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A journey in words...

Welcome to my journey in words! A story about health, exercise, weight loss, food addiction, humor, size discrimination, sarcasm, social commentary and all the rest that’s rattling around inside my head...

I now twit, er... or tweet. Anyway, you can follow me on twitter @Aeon1202

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Food and Sleep

Two very basic necessities which are inexorably linked.

I’ve had insomnia for as long as I can remember. As a child, my mother would creep upstairs with laundry baskets at midnight trying not to wake anyone only to find me reading in bed, or before I could read just looking at the pictures.

I attribute my sleeplessness most often to a busy head; I have too many thoughts to fall asleep. When it’s time for rest, my imagination would far rather play – usually with happy things but as I grew older and matured that imaginative trait would turn into cruel worry more often than not.

Sometimes, I simply don’t want to sleep; because life is too short and I have too much else I’d rather be doing.

Sometimes the very concept of sleep kind of freaks me out. I mean – think about it, when you’re focusing on falling asleep you can’t. So when does that strange twilight moment happen when your brain distracts itself enough to not be paying attention to… well… anything? And then you loose consciousness. I mean if you really really think about it, sleep is a very strange thing.

Thinking about that will keep you up at night.

There’s also the fact that I don’t ever sleep peacefully; I have nightmares. When I’m not having nightmares I have very vivid dreams. Sometimes they’re a lot of fun, but sometimes they’re confusing or I wake up wondering; is someone trying to tell me something? Sometimes I dream things that happen later. Could be pure coincidence or just the natural trait of thinking about and thus dreaming about things that my conscious mind knows are probably going to occur – it all depends on what you really believe about sleep.

But my metaphysical dream journeying aside, I have at varying points in my life had no less than four separate conditions that doctors classify as ‘sleep disorders’. Insomnia is the chief one, but in addition to that I have woken up in places other than where I fell asleep (very disconcerting), had mind scrambling nightmares and also suffered something called ‘sleep paralysis’; where the conscious brain wakes but can’t make the connection to the body, causing me to suffer a paralyzed state until I could shake it off. That one is easily the least pleasant. Back in medieval times they used to refer to it as ‘having a hag on your chest’; they believed it to be a supernatural attack of some sorts by a nasty critter.

And speaking of nasty critters I often wake up with what appear to be fingernail scratches all over me. The logical conclusion would be that I’m scratching myself in my sleep, except they frequently appear on my back where I cannot possibly reach. Again, looking forward to waking up with claw marks all over me is yet another in a long list of things that make me less than thrilled with the prospect of closing my eyes at night.

I also sometimes dream ‘lucid’ meaning that I’m aware of being asleep and control the dream state. That one is actually pretty fun, so I don’t classify it among my disorders.

So how does this connect to diet? According to most of the learned researchers I’ve been able to read, an average person trying to be healthy needs seven to eight hours of sleep per night. A person trying to loose weight needs that even MORE. Apparently there’s some kind of stress hormone that builds up when you don’t rest that causes your body to hold onto fat more tightly. And then there’s just the obvious; the more you’re asleep the less time you have to wander the house Midnight snacking.

I average five hours of sleep per night. When in vehicles I fall asleep almost instantly because I’m so exhausted all the time that the moment I’m still and undistracted I’m out like a light. Plus I guess I like the soothing sound of a car, or something like that.

Somehow I need to make peace with my personal sleep-demons… because this constant deficit of tiredness is making my long road seem that much more like a slow, upward incline.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Weighing In - 266 lbs.

I'm down three pounds this week. Thank heck!

If I'd had a second hard work / no results week in a row I would have gotten really really hard to live with.

I have a dinner off tonight, so I'm eating really sparingly all day in preparation. I'm really hoping there's shrimp on the menu...

Happy Saturday!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Pretty Things

One of the things that inspires me is people I find really, really attractive. They can be male or female, and they’re usually so totally off base from both my appearance and personality that they may as well be aliens from another planet. It’s not necessarily about me being attracted to them in a romantic way (though sometimes I definitely am), it’s about being attracted to something in them that I want to be closer to in myself.

They inspire me…

When I see certain people I don’t feel jealousy I but see something in them, some quality that I want to emulate. I see a tiny fraction of the person I want to be inside myself – the person that is currently too blanketed by fat layers to be visible to the outside world.

I see them and I think; yes – that’s it, that’s how I will be. Whether it’s a gracefulness or a self confidence or sexiness or simply fabulous eye makeup.

Sometimes when I’m feeling discouraged and I want to go binge; I instead go into the folder of pretty things on my computer and I look at them.

And I think – I’m getting closer to you, to the you that is going to be a part of me. Every single day I’m getting a little bit closer. Tiny steps closer on a very long road.

Here are some of my ‘pretty things’ – I hope they inspire you too.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Making Pickles - Part 2

Okay last night I tasted the half sour pickles that have been fermenting on my countertop for the past three days and I have a few things to note:

1) My salt solution is way too strong, no wonder it was burning my skin whenever I splashed it on myself. If you attempt making pickles; ½ cup of salt to 6 cups of water is TOO MUCH! Next time I’m going to try ¼ cup or so and see how that works out. Since I’m also pickling some banana peppers I immediately watered down their solution when I realized this, hopefully I didn’t ruin them.

2) You really do need the pickling spices. My end result didn’t taste bad but something was absolutely missing, and I’m pretty sure that was it.

Here’s the positives; the flavor really wasn’t bad. I dumped out most of the brine and am cooling them in the fridge in a mostly water solution now which will hopefully desalinate them enough to be eaten comfortably. Ted of course is willing to eat them anyway (he says they’re very good with cheese) but I’m somewhat concerned about pickling HIM if I let him eat something that salty.

Also the color, texture and consistency were all spot on; just like the half sour pickles I’ve had at good Jewish delis. So I’m very close to the secret of half sour pickles; I can feel it lurking just out of my grasp…

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Making Pickles

At the farmer's market this morning I found these cool multi-hued peppers - I'm including a picture simply because they're pretty.

My find for the week though was actually these cute little Kirby cucumbers that I noticed are the exact same size and shape as the delicious, crisp, garlic soaked half-sour pickles I like to buy at the Amish market near work. So I grabbed a pint intent on making them myself at home.

Cucumber shown here with my hand for size reference:

Looking up a recipe online I found there really wasn't much to making half sours, considering how much they go for when purchased on a store. The instructions said to dissolve 1/4 of a cup of kosher salt per 3 cups of water. I did 6 cups of water, thus 1/2 cup of kosher salt. The salt, thanks to Alton Brown, is something I always have on hand.

I made sure all the salt was well dissolved in the water before proceeding by stirring the crap out of it - then took a quick taste to make sure it was salty enough. Boy howdy, it reminded me of the salt water my mom used to make me gargle when I was a kid to ease sore throats - just not disgustingly warm.

The recipe called for six garlic cloves, which I sliced to make sure all the oils could get out into the brine. It also called for pickling spices which I don't have in my kitchen - so, I just didn't worry about it. I tend to be an off the cuff cook, diversion from recipes does not scare me.

I packed my Kirby's into a glass jar that used to hold (surprise surprise) pickles. I frequently argue with Ted about his need to keep every glass jar or foam mushroom container that makes it's way through our kitchen, so before he'd give this one back to me he made me say "Ted I'm so glad you kept this glass jar so I can use it now."

Anyway I packed in the cucumbers and loaded the sliced garlic into the jar - then poured the brine I'd made over top until the jar was full.

The problem is that the little buggers float - so I filled another small plastic container with plain water, capped it and used it to weigh them down. The smallness of the container still leaves room around the mouth of the pickle jar for my tiny green monsters to breathe.

Now? I wait. About three to four days. The instructions said to just leave them out on the counter uncovered so they can ferment. I admit this made me slightly nervous but I know what a good preservative salt is, so as long as they stay submerged I think they should be fine.

Come Tuesday after a chill in the fridge, I should have my own home made half sour pickles!

Weighing In - 269 lbs.

Saturday morning weigh in put me a pound UP from last week.

I had two days (Wednesday and Thursday) where I went slightly over on calories, ending both days at around 2,100 to 2,200 - but I'm still a little puzzled about the gain as on every other day this week I was several hundred calories under where I needed to be each day.

I'm trying not to get upset, but - well, everyone knows what a disappointing week feels like. Bad enough that I didn't loose, I actually gained.

It's pretty depressing.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A Bad Day

I’m hardly the only person I know fighting what feels like a never ending battle against their own body. In my office alone there are probably between seven and ten past and current Weight Watchers members.

So when I hear one of the naturally slim slamming one of us as weak willed, laughing at us for saying we want to eat healthy when we never seem to get anywhere, it’s really difficult not to rage or cry.

They do this right in front of me while I blink in shock – wondering if they really think I don’t know that they’re talking about me in addition to whoever is in their targeting sights at present. That those fat slobs over there also refers to this fat slob right here.

Mid September will be a year since I started this blog and this quest and I am currently at almost the exact same place as where I started.

Does that make me want to scream, kick, cry, hate myself? Yes, of course it does. Some days, many days, I do all of those things. I could have nearly been done by now. Except I failed, like always.

Sometimes I feel this incredible self righteous anger – how dare they judge me? Some days I think they’re right, I’m simply too weak and too much of a glutton to ever succeed. I’m as beneath them as they believe me to be.

