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March 18, 2012

When Friends Become Pushy: India, Iran and America’s Zero Sum Game

In 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government risked its very survival to get the Indo-US nuclear deal ratified by the Indian parliament. The coalition government had came under existential threat when a group of left-wing parties, supporting the coalition from outside, threatened to pull out of the Congress-led government if the Prime Minister  did not heed to its demand of making a U-turn on the deal. In almost a show of missionary zeal, Singh let go of these parties and stuck a makeshift agreement with the Samajwadi Party to save the day and got the deal ratified. Singh, it was reported, had even threatened to quit, if the deal was not allowed to meet its logical end. When asked later why he gambled so much to get the deal signed Singh replied, “when I became convinced the deal can be achieved and was in people’s interest, I supported it.”

The argument that ‘convinced’ Singh’s was many fronts – India has been on a brink of a energy crisis for a few years and nuclear energy will help it. It was also deemed cheaper than hydrocarbon-based electricity generation and its only environmental impact is the problem with its disposal. Not that its advantages ended there, a deal with the world’s sole superpower was India’s highway to the big boys club. Once US nods, everyone else will follow and they did. Other major superpowers, including France, Japan and Russia offered to build nuclear plants in India. Australia, a country that had until now refused to sell uranium to India has now amended its position, even after facing very stiff resistance for amending its traditional stance of not selling uranium to any country that has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation (NPT) treaty. Australian PM Julia Gillard made a very public pitch for the sale of Australian uranium to India citing India’s “exceptional” non-proliferation record.

In other words, and as has been said before, the symbolic purpose of deal going through goes way beyond just buying and selling of uranium, or for that matter setting up of nuclear plants. In essence, it brought down many barriers that had hitherto constrained India’s relationship with the West and more so after it successfully tested its own nuclear bomb in 1998. So far so good.

It cannot, however, be discounted that India signed the deal with an America that was desperately in need of new partners; the George W Bush administration had alienated many, even some of  its traditional allies, since its Iraq adventure. Moreover, to the American foreign policy elite any country that can help ‘contain’ belligerent or non-confirmatory regimes (read China) is a friendship worth cultivation. India just happened to fit the bill right. Arguments of being non-signatory to the NPT were tactfully ignored.

The Indian foreign policy elite sensed an opportunity too. They saw in the nuclear deal a now-or-never opportunity. It was felt that President Bush’s right-wing, aggressive, ‘only me’ foreign policy stance will work in India’s favour. In him, Indian foreign policy intellectuals saw an administration that was not only willing to ignore a lot of things that had until then worked against India’s ambition to end its nuclear isolation but, they realised, that the administration was willing to do much more than that. It was ready to walk that extra mile to help India pull itself out of the throws of international isolation. The result was a deal that killed many birds in one shot and was hailed as win-win by leaders of both the countries.

Things, however, have drastically changed since Bush left the White House. The honeymoon period of the Indo-US warmth, many have concluded, is over and the ground realities have now come to surface. In signing the nuclear deal both countries looked for their own interests – India to end its nuclear isolation and access to energy security and US a reliable partner in Asia, a booming economy that was to be a potential market at a time of great economic distress at home. The paradox now, however, is that the same deal is now increasingly looking like a bane for both countries and more so for India than the US.

One of the reasons why India was offered the nuclear deal in the first place was the Bush administration’s eagerness to find reliable partners when their availability was in short supply. It was therefore willing to offer much more than it would have, to another country in a normal scenario. There was another, many would argue and it was the administration’s short-sighted and narrow view of America’s national interest. Both, however, worked in favour of a country that had virtually no record of active belligerence against the West.

But things started to change by the time the current president took office. Barak Obama’s attitude towards India has been described as “cold” at best and “lack of it” at worst. In fact, some, early on in his presidency even argued that he was undoing all the good that his predecessor had gone with regards to its relationship with India. While Bush was disliked not only in places like Pakistan or Iraq but also in his home country, he attained a fair degree of popularity in India. This was not only because of the nuclear deal but also for siding with India vis-a-vis Pakistan. His popularity among the members of the ruling Congress party can be gauged from the fact that in 2009 the party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi made the audacious demand of a Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, for Bush. Earlier, Singh is reported to have told Bush in a meeting that the “people of India” love him, a claim particularly denounced by the left parties.

Smart Power

When Suzanne Nossel first articulated the idea of a ‘smart power’ in her 2004 article in the Foreign Affairs journal, hardly would she have imagined that America would see its closest personification in less than five years’ time. Nossel argues that being a Smart Power is not an euphemism for a weak left-leaning foreign policy but:

liberal internationalism, which posits that a global system of stable liberal democracies would be less prone to war. Washington, the theory goes, should thus offer assertive leadership — diplomatic, economic, and not least, military — to advance a broad array of goals: self-determination, human rights, free trade, the rule of law, economic development, and the quarantine and elimination of dictators and weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

She further critics:

Unlike conservatives, who rely on military power as the main tool of statecraft, liberal internationalists see trade, diplomacy, foreign aid, and the spread of American values as equally important…But the militant imperiousness of the Bush administration is fundamentally inconsistent with the ideals they claim to invoke. To reinvent liberal internationalism for the twenty-first century, progressives must wrest it back from Republican policymakers who have misapplied it.

It is this liberal internationalism that is compelling Obama to pursue a policy markedly distinct from that of Bush’s. The zeal to “wrest it back from Republican policymakers” has made the Indo-US relation its casualty up to some extent. Obama’s 2009 India visit was high on rhetoric and clap arousing speeches but it hardly achieved anything on ground. Moreover, Obama’s populist stand on trade and outsourcing had made Indian companies doing business in the US jittery. For them, while Bush, hated worldwide, brought India greater recognition in the international sphere, Obama is yet to contribute something even remotely substantial in nature as the nuclear deal. The current president’s judicious use of America’s strengths in technology, defense and trade to extract its own interest has made its foreign policy more business-like. By the virtue of its economic and geopolitical significance, India has made itself indispensable to America’s interests in the region and beyond and Obama administration recognises that. But it has skillfully refrained from giving India any more attention than the latter can successfully demonstrate to need. This change in attitude means that the era of preferential treatment for India is over and it will be meted out with the same treatment as everyone else. In other words, what India gets will be proportional to what India can contribute to America in achieving its own interests. This is  in contrast to the approach adopted by Bush administration, that doled out more to nations that it viewed as sharing common values and interests.

The ‘cooling down’ of relations between the two countries has been accompanied with increasing clashes in multi-national forums, including but not limited to the UN. India has repeatedly found itself on the other side of the argument when voting for or against resolutions promoted or sponsored by the US. During voting for Resolution 1973, pertaining to establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya, India abstained. During the voting for the Arab League sponsored resolution on Syria, India criticised the US and West for trying a repeat of Libya in Syria in garb of a humanitarian intervention with the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) argument.

Singh’s government is itself in a middle of an array of protests directed against it over the issue of building new nuclear plants in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Flagging the consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear power plant disaster, activists are up in arms against what they see as a selloff of the safety concerns of the citizens and fishermen living near the plant for supplying energy to urban metropolis and heavy industries. Similar concerns had lead to protests that rocked the site of the Jaitapur nuclear power plant last year.

Moreover, opinion is now equally divided to questions of India’s net-gains from the nuclear deal. Kiran Karnik, former head of one of India’s main business lobby, contends, “in effect, it was a trade-off between strategic autonomy – even sovereignty – on the one hand, and the need to quickly step up power generation (specifically, nuclear power generation).” And he may be right. But Karnik’s article also points to a more crucial aspect of the effects this deal had on India’s “strategic space”. Among other things he’s pointing to the US’ constant nudging of India on the Iranian issue.

The Zero Sum Game

In February, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, while addressing a senate panel admitted for the first time that it was pressuring countries like India, Turkey and China to stop its crude imports in order for the US sponsored sanctions to work. She added that the US was “implementing the new Iran sanctions aggressively”  and that the administration has set up a team to assist countries like India, that depend heavily on Iranian oil, to diversify their imports and finally cull imports from Iran.

Pressure tactics like these is nothing new in the US-India relationship. In 2005, it emerged later, just before a crucial vote against Iran’s nuclear programme in the IAEA, the US had “coerced” India to vote against Iran when the latter was of the view that further scrutiny was required before IAEA could refer the case to the UN Security Council. This came after reports that the then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had told the Indian external affairs minister Natwar Singh that progress on the Nuclear Deal will depend on India’s cooperation with the US’ in its efforts to tighten the screws on Iran’s nuclear programme. The vote stunned many in India as well in Iran.

Revelations apart, India’s vote against Iran in that year underlined for the first time how US succeeded in bring about a major shift in the tenants of Indian foreign policy. Iran has deep historical relations with India that survived the 1979 Islamic Revolution (although the nature of the relationship changed). Not only does the relationship reflects Indian policy sensitivity towards of the its Shia population, but also a respect for Iran’s continued support in multi-national forums on the issue of Kashmir, where it has consistently supported India’s stand and has helped ward off anti-India resolutions from Pakistan. It remains, along with Iraq under Saddam Hussain, India’s few reliable friends in the Islamic world.

Iran’s importance is aggrandised while viewing Asia’s geo-political map from New Delhi’s prism. Not only does India have a sizable Shia population, the country has counted on Iran also for its tactical security and not just energy security. It is noteworthy then that Iran supported the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, just like India. Its own complex relationship with a Sunni-majority, US-aligned Pakistan means that it’s often at loggerheads on many issues with that country.  While China (India’s worry on its eastern front) is building a port in Pakistan, Iran wants India to develop one in its territory. The proposed new port will come in Chabahar, a city in south-east Iran and only 72-km from the Gwadar port, one that China is developing for Pakistan. Chabahar is proposed to be complimented by a railway line up to mineral rich province of Bamiyan in Afghanistan, which is reported to have Afghanistan’s largest iron ore deposits. The port holds significance not only for the supply of raw material to Indian but also in view of shrinking the  in strategic space for Pakistan in relation to Afghanistan. Afghanistan being a landlocked country is dependent on Pakistan for shipping of goods from its ports into Afghanistan. A recent blockade of this route by Pakistan, after several of its soldiers were killed by NATO bombing, proved to be an effective means of showing anger against the unprovoked killings by NATO aircrafts. In plain terms, the new railway line and port will reduce Pakistan’s strategic importance in the region and hence its leverage to extract aid from the US, even though the latter is unlikely to use an Iranian rote to Afghanistan. More importantly it will give India a direct route to Afghanistan and may profoundly affect equation in South Asia.

