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One of my colleagues is a young Korean American woman who was explaining a Korean cultural concept to me the other day.  She said it was hard to find a word in English to explain this concept called Jung.  It refers to older Koreans who can appear to be very mean and unfriendly and then turn around and perform an act of kindness towards the very same person.  I was fascinated by this concept and sure enough the next day it presented itself. I went to the pool for my now regular swim.  I did what I always do, I paid my money, got my locker key, went to my locker and put on my suit, donned my bathing cap and goggles and then headed to the pool only to be stopped by a woman about my age who was yelling and wildly pointing at me.  I didn’t need to speak the language to understand by her expert pantomime that I needed to shower before entering the pool, something I hadn’t been doing.  This was not a simple rinse but a full on shower with bathing suit removed. She followed me into the showers yelling and demonstrating what she wanted me to do.  She seemed so angry as if I was personally insulting her.  I followed her instructions to the tee while several other women looked on, not wanting to interfere with my scolding.  After my swim I took my usual, now second, shower and headed into the locker room to get dressed.  The same woman who had scolded me was getting dressed.  Maybe she won’t notice me, I thought.  Fat chance of that!  She stared right at me and I wondered what I was now doing wrong, when she smiled, reached out and handed me a piece of hard candy that she insisted I eat. Jung, I understood the meaning.

I am having a ball in my Korean class, although I am the worst student in the class.  I assured my classmates, whom I really like, that I am a much better teacher than a student. They always greet me with a warm welcome when I arrive to class.  I noticed that a few of them often have a look of surprise.  I couldn’t figure it out but so much is lost in translation that I wrote it off as cultural differences.  This week after class I was waiting for Steve to finish his, more advanced, class, when a classmate from Nepal and one from India approached me and said.  “We so admire your vigor.”  YIKES!  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what that meant so I just smiled.  The fellow from Nepal went on to say, “In our culture, old people think they can’t learn anything new and we are so impressed that you are coming to class and trying to learn a new language.” OLD PEOPLE?  Was he talking to me?  I knew there was a compliment in his words but I was too distracted about the fact that I’m old.  Maybe not by US standards but certainly by Indian and Nepali and, or sure, Korean standards.  What a moment! I thanked them for their “compliment” and luckily Steve came out of his class so I wished them a great weekend and hurried out of the building.

When I decided to come on this adventure I knew I would be challenged in many ways.  I also knew that it would be an unforgettable journey.  It’s one thing to visit or even live for a while in another country. It’s entirely different to live and work overseas over sixty.  I think having some vigor, as my classmates suggested, is not such a bad idea, and a little Jung can’t hurt either.

Stay in touch and I will too.Image

When I arrived in Korea, a friend of Steve’s who had gone back to the States left me a full- length mirror. She told Steve it was a magic mirror.  I set it up so I could see how I look in the morning before I head out the door. The first time I looked in the mirror, sure enough there was a much thinner version of me staring back.  This mirror is in fact, magic.  Now the trick is to convince myself that what I see in the mirror might be a true reflection.  I decided after a week of looking amazing and knowing the real truth of this magic mirror that I would go with the illusion and have a moment of joy each morning.  The mirror got me thinking about the other illusions we create, that before too long become real.  Steve mentioned to me the other night when I said I was really happy here that I might be in the honeymoon stage of my new life.  I tend to think it feels pretty good and I’m wondering why I would give up these great feelings for a heavy dose of reality.  I already know that I miss a good glass of wine and dinner at Fore Street.  I’ve moved on and I take great delight in the real cheddar cheese and Danish salami I pay a premium for at the supermarket.  I can learn to live with this.  Is it an illusion or not?

I started teaching this week and my students are young, naïve and eager.  If they see me on the street they giggle and try out their new English words.  “Hello, Teacher” When I’m with Steve and introduce him, the girls giggle even more.  It is so endearing.  I started a writing program that one of my new colleagues has used successfully.  I really do believe that in 14 weeks I can teach some students to let go of their shyness and write about things that matter to them.  Thank you Nicole and Eleanor for all the encouragement you gave me when I started writing. I am inspired to want to make a difference in the lives of these students.  Is this an illusion?  I sure hope not.

When I hear my colleagues complain about how “busy” they are, I have to hold myself back from laughing out loud.  I teach 4 classes, twice a week for 75 minutes each. That’s 10 hours a week.  When you add in planning time, meetings with students and faculty meetings  it still brings it up to less than a full time job.  My busiest days are Tuesdays and Fridays when I have 3 classes.  I have no classes before noon and I end by 6 each night.  I teach one class on Wednesday and one on Thursday.  Now, in fairness, many of my colleagues teach more classes but in my book busy is when you work 10-12 hour days and sleep in strange hotels and try to explain to your two young children why you can’t be at their lacrosse or baseball game. But I digress from Illusions.

When I lived in Israel I was always surprised by the fact that Israelis follow almost no rules except two that I was aware of.  They sit in their assigned seats in the movies and they only cross the street when the light changes, no jaywalking.  I could never figure that out since they are blatant rule breakers about everything else, big and small.  Here in Korea, I notice that Koreans are very polite, they seem to follow the rules and want to help and be accommodating to others.  So, where do they break the rules?  The minute they get behind the wheel of a car, many with dark tinted windows, all bets are off. Somehow Koreans have the illusion that once they’re behind the wheel of their car no one knows who they are and that anonymity allows for uncontrolled reckless driving.  There are cross walks everywhere, especially on the campus, and I learned very quickly that they are meaningless for the driver.  There is no daydreaming when walking or biking and no living in the illusion that all Koreans are polite and accommodating once they are in their cars.

I started taking Korean classes three nights a week.  I showed up to the class a few minutes late trying to find the room and realizing that somehow my name had been dropped from the roster.  I entered a room filled with young graduate students.  The teacher, a young Korean woman who spoke very little English, was beginning the introductions.  She asked each of us to give our name, what we did, where we’re from and our age.  OUR AGE? What could that possibly have to do with learning Korean?  Clearly I was old enough to be the mother, and in some cases, grandmother of many of these students.  The introductions began on the opposite side of the U-shaped table.  One after the other the students told their stories. They were from Viet Nam, Napal, India, and China.  All graduate students,they are mostly doctoral candidates that were required to take Korean and pass the course.  Then Peter from Austria introduced himself; he’s a professor, teaching piano in the music department.  By the time it got to me I introduced myself and simply said I was old.  Everyone laughed and we quickly moved on.  The teacher announced that both Marsha and Peter do not have to pass the class or even take the exams if we don’t want to. Professors are exempt.  What a relief!  I remembered very quickly how hard it is to learn a new language.  I realized that I can hardly remember the names of people I’ve met dozens of times, let alone a language that uses letters that look like symbols, seems to have no punctuation, capitals or paragraphs.

Last week Steve and I were told by the University that someone was coming to our apartment to check for an alleged leak from our veranda to the apartment below us. Our washing machine is on the veranda.  When the two men arrived Steve tried to explain that he has not seen any sign of water since he came a year ago.  The men spent a few minutes looking at the veranda and didn’t do anything.  They left and a few days later we were informed that they were coming back to replace the tile floor to fix the alleged leak.  It would take a week between removing the old tiles, setting the cement and replacing the tiles.  It turns out that a new colleague of ours lives below us, so I asked if he was experiencing any water leaking.  He said, not a drop.  He was also told that he would be inconvenienced for a week since they would be replacing his ceiling.  All this for some illusion of a problem.  I’m sure something was lost in translation but we are now getting a new tiled floor and our neighbor gets a new ceiling and we have solved a problem that may not have existed.  One of life’s amazing moments.

