text:
My Lifestyle Favorites For Spring 2017 (Part 2)

My Lifestyle Favorites For Spring 2017 (Part 2)

Last week, I shared with you some of the items I’ve greatly been enjoying My Lifestyle Favorites For Spring 2017 (Part 1)My Lifestyle Favorites For Spring 2017 (Part 1) that included the following categories:

  • plugins
  • digital products
  • family products
  • office products
  • fashion items
  • food and
  • baby/kid products

Today, I’d like to share MORE of my favorites with you because I think that you’ll also enjoy them in the seasons ahead.

Multi-media Favorites

I love music. It relaxes me. It makes me happy.

But instead of sharing you ONE song that I’ve been enjoying, I want to share something even BETTER.

I have been enjoying Prime Music , which is included with your  Amazon Prime membership.

Prime Music Logo on Haydee Montemayor 's blog Love and Treasure

Basically, Prime Music is a service that allows you to play one of 2 million, ad-free, on-demand songs on your computer, on your Android Tablet, iOS tablet, Android Phone, iOS phone or on your hands-free speakers from Amazon’s Alexa family.  (Just for reference, Amazon’s Echo Dot 2nd generation, has about 4 times as many reviews as the Harry Potter movie with the most reviews.  People are really liking these hands-free speakers).

Personally, I use Prime Music on my cell phone, on my computer’s web browser and on my own Wi-fi enabled speakers.

If you’re a music lover who loves lots of music, Prime Music may perhaps not satisfy you fully. If you want access to tens of millions of songs, perhaps you may want to consider enrolling in Amazon Music Unlimited .

Amazon Music Unlimited logo on Haydee Montemayor 's blog Love and Treasure blog

But don’t worry, you don’t have to make the choice right now. If you’re a Prime user, I suggest that you try Prime Music. If it has all the songs you want, great!.

However, if you try Prime Music and you run into various instances in which there are only 2 albums for your favorite artist when you KNOW that they have several albums, then, perhaps Amazon Music Unlimited is for you. But even then, you don’t have to commit, since you get to try this service for free for 30 days.

And now, through June 18th, there is a deal for Prime Users to save some more on your annual Amazon Music Unlimited plan if this is your first time signing up for this service and you’re an Amazon Prime member.

Favorite App

The app that I have been enjoying the most lately, is Twitter.

Twitter bird on Love and Treasure blog post by Haydee Montemayor
Courtesy of Twitter

I’m surprised that this is my favorite app because I usually like to express myself freely with no restraints on the number of characters that I can use, BUT I enjoy the simple, quick interactions that I can have with people on Twitter.

Favorite Public Personality and TV Show

Marcus Lemonis and The Profit

I honestly don’t know where to start with Marcus. You know how there are people that you come across that you think “WOW! What a stand-up guy!” or “What a stand-up lady?” Well, that’s Marcus. He’s one of THE MOST stand-up guys I’ve EVER met (and I’ve encountered a handful)!

Marcus Lemonis image on Love and Treasure blog by Haydee Montemayor
Photo Courtesy of CNBC

Marcus Lemonis is known for his ability to turnaround businesses on his CNBC show (he’s even referred to as the Turnaround King, from time to time). Marcus receives thousands of letters from struggling businesses asking for his help because they KNOW he has the skills to save their business and help their profitability skyrocket.

But, Marcus is SO MUCH more than a businessman. He’s a wonderful human being. Actually, I often thought he’s an angel. His heart and his ability to connect to the joy, to the pain, to the worry, to the struggles, to the potential of others is unparalleled. Let me say it like this, I’ve never met someone who can connect with so many so well or who can connect with ONE individual so well. I’ve never met someone who is as emotionally intelligent as he is.

He has that type of nature that everybody wants to be around. He’s the light and we’re the moths.

I know that it may sound like I’m a groupie, but, what I’m really drawn to is someone who has taken the hardships in life and has crossed the bridge of despair and is encouraging us who’ve also been through hardships to dare to cross the bridge, because it’s better on the other side.

Marcus is a billionaire. BUT, his most valuable asset is his heart.

I’ve never met someone like him.

By being vulnerable, real, raw, kind, savvy, engaging and luminescent, Marcus inspires me to be more generous and to pursue my dreams with more fervor.

And I’ve barely described, him as an individual. He’s a heck of a businessman. He’s AMAZING at teaching you about how businesses should run… not just to get by, to be great.

I highly recommend that you watch The Profit, which started on June 6th, 2017 on CNBC. But be sure to watch the aired episodes.

One of the things that I’ve liked the most about Marcus, is that he’s allowed me to develop my business intuition.

Ever since I was a tween, I was able to sense when a business or a customer service rep were living to their full potential. And to be honest with you, it aggravated me, when things didn’t run smoothly. Why? Because businesses and the services that businesses provide you with are like a group of dominoes standing up. If they didn’t provide my mom or me with a good service, it made my mom upset, and she would more easily get upset with my siblings and I. And it really didn’t matter what age I was, I always saw bad service as being disrespectful to people. And it’s sad to place your trust in a company that doesn’t deliver.

Marcus is a pro in business…. probably more than the Sharks from Shark Tank. He’ll make you more business savvy than you’ve ever imagined, and he’ll do so in a fun, engaging way.

The reason Marcus is not a Shark is that he invests not only his own money, but also his time, his resources, his intuition, his wisdom, his friendship, his mentoring, and most importantly his heart. He doesn’t see the people that he deals with as “less than,” he sees them as equals.  It’s possible that he might do fewer deals than the Sharks do, but he pours his soul into his businesses. He LOVES his businesses. They are his life. And he loves the people that he works with. This is a model of how the world should run… with one person supporting the next.

So watch an episode of The Profit if you haven’t already, ASAP. I have to warn you though. You’ll probably be hooked after the first episode. You see, this show isn’t about drama. It isn’t scripted. It’s the real deal. It’s so refreshing… and you’ll ask for 2nd’s, just as if it were lemonade.

I recommend you follow Marcus on Twitter. He’s super engaged with his loyal, big-hearted, supportive, loving following. Marcus makes life more fun, all around.

I’m absolutely sure of one thing. And that is, that once you meet Marcus, you’ll agree that my description of him and his show doesn’t do him justice. He will blow you out of the water.

The Profit is my favorite show. I wouldn’t doubt it if it becomes yours.

Other TV Shows

I am a romantic at heart. I can’t help it. So, if I like the most naive reality shows that you can think of, excuse me. 🙂

Married At First Sight

Married At First Sight Image on Love and Treasure blog by Haydee Montemayor
Courtesy of Married at First Sight

Last year, I shared that I loved Married At First Sight. I like this season even more. It’s always better when there is more potential that couples form a lasting marriage.

The Bachelorette

It’s funny how many people make fun of this show. I even understand that most of the couples break apart.  A couple of weeks ago, I read that the 2nd to the last Bachelor split with his fiancée.

The Bachelorette logo on Love and Treasure blog by Haydee Montemayor
Courtesy of ABC

So I know that the odds of couples not working out is pretty big (way more than 50%), BUT, I still like it.

The reason I like both Married At First Sight and The Bachelorette is that I see them as a real-life movie. I know that real-life is, unfortunately, not as romantic as some of the dates and moments captured on these shows are, BUT, they can lead to a lasting relationship. And it’s nice when lasting marriages are formed.

In other words, to me, these shows, although many people claim they’re just fantasy, are a bit more real than movies. And I like that. ???? As a matter of fact, the shows and movies that I watch have to have a high degree of realism… otherwise, I’ll just tune out. I like things that resemble the day-to-day but are a little more special, more positive, more magical.

The Young Turks

The Young Turks logo on Love and Treasure website by Haydee Montemayor
Courtesy of

One thing that I DON’T like about reality is bad news.

When people tell me, “Guess what?” I expect them to tell me something positive, not something negative. Hahaha. 🙂

As you may have heard me say, I am not a fan of news or politics.  HOWEVER, I was rudely awakened with the downturn of politics in the Summer of 2016.

What I’ve loved about The Young Turks (TYT), the largest online news show, is that it allowed me to ease into politics. I went on YouTube and chose the videos I wanted to watch.

If I wanted to stop watching a story for whatever reason, I was able to, if I wanted to fast forward through some parts I didn’t want to see, I could. If I wanted to rewatch the news story and share it, I could.

Cenk Uygur is a wonderful host. He’s my favorite news host ever! He talks about the most important topics in a wise, to-the-point way. He also has a wonderful sense of humor.

I’m not the only one who thinks that TYT is great.

The Young Turks won a 2017 Webby Award and a 2017 Shorty Award. Plus, TYT news show is in the running to win a 2017 Streamy.

I also love the say-it-like-it-is attitude by the beautiful Ana Kasparian. I love John Iadarola ‘s relatable,  straight-forward reporting and his tongue-in-cheek tweets.

TYT has hired lots of new people recently, and they have others that work on the other TYT shows. But my favorite is Cenk Uygur, my 2nd favorite is Ana, and my 3rd favorite is John. I almost don’t like to watch anybody else but them. Even still, often I’m not drawn to their segments unless Cenk is on with one of my other favorites.

