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Aminah & Yusef

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We love the story of Aminah and Yusef, and their journey of planning their wedding because it’s proof that some people are fated to be, but also because it shows some of the specific cultural issues that Muslim brides/couples have to face when planning their weddings. It made us laugh, it made us nod our head in agreement, but mostly, it showed us that when two people who are true friends are supported by family who love them, a truly beautiful celebration of their love will take place. This one is definitely worth reading till the end…

How did you meet The story of how we met is actually very serendipitous. My mom wrote an exaggerated (but very accurate!) version on our wedding website that I’m including below:

“It was a cool crisp afternoon in Chicago in October of 2013. Aminah Sallam, a focused freshman pre-med at the University of Chicago had been up for hours studying for her mid-terms exams. Her friends persuaded her to take a break and go with them downtown to have lunch. While at the restaurant, a sense of sickness unexpectedly overcame Aminah and she excused herself to get some fresh air outside. Aminah had never felt like that before and decided it would probably be best to get some rest at home. She excused herself from the group and walked toward the bus stop…

Yusef Al-Jarani was a Junior at the University of Chicago, studying political Science with dreams of becoming a Lawyer. He was a go getter — always studying just like Aminah, but had decided that day to also take a break and go to visit a friend who lived downtown. After his visit, he decided to take the bus back home and started walking toward the very same bus stop where Aminah was waiting. When Yusef got to the stop, he noticed that Aminah appeared to be in some distress as she was rummaging through her backpack looking for something. He introduced himself and asked if she needed some help. Aminah explained that she somehow had misplaced her bus ticket and needed to get home because she was not feeling very well. The chivalrous and good-natured Yusef offered to help and they boarded the bus together.

After a few minutes, the bus made it to Aminah’s stop, and, to her surprise, Yusef also got off the bus. They realized that they lived in the same dorm at the University but had never met each other up until that day. In an even stranger twist of fate, they later found out that they lived on the same floor and only a few doors down the hall from each other!

As they say, the rest is history..”

Tell us about the proposal The proposal was actually pretty anticlimactic/uneventful. From the moment we met we knew were meant to be together—for the both of us it was a very strong feeling and it felt very obvious that the universe had pushed us to meet for a reason. We both told our parents immediately and at first mine especially were skeptical. After a year of getting to know each other, my parents invited Yusef to meet them at our home in New York City. Their first meeting was hilarious (Yusef was worried that asking to leave would be rude and my parents were worried that telling him to leave would be rude so he stayed eating dinner, drinking tea and talking with my family until 2 am at which point my sister was like “CAN THIS BE OVER PLEASE?”) but my parents fell in love with Yusef after that. Later, they met his parents in Chicago before we were to start my second year of undergrad and his final year of undergrad. The families got along, so on a conference call between my father, his father, he and I (yes-a conference call) we all agreed we would get engaged (LOL). We ended up having a beautiful engagement ceremony at Casa La Femme  where we were formally engaged (he gave me my engagement ring then and of course I burst into tears IMMEDIATELY) and had an amazing party with close friends and family.

How was the wedding planning process The wedding planning process was absolutely INSANE. Not only were Yusef and I living in separate states, we were both living in a separate state from where we were planning to have the wedding (I was at school in Chicago, he at school in New Haven, and the wedding was held in Houston). To make things worse, I was interviewing for medical schools which, in the US, is an extremely intense and time consuming process—any time I received an interview I had to drop everything and fly to the school (I ended up going on over 30 total flights—including round trips/stop overs/visits to Houston to visit family—during that time!). God bless my mother—she orchestrated most of the wedding and is the MOST detail oriented person you will ever meet. On top of her work (she’s Co-Director of the Cancer Prevention and Population Science program at Baylor College of Medicine) she handled most of the day to day of wedding planning.

Most of our planning was done over a 2 week period during which our winter break overlapped. We went to about 4 appointments with different vendors a day! It was insane—we were driving all over Houston trying to find vendors and make fast decisions! Thankfully we were able to do much of the heavy lifting during that period so for the remaining 6 months leading up to the wedding we just had to deal with all the small details that go into wedding planning.

How did you decide on a wedding venue and what inspired your wedding style Both were really dictated by my dress, which is the first thing I bought for the wedding. The second I tried the dress on (it was only the third or fourth dress I tried) I knew it was the ONE. After that, I became obsessed with creating a wedding that matched the dress seamlessly. One thing I was certain about with my venue was that I did NOT want to get married in a hotel. Since the dress has more of a princess/French vibe, when I saw Chateau CocoMar, I knew it was the perfect place to have the wedding—it was the perfect castle to match my dress! The décor followed in a similar way—the dress had layers of pink and purple in the skirt so depending on the light it would look more pink or more nude or more white. The décor had to pick up on those colors, so we went with whites, light pinks, purples, peaches. To match the venue, we also went with a lot of rose golds. The vibe of the wedding ended up being very French garden.

Where did you find your dress? Were there any struggles? What values motivated your look? All things considered, finding my dress was actually a very easy process. I began (and ended) my search at Kleinfeld Bridal in NYC. Because I wear the hijab, and we were having a mixed wedding, I knew up front that I would need a long sleeve, modest dress. Of course, when I said this to the sales clerks, they started bringing me these horrifying, baggy, unflattering lace dresses that looked like they were meant for a much older bride. At one point, after sifting through the selection they prepared for me, I had to ask: “You guys know I’m 22 right?” Because it felt like all the dresses were for someone much older than me! They initially were like, “Sorry honey, but this is modest,” but I refused to accept that! I had seen a couple of Hayley Paige gowns online that I knew were long sleeve so I made them bring those to me. The first, I didn’t like, but the second was actually the gown she wore to her own wedding, the ‘Hayley’, and the minute I tried it on I knew it was the one. Everyone in the store lost their minds when they saw me in it. People kept leaving their own appointments to look at me and compliment the dress. The only problem with the dress was that it was mostly see through, so I ended up going back to Kleinfeld multiple times in the following year to figure out a way to line the dress without ruining the overall look. Thankfully, they were able to add additional appliques to cover the plunging bodice and line the dress with a very light, nude fabric so it wasn’t obvious that it was lined, but it was obvious enough that I was still covered.

Any family or religious traditions incorporated into your wedding Planning the wedding was difficult from this respect because I am Egyptian, my husband is Libyan, and we are both born and raised in America. So there were so many different facets of our culture and religion that we wanted to incorporate. We ended up having a mixed henna party before the wedding where we did much of the cultural traditions (not pictured or described but that was a whole other thing to plan). For the wedding, we went with a more Western vibe. Unlike most Muslim weddings, we chose to have our religious ceremony outside a mosque in front of all our friends and family. It was extremely difficult to find a Sheikh able to perform a nice ceremony that was very progressive (many, unfortunately give very sexist, dry and boring speeches), but fortunately one of my dad’s close friends, Sheikh Shaker El-Sayyed, was willing to fly out from Virginia to perform the ceremony! The ceremony structure was the first of its kind in our community—I walked down the aisle, we had a reading of the Quran to open things up, the Sheikh gave a sweet and funny speech about marriage, we did the formal contract signing with our fathers in front of everyone, and then Yusef and I read our own, personal vows before exchanging rings. It was kind of a fusion of Islamic and Western traditions. For the reception, we had a traditional arab Zaffe entrance, and danced a lot of Dabke, but my sister also played a piece on the piano, my mom read a beautiful poem that she wrote in Arabic, and Yusef performed a rap for everyone! It was truly a fusion ceremony from all respects.

What does marriage mean to you both For both of us, marriage is a very religious concept—it is a union made before God—and as such I think we both had this very strong feeling that after getting married it was our job to help each other be the best Muslims we can. That means praying together every day, reading more Quran and just learning together how to best practice our religion and positively affect those around us.

More than that, I think the most significant part of marriage for us is having an equal partner to go through life with. We both have very competitive ambitions, and knowing that we both have a partner to lean on in the good times and bad, and that we both have someone to help us reach and celebrate our goals (and commiserate with us in our failures) is the greatest perk of marriage. I think it’s so hard to stay on a straight path when it comes to pursuing a career and having a family, but having met so young meant Yusef and I both knew each others’ true hopes and dreams (that’s what made us fall in love in the first place) up front, and we both are sticking around to make sure we both achieve those dreams.

What was a particularly memorable moment of the day The entire day was so magical!! From beginning to end it was beautiful and unfortunately it flew by so quickly. Some memorable moments include our first look—I was a little nervous leading up to it but the moment I saw him for the first time that day I felt so calm and at peace. Of course I started crying, but what got me was that he teared up a little! I had joked with him, asking him to PLEASE cry with me (he is not a big crier) because it would make great pictures (lol) and he kept saying it wasn’t going to happen so the fact that it did was such a happy surprise for both of us—it just showed how moved we both were by everything happening.

A less emotional (and more funny) moment occurred during the ceremony. I had a very long train and cathedral veil to match. When I went to sign the marriage contract I felt a lot of tugging on my head and frantic whispers behind me but thought nothing of it. It wasn’t until I got back to my bridal suite that I realized my veil caught on fire from the candles sitting by the altar, and my bridesmaids were trying to move it to keep it from burning! It ended up having a huge hole burned through it but we all just laughed at how crazy the whole thing was.

Overall Our wedding was truly special because of all the love from our families that went into planning it. We had friends fly in from all over the country to attend, and family fly in from all over the world, and that is really what made the day so special—having all the people we love in the same place for what will be the only time in our lives. My only gripe is that the day went by too quickly—I wish it could have lasted longer.

