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Announcing a new project! ~ Christmas Town Sampler ~

Do you love Mystery quilts?  Participate in Block of the Month projects?  Do you enjoy Blog Hopping?   Are you a scrappy quilter or a Stashbuster?  If these are your cup of tea, then you’ll enjoy our newest project!   Denise Russart has put together a terrific Christmas in July quilt project…then she invited some great friends to design blocks that will play well with her border blocks.   I am excited to be included as a designer :-)

You’ll find a new button in my sidebar.   Starting in July,  when you click on the button, you’ll be taken to my pattern page for the Christmas Town Sampler.   Each month July through October,  you’ll need to visit all 4 blogs to collect patterns for your quilt.   In November,  Denise will post the final information needed to finish your quilt.   And during the Blog Hopping,  who knows…there could be special treats for you to find!

For now, think about your stash and the colors you’d like to use.   I’ll be working in scraps (of course) as I’m still in Stashbusting mode…but this would work well as a controlled scrappy, or with a set color theme.

Christmas Town Sampler

A special collaboration with three very talented quilting friends,

This project is being offered as a Block of the Month, where the center will be Mystery blocks revealed monthly and which you will collect through Blog Hopping our blogs! Denise designed this great batch of border blocks while Judy, Sheryl and I will be designing the center blocks to replace the question marks.

Each month you will need to visit each of our blogs to collect our latest block revealed for that month. Instructions will be in pdf format download only. The final instructions to set everything all together will be posted on Denise’s blog in November. So start in July, finish in November, on your bed in December!

Yardage for the background in the border sections and plain borders will be posted in June. Yardage for the other fabrics used throughout the quilt will not be given as this is a great scrap friendly, stashbusting project. You’ll have fun choosing the necessary fabrics from your stash to make each block uniquely yours.

Please plan to join Denise, Judy, Sheryl, and I in making your own special Christmas Town Sampler and remember, all patterns are for your own use, not for resale.  Please invite your friends to visit our blogs for their own copies of the patterns.

Susan ~ Patchkat

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whew! I am so NOT a computer techie….

Took my friend Denise to solve my posting problems…the “help” functions are useless.  I was so frustrated last night trying to get stuff uploaded that I finally gave up.   I don’t understand why I have so many problems    Maybe because I need to work i n visual mode  and don’t understand  the coding….html and I don’t get along well, lol.  Thanks, Denise!

Susan ~ Patchkat

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Nicki Minaj "Pink Friday"With the release of her highly anticipated debut album right around the corner, the details surrounding Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday are starting to slowly trickle out.

Yesterday, we learned that the album’s release date was pushed up from November 23rd to November 22nd.  Today, we get our first peek at the album cover.

And we’re a little creeped out.

Taking the whole “Barbie” thing to its extreme, the Pink Friday cover looks like Nicki’s been visiting Sid Phillips from Toy Story with her arms seemingly missing, and her legs stretched beyond their normal length.

Nicki MInaj "Pink Friday" Album Cover

This odd cover is rather appropriate for Nicki since her whole persona is centered around hyperbole and caricatures.

But we still find it creepy.

RELATED: Nicki Minaj Moves “Pink Friday” Up A Day; Going Head To Head With Kanye and Jay-Z

RELATED: Drake Wrote Alicia Keys Duet “Unthinkable” For Nicki Minaj

comments – Add Yours

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Category Archives: State Liquor Authority

Earls’s Tuesday 01/27/15 SLA meeting POSTPONED to 02/10/15

The hearing has been moved to Tuesday 02/10/15, 10 AM. “Watch this space...”

“They Might As Well Brick Up Our Windows!” Recording of SLA Hearing.

Below are links to video and audio recordings of the Dec. 10, 2014 NY State Liquor Authority hearing, where we opposed Earl’s Beer and Cheese’s application to put a noisy beer garden into 3 backyards surrounded by hundreds of residents.

We are trying to do a transcript (any volunteers?) but in the meanwhile, you can watch and listen to the video here on your computer*, (scroll down on the page that pops up to Agenda item 8 and click on “Earl’s” Beer and Cheese”), or you can listen to just the audio by clicking here (the audio for our hearing starts at 41:38).

(Some neighbors reported they could not get the video to play on an ipad or iphone, but we have tested and it played fine on both PC and Mac; anyone with an Android / Windows phone, please let us know if the video plays).

At the end of the hearing you will hear Earl’s attorney asking for a holdover to 12/30/14 so they can do noise studies from apartments surrounding the backyards. Go here please to see the update on that issue.

If you agree with and support our efforts to stop businesses from destroying our peace and quiet in NYC backyards, please:

Sign up below for our mailing list, and please sign up in the upper right corner of any page to follow this website for new articles and posts.

Follow and retweet us on Twitter @9798LexPark;

Print out pages for your neighbors who have no internet, and forward our website URL to your neighbors and anyone in NYC interested in this issue;

Make sure you contact your local politicians on this issue, and any donation, even a few dollars to help with postage would be appreciated here.

UPDATED SCHEDULE: Results of 12/10/14 SLA Hearing re Earls’ Expansion

MARK YOUR CALENDERS!: The next SLA hearing is currently scheduled for 10 AM, 12/30/14, has been RESCHEDULED for TUESDAY, JANUARY 27th @ 10 AM, at 317 Lenox Ave., off 126th Street. If you can attend, or help gather more petition signatures and/or letters to go to the NY State Liquor Authority, please click here to contact us.

YardTrue3(Click on image to expand)

On Wednesday morning on Dec. 10, we attended the NY State Liquor Authority Hearing (SLA) hearing for Earl’s expansion plans into the shared backyards (see photo above) between 97th and 98th St, behind Park Ave.

(For background on this issue, please go here or scroll below to our earlier posts or contact us for further detail).

Opponents of the expansion will be pleased to hear that the SLA Commissioners noted the many dozens of letters in opposition that  they received from neighbors surrounding the backyards, as well as the above and additional photos in our 27 page Opposition Document.

We were also allowed to orally present our main objections, as well give statements in response after Earls’ attorney spoke. At the end of the somewhat contentious hearing, the SLA Commissioners were not going to give Earl’s the approval for the backyard expansion as their plans currently stood.

The SLA Chair and other Commissioners were repeatedly noting (a) the backyard space is very small and will echo all noise right into the surrounding homes,, that (b) Earl’s had presented no real suggestions / attempts to even consider how to reduce the noise to the surrounding neighbors, (c) the SLA was  very conscious of the letters from many seniors citizens, some dealing with illness, but all who have lived there for decades whose quality of life would be severely affected even if the backyard was open only during the day on weekends; and as the SLA Chair pointed out,  he also received letters  from hard working people whose apartments face in to the backyards, who depend on the weekend for their 1-2 days of undisturbed quiet and rest.

When it became clear the SLA was not going to approve the expansion into the backyards, Earl’s attorney asked for the hearing to be “held over” so they could get an architect and /or acoustical engineer to to visit some surrounding homes (!), and measure the level of noise that would come from the backyards into the apartments surrounding the backyards.

PLEASE ADVISE US ASAP BY PHONE OR EMAIL IF YOU ARE CONTACTED BY EARLS or any of their representatives for this noise study, as we want to make sure it is done fairly and accurately.

MARK YOUR CALENDERS!: The next SLA hearing is currently scheduled for 10 AM, 12/30/14, has been RESCHEDULED for TUESDAY, JANUARY 27th @ 10 AM, at 317 Lenox Ave., off 126th Street. If you can attend, or help gather more petition signatures and/or letters to go to the NY State Liquor Authority, please click here to contact us.

Before the SLA hearing ended, we also noted there were discrepancies between what Earl’s had put on their application to the SLA vs what they were discussing/proposing  that morning i.e., their application mentions 60 seats, the CB11M resolution also says 60 seats outdoors, but Earl’s diagram shows only and Earl’s attorney only mention 20 seats. (But as the SLA chair noted, even 20 people drinking and eating in that narrow yard would echo insanely into the surrounding apartments).

We also noted  that the hearing for the SLA violation of “sales to minors” for the liquor store Vinyl (on Lexington between 96 & 97th, (co-owned by one of the owners of Earl’s) will not occur until January 8, 2015, and that the SLA should take that into account as to the co-owner’s fitness to operate and/or expand another bar.

We also pointed out that we discovered only that morning that Ed Santos (CB11M Treasurer and former Chair of the CB11M Licensing Committee who seemed to be doing much of the heavy lifting / shepherding of Earl’s through the CB11M hearings), received two interesting campaign contributions when he recently ran for City Council.

One campaign donation to Santos’ campaign was from Michael Cesari, co-owner of Earl’s Beer and Cheese, the other from Adam Clark, FORMER co-owner of Earl’s Beer and Cheese and current co-owner of Suds and Sports, AKA CrossTown Tavern , AKA Guthries, in the same building as Earl’s, at 1259 Park Ave., which, we also pointed out, Earl’s denied acknowledging on their expansion application to the SLA.

(Stay tuned on this issue as Suds and Sports, AKA CrossTown Tavern , AKA Guthries  is trying to expand THEIR interior space right next to Earls. If you are already bothered by their customers smoking, drinking and chattering under your windows on Park Avenue, wait till they triple or quadruple their capacity…)

The bottom line? We scored a small but important victory, their expansion has not been approved, but we still need to keep reaching out to neighbors for their signatures on petitions, letters to the SLA (see below for address/email / fax #s) and we need more email and/or phone contact info from interested neighbors.

