text:
Modified RNA Extends Telomeres in Human Cells, Turns Back Aging Clock

Telomere Extension Turns Back Aging Clock in Cultured Human Cells

Biologists from the Stanford University School of Medicine used a modified type of RNA to demonstrate a way to lengthen human telomeres by as much as 1,000 nucleotides, turning back the internal clock in these cells by the equivalent of many years of human life.

A new procedure can quickly and efficiently increase the length of human telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that are linked to aging and disease, according to scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Treated cells behave as if they are much younger than untreated cells, multiplying with abandon in the laboratory dish rather than stagnating or dying.

The procedure, which involves the use of a modified type of RNA, will improve the ability of researchers to generate large numbers of cells for study or drug development, the scientists say. Skin cells with telomeres lengthened by the procedure were able to divide up to 40 more times than untreated cells. The research may point to new ways to treat diseases caused by shortened telomeres.

Telomeres are the protective caps on the ends of the strands of DNA called chromosomes, which house our genomes. In young humans, telomeres are about 8,000-10,000 nucleotides long. They shorten with each cell division, however, and when they reach a critical length the cell stops dividing or dies. This internal “clock” makes it difficult to keep most cells growing in a laboratory for more than a few cell doublings.

‘Turning back the internal clock’

“Now we have found a way to lengthen human telomeres by as much as 1,000 nucleotides, turning back the internal clock in these cells by the equivalent of many years of human life,” said Helen Blau, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford and director of the university’s Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology. “This greatly increases the number of cells available for studies such as drug testing or disease modeling.”

A paper describing the research was published today in the FASEB Journal. Blau, who also holds the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Professorship, is the senior author. Postdoctoral scholar John Ramunas, PhD, of Stanford shares lead authorship with Eduard Yakubov, PhD, of the Houston Methodist Research Institute.

The researchers used modified messenger RNA to extend the telomeres. RNA carries instructions from genes in the DNA to the cell’s protein-making factories. The RNA used in this experiment contained the coding sequence for TERT, the active component of a naturally occurring enzyme called telomerase. Telomerase is expressed by stem cells, including those that give rise to sperm and egg cells, to ensure that the telomeres of these cells stay in tip-top shape for the next generation. Most other types of cells, however, express very low levels of telomerase.

Transient effect an advantage

The newly developed technique has an important advantage over other potential methods: It’s temporary. The modified RNA is designed to reduce the cell’s immune response to the treatment and allow the TERT-encoding message to stick around a bit longer than an unmodified message would. But it dissipates and is gone within about 48 hours. After that time, the newly lengthened telomeres begin to progressively shorten again with each cell division.

The transient effect is somewhat like tapping the gas pedal in one of a fleet of cars coasting slowly to a stop. The car with the extra surge of energy will go farther than its peers, but it will still come to an eventual halt when its forward momentum is spent. On a biological level, this means the treated cells don’t go on to divide indefinitely, which would make them too dangerous to use as a potential therapy in humans because of the risk of cancer.

The researchers found that as few as three applications of the modified RNA over a period of a few days could significantly increase the length of the telomeres in cultured human muscle and skin cells. A 1,000-nucleotide addition represents a more than 10 percent increase in the length of the telomeres. These cells divided many more times in the culture dish than did untreated cells: about 28 more times for the skin cells, and about three more times for the muscle cells.

“We were surprised and pleased that modified TERT mRNA worked, because TERT is highly regulated and must bind to another component of telomerase,” said Ramunas. “Previous attempts to deliver mRNA-encoding TERT caused an immune response against telomerase, which could be deleterious. In contrast, our technique is nonimmunogenic. Existing transient methods of extending telomeres act slowly, whereas our method acts over just a few days to reverse telomere shortening that occurs over more than a decade of normal aging. This suggests that a treatment using our method could be brief and infrequent.”

Potential uses for therapy

“This new approach paves the way toward preventing or treating diseases of aging,” said Blau. “There are also highly debilitating genetic diseases associated with telomere shortening that could benefit from such a potential treatment.”

Blau and her colleagues became interested in telomeres when previous work in her lab showed that the muscle stem cells of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy had telomeres that were much shorter than those of boys without the disease. This finding not only has implications for understanding how the cells function — or don’t function — in making new muscle, but it also helps explain the limited ability to grow affected cells in the laboratory for study.

The researchers are now testing their new technique in other types of cells.

“This study is a first step toward the development of telomere extension to improve cell therapies and to possibly treat disorders of accelerated aging in humans,” said John Cooke, MD, PhD. Cooke, a co-author of the study, formerly was a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford. He is now chair of cardiovascular sciences at the Houston Methodist Research Institute.

“We’re working to understand more about the differences among cell types, and how we can overcome those differences to allow this approach to be more universally useful,” said Blau, who also is a member of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

“One day it may be possible to target muscle stem cells in a patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, for example, to extend their telomeres. There are also implications for treating conditions of aging, such as diabetes and heart disease. This has really opened the doors to consider all types of potential uses of this therapy.”

Other Stanford co-authors of the paper are postdoctoral scholars Jennifer Brady, PhD, and Moritz Brandt, MD; senior research scientist Stéphane Corbel, PhD; research associate Colin Holbrook; and Juan Santiago, PhD, professor of mechanical engineering.

The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R01AR063963, U01HL100397 U01HL099997 and AG044815), Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Stanford Bio-X and the Baxter Foundation.

Ramunas, Yakubov, Cooke and Blau are inventors on patents for the use of modified RNA for telomere extension.

Information about Stanford’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, which also supported the work, is available at

Publication: John Ramunas, et al., “Transient delivery of modified mRNA encoding TERT rapidly extends telomeres in human cells,” FASEB, 2015; doi: 10.1096/fj.14-259531

Source: Krista Conger, Stanford University School of Medicine

Image: Stanford University School of Medicine

2 Comments on "Modified RNA Extends Telomeres in Human Cells, Turns Back Aging Clock"

  1. I question the extension of cellular life when the basics of life extension with regard to viability in a economically supporting role (job) will likely not be available to many who have their life extended by your methods in the future. Yes, I write the above only with regard to our current situation (society, many variations around the world in 2015 ) so I want you, who have come up with a “solution” to aging in some respects, to consider your long term responsibility to human and other world kind when you release a potentially world changing method..

    I wish you luck and I wish on you the experience needed to handle this properly for all.

  2. Madanagopal.V.C. | January 28, 2015 at 5:39 am | Reply

    Of course cellular life depends on the environment and available resources for its feeding. You cannot then assume that an ant will live for 100 years if it is given plenty of the tiny food it needs. But then , it depends on the size of the living being also. Don’t we know that dinosaurs which were extremely large lived for millions of years because of their size and plenty of plant food available to them in Jurassic age. When the plant density became less, they became cannibals and carnivorous and simultaneously reduced in size also, Even today elephants rhinos and hippopotamus which are purely vegetarian lives for 100 years compared to the carnivorae like lion and tiger. Thus size of the animal is an important aspect in the longevity. However , size of the animal becomes more and more only through evolution and by extended mitosis of the cellular life where telomeres come into play. We have restricted our size and lifetime by the length of the telomeres only. Extending from 10000 nucleotides of the chromosomal caps (telomere) by another 1000 nucleotides can only increase the life span by ten percent. However, the environmental conditions for the extended life will come into play which may curtail our lifetime. Moreover we have to compete with other living beings which also struggles for their existence in nature. So more bacteria and their drug resistant mutations will pose a problem for the future mankind. We have to succeed these dangers also if we want to extend our longevity. Virus, our foremost ancestors which are neither living being nor a non-living being takes different shapes to sustain their presence and select organs of their attack in human system. Everything should balance with each other.Thank You.

Leave a comment

Email address is optional. If provided, your email will not be published or shared.


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Truncated: length

WARC-Type: response

text:
My first blog on BandZoogle

I want to welcome you to the site if you're just checking it out! Thanks for giving it a peek! This is my "BetaSite" if you will. Giving BandZoogle a try, and I'm already liking the look SO much better than my Wordpress site. Wordpress - a great site for blogging but perhaps nothing else. Although, I did hear that it was better if you went with .org rather than .com, and I went .com. Maybe that's where I went wrong.
Please sign up for my mailing list! I have a lot of fun things to share coming up, and I even have a surprise for you in the next week or two!

Just a brief aside: Does the fact that I wanted to end this post with "Ugga mugga," mean I watch too much Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood with my 10 month old daughter? UGGA MUGGA! :D

Leave a comment

    Add comment

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-228-65-216.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-09
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for February 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
Monthly Archives: June 2015

How Big Can We Get??

Club 34 had another wonderful turnout on Tuesday, 19 and 10.  I took one for the team and sat out most of the afternoon games but that wont happen again!  Last week I spoke of the odd and even dilemma … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized

Scrabble Club 34 members having a fun time ! Photos by L. Higgins

Barbara Creighton Nancy Douglas Lorry Higgins and Maddy Kamen Najat R.

Posted in Uncategorized


text:
This week’s episode of Supergirl promised the return to the storyline of fan-favorite characters Lena Luthor and James Olsen (and their not-necessarily-fan-favorite budding relationship) after a string of episodes focused overwhelmingly on Kara and her fellow aliens taking on prospective world-ending threats, along with the return of Lena’s corporate foe Morgan Edge. But the episode also featured a comeback that most didn’t see coming (at least not at this juncture): Lillian Luthor, Lena’s supervillain mother, who reinserted herself into a game of assassination cat-and-mouse between her daughter and Edge that also functioned as a none too subtle metaphor for Lena’s inner battle with her own duality (she wants to be one of the good guys, but Luthors are just so good at being bad…)

The whole shebang came together in a mostly satisfying way, dovetailing with a B-story about Sam (aka Reign) admitting to suffering from unexplained blackouts (when she doesn’t remember being Reign) to her friends and getting tested but mainly spinning off into a clever four-way game of motive and opportunity: Morgan Edge is trying to kill Lena, Lillian tries to kill Edge “for Lena” (and also to nudge her toward her own dark side), James suits up as Guardian (remember that?) to protect her and investigate/threaten Edge, Lena tries to thwart her mother and also finish things with Edge without necessarily killing him. Alex, Kara and the DEO are also involved – though more in a “support” capacity right up to the point where they can’t be anymore.