What I want in a news-show is for the anchors to be SUPER smart, and SUPER real. Anything less is not good enough for me.

“There’s probably nothing worse than someone sharing bad news with the country without you being able to tell if the news anchor is for or against what they’re reporting on. In times like this objectivity isn’t important. Truth and connectivity are.” -Haydee Montemayor

The Rachel Maddow Show

The Rachel Maddow Show on Love and Treasure blog by Haydee Montemayor
Courtesy of MSNBC

People always say that stories are powerful.

Ironically, the subject that I disliked the most in school was history. I know, I know, shame on me.

The point is, thanks to her ability to make what was in my opinion “boring” interesting, I can now look forward to watching traditional news shows.

I love her sense of humor, especially her smile and her giggles. It’s almost like she’s a friend sharing with me what the world events are.

She, her news team and her guests pose very useful questions, the kind that I would be thinking myself.

I never thought I would say this, but she makes news and history fascinating.

What I like the most about her though, once again is her realness. She seems not to hold back on her worries, her knowledge, her questions about the future. I love it when news anchors like her and the TYT team, can act like real human beings giving real human news. Because ironically, I’ve come to understand that politics is more than just about ideologies, it’s about the people… and the constant need to fight a fight between good vs. evil in the hope that the good guys win and are able to help the people who need the most help, whether it’s to preserve the sacredness of their territory, to make their water is safe, to make sure that their healthcare is safe or to preserve the existence of the very democracy that they’ve come to love.

Favorite YouTuber

Hilary from My So Called Home

My So Called Home picture on Love and Treasure blog by Haydee Montemayor

I don’t watch much TV, so my greatest form of entertainment comes via my Apple TV. And the app that I use the most is YouTube.

One of my favorite YouTube channels is My So-Called Home by Hilary.  She’s just a YouTuber from New Jersey who focuses on her home and her family life. She moved into a new home in May 2017, so it’s been neat to see the upgrades she’s made to her fixer-upper.

I love Hilary’s simple, relatable way of sharing what she knows in such a generous way. Her voice is soothing, and I never get tired of hearing it.

As I’ve shared with her, she inspires me to be better. She has done YouTube love videos in which she recommends other YouTubers to her viewers. This is a testament to her generosity. You should check her out.

To Wrap Up

As you can see, my tastes are simple. I like honest people being real, being kind, being useful who shed light on the blessings that we all have and offer us ways of preserving those blessings.

If you like those things, you’ll like the people who I’ve shared.

Now It’s YOUR Turn

  • Do you know any of the people that I mentioned/ Would you agree that they’re as amazing as I shared they are?
  • If you don’t know anybody, who are you excited to meet? Or what service are you excited to try?

Please share your answer with me in the comments below

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Truncated: length

WARC-Type: response

text:
Le Club AccorHotels Spain & Portugal 500 Bonus Points January 11 – March 17, 2016

Le Club AccorHotels has launched a new promotion for stays in Spain & Portugal between January 11 – March 17, 2016.

Le Club AccorHotels Spain & Portugal 500 Bonus Points January 11 - March 17 2016

You can earn 500 bonus points by staying at two different hotels and having booked them January 11 – March 11. This offer requires registration.

You can access and register this offer on Accor’s website here.

READ MORE: Le Club AccorHotels Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions

Note that this offer doesn’t require you to book any other than a points qualifying rate to earn the bonus points.

Should be easy 500 bonus points for those that have stays coming up n Spain or Portugal this winter.

Here are the terms and conditions of this offer:

1. General Le Club AccorHotels terms and conditions apply to the Repeaters offer and you must be Le Club AccorHotels member to benefit from it.

2. This offer entitles Le Club AccorHotels members, regardless of their status, to benefit from earning 500 bonus point for the second stay in one of the participating hotels in Le Club AccorHotels Loyalty program.

This promotion is not applicable for hotels partners of Le Club AccorHotels.The number of bonus points for this offer is calculated according to the points earned by the member based on Classic status.

3. This offer is valid for a member’s stay from 11/01/2016 to 17/03/2016 in one of the participating hotels in Spain and Portugal, and booked between 11/01/2016 and 11/03/2016.

4. The stay must be a minimum of 1 night.

5. Any consecutive stays (check-out and check-in same day) in the same hotel, will be considered as a single stay. This single stay will be eligible once to the Repeaters offer.

6. For the purpose of this offer, a stay is one (1) reservation made by a Le Club AccorHotels member for one or more rooms in a participating hotel. For the avoidance of doubt, a reservation made for more than one room will therefore be considered as only one (1) stay.

7. To benefit from this offer, your booking must be made on AccorHotels.com, our participating brands web sites and applications and via AccorHotels Call Centers. All other reservation channels will not be eligible to this offer.

8. You must provide your Le Club AccorHotels Loyalty card number when making your reservation, and present your card at the hotel reception desk when you check-in for your stay.

9. Le Club AccorHotels bonus points are credited to the member’s account within 10 days following the end of his/her stay.

10. This offer cannot be combined with other current promotional offers or advantages and does not apply to groups.

11. This offer is subject to availability. General sales terms and conditions apply for reserved public rates specific to each hotel.

You must register for the Repeaters offer before proceeding to the booking, to be eligible to the offer.

If you enjoyed this article, get our blog updates for free!

Previous articleCompensation Clinic: United Airlines Dirty Bathrooms & Delays Result In Serious Mileage Credit
Next articleRocketmiles Amtrak 3,000 First Booking Bonus Guest Rewards Until March 31, 2016

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-146-51-29.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-13
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for March 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
Rustic wedding 9k Gold ring for women, Tree Bark 9k Gold Ring, womens wedding 9k Gold ring, Womens wedding ring, wedding rings for women

$83.45 $98.18

• Rustic wedding ring for women in 9k gold. Tree Bark Silver Ring. Engagement ring whith Geometric pattern created by hand and inspired by nature (Tree Bark).

• This sterling silver band measures 4mm across and 1mm thick.

• It was hand cut, soldered and finished with rustic beautifully finished.

These rings are unique. There are no two equals in the world.

Also available in
Sterling Silver:

Arrives ready for gift giving.

Shipping in DHL EXPRESS with tracking number.

For an original gift add a jewelry box, classic bag, and custom laser engraved
polishing cloth, 100% cotton.

Thanks so much,

Can be paired with other rings to create your own look. See more in

Stamped custom letters inside. Up to 12 letters free.

Shipping from Spain

Processing time

3-5 business days

Estimated shipping times

  • Canada : 3 - 5 business days
  • Spain : 1 - 3 business days
  • United States : 3 - 5 business days
  • Europe : 1 - 3 business days
  • Australia, New Zealand and Oceania : 3 - 5 business days
  • Asia Pacific : 3 - 5 business days
  • Latin America and the Caribbean : 3 - 5 business days
  • North Africa and the Middle East : 3 - 9 business days

I'll do my best to meet these shipping estimates, but can't guarantee them. Actual delivery time will depend on the shipping method you choose.

Customs and import taxes

Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.

Payment Options

Secure options
  • Accepts Etsy gift cards

Returns & Exchanges

I gladly accept returns

Just contact me within: 3 days of delivery

Ship items back to me within: 14 days of delivery

I don't accept exchanges or cancellations

But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.

The following items can't be returned or exchanged

Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:

  • Custom or personalized orders
  • Items on sale

Conditions of return

Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value.

Privacy policy

I will only use your shipping and billing address, and contact information

  • To communicate with you about your order
  • To fulfill your order
  • For legal reasons (like paying taxes)

Frequently Asked Questions

Wholesale availability

Yes, I can manufacture the rings wholesale. Contact us for more information.

How ethical are your materials?

The Sterling Silver and Gold I use is ethically sourced, mainly recycled, and eco-friendly.

Shipping with DHL EXPRESS with tracking number.

Wrapping and packaging for gift.

We can send the ring in a high quality eco-friendly textile case, inside a paper bag and a ring cleaning cloth that can be customized with the text or graphic you want.

You can buy it in :

Personalized requests.

I make custom orders, request a quotation and in a short time will answer your request.

Size information.

All sizes are American measures, if you need the conversion to other countries you can see in

Precautions when using gold patinated, oxidized o dark rings.

- Do not use under water: sea, showers, swimming pools...
- Do not use with cleaning agents: dishwashers, detergents, chlorine, bleach...
- Do not use in situations that cause scratches, tears...

Oxidization isn't permanent. If you would like it solid black forever, I recommend buying Jax Blackener.

Legal imprint


text:
About Panther Girl Gossip – flagging!

An age old tradition in Gor known as flagging!

Flagging! It used to be the pixel visual of a challenge. A dare for those now staring at the standard of another lands to come test their mettle against fortifications and fighters.

Now? Now it is the calling card of the cap ho.

So after strenuous research. I decided to find the origin of this now watered down custom. (ok not really, I was actually watching this panther camp and went ‘holy shit…burning AND  flagging’) But perhaps..if you could dally your imagination with me a little…Someone from ye old SL Gor realized this also and thus the custom began…..

What to do with Flag planters

Nelly: ….did you place these…flags …at our guest hut and down in the caves?

slob bows his head, “Yes Mistress.” He walks forward ands tarts to remove the last of his ropes, the ones around his ankles He loosens them and then slides them off of him and then carefully rolls them neatly and sets them aside.

