text:
Public Speaking

Please book Maya for an event or obtain a quote via email:

Speaker, MC, author, award-winning finance writer and financial workshop presenter

Maya's Public Profile

Maya Fisher-French is a well-known South African finance writer and author of Maya on Money: Implement Your Money Plan – a practical guide to everyday finances.

Maya won the Sanlam Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism under the category of Consumer Financial Education for both 2013 and 2015.

Apart from managing the Maya on Money website, she is editor of My Money My Lifestyle, the personal finance section of national Sunday newspaper City Press and is a frequent guest on talk-radio shows and a popular speaker at corporate events. Maya also presents the Money Matters segment on eNCA which airs every day on DSTV 403.

In 2006 she received the award for Best Newcomer in the Sanlam Journalist of the Year awards for articles published in business magazine Maverick. Prior to becoming a financial journalist in 2003, Maya worked in the financial industry for a stock broking firm BJM prior to which she worked for Investec Private Bank.

Maya has a Bachelor of Arts in English and an Honours degree in Economics from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Master of Ceremonies

  • Discovery Life Round Table
  • Intel conference
  • I3Summit
  • WellsFaber
  • South African Venture Capital Association Annual Conference
  • Sanlam Benchmark Symposium

  • Kanan Wealth
  • Momentum Bring your Daughter to Work
  • Standard Bank Women’s Wealth programme
  • Alexander Forbes Women’s Day Breakfast
  • Old Mutual Investment Roadshow

  • Vodacom Graduate Programme
  • Deltabec Staff Programme
  • Reinvent Women SA
  • Glacier by Sanlam staff programme
  • Momentum Women’s Day Programme

Thank you most sincerely for a wonderful and thought-provoking talk to all our special lady clients. We have had an incredible response and it is always lovely to be on the receiving end of all the praise. Keep doing what you are doing and that is making a difference in people’s lives

Mandy Porter

Alexander Forbes Women’s Day breakfast

I wanted to extend a sincere thank you for your valuable insights and participation. Your perspective was a large part of what made our event a success and in my humble opinion, our greatest summit to date.

Hugh Norton

Global Corporate Communications: Visa

We would like to thank you for your key involvement in the SiO2018 event this week and for your insightful, and at times, uncomfortable talk, for both Silica and all our clients and guests. Your contribution was both inspiring and enlightening and will no doubt create some exponential thinking and (hopefully) actions in the savings and investment world. The feedback we have received is that your talk was one of the best on the day, and that the audience really enjoyed listening to your views and observations.

The Silica Team

SiO2018 Conference

Thanks very much from all of us at Glacier for being a world-class partner in one of the biggest projects in our calendar

Glacier by Sanlam

Maya on YouTube

To see and hear Maya in action go to Maya on Money YouTube channel and Maya on Money Soundcloud

Follow Maya's Blog

Subscribe to Blog

Never Miss A Post Again!

Visit Maya Fisher-French on Sound Cloud

YouTube Channel Maya Fisher-French


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
Freemasons and their families seeking help must demonstrate that they have a Masonic connection and a need for support.

Masonic connection

Those seeking support must be a Freemason or have a strong family connection to a Freemason.

A Freemason is someone who is, or was a member of a Lodge regulated by the United Grand Lodge of England.  This includes Freemasons in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man as well as members of overseas Lodges which follow the English Constitution.

The Freemason does not necessarily need to be a currently subscribing member, but he must have joined before the need arose.

We define a strong family connection as a Freemason’s:

  • married or life partner
  • widow or surviving partner;
  • divorced or separated partner;
  • child (under 25) in full-time education; and
  • grandchild (under 25) in full-time education.

Other relations may also qualify for support if they can demonstrate that a Freemason has provided them with significant financial or physical support.

Those seeking support towards Masonic care homes may also include:

  • parents;
  • grandparents;
  • relatives in-law;
  • siblings; and
  • other relations financially or physically reliant on a Freemason.

Financial, health,family or care need

Those seeking support must be able to demonstrate a need for our grants and services. Many needs follow a decrease in household income or they may arise because of a life-changing event such as a medical diagnosis, changing care needs, family breakdown or the death of a family member.

An appropriate professional such as a consultant, dentist or occupational therapist must have confirmed a health or care need. Those seeking support for health needs must also show evidence of an unreasonable wait for, or lack of, NHS treatment or Local Authority care or support.

A prior assessment with a dentist is always required for those seeking support for dental treatments.  Only the most cost effective suitable solution will be considered and dental treatments which are purely cosmetic will not be considered.

In some cases, we can fund private medical consultations or occupational therapist assessments to confirm a diagnosis or understand a person’s care requirements. By doing so, we can improve access to treatment and services and obtain the information we may need during our application process should you need further support.

Financial test

To demonstrate that any support required is beyond their financial means, those seeking our support must complete an assessment of household income, expenditure, savings and capital.

A financial assessment is not required for those seeking to access our Counselling Careline.

To discuss your circumstances and eligibility in more detail, please call our confidential enquiry line on freephone 0800 035 60 90 or email

Making an application

Find out more about our application process and how to apply.

warcinfo:
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-04
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for January 2019
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-145-104-113.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/


text:
MDJH Takes Gold!

It was a big weekend for Macdonald Drive teams at the 3rd Annual Burger King Classic Volleyball Tournament.

Girls Grade Nine team win Gold in Tier 1.

Team Andrews won Gold in Grade 7 Tier 1.

Grade 7 boys, in their first year at the tournament, won Silver in Tier 2 in a Grade 8 Division.

Congratulations Grizzlies!


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

text:
Have you complied a life list over the years? What are your favorites among those birds you have seen and heard?

Having watched and studied birds most of my life and compiled a substantial life list from various parts of the country and beyond, I have my favorites amongst the group and they are now prominently displayed on the wall in my great room as seen on the right.

It might even be fun to include your state bird in the center of that group. I am in the process of including all the state birds in my collection. Enter the gallery by clicking on any of the images or on the gallery link above, and see what you like.

Spring has arrived.

It was quite a struggle, but spring is surely here to stay.  The snow has melted back to just a few patches in the woods.  There are faint areas of green erupting from the soil and the daffodils are showing more of their sunny heads.  Four does appeared in the fields yesterday around dusk; three of them were roundly pregnant and the fourth doe was smaller and perhaps a late fawn from last year.  They spent over an hour tasting the new grass shoots, obviously enjoying their dinner.

Leave a Reply

You can use these HTML tags

  <acronym title="">
      <q cite=""> <s>


text:
Category Archives: MXF

Converting MXF to ProRes 422 on macOS Sierra Quickly and Easily

MXF file is usually hard to deal with during video editing. Want to convert MXF to ProRes for smooth editing in Final Cut Pro on Mac (macOS Sierra)? Download the best MXF to ProRes here. Advertisements

Posted in MXF | Leave a comment


text:
The Reality of the Two Americas

Two radically different Americas were on display this week. Both are real, and both must be recognized a real to understand my country.

On the one hand, there was the appearance of Alberto Gonzales, President Bush’s nominee for Attorney General, before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, answering questions about his role in the sordid chain of events that led to the horrors of Guantanamo and the torture at Abu Ghraib.

At the same time, there was, across America, an outpouring of extraordinary generosity, raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the victims of the tsunami that devastated South Asia.

Generosity of spirit, empathetic to the extreme: that’s who we are. Arrogant in the use of power, insensitive to the plight of our victims-that, too often, is also how we operate.

First, Gonzales. In an especially powerful opinion piece published this week, a Washington Post writer asked the Senate to recall, before they vote to confirm Gonzales, the revulsion they felt when they first saw the obscene photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. And in an equally compelling New York Times articles, a writer warned that if knowing what we now know, Gonzales is confirmed as Attorney General, not only will justice have been aborted, but America itself will be compromised. "Torture," he wrote, "will belong to us all."

As we have learned from documents that have been released in the past year (despite some still being withheld by the White House), the torture wasn’t accidental, nor can it be dismissed as rogue behavior. The use of torture was more widespread and involved a wide range of despicable and outlawed practices. And its use was known at the highest levels of the Administration.

What is, therefore, so disturbing in all of this, is that despite the horror experienced by Americans when they first learned of the torture at Abu Ghraib, despite the enormous damage this entire affair has done to the international image of America, and despite pledges that those responsible would be brought to justice, the individual responsible for the official White House memorandum that, in effect, absolved the US military from adhering to international conventions prohibiting torture, is now on the way to becoming the nation’s top law enforcement official.

Why this arrogance and lack of accountability? Because, tragically, that is, sometimes the way we operate.

While this sordid tale unfolds in Washington, millions of Americans, gripped by tragedy in South Asia have mobilized a largely spontaneous national effort to provide assistance to those in need.