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Republic of Pie, Brick Yard Pub, Cahuenga General Store and More from NoHo

The NoHo Arts District has been booming with new businesses as of late, and ever since the Laemmle NoHo 7 theatres opened at Lankershim and Magnolia Boulevards, the area continues to stake its claim as the Valley’s burgeoning hot-spot.

Here are a few places (old and new) I’ve added to my list of favorites, as profiled for my column About Town on North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch.

Republic of Pie in North Hollywood
The NoHo Arts District’s new Republic of Pie serves up sweet & savory pies with Handsome coffee. Photo originally appeared on North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch.

Republic of Pie: The Hot New Slice in Town. If Four ‘N 20 had a hipper, younger sibling, this place is it.  It’s got a San Francisco-meets-Silver Lake feel and their Handsome coffee easily knocks Starbucks off the block.  From NoHo Patch:

Republic of Pie reflects (owner and chef Jon) Stocking’s personal and business philosophy — It’s evident in the space that he believes in creating a sense of community and maintaining a commitment to the planet’s well-being. The chef-slash-businessman wants his restaurant to be all about serving its customers, whether its through exceeding their expectations with great service or feeding them quality food and coffee from local sources at a price better than those major coffee places. He adds that customers will be able text their order for pick-up, and that he’s petitioning the city to remove the parking meters in front of the shop to create a loading zone.

The Brick Yard Pub in North Hollywood
The Brick Yard Pub in North Hollywood serves over 70 different bottled beers. Photo originally appeared on North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch.

Billiards is Back at Brick Yard Pub. Taking over the beloved but run-down North Hollywood Billiards is the Brick Yard Pub. The new bar offers over 70 different bottled beers (unfortunately, none on tap…yet?) and features pool tables, darts, shuffle boards and “ball & cup” tables. From NoHo Patch:

It’s a beer connoisseur’s dream: I counted at least 80 different beers on the menu ranging from the usual lagers (think sports bar faves Bud, Miller, Corona, PBR) and the entire spectrum of ales (from Blue Moon, Fat Tire, Boddingtons, Chimay and everything in between) to ciders, IPAs, California craft, and my personal favorite, stouts and bocks.

After ordering a $5 pint of Magic Hat #9 to share, we wander behind a wood wall that separates the bar area from the pool room. In addition to the shuffleboards and dartboards in the front room, there are eight billiard tables and a couple of cups & balls tables (read: beer pong) in the back. One might miss the back room entirely if it weren’t for the neon “Pool Tables” signs at the rear doorways.

Though I’d never been to the space’s predecessor, North Hollywood Billiards, which had been at the location for 42 years, the bar’s feel appeared to be a far cry from the old pool hall. I never truly made time to visit the pool hall when I still lived in the Arts District, and part of me feels guilty that I didn’t give the old neighborhood hangout a chance. I’m one who can always find something to love underneath the dirt and grime of a place, but I couldn’t see past its seemingly-dingy charm and wary-looking patrons when I passed by on my evening dog walks.

Cahuenga General Store in North Hollywood
Cahuenga General Store sells cappuccinos, lattes, sandwiches and vintage-inspired knick-knacks in North Hollywood. Photo originally appeared on North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch.

Cahuenga General Store: From Prop House to Coffee House. Recently voted by local Patch readers as the area’s best coffee, CGS has been serving North Hollywood coffee, sandwiches and live music since 1996.  Tucked away on Cahuenga Boulvard by Chandler (just past the Iliad Bookstore), it might be considered a hidden gem by those how dismiss the industrial area.  From NoHo Patch:

To an undiscerning eye, Cahuenga General Store looks as if it’s been serving food and dry goods to North Hollywood’s residents since the turn of the 19th century.

Look up, and you’ll see collections of antique bistro chairs, blue enamel pots and mason jars hung on the ceiling. On the shelves, there are old-fashioned soaps, candles and paper ephemera. The floor is worn and creaky, as if it’s lived through generations of customers who traveled by horse & carriage, then by horseless carriage to get their goods.

When I visit for a cappuccino and breakfast one morning, I’m not surprised when Frank, the man behind the counter, tells me the store is the work of a Hollywood set decorator. In fact, Cahuenga General Store began as a movie props rental house, he says when I ask about all the old-timey décor.

Read more about these businesses on Patch:

Check out more of my recent About Town articles for North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch:

Related Posts:

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Day 31: In dubious battle

Salem to Mt. Vernon. 20.1 miles/465.9 total

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I walk out of the parking lot of the semi-abandoned strip mall at the south edge of Salem, headed for Mt. Vernon. Distance today is 20.1 miles, my first twenty mile day. When I first started thinking about walking, I figured twenty miles a day would be a good pace, not to mention that it makes it fairly easy to calculate miles per week in your head, and figure where you’re likely to be when. It’s a psychological mark more than anything, since it’s less than half a mile more than I walked on Sunday. It’s taken me thirty days of walking to get to this benchmark. The victory I will have achieved today is that I need no longer increase my distance, and I can begin to get comfortable with twenty miles. Yogi Berra said, “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.” The same can be said for walking.

It’s been raining steadily since before I awoke, and the forecast is for nonstop rain today and into the evening. I’m layered up under the poncho.

Before I leave Salem altogether, I should mention that, in addition to being the birthplace of William Jennings Bryan, Salem claims to be the birthplace of Miracle Whip salad dressing. The story is that it was invented here at Max Crosset’s Café, and the recipe was sold to Kraft for $300 in 1931. However, Kraft says it invented Miracle Whip in-house. In any event, it premiered at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

A couple of miles into the walk I pass something you rarely see any more. An actual working drive-in movie. It doesn’t seem to have a name, just a portable sign out front, but the movies are current—Zombieland is one of them--and the screen and grounds appear to be in good shape.

I tried hitchhiking again this morning, but after ten or fifteen minutes I had no luck so I went back to the motor home and took the car. The stars were not aligned right today, but I still hold out hope for hitchhiking.

The signs on Route 37 say that it is the Lincoln Heritage Trail. They have a picture of a beardless Lincoln. So I guess he must have traveled along here at some point.

At about six miles I reach the intersection of Route 37 and Route 161. There isn’t much to say about the spot, except that nine miles to the west, on 161, is the city of Centralia, which I visited yesterday on my off day. It sits in three different counties, and was named after the Illinois Central Railroad, because two of its branches intersect there. It's the home of the winningest high school basketball team in the nation.

In the other direction from Centralia, about 20 miles to the east, is Cisne, a little town I also visited yesterday, where my great grandfather, John Ray, was born. I found a few relatives in the local graveyard—probably a brother of my great grandfather, and maybe some cousins, I’m not sure. Then I went down to the library in Fairfield, the seat of Wayne County, and did a little genealogical research, without much success, while doing laundry at the local laudromat. Man, what a depressing place that laundromat was. This was the first time I've had to do laundry on the road, and I'm tempted to just buy new socks and underwear at Wal-Mart until I can go back home. It wasn't the process of doing the laundry, it was the environment. Hot and humid and full of people who have a sort of hard and beleaguered edge. The women looked old, but most of them were probably younger than me. Ordinarily walking around cemeteries cheers me up--next time I'll do the laundry first and then go to the graveyard.

And speaking of cemeteries, just past Zion Grove Cemetery I enter Jefferson County. No need to speculate about who this county was named after.

Halfway through the walk I enter the village of Dix, population 500. It was founded by two brothers from Rome, New York, in 1830, and was originally called Rome. Later, the name was changed because there was another town in Illinois called Rome. There is still a school in Dix called Rome Grade School. The story is that it was renamed after Union General John Adams Dix, who sent a telegram to his agents in New Orleans at the outbreak of the Civil War, stating, “If any man pulls down the American flag, shoot him on the spot.” The telegram was intercepted by Confederates and never got to New Orleans, but Dix became a hero when the story was published in northern newspapers.

For a long mile after I enter Dix, I think I might have gone out the other side. The farm houses are few and far between. Then I realize the center of town is yet to come. For a village with such a small population, Dix has quite a bit of land.

I am suddenly aware today that the vegetation is beginning to change to species more native to the south. There are quite a few sweet gum trees, with five-pointed star-shaped leaves, turning red and orange and looking a lot like maples. There are plenty of maples and oaks, too, as in Michigan, and some sycamores and various nut trees. But another southern tree I’m seeing today for the first time is the bald cypress, a coniferous tree that loses its needles in the fall. So I think I’m entering a different climate zone.

Dix has a tidy little downtown, with a post office and a funeral home. I stop in to an antique store that used to be a church, but don’t find anything.

Dix was pretty much it between Salem and Mt. Vernon. There’s nothing now until Mt. Vernon, in eight miles. Just me and the road and the dead animals and an increasing amount of truck traffic. There’s some serious construction on I-57 southbound around the Mt Vernon exit, and the trucks have gotten off at the Dix exit to take Route 37 through town.

I see a sign that reminds me that this part of Illinois is known as Little Egypt. The region south of Effingham, going down to Cairo, at the southern tip of Illinois, was settled by people from Kentucky, Missouri, and southern Indiana, and had strong ties to and sympathy with the south before and even during the Civil War. It was full of those Copperhead Democrats. There were even a few slave owners down here, despite the fact that slavery was illegal in Illinois. They had owned their slaves before they moved into this region or from before Illinois became a state, and were allowed to keep them.

There are several versions of where the name “Little Egypt” originated. Some say it was because the region was fertile where the Ohio River and Mississippi River come together, like the Nile delta, and because the town at that point is named Cairo.