I bought a used bike from a doctoral candidate who said he was too busy to ride anymore.  I love my “new” bike and I started riding to school.  Life is good.  I treasure my time with Steve and am slowly and cautiously making friends.  There is so much to see and do that Steve and I could fill our time together and alone. I love waking up each morning next to Steve and going to bed next to him each night.  No illusion there.

I came here for an adventure and an adventure I am having.  Each day brings something new.Image

Stay in touch and I will too.

Blending In

Several years ago I went to a conference in Seattle as part of a project I was working on related to the LGBT community.  The conference was conducted by an organization called Out and Equal and I was probably one of a handful of straight allies at the conference of more than a 1000 participants.  I could and did blend right in.  I looked like many of the women attendees and it was my choice to self-disclose my sexual orientation.  It was a very humbling experience to think about “coming out” to a group of LGBT participants that I was hanging out with.  This was an amazing experience that raised my awareness to new heights. To appear to fit in and blend just based on appearances.

Everywhere I go in this friendly country people stare at me.  It’s not because they somehow recognize me and are searching for my name, it’s because I look so different and there is absolutely no blending.

It’s not often that a 63 year old, 5’8” curly haired blond with lots of opinions and a big deep voice blends in anywhere.   Here, in Korea, I am once again being given an experience in humility. You might imagine what it’s like for me in a country where there are very few foreigners and even in a room filled with 60 of my new colleagues, all expats, I still somehow don’t blend.  Amongst my new colleagues, I’m sure the description is something like  “You know, the tall older women with the curly blond hair”  or “You know, Steve’s wife, the older woman.” I am by far one of, if not the, oldest faculty member. There are advantages to this inability to blend.  For one thing it’s easier for people to remember me, I suppose this could also be a down side.  I tend not to notice the age difference until the conversation turns to their parents and they mention celebrating a mother or father’s 60thor even 50th birthday.  I also notice my age when I walk by a mirror and do a double take wondering what my mother is doing here in Korea.  I have this same startling feeling in the states. Life is funny that way, what we see out of our eyes has no relation to what other’s see when they look back.

Recently, I began swimming in preparation for my triathlon. This experience is giving me another wonderful example of not blending in but at the same time being welcomed for my difference.  I showed up at the pool for the second time, still not sure of all the rules.  I wore my bathing suit under my clothes thinking that would make the transition into the pool easier.  The very helpful woman at the front desk took my 3000won (about $3.00) in exchange for a locker room key.  She smiled and acknowledged that she remembered me from my first visit, when I came in the wrong door and ended up in the high school girls’ locker room.  I’m sure that all of those naked high school girls getting in their suits for swimming won’t forget me.  I went into the correct locker room this time, found my locker and took my clothes off, put on my bathing cap and goggles and made my way to the pool.  It seemed that everything stopped for a moment while the swimmers readjusted themselves to my presence.  I picked a lane, hopped in and started swimming.  25 minutes later I made my way back to the locker room.  By now the shower room was filled with several varieties of naked Korean women.  Some tall, some short, fat, thin, large breasts, small breasts, young girls with their mothers, all showering.  I took my place among the group and showered while everyone looked my way without any concern of staring.  I’m sure they were wondering what this foreigner was doing here.  Several women approached me while I was getting dressed and asked if I spoke Korean.  I politely smiled, glad for the direct acknowledgement and they smiled as well.  Not knowing the language keeps me distant from so many situations.  I keep forging ahead and I assume that when these women keep seeing me again and again we will develop a sort of friendship of smiles and nods.  When I asked some of my colleagues if they have ever gone swimming, several of them said they weren’t comfortable and didn’t feel welcome.  I suppose I could have gone that route, but instead, I’ll take the lesson in humility and experience the feelings of learning to be present without blending in.

On another note, Steve and I are asked all the time if we plan to move to a larger apartment.  We have a one bedroom that Steve had last year and a generous stipend I receive for not moving to a larger place.  Our plan is to use that money for our travel budget while we’re here.  After 32 years together we know how to move quietly between each other.  A young couple, colleagues of ours, just moved in together and asked us about our space.  They have a 3-bedroom apartment and were wondering how we did it with such a small amount of space.  I replied that they needed the space in order to have that relationship and after 32 years space comes from different sources.  We blend together in so many ways.

Our life is filled with adventure, each day bringing something new and exciting.  The food is wonderful and we mix it up with a few treats from home, cheese, chocolate and wine.  I’m running and swimming and looking for a used bike to buy.  Without a car we walk everywhere and public transportation is wonderful.  I know that  as long as we’re here there will be no blending, but what I do know is that each day I feel more at home and what I see through my eyes brings a comfort and solace that feels great.  I guess blending in is overrated and as a friend said to me right before I left. “Life starts at the end of your comfort zone.”  Let the adventure continue.

Stay in touch and I’ll do the same.


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This presentation was delivered at Oracle OpenWorld 2016 during a customer success program session for EMEA and Asia-Pacific Oracle customers, covering overall cloud market trends and customer challenges.

  • Cloud is a viable IT service delivery option for many mainstream workloads and can support the technology and processes that businesses want.

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  • Introduction
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Bring 100,000 tsunami refugees to Australia, fast

Bob Gould

The awesome scale of the natural disaster around the Indian Ocean rim has moved the world, including Australia, deeply. Australian doctors and nurses, military personnel and Federal Police have volunteered in large numbers, and are doing courageous and dangerous work in immediate disaster relief with the full support of other Australians, who are responding generously to the relief funds. The enormous proportion of the disaster is brought home to Australians by our increasing connections with the region. Many relatively recent migrants have relatives in the affected areas. Southern Thailand in particular is a favorite Australian tourist spot, which is why the Australian victims are largely concentrated there. The Australian Government has pledged an initial $60 million in immediate disaster relief, a good start.

The question in the minds of many Australians is what more can we do?

What will be most effective?

There are some historical precedents. Immediately after World War II, the then Labor Immigration Minister, Arthur Calwell, was personally shattered when evidence of the brutal Nazi holocaust against the Jewish people in Europe was confirmed.

Calwell’s response was to bend the existing immigration rules, and to even dedicate a special ship to bringing holocaust survivors to Australia. For this he was reviled by some newspapers and anti-Semites, particularly the recently deceased conservative MP Joe Gullett, who made an extraordinary anti-Semitic speech in the Parliament. Nevertheless Calwell stuck to his guns and those holocaust survivors have contributed enormously to Australian life.

The Vietnamese boat people

After the end of the Vietnam War, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese who supported the losing side in that civil war took to the south China Sea in small boats. To his great credit, Malcolm Fraser, the then Liberal Prime Minister, adopted a proactive attitude to this problem, and recognising Australia’s moral responsibility as a protagonist of the South Vietnamese side in the civil war, launched a refugee program, additional to the existing migration program.

Under these arrangements many tens of thousands of people from Indochina settled in Australia. As relatives and members of communities in Vietnam have joined these initial migrants, the Vietnamese community in Australia has swelled to more than 300,000 people. They are a hard-working, productive section of Australian society.

