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Trump, the Iranian Elections and the End of Sanctions

Notes from Tehran

The remaining 5 or 7 Republican candidates, winnowed in from the original dozen, push to ingratiate themselves among South Carolina’s Republican voters, who like a majority of their countrymen, are angry at Washington ‘pay-to-play’ politicians. The day before that state’s February 27 primary, Iranian voters will have gone to the polls for their own crucial elections.

Iranians will vote in twin elections for the Iranian parliament and to elect a more powerful separate body known as the Assembly of Experts.  And yes, The Donald is now a factor in both of those Iranian elections.  Before Trump involved himself, the Iranian elections had already proven divisive. Many relatively moderate candidates were rejected by hard-liners during the vetting phase. Several of these blocked candidates support President Hassan Rouhani, a key architect of the Iran nuclear deal that they support.

For his part, Rouhani has been traveling abroad to begin Iran’s process of returning to international global trade. His recent travels are viewed among many in Iran as part of this month’s elections to shore up his support, given that the election is partly a referendum on his record and the nuclear agreement.

Hardliners in Iran and the US have joined the election campaign on the nuclear issue. Trump has referred to all supporters of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreements on Iran’s nuclear program as “stupid.”  During recent campaign interviews his approach, which is a mélange of nativism, conservatism, and populism is being closely monitored in Tehran while at home no other current candidate is matching its breadth. The Donald insists that the Obama administration completely botched the negotiation with Iran, whereas being the master dealmaker; he would have negotiated the agreement with Iran and obtained a much better outcome for America.

Trump assures voters that he would have spared America from having to pay to Iran what he wrongly claims are $150 billion.  He would have easily done this by telling the Iranians:

“Look guys, we Americans owe $19 trillion in debt.  We’re a country that has no money.  We can’t give you the $150 billion dollars.”  The Iranians, claims Trump, would have said, “But we want it. It’s ours!”  And Trump says he would have responded, “We can’t give it!  We don’t have it!  We don’t have it!” Trump assures audiences that he would have stood his ground and absolutely refused to pay the $150 billion.  At that point, the meeting would have broken-up with no agreement.  But then, two days later, the Iranians would have folded by calling Trump and saying, “Let’s make a deal.” Iran would then have agreed that America would not be required to pay the $150 billion.

What has many Iranians scratching their heads and asking American visitors: “Who is this is guy?” is partially the fact that Trump seems not even to know that frozen Iranian funds were never part of the US budget and no one has ever seriously claimed that they don’t belong to Iran. The US is obliged under the JCPOA to simply return Iran’s own money that it had seized and was holding in frozen accounts pending the resolution of the sanctions against Iran.

During an interview last week with CNN, Trump, ignorant about the facts of the deal, obviously had no clue that this money always belonged to Iran.   Yet this troubling fact does not prevent Trump from lambasting the nuclear deal and pledging to tear it up just as soon as he becomes president. He appears to have no idea what he is talking about in substance and appears to read from AIPAC ‘fact sheets’ which repeat Israel’s PM Netanyahu’s hysterical claims that Iran will be awash with up to $250 billion cash to fund more terrorism.

Of course, neither Trump nor any US President is going to scrap the JCPOA and if one tried, America’s global allies and likely the American public would strongly oppose its attempt. Nor will the Iranians scrape it.

What has many Iranians scratching their heads and asking American visitors: “Who is this is guy?” is partially the fact that Trump seems not even to know that frozen Iranian funds were never part of the US budget and no one has ever seriously claimed that they don’t belong to Iran.
Iranians, unlike candidate Trump, are realistic about what sanctions relief will really mean to Iran, recognizing that $20 billion of their returning money is committed to projects with China where sanction relief funds cannot be spent, and that there are tens of billions of dollars locked up in nonperforming loans to Iran’s energy and banking sectors. Iran has the world’s fourth-largest proved reserves of crude oil, and hopes to quickly increase production, which could lead to tens of billions worth of new oil trade despite a slumping market. But that won’t happen anytime soon.

In the run-up to their elections, many Iranians are increasingly critical of the terms of the deal and Rohani is losing some support for not delivering on promises of JCPOA benefits. This month’s elections will likely be viewed through this prism.

Recent polls of public opinion in Iran show that there has been an approximately ten percent drop in public support for the agreement. A recent poll taken by the University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies last month shows that still nearly 72 percent of Iranians support last July’s agreement. Last August the figure was 75%.  Answering a question on whether the deal was a victory for Iran or a defeat, last August 36.6 percent of Iranians said it was a victory, but as of this month the figure has dropped to 27.4 percent. The current trend in Iranian public opinion has shifted with a rising number, currently 54%, up from 43% six months ago, claiming that the deal is beneficial for both Iran and the international community that agreed to it.

So-called moderate supporters of Iran’s President Rohani may have a major impact on this month’s elections and bring changes to Iran. The Iranian public is sophisticated about what JCPOA is likely to mean for them. Recent polls show that there has been an approximately ten percent drop in public support for the agreement.

Trump’s claims that the Obama administration has given Iran a major financial windfall favoring Islamic extremism are not supported by any serious analysis.  The Obama administration and its partners on the nuclear deal point out that Iran will receive over the next few years not $150 billion, but more like $56 billion, $32 billion of which it has already received, leaving $20 billion to repair its oil industry, much needed and popularly demanded infrastructure repairs plus measures to try to quell inflation.

The World Bank also estimates that about $100 billion of Iranian assets were frozen abroad, around half of which Tehran could access to as a result of sanctions relief. A contest for available funds in already well underway in Iran between public expectations for use of the money and hardliners favoring the funds going to various military demands including from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its hardliner allies.

Iranians will be indirectly voting this month on this key issue and students interviewed appear realistic that in the short term their lives will not be much improved as a result of JCPOA, but they overwhelmingly favor a return to ‘normal’ relations with the global community while acknowledging that Iran and the West have conflicting opinions on such issues as human rights, religious governments, aspects of Islam, terrorism and Israel among others and  that these differences will likely remain for the foreseeable future.

Some Iranians, especially young people, are also vocal about the fact that while Iran’s 1979 Revolution shook its criminal justice system to the core, the country’s legal framework remains largely inadequate, inefficient and inconsistent with fair trial standards, as claimed recently by Amnesty International.

Changes are coming to Iran and America and this month’s elections will likely point in which direction. This year’s elections in America and Iran may well also have a major effect on which direction both countries move, as well as their impact on the Middle East-West Asia region.

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Saturday, September 02, 2006

My Super Ex-Girlfriend

Warning: Do not read if you are planning to watch the movie.

I saw My Super Ex-Girlfriend yesterday night at the Symphony. It is a nice movie to watch if you want to give your brain a vacation of two hours to recuperate from being your brain.

The story line is unbelievable…literally. Luke Wilson and his nerdy needy pal Rainn Wilson are traveling by train when Rainn spots Uma Thurman. She looks spectacularly boring like most train commuters but then hey… she is Uma Thurman and you got to pick her up from the crowd to get the movie going. Apart from that there is no convincing reason why Rainn spots her with her brown toupee, spectacles and makeup less mousy face. Rainn convinces Luke to ask her out which he does quite charmingly only to be met with a ‘No’. Just when you are telling yourself ‘cant a guy take a hint?’ the movie takes a bollywood kinda turn. A bag snatcher snatches Uma’s hand bag and runs out of the stationery train. It was moving I swear, when Uma said ‘No’.

Most of the plot that provides the twists and turns in this movie are unbelievable.

Luke Wilson for one, looks good and definitely not the kind of guy who has no love life and hence is desperate enough to pick up a dull looking Uma Thurman in a suburban train.

Uma Thurman acts like a neurotic, jumpy, crazy woman on their first date, scaring the living daylights out of Luke and the audience. Besides this, the scriptwriter gives Luke enough hints as large as a mental asylum, that Uma Thurman is cuckoo, but he still asks her out for a second time, and you kinda say “he deserved it’ when things turn really bad for him.

