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Easter is almost here! Avoid the Easter Sunday rush and get your photos taken with the Easter Bunny before April 18. The Easter Bunny has taken up residence at the Great Mall of the Bay Area, and he's waiting to make friends with children of all ages -- including teens like my kids. It has been a while since the kids have posed for photos with the Easter Bunny, so when the opportunity arose to take some photos with the Easter Bunny, I jumped at the chance.

You'd think my teens would be whining and groaning about it, but they more than game to see the Easter Bunny. To be honest, it's not like we need much of an excuse to visit the Great Mall of the Bay Area.  Even though it's a bit of a drive from our home, we love going to the Great Mall because there are so many outlet stores with great prices, and they're all in one place, so I can get all my clothes shopping done in one visit. My teen boys actually ask me if they can go to the Great Mall to buy clothes! Their favorite brands like Vans and PacSun and UNIQLO and Adidas and Nike and Forever 21 are all here, as well as their favorite Filipino fast food restaurant, Jollibee.
Easter Bunny at the Great Mall of the Bay Area

 You'll find the Easter Bunny in the center court at Area 2 of the Great Mall of the Bay Area. His little spring hut is brightly decorated and the perfect setting for your family's Easter photos.

Easter Bunny at the Great Mall of the Bay Area

You can choose from several print packages which range from $25 to $35, with add-ons like photo magnets, photo keychains, and photo CD.  You can also select an all-digital package which consists of all your photos on a CD for $29.99. Each package comes with coupons for a free photo book on Shutterfly, and it's given to you in a cute shopping bag printed with images from the animated movie Sing!.

Because we live in a digital world, I selected the photo CD package. I think it's the best deal of all because you get multiple poses (we got 7!) and all the rights to the digital images, so you can send them via email, post them on social media,  or print them in any size you want.

The cd includes a printout of the thumbnails of your images, which is very important, because this printout contains the id number of each pose. When I got home and loaded the cd onto my laptop, I discovered that I had been given a blank cd! This was annoying, as you can imagine, but thanks to responsive customer service and those all-important id numbers, I was able to contact someone and they were able to retrieve my images! I was so relieved and happy. I can't give enough praise to the Great Mall customer service team as well as the Noerr Programs Photography team for how they handled the whole thing.

Despite that momentary glitch, all's well that ends well. How could I not be happy with these happy smiles?!  It has been a while since my kids visited the Easter Bunny, so it was quite the reunion. They were a bit too large to sit on his lap, but there was plenty of room on Easter Bunny's garden bench.
Easter Bunny photos
Easter Bunny photos
Easter Bunny photos

The kids had so much fun hamming it up with the Easter Bunny. My favorite photo is this one, where they're all giving each other Bunny Ears!
Easter Bunny photos

Disclosure: This is a compensated post.  The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Enjoy gourmet treats every month with Sweets GiftBox

Sweets GiftBox

Whenever I'm at the checkout line at a gourmet store, I'm always tempted by the gourmet bites for sale -- squares of caramel, a beautifully frosted cookie, a small chocolate sampler, a bag of nuts -- but I never know which ones to get. Buying them all to take home and try seems like too many calories and too much money. A more practical -- and fun -- solution is a subscription to Sweets Giftbox, a service that sends you 4-5 curated gourmet treats every month. They find the best treats around and send them to you so you can have a delicious time discovering new favorites!

Sweets Giftbox sent me their latest box to try, and I'm so glad this happened in February, because each monthly box has a different theme, and February's theme was -- you guessed it -- chocolate and caramel.
Sweets GiftBox

The box contained:

A Mayana Fix Bar, which like a gourmet Twix bar: vanilla bean shortbread cookie topped with fleur de sal caramel and covered with dark chocolate. I'm already a fan of the ordinary Twix bar, so the Fix Bar was absolute heaven. I'm craving another one already. It's going to be my new fix!
Sweets GiftBox

A pack of fleur de sal caramels from Sweet Jules Gifts. They are sooooo good. All I can say is that I'm glad that 3Po and Jammy have braces and that The Pea is recovering from dental surgery, so none of them can eat caramels right now and I can eat them all by myself.
Sweets GiftBox

A caramel milk chocolate bar from Ethel M. Chocolates. We've visited the Ethel M. museum and factory in Las Vegas so I know how scrumptious their chocolates are, and I can't wait to enjoy this.
Sweets GiftBox

Funky Chunky chocolate caramel pretzels. The salty crunchiness of the pretzels goes so well with the chewy sweetness of the caramel and the creaminess of the chocolate. Shhhh, I ate these all by myself. I couldn't stop!
Sweets GiftBox

The kids attacked and demolished the Lucky Guy brownie before I had a chance to photograph it separately, so I wasn't able to show you how fudgy and rich the inside of this brownie was. It was absolutely divine!
Sweets GiftBox

Other than Ethel M, I have never heard of these brand before, so if it weren't for Sweets GiftBox, I would never have discovered them (seriously, I'm already making plans to buy more of that Mayana Fix Bar).  Other months will have different themes and different products -- think of gourmet chocolates, cookies, candies, popcorn, nuts, etc... You won't know what's in the box beforehand (that would spoil the surprise!) but based on the quality of the treats in the box I received, I think I trust their taste.

You can sign up for a monthly subscription for $25 per month (1 box per month), or you can sign up for just a single box for $30. Shipping is included in the price. That's an average of $5 per treat, which might sound pricey, but I looked up the Mayana Fix Bar online (I told you I was serious), and it costs $8. So you're getting a curated box of goodies at a great price. It's a wonderful present for a friend or a wonderful way to treat yourself to new flavors and yummy discoveries every month. Use the code below to save on your first Sweets GiftBox and taste it for yourself!

Sweets GiftBox

Save on your first Sweets GiftBox

Use the code SWEETSTUFF and receive 50% off a new subscription or 40% off a one-time purchase

Disclosure: I received a sample box to facilitate my review. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Test driving the Mazda CX-9

We've owned a minivan for 12 years now, and it has served us well. But now that our kids are older, we're finding that we need less vehicle space -- no more car seats, strollers, and diaper bags. The van is getting older and as we start to think about replacing it, we find that our eyes are beginning to wander towards SUVs and crossovers. These vehicles still have the space that we need, but they're a bit more sleek and stylish!

Sleek and stylish is certainly the vibe given off by the Mazda CX-9, an SUV crossover designed for families who need performance in a vehicle as much as they practicality. We test drove the Mazda CX-9 during our holiday road trip to Hollywood and Disneyland, and I have to say, it certainly made the 6 hour (8 with traffic!) journey between Northern and Southern California a lot easier to bear!

Before you even step inside the CX-9, you know instantly that this is a luxury vehicle. The shape is sleek and aerodynamic, and the body has chrome trim throughout. Even the most basic trim level comes with 18-inch wheels, and 20-inch wheels come standard with the Grand Touring level and up. Our vehicle came in a handsome slate grey which really adds to the air of sophistication.

The interior is just as beautiful. Some of the plastic interiors (like the dashboard trim) almost look like rosewood and leather, The leather seats are nice and wide. They're so comfortable, it honestly feels like you're relaxing in a recliner. The CX-9 does a great job of drowning out the outside noise, so you get a smooth, quiet ride. The only thing that keeps me from giving the CX-9 a perfect score for comfort is that the roof is quite low. I'm 5'8" and my husband is 5'11" (which is decently tall but not towering), and we both felt like the ceiling was touching our heads.

I have to give extra points for the pull-up window shades, which is soooo convenient when you have young kids. These shades are perfect for when your kids nap in the car.

The CX-9 comes with 3rd row seating, and I was surprised at how roomy the 3rd row was. In many vehicles with 3rd row seating, my 13 year-old twins have to sit with their knees practically to their chest. But in the 3rd row of the CX-9, they were able to sit comfortably for a couple of hours without suffering from stiff legs. That being said, I wouldn't sit a tall adult (5' 2" and up) there for more than an hour at a time.

The split seat capability (60/40 in the 2nd row, 50/50 in the 3rd row) can really improve the space issue, because if you only need one seat in the third row, you can adjust the seat in front of it to give the 2nd row seat a little less legroom, which gives the 3rd row seat a bit more legroom. There's plenty of legroom in the 2nd row, so if you have two smaller adults, you can seat one in the 2nd row and one in the 3rd row directly behind, and share the legroom!

With the 3rd row of seats down, there is a good amount of cargo space. I've read reviews of this car not having enough cargo space, but that really wasn't the case for us.

With the half of the 3rd row up and half down, there was enough luggage space for our family of five on a five-day trip.

I love how the rear has so many little storage compartments. Removable panels reveal little spaces to store emergency packs, extra clothes (a must if you have little kids), even your purse or camera. It's the perfect hiding place because no one can see what you're storing inside!

Driving up mountains and passing cars on the highway was a breeze thanks to the 2.5L engine. You barely need to touch the gas pedal and this car immediately begins to zoom zoom zoom! It's definitely a lot of fun to drive (and the responsiveness definitely makes me feel safer in situations where you might need to speed up quickly).  You'd think this vehicle would be a real gas guzzler, but since it only have 4 cylinders, not 6, the fuel efficiency can be as good as 22 city/28 highway.

The CX-9 has all the latest tech: color LCD screen with navigation, compass, and trip info, bluetooth connectivity (and lots of charging ports throughout the vehicle), display projection on the windshield, stereo sound, all the bells and whistles. But I have to admit that the touchscreen infotainment system and I did not get along at all. The controls were not intuitive, and even after a week of daily use. Also, I found the projected display (the LCD screen is projected onto the windshield) distracting. Unfortunately, the projection always defaults to "on"! I had to devise my own workaround (lower the viewing angle) to get it to disappear without my having to fiddle with the controls every single time I started the car.

