened as I read about the death of fifteen year old Phoebe Prince who hung herself because she was taunted daily. The headlines read she was bullied to death! What does her death mean? And why does it mean so much to me?
I think I relate to Phoebe even more because she was from Ireland and had recently moved to the U.S. She spoke in an Irish accent and I remember how embarrassed I was about my accent, how kids made fun of me. How I hated to sound "white." And moving from England and coming to Rexdale was a culture shock that I was not prepared for.
I think about Phoebe, her face haunts me. I think about what she could have become. Maybe she would have found the cure for cancer, I think maybe she would have done something really great…maybe she would have had her own TV show.
I read every news item about her, research her on the internet. Feel a sad kinship with a girl I don't even know. A girl I will never meet…
My sadness multiplies when I read about the death of Carl Walker Hoover, eleven years old who hung himself after daily taunts of being called a faggot, and a homosexual. And the facts are the facts. Gay teenagers are four times more likely to commit suicide than their straight counterpart. I wonder about my own gayness…queerness. If I had "known" or even attempted to come out in high school I wonder what that experience would have looked like for me? And I shamefully think about my own silence when the obviously effeminate gay boy was teased in my high school.
So now in my role as the "confident" mature adult, I feel compelled to not be silent. I feel an urgency to really talk for those who are so often silenced. I go into schools to teach a lesson of compassion, respect. Letting the misfits, the nerds, the queers, the uncool and the unloved know that I was one of them. And now I'm here. This too shall pass? It passes, but you never really forget…
We need to be more vigilant about our children. Make schools safer. Parents, teachers, adults need to be more aware of what is going on in our schools. And yes I know it is easy for us to be dismissive and say kids will be kids. NO! School should not be a war zone for some and a safe haven for others.
So within the safety of my adulthood I think about Phoebe. Daily. She haunts me. I feel my anger rise as I think about little Carl. I feel helpless and it reminds me of how I often felt in school.
Sunday, April 11
my return to blogging!
Superwomyn took off her cape and fell out of the sky.
I am back in therapy again. As a black womyn this is something I feel I need to share yet something I feel I should not. There has been great shame in the community about asking for help, seeking help, acknowledging that one needs help. Just recently I felt I was running on empty, feeling stressed to the max. When I finally found the courage to ask a close family member for help she responded by accusing me of always complaining and being selfish. Wow! So, you can see why I have a fear of asking for help. Asking for help is not something I do lightly. I have been deeply, personally invested in portraying an image of the womyn who has it all together, has all the answers, the superwomyn, the go to girl, the girl who seems to have it all....
Yet, in my lonely hours when i was by myself and had to look at myself in the mirror, I found it harder to look myself in the eye. The things and people that were supposed to be making me happy didn't anymore. The friends that I used to love to be around now felt as if I had outgrown them, or did they outgrow me? My family now got on my nerves even more than before and even my guilty pleasures of my favourite comfort foods didn't quite hit the spot. And the womyn, " Ms "trey anthony" " whom I had so skillfully constructed, had become someone I didn't like very much either. I knew then it was time to go back to therapy. Its been a four year absence from therapy. But I'm happy to be back!!
I am reinventing myself again. Apparently this reinvention is beyond my control. My deep spiritual friends have shared with me that based on my birthdate, numerology states that apparently I am in a year 5. A year 5 predicts that one goes through major changes in their life. One usually moves , ends a relationship, changes careers, meets new friends and gets rid of old ones. A year 5 is full of many changes. I have no doubt that I am in a year 5!
So back to therapy? In therapy, I'm learning a lot about this new "trey", the new me who I would like to be… and of course this means truly examining the old trey. I realize i suffer from a complex that i will call, " The no one will love me or show up, if I ask for help or really ask for what I truly want." I'm sure some of you suffer from it too :) A simple request as asking my friends to help me move reduced me to a crying bowl of jello in my therapist's office and had her calmly question why I felt I couldn't ask my friends to help me. I explained to her that i have a fear of people not showing up for me. A fear that my friends won't support me. A fear that if i ask for help it is a sign of weakness. A fear that if I ask….No one will come!
My therapist encouraged me to ask and to carefully note my friend's responses and take stock of what it meant to me. Take stock of what I was feeling. So I took a breath and with baited breath wrote an email asking for help. I gave my "friends" four options on dates and times that they could come and help me. I sent it out to five friends. One immediately responded and congratulated me on asking for help and acknowledged that she knew this must have been hard for me. And she promised to "help" me with my move. I was very happy that she acknowledged this but was very disappointed when the actual moving days came and she never showed up! Two of my other friends wrote back with dates that they were available and showed up for the move. Another one proclaimed she was busy on all four dates! And the last one I haven't heard from..... Yet there were some people in my life who I didn't even think about asking for help who upon hearing about my move, came by and offered their services and chastised me for not asking them for help! This really made me feel love thank you. And my wonderful little sis I owe you big time!
So overall my request for help was bittersweet. It showed me that I have people that I can truly count on, and some that I can't. In that I also felt it was necessary for me to look at my own actions. Do I have "friends" in my life who are really acquaintances? Also, what sort of friend am I? Would I be the friend who others would think to call if they needed help? And to be honest, I couldn't really be sure. To some of my friends I know I'm a really great friend and to some not so much but I'm really working on being a better friend.
Yet I also realized that there was a need for me to do some spring cleaning. My "move" was a physical and emotional one. I needed to move around things and people in my life that no longer were serving me or me serving them. I was holding on to some "friends" as I would a pair of favourite jeans that used to fit me in high school but I knew now as a grown womyn I had no business trying to squeeze myself into!
And it was much more than just getting rid of my friends because they didn't help me move, it was about really taking a stock of what I now want. What types of friends do I want to be around? Who do I want to count on? Who do I want to count on me? What fits new trey. And it doesn't mean that my old friends were bad or mean people, not at all. I just want something different. I now have a New Priority list and some people made it on and some people didn't. Some things got shuffled around and some things got crossed off. It's my list , I would suggest you create your own.
Before it was a priority for me to have hundreds of people around me and calling each one of them my "friend." Before it was important for me to have a centre and a huge downtown space. Before it was important for me to gain the approval of my family, friends, partner, people on the bus, strangers, the taxi driver. Before I loved crowds and being the centre of attention. Before my health wasn't important. Before I wanted to be so "busy" that it stopped me from feeling, thinking, and dealing with my emotions.
Now I am busy slowing down. Taking stock. Going to therapy so I can remember what it feels like to feel again. Now I'm reading more. Trying to eat healthy. Going to the doctor regularly. Calling my closest five friends regularly. Visiting my friend's new baby. Going to a play with my BFF. Driving to Niagara on the lake. Eating breakfast in bed. Listening to my grandmother tell stories. Feeling so much that I cry regularly for no reason. Crying? Me? Yes, everyday! I like to think that my tears represent a new birth, new life, water, tears, water, tears. And somewhere from deep in the water a new me will emerge.....
Wednesday, February 3
Talk dirty to me
Monday, January 11
The black Rapist next door!
Saturday, January 2
it was the "perfect life" except it wasn't mine!
- "This too shall pass......" Time does heal all wounds and sometimes you have to sit with pain, disappointment and hurt so you will know what true joy feels like when it comes through your door!
- Sometimes you may hurt others but the worst thing that you can do is hurt yourself by staying in a situation that does not serve your highest good.
- People will get extremely angry when you mess up the order that they have planned for your life because when you truly start living your life it forces others to really take a look at their own lives and start living it accordingly.
- When you hit rock bottom the only place you can go is straight to the top. But be willing to take your time to climb slowly to the top and the views up there are amazing!


