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24 Hour Ac Repair Miami Experts And Novices Alike Need This HVAC Information

Air Conditioner Repair Miami Keeping a home cool in the summer and warm in the winter is one of the most fundamental duties of a homeowner. Knowing the right person to call in the event of an equipment failure is essential to staying comfortable on a year-round basis. By reading the material below, there should never be any doubt about what steps to take.

Look for rebates and deals on the HVAC system you are having installed. Many ENERGY STAR units come with huge rebates either from your local utility company or the government itself. Investigate your options as it could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars on the installation costs.

If the HVAC contractor you choose does an evaluation on your home, do not be surprised. Any good contractor will spend time looking at the system you currently have and what the needs are for your home. They will also take a look at your duct system and look for air leaks.

An investment in a smart thermostat is truly going to save you money. You can program it to turn off and on at certain temperatures or times, allowing you to ensure that your air conditioner or heater isn't running when it doesn't need to be, saving you a ton.

Make sure the equipment you are buying is ENERGY STAR compliant. It may seem a small thing, but it isn't. Products that are ENERGY STAR compliant can save you a lot of money in energy costs over the year. It can be over $100 easily, sometimes a lot more.

In the winter, wearing layers can save you a ton of money on your utility bill. If you can install a digital thermostat that makes the house cooler when you're asleep and warmer just before you get up, you can see significant savings on your next bill when it arrives.

The correct HVAC system should have sealed air ducts to minimize heating or cooling loss as air travels to different rooms. The heating or cooling requirements of different rooms in the home should be taken into consideration. There is no reason to increase energy usage by controlling the temperature in rooms that are used very little.

Be sure to check your evaporator coil drains frequently when your air conditioner is running. You can find water damage to your walls, floors and ceilings, if this tube backs up. If you end up with mold just use a solution of water and bleach to clean out the tube.

If you have fans in place to help make your HVAC more efficient, be sure that they're turning in the right direction. They should be pushing air downwards over the people in the room to help cool their skin. All it does is push hot air into the room if it's blowing upwards.

If you plan on having a service on your HVAC unit, ask the technician what he will be doing. Any thorough service should consist of several things. The technician should check temperaturepressures and levels, amperage draw, and coolant levels. They should adjust any belts that need it and clean the coils.

When water condenses on your air conditioner, it drips into a pan and drains out. This drain should be inspected on a regular basis. You could be in for some expensive repairs if algae forms in the drain line or if the drain line freezes. The drip pan could overflow causing extensive damage to your ceilings.

Never hire an HVAC contractor that does not hold a valid license from your state. There are people out there that will offer to do less expensive work since they have no license. While it may seem like a bargain, you will have lots of issues in the event that something goes wrong.

When dealing with HVAC contractors, make sure that you get everything in writing. While verbal contracts are legal in many places, it is usually very difficult to prove them. Having everything on paper is a great way to make sure that no ons is confused about any aspect of the process.

Use your HVAC system to heat your water for free! In the summer, residual heat pulled out of your house is used to heat water through a geothermal system. This will cool your home while allowing you to save a ton on hot water costs, plus it's environmentally friendly to boot!

Choose a contractor who knows how to work with your current system. If they work with that set-up frequently, they'll quickly diagnose any problems and know exactly how ac repair in miami to maintain it. Choosing such a firm will save you time and money, and will also save you from unnecessary headaches.

When you are looking to buy a new air conditioner, consider your climate. If you live in a hot, dry area, then an evaporative cooler will be your best bet. Opt for a compressor-style unit as it's the only one which will work if you live in a humid area.

Consider building a shade over it if your outdoor compressor unit sits in the sun. Air in the shade is about 5 degrees cooler than air in the sun. This can have a significant impact on your cooling bill. When done properly, you could see up to a 10 percent savings over the season.

When looking for an HVAC company, find one that is available when you need them. Reliable companies can be reached easily at any time. This includes both day and night. A prospective company should also values your resources and time. They should be able to schedule service calls at your earliest convenience.

Ask your contractor if there are any upgrades which can boost your home's energy efficiency. For example, could extra insulation be added to the attic? Or should your doors and windows be better sealed? Once these are in place the change may be dramatic enough to allow you to install a cheaper HVAC unit.

Now that you're done with this article, you are aware of the things you can do to maintain your HVAC system and deal with contractors. It is important that maintenance and installation is done properly. Put this advice to good use so that you have minimal issues in the future.

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Saturday, May 31, 2008

BREAKING NEWS - Man found dead in front of Avenue Plaza Hotel in Boro-Park

A man was found dead on the street in a pool of blood in front of the Avenue Plaza Hotel on 13th Avenue in Boro-Park. It is uncertain whether the man jumped from the building to his death or if he was struck by a hit and run driver.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Hasidic Patrol Attacks Black Man

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Rabbi Yehuda Levin - Maimonides has betrayed us

Orthodox group quietly plans new village

An Orthodox Jewish sect has kept quiet since buying more than 450 acres in rural Sullivan County, but a booklet circulating in the Jewish community reveals a plan to establish a religious village there.

The Skver sect of Orthodox Jews is quickly running out of room in the Village of New Square, its enclave in Rockland County. So in July 2006, the sect paid $6 million for 458 acres, including the old Homowack Hotel, in the Town of Mamakating.

A 12-page booklet outlines plans and solicits donations for the new community, which is referred to as "Kiryas Skver."

"We are talking about creating a city from scratch," the booklet says, "building an infrastructure costing tens of millions of dollars, setting up a Talmud Torah, a girls school, a yeshiva," as well as shopping and health centers.

Those plans are reminiscent of Kiryas Joel, the Satmar Hasidic village in Orange County that was established in 1977.

On Aug. 19, 2007, about 10,000 Skver Hasidim — including New Square's grand rabbi, David Twersky — gathered at the Homowack Hotel. A story published in the Jewish Press said the gathering was an "inauguration of the new Hasidic village." In an interview last week, Dov Goldman, a Skver representative, said there are no immediate plans to build on the site. No applications have been filed in Mamakating. Goldman said future plans depend on population growth in New Square, which, by all accounts, is packed almost to capacity. New Square is only 0.4 square miles, and home to roughly 8,000 people.

Neighbors in the area of Meyerson Road fear the establishment of a religious village in their rural neighborhood. They've already organized a group, called 209 Valley Keepers, to track and fight the planned community.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Kedem Winery worker charged in theft of $12,000 from employer

A woman appeared in Marlborough Town Court yesterday to answer charges she stole approximately $12,000 in cash from the winery where she worked.
Town police arrested Sharon Mackey, 42, of the hamlet of Marlboro, on May 22. They said she forced open the locked door of the business office at Kedem Winery and removed the cash during business hours.
Mackey is charged with burglary, criminal possession of stolen property and grand larceny, all felonies.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Bleacher Bobovers get Court permission to sue Yeshivah, Congregation and the City

In a recent Court decision, a group of Bobover Chasidim that were injured from falling off bleachers at a Bobover Chasunah, can sue Bobover Yeshivah, Bobover Congregation and the City of New York. The allegations by the plaintiffs against the City are that the City, when they provided bleachers for the Chasunah, failed to furnish bleachers that were in well enough condition to handle the enormous crowds that were present. In their case against the Yeshivah and the Shul, they allege that Bobov failed to provide adequate personnel to make sure that the crowds and bleachers were managed in a safe and appropriate manner.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Hamodia Newspaper deserts Crown Heights community

In an astounding show of contempt for their fellow Jew, the Hamodia Newspaper almost completely ignored the recent Black-on-Jew violence in Crown Heights. Aside for an extremely bland, partly recycled 400 word article there is nothing else the paper has done to express concern or solidarity with their brethren that live only a couple of blocks away. It is exactly this attitude of "We don't care as long as it's not us", that put Crown Heights in the situation that it is now and it is that attitude that continues to plague Judaism in general.

Not long ago, Crown Heights was a prospering completely Yiddishe neighborhood, with Bobov, Viznitz, Skulen and others living there. When only a couple of outsiders started moving in and taking over the neighborhood everyone said that it wasn't their problem. They all then packed up and left, leaving the neighborhood to be ravished by the worst elements thereby leaving their own brothers all alone to fend for themselves.

Now, in a time when we need to stick together the most and help each other, the Hamodia has chosen the easy way out and refuses to get involved. When you have the power to change things and you just sit idly by, doing nothing to make it better, you are then effectively making it worse. It is time the Hamodia did something to make it better.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Rolling with the Na Nachs, the most high-spirited and newest Hasidic sect

There is no escaping them. They have left their mark everywhere in Israel, in the form of a cryptic mantra painted in bold Hebrew lettering on security fences, sleek skyscrapers, graveyard walls, freeway billboards and sheer mountain cliffs.

Dressed in characteristic woven white skullcaps, adherents perform leaping dances on street corners in the secular bastion of Tel Aviv, to techno-Hassidic music blasting from vans bearing the slogan "Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'uman," which has informally lent its name to the newest of Hasidic sects.
The Na Nachs, as some of the group call themselves, are an offshoot of the Bratslav Hassidim, followers of the late Rebbe Nachman (1772-1810), great-grandson of the founder of Hasidism. But what separates Na Nachs from other Bratslavers is their belief that a mysterious letter found in 1962 by Rabbi Israel Dov Odesser, a Bratslaver Hasid from Tiberias, was a miraculous message from Rebbe Nachman himself, and that the mantra it contained, which mentioned Nachman and his burial place, Uman, Ukraine, was a "Letter from Heaven."

All other Bratslaver groups reject the validity of the letter. But this does not deter Na Nachs from believing it to be "the new song through which all of Israel will be redeemed."

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Heimishe mentch on the bench Supreme Court Justice David I. Schmidt talks about his father in the Concentration Camps

Justice Schmidt pictured in the left photograph second from the right. In the right photograph, his father's concentration camp uniform which now hangs in his chambers.

As courtrooms adjourned for afternoon recess, dozens of judges, court employees and members of the public came together at lunchtime to listen to the somber words of Holocaust memories.