Greenr: We never treat other thralls like this

Nelly : shut up…..and answer the question

Greenr: In the cave and in some hut,yes. But that is not Sa vella land.

slob  frowns as he notes the boy doesn’t address his Mistress with the proper title. His hands curl into fists behind his back but he forces himself to relax.

Nelly : It is. *nelly pointed at him* Do you know what we do with….boys we catch ruining our lovely landscape here with ….flags…of filthy tribes like your mistresses?

Greenr: The Sa Jesuil are a proud tribe.I refuse to talk with you when you insult my tribe.

Nelly hands slob the flag pole with the flag itself wrapped around it…”Well what we do with those boys is…we impale them…slob….on my command…you shove this flag up this boys backside…as deep as you can..prepare yourself now.”

slob ‘s eyes widen as he is handed the pole, “Um… yes Mistress,” he stutters as he rises to his feet and stands behind the boy. He holds the pole in both hands and points them at his back and takes a deep breath, waiting for his Mistress’s orders.

Greenr: NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greenr: What do you want????

Nelly : Now…*nelly crossed her arms* You may have figured out ..how much we dislike being flaged…especially by stranger slaves……and it is time your tribe learns about it..and what could be a better way then this?”

Greenr: Biting his lips and clenching his anus tightly

Greenr: I will tell them. I will take a scroll home.Anything,aynthing

Nelly : Now..i will count to 3….andf then you do what is needed slob….and dont hold yourself back. This boy is propably even used to it.

Nelly sighs…”I iam ot convinced yet….sooooo…..ONE!”

Greenr: I submit to you!!!

Nelly  shakes her head..”You can not submit…you are already owned….a slave can not decide whos slave he is….TWO!”

slob ‘s hands clench and unclench around the flagpole, bracing himself to deliver the punishment. He takes a deep breath and gets ready.

Greenr: I will tell everyone how dangerous it is here! I will go anywhere you want.Stark naked and tell everyone!!I will do anything you want.anything.

Greenr: Sobbing

Nelly  narrowed her eyes….”Well that might be something..” she said..”You will return….and hand your tribe the flag back….and tell them….that this was about to go up your ass…….and another one is still waiting for any SaJesuil that ever dares to flag us again. Do you understand, boy. This flag here ..goes right up her or his ass….if we ever find another flag of SaJesuil in our camp or our forest.”

Nelly  snorted..”Now kick this boy out of our camp slob…”

Greenr: Yes,huntress,thank you for your mercy.

Greenr: Sobbing

slob  nods, “Yes Mistress.” He seems almost relieved that he did not have to deliver the punishment. HOlding the flag in one hand he bends down and loosens the shackles that held him down. He pokes his back with the flagpole, “Get up. Let’s go.”

Greenr: may I have my slave kilt back? It is of fine silk.I took it off a merchants thrall.

Nelly : Good slob….he obviously doesnt understand what just happened..lets return….where were we? At number 2..right?

slob looks at Nelly and nods, “Yes Mistress.” He leans the flagpole against the wall and then grabs the boy’s hair and shoves hims back down to his hands and knees and re-locks the shackles.

Nelly  smiled…”Very well…as he asked so nice….i will give him his kilt back..after he had the flag pole.”

Greenr: No,please.You may keep my kilt.

Greenr: I rather be whiped by my EN for coming home naked.

slob raises an eyebrow, “She ‘may’? You are telling her that she ‘may’ keep something?”

Greenr: Please, keep it.Huntress.

Nelly : Oh…really? *nelly smiled coldly* how nice….good….seems we sorted this out…did we? Now slob….you may remove this boy from our camp..”

Greenr: Redfaced as he realizes he will also be on the ship stark naked

slob smiles and releases the shackles, “Yes Mistress.” He grabs the flag pole and starts to prod his back again, “Let’s go.”

Greenr: Thank you,huntress.

© Lunacaleengpanthers/Sa Vella

Leave a Reply

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

WordPress.com Logo

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s


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

text:
Archive | July, 2013

BP Holdings Madrid Warning News – Oil Spill

2 Jul

BP Report Says Gulf Oil Spill Was Only Half As Big As Government Claims

How much oil spilled from of BP ‘s blown out Macondo well in 2010? The government has estimated that the total came to 4.9 million barrels. But a report authored by a British engineer hired by BP has found that the total volume is more like 3.3 million. When taking into account the 800,000 barrels that BP managed to capture just as it gushed out, the government figures 4.1 million barrels actually escaped into the Gulf of Mexico. BP’s hired engineer calculated just 2.46 million barrels.

The figures come from a 209-page report by London petroleum engineer Martin J. Blunt, a professor at Imperial College in London. This is believed to be the first time that BP’s internal flow rate estimates have been made public.

The tally of barrels will be a huge factor in just how many billions of dollars BP ultimately has to fork over to satisfy Clean Water Act penalties. In the worst case scenario, if a U.S. District Court judge finds that BP was grossly negligent in causing the spill and uses the government’s spill figures, BP could be out as much as $17.6 billion. Blount’s figures would reduce that hit almost by half.


text:
• Menu MENU
  • 1-855-489-2539
  • CART
  • MENU

  • 1-855-489-2539
  • CART

Hooting Owls Motion Sound Sensor Animal Garden Sculpture

Item# 43465
In Stock - Ships Right Away
List Price: $9.99
Gift Wrap ($4.99)

Product Description

Place our enchanting owl sculpture on a desk, shelf or table and bring the sounds of nature to your home when anyone passes by. Sculpted of hand painted polyresin with sophisticated details, our pair of owls perch on a log with remarkable realism. The internal sound sensor reacts to movement up to 12" away. Requires 2 AA batteries, not included. On/off switch on bottom. Measures 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" x 2-5/8".

Ratings and Reviews

More In This Series

Customers also Bought

Item added to cart

Email Subscriber Special: Get $5 Flat Rate Shipping!
Expires: March 31, 2018


text:
The “Owls About It” Dress

The Facts

Fabric: about 3 metres of vintage black floral pinwale corduroy from an op shop in Milton for $5, and about half a metre of orange pinwale corduroy (gift from my mother)
Pattern: Simplicity 5368
Year: 1973
Notions: 9 blue heart-shaped buttons (no idea where they came from), some interfacing for the collar
Time to make: 6-and-a-half hours
First worn: to work on Friday
Wear again? yep
Total cost: $5
Bump: 23 weeks

If you read my previous post, you’ll know that I recently received a lovely parcel from Trish over in Aussie, with a bunch of maternity patterns in it. Well, here’s the first one that I made up! A “maternity mini-dress” from 1973. (Maternity mini-dress? Really?!? Such an odd concept that it demanded to be made immediately.)

Since it’s heading into winter here, I managed to restrain all my usual impulses to break out the novelty printed and floral printed cottons, and went for some pinwale corduroy instead. Because lovely though they are, lightweight cotton isn’t really all that good for winter. (Not that that stops me from wearing it nearly constantly, just with lots of layers over and under it, as evidenced in the Me-Made-May ’12 posts.)

Isn’t this just the cutest pattern? Peter Pan collar, little rounded patch pockets, and gathered puff sleeves. Too cute for words. And making it up in a printed pinwale corduroy reminded me of preschool art smocks and the like, which made me smile.

To go with the latest Sew Weekly challenge, which was to use at least two prints in an outfit, I went for two varieties of corduroy. The black floral I picked up from an op-shop in Milton during our southern road trip earlier this year, and had just enough for the dress. (Well, nearly just enough. I had to make it a couple of inches narrower at the hem than it should have been to squeeze it in there, but I figured with this A-line smock style, it wasn’t going to make a huge difference.) The orange-with-owls was a gift from my mother – she found it at Spotlight a while back, and when I was down visiting over Christmas she made the mistake of showing it to me. Home with me it went – thanks, mum! 😉

I must admit to a bit of hesitancy about this fabric combo, especially with the blue heart-shaped buttons. It reminds me of something a 4 year old would wear. The shorter length and the art-class smock style don’t really help with that, either! Not that I have any issues wearing a dress that a 4 year old would wear, but occasionally I do wonder if I’ve stepped over that fine line to the ridiculous with some of my creations…… That hesitancy vanished after I’d been wearing it around work for a couple of hours on Friday though – now, it’s all good and I loves it. (Does anyone else get that with new creations, that moment of doubt, wondering if it actually looks ok or if you’re just making yourself think it does because you’ve spent a few hours on it? I get that with pretty much everything I make, in some form or another. Hmmmm….)

The pattern was nice and easy to make up – nothing complicated about it at all. I did feel like I was battling the corduroy at times though, trying to gather it, tugging hard on the gathering stitches (and hoping like heck the threads wouldn’t break). It was me versus the corduroy. Thankfully I won. And so many gathers! The front and back both gathered to the yoke. Pockets gathered to the pocket cuffs. Sleeves gathered to the sleeve cuffs, and again at the shoulders. Gathers, gathers everywhere. (Next time, I’d take out some of the volume in those sleeves. They’re just a bit hard to fit under a cardigan, you kind of have to stuff them in there and flatten them out a bit forcefully.)