The Proposed Railroad from Hajigak in Afghanistan to Chabahar Port in Iran

Now bring US into the equation. It wants India to sever all its economic ties with Iran, just because it said so. A new US law – Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA) – threatens any country that deals with the Iranian Central Bank with sanction. What this means for India is that it should stop buying from Iran, especially its crude oil because ‘such money may be used by Iran to finance its nuclear programme.’ As things stand today, the US’ ultimatum is not a choice but rather an order which must eventually be applied so that unilateral US and European sanctions against Iran may work.

India’s foreign policy response so far can best be described as evasive. It has refused to apply unilateral American and European sanctions and insists that it will only go by the UN-approved sanctions vis-à-vis Resolution 1929. Up until now it has not stopped the import of oil from Iran and has been looking at other option to route payments (paying through Turkey is one option but that route may also be blocked in the future).Anticipating that that route might be closed soon as well, it is now crafting a new system of trading where by India may pay half in its own currency so that Iran can buy Indian goods.

It will be interesting to see for how long will India be able to sustain the tremendous pressure coming from Washington, and if it will finally buckle down. Although Indian diplomats have refrained from taking a defiant stance, it’s clear that the whole new relationship is now starting to look more and more like a Zero Sum Game from New Delhi’s prospective. A now increasingly looking bad nuclear deal is forcing us to abandon an age old friend, a reliable energy supplier and in many senses a sole ally from that region for a country that has a history of belligerence towards India – Pakistan. Iran is satiating India’s growing need for energy at a cost lower than other oil exporting countries can provide. If Saudi Arabia eventually compensates India for the loss of Iranian oil, its detrimental effect will be instantly seen in the prices of oil and gas inside the country. And all this will only help China to fill in the power void in Iran.

India’s Diplomatic Challenge and Conclusion

The biggest challenge India’s diplomacy faces in today’s scenario is how it can pull out its relationship with either without invoking the ire of the other. It has passed the era where it could sit in the corner and tell the belligerents that it has nothing to do with their fight. The recent bombing of the Israeli diplomat’s vehicle signifies that India now stand at a crossroad of its relationship with the outside world and its choices, in so far as its diplomatic space is concerned, are shrinking.

It success will depend on the extent to which it is able to secure its interest with both US and Iran without attracting accusation of betrayal from either side. It needs to channelise its lobbying better to appraise the US administration of Iran’s important but complex place in the region. In all honesty it must persuade the US to see Iran as a complex case caution it against adopting a monolithic approach. It should use its influence in American think-tanks and caucuses to help US develop a strategy that does not harm India’s interest vis-a-vis Iran.

Fortunately, there are increasing signs of that changing approach already. Obama’s warning against making ‘loose talk’ about a war with Iran is a step in the right direction. But that also means that US will rely more on sanctions to tame Iran and for that to work India needs to be on board. But India should not hesitate in making its compulsions and geostrategic interests known to the Americans and they should not impinge on it. All this needs a carefully devised nuanced policy that achieves as much as it can in such hostile environment with collateral damage. India could start by convincing the Obama administration that this is how a Smart Power really ought to work.

February 14, 2012

Syria on My Mind

It’s hard to ignore what is going on in Syria, and yet what is being done about it is inadequate to make competing groups inside the country relinquish bloodshed. Just like many others, I have been following the events unfold over different media outposts, but mostly through the web and TV. In my view, print and web coverage of the events is less one-sided than its TV coverage. Graphic images of the dead and the injured are being juxtaposed with weary reporters’ interviews of many who are caught in the crossfire as well as many who are causing it. Its hard to understand who are the rebels and who are the civilians.

When I was younger I was a huge fan of the western media news channels. I followed almost the entire invasion of Iraq through CNN and the BBC. I would devour them for hours. I even had a crush on a number of female anchors of BBC and one in particular from CNN. However, now my view of these channels’ claims of unbiased reporting have changed. I have realised how biased they are towards their government’s point of view and more and more they seem like western propaganda rather than news, a bit like India’s state television Doordarshan that spends hours telling its viewers what the PM or the President said during the day. They lack critical analysis of the issue(s) at hand. Although, I hold that the BBC still remains the most unbiased of them all. Its reporting is the least reflective of the British government official or unofficial position of international issues and its reporters give special emphasis on providing both sides of the story. Not so much with CNN.

A case in point is CNN’s coverage of the Syrian crisis. Before I analyse how CNN reported from the UN’s headquarter from New York, I must convey to the readers that unbiasness in reporting can have many manifestations. It could be giving less weight-age to a fact in the story that do no good to the official position, it could also include inviting guests that have sympathy towards only one aspect of the story or even just repeatedly reiterating what one side is saying. CNN is guilty of the latter. First of all, it’s interesting to note how American media seriously starts to pursue a story only when there has been an official statement from the US administration about it. The Syrian killings were nowhere to be seen on American media’s websites till the time Obama asked Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down, after which it was front page news. Overall, the changes one notices in American media’s attitude after a US president makes a statement are as follows:

  1. The number of reports about the issue see a massive rise
  2. It starts to appear somewhere on the main page of news websites or captures headlines on TV and newspapers
  3. They usually either reflect the America’s foreign policy establishment’s known viewpoint or the new tone the president has taken and sometimes it’s a mi of both
  4. America is shown as savior of humanity and its background role in instigating the crisis is often either ignored altogether or is not analysed critically
  5. The other side of the story is dismissed as the belligerent administration’s propaganda

When the UN voted last Monday on Syrian government’s fate, CNN repeatedly focused on US’ Ambassador’s to UN’s Sussan Rice’s remark, that she felt “disgusted” that China and Russia had VETOed a resolution which could have saved hundreds of lives (although, she conspicuously failed to mentioned how many would have died had US attacked the country, like in Libya). CNN, like a good daughter, got into the mode of reinforcing US’ official position that rebel groups in Syria are the only legitimate political and representative voice and that al-Assad should immediately step down to make way for them to form a democratic government. In other word’s CNN seemed to be endorsing US’ stance of a regime change even thought it didn’t say it explicitly.

CNN’s reporting of the Syrian crisis has mainly focused on the rebels killed my Syrian forces and no thought had been spared to focus on the origins of the rebel groups or from where they are getting weapons and support.

In contrast, the BBC has been pleasantly unbias – reporting things as they are on ground while also frequently reporting what Russian and Chinese views are on the issue. This neutrality is missing in CNN’s coverage. It seems to me as if CNN is almost going along with US’ demands of a regime change. And in all this diplomacy is nowhere to be seen (which I may also add is India’s official position – that diplomacy must take centre-stage. Different Syrian groups should be brought to the negotiating table and negotiations held for a change, not regime change).

Another channel that needs a mention here and without which this article would seem bias is the Moscow-based Russian state-funded RT, formerly Russia Today. To my mind RT can be summed up in two words – Putin’s mouthpiece. RT is purportedly financed by the Russian state and the channel can’t stop bragging about how well Russia is doing while only the most gloomy stories from the West, and in particular America, make it on-air on RT.

It’s coverage of Syria isn’t very balanced either, however, it provides the much needed ‘other’ point of view or the flip side of the story. It has highlighted Russia’s position in the Syrian conflict while highlighting the West’s hidden agenda behind its claim of humanitarian intervention, that of an evential regime change. Although, RT’s stand on the conflict may be motivated by Russia’s strategic interests in country, it has steadfastly defended Russia’s official viewpoint of the situation, all the while the western media was busy vigorously trying to paint Russia and China as the villains in the conflict, blocking a messianic West from intervening in what is actually a civil war. While there is genuine dissident in Syria against Asad’s regime, an over-simplistic western view with a focus on regime change has complicated the situation. Moreover, none of the western channel have spend any serious energy on investigating the flow of arms into rebel held cities like Homs and Aleppo. This is a serious flaw. The fact of the matter is that it’s almost impossible for the rebels to get arms to resists Asad’s marching tanks into their towns and cities without covert help. Since Russia has already sided with Asad in the conflict, its most likely rebels are being cheered by the west just like they were in Libya against Qaddafi, but the Western media has no time to report that. It is single-mindedly focused on chasing the rebels in their quest to rid Syria of Asad and in turn bring about an end to the conflict favourable only to the West – regime change!

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Daily Update: Dad(s) – Part 3

I told you this was going to be long, didn’t I? Father’s day this year has given me a lot to think about. Sorry if all of these posts are emotional, but it was all part of my growing up.

My grandfather came from Poland as a little boy. His father was Mike Adamski. During WWI (yes, one not two) the Poles were looked down upon in this country and Adamski Grocery was vandalized multiple times. Mike changed his last name to Adams and there were no more problems. Amazing how people didn’t realize it was still Mike that owned the place.

Grandpa did his time in WWII in the Navy. One of the jobs he described to me was going around after a brutal sea battle and taking a hook to fish out the dead bodies.

Once out of the Navy he married my Grandma. She’d been recently divorced from a man I never met. My Grandpa adopted my mom and raised her as his own. Never once did he even think she wasn’t. My mom called him dad until the day he died. I called him Grandpa until the day he died. He was a Pollack and my mom gave him a hard time for many years about that even when she married a Pollack.