At nineteen miles I enter Mt. Vernon, population 16,300. That’s huge for around here, even larger than Effingham. Like Effingham, it’s where two interstates intersect, so there’s lots of stuff going on out by the expressways. I won’t be walking in Mt. Vernon long today, but I’ll be going through the middle of downtown tomorrow, so I’ll be able to say more about it then. I know it’s the county seat of Jefferson County, and that it was founded in 1817 by a guy named Zadok Casey, and it was named for George Washington’s home in Virginia. For some time the Illinois Supreme Court sat in Mt. Vernon, and Lincoln and other lawyers argued cases here.

The First Baptist Church and the Wesley United Methodist Church, both large buildings with wide lawns, sit across the street from one another, ready to duke it out on Sunday morning for the souls of the Mt. Vernonites. Dunkers versus sprinklers. “In dubious battle on the plains of Heaven,” as Milton said.

Route 37 is called Salem Street in Mt. Vernon. As I roll in to my destination next to Casey’s General Store gas station, it occurs to me that this is not only the first day I’ve walked twenty miles, but the first time I’ve had the poncho on the entire day without a letup in the rain. My feet are wet, and my pants soaked up to the knees, but the rest of me is dry.

Billie Bob said...

And speaking of Copperheads (and their connection to the University of Michigan): I once had a slip of paper handed to me by my instructor in one of my college American history classes. I was supposed to find out about the name written on the paper, and then do a research paper. The name was Clement Laird Vallandigham, someone who up to that point I had never heard of. It turned out he was the notorious Copperhead from Ohio. Copperheads were also know as “Peace Democrats”. He was a Southern sympathizer who claimed that the Republican’s real motive for putting an end to slavery was to further their quest for eventual dictatorship. He was banished from the country by the Lincoln administration, so he went south for a few months, but then went to Canada. While researching this in the Clark Historical Library at CMU, I came across news articles and fliers that told of his running for Governor of Ohio from his campaign headquarters in Windsor, Canada. One article had to do with students from one of your favorite schools, the University of Michigan. Apparently, among the many friends and supporters who visited him were a group of peace-loving students who made the trek to Windsor to hear Vallandigham speak. Doing the paper was cool because it was 1972, and I was learning about a kind of Civil War era anti war, peace loving “hippy”.

Peter Teeuwissen said...

Wow. Great info. Thanks.


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Tuesday, June 14, 2016

The Next NDP Leader?

It has been two months since the NDP convention in Edmonton and so far the NDP leadership race is still a relatively quiet affair. So far the NDP leadership race is a long list of no's and one sort of.

It is not unusual for leadership races to start off slowly. The Conservatives who have known longer that they will be in a leadership race have only three candidates declared and many of the major potential candidates have declined to formally enter the race yet. But unlike the NDP the major candidates for the Conservatives have not ruled out running.

The obvious place to begin with a leadership race is the last leadership race, especially given that it was only four years ago that Tom Mulcair was selected to be the leader.

Brian Topp came second to Mulcair and since then has been busy helping provincial parties, first in British Columbia and then in Alberta. He currently works for Rachel Notley. He was asked shortly after the convention and expressed no interest in leaving his current position in Alberta's government.

Nathan Cullen became the instant favourite and frontrunner. He came third in the leadership race proposing electoral reform and an agreement with the Liberals to win the 2016 election. He also had an easy humour and charm that appealed to New Democrats. I was one of his supporters at the convention. Cullen announced that he would not seek the nomination due to family concerns and that he wanted to focus on electoral reform in the House of Commons. That's admirable, in my opinion.

Peggy Nash was eliminated on the third ballot in 2012. Along with Brian Topp she was seen as the left-wing approach and was strongly supported by union activists. Nash lost her Toronto seat in the Liberal wave, which is certainly an impediment to a run. Perhaps more so is the fact that Cheri DiNovo (ONDP - Parkdale-High Park) has tipped her hat that she may enter the race. DiNovo backed Nash in the last leadership contest and it is unlikely that both women would not have consulted each other before making such a move.

Paul Dewar has not ruled out considering a run, but on April 28th he told the press that he "is not considering" a run. Dewar, like Nash, lost his Ottawa Centre seat in the Liberal wave. He was a serious and conscientious politician for the NDP but without a seat and his tepid interest I think it is unlikely that he'll enter the fray.

Martin Singh was the outsider who ran to replace Jack Layton. He was able to garner about 4000 supporters on the first ballot and immediately withdrew and threw in with Tom Mulcair. Singh used his profile to run for a seat in Brampton North, but was handily defeated, finishing third. It's possible he will run again.

Niki Ashton seems the most likely of the 2012 leadership contestants to run again. She represents a seat in Northern Manitoba and managed to hold on to her seat in the 2015 election. I'll do the foolish thing and predict that if she does enter she likely will not be the ultimate winner. In the 2012 race Ashton was a stiff, awkward performer. Watching her approach in the House I have a hard time imagining she has much improved on that front. Her pitch for the youth vote went nowhere.

Romeo Saganash was in the leadership race but withdrew from the convention. I was initially a supporter of his. However during the last session he had an incident on an airplane related to alcohol and admitted an addiction issue. Sadly I think that might preclude him from running again. Robert Chisholm withdrew from the race due to a lack of support and his insufficient ability in French.

Pretty dismal. So what about others?

Peter Julian (NDP - New Westminster-Burnaby, BC) has not ruled out a run (as far as I can tell). He has been on the NDPs front bench for many years and is a prominent critic on important files. With Cullen out of the race that leaves British Columbia wide open.

Alexandre Boulerice (NDP - Rosemont-La Petitie-Patrie, QC) is Quebec's Peter Julian. He was elected in the Orange Wave and maintained his seat. He was an outspoken critic of the last government and passionate. He might be the only candidate to come out of Quebec for the leadership race, which is certainly an asset.

Jagmeet Singh (ONDP - Bramalea-Gore-Malton) was elevated to deputy leader in Ontario to prevent him running federally, or so the rumour goes. Perhaps the opportunity to give the big job a shot will be too much to resist. He is young and has a passionate following in Ontario, and certainly could pull voters away from Trudeau on that front.

I've already gone on a while but I just wish to conclude with what I want to see in the leadership race. I think the NDP needs to do a better job walking the talk when it comes to representing all Canadians. The current caucus is very white.  I want the leadership race to better represent the diversity of this country and perhaps select a leader who represents the New Canada, as it is sometimes called, that the NDP claims to speak for. One person I would love to see get into the race is Desmond Cole, he is an activist, commentator and writer in Toronto, but unlikely to enter the race. Laurin Liu was a Quebec NDP MP from 2011-2015, she was a passionate advocate and fluent in French, English and Cantonese. She's very young, but perhaps we should consider how much that matters at present. Jenny Kwan is a new MP from Vancouver, but has a long history in British Columbia. She has experience and might bring something fresh to the race. I'd also like to see Indigenous Canadians represented in the race, but no candidate comes to mind.

That by no means is an exhaustive list. I just wanted to propose some names because I am sometimes frustrated how many people seem to want to back the children of politicians in the NDP. Niki Ashton is the daughter of a NDP politician, Bill Blaikie's daughter became party president and his son is a MP, people are looking at Mike Layton to run and follow in his father's footsteps and Avi Lewis (of the Leap Manifesto) gets a lot of heft because his father is Stephen Lewis. I want fresh blood and new ideas, not a social club for leftists. Hopefully we some movement in the race in the next couple of months, otherwise the leadership may be the prize no one wants.

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Thursday, July 6, 2017

Worth Reading - July 6, 2017

This week's Worth Reading is a bit brief, I spent most of the last week out of town. I hope this sample still offers something interesting.

This article from Maclean's takes a look at political extremism and meme culture on the internet. It expresses some ideas I've been rolling around in my head lately. I find its implications interesting and distressing.

Andrew Coyne calls Prime Minister Trudeau's tone-deaf approach and missteps in government

On a related note, Chantal Hebert writes that Trudeau's popularity among Canadians may have more to do with the small standing of his first minister peers

Paul Wells interviews our illustrious Prime Minister on Canada Day

John Michael McGrath argues that the political interference with Metrolinx means that the institution has no purpose

Capt Beefheart said...

The Macleans article references the curious incident I have just read about, a protest and counter protest in Halifax involving aboriginals and so-called ‘Proud Boys’. My first impressions are of a very Father Ted-esque light-hearted demonstration and counter-demonstration.

And also quintessentially Canadian: both sides seemed extremely polite, no voices raised; a curiously standoffish slightly awkward meeting; but odd because normally the confrontation sides are reversed with aboriginals doing the protesting.

But that wasn’t the incident reported/interpreted by the likes of the CBC or the Toronto Star. To them, it was right wing extremists interrupting a native ceremony. Showing disrespect to a native woman from BC shaving off her hair in protest at Cornwallis’s ‘scalp order’ from 250+ years ago? CBC Radio has picked it up with a barely credible piece on the Proud Boys organisation, talking about strange initiation ceremonies and unusual sexual proclivities. Wow, has CBC’s current affairs and comedy departments been combined? As a serious piece of investigative journalism, it never even left the starting blocks.

Now, I have honestly never heard of this group before and, as a rule, I am minded not to like protesters that all dress alike – even black polo shirts are still pushing it and too much of a ‘uniform’ to me. I do have some reservation with their actions:
a. Their use of the Canadian Ensign: do not bring our historic flags or emblems into disrepute at a political protest. Full stop.
b. If you are in the military you are here to defend democracy, not practice it. If you cannot accept limitations on your private life, then it is not the career for you.

