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January 10th, 2007

so, where have I been?

It's been nearly three months since I posted on LJ.

There are a myriad of reasons for this, ranging from spending more time in other activities to being busy at work (where I often post from). However, the biggest reason was that I did not want to post anymore, I did not want to read my friends list anymore, and so I took a break from the whole thing. As of today, I've greatly pruned my friends list (including communities and feeds), to really only keep the people who I see in person occasionally.

This post is public so that everyone who still keeps me on their friends list can see it if they wish.

I intend no ill will to those who I have simply drifted away from over time, most of this is simply due to physical distance or general life distance. I wish all of my friends the best in their lives, even if we are no longer close. May you all have a lovely 2007 and may you continue to work towards fulfilling your dreams.


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Sports, The Eternal Balancing Act

She schlepped me everywhere, my mother, poor woman. And for those of you who don’t know what schlepped means, it means she chaperoned and transported me, against her will, to every single sport, practice, activity and competition on planet earth from the time I was a young girl. Fall time was competitive swimming, every morning and every afternoon, for the better part of my entire schooling experience. Winter was basketball, and spring was lacrosse and track and field, and interspersed into all of it was eating, sleeping, and breathing sports in general, practicing the ones I had omitted from my routine nearly every single day, come hell or high water. Oh, and I mustn’t forget about running miles upon miles, almost nightly, on my parents treadmill in their basement gym, until I broke enough of a sweat and emitted so much energy that my legs were almost Jello-like.

basketball court
The view from one of our basketball games where I grew up…

The penchant and the yearning to play sports, watch them on TV, or simply be active in mind and in body through different forms of exercise is something that is inherited, genetic and craved, yet, something that can be taught, and easily so. There was this commercial on TV recently that focused on this old, stuck-in-his-ways man, who gave into the not-so-new wave of healthy living, trading in the chips he ate with his daily sandwich at lunchtime for fresh chopped vegetables instead. He began to like the changes as the results made him less tired, greasy and heavy in the end.

At professional sporting events, the homeland of fried foods and sugary snacks, there are many new options for people who favor a healthier way of living: salads, acai bowls, and even tacos disassembled on a plate without the shell. Combine this notion with the idea that physical activity and exercise, or simply just playing sports to accomplish the same results of increased heart rate and heightened metabolism as active players in our overall health and general lifespan and thus, people begin to see the light.

Just last night I watched the most recent episode of Family Guy with my husband. It touched upon the notion of push and pull in regards to healthy eating (and for the sake of a streamlined blog post, I will add in sports and exercise). People fight the idea of trading in trans fats for tomatoes out of plain stubbornness, fear of change, and simply, lack of understanding that being healthy does not detract from fun or taste or manliness/coolness in any way. The episode paid homage to the addiction that is unhealthy eating and the pandemic that is obesity, despite the studies and abundances of healthy options, and tasty ones at that, present to us almost everywhere we go. And, we can’t blink an eye nowadays without seeing a sports clothing store, a boutique or large gym, or an instagram account with body inspiration; all of it is simply implanted right in our faces. At the end of the episode, the main character, Peter, calls his wife’s vegetable side dish “vegan crap”, moments before getting stuck in his fast food truck and having to be removed via the Jaws of Life. Not ironic in name, the Jaws of Life is a metal tool used to remove people from their place of residences, as they are unable to do so themselves, due to their increasing obesity and weight, caused by none other than their own insatiable jaws for life.

If we view sports, exercise and diet as combined facets, yet individualistic opportunities to create the paths that work for us, fear will be the first thing to go in the steps to creating the healthy life that works for us as (insert name here). The ‘A Life Without Recipes’ exercise tip is as follows: make a list of all of the sports, exercises and healthy foods that seem interesting or pique your interest. Then, simply begin trying them out, one-by-one. If basketball is appealing to you and you sense you’ll garner the best results from cardio, or already know that you do, then trading in the running shoes for basketball shoes for a more interesting workout than your dreaded runs may just be the answer. It’s all about trial and error with sports in order find the best fit for us, and we must stuck with it so that we can create the best life without recipes, regarding sports and health, for as individuals.

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Tag Archives: brain

Although many people choose to avoid disagreement especially over controversial topics, their is a HEALTH sacrifice one makes in following this path. Good health is a subject that incorporates MANY different aspects of living. Most people view “good health” as the absence of disease. One only needs to look at the most recent unfortunate diagnosis […]

What contributes to one person’s view of life as dark, lonely or isolated and another person’s view of life as bright, boundless and full of undiscovered opportunities? PERCEPTION What draws the MIND in one direction or the other? Is it more natural to view life as existence with a simple goal of self preservation or […]

It starts the same way for all of us. We are born as infants fully reliant on our parents or caregivers to supply our every need. We slowly begin to develop both physically and mentally and begin to integrate our existence with the lives of others. We develop these skills as a result of nurturing […]

After discussing the dangers of Diabetes in my last post and graphically emphasizing the point, I decided it was time to call everyone out from under the table (a place I would hide when I got scared) and help people find a method to achieve a better life. Since each of us are unique and […]

STARTING OVER: Understanding The Role Of Emotions In Good Health

I have written many articles about health and its various components. I have read countless books, magazines, scientific research and viewed many videos. All of this information as well as my training as a physician has increased my knowledge of health and what it takes to be healthy. Although I believe knowledge is important it […]

Is the problem eyesight or is the problem vision? Can our realities only extend as far as the eye can see or can our truths extend beyond this point to where our brain can “see?” We are a society that to a large extent places boundaries around tangible pursuits. In part, this structure helps organize behavior […]

Breaking Free From Our Self Imposed Prison

We awaken, we stretch, we check the alarm clock, we get up, we start the day. We don’t think about this process. It’s just something we take for granted over our lifetime. Our imperatives change as we age. Children worry about school. adolescents worry about friends and popularity, young adults worry about career choices, adults […]


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20 questions with Jackie

Who am I? When I’m not asking myself that question, I’m busy finding the answer through my writing and moving. Every day in every way, I write and I move.

To get to know me beyond writing and moving, here are 20 questions and 20 answers.

1) Where are you from?

St. Louis, Missouri.

2) Biggest guilty pleasure?

Punny wordplay.

3) What’s your favorite movie?

Gladiator with Russell Crowe.

4) Beauty product or secret you live by?

Anything by It’s a 10 for hair care and doing an Advocare Herbal Cleanse every 90 days.

5) What song is your jam right now?

“Good to Be Alive” by Andy Grammar, who is performing in Fort Worth in January, hallelujah!

6) When you’re not teaching or writing, you’re…turkeytrot

trying anything new with the world’s most handsome football and powerlifting coach, Buck Elliott, my handsome fiancé.

7) What was your dream job when you were a kid?

I’d have told you a wedding planner, a ballerina, and a mom of 12 at different points, but I was always playing teacher with my baby sister.

8) Your house is on fire… what do you grab?

My engagement ring, my rosary, and my heavy-sleeping beaux.

9) Hobbies?

Trying new craft beers because I write about local breweries so frequently. Also, yoga. Sometimes craft beer yoga.

10) Pets?

I grow a lot of plants, which need food, water, and care, so they count, right?

11) What is your biggest pet-peeve?

That people still think you can’t end a sentence with a preposition.

12) Favorite local bar?

Not really a bar, but I’m loving Grace in Fort Worth because sommelier Jenny Kornblum is so knowledgeable! The Wednesday specials are worth checking out!

13) If your life had a theme song, what would it be?

Piece of Me” by Britney Spears.

14) What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

“Dreams don’t work unless you do.” and “Every hill is only half bad.”

15) Actor/actress you’d want to play YOU in a movie?

Probably Jayma Mays or Ellie Kemper. If you know me, you’ll understand those choices very easily.

16) What’s in your gym bag right now?

Water, wallet, and my Apple Watch that I’m obsessed with now.

17) Do you have a morning routine?

I check my email. I rise. I run, spin, lift, or do yoga. I shower, get dolled up as best I can with what time I have. Take half a dozen vitamins and my Advocare Spark, and I’m out the door.

18) What would be the title of your autobiography?

“Hot Sauce, Heels, and a Strong Write Hook.” I only know that because the passenger seat of my car was covered in the first two for some time, and writing hooks is my favorite part of teaching writing.

19) What was your favorite subject in school?

Human anatomy and my “Authentic Science Research” (or ASR) period when I worked on Autism research with researchers at Washington University-St. Louis.

20) Why do you work out?

My morning exercise is my therapy time. It’s my creative development time some days, my reflection time on other days. It’s where I go to get in the right headspace or the write headspace.