Grandpa retired from the post office. He worked as a mail carrier for many years, then went on to be a mail handler. My Grandma worked at Honeywell and they both retired around the same time. Their plan was to move to McGregor to be around their grandkids as much as possible during their retirement and watch us grow up.

Well, if you read the past two posts, things fell apart with my mom and Loren and Jon and I moved off to live with my dad about a year or two after Grandma and Grandpa moved up.

Grandpa was the most patient person with Jon and I. He taught us how to fish and didn’t care if we made mistakes, dumped the bait bucket, lost lures. It didn’t matter what we did or what we caught as long as we were there with him. He had a pontoon that we would load up and watch fireworks on the Fourth of July from the lake and we’d BBQ and fish from the boat until late into the evening.

He’d give us jars and encourage us to catch fireflies. He would take us outside to walk the dogs on Christmas eve and we’d always miss when Santa would arrive and bring all the presents.

We lost Grandma only a few years into their retirement. She’d smoked and drank nearly her entire life until she started having heart trouble. Then she quit both cold turkey except for one beer a day per doctor’s orders. Where Grandma lacked height (around 4’6) Grandpa was huge! Around 6’6’ or 6’7’ and he weighed in around 350 pounds. When he lost her, it was as if he’d lost everything including the will to live. He carried on for many years, though. We only lost him a few years ago.

My mom’s husband, George, did everything for my Grandpa. I mean everything. He’d go over and they’d talk for hours, joke, laugh. I think it’s because of George that my Grandpa hung on for so long, but I’ll talk about George tomorrow.

Grandpa always called me ‘Pal’. I think he also called Jon, Pal when we’d call because he’d never know which one of us he was talking to. He and Jon would talk endless about sports. I wasn’t big into sports so I always found a way to talk about them with him because I knew he was so passionate about them. Grandpa would spend all day watching any sport that was on once Grandma passed away. It was his way to while away the hours as he waited, and waited, and complained, and waited.

Even without teeth he loved his steak. And ham, and all the meats he wasn’t supposed to eat but couldn’t find a way to avoid them unless my mom cooked for him and sent him heals he’d have to heat himself. During the winter my mom wouldn’t drive the ‘Floe’ road to go see him because the road was mostly ice so George would go out once a day just to check up on him, step on his oxygen hose, and help with anything he needed.

Until the day he found Grandpa on the floor in the bathroom. He’d had a major stroke, his eyes had gone white. Over the past few months he’d lost a lot of weight to the point of being gaunt. He faded quickly.

I flew home to see him. I went with my mom to the hospital room. The nurse tried to rouse him, but he wouldn’t wake up. I stood there, holding his hand, looking at the shadow of the man I’d known. A man that loved to hunt and fish, and just look at nature because it was there. His breathing labored, his pulse erratic. The nurse said he’d been awake and somewhat coherent that morning because she told him I was on my way to see him.

He sat up. He took a deep breath and looked me right in the eye. His eyes were white. Not gray, not colored in any way. They were white. His face relaxed when he was me and he laid back down and let that deep breath out.

I thought for sure that was it, but he started breathing again, slowly, but steady. His pulse still fluctuated up and down. My mom and I left after that. The nurse said he’d been like that the past couple of days and she’d call if anything happened.

Ma and I went to have a beer after that. Before she took a drink she pointed skyward and said, “Ma, it’s time to come and get dad.” We toasted to Grandpa and talked about other things to get our minds off of the events of the day.

The phone int he bar rang. The bartender looked at my mom and said. “It’s George.” The nurse had called to say that my grandpa had passed away about an hour after we left. My mom looked at the clock. It took us 40 minutes to get to the bar. 20 minutes we’d been there before the call. Had Grandma heard? I got a chill.

We cried, we signed, we were happy he was finally resting. I stayed home until after the funeral. He was buried with my Grandma. He received a 21 gun salute as his funeral for his service in the Navy. I still have one of those shells. George and I laid the headstone the following day.

My Grandpa loved ducks. Had pictures of them all over his house. When you walked in there was a painting of his old dog Duke, and a clock with ducks on it. It’s because of my grandpa that I’ll do that daily duck post. I know I joke about it, but it will happen 🙂

Until Tomorrow!

Posted on June 20, 2012, in Daily Update. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

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Whole60, Day 16

FINALLY, I have awoken (at 5:30 am! on my own!) with TIGER BLOOD! Finally!  I woke up before my 6 am alarm and proceeded to crank through a bunch of tasks and was somewhat bouncing around the house that day.  Paul complained that I stole his motivation.  If that’s true, I was totally fine with that.

It felt so good to finally have my motivation back; I had missed it.  Things were a bit of a struggle, although the physical cravings were gone, which was so nice.  I still have mental and social cravings: when I want food to, basically, stop from having to Feel the Feelings, but that’s one of the reasons I’m doing a Whole60 instead of a Whole30.  I am still having issues around nuts/nut butter filling in for other comfort food, and I need to address that.

I did still need an early evening nap, but I think that was due to not getting enough sleep the night before more than anything.

In keeping with the “laziest Whole30 ever”, I cooked some ground beef, threw in kale, and cabbage, some carrots and spices and called it lunch.  I also called it dinner as well.   I find that it’s actually so much easier to live this way when I’m not stressing about 80 new recipes a week, but I don’t think I would have gotten to this place if I hadn’t gone through the somewhat OCD Whole30 I did in May.

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Super smelling powers

You know how they say if you lack in one area, you exceed in another?  For example, we have Stevie Wonder, the blind musical master, he’s blind (like I said) yet his musical talents are unmet, it’s amazing. Another, less contemporary, hold on…  So I thought Beethoven cut off his ear, but that was Van Gogh, and then I thought he was deaf, but that was when he was much older…

Anyway, you get the point?  Well, since I am legally blind, no just short sighted with really bad vision, I believe I have gained a super smelling powers!  It’s true, I can smell everything, food, and tasting food, or the botanic gardens flowers from a mile away…

But having super smelling powers isn’t all that it seems.  I mean, smell isn’t all that important, having average smell doesn’t hinder our daily performance, and having enhanced smelling capabilities doesn’t have many benefits.  Though I have to say, having that pungent smell swooping in from an unknown destination is just so intriguing…

Though this is not a wish to have no sense of smell at all!  I enjoy nice scents…
Love from TWFamily,
Just Another Woo Girl
P.s.  Can’t stop listening to The Wanted and Bieber.

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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In honor of this Mexican holiday (and dinner party last night....oh, and strawberry season), I'm posting a Tres Leches cake that is TO - DIE - FOR.

This butter-free 'three milk cake' was surprisingly delightful and I loved every single bite.  It also received great reviews from last night's party-goers.  Yippee!

From the Pioneer Women's Tasty Kitchen, I made an itsy-bitsy change by doubling the whipped frosting.

The more fresh whipped cream, the better!

I also added a dash of vanilla to the frosting and chopped strawberries, but that's about it.

It sure was lovely.  This recipe is definitely a keeper.

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Friday, 18 October 2013

Leave your Diabetes At Home

I haven't written in a while. I couldn't. I didn't have the words to express how I felt. About diabetes. About how frustrating it can be. About how sometimes, it feels so hopeless to just continues on. About the ways it can impact on your life.

I have been PISSED OFF. Even that doesn't quite cover it.

I think it started with Japan. It started with the lows. It started with the highs. It started with the heat, with the nearly-full vials of insulin I threw away. It started with the more-than-regular set changes. It started with waking up all night for many nights with exercise induced lows. It started with cursing and blessing CGMs. It started with trying to do it all, do everything and get everything from Japan that I wanted to, but couldn't because sometimes diabetes elbowed and shoved its way to the start of my 'attention' line. You can't chastise diabetes like you would a rude customer who butts in ahead of you for service in a store, because diabetes can do so much worse than swear at you if you tell it to wait its damn turn.

I really can't forgive diabetes for Japan. I just wanted a trip away. Just a trip away. With Type 1 Diabetes, you can never have a trip away. It comes with you everywhere.

I did the right things. I had so many doctors appointments in the lead-up that thats all my diary consisteted off. I took an ENTIRE carry-on suitcase full of supplies, when I really could have used that space to smuggle back Pikachu. I bought CGMs, I wore CGMS. I planned.

In the end, it doesn't matter what you plan for because diabetes doesn't work to plans.

I think I broke at about the 15 day mark, in Nagasaki. When I went from 11 to 20 within 2 hours after yet another vial of insulin gave it up, exasperated in the heat. When all I wanted to do was go for a walk in the gardens. But I had to do a crazy tram dash back to the hotel to get some cool insulin from the fridge and lower my BGLs, get rid of the insane high headache and extreme nausea.

I couldn't forgive diabetes after that. I turned my back and played the 'I can't hear you' game until it prised my hands from ears and screamed straight into my face that I had yet another BGL of 20-something to treat. Which was about twice daily.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Japan. I had a ball. But the 3rd wheel of diabetes was not at all welcome.

I'm trying to pick myself back up now. I went to my educator's appointment on Monday with not a single reading written down. I hadn't saved a single BGL into my pump. I was wearing a sensor so my educator could at least look at that. She normally wears a happy face when she sees me. On Monday she had obviously visited the Happy Mask shop in Hyrule Castle Town and traded it for something much sadder.

I told her that I wasn't feeling particularly kindly-inclined towards my diabetes and I did't want to think about. She made lots of mumblings to herself and then changed my basal rates. Which I knew needed to happen, but I was too cranky to think about it.

Then to seal the deal that she wasn't happy, I was sent home with basal testing. Which I never do even though she's been asking me to for a year. While I'm cranky at diabetes, the last thing I want to do is starve myself for hours for it. But I had made the mistake of taking my boyfriend along because I was jealous that other betics sometimes have their support people with them and I never have mine, so I agreed to let him come. So he is trying to enforce basal testing. Not happy Ashleigh.

Working hard on becoming tolerant of Morty again, but I feel this may take awhile.