Related: Supergirl’s Lexosuit Makes Its Live-Action Debut

Obviously, since this is Supergirl, there needs to be a mid-story cliffhanger for some tension (Lena gets poisoned, which is negated by use of Kara’s freeze-breath which makes scientific sense because shut up) and eventually things need to get blown-off with a big super brawl – this one featuring a big DC fan treat in Lillian paying off that tease of Lex’s strength-enhancing warsuit from the Silver Age comics (which Supergirl has opted to christen “The Lexosuit”) from way back in mid-season 2. Even with all that going on, this is still ultimately a “breather” episode from the running main plot of Kara versus Reign, though, so we wrap with things mostly on hold. Lillian Luthor is off to jail, but she’ll be back. That’s another potential semi-regular bad guy for season 3’s roster, not even counting the three other Worldkillers who’ve not officially joined the main story yet… is that too many?

Supergirl Reign Does Supergirl Season 3 Have Too Many Villains?

Fans of superhero media spend a potentially inordinate amount of time on the question of how many villains is too many. Whereas at one point it might have been assumed that afficionados of the genre would enjoy seeing heroes taking on whole legions of familiar foes (once upon a time famously-unfilmed screenplays for projects as diverse as Dazzler or early drafts of Spider-Man often featured whole caches of costumed enemies), the box-office disappointment of Batman & Robin instilled a supposedly common nugget of wisdom in the minds of the viewing public that “too many villains” was a sure sign of a comic-based property about to make a serious misstep. Many would also point to the divisive Spider-Man 3, which featured three nemeses after the first two films had centered on one apiece, as further proof of the calculus.

Like many such cultural memes, there’s a semblance of logic to the idea of “villain overload.” Superheroes originated as static characters whose origin stories were pre-set and whose issue-to-issue adventures were defined by the challenges set up by their enemies, who were different every issue in order to give readers an easily visible confirmation that this new story was different from the one they may have bought and read previously. That tradition carried over into animated cartoons that brought superhero characters to a wider audience, and also to the Adam West version of Batman, which typically pitted the Caped Crusaders against a different foe from caper to caper (adaptations of Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man typically featured more mundane enemies or figures made up for television, instead).

Modern superhero series and movies, on the other hand, have trended toward more serialized forms of storytelling and routinely feature multiple villains – though often organized into heirarchies. Batman Begins has at least four (a mobster, The Scarecrow and two incarnations of Ra’s Al Ghul), Iron Man and Captain America tend to take on entire organizations (or each other) and on television one often finds “season arc” villains, interspersed with one-off foes dropped in along the way. That’s the model Supergirl has thus far followed, though season 2 pulled something of a fast-fake by swapping out apparent main villainess Lillian Luthor with Mon-El’s evil mom as the “real” big bad for the big finale. Season 3 is all about Kara versus Reign (and her mysterious handlers) with minor deviations along the way… or at least it was.

Supergirl World Killer Purity played by Krys Marshall Does Supergirl Season 3 Have Too Many Villains?

As of now, Supergirl season 3 can now count Reign, her master(s), The Worldkillers (unless one or more turn out to be “good”), the evil Rao-appropriating cult leader, Morgan Edge and now Lillian Luthor as significant main-story threats with the episode-order not even half completed – meaning it’s likely that there are more to come if the first two seasons were any indication. That’s an awful lot of bad guys for one series to juggle, and that’s before one remembers that Supergirl is often primarily focused on dramatic storylines about character relationships that don’t involve the villains primarily or even at all (though it feels fairly likely that the time-travel storyline that’s caused the love-triangle between Kara, Mon-El and Imra will eventually prove to be tied to Reign etc before the season is out.)

On the other hand, Supergirl has deftly juggled multiple tones and story points before, so a plurality of villainy shouldn’t necessarily be any more difficult to manuever around than the multitude of romantic pairings that dominated season 2’s B-stories. Season 3’s running theme has focused overwhelmingly on building up Kara’s ability to withstand a breaking-point of personal and professional obligations piling up all at once, so the abundance of seemingly major threats is clearly part of an intentional extension of that theme. But intentions can still backfire, and fans will no doubt be on the lookout for whether or not Supergirl can grapple with this conundrum that’s scuttled so many super-properties before it.

More: The CW Won’t Air More Than 4 Superhero Shows At Once

  • Ad Free Browsing
  • Over 10,000 Videos!
  • All in 1 Access
  • Join For Free!
Go Premium!

More Videos


text:
Appearances at Penguicon 2014

This weekend, May 2-4, I’ll be at Penguicon. Here’s their cool trailer.

I’ll be presenting on several panels with some cool authors. Here’s my schedule:

Friday, May 2:
6p, The Hidden Subgenres
The number of genres into which Speculative Fiction may be divided approaches infinity. Most are familiar with Hard Sci-Fi, the Space Opera, and Urban Fantasy. There are also lesser known sub-genres like Bizarro Fiction that fall in the SFF spectrum. How would you define Bizarro Fiction? What are the must reads in this field?
Speakers include: Jim Leach, Sean M. Davis

Saturday, May 3:
11a, Digging up the Same Old Ground
Are there any new stories left, or is everything just a retread of an old idea? What is a retread, and what is a legitimately new angle?
Speakers include: Sean M. Davis, Ferrett Steinmetz, Nicole Castle, Jon David

2p, When Did We Get Cool? The Explosion of SFF on Screen
In a world where some of the most watched shows deal with SFF themes or have been adapted from SFF material (Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, The Avengers et. al.) where does the line get drawn? Why is it suddenly acceptable for the SFF genre to be viewed? Has this translated over to the written word? Side question: why has mystery always been more or less accepted but SFF is a more recent explosion?
Speakers include: Ernie Cline, Sean M. Davis, Michael Cieslak, Nicole Castle, Jim Leach, John Scalzi

5p, Line? What Line? Taboos in Speculative Fiction
Incest, rape, children as warriors, the wholesale slaughter of children… there are many distasteful acts which are performed in speculative fiction. Is there anything which is still off limits, or can anything be used as a plot device so long as it is germane to the story?
Speakers include: Ken MacGreggor, Sean M. Davis, Ferrett Steinmetz, Nicole Castle

6p, Obligatory Undead Panel: Is Undead Dead?
Shoot ’em in the head, stake ’em through the heart, the good old silver bullet…it doesn’t matter, the undead keep coming back. Have zombies, vampires, and werewolves finally run their course or do these creatures still have legs? Is there a division between genre fans who have grown tired of these creatures just as they’re taking off in the general public?
Speakers include: Mary Lynne Gibbs, Michael Cieslak, Sean M. Davis, Ken MacGreggor

Sunday, May 4:
2p, Author Readings
Come see me and all the other talented authors attending Penguicon read.

It will be a great time and I’m looking forward to it.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Track Your Order

Award Winning Varieties

Voted Best Online Retailer

Our Customers Rate Our Excellent Service

Home > 'Ratte Potatoes'

Refine Selection

Grow In

Price Range

'Ratte Potatoes'

Potato 'Ratte'

Second earlyA classic second early French variety which has been prized for over 70 years for its tasty tubers with a distinctive chestnut flavour. Potato 'Ratte' produces long, smooth skinned tubers with white skins and yellow, waxy flesh which does not…  More Info

  • Sun shade: Full sun
  • Grows in: Potato Bags
  • Flower Colour: Mauve
  • Longevity: Tuber

2 Options From£4.99

despatch by end of march 2018

Buy Now Buy Now


text:
Sign up for free →

Added May 20 2012

I am lucky enough to be taking a paternity leave this summer, and am looking to to start finding some activities to do around the neighborhood! I missed the University District's fair on Saturday -- not sure if that is a family-friendly one or not.

We would love some recomendations from people who have been in N/NE/NW Seattle for awhile --- what can't we miss this summer?? Boys are 6m and 4.5yrs. Thanks!

5 neighbors are subscribed to this conversation.

Posted to Roosevelt

This was posted to Roosevelt

What's the news in your neighborhood? Search for your ZIP code:

e.g. 98133


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Catching Up, pt. 1

To make up for lost time, here are  some of my favorite explores. I guess this will catch you up to speed:

Girls School:
Back in early 2008 a layer of melting snow covered the Massachusetts ground and caused my Puma’s to become very uncomfortable for the season. The constant squish of the fabric didn’t dampen my fun at one of the most well preserved locations I had ever been to.

Like something out of ninja movie, we blatantly walked in the open side door and found ourself within the dormitory section of the building. Security wasn’t much on our mind back then because not too many people frequented these parts. The first thing I noticed was the apparent lack of abandoned feel. The beds were made, clothing in it’s place, keys on their hooks.

Walking down the bedroom corridor I felt like I would suddenly see one of the students quietly sitting, suddenly turning to see a tall man with a camera starring strangely at her. An interesting feeling indeed.

I was still running off of a 4mp point and shoot back then, on loan from my parents, and the concept of “The Rule of Thirds” or “Backlighting”  was foreign to me. This location was not worthy of my amateur skills but it sure as hell was fun. There was every kind of unusual find there: Random paperwork, prehistoric electronics, and a few feet were commonplace throughout.