The world knows of President Bush’s commitment of $350 million in relief aid, with more, if needed. They’ve seen scenes of a veritable US armada of military aircraft and personnel assigned to deliver this aid and provide critical logistical assistance to other nations’ efforts. And they’ve heard Bush’s wise decision to bring two former Presidents to help in mobilizing the private sector in response to this humanitarian crisis.

The President was right when he said, "We’re showing the compassion of our nation in the swift response. But the greatest source of America’s generosity is not our government. It’s the good heart of the American people."

It’s this last point that most of the world may not know about. Scanning press reports from across the country reveals a startling outpouring of giving-what one report called "a tidal wave of generosity."

At one end, there were million dollar checks given by some Hollywood celebrities and tens of millions donated by a number of major US corporations, and the millions being raised each day over the internet from small donors nationwide.

More telling, however, was the mobilization of fundraising by institutions large and small. Catholic Relief Services, one of the US’s major charities, noted that while they usually raise $40,000 a month through their website, now they are raising $100,000 per hour. Churches and mosques report major efforts and even individual grade schools have been moved to respond. One grade school class donated their lunch money to relief efforts; another held a car wash. Overall, it has been estimated that by the week’s end, private American donations will exceed one-half billion dollars.

People have been riveted by the continuing television coverage of the tragedy, a recent survey showed that almost one-half of American households had made a contribution to tsunami relief, and across the nation, Americans were flying their flags, spontaneously, at half-mast in collective mourning.

Why this empathy and generosity? Because that’s who we are.

Of course, in all of this, we are not unique. Most nations manifest similar bi-polar behavior. We are no different.

There is a lesson here that must be noted.

These two sides of our national character must be recognized and never forgotten-they have always been with us.

From the beginning, our great and inspiring democracy was born in sin with slavery and the ethnic cleansing of indigenous persons. We have as one of our national symbols the welcoming Statue of Liberty, and we also have, as part of our history, the "Palmer raids" and the Japanese internment during World War II. And we are the nation that gave birth to both "Bull" Conner and the Ku Klux Klan, to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Because both Americas are always with us, we must acknowledge this and deal with them. If we pretend, for even a moment, that only the "bright" side is who we really are, the other America is given free reign. But if, as some critics are prone to do, we only focus on the intolerant or arrogant side of America, we do a great injustice to the goodness of millions of Americans and to their power to assert themselves and make change.


text:
To determine which local providers which had the best car insurance rates in North Carolina, we compared quotes from 11 insurers for our male sample drivers across 112 cities. Below is a graph of the most affordable car insurance companies in North Carolina based on the results of our research and analysis, which were based on a motorist with a great driving records and full coverage. Your quotes will be different, and customized according to your car, address, driving history, and coverage amounts.
How it works: Compare’s shopping process asked me to enter the same general information that other auto comparison websites did. Entering the information was fairly straightforward. Most of the fields were drop-down menus or pre-filled based on information I had submitted on previous pages. The questions were detailed, including some about my current policy limits that required retrieving my insurance documents to answer. I did like that Compare asked if I was willing to accept paperless documents and/or e-signing
Insurance comparison websites can be further broken down into sites that provide real-time insurance quotes versus those that provide estimated ones. Estimated quotes are derived from historic data and are often out of date; to get the most accurate information you should use a site that provides real-time quotes generated by the insurance companies.

Quotes that are given through agents or brokers often include their own commission that is being paid by the insurance carrier as a percentage from the premium itself. While some captive agents receive salaries, most agents and brokers rely on their commissions for their income and this is how they make money. Their commission can range anywhere from 0-1% for some annuities policies, 8-20% for car and home insurance to 40-100+% for some life insurance policies, on the first year of the policy. They also earn their money every time you renew your policy, mostly from 1-2% for life insurance renewals (zero after three years) to 2-5% (some even receive up to 15%) for car and home insurance renewals. However, going for the cheapest premium is not something that we always recommend, sometimes it is better to pay more for a premium that covers you well and answer all of your specific and personal needs.

One of the biggest differences between carrier’s rates can be attributed to the avaialable discounts. Most insurers reward safe drivers and bundlers. In additon, savings can be found for vehicles that have the most safety features. The most variable discounts can be found when a company is trying to reach a certain group of insurance consumers. For instance, some companies may offer discounts for switching before the expiration of a policy or from a certain competitor, while other may decide retirees shoulde get a discount.
The best way to save is by shopping around. In a study done in New York, the average driver can save up to $625 by switching car insurances. Insurance prices differ for all individuals based on age, driving history, credit history, car model etc. so it is best to always check with at least 2 or 3 providers before committing to a company. Here are ten ways to pay less than the average driver while still getting enough coverage.
Some insurers offer discounts to drivers for a variety of reasons such as having a clean record, paying an annual premium all at once or being a safe driver for a certain period of time. If the insurance company you’re with offers more than just auto insurance, consider bundling all your insurance through them, like home and car insurance. Most companies offer a group discount, even if it’s just for more than one car.

Safe Auto Group Agency, Inc. will be the agent of record for any quotes issued or policies bound via this website. However, the website and domain are maintained, serviced and published by Millennial Specialty Insurance, LLC. ("MSI"). MSI collects, maintains and stores the data and information collected on and through this website and from third party vendors. Safe Auto Group Agency, Inc. is not responsible for the content or operation of this website or how MSI handles or uses your information. Please reference MSI's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for further information.

Fayetteville is our #1 Most Expensive City in North Carolina, with an average annual cost of $977 when it comes to insuring an automobile - that's 21% more for our sample drivers than the typical NC city. Fayetteville is a fast-growing city with a population of over 203,000 residents, which makes it the sixth largest city in North Carolina. It was almost the capital of North Carolina (lost by one vote!), and was named after the Marquis de Lafayette when he visited in 1825. The Marquis toured the 24 state union in a carriage, which can be found in the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry Amory & Museum. We suggest Fayetteville drivers save on auto insurance by looking into Auto Owners, Allied, North Carolina Farm Bureau, Erie, and Penn National. We found rates across these five companies to be $792 near you, which is 21% less than what drivers across Fayetteville usually pay. One thing to remember is that North Carolina Farm Bureau has a $25 membership fee but its low rates on auto insurance make joining worthwhile.
When shopping for affordable car insurance quotes, come in with a good idea of your vehicle's value via Kelley Blue Book and NADA. If you determine your vehicle is worth more than $4,000 but you need to save money, consider raising your deductible. Because your car insurance deductible and premium are inversely related, you can lower your bill by raising your deductible. Looking at the chart below, you can see how your premium is affected by adjusting your deductible.

Results: The final page offered five quotes ranging from $141 per month to $215 per month, and three links to other websites that I could use to get additional quotes. Unlike the other comparison websites, the quotes weren’t in any order (the others sorted their results from smallest to largest). Each quote included a company rating, policy features and a button that would either take you to the company’s website or allow you to compare it with another company. A list of options on the left side of the page allowed me to check off the features that I wanted to include, and eliminated companies not offering those features.
Whether you need a free car insurance quote or are just shopping around for a new policy, by filling out our easy-to-use form, we’ll find the best and cheapest full coverage car insurance options (liability coverage, accident forgiveness, uninsured motorist insurance, etc.) tailored to your insurance policy needs. At Cheap Car Insurance, we are the simplest and safest way to get in touch with cheap insurance companies and save money on your car insurance!

Example (Comprehensive): You park your car outside during a major hailstorm, and it's totaled. If you have comprehensive, we'll pay out for the full value of your car (minus your deductible amount). Example (Collision): You back out of your garage, hit your basketball hoop, and cause $2,000 worth of damage to your vehicle. If you have collision, we'll then pay for your repairs (minus your deductible amount).


text:
European Symposium on Minimally Invasive Surgery

European Symposium on Minimally Invasive Surgery

Organizer: Conventus Congressmanagement & Marketing GmbH
Venue: Historisches Kaufhaus, Münsterplatz 24, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau, DE
Website: go to
Date: from: 2018-03-02 to: 2018-03-03
Fee: Not specified
Programme: view
Views: 251

Dear Colleagues

Following up on a very successful EUROPEAN SYMPOSIUM on Oncologic Laparoscopic Upper GI and Hepato-Biliary Surgery in March 2016, the members of Department of General and Visceral Surgery at the University Medical Center Freiburg are delighted to welcome you again in Freiburg.

Minimal-invasive surgeons continuously develop new techniques and approaches to perform surgical procedures in every organ system of the abdomen. With increasing experience in the applied techniques major resections of all abdominal organs can now routinely be performed in a minimal-invasive fashion with scientifically proven oncological non-inferiority compared to well-established open procedures. In addition to laparoscopic approaches, in recent years robotic surgery has also emerged as a promising technical development for minimal-invasive oncologic surgery.

At our symposium we bring together international experts on oncologic minimal-invasive surgery, who will share with you their expertise and techniques they developed. The presentations of these experts are based on video sequences explaining you how these experts perform these challenging operations.