Luke’s plan was to get laid and move on, but he makes the cardinal mistake of asking her out again, and Uma promptly falls in love with him. When he tells her that he is not in love with her, she literally hits the roof and makes a hole in the ceiling. She vows to make him pay for the rejection and flies away in a rage through the hole in the ceiling. This, of course happens on the second date.

Uma's character is full of holes, which is good actually as she does a lot of flying around in the air at supersonic speed. Adds to her aerodynamic character. She is sensible enough to appear like Superman and save the city from the stupid catastrophes thought up by the Stunt Director, but she is absolutely stupid otherwise. Perhaps the Stunt Director could have directed the entire film, as the only scenes that make sense are the Supergirl exploits of Uma Thurman. She also looks good only in the movie posters and in her G-girl avataar, losing the brown toupee and spectacles. The stunt director has taste I must say.

Then Luke realizes that he is in love with his sweet colleague Anna Faris, whose nice boyfriend conveniently gets himself caught in bed with three girls to clear the way for Luke. She promptly falls in love with him and they make love. (See didn’t I tell you that Luke doesn’t look needy?). Uma throws a live shark into their bedroom scene…the shark fortunately has better tastes and bites off huge chunks of the furniture in a feeding frenzy. Due to some personal ethics not divulged by the scriptwriter, Uma doesn’t go after Anna even though she should… logically.

Finally an ex boyfriend of Uma devices a glowing rock, similar to the one which made Uma super powerful and makes her walk into a trap set by Luke. Of course he forgets to tell girlfriend Anna not to barge in making a huge scene, which leads to the explosion of the rock making Anna also a Supergirl.

The theater was packed with nine people, out of which two were the ushers, one was a guy who kept gazing into his cellpone, besides five girls...out of whom one kept looking around thinking “I will blog about this”, another kept giggling at everything including the 'Please take care of your belongings in the theater’ slide and the ‘Nokia ad’, and another who was watching the movie like she is watching the 'Schindler’s List’ and another who kept exclaiming “The cheese popcorn is soggy, chat popcorn is spicy and the masala popcorn is too bland” etc. The fifth one is still missing.

Oh yes... before I end this rather long review, please avoid the Ice cream in the theater. It is very good actually, but not advisable to be eaten in the air-conditioned theater or you will end up writing movie reviews on a Saturday night sniffling with cold, cough and fever.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Mind Curry said...

i passed by symphony last evening..but didnt quite manage to watch the movie..didnt want to get reminded of my sooper ex-girlfriend :)

Jiby said...

lol...this must be the funniest film review i read in my whole life! did the 5th gal with u go thru the roof???

the way u watched it reminded me of a 2nd show i watched some years back at my neighborhood theater...there were only 2 drunkards besides me...i was wearing a lungi...and one of them thinking i wud make good company comes to me after the movie and asks..."oru nooru milli adikkan varunno"...i ran for my life from there only to be caught by a flying squad who thought i wuz some fugitive!

G said...

It has Uma Thurman. I mean, Uma Thurman. Did I say it has Uma Thurman?

I will definately be watching this because it has Uma Thurman.

Have I ever told you I thought Uma Thurman is hot?

Fleiger said...

The first time I heard the title, I thought super was adjective of ex... I mean, I dumped her in ancient times etc...

But I am sure Luke is happy he is in this movie and not Uma's previous one. I mean, dropping a shark in his house is much better than dropping in his house wielding katana.

And why were you giggling the whole time? And where's the other girl's blog?

Fleiger said...

Oh, forgot to ask... how are you? Fever ok?

silverine said...

mind curry: Doc if she was your sooper ex-girlfriend then you should try and make her your current sooper GF, no point letting go of a good thing...moiself specialises in the art of getting bichde dils together...let me know ;) And my services are absolutely free :P

jiby: LOL I think that is a distinct possibility, she may have gone thru the roof :)) I am cracking up here thinking of the guy asking you out for noor milli. So sweet!!! You should have told him njaan smoll adikkaarilla :p

G: This movie is like an 'all you can eat buffet' of Uma Thurman, go get 'em tiger ;)

fleiger; I wasn't the one giggling, I was the one looking around totally bored thinking that I will blog about this. And thank god none of them blog :)) I am doing fine now, hope to be completley recovered by Onam, thank you :)

Fleiger said...

Oh ok... lost sight of you in the crowd ;)

And why are you so sure none of them blog? The giggly one's blog might be worth a chuckle if she writes one (it will be informative to know what these gigglers find funny in everything they see)

And the lo(/a)st girl? Did you check if the ceiling was ok?

silverine said...

fleiger: My friends say that one person blogging in the group is enough without them adding to the frenzy :)) The missing girl resurfaced...apparently she went for a the next theater down the road playing 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' :p

akshay said...

you guys went for the movie without me? sob

Anonymous said...

Being ur regular reader & a diehard fan of ur blogs, I skipped the review & jumped to the last couple of paras expecting the real thing to be there. They're gems. Lol.

@ Jiby: U were lucky, imagine someone throwing up all the kallu in his belly on ur lap on the first day (matinee show) of a Sathyan Anthikad film... it happened to me.

jeseem said...

so u went thinking of a superwoman movie :))

b v n said...

this post rocks!!!'ve got a crazy timing...made a pretty nice 5 am read :))...btw wasnt this supposed to be on your funny blog ? ...neways...great read - and happy onam,in case you have that habit :))

Fleiger said...

I wonder, don't they want to show the world their side of the story?

And the missing one was the clever one of the lot...

silverine said...

akshay: Try putting 'on' your mobile for a change!!!

Anon: Thank you :)

jeseem: I thought this would be a case of a couple who were going steady for a long time and then the guy jilts her. But the reason for Uma's enmity in the movie was plain ludicrous!!!

b v n: Thank you:) Happy Onam to you too. We celebrate it with every bit of vigor and pomp as in Kerala :)

fleiger: Blogging is for non lazy people :) The missing one was indeed a clever one, she spared herself the torture.

Alexis Leon said...

Nice review :-) ROFL.

Wishing you a very happy Onam. May this onam bring you and your family happiness, prosperity and success.

Unni said...

Ponnona Asamsakkal... Hope U have a happy and wonderful onam and wish that U have a blast about which U can blog and entertain us as well..

As for the movie, I have no ideas to see it and so read your review.. Now I am quite happy just seeing the still images of Uma from the movie's gallery..

silverine said...

Alexis: Thank you so much, that was such a nice greeting!!

Unni:Thank you very much and wish you and your family the same :) I will await the morrow and see if there is anything I can recount :)

Fleiger said...

Yes true... not all people want to go to the trouble of writing something.

We could have done same thing for KANK though. But you, KANK and Super Ex- both in a row? What happened?

Anonymous said...

well... the trailers did look good for that ... but movie wasnt that great!

try catching little miss sunshine when U can ... Its awesome!

silverine said...

fleiger: For KANK I was drugged and dragged to the theater :( For 'My super ex' I did the same :p Thank god, both were horrible or I would have to hear about it for the rest of my life!!!

AG: The movie poster depicts many things that are not there in the movie and it was the trailer of the movie that made us go and watch it. Someone should give an award to the person who made the trailer :)

Fleiger said...

Oh, you will hear about the horrible ones more than you will hear about good ones you dragged people to. Believe me, I got experience in being dragged to deadly ones (remember a movie called "yaadein"?)

silverine said...

fleiger: Very true, me is a victim too and thank god I didn't get dragged for Yadein *horror*

venus said...

I have watched first 45 mins of this movie, and as you've said, if your brain needs vacation, u should watch this movie!

btw, Happy Onam!

silverine said...

venus: Thank you! You did well to switch off the movie :) I love the way you come in afer everyone is gone and leave a cute comment :)

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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Hospitals and Other Institutions Dumping Patients on LA's Skid Row

I heard a report about this on All Things Considered yesterday, and I could not believe what I was hearing.

