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“Reality” TV and Young Love

Two children kissing on the cheekNo management advice here. There aren’t any parallels to the tightrope you will walk as your young one falls into, and out of crushes, infatuations, and eventually true feelings for another person.

When they are young and have their first young love, you feel such a tug at your heartstrings because their love is so pure and innocent (and sometimes filled with punches in the arm depending on the age at which Cupid appears on the scene). You don’t really know what to say to them until it is over and they are mad or sad and you need to fill the comfort role.

Daughter 2 had romance in her life from a very early age. She had that mysterious “it” factor that makes little boys fall head over heels by the time they are three and in preschool, she married her steady beau from time to time. His Mom told me that he asked his Dad if he had ever dated anyone else before he married his Mom. His Dad answered truthfully. “Yes, I did.” This earnest little guy looked up at him and asked, “But do you HAVE to?” Priceless.

Middle school came along and a funny thing happened with many of the boys.

My friends with sons told me that they would come home and say, “Mom, I have a girlfriend.” But then when my friends would press for details; no luck. A week later their son would casually mention that he had broken up. My friends felt like they had missed something important!

One friend put it best when she said, “At this age, the girls start the relationship, they maintain it and they break it off. The boys just stand there and scratching their heads and thinking, Wait..there was a relationship?”

Society places such pressure on young girls and boys to live up to unrealistic physical ideals. Girls are required to be skinny, beautiful and perfectly made up at all times. Boys are required to be tall,  muscular, athletic and have perfect hair. In what universe do teenagers really fit these paradigms of perfection? Meanwhile, because reality means that they don’t fit those paradigms, they will often blame that imperfection for a relationship or attraction failure. All you can do as a parent is keep reassuring them and letting them know that it is a fantasy.

We must make our children questioning consumers of both goods…and emotions.

Reality TV rears its ugly head so fast these days, and your only defense is a good offense. If you suspect your child is watching these shows somewhere besides home, try watching them with him and discuss them if you can. Keep it light. “So how realistic is it that someone would say that?” “Why do you think she would do something like that? Could it be in the script?” We made short work of some pretty scuzzy stuff this way but there is no escaping it all. Your kids will need to hear your voice in the back of their heads, encouraging them to question what is real and what is scripted in what they see.

I think that shows like “The Hills,” “The Real Housewives of Wherever,” etc. have hyper-dramatized relationships to the point where a lot of young people feel that if there isn’t something extremely dramatic going on in THEIR relationship (regardless of how healthy and constructive it may be), they must not be doing it right. After all, it just doesn’t seem as exciting as what they are seeing on their favorite shows.

We have talked about it in our family and emphasized how totally unrealistic these shows are, as opposed to real relationships. But you know what? You have to know about these shows in order to talk about them, and that requires sitting down and occasionally watching something you may find truly heinous with your child. My eyes may never be the same, but at least they know I usually know what I am talking about.

High school is where your kids’ relationships can get intense, secretive, sometimes dangerous or abusive. You would be amazed at how much dysfunction exists in an everyday suburban high school, and so your antenna has to be very sensitiveAbuse can take many forms and boys are just as subject to emotional abuse as girls; believe it or not.

Suspect a relationship in your teen’s life may be going down the wrong path? Contact the school counselor and see if there is a support group at your campus. Texas Advocacy Project has a great resource page that can educate and help you. Teen Justice Initiative

Think you have had the sex talk?…Statistics say that most things don’t sink in unless we have heard it at least six times. Assorted ways from various sources are very effective, but you are the strongest authority of all.

Keep talking with other parents and with your child, because although they may seem like young adults, high school is when they need your strong leadership more than ever. There are so many temptations, pressures and really frightening things ahead (SATs, college, the unknown future) and YOU are the only constant. Keep letting them make as many decisions as you can, based on your Emotional Bank Account and the trust they have built up with you, and applying consequences if or when your trust is misused.

There may be rough times ahead, but you will get through it with knowledge, love, consistency and communication.

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What a week

04 Nov

This having been the week of Halloween… and the candy binge afterwards, has led to an opening of the flood gates. Start with some chocolate and before you know it you are eating week old pizza and craving cake. Therefore today’s idiom is about cake! Yay!

Bułka z masłem.
A roll with butter. (A piece of cake.)

I do not understand what is easy about a roll with butter. Or a slice of cake for that matter. Both involve a fair bit of effort, from spreading the butter to cutting the cake. Or maybe I am just that lazy?

What is so easy about this?!

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Posted by on November 4, 2011 in Polski Piątek

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the one where i moved far, far away

so i’m here! tuesday marks two weeks in the queen city. here are the last few weeks in (iphone) pictures.

i was sent off by the girlies in STYLE.

Mad Dog came to town (old town, to be specific) and in between navigating an enormous yellow truck on 495, we managed some lovely evenings.

Chart House

Jackson 20

Mad Dog and Manfriend GRACIOUSLY took the time to drive my self and my stuff all the way down here.

my poor attempt at documenting our entrance into NC. i took a lot of naps.

we’re heeeeeeeere!

that low building in the front is the NASCAR Hall of Fame. WHO'S YER DRIVER?!

After a looong day of unpacking (I use that word loosely. Mostly men moving my boxes around.), we celebrated the best way 3 Irish Catholics know how.

I think the bartender had a crush on Mad Dog. That’s all scotch.

The next day, Mad Dog used his 6th man-sense to guide us to Big Bird’s final resting spot.

After a delicious $4 lunch (!!), Mad Dog used his 7th sense to seek out….BOOZE.

You can buy beer and wine at gas stations and Target, but for liiiiiicker, you must enter a compound run by un-friendly ex-marine ABC agents.

The kind, patient gentlemen hung my girly curtains while I uncovered tools essential to my culinary education.

but only until the clock struck scotch-thirty.

Mad Dog drove off into the sunset to go visit my tremendously talented cousins in Asheville, and a few days later I said a temporary (but tearful) goodbye to Manfriend…and I was alone and unleashed on the Queen City. First things first: I went to Target and Trader Joe’s (suburbia!!). Then I got in the kitchen, to whip up a creature comfort: granola.

My old oven ran 25-50 degrees cold. This one does NOT.

I hung a picture of my patron saint, Chili Pepper Cat, and hoped next time he would guide me.

And, low and behold, the next venture turned out much better.

forget to buy flour? flourless peanut butter cookies to the rescue! (with TJ mini PB cups to boot)

Chili Pepper Cat also guided me–to a job! I start tomorrow. It’s a super cute (there are twinkle lights involved) restaurant/bar a few blocks from the football stadium.  There is cold beer, turkey legs, and no polyester suits for miles.

Speaking of poultry legs, Manfriend visited again this weekend and we inaugurated the kitchen properly. Balti Chicken, oven-roasted potatoes, and broccoli.

And here we are! I promise monster posts like these won’t become the norm. Especially if y’all come visit!

8 responses

  1. You don’t see it in the photo but there are a few small tears behind those sunglasses. It was kinda tough parting with my big yellow truck!

    Mad Dog

  2. Pingback: How To Lead Worship in 3 Easy Steps | Six String Bass Guitars

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Posted by: Karlee A. Turner | June 9, 2014

9th June 1860

Mary Brewster did not make a journal entry for this date in 1849. Mary Brewster’s remaining journal entries for this month were made for June 15, 17; 21-27; 29-30.

Mary Lawrence, [Sat.] June 9 [1860]: “A gale of wind from the northwest, directly ahead, sprang up about 6 A.M. after being calm all night. We had a great deal of lightning last night, but a little thunder. We were very much favored in that respect, as they often have very severe tempests in the Gulf Stream, I never saw such lightning before. The flashes would extend almost entirely around the horizon. This wind puts us all down. It changes the course of our proceedings altogether. Instead of being in New Bedford Saturday or Sunday, we are likely to be here some time longer. This is a time to cultivate the virtue of patience. Made 55 miles on our course in twenty-four hours.”

  1. Your info on Lydia Landers’ voyage to Honolulu is welcome news to this local historian. Do you have info on ports of call of that 7th voyage of the Morgan, esp. birth of son at Guam 1865? I have some info on her early life. Prof. J.W.Gould, Cotuit Historian

    • Good Evening J.W. Gould:

      Thanks for your email regarding Lydia Landers. You requested information about the CWM 7th Voyage; what or how much information would you like? I have selected entries from the First Officer’s (Charles Chace) private journal (also available online at Mystic Seaport’s site), as well as partial entries from the CWM logbook for the voyage of 1864-1867 (not currently online). Additionally, I have numerous primary documents (ships’ passengers’ lists) regarding her trip from MA to HI. As far as the birth of her son at Guam, actually 1866 not 1865 (although I may have the 1865 date on my blog which was made BEFORE I completed my research Spring-Summer 2013). Unfortunately, unlike some whaling wives, Lydia (as far as I know) did not keep a journal while she was at sea, although given the large number of living descendants still in CT/MA area (I have been in touch with three; but they had very little information).

      I would be glad to share whatever I have with you. Much of the information is also part of a PowerPoint I have presented on Lydia Landers. Likewise, I would appreciate whatever you have regarding her early life, as I have very little about that part of her life.