Then there’s the fear; what if the day comes like so many days before when my will simply fails me and I don’t care anymore. When I can’t get up anymore and plan, parcel, evaluate, weigh and measure every morsel of food I consume that day. When I can’t any longer deal with the nearly constant hunger.

This will never be over, I won’t reach my goal weight and go: WHEW! Thank heck that’s done! This is going to be with me every meal, every day, for the rest of my life.

What if… what if… what if…

Monday, August 16, 2010

Defining Your Limits

I’ve spoken on the topic of needing to be selfish when in a weight loss process in the past but I think it’s something that bears review.

For a food addict, walking into a crazy-crap-on-the-walls, exercise in excess, 12 to 15 oz. greasy, cheesy, bacony hamburger joint is roughly the equivalent of a recovering alcoholic heading into a bar just so they can sniff the vodka.

Don’t do it.

If your well meaning friends invite you because they love you and want your company, don’t do it. Politely refuse.

If they tell you that you’ll be fine because you can just “have a salad” I give you permission to hurl heavy objects.

I guarantee you, sitting in the burger joint sifting through salad leaves while everyone around you chows down on 1,000 calorie plus fat-burgers and grease soaked fries will leave you cranky, unsatisfied, and downright unfriendly. Just don’t go there. You will not be good company at that point anyhow.

As a side note, the salads in those kinds of places are no help to a weight loser either; generally they’re soaked in things like cheese, sugared nuts and dressing thickened with as much fat as possible. Sometimes they’re as bad as the burgers or WORSE. So you’ll feel deprived and have eaten way too many calories to boot.

This is just one of those situations where you have to do the selfish thing. You say no, you plan activities that do not revolve around food you shouldn’t eat, much less have to smell for several hours.

I no longer set foot in fast food restaurants for just this reason. Sure they sell salads and sad, dry baked potatoes these days – but who wants that? I go in and smell the double fried fat burger dripping with bacon, greased mushroom and cheese and that is exactly what I want. The fact that these things make me feel quite sick later on is moot at that point. I’m no saint; I love vegetables, I love fruit, and I also love the fattiest, most sugar laden foods out there. I love food period.

So why would I even put myself in a situation where I have to want and suffer?

No thank you.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Weighing In - 268 lbs.

Three pounds down this week, not too shabby. I'm slowly but steadily crawling back out of the hole I dug myself into.

Today I tried cooking quinoa, which I've eaten before but never cooked from it's dry state. Note to self; it gets really gummy really quickly if you overcook it even a tiny bit.

Overall I liked the end result; I made a salad out of it with scallion, cilantro, cucumber, craisins and pecans (recipe at bottom). The dressing, however, needs to be doubled. Quinoa is like potato salad - it sucks up the dressing almost immediately so it can be really dry, in addition to gummy.

Okay this is sounding worse than I intend. It really was okay, and it's a grain with an amazing amount of protein in it which is good - because I don't think I'm getting enough protein in my diet. I need to ensure somehow that I don't loose too much muscle along fat, and yes I realize rejoining the gym would be helpful to that end.

Quinoa, Cranberry & Pecan Salad

Serves 10 / This hearty salad has a zesty combination of textures and contrasting flavors. Plus, it's loaded with fiber and nutrients. Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

3 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 bunch green onions, finely sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries, diced
1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped
3/4 cup cucumber, finely diced
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Bring water to a boil. Add quinoa; stir, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until quinoa is soft and water is absorbed — about 25-30 minutes.
2. Add green onions, dried cranberries, cilantro and celery to a large salad bowl. Toast the pecans in a small skillet and add to the salad bowl (optional). Add the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, sesame oil, salt and peppers to the bowl. Stir to mix.
3. Stir in the quinoa when it has cooked and cooled slightly. Set aside for an hour if possible to allow flavors to marry; serve at room temperature.

Calories: 197

Fat: 9 grams

Fat Calories: 42

Cholesterol: 0

Carbs: 25

Protein: 4

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

"Don't go Broke" Diet

Recently on a lark I googled “I lost 130 lbs.” because that’s the amount of weight I want / need to loose. I guess I was looking for a little support companionship from people in the same situation as me, who had actually found success.

I blundered upon what is called the “Don’t go Broke” diet – a natural weight loss plan developed by a broke medical student who didn’t have enough money for either a supervised weight loss plan or any kind of weight loss surgery. Since creating it he has lost and kept off 140 lbs.

I have no idea how medically accurate his advice is, but when I read it – it made a heck of a lot of sense. So, here it is for anyone else who’d like to give it a look see.

Key #1 - Diet

Calories - Estimate your recommended daily caloric intake by:

1. Taking your height in inches
2. Subtracting 60
3. Multiplying by 50
4. Adding 1,300

(For me this means I should eat 1,650 calories per day. Seems like a pretty fair estimate; on the daily plate I usually fall between 1,300 and 1,800.)

* Never eat fewer than 1,200 calories a day. This prevents your metabolism from slowing down.
* Spread your daily calories over 4 - 6 meals. This will boost your metabolism.
* Never go more than 12 hours without eating, this includes time spent sleeping. This prevents your metabolism from slowing down.

Carbohydrates - Follow these strategies to stabilize your blood sugar. Avoid white carbs. These include white bread, white rice, white potatoes, white flour, white sugar, and white pasta. Avoid other bad carbs such as high fructose corn syrup, other syrups, and other sugars. Eat your beans, other legumes, fruits, and whole-grains before noon. Eat your vegetables after noon

Proteins - Eating protein boosts your metabolism and is essential for building muscle.

Estimate your daily recommended protein intake in grams by:

1. Taking your estimated daily caloric intake
2. Dividing by 20

(For me this means I should be having 82 grams of protein per day. Yike, I don’t get nearly that much because I so rarely eat meat. On an average day I consume usually between 40 and 60 grams.)

Fats - You need fats, but all fats were not created equal. Avoid saturated fats and trans fats.

Key #2 - Exercise

* Strength train for 30 - 45 minutes, 2-3 times a week. Focus on exercises for your glutes (butt), quads (front thigh), hamstrings (rear thigh), lats (back), pecs (chest), and delts (shoulders). These are your largest muscles in size and your biggest calorie burners.
* Do an aerobic exercise, which involves the legs, for 30 minutes, 2-3 times a week.
* Get a pedometer and walk 10,000 steps a day

Key #3 - Water

Drink enough water to make your urine clear or close to clear. This helps to maintain your health and prevent your metabolism from slowing down.

Key #4 - Sleep

Sleep at least 7 hours every night. This helps to maintain your proper hormonal balance, stabilize your blood sugar, and decrease hunger.

Key #5 - Stress

Don't sweat the small stuff and eliminate as much stress as you can. This helps to maintain your proper hormonal balance, stabilize your blood sugar, and decrease hunger.

Key #6 - Laugh

Laugh as much as humanly possible. Watch comedies, read funny books, and laugh at yourself. This helps to decrease stress.

Key #7 - Patience

Be patient. Losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint. Large temporary lifestyle changes lead to fast temporary weight loss. Small permanent lifestyle changes lead to slow permanent weight loss.

Each of these keys is essential to losing and keeping off the pounds. If you address the first 6 keys and practice patience, the pounds will fall off and stay off.

Bonus Key

This is a good weight loss foundation. However for a comprehensive weight loss program, check out my Don't Go Broke Diet. The Don't Go Broke Diet is a well-researched weight loss plan designed to help you lose weight permanently and inexpensively.

Read more:

Monday, August 9, 2010

Confronting Family Dinner

I’m not alone in my love of food and companionship with which to consume it, I come by that honestly from my family; who like eating and talking together so much we could qualify as Greek or Italian.

Being related to so many people who genuinely like one another’s company AND are good cooks to boot is a mixed blessing and curse. One of the ways we show love to one another is to feed – I do this to Ted all the time. You’re not feeling well? I’ll make you some nachos, or a fried egg, or a sandwich. Food is our balm, our crutch and our comfort.

We don’t however have to be feeling bad to overeat – we do it all the time just because we like it.

Saturday night I got together with them for a cookout (we don’t really need an occasion to do this, we just enjoy it). We were having grilled chicken, burger and sausage sandwiches, sautéed peppers and onions, corn on the cob, watermelon, macaroni and cheese and one lobster brought home by my sister from Maine on her recent vacation. With drawn butter, of course. Oh and don’t forget the pineapple upside down cake and ice cream for desert.

This is not an easy scenario to face. When you don’t eat hearty, someone tends to assume you’re either ill or unhappy in some way – and it’s not that they’re not supportive of weight loss efforts, we all just suffer from a perpetual sort of ‘tomorrow’ syndrome.

Today we’re together and enjoying one another lets just eat and be happy, tomorrow we will loose weight.

Unfortunately for me, tomorrow never seems to get here – or hasn’t so far in 35 years.

So I selected a small chicken breast sans roll and put pepper and onion on top, a heaping pile of salad with light dressing, corn on the cob and watermelon for dessert. When my poor brother tried to serve me a slice of cake later on in the evening he got both me and Ted yelling at him “no… no! NO!!!”

Other than my dad giving me a little nod of support and acknowledgement I don’t think anyone really noticed my cutbacks. I mean honestly, I ate a lot of food I was just selective about what I chose. It went fine – no one asked me if I was sick or hurt and I managed not to be too cranky about missing pineapple cake.