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Master’s abroad or MTech in India, Applying Engg principles to Agricultural Industries

A peak into Manufacturing Engg, Private jobs vs Govt jobs

Soft skills amount to 85% of job ability, MS in Industrial Engg

Polymer engineers can find jobs in public sector, Going to college, Check for lab, library, other facilities

How to cope up test anxiety, Electronics and Instrumentation Engg

Clueless about career, analyse yourself, CBEE in a nutshell

CDS written Exam, Applying for H1B Visa to US


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BAR Awards Profile – L. Donnell Thompson ’81

2003 Harvey E. Beech Outstanding Alumni Award
L. Donnell Thompson ’81

African-Americans spend approximately $36 billion while staying in the 80,000 hotels and inns across the United States. Yet the number of large hotels and inns owned by African-Americans is relatively small. Donnell Thompson is using his skills and entrepreneurship to alter those statistics, one hotel at a time.

Donnell knows all about rising to the challenge. As a high school senior in Lumberton, he earned a spot on North Carolina’s Shrine Bowl All-Star team, and when it was time to pick from all the college offers in his mailbox, Donnell didn’t hesitate. He packed his bags and headed for Carolina where he was a part of a legendary defensive line. As a senior he and his teammates brought home a 6-0 ACC season, and were ranked 8th by the Associated Press after a 16-7 win over Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl.

His motivation and determination made him an immediate starter after he was drafted by the Colts. He was an NFL All-Rookie, and he was a rock in his team’s defensive line until he retired in 1992.

While still with the Colts, Donnell was already thinking about his post-football life. He became an owner/operator of a number of McDonald’s restaurants, with a definite emphasis on the operator aspects of the job. During the football off-season he often arrived at a restaurant at 5 a.m. to make the biscuits and salads for the day, and he claims to be able to take apart and reassemble a McDonald’s milkshake machine with his eyes closed.

But his business career was still only in the first quarter. He sold his restaurants back to McDonald’s. In 1997 he switched to selling hotel rooms as president of Thompson Hospitality LLC.  It wasn’t easy at first. For his first hotel he had to go to 22 banks. Once he got the financing he  went on to develop a total of six hotels in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. His own management and construction companies built and managed three of the hotels.

Donnell’s companies have branched out, with additional construction projects, including the R.B. House Library at Carolina, and other projects at Fayetteville State University, Duke, Wachovia Bank, Bennett College, as well as a number of privately-owned estates in North Carolina.

Not content with just his own success, he has put his energy into helping other African-American entrepreneurs as chair of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers. The association is working to raise the profile of black professionals in the hotel business. Through his own business success, Donnell Thompson has become a mentor, imparting his knowledge and experience to those following him up the career ladder to executive positions within the hospitality industry.

He continues to be a strong supporter of his church, St. Joseph AME, and also his alma mater. He is a member of the Rams Club, the Chancellor’s Club, and the Board of Visitors.

And he enjoys keeping in touch with Carolina football, and it is enjoying him. Coach John Bunting ’72 has been delighted that Donnell returns to Carolina to share his story and experiences with the  team. “Donnell,” the coach says, “is the epitome of what the Carolina football program is all about. He was an outstanding football player, leader and graduate. He went on to a lengthy, successful pro football career. When his playing days were over, he took advantage of his skills and degree and became a highly successful businessman. There is no better role model for a young aspiring football player today than Donnell Thompson.”

We second that endorsement today with the Harvey E. Beech Outstanding Alumni Award.


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Rereading books

I have this problem.  I read a book and then another book and then another and another and another and then soon enough I forget what the first book was about.  I even forget what happens in books I like.  It’s terrible.  So, if I like a book enough I’ll have to reread it eventually, not just to enjoy it again, but to actually remember how it ended again.  (I also have to reread the Temeraire series before I read the 4th book because I don’t remember how the 3rd book ended…)

Anyways, I just finished rereading The Time Traveler’s Wife again, even though I only just read it a couple months ago.  Because my sister is reading it for the first time the copy of the book has been lying around the house, so I sort of got sucked into it when I picked it up and just started reading it again.

This time, since I just read the book in November, I remembered how the book ended and the essential plot points.  And even though everything was still fresh in my memory it still made me bawl at the end.  Maybe even more than the first time.  Some of the little things that happen and the little things that are said are what make the book amazing and it’s those things that I loved to reread.

This is a plea.  If you still have not read this book, please do.

3 thoughts on “Rereading books

  1. I have to do the same thing! I picked up a book called ‘The Book of Lost Things’ recently, thinking I hadn’t read it only discovering 5 pages it that I remembered reading it. Unfortunately for that book I didn’t feel like re-reading it yet, so it must wait.

    Likewise; there is a book series by John Marsden which is followed up by another series about the same character. The first series I’ve finished, and I got halfway through the second series before waiting for the next book to come out. So now I have to go back and reread both series to remember before reading the rest of the second series. Gah! Did that even make sense?

    Note to Aly: The Time Traveller’s Wife *coughbookclubcough* ;D

  2. Should also note: to reread all those series would mean reading 7 books, plus the three in the next series… or more like trilogy really…

  3. I keep meaning to buy my own copy of this book so I can reread it. I LOVED it! So much so I’m considering a Time Traveler’s Wife tattoo lol.

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Traveling Alone…

Traveling alone, being able to do a variety of things alone, is a source of pride for me. I’ll admit it…there you have it…I am quite proud of doing many years of my life thus far on my own in terms of being single, traveling, outdoor activities, supporting myself…you name it, I’ve probably done it on my own.

Now understand first, I’m not saying that doing things with others is not great. I love people, all of you! Really! I’ve done all the typical things in relationships and with others as well: vacations, traveling, living together with a significant other. I mean I practically got married for God’s sake…you can bet I’ve done plenty of activities and life with another.

But I really do find a lot of value and great deep lessons to learn about one’s self by traveling alone and spending time being single.

At times I do miss having someone to do things with though and this came to my mind again a week ago when I was in Venice for my second time. That’s right…Venice…one of the most romantic cities in the world and I’ve been there twice in the past month and both times “sola” as they refer to me there in Italian.

It crept up on me when I went for the umpteenth-time to a restaurant for dinner. I love eating out and having a great restaurant experience – the whole bit, from the atmosphere to the food to the drink to of course the service, is definitely what I enjoy thoroughly. But it’s always really something when you have people staring at you being there by yourself, all eyes seem to turn and it’s not just me thinking this, which is confirmed when the host or hostess asks the question in loud astonishment “sola?”. Yes, sola…and then from there I hardly get any service as they seem to think that serving a solo traveler is not worth their time. At least this is what happened on a particular night in Venice.

At the same time, and in most cases in life, this is of course not always the case. It actually is rarely the case and usually the experience is the other side of the tracks and its a great time. I meet wonderful new friends or, as in the case during a recent trip to Ferrara, Italy, I benefit from great champagne and a bouquet of two-dozen roses gifted to me from the Italian gentleman sitting at the other end of the restaurant from me. It didn’t get him what he wanted, but I enjoyed the delicious bubbly and shared the flowers with my B&B hostess the next morning.

Oh, and how about my favorite recent experience of meeting new friends in Venice while eating lunch by myself…they turned out to be professional opera singers and are now great friends and are the reason I got to see my first opera, La Boheme, in Venice. You can read more about that on my travel blog Ethnos Travel, in my recent post: Second Time to Venice, First Time to the Opera.

I guess to sum up these random ramblings that I’m sharing, it’s good to reflect on what new things I’m recently learning while I travel sola. Things like, how easy it can be to care too much about what other people think, even complete strangers. Or, to take it even deeper, what does all this say about how I view myself and what I really believe about myself? Do I need to be pulling out my iPhone for the hundredth time and making it my companion rather than enjoying the view and my own company? Oh boy…I’m getting pretty serious and deep here…

Maybe I need to keep an eye on being “sola” in general too much? I am already laughing out-loud to myself and sometimes thinking out loud too (I think some people call that talking to yourself. Hmmm….may very well be guilty of that one already). I hope you as the reader hear the sarcasm in all this and yet, a little bit of seriousness. You probably know what I’m talking about here.

Well, what I do know and am glad to gain from writing this is that what I am sharing here is an essential part of traveling alone and being single – it’s the confidence and self-knowing that only comes from living these insecurities and facing them, accepting them. They’re a part of human nature and life…when we’re really living life.

3 responses to “Traveling Alone…

  1. I definitely experiences things through a different lens when I am traveling alone. I also tend to keep a better travel journal when I am traveling alone. When I am with someone, I enjoy sharing it with that person–but I also have to rely more on that person’s memory when I get home, because I’m worse at writing things down! 🙂

    • Very neat! Great points you made especially about keeping a better travel journal when traveling solo. I find it to be the same for me.
      Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and enjoying my post.
      Keep reading!

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To those who know,

It is to you I write today, because I feel we maybe alone in realizing exactly how fucked we are.

Recently, a bus driver said that say they thought a war is coming.

Spoiler warning, you and I know it never wasn’t here.

You know by now, that I like many others am a Civil War Kid.