So, the photos. We had a midwife appointment on Friday lunchtime (the day the bump turned 23 weeks!), so took the opportunity to get some pics down the road from the midwifes house. A gorgeous Wellington winter day, with brilliant blue sky, no wind (it’s so oddly peaceful around here when there’s no wind), and views over the harbour. You’ll have to excuse the sunglasses though – that winter sun is a bit too bright not to be wearing them. It was either keep them on, or squint so much you’d be unable to see my eyes anyway.

I’m still debating whether this works better with a belt or not. (Worn above-bump, of course.) Thoughts?

Oh yes, that this also fits the ‘Sew, Baby!’ challenge, into both the vintage and the dress categories. Just like everything else I’ve been making lately, it seems! 😉

13 responses to “The “Owls About It” Dress

  1. Pingback: Simplicity 5368 « Patterns patterns patterns

  2. I loves it and vote no for the belt, I think it is perfect without!

  3. This dress totally made me smile! I think I’m leaning towards no belt too.

  4. Oh Kat, this is adorable! I can’t decide on the belt- I like it both ways. The fabrioc combo is truly inspired.

    • Thanks! I can’t decide on the belt either – I’m thinking maybe some days I’ll wear it with one, and some days without…… At least until I decide one way or the other, haha!

  5. oh I love the contrast. you look great.

  6. I LOVE IT! I love the fabric combo and that it’s corduroy 🙂 I cannot decide how I feel about the belt either – I like it both ways, but I especially love that you’ve matched the belt to those spectacular blue buttons 🙂

  7. Pingback: Me-Made-May week 3 | Modern Vintage Cupcakes

  8. Pingback: Me-Made-May ’12 – week 4 | Modern Vintage Cupcakes

  9. Pingback: The “Bad Romance” Slip | Modern Vintage Cupcakes

  10. Pingback: Scrapbusting Challenge #5 – Tartan and Cord baby bibs | Modern Vintage Cupcakes

Leave a Reply

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

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s


text:
Love Like Blood

nurse1A rock ‘n’ roll nurse, goin’ into my headnurse2 October is going by way too fast and I haven’t dressed up nearly enough. So today I went with a  twisted nurse costume. I decorated the hat and leggings to my liking, and used a candy blood bag as a garter. I also made the little blood heart vile. The dress is vintage, and shoe YRU. So,Dressing up is fun and gets people in good spirit, so I go with it and inspire fun. I work at a popular record store-thrift store, with a huge costume section, so…. full time dress up! I had a blast helping people all day with their costume ideas, and Halloween dreams. I also made a Nurse playlist, because I go Hard. Seriously I live for dress up and tunes. nurse3So here it is:

  1. Pills- New York Dolls
  2. Code Blue-T.S.O.
  3. Love Like Blood-Blitzkid
  4. No Tears- Tuxedomoon
  5. Blood-My Chemical Romance
  6. Take the Pill- Emilie Autumn
  7. Cuts You Up- Peter Murphy
  8. Bloodletting-Concrete Blond
  9. Night Nurse- Gregory Issacs
  10. Nightcall-Kavinsky

Leave a comment

Filed under fashion & photos, playlists

Leave a Reply

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

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s


text:
Posted on July 26, 2016 and last updated on August 10, 2017

Caribou Mountain, White Mountain National Forest

  • Preserve Size: 800,000 acres in White Mountain Forest (ME and NH)
  • Trail Mileage: 9 miles in network
  • Pets: yes
  • Difficulty: moderate (lengthy)
  • Sights: views from open summit (2840 ft.)

This is a lovely hike, with an open summit and great views. You can tackle it either by starting from Route 113 (closed in winters) or from the Bog Road. Most people depart from the trailhead on Route 113, climbing up either the northern Caribou Trail or the southern Mud Brook Trail. You have more views along the Mud Brook Trail, which also is a bit steeper. Personally, I’d hike up Caribou, and enjoy the views going down, but it’s a personal preference. I did notice it was harder to follow the trail at the open, rocky mountaintop if you were coming in from Caribou Trail. Plus, there are fragile alpine plants on the top, so you feel terrible if you wander off the trail and endanger them, which unfortunately it is easy to do. Or was in July 2016. More rock blazes or cairns please!

The other possibility is you start at Bog Road, and hike up 2.3 miles to intersect with the loop. Note that at the start of Bog Road, the logging road you head out on splits into two. The way was not marked when I was here. Take the road to the left to reach the footpath, which’ll be on your right 100 feet or so further up and posted with an arrow.

If you do the whole trail network— that is, the loop plus the spur to Bog Road—it’s about 11.4 miles. If you just do the Caribou Trail-Mud Brook Trail loop, it’s about 6.7 miles or so. I’d say this hike is moderate, rather than difficult. More info on Maine Trail Finder.

Directions: From US Route 2 in Gilead, travel south on Route 113 for 4.8 miles to the parking area at the Caribou/Mud Brook Trailhead on the left side of the road. From US Route 302 in Fryeburg, travel north on Route 113 for 24.8 miles to the parking area, which’ll be on your right. For the Bog Road trailhead, travel on US Route 2 and just west of West Bethel town you’ll take a left onto Bog Road. Drive 2.8 miles to a small parking area. The road is gated.

Let me know if you have any trail updates or corrections!


text:
Tag Archives: The New Best Recipe

Creative Ways to Support Your Local Bookstore

Kate Flora: Let’s face it–it is so easy to click onto Amazon and order that we often default to that mode. But readers who love books, and bookstores, and browsing the shelves or asking the staff for suggestions, know that if … Continue reading

Posted in Kate's Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments


text:
The Pure Bundle Is Now Available For Xbox One

Available on:

Content: The Pure Bundle
Check price and availability in your Xbox LIVE region

Game Description: Add these classic games to your collection and become a master on the table – whether that’s the poker table, or the pool table, you’ll be a pro in no time. The most authentic experience you’ll have from the comfort of your couch. This bundle includes: Pure Hold’em, with Vortex and Paradise City chip sets Pure Pool with Snooker pack.

Purchase The Pure Bundle for Xbox One from the Xbox Games Store

Product Info:
Developer: VooFoo Studios
Publisher: Ripstone
Website: The Pure Bundle
Twitter: @VooFoo / @RipstoneGames

blog comments powered by Disqus


text:
Can You Earn Money By Watching Videos On Youtube or Not?

Earn money by watching videos on YoutubeWhen you are a beginner, you try to find any possible way to earn money online. But you may prefer something simple and easy like watching videos.

So, can you earn money by watching videos on Youtube?

I think that the title of the post can help you to see my opinion on this topic. I think that it is a waste of time.

You may ask, but is it legit?

Well, it is not always legit at all the websites that promise you to make money with this way.

For this reason, I write this article. I will help you to figure out when is a program suspicious or not.

More specific:

You will read my opinion about this way to get started online, how to avoid the scams and a few recommended alternative ways to make money.

Get Paid to Watch Videos Online

Many people who create video and publish them on Youtube or other websites want to increase their views, likes and subscribers.

When you have many views your video looks more attractive to watch and they also hope that they will improve their SEO ranking on Youtube.

This is why some websites have created views exchange or they pay people to watch these videos.

This is where you are needed. The problem is that it does not worth to spend your time because in most of this type websites you will get paid only one cent or half a cent per video. Even if you find a website with unlimited videos, you can understand how many of them you can see to earn just $1.

Also, a quality video does not need to trick the system to get more views or get ranked on the first page of Youtube.

So, you will get pennies to watch low-quality videos. If you are fine with that then you can get started. With a Google search, you will find some of these websites.

If you are one of those people who pay for views, just create higher quality videos or hire someone to do that. You can find freelancers on sites like Upwork and Fiverr.

The Scams

Here is a video that I have found on Youtube:

If you can get $25 per hour to watch videos, it is $100 after 4 hours. So, with four hours watching videos per day you can get $3000 per month, right?

Well, you will not make so much money to watch videos. When something is too good to be true, then simply avoid it.

This video had a link to the description that will get you on Paid Social Media Jobs website. I had written a review about them some months ago that you can read here.

This is only an example of how they try to take advantage of beginners.

Here are some tips to recognize fast the scams:

  • Too good to be true programs
  • Too many testimonials in the sales page
  • You cannot understand who is the owner of the website
  • It has not a free trial
  • Unrealistic claims

If you see more than one of these tips on a website or a making money program, it is very possible to be a scam.

Alternatives Ways To Earn Money Online

You need to put some effort and learn some skills to make money online. Just like the offline world, there are legit ways to make money online.

This website is about helping people to get started online so here are some ways that I recommend:

Make money with niche sites: A step by step guide to get started by building a website on a topic you like and you already know. If you have a passion or an interest check it out.

Find a job online without experience: A guide to get started with online jobs.

Affiliate marketing with a free website: Affiliate marketing is a type of online business that you do not need to have your own products but you promote other people products.

Top training program: In my opinion, Wealthy Affiliate is the best program to learn how to make money online. You can read my detailed review on the link above.

I do not recommend a way that you get paid for some cents. If you be successful in any of these ways above, you can make a full time or part time income depending on the time you spend to work.