IF YOU HAVE READ THIS FAR and haven’t yet signed up to follow this website, please scroll to the top or bottom of this page and please sign up to follow new posts on this website; we will NOT give out your email address to anyone, its only to save us printing postage to keep you informed of issues important to the block.

Likewise for social media: please follow us on twitter at @9798LexPark, (and if you are a Facebook wizard, we need your help ( : >))

If you can be a “point person” in your building and we have not yet spoken or met, PLEASE reach out to us so you can help us help you, help your neighbors, and help the block. For starters,

If you need us to fax for you, call us and we will arrange to fax for you.

Mail to:

NY State Liquor Authority
ATTN: Ms. Cyndee O’Brien
Admin. Aide to the Secretary
80 South Swan Street, Suite 900
Albany, NY  12210

Telephone: 518-474-3114 option 4 – 1
Email: Cynthia.O’

(If you have school-age children and/or seniors with health issues living in an apartment facing these backyards, please contact us before writing to the SLA).

Finally, if  you can, please please click here to donate anything at all, even a few dollars to help us pay for postage and paper and toner. So far, neighbors in two buildings have been kind enough to pay for initial costs to start this up, but to keep going, we need your and your neighbor’s support.

Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

– JF

If you want to maintain some semblance of residential peace and quiet in this neighborhood, please sign up bellow for email alerts on this and other issues relevant for those who live and/or work in or around 97th and 98th Street, Park to Lexington Avenues. (we will NEVER sell or give away your contact info).

URGENT: Wednesday Dec. 10 State Liquor Authority Meeting

Regarding Earl’s Beer and Cheese backyard expansion:

The NY State Liquor Authority will hold a hearing in Harlem, on Wednesday, December 10, on whether to approve or deny a license for Earl’s to put a sixty seat, non-soundproofed beer garden in our backyards.

Date: December 10th, 10 AM.

Location: NY State Liquor Authority’s at 317 Lenox Avenue, New York, NY. (125th Street).

You and all neighbors who oppose a bar in their backyards must show up and explain how and why the expansion will ruin your quality of life, and ask the SLA to deny Earls expansion application unless they fully enclose and soundproof their outdoor bar.]

Subject: New York RW 1270518 – Earls Beer & Cheese LLC

Please be advised that on December 10, 2014 the above referenced alteration application will be before the Members of the Authority for determination.

Meetings of the Members of the Authority are open to the public and you may speak regarding the application.

If you have any supplemental material you wish the Members to review, it must be received in Secretary’s Office no later than noon on December 4, 2014, in order to afford time for the Members to review.  Documents can be sent to the address listed above, emailed to or faxed to 518.402.2304.  Any material received after December 4, 2014 may not be considered, please refrain from bringing new materials to the Members the day of the meeting.

The meeting of December 10, 2014, will be held at the New York State Liquor Authority’s New York City office at 317 Lenox Avenue, New York, NY.

Video conferencing will also be available at the Alfred E. Smith Building at 80 South Swan Street, Suite 900, Albany, NY and at the Authority’s Buffalo office, Iskalo Electric Tower Building at 535 Washington Street, Suite 303, Buffalo, New York.

You may appear at any of the three locations.  The meeting starts promptly at 10:00 a.m and is also webcast live on the Authority’s website: .

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Secretary’s Office at 518.474.3114.

Cyndee O’Brien

Admin. Aide to the Secretary

80 South Swan Street, Suite 900

Albany, NY  12210

Telephone: 518-474-3114 option 4 – 1

Fascimilie: 518-402-2304

Email: Cynthia.O’

URGENT – CB meeting Wed. 12/3! + SLA letters details

Very Urgent re Earls Beer & Cheese in the backyards:

Dear Neighbor:

The Community Board 11 Licensing Committee meeting is tomorrow night at 6 PM, Wed. Dec. 3, and they have 2 very important items on their agenda, and we need as many neighbors there as possible.

Date: 6 PM, Wed. Dec. 3

Location: Board Office, 1664 Park Avenue, (117th -118th St.)

1. Liquor Licenses

d. Suds & Spirits d/b/a Crosstown Tavern. Application for Alteration of existing OP Full Liquor License at 1259 Park Avenue, North Store, to expand inside premises for more seating.

4. New Business

a. Committee discussion on establishing a review procedures

ii. Liquor Licenses in rear yards and roof tops

Please talk with your neighbors about this and please get to the Community Board tomorrow at 6 PM.

We must attend the above CB meeting tomorrow to oppose the expansion of “Suds” aka The Guthrie Inn, as they will (a) bring crowds of more drunks and smokers outside our front windows on the sidewalks in front of the bar and around the surrounding corners, and (b) they will eventually try to go into the backyards with Earls.

(Hat tip, JS).

We also must demand:

that the Community Board requires and accepts more input from neighbors on applications for backyards.

that the Community Board visit not just the applicants location but visit apartments in every building that face the applicants proposed yards and test for themselves how much can be heard from the yards in the apartments.

that applicants must hire acoustic engineers, and that unless the applications for the expansions show that they are fully sound proofed and fully enclosed, THE APPLICATIONS MUST BE DENIED.

that no Community Board Members may speak on or vote on bar applications if they are customers of that establishment.

Regarding the letters to the (State Liquor Authority) SLA against Earls expansion into the backyards:

If you sent yours already, thank you for the good work. If you haven’t, the deadline is noon Thursday, Dec. 4th.  The contact info is below.

If you need us to fax for you, call us and we will arrange  fax for you.

Notice also below, there WILL be a full SLA hearing for Earls “in front of the Members of the Authority” on Wed., Dec 10, in Harlem.

See next article for more details.

If you have an email address, please write to us so you can be added to our email list. We will not give out your email address to anyone.


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Contract & Royalties Administrator PT/FT

Posted: July 19, 2017 at 6:36 pm by  Rosie Lopez

Seeking to fill Full Time Consultant position, will consider part time.

Contract & Royalties Administrator

Primary Responsibility
• Review artist contracts to determine royalty obligations for all exploitation methods
• Input terms and other information into the database or excel template and prepare for importing into the Royalty Administration platform (SR1)
• Update database as needed to reflect changes in the contract, payment information, sales or performance data
• Establish escalation or timeline counters to track sales for each artist as applicable
• Audit sales numbers, expenses, and flat fee earnings to determine accuracy prior to preparing accounting statements
• Ensure reporting for master deals and mechanical licenses are performed on time

• Strong understanding of the royalty tracking process, copyright, and music licensing
• Royalty audit experience
• Minimum of 5 years record label and publishing experience
• Ability to create spreadsheets and pivot tables to organize and analyze data
• Clear understanding of music contract terminology and its impact on royalty obligations
• Ability to complete tasks on time
• Passionate about the music business and royalty accounting

Please do not apply if you lack the music royalty accounting experience required. Send cover letter and CV to

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

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• ABclonal always adheres to the customer first business philosophy. Through the accumulation of 10 years experiment, we constantly optimize the synthesis conditions and the purification technology. Now, we have a mature method of stapled peptide synthesis to provide high quality stapled peptides that can meet the needs of customers in different kinds of research and development areas.
  • The synthesis difference between stapled peptide and the normal linear peptide lies in being introduced the two nonnatural amino acids containing a-methyl and a-alkenyl in the process of solid phase synthesis.
    Then the two nonnatural amino acids occur olefin metathesis cyclization to form stable a-helix conformation of the carbon to synthesize stapled peptide.
  • The two pictures A and B are nonnatural amino acids with two different structures containing a-methyl and a-alkenyl. Please focus on the below synthesis method of these amino acids (FigC).
  • The synthetic route of stapled peptide

  • 10 years experiment
  • Constantly optimized
  • Enhance receptor affinity and efficacy
  • Increased cell permeability
  • Decrease proteolysis hence increased bio-activities
  • Fast Delivery

    2-3 weeks (average), 1-2 weeks (urgent).

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    MS, HPLC, and COA tests.

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    Provide free-issue retest or refund for the unqualified products within 2 weeks. Provide 1 to 3 month free retesting for ineligible items and 1 to 2 weeks free store for samples.

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    We provide one-to-one technical support service for each customer.

Certificate of Analysis includes MS and HPLC analyses performed after the completion of peptide synthesis, purification, and QC (quality control) steps. These analyses are followed by independent QA (quality assurance) procedures, guaranteeing the highest quality of peptides.

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Insane Egyptian minister sacked for pledge to jail Prophet Muhammad!

Insane Egyptian minister sacked for pledge to jail Prophet Muhammad!

-Dr. Abdul Ruff

Muslims, unlike others who believe in non-Islam faiths, consider the Holy Prophet of Islam and Holy Quran as their most revered source of life – even more than life. There is no need for any detailed explanation to prove this point as the world is well aware of this fact.

Today the power of Islamophobia being spread successfully globally by anti-Islamic forces is so powerful that even Muslims, leaders inclusive, make illogical statements against Islam branding it as a terror religion and hurl insults at the Holy Prophet whom entire world adore and revere. In India an anti-Islamic school teacher framed a question insulting the Holy prophet but some spirited Muslims badly offended by the insulting question in a school question paper attacked him, media blasted the “attack” as a major news and did not bother about the insulting the Prophet of the Islamic believers. The enemies of Islam have not yet comprehended the depth of faith among Muslims in the holy prophet. They cannot tolerate insults to their Holy Prophet.