My pulse was slightly higher in the academic section of the complex. Cafeteria, classrooms, lockers, and [My favorite] LABORATORIES galore! It was like a science playground. There was ground glass for organic chemistry, preserved specimens for zoology, tree cores for forestry and an excess a of other trinkets spread out over every surface.

Even the lockers had their use.

There wasn’t a single room that disappointed; each held their own. However, there was one room that was better than all the rest; the attic. Overall, the attic didn’t differ too much from any other attic, and like most, was covered in a thin layer of bird poop.
I crunched the avian splatter under my shoes as I navigated through the fading light. As I made the corner the setting sun cast over the floor and lit the most amazing phrase I have seen in an abandonment. Just then there was a boner in the attic.

After hours of combing the building we decided it was time for a group picture. I will always remember that day; to old friends, and good memories!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
72 Days Till Your Signature Christmas!

So there are 72 days until Christmas and I would hope you are all beginning your Christmas Prep (organisation is key!).

As we know hosting Christmas Dinner can be stressful, exciting, tiring and rewarding. If you host yearly you always think how can I better last year and if this is your first Christmas you wonder how you can creating a true Christmas for your guests.

Being a guest at someone else's house also has its challenges with the question being; WHAT SHOULD I CONTRIBUTE TO THE DAY?

So we have decided to create a  Signature Special Christmas Treat Bar to give your Christmas day the extra special touch. For those hosting it will also save you a great deal of time running around buying cakes and sweets to statisfy your guests sweet tooths.

Our bars can consist of large cakes, mini cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, Christmas sweets, brownies, chocolates, custom candy bowls and more. We can also create dairy, gluten and nut free bars, so do not hesitate to ask! You can have as little and as much as you like.

Book a Signature Special Christmas Treat Bar by the end of October and get 10% quoting SLCHTMS16.

All Christmas Bars are set up Christmas Eve.

We look forward to hearing from you!


text:
Very Much Petted Peeves

Another edition of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and the glory that is their steadfast support.

If you’re into things like that, their Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG
The awesome co-hosts for the August 2 posting of the IWSG are Christine RainsDolarah @ Book Lover, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Yvonne Ventresca, and LG Keltner! Go check out their posts and enjoy.
~The more I post with this group, the greater has become my gratitude for it. Now that I’ve been posting with big public sites like Her View From Home and Mamalode I have run into the internet fun that is trolls and it just makes me appreciate the wonderful people who wander over from IWSG more.
Not only do you guys click on my site and read you leave comments. Nice comments. Thoughtful comments. Comments that don’t include any ALL CAPS or nasties. It’s like an oasis, after dodging through badlands where some comments are ok to step on and some are raging lava geysers that come out of nowhere. So, thank you guys. Thank you for being normal, kind, decent, supportive commenters.~

August 2 Question: What are your pet peeves when reading/writing/editing?

Woot woot! A pet peeve post. My peeves are much petted and I love ranting so this one is going to be fun. Let’s make this a listicle, cause why not.

Pet peeve the 1st: Being unable to disappear into a book because I’m mentally editing while I’m reading.

Now that I know the tips, tricks and tools they stand out EVERYWHERE. It’s like those magic pictures where there are lots of colored blobs and then you adjust your vision and all of a sudden there are shapes and faces in it. Now that I know, the author has to be really good to get me to turn off that inner editor and just read. I guess that’s also a benefit? In a way? My filter for bad writing has become much finer. Silver lining or no, that’s going down as a peeve.

Pet peeve the 2nd: Not being able to use adverbs in my writing.

I adore those lovely scene painting bits of goodness. A lot of my favorite authors use the heck out of them (Hi Robin McKinley! As if you’d need to be on my blog, but whatever.) The universal discrimination against them right now peeves me. They’re like gorgeous embroidery that used to adorn clothing back in the day. They will be back in fashion some day though, and then the books written in this DeATH to teh adVERBS!!!@ way will look old-fashioned and silly. Meanwhile, I sneak in a couple adverbs per page and try hard to make them necessary (while also, of course, using lots of strong, action-y writing and not relying on adverbs to be my crutch because there’s a difference between richly detailed writing and just plain weak writing.)

Pet peeve the 3rd: Second-guessing every freaking word I chose to write when I edit.

When I go through to edit I forget that I’m editing and start *writing* again. Half the time I don’t make it more than a few sentences before I start to re-write. From here on out I will cease to think of it as “editing” and think of it as another draft. I’m polishing up the manuscript with many drafts. Not editing. This must be why God made editors.
How about you? Pet peeves? Slight annoyances? Tell me all about it! Just, you know, keep in mind how much I raved about your kind comments in the beginning of this post when you tell me adverbs are straight up green slimy evil.
featured image via and Annie Spratt

14 thoughts on “Very Much Petted Peeves

  1. I think you are talking about writing style. Seems like things go in and out of fashion. It has to do with what comes naturally to us as writers. Some people are very literary and write with beautiful metaphors. I think I am very straight forward in my language. I have read things written in different styles and have liked all of them. So I think if something works for you and is expressing something in a style you like, it is ok.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Ha! You could have written my list of peeves for me. But the aversion to adverbs thing really chaps me too. Too wordy? We are writers. Painters use colors, writers use words. Gone are the days of “See Spot run”, or at least, they should be.

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Tissue Paper Flowering Trees

Our school is nestled in a wonderful neighborhood filled with flowering trees.  White, pink, and purple blooms greet us as we make our way to school.
While the blooms on the trees won't stay forever, our tissue paper versions will.  Do you remember using the end of a pencil to create tissue paper flowers?  I have fond memories.
 In our Science Center, we set up a "tree making station."  A tray stocked with half sheets of brown construction paper, small squares of tissue paper, glue, scissors, and pencils.  Everything a kid needs.
After making trees, the kids have found other uses for the little tissue paper squares - making cards and other little shapes.  Making little dots of glue then using the eraser end of the pencil to attach little bits of tissue paper is very satisfying.

No comments:


text:
Tag Archives: insane

Going mad

It’s crawling under the surface a silent scream that would echo forever if allowed to escape. Clawing its way into damaged lungs, tearing and ripping without much cause or care to the host. A spiral facing down and demanding patient time. Trapped on all sides but the will to fight remains. What does one do when needing a warriors cry to break through, knowing a single uttered word could bring out that last heart aching rattle. Stalemate, unable to move forward no way to go back. Laying down is no option or friend.
So push push towards insanity … Fly little fly, fly bash yourself on the mirror of life. Looks so inviting so clean, though nothing more then a last dance before you perish. True clarity just out of reach, insanity in your lap. Dance puppet dance. What story will unfold when at last your curtains close.

Leave a comment

Filed under Lost Bits


text:
A 6-year-old’s translation of Sonnet #29

Our Shakespeare Kids are practicing their sonnets for Valentine’s Day!

Behind the scenes, we work with the kids one-on-one.

There are 114 words in this Sonnet 29.  It seems like a lot to figure out, but when we go through the poem line by line, the kids discover that there are only 10-20 words that they don’t know.  This means that they know at least 82% of the words in the poem!

The kids become detectives!  They use the words that they do know to decode the words that they don’t.

In the end, the kids put the sonnets into their own words, so they know what they’re saying and how they’re feeling.

Here’s a translation from our youngest Sonnet Kid to date, 6-year-old H.:

When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess’d,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

6-YEAR-OLD’s TRANSLATION (I’ve put in the line breaks)

When I feel bad,
I feel really sad
And curse myself.
I want that man’s clothes,
I want that man’s power,
And I want that man’s art.
But when I think of you,
I become happy.
I don’t need all of that stuff.
I love my sister, my brother,
My mother, my father.
I don’t want to change places
With the King.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
PS4 vs Xbox One Comparison

You might be interested

Reply Attach
  • 3

    Am I really the only one who doesn't care about graphics?

    No graphics would save the game that's one without good storyline!
    - Linas November 15, 2013, 7:53 pm
    Well there is a small limit I believe. For example what if you switched the graphics of Zelda Windwaker and Zelda Twilight Princess. They would not be the same games at all.
    - chaosmaster November 15, 2013, 8:39 pm
  • 2

    PC master race!

    This is entire country is fixed on the notion of taking sides. Red vs Blue, Republican vs Democrat, Xbox vs PS. Capitalism nudges out all but the last 2 remaining players which much exist to negate a monopoly. One can never exist without the other. Playstation and Xbox go hand in hand and are required for each others survival. The battle shall continue. It is out of our control. The greater forces are at work here to ensure we keep our bickering and feudal notions to ensure the progession of gaming consoles as a whole. They shall live on indefinitely, the never ending war of the consoles.

    Until you build your own PC and fuck the system
    - bufus101 November 16, 2013, 4:11 pm
    - Firecracker119 November 16, 2013, 4:39 pm
    Wii would like a word with you.
    - casper667 November 16, 2013, 5:38 pm
    i love red vs blue though
    - Tremp20k November 17, 2013, 1:56 pm
    I switched about a year ago and it's been a night and day difference with how much better PC has been. If the game isn't free, it's cheaper (Steam OP). Plus you have like 5,000x's more freedom with almost every aspect of the game.
    - imfrikknbad November 18, 2013, 9:33 am
    Agreed. Also, I like now no one has noticed that was my first comment in over a year lol. Im surprised to see im still at rank 32
    - bufus101 November 20, 2013, 3:15 pm
    Same thing here lol
    I'm surprised I'm still in the 70's, I think I've commented like 3 times in the past year
    - imfrikknbad November 20, 2013, 3:34 pm
  • 2

    So the PS4 gets like 1FPS ?