We will also discuss the scientific basis of minimal-invasive surgery and highlight key publications regarding oncologic laparoscopic and robotic surgery.

We would love to welcome you in the beautiful south of Germany for this outstanding event with fruitful discussions.

With kind regards

Prof. Dr. Stefan Fichtner-Feigl
Medical Director

Past events

Comming soon


text:
The view from the Summit.

Gunung Panti hike- A new experience for a complete Beginner.

An effort to create an active lifestyle means scaling long distances either on a treadmill or on walking trails and hiking small and then big mountains. As you would know from my blog last week on Bukit Timah trail, that we were getting that inclination.All about Bukit Timah Trail for hiking in Singapore. So when an […]

Read More…
Us at the Summit of Bukit Timah

All about Bukit Timah Trail for hiking in Singapore.

When you start thinking of losing weight you want to adapt to an active lifestyle. To do so you start doing some yoga classes or join some gym etc.(Don’t worry this is not a weight loss blog post!!). For some people what work the most is hiking or walking trails, amidst nature, done over the […]

Read More…
A happy moment captured at Marina Barrage.

Best View of Singapore at Marina Barrage Singapore!

For my two years in Singapore I went to many high-rise rooftop bars to explore  a lot of places to get the best view of Singapore. However in all the views some of the iconic structure would be missing, either Supertrees, or the flyer or the marina bay sands itself. Marina Barrage Singapore is a […]

Read More…
Us and the waves at Henderson

How to get to Henderson Waves, Singapore?

Henderson waves  is a wave-shaped 274m pedestrian bridge connecting Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park  in Singapore. A beautiful top view from the bridge and an amazing photo location for tourists coming to Singapore. The entry is free and you and it is very easy to get to Henderson waves. This blog talks […]

Read More…
Our Indian Emergency Passports after our passport got stolen overseas in Barcelona

Guide on What To Do If You Lose Your Passport Overseas.

It is a terrifying experience to lose your passport overseas.If you ever find yourself in a situation like this, when you travelling then here is an easy guide on what to do if you lose you passport overseas.Believe me many people have lost or have their passport stolen abroad, and it is a situation which […]

Read More…
This picture says it all that why monsoon is the best time to visit Munnar hill Sattaion.

Top Places to visit in Munnar hill station,Kerala.

Munnar hill station in Kerala, is a beautiful place to visit. It is in the Western ghats mountain range of Kerala, India. The place is surrounded by rolling green tea plantations and is a must place to visit. It was a former  resort place for the British elite. Munnar sightseeing consists of a lot of […]

Read More…
Eilean Donan, eerie but romantic.

Eilean Donan the eerie and romantic castle of Scotland

Have you ever dreamt of castles and staying in them or at least visiting them? Dreamt of the romantic weddings which take place at the castles? Ever felt goosebumps around old historical places? Are you a fan of mythical stories? You are at the right place, Eilean Donan the eerie and romantic castle of Scottish […]

Read More…


text:
Our annual thought leadership publication based on market research among tax decision makers in both UK and non-UK companies.

There is no doubt 2016 was one of the most interesting years in recent times. Buffeted by a unique set of domestic, political and international economic pressures over the past 12 months, following Brexit UK businesses now face a period of flux and uncertainty as the government resets the country’s future on a global stage.

In order to gauge business sentiment and prospects for the UK, we interviewed 100 senior tax decision makers in the largest UK listed companies and foreign-owned subsidiaries and 60 companies from across the other G7 nations: the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Despite possible turbulence ahead, as we enter Brexit negotiations, it’s still business as usual - a sentiment reflected in our research into the competitiveness of UK tax rates.

Our 2016 study shows that companies continue to assess their business location in similar ways to previous years – taking into account factors like political and economic stability, market size, cost and availability of a skilled labour force.

Some of our key findings include:

  • Overall the UK retains its position as the 2nd most competitive tax system globally
  • However, when assessing the sentiment of non-UK companies the UK's tax competitiveness dropped from 1st to 5th
  • There is potential net outflows of business functions from the UK
  • Executives cite Brexit as having the greatest impact on investment & business activities in 2017

Read the Tax Competitiveness report: Succeeding in uncharted waters; assessing the competitiveness of the UK, to discover the findings of the survey.

You can download our Succeeding in uncharted waters: Assessing the competitiveness of the UK report.


text:
Rainfall – The Long Shot

Hi All,

I am so sorry for the radio silence the past few weeks on my blog. I do try to make the FB page my first priority, so that always takes preference. Also – I use my blog as a creative outlet for my “humorous” side. 3 young children on school holiday (FOR-6-WEEKS!!!!!!) coinciding with my darling BFF, Fikile, going on leave is just simply not funny. At all. Hence, no blogging.

Now, though, I have some exciting news that I had to share. Rainfall, the little book that could, has just made it to the #1038 selling book in the Kindle store. It is being featured on an Amazon promotion and is doing really, really well. Just to put that in perspective: there are over 2 million books on Kindle. And only 1037 of those books are outselling Rainfall. Kinda cool hey? I have a goofy smile on my face as I type this. Look, its no TOP 100 (which is every authors dream come true), but its not bad for the Indie Saffa Author who *blush* underestimated her own book. You all know that The Legacy Series is my baby – it’s just more my cup of Earl Grey – but I am so, so humbled & grateful that Paige & Adam’s story is touching readers hearts!!!

Now, the promotion still runs for another 5 days, 1 hour & 17 minutes, so whether it gains momentum or plummets down into obscurity at any minute, I couldn’t care less. Because right now, at this very moment, I am outselling some of my own idols. And THAT is the most awesome feeling EVER.

I will keep you posted & post the end results, but today is a good, good day 🙂

Wishing you all Season’s Greetings & I hope that 2014 is a fantastic year!

Much Love,

11 thoughts on “Rainfall – The Long Shot

  1. CONGRATULATIONS! This is totally awesome! I haven’t read The Legacy series… Rainfall is way more my cup of er… wine (?) but I loved it! My favourite read of 2013!

  2. I finished this last night – reading till past midnight as Couldn’t put it down! I wept and I smiled! A beautiful story written so well! Simply loved it. Please can we have another v soon! Highly highly recommend this!

Leave a Reply to Melissa Delport Cancel reply

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


text:
Today was a day like many others.  After a few hours of painting, I was forced to stop due to pain and fatigue caused by Lyme’s Disease and a co-infection called Bartonella.  But today I choose to reflect on how blessed I am to be completely passionate about being creative.  In fact, a year ago my brain was in such a fog some days that it could hardly process just getting through the day, let alone an art project.  If I didn’t have such a burning drive to create, then I am not sure what mental state I would be in.  I am reluctant to leave my house as it has been embedded into my psyche that going out and interacting with humans will tire me out and cause pain.

But I actually love being home and listening to podcasts and talk shows and learning about the world around me.  I am so grateful for social media because I can interact with other creatives, be inspired and sell my paintings and wall hangings without having to leave my home.  I consider it a miracle that I still feel charged every morning to go into my studio and paint.  I feel blessed that despite the tremor in my hands, I can still hold a paint brush.  I feel gratitude that my brain is able to create goals and think about the “big ideas” in life.  I feel such freedom to spend a few hours a day doing exactly what I have always dreamed of doing.

A year ago, my life was very different. I was like the walking dead.  I had just enough energy to make meals, spend time with my children and lie in bed.  I am so looking forward to a pain free life and a life where I don’t dread a day of being out and just doing simple errands.  I look forward to being able to do something as simple as writing a blog post in the evening without such intense pain that forces me to end this post.  But until that day, today was good day because I chose gratitude.


text:
The Mentorist

Leave a comment

Don’t Go Changing (You Probably Can’t Anyway)

‘Hi. My name is Jane, and I’m a self-helpoholic. It’s been 51 days since I’ve cruised the psychology section of my local book store.’

Apparently, I’m not alone in hoping that a book, an app or a self-proclaimed guru can help me to fundamentally change. Just search the phrase ‘how to change your life’ under the books section of As of 2:00 p.m. today, you’ll have 5,726 titles to choose from. (And counting….)

Self-help is a $12 billion industry, yet evidence is piling up that very few people are capable of categorical change. There’s even a name for the belief that, yes, this time, you’ve got the stuff it takes to transform: false-hope syndrome. []

Want to shed your introverted skin and become the life of the party? Morph from a self-centered jerk into Mother Teresa v.2? Good luck with that.

Continue reading

Getting the Important Stuff Done (or Why You Can’t Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions)

Let’s have a show of hands:  How many of you have kept the New Year’s resolutions you made last January?

Just as I thought.  Me neither.  (In fact, I can’t remember what mine were.  They seemed profound at the time….)

So why are we so bad at accomplishing the stuff that resolutions are made of?  The very stuff that we know will make us better human beings?