My Last Thoughts

My opinion about earning money by watching videos on Youtube is to avoid it and try a different way.

I created this video to help people who are not sure about this way to make a more informed decision. Do not spend your time to earn some cents. It does not worth it.

An example of a website that pays for views is Paid2Youtube. I do not recommend it is just an example.

Check out my alternatives if you want to make money online.

Thanks for reading.

If you want to share your experience for a program that pays for views or you have any question, leave your comment below.

  1. Dee
    • Ilias
  2. Philip Colbert
    • Ilias
  3. Tim Murphy
    • Ilias

Leave a Reply


text:
Happy Flipping New Year

We have passed the first week of the New Year, and what a week it’s been for me. What a week. I can do without too many of those I can tell you.

Firstly, my trusty old laptop is now no more. My fault. It crashed on Sunday night and I lost the last hour’s worth of writing I’d done that day. Instead of sitting somewhere quietly for a quarter-of-an-hour recalling what I’d just produced and returning to the task, I chose the worse course possible. In anger, I picked up my laptop from my bed where I’d been toiling with the intention of placing it on my desk. No, I did not throw it. My life is on that beast with all my stories and poems (and photos) since from… well… ever.

The machine slipped from my grip in my haste and plunged to the floor. Needless to say, it didn’t start again and then refused the efforts of a tech-minded friend of mine to re-boot it. I purchased a new laptop and sent the old one away for the hard disc to be recovered.

I’m still waiting.

The day after my new computer arrived, my car’s battery died. I purchased a new one and it arrived on Wednesday morning. I took one look at it and told the person who delivered it that it wouldn’t fit in my little car. “Yes it will,” he assured me. Tried to fit it today and guess what? It couldn’t have been more “the wrong battery” had they sent me an air-filter by mistake.

So my rotten last week is spilling over to the next one. I’ve had to take time off work tomorrow to sort the car and will continue my anxious vigil for my writing (and other important documents) to return.

Annoyance creeps in now and then, but on the whole I’ve held a positive attitude. I know this will pass and the damage will be overcome by hard graft and squashing negative thoughts. But it’s a challenge all the same.

So, here’s to a New Year re-boot!

Malek Montag

Rochester, 2017

Picture Credit: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/33143747232854183/

About malekmontag

I am a writer and a wage-slave, and proud father of George Giraffe. I live in the UK, but I exist everywhere. My first stories were published this year (2016) in Short Stories and Tall Tales (Atla Publishing). Follow me on Twitter @Malek_Montag15. My Work is also available on Niume.com.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

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

WordPress.com Logo

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s


text:
Je t’aime: On Sale Again

It’s Saint Valentine’s Day… again… and that must mean we’re here in Consumerville spending heaps of money on worthless tat.

Well, almost everyone. But certainly not me. For the second year in a row I find myself devoid of the necessary incumbent for the kind of romantic accoutrements that impede my progress through the supermarkets of Kent: I’m single… once more. And, to be honest, quite happy to be on the side-lines of this year’s love-fest.

Every middle of February (Why February? Why the heart of winter? Surely, May would be a better month?), we are suddenly allowed to get mushy, slushy and gushy with our significant other. On this day we have permission to give each other (providing, of course, you’re with an other) tacky cards, out-of-season flowers, over-priced chocolates, and, for the daring among us, sexy lingerie. (Yes, that’s where the daring comes in.)

For just one day of the year (okay, two – with Christmas), we’re allowed to do this. Which means it’s frowned upon for the other 364 days?

Come on. How much does an I love you cost? Saying that any time, regardless of the day, the month, the year, will cost you nothing, but it will be worth a great deal. Seriously. If you love someone, say it or show it everyday, any day, and you will see the benefits. I’ve found, in my limited experience of long-term relationships, that spontaneity coupled with a constant drip of affirmed affection, goes quite a long way in this love game.

If you insist on spending a small fortune on informing your significant other how much you love them, please be original and try not make it look like you’re making up for the next 364 days. And, please, don’t propose to her or him at some sporting event in front of thousands of spectators. Please. I’m still haunted by the image of a young man in the US who proposed to his girlfriend at a baseball game (I think); live on TV, too. The girlfriend was clearly not ready for such a step and courageously declined the offer. Annoyingly, the crowd booed the young woman as she left the stadium very upset. Then the producer took great delight in watching the young man following solemnly in his (I presume now ex-) girlfriend’s footsteps and under a cloud of utter embarrassment. Let this be a lesson to us all!

In the 1970s and ’80s, in the UK, lots of cars carried stickers saying: A Dog Is For Life, Not Just For Christmas. For many reasons a good love should be considered in the same (or similar) vein. Love is for life, not just for the exclusive exploitation of Saint Valentine’s Day. (Life here means that period of time begun when one looks at one’s heart’s desire and thinks, Corrrr, she/he’s gorgeous.) And so, too, are chocolates.

So, have a happy Valentine’s whether you’re with or without, and I hope you experience many, many warm and love-filled cosy nights in through-out the year.

Malek Montag

Rochester, 2017

Picture Credit:

About malekmontag

I am a writer and a wage-slave, and proud father of George Giraffe. I live in the UK, but I exist everywhere. My first stories were published this year (2016) in Short Stories and Tall Tales (Atla Publishing). Follow me on Twitter @Malek_Montag15. My Work is also available on
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

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

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s


text:
Malware Removal Information

Destroy spyware, malware, trojan horses

Remove Antivirus Live

Posted by malwareremoval on December 10, 2009

Antivirus Live is the misleading and rogue antispyware application. Though it is brand new, Antivirus Live is not very different from its elder brother Antivirus System Pro. This unwanted software is installed by Trojans and this makes it extremely dangerous. Without doubts, you are not going to know about is or give any consent, Antivirus Live will be installed either way you want it or not. After installation, Antivirus Live will scan your system and show tons of various infections inside. Moreover, you will not be allowed to remove any of those threats until you buy program’s registered license. In order to protect itself of being detected, Antivirus Live will modify the Proxy settings in your Internet browser, so you are not able to visit any of websites except for Antivirus Live official page and it will continue until you purchase the license. Also, Antivirus Live will block the access to almost all applications on your computer stating that they are infected or extremely dangerous and must be removed. Sure you cannot do it without license purchasing. Such strategy penetrates your computer work and makes it really hard and annoying. One more thing about Antivirus Live is that it is going to send numerous bogus and vexing notifications about insufficient level of computer protection. You are going to face it, so many times that you barely can do anything on your computer. All these pop-ups as well as scan results are only scam, and should not consider being important and useful. It was created only to trick victims and nothing more. If you face any of the features from above, know that you are infected with rogue antivirus application and that it is highly recommended to get rid of Antivirus Live at once using SpywareDoctor.

Download SpywareDoctor + antivirus to remove Antivirus Live

Leave a Reply

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

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
Made in Japan: The Postwar Creative Print Movement

April 28–August 7, 2005
Koss Gallery

Made in Japan examines the artistic dialogue between East and West as it played out between 1945 and 1970. During this post-World War II period, Japanese printmakers effectively acted as ambassadors, bringing their venerable aesthetic traditions into fruitful interaction with contemporary American trends and forging ties with artists, scholars, museums and collectors. The Creative Print (sôsaku hanga) movement originated in the early 20th century, when Japanese artists sought to modernize their practice by embracing Euro-American concepts of originality and autonomy. The movement matured in the decades following World War II, when second- and third-generation sôsaku hanga printmakers continued to experiment in terms of style, technique and subject matter. From the early 1950s, Japanese printmakers participated in a newly global art scene, achieving great success at international art exhibitions sponsored by the American and Japanese governments. Made in Japan recollects a fascinating but little-known instance of the East-West dialogue that continues unabated today.

This exhibition is organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and curated by Glenn Adamson, curator of the Chipstone Foundation and MAM adjunct curator, with consulting curator Alicia Volk. The exhibition is sponsored by the Blakemore Foundation and Toshiba International Foundation.

The exhibition travels to The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, Florida, Oct 4–Dec 31, 2005.

Sekino, Jun'ichirô
Amano, Kunihiro
Sekino, Jun'ichirô

Sekino, Jun'ichirô, Aquarium, 1956. Color woodcut on Japanese paper. 22 1/4 x 17 3/4 in. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. William Frackelton.

Amano, Kunihiro, Morning Moon P, 1961. Color woodcut on Japanese paper. 15 1/2 x 21 9/16 in. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. William Frackelton.

Sekino, Jun'ichirô, Portrait of Kôshirô Onchi, 1952. Color woodcut on Japanese paper. 9 7/16 x 21 7/8 in. Ed. 34/100. Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. William Frackelton.


text:
Posted by: mamas2hands | March 21, 2012

Crocheting Kids

Yesterday was the last day of Crochet Club at my local school.  Since mid-October I’ve been teaching many of the 2nd-5th students (and their parents) the basics of crochet.  It has been a fun experience and I hope to do it again next school year.

Our last lesson was all about making hats from the crown down working in spirals using the half-double crochet stitch. One of my students was also learning how to make curlicues to decorate her hat with.