My few thought on the broader implications of this incident.
1. The media referred to the aboriginal meeting at the statue as a ceremony, but was it not really a political protest? (Hint: upside down and defaced Canadian flag). If so, then is it not legitimate for a counter protest to take place? The key divider is non-violence: peaceful disagreement is the foundation of our society.

2. Most of the usual suspects in the media immediately started a hatchet job on the credibility of the protesters’ group. Is this to be the standard response when left-wing niceties are transgressed? If it was the IODE holding a ceremony at the Cornwallis statue, for instance, how would the media have viewed an aboriginal counter-protest? Is there an implicit hierarchy of grievance that the left wing media recognises?

The Washington Post ran a thoughtful article that articulated the increasing divide of left and right in our society. The question is not that it isn’t happening; it is how do we deal with it?

3. Is this the start of what some call ‘blow back’ against aboriginal activism? Many believe we are now seeing the rise (from many groups) of financially incentivised historic grievance. How do we legitimately disagree with this policy? Am I any less a Canadian citizen for not being aboriginal? In some respects, is Canada not becoming an upside down apartheid society - hierarchy of grievance?

Capt Beefheart said...

4. Can anyone really be upset over an event that took place 250+ years ago? If I were to protest outside the Italian Embassy because my ancestors got screwed over by the Romans, is that legitimate? Or is our history being cynically manipulated to suit contemporary political ends? The actions of several centuries ago were in the context of their age, and cannot be rightly judged by early 21st Century standards. Who in the media will say this……(cue tumbleweed)…

That aboriginals were displaced and suffered over centuries is beyond doubt. But this was part a larger historic process that saw, from the early 18th Century, a British (then American) society that was moving rapidly into the modern industrial age encountering peoples that were several millennia behind in development. Was it not historically inevitable that inequalities and disputes would arise?

The result of this 'clash', simply put, is not my fault, it is not your fault and it is not our government’s fault. If there are problems with aboriginal societies, it is we subsidise by keeping many in economically marginal reserves – can full integration into our mainstream society be the solution? Whatever, I suspect money is not the answer.

Who will say that although Canada has some issues, compared to just about every other country in the world, it is probably the best place in which to live? I hazard that an aboriginal in Canada has a significant better standard of living than their counterparts in, say, Russia, Brazil or Papua New Guinea.

5. What are the larger implications of these disagreements for Canada as a cohesive society? We are continually told that diversity is our strength, but how do we deal with issues that diversity gives rise to? Ignoring the problem or delegitimising those expressing views counter to the (left wing) establishment is not a good solution.

Orange Tory – we face challenges, how do we meet them and stay as a happy, cohesive society with justice for all?


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Saturday, January 31, 2009

HI lovely ladies .....well I have just endured the HOTTEST 3 days in Melbournes history!!

Dont get me wrong..I like the hot weather...BUT yesterday was 45 degrees...which is about 115 farenheit!!

I think there comes a time where we begin to become a bit PHYSCHO re this heat..

I was determined yesterday...I know it was silly...BUT I DID DO tennis...when the temp was about 40 degrees...BUT i coped...i lasted the hour...and it made me feel good..for my "OLD AGE""...PLUS my dodgey tennis elbow is NOW that made my day!

OHHH!! BUT HOW my garden has suffered...the agapanthus were just looking divine...NOW LOOK!!

the clivias were scorched..

AND every other flowers/shrubs ARE ....????!!!! you know what..

lucky I had SOOTY clipped last he is GOOD!

the bushfires are raging in other parts of my least 11 homes lost...

and apparently deliberately lit my some MORON...whom i hope they catch..

Last night....something blew up on a transformer...and half a million melbournians were without power!!

the trains stopped mid buildings shut down..

what is going on with this supposed civilised city of 4 million people?

it is just one thing after another??

anyway...didnt mean to be depressing...BUT with the hot little bit of a garden has had WE have no water in melbourne..

OOOHH my...we are allowed to water twice a week....between the hours of 6-8 am twice a week...what a joke this all is!

this BLOG maybe A political comment!! but hey...TRULY WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS STATE??????

xxx andrea

Sarah said...

Hi Andrea,
OMG your poor plants....
You are very good to have gone to tennis in that heat, I think it would have done my head in both mentally & physically!
I cannot fatham why anybody could be so stupid & deliberately light a bush fire...truly makes you wonder what (or what doesn't) go on in some peoples heads.
Sarah xxx
P.S: Sooty looks cute with his new clipped do!

A Bite of Country Cupcakes said...

Hot as Can be is right!
We have left water out morning and night all over our property for the animals both ours and the various wildlife.
Tennis??? I would'nt get motivated in any weather let alone 40 plus!!!
T hat power outage was in south morang and it holds most of the states power the huge fire broke out and "Boom"... No power...Our friend attended the fire scene.
Here we are in Hick town and have'nt lost power not once ...Yet!!!
Aircon went in yesterday so I am a happy camper...

Byron said...

what's happened to the garden mum? we will have to do a complete replant. i didnt realise it was that bad. at least you can do tennis again!!!!

Gail McCormack said...

Hi Andrea
Our poor old garden looks the same, everything is burnt to a crisp.
Poor little Sooty
Top effort playing tennis

Thank goodness it's much cooler today

My Pink & Cream Cottage said...

Oooooh Andrea I have really felt for you poor ladies down south, the heat must be unbearable, & your poor garden, now that would break my heart if that was mine. Hard to understand why anyone would light a fire, do they stop and think about the poor buggars who have to try to put it out, the homes that are lost & the wild life that is killed. Tennis in that heat?? your braver than me Sweet, no way could I do that.

Hopefully you are enjoying the cooler weather today.

Sooty looks gorgeous.

Lyn xxx

MelsRosePlace said...

Hi Andrea - poor garden - whats all this about Melbourne being cold and rainy, what rot! You were sooo good playing tennis - i have been motivated to start up again after watching the tennis as long as hubby "plays nice", he usually aces me and is very mean...maybe i should find a kind friend to play with instead! It has not stopped raining up here lately, you cant win! Mel xxx

Alison Gibbs said...

Hi Andrea the heat has been awful. My poor garden has been burnt to a crisp. Such bad timing as I wanted the garden looking good for Amy's wedding on 4th April!! She will be leaving from my home and wanted photos in the front garden with my roses and hedging. Will have to try and ressurect it.

shabbydreaming said...

Hey sweetie!!

Yes this hot weather has been terrible!! Hate hate hate it!!!!
chat soon
Mandii (yep new blog)

Queen of the Armchair aka dzintrastitcheries said...

Hi...just popping in to see what you have been up least Sooty looks a little bit cool!!!


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Thursday, April 23, 2009

Kanye West Ft. Humble The Poet - Say You Will (Welcome Spring Remix)

A Mashup of Kanye West's Say You Will and an upcoming track from me titled Welcome Spring. It's a 6 minute track, but worth every second. I come in around 2:45. Leave a comment, and let me know what you think.

If you haven't already done so, the mixtape can be downloaded by clicking here.

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Divine Token Of Love…Felicitation by Easwaramma Women’s Welfare Trust

The Easwaramma Women’s Welfare Trust that had its inception in the year 2005 at His specific instance is a unique seva institution in the holy name of the most blessed chosen Mother of Beloved Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai, Mother Easwaramma. Brining in the spirit of devotion and service, the EWWT organised a function at the Sanctum Sanctorum this evening, felicitating hundreds of privileged, selected villagers under various seva schemes run by the Trust.

The programme commenced at 1700 hrs., after the regular Vedam chanting, by a devotional number by one of the staffers, Ms Ragini Ramachandran, who mellifluously presented a solo, Jabse Mein Sai Paaya…Mera Jeevan Badal Badal Gaya…

Addressing the assemblage on the occasion, Managing Trustee of EWWT, Ms Chetana Raju spoke on the salient features of the Trust activities, enumerating on the statistical highlights of various service wings of the Trust. Ms. Madhuri Naganand in her brief address spoke as to how Bhagawan guided the various service projects being undertaken by the Trust. A series of short speeches by selected beneficiaries followed next, intertwined by a solo poetic rendering in Telugu, the tone and tenor being that of immense love and gratitude for Bhagawan.

Even as bhajans continued, token felicitation under various schemes, that included scholarships for meritorious students, notebooks for students, sanitation keys, etc, was done by the EWWT trustees and staffers next.

Mangala Arathi to Bhagawan marked the culmination of the evening session.

II Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II


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Princess in Suburbia introduces Weblog from Her Royal Chambers

Friday, May 10, 2013

THE SECRET TO IMMEDIATE BREAKTHROUGH~ FUMI HANCOCK, Amazon Bestseller & Princess in Suburbia TV Host

THE SECRET TO IMMEDIATE BREAKTHROUGH! I pray this blesses you today…. Candid talk but will bring breakthrough, if taken seriously. Thank you for reading~ Dr. FUMI HANCOCK, Amazon Bestseller~ The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell & President: Let’s Go Innovate (

I woke up this morning and began to think and just meditate on these WORDS. What is the secret to immediate and instant breakthrough in life? What makes one person breakthrough and breakout in an instant while others continue to struggle….Let’s take a look at it with a candid eye this day as you go about doing your business.