    So far it seems it drops a lot of frames, but usually plays in higher resolution than Xbox One
    EG: Ghosts is 720p on Xbone, 1080p on PS4. Note that they are practically identical hardware.
    - SkinnyBill November 16, 2013, 6:20 pm
    Its not 1080p 900p just saying..
    - xXwolfsteelXx November 16, 2013, 8:16 pm
    I thought Ghosts was 1080p but loads of other games were 900p
    - SkinnyBill November 17, 2013, 4:46 am
    It is 1080p & 60fps...
    - TryThat November 18, 2013, 5:14 pm
  • 1

  • 0

    this is a place of peace, with no console wars, A place to cool down when you come back from a battle.
    Dont take this holy place from us, please.

    • Vans
    • November 16, 2013, 8:43 pm
Related Posts


text:
A great way to wake the body up

The alarm goes off at 5am and every ounce of your just wants to stay in bed.  But getting the body moving and functioning is vital to reducing injury and getting the mind set for the day.

This is a quick bodyweight circuit you can do first thing to help get the ball rolling!

  • 5 Pushups
  • 10 Squats
  • 15 Pulsing Squats
  • 20 Alternating Reverse Lunges

Repeat this 4 times and you’ll definitely feel a difference!  For me this is a perfect solution on days when I can’t fit a full workout in first thing but still need activate my body.  I did this in my hotel room this morning knowing that I would be on the golf course all day coaching and it is remarkable how much less back pain I had!

Remember, it’s All or Something!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s


text:
Gretchen Carlson’s “Be Fierce: Stop Sexual Harassment and Take Your Power Back”

Gretchen Carlson started a tsunami when she sued Roger Ailes, the all- powerful mogul CEO and Chairman of Fox News and Fox Television for sexual harassment after she lost her long-term job as a Fox anchor for refusing his advances.  Now, with the release of her latest book, Be Fierce: Stop Sexual Harassment and Take Your Power Back (Center Street 2017; $27) she is garnering the stories of women—and men—who have been sexually harassed and showing them how to fight back.

“When one person says no to sexual harassment, they inspire others to step forward as well,” Carlson tells me when we meet at Books by the Banks, Cincinnati’s annual and very popular regional book festival. Like me, she is there to sign copies of her books. Unlike me, she has a large table right by the entrance and a huge sign overhead with her name on it. I am in the center of the barn-sized room, crowded together with other writers who are at my level in the food chain. We have no oversized banners with our names on them just little placards on our shared tables. Nor will we have, as the morning goes on, lines of up to an hour waiting to have us autograph our books.

Those long lines show how much Carlson’s message has resonated. She’s been inundated with the stories of those who’ve also experienced sexual harassment and, to a much lesser degree, hateful comments about being a gold digger and just out for the money, advice on how women should dress to avoid being harassed and those who believe there is no such thing as sexual harassment, just lying women. Carlson blithely posts these pearls of wisdom on her Facebook page. We’re looking at you “baychevy” who posted “…most of the time women claim they were sexually harassed and make a big deal out of it simply to broadcast to other women that they are irresistible.”

“Thank you,” I say to Carlson. Hey, I’ve been through it, who hasn’t? And, of course, I thought that’s one more thing you have to deal with.

Not so, says Carlson, who had to withstand a barrage of negative publicity loosened on her by Ailes and his allies.

“That’s also to be expected,” says Carlson.

It’s one reason why she says we need to be fierce. And smart. The lawsuit would have been just another she-said, he-said situation but Carlson had the recordings. Ailes settled for $20 million. And in the following cascade of women coming forward to tell their horror stories about his penchant for sexual harassment, he eventually was fired from his job—albeit it with a $40 million payout.

“You were so smart to record all those conversations,” I say. Carlson replies with a smile.

She is indeed, very intelligent. An honors graduate of Stanford University who also studied at Oxford University, she was the first classical violinist to win the title of Miss America. Carlson is also fierce. She didn’t just take her money and go home. Angered not only by what happened to her but what happens to so many others, she determined to empower them to become fierce. It is her mission and the purpose of her book.

“I had worked 25 years in the business–working my way up from local to national news and discovering I was going to lose all that made me determined to speak out,” she says.

Her book doesn’t dwell on her own travails but instead is a guide for those who experience sexual harassment and what they should expect and how they can navigate confronting a system that has until recently taken a “boys will be boys attitude.”

“Coming forward isn’t fun,” she tells me. “Women aren’t looking for fame or money when they take the step of reporting harassment because there’s nothing rewarding about being demeaned.”

One her Facebook page, she writes, “It’s easy to be disgusted. It’s easy to be outraged. But we need more – we need a movement. It’s time to be fierce.”Be Fierce:

I’ll repeat what I said to her that day in Cincinnati, “Go, Gretchen, go.”


text:
10 New Year’s Resolutions for Couples (without using the word ‘weight’)

Posted by: Shel Harrington 30 December, 2013 24 Comments

New Year Resolutions for CouplesNo matter how many challenges you are looking at or how many you conquered in the past year, 2018 is going to be a good year. It is a decision we can make right now. We can’t control everything in our lives, but we can control our choices. Let’s choose a fun way to improve our lives and our marriages by working with our mates to make this one of our best years ever! Here are 10 New Year’s Resolutions for you and your spouse to take on together – and none of them include the word “weight”!

1. Thank your mate daily. If a server at a restaurant fills our coffee, we probably automatically say “thank you.” But do we do the same at home? It’s so easy to forget to express appreciation for what is routine. If you get through the day and there hasn’t been a single incident – a door held open, a scoot over on the couch to make room for you, a kind word said – for you to say ‘thank you’ for, get creative. “Thanks for your great smile.” You keep this up and you will find yourself going through the day looking for something to express appreciation about.

2. Make each greeting a positive one. Trade in the morning grunt for a smile and ‘good morning.’ Avoid walking in the door from work and immediately announcing what a crappy day you had or letting your mate know they forgot to bring the trash can up from the curb. If those things need to be said at all, they can certainly wait until you’ve given your mate a hug, a smile and a kind word.

3. Have a technology free dinner at least once a week. Maybe tech-free Tuesday? A night where you sit down with each other and food and talk during your meal. No TV, no phone (as in off so that you’re not distracted by the all-important ‘you’ve got mail’ ping), no computer, nothing with earbuds. The one exception might be something that plays soft, mood-enhancing music in the background.

4. Do something new together once a month. Whether it’s taking a one-time class on something of interest, going to a restaurant you haven’t tried before, or something more dramatic, change things up a bit. A couple who tries new things together is a couple that has new things to talk about with each other.

5. Take the 30-Day Gratitude Challenge. Whether it’s your first time taking the 30-Day Gratitude Challenge (click here to check it out), or it went so well last year that you want to make it an annual event, it’s a great way stay focused on what is positive and good about each other.

6. Make new friends with an established  couple. If you are fortunate enough to have some wonderful friends, it gets easy to stay in our comfort zone and not continue to grow. And many of us don’t even have couple friends that we can just hang out with. With all the dating sites, it’s probably easier to find true love than another couple that you’re compatible with. But once you find a good fit, the rewards are worth the effort.

7. Add one new healthy habit to your routine. This is not about the ‘w’ word – it’s about doing something good for yourselves. Something you’ve probably talked about doing for eons. Well, now make it a plan. Meatless Mondays? Try a new vegetable each month? Fish on Friday? Habits are only behaviors that we have done so often they become routine.

8. Surprise your mate at least once a month. We’re not talking elaborate, expensive surprises. Just fun little actions that say “You’re Special” in a new way. Click here for 5 suggestions (each one free!) to get you started.

9. Compliment your mate at least once a week. This is different than saying ‘thank you.’ This is a recognition of something personal about them. An aspect of their appearance, their sense of style, the efforts they expend, the positive aspects of their nature are all rich opportunities for praise. Make sure it’s not a backhanded compliment – as in “you have great hair – which would look even better if . . . ”

10. Kiss more. I don’t mean increase the number of obligatory pecks we exchange coming and going. I’m talking about the more expansive I-really-love you kisses. If I were a doctor I could speak to all the health benefits I’ve read about that result from kissing our spouses more often. But since I’m not, I’ll just tell you that it feels really good and has been known to produce surprised smiles, wobbly knees, and other fun stuff!

Image credit

Leave a Reply

  • I’m not sure how to do #6. We’re kind of different from each other, and we haven’t met anybody where we live that is a good couple for us to be “couple friends” with.

    • Shel Harrington

      I agree, Luanne – finding good ‘couple friends’ is such a challenge. It’s hard enough to find good friends, let alone having four people who all connect well. Some years back, my husband and I moved from Michigan to Oklahoma for a job and knew no one. In addition to no family or friends, we didn’t go to church at that time and had no children to connect us with other school parents. We had never had to learn how to make friends because with 11 siblings between us, two sets of parents and our life-long buddies, our social life in Michigan was spelled out – and (in hindsight) very routine. As we developed the friend-making skill over the years, we spent more than one evening with ‘interesting’ people that we never became friends with. And we also learned that some of the most unlikely couples turned out to be a lot of fun. We met a couple once at church that neither of us thought: “Hey, they’d make great buddies!” The wife was very precise and proper and the husband could be described as ‘intellectual.’ Descriptions nobody would ever use for either me or my husband. A comment from one about enjoying a particular card game led to a spontaneous invite to get together and play. A lovely friendship was born. They were so different from us that the conversations were always interesting and informative. We, of course, found things over the years that we did, in fact, have in common. Then they moved out of state. We kept in touch for a couple of years after and naturally drifted apart as the main thing we had in common was fun evenings together in the past. Many other of our associations continue on. Whatever the duration, we enjoyed the diverse company. I plan to do a post on this in the near future because I know we’re not the only ones challenged by establishing such connections.

  • Great tips, Shel. I especially liked #1 and #2. If we’re appreciative, the rest is so much easier.

  • Great list, Shel! I like number 9, but for us, it’s every day that we compliment each other. It’s not a conscious effort, it just happens naturally. I have to add a number 11…watch Gone With the Wind together…I’m still trying. 🙂 I hope your recovery is going well. Happy New Year!