Now all I have to do is sustain this eating style for the next sixty or seventy years…

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Scaling Down

I did it today. I finally broke down and bought myself a scale. I need to be able to keep track of what’s going on with my weight, maybe if I’d been doing that all along I wouldn’t have rebounded back to my starting weight so easily. Also, I realized I can’t rely on my mom’s scale because hers only tracks effectively up to 250 lbs. That would explain why it measures me as rather jarringly weighing ten or twelve pounds heavier or lighter in a twenty-four hour period.

So I did a little research online, chose my weapon, went to Bed Bath & Beyond this morning and picked it up – pretty simple and painless as my shopping experiences go. I chose the “Homedics Body Mass Index HealthStation” which retails at BB&B for forty bucks. With a 10% coupon I brought it home for about thirty-three… sweet!

It measures your weight, then calculates your body mass index based on height, age and gender and figures out what your calorie intake probably is (or was) to achieve the weight that you currently are. It also weighs effectively up to 400 lbs. Not that I need it to thankyouverymuch.

The box is decorated with an obnoxiously smiley, healthy looking guy and proudly displays his perfect BMI of 23.2 so right away, I wanted to kill him.

Set up was pretty easy; it’s got slots for four users and very few buttons so it doesn’t take much to select User 1, punch in my height, weight and age and then step on for the weighing. Since it needs a flat, hard surface to work correctly I hid it away on the hardwood floor in my back bedroom like a dirty little secret. Nice thing is it’s a perfect spot in my house to get naked before I have to confront the thing.

As of today, I’m 271 lbs. with a BMI of 42.6 – pretty depressing. But at least the scale didn’t start whooping an alarm at me and screaming “Morbidly Obese!” “Morbidly Obese!” Actually it didn’t classify me as “Morbid” at all, just “Overweight” – so I guess it could be worse. And yes, those are my feet.

I set up Ted as user two and showed him how to use it, since he’d like to loose a few pounds as well.

Overall I’m pretty happy with my purchase. Ted classified it as another tool in my tool kit or weapon in my arsenal – then he offered me one of the Pretzel Bites he’d picked up around the corner at the Pretzel Factory.

We’re both still learning.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Gifts of Food

Okay, I admit – this is a weird reaction.

Someone gave me a chocolate bar as a gift today, and it frightened me. I stared at it in the palm of my hand and thought “what am I going to do? If I eat it, the floodgates will open and I won’t be able to stop eating EVERYTHING.”

Is this the equivalent of giving an alcoholic a full shot glass as a present?

Am I over-reacting?

I don’t know. But I came home, handed it to my husband, and asked him to please do something with it. I didn’t care what as long as I didn’t have to worry about it winding up as part of my backside.

I don’t know if I really need to be this militaristic but I feel as though my journey right now balances on a knife edge, I’ve had successes and setbacks, and I just want this so much.

My husband said to me that all he wants is for me to be happy, so if I won’t be truly happy unless I take off this weight, then he’ll do what he has to do to help me.

So… he took the chocolate bar and made it disappear. He also mentioned that he felt he might need to impress more strongly on the people around me how serious we are about what I’m trying to do, and how difficult and delicate a thing it really is.

For a non-food addicted person, I would imagine it’s somewhat hard to understand – but I think the concept of handing a precariously balanced alcoholic a shot glass filled with rum is probably the best way to try to describe it to people.

So to anyone out there who may be listening… I love you all, but please don’t give me food as gifts unless it’s obviously safe food – like a gorgeous piece of fruit or vegetation you want to share. Anything you’d normally consider to be a “bad” treat is going to cause me difficulty.

This is wholly my problem and my own fault that it’s my problem – but it is what it is, at least for right now.

The truth is, I made chocolates at Christmas and binging on them threw me off my road for about five months – enough time to set me back every pound of progress I had made.

That is the nature of my problem, and that’s the fight I am fighting.

It’s my battle and I can do this – but if it’s at all possible I ask of everyone, please – don’t tempt me off the road.


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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Massive amounts of raw sewage being dumped onto the street

Hello from CORD!

We really wish this was just a bad Halloween prank.  After all, the flooding of the highly contaminated and superfunded Gowanus Canal was atrocious enough this week in Carroll Gardens.  Alas, this is not a Halloween prank.  This is real and we have seen with our very own eyes what a neighbor just wrote in to tell us:

"Massive amounts of raw sewage being dumped onto the street from the building on the corner of Smith and 2nd place. I think it is 134 2nd Pl. Kids and parents are walking through it. Totally disgusting And a mystery."

It is true!  Please see the absolutely disgusting images sent to us below by our source and help us to call 311!  There is a very long hold on the 311 line these days.

Indeed it seems to be coming from the above address and/or the curb cut area at the 360 Smith Street Building.  Is this a sewar back-up??  a flood?  illegal dumping?  we have no idea.....UGH!!!!

Please be careful and do not walk over there, especially not with your little trick or treaters!  The smell should be warning enough!  I guess we should be happy the F Train is closed due to Sandy!)

We are still trying to reach 311 as this post is being written.

The pics above were sent in by our Carroll Gardens neighbor
earlier this evening around 9 PM.
The pics below were taken by Triada Samaras about 10 PM.

With the "Protect Our Homes" petition, CORD was formed in May, 2007. This petition arose as an overwhelmingly negative response to the coming of the over-sized 360 Smith Street Development at the corner of Smith Street and Second Place (Aka Oliver House; aka 131 Second Place). This petition, which had well over three thousand signatures, led to a new zoning text amendment in summer of 2008.

To: Our Elected Officials, Community Leaders, The MTA:
(MAY, 2007)

We the undersigned Carroll Gardens homeowners and residents, are appalled by the "as of right" ruling which allows owners and developers to erect buildings in our neighborhood with no regard to the impact they will present to our quality of life and the value of our homes........

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Blog Archive

Thursday, March 6, 2014

SkyWatch Friday: Morning to Sunset

The skies I'm choosing this week were all taken on March 2, 2014.

I enjoyed having a beautiful Sunday before the weather turned very cold the next day.

March began with spring like days but by Monday night the weather turned bitter cold.

 Monday we had a small amount of sleet and snow.

 Tuesday I took pictures of long icicles, totally different scenes than on this perfect spring Sunday. Although I love winter scenes too.

I have seen in the forecast that the upcoming weekend will be much warmer again.

I'm not in a hurry for summer but I am ready for some moderate weather for a while.

 I took a zillion shots of the sun going down because every minute there was something different.

 I love trees and I love sunsets but sometimes I look forward to being places where I can photograph the sky without all the obstructions.

 The coast and the mountain overlooks are where I usually get big sky and sunsets without the view being blocked.

That said, I still like to watch the sunset through the trees from my bedroom window.

Especially when it puts on a show like it did on the early evening I shot here.

The clouds were very dynamic.

And then the show ended turning into a dark sky.

ladyfi said...

Cold - but oh, so lovely with clear blue skies.

Photo Cache said...

i love the silhouette image of the birds on the naked branches with the little berries. wow!

happy weekend.

HansHB said...

A gorgeous serie of sky-photos!

Sylvia K said...

Beautiful, peaceful skies and I, too, love the naked branches and little berries!! Wonderful captures for the day as always! Have a lovely weekend!!

Mary said...

Your series of photos is gorgeous! Fantastic skies!

Spare Parts and Pics said...

These are beautiful, so really great sky photos here! I like how you captured these big skies without too many obstructions.

Gemma Wiseman said...

From soft blues to dynamic cloud shapes and colours. Love the birds in flight. Beautiful photos.

Antonina said...

Beautiful photos!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

The tree branches provide a great perspective and focal point to the beautiful sky. And I like to see what you see from your window.

When I was still working (back in Oregon) the one nice day in a winter week never came on weekends ... they always came on Mondays (or so I seem to remember). You were lucky.

Light and Voices said...

Brrr.....nice series posted this week on Skywatch Friday.
JM Illinois

carol l mckenna said...

Ominous sky shots ~ beautiful for SWF ~ always wonderful photography here ~ thanks, xxx

artmusedog and carol

eileeninmd said...

I love watching the gulls flying around. Beautiful sky shots. Have a happy weekend!

Jim said...

Great skies.

Mike said...

So many beautiful shots. You always have so much to look at!

Fernando Santos (Chana) said...

Excelentes fotografias....

lina@women tips said...

Beautiful series. That's really a great day to walk.

Gattina said...

Beautiful sky pictures of different moments !

Laura said...

lovely clouds Carver!

jeannettestgermain said...

Wow, the weather seems to be very changeable everywhere! Love your skies!

About Me

My photo
I like to take photographs and I use blogging as a way to share my photography. I started blogging for other reasons but no longer feel the need or have the desire to write beyond a narrative for my photography.

Nature Notes

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The Weekend in Black and White

Today's Flowers

Today's Flowers

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Photographs on this site are by Carver © 2006 - 2016


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2 bedroom apartment garden view

The Apartment

A spacious 2-bedroom apartment (125 m²) located in a block of 4 apartments.  Ibiza is on the ground floor of the 2 story building.

The Outside

A shaded terrace accessed from patio doors leads to a garden with sun loungers and is only a few steps away from the tranquil communal pool area.  The garden terrace has a table and chairs which is perfect for outdoor meals.  Another terrace at the entrance of the apartment also features a table with chairs.  There is a contemporary communal area next to the pool where guests are free to use the cooking and BBQ facilities in a relaxed environment.