Where Mazda does get the technology right is in their safety features. The backup camera, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert really helped us during our road trip. We felt extremely safe in this car, even when driving in torrential rain at night.

The CX-9 is offered at 4 levels: Sport, Touring, Grand Touring, and Signature. If you can afford it, I would definitely go for the Touring trim level or higher, because you get quite a few luxury features as standard, like leather seats, power front seats, power hatchback and the cool safety features. You can get the CX-9 at its highest level (Signature), fully loaded, for under $45,000, which is a great value compared to other competitors in the 7-seater SUV field. Add in the decent (for its class) fuel economy, and the CX-9 should definitely be part of your short list when shopping for a new vehicle.

We had a great time with the Mazda CX-9 on our road trip. It's a comfortable, good looking vehicle with the right amount of space and power for our family's needs.  Check out the Mazda CX-9 at your local Mazda dealer and take it for a test drive!

Disclosure:. DriveShop lent me the use of the Mazda CM-9 for review purposes. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Meet Gabriela, American Girl of the Year 2017 (and a giveaway for you!)

Can you believe that American Girl has been releasing a Girl of the Year (GOTY) doll since 2001? 2017 will mark the release of their 15th doll, and I'm so excited that 2017's Girl of the Year, Gabriela McBride, is a person of color! Out of the last 14 dolls, 3 have been girls of color (Marisol is Hispanic, Jess is half Asian, Kanani is Hawaiian American). Gabriela is the 4th girl of color and the first African American. I could not be happier that American Girl recognizes that America is a diverse country and has released a beautiful doll who exemplifies that diversity!  I know that many girls have been waiting and hoping for a Girl of the Year that they can relate to on the inside and the outside.

From American Girl:

American Girl is excited to celebrate the New Year with the debut of its 2017 Girl of the Year - Gabriela McBride! Available January 1, 2017, Gabriela is a true talent who uses her passion for the arts—specifically spoken word poetry—to overcome personal obstacles and create positive change for her community. Gabriela launches with a beautiful 18-inch doll, plus several performance-inspired outfits, accessories, and toys. We're also happy to share that, unlike past Girl of the Year characters, Gabriela will be available throughout 2017 and beyond.

Yes, you read that correctly: Gabriela will be available throughout 2017 and beyond! American Girl has never done this before -- all other GOTY dolls were sold only for 1 year. But girls don't ever have to worry about missing out on Gabriela! They can save up for Gabriela without a time limit. What's more, whatever the next Girl of the Year looks like, they will always be able to get a Girl of the Year that looks like them.

American Girl sent me a Gabriela doll and book to review, and I have to say, Gabriela is just gorgeous! Here are some photos I took of her:
Gabriela has warm brown skin tones, warm brown eyes, and dark brown hair. Her hair is truly her crowning glory. Her hair cascades in a avalanche of natural curls, down past her shoulders. It looks good piled on top of her head as well. The doll comes with a cute double strand pink headband.  Check out these selfies that Gabriela took!
Gabriela wears denim jeggings, a purple sweater, and a teal tank top.
Probably the only thing that disappointed me about Gabriela is that the skin tone of her cloth body does NOT match the skin tone of her arms and face. At all. When she wears the tank top by itself, the color mismatch is clearly visible. It's not so obvious when she wears shirts with a neckline that is not as open.
Gabriela's shoes are adorable. They are high-top sneakers! The purple and teal colors match her tank top and sweater.

Gabriela is a multifaceted person that kids will really be able to relate to. She's a poet and a dancer. She has a speech impediment (stuttering). She is passionate about the arts and passionate about her local community arts center. She wants to make a difference in her local community. She is a great role model and I hope lots of girls read her story.

Outfits and Accessories

Gabriela outfits include PJs ($24), a rehearsal outfit (pictured below, $28) , tap shoes ($16), and a glitter performance outfit ($32). Her accessories kit (pictured below, $28) is a dance bag with everything she needs for rehearsal: the bag, water bottle, bandages, hair accessories, and food.

The photo below shows Gabriela wearing her Sparkling Sequins Outfit ($32). She's using her Performance Case ($48) to set up her next amazing music and poetry performance. I think the Performance Case is a great deal because it comes with so many items: a wheeled rolling case, a laptop with retractable cord, headphones, microphone, drum pad, drumsticks, and stickers to decorate the case.

Gabriela's Creative Dance Studio ($58)  has so much potential for open ended play! The backdrop is reversible so it can be the inside of a dance studio or the outside of a building. The set also includes a metal dance barre, water bottle, and towel.

I plan to head over to the American Girl Store to take more photos of Gabriela, her playsets, her accessories, and her outfits, so stay tuned!

Win a Gabriela doll and book

One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a Gabriela doll and book! Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below by 11:59PM on February 3, 2017. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  I received a product sample to facilitate my review, but have not been paid to review the product or give my opinions. Product information (in italics) is provided by American Girl. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Easy, Beautiful Holiday Decorating with Crab Pot Christmas Trees

Crab Pot Christmas Trees

How was your Christmas and First Night of Hanukkah! We had a great time opening presents, watching holiday baking shows, baking cookies, and admiring our holiday decorations. This year we welcomed a new piece of decor -- Crab Pot Christmas Trees sent us one of their sparkly, pre-lit trees, and it is the perfect size for our beloved Derpy Deer ceramic ornament!  Derpy Deer sits outside our home year-round (we love him that much) and welcomes us back home every time we pull into the driveway. The Crab Pot Christmas Tree puts Derpy Deer in the spotlight and we couldn't be happier. This tree is so easy to set up and looks so good outdoors, we will certainly be using it every year from now on!

Crab Pot Christmas Trees

If you don't own a Crab Pot Christmas Tree, now is the time to get one. All trees are discounted right now (gotta love those after-Christmas sales!), and you can choose from trees as tiny as 1.5 feet all the way to a majestic 8 feet tall. Each tree comes pre-lit in a variety of styles. You can choose between colored and white lights, as well as twinkling lights or steady lights. You can even choose LED lights to save energy!

Crab Pot Christmas Trees

The tree arrives in a flat triangular box (keep the box, it's great for storage).  Setting up the tree could not be more simple. Just undo the twist ties that keep the tree closed, then open up the tree in a fan-like motion. Twist tie the two ends together to keep the tree open, and you are done! The tree is already pre-lit so you don't have to mess with stringing and evenly spacing your lights.

Crab Pot Christmas Trees

The finished tree stands all by itself and can be used indoors or outdoors. I would definitely recommend using the tree outdoors, because it's essentially a green chicken wire frame with lights attached to it. You could fill it out with greenery, but it's pretty threadbare on its own.
Crab Pot Christmas Trees

Where the Crab Pot Christmas Tree truly shines (pun intended) is outdoors at night. The green wire frame blends in with the surroundings, so it doesn't intrude on your outside decorations -- but at night, this tree is quite stunning. They fold down so quickly and take up so little space that you can buy lots and lots of trees to create an outdoor holiday wonderland. The tree comes with stakes so you can secure it to the ground and leave it there throughout the season.
Crab Pot Christmas Trees

Save 30%

Right not, Crab Pot Christmas Trees are already discounted, but I have a code you can use to save even more! My Readers save 30% Off Crab Pot Christmas Trees that fold flat and sparkle from every angle Use Code: USFG16

Disclosure: I received a sample Crab Pot Christmas Tree to review. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Nature Walk

last night i went out for a little walk around the park and the moon caught my eye !
the moon ... and these beautiful yellow flowers !

i ran back inside, grabbed my camera and spent the next hour snapping shots around the park

want to see ?

ok ...

A jalapeno flower (above)

Society Garlic (above)

Lemon Thyme Flowers (above)

Rosemary Flowers (above)

Oh so pretty !!!!

Mari January 4, 2012 at 9:16 PM

Beautiful! I must admit to being a bit jealous - no flowers here!

My Other Blogs ...

Find Me On Ravelry

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I've been featured ~ TWICE!

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It's A Small Small World !

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Ep. 33 - Titanic // GUEST: Claudia Bitran

April 15, 2015

To commemorate the sinking of Titanic on the morning of April 15th, 1912, we revisit a movie that stayed afloat long past anyone's expectations.

Joining us for this episode is filmmaker and artist Claudia Bitran, currently working on a shot-for-shot remake of the record-breaking 1997 James Cameron film.
All of us watched Titanic as early teens, so the time seems ripe to reassess it now that we're grown-ass women. We also take a closer look at what has buoyed the film while simultaneously making it a target of mockery: teen female fandom.

Plus: Hear about some of our listeners' tender memories of watching the film, and tell us yours by leaving a message at 530-628-3379.

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Thursday, September 8, 2011

A Quote

In doing some reading on the computer today, I found a great quote by Steve Jobs about work and I wanted to share it. This is for everyone who feels passionate about what they do...

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” Steve Jobs [Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]


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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Quite an Experience!

Well, I must tell you of my adventure last evening.......

I had picked up granddaughter L from her after school Drum Line practice, and we were chatting about school and playing the drum and classes, just regular stuff. As we passed my house, L said "Grammy there was a hawk by your porch."   I hadn't looked so didn't see what she saw, but couldn't believe that there was a hawk just sitting by my porch. L said it looked like a lawn ornament.

After dropping L off, and returning home, sure enough, there was a Hawk by my porch. I approached it carefully, knowing that it must be injured. That would be the only reason that a wild bird like that would just be sitting there. I walked right up to it, within a foot and it watched me, but didn't move.