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If you love hanging out with friends, eating, shopping or just simply relaxing, then Singapore is the best place for you!
Singapore houses many museums, dining and entertainment hotspots and almost 30 shopping malls which are scattered throughout the city. One of the best shopping venues in Singapore is Far East Shopping Centre which is located near the Orchard MRT station.
Far East Shopping Centre Singapore – Food, Parking & Hours
This mall is well known for its fine selection of precious stones and jewellery, wood carvings, sculptures, rare porcelain, gold and diamonds. If you're looking for affordable fashion items, then there are plenty things of here for you as there are a number of stores with discounted fashion items including clothing, handbags, shoes and accessories. There are also many beauty bars located here where you can get a massage, manicure, pedicure, waxing and tanning.
Far East Shopping Centre is also a great place to come for lunch or dinner as there are a range of restaurants and cafes within its precincts. After your meal, head out on the town at one of the many bars onsite and dance the night away.

subset: commoncrawl


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Lincolnshire farmed shallots – one of the county's little known gems
PUBLISHED: 12:00 22 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:03 21 February 2013
Often thought of as a "little onion" and only purchased by just over 13% of the UKs households , shallots are currently enjoyed by a relatively small number of people. Read more about this food gem here...
Often thought of as a little onion and only purchased by just over 13% of the UKs households (as opposed to onions which are bought by over 85%!), shallots are currently enjoyed by a relatively small number of people. Among those are professional chefs and passionate home cooks and, for them, the store cupboard would not be complete without them.
The Oldershaws, a Lincolnshire-based family, grow shallots on their farm just outside of Spalding. Oldershaws is a family business in the true sense of the word. Founded in 1946 by the late Gilbert Oldershaw MBE the farm is now run by his son Robert and grandson Robert Jnr.
The traditional round shallots, which are grown by the Oldershaws, have a uniquely delicate, sweet, piquant flavour, quite different from that of an onion, and benefit from the areas fantastically fertile soil and perfect climate.
And producing shallots certainly keeps the Oldershaws busy as they have quite an intricate growing process. The growing year starts in February as soon as the soil (hopefully!) starts to warm up. And as a specialist crop, they require a great deal of care from preparing the beds to sowing the seeds to harvesting and storing the bulbs.
Supermarkets demand the best quality and a uniform shape so, from the start, it is important for the Oldershaws to make sure that the number of shallot plants in a field is just right - too many plants and the shallots will be too small, too few plants and the shallots will be too big. But once theyre grown, shallots have fantastic storing qualities so crops grown in areas such as Lincolnshire can be eaten almost all year round.
Shallots are a fantastic addition to a meal and can really lift the dish. My favourite way to have them is to roast them with the skin in a little oil as an accompaniment to hot or cold meats, or to pickle them in vinegar with a couple of bird eye chilli and some pickling spice, says Robert Oldershaw Jnr.
Watch this short video for more ideas on the many ways you can use shallots: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K0fAHlienc
Things you probably didnt know about shallots:
- Ancient Egyptians allegedly rubbed shallot or onion juice into their scalps as a remedy for baldness.
- Peeling shallots can be a complete nightmare unless you let the shallots steep in a bowl of recently boiled water for 10 minutes. Then the outer dry skin just rubs off!
- Shallots breathe! The reason that shallots have such amazing storing properties is because it is possible to slow down their intake of oxygen by controlling the temperature of their environment. Put shallots into a cold store and voila cryogenics for the vegetable world!


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Sharing theme: This week (Feb. 27)- A joke or comic
Next week: A Favorite Book
Asian Celebration: The Bhangra dance at Eugene Asian Celebration was wonderfully exciting! Everyone really enjoyed the show. We are sending special thanks to SatPaven for the weekly dance lessons and for making arrangements for the children's performance!
100th Day of school: We celebrated the 100th day of school on Wednesday after our House of Chen field trip. Children counted out 100 beads, pasta, stickers and beans to glue to their 100 grids. Other students listed 100 countries or animals. There were also a few that cam up with 100 math equations that equal 100!
Legos: We are still collecting legos for use during inside recess and 'choice time'. If you have some you are willing to donate, please send them in! Thanks.
Student Behavior/Expectations During Pick-Up/Dismissal – For a smooth and safe dismissal please follow these expectations. Students are to quietly wait with their teacher or assistant. Students must check out with their teacher or assistant before leaving campus. Students may not run, play tag or catch at dismissal area. If parents would like to visit, please walk down to the playground area with your student(s).
Our Night sky: A message from Iris: I see that Jupiter and Venus are getting closer and closer. I also notice that Venus has gotten brighter; it's brighter than Jupiter now! This week, on Sunday and Monday, the crescent Moon should be near them in the sky. I hope that the weather lets us see them all together!
After Monday, the Moon will be moving away from the planets, and also growing bigger; it will be a half Moon by Wednesday.
If you are lucky enough to have binoculars (or even, lucky you, a telescope), try looking at Venus with them. Venus has phases like the Moon; I expect it to look about like a half-moon this week, and more like a crescent in a month or two. But I will have to observe it to be sure.
Spaghetti Dinner: Come help us kick off the Direct Donation Drive Friday at 6:00!
Fri 2/24: Spaghetti Dinner: Direct Donation Drive kick-off, 6pm
Tues 2/28: RCO Meeting, 6pm
M-F 3/26-30: Spring Break
Mon 4/2: Professional Development. No School.
Tues. 4/3: Students return to school.
Thanks, Cheri and Azusa


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The Screaming O is the top-selling, award winning, range that uses a sex-positive message with a modern approach. The Screaming O has helped reinvent the way men and women have sex – and have fun doing it! – since 2005 and is now one of the best known adult brands in the UK.
The leader in fast moving, impulse and repeat sales, The Screaming O's product line is easy to use, affordable to buy, and is a great introduction to men and women trying sex toys for the first time.
Sales Line: 01636 703454


