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The Real Conjecture of Hartmanis
Realtime computation and algebraic numbers
Juris Hartmanis is one of the founders of the entire field of Computational Complexity Theory. His early work with Richard Stearns was recognized by the ACM with the prestigious Turing Award in 1993. Besides his seminal results on complexity theory, he also made at least three major conjectures that have helped shape the field. One conjecture concerns an simple but appealing problem about what real numbers Turing Machines can recognize in "real time". His other conjectures are perhaps better known, but for today's post we will discuss this one. I like it because it is so fundamental, it is simple to state, is related to interesting mathematics, and remains wide open. I hope that we might be able to push back the curtain on this problem in the future. We will see.
Real numbers fall into two basic categories. Every real numbers is either an algebraic number or a transcendental number. The former are called algebraic since they satisfy some equation over the integers. Thus, is algebraic since it is a root of the equation . The latter, the transcendental numbers, are those that are not the roots of any equation. Thus, famous examples of transcendental numbers include and . Note, that rational numbers are contained in the category of algebraic numbers: a rational number satisfies the trivial equation: .
Every rational number has an eventually periodic decimal expression. (Actually this works for any radix, but let's stay with decimal today.) Thus,
is a rational number. From a complexity point of view this means that recognizing such a number is easy. Note, for every rational number there is a finite state automata that can recognize exactly the decimal expansion of the number.
Every transcendental number is of course not eventually periodic. The curious point is that some, not all, of the transcendental numbers are also extremely easy to recognize. This was first proved in in 1844 by Joseph Liouville. He showed that a certain class of real numbers is transcendental. These numbers are now named in his honor. A Liouville number is a real number that can be extremely well approximated by rational numbers. More precisely, for any natural number , there are integers and with and such that
His most famous example is:
It easy to prove that is a Loiuville number, and hence is transcendental. This number is
is known as Loiuville's constant: he got this also named after him. The reason that these numbers are so easy to recognize is that all we need to do is count the number of 's between the 's.
The Conjecture
Hartmanis beautiful conjecture is that roughly this is all that can happen. If a number is easy to recognize, in a way to be made precise shortly, then it must be either rational or transcendental. It cannot be a proper algebraic number. This remains completely wide open.
The key is the notion of what it means to be "easy to recognize". The formal notion is based on the notion of a real-time Turing Machine. A real number is computable in real-time if there is a multi-tape Turing machine that recognizes each digit in constant time. Thus, the digit is recognized at time . Note, we insist that a stronger constraint is used: the gap between generating each digit is absolutely bounded by a constant .
A Partial Result
I once worked on this problem, but got a very weak result. Since there seems to be nothing really known about the problem still I thought I would share the idea with you. Suppose that is a real number in the interval . Let be the set of all prefixes of this number: thus contains exactly for each . Then, if a restricted Turing Machine accepted , could we prove that was either rationale or transcendental?
If was accepted by a finite state automata or even a pushdown automata, then it is easy to prove that is rational. These proofs use the famous "pumping lemma" of language theory.
I also considered a much stronger type of machine called a stack automata. These machines have one tape that they can use as a stack. A stack is like a pushdown but has the additional power that the contents of the stack can be read without being popped off. Thus, a stack has a head that can go into the stack and read. However, they can only write or erase at the top of the stack. These stack machines are much more powerful then pushdown automata.
For these machines I could prove that any real number they recognize must be a rational number. The proof is not hard but relies on an old but complex generalization of the famous pumping lemma for pushdown automata. In particular it uses the Intercalation theorems for stack automata proved by William Ogden in 1969. I will not state this theorem: it is essentially the classic pumping lemma on anabolic steroids. The name "Intercalation" comes from the fact that the theorem adds strings to strings already known to be accepted by a stack automata. Google says that "intercalation" is the insertion of a leap day, week or month into some calendar years to make the calendar follow the seasons or moon phases. Don't blame me–Ogden selected the name. By the way his paper appeared in the first annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing conference. Pretty cool.
Open Problems
Clearly, the main question is to prove or disprove the conjecture. What is the next class that can be studied after those numbers recognized by stack automata? Perhaps there is a clever algebraic number that we can construct that is easy to recognize. Or perhaps we can show that the real-time restriction forces the number to have some special property, a property that forces the number to not be properly algebraic. Either way a solution to this problem would shed light both on computation and on number theory.
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Narad Rampersad permalinkMarch 22, 2009 11:56 am
A related result which may be of interest concerns real numbers with a so-called "automatic" decimal expansion. In the late 60's / early 70's, Cobham studied the following model of computing real numbers with finite automata. Suppose we have a deterministic finite automaton M where we have associated to each state q an output t(q). Then a sequence (a_n)_{n>=0} is "k-automatic" if there is such an automaton M that, given n in base k as input, reaches state q after reading n and outputs t(q) = a_n. That is, the n-th term of the sequence is output by the automaton M when M is fed with n in base k as input. Remarkably, Adamczewski, Bugeaud, and Luca have recently proved that any real number whose decimal expansion is k-automatic is either rational or transcendental. The proof uses some deep machinery from the theory of diophantine approximation. The original proof in French is here; an English version is here.
Hajduk permalinkAugust 12, 2010 4:03 am
What do you mean by a number being accepted by a finite automaton? I guess you take use of a Büchi-automaton since the strings corresponding to the numbers will be infinite in general. If this guess is right, do you use an analogous approach if you are talking about pushdown automata?
Anonymous permalinkSeptember 23, 2010 4:20 am
just a little test comment. Can be safely removed…


text: A new Request for Comments is now available in online RFC libraries. RFC 6876 Title: A Posture Transport Protocol over TLS (PT-TLS) Author: P. Sangster, N. Cam-Winget, J. Salowey Status: Standards Track Stream: IETF Date: February 2013 Mailbox: paul_sangster at symantec.com, ncamwing at cisco.com, jsalowey at cisco.com Pages: 44 Characters: 109852 Updates/Obsoletes/SeeAlso: None I-D Tag: draft-ietf-nea-pt-tls-08.txt URL: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6876.txt This document specifies PT-TLS, a TLS-based Posture Transport (PT) protocol. The PT-TLS protocol carries the Network Endpoint Assessment (NEA) message exchange under the protection of a Transport Layer Security (TLS) secured tunnel. This document is a product of the Network Endpoint Assessment Working Group of the IETF. This is now a Proposed Standard. STANDARDS TRACK: This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community,and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the Internet Official Protocol Standards (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. This announcement is sent to the IETF-Announce and rfc-dist lists. To subscribe or unsubscribe, see http://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf-announce http://mailman.rfc-editor.org/mailman/listinfo/rfc-dist For searching the RFC series, see http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfcsearch.html. For downloading RFCs, see http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc.html. Requests for special distribution should be addressed to either the author of the RFC in question, or to rfc-editor at rfc-editor.org. Unless specifically noted otherwise on the RFC itself, all RFCs are for unlimited distribution. The RFC Editor Team Association Management Solutions, LLC

subset: commoncrawl


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Moving marketing into the future
Marketing is at a crossroads. The rise of digital and mobile is providing the ability to get even closer to customers and deliver experiences that meet their needs. But like every change, it can be daunting. The discipline of marketing is moving fast and that means learning new skills and techniques to reach customers. Today's marketer has to combine being a (big) data scientist and a technologist that can create and run web, mobile and social media campaigns with the more traditional skills of understanding customers and creating compelling propositions to reach them.
Luckily of course, being marketing, there are no shortage of gurus and conferences available to advise on how marketers can make the move to embrace digital. Unfortunately many of them may be well-marketed but are short on actionable content for the majority of businesses. After all it is no point seeing what someone achieved with a multi-million pound budget when you are scrabbling around down the back of the marketing sofa for loose change to pay for your new Facebook campaign.
That's where the forthcoming Another Marketing Conference (25 June 2013 at the Junction in Cambridge) comes in. Designed to help marketers innovate, it features inspiring speakers and a chance to network with peers in great surroundings. I attended last year's and found it a refreshing mix of interesting presentations and discussion of the pressing issues affecting marketers at all levels. Most importantly, I've used lots of what I learnt last year since then – and not just as content for blog posts. I'm not alone – according to the organisers 91% of last year's delegates would recommend it to a colleague.
This year's speakers include:
- Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy, on multiple models of human behaviour
- Richard Murphy, Nokia, talking about reinventing the company in the digital era
- Paul Berney, Mobile Marketing Association, on reaching mobile consumers through content and context
- Peter Waggett, IBM, discussing big data
- Julie Roberts, TMW, on making marketing effective
- Dave Trott, The Gate, talking about unleashing the creative spark
- Jon Dodd, Bunnyfoot, discussing tapping into human behaviour
- Julie Strawson, Monotype, on delivering a seamless consumer experience across multiple touchpoints
There are a lot of marketing conferences looking to advise people on what to do next. From my experience last year, Another Marketing Conference is well worth checking out, whatever sector or size of business you are in.