"Camera," said the little voice in my head, so I went in, put my purse down, grabbed my camera and went out. The Captain had gone out to have a look not believing at first, what I told him. I took my pictures before the Captain went out,

Now, there is a guardian angel of wild life here in Nova Scotia. Hope Swinimer is the founder of a wildlife facility, where they rescue injured wildlife, give medical attention, and rehabilitation to injured or orphaned animals, with the hope of releasing them back to the wild. This special place is called Hope for Wildlife, and is in Seaforth, near Halifax, quite a ways from where I live, almost two hours away. ( )

Really concerned for this beautiful bird of prey, I called Hope for Wildlife, and talked to Hope. I told her about the bird, and described it's action, as it had now started to hop across the yard, dragging one wing. I think we had made it nervous with all the door openings. Hope thought that it should be brought in to get the help it needed, and while she would try to get a person to come the distance to pick up the bird, she suggested if I could, to see if I could get it into a box, to contain it until someone arrived. I took a blanket (not a heavy one, just the handiest one) and a big box and went out to secure the bird. It was frightened and did not realize that I wanted to help, and it went into the bushes at the back of the property, finally coming to rest on the branch of a fallen tree. Again I was within a foot of it, talking to it as though I could make it understand that all I wanted to do was help. Its beautiful eyes seemed to be filled with fear, its beak open as though it was panting. I wanted to cry. It was so beautiful and so badly injured, a badly broken wing. My first try at covering it with a blanket in order to capture it, went awry, and it got caught up in blackberry branches. Having it partly covered with the blanket, and being the complete novice that I am, I thought I could just move it into the box that I had laying on its side as best as I could in the brambles. I am not sure now whether it was the beak or a claw that caught my finger through the blanket. Ouch! That hurt. The poor hawk was really frightened now, so I thought I had better leave it for a bit, to let it settle. I also realized I had better do something about my finger, which at this point was dripping blood. I managed to stop the bleeding, wound some gauze around it, and grabbing some heavy gloves, and  trying to slow my heart rate, I was off to make a second attempt at capture. The frightened hawk had clutched the blanket in its claws and by lifting the blanket with the bird attached I was able to get it into the box. I carried the box with its priceless life inside, to a spot near the house, that was in the shade. I put a cloth over the top, and hoped for the best.

I then went in and got supper ready, as if I hadn't had an incredible hour of rescue. D and L came up to have a look at the bird, as I had texted L to tell her she had been right about seeing a hawk.

Hope had told me that someone would call me regarding a pick-up of the hawk, but I hadn't heard anything by 7:30. I had known it would be hard to get a volunteer to drive all the way to the valley, but also knew that Hope had remarkable volunteers who did just that. Anyhow, I called Hope back, and she was still unable to get someone, and had also had three other injured hawk calls since my first call. We considered my keeping the hawk over night, which I would have done, but it was in pretty bad shape. I wondered if we could meet a volunteer half way, in Windsor. Hope jumped on that, and again put the call out. I had just hung up from talking to Hope, and the phone rang - the volunteer driver would meet us in Windsor at 9:30. She told me her name but I can't remember it to personally thank her.

My daughter D had earlier suggested that she would drive the hawk to Seaforth, (she had taken an orphaned raccoon in last year). I now called her to see if she would be willing to drive to Windsor with me to meet the volunteer. She willingly agreed and she, L and I with the hawk, that was now sitting up in the box, set off for Windsor, about 45 minutes away with D driving.

After a short wait in a Tim Horton's parking lot our rescuer arrived. I gave her the information she needed, and thanked her, and off she went taking the hawk to Seaforth. I told her how wonderful it was that she would do this. Then we headed for home.

I had initially thought that the hawk was a female Northern Harrier, after checking my bird book, but the rescuer took one quick look and told us it was a juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk. Checking my faithful bird book again after getting home, I realized that a Red-Tailed Hawk is a big bird, and was glad that this one was a juvenile, or I might be missing a finger today.

Here are the two pictures that I was able to get. Such a beautiful bird. I hope it makes it through the surgery last night. I cannot predict the outcome for this creature, but am thankful that I was given the opportunity to help it. Some might say, 'let nature take its course', but perhaps they haven't looked into the eyes of a helpless creature.

I hope things went well for you Red-Tail

Thanks to D and L for helping me to help him.

And an extra special thank you to

Hope For Wildlife

and the volunteers

for all that you do.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

September Daze

September…. A time for back to school adventures… a new grade, and a new school. My youngest granddaughter set off to high school early this morning, and the oldest one will leave for university on Sunday. Even when you know it is coming, it is still hard to settle it in your mind that the little ones have grown up so much.

Soon it will be time to get back to my regular activities, choir practice and Bible Study. I have to start revving up my mind to thinking about these things.

I have spent some time lately doing felting and have come up with these little creatures

I have also been doing some painting, and hopefully will get it done before too long. I am working on a picture of a deer in the woods.

A little update on the card from the last post. I counted years, even on my fingers and am sure it could not have been my 29th birthday, as neither one of the girls could have made it when I was 29. Perhaps they were trying to be kind, and took 10 years off.  Very strange. J

I was able to have a little get together with D, R, L and R’s friend C and his mother C. It was a nice evening, and I was happy to do it as a way of wishing them a good year. C’s mother brought me lovely potted mums. So pretty.

Have a great week and best of luck to all the young people who read this blog. Blessings as you return to school.

Oh yes, I'm the one who is in the September Daze.........


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Friday, March 5, 2010

MUSIC: Folk Friday {Coeur de Pirate}

I've gone back & forth since my last Folk Friday post about who to feature today. I've been listening to classic folk a lot recently {Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, etc, etc} & was leaning towards something retro, but I've been listening to this lady on repeat & felt I had to share. Now, folk she is not...indie pop is probably a more appropriate label, but it's still lovely.

Béatrice Martin, a 21 year old from Quebec, goes by the name of Coeur de Pirate. Her self titled album, Coeur de Pirate, was released in September of 2008 & I'm just in love. I sometimes like to pretend that I speak more French than I actually do, but whether all you know is 'Bonjour' or even less, I absolutely suggest checking this chick out.

I'm a sucker for French music. It makes me feel like this:

{Shout out to ANTM Cycle 8's Brittany. Is anyone else excited about new ANTM this Wednesday!?}

& sometimes a little of this thrown in the mix:

{image: Greta Garbo in The Temptress, 1926}

Give her a listen here:

  1. you sold me, i need to find this cd!

  2. It's really really good. I listen to it constantly & repeatedly!

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Ten Minutes To Glory: Your Editor/Agent Pitch