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It has been a very busy time for Lennon Performance Products so far this year. We have been developing and further improving out wetsuit apparel, sponsoring events and winning more championships! Here is a round-up of some of the things that we have been developing, some offers and what you can expect from us in the next few months.
Waterproof Socks
Our waterproof socks were originally part of our winter product range, but they have been so popular that we have added them into our autumn range this year! They will be available in extra small (UK 4-6), small (UK 6-8), medium (UK 8-10) and large (UK 10-12). We have redeveloped them to make them even warmer by using 2.5mm neoprene. This new design will be ready to order from September/October 2018.
Youth Apparel
Our long-awaited youth tops will be available to order in the autumn. These come in a range of youth sizes and colours. Our youth long johns should be available to purchase in the coming months too. They are made to the same high standard as the rest of the Lennon Racewear range. We are also including our waterproof socks in youth sizes in the autumn! As one of our valued subscribers, we will let you know in advance when they are ready to order. Please keep an eye out for our mailing to take advantage of this new range.
International Moth Sails
View an update on our latest developments in Moth sails here.
International Moth Accessories
You can now order individual cams directly from our website and we now have more stock of our Moth Always Up Toes Straps. Please order these products directly online.
Sails for a Range of Classes
We have a whole range of sails in our catalogue for different classes. These include Contender, Scorpion, Solo sails and more! Read about our developments in these classes here.
2018 International Moth World Championship
Lennon Sails continued to dominate the top ten with the following finishes:
Lennon Sails produced some great results this year:
Lennon Racewear Irish Laser Master National Championships 2018 19th & 20th May 2018
The Irish Laser Nationals took place at Royal St George Yacht Club on 19th and 20th May. Lennon Racewear sponsored the event with a range of vouchers and kit. There was a fantastic turnout! We will post a summary of the event on our website.
Lennon Racewear Coniston Sailing Club Dinghy Regatta 26th to 28th May 2018
For the second year in a row, Lennon Racewear will sponsor the Coniston Dinghy Regatta. This is looking like it is going to be a very successful regatta! We are pleased to be able to sponsor this event again. Vouchers and kit will be awarded to the winners. A summary of the regatta will be posted on our website.
If you are organising an event and are interested in our sponsorship, please get in touch by contacting We are especially interested in sponsoring any up and coming youth events.
Our Sales
Original Thermalite DRYSYSTEM Tops and Long Johns
We still have a small stock of our original thermalite 2mm tops and long johns. These are currently on sale for just £108 for the tops and £120 for the long johns. This original DRYSYSTEM kit is great for most weather conditions.
"Amazingly warm, flexible and very effective against wind chill. The Velcro side tabs are a great touch as well."
"Great inside lining, really warm and dries super fast."
Sails for Sale
We currently have a B14 Mainsail for sale. It is unused but was slightly damaged in transit. If you are interested, please contact


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Using a controlled release melatonin supplement and a daytime nap can both lower blood pressure in the range of 5 to 7 points.
Foresthill, CA, Jan 19, 2017 — Using a controlled release melatonin supplement and a daytime nap can both lower blood pressure in the range of 5 to 7 points. Moving your sleeping room to the side of your home or apartment furthest from a busy road will lower your blood pressure further. These and other insights into connections between sleep and blood pressure are found in the book, "Thirty Days to Natural Blood Pressure Control." Authored by practicing clinicians (physicians David DeRose and Greg Steinke along with nurse practitioner Trudie Li), the book provides perhaps the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource available when it comes to non-drug high blood pressure strategies.
Get all of DeRose, Steinke and Li's 16 Tips for Better Sleep free of charge. Their free three-page table on sleep hygiene is available at: http://www.compasshealth.net/?page_id=562&preview=true. It's just one of over 100 figures, charts, and graphs found in "Thirty Days to Natural Blood Pressure Control." Download the free handout today–or pick up a copy of the book in its entirety at: https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Natural-Blood-PressureControl/dp/1942730020 .
For More Information Contact:
Sonja DeRose
CompassHealth Consulting, Inc
Foresthill, CA


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1966 Ford Mustang Fastback 2+2 289 4bbl factory AC red/black C Code VIDEOS
- Price: Ask a price!
- Condition: Used
- Item location: Quinton, Virginia, United States
- Make: Ford
- Model: Mustang
- Type: fastback
- Trim: fastback
- Year: 1966
- Mileage: 112,000
- Color: red
- Engine size: 289 4.7 4bbl
- Number of cylinders: 8
- Drive type: RWD
- Interior color: black
- Vehicle Title: Clear
Ford Mustang 1966 Description1966 Ford Mustang Fastback 2+2 in very nice driver condition!
Body 63A Color 5 Trim D6 Date 03L DSO 24 Axle 6 Trans 6
Very original condition, but obviously has been restored a couple times since 66. Originally a red/black car so it's correct there too.
Starts right up every time and drives reliably.
289 and Auto 4 speed (professionally rebuilt a couple years ago) 650 double pumper Holley carb and 4bbl intake.
Factory AC car (everything is there and looks great except the AC belt). Blower fans are still usable (just no ac without belt) HAS NOT been converted to r134.
start up and walk around video
Walk around video picking exterior apart
Cold Start Video
Interior video
I am the third owner. I bought it from the second owner that owned it for 36 years. Has always been garaged during last two owners (I cannot speak for the first owner, don't know him)
Painted recently (with $3500 receipt)
new brakes (hoses, wheel cylinders, hardware, E-brake hardware, etc), tune up parts (battery, plugs, points, condenser, rotor, cap, thermostat, coolant, oil, trans fluid,filter, etc).
Interior is very original and looks excellent. carpet is good shape and recently re-dyed, front and rear seats in great shape for age. This is not one of the ones full of plastic reproduction interior parts. The kick panels are not factory obviously because they are for speakers
Michelin tires
All lights work, horn, wipers, etc etc etc.
Has the modern functioning but factory looking radio unit installed and speakers on floor kick panels.
Body is in excellent shape, but not perfect. Paint is beautiful, but not perfect (couple very small bubbles on driver side and cracking just aft of the air vents in the usual spot).
Drives wonderfully. Shifts fine, brakes fine (original, not converted to discs), steers fine.
Original floorboards (passenger rear floorboard has a plate welded over it from underneath car to protect original floor that started rusting. Rest of floor has been treated and is doing very good ESPECIALLY for the age. The original red under spray is even all over the underside of the car to further prove the originality of the car.
Windshield has crack, rest of glass is excellent.
Body/paint has very minimal issues for a driver car.
VIN and Door Tag Decoder: Because car has been repainted 2 or 3 times, the stamped VIN on fender is quite hard to see at this point, but you can see the star and the last two digits and they are 53 which are the last two digits on VIN.
| 1966
| Metuchen, NJ
| 2+2 Fastback
| 289 2v V8
| 142253
| 2+2 Fastback, Standard Interior
| Signalflare Red
| Parchment Crinkle and Rosette Vinyl with Black, Standard Interior
| November 03, 1965
| Jacksonville
| 2.80:1, Conventional
|C4 Automatic


