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Virginity and the Gospel

About six months ago, I blogged on the subject of chastity and pre-marital virginity. Over the last few days, I have seen the issue of Christian teaching on the subject of virginity becoming a live one again. Following a long discussion with a friend on Twitter on the subject, I thought that I would post a few further thoughts, tackling some issues that weren’t sufficiently addressed in the original post.

The current conversation is focused on the poisonous character of much Christian teaching around the subject of virginity. Young people are caught in a sense of worthlessness and guilt on account of past sexual sins. The glass filled with polluted water, the petal-less rose, the sticky tape that has been used so many times that it has lost all adhesive power, the ‘damaged goods’, the ‘sloppy seconds’: these powerful images and many more shape young Christians’ perceptions of themselves and their sexuality. Unlike other actions, one’s sexual history is regarded as having a power to define who you are and your personal worth. Anyone who has committed sexual sin can feel a crippling sense of shame, a sense that they have irreversibly decreased their value as persons. Others can reinforce this sense of shame, by treating them as defiled.

The person trapped in shame has a sense of the loss of their integrity as a person and of their dignity and glory. Shame can be no less real, even on occasions that have nothing to do with our own sin. The person who has been raped can feel profound shame, even if they feel no guilt. The person whose body is mocked by their peers can feel shame, even though there is no guilt. Bodily integrity has been violated and the glory proper to their body has been robbed or denied them. Shame can cling much closer to us than guilt and is much harder to free ourselves from. Shame is about the exposure of nakedness and the stripping away of glory.

Shame can be virtually unparalleled in its demotivating power. The person who feels shame feels that they have been devalued as a person and will often start to live in terms of this sense of worthlessness, feeling powerless, forgoing agency, and despising themselves. Shame is a prison for the self, preventing the self from knowing the freedom appropriate to it.

When a sense of shame does motivate people, it can drive them to extreme lengths to shake it off. They feel naked and frantically try to cover themselves up. They can be drawn into a desperate quest for pride and honour. People who have been shamed will often try to restore honour by forming communities around themselves, dedicated to attacking or shaming the communities that shamed them, by seeking revenge, by shaming others, by denying their sins. They can even end up ‘shamelessly’ glorying in the very thing that should be causing them to be ashamed (Philippians 3:19).

The discourse surrounding the topic of sexuality in many Christian churches is a discourse of shame. It is a discourse that leaves many people feeling that their bodies are devalued and worthless. The power of shame, set loose in churches, is a defining presence in the lives of many Christians throughout their lives. It is something that imprisons people and makes them feel that they lack true value. The person who feels that they have been devalued by shame is more, not less, likely to engage in shameful practices, as they have lost sense of their true dignity. If we think that we can motivate others, or ourselves, to lives of holiness with the power of shame, we may find ourselves to have been sorely misguided.

Many people have sought to escape the shame associated with churches’ teaching on the subject of sexuality. In place of biblical terms such as ‘fornication’, we may speak only of ‘premarital sex’ or ‘abstinence’, hoping thereby to decrease any stigma associated with it. Attention is drawn to the fact that a majority of Christian young people will have premarital sex (distinctions between pre– and extra-marital sex might be helpful here, although both come under the biblical condemnation of ‘fornication’), the commonality of the sin suggesting that it cannot be so serious. Young people are assured that it isn’t that big of a deal: God doesn’t care anywhere near as much as many churches do about chastity, so we should cut ourselves a bit more slack.

And yet, the language of shame in association with sexuality is not unbiblical. Sexual sin is presented as defiling on occasions. Contrary to those who would suggest that we should regard sexual sin as just like all other sins, in order to detach them from their peculiar attachment with shame, Paul presents sexual sin as a unique kind of sin in 1 Corinthians 6:18:

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

The significance of sexual sin is also clear from the prominent focus on sexual sin in biblical lists of vices and practices that can exclude people from the kingdom of God (e.g. Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:9-11). In keeping with the seriousness of sexual sin in the Old Testament, the New Testament treats sexual sin, not as the victimless crime that we tend to treat it as, but as a defiling and perversion of the image of God in mankind – something focused on marriage between man and woman – and a sin against human nature.

It would seem that we have a problem. If shame can be so hard to shake and so devaluing, why would Scripture speak in such a manner? Despite seeming commonalities, the contrast between the way that the Scripture speaks about sexuality and our bodies and the way that these subjects are spoken of in many churches couldn’t be starker.

The way that we speak about the subject of sexual sin, perhaps more than any other moral issue, says an awful lot about the sort of gospel that we believe. It is in sexual sin that we can feel most powerfully defined by our rejection of God’s way. Only the true gospel – a gospel powerful enough to free us of the most persistent stains – enables us to speak with unflinching honesty on such a subject, without being destroyed by the resulting knowledge.

It is in a legalistic approach to virginity, an approach that locates our value in our ability to keep ourselves pure that a false gospel emerges in the lives of many Christians and churches. When our personal worth is made entirely contingent on what we do with our bodies, we should not be surprised to find people imprisoned in self-righteousness, guilt and shame, the denial of sin, and judgmentalism. To tell the truth about yourself within such a gospel is to destroy yourself. Those who do are racked with debilitating guilt and shame. However, for every such person there are many others who are caught in sin-denial, self-delusion, and self-righteous judgmentalism. Even those who are seeking to escape the shame of this false gospel are often not escaping the false gospel itself, merely moving in the direction of sin-denial and self-delusion. This false teaching can hit people on an existential level that a merely ideological gospel-teaching from the pulpit, divorced from a practical form, cannot reach.

In these areas there are too many people being destroyed by knowledge of seeming ‘unforgivable’ sin on one side and too many people not speaking seriously enough about the sinfulness of sin on the other. This can be especially dangerous for virgins who, believing that they have avoided the ‘unforgivable’ sin, fall straight into a self-delusory self-righteousness, failing to attend to the lust and pride that may be bound up in their sexuality. One side has no real forgiveness or redemption to offer. The other side all too often has a cheap presumptive ‘forgiveness’, which renders the sin ‘no big deal’.

Part of the reception of forgiveness is the full acknowledgment of our sin, as we concur with the divine judgment upon it implicit in the offer of forgiveness. This is why a presumptive forgiveness, which does not fully acknowledge the seriousness of sin, is not forgiveness at all. It is only in the light of forgiveness, redemption, and glorification that we can speak with utter truthfulness about sin, as it is only through these things that we are released from its crushing weight. If this is true about sin in general, it is so much more true about sexual sin in particular. By believing that we can abstract our discourses about sexuality from the gospel, we produce a poisonous and deadly culture, a culture in which the truth cannot be told or borne.

In the true gospel we learn that the value of our bodies does not derive from our virginity, nor is their value lost if our virginity were lost outside of marriage. As Christians, the value of our bodies derives from the fact that they have been redeemed by God. In fact, God cares so much about these ‘damaged goods’ that he is going to raise them up on the last day.

And all of us are ‘damaged goods’. Virgin bodies must be redeemed too. They too are defiled and polluted by the sin that dwells within them. Shame is exposure and nakedness, which can only truly be acknowledged where covering is offered. This is what we find in the gospel. These bodies, weak and rendered shameful by sin, will be raised and clothed in glory, their mortality swallowed up in life (2 Corinthians 5:4). The value of our bodies does not lie within our bodies themselves. It does not lie in our sexual histories, but in the value that God places upon them and the glory that he has prepared for them. It lies in the fact that he has taken bodies corrupted by sin and death and fashioned them into temples for his Holy Spirit. It lies in the fact that our bodies, notwithstanding all of their sexual history, will be resurrected in the new heavens and the new earth, objects of divine delight. Every Christian, virgin or not, derives the value or his or her body from the same place.

And this is the point where Christian sexual ethics begins – with the realization that our bodies are ‘redeemed goods’, with immense value in God’s eyes and an incredible destiny. It begins with the realization that we can speak with a complete honesty about sexual sin as that discourse occurs within the context of forgiveness, grace, and redemption, a context that frees us from the devastating burden of the shame appropriate to sexual sin. In Christ and the sanctification, justification, and glorification that we receive in him, we are freed from the legalistic yoke of securing the value of our own bodies, whether through sexual sinlessness or physical appearance. We are freed from self-loathing, anxiety, and shame. We can name the bondage in the light of the freedom. The sexual ethics of the gospel are concerned with how to live embodied lives in liberty, no longer returning to the slavery of guilt and shame, but joyfully pursuing the good bodily ends for which we were created, glorifying God in our bodies and spirits, which are his.

About Alastair Roberts

Alastair Roberts (PhD, Durham University) writes in the areas of biblical theology and ethics, but frequently trespasses beyond these bounds. He participates in the weekly Mere Fidelity podcast, blogs at Alastair’s Adversaria, and tweets at @zugzwanged.
This entry was posted in Christian Experience, Controversies, Culture, Ethics, Sex and Sexuality, Theological. Bookmark the permalink.