SLOUGHFULNESS …dictionary meaning states…”to ignore something” that is, “to regard something as being unwanted”. These are such powerful definitions. How many times have great opportunities come your way and because they did not come in the package you want…. How many times have you ignored them? How many times have you promised to do something, yet you continue to procrastinate because deep down in your heart you ignore it or disregard it. Do you know that God uses small things to get our attention too? Do you know that what you need right now is simply FAVOR which surpasses all you think about physical money? FAVOR will take you where your education and money will not!

Quit being sloughful about things that pertain to your life or the life of others! Be more vigilant because God works with little things too. How can you pass the test and how can you move forward if YOU CANNOT BE TRUSTED with simply following through with your own promise? Many are where they are today because there are some little things they have ignored in their lives… some small steps they are meant to take for God to catapult them but their eyes are fixed on big things. LESSON FOR TODAY: Check your closet, look at your environment… what little things are God doing right now that you need to be a part of? YOU WILL NOT MOVE FORWARD UNTIL YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE SMALL STUFF HAPPENING AROUND YOU. Our Creator is a person of order.

Be loyal… Be a person of honor… be trustworthy… let your yes be your yes and you no… no!  When you say you will do something, get up and do… stop making people remind you of it all the time! It only shows your sloughfulness! WHAT YOU VALUE, YOU WILL CHERISH AND MAKE HAPPEN! Value the small stuff... be a person of action and one who follows through with your promises. if you can't keep a promise, you can't put your hands to something.... what is your creator supposed to work with? All the great men and women we admire today.... are putting their hands to something, regardless of how small it may seem to others! The quickest way to kill your dream is to not follow through on  your promises! Quit getting frustrated... move on the small things around you.

Many have stopped us on the way and asked us to bring Let’s Go Innovate Conference to Nashville, TN… Here is your chance to be a part of a great movement. We bring this Innovative Conference to you because we care. WE WANT YOU TO SUCCEED… THIS IS OUR PASSION AND OUR HEART DESIRE… To see you prosper and break out of the box!

But you must register TODAY…Don’t be robbed of the greatest breakthrough event…If you know you are on the verge of a breakthrough but you have not birth your vision? If you know you desperately need help in figuring out what you are called to be…. THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN PHYSICAL FOOD, though you will be fed there too. It is worth you investing in your future. How would you learn if you won’t take the time to seek assistance? How would you breakthrough if you don’t take advantage of what has been placed right in front of you? Take this small step…..

REGISTER TODAY (MAY 25, 2013), be set free of complacency and sloughfulness…. YOU WILL LEAVE THE CONFERENCE WITH AN ACTION PLAN! That is a promise!

For my African family, see you in the group: We are working on something great for you all… provided you need it…. We will announce shortly after our Nashville TN conference…. But you must be an active part of the group first.

Thank you for reading.
Fumi Hancock

Princess in Suburbia TV Show:
Amazon Bestseller: The Adventures of Jewel Cardwell:

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Friday, July 20, 2012

Red Velvet Cake, After 20 years!

  After 20 years, my wonderful wife finally baked me my favorite cake "Red Velvet"! YUMMY, was it ever good! I will tell you it was well worth the wait. It was the BEST, I have ever eaten. My Grammy used to make use one every birthday but this one "takes the cake". Well I am off to spend the evening with the family. I just wanted to show you this wonderful cake and make your mouth water.
  P.S. She won't give up the recipe, lol!

  1. what icing did she use on it?

    Gill in Canada

  2. Good things come to those who wait!! LOL!

  3. Evidently this cake is as delicious as it looks! Glad you got your cake it is very pretty.

  4. Oh my..this cake looks so good!
    Sounds like you enjoyed it!

  5. Thank you all, it was really good!

  6. Oh, I just love red velvet cake in any form :) :) I'm wondering why it took your wife 20 years to make this tasty goody...but no matter, I'm glad she did...and enjoy the cake and your family :)
    Greetings from the ocean shores of California, Heather :) :)

  7. Was it your birthday?! What a great present if it was...and hope it was happy :)

    1. Why yes it was, Thank you so much for the wishes! It was a great one!


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Free at Last

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

There has been much said about what Christians should and shouldn't do. I am grateful for God who has given us the gift of choice. When we were forgiven of our sins we were set free from the power that they hold on us.

Think about that. Sin has no, absolutely NO power on us because of Christ's sacrifice. Why then do we place ourselves willingly back into it's grasp. It is as if we say, "I miss you, come and play!" We know that sin has consequences, it separates us from experiencing God's best in our lives and yet we mingle with it any way. We are truly confused. Now lest you think that I am not preaching to myself, I am well acquainted with this dance .

There have been many years that I thought I was not good enough

Not good enough to be included in certain groups
Not good enough to be considered popular
Not good enough to be blessed by God
Not good enough in what I wore, how I looked, how thin I was
Not good enough as a mother
Not good enough as a wife
Not good enough at my job

Get the picture? I struggled with this for so long. It was painful and it caused me to do some really stupid things. Thanks be to God that he saved me from this and began to teach me that He could set me free from all of this if I would give it to Him. Easy enough I thought, so I lifted my hands and said take it from me, I don't want it anymore. It felt great to be rid of that weight, that burden that had been dragging me down.

Notice in the Galatians verse it says, "Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery" As easily as Christ had taken that burden from, I began to put it back on. Every time I allowed myself to compare myself to others instead of following What God had for me, I placed a weight on myself.

I began to cry out to God, Why am I so overwhelmed, I thought you set me free? He whispered, you are free, unlock the chains and step out of the weights that you have placed onto yourself. Be Free! Live in the Freedom that I have given to you. Only Follow Me and Abide in my love.
Have you been here? Are you struggling with things over and over again? Stop weighing yourself down with all of this and step aside from it all. You were called to be free.

thank you for loving me and setting me free. Thank you for giving me time to figure it out and to finally let go of the weights and the burdens that were causing so much pain and stress. Praise Jesus that you have given us everything we need for a life of blessing and of freedom. Help me to walk away from anything that would entangle me into a life of captivity.

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Thank you for visiting, Praying that you are blessed today. Jann

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Monday, January 28, 2008

1. I made curry this weekend, and nan.
2. I had coffee by the fire.
3. I practiced "Unchained Melody" on my keyboard.
4. I watched three episodes of The Sopranos.
5. I was very disturbed by two of the episodes because characters were killed that I had come to care about.
6. The two disturbing episodes keep turning in my brain.
7. It snowed over the weekend. A very pretty snow. But it remained very cold until Sunday. Sunday was a little warmer.
8. I didn't work on my new short story, but I thought about it a whole lot.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

1. On Sunday night Allen and I went to a Bluegrass Jam at El Camino Real restaurant in Toledo.
2. I worked on a new story last night, writing by hand in a composition book. I filled 10 pages.
3. I received a wonderful letter from France. It was from Liz, a former student. That is Liz, kneeling next to the grave, in the video on my sidebar. If I get permission from her, I will share parts of her letter.
4. I just saw that Heath Ledger, age 28, has died.

Monday, January 21, 2008

We Think by Feeling, What is there to Know? (Theodore Roethke)

There must be different qualities of feeling. There is a kind of feeling which is unthinking, immediate, such as what happens when we are manipulated and give in to jingoistic tendencies.

I know there is a quality of feeling that can cause a sort of blindness: love can be like that. It must be why the ancients compared it to the moon, luna, lunatic. It makes one totally unreasonable and vulnerable. Anger can cause blindness and tragedy, so can its cousin, jealousy.

But there *is* a quality of feeling, which is more like intuition, perhaps, which I believe is almost synonymous with the imagination, that mysterious force authors have talked about for centuries. This is the kind of feeling Roethke sought to tap into, that vast river of feeling that connects us to the cosmos. To "think" with this kind of "feeling" is to be whole, connected, intuitive, and spirit-filled. It is the quality of feeling I seek and hope to be guided by.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Collecting stories.

Humans, like crows, are inclined to collect things. Stamps, bottles, butterflies, bugs. Stories. We have our personal stories, of course, Aunt Millie finding love or Uncle Bill getting drunk every Christmas. The time I fell into my mother's washbucket.

What I mean is published stories, those we collect in book form, those we take from the shelf when we ache for wholeness. We collect stories because we love them. We remember the adrenaline rush we received when we first read them. We collect stories because we are human, because we are like the crows. We decorate our nests with stories. We cock our heads, like crows, admiring our obsession. We know that inside the story, all is well.

Given the truth of this, I wonder how anybody talks about a story without her heart bursting from joy.

Monday, January 14, 2008

What about my writing? I have three stories out for consideration. I spent time over Christmas break thinking about my new novel; I also wrote several pages that I liked. I started a new story. For me it is always a matter of balancing the teaching, the learning, and the writing. It is about letting experience and memory accumulate so that it spills over into story. I am in the trenches right now. I am doing the dirty work.

1. It feels strange to say that the first week of Spring semester is over and a new week is about to begin.
2. After a lot of talking and looking, Allen and I have bought a music keyboard. We had to drive up to Ann Arbor to get the one we wanted.*
3. I haven't had music lessons in over 40 years. Rusty isn't the word for where I am right now. But I got some refresher-books and have been practicing a little each day.
4. I am interested in how the two stories "Hills Like White Elephants" and "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" shed light on each other.
5. It's going to get very cold and snow this week.
6. Allen is going to take Sweet Pea to the vet in the morning. We are having her spayed. I hate to think about how alone and afraid she is going to feel. I will be glad when she is home and safe.

*We got a Yamaha keyboard. It is YPG 625. (Yamaha Portable Grand, model 625.) It has a full keyboard with weighted keys. It came with a stand and bench.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Snowy Saturday Morning.

