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Showing posts with label art videos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art videos. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

In the Art Room: Chalked Fish Ceiling Tile

Y''s getting down to the wire and I'm all about the last minute at this point in the school year. Between our art show, clay week(s), a ceramic mural undertaking (stay tuned!), our annual 2nd grade ceiling tile project just kinda slipped my mind. Not until a teacher asked did I remember that it was that time of year. After a mishap with a chalk order from China (they sent me HAIR CHALK, y'all!), I reached out to my friends at Faber-Castell and they sent us the most beautiful chalk I have ever seen. Last week, I sorted the chalk, created the following video and today, in just under 2 hours, my 65 second graders created magic!
The video so saved my voice! It's a loud room with lots of echos...I know that I would have struggled to keep my voice going and my patience in check. It was just me, one parent and a handful of super helpful 4th grade girls to assist these four classes of kiddos. The kids did wonderfully! I am so super proud of them...and they were so proud of's a short video of them in action:
If only we worked that fast!
In addition to the video, I spent about an hour in the morning with my super helpful specials team laying out large sheets of paper, setting out the chalk trays and the foam brushes. Last night I cut out 65 fish templates (we'll be painting them for our very last art project of the year!) and had them on the kids' tiles. We always work on the opposite side of the ceiling tile as it takes to the chalk so much better.
32 chalk trays were ready for the kids to use. Check out that chalk, isn't it beautiful?
Now, with 65 kids, you know they don't all work at the same pace. So I would share a little of the video and then put them to work. When they finished OR when they heard me ring my chime, they knew they were to stop immediately and meet again on the floor to learn the next steps.
 Kids who finished early were asked to walk around and see if there were any friends who might like some help with their tile. I wouldn't normally have the kids work on each other's pieces but this is an exception. These tiles are BIG! And some kids wanted the help of their friends. Also, I emphasized that this was a collaborative project so help from our friends was great...but only if the artist wanted it. If not, move on to another friend!
This is our third year with this project and it's a big hit each time. This particular group was so excited about it! We do a different theme each year. Our first year, it was butterflies and least year was flowers. I'm so pleased with these bright and cheer fish, perfect to create a school of fish in our ceiling!
 I get a lot of questions about this project so I thought I'd address them:

* How do you seal these? After the kids are done, these are sprayed heavily with Aqua Net. It does dull the color but not much...and def not noticeable from the ceiling.

* What does the Fire Marshall think? Our Fire Marshall didn't mention them! And, of course, we didn't ask.
 * Do the kids get these back? No. I emphasize that the tiles are there to stay, it's our legacy, our magical mark we leave behind.

* How do you get all of the tiles? The first year, my custodian was able to order extra for me. Now, we just use the ones he has taken down. Meaning, when he takes down the clean tiles to hang the fish, we'll use those as our "canvas" next year!
 * How did you convince your administration to allow this project? This project came from a request from my principal! She saw artwork on the ceiling of a school and asked if I could do something like that. At that school, the kids had drawn on paper and the work was tacked to the tile. Originally, when our street painter artist came, we were going to do sidewalk drawings...but rain was in the forecast. Thinking that the texture for the tile would be the same as the sidewalk, the night before, I came up with the idea to do the back of the tiles. We do the back because it takes the chalk much better.
 * Why chalk and not paint? Personally...I find the surface of the tile to be very porous and just absorbs the paint. This seems to take a lot longer...and I don't always love the look. Chalk, however, works great on the back of the tile and I love the look.
 * What happens when you run out of ceiling tiles?! Pretty sure that won't happen any time soon. Our school is large and our librarian just asked today if I'd do something for the ceiling in there! Short answer: I'll retire, ha!
* Who hangs the tiles? One of our amazing custodians. He LOVES doing it and seeing what the kids create. I tried to hang them's a rain of chalk dust! He's the best for doing it for the kiddos.

I think that covers all the questions about this question I've gotten in the past. But if you have others, feel free to drop me a line in the comments!
 Love to know if you've done a project like this before...or any legacy type project. They certainly add a punch of happy to our school.
I'll be sure to share what they look like once they are installed. Until then, I'll be unloading/loading a kiln, matting artwork, scratching my head over a mural and having a nightmare about the art show. You know, the usual.
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Sunday, November 13, 2016

In the Art Room: Bebo Birds!

Earlier this week I shared with y'all a new video series I'm creating for my students called Field Trip! Our first 'trip was to hang out with folk artist and musician Bebo. Some of my classes took that virtual field trip this week and really enjoyed it. I am in the process of creating videos to accompany the field trip...and today, I'm excited to share with you the first one: Bebo Birds!
This project is geared toward my first grade artists. I really want them to explore textured mark-making. That will be our focus for the first day of this lesson. On the second day, we'll learn the difference between organic and geometric shapes. My goal is to teach the children that you can create anything with shapes. Keeping it simple will insure confidence and success for the least that's the plan. Of course, I'll keep you posted and share their masterpieces with you. In case you missed out on our field trip adventure, here's our 'trip to meet and create with the artist Bebo!
Such a fun guy and so giving with his time. I felt very lucky to have that opportunity to meet him and share his awesomeness with my kids.
One piece of his that really struck me were these birds. I loved how fun they were. I also really loved the texture, the pattern and the use of shapes. I knew my first grade kids would not only enjoy looking at Bebo's work but also creating their own version of these Bebo birds. Here's our lesson:
I'm excited to work on more Bebo-inspired lessons in the future. I've got a lovely week off for Thanksgiving break and I'm thrilled to say we aren't going anywhere! I'll be traveling to Texas this week for their conference, which I'm stoked about (!!) however, I am a complete homebody so staying put for a while and working on my pile o' projects sounds like my kind of break.

Love to know if you make Bebo Birds!
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Thursday, 29 December 2011

Four Seasons = One Year

A tree for all seasons, winter, spring, summer and autumn... a whole year in one tree!
This year is drawing to an end and it always amazes me how time just whizzes by.  Naturally we reflect on the year that's gone by, our achievements, successes and probably mistakes too.  Life isn't always easy and my art has been important over the past few years, keeping me me positive and enthusiastic.  Nothing is impossible!
Happy New Year and I hope 2012 is a good one.

"Don't be pushed by your problems.
be led by your dreams."

Saturday, 24 December 2011

Happy Christmas!

For my blogging friends all over the world, hope you have a peaceful and happy Christmas!

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Sketchbook Time

Lead actress having make up done

I've had a busy week but still time for some sketching!  On Monday I spent the day at one of my favourite old villas taking part in a film...only as an 'extra'.  The scene was a high society party in this beautiful ballroom.

Leading actor (the baddie)
It was a tiring day pretending to drink champagne in a long dress, sadly the champagne wasn't real and the glitter was fake......but was fun while it lasted!

This sketch is from a couple of weeks ago early in the morning sitting in my car.  Even an urban scene can look pretty in the autumn.

From  my car again, an old gateway on the main road through town.
The top looks like a crown or perhaps an urn, but I couldn't fit it all on my little sketchbook page.

Monday, 19 December 2011

Sink or Swim?

'Sink' for Illustration Friday.
It can be quite pleasant letting your body sink slowly down into the silent depths of deep water, but sooner or later you have to swim back to the top!

Thursday, 15 December 2011

Forever Autumn

Not very seasonal I know, but here in Sicily it's still fairly warm and sunny (it will probably rain tomorrow!)  and autumn comes late.
Up until last week the climbing vine at the front of my house looked like this.  I love the mix of colours and the way the sun shines through the leaves in the morning.

This is a chocolate coloured sunflower grown in a pot in the summer, I'd like to fill the whole garden with them!

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

'Separated' for Illustration Friday

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Bright Knights

Do you remember the video frames we downloaded and coloured for the Bright Knights, here is the final video.
The Bright Knights are an Australian Group who found an unusual method of making a video for their debut single 'This Love', they asked people to colour in all 2,158 frames.  I did two of them, one of which is about 3.29 in to the video, I'm still trying to find the second!
You can see more of the process here

Thursday, 8 December 2011

The Village Square

If you venture into some of the smaller towns and villages in Sicily you will always find there is a village square where old men gather to play cards and chat.  If ever a 'stranger' comes into the village you can be sure they have noticed, if there is any gossip then they will know and the Sicilian 'coppola' or cap is a must!
This my latest page for the Sketchbook Project, only three more double pages left to do!

Sunday, 4 December 2011

The Brigade

'Brigade' is the theme for this week's Illustration Friday.
Geese seem to work in groups as they defiantly take on strangers and people often use them to guard property.  These Canadian geese were in one of London's parks, but I have vivid memories of been chased across a field when I was a little girl by a gaggle of white geese!

It's getting closer to Christmas and I've many things to prepare so this illustration has been transformed into a Christmas card... I just added some white acrylic blobs and they became 'snow' geese.

Thursday, 1 December 2011

'Round' for Illustration Friday.
 This one now has a big red bow to make it into a seasonal Christmas card!

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Exhibition Review!