32 Responses to Virginity and the Gospel

  1. Pingback: Why I Believe in Pre-Marital Virginity | Alastair's Adversaria

  2. In the play Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw (1903), the main character Jack Tanner speaks:

    “We live in an atmosphere of shame. We are ashamed of everything that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our incomes, of our accents, of our opinions, of our experience, just as we are ashamed of our naked skins. Good Lord, my dear Ramsden, we are ashamed to walk, ashamed to ride in an omnibus, ashamed to hire a hansom instead of keeping a carriage, ashamed of keeping one horse instead of two and a groom-gardener instead of a coachman and footman. The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is. Why, youre ashamed to buy my book, ashamed to read it: the only thing youre not ashamed of is to judge me for it without having read it; and even that only means that youre ashamed to have heterodox opinions. Look at the effect I produce because my fairy godmother withheld from me this gift of shame…

    “When you want to give me a piece of your mind, you ask yourself, as a just and upright man, what is the worst you can fairly say to me. Thief, liar, forger, adulterer, perjurer, glutton, drunkard? Not one of these names fits me. You have to fall back on my deficiency in shame. Well, I admit it. I even congratulate myself; for if I were ashamed of my real self, I should cut as stupid a figure as any of the rest of you. Cultivate a little impudence, Ramsden; and you will become quite a remarkable man.”

    This can be seen as an early manifesto of the sexual revolution from the other side of which we comment.

    There never has been a society with less shame about sexual matters than this one now, yet the abolition of what little shame that remains is perhaps a higher social priority than ever before.

    One bad motivation in this area is to use the agenda to abolish shame as a way of avoiding responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions. This is not really a desire for forgiveness (such as Christianity promises) – not a desire for our souls to be ‘washed clean’; but a desire to wipe clean our social record – that other people should not be allowed to respond to our history, that whatever we have done in the past should not be used (should not be allowed to be used) as evidence concerning what we are *likely* to do in the future.

    This amounts to a denial that our past choices are evidence of our character (and that character is enduring); and indeed this is a denial of the concept of character – we become conceptualized as creatures without identity, creatures of mere labile responsiveness.

    So, while everything you say about the corrosive effects of shame is true; there is a large scale, unworthy and indeed fundamentally dishonest public discourse focused on the removal of shame – which is indeed one of the major problems of modern Western society.

    Shame has typically been removed by moral inversion – by taking that which was shameful and making it (via the mass media, the arts, government regulations, state education etc) into something admirable – and this is the regular daily diet of public discourse in many people’s lives.

    Indeed, people now feel shame that they do *not* make sexual choices that used to be regarded as shameful.

    Presumably, at some point, therefore, there will be a shame backlash.

  3. Aaron Smith says:

    I write this as a man who has had much sexual sin in his life: the core you point to, about us all being damaged bodies that are now redeemed goods in Christ is something that I wish had been preached to me at a much younger age.

    The amount of shame I personally carry centered around this issue is unhealthy. While I don’t blame the Church or well meaning teachers, I will defiantly say that no one pointed the issues of sexuality and sex at the Cross and Resurrection. It was always addressed with in the context of “purity” and sanctification (more accurately keeping one’s self “unpolluted” from sin, and there fore “holy”). If we are going to change the christian culture’s idolization/over spirituralization of sex and it’s demonization of sexuality, we need to begin with Jesus, and point the conversation towards Jesus (and away from what we can or fail to achieve).

    Thank you for your thoughts here Alastair. They are redemptive.

  4. AndrewF says:

    This is a really great response to what has in recent days become something sentimental.

  5. Kae Carte says:

    Thank you for the time you took to write this post and for including wonderful Scripture references.

  6. Phil James says:

    Thank you, Alastair- especially for: ‘The way that we speak about the subject of sexual sin, perhaps more than any other moral issue, says an awful lot about the sort of gospel that we believe…’

  7. Steve says:

    Scripture speaks in such a matter because Paul was a messed up person. It’s that simple. Just like Augustine of Hippo, he was deeply screwed up about his own sexuality. Both hated themselves for their own feelings. This is especially well documented in Augustine’s case as he wrote about at length. So Christianity was created by people who had some serious issues and hangups about sexuality and then projected it on everyone else. Today we’d tell them to get therapy.

    Christians say they are always about Jesus. Then way put so much stock in someone who wrote a couple of letters decades later? This doesn’t make any sense. Follow what Jesus said if you want, but ignore the ramblings of an ignorant man who lived 2000 years ago. None of his personal opinions are relevant today.

  8. Josh T. says:

    I like how you mention that we are all ‘damaged goods,’ which is one big thing that I think some posts dealing with the “virginity cult” are getting wrong by saying “I am not damaged goods.” I think people tend to have difficulty with the idea that ‘brokenness’ does not mean ‘without value’ or ‘unloved’ or ‘undesired.’ We can be damaged and yet still be quite valuable in God’s eyes.

  9. Caned Crusader says:

    I’m wondering something; perhaps you have discussed this in posts I haven’t seen. I think your correctives to the church’s teaching on virginity are helpful. i have also seen you mention the church’ need for a more positive teaching on singleness. This may sound cliche, but being single is one of the greatest spiritual struggles of my life. I find even the positive messages that most church’s give–that usually center around singleness as a time for increased “Christian” activity to be more discouraging than not. i see a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the lack of positive teaching on this issue, but I have encountered little substantive help. (The teachings of, for example, Joshua Harris raise many practical as well as theological concerns.)

    • I’ve written on this subject at length in the past, in various contexts, but I haven’t visited it that much recently. It is something that I hope to revisit at some point in the future, especially as I would take a slightly different approach to the subject now. I reviewed a helpful book on the subject for Ecclesia Reformanda a while back – Barry Danylak’s Redeeming Singleness. I would be happy to e-mail my review to you, if you are interested.

  10. Pingback: Used Up Spread Around - Virginity and the Church || CulturalSavage

  11. Deb Wolf says:

    Excellent post. I would love to see more of this truth spoken about all sin. It avoids Pharisee pride and condemnation, and still speaks the truth calling sin . . . sin. Too often we offer grace without law, or law without grace. Your balance is Biblical truth. Thank you!

  12. johngchild says:

    Thank you, Alastair, for a most helpful & insightful post. I especially like your gospel & pastoral approach. I teach ethics & in my journey to understand Christian ethics have come to the point where I see the gospel as absolutely central to Christian ethics. Christian ethics is gospel ethics.This, of course, does not deny the creation order, devalue the law or disregard the character of God & importance of Christian virtue.
    In the circles I move in in Cape Town & South Africa I haven’t seen an emphasis on damaged goods, etc. Probably because we don’t have a legalistic condemning & judgmental culture. That could be because I’m not working with young adults – except teaching them! – I mean at an intimate pastoral level. More likely is that we either minimize sexual sin or in some circles hide or ignore it.
    Thanks again for your insightful analysis. I’m going read your previous post too & will in time share them with my students.

  13. Eli says:

    As a christian your perspective comes across to me as striking the balance between good and bad shame so to speak. Or to perhaps differentiate between guilt (i did something wrong) and shame (there is something wrong with me).
    That said I do think we often need to translate this truth for those that dont share our theological language as shame is a universal emotion.

  14. Pingback: HuSH…Today we ARE talking about Sex and the Church! Guest Post by Aaron Smith | mindy koenig

  15. Pingback: The New Purity Ethic | Alastair's Adversaria

  16. Pingback: An Ethic of Nerve and Compassion | Alastair's Adversaria

  17. This is beautiful.

  18. Bryan says:

    thank you Alastair for this post, and your post on pre-marital virginity. I’ve fallen into sexual sin in past relationships, and have seen the consequences of that sin manifested in many ways. I’ve repented of that sin, and know my forgiveness is assured, but have often struggled with the shame you talk about above. I’d accepted my state as ‘damaged goods’ and just hoped someone would take me in spite of my defiled state.

    thank you for articulating that “the value of our bodies derives from the fact that they have been redeemed by God,” rather than from whether or not our virginity is intact. from your other post, I was particularly moved by “Losing your virginity does not leave you as a worthless failure in God’s sight: God has a habit of turning whores into spotless brides.” you’ve helped me better see the true hope the gospel offers to all defiled sinners, whether virgins or not.

    sexual sin has consequences, and often painful ones. I’m prepared to endure the consequences of my sin, but it’s certainly better and easier if that’s being endured not by resigning oneself to a state of worthlessness, but rather by knowing and relishing in the already-present redemption from that sin that He offers.

    thank you.