      Let's say you've written the world's greatest romance novel. There are two ways you can get an editor to read it. One is to mail it into the publisher (or have your agent mail it) and let the manuscript speak for itself. The other is to have an agent or editor ask to see your manuscript...which could happen during your appointment at the conference.
      So here you are, face to face with the editor or agent—who, as you've probably already heard, is NOT a monster. She's there because she wants to buy books! All you need to do is make her want to send for yours so she can read it and fall in love with it and get you a publishing contract. How do you do that?
      You start with the obvious "how-to-make-a-good-impression" techniques. You're businesslike, professional, friendly, etc....let's assume you already know how to make a good impression.
      Let's also assume you have a book to sell. Let's assume you've run it by your critique group and your mentor and they all say, "Yeah, it's great, it's ready to submit." (If you don't have a critique group or a mentor, get one! That's what RWA is for, is to give you all the tools that can help you sell, and those are both wonderful tools.)
      So you introduce yourself, shake hands, sit down, and now it's time for the pitch.
      You need to tell her three basic hit points right from the start: 1) what type of book are you pitching? Long contemporary, historical saga, mainstream women's fiction, romantic suspense... 2) How long is it? 3) And is it finished, or is it still in the working stages? It's important for her to know that you have the staying power to complete a book—if the one you're pitching ISN'T finished but you've completed two others, tell her that. Maybe she'll want to see them, and at least she'll know you can stay at the keyboard long enough to finish a book.
      If what you're pitching is an idea for a book that still has to be written, you'd better be pretty sure you can finish that book within the next six months...because if it takes longer than that, you can assume she will have forgotten all about you by the time your manuscript shows up in the mail. If your book won't be completed for another eight or nine months, then wait and pitch it at next year's conference instead.
      It takes some of the pressure off to know that you can't make anyone want to buy your book during a conference pitch. All you can do is make her want to see it. And you do that by describing what's going to interest readers...what your book is about. You need the equivalent of a great synopsis—something that outlines your main premise, your characters, what they do and what's their conflict and how they grow and how they solve that conflict.
      What you need for starters is a "topic sentence." This is something you can use over and over, by the way...when you tell people "I sold a book!" and they say "Congratulations, what's it about?" you're probably not going to have ten minutes to give them the storyline. You'll be lucky if you get ten seconds. So this topic sentence is your ten-second synopsis of what the book is about: "It's about a Southern belle who thinks she's in love with a man she can't have, and only by going through the trials of the Civil War realizes that the man she truly loves is the one she's been battling with all along." "It's about a teenage boy and girl whose families have been feuding for generations but who fall in love at first sight, and how they struggle to be together but finally choose death rather than separation." Boom. You've told the story.
      Try telling it with Debra Dixon's method of three 3x5 cards—one each for characters, conflict and summary. On the first, write down WHO, WANTS, WHY and WHY NOT. (Love those "W" words...) Start by describing WHO the heroine is in three words—say Jane Doe is a teacher, she's empathetic and she's gutsy. Then say what she WANTS more than anything in the world, like "to help student Johnny Jones overcome his learning disability." We need something specific, not something nebulous like "Jane wants to find true love."
      WHY does she want this? There might be a dozen different reasons, depending on her character. Maybe she sees in Johnny the lovable son she gave up for adoption. Maybe she's determined to prove that she can make a difference in some child's life because she couldn't save her daughter from a car wreck and she's been carrying around this guilt ever since. The motivation you choose depends on her character, and it's where we get a glimpse of her internal conflict. If Jane's carrying around a lot of leftover guilt about her daughter's death, for instance, maybe she feels like she doesn't deserve to fall in love again.
      WHY NOT? What's going to stand in the way of our heroine getting what she wants? Say Jane wants to help Johnny overcome his learning disability, but Johnny's father refuses to believe his son has dyslexia and the school won't allow students in their program without parental consent. This is the external conflict between your hero and heroine, and it's completely separate from the internal conflict...which is what they're each going through on their own.
      Now we do the same thing on the other side of the card for the hero. WHO? Bob Jones is a rancher who's a stubborn loner. He WANTS to believe his son is normal. WHY? He can't face the idea that he might have failed as a parent because he's already failed as a husband. WHY NOT/What stands in his way? Jane refuses to back down about getting Johnny into the dyslexia program. And there we are; that's the first card.
      Onto the second, which will cover the emotional aspects of the book—the hero's and heroine's internal conflict. On the front, write down something like "Jane feels so guilty about her daughter's death that she can't let herself fall in love; Bob can't accept Johnny's disability because he feels like that would mean he's failed at every close personal relationship he's ever had." And on the back...write down how they resolve the problem.
      Well, how could Jane and Bob resolve their problem? Maybe when he sees her grieving over her daughter he realizes that his son's still alive and deserves the best treatment Bob can give him, including the dyslexia program. Maybe when she sees Bob willing to acknowledge Johnny's disability, Jane realizes she can show that same courage by being willing to love again. Whatever your resolution is, write it down on the back of card #2.
      Finally, card #3. Here's where you write your topic sentence, and it's nice if you can make it a kind of "hook" that will make people want to know more. For example, "A teacher advocates to help a child with dyslexia and falls in love with the opposition—the boy's father." You want to know more, right? Like, what happens?
      Next comes your heroine sentence where you combine the WHO, WHAT and WHY: "Gutsy, empathetic Jane Doe sees helping Johnny Jones as a chance to compensate for her daughter's fatal car accident, a loss which has left her afraid to love again." Now your hero sentence. "Rancher Bob Jones, a stubborn loner, refuses to acknowledge his son's disability, feeling it would mean he has failed as a father after having already failed as a husband." And finally, your resolution. "Only after Bob sees how much Jane misses her daughter does he realize that his son deserves all the caring acceptance he can give, and his courage in acknowledging Johnny's disability gives Jane the courage to risk loving again."
      This is pretty quick and dirty, but it gives you the idea. Sentence #1 is your topic or hook. #2 is your heroine's who, what and why. #3 is your hero's who, what and why. #4 is how they resolve their conflict. And now you've got the guts of your book down on this 3x5 card.
      This may be as far as you want to take it. You can memorize these four sentences or read them out loud at your appointment...and if you're the kind of person who can't face putting on a show in public, that's all you need to do. But you can give yourself an edge if you're willing to spark it up a little more. A good performance might improve your chance of selling. And obviously the more chance you get to practice, the better your performance will be. So you need to fine-tune your speech. When you're talking with the editor or agent, you want to sound natural, like you're chatting about the great movie you just saw last week. "I just came from the best movie. It's about a Southern belle who thinks she's in love with a man she can't have...."
      And you're off on your story. Here's a hint: write your speech so it opens with the phrase "It's about." That's a smoother, easier way to start in with your topic sentence than any other opening you could rehearse...and if you practice your speech by opening with that phrase "It's about," it'll come naturally when you're making the pitch. You say that line, and the rest of the story just flows from there.
      If you're going to make your pitch during a group appointment, keep your speech down to one minute or less. You don't want to go on and on about your book while eight other people are sitting around the table. If the editor/agent is fascinated and asks for more, you can always have a little more prepared—the way an orchestra has their encore sheet music already sitting on the music stand.
      If you're going to make your pitch during an individual appointment, try to tell the story in four to six minutes. You can really pique her interest in that much time, and it'll still give you another few minutes to answer questions. When writing your speech, keep in mind that you can speak about 160 words during one minute.
      If you're a natural performer, just go in there and perform your speech. Ideally, you'll have it memorized so you don't need to refer to your notes—when you're telling your neighbor about a good movie, you don't refer to any notes! It helps you memorize if you recite your narrative over and over again, and that'll also give you a chance to embellish your performance—right down to the dramatic pauses.
      And if you're not a natural performer, you do exactly the same thing. You write down your speech, and you rehearse it. Over and over and over. Every time you tell the story, you're going to find a different way of delivering a line. You'll remember the changes that sound really good—go back in and put them in your script. After ten or twelve rehearsals, you're going to have this thing down pat. And it can only help your chances of selling.
      So give your performance the same kind of work you gave writing your book. Recite that speech to your husband, your kids, your neighbors. Recite it in line at the grocery store, on the way home from work, and all the way to the conference hotel. Get so you can say it in your sleep. Tell it to anyone who will listen, and get so you know that story and love telling it. You'll make the editor love hearing it.
      Okay, summing up: Know your book category, length and completion date. Write down your Whos, Wants, Whys and Why Nots and use them to put the four important sentences (your topic, your heroine, your hero, and the conflict resolution) on a 3x5 card. Then, if you really want to impress the editor, dress up that summary as a one-minute (for group appointments) or five-minute (for individual appointments) speech. Write it so it sounds like a real person talking, and practice the heck out of it.
      Finally, remember your topic sentence so that when your book sells, you'll have an easy answer for people who say, "Oh, I can't wait to read your book; what's it about?" I hope there will be millions of those people, and you'll have a wonderful answer for them all!


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Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters

Ages 9-12 Hardcover 320 pages Author: Margaret Dilloway On Sale: 4-5-2016 ISBN: 978-1-4847-2487-3
Ages 9-12 By: Margaret Dilloway

Xander Miyamoto would rather do almost anything than listen to his sixth grade teacher, Mr. Stedman, drone on about weather disasters happening around the globe. If Xander could do stuff he’s good at instead, like draw comics and create computer programs, and if Lovey would stop harassing him for being half Asian, he might not be counting the minutes until the dismissal bell.

When spring break begins at last, Xander plans to spend it playing computer games with his best friend, Peyton. Xander’s father briefly distracts him with a comic book about some samurai warrior that pops out of a peach pit. Xander tosses it aside, but Peyton finds it more interesting. Little does either boy know that the comic is a warning.

They are about to be thrust into the biggest adventure of their lives—a journey wilder than any Xander has ever imagined, full of weird monsters even worse than Lovey. To win at this deadly serious game they will have to rely on their wits, courage, faith, and especially, each other. Maybe Xander should have listened to Mr Stedman about the weather after all. . . .

Read Excerpt

Other Books Ages 9-12


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This front matter section of the book The Aporia of Inner Sense contains the table of contents, acknowledgements and volume foreword. The book identifies Kant's doctrine of inner sense as a central element within the 'architectonic of pure reason' of the first Critique, exposes its variant construals, and considers the implications of its problematicity for Kant's theoretical philosophy most generally.

Keywords: inner sense; Kant; philosophy

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boone and crockett club position statement

sustainable use

First Adopted July 27, 2011 - Updated September 27, 2011

Situational Overview

Traditional uses of wildlife represent deeply rooted ecological and cultural connections in human history and experience. Through these same connections many species in North America have gone from threatened, to thriving, to surplus populations. To this day, there are human communities whose social and economic well-being depends upon the effective and sustainable use of wild plant and animal resources. These uses include subsistence purposes: obtaining food, skins, and other products required for daily survival, and recreational purposes including hunting, fishing and trapping. Wildlife uses may also support livelihoods indirectly, by generating income that allows rural families and communities to enjoy a reasonable level of dignity and economic security. For many, sustainable, shared and ethical uses of wildlife and other natural resources sustain their connections with and obligations to nature. Wildlife, therefore, continues to have a vital role in people's well-being, their economic security, and the fabric of their social and spiritual lives.

The Boone and Crockett Club adopts a definition of “sustainable use” developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (“IUCN”), which found that “[u]sing renewable natural resources sustainably means doing so in such a way that does not threaten a species by over-use, yet it will optimize benefits to both the environment and human needs. Sustainably using natural resources, including plants, forests, fish, and other wildlife, is an important conservation tool when addressing the increasing pressures on nature by people.”

IUCN Sustainable Use Specialist Group, June 2011

The Boone and Crockett Club publishes position statements to inform and educate people about conservation and hunting issues. Thus, there is no charge for personal and non-commercial use of its position statements, but reprinting or re-use of any portions of a position statement shall credit the Boone and Crockett Club as the source. Any such use shall remain subject to all rights of the Boone and Crockett Club

© 2017 Boone and Crockett Club ® | Acceptable Use and Privacy Policy


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just as i thought things couldn't get any just did...first pc car a problem...yipee! dammit!!!

my cars alternator doesn't seem to be working...need to get it fixed...waaaaa...
and i just got the friggin' compressor replaced two weeks another thing to have the rate my expenses are gonna be out of money real soon...what a new year!!!

January 3, 2007 f$#%n' hard disk just died...that's just great!!!
all my work and designs are now gone...damn it!!! ...all that's left now is the new layout i'm making for my website...which i have almost finished, but the backup i have is only half done (sigh)...don't know if i'm gonna finish it now.
oh...and all my pictures are gone too...f#$@!!! ...i backed up some of it...but all the new one's are gone now...i'm still hoping there's some way to retrieve some of it somehow...

...great way to start the f$%#in' year!!! f@%$!!!