Theories abound.  But one put forth by Peter Bregman (a Harvard Business Review contributor and management guru) particularly speaks to me.  The thumbnail: Continue reading

1 Comment

In-House Lowdown: Proving Your Worth When the Waters Are Calm

‘In-House Lowdown’ is a series of blog posts designed to help lawyers navigate the in-house world.  Its observations are based on my 20+ years as a General Counsel, spent managing legal teams and herding assorted breeds of corporate cats.

I miss Dan Quayle.

His loopy pronouncements meant anyone could write good stand-up comedy.  Better yet, a Quayle quote could so perfectly nail a work frustration of mine that I simply had to step back, laugh and gain some needed perspective.

A case in point:  One of the most difficult political aspects of being an in-house lawyer, I’ve found, is figuring out how to get credit from your business people for legal fiascos that didn’t happen on your watch. Continue reading


text:
Jan 10 2019

January is Adopt a Rescued Bird Month

image for January is Adopt a Rescued Bird Month

National Bird Day, celebrated each January, brings awareness of the importance of wild birds the world over and wild bird conservation. It has evolved into raising awareness about birds kept in captivity as well, including, presumably, the birds we keep in our homes! January is the month to recognize the importance of adopting rescued birds.

If you’ve been thinking about adding a bird to your family, now is a great time to consider a rescue. Many people don’t realize that it’s not just cats and dogs that need homes – there are thousands of abandoned birds around the world that are homeless. Many birds end up in in the hands of rescue organizations after new owners, unaware of the care needed, find that it is more work than they initially thought. These rescue organizations work tirelessly to find these beautiful birds forever homes.

Birds can make excellent pets and companions, but research is important before getting one. You need to know what is required to make the commitment! Rescue organizations can answer many of your questions, but do your own research using on-line resources, your local library, or bookstore. Visit your veterinarian for recommendations and find out if your veterinary practice offers bird care – if not, your veterinarian can recommend a practice that does.

Here are some points to consider when thinking about adoption:

  • Birds can have surprisingly long lifespans. Small bird species can live for up to 30 years while large parrots can live well into their 70s! Find out the lifespan of the kind of bird that interests you. A pet bird is a long-term commitment.
  • Normal bird behavior may be different than what you expect! For example, birds in the wild will scream to communicate with one other. Knowing how to respond (or more accurately, how NOT to respond!) if your bird screams is important.
  • The daily requirements of a pet bird go beyond the simple provision of food and water each day! Each species of bird has its own unique requirements.
  • Birds have a social structure that needs to be understood before acquiring a bird.
  • Birds need veterinary care just as any other pet – you will need to budget accordingly. Find out how often the bird will need to see a veterinarian for preventive health care.

Once you have done your research and decide on a bird that will fit your lifestyle, contact rescue organizations in your area and meet a few birds before making a commitment to one. Consider adoption instead of purchasing a bird from a pet store – there are many birds already in need of a forever home. Before you commit to adopting a bird, check with the rescue organization to see if you can have your veterinarian check the bird over and ensure there are no unexpected health issues.

Even if you are not interested in adding a bird to your family, you can celebrate National Bird Day by learning about wild birds and the conservation efforts being made to sustain the world’s bird populations. Whether in the outdoors or in our homes, birds are important, and our world would not be the same without them.

LifeLearn News

Note: This article, written by LifeLearn Animal Health (LifeLearn Inc.) is licensed to this practice for the personal use of our clients. Any copying, printing or further distribution is prohibited without the express written permission of Lifelearn. Please note that the news information presented here is NOT a substitute for a proper consultation and/or clinical examination of your pet by a veterinarian.

Location Hours
Monday8:00am – 5:30pm
Tuesday8:00am – 5:30pm
Wednesday8:00am – 5:30pm
Thursday8:00am – 5:30pm
Friday8:00am – 5:30pm
Saturday8:00am – 11:30am

Drop-off and pick up hours: 7am-6pm Monday-Friday; 7am-noon on Saturday. Appointments appreciated, walk-ins welcome. Appointments not available during the hours of 12pm and 2pm.


text:
Shopping on Instagram: What it is and how to use it

Sara Martín

Sara Martín,

We have wonderful news, Shopping on Instagram is now available in other countries apart from the USA. Let’s discover this great feature from Instagram together!

Shopping on Instagram

Now you can sell and buy from Instagram in more countries.

It builds an easier shopping experience for users and creates a great storefront for brands. Everybody wins.

What is shopping on Instagram?

Shopping on Instagram is the new Instagram tool that enables brands and stores to tag their products on their posts. Tagging a product is as easy as tagging other people.

This new feature didn’t take us by surprise, since it was already available in the USA. After the successful results registered in this country, Instagram has expanded it to other places.

Test stage

Shopping on Instagram is currently being tested by approved businesses in Spain, Brazil, Australia, France, Germany, UK, Canada and Italy.

What’s new from Instagram

Shopping on Instagram allows businesses to choose photos they’d like to promote and, tag up to five products per image or twenty products per carousel.

This type of publication gives access to the details of the product and its price. It also shows a link that takes users to the website where they can buy the product.

Requirements to have access to Shopping on Instagram

The brands or stores that want to use this feature must fulfill the following requirements:

  • To have a business profile
  • To have a Fan Page on Facebook
  • To have created at least nine shopping publications
  • To have the latest version of the Instagram App
  • To sell physical products from an official website
  • Your profile must be connected to a Facebook catalog.

How to install Shopping on Instagram

If you meet all the requirements mentioned above, simply follow the next steps to activate this feature on your profile:

  1. Go to settings on your Instagram account
  2. Tap shopping
  3. Select a product catalog
  4. And it’s done!

Once you have it enabled, you must upload images and tag your products, which is similar to tagging a person on a standard post as we mentioned before.

To do this, tap on the products that you’d like to tag, enter the names and tap done.

Your products are now tagged!

It’s one of the most important new features from Instagram since the business tools were launched in 2016

How does Shopping on Instagram work?

  • For users: Instagram users are now able to buy product from this social network.
  • For businesses: It’ll help them to increase sales after setting up this feature and attract more people to their site without facing any barriers.

Advantages for users

This new feature is very straightforward for users, it only requires one click on the product that they are interested in.

  • Images that contain links to products will include a shopping bag icon located in the top right corner of the image on an account profile.
  • Once you click on the image, the message “tap to view product” will appear in a small window.
  • When you tap on the product, a pop-up window will appear with the product photo, an option to buy it along with other details.

  • If you tap the shop now button, Instagram will take you directly to the brand website

The main advantage: There is no need to go to the Instagram link in bio to access the website where you want to buy a product. It saves you time.

Advantages of Shopping on Instagram for businesses

It’s clear that you’ll be interested in using this new feature if you are a business since it means access to a new sales channel. Now, it will be much easier to measure sales on Instagram. Besides, you will get the following:

  • More traffic from your Instagram account to your website: You will increase traffic to your website with Shopping on Instagram. Costumers will be redirected to your web as soon as they tap on “shop now”.
  • Higher number of orders: Instagram users like when things go fast. Now, you can increase your sales and know exactly which ones come from Instagram.
  • Another source of positioning: it might be the case that your brand does not have a favorable SEO positioning on Google. Now, you can focus your efforts on Instagram to get a better overall positioning on social networks.

Shopping on Instagram will change the way of selling and probably, the way of designing product cards too. A new storefront has opened to the world.

Do you think it will affect ecommerce?

We’ll read your comments!

Send this to a friend


text:
Character Profiles

Two characters are going to be the main focus for this trailer; they are going to be attempting to escape the main villain of this trailer.

Our actors are:

  • Benjamin Haines
  • Callum Henn

Ben Haines – This actor is going to be playing one of the victims for the villain within this trailer. He fits the role perfectly because he is between the 15 – 18 age brackets. This is what we need because this is the sort of age that is stereotyped with watching these films but are also seem to be the most commonly used characters in most horror films. Furthermore Ben is also a Drama student at The Regis School and this will be a great skill being brought to the production team of this Media Project.

Callum Henn

Benjamin Haines

Callum Henn – The second actor for this trailer is Callum Henn. Like Ben, he is also within the stereotypical age range that I am targeting at the same time as well. Now even though he doesn’t take drama as a subject he is a very close friend of Ben’s and I believe that because of their close friendship they will be able to produce the perfect partnership and be a brilliant duo for this trailer. These characters will be able to fully get into depth within their characters and I feel that the emotion will be strong if something out of the ordinary was to happy then they will feel extremely upset about this possibility.


text:
How did you find Spello?

Once we settled on Italy, we decided we wanted to live in a region we’d visited before, within easy distance of a fabulous city. This led us to Tuscany and Umbria, and once we’d read that Tuscany was dubbed “Tuscanyshire” enough times, we opted for Umbria, as we wanted to experience Italy, not be surrounded by expats.