Seeking to show to the world that they are great democrats and free Muslims, some rich Muslims, even from ruling dispensation like ministers, try to misbehave with Islam, even insult the holy Quran and Holy Prophet of Islam.  That is crudely unfortunate.

Egypt in West Asia where the then ruling first ever elected Muslim Brotherhood led by Mohd Morsi was removed in a shameless military coup fears and opposes Muslim brotherhood. The military government equates Islam with Muslim brotherhood to put an end to the new political party of Islamists.

So much so some ministers take the Holy Quran and holy Prophet without reverence they deserve as anything else. Egypt’s Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind is the case in point who has been sacked after boasting that he would jail Islam’s Prophet Muhammad himself if the prophet broke the law. Zind made the remark in a televised interview on Friday. He immediately said “God forgive me” and apologized the following day. He was sacked by the Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail.

It was not immediately clear who would replace Zind, an outspoken critic of the Muslim Brotherhood. “Prime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a decree today to relieve Ahmed al-Zind … of his position,” a government statement said, giving no more details.

Egyptian judges issued a statement opposing Zind’s removal over what the head of the Judges Club told Reuters was a slip of the tongue that could have happened to anyone.

Abdallah Fath said: “Egypt’s judges are sorry that someone who defended Egypt and its people, judiciary and nation … should be punished in this way.” Zind, a former appeals court judge, has been publicly critical of the Islamist movement which overthrew former leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and was removed from power itself by the army in mid-2013 and outlawed. He has in the past denounced the revolt that ended Mubarak’s 30-year rule and ushered in the election that brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power. He has also been a strong defender of the judiciary and its powerful position.

Egyptian courts have been absolving Mubarak-era officials, while imposing long sentences on liberal and Islamist activists.

Egypt’s judiciary has faced criticism from rights groups in the past two years after judges issued mass death sentences against Muslim Brotherhood supporters, locking up youth activists and sentencing writers and journalists.  Zind’s predecessor was forced to resign last May after saying the son of a rubbish collector was ineligible to serve as a judge.

Muslims nations, especially in West Asia should delink the importance of Islam in the life of Muslims from the so-called war on terror perpetrated by US led NATO and allies. Sept-11 hoax was meticulously engineered to enable the enemies of Islam to invade and destabilize Islamic world, and loot the resources from the energy rich Wet Asia.

Islamophobic trend being promoted by global anti-Islamic media in order to sustain the war on Islam, including in some Muslim nations obviously on pressure from USA, Europe, Israel and their allies will die down sooner  than later because whole world knows about the truth about Sept-11 hoax and terror wars as part of third world war.

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Results of CruelJan18

We’ve done it again. One full year of contests, starting again at the top. A couple dozen people signed up, most made it to the finish line, and after three weeks of volunteers reading their work and electing them for various categories, we have the results of the CruelJan18 writing contest!

This was an excellent selection of stories. I wish I could have shown everyone how many five-way ties turned into seven-way ties, illustrating the quality of the material as well as the diversity of readers this contest attracts. People with different tastes boosted different stories in each category, over and over, and it was fairly neck-and-neck the whole way through.

And once again, everyone explored all the different ways cruelty can manifest, from blithe, nonchalant abuse for its own sake, to taking great pleasure in very personal harm to one specific person. Very different writers’ voices came out to tell very different stories. This round is a fantastic collection of talent and imagination, and like I tend to say, everyone should feel proud of their work. You created another new story, start to finish, built something that didn’t exist before. Congratulations!

If you’re a size fantasy writer and would like to participate in upcoming contests, or just hear about them to read amazing original work, please request to join the Size Riot newsletter.

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Janie Flores

Posts Tagged ‘CoralGables’

Abuela de Miami VIP Ambassador for Carnaval Miami 2015

In About on December 21, 2014 at 8:36 pm
Carnaval Miami Preview Party at Open Stage Coral Gables

Carnaval Miami Preview Party at Open Stage Coral Gables

Abuela de Miami named a VIP Culture Ambassador for Carnaval Miami 2015!

Abuela de Miami had so much fun at Carnaval on the Mile 2014 and Calle Ocho 2014 that she was thrilled when she was chosen for Carnaval Miami 2015 as a VIP culture ambassador!  As a member of South Florida Bloggin’ Mamas she had the opportunity to submit her name for consideration, and at the Carnaval Preview Party on November 10th at the Open Stage Club in Coral Gables she was given the great news along with a number of the other VIP ambassadors in attendance.

Carnaval Miami is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana and includes a number of events during the months of February and January which include Carnaval on the Mile, Miss Carnaval Miami, Carnaval Miami Domino Tournament and the nation’s largest Latin street party, CALLE OCHO!  For the past 37 years these events have made it possible for the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana to raise funds for scholarships, projects and programs which benefit the youth in the community.  Many of the youth who participate in the educational and recreational programs start as small children remain until they become young adults heading off to Florida universities with the scholarships given to them by the Kiwanis Club.

Carnaval on the Mile is a two day festival located on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables filled with art, music, food and fun for the entire family.   Next year it is from Saturday – Sunday, March 7 – 8, 2015.

Calle Ocho is held on a Sunday in Little Havana between SW 8th Street and 27th Avenue from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.   There are blocks full of booths with Latin food from every country, stages with the hottest Latin performers, children’s activities and companies giving away samples to the hundreds of thousands who show up to party!  Next year the event is on Sunday, March 15, 2015.

Abuela de Miami will be posting on the events taking place as we head into Carnaval season.  Follow on Facebook and Twitter @AbuelaDeMiami and @Carnaval_Miami for the most recent updates.


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Cross Disciplinary Prociencies in the American Diploma Project Benchmarks

Saturday, November 1, 2008Printer-friendly version

American high school graduates must possess the knowledge, skills and cross disciplinary proficiencies necessary to succeed in an increasingly competitive, complex and ever-evolving world. Whether graduates immediately enter college, the workplace or both, they must not only have mastered core content, they must also be adept problem solvers and critical thinkers who can contribute and apply their knowledge in novel contexts and unforeseen situations. From working in a team to solve a problem to conducting research and making a presentation to selecting a mortgage or the right health care plan, all high school graduates must be well-informed thinkers and decision makers in order to flourish in the 21st century. In 2004, Achieve, the Education Trust, and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation released the American Diploma Project (ADP) Benchmarks. Based on extensive research with employers and postsecondary faculty, the benchmarks identified what knowledge and skills high school graduates must possess in English and mathematics to be successful. While organized by traditional subject areas, cross-disciplinary proficiencies are infused throughout the ADP benchmarks. The proficiencies are embedded in —rather than separate from—the benchmarks because critical thinkers and problem solvers need both content knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge to challenges in the classroom, the workplace and in the community. There are four cross disciplinary proficiencies—Research and Evidence Gathering, Critical Thinking and Decision Making, Communications and Teamwork and Media and Technology—embedded in the ADP benchmarks. This fact sheet provides an overview.

Additional Resources


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Evidence for community

A Sisterhood of Recovery

Let us hope that the frequent framing of pharmacological treatments as the only evidence-based approach doesn’t eclipse the evidence for behavioral and social interventions like sober housing:

Following substance abuse treatment, individuals who live in a collaborative housing setting with community rules and responsibilities have their substance abuse treated more effectively than those not provided supportive housing, according to research led by Leonard Jason, a community psychologist at DePaul University.

Research shows that living in a functional community and engaging in positive social structures enhances the recovery trajectory for alcohol and drug abuse, noted Jason, director of the Center for Community Research at DePaul.

Leonard’s research also provides insight into some of the characteristics of successful sober houses and their benefits:

According to Jason, in order for the Oxford Houses to be the most effective in treating its residents, it is best if they are located in safe neighborhoods or strong communities.  “Based on our research, the houses work best when they are close to public transportation, have job opportunities, and have other supports such as AA self-help groups. We also have data showing that Oxford House residents do contribute and strengthen their neighborhoods,” Jason said. “Our research shows that it is a win-win situation, with communities benefiting from these Oxford Houses, and the support the Oxford House residents receive from their communities help these former substance abusers live more productive and healthier lives.”