One of the deep ironies in this situation is that this connection has led to substantial Australian trade with Vietnam and remittances from Vietnamese Australians to families back home have played, and still play, an important role in Vietnam’s economic reconstruction.

Australia is one of the richest countries in the world, with a booming economy and a relatively small population

Despite the current drought, and serious environmental problems, Australia has a modern, relatively stable economy — so much so that in some sectors there’s a certain labour shortage, which has led reactionary conservative politicians to float the idea of bringing in 10,000 so-called guest workers from China, who would not have the rights of permanent residents.

Quite properly the Australian Workers Union has opposed this scheme, pointing out that the precarious situation of guest workers without permanent residency would make them vulnerable to exploitation, and would introduce the possibility of breaking down Australian wages and conditions.

A modest proposal for an emergency migration program for victims of the Indian Ocean rim tsunami disaster

Australia currently has a migration program that brings in around 100,000 new migrants annually, of which a relatively small number are refugees.

I propose that there be a one-off tsunami refugee program, in addition to the existing migration program to bring in 100,000 extra people.

There are five million or more people who have lost their homes and livelihoods in this enormous human catastrophe. They face the prospect of living in terrible conditions in primitive refugee camps for many years.

The United Nations is already talking about a 10-year reconstruction program. The most effective thing Australia can do in the short and longer term would be to turn all of our modern techniques and resources to bringing 100,000 of these people to Australia, with initial full permanent residency, leading quickly to Australian citizenship.

This program should be bipartisan, supported by all Australian political parties. Unless such a program is adopted quickly we face the possibility of thousands of refugees again trying to come to Australia in leaky boats.

The breakdown of sources for these migrants would look something like this: 1500 from Somalia, 1500 from the Maldives, 2000 from Burma, 5000 from Thailand, 20,000 from Sri Lanka and Tamil Eelam, 20,000 from India (half from the Andaman and Nicobar islands), 50,000 from Aceh.

The breakdown for the settlement in Australia might look something like this: 30,000 to NSW, 25,000 to Victoria, 15,000 to Queensland, 12,000 to WA, 10,000 to SA, 3000 to Tasmania, 2500 to the ACT, 2500 to NT.

The existing detention centres for refugees and asylum seekers could easily be converted to their original use as migrant holding centres, and the few hundred refugees left there could be released into the community under suitable arrangements.

Economic and social benefits for the tsunami survivors and the regions they come from

It’s a well-known fact about migration, particularly refugee and disaster migration, that immediately they get work such migrants remit a large part of their earnings to families back home. If such migrants in Australia are properly paid, and not subject to intimidation like “guest workers” it’s easy to envisage an enormous income stream flowing back to the home regions from employed family members in Australia.

This was true of my Irish ancestors, who immigrated to Australia in the aftermath of the Irish famine in the 19th century, and it has also been true of more recent migrants form Vietnam, East Timor and elsewhere.

An immediate transfer of a substantial number of refugees from the refugee camps to Australia would obviously ease the pressure in the camps. This emergency migration program would be the most powerful and effective help that we could give.

Economic and social benefits for Australia

Such an emergency immigration program would solve the short-term labour shortage in some sectors of the economy for a few years, until this cohort of migrants eventually moved up to better jobs, which is an inevitable part of the migration process. It would alleviate the labour shortage while avoiding the anti-social aspects associated with any scheme for “guest workers” without permanent residency.

The rapid immigration into Australia of economic and social refugees from the rich kaleidoscope of races and religions in the Indian Ocean rim: Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims, would further break down xenophobic racism in Australia as human familiarity evoked the usual warm response in Australians to people of other cultures whom they have actually come to know.

The response of ordinary Australians in country towns to Afghan refugees demonstrates this. In addition, such a program would go a long way towards integrating Australia in the Asian region and relegating the White Australia Policy to the distant past in the minds of both Asians and Australians. In addition, the economic benefits of increased trade between Australia and the Indian Ocean rim are obvious.

The scale of the catastrophe in the Indian Ocean is enormous and the circumstances demand a quick and effective response.

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Friday, December 7, 2012

Fabulous Room Friday 12.07.12

robert stilin

This week’s “Fabulous Room” is this serene bedroom designed by Robert Stilin as featured in the December issue of ELLE DECOR. I love the clean, masculine sensibility of the space which features such a great mix of materials—the rawness of the wood, the warmth of the saddle leather, the cool quality of the stone fireplace. Earlier this week, we discussed the elements of the perfect bed and I think this would definitely be a bed that my cohort, Jon and I would see eye to eye on. The linens are crisp and tailored, but maintain an effortless ease. This room feels quite sophisticated in the most inviting way. It is filled with interesting, important designs, but features a cool, relaxed quality. What do you think of the ceiling fixtures? As someone who works for a lighting manufacturer, I very rarely come across lighting designs that I haven’t already seen before, but this feels so fresh.

What is your favorite element in this room?

Cara said...

the clean lines :)

French Furniture said...

I love the bed, and the mattress looks super comfy.

Dawna said...

It's hard to just pick on thing ,his style is so reminiscent of James Huniford,and it really speaks to me seeing as I love a more masculine approach to design. I adore those light fixtures,it's really the first time I have ever loved a ceiling fixture.Great room!

Home Decor said...

Nice blog... thanks for sharing with us..


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English to the end

My first post on ‘The English Library’ published by Heinemann and Balestier in the 1890s looked at the story of the partnership between William Heinemann and Wolcott Balestier and of some of their authors.  But what of the books themselves?

Physically they looked much like the Tauchnitz Editions that they were set up to compete with.  They were of course paperbacks, and of the same size and with the same buff-coloured typographic covers.   Nothing particularly to make them stand out in the shops they were sold in, presumably in most cases alongside Tauchnitz books.  Like the various publishers of the Asher’s series before them, they saw no advantage in distinguishing the look and feel of their books.

EL 73 My Jo, John front wrapper

That’s a common enough strategy today for any business challenging a market leader – often followed for instance by supermarket own-brands.  Make your product look very similar to the market leader’s product in the hope that buyers will believe it’s of the same quality and can be bought with the same confidence.  The other part of such a strategy though is to charge a lower price.  Heinemann and Balestier instead offered volumes of the English Library at 1.60 Marks or 2 Francs, exactly the same as the price of Tauchnitz Editions at the time.

Perhaps they hoped to compete simply on the attraction of the titles and the authors.  Asher’s had signed up George Eliot to launch their series with ‘Middlemarch’, whereas  Heinemann and Balestier chose Kipling to launch the English Library and were aggressively signing up other authors.  They were successful in attracting some popular and high profile authors, but others stayed with Tauchnitz and some even split their works between the two publishers.   Comparing the lists now with the benefit of hindsight, it’s not obvious that either publisher had a more successful publishing programme.

The English Library blurb

The books published by Heinemann and Balestier that have become best known in the 125 year since then, are probably ‘The Jungle Book’ by Kipling, ‘Three men in a boat’ by Jerome K. Jerome, and ‘Diary of a nobody’ by George and Weedon Grossmith – certainly all classics, but perhaps a little on the lightweight side rather than literary blockbusters.  Certainly these are books that Tauchnitz would have been disappointed not to publish, and there are relatively few other classics of English Literature that Tauchnitz missed out on throughout its entire history.  Oddly the English Library also included ‘Hedda Gabler’, which was certainly a minor coup, although not one really within the remit of either series.