Hon. David Schmidt, a Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice, also spoke. Schmidt did not endure the genocide himself – but his father did, and Schmidt keeps his father’s concentration-camp uniform framed and forever hanging on the wall of his chambers. It is a solemn reminder of what his dad endured not too long ago.

Schmidt’s father was 13 years old when he was shaved and stripped by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp in Poland. The gray-and-white pinstriped prison-uniform was the only thing his father possessed for the next six years. It was what he was wearing for seven days on a train with no food or water, as he and hundreds of other Jews were transported to a death camp in Germany. When they arrived, his father was the lone survivor in the cattle car.

The crowd of listeners did not make a sound during these horrific accounts of history.

Friday, May 23, 2008

New Square Hatzalah - Women's Division

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Possible ID theft at Maimonides Medical Center

Hospital officials say at least two employees, possible more, may be involved in an identity theft case.

The two are accused of stealing the personal information of patients and using it to buy various items.

There is no word on how many patients are involved.

BREAKING NEWS - Attacker of Alon Sherman arrested

The attacker of Alon Sherman, the Jewish teen that was beaten and mugged in Crown Heights, has been arrested. The attacker is a 14 year-old black teen that does not live within the 71st Police Precinct area. The teen was picked up after detectives tracked the cell phone that he stole from Alon Sherman that was being used by the person that he sold it to. The person that used the phone gave up the attacker and he was then arrested. Police are not labeling the crime as bias but rather as a crime of opportunity.

Raid on Slaughterhouse May Mean Shortage of Kosher Meat

A huge immigration raid last week on the country's largest kosher slaughterhouse could have a substantial impact on the thousands of Jews who follow Jewish dietary laws, as well as on non-Jews who purchase kosher meat.

The Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville, Iowa, is one of the largest of a small number of U.S. meat producers that satisfy Jewish dietary restrictions, called kashrut. Federal authorities arrested 400 people in the raid, and the Justice Department said this week that 85 had pleaded guilty to felony charges involving the use of false identifications to obtain employment.

They also admitted to being in the country illegally and now face deportation, the department said. As a result, the plant, which was shut down the day of the arrests, will face a challenge replenishing its 800-person workforce.

"I don't think the Jewish community can survive at this point without Rubashkin," Mordechai Yitzhaky, owner of KosherMart in Rockville, said of the family that owns Agriprocessors.

Industry-watchers and butchers say they have heard reports of hoarding since the raid, but the impact will not be known for several days, as individuals and stores still have frozen supplies. Muslims also sometimes buy kosher meat, as Islamic dietary restrictions are similar to kashrut, and it can be hard to find halal -- or acceptable by Islamic law -- food in most U.S. communities.

For the estimated 1 million Americans who observe kosher restrictions, Agriprocessors' latest troubles ramp up a discussion that has been underway for several years: Can a company meet religious standards if it violates ethical ones?

Agriprocessors has been cited multiple times by federal and state regulators for food-safety, environmental, labor and animal cruelty violations. The violations were widely reported by a Jewish newspaper, the Forward, prompting Jewish advocacy groups to note that Jewish law protects workers and forbids inflicting unnecessary pain on animals.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

More cops for Crown Heights

The NYPD will send more cops into Crown Heights in a bid to calm tensions between blacks and Jews in the Brooklyn neighborhood, sources told the Daily News.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly made a surprise tour of Brooklyn's 71st and 77th precincts Monday night, including a stop at a local synagogue.

Jewish community leaders met with top aides to Mayor Bloomberg at City Hall Tuesday and came away with assurances more cops would be on the streets starting last night, sources said.

Police presence in Crown Heights has been growing since Friday, when more than 200 Orthodox Jews marched to the 71st Precinct stationhouse.

The group rallied on behalf of 16-year-old Alon Sherman, who was pummeled and robbed of his bike by two black teens earlier in the day.

"The protesters randomly tried to stop at least one car full of black people. If police hadn't been there, it could have gotten nasty," said a police source who worked the demonstration.

Jewish protesters said the assault on Alon should have been labeled a bias attack and charged the NYPD and Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes with doling out two kinds of justice: one for blacks and one for Jews.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Exclusive pictures of a new bridge being built in Yerushalayim

Monday, May 19, 2008

Satmar girls' school moves out their portable classroom

Probe of attack on teen in Crown Heights

An attack on a Hasidic Jewish teenager in Crown Heights still is under investigation, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Saturday.

A 16-year-old was assaulted near his home just after midnight on Friday. Police say his bicycle, watch and cell phone were stolen. The boy also suffered a broken jaw in the incident, Kelly said.

Hundreds of Hasidic Jews marched through the Brooklyn neighborhood Friday, hours after the incident, briefly blocking traffic on Eastern Parkway.

The assault is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

The area has recently seen tension between Jews and blacks who had coexisted peacefully in the years since the neighborhood was wracked by a 1991 race riot. Black leaders expressed outrage in April after a black college student was attacked in the neighborhood by two Jewish men.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

New book on Maimonides Medical Center Cancer Unit

Drawing on her skills as interviewer, observer, and social critic, Salamon presents the story of modern medicine, uniquely viewed from the vantage point of those who make it run. She draws out the internal and external political machinations that exist between doctors and staff as well as between hospitaland community. And she grounds the science and emotion of medical drama in the financial realities of operating a huge, private institution that must contend with issues like adapting to the specific needs of immigrant groups that make up a large and growing portion of our society.

Salamon exposes struggles of both the profound and humdrum variety. There are bitter internal feuds, warm personal connections, comedy, egoism, greed, love, and loss. There are rabbinic edicts to contend with as well as imams and herbalists and local politicians. There are system foul-ups that keep blood test results from being delivered on time, careless record keepers, shortages of everything except forms to fill, recalcitrant and greedy insurance reimbursement systems, and the surprising difficulty of getting doctors to wash their hands.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Protest started at Albany Ave. and Empire Blvd., then ended peacefully at 770 Eastern Pkwy.

Alon Sherman, 15, lays in bed after the assault with his mother, Iris, by his side.

Crown Heights erupted in anger yesterday as nearly 300 people marched in protest after a 16-year-old Jewish teen was beaten and robbed in the early morning.

Police have made no arrests but have not ruled the attack a hate crime, which has angered members of the Jewish community.

The mugging has raised racial tensions in the Jewish and African-American community that have simmered since the racial turmoil of the early 1990s.

The attack and march came on the same day cops released a photo and asked for the public's help in the capture of a Jewish man, Yitzhak Shuchat, 25, who has been named a suspect in the April attack on 20-year-old Andrew Charles, a black college student who is the son of a police officer.

Friday, May 16, 2008

UPDATE - Crown Heights march

Crowd was urged by Police to leave the area. They have dispersed and left to go home for Shabbos.

UPDATE - Crown Heights march

Police are now at Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue. They have roped off the street and are containing the crowd to that one block with traffic still blocked. A Police negotiation team has been dispatched to the scene to calm the community.

BREAKING NEWS - Hundreds of Jews march for Police protection in Crown Heights

Due to the latest multitude of black-on-Jew violence in Crown Heights and the growing frustration within the community of the lack of Police intervention, members of the community have staged a march of protest. Three hundred Jewish neighborhood people marched down Empire Blvd. passed the 71st Police Precinct to let their voices be heard. The crowd then proceeded to march to Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue where they have blocked the street and closed traffic in both directions. Instead of listening to the communities pleas for protection, the Police are now dispatching a task force to dismantle the march.

Skverer Rebbe pushes for two Hatzalahs in Skver, one for men, another for women

According to this 'B'Chatzar Ha'Koidesh', Skverer Rebbe feels that it is very important that Skver Shtetel have two seperate Hatzalahs, one for servicing the men and the other for the women.

Sent in by a Chaptzem reader

Kiryas Joel gets $3M grant for overdue project

A state board has just approved a $3 million grant for a women's health center that's nearing completion four years later than expected — at almost triple the predicted cost.

The cost, almost all paid for with state and federal grants, has ballooned to $11.4 million since Kiryas Joel officials outlined plans in 2002 for a 50,000-square-foot center that would offer women a multitude of health-related services, including convalescent care after giving birth.

Back then, officials estimated the work would cost $4 million and be finished in 2004.

Yesterday, Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin played down the cost escalation, saying the original price tag was a rough calculation the village used before delving into design and engineering details.

And he described the center's expected opening within two months as the achievement of a dream for his community — a feat more noteworthy, he argued, than the cost or duration of the project.

"The village is extremely excited, after so many years of hard work, that there's finally going to be a full women's-services center," he said. "It's a project that's going to help a lot of women in need."

State and federal grants have covered most of the $11.4 million cost.

The latest will come through a state Dormitory Authority program, the recipients of which were selected by the Assembly. The state Public Authorities Control Board — a five-member panel that oversees Dormitory Authority funding — approved the $3 million award last month.

In a place where Hasidic women typically bear lots of children, the center will offer mothers pre- and post-natal care and provide 56 beds where they can rest and recuperate for days after childbirth.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Brooklyn storefronts in the NY Times

Check it out

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Some fun with Olmert and double-meanings Israeli style

Sent in by a Chaptzem reader

Robber that disguised himself as Hasidic Jew struck three times

A man of many hats he is.

Police say the stocky, middle-aged bank robber who donned creative costumes and threatened tellers with fake bombs and nerve gas in the past has returned, striking on Long Island at least three times since Friday.

And distinguishing himself by his headgear.

An Indiana Jones fedora. A black hat favored by Hasidic Jewish men. He once even applied makeup to a turban costume to make himself look more dark-skinned, police said.

Nassau investigators say he's successfully demanded cash at banks at least 10 times since 2006 in New York City and in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

"The disguises? Obviously, he doesn't want anybody to know exactly who he is," said Det. Sgt. John. J. Giambrone, commander of the Nassau robbery squad.

"And he feels if he wears the disguise, he doesn't have to keep his head down and he has a better chance of getting away."