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In Past Tense is our series of articles in which GSMArena veterans take you on a nostalgia-infused ride through the years.
Hi, I'm Paul, the veteran here at GSMArena Towers and my journey takes us on a slightly longer track when compared to previous installments in this series.
Before owning my first mobile phone I had access to one through the UK company I worked for, and I've racked my brains, but for the life of me, I can't remember what make or model it was. What I do remember though is pranking my friends, I used to call them up while stood outside their house, pretending I was at home and then ringing their doorbell seconds after hanging up. Remember, this was in the late'80s when no-one had a mobile phone or YouTube – guess you had to be there.
To assist me in writing this article I jotted down all the phones I've previously owned to help map out my journey, so I'll take the opportunity to share an abridged version with you.
Abridged version of my phones and consumer electronics
It would be several years before I felt that I needed to own a mobile phone. In 1996, Nokia launched the Nokia 1610 (too old even for the GSMArena Database – come on guys), its second consumer-focused mobile phone after the Nokia 2010, and that's what I purchased.
The decision-making process? Well there wasn't one. I needed a phone and the Nokia made calls which was its 'killer app'. That was available in one color only, so that was that. No different to buying numerous other 'white' goods – pretty damn straightforward and now I was the proud owner of a stylish and cutting-edge mobile.
The surprise feature was the short message service (SMS) which I tried to use, but it was a one-way conversation due to several limitations. Initially, you could only send messages to other users on the same network; not all phones supported SMS – Nokia was one of the first; and typing out a message was painful as predictive text would come later. Fun fact – in 1995 users would average 0.4 messages per GSM customer per month!
Mobile phones were on the cusp of becoming fashion items at this juncture, but they were not quite there yet. And as they didn't have the mass of functionality that we've come to expect today, my selection criteria over the next few years were simple – to get the size and weight down. Within reason, as I'm a pretty brand loyal guy, and so my following few phones were all Nokias.
Nokia 1610 Nokia 6110 Nokia 8210
In the late 1990's Nokia pushed the mobile phone as fashion items, striving to make the 'ugly' external antenna a thing of the past and offering Xpress-on covers to change the color of the phone. Such was their conviction, Nokia collaborated with the Kenzo fashion house on the Nokia 8210 which launched during the Paris Fashion week in '99.
Pitched as a 'cool' consumer phone at the premium price of £250 and at 79 g (2.79 oz), the lightest in the Nokia range, it was perfect for me. Of course, given the size, there was the expected trade off on battery life offering circa 60% that of the Nokia 3310. With predictive text, suddenly composing an SMS became much more convenient and I remember particularly liking the ability to quickly switch between profiles to put the phone on vibrate when in meetings or make the ringer louder when in a bar.
At the time I purchased the Nokia 8210 I was using Palm's Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's) for holding my personal information. My one overriding thought at the time was 'I wish my Palm would ring' – I didn't want to carry two devices around with me.
In 2000 I was issued with the obligatory Nokia 6210 through work. You would go into a management meeting, and everyone would take out their mobiles – all Nokia 6210's – and place them on the table. Oh, the corporate life. The company even installed a cradle car kit in my car.
As this cradle only fitted the Nokia 6210 and its future siblings, I was tied in and upgraded to the Nokia 6310 followed by the Nokia 6310i. While not exciting or fashionable phones, they were bullet-proof and survived constant drops. During this time though I was still using the Nokia 8210 as my personal driver.
Nokia 6210 Nokia 6310 Nokia 6310i Nokia Car Kit
During this particular upgrade cycle Bluetooth appeared on the scene and I began experimenting with trying to sync devices via that. Yet, in the early days of Bluetooth, manufacturers had problems in making their devices compatible with one another, leaving me very frustrated.
In 2002 I thought I'd solved my problem of having one device when Sony Ericsson launched the pioneering P800. It adopted a cunning solution by combing a resistive touchscreen that was half covered with a flip-down keypad. When the keypad was up, the keys would press on the screen to operate in a more conventional feature phone manner. Flip the keypad down, and you had the whole 2.9″ color screen to interact with.
While this may have been the peak of technology back then, and I know many people have fond memories of this device – for me, it simply didn't work. It was a combination of many things, it just wasn't intuitive, and due to the nature of the resistive touchscreen, it took an effort to use. When the keypad was over the screen you had to press harder for a keypress to register so in 'feature phone' mode it frustrated.
Compared to the PDA's that I was using at this time, it felt too compromised. I endured it for a week and then sent it back. Looking back though, we mustn't lose sight of the influence that devices like that had on the tech landscape.
Sony Ericsson P800
Then in 2003, our son was born, and with him came every parent's overriding desire to photograph and video every waking, and sleeping moment of his existence. So we could make the most of this digital existence we jumped ship back to Apple Macs, specifically the newly announced 17″ sunflower iMac and a 17″ PowerBook.
1 week old and one of the many photos and videos we would go on to take
I mention the Macs because they largely influenced how I would pick my phones moving forward. Apple OS X (that's what macOS was known as back then) had a built-in syncing service/utility called, you guessed it, iSync. Enabling the syncing of data across multiple devices, while not without its issues, quickly improved over time further cementing the Mac as our digital hub.
Next up, the Sony Ericsson T610, which was for me the spiritual successor to my Nokia 8210. Near identical in height and width and only 1.6 millimeters thicker. Apart from the short-lived P800, this was my first long-term phone with a color screen. This was also the first phone that I used to access the internet via WAP and Email.
While usable, the speed limitations ensured that I rarely used these except in circumstances where the phone was the only device I had, even then I can remember often giving up halfway through.
17″ G4 iMac Apple iSync Sony Ericsson T610
Importantly, it synced flawlessly with the Mac via iSync as mentioned earlier. I also used a utility from Salling Software called Salling Clicker, which allowed me to control our Macs from the phone. I used it to control both my laptop for Keynote/PowerPoint presentations and when at home with iTunes that held our entire music collection on the iMac that I'd plumbed into the ceiling mounted speakers around the house.
Time to get emotional
Up to this point, my phone selection was based purely on cold specs, no phones up to this point had elicited an emotional response. That was about to change.
Motorola announced the RAZR V3 and wowed me. Quoting Wayne's World – 'It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine.' This was the first phone that I'd buy off contract at £500, I wanted, no, needed it that much.
The use of aircraft grade aluminum felt great, immediately making this stand out from the crowd and when opened the backlit keys combined with the 2.2″ TFT screen made this feel like a phone from the future. It became a sure thing once I discovered that it would fit right into my Apple eco-system. I connected the RAZR to the Mac via Bluetooth, and everything was squirted down. Also, the launch models came in an aluminum presentation box with a leather case and all the accessories you could ask for. Being honest, the user interface was poor, but I endured for those looks alone.
Motorola RAZR V3 Aluminum packaging for the RAZR V3
When I made the switch to digital photography, I adopted the Minolta Dimage X. Like the RAZR it was clad in aluminum and featured an internal telescopic lens in a periscope arrangement, very cool and very small. This was, in addition, the Panasonic GS5 camcorder that we used for video. Therefore when the Minolta Dimage Xt came along, I immediately upgraded, giving me a whole 3.2 megapixels to play within the same compact body.
I mention the cameras since when in 2006 Sony Ericcson launched the K800i with a 3.15 megapixel camera I immediately went out and purchased one, one less thing to carry around on family trips. While I tried to use the K800i as my daily driver, I wasn't that happy with the size or the picture quality when compared to the Dimage Xt, and so I often found myself swapping my SIM card back into the RAZR.
Sony Ericsson K800