    • I am laughing aloud, Jill! Can you hear the snort! gasp! hahahahaha…!

    • Shel Harrington

      I love that daily compliments are part of your norm, Jill. I believe that will be the end result for those who commit to complimenting their spouse on a regular basis. Gratitude breeds gratitude. With regard to GWTW, I actually agreed to watch it on the last night of my sister’s visit – until I found out it was 4 hours. FOUR HOURS!!! Maybe I’ll pick up the Cliff Notes. I hope your New Year is especially blessed, Jill!

  • Gina

    I don’t know how you come up with this time after time. So happy to not read about weight loss, and so thankful for the positive reminders. Seems like these tips would work well in any relationship, including employee / employer. Thanks Shel!

    • Shel Harrington

      I agree that some of these suggestions would make great resolutions in other relationships. But not the kissing. Employers and employees should definitely not be kissing! I’ve missed seeing you this holiday season, Gina – hope to catch up soon. Meanwhile, Happy New Year!

  • Mutti

    Thanks for the ideas. I am going to start with the Gratitude Challenge. Might as well do one thing well. Some of the others we are already doing which is a good thing in itself!

    • Shel Harrington

      I love that, Mutti – you’re committing to a big one! Based on your choice, my guess is that some of the ones you already have down pat are those that show appreciation for the other! Happy New Year!

  • Another excellent list of suggestions, Shel! Totally love that last line in #4. We recently started doing a few things that would fall under #7; always fun to work on something as a team! 🙂

    • Shel Harrington

      You’re doing great on the health changes – working your plan! If I ever get on Twitter I’ll tweet that line from number 4!

  • love your ideas…keep them coming!

  • Angela

    Good stuff Shel

  • I’ve been better about #1, probably inspired by your previous posts, but I shall focus on #9, too (while keeping the other 8 suggestions in mind, too). Thanks!

    • Shel Harrington

      You’re very complimentary about your wonderful hub, Sonia – you’re probably doing better than you think on that one! Happy New Year!

  • Great tips. We will have to implement some of these. I remember trying new restaurants. We’ll do that again someday!

  • Your suggests are always refreshing, Shel! We added something this year in the spirit of #7. We want to start family activities that promote life-long health. For example, we want to participate in fun runs/walks with the kids. Plus, we want to do some of these things–just the two of us.

  • […] –Family lawyer Shel offers 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Couples (without using the word ‘weight’). […]


text:
The 2005 Agility Season Starts!

WHY Blog? Well why not? It seems to be a fine way of keeping a journal and lordy knows I need to keep track of Raven and Cypher’s successes – they’re like the little peanut bags they give you on those plane flights – can’t savour them all at once cos then they’ll all be gone and then forgotten and there I’ll be sitting back wondering to myself – and I train my dogs so much for what was it again? This will be less of an introspective lets examine our deepest and most meaningful innards blog and more of the how does one train 2 Border Collies who seem infinitely more smarter than I ever give them credit for…blog. Meet Raven. That’s her on the right —>
She was born on the 7th of March 2000 – just down the road from me. She has a very fancy pedigree name too – it’s Australian Champion Rhonabwy (pronounced Ron-R-Be) Raven Ov Bear CDX ADX JDX ET. That Australian Champion bit means that she was awarded 100 points from lots of different judges who said she looks like a well put together Border Collie (if only they’d read her mind – good thing she didn’t have to pass a Psych Evaluation don’t think she would’ve made it!). She is sterilised now (which is easier for everyone concerned!) – the other initials on the end? well I’ll save those for another post.

Trial #1: West Coast Rottie Club Agility and Jumping Trial January 28th –
Well first trial of the year and the break from training has not done us a world of good unfortunately! No clear runs and the bar knocking issue is raising it’s ugly head again!

Meet the Cypher.

Well this blog has his name in it and I haven’t even introduced him – poor boy he’s so deprived. Meet Cypher (pronounced Sigh-fur…which is what I will do when he grows a full coat and I have to vacuum everyday *chuckle – yeah like that will ever happen*). Here he is:
He’s awfully cute isn’t he? (There obligatory “awww cute” comment inserted) – he was born on the 6th of October 2004 which makes him a Libran so hopefully he’ll be well balanced. He is NOT a West Australian! *Shock horror* He was born in New South Wales and came to Perth on the 9th of December. Of course such a boy of travel worldliness would have a fancy name as well – his is Nahrof Quick Change. Why did I give him such an unusual name you ask? (If you didn’t too bad – don’t you know that is exactly why people choose unusual names for their dogs and children – just so the conversation revolves around them??) Anyhoo – Cypher – I heard it first in the first Matrix movie – a rather evil wicked guy who betrayed Neo and Trinity to Agent Smith (wasn’t Hugo Weaving superb in that film? “Human beings are a disease..”Best line EVER!) and I liked the sound of it. Then I found out later (through watching Stargate of course) that it evolves from the arabic word Si-fur meaning Zero….this left me slightly worried and hoping that there was going to be more than Zero in his head. Luckily for us all his head seems to be full of the infinite! Cypher came to become the new boy member of our family (Raven’s Dad Bear had passed away nearly 2 years ago) – my new show,agility, obedience and generally goodlooking Border Collie. I asked the breeder Lauren Somers of Nahrof Border Collies for a well put together boy who had the attitude needed to be a zippy little agility dog. He certainly has the ‘tude! But more on his progress later.


text:
Derby #280: Gamer Lifestyle

Live by the Code

Live by the Code
add a comment

No one has anything to say about this design.

More Derby Entries

By date:

By rank:

Whoa there buckaroo!

If you wanna vote, you need to first. Be sure to using an account with at least one purchase, otherwise you won't be able to participate. Sorry we called you buckaroo.


text:
Monday, February 19, 2018
  • Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018
Reel FX teams with Shilo founder/ECD Gomez to launch ATK PLN
David Bates (from left), Jose Sebastian Gomez and Jim Riche
  • HOLLYWOOD, Calif.
  • --

The commercial division of digital studio Reel FX has teamed up with Shilo founder/executive creative director Jose Sebastian Gomez to launch strategic creative group ATK PLN. Gomez will lead the creative vision for the studio, joined by former Digital Domain head of production Jim Riche as executive producer, with overall strategy led by David Bates as managing director. The trio will draw from their expertise across VFX, design, production, interactive media, branding and marketing to deliver comprehensive creative content solutions for clients, offering in-house services from ideation to final delivery. Weaving together in-house creative disciplines will serve to enhance the studio’s robust framework for content creation, augmenting production and post services with a narrative-driven creative strategy that addresses client’s growing needs in the continually evolving media landscape. The team has already created dynamic work for top clients, including AT&T, Fox Racing and MADD.

ATK PLN will work across live design, animation, live action and all combinations of these disciplines to offer clients visual storytelling carefully tailored to their unique business needs. The strategic creative group will work between its new Hollywood studio, Montreal and Dallas locations.

ATK PLN will also partner with sister companies Flight School for their in-depth expertise at the intersection of technology and entertainment, and Reel FX Animation to tap its Golden Globe-nominated entertainment talent and experience for a wide range of projects. The studio will embrace a screen agnostic approach and fuse the boutique sensibility of Shilo with the technical expertise, capabilities and infrastructure of a feature entertainment studio like Reel FX Animation.

Bates returned to Reel FX in 2015 after six years in a strategic leadership role at Bedrock Manufacturing, working on the launch, relaunch, and management of a diverse range of brands, including Shinola and Filson. He got his start in creative marketing for FOSSIL, spending nearly a decade in multiple roles, developing international brand standards as well as leading the creative vision of the in-store experience for stores worldwide. He left FOSSIL to join Reel FX in 2002, evolving to become head of commercial production, bolstering in-house talent and broadening the scope of branded projects. The launch of ATK PLN will fuse Bates’ brand marketing experience with his track record of shaping creative companies to address market shifts.

“The landscape of the marketing and advertising worlds is changing all around us, and the changes are coming at light speed. The modes and methods of communication have changed, and the old ways of working no longer stand,” noted Bates. “New solutions for a new paradigm begin with a complete rethinking of what we’re doing, and not just how we’re doing it.”

Gomez will draw from his background crafting design-driven visuals for brands along with his experience launching a skateboard brand to collaborate with clients, infusing brand essence and strategy into dynamic visually-driven work. “By leveraging Shilo’s design philosophy and creative finesse and Reel FX’s wide scope of technical expertise, we will come together as a powerful content studio,” noted Gomez.

“When I joined David Bates at Reel FX almost two years ago we created a vision to elevate the company to the next level, challenging the status quo of the advertising community to offer a new, unique approach to creative problem solving,” noted Riche. “Bringing on Jose Gomez and his creative vision to our team at ATK PLN is allowing us to turn our ideas into reality. I am excited about how this forward-thinking team will continue to evolve with the changing market.”


text:
Petal Pusher Lace

See size chart

This lace-laden pencil skirt is a knock-out any time of year. It's figure-flattering hourglass silhouette, natural waistline and hidden back zipper give it an elevated and decidedly feminine look.  A strategically placed zipper at the side hemline gives an unexpected show of leg and ease of movement as you flow through your day.

In our Petal Pusher lace, wonderfully bold floral lacework extends beyond the knee to elongate while highlighting our lace's organic scalloped edge. It's a dramatic piece with endless opportunities from day to dinner.  Shown here with our Stripe It Rich Gallery Blouse.

Gorgeous, elegant and mod with plenty of personality.