I began by looking on sites like vrbo and homeaway for three bedroom homes in small towns that had schools within walking distance. I sent query emails to ask about the availability for a yearlong rental. Not too many towns fit this description, at least in our price range, though I did learn that when you are looking at a long-term rental, the monthly cost of the apartment is between one and two times the listed weekly price.

We wound up with a list of five houses/towns, and Keith and I flew to Italy to scope them out.  Once we landed, we immediately ruled out living in the town that I thought would be my favorite. I had thought that I wanted a town of about 1,000 people, but what I didn’t know was that towns that small just don’t resonate with me (or at least not the ones we saw with available apartments). Too quiet, and often the energy of the town is clustered outside the ring road. Keith and I found ourselves whispering as we walked through the streets. We felt like we were in a library.

Our spirits sagged, but when we arrived in Spello it was like the clouds parted. There was so much action and vibrancy and everyone we met was friendly and helpful. It was a slam-dunk.

How did you find your apartment?

I had emailed with a woman about staying in one of her vacation rentals, but as that was falling through, she connected me with Loris. He had just finished renovating his childhood home and was looking for a family to rent it long-term. Connections are vital.

How can we move to Spello?

Our experience was extraordinary, it really was, but I believe that everyone should have their own experience. I know people who have landed in every corner of Italy for a period abroad like ours and they are all as grateful to have wound up where they did, I just happened to write about ours. No place is perfect, everywhere will have some up and some downsides. I believe the learning to adapt to those is critical.

So rather than figuring out how to get to Spello, I encourage you to blaze your own path. Think about what you want to see outside your window, what region you are curious about, or just toss a dart at map. The act of making that place your own will be transformative. And tell me where you wind up, I’d love to hear about your adventure!

Did you always plan on write the book?

Before we moved abroad, our lives were consumed with renovating our century old house in Charlottesville.  During that never-easy process it dawned on me that in these places where things are rough, that’s where growth is.

I particularly remember this moment when I was frustrated because I was tired of living in a house with floor-boards open to allow the entrance of possums and walls “plastered” with sheets of burlap. I was impatient for that moment when the house would be a pleasure, rather than a hardship.

Then all of a sudden, it hit me—I have everything I need. My children, family, health.

It’s not profound, I know. It’s pretty much what mindfulness is based on, but it was a flash that hit me to my core, and that has stayed with me, as my elemental philosophy.

I have everything I need.

As time went on and I experienced more a-ha moments in the house renovating, it became clear to me that my life here is lovely… so lovely that I don’t really have an opportunity to hit those stuck places where growth happens.

So even though my practice was growing, and my children were thriving, and I’d found a creative outlet in writing, I knew that at my core, I wasn’t really growing. I suspected that I was a fairly anxious person, covered with a thin veneer of comfort with the familiarity of my world.

Even though it’s true that Keith and I always wanted to move abroad for the sheer adventure of it, the reason I worked to happen when we’d all but given up was that I knew I needed to push myself.

I’ve always been attracted to stories of people doing something different for a year—Julie and Julia, Nickel and Dimed, The 100-Mile Diet. When we put limitations on ourselves, I believe it forces us to get clearer, and for me, adding constraints is a recipe for creativity.

I know that most people think of travel as freeing—walls falling away, and we experience an escape from our lives. But it’s also constraining. When you are traveling, you have to actually think about things as basic as “where can I find a bathroom?” and “how can I ask for a bottle of water?”

Language, custom, social niceties, these things are no longer easy. And when they aren’t easy, we have to actually think about our lives in new ways. And those new ways breed new thoughts, new understandings, new patterns.

I knew, just KNEW that like house renovating, this process would reveal aspects of myself I might not necessarily be comfortable with, but confronting them would stimulate me to grow. And I wanted to chronicle these changes.

And the writing. As a therapist, I’ve long been a fan of writing as a therapeutic process. This time I was turning the lens to myself.

Every day but Sundays, I woke up and got the kids ready for school, and then Keith and I would go out for coffee and I’d wonder aloud. “What will I write about today?” And I’d think about the day before, where I was stuck, what happened, and (like all good Quakers) what those stuck places were metaphors for (Quakers love metaphors). Then I’d go home and write. I’d write and I’d write, and it was revealing and scary sometimes, but I’d take a breath and hit publish.

It was that experiencing and writing that led me to significant realizations about my own life, and not just of the duly noted and forgotten variety, but the kind that changed me.

So, yes, writing this book was always part of the plan. What wasn’t part of the plan was how much I’d miss not writing it anymore. I expected to feel some measure of grief at leaving behind people and routines and facets of our Italian life. I had no idea I would miss writing my book. But I did. And I do.


text:
Spello's Infiorata

Note: This post is a modified excerpt from "Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center", but with all the photos I wish I'd been able to include. The images are captioned for details.

The weather is the main topic of conversation in Spellani bars. Is it raining, will it rain, how hot will it get, where is the weather nice, who knows a catchy proverb that fits with our meteorological events? It is a particularly hot topic now, as the town gears up for the Infiorata. The festival is Spello’s most beloved tradition, and her residents hold their collective breaths in hopes that nothing will go wrong. Everywhere, people are compulsively stepping outside to glare at the sky. There is a constant bemoaning of the diminished flower growth this year, the result of perpetual drizzle which has shackled sunlight. Any respite from the rain results in a flurry of neighbors potting, trimming, and cleaning. Gussying up the town for the onslaught of visitors. The Infiorata is celebrated up and down the Boot, but in few places with as much fervor and pride as this little town in Umbria. It is flower hysteria in Spello.

Saturday morning of the Infiorata dawns drizzly, but it begins clearing by afternoon. Voices that were hushed and tense now take on a more characteristic lightness. Tents start popping up over the sites of the quadrati—the large, mural-like works, which are judged separately from the tappeti, the longer runs of flowers. According to the rules of the competition, the laying of flowers cannot begin until late at night. I watch teams feverishly vacuuming and drying the wet streets, creating masonry barriers to divert rain around the work, laying down the design templates or using chalk to draw a grid and transfer the image to the street square by square. Spello is burbling with conversation as adults and children sit on plastic chairs lining the streets, removing petals from flowers and placing them into shallow boxes.

As we stroll down Via Giulia, we are hailed by Riccardo. I’m surprised he remembers us from Barbara’s party back in December. He pulls us into a cantina lined with boxes of petals, and then hands us a slip of paper emblazoned with Raphael's Madonna and Child. It’s their tappeto design, he tells us with irrepressible pride. He hands each of our children a juice box and orders us to return at 9:30 PM to begin work. Keith and I consult with each other wordlessly. Yes, we will join Riccardo’s Infiorata group. What this means we’ll be doing, I don’t know, but I find I’m impatient to find out. I’m willing to lay some masonry or copy chalk grids onto the street to be part of this.

The street buzz is so infectious, we have to force ourselves indoors for dinner. Over our new taste sensation—homemade pizza with dabs of ricotta and salsa tartufata, we process the alteration in our expectations. We had pictured observing the activity, now we’ll be part of it. Another passeggiata takes us past Paola’s shop, which is still open. Paola tells me that all the shops will be open until past midnight. The bars will be open until 2:00 AM. To accommodate the masses, there are tables and chairs set up in the area usually given over to the school. We sit and try to eat our cups of gelato, but we’re too excited. Nicolas, it should be said, finds a way to finish our leftovers. He’s hearty that way.

Gelato consumed, we amble to the cantina to join what I can now call our Infiorata group—Pochi, ma Buoni. The Few, but Good. We’re introduced to a welcoming collection of Spellani who are energized for the night ahead. The maestro—the one in charge of directing the night’s work—is Sauro, the baker. I wonder if this means there are baked goods in my future.

Our first step is to remove the tiny pods from the inner cores of daisies, while making conversation with other workers and fielding questions about how six-year-old Gabe speaks effortless Italian. Our other kids speak it just as well to our ear, but Spellani are adamant that Gabe has nailed it.

Once finished with our flower work, Nicolas leaves to visit his friend Mario, who is working on a design in the piazza for the middle school, while the rest of us stand in the street and watch as Sauro and Riccardo patch potholes and then slather wallpaper paste onto the asphalt to lay down the paper printed with a Rafael design. The rules stipulate that the template must not be colored, so groups indicate the colors to be laid in each section by number, color name, or flower name. With Pochi, Ma Buoni, there are no color indications on the design, just a hand-held mock up of the image. Sauro determines which flowers to lay based on the abundance of each type of flower. The petals themselves are not allowed to be glued to the surface. They can be sprayed with water to keep them fresh, which keeps the petals safe from errant breezes, but they cannot be adhered in any way.

Some groups use store-bought flowers, evidenced by the plastic wrapped bunches of bright carnations. But Pochi, Ma Buoni only uses flowers gathered by group members, from gardens or in the wild. Some petals are dried to intensify their color, some are cut into pieces or ground up, others are processed at the last minute so they stay fresh and vibrant. Every group waits for the sun to set before chopping fennel. The licorice scent of the green fronds filling the streets and alleys will forever remind me of the Infiorata.