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Treat everyday as a new adventure

What’s New With You, Robert Pruneda?

Hi Rob!

And welcome once again to Karen’s Different Corners.

Hi Karen!

Thanks for joining the Devil’s Nightmare Halloween Blog Tour and hosting me on your site today. So, what’s new with me? Well, something you may not know is that I’m about to participate in National Novel Writing Month for the first time, so I’m a bit nervous about the idea of attempting to write 50,000 words in only 30 days. Wish me luck!

For fans of Devil’s Nightmare, I’m excited to announce that the sequel Devil’s Nightmare: Premonitions is now available worldwide in print and for Kindle and Kindle reading apps.

 Evil knows no boundaries.

 Sequel to the Amazon bestselling horror Devil’s Nightmare, Robert Pruneda brings fans of the first novel another horrific thriller full of twists, chills, and a shocking conclusion. Two years have passed since Aaron Sanders retired from the Austin Police Department after what the media has called The Saint Hedwig Massacre. He moves his family out of the capital city to start a new life as a small town cop in Lost Maples, Texas, where the population count is updated more often than the murder rate. That bit of reputation is about to change when Aaron is once again caught in the middle of a mysterious investigation that has an eerie familiarity. This time, however, he is certain what is responsible for the violent deaths . . . Or is he? Evil knows no boundaries and it is up to Aaron to figure out how to protect the residents of his community, and his family, from becoming its next victims.

Visit the book promotion page on Robert’s website

by clicking on the link below for all the sales channels:

Thank you Rob, for  sharing what’s new with you. I wish you much success with the sequel to Devil’s Nightmare!

And don’t worry about National Novel Writing Month, I’m sure you’ll do great.

And if you, my wonderful followers, have something new you’d like to share email me at kkrafts58@gmail.com

Till then: HUGS!

  1. This will be one of your best, Rob. Mush success to you.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I was honored to be one of the beta readers and even though I haven’t read the finished copy yet, it’s a great read!

  2. Well, I’d like to take a closer look. 🙂

    Anna from Shout with Emaginette

    Liked by 1 person

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Indiana Wesleyan University Support Knowledge Base

Adding eForm Links

Explains how to create the eForm link which then can be added to your content page.

After completing these steps, you should have a valid link to your eForm page which can be added to any of your content pages.

Creating the link to an eForm

  • Open a browser and go to
  • In the first box, type in A.NAME=xxxxx  where xxxxx is the name of your eForm.  Do not put quotes around the name or spaces before A.NAME.  This must be exact or it will not work.

  • Click ENCODE

  • Copy the text which appears in the second box.

  • Go to your content page in the portal and type in the following: /Pages/WebAdvisor.aspx?title=Form&pid=CORE-XWCEFRM1&EFA=  and then paste the text from above on the end of this.

  • Save and test your link.

Example for eForm Memo of Understanding:

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Common Misconceptions About Turkey

Most of the news that the Western world receives about Turkey is focused on the more conservative, eastern region of the country, or the violence surrounding border towns that are close to Syria, Iraq, or Iran. The truth is that Turkey is a diverse, secular country that has a wide spectrum of beliefs and cultures. Geographically its cultural landscape makes sense; with the eastern portion of the country that is closer to the Middle East, being more conservative, whereas the western cities that are located near Europe tend to be more liberal.

Here are some common misconceptions. Most of them having to do with women and their rights within an Islamic society.

All Women Wear Burqas

This is the most common question people have asked me before I move to Turkey, and although I’ve seen a small amount of women wearing burqas in Istanbul, the majority does not. I’ve seen plenty of women wearing hijab (head scarfs), but I’ve also seen an equal amount of women without one. The hijab issue is a sensitive topic in modern Turkey, because some people believe that the wearing of a hijab represents regression that could lead to a more traditional Islamic country. Here is an insightful article from BBC News about this issue.

Women Do Not Have Rights

Unlike Saudi Arabia, there are no restrictions for women, including the right to drive. I personally get heart palpitations crossing the street, so I don’t think I would have the slightest desire to drive in Turkey, but I’ll save that for another post.

Men Have Multiple Wives

Polygamy was outlawed by Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, over 75 years ago to help elevate the status of Turkish women. Some men in smaller Eastern villages do have multiple wives, but it’s not recognized by the government. Here is an article from The Economist that goes into more detail about polygamy and Turkey.

Turkey Is A Dangerous Country

There are parts in this country in the East where it would be in your best interest not to go to, especially the towns bordering Syria. Saying that, Western and Central Turkey is perfectly safe. Regarding personal safety and petty crime, I’ve never felt threatened, but then again I don’t walk around in dark alleys looking for trouble. Honestly I’ve felt parts of San Francisco were more dangerous than here, but of course common sense goes a long way anywhere in the world.


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Lebanon has finally elected a new president, Michel Aoun, of the Christian sect. This situation has resolved a several year crisis of no candidate being able to gain enough votes to achieve the presidency. Mr. Aoun is a controversial figure, however, with ties to Hezbollah and having made peace with Lebanon’s enemy Syria in the past. All of these personal situations are a drop in the bucket when put into context with the problems facing the state of Lebanon.

Lebanon, while not having a president for several years, has faced a frustrating situation as Syria’s civil war grinds on. The country currently has a third of its population as refugees from Syria – 1.5 million individuals. Most of the citizens of Lebanon want for the removal of these refugees. Lebanon’s situation is precarious since the civil war in Syria has only haphazardly spilled across into Lebanon’s lands. Lebanon has faced ongoing struggles between the different religious factions that continue to aggravate that includes garbage collection.

Lebanon’s problems also exist within a regional context. Lebanon is caught in the midst of a regional power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Mr. Aoud as president does not meet the Saudi’s desires for presidency as well as Iran’s choice. But Iran has gained a victory by seeing that Lebanon has denied Saudi influence in the country through the picking of Mr. Aoud. These tension all create a dangerous, precarious position for Aoud and his fellow Lebanese citizens. While parliament may have picked a president, they did little else and may have pushed the deadlock over selecting a president down to the creating of a government to run the country.

Picture taken from Pinterest


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UK Notes: Jones gets on the glass

Terrence Jones' injured finger hampered his offensive game against Louisville on Saturday, so the Kentucky forward said he instead committed himself to becoming a physical rebounder against the Car...

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Archive for March, 2015

An Introduction To x64_dbg

Posted: March 20, 2015 in Uncategorized

Author: Chester Fritz

Description: Welcome to this short, introductory tutorial for using x64_dbg by Mr. Exodia. The goal of this tutorial is to teach you some of the fundamentals of the x64_dbg and show you how closely its features and flexibility resembles its close cousin Ollydbg.While x64_dbg is still in an alpha stage, its bugs are minor and few with only a crash happening under unlikely conditions.

Full article:


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Archive for the ‘Chal9. Ransomware Challenge’ Category

Rule: Decrypt File (EXE)

Run target to get basic information:

Figure 1

Let’s open the target in OllyDBG, search all referenced text strings, we’ll get like this:

Figure 2

Follow 0x0044A775 address and set BP at 0044A792 |. FF15 B8C04400 call dword ptr [<&MSVCR100.scanf>]; \scanf:

Figure 3

Press F9 to run and input any key you like, then press enter, we’ll back to OllyDBG:

Figure 4

After target gets the input key, next it calculates the input key length:

Figure 5

Next, it opens the file whose name is specified in the parameter filename and mode is rb (read, binary file):

Figure 6

This target opens file that named file in the same directory to read in binary mode, then gets character from stream and stores to the buffer at 0x5415B8 address:

Figure 7

Compare values store at the buffer with the file content is opened with WinHex, we have the same values:

Figure 8

Next, we will see the snippet that use the input key to decrypt the values are stored at the 0x5415B8 address. Let’s see how decryption routine performs:

Figure 9

This is the pseudo-code for the snippet:

For (i=0; i< sizeof(file); i++)
	FileContent[i] = FileContent[i] ^ InputKey[i] ^ 0xFF;

The decryption result:

Figure 10

Next, reopen file in write mode:

Figure 11

The next snippet takes each value from the buffer and writes back to file:

Figure 12

Content of file after write back:

Figure 13

Because the rule of this challenge is Decrypt File (EXE), so we know that the file after decrypt will be a normal exe file. As we know, the normal exe file has the valid PE header same as the picture bellow:

Figure 14

We also have the decryption algorithm in the previous analysis: FileContent[i] = FileContent[i] ^ InputKey[i] ^ 0xFF; so FileContent[i] must equal 0x4D, 0x5A, 0x90, etc. To find the InputKey we only need to do: ValidPEHeader[i] ^ FileContent[i] ^ 0xFF = InputKey[i]. Summarize we have calculation table like this:

Validheader[i] operator Filecontent[i] operator default value inputkey[i]
0x4D ^ 0xDE ^ 0xFF 0x6C (l)
0x5A ^ 0xC0 ^ 0xFF 0x65 (e)
0x90 ^ 0x1B ^ 0xFF 0x74 (t)
0x00 ^ 0x8C ^ 0xFF 0x73 (s)
0x03 ^ 0x8C ^ 0xFF 0x70 (p)
0x00 ^ 0x93 ^ 0xFF 0x6C (l)
0x00 ^ 0x9E ^ 0xFF 0x61 (a)
0x00 ^ 0x86 ^ 0xFF 0x79 (y)
0x04 ^ 0x98 ^ 0xFF 0x63 (c)
0x00 ^ 0x97 ^ 0xFF 0x68 (h)
0x00 ^ 0x9A ^ 0xFF 0x65 (e)
0x00 ^ 0x8C ^ 0xFF 0x73 (s)
0xFF ^ 0x73 ^ 0xFF 0x73 (s)
0xFF ^ 0x6C ^ 0xFF 0x6C (l)
0x00 ^ 0x9A ^ 0xFF 0x65 (e)
0x00 ^ 0x8B ^ 0xFF 0x74 (t)