  • 100% poly lace
  • 95% poly, 5% spandex lining
  • Navy
  • Lace hemline hits below the knee, lining is cut at the knee
  • Size 4 measures approximately 26 1/2" from waist to lace hem
  • Dry clean
  • Made with peace and love in San Francisco of imported goods

Measuring Guide

Relax your tape measure. Your clothes should feel comfortable, so no need to pull your tape measure too tight. It’s often easier for someone else to place the tape measure in the proper place, so consider measuring with a friend.

Bust: Place the tape measure under your arms, measuring across the fullest part of your bust and shoulder blades.  Be sure your arms are relaxed at your sides when you take this measurement. Remember to breathe out first and relax.

Waist: Measure around your natural waist - this is the smallest part of your waist. You can pinpoint it by bending to the side.

Hips: With your legs closed, measure around the fullest part of your hips, including your bottom (about 9 inches below your natural waist). Again, be sure you’re not skimping here.

Size Bust Waist Full Hip
XS / 0 32.5 24.5 36
XS / 2 33.5 25.5 37
S / 4 34.5 26.5 38
S / 6 35.5 27.5 39
M / 8 36.5 28.5 40
M / 10 38 30 41.5
L / 12 39.5 31.5 43
L / 14 41 33 44.5
XL / 16 42.5 34.5 46
We will do our best to make and ship Pre-Order items by the estimated date on the product page.  If this changes, we'll  let you know.
You will be charged at the time of placing a Pre-Order.


text:
Benno Premsela

This Dutch designer was a true jack of all trades. Besides being the creator of many beautiful designs, he was also an interior designer and a central figure in the Dutch art world

> Read more

Lotek XS lamp
with adjustable hight

This timeless Hollands Licht Design lamp Lotek XS by designer Benno Premsela is versatile in its uses. This multifunctional room lamp can be easily transformed from a table-lamp into a floor lamp thanks to its adjustable heights.

Availability: In stock

  •  Worldwide delivery, within a week
  •  1000+ Dutch Designs, for yourself or as a gift
  •  14 days return period, no questions asked

Both a table lamp and a floor lamp

You can easily transform the Lotek from a table-lamp into a floor lamp thanks to its adjustable heights. Its dimensions are special. Extra rods are included in the Lotek lighting product; you can use these to determine the height of this design lighting product. You can easily mount the Lotek room lamp by building a cube using the metal rods that are wrapped in a white interfacing cloth. The cloth ensures that this is a very pleasant and functional light source at the same time. The Lotek cloth can be easily removed again, so you can wash it at any time. The white cloth can always be reordered if it no longer becomes white.

Timeless atmosphere in each room

The Lotek floor lamps are suitable as mood makers in the living room as well as functional light sources on the work floor thanks to their timeless nature. This Lotek XS design lamp is a nice addition to the large classic version. The room lighting product has an E27 fitting suitable for a light source of up to 75W. The light source is not included.

Designer Benno Premsela

As a Dutch designer and interior decorator, he worked for a variety of companies and private individuals. He was extremely versatile and productive. The 1982 Lotek design lamp is a clear example of the consistent signature that Premsela maintains throughout his work: minimalist and functional.

Product specifications
Brand : Lotek
Designer : Benno Premsela
Material : Non woven white facing, metal frame

: Cube light 22,5 cm x 22,5 cm (h x b)

  Base adjustable up to 90 cm (incl. cube)

Weight : 400 gram
Shipping Service
  • Bezorging in Nederland, Duitsland en België
  • Vast pakket tarief € 4,95
  • Envelop (busstuk) € 1,95
  • Besteld voor 21:00 u volgende werkdag bezorgd in Nederland
  • Besteld voor 21.00 u de daarop volgende werkdag bezorgd in Duitsland en België
  • Internationale Bezorging
  • Tarief afhankelijk van gewicht en bestemming
  • De bezorgkosten voor jouw bestelling zie je altijd in je besteloverzicht, voordat je betaalt
  • Bezorging afhankelijk van bestemming in 2 tot 7 dagen
  • Kijk voor meer bezorginformatie bij 'bezorgen'

Tell Others

Hollands Licht Lotek XS lamp


text:
Engel - Threnody + Blood of Saints - CD + CD DIGIPAK BUNDLE

Availability : In stock

Regular Price: €12.99

Special Price: €2.99

Engel - Blood of Saints - CD
Engel - Threnody - CD DIGIPAK

* Required Fields

Price as configured: €2.99

  • Additional Information

    Band Engel
    Title Threnody + Blood of Saints
    Label Season of Mist
    Generic musical style Gothic / New Age / Dark Ambient
    Detailed musical style Modern Metal
    Catalog # SOM226SOM260
    Release Date 5 Apr 2012
Subscribe to our newsletter
and get a 5€ discount*!
Be the first to receive offers from our store.
*Min coupon order value: €20

Please save your coupon now, you will not receive it by email!


text:
Itsuki Udon Noodles (Soup) (日本烏冬)

  • Brand: Itsuki
  • Size: 630g
  • Shipping Weight: 0.77kg
  • Cuisine: Japanese
  • Product of: Japan
 Sold Out

To be notified when this product is back in stock please click here.

Description:Udon Noodles (Soup) 3 pack

Cooking Directions:
1) Put the noodles into 250ml of boiling water for 1 minute

2) Loosen noodles and add seasoning. Boil for 1 minute.

3) Place the noodles in the serving bowls. Serve Hot.
Add Sliced green onion, egg or fish paste for better flavour.

Noodles may taste/smell sour due to the acidity ingredients and has no affect on product quality.

Allergens: Wheat, Soya, Fish
Wheat Flour, Salt, Water, Acid (E270)

Salt, Sugar, Flavour Enhancers (E621, E640, E635) Dried Fish Powder (Salt, Glucose, Dried Fish Powder, Hydrolysed Soya Protein, Yeast Extract [Soyabeans, Wheat]), Soya Sauce Powder (Soyabeans, Salt, Water, Wheat), Dextrin, Salt, Kelp Powder (Kelp, Dextrin, Maltose, Salt, Glucose), Colour (E150a), Acidity Regulator (E500).

Let us notify you when this product is back in stock!

Simply enter your details below and we will send you an e-mail when “Udon Noodles (Soup) (日本烏冬)” is back in stock!

We will not send you any other e-mails or add you to our newsletter, you will only be e-mailed about this product!

English  Traditional Chinese  Simplified Chinese
Shipping Banner
Loading Testimonials
View all testimonals
Copyright ©2018, VAT: GB 921805341
Designed and Hosted by Bright Software Solutions


text:
Guinness 250 Years-Recipe Book

  • Brand: Guinness
  • Product Code: MM-619888
  • Availability: In Stock

This Guinness Recipe Book is the official Guinness Cookbook featuring 18 delicious recipes from the famous Guinness Steak Burger to Guinness Ice Cream. The book also features Guinness history and great photographs throughout the years. This book makes a great gift for the Guinness fan!

Reviews (0)

Write a review

Note: HTML is not translated!
    Bad           Good


text:
LED Rainbow Handheld Showerhead
    Shower Accessories

    LED Rainbow Handheld Showerhead
    Shower streams become visually stunning with the addition of this LED showerhead. When attached to handheld fixtures, the showerhead uses water pressure as a power source to release a rainbow of alternating hues—from soothing blues to energizing pinks. The result is a colorful cascade of water that may give moods a lift. The showerhead installs easily without need for tools or binding spells, and its LED light gradually fades when showers end.

    Price: $39.99
    Shipping Weight: 1.00 lbs
    Quantity in Basket: None


text:
GT Bikes 2011 Part 2: Force and Sensor

by singletrackjon 1 views13

On the second day of GT’s 2011 bike launch in Les Deux Alpes, France, we moved from the Gravity aligned bikes to the more applicable to the UK All Mountain and Endurance ranges. First up it’s the Force, a 150mm travel bike that’s aimed more to the XC side of this travel bracket.

The Force

The Force Carbon

For 2011, GT has respecced the components on the Force with an emphasis on lighter weight for increased climbing ability. As GT say, they wanted it to ride like a “long legged XC bike”. The Force uses the Independent Drivetrain system common to all GT full suspension bikes, providing 150mm of travel at either end but there have been a couple of tweaks for 2011. First of all the shock has had a thorough going over in conjunction with Fox and the result is a new tune which has an increased Boost Valve pressure as well as more compression damping. They’ve also taken a hint from the shorter travel Sensor and used angular contact cartridge headset bearings on the pivots to increase ease of maintenance and parts availability.

Pivot points now use readily available headset bearings

The Carbon Force pictured here won’t be coming into the UK but there will three models of alloy Force being brought in, all in a less garish colourway than this example. Interestingly, GT haven’t specced the Gravity frames (as seen in PART ONE) with 10spd, considering it to be unproven in this application but have used SRAM 2×10 drivetrains for their All Mountain models.

SRAM 2x10spd drivetrains for the top models

Anyway, the alloy Force frame uses a 6061 alloy monocoque with tapered headtube that’s been made lighter for 2011 via improved forming techniques and again there are modular dropouts, although we’re not sure if the UK spec bikes will be coming with Maxle rear ends. The top line Force 1.0 will cost £2799.99 and comes with RS Revelation forks with 15mm Maxle, Fox Float RP2, X.9 2×10 drivetrain with Elixir CR brakes and an X-Fusion HiLo uppy downy post. The Force 2.0 uses a RS Sektor 15mm Maxle, X.7 2×10,  Elixir 5 brakes and GT’s own brand All Terra finishing kit, keeps the X-Fusion uppy downy post and it costs a rather wallet friendly £2,199.99. Dropping down to the £1,699.99 Force 3.0 you lose the 2×10 drivetrain, instead using Shimano 9spd with twin and bash up front, M445 hydraulic brakes  and a more basic Turnkey damped RS Sektor fork, although it retains the 15mm Maxle.