Read, and be horrified. Here are a few of the horrifying details, but do click through and read the whole thing.
Police have long suspected that several institutions, including law enforcement agencies from outside the city, were using the downtown neighborhood as a dumping ground for homeless people. This is the first criminal probe by the LAPD into the practice.

In one case, a man dropped off at Skid Row was in fact not homeless, said Smith, the LAPD captain. A police officer took him home and the man's family was "outraged," he said.

"Not only did they not know that he was discharged, but the fact that he had been brought to Skid Row instead of being brought home was what further outraged that family," Smith said at a news conference Tuesday. [emphasis mine]

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No easy pickings for Bafana Bafana

Though most neutrals will hope to see South Africa go far in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, Bafana Bafana may be hard-pressed to escape from a Group A filled with experienced campaigners. The hosts will open the tournament against Mexico and then have to go through two-time champions Uruguay as well as 2006 runners-up France to keep local supporters happy and make the second round. Les Bleus, who won the competition on home soil in 1998, appear to be group favourites, but Raymond Domenech’s side only reached the finals through the European play-offs, squeaking past the Republic of Ireland. Uruguay also qualified via a play-off, a transcontinental affair against Costa Rica, while Mexico finished second in CONCACAF behind USA. For South Africa, the lowest-ranked African team at the time of the draw, the road will be rough, yet with experienced boss Carlos Alberto Parreira back in charge, there is cause for optimism that the side can continue the record of every FIFA World Cup host getting at least to the second round.

The favourites
France: An up-and-down qualifying campaign saw the French lose out in their group to Serbia by a point. Their away form was poor, from going down 3-1 to Austria in their first match to drawing at Romania and Serbia. They also struggled to get past Ireland in the play-off, with only William Gallas’s extra-time goal avoiding penalties or worse. However, nobody will underestimate a side that has veteran, emerging and world-class talent through the spine of the team.

Mexico: 2010 will be El Tri’s fifth successive finals appearance and they exited each of the last four events in the second round. Opening the tournament against the hosts will be no small task, but a budding crop of youngsters such as Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Vela may give the side enough pep to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 1986. Mexico, who were a seeded team at Germany 2006, went out to Argentina in the second round yet only after Maxi Rodriguez’s extra time Goal of the Tournament.

The outsiders
South Africa: It has been a tumultuous few years for South Africa, but a creditable performance at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the prelude to this summer, has set expectations high going into Group A. Their semi-final loss to Brazil in that event, and subsequent single-goal, extra-time defeat by Spain in the third-place match, show that the hosts can compete at the highest level. And though they have fallen at the group stage in their two FIFA World Cup appearances, they have lost just two of their six finals matches. All eyes will be on dynamic England-based midfielder Steven Pienaar to create chances.

Uruguay: Having advanced to the finals for a third time via the play-offs, Uruguay will be contesting their 11th FIFA World Cup. Yet while the Celeste have one of the richest histories in world football, coach Oscar Tabarez has built a relatively young side that relies on a core group of players. Tabarez has been at the Uruguay helm before at a FIFA World Cup, having led the team in 1990 when they succumbed to hosts Italy in the second round.

The players to watch
Steven Pienaar (RSA), Aaron Mokoena (RSA), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (MEX), Rafael Márquez (MEX), Giovanni dos Santos (MEX), Thierry Henry (FRA), Nicolas Anelka (FRA), William Gallas (FRA), Diego Lugano (URU), Diego Forlán (URU)

The crunch match
Mexico-Uruguay: Come their final group match, Mexico and Uruguay may be fighting for a spot alongside France in the second round, as they face off at Rustenburg’s Royal Bafokeng Stadium on 22 June. The pair last met when Mexico beat Uruguay to finish third in the Copa América in 2007.

A look back
France-South Africa, 12 June 1998: France opened their second FIFA World Cup as hosts against tournament debutants South Africa in Marseille. With both sides having points to prove, the night belonged to Les Bleus who registered a momentum-setting 3-0 victory en route to lifting the trophy.

Did you know?
Mexico’s Javier Aguirre also coached Mexico at the 2002 finals where they lost in the second round to USA. The former Mexican international midfielder took over midstream in the qualifying campaign, in April 2009, from Sven-Göran Eriksson. He had also come to the rescue after poor results in 2001.

The stat
5 – Carlos Alberto Parreira will equal Bora Milutinovic's record of coaching five different teams to FIFA World Cups when he leads out the hosts. Parreira, who won the event with his native Brazil in 1994, has also managed Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the finals.

There is also a curious historical slant to Group A which will interest the hosts. Back in 1966, when England staged the finals, Alf Ramsey's team were joined in Group 1 by Mexico, Uruguay and France.

The question
Can South Africa overcome the odds and survive Group A? Click ‘Add your comment' to make your opinion known.

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UUCGT Flash
April 20, 2017
Vol. 11, Issue 478
In This Issue
Sunday Service
Lifespan Experience for Children, Youth & Families
Pledge Reminder
UUCGT Spring Clean-up!
What's Going on at UUCGT?
UUA General Assembly
End Note

Congregational Vision

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We are a Congregation creating a better world by nurturing the heart and expanding the mind.
We provide a safe, caring community where all can freely explore diverse religious thought. We work for justice and equality with the power of compassion and compassionate power.
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If you are not receiving our monthly newsletter, the Beacon, and would like to, please contact the office .

"No more words.
In the name of this place we drink in with our breathing,
stay quiet like a flower.
So the nightbirds will start singing."

- Jalaluddin Rumi, Night and Sleep

Beloved community -

Continuing our journey this year through the sacred calendar of the six UU source traditions, this Sunday we will honor Lilat al-Miraj, the night of ascent when the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.  On his way he met all the previous prophets of the Jewish and Christian traditions, from Adam to Jesus.

The night journey gives us a chance to learn about Islam, the spiritual journey and the beauty of the night as a time for spiritual practice.  Please join us for this service.

Also, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who made Easter so lovely; I neglected to mention Sarah Montgomery-Richards who helped design the service and was, of course, a wonderful participant.

Best blessings to you all -
Rabbi Chava
P.S.  The Women's New Moon Group will meet this Saturday from 3:00 to 5:00 PM in the sanctuary for chapter two of Soul to Soul, on Compassion.

"One kind word can warm three winter months."
    - Japanese Proverb from Soul to Soul

Sunday Service
Sunday, April 23 - Rabbi Chava Bahle
1 0:30 AM Service:  "Lilat ahl-Miraj / The Night Journey"

Join us for a special journey of personal stories honoring the anniversary of
Lailat al Miraj, an annual commemoration of the the night the Prophet Mohammed (sa) made the night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and his ascension to heaven.  In that process of ascent, he meets all the previous prophets from Adam to Jesus.  In this way, Islam remembers its roots and connection to its sister religions of Judaism and Christianity.
The service will include elements of Muslim worship, a personal story from Kathy Booker-Graham and a reading from the Qur'an.   Why does this matter to UUs?  Cultural literacy and the memory of archetypes awakens a deep part of the self.  Let us journey together.

The Qur'an says:

In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful.  Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other.  If the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust in God, for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God, Most Gracious are those who walk on the Earth in humility, and when we address them, we say "PEACE."
Based on the Koran, 49:13, 8:61

Lifespan Experience  f or Children and Youth
(and Fam ilies!)

Sunday Service:  10:30 a.m.
Sunday programming for Children and Youth throughout the remainder of this program year will complement Sunday Services in our efforts to move closer to congregational thematic ministry.  This thematic calendar will explore the Six Source traditions, and consider wisdom from around the world.