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5 responses to “Evidence for community

  1. Jason, I appreciate the thought and consideration that you have put into your responses, however, I’d like to attempt to counter a few that I can cull from my subutex addled brain.
    Repeatedly, you referenced that opiate dependent patients should have care “at least as good as physicians”. I shouldn’t put that in quotes, because I am paraphrasing but so it is noted. There is a vast difference between the care received in the physician diversion programs and the treatment received by most opiate dependent patients. If a physician falls out of the treatment process (established by their medical board), they lose an extremely valuable, tangible thing……their license to practice medicine, make a good living and do the thing that they spent seven years of their life slaving over. That, alone, separates the patients that we treat and the physicians that you allude to.
    Unfortunately, you, also, fall into the, all or nothing, mindset. Perhaps, each patient is different, having differing tolerances for the acute and post acute withdrawal syndromes. A strategy that allows the patient to review different options of treatment strategy, gives the patient a sense of control and makes jcaho happy because it is patient centered. It is their life, right?! In our outpatient program, for 25 years, we adhered to the same abstinence based programming that I experienced in 1980. At that time, I had been a heavy sedative addict (methaqualone, barbiturates, benzos, alcohol etc.) and my withdrawal from benzos was a year long process of dealing with ongoing panic attacks and hallucinations. I was convinced that I was crazy until some kind doctor shared his similar story of coming off of valium. Now, fast forward to 2003 and I have shoulder surgery to repair rotator cuffs and assorted damage from 13 full contact benefit football games that I chose to participate in. Three months later, I was broadsided and tore everything loose that had been repaired. My options were more surgery with poor prognosis, frozen shoulder or take norco before daily stretching to increase range of motion and break up scar tissue. I chose the later, Never went over the prescribed dose of four per day and eight months later was ready to abandon the norco with a prudent taper. When I hit zero, I went into a depression, insomnia and inability to sleep that was devastating. As the director of a treatment program, I felt ashamed, hypocritical and had recurring thoughts of suicide that had never arisen in my benzo withdrawal. I lost thirty pounds, went to our home in Hawaii to do a slower taper with the same results. After forty five or more days, I had lost thirty pounds, slept maybe two hours per night and hated the meetings that had saved my life 26 years before. A pain management physician friend offered me the option of methadone for life and I asked him to tell me about buprenorphine. He was not certified, at the time, so wrote it off label and in 45 mins. I felt like the person who went into surgery. I could feel again the joy of life. I cried out of gratitude and sadness. It has been ten years and I continue to take about 4 to 8 mgs. of subutex and have found that I have never been healthier (I’m 67 scuba, fish Mexico, play softball, workout, tried MMA but my shoulder won’t allow it). I believe that the anti-inflammatory affects of the bupe and its anti cortisol action has allowed me to stay in extremely good condition.
    I want to share one more anecdotal experience for you to consider as we have an aging population of addiction counselors who are, inevitably, going to be involved in surgeries and pain meds. A colleague, who was the first person I saw in treatment and who later became the director of some of the largest and most prestigious programs in the country came by to see me two years ago. I shared this story. He began to cry and I, of course, considered it for me. However, his response was, that is exactly what I have been dealing with for two years since my surgery. His drug of choice was opiates and the demon had awakened. I suggested that we cross the street and see my physician who could prescribe some bupe. He refused saying “if they find out at my employment, they’ll fire me”. A few days later he called and said get me the appointment “I just bought a gun in Vegas and texted my wife goodbye”. He started on the bupe that day. I get pictures of him at ball games with his boys and skiing with his girls. His statement is “I have my recovery back”. He and I and many others in recovery but on bupe, continue in our recovery. It has been ten years for me. I refuse to give up one more day to the soul sucking horror that is post acute withdrawal syndrome. I am not a pharmaceutical rep. with a new study. I run a full service outpatient program with my wife and daughter. She was awarded outstanding clinician of the year for nursing by Gary Enos et al. We have been awarded the Optum Impact Award for helping UBH establish safety protocol for ambulatory detox. All within the last five years. A day was named after my wife and I.
    We use buprenorphine with our patients if, after a careful discusssion of the plusses and minuses, they and their families agree that they want to take that course. Each patient presents a different picture, thus a 19 year old’s plan will probably include a period of months on bupe to establish recovery connections while an older pain patient may have a different plan. But, it is their plan and nothing except a return to full agonists constitutes a relapse. We let them know that we are there if it gets tough and we can slow down or use other medications, more exercise, yoga, equine therapy etc. to assist in the reclamation of their sense of self. There is no one or two or a thousand answers. There are as many answers as there are patients. I know at the point that I was at in my life, this was and is the answer for me. I would be glad to talk to you my email is molokairock@aol.com.
    Thanks for your contributions. We all make a difference.

    • Rocky,

      You’re right about doctors having a unique set of contingencies and the absence of these contingencies presents some significant challenges in transferring this model to other populations. What bothers me is that we’re not trying to transfer this model to others, the assumption that doctors are an entirely different species seems to go unquestioned, and this model is never even mentioned in discussions (media stories and policy discussions) about opioid addiction.

      If this was cancer, and there was a model with research on large numbers of subjects experiencing an 80% recovery rate, we’d invest heavily in finding ways to use it with other populations. In our industry, we pretend it doesn’t exist or has no relevance to other opioid addicts. If dentists can find ways to keep patients coming over decades, we can develop ways to develop and maintain assertive recovery monitoring over 5 years.

      About your impression that I have an all or nothing mindset. I’ll explain where I stand and let you decide if that’s an all or nothing mindset.

      I want 2 things for every addict. The first is recovery. By recovery, I mean resuming (or beginning) stable and full participation in their life–family, occupational, community, social, spiritual, etc. Recovery is something to celebrate and I don’t care how an individual gets there. Further, I have no interest in labeling one as legitimate and another as invalid. (At the same time, as policy makers and treatment providers, I think it’s important to recognize that some paths offer large communities of support that enhance outcomes.)

      The second thing I want for every addict is real access to good care of adequate quality, intensity and duration. I want the PHP model available to people AND a menu of other options, including MAT. I also want them to have accurate information about the pros and cons of each approach, and have the freedom to choose their path and change their mind down the road.

      My most recent post on the topic of MAT said this:

      It makes me sad to hear of anyone doing the deal feeling shame about being a recovering addict.

      People with opioid addiction ought to have access to methadone, if that’s what they want. Without shame.

      They also ought to have access to the gold standard for addiction treatment—the same care that an opioid addicted health professional gets.

      They also ought to get accurate information about the various pros and cons of each approach.

      For example, they ought to know that the gold standard demands a lot of the patient, and existing models have relied on using the health professional’s license as a contingency to maintain compliance with these demands. They also ought to know that the approach hasn’t been studied on the general population of opioid addicts because no one has been willing to invest in it.

      They also ought to know that despite all of the arguments that research proves “methadone maintenance is the most effective treatment for opioid addiction”, the evidence base for methadone focuses on reduced drug use, reduced OD, reduced criminal activity and reduced disease transmission.

      Bill White, a researcher and methadone advocate, summarizes the evidence this way: “As a professional field, we know a great deal about what methadone maintenance treatment can eliminate from the lives of patients, but we know very little from the standpoint of science about what it adds. In fact, we know very little about the stages and styles of long-term medication-assisted recovery.”

      In other posts, going back to the beginning of this blog, I’ve repeatedly said things like:

      “All I want is a day when addicts are offered recovery oriented treatment of an adequate duration and intensity. I have no problem with drug-assisted treatment being offered. Give the client accurate information and let them choose.”

      “Once again, I’d welcome a day when addicts are offered recovery oriented treatment of an adequate duration and intensity and have the opportunity to choose for themselves.”

      If there are posts that present an all or nothing mindset, let me know and I’ll add an update with one of those statements.

      • Thanks for your rapid and thorough response. I would need to go back and review some of the comments that formed my opinion. Clearly, the information that you have shared, in this communication, puts us very close in our commitment to individualized treatment care plans for addicts in general. As I recall, you commented that you wished that all opiate dependent patients would receive the same care that physician’s receive and that they do not, universally (my add) obtain suboxone under any circumstances. Ultimately, a the impaired physician’s program, just like the California Nurses programs, adhere to a very firm abstinence only philosophy. That appears pretty all or nothing. I would question, why do we treat physicians differently, than the general population. Would you ever consider buprenorphine a viable alternative for a practicing physician.
        Obviously, physician’s practice under the influence of psychotropic medications like prozac, zoloft etc. How does buprenorphine fit into another category. Yes, I know that it is a narcotic, but its actions are very different than full agonists.
        From 2004 until a few years ago, I continued to be the CEO of our full service outpatient program. My RN wife and other staff, ironically, commented on how improved my mood had become and my ability to stay focused. Would you consider my position of relative influence over the lives of others to be potentially impaired because of my use of subutex? And, would this preclude, in your opinion, my ability to function optimally at my profession?
        For the record, we are a licensed outpatient ambulatory detox facility with two nurses and multiple physicians, provide PHP, day and evening IOP and multiple family components. I agree with you that the patient deserves the right to weigh the information, and have input into their ongoing treatment planning. That is a basic tenet of our programming and has worked well for 28 years.
        Thanks again for your response and a very good source of information.

      • I wish patients had ACCESS to the same care that physicians get.

        All the best.

      • I wish all patients had access to the kind of care that we have discussed. Evidence based, patient centered, family included and, preferably, community based. I remember when the conferences were headlined by the likes of Claudia Black, Sharon Cruse, Dr. Paul Ohliger, Lorie Dwitnnell etc. etc. Very little on ROI.


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My mood today

happygirl68 49F
293 posts
5/16/2006 5:10 am

Last Read:
5/29/2006 6:34 pm

My mood today

I hate days like this. My day is just starting out and my mood matches the weather. Another great Ohio day. It's cold, dark, and dreary. Doesn't feel like spring at all. You'd think us Ohioians would be used to it. Seems like we spend our lives waiting for the sun to come out again. If the sun is shining where you're at, could you send a little my way?

elysianpleasure 48M

5/16/2006 8:09 am

Three fabulous days in a row here. Mid 70s and sunny. Birds are chirpping outside my window as I work. If the weather won't come to you... go to the weather.

rm_jeepdriver70 30M

5/16/2006 4:15 pm

Happygirl be happy. Everything is relevant to the way you look at it. I look at it this way--1. the sun shines on me 24 hours a day 356 days a year( not because I live in FL but it could always be worse. 2. everyday I wake up it is a good day. It is an oppurtunity to make things better. Sometimes making it better means making it worse for a short time but it will always get better. You could be homeless, confined to a bed, or living in a third world country with no way to make it better.