Code in C:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main()
    unsigned int valid_PE[16] = {0x4D, 0x5A, 0x90, 0x00, 0x03, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x00};
    unsigned int encrypted_PE[16] = {0xDE, 0xC0, 0x1B, 0x8C, 0x8C, 0x93, 0x9E, 0x86, 0x98, 0x97, 0x9A, 0x8C, 0x73, 0x6C, 0x9A, 0x8B};
    unsigned int defVal = 0xFF, i = 0;
    unsigned char key[16] = {0};

    for (i=0; i<16; i++)
        key[i] = valid_PE[i] ^ encrypted_PE[i] ^ defVal;

    printf("The decrypt key is: %s \n", key);
    return 0;

Okay, we have the decrypt key is: letsplaychess. Run program and input key we will have the decrypt file. Let’s rename file to add the exe extension. Use RDG Packer Detector to check file:

Figure 15

Ohhh, it’s packed by UPX. Using UPX to unpack file:

Figure 16

After unpack successful, run file to get the key:

Figure 17


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Tag Archives: Commercial TV

European TV Organization Licensed “The Killen Report” TV Show

The world wide European producer and distributor of TV programs, dev.TV  has  licensed ‘The Killen Report’ TV program. It joins a growing number of commercial TV and  PEG TV stations across the US that have done that. Dev.tv  distributes programming … Continue reading

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The Sunday Night Blues

4 Jul

I’m sure this is something most people have experienced. It’s a Sunday night; you’ve been out for a few the night before and slept it off all day Sunday.

If you’re morning self had known how you’re evening self would feel, they wouldn’t have slept for so long.

But now you’re wide awake. Nothings on the telly – it’s a Sunday night after all. You’ve read all the papers… and it’s 2 in the morning. You have work the next day.

Everyone in the right mind is asleep. It’s a hot summers night and you’re tossing and turning. Lonely, and irritable.

Last night I had the Sunday blues and decided that the best thing to do would be to lose myself in Dracula’s modern day world through The Historian.

I kept telling myself that I would feel better the next day, and the mixture of a hangover and insomnia will have lifted. I’d worn high heals too painful to walk in and had a slight slippage. When I say ‘slight’, my mum who’s a nurse took one look at my injured leg and said, “I feel sick”.

Now it’s a Monday morning and I’ve made my Sunday self numerous promises that I won’t put myself through that again… No huge sleep in, no ridiculous heals and no wine.

From now on I’ll make lovely plans for Sunday evenings, keep Horlicks in the cupboard for that dreaded insomnia and spend my Saturday evenings researching Dickens.

But try telling next Saturdays self that, I’m sure she’ll find that amusing.

One Response to “The Sunday Night Blues”

  1. hannahb21 July 14, 2011 at 9:55 am #

    Totally afree with everything in this blog! we’ve all been there Saturday night self has a great time, sunday morning self gets annoyed saturdays self ruined sunday!

    such a bittersweet day… chilled sunday roast, maybe a nice walk with the dog but work the next day and sometimes tiny issue of a horrific hangover.

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Global Fears over Europe’s debt crisis lead to liquidity

1 Dec

In an attempt to support the global financial system, The US Federal Reserve has slashed the cost of dollar liquidity on Wednesday, making short-term loans from the European Central Bank around half the amount lower in interest.

Along with other central banks, the co-ordinated move is aimed to avoid further calamities in the global financial system.

The conversion from euros to dollars had reached a record high since the collapse of the Lehman Brothers, and there has been a stigma attached to borrowing from the ECB. Wednesday’s move has shifted the Fed’s swap lines by half, from 100 to 50 basis points, and it is hoped this will encourage bidders.

The central banks’ recognised that liquidity may not solve all of Europe’s problems, such as a possibility of a “credit crunch”, but will be a progressive step forward. Since the European crisis has spread to other countries such as the US, they are acting to help ease the problems to come.

Emerging markets have also showed signs of an attempt to soften Europe’s financial blow, with China saying it would provide its first deposit cut in three years, so banks will pay a reserve of 20 per cent, rather than 21.5 per cent. Their main worry is the threat to economic growth.

Erik Nielson, chief economist at UniCredit outlined how the co-ordinated move will only help the surface issue: “You will buy some insurance against a big, ugly accident, which would be a big bank failure or multiple small failures. But it doesn’t solve the main problem.”

Tony Crescenzi, a strategist at Pimco, thinks Europe needs to take charge of its problems:

“The provision of liquidity is no substitute for other actions that Europe must take to solve its woes. The world continues to wait on European actions on fiscal rules, discipline and enforcement, as well as use of the balance sheet that matters most: The European Central Bank.”

So what else is the ECB considering to curb their crisis?

Many economists think they should up their bond buying programme, setting limits on government bond yields.

Whilst the government is not showing readiness for this move at the moment, the Financial Times suggests they will soon change their mind.

An action they will be partaking in is making sure politicians are meeting expectations in order to help solve the epidemic.

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>Vegetable Garden New and Improved

My last cold season garden didn’t happen- mainly because the sides of my vegetable garden beds were caving in towards each other.  It made me unhappy every time I went out there which meant I went out less and less.  Finally, John took pity on me and rebuilt it.  We even improved it by making a pass through path at the back of the garden.  So now, instead of looking like beds in the shape of an “E”, it looks like a “U” with an “I” ticked in the middle.

Dirt got put back in, then I reinstalled the drip irrigation and micro-sprinklers, taking care to bury the tubing below the new pass through path.  Then we reinstalled the two 16′ long cattle panel trellises.  I will never garden without these things again- they are such space savers when you can have cucumbers, beans, squash, etc growing up them.

Finally it was time to plant.  Tomatoes, ancho pepper, tricolor pole beans, japanese and pickling cucumbers, Italian squash, and tomatillos.  Perhaps space for an few okra in a few weeks. My last step is to add the mulch back, but I am finding it humorous to see what seeds the dirt turnover is revealing- lots of volunteer tomato plants and even marigold seeds from a year ago.

Those little red and white cups you see in the photos are for protection against cutworm- the love to get my hopes up as the plant gets settled and then dash them by coming along and severing the whole plant off.  A simple cup or even the 4″ nursery pot with the bottom cut out and placed around the plant will protect from them.  And I used cupcake cups to put around the Italian squash plant stems.  This has the added bonus of keeping the moth from laying the squash vine borer eggs deep around the stem at ground level.  They are easier to find higher up on the plant.  Squash vine borer…my nemesis…grrrr.  So my new weapons, cupcake cups and Bt powder.  And every few days I go out and crush any eggs I find between my fingernails.  Funny, you can even see a tomato volunteer coming up next to the squash plant with the white cup around it.

Here’s the view from the back looking out at both gates.  See how John built the nice high beds for me so when I’m old I can still be the gardener lady on the block with plenty of cucumbers to offer neighbors?  So sweet.

>Nature’s Best Home Protection System

I noticed our cactus has been rented out. There was a nest well hidden in the middle of the cactus.

 I got up close enough to snap a picture of the eggs…and to also get a shot of prickers into the backside of my shorts. Ouch!  Mom saw me and did a few fly-bys to warn me off.  I don’t think I need the additional warning.

Potatoes and Pole Beans Take Off

First graders have really been busy in the garden these last few weeks.  One of the first things the first graders do on every visit to the garden is Observation Time.  First, they read the temperature.  Next, they spend some time observing changes in the garden…and right now, the changes are happening fast.  These students have seen bluebonnets sprout, flower, get pollinated and now grow seeds, all in the last few weeks.  Insects are really coming out now so the students get to see bees, caterpillars, spiders and more.  We saw our first black swallowtail caterpillar in the garden this week as well, along with two baby caterpillars, happily munching on fennel.

Did all of the parents out there know that the first graders know how to grow potatoes?  Each class has a potato tower in which they have 4-5 potato plants growing.  Every week, a few students are the potato crew, watering the plants gently. But in the last few weeks, we have seen some phenomenal growth so we are now busy mounding mulch around our potato stems to encourage the formation of the potatoes.

While the potato crew waters, other students make observations, checking to see if we need to add mulch or this week, noticing new flowers on some of the potato plants.
In addition to all of these other great things to watch in the garden, we have been keeping an eye on our zinnia and pole bean seeds that we planted.  Well, the beans have sprouted and boy, are they growing fast.  So we have started charts to record their growth, turning our weekly measurements into a bar chart that shows us easily which weeks have the fastest growth. We will keep adding to the bar charts until our last week in the garden, only four weeks away!

>Master Gardener class coming soon!

>Many of you know that I am a Master Gardener in Travis County.  I am very happy that I took the class and became involved with this wonderful organization.  Not only does it feed my passion for gardening in so many ways, but I have been introduced to some of the most amazing people who have become wonderful friends as well as colleagues.

The 2011 Master Gardener class is coming up soon and the application process is fast approaching.  If you have any interest in possibly taking this class, click here  for more info on the process.

 Here’s a little bit about the program from the Extension blog:
Have you always wondered just who exactly are the Travis County Master Gardeners and how their title is earned?

The Master Gardeners are volunteers who support the efforts of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service through community education in horticulture.  These dedicated people devote a significant amount of time volunteering in our community. Have you ever called our Extension office in Travis County or sent us an email and asked a horticultural question? Chances are, a very knowledgeable Master Gardener assisted you.

Before becoming Master Gardeners, these folks must attend a very rigorous, but enjoyable, training program. Offered a maximum of once per year in Travis County, this program provides training in such topics as basic horticulture/botany; native and adapted plants; plant pathology; entomology and integrated pest management; tree care; lawn care; and many others.
Hope to see some of you at future MG meetings!


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To Castiglione Della Pescaia (Tuscany 2012 #1)

Picture of Toscane in September 2007 - Nathan Vennekens - Kloppendhard

Yeah! It’s the last Friday of September, the start of our holiday in Italy (south of Toscane). Me and my wife go to Tuscany every year since 2008, mostly for a wedding of one of my wife’s family members. Her family lives in and around the beautiful city of Firenze (Florence).