Thus, War is the condition of the conception of every circumstance of my life, and the source of my fortitude.

War is the only reason I exist today, and my existence, like yours is a victory, a testiment to our forbearers survival of their own personal colonial hells.

These kind of brutal wars are those that bear children to broken people and fore sakes them to broken empty dream houses. In lands, where the on the streets where they watch us, hunt us, see us as animals.

You live in a constant mode of lessons. Your bedtime stories are warnings, your lunchtime chatter is the casual tragedy of horrors yelled into long distance phone calls.

You become a secretary dialling in pins, a living record of cautionary tales.

Going to school, trying to work in a war to gain any semblance of power to protect yourself, let alone the dream of protecting everyone else so that you may simply live and love together, maybe heal.

But it’s meant to break you. Again and again. It’s a deck you want to burn, because it’s stacked not matter how much you shuffle it.

It’s a war of ideas in my fucking schools, when they tell you it’s just banter.

Idiot classmates who parrot. Buffon professors who pose arguments.

Perhaps they even proudly champion ideas. They play devil’s advocate, when they don’t even realize that perhaps the Devil himself is more sympathetic than the Nazis they echo.

But of course, they don’t here themselves. Nor do they know what they say. They’re good people. They’re respectable, nice, open minded people.

Respectably, nice people who feel entitled to demand mules to lay out the obvious to them.

Nice people who back reasons on why I am inherently inferior to their bastion of fake ass democracy and why I shouldn’t fucking allowed to exist, to live, to breathe.

Respectable people will call you emotional.

Nice people will call you hostile.

Open minded people will call you entitled for wanting your full personhood respected.

And you can’t help to think that your capacity for empathy alone warrants you more worthy of respected personhood then them.

And it’s just speech, free speech.

Maybe last night was our Kristallnacht.

We’re being led to the slaughterhouse.

Yet when they bomb mosques, you invite them to serve and protect you. The same fucking police who fucking stand aside and protecting KKK Lynch Mobs and Nazis because they are cut from the same cloth.

They don’t want you here. No matter how much yourself wants to be them.
Wants to be accepted by them. Who wants to be accepted by such people. It says something.

Your brothers and sisters, don’t care about your black ass.

We’re being led to the slaughterhouse and respectable folk will throw every non-complacent person under the bus.

To them, I say this: your silence, your complacency, your respectability won’t save you. The heartbreak of that disappointment is your punishment.

For I hesitate that to say that no single person is perhaps deserving of what is to come next, despite the grave sort of coonery that respectable muslims, black muslims and non black muslims participate in.

But again, who am I to say such thing right.

Perhaps it’ll even make you happy to grovel for empathy desperately at the white feet.

To prove that there’s some good in your White God, the White God of Affluenza and Aspiration to Affluence.

When all this time, your faith in good pure intentions has clamped your eyes to the very simple fact that there is no empathy to be won.

There is no empathy for you, because you will always be one of us.

For us, there’s no outrage, no intervener, no grief. We are foresaken by your White God. Your blasphemy.

You know that. Don’t act like you don’t. You know it.

They will stand. And they will watch. And they will wait to see if they think a war is coming.

They will peek from safety of their grey blinds and creme curtains to see if they can keep their little house and escape unbothered.

While we die to grind our bones into dust for a home we will never own in lands who deploys troops to kill kids who look like you and ban you.

While in our hearts and in our minds we are absent, chained to a home far far away, that we will never know truly know because our tongues fly with wings that our not ours.

We have nowhere to run too.

And they are coming for us.

At this point, most likely there are those who say “don’t let them scare you, don’t let their fear give them power over you”.

To those folks, I ask what makes you think that fear isn’t intently powerful on its own when facing power that you didn’t sanction?

It is fear that is a driver of survival, we have nowhere to run so flight is not an option, neither is shock, the only option if we hope for anything at all is to fight.

Where these fucking Nazis, these Lynch mobs don’t even have the fear to cover their faces and run over those who oppose them.

The time is over to look upon state sanctioned witch hunts of the White-lash and act surprised.

The Press is under attack.

The prison stocks sore under Trump.

Constitutional Civil Rights rights are silently getting swiped away under the commotion of nuclear war.

Whatever is coming, is coming. I don’t want to put a name to it out of horror that saying it makes all closer than it already is.

For those who know exactly what I’m talking about, you know and this post is for the people who know before it’s too late.

The people who have been struggling with this reality.

Perhaps pleasure is to realize that we have kept our humanity in-spite of being constantly defined by being stripped of it

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This documentary shows one of the Yucatec Maya traditions known as Hanal Pixan "Food for the souls" more commonly known as Day of the dead or finados . For Hanal Pixan there are different kinds of altar the ones shown in the documentary of Simply Belize:The Yucatec Maya are more Roman Catholic influence ,Many Mayas in northern Belize also put traditional Maya altars made of all natural things ,while others make a more modern Maya altar with a combination of Aztec influence or some the combination of 3 of them .
Note: The Yucatec Maya of Belize may also identify themselves as Maya,Masewal,Maya Masewal ,Mayero or Maya Mestizo . In this documentary of Simply Belize:The Yucatec Maya they use the term "Maya Mestizo" to refer to the Yucatec Maya also ,while the term simply "Mestizo" is used as people of Hispanic(Spanish) origin .


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American Elephants

Strange Liberal Fundraising Tricks! by The Elephant's Child

Harry Reid glum

John Podhoretz wrote a while back about Democrat’s fundraising efforts:

It’s been years in the making, but all the hard work has paid off: “Koch,” as in the surname of the energy-billionaire brothers David and Charles, has become the liberal “abracadabra” of 2014 — the magic word that mesmerizes liberals into parting with their money and giving it to Democrats.

What’s especially interesting about it is how conscious Democrats appear to be that they’ve helped create this two-headed monster to scare their own people into coughing up dollars they might not give otherwise.

“Koch” now joins “Rove” and “Newt” in the Liberal Fund-raising Hall of Fame — in the very exclusive Demons of the Right-Wing Wing.

No one has been more indefatigable at smearing and demonizing the Koch brothers than Harry Reid.  Most Americans have never even heard of them. The Koch family mining and energy business is privately held. They do not seek the limelight. They are libertarian in outlook, and although they do give to some Republican causes, they spend far more on civic institutions and cancer clinics, and libertarian causes like the Cato Institute.

When they donate to Republicans, they are far from the largest donors. The fear of the Koch brothers dates back to an ultra-partisan hit piece by Jane Mayer, who tried to make the ridiculous case that the Tea Party was a sinister creation of these horrid fossil-fuel plutocrats. Harry Reid has become so absurd in his accusations that the Kochs are causing global warming, killing people that people are beginning to wonder if Reid is losing it.

When the Kochs donated a $100 million cancer clinic to New Your Presbyterian Hospital, SEIU goons turned out in a large group to protest. The Brothers have shocked journalists by—talking back, correcting shoddy reporting and  refusing to allow reporters to lie about the Kochs as the subject of a news story. They  have even taken out ads lambasting reporters who distribute false information.

In a move that is guaranteed to enrage the left, the Koch brothers have donated $25 million to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), the foremost source of financial support to African-American students. The donation will provide nearly 3,000 merit-based awards to African-American undergraduate, graduate, and post doctoral students seeking scholarship assistance. The donation will also help fund 37 historically black colleges which have struggled with financial shortfalls in recent years. This donation is not a one- time gift, but the continuation of a long association between Koch industries and the UNCF.

According to a new George Washington University poll, 52 percent of likely voters had never heard of the Kochs. The poll also found that more Americans have a negative view of Harry Reid (35 percent) than of the Koch Brothers (25 percent). For Democrats, fundraising emails that bash the Kochs bring in three times as much money as those that don’t. Democrats are deeply afraid of the Tea Party! They demonstrate and even carry signs.

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• No booking or credit card fees
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Unforgettable Asakusa & Sensoji Tour with Lunch

  • No booking or credit card fees
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  • Free cancellation

Every guide book and checklist will tell you that the Asakusa area is a “Must See!” But we know you want to get off the beaten track and discover hidden spots and tasty treats that most tourists will never find. Learn the history of the area while trying snacks, sweets and having a local seasonal lunch!

You will begin your tour with a special overview of this district. Explore the Namise street, try a famous Japanese snack, and learn about how pilgrims and tourists have been coming here for more than 1000 years. Have a seasonal lunch with your guide and learn about food customs and ordering tips that you can use throughout your time in Japan.

What's included

  • One drink included
  • 5 Food Stops
  • Dessert included

What's not included

  • Gratuities (optional)
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off

Important information

We have a strict policy about starting our tours on time. This is to protect the enjoyment of all our guests and restaurant partners. We are sorry to say that if you are not able to arrive at the meeting point by the departure time, the tour will start regardless and no refund will be provided. We are also unable to accommodate meeting up in any of the food stops once you’ve missed the start of the tour.