EL167 Kipling The Jungle Book Title Page and Frontispiece

The best-known and most successful title in The English Library

In comparison though over the period from mid-1891 to the end of 1892, which was the main period of competition between the two series, Tauchnitz published Hardy’s ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’, the Sherlock Holmes novel ‘A study in scarlet’ and ‘New Grub Street’ by George Gissing, as well as other works by Hardy, Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson and Frances Hodgson Burnett.  There’s no clear winner in terms of either literary quality or popular appeal and the eventual withdrawal of Heinemann and Balestier was probably more to do with financial strength, or with the consequences of Balestier’s death.

Tauchnitz though had the huge advantage of a strong back catalogue of over 2500 volumes to support its new works.  It had continuing sales of many titles by Dickens, Hardy, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Henry James, Mark Twain, Wilkie Collins and a host of other writers, most of which had been acquired for a single payment rather than continuing royalties.  This must have been a daunting prospect for any competitor.

In terms of identifying first printings, the English Library books share some of the same complications as Tauchnitz.  Copies surviving in the original wrappers can be dated by reference to the other books listed on the wrappers, but inevitably most surviving copies have been privately bound and the wrappers discarded.  As with Tauchnitz the title page date is not a reliable indicator, often left as the date of first publication even on later reprints.  The only  evidence of reprints may be the presence of later-published titles by the same author listed on the half-title verso.   By this evidence Kipling’s books in the series seem to have been reprinted frequently, and the first volume, ‘The light that failed’ is often seen with other, later titles listed.  Given the relatively short life of the series though, many books may never have been reprinted.

Kipling The light that failed reprint title and half title

Although dated 1891, this copy advertises other volumes published later

One of the oddest features of the series is that as well as turning up in the usual variety of 19th century private bindings, English Library volumes are also found in several of the standard bindings used by Tauchnitz, so that they would have looked almost identical in the bookshops.   The Todd & Bowden bibliography classes various generally ‘art nouveau’ bindings from the 1890s and 1900s as Tauchnitz publisher bindings in series x7.   But as the same bindings exist on English Library volumes, they were presumably produced by a bookbinder independent of Tauchnitz, even if sold directly by the firm.  Tauchnitz did not start its own in-house bindery until 1900.

Jungle Book (EL 167) and 2nd Jungle Book (Tauchnitz)

Copies of Kipling’s ‘The jungle book’ in the English Library and ‘The second jungle book’ in the Tauchnitz Ediiton

 EL 1 Kipling The light that failed  Binding x7a on vol. 3026 du Maurier Trilby

Kipling’s ‘The light that failed’ in The English Library, alongside George du Maurier’s ‘Trilby’ in Tauchnitz

Other examples of ‘Tauchnitz style’ bindings on English Library volumes

By the end of 1892 the series was in decline, although it limped on for some time.  It reached volume 199 by 1894, but the last title I have been able to identify is ‘The mystery of the sea’ by Bram Stoker, published as volumes 210 and 211 in 1903.

Even that was not the end, as sometime shortly after this, the rights to the back catalogue seem to have been acquired by the publisher F.A. Brockhaus, also in Leipzig, who had previously been the main wholesale distributor for the series.   Reprints continued to appear under their imprint, sometimes combined with that of Heinemann & Balestier, right through almost until the Second World War, although only  a small number of the titles were reissued.  Most of the Kipling titles were reprinted by Brockhaus, but as time went on, it seems to have been really only ‘The jungle book’ together with ‘Three men in a boat’ that continued to sell.  For these editions it is much easier to date them, as the title page is updated.   With the decline in private bookbinding, they also mostly exist in paperbacks, usually with a bright cover illustrated with poppies.

Three men in a boat Brockhaus 1928

Brockhaus reprints from 1928 (above) and 1921, 1922, 1924 and 1937 (below)

Posted on June 18, 2016, in Vintage Paperbacks and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.

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I know nothing of ballads

I know nothing of ballads
nor rhymes or rhythm
to sing a note
or follow a tune
of music and musings
are rare and few
I know nothing of the moon
nor the tides to pull
heartstrings a few
I know not my right foot from left
and of dancing
akin to drunkenness
of romance and gentlemen’s way
I know not what is wooing
or how to even do it
but dear
all I know is
I cannot go a day
without greeting you
without thinking how happy you’d be making
with just by being you.
I know not of ballads,
nor the power of pretty flowers.
My dear all I know
that the day is fairly bare without just a simple glimpse of you.
I know not how to sing to you.

5 thoughts on “I know nothing of ballads

  1. I can’t sing either. Which is really embarassing because I used to sing with Audra McDonald in school… She covered up my voice Thank God..

    I can do a little bit of silly rhyming though.

    Great poem!

    1. I’m a terrible closest singer but an excellent bummer (at least I tell myself that so as not to hurt my own feelings :p).
      I try rhyming in my poems but I don’t quite think it comes across most of the time.
      I was just on your sight try to read some of your wandering poems. Great title by the way.

      1. Thanks. LoL.

        Poems don’t have to rhyme, and sometimes if they don’t I inflect in my head to make it rhyme anyway, lol. If it’s close it rhymes. 🙂

        Your poems are great
        Your gravatar makes me laugh
        Lady, Mysterious
        Uhh, Writer’s Brain Cramp
        Oh well.
        Enjoy some cake
        Goodbye for Now
        From Kaufman’s Kavalkade;)

      2. hehehe. I’m glad you enjoy them.

        I meant to say hummer, but instead I said bummer
        I blame my technology for getting in the way
        I do hope you enjoy your day
        and I do love those glasses I’m wearing
        though I don’t know where they be right now
        Adieu to you too too for now.

  2. Reblogged this on papermashed and commented:

    I thought I’d reblog some of the earlier poems for those who might have missed out. I think I might do this for this following month, reblog some older poems I think would be enjoyed.

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Download this Paper Open PDF in Browser

Constitutional Reasoning for Rights

45 Pages Posted: 1 Oct 2011

Mary Jane Morrison

Hamline University - School of Law

Date Written: 1989

This article explores the nature of constitutional reasoning about rights, with particular emphasis on the reasoning surrounding implied fundamental rights and substantive due process privacy. It describes some of the ways constitutional reasoning can lead to different sets of answers, and the author provides some “answers” for constitutional reasoning patterns in general, examples of implied reasoning, and substantive due process privacy. The author explores the meaning of “right” in constitutional law as a way to talk about constitutional interpretation we find intellectually and legally coherent and satisfying.

Keywords: Constitutional reasoning, fundamental rights, implied reasoning, due process privacy, Bowers v. Hardwick

Suggested Citation

Morrison, Mary Jane, Constitutional Reasoning for Rights (1989). Missouri Law Review, Vol. 54, p. 29, 1989. Available at SSRN:

Mary Jane Morrison (Contact Author)

Hamline University - School of Law ( email )

1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104-1237
United States

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Coach for Thinking More Than Doing

January 20, 2010

Professional learning often involves learning new classroom practices. In fact, the term “best practice” has been codified to mean the highest goal from the perspective of some educators. Teaching is certainly performative, and it is certainly important to learn certain teaching moves, especially early in one’s career. The problem with a focus only on what one does as a teacher is that behaviors change quickly. It is easy to adopt a new teaching practice, and just as easy to let it go. (This is similar to a personal habit that one has attempted to change. For instance, many of us have begun a Monday morning with the changed practice of choosing to eat low-calorie food, and then by Tuesday morning we have changed our practice to one of (again) eating junk food!)