Rating hotel am stadthaus - Neuenberg - Germany

A night in Neuenburg
Last year, we also visited the Italian Riviera with the small and colourful sunny villages around the Italian coast. It’s possible to drive to Tuscany (from Holland) directly. But we only could leave after work. That’s why we made a stop-over in Germany first. Just a few kilometers from the Swiss border, we stayed at the hotel “Am stadthaus” in Neuenburg am Rhein. The environment, in the Schwarzwald area, is beautiful. Neuenburg itself didn’t impress us much but it’s a good place for a stop-over. Hotel Am Stadthaus is simpel but clean, but it’s a bit old and you can hear some noise from the surrounding rooms. It didn’t bother us. The breakfast is okay with fresh fruit and bread. I rate this hotel with a 7 out of 10.

Breakfast hotel am Stadthaus - Neuenburg - Germany - September 2012

Traffic Jam
After breakfast, we hit the road for the second part of the ride to Castiglione della Pescaia (900 km to go). After driving for 1,5 hours, we were stuck in a traffic jam of 10 KM (2 hours of waiting). The weather was also really bad, with thunder and heavy rain. But when we arrived at our hotel (Rosella) after a 10 hour drive, it was warm and dry.

Restaurant La Fortezza
We could eat a horse and went to our first restaurant experience of this popular seaside village. We used Tripadvisor, and a tip from the hotel owner to navigate. We ended up at restaurant: La Fortezza. It’s located in a small street in the middle of the medieval city centre. It was warm enough to sit outside!

Seafood Snacks
We tried a fish appetizer (five different seafood snacks) and for the main course we had mixed grilled fish. The appetizer was nice but the main course a little too simple and overpriced. We shared a creamy and nice mascarpone dessert. The service of this restaurant is spontaneous and friendly, but also a bit unprofessional. We rate this restaurant with a 6 out of 10.

2 thoughts on “To Castiglione Della Pescaia (Tuscany 2012 #1)

  1. Pingback: Not so Sunday (Tuscany 2012 #2) | kloppendhard

  2. Pingback: White sandy beach (Tuscany 2012 #3) | kloppendhard

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Home > Uncategorized > Krzysztof Ziarek “The Limits of Life”

Krzysztof Ziarek “The Limits of Life”

Ziarek, Krzysztof 2011. The Limits of Life. Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities 16(4): 19-30.

The bind between the anthropological conception of the human being and the anthropocentric notion of reality relies on the articulation of the human as a rational animal, that is, as an animal form of life endowed with reason. (20)

Heidegger’s still insufficiently understood point is that, even if technology – technological products, processes, transformations, etc. – can be understood as anthropological, produced by humans, what is at work in technology, namely the momentum driving modern science and its simultaneous development and reliance on technological advances, does not originate simply in the human and cannot be explained in terms of human production. (20)

Four Seminars provides the following gloss on the enframing (Ge-stell): „In the Ge- one hears the gathering, the unification, the bringing together of all the modes of positing [stellen]. Let us be more precise about the positing. Heidegger says: the meaning of positing is here that of a challenging. It is in this sense that one can say: ‘‘Nature is set upon [hin gestellt] to yield energy’’ or nature is compelled [gezwungen] to deliver its energy. The meaning is that of being held to something, whereby that which is held to something is at the same time forced to adopt a certain form, to play a role, a role to which it is henceforth reduced. Nature, held to delivering its energy, henceforth appears as a ‘‘reserve of energy.’’ (75) (21)

Since for Heidegger animals are not capable of Dasein, this means that Heidegger’s discourse on animality, even if it tries to avoid hierarchy or teleology, remains based on the notion of privation: ‘‘Thus, no hierarchy, no teleology, neither finalism nor mechanicism, and the grand tradition of the Aristoteliansteresis,of privation’’ (Animal, 156). This privation means here that animals are seen to be deprived of three key capacities: world, logos, and finitude, and that these animal ‘‘deficiencies’’ solidify the uncrossable limit between the human and the animal in Heidegger’s thought. (23)

What is clear is that Heidegger keeps a double perspective on the relation between the human and the animal: if one thinks the difference between the human and animals within the spectrum of living beings, as Derrida proposes, then the animal mode of behavior appears as privation (lack of world but also lack of work, laboring, etc.). Yet if one looks at this difference from the perspective of Dasein and the question of being – and not of living beings – that is, from the perspective of being and not of beings, then this difference is not privation but rather being able to do without, perhaps even being able to spare. In later Heidegger,Gelassenheithas something of this tenor, as it bespeaks a critique of making, laboring, manipulating, which indicates that, as a relation to being, Dasein happens as a letting go of the priority of the technical comportment to being. (23)

[…] I want nonetheless to call into question the ‘‘privilege’’ or priority which Derrida’s thought continues to extend to living, life, and living beings. For it appears that, in Derrida, ethics coincides with the realm of the living, no longer affording priority to human beings but, nonetheless, operative within the sphere of the living. Is ethics inescapably bound with life, limited to beings that can be said to be alive, and thus exclusive of beings that cannot claim the status of the living? (24)

Does an ethics need to be based on the notion of the face, which, as Derrida shows, can be extended to animals but certainly fails to include non-living beings? (24)

While ‘‘world’’ is a complex and evolving notion throughout Heidegger’s work, I want to highlight here the way in which the thought of Da-sein (the term denotes ‘‘existence’’ in German but hyphenated by Heidegger comes to refer idiomatically to ‘‘being-there’’ as characteristic of the human mode of being) from the start moves the emphasis away from life to the import of the nonhuman and the non-living (world, being, event) in understanding the human. (25-26)

In this context Da-sein (being-there), where the hyphen marks precisely the site (Da) of the relation to being (Sein), refers to the clearing or lightening (Lichtung) as the opening out into the

dimension which can then be spanned by humans. Understood this way, Dasein, as Heidegger put it in Mindfulness, is in its unfolding (Wesen), in its becoming essential, non-human: ‘‘Da-sein is not man but that through which the ‘dehumanization’ [Entmenschung] of man (the overcoming of the ‘historical’ animal) becomes possible, since Da-sein above all provides beforehand the site for the exposedness of man unto being…Da-sein is not just the ground of man’’ (Mindfulness 186). (26)

Heidegger’s is a thinking which proceeds by way of a certain ‘‘topology’’ of sites and the relatedness they open and span, rather than being primarily determined by or limited to beings. This is why Dasein is not about beings to begin with, whether living or non-living, but about being, which needs to be thought for Heidegger in terms of the event (das Ereignis) and not life. This site marked as the Da happens as the between opening the dimensionality and meting out the relations configuring the world, the between irreducible either to the non-living or to the living: it is the meting out of the span of their (un)folding. (26)

It is because of this emphasis on being – over and beyond beings – that Heidegger undertakes repeated critique of life, living beings (Lebewesen) and lived experience (Erlebnis). Key to understanding this ‘‘critique’’ of life is the distinctive manner in which Heidegger thinks mortality primarily not in relation to living and its unavoidable cessation but instead by way of openness of Da-sein to the singular and one-time occurrence (event) of the world. (26)

Mortality in this context refers not so much to the cessation of life as it does to the attunement

(Stimmung) to the Da, that is, to the specific event of the dimensioning of the mirror-play of the world. It allows for the experience of the folding as differential binding, a breaking open of the between in its mirroring continuation and renewed meting out. It is the experience of the temporal and the spatial afforded to this „between’“ which never becomes a separation or a cut. Mortality marks humans in a way that allows them to be on occasion in tune with this time-space, the dimensionality, of the event of the world, that is, it lets them do the spanning, as Heidegger puts it. In other words, the Da marks the site of the human care for being, and thus also for any and all beings. (26)

Ethics in Heidegger’s sense would not be about relations among beings but about the ethos of the event, that is, about the possibility of dwelling in the site (Da) of the relation to being. Such ethos breaks out not only of the human–animal relation but also the circle of living beings, contextualizing beings, living and non-living, within the broader expanse of the world and its each time singular and one-time event. (27)

Heidegger claims here that the techno-scientific development, which has led to the distinct possibility of annihilating the globe, has been possible because the experience of things has been proscribed for the benefit of developing the facility of manipulating, altering, and profiting from objects, materials, and resources. This is why things have not yet been able to appear as things, which means that they have always already been annihilated, appeared as nil, as non-things: objects, entities, resources. The surprising concern for things takes center stage, as Heidegger delivers perhaps the most thought-provoking remark in the essay, stating that the possibility of physical annihilation is ‘‘only the grossest of all gross confirmations of the long-since-accomplished annihilation of the thing’’ (168). (27-28)

Crucial to my point here is this juxtaposition between things and living beings, the numbing numbers of living beings vs. the rare manifestation of things. The hint we might read in these lines is that it is precisely the thinking of living beings, and especially the calculus of the living, as in, for instance, ‘‘human resources,’’ that blocks the experience of the thing. This experience of the thing in its ‘‘thinging’’ is related to the opening of the world: ‘‘Men alone, as mortals, by dwelling attain to the world as world. Only what conjoins itself out of the world becomes a thing’’ (180). Mortality allows world to attain world by way of letting things be things, and thus, in their thinging, stay the world. (28)

One could say that it is perhaps for the sake of living beings, that is, for the sake of their survival, that, paradoxically, the centrality of living has to be called into question. Yet this transformation is important not only for the sake of living beings or even for the sake of all other beings but for the sake of being. This is the moment which marks Heidegger’s departure from human-centric models of experience, as the human being becomes reinscribed as only a part of the site of relation to being, that is, as participating in the always and primarily more than human or living Da-sein. And such a radical shift away from the priority of the interhuman, the relations among living beings or even inanimate beings can occur by the displacement of the concern from beings to being, that is, to the worlding, the onefolding and infolding (Einfalt) of the world in its spatio-temporal dimensionality. It is with things, with world and the non-human, that is, with attending to being in its event, never reducible to or even con-figurable through the prism of beings, let alone of the living, that human existence unfolds, tracing the relatedness of the event and the mirroring of the non-living and the living. (29)

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You may be forgiven for thinking these are last week's British sales charts reprinted for the sake of convenience. They are not. It's just looks that way, what with the top five games barely moving.