...this is just depressing. :(

...maybe it's a sign...stop spending too much time on the pc....move on to other things...(sigh)

proud member of:
:iconarea01: :iconwinampskinners:
  • Listening to: 30 seconds to mars - the kill
have just released a beta version of my latest skin in progress.
you can download it here >

proud member of:
:iconarea01: :iconwinampskinners:
  • Listening to: 30 seconds to mars - the kill
i need some help finding a good hosting service...gonna put my site up soon but i don't know where...could anyone help me where to find a reliable and economical one...thanks!!! :)
  • Listening to: 30 seconds to mars - the kill
you can check out the first skinnerfaction mosaic here >…

thanks to all those who participated...i hope we could make another one soon.
if you have any ideas for the second one...maybe a theme for it. :)
again...thanks for making the project a success.

and on a different there anyone out there who would be interested in coding a skin design i can check it out here >… ....just dont have time to code anymore. :(
here's a preview of a skinning project a few of us skinners have been doing. :D
skin mosaic preview

skinning is fun dammit!

first time i played onilne on my psp...played NBA 06
....i suck...1 win 3 losses...hehehe :P
a week long vacation starts for me today...its nice to have a break from work...
...hopefully i'll get some more rest...more sleep...more time for myself...and more sleep. :)

new wall for halloween. > happy halloween!

skin mosaic still going  >  skinnerfaction

skinning is fun dammit!
shade mode for noname crap > which one should i use?
just want some feedback...thanks!  :)

new wallpaper out. > omron v.85
omron > moron .... :P

skin mosaic still going  >  skinnerfaction

skinning is fun dammit! old
finally got my linksys router to work...yey!
...just needed to use the online setup thing...i wonder why the cd it comes with doesnt setup correctly :P...
anyways...trying it out on my psp...weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

- new smiley wallpaper > ND
- skin mosaic still open for participants > skinnerfaction

one week subscription ends.... :(

bought a wireless router today (linksys WRT54G)...can't get it to work...CRAP!
google search for now...
here's a preview of my latest skin…

  • Listening to: the day you said goodnight by hale
Finally...i have a skin idea i'm happy with...pretty simple stuff....don't know if its for everyone...but i like it..
its still in its early stages though....will post a preview i guess when its polished up. :D

no smileys for a while...gonna finish this skin first. :D

I got this message > SHS has received its 1,000th view what's that for?

so it got 1000views? :confused:

SKINNING IS FUN DAMMIT! skinnerfaction
  • Listening to: the day you said goodnight by hale
wow...a one week subscription for free....thanks DA....
now...only if i had a whole year subscription... :D

skinning is fun dammit! > skinnerfaction
  • Listening to: the day you said goodnight by hale
After a long break...I'm officially back!
had to deal with some personal problems...but i won't get into that...its all in the past.

I have some current projects underway...first of all is skinnerfaction . Its kind of a group where skinners can just do or say whatever. Current project is a skin mosaic which is going along well. We have awesome skinners on board for this. Pretty excited on what we'll come up with.

If you're interested in joining in just go to skinnerfaction and post there if you want to participate.

Also if you have any suggestions just post it there.

boo! :D

skinning is fun dammit!
Life doesn't suck so much now...
...went on some vacations with my honey...uploaded a pic from our trip...
...will upload a few more when i have the time. :)
I've been wanting to buy an mp3 player for quite a that i have the budget i'm trying to choose which one to purchase...
...i'm thinking of buying an Ipod mini or creative zen micro...hmm...which to buy? :confused:
  • Listening to: cailin by unwritten law
  • Listening to: cailin by unwritten law
June 20, 2004

Yey, i now have a one year subscription...thanks to jark. :)
...Released new skin a couple of  days ago...seems to be doing good, thanks to all those who took the time to try it out and comment on it. :D
June 14, 2004

Will release LOBE here in DA soon...prolly this week when i get the chance to update some stuff in it...been a while since i've uploaded out for it. :D

P.S. I miss the mosaics...bring it back DA!!!

June 09, 2004

Hey my skin capsule II >… bronze at the GUI Olympics > in the best themed category for winamp 5 skin...just check it out at the site...congrats to all the other winners too.

May 20, 2004

The judging for GUI Olympics > has started... so far the deviantart team has won three silver medals ...congrats to the winners!

...i placed fifth on the most creative winamp skin, which is great since i thought i wouldnt be even at the top of the list > ...but there is three more categories to go ...still have a chance to win a medal. :P

click here >… to see the medal count.

- Two skin entries LOBE >… and CAPSULE II >… for the 2004 GUI Olympics
- Its been great having been able to participate in the contest with such great skinners and with so many awesome skin creations. Good luck to all who participated and me :)
  • Listening to: cailin by unwritten law


text:
Software is a special purpose machine says microsoft

In Microsofts brief to the Supreme Court in the Bilski case, Microsoft tries to duck the nonpateneable abstracts of data processing by arguing that software configures PC into a specific machine. Groklaw member PoIR makes a good case as to why this reasoning is wrong.

The main objections are well put:
  • The Brief fails to mention the Turing machine in the evolution of general purpose computing
  • The focus is on the special purpose machine ENIAC not the general purpose machine we call PC
  • Modern day computing is nowhere near industrial age computers as described in the brief

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Gresh & Zo: All Coming Together For Red Sox?

Gresh and Zo kick off Friday’s show talking Red Sox and Cody Ross’ walk-off, three-run homer against the White Sox Thursday night.

“I thought they were losing that game last night,” said Zo. “That was huge. I know Adrian Gonzalez means a lot to this team and he’s here for the long haul… I’ll go as far to say the Cody Ross home run last night was bigger than Gonzalez’ (Wednesday night)”

Read: ‘No Better Feeling’ For Ross After Walk-Off

“That was snatching victory from the claws of defeat,” said Gresh. “Yesterday was the kind of moment we saw from this team in parts of ’07 and parts of ’04. The ability to come together in the ninth inning against all odds, where they have a bad offensive night and they find a way to win one.”

“You now have momentum; you took three of four from Chicago, you’re getting your offensive pieces back,” said Gresh. “Tonight you have to continue to build on that momentum. It’s important for this team to get the feel about itself, that in those situations they’ll be OK and they can grind it out.”

“Team’s that tread water believe they’re average. Right there, that single one swing, that moment, they’re telling themselves they’re more of a .750 team than a .500 team,” said Zolak.

“It’s this team starting to get a bit of a vibe, that when they get on a roll they can maintain some consistent level of play,” said Gresh. “Part of why I want to see a win tonight is how many times have we seen them win seven of 10 and then they come back and lose five of seven? We’ve seen this team go up and down so much that I want to believe that what you just said is right.”

Read: Red Sox-Blue Jays Preview

“We’ve seen the Red Sox have a ton of talent, do they have everything else they need to be able to win?” asks Gresh. “Can they be clutch, can they make the routine plays when they need to in order to close teams out. Can they do more than just beat up on bad teams?”

“I do believe this team is still trying to figure that out, and maybe this is the beginning of them figuring this out,” said Gresh. “I want to believe that, but I’m having a tough time convincing myself.”

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News » National

Ala. Chief Justice Jumps into Gay Marriage Fight

by Phillip Rawls
Thursday Feb 6, 2014

Alabama's chief justice, known on the national stage for fighting to display the Ten Commandments in a judicial building, is jumping into the gay marriage debate with his push for a states-led constitutional amendment defining the institution as a union between one man and one woman.

"The moral foundation of our country is under attack," Chief Justice Roy Moore said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He mailed letters Wednesday to all 50 governors urging them to get their legislatures to call for a convention to add an amendment to the U.S. Constitution saying the only union recognized by state and federal governments is "the union of one man and one woman." He also is setting up a website to rally public support.

Moore said the only way to stop judges who are finding new rights for gay unions is with a state-initiated constitutional amendment. "Government has become oppressive, and judges are warping the law," Moore said.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage. None is in the South, where every state has enacted a ban on same-sex marriage. In Virginia, a federal judge heard arguments this week on a lawsuit challenging the state's ban. Virginia's attorney general chose not to defend the law because he said it violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

In Alabama, an openly gay state legislator who married her partner in Massachusetts said she expects most governors to toss Moore's letter.

"He's fighting a losing battle, and he probably knows that," Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, said in an interview.

She said the chief justice should recognize Americans' view and the courts' views about the issue and how it has changed in recent years. "Get over it, buddy," Todd said.

But Moore said that "a great majority of the American people want to hold to the definition that a marriage is between a man and a woman," though he acknowledged an amendment would draw opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. Conservative political analyst Phyllis Schlafly has said a state-initiated convention would be "a prescription for political chaos, controversy and confrontation."

In the past, U.S. legislators have introduced federal marriage amendments, but Moore said he doesn't think Congress will offer one this year. The only alternative, he said, is going through Article V of the Constitution to get 34 states to agree that a convention is necessary.

An Article V convention has never been held, but Moore said, "I think the time is ripe for that to happen with the political atmosphere in Congress. They can't get along or agree on anything."

When Moore was elected in 2000, he placed a granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the state judicial building. A federal judge ruled that it had to be moved. Moore refused, and a state judicial court kicked him out of office in 2003 for disobeying the court order. Moore became known as "Alabama's Ten Commandments judge" as he traveled the country speaking to churches and conservative groups. Alabama voters re-elected him in 2012. He has not tried to bring the monument back.

Alabama's nine high court justices don't usually get involved in national issues, but Moore said it is appropriate for him to speak out because Alabama has a state constitutional amendment that recognizes a marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. "Basically, I'm upholding the law," he said.

Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Home / Robots / NXT / NXTLOG Explorer Bot Challenge

NXTLOG Explorer Bot Challenge

The NXTLog website has a very cool challenge up! I blatantly stole the article below from the NXT Step.

Original article: [LINK]

imageThere are robot explorers all over the world and even on Mars! We are challenging you this summer to invent the NXT great generation of explorer robots with your MINDSTORMS NXT.

