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Over 147 Years of Service to the Furniture Industry

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Take Your Retail Show On The Road

Furniture World Magazine
Volume 147 NO.1 January/February

No doubt you have thought about doing or have done a home show, health expo or fair event outside of your store over the years.

Let’s discuss the kinds of show opportunities out there for retailers and a barometer that I have developed, sadly the hard way, over the years to best evaluate which ones to participate in.
Show promoters use the same playbook as advertisers do. Big broad sweeping generalities about their attendees that ultimately boils down to this one closing argument - you will be in front of thousands of prospects who will love what your business does. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

I have found the best success with smaller, more hyper-focused shows. Case in point, in late October, Gardner’s Mattress & More exhibited at a natural living expo. Ben, my business partner, staffed this event among other exhibitors, mostly healers, shamans and peddlers of various natural pills and potions.
With a total cost for two days of event participation coming in at $900, we generated $17,500 in direct sales by the following Tuesday. That is almost a 20:1 ROI on gross sales and a 12:1 ROI on profit dollars. This show was a home run!

Compare this result to a home show across the street from our store at the Park City Mall. This show yielded few positive conversations and no direct sales. We participated, primarily to test our Fill Station Pillow Kiosk offers and “optics” which I will cover below.

The biggest thing we confirmed from the home show experience was, to never do a generic, “for the masses” event. The natural living show in contrast was a great example of a perfect market – message - media match. Others that fall into this perfect match are senior expos and other wellness and lifestyle shows.

Here are three big things to consider when you are setting up your own booth at an event.

The Optics

Think of your booth much like you would a billboard on a highway. Your booth or message needs to be seen and understood in about three seconds. It’s not that everyone is speed walking, but they are on a mission. If your message doesn’t immediately attract their eye and raise interest, another exhibitor will steal their attention.

At the generic home show we competed for the attention of every home owner prospect with the window and door company across the aisle from us. Every single person that walked by was asked quickly and with intent

  • “Are you a homeowner?
  • "How old are your windows?”

We had two distinct optics happening in our booth. The first was our Fill Station Pillow Making machine. The second was a split king memory foam mattress set.
Any time that we weren’t speaking with a prospect, we were making a pillow or moving that bed up and down.

The Offer

Remember, people are coming to home shows in a shopping mindset. You, therefore, should absolutely create an incredible offer to direct that spending into your bank account. Our offer was a queen adjustable bed and memory foam set for $1,999 with $419.80 of FREE sheets, pillows and mattress protectors financed for 12 months with no interest. Sign and sleep. It’s generally an easy offer for shoppers to accept, and at each show we are typically good for 6-8 sales. For us this offer nets at 50% gross profit margin.

For the Fill Station pillow-making machine we offered a Buy One, Get One Free offer on a good, better and best selection of pillows with margins ranging from 40% to 60% depending on the size and mix of pillows purchased.

Lead Collection

You likely have collected leads if you have participated in a show previously, but if not, you should. Lead collection extends the tail of profitability far beyond the event and well after you have recovered from three days of standing on the hard concrete floors!

Having a system in place to follow-up with collected leads makes it much easier and manageable, but at minimum you should commit to noting which leads you had the best conversations with so that you can follow up quickly and personally once the event is over.

We see a throughput of leads that typically translates into $15,000 in sales, on average, within the 90 days.

 Our experience is that once we committed to doing shows with frequency they become easier to do and our event selling skills got better. Once in motion, each show becomes its own tiny “oil well” generating plenty of leads and sales. It becomes a nice “pipeline of prospects” that convert into sales once the event is over.

Here’s my list of items we take to each event so we are fully prepared and ready to sell:

Marketing Materials

  • Blueprints (which tell our unique “Why Gardner’s Story” with offer on back
  • Mattress Buying Guides
  • Natural Mattress Buying Guides
  • Adjustable Bed Base Buying Guides
  • Bookmark coupons

Show Support Items

  • Contest box - enter to win two free pillows
  • Pens - a bunch of ‘em
  • Stapler
  • Power strip
  • Duct tape
  • Extension cord at least 125’
  • Credit card swipers
  • Receipt book
  • Business cards
  • Gardner’s EXPO banner
  • Folding white table(s) & chairs
  • Table cloth
  • Financing applications and/or internet connected laptop

Jeff Giagnocavo and Ben McClure co-own Gardner’s Mattress & More in Lancaster, PA a multi unit destination boutique mattress store. They also co authored the book “Mega Mattress Margins” and “Retail is Dead” as well as created the industry’s only turn key, done for you, sales and marketing machine called Automated Mattress Profits that creates captures and converts prospects into paying customers. Questions on any aspect of bedding promotion can be directed to Jeff and Ben care of JeffG@furninfo.com. To get more information on their “Automated Mattress Profits CRM system visit http://www.AutomatedMattressProfits.com.
Read other articles by Jeff Giagnocavo


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Nikc-nack's Magazine launches

Nick-Nack released the first issue of his Game Maker magazine just moments ago. This issue features a game review called Custom Gun Gold by BIOHAZARD Studios, A review of, a game review called Trapeze by Electron, A short photoshop tutorial called High Tech Door, a quick Game Maker news article explaining how Game Maker 8 instant play works with Mozilla Firefox 3.8 and a game review called Growing Day by Kris01. There are a few issues with the graphics. Nikc-Nack says "The graphics are screwed up". Though, the content is nice, short and enjoyable. Enjoy ;)

Download Nikc-Nack's Magazine Issue 1 (PDF)

About Game Maker Gazette

Gazette is a blog focusing on Game Maker related content like product news, YoYo Games news, Game Maker media, gossip, competitions and more.

  1. neat. i tried out that photoshop tutorial. nice =D

  2. I remember this... lol :P

  3. Yeah, ummmm....
    This issue wasn't very good...

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Saturday, 17 December 2011

Firing Jacques Martin only part of Solution

For the record, let me state that I was never a big fan of Jacques Martin as the Habs' head coach. I found his system suffocating and brutal for any fan of the team to watch. I also didn't agree with his blind loyalty to under-performing veterans while showing a lack of patience with young players.

Do I think Martin is a bad coach? No, I don't. When you look at his overall record of wins and losses with the team he had in Montreal, you can't say he's terrible. You can say though, that he made a lot of questionable decisions as a coach and that his system hasn't been effective this season.

Having said all that, I was all for going in a new direction at head coach. However, this won't magically solve the bigger problem lying with the Montreal Canadiens.

The bigger problem is the notion that they MUST make the playoffs every season. That makes the job tough on any general manager looking to build a perennial cup contender. Look at Pierre Gauthier. Has he made a lot of head-scratching decisions? Of course. However when your job is on the line and if you don't make the playoffs, you're out, of course management is going to ignore future problems and reach the playoffs right now.

Judging from what I've seen from Geoff Molson thus far, he's looking at making the money back that he spent when he bought the Canadiens, which was over $500 million. The way he'll make the money back is if the team's in the playoffs every year. That's a lot of pressure to put on management to make it every year to the dance, even if it's as a 7th or 8th seed.

The truth is, things have to get worse before they get better in Montreal. The organization needs to change it's philosophy and be patient with its young players and build around them. The priority for the Habs should be locking up their blue chip players for the future. Locking up Carey Price, PK Subban and Max Pacioretty should be the priority, but instead they're only thinking up until April and not thinking 3-5 years down the road.

The best trade the Habs have made in the last decade was not giving up youth and draft picks for a veteran; it was the opposite. The organization's best trade was trading Craig Rivet to the Sharks for a youngster named Josh Gorges and a 1st round pick that turned out to be Max Pacioretty. Obviously that took a stroke of luck as well, but it's a prime example of thinking ahead, and now you can make the argument that Pacioretty is the team's best forward and Gorges is the best defenceman.

Again, for the Habs to truly be a cup contender, they need the right personnel. They don't have it, due to constantly overlooking the future to salvage a single season. That philosophy hasn't worked and won't ever work.

Look at the Edmonton Oilers. As a Canadiens fan, which team would you rather have? Habs will probably make the playoffs this year, the Oilers may not. But since Edmonton has been patient and built from within, and have been terrible for a few years, they've locked up the best prospects. They're going to be a scary team soon and are already a thrill to watch.

So in essence, I believe the Canadiens took a step in the right direction today, but there are many steps to go before this team raises number 25.

follow me @smocella9

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Hot Mobile Version

Play Brittany Birt: Pet Care game now!

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Play Brittany Birt: Pet Care

Vote: Did you like this game?   53 62.5% with 8 votes

Brittany Birt just got a job at an animal grooming shop! It's a great place for her to work since she loves animals, and they love her! As soon as she's done grooming them, she trains them how to pay her, so their owners can just tell them to go to Birt's Pet Care and not have to worry!

Game controls:
Use your mouse to click and drag the pets around to whichever kind of care they need.

Brittany Birt: Pet Care


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Vote: Did you like this game?   63 66.67% with 9 votes

Jousting takes speed, accuracy...and, most of all, timing.

Game controls:
Hit the Spacebar to select your horse's speed and your lance's aim both horizontally and vertically.

Medieval Jousting


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 Thank you for your readership and contributions over the past 12-plus years.

Friday, October 20

Gapers Block

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As if hundreds of vacant houses weren't enough, now we have to deal with "orangutang-sized" raccoons.

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GB Buttons $1.50

GB T-Shirt $12

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 Thank you for your readership and contributions over the past 12-plus years.

Friday, October 20

Gapers Block

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More than 1,700 fake IDs have been intercepted at O'Hare, mostly on their way to college students, ordered off the internet.

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GB Buttons $1.50

GB T-Shirt $12

I ✶ Chi T-Shirts $15


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17 April 2007

In Case Anyone Was Wondering Where I've Been...

The trouble with taking pictures of your house is that you notice things you might not otherwise be bothered by (or you spouse will). Things like the huge piles of books you could glimpse in the background of the most recent pictures of the mustard doublet. Needed bookshelves? Needed to build a library actually.

You see, I used to run a bookstore for one of the major bookstore chains.

Dreaming of someplace else for all those books to go...