The Sensor

Sensor 1.0

The Sensor has the least bounce of any of the fully suspended GTs and as such it’s slotted it into the Endurance category,  so it’s a bike with a definite climbing rather than descending bias. With 120mm of travel either end it’s not really focused on the racing end of the market and is more for trail riders that might dabble in a bit of racing rather than the other way round. Again, much attention has been paid to component choice to help lose the weight for 2011, the double butted 6061 alloy frames remaining unchanged.

Swoopy hydroformed tubing and internal headset

The top end bikes have gone 2x10spd as well, with the top Sensor 1.0 costing £2,699.99 and having a FIT damped Fox 32 Float with 15QR axle, RP23 rear shock and 10spd Shimano SLX shifters and XTR mech. The £1,799.99 Sensor 2.0 has a RS Recon Gold fork but keeps Shimano 10spd, the 3.0 using Shimano 9spd Deore and a lower specced Recon fork with X-Fusion shock. Providing excellent value for money is the basic 4.0, which uses exactly the same frame as the higher end bikes but has Alivio 9spd drivetrain, Tektro hydraulic disks, X-Fusion shock and a Suntour Raidon LR Air fork with lockout and rebound adjustment for £999.99. A rather nice touch is that all of the Sensor models come specced with Maxxis tyres.

Big wheels on your wagon, the Sensor 9er

GT will also be producing a 29er version of the Sensor, pictured above for the big wheel fans.

This content is exclusive for Premier users.
If you are a Subscriber log in.

Subscriptions start from just £1.49

Find out more!

In part 3 we look at the classic Zaskar and budget big wheeler Karakoram..

Comments (13)

  1. 447 people looked at this article and noone could be bothered to say anything.
    kind of sums up GT bikes really.

  2. Well I’ll say The Force is ugly. And (pardon the pun) I won’t use it.

  3. That’s because none of us know how the suspension works and we’re all are either too busy to work it out or too embarrassed to admit it we’re stumped….

  4. Nice weather by the look of it…..;-)

  5. The sensor actually looks pretty good I’d say.

  6. I thought the GT full sus frames have had headset bearings in them for years – ever since they changed over from the massive oil drum around the bottom bracket??

  7. oxym0r0n – August 4th, 2010 I thought the GT full sus frames have had headset bearings in them for years – ever since they changed over from the massive oil drum around the bottom bracket??

    Mine has and so did the idxc i had before it. In fact that one had the same bearings on the headset.

  8. I think they’ve had headset bearings since the 2008 model year. Not sure if they’ve always been “angular contact” flavoured bearings though….

  9. GT definitely take the prize for best use of fluoro

  10. Mine was a 2005 model and they were the same bearings in the suspension as in the headset.

  11. i liked mine thought it was under rated as good as some other manufacturers

  12. The bearings have always been angular 1 1/8″ headset bearings since the massive eccentric type was replaced. The hardware has been improved this year so that the tools needed to service the system are just 4/5/6mm allen key.

Comments are closed.


text:
It’s time! It’s time!

Our annual reading challenge has arrived! Beginning tomorrow, January 8, Sippican School will be participating in a “Reading Without Walls” reading challenge. All students, families, and staff are invited to read:

  • Books about characters that don’t look or live like you
  • Books about topics that you don’t know much about
  • Books in a format that you don’t usually read for fun (graphic novels, a book in verse, a chapter book, poetry, etc.)

Every time you complete a challenge in one of these categories you can turn in a reading slip to the library! We’ll display them on the bulletin board just outside of the library. Which challenge will you accept first? I can’t wait to hear about it!

Links to the reading challenge memo and the reading slips are here (click the image):Screen Shot 2018-01-07 at 9.53.23 PM     Screen Shot 2018-01-07 at 9.55.31 PM

Emojify with Google

Looking to try something a little different? Check out this new tool from Made with Code and design a personalized emoji for the holidays!share-holidays-generic

Hour of Code – 2017

It’s here, everybody! We’ve been preparing throughout November for the Hour of Code by using Blockly with our Dash robots. Blockly is a programming language that is super user-friendly and allows students to drag and drop blocks of code. This week, grades K-2 will be using The Foos on the iPads for HOC. Grades 3-4 can choose from the options in their drop-down menu. Grade 5-6 can pick from the challenges below. Have fun, and remember to keep trying!  We don’t quit! Persevere!

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 12.14.50 PM Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 12.15.01 PM

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 12.15.15 PM    Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 12.15.27 PM

Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 12.15.42 PM    Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 12.16.00 PM


text:
David M. Hodges: Editing and Related Services

Currently, I offer editing and related services through the

Freelancer.com Logo

sites. As I’m new to Freelancer, my profile there lacks information about past projects and may be incomplete. Upwork has some past projects displayed, but Upwork hides standard-account profiles from public view if a few weeks go by without earnings. As a result, you may need to become an Upwork member to view that profile.

In any case, should you find your way to one of my profiles, note that my posted rates includes fees each site charges on my side; I’ve not investigated whether either site charges additional fees on the client side. Depending on project specifics and my workload, my rates are negotiable.

Alternatively, particularly if you’re local to San Diego County, you may wish to hire me as an independent contractor independent of these sites. If you’re an individual rather than a business, this would probably involve more hassle than the savings on Freelancer or Upwork fees would justify. If you’re a business accustomed to hiring independent contractors, however, or if you need an editor on staff, you should either contact me using this form or connect with me on

(If you're looking for someone to work for you as a "regular employee," in your office or remotely, I'd be happy to hear from you.)

Also feel free to connect with me if you just want to network, though I admit my approach to “networking” is just to maintain accounts and respond if contacted; I seldom reach out. (Though I may have accounts on other networking and social media sites, such as Facebook, I’m not sure how many of these I will continue to maintain, and for how long.) Having never found LinkedIn useful for finding work (despite the hype), I long ago stopped trying to use the site for professional purposes only. (To be honest, the whole professional-personal distinction, like other cultural aberrations of the modern world, has never entirely worked for me. I’d rather be just one person all the time, not a host of personas tailored to different environments. Since most behavior labeled “unprofessional” would better be called “behavior always to be avoided,” the professional-personal distinction seems just to give people license to behave badly outside of work. I want no part of it.)

Since I find LinkedIn handy for keeping track of contacts (professional and otherwise), I don’t expect to close down my account any time soon. Still, connections should not be surprised if my updates there link to posts about religious, political, or other verboten-in-the-secular-workplace topics, such as those on my blog. At present, these updates are not frequent, and you’ll no doubt find my updates as easy to ignore as I find my connections’. (I admit it: I don't pay any attention to what people post on LinkedIn or to the various update messages LinkedIn sends out. I approach all social media the same way. If you wish to interact with me through social media, send me a direct message.)

All that said, if you’d like to keep track of my current contact information, and to let me keep track of yours—and particularly if you’d like to hire me—feel free to connect with me. I’ve never yet turned down a connection request.

Since I’ve provided links to sites I do not use solely for professional purposes (in part because there are no sites I use solely for professional purposes), you might acquire knowledge of my personal viewpoint and convictions. Before you decide not to hire me based on one or another of my idiosyncrasies, do note that I’m happy to edit materials that I do not agree with (so long as pretending to agree with them is not required). It may even be that I find such editing more interesting than editing materials with which I do agree. (I am not able to edit materials that are vulgar or profane, or that promote immorality, however.) I’ve so far specialized in editing and rewriting academic materials (such as journal articles) written or translated by non-native writers of American English (varying in subject matter and sometimes technical). I’ve also edited some medical forms, technical marketing documents, and membership guidelines written or translated by non-native writers. As well, I’ve edited some documents requiring British rather than American spelling and punctuation. My education and experience are quite broad, so I can effectively edit a broader range of materials than these.

So, if you’ve come here because you’re considering employing me as an editor, or enlisting my assistance in some related task (a coauthor for your magnum opus, someone to help with research, whatever), I look forward to hearing from you. If your project requires a freelancer whose convictions and personality are close to your own, or at least similar in some key ways, the blog I mentioned could prove useful. The blog would also let you see how I write when I’m writing for myself, though I do not impose my own style on the materials I edit.


text:
Confessions of a Fever-Phobic

jonaylorUntil this week, I was shockingly misinformed about fever. Despite being generally well educated and pretty savvy about medical stuff, I had some serious misconceptions. Misconceptions that may have led to unneeded treatment of my child, and definitely led to a lot of unnecessary anxiety for me!

My poor kid has had some UTIs lately, and one involved a fever up to 104° (40° C) for several days. My husband and I had to threaten, coerce, and manipulate her to get her to take some ibuprofen to get the fever down. I was terrified she’d get brain damage, start hallucinating, or seizing, or . . . I dunno, other unspecified awful stuff. I slept next to her, my clothes arranged like a firefighter’s, so I could jump up and run her to the emergency room if the fever went over the magic number (101° while on ibuprofen) one of the doctors specified.

During our next visit with a different doctor, he mentioned that fever is not a problem, and doesn’t need to be treated. But it was a brief comment amongst a lot of other critical information about kidney involvement, ID and sensitivities, and the right antibiotic. I felt like I’d gotten some mixed messages, but I didn’t think about it much at the time.

Two weeks later, my lucky kiddo came down with Fifth Disease. And her temperature went up. When it rose to 103.7°, and her skin felt as hot as a baked potato fresh from the oven, I woke her up and tried to get her to take some medicine. Despite (or because of?) her evident misery and restless sleep, she refused, so I pushed fluids, kept the covers off her, and stroked her with a wet cloth.

Now, we had called the advice nurse that evening, and she told me, “A fever between 100 and 104 is therapeutic.” In Worried Mom mode, I didn’t reflect on it much. My baby was frighteningly hot! Everything in my guts said, “Fix it! Cool her off! NOW!”