Will your robot explore the desert, the mountains, the city, the jungle, the depths of the ocean, the coldest space, or a place only you could imagine?
How will your robot sense obstacles in its environment?
How will it survive?
Will your robot do a job?
Will it collect data or samples?
Will it interact with new species?
Let us know!

Check out the Award Criteria below to see what type of Explorer Bot you want to create. There’s no limit on amount of LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sensors, LEGO MINDSTORMS RCX sensors, motors, NXT programmable bricks, HiTechnic sensors, Codatex RFID sensors, or Bluetooth communication you can use.

All entries must be tagged “explorerbot.” and must be submitted by August 31, 2011.

Awards will be given in 4 areas. Award winners will be featured on LEGO MINDSTORMS News.

1) ALL TERRAIN EXPLORER: Can your Explorer Bot shift modes to tackle all types of tough terrain? Can it move just as well on snow and ice as it can through desert sands or a thick vegetation? Show us how flexible your bot can be!

2) THE SPECIALIST: We want to see an Explorer Bot that is the best in its field at exploring its specialty. What will your specialist bot focus on?

3) THE STEALTH BOT: Some Explorers need to do their observations and explorations without being detected. How quietly can your bot move? How can it camouflage itself to its environment? How does it collect its data?

4) DATA MINE: How does your Explorer Bot collect data about its explorations and share them with the world? How can you creatively us your MINDSTORMS NXT kit to do that?

read more

What will you make?

About Xander

Xander Soldaat is a Software Engineer and former Infrastructure Architect. He loves building and programming robots. He recently had the opportunity to turn his robotics hobby into his profession and has started working for Robomatter, the makers of ROBOTC and Robot Virtual Words.


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Bliss on a Plate- The New Chanukah Cuisine

With Chanukah quickly approaching, my friend Steph and I decided it would be fun to take a ‘New Chanukah Cuisine’ cooking class (put on by our friends at the Rodef Sholom Sisterhood). We are always looking for new ways to build onto her famous Matzoh Ball soup and the menu at hand certainly had a few new twists. The best part about cooking class- the meal shared together afterward. While this post is more of a photo journey, there are two recipes to share. My two favorites from our afternoon with Chef Rebecca Ets-Hokin – Leek & Potato Fritters and Rugelach. Who wouldn’t like fried food and dessert with loads of butter and sugar?! It was bliss on a plate.

The Menu:
Leek & Potato Fritters
Spiced Pomegranate Applesauce
Winter Salad with Persimmons
Chicken Fillets Livorno Style
Braised Broccoli with Lemon
Caramel Poached Pears
Assorted Rugelach

Spiced Pomegranate Applesauce

Winter Salad with Persimmons

Chicken Fillets Livorno Style

Braised Broccoli with Lemon

Caramel Poached Pears

Assorted Rugelach

Leek & Potato Fritters

4 pounds russet potatoes, skin removed
2 large eggs, beaten
4 large leeks, cleaned and thinly chopped
½ cup flour
1 TBS salt
1 tsp pepper
vegetable oil for frying
paper towels for draining pancakes
sour cream (optional)
apple sauce (optional)

Coarsely grate the potatoes and place in a colander, set over a baking sheet or in the sink, so that moisture can drain away. Press out as much moisture from the grated potatoes as possible.

In a large-size mixing bowl, combine the eggs, leeks, flour, salt and pepper. Add the drained potatoes to the egg mixture and combine well.

Heat a large skillet on medium high (or set your electric skillet at 325 degrees) and cover with ¼ inch layer of oil. Place heaping tablespoons of batter into the skillet, flattening each potato pancake (AKA ‘latke’) with a spatula . Fry over moderate heat for about 2 minutes on each side, or until each latke is golden brown in color. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Continue with the remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan as needed, until all of the potatoes have been used. Serve immediately with condiments of sour cream or apple sauce, as desired.

Do Ahead Tip:*If desired, (and who wouldn’t want to) the cooked latkes may be placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and frozen. Once frozen, transfer them to a plastic bag and return to freezer for up to 10 days. When ready to serve, place pancakes directly from the freezer into a preheated 450 degree oven and onto a preheated baking sheet. Cook latkes until heated through, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Yields approximately 30 x 5-inch pancakes.

Caramel Rugelach

Dough Ingredients

8 oz unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour

Filling Ingredients

½ cup brown sugar
1 cup toffee chips
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped and lightly toasted

For alternative filling ideas and/or substitutions, please read until bottom of post.

Dough Directions

In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and the sugar until well blended. Add the vanilla and flour and knead lightly until dough holds together. Divide dough into 4 portions, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To toast the walnuts there are two methods to pick from…
-Baking Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spread walnuts evenly on a baking sheet and cook for approximately 7-10 minutes, checking frequently to make sure they do not burn.
-Stovetop Method: Cook walnuts in a skillet at medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Note: Walnuts can be toasted dry or with a dash of oil, however for this recipe, I recommend toasting the walnuts with out any added oil.

On a lightly floured board, roll out one portion of dough into a rectangle, approximately ¼- inch thick. Sprinkle the dough with a little bit of brown sugar, the walnuts and some toffee chips. Roll up the dough like a jelly roll, slice with a sharp knife, and place on a silicone lined baking sheet, with the seam side down. (Another way to prepare this dessert is to keep the dough in a ball shape when rolling out, then cut the dough like a pizza, cover with desired fillings and roll from the bottom of the triangle to the top. Both versions of preparation are captured in the photo below.) Place in the refrigerator to chill, for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

When ready to bake, brush each rugelach with milk and sprinkle with a little more brown sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to racks to cool.

Yields approximately 4 dozen.

Alternative Fillings

¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
½ cup raisins, soaked in water 1 hour and drained
½ cup walnuts, chopped toasted
½ cup apricot jam

Other Variations

Substitute mini chocolate chips for the raisins.
Substitute chopped, dried tropical fruit mix for the raisins, (don’t need to soak in water).
Use other nuts, like pinenuts and candied orange rind, or pistachios and dried apricots.

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Ultimate STEM Challenge

Brought to you by BP, the Science Museum and STEMNET

Keeping Hydrated.jpg

Challenging Environments: Keeping Hydrated

These challenges were developed as part of the Ultimate STEM Challenge 2014/2015.

The competition is now closed but why not complete one of the challenges as part of your school's STEM club, in class, or even to run your own school competition?

Challenge 2:

Design and test a portable solar still to provide an emergency fresh water supply.

Getting started

How you tackle this challenge is completely up to you and your students.

You may wish to use these optional introductory resources to get them started:


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« USAir Process Failure | Main | Next St. Louis User Group meeting »

August 14, 2007

oahu helicopter tour

Tour operators understand that middlemen are a part of doing business. In a perfect world, however, they'd prefer to book all their trips themselves.

The comments to this entry are closed.

Lessons Learned

Healthcare Experiences

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CPS6000 [BR]

CPS6000 systems are easy to setup and operate with a broad range of applications in outside plant and customer premise locations. The controller can be configured using either the front panel display, a laptop computer connected to the local port, or remotely using the Ethernet connection. Battery management features and options include slope thermal compensation, low voltage battery disconnect, battery high temperature alarm and battery shorted cell detection. Ideally suited for applications where space and durability in harsh environments are critical, CPS6000 is available in either front or rear wiring configurations.

Features and Benefits

  • Hardened for extreme environments
  • OSP cabinet and customer premise applications
  • Efficiency approaching 97%
  • High density power
  • 10 to 600A Systems at -48V
  • Flexible AC Input


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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

"Fall Fountain"

"Fountain" oil on 11x14 board

Barry Wallace is one of The King Township's best Photographers he  has the ability to see landscapes in a different way bringing lots of colour and interest into the pictures he takes.

September 28 th Barry took this picture Keele Street - South of the 17 th

I couldn't resist doing a study of this one, among a lot of the others he has taken during the last few weeks.
It was a challenge but fun to let the paint go it's own way!

Barries website is here; http://cameraonking.blogspot.ca/


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Monday, February 23, 2015

"Hay, What do you want?"

"Hay, what do you want?" Oil on 11x14 board

Dog Tales & Rescue Sanctuary.
They are located in King Township, a very interesting animal rescue place.

This latest painting of two retired horses attracted me, again  borrowing the picture from Barry Wallace our roving pro photographer of King Township. This year Barry has braved the exceptional  icy weather and taken some incredible photo's one of which has given me the opportunity to paint just one of them. He gives a story of our area in pictures from the past and what we were and what is happening for the future. We are fortunate to live in this area combining History and the future and some fun ones too.

I enjoyed the working on this painting (11 x 14) although it was a challenge
Thank you Barry for sharing.

Barry Wallace has a blog here:

Sunday, February 1, 2015

"I'm Watching You!"

"I'm Watching You!"" oil on 11x14 board

This Icelandic horse seems to be a little distracted so I managed to realize horses do seem to have some communication with each other, and figured out she obviously is talking to someone about the state of her mane and definitely needs a shampoo and a trim!

Icelandic horses are becoming very popular, their gate makes it easy to ride them and although small have a lot of stamina. This picture was taken at Onice Farm in Caledon it is surrounded  in lovely Countryside when the weather is cold they have a beautiful Arena where they give classes. In summer there is always a lot going on and worth a trip to meet the owners who will show you around and introduce you to these lovely horses up close, they own quite a large herd and know every one by name.

Owners Brian, Wendy ,Sydney ( she is the trainer) Horas are busy people but,they always have time to talk when it's about their passion for Icelandic horse.

This year is an exciting time because the PanAm games are going on close by at the Caledon Equine Centre.