Even if you’ve never taught before, if you get a chance ,share your love of crochet with others.  I’m always amazed how much I learn from my student’s questions.  Seeing thru the eyes of a beginner, after 40+ years of crocheting, is a wonderous thing.

Leave a Reply

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

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
Sunday, August 19, 2012

So it begins: Newsweek bails on Obama

The Chicago cultists with the Obama regime are going to have trouble explaining this one: Left-wing Newsweek is bailing on Obama. Its latest cover story, written by Niall Ferguson, skewers the leader of the Cult of Change.

It's an honest but brutal attack on Obama's plethora of failures.

Newsweek is first. More liberal bastions will follow.

Technorati tags:

Romney/Ryan 2012 Liberty Mug Mug by CafePress (Google Affiliate Ad)

1 comment:

Tregonsee said...

This single cover will be used as proof that the MSM is not biased, never has been, and never will be.


text:
The Importance of Mistakes

From the moment our sweet bundles of poo are placed into our eager arms, we love them unconditionally and as they grow, we support them as they learn to sit, crawl, and walk; we guide them as they makes friends; we teach them how to write their names; and provide comfort after every bump and bruise. A mothers instincts are  full of ways to nurture, support, teach, and provide for our children. However; although it may feel uncomfortable, we also need to let them make mistakes too. In fact, letting our tiny humans learn from their mistakes helps build resilience and is essential to raising a confident, capable, happy, and not so weird adult .  Continue reading

This snow though

I feel like I’m in an abusive relationship with these snow storms! It’s a bitch to travel in, fucks up my shoes, and nothing ruins my mood faster than stepping in slosh. But I will always have a soft spot for it, cause even with all the BS…nothing is better than getting stuck at home. SNOW DAY!!

Bravo TV’s Newlywed’s The First Year – Kat Lagoudes

Bravo recently confirmed a second season of thier hit docu-series “Newlyweds The First Year”, which chronicled all the trials and tribulations that arise as a newlywed. Season two will follow four brand new couples through the highs and lows of the first year of marriage.

I wanted to check in with Kat Lagoudes, newlywed , new mom, and the fan favorite from season 1 to see how her life has been now that she is not so newlywed.

Jenni:  So how’s life post Newlyweds? Anything new going on? Give us the scoop. about

Kathryn: Taping and living our first year as Newlyweds was definitely an experience we will never forget. Now that we are done taping and the show has aired we begin Newlyweds: the 2nd year- although the cameras are no longer around our lives has not slowed down one bit. We entered our first year of marriage as a couple and now we are a family of three. Life with a baby has definitely changed us! We are closer than ever with a FEW MORE bumps in the road, our first year was all about learning to live together and respect each ones differences, the second year has been all about learning to parent together, sharing responsibilities of caring for a newborn and helping each other out so that neither one of us gets burned out as well as making time to be a couple.

Jenni: Being pregnant and a newlywed is a double whammy – especially since the current statistics say that The divorce rate for the United States is approximately forty percent, nearly half of the total marriage rate.  How was it living out some of these tender moments on TV?

Kathryn: One of the major reasons I participated in the show Newlyweds: the first year, is that it I am a hopeless romantic who believes in the sanctity of marriage and its lifetime commitment Continue reading

3, 2, 1…This is the end

LAWD, this is it yall. THE END is upon us. Just you watch, today the wine dries up, tomorrow we will all be searching for a prison to provide shelter from the zombie apocolypse. Who wants to live in a world without vino? How would I make it through work functions? OMG or even Thankwsgiving with in-laws?  Read and see the horror below, I need to go find a fainting couch.

A new report by Morgan Stanley Research says the world might soon suffer a global shortage of wine. Global wine production has been steadily declining while consumption sharply rises.

Huffington Post –
MercoPress 2010 Article –

It isn’t only France that’s suffering from a growing dearth of wine—it’s the entire world, says a report released on Monday (Oct. 28) by Morgan Stanley

AWWWW of the day! Baby Cries At Mom Singing

This video is totally adorbs. Lately I’ve been cracking out at everything baby related (*fingers and legs crossed that I don’t get knocked up again), but this is so worth the few tears that will creep down your face and wash away the work douchery from your soul.

It’s so beautiful to watch that sweet baby get so emotional hearing their mom sing- no shade that baby is giving the Oscar performance of their tiny lives. All shade – there is more emotional range in this two minute youtube clip, then an entire season of Keeping up with the Kardashians.

Now you watch this, while I attempt to train my baby to not laugh when I sing ( ._.)

‘Newlyweds: The First Year’ Finale: 5 Marriage Lessons From the Season

by Melissa Chapman 22 hours ago

Last night the season finale of Newlyweds: The First Year culminated with a Watch What Happens Live reunion. I was thrilled all the couples survived their first year of marriage and still seem committed to their unions. As I watched these newlyweds navigate their first year of not-so-wedded-bliss, the floodgates on my own newlywed year burst open. Like them, I was in for a VERY rude awakening 14 years ago.

Under the impression that marriage was going to be rife with unicorns, rainbows, and birds chirping, I envisioned marriage as sweet as my buttercream wedding cake frosting and as sexy as our Hawaiian honeymoon. I could not have been more off the mark. Continue reading

How to Be a Good Friend When You’re a Busy Working Parent

As busy parents, some weeks it seems like finding time for everything in the friend-and-working-parentschedule can be a challenge – fitting in exercise, grocery shopping, laundry, or just having some “down time” can feel like a struggle at times. We all want the best for our children and that means spending quality time together. But we also know that when we are
well-rounded individuals, we are models for our children to live a good, full

One important component of this is making and maintaining friendships. Friends fill out our lives and give us a place to share secrets and joys and to offer and receive support. Friendships are where we can play and eat together and enjoy time with people we care about. The best friendships stay with us throughout our lives and Continue reading


text:
In Writing

Today begins National Novel Writing Month, a completely made up excuse for writers to pressure themselves and each other to write.  I’m so totally in!

Here’s the deal: I have 27,000 words written in a 60,000 novel and 3,000 written in another 60,000 word novel.  So I have 25% of two books written.  90,000 words in 30 days is 3,000 words a day, which is totally doable for me.  But even if it proves to be too ambitious, I should at least be able to finish the first, closer-to-finished project in this coming month.

So I’m enlisting you to help keep me honest. If you follow me on Facebook, hop on there and berate me mercilessly to post my word count at the end of each day (I am a people pleaser and I will force myself to write if only to avoid people’s wrath).  If not, check in via email at maria (at) mariaeandreu.com.  Little reminders will help so much!  It’s a month full of madness with lots of book promotion events, but one does not get to choose when NaNoWriMo happens.  So help me power through!  I’m making my commitment public so I can stick to it.

And let me know if you have a big goal you’d like to achieve this month, whether writing related or not.

Recent Posts
Contact Me

I'd love to hear from you!

Not readable? Change text. captcha txt


text:
In Writing

Yesterday, still feeling the glow of Day 1 of my positivity challenge, I went into my Google Drive to look up old resources from classes and books I’ve read on the subject of positive thinking. I came across so many wonderful things I’d forgotten! Among my favorites was finding a document I wrote detailing my wishes for my future on the week after my ex-husband moved out. I was so desperately sad, not just at the marriage ending, but at so many things in my life that weren’t working. I made a list of things I wanted. Incredibly, five years later, it reads like a laundry list of everything I have today. Amazing. Being clear on the goal really does work wonders.

So, today, here’s what I’m grateful for:

1. I am grateful that everything I’ve wanted, I’ve gotten. I realized this a few months ago and it kind of blew my mind. I’m not talking about material things, although those are certainly included. I’m talking about true wishes. It has sometimes taken years (or, in the case of my writing career, decades), but wanting something steadily and truly enough has always resulted in success. Crazy, right? When I realized this it sort of changed my view of the world and of myself.

2. I am grateful for my health. When I was younger I always thought this was an old-person thing to be grateful for. But now that I had that little scare earlier this year I realize how I cherish feeling well and how it makes everything else possible.

3. I am grateful for my new job. Interesting work, a sweetheart commute and a chance to make a great living. What is not to love?

That’s it for me today. How about you?

Recent Posts
Contact Me

I'd love to hear from you!

Not readable? Change text. captcha txt


text:
“Serendipity” (noun)

Serendipity: noun

the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

“a fortunate stroke of serendipity”

synonyms: (happy) chance, (happy) accident, fluke

How better to end a mild winter evening than with hot Shakshuka in central Tel Aviv? This sumptuous breakfast dish makes for a great dinner, and so I happily dipped challah bread in the steaming hot saucepan of tomatoey goodness. In the meantime, I watched life go by on Ibn Gabirol, one of Tel Aviv busiest streets. But when a large procession of people danced by the restaurant’s windows, accompanied by a party bus that boasted neon lights and blasted loud music, even the Tel Aviv locals in the restaurant spun their heads around with intrigue. Curiosity got the better of me; I hastily paid my dinner and ran out of the restaurant to pursue this congregation. Who were they, what were they celebrating, and why did they do so on a public street in the middle of the city?