See for yourself. Same games, give or take a couple. The only breaths of fresh air to be found are a couple of strong debuts for House of the Dead on Wii and the 360 version of FEAR 2.

[British individual format charts courtesy of ChartTrack] [Image]


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Police News

Written by Larry Crippen. Posted in Local News, News

Tagged: , , , , ,

Police News

Published on May 13, 2014 by Larry Crippen

In Huntsville Police news, on the day shift last Friday police investigated the case of a possibly known suspect threatening a victim with a weapon in the 1000 block of Martin Luther King. A wallet was found in a pond in the 2700 block of Montgomery Road.

On the night shift Friday, a residential burglary was reported in the 2500 block of Lake Road.

On the day shift Saturday a known suspect was reported to have run a person off the road in the 900 block of I-45 South.

On Saturday’s night shift, a unknown suspect intentionally set fire to a structure in the 1600 block of Sycamore Avenue.

On the night shift Sunday, a vehicle burglary was investigated in the 900 block of Whistler Lane. And, eighteen-year-old Jordan Ernst was arrested for burglary of a habitation in the 2400 block of Lake Road.

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Latest News

Caregiver accused of pregnant quadriplegic Glendale woman, unborn child

(Flickr/houstondwiPhotos mp)

PHOENIX — A caregiver who was also a pregnant quadriplegic woman’s boyfriend “did absolutely nothing” to save her life before she died in 2014, a prosecutor said while urging a judge to set a high bond for the man.

Video was released Friday from Andres Bohn Reyes’ initial appearance in Maricopa County Superior Court on Wednesday, the same day he was arrested on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder and one of vulnerable adult abuse.

The 28-year-old Reyes, who appeared in court without an attorney, remained jailed Friday.

A probable-cause statement said Reyes, now a Phoenix resident, lived in a Glendale apartment with 22-year-old Bridget Charlebois as her boyfriend and was her employed caregiver.

Deputy County Attorney George Kelemen Jr. said in court a probable-cause statement didn’t specify the cause of Bridget Charlebois’ death. But Kelemen said an autopsy and further investigation determined she died because Reyes failed to provide assistance or get help.

“Despite all of this she languished and died while he was present and did absolutely nothing,” Kelemen said.

As her personal attendance, Reyes was “the lifeline between a completely incapacitated quadriplegic and whatever care and assistance she may require,” Kelemen said.

The probable-cause statement quoted Reyes as saying he didn’t know what to do when Charlebois fell ill or refused treatment.

Kelemen said Reyes was accused of abusing a vulnerable adult because he allegedly shot Charlebois with a BB gun that fired plastic pellets at least twice in late 2013 “for no apparent therapeutic or reason whatsoever.”

Andres Bohn Reyes responded by saying, “A lot of that was untrue, to be honest.”

The judge, Commissioner Kenneth Skiff, then cut off Reyes, saying his statements could be used against him later in court.

Kelemen asked Skiff to set bond at $500,000 “for the complete callousness for the value of human life.”

Skiff set bond at $250,000.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Deer in Metallics (VOSP Day 3)

Hello, everyone!  Welcome to Day 3 of the Visions of Sugar Plums blog hop! This is the final day of the hop!  If you missed the first two days, here are links for Day 1 and Day 2. You won't want to miss any of the Christmas and winter inspiration!  And there are prizes too!  Keep reading to find out how you could win!

My Project
Today I'm sharing three versions of the same clean and simple (CAS) card: one in silver, one in gold, and one copper. Do you have a favourite?

I die-cut the Leaping Deer in all three metallics and then cut three more out of white craft foam. I adhered the craft foam to the back of each deer to give them some dimension. I stamped the various snowflake stamps with Versamark on the diagonal and heat-embossed them on a 4" x 5.25" panel in each of the three metallics. I adhered each die-cut deer along with a variety of coordinating sequins. The embossed panels were then backed with white craft foam and mounted on white A2 card bases.

Here are photos of each individual card:

I followed the same design to finish off the inside of each card, in the coordinating metallic. Here is a photo of the silver one. The sentiment reads, "Dashing through the snow to send you holiday wishes," which I thought went perfectly with the leaping deer.

Products used:
  • Die: Memory Box Leaping Deer
  • Stamps: Snowflakes (Your Next Stamp Winter Wishes, Newton's Nook Frozen Friends, Newton's Nook Newton's Curious Christmas), sentiment (unmarked clear stamp set from China)
  • Ink: Versamark
  • Embossing powder:  The Artful Stamper (silver, gold, copper)
  • Metallic cardstock:  3 Birds Design (silver, gold), Artist's Vision (copper)
  • Other: Sequins from my stash

Blog Hop
My blog is the LAST stop of the blog hop, so please follow this order:

Lori Hairston (Host)
KT Fit Kitty (you are here)

Thank you to our generous sponsors:
Birch Press Design: $20 gift certificate
Lawn Fawn: $25 gift certificate
Paper Sweeties: $25 gift certificate
Pretty Pink Posh: $25 gift certificate
The Cutting Café : Orange You Cute Kit
The Funkie Junkie Boutique: $25 worth of new Tim Holtz Christmas Idea-ology Products
The Twinery: Sample Pack

How do you win the prizes? Easy! Comment, comment, comment! Comment here on my blog and then comment on all the other stops on the hop. For every comment you make during Visions of Sugar Plums, your name will be added for a chance to win one of our prizes. The more blogs on which you comment, the better your chances! One comment per blog please. All winners will be chosen randomly and announced by Lori Hairston of Chouxchoux Paper Art, our hop host, so please make sure you comment on her blog too! Tell her that Kitty sent you!

Lori is also hosting a Visions of Sugar Plums Challenge, to which I will be linking my project! The theme is Christmas/winter, and the linky is open now, until Saturday, December 17.

The prize for this challenge is a $25 gift certificate to Freckled Fawn. Winner is chosen  through random selection by InLinkz.

One more look at my cards...

I was inspired by the Marvellous Metallics challenge at Memory Box!

I would also like to support these fun challenges: 613 Avenue Create AG Optional Twist Holiday Happiness 4/8; Allsorts CAS 1/3; Card Mania AG 3/3; Cardz TV AG Designer Challenge #5 3/3; CAS on Sunday Christmas 1E; Christmas Cards All Year Round AG Christmas/Holiday 3/5; Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Vintage or AG Christmas UE; Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra December UE; Deep Ocean Santa Claus is Coming to Town UE; DL.ART December Linky UE 1/day; Dragonfly Journeys Christmas Critters UE; Fab n Funky Christmas UE; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Love to Scrap Winter Wonderland 1/5; Not Just Cards November AG UE; Robyn's Fetish Square or Rectangle Cards 2/3; Sasayaki Glitter Christmas 3/3; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday AG 4/5; Sparkle N Sprinkle AG with Loose Glitter, Embossing Powder or Flocking UE; Stamped Blessings heARTful stamping challenge AG (no digis) 2/2; Sweet Stampin' Let it Snow 3/3; The Artistic Stamper Christmas and Rubber Stamping 2/3; The Cat's Pajamas Snow UE; The House That Stamps Built WIW November Anything Goes; Time Out Christmas with Optional Glitter/Shimmer UE; Through the Craftroom Door AG 1/2; Wednesday's Creative Inspirations Christmas UE; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk 258 5/5

Thank you for looking at my cards! Happy hopping, and I wish you a joyful day!

P.S. For those of you following the adventures of my elf Eli, I have a photo to share! Eli has a new friend! Can you find Eli? He is tiny compared to this elf that we spotted at a nearby gas station. With this photo, Eli is joining his other elf friends at the 4th Annual Elf Antics Linky at DL.ART! Hope to see you there too!

  1. Kitty, your metallic deer are so elegant - I think all of them are beautiful and I couldn't choose a favorite. Funny about the elf, my daughter teaches 4th grade and the principal came in her class and asked if they found the elf and they got so excited so they were searching for days. So this past weekend she had to break down and by an Elf on the Shelf because of that. So on her way home on Sunday she was stopping at the school to hide the elf for Monday morning.

  2. Love these cards, Kitty - and it's hard to choose a favourite! I love the inside, too - especially that lovely sentiment! Beautiful! x

  3. Hello Kitty!
    Thanks so much for your visit- lovely comment! <3
    I have to say, even though I am usually a strictly silver girl, your gold card is just stunning and may be turning me! LOL
    These all 3 have turned out gorgeous Well done!
    Jackie ")

  4. They are all gorgeous Kitty. I love everyone of them.

  5. Love them all Karen, great CAS cards... Oh and with DT hat on, thanks for entering in my challenge theme of CAS over at Allsorts Challenges.xx{aNNie}

  6. How can anyone choose they are all equally gorgeous. Beautiful design.

  7. Oooh - those are gorgeous :-)
    I think Eli's friend is a bit big for him ! LoL xxxxxxx

  8. A really elegant collection of cards Kitty and perfect for our Allsorts theme, many thanks for joining in.

    B x

  9. The cards... gorgeous gorgeous... love that leaping deer and the metallic is just beautiful! And I'm jealous of those pretty snowflakes in the pic too! And that elf picture... him sitting on her feet... adorable!!