Sundays in April

As a congregation we will be considering the themes of rebirth and renewal as part of the Sunday Services.  Birth and the beginning of new things can be a mysterious and wondrous time - as all of the cycles of life are.  This month we're going to explore the beginnings of the cosmos and the beginnings of the earth as told by our good friend, The Universe!
Through the book duo, "Born with a Bang - The Universe Tells our Cosmic Story" and "From Lava to Life - The Universe Tells Our Earth Story", we will consider the wonders of our blue boat home and of the universe.
As Unitarian Universalists, we believe in using science to tell us about how we are related to other living things in our interdependent web of life.

Don't forget to join us before service on April 30th for our Annual May Day Ceremony - all are welcome as we remove last year's ribbons and dance the May Pole for this year (lamppost by the rear entrance to the building). Children interested in participating should join us at 9:45am.  This event is weather permitting - if it is raining we will postpone until May 7th.

Suggested readings for families/parents this month include:
  • "The Everything Seed" - by Carole Martignacco
Child/Youth of  the Month
Our Child of the Month is Aidan Schleuder!

Make sure you take a moment to greet Aidan when you see him, and c heck out the poster featuring him in the social hall all of this month!
Each month we will give special attention to a child or youth from our UUCGT community!  A picture of them will be featured in the social hall, along with a little bit about them.  Interested in more information and how to participate?  Contact the office!
Pledge Reminder

If you haven't taken the opportunity to pledge for 2017-2018, please do so as soon as possible so we can wrap up our Pledge Drive, and finalize our budget for 2017-2018.
If you have misplaced your pledge materials, please contact Kay Sturgeon to get a pledge form.
We appreciate every gift and every giver!
Thank you!

@ UUCGT ~ Saturday, May 6
9:00 - 12:00
Yard work & window washing
Bring your own tools
Donuts provided!
Please join us as you can ~  15 minutes or an hour or more

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Lost & Found
for your lost items ~ there are many!
(alcove shelves near the social hall)
**If you picked up a pair of sunglasses from
Lost & Foundthe owner would appreciate their return**
please return to the office ~

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Saturday, April 22
Clean Up  &  Green Up
Recycle your old technology at Staples
(some exclusions apply, call ahead)

W hat's Going On At UUCGT?

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Little Spiritual Book Club:  Thursday, April 20, 12noon, sanctuary.  Make-up date for "The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World"

Congregational Care Team:  Thursday, April 20, 1:00pm, library

Death Cafe:   Friday, April 21, 10:00-12:00, social hall

Community Needs:  Friday, April 21, 2:00-4:00pm, library

Concert and Silent Auction:
Friday, April 21, doors open 6:30
UU Vocal Ensemble is singing at 7:00pm, so come early!
Amelia Burke and Aili Simpson, Glen Chown, Jon Timm, and the Minor 6 Jazz Ensemble will play.  Funds are being raised to send 12 high school students to Washington, DC in June to lobby legislators to take action on climate change.  Thank you so much to all who donated items for the auction!

New Moon Women's Circle:  Saturday, April 22, 3:00-5:00pm, sanctuary. Contact Carolyn Kelly

Program Council:  Sunday, April 23, 9:00am, classroom

CUUPS:  Wednesday, April 26, 12:30pm, Blue Tractor,

Brewing Community:
Thursday, April 27, 5:00pm, Brewery Terra Firma

Social Justice Action Workshop, "Inclusivity":  Saturday, April 29, 9:30-11:30am.  See April Beacon, or contact  Paula Jo Kemler

Social Justice Committee:  Sunday, April 30, 11:45am to 1:00pm, UUCGT classroom, "The Third Reconstruction" by Rev. William Barber

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Weekly Activities &  Meetings

Mindfulness Meditation:   Sunday, 5:00-7:00pm, sanctuary

LGBTQ Group:  Sunday, 5:00-6:30pm, classroom

Stretch & Strengthen:  Every Monday & Wednesday, 11:00am

Community Lunch:   Every Tuesday, 11:30am @ Friends Church, 5th & Oak.  Contact  Mary Kiner  to volunteer.

Bridge Group:  Every Tuesday, 1:00pm, social hall

Wednesday Potluck:  Wednesday, April 26, 5:30pm social, 6:00pm dinner
$5/adult & $3/10 and under

International Dances:  Every Wednesday, 7:00pm, classroom

Peacemaker Needleworkers:  Every Thursday, 1:30pm, social hall

Introductory Meditation Workshop:  Thursdays, 5:30-6:30pm, classroom. Contact Elisabeth Treefon or click here for more information.

Vocal Ensemble:  Every Thursday, 7:00-8:30pm, sanctuary.  All Welcome!

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UUCGT Website Calendar   CLICK HERE
Activities are also listed in the Order of Service & Beacon
Please contact office@uucgt.org to schedule meetings & events

June 21 - 25, 2017

UUCGT is seeking members in good standing who would like to attend the UUA General Assembly in New Orleans in June as our delegates.
Delegates are expected to remain active members in the congregation.
Some scholarship money is available!  In addition to great workshops, worship and larger fellowship, delegates from UUCGT are asked to prepare, in conjunction with the Board of Trustees, for business meetings at which delegates represent the voice of our congregation on national issues. The packet  of materials will be available in advance.
If you are interested, please contact Rabbi Chava at (231) 947-3117; and visit  http://www.uua.org/ga  for more information.

FLASH articles are due by noon on Wednes days - p lease  send via email to office@uucgt.org

BEACON articles are due by the 25th of each month to

Thank you!
* * * * * * * * * * *
  UUCGT Financial Summary  as of March 31, 2017 - click  here

  Tuesday Community Lunch:  Every week for the past 25 years, UUCGT has provided a free lunch for anyone in the community who would like to come to Friends Church located at Fifth and Oak Streets in Traverse City.  For more information, call Mary Kiner at 231-935-3050, or email

  Holocaust Remembrance Day:  Sunday, April 23, 7:00pm, memorial service at Central United Methodist Church.  Light refreshments.

 P eople's Climate March:   Saturday, April  29, 12 noon-3:00pm
"To change everything, we need everyone" -  The Social Justice and Green Sanctuary Committees encourage you to participate in the March on Saturday, April 29.  March begins at the Open Space on Grandview Parkway, continues downtown and reconvenes at the Open Space.  The interconnected web of all life is at stake, here.  Let's march!  Contact Paula Jo Kemler or  Mary Van Valin

UU Men's Group:  Monday, May 1, 5:30pm, Minerva's.  Discussion of "Babbitt" by Sinclair Lewis with Mark Gustafson.  If time allows, further discussion on public/private education.

  UU Book Club:  Sunday, May 21, 2:00pm, " My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante.  Join us!

* * * * * * * * * * *
Local Community Needs

End Note....

"Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come."

FLASH articles are due by noon on Wednesday each week

UUCGT Office hours:   Mon day - Thursday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

(231) 947-3117       office@uucgt.org         www.uucgt.org


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Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Tradition of Christmas Caroling in the Ukraine

Dressing Up for Christmas Caroling

postmarked in 2010 with 5 Ukraine Stamps - one flowers, two red pictures, one of an animal figurine, then one that is preprinted on the back with this same picture for 100

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While many of the Ukrainian Christmas Eve customs are of a solemn nature, the custom of caroling is joyful and merry.

Caroling required extensive preparation. Each group had a leader. One member dressed as a goat. Another as a bag carrier, the collector of all the gifts people would give them. Yet another carried a six-pointed star attached to a long stick with a light in its center, which symbolized the Star of Bethlehem.

Caroling was not a simple singing of Christmas songs; it was more of a folk opera. The carolers first had to ask for permission to sing. If the answer was yes, they entered the house and sang carols for each member of the family, even for the smallest child. Sometimes they even performed slow ritualistic dances. They also had to present a short humorous skit involving the goat. The custom of the goat accompanying the carolers has its origin in the pagan times when the goat represented the god of fertility. The skit showed the goat dying and then being brought back to life. This also symbolized the death of Winter and the birth of Spring. The caroling always ended with short well-wishing poems, appropriately selected for each home.