    • Bryan, thank you for your comment! It is always encouraging to hear when someone has been helped through something that I have written. I trust that God will continue to bless you richly as you discover and explore who you are in Christ!

  19. Pingback: Ten Years of Blogging: 2012-2013 | Alastair's Adversaria

  20. Pingback: Virginity: Christianity’s Main Idol? – Fare Forward

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Alec Soth's Archived Blog

August 5, 2007

Where art thou my BumDog?

Filed under: vernacular & Flickr — alecsothblog @ 11:34 pm

Because I have a blog, you might think I’m Internet savvy. I’m not. Not only am I clueless about HTML or RSS, I’ve barely spent any time on Flickr and YouTube.

But a couple of monhs ago someone told me about some videos of me on YouTube (here, here, here). This caused me to check out Flickr, where I was amazed to find an entire tour of my studio (here).

For a minute I thought I was hot stuff. Then I learned that there is an entire Flickr fan group devoted to Martin Parr (see the highlights here).

photo by Sirio Magnabosco

The photographer Jim Goldberg recently told me that someone had made a video about his book, Raised by Wolves, on YouTube. The video is made by a homeless man who calls himself BumDog007. He writes about his motivation for making the video:

I was in LA County jail for some offense (I think it was for battery). In the newspaper that they provided the cell, I saw a review of an exhibiton at the LA County Museum of Art called “Raised By Wolves” by a photographer named Jim Goldberg. The whole exhibition was photos of homeless teens living in Hollywood and San Fransisco. I realized imediately that that was the kind of photgraphy I was looking for to make “Like a Rolling Stone”.

When I got out I was living in an alley in Santa Monica. and it just so happened that right across from the parking lot I slept in there was this guy named Andrew, who I always used to say hello to coming in and out of his alley adjacent apartment. One day I struck up a conversation with him, and it turns out he worked on commercials and short art films. I told him the idea I had for “Like A Rolling Stone”, and he said he that he could actually help me realize it.

He in fact had what was known as then as a Ken Burns machine. The device Ken Burns made famous with his documenataries. It created motion with still photography. It costed $10,000 at the time. It really blew my mind that just by coinsidence I would be sleeping in the same alley as a guy who own such rare equipment.

So outta of the library I got a catalog book of the exhibition. and with stickies I marked out all the pictures that went with particular lyrics of the song, and gave it back to Andrew.

And outta of that he created a video of “Like A Rolling Stone”, directed by Bumdog. My first credit as a director. I was so proud. I sent it out to some people thinking maybe I could get some work as a video director with it but it came to naught.

Like a lot of photographer friends, Jim Goldberg and I share a bit of unspoken competitiveness. I’m happy that Jim recently won the HCB award, but I confess to being downright jealous of his homeless admirer. Will somebody out there be my BumDog?

  1. just want to point out that was just for fun : ) not trying to imitate nobody. but if i have to give credit to the guys you mention both of them agreed to have a portrait taken ( and ) but when you came to berlin and i wrote you for that you just didn’t answer. so that’s maybe why you’re not that hot stuff.

    (of course, i’m just teasing)

    Comment by sirio magnabosco — August 6, 2007 @ 4:06 am

  2. Alec,

    Bumdog: be careful what you wish for…

    best —

    Comment by Alun Severn — August 6, 2007 @ 6:14 am

  3. “I confess to being downright jealous of his homeless admirer.

    Will somebody out there be my BumDog?”

    ( ? ? ? )

    Comment by pguerv — August 6, 2007 @ 8:35 am

  4. Alec – I had a rather strange thing happen to me a few years ago. I don’t know if you are familiar with the John Water’s film “Pecker”, but it was a film about a young guy(played by Edward Furlong) who photographed his friends and family in a small neighborhood in Baltimore. Through a ridiculous turn of events in the film, he winds up becoming a big star in the NYC art scene. I did the black and white photographs that were featured in the film, and received a small amount of press about them when the film came out. A few months after the film came out, a friend of mine approached me and asked an odd question. He had been photographing strippers in Baltimore’s red light district known as “The Block” for at least 10 years. While shooting a portrait of a girl one evening, she said “you have some competition around here.” My friend Joe said “what do you mean?” She said, “that guy who shot the photos for that Pecker movie has been down here taking pictures of lot’s of girls asking them to pose nude for him and promising them that he will introduce them to John Waters which might lead to a part in one of his movies.” Joe then replied, “what does this guy look like?” After she told him, he said that is NOT the guy. I know the guy who shot those photographs for John Waters and he looks nothing like you described, so spread the word, so no more girls will pose nude for this jackass. I thought it was pretty pathetic that some guy would pose as me just to able to photograph strippers.

    Comment by chuck shacochis — August 6, 2007 @ 9:03 am

  5. Sirio, sorry about the missing email. Sometimes they slip through the cracks. The picture of Jim is outstanding. By the way, the work in Iran is lovely.

    Chuck, I LOVE Pecker. It is my favorite movie about photography. Even though your impersonator is pathetic, the story is kind of perfect. Do you have examples of your pictures online?

    Comment by Alec Soth — August 6, 2007 @ 9:15 am

  6. Alec – Not yet. The only thing I have online is the stuff from Pecker I kind of got out of photography right after I worked on John Waters’ Pecker( Sorry, i couldn’t resist wording it like that. While working on the movie, John used to threaten us and say that he was going to have baseball hats made that said “I worked on John Waters’ Pecker” and force us to wear them). I did a lot of editorial work before and after the film and I got severely burned out, so I kind of laid low for a while. I have been working on a new series of color photographs for about 7 months now that I hope to show somewhere or hopefully publish in book form. As soon as I have some images ready, I’ll email you.

    Comment by chuck shacochis — August 6, 2007 @ 9:42 am

  7. chuck — OMG! i’ve always loved Little Chrissy’s Sugar Fix!

    Comment by lexi — August 6, 2007 @ 1:08 pm

  8. Wow, we are in my neighborhood, downtown LA. Saw some friends and some familiar faces. Funny, for such a sprawled out place downtown is really close nit.

    Comment by w robert angell — August 6, 2007 @ 2:01 pm

  9. love the ape girl banner

    Comment by Amy — August 6, 2007 @ 2:37 pm

  10. Nice clean studio Alec. Was that because company was coming? Enjoyed your work @ Bekman.

    Comment by mark — August 6, 2007 @ 2:52 pm

  11. I don’t know if accidentally finding your tripod holes makes me a bumdog, but:

    Comment by Michael — August 6, 2007 @ 3:00 pm

  12. I too agree that Pecker is the best movie about photography and than after that it’s Blow Up.

    Comment by mike — August 6, 2007 @ 7:25 pm

  13. Bumdog’s story is amazing, thanks! His other projects are remarkable as well, esp. this one:

    Just today i read another story about a creative homeless person, who came to a sad end.
    He was something of a poet and musician, and apparently touched a lot of lives.

    Comment by mark s — August 7, 2007 @ 4:43 am

  14. So at some point we will find Niagara pictures with It’s Not Unusual by Tom Jones on Youtube? 😀

    Btw, some of the Raised by Wolves look more as if they were in the right context with the music that inside the book. I have it at home and I always end up perusing it from one side to the other to find the pictures that fit with the piece of text that I’m reading. With the music, on the other hand, the pictures almost always fit with the lyrics. I don’t know if this is an annoying characteristic of Raised by Wolves, as it makes it a book that takes longer to digest… but some of the pictures improved as pictures also when I checked them in the magnum webpage (due to the captions!). Not sure if I’m being clear, but to me it looks like the ambiguity of the book maybe improves the book, but diminishes the power of the individual pictures it contains.

    Comment by Joni Karanka — August 7, 2007 @ 6:58 am

  15. If it makes you feel any better, I choose to write a paper about you for my photography class =)

    Maybe you could help me out?

    Comment by Michelle King — August 7, 2007 @ 11:50 am

  16. With the mainstreaming of photography, the homegrown success of Parr’s Flickr group confirms people’s interests in what is around them vs. photographers documenting crack houses, shooting galleries, famine, genocide and disaster in faraway places.

    Comment by PeeWee — August 7, 2007 @ 3:40 pm

  17. Well said PeeWee. I’ve met people from all over the world on Flickr and can now live vicariously in those cities through their photographs. Flickr can be a wasteland but it’s very entertaining to follow the passionate photographers…

    Comment by bryanF — August 7, 2007 @ 4:33 pm

  18. I have been summoned from the depths. What does thou will of me Master?

    Comment by Bumdog — August 12, 2007 @ 5:41 pm

  19. There you are. I posted an assignment here.

    Comment by Alec Soth — August 12, 2007 @ 11:13 pm

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text:
Illustrator and Art Director from Medellín Colombia.
I also run a clothing company: www.velmost.com

Clients include:
LOWE, DDB, LOLA Madrid, Psyop, Polynoid, Woodblock, Pull and Bear, Lefties, Step Art.
Please feel free to contact me if you think we can work together.
If interested in any artwork of this site, want to work with me or just wanna say hello,
please write to: hello@alejogiraldo.com

Back to Top


text:
EasyUpload for CKEditor

Most of the people think that the most commonly used dialogs in CKEditor are too complex for the average user. They show lots of options, and all the info at the same time.