Sticking with my preferred small phone size and flip phone format, I then purchased the RAZR2 V8. Yes, the camera was not good, but at this point, my digital camera was a Fuji Finepix F40d, and no phone came even close.
For me, the milestone with the RAZR2 was that I could play, albeit a small selection of, music on it. It didn't sound as good as my 4th Generation iPod at the time but nonetheless it meant that I left my iPod at home on more occasions.
Motorola RAZR2 V8
The iPhone era
Being the Apple fanboy I was, in 2007 at Macworld when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, I knew that at one point I would own one, but not this one. The 2 megapixel camera certainly didn't impress, iOS (it wasn't called that originally) while accomplished, lacked several key features (for example MMS) and the lack of 3G was a dealbreaker for me. However, I did get a significant amount of hands-on experience with the first generation iPhone as my wife purchased one immediately for her business.
Up until this juncture I had tried to merge many of my consumer electronic items and failed. So here I was in 2008 actively using;
- Motorola RAZR2 V8
- Apple 4th Generation iPod
- Sony PSP – 'backed up' my DVD's to play when traveling or holiday
- Nikon D300 DSLR camera
- FUJIFILM FinePix F40fd for stills and video
- TomTom Sat Nav
And while all the above integrated perfectly with the Mac I still longed for the day when the humble phone would consign some of these items to the history books.
Hence, I found myself queuing outside an O2 store waiting to pick up a 16GB iPhone 3G that I'd reserved, with that same excitement that I felt when I purchased the first Motorola RAZR.
Yes, the design was 'muted' with its black plastic back when compared to my wives original aluminum-clad iPhone, but non the less it was a joy to use as it got so much right. Literally, overnight, I was using my iPod and PSP significantly less as I could now have a meaningful amount of my music and media on the one device.
Visual Voicemail was a game changer, and I'm still surprised that all carriers didn't invested to support it – a sign that 'making calls' seems to no longer be the killer feature it once was. The same can be applied to VoLTE, Wi-Fi calling and more recently Voicemail transcription services.
My first iPhone – the iPhone 3G Visual Voicemail today and Transcription in iOS
And so somewhat predictably, I plunged further into the Apple eco-system (From iTools in 2003 through to iCloud today) and future iDevices. I had managed through luck to get a phone tariff with unlimited everything at a great price. So from that point onwards I would buy my iPhones outright, cascade my old one to my son and sell his – and so the cycle went.
As I enjoy consuming media, the last thing I wanted was white bezels to detract from the overall experiences (personal thing and maybe one for a Sunday Debate). For me, bezels should blend in and not stand out, hence why every iPhone I've ever purchased was either space gray or black.
Apple iPhone 4 Apple iPhone 4s Apple iPhone 5 Apple iPhone 5s
Career wise, I designed and manufactured interactive touchscreen systems and digital signage. With the advent of the iPhone and the subsequent release of Android, both Apple and Google were, in effect, training users how to use touchscreens.
Hence I had to ensure that we didn't go against what the populace was becoming accustomed to and where possible stand on their shoulders. To aid in my understanding, this resulted in me purchasing my first Android phone in 2010 – the original HTC Desire.
HTC Desire
The HTC Desire's build quality was left wanting when compared to the iPhone 4's glass and metal construction, but for a predominantly plastic construction, it still impressed. You could expand its storage via microSD cards (still grates me that Apple charges so much for storage) and its screen quality with its AMOLED display, even with its lower pixel count, was mightily impressive even compared to the iPhone 4's Retina Display. Android was a refreshing alternative to iOS with its home screen widgets and more open/flexible approach.
Jumping ahead, by the time I had the iPhone 5s in my hands, I had attuned myself to Apple's tick-tock design cycle. An entirely new design every two years with what amounted to an internal upgrade in between. That was about to change though with the introduction of the iPhone 6.
I had to choose what size phone I wanted, the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. It was a considered choice. I'm not a small guy but the larger screened devices at the time seemed, well, just too big. Carrying a larger phone around in a suit jacket pocket also didn't appeal. Technically, the larger iPhone 6 Plus had Optical Image Stabilization and a more significant battery. I played it safe and went with the iPhone 6 and didn't regret it.
The iPhone 6 also introduced Apple Pay. While it took a while to get fully supported by my UK bank, once available I quickly adapted to not having to take my wallet with me everywhere – especially in coffeshops and bars.
When the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were announced I found that I had to use reading glasses more often than not so the larger screen appealed, and the iPhone 6s Plus it was.
Apple iPhone 6 Apple iPhone 6s Plus Apple iPhone 8 Plus
I skipped the iPhone 7 completely. Nothing new design wise and the performance of the iPhone 6s Plus (CPU throttling aside) was good enough. When at home, 99% of the time I use an iPad.
Everyone assumed that when the iPhone X came out, I'd hop aboard. I've covered some of my reasons here, but suffice to say it's not for me.
The money I saved not going with the iPhone X went towards upgrading to a 256GB iPhone 8 Plus and being honest, if it wasn't for work, I may well have stuck with my iPhone 6s Plus (with £29 battery replacement) running iOS 11 for a while longer.
Miscellaneous phones
Throughout the years I've procured numerous phones for very specific niche reasons without caring what eco-system they operate in. There was a time when every weekend I'd be out in the great outdoors, and I wanted a more rugged phone – step up the new at the time Nokia 5100. Other times, I would use a more cost-effective phone for use in the gym to log my workouts, early Motorola G & E series.
Nokia 5100 Motorola Moto E Motorola Moto G 4G
What's next?
Looking back, not only has the smartphone consolidated many of those consumer electronic devices that I used to lug around but it has enabled so much more. I currently wear a Garmin Fenix 5 watch which is made all the more accessible and configurable through my smartphone. I can stream music either via Bluetooth or AirPlay to various speakers in every room in the house and automate my home. All cost-effectively and simplistically.
So there you have it, an abridged version of my phone history. In the last ten years, purchasing iPhones was a given, plus it helped that I was getting a reliable OS combined with great hardware and design. I don't feel that will be the case for my next phone though. iOS is no longer the shining light it once was (iOS 11 has underwhelmed) and we're awash with phones manufactured to the same quality as iDevices, with many even exceeding them.
The only thing that stops me 'switching' to my two preferred Android phones, the Samsung Galaxy S9+ or Pixel 2 XL, is my aforementioned tie-in to Apple's services and eco-system. We have an Apple Music Family Plan and the last time I checked, Apple Music on Android was poor – intentionally perhaps?
We use 'Find My Friends' exhaustively, and while my iTunes movie purchases are predominantly watched via the Apple TV, I'd no longer be able to view them on my phone. While sharing photos and other stuff between us is made accessible via airdrop and sharing Apple photo albums.
So for the here and now, Apple it is and I'm reserving judgment until the 2018 iPhones are announced. In the background, I'll be devoting more time looking into workarounds for the above and convincing the rest of the family to use them, just in time for Andy Rubin to launch the Essential 2 perhaps.
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The Universe as Code - What Programming Can Teach us about Maths, Science and Philosophy.
The topic for 'DevOpsDays' is 'Everything as code'. You can't get more 'everything' than the universe! In this presentation I'm going to step away from containers, orchestration and servers to talk about what programming can teach us about maths, science and philosophy. This presentation probably isn't going to help you build or manage systems, but it should excite and interest those who are curious about the big questions!
DevOpsDays always has a lot of technical topics, which is great for the audience. But it can be nice to mix in some more esoteric stuff. In this presentation I create a small universe as code, and describe what it is that we learn from building a simple system like this. No academic background is required, but I will take the audience on a quick tour of some of the fascinating topics that this system touches on, from the Theory of Everything, to Chaos Theory, Logic and Godel's Theorem.
While this talk will not teach any technical skills, I think it will thought provoking and interesting to the audience, and might provide an interesting change of pace from the more practical topics.View full program