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Christ's Crucifixion and Ascension into Heaven 3D Postcard

If you tilt the card up or down you see either Jesus on the cross, alone, or up in heaven with angels and many people looking up.

"So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God."  Mark 16:19

This is a 'Magic Motion Great Art' postcard
2 - Vue Collector Series from Visual Panographics, Inc.

unused, but has writing on it  and is from 1983

ONeal said...

Very nice. Perfect card choice for today.

9teen87 said...

:D But he didn't stay there long!! Hallelujah!


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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Whale Sharks

The mighty Whale Shark, the largest fish in the ocean, frequents the waters of Southern Belize

2009 Photography by Joel Parkey

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The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving filter feeding shark and the largest fish species still found alive today. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 meters (41.50 ft) and a weight of more than 21.5 metric tons (47,000 lb), and there are unconfirmed reports of considerably larger whale sharks. Claims of individuals over 14 meters (46 ft) long and weighing at least 30 metric tons (66,000 lb) are not uncommon.

The whale shark is found in tropical and warm oceans and lives in the open sea with a lifespan of about 70 years. Although whale sharks have very large mouths, as filter feeders they feed mainly, though not exclusively, on plankton, which are microscopic plants and animals. However, the BBC program Planet Earth filmed a whale shark feeding on a school of small fish. The same documentary showed footage of a whale shark timing its arrival to coincide with the mass spawning of fish shoals and feeding on the resultant clouds of eggs and sperm.

The species was distinguished in April 1828 after the harpooning of a 4.6 metres (15.1 ft) specimen in Table Bay, South Africa. Andrew Smith, a military doctor associated with British troops stationed in Cape Town, described it the following year. The name "whale shark" comes from the fish's physiology, being as large as some species of whales and also a filter feeder like many whale species.
- - -

Here is one more postcard ...

Pacific Ocean: Legazpi, Philippines.
A gentle giant, the biggest fish in the ocean is the whale shark.

Photo: Gavin Newman/Greenpeace - Planet Ocean

This unused card is from 2011.

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been kept pretty busy this year and a few days ago I was called for a class I love. Jane told me the teacher had requested me because I had done such a great job the last time. Well it was someone. I sort of know so I didn't take that as much(I had told her I would love to be requested). At the high school, Gail handed me my folder and smiled saying. "Special request." I smiled and nodded. When I got to the class several para's told me how happy they were I was there. They had told the teacher to request me. Now I felt better about the extra attention.
I do love that class, it's special ed and the kids are so unique. Each one of them makes me grin. I love to see and help them clean the cafeteria and listen to their stories. It's a great bunch of students.
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Friday, August 14, 2015

Juggling Blogging, Writing, and School all at the Same Time!!!!

Personally I haven't figure out my way yet because everything is a little new to me. Hold on though you will see something like that coming from me at a later date. For now I have a newly found twitter friend name Rachel.  Her blog is called Coffee&Calligraphy I spoke to her a few times on Twitter and she is so nice. I just got done reading some of her posts on her blog and its literally like one of the best blogs I read. Its full of life and its like talking to her in person. That is what I try to do in my posts. I'm getting a off topic now Rachel is going to be taking about this in this post. She was so kind to agreed to guest post talking about this subject, here she is.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Writing Update

Hi my lovely viewers so I haven't said anything about what I'm writing. All you guys really know is that I'm writing a book.  To be honest I haven't been writing as much as I wanted to. I just finish my summer classes. Then I go back to school in 21 days. That is why I start this back to school series for anyone mostly directed to bloggers. Any who I'm getting off topic, so I decided I would give you to a guys an idea where I am at in my writing process.

I will be talking about outlining your stories in some upcoming posts, but that doesn't work for me. Every time I try to start outlining I have scenes playing in my head. I did start to outline a  basic idea of a story that I think is really different, but I really wanted to do the story that I been wanting to do for the past two years and I will explain more about it soon.  I automatically stopped that story and put it to the side. Despite me not writing much the last time I checked I was 3000 words which is pretty great.  I'm so excited to jump back in it.

In all technicalities I started this story two years ago, but then I stopped. When I went to check it out a few weeks ago. I realize it was awful. It had way to much going on it wasn't working for me. I didn't see it going anyway and things got carry away. So when I went into this time I made sure it doesn't get to obscured.  For example the main love interest was a vampire and it had nothing to do with vampires then I brought another guy in it because I wanted to do the best love triangle ever. I decided that will be saved for another day.  I one of the lines in the book went, "Chose, chose, chose, you must choice" I have no clue why this is here and it makes me cringe so much it isn't funny. I'm on the right track now.

I do know where I want it to go I really want it to be three books because that is as much as I think the story and this world can go for. I have and idea for the ending that is so unpredictable for the first book that will blow people away. Then I have the rough idea for book two. Book three is a little too far for me to think of. Who knows anything can change at the moment.  I already have to beta readers. One is my best friend then the other is a close friend.

Before you guys start think hey its not good to have friends edit your book or read it because they won't criticize you. My best friend is like the brutally honest person out there and she is also a grammar nazis. My other friend loves my writing.  Both of them support me and know I can succeed at anything I do I just have to put my mind to it.

Off topic again, wow twice in one in post. Must be a scatterbrain today. If you guys are writing comment below on your word count. If there is something special you guys want to see then let me know and I will get to it. Thanks for visiting and I hope you come back again.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Character Connection

Remember my post Starting Your Character? Well this is all about the connection that he or she has to the story. When writing every character has a purpose. As reader I try to figure out how everything will tie together before the ending of the book. You don't want to just place a random character in your book that does nothing. I never really thought much about the connection a character has until I watch a video on YouTube about it. I guess the fact that I have been reading for a very long time that everything came natural, but once you start to think about it everything makes sense. To make it easy look at like watching a movie or a t.v show.

The main character of the show is the most important by far. Everything about his or her past affects them today which will cause things to happen in the story. The reason they act uptight is because something probably happen in their past. There has to be something that connects the character to everything in the story. For example if it is the Villain of the story why does the villain hate them and want them dead? Most likely he or she is in the way of the Villain preventing them from getting them what they want.

So we just discussed how the villain and main character are connected. The love interest of the story will have some sort of connection to the plot and the main character. Whether if he or she is their next door neighbor or a friend of a friend's the choices are endless, but they will be connected. Something in their past will connect them to future self.

I can go on and on about connections to characters, but I would just be saying the same thing. I think this is an important second step into writing a character. This will make them feel real.  As a writer you have to think about it. I will get into more detail about the backgrounds of the characters in another post because this is third step into having a character. For me this is the hardest. Please watch the videos in my last post about Starting Your Character because my ideas flow with theirs and they sparked these posts.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Back To School With Me

You guys are probably wondering what does this have to do with writing. This little series of posts are to show you school tips and organization tips to make life easier. If life is easier then writing will become easier. My sense of logic is if everything is laid in away where you know what you need to do then everything will click and flow much easier. I will be posting something school related or just life related every week. I have some really cool posts planned for this as well as some writing posts coming your way. I want to start to say school is my one of favorite things and watching hauls,
tips, and organization videos get a little boring because it is all the same. I'm always trying to find blogs or articles about this, but I haven't found it. So I'm going to be putting it out there for everyone to see. My main goal of this series is to help regular students or students who are bloggers and that are juggling a lot on their plates. If you guys have suggestions on topics please comment them or tweet me @OnceUpo15467743.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Starting Your Characters

    For me this is the hardest part of writing is coming up with the characters.  After all they are one of the most important part of the story. Without characters we wouldn't have a plot, a story. I'm more of a person who has tons of ideas just not characters. The hardest part for me is making them seem like an actual person. Making them easy to relate to. I see in so many young adult fiction the characters are perfect and aren't easy to relate to. When I'm coming up with characters I want to make sure I don't make those same mistakes. I want them to be real.   I will be doing a number of posts talking about making characters in this post I will be discussing the forming of them. A disclaimer I'm not a professional I'm in the very beginning of writing my book and I have no clue where it would take me. Let's get to it.