Referencing surveillance camera footage being reviewed by investigators, Giambrone said, "We refer to him here dressed as a pirate or as the Gloucester Fisherman."

Police believe the same man who robbed a Roslyn Savings Bank in New Hyde Park on Friday also robbed an Emigrant Savings Bank in Elmont Monday and a Bank of America, also in New Hyde Park, about a half-hour later.

At the Emigrant in Elmont, witnesses said he simply wore a black hat. In the robbery immediately afterward, a witness described his hat as resembling one Indiana Jones would wear.

For the most part, the robberies tend to occur during inclement weather so that, police suspect, fewer people are likely to be on the street to witness his flight and police response times are likely to be delayed.

Still, since any cash he stole appears to have come from teller drawers, the maximum he's been able to get has been a few thousand dollars, Giambrone said.

"He hasn't gotten much," Giambrone said.

During all the robberies, the typed demand notes the robber passes also appear to be, for the most part, identical.

"They all indicate that if the teller doesn't comply, that someone's going to be hurt or he might shoot," he said.

Det. Sgt. Robert Doyle, commanding officer of Suffolk's Major Case Investigations Unit, said the suspect would commit a bank robbery, displaying a fake bomb device and then not be heard from for several months.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Out of the Inbox - An open letter from a 66 Police Officer

Sent in by a Chaptzem reader

To all the people of Boro Park it was a pleasure serving you for the past few years. Wish I could say the same for the cowardly bosses who hide behind each other when they have personal issues against the fine officers of the 66 precinct. i am a kind hearted person who thought there was more to policing than "summons performance objectives." we all know that quotas don't exist because they are illegal. And no person in this world should hate another human being because of their race. That is just stupidity. So let’s just say there are a lot of stupid idiots who abuse their authority. We as police officers are told not to abuse our authority but we continue to get abused at our workplace. Not all of them are bad. You know who you are. I bet you go home and tell your wives and children how much of a great leader you are.

Rank is something you wear, respect is something you earn. I can truly say that I am extremely disappointed in the way I have been treated at the six-six precinct. Some people should be ashamed of the way they disregard their own self pride just for a fling with a supervisor. It is a shame when you have supervisors who stand roll call and take a banana from a community donated fruit basket, toss it to an African American officer and state "let your natural instincts take over." it is a shame when a Hispanic complainant comes into the precinct and a supervisor starts to ridicule the person because he does not speak English by saying mira, mira, mucho, mucho and begins laughing. it is also a shame that when you confront these supervisors privately to express your concerns, they turn around and give you undesirable assignments the next time they see you. i believe that these supervisors are not very good examples of how a person should conduct themselves around a public building. Especially a police precinct.

And to all you supervisors who tried to jam me up while i was at the six-six precinct..... go home to your wives and apologize. Those of you supervisors who aren’t married but are having relationships with officers. Stop the fraternization. Also, if you get one of them mad enough at you... they know how to jam you up..... They work for the same job as you and know the tricks. Smarten up. It is a shame that officers bust their butts answering 911 calls to keep the community safe and it isn't appreciated by the bosses. it is a shame when an officer shows up to work, whether late or not, puts on the uniform and risks his life day in and day out for the community and he has to put up with petty nonsense because he is perceived as having a bad attitude. Who wouldn’t have a bad attitude when you are being constantly messed with by someone who hides behind their rank? It is a shame that one boss gets upset, doesn’t have the balls to discipline an officer so he sends another to deal with his problems.....to all you, and you know who you are...... you cant hide behind the gun and badge for the rest of your lives. And, if you ever see an officer after retirement......and you were abusing that officer.....like the song goes just "walk on by"......

P.S. god is watching your every move and he doesn’t like ugly.

P.S. 2 thanks for the memories.....I will keep in touch. Good luck to the PO's and the good bosses at the 66.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Pictures of the radiation emitting cell phone towers on Beis Sureh girls' school

Here are some pictures of the dangerous cell phone towers that have been installed on the roof of Beis Sureh girls' school in Boro-Park. Beis Sureh is selling your child's health for a couple of bucks.

Thank you Moish P. for sending in the pix. According to Moish there are several more cell towers on the back of the building that are not in the pictures.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Beis Sureh girls' school cares less about your kids' health than a Public School

While parents at New York City Public School 185 are fighting Verizon for putting cell phone towers near the school and endangering their childrens' life, Beis Sureh girls' school in Boro-Park is filling their rooftop with cell towers, squeezing every penny they can make out of it.

The parents of P.S. 185 have been doing whatever they can to fight Verizon and get rid of the cell phone towers that have been put up across from the school because of the dangerous radiation that these towers spew. On the other hand, Beis Sureh girls' school in Boro-Park has a humongous overcrowded roof just full of those dangerous radiation-factory cell phone towers right on top of the heads of Yiddishe children.

Does Beis Sureh really care so little about your daughter's health that they are willing to risk her life just to make a couple of bucks from the cell phone tower rent? It sure seems so.

So, the bottom line is if you enjoy the sadism of the school's administration, the exorbitant tuition that they charge and also don't give a darn about the radiation being pumped into your kids, then Beis Sureh is the place for you.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Simcha Felder says; You broke it , you fix it

Council Members James S. Oddo (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) called on the Department of Transportation to issue a new rule requiring those who make cuts into public streets as part of the construction of one-, two- or three-family houses to restore the pavement back to its original condition.

The Council members introduced legislation in the City Council that would accomplish this goal (Intro. 680) but it is a change that DOT can make more quickly through internal rulemaking. The Council members urged DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan to make this rule change a priority, though they vowed to pursue passage of the legislation if DOT fails to act.

Councilman Oddo said, “Despite promises that changes would come, we still see streets dug up and incorrectly or incompletely repaired by contractors. This is unacceptable and it is a quality-of-life issue for all New Yorkers. It’s a fundamental and common sense notion that should you break something you should be required to fix it. Our legislation would require just that.”

Friday, May 09, 2008

Lipa Schmeltzer turns to politics

Scorned Chasidic performer Lipa Schmeltzer chaps a schmooze with New York City Council candidate Joe Lazar. Is Lipa endorsing him or seeking his support now that he's been betrayed by others.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Ex-Mortgage Lender Principals Are Charged in Mortgage Fraud

Two former principals at a Brooklyn mortgage lender have been charged with fraud in two separate schemes to steal more than $44 million in payoff proceeds from refinanced mortgages and to sell nonperforming mortgage loans using falsified loan histories.

Leib Pinter and Barry Goldstein, former principals of Olympia Mortgage Corp., have been indicted on charges of conspiracy and fraud charges.

The men are expected to be arraigned before a federal judge in Brooklyn late Thursday. They each face a maximum of 30 years in prison on the fraud charges.

Lawyers for the men didn't immediately return phone calls seeking comment Thursday.

The two schemes allegedly ran from 1994 until November 2004 -- when Olympia surrendered its license to act as a mortgage lender in New York, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors alleged Mr. Pinter, 64 years old, defrauded Fannie Mae by stealing payoff proceeds from 257 refinanced mortgage loans that Olympia was servicing for Fannie Mae.

In a separate scheme, Mr. Goldstein, 59, allegedly directed other Olympia employees to create fraudulent or "dummy" loan histories for nonperforming loans -- where a homeowner had either missed payments or made payments late -- in order to sell those loans to Credit Suisse First Boston, the government said.

CSFB, a unit of Credit Suisse Group, purchased 12 of those nonperforming loans, prosecutors said.

The investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Frum Brooklyn family camping?!

From the Reader's Digest

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

R' Yisroel Hager and R' Mendel Hager dance together at a Simcha

The Belzer Rebbe gets R' Yisroel and R' Mendel Hager to dance together at a Simcha.

Sent in by a Chaptzem reader

New Forty-Ninth Street Tzeitung stand nears completion

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

$25 refund to anyone who used their credit card out of the country

A $336 million dollar class-action lawsuit settlement has been made with the credit card companies. Anyone that has used their credit card outside of the country between 1996 and 2006 can get back $25 just by filling out a short form on the settlement web-site.

This is for anyone that has been to any country and has used any credit card. You do not need to have any receipts or proof of how much you spent in order to get this refund. All requests must be submitted by May 30, 2008.

If you do not have a refund ID, click under the submit button where it says 'I do not have a Refund ID'.

Link to the site

Hasids on a hog

A couple of chevra take a motorcycle ride in Boro-Park.

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Monday, May 05, 2008

Exclusive pictures of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz at Masbia

Frum tutor charged with molesting boys

A Brooklyn man was arrested Sunday night and charged with sexually molesting two boys, 13 and 14, during their religious studies at a synagogue school, city police said.

After his 11 p.m. Sunday arrest Yona Weinberg, 29, of 1551-A East 17th St., Brooklyn, was charged with sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor, the police said.

The police were responding to allegations of past sexual abuse, with the victims saying that "the suspect had touched their private parts on more than one occasion while assisting them with their religious studies," a Monday police report said.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Rabbi Moshe Meyer Weiss gives elderly pedestrian the go ahead

Rabbi Moshe Meyer Weiss was stopped at a busy intersection while driving in Boro-Park. There was an elderly woman that was walking extremely slowly that was waiting to cross the intersection. When the light turned green all the cars began to honk as if there were a fire somewhere in order to prevent this woman from crossing the street and causing them to wait for her a while due to her slow speed. Rabbi Weiss ignored all the honking and much to the other drivers' dismay, allowed the woman to cross the street and patiently waited at a full stop for as long as it took her. Now there is a real human being and Bal Midos in a world of chaos and self-centeredness!

Saturday, May 03, 2008

And they bother banning concerts! How about parking meters?

Here's a screenshot of a Chasidishe ad from CraigsList.

Maybe, just maybe, it's time to stop frivolous banning and time to start instilling real Torah values and morals into the Heimishe oilem instead.