My initial instinct was that this was a Jewish wedding. There were people of all ages but some wore more traditional religious clothing and black hats, and two men were carrying large silver goblet-like objects. But when I couldn’t spot the happy couple, I decided to ask a security guy in a yellow vest what was going on. He told me that this group of people were carrying the Torah from a bar on Dizengoff to the synagogue. “Wait, back up!” is what you’re probably thinking just about now. Well, I felt the same way, and so I went around the group asking more people more questions. Here’s what I found: the group had started as just a handful of people. Two hours ago, they met outside the bar on Dizengoff street where there was a horrific shooting in early January. Dizengoff is to Tel Aviv what King’s Road is to London, or the Theater district to Boston – an area rife with bars, clubs, and young people. It is not known to be a dangerous area; rather it is one of the most desirable places to live. But while the shooting must have left many Israelis scar(r)ed, these people had made a beautiful decision: they would commemorate the young victims of the shooting with a Torah, and in the process, would celebrate life by dancing from the bar to the synagogue in an ever-growing mass of people.

To you, this probably sounds bizarre and surreal, maybe distasteful. To me, this was a profoundly moving event that I feel very lucky to have been a part of. Whether English-speaking or not, everyone present tried to include me. An Israeli Arab (who was by far the best dancer) grabbed my hand and pulled me into the middle of it all; the rabbi present eagerly shook my hand and thanked me for being there, before leading the group in chanting a prayer; and a French Jew who had made Aliyah four years ago told me he had turned down a private dinner with a senior Likud politician, just to be here.

For me, this evening was sheer serendipity. By pure luck, I saw something raw – figments of the national psyche out in the open: Israelis’ mourning for their dead compatriots, Israelis’ resilience, and their unshakable will to live their lives in spite of terrorism.

Two days later, I found myself at the very bar where the senseless shooting occurred. Why? Because a mere ten days after the shooting, the bar’s owners had invited all of Tel Aviv to a massive street feast to celebrate life.

Leave a Reply

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

WordPress.com Logo

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s


text:
Friends Can Be Funny: The Vegan

In which the girls are hanging out with their friend’s new girlfriend, who comes with dietary restrictions.

Scarlett: Does anyone want to order out? I REALLY don’t feel like cooking…or putting on real pants.

[everyone mumbles in agreement]

Scarlett: [pulling out takeout menus] Any preferences? Wings?

Rain: Oh, I can’t eat chicken. I’m a vegan.

Elena: I see where this is going, ok let’s just pick anoth-

Rain: I’m actually really jealous of you guys.

Kaitlin: Why?

Reese: Nope.  Do not ask her that.

Rain: I WISH my conscience could drown out the embittered screams of the cows and chickens that are brutally murdered to make your wings and your steaks. Or the sad death buzzes of the bees that are chemically mass-murdered to create your honey like little honey slaves. I just can’t ignore their plight, so I choose to live a cruelty free lifestyle.

Reese: You know, we’re totally fine with that. Please just stop telling us about it.

Rain: Have you all read Skinny Bitch? It changed my life. Who are we to believe ourselves better than the animals that make our food? I think it’s only fair that all of Earth’s creatures don’t have to be electrocuted and savagely killed just so I can have a meal or a leather jacket.

Scarlett: Seriously! We don’t care! We’ll just order from somewhere else.

Rain: Have you guys tried the new macrobiotic place a couple blocks away? They have the most amazing quinoa loaves. Taste just like the real thing!

Jackie: The real what? What is that supposed to be a substitute for?!

[Enter Matt, friend of girls and boyfriend of Rain]

Matt: Hey guys. Hey, Rain you ready to go?

Rain: Oh I completely forgot we had date night tonight! Let me just freshen up!

[mercifully exits]

Scarlett: Matt, WHAT are you doing with that girl? She’s…

Elena: The worst. The absolute worst.

Matt: She’s hot.

Posted on 06/19/2012, in Friends Can Be Funny and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

Leave a Reply

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

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this:


text:
2013 is Maritime Year: but shhh, its a secret!

Last week at the Maritime Trade Forum ahead of the BRICS Summit in Durban, I learned that the Minister of Transport had declared 2013, Maritime Year in South Africa. Riad Khan of the Port Regulator stated this quite clearly while welcoming delegates to these maritime discussions and I silently chastised myself for not knowing such an important development in the industry.

Wow – that’s a real milestone for the relationship between the maritime industry and the Department of Transport, which is more vocal in its directives aimed at land-based transport modes. I was buoyed by the announcement and felt sure that I would be able to find out what the Department was doing to promote this sector within the country and amongst our citizens.

Since learning this news last week I have asked a number of other members of the industry what they know about this development only to find that I was not the only one in the dark.

So I visited the Department’s website feeling sure I would see some sort of 2013 Maritime Year banner emblazoned across the screen. No. No banner.

So I looked under the press announcements, press releases and speeches. No. No such message there either.

So I took the link to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), the Department’s official maritime agency, to see if I could find more information there. No. No information there. And the same dismal non-message on the website belonging to the Port Regulator.

So I went back to the Department of Transport’s website to take a closer look at their maritime intentions because Minister Dikobe Ben Martins did make it clear in his speech at the Maritime Trade Forum that he was expecting high level engagement with the industry and that a coherent maritime strategy needed to be presented to him by July.

Surely such pronouncements would be borne out on their site? No. None of the speeches listed on the site relate to his public appearances in the maritime domain. It is as if he is embarrassed to admit engaging with us on some level; as if by admitting his engagement with the maritime industry, he is somehow ignoring the carnage on our road during peak holidays.

In fact if you click on MARITIME in the website menu bar – the persistent banner advert promoting road safety follows you there too.

In a last ditch effort to uncover their maritime mantra for 2013, I clicked on the link to their Facebook page. That provided no further assistance – especially as the last post on their page is dated June 2012. And most of the posts on the page relate to (yes you guessed it) road traffic.

So ladies and gentlemen of the maritime industry 2013 is Maritime Year, but please don’t tell anyone – it’s a secret.

Leave a Reply

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

WordPress.com Logo

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s


text:
Weekly Press Review – 16 October 2015

The international FishCRIME symposium has made headlines this week.  The symposium, a joint initiative by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), the Norwegian government and two NGOs, Stop Illegal Fishing and PescaDOLUS, took place at the CTICC in Cape Town earlier in the week..

The key note address was delivered by Eve de Coning of Interpol, Oslo.  De Coning said that crimes in the fishing sector had four common denominators:

  • They occurred across international borders
  • There was usually more than one crime involved
  • There was a high degree of secrecy in company and vessel ownership, and
  • Many jurisdictions made prosecution extremely difficult.

Crimes in the fishing sector globally include not only illegal fishing, but also tax and custom evasion, fraud, forged documentation, money laundering, drugs and weapons smuggling and illegal labour practices.

DAFF’s head of fisheries enforcement, Ceba Mtoba, said that fishing crimes were run by global criminal networks and South Africa needed to be part of a global network in order to effectively address the problems.

The pollution of our oceans has also made headlines this week with a visit by members of the round-the-world Race for Water Odyssey to the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town.

The odyssey, initiated by the Race for Water Foundation, began in France in March and hopes to make the first global assessment of plastic pollution in the oceans from its trimaran.

Board member, Franklin Servan-Schreiber said, “Fifty percent of oxygen we owe to tiny plankton we don’t even see, but dust plastic is affecting the plankton’s ability to produce oxygen.”

Approximately 80 percent of the rubbish in the ocean is plastic.  According to Marco Simeoni, president of the Race for Water Foundation, despite the massive scale of plastic waste in the ocean, not much is known about it.

The team hopes to assess plastic pollution on remote islands in the oceans five main rubbish hotspots with the aim of determining the type of plastic, as well as its toxicity to marine life.

Perlemoen with an estimated value of R17 million was confiscated on the Cape Flats this week.  According to the press the police worked through the night counting the illegally poached perlemoen – the biggest haul of the year thus far.

No suspects have as yet been arrested and the investigation is ongoing.

Leave a Reply

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

WordPress.com Logo

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

Twitter picture

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

Facebook photo

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

Google+ photo

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

Connecting to %s


text:
What we are getting up to in Nairobi

Wow Phase 1 finally done!

 Progress update on the SIL Intranet

Phase 1 of 3 has been completed; the intranet has now been fully developed, and tested. (woohoo!!)

This was an absolute mamouth undertaking, but glad its finally all developed
However, this isn’t the end, we now have 2 more phases to move onto

Phase 2 will consist of loading content. documents and tagging for the internal search engine.
Identifying and training the correct people to manage the system.

Phase 3 will be training the staff on how to use the intranet to speed up their productivity, and rolling out to the whole organisation.

…the number of languages spoken in the world today

…the number of languages without any of the Bible, but with a possible need of a Bible translation to begin

about 340 million

…the number of people who speak the 2,000 languages where translation projects have not yet begun

…the number of translation programs where Wycliffe is currently at work

nearly 75%

…amount of the world’s remaining Bible translation needs that are located in the three areas of greatest need

…the number of language communities which have access to the New Testament in their heart language

…the number of language communities which have access to the entire Bible in the language they understand best

6.5 billion+

…the population of the world

I reckon they should just all learn english, but apparently its not going to happen 😉

Alpha Course Finished

I always find alpha both draining and very rewarding

Had such a nice group and made some cool friends.
As usual the group always fliters down, but we kept around the 8-1o mark (about 15 started)

Unfortunatly location was an issue as we are in the suburbs and with Nairobi traffic, people found it difficult to make it across town in time, but we had a great time with the guys that managed to make it

we watched the alpha video’s, that Nicky Gumbel is a funny guy!