The Inside

Large and stylish beach inspired apartment with a bright living-room, dining area, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen.  The spacious living-room features patio doors which lead to the terrace and garden.  This well-designed room has a comfortable sitting area which allows guests to enjoy the large LCD television with over 100 channels.  A large dining area completes the room.  The master bedroom features a king-size bed, patio doors which lead to the terrace and air-conditioning.  A large en-suite bathroom features a shower and bath tub.  The second bedroom has 2 single beds and also has an en-suite bathroom with a shower and bath tub.  The fully equipped kitchen has a fridge, microwave, 3 ring stove, oven and Delta coffee machine.

Special Features

Garden with sun loungers.  Air-conditioning.

changeover day:
Winter season Nov 1 to Mar 31 91.00
Mid season Apr 1 to May 31 130.00
Oct 1 to Oct 31
High season Jun 1 to Jun 30 153.00
Sep 1 to Sep 30
Peak season Jul 1 to Aug 31 191.00
to Faro airport: 60 km
to nearest beach: 2.5
to village (center): 2.5
to next supermarket: 1.0
to next town: 2.5
Alarm system:
Safe: yes
Name: Ibiza
Property ID: Ibiza-31705/AL
Classification: 2 bedroom apartment pool/garden view
Location: Mato Serrão - Carvoeiro
View: yes, garden view
Living area: 125m2
Garden: yes
Pool: size:
depth: 0.00
shallow end:
Garage/Parking: yes
Terrace: yes
Indoor fireplace:
Air conditioning: yes, bedroom
Barbecue: yes, communal
Microwave: yes
Washing machine: no
Dishwasher: no
Internet: yes
Satellite TV: yes
DVD/CD player:


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Monday, August 20, 2012

OPI's James Bond Collection - A Creative Affair

I just saw over on College Fashion that there is a new OPI set coming out based on what may really be my favorite film franchise of all time (and at least my favorite set in the last ten-fifteen years): the Bond movies.

Being bored (actually, procrastinating), I decided not to look at the colors and to create what would be my own Bond collection, if I were designing for OPI. I did see the two for Man With the Golden Gun and Spy Who Loved Me, but I will try to be fair in spite of knowing what OPI did with them. As a warning, though, there are a few I have never seen out of the movies (scandalous, I am well aware...), so those are omitted below. So if any of these others happen to overlap, then my brainwaves and OPI's designers' must be aligned!

1. Doctor No - Honey's Shells
    A pale shell-pink creme with just a hint of white microshimmer, inspired by Honey Rider's iconic bikini.

2. From Russia With Love - Hidden Microfilm
    A rich black creme with a rubbery finish. Tough but glamorous, just like the KGB.

3. Goldfinger - Golden Galore
    An innevitable gold like its namesake, Goldfinger throws a wrinkle into its predictability by being a harvest gold matte, packed with copper-brown undertones. Perfect for a tough, mod girl who loves her metals.

4. Thunderball - Something to Put On
    In homage to one of the classic Bond femme fatales, this shimmer-filled light turquoise might just turn you into a bad girl too.

5. You Only Live Twice - SPECTRE of a Volcano
    This dark, firey red-orange creme is lava-hot, just like SPECTRE's volcanic fortress.

6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - A Diamond for Tracy
    The ice of the Swiss alps and the single time Bond was ever married unite to produce this silver foil with holographic hex-glitter that catch the light, just like Tracy's ring.

7. Diamonds Are Forever - Tiffany's Hoard
    We think diamond smuggler Tiffany Case would have appreciate this polish, also inspired by diamonds -- this one is a dark blue glitter, packed with medium to dark blue shimmer.

8. Live and Let Die - Live and Let Polish
    This murky, medium camo-green creme polish might call to mind the Louisiana swamp. We hope you have a Q-approved boat!

9. The Man With the Golden Gun - She Charges a Million a Nail
    This bright yellow-gold foil has nearly a mirror finish, but unlike a golden gun, it hopefully it won't be the last thing you see...

10. The Spy Who Loved Me - Stilettos Full of Sand
     Russian agent Anya Amasova may never want to see sand again after her tenure in Egypt, but that doesn't mean you can't appreciate this sand-colored creme.

11. Moonraker - Double-Zero-Gravity
    This rich, midnight blue is packed with a black microshimmer that might send you flocking to the moon, too.

12. For Your Eyes Only - Your Island Only
    When you can't make it to your own Greek island retreat, remember the beauty of it with this dark teal creme, reminiscent of the clear Mediterranean waters.

13. Octopussy - Uh-Oh Where'd You Find That Calamari?
     In addition to celebrating the brilliant colors of the Indian setting of Octopussy, we like to think this polish is in honor of the eponymous character's beloved pet, this pale orange polish is packed with screaming violet glitter. Just make sure the real critter doesn't end up breaded.

14. A View to a Kill - May Day! May Day!
    If this dark purple polish calls to mind Grace Jones, it's probably because the iconic Jamaican actress' costuming inspired this rich shade of violet.

17. Goldeneye - Onatopp Coat
    This gold and black glitter top coat will make even your worst enemies respect you.

18. Tomorrow Never Dies - M Stands for More Polish
    We think even Bond's proper British supervisor, M, couldn't resist this pelican grey polish, perfected with just a hint of a shimmer.

19. The World is Not Enough - Bloody Sexy
    You may just be a Bond Girl by sporting this vampy burgundy creme polish -- but even a Bond Girl gets what's coming to her when she's trying to corrupt a double-oh.

20. Die Another Day - Frosty Reception
    Miranda Frost might have "ice queen" down perfect, but even she would love this light lavender creme, laced with a double dose of silver shimmer.

21. Casino Royale - Half a Measure of Kina Lillet
   Like the Vesper for which Bond's new martini is named, we think you'll love this classic dark red. Pair it with a dark, smoky eye and a matching lipstick, and nobody at the table will be looking at their cards.

22. Quantum of Solace - Just Fields
    This pale khaki creme would be in place in Siena or Bolivia. Just don't inhale any oil if you're caught wearing it.

I hope you guys like this! Now I'm off to see what OPI really is doing...

Comment below with what you would have designed! And what's your favorite Bond movie? Mine is by and far Casino Royale, but Thunderball is definitely the runner-up.

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You are here: HomeAbout Taos and ToroAbout Casa de ToroWhere is Casa de Toro?

Where is Casa de Toro?

Here is a map that shows where Casa de Toro is located within the Wheeler Peak Wilderness Area:

From Address:

Go north on US 64 West out of Taos and through El Prado.  At the intersection of US 64 and New Mexico State Highway 150, turn right (east) onto NM 150.  Continue on NM 150 through Arroyo Seco, enter the Carson National Forest, and proceed to the 11 mile marker.  A few yards past the marker is a bridge over the Hondo River.  Turn right and cross over the bridge.  Casa de Toro is the third house on your right.

Here is a map of the Village of Taos Ski Valley:


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Friday, May 8, 2009

So my goal was to take $50 in cash and buy my weeks worth of groceries. It seemed daunted being that I usually spend about $100 here and there. So I figured out everything I needed for my dinner menus (and I still have to pick up about 4 things) and using the tips from the ladies at the blogs I follow, coupons and store deals, here is most of my groceries for $37.52!! I will use my $12 for the other things that I am going to WalMart for. I was so excited. This is only for food! Household and most toiletries get their own budget. That will come later, I can only handle one thing at a time here!!

I do have some things in storage like meat, pantry items, etc which shows that buying things when they are on sale really works. See my 5 bottles of BBQ sauce, they were FREE! That Capri Sun which I would never give to them for breakfast and I don't usually buy, will be great for picnics and BBQ's and at only .97 each, it will come in handy. Those strawberries were 4lbs for 3.88!! This does take more time shopping and going to more stores but if I do all my preparation before hand, it pays off!

Our menu for the week:
Sunday: meatloaf, potatoes, green beans
Monday: bacon wrapped chicken, veggies & rice
Tuesday: sandwich night every Tuesday or leftovers -basically I DON'T cook!
Wednesday: beef enchiladas, beans and salad
Thursday: Lasagna & salad
Friday: fish sticks, fruit salad, veggie dippers, biscuits
Saturday: papa murphys pizza


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Casey Movers

Casey Movers

Thursday, December 19, 2013

End Homelessness

The holiday season is all about giving. We are doing our part and encourage you to do the same.

"The mission of Pine Street Inn is to be a community of respect and hope for each guest it serves; to be a resource through which neighbors and friends can help to meet the basic needs of others; and to serve as a national leader in the fight to end homelessness. Pine Street Inn is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization."

Donate to Pine Street Inn


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About the Artist

Contact the gallery for a complete catalog of available work.

Mark Jenkins is a sculptor and installation artist whose work focuses on a variety of urban and social themes, re-defining the limits of sculpture both in the public sphere, where many of his pieces have been found, to the more intimate realm of the “White Cube.” The foundation of his artwork is in the artist’s specific technique, casting objects as well as his own body (and those of others) using conventional packing tape and plastic wrap. Encompassing the actual form of these subjects with his method, he has materialized a range of characters, from translucent ducks, dogs and babies, to his most well-known clothed hyper-realistic figures.

His sculptures capture moments that conjure their own realities, presenting tableaus that challenge one’s sense of what is real and what is not. Jenkins constructs his people, animals, children – entities commonly filled with life – into inanimate objects, frozen in bizarre postures and scenarios. By creating these unconventional situations, he re-contextualizes commonplace ideas or things and inserts them into a new landscape in which the viewer plays an integral part.