This has always lead to people asking how to change them or how to achieve some feature to simplify that process: I have an image here and I want it there, don't ask me lots of questions and force me to get a degree on HTML in order to understand what's the meaning of all those fields.

So a long time ago I created a simplified version for FCKeditor and now it's the time to show an updated version for CKEditor.

Bear in mind that right now the demo is still half done, I want to show how to use it in different ways so you can get the code to configure it the way that you like just by looking at the demo; and of course, while I polish that part I'll find some adjustments for the plugin.

So you can start testing it in the demo page for Easy Upload for CKEditor. If you have some comments about what you think it's missing you can add them here and I'll try to address them.

What's different from the usual dialogs?

You can check the demo by yourself, but some highlights are:

  • If there's no image selected, the user is shown a simple page allowing him to choose the source of the image.
  • The extension of the image is validated before uploading it to the server
  • While uploading a file from his computer an animation is shown to signal the user that he must wait
  • When the image is ready, a simplified dialog is shown

Edit 27th November 2013

I've removed the option to get this plugin and instead I suggest you to use the SimpleUploads and use the CKEditor API to remove elements from the default dialogs.

I'll try to provide a sample page to show how to do that, with the advantage that now instead of a copy of the link or image dialogs you will be using the built-in dialogs and it will be easier to do version upgrades whenever CKEditor changes.

Drag and Drop uploads in CKEditor

Recently I was asked about a video that I added to YouTube some time ago: making drag&drop uploads work in CKEditor.
That video was a little test and I used a non-public modification of the image paste plugin that allows to automatically upload images that are pasted in Firefox. The video shows how to use drag and drop from the file system into a CKEditor instance and get that image or file uploaded to the server and inserted into the editor without any extra steps, if you know how to drag a file, adding it to CKEditor can't be any simpler.
The base of that code is XHR2 and FormData to send a File object to the server as well as the dataTransfer interface in the drop event and finally some API to find the correct drop location.
What does all those buzzwords mean?
Just that there are no browser plugins involved, if you use a browser that supports those new APIs then this feature will work: for Firefox, Chrome and Safari you can use the current stable versions, if you use IE then you need the IE 10 preview, and unfortunately Opera supports most of those features in Opera 12, but not the API to get the insertion point, so at the moment it's the only engine that it's left out.

Getting the plugin

The plugin is available in the version 4 page.

If you want to check how it works, you can use this demo page.

2.0 First release including drag&drop
2.1 June 17th, 2012. Added support for pasting in Chrome, correctly process files copied and pasted in Firefox  from the desktop if they aren't png. Support dropping multiple files.

version 3 is explained here

Steps to shutdown windows

Using the current Windows 7 (previous versions is quite similar and everyone has learnt how to do it):

  1. Go to the Start or Windows button in the lower left corner.
  2. Click it
  3. Click the Shutdown button.
  4. Done!

Using the Windows 8 Release Preview

  1. Uh, there's nothing at the lower left corner?
  2. Anyway, move the mouse there, maybe there's a glitch in the graphics as everyone is used to know that there are strange bugs in Windows sometimes
  3. Clicking there doesn't do anything.
  4. Move to the really lower bottom corner
  5. A "Start" popup appers
  6. After hunting it a little you're finally able to click it
  7. Congratulations, you're now back to the "Windows Metro" screen.
  8. At least now you have an icon about your account on the top right
  9. Click it.
  10. In that dropdown select "Sign out"
  11. We're back to the start screen. Now we have the plug&screen icon. Click it.
  12. So now we can login again...
  13. But theres a Power icon at the bottom right
  14. Yeah, click it
  15. Now select "Shut down"
  16. Finally you got it!!!

Ok, there are some faster ways:

  1. Move your mouse to the bottom right corner
  2. Yes, I know that there's no hint that you should move your mouse there, but there isn't also any hint now about the bottom left corner.
  3. Some white icons appear above. Go to the last one, the one that looks like a gear.
  4. Now you see that it's titled Settings. Not promising, but please, click it.
  5. Now a pane shows up, there are two rows of icons below, and one of them is Power
  6. Click it
  7. Select Shut down
  8. You're done.

Using this method we have been able to halve the steps required to shutdown windows. Now you just have to print this short list and paste it at the right side of the monitor of anyone that has to use Windows 8.

That way Microsoft is saving some little pixels on the screen and you just have a little post it on your screen.


text:
Cannabis Manual

Art and Entrepreneurship

An Interview With Two Stoned Betties

Two Stoned Betties
Sara Romãn and Kayla Mansfield, self-proclaimed Burqueñas and longtime best friends, are two dynamic artists and businesswomen who make more than just jewelry. Weekly Alibi recently sat down with Two Stoned Betties for an energetic conversation about Burque work and life.

Weekly Alibi: Just to get this out of the way, I'm a fan. How did you decide to be Two Stoned Betties?

Mansfield: We used to live together so that was a roommate moment on the couch, painting things.

Romãn: We started making jewelry together because we needed to pay our bills. Two Stoned Betties came together in a moment on the couch, making crafts. "We're Betties!" [The word Betty, colloquially, is a modern-day queen.]

Mansfield and Romãn : “You're a betty, no you're a Betty, We're just two stoned Betties!"

Romãn: And then we both agreed that that was a really good name.

So your name comes from a place of empowerment. That's not surprising, seeing y'all’s work and on social media, it's obvious that y'all love each other.

Mansfield: Yeah, we fight a lot but we love each other way more than we fight.

Romãn: We see versions of ourselves every time we set up. The camaraderie that we have definitely plays into why our brand is accepted and celebrated the way it is, because they know that it's two chicks who are best friends doing it together. It's important to us to represent our brand. Because it is a counterculture, because it is, you know, something that is not represented in the counterculture very well. Lady stoners ...

Mansfield [interjecting]: Yeah, they're not represented. Certainly not as productive people.

Romãn: That's what I was saying. The way we're doing it is from this place where you don't have to be a lazy stoner pothead. You can be a fierce female entrepreneur and still be okay and proud that this is the substance you chose. Trying to flip it and break through that stereotype. I think we do a pretty good job, it's been really cool and it's been very rare that we've had anyone come to our shop upset. We don't have people scoff at it; it makes people smile.

One of the distinct elements of your brand is your logo. How did that come into existence?

Romãn: Well we kind of brainstormed it together ...

Mansfield: I had a vision of two just two smiling faces ...

Romãn: And Kayla had been working on pin-up characters. We'd had a lot of jewelry with pin-up [art] in it and it was a goal that we should do our own pin-up art. KK [Mansfield is a] super-skilled, awesome painter and drawer, she'd been playing with these cute little lady figures.

Mansfield: They're betties!

Romãn: We went to vend with Felix Y Los Gatos in Hatch, [N.M.] and we were sharing a hotel room. When we were brainstorming what we wanted it to look like, and KK showed us this sketch, and we were like "That's good. That's it" and we were really luck to be friends with Michael Wieclaw of Metal the Brand [metalthebrand.com] and he took that drawing that Kayla did and turned it into a logo us for a seafood dinner. [They both laugh.] The Two Stoned Betties font is a custom font just for us, and he [Wieclaw] worked to make our art a functional logo.

Mansfleld: Other people were working on it, but we decided it should be us and we should represent.

Two Stoned Betties’ art

The layers of Burqueness in this aren't surprising, but, wow, this really started with being broke and hanging out?

Romãn: Yeah! The way people have supported us from the very beginning, we had a lot of local support. But we also had to prove ourselves in a lot of arenas, as well.

Mansfield: We are our own flow. That is what matters most. That's what set us apart. [We decided] okay, if we're not in the cool club, then we're going to go do our own thing.

Romãn: And I think there is no denying our hustle and our grind. We are hardworking girls who put ourselves in a lot of different places. We put a lot of pride in our merchandizing, that's been a labor of love. Our suits have become synonymous with our brand, and people are impressed with them, but we're really impressed with them, too. Every time we set up, "That looks so good!” Every single time we sit back and enjoy, even though it looks like it did last week. We really are super-proud of everything we do on a weekly basis.

Doing what you want to do well enough to be proud of yourself and also appreciated by others sounds empowering.

Romãn: We're lucky that Albuquerque and the Southwest has received us the way that they have. They like the stuff that we're doing and they like us the way that they do.