Meeting point

2 Chome-18-9 Kaminarimon, Taitō-ku ( 浅草文化観光センター ). The meeting point is in front of the Asakusa Culture and Tourism Center.

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Cancellation fees are as follows: 7+ days before tour date: full refund. 4 to 6 days before original tour date: 50% refund. We cannot accept cancellations within 72 hours or less prior to tour: and we offer no refund in that time frame.

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"Letters from the New York Otaku"#3 | アニメ！アニメ！

"Letters from the New York Otaku"#3

English news

"Letters from the New York Otaku"

By David Cabrera

#3: What I Think About Calling Ourselves Otaku: “I'm Fascinated By Your Lifestyle!”

Last time we talked about the title of this column and the importance of the word otaku to many foreign fans. My feelings for the term are complicated, so I offer a story from my own life.

I used to see a girl who would say of me, full-time college otaku that I was, “I'm fascinated by your lifestyle!” That's the kind of phrase that stays in your head, and not necessarily as a compliment. Did she like me, or was I a scientific study? I never really figured it out, but at worst I was a happy test subject.

Every so often she would come see me with the intent of observing the male otaku in his habitat. I was merely shocked by my luck. When she first said “fascinated by your lifestyle”, I sat her down and I showed her the Genshiken anime. Basic educational material. She was riveted.

“God, I hate that Saki. What a bitch!” she said to me after a few episodes, expecting an otaku to agree wholeheartedly. But I love Saki. Sure, we'd all like to date Ohno, but Saki's the most human. Her cut-downs and her perpetual, eyebrow-twitching disgust keep everybody down to earth... and while she's not going to drop Kosaka for Madarame or anything, it's not like Saki truly hates the Genshiken otaku, you know?

“She's so mean to them, though!”
“But they need her!”
“They don't need her at all!”

“Ah, you just don't get it,” I said to her, like maybe we were in fact different species.

We got along pretty well, and things went along this way for a while. One of those days she would say to me, “well, we're both otaku...”. I reflexively replied “you can't be!” and mentally shuddered a little bit.

That had to do with my feeling of the word otaku at the time. I feel like one shouldn't induct oneself so proudly into that club. To me, that word-- like “nerd” in English-- still carries the sense of an outcast. I haven't run under the banner of otaku: it's something I've had to admit to myself over time. There is the sad feeling that I can't talk to some of the things about which I am passionate to anybody outside of the subculture.

But that wasn't the meaning of the word otaku that was on her mind. It didn't have these complex connections to shame, it was just the fascinating lifestyle that she shared in when she came over.

So I regretted my statement—my wanting to sort her into a box far away from me labeled “not otaku”-- right away. Our conversation wasn't about some debate over the definition of a term. It was her looking to connect, and me denying her that because, dammit, she was wrong about a character in an anime that I liked. Ah, how otaku of me. How foolish.

So no, I haven't figured out what American anime/manga fans mean when they use otaku... but I've decided to stop worrying about where to draw the lines. Next time we'll talk less about what American otaku call themselves and a little more about what they're doing. See you then.


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The official website for Atlus’ Playstation Vita game Persona 4: The Golden has announced that the game will be getting an anime adaptation.

Persona 4: the Golden Animation is set to premiere the July 2014 and it will retell the story of the first series with new character Marie.

Chief Director: Seiji Kishi
Director: Tomohisa Taguchi
Script Composition: Jun Kumagai
Character Designer: Yuu Shindou
Persona Concept Designer: Kazuma Kaneko
Music: Shoji Meguro, Tetsuya Kobayashi
Animation Production: A-1 Pictures

Showtaro Morikubo as Yosuke Hanamura
Yui Horie as Chie Satonaka
Ami Koshimizu as Yukiko Amagi
Tomokazu Seki as Kanji Tatsumi
Rie Kugimiya as Rise Kujikawa
Kappei Yamaguchi as Kuma (Teddy)
Romi Park as Naoto Shirogane
Unshou Ishizuka as Ryōtarō Dōjima
Akemi Kanda as Nanako Dōjima
Mitsuaki Madono as Tōru Adachi
Isamu Tanonaka as Igor (special performance)
Sayaka Ohara as Margaret
Kana Hanazawa as Marie

via ANN


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Friday, March 16, 2012

Here's Your Sign

When we came back from Germany in 1989, I was VERY pregnant.  We moved into a little motel/apartment while we were getting signed in to Fort Bragg, but I was eager to find a place to settle down before our baby came.  According to my count, I still had about a month to go, but our search for a house to rent was not going well, and I was getting kind of impatient.  One day as we were driving back to our motel, I asked Sam to drive through the housing development in the part of town we liked, just to see if there might be anything with a "for rent" sign. Wouldn't you know -- there was!!  The man next door had the key, and he let us look inside.  It had plenty of room, a nice yard, and reasonable rent -- but we are never quick to make a decision, so we thanked him and headed home. We had a realtor friend also looking for a place for us, so we were thinking about checking with him, too.  As we drove home, Sam prayed for God to give us a sign if that was the place for us. When we got back to the motel, there was a note on the door -- our friend had found a house that he thought we might like.  We checked the address -- it was the same house we had just looked at!!  We had quite literally gotten a SIGN with the address of our new house!! Coincidence? Nope -- it was a Godwink!!
And none too soon -- I had our baby 3 weeks early -- on the day before we were scheduled to move into our house.  So Sam and the girls moved our belonging and cleaned the motel rooms while  I was at the hospital, and I came home just in time to direct the movers who delivered our household goods. I sat in the recliner with Andrew and pointed out the destination for each box. It was a good place to live, and we knew that God met our needs once again.

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Look up!

    About 10 years ago, when my son Andrew was in 4-H, we bought some blueberry and grapes vines the club was selling as a fund raiser.  We planted them under some trees beside the house -- obviously NOT the best place for them -- and they never did produce anything.  We finally quit looking and gave up.  We don't go around to that side of the house much, and I totally forgot about them.  This weekend, Sam was out doing some yard work -- not his favorite thing -- and he called for me to come and see the blueberries on the vine!  I was surprised  and happy-- I'm going to be having my own berries  for muffins!  So then I looked over at the place where we had planted the grapes, and there was that scraggly vine -- with no grapes, just like I expected.  We stood there talking for a few minutes, then I happened to look up -- and was shocked to see grapes growing from the vine about 15 feet up in the tree!  I don't know how many years we have missed them -- but the vine is way up there!  We haven't looked up before, so the vine may have been producing grapes for several years.
    I wonder how many times I have missed a blessing from God because I  didn't look up?

Isaiah 40:26
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

  1. What a great post and a beautiful reminder to us to look up.
    Blessings to you.
    Barb Whittington

  2. I just took a peek at your blog to see who you were -- and wow! a Real Published Author read my blog! Thanks for your comment -- I write these Godwinks to remind myself, but am always glad to hear that they are meaningful to someone else, too.


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Angular: Custom Value Checkbox

Sometimes the dba won't change a field's datatype in the database which why handle all my databases now days. Just some quick notes for handling custom values to send back to the database for a form post. Using angular 1.5...

<inputtype="checkbox"ng-model="item.selected"ng-true-value="'TRUE'"ng-false-value="'FALSE'"/> - "add quotations because it's an angularjs expression and it also needs to be a constant"

Resources view not updating when checkbox clickedPassing dynamic value with single quote as a ng-true-value expression fails

Don't Prompt for Permissions without the User's Direct Interaction

For all the applications out there! Stop pushing for permissions and stop probing for information without reason. Regardless of your necessity for a feature a user is the right for not installing or using an app without clear intent. Action from the user are a direct link from the developer to the client for clear reason and intent on why they need permissions. I see this now and again with website using geo-location and never giving a reason on why the need the permissions but sure enough its the first prompt I get on their site...  This why I really like the recent changes with android its a little annoying for coding but the information needed for the user on why you need some information is clear. I always have to fight with project managers on whats initiate and I can be more direct on why I need something than from what you are asking me to do. There is still room for error (security issues) with a client if they still don't trust an application which I always say they can …

VS 2015 - The Operation Could not be Completed Invalid Pointer

This bug appears to happen in both visual studio 2015 and 2010 but I've only run into it for 2015. I'm not sure what I did to cause this other maybe moving around projects. I don't think that was the cause but I do sometimes delete the appdata folder. My solution for this bug is simple delete the AppData folder again (hahah).  I found from other sites that is the ComponentModelCache folder specifically that you want to delete. It goes without saying close all visual studio windows before doing this. Folder Under: C:\Users\{YourUsername}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\ComponentModelCache

User-Agent Styled Web Applications

This idea came from awhile back when I was working on my project rustkickers. The purpose of the site is to provide documentation on all things motor related. While working on a demo for the site used a old car manual to create some of the designs. That goes me thinking why not make multiple site designs around different car manufactures. Then even further down the rabbit I landed here, which is what this article. Another thought but a cool one I think and yes I know you can't trust the user-agent but it doesn't matter its just the style not the content.