On the other hand, shifts in one’s thinking change more slowly than shifts in ones behavior. That is frustrating when there is a need for a quick response to a problem, but it is important when one is a coach and wants to have a sustained effect. When teachers shift their thinking, it takes more time, but that thinking is more likely to “stick.”

What’s more, the thinking aspect of teaching is often more important when making instructional decisions. When teachers merely decide to use different practices, they are often basing those decisions upon mandates, hunches, or the social influence of their colleagues. On the other hand, when teachers shift their thinking, they do so because they have engaged more deeply with information about students (i.e. data, broadly defined), knowledge of the content of instruction, or insights provided by pedagogy. This kind of learning goes deeper and provides a foundation for any changed practices that a teacher may also adopt.

Coaches and administrators often focus on what teachers do, rather than what they think, because behaviors are easier to gauge than thoughts. Understanding the information, knowledge, and insights that are influencing a teacher’s thoughts (and subsequent decisions) requires time spent in conversation. One can do a “walk through” of a classroom in search of practices in a matter of minutes. It isn’t possible to “walk through” a colleague’s brain in the same way!

I urge coaches to:

  • Begin coaching with conversation.
  • Develop questioning practices that attend to information about students, knowledge of instructional content, and insights about pedagogy.
  • Seek to be a learner, along with teacher partners, in deepening understanding and reflection.
  • Partner with teachers to understand why a practice might be adopted, when the focus does turn to behaviors.
  • Discuss their thinking and decision making with their teacher partners after they have provided demonstration lessons.
  • Think carefully about doing observations, particularly to gauge whether they will unduly focus upon doing and ignore thinking.
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How To: Use hide and seek techniques

Use hide and seek techniques

Check out this hide and seek how-to video.
This hide and seek video is an instructional guide for beginners. Step one, select someone to be the seeker who counts to nine and a half one thousand. Step two, the seeker must shout "ready or not, hear I come" to properly play and hide and seek.

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Are you worried about the flu? Is everyone around you sick? Did you know you can use food as medicine to bolster your immune system and protect yourself naturally against bacteria and viruses?

Two things to remember first and foremost:

1. Food can either be the most potent form of medicine or the fastest form of poison.

2. Your best pharmacy is the produce aisle at your grocery store.

During my grocery tour with clients in my health coaching programs, we go through all the colors in the produce section. Red means your heart will benefit and you will reduce free radical damage at the cellular level. Orange means beta carotene which is so important for your eyes and the production of collagen (Mother Nature’s anti-aging serum). But did you know that yellow and especially white fruits and vegetables boost immune function?

Ginger, fresh garlic and onion are three foods you need to be eating now.

Onions are considered pre-biotics because they contain fructans, a kind of complex carbohydrate, which passes from the small intestine to the large intestine to feed the beneficial bacteria in your gut. A large part of your immune functions happens in the intestines, thanks to your gut flora. Yay! So part of having a healthy immune system is having healthy intestinal flora. Get onions and other raw, unprocessed fermented foods like kombucha and sauerkraut (choose the kind in the fridge, not on the shelf- they’re different) in your diet.

Garlic is an immunity-boosting super star! It has been used for centuries to help prevent illness and infection. Doctors even used it to prevent gangrene in both world wars! This is because garlic contains sulfuric compounds that wipe out harmful bacteria. Raw is best as heat and water wipe out sulfuric compounds.

Finally, ginger. I loved drinking ginger lemon “tea” in India- simply raw, chopped ginger in hot water with fresh squeezed lemon juice with a little bit of honey. Ginger roto-roots the lymphatic system, cleaning out toxins that make you otherwise susceptible to infections.

Like what you read? We’re going to be talking about all things immunity at my upcoming workshop. Join us – three blocks from the beach you see here in San Francisco, on February 8th. Be sure to join us! Click here for more information and my full list of events!


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A Waterfall of Light Meditation

To celebrate the release of the latest Peachfront Press ebook, Crystal Cash Chakra Magick: The Rainbow Path to Prosperity,” we have created an extended audio meditation that you can use while relaxing with your crystals. This meditation, called a Waterfall of Light, is designed to help you get in touch with the little known “overhead” chakra — a sort of psychic door to Spirit that can be visualized as being above the crown of the head. If you connect well with that chakra, you could really blast through some blocks that have been holding you back.

The entire script will be in the next book, in case you prefer to record the meditation in your own voice. And there will be lots of interesting information about this little-known chakra or energy center as well as a continued exploration of how to use crystals to manifest prosperity.


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pearwaldorf: shepard and garrus on menae (me - s&g menae)
[personal profile] pearwaldorf
Fandom Snowflake Challenge banner

Day 10

In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (More than one is okay, too.) Tell us about it, tell us why you love it, give us some examples and recs. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

To no one's surprise, I adore fake relationships, especially with its other companions, pining and forced intimacy. There is something delightful about having to pretend/deny/suppress you don't have feelings for somebody while you're pretending to be in a relationship with them. And then when everybody figures it out, it's great too! It is the best trope of all time and I can't get enough of it.

Recs (The Force Awakens, MCU, Sleepy Hollow) below the cut! If you have recs for fake relationship fics in any fandoms we have in common, please please leave them in the comments.
The Claim - Sath - Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)   (Ren/Hux)
Strapped for credits, the First Order falls back on two ancient Imperial traditions: insurance fraud, and fake marriages.

turbulence, and something else - chartreuser - Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) (Finn/Poe)
Because he can't go without saying it any further:
“I’m in love with him,” Poe admits sometime in the air, his voice crackling over the comms.

It's Just Gravitational, We Are Unstoppable - jannika - Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) (Finn/Poe/Rey)
On a diplomatic mission to retrieve something vital to the Resistance, Poe, Rey, and Finn wind up having to pretend to be married. Miscommunication and things lost in translation, dancing, feelings, a very supportive BB-8, a mention of everyone taking Poe's last name, and general trope-filled, feel-good, nonsense. Because there is never a bad time to use the fake-married trope.

The Galaxy Is Not a Cold Dead Place - thedeadparrot - Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) (Finn/Poe/Rey)
Canon Divergent AU: Finn and Poe go with Rey to find Luke Skywalker, and the mission doesn't go as smoothly as they all hoped it would.

Royal Pains - Satine86 - Dragon Age: Inquisition (Cassandra/Varric)
In Modern Nevarra, Cassandra is poised to be the new queen. When her advisors suggest a political marriage she doesn't want a part of, she ropes Varric into a fake engagement to save face.

Adventures in Romantic Negotiation
- bob-genghis-khan (idek_idic) - Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe (Steve/Bucky/Natasha/Sam)
A web of lies and deceit is probably the answer to most problems.

jump, check parachute - augustbird - Daredevil (TV) (Matt/Foggy)
Foggy Nelson: good at law, terrible at feelings.

This is so wonderfully and ridiculously tropey. Friends with benefits turning into awkward feelings situations! A breakup that doesn't demonize the side lady! Fake relationships! It's really great.

The Scent of Honeysuckle
- sqbr - Dragon Age: Inquisition (Cassandra/Josephine)
Josephine thinks she's going to marry a Pentaghast. Things don't quite go according to plan.