Here are some photographs from this weekend and my joint art exhibition.  As you can see we were able to use Palazzo Aragona Cutò (built in 1712), which was the perfect location, we also had perfect sunny weather too!
We had two large rooms at the top of a double staircase, complete with high painted ceilings and tall shuttered windows.
Venus and Mars on the ceiling
We are a little group that paint and chat together one morning a week, out of this friendship came the idea of organising our own art exhibition.  Each of us had about ten paintings and a wall/panel to display them on.

This is my part of the exhibition, a mixture of coloured pencil pieces and some larger oil paintings.

We had a lot of people come and visit us and there was even  a queue outside the door on Saturday morning before we opened!
I met so many people who enjoy art and made a whole load of new contacts, the whole exhibition was a very positive experience...

.........and there was even a little time after lunch on Sunday to sketch the view from the window.

Thursday, 24 November 2011

'Stripes' 40x60cms, oil

This is the finished painting, varnished and ready for tomorrow.  I'm pleased with how this turned out, although it started out as only an experiment and is based on a reference came from Wet Canvas's image library.  I changed the background and colours just leaving the shape of the leaves. Unfortunately I don't remember who originally posted the photograph.

Myself and some artist friends will be exhibiting over the weekend at this beautiful 17th century villa.

The photo is actually of the rear of the villa, and is from where I sit in the station car park to sketch while waiting for my daughter's train.  The front faces onto a busy road and I would risk getting run over, but  the back entrance is lovely anyway!

I really like the frame on this painting of local fishing boats, strange how artwork looks so different in it's frame?  I think I will post this to my mum for Christmas after the exhibition (She doesn't have a computer
or ever look at my blog, so it's still a secret!)

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

Mirror, mirror on the wall
who is fairest of them all?

'Vanity' for Illustration Friday

Sunday, 20 November 2011

Hidden Coves

Here are some more pages for the Sketchbook Project complete with wrinkled pages (the paper doesn't like watercolour).
The first is part of a nature reserve on the coast with plenty of hidden coves and caves, perfect for the smugglers of olden days.  My  title is 'Encyclopedia of Secret Places'  and this area has plenty of  secret history!

A closer look at one of the coves, I love the sound of waves as they rattle the pebbles on the beach.

Thursday, 17 November 2011

This is my latest coloured pencil piece.  It's the 'sister' of the Silent Keeper, one of my entries to the UKCPS exhibition this year.  I thought that they would look good together at the upcoming local exhibition where my work will be displayed, well they would if my Silent Keeper would like to return home.  At the moment it's travelling backwards and forwards between the UK and Italy and I'm not friends with DHL carriers anymore!
(It's a long story...sigh..)

At the foot of a staircase, two statues  Endymion and Aglaia from Greek mythology.
I just loved the double shadow in the late evening sun and it was my first sight of the  privately owned 17th century Villa Valguarnera.
I  had to stand and memorise the scene, although I did have a camera,  I wanted to capture how I felt when I first walked up the long drive and through the gate.

Sunday, 13 November 2011

Strong and Silent

'Silent' for Illustration Friday.
This one is obviously the strong and silent type!  We have a beautiful park right in the middle of the city, I love to take my sandwiches there and hear the traffic and city noise fade away.  There are many statues  among the trees and flowers (the park dates from the 17th century), an ideal spot to while away an hour or two!

Thursday, 10 November 2011

Something Blue

Something blue for Everyday Matters.  I thought about this for a while...what could I choose to sketch that's blue....  the sky, the sea?  Yes the ideas weren't coming thick and fast, but then I looked up and spied my little sketching bag.  The one I grab on my way out...just in case!
This little bag is only 8" wide and 10" long but holds everything I might want to use while out sketching.  It has several pockets and zips all the way round making it easy to get into and I got it free from a travel company, which makes it even nicer.

I unpacked the bag to show you what I carry around with me

Two small sketchbooks, various pens and pencils, a waterbrush, my small set of Maimeri watercolours and it's extra little mixing palette, paper towels, a homemade viewfinder and a water container.  Plus I can get in insect repellant and a small camera comfortably.  A very useful little bag indeed!

Monday, 7 November 2011

'Stripes' for Illustration Friday.
The best stripes are found in nature, animals, fish and plants all have some wonderful patterns and colours.
This is part of a bigger painting that I'm working on but still a long way to go.

Thursday, 3 November 2011

Best of the Bunch

The little local art group that I joined a couple of years ago is holding an exhibition at the end of this month, so I have been hard at work preparing some new work for my corner of the room  Although I haven't got precise measurements I think I will be able to hang about six largish paintings and perhaps some smaller coloured pencil pieces.
This is the first time I've had the chance to exhibit more than a couple of piece of work so it's very exciting...any advice welcome!
These grapes are one of the better bunches grown last year, painted in oil from sketches and photographs.

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Scary Monsters

The word for Illustration Friday this week is 'scary'.
I decided to paint one of the statues/gargoyle type creatures from a nearby 17th century villa known as the 'Villa of Monsters' for it's strange and creepy statues.
There are at least sixty of them left from a collection of about two hundred, sitting on the walls around the villa!  You can read more about them  here.

Thursday, 27 October 2011

Sketchbook Pages

I've been having a few sketching afternoons while I wait for my son to finish his football training.  This is a rocky outcrop in the middle of the town with what looks like a watchtower on top.  It's a pretty good place for a watchtower as there are clear views all round, although I don't know anyone who has been up there.

There are views like this one, looking out over to one side of the town, I live in a valley behind the tree.

I'm sure this man sitting on a bench outside the town hall knew I was drawing him, he kept glancing my way then posing like a professional model!

I did this sketch at home, I picked a branch from a wild olive tree just outside the gate.  This is not far off the actual size of the 'fruit' which is like a large berry.

...and finally some Jasmine from my garden (not quite a yellow as my scanner thinks it is).

Monday, 24 October 2011

'Fuel' for Illustration Friday.
A pile of logs stored ready for the fire in winter, I'd love to have my own open fire or wood burning stove!

Thursday, 20 October 2011

Secret Spots (Arthouse Sketchbook Project 2012)

Here are a couple more pages for the Sketchbook Project 2012.   My theme is Encyclopedia of secret places  and so far I have drawn mostly gardens and buildings, castles etc, but you can't get away from the sea if you live on an island.  These are some colourful traditional fishing boats which are still used in smaller fishing villages.  If you go down to the seafront about lunchtime you'll always find someone mending nets, or preparing their boat.

My second secret spot is another little village by the sea and is one of my favourite places to go late on a Saturday afternoon in the summer.  It's a popular place for wedding couples to have their photos taken and sometimes there are 2- 3 couples (and photographers and videos) on the beach as the sun starts to dip behind the sea.
We sit with ice-creams and watch the show...Italians really dress up for weddings and a late afternoon wedding calls for cocktail or evening dresses at the very least!

Monday, 17 October 2011

Sprinkled and Scattered

This week the word  for Illustration Friday is scattered, though I'm not sure if this little drawing is more of a sprinkled!?

Watercolour and coloured pencil

Thursday, 13 October 2011

No Strawberry Grapes

A few leaves  that come from my small vine of strawberry grapes.  These are small black, sweet grapes that smell of strawberries and are wonderful to eat.  Unfortunately they didn't bear any fruit this year but  the leaves  turned a burnt orange colour and crisped up into lacy shapes.
Hopefully next year will be a  better harvest but I decided to immortalise the leaves anyway, too pretty to resist!

Monday, 10 October 2011

The Peacock Garden

I visited the Peacock Garden while in the UK,
so called for it's topiary peacocks and of course real ones.
It helped that it was a warm and sunny day and the lovely flowers,
plants and butterflies were at their best.
I have always liked drawing topiary and have started a painting
based on this garden.
The above is a practice sketch to get the feel of the colours and

These are some small peacock feathers drawn in coloured pencil that I picked up along the way,
actually my pockets were stuffed full of them!

Thursday, 6 October 2011

Back from London

watercolour sketch

I'm still recovering from my quick visit to London to see the UKCPS exhibition which I thoroughly enjoyed.
It's amazing to see work by artists that normally I only ever get to see on internet, and the first thing everyone says when the see work of this standard in coloured pencil is ' I never knew you could do this with pencils '.

The exhibition took place in The Central Hall, Westminster, just opposite Westminster Cathedral, a very grand location.

Both  of my entries were hung in the first room after the Faber Castell stand.   In the main room there were various areas selling cards and books.  I succumbed to temptation and bought a signed copy of Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils by Ann Swan.  It's a beautiful book that would appeal to non-botanical artists too.

There was so much to see it was impossible to take it all in, all the entries can be seen here
My favourites in the exhibition were 'Hydrangers' by Gayle Dickinson and 'Wisdom of Age' by Irina Garmashova-Cawton, but there were many others too.

Now it's time to get down to some serious painting as I have a couple of local exhibitions coming up in the next few months and I hope to have some new work ready soon!

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Top 10 Sequels & Trilogies

Are you a reader who prefers series to stand-alone novels so you can live in the word of the book as long as possible? Did any of the Top 10 books leave you wanting more? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you’re in luck! Four of the 2013 nominated books are first in a trilogy (or planned trilogy), and one has a sequel in the works.