I mean look at her [Mansfield's] earrings! They have King Kong on them! They're big bold designs. Something that we do that's so rewarding, is we'll get people who come to the table that are a little intimidated by our designs and they do seem like that they're so big, but they're attractive and the aesthetic is so there that people want to rock them even if they feel like they can't. Those are the sales that we're like F-Yes! That person overcame a little bit of fear. Chances are they're going to get a thousand compliments and they're going to want to wear them and feel great.

Living in The Land of Enchantment has obviously influenced your work.

Romãn: I think all of our designs are a reflection of who we are individually, who we are together and who we are differently and together, as Burqueñas and New Mexicans. This is our culture; it's going to come out in our art. Even with the stoner and counterculture thing in general, we make nerdy nostalgic stuff that makes us happy. We're just lucky other people like it, too.

You can find Two Stoned Betties wares at the Rio Grande La Montanita Co-Op, Astro Zombies, The Brotique, Metal the Store, Enchanted Sugar in Cottonwood Mall and everywhere they pop up! Follow them on Instagram, [instagram.com/twostonedbetties] Facebook, [facebook.com/twostonedbetties] and via their website [twostonedbetties.com].Thanks to the Unseen Gallery [unseengallery.com] for hosting our interview.
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text:
Tag Archives: Immortal

“The closest concept that human beings have to describe an IS-BE is as a god: all-knowing, all-powerful, infinite. So, how does a god stop being a god? They pretend NOT to know. How can you play a game of “hide and seek” if you always know where the other person is hiding?

You pretend NOT to know where the other players are hiding, so you can go off to “seek” them. This is how games are created. You have forgotten that you are just “pretending”. In so doing, IS-BEs become entrapped and enslaved inside a maze of their own devising.

How does one create a cage, lock one’s own self inside the cage, throw away the key, and forget there is a key or a cage, and forget there is an “inside” or “outside”, and even forget there is a self? Create the illusion that there is no illusion: the entire universe is real, and that no other universe exists or can be created.” — excerpt from ALIEN INTERVIEW, edited by Lawrence R. Spencer

Originally posted 2014-12-22 19:19:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter


text:
Contact us on 020 8671 7827 or 07387 36 88 33

Mikki Hygiene Dog Boot Size 5 - Boot Paw Protection Injured Puppy Foot Shoe

Sale price £8.95 Regular price £13.49

Tax included. Shipping calculated at checkout.

Mikki DOG BOOT Puppy Travel Healthcare Hygiene WOUND PROTECTION Waterproof

  • Helps prevent infection by protecting paw wounds
  • Waterproof material that keeps dressings clean and dry
  • Covers wounds and injuries on your dogs leg
  • Supports faster healing and reduces infection risk
  • Boot is made with a vinyl top and non-slip sole making it perfect for post surgery care
  • Boot sizing allows space for dressings to be worn underneath
  • A smaller size should be purchased if there is no dressing
  • Easy fit with elasticated support straps and velcro fastening
  • One boot per pack
Available Sizes are 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5


text:
ibis budget Orly Rungis bintang 2

Catatan tamu Avis 3.7/5 3.110 ulasan

Pesan hotel ini
Kamar 1

Jaminan Harga Terbaik

Bagaimana itu bekerja?
+ 10 Layanan

Keistimewaan hotel

  • Keuntungan 1

  • Keuntungan 2

  • Keuntungan 3

  • Advantage 4

  • Advantage 5

Hotel ini berpartisipasi dalam Planet 21 dan bertindak dalam rangka Keramahan Positif (Positive Hospitality).

Layanan di hotel dan sekitarnya

Check-in dari 12h00

Check out sampai 12h00

Layanan berbayar

Informasi layanan dan informasi praktis
  • Check-in online
  • WIFI/Akses Internet
  • Parkiran luar tertutup pribadi
  • Akses bagi tamu disabilitas
  • Hewan peliharaan diperbolehkan Layanan berbayar
  • 100% hotel bebas rokok
  • AÉROPORT PARIS ORLY Layanan berbayar
  • Sarapan Layanan berbayar
  • Mesin camilan & minuman Layanan berbayar

Lokasi hotel

ibis budget Orly Rungis

7, rue du Pont des Halles
94150 rungis

Tel: +33892683241

Faks: (+33)1/41806154

Check-in dari 12h00

Check out sampai 12h00

  • Dengan pesawat

    AÉROPORT PARIS ORLY Pada 4km / 2,49 mil - Antar Jemput bayar

  • Dengan pesawat

    ORLY Pada 3km / 1,86 mil

GPS :48.756018, 2.348418

Akomodasi kami

Ulasan pelanggan kami untuk
ibis budget Orly Rungis

Ulasan tersertifikasi 100% oleh tamu yang menginap bersama kami

Cari tahu selengkapnya

Peringkat ALL 3.7/5

3.110 ulasan

Peringkat TripAdvisor 3.5/5

529 ulasan

Just B&B

Catatan Tripadvisor 3.0/5

onur s Business - 04/10/2019 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

Average location.. average room.. average bath.. clean but old furniture.. worse breakfast.. otherwise staff is really kind and helpful.. maybe there is a managing problem.. is it ibis budget?! I don’t think so..

Probably would have been fine... if we were able to get inside!

Catatan Tripadvisor 1.0/5

404robinson Family - 19/02/2019 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

Arrived late on a Friday night / Saturday morning but had already booked-in in advance - not that it mattered! Nowhere to park and staff said I wasn’t allowed to park there. I said if I couldn’t park my vehicle there was no way I could stay at the hotel - staff shrugged shoulders.

I would never chose this hotel again or recommend it to anyone

Catatan Tripadvisor 1.0/5

marianadudu Friends getaway - 07/06/2018 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

The entrance concept was very good but not functional , the receptionist was not speaking English at all and it was very rude, the site mentions free shuttle to the airport but it is actually not. The rooms very not very clean either.

Good for overnight stay

Catatan Tripadvisor 4.0/5

mildinterest Solo travel - 24/02/2018 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

standard acommodation for one night between flights, shuttle bus to&from hotel , easy access to airport, staff was helpful, breakfast is offered but only took coffee from machine. All well, room price a little bit high but considering the location and other prices around...

Okay for quick stopover

Catatan Tripadvisor 3.0/5

Allan C Couples - 15/11/2017 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

You get what you pay for and this is a budget hotel The communal areas were slightly worn And in the bedroom the shower door did not shut properly and my wife missed having a hairdryer The breakfast was okay but not the most pleasant way to start my he day I do not think we will return to a Ibis budget and will in future use a more upmarket version of Accor hotels range

Catatan Tripadvisor 3.0/5

Michael J Solo travel - 19/10/2015 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

I usually choose an Accor hotel because they have a minimum standard, but this was disappointing. It was tired! The service was good but the room and facilities are very tired and only a couple of notches above an F1

It does what it says on the tin ....

Catatan Tripadvisor 4.0/5

alexandramachray Business - 18/10/2015 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

This was a perfectly appropriate hotel for what I needed. The staff were very courteous. Not a place for a romantic week-end. I will use it again when I am there on business. Very clean and everything you could need if travelling on business.

Catatan Tripadvisor 1.0/5

GRACCHUS_1980 Business - 20/03/2015 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

Live spider inside room. Parking overcrowded with large utility vans. At nighttime, between 20:00 and 03:00, hard to find some sleep as arabs are speaking very loudly inside halls and lobbies, banging doors etc... Enjoy your stay ...

Orly-Rungis Ibis Budget Hotel

Catatan Tripadvisor 4.0/5

TornadoVictor Friends getaway - 11/07/2013 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

Good value for money at 90 euros for two people for two nights. Big problem on departure at 0630 in the morning as my car had been blocked in the car park by someone arriving late the night before. The hotel security guy tried to help but, with no receptionist & no record of who owned which car, it was down to us to resolve the problem. This took half an hour & would have been a serious problem if we had been catching a plane at the airport.

My thoughts on Ibis Budget Hotel at Rungis

Catatan Tripadvisor 3.0/5

silversurfer393 Family - 04/07/2013 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

We wanted literally a bed for the night with en-suite. Our room was nice and clean and the bed was comfortable. Checking in was automatic and easy and checking out was the same. We had a good nights sleep. Our problem was getting to and from Orly Airport, did not realise that the shuttle bus for Ibis did not allow Ibis Budget patrons on board, we only found this out after alighting. Once the driver found out we were for the Budget his attitude to us was not very helpful and quite rude. It was the same next morning when all we wanted to do is ask at the normal Ibis Reception if we could buy a ticket for the shuttle bus, that driver told me I was not allowed into the Ibis Reception because I was not staying there, it is for patrons only. When he disappeared I did enquire at the reception but found that it would have cost 10 euros each, so we did not bother. Apparently to get back to Orly Airport would be 2 normal buses but it all seemed a bit complicated so we gave up and walked there, (took about an hour and a half). So, to sum up clean and comfortable but a bit of a place to get from and to, with very unhelpful shuttle bus drivers.