Since the ad has already been removed from the original source, some words from the ad have been smudged to protect the innocent.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Orange lawmakers debate Kiryas Joel tax exemption

Controversy between Orange County and the Village of Kiryas Joel continued Thursday during a county legislature meeting where lawmakers argued over whether or not the village deserves its yearly property tax exemptions for a certain property given recent troubles over a trespassing and damage of property dispute.

Though legislators decided to give the Village of Kiryas Joel its yearly $640 property tax exemption for a property which serves as a public water supply parcel, they argued over the difference between “the right thing to do” and “giving away leverage” on an incident that occurred seven months ago where a parcel owned by the county in the village, known as the Gonzaga Property, was vandalized.

“It doesn’t make sense to me that we give them tax exempt status, not that I’m singling them out, but I don’t know of any municipality out there is asking for tax exempt status on a property that we are possibly going into litigation over,” said New Hampton legislator Thomas Pahucki.

Legislator Daniel Depew of Walkill agreed, and asked “why give away this leverage on the Gonzaga issue?”

Other legislators, like Gregory Townsend of Monroe, felt the two issues are unrelated.

“I think this is something that is due to every municipality, and we have to look at that as a separate issue.”

Despite the arguments, the legislature passed the resolution by a margin of 17-4 in favor of awarding Kiryas Joel the 2008 tax exemption for the water supply parcel.

Investigations into the incident on the Gonzaga Property back in mid-2007 are still ongoing; the financial extent of the damage to a wall that was knocked down on the parcel is still being examined by county officials.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

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Tradition • Character • Service

Tradition • Character • Service

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Free NCAA Webcast: Hillsdale vs. Minnesota State

All NCAA Division II playoff games can be watched for free online. The official tournament bracket contains links to all broadcasts. The NCAA is also hosting a free bracket challenge contest.

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Great Experience for Tampa U10 Girls

Chargers walk out with USF women at Corbett Stadium

Chargers SC Feature

Thursday, September 19, 2013

TAMPA - The Chargers SC U10 Tampa girls enjoyed an exciting and educational experience this past Sunday when they had the opportunity to participate in the walkout for the USF vs. UF women’s soccer match at Corbett Stadium on the USF Campus.

The girls, coached by George Kiefer, escorted the USF team onto the field for the national anthem before USF battled to a 1-1 draw against No. 9 Florida before a women’s soccer record crowd of 1,204 at Corbett Stadium.

Former Charger SC Clearwater star Lindsey Cooper played 66 minutes off the bench for the Gators in the match.


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May Favourites 2014

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publicerat i Allmänt om skönhet, Videor;
Taggar: #154, 154, 2014, O.P.I, OPI, Recension, Review, Sverige, Youtube, apricot cuticle oil, beat the blues, beauty blog, charlottamydear, clarisonic, don't bossa nova me around, essie, eyeshadow, inglot, may favourites, mememe, mia2, oyster gold, sminkblogg, spray & go, sweden, swedish, vaseline

New in: O.P.I Nail Polishes

Finding a nude nail polish that matches my skintone can be a bit of a hassle. Either it's too dark, too yellow or too pink. When I saw "Don't Bossa Nova Me Around" from O.P.I I knew that I had to try it. Against my skintone it looks awesome! It's a sort of pinky-greyish-mauvey something that is pure perfection. It gives me that mannequin hands-effect and it looks very classy. I think it's limited edition so if you want it, go and get it!
I also needed a white nail polish since my other one's are old and gloopy and "Alpine Snow" didn't dissapoint me! I apply two or three coats to get it opaque and the formula is really, really nice. If I ever manage to get a tan I will definitely be sporting some white nails this summer!
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Taggar: Beauty, Nail polish, Nail varnish, O.P.I, OPI, Review, alpine snow, beauty blog, charlottamydear, don't bossa nova me around, nagellack, smink, sminkblogg, swatch, swatches

FOTD: Summer Evening

MAC Face & Body in "C1"
Bourjois Bronzing Primer
MeMeMe Beat The Blues in "Oyster Gold"
NYX Blush in "Taupe"
Rimmel Blush in "Santa Rose"
Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder
MUA Lipgloss in "Nude"
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MAC Eyeshadows in "Concrete", "Omega" & "Shroom" (for eyebrows and highlighting)
Inglot Eyeshadow in "#101R"
Urban Decay Eyeshadows in "Radar" and "Blackout"
Make Up Store Microshadow in "Smog"
Make Up For Ever Diamond Powder in "01"
Sephora Jumbo Liner in "17 Black"
L'Oréal False Lash Telescopic Mascara
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publicerat i Sminkningar, Videor;
Taggar: #101, 17 black, Beauty, Bourjois, MAC, MUA, Makeup, NYX, Omega, Primer Potion, Shroom, Sminkning, Urban Decay, Youtube, beat the blues, beauty blog, blackout, blush, bronzing primer, c1, charlottamydear, concrete, diamond powder, eyeshadow, face & body, false lash telescopic, inglot, jumbo liner, l'oréal, make up, make up for ever, make up store, mememe, nude, oyster gold, radar, rimmel, santa rose, sephora, smink, sminkblogg, smog, stay matte pressed powder, taupe
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Press Release – Ontario Improving Patient Care Through Innovative Health Technologies

Prof. Michael Carter, a faculty affiliate of the Centre for Healthcare Engineering at UofT is a member of the Health Innovation Team for the project entitled: Intelligent Scheduling to Reduce MRI and CT Wait Times.

Full article at: Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care


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San Diego

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Is Ballroom Dancing Sexist?

August 13th, 2017 by admin | Filed under travel-news.
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“Leading” (usually done by the man) and “Following” (usually done by the woman) is an issue specific to ballroom dancing. Actually, in an effort to be more politically correct, leading is nowadays often called “indicating”. However, that does not change the general pattern.

Yes, I know, for one it has historical reasons: In Old Europe, where the origins of ballet and ballroom dancing are, the roles of males and females were sharply defined along gender differences (the reasons being partially realistic, partially chauvinistic).

So what, we could say. Who cares what the historical roots are. Don’t we have female presidents, astronauts, and combat soldiers nowadays? So why can’t we get it right on the dance floor?

Well, being a women’s rights advocate and a ballroom dancer at the same time, I can see that it is not that simple. There is a good reason for the lead-and follow pattern – or whatever you call it.

The reason is that the ultimate goal in partner dancing is to be synchronized to the point where two become one. Then the couple is “in flight” as a single unit which is a gorgeous sight. That cannot be achieved by two people doing the same thing, but only by having clearly defined roles as natural opposites – and sticking to them (and yes, that can be two women or two men, but they have to be in the feminine/masculine roles).

Any woman who has anticipated a move before the man indicated it, stepped forward with the wrong foot, or was forced to drag a man across the dance floor because he did not know how to lead, knows how uncomfortable if not disastrous that can be.

Nevertheless, there can be an emotional reaction to all of this. For example, I do feel resentment when I see overly macho dances performed, where the woman can end up lying decoratively on the floor clinging to the man’s ankle, while he looks, all pumped up, down on her. (She might be the CFO of a Fortune 500 company, and he is probably a complete jerk who can’t hold a minimal wage job… o.k., I am getting carried away here.)

On the other hand, women do sometimes lead in ballroom dancing, for example when they go forward, and the man goes backwards, or when they do their own, intricate movements with the man serving as a “pole” for leverage (mostly done in Latin American Style). Also, dancing backwards is by no means less demanding since the woman has to move with the same amount of power. So yes, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels.

The beauty and elegance of ballroom dancing might strike us as old-fashioned, but the effect is mesmerizing.

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I have decided that it's time to really take my diet seriously. And by 'diet' I don't mean, "I gotsta lose weight," but "I gotsta eat more and more healthy food." I think it will help me sleep and regulate my clinical depression better.

So, if anyone has any recipes they'd like to share with me, I would greatly appreciate it.

For reference:
  • I don't like pig (except italian sausage)
  • I don't cook with onions (blech)
  • I don't eat squash (except raw cucumbers)
  • I don't like bananas and find apples boring
  • I love peppers
  • I love kiwi, pineapple, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, plums, and similar fruits
  • I enjoy potatoes, carrots (raw or cooked), broccoli (steamed), green beans (steamed), spinach (raw)
  • Panag curry is perhaps my favorite curry--I love curry
  • Pasta is heaven
  • Breads and cheeses are bliss
  • Cooking with herbs and spices is love
  • Grilling is preferred (as cleaning my stove-top is hell)
  • Fresh is best; however, I don't buy into that organic pooplah
Please comment or email me with any recipes you think I might enjoy.

My gaunt cheeks are depending on you!

  1. Chipotle Chicken Pasta (sadly it has onions but you can take those out)

    * Escabeche Spice (recipe below)
    * 1-1.5 Chicken Breasts - portioned into bite-sized pieces
    * 1/2 Red, Green and Yellow Peppers - diced
    * Fresh red onion (okay you can skip this part)
    * Steamed asparagus - Angle cut into 1/4 of an inch pieces
    * 1 clove of garlic
    * A handful of green peas
    * Fresh Roma Tomatoes - diced
    * Some Fresh Cilantro to taste
    * Tortilla strips
    * 2 oz of Chipotle Adobe Glaze - You can pick it up at Cheesecake Factory for ~a buck
    * 8 oz cream/Alfredo sauce
    * 16 oz Marinara
    * 1 lbs Penne Pasta

    1. evenly coat the chicken pieces with the Escabeche spice
    2. place chicken in a skillet filled with a little hot olive oil - cook ~1 minute then flip the pieces
    3. Add Peppers (and onion) and saute for ~1 minute
    4. Add Garlic (minced or pressed) and saute for ~2 minutes or until chicken is 80% cooked
    5. Meanwhile cook Pasta in boiling Salt Water - The Salt is very important!
    6. Add Asparagus and peas
    7. Stir in Chipotle Adobe Glaze and coat Chicken evenly with it
    8. Saute for ~2 minutes allowing for the chicken to soak up the chipotle flavor
    9. Add Marinara and cream/alfredo sauce
    10. Turn down heat and simmer until the Pasta is cooked
    11. Drain and rinse pasta
    12. Mix Pasta and Sauce mix together
    13. Stir in Fresh Tomatoes and Cilantro
    14. Plate and garnish with tortilla strips
    15. Enjoy your spicy healthy Pasta Dish

    Escabeche Spice
    * 1 part Sugar
    * 1 part salt - Sea or Kosher
    * 2 parts Cumin
    * A Dash of Fresh Ground Pepper

  2. Corey has some great recipes. We used to cook a bit last summer for The Friends. We need to do that some more.

    There are a few on his blog.