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Dancers from Playhouse on Vimeo.
We will turn Dublin's tallest building into a giant public canvas—and we want you to play with it. Our simple tools allow you to animate your thoughts and broadcast them on the city skyline.
Submit your animations from 24th August!
Playhouse is presented by Daft.ie as part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival.
Website: Playhouse


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A large display of fresh flowers is a wonderful centerpiece, especially during the spring when we are all starting to look for pops of color after a grey winter. You can choose any kind of flowers to make your center piece, but I suspect that none of them will look quite as impressive as an edible flower, which is essentially what Nordic Ware's Blossom Bundt Pan is. This bundt pan is covered with a tremendous number of tiny flower petals that make it look a bit like a round, blooming dahlia. The pan itself is so pretty that you almost don't need to do anything but put it on display – but fortunately, it bakes a cake that is equally impressive when it comes out, so you won't be too tempted to buy this pan and simply store it without putting it to good use!
The heavy duty pan is made of cast aluminum for even baking and browning, and it has a nonstick finish to ensure that you get a clean release when baking. Pans like this have so much detail that it is usually safest to lightly grease the pan before pouring in your batter, rather than relying on the nonstick coating, just in case part of the cake gets stuck in one of the petals. You want to ensure that your flower looks flawless when you've finished, not like someone tried to pluck a few petals from it.


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By: Jeff Bartholomew April 30, 2020 – Denver, CO FTC Settles Enforcement Action Against Online Marketer of Teas and Skincare Products and Sends Warning Letters to Influencers over Misleading Endorsements On March 5, the Federal Trade Commission (the...
Daniel R. Christopher
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Of Counsel
Daniel R. Christopher
Of Counsel
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Christopher had served as a Denver Deputy District Attorney, an Assistant United State Attorney for the Federal District of Colorado and a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado. During his tenure at the District Attorney's Office he was appointed as a Special Prosecutor for police corruption in another jurisdiction and handled a stat Grand Jury investigation. He was appointed as a Special Assistant United States Attorney to defend Federal Agents in a major case. He served as a partner at the law firm of Kennedy and Christopher, P.C. While in private practice he represented dentists, physicians and hospitals in malpractice cases and before regulatory agencies. He accepted a position as in house corporate counsel for ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers and was responsible for all regulatory issues as well as representing each specialist Doctor.
After returning to private practice, he defended and advised dentists, hospitals and other healthcare professionals in jury trials and before regulatory agencies. He developed risk management healthcare protocols, dental office practice sale contracts, governmental compliance programs, manuals, as well as handling the defense of employment complaints on behalf of dental professionals. He has handled defense of alleged civil rights violations for police departments, Federal law enforcement and Health Care Institutions. Consequently, Mr. Christopher has been continuously involved in litigation matters and advising dental medicine practitioners for over twenty years. He was appointed by then City Attorney J. Wallace Wortham to defend Denver Police officers in civil suits. He was a Special Assistant Attorney General to the State of Colorado representing the University of Colorado from 1993 to the present.
Areas of Practice:
Mr. Christopher has been elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates, by his colleagues to Super Lawyers, and has maintained his top AV rating. He has never had a complaint filed against him with any Bar to which he is admitted. He has been elected by his peers to "Denver's Best Lawyers in Healthcare Law" and to America's Top 100 Lawyers in Health Care litigation. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Faculty of Federal Advocates for the Federal District of Colorado, and as President of the Colorado Defense Lawyers Association. He has lectured extensively on dental/medicine legal subjects. He holds degrees from the University of Colorado, Idaho University (MBA) and his JD. from the University of Denver.


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2018 Chrysler 300 Near Richmond
"Bold American style in a big, quiet sedan sounds like a tall order, but it's all there in the 2018 Chrysler 300." – Edmunds
From the 8-speed automatic transmission to the 4-wheel independent performance suspension, the 2018 Chrysler 300 is sure to thrill Richmond area drivers looking for a fun and luxurious ride.
- Standard 3.6-Liter V6 24-Valve VVT Engine
- Conventional Differential Rear Axle
- Available 5.7L HEMI V8 engine with 363 horsepower
- Electric Power Steering
Looking for a car that packs just as much style as it does strength? The 2018 Chrysler 300 rolls up in class. With available 20-inch x 8.0-inch Aluminum Hyper Black Wheels and available Adaptive High-Intensity Discharge Headlamps, the Chrysler 300 is the tall, dark and mysterious luxury sedan you've been waiting for. Can't wait to get out on the roads dressed to impress? Check out our current Chrysler 300 incentives and see how you could be driving off in style today.
- Platinum chrome finish on the grille surround of the 300C
- Led Fog Lamps on 300S
- Bright Chrome Wing Badge on 300S
- 14 interiors to choose from
We at Safford Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Fredericksburg know that Richmond area drivers need a car that's up to date when it comes to technological advancements. From the 8.4-inch Touchscreen Display to the available Apple CarPlay and/or Android Auto, the Chrysler 300 is here to satisfy your tech needs.
- Steering Wheel Mounted Audio Controls
- Uconnect 4C
- Available BeatsAudio Premium Sound System
- Entertainment and Media Hub
Safety should always come first. The Chrysler 300 is stocked with all safety features you need to feel protected. Active Head Restraints, available Rear Cross Path Detection, and All-Speed Traction Control don't even scratch away at the surface of all the safety features the 300 has to offer.
- Available LaneSense Lane Departure Warning
- Advanced Brake Assist
- Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop
- Available Full-Speed Forward Collision Warning with Active Braking
For more information about the 2018 Chrysler 300, contact Safford Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Fredericksburg at 540-898-7200 to schedule a test drive.