Mr_pkg 52M

5/17/2006 10:23 am

Wednesday; i hope you're able to enjoy the sun (however briefly) today!

hotcouple30s71 46M/44F
1 post
5/29/2006 6:19 pm

Well today you should have had a great day! The sun was out in hot as hell in ohio. WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO summer is finally here!!

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Beyond Common Ground: Why Liberals and Conservatives Need Each Other

Alden Thompson was my undergraduate adviser at Walla Walla University, where I majored in biblical languages. He had a long-lasting and profound impact on my life. Our class, summer of 1979, invited him to give the commencement address. It was a little unusual to invite someone from inside the college. It was a good choice. He talked about riding the pendulum. The closer we are to the top, the easier the ride, i.e., come near to God and you'll deal better with the swings of opinion.

Alden believes that it is good to have liberals and conservatives and many other sorts of people in the church. We shouldn't be seeking to win over each other, but rather to discover strengths and weakness and combine our strength.

I believe that any Christian can find very helpful ideas in this book. Let's learn to value one another and work together.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Man About Town

One of the best parts about the discovery that Penrose Hawkes had settled in Corning, New York, came with the realization that I could fill in the blanks on his everyday life through the pages of the local newspaper.

Granted, it's nice to find out that the city paper in one's target research area is included in a collection of newspapers. Even better to realize the collection is free to access by anyone with online connections. But the bonus to that discovery is the fact that it makes possible research that fills in the blanks in an ancestor's life which might not be available through decennial census enumerations or other infrequent—and official—documentation.

Not that Penrose Hawkes was my ancestor, of course; I only started this wild (and merry) chase, thanks to the discovery of the Hawkes family photo album in a local antique shop. But once smitten with curiosity over just who this man might have been—to say nothing of the other strangers in album's pages—I certainly was drawn to know more. And newspapers could fill that bill.

Thankfully, it turned out that one website provided that free window into Penrose's life. Granted, he must have been considered one of Corning's Most Eligible Bachelors for quite a while—at least judging by all the snippets which could be found in The Evening Leader on details of his daily life—but processing some of those articles and arranging them in a timeline could prove useful.

For instance, if you recall the discovery of Penrose's application for U.S. Passport, thanks to, you might remember that the stated purpose for the application was to return to Ireland to visit his parents and family in 1923.

Presto! Confirmed in the local paper, thanks to this small entry in one of those "Looking Back" articles printed in 1938, was the following remembrance of fifteen years prior, when on Thursday, May 17, 1923, The Evening Leader had reported:

Penrose Hawkes has sailed for Queenstown, Ireland, where he will visit his parents, whom he will see for the first time since he left Ireland seven years ago.

Oh, the details that can be read between the lines of an article. Another such entry—this one carried in the same paper, but reporting the event as it happened in their Monday, December 9, 1929, edition—was this brief insertion:

CHRISTMAS IN IRELAND: Penrose Hawkes will sail Thursday on the Laconia for Ireland where he will spend Christmas with his mother.

Though the trip was likely much the same as the one in 1923—although exchanging summer sailing for an Atlantic crossing in winter—we can note another item which had changed. While the first trip anticipated a joyful reunion with "his parents," the second journey mentioned only a visit to his mother. Though I have yet to find a record of the senior Penrose Hawkes' passing, I can now narrow this event to a date range between 1923 and 1929. Furthermore, given the added risk of a winter passage, it might be reasonable to presume the loss had been recent and perhaps imposing an undue burden on his aging mother.

Searching for the name Penrose Hawkes in the Corning paper revealed dozens of results. It will be quite a task to catalog each one of them, but it will also be worth the information to construct a timeline of the reports. While many of those entries are but snippets in the news day—filler material for an era when layout and graphic design were an art form under time pressure—some of them did manage to reveal glimpses of significant detail.

For instance, remember my wondering about Penrose's wife, Marion? There had been no mention of her in the 1936 photo album, and yet he and his bride were married in New York just over a year later. I could find both Penrose and Marion listed in the 1940 census in New York City, but not much else about the couple.

In the newspaper, however, search efforts provided some helpful detail, not only regarding who Marion was, but what had become of her, shortly after that 1940 census entry.

1 comment:

  1. Imagine the size of the newspaper if they listed all the locals traveling hither and yon nowadays?

    :) I wonder if they would post airline and flight numbers...

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About Me…

I am a wife and proud mother of 3 kids and a nativeTexan. I am an active real estate broker and I’ve managed a home renovation/real estate investment for the past 10 years.  I was previously in commercial property management for 18 years; those years taught me a wealth of things about construction, how to deal with contractors and aesthetics in design.   Prior to that, I spent my early years and college education on the study of art.

I’ve been a hands on do-it-your-selfer since 1999 tackling anything from hanging a picture to full scale home renovation.   I used to be frightened to even hold a tool in my hand or do anything beyond painting a wall and I want to empower others to believe they can do it too!!

I love helping others with their design, repair or how to dilemmas.  I have a wealth of interesting and useful knowledge on a variety of how to topics.  I have a passion for details, color and trying stuff that makes a lot of impact for little effort, time or money.  Ask me, I’ll try to provide the “how to”.  If I don’t know the answer, I’ll try and point you in the right direction.

    • Marian: You are the epitome of what I want “A Girl Can Do It” to become…helping others get motivated to do it on their own, gain the knowledge they need and the confidence to finish! You have completed some amazing projects…very proud of you!!

  1. Hi,

    You have a great site and blog for Do It Yourselfers, DIY. I’ll be stopping by to read and visit frequently. Since our 3 children were little, I’ve always enjoyed seeing what I can learn to do myself, and then taught them right along with it!

    I’m a woman Inventor, and have patented EZ Slide Cabinet Hardware. My goal has been to use as much recycled material as possible in the manufacturing. I’d love to get your feedback! http://www.EZSlideCabinetHardware.com Email: CustomerService@EZSlideCabinetHardware.com

    Thank you so much!

    • Casandra, your product sounds very interesting and good for you to learn along the way and pass this on to your children! Unfortunately, the link for your website does not appear to be functioning? Feel free to email me at agirlcandoit@gmail.com and I’ll fix the link for you. Thanks for your kind words!

  2. Brenda – OVER THE TOP impressed with your website and projects! I am very motivated to try some now myself! Cant wait to share with my friends!!

  3. Wow Brenda! this is an awesome sight. I’m about to forward it to my entire neighborhood moms club. THey are always needing home improvement tips and your site is great! Love the tips and all the pictures. I can’t believe that once upon a time I was your mentor…my how the tables have turned my friend! Great job!

    • Thank you so much for the praise and the mentoring! I have really found something I love to do that utilizes my random bank of knowledge and I hope I can help others. I love sharing ideas with people that need help. People that don;t like to deal with contractors because they’re intimidated? People that need quick makeover ideas to sell a home? Moms that have husbands that have no time to do the honey-do’s? I’m your girl to try and empower!

  4. Oh and one other thing Janice…I’m on Facebook/agirlcandoit as well….if any of your friends have questions, please let them know that they can ask! I love feedback!!! Thanks again.

  5. Hi Brenda! I just get your site by twitter. it really nice.

    we gona do our bathroom, this fall. and I did’nt really have a good idea for the tiles in the shower. I saw good idea here. so thank you!

    and I just read your “about me”. near the same time as you, I got alone too then, and have to do it all alone for a wild. I love to learn to do it myself. so I am a bit like you. happy the find your blog. see you!

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Friday, September 28, 2007

3 am

what do you do when you are awakened at 3 am from nausea? usually ill wake dh up to get me this or that to try to relieve this feeling. however he was already awake trying to make himself better from the cold i gave him. i tried some crackers and flat soda...of course that doesn't help..because i can't stand plain crackers and flat soda..i roam the web and search everything about pregnancy to kill time and to find useful information while im wide awake at 3 something in the am....for some reason i end up on sites that talk about the placenta...and how in some parts of the world....the placenta is eaten...which makes me want to barf!!!! just make me gag!!!i can't believe i am reading about that!!!!!

i try to lie down...and lying down makes it worse....i have to position myself so that i am leaning against the headboard....i can't exactly fall asleep sitting! trust me i have tried.....after almost an hour of roaming the web going to babyrazzi or perezhilton i finally realize i have mint chocolate ice cream....which for sure helps with my nausea.....

all i can say is thank god it's friday and thank god i have the day off today!!!!!