  3. You don't like bananas? Maybe it's because you have not tried them in these unforgettable ways. I have a hard time gagging down a fresh banana right out of the peel, but I love them when they've turned brown, sugary and even a little fermented in banana nut bread and in the following very, very special recipes.

    1. The V8 Banana smoothie. One ripe banana. One small can of V8 juice. One cup of crushed ice. Throw them into the blender for about 30 seconds. The banana smooths out the V8 and the V8 gives some color and pizzaz to the banana.

    2. The Banana Orange Blueberry smoothie. One ripe banana. 1/4 cup of orange juice. 1/4 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. 1/2 cup of crushed ice. Throw them into the blender for about 30 seconds. The banana smooths out the OJ. The OJ gives some color and zip to the to the banana. And the blueberries, well I threw them in just for you! (And they add a beautiful lavender tint to the please the eye.)

  4. David: Merci; I will definitely have to try it.

    Nic: I'll have to squeeze some out of him.

    Ned: I have my trepidations, but I promise to give the recipes a try.

  5. This recipe is totally famous at my house :)

    Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup

    Pot 1:
    16oz bag frozen chopped broccoli (or you can use fresh if you prefer)
    4 chicken bullion cubes
    2 cups of water
    Onion powder to taste (have a heavy hand here)

    Combine the ingredients of pot one, and allow to simmer on the stove while you work with pan 2.

    Pot 2 (Big enough to hold contents of both Pots!)
    ½ cube (¼ cup) butter
    ½ cup flour
    2 cups milk (1 or 2% works best)
    1 cup grated tightly-packed cheddar cheese (whatever sharpness you prefer)

    Melt the butter in the pan, and add the flour. Stir until blended well. VERY SLOWLY add the two cups of milk, stirring constantly so the mixture stays smooth. After all the milk is blended, add the cheese and continue stirring until entire mixture is smooth and the cheese is melted. Add pot 1 to pot 2.

    Serves 4 to 6. Doubling this recipe works great, but I wouldn’t go more than that. If you need more soup, make multiple double batches.

    I have a pineapple chicken curry recipe I'll post as soon as I get home :)

  6. Thanks, Gay Saint... and Pineapple Chicken Curry?? You ARE a Saint!! I can't wait.

  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

  8. Ok... I can't type today:

    Pineapple curry Chicken
    Sorry to make you wait:

    1.5 pounds boneless chicken
    1/2 tsp curry seasoning
    1 red sweet bell pepper, cut into strips
    1 pineapple cut into large chunks (or a can if you are in a hurry)
    1 serrano pepper (WARNING: This makes it VERY hot)
    3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
    1 Tbsp packed brown sugar

    Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and curry seasoning. Brown chicken on both sides in 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. Reduce heat and cook until tender.

    For sauce, in second skillet cook sweet pepper in 1 Tbsp olive oil for 3 minutes; add pineapple; cook for 5 minutes or until brown. Add serrano, cook another 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk and brown sugar; heat through. Serve sauce over chicken. Makes 4 servings.

    I usually serve it over rice, and there is the perfect amount of sauce for this - but you may find that blasphemous :)


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Friday, September 6, 2013

Publisher's Weekly reviews Love After War

I'll admit it, reviews make me nervous. I get all up in my feelings about reviews -- not enough to become one of those authors behaving badly, though.

So, when I was alerted to Publisher's Weekly review of Love After War,  I was a little nervous.

Then I read it.

This neatly plotted and well-written urban romance is packed with Hodges’s trademarks: sensuality, standout characters, and sophisticated drama. While on assignment in Los Angeles, photographer Dana Singleton runs into her charming ex-boyfriend Adrian Bryant, who owns a club there. An unexpected kiss arouses old longings, but Dana wonders whether Adrian will break her heart again. He wants to come clean with her about his side of their breakup and his plans to exact revenge upon the wealthy father who abandoned him and his mother, but Adrian always stops short of the full truth.
Then, I was feeling like this:
                                           Credit Erica Singleton
 I'm ready for November! Are you? Pre Order Love After War now!!

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Sunday, August 31, 2008

Saving Money on Gas

There is a lot more to saving money and making each dollar stretch, so I decided to continue the series I started yesterday. Today topic is the dreaded rising cost of gas (although, in our area it has stabilized, and gasp, even lowered some over the last month or so; it is still way high though!); so here are some tips to avoid being gouged at the pump...or at least make it hurt a little less!

  1. Hybrid Cars. Buying a hybrid is certainly the most expensive option (upfront anyhow), but maybe the most likely to pay off in the long run...the very long run, since these cars are not cheap! A new Toyota Prius gets 46 miles/gallon and costs about $21,300; a new Honda Civic Hybrid will run you $22,600 and get about 42 mi/gal. You can find lots more information on hybrid vehicles at
  2. Fuel Efficient Cars. A more reasonable (yet still potentially expensive) option is a more fuel efficient car. For those of us driving SUVs, we know they are gas guzzlers (beofre gas started to go down a bit, it was costing us over $90 to fill the tank of our Dodge Durango!), and almost any compact or mid size car will be more fuel efficient. However, there are cars specially designed to be fuel efficient, so you have to fill the tank less often, which definitely translates to lower gas costs for you!
  3. Take the Bus. For those of us who really can't afford a new car, taking the bus can be a great option! If you live in a city with a decent transportation system, look into a bus pass! In our town, bus fare is .75, which can really add up, but you can get a month long pass for $20, which is much cheaper, if you use it enough!
  4. Walk. God gave you two feet, use them! Really though, as a society, we use our cars so much, even when we don't need to! One of our grocery stores is right down the street, so when we are buying a few things (not potatoes, etc), we will put Cheyenne in the Beeb Along, and stroll down the street! Saves gas and is great exercise!
  5. Ride Your Bike. Same idea as walking, it's free, and good exercise. May not work as well for grocery shopping, but can be great for getting to work!
  6. Carpool. If you live near someone who you work with, try carpooling! It will save you both gas, and having someone else in the car can be great company. Carpooling also works well for longer trips! Double points if the person you are carpooling with has a fuel efficient car or a hybrid!
  7. Plan Your Route. Plan out your route ahead of time to eliminate, or at least reduce unnecessary zig zagging. When we are doing multiple errands, we try and do as close to a loop as we can.
  8. Minimize trips out. While you are planning your route, try to fit as many errands into one trip as you can. The fewer times you leave the driveway on 4 wheels, the better it is for your wallet at the gas pump!
  9. Time for School! For parents with school-aged kids, try and use one of the methods above for getting them there. Having them walk, ride their bike (you can go with them if they are young), take the bus, or carpool will save you money and be a good example for your kids!
  10. Comparison Shop. That's right, gas prices vary from "brand" to brand, and from one location to another. Generally, the more populated and closer to a freeway, the more gas is going to cost. We have several Shell stations in town. Two are within a block of each other, and can be more than .10 different in price! And the third station about 2/3 mile away is the cheapest, often being more than .15 cheaper than the expensive one! We have had really good luck with Costco gas lately too, it is generally much cheaper than anywhere else!
Good luck at the pump! Let me know if any of these tips are helpful, and if you have anything you do to save money at the pump! Also, what would you like to see a "tips to save money on" next?

PS-Here is my newest set of cloth wipes! I think they turned out very cute!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

10 Ways to Save Money

Most of us here is the good ole US of A are feeling the pinch this summer, and with predictions that the economy is only going to get worse for awhile, many people are scrambling to make ends meets, my family included. We are young, Cody is still in school, we have a one year old, I stay home wit her, we each work a part time job (he warehouses, I nanny), and I am still in start up mode for we have had to get creative to save money on daily expenses. Here are some tips I've picked up that might be helpful to you!

Grocery Store/Food: Plan before you shop!

  1. Use coupons. If you get the newspaper, clip coupons; if you don't, check out these two sites (smartsource, couponmom ), or google "grocery coupons" and you will find a bunch online that are free to print.
  2. Look at the ad. The real trick to making coupons worth the work to find them, is to combine them with sale prices. Stocking up on what's on sale can be super helpful too!
  3. Shop around. I have been known to go to several grocery stores to get the best deal (with gas prices the way they are now, that may not be so practical, depending on your area).
  4. Plan your menu. A planned menu means fewer eating-out-at-the-last-minute splurges.
  5. Make a list. If it isn't on the list, and isn't a necessity, don't buy it! This keeps impulse buying (which the stores are designed to make you do) to minimum and saves money!
  6. Plan your trips. Shop your list, which should be written with your menu in mind, and only go once a week, or every other, or whatever works for you. I have found that if I am only at the store once a week, that is less opportunity to impulse buy, buy unhealthy food, and waste gas.
  7. Buy the store brand. With few exceptions, the store brand is going to be cheaper than name brand products. Usually, they are even made in the same factory/plant (that's why their bottles/cans/etc look so similar!)
  8. Stock up. If something you use regularly is on a great sale/coupon, stock up! Be careful to not stock up just because it is a good deal though (I have thrown away more expired cake mixes just because they were on sale), make sure they are products you will really use, before they expire.
  9. Buy bigger. Believe it or not, the larger packages of a product are usually cheaper bu the unit than the small ones. It may cost more up front, but you are getting more for your money.
  10. Eat in. We have pretty much quit eating out, and it has saved us a lot of money. Consider that even making a gourmet type meal at home will cost up to $5/person (and there will probably be leftovers), and eating out will be ($5 at the low fast food end) an average of $9-$20/person! That's a big difference! If you like eating out for the variety, dig out some cookbooks! We made buttermilk brined fried chicken for the first time last night and it was great! (I'll post the recipe later, but it was from the Betty Crocker book) If you eat out to avoid having to cook all the time, try assigning your husband or older kids a night. Another fun way to make it easy, when you make something like soup, chili, or casseroles, make double and freeze half to pull out another night!
I hope these tips help! Look for more fun ways to save money coming soon! If you have any great tips, please comment and share them!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

3 Years and love is still in the air!

Time really flies, doesn't it? In the last three years...