Rungis 15-16/6

Catatan Tripadvisor 4.0/5

kenede1 Friends getaway - 20/06/2013 Ulasan TripAdvisor tersertifikasi

A pleasant stay with simple but adequate breakfast. Despite being full the hotel did not seem busy and car park had adequate spaces. It is pity that a guest found it necessary to smoke in their room and set off the fire alarm at 5.00 am. Could not get back to sleep after that!

Ulasan 20 terbaru kami

Dalam Kemitraan dengan TripAdvisor

Hotel terdekat kami yang lain

Semua hotel kami di rungis


text:
Do Belgian Malinois Like To Cuddle? (Solved!)

Belgian Malinois are a popular breed when it comes to military, police, and other canine squads.

However, they are now becoming quite popular as pets as well.

Before you head up to Belgian Malinois, it is a good idea to know everything there is to know about them.

One of the primary questions which you will come across is:

Do Belgian Malinois like to cuddle?

By knowing the answer to the single question, you can understand their behavior in a much better way.

Today, I will answer this in greater detail and the other associate traits of Belgian Malinois.

Do Belgian Malinois Like To Cuddle?

Belgian Malinois are not cuddly by nature. However, that is true for untrained dogs. When you train Belgian Malinois, you can train them to be much more social as well.

That is because they are great around people once they are trained.

This brings us to the 2nd question; do you need to cuddle with your Belgian Malinois when you have one?

I will answer that below.

Do You Need To Cuddle With Your Belgian Malinois?

Trained Belgian Malinois are loyal and friendly. If you want to make them flourish, they do need a regular dose of cuddling.

You need to spend more time with them.

Only then will they become fond of you and enjoy your companionship as well.

So yes, you need to cuddle with your Belgian Malinois from time to time.

Can Children Cuddle With Belgian Malinois?

Belgian Malinois are generally good with children. Children can undoubtedly cuddle with them but under the supervision of an adult.

As a general rule of thumb, it does not make sense to leave children alone with any dog breed.

Before you make your kids cuddle with the Belgian Malinois, it is essential to know about the other traits of Belgian Malinois as well. I will cover those below.

Once you know about the other traits, it will become easier to know the true answer to this question.

Are Belgian Malinois Clingy?

You, as well as I, know that Belgian Malinois are loyal and devoted to their owners as well as to their family.

These traits come along with some obsession as well. Some might term this obsession as being clingy.

Once you get the Belgian Malinois and it become accustomed to you, you will not be able to go to the bathroom alone ever again.

You cannot shut them out as well.

If you try to shut them out, they can become aggressive and destroy the furniture or even the tool that keeps them away from you.

Thus, Belgian Malinois can turn clingy when they are kept away from their owners and their family.

Why Do Trained Belgian Malinois Need Cuddling?

Once Belgian Malinois become accustomed to your family, they will be protective of them and jealous.

If you do not give them enough time, they are sure to get aggressive, angry, and maybe upset as well. It is not that easy to comfort Belgian Malinois.

To avoid this situation, a much better idea is to cuddle them from time to time.

Cuddling them will give them a sense of security. Not only that, since they are people-centric, cuddling them will comfort them as well.

Also, cuddling them will help them form a stronger bond with you. It will ensure that they are more loyal and protective of you.

In a nutshell, even if you have little time to spend with Belgian Malinois, simply cuddling them from time to time will solve a lot of your problems.

It is also one of the main reasons why trained Belgian Malinois like cuddling.

Are Belgian Malinois Affectionate?

Trained Belgian Malinois are not only good at cuddling but are pretty affectionate as well.

You might have seen Belgian Malinois to be aggressive with strangers as well as others.

Once they know you, they will be immensely protective of your family and affectionate as well.

They build a bond with their owners as well as their family.

That is why they might be highly aggressive with others, but once you familiarize themselves with your family, they are affectionate and loving.

As they spend more and more time with your family and yourself, they will need more cuddling as well.

In turn, they will become immensely protective of you as well as your family members.

How To Comfort A Clingy Belgian Malinois?

While occasional cuddling is pretty good but when your Belgian Malinois becomes clingy, it can become challenging to comfort him/her.

However, instead of getting frustrated with a clingy Belgian Malinois, it is a good idea to know how to comfort him/her.

Only when you follow the tips which I will highlight below can you calm down a clingy Belgian Malinois.

1. Let him/her spend time in your lap

Belgian Malinois will often come in your lap when sitting at your home. Rather than moving them away, it is an excellent idea to let them spend as much time as they want in your lap.

Once you allow them to do so, the cuddling will certainly calm down.

When you let them spend time in your lap, they will become less clingy as well.

It will become easier to just go about your work for the rest of the day rather than spend a lot of time with your Belgian Malinois.

2. Let them be your shadow

Do not want to sit in a single place?

If so, Belgian Malinois will find it challenging to spend time with you. However, even in that case, you can comfort your Belgian Malinois.

Sooner than later, your Belgian Malinois will start shadowing you around.

Whether you’re in the kitchen, bathroom, or in the garden, the Belgian Malinois will move around you.

Many pet owners find this irritating at the start. However, you shouldn’t make this mistake.

You have to let Belgian Malinois follow you around wherever you go. When you allow them to do so, they will become less clingy.

Moreover, you will be able to focus on your work rather than spend more and more time with your Belgian Malinois without doing any other work.

3. Cuddle as much as they want

If you resist their cuddling, they will become more and more clingy. Soon enough, they will obstruct every one of your work and make you cuddle them.

It is a much better idea to let them cuddle as much as they want.

When your Belgian Malinois knows that you won’t resist cuddling, they will automatically give you some space.

You will not have to do anything to follow your schedule or to do any work.

By allowing them to cuddle, you can comfort them as well. During the initial few days, cuddling might take the bulk of your time, but soon enough, you will get more and more freedom from them.

Thus, this is a natural approach to comfort them when they want to cuddle with you or become clingy with you.

4. Give them a personal space

Even after your best intentions, it can become difficult for you to spend time with your Belgian Malinois.

What should you do then?

A much better approach is to provide them with personal space. You can provide them their favorite toys, dog bed, and so on.

Once you provide them with all this, they will undoubtedly feel much more secure and comfortable in that part of your home.

Soon enough, they will become accustomed to their personal space. When that happens, comforting them will certainly become easier for you.

5. Ask your family member to take your place

Sooner than later, Belgian Malinois will become accustomed to your family members.

Even if you’re not able to devote time to your dog, your family member can certainly take your place.

They can cuddle them as well as allow them to be clingy as well. In that case, you will not have to worry about taking out time or comforting your dog.

It is one of the easiest ways to take care of your Belgian Malinois.

6. Help them exercise

Often, the clingy nature of your Belgian Malinois might indicate that they want you to take them out.

Belgian Malinois have a lot of energy. They need to expend that energy. When they are not able to do so, they can certainly become clingy.

Once you help them expend their energy, they will mostly remain calm throughout the day.

In that case, they will not become clingy and will be comfortable as well.

With the help of these six tips, it will become easier for you to comfort your Belgian Malinois when he/she gets clingy.

You can experience not only the loyalty, love, and affection of your Belgian Malinois but also get your work done once you follow these six tips above.

Thus, yes, Belgian Malinois likes to cuddle once they are trained. However, many times it may so happen that Belgian Malinois might require excessive cuddling as well.

My guide above will not only help you comfort your Belgian Malinois but also follow your schedule.

All About Sheepdogs


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Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Maybe Inglourious Basterds is a good movie. Maybe it is not. In any case I have hardly seen any other movie being misspelled so often. That’s at least one achievement. “And the Oscar for most misspelled movie goes to…. “.

Inglourious Basterds is in many ways a typical Tarantino. If you don’t like Tarantino, you will probably not like this. It has graphic elements and there are a few moments of shooting gone wild like in any Tarantino. The score is also very Tarantino, although toned down.

The main story of Inglourious Basterds is a retelling of the end of WWII. It’s purely fictionalized and far from historically accurate.

We have different story lines that are all interwoven.

The Basterds are a group of American soldiers led by Lt Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), many of them of Jewish or German origin. They are dropped in Nazi-occupied France to hunt and kill Germans. They either club them to death or take their scalps. Brad Pitt is extremely good in the role of Tennessee-born tough-guy Raine who shows no mercy when it comes to Nazis.

Another story line starts with “the Jew hunter” Col Landa (Christoph Waltz) whom we meet when he is exterminating a family of Jews. One of the daughters, Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) manages to escape. Landa is maybe one of the most annoying film characters ever.