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You could say that Jane Austen (1775-1817) is on a roll.
All six of her novels are still in print, including translations in more than a dozen languages. Adaptations of them regularly pop up on TV's "Masterpiece Theater." Nine films have been based on her books. Recent mashup versions of her work have involved zombies and vampires.
Janeites -- fans who exhibit an idolatrous enthusiasm for her writings and her life -- are delighted by it all.
In 1936, A.A. Milne wrote a dramatic stage adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice." That novel became a 1959 Broadway musical.
Jon Jory again adapted "Pride and Prejudice" for the stage four years ago, and it's now onstage at the Erie Playhouse. Jory has done an admirable job that holds great appeal, even for those who may have only a nodding acquaintance with Austen.
Director Almitra Clerkin's capable cast exhibits a uniform affinity for Austen's attitudes toward class, courtship, money, and love -- all of which are inextricably intertwined in the novel. Not one performer can be said to have wandered in from another play in this remarkably cohesive show.
The book and the play are filled with plots and subplots. At the center are middle-class Elizabeth "Lizzy" Bennet and upper-class Mr. Darcy, both of whom manifest strong traces of pride and prejudice.
At age 20, she is the second daughter of Mr. Bennet (a very likable Michael Burns) and Mrs. Bennet (a humorously scatterbrained Sue Ellen Wojciechowski), who have five daughters of varying sensibilities.
Lizzy is lively, witty, and intelligent, but she is too prone to make judgments based on "first impressions" -- Austen's original title for the novel. She's played by a sprightly Claire Curtis-Ward, a London native who is visiting our town and easily wins over the audience.
Chris Dearbeck plays the 28-year-old Mr. Darcy with every necessary bit of aloofness born from his excessive regard for social status. He isn't easily liked until his generous spirit is eventually revealed.
Playing the eldest daughter, Jane, is a sweet but too-trusting Amanda Hurd. Maggie Hoag is Lydia, the youngest daughter, a frivolous flirt whose naive involvement with the duplicitous and superficially charming Lt. Wickham (nicely done by Chris Watson) brings potential scandal to the Bennet family.
In lesser roles, Renee Tellers McGill and Mimi Ace add color and variety in their portrayals of the two remaining sisters, Mary and Kitty.
Carolin Lynn reveals considerable candor in her portrayal of Charlotte Lucas, Lizzy's best friend. She marries the pompous cleric, Mr. Collins (Eddie Baxter), for money and isn't afraid to say so.
Evan O'Polka brings a "lite" version of Mr. Darcy to his role as Mr. Bingley, while Betsy Butoryak happily chews the scenery as Darcy's aunt, the rude and imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
The clever and visually striking set design by Joe Hassler consists almost exclusively of a number of large gilt portrait frames -- into and out of which the characters move -- against a black background. The novel's frequent scene changes are smoothly achieved with rapid placements of furniture needed to suggest those changes.
There aren't enough superlatives to describe the impeccable costume design by Mary Rose Ferrara.
This brilliant stage adaptation must be commended for the pains it takes to remain true to the wit, ironies, and social critique of its source material. When it's performed as it is at the Playhouse, it's made even more brilliant.


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- This event has passed.
Pop-Up Workshop: Nature Rocks! featuring JMU Geology Club
April 16, 2019 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
We all have our faults, but not the Geology Club! Come learn about geology and make fun gear for the outdoors at this one time pop-up. You will be able to design your own hat and drawstring bag, as well as make a strap for your water bottle! Questions? Email j[email protected].
Pop-Ups are free, non-credit classes for students, faculty, and community members. Taught three times a week by JMU X-Labs staff, JMU students, and community experts, these make-and-take classes are an opportunity to try a new skill, practice using equipment, and have fun. Past topics have included laser cut jewelry, DIY planters, drone quidditch, laptop stickers, LED programming, beer brewing, liquid nitrogen ice cream, glass etching, and more!
If you register for this event and are no longer able to attend, please email [email protected] or cancel your Eventbrite ticket ASAP. We have limited capacity and long waitlist, so please be courteous and let others take your place if you can no longer go.
If you are registered and do not attend, you will not be able to sign up for another Pop-Up for the rest of the academic year. If you have any questions about this policy, please email us at [email protected].
JMU X-Labs abides by parking regulations set by JMU Parking Services. JMU faculty and staff with purple passes are permitted to park in L lot (out front of Lakeview Hall). JMU students with commuter passes are permitted to park in L lot only after 4pm. Otherwise, students with permits should park in the R2 lot across the street from Starbucks.
If you are a community member with no JMU parking pass, please email us at [email protected] with your name, license plate number and license plate state so we may secure a parking pass for your visit. If you register for an event that is less than 24 hours away, please plan to visit JMU Parking Services at the bottom of the Champion Parking Deck next to Bridgeforth Stadium to secure a temporary visitors pass before parking on JMU's campus.


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I would be talking to kids aged eight to ten who can easily understand the four-colour printing process, the way the pages are laid out on the page (imposition), and the way the huge pages are folded into sections (signatures), so all I needed were some nifty, colourful slides and a few anecdotes of how my own book was printed.
I had a group of kids of random ages. And almost as many adults.
Would any of the parents be graphic designers, printers or publishers? Hmmm, I tried not to think about it.
Then I realised that with several very little ones in the audience I'd have to race through my powerpoint and get to the hands-on bit pretty smartish ... or I'd risk people just walking out.
Of course, I had loads of props. I had a wooden block to show that printing was basically "pressing something with inky onto something papery" and I even did a quick demonstration of how the image will be reversed when it's printed, so you need to 'offset' it onto another surface to get the image the right way round. It's called 'offset printing' after all. That's pretty technical for me, and I felt happy when one or two of the dads nodded as I waved my inky fingers and the piece of paper in the air.
Oh dear, was I making a fool of myself?
No! Definitely not. There were kids at the session who had been at the Dragon Mask Making craft session that morning. They were hooked.
I asked my lovely helpers to hand out sheets of A4. (As seen below, dressed for the occasion.)
Originally I had planned to just talk around the subject, so I hadn't really thought through a hands-on activity, but for someone brought up on hands-on activities, via BBC's ground-breaking Blue Peter programmes, I had no excuse. None at all. And my primary school teacher, Miss Muffett, would be proud of me.
Now, I told the children, we fold the sheet up and we number the pages, and when we unfold it, we have a strange order - like this:
Thank heavens for nerdy dads and kids who love numbers, I thought as my willing audience began folding and numbering. The father in the photo above was obviously totally absorbed. His daughter could well have been asleep, or cross-eyed trying to see what Daddy was doing. Some of the kids got stuck in, writing a story.
Yeah! I had got through to them! A few asked politely whether they could use pencils or crayons. And the boys who had been at my mask-making session stayed right to the end. Along with a girl of about seven who was in tears, as she'd made a mistake, and wanted to rewrite her story! I wonder how long her parents had to wait before she was ready to leave.