      Karlee Turner

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One Hundred

Eight months ago I began an experiment: post a blog article every day for a month. I was bored, and a friend suggested it, and so I decided, what the heck, it couldn’t hurt. 45 days later, I had posted every single day. (Not bad for living without internet at home.) It was fun, it was challenging, and sometimes, it was tough. I wrote about theology, trips, ideas, poems, insights, movies I watched, and sometimes plain silly stuff.

Once I got back to school I ceased posting daily, but the practice has stuck with me. Blogging is a strange animal. You know me if you read this, but not really. Also, it is possible to read it and never engage with the writing, or any conversation. But something keeps me writing, and posting.

This is my one hundredth post. Ask my mother and she would say that she may have seen it coming, but it took me this long to begin to love writing. That really is it. I love to write. This practice will continue to help me refine my voice, and become a writer that others want to read.

But for now, I’ll keep practicing.

2 thoughts on “One Hundred”

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Football Food: Part 1

Those that know me well know that I am a huge football fan. And I’m loyal to my home state and the Minnesota Vikings, no matter how heartbreaking of a team they can be! Football season is one of the reasons I love fall. That and the beautiful colors from the changing leaves, and the craving for hearty comfort food. Football Sundays are the perfect excuse to indulge once a week! I’m going to highlight the football food we enjoyed for the first four weeks of this season. The middle of the season has been busy with weddings, traveling and house hunting. That and the fact that it’s been a terrible season for the Vikings has taken my focus away from football a little bit. But now that we are into November, it’s time to refocus! I plan to do a second post towards the end of the season with more football food ideas. In the meantime, here are weeks 1-4:

Week 1

The first week was a fabulous week for the Vikings! At the beginning of the season, people had high hopes for the Rams and low hopes for the Vikings, so when we beat the Rams on the road, it was very exciting to watch.

There is no better drink for football in my opinion (outside of beer) than a bloody mary. And when I make them, they are pretty much an appetizer and drink rolled into one. I love the fixings that go along with the drink! We enjoyed celery, bacon and a skewer of salami, cheese, pickles and olives. I think of it as an antipasti bloody mary and it’s a true combination of Italian and Midwestern!

Next I made baked jalapeno poppers. I stuffed the peppers with a mixture of cream cheese and shredded pepper-jack. I then rolled the stuffed peppers in flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs. I put them on a foil-lined baking sheet and baked them at 350 for about 30 minutes. They turned out beautifully crispy and gooey in the center. It was my first time attempting to make these at home and I can say they were a hit!

Lastly, we enjoyed a true Minnesota staple: cream of chicken and wild rice soup. This is probably a dish that I will make my own recipe for and post on the blog one day, but this time we had been given frozen, homemade soup from my mom. So we simply reheated and enjoyed her home-cooking. It is one of my absolute favorite soups and is so creamy and comforting!

Week 2

We went into week two cautiously optimistic. It was our home-opener against the New England Patriots. The Patriots really didn’t look very good in week 1, so we were hopeful we might actually have a chance of beating them. That hope didn’t last long as they beat us 30-7.

We enjoyed this week of football (in spite of the loss) up at Joe’s parents’ cabin near Ely, MN. I was going back to work a couple weeks later, so we decided to enjoy a long weekend at the cabin while we still had such a flexible schedule. When I ask Joe what his idea of football food is, he always answers with chili. So I made chili. I didn’t do anything earth-shattering here. I just chopped an onion and a red bell pepper and sauteed them while browning some beef. I then added canned tomatoes, canned beans and a packet of chili seasoning and then let it simmer so all of the flavors combined. It was extremely easy and turned out very delicious.

One of my favorite football foods is queso. I decided to make a homemade version that combines evaporated milk with shredded cheese that is tossed with cornstarch. I added a couple cans of drained Rotel and let it simmer until thick. The queso was delicious with chips….

…and we discovered it was delicious on top of the chili!

Week 3

The third week brought a loss from the Saints. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t even very fun to watch. But, Joe & I had fun stopping off at a restaurant along the road on our trip back from a weekend at a cabin up north with friends. The restaurant we chose was Rough-Cut Grill & Bar in Milaca, MN.

We wanted good football food, but didn’t want to be stuffed, so we decided to split an appetizer and a burger. Little did we know, the appetizer we ordered was enormous! It was fabulous football food. The appetizer was called Smokin’ Pork Fries and was a bed of french fries covered in pulled pork, chipotle barbecue sauce and ranch. Although certainly heavy, the fries were extremely delicious!

After packing up 75% of the Smokin’ Pork Fries to go, Joe and I split the mushroom and swiss burger. The burger was juicy and flavorful and was served on a tender ciabatta bun. It was a very good meal and I highly recommend stopping at Rough-Cut if you ever find yourself driving on highway 169 in central Minnesota!

Week 4

We got a glimmer of hope in the fourth week when we beat the Falcons 41-28. Unlike the couple weeks before, this was a fun game to watch. In addition to that actual food I like to enjoy while watching football, I love the company of other Vikings fans. This week I invited my immediate family over to enjoy the game and some food. I decided to have everyone bring some appetizers and I would supply a main dish.

The main dish I decided to make was Amy Thielen’s Booya-Pozole from her cookbook “The New Midwestern Table.” I always seem to make a couple modifications to a recipe these days, partly to simplify the process based on the ingredients I have available to me, and partly to put my own touch on a recipe. The main modifications I made this time was that I only used pork (the recipe calls for pork and chicken) and I smoked the pork on my Big Green Egg before adding it to the stew.

The smoked pork added a wonderfully smoky flavor to the broth. The other main modification I made to the recipe was that I pureed part of the broth with only the vegetables in it to make it a bit of a smoother/creamier soup. But this recipe is truly wonderful as it is. It takes some time to prepare, but it is so hearty and wonderful, it is well worth the effort. And I always make a huge pot and freeze some to enjoy later in the winter.

The spread my family brought was great. It ranged from guacamole to sushi to a sweet pumpkin dip for apples and gingersnaps. I had so much fun enjoying a Vikings win with my family!

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MTV Awards this Sunday! Let’s Vote!!

As a previous post from a while back indicates the MTV awards, and Rain being nominated… let’s all support him! Time’s running out! If you haven’t voted yet, then vote now! And if you have voted! VOTE AGAIN! I think it would really be great if he won! I want him to win! In fact, I usually don’t watch the MTV movie awards, but I’m going to watch this one! Rain’s role in “Ninja Assassin” was incredible. Of course his English wasn’t very good. But it was great compared to any other typical Korean who doesn’t know English, and it’s not his first language… But this is about the movie, the character he portrayed Rizu, I think he was perfect for it. He was very calm, and his action scenes were intense! So, I think he really deserves this award. (Biggest Bad-Ass Star)

To vote click the link below, that’s provided, and scroll down to “Biggest Bad – Ass Star” it should be in the the third column, on the left side! Let’s all support Rain! And we can prove that Asians can also have a career in America!

Rain oppa, FIGHTING! Even if you don’t win. I’m still proud of you! For being a Nominee!!!

Vote Here: 2010 MTV Award Nominees

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TOATM Update – July 20

First round of edits are back from my editor. I just got through three chapters in about an hour. I’d say it’s going pretty quick. Three chapters in one hour, 55 chapters total…somebody do the math for me, my brain’s had it for today.

The back cover blurb is just about finalized, which means in a couple days I can get everything submitted to my cover artist for him to get started. Yep, we’re getting that close. :)

TOATM is now up on Goodreads for anyone who wants to add it.

First Draft: Complete (160,627 words)
My revisions: First round complete, final round complete (161,377 words)
Professional editing: In progress
Formatting: Not started
Proofreading: Not started
Cover art: Not started

3 thoughts on “TOATM Update – July 20

      • Ha!
        It helps me to know, once I determine my ‘rate,’ how much longer the writing/revision will take.
        Knowing ~17 hours lets the writer be realistic–instead of staying up exhausted, she can know it’ll take 6 more 3-hour days.
        I’ll calculate for you anytime.

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Clintonville Sustainability Plan : Final Report

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Sustainable_Clintonville_Final_Report.pdf 7.882Mb PDF View/Open

Title: Clintonville Sustainability Plan : Final Report
Creators: Fout, Hannah; Landers, Sarah; Lundine, Mark; Shipman, Michael; Troy, Bridget; Anderson, Josh; Arroyo-Rodriguez, Angel; Hemingway, Jessica; Hnytka, Marc; Alecusan, Diane; Jilek, Jeff; Kraut, Ian; White, Jon; Beer, Angela; Craig, Kelan; Daniel, Elan; Linderud, Krista; White, Sarah
Contributors: Prof. Maria Manta Conroy
Issue Date: 2007-12
Description: This is part of a project submitted to fulfill the requirements of the course "City and Regional Planning 724 : Introduction to Planning for Sustainable Development", completed Fall Quarter of 2007 at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
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International Travel

Home > Individuals & Families > Health Insurance | Enroll in Coverage

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Examples of who International Travel plans are designed for include the following;

  • College students studying abroad
  • Foreign Business Travelers
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  • International vacationers
  • Individual or group missionaries
  • Relatives visiting from overseas
  • Recently arrived immigrants

Don’t let your medical coverage be an uncertainty. Travel with International Travel Insurance so you can spend more time enjoying your international experience and less time worrying about medical coverage. As Independent Brokers we offer several plans to select from. So plan your trip wisely and enroll in coverage by clicking here. You will be able to browse plans, benefits, pricing and enroll in the plan of your choice all on line. Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss any questions or concerns that you may have.