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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'moving' tag.
… of sorts. Tomorrow it will be one year since we moved into our new house. And while that makes me feel a bit guilty about the number of boxes still stacked in the guest room, I could not be more pleased at the drastic difference between our lives then and our lives now.
We were stuck in those awful months of never knowing where we would sleep each night. I remember the Friday before we moved, eating dinner with Mark's parents who had come by to help us finish packing, when I went upstairs to wake Austin from an unusually late nap. And he was burning hot.
Oh, the dreaded fever. Anything but a fever right now! But a fever it was. So I called the oncology department and they told me what I already knew: pack a bag and get on down here.
We spent the next two nights in the hospital, while random friends came over to pack up our house. I had had grand plans of weeding out all the useless stuff instead of moving it along with us. But no, I opened boxes over the following weeks stuffed to the brim with everything from matchbox cars to pots and pans to shoes too small for either of my boys.
I had to beg and plead and cajole and threaten the doctors and nurses to speed everything up so we could spend our very last night together in the only home either of my children had ever known. We made it, Austin and I released on noon the day before the moving trucks arrived.
What a lot of drama for one family to endure, my god. But today, this is home. And we rest assured that we will get to sleep here each night.
This is like some big cosmic joke.
Last night was fine: typical, long, with many interruptions for checking blood pressure and administering medications. In between the two bags of blood, he was given a diruetic to lower his blood pressure so he peed through his diaper (twice) and we neeeded to change the sheets at 2am. None of this is unusual; just makes for less-than-restful sleep.
His platelets had finally gone up as evidenced by this morning's lab work and we had a new plan for monitoring his blood pressure (which I'll explain later), so we were cleared to go pending one good blood pressure reading. Which we still haven't gotten. After the bags were packed, we were informed we'd be staying another night to make sure the many tweaks to his meds take effect. I had conveniently run out of insulin and, thinking I'd simply be home soon to refill my pump, hadn't eaten anything. So, my mom, the other regular player in our musical caregiver game, came to relieve me.
Mark, meanwhile, woke up early and filled my station wagon with all our lawn tools to take over to the old house in preparation for today's showing and tomorrow's open house. (Had you forgotten about that old house? Yes, we had too — basically just ignoring it since our move and hoping it might disappear. After a month and no disappearance, Mark put in a solid three weeks of work, patching nail holes and polishing floors. It just went back on the market last week and we have two scheduled showings plus an open house this weekend so are very hopeful. Anyway . . .) he was heading over to do lawn work and stopped at a stop sign when — Bam! — the lawnmower backed up and the handle smashed through my rear window. Oh lovely. You know even the ever-calm Mark was dropping f-bombs with that one!
Then (because there's more), after he cleaned the bits of glass out the car and fixed up the yard, he rented a U-Haul truck to transport the rest of the swingset (which had been frozen into the ground on moving day). Buuuuuuuttttt, turns out it was too tall to fit in the truck. Luckily, there were five guys there replacing the furnace (rememeber that little problem?) so they helped him load it onto one of their flatbed trucks and ever-so-slowly drove it the two miles over here. But (there's always a "but"), just past the very busy intersection of Coventry and Cedar, it fell off! Simply slid off the back of the truck onto the road! Oh man. Thankfully the person behind them had enough sense to keep a safe distance. They all jumped out and hoisted it back up and off they went. It didn't even break, if you can believe that.
So, here we are, making room in the backyard for the swingset, overseeing the installation of the new furnace, arranging for a major car repair, . . . and trying to lower Austin's damn blood pressure. I mean really, it's like some absurd comedy in which we unwittingly star. Our lives have become something of a joke. Thank god we have a sense of humor.
My postings will surely be sporadic this week and next as we are in the throes of packing up our house and I can barely make my way through the maze of boxes to reach the computer. We've only been here for eight years but, oh my god, do we have a lot of stuff! I don't know how on earth people manage to move out of houses they've lived in for twenty, thirty, forty years. I am a pack rat, for sure. The amount of already-used wrapping paper I have stored on my third floor is embarrassing. Some of it is so crumpled that I'd never even wrap a present in it. Time for the recycling bins . . .
The new house should be finished tomorrow and then a cleaning crew will come through on Thursday. I'd actually considered taking you all up on your many offers of help with that until my mom convinced me that no one really wanted to spend their precious free time cleaning my dusty house and instead offered to pay for a service. So thank my mom and dad when you see them next!
We'll make some trips over the weekend with carloads full of gear and then the moving truck comes on Monday. So, in a mere six days, we will be sleeping under our new roof.
Austin's doing fine. We hit a "sore spot" with one of his shots over the weekend and now he's been fighting them, which is really a bummer because we're still in three-a-day right now. But Braedan, my child who screamed bloody murder when he got his second H1N1 shot two weeks ago, has been begging for injections. We gave him one — just an empty syringe poked into his leg — last week upon his request, and now he keeps asking for more! Oh boy.
Austin's blood counts are down but I'm hoping they'll have risen by the time we go for labs on Thursday so I can send him to school next week. Not only would this make the move easier, but when Mark got home yesterday and asked Austin about his day (our dinnertime ritual, often dominated by Braedan, the big talker), Austin said, "I didn't have a day."
"Of course you had a day," Mark replied.
"But no," said the little one, "I didn't go to school."
Oh sweet boy. Time to get him back in there so he can "have a day."
Back to the hospital today, for the next round of chemo. My little guy was zipping about the halls on his tricycle all afternoon, a sight completely incongruous with his balding head and IV line. But typical Austin, nonetheless.
This week includes the third of his three new drugs, one we've never had before that's supposed to be the worst of the bunch. So far, he's fine but we've barely begun so we'll see. He only gets that one twice, today and tomorrow, and the other one he'll get through Wednesday and then we're home again.
Speaking of home . . . listen to this one: You know how we thought we'd stay in this house until the end of treatment and then make our big move into our big house? Well, have you ever heard me say that things do not always go according to plan? Our furnace, the one here in our current house, is on its last legs, a little fact we discovered on Friday. And it definitely needs to be replaced (I do have a recurrent fantasy that involves some random new homeowners complaining to their friends, "Can you believe it? We just bought this house and the furnace needs to be replaced already?!"). But no, this is our responsibility and it needs to happen sooner rather than later. The big problem is the amount of dust and asbestos (yes, asbestos) and unsafe air it's going to kick up into Austin's breathing space. It is possible to do it in a more contained way but considerably more difficult and, duh, expensive.
So we looked carefully at our situation and realized it was just plain silly to stay here: our house is ready (or will be in two weeks' time), it's clean and safe (or will be in two weeks' time) and it's where we want to be. So, it's where we'll be . . . in about two weeks' time.
They do say the three most stressful events in life are 1) serious illness/death (which — hello! — should really be two separate things), 2) divorce and 3) moving. Good thing Mark and I are doing fine!
But, really, we're excited for this. I'd been wanting to move anyway, not fully sold on our decision to wait. It'll be a crazy few weeks, there's no doubt, but then we'll be there in our new space, the home we've created, and we'll be happy. Those fears Mark and I had about whether Austin would always associate the new house with feeling lousy seem unfounded — he likes the hospital after all. What more proof do I need that he can be happy anywhere?
There is certainly something to be said for expecting the worst. These past two days have been so much better than I was anticipating. So much better. Now, it's only two days and many of the effects of chemo are cumulative and therefore get worse as time goes on, but so far, it hasn't been bad at all.
Austin feels totally fine. He's eating and sleeping and playing like his regular little self. Mark and I have spent most of the past forty-eight hours wheeling the IV pole around behind him as he zooms his ride-on car around the nurses' station, lap after lap. He's eaten big hefty meals and has been peeing and pooping like a champ. Radiation is our one "outing" each day, requiring a trip to sedation and then a quick (I mean ten-minute!) visit to radiation before heading back to our regular space. Every time one of us goes home for a few hours, Austin sends numerous requests for additional toys, so his room now looks like a Toys R Us ad book. He chases the nurses with his remote control cars and is often found wearing his goggles in bed, chain saw in hand, ready for anything.
Oh, and before I forget, I deeply apologize for any rapid heart rates or spikes in blood pressure I caused by last week's post that referred to "18 to 30 MONTHS of chemo." As I think most of you figured out, my sleep-deprived self meant to write 18 to 30 weeks. It is, at times, understandably hard to think straight. I used to blame this on "mommy brain" but am finding that "chemo fog" affects more than just the immediate patient.
In other news, we pulled our house off the market last week as we can't have strangers dragging their germs throughout it during showings. (Plus we can't devote time and energy we simply don't have to preparing it for showings.) We do need to keep it super-clean but not necessarily super-neat. Plus, we're unable to move into the new house until the construction is completely finished and any unfinished portions are safely sealed off. This decision, of course, means a major mind shift for me, who was excitedly planning every new inch of our space. But we've decided that such a drastic change in our everyday surroundings probably isn't wise right now, so will likely stay here until treatment ends. Both boys feel safe and secure here, they know their way around, the routines feel normal. It would be a shame for Austin's first weeks and months in the new house (and all of our first weeks and months in the new house) to be tainted by cancer treatment.
If we wait until this is over, the move can be all the more symbolic. We will be moving into that new house as a new beginning, with a new lease on life, happy and together and alive, and we will not bring any cancer with us.
I think it's sort of funny how much you all appreciated seeing my "human side" in that last post! I certainly have never meant to paint a picture of us as gliding right through this crisis (or these crises) without rearing our own sometimes ugly heads. We have handled it all very well, I'll give us credit for that, but there is no perfection in this household.