     Everyone says they need a voice separate from your own. That you need to know them as well as your best friend. I will be linking the two people who I found the most helpful during this process. A lot of the things I say may come up off of what they say and they might be different. After all everyone has a different way of doing things. Of course they are right they need a voice and you need to know everything about them. The very first thing I do is write down what I want each character to be like. I did this twice so far and they have evolved into something amazing.

   Depending on your story idea the characters will be different. You will want something out of them. The list doesn't have to be perfect because you are writing down ideas and thoughts. For example mine are more of a person than they were when I start. Heck I added more characters to the mix. This was one of the easiest things I did. In the end you have a rough idea what they are going to be like which is one step in getting your book done.  There is still tons of things you have to in order to make the character work. If you know your character really well he or she will become a baby to you. You will feel for them just like you do with a best friend and that's my goal.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

         Hello and welcome to My Little Writing Corner my name is Cheyenne and I run a book review blog called Once Upon A Time A Review. I feel there is a lot of people who want to become author and they don't know where to go or how to get there.  I'm hoping maybe some of you will see my story and take what I'm doing and use it to your situation. I am far from being a professional writer. You could say I'm a newbie. I don't know where this blog will take or where my writing either, but I'm going to try to make the best out of it.


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Category: Integer Operations

First Week of School Ideas and Resources Part 3

I have been busy creating back to school resources (and other resources) for the last few weeks. In fact, I have spent almost all of my time behind my laptop working. Hopefully some of these resources will help you out. I wish everyone a successful back to school, which will help set the tone for a……

Excited about Adobe Captivate: Triangle Race to the Top

I have been working with a new (to me) program called Adobe Captivate.  My colleague discovered the program while searching for something completely unrelated online.  Since then, we have discovered that is an AMAZING program with infinite capabilities.   We use Captivate to make interactive activities including video lesson components.  If you are interested in trying the……

Linear Equations Worksheet – Create a Table of Values and Graph

Go to the free downloads page, to download as a .pdf


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Monday, July 2, 2007

This is my first cake done with Rolled Butter cream. The bride
(a friend I work with) doesn't like the taste of fondant but wanted me to get her the look of it!
Well let me tell you..... that is about the hardest stuff I have ever worked with!
I loved the outcome of this one. It has definitely jump started my enthusiasm to work hard and create lots more.
The wedding was all lime green and black! I was very nervous about the color I had chosen for the icing but that went away the second i took the cake in to set it up. The wedding was beautiful!
Kamee you were a beautiful bride!

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Sunday, July 5, 2009

New IQ pattern images

Some of you have asked lately if I have pictures online of the patterns I have available with the Intelliquilter. I've attempted that this weekend. Here on my blog you should find pictures of all the current over-all patterns. You can look at the categories on the right-hand side bar in the blog- you should see categories like "IQ Patterns- Floral" or "IQ Patterns- Geometric", and click on those links. It should bring you directly to the post with those pattern images. Keep in mind that these pictures are not all at the same scale, and can be sized bigger or smaller when it comes to actually quilting it out.
I hope this helps you pick out the pattern you'd like on your next quilt. I am often adding new ones, and will try my best to keep it updated. Let me know if there is a certain kind of pattern that you'd like, but don't see here, and I'll be glad to see what I can do to find one.

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Monday, August 16, 2010

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Gary Shteyngart is the new American satirist. I plan to use sections of this crazy, funny, cautionary novel opposite Brave New World in AP English this winter. It is a super entertaining and pretty spot-on depiction of modern relationships, politics, economic disaster and obsession with technology.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman

A wedding night tragedy opens this novel which follows the lives of the family members of the bride and groom through the next four summers. For some reason, none of the characters really won my sincere support. Waldman is the wife of novelist Michael Chabon.

Monday, August 09, 2010

Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes

Wow! This one may win the prize for the book that kept me up the latest on a summer night turning pages to find out how Vanderbes' Thanksgiving day tragedy would finally end. The Olson family has plenty of issues - unmarried daughter Ginny's recently adopted, mute Indian child, son Douglas's strained relationship with his wife Denise, and the unspoken wounds in the marriage of the parents, Eleanor (the perfectionist) and Gavin (the Vietnam war-scarred quiet man). Mix in a malfunctioning oven, two angry teenager burglars, and a heavy serving of mayhem with dessert and you have a shockingly violent novel that somehow also had me snickering.

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

The New England Vacation Blog

Our Vacation Blog
Just back from 2 weeks and 2,700 miles of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, including visits to several Robert Frost sites and a search through Cornish, New Hampshire for evidence of the late great J.D. Salinger.

The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

I wanted this novel to have more connection to cookbooks and less concern with dot-com-computer-tech-post-9/11. Half of the storyline is about one of two sisters - Emily who is the CEO of a start up silicon valley company and Jess who works for an eccentric used book collector. Goodman tries to do too much and I would much rather have had the book focus on Jess's storyline - especially with the lovely cover which is what initially caught my eye.

Monday, August 02, 2010

Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls

Our August book club selection was this fictionalization of the biography of Jeanette Walls' maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. I am a big fan of Walls' memoir The Glass Castle, and for readers who wondered, as I did, how her parents could have ever become such risk-takers, this novel, at least, fills in the details on her mother's side. Rose Mary, Jeanette's mother, was raised by a renegade horse-breaker, school teacher, no-nonsense ranch wife. We listened to this book on audio tape driving home from Vermont and Jeanette Wall's own reading made it even more enjoyable. I'm looking forward to talking about the book with my daughter who is about to finish The Glass Castle as part of her summer reading for Honor English 11.


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Mothers Day Waterfall Folio

Mothers Day Waterfall Folio

Today I want to share a quick project I created for Mothers Day. I love this little waterfall folio project. I used the Echo Park Dearest Collection Mini Theme Kit. These mini theme kits work great for this type of project!

YouTube link

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9 Responses »

  1. I love all of your projects that your post. I was wonder what punch you use for the corners of your flaps and inserts. I think it just adds to much more to the project than plain rounded corners.
    Thank you

  2. Great Folio….love the inside pockets, that’s probably my fav !

    Love the paper collection! Super job on the front cover as usual!

  3. Ginger – I just love the waterfall folio. I created one, using scor tape – but it isn’t sticking. The entire waterfall section has fallen off. Should I try hot glue?

  4. Hi Ginger! I took a class from you a year or so ago at your sister’s house in Medical Lake, which was great. Come back! I love your You Tube channel and blog. Such great work.

    I was wondering if you have a list of measurements for all of the pieces for this project. I think it would be such a fun project to make.

    • I already have a tutorial on my channel fo how to create the waterfall folio. I’m in Medical Lake this weekend for a national Scrapbooking a Day! You should come join us!

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Monday, 20 October 2008

My whole life, I’ve been accused of being too serious. I confess this is umm, probably, mostly ... okay, okay … it’s totally true. My kids have lightened me up considerably. However, I am still very serious about lots of things. I’m fiercely loyal, have an obsession with social justice, and am compulsive about seeking out whether or not the people I know or come into contact with have any substance.

I’ve been accused of being aloof and that’s probably fair. I like to observe people before committing to as much as a conversation. I’m not a grocery-line talker or a ladies fitting-room chit chatter. I can be charming, but I’m really not good at frivolity. And Stepford is nothing if not frivolous.

Okay, so it’s through this lens of substance-seeking that I view the world. It has shaped my love-hate relationship with Stepford and created the environment where I can count on one hand the number of people whom I actually call my friends. There are lots more people who I’m friendly with, but when I says friends, I mean someone I would actually wake up in the middle of the night if I needed something and who I wouldn’t curse if they called and woke me up. It is also the lens through which I view Sarah Palin. Hmmm … it has been a less than flattering lens to use on her.

My reaction to her surprised even me. It was immediate, harsh, and unyielding. I was, for lack of a more eloquent word, revolted. Now, my rational brain told me that this was ridiculous, that I shouldn’t feel any worse about her than I do, say Dick Cheney … or George Bush. My rational brain also told me that my overreaction to Palin should be telling me something about myself. Hmmm … now this is getting interesting. I love introspection. So for the last seven weeks while I’ve been ranting, raving, and throwing what we call in Texas a “hissy fit” about Palin, my brain has been working over time trying to put my finger on exactly what it is about Palin, besides the obvious, that has nearly made me lose my mind.

As with most things in my life that I over analyze, the answer felt tantalizingly close, on the tip of my tongue, my fingers brushing against it as I reached out to grab it, a dream that faded from my memory quickly upon awakening, a familiar face I just couldn’t place. Until … Saturday night. I hadn’t planned on watching Palin on Saturday Night Live. However, my husband really wanted to see it, so I watched. The opening segment elicited nothing more than an eye-roll from me as Alec Baldwin told Palin, “You’re so much hotter in person.” Seriously, can we pleeeease stop talking about how “hot” the potential Vice-President is? Can we not show a little respect at least for the office? At this point, my husband fell asleep and I went back to my book.

Then the Weekend Update began and I once again turned my attention to the television. Palin feigned changing her mind about the rap she had planned to do and Amy Poeler agreed to step in. Poeler then began her rap about Alaska. And then it happened … the camera cutting to Palin as Poeler rapped … Palin dancing in her seat, raising the roof, giving an “Ayers” to Poeler’s “Obama” … and the allusiveness of my outrage revealed itself as nothing more than this—familiarity. Oh yes, no doubt, Palin’s deficits in education and experience, her out of touch policy stances, her dialect, all that still bothers me … would be enough on its own to make me speak out against her. But what was making me lose my ever loving mind was the surface-level similarities between us.

Her age, her brunette hair, her goateed husband, her children, her clothes … her SUV … all of it was just too much like me. EXCEPT … I can’t find any substance. I keep looking and I don’t see it. And for me, there would be nothing worse than looking in the mirror and seeing no substance beyond the hair and makeup … looking in the mirror and seeing nothing more than an average everyday Stepford Wife. So, has my objective opinion of Palin changed? No, not a bit. But now that I’ve located the source of my revulsion, I can relax, content in the knowledge that just because I think Palin is all hat and no cattle, I am under no obligation to be the same.

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Friday, 17 January 2014

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Statement of Intent & Proposal

Dissertation Statement of Intent - Outline the subject area of my dissertation and what research I will carry out.

Dissertation Practical Element - Proposal

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Evaluation

This module has been really interesting for me, from the start I was nervous about writing the dissertation as this isn't my strongest point. In knowing this I started researching very earlier and started to write my dissertation early from the start. By doing this I felt that I could take my time in writing it and make sure that it was as good as it could be. It also helped that the subject area that I choose, I was really interesting in and by doing the research and looking into the subject further it made me more interested in it. This definitely surged me on to write the dissertation more and the further I got into writing it, the better it became.

I feel that the dissertation was managed well and by doing this it left me a lot of time in order to create the practical side of the module. Along with the dissertation I conducted many interviews, these were a mixture of emails and face to face. This was great for me to do and get professional designers thoughts on the subject which I could use within my dissertation as primary research and to make it a stronger argument.

By writing the dissertation on the subject that I choose, it was directly linked to my own practice and this has influenced my own practice from researching and developing techniques I have discussed throughout it. I feel that in doing this, it will improve the practical side of the module, but also improve my whole practice in future.

The practical side of the module was harder for me to start off with, getting an idea that opened the same inquiry that my dissertation did was key to creating a synthesised project. After finally coming up with the idea, I could get on with it and start to create the brief. I was pretty excited to get involved in this project as again it was focussed on the area of design that I most interested in - print and editorial design. Along with this, I also included web design, which is something that I enjoy doing, but felt that I needed to improve on it. By designing the website first and quite early on, again I could take more time over it and produce a website that I am happy with. Throughout designing this I focussed on creating the website in a manor so it could transferred to a publication and print design. This needed to happen as it was the main concept and communication of the whole project.

Once the website had been created, I was back into my comfort zone and creating the publication. To push this further I focussed on the design layout and how I could make it more interactive for the user, these were all topic that were covered within my dissertation and needed to be put into practice for this project. The final aesthetic of the publication is how I imagined it and what I wanted to achieve with it, by using high quality stock in different weights and colour the publication is much more engaging. The use of the trace throughout makes it more interesting when reading through, but also improves the communication of the product as this shows the design of the website, which overlays the coding on the page below. This shows the direct correlation of the website design and the print design showing how digital can be turned into a piece of print. This was the essence of the project and the publication delivers on this aspect well.

The publication was the main communication of the project and put everything discussed within my dissertation into practice. The only thing I could do, was print it in the way I wanted to. Originally I wanted to screen print the whole publication, as this would physically show the website as true print. As I choose to use a large format for the publication, this would of incurred a high cost to print the publication. As this was only a one off publication, it wasn't worth the amount of money and time it would of taken me to print it, in this way. As this was the way in which the project was being communicated as print and showing the idea of print vs digital, I still wanted to have some of printed product to show this. I needed to come up with another idea of what I could screen-print and still be of value to the project and work alongside the publication. Deciding on creating a book sleeve / poster was the best thing for this. The book sleeve slides over the front cover of publication and directly shows the difference between print and digital print of the publication. When this is removed from the publication and unfolded, it reveals a poster. The content of the poster is the same as the publication, so this is showing how the same content can be put into different contexts, but communicate the same idea. The poster works in way of advertising the publication and communicating the idea of what the publication is. The same colours and stock are used to create a consistent design throughout the two products and make them be seen as a set of products that work together.

Overall I am very happy with this module. By taking my time in both the written element and the practical I feel that I have produced high quality work that is presented well. I think the two elements to this project are directly synthesised and this was a result of researching early and being focussed on a subject matter that I was interested in. I think this module has shown me that I can write a piece of theorised work and also link it to a practical project, which is probably the strongest project I have designed so far this year. The concept, execution and communication of the practical element, I believe is the best I have achieved so far and this is because the idea was there from the beginning, it just took time to realise how to design it and communicate it in the right format.

Thursday, 16 January 2014

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Presentation Boards

To show how the practical element of my dissertation links to the written element, I have created some presentation that explain the brief, concept and rationale of this part of the dissertation module.

These presentation boards also include the designs of the website, which was the first designed component of the brief and the content of the publication. The website will be submitted on a CD alongside the publication.

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Final Product Images

The final products for this project is the publication with the book sleeve. There is also the website, which I have burned onto a CD to submit.

I am really happy with the outcome of the publication and the screen printed book sleeve / poster. I think this does put into practice all the ideas and theory that was discussed throughout my dissertation. It has been a good opportunity to work on a project which is very self directed and working on a subject area that I am very interested in within the industry.

I think I achieved the bespoke / high quality publication that I set out to create, the final aesthetic and design of the publication is really good, the idea and concept of how the publication works by having the trace overlays within it make it a much stronger product and communicate the whole idea of it to the user. I am happy with the format and the stock used, which concludes with this very tactile, interactive publication that has a very intriguing aesthetic that makes you want to go and explore it.

Here are images of the publication:

Here are images of the book sleeve / poster:

These images show how the poster folds up to create the book sleeve for the front cover:

The following images are all the images taken of the final products:

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Rationale

My dissertation looks at the effect that digital design is having on print and discusses wether the medium of print is still relevant within our digital age. By researching throughout the time of doing my dissertation, I was able to create a balanced argument for both sides, I found that print is still relevant within the industry and that at the moment it is making a come back as printing techniques such as letterpress and screen printing have become a lot more popular and being used again. A second finding was that companies that focus on publishing are using both print and digital design together in order to create a strong business plan and in essence create a product that is much more effective and one that can reach more people within the world.

Taking this factor into account, I wanted my practical element to open the same enquiry as my dissertation has. In order to achieve this I have focussed on the idea of print and web working together.

One subject that I have discussed within my dissertation is that print has seen a decline in the large print runs and it is now much more focussed on the quality of the product. This has created a surge in high quality and bespoke designed publications, this has also lead to more independent publications being released.

Within the design industry technology has changed publishing and recently magazines and publication have turned digital. This has taken the original printed publication and replicated it to create a digital product. On the other hand, you don't often see a digital product being translated and created into a printed product. I found this idea really interesting and thinking how a website could basically be printed and still communicate the same idea really intrigued me. This was the direction and creation of my practical element.

The basis of the project will be a website - the digital product. I will design, create and code a website that is for myself, this will carry my own branding and showcase my work. The website will be a simple design so that the focus is on the imagery of my work. By doing this it will hopefully make it easier to translate the design of the website to the printed page.

The publication will be directly influenced by the website, the layout of each page within it will create the layout of the pages within the publication. In order to communicate the translation of the website to the publication, I will include the website pages on a translucent stock to over lay the pages that corresponds to it. This will show how the website design has influenced the layout of the printed publication.

Elements within the publication such as the typeface will take representation of a digital nature and how the coding of a website aesthetically looks. This will carry through to the page formatting. The format of the publication is going to be A2. I have choose to use a large format as the tactility of a publication is the essence of it, making it large format, physically means the user is interacting with it. The stock of the publication will be GFSmith stock, the stock colours are that of my branding, orange, grey and off white, these will be used in various weights to represent the importance of pages of the websites.

The whole idea and communication of the practical element is to show that digital design can take on the characteristics of a printed publication. We see digital design as a external product, because it lives on a screen, you never to get physically hold the product or own it. The use of printing techniques, page formats and stock will show the user how texture, ink and stock can influence how you interact and understand a product. This is making a digital product be as tactile as print and essentially hold the same aura that print does.

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Final Publication

This is the final publication, which includes all the pages. This doesn't represent the what the finished publication will look like because pages within it are printed onto different stocks. Also the book doesn't run as a double sided publication. But here you can see the full design of it and see how it is consistent throughout and displays the aesthetic of digital web coding.

Below are some closer views of the different sections within the publication.
Front cover. Displaying the title and showing the first incline of the web coding throughout the publication.

Introduction. This uses part of the introduction form my dissertation to explain the idea behind the concept of the publication. It explains what the publication is there to achieve.

Stylesheet. Displaying the stylesheet at the beginning of the publication because this is applicable to all pages within the publication. It is the style for them all.

The header is also something that is present on all pages of the website, so having this at the beginning of the publication displays it for every page.

Navigation page, this is taken from the website, the aesthetic is that of a link on a webpage. By highlighting one of the 'buttons' in black this shows which pages/chapter is next in the publication.

Main pages of the website, these will be printed on trace, so it shows through the coding that is printed beneath. The idea is that this design will line up with the coding of each section below, to show how the printed version relates to the digital version.

Coding from the website. This relates directly to the layout of the website.

Project pages. These are slightly different to the main pages as there is more information on the page, which means the layout of the code is different. Again printing on trace will allow the design to be seen through and display the code printed below.

Coding for the page above.

The about page, shows how the four column layout is put to use.

This is evident in the coding of the page also. Which by having the page above printed on trace, this will be seen by the user that they both relate to each other.

Again the contact page uses the same four column layout which is clearly seen within the design.

Transferring this to a printed page, shows that digital can be turned into print and be laid out in a legible fashion.

The final section is the website archive. As a website is all collected into one folder, which holds all the files, I thought it would be necessary to show this within the publication. This links to all the pages within the publication as they all use the files within this archive.

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Paper stock

Within my dissertation I have spoke how the use of stock within a publication can create a better product and create a better experience for the user of the product. In order to do this, I have used GFSmith stock in various weights and colours.

As the website is for myself, I have used my own branding throughout it. To show the translation of digital to print, I have therefore used stock colours that are of my own branding. These include Mandarin, Pale Grey and Mist ( off white ).

Along with using stock colours I have also decided on uses different weights of stock. This is to replicate the idea of how the pages of the website are within a hierarchy. With the website the main pages are the home page and project pages, these are the ones which I believe will be viewed the most, because of the content of these. But along with these the about and contact page are pretty important too, so I have decided that these pages should be a stock a heavier stock weight and have chosen 175gsm. The pale grey will be used within the publication for the pages that include content, but the content that isnt as important e.g. contents, introduction etc. These will again be in 175gsm. The final stock Mist will be used for the navigation pages. These pages replicate the idea of the navigation within a website, by using the aesthetics of 'buttons' this communicates the idea of a website throughout the printed publication.

Mandarin Stock

Pale Grey Stock

Mist Stock

All Stock

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Interviews

For part of my research and content for quotes within my dissertation, I have carried out a number of interviews with different designers within the industry. For these I have chosen designers from both digital and print backgrounds, this will not only give me information for the content of my dissertation, but it will give me an insight into what professionals within the industry think about my subject matter.

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // CD Case

I am creating a CD case to house the CD which will have the website burned to it. This is to make it fit consistently with the rest of the products I have designed. In order to make it fit in more with the idea of bespoke and high quality design, I have designed the case to be a little different in how it opens and holds the CD. This agin ties in with my dissertation and making the print be more interactive.

Net of the cd case. As you can see the net is of a different shape. The triangular shape to the bottom of the net, folds inwards to close around the actual CD, this won't be attached, but keeps it enclosed together. This again is to create the idea of interaction and unfolding the paper to reveal the cd.

Text on the front of the cd case. The text on the CD case is similar to that of the publication front cover.  By using the website coding within the text it communicates that the product is to do with digital design. This also carries through the digital design aesthetic and makes it consistent with the rest of the products.

Front cover of the cd case. By using the mandarin stock, this keeps the product consistent with the publication and other products created.

Title and description of the digital component.

The cover folds over the top and around the back to create the folded case. When it opens the net is folded inwards to create an enclosure around the cd and hold it within the case.

Close up of the enclosure for the CD.

The user will simply fold back the card to open it and get hold of the CD. As you can see the CD is attached by elastic bands to a piece of mount board. The CD can easily be taken out from this by sliding it out from under the elastic bands. This again is for aesthetic purposes, but it does also make sure that the CD stays within the case and isn't left loose. The mount board also strengthens the CD case.

Thursday, 9 January 2014

OUGD601 // Dissertation // Practical // Binding

The binding for the publication is going to be kept really simple. The front cover will open fully and leave an exposed bound edge. This allows for the pages of the publication to be opened fully, so the user can see the full design on the page, as the pages are A2 format this is necessary.

Similar to this publication. You can see that the inside pages of the publication have been bound on the left edge, with binding tape covering this. The front cover then folds around this bound edge to close, but it will open flat, so that the rest of the book pages can be opened fully.

Dependant on the number of pages that the publication ends up being, depends on how I will bind the publication. If it is possible I will bind the publication simply by using staples, if there is too many pages to do this, then I will perfect bind the publication. In both cases once the publication has been bound using either of these techniques, I will place binding tape over the bound edge. This will finish and present the publication with a bespoke style to it and make the whole thing higher quality.

The binding tape that I have bought to do this is a grey cloth textured tape. This is 5cm wide so it will fit around the pages and leave a good amount of tape on each side of the page.

As you can see in this image, the binding tape has a nice texture to it. This will add to the overall aesthetic of the publication and add more depth and texture mixed with the stocks to create a high quality bespoke publication.