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Writing is the Art of Reality

I believe writing is the art of reality.Do you want your reader to read the same old boring story?

Writers paint in words. We use the world around us to create, and we create immense worlds. We aren’t constrained unless we let ourselves be constrained. We can take as much as we want, or as little, depending on the story that wants to be told.

We are in complete control. The only limitation is ourselves.

I was talking to a writer friend yesterday. There’s a person in her writing group who does not accept criticism of his work. Every word he writes is gold, every sentence glitters. In his mind he’s a writer, and everyone else, especially the reader, is always wrong.

I don’t have to spell out to you how toxic this is.

Earlier this week I followed a link to a writer’s published work. It was bad. The dialog was cringe-worthy. I honestly felt embarrassed for the writer.

How does stuff like that get past agents and editors? Seriously, how does it? So much for the vaunted gatekeepers.

But these are extreme examples. Most published writers are technically able to turn out a readable story. Readable, yes, but not memorable.

Or maybe the readers keep reading them because that’s the only option they have?

I have wrestled with this my entire life. I always try to challenge myself. If you follow this blog you know my peculiar philosophy. I’m not saying I am successful. I fail more often than I succeed, but I keep trying.

I love and respect writers who elevate their craft beyond the mundane. I like seeing genres grow out of their cliched roots and welcome new readers. That can’t happen unless writers are constantly challenging the status quo, however.

I don’t think I am alone in this. I believe most writers want to write well. I think they want to bring something new to the reader, and I believe the reader wants to be challenged and entertained.

But when writers take the safe path  everyone loses, and the genre is watered down.

Then again maybe I am wrong about every blasted thing we have talked about today. Maybe writing is not art. Maybe it’s only a method to shovel thoughts and ideas down to the reader. But I don’t believe that in my heart. I don’t believe most writers think that way about their craft, and I don’t believe readers think that way, either.

Meanwhile, a lot of people are getting published.

But, by comparison, I am seeing fewer writers in the process.

So my advice, FWIW, is take a chance. Stand out. Separate yourself from the pack.

Look, if all you want to do is get published, if that is your goal…well, anyone can do that. Nowadays it’s not difficult. But if you want to be a writer? That’s something else altogether. You will have to work to accomplish that goal.

Trust me. It’s worth it in the long run. You won’t always be successful and there are never any guarantees, especially in this ego-shattering profession. But when you are able to pull it off….man, is it ever worth it.

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To the USDA and back again

If you’ve been reading along, you’ll know that we are in the middle of a USDA Farm to School planning grant.  As part of this grant, representatives from each of the funded districts went to D.C. for a two-day conference last week.

Ashley, our consultant, me and Susi, Pathways Director in front of the US Department of Agriculture where our meeting was held

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan addressed our group at the Whitten Building.  In her remarks, she said three things I will remember.  One, everyone believes in the Farm to School concept:  kids get healthy food, and local economies are stimulated.  Two, despite the simplicity of the concept, the implementation is very difficult. (I just wrote about that here!)  Three, Farm to School is one of the things the USDA is truly excited about, having invested 4.5 million in this project this year alone. They told us repeatedly that as the first cohort of grant recipients, we are the ones pushing this movement forward, and they are looking forward to seeing what we do and how we do it.  We are grateful for their vision and support.

To equip us with tools, we had presentations on subjects such as promoting food safety, procuring local food, and marketing our programs.  It was great stuff—kudos to all of the staff who made this possible.

Our group is incredibly diverse.  A district with 200 students in South Dakota was represented (smaller than us!) as well as districts with dozens of schools and 50,000+ students .  We heard about efforts in sourcing local bison for burgers, introducing salad bars in a state that has never featured them before, and partnering with hometown NFL teams to promote good nutrition on campus. Some of our most valuable moments were chatting with our fellow grant recipients:  What are you doing? How are you doing it?  For example, we struck up a conversation with a group of folks during a break about school lunch vendors—turns out one of them is the star of the new documentary film “Cafeteria Man.”  (

We also got to do a few fun things like dine out at the ah-mazing “farm to table” restaurant Founding Farmers and have a private tour of the Food 1950-2000 exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

The exhibit, which includes Julia Child’s kitchen, has a long dining table in the middle of the room. On “Lazy Susans” running down the middle of the table, discussion questions and information was presented on the topic of “food pyramids” over time and across cultures. These topics will change, and next up is “school lunch.”

Our White House garden tour was cancelled (sequester!), and so I didn’t get the chance to ask Michelle out to coffee to talk about gardening, parenting, the challenge of being married to busy men, etc.  The upside was that I had some extra time to tack on a breakfast, stroll to the Mall and connect with dear D.C. friends.  Coming up next: the childrens’ garden at the National Botanic Gardens.

11 thoughts on “To the USDA and back again

  1. Way cool! Love it!! Perseverance, dear friend. That will be our mantra through our big and meaningful projects. We will help continue to make good things grow! The trip looked like a great one! So glad!!!

  2. exciting to read your reports! Thanks for sharing! Maybe DeAnn would enjoy the chat about being married to busy men…. Your blog did cross my mind as we built another planting box for DeAnn this weekend while she was at a retreat, and as we have just added 8 chickens to our growing garden here in Oregon. Hope you guys can visit again next time you pass through Portland. greetings to Kiwi & the boys! Joel

    • Thanks Joel! Your backyard space is so wonderful, I can only imagine how beautiful it is with additional raised beds and chickens too! We’d love to see you again, and you know you’re always welcome here.

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text:
Tuesday, December 12, 2006

The Christmas Tea

Well, the Christmas Tea is done. After all the ladies responded we were to be a party of five out of eight. Within an hour of our tea time, two ladies cancelled for different reasons. Needless to say, the three of us had plenty of food!

Here was my plan for the tea. The reality is listed in red. :)

Two Weeks Before
Decide on Theme-Christmas Done
Invite Guests-MOPS Table Ladies (8) Done

One Week Before
Make Menu Done Two Days Before-Delayed as I was still trying to know who was coming.
Plan Grocery List and Amounts Done Two Days Before
Bake and Freeze Items Done Two Days Before

Two Days Before
Shop for groceries Done the Day Before
Wash and Prep Vegetables Done Morning Of
Bake Breads Done Two Days Before

Day Before Nothing Happened That Day. Everything that got done was done the day of the tea. Sweetheart & I went to the forest to get our Christmas Tree. This, and the challenges of decorating a 17 foot+ tree, took a lot more time than planned.
Bless (Clean) Home Done
Make Scone Mix
Make Sandwich Fillings
Set Tables
Assemble Trifle Skipped Altogether

Morning Of Done
Assemble Sandwiches, Cover with Damp Towels & Refrigerate
Whip Cream Used Cool Whip
Slice Lemons Skipped
Fill Jam Pots
Clean Kitchen

Thirty Minutes Before Done
Check List for Details
Put the Scones in the Oven Note: These turned out so good with the cranberries, spices and orange peel. I'm planning to make some for Christmas!
Take a Few Quiet Moments Alone/Check Appearance
Garnish Plates

Final 15 minutes Done
Light Candles
Play Music
Whip Cream
Sprinkle Powder Sugar
Put Out Cream & Lemon
Put Out Jam
Put Kettle On
Put Food Out

Why did I list this? Well, I love to plan out events. I believe it makes things go smoother. I wonder sometimes though, why I bother at all. Sometimes I think I might be better off without a plan. While I'd love for everyone to think I have it all together and can do it all perfectly, I can't. I am hoping this will be an encouragement to other ladies to know they are not alone in trying to do something well, but have their plans get demolished. It did all work out and it was a lovely time. I believe the ladies who attended enjoyed their time and the doggie bags of food I sent them home with!
In hindsite, I wish I could be more firm with RSVPs. However, as there were last minute cancellations, I don't think it would have mattered. Maybe I should have cancelled it altogether, but I didn't want to as they said they were looking forward to it. I was as well. I did try to focus on serving them and it was a lot of fun.
The one thing I do know: we cut down too big of a tree. It took so much longer to do that it definitely altered some of the planning as I couldn't do anything at all on Saturday. Hint: if you have to decorate the top of the tree while it's still lying down and before it goes in the stand, it's probably too big. I'd post pictures, but I'm not sure how I'd get the whole thing in. We sure did have fun, though, snowshoeing and picking out the tree. Hauling it back to the truck, not as much fun as it was quite heavy. Having to cut four feet off to get it in the truck, not as much fun, but it did give us branches to decorate with! Still having the tree stick out of the tree by 6 feet+, was probably not the best idea. We did have fun though, really.
I couldn't have done it without my Mother though. She babysat Pumpkin while we went to get the tree, and entertained him while I fought with the lights. She came back on Sunday and did the decorations for the bottom 5 1/2 feet of the tree in between playing with the baby. Thank you Mom!

Anonymous said...