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Friday, August 05, 2016

Autism Journey: Expressive and Receptive Speech

I realize I haven't blogged about some of our success in the autism journey. Our son started speech therapy at 3.5 (2011) years old. We began with articulation through Texas Children's. We did that for about a year because articulation wise he had achieved his goals. Then we switched speech therapists and started working with Tiny Speech in the Rice Village area of Houston,Texas. We continued there until January of 2016. At this point he was very reluctant to go to speech. He had expressed wanting to stop it once he turned 7. He made that statement at the age of 5. We gave him a break and he did get a progress evaluation for speech in spring of 2016. We were excited that his expressive and receptive scores were within the normal range! We changed delivery of speech therapy to his elementary school of attendance in a group setting. He actually enjoys it. The speech therapist made a point that this would be good for him so that he can have those conversations with peers and work on those social communication aspects (pragmatics). We are excited to see more of his progress. So in case you are at the start of this journey. It did take us 4.5 years to finally fall within that normal range. Again, we still have more to do in terms of social communication. We do have a very chatty boy with us who continues to ask questions after questions. I plan to do lots of recordings of him where he discusses a topic of his choice to curb that incessant questioning. Hopefully I can put it up on youtube. You can hover to the right to subscribe!


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Delhi to Support JK Govt in putting end to Curfew Violations: HM

Manoj Khar

New Delhi: The Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram has said that the Centre will support the Jammu and Kashmir Government in its efforts to put an end to violations of curfew, stone pelting and rioting. In a statement issued here today, he also said that instructions have been reiterated to the CRPF to observe maximum restraint while dealing with rioters and stone pelters.

“I have just heard the statement made by Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and I endorse every word of that statement.

The incidents that have taken place in J&K in recent days, including today, are deeply regrettable. I am particularly saddened by the fact that lives have been lost.

The CRPF is deployed in J&K to assist the State Police. Under standard operating procedure, CRPF and the J&K Police carry out their assignments jointly. Invariably, it is the State Police Officer who is in charge of the deployment and performance of duties assigned to the CRPF. I am told that, as far as possible, Magistrates are also present when the security forces are deployed to control rioters and to restore law and order.

I have, today, reviewed the incidents in J&K since June 11.

On June 25 and on June 28 in Sopore the CRPF had to use force in self-defence. On June 27 the CRPF had to use force on stone-pelters. In the other incidents, the CRPF and state Police had acted jointly. Whether excessive force was used during any of these incidents is a matter that will be enquired into. I may point out that since June 25, 53 CRPF personnel have been injured in the two districts of Sopore and Baramulla. In the incident on June 25, a CRPF inspector and a CRPF cop suffered bullet injuries. The people of J&K must therefore reflect on the nature of the challenge faced by the security forces. Nevertheless, I have today reiterated the instructions to the CRPF to observe maximum restraint while dealing with rioters and stone pelters.

I join the Chief Minister of J&K in appealing to the people of J&K to respect the law and, especially, observe the curfew regulations wherever curfew is imposed. I would especially appeal to parents to ensure that their children are at home when curfew is imposed. The object of imposing curfew is to ensure that crowds do not collect and stones are not pelted. The Central Government will support the J&K Government in its efforts to put an end to violations of curfew, stone pelting and rioting.

There are reliable reports that anti-national elements are trying to exploit the situation. Some militants may also have sneaked into the valley to trigger violence. I appeal to all those who believe in peace and development to stand by the State Government and help the State Government restore law and order’, he mention in statement.

About aipworld

Agence India press (A.I.P) is a first multimedia Business news agency from North India (Kashmir). Today it is one of the major news agency in the sector of media committed for providing best services with over 12 bureaus in State and across the India and outside Country. Agence India Press is also working on assignments to do which definitely are helping us to target more and more clients or subscribers, and also chance to cover maximum filed of news, feature and story. We cover almost all major areas of Jammu & Kashmir, and rest part of country interests to viewer including news, entertainment and life styles, health and science, business, sports, Human- interest feature, natural disasters, social, economic and developmental issues. Agence India Press is also working in different sectors like; Book Publishing, Book Distribution, Export Business, Music studio, Orchestra, Music Company and Service providers. Agence India Press takes revolutionary steps as the first Kashmir based international news network, in English, Arabic, Urdu, French, Dutch and Hindi.

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What did I do in the past week?

15 Dec

Updated : Added some photos for the week.

Here’s a recap of what I have done in the past week :

The past week, I was quite busy with all my tight schedules plus no Internet except in the office. Anyway, the life still goes on, boringly.. (Jeez, what kind of word is boringly?). The list after the jump.

  1. Returned to Twitter. It seems that Twitter’s influence have bring me back to twittering. I have a widget on the sidebar on this blog, but of course you can also can follow me here. For the time being, my following list mostly designers, developers and and social bloggers alike.
  2. Went to Ade Wahyu’s Wedding. Ade Wahyu (an Indonesian friend of mine) married on 5th December 2009. He married to his love, Era (forgot her name, snap!) who is from Malaysia. The reception was held at Kampung Gajah, Perak. Pictures will be uploaded soon.
  3. Went to Kellie’s Castle. We also went to Kellie’s Castle after the reception. The castle is located near the venue, so we went and take a look. The castle is quite spooky, as it was never completed. You can check out the history and the stories behind the castle here.
  4. Went swimming at Ulu Yam. Here is the best part of the week. Gone swimming. Although Ulu Yam is not as great as Kota Tinggi waterfalls, it still attracts us (Alif, Zul, Sue, Iffah and me) to went to the same place for the fourth time (for me). The water is quite cold and I have not been swimming for quite a long time, 3 months to be exact. So a refreshing moments for all of us. There will be pics later. So, stay put.
  5. Returned to Heroes of Newerth. Heroes of Newerth is a RTS which you will control a single hero to obtain the objective. It is very similar to DoTA Map for Warcraft III. The game is still under beta testing and I actually one of the lucky gamers who can test this game out. Folow their facebook page if you want to get the beta key for the game, they offer them from time to time. You can check out my stats for the game at the Games page.

Anyway, although it is a boring week, I conclude that the week is quite relaxing. But nevertheless, I still need internet to play, write and update you all. Want to sponsor me an internet line? DM me in my twitter. LOL. See you guys later.

Updated : Pics related to this post

One Response to “What did I do in the past week?”

  1. KoN December 16, 2009 at 2:24 pm #

    why dont u add sumthing bout me been at ur former PV6 condo…haha….dont care, LOL….hows ur day?…erm…me? bored…so damn bored….actually, rite now im at UUM, Fuckin’BznezPlan-Competition is going on…yeah….damn fu*kin bznez plan…(really hate dat)….waaaa……huhu….
    k…gtg….already started…next 1 hour, my turn to present….SH!T…ja’

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Sprint 6

The last sprint of the semester.  This semester flew by, but I am proud to say that we finally fixed our issue! Turns out we focused so much on how to fix it that we didn’t even realize it was totally out of our hands.  We ended up asking for help, and the openMRS developers got right back and said that they will need to contact someone in order to make this change.  I learned something very important from this sprint.  I learned that you shouldn’t stay stuck for too long without asking for professional help.  We broke down the whole issue and knew where the problem was happening, but we just didn’t have the access to the code to change it.  This must happen all the time in the professional world.  Next time I have any type of coding bug to fix, I will break down the problem (like we did), but I will make sure to ask someone for assistance way sooner.  If we never asked for help, we would have never resolved this issue.  Our last and final thing to do for the semester is put together our final presentation.  I look forward to sharing with everyone!

The Software Craftsman: Chapters 11 & 12

Chapter 11 of The Software Craftsman gives great advice on what companies should NOT do when interviewing for new developers.  Many great developers will end up not going with certain companies because of a horrible interview experience.  Individuals conducting interviews need to make sure to not scare away great potential workers by having bad interviewing tactics.  The chapter discusses that interviews should not be a test to see how well you know the answer to close ended and technical problems.  Anyone can simply memorize and study common interview questions to be sure to come across as a good candidate for the job. However, this chapter makes a great point that just because you know the technical/text-book answers doesn’t mean that you are the best candidate for the job.  I personally would rather have a co-worker that is passionate and wiling to learn, rather then someone who knows “everything”.  A passionate coder is the coder that will be great.  A coder who knows everything may seem really good and all, but they also may lack that passion and drive that someone else might have.

Chapter 12 talks about how low morale can negatively impact a workplace in more ways then you may think.  This chapter discusses that having passion will go long ways in the overall outcome of an organization.  I agree with the whole idea of this chapter, and I have actually personally experienced this.  The experience I had wasn’t at my computer science internship but it was when I used to work at an ice cream shop.  Most of the girls I worked with there, along with myself, would want to make nice looking ice cream cones and sundaes for the customers.  However, there was one girl that was always extremely sloppy.  The ice cream would be dripping everywhere, and the customers were never happy with her work.  This was a perfect example of someone who had no passion whatsoever.  She was just there to simply get paid, and she did the bare minimum amount of work possible to get the paycheck.  Her lack of effort negatively impacted all of us.  We would have to clean up after her, and deal with the problems she caused with the customers which brought down everyones motivation and attitude.  My experience relates to what this chapter talks about.  The chapter talks about how being a motivated developer will motivate other developers to work hard.  Have one person bringing everyone down with no passion or willing to try their best is not a good thing in any type of work place.