Happy Couple - storiesfortravellers - Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Captain America (Movies) (Steve/Sam)
For this prompt at avengerkink: Sam and Steve eventually find Bucky. For some reason, Bucky assumes Steve and Sam are together. Married-together. They try to keep up the charade for Bucky's benefit. Eventual Sam/Steve or Bucky/Steve is fine, I just need Sam and Steve being fake!married to help Bucky.

this city bleeds its aching heart - Renne - Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012) (Steve/Bucky)
The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.

If You Also Want To Tell The Truth - impertinence - Captain America (Movies) (Steve/Sam)
Diplomatic incidents happen all the time, but not all of them end in marriage. And not all trips to alien planets involve a mysterious killer. Sam and Steve are having all kinds of new experiences lately.

Love among the hydrothermal vents - devildoll - MCU (Steve/Tony)
In which Namor has a thing for Steve, an octopus has a thing for Tony, and Steve and Tony eventually have a thing for each other.

I think this may be one of my favorite fake relationship fics ever? It develops so satisfyingly.

Rule Two - lady_ragnell - Sleepy Hollow (TV) (Abbie/Ichabod)
Rule two: this is a partner thing, nothing more. Don't go getting any ideas.

(no subject)

Date: 2017-01-11 12:37 pm (UTC)
spikedluv: (misc: candy canes by graffitigraphic)
From: [personal profile] spikedluv
Fake relationship! Thank you for the recs - bookmarking!


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Tips And Tricks To Bring Out Your Natural Beauty

Do you think your appearance can never match up to your ideals? Keep reading to learn more about how to look your best.

Vaseline is great for your feet around bedtime. Your feet will be soft and smooth like they are after a baby’s bottom.

You can draw attention to your eyes and make them look bigger by applying dark brown or black waterproof mascara.

You should use the look of your eyebrows overnight. This will make your brows to be nice and shiny. Be sure to focus the Vaseline only on your brows, since it might cause your skin to break out.

A fluffy brush with matte powder can help you blot out facial oil. You can also enhance your cheekbones by using a small amount of shimmery powder on your cheeks.

Have some Vitamin E on hand. There are so many ways to use it for. It can help keep your skin fresh and smooth looking. Vitamin E can be used on the nails to prevent cracking and special creams fortified with the vitamin will soften cuticles.

Only use shimmer in a few areas and only in places where light may enhance it. This will give your skin a pleasant glow effect. When you use highlighter, put it on your brows, nose, then choose to set it with loose powder.

Brush circularly, from your feet up to your face, and then finish off with a warm shower and gentle soap.

Fruit juice just might be your skin. Eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables is highly beneficial to healthy skin and body.Drinking juices is a simple way to incorporate them into your diet. Your skin can achieve that healthy glow if you add ample amounts of fresh juice to your diet.

Makeup artist rely on the power of pink shades to distract from problem areas on the face. It actually lessens the appearance of both acne and puffed up red eyes.

Epsom Salts

Epsom salts can be used more for your beauty treatments. Epsom salts are good for sore muscles and also as a number of other health issues. You can put that to problem areas and leave it alone overnight. Your skin is going to look better in the next day.

Pineapple can be a great food to help you look great and keep off excess weight. This fruit contains bromelain. This boosts your metabolism.

Avoid conditioner on a daily basis if your hair is finely textured. You should only need to use it one or two times per week. Conditioner can weigh hair down and make it look somewhat dull. If you want to keep a natural, shiny hair, keep the conditioner to a reasonable limit.

To avoid having your mascara ruined when you cry, try tilting your head such that the tears fall from the inside corners of the eyes. This will help your makeup stay in place.

With all of the products and beauty advice out there, finding the best method for you can be hard. Idealy, the advice in this article will help you become a beauty expert. Experiment with the tips you’ve learned and you will find yourself looking better than ever.


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Chua Chu Kang Town Council Identity

Branding, Graphic Design
For this project, we were brought in to strengthen the identity across all touch points. These included strategising the central drivers of the brand, such as its mission and territory. Through our enquiries and observations, a visual system was created that reflects not only the environment and the residents, it also mirrored the brand’s central ideal of connectivity.
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Monday, March 5, 2012

U.S. Pension Woes Worsening?

James Nash of Bloomberg reports, U.S. Pension Assets Gained 16.4% in ’11:

U.S. public pension funds rose 16 percent in the year ended June 30, narrowing the gap between their assets and liabilities to the lowest level since 2008, according to a report by Wilshire Associates Inc.

The 126 state pension plans had an average of 77 percent of the assets needed to pay their long-term obligations to retirees, up from 69 percent a year earlier, according to the study released today.

Rising retiree costs are straining the budgets of states and cities across the U.S. coping with the lingering effects of the longest recession since the 1930s. The gap is the narrowest since the economic contraction was amplified by the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008.

“It’s been a pretty unique and pretty wild ride for the the last decade,” Steven J. Foresti, a managing director at Wilshire, said by telephone from Santa Monica, California. “The funding levels are still at a pretty low point compared to historical levels.”

U.S. pension funds had a median of 75 percent of the assets needed to pay long-term obligations in 2010, according to an annual study by Bloomberg Rankings. That number was down from 76 percent a year earlier, the study found.

Even with the growth in assets last year, 90 percent of U.S. pensions don’t have enough to cover all of their expected liabilities, the Wilshire study shows. A year earlier, the figure was 98 percent.

Annual Return

The 126 pension funds rely on a median 8 percent annual return on invested assets in their projections, while Wilshire forecast 6.4 percent. The numbers aren’t fully comparable because Wilshire’s projections are for 10 years while most pension funds have a window of 20 to 30 years, the report noted.

Over the past decade, the funds have pulled back from U.S. stocks and bonds in favor of an investment strategy that relies more on real estate, non-U.S. stocks and private equity, the report said. That has slightly reduced the funds’ exposure to risk, according to Wilshire.

“What you’re seeing across the systems is a desire to maintain growth embedded in the portfolios but to do it in a more balanced way,” Foresti said.

Reuters also reported on this Wishire report:

A strong global stock market boosted U.S. state pension fund assets by 16.4 percent in fiscal 2011, narrowing funding gaps that burst open after the financial crisis in 2008 , Wilshire Consulting said in a report made public on Monday.

Offsetting a 3.3 percent increase in liabilities for the same period, the asset boost improved the plans' funding ratios to 77 percent in fiscal 2011, up from 66 percent in fiscal 2010, the report found.

"There's been a notable improvement from the 2010 statistics, but these plans in aggregate have a long way to go to get back to 100 percent funding," said Steve Foresti, a managing director at Wilshire.

The survey examined 126 state retirement systems and the market valuations of their assets. Most of the funds had submitted actuarial data on or after June 30.

Despite the improvement, about 90 percent of pension plans are still underfunded, the report found.

State unfunded pension liabilities have increasingly been cited as credit concerns by Wall Street rating agencies. And some states have been attempting to rein in pension costs by reducing benefits, raising the retirement age and increasing employee contributions.

Indeed, Bloomberg reports, NYC Pension Costs Rose Fivefold Since 2002, Reform Group Says:

New York City pension costs have risen more than fivefold to $8 billion since 2002 and changes to the system are needed to keep budgets in check, said a bipartisan coalition for pension reform.

The increase in pension costs has squeezed funding for other programs, New York Leaders for Pension Reform said today in an e-mailed statement. The coalition supports a plan by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to lower pension costs in New York City and state through changes to plans for future employees.