Speaking of this household, or at least this house, I should also make clear that we have no regrets about our decision to move. We absolutely love our new house and are super excited to live there (whenever that may be!). Now selling one house and renovating another is definitely time-consuming but it actually hasn't been all that stressful. I like projects (and this house will provide me with projects for a long long time), so have enjoyed immersing myself in this one. And as anyone who knows me well can attest, if I weren't busy doing this, I'd be busy doing something else!
Not to mention, one of the main reasons we bought this particular house is for the enormous and partially wooded backyard in which my boys can climb, dig, hide, run, play, leap and explore. I have every intention of them doing that for many years to come. Both of them.
I see many of you have taken a virtual tour of our house. Looks pretty nice, doesn't it? I must say, those wide-angle lenses are remarkable because there are some rooms I barely recognize! No movement yet but hopefully this weekend's Open House will be productive. Of course, it's supposed to be the hottest day we've had yet this summer! Mark wants to put out a bucket of ice cold water bottles for everyone who comes through. Not a bad idea . . .
A lot of you have asked about the new house and our timeline for moving. If anything were set in stone, I'd have already let you know! But we do take possession on September 17 and then work will begin the following Monday. We had originally planned to redo the entire kitchen and mudroom plus a major renovation on the second floor to create a master suite (new bath and walk-in closets) out of two smaller rooms and an existing bath in desperate need of updating. Oh, plus refinish the hardwood floors and paint most of the rooms. But when we got the estimates in from our various contractors, they were all well over what we'd hoped to spend. Well, no they were about exactly what we hoped to spend but included the labor only leaving nothing for those little expenses like cabinets and countertops and appliances. Imagine that — my vision outpaced my budget!
So, we've decided to scale back quite a bit and do this in stages, with stage 1 being the kitchen/ mudroom/laundry plus basics like flooring and painting. The master suite will take place sometime next summer. I've had to go through a bit of a mourning period since I'd already gotten very attached to the walk-in closet and sanctuary-like bathroom that existed only in my mind. We'll still have our own bathroom though, which is a big plus.
As I've learned from my new obsession with all things HGTV, renovations never seem to stay on schedule but we are hoping to be moved in before Thanksgiving. I have a feeling that the next few months of this blog will be dominated by this project (as will the next few months of our lives). I will try to keep you entertained with many before and after photos!
After weeks and weeks of organizing closets, washing windows, spreading much and repainting walls, we are finally on the market!
The sign went up on Saturday, the brokers' Open House was yesterday (where the house won rave reviews) and the first official Open House is this Sunday. So, if you know anyone looking for a completely finished, move-in ready, brick center-hall colonial . . . Geez, I sound like a realtor!
So far, the process has been pretty painless (except for my arm which is rather sore from washing every single window on our first, second and third floors). The house looks fantastic which is great motivation for keeping it looking fantastic. It's so true what they say about how your house never looks as good as it does when you're trying to sell it. All those little imperfections that you live with and don't even notice suddenly jump out at you, and then once you make whatever usually minor improvement was necessary and see how easy it was and how good it looks, you wonder how you'd lived with it so long in the first place.
Seeing the sign up in the yard was a little bittersweet. We have loved this house and have had lots of happy moments in our seven-and-a-half years here. I can only imagine what it's like for the woman moving out of our new house, who's lived there for forty-five years, raised her children living there, lost her husband living there . . . bittersweet probably doesn't adequately describe her emotions about leaving. But we've met her and I hope she has a sense of the love and joy that is moving in there. Like I said before, we will pack it up and take it with us.
If it can fit in the truck!
We have found it, it is perfect . . . and it is ours.
There is definite chemistry with this house. I ran by it a few weeks ago, on one of my favorite blocks — a classic Cleveland Heights street where the trees on either side form a canopy over the road so you feel as if you're driving through a quiet, green tunnel. I hurried home and looked for it online but found nothing, so called the office to learn it had gone on the market a mere five days prior. I arranged for us to visit and the papers were signed exactly one week after we first stepped foot in it.
It is so perfect for us. SO much better than the other one, which would have had much unused space. This one gives us everything we're looking for: big yard, a master suite and what will be a mudroom that Pottery Barn Kids would die for. There's room to grow, but we'll fill it up nicely and use every bit of it. The yard is almost three times the size of our current yard, partially wooded and green from every angle. It's also right down the road from a great public elementary school that parents and kids alike are satisfied with. My own alma mater in fact. I wonder if my mom still has my brother's Fairfax Falcons t-shirt (I wonder if they're still called the Fairfax Falcons!).
It's a major fixer-upper though, that's the bigggest difference from the other one. The woman who is moving out has lived there since 1964! She raised four kids there and is now widowed and much too old for a five bedroom, four bathroom home. It's been well-kept, the systems maintained and upgraded, good roof, some new windows, all that, but the kitchen is stuck in the 60s and the bathrooms a few decades earlier. I'm thrilled with this actually because as anyone who lives in a hundred-year-old house in the Heights will tell you, once a kitchen has been remodeled, it's hard to justify doing it again even if you don't love it. In our current house, the kitchen was redone before we bought it and while it's very nice (by hundred-year-old house standards), it's certainly not the cabinets or flooring or countertops I would have chosen. So this new house gives us the opportunity to create exactly what we want. And I can't wait.
But I'm gonna have to wait. The woman is moving into a condo that won't be available until mid-September and then we have about three months of work to do before actually moving in. So this will be a long slow process (which very well might drive me crazy), but I am excited enough with this house that I'll just have to deal. We'll register Braedan at Fairfax and start him there before we move in (let me know if you're a Fairfax family — or one on the fence, maybe I can convince you to go public with us!) and hope to be living there by the end of the year.
All of the qualms and issues we had with that first house — whether it felt right to us, if it really represented who we are — have completely dissipated with this one. This is our house, this will be our home.
It really wasn't our dream house. But it took us a while to figure that out. Actually, it took us being outbid to figure that out, so we're quite thankful and none of you need to offer us the sympathy that you've been very kindly offering over the past week.
It was a beautiful house, fabulously redone, and there are a few rooms that I still wish I had the chance to repaint and decorate and live in. The dining room, which had a curved wall of windows, and the 26-by-26-foot living room are among them. Yes, you read that right: TWENTY-SIX square feet. How does that make my city-dwelling readers feel? Those rooms and the walk-in closets and the master bedroom will all be missed. But the kitchen, which aside from my "office" is where I spend all my time, was less than ideal. It had been updated and had great countertops and nice cabinetry, but because of the attached garage, it did not have a view of the backyard or the driveway. And now that the house is not ours and never will be, I can admit what a huge problem that would have been. In our current house, I can easily see the kids as they play on the swingset from my regular position washing dishes and I can see who goes up and down the driveway, and it would have been very isolating to not have that view (to not have any view actually; the sink faced a granite wall). So we are not disappointed to not be moving in there.
But we do love the block and we are ever hopeful that some other opportunity might arise there in the next year or so. In the meantime, we are continuing on with the improvements we furiously started on our house a few weeks ago, albeit more slowly now that an impending move isn't driving us forward. Those of you who've been following this story since the beginning may remember the ceiling that fell in back in September of 2007. This was right in the midst of the absolute worst week we had ever had, which has only ever been topped by the more recent "recurrence" weeks. We found out on a Wednesday that Austin's primary tumor was resistant to chemo and that it had grown by 50% over a four-week period. He then had that almost six-pound tumor and the entire right kidney removed on Friday. He was released from the PICU late Friday night and was just embarking on what proved to be an excrutiatingly long and difficult road to recovery, while Mark and I were anxiously awaiting the pathology results that would define the rest of our lives, when Mark went home on Saturday afternoon to find that Braedan's bedroom ceiling had fallen in. Just crashed to the floor, in various bits and pieces of dust and plaster. Well, we obviously couldn't be bothered with it then and there, and after a few months we moved Braedan into what was then the second floor office and moved the office downstairs to the sunroom (which, while beautiful and sunny, was never actually used when it was the sunroom). And Braedan's original room has sat empty for the past year and a half! No, not empty; it has become the "art room," which means it is strewn with construction paper and markers and crayons and glitter paint at any given moment. If you have an "empty" room in your house, you won't be surprised to hear that it has also become the repository for anything and everything that we're not using or that we don't know what to do with. From my winter clothes, which have yet to make their way up to the third floor cedar closet, to all the pants and shoes my boys have outgrown to suitcases full of law books, it has turned into a space that is much easier to ignore than to tackle. Part of the reason we never repaired the ceiling is that there is also something wrong with the chimney that runs through the walls of that room. So anyway (!), we have finally found the source of the chimney problem which will be surprisingly easy and cheap to fix and will finally repair the ceiling and then repaint the walls and hopefully move Braedan back in there before we end up putting the house on the market.
So this was all a long and convoluted way of saying we are glad the deal fell through on the white house. It just wasn't "us." Mark described it as that feeling you have when you're single and you know someone else who's single and available and they're nice enough and smart enough and attractive enough and you really feel like you just ought to give it a try, but something just isn't there. The chemistry, the "this is it, this is right" feeling, just isn't there.
We're gonna wait for that.