The Software Craftsman: Chapters 9 & 10

Chapter 9 is the first chapter of Part II of The Software Craftsman.  This chapter discusses what companies can do to attract great developers during the recruitment process.  Many companies will post a traditional job description along with the criteria that you should have ____ years of experience.  The chapter states that companies may be pushing away great developers that would be extremely beneficial to the company by their recruitment process.  One point that really stuck out to me is that many jobs require so many years of developer experience.  I have always thought this truly made no sense.  A second year software developer could be much better and have more skills then a software developer with 12 years of experience.  Seniority is not a good way to judge the quality of a worker.  Another good point the author talked about is looking for a developer with the passion.  Having a passion for something will mean that you are giving it your all.  A developer who loves what they do and wants to succeed will always be better then someone who just does enough to get the paycheck.  Overall, I enjoyed reading this chapter.  It was interesting to get some tips on how companies should view you as a developer, rather then how you should view yourself like in the previous chapters.

Chapter 10 gave advice on the interview process for both the companies and the candidates.  The author stresses that an interview shouldn’t be an integration of the candidate, but instead a business negotiation where both parties reach mutually beneficial agreements.  I really enjoyed and agreed with the whole idea of this chapter.  I am always extremely nervous for interviews and feel like they are testing my every word to make sure I say the right thing.  However, it really shouldn’t be like that.  An interview,  on the side of the interviewer, should be a way to get to know your possible soon to be employee and see if they are a right fit for the job.  If you give a formal “by the book” interview, someone coming in is going to answer like a robot and say what you want to hear.  I really hate how so many companies expect you to have the perfect answers to every question.  If I ever personally give an interview, I will make sure to make the candidate feel comfortable and like they don’t have to speak like they are reading from a textbook.  Another good point the chapter made is that when giving an interview you should be more focused on the candidate’s passion, willing to work, and previous accomplishments then what skills they currently have.  Someone who is enthusiastic about learning new things will be able to pick up quick on any skill they may not have going into the job. When I first got accepted to my internship as a software engineer, I was only a freshman and honestly had minimum technical skills.  I was honest with the interviewer, but I also was clear that I was willing to put the time and effort into learning anything that I needed to.  I ended up getting the job, even though I wasn’t the best at everything.  Now I can say, as a senior that I know so much more then I did during my interview as a freshman.  I am willing to keep this mindset throughout future jobs.

The Software Craftsman: Chapters 7 & 8

Chapter 7 of The Software Craftsman discusses some important technical practices.  It also discusses the topics of pragmatism and accountability, as well as tries to help developers understand these practices.  Some of the practices that this chapter talks about is, automated testing, test driven development (TDD), continuous integration, pair programming, and refactoring.  Something that was interesting about this chapter was that it discussed how as a developer you need to figure out what practice you personally are going to adopt.  You don’t need to adopt every single practice, and that’s very important to remember. You need to figure out what works for you individually.  Of course following these practices will be beneficial to overall cleaner code.  However, that doesn’t mean that following all of them is the best way to do things.  I learned that keeping yourself focused on the business value will help to make sure things go smoothly for you.  Overall, this chapter wasn’t one of my favorite but it had some useful information.

Chapter 8 of The Software Craftsman is about the long road of your own career and your own happiness/success.  The author discusses how you need to focus on your own goals and your own path as a developer.  If you aren’t happy with your current status then it’s your own responsibility to change that.  You need to be willing to try new things and create new opportunities for yourself.  Keeping up with the latest technologies is very important and making sure you are at the height of your success.  However, at the end of the day you need to focus on your own goals.  As a developer you should never settle just because you are at a certain spot in your life.  You need to keep reaching to your goals and work hard to get there.

I really enjoyed reading chapter 8 of this book.  It made me think about my own personal goals in life.  I want to get to a place in my career where I can be a confident and independent developer.  Right now I tend to question and second guess a lot of the work I do.  My goal is to have enough technical knowledge and self confidence to be proud in the work I do.  This chapter reminded me how important it is to keep up with technology to make sure you are producing the best work possible.  Overall, I liked this chapter and I could tell that the author felt passionate about the things he said.  Your career is your own journey and you should always remember to make sure it’s exactly what you want.

Sprint 5

This sprint we have all been working on one issue together as a team.  Our biggest challenge so far was actually simply finding the file in the huge code base.  We looked everywhere for this one file and had no luck.  I decided to try a different tactic then to just search the full code base for keywords.  I looked at previous solved issues on GitHub for a similar problem.  I think that using GitHub as a resource was the best decision I made.  I was able to find the file within a half hour.  I will now use this method for finding files in the future.  A big obstacle we are currently stuck on is that the file is actually not in the openMRS src code on GitHub.  It would be such an easy fix to make a small change to the file, but it is part of npm and AMPATH has no access to it.  The next steps I am going to take is asking some of the other openMRS developers for some guidance on what exactly we should do.

The Software Craftsman: Chapter 5 & 6

Chapter 5 of The Software Craftsman basically talks about dealing with pressure and deadlines as a professional and not always being the “hero”.  As a software developer you aren’t a superhero and you don’t need to say yes to everything asked of you.  In fact, a huge point this chapter made was learning to say “no”.  This topic of saying “no” is something that we read about in the last book, The Clean Coder.  Although saying “no” may seem to be rude or unprofessional, it is actually the professional thing to do.  In the field of computer science, there is pretty much always something that needs to get done.  This doesn’t mean that you always need to be the one to do everything.  It is great to work to your full potential and get a lot done, but when you start saying you’ll do things you don’t have the time to do, it can get bad quick.  It is better to have good quality work rather then quantity.  Overall, I enjoyed reading this chapter.  Even though we already learned about this topic from the other book, I enjoyed reading the author’s personal stories on this matter.  He really went through hell trying to be the hero all the time, but luckily he came to his senses.

Chapter 6 discussed the issues with low quality software.  The author basically talks about how keeping up with the code base is very important.  Working code can easily turn into low quality and very bad code.  He discusses how many software developers will ignore the legacy code because they don’t want to deal with it.  However, that is a terrible attitude to have.  Putting off this problem is only going to create a bigger problem later on.  It is a much better idea to update the legacy code piece by piece so eventually the code will be working again.  This author made some very good points about working software and the attitude you should have towards it.  Personally, I would much rather just ignore legacy code and do something different.  However, this chapter made it clear that ignoring the problem is never the answer.  Keeping up with the code base and updating it with unit tests can make a huge impact on the overall product.  No one likes non-working low quality software.  From now on I will deal with situations like this piece by piece rather then facing a huge problem all at once.

Sprint 4: Reflections on Learning & Work Products

Sprint 4 of the semester got cut a little short because of spring break.  While I was in Cancun I can honestly say I was not too focused on the project.  Before the break, we were assigned our first issue, but none of us were able to reproduce the bug.  A few of my team members reached out to the AMPATH developers and we were able to get assigned a new issue.  We actually all had to take a step back and re-fork our whole project due to it being out of date.  When I did that, something got messed up because I currently cannot get the test server to go online.  I plan to get my personal issue resolved with the server within a few days.  Our new issue seems pretty simple and straight forward.  I look forward to working with my team to start fixing more and more actual issues with the system.  Hopefully this sprint will be much more productive because we will have a full sprint with no interruptions.


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People gather to protest against Gulenist  failed military coup attempt at Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey Parallel State is a terrorist organization leaded by U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltrating into Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming a parallel state.


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Stage Management: The First Kit

Being the stage manager for a production will require you to become “the mom” of the show — if anything bad happens, they look at you to fix it. The earlier that you start prepping your stage manager kit the easier the production process will turn out. A lot of what you will need mainly revolves around what the actors will be needing for the most part – as the people running props, set, and costumes will already have their needed items well stocked.

When in doubt, talk to each designer on a one-on-one basis to see if they will want you to add items to your kit. For example: the costumer might not be able to come back after the show opens so you will need to figure out how to fix the tear in an extravagant ball gown on your own.

What I would do is sort everything out into two main piles: what will be going into the green room with the actors and what will be going up into the booth with you. It is important to make this distinction since once tech week starts, you are cut off from your actors. And you should still be the “show mom” during the last sections of the production.

Starting with your first kit, I have made a list of general items that are able to be used starting out and my opinions regarding them. Feel free to change your bag as you see fit — you are the stage manager for this show, not me.

The first table is in regards to what your actors will be wanting and the second table is in regards to what I would recommend for you starting out.