The group provides a design for children to work on as they please, and Gabe and Siena join the bambini, until work begins on the main design. Completely contrary to our low expectations of what we’d be allowed to do as novice infioratori, our family is given an entire segment of the design to complete together. I’m not sure we’re ready for this level of responsibility. But I take comfort in Sauro’s consistent supervision. He’s constantly walking the length of the template, running upstairs to look down on the progress, and advising adjustments. The five of us sit down to work, laying flowers as dictated by the baker. I’m not surprised at Siena’s engagement—handicrafts and flowers are her sustenance—but Gabe’s focused concentration and Nicolas’s investment in spending hours putting flowers between lines of a template both amaze me.

Nicolas’s friends walk by at 11:30 and invite him on a passeggiata to see the progress of the other groups. He brushes off his knees and leaps to join them, which means he misses the dinner that is served at midnight, penne with wild asparagus and sausage. Luckily, he had all that gelato. As we eat, Riccardo shows me a photo of himself with a massive armload of the freshly collected asparagus. Nicolas rejoins us shortly after we return to work, and is present for our next break of hand-cut, homemade prosciutto, salumi, homemade wine, and pastries.

When we run out of the petals we’re using to fill in a section, Siena dashes into the cantina to ask for more. Riccardo is omnipresent, taking Gabe for walks when his knees hurt from kneeling, or pressing another piece of Nutella cake into our free hands. Barbara is a flurry of motion herself—leading the children to her house for bathroom breaks, assisting in putting out the boxes of flowers. And we all talk and laugh and sip the espresso handed to us with a smile and a wink, as we work alongside our neighbors late into the cool night. Standing to relieve our knees, we watch the maestri bring the human figures in Rafael’s painting to life. With their cups of seeds and pulverized petals like an artist’s palette, in their meditative zone, delicately shading and layering. The figures look just like the painting, which I didn’t expect to be possible with plant matter.

Petals all laid, we are handed a box of newly chopped fennel for the border. It’s pliable, almost like clay and holds the flowers in place. After the large pink petals, which squirmed and shifted so much that Sauro awarded us dieci e lode, ten and praise, the easily matting fennel is a relief. It also pulls the whole design together. We stand back and breathe it in—the scents of fennel and jasmine-like broom mingled with aromas of espresso, the laughter, the flurry of activity getting more food and drinks to infioratori, the inky night patterned with worklights, and the art coming into fruition at our feet. I yawn, and hoist Gabe up so his nodding head can rest on my shoulder. It’s 2:00, and we are released to go home. As we walk through the darkened alley, I send up a prayer that the weather holds.

Slumber doesn’t come easily. Still jittery from the espresso thrust into my hand at 1:00 AM, my snippets of sleep are clouded with dreams of dropping flower petals. Too early, we wrestle ourselves out of bed and back onto the street. Infioratori are still feverishly working on the quadrati, desperate to finish before the judging begins, and the procession later in the morning. Most are nearing completion, and I’m enthralled at the intricate realism of the faces, the creativity of the designs, the boldness of the patterns, and the texture variations created by the petals and whole flowers. The quadrato of Noah’s Ark captivates me with its swirling, elaborate design. We pass images of Saint Francis alongside the new pope, a fanciful rendering of Spello by the middle schoolers, and a modern day Madonna and Child, with long stretches of tappeti between them. The borgo boasts the largest and most complicated designs, with large petals placed as bird feathers and calla lilies used as butterfly bodies.

Once we have toured all the streets full of quadrati and tappeti, we return to Via Giulia to rejoin Pochi, Ma Buoni. As we approach, one of the team members stops in the street and holds our eye contact. Then he deliberately makes two gestures in succession—the slow thumb down the cheek for bella, beautiful, and then the moving of an okay symbol across the body as if pulling a string for ottimo, excellent. And it is. We can’t stop looking at it. Riccardo invites us upstairs to view the complete work from above, and we are speechless. Back down the steps, I ask Riccardo when they had finished, and he replies, a half hour ago. I didn’t count on how long all those fine details would take. Sauro spots us through the crowd and chuckles at our incredulous expressions. He moves toward us and tells us about the rain that had sent Barbara running home for tarps that volunteers had stretched over the workers. We'd sometimes felt light drops as we'd worked, but we'd loudly denied their existence or proclaimed that the moisture would hold down the petals. Tourists filing by had paused over our work and asked “E, se piove?” And, if it rains? I always answered, ”Non lo so,” I don’t know. Though Barbara told me she’d asked the same question many Infiorati ago, and was told, “It’s okay if it washes away. God saw it.”

We breakfast on baked goods the women order us to take, while we walk the perimeter of the design, pausing continually by “our section.” As we wait for the procession to begin, we spy a careless tourist step into the fennel border. Nicolas flies to the tappeto to repair the damage, Siena running to fetch fennel from within the recesses of the cantina. Riccardo, though, is sanguine, joking with the tourist that her multa would be €500. His laughter adds to the carnival atmosphere, further heightened  as friends pass to admire the work. Finally, we hear music floating up the hill, from the procession, which begins at Santa Maria Maggiore. Musicians and church members, some holding aloft gold flags, and then the priest, the first allowed to walk on the carpets of flowers. Goosebumps rise on my arms as I watch his feet scatter the petals our group had worked all night to place. It is no longer perfect, but in the eyes of the observant, now it is sanctified. And the thought of holiness taking the form of disruption, rather than perfection, gives me shivers.

We leave after the procession to make lunch, though we should have stayed—Barbara later tells us they brought out homemade lasagna and porchetta. We nap and then saunter out for popsicles at Bonci. I notice that all the vendors light up when they see us—I think with so many strangers, they thrill to a familiar face.

Keith and Siena decide to go to the flower vendors set up in the park, and I take the boys home. Some of our neighbors, including Anna, are sitting on the steps of the alley, and as Gabe overhears they are talking about cats, he calls over the ledge of the terrazza, "I nostri gatti sono grassi.” Our cats are fat. Too true. The group breaks into peals of laughter, and begs him to join them. When I peek out ten minutes later to see him casually sitting with the adults, they call me down for a un vetro, a glass. They pour me a bubbly red wine, and though I catch very little of the conversation, and contribute even less, I’m glad to be included in this informal neighborhood assembly. Gabe leans against me and whispers, “Mamma, I love this.”

At night, as I fall into what feels like a well-earned slumber, I listen to the the melody of hail tip-tapping on the rooftops. Drifting into an easy sleep, I imagine water and ice wending a tangled river of petals down the cobblestone streets to the borgo. When I yawn my way downstairs in the morning, I find Gabe on the couch reading Italian comics. I pull him onto my lap, and he muses that the Infiorata was the most exciting day of his life. I’m not surprised. The vividness of scents and sights, the race to the finish, the turning familiar streets into canvasses, the festival vibe. And the art. The Infiorata is emblematic of Spello’s commitment to the pursuit of art. Not just for rarified individuals, but for everyone. Even six-year-old expats.

Gabe murmurs that he’s hungry, so I decide to walk to the forno for cornetti and boxes of apricot juice. I slip on my shoes, and moments later I step in the bakery, inhaling the now familiar scent of almonds and flour. Sauro calls me from the baking room, and when he catches my attention, he holds his index finger aloft with a grin. It takes me a moment to understand, and then I cannot believe it. We won. Pochi, Ma Buoni won first place in the tappeti competition. He laughs in delight as my jaw drops, and we whoop and applaud each other, while customers look at us curiously, before selecting bread for another day in Spello.


text:
U-M startup uses analytics to improve patient monitoring

By | August 3, 2018
" "

Fifth Eye team from left: Bryce Benson, Jen Baird, Mark Salamango, Jeff Basch and Ashwin Belle. (Daryl Marshke, Michigan Photography)

When U-M researchers started getting spontaneous hugs from nurses while testing Fifth Eye, their new patient monitoring system, they knew they were on to something. Developed using machine learning and sophisticated signal processing, Fifth Eye monitors a single streaming EKG lead. Based on the activity of the heart, the system’s analytics can predict if a patient will deteriorate several hours before normal vital signs signal a problem is occurring. It can also monitor brain injuries and predict secondary injury for patients.

Fifth Eye CEO Jen Baird, a U-M alum, teamed up with researchers from the Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care (MCIRCC) to create the startup with technology licensed through U-M Tech Transfer. “The potential application of the technology is large,” said Drew Bennett, associate director for software, mobile and digital technologies at U-M Tech Transfer. “They are using data that is already being generated. They aren’t trying to introduce something new into the clinical setting, but taking advantage of the information that’s already there.”


text:
Application Life Cycle

As an application manager, Pandora.js can manage application's life cycle at 5 stages:

  • Representation Stage
  • Initialization Stage
  • Injection Stage
  • Launch Stage
  • Shutdown Stage

Representation Stage - procfile.js

Use procfile.js to define the application.

Initialization Stage

Pandora.js can deploy multiple applications at the same time. By feeding the application root directory, Pandora.js would do some initialization works for the application, such as collecting meta information, initializing resource loader and context, etc.

Injection Stage

There are several ways to do the injection:

  1. Using global variable PANDORA_CONFIG
  2. Using the description file procfile

Entities can be injected are listed as below:

  1. Process：inject process definition.
  2. Service：pandora.js managed services, whose lifecycle are managed by application manager.
  3. Environment：environment object.

Launch Stage

Create application context and start applications, invoke the start() method of services, such as HTTP service, etc.

Shutdown Stage

Shut down the application as well as services via invoking stop() method. Daemon will wait at most 5 seconds for applications to exit gracefully.

Last Updated: 9/19/2018, 2:35:44 PM


text:
I lost, But We Won

13466522_10100253676015059_8234610603933303786_nI lost my campaign for Democratic National Committee (DNC) member. But we won at the Iowa State Convention. We even won in California, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, and Washington at their State Conventions.

Thank you everyone who volunteered for me and donated money to me. You really did help me get many votes at the convention. Thank you! It was a lot of work.

I am proud to say that my campaign stayed positive and never spoke negatively towards my opponent, we never called up delegates to spread negative messages.

While I campaigned I spoke about who I am and what I planned to do. I spoke about my values. I am proud to have run a positive campaign for the DNC.

Our convention was as usual dramatic and drawn out. It was about a 19-hour event that began at 9am and ended around 3am.

During this exciting and dramatic convention, we won more seats on the State Central Committee, we held our national delegate count, and had many victories on the platform.

  • Calling for single-payer health care
  • Support of the death with dignity act
  • Protecting LGBTQIA elders against discrimination
  • Support of insurance coverage for transgender related healthcare
  • Support of equal human rights for Palestinians and Israelis
  • Support of Palestinian statehood/UN membership
  • Opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership
  • Opposition to fast-tracking trade agreements
  • Support of tuition-free state colleges/universities
  • Calling for 100% renewable energy by the year 2025

576601cf42050.imageFollowing four separate votes the convention decided to abolish superdelegates. The last vote was round midnight when a petition was submitted to remove the superdelegates plank to make the platform silent on the issue. However, this was another win for us when the motion failed on a voice vote.

In California, the State Democratic Convention called for the elimination of caucuses and most superdelegates.

The convention passed a resolution that takes away the voting status of Democratic governors and members of Congress. However members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) would remain superdelegates and be tied to the vote of their constituency.

At the Missouri State Democratic Convention, more Bernie Sanders delegates showed up than Hillary Clinton delegates. Making Missouri another Bernie state. Bernie had 681 state delegates which equals 37 pledged national delegates and Hillary had 644 state delegates which equals 34 pledged national delegates.

Texas Democratic delegates wave signs as the party's state convention wraps up the final day with a breakfast tribute to Lady Bird Johnson, voting on platforms and resolutions and declaring national delegates on Saturday, June 18, 2016. Factions of the delegates were still proponents of Bernie Sanders despite the majority of the group supporting Hillary Clinton. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)
Texas Democratic delegates wave signs as the party’s state convention wraps up the final day, voting on platforms and resolutions and declaring national delegates on Saturday, June 18, 2016. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)

Progressives and Bernie delegates adopted a platform that reflects Bernie Sanders’ message at the Texas State Democratic Convention.

  • Banned lobbyists from becoming superdelegates
  • Limited the number of superdelegates to no more than 10% of the total number of delegates
  • Adopted a resolution to make the minimum wage $15 for non-tipped jobs, and to make tipped jobs start at $7.25 per hour.

10812111_GNebraska’s State Democratic Convention went a bit further with voting to abolish superdelegates to electing an anti-pipeline activist and Bernie Sanders supporter as the Party’s State chairwoman.

They even approved a resolution that calls on superdelegates to base their votes at the Democratic National Convention on the results of Nebraska’s March 5th presidential caucus.

In Washington, the Democratic Convention voted to officially endorse Bernie Sanders.

Join the Revolution & Elect Tom Fiegen to the U.S. Senate

Source: Tom Fiegen for U.S. Senate
Source: Tom Fiegen for U.S. Senate
I am supporting Tom Fiegen for U.S. Senate to represent Iowa and unseat incumbent Republican Senator Chuck Grassley!

Tom is a former Iowa State Senator and Democratic Caucus Chair in the precinct of Clarence, Iowa, and bankruptcy lawyer. Tom has taught economics at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa for 10 years.

Tom Fiegen is running for U.S. Senate because he wants to restore and protect the working class from billionaire special interests, overturn Citizens United, protect our environment, and make college affordable. He also wants to protect and expand the grown-local farm movement and move away from GMO/Chemical mono industrial agriculture. Tom is a champion of labor unions, he has fought for a living wage, and creating the opportunity for workers to form unions (Fiegen)

1443062598Tom Fiegen on the issues:

  • Wall Street Reform –
    • Re-enact Glass Steagall and break up too-big-to-fail financial institutions.
    • The Federal Reserve, must eliminate its internal conflicts of interest, provide stricter oversight, and insist that the banks its support serve the economy in a way that works for everyone not just a few.

I want to fix the bribery of politicians in the guise of campaign contributions. […] People throw around the reference to Citizens United, but the problem is much more systemic and ingrained than that. – Tom Fiegen (Sainato)

  • Climate Change –
    • We must transform our energy system away from polluting fossil fuels, and towards energy efficiency and sustainability.
    • Millions of homes and buildings need to be weatherized and we need to accelerate technological progress in wind and solar power generation.
  • Student Debt –
    • We need to make higher education free to every qualified student and we need to refinance, reform, and reduce the loan burden to people who have already graduated.

  • Prescription Drug Cost –
    • Medicare and Medicaid needs to be able to negotiate for lower drug prices.
    • We need transparency on the cost to develop new drugs.
  • Small-Farm Revolution –
    • Institutions like schools, hospitals, and universities need to locally source their food.
    • Shift from supporting GMO/Chemical mono industrial agriculture to supporting/promoting/subsidizing local healthy fresh sustainable food production.
All issues information from: WWW.FIEGENFORUSSENATE.COM

CSIOSc2UcAAdyxyTom Fiegen is the only U.S. Senate candidate in Iowa that has formally endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States of America. Tom showed his support for Senator Bernie Sanders at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson Jackson Dinner, in his introduction of 150 words however according to Tom Fiegen his declaration of support for Sen. Sanders was removed (Sainato).

Around the stage they [Iowa Democratic Party] had tables for dinners that were $1000 a plate. The outer ring, where I was, had tables for $120 a plate. For people and students who could afford [to sit] there, they [Iowa Democratic Part] sold them bleacher seats for $50 a ticket. […] The thing that insulted me with the people on the bleachers, is they put up barricades so those people couldn’t mingle with the people at the tables. It gave very much the impression that they were second class citizens. – Tom Fiegen

Therefore, when Tom took the stage he was holding a Bernie sign and wearing a Bernie sticker, his announcement like this led to an uproar and standing ovation from the hall.

I wanted to communicate to the party machine people and the people at the $1000-a-plate tables that Senator Sanders’ campaign is a political revolution, that I am part of that revolution, and we intend to remake not only our party, but our democracy and our country, and that there are more of us than them. – Tom Fiegen

Join me in supporting Tom Fiegen as he runs for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate and elect him to help Sen. Sanders in the White House!

Go here to volunteer or donate to his campaign!

Proud Progressive Democrat

Logo275I am proud to be a progressive Democrat and I support the “Progressive Democrats of America (PDA).” PDA was founded in 2004 to seek to build a party and government controlled by citizens, not corporate elites-with policies that serve the public interest, not just private interests (www.pdamerica.org)

“As the second-longest-serving Democrat in the House of Representatives, I know what I am talking about when I say that no one has worked harder on the issues protecting Social Security, fighting for a full employment economy and national health care both inside and outside the Democratic Party, than PDA.” – Representative John Conyers

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and their allies have shuck up the political status-quo on issues ranging from the Iraq War, voter rights, protecting Social Security, a full employment economy, national healthcare and economic justice.

PDA stands in line with many if not all of the same positions I hold. For instance, stopping global warming, providing healthcare for all, fighting for human rights and economic justice.

PDA agrees that we must provide a living wage, extend unemployment benefits, expand earned income tax credits, food and childcare assistance, and housing vouchers, just to name a few.

business-case-for-single-payer-39-638Specifically, PDA supports, H.R. 676 – the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, which was originally sponsored by Rep. John Conyers and co-authored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The bill would provide a national healthcare plan that would supplant the deficiencies of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

  • The bill would replace private insurers and recoup administrative savings amounting to billions each year.
  • The plan would be publicly financed replying on progressive financing and would be privately and publicly delivered by health care workers and hospitals.

“The global evidence is very clear: single-payer financing systems are the most equitable and cost-effective way to assure that everyone, without exception, gets high-quality care,” said Dr. Robert Zarr, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, a nonprofit research and educational group of 19,000 doctors nationwide. (PNHP)

epa-trendsPDA supports, H.R. 3242 – the Save Our Climate Act. The bill would provide a fee levied on the carbon content of fossil fuels at the first point of sale.

  • The tax would begin at $10/ton on carbon dioxide content and increase by bellow 1990 levels.
  • The tax will create a shift in behavior so that oil usage in 2021 will be 19% lower than 2005 usage.

PDA supports, “The Inclusive Prosperity Act,” the Robin Hood Tax. The bill would impose a tax on the trading of stocks, bonds, derivatives and currency – essentially a sales tax on Wall Street trades.

  • The bill would impose a tax of 0.5% on the trade of stocks – 50 cents on the purchase or sale of $100.00 worth of stock – and a lesser rate on trading of bonds, derivatives and currency.
  • The bill will also help limit the reckless short-term speculation on the market that threatens our financial stability.

PDA supports, H.R. 2212 – the Democracy Restoration Act, introduced by Rep. John Conyers. The bill would establish a federal standard that restores voting rights in federal elections.

  • This bill would create a uniform standard across the country in federal elections.
  • It would strengthen democracy by creating a broader and more just base of voter participation.
  • It would aid law enforcement by encouraging participation in civic life, assisting reintegration, and rebuilding ties to the community.
  • The bill would facilitate election administration by streamlining registration issues and eliminating the opportunity for erroneous purges of eligible voters.
  • It would also eliminate the confusion about who is eligible to vote.

Another priority that both I and PDA support is full federal LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) equality. For instance, adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and similar acts to provide equal workers’ rights and employment opportunities, housing, public accommodations, credit access, education, marriage and all federal programs.

Supporting the PDA, does not mean that I am endorsing any candidate that the PDA may endorse. It just means that I support the ideals of the PDA and many of the issues they are working on.

You can also add your support and join the PDA here: www.pdamerica.org

Problem Facing America: Politics are not focused around Young Americans

In the United States, our politics on both sides of the aisle is not on the side of young Americans. Republicans claim the only way to grow the economy and secure a future for young Americans is to cut our domestic spending programs. Democrats claim the only way to grow the economy and secure the future for young Americans is to continue the same old policies pushed forth again and again. In the end, everything stays the same.

2015-02-18-EarningsbyLifeCycleHere’s the facts from the past 40 years via the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSA found that a typical employee, has the largest income gains between the ages of 25 and 35. However, the unemployment rate of 18 and 34 years old peaked at more than 13% in 2010 (doesn’t include underemployment or discouraged workers). While the average income increase for median earners fell to zero between the ages of 35 and 55. Finally, they found that incomes decline (“negative growth”) between ages 45 and 55.

During the recession, lower-wage industries constituted 22% of losses, but 44% recovery growth and higher-wage industries constituted 41% of recession losses, however only 30% of recovery growth, noted by the National Employment Law Project.  this caused an economic and perhaps even social crisis for young Americans are trying to enter or attempt to enter the workforce. Many of these young Americans are trying to get their first job to use their money to sustain themselves as they face the many challenges they have thrust upon them once they graduate high school. Many of them even use these jobs to help pay for their own education or to feed themselves while they are enrolled in college.

Now, they are not getting these jobs. Instead they are going to the people who before the recession were in middle-wage and higher-wage industries. These were people who had already made a life for themselves in many cases. Leading to young Americans with no avenue to work to start their lives to those who had good jobs now taking the jobs that use to go to young Americans just starting out.

Now, looking specifically at the jobs that were lost during the recession, Pew Research Center made some great points. the largest declines were in specialty trade contractors, construction 319, 800 jobs and local government, education 266,800 jobs. The largest gains have been in health care 1,481,400 jobs and food services and drinking places 1,385,400 jobs. Looking at these numbers you may notice that the second largest growing industry post-recession is also one of the industries that has the lowest pay and the least benefits for their employees.

2015-02-18-WhoOwestheMostAnother striking statistic, is the total amount of student debt owed, $1.3 trillion. Even further, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average amount owed for each graduate has risen from less than $10,000 in 1993 to more than $30,000 in 2013. With the bottom 25% of households owing 58% of student debt and the top 10% owing only 3%, according to the Pew Research Center.

Republican Message:

The new Congress is controlled by the Republican Party (GOP) and they could act on these issues and take meaningful actions. Instead, they seem to be focused on repealing Obamacare (ACA), rollback of immigration reform, and destroy agencies that protect the environment, consumers, workers, and taxpayers.

20141108_gdm333_10Specifically, on immigration the U.S. House took a vote of 236-191 on funding the Department of Homeland Security to February 27, until President Obama reverses his executive order on undocumented immigrants. The vote was poised at killing the President’s effort to enforce policies that limited deportations of people who aren’t criminals or serial immigration violators. One amendment to that bill even went as far as ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA stopped over 600,000 young undocumented immigrants from being deported and allowed them to work legally.

Progressive Confront:

Progressives have a plan to confront the Republican’s and the Democrat’s standard. The progressive plan is to regulate Wall Street, transform the U.S. global tax and trade policies (oppose TTP), enforce a progressive tax rate, curb perverse CEO compensation policies, revive anti-trust, equal pay for equal work, raise the minimum wage, paid sick leave, free community college (President Obama’s plan), 21st century infrastructure (President Obama’s plan), end the outrageous amounts of money in politics (Citizens United), and take advantage of the Green Energy Industrial Revolution.

international-maternity-leave-timeline-2013The plan includes supporting progressive legislators. Thus, people who disagree with the status quo should stand with U.S. Senators taking the lead on these policies such as Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Jeff Merkly, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren. It also means standing with the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the U.S. House, who are driving the same ideas.

Fundamental change comes only when the oppressed make it impossible to sustain the old order. – Robert Borosage, Campaign for America’s Future

In Mika’s Opinion:

Young Americans are our future, thus politics needs to take a major turn towards that which will benefit them. Right now, young Americans are turned off by both political parties.

Why? Could it be that both political parties have not spent much time focusing on the needs of young Americans? Could it be that both political parties are stuck in their same old ways, pushing their same old proposals?

This is why I believe in the progressive plan, the plan for our future, that includes and focuses on young Americans. That recognizes the need to take a turn and make changes. The plan includes some of the old proposals that are still relevant for today but recognizes that we are in the 21st century and need 21st century solutions. The progressive plan even will tackle social issues that many young Americans want to see dealt with. Many of these issues are not even seen as issues by many young Americans but are for older Americans and still are being debated within the two major political parties, which also turns off young Americans

It’s time we realize that immigration isn’t a side issue, it’s a national priority.marriage_equaltiy_3_0

It’s time we realize that women’s issues are not side issues but a national priority.

It’s time we realize that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) rights are not side issues but a national priority.

*Source: Campaign for America’s Future*

*Source: Politico*

It’s time for Congress to Act on Climate Change!

ClimateAction1It’s sad that in 2014, we have more than 130 members of Congress that deny the science on climate change. They even deny what 97 percent of scientists agree on, which is that climate change is real.

Here are the facts:

  • The sea level has rose over 6 inches in the last century and in the last decade the rate has nearly doubled.
  • Global temperatures have increased since 1880 with most of the warming occurring after 1970 and the last 10 years have been the warmest.
  • The oceans are absorbing most of the increased heat, with the oceans warming about 0.30 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.
  • The ice sheets are shrinking. Greenland lost 36-60 cubic miles of ice per year between 2002 & 2006 and Antarctica lost about 36 cubic miles between 2002 & 2005.
  • Arctic sea ice is melting.
  • Glaciers are retreating everywhere including in the Alps, Himalayas, and Rockies.
  • We are having more extreme weather and the number of record high temperatures has been increasing while the number of record low temperatures are decreasing.

*Source: NASA Climate Change

The climate change deniers in Congress refuse to open their eyes and wake up. They refuse to protect the environment for my generation and generations to come.

This is why I stand with the 31 United States Senators who led an overnight session a couple of weeks ago urging their fellow colleagues to act on climate change. I also stand with President Barack H. Obama and his plan to combat climate change.

President Obama’s Plan to Combat Climate Change:

  1. Put limits on how much carbon pollution power plants can create
  2. Double the production of clean energy by 2020
  3. Prepare the U.S. for the impacts of climate change.

I urge you to stand up and take action on the climate! Please stand up with me and hold our elected officials accountable. Go here to help out: #ClimateAction