Jenkins’ sculptures, whether placed in the street or in the gallery, alter perceptions of the ordinary and create surreal settings that infallibly elicit an alternative experience. The placement of his artwork always creates a new form of discourse central to space and audience. For the pieces he situates in the urban environment, the artist intentionally leaves the sculptures unattended to fulfill their life cycles to whatever end, may it be natural deterioration or confiscation. The viewer’s reaction to his pieces becomes part of the sculptures, turning the street into a stage. The theatricality of Mark Jenkins’ work remains a central theme, and in this solo exhibition he uses the gallery space as the performance platform, incorporating the viewers not only as spectators but as actors themselves.

Most recently Mark Jenkins’ work has been shown in London, Sao Paulo, Paris, Los Angeles, the Glastonbury Festival and in Cologne, Germany. Additionally, the artist has participated in numerous public art events as well as various international art fairs. Fabien Castanier Gallery has exhibited Jenkins work at art fairs including Scope New York, Art Wynwood Miami and Context Art Miami. Jenkins also teaches his sculpture techniques and installation practices through workshops and masters classes internationally. He currently lives and works in Washington, D.C.

Gallery Exhibitions

In Situ | May 10 – 31, 2014

Still Life | September 5 – October 3, 2015

Rubber Time | May 20 – July 15, 2017

exhibition history

Public Space Installations


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By|Christian Megan

      Following to the crisis Trump administration law against immigration , millions of Latin American who are US protected  and TPS , will be forced to  go back to their original homes where most of them are working in USA..

In monday late Hundreds of thousands of people from El Salvador, Haiti and Honduras  who are forced to return home though their legal residency,were demonstrated at  a DHS office in Washington on Monday evening. Throughout the day, some met with congressional members and staff. The National TPS Alliance wants Congress to craft legislation that would allow TPS holders to have permanent legal status. A hunger strike was planned for later in the week.

TPS means " Temporary Protected Status " who have the right to stay in US but under the new law ,they maybe back homes.Expiration dates for the protection vary by country, with Nicaragua and Honduras facing Jan. 5 expiration dates. DHS decisions on whether they'll get extensions are expected by Nov. 6.

TPS is granted by the Department of Homeland Security to people already in the U.S. from countries suffering political or environmental conditions that prevent them from returning home. The status generally lasts from six to 18 months, depending on the initial announcement, but it can be extended as many times as officials in DHS and the State Department see fit.

Honduras received TPS status in 1999 when the country was hit by Hurricane Mitch, a deadly Category 5 hurricane. El Salvador and Haiti won it in 2001 and 2010 after deadly earthquakes. The temporary stays stretched to nearly 10 years for Haitians and almost 20 for Salvadorans and Hondurans because of multiple extensions of their TPS by DHS.

source of news |NBC

Published in North America

 By/Tony Wild

  During the historic visit of the Saudi King, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques announced the completion of the purchase of weapons from Russia for the defense system S-400 missiles

Washongton expressed its worries about its allies who buy the Russian weapons so the Spokeswoman Michael Baldenza said

"We are concerned about the purchase of some of our allies for the S-400 system, because we have repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining operational conformity (of allied regimes),".

US Defense Department spokeswoman Michael Baldenza at a press conference Thursday evening. Said that Washington is worrying about allies who bought other weapons systems rather than the United States system .

It is known that Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region have implemented major military deals with Russia.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Qatar have signed deals to buy Russian advanced weapons recently the matter that  led to an exaggerated American worry ,because These countries are considered its allies.

Published in Politics

By / Abeer Almadawy

   According  to a statement posted on the US Navy's website said that US Navy and Marine Corps divers could to found the 10 missing sailors from USS John McCain ,which has a  collision last week with a tanker in Pacific which injured 5 and at least 10 are missing.

The US Navy earlier last week has found one body of sailor and  called off a search and rescue mission four days after a collision between a US destroyer and an oil tanker near Singapore.

The incident is still being investigated.

The US destroyer collided with the Alnic MC last Monday in the busy shipping lanes of the Singapore Strait, near the Strait of Malacca, which left a large hole in the USS John McCain's hull

Published in North America
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waiting for email

Sends us an email (! We're just reading The War Zone and hitting refresh on our inbox.

Got a problem? Complaint? Don't start shredding our efforts by submitting a verbose 1 star review. That helps nobody. Reach out and connect with us. We really want to help.

You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+.

facebook   twitter   youtube   google plus

Quickest replies will most certainly come via Facebook.


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You are here

EDUC 460: Internship in Education

Credits: 2 or 4

Degree Requirements: F11

The Internship in Education is arranged on an individual basis and is designed to meet the identified needs and/or interests of the student. Students will complete their internships in local schools or educational settings and will be supervised by the course instructor and an off-campus supervisor or clinical educator. The course requirements include class attendance, weekly assignments, and a final paper. Only 4 internship credits may count towards the major or minor. Students will complete a minimum of 40 hours of field experience per credit earned. All internships must be arranged by the Director of Teacher Licensure and Field Placements in the semester prior to start date. Application deadlines are posted on the Educational Studies website. Students will earn grades in this course.

Prerequisites: Foundations of Education Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, or permission of the instructor


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Thursday, April 29, 2004

An excellent edition of the Sceeen Savers aired last night, April 28. It dealt with on-line privacy. Tips on encription, WiFi security, password protection, and more. If you have some responsibility with public computing in your institution this would be a good read. If you are concerned with your own privacy while on-line this is a good introduction.

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Accueil > Publications > Recherche par années > Années 2010 > 2012

Caillé, F, Bonnet, CS, Buron, F, Villette, S, Helm, L, Petoud, S, Suzenet, F. & Tóth E.

Isoquinoline-Based Lanthanide Complexes : Bright NIR Optical Probes and Efficient MRI Agents

Inorganic Chemistry 51 (4) 2522-2532

par Frapart - publié le , mis à jour le

Abstract :

In the objective of developing ligands that simultaneously satisfy the requirements for MRI contrast agents and near-infrared emitting optical probes that are suitable for imaging, three isoquinoline-based polyaminocarboxylate ligands, L1, L2 and L3, have been synthesized and the corresponding Gd(3+), Nd(3+) and Yb(3+) complexes investigated. The specific challenge of the present work was to create NIR emitting agents which (i) have excitation wavelengths compatible with biological applications and (ii) are able to emit a sufficient number of photons to ensure sensitive NIR detection for microscopic imaging. Here we report the first observation of a NIR signal arising from a Ln(3+) complex in aqueous solution in a microscopy setup. The lanthanide complexes have high thermodynamic stability (log K(LnL) =17.7-18.7) and good selectivity for lanthanide ions versus the endogenous cations Zn(2+), Cu(2+), and Ca(2+) thus preventing transmetalation. A variable temperature and pressure (17)O NMR study combined with nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion measurements yielded the microscopic parameters characterizing water exchange and rotation. Bishydration of the lanthanide cation in the complexes, an important advantage to obtain high relaxivity for the Gd(3+) chelates, has been demonstrated by (17)O chemical shifts for the Gd(3+) complexes and by luminescence lifetime measurements for the Yb(3+) analogues. The water exchange on the three Gd(3+) complexes is considerably faster (k(ex)(298) = (13.9-15.4) × 10(6) s(-1)) than on commercial Gd(3+)-based contrast agents and proceeds via a dissociative mechanism, as evidenced by the large positive activation volumes for GdL1 and GdL2 (+10.3 ± 0.9 and +10.6 ± 0.9 cm(3) mol(-1), respectively). The relaxivity of GdL1 is doubled at 40 MHz and 298 K in fetal bovine serum (r(1) = 16.1 vs 8.5 mM(-1) s(-1) in HEPES buffer), due to hydrophobic interactions between the chelate and serum proteins. The isoquinoline core allows for the optimization of the optical properties of the luminescent lanthanide complexes in comparison to the pyridinic analogues and provides significant shifts of the excitation energies toward lower values which therefore become more adapted for biological applications. L2 and L3 bear two methoxy substituents on the aromatic core in ortho and para positions, respectively, that further modulate their electronic structure. The Nd(3+) and Yb(3+) complexes of the ligand L3, which incorporates the p-dimethoxyisoquinoline moiety, can be excited up to 420 nm. This wavelength is shifted over 100 nm toward lower energy in comparison to the pyridine-based analogue. The luminescence quantum yields of the Nd(3+) (0.013-0.016%) and Yb(3+) chelates (0.028-0.040%) are in the range of the best nonhydrated complexes, despite the presence of two inner sphere water molecules. More importantly, the 980 nm NIR emission band of YbL3 was detected with a good sensitivity in a proof of concept microscopy experiment at a concentration of 10 μM in fetal bovine serum. Our results demonstrate that even bishydrated NIR lanthanide complexes can emit a sufficient number of photons to ensure sensitive detection in practical applications. In particular, these ligands containing an aromatic core with coordinating pyridine nitrogen can be easily modified to tune the optical properties of the NIR luminescent lanthanide complexes while retaining good complex stability and MRI characteristics for the Gd(3+) analogues. They constitute a highly versatile platform for the development of bimodal MR and optical imaging probes based on a simple mixture of Gd(3+) and Yb(3+)/Nd(3+) complexes using an identical chelator. Given the presence of two inner sphere water molecules, important for MRI applications of the corresponding Gd(3+) analogues, this result is particularly exciting and opens wide perspectives not only for NIR imaging based on Ln(3+) ions but also for the design of combined NIR optical and MRI probes.