Item Rating [out of 5] Reasoning
Batteries 3 Also depends on how much equipment runs on batteries, just get some of the common sizes if you are unsure — it’s never a bad thing to have too many batteries.
Tide to-go pen 3 Debated categorizing as costume pieces — but I would recommend leaving this one in the green room for the actors to use as needed.
Mini lint roller 3.5
Eye glass repair kit 2 Don’t go out of your way for this unless someone has glasses as the frames do break on occasion — and please be a dear and fix their glasses for them, it’s a pain in the ass to get those tiny screws in when you have to hold it two inches away from your face.
Cough drops 4 Extremely useful during any part of the production — from coughing actors during rehearsals to coughing stage hands during shows!
Bandaids 4 Having bandaids is almost a necessity, actors and techies are known to bruise very easily.
Over the counter medicine 4 If you don’t have enough medication to run a small CVS out of your backpack then you’re low on medicine. Good SM’s should have enough variety in medication that they are able to treat mostly anything.
Staple remover 1 Necessary to have at home but not at rehearsal, you’re usually able to live without considering that papers are usually not handed out.
Stapler 1
Staples 1
Dental floss 2.5 Not really needed, only useful to have if a rehearsal/show is immediately following dinner.
(Mechanical) pencils 4 Only needed for early rehearsals — can be left at home once all directions for the actors are finalized. If bringing real pencils (not mechanical pencils) I will be giving a pencil sharpener a 2 rating.
Various phone chargers 2.5 Phones should always remain off during rehearsals! However, there are always exceptions to this rule.
Nail clippers 2 Place in the green room for the actors to use as needed.
Ice pack 2.5
Hand sanitizer 3
Chapstick 3
Hair elastics 1.25 Primarily needed for rehearsals, only really used by the stage hands during production. Don’t get the heavily expensive kind as those are able to easily wander off.
Flashlight 2.75 Useful only when the power goes out — so keep it on hand in order to be the handy SM.
Pads/Tampons 3.5 Will depend on how many females are working on the show and how long the production will last. It will never hurt to have a few generic brands on hand.
Item Rating [out of 5] Reasoning
Binder clips 2 Really useful for clipping together scenes during the rehearsal period, being able to jump between scenes as needed.
Paper clips 2
Post-it flags 4 Recommended for sorting items in your copy of the script, highly recommended that you get different colors for different types of items.
Post-it notes 2 Useful for longer texts of information in your copy of the script. Not usefull enough to go out of your way for it.

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ABANDONED TRAIN STATION (for Cee’s and Paula’s Black & White Photo Challenge)

Several days ago, we went to the nearby town of Milo to get supplies for a temporary archery range that my children begged their grandfather to set up in the yard.   Milo is a small rural town in Maine and one of its attractions is an old railroad cutting through the heart of town.  The closure of factories in the area lead to the abandonment of the rails.

The hardware store that my husband went to was on the side of the railroad across this train station.  So while my husband shopped, I took several shots of the crumbling structure.  As it is summer, Queen Annes and other meadowflowers bloomed abundantly.  I thought they softened the stark lines of the building and even lent charm to the place.

Paula’s B&W Sunday – Structure

Cee’s B&W Challenge – Any Topic

THURSDAY’S SPECIAL – Pick a Word-August Y2

NAUTICAL This could be the life saving boat patrolling Nathan Beach in North Shore, MA. The image was taken during our visit in the last Sunday of July.

SETTING This was a shot of the sun setting over a swamp in Atkinson, ME on our way home after an afternoon of gallivanting in Bangor.
GROWTH I was thrilled to see this logful of little mushrooms when I meandered in the woods to look for mushrooms. Lately, I have been quite interested about mushrooms that I braved to meander in the woods around my in-laws’ place in ME. I did find a lot of mushroom varieties but I did get lost, too. I never got too far from the house but I could not figure out which way to turn to go back. Everything looked the same to me. I have not ventured too far out since then. 🙂
MOTLEY This was a scene during PAX East’s Game Convention last March held at the World Trade Convention Center in Boston, MA. Thousands of people of all sorts – kids, adults, geeks and not-so-geeks, etc., attended the convention to check out the latest games, buy some toys, play, and in my case, ogle. I did not enjoy the crowds and the long walks to go from one place to the next. My family was quite a fan of the convention and they got me curious. Having satisfied my curiosity, I can say that I prefer smaller scale game conventions.

Posted for Paula’s Thursday Special.  Please click the logo to visit her site and other responses to the challenge. Thank you. 🙂

jupiter najnajnoviji

The bird who lives here will, for sure, always know which is home. This birdhouse hangs on a tree in front of the main office of Borderland State Park, Easton, MA.
This mailbox belongs to an abandoned house in Sebec, ME.
The House at Four Corners, Sebec, ME.

For Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge – Anything with Numbers on It.

From the parking lot, we climbed up a hill to go to the forest. The scene below was a welcome sight and promised a great time for adventure and exploration.

in early June, my husband and I had the chance to explore the Rolland F.  Perry City Forest, a.k.a. Bangor City Forest.  It is tucked right in the city of Bangor, Maine.  According to the City Website –

“Rolland F. Perry City Forest encompasses more than 680 acres of wildlife habitat and working forest in Bangor, Maine, and features more than 4 miles of access roads and more than 9 miles of trails for running, hiking, biking, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing. It is owned by the city of Bangor and open throughout the year.”

In the forest , one can follow the narrower and rougher trails that were named after some forest animals. I honestly thought that if I followed the Moose Trail, I would see a moose, or a deer in the deer trail, or, in a grouse, in a grouse trail. Silly me. The only wild animal I saw was a skittering chipmunk under some evergreens.

My husband hails from Maine but has not heard of this place until we looked for a place to belatedly celebrate our wedding anniversary.

The forest is mostly evergreens. Maine is the Pine State after all. I am just amazed that the trees seemed to have been planted in lines and rows, instead of randomly growing in the woods. Also, the canopy was so thick that the sun hardly reached the forest floor. Because of the lack of light, the floor did not have much growth on it.

I was surprised and not too surprised.

It rained a lot during the days prior to our visit. The swamps were full and dark and buzzing with mosquitoes.

Outside of the bigger cities,  Maine is wild and forested.  In fact, our Maine family home was built in a place that was carved out of the woods.  Everywhere I looked, I would see nothing but woods.  And that may be why my deary husband did not find the need to go looking for woods elsewhere.

The City Forest is a working forest. This sign provides logging instructions.

On my part, I never expected to see a forest in the city.  I just took it for granted that Bangor would naturally have plenty of trees because that is just the way all of Maine is.  I guess I can say that the City Forest is hidden in plain sight.

Like any northeast woods, the forest had plenty of wildflowers, like the bunchberries in the picture, starflowers, lady slippers, among others.

We spent hours walking around this place (and the Orono Boardwalk nearby which will be the subject of a future separate post).  Because we visited during a working day during working hours, not too many people were around.  But there were a some mothers and children, and families who took advantage of the first sunny day in a week of rains.

One could take a walking break on one of the benches tucked on the sides of the trails.

We had so much fun walking (like a young couple), the sun was already setting when we headed out.  What lucky Bangor people to have this kind of place right on their doorstep.

When one gets tired of the rough trails, one can always use the dirt roads that go around the woods. I do not think it would be as much fun though.

DUTCH GOES THE PHOTO’S Tuesday Photo Challenge – Woods

When i thought of things or activities that give (me) satisfaction, gardening was among the first to come to mind.  Every aspect of it – from preparing the soil, to digging, to choosing the plants, even weeding, give me immense pleasure.

Our zucchini plants are starting to produce and sometimes, we have more than we can eat.

Perhaps the joy comes primarily from   the expectation that something good will come out of my labor.  To some extent, I compare the joyful expectancy to a mother expecting to see the baby in her womb, or to see her children grow into beautiful, mature persons.  I find myself visiting the garden everyday to see how much the plants have grown; be sad when pests eat the leaf; rejoice when I see the flowers or the first fruits.  How fulfilling it is to pick the mature fruits.  They make all the effort worth it.

To vary the way we serve zucchini at home, we tried making zucchini bread. This recipe – https://butterwithasideofbread.com/best-ever-zucchini-bread/ – turned out to be excellent, notwithstanding the use of nutmeg, a spice I am quite wary of. My zucchini-averse children loved it.

I can only think of one thing more satisfying than harvesting the fruits, and that is, eating them.

P.S.  – Shameless plug

In my photo-poetry page, MY WALL, I write about the satisfaction that comes from beholding a wildflower. 🙂

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Specialized SpeedZone Digital Comp

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Tag Archives: Stracciatella

The simplest of ingredients can give so much pleasure.

I have always liked Italian fresh cheeses and while in Venice and Trieste I ate as much fresh mozzarella, burrata and stracciatella as I could. The tomatoes have been excellent also.

Fresh mozzarella whether made from cow or buffalo milk (di bufala) is fairly easy to find in other countries apart from Italy, burrata is more difficult to

find but it is very speedily finding fame and fortune in other countries and replacing the very popular Caprese salad that had dominated menus for places where tourists gather.

Stracciatella is a soft cream almost runny cheese, a combination of shredded fresh mozzarella curd and cream. Straccia (“rag” or “shred) from the verb stracciare“- to tear.

Burrata, like mozzarella can be made from cow or buffalo milk. The outer layer is made of fresh mozzarella – a pulled or stretched cheese – but the centre is filled with oozing, creamy and delicate tasting stracciatella. Cut it open, and wow… you get that double whammy!

Because I love the Italian language I want to tell you that burrata (buttered) is derived from burro – butter. Burrata hails from southern Italy, from the Puglia region where orecchiette come from. Rather than being filled with stracciatella it can also be filled with heavy cream – this of course is what becomes butter.

In the photos there are two types of burrate (plural of burrata), the rounded shape or sealed sphere, and the one tied together with vegetal string. Both burrate delicious and both enveloping a creamy filling.

Burrata is eaten as fresh as possible – ideally within 24 hours of being made and is usually sold in its water like whey.

So when you find heirloom tomatoes and very tasty ordinary or cherry tomatoes and burrata you get a triple+++ whammy…. mild acidity of tomatoes, basil super-duper good quality extra virgin olive oil and you have pretty much ecstasy.

I actually made this tomato and  salad in Paris… from Italian ingredients (apart from tomatoes and basil and a little red onion from the countries around the Mediterranean.