MillionSunsShadesOfEarthBeth Revis’ Across the Universe trilogy is the only completed series featured in this post. The final installment was just published in January of this year. Be sure to check out A Million Suns and  Shades of Earth.

Blood Red Road is the first book of Moira Young’s planned Dustlands trilogy.  The follow-up, Rebel Heart, was published in October of last year. According to Goodreads, the final installment (titled Raging Star) won’t be released until January 14, 2014. That’s too long to wait!

InsurgentThe other dystopian novel among this year’s Top 10 nominees is also the first in a trilogy. Divergent‘s sequel, Insurgent, was released May 1, 2012 and the series will conclude with Allegiant on October 22, 2013. Mark your calendars, Divergent fans!

MissPeregrine_SequelAs those of you who have read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children know, the ending leaves you hanging. Luckily, Ransom Riggs has written a sequel. It was originally supposed to be released this year, but I was disappointed to learn that it now won’t be released until January 14, 2014 (which is shaping up to be a good day for new books).

SuchWickedIntentKenneth Oppel’s series The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein starts with This Dark Endeavor with continues with Such Wicked Intent. There is no release date or title for the third book in the trilogy, but my guess is the last line of Such Wicked Intent, “Such astonishing power,” will be the title.

Have you read any of these sequels? Are  you planning to? Is there a Top 10 book you wish had a sequel, but doesn’t? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Posted on April 22, 2013, in Read-Alikes, Top 10 and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

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Having a good balance in our lives is very important for our health and happiness. Being a woman is challenging because there are sooooo many duties we need to fulfill as women. In my opinion, first and foremost we should place God at the Center of our lives by making time for Him every single day… all else should follow. Most of us need to balance between being a wife, mother, daughter, sibling, auntie, friend, working woman and housekeeper. Those are a lot of shoes to fill. Therefore, it is very important to be in touch with ourselves through a little daily self time. Making a few minutes for “self time” each day is vital for catching our breath, clearing our minds and refreshing our bodies.  Whether we read, exercise or dedicate a few minutes to a fun hobby, it is important to refresh… aahhh, much-needed. My heart goes out in admiration for single women who successfully overcome the struggles of playing the mother and father role. Kudos to you wonderfully beautiful strong women… be PROUD of yourselves and know that you are AMAZING!!! Keep up the great job!!!

Thankfully, God created us with the wonderful ability to multi-task… how awesome is that!?!? Thank you God. 🙂 Yet, despite of that blessing, our multiple duties make us tired at the end of a busy day… so a good balance is vital. Our careers are important because they are our source and foundation of financial support.  However our HOME consists of our beautiful families, which need and require our best… so strive for maintaining a great balance between work, home and all things. While at work, leave home at HOME… and while at HOME, leave work at WORK.  In doing so, you will feel in great Spirits with all your relationships and everyone will have “the best of you.”

Again, I must reiterate… place God first. For it is through Him, that we have the wonderful ability to be successfully fulfilled women. Embrace your Blessings and strive for that perfect balance. “Live a Life of LOVE”…  xo xo xo

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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!.

Crunchy numbers

Featured image

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,500 times in 2010. That’s about 8 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 4 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 94 posts. There were 3 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 5mb.

The busiest day of the year was January 14th with 77 views. The most popular post that day was I cant find the right title for this post because nothing can spell it out completely. All I know they make my heart skip an hour. .

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were madandcrazy.blogspot.com, blogspirit.ug, yourlucy.blogspot.com, edmokmg.wordpress.com, and detamble.blogspot.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for tall and short cartoon, short and tall cartoon, tall and short, short and tall, and wrong side business.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

I cant find the right title for this post because nothing can spell it out completely. All I know they make my heart skip an hour. January 2010

Dedicated esp to S.King June 2009

Of chatterbox journalists, Kagere’s Kwanjula and Blogger’s End of Year Party December 2008

Met my new crush Joe…… November 2008

Wrong Side Business December 2008

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Need a fixer?

Travelling to Soroti in Northern Uganda and need a fixer?

Micheal Achol is your guy

Contact him on (+256)779764877

For making contacts, interpretations whatever a fixer does he can do

COntact me for any queries

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Go on, get the cut

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A woman’s first
clinical delivery

The pain was intense, coming at short intervals. She touched her stomach, remembering what the doctors had told her during her visits to Kathe Medical Care. Consolanta Kebikari was in her ninth month already, any sign of pain could mean contraction and that the baby was coming. That is what the midwife Helen Tukundane had told her when they were going through her birth plan, a blue booklet marked “Passport” given to expecting mothers attending antenatal care.
This felt like what ‘musawo’ Helen had said. In fact, it was what she had felt the eight other times when she was going in labour.
She had planned this one and wanted everything to be okay. She had even sold her last two chicken to raise enough money for a boda boda (bike) ride to ease movement to the medical centre when the baby came. Kathe Medical Centre where she was booked is 15 kilometres away from her home in the hills of Kibaale parish in Isingiro district. It is the nearest medical facility to her home.
Getting there from Mbarara takes a two hour’s drive on a ragged pothole filled Mbarara-Kabale High Way which is undergoing construction. The available means of transport to Kebikari’s house in the hills stops travellers at a sign post that says welcome to Ntungamo district.
Then villagers like Kebikari find their way into the hills often on foot because they cannot afford the boda boda fare. The road that snakes around the hills is ragged, steep and dusty.
If and when the baby comes at night, mothers have to walk down hill to the nearest government facility Itojo Hospital, 25 kilometres away.
So mothers like Kebikari often prefer to stay at home in the hills and deliver at their homes. This is sometimes with the help of neighbours, a traditional birth attendant if one can be afforded and yet sometimes alone.
Kebikari had her first child 12 years ago in her two roomed mud and wattle house roofed with papyrus.
“I didn’t have money to go to a hospital” she says. When the second one came she stayed in her house and still delivered, and so was the case with the third.
All three have now grown up but don’t go to school because she cannot afford sending them there. School means money for books, uniform, lunch, shoes, writing material and all the additional costs the teachers demand for.
On her next pregnancy she lost the baby during delivery at home. So she tried again and lost that one too. And yet again she lost another two. All neonatal deaths. But she kept trying and on the eighth, she delivered a boy at home in 2007.
She knew that the gods were on her side and so she decided to try for another child to make them five and replace the ones she had lost.
She conceived again. And yet she still had no plan of ensuring the child’s safety by going to a medical facility.
One day a chubby man, Kenneth Kayema called a village meeting at Kibaale trading centre. He was wearing a blue apron that said Healthy Baby.
Kayema told them the words mean “Omwaana wamagara amarungi” and went on to explain the benefits of delivering a healthy baby under the care of a skilled birth attendant.
Like Kebikari many women in western Uganda had never afforded the care of a skilled birth attendant, doctor, midwife, nurse, clinical officer. At the start of March 1, community health distributors were contracted by Marie Stopes International under the Out Put Based Project to visit districts of Mbarara, Kiruhura, Isingiro, Ibanda, Lyantonde to teach mothers about a new affordable option.
They would identify expectant mothers who would be assessed if they qualified to merit the cheap option, the Healthy Baby Voucher card, a pilot project in western Uganda.
That is how Kebikari learnt of the Healthy Baby project when Kayema was talking about the affordable healthy option for mothers and their unborn child. He called it the healthy baby voucher, to the villagers ‘kacardi ka baby’.
Kayema told Kebikari to buy the card for Shs 3000. It entitled her to four antenatal visits, a normal or caesarean delivery at a health facility and postnatal care.
“She had no money to buy a voucher so I went back several times,” Kayema says.
She asked the distributor to buy her two small chicken to pay for the card.
“She paid for the card in instalments. She first paid Shs 1000 then later finished with Shs 2000”
Her husband is mostly concerned about his leisure with friends in the evening.
It doesn’t take a genius to know that Kebikari is a peasant, the surroundings of her home paint a clear picture.
When we visited a happy woman emerged from inside her mud and wattle house with a big smile to welcome the visitors.

She recognised Kayema who was asking to see the baby. Consolanta Kebikari’s two roomed house stands by the roadside.
She says her husband owned the land around but sold it off piece by piece until they remained with the small piece where the house sits, a toilet right in front of the house and the compound. Drying under the sun are four mats stained with urine which her children use as mattresses.
The view from her compound is of beautiful big plantations of matooke, pineapples, potatoes, tomatoes. She is only a porter on these farms. To survive, the family hires land from other people where they plant and share proceeds with the owner of the land.
So when that expected date in April came, Kebikari jumped on to the boda boda and rushed to Kathe medical Centre. The midwife immediately checked her but she was not ready— all false alarm. She waited at the centre as she couldn’t afford to go back home only to return later.
When two days passed, the Clinical Officer and proprietor of the centre Kamugisha Asaph took her to Mbarara University of Science and Technology for a scan.
“They put me on the TV and I saw the baby inside,” Kebikari says with much joy of her first time to see a scan.
They returned to the centre after confirming that the baby was fine but just late. After four days she delivered a bouncing baby boy. She tells of how the nurses and midwives took care of her, showed her what to do, gave her free medicine, food.
A month and a half later the baby doesn’t have a name, she calls him Atuhaire (God gave us) as she waits for her husband to choose a name.
She runs into the house and returns with a beautiful healthy boy wrapped in tattered pieces of cloth. Mother and child are both healthy and fine. For now she wants to join family planning she heard about it during postnatal

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Born October 25 2009 at 7.05am and 7.16a.m after nine gruesome hours of contractions and a hour an a half of labour. You don’t know pain until you go through labour. You don’t know joy until you see the fruits of that pain and the nine long months which was seven and a half for me.

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How Could you?

I used order for a urine when I still taking this drink. That was before it kept me up all night and turned me into a zombie all day. Today I woke up to this Mountain Dew advert. Honest who went and thunk this one up? Its like the guy is throwing up into the bottle. YUCK. Now all you MTN Dew lovers gon be sipping on some guys puck. I wonder if its of boiled eggs mixed with boiled g.nuts. I hear that stinks like KKC sewa.
Baz nabalala enjoy your dew.
And please don’t peddle the reverse psycologicy hogwash mbu then we discuss the add yada yada yada. It doesn’t work all the time. Like in this case. I aint drinking no puck ever

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Older Posts »


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#313 - Shane Scratchin' It

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The audio in this episode gets a little rough, sorry. I tried to edit it all out, but it snuck in a little.

When Hangouts were cooperating, Shane and I talked about the new OneDrive for Business client, and how it sucks a lot less than we expected it to. We talk about some questionable SharePoint training that's coming out, and Microsoft's new Teams product, that recently came out for Office 365. We wrap things up by talking about Tesla, and the new Nintendo retro game console.

Links from this week's show:

And remember you can always join the chatroom live each Monday at 5 PM Eastern Time. Go to the podcast homepage for more information.

For more information about Todd Klindt check out ToddKlindt.com or hit him on Twitter @ToddKlindt

And to hang out more with Shane Young you can visit Bold Zebras or his Twitter @ShanesCows or his videos without Todd's ugly face on YouTube

Download this episode

The Discussion

Add Your 2 Cents


text:
"My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance"–some highlights

Having recently read this excellent book by Emanuel Derman, I would highly recommend it, especially those PhDs and of course, “financial engineers”.

The below are some of the highlights I liked and you may find them interesting. The best, of course, is to read the book itself if you have time. If you are just interested in his academic experience but not so into financial modelling, the first six chapters would be adequate.

We cannot simply look at the world around us and deduce Newton’s Laws or Maxwell’s equations. Data on its own does not speak… His method wasn’t based on observation or empiricism.

Part of the reason for the influx of physicists to other fields was the collapse of their traditional job market: academia.

Quants do not. Like academics trained in research, they prefer to do one thing from beginning to end, deeply and well.

“If you decide you don’t have to get A’s, you can learn an enormous amount in college.”

Finally, fiercely brightest among all the stars in the Columbia firmament was Tsung-Dao Lee, the embodiment and perhaps even the cause of all the good and bad qualities of the department.

In the end, character and chance counted at least as much as talent.

“More is Different!”

At age 16 or 17, I had wanted to be another Einstein; at 21, I would have been happy to be another Feynman; at 24, a future T D. Lee would have sufficed. By 1976, sharing an office with other postdoctoral researchers at Oxford, I realized that I had reached the point where I merely envied the postdoc in the office next door because he had been invited to give a seminar in France.

If you didn’t mind wasting the best years of your youth, graduate student life at Columbia was paradise.

Everything looks simple once you have been taught it.

It was disappointing to learn that even the Nobel Prize and almost eternal fame were not enough to overcome vanity and competition.

It took me seven years in graduate school to get my PhD, an astonishing ten percent of a lifetime.

Most of us grew to hate our stay in the physics department.

When trying to discover something new in any field, one has to spend many years thinking, making false starts, wandering down blind alleys and stumbling into ditches, only to emerge again and keep going. For this, a PhD is a good, if painful, training.

“This coercion had such a deterring effect [upon me] that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year.”

I had imagined postdoctoral life as a sort of priesthood, the blissful apotheosis of a life dedicated to knowledge.

As we got older, we took solace in the stories of people who made great discoveries after the age of thirty.

Postdoc life was an atavism, a relic of a time long past…. Mitchell Feigenbaum, famous for his contributions to chaos theory, described it aptly: “These two-year positions made serious work almost impossible. After one year you had to start worrying about where you could go next”

“publish or perish,”

As an academic, you could work (or not work) wherever you liked. It was freedom, but now, with one year as a postdoc gone and the future looming, it sometimes felt like the freedom to fail.

Such small freedoms, together with the long vacations spent doing physics in interesting places, gave one the sensation of being nonmonetarily rich, and compensated for the low noncorporate salaries.

I was 33 years old and halfway through my third postdoc; where was this peregrination going to end? I concluded I either had to find a position as an assistant professor with a good chance of tenure, or else get out of physics.

If you aren’t Feynman, you’re no one.

My solitary personal life amplified the lonely activities of a theoretical physicist and an academic.

Until I experienced it, I wouldn’t have believed that an investment bank could be more collegial than a college.

“A truth that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent”

If they expelled me from the monastery, I didn’t intend to worship God in the world. I would rather quit religion forever.

Everything is interesting when you examine it closely enough to be able to reconcile its quality and its quantity; every field is fascinating when you have sufficient familiarity with its nuances and begin to try to bridge the gap between its form and its implementation.

“You can do what you want, but you cannot want what you want,”

In my previous life in physics, talent and skill were everything-you felt sorry for people who ceased creating in order to become administrators. But at the Labs, talent seemed to be a commodity, fodder for managers to buy and redistribute. Supervisors were actually forbidden from doing “technical work” on the grounds that competing with their employees in this way was demoralizing.

It was around this time, seeing Ed write and design code, that I realized how many physicists misperceived the nature of jobs and careers in the nonacademic world. Physicists tended to think they were so smart that, once they descended to a job in the “outside world,” their talent would allow them to work in a 9-to-5 mode and still outperform their colleagues. But, in any nonacademic job, there are people for whom that particular work is not a compromise but a passion and dedication, taken seriously. They, rather than the smart but coasting physicists, set the standards of excellence.

the willingness to do so is an essential part of graduate student and postdoc subculture… All of Stan’s hires came from a culture in which you did your own dirty work – you developed your own theory, did your own mathematics, and then wrote your own programs.

Most quants, then and now, came from abroad because immigrants often see the quickest path to success in hands-on work. It’s the next generation that prefers management and business school.

It was a shock to realize that people whose great experience and knowledge straddled both the quantitative and the trading worlds had, despite their sophistication, brought themselves into such a catastrophic state.

Everyone was so determined to not have his or her own time wasted that they collectively wasted everyone else’s.

Most profitable options strategies I have seen have had the same formula: Buy some simple, less attractive product wholesale, use financial engineering to transform it into something more appealing, and then sell it retail.

Calibration is absolutely critical.

So much of financial modeling is an exercise of the imagination.

I believe that you can summarize the essence of quantitative finance on one leg, too: “If you want to know the value of a security, use the price of another security that’s as similar to it as possible. All the rest is modeling. Go and build.

Financial economists grandiosely refer to this law as the law of one price, which states that securities with identical future payouts, no matter how the future turns out, should have identical current prices.

Many finance academics who should know better also seem to imagine it can be done, but they don’t live in the real world.

People learn from past mistakes and go on to make new ones.

In physics you’re playing against God, and He doesn’t change his laws very often. When you’ve checkmated Him, He’ll concede. In finance, you’re playing against God’s creatures, agents who value assets based on their ephemeral opinions. They don’t know when they’ve lost, so they keep trying.

Catastrophes strike when people allow theories to take on a life of their own and hubris evolves into idolatry.

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text:
The Prince with Amnesia by Emily Evans

Despite the fact that the title could be a little more alluring and that the reader has to suspend all reality for this book, (because no way is a hot, seventeen year old, European prince, second in line to his county’s throne, going to go to a public high school in Texas. That’s just stuff of fairy tales, not real life.) (Damn it!) this is a surprisingly good story. In fact, in my opinion, if it had been fleshed out a little, with more character development, more insight into the hero, Kai’s family, and had not left the reader hanging at the end, I would’ve given it 5 stars.

**Spoiler Alert**

Kind of…

The ending is not really a cliff hanger, per se, more like it just ends without any elaboration. We get the bones of the plot but not the meat. We’re given little hints about things, such as Kai’s grandmother’s involvement in the cause of his amnesia but no further explanation. There’s the whole reality show set up that we’re led to believe is to bring attention to the small country, but seems to just be an elaborate cover up for Kai’s… assassination? (It’s not spelled out but that’s what I concluded even though he’d been in Texas for most of it.) And what’s with Violet’s overbearingly strict parents not letting her date all through high school but allowing her to run all over Europe with a group of her classmates, with just her eighteen year old male cousin and one woman teacher as chaperones? See? Just not enough build up and transition from one plot point to the next.

I know it sounds like I didn’t like, The Prince with Amnesia, on the contrary, I liked it a lot. I think that’s why I’m leaving such a critical sounding review. I’ve read other books by Emily Evans and I know this one could’ve been something great.

Best wishes for great books,

The Bastard (The Baddest Boys in History #1) by Inez Kelley

History teaches us that some men are just plain evil. Stalin, Genghis Khan, Hitler, Vlad the Impaler… All have reputations for being terribly evil by torturing and killing many, many people but to some, these men were heroes.

To his countrymen, Vlad Dracul (No ‘A’. It was later added by Bram Stoker) was a great leader who warned his enemies away by impaling their comrades and putting them on display. To this day, Romanians will tell you that he was not evil.

Most of the world knows Hitler was a sadistic psychopath who killed people simply for the color of their hair, in some cases. To the Nazi’s, Hitler was a man of vision who could take the whole world to a new level.

That said, it seems it’s all in the way you look at it, your perspective, which side you’re on, or what version of the story you’ve heard.

In Inez Kelley’s, The Bastard, the Creator of All, has declared war on evil that has lasted centuries. In present time, the remaining warriors serving on earth, are the “bravest and the best” but, according to History’s point of view, are some of the meanest, cruelest men in all of history. These men are loyal to only one, besides each other, the angel that acts as their leader, the archangel, Josiel, or Sela, as she is known, the head of the Forsaken. The Forsaken is one half of the Creator’s army. They fight the good fight, on Earth, protecting the souls of humans from eternal suffering. The other half of the Creator’s army consists of the Righteous, angel warriors who protect the Heavens, led by the archangel, Michael, himself.

In the beginning of the book, the reader has no clue as to what’s going on. All we know is that a woman is attacked by paranormal beings and is then saved by paranormal beings. There’s talk of soul dust and tattoos that become weapons and, before you know it, you’re sucked in and, as the information is given, you are more and more intrigued. Pretty soon, you wish you could read faster so you can find out all the good stuff but, you also wish the book would last forever because it’s so dang good!

This story is so engrossing and full of information that, someone looking for a light read should save this one for a later date. Once you get sucked in, there’s no getting out until the end. Your emotions will be all over the place as you read. You’ll find yourself cheering for the heroine, Lacey, when she doesn’t give up despite all odds being against her. You’ll sigh dreamily over how sweet Erik is to her and how good they are together. You’ll fall in love with the warriors, and will be delighted by their personalities and camaraderie but shocked by what you find out about them. You’ll also be happy and mad, by turns, and, not giving anything away, wonder what the heck Ms. Kelley did that for. (You’ll have to read it to find out!) It’s like an on-going roller coaster of emotion, with occasional pauses for absorbing bits of history and celestial knowledge.

The best part, besides the very satisfying ending? The warriors are all totally drool-worthy and make great romantic hero material. With, The Bastard, being the first book in the series, I can only patiently wait (NOT!) and wonder excitedly, who the next book will be about.

Buy from Amazon

‘Enjoying the Chase’ by Kirsty Moseley

Click photo for Amazon link
 First, let me say that I love Kirsty Moseley’s stories. This is the third one I’ve read, and I’ve enjoyed them all, very much. Her characters have a lot of depth with realistic personalities and I found myself really falling in love with them. I’d even go so far as to say, that the main male character, Nate Peters, is my new favorite male character! He’s not only extremely masculine and good-looking but he’s romantic, thoughtful, affectionate, loyal, honorable and has a terrific sense of humor! I could go on but let’s just say that he’s pretty much perfect, and leave it at that.
The plot kept my attention, was very believable and put me through a lot of different emotions. I found myself saying, ‘Just one more chapter’ a lot, and was a bit sad when it ended. The ending is a very satisfying, happily ever after, though, and there’s even a brief glimpse into the future, which I love!
Now comes the hard part, the things I didn’t love….
It’s very apparent that Ms. Moseley doesn’t use a professional editor, if one at all. There are so many errors that I was taken out of the story several times, which I hate. I read as an escape and I don’t want to be reminded that it’s just a story by grammatical errors and misplaced words. Unfortunately, this book is riddled with them, and it’s a shame because it’s really a wonderful story. It’s also apparent that Ms. Moseley is not from the U.S., where the story takes place. This isn’t as big a problem for me as it was in the first book in this series but it can be distracting. If you can overlook the errors and misplaced words, I think you’ll truly enjoy this story.
I gave it 4 stars despite the errors because I enjoyed it that much. I truly hope that Kirsty Moseley finds a good editor, preferably from the USA, because she’s doing herself and her readers, a big disservice by not using one. Once she does, I think her story-telling talent will take her far as an author. I’m looking forward to reading more from her.
Happy Reading!

Lily Harlem: Em Petrova is here with some fun, sex facts…

Em Petrova is here!

Please welcome the very lovely Em Petrova to my blog today. She’s going to fill us in on some fun sex facts, take it away, Em…

Lily Harlem: Em Petrova is here!.

Hi Lily,

Since I write erotic romance, sex is one of the most important parts of my writing. I love hunting down new information about the topic. Recently I ran across some fun facts and thought I’d share.

1.The vibrator was invented in the 19th century as a medical treatment for female “hysteria”. I know I’d get hysterical if I had to be as stuffy and pent-up as women of those times too! There’s a new movie about this exact theme. Take a look at this Youtube trailer

2.Anyone have a “Rabbit”? Ever wonder why there’s a cute smiley face on the tip? It’s apparently to make the Japanese population feel better about the production and buying of this orgasm-inducer. Their customs don’t take kindly to devices that resemble phalluses, so this was their solution. ☺

3.Fun Fact—semen contains zinc and calcium. Both prevent tooth decay!

4.The average size of a penis is 5 inches and 3 inches flaccid. Here’s an amazing map broken up by region and cock size:
Now I know some of you will be emigrating!

5.If you hate working out, just hop into bed! Active sex burns 200 calories in just 30 minutes! Now why isn’t there an infomercial on it…?

Hope you’ve enjoyed my fun post! And don’t forget to visit my website  for a peek at my weekly obsessions from sexy men to amazing shoes!

Thanks for reading, and thank you to Lily for hosting me.

Em Petrova
~where words mean so much more~

It’s been a delight having you swing by Em, and readers, don’t miss her fabulous new release… Phew, it’s getting hot in here!!

Charli’s review of Antichrist 16: The Becoming

Available at Amazon:

It’s taken me a while to figure out what to write in the review for this story. Not because it was bad, on the contrary, because it was so good! I wanted to be able to do it justice. It’s a very original plot, at least one I’ve never run across before, and I really enjoyed it from the first page.

The Antichrist, Nathan, is one of those characters that you feel you actually know. He’s a typical teen that has the uncanny ability to charm his way out of trouble, most of the time. He enjoys hanging with his close friends, he routinely gets picked on by bullies, he gets along pretty well with the teachers at his school, and he has a pretty good relationship with his family. The only thing in his life that causes him pause, besides the bullies, is that he’s adopted and occasionally mentions wondering about his real parents. He takes it all in stride, though, and doesn’t feel as though his life is lacking in any way. For the most part, he appears to be well-adjusted with a great, snarky sense of humor.

Feeling this way about Nathan, I had a problem knowing he was the Antichrist in the story. I wondered how the heck he could be something evil when he seemed to be so sweet. As the story progresses, the author explains their version of the Antichrist as not being evil so much, as being the Uniter of the survivors after the Apocalypse. This put a totally unique spin on the concept of the Antichrist for me. Now, I’m not saying there’s not some badness going on there but I don’t know that evil is the word I’d use to describe it.

I’m not one to include spoilers in my reviews, so I’ll just say that the journey from the explanation of Nathan being the Antichrist, and the end of the book, is one hell of a ride. There were so many twists and turns I stopped trying to anticipate where the story was going, and just enjoyed it. It was definitely worth the ride! I read the last page with some disappointment not knowing when the next installment was due to be released. I sure hope it’s soon!

Goodreads | Charli Denae Mercer’s review of Antichrist 16: The Becoming.

I did not see that coming… at all!

I’m feeling very mixed about this story. It’s really long and kind of flops back and forth quite a bit. Just when you think it’s going to wrap up, some other epic thing happens and it keeps going. Now, this is not really a bad thing, it’s just that there were a few places where I questioned what was happening and was almost getting mad at the characters and thinking, ‘Enough already!’ When I got to the end, which knocked me for a loop as I did not see it coming, at all, the aforementioned complaints became completely clear. I discovered the reason that the plot seemed to go back and forth so much. I also was right to question what was going on. I just didn’t know it at the time.

That being said, I seriously could not put this book down. It kept me intrigued and involved throughout. The main heroine, Abby, brings the reader over to her side pretty quickly. After a terrible tragedy that crushes her spirit, her family is convinced that she’s cracked mentally. She labors to convince them that she’s not crazy through the entire story and, when she finally has evidence that she’s telling the truth, the entire thing blows up in her, and our, face. I’m not going to give the ending away but, let me just say that, if you see it coming, you’re a lot smarter than I am, because it caught me entirely unaware! I’m usually pretty good at figuring out what’s going to happen in movies and books, too, but not this time. As I read the last word, I just kind of sat there for a minute to let it digest before turning my Kindle off. It was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. Everything was suddenly clear! I think I actually said, “Wow” out loud. LOL!!

This is where my feelings are mixed. Though I obviously enjoyed the story, a part of me was a little disappointed at the ending but, another part of me was awed that the author had the guts to end it the way that she did.

If you like paranormal stories that include angels and demons, you’ll love this story. If you like dramatic stories that involve heroines with personal dilemmas to solve, you’ll love this story. If you like stories with a ‘I totally did not see that coming’ ending, you’ll definitely love this story. I received this story in exchange for an honest review, and I honestly can say that I would spend the money on it, to read it again.

Charli Denae’s Reviews > ‘Feyland: The Dark Realm’ by Anthea Sharp

       Charli Denae Mercer‘s review

Sep 20, 2012
5 of 5 stars false
I was sent a digital download of ‘Feyland: The Dark Realm’ by the author, Anthea Sharp, in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d read the synopsis and thought it sounded interesting but really, hadn’t the ‘teenagers-being-sucked-into-a-computer-game’ plot been done before? What really intrigued me, though, was the mention of the computer game being ‘a gateway to the dangerous Realm of the Faerie’. I love fairy tales, especially retold tales, so I decided to go in with an open mind. I try to always be open-minded and positive about things. I don’t want to jump to conclusions or pass judgement before I truly understand what’s going on. I’ve been burned before when I’ve done that and, even though I was pretty sure I knew what to expect, I still wanted to give the book a fair try. What I really didn’t expect, was to be actually drawn into the game myself! All I can say is, ‘Wow’!
The description of Feyland and it’s characters is, in itself, a great reason to read this book. The writing is like prose only… not so much. It’s hard to explain but you actually feel the words. I mean, ‘Sparkling like moonlight on frost’… ? Yep. Can’t you picture it… almost feel the chill? Or how about, ‘It was a cobweb whisper through his mind’? I know, right? You can actually hear a faint whisper floating through your head but then, you’re not quite sure if you really heard anything, or not. The whole book is like that. It’s wonderful! Even if you don’t have a very creative imagination, you’ll find yourself being able to see every level of Feyland in your mind.The Realm character descriptions are equally as magical. You’ll find yourself gasping at how wickedly beautiful the Dark Queen is, or wrinkling your nose at how bad the goblins smell. Your heart will quicken when there’s danger and you’ll catch your breath once you’re safe. You’ll recall fairy tales you saw or read as a child in every character you meet but they’ll seem totally unique, at the same time.

The human, or real world, is a drastic contrast in itself, as well as to Feyland. Everything is either decrepit and precarious, or impeccable and unassailable, almost like a sterile prison. In fact, the whole story seems to be a contradiction of itself as the two worlds fight against each other. As they start to bleed into one another, you begin to question where one world ends, and the other begins.

The mortal characters are pretty cool, too. Jennet, the heroine, has an endearing vulnerability that she continually pushes through to draw on her inner strength. As she travels through Feyland, she draws on this strength, at first, to save herself but eventually, to save those she loves, as well as all of mankind. Tam, the hero, is less than poor and, at first, seems kind of cold and aloof. He assumes that Jennet is judging him and works to appear indifferent. You find out why as his home life is revealed but you wonder how he’ll be able to help her with so much already on his plate. It’s soon apparent that there’s much more to Tam than you first assume. He’s a champion ‘Simmer’ (simulation computer game player), very responsible, and loyal to the bone. I’m convinced he’s among the very best Young Adult heroes out there.

The secondary characters aren’t described in much detail but, miraculously, you tend to get a pretty good picture of them through various situations and conversations. Some are detrimental to the plot, and some are just there to move the story along but the author gives you the sense that all of the characters are just as important as any of the others. There’s a definite ending to the story but, at the same time, there’s hope that the story will continue because it’s just that good. These briefly mentioned characters could very well play a larger role in Tam and Jennet’s future but, if they don’t, you feel as though you got to know them anyway.

I really, really enjoyed this book. This is one of those books where the words just flow so smoothly that you lose track of time. It’s almost like you’re actually lost in the play of a game and can’t believe what time it is when you finally look up. Books like that don’t come along all that often but when they do, you almost mourn them when you’re through. You miss the characters and actually yearn to read it again just so you can reconnect with them. Give this series a try, I’m convinced you won’t be sorry. You may even share a love/hate relationship with me once you’re done, sad that it’s already over.

Goodreads | Charli Denae Mercer’s review of Feyland: The Dark Realm

(The 2nd book in the Trilogy, ‘Feyland: The Bright Court’, is out now, with the 3rd to be released this fall, 2012.)


text:
Meeting Marilee, Ambassador of World Vision

A year ago, I had the honor of meeting Marilee Pierce Dunker. She’s the daughter of Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision. Yes, World Vision, that international giant of an NGO well known for its child sponsorship program, 30-Hour Famine camps, and countless community development projects.

A public entity like World Vision is no stranger to criticism and controversy. Yes, there may be flaws. But one cannot deny their good work in transforming lives and livelihoods over the decades.

Marilee is such an inspiring woman! The encounter left an indelible mark on me and my colleague. You’ll see why in this reprint of the article published in mid 2015.

It was a 30-hour journey across the world in a less-than-comfortable coach seat. To while away the time, Marilee Pierce Dunker conversed with the gentleman next to her. Hours into the flight, Dunker confessed that her father, Bob Pierce, was the founder of World Vision. The man turned, “Your father founded this multi-billion dollar organisation? Why are you sitting back here with me?!”

She laughed, “Because I’m with World Vision! This is where we sit!”

Marilee Pierce Dunker’s role as ambassador of World Vision never quite leaves her. Whether she’s on stage in front of an audience, or in a plane playing Twenty Questions with a stranger, she is a flag bearer of World Vision – an appointment she embraces wholeheartedly.

Marilee Pierce-Dunker

Headshot of Marilee Pierce-Dunker.

But this was not realised for a long time, in spite of the unique fact that both she and the charity  were ‘born’ the same year.

“I always compared it to being siblings,” she says. “We grew up and went our separate ways, and once in a while we’d reconnect. [My husband and I] of course sponsored children, but never expected the circle to come back.”

The circle did return at World Vision’s 50th anniversary celebration, where she watched a video that followed World Vision throughout the years.

“Honestly, that was the first time in 35 years that I really saw what World Vision was doing. I had followed them but I did not understand what God had done in this ministry until this video. And it really overwhelmed me. Then the Lord just spoke to my heart and said, ‘Why aren’t you here?’”

At that time, Dunker was an ‘empty-nester’ searching for her next season of life. Realising that this was God’s call and with her husband’s agreement, she wrote to the President of World Vision, Richard Stearns, offering to pour coffee and answer phones.

The Visionary Storyteller

Fifteen years on, Dunker has travelled to some 40 countries visiting the ‘places of deepest poverty’ and spoken at countless events. Because of the scope and scale of the work across 100 countries, often there is little understanding of World Vision’s impact on poverty. As ambassador, Dunker helps give insight into that, particularly through stories of personal encounters.

“There’re a lot of things that we have to hear with our hearts, not just with our minds, and stories do that,” she says. “You tell me that 27,000 die every day from preventable diseases, that half the world’s population is in poverty – that’s too big for me. I don’t get that. But you tell me of a grandmother in Ethiopia who’s starving, holding her dying grandchild in her arms, looking at you and saying, ‘Can you help me?’ Then I suddenly understand. Stories are a way of taking universal truths and making them personal.”

Dunker has a way of transporting one to the scene, witnessing for oneself both the destitution before, and hope and joy after. Her deeply-rooted compassion is intensely evident in the inflections of her voice, and there is barely a dry eye in the room whenever she speaks. Yet, her magnetism is not because she’s a good storyteller. It is because her belief in the work is equal to her compassion. Having grown up with the beginnings of World Vision, and then seeing it with new eyes, she can recognise the totality of what the work was, should be, and is. There is no lip service here.

She states, “St Francis of Assisi said, ‘Preach the word and share the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.’ At World Vision, you have people who believe that we live out the gospel by giving love first, unconditionally. John 3:16 says, ‘God so loved the world that he gave.’ God gave first, therefore World Vision gives first. We demonstrate the love of God; He will do the work in people’s hearts. We can’t transform anyone, but we can show what a transformed life looks like. And of course, whenever it’s appropriate and welcome, we share the gospel wholeheartedly.”

Keeper of Accountability

As well-known as World Vision is (it is the largest NGO in the world, Christian or otherwise), criticism is unavoidable, such as questions on the use of child sponsorship funds. To the pointing fingers, Dunker is almost fiercely protective – not because it’s ‘family business’, but because she knows firsthand the good work done.

“We’ve been doing it for 65 years. We’ve learned the hard lessons, and have become experts at what we do. The truth of it is many people come to World Vision, including governments and other NGOs. They ask, ‘How do we do this?’ because we’re usually the first ones in.”

She continues, “You will always find something to point to and say, ‘That’s not perfect.’ I’m not going to say World Vision does everything perfectly, because that would not be true. But we do everything with all of our hearts. My dad used to say, ‘If you’re going to do something in Jesus’ name, you do it better than anyone else, because you’re representing the Kingdom of God.’”

World Vision has a policy that overheads should cost no more than 20% of each sponsored dollar. Thus at least 80% is guaranteed to go directly to work on the ground. Dunker further explains that the money invested into a child is not for the moment, but for life.

“It’s a full development strategy that has to do with five fingers – water, food security, healthcare, education and micro-enterprise. All of that is around the palm – the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sponsorship is as deep as it can go. The investment that we’re making is extreme.”

Investing in the wellbeing of children has implications for communities, too. Dunker tells of a village in India where 80% of the children were bonded into labour seven days a week, an enslavement that would last their entire lives. Upon learning of this, World Vision offered to buy all the children out of labour (USD 25 per child) as well as equip the villagers for better and sustainable standards of living.

Some eight years later, Dunker visited the village and found all the children in school, and mothers creating co-ops and doing businesses together. The villagers were immensely grateful, and one woman came to her saying, “Before World Vision came, our children were not the only ones in slavery. We were enslaved to fear and hopelessness, alone in the darkness. But then World Vision came and brought the light. Now I have friends, a business, a life. I’m happy and so are my children. None of this would have happened if it had not been for World Vision.”

Sometimes, community transformation can go as far as policy change. It took World Vision 12 years of lobbying and of educating villagers, but Kenya now has a law against female genital mutilation.

“It still happens in remote places,” Dunker says. “It’s a cultural thing and it takes time to change people’s minds. But it will change and is changing. So what World Vision does is hugely significant on many levels.”

Inheritor of a Legacy

Dunker is married to Bob Dunker, a former pastor who went into Christian radio; and has two daughters and three grandchildren. And though she misses her family, whom she calls, “The most important part of my life,” she soldiers on in advocacy, especially for women and children.

“What else would I do? I love the fact that God allows me to be useful. I remember telling the Lord, “Lord, I’m just too old for this.” He spoke so clearly back, ‘No. You’re finally old enough.’”

It is said that her father Bob Pierce functioned “from a broken heart”, and Dunker discovered that she’s more like her father than realised. With that, Dunker recognises the other job on her plate – nurturing the legacy of her father.

“My heart right now is to keep our staff encouraged to keep their eyes on Jesus, and to keep doing what we’re doing for the right reason. And to let them know how much they’re appreciated. When you are pouring out everything you have, you need to know that God’s not the only one who notices.

“I encourage our staff and the next generation of leaders in the body of Christ to make sure that this work continues. I’m so grateful for them. The day will come when I’ll wear out, but not yet. This is life-giving for me. It’s life-giving to give to other people. So I love it.”

Originally published in Asian Beacon: Apr-May 2015 (Volume 47:2, pp. 6-7). Reprinted with permission.

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Remembering Katiee Blink

I was on a mini-holiday at Sunset Beach last weekend when Miss Katiee Blink passed away. Passed on I should say; dead is too final sounding. So, yes, it was just yesterday night when I buried her outside my place. I’m still feeling somewhat guilty for leaving her on Friday, even though I know there wouldn’t have been much more that I could have done for her.

As I was packing my bags early on Friday morning, and was making sure Katiee had enough food and water and double checked the timers on the heating apparatus (or “apparati”)… I noticed that Katiee’s eyes looked a bit sunken and weak. My mood quickly switched to grave concern when she threw up yesterdays meal. I took a medicine dropper to her mouth and squeezed off a few drops of water into her mouth (to make sure she stayed hydrated).

I got her in late February and lost her just the day before yesterday [May 17th]. She grew quickly, as many of my previous lizards had, but Katiee had an overwhelming sense of independence. She was always about exploring (when she noticed that my watchful eye had wondered), and of trying to climb the sliding door (in what seemed as an attempt to see the bird feeder and the outside-goings-on a bit better). She loved her crickets and dandelions and held a growing disdain for healthy veggies.

The cause is still quite bewildering. The closest thing that I can come up with is that the crickets that I gave her the day before I started off on the trip had something wrong with them. She was probably just too young and small to deal with a stomach bug of that magnitude. Had I been there to nurse her, would have probably just prolonged her pain. At least that is what I’ve been saying to myself. Who knows if that is true.

Usually I don’t remember my dreams, but I woke up Sunday morning remembering. I remembered Katiee as I was cradling her in my left hand. I tried to reposition her in my palm with my right hand and (like she was accustomed to doing) lept from my hand onto my shirt. Katiee was never as “affectionate” as my other lizards. But in this particular instance, she climbed up to the side of my neck and began to affectionately “nuzzle” (as a dog or cat would scrap their head or body against a leg). The dream produced an instant and beaming smile across my face,… and might have been Katiee’s way of saying thank you and goodbye. *tear*

Love you Katiee.

~ by chencenter on May 19, 2008.

4 Responses to “Remembering Katiee Blink”

  1. I am so sorry, Michael. 😦

  2. Michael, I am so sorry…

    Katiee is in a good place though, and i’m 100% sure she is happy that in her lifetime, she had someone as loving as you to take care of her and love her.

    I completely understand how you feel- last year around this time I lost my dog Maddy, who me and Molly had had for around 11 years. It was heartbreaking, and I still miss her. I’m grateful though for all that she had done for me in my lifetime- she was my “protector” and my friend.
    Hey, if you need to talk to anyone, you know i’m here for you always 🙂

  3. Sorry mate,
    such a short and sweet relationship you had.

    Re-read your original post and remember your first encounter and always feel good about the care you gave her. 🙂

  4. Well babe, at least katie is in lizard heaven! Ill miss her too. She was very much so an entertaining lizard ill tell you that! From her flips to her hangings katie has provided lots fun into our lives. I know you love her very much but there wasnt much you could have done. I think it was the cricket’s fault! Even though the world might have doubted it, she loved you too!

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6 point weekend!

Hello everyone and welcome to another Belfast Giants/hockey post. This weekend was to be a long one for the Giants with two home games on Friday and Saturday against the current top two teams in the league and an away game on Sunday against Edinburgh for the Challenge Cup.

Firstly, Friday brought Fife Flyers. They were not to be seen as an easy competitor, they have made their way to second place in the league. With Giants currently trying to get the points to catch up with the top team, Cardiff Devils, both these games were essential and on home ice, a good opportunity to take the four points.

Almost 5 minutes into the first period (4:44), Blair Riley opened the scoring to bring the Giants 1-0 up. This was followed at 16:24 by Colin Shields to give the Giants a 2-0 lead going in to the second period. 2-0 leads have been known to be the most dangerous leads in hockey, a lot of them being turned around easily when a team thinks they’re a bit safer.

The second period didn’t really bring much, Flyers were better defensively and shut the Giants out a bit more.

The third period brought two more goals, one at 4:11 from Brandon Benedict, an absolute beauty of a goal whilst we were short handed (meaning we had 4 guys whilst Flyers had 5, not counting the netminders). At 8 minutes 29 seconds, Ryan Martinelli scored to bring the Giants 4-0 up which would be the last goal of the game, bringing it to an awesome 4-0 defeat from the Giants and a shut-out for out netminder Stephen Murphy.

Around 15 minutes in to the third period, Moyer of the Flyers threw a pretty dirty check at Adam Keefe. This didn’t sit well with Keefe who tried to fight, but Moyer was having none of it. This resulted in both Moyer and Keefe being ejected from the game.

Blair Riley got man of the match and I think he deserved it, he played brilliantly. Stephen Murphy could have gotten it just as easily. Honestly, it was a hard game to call with most of the players really throwing in a team effort.

Murphy played absolutely phenomenally, and I found all the players seemed to bring it back to basics. Their passes were working, they were gelling and the attitude just seemed so much better. It gave me a lot more confidence going in to the Cardiff game on Saturday which was to be our biggest challenge so far.

Saturday brought the Cardiff Devils, a team who are currently first in the league standings. The Giants have met them twice so far and unfortunately come out the bottom team both times. With the momentum from a 4-0 win on Friday, the Giants were entering on good energy. However, the Devils hadn’t played the night before and had fresh legs, whereas we were more tired.

Giants opened the scoring in the first period at 13:26 with a goal from Chris Higgins, first thought to be from Derrick Walser. This brought some more momentum to the game and led to a second goal in the second period from Walser at 7:30. This was the result of a 1 on 1 breakaway and was an absolutely fantastic goal from the player coach.

Devils pulled it back after a goal at 14:31 and another again at 17:59 after taking a bit of energy from their first goal. The second period ended with the Giants and the Devils level at 2-2 making the 3rd period crucial for both teams.

Just 32 seconds into the third period, an amazing shot from Walser gave the Giants a 3-2 lead. I honestly had to rewatch this one on highlights as it was so fast I nearly missed it! A lot of the third period was then the Giants trying to protect their one goal lead. Devils pulled their netminder with around 1 minutes (I think) to go and gained a 6th player. This was the longest and most nervewracking minute of my life with a few quite close calls! The buzzer went and the Giants took their 3-2 victory and another two points. A vital two points leaving 6 points between us and the Devils with two games in hand on them.

Man of the match was given (very deservingly) to Derrick Walser. He played a phenomenal game and definitely helped the Giants into their victory against the Devils. Again, I really think this was a team effort and another phenomenal game from Murphy.

Sunday was a Challenge Cup game against Edinburgh Capitals. With the Giants already at the top of their Challenge Cup group, it was somewhat a ‘dead rubber’ game, meaning much more for Capitals than it did for us. Andrew Dickson started in net, getting his first start of the season so far and allowing Murphy a well earned break after an absolute cracker of a weekend from him. The Giants would be understandably tired after playing 3 games in as many days and travelling to Edinburgh, but that wasn’t to take their energy.

I wasn’t at this game so I can’t comment on the play, but the Giants took an early lead at 2:04 from David Rutherford, closely followed by Capitals 16 seconds later to equalise. Michael Quesnele scored again to give the giants a 2-1 lead at 18:33 ending the first period. The second period opened again just 2 mins 36seconds in with a goal from Steve Saviano. The Giants took several penalties it seems this period, and it lead to a powerplay goal from the Capitals at 5 minutes in. James Desmarais reinstated the two goal lead at 8:09 into the second period.

It was Desmarais again in the third period who opened the scoring at 4:28 and Boxill who followed up at 12:05 to bring the Giants to a 6-2 lead and a win for Andrew Dickson, his first time appearing in the net for Giants this season.

From what I can see result wise, the Giants played amazingly for a team that has played 180 minutes of hockey over the weekend. An absolute amazing weekend to bring 6 points out of a possible 6! 4 points in the league and 2 points in the challenge cup.

As far as I’m aware Desmaris took man of the match for Sunday nights game, getting two goals and an assist, well deserved.

Absolutely fantastic weekend from the boys in teal, couldn’t have asked for more. We’ve really seen the potential in this team! There’s no home games now until 10th December due to some other events happening in the Odyssey, but the Giants will be on the road, their next game on Saturday against Dundee. The weekend gave us 13 goals and we conceded 4, not a bad result at all.

That’s it from me guys, any questions give me a buzz!

Cheryl xx

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McGraw Hill: Residential Construction in Chicago Up 65% in August

by Peter Thomas Ricci

Construction in the Windy City remains historically low, but it’s made quite a bit of progress thus far in 2013.

First, the bad news – residential construction in Chicagoland remains historically low, and is among the lowest of all major metropolitan housing markets.

Now, the good news – at the same time, residential building has risen 65 percent in the last year, and is up a robust 48 percent year-to-date, according to the latest numbers from McGraw Hill Construction.

How does Chicago compare with the rest of the pack? See our graphic below to find out.


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Martin Lata

The course was great. Very informative. Instructor did an excellent job explaining. He covered a lot of material not even one second was wasted. I wish there were more teachers and instructors like James Watts, who is very passionate about what his doing. I strongly recommend taking this course with James Watts. Thank you, Martin L


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Much of the research I related to the last brief (thinking ‘outside the box’, left/right brain psychology etc.) I believe is just as important here. If anything this brief is again (so far anyway) more about sideways thinking, taking a holistic view and looking at the journey of design as spoken about in the book A Smile in the Mind:

If designers want to say ‘witch’, they may show a black cat. The audience has to create the association the other way round – see the black cat and immediately think ‘witch’. Designers need to check that the link ‘back’ is as obvious as the link ‘out’. For example, ‘witch’ suggests ‘broomstick’, but ‘broomstick’ may suggest Cinderella, ‘sweep clean’ or even ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ (as in Disney’s Fantasia).

Obiously there is a lot more here relating to graphic communication/message, concepts and quick thinking.

About this entry


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Amelia’s holiday Part 1: LA

It’s Amelia here.

Today we are on our second day in LA. We are currently sitting in our hotel room regrouping from our adventures during the day, but back to that later.

We first boarded a plane to Auckland and during that flight I spent the majority of the time staring out the window. We were delayed slightly and after we landed in Auckland they had to hold the plane to LA as a lot of passengers on our flight were transferring to the LA flight. The plane we were on was quite large and held a large amount of passengers. There were screenss to watch movies & TV on which were well used b myself. I watched Malifecent, Divergent, and Percy Jackson and the lightening theif, which were all great. I got a fairly good amount of sleep on that flight, although it was rater broken sleep. The flight took roughly 11 hours and we landed in LA at about 7:30 NZ time/ 12:30 LA time. We took a while to get out of the airport and got to our hotel a few hours later.

After we had unpacked we went across the street to a cafe where we had late lunch/early dinner and afterwards had icecreams. I had this absolutely delicious Oreo thing and I am rather jealous that we don’t have then in NZ. We all slept very well after our tiring day of flights and such, my mum did most of all.

In the morning we got up and went to the same cafe for breakfast. I had some chocolate chip pancakes that were scrumptious. After breakfast we set off for Disney Land, conviniently located just across the street fr our accomodation. We first went up Tarzan’s Treehouse in Adventureland. It was quite cool to go around it like that, although I got rather startled by a model tiger that I wasn’t really expecting. We then walked further through Adventureland and went on a Pirates Of The Carribean boat thingy (I forgot the name :/ ). I spent the majority of the ride with my eyes closed even though it wasn’t a particularly scary ride because of my automatonophobia (Fear of Mannequins). Further on in Adventureland I got my picture taken with Tigger and Winnie the Pooh ^-^ which sadly I can’t put up due to technical difficulties *sighs*. In Tommorowland I bout some Minnie Mouse ears out of the huge variety they sold. We wandered around the other lands and had some food along the way then left the park for a few hours as we were actually pretty tired from walking around in the heat all day. I still cannot fathom how it’s always so warm here, I think these people are wizards O.O .

After a nice long swim and some sitting around in our hotel room we went back in for the parade at 7. We first had dinner at a place just outside Frontierland which was very filling. We sat along the main street for the parade and had to get there about half an hour earlier to secure a place to watch. By the time the first float came out the footpaths were chock full of people, but the crowd was worth it for the awesome parade. After the parade we all had icecreams and walked back to the hotel.

Overall, my thoughts on LA are:

  • It’s so big!
  • It’s so warm!
  • It’s so loud!

That’s it for now guys, i’ll hopefully be back to blog tomorrow, although that may change.

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49 Christmas Shopping, Online Safety and Hot Toys

From Black Friday 2010: While you’re shopping, or getting ready to, check out the trends for 2010, and get some advice about how to be safe online this season. Lots happening on our Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter.com/XmasStocking. Email TopElf at MyChristmasStocking.NET. And let us know what your deepest wish for Christmas is at MyChristmasStocking.net. Just click the Call Me button and enter your phone number. My voicemail will call you for free.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Hip Hop Christmas” by Mark Mangold, Lyza Wilson and Elijah K.

Background music:

“We Wish You a Merry Synthmas” by the Genius Johnnies (from MacJams.com)

“Iron Horse” by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)

“Very Christmasy” by DJplaneten from “Jul PÃ¥ Techno – 9 Swedish Christmas Anthems”
(Clubstream Mix)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

“Jingle Bells” by Corky Hale from “Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas”
(LML Music)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

More information:

Suggestions on where to shop online.

Gallup‘s survey on 2010 shoppers.

The 12 Scams of Christmas. Look out!

Here’s more on the hot toys for 2010.


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Posts Tagged ‘Random Thoughts on Life’

Last year, for those dance friends who may have stumbled on my blog, you may recall I had many a ‘Yale Story’. I’m talking about The Yale, a blues bar where a group of us have danced for the last ~18 months on Monday nights. For much of last year I had many ‘Yale Stories’, and it got to the point where people thought I should keep a list. I didn’t. Though I remember some of the best.

What are ‘Yale Stories’? Yale Stories are those stories that happen when a drunk (or not so drunk) guy hits on a woman.  Usually I’m there to dance, so I’m not drinking heavily.  Needless to say their attempts are unsuccessful, I get a free glass of wine. On occasion.  100% unsuccessful on the poor drunken bar guy though. Mostly it was funny, and I have a lot of guy friends who would protect me — sometime too much! 😀

Anyhow, last December certain events became stressful in my life. I was having a conversation last week that made me realize that there is a correlation between that stress and the lack of ‘Yale Stories’.  I was asked the question why should those events and that stress suddenly change this.  I think I retreated back into some ‘shell of protection’. And it’s permeated all areas of my life. Or most anyhow…

Tonight at The Yale, I had a ‘Yale Story’. Nothing particularly special, certainly doesn’t top my best ever yale story, but it was a Yale Story. An older man — old enough to be my father — came up to me and said… “Hi… Wow… You’re Beautiful…” then stood about 6 feet away from me. Waiting. A dance friend rescued me.

So this intentional journey of healing, personal growth, and simply ‘dealing’ with those issues that we all have to deal with, that I’m currently on seems to be taking me somewhere. I’m projecting more self confidence perhaps? I got a Yale Story back. And that’s a good thing.

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Portuguese Sea, a sea of accounting.

Lusophone memories lie embedded across the Malabar Coast

where the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean meet the Tagus River

at estuaries, around archipelagoes, at the confluence of the River Periyar.

Here, one walks the Mar Portugues in all its violent ruin

forgotten but not disappeared

enmeshed in the red clay and forbidding stones

of Castello construction at Kannur, Cochin, Kollam, Cranganore

At Fort Aguado, Goa, the Oublie stands a dark reminder

of a sea of accounting