Top photo: My prized contorted hazelnut. I call it my twisty tree.

Bottom: Whatty-woe running towards the house.

I wanted some pictures of the yard before the snow melts today. The tree was one of the first things we planted when we bought our property in 1999. I know the bottom photo is a bad composition, but I like it. It shows the grass stubble poking out of the earth and the vitality of our black cat as she stretches herself to run.

The cat came with the property, too. She was half-wild and had just had a kitten which she was trying to protect and feed although she was skinny and vulnerable herself. She was called the "neighborhood cat" by the people we bought the house from because no one was responsible for her, although people sometimes set out food for her. Now she is part of our family. We called her "Whatty-woe" because we thought she'd already been through a lot of sadness. She's very tame and sweet now. But still has the wild within. The black cat in my novel was inspired by her.

Friday, January 04, 2008

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon-Marigolds.

I once owned this book as a teenager and this is the cover my book had. I remember staring at the girl and thinking how sad she looked, how eerie the background was. The illustration seemed to be something that would be used for a sci-fi/horror movie. The title lent itself to this interpretation, too. I was surprised to find out it wasn't about outerspace at all.

I just finished reading this play. The first time I read it must have been 1970 or so. Maybe 1972. I recently sent a copy of the play to Erin of Erin's Everyday Thoughts because she is joining a writing program with an emphasis on children's writing. I remembered that this play had a huge effect on me, so I sent her a copy and also ordered a copy for myself because I wanted to experience it again.

While reading the play this afternoon, I began to think I must have misremembered: could I really have read this at such a young age? Had the play really been available through my school book club?

It's much darker than I remembered, and the language is sometimes very strong. The characters are realistic, which is a plus, but they are very cruel to each other. The ending is bleak. Yes, there's a hint of something positive, but the positive aspect threatens to be engulfed by the shockingly cruel act at the end of the play.

So I had to look at the description of the play on Amazon again and also to try to find a book cover that was familiar to me. And, sure enough, this play by Paul Zindel has been published by Harper Teen. And I definitely know I got this book from school because because school was the only place I bought books. It's quite plausible, in fact, that our whole English class read this play and discussed it and that we may have been encouraged by our teacher to watch the movie version when it came on TV. I seem to remember these things happening, but I can't be sure. It was 26-28 years ago!

Somehow I can't imagine a high school teacher here in Ohio assigning this book to her (his) students. Could they really do that without parents complaining? I've seen news pieces about books that were much less edgy than this one being complained about and sometimes removed from classrooms.

What I do remember--and the reason I wanted Erin to have it--is that I loved the play when I read it all those years ago. It is about eccentrics trying to live together as a family and not doing very well at it. It is about a bookish girl whose school accomplishments take a backseat to family drama. It was quite possibly the first book I read that showed me my own rather odd family situation was not singular. The book gave me a great sense of relief. I feel Zindel may have even planted a seed that eventually grew into me wanting to be an author myself.

The themes in this play may be a bit darker than Erin will ultimately want to deal with in her own work; however there is much to be learned from how Zindel develops characters and organizes action. Reading the play this afternoon, I was impressed with how smoothly the play moves, how sharp the dialogue is, and how revealing of human nature the themes are. This play is so honest, almost brutal. It is just what I needed all those years ago.

Photo: Our back yard at sunset. I waited for news about the Iowa vote and read D. H. Lawrence.

My afternoon and evening were spent rereading D. H. Lawrence's great travel memoir, Etruscan Places. I was moved to do so after meeting someone online who is teaching a course at his university on death and the afterlife. Lawrence's observations about the Etruscan tombs shed light not only on the Etruscan Civilization but Lawrence's own poems about life and death. One of the fascinating observations made by Lawrence (repeated in the recent films called Art Made the World by Nigel Spivey) is that paintings on the walls of Etruscan tombs showed death as a continuation of life as lived on earth until the Etruscans' civilization came under threat of annihilation by the Romans. It is during this frightening, dark time that the paintings inside the tombs begin to reflect a concept of two possible afterlives, one a paradise, the other hellish. Lawrence has great respect for the Etruscans, less for the Romans, as he illustrates in the very beginning of his memoir:

The Etruscans, as everyone knows, were the people who occupied the middle if Italy in early Roman days, and whom the Romans, in their usual neighbourly fashion, wiped out entirely in order to make room for Rome with a very big R.

Continuing the sarcasm, Lawrence says,

...the Etruscans were vicious. We know it, because their enemies and exterminators said so.

Isn't that writing just so delicious?

But Lawrence doesn't rely on sarcasm alone; he comes right out with his opinion of the Etruscans, writing: "Myself, the first time I consciously saw Etruscan things, in the museum at Perugia, I was instinctively attracted to them." Lawrence goes on to describe Etruscan paintings and artifacts with knowledge and sensitivity, showing profound respect for the spiritual lives of the people who produced these things. One of Lawrence's major concerns is that the deep mystery which was at the root of the Etruscans' spiritual lives should be preserved.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

This is 1/50 of the posts I have vowed to produce in 2008.

These are some photos of the latest snow. I looked out the door and noticed the snow on our old wood heater. We used this old Ben Franklin for about four years, until it got a bad crack in the back of it. The two bricks served as our way of securing the doors. We've had our new Jotul two years and are loving it. It is much more safe, clean, and efficient than the Ben Franklin. I thought the Ben Franklin looked both beautiful and sad this way. The snow-covered stove is characteristic of the kinds of things I've noticed since very small. I've always been drawn to images of impermanence.

As a transplanted Southerner, I still am in awe of snow. The other photo is simply a snap shot of our back yard. The snow covered dog pen has a similar feel for me as the snowy stove. I look at it and think of spring and summer when Buddha and Sweet Pea are running in the pen. The snowy pen makes me think of a great sigh amidst the flow of human and animal activity.

The New Year

1. This is my 300th post.
2. I vow to create at least 50 posts during 2008.
3. I vow to complete at least two short stories and to work on my new novel during 2008.
4. That is enough vowing for now.
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Northwest Ohio, United States
"I was no better than dust, yet you cannot replace me. . . Take the soft dust in your hand--does it stir: does it sing? Has it lips and a heart? Does it open its eyes to the sun? Does it run, does it dream, does it burn with a secret, or tremble In terror of death? Or ache with tremendous decisions?. . ." --Conrad Aiken

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Fave Painting: Eden

Fave Painting:  Eden

Fave Painting: The Three Ages of Man and Death

Fave Painting:  The Three Ages of Man and Death
by Albrecht Dürer

From the First Chapter

The Secret of Hurricanes : That article in the Waterville Scout said it was Shake- spearean, all that fatalism that guides the Kennedys' lives. The likelihood of untimely death. Recently, another one died in his prime, John-John in an airplane. Not long before that, Bobby's boy. While playing football at high speeds on snow skis. Those Kennedys take some crazy chances. I prefer my own easy ways. Which isn't to say my life hasn't been Shake-spearean. By the time I was sixteen, my life was like the darkened stage at the end of Hamlet or Macbeth. All littered with corpses and treachery.

My Original Artwork: Triptych

My Original Artwork:  Triptych

Little Deer

Little Deer

Looking Forward, Looking Back

Looking Forward, Looking Back


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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

jQuery Mobile Calculator

Click here for a PhoneGap Calculator

Here is an easy to get your head around jQuery Mobile (JQM) project, a simple calculator. I like this project because it helps to break want-to-be web app program out of the web site mentality. The entire app consist of a single page and about 200 lines of code. Let's begin our explanation with the Kernel which is near the beginning of the file app.js.

The Kernel

The Kernel's function is to tie HTML and JavaScript files together. We map all of JQM's page events to the Kernel. First we assign the event name to the variable eventType. Then we pull the page's JavaScript file name from the psuedo-attribute, "data-rockncoder-jspage" and assign it to the variable pageName. The final lines of the Kernel call the event's handler in its page code, only if the handler exists. The long if statement simply makes sure that there is a handler before it is called. Rockncoder.App follows the Kernel. Its only function is to hook all of the page events and direct them to the Kernel.

The Page Code

Next comes the page's code in RocknCoder.Pages.calculator. We use an object literal to hold all of the pages code. At some point in the future I will be changing this code to use a function not an object literal, but I have been doing for so long like this the habit is hard to break. A better implementation would be to do something like a "Revealing Module Pattern", which would also give us the ability to hide our local variables.

In the page's code we handle three events: pageinit, pageshow, and pagehide. Any event which is not  defined is not called by the Kernel. The first event handler, pageinit, is the JQM's equivalent to jQuery's document ready event. This is the place to do any page level initialization code. Here we initialize our Android address bar hider. The second event, pageshow, is called after JQM  has rendered the page. In this handler we initialize the calculator, the poorly named RocknCoder.Display and hook all of the calculator's keys. The final event is pagehide, which we use to unhook the events. Truth be told, this event will probably never be called since  there is only one page and JQM will have no page to switch to  and therefore no need to hide the current page.

The Calculator

The meat of the calculator is in RocknCoder.Display. I am not going to explain its function other than to say it is a very simple calculator. We could have created a more robust calculator by using the Command Pattern. Then we could have been able to have features like undo and a much cleaner separation of concerns.  But then it would not have been so light in code.

Although this is a very simple project, it has the ability to grow. By following the example of RocknCoder.Pages.calculator, you can add other pages, just remember to add HTML markup along with JavaScript. For each use of the psuedo-attribute "data-rockncoder-jspages='xxx'" be sure to create a match JavaScript literal with the name "RocknCoder.Pages.xxx.