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Thursday, January 30, 2014

January Golden Oldie Thursday #4

It's the last Thursday in January and our theme today is dots!  I love dots!  I had a few suggestions from friends but when I was looking at things on Pinterest for inspiration, I kept going back to one by A Girl And Her Polish.  You can see it here.  She is amazing!
  • China Glaze Sea Spray
  • Milani White On The Spot
  • Ulta Cream Of The Crop
I started with my trusty base coat and one coat of my undie: Milani White.  I used 2 coats of the White On The Spot and 3 coats of Cream Of The Crop.  I put one coat of Seche Vite on top to seal in those colors and to prepare for dotting.
I really randomly added dots...  I sealed it in with another coat of Seche Vite and called it a day.  Thanks to Katee for such inspiration!

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

January Tri-Polish Tuesday #4

It's the last Tuesday in January already!  I have loved this challenge so far!  I loved my colors for this one, that I kept them even though we didn't have to.
  • OPI Animal-istic
  • Pure Ice Twinkle
  • Orly Melodious Utopia
I also did my very first stamp nail decal with this manicure.  I can't even tell you how proud of myself I am on how well this turned out!  Not too shabby for my first go!  It seems like I am not the only one who is giving it a try right now - it is hot in the community.  :)
I am in love with this red polish!  I started with a base coat and then painted each nail with 3 coats of the respective polish.  The white is Milani White and then there is the decal..
I used MoYou Princess 08, stamped with American Apparel Hassid, and then colored in the wings with both the red and orange colors.

What a great end to the January TPT!

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Thursday, January 23, 2014

January Golden Oldie Thursday #3

Yay, it's Thursday!  I love this challenge because it allows for so much freedom in what you can do.  I also like that I can do it in the middle of the week because I can keep it simple.  Today's theme is "blue" so I chose these colors:
  • Revlon Dreamer
  • Milani Bolting Blue
  • Ulta Blues Cruise
I started with one coat of my white undie followed by 3 coats of Dreamer.  This beautiful light blue doesn't have the best application.  It was streaky and didn't level out well.  I will say that where my polish is stored is fairly cold and that may have something to do with it.  The Revlon brush is great though.  I used 2 coats of Blues Cruise on my pointer finger.  I then added 1 coat of Seche Vite and started stamping with Bolting Blue.  How well it stamped was surprising as it isn't a very opaque polish.  I used BM-H02, BM-319 & BM-H01 for this mani.

I love these colors for a winter look.  I haven't done anything with winter yet this year and boy is it WINTER here!

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Take a look at the other brilliant looks for today's theme:

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

January Tri-Polish Tuesday #3

I can't even believe we are 3 weeks into 2014 already!  So, it is back to Tri-Polish Tuesdays...  I used the same polishes as last time, only a little differently.

  • OPI Animal-istic
  • Pure Ice Twinkle
  • Orly Melodious Utopia

These colors are so great together that I wanted to do a gradient...I love gradients!
I started with my usual undie polish (Milani white) then added 2 coats of the Orly.  Once that was dry, I sponged on my gradient using all three polishes.
I added a layer of Seche Vite to seal it all in and added my stamp to my ring finger and thumb.  I used GA15 for this look and I used American Apparel Hassid.
One last layer of Seche Vite and it is finished!  This is so tropical and beautiful.  I am going to stick with these polishes for the last Tuesday too...I just love them together!

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Thursday, January 16, 2014

January Golden Oldie Thursday #2 (Inspired by a tutorial)

I was inspired by Kick Acetone for this look.  It seems as though I wasn't alone in this thought for the stripes theme!  LOL!  Thankfully, we all used different colors!

You can see the tutorial here for the reverse gradient stripes.
I used these gems from my untried stash:
  1. American Apparel Office
  2. Sinful Colors Envy
  3. Sinful Colors Calypso
I started with 2 coats of Office, then sealed it in with a layer of Seche Vite.  I sponge applied my gradient with Calypso at the tips, Envy in the middle, and Office near the cuticle.
Once I was satisfied with the gradient (about 2 coats), I sealed that in with another layer of Seche Vite.  I will say that these colors made a beautiful gradient and I was really sad to cover it up but I was committed to the look.
I applied the striping tape and then went for the reverse gradient with the darker color at the base of my nail and the lighter color at the tips.  What do you think of my middle nail? I mentioned in the last post that I chopped it off due to a major break.  It doesn't look as bad with some pretty nail art on it!
I removed the tape once the second gradient was applied.  Once dry, I put on a final coat of Seche Vite on top.  I really love how this turned out!  I can see why so many people have reproduced it - it is so neat!  I got so many compliments today at work which always makes me smile.  This is the first time I have tried this style and I haven't used green polishes like this - ever!

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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

January Tri-Polish Tuesday #2 (Inspired by a tutorial)

It's Tuesday!  I am so behind in getting this post written.  My wonderful husband decided to try and find some game cheat on my computer and now it is full of spamware and adware that I have to try and remove.  Gotta love him!  Anyway, I chose new polishes for this look as the textured polishes I used last time were more of a "one-time" deal.  :)
  • OPI Animal-istic
  • Pure Ice Twinkle
  • Orly Melodious Utopia
I started with one coat of my usual Milani White as an undie polish.  I then just started dabbing the colors on each nail randomly.  I used the Nimbus technique from The Nailasaurus for this one.  I have done this type before and I love the simplicity of it and that each nail looks different.  You can do so many different looks with this technique - it has quickly become one of my favorites!
Using a cotton swab, I just kept going until I was satisfied with the saturation.  This manicure reminds me of a notebook I once had in school - it is just light and fun.  Please pardon the nasty break on my middle nail!  I debated about cutting it before pictures but decided against it.  It is cut off now though.  :(

You can see the tutorial by clicking on her photo.

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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

January Golden Oldie Thursday #1 (Inspired by a tutorial)

This is a new challenge for the year: Golden Oldie Thursday hosted by Debbie Crumpet over at Crumpet's Nail Tarts.  This is a really great idea.  Everyone who hoards polish must feel some guilt over not using them all the time!  I mean, polish has feelings too, you know!  LOL!  The first theme is "pink".  Now, this is another double duty mani for me as I am also participating in the Nail Challenge Collaborative's "inspired by a tutorial" theme.

My "inspiration" for this mani is a free hand ombre from SimpleNailArtDesigns on YouTube.  See the video here.  It is simple in theory, but more challenging than I thought going into it.

I used:

  • Ulta Baby Doll
  • Sinful Colors Starfish
  • China Glaze Designer Satin
The Ulta application was a little streaky so I used 3 coats to get a good base color.  I then used a small nail art brush to roughly add 2 coats of Starfish. Once that was dry, I added 2 coats of Designer Satin to the tips.
I finished this off with a coat of Seche Vite.  Now, I don't keep track of when I purchase polish, so these are all "untried" polishes that needed some love.  I wish I had not gone as high with the dark pink shade because you can't see too much of the medium shade.  Lesson learned.  This mani was really fun to do because it is an awesome, more rough, way to do an ombre.  I am fond of gradients that are subtle and this is a great alternative to that.  I will do this again!

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Monday, January 6, 2014

January Tri-Polish Tuesday #1 (Inspired by a tutorial)

This is another double duty post as it fits in perfectly into two challenges I am participating in this month.  1st is the Nail Challenge Collaborative's theme: Inspired by a Tutorial.  2nd is the Tri-Polish Tuesday Challenge hosted by Crumpet's Nail Tarts.  January's colors are: red, orange and yellow.

As did Katee from www.agirlandherpolish.com, I chose to do a cloud manicure.  I have never tried this before but have been wanting to try it for a long time.  I am please to report that it was very simple!  I followed Nailside's tutorial here.  She explains it very well!

I used these for this manicure:

  • Milani Yellow Mark
  • China Glaze Toe-Tally Textured
  • Milani Tainted In Red
I started with a thin coat of my usual undie polish: Milani White followed by 2 coats of Yellow Mark.  Once that was dry, I started my first "cloud" with the Toe-Tally Textured.  Only 1 coat is required for the "clouds".  Then, the next cloud in Tainted In Red.  I did not add a top coat to this manicure to preserve the textured look.
These colors are totally obnoxious for winter but, on a side note, I chose them because my mom is vacationing in Hawaii right now and sent me a lovely sunset photo from her beach-side condo!  Isn't that nice?  While I am suffering through sub-zero temperatures, she is living it up in the beautiful tropics!  So, my nails are also inspired by an awesome sunset too!

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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Intro to 2014

Happy New Year!!  As I mentioned in my last post, I re-designed my blog background and header.  I hope you like it!

To start the year off, I wanted to do something of a little twist on the typical NY stamping mani.

My inspiration: the 2014 Pantone color Radiant Orchid
Now, when I pulled my colors for this manicure, I swear they looked really close to this swatch...now, I just don't think so.  I find this color to be very evasive!  I can't quite find an exact match in my swatches - keep in mind that I still need to swatch somewhere around 600 polishes.

Here is what I picked to use:
  • Wet n Wild On A Trip
  • Sinful Colors Fiji
I started with 2 coats of On A Trip followed by 1 thin coat of Fiji.  I topped it off with 1 coat of Seche Vite.  As I had started this rather late, I just did this part for the night...about 2-3 hours before I went to bed.  For some reason, my left hand wouldn't dry - it was tacky for a LONG time and my right hand was perfectly fine.  WEIRD!  Well, I had to get some sleep so I went to bed.  When I woke up in the morning I had found some awesome bed linen imprinting on my left hand.  Here is a comparison photo:

Do you see the patterns in there?  It was interesting, so I decided to keep it.  For New Years, I added the typical stamps from BM-H14 in all kinds of polishes.  Since I consider the actual stamping part a bit of a failure since you can't really make out the design, I didn't keep track of all of the polishes I tried.  Sorry!