I've been wondering how the tea turned out. You seem disappointed overall, but it sure sounds like a lovely time.
I attended my first "high tea" last Sunday afternoon. A group of 5 ladies from my homeschool bible study drove south about half an hour to a very small tea shop where I enjoyed my first cups of real tea! When I told the woman serving us that I've only ever had boxed tea from the grocery store, you should have seen her look of horror-lol!!!
It was one of the best afternoons I've had in years. The dear friends, the conversation, the delicious tea (3 kinds and I brought 2 of them home with me!), the yummy sandwiches and desserts, the cozy atmosphere....I will remember that lovely afternoon for years to come, I'm sure. :)

Kimberly said...

Oh dear, I hope I don't sound too disappointed. I must confess that it was hard not to be when the ladies cancelled. Really, the cicumstances were out of their control. I felt bad for them because they both really need a break this holiday season and a quiet few hours would have been nice.
I'm glad you had fun at your tea, Joanna. What was the name of the tea shop you went to? There are so many delightful ones in California. Isn't it fun to try new teas?

Anonymous said...

Yes, it is SO fun to try new teas!
The shop is called "Tea~rriffic" and the website, which I haven't been to, is www.tearriffic.com.
The tea I bought is from "Tea Fountain"-have you heard of that company? One is a black Chai (I've finally had a chai!) and the other is a green tea called "Plum and Cinnamon." Both are yum. The third one we had, which was served with the desserts, was a white tea which I didn't care for that much.
I'm enjoying a cup of the black tea as I write this. It smells so good. It's also known as their Christmas tea.
How can I ever go back to boxed tea after this? :)

Mary said...

Hello Kimberly,

Your tea sounded lovely. They take a lot of prep and planning. I enjoyed reading your party plan. I have a good friend who emailed her tea party prep plans to me when I hosted a tea and they were such a help. Will you be posting pictures? I would love to see them. I am sure those ladies felt special at your tea.

Kelli said...

Hi Kimberly,
Your tea sounds lovely! I'm sorry that there were so many cancellations but I'm sure the ladies that attended were very blessed! You are a wonderful hostess!

Kimberly said...

Joanna~ I looked at the website. It looks like a really fun place. I am not familiar with Tea Fountain. I'm glad you found some new teas to enjoy.
Mary~ I actually didn't take any pictures. I meant to, but didn't do it before they arrived and it seemed awkward later. When they left, it wasn't nearly as pretty. Maybe next time!
Kelli~ Thanks for your sweet words.

Kelley said...

Sounds like a wonderful success in spite of the cancellations!
Wishing you a blessed day!

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Independence Day for Kaloakulua

A month ago, when I was in Kalaupapa on Molokai, I spotted some dolphins swimming in the bay outside our kitchen window and called out, “Spinners.”

Spinner dolphins are not listed as threatened or endangered by the Endangered Species Act. Because they forage far offshore at night and rest in sandy-bottom, near-shore bays during the day, they are, in certain places, a fairly common sight in Hawaii.

But the two biologists with whom I’d spent my weekend both jumped up from the table and raced outside, one grabbing a pair of binoculars on the way.

Combined these two biologists, who have spent months on end in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, have probably seen more endangered wildlife than I will ever tally in my lifetime. And, yet, when I say, “Spinners,” they jump to their feet to watch these common dolphins.

Their reaction feels familiar.

In May, when I was in Missouri visiting my family, we couldn’t drive down this one particular road without my father slowing the vehicle and my mother saying, “Watch for deer.”

I’ve grown up watching for deer—from the windows of cars and houses and, once, from the hidden confines of a deer blind with my grandfather. (Grandmother had a rule: No shooting deer that roamed into the yard. In the case of venison, Grandpa had to leave the farm to put food on the table. And that day I accompanied him? I brought a book.)

But fifty years of vigilant deer watching is not enough. Neither is seventy-five, as is the case with my mother. Sure, when we’re driving, we watch for deer for safety reasons. But the real reason is the same as what drove my biologist friends out of their chairs and outside: For the joy of watching wildlife.

Animals have a magnetic pull on my family.

When a red-tailed hawk started picking off bunnies in the neighborhood, my full-grown adult brother spent last summer keeping an eye on one rabbit, in particular. When it reappeared the first time this spring while I was visiting, my dad called, “Look, it’s Kirk’s rabbit,” and my brother (and the rest of us) ran for the window.

Here, on Kauai, my friend and fellow albatross watcher Hob texts me every November. “Have you seen any yet?” she asks. And when I do see my first Laysan albatross of the season, I text, “They’re back.”

laysan albatross chick, fledging, birdwatching
Not Kaloakulua, but another Laysan Albatross chick near fledging.

This past albatross nesting season, Cornell University stationed a bird cam on one particular Laysan albatross nest. The camera went live on the very day the chick, named Kaloakulua, emerged from her calcium enclosure.

Nearly two million people—my mother included—in nearly 200 countries watched Kaloakulua grow up.

When I returned home to Kauai after my spring visit, my mom would text me when one of Kaloakulua’s parents returned with food. She’d text when George the Rooster appeared on camera. She’d text when no bird was on camera. She’d text when it was raining. She’d text to make less than favorable comments about Kaloakulua’s looks as her fuzzy down grew out in a Bozo-like pattern.

“If you can’t text anything nice, don’t text anything at all,” I responded, a twist on my favorite aphorism of my father’s that I remember from childhood.

A small group of us followed Kaloakulua’s life from behind the metaphorical wheel of the camera’s controls. And by follow, I mean we trained the camera on her–zooming in on her bill when it developed the minutest of lesions known as Avian pox. Panning to catch her father’s landing after a multi-day foraging trip at sea. Watching to see if Kaloakulua developed a limp after a special geolocator that will track her route at sea was attached to her leg.

We called ourselves the “helicopter aunties,” for all the hovering over her we did. (Remember this “Mothers of Nature” blog essay?)

So, after 148 days of watching, the day she fledged was bittersweet. We were thrilled that she flew above the sea to the far horizon, her home for the next three to five years. We breathed a collective sigh of relief that she’d avoided the many threats to her life that presented themselves throughout the nearly five months of her life on land—the cats, the dog (who just this week was adopted from the local shelter), the golf-ball-sized plastic something that Kaloakulua’s mother almost fed her. And who knows what else that happened just off camera or in the dark when we couldn’t see.

But we were also sad to see her go.

It’s appropriate that I’m writing this on what we Americans call our Independence Day, even though Kaloakulua’s day of freedom that saw her hop off a rock wall and sail for the far horizon took place on June 24, 2014.

Kaloakulua walked off camera the day she flew for the very first time. But, just like the grace that watched over her the entire 148 days of her life to that point, some kind people staying in a nearby house captured her independence day on video.

Now, we have to watch for three to five years before Kaloakulua will return to land. And when she does, I am sure her helicopter aunties will grab their binoculars and rush to see her. I can only imagine the fireworks of joy we’ll express.

6 thoughts on “Independence Day for Kaloakulua

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text:
A Destiny You Can Reach

The handsome heights of the pinnacle path to righteousness delivers a dividing and separate tone of conduct that perforates his loathsome version of his self. Self being the shelf that mounts a mountain of bothering bundles belittling a neater or more organized tenderness. Only to disguise this malleable moment asunder this careless carpet of imagination. There is not enough of what seemed to signal quite too much of his attention to a perfect likeness in the mirror, slithering above and ultimately inciting a titillating nervous breakdown. To elicit an inferior memoir to retreat in the form of a pliable conference between a true sadness and lying happiness. They’d rather be a madman with a purpose than a pitifully purposeless being of the sane variety. Expertly condoned to receive payment under commission, this position is dangerous but leap girl, you can’t possibly know what you’re capable of until you try.

Needless to say that the softer of the trivial pursuits rendered these monsters pervasive, evasive and finally intrusive. It’s clear you’ve hammered an innumerable sense of dread into this felicitous predicament. This prospered magnificence, lit in the incense of lavender, its flickering flame illuminating the immediate darkness destined for her to be anywhere better than there. Saying you’re not worthy, well, only you could be so perverse.

6 thoughts on “A Destiny You Can Reach

  1. Wow… So my reach of destiny seems like quite the journey that is fictitious in nature but is turned literal through my faith in its presence? Where the journey itself is not enjoyable and I am using my imaginary satisfaction from a fictitious goal to cloud my reality that this journey is hard and enjoyable? That’s my interpretation!

    1. Your interpretation is very interesting, I always appreciate what other people think! In either condition I suppose the reality is always going to be literal, and the goals that originate in imagination or with fictitious intent will eventually manifest itself into your perception of reality, whether enjoyable or hard, the journey is always miraculous.

      Liked by 1 person

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Bed & Breakfast in Cumbria

Penrith is a historic town with a rich history that was originally part of the Kingdom of Scotland and Strathclyde. In the 9th and 10th century it became the ancient capital of Cumberland.West Coast Mainline

It has very good communication links being close to the M6 and A66 as well as a station on the West Coast mainline between London and Glasgow. Car hire can be arranged and guests can pick their hire car at the station as Eden Garage in Temple Sowerby, among others, meet people at the station.

Penrith has a variety of shops, a small museum and a castle. The castle, a ruin, was begun in 1399.It also has a variety of eating places.