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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Tucson Treasures

Wow.  That's the only word I have for my recent Tucson trip.  Tremendous fun, intriguing, and totally overwhelming.  Several of you had said to me beforehand that you live through me vicariously, I just didn't know it was THIS many of you.  The number of convos and facebook comments I got was incredible.  I apologize if I didn't manage to fill all the requests and ship out on time, next year I will take Debbie, that should help.  I worked day and night getting listings out, and each time I sold stuff I went back to the vendors to buy more.  The nice thing for me was that the many sales helped me increase my purchasing budget for future listings and offerings, and I owe all of you who supported my shop during this time my deepest gratitude.

Your feedback also helped me focus one where and what to buy - this is crucial when you are faced with nearly 1000 vendors!

Many of you have been asking what I have brought, and what the highlights were.  This is hard to summarize, but I am going to try.

Red Beryl: finding red (I should really say "pink") "emerald" was a new thing for me, I had never seen it in person, and I didn't know anything about treatments.  There is apparently only one place in the world where it is mined - the Wah Wah Mountains in Utah.  I spoke to the mine owner to get educated (some photos of crystal formations below).  But because the mine owner's gems were 98% treated, I mainly bought from a new contact I had made who specializes in American gems (and who is also on the board of the AGTA).  Robert (Bob) lives on the North Shore of Oahu, loves surfing and only does the Tucson show, otherwise he ships to wholesalers like me, sometimes on memo.  His wife makes jewelry.  My impression of him was that he loves gems, is very knowledgeable, but has an established customer base and is not pushing for a lot of new business (he's in his mid 60's I would guess).  I once lived in Hawaii and my experience was that after some time there, you take life at a more relaxed pace.  I earned my stripes with Bob by purchasing five very expensive pieces of red beryl - I have one left - several pieces of paraiba, three of which are in the lab (the rest is sold), and a little Beniotite.  For some reason that hasn't sold.  I was surprised by that but then that was also a new gem for me. Bob has more pieces (see photo).  And he had some very pretty rhodochrosite which I didn't buy because they are hard to work with.  I may get some at a later point.

My Last Red Beryl

Benitoite and Rhodochrosite
Paraiba: aside from Bob, I found a wholesaler who had the melee I've been selling.  They had told me on the first day that I needed to buy at least one carat (ouch) but I did.  While I was there, another wholesaler was talking to the owner and I overheard that prices were being made for ALL the melee that was left.  That was red alert for me because after scouring two shows and calling around in NY, I found little to none, certainly nothing in that intense color.  So I bought another carat right away.  More ouch.  I listed it immediately because I was pretty worried about my financial exposure.  But it turned out demand exceeded supply.  So I went back three more times.  Overall I bought and pretty much sold 9 carats in about 14 days.  I am nearly sold out at this point.  I have no idea if the other deal went through, I found out at the end of the second day that it was to be conducted in NY, and that until the end of Tucson, I could buy what I wanted.  I have not yet contacted the dealer to see if there's more.  Unless you guys tell me otherwise, I feel like my small market is saturated.

I also found a New York seller with Paraiba, they had a bit more, some cabs too.  I bought what I thought were the nicest pieces, but I will probably make an appointment there in a few weeks, after the dust has settled from this adventure.

Hauyne/Hauynite: that was another lucky buy for me.  The guys with the lavender spinel from Vietnam, all of which is pretty much sold, had a 500 piece parcel.  I first bought some from Dudley who had also cut a lot, sold those, then saw these on day two.  I slept on it and then negotiated for the purchase of half.  By the end of the week I felt confident enough to buy the other half.  He really wanted to sell it all anyway, and there was no picking.  All, half, nothing.  I am still sorting these out, but they were roughly 1.5-1.9mm, with most of them 1.6-1.7.  You'll see listings for them over time.

Spinel: I did see one dealer that had Burmese spinels, gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous bigger pieces.  For - wholesale - more than $7000 a carat for pieces over one carat.  I passed!  I bought quite a bit of Dudley's melee, which you are seeing in the shop.  I got lavender Vietnamese spinel, all sold, one pair a "maybe".  I have to rephotograph more violet colored spinel I listed.  The color is ridiculously off.  It's soo pretty.  I have one more pair in pink that I am debating over myself.  In Cobalt spinel (Luc Yen) I saw very little, some will be listed in a week or two (also out for inspection) and I have a cushion coming to me that I can put out.

Vietnamese Spinel
Burmese Spinel sadly too expensive :(

Ruby/sapphire: these are all from Dudley.  My only star ruby sold once and almost twice.  I have two more (mildly heated) ruby coming up, some Kenyan sapphires - gorgeous yellow with some blue, Madagascan (teal color), purple, blue, and blueish purple (Ceylon), and a breathtaking larger elongated emerald cut from Rakwana, Sri Lanka.  None are heated.  I'm already out of blue pairs, I'll have to ask for more in a month or two.

Madagascan and Sri Lankan Ruby (Left and Right)

Twin Star Sapphire (Sold)

Jaroslav Hyrsl Author of 'Minerals and their Localities'
I bought the twin star sapphire from him.

What else?  I've been selling down on the Kenyan Tsavorite (so pretty), I have just a few 3.5mm left to list I believe.  Then I just have some oddball stuff left.  I loved the twin star sapphire that sold right away.  That was a total novelty.  I saw some on eBay but none in that quality.

Kenyan Sapphire (on Etsy)
I don't know that I made a lot of new connections this time.  Just the one with Bob (from whom I bought a little bit last year).  But more important to me is to deepen the connections I have.  A lot of it is based upon creating buying power and lending power.  Making purchases, paying right away, not having checks bounce, not returning, not wasting time and fussing, knowing one's stuff.  Gem dealers have low markups and in the wholesale, they have to time for difficult buyers.  This doesn't mean you can't spend time selecting.  You should in fact.  You can show a little of your knowledge by commenting on gems and be honest when you don't know.  The good gem dealers appreciate it. You also never insult merchandise or prices.  You can say you are not interested, you don't have a market, you can't sell it at that price, you don't have that kind of budget.  That's all ok.

Well I think this is enough for today.  I'll leave you with some impressions of my two (half) days off after the show.  I took a trip into the Catalina Mountains, watching the sunset.  And my friend Jochen from Jentsch Mineralien took me to Karchener Caves, one of very few living caves around the world. If you like to know about minerals, then this excursion into geology is up your alley!

Until next time...

Yvonne (Cecile - that's my middle name) Raley (Designs)

My thanks again to Debbie and Karen, who put in extra days to keep the shop afloat, and to all of you who "accompanied" me on this trip!

Martin Zinn Exposition

Martin Zinn Exposition

Martin Zinn Exposition

Catalina Mountains

Catalina Mountains

Catalina Mountains

Karchener Cave - Photo from a Post Card


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world growth

world growth

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

China first half fiscal revenue up 33 pct on year earlier

With this much budget surplus, Chinese government should increase the assistance to the poors in the society, who are suffering due to the high inflation.

China H1 fiscal revenue up 33 pct on year earlier

BEIJING, Aug 7 (Reuters) - China's fiscal revenue in the first half of this year grew 33.3 percent from a year earlier to 3.48 trillion yuan ($508.1 billion), the China Securities Journal reported on Thursday.
That is much faster than a projected increase of 14 percent for all of 2008 set out in the the government's budget at the start of the year. Fiscal revenue in 2007 rose 32.4 percent to 5.13 trillion yuan.
Citing figures from the Finance Ministry, the newspaper said China had a surplus of 1.19 trillion in the first six months, with annual fiscal expenditure up only 27.7 percent.

The Chinese-language newspaper cited Pan Xiangdong, an analyst at Everbright Securities, as saying that fiscal policies would play a bigger role in driving economic growth in the second half. He said China should cut individual income tax and consumption tax to boost domestic demand.
China in late July raised the rebates for some textile and garment exporters to 13 percent from 11 percent, as part of efforts to support labour-intensive industries and boost export growth amid a slowing global economy.
However, analysts cited by the newspaper also warned that China would find it different in the second half to expand its budget surplus.
Revenue growth would slow down due to weaker imports and rises in export tax rebates, while rebuilding after the devastating Sichuan earthquake in May and various reforms could increase expenditures, they said. ($1=6.848 Yuan) (Reporting by Langi Chiang; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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Presentation of CEDAC

Category: toolkits & manuals
Published on Friday, 14 February 2014

CEDAC is a bipartisan, secular and non-profit organisation established 2005, in Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi. CEDAC has been approved by the national government by Ministerial Order No. 530/1552 of 4 November 2000. The association is involved in the assistance and advocacy for veterans and victims of conflict.

Its objectives include: the rebuilding of a safer world without weapons; to improve the living conditions of the general population and in particular that of veterans; promoting the rights of ex-combatant women and youth who are victims of war; preventing the violation of human rights; and developing peace and human security for a sustainable future.