  10. Kitty, you outdid your self on your leaping reindeers....they are gorgeous,awesome and beautiful....I like them all. You placed the snowflakes perfectly on the card.....well done
    So glad to see Eli getting around and meeting new friends....tfs

  11. Ooh, so beautiful! Great design and the metallic finishes are just stunning!

  12. Definetly the silver one is my favorite, but the golden is just behind silver, all there are amazing, great desigin!!
    Eli's friend is a giand hihih but a nice giant, with sparqly socks hihihi...
    ♥Hugs Valentina♥

  13. These are so beautiful and awesome for mass producing.
    Love all the metallic.
    And I really enjoy Eli's photos ... so cute!

  14. Gorgeous CAS Christmas cards with the deer...so pretty!!!

  15. Beautiful!! Thank you for joining us at Fab'n'Funky :)

  16. These are fantastic card designs. As to a favorite, that is a tough decision but since I always liked silver a lot I will go with that.

  17. Gorgeous CAS design. I think the silver one is my fave, but they are all beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing your projects on the VOS hop!

  18. Beautiful cards, Kitty! I like how you have let the deer be the focus with those amazing papers - and the pretty embossed interiors! hugs, de

  19. So glad I found you (or should I say sweet Lori found you)!!!! Your cards are so elegant - I guess I like the gold one the bast. Beautifully designed and made.
    I love Elf's - Did I tell you that I am a big pretend freak and live in all sorts of fantasy world of miniatures. So gotta go check that Elf deal out for sure!!!
    I have three cats - the first one looks like Honeydew, the second one looks like Kiwi and the third is a big (weighing in at 20 pounds) grey male). Yep I am a cat lady and love all cats any size. Would dearly love to have a white Siberian Tiger!
    I guess I have rambled enough!!
    sandy xx

  20. Kitty these are gorgeous! Love the simplicity to them but love those metallics!!! You did a fantastic job the past few days and I am so inspired! ANd love your elf!!!
    Thanks so much for sharing!! Have a fantastic day!
    ♥ Jo's Scrap Shack ♥

  21. I am in love with your Elf and the little bitty one too!
    Sandy xx

  22. clean and simple and PERFECTION..........

  23. I guess I'd go with the brown, then the gold,
    and finally the silver. Love to use
    metallics for my cards.
    the cards are clean and simple but so pretty.
    The inside is beautiful too.
    thanks for sharing.

  24. What pretty Christmas cards! Love the metallic reindeer (no favorite - love them all) and the diagonal design with the glittery snowflakes. So happy that you've been a part of Visions of Sugarplums, Kitty!

  25. Great sentiment to go with your deer! I like the the copper one best because... COPPER! And it's not just because it is I'm from Arizona, home of the 3 Cs... cotton, cattle and copper. It's because copper is different than the usual gold and silver, although copper is making a hit this year.

  26. Wow, those cards are so pretty. I love the simple design with that gorgeous deer die cuts. Eli just cracks me up, posing with that HUGE elf, but now my elf Loopy wants to go for a ride on the town as well!

  27. Beautiful cards Kitty, so elegant.

  28. Oh my goodness, all three are absolutely gorgeous!! I love the designs and the deer!! Elegant and stunning my friend!! I truly can't pick a favorite!! I love them all!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

    A Mermaid's Crafts

  29. These are stunning Kitty! The metallic cardstock was a perfect choice and the inside of the cards is beautiful too! So nice to se Eli out an about!

  30. Three fabulous CAS card all in great colours but love the bronze as it is not often used, great dies and design.
    Thank you for joining our 'CAS' challenge this week at Allsorts.

  31. I love all three, but I think m,y favorite is the gold. It looks great with the snowflakes!
    Happy Holidays!

  32. Gorgeous elegant cards Kitty! Beautifully designed! I love all three but my favorite is the copper one! Little Eli is having a lot of fun this year as well!
    xoxo Olga

  33. Wow Kitty, yoir three CAs are just amazing!! Love this deer die, it's very elegant and sweet! Your idea of metallic deers is really clever, and the foam adds a fabulous dimension to them!! I love all, I can't choose a favourite!! Pheraps the copper is the most "natural" look for a deer, but love very much also the gold and the silver! The snowflakes and the blings look marvellous! Three great card!!
    Eli is very tini near the giant Elf. How cute and fun are them toghether!

  34. Heeeello! Just love your three cards and the metallic deers look so striking! Flawless embossing ... if only I can get that clever! The way you've embellished these cards is beautiful!

  35. These are just stunning KT and the embossed inside sentiment is super special too. Thanks so much for joining my Christmas Critters blog challenge :)

    Jeannie T.
    Dragonfly Journeys

  36. WOW! these are so elegant Kitty! Hard to pick a fave. Wish I had time to hop, but I got nothing done today as it is. xxD

  37. Gosh, I just love these! So elegant and fabulous with the metallic shimmer. Thanks so much for playing along with the Sweet Stampin' girls for our 'Let It Snow' challenge. We're so glad you did. Hugs, Wends xoxo Sweet Stampin' DT

  38. Beautiful Christmas card Kitty. Thank you for playing along with our Challenge at Christmas Cards All Year Round. We would love to see you again ... Anet DTx

  39. Beautiful deer cards. Thanks for sharing your inspiration with us during the hop.

  40. Stunningly Beautiful cards!! Love how you coordinated the embossing powder with the color of the deer. I do things like that. :-)

    Thank you so much for being a part of this Wonderful blog hop! Merry Christmas to you and yours !!!

  41. Your CAS creations are beautiful and thank you for entering my challenge theme of CAS [clean and simple]at Allsorts Challenges, do hope to see you again. ♥
    [aNNie DT for Allsorts Challenges]

  42. Wonderful, I love the three cards with the deer and the snowflakes.

    Greetings from Germany

  43. A favorite...hmmmm? Love all three! Really pretty cards!

  44. Beautiful CAS card designs, thank you for sharing it with us at 613 Avenue Create this time.
    Lorraine DT

  45. Like the sparkle shine of the metallic Deers. Daisy Elf likes the figure Eli is posing with for a wonderful photo opp.
    "Sunshine HoneyBee"

  46. Beautiful holiday cards. Love your CAS approach.

  47. I always enjoy visiting your blog, and I thank you for participating in the Visions of Sugarplums Blog Hop this year. I've been SO inspired, and I can't thank you enough.
    Karen L

  48. Lovely trio of cards. I cannot pick a favorite, as I love them all. Thanks so much for playing along at Time Out.

  49. Wow! These are so gorgeously CAS!! The silver is definitely my favorite as I am a complete silver girl. But they are all beautiful for sure. Thanks for playing with The House That Stamps Built and CHNCC2.

  50. Super gorgeous set, love the leaping deer, especially the silver metallic!!!

  51. Great design in all colours! Great CAS and so modern-looking! Thank you for joining us at TIME OUT!

  52. Elegant set of cards. Thanks for playing along Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge. Gayatri xx

  53. Lovely and elegant card.
    Thank you for sharing at Allsorts CAS week;-))m

  54. The metallic deer make your card so seasonal and elegant!

  55. The metallic deer make your card so seasonal and elegant!

  56. I love all metallics, but the gold version is my favorite! These are gorgeous!

  57. Hi Kitty! I can't pic a favorite...I just CAN'T! I love them all! Such an elegant design...so, so pretty! Thanks for sharing with us at CHNC Extra! :)

    ~Marie B -DT

  58. these are really pretty! great CAS cards! :)

  59. Such a beautiful wintery CAS cards and just perfect for our 'Let It Snow’ challenge this week. I love the snowflake stamps you've used...they're stunning. Thank you for sharing and joining in with the fun at Sweet Stampin’ this week and good luck. Hugs Janine xx

  60. so pretty cards!
    lots of hugs!

  61. Stunning card with the metallic deer. Absolutely LOVE it.
    What a great new friend for Eli. Hope they have fun together!

  62. Oh I love your dashing metallic deers with the snowflake in the background Kitty! It's a beautiful joyful holiday card set. I can feel the magic of the holiday just looking at the graceful deer. And I found Eli! Haha. I have an "Eli" too! Got him last Christmas with the "Elf On The Shelf" book which both of them been sitting on fireplace mantle since then. So my Eli doesn't look as warm and cozy like your Eli hiding between the boots of his new friend! Have a great day Kitty and warm hugs to you!

  63. Stunning! One can never go wrong with prancing stags and snowflakes :) Thank you for helping me kick of my new heARTful stamping challenge this past week...please come again! Oh, and for naming it too! tee hee

  64. lovely CAS cards. very elegant and perfect for batch making. myfavourite is the silver one. thank you for sharing it with us at TTCRD and good luck in the challenge, Theresa DT xx

  65. Elegant and stunning! Thanks for sharing with us at CCAYR.

  66. Beautiful CAS cards!
    I have a white male cat with blue eye, his name is snowman :o)
    Thanks for joining us at Love to Scrap! Challenge Blog
    Tina dt

  67. How elegant cards. Love your CAS design. Embossed snowflakes are wonderful on it. Thank you for sharing your beautiful card with us at Sparkle N Sprinkle. Hope you join with us again in our new challenge.
    Eret x

  68. A great card - love it!

    Thanks for joining us at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra.

    Helen x

  69. I think these cards are beautiful, simple but extremely effective, it takes some skill to achieve this CAS look! :)
    Annabel - Knitty Kitty Digis


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Sorry if you checked in to read today’s brand new update: it’s only a boring announcement.

The first thing you need to know is that it’s been fun writing all these posts in the past two months, but that time isn’t always on my side. So as of today, there’ll only be three updates a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Next… I delayed my Rock Herk review of this year because of the Lunar Week extravaganza we had on DV. I’ll still post it, but I’ll do so after my review of that other alternative festival (Pukkelpop). Even though that was five or six weeks later. Also, as I’ve been to Pukkelpop for one day but caught some of the other acts via adsl stream, there will be two posts about this festival: Pukkelpop Live and Pukkelpop Unlive.

Right. That’s about it. Sorry for writing you such a boring update, but at least now you’ll know what to expect and when to expect it. And of course plenty of movie-based updates as well. It’s still DV after all…

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