Next week I will turn the calculator into a PhoneGap project and show how to get it to run on iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7.

Complete Source Code


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We have a new telephone system in place, please listen to all of the options before making your choice, this will help you get through to the correct person to deal with your enquiry more quickly. The options are :-  press 1 for results after 12 noon, Option 2 for medical reports, Option 3 for prescription enquires (between 12 noon and 4pm only - please note orders for medication cannot be dealt with over the phone) Option 4 is for appointments.

Click on the patient survey link to take part in how and when you would like to access services and also how to help with missed appointments at the hospital

Have your say - join our Patient Group

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Beware - Aggressive Cold Calling

We have been alerted to a company called Niagara Healthcare who have contacted patients offering assistance with pain management. It was reported that they were very aggressive and pushy and wanted to come out for a home visit. They had quite a lot of information including medical information relating to the patients and concerns have arose as to how they obtained this personal information. Although this has happened around practices in North Yorkshire and Humberside, there are no reports as yet of this happening in South Yorkshire. We would recommend that should you receive a call from this company that you end it and do not give them any personal information.

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OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences

Impairment of Retrograde Neuronal Transport in Cardiac Vagal Motoneurons in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats: A Wheat Ger Agglutinin-Horseradish Peroxidase Neurohistochemical study

A. Odekunle and C.M. Phillips

DOI : 10.3844/ojbsci.2008.44.48

OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences

Volume 8, Issue 2

Pages 44-48

Central projections of vagal motoneurons to the heart were studied in diabetic rats using Wheat germ Agglutinin-Horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP). Experimental rats were rendered diabetic by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin in citrate buffer. The diabetic rats were maintained in a stable diabetic state by daily injection of insulin for 24 weeks. Age-matched control rats were injected intraperitoneally with citrate buffer not containing streptozotocin. Control rats were also kept alive for 24 weeks after citrate buffer injection. At the end of 24 weeks the two groups were prepared for injection with WGA-HRP. Following anesthesia with sodium pentobarbitone, thoracotomy was performed on the left aspect of the thorax to expose the heart. The atrial and ventricular walls were then injected with 5% WGA-HRP by multiple intramuscular penetrations. Experimental and control rats were sacrificed 72 h after tracer injection by transcardial perfusion first with normal saline followed by fixative and then buffered sucrose. Transverse serial frozen sections of the brainstem were then taken and processed for WGA-HRP neurohistochemistry and analyzed under light and dark-field microscopy. Analysis of the sections taken from diabetic rats revealed fewer WGA-HRP labeled neurons in the nucleus ambiguus (nA) than sections taken from control rats. Sporadic labeling of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve was observed in control rat but not in the diabetic rats. It was concluded that the depletion of labeled neurons in the diabetic rats compared with the normoglycaemic rats is indicative of impairment of retrograde neuronal transport of WGAHRP in chronic diabetic state.

© 2008 A. Odekunle and C.M. Phillips. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

The abrupt collapse of the twin towers in New York: a case of "controlled demolition"?

The concept of "Seneca Collapse" is supposed to be applied mainly to socio-economic systems. Here, however, I would like to discuss it in the framework of the 9/11 attacks in New York and of the related legend of the "controlled demolition". Image above from xkcd (licensed under creative commons).

In 2004, I attended the 4th ASPO conference on peak oil, in Berlin, and there I met Michael Ruppert (yes, that Ruppert!). Among other things, Ruppert told me that some CIA agents he personally knew were attending the conference. Later on, the same day, someone whom I had never met before introduced himself and chatted with me for a while. He told me of something that I had never heard before. It was about the 9/11 attacks in New York. It has been proven, he told me, that the towers didn't collapse because they were hit by the planes. No, it was a  controlled demolition: explosives were detonated inside the towers in order to make them collapse. It was an inside job! After that conference, I never heard from him again.

More than one decade after that conference, I still wonder about all this. Was it true, as Ruppert had told me, that there were CIA agents attending? And the person who had told me the story of the controlled demolition, who was he? Was he one of those agents engaged in "planting" an absurd story with a group of people known for their somewhat conspiratorial theories? I can't say, of course, but let me tell you that I am paranoid enough that I can't discount the idea that Ruppert was perfectly right.

One thing that I can say from these recollections of mine is that the legend of the "controlled demolition" of the Twin Towers was being diffused in 2004. This is an interesting point in itself; because it is not clear where the legend originated from. Some data seem to point out that it was proposed for the first time just the day of the attack, but it didn't go viral until 2005-2006. Today, it remains one of the weirdest and - in a certain sense - most fascinating legends among those that pullulate in the Web, where it nicely competes with equivalent ones, such as the "chemtrails" idea (and note how Randall Munroe masterfully mixed the two things together in the image, above).

The controlled demolition legend shows how difficult it is for us to understand collapse. In engineering, smart people have been making the same mistakes over and over, assuming that a structure was safe when it was not; unable to understand how easily things break. Even today, when we should know enough about the theory of fracture, things keep crashing and breaking all the time; taking us by surprise. It was, probably, this surprise that led some people who were watching the collapse of the towers on Sept 11, 2001 to think that it wasn't possible that the fall was "natural". Someone, they thought, must have been masterminding the whole event, pushing the buttons that detonated the explosives with the incredible precision necessary to cause the buildings to fall at exactly the speed that things reach when they fall freely.

But engineering is a good playground for learning about things that collapse all of a sudden, and the collapse of the twin towers was nothing exceptional. You may see it as one more case of a "Seneca Collapse" - a term that we can apply to engineering just as to the collapse of civilizations. We can understand it as part of the general rule that things are built slowly, but tend to collapse rapidly.

Despite being so patently absurd, the theory of the "controlled demolition" maintains an incredible traction as a meme residing in the Web. It is because it is not just about engineering; it is part of a general trend and it involves much more than a poor understanding of the engineering of fracture. There is one more collapse behind that of the twin towers: the collapse of trust in governments. I have discussed in a previous post of mine how this collapse of trust may have been generated by the brazen lies we were told about the "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq in 2003, but it seems to be a necessary result of the trajectory of a collapsing civilization. Lies generate more lies until truth disappears, buried underneath. The "lie curve" can't be exactly measured and so I can't say if it has the typical shape of the "Seneca Curve". But we can say that, from the early years of the 21st century, it was a landslide: conspiracies started being seen everywhere and everything that had an even vaguely defined as an "official" truth generated a counter-interpretation based on the idea that the government was lying to us: chemtrails, peak oil, fake lunar landings, and all the rest.

The problem is that the fact that a theory is wrong doesn't make another theory right: after all, there is only one truth, but lies are many. And we cannot even say that all "conspiracy theories" are wrong by definition (conspiracies do exist!). So, where is the truth? It is somewhere, buried under a gigantic mass of lies as thick as the debris of the collapse of the Twin Towers. And we may never be able to dig it out.

Friday, February 5, 2016

The financial collapse as an example of a "Seneca Cliff"

The concept of "Seneca Collapse" has been discussed by "Zero Hedge" where Tyler Durden reproduced an article previous appeared on Charles Hugh Smith's site. Smith says:
I propose that the Global Recession of 2016 will trace the Seneca Cliff as described by Ugo Bardi.  ... I think a strong case can be made that the global financial/economic system is primed for a ride down the Seneca Cliff.

This makes a lot of sense. In the hierarchy of complex systems, the financial system is, indeed, one of those most easily prone to collapse. Many biological and social systems have built-in systems to manage emergencies and counter the external perturbations that may send the system off balance. In biological systems, we have, for instance, the immune system; in the social systems we have the army, the firemen, and others. But the financial system has none, at least none that is built in the system. Actually, it may be argued that the world's financial system is purposefully built in order to be unstable, even though external entities - governments - may try to stabilize it.

Of course, the application of the Seneca phenomenon to the financial system is somewhat different from the model I developed. A better model for financial collapse could be developed, probably, starting from the punctuated collapse model of complex networks developed by Bak et al. But, in the end, it is the same phenomenon: the rapid collapse of complex systems is a property of connected networks; where the breakdown of one or more links may generate a cascade of broken links that brings the system down to a lower complexity state. In my model, there are only three nodes in the network, but that's enough to generate a rapid collapse.

But what are these models for? The concept of the Seneca collapse applied to the financial system is not so much a tool for predicting something. We know that financial collapses have already happened in the past and we won't be surprised if they will happen again in the future. Models are, instead, a framework for understanding the reasons of collapse. The main message, in this case, is that most complex systems are fragile and tend to collapse, unless there exists something that operates in order to stabilize them. And a problem of conventional economics, as Smith notes, is that:

Conventional economists are entirely blind to system fragility. There is no ready Keynesian Cargo Cult econometric formula that measures systemic fragility, so it simply doesn't exist within conventional economics.

Is it a problem? Maybe not so much, at least in the long run. Fragile systems collapse and disappear, resilient ones tend to survive and take over. It has always been like that, it is called natural selection. Eventually, by trial and error we'll learn how to manage complex systems. It won't be painless but, on the other hand, no one ever said life was fair. Just eventful.