Pensions will account for an estimated 28 percent of all New York City workforce expenses in fiscal year 2013, said the group, composed of mayors from Albany, New York City, Rochester and other cities, as well as county executives. That’s up from 9 percent in 2002. The group backs a plan for future New York state and New York City employees that would “reasonably” raise retirement age and exclude overtime from formulas that use salary to determine pension payments, it said in the statement.

“The data released today details the extremely, extremely generous benefits of the pensions the City provides,” New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in the statement. “We will continue to provide those generous packages to all current employees, but the stark reality is we simply cannot afford it for new employees. The reforms we support would save local governments billions, while still providing outstanding benefit packages to our future employees.”

Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

No matter what happens with pension assets, it is fair to conclude that states need to implement pension reforms. Pension expenses cannot continue to grow fivefold in a low return environment, it's a time bomb waiting to blow up.

And the same concerns are being voiced in the private sector. Kristina Peterson of the WSJ reports, Companies' Pension Plea:

Business groups are urging Congress to let employers put less money into their pension funds, saying that exceptionally low interest rates are forcing them to set aside too much cash.

A provision attached to the Senate highway bill would change the formula many large companies, including General Electric Co., Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., must use to calculate how much to add to their pension funds, potentially shrinking their combined contributions by billions of dollars a year.

Though its chances of becoming law aren't clear, the measure holds appeal in Congress because it would increase the government's near-term revenues, offsetting some of the costs of the highway bill. Setting aside less for pensions would leave companies with smaller tax deductions, requiring them to pay about $7.1 billion more in taxes over 10 years than under current law, according to Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation.

The proposed change would apply to private-sector defined-benefit pension plans, which promise a specified amount of retirement pay. Though millions of Americans are covered by such plans, their prevalence has declined in past decades as companies have shifted to 401(k)s and other retirement plans that don't guarantee payouts.

Labor unions are open to changing the contribution formula, but say that Congress shouldn't allow companies to underfund their pension plans, as has happened already in some cases.

Companies with defined-benefit plans are required to use a "discount rate," based on a specific mix of corporate bond yields over the past two years, to help determine how much to contribute to their plans each year to meet their obligations. The rate varies by company.

Since the company uses the rate to help estimate the returns it can expect on its pension assets over time, the lower the rate, the more the company must contribute to its plans. GE said in its annual report that its 2011 pension expenses rose by about $7.4 billion because its discount rate dropped to 4.2% at the end of 2011 from 5.3% at the end of 2010.

GE didn't comment beyond the annual report.

Business groups argue that the two-year window used in the current discount-rate formula is too narrow, leaving companies vulnerable to short-term swings in interest rates.

The provision in the highway bill would extend the window, keeping the discount rate within 15% of an average of corporate bond rates over the preceding 10 years. A coalition including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, American Benefits Council and the ERISA Industry Committee is pushing to calculate the discount rate over a longer time period, keeping it within 10% of a 25-year average.

The business groups argue that with U.S. interest rates near historic lows, companies are diverting money into pension funds that could be otherwise used to hire new workers or make other investments.

Companies are "not opening a plant or not launching a new product because they're sitting on the cash because it's going to look like they'll owe it to their pension plan," said Lynn Dudley, senior vice president for policy of the American Benefits Council, a trade group for employers that sponsor retirement programs and other benefits.

Congress eased the rules on pension-funding requirements at least six times between 2002 and 2010, according to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal agency that insures the private sector's defined-benefit plans. The danger is that such assistance can have unintended results.

The PBGC estimates that Congress allowed AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, to reduce the required contributions to its pension funds by $2.1 billion since 2006. That has contributed to a shortfall in the airline's pension funds, according to the agency, which says it insures the retirement income of about 44 million workers in roughly 27,500 pension plans.

American officials have said the reduced contributions were critical in helping the company successfully navigate extremely difficult conditions in the airline industry.

AMR filed for bankruptcy protection in late November. Company officials have said its pensions are too costly and may need to be cut.

The AFL-CIO, the nation's biggest labor federation, said it could support changing the pension fund formula if it is paired with protection for the pension plans' participants. "While employers do have a valid concern for realistic funding assumptions and less volatility, what we don't want to see is a repeat of what we're likely to see in American Airlines," said legislative representative Lauren Rothfarb.

Senate Republicans first floated the pension-formula measure, but haven't firmly backed it yet, a Senate aide said. Some Senate Democrats, meanwhile, say they approve of the general idea.

"It makes sense to try to get a more consistent contribution, rather than having the contribution be arbitrarily high, because of the unusually low interest-rate assumptions" said Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat. The White House hasn't taken a position on the pension measure.

The measure's prospects are murkier in the House, which hasn't agreed on its version of the highway package.

The minimum amount a company must put into its pension plan each year is ultimately determined in part by the plan's overall level of funding, so a jump in pension expenses one year doesn't necessarily mean the company must immediately contribute the entire sum.

Boeing's discount rate, for example, fell to 4.4% at the end of 2011 from 5.3% at the end of 2010, according to its annual report.

The plane maker estimated in January that under the current formula its pension expenses would be $2.6 billion in 2012, or $2.21 a share. It said 83 cents of that amount stemmed from the lower rate. However, because the company's pension funds are considered healthy enough under the law, it has said it expects to contribute only about $1.5 billion to them this year.

Below, Bloomberg's Dominic Chu reports on the possible hundreds of billions of dollars the 100 largest U.S. pension plans may have to pay in the next few years. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop."

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pensive impulse

"Between stimulus and response there is space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
-Viktor E. Frankl

Commentary by Heather Bibby

Our Stories. Our Responsibilities. Our Lives. Our Choice.

Welcome to Pensive Impulse!

Born from my journey with chronic pain, Pensive Impulse is a lifestyle blog that focuses on personal transformation and connection. I’m drawn to our stories that grow us. How our narratives inspire change within us and around us - strengthening, lengthening the cords of connection among us. There’s a place inside ourselves, a basin of contemplation through retrospection, where our spirit derives our stories. We have to be brave enough to be vulnerable, to look for them. Such examination can change us at our core. Who we are. Who we want to be.

Pensive Impulse is my watershed, one place I sift and distill and discover our stories.

My name is Heather and I’m a Hoosier living in the Lone Star with my hubs and bugs (kids). I’m a nature nut and adventurer at heart. Chronic pain, over a long period of abrasion and rebuild, taught me how to stand still, assess and ultimately, how to live by responding to the passions and purpose that pulse through my soul.

Pensive Impulse is one of those ways I am responding to my life, spinning fibers that connect. Stories here will cover a range of topics, including process stories to parse and collect my experiences with chronic pain. Over a decade on this voyage, I wholly understand how it wears us down, erodes our fight and how so many just don't get it.

I get it.

Pensive Impulse is about excavating that marrow of spirit we each hold deep inside, that tenacity thing, demanding we never give up, keep going, onward-ho. It's about our shared navigation of the human condition and the ultimate driver in all of our stories - acceptance.

Self-acceptance. Other-acceptance. There is only one that truly matters.


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Testicular cancer : Delay Is Deadly – Get Educated

April 29th, 2017 | by Perth Urology Clinic

April is testicular cancer awareness month. As Urologists we see a lot of testicular cancer, almost invariably in young and otherwise healthy men. Shane was interviewed by Manchester United TV on behalf of the DT38 foundation to increase awareness of this disease which is likely curable if diagnosed early.