The different story lines come together when Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), a German war hero, meets Shosanna aka Emanuelle in Paris where she meanwhile owns a cinema. He plays himself in a movie about his exploits that has been  financed by Goebbels. He tries to convince Shosanna to have the opening in her cinema. It will be an event that the whole of the German high command, including Hitler, will attend.

Many people hear of this event, among them the Basterds. This unique opportunity to have the most important Germans together in one location for an evening gives more than just one group ideas.

At the end all the different storylines come together for an ultimate typically Tarantino finale.

As far as war movies go, this was quite entertaining but not exactly my thing. As far as Tarantino movies go, it could be one of his best. I did like a few elements but was surprised that there are so many scenes that come across like theater scenes and found them actually very boring. Despite the boring elements, it offers strong pictures, some really good ideas and the genre blend is interesting. It is not a movie I liked but I would highly recommend it as it is an original addition to the genre. Tarantino fans will watch it anyway, I guess. There is one thing I really enjoyed and that is how accents were handled. One of the rare movies in which this was handled with perfection. Most of the German actors (they are all internationally acclaimed), are either bilingual or very strong in English which was an asset.


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The line of NFPA pneumatic and low pressure hydraulic tie-rod style cylinders manufactured by TRD Manufacturing, Inc. are recognized for their durability, high-quality construction and long-lasting performance. The company’s expertise in high precision machining makes them Industry leaders. At their Machesney Park facility, TRD manufactures several different types of NFPA-interchangeable cylinders, specialized cylinders and accessories.

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Paragon Drive Backup 8.5 is the best inexpensive drive-imaging and backup program we've seen.

While the thought of a session with a drive imaging program may not be the dreamiest of propositions, the potential alternative is positively nightmarish. So you'd be well advised to snap up a good imaging program and spend an afternoon ensuring that, regardless of what befalls your PC, at least you've got a reliable copy of your hard drive and can have your old system files up and running within minutes.

Paragon Drive Backup 8.5 is the best inexpensive drive-imaging and backup program we've seen, and Paragon Drive Backup 8.5 has just had a Vista-compatible version released.

Paragon Drive Backup 8.5 is simple to use, and we preferred it to Norton Save & Restore. It's so well designed that it poses serious competition to higher-end imaging apps such as Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image.

Paragon Drive Backup 8.5 can create full and incremental backup images, and back up from within Windows. Paragon Drive Backup 8.5 gives you the option of creating a small hidden partition (a ‘backup capsule') that you can back up to and restore from; all the application is missing is the ability to back up individual files and folders, a feature that Save & Restore and other top programs possess.

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Best Laser Metal Cleaner Reviews, Tips & Guides

How To Buy Best Laser Metal Cleaner

Do you get worried contemplating looking for an incredible laser metal cleaner? Would questions continue to crawl into your care? We comprehend, in light of the fact that we've effectively gone through the entire interaction of investigating laser metal cleaner, which is the reason we have gathered a far reaching rundown of the best laser metal cleaner accessible in the current market. We've likewise thought of a rundown of inquiries that you presumably have yourself.

We've done all that can be expected with our contemplations and proposals, however it's as yet vital that you do exhaustive exploration all alone for laser metal cleaner that you think about purchasing. Your inquiries may incorporate the accompanying:

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Potential sources can incorporate purchasing guides for laser metal cleaner, rating sites, verbal tributes, online discussions, and item audits. Intensive and careful examination is vital to ensuring you get your hands on the most ideal laser metal cleaner. Ensure that you are just utilizing dependable and valid sites and sources.

We give a laser metal cleaner purchasing guide, and the data is absolutely unbiased and bona fide. We utilize both AI and enormous information in editing the gathered data. How could we make this purchasing guide? We did it utilizing an exclusively made choice of calculations that allows us to show a best 10 rundown of the best accessible laser metal cleaner as of now accessible available.

This innovation we use to amass our rundown relies upon an assortment of components, including yet not restricted to the accompanying:

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We generally recall that keeping up laser metal cleaner data to remain current is a main concern, which is the reason we are continually refreshing our sites. Study us utilizing on the web sources.

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Last Updated: 2021-09-20 by Lorna Kozey


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Mompha’s Lebanese Associate Arraigned For $7.06m Fraud

Hamza Koudeih

Mompha and Hamza Koudeih

On Thursday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned the duo of Kayode Philip, alias Voice of the King, and Hamza Koudeih, a Lebanese, for allegedly engaging in cyber fraud and laundering the sums of $7.06m, £1m and €80,000.

Koudeih is said to be an associate of internet celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha, alias Mompha, who was on Monday arraigned for alleged N32.9bn fraud.

Philip and Koudeih, who were arraigned on 25 counts before the Federal High Court in Lagos, were also accused of attempting to retain the sums of $6m and £1m in the Bank of China.

The EFCC said they also “knowingly engaged in computer phishing and spamming which resulted in acquiring sensitive information” from various emails.

The prosecution said they were found in possession of electronic spamming tools such as MailListFetcher.exe;Tunnelier.exe; spamassassin.exe; Fast Email Extractor.exe; and AtomicMailSender.exe.

It said Philip also had illegal possession of various credit cards issued by JP Morgan Chase; Chase Bank of the United States of America; American Express; and Wells Fargo.

Philip, according to the EFCC, also procured Dakota Entertainment Limited and Influx Computer and Hardware Limited, for N11m and N19.25m, respectively.

The EFCC said the funds were proceeds of fraud.

The anti-graft agency said Koudeih and Philip acted contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2015; as well as Section 27(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015.

When the charges were read to them, they both pleaded not guilty.

The prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Muhammed Abbas, prayed the court to fix a date for trial and to remand the defendants in the prison custody pending trial.

The defence counsel, Oluwadare Falana and Abdulamid Mohammed, told the court that they filed bail applications for their clients.

Justice Muslim Hassan adjourned till December 5 to take the bail applications.

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How aviation comes out of the crisis – economy

The head of the Eurowings airline, Jens Bischof, recently spread a noticeably good mood. Much of the fleet is back in the air, business travelers are slowly coming back after the summer vacation, and sometime next year the airline will be using as many aircraft again as it was before the Corona crisis. It will be much more competitive and significantly expand its market share, he promised.

Finding a connection between Eurowings and competitiveness has been practically impossible since the Lufthansa subsidiary was founded, but that’s another story. The bigger question hidden behind Bischof’s prognoses is whether aviation has already had most of its work on the way out of the crisis, or whether it will suffer massively for a long time to come. So far, it has to be said that the sector will feel the economic consequences of the pandemic for a very, very long time.

The comparatively good news has simple reasons: There are now fewer pandemic-related travel restrictions within Europe. The summer business has therefore gone very well for airlines such as Eurowings which serve many holiday destinations on short and medium-haul routes. Many of them really wanted to travel again and, because they could save in the lockdowns, had the money to do so.

However, the traffic flows are regionally limited and the development is not running parallel everywhere: The USA has made an astonishingly quick comeback, but the airlines are now increasingly canceling flights again. The many people who refuse to vaccinate are also ensuring that the crisis is prolonged in the travel industry. Europe initially experienced a slower recovery, but this now appears to be continuing. In Asia, once the engine of world air traffic, little or nothing is happening. The demand and the restrictions correlate with the low vaccination rate. Exceptions like the strong domestic business in China confirm the rule.

Europeans still need special permits for flights to the USA

On long-haul routes, the airlines continue to fly only a fraction of their previous program. The economic damage to companies like Lufthansa, which earn the most money in intercontinental traffic, can hardly be measured. So it’s understandable that the industry is pushing for other, more sensible travel rules than those that currently apply. In many countries, people who have been vaccinated are getting more and more rights back in everyday life. However, this does not seem to apply to air travel: Europeans still need special permits for flights to the USA, and most recently the EU has proposed that member states only allow Americans to enter the country for important reasons. After all, the restrictions on trips to Europe should not apply to vaccinated people.

But that should generally be the way to go. Anyone who has been vaccinated or recovered must, in principle, be allowed to travel. Even in the early phase of the pandemic, when there were no vaccines, only a few were infected with the coronavirus during a flight or at the airport. Because there are efficient air filters and strict rules on board. Now that two thirds of adults in Europe are vaccinated, blanket travel bans are even less useful than they were a year ago.

In the longer term, however, there is also the question of whether air traffic should return to its old shape and size at all. From a climate protection perspective, the answer is clear: no way. The sector is facing a transformation that is just beginning, and it depends on the success of synthetic fuels, which could drastically reduce the negative environmental impacts of aviation.

What is clear is that part of the old business is lost. Some, even if by far not all business trips, are no longer necessary in times of video conferences, and some short trips to the beach can no longer be justified. If the airlines don’t lapse into old behavior patterns and still offer more seats, some things can be regulated through the higher price. It would be economically in their own interest and environmentally desirable anyway.