Only 2 miles from Penrith is the popular Rheged Visitor centre with a 3D cinema screen, children’s soft play area and numerous Cumbrian food shop as well as The Simply Good cookery school run by Peter Sidwell. It has a restaurant and two cafes as well as hosting regular exhibitions such as The Wildlife Photography Show.Brougham Castle

Brougham Castle just over a mile from Penrith is managed by English Heritage and a fine example of one of the homes of Lady Anne Clifford.

Lowther Castle is 5 miles from Penrith and has lovely gardens which are open to the public and currently being restored. It also has a restaurant and shop. Other interesting stately homes in the area are Hutton in the Forest and Dalemain which hosts a well-known annual marmalade festival.

Mrs Christine Tucker
Kirkby Thore Hall, Kirkby Thore, Cumbria, CA10 1XN
Email: :: Telephone: 017683 62989 :: Mobile: 07549 235008

Like us on Facebook   Follow us on Twitter      TripAdviser   into history

Kirkby Thore Hall


text:
That’s not bloated, that’s clinically obese

For those who asked, the new computer that my friend bought the other day will be running Ubuntu, without the preinstalled XP in place. I did mirror the drive with Clonezilla before installing 9.10, so if there’s an issue it can be flashed back onto the system and returned in an identical state as when it left the store.

I am rather proud of my friend for picking up Ubuntu a year or two ago, and sticking with it over three different machines now. I offered to make a split system, but apparently the one alone was good enough. There are still a few idiosyncrasies — the driver for that ATI card might be flaky, since even with Compiz “turned off” in the appearances menu, there are occasional artifacts from transparent pop-up bubbles (I hate those things) or in some applications, like the Gnome system monitor.

I will check and see if a reinstall is necessary, or if there is some fix for those early Radeon cards that will rid the desktop of scrambled, shadowed windows. It should be fixable.

The biggest surprise (shock?) to me was the stark contrast between performance with only 256Mb of memory, and performance with 512Mb. I tease the Gnome crowd a lot for being chubby, but I didn’t realize that the weight problem had exceeded 256Mb. That’s not overweight, that’s clinical obesity.

I wish I could’ve seen what was going on inside that machine while it was operating under duress. I can’t imagine all the garbage that must’ve been swirling around while it was trying to load, swap, display a desktop, manage a network, and so forth. Putting in another 256Mb stick was an act of pity, not generosity.

But still … a desktop environment that can’t control its own bloat, to the tune of forcing swap with as much as 256Mb on board. …

Quite clearly I’ve been working with machines with no more than 192Mb for too long. And running an entire system on under 20Mb on a daily basis has my perspective skewed. So if you’re a Gnome user and you’re bristling right now, feel free to remind me that my expectations are too far gone to make comparisons. Tell me I need to move out of 1996. Tell me it’s time to look for a real desktop, and not a hacked, whacked arrangement of console programs on a framebuffer screen. Tell me it’s time to face reality.

Ah, who are we kidding? I wouldn’t listen anyway.

53 thoughts on “That’s not bloated, that’s clinically obese

  1. yoshi314

    no, you’re actually right.

    recently there has been a growing trend to to turn desktops into kitchen sinks.

    i don’t work with such low-spec hardware as you. my machine has 1GB ram, but my desktop takes ~80MB of ram (that’s what conky says, at least). the rest is for my apps to use (it’s mostly gcc that takes serious use of that, though ;)).

    generic distros are like that. they tend to add lots of features to target as many users as possible. sadly, it’s to be expected.

    i guess basic gnome desktop would take a bit less ram, but it would be still pretty high.

    i think crunchbang would do better, though.

  2. snek

    With only 256MB of ram Ubuntu with Gnome might not be the ideal thing to run. If Ubuntu is a requirement building the desktop up yourself after doing a clean install from the Alternate installer cd could be a bit lighter, using XFCE or LXDE for example.

    Ubuntu-desktop (as the gnome virtual package is called) is a bit of a hog, true, but Debian with Gnome is already a lot lighter for example.

    Imho I think your friend would be better off with another distro or WM.

    Like mentioned above Crunchbang would be a good choice but also look at Mint Fluxbox and Mepis Antix. All Debian/Ubuntu based.

  3. ajlec2000

    In general I agree with you. My Puppy box is scads faster then my Ubuntu 8.10 box.
    However, you haven’t told us what your friend thinks about this. I am curious to find out.

  4. Zoev

    It seems that both Ubuntu and Gnome seem to grow and grow in size. It’s too bad for the Linux community, because new users are no longer going to be getting the massive performance increase. I agree with what everyone else has said, #! is the best ubuntu-based distro out there. If your friend wants a challenge Slitaz’s new wifi cooking package is great, nothing like using 18.59MB of RAM on startup

  5. hdrev

    just switch WM, as you said gnome is obese, and yet it seems like more obese=more people using it 😦 (kde,gnome, win vista & 7)

  6. MK

    I am becoming a bit weary of you testing DEs on ridiculously low RAM just to make fun of them again and again. What’s so fascinating about it? After all, there is plenty of choice in the GUI field, and isn’t Linux all about choice?

    1. Nugnuts

      Agreed. Obviously, full DEs like Gnome & KDE are designed and have features for a different type of user. They simply provide different and/or more functionality than lighter weight window managers or command line alternatives. That is really not disputable.

      Of course, it is really great to laud low-resource alternatives that can make older or less robust hardware comparably functional. But it is really fallacy to write off the additional functionality and features in full DEs as “bloat” or “obesity”. If you have no need for these additions, or find that there is really no enhancement to your particular work flow, cool. But that does not mean they are completely superfluous–just, perhaps, superfluous to you.

  7. moonpappy

    #!Crunchbang rocks! 9 tabs open on Firefox and transmission working 4 torrents and 220 MB ram being used. The highest usage I’ve seen was 600 MB and that was wih my trying to load it down with video encodes, unrar processing, music playing, several browsers – you get the idea. Good thing I have 2 gigs ‘o ram!

  8. tonybaldwin

    Gnome or KDE are bloated, spinning, nauseating eye-candy, and, if you know how to use a computer, they are just a huge waste of system resources.
    That’s why I use wmii (
    It manages windows, and otherwise stays out of the way.
    If I didn’t prefer a tiling wm, I would probably just run openbox, but without additional DE components (ie. LXDE, or any panels), which I have done.
    I know…most users want a desktop environment that holds their hand for them. The thing is, I feel that all the hand-holding just gets in my way. Some day it becomes time to grow up and walk on your own, without the handholding.
    I have a laptop, and old IBM a21m, with 750mhz pentium III and only 512mb ram, running Ubuntu Jaunty, but with wmii, it runs great.
    My desktop is debian/lenny, celeron 3.2ghz with 1.5gb ram, and lightning fast running wmii for the window manager.
    Desktop Environments are for babies that don’t know how to walk on their own.

  9. Adam Williamson

    If you like “a hacked, whacked arrangement of console programs on a framebuffer screen” then by all means, use it. Everyone should use what works well for them, that’s great.

    What I don’t understand is why you should complain when something which in no way claims to _be_ such a hacked, whacked arrangement…is not one. That seems like everything is exactly the way it ought to be, to me. =)

    For what GNOME actually does, its memory requirements aren’t that terrible. If you don’t need all the stuff GNOME does and you have limited resources, certainly use something else, that seems logical.

  10. anonymous coward

    I’m glad I discarded the first few drafts of this reply. That doesn’t mean this one is better, though… 😉

    Why people don’t get that there are other people out there who are different is beyond me. =)

    I, personally, am a tinkerer and I do appreciate people who do tedious comparisons and benchmarks just for the fun of it. I used to count CPU cycles and hunt for unnecessary bytes wasted in the olden days myself and I do see a general waste of resources creeping in for one reason or another. And I don’t like it very much.

    But I’m glad it’s all free software or open source, at least.

    One final remark: There seems to come up a demand for low-spec devices every now and then. Like 1st generation netbooks or smartphones. One can never know what will be needed in a few years time. Think of IPv6 finally getting deployed everywhere. There might be a need for X and Gnome for those fancy new medical devices inside your body awaiting ssh -X sessions. Or KDE SC thingies. Might depend on which DE wins over the other. Might be Gnome because someone said something with regards to bloat/obesity, who knows… 😉

  11. Pingback: Links 15/3/2010: CrossOver Linux, Tim Bray Joins Google | Boycott Novell

  12. BenderBendingRodriguez

    Why anyone says KDE or Gnome is bloated? I am using Gentoo with KDE 4.4 and at start it is using about 90MB of memory, that is not bloated and i do not miss any bit of functionality (unless i turn on nepomuk it eats 110MB of memory). The reason they are bloated as someone mentioned is the desire to satisfy everyone so they need to pack the distro with some python scripts, with some services that are popular etc.

    If people knew how to trim the fatt they all wouldn’t need more than 1GM of ram (or even less as you are guys proving 😉 )

    At least open source model of computing allows us to get rid of the stuff we don’t need and use only what we want. That’s the real freedom.

  13. Michael

    Ubuntu in particular seems to be big these days. Even using XFCE4 it will barely operate with 256MB. But it isn’t alone, they’re all a bit crappy. Oh, and they take considerably more CPU grunt to do the same work compared to prior iterations too.

    I think what people are missing here is WHY should it take so much memory to do so little? It’s not like the basic functionality is that much enhanced over a 10 year old unix system (the biggest improvement is probably fonts, and having media auto-mount – and it can’t even do that reliably).

    A couple of ideas:
    – ever-expanding features mean basic resident sets of each library is naturally getting bigger over time
    – ever-expanding development base means that more libraries are being used over time
    – shared library versions meaning sometimes multiple versions of the same library are being used over time
    – increased use of scripting or other virtual-machine languages for session-long or critical applications, which often use orders of magnitude more memory than compiled languages. Try running ‘yum’ on a machine with 256MB, let alone any GUI frontend for it.
    – increased use of scripting languages that allow less experienced programmers to produce useful applications, but often without regard to footprint or performance (if they even have control over it)
    – more and more stuff on client-end rather than in kernel or server, basically because the kernel/server end can’t compete with easily written application libraries so functionality gets replaced. e.g. client side font rendering means every client loads/processes it’s own fonts. e.g. potentially multiple sound daemons running.
    – tendency to want to include ‘actively developed’ products rather than otherwise, which means often stable/mature products are replaced with ‘actively developed’ unstable/immature ones every 6-12 months – usually more bloat, more instability.
    – xml and dom – e.g. converting in-memory data structures to lists of strings, not a naturally efficient mechanism for data-processing machines.

    GNU/Linux is a victim of it’s own success. It’s open architecture means it’s open to more people to mess it up, and the more people interested in it, the more they will. There’s more than one reason Android took linux and threw away all of the user-land stuff – no need for 2 versions of every library and 5 different alternative toolkits. Its not about the applications, it’s about the n-friggan-frameworks they all use which raises the basic ‘operating system’ size so much.

    At this point I believe it is simply a lost cause – it will need an Android, a Haiku, or similar to throw away all this ‘choice’ to ever deliver a platform focused on users.

    (although i think hardware has finally caught up with software – at least desktop hardware is ok, but then again there’s these new low power devices …)

    1. BenderBendingRodriguez

      I couldn’t have said that better.

      BTW, i always thought that some tools written in Python or any other scripting language would be later rewritten in a lower level language but i was mistaken 🙂

      GNU/Linux lacks one thing (corporate like):

      common applications writing “style” meaning that all should bow to some rules and not like it is now freedom == chaos…

    2. mulenmar

      Sounds like some people are predisposed to using FreeBSD. 😉

      Oh, if only Linus had never allowed propritary junk into his kernel . . . more hardware companies would open their specs, and both Linux and the BSD kernel would benefit.

  14. steve

    Debian + openbox = ~40MB

    Debian + XFCE = ~70MB

    I think Ubuntu comes with more stuff because it is trying to be more things to more people. If you know what you want and how to get it, there are better distros out there. Ubuntu is good for n00bs, I used it for 6 months to get my feet wet with Linux and it taught me a lot.

  15. apexwm

    Unfortunately Gnome is in fact getting bloated. Just check your process list and see how many Gnome-spawned processes are running. There are a lot, and they take up a lot of memory. Granted, the Gnome environment is a great one, but I too wish it was not such a memory hog. Now that the newer installations are done in Gnome environments, you cannot even install distributions like Fedora 12 on a machine with 256 MB RAM. So now I might have to throw out old Pentium II boxes that would make perfectly suitable firewalls. I did find a workaround though by taking the drive, putting it into a machine with 512 MB, installing Fedora 12 and putting the disk back into the PC with 256 MB RAM. The ironic part is it ran Gnome with 256 MB. Slow, but it works.

  16. Marco Craveiro

    Whilst I don’t think Gnome/KDE should run on 20 megs of RAM, I think its _really_ important to have a modern desktop running on 512 MB confortably. This, to me, means a web browser with 5 or 6 tabs, office application (one instance say), music player, IM and a file browser.

    Now you may laugh at me and say “no one has 512 MB of memory anymore!” but I think you’d be missing the point; we all want the prices of netbooks and laptops to come crashing down without any loss of functionality. Just to give you an example, I use my NC10 to do all of the above, as well as run a small postgres database and use emacs for development. It has 1 GB of RAM. I think you’d be hard pressed to start Visual Studio Express on the same machine, let alone SQLServer. This for me is a major selling point of Linux.

    In addition, there’s also all those millions of people in the developing world who only have access to low spec hardware. The digital divide can only be broken with truly universal software, IMHO.

    Also, I don’t think features mandatorily mean bloat – the first iterations may mean massive bloat, true; but then, its posts like this that force people to look again and see where all the memory/cpu/IO/etc has gone. A lot of times its just a case of programmers not thinking at all about efficiency, and in many cases this can be corrected. I recall EDS taking 200 MB when it first came out, I was shocked! same for tracker. But these days both applications behave a lot better (if tracker is still a bit of a CPU hog in karmic).

    So to make a long rant short, I think its very important to keep tabs on Gnome/KDE and force developers to justify every memory increase. Ideally we should have some automated “bloat detection” a la phoronix.

    1. Nugnuts

      “I don’t think features mandatorily mean bloat”

      They don’t. That’s essentially my point with my comment above. Practically all software can be optimized beyond whatever state it’s in, but the issue as I see it with much of the discussion here is that “features” and “bloat” are being conflated. It makes sense for a user like K.Mandla to conflate the two, because many of those features are indeed superfluous to such a user.

      However, I think it’s unfortunate and unnecessary to so frequently use such disparaging language (e.g., “all the garbage … swirling around”) when really one is simply talking about software written for purposes other than one’s own.

      I suppose it would be similar to complaining about Photoshop being “obese” and requiring 512MB ram minimum to run when all you are after is an image viewer.

  17. ilikejam

    The Phoronix figures for memory look a bit high to me. My fairly default Fedora 12/Gnome netbook only uses about 110MB once the system’s fully booted and idle. I’ve switched some init services off, but nothing that would take me up to those sorts of figures.

  18. Niki Kovacs

    GNOME on my CentOS 5.4 install “weighs” around 75 MB after starting the desktop. I have another quite minimal GNOME desktop on a Debian stable install, eating roughly the same amount of RAM.

    Similarly, XFCE on Slackware takes around 50 MB without any applications started, compared to 250 on Xubuntu.

    The problem here lies with some african word meaning “I am what I am because I can’t configure my daemons running in the background”.

  19. Nirvan

    “I tease the Gnome crowd a lot for being chubby”

    That’s like the attitude of a pimple-faced teenager who calls girls fat as soon as they reject him.

  20. SamD

    The real point of all this discussion is that there are distributions which are meant for today’s desktops and there are distributions which will run comfortably on my 10-year old Sony Vaio.

    Pick a distro that suits the hardware you have available. For older machines with less memory, try Puppy, Damn Small, Mint LXDE, or CrunchBang. For the 1GB+ memory boxes, the sky is the limit. That said, my 8GB desktop is faster running LXDE than it is with Gnome, as it should be. I still prefer Gnome for the extra features it gives me, at the cost of some speed.

    Feature growth and distro bloat are not new problems, and it’s unlikely that it will stop. Speaking as a programmer and manager of programmers, it’s the nature of the beast to take advantage of all the resources available, even if it’s not really necessary. The only way to get small, highly efficient, fast code is to plan and program that way, and most programmers won’t do that unless they’re forced to.

  21. asmiller-ke6seh

    Even Puppy linux is a memory hog.

    I used to operate an entire application environment in 64K of RAM, with a 128K floppy drive.

    But, truly — even a $200 netbook now comes with 1Gb of RAM. Yes, catch up with the 21st Century.

    Oh, and if you still want a really small memory footprint, I still have an old Xerox 820 with its Zilog Z-80 processor and CP/M 2.0 operating system somehwere in my dad’s basement.

  22. JT

    On a peripheral point: I think the rendering issue with “bubbles” is an xorg core issue, at least that’s the response I got from the KDE maintainers after reporting a similar problem seen in 2 distros (Kubuntu & Pardus) and 3 X drivers (Nvidia, Nouveau & Openchrome).

  23. Forever Archer

    May i recommend Pardus? or if you’re in the spartan way , probably Arch LinuX + Openbox? or is it too minimalist?

  24. Morley

    I use Gnome (Ubuntu 9.10) on my desktop with all the Compiz bells and whistles, because the machine can handle it, and run beautifully. On my netbook, I use Crunchbang, which only uses ~50 MB of RAM after booting up. So I guess it depends on the hardware … run what the machine can deal with … if you want to game, have super effects, run 20 applications at once … don’t expect that out of a low powered rig. I have used half a dozen windows managers pretty extensively, and they have different features for different reasons. Good article though, and I have a feeling you must hate KDE 4.4!

  25. wally

    I don’t really agree with the assertions. I ran on an old AMD K6 300 until about 3 years ago, when I moved to a friend’s old Pentium3-1000. Both had 384 Mb. There was a noticeable speed difference, but certainly not night and day. Six months ago I put together a nice Intel i5 with 4 Gb. Again, faster, but not so much that I say I was astounded.

    I ran the latest and greatest Ubuntu on all of them. The question depends very much on what you are doing on the machine at any time. Web browsing? Very little speed difference. Unzipping files? Quite a difference. Running a 3D modeling program? Can’t practically do it on the older machines. None of these things has anything to do with the Gnome ‘bloat’ question.

  26. Zoev

    it’s not even desktop managers. Distros such as Slitaz use less than 20MB of RAM after boot. That is still quite alot, but still less than other LXDE distros. It all has to do with the availble space. The Slitaz dev team promised to never exceed a 30MB live CD .iso so they are forced to work with fewer resources, they are forced to make every line of code count, so in the end they are rolling out one great distro.
    Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series really hits hard on the “limited resources, exceptional technology” idea

  27. GreyGeek

    I frequently read blogs and posts making the assertion that GNOME and KDE4 are “bloated”. This claim is total nonsense.

    It implies that there are functions (methods and properties) in the sources which are either ancient cruft (legacy code) which serves no purpose and that such code is carried into the binary, making it “bigger” than necessary. Today’s optimizing compilers do not compile into the resulting binary any source which is unused, just like it does not compile into the binary comments which are in the source.

    The other implication is that the latest versions of GNOME and KDE4 contain features (eye candy or other capabilities) which no body uses, which is also total nonsense. Such features arrive in the binary by popular demand. There are over 4,000 “wishes” in the KDE4 wishlist. The top vote getters usually make it into the desktop. IF users of KDE4 didn’t want the “copy to” or “move to” options in the right mouse dialog of Dolphin those options wouldn’t be there. If they do not enable that feature it does not mean the feature is bloat. MANY OTHERS, my self included, do enjoy the benefits of “copy to”/”move to”. While you or I may not use or appreciate a certain feature of GNOME or KDE4 that does not mean that no one else does either.

    Trolltech created Qt over a decade ago. Over the years new hardware and ideas in coding required more than what Qt3 could supply without extensive modifications. They weighed the possibility of adding the new technology to the Qt3 API or starting fresh with a new API, leaving the legacy code behind. Starting fresh won out SPECIFICALLY to avoid the complications of adding new features to old, outmoded programming models, and thus avoiding cruft. This is why they could not, and did not, build KDE4 on top of KDE 3.5. It was a wish choice.

    The coding paradigm shift between Qt3 and Qt4 is significant. Besides Qt4 having significantly more power and capability than Qt3, I found it a LOT easier to write applications with Qt4 than with Qt3. With the release of QtCreator under the GPL & LGPL using Qt4 & QtCreator is significantly easier than using Qt4 & MSVSC++, and faster, too.

    I’ve come to the conclusion that these reoccurring “bloat” posts are either the output of some MS “Technical Evangelists” spreading anti-Linux FUD, or a Linux geek wannabe. IF the wannabes really want to cart their cojones around in a wheelbarrow for all to see and admire, let them write posts about how they abstain totally from “bloat” and run Linux only on a CLI and still get more work done, and faster, than someone with equal skills using GNOME or KDE4.

    1. mulenmar

      “IF the wannabes really want to cart their cojones around in a wheelbarrow for all to see and admire, let them write posts about how they abstain totally from “bloat” and run Linux only on a CLI and still get more work done, and faster, than someone with equal skills using GNOME or KDE4.”

      Try reading the rest of the blog, K.Mandla uses CLI-only enviroments on a 120MHz laptop on a regular basis.

    2. Sertse

      Indeed, that’s the funniest comment made on this blog, which is probably known as *the* reference for minimalist computing. You’re dealing with the real thing here, no inconsistency.

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  34. tonyMac

    Honestly anyone here trying to defend the ridiculousness of modern software bloat has completely, utterly, and inexcusably missed the point.

    The point isn’t really “I want to run my OS on a machine with 256 MB of RAM. The point is, no matter how awesomely complicated your feature set is, there is no viable excuse for any software to use that kind of space. It is, quite simply, bad programming.

    If I have 2 GB of RAM, my operating system, at idle, should not be using 1/8th of my system resources to do basic tasks. If you were to graph the increase in bloat versus the increase in functionality in systems over the past 20 years, it’s exponential. On a good day. Adding a feature that saves me 1/10th of a second over a 2 week period is not worth 10 MB.

    The issue is philosophical. Anyone who says “Well, we have plenty of memory, so who cares”, is a root cause of the issue at hand. If I buy RAM, it should be to satisfy killer applications, not to satisfy my overweight and unimpressive window manager. The basic approach to writing efficient and compact software is to approach each algorithm and solution as though it has next to no resources available. Look at 1995, and look at today. We have a handful of new hardware capabilities. Primarily everything is bigger. But really, honestly, is it capable of that much more at the end-user level? I could browse the web and edit documents simultaneously, and instant message, on a 500 MHz celeron with 64 MB of SHARED RAM. Since this was before tabbed browsing, I’d have 6-10 windows of netscape/ie running. What can I do on today’s computer? Same thing, but it’s taking a lot more memory for a marginally superior experience.

    Extra resources yield lazy, angry, defensive programmers. I’m a coder, I do my job on embedded systems. Desktop environments have to be the most wasteful and poorly constructed things I’ve ever seen.

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  39. bgbraithwaite

    K.Mandla, I won’t argue that DEs (and indeed, pretty much all software in general for every OS and architecture) are not bloated. They probably are quite bloated. My dad used to use a Kaypro-10 (which he still has, by the way) for his word processing needs, and WordStar actually had better features in many respects than, say, the WordPerfect office suite he uses now.

    The issue isn’t “bloat”, whether factual or perceptual. It’s about how humans work: we derive most of the information about our environment visually. Most (average) people want and need high-quality visuals to respond to and interact with.

    If “bloat” allows the human to work more effectively, then I’m all for it. If it detracts from their ability to work, then get rid of it. Sure, Linux systems are way more bloated than they were in 2003 (when I first ran across Linux in the wild), but they are infinitely more usable for the average schmo, too.

    Also, having “human-centric” bloat available alongside your more minimal (or is it maximal?) computing style means that people are able to choose a learning curve most suited to them. Ubuntu’s default desktop is not good for you, either hardware-wise or software-wise, but it may be perfect for a new hacker, or for grandma, or for a new company that needs to have a cheap and usable computer environment right away. It’s all relative to the user’s needs.

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DoomRL: Hurt me plenty, in textmode

Shame on you. Shame on you for not telling me there was a whole string of rogue-ish games over at, most with Linux versions and a couple with (gasp!) sound as well as color.

Doom, the Roguelike? Well darn. This could take up hours of my life, and dethrone Neverwinter Nights as my game of choice these days. Jokes aside, this is quite impressive. Cool soundtrack, reasonably fast action for a text-based game, plenty of in-game help and a cool dripping blood fade effect between levels. Just like the good old days.

I don’t know what luck I’ll have getting this one on the Pentium or even what performance will be like, so I might just skip it and stick with crawl at 120Mhz. On the other hand, nothing could be cooler than running a text-based Doom on a Pentium’s framebuffer, with the metal soundtrack, the growling and snarling, and. … 😈

P.S.: Yes, I am aware of the whole Quake-aalib phenomenon. 😉

5 thoughts on “DoomRL: Hurt me plenty, in textmode

  1. Lyyx

    Oh, I didn’t realize it was that important to you. I’m not an exceelent player, but I can help out with crawl, if you like— or if you’d like a gaming column dedicated to reviewing RLs and their design, take a look at @play. It’s not Linux-specific, but I like skimming it for new goodness. In particular, I’ve been trying the weird Japanese console knockoffs like Shiren the Wanderer. I’ve yet to try DoomRL, though.

  2. mulenmar

    Sorry, it’s been a long time since I played DoomRL, I forgot all about it. 😳

    I wasted way too much time on that game, and that was on Windoze. :mrgreen:

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Observation is key to permaculture. Developing good observation skills is essential if we want to make well-functioning permaculture designs.

By observing natural and social patterns we are able to use them in our design work - this relates to Bill Mollison's philosophy of 'work with nature, not against'. We have to know how nature works if we want to be able to work with it.

"Good design depends on a free and harmonious relationship between nature and people, in which careful observation and thoughtful interaction provide the design inspiration." David Holmgren

Since we are usually dealing with complex systems - even a small garden can be incredibly diverse with many interactions - this principle suggests that we take a relatively cautious approach, that we make the smallest intervention that we think is necessary to make the change we want, and then closely observe the results. That way we can change, stop, or continue, depending on the results, without causing any big problems.

In fact, "failure", is very useful, as long as we learn! And learning is the key point. This principle reminds us that permaculture is all about learning. Permaculture uses an 'action learning' approach which works in stages:

1. We state a problem, issue or challenge
2. Then consider realistic options for action
3. Put the best option into action
4. Observe the results
5. Reflect on what has been learnt
6. Restate the problem, challenge or issue as it now is, and start a new phase of learning

Just observing makes nothing happen. Just acting can make problems bigger and bigger. We need to balance the two.

Observe and Interact


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July Fourth Workout

I created this fun July Fourth workout to get you in ready for all the celebrating and fun festivities!!  These are some fun takes on classic workout moves.  The equipment you'll need for this workout are a set of dumbbells, a mat, and plenty of water! Exercise Descriptions: Star Side Planks - Lay on your … Continue reading July Fourth Workout

July Fourth Healthy Recipes

July Fourth is one of my favorite holidays of the year!  I love getting together with friends and family, enjoying the summer warmth, watching fireworks, and of course eating all the festive foods.  I wanted to provide three of my favorite healthier recipes for the fourth that will be a huge hit at any gathering! … Continue reading July Fourth Healthy Recipes


text:
Embrace your #Tesla #throughglass

Ostap Andrusiv
R&D engineer and Mobile Stream Lead at ELEKS

Have you ever played “Need For Speed”? As far as I can remember, I got acquainted with this absolutely marvellous gaming series when “Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit” was out. That was a great and crazy time. I spent literally hours riding through cities, mountains, deserts and all the awesome virtual locations there. Funny though, it was my first 3D game. I could hardly compare the emotions I experienced at that time to any other game I played.

I enjoy technology. I have been trying out Google Glass for a while. Now I enjoy investigating Sony SmartWatch 2 and Android Wear. When I heard about Tesla, I started dreaming about it!

Today I tried it.

This seems to be the geekiest car in the world. Moreover, it looks classy and fantastic. Of course, the first thing I did, was connecting Google Glass with Tesla!

Tesla via Glass

Connecting #Glass and #Tesla

There was a lot of hype around http://glasstesla.com/ Mirror API app for Glass. I dreamed of trying it on real Tesla. So, when you finally get your hands on Tesla’s driving wheel and Google Glass sits comfortably on your head, let’s try connecting them!

  1. Go to http://glasstesla.com/ and click Login.
    Login to glasstesla

  2. Login to Google Account and accept Google permissions:
    Accept Google

  3. Login to Tesla account and accept Tesla permissions:
    Accept Tesla

  4. Inside your Glass, a card will pop-up with a request to pin it. In several seconds info about your Tesla car will upload to Glass and will always be available to the left of the main “ok glass” screen.
    Main GlassTesla card

  5. If you would like to switch it off later, just go to MyGlass website and click the on/off switch.
    Switch off GlassTesla

Having fun with #Tesla #throughglass

Below are some examples of GlassTesla usage. Once you tap a pinned card, you’ll reveal more information about your Tesla.

Card 1: Mile Range

This first card shows an approximate range for your Tesla and charging status. Using Glass menus, you can open the port for charging and later stop it.

Card 2: Tesla Location

The next card is Tesla’s location. You can “Get Directions” to your car. Another great demo feature is “Honk + Light”.

Card 3: Honk and Light

Honking you car’s horn #throughglass is great. Imagine that you forgot where you left your Tesla in a parking lot. Just tap your Glass and make your car honk to you!

The overall structure of GlassTesla cards is below.

Cards of GlassTesla app

Each of these cards has several submenus available on tap. As of now, GlassTesla shows all this information and supports the following commands:

  1. Open port for charging.
  2. Get directions to your car.
  3. Honk horn and flash lights.
  4. Lock/unlock your car.
  5. Open ventilation on the roof.
  6. Turn climate control on/off.

There’s one thing about Tesla, that I want to mention. I was astonished by the details. Each card shown to me depicted the exact state of the car. I tried the white Tesla Model S, that had 60 kWh battery. Exactly the same rims and panoramic roof are installed on it. All that details were shown on the picture. As you can see on one of the cards, Tesla has left door and rear trunk open. They were also open in reality when I was browsing that card.

If Google Glass were a car, it would probably be Toyota i-ROAD Concept. Looks crazy and futuristic but at the same time limited and without certain release date.

If Tesla were a wearable or mobile device, it would probably be an iPhone. It has all the power to change the whole automotive industry.

Stay tuned! Maybe next time we’ll investigate Tesla’s API and write some apps for your car! For the time being, let’s try running “NFS3: Hot Pursuit” in VirtualBox with Windows XP!

Small Update: Google announced, it will sell Google Glass to the general public on April 15th! Finally an option to buy one for everyone!


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This beautiful Masonic Pen has all the Working Tools of a Master Mason embossed all around the barrel of the pen. The pen is solid in your hand while writing and has a replaceable ink cartridge. A perfect gift for the discerning Mason and comes in a beautiful gift box.

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Fez Sizing Using a CLOTH tape measure, have a friend put the tape around your head where you will wear the fez, and determine the INCH measurement. If you measure between sizes, then choose the larger size.

This is a Fez specific hat sizing chart.

For ring sizing, you can get sized by your local jeweler or visit our showroom. If you have any questions, please Email Us .

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text:
Thanks God to slow down my life: MG chapter one begins in February 2013

Jogging one day in Phuket was so disturbing to me with a double vision but I thought this caused by my new progressive lens.

One week later, I went to Canada Embassy without knowing the new rule that all applicants must put all details online. So I came back to my Sapanluang room nearby to start entering my visa application online. Even how hard I tried, I cannot enter the first page as my vision was so blurry. My daughter came back from her workplace in Silom and completed the application for me; so next morning I can apply my single entry visa which finally it was granted for six months. I can enter Canada from USA border as many times as this visa still valid as my USA visa is valid for ten years.

Few days later, our ILI team led by Ps John drove us to launch the seminar in Sakol for few days. Both two days I translated for Ps John, I could not open my eyes. Both eyes were extremely heavy. The warm climate and the heavy sunlight direct to our classroom trigger the symptoms badly. But the show must go on, and I am glad that I can complete my task till the last day of the seminar. Praise God.

Soon after Ps John drove us back to Bangkok, I went to CU Hospital and saw a doctor who did few tests on my eyes and my respond to her ice balls were good. Because of this MG patients are quite rare, so probably this was also the case study that I was diagnose with all new doctors surrounded by their MD professor who told me that I should go back to Phuket and continue my treatment right away. Because MG is quite unpredictable and might cause breathing problem in severe case.

I came back to Phuket and tried to call few clinics but the advice was I have to go to see Dr Opas at Vachira Hospital as some tests and the equipments are available there.

After my 6 days trip to Bali I started to see the doctors in Vachira and began blood test and CT scan. After discussing with him about my future trip to Canada, he recommends that I need to check the policy about bringing great amount of MG drugs with me to Canada and how the hospital there are ready to treat the MG patient? what kind of insurance I need to buy etc.? Within these two months I have to visit the doctor regularly for the proper medical process and the observation.

Less than one month since the double vision occurred, my limbs were so weak. There were times that even simple dressing up myself was so clumsy. I can only talk to people less than ten minutes to avoid the weak expression on my face and weak speech. The doctor gave me some pills to strengthen my muscles and also help me chewing and swallowing food better,

Now I still have to study more about Myasthenia Gravis which quite new for myself and other who hear its name for the first time.

I was kind of GO GO GO! ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ! person. My dialy morning was just like a shooting rocket that was full of creative activities. Since my childhood, I could not just sit still without doing some things or trying to complete ten tasks at the same time.

To just sit quietly and simply listen to the small voices of God is so difficult for me. I think probably God wants my attention to go directly to Him, not my time consuming activities. This is my first Giant Stop of my life, I am learning to slow down, aborts deeply the quiet life and goodness of our Father. His plan for me is for good and for my future not to harm me. So I am thankful for His great plan in my life and His deliverance from all dangers!

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Hello all!

It was not at all good to stay away for this long in the beginning. But every work has to be done as per the priority order. Well, I am writing this post just after having a telephonic conversation with a friend of mine which was about the complexity of the language in the literature as we do not use proper form of linguistics in our routine lives trying to cut it short all the time. I am mere 21 right now. (Not too old, I suppose.)  But eventually, I have been noticing Oh My God turning into OMG and gradually, it has become OMFG. I really find it very rubbish. What a disgraceful acknowledgement to the languages that rectify our personalities for the betterment! We are unnecessarily making acronyms on a regular basis and the funniest part is that we are doing it all aware. Most of the people I have talked to do not find any problem in this practice. They are all okay with this and they do not dissemble over the issue.

The youth today is least interested in this matter of fact that we are destroying the science and the beauty of the linguistics by doing so. When talked about, they draft it as a frivolous subject declaring the intellectuals concerned fussy about every related thing. Modification of the language by the course of time is one thing and destroying its dish is another. I agree that a language needs not to be too viscous to any new adaptations in order to sustain itself. But simultaneously we must not allow it to lose its originality.

As a language travels around the globe, it is not the same structural set of the grammar that reaches back to its homeland. Movies from all over the world are the best examples. People with different methods of tongue-twisting pronounce the same language a different way. This is acceptable as it nourishes the very language and the originality is not lost.

One more thing that plays a significant role to feel the essence of a language is its vocabulary. Many of my friends use to say that why to bone up on new words when they would be rarely using them. True. But, the same friends find themselves in serious trouble while reading even a newspaper or a just another technical textbook, thus proving the substance of their statement.

And now comes a major part; i.e. phonetics and word stress. People, generally, do not pay attention to the correct pronunciation of the words and this sometimes may lead them to problems. Many a times they do not get offered a job meant for them due to poor pronunciation. We need to understand the relevance of this part in accordance with the prevention of a language’s originality. It can be as a solution to this. Correct pronunciation helps a language to adapt itself to different accents with a relative ease and it welcomes new modifications as required.

A language does not feel threatened when spoken correctly and not shortened culpably, and feels protected when regarded with its ascribable pride.


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