Behind The Machine

August 22nd, 2016 | by Perth Urology Clinic

A group from Brisbane Australia has recently published a high profile clinical trial comparing open and robotic prostate cancer surgery. This trial is the first of its kind, and the implication of its results deserves a closer look.

An Invitation From The East

April 3rd, 2016 | by Andrew Tan

Andrew was invited to present at the 2nd Holmium Lasers in Urology Symposium in Shanghai China - read his reflections on the experience.

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McCain on Housing Fix April 7, 2008

Posted by pf in Expenses and Savings, Taxes, Uncategorized.
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Today I read an article in the NY Times entitled “McCain Rejects Broad US Aid on Mortgages“. In short, Senator McCain does not support many of the proposed fixes that are currently under consideration. As you will recall from my latest post “Housing Fix“, we are very much in agreement.

More fascinating, however, is Sentor McCain’s position on this particular issue has drawn a very stark contrast between himself and his Democratic rivals. Regardless of which side you may support, it is nice to see the clear distinction on the issue and allow us as voters to understand it and influence our voting choices. What is more difficult, however, is if you find yourself (like I think many Americans do), torn between various policies (ex: you are fiscally conservative, but socially more liberal) and no candidate is the perfect fit. Fortunately, for myself, I have no illusions about finding such a perfect candidate, but am looking forward to the general election where I will hopefully learn more to make my decision. In this particular instance, I am tallying up 1 point for Mr. McCain.

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These conference proceedings are from the Partnership for Peace Consortium's Conflict Studies Group 14th Annual Conference - titled "Doctrinal Change Using the Past to Face the Present" - and represents the work of the conference's 40 historians and military experts from 14 countries.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (June 10, 2016) – Experts from a broad spectrum of society came together at the George C. Marshall Center from 1-3 June to discuss security challenges related to the European migration crisis, including facilitating travel by foreign terrorist fighters to Europe and North America.  They shared perspectives and challenged conventional practices to produce a draft set of policy recommendations on how to best respond to the international secuity environment and counter violent extremism.

Published in News

Tbilisi, Georgia (April 28, 2016) – NATO and Partner Nation defense education representatives are gathering from 25-29 April in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, to collaborate on development of professional Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Corps in Partner Nations, under the framework of the Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP).

Published in News

In the last decade, NATO has shown keen interest in integrating gender in military operations as well as empowering women throughout its operations and internal structures, led by the advances in women’s integration in some of its key militaries. This paper highlights key NATO documents addressing gender in defense education.

Published in Background Papers

The author examines the background, rules and structure of the NATO SeaSparrow Program in the context of the “Smart Defense” initiative, introduced by Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the NATO Summit in Chicago in 2012 as an attempt to counteract the defense budget cuts in the Allied Countries. The main objective of the study was to identify the mechanisms of the NATO SeaSparrow Program that could serve as the basis for future programs developed within the NATO initiative.

Doha, Qatar (November 2, 2015) – Perhaps now more than ever, international security depends on closer cooperation between Western and Arab nations. With this in mind, the Partnership for Peace Consortium used the 27-28 October Doha International Strategic Policies Forum (DISP 2015) as an opportunity to formerly announce the availability of defense education curricula in Arabic.

Published in News

Kiev, Ukraine (28 October, 2015) - Real-world lessons from military operations in Eastern Ukraine are an important driver of the military education system in Ukraine. This was the topic of a conference held 26-28 October at the National Defense University of Ukraine, organized under the Defense Education Enhancement Program (DEEP).

Published in News
This article represents a part of a larger study that examines the relevance of the Western (NATO) standards to the process of Armenian defense transformation. In particular, it pays close attention to the democratic values of the Alliance and the degree of their practical application by the partner country within the respective cooperation agenda. The interplay of strategic mutual interests as the motivating force for NATO’s conditionality and Armenia’s compliance is reviewed closely, as are the relevance of the
language of communication and the varying interpretations of cooperation mechanisms. The article is an attempt to evaluate the status of democratic progress and, in particular, to assess the degree of democratic control over the armed forces in Armenia. The search for motives and reasons for democratic deficit or failure remains outside of the scope of this analysis.
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The synthesis of adenophostin A (2) and two analogues [etheno adenophostin (4) and 8-bromo adenophostin (5)] modified at the adenine moiety, is reported. A combination of NMR analysis and molecular modelling was used to compare their structures in solution and determined that they all adopt very similar conformations. The analogues were tested for their ability to mobilise Ca(2+) from DT40 cells expressing recombinant Type 1 rat Ins(1,4,5)P(3)R which reveals etheno adenophostin as a high affinity fluorescent probe of the Ins(1,4,5)P(3)R. 8-Bromo adenophostin was only slightly less potent. The biological results support our current hypothesis regarding the binding mode of adenophostin A at the Ins(1,4,5)P(3)R, i. e. that a cation-pi interaction between the base moiety and Arg 504 of the receptor in combination with H-bonding may be responsible for the high potency of adenophostin A relative to Ins(1,4,5)P(3).

Original publication

Journal article

Org Biomol Chem

Publication Date

245 - 252

Adenine, Adenosine, Animals, Binding Sites, Calcium, Calcium Channels, Cell Line, Chickens, Hydrogen Bonding, Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Models, Molecular, Molecular Conformation, Rats, Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear, Recombinant Proteins, Solutions, Structure-Activity Relationship


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This is awarded to one of the category award winners who truly stands out as a leading example in the pharmaceutical industry.

2017Diana Phone picked up three awards, as well as the coveted Supreme Award at the 2017 Pharmacy Awards. Part of the Waimauku Village Pharmacy team who won Community Pharmacy of the Year, Diana also excelled in the Innovation in Delivering Care and Advice and Professional Service of the Year categories. Diana is a dynamic member of teams who are pushing the boundaries of pharmacy care services.

2016Leanne Te Karu won the highest honour at the 2016 Pharmacy Awards for her work on delivering optimal medicines management in Maori communities. Submitted under the umbrella of Nga Kaitiaki o Te Puna Rongoa o Aotearoa (The Maori Pharmacists' Association), the project was a model of pharmacy services delivery based on Kaupapa Maori principles and was first trialled with the underlying premise of combatting gout.

2015Martin Harris, from Massey Unichem Pharmacy, is focused on complementary medicines and nutrition. He not only delivers outstanding care and advice to his own patients, but is upskilling other pharmacists to do the same through his unique course, Nutrition Medicine in Pharmacy.

2014Middlemore Hospital Pharmacy team of Truc Nguyen, Earnest Pidakala, Tess James and Michelle Singh created a review clinic for patients’ pre-surgery which they termed SPARC (Surgical Pre-Admission Review Clinics). These clinics saved time and improved patient safety by identifying medication errors.


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Tag Archives: evolve

Never underestimate what you do

Today is the 44th anniversary of Hip Hop, according to Google, when on the 11th August 1973 a DJ known as Kool Herc invented the elongated ‘break’ that lead to the start of Hip Hop.

The thing is when he did that, he would have had no idea what was going to evolve from that and the changes that happened in music and culture from there.

We never know what will come from the things that we create, it’s uncertain and therefore it is not to be underestimated.

The one certainty is if we don’t create nothing will change or happen.

None of us knows where our creations will lead us and effects it could bring to the world.

Just keeping going.