It is great to see people growing!

Pub Quiz

Had a great evening at the vineyard pub quiz

the last one attracted about 63 people, so we figured we’d aim for around 80-90

well on the day we were getting a little worries as its seemed to be the talk of the town
Luckily, only 120 people turned up and we literally had every seat in use for the event

It was a huge sucess, and a chance for people from the church to bring their mates
Lots of conversations were going on how we must be a cool church to do such good events.

Not just translation

Some of the languages we encounter don’t have written form, so we have to create a written language, and educate the people on how to read and write, we usually educate approx 3 people in the community and they pass this knowledge on
In some cases we even build schools

More info on languages can be found here: http://www.ethnologue.org/country_index.asp?place=Africa

June Already?!?

Not sure how it is June already!  Time seems to be absolutely FLYING!!!  It is only just over 9 weeks until we are back in the U.K. for a three week visit (18th August – 12th September), and we have so much to do before then, but it is all great fun!

So, we finally have our first Alpha course starting a week Wednesday (June 22nd).  We are very    excited to be finally launching with this.  This first course is actually targeted at people who are already within the church to some degree, and is going to be ‘Alpha Express’.  We will then have a second course running from end of September, when we will probably use ‘The Reason for God’ material by Tim Keller, and this will be totally focussed at the community around us.

We also have another Pub Quiz event coming up on Friday July 1st, and just have some organising etc to arrange before then.  We have had some really encouraging stories brought to our attention other the past week in regards to these social events, which has given us added enthusiasm and drive.  One German couple came to see me Sunday to mention that they had invited two aquaintances to the Latino Night, and they had all had such a good time that they have since taken up Salsa dancing lessons together, and as the relationship has developed they have had many opportunities for some really good chats.  Another member of church said that she was at Mum’s and Babies group last week and was chatting to a lady there about church etc, and the lady said ‘Oh that’s the church that does great events’, and as a result someone else in the group entered the conversation and has expressed an interest to come along one Sunday.  Plus a few weeks ago, someone from the community randomly turned up to church after coming to ‘Latino Night’  and afterwards expressed some interest in attending the Alpha course.   Please pray that God will continue to use us and these events for his Glory!

The Rhino Charge took place just over a week ago, and was a fantastic success.  Great fun was had by all, and we received lots of very positive comments from the competitors about the quality of the ‘check point – station’ that we ran, providing them with ice cold drinks, fresh fruit and the most amazing food – beef skewers, marinaded chicken, breakfast baps.  The menu was put together by a great friend of ours, who is a fantastic chef, so it didn’t feel like camping at all most of the time.   If you want to see more pictures please click on the following link…

Things at Heshima are going well.  There has been significant progress made by the children which is just so exciting to see.  Melvin is now walking everywhere (holding on to furniture) whereas he used to cry if you even put him on his feet; Felix has made great improvement with a diet change, and he his now giving more eye contact, responding to play situations and interacting more – plus he fed himself for the first time the other day; Maggie has surgery on her club feet due on July 18th – please pray that the surgery will go well and that she will be able to learn to walk in time.  Tracey Hagman is back home in the U.S. at the moment for two months for a break, and also to try and fundraise for the new build.  The jewellery parties that she has run so far have gone fantastically and she is already ordering more stuff for me to ship out to her (and she is only a week and a half into her trip).  The initial construction work on the new site has been completed but we are still awaiting approval from the council to start the ‘official’ construction of the building itself.  Tracey has emailed me today to ask everyone to pray for this as they are really dragging their feet, and we don’t want to waste anymore time over this – they are basically waiting for a bribe in order to pass it through!

 Maggie                                    Melvin                                    Felix

I am also thrilled to tell you that since last updating the blog (I know, I know,  it was ages ago) we have been able to go into Turning Point safely.  Thank you to all of you that prayed about this!  The work in the creative room has been going fantastically, the children learning and having fun at the same time, and they are becoming increasingly creative.

Simon and Maimuna finger painting after creating their own crowns, jewellery and masks.

I have also started going into Mahali Pa Watoto on a weekly basis now which is proving to be very beneficial.  It is mainly on an advisory role, and just involves demonstrating teaching in a creative/interactive way, encouraging the children to think and problem solve, rather than learning merely by rote, which is the way the Kenyan system runs.  The staff are very eager to learn and implement ideas, so am thinking that my input here will be on a very temporary basis, which is great.

Well, thanks again to you all for your continued prayers and support.  We are looking forward to a busy few months before coming back for a visit and seeing you all in person.  x

We want the church to be part of the community, and we also want to look good!

I’m a big fan of making good first impressions, especially when it comes to church stuff, and I really didn’t like the old logo or website (as did the pastor – hence him asking me to look at it)
so we wanted something modern.
The website was in desperate need of updating too, but having done this sort of thing before, knew we needed to do the logo first

below are the results:

I quite like it!
All the branding will be used on any outreach events we are doing, which i’m happy about!

Tag Cloud


text:
Shiv Sena’s Gaikwad and TDP’s Reddy, Airline Staff, Service Marketing, Surface Acting and Deep Acting

One of the critical aspects in marketing and managing service products is customer provider interaction. This is also referred to as moment of truth.  This in a bullfighting situation is the moment when the matador makes the kill. In human interactions, it is also the moment when one’s character, courage or skill is put to test.  When two or more people come in a face to face to situation like a cursory exchange of glance between two car drivers at an intersection or between a doctor and patient, certain outcomes are produced.  These encounters do not produce a sum by way of simple addition, rather they unleash chain reactions as it happens in chemistry.  A chemical reaction that is produced by interaction of two molecules  is often more powerful and impactful.  Therefore, human interactions in social situations are more about chemistry than mathematics.

Jan Carlzon of SAS used this concept of MOT in his airline’s context and stressed on its importance because any customer contact, however remote, is an opportunity to form impressions. The impressions are outcomes of encounters and these must be managed because in services customers don’t take home some tangible entity but they carry intangible impressions. In case of goods, the happening of MOT begins when a consumer sets his or her sight on a product which is followed by interactions during product purchase and use and ends with feedback, if any.  A Forbes article reported that Google came up with its own concept of MOT which was called Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) to refer to interactions (website searches, reading reviews etc) that happen even before buying is done.  The things did not stop here and later in  2014, Less Than Zero Moment of Truth was proposed by Eventricity Ltd to signify a situation when something happens in a customer’s life and a product search is started.

The service jobs like those of doctors, teachers, policemen, actors, air hosts and restaurant staff are tough.  They require a special type of labor- emotional labor, a concept introduced by Hochschild (The Managed Heart). The service jobs are not always nice rather often they are nasty. Imagine the stress that airline staff face when they fly into a country whose people are culturally impoverished and wear their crudity and rusticity on their shoulders.  Same also holds true for Uber cab drivers for whom some passengers are nothing less than nightmare.  The economic challenge that looms on their heads is  how to ‘act’ in such a manner that customers take home good impressions. This requires them to hide what they internally feel and ‘act’ in sync with the provided script.

Services are often psychological battlegrounds where employee success depends on the ability to suppress genuine feeling and exhibiting behaviors and emotions that are not in sync with internal emotional state.  This breeds dissonance at the workplace.  The boundary spanning roles are stressful for employees for they have to keep their emotions in check.Image result for gaikwad air india

Now consider the two recent cases involving Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad and Diwaker Reddy of TDP (Shiv Sena MP hits Air India employee with slippers on plane at New Delhi airport; Another Gaikwad! TDP MP pushes, shoves & abuses Indigo Staff and gets banned by all airlines). Now imagine the stress these people would have been subjected to when a customer violates all norms of decency. What options do people have in these kinds of demanding situations?

Two types of emotional labor can be distinguished: deep acting and surface acting. An employee on the surface may wear a cool and decent façade or fake emotion for the sake of adherence to organizational rules. This happens all the time when frontline staff shows synthetic smiles and courtesy. Imagine how difficult and stressful it must have been for airline staff to be calm and composed when Shiv Sena MP acted like a goon not as MP. Deep acting on the other hand refers to a situation when an employee genuinely tries to feel the emotion that he or she is expected to show in performance of a service role. Deep acting is about internalization of emotions which removes plasticity and lends genuineness. It requires deeper engagement with heart and soul and cultivation of oneness with the expected role. People have an uncanny ability to discriminate between natural and synthetic. What touches the heart is remembered and forges deeper connections. Not all service organizations invest in frontline staff in order to transform them into people capable of genuine performance. They are quite opposite to logic and are placed at the bottom of organizational pyramid and are given lowest importance.

Viewed from the MPs perspective what do these episodes mean? When media covers these incidents they must remember that remote encounters take place and press chemistry into action. These moments of truth accumulate and create a lump of disgust, frustration and abomination towards specific individuals. This is the reason why even stalwarts are defeated in elections. If they can’t change their core and continue to be crooks, at least they can master the art of surface acting.