Intial Solution
Optimizing content for different browsersFilter based on webkitChrome conditional commentsIs there any equivalent to IE conditional comment for chrome and safari?IE10 CSS Hacksload webfonts through the offline storage cache manifestAfter playing around with this idea for awhile I figured handling this is the frontend at all was not worth it because of performance. Unless your looking at it with a single css a…

Fixing Chrome Settings - Windows Registry

Take a look at your policies! Always messing with things and there are three keys when it comes to chrome that need to be setup probably for you to enjoy the internet. Check them out either with "regedit" or chrome://policy/
Adding the correct Policies! “Sign in to Chrome” missing; No syncing options in chrome://settings Can’t update, can’t sync? no problem. just add these three keys, even if the Chrome key isn’t there just create it and add the children keys.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Update\UpdateDefault HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\SigninAllowed HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\SyncDisabled @="0"
Extra Registry Stuff (Windows 7)
I didn't want to make another article on this stuff but had use for it.

wallpaper-in-windows-7-locked-down-by-domain-group-policyHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorertheme-allow-prevent-changingCarry out the following steps: Start the Registry …

Jquery Plugin: Testing with (SauceLabs, Qunit, Travis-CI)

After looking around I found a project that worked great on desktop but not on so much mobile I figured I would fork it and figure out how I could improve.
Build on Travis: Build on Sauce Labs:

Since don’t need to write the tests I simply want to run the tests on multiple devices so I can see them fail on mobile. Using the  jquery-boiler as an example for creating the setup, I ran into multiple issues which I was able to correct as some heavy reading.

Definitions for Business Model Canvas

For awhile I've been taking classes online for entrepreneurship this is just one of many articles I will be writing. Here this the start of them and some notes for myself, under the label "business".

Value Propositions - an innovation, service, or feature intended to make a company or product attractive to customers.
Customer segmentation -is the practice of dividing a customer base into groups of individuals that are similar in specific ways relevant to marketing, such as age, gender, interests and spending habits. Customer segmentation, also called consumer segmentation or client segmentation, procedures include: Deciding what data will be collected and how it will be gathered Collecting data and integrating data from various sources Developing methods of data analysis for segmentation Establishing effective communication among relevant business units (such as marketing and customer service) about the segmentation Implementing applications to effectively deal with the data an…


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The Coming Unprecedented American Cat/Dog Holocaust

The Coming Unprecedented American Cat/Dog Holocaust

Anthony Marr’s reluctant warning to the Animal Rights Community
Warning: Not for faint-hearted!Not even cat-loving and dog-revering Americans are above eating cats and dogs when the requisite conditions arise. One of the revered American heroes – Captain Meriwether Lewis of the great Lewis and Clark Expedition – habitually ate dogs, as provided by the native tribes en route, during the latter part of their strenuous journey.Not to mention eating their horses and dogs, they might even turn cannibalistic in dire straights, as per the heroic Donner Party.

Another historical account has it that: “It happened in the winter of 1874. Five prospectors hired a man to guide them across the San Juan Mountains. Weather was severe that winter; the men fought huge snowdrifts and extreme low temperatures. Progress was very slow. No game for hunting was to be found, and the party ran out of food. Up at the Slumgullion Pass, they had already boiled and eaten their moccasins. Six weeks later, only the guide showed up at Los Pinos, claiming he had lost the others in a snowstorm. Reality was different. A search party of natives revealed that Alfred Packer had probably killed his companions while they were sleeping and partially eaten them…”

Another example is the Uruguayan rugby team stranded in the Andes Mountains after a plane crash in 1972, resorting to cannibalism as portrayed in the book and film [Alive]. Yet another is Easter Island, where the inhabitants ended their culture in cannibalism after cutting down every last tree for sleds to transport their colossal statues, trees with which they also used for making cutout-canoes for their then pelagic fishery, which then of course collapsed.

It is said that under starvation conditions, food is all one can think about, and morality evaporates into thin air, however principled one used to be under normal conditions. In the last stage of starvation, the starving often resort to ingesting stones, fully knowing that this will kill them agonizingly in short order. It is all in the moment. So, under desperate circumstances, it is not impossible that people may look upon cats and dogs, the predominant urban non-human animals, as food, especially given the large populations of all three in deep urban environments. To put it bluntly, America, urban America at least, may become a cat/dog-eating nation after all other food types have been exhausted.

And what would such desperate circumstances be that could drive normally cat/dog-loving Americans to take such a plunge?

Assuming that the economic theory predicting an imminent Dollar Crash is correct, and I believe it is, America will suffer HYPERINFLATION, resulting in social disintegration and chaos, by 2015 if not before, which would make the 2008 housing crash look like a prelude to a full-blooded symphony. The scenario in the title is very much the logical conclusion.

About HYPERINFLATION, just how hyper an inflation makes it “hyperinflation”?

Let me present the top 6 of the 57 that have struck human civilization in history, so far:

#6. 1944 – Greece – peaked in October with a DAILY inflation rate of 17.84% – prices doubled every 4.3 days.

#5. 1923 – the Weimar Republic in Germany – peaked in October with a daily inflation rate of 20.87% – prices doubled every 3.7 days.

#4. 1994 – the Sprpska Republic – peaked in January with a daily inflation rate of 64.30% – prices doubled every 1.4 days.

#3. 1994 – Yugoslavia – peaked in January with a daily inflation rate of 64.63% – prices doubled every 1.4 days.

#2. 2008 – Zimbabwe – peaked in November with a daily inflation rate of 98.01% – prices doubled every 24.7 hours.

#1. 1946 – Hungary – peaked in July with a daily inflation rate of 207.19% – prices doubled every 15.0 hours.

And let me caution:

1. some societies did not survive their hyperinflation;

2. #5 led to the rise of Hitler, Nazism, the Jewish persecution, the Second World War and the Holocaust; and

3. if/when it hits the U.S. it will be like Hurricane Sandy compared to a mild noreaster. The rate may not be quite as steep, but the scale will be astronomical.

Ignore at our peril.

In this scenario, the following background condition will prevail:

1. There will likely be bank runs accompanied by stock-market plunges. The Dollar will be worth mere cents, or downright the proverbial “not worth the paper it is printed on”. Even the rich, if all they have is paper money, will become the poor overnight. People will turn to bartering to get what they need.

2. As the Dollar plummets, the prices of all commodities will skyrocket; both mean the same thing. Gasoline, for example, will cost $30 per gallon upward, likewise for a loaf of bread, that is, if they have not all been gobbled up in the initial days already.

3. The transportation system will grind to a halt – land, air and sea. Private vehicles may run until their tanks are dry, then abandoned where they stop. Government vehicles will keep on running for a period, but they likely will not be used for the transportation of food.

4. All imported food will disappear from grocery shelves. All still available will be local produce and very limited in quantity, and these will be priced so high as to be beyond the means of perhaps even the “Middle Class”.

5. People on fixed income may continue to receive their checks, or not, and even if they do, the amount will be the same as before, rendering it all but worthless. Even if there is food on the shelf, a single serving may cost their entire check.

6. Food riots will erupt, complete with looting and pillaging, and the associated raping and killing. The government will not be able to provide food for the people. What it can do is to impose martial law; good bye constitutional rights. The federal government has recently placed an order for nearly 2 Billion rounds of hollow-point bullets and thousands of bullet-proof kiosks. It will be civil war between the army and a well-armed but anarchic public.

7. Those with some foresight and who take this economic forecast seriously may have stockpiled several weeks’ or months’ worth of water and food, while those not having done any preparation will begin to starve within days. Food-wise, it will be the Haves and the Have-Nots, and the latter will take drastic measures they wouldn’t in civil society. There will be home invasions from house to house in quest for water and food, especially in the depths of major metropolises like New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Boston and Los Angeles.

8. Global-warming-induced-droughts may itself trigger the collapse, and will worsen the already desperate situation so that not even people in the agricultural regions, e.g. the Mid-West, are immune to starvation. In Chinese history, for example, there are cases of mass starvation impacting hundreds of thousands or even millions due to droughts right there in the Central Plain, the Chinese equivalent of the American “Bread Basket”. Countries like Ethiopia and Somalia are recent or current examples. While previously when America felt the pinch, she could always count on food importation, this time, she will be out of purchasing power, plus, other countries will likely have food shortages of their own.

9. Those living near ranches, farms and factory farms will raid them for their produce, chickens, pigs and cows. Those living in the country will hunt and fish for subsistence, until the deer, bears, fowl, fish… are hunted and fished out of existence. Those who are trapped in the depths of metropolises, without access to water, crops, orchards and “food animals”, will raid each other of whatever food they can get, including household cat and dogs.