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Magical, mythical, long secret, The Wave is a natural site of exceptional beauty. Shaped by the wind like waves, this treasure of the American West is extremely fragile and with limited access.
Access to Wire Pass (parking The Wave) is via the track House Rock Valley Road on U.S. Highway 89, 38 miles/61 km from Kanab and 35 miles/56 km from Page. The beginning of the trail is located in a hairpin turn, heading south. You must then run 8.5 miles/13 km further (about 30 minutes) to reach the parking lot.
This track is crossed by the river bed. In dry weather, the passage is easily with any type of vehicle but a 4×4 will be required after a rainfall event. Learn well from the Visitor Center on the state of the runway before take.
There is no public transport serving the site.
It is abrasion more friable portions of sandstone rock types (sandstone) which generated cross erosions which forms lamellae. Some microbes brought by the winds came to be erected on these strips and the rocks are colorized differently.
To enjoy better brightness, hiking (6 miles/9.6 km return, about 3 hours) is best done in the morning to get to The Wave between 11 h 00 and 13 h 00. Take your time on the way to go as the brightness of the morning is much more interesting. You'll see beautiful rock formations colors from extremely varied forms.
Final recommendations
If weather conditions are unfavorable (eg, if the access road is impassable D-Day), you can request a raincheck (which is good for a valid license delayed for 1 month from that day).
It is a hike orientation. The Visitor Center distributes the happy owners of valuable permits one showing the various crossings because the ride is not marked (no panel, no cairns).
Once parking on Wire Pass, do not forget to catch the first part of your license to your backpack, put the second part of the license behind the windshield of your car, and provide for the long sunny hike a good amount of water, about 4 liters per person, because several hours of hiking await you!
Exit the car park towards the east along the wash of Buckskin Gulch on approximately 800 meters (10 minutes). You will see a path that climbs to the right. Here begins the protected area of Coyote Buttes North which is located in The Wave. Do not forget to register on the damper installed at the trailhead.
I hope you liked my advices. Don't forget to take a glance on the incredible photo gallery!


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90di.com, the site which i reviewed yesterday and really liked, can be an inspiration to many others out there and so it did make me contact them and ask for an interview, which can talk more about them. Here is an interview with the co-founder of 90di – Abhinit Kumar!
When did 90di start and who all were behind it?
90di was founded in may 2007, and we released our first beta version in September 2007. it was co-founded by 3 ex Infosys employees Khushnood Naqvi, Kiran MS and Abhinit Kumar. So its 2 years now since our first release.
Ok, so you guys left the job or had just planned and worked on 90di with job still being your primary status?
Khushnood left first and he did some ground work, but actual work started only after all of us left our jobs. And we started coding from our first day in office.
What few things keep 90di stand out from those many travel search portals in India?
The first thing is coverage. We cover all Indian cities, small and big, and all travel modes which include, train bus and flight.
We were the first travel website to do mixed mode routing in India apart from showing train combinations. We showed routes involving a flight journey and a train journey. Another thing which we did was natural language search, where users can type their search queries in simple small sentences, and using our custom made NLP engine we interpreted the queries.
Another thing we work closely on is quality of data we show, we put lot of effort to make sure that we show correct and best fares, which we think will help us in getting user acceptance in long run.
How did you start out with it, like what plans you had in the beginning?
We wanted to do something unique and new. We wanted to solve a pain point for our users, so we shortlisted on some ideas and we though train + flight routing and train combination routing is the right thing to do. So we went ahead with travel meta search idea.
With the rise of some new startups everyday, do you think 90di will be able to maintain its position as one of the best?
If we are able to keep innovating and keep focus we can maintain our position. Its a big challenge and we are up to it.
How did you get inspired to make something of this kind?
Inspiration came from within. It was about wanting to do something unique and different. Start up needs lot of self motivation to keep you going. There are hurdles all the time. So you need tons of self belief and motivation.
Have you set something that can make people help in making 90di better with the search results?
We have given special focus to user feedback and opinions from start. Every feedback or criticism we get, we take it very seriously. Apart from general feedback about our website we ask user opinion about every search we do. We have given users the option of disagreeing with our route rankings.
One fact about Indian internet usage is the slow connections. Do you think Java functionality will be a hit for slow internet speed?
That's a good question and very valid concern. Internet is moving towards rich clients. But still in small Indian cities people use dial up Internet connection. So we have a low bandwidth version of our website where people can access basic functionalities of our website even from dial up connections. Similarly we have a super light mobile friendly version for people using our site from mobile browsers.
Ok, good to know that you have planned out everything for people from every part of the country, similarly can you explain something about the email search which i could not clearly understand?
Email search lets users search, when you have a email access but no Internet access. This situation is very common in many corporates, where people have official email access but no Internet access. It also helps you get the search results in your inbox so that you can review them later.
How many people are currently working on the site, and do you have any future plans to increase the workship?
Currently we are three people. As of now we do not have immediate plans for expansion.
What are you concentrating more on to provide for users? Travel or accommodation? And which is more searched for in 90di?
As of now we do not have hotel search facility on our website. It is one of the things which we may do in future.
What are your plans on monetizing the site? Do we see some memberships and fees in near future?
We do not have any plans for charging our users. Our model is based on referral. We provide quality leads directly to airlines and bus booking websites. So for each successful booking we get a referral.
I got to know about you guys through Twitter! That shows you are trying to spread yourself through networking(or is it just me?), where else are you promoting yourself to gain the user base?
We consider social media as a good medium to connect with our users. This is one of our focus areas. We also rely heavily on word of mouth to spread the word about us. And of course on bloggers like you. 🙂
Will you limit yourself for travel or have any other plan for another start up in the near future?
As of now we are focused only on travel. We want to expand our services to cover more aspects of travel.
Lastly, do you have anything else to let our readers know about the start up?
Start up is a journey rather than a result. You need lot of focus to do a start up. There are small problems every week and major obstacles every month. One needs to stay focused and keep trying. Also as a start up you have to be ready for change always. Nobody can guess user behavior accurately. So one needs to look for user behavior continuously and keep changing according to that.
Thanks a lot Abhinit for the interview and taking out time to share the knowledge about the startup with the readers!


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The Most Dangerous Men
When it comes to American Horror Story it is obvious who plays the psycho. Evan Peters is the best actor for this part. Cruel yet convincing, manipulative but sweet. It's never easy to hate his characters – Evan makes them so human and charming that I end up rooting for the bad guy and ignoring him hurting others.
There must be something innate about him. All of his characters seem emotional, sensitive, smart, charming and very very handsome. They're all evil, rash, twisted, wicked and not sincere as well, but it makes them only more interesting. Soothing voice, great sense of humor and deep dark brown eyes are just a few features Evan Peters brings to the screen that makes his psychos so adorable. Even with weird looking bright blue hair, he's still amazing.
In AHS: Cult he's a vengeful asshole who picks out hurt, desperate and humiliated people to work with him on a devilish plan to murder innocent people in a peaceful neighborhood and spread fear across the country.
In this video, I created my own alternate story using footage from AHS: Cult, AHS: Roanoke and Scream Queens. Here I focused on a fictional personal vendetta that Kai Andersen (act. Evan Peters) has against his ex-fiance. I think it was that "steamy" bathtub scene that inspired me…


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Straight sleeves with no cuff. The exposed neck button draws the eye to the raised collar and provides a nice contrast with the hidden breast buttons. A fine linen weave with a worldly style. Wherever you wander on the big blue marble, this shirt will fit. 100% linen.