Now, you might think it a dream job, especially for someone like me... then again, you might be mistaken. I stuck it out for five years, promotions, transfers to new states to open newer bigger stores in more obnoxious shopping districts... Anyway, five years of bookselling amounts to taking home a lot of books. Add onto that my collection of fine firsts and my penchant for trolling booksales and used bookstores... and it adds up to a house full of books.

It all amounts to this... For years we've been lugging these crates of books all over the country as we moved from state to state, and all that time I've been promising myself a dream library when we finally settled down. More to the point, I've been promising Kristin the same thing, someplace for books to go that will get the stacks put away (finally). Bay window with a window seat, built-in bookshelves (handmade by yours truly), French Doors, new lighting and insulation, wainscoting... the to-do list seems endless.

Kind of like making noble garb. And - much like noble garb - as the man said "God is in the details."

To think, a hand-rubbed finish that requires actual hand-rubbing!
The very idea!

So I've been busy the past few months making good on my word... In case anyone was curious.

My beloved wife pulling up carpet tacks...

16 April 2007

Shoe Redux Too

That first pair was mainly an experiment to see if I could do it (create a plausible faire shoe for under ten bucks). Now that I know it's possible, I've taken a bit more time, spent an extra dollar (This pair was $3.99!) and made a pair of shoes more appropriate for my current noble efforts... so to speak.

I'll publish a more in-depth how-to when they're finished over on the same site where I put the last one. For now, I'll note the following differences between this pair and the last...
  • I began with a pair of men's dress shoes already blessed with a buckle latchet and began cutting away from there.
  • Utilizing what I learned on the first pair, I made smaller cut-outs
  • I'm still considering whether or not to do pinks or 'cuttes' across the toe-box. I'll probably do some small cuttes, but from past experience that makes for an odd, boxy fit for any shoe you do it to, so I plan to keep them small and to a minimum.
  • I had to replace the buckle because the old one was emblazoned with the shoemaker's logo and because it was mounted on an elastic band (yick).
  • Rather than tacking down the seams I had to cut, on this pair I'm re-sewing the seams I pulled out because I want them to last and because I'm a masochist.
  • In response to Abigail's question about the last pair, this pair has finished edges which I will go back over with leather dye as soon as I find a good match. In this case, by "finished" I mean edged (with a leather edger) and burnished.
Overall I'm quite pleased.

The soles are leather this time... or rather a leather midsole welted to uppers with a rubber lug sole attached-- and re-soleworthy I might add-- with a nice low heel and visible topstitching. Also the color has a definite reddish hue that goes well with the fabrics I'm working with.

15 April 2007

Shoe Redux

It might amuse some of you to know that after all my kvetching about
men's shoes and the difficulty of finding same at reasonable prices,
yesterday I found a perfectly serviceable pair of men's 'earth shoes'
with a buckle in my size at Goodwill. Little or no alteration needed
to make them faire-presentable.

Never happened before.

The internet costuming demons showing their sense of humor I suppose...

Granted, they were $15.00 instead of $2.99... so now I have a black
pair and a brown pair. And two pairs of cavalier boots. And... Hmmmmmm... I need to stop before I become the Imelda Marcos of the ren faire set.

13 April 2007

Scottie Needs a New Pair of Shoes!

I've been remiss in blogging, but not in working on my garb!

Yesterday, I "made" a pair of latchet shoes! Okay, well I actually modified an existing pair of modern shoes into period approximates, but it amounts to the same thing... a new pair of ren shoes for $2.99!!!

I posted a complete "How I Did It" on my guild's website at Pennywise Peasant Projects if you're curious, with links to the people who inspired the project.


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Wednesday, 2 December 2015

Blog Tour: Claire Ridgway

I am delighted to welcome Claire Ridgway to the blog as part of her tour for her new book, Tudor Places of Great Britain. Claire Ridgway is the author of the best-selling books George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier and Diplomat (co-written with Clare Cherry); On This Day in Tudor History; The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown; Sweating Sickness: In a Nutshell and both instalments in The Anne Boleyn Collection. Claire was also involved in the English translation and editing of Edmond Bapst's 19th century French biography of George Boleyn and Henry Howard, now available as Two Gentleman Poets at the Court of Henry VIII.

Claire worked in education and freelance writing before creating The Anne Boleyn Files history website and becoming a full-time history researcher, blogger and author. The Anne Boleyn Files is known for its historical accuracy and Claire's mission to get to the truth behind Anne Boleyn's story. Her writing is easy-to-read and conversational, and readers often comment on how reading Claire's books is like having a coffee with her and chatting about history. Claire is also the founder of The Tudor Society.

In her latest book, Tudor Places of Great Britain, Claire guides the reader through properties linked to Tudor monarchs and prominent people of the time, from impressive palaces like Hampton Court Palace, through romantic monastic ruins and merchant houses, to unspoilt villages like Lavenham and Weobley. With over 175 listings, which include descriptions and highlights, full address and website details, Tudor Places of Great Britain is a comprehensive guide to British Tudor places. Claire has very kindly contributed a piece on the monastic ruins for this blog, which I'm so happy to share and hope readers enjoy as much as I did.

My favourite monastic ruins

Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries had a major impact on the English landscape, as well as on the English people. Beautiful buildings which had stood for centuries were either turned into luxury abodes by favoured courtiers or ransacked, then left to fall into ruin. Although some disappeared from the landscape entirely, thankfully a fair few have been saved and protected by organisations like English Heritage so that they can be enjoyed by us and by future generations.
Three of the most beautiful monastic ruins, favourites of mine, can be found in the county of Yorkshire in the north of England. These are the abbeys of Fountains, Jervaulx and Rievaulx. Here are some extracts from Tudor Places of Great Britain to whet your appetite for these fantastic historic sights.

Jervaulx Abbey

These haunting ruins, situated in 126 acres of parkland at the entrance to Wensleydale, were once a great Cistercian Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1146 at Fors near Aysgarth but moved just a few years later due to the terrain at Fors being unsuitable. It stood for nearly 400 years, until it was pillaged after its dissolution in 1547.

© Copyright Mike and Kirsty Grundy and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
In the early 19th century, Thomas Brudenell Bruce, Earl of Ailesbury, discovered the ruins and set about exploring them. Discoveries at this time included the abbey church and choir, high altar, tombs and chapter house. In 1984, restoration work and conservation work began on the site, with care being taken to protect the 200+ species of flora and fauna that had made the abbey their home.
Visitors today can enjoy the beautiful and tranquil ruins and surroundings, followed by a drink and cake in the Jervaulx Abbey Tea Rooms.

© Copyright Mike Searle and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Rievaulx Abbey

This Cistercian abbey was founded in 1132 and became one of the most influential abbeys in the north of England, housing a community of 650 people in the 1160s.

It was dissolved in 1538 and pillaged for its lead, but its ironworks, which included a prototype blast furnace, continued to be used well into the 17th century. After that, it became a haunt for poets, painters, and scholars who appreciated its romantic ruins and setting.

Rievaulx is said to be the most complete and impressive abbey in the whole of the UK, and its location on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors is just stunning. Visitors can listen to an audio tour, follow in the footsteps of medieval pilgrims by doing the one-hour Helmsley Castle to Rievaulx Abbey walk, or simply enjoy the beautiful scenery.

© Copyright David P Howard and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Fountains Abbey

The World Heritage Site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal is the setting of the best preserved Cistercian monastery in the country. The ruins tell the story of 408 years of monasticism, of years of riches, ruin and revival, brought to a close by the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. The site also encompasses Fountains Hall, Fountains Mill and the Georgian water gardens of Studley Royal.

The long history of Fountains Abbey began in 1132 when a group of thirteen disaffected monks from St Mary’s Abbey in York came to this valley to found a reformed house. After early struggles, the abbey began to thrive, prospering from farming and the wool trade, and building the abbey to the glory of God. The later middle ages brought huge challenges: much of Yorkshire was laid to waste by the Scottish raids following the Battle of Bannockburn, and the Black Death further devastated the population. The population of monks at Fountains decreased dramatically and the abbey’s granges, previously farmed by members of the monastic community, were tenanted.

However, as the Tudor period brought stability to the country, Fountains Abbey saw a period of revival. Abbot Darnton (1479-1495) carried out a programme of repair and remodelling in the church, including the addition of the vast east window. Abbot Huby (1495-1526) built the huge new tower to demonstrate the status of both abbey and abbot. This period saw a softening of the ideas of the community – there is evidence that they began to eat meat and to move from the austere cloister to more comfortable accommodation in the infirmary. There is no evidence, however, of the more colourful rule breaking that Cromwell’s visitation report “revealed”.

The general visitation of the monasteries was carried out in Yorkshire by Drs Leyton and Leigh and they arrived at Fountains in January 1536. They reported that Abbot Thirsk (1526-36), “a very foul and miserable idiot”, was stealing and selling jewels from the abbey, and that he kept six whores. Thirsk was persuaded to resign, went on to join the Pilgrimage of Grace and was executed at Tyburn.
Following the Pilgrimage of Grace, the dissolution of the larger monasteries began and on 26th November 1539, it was Fountains’ turn. In October 1540 the estate was sold to Richard Gresham, who dismantled the abbey according to the conditions of the sale. The lead from windows, roofs and pipes was removed and melted down on fires made from doors, stalls and screens. The dormitories and church were made unusable and we can still see the marks where the marble was levered off the columns in the Chapel of the Nine Altars.

In 1597, the estate was sold to Stephen Procter, who built Fountains Hall, just upriver of the abbey, from designs by the Elizabethan architect Robert Smythson and using some of the stone from the abbey.

Today’s visitor can still see much of the abbey, the great Elizabethan Fountains Hall, and the medieval mill, which saw continuous use until the 1930s.

Of course, they're not the only dissolved monastic properties to be featured in my book, I also cover  Bayham Old Abbey, Syon House, Waltham, Whitby Abbey, Furness Abbey, Lilleshall Abbey, Wroxall Abbey and Neath Abbey.

Thank you so much to Claire for that piece. More information on the blog tour is provided in the image below and Tudor Places of Great Britain is available now from Amazon. To win a copy of Tudor Places of Great Britain, please leave a comment sharing your thoughts either on monastic ruins or on Claire's piece. The winner's name will be selected by a random computer generator, after I enter them all, and we'll announce next week.

  1. Really interesting. Here in my country we have also got some old ruins, but they date mostly from the 19th century. I advise you to visit San Pedro de Arlanza, in Burgos, a weary, beautiful monastery. Anyway, I'm longing for visiting those old ruins you talk about. England is so interesting!

  2. What an amazing read . I dream to visit UK one day and will plan a trip around this book.

  3. Claire's work on The Anne Boleyn Files was my first real introduction to Tudor history. I continue to learn a great deal from her work, and yours, Gareth. Thank you!

  4. It is a shame, that these abbeys are in ruins. They must have been imposing sites for their times. Rievaulx looks massive.

  5. Lovely article, Claire. I love visiting ruins of our monastries, but it is a pity that we cannot rebuild them. These buildings should never have been allowed to be used as sites to be raided for building materials by the locals, their led and roof tiles sold off; they should never have been allowed to beovergrown and had it not been for the Victorians thinking of them as romantic ruins they would not have been preserved as they are today. The Victorians used to have walks and picnics in their grounds. They became the backdrops for artists and plays and poems and because of this interest in them as places of historical culture arose. Thankfully today people who preserve ancient monuments; English heritage look after these monastic buildings and grounds, they are well cared for and have become an important part of our national heritage. The gardens are well laid out, the tiles have in many cases been restored and mosaics recovered and relaid; their churches tower over country houses or the fields of orchards and of rural areas; some have become incorporated into new sites; with libraries and cafes in their midst; their stones can tell us a million haunted tales; their history can transport our imagination. In some cases museums lovingly recreate the monastic lifestyle and in others the chaple or church has been preserved. Some are magestic against the countryside; others are small but tell us that once men and women passed through these stone walls and dedicated their lives to God and to the local community. I love the ruins, but I love their stories more. In some cases you can feel their tragic ends and in places like Whalley and Sawley you can still feel the spirit of those monks hung from their walls by their Tudor repressors. Furness and Cartmel may have been given pensions and a peaceful handover; Sawley was at the centre of Catholic resistance; her monks slaughtered and hung from their own cloisters. We must not merely see them as romantic ruins but a testament to a better time; a testament to something deeper that the Tudors stole from our land.

  6. I enjoyed this article! It's a shame that those old monasteries/building do not exist today. But we can still learn from their ruins!

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Leading Communities Toward a Culture of health

CHW Training Institute

In 2004, the Gateway to Care Community Health Worker Training Institute (CHWTI) became the 3rd institute certified by the state of Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to train and certify community health workers (CHWs).

The program was developed to provide the tools and skills needed to help navigate clients, patients, and community members through the complicated healthcare and social service systems, educate and advocate for them, and ensure they are utilizing the healthcare system to the fullest.  The institute delivers information about resources, service coordination, advocating, and communication.  The certification program provides 160 hours of study in the eight core competencies mandated by the state.   The CHWTI also provides continuing education to certified CHWs.

Upon successful completion of the certification class, participants are eligible to apply for certification from DSHS as a CHW or Promotor(a).   For more information about state certification, click here.

Click GTC CHWTI Agency Affiliates to view a list of organizations that have sent staff through the training or hired graduates from the CHWTI.

CHWTI Trainings/Education Offered:

  • Certification Program: Successful completion of this 20 week, 160 hour course results in eligibility for DSHS state certification.  Classes for the first term in 2018 will begin in January 2018.  Registration will begin in December.  For more information about certification classes, click http://gatewaytocare.org/chw-training-institute/certification-class/.
  • Continuing Education: Provides CHWs with CEU hours to maintain certification. DSHS mandates 20 CEU hours bi-annually. You need not be a certified CHW to attend CEU classes.  To see  a current list of CEU classes, click Schedule of CEU Classes.2017 updated 5.10.2017.  Please note that class topics and schedule are subject to change.  To register for a CEU class, click here.

GatewayToCare-Trfold CHWTI.3.2017

To learn more, email chwti@gatewaytocare.org.


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26 Nov 2008

I opened our door to go to the Hotel's Restaurant, when we saw this ! The whole street on fire !! but it wasn't fire, they were spraying some stinking stuff to kill the moskitos ! We waited inside until the "smoke" was gone !

Mar said...

:: cough, cough::
Well, those tiny things sure can be annoying!! hope the spraying is effective.
At least it has a nice fog effect!!

Carletta said...

They used to spray that stuff when we lived in Virginia. It did stink but it was so necessary. Otherwise we would be eaten alive with mosquitoes.
Hope you still had a great day.

Jientje said...

Ewww! That looks kind of scary!!
I read your previous posts, and it seems like you're having fun there!

Melli said...

ACK! YUK! Necessary though! Apparently mosquitoes are a "protected" species in my county! They refuse to spray for them! It drives me crazy because this is the only place I've lived in my whole life that does NOT spray for them! And it makes life just miserable in the summer... you don't even WANT to be outside. I'm glad they came and sprayed for you -- but they should have done it in the middle of the night!


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Adrienne Craddock

Artist Printmaker

Eve discovering blackbird 09-1.jpgAdrienne’s striking hand painted prints feature birds, beasts and figures who inhabit imaginary worlds inspired by stories, rhymes or fable.

Adrienne is heavily influenced by her rural Herefordshire upbringing.  The animals she encountered there appear in her work as characters from tales making it a very personal interpretation.

She makes her work in small editions of no more than 25.

Many of the prints are hand painted making each image unique.

 Eve Discovering Blackbird. Carborundum print.

There is a selection of Adrienne's prints below. If you are interested in any of these prints please contact the gallery.


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Wednesday, 31 August 2016

August 31

August 31, 1905

My Great Uncle Adam Gow was buried. He was born on August 28, 1905 in Sydney to my Great Grandparents William Gow and Elizabeth Croal. Adam passed away on August 29, 1905. He lived for 24 hours. He is buried at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.

Death Certificate of Adam Gow
[Source: Personal Collection]

August 31, 1909

My Great Great Grandmother Christian Croal (nee Alves) passed away. She was Adam's Grandmother. Christian was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1842. In 1869 she married David Croal. They had 4 children - Alexander, Margaret, Elizabeth and David. The family arrived in Sydney in 1883 on the ship Iberia. Christian was buried on September 1st, 1909 and is buried in Rookwood Cemetery with Adam.

Death Certificate of Christian Croal (Alves)
[Source: Personal Collection]

Grave of Christian Croal & Adam Gow, Rookwood
Cemetery, Sydney. There is no headstone. Taken July 2013.
August 31, 2003.

My Poppa, William David Drummond Gow passed away at the age of 93. He was Adam's brother. Poppa was born on February 2, 1910 in Sydney. He never got to know his grandmother Christian, nor his brother. My Poppa passed away when I was 12 - well before I was interested in genealogy. At the time, we did not know that he passed away on the same day as his Grandmother, and the day his only sibling was buried. It was only when I started researching the family history in 2009, that we discovered the significance of this date.

My Poppa during World War 2.
[Source: Personal Collection]
Every year, every August 31, I think about the wonderful memories I have with Poppa. I think about Christian and her life that involved moving to a new country and losing a husband to suicide. I think about baby Adam, the brother and sibling my Poppa never got to have.

They are forever loved.

Wednesday, 24 August 2016

Grandma's Wedding Scrapbook

My Mum returned from a month's holiday in Texas last week. She had a wonderful time visiting her family who she hadn't seen in a few years. There were two things I requested she bring back - Texas Trash, and stuff from Bath & Body Works (please open a store here!). However, there was one gift from my Uncle that I wasn't expecting - my Grandma's wedding scrapbook. I was over the moon! I still am.

If you have been following me for a while, you might remember that my Grandma passed away before I was born. My Grandma was also how I caught the genealogy bug. Genealogy has become my connection to her - if that makes sense? Until recently, I had only seen a handful of photos of her. I also have letters that she wrote to my Grandfather's parents in the 1960s, a gorgeous pink vase, and a ring. To add my Grandma's wedding scrapbook to the collection is amazing. All of these things I will treasure forever.

Grandma, Nancy Robinson
Born: 3 Dec 1932, Texas, USA
Died: May 1980, New Mexico, USA
[Source: Personal Collection]
Before I move on, here's a link to the letter I wrote her on her birthday last year.

My Grandparents married in Texas on September 14, 1950, so the scrapbook is quite old. My Mum and I need to figure out the best way to preserve it. I plan on doing all the usual things - photographing each page, transcribing all the articles and descriptions, and scanning it. I would love to hear any other suggestions out there.

Here are a few photos I took during my excitement the other day.

A napkin from the reception!

I cannot thank my Uncle enough for passing this down to me!

Definitely true!


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Thursday, November 3, 2016

New Practicum in Genealogy Research Course

This post is part of my ongoing series by guest authors reviewing genealogical courses. In this article Denise Cross shares her perspective on the new Practicum in Genealogical Research taught by Melinde Lutz Byrne through Excelsior College.

"What I Did on My Summer Vacation, or, My Adventures in Genealogical Education"
By guest author Denise Cross

My first taste of formal education in genealogy was the Boston University online certificate program. It opened a whole world of possibilities I did not know existed. I took every opportunity to learn more and hone my skills. I work full time, so I can do anything that is online and at the right time of day. Webinars, the ProGen Study Group, and local society meetings filled my calendar since finishing the BU course. Summer freed me up from my academic year demands and I added travel to the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) and Western Institute of Genealogy courses. The best thing I added to my intense summer of genealogical learning was the Excelsior College online Practicum in Genealogical Research.
The Practicum is one of two new genealogy offerings from Excelsior College. The inaugural semester ran May-August. Melinde Lutz Byrne developed the course for experienced genealogists. Using real world cases, both solved and unsolved, she gave us thought provoking assignments. We tore the cases apart and put them back together. We studied our biases and assumptions to identify them in our work. We took our own unsolved cases and reframed them to make more progress in solving them. In the course of our 16 weeks, we developed our skills underpinned by the Genealogical Standards. I’ve read the standards many times. I have now internalized them.

Genealogists who want to further develop their skills for solving cases and writing them up to convince others, should consider this course. It is set up in two week modules with a predictable sequence of assignments and discussions to fit into most busy schedules. If you took the 15 week Boston University course, the workload felt like it was half as intense and took up about half of my time. And yet I felt like I learned twice as much. Both from the course and from my classmates. You will want to have some experience with taking an online course and some advanced genealogy experience such as an institute to meet the expectations of this course. All the information, including a syllabus is at: .  The semesters start September, January, and May. You won’t have to wait long to get started. You’ll be glad you did.

Denise Cross is a full time librarian at a community college by day and falls down genealogical rabbit holes by night. She takes advantage of every educational opportunity possible, including the BU Certificate course, Excelsior's Practicum in Genealogical Research, both sessions of GRIP 2016. Writing up the forgotten stories of the people she studies is a passion and a goal of all this education.


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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Madd Style Cosmetics: Plan 9 has a party with Ichabod and Redrum

Hiiiiii Everyone!

Two nights ago I received a sample set of the NEW House of Horrors collection by none other than Madd Style Cosmetics. Even though I got home late and didn't have time to play with it until night--I *needed* to play with three of the collection colours in the look that you're about to learn about. :)

The three colours I'll be featuring from the collection are:

Plan 9--a black that is SO FULL of holographic glitter that it's just...CRAZY, I tell you!

Ichabod--a loooovely pumpkin orange with gold glitter.

Redrum--a TASTY wine/merlot!

Aren't they marvelous?!!!!!!!!

To begin, gather the supplies!

(Top to bottom, left to right: Milani Power Lash in "Black"; Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Pencils in "Yeyo" (white) and "Zero" (black); Too Faced Shadow Insurance; Madd Style Cosmetics "Awesome Sauce"; Madd Style Cosmetics Pigments: Plan 9, Ichabod, Redrum, Sparkle Motion and Birfday Suit; Brushes: flat shaded brush, domed crease brush, angled liner, slanted shadow brush, pointed crease/pencil style brush, small fluffy crease brush (isn't that brush neat?!!!); Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in "NSFW".)

Also, grab your clean eye!

First, as always, you will want to prime those lids! I'm using Too Faced Shadow Insurance. I put a bit on my ring finger, rub my two ring fingers together, and then apply it all over the lid (up to the brow), down by the duct and on the lower lash line.

(Disclaimer: Gah! I forgot I had some left over nail polish on my nails. Seriously. I was too excited to play with these darn things!)

For a base, use something black. I am using my black Urban Decay pencil in "Zero". I appled it all over the lid!

(Disclaimer #2: Yes, there is a hair by my eyebrow. I move I thought I was checking all of my pictures to make sure they were in focus and that there weren't random hairs all over the place, but as you'll see...I wasn't checking that as well as I thought I was!! Sorry!!!)

While you have the black pencil out, do some tightlining on your top lid, line your waterline and the outer 1/3rd of your lower lash line! If you're going to be going out (and you're not just playing with makeup in the middle of the night for fun) you would want to set your waterline with some matte black shadow. I didn't do this--as I pretty much took everything off an hour after putting it on. But if you don't set your waterline, that black will disappear within a couple of hours.

Next, take a white liner pencil. Line the inside 2/3rds of your lower lash line with this. Blend the white in slightly with the black.

I made a boo-boo and forgot to take an "end" shot of this step--but basically you want to use your ring finger to blend out the black base on your lid. Blend it up toward your crease.

Then, pull our your Madd Style Cosmetics "Awesome Sauce"! Apply a small drop of it (less is more, I mean it!) to your ring finger, rub your two ring fingers together, and dab it all over your lid. Concentrate this on your lid--but it's okay if some of it gets into the crease area. This will really help to make the awesome glitter of Plan 9 stick to your lid. I promise, it will!

(Reader: "danielle! That picture on the right isn't in focus!"
danielle: "I know, reader! I'm sorrrrrry! I'll do better next time!)

After applying the Awesome Sauce, you're going to want to wait for a few minutes until it gets a bit tacky. This should take a few minutes.

Yep, put your glasses on, make a funny face, and watch some Sopranos (at least that is what I was up to!).

Now for some Plan 9 action!! Taking a flat shader brush, apply Plan 9 to your lid. Since this colour has a lot of awesome glitter--you will want to be sure to "press" this colour on to your lid. DO NOT swipe this colour on. With the Awesome Sauce on--that will act as a magnet for the glitter--but you will want to do your best not to give any of that glitter a reason to jump ship and fall down on to the tops of your cheeks!

To blend out the Plan 9, switch to a domed crease brush and dip it into Plan 9. Starting at the outside corner of the eye, apply this into the crease. Using a fluffier brush will do half of the work of "fading" the colour out.

At this point, you'll have something like this:

Ahhhhh the glitter! It's NUTS!

Here's a(n out of focus) CLOSE UP--just in case you don't believe me...

Leave the lid alone for a while now--and proceed to the lower lash line. Switch to an angled liner brush and dip it into Ichabod. Apply this to the first 1/3rd of your lower lash line.

Next, using the same brush, dip it into Redrum. Apply this to the middle 1/3rd of your lower lash line.

If you do what I did--you might accidentally cover up too much Ichabod. Don't worry--go back in with more Ichabod--and blend it over into the Redrum.

Lastly--using that same magical angled liner brush--go into the equally as magical Plan 9. Apply it to the outer 1/3rd of the lower lash line and blend Redrum over into it.

Go back up to the lid. Take a slanted shadow brush and dip it into Birfday Suit. Apply this colour below your eyebrow/as a brow "highlight". This is your chance to blend out Plan 9 a bit more. On the rightmost picture you'll see that I go all the way around the black to help fade it a bit more (although admittedly this look isn't meant to be "subtle"--if the black is too much for you--just don't take it so far up into your crease).

For the duct, take your sparkliest white--for me--that is Sparkle Motion. Apply this color to your duct!

At this point I decided to do a bit more blending of Plan 9. I took a small fluffy blending brush and worked on the edges a bit more!

Reapply glasses and funny face--and kick back!

Continue to tinker...and apply a red lip, for some extra fun! Here I used OCC's Lip Tar in "NSFW". I applied it over the entire lip area (over some MSC Lip Bomb!) and then dabbed some Ichabod pigment into the center of my lip (it didn't really pick up in the photo though! I do plan on doing a proper tutorial on jazzing up your lip tars with MSC pigments!).

NOW you're really ready to put your hair up, kick waaay back, and watch even MORE Sopranos!

I hope you all enjoyed this tutorial!! As always--if you have any questions about a particular step or you want to see me do something specific in a future tutorial, just let me know!

Fun fact you didn't know about me: if I could always have red nails, I would do it! What's mostly keeping me from realizing my dream is my terrible tendency of putting on nail polish, finding an imperfection in it, and then taking it ALL off a few hours after putting it on! One day I might conquer this. I must just need more practice, right?! :)

  1. Plan 9 is fire and I love redrum XOXO

  2. Isn't Plan 9 just one of the most marvelous things ever?!!!!!!!

  3. I used Plan 9 right when I got it. BF tried to get me to leave the house with nothing on...I end up lining my eyes in Plan 9 before leaving the car.

  4. I agree!  You neeeeed it!

  5. :)  They're both super wonderful, huh?

  6. :)  They're both super wonderful, huh?

  7. It is pretty great, Tiffany.  I ain't gonna lie!  :)

  8. This made me really want the HoH collection :D


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Alzheimer disease

GECKO on the run for HTML - June 2014

 Download the PDF here. Access an an education module with case-based learning here.

Informative genetic testing is currently available to only a small number of families with a history of early-onset (younger than 60-65 years of age) Alzheimer disease (AD). For these families, the benefits of genetic testing are limited and are mainly related to the individual’s perception of the psychological advantages of knowing whether or not he or she is predisposed to develop AD. There remains no cure or effective preventive therapy for AD.

Genetic testing is not feasible for most cases of AD at this time. Apolipoprotein E gene variations alone cannot be used to predict future disease occurrence. Rare families with a history of early-onset AD might be eligible for genetic testing, while families with multiple relatives affected with late-onset AD (60-65 years of age and older) might be eligible to participate in AD research studies.

Updated January 2014

Alzheimer disease (AD) is an adult-onset progressive dementia. It is relatively common and the overall lifetime risk of developing dementia is 10-12%. Seventy-five percent of AD cases are sporadic, of unknown cause and usually have late onset of symptoms. Twenty-five percent of AD cases are familial (i.e. ≥ 2 persons in family have AD) and are composed of two types:

  • Early-onset familial AD (EOAD) with a mean age of onset < 60-65 years (<2%)
  • Late-onset familial AD (LOAD) with a mean age of onset of >60-65 years (15-25%)

Three genes have been associated with early-onset familial AD (EOAD) – amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PSEN1), and presenilin 2 (PSEN2). Each of the identified genes is involved in production of the amyloid ß (Aß) peptide, a major component of amyloid plaques. EOAD follows an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. 1

Late-onset familial AD (LOAD) has been associated with apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene variations. These are considered a risk modifier, especially APOE e4. Approximately 1% of the general population are APOE e4 homozygotes (carry two copies of e4). Approximately 42% of persons with AD do NOT have an APOE e4 allele.1

Inheritance of AD is a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors. With one affected first-degree relative, the risk of AD is approximately 20-25%.1

Genetic testing for AD is only available for a small number of families with EOAD, with testing likely to be initiated in a living affected relative. If a gene mutation is found, other family members are eligible for testing for the identified family mutation. Clinical testing is currently not available for LOAD or sporadic cases. When there are multiple related affected individuals, research testing may be available. APOE e4 testing is not recommended for risk assessment because of low sensitivity and specificity; APOE e4 is neither necessary nor sufficient for the disease2.

Consider a genetics consult for patients with:

 AD with age of onset <60-65 years

 Late-onset AD and multiple affected close relatives

 Close relatives of the above two types of patients

 A family member who has an identified mutation in the APP, PSEN1 or PSEN2 genes

Click here to connect to your local genetics centre.

Inheriting a mutation in APP, PSEN1 or PSEN2 gene causes EOAD. Information about the genetic factors involved in LOAD is limited; for example, data suggest that a young asymptomatic person with two copies of the APOE e4 allele may have an increased lifetime risk of developing AD and a lower age of onset of AD compared to persons who have only one or no copies of the APOE e4 allele.

In the case of genetic testing for EOAD, a positive test result for a known family gene mutation can result in:

  • Relief from uncertainty
  • An increased feeling of control
  • Opportunity to plan life decisions given this additional information

A negative test result for a known family gene mutation for EOAD can result in:

  • Relief from fear of developing early-onset AD
  • Knowledge that children are not at risk for early-onset AD

Currently no cure or effective preventive therapy is available if a gene mutation is found. A positive test result for a known EOAD family gene mutation can result in:

  • Adverse psychological reaction, family issues/distress
  • Insurance/job discrimination, confidentiality issues

A negative test result for a known family EOAD gene mutation can result in survivor guilt.

When an individual with no known familial gene mutation has genetic testing, a negative result is not a definitive answer.

For recent review articles on AD see Alonso Vilatela ME et al., Genetics of Alzheimer’s disease. Arch Med Res. 2012; 43(8): 622-31 and Goldman JS et al., Genetic counseling and testing for Alzheimer disease: Joint practice guidelines of the American College of Medical Genetics and the National Society of Genetic Counselors. Genet Med 2011; 13(6): 597-605

[1] Bird TD. Alzheimer Disease Overview. 1998 Oct 23 [Updated 2014 Jan 30]. In: Pagon RA, Adam MP, Bird TD, et al., editors. GeneReviews™ [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2014. Available from:
[2] American College of Medical Genetics/American Society of Human Genetics Working Group on APOE and Alzheimer’s disease (1995) Statement on use of apolipoprotein E testing for Alzheimer’s disease. JAMA 1995; 274(20): 1627-1629

Other AD resources: (Alzheimer Society)

Authors: H Dorman MSc (C)CGC, JC Carroll MD CCFP, S Morrison MS CGC , JE Allanson MD FRCPC and WS Meschino MD FRCPC

Updated from the original Gene Messenger developed for the GenetiKit research project.
GenetiKit team: Principal Investigators: Carroll JC, Allanson J, Wilson BJ, Co-Investigators: Blaine S, Cremin C, Dorman H, Gibbons C, Graham GE, Graham I, Grimshaw J, Honeywell C, Meschino WS, Permaul J, Wilson BJ.
GEC-KO on the run is for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for clinical judgement. GEC-KO aims to aid the practicing clinician by providing informed opinions regarding genetic services that have been developed in a rigorous and evidence-based manner. Physicians must use their own clinical judgement in addition to published articles and the information presented herein. GEC-KO assumes no responsibility or liability resulting from the use of information contained herein.


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Tag Archives: community writing

LitCom 1 conference programme, 2-3 March, Norwich

Below is the programme for the literature and communities conference. This is the latest event in the programme we organise from UEA for and with Connected Communities. Further information is here

Venue: Writers’ Centre Norwich, Dragon Hall, King Street, Norwich

Thursday 2 March

12:15-13:00                 Registration

13:00-13:15                 Welcome and introduction

13:15-14:00                 1. Keynote address

 Celebrating Reading in Athens

Ava Chalkiadaki, UNESCO World Book Capital, Athens

Chair: George McKay, UEA

14:00-15:30                 2. Community and Place A

Writing ‘home’: madness, health and gender in the work of the female authors of the Greater Moray Firth Issie MacPhail, University of the Highlands and Islands Rural Health and Wellbeing and Jane Verburg, Cromarty History Society

The John Hewitt Society: ‘Once alien here’ Jan Carson, writer and community arts facilitator, and Hilary Copeland, General Manager, The John Hewitt Society

Creative writing and / as community arts practice Lynne Bryan and Belona Greenwood, Words and Women

Community relations and affect in post-industrial townscapes: ‘Merthyr gave me a hug’ Peter Davies, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University

Chair: Jos Smith, UEA

15:30-16:00                 Tea and coffee

16:00-17:30                 Parallel sessions

  1. Poetry and community

Poetry Postie Sally Crabtree, Independent Researcher

“That was England in nineteen eighty four” – non-professional poets (re)write the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike in post-industrial South Yorkshire Ryan Bramley, University of Sheffield

Writing from within/without the LGBTQ Communities Dr Cath Nichols, University of Leeds

Chair: Eleanor Rees, Liverpool Hope University

16:00-17:30                 4. Writing Home – Workshop*

Jane Moss, Independent Researcher

*Places limited. See Workshops for more information.

19:30                           Evening meal for speakers at The Last Wine Bar

Friday 3 March

9:00-9:30                     Tea and coffee

9:30-10:15                   5. Keynote address

The Amazing Push Poem Machine: How Writing Connects Communities Dave Ward, Co-ordinator, The Windows Project

Chair: Eleanor Rees, Liverpool Hope University

10:30-12:30                 6. Digital and Publishing

Small Publishers Fair  Helen Mitchell, Director, Small Publishers Fair

White Water Writers Francesca Baker and Dr Joseph Reddington, White Water Writers

‘Stand out from the crowd!’ Literary advice in online writing communities Bronwen Thomas, Bournemouth University

Connecting communities through digital fiction Isabelle van der Bom, Sheffield Hallam University

Chair: Jane Moss, Independent Researcher

12:30-13:15                 Lunch

13:15-14:45                 Parallel sessions

  1. Practices and Reading(s)

Spaces of possibility: literary communities in and outside the classroom Tom Sperlinger, Bristol University

Shared reading: creating and connecting communities Susan Jones, University of Nottingham

Mother earth in translation: Exploring the literary geographies and aesthetic borderlands of demiurgical figures in transnational indigenous activism Naomi Millner, Bristol University

Chair: Hugh Escott, Sheffield Hallam University

  1. Life Chances

Life Chances: re-imagining future regulatory systems for low-income families in modern urban settings through co-writing a fictional sociology Debbie Watson, Bristol University, Simon Poulter, Artist, Moestak Hussein and Nathan Evans, Community Partner

*Places limited. See Workshops for more information

14:45-15:15             Tea and coffee

15:15-16:45             9. Community and Place B

Literary pathways in the co-creation and re-presentation of stories by, with and from disadvantaged young people Candice Satchwell, University of Central Lancashire

A Tale of Two Cities Polly Moseley, Liverpool John Moores University

The Gloves of Democracy: Co-Constructing Stories with Children and Young People Hugh Escott, Sheffield Hallam University, and Sarah Christie, Grimm and Co.

Chair: Dave Ward, The Windows Project

Parallel Sessions

Spaces limited – booking will be available at registration

Day 1 16:00 – 17:30

Writing home

Jane Moss, Independent Researcher

This practical writing workshop offers an approach to writing about our personal ideas of home and community; the places and communities we consider our homelands, whether we live in them now, are in exile, or have moved on from them. The session is facilitated by Jane Moss, a writer working in communities in Cornwall. Jane will use the Dear Homeland model established by Steve Potter (www.dearhomeland.com) to demonstrate the way writing letters to and from our homelands can give rise to reflection and realisations about our concepts of home and our relationship with the communities in which we live. Jane, with colleagues in Lapidus Cornwall (www.lapidus.org.uk), has hosted this workshop at the Penzance Literary Festival and other community settings, and is interested in the potential for creative writing to bring people together to enhance community cohesion and a shared sense of story making across diverse communities of interest and place within localities. You will need to bring a pen and paper, and are warmly invited to participate and reflect on the process of writing as an individual practice and as a group experience, and of the role of the writer-facilitator in the community.

Day 2 13:15-14:45

Life Chances

Debbie Watson, Bristol University, Simon Poulter, Artist, Moestak Hussein & Nathan Evans, Community Partner

The middle classes form a buffer between the super-rich and the detached poor. They join in with the finger pointing by proxy through being uninformed about the reality of what’s right in front of us.

Life Chances is a project within the Productive Margins programme. Participants, community organisations, the researchers and artists have together produced a published fictional novel, an interactive game, and jewellery.

The novel combines participant’s characterisations into a collaborative storyline that is both critical of policies and services and provides radical inclusive alternatives from community perspectives. The focus is on welfare provisions and reform and foregrounding how families experience these in their daily lives. Utopian thinking and re-imagining is introduced in order to offer alternative systems of regulation such as benefits, housing, immigration and child protection. Whilst ostensibly a work of fiction, Life Chances is also a rich data source allowing different understandings of people’s lives to be co-constructed in ways that provide people control over the story telling and making. How much of the novel is art and how much social science data collection and how the two disciplines have been utilised, and for what purposes, will be the focus of our presentation.

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Sparta Historic Locations

The following historic locations are located in Sparta, Georgia. Please select a historic place in Sparta to view detailed information including address information, historical signifiance, and much more.
Glen Mary
Linton Rd., S of Sparta
Sparta, GA
Single Dwelling
Hurt--Rives Plantation
Address Restricted
Sparta, GA
Storage, Agricultural Fields, Animal Facility, Agricultural Outbuildings, Processing, Single Dwelling, Multiple Dwelling, Secondary Structure
Pearson--Boyer Plantation
Pearson Chapel Rd.
Sparta, GA
Single Dwelling, Animal Facility, Secondary Structure, Storage
NE of Sparta off GA 16
Sparta, GA
Single Dwelling, Secondary Structure
Shoulderbone Mounds
Address Restricted
Sparta, GA
Sparta Cemetery
N of jct. of Hamilton and Boland Sts.
Sparta, GA
Sparta Historic District
Roughly bounded by Hamilton, Elm, W, and Burwell Sts.
Sparta, GA
Courthouse, Single Dwelling

Georgia Historic Places


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Rediff News  All News  » Getahead » 'Living in India was like looking at myself'

'Living in India was like looking at myself'

Last updated on: April 05, 2010 12:00 IST

Aruna Vishwanatha grew up in New Jersey but worked in New Delhi as a reporter from December 2007 to May 2009. She is currently a reporter in Washington, D.C.

Aruna offers her take on working in Indian offices:

Living in India made me feel like I was 16-years-old again. Hip restaurants didn't often pipe Bollywood music through the speakers. They didn't even often play the latest hits from Beyonce, or Kanye West. Instead, their deejays usually chose songs like "Zombie", by the Cranberries, or "Black Hole Sun," by Soundgarden; the second rate alternative songs I used to videotape off MTV in 1996. I loved them then because they catered to my teenage angst. Here, too, they seemed to fulfill a similar need.

It wasn't just the music in India that reminded me of my younger days, working and living there had the same effect. I grew up in New Jersey but moved to Delhi a couple of years ago to work with a newspaper there. Before I arrived, one American friend who had also relocated to India the year before said that the country reminded him of an American teenager, a bright, over-eager, insecure, pimply-faced adolescent. It took me a while to realise this was not just a metaphor. Living in India really was like looking at myself, five or ten years later.

For one thing, I felt as helpless as I did as a teenager. Within two weeks of starting work, I was crying at my desk, trying to choke back the tears. I was sobbing and screaming on the phone. After I hung up, a colleague that was sitting next to me hesitated, then turned in my direction. "Was that a source?" he asked. He thought maybe someone had fed me a fake story and gotten me into trouble with my editors. I said, no, that was Airtel, my phone company, that was giving me so much grief. He burst out laughing, then I did too.

The statistics about youth in India are mind-boggling. 51 per cent of Indians are under 25 and two-thirds are under 35. But it's not just numbers, it's something you see and feel and hear everywhere in this chaotic country. Instead of the usual age-spread you might get in an American office, with middle-aged management, and everyone else stretched from 20-something to 40-something, in my Delhi office, I was 26, and older than a lot of my colleagues.

It was the little things that showed who was really in charge. The dress code was jeans and flip-flops. The hours began after 11 am and stretched into the night. Even the colour scheme, bright orange, was youthful. But more than anything else, it was the friendships that reminded me of being a kid again.

I was used to friendly offices, where everyone heads out after work to a happy hour every few weeks, and has lunch together when we are at our desks. Indian offices, though, were a completely different story. They were much more of a social centre than any office I'd ever worked in before.

It was a colleague that spent an hour on the phone with an exterminator for me, when I needed to get rid of ants in my apartment but didn't know enough Hindi to even know the word for ant. It was another colleague who spent an hour a day explaining the social pecking order of different bloggers, and why Indians liked Rajiv Gandhi, and all the other little things I didn't know because I hadn't grown up there. It was yet another colleague who comforted me when I had my heart broken, and listened to me vent as one Kingfisher would routinely turn into three.

There was the closeness that comes with shared hardship. Often people would ask if I lived in a hostel, or as a paying guest with a family. Such a question would be nothing less than an insult here; imagine, being in your mid-twenties and not being independent! But in India, where worrying about a gas and water supply was itself a full-time job, it made practical sense.

Renting an apartment as a single girl in Delhi is tough, because nobody really does it. But many of my colleagues had moved there from Bangalore and Calcutta and Kerala, so many of us were young and single and trying to do just that. Without the family network around that most Indians rely on to feed and house and take care of them, the office functioned almost as a substitute.

One colleague who moved to Delhi from Chennai had to deal with things that she had never before considered: she lived in west Patel Nagar, surrounded by Punjabis when she didn't speak any Hindi, and it was her first time with only an Indian toilet. A giant hole sat in the middle of her wall where an air conditioner should be, because she didn't have the money to afford one. It reminded me of my first apartment, where a guy was arrested in my backyard once with a kilo of cocaine, and where I would routinely help my roommate duct-tape her car back together after another slight mishap.

There was also the closeness that comes with being on your own for the first time. When I first moved to college, I remember the marathon chat sessions in the campus cafeteria, the gossip mixed with the heated discussions about old punk records and the IMF, the excitement of getting to choose how you spent your days and nights, especially when it meant leaving the strict rules of my Indian home behind. By the time I made it to the American work world, though, I had lived on my own for years and had a social network already in place.

But in India, where college students often live at home, or in sex-segregated hostels with curfews and visiting rules, freedom seems to only come after that. In my office, it felt like that kind of early high school or college intensity again. Office gossip involved secrets about crushes, teasing about kisses, embarrassing stories about parents finding things they shouldn't have. Once, I went out after work with several of my colleagues, in honor of one of them who had just gone on their first date.

The social and professional boundaries were so blurred they were almost non-existent. And after one particularly rowdy work celebration, I got a text message from my boss the next morning: "r u alive?" it read. Thinking I might have done something to embarrass myself but recognising my state, I texted her back: barely. It turned out I had nothing to worry about. Her response: "thank god I didn't have an affair".


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Discover Your Dream Home

Gettys Glaze
License #: 11345

Gettys Glaze

Team Leader, Broker, E-Pro 500
The Sandlapper Group- AgentOwned Realty

Upon graduating from the Citadel in 1992 (with a B.S. degree in Business, Marketing, and Finance), Gettys was drafted by the Boston Red Sox. Following three fruitful seasons as a professional pitcher in the Red Sox organization, Gettys returned to Charleston to focus on raising a family with his wife Cheryl and to make his mark as a business innovator. After several years of marketing success in the newspaper/publishing business, Gettys realized the unprecedented opportunities in the Real Estate industry, so he quickly earned his agent’s license and began testing his skills in the highly competitive Charleston Market. It took just three years for Gettys to prove himself as one of the area’s top new producers, so in 2004 he launched the Sandlapper Real Estate Group LLC. After realizing he wasn't cut from the management cloth, he sold the assets of Sandlapper Real Estate Group LLC to Coldwell Banker in 2008. Since 2009, after going back strictly into sales, his Team has closed over 1200 properties and over $150 million in sales. Glaze decided in 2013 to "re-brand" the team to The Sandlapper Group.

Today he and Cheryl live on James Island where they raise two wonderful children, Garrett and Sadie. While Cheryl holds a nursing degree, she is an integral player on the Glaze team where she sets the highest standard for team play, equality, and excellence in community service. When Gettys and his fellow Sandlappers say “we are South Carolina,” it’s not a boast, it’s a commitment to serve the greater good, and his family and teammates are glad to follow his lead.

Charleston Trident listings last updated Oct 21, 2017 1:42:am.


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Friday, February 18, 2011

Getting by until the blessed Tax Return

Payday was today.  Right now we have $982.34 in our checking account.  After I subtract the bills due by March 1st (943.42) we are left with $38.92.  I have to buy formula for my little one (WIC just covers the baby food) which is $17.00- so that brings me down to $21.92
 I still owe 3 different bills for February, totalling $655.39. (One is my student loan payment of $206 which comes out of deferment next week.  One is $84 for Loan #1 and the last is 3 payments of tithing that I fell behind on totalling $364.23).

I contacted Loan #1 and they are graciously working with me and will wait until my tax return comes back to be paid.  I have $230 in an emergency saving account that I will transfer over, I just received a $75 check for some work I did last month and I have $53 in cash I was saving for groceries.  Add all that to $38.92 and I have $379.92.

I've decided to make the tithing payment so I am current on my tithes.  I will call my student loan and see if I can work something out to pay them 2 weeks late.  So after I pay tithing, I will have $15.96  We have plenty of food to last the next 2 weeks, so I shouldn't need to use any of that for groceries.

Our tax information in on the way to our accountant.  I am hoping to see the return in our checking account by March 7th.  I am really crossing my fingers for a good return so I can be current on all my bills and pay down some of our credit cards!

  1. Guaranteed payday loans are helpful in those situations when the borrower does not have any instant access to finance to meet his various needs.

  2. Hann,
    Payday loans make me nervous because of the fees and interest. Also the thought of another loan makes me want to cry.

  3. I wouldn't take a payday loan out if it was the last option before bankruptcy. Most of them target people that really can't afford the terms of the loan. I listen to Dave Ramsey. I am in no way am an expert. But if i were in such a tight spot as you seem I would do like Dave says. Pay the essentials first. Food, lights, water, rent. After that I would make a list of essentials and pay them down the line in the order that is most essential. Yeah some things might get a month behind before paying but, I would gladly take that over a payday loan. Eventually when creditors finally get paid off and you free more money up in the month, you will feel so much better.

    Dave has a great baby step program to getting out of debt that I would look into. I will keep your family in my prayers.

  4. Jeff, I really like everything I have heard and read about Dave Ramsey. I am going to be looking into his website a little more. Thank you for your thoughfulness.


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Thursday, March 26, 2009

SIEM REAP | Kamasutra?

Siem Reap is full of colours, from the item they sell to their various kind of food.

From their colourful signages,

To their colourful buildings, and errm nope, the signs and the buildings are not coloured coded.

While this is the place for Funky Munky with the monkey!

And speaking of those international franchise store, there are also some "recognisable" brands.

First, is this local "Mothercare".

Then, there is this local "IKEA".

And, this is their local "7-11", or locally known as the Seven Quick or Quick 7?

While walking along the street, I saw this "official" Playboy vehicle, imagine those bunnies riding in this ride, for sure they will attract attention.

This is obviously the local Kamasutra, and the fine dining is a bonus, perhaps, the actual action is inside?

Or, if you need to enhance your knowledge, you can grab those books along the street, by gaining more inside in the Life of Pi, (who/what is Pi? All I know Pi is 22/7 or 3.1415?), or in time of emergency and assistance, you can delve into the book of Emergency Sex (and other desperate measures)!

And if all fails, no worries, as Art Will Save The World!

bidarlah said...

life is pi is GOOD! i recommend it. slow at first but once u get into it...and to ur question: its not 22/7. clue is in the cover!!!

G-`FerRo said...

.. oh now I know ... Pi is the boy who's drifted in the sea with his Tiger ...


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5 Beekman Inches Closer to Revival as Trendy Hotel, Condos May 1, 2014

Hana R. Alberts | Curbed NY

It’s almost here, it’s almost here. The total renovation of 5 Beekman Street, a 19th-century office building with a rich history that was actually tall when it was built, is proceeding at a fast clip, and, thanks to the Times, new details have emerged about the hotel and condos it shall become. Known for its stunning Temple Court atrium, the abandoned building changed hands and redevelopment plans at a breakneck pace until 2012, when GFI Capital bought it for $64 million and the empty lot next door for another $22 million. GFI, which also developed the achingly trendy Ace and Nomad hotels, are psyched about plans for The Beekman Hotel, with 287 rooms clustered around the atrium, in 5 Beekman’s annex, and in the lower floors of the condo building rising next door at 115 Nassau Street. The hotel wants to be a dining and nightlife destination, too, with two restaurants, a lounge and four separate event spaces, “as well as rentable terraces on the roof.” It’s set to open in thesummer of 2015 under the auspices of Thompson Hotels. A GFI exec told the Times that the makeover would retain some of 5 Beekman’s glorious original details, such as “gold brackets shaped like dragons, metal grilles patterned with leaves, and even some walls with peeling paint, which on a recent tour created an industrial-fresco look.” Peeling walls and hundreds of dollar a night for a room? Sure, why not.
Officially called The Beekman Residences, the 68 condos atop the 75 hotel rooms at 115 Nassau (which will rise 600 feet tall and include a host of probably fancy amenities) will hit the market this summer. Preliminary details: apartments will have 16-foot ceilings and be priced in the $2,000-per-square-foot range. Oh, and constructing this whole shebang is costing a pretty $350 million.

 View Full Article – Curbed NY

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Tupperware Women's 80s Shirt

Tupperware Women's 80s Shirt
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Tupperware Consultants know how to party - 80s Style!  An off the shoulder Bella + Canvas shirt in black with a custom vinyl design, to keep you dancing through the night.

If requesting pickup by B.M. - our local Pittsburgh Consultant before convention, please use the code LOCALPICKUP to remove shipping cost.

Body Length (Front)

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Thursday, December 27, 2007

Christmas Photos!

Well, I'm glad my husband is a pack rat when it comes to keeping cords. I found my old camera cord (same brand as my new camera) and it works! Yippee--back in business! Here are a few photo memories of our Christmas 2007.


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Saturday, 8 September 2012

Oh my what a fantastic day. I had a great demo day then rushed down to meet Anna so we could go to Carfest. She really is the best friend a girl could have and knows me so very well. We're both avid fans of Chris Evans and his breakfast show on BBC radio2 each weekday morning and when we found out he was organising a festival we knew we wanted to go. One slight problem, tickets were like hens teeth. But Anna to the rescue via the florist in Nailsworth and at the last minute 2 day tickets were obtained.

So we arrived rather late in the day but that didn't stop us having the most fabulous time and being rather excited. We got to see the cars, including the magnificent seven and even chitty chitty bang bang

The great setting of Cholmondeley Castel (pronounced Chumley)

Even the food was good

The atmosphere was electric but family friendly too, with lots of little people being there. We got to see The Proclaimers, Paloma Faith (swoon - she is amazing) and Texas, all hosted by Mr Evans himself.

The Proclaimers - 2 guys with guitars that know how to start a party.

The beautiful, kooky, hilarious, super talented Paloma Faith

He even got the local constabulary dancing to YMCA!

I'd forgotten what a great voice Charlene has, I'm off to search spottily for some Texas.

We ended up pretty much at the front, not bad as we were last to arrive. I don't think I stopped, singing, screaming, dancing and jumping up and down for hours. Well it was only when it was time for the. Fireworks before we left that I calmed a little, but not much as they were great fireworks.

Thank you Anna for making this night happen and thank you to Mr Chris Evans for giving up bread for Lent and because of it, making Carfest happens and raising lots of money for Children in Need.

The only regret I have is I had to cancel on another of my bested friends to go to Carfest, sorry Gwyneth. I will make it up to you.

Love ya

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Monday, July 25, 2005

In Other News....

How in the world do y'all find time to write so much in your blogs? Y'all are CRAZY! (in a good way) I go away for a few days and come back and there are 52 entries in my bloglines. Some of you have written FIVE ENTRIES in the past 3 days. And it's the WEEKEND! Woah. That is really remarkable.

And today I may disappoint you if you were hoping for something with any kind of depth to it. But I do feel I must post just to keep up with the Joanzez. Or something like that. heh.

Mostly I'm kidding.

We had a good weekend. We visited friends and frenz and some more frendzez. We got to see some folks from Texas we don't see often but they were in Northern Michigan so we drove way up into the woods to see them and that was fun. We found a LOVELY little JEWEL of a campground on Jewel Lake - maybe someday we'll actually camp there.

We're really blessed with terrific friends.

Our porch renovation is nearly completed. Someday I'll get pictures on Flickr so you can see the transformation. Way cool.

The cats are fine, I know you're all dying to know. They survived the weekend without us since Aunt Pat fed them and watered the plants like the lovely friend that she is. 2 of the tomatoes look like they want to get ripe soon. Which is fun. Yay for ripe tomatoes! Yum.

On Hotness: I remember a time when I could just lie in bed at night and imagine I was floating in ice water and my body would cool itself right down. Presto, I was fine.

And that reminds me: I had a memory the other day you might identify with. I saw the sun glint off an old fashioned metal slide in a playground when we were driving... Remember those? I think they make them out of vinyl now or something. But I saw the sun reflecting off this metal slide and suddenly I remembered how it felt to be 4 and our butt cheeks would BURN when we sat down on that slide that seemed ginormous because we were only 3 feet tall. But we did it anyway because it was fun to slide and we were brave! We'd go "OW! OW!! OOO! OOO!! OW!" the whole way down, but we did it anyway...... and then we climbed up the ladder and did it again!

'Member that? :o)

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Listening and Telling

For all our individualism, it's amazing how much we need to know how much our experience is similar to another's - how greatly we are relieved to hear someone say "Ya. I do that too."

So we naturally ask questions: Was it like this for you? What did you do to keep from losing your mind? Is all this crap just in my head? Am I Effed Up completely?

I've read in some of the wounded healer discussions that it's not necessary to talk about one's own woundings, but I have to say I sometimes disagree. I understand the spirit this is meant in - generally, it's good to be reminded that "it's not about you". I've needed that instruction, and known others who should have heard it along the way. Sometimes it is good to shut up about your own stuff if another needs to air theirs. If one is sitting there listening and comparing the other's story to one's own, preparing a response, etc... the listening is stunted and the power is sapped from the process. I digress here... but I feel the need to fend off the potential of someone flaming me for not getting the general idea behind that.

I want to know why it is you sit there and smile at me and say "I know what you mean." Do you? I don't need every sordid detail, but I want to know what it is that you think qualifies you to say such a thing before I go unloading my vulnerable soul anywhere near you. It might not be the same thing exactly, but we can draw parallels, if we're paying attention.

I rarely watch Oprah, but the other day I did. It was a special they were doing on Oprah's favorite "ahah" moments, I think she calls them. She revisited a time she visited a prison group for recovering abusers. These men had beaten their wives and been jailed for it. They were learning how NOT to do that anymore, and she asked one of the members what one thing would he tell people that was the most basic to changing his behavior. He said (and I loosely quote here from memory) "That's easy. It's learning to feel pain. To feel right on through it and live in it and stay with it." And Oprah said "Oh! That's not so different from how I'm learning not to overeat." And she had an Ah Hah! moment right there - feeling a kinship with this man who was learning how not to behave in an abusive way toward others. She said that going in to work that day, she never would have dreamed she had anything in common with these abusers sitting there, she learned how alike they actually were. I like her honesty in that.

I remember my friend telling me the story of how she lost her leg and her journey of learning to compensate for that and how she tried in vain to hide this disability of hers. She told me with a great deal of honesty how she learned to live in such a way that others wouldn't treat her differently because of her difference. - And what that did to her spirit. - And how she healed from those wounds. I then found I could relate to her on many levels, and I trusted her immensely with my own story after hearing hers, even if it wasn't exactly like mine. She could have just said "I lost my leg when I was a kid. Ya, it was hard, but God got me through it." That would have turned me off completely. In fact, often when people tell me their stories in that manner I'm sad and disapponted. Because no matter how much faith we have, life is still stinkin' hard sometimes, and when we duck from the telling of that, we keep ourselves from each other.

Even when the teller needs nothing from the listener - it helps to be reminded we are all of us mere mortals.

Monday, July 18, 2005

C'est la Même Chose

I've been tagged by martha, martha to do a meme.

What I was doing 10 years ago: Was working as a receptionist for Melange. Also teaching a studio of private students to play the flute. I rented a little studio in Miller Music Studio and had some really terrific and interesting students. It was also about that time I began realizing how much of a mess I might be and that perhaps I couldn't straighten it all out on my own.

5 years ago: Was working as an office manager for Melange (same company as above). Bought my first house. Turned 30. Survived one of the most stressful years of my life.

1 year ago: Still working at Melange - getting used to a new house and being married to Amazing Man!

Yesterday: NOT working at Melange anymore.... or anywhere else! Just at home. heh. Slept in. Ate blueberry waffles made by Amazing Man for breakfast. Played Cities and Knights with Amazing Man, Made dessert for Sunday Night and then went to Sunday night potluck.

5 Snacks I enjoy:
banana baby food
trail mix bars

5 songs I know all the words to:
Amazing Grace (maybe)
Little Bunny Foo Foo
The Poop Song
Tom the Toad
The Farmer in the Dell

5 things I would do with $100 million dollars:
(Tell no one except my closest family and friends that I had it)
Pay cash for a reasonably nice house (and housekeeper) that met our needs but didn't seem too obviously flashy.
Take care of family and friends in ways that could be accepted by them and/or were appropriate to the situation.
Donate to ministries/charities I care about
Invest, invest, invest.
And have fun with it.

5 locations to which I would like to run:
St Kitts
the Upper Penninsula of Michigan (in summer)
Rocky Mountains
Washington (the state)
Anywhere no one else is.

5 bad habits I have:
I don't have any.

What? You don't believe me?
Well, maybe I swear just a bit too much sometimes. (this is a matter of opinion, of course)
I tend to be too critical of myself and others
I have a bad habit of periodically obsessing over things that aren't my business or that I have no control over.
I almost never make the bed
Forget to floss

5 things I like doing:
hanging out with loved ones
playing settlers

5 things I would never wear:
barbed wire
gaudy jewelry
micro mini skirt

5 TV shows I like:
i want to be a hilton
funny video shows

5 biggest joys of the moment:
Air Conditioning
Happy Amazing Man
Happy Kitties
Terrific friends
Coffee (simple life)

5 favorite toys:
my computer
MP3 Player (I still have the dinosaur Creative Labs Jukebox!)
Kitchenaid Mixer
Mini electronic Yahtzee Game
Reciprocal Saw

5 next victims:
anybody brave enough!

Friday, July 15, 2005

The More You Wear The Less You Need Nair

Dear Nair,

Do you ever actually watch those commercials that you made that make shaving women's legs seem like rocket science? I mean - have you actually watched them? I know it's about making money - but please. How often does one actually CUT one's legs shaving like the girls they show on the advertisements?
Do you really think we are all that stupid? Most of us have been doing it so long we're really quite adept at it. We don't need you portraying us like ditzy airheaded bimbos who mangle themselves and shoot soap all over the bathroom and fall down every time we try to shave.

Shaving is a pain in the - uh - LEG, or wherever - I certainly won't deny that. Your product might be Really Great - but my point is this:
We're not a bunch of uncoordinated idiots.

Got it?

Thank you,

Monday, July 11, 2005

Of Waterfalls and Earthquakes

by Captainwow

There was once a city named Bire. The city sat directly on a faultline, so there were often earthquakes in the land. The townspeople got used to the earthquakes, as they were rarely ever big enough to do any real damage.
A river ran through this town, and it was beautiful. The people loved the river, and they took good care of it. It gave them a place to row boats on, swim in, fish from, and they set up water wheels to power their grain mills and various other endeavors.
One day though, the earth shook. It trembled, it roared, and it grated together. Everyone was terrified, as it was the worst earthquake anyone remembered living through. Buildings toppled, and property was damaged. Some of the livestock freaked out and ran away, plowing through fences and tearing through the fields into the woods.
The land split and there emerged a great cliff under the river, diverting the river and creating some magnificant waterfalls. People came from miles and miles to see the waterfalls. After everyone in the town of Bire recovered from the earthquake, they fell in love with their falls as much as they had with their river and they set up tourist traps around the falls - because everyone who came to see them always said the same thing:

"Goodness Gracious! Great Falls of Bire!"


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Sunday, July 23, 2006

Feeling Small

Last night I felt very tiny.
In a cosmic sort of way.

We watched Something's Gotta Give with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton and seeing her in that made me think of her in The Other Sister where she played the neurotic overprotective mom and I thought about how now that I'm a mother it makes perfect sense to me how someone can get quirky and whacked out about their kid.

I thought how inevitable it is that I'll feel that way and how inevitable it also is that our generations will gap. And wow, generations have been gapping for EVER. Ever and ever. I pictured this meandering winding map of the generations gapping all throughout the history of mankind and I wondered how many times it might have looped around and criss crossed itself and how massive the expanse would be if one could actually map this out in some semi-linear fashion.

And I lay there in my bed on my belly with my toes hooked under Amazing Man's ankle, my elbow wedged under his pillow, and my knee on the other side smothered by the cat. With Sam in the other room just on the other side of the wall, I felt at that moment that he was so far away, the world was so big, my bed was so small and I was smaller yet.

So very very small.

  • Golly Moses! I am on my way out the door to work and I will be thinking about this all day. Sigh...

    By Blogger annie, at 7/24/2006 8:50 AM

  • what annie said!

    By Blogger SpookyRach, at 7/24/2006 8:56 AM

  • Hey! I watched that last night too. And..I thought of you!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/24/2006 11:05 AM

  • i watched that movie too ... :o)

    and don't you find yourself thinking deeper and deeper as we age? questions that seem to be answered, but only in a way our mind understands - but our mouths can't vocalize?

    then i think that how can a person believe our life ends when we die? i mean it is just like Sam saying that there was nothing outside of that warm womb he was in ... but there was so much more and people that loved him already, just waiting to see him ...

    i picture that like our eternity in Christ ... there is so much more ... so much more ...

    see you got me thinking too!

    By Blogger Saija, at 7/24/2006 2:31 PM

  • thanks for posting your thoughts. you have given your readers something to roll around in all day.
    mission accomplished?
    you are most definitely capt. wow today.

    By Anonymous K Moore, at 7/25/2006 9:31 AM

  • Looking at the night sky on a clear night does it for me.

    By Blogger Patti, at 7/25/2006 4:08 PM

  • Recognizing that you (and I) are not in control is both frightening and liberating. You will want to control Sam's environment when the best you can hope for is to positively influence his decisions. Oh, yeah, he is deciding right now. And he will kep on choosing. So offer him the best choices you can, model effective decision-making, and pray for divine guidance. Nothing is inevitable, but the paths are already pretty strong. (And in response to your comment on my blog, I think you have some mighty good stuff to say and I am glad you say it.)

    By Blogger little david, at 7/25/2006 11:26 PM

  • This is the time of our lives...
    enjoy it...
    and let everything (big or small)
    keep you amazed with it.

    By Blogger Steve, at 7/30/2006 9:01 PM

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Horrific Security Footage Shows P.O.S. Boyfriend Beating Pregnant Girlfriend So Bad Her Skull Is Exposed

Ladies, choose who you decide to be involved with carefully.

Horrific security footage from Roanoke, Virginia, shows what happens when a woman is dating an abusive man.

The video is very graphic and an eye-opener.

Jamar Bernard Woody, 35, launched the brutal attack on Shatory Irving, 26, in June last year.

Shatory — during the time of the attack — was three months pregnant.

She also was walking around on crutches due to a broken ankle.

Doctors testified that Ms Irving’s skull was exposed after the vicious beating caused an inch-long split in her forehead.

Her child was born premature but healthy last year.

Local attorney David Billingsley told the Roanoke Times: ‘She really is fortunate that she wasn’t hurt more than she actually was.’

Ms Irving admitted to giving testimony during Woody’s trial as part of an attempt to keep him out of jail.

She described how she violated a protective order he had taken out against her in 2014 and broke windows during disagreement.

“You have to understand, it is a volatile, toxic relationship,” defense attorney Melvin Hill told the Roanoke Times.

It really is shocking that a woman as abused as Ms. Irving was would defend the very man that inflicted her near death blows.

Chris Clemens, the judge on the case, said Woody’s jail sentence would also include psychiatric treatment.

The defense attorney revealed that the abusive boyfriend had a history of mental health issues.

Ladies, be strong enough to walk away from a man who would do anything like this to you.

You don’t deserve to be treated like this.

Guys, unless the woman you’re involved with is physically threatening your life, this is never acceptable.

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Monday, April 21, 2014

Game Of Thrones Season 4 Episode 2 (DOWNLOAD)

In “The Lion and the Rose,” Tyrion lends Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) a hand. Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and Margaery (Natalie Dormer) host a breakfast. At Dragonstone, Stannis (Stephen Dillane) loses patience with Davos (Liam Cunningham). Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) finds a purpose for his pet. North of the Wall, Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) sees where they must go.

Click The Link below to download

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August 26, 2006

Brad Pasiley and Local Live Map tour

I've been a Brad Paisley fan for some time and now I'm more of a fan seeing that he's using Local Live to take fans on a tour of Memphis, TN. Check out this resource where Paisley shares some of his favorite destinations using the Local Live Map UI... nice touch

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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Bad Sex, a Three-Volume Post

1. The British mag Literary Review does a "Bad Sex" award, "with the aim of gently dissuading authors and publishers from including unconvincing, perfunctory, embarrassing or redundant passages of a sexual nature in otherwise sound literary novels." Some of the shortlisted passages are amusing, though there isn't much that compares to the 2005 winner:
And he came hard in her mouth and his dick jumped around and rattled on her teeth and he blacked out and she took his dick out of her mouth and lifted herself from his face and whipped the pillow away and he gasped and glugged at the air, and he came again so hard that his dick wrenched out of her hand and a shot of it hit him straight in the eye and stung like nothing he'd ever had in there, and he yelled with the pain, but the yell could have been anything, and as she grabbed at his dick, which was leaping around like a shower dropped in an empty bath, she scratched his back deeply with the nails of both hands and he shot three more times, in thick stripes on her chest. Like Zorro.

2. Rod Liddle rambles about the former floridity and recent flaccidity of John Updike in the Times [of London].

3. [Update. See my review.] I've been reading Anne Enright's new collection of stories, Yesterday's Weather, which is very good, incomparably better than her novel, The Gathering. (Review to follow when I finish the book.) It is relevant to this post because of her story "The Bad Sex Weekend," which has this characteristic and beautifully poised sentence:
The sex, when it happened, an aimless battering around the nub of him, which was sadly distant and, she supposed, numb with drink.

Grobstein said...

I did not much like The Gathering.

Sarang said...

I was ambivalent about it. There was some good prose, I thought, but it was structurally unsound. The short stories are on the whole less ill-conceived and better written.


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Friday, December 11, 2009

Light and grease redux

Proust, The Captive, trans. Scott Moncrieff (mainly because that's the version that's online):
In the early-rising mornings of spring that followed, I could hear the tram-cars moving, through a cloud of perfumes, in an air with which the prevailing warmth became more and more blended until it reached the solidification and density of noon. When the unctuous air had succeeded in varnishing with it and isolating in it the scent of the wash-stand, the scent of the wardrobe, the scent of the sofa, simply by the sharpness with which, vertical and erect, they stood out in adjacent but distinct slices, in a pearly chiaroscuro which added a softer glaze to the shimmer of the curtains and the blue satin armchairs, I saw myself, not by a mere caprice of my imagination, but because it was physically possible, following in some new quarter of the suburbs, like that in which Bloch’s house at Balbec was situated, the streets blinded by the sun, and finding in them not the dull butchers’ shops and the white freestone facings, but the country dining-room which I could reach in no time, and the scents that I would find there on my arrival, that of the bowl of cherries and apricots, the scent of cider, that of gruyère cheese, held in suspense in the luminous congelation of shadow which they delicately vein like the heart of an agate, while the knife-rests of prismatic glass scatter rainbows athwart the room or paint the waxcloth here and there with peacock-eyes.

(I like long sentences a little too much for my own good.) Cf. also here and here. I should note in passing that one of the reasons Proust is a difficult writer is that he's got to be read both somewhat fast (so that you remember the bits in the earlier vols. that correspond to bits in the later vols.) and somewhat carefully (so that you don't skim past the good bits). Had one but world enough and time, I think one would want to do the whole thing at something like five hours a day over two weeks.