Here is the finished product:
 Even if it isn't an exact match, the colors worked great together!
 Happy New Year everyone!

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Breakout Performance Index: Trial Version and Sample Report

Breakout Performance Readers: I need your help.

My consulting firm, Jackson Leadership Systems, has spent the last 4 years co-developing a team survey with a Dartmouth B-School Professor (Sydney Finkelstein) to help teams (sales teams, exec teams, or other types) measure their potential to rapidly grow sales, profits and market share in the next 2 years.

We call it the Breakout Performance Index (or BPI) and we've used it with over 150 organizations around the world. Our research has found a dramatic link between how teams score on the BPI and annual sales growth rate, market share, and profitability. This link is clear in multiple geographies, industries, and organizational sizes - and I'm happy to send you more info on that link if you're interested.

In the spirit of better research, we are continuing to build up our norm base on the BPI. I would like to invite you to try our and comment on our BPI. You can do this now for free and - in exchange - we will send you a personalized report on how you (and your team, according to your ratings) did compared to the other 150 organizations in our database.

It takes only 10 - 15 minutes to do online. There are still a few bugs we know about but likely some we don't yet -- so feel free to let us know what you think, good and bad.

Your scores will start on page 15 of the personalized report. Remember, these question all relate to your team's and organization's leadership, strategy, and process. We have found that the BPI scores are a big predictor of future increased sales, profits, and market share.

If you want to chat about your scores later, let me know. I'd be happy to go through it with you.

Here is the link to the BPI sample survey:

Thanks again! I hope you find the insights helpful to your team.

Sphere: Related Content


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new business model: how do bookstores survive? And what about the puppy?

I’ve been thinking A LOT about this lately. We sell less books; you buy less books, but maybe more ebooks or books online – which is fine! It’s just the way things are, but we don’t sell ebooks and I can’t compete with online sales, and even if we did, the margin of profit is pennies on the dollar. I’d rather let Amazon, B&N and others deal with that right now.

So I just have to do what I do best (and I’m constantly re-evaluating that!) What is it that we do best at breathe and how do we monetize that so that I can pay the rent, pay my staff and make a living for myself and be around to create more?

I’m working on the answer to these questions and would love to hear your thoughts (email me at or comment here).

Our comfy little shop is the fertile ground upon which so many interesting things grow. As many of you know, breathe books has presented me with several life-changing gifts over the years, including meeting my husband Larry and our new puppy Ella Shakti!

Ella Shakti Weis-Bohlen

So while I try to figure out the new economic reality and what it means to you and me, I can also just play with my puppy.

After we got her, the book by Eckhart Tolle, Guardians of Beings, kept coming into my mind. I took it home and read it the other day – tears filled my eyes. My little puppy is here with us for so many reasons – our little Guardian of Being who teaches us to constantly be in the moment. I think all she remembers of the past is how warm her mommy felt, and how safe she kept her. Her thoughts of the future are probably more of that – can I snuggle with mommy and daddy? Will they keep me warm and fed? Can I run around a lot today? She looks at us with those amazingly human eyes and just exudes love and gratitude. I try to shine those feelings right back to her.

Stay in the moment. Everything is fine right here. It will all work out as long as we keep doing the best we can…I want to do the best for my husband, my puppy, the store and the community. And, oh yeah, and me too! So I’m going to play with my puppy now.


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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Steel Eel Sunset Walk-through

Today's post is going to be a fairly lengthy one because it is going to cover, from start to finish, the steps that I used to make this photo (please note that I do not cover all of the steps, in-depth, this is just a general walk through of my process from start to finish). Before we start, here is a list of what I used in making this photo:

- Digital Photo Professional (bundled with the Canon DSLR cameras)

Capturing the photo

The first step that I take is actually capturing the photo (this is obviously the most important step!). For this shot I parked in the parking lot of Vale Middle School which is located directly across the street from Sea World San Antonio. I climbed a small hill next to the parking lot and tried to get the angle and zoom that I was looking for to primarily isolate the first hill of the Steel Eel while being able to capture the clouds as the sun was setting. As always, I prefer shooting in RAW because that allows me the most freedom, if necessary, to tweak the shots in post processing. The focal length for this shot was 46.0mm with an aperture of 8.0 (I shoot most shots at 8.0, it is the setting that I feel produces the highest quality images with all of the lenses that I currently own).

I also use the two second delay for capturing shots after pushing the button, I have a remote for when I absolutely need it, but a two second delay is usually enough time for the vibrations from touching the camera to dissipate. I took a total of 3 series of three shots spaced 1 EV apart ((-4,-3,-2) (-1,0-1) (2,3,4)) to try to capture shots with the histogram that I am looking for to ensure that I have the range of lighting and shadows that is required for producing an HDR photo.

Processing the photo

Once I transfer the photos that I took to my network attached storage device, I open up Digital Photo Professional and begin the process of selecting the shots that I want to process for my image. I look at the histogram for each shot to determine which photos contain the lighting data that I want (I want the histogram to be left biased for the under exposed shot, in the middle for the middle shot, and right biased for the over exposed shot. I try to ensure that the histogram does not actually fall off of either side as that means the photo is missing some light and the resulting image will not be as high quality).

For this photo I ended up using the EV stops -1, 1, 3, and 4 as the shots to create this photo (most HDR shots usually use the "do it all" setting of -2, 0, 2, but that does not always capture the lighting properly. It usually does, but that is why I like to take as many 1 EV spaced brackets as possible, to ensure I am able to capture all of the highlights and shadows). I also used a shot that captured the train of the Steel Eel descending the hill, which I am going to eventually merge with my image to add a little more "excitement" to my final product.

Digital Photo Professional example

Once I have the shots that I want exported, I load them into DxO Optics to do some lens correction. This is a great tool that does an outstanding job of fixing vignetting, light falloff, and barrel distortion from a very wide range of lenses. I highly recommend this tool if you want your images to look as "realistic" possible.

DxO Optics Pro 6 example

Now that "correcting" the images is completed, it is time to "create" the HDR image!

Creating an HDR image

I load the bracketed shots into Photomatix Professional, which does an outstanding job of creating an HDR image from a series (or single) photo. There are some presets that are included with the program (most of which are excellent). You can use the tool to create anything from realistic to surreal images and just about everything in between. I prefer to have the program create the images with no de-ghosting, because I will handle any ghosting later in my processing using the original photos, if need be.

Photomatix example

I will modify different sliders trying to get the histogram just right so it not only retains all of the light, but looks like I want the image to look as well. Once that is done, I save the image and open it for editing in Photoshop CS5 Extended which is where a majority of the "magic" happens

Processing and modifying the shot (My steps)

Once I have the shot open in Photoshop, the first thing that I do is use the Topaz DeNoise 5 plugin to get rid of noise in the image. I just like the result to look as "noiseless" as possible before processing it, it is just a matter of personal preference. Once that is done I open the shot using the Nik Color Efex Pro 3 plugins, and, using the presets as a starting point, manipulate the image to get it looking the way that I want (The preset starting points that I most commonly use are White Neutralizer, Pro Contrast, and Tonal Contrast).

Once I get a result that I like, I apply DeNoise again before advancing to Silver Efex Pro 2. Once again, there are several presets that you can work off of, I usually stick with the neutral setting because all I am using it for is to make the colors look more natural by combining the resulting black and white image with the original.

DeNoise 5 example

Color Efex Pro 3 example

Silver Efex Pro 2 example

Viveza 2 example

Once all of that is done I will play with the curves and lighting using tools within Photoshop and Viveza to get the final result that I am looking for. I also crop the photo, if necessary, to help center the focus on the middle portion of the shot. Finally, I then open up my "logo", put it in the lower right corner, merge it all together, and save it out for the final result. As I stated when starting the walk-through, I also blended a shot of the roller coaster coming down the hill with the final result, so my photo ended up going from the original "middle" shot to the resulting image below:

"Original" photo

Final Steel Eel Sunset

Today's post was fairly lengthy, but hopefully it gives you a little insight to the steps and processes that I personally use to create my shots. I did not cover everything in great detail because every shot is different and requires a different process to create the image. Everyone processes and creates their shots in a different way, this is just how I personally feel that I get the best results.

If you are so inclined, please feel free to leave any comments or feedback. Also remember that clicking on the photo takes you to my online gallery hosted over at smugmug where you can view this (and my other photos) in various sizes. If you enjoyed this post, please take the time to pass my post(s) on to others whom you also feel would enjoy my work. Thanks for stopping by!

  1. Thanks for posting the details on your workflow, VERY informative Brian! I really love this shot, the sky is incredible, as well as the fantastic details you got through the HDR processing. I love the colors, the blue and yellow really jump out at you. Great image!!!

  2. THANK YOU!!! This is Excellent! (agree with what Mr Toad has said!)
    Another question...when you blended in the shot or the roller coaster when did you do that or you must have done something to the roller coaster to make it look like it belongs?
    And Thanks again for explaining what you do-or did for this shot- from start to finish!! Just makes me really realise how much I have to learn about all this editing :o)

  3. To add the coaster in, I waited until the train was almost at the top of the hill and took some bracketed shots. Since the sky was about the same (the clouds did move a little bit) I just used the non-coaster on top of the coaster shot, then punched through it via layering to get just the cars on the track. I made the coaster a bit darker using Viveza, and that's about it. I love the Nik selective area circles (u-point) and use them when retouching just certain areas of a photo.

    Glad you like the walk-through, like I said everyone does it differently, this is just "my" way!

  4. Hey Brian this is great! Very helpful for me while I learn more and more about HDR. Thanks!

  5. Yes--but very nice to see your process from start to finish for this particular me something to look at as far as how I do things-especially seeing the detail you bring out!
    I just started using that Nik software a few weeks ago and like the selective area circles very much also!!