10. Finally, cat/dog guardians, who will have trouble feeding themselves, will have trouble feeding their cats and dogs.

When I say that America may turn into a cat/dog-eating nation, I am not talking about cat/dog guardians eating their own “pets”. I am talking about the general population eating other people’s dogs and cats. Bearing in mind that over 95% of Americans eat meat, it will be an easy transition for them to include cats and dogs in their “diet”.

But this may be only a transitional phase. These same people, after the cats and dogs have been eaten out, and when starvation really sets in, may go one logical step further, as the Donner Party, the Uruguayan rugby players and the Easter Islanders did, but it will be the last resort.

And what will urban vegans do if all plant-based food in major cities have been exhausted, and they have no resources with which to leave the city? I dread to imagine. If I am still stuck in the city “when the shit hits the fan”, I will be one of them.

Can we prevent this from happening? Yes and No.

The “No” will be an outright rejection and refusal of any lowering of the standard of living today, imposed by the government or otherwise, causing the government to borrow more and more, and the Federal Reserve to print billions of paper dollars more every month, leading the inflation to further steepen, when the country is already caving under the crushing $17 Trillion national debt and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

The “Yes” will have to be a nation-wide austerity measure BEFORE the collapse arrives, voluntary or otherwise, which will have to include the drastic lowering of living standards, the cutting of many social programs, and a significant reduction of the military expenditure. It will be a choice between half-a-cup which can still marginally sustain and an empty cup if the collapse does occur.

We all know which alternative Americans at large will take. Of course the causes are far more complex, including the decline and fall of the Dollar as the World Reserve Currency, the rise of other currencies in the world market, taxation, business closures, unemployment, housing crash, stock-market crash, bank runs, etc., but all in all, there does not appear to be a third alternative.

I asked Shannon Wright whether I should publish this blog to the AR community. She quipped, “People may think that Anthony Marr has lost his mind.” I then asked her to find holes in my reasoning, and she could find none, assuming that the Economic Collapse theory is correct, which is not the point in question here. Finally, she added that people need to think or at least hear about it, if only for the animals under their care. So, I have decided to go for it.

In this context, my advice to all is to move out of large metropolises ASAP if at all feasible, to a place with water and food potential – not particularly an isolated farm house which could be highly vulnerable to home-invasions, but a small community that could communally feed and defend itself, and provide itself with renewable energy should the power grid fail and conventional fuel stops to flow.

I issued the above caution to a personal friend of mine living in the depths of a large city whose personal safety and that of his/her cats/dogs I cared about, but received insult and scorn in return. So when I issue this seemingly outlandish warning to the entire AR community, albeit reluctantly, I stand to be mob-lynched. So here is a personal plea to all:

Kindly do not lynch me. I am only the well-meaning messenger.

Anthony Marr, Founder and President
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
Global Anti-Hunting Coalition (GAHC)

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Tenderloins Sports Bar & Steak House

dollar dollar dollar

Open Now

Bar, Restaurant

Accepts Credit Card(s)
Live Sports Screened
Smoking area
Serves Food
Open hours

From 10:00 to 01:00

Show more
Western, International, Thai
Pasta, Burger, Seafood
dinner, late night, lunch, brunch

Beer, Cocktails, Spirits, Wine, Non alcoholic

Nearest Rail Link

Phrom Phong

Venue Theme

Cocktail, Outdoor, Sports

Last update

13 April 2016

Tenderloins Steakhouse & Sports Bar is an upscale Sports Bar specializing in choice cut steaks and exclusive imported wines. We're located just a five minute walk from the BTS Phrom Phong and are conveniently situated in the Downtown Sukhumvit Area. •• Tenderloins is a family friendly environment, we have LIVE Sports on multiple screens and a wall sized digital projector. We also serve a Healthy Junior Menu for younger patrons and maintain two separate smoking terraces including a private terrace located on the second floor. •• Tenderloins also has a 3rd Floor available for Functions & Parties.

Happy hours

From 16:00 to 19:00
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The Attitude Of Gratitude

I am sitting in my office typing this post with one hand – the other is wrapped around my 10 day old baby boy – Zac.

It occurred to me this morning that I have a great many things to be grateful for at the moment.  There is something quite magical and miraculous about the birth of a new baby and I felt I wanted to express that somehow.  I love writing lists; so here is my top 10 “Things To Be Grateful For”.

1 – My baby boy!  He is healthy (albeit still a bit jaundiced), extremely beautiful (not that I am biased!) and is thoroughly adorable to cuddle.

2 – Vaxjo hospital and staff. Arriving at hospital shortly before 8am on Friday 19 February we were ushered into our own private room, offered breakfast and I was able to have a bath to ease contractions.  It was a very relaxing way to start the physical marathon that is giving birth.  The midwives were friendly and professional and the one who was present during the actual birth was a trombone player called Anna!  So she kept reminding me to do my trumpeter breathing.

We stayed in hospital for a total of 1 week due to Zac having treatment for jaundice.  At times it was hard not being at home with him, surrounded by relaxing and familiar sights and sounds.  However, it was really helpful to have the midwives on hand as I got used to the steep (and often painful) learning curve that is breast-feeding.  We also had all our meals provided for us with breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 fika breaks.  The uplifting view from my room and the day room was of a large park and a lake.  I am grateful that I do not have to pay for the care that I received because it is one of the benefits of living in Sweden.

3 – Like most new mums, I am finding social media super handy for touching base with friends and other mums.  There is so much to get used to and learn at first that I think most of us simply want to be told, “yes, this is entirely normal…no, you don’t need to worry…yes, this is a just a phase that will pass.”  I have also received a great many cards, presents and messages of support from my friends and this really cheered me up whilst in hospital, waiting for Zac’s jaundice to get better.

4 – Another important source of support has been my family.  My husband “the rock” kept me going through the birth process with jokes and encouragement.  My in-laws managed the hotel while we were in hospital.  My brothers, sisters-in-law, uncles and aunts (including one who is a midwife) all sent me encouraging messages.  And my parents have been on hand to help look after Zac and the hotel since we arrived home.  What a team!

5 – I am grateful it is the low season at the hotel and that we only had 1 guest staying the night that Zac was born – a much easier scenario than if he was born in the summer when we can easily have 20+ guests staying the night!

6 – Zac’s timing was impeccable.  Not only was he born exactly on his due date, he also got to see his step-brother and step-sister before they went back to England.  If he had been born any earlier, he could have stolen my step-son’s thunder, whose birthday was just 4 days earlier on 15 February.

7 – I am grateful that my son gets to grow up in Urshult with its beautiful lake, forests, friendly residents and relaxed pace of life.

8 – My husband has been unerringly by my side both throughout my pregnancy, the birth and Zac’s first few days.  I can’t imagine managing without him!

9 – All the gifts we have received:  clothes, toys, baby blankets…I have been really touched by the generosity of my friends and family.

10 – My amazing body!  I have a new respect for my body now and all the changes it has been through over the last 10 months.  From the miracle of growing a new life inside me (an entire human being no less!) to pushing out a 9lb baby last Friday.  In the following days it felt as if every muscle and nerve in my body ached, as if I had used absolutely every cell in the effort of giving birth!  And yet, the body recovers.  10 days on, I am no longer in pain when I walk or sit – although I do still get very tired.  And I am now producing regular supplies of milk for my little one, which is pretty cool!

So, there you have it – 10 reasons for me to feel grateful as I embark on this new chapter in my life.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has leant support over the last 10 months or so…you have helped ease me into my new role as a mother and that is totally awesome!!!

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3 Responses to The Attitude Of Gratitude

  1. Kwlly says:

    I love this Anna- and I love baby’s name 🙂 can’t wait to see you soon for a visit! X

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Great name choice and spelling! Swedish hospital sounds a cut above the NHS, much as I love the NHS obviously!

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Ranee A. Gunaratne

19 October 1941 - 21 August 2017

Under: Obituary
Ranee A. Gunaratne

Ranee A. Gunaratne passed away peacefully in her Spring, TX home on Monday, August 21, 2017 at the age of 75.

Ranee was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka to the late Albert and Hazel Fernando on October 19, 1941. As a young girl, she attended St. Anne’s Convent in Wattala, where she would ultimately meet her loving husband of more than 57 years.

From the moment they met, Ranee and Leslie were inseparable. In as many years as they were wed, they never spent more than 10 days apart from each other.

In 1968, the young couple made the move from Sri Lanka to Staten Island, NY in effort to create a better life for themselves and their 3 young children. Once settled, Ranee aided her husband in moving over one hundred of their relatives, generating a massive movement of Sri Lankans to America.

After relocating to Houston, TX in 1979, Ranee began her career as an Executive Assistant at Aramco Services Company, where she devoted more than 20 years. Though she took much pride in her career, nothing brought Ranee more joy than her grandchildren, great grandchildren and cooking for others.  She lived to feed others and would happily divulge the fine details of how she made each dish to anyone who would listen.