Read more: Presentation of CEDAC

BUJUMBURA - BURUNDI, ROHERO  B.P. 7052   E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,

Tel: +257/22277879-      +257/79912027


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Android Blog

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Thursday, August 8, 2013

The Devil Doll - 1936

Directed by Tod Browning and starring Lionel Barrymore as with Maureen O'Sullivan this film could be summed up as: A banker wrongly convicted of robbery and murder by his three partners escapes prison to get revenge, clear his name and win back the respect of his estranged daughter. Of course, that description is accurate but ignores all the WTF going on in this bizarre movie.

Barrymore as Paul Lavond escapes with a mad scientist who is determined to help extend the world's resources by shrinking every living thing to the size of a Barbie doll with the help of his somewhat crippled, huge eyed, black haired with a big white streaked wife who is named Malita, of all things. The scientist dies in the escape and Malita decide to clear the banker's name so she and he can forward her husband's somewhat poorly thought out agenda.

Lavond decides the best way to proceed is spend most of the film dressed as an old woman and use the devilish dolls, who are real people shrunk down, to kill his betrayers and force them to confess. These little assassins have no will of their own and can be controlled....somehow... to do his bidding. How the scientist thought mindless zombie dolls were humanities future is never explained. Nor is it explained how they feed them or stop them from peeing and pooping themselves when given to his enemies children as a toy. Maybe they come with diapers.

M. Lavond manages to befriend his daughter who is living in poverty with his mother for the purpose of hearing how much she hates him and the spot he has put his family in with his incarceration. His daughter is fooled by drag easily enough and confides in him that she also can't marry the boy she loves because of the shame that has been associated by the family name.

Malita goes bat shit crazy(er?) when Barrymore's character finally succeeds in clearing his name and wants out of the shrinking scheme and kills herself and the mini people in a fire. You'd think he would be happy and free and clear. But no! For some really inexplicable reason he tells the daughter's boyfriend everything and then tells her he is the dead the scientist and her father (who she does not recognize out of drag either even though his photo has been posted all over town during his escape) is dead. So she gets the business and the money and her name cleared so she can marry while he heavily hints he will kill himself, apparently for her... happiness ?

I just don't get it, she would be much happier getting to know her father again while he retakes his business. Plus her boyfriend will have to live with this secret being kept from her forever. I'm sure she would kill him on the spot if she knew he knew that old man was really her missing dad!

In any case , the film is brilliant and somehow Browning manages to make all this insane storyline seem perfectly natural. The visuals are great, the living dolls are better than in Bride of Frankenstein, which I believe we're also created to save the planet.

Sadly, the earth had 2 billion people when this was made and  7 billion now and we still aren't a race of devil dolls!

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Central Coast Mums Newsletter

Swimaroo is a Mobile Swim School servicing the Central Coast.

Providing Learn to Swim Lessons at your home swimming pool for children aged 2-12 years.

Swimaroo’s Smile, Swim, Survive program offers a personalised, fun and positive learning experience with 1:1 or 2:1 lessons, available 7 days from 7am-7pm.

Swimaroo Swim Teachers are experienced, passionate, great with children and hold Swim Australia qualifications, CPR certificate, Working with Children Check and are fully insured.

Holiday Intensive Swim Programs – a fun activity during the school holidays which will accelerate their swimming skills & build confidence.

Make up lessons are available for missed lessons.

Swimaroo is a AUSTSWIM and AUSTRALIAN SWIM SCHOOLS registered Swim School.

To enquire, please call Natalie on 0404 806 886.

For more information, go to our website swimaroo.com.au

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21DIAMONDS Women's Ring San Antonio Black Round Brilliant Cut Diamond Engagement Ring - Silver Engagement Ring

£ 401.22
  • Rings for Women's engagement ring sterling silver black diamond, black stone. Engagement rings for marriage proposal, an explanation of Love or as a gift, application ring, Christmas gift, Engagement, Solitaire Ring
  • Free Delivery, FREE ENGRAVING in choice of diamonds on request, free ring sizes change * and 60?day money back guarantee *
  • High-gloss polished black diamond ring in Sterling Silver. The high-quality engagement ring is coming to you in an elegant jewellery case with gift box & Certificate of Authenticity and from the outside is completely neutral packaging. This means this piece of jewellery that never the shine loose, and we put you a high-quality polishing cloth.


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Information about the art of Alvina Ralls

Artist Info -- Alvina Ralls

Alvina Ralls

Ceramic, Dichroic, and Leather

Specialties: Earthenware, Porcelain, Egyptian Paste & Dichroic glass

Location: Durant, Oklahoma

Alvina and Mike Ralls handcraft all of the ceramic beads and pendants that are used to design their jewelry. Combinations of earthenware, porcelain, Egyptian paste and dichroic glass create unique designs.  They are kiln fired at their residence.   Alvina started jewelry design as a hobby when she enrolled in a continuing education class at the local university.  She expanded her techniques after learning glass fusion in Florida.  Upon retiring from government service, she created Artistic Realities.   Husband Mike became involved after he broke his leg.  While recuperating,  Alvina delegated the bead making process to him.  Now the majority of the beads are crafted by "Bead Man" Mike.

In February 2008, Artistic Realities combined with local Choctaw Native American artist Jane Semple Umsted to open Indian Territory Art Gallery.  The gallery contains work from four local artists featuring ceramic jewelry, pottery, metal sculptures, oil, acrylic, and batik paintings.  With work stations inside the gallery, visitors can witness the final steps in the artistic process.  Please look at our website at The Country Framer and go to the jewelry tab for recent designs.

Awards, Recognition, Articles:

first place 2009 Choctaw Labor Day jewelry division, purchase award at 2012 Magnolia Festival

Alvina Ralls's Business Facebook Pagefb

Alvina Ralls's Personal Facebook Pagefb

Website: Alvina Ralls's website

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Master of Science in Regulatory Science

The Master of Science (MS) in Regulatory Science provides graduates with the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to drug regulation and pharmaceutical product lifecycles.

Applications for this exclusively online program are now being accepted, until June 30. Fall semester begins August 25.

What is Regulatory Science?

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), regulatory science is the science of developing new tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of FDA-regulated products. The MS in Regulatory Science program at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy primarily focuses on drugs, although aspects of biologics, diagnostics, devices, and nutritional products are also addressed. The program covers all major areas of drug product regulatory science, including:

  • Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC)
  • Clinical Research
  • Pharmacovigilance
  • Phase IV Research (e.g., Pharmacoepidemiology)
  • Drug Discovery

The strength of the program is its science-driven understanding of drug product development and regulation. The program covers regulatory affairs in a global manner, including the application of regulatory principles worldwide.

Who Should Apply to the Master of Science (MS) in Regulatory Science Program?

This online program is primarily designed for working professionals with Bachelor of Science (BS) degrees who now work in (or would like to work in) regulatory science in industry or government. Working professionals include regulatory affairs associates, scientists in research or development, and clinical associates in clinical affairs or marketed-product support.

What Will I Learn in the Master of Science (MS) in Regulatory Science Program?

Graduates of this program will be fluent in the science of developing new tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of FDA-regulated products. They will possess the knowledge and skills needed to:

  • Devise and implement global strategies for drug, biologic, and device development and evaluation
  • Differentiate USA and other regional requirements for drug product development and registration
  • Apply principles of basic and applied pharmaceutical sciences in drug discovery and development
  • Formulate critical elements of CMC to drug development
  • Relate principles of clinical research design to practices in clinical trial management
  • Apply critical methods of risk assessment and drug utilization from pharmacoepidemiology and post-marketing surveillance, and evaluate economic and sociodemographic factors that influence drug use

With the knowledge and skills obtained through this program, graduates will have access to a number of opportunities in drug research and development, including but not limited to:

  • Regulatory science/affairs positions at pharmaceutical companies, as well as device and biotechnology companies
  • Regulatory science/affairs positions at government agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
  • Admission into PhD programs

For more information, view website or contact Sharese Essien, Program Manager, MS in Regulatory Science at sessien@rx.umaryland.edu or 410-706-7241.

Individuals who wish to learn more about the MS in Regulatory Science program at UMB and the Certificate program at UMCP are invited to access the following video link:

UMCP Non-Degree Graduate Admission - Advanced Special Student Status

Individuals who wish to participate in M-CERSI educational opportunities at the University of Maryland on a per course basis should complete the application for Advanced Special Student status with the Graduate School.

The Common Web Application (CWA) and $75 application fee will be required. The Application Supplemental Form (ASF) is NOT required for Advanced Special Students. Visit the Graduate School website for instructions and to begin the application process.

Learn more about this program (doc)

Joint Fellowship Training Program

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department Health and Human Services (DHHS) are offering fellowship training for Ph.D.s, M.D.s, and M.D./Ph.D.s or their equivalents in cancer-related scientific research and research-related regulatory review.

To learn more about this fellowship, please visit the FDA website.

Interested in Drug Development of Tablet and Capsule Medications?

Dr. James Polli of the University of Maryland summarizes a workshop report on Facilitating Oral Product Development and Reducing Regulatory Burden through Novel Approaches to Assess Bioavailability/Bioequivalence. See YouTube video.  He also discusses the associated AAPS Journal themed issue.