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How to use a steam cleaner

Steam cleaners are handy appliances for hygienic and chemical-free cleaning throughout your home. But how do you get the most out of them, and which attachments are best for specific surfaces?

In this guide, we’ll show you how to best use your steam cleaner and all of its attachments, to achieve streak-free cleaning on all types of surface. Don’t forget to check out our guide to the best steam cleaners to help you find the perfect model.

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Workshops, Colors and Brushes

painting workshopAs a self thought artist, I’ve never received any guidance regarding the way in which I paint, my techniques or my choices when it comes to sending a message out there, through my work.

I believe that in order to evolve and further improve, we need to interact with others with the same passions as ours, exchange ideas and receive advice from those who have much more experience than we do. In the end, we only learn by being motivated to become better, and there’s no better motivation than seeing that you can do much better.

For the first time ever, I’ve decided to attend a workshop, and meet other talented artists from my area. What I was mostly interested in, was to see how others paint and find out more about what inspires them. Also, receiving a few tips and tricks was more than welcomed.

For a challenge, at my first workshop I picked as a theme water reflection, only to play with light, distance and reflection. As water is always a challenge for me, it was a very good opportunity to get better at it, in a very motivating, creative and inspiring environment.

I must say, I learned so much about the message I send through a simple shade of blue, that I couldn’t be happier. Amazing how such a small difference in paint shade, brush and painting technique, can place an object far far away or very close to you.

Here’s the final result:

mountain lake reflection

Even if not perfect, progress is being made. Challenging ourselves is the best thing we can do. The results might not always be the ones we want and envision, but they always put us one step forward in our journey to becoming who we want to be.

Even if, while creating art, we reach a point when we’re asking ourselves if what we’re doing is ever going to make us better, that’s the moment when we have to keep moving forward and practice until we get the desired results. For a person who a year ago couldn’t paint water at all, I think that stubborn attitude got me pretty far 🙂

If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you.

If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you

Contact me to buy an original painting or a very high quality reproduction on canvas

If you enjoyed this post, you should Follow Me On Twitter twitter-follow-button and Like My Page on Facebook Like_Me_Facebook_buttonfor more updates.

23 thoughts on “Workshops, Colors and Brushes

    • Thank you so much for the nomination, Mihaela! I feel honored you thought about me 🙂 I especially loved your beautiful pictures. You are very talented! Have a lovely day!

  1. Lucy, this has come straight from your heart. Yes art is such a special bonding and it comes with deep passion and deeper involvement…painting is such beautiful engagement of life, unless we do it we will not appreciate it. So much of little things that needs to be taken care while using the colors and the brushes, and projecting the imagination onto the canvas, that needs practice, experiences and more exposure to get the best out us.

    Unlike the other art forms, painting needs lot of patience, days, months to get the idea onto the canvas and one needs exploring the world of imagination and inspiration comes from nature and world around us…being part of such creative workshops makes us assess ourselves better what we are good at and where we need to be good at if we want to pursue it as our passion to perfection.

    By the way here is coincidence and I just wrote as post on ” artist and painting”, and I can relate every bit of your narration and the beautiful painting of reflection…looking forward to your as usual insightful reflection…

    “If I was an artist…ART begins with inquiry”

    take care!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you for your amazing feedback, my friend! Indeed, such a workshop creates a special bond with yourself first of all, and then with other artists. I found out so much about what I can do, in the past few weeks. We engage in such a unique way with your creations, I find it simply fascinating! 🙂

      I just read your post and I love it! Sorry you couldn’t become a painter or singer, but your writings compensate for all of that!

      By the way, I love what you did with your blog! Do you still have it hosted on WordPress?

      Take care and have an amazing day, full of creativity! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      • Yes, I have been into programs on creative writing and creativity, yes you meet so many different personalities and so much spread on the spectrum of creativity, yes we are able to spot our strength and work on our weakness…
        Lucy, we need to keep going to such workshops and such different programs to keep us going on the path towards further exploration and expanding our horizon and appreciation of art.

        Though I have the wordpress blog but I have moved onto the self-hosted one and you have the range of functionality to play around here and yes along with creativity, it is the technology that enables us to maneuver a little better with our ideas and presentation.
        Nevertheless, I love your painting and it keeps me hooked and I keep learning the tricks and I do appreciate your passion, art is not always about creation but about appreciation.
        You too take care and have a lovely week ahead.

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Sweet Potato Casserole

Let’s talk Thanksgiving sides, shall we?  I like to keep my sides traditional (with the occasional slight update) for the Thanksgiving meal because there is something nostalgic about well loved dishes that bring back memories of time with family and friends.  However, I’ve always felt like that old fashioned marshmallow topped sweet potato casserole needed an overhaul.  Insipidly sweet and corn syrup laden, the marshmallows almost mask the earthy and wonderful taste of the sweet potato.  I think the sugar needs to be dialed back just a few notches!

  A few years ago, while I was pregnant with my first child, my mother-in-law introduced me to a new-to-me version of sweet potato casserole and I think I ate almost half of it!  It’s now a staple on my Thanksgiving table and I hoard the leftovers for myself.  I’ve reduced the sugar in the original recipe even more over the years and I love the balance of earthy sweet potato with the nut and brown sugar topping.   Pretty sure you should save those marshmallows for hot chocolate.

   Begin by baking 4-5 large sweet potatoes until soft.  You will need about 3 total cups of mashed sweet potatoes.  Allow the potatoes to cool slightly.

   Meanwhile assemble the crumb topping by mixing chopped pecans, flour, brown sugar and butter.  Set aside.

  Mix the cooled sweet potatoes with eggs, vanilla, milk, butter and salt.  Whip until light and fluffy and pour into a greased casserole dish.  Top with the crumble and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

4-5 large sweet potatoes

2 tbsp white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c milk

1/3 c melted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 c brown sugar

1/3 cup flour (I used gluten free)

1 c chopped pecans

4 tbsp solid butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake potatoes for 1 hour or until soft.  Cut open the tops and allow to cool.  Meanwhile, mix brown sugar, flour, pecans and solid butter until crumbly.  Set aside.  Place potatoes, white sugar, eggs, vanilla, melted butter and salt in a mixing bowl and mix until combined.   Increase mixing speed and whip until light and fluffy.  Pour into a greased baking dish and top with the crumb topping.  Bake for 45 min until topping is browned.

Fall Cornbread Panzanella Salad

I’m hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year, and I don’t know about you, but I think it’s fun to add a more unique side to the mix of traditional fare usually served at a Thanksgiving feast.  I threw together this salad recently and all I could think while I was eating it is that it pretty much embodies “fall in a bowl.”  The jewel toned colors of the vegetables served warm over a bed of spinach and hearty cornbread is somehow both healthy and comforting at the same time.  I think it would be the perfect addition to your holiday table and could even serve as a stuffing substitute for the more health conscious diner.  Here’s to adding a little variety at your Thanksgiving table this year!

This salad has three components that need to be made before assembling the salad.  Start by making a simple cornbread.  I’ve included a gluten free version in this recipe, but you could certainly make a regular version if you aren’t sensitive to gluten.   Let the cornbread cool and then cube it and toss it with a few tablespoons of oil.   Toast it in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or so.

The second component is a mixture of root vegetables, red onions and brussels sprouts that are roasted until caramelized.  Meanwhile, mix the ingredients for the salad’s  vinaigrette.

Once you have all the components, simply toss everything together with some gorgonzola cheese, sugared pecans and fresh spinach and drizzle with the vinaigrette.

Fall Cornbread Panzanella Salad (adapted from Naturally Ella)

1 1/4 c flour

3/4 c cornmeal

1/4 c sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c buttermilk

1/4 c melted butter

1 egg

1 sweet potato

1 1/2 cups quartered brussels sprouts

1/2 medium red onion, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 cup sugared pecans chopped
1 oz gorgonzola cheese
3 cups fresh spinach
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste
  Preheat oven to 350˚. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, butter and buttermilk. Pour into dry ingredients and stir until batter is just combined. Pour into a greased 9″ square pan and bake until golden, about 20 min.  Allow to cool.  Cut cornbread into ½” cubes.  Toss with 2 tbsp oil and place on a cookie sheet. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and toast the cornbread for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through.
  To roast vegetables, peel and cut sweet potatoes into ½” cubes. Toss with quartered brussels sprouts, onion, 1 tbsp oil, salt, and pepper. Place in the oven and roast until vegetables are tender and caramelized, about 30 minutes, tossing halfway through.
  Meanwhile, combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and maple syrup in a dressing carafe. Shake well until vinaigrette is combined.
  Toss roasted vegetables, toasted cornbread, spinach, pecans and gorgonzola cheese in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing on top and toss to coat.