Ranee is survived by her husband Leslie Gunaratne; children, Sam Gunaratne and Sandiya Venturato; loving daughter-in-law, Sakuntala Gunaratne; brother, Annesley Fernando; 5 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son, Ravi Gunaratne.

Public viewing and vigil to be held at Klein Funeral Home-Champions Forest on Sunday, August 27th at 5pm. Funeral Service will be held Monday, August 28th at 11am at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Spring, Texas, burial to follow.

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Home Philadelphia Press Releases 2013 New York Man Charged with Allegedly Transporting Minor with Intent to Engage in Sexual Conduct
This is archived material from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) website. It may contain outdated information and links may no longer function.

New York Man Charged with Allegedly Transporting Minor with Intent to Engage in Sexual Conduct

U.S. Attorney’s Office May 01, 2013
  • Middle District of Pennsylvania (717) 221-4482

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Trevorn Renel Parkins, age 21, of Buffalo, New York, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg charging him with the transportation of minors and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania State Police, the Buffalo City Police, and the Buffalo District Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daryl F. Bloom.

Indictments and criminal informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

In this particular case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is life imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances, and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational, and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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Tag Archives: residency

Applications for summer 2010 AIR in

So, I believe I have received the last of the applications for the summer artist residence, which will take place in July and August. I have emailed everyone whose application I have received, so that means that if you sent in an application, but haven’t received a confirmation of receipt from me, there are only two possible reasons:

  • a. I haven’t received your application or
  • b. my email didn’t get to you.

Either way, you should get in touch with me.

I must admit the decision will not be an easy one. There are many great artists who make really interesting work with very compelling reasons for wanting to come to Bialystok. Alas, a decision must be made, and 6 artists will be invited to come to Bialystok for the summer. Soon the committee will confer and I will inform ALL applicants of whatever decision is made by February 15, and then with the permission of the chosen artists, I will post who will be coming in July.

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Welcome to the Art Factory Białystok International Artist Residence program blog. This will serve as the space for information about our residency programs until we get a website up. After that, it may still function as a blog with periodic updates on what we’re doing.

So far we have had one residence take place – in summer 2008. This is a very young program! The next residence is coming up in summer 2010. A writer’s residence program is in the works. This blog will serve as a documentation of development of the residency program. The aim is a year-round program. There are many hurdles to overcome, and it may take some time, but I believe it can be done. Art Factory Białystok has been a dream of mine, and it is slowly but surely materializing.

And who am I? My name is Urszula Humienik-Dworakowska, and I am the residence founder and project coordinator. I do basically anything and everything to get this thing together and get the right people to help out, etc. My husband, Pawel, helps out with many of the aspects – I don’t think I could do it all completely on my own. To find out more about me, find me on facebook.

Urszula Humienik-Dworakowska

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Playgrounds for Data: Inspiration from Interactives

by Jared M. Spool

I recently learned that there’s a pattern to how the US Presidential candidates talk about each other during the televised debates. To distinguish themselves from their opponents, they’ll often mention an opponent’s name when stating how their position on an issue is different, even if the difference is minor.

For example, in one Republican Debate, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney “politely” pointed out a small adjustment to what Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had just said, ”I don’t believe you had the finest record of any Governor in America on education.“ He then continued to point out his own successes.

I found it interesting that, in the debates leading up to the recent Iowa Caucuses, hardly any of the Republican candidates ever mentioned Governor Huckabee. Senator Barack Obama was mentioned many times by each of the Democratic candidates (and by the Republican Romney a few times, even though he wasn’t even in the same debates). While both won the Iowa Caucuses, it seems the Democrats perceived Obama a greater threat than the Republicans considered Huckabee.

Even more interesting to me is that everyone, in almost every debate from both parties, talked about Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton. (In one Republican debate, Romney mentioned Clinton more than 5 times.) One could deduce that every campaign is thinking she’s a threat.

Yet, perhaps the most interesting thing to me is not the data itself, but how I discovered it: in a flash-based interactive put together by the New York Times interactive team, called Naming Names. They analyzed the transcripts from the debate and created a clever little tool which shows who talked about whom.

Looking a bit like a Spirograph drawing toy, the designers put all the candidates in a circle. Under each candidate’s name is a small bar code, with line widths representing the number of words the candidates spoke. Then they drew arrows to the opponents mentioned.

When you move your mouse over a candidate, the arrows for all of the opponents who mentioned them appear. It’s an even distribution, until you move your mouse over Hillary Clinton’s name and see the burst of discussion about her. It’s not hard to deduce that both sides think she’s the person to beat.

This Came From Where?

Mainstream media is often chided for not being hip with the latest in design technology. The New York Times, having started in 1851, is about as mainstream as you can get. Yet, in my opinion, they are a leader in creating interactive modules to accompany their news stories, often yielding in an impressive and fun experience.

The Naming Names interactive is just one of many the teams at the New York Times have produced over the last few years. Looking over their work is a real source of inspiration on how to start with complicated data and turn it into an informative experience for the reader.

Here are some of basic principles we can extract by reviewing a handful of the NYTimes interactive components:

Data is More Fun When You Play With It

One of the most complicated decisions a person may face is whether to rent an apartment or buy a home. The most cost effective answer depends on the apartment’s rent, the cost of the house, the interest of the mortgage, the likely increase in the house’s worth, and the annual increase in the rent. Most people, faced with decision, wouldn’t know where to begin in figuring out the benefits.

To accompany a story back in April, 2007, called “A Word of Advice During a Housing Slump: Rent”, the team put together an interactive called Is It Better to Buy or Rent. Using a calculator, readers can enter in their essential data and instantly see a chart showing when buying becomes better than renting. You should rent when the chart is grey, buy when it’s orange.

Sliders from -10% to +30% control the annual home appreciation and rent increase/decreases. Playing with sliders instantly shows how long it will take a house to be worth the investment, if, for example, housing prices are dropping or rents are skyrocketing. Moving the slider a little for the home value’s appreciation can show dramatic changes in the graph.

Clicking on a specific data point is even more fun. When you select a point, the chart shows the exact amounts spent on buying versus renting, up until that year. The reader can see how much money their decision has cost or saved them.

All this data could be presented in a multi-column chart. However, because of the interactive nature, there’s a game play aspect to the exercise, making it instantly more engaging for the user. Complex mathematical formulas become a video game, with the user trying to optimize the values for their particular goal, such as figuring out when to wait to buy or how long to hold onto the house.

Time is a Fascinating Variable

Since April 2007, the reporters of the New York Times have been following the candidates as they make campaign stops across the country. Not surprisingly, candidates leverage their time in places where they feel it’s important.

The NYTimes interactive team applied their creativity to a US map that tracks the candidates. Across the map are circles, the size representing the number of visits to a location. The initial presentation, representing August until now, shows (as of today) a huge number of visits in Iowa (because of the recent caucuses), New Hampshire (from yesterday’s primary), and up and down the coasts. Looking at just the Democrats shows mostly focus on Iowa and New Hampshire, while Republicans are spending more time in other states.

Pressing a Play button shows the travel schedules in one-month increments over the period. You can see the candidates constantly returning to Iowa and New Hampshire, interspersed with other trips. Clicking on individual candidates can show their travel schedules, over the same periods.

Playing with data over time shows a different story. You can see, for example, when a specific candidate decided to gear up their Iowa campaigns.

Time is a variable we often don’t think about. Non-interactive charts often leave this part of the story out. Adding a Play button to show changes over time can introduce an additional engaging element.

Choosing Variables to Play With

While talking about healthcare costs and care across the country, the NYTimes interactive team created an map that shows Medicare reimbursements, surgery rates, and Medicare enrollees across the country.

Readers can explore total reimbursements or focus on a specific type, such as acute care, outpatient, or surgical reimbursements. Moving the cursor across the regions on the map displays its average compared to the rest of that region’s state and the nation.

Again, represented as a table, this data would have hundreds of rows and dozens of columns. It wouldn’t be interesting and it would be hard to discern interesting patterns.

Yet, as an interactive map, it becomes a different story. The team has carefully chosen variables that tell us something about medical care in the US. For example, with a quick glance, we can see total reimbursements in San Francisco are about the national average, but much higher in Boston. (There’s a band of orange—representing higher-than-average reimbursements—from Boston to DC.)

Using color, shape, location, and a clever fly-over display, the team has taken a ton of variables and presented them in a more useful format.

Finding Inspiration

Every organization sits on a ton of data. Making that data useful is a constant challenge for designers.

By looking at what the NYTimes interactive team has done, often with very small time frames, we can see examples of what is possible. From their work, we can learn new ways of presenting complex information in fun and engaging ways.

About the Author

Jared M. Spool is a co-founder of Center Centre and the founder of UIE. In 2016, with Dr. Leslie Jensen-Inman, he opened Center Centre, a new design school in Chattanooga, TN to create the next generation of industry-ready UX Designers. They created a revolutionary approach to vocational training, infusing Jared’s decades of UX experience with Leslie’s mastery of experience-based learning methodologies.


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Latex Shields

Latex Shields

Present in all cultures of the world, the shields have proven essential throughout the history of warfare. Historically made of various materials , Epic Armoury and Nemesis Workshops created shields of foam and latex specifically for Larping. Light and resistant , our selection offers optimal protection shields against enemy blows, without spending all your strength handling it. One of the biggest advantages of latex shields shows through its appearance. In addition to recreating the appearance of wood , metal or exotic materials , latex can create fantastical looks and historical shields that would be too dangerous to use in Larps if they were made of wood or metal .

The best offense is defense and the best defense is offense; Shield control both.

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Tag Archives: Nike

Great Moments in Brand-Band Synergy

There are two things in this world very dear to me: music and movies (actually, three if you’ve seen this blog before). Slightly higher if you count friends, family, yadda, yadda (Hi, Mom). As one of the few people who … Continue reading

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Air Jordan: the Man, the Brand, the Shoes

Think back to 1985. Twenty-six years ago. Before people could stalk each other via the Internet – hell, before the Internet! A time *shudder* before the Old Spice man. Nike was still working its way to the top of its … Continue reading

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The Art of Advertising

Creative without strategy is called art.  Creative with strategy is called advertising.  – Jeff Richards Obviously, advertising is art too – but mostly just the good stuff.  The artistic merits of a Snuggie commercial are debatable.  One of the great … Continue reading

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Pat Shenstone: artist

There is an exuberance about Pat Shenstone that is truly infectious and if you spend just five minutes in her company you will find your zest for life increases tenfold.

It is impossible to listen to her chatter about her inspiration and ideas for future projects without being motivated to get going yourself.

The 81-year-old artist only moved to Wirksworth a few years ago, but it seems as if she has always been a part of the town as she has been a regular exhibitor at the town’s festival for many years.

Her colourful burlesque-style paintings present a humorous exterior while hinting at quite another darker truth behind their facade. They are certainly a talking point.

During the festival art trail weekend Pat’s home, tucked down a narrow street in the centre of the town, can be packed with visitors enthusing about her work.

It was a friend from the town, whom Pat met while working as an academic at Coventry University, who introduced her to Wirksworth by inviting her to stay and the same friend who suggested Pat joined the art trail.

Twenty years ago Pat retired from her job as a principal lecturer and course leader for Crafts and began to concentrate on painting full time.

When, a few years ago, she and her now husband Andy, who at the time lived in Halifax, made the decision they wanted to be together they realised Wirksworth would be the perfect place.

“There is a lot of symbolism in my work which is both narrative and autobiographical. I am inclined to take a theme and work on a linked series of ideas and quite often – well mostly to be honest – my paintings feature women,” explained the artist.

One of her best-known series of paintings is based around the theme of Lady Godiva, who was said to have ridden naked through the streets of Coventry to force her husband to halt his oppressive taxation of the people.

“In the series I created her as a 21st Century woman making a statement. It is known as GO-Diva because I accidently added a hypen and then thought that it was actually rather an apt title,” said Pat with a flourish.

“You don’t know what your work is about just because you have done it – sometimes you have to tease it out of yourself.”

She is a bit of a magpie with her ideas and collects stills from the TV, cuttings from newspapers, pictures in magazines and lots of art books.

“I do not always realise where I get ideas from and I have no problem with that. I have always liked the quote ‘Good poets steal bad poets copy’, which I think was by T S Eliot,” she says irreverently.

“I am also influenced by the other things in my life that I love – plants and plant forms, food and cooking. I love making cakes.

“A visit to my studio will explain it better,” declares Pat getting up from the sofa, and after a short walk from her home we are climbing a set of stone steps to a bright space filled with her books, flowers, (including gorgeous sunflowers which she reveals she is about to paint) seed pods, cakes and several of her big paintings.

“I usually have more than one painting on the go at a time because I like to work fast and oil takes a while to dry so I switch from one painting to another,” she says by way of explanation.

“I am always thinking about the next theme,” she states, showing me pictures of bold portraits by the American figurative artist Alex Katz as she bounced from book to book.

“I just love this,”  she adds turning the pages. “And I saw this and thought what a great idea,” she continued, her enthusiasm bubbling over.

Pat’s latest work is based around a theme of Carnival and Masquerade and before we leave she shows me the cuttings and pictures which have formed her ideas. These paintings will be the ones visitors to this year’s Wirksworth Arts Trail will be able to see.

Go to for more details about her work.


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Photos: Lahore Christians Put Local Spin on Holiday Rituals

Pakistani-American Nushmia Khan is a Chicago-based multimedia journalist who received her Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has also worked for newspapers such as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in addition to political campaigns and a documentary film company.

In February 2012 Asia Blog featured a slideshow of Khan's images documenting everyday life in Pakistan, taken on a visit to her extended family there the previous fall. Not long afterward, Khan was also able to photograph a small Christian community in Lahore in the midst of its Christmas celebrations. Intrigued by the images, we asked Khan to explain how she was able to take these pictures, which offer a rare, poignant glimpse into the world of an often embattled religious minority.

Shahnaz's smile was contagious. Each morning she came and swept our home of the dust it had accumulated in just 24 hours. Dust in Lahore never stops: it gets in your fingernails, your nostrils, in between your toes. She ate from the same plates, and the other servants would sometimes complain about this. In any other household, she'd be given different plates, made from a cheaper tin material. Plates for Christians. But of all the servants, Shahnaz was the one I was most comfortable around. I felt a bit intrusive, but I finally asked her whether I could go to church with her one Sunday.

Once I reached there, the church organizers noticed that I was taking more than just a few pictures; they confronted me and made me promise that I was taking them for educational purposes, that I wouldn't share them with any Pakistani newspapers. There had been too many attacks in recent days and they didn't need anybody to find them. Once I realized the entire room was feeling endangered, I had to stop photographing.

They were angry with Shahnaz's family after my visit. It was sad to see a minority group in my parent's country feel so endangered. I have been too used to acting like an "oppressed minority" as a Muslim in America only because I might get a few looks and questions every once in a while. I should not forget how hard it has become in countries where I am in the majority, where people who practice a faith other than Islam are scared for their safety. This was not the way of our Prophet.


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courtesy: islamictweeter

The shadows lengthen as the evening comes to a close. He seems restless and as the night falls his restlessness increases, every sound is magnified. There is no TV to drown the thinking parts of our brain, there is no music to distract us and there is no appetite to stuff our faces with unwanted and unneeded calories.

Maghreb falls gently like a gossamer veil on the face of an English bride, hiding and yet showing what is under it. Just as suddenly the shadows of the night advance like a dark army, he becomes pensive.

“Should we pray now?” I ask. He immediately walks on his little legs to the rest room climbs his step stool and begins to pull up his cuffs. Wudu is performed and when we put down our prayer rugs the darkness is rapidly gaining on the weakening light of the fading day.

He stands in front of me in Qiyam and falls to the sujood flattening out his body his head facing me to listen to what I say in sujood. It brings a smile to my face. There is tension in his body and as the Salah progresses; I can tell that with every rakat the tension is seeping out of him bit by bit.

Whatever lurks in the shadows of the night at least cannot invade us on our musallah. The Salah ends and I begin the evening Dhikr, he pushes himself into my lap and I feel the focused alertness with which he is listening to each “Subhanallah, Alhamdollillah and Allah O Akbar” Gone is the play fullness of the Dhuhr Salah. Where sitting for Dhikr is brief and playing is the norm.

The Tasbeeh Fatima and then the moudoodaats followed with the adkaars cocoon us in the blanket of the Divine. He continues to choose to sit in my lap,

I can sense his stillness. He is listening not only with his ears but also with his heart.

Finally it is time for dua, and I ask him whom does he want to make dua for. He mentions his Mommy and Daddy and then some names of those who love and care for him. The dua ends and we sit in silence, unmoving, enveloped in a love that has no boundaries.

Silence falls around us and with it comes serenity. The night angels arrive and settle around us while the day angels rise with the duas we have just made.

We sit on the musallah, both him and me content to be in this island of sanctuary.

The mercy of Allah is being sprinkled on us. Both reluctant to break the silence that is laden with, love, security and a deep sense of comfort. A restfulness that only comes when enveloped in the remembrance and mercy of our Creator.

Never have I felt a connection so deep and with such clarity with the Divine as I do this evening. My grandchild in my lap, unfettered by worldly distractions, a sense of timelessness and in sync with him in the remembrance of Allah.

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّـهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّـهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ ﴿٢٨﴾

[13:28] Pickthall

Who have believed and whose hearts have rest in the remembrance of Allah. Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!

6 thoughts on “MAGREB WITH MY GRANDSON: 13:28

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