  • I got married
  • Continued college classes (Cody also in school)
  • Got Pregnant
  • Austyn Nicole was stillborn
  • Declared myself done with school
  • Went on a 2nd mission trip to Mazatlan, Mexico
  • Cody went back to school to become an elementary teacher
  • Got pregnant again
  • Cody graduated (with his BA, still teaching classes left to go)
  • Cheyenne Lorrayne was born (yay!)
  • Cody continued school
  • I started CheyLoCreations
  • Cheyenne turned 1
  • Cody began his student teaching
  • and's our three year anniversary!

Oh, and we've moved from two places on campus, to our apartment together once we got married, to a duplex, to a house we are sharing with some friends...goodness, we've been busy! There is no one I would rather be spending this time with, Cody is my husband, my best friend, my soulmate, my future, my life.

Cody, happy anniversary, you have my love, always, in all ways!

EtsyBaby Treasury!

EtsyBABY does a ton of amazing treasuries, and I am so excited to be in one! Check out this link and look at these super cute babies!

OhBaby Treasury

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Wonderful Wipes

I have been busy this evening and because of that, you all can look forward to a new stock of cloth wipes in the CheyLoCreations etsy shop within the next couple of days! There will be some old favorites making a reappearance as well as many new goodies!

In more news, look for a link to a CheyLoCreations giveaway in the next day or two! It will be an awesome prize, so you will definitely want to enter!

Go Green Tip: Cloth wipes make great lunch box napkins! They come in so many fun prints, every kiddo can find one they love!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Cheyenne is One!

Wow, a year goes by fast when you are having fun! And sleep deprived and all that other fun mommy stuff too! On August 20, 2007, after 40 hours of labor (8 of transition) at home, Cheyenne was born into water. It was the most amazing experience of my life! What an awesome way to welcome our new little one, in our own home. I know homebirth isn't for everyone, but it worked for our family.

We are planning a small bbq potluck for her party this weekend, with chocolate cake (wheat and dairy free for our allergy girl, or course) for the first time! Tonight though, she will get some frsoted teething cookies or something, for her actual day.

I would also like to extend the celebration to all of you! Today only, 10% off all items in my shop, even clearance! Just put "10%" in notes to seller at checkout, and I will send you a revised invoice! Browse Shop Now!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Showcase Tacoma Promo Packs

Recently I had a booth at Showcase Tacoma and gave out promo packs full of great business cards, promotional materials and samples from many many amazing etsy sellers! The packs were a hit, and will be offered at many more shows or mine! Please contact me if you are interested in participating in the future!

Don't these look great? Everything from earrings to pencils, to soap and lotion to photography to stuffed animals and greeting cards, and so much more!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

My Snap Press Arrived!

I make pacifier clips (Paci Keepers) that are metal free. Until now, I have used velcro as the closure (instead of snaps); the reason I have kept them metal free is pretty simple: my baby (who is nearly not a baby anymore!) puts hers in her mouth and I didn't want metal in her mouth! For the same reason, I use plastic clips for the clip end (instead of metal suspender clips); it is also more gentle for her clothes.

Now a few details about my daughter...she is very active, very sensitive and very busy! She had discovered how to open the velcro, thereby releasing the sucker (her paci), which then can fall on the floor! I realize most babies will never try, never figure this out, and certainly will not find it as much fun as Cheyenne; however for the few who might, it was time to change the closure material!

I researched and discovered plastic (poly resin) snaps (like the ones used on many diaper covers). The upsides: much more durable and difficult for baby to open and snaps are relatively inexpensive. The downsides, the snaps can only be applied with special snap presses, and the presses are not cheap! I did find a supplier with reasonable rates, and ordered one (from China).

I was super excited when it arrived 11 days after I ordered it and it works like a charm! I am now in the process of clearancing the old style clips and making new ones (they will be available at the next craft show on September 6th, and online after that!). The velcro style will still work fine for younger babies, and for most older babies as well.

The new and improved paci keepers will be available soon and will just as affordable as their predecessor!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Nursing for Modest Mama's

I am so excited to announce that my nursing covers are now in stock! My husband and daughter helped with an epic photo shoot yesterday so I could get them listed, and now here they are. More prints will be added over the next couple of days also. With the way etsy's search function works, it is important to spread out listings, but they will all be up soon!

Ironically, I never intended to use nursing covers, and didn't while my daughter was very small, which is why they were not originally part of my product line. However, when Cheyenne was about 7 or 8 months old, she started to get distracted while nursing. She would look at people walking by, the tv, a spot on the wall, anything at all! It was starting to drive me batty, so I gave in and made a nursing cover, and now, I wouldn't live without it!

The CheyLoCreations nursing covers are unique; each one is a different print, so you will be the only one with that cover! CheyLocreations nursing covers are larger than most on the market, come with a matching tote bag, have a peek-a-boo rigid neckline, adjustable straps and are two-sided!

Too see the selection, click here: Shop Nursing Covers Now!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Tips for Choosing a Look for Your Business

Going through the process of doing, and then redoing, the look of CheyLoCreations, I learned a few things, and I thought I might share them with you all. Hopefully someone will find them useful.

1. What is your target market (who are your customers, who are your end users)?

2. What overall feel do you want (modern, elegant, earthy, young, mature, etc)?

3. A logo is really very personal, a designer will want some input from you, so you need to have at least a general idea of what you might like. Several ideas would be even better. If you or someone else can sketch your idea, even better. It is really really really hard to explain something online, without a picture.

4. Shop around, try to find a designer who's previous work matches the style you are after. Many designers have a definite style, you want to make sure that works with what you want.

5. Get referrals from other business owners whose look you admire or identify with.

6. Have a budget, but realize you will need to pay for the service and skills of a graphic designer.

7. If you have a deadline, communicate that clearly, and make sure your designer can and will meet it. Try to plan in extra time, especially if working with a one-person company. Most etsy graphic designers have lives, families, other jobs, and can have a family emergency, or weather calamities as easily as you can! Basically, try not to procrastinate like I did!

8. Know what you will be using the graphics for (banner, avatar, packaging, mailings, etc) and communicate this to the designer. I personally needed my logo in a format that I could put on my product labels, and could manipulate the size of. Certain programs are needed (on the designers side of things) in order to do this.

9. Be flexible, and communicate clearly. If you don't like something, try and explain why, so that the next proof will be more likely to work for you. This is where giving your designer a clear idea of what you want ot begin with comes in handy.

10. Try to relax and let your designer do what they do best!

The Journey to a Logo and a New Look

Pink and Brown are my favorite colors, so I chose them for my business (banner, avatar, business cards, website, etc) was all pink and brown. The problem arose when I belatedly realized that that much pink might be a turn off to potential customers, especially moms and dads of boys, and well, dads in general. And the closest thing to a logo were the hand prints I had put on my banner and avatar in photoshop (I used photoshop, much tears were shed, but they turned out well at the end of it) which I then had included on my business cards and cloth labels for my products. Because hand prints scream baby, right, haha, not so much I realized. It is important to me that people look at my branding efforts and know at least generally what they will find in my shop/booth/website. So the obvious answer became...remodel, intensively remodel.

I made this decision just about three weeks before Showcase Tacoma, where I was to sell my goods August 8-9 (which I did, and had a great time). So, I shopped around on etsy, hired a brilliant designer to do a logo, banner, avatar, business card, etc etc etc. I was super excited...until this question showed up in my inbox: "So, what would you like your logo to be (what main element/image)?" (paraphrased). I had falsely assumed the graphic designer would do it all...but really, my input was needed, which makes sense since a logo is so personal, and also so public (it could, foreseeabley represent one's company forever). So I started thinking and decided to stay with the hand print. Once I received a proof, I realized a hand print was just not going to cut it; it really doesn't represent my products, or my core beliefs about parenting and baby products. She agreed, I gave her an idea, and she was going to work on it. Status: Still no real progress and only a week and a half until the show.

After not hearing from the designer for a while, I asked my husband to doodle some logo ideas and he came up with one I love (the one that now represents CheyLoCreations)! I really liked that he had drawn it too, it fits with our family run business model. So I passed on the idea to my designer, she liked it, and we were going to move forward. More time passes. Several frantic emails later, it turns out she had a family emergency and was unable to finish by my deadline. I totally understood, thanked her for her time, received my refund and began to absolutely panic. Status: Have a handdrawn logo that I have no way to edit, no banner, etc; Sunday the week of the show (Friday/Saturday show), and I need to be able to print new labels, business cards, etc all by Thursday. ANd of course I have my heart set on having it all done by the show.

This has some practical purposes. I did not want to hand out cards in the old style, then get everything redone and have people wind up a site that does not match at all; too confusing. So, I post in the etsy forums in a panic and find a wonderful woman willing to help. Sasserstrom Designs did a beautiful job bringing my logo to life, picked really cool colors, and was super patient, all for a great price and in a serious time crunch! I am so so so grateful!

So, it all got finished, I was able to redo my esty shop, and print the business cards in time for the show. I stayed up until 3am early early Friday morning in order to get my website redesigned and relaunched, and then was able to sleep for two hours, before waking at 5 am to shower and drive from my parent's house in Bellevue down to Tacoma for a 7am setup, with my wonderful husband and oh so helpful daughter, 11 month old Cheyenne.