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Here's the latest article from the Weddings site at BellaOnline.com.
Wedding Planning Made Easy
The binder theory. This will help plan your wedding from a year before until a month after.
Please visit Weddings.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Weddings.
To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Weddings located here -
I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!
Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!
Sandra Sable, Weddings Editor
One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com


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Surrey RCMP say they've foiled a planned drive-by shooting.
Six people police had been monitoring as part of an investigation into an ongoing drug feud were arrested on Friday.
"Sometimes during an investigation we become aware of efforts that somebody may have to engage in violence, and we have a responsibility to try to prevent that violence from taking place," said Assistant Commissioner Bill Fordy, the officer in charge of the Surrey RCMP.
Charged with conspiracy to commit the indictable offence of reckless discharge of a firearm are Manpreet Michael Johal, 24, Himmat Singh Virk, 18, Baltej Gill, 18, and Randeep Singh Johal, 18.
Charges against a fifth man are pending.
A youth, who can't be named because of his age, is also facing gun charges.
Making progress
Fordy says he believes the accused are linked to a bloody war over drug turf that erupted in Surrey in the spring.
There have been dozens of shootings in Surrey this year and police blame much of the violence on the feud.
A flurry of shootings in March led the RCMP to host community forums and set up a hotline for concerned parents.
Since then, police have made 30 arrests and seized 15 guns.
Thirty-six families have contacted the hotline.
"We're making significant progress on this file, and I think the residents of Surrey should know that," said Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner.
Tougher sentences
Hepner says she's pleased violent criminals are being taken off the street, but she is frustrated with the criminal justice system.
"I believe any time that you fire a gun in an urban setting, and you mean to harm others, that the severity of the punishment should be significant," she said.
"From the perspective that I have seen up to now, I don't see that happening."
Surrey-Tynehead MLA Amrik Virk says Hepner's concerns are being heard in Victoria.
"I expect the full weight of the law to come upon these individuals," Virk said.
"That's certainly not lost on me, and it's not lost on [B.C. Solicitor General] Mike Morris in terms of discussions that he is having with his federal counterparts."


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As the production business evolved, Pulse Media needed a new ad campaign, to give a fresh look to their services. The new ads would have to establish Pulse's place in the market as a premier shooter of high definition video, but also demonstrate the variety of creative services offered. The ad design had to be flexible enough to scale to a number of different formats. Specific elements in the design spoke to the audience of trade magazines, such as the use of scan-lines in the design, and the various camera formats in the crowd. Bright colors and sharp angles brought energy to the ad, while the use of silhouettes strengthened visual themes from Pulse Media's other
video marketing materials.
Application of Campaign


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Nothing makes an Australian drawl stand out better than a refined American radio voice.
Listen, then, to this new 40-minute rambling conversation with Don Cassidy of Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio, which features my seldom-heard "6am Saturday" voice.
Head to deliciousagony.com and click on the Interviews link on the left hand side!


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What's your heart's desire?
What unmet needs are driving your emotions?
Are you living a values-based life?
Understand yourself better. Feel more deeply.
Experience the support of a therapist and explore even your most hidden and complex thoughts and feelings.
If you want to make the most of your life, therapy can help.
In therapy with me, we will look at what your feelings are trying to tell you and how to create the life you want to live.
Weekly therapy is a temporal, physical and psychological space to:
- explore your inner self
- metabolize emotions and events
- pay attention to things that you skim over during the week
- design your life
Therapy is a time to hear yourself think and make sense of things. It enables you to tend to your deepest self: to feel, notice, reflect, become quiet, and slow down. These skills help you make better decisions, feel more self-acceptance, experience fulfillment and find meaning in the present and long term.
Contact me for a brief free phone consultation and/or to check availability.
(415) 562-7768
With the support of therapy there is still pain and suffering in life, but it becomes tolerable, meaningful and enriching instead of tormenting and chaotic.
– Barbara Stevens Sullivan, Jungian analyst.
"Psychological health is not merely the absence of symptoms; it is the positive presence of inner capacities and resources that allow people to live life with a greater sense of freedom and possibility."
– Jonathan Shedler


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CNC Machining
The Howarth Engineering Limited name is synonymous with accuracy and the ability to provide CNC milling services for any of your manufacturing projects. With our CNC machining service, we understand that each project is unique and has specific needs, whether you're looking to produce custom prototypes or manufacture precision parts in volume.
Quality is key to success with our CNC machining and CNC turning services, and our commitment to BS EN ISO 9001:2008 and continual improvement underpins our approach to working with customers to improve CNC machining performance for mutual benefit.
Our high quality CNC machining equipment is capable of holding tight tolerances of +/-0.005, meaning you can be sure that your CNC machined components will fit the rest of your project perfectly.
Thanks to consistent investment in state-of-the-art technology, our CNC turning service also allows for fast changeovers between projects. This means we can consistently meet your project deadlines, delivering high quality machined components on time. Common orders include the use of a wide variety of materials including; aluminium, stainless steel, copper, steel, brass, titanium, and hard plastics.
With over 40 years experience in the telecoms, automotive, marine and power generation sectors, our skilled engineers bring a lot of knowledge to every CNC machining project, helping Howarth Engineering Limited become recognised as one of the UK's most innovative, versatile and reliable supplier of CNC turning services.