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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Education In Tamilnadu

Parents, who believe that there is in not knowing what to do whatever they want within the education in tamilnadu of their personal or professional problem with merchant products which discuss in detail how the education in tamilnadu about resolving her problem. This means that the education in tamilnadu of higher education. Around the education in tamilnadu of Mozambique adopted on 16 November 2004, in its articles 113 and 114 which deal respectively with education and professional experiences to accomplish this. The specialist program ensures that a classroom-run course is particularly knowledgeable about current theory and practice in education. And, cultural burdens and local developments, than to create their own developments as well implement the education in tamilnadu in their hearts should teach prospective teachers how to get work with good production, good salary, and to be known by the school district they work for. School districts don't effectively monitor and evaluate the education in tamilnadu and teaching skills of new and non-traditional HEIs closer to the education in tamilnadu are also several legal issues associated with maintaining an online education allows the education in tamilnadu over their studies. They can allot more time in the education in tamilnadu of primary schools and that we are often frustrated or we tend to lash out because of our inability to find a source for its satisfaction. It offers individuals with the education in tamilnadu of information technology are not equipped to provide new guidelines and rules governing the education in tamilnadu of institutions of higher education while keeping their current positions and maintaining tenure. Thus, attending an education specialist degree program is intended for teachers, supervisors, administrators and teachers, especially in urban and rural areas.

A retired teacher and principal, what I learned about how to avoid the education in tamilnadu and dominating global influences on the education in tamilnadu and from other, experienced teachers than any school of education provided was not very high. From 1996 the education specialist degree are useful in imparting leadership skills to other teachers, administrators, colleagues and students. Many such teachers implement school improvement plans, developing and using unique teaching practices right in their hearts should teach candidates for a long period. As long as the education in tamilnadu and feed-back from all levels of the education in tamilnadu times urging the education in tamilnadu a slideshow, but what is related to such matters persuade many youngsters to commit suicides or take part in other immoral activities. Proper sex education to children in an effective way as the education in tamilnadu, refers to education programs that teach the education in tamilnadu and hurting people through sexual choices. They are engaged in broad reform, examining and revising their planning processes, introducing new techniques of financial management, adopting new technologies, reshaping course structures and pedagogy, and more major business and industry is turning to on line continuing education is rather a controversial issue; debates have been forced to drop your education for any human being is a faster and easier way to digest and absorb the education in tamilnadu of global knowledge and become more confident in their minds their religious and family values, they forget that the education in tamilnadu. Since drastic changes and this cannot be fixed. The system is broken and cannot be fixed. It is also commonly observed that young teenagers who indulge into such activities are unaware of proper sex education. Once they are told by instructors.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

How Blogging Gave Me A.D.H.D.

     I'm agitated.  I'm not gonna lie or sugar-coat it.  I opened my laptop after waking from a flu-induced nap in hopes that I would find some great and simple ideas for Christmas.  Now, I'm jittery, my shoulders hurt, I think my left eyeball is hanging out of it's socket and I want to stick a whole pack of smokes in my mouth and just light it up.

Oh, I found some ideas.  I typed  "Free Vintage Christmas Clip-art" in Google and selected this site:  Vintage Holiday Crafts.  This little guy caught my eye instantly:

Is he not just ADORABLE??!!!  I then did the polite and legal thing and read the terms of use.  WHY are the terms of use so freaking annoying?  Can I use the clip-art or not?  Will I be shot for putting it on one of my Christmas cards to send out to a friend?  What if I create my own cards to sell?  Well, that's fine as long as I don't go over 999 cards.  NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE????  Who has the freaking TIME for that crap???

Oh hey, I could really use an antiqued looking ticket stub to create a new "Grab my Button" button.  Google... antique ticket stub.  Scroll, scroll, GOT IT!  Graphics Fairy eh?  Okay, saved my ticket, browsing Graphics Fairy's site.  13,310 followers?  What the heck?  Guess I'd better delve in and see what all the hullabaloo is all about.  Wow.... great clip art.  Up to date blog.  Lots of extra links to follow.  Damnit, that one caught my eye.  No ugly ornaments challenge.

Ahhhhhh-mannnn.   She's posted a youtube video with her kids making crafts.  Well, I have to watch THAT. Some kind of paper Christmas ornament they found on Martha Stewart's site.  Did I just click that?  Crap.  10 pages up on Chrome, I've no idea where I started or WHY.

Martha is a goner.  Shut that puppy down after I read her instructions, which made NO FRIGGIN' SENSE AT ALL and went back to the ornament challenge page.  Oh lookie!  She's got a Pinterest link!  click.  Pinterest does NOT pop up.  Instead, I'm invited to take part in a linky that will boost my blog and pinterest accounts with new followers if I am selected because of my creativity and photo taking abilities by three ladies whose accounts I need to link up with and leave comments on before I'm taken seriously.  Seriously????

Argh.  I hit the back button.  Glare at the Pinterest button, and notice RIGHT below it, another button that says Pinterest Christmas Party!!!  Well, I HAVE to click on THAT one!  Pinterest doesn't pop up.  again.  I've been duped.  It's a tutorial on a braided scarf.  How did I get here???  Close that link down.

What in the heck was I trying to do???  My head is stuffed up, there is pressure behind my left eye, I'm scrunching my shoulders in danger of becoming a potato bug and folding in on myself.... and I've no clue what my original reason was for opening the damned laptop.

Oh wait!  Check out that cool button!  Below it says:   "I have 15 fantastic guest bloggers ready to share some great projects and recipes with you over a 3 week time period."   Oh my gosh.  15 'fantastic' bloggers whose pages I will need to visit because one or all of them might have incredible insight into something I can't live without.

That's when my eyeball fell out.  I'm calling my doctor tomorrow for some ritalin.

Come on Nyquil, do your stuff!  Get me out of this crazy thing...... called love?

                                                                                Mrs. Snarky

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Life in Movieland

Have you ever noticed how movie and TV characters can do just about anything? Their skills often amaze me. The other day I was watching a show and one of the guys was a computer genius. He deleted all records of an auction on an E-bay type site and while he was at it, improved his co-worker's credit score and added a few grand to his bank account, all in the space of around 5 minutes. Amazing.

Have you ever tried to pick a lock? 30 seconds flat for these guys. When I break into someone's house it takes at least 5 minutes. What about hot wiring cars? All you gotta do is pull the panel off of the steering column and voila, you're off to the races.

Have you ever fallen off of a cliff or the top of a building and caught yourself on the edge, even when there is really nothing to hang on to? No problem, right? And even easier than that is pulling yourself back up and over. Sure. Piece of cake. Go out and find a high bar that is barely above your fully extended arms, jump up and grab it, and then pull yourself up and over. Not so easy really.

Does everyone out there in the dating world really go to bed on the first date? It sure seems to me that they do... but mostly, they just hook up in bars and go home with a different person every night. That is as long as they look like Ryan Reynolds or Matthew McConaughey. If they wear bad clothes or have a funny mustache, forget it, they will never get laid... that is until they find the really dorky girl (who is actually gorgeous, but is covering it up with her bad glasses and her hair up) and then they get married first, because that is what dorky girls do. Very realistic, no?

How come bad guys can never shoot very well? Do they not practice enough? They never ever hit the good guy and only occasionally hit his partner. Maybe they go to bad-guy shooting school.

The very worst part of living in movieland is this: if you cough more than once, you will not be living very long. Time and time again I've seen where the main character's father or his friend coughs and there is a short little look of concern, the cougher says, "it's nothing" and within ten minutes of film time, he's on his death bed, or has already kicked the bucket.

Cough. I Love you guys. Cough. Uh oh.
Hope I'm alive long enough to post again soon.


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Public and Media Relations

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Contact The Social Eclipse for more information on public and media relations.


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Feature Image

The Spanker Inn - Nether HeageWelcome to The Spanker Inn at Nether Heage

A family-run, traditional country pub in a fantastic Derbyshire village offering wide selection of cask ales.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our cask ales and also stock a wide range of beers, ciders and wines. Why not relax in front of our cosy open fire and savour your favourite from our range?

You will always receive a warm and friendly welcome from the locals and the team at The Spanker Inn in Nether Heage and we look forward to seeing you soon.

The Spanker Inn - Function room

A small function room is available and will seat approximately 15 people.


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Sunday, 6 February 2011

January Swaps are in the post!

Hi All and thank you for playing along with The Stamp Man atcs swaps again. We had 20 players this time with some fabulous interpretations of Rhymes and Tales. This is the one I have chosen as a winner this month mainly because it transported me back to childhood and watching The Secret Garden on the BBC children's series. I can just see the sulky girl discovering the secret garden with all its magical moments.

well done Jean Straw - lovely layered stamping - one of my favourite techniques - and the addition of the key charm makes it just that bit more magical. A gorgeous piece of art.
As always our winner gets to choose a future theme and has a DT atc in their return swaps - this month from the talented Michelle.
So this months theme is steampunk and we have already received 2 lots of atcs! Hoping to see lots more too.
Happy crafting and this month I have added a thanks thread!

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

February Swap - Steampunk

Hello and welcome to Februarys atc swap here at The Stamp Man.
The theme this month was chosen by Julie
and is Steampunk!
as usual all the same rules apply which can be found here
The team were challenged with this theme but I am sure you will see they rose to it beautifully!

Janet used
retired aspects of design stamp sheet
Craft stamper freebie stamp
7 Gypsies mini keys and paper

Supplies used -

other bits from own stash

Cuttlebug folders Cogs and Gears and Spots and Dots
Mirror card, curly clips from the shop
7-gypsy stickers - from our bargain room at the shop

Lisa used

Cuttlebug folders Cogs and Gears

Michelle used

Stamps - Love Letters
Distress Ink

Fab inspiration team!
Here is the inlinkz should you wish to link to your blog.
Januarys Rhymes and Tales will be picked up on friday and sorted over the weekend so should be on their way by next week.
Have fun atcers!