It was a very stressful couple of weeks, but I ended up with what I wanted with a little (okay a lot) of help from my friends, and I think it turned out well. What do you think?


text:
Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Creativity Explored

 Bag by Badia Forbes. @ Creativity Explored

We are a couple of days past Black Friday and Cyber Monday but if you haven't finished your Christmas shopping, haven't why not put organizations like Creativity Explored on your list of places to shop? You won't have to worry about bullets or pepper spray and you'd be helping a wonderful organization as well as buying art works at a very reasonable price.

Creativity Explored was founded in 1982 by Florence and Elias Katz, pioneers in the field of working with people with developmental disabilities. For 30 years,  Creativity Explored’s innovative and respected programs, structure, and culture have served as an organizational model worldwide in the field of art and disability. They are committed to supporting people with developmental disabilities in their quest to become working artists, and to promoting their work as an emerging and increasingly important contribution to the contemporary art world.

 Wrapping paper and note cards by Evelyn Reyes. @Creativity Explored

Located in SF's Mission District, their gallery sales have have provided an income for the CE artists. For some, art has become a viable career path and for others, increasing recognition for their contributions to the contemporary art world. The Berkeley Art Museum recently added 16 works by Creativity Explored artists to its permanent collection of more than 14,000 objects, Thomas Pringle, a CE artist, is included in the Pro Arts 2012 Juried Annual Exhibition of the best new artists in the Bay Area.

Let Creativity Explored introduce you to Natalie Spring. She joined Creativity Explored just over a year ago. Natalie used to be shy, her group living situation made her feel sheltered, and she wasn’t really doing much with her life.

Now, Natalie creates artwork at Creativity Explored four days a week and lives in her own apartment with her cat, Indigo. She is one of our most articulate artists and speaks openly about herself, her past, and her art.

"I like to draw horses. There’s something elegant about them. I also do clay and wire work, and I’ve gotten into screen printing lately.

When I’m at Creativity Explored I feel like I’m home. There’s such a warm feeling from everybody. I’m making all these friends all of a sudden!

The art. The artists. I like it all. I feel like I’ve become a different person. I’ve become happy."

 Selena Perez, @ Creativity Explored

 Make them happy, make YOURSELF happy by supporting this amazing organization. The Annual Holiday Art Sale at Creativity Explored is an art lover’s shopping extravaganza, one in which you can buy a multitude of art are very affordable prices. The studio is filled with original prints, paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculptures, and textiles by over 120 artists — including unique pieces set aside for this special occasion. Many artworks have even been marked down. Like all Creativity Explored exhibitions, one-half of the proceeds from the sale of every artwork go directly to the artist.

Creativity Explored, 16th St. between Guerrero and Valencia

You can also shop on-line at their Cyber Store:

Opening Weekend
Friday, December 2, 2011
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Saturday & Sunday, December 3 & 4, 2011
12:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Automata: Mechanical Wonders of the Nineteenth Century at SFO

Pierrot écrivain (Pierrot writing) c. 1875 . Vichy . France. wood, wire, metal, fabric, glass, paper, hair, porcelain. The Murtogh D. Guinness Collection of Mechanical  Musical Instruments and Automata. Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey

If you are stuck out at SFO this holiday season, this exhibit can help you pass the time. The new exhibition features exquisite mechanical figures and musical machines from the 19th century.

Before the Industrial Revolution, automata were created mainly as one-of-a-kind scientific experiments, political or religious theater, and given as diplomatic gifts. Eventually they became promotional devices to attract sales. French manufacturers later incorporated mass-production technology to produce musical automata, musical dolls, clockwork singing birds, and tableaux méchaniques (mechanically animated scenes) to meet the increasing demand for these new forms of entertainment.

From the mid-1800s to the 1900s, automata served as parlor entertainment. Many skilled artisans were required to manufacture these clockwork machines. They were not considered toys for children, but rather items of social privilege and status - which didn't prevent me from wanting to play with them!
Continue reading

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving addendum: No turkeys here

I almost left out this post by Mark Bittman (NY Times) - enough links to blogs to provide a year of thoughtful reading:

Happy Thanksgiving

Today, the traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes any number of dishes: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. But if one were to create a historically accurate feast, consisting of only those foods that historians are certain were served at the so-called “first Thanksgiving,” there would be slimmer pickings. “

Read more:First Thanksgiving

Five feasts in American art from the Smithsonian

From Tom Christensen's fascinating blog, Right Reading:

"In honor of Thanksgiving, here’s a painting of an American turkeycock by the great Mughal painter Mansur (from my forthcoming book 1616: The World in Motion). Mansur was the greatest Mughal painter of natural history subjects..." and an ongoing series of posts on his book which will be published in February 2012 (I believe).

Monday, November 21, 2011

Busy times at Chez Nancy's

I've been busy reviewing art and even posted a new food recipe up at my food column at the

I want to do a longer piece on Bernini and more on the Venetian painters who are up at the de Young - heck, whole encyclopedias have been written about Bernini and Titian. Do you think I could be contented with just one column?

Vegetarian pot pie

Later in the week, I'll start my promotion pieces for local art fairs and community centers. There are so many local art centers that are desperately trying to survive. Financial support is being cut back in all areas but remember the motto "art saves lives. Feeding the soul is important in desperate times.

Of course, feeding the soul is great but so is feeding the bank account. So if a few more of the 300-500 people who stop by my blog daily would click on one of the above links, this artist, writer  and blogger would be very grateful.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Lalla Essaydi at Jenkins Johnson

Jenkins Johnson is hosting Essaydi's first one-woman show on the West coast. The show includes work from three recent series: Les Femmes du Maroc (2005-2008) Harem (2009) and Les Femmes Du Maroc Revisited (2010).

The first time I saw one of of Lalla Essaydi's photographs was at a show at the Museum of the African Diaspora ( MoAD ). That photograph was of Arab women, dressed in a cream or white gown, veiled, and posed against a light beige background. The piece was fairly small - maybe 11" x 12" - and the whole surface was covered with Arabic script, written in what I later discovered to be ink made with henna. It was stunningly beautiful, elegant, mysterious and very intriguing.

Her recurring theses are Islam, feminism, and female resistance to Islamic customs that demean and oppress women. By shrouding the women in the customary burkas, draping them in cloth or, as in the case of some of the photos in the current show at Jenkins Johnson, posing them in an Moroccan palace where their gowns merge with the elaborate tiles and architectural details, Essaydi purports to criticize Western Oriental fantasies.

As even the most casual viewer of Western painting knows, painters from Delacroix to Ingres to others less famous have used the harem to indulge in paintings of voluptuous women, lolling around in states of undress, just waiting for their lord's command. The forbidden nature of the harem was part of its lure for Western audiences, and part of the erotic appropriation as well.

The Harem series is highly colored and set within the elaborate architecture of the Moroccan palace Dar al Basha. The artist created the fabric that her subjects wear, gowns that are patterned on the elaborate tiles and carvings of the palace. As in her other works, the models merge into the background and each piece is covered with hand written Arabic calligraphy.

This series is, among other things, photographs taken inside a harem with some personal family history. Essaydi was obsessed with the place and didn't understand that obsession with until family members told her that her father had grown up in that harem.

The Pasha had been her grandmother's guardian, divorced her from her husband and kept the mother and son in the harem - the custom of the time then as now. So, she was channeling some psychic memory of her family's past.

Essaydi want to "wanted to present a harem area that's not in the Western or Orientalist tradition. It's something real and painful - it's life for these women, their kids and family. It's not always a beautiful odalisque laying down, ready for consummation."

"I am writing. I am writing on me, I am writing on her. The story began to be written the moment the present began.” Translated from the original Arabic, Essaydi’s personal writing attempts to subvert traditional Muslim gender stereotypes through the presence of the written word.

By using a sacred Islamic script, Essaydi mounts a small act of defiance against the oppression of women in the Middle East, a region where women today account for two thirds of the region's illiterates. (Arab Human Development Report 2002, p.52).

The artist grew up in Morocco, lived in Saudi Arabia for many years and now lives in New York City. “In my art, I wish to present myself through multiple lenses — as artist, as Moroccan, as Saudi, as traditionalist, as Liberal, as Muslim. In short, I invite the viewer to resist stereotypes,” she has said.

 Les femmes du Maroc. Le Grand Odalesque

The stylistic simplicity in Essaydi's work prevents it from becoming merely decorative but does not support the weight of her political statements. The subjects of her gaze are covered with her indecipherable and personal calligraphy, But while they do not solely present an oriental tinged sexuality to the viewer, they still have no voice of their own. Nor does her calligraphy illuminate what might have been their voices, for it is untranslatable.

Essaydi's large scale photographs are sensual, stunningly beautiful. But I don't buy the theory that she's transformed the work into an act of rebellion - either against the male gaze, outdated theories of Orientalism a la Edward Said or as an act of rebellion against Muslim oppression of women. It's still an Arabian Nights fantasy, women posed in gorgeous settings, passive, beautiful. The occasional saucy glance at the viewer is not an act of defiance, but a sexy and demure "come hither."

 Les Femmes du Maroc #16

Their elegantly draped bodies do not challenge male privilege. They are sexual commodities, presented to the voyeuristic eye.

LALLA ESSAYDI: LES FEMMES DU MAROC. Through Dec Jenkins Johnson  Gallery, 464 Sutter St, San Francisco
All photographs courtesy of Jenkins Johnson Gallery.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Richard Misrach at the Berkeley Art Museum

Today, I went to see the Misrach exhibit of photos taken after the 1991 Berkeley/ East Bay Fire. To commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the fire, BAM/PFA and the Oakland Museum of California are presenting forty photographs from the series, including fourteen large-format images. The shows are the result of Misrach's donation of 33 prints to each museum earlier this year, and mark the first time the series has been publicly exhibited; it was only five years ago that Misrach began to make prints from his nearly 200 negatives of the fire's aftermath.

 To be honest, I didn't expect to be moved but I was, almost to tears in some places. The show brought back memories of walking down Post Street on a breathlessly sultry day and wondering where the black flakes were coming from that were covering the side walk.

Later that day, I heard about the catastrophic fire and went with friends to Twin Peaks to see the ominous cloud engulfing the East Bay.

I remember the confusion and the heroic efforts of the fire and police departments - people who were later vilified by the likes of the mega-millionaires that I worked for at the time. I remember the finger pointing and also, the genuine sorrow of those who had lost family members and all, a life time of of memories.

I think that the home of Adele Bischoff, the wife of the late painter Elmer Bischoff, was burned out, losing years of paintings and drawings.

The blame game went on for some time - egged and abetted by our local media that had found a topic that they would spin to their heart's content.

I am glad that Misrach waited 20 years. His rationale for the long delay was also rooted in the philosophy that he said drives all of his work: his images are for the historical record, not reportage. “I don’t want to be part of the media spectacle,” he said. “I want to transcend the news.”

For those who lived through the destruction, the memories can still be painful - powerful images of child's tricycle half melted by the heat, a fire blacked staircase, bowls of pet food left by some optimistic pet owners, a tranquil blue swimming pool reflecting the charred remains of a tree.

The large (some 5' or 6' by 5' or 6')  images are visceral, gut wrenching in their portrait of the destruction. The photographs are all the more effective for showing the devastating aftermath. One wall of the exhibit is lined with smaller photographs, which pull you into the frame by their smaller size. His skill proves that you don't have to photograph sturm and drag to convey the extent of the disaster.

The fire was one of the worst in California’s history, killing 25 people, injuring 150 others and destroying about 3,500 homes — one every 11 seconds.

At a gallery talk that Mr. Misrach gave at the Berkeley museum on Oct. 12, Curt Karplus, 80, rose and asked how many survivors were in the room. He and his wife had lived only by leaping from the balcony of their Hiller Highlands home. “We jumped, and within two seconds the house went up like a matchbox behind us,” Mr. Karplus said.

Both exhibitions include handmade elegy books inviting members of the public to leave their memories of the fire, or simply sign their names. The books will become part of each museum's permanent collection. The Oakland Museum even will have a story booth where people can share their fire tales.

The exhibition, “1991: The Oakland-Berkeley Fire Aftermath: Photographs by Richard Misrach,” is being shown at both museums. The Berkeley presentation closes February 5 and OMCA's closes on February 12.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Bernini's "The Medusa" at the Legion

This piece is so delicately beautiful and the level of craftmanship is so high that it has to be seen to be believed. At the press preview today, John Buchanan, the Director of the Museum, hinted that there will be more exchanges between the Capitolini Museum in Rome and the Legion. No details yet but keep tuned to this space ...

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sandy Yagi at Modern Eden, SF's mistress of the macabre

Sandy Yagi at her opening at Modern Eden.
Elegy 24 x 20 oil on panel 2011 @ Anna Conti

Contemporary culture, human folly and an obsessive curiosity for the macabre provide the fuel for Sandra Yagi’s new oil paintings for Primal Renderings. Her work is inspired by the natural sciences as well as by the classical drawing techniques of the old masters. Think medical anatomy meets Bosch meets Salvador Dali, presided over by such masters as late Gothic painters such as Van Eyck.

Sandy Yagi. Trepanation  24 x 18  oil on panel  2011

Driven by the need to explore the human psychological condition, Yagi uses images  such as cutaway skulls to portray our basic human drives.
Yagi was raised in suburban Denver Colorado, the oldest of a typical suburban middle class family. From an early age, she loved science, especially biology, and drawing. But her Japanese-American parents were more traditional and insisted that she get a "useful" education in business. For them, the liberal arts did not provide enough security.

Like a dutiful daughter, Yagi put art aside and obtained obtained a Masters in Business Administration. For 27 years, she worked at major financial institutions.

Sandy Yagi. Lizardbrain #2  Oil on panel, 19.75 x 19.75, 2011

But she never forgot her early dreams of becoming an artist and never ceased to make art. As she rose in the corporate ladder, Yagi moved to LA and then, to SF which became her artistic home.

Leaving the corporate world in 2008, Yagi became a full time artist. She now works out of her studio in San Francisco's South Beach area.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Anonymous Was A Woman 2011 awards

Anonymous Was A Woman announced the ten artists selected to receive the Foundation’s annual award. The “no strings” grant of $25,000 enables women, over 45 years of age and at a critical juncture in their lives or careers, to continue to grow and pursue their work.

Lauren Katzowitz Shenfield, director of the program, explained, “Anonymous Was A Woman Awards are synonymous with important recognition in artists’ personal and artistic development. The financial gift helps artists buy time, space, materials, and equipment, often at early stages of a new project, and, sometimes, recover from traumatic life events. In itself, the Award helps artists feel recognized and honored by other distinguished women who seek no credit for the role they play.”

 Linda Besemer - Slabs and Sines - Galerie Jean Luc and Takako Richard - Paris - 5 September - 17 October 2009

Besemer produces abstract paintings without any kind of support for the paint. The largest of her current works are solid skins of acrylic paint up to two metres long by one metre wide and a centimetre thick. She hangs them in such a way that they drape and sag under their own weight. A series of smaller pieces she call ‘Slabs’, each about the size of a sheet of notebook paper, hang like more conventional pictures, but only because the body of paint, at about 25 cm, is all the more unconventionally thick. Their rubbery quality is particularly seductive, resembling the plastics used to shape the ergonomic grips of appliances. This association with touch is one of the ways Besemer makes her Formalism sensual. Academic arguments about the ‘object quality’ of painting get turned into a sneaky impulse to reach up and test the weight of one of these chunks of colour with your own hands. Of course, having that impulse forbidden only makes it all the more delicious

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

November is gender issues month in San Francisco?

San Francisco must have declared November the month to deal with gender issues - Woodman and the "Air I breathe" at SFMOMA looking at gender, feminism and marriage equality. Jenkins' Johnson is showing Lalla Essaydi's photos of  women covered with Arabic calligraphy, Sandy Yagi just opened at Moden Eden Gallery.  SOMarts just opened "Man as object" - apparently it's full of NSFW videos.

I can hardly wait to write about each one. Forget about turkey. This is a lot more interesting

But first, off to vote.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Appeal for Ogatsu Inkstone Craftsmen

I have bought supplies from John Neal for over 20 years so can vouch for his honesty; there are a lot of scams out there but this is not one of them.

From John Neal: The massive earthquake and tsunami which hit North East Japan on March 11th of this year devastated many coastal fishing towns. Ogatsu was one of them. Famous for its 600 year old history of handcrafted inkstones, the town was directly hit by the tsunami and suffered extensive damage. In addition to their homes, the craftspeople lost their livelihoods as their workshops, tools and equipment were also swept away. Two craftsmen of a total of 20 lost their lives; one was a master craftsman. There are 20 additional skilled artisans connected to the industry.

Craftsmen, local people and volunteers managed to rescue some of the Ogatsu stone and inkstones which were swept away. The inkstones are being restored and, as they become available, are being sold in one or two galleries in Kyoto and Tokyo. This month, the craftsmen are moving into a temporary communal workshop, but without the infrastructure for their craft, the way forward will not be easy. Before the tsunami Ogatsu produced 90% of Japanese inkstones, which were renowned for their quality and beauty. The industry will not be able to rebuild itself to such a level again without support from the general public, calligraphers and artists. (If you have purchased the Shakyo-Ken Inkstone with its small deep well, you have an Ogatsu inkstone:

At present the craftsmen are living in temporary accommodation. The local government is giving what aid it can to all those who have lost their homes and livelihoods, but resources are stretched thin.

John Neal is helping Christine Flint Sato collect donations. Ms Flint-Sato, who has contributed several articles to Letter Arts Review on Japanese ink sticks and brushes as well as calligraphy in Japan, will forward the donations to the head of the ink stone craftsmen's union. All amounts are welcome.

Please include your email address so the receipt of your donation can be acknowledged and a subsequent report on the effort can be sent. Please note that these donations are not tax deductible.

Those in the USA, Canada, and the UK should send checks in their own currency to John Neal, 1833 Spring Garden Street, First Floor, Greensboro, NC 27403. Make checks payable to JOHN NEAL and write "Inkstone Relief" elsewhere on the check. The "payable to" must have only JOHN NEAL.

Those in Japan please contact Christine Flint Sato on , and she will send you bank details for transferring money directly in Yen.

Volunteer work in Ogatsu:
Crafting Inkstone:

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Woodman at SFMOMA

I am not a huge photography fan but the show blew me away - very intense, very surrealistic, photos of secrets, an elusive dialogue with self.

Francesca Woodman was born in Denver, Colarado in1958 but lived most of her brief life in New York. Having taken her first photograph at thirteen, she committed suicide in 1981 at the age of twenty-two. However, in the few years before this she had created a powerful body of photographic work that continues to influence artists today.

Woodman’s small silver gelatin prints explore gender and self but are not portraits in the traditional sense. She photographed herself in empty, decaying interiors as a ghostly presence, half-revealed, half-concealed. There is the sense of danger lurking in these debris strewn rooms, family secrets that she will somehow channel, as a spiritualist medium claiming to channel the voices of the dead. She merges into the photo, using the body as both object and subject, both the focus of the voyeur's gaze and hiding from that gaze.

She is the voyeur, she is the disembodied viewer and yet, at the same time, the one who creates the object viewed. Self, not-self, objective, subjective, woman and artist, fetish props of clothing, exotic, erotic.

at SFMOMA..(image courtesy of SFMOMA)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts at the Asian Art Museum

Unfortunately we didn't get the Rolls Royce but we got a silver covered carriage.

While wandering through room after room full of over-the-top conspicuous consumption, I wondered about the mind set that allowed these men (mostly men) to spend so lavishly on themselves while millions outside the palace lived in misery. Suppose some of this money spent on jewelry and objects had been spent on schools, hospitals, scientific research - even roads, irrigation and agriculture? Their selfishness and greed condemned the majority of Indians to starvation and poverty and the parallels with our masters of the universe are sad and sobering.