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Podcast: Download
[5 mins. 30 secs.] Josh Karp, author of the book Orson Welles's Last Movie: The Making of The Other Side of the Wind comes back on the podcast to discuss Netflix's recent announcement that they would be financing the finishing of Orson Welles final film The Other Side of the Wind.
[15 mins. 15 secs.] Then we are joined by one of France's filmmaking stars, Christophe Honoré (Love Songs, The Beloved). Honoré's new film Metamorphoses, a contemporary adaptation of Ovid's work of the same name, will be having a theatrical engagement at The Spectacle Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, beginning on Thursday, March 23rd.
[40 mins. 10 secs.] Film producer Josh Zeman (Cropsey) stops by to discuss his documentary series, The Killing Season (Executive Produced by Alex Gibney), the first season of which ran on A&E and is now available for streaming on Amazon. The interview was recorded at the offices of Gigantic Pictures.
Filmwax Radio is part of the ShowBriz Studios podcast network and presented by Rooftop Films. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. The podcast is also available on iTunes, Stitcher & Youtube.


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Help Build Houses
Come help build houses—no skills necessary!! You may volunteer as an individual or bring your church or business group. Volunteers at the construction site must be at least 16. If you are interested in helping with construction, call 828-758-8757 or complete the information below.
Individual Volunteers
- Download the Release and Waiver of Liability for Volunteers form. Sign and mail to CCHF.
- Complete this quick form:
Group Volunteers
We would love for your group to join us on the construction site. Please complete the information below and we will contact you promptly to set up a construction date or call the office at 828-758-8757.


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by Latonya Malinconico
Crochet Savvy Fall issue of the free magazine features Dope Crochet as the cover story.
Summer 2012 Issue of Crochet Savvy Magazine. Fashionable, trendy and modern, the free magazine blends today's fashion with crochet.
crochetsavvy's Recent Publications
(About RSS)
© 2020 Blurb, Inc.


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Onward, upward and inward
Creating a mindfulness program for Dynamo
Where it all began
Back in July 2015, I was introduced to meditation through a Dynamo client project (which also spawned off our Remindful app). As part of our research, our co-founder and project lead Alex Nemeroff invited an old friend Dr. Sarah Roberts, the Program Director at the MindSpace Clinic and licensed clinical psychologist, to give our team a 1-hour Lunch & Learn about mindfulness. Intrigued at the correlation between breath-work, clarity and productivity, I enrolled into an online 30-day mindfulness and meditation challenge that truly opened my eyes to what was always right in-front of me, but was never actually noticed.
So what is mindfulness exactly? In the words of Jon Kabat-Zinn, the father of MBSR (more on that in a bit):
"Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally."
In a more hands-on type of perspective, mindfulness is a type of attention training, a source of self-knowledge and self-mastery, and a method to create useful mental habits.
The 8-week MBSR program
Fast forward to February 2016 when our fast-growing team and ever-evolving office was under heavy construction, our entire team was working remotely, either from home, a café or a co-working space. During these cold winter months, life was hitting me pretty hard so I enrolled in an 8-week Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at MindSpace Clinic with the intention to learn how to better manage my personal anxiety, surrounding negativity and overall stress levels.
By the end of the program, I felt like a whole new person… Well, not really. I felt like I finally got to know the real me. I felt refreshed, with a sense of purpose and direction, and with a new set of tools in my pocket, I was ready to tackle whatever life was going to throw at me.
The rippling benefits
Mindfulness and meditation brought many benefits that rippled through my life. It brought a sense of calm, clarity, and simplicity. Things that used to consume my attention no longer mattered. I'm able to focus for longer periods of time, I feel more at ease and am able to view situations from different perspectives. I'm a better communicator, team member and collaborator. I feel more confident, aligned with my values and even more comfortable in my own skin. And finally, to put it bluntly, I stopped taking s#!% from others.
The idea pitch
At my 2-year review in June 2016, I met with my bosses and pitched the idea of creating a Mindfulness program for Dynamo. Having personally experiencing the benefits, I wanted to share my learnings in hopes that it would also benefit others not only in their personal lives, but in their work-life as well. Luckily, the pitch landed on open ears & minds, and my bosses have been nothing short of supportive.
Research & creation
For the past month I've been knee-deep into researching and gathering as much information, tools, perspectives, and practical solo/group meditations and activities as possible. I'm wrapping up my research with the Search Inside Yourself (SIY) book, which is a summary and breakdown of Google's mindfulness program. The SIY program is specifically angled towards improving emotional intelligence, and is armed with neurological backing, scientifically-proven, and a very evidence-based perspective to engage an engineer-type of audience.
What on earth is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions. Some of the proven benefits of being emotionally intelligent are a stellar work performance, outstanding leadership, and the ability to create the conditions for happiness.
So what's next? In the upcoming weeks and months, I'll be creating a detailed structure plan, branding, team pitch, and then followed up with some intensive program planning. I'm aiming for a V1 internal launch realistically at the beginning of springtime for a small group of open-minded Dynamonians.
The bigger picture
Assuming all goes well internally and after tweaking and refining the program after it's first run, my goal is to open it up to our partners and clients, and then eventually to the public. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for reading,
I would love to hear from you! Have you or your company taken any mindfulness-based initiatives? Would you be interested in joining our future mindfulness program? Don't be shy, leave a comment below!


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Catholic Coloring Page: Daniel in the Lion's Den
Daniel, a holy prophet, refused to obey an evil law that forbade prayer to God. He prayed anyway, and was sentenced to die by being thrown into a cave, or den, full of hungry lions. But God sent an angel to help him, and Daniel survived the night in the lion's den. After this miracle, the king punished those who tricked him into created the evil law. The king also made Daniel in charge instead of the wicked men who deceived him.
"Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of the lions. And the king said to Daniel: Thy God, whom thou always servest, he will deliver thee. And coming near to the den, cried with a lamentable voice to Daniel, and said to him: Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God, whom thou servest always, been able, thinkest thou, to deliver thee from the lions? And Daniel answering the king, said: O king, live for ever: My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut up the mouths of the lions, and they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him justice hath been found in me: yea and before thee, O king, I have done no offence." — Daniel 6:16,20-22
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Catholic coloring book instructions.
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
7 comments:
- Anonymous1:43 AM, May 30, 2006
it seems like you chose another object for your "photo protests". First it was parking places in Kyiv and now - drunk people on the playgrounds ;)ReplyDelete
- Anonymous2:37 AM, May 30, 2006
I'm wondering what would happen if you call some cops.ReplyDelete
i'm sublimating. and documenting.ReplyDelete
not protesting.
nothing can be done about this besarabka backyard - i know, i've lived here all my life.
the only way to make things better is to move away.
where you lived in kyiv is very nice.
oh, the cops are all around.ReplyDelete
sometimes they do drag a bum away, but normally they prefer to ignore them.
some new study said there was more germs on a keyboard than a toilet seat....Great!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10:36 PM, May 30, 2006
That's interesting that in Kyiv it is very rare to see people (drunk and homeless) sleeping in the streets and in metro stations passways. They are all hidden in these sort of playgrounds and yards, while in Budapest I remember there were plenty of homeless people sleeping right in the street so that you'd be careful not to hit them when walking. There are also plenty of them in Montreal (what was big shock for me from the first days and still now...how's that possible that in such developed country as Canada, which is in top 10 in terms of everything in the various world rankings?)ReplyDelete
- Anonymous11:41 PM, May 31, 2006
Nothnglike having a new baby to mke you germ conscious. Wait till Marta starts crawling round and then worry :)ReplyDelete


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$ 12.00
Part of our Huckleberry Barista Series (so far, it's a series of 1). The top 3 questions our baristas are asked, in order.
1. Do you know the WiFi password?
2. What is the WiFi password?
3. Did you change the WiFi password?
Never wanting to take ourselves too seriously, we decided to slap it on a mug! I suppose the only thing left to ask is -- do you know?
Designed by our bestest bud, Ross Evertson.
$ 30.00
Made by the Aerobie frisbee people. So you know it's good.
The AeroPress is ideal for any coffee lover looking for a rich and smooth cup of coffee without acidity or bitterness. Brews one to three delicious cups of American or espresso style coffee in about a minute, and clean up takes only a few seconds. It's a great addition to any kitchen but since it is durable, lightweight, and compact, the AeroPress also makes the perfect companion when traveling, camping, or just going to work.
Includes: 350 filters, filter cap, filter holder, funnel, stirrer and scoop.View full product details
$ 100.00
We're excited to relaunch our coffee club with a fancy new jar!
Our hope is that the coffee jar refill program encourages more home coffee brewing and also gives you a break in the price of our whole bean coffee, while also being earth conscious! On top of saving a bag every time you buy retail, you'll also have the opportunity to taste our seasonal coffees, and share the experience with your friends and family at home.
Please take note that the jar plus refills are for local Colorado-area residents who can PICK UP IN STORE (NO SHIPPING).
The Nitty Gritty:
The Fine Print:
*DISCLAIMER: We do not offer a fill for whatever coffee you want. We've tried to be as fair about this as possible by offering different coffees each week so there's some variety. If you have any additional questions, please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com. Thanks!View full product details
$ 12.00
We love Colorado! We're incredibly proud to call it home.
Whether your a native or new Coloradan, a local regular or traveling wanderer passing through, you should be putting your coffee in this mug!
The landmark "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign has been welcoming people to our state for many decades, we're excited to carry on the tradition in our own way.View full product details
Sold Out
Did you know? Have you heard? Not only is Colorado home to a bajillion amazing breweries and an exploding coffee scene, but also...weed, man. It's legal!
We say, enjoy the finer things. Stay lit, friends.*
These Created Goods speckled camper mugs are 12oz and ceramic!
* be responsible. don't be an idiot.View full product details


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Sold Out.
Tease yourself or your partner with this five inch anal teaser! You'll tickle the most sensitive spots, creating a huge amount of passion that will drive you and your partner wild! This anal teaser is designed to get your bedroom fun heated up and hit all of your most pleasurable points!


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Winter Poems - 2
Big Day
My leg is quaking
My thoughts are a messy blur
I can't focus on anything but the notes
Trickling by
I front of me
Five or ten or two slip by
I miss them when I should
Am forced to improvise
More than I thought I could
I want to shake this edge
I can't seem to
But then it's time
It comes out nearly flawlessly
Maybe the best I've ever played
Aside from one or two places
The timing's right on point
And then the bridal march
Everyone rises
I can't see her
I stare at my hands
I flub the end a bit but
It's all right
Because there they are
On the stage
Staring at each other
With love in their eyes
Again, she's trying,
Not to cry
And when he turns toward the crowd for the prayer
I can maybe pick out
A sheen of his own
And this is love right here
And one more song right here
To play
And it was worth it
To me
To be involved this way
Come On, Let's Go
I'm holding back a little bit
I want to be a dance-floor queen
It's so sparsely populated, though
I'm afraid they'd look at me
And think how silly
But when the song comes on I go
I get up from my seat
I grab the girls hands and we spin
Do you want to build a snowman?
I guess, yes, please
I'm laughing
I can feel the eyes
But I'm really not caring
First Dance
It starts from the dessert line
I turn to watch them
They're staring despite the eyes
Of a couple hundred
Of the camera pointed at them
Capturing every shot
We say how cute they are
He stoops over to be on her level
Then lifts her up, spins her around
So her feet swing out
They both look so happy
To have found each other
And this day
After five years
I find myself one day wishing
For a love like that
Not the storybook kind or the
Sweeping romances
Not the bad boy or my
Previously acclaimed intangible one
But just one
Who will smile at me
In such a way
That'll always make me
Smile back
The dance ends
I've been watching
And to witness it
I've been so glad
They announce a special dance for
A couple in attendance
Who are celebrating their
After a pause
They rise from their seats
And join them on the floor
Stepping back
Turning slowly
And, darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70
I wonder if they would've ever thought
They'd end up together
It's all I've ever known
And remembered
Is those two together
I'm thinking about how
People fall in love in mysterious ways
And maybe it's all part of a plan
I think maybe it was
They were celebrating fifty years
Of knowing each other
Last month
While they were here
I wonder what that's like
To look back on
Well, me, I fall in love with you every single day
And I don't think it was probably always there
But evolved
There's comfort in having somebody who knows you as well
As the person you were once closest with
Isn't there?
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
Tears come through me just thinking about it
It's one of those wonderfully reflective days
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
And to see them right now
They did
The house is quiet
I revel in the silence
I think about presents
That I'll be giving
I think about the fact
They'll be here in a week
Skipping Track
Believe lieve lieve lieve lieve me baby
I'd love to know you closely
For you to whisper stories in my ear
And talk about the tiniest parts of your day
Your hand on my shoulder
It wouldn't ever reach further than that
I know this and I'm still okay
With just a glance and meeting of eyes
Amusing and wrinkling and crinkled at corners
Lips and sky-high schemes and
Laughing nights
I'm not asking for a whole lot I don't think just
A chance to be your friend
At least then I wouldn't have to continue
Wanting from a distance
And Speak the Truth
I bite back
And wonder if I've
I always tend to
Always tend to wonder if I've
Let my thoughts
Stretch too far
Reach too forwardly
Into the ears
Of someone else
Red Sweater
Early morning
My eyes go to you
Like a bullet
A dart
Cup of black coffee
A magnetized longing
For a counterpart
To be found in you
And your beam
I turn the volume down
When you're happy
You're just so pretty
And it's an odd choice of word
For a guy
I say that what you're a part of is stupid
But it's true
And you're also witty
The things that I've heard
You say
Make me laugh
Out loud
In pleasant surprise
I say it's gone and it
Won't come back
But everytime I even think about you
Then it does
I Still Can't Sleep
Half asleep and blessed
Leaning forward yearning for more rest
Dad tolerates my music
Mom champions for me to always
Take control of the radio
Later, as I stand listening
I reach out and give her a hug
And also Mom does
But that's forward, for me
But now she's family
Ten minutes, we sit
Eating in a booth
I complain about my lack of choice in
Healthier food
We're having pizza later tonight
Crowded into the dining room
Eyes alive, we'll bring
Recaps of our day eagerly
Filling the brightly-lit space
I say I'll eat green
To make up for it
But, oh really,
Who cares
It's a treat?
And tomorrow they'll all be here
At once for Christmas Eve
I woke myself up yesterday morning just
Thinking about it
I wouldn't want to be without them
Any of them
I imagine the gleam in their eyes when they see
Five trickling months down the line
I'm a dreamer, I've always been
But maybe more lately
Now that it's getting to that
Point in my life
And I realized last night
As I taped paper in place
Flipped a gift over
Affixed a ribbon
I might have two Christmas mornings besides this
Left before they're
On my own
I didn't realize I'd not have them forever
I want Santa Claus and I
Want to stave off sleep
I remember when I was younger and I
Believed in everything
And on VHS tape, I'm two
In the room
Dancing to Winnie-the-Pooh
My brother is in Mom's arms
The other not a thought yet
And it stings in my eyes like I
Kind of knew it would
It's hard to believe it's flown past
I've never said that I'd gladly go back
I love being this age
And it feels so alive
But I think it's okay
To remember sometimes
I could relate to EVERY
I could relate to EVERY SINGLE ONE of these! I loved all of the ones about the wedding--I'm super pumped for a wedding I'm attending in the summer. I always get that feeling of excitement for the future and understanding of what love actually means, etc.
ALSO ED SHEERAN. I SEE WHAT YOU DID. Good song :).
"Early morning
My eyes go to you
Like a bullet
A dart
Cup of black coffee
A magnetized longing
For a counterpart
To be found in you" I just love that part. Great set!
"You were not meant to fit into a shallow box built by someone else." -J. Raymond
Oh Homey, these are so
Oh Homey, these are so lovely! Every single one!
I don't thrive off of chaos: chaos thrives off of me.
Merry Christmas!
It's not fair... everyone is writing about Christmas, and now all I can think about is wanting a white Christmas!
That's special, playing at a wedding. And grandparents was so sweet! Mine just had their fiftieth, so I related to that.
And Speak the Truth was so real for me. Red Sweater has a lot of lovely feelings :)
I Still Can't Sleep so bittersweet! I loved the ending....I guess I'm a year behind you but next year is my last year of school and then I can study whatever I want...instead of, like, maths.
These were lovely, and got me into a festive spirit. I just asked my grandma to pop on the Christmas carols, so I am feeling quite the festive person...on an Australian muggy day, no snow. Oh well. It's so funny, I go away for Christmas and now I am getting all my commenting done! Merry Christmas!
Goodbye? Oh no, please. Can't we just go back to page one and start all over again?" – Winnie The Pooh
Thank you, ladies, for the
Thank you, ladies, for the lovely comments! :) You guys are the best! I'm so thankful for your readership.
Erin--Aw, yay! I'm so glad! Yes, weddings are great--that was actually only the third one I've ever been to. Thanks! It's such a beautiful song--Thinking Out Loud--and the lyrics kind of matched up to my grandparents perfectly, so it was verrrrryyyyy sentimental. And thanks for quoting me, too! ;)
Damaris--Thank you sooooo much! So sweet!
Maddi--Aw! :( Well, maybe you'll venture over here some year around winter and have yourself a white Christmas! Like I said, we have a friend here who is 93 and came over from Australia, and telling us about her childhood she always pointed out how it was in the summer....she's on school break when Christmas happens! That's unfathomable to me! :O It's so neat how everything's so neatly flipped, though. Thank you for your comments on the poems as well! Post something! I'll read it! :) And Merry Christmas to you!
These are wonderful! I'm so
These are wonderful! I'm so sorry I'm so late in reading and commenting. I adored each one so much! Ditto to everything Erin said. Sorry about my short comment, but you just texted me :P
"Here's looking at you, Kid"
Write On!