But later, with a little distance and a lot more sleep, I decided to investigate just what the deal is with fever. Turns out, fevers in response to illnesses are relatively harmless. (Heat stroke is a separate issue.) They might even help get you better faster. They don’t cause brain damage or any other lasting harm, and are self-limiting to 107° or less. Pediatricians do not recommend taking a child’s temperature frequently, or waking them up to take “antipyretics” (that’s acetaminophen or ibuprofen) to bring fevers down. Many parents dose antipyretics wrong, which is a much greater risk to a child’s health than a fever is. Even febrile seizures are not likely to cause harm, and using antipyretics doesn’t seem to prevent them. Oh, and if it’s lower than 100°, it’s not a fever, it’s a normal fluctuation in body temperature that happens every day for all of us.

TL:DR version – even high fevers in children are harmless. (NB: Fever in young babies is more complex.) You can give your kid medicine if they are suffering, but the fever itself isn’t anything to worry about.

This still feels wrong to me. But I checked. And checked. And checked. And checked. And checked. I think part of the reason fever phobia is so stubborn in our culture is that pediatricians focus on fevers. Every office visit starts with taking the child’s temperature. Any fever is focused on and investigated – how high? How long has the child had the fever? Presumably they’re trying to find out what is causing the fever, and to eliminate possible serious underlying conditions. Which is sensible, but gives us parents the impression that fever is scary. Plus clearly different doctors have different attitudes and give conflicting advice about fever management. Add in the historical use of “fever” in the names of many scary childhood illnesses, and it’s a great recipe for continued fear in parents!

Fever itself isn’t dangerous, and in the future I’m going to attempt to stow my anxiety and deal with it more rationally. Of course, my child tends to feel quite miserable, has trouble sleeping, and won’t eat or drink much when her fever goes over 101°, so I might still give her medicine, but at least I know now that the risk I’m battling is her discomfort, and I don’t have to worry that she’s cooking her own brain.

For reference by worried parents, here is a nice rundown of the common worries and the facts about fever.

About Christine

I'm a full-time mother to two kids, an ex-lawyer, a breastfeeding counselor, a skeptic, and (to steal a phase from Penn & Teller) a "science cheerleader." You can reach me through my Facebook page.

Posted on November 20, 2013, in Health, Parenting and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.

  1. Yes, fevers are our own body’s defense mechanism, if you try and stop a fever the illness will often take longer to recover from. My grrls are almost never sick, and we rarely dose them unless absolutely necessary. As a teen, I got very sick, had a fever of 105 for 5 days, was semi conscious on the couch, I lost 15 pounds.. the fever was debilitating, but I was fine after.

  2. Funny, I never thought about it in relation to children, but as an adult, I always let my fever go, part of mother’s advice to let a fever “burn out” so you feel better sooner. Makes sense now!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Logo

You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
Posts tagged ‘2nd grade reading tutoring’

From Port Hardy,BC to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Canada

Welcome to Moose Jaw

Image by jimmywayne via Flickr

I have traveled to two different schools in Canada through Skype over the past 2 days.  What a fantastic experience.  Both of the classrooms had 1st grade and 2nd grade students in them and they were both filled with wonderful learners.

I had the wonderful opportunity to talk about friendship in Moose Jaw today and the funniest thing is that when I started to look for pictures for this blog I found one that said, “Welcome to Moose Jaw the Friendly City. I have a feeling that these kids know a lot about friendship because before we began they told me that a good friend is someone who never lets you down and goes to your house and plays with you.  From the book The Gordon Star we learned that friendship is being kind to others, saying nice things to each other, and helping each other out.  It may even include being funny.  (I know I don’t like boring people, so I like the characteristic of being funny).

This concept of friendship is so important.  We don’t choose our friends based off of what people look like and the things that they have, but the wonderful inner qualities that each of them holds.  That was evident by the students responses today in Mr. Silverside’s class.  You can take a peak at this wonderful experience.

Tag Cloud


text:
Forgot your password?
User Journal

Journal turgid's Journal: Christmas Music 1

Last time we went to the Turgid parents' to visit, I recovered my old violin, which I have not played much since I was 16 years old. I was never very good. I only made it to Grade 5, and it was like cats being strangled.

Mrs. Turgid, blinded by love, enjoys hearing my feeble attempts at scratching out a tune. She comes from the Methodist tradition (sing loudly and in tune), whereas I am a joyless, puritanical Scottish athiest.

As I age and my brain grows feeble, I am tempted to play Chirstmas carols. I was reading Wikipedia today whilest attempting to get inebriated on Guinness and found a link to where there is free-as-in-beer (and possibly speech) sheet Christmas carol music for most instruments.

I've downloaded a few and printed them. When the proper carols from Kings College on TV are finished, and when Mrs Turgid has had another glass of wine, I will attempt to seranade her.

Those of you who know music theory, what's will all the flats *barf* in the key signatures? We're talking F-major, B-flat-major, and E-flat major and related minors. Is it for playing along with brass and woodwind? Or it is just to annoy string players?

Why can't they make proper brass and woodwind instruments? It would save a lot of trouble.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Christmas Music

Comments Filter:

We cannot command nature except by obeying her. -- Sir Francis Bacon


text:
The Gospel for the Angry

I need to repent.

I need to repent of the way I have viewed the world. I knew that just underneath the surface of society there was a seething anger, but I did not understand its extent. More than that I need to repent of how I have viewed people, of how I have viewed the angry, the malcontent, and those who feel betrayed. I have feared instead of loved. I have often thought about what the gospel says about the angry but I have failed to think through what it says to them. I have judged unfairly.

Just as the gospel is good news for the broken and the wounded, it is also the good news for those who are frustrated and angry. It is good news for angry liberals and angry conservatives. It is good news for protestors. It is good news for those who comment on news articles. It is good news for those who are loud in their anger and good news for those who remain silent. It is good news for those who are angry because of some personal slight and good news for those who are angry because of what is happening in society. The good news of the gospel is good news for all – for all who will accept it.

What is the Gospel for the Angry?

Perhaps you are like me. I have nothing really to be angry about. Life is good. I need to be reminded that the good news is good for all, even for those with whom I find it hard to relate.

But perhaps you are angry because of your own personal circumstances or because of some injustice. I address the rest of this post to you.

First, I want to affirm that much of your anger might be justified. There is a righteous anger which is the response to injustice in the world. And there is plenty of injustice to be angry about. This is a broken and sinful world and we are all victims, to some degree or another, of that sin. You may say, “I have a right to be angry” and you are probably correct. I want to affirm that. God becomes angry at sin. Jesus overturned the tables in the temple. Anger is often justified.

Second, though, I am obliged to tell you that you need to repent. You need to repent because, while it’s true that you are a victim of injustice in the world, you are also a perpetrator. If you are willing to be honest you will see this is true. It’s true for you and it’s true for me. Your anger is not always justified nor is it always rightly directed. Your eyes are not clear when they judge. Your anger is not the same as God’s. He is holy. You are not. You may be justified in your anger but you take it too far. It becomes hatred and contempt. It is turned on the innocent instead of the guilty. It is used to justify all kinds of evil, either public or private. The gospel is only good news to the angry for those who are willing to repent.

Third, Jesus has come to heal the anger in your heart. How does he do it? He entered into the broken and unjust world. He was ridiculed and scorned. He was humiliated. He experienced the greatest single case of injustice the world has ever faced. He was nailed to a cross. And in all this he did not sin. He was filled with zeal when it came to the house of the Lord but when he himself was dying on the cross he exhibited only love, mercy, and deep sadness. He took the brunt of the injustice of the world head on.

But he did more than that. He also took on himself the righteous anger of God. He took our sin, our rage, our hatred, our contempt for God and for our fellow man. In doing so he also took on the wrath of God. Our sin was punished in Jesus and the glorious healing of God became available to us. We lay hold of that healing when we turn to Jesus in faith. When we do so, he promises to forgive our sins, but not only that, but to make for us new and softer hearts.

Fourth, Jesus came to heal the injustice in the world. He is healing the injustice in the world through the people who have come to him. If you are a believer in Jesus this is your ministry, to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. When the church does this we become a people who bring healing to the world.

But the healing we bring as the people of God is simply a foretaste, a tiny picture, of the justice and healing which God will bring when he returns. On that day we will no longer have any reason to be angry because all wrongs, personal or societal, will be done away with.

Are you angry? Maybe you are justifiably so. God offers you hope. Turn to him.


text:
Camping: A Cure for the Night Owl

It’s just part of nature.  Some of us are early birds and some of us are night owls.  The problem for the night owl, however, comes when he has a job that requires he wake early in the morning.  So, what’s an owl to do?  New research says there is a solution that works and can be fun at the same time: camping.

Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder conducted a study that included eight participants who had been pre-screened as night owls.  The participants were monitored in their daily lives for a week.  The participants wore wrist monitors that recorded the intensity of light they were exposed to, the timing of that light, and their activity, which allowed the researchers to infer when they were sleeping.

The participants then went camping in Colorado’s Eagles Nest Wilderness. During the week, the campers were exposed only to sunlight and the glow of a campfire. Flashlights and personal electronic devices were not allowed.   During that week, on average, participants went to bed two hours earlier than they did in their normal daily lives.

The researchers also found that after the camping trip, the participants’ biological clocks stayed set near “camping time,” meaning they were oriented more toward the solar day than they were before the study.

Researchers say that they understand a week-long camping trip without artificial light may not be for everyone, but they say a good way to combat a night owl’s drift toward later nights is exposure to more sunlight in the morning and midday to help help nudge his or her internal clock earlier. Also, dimming electrical lights at night, forgoing late-night TV and cutting out screen time with laptops and other personal electronic devices also may help internal circadian clocks stay more closely attuned with the solar day.

Source: University of Colorado Boulder

Latest from Twitter

Follow us on Twitter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter