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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Celebrate! A New Year for Dreamweaver

I am really looking forward to the New Year! I know the Dream Team of 2012 will have many creative projects to share with you, so get ready to boogie!!!

Before I forget, I just want to let you know that I will be teaching at Scrapbook Territory in Berkley, CA on Jan. 14. Check their blog for details.
OOPS...I guess there was an error, on their blog it says Jan 12 Thursday, but I will be there on Jan 14 Saturday, not Thursday.

This week we are focusing on creations that celebrate looking forward to what's ahead and these three kitties are doing just that as they peer into a window created with the faux ceramic tile technique.

To create the window I first dry embossed the tile grid stencil (LJ811) by running it through my Big Shot embossing machine. Then I stenciled yellow pigment (using a 3/4" stencil brush) at the bottom sections of the window, oranges through the middle (use a second clean brush for oranges and reds) and at the top section I stenciled with purple pigment ink (again use a clean brush for your darkest colors). Be sure to leave the grid stencil in place on the white cardstock. I then taped the confetti stencil (LJ854) on top of the grid stencil and stenciled spring green and blue pigment ink through the confetti stencil onto the yellow areas of the window, red on top of the orange areas and magenta on top of the purple areas of the window. Next I removed only the confetti stencil. To finish off the window, which appears in real life to be shiny (hard to capture in the photo), as you would believe glass to be...I again left the LJ811 grid stencil in place and used a jumbo dauber and daubed a clear embossing ink all over this window grid stencil. THEN at last I finally removed the grid stencil and sprinkled Suze Weinberg's Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel all over the window panes. Next tap off any excess powder and heat with a heat gun. I then mounted this finished window on a pale blue card stock and also placed a small strip of brown at the base to create a window sill to give the kitties a place to sit. For instructions on this faux ceramic tile technique you can watch it being done on my DVD titled Unique Techniques (DVD-1).

I paste-embossed the three cats stencil (LM266) with Glossy White Embossing Paste (DGWP). And immediately when I removed the stencil I sprinkled the cat on the left with black glitter being careful to waterfall (or angle) the cardstock away from the other two wet pasted cats. Next I glittered the cat of the far left with a pale gold glitter this time angling the paper away from the middle cat. Then I paste-embossed the "Celebrate" stencil (LS90) using Matte Black Embossing Paste (DMBP) in the middle of the windows. It is a little tricky to paste over the top of something as "bumpy" as this window background, but I used the new paste spreader (LM2010) and that has made a really big difference. The difference being that I can usually paste something with just one sweep across the stencil rather than going over it several times. Remember that every time you stroke across the stencil with a palette knife or spreader you run the risk of the paste squishing under the stencil. Once the "pasted" kitties are dried you can reposition the stencil and overlay the zebra background stencil (LJ815) on top of the gold glittered kitty and stencil with brown pigment ink to get his stripes. The calico cat in the middle was daubed with brown and black pigment ink...leaving just a few patches of white showing through. I even stenciled the inner edges of the black cat with black pigment ink to give him some shadows or depth. Then the window and sill were placed on a piece of dark blue velvet paper for the feeling of a night time celebration.

Pam Hornschu, our new team leader, will be letting us know how our 2012 blog challenges will be done this year. Below is Mr. Linky and we look forward to your playing along soon.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Burgundy and Gold Colorway I know this card is more maroon than burgundy, but it is a card that team member Kristi Van Doren designed and it really sings to me. You know the song...Lalalala la  and a partridge (or two) in a pear tree, or in this case in a pear and a tag. Great card Kristi!!!

I decided that in this post instead of talking about technique I am going to talk about what a great design team we have had this past year. Team member, Deborah March is moving on, but I know she will be in touch...she is traveling big time. In fact off to Ecuador and other places as well. As some of you know she has three precious grandson's in Ottawa and is planning on some time with them in the near future. Can't wait to hear from her to see what she is up to next. In her lifetime she has been a nurse and social worker and has spent much time upholding the enthusiasm of the team in spite of her own ups and downs...and even some private counseling for yours truly. Thanks Deborah and wishing you much joy in 2012, you deserve it.

Although Kim Parkinson will not be rejoining us, she has mentioned that she will still be teaching and we are hoping when our teaching team gets going that she will join and then we will hear when and where her classes will be. She also has three little guys in her life and it has been so great seeing her pictures of them on her blog. When I see them it always makes me realize that my priority is family first. Thanks for all of your innovative ideas Kim...we have all benefitted from your creative and sharing spirit.

As 2011 comes to a close we want to welcome three new members to our design team. was really hard to choose only two new team members, so we've added three. Here they are:

Jessie Hurley is from British Columbia, Canada and is very enthusiastic about Dreamweaver Stencils (well really, what's not to like...right?). She has something in common with our team member Lee Kellogg... she owns a retail store. So as she starts to blog about stenciling I am sure she will let us know more about her business, can't wait.

Cyndi Bundy is from North Carolina and is a very busy lady. She has three teenagers, which is really a mind blower right there (I only raised one and it nearly blew my mind)...but then she also has an eight year old. I'm in awe...because she also is a sales rep, a stamping teacher, a blogger and is on a couple other design teams,woops almost forgot...she also has a hubbie. We are not yet sure about her sanity, but we will find out more soon.

Cherylynn Moser is from Oregon. She is from both eastern and western oregon...her hubbie has been in school and so they take turns moving from one location to another. (Higher education can be a really moving experience...just ask her.) She too had her own retail business, but because of the travel she has given that up and mostly teaches in stores in Western Oregon. Fortunately for Dreamweaver she likes to stencil and we have benefitted from having her teaching expertise. She has stenciled for many years and we have been fortunate to have her play along with our challenges too. Thanks Cherylynn...looking forward to having you on the team too.

Please go to the Dreamweaver Stencils' Facebook page. After "liking" us, if you leave a welcoming comment to our new members, you have the opportunity of possibly winning a wonderful stencil design. Click HERE!

As this year winds down I want to thank Pam Hornschu for her organization of many blogging details and for putting out the call for the new team. She has also saved my personal blog many a time from delinquentness (spell check says that is not a word) due to my travels and busy schedule. To each of the other members thank you for your unflagging enthusiasm for our stencils and for your silliness when we needed silliness and your seriousness when we needed that. Hoping that 2012 will be a bit less eventful in some ways and full of hope in every way! God bless us everyone!

And on that note, if anyone would like to play along and join our burgundy (or maroon) and gold colorway challenge here is Mr. Linky to Link to...

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Sketch Challenge #13 by Pam Hornschu

Today's schematic challenge was created by Pam Hornschu. She has encouraged the team to use a vintage flair, but also said that just good old Christmas would do as well. So I did a bit of a variation of retro instead by using that turquoise blue with a rosy red that was seen so much in the 40s and 50s. I remember we had turquoise appliances when I was growing up and I still love that turquoise/aqua color. This is also a case of CASE-ing...remember what that means? Pam wrote about the "ultimate compliment" a couple of weeks ago on my blog...then just scroll down to her post on my site (Nov 17) and see the resemblance of my card and hers... thanks Pam for letting us know how it all works.

This card is quite simply made. I cut three vertical windows with a craft knife and put clear acetate behind them.

On