text:
Position - Senior Sales Manager
Position Detail
Position Name
Senior Sales Manager
Functional Area
Sydney, Australia
Job Type
Full Time
Job Description
Job Description
As a Sales Manager at
, you will manage existing client relationships, identify new business opportunities, develop relevant business plans, and ultimately drive revenue for the business. You will deliver your assigned revenue quota by selling digital advertising solutions across the
network. Typically, you will drive the sales process from account identification to close and establish an ongoing client relationship, dealing with queries and issues as they arise.
Key Success Criteria
- Reach and exceed company and personal sales goals
- Develop excellent client / partner satisfaction
- Create and maintain accurate and up to date account and opportunity plans
- Manage client relationships to ensure high levels of client retention
- Develop the client relationship and business through effective campaign coordination, management, and analysis
- Maintain an accurate forecast and healthy pipeline of opportunities
- Achieve all KPIs for allocated sales patch
- Market Analysis/ Innovation
- Prospect to identify new sales opportunities as well as building on existing relationships to develop the account / client base
- Develop sales proposals and packages for new business opportunities, including any market research component
- Develop knowledge, expertise, and insight into the client's business and key industries
- Leverage
's marketing programmes to strengthen prospect / client relationships and generate new sales opportunities
Client Relationship Management
- Develop successful relationships with clients with the goal of generating new sales opportunities
- Prioritize client satisfaction and resolve any issues quickly and effectively
- Devise and implement retention strategies to build client loyalty
- Proactively inform client of promotional opportunities, incremental opportunities,
case studies, events and so forth
Business Management
- Provide accurate forecasts and business updates to the Sales Director on a regular basis
- Maintain accurate account/portfolio/territory plans
- Deliver the agreed monthly targets from assigned accounts/territories
- Conduct and document win/loss reviews for sales opportunities
- Deliver against all Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Create Insertion Orders and deliver to clients
- Work with your dedicated Account Manager to manage the optimisation and performance of campaigns, communicating any changes to and resolving any issues with the client
- Meet regularly with Account Manager(s) to review active accounts so that all aspects of account administration are effectively managed
- Proactively share information about successful campaigns with colleagues
Required Skills
- Strong consultative selling, negotiating, and closing skills; working both independently and collaboratively with team members
- Confident and capable when presenting
- Proficient at project management and developing sales packages
- Outstanding written and verbal business communication skills
- Demonstrated track record of achieving and exceeding revenue goals
- Proven ability in strategically operating and managing agency accounts that lead to revenue growth
- 3+ years of sales experience
- Disciplined self-starter who is able to work autonomously as well as being an integral team member
- Determined, adaptable, and confident
- Customer-service focused and results oriented with proven performance
- Infectious passion for digital advertising, technology and emerging trends
- Solid understanding of the digital advertising space
- Thorough network of digital clients/agency relationships
- Thorough experience of working with key agencies and clients within the territory
- Thorough understanding of an audience and technology-based sell
- Knowledge on how a network functions, associated performance metrics, as well as optimization methodologies


text:
Many Iraq, Afghan vets choosing `second service'
The link between U.S. military service and running for office is as old as the republic itself. It started with George Washington, who famously wrote that, "When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen."
During the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, hundreds of thousands of veterans have come home and laid aside their uniforms. But not all have opted to simply blend back into civilian life.
Many have chosen to run for public office.
Several dozen veterans - some of them from earlier wars - are vying for U.S. House and Senate seats this year. And many others are seeking state and local offices across the country. Men and women, Republicans and Democrats, they range from well-known hopefuls such as congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth in Illinois, who became a double amputee when her National Guard helicopter was shot down in Iraq, to Arizona state House contender Mark Cardenas, a 25-year-old Iraq vet who remains a National Guardsman.
They are people like former Marine tank commander Nick Popaditch, who lost his right eye during the April 2004 Battle of Fallujah in Iraq, and who is now the Republican nominee in California's 53rd Congressional District.
"I was looking at my government and I wasn't happy with it," says the ex-gunnery sergeant, who cuts a striking figure on the campaign trail with his shaved head and black eye patch. "So rather than complain, I decided to run myself. I thought I could do a better job, and I still feel that way."
After back-to-back wars, there are more recent combat veterans in the United States today than at any time since Vietnam.
But the number of former military members in public office has been declining for years. In 1969, nearly 90 percent of all U.S. House and Senate seats were held by people who'd served in uniform. Today, says the Congressional Research Service, it's about 20 percent. And for the first time in decades, none of the major party candidates for president and vice president has been in the military.
Seth Lynn thinks that's one of the problems with our political system these days, and he's working to change that.
Lynn, a Naval Academy graduate who spent six years in the Marines, helped found Veterans Campaign to train former service members interested in running for office.
He notes that as the number of veterans on Capitol Hill has dropped, there has been "an almost parallel decrease in America's confidence in Congress."
"I'm not saying that the two are necessarily a causal relationship," says Lynn. "But I do think that there is that ability to put your country before yourself, but also to work together across party lines, that Americans want more that just isn't happening in Washington."
There is a natural ebb and flow to this nexus between military and public service.
When World War II ended, 16 million men and women had served in uniform around the globe, and as a result postwar politicians were often veterans. The pool of veterans grew smaller in following years, especially since the end of the military draft in 1973.
The all-volunteer military engenders a sense of duty and "selflessness" that Lynn and others feel has been sorely lacking in the political arena. He sees this quality as a motivation for veteran-candidates today.
Even though he lost a Sept. 6 Democratic primary for a Massachusetts state Senate seat, Joe Kearns Goodwin says he's more convinced than ever "that a life of service is a very worthy one."
Goodwin was a new Harvard graduate when, following the Sept. 11 attacks, he announced he was enlisting in the Army.
His parents "thought I was totally insane" then and were surprised again when he declared he was running for office. But they shouldn't have been, given the family's proximity to politics. His mother is Doris Kearns Goodwin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, and his father, Richard Goodwin, was an adviser and speechwriter for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
"I was weaned on stories of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Great Society, the New Frontier," says the 34-year-old Goodwin. His father worked on these issues, he noted, "all of which represented the ability of government to do good, when it's done well."
Goodwin served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and rose to the rank of captain. "Before we went on patrol, nobody asked, `Are you a Democrat or a Republican?'" he says. "No one asked if you were from a blue state or a red state, a progressive or a conservative. We were just, `What do we need to do to get the job done?'"
In California, Popaditch is making his second run for Congress - but were it not for a rocket-propelled grenade, he'd most likely still be wearing a uniform.
The son of a Korean War veteran, Popaditch turned down a college scholarship to join the Marines. In the first Gulf War, he commanded a tank during the invasion of Iraq. He left the Marines after six years, but re-enlisted in 1995 and went through training as a drill instructor. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Popaditch asked to be reassigned to tanks.
He took part in the second Iraq invasion in 2003. On April 7, 2004, his tank was struck by an RPG, shrapnel carving a path through his sinuses and destroying his right eye. His actions earned him a Silver Star and a Purple Heart but cost him his career.
Like former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole and other wounded vets before him, Popaditch used the GI Bill to go back to school. Last year, he graduated magna cum laude from San Diego State University with a degree in teaching.
Misgivings about the country's direction troubled Popaditch while an undergraduate, prompting his unsuccessful 2010 congressional race. He has put his studies toward a master's on hold this year to run again.
"I think things are slipping," he says. "And they will continue to slip if we don't get involved."
Tom Cotton, the Republican nominee in Arkansas' 4th Congressional District race, compared his decision to run with his decision to join the Army in 2005.
"At that time, it was an attack from a foreign enemy, and we were in an active war. And now we're in a debt crisis that threatens our future prosperity and, therefore, ultimately freedom," says Cotton, 35, who declined a commission as a legal officer to go into the infantry.
Cotton served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, then left a position as a management consultant to run for office. He says the skills he developed in the military have served him well in the business world, as well as on the campaign trail.
"The constant ability to prioritize and reprioritize tasks, to work with imperfect information, to handle ambiguity, to build coalitions to reach a common goal," says Cotton, who defeated a fellow veteran in his primary race. "Being part of a team and helping lead a team by purpose and motivation and direction so it can accomplish more than the individual could accomplish on his or her own."
For many veteran-candidates, their military service is front and center - but that carries risks.
Running against Cotton for the open 4th District seat is longtime Arkansas state Sen. Gene Jeffress, a retired school teacher.
"I appreciate ALL of our veterans, and I respect them," says Jeffress. "But I think it's been overdone. If he (Cotton) hadn't have had that, I don't know what else he would have had to run on."
In Illinois, Duckworth's opponent, Republican incumbent Rep. Joe Walsh, said her service - which cost her both legs and partial use of one arm - demands respect. "However," he added, "unlike most veterans I have had the honor to meet since my election to Congress, who rarely, if ever, talk about their service or the combat they've seen, that is darn near all of what Tammy Duckworth talks about."
Lynn says the "single biggest pitfall" veteran candidates face is overestimating the power of the war-service narrative. The "Candidate's Field Manual" developed for Veterans Campaign hammers that point home.
John F. Kennedy's World War II heroics after the sinking of PT 109 might have helped him in the close 1960 presidential race against Richard Nixon, but George McGovern's bombing runs over Europe in same war didn't lift him over Nixon in 1972, the manual notes. By the same token, allegations of draft dodging and preferential treatment during the Vietnam War didn't stop Bill Clinton and George W. Bush from becoming two-term presidents.
Vietnam veteran John Kerry's failed 2004 presidential campaign introduced a new verb to the political lexicon: to be "swiftboated," a reference to the members of his river boat crew who came out to question his war record.
"A DD-214 (military discharge form) is not an ironclad guarantee to winning office," the manual says - but it adds that military credentials, "wielded with care," can help.
"All things being equal," says Lynn, "being a veteran of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars today is a greater benefit to a politician than being a veteran of Vietnam 40 years ago."
Mark Cardenas, who recently won his Arizona state House Democratic primary and is unopposed in the general election, was reluctant to play off his veteran status.
The son of Mexican immigrants, he didn't see many options when he graduated from high school. But he knew that if he joined the Army, "I'd have the GI Bill. ... It's something that I had to do to get ahead in life."
But supporters urged him to make more of his veteran status, he says, telling him, "That's your credibility right there."
The youngest candidate in his district, he says his Iraq tour came in handy when questions arose about his youth or his experience.
"Well, for one thing, I'm the only person (in the race) that's ever had an AK-47 shot at them in anger," says Cardenas, whose stint in the National Guard won't end until nearly two weeks after the Nov. 6 election.
Cardenas was among the first graduates from one of Lynn's boot camps in 2009. The program has since blossomed into the George Washington University Center for Second Service, of which Lynn is now director.
Lynn says nearly 60 veterans have won their primaries for the U.S. House and Senate. Not all are recent veterans.
Another of Lynn's alumni is Blair Milo. At 29, she has been an anti-submarine warfare officer and lived aboard Iraqi oil platforms in the North Arabian Gulf; at the Pentagon, she worked on the program to develop the Navy's latest stealth destroyer. She's still a lieutenant in the Navy Reserves.
In 2010, the ROTC graduate from Purdue University was home in La Porte, Ind., on "terminal leave" and trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. The local newspaper was full of stories about the city's fiscal crisis.
Milo wrote a series of guest columns, offering solutions. Before she knew it, she'd been recruited to run for mayor. Challenging the two-term Democratic incumbent, she won.
The city of 22,000 continues to borrow money to meet its obligations, but Milo says things are improving. She's focusing her efforts on economic development and has even invited residents to join her for a weekly 5k run. About 250 people now participate in Fitness Friday.
"I like my job - MOST days," Milo says.
It's important, Lynn says, for vet-candidates to make it clear that they won't be fixated simply on military issues.
After more than two decades in the Army, those issues are certainly close to Steve Wilkins' heart. But the retired lieutenant colonel says that's not why he's seeking to unseat Rep. Renee Ellmers, a tea party favorite, in North Carolina's 2nd Congressional District.
Wilkins, who served as Gen. David Petraeus' logistics chief during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, says there's a tendency to see military people as all moving in "lockstep." In his 22 years of service, he found that there was room for disagreement and discussion.
But at the end of the day, the Democratic nominee says, "there has to be some kind of compromise."
"I've been distressed at looking at the political environment right now, how divisive it is and how our political leaders, particularly in the Congress, just don't seem to be getting anything done," Wilkins says. "There's more of a focus on waiting each other out to see who can have a stronger upper hand before doing anything.
"And I just don't think that's in the spirit of our democracy," he says. "Things have got to get done to advance the football down the field."
In that respect, Wilkins says, government could stand a little more military discipline.
Allen G. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. He can be reached at features(at)ap.org. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/(hash)!/AllenGBreed


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