Non-Degree Graduate Admission - Advanced Special Student Status (pdf)

Establishing and Building Mechanisms for Education and Training

  • Center-Wide Activities
    The M-CERSI builds upon existing collaborations between UM campuses and the FDA. Our center coordinator and two instructional liaisons organize training and public awareness activities.
  • Education and Training Activities - These activities include seminars, quarterly lectures, an annual one-day workshop, the development of new courses, mechanisms for personnel exchange (sabbatical, reverse sabbatical), and graduate student research mentorships.
  • Seminars – These public seminars are held once per quarter on the university campus(es) as part of a regular seminar series focused on bioengineering, pharmaceutical sciences, electrical, and computer engineering, etc.
  • Quarterly Lectures – M-CERSI researchers will present current results and perspectives on their specific regulatory science projects at lectures held at the FDA. These seminars will be open to the UM/FDA M-CERSI community. Each of the three projects will present quarterly lectures.
  • One-Day Workshop – This annual review of each project will include PIs, researchers, and collaborators, as well as members of the M-CERSI Executive Committee.
  • Semester Course – Each M-CERSI project will develop a course for an academic program that is most closely aligned with the research project [e.g., Graduate Program in Life Sciences (GPILS) or Bioengineering (BIOE)]. This course will be offered as a part of the regular academic program and, by design, would include regulatory science and FDA experiences. This may be taught by FDA staff, if available. As the center grows and embraces new projects, new courses would be added to the UM academic programs.
  • Students – Applied research in regulatory science will be carried out by a cadre of talented UM graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. At present, over a dozen BIOE graduate students carry out their research at the FDA. In addition, UM has outstanding undergraduates in its BIOE program, many of whom seek research opportunities during the academic year or as interns during the summer. We have the only joint FDA- and NSF-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site in the nation. In this program, 10 undergraduate students from across the US spend 10 weeks during the summer carrying out regulatory science research. These opportunities will expand considerably through the M-CERSI.

FDA Resources


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May 2014.

I've bought a campervan as a 60th birthday present to myself, made some curtains and a patchwork quilt, waved goodbye to my family, and set off. My aim is to explore the coastline of Britain, anti clockwise, starting in Kent. I have no idea what will happen.

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

I left Baa in a carpark in the middle of Tintagel and set off to see the sites. There is a charming Old Post Office dating back to late 1300s which is owned by the National Trust. It was a Medieval hall house, and then a post office in Victorian times, with low ceilings and narrow stairs, and furniture and chattels dating back to the 16thC. I'm glad I went early because when I walked past a couple of hours later there were Japanese tourists queuing round the block.
I walked a little way out of the village to St Materiana, the parish church of Tintagel, dating back to 1080, though there was something even older there before. It's Grade I listed and utterly beautiful, sitting close to the coast, and another short coastal walk from the medieval Castle, said to be home to King Arthur. Merlin, his mentor, is supposed to have lived in a cave on the beach below. It is a is a real meeting of history and myth - the site of the castle goes back to Roman times, and no one really knows the truth about King Arthur .. or if he was born there.
Tintagel Castle
It's a fascinating place, with different courtyards spreading across part of the mainland, and all over a little island which is reached by a bridge.
When I got back to the village I stopped to eat a pasty for lunch in the sun with my newspaper. The most surreal thing happened... I was reading an article by Janet Street-Porter as I was biting into my pasty, (I quote..) “Last weekend in Cornwall, I stopped at a deli in Tintagel to eat a pasty, and gawped at the procession of fatties, waddling along the main street licking ice creams and gobbling chips...” It was the start of a diatribe about obesity in this country... and she had a point, most people who passed by were overweight, and most of them were eating! I ordered an ice cream and left...
After all the crowds in Tintagel I couldn't bring myself to face more people in Port Isaac. It's a no-car village and I would've like to see where Doc Martin treats the sick, but I decided to move on.
Just along the coast is the charming narrow bay of Port Quin, and I wish I had been organised enough to walk there from Port Isaac... it's only 2 or 3 miles along the cliff path, but there's always the problem of getting back to the van. I sat on the small narrow beach, the tide was out and a couple of people were swimming, and talked to a nice woman from Wadebridge who had moved down from Tunbridge Wells.
Port Quin
Sadly it was a closed day at Prideaux Place a beautiful 17thC house just outside Padstow which I have put on my 'next time' list. It is where a lot of Rosamunde Pilcher's stories have been filmed and, as she is immensely popular in Germany, that's probably another reason why this stretch of coast is so popular with Germans. There are any number of wonderful places to eat in Padstow and it has great charm, sitting on the side of the Camel estuary. It is also home to the National Lobster Hatchery which was also shut when I got there – it was after 6.30pm, that's why. I got poor Baa wedged in a parking space and, after the unfortunate Bude incident, took ages to get her out.

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Chambers and Willies: No Longer a Mystery

There are various varieties of cardiomyopathies. Mutasa said that COSATU has had lots of power before regarding shaping South African policy. We real want just one more addition to the list.” The specifications were developed together with Joshco as well as the council and were a function of the limited budget.

They cannot have that strength. This is among the truly amazing defects of some comrades. AbM is really not an one issue movement. AbM is really not an ideal social movement.

Jean Mejia


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Saturday, January 4, 2014

Another Red Cross Volunteer to Represent Greater NY in the Philippines

Christophe Lobry-Boulanger, along-side fellow Red Cross volunteers departing for the Philippines

Christophe P. Lobry-Boulanger, advisor to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' Delegation to the UN, and an eight-year Greater New York Red Cross volunteer, took off for the Philippines today for a four-week deployment to Tacloban.

Christophe will be a member of a five-person Red Cross Relief Emergency Response Unit, or ERU, and will help with the Typhoon Haiyan relief effort. He will overlap briefly with Raul Rivera Nuñez, Greater New York’s regional manager of mass care and logistics, whose has been working with the Philippine relief effort since December. We spoke with Christophe just before he left.
Greater NY Red Cross (GNY).  You have deployed overseas many times with the Red Cross, correct?
Christophe Lobry-Boulanger (CLB).  Yes, this will be my fourth deployment. I deployed to Haiti early in 2010 after the earthquake; later that year I was in Pakistan after the massive 2010 floods. I also deployed to Kenya in 2009 after a flood in that country.

GNY. What will your role be in the Philippines?
CLB. I will be part of a five-person team of American Red Cross workers from around the U.S. We are traveling to Washington, D.C. today [Jan. 3] and will be given our precise responsibilities in D.C. I do know I’ll be doing some work in communications.

GNY:  Will you be working with Raul?
CLB. We’re going to be in same base camp as Raul and we’ll do a turnover of responsibilities. Raul is part of the second ERU rotation and we are the third rotation.

GNY. Are you looking forward to this deployment?
CLB. I am proud to represent the American Red Cross and the Greater New York Red Cross. We represent an organization that helps everyone; this is for me the true representation of our saying that the Red Cross helps people “Down the street, across the country, and around the world.”

I like that I’ll be providing assistance and support to the Filipino Red Cross as they assist their own population. They have a very strong national society. They have the wherewithal and volunteers and resilience; but in past three months they’ve had four major disasters, including an earthquake and Typhoon Haiyan. Their resources have been put to the limit and that’s where we come in.

GNY. How does your family feel about your work?
CLB. I have family in Germany and France. They support me; they are proud of me. They say I volunteer for them.

GNY. Is there something you are especially looking forward to on this deployment?
. I’m looking forward to seeing some of the Red Crossers I’ve worked with before on other overseas deployments. And most important, this is chance to go into the field again. It ties into the work that I do at the UN, which is mostly policy work. I miss being in the field and meeting the volunteers who do the work.

You can follow Christophe on Twitter, @lobryboulanger.

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cmk logo
cmk picture logo

Master Blue Belt - Children's Class

Congratulations, you have now made it through two tests. The form on this test will challenge you the 2nd part of the Green book thoughts of changing you balance.You are now digging and looking for some gold. Yellow belt represents Gold.

To achieve a Yellow Belt. You must be proficient in the following activities:

There are five stages of the test to achieve the 2nd degree Yellow Belt.

  1. Kima Jus Se
  2. Forms
  3. Studio Techniques
  4. Stranger Danger
  5. Ground Techniques

Kima Ju Se includes( This stays the same for all the tests)

  1. Kima Ju Se
  2. Front Punch - Single
  3. Front Punch - Double
  4. Front Punch - Triple
  5. Front Punch - Low, Middle, High

Forms - Must be able to do all 5 kibone.

  1. #2 Pi an Dan E

Studio Techniques - Perform techniques 1 - 25 with accuracy.

Stranger Danger (The same as the last test plus three more)

Stranger Danger is about a smaller person going against a larger more powerful person. #1 rule in Stranger Danger is to not let anyone touch you. The 2nd Rule is to yell loud.

  1. Technique #16 -TBD
  2. Technique #17 - TBD
  3. Technique #18 - TBD

Ground Techniques ( Start on the 10 techniques)

  1. Technique #13 - TBD
  2. Technique #14 - TBD
  3. Technique #15 - TBD

Personal Fighting Techniques -

  1. Nine personal Fighting Techniques. These moves shoud be between 3 & 6 moves and it should take the opponent down.


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Sunday, January 11, 2009

Paper Quilling

I started paper quilling a few years back and got tremendous enjoyment out of it. Of course, I had all the time in the world back then being that I was not yet a parent! Here are some of the cards I made. I made many more that I didn't photograph and I wish I had now. Word to all you who are making and trading ATCs, and any other craft for that matter, TAKE PICTURES.

  1. Ciao Chantal, complimenti per i tuoi lavori a paper quilling. Bravissima!

  2. Your cards are lovely. I especially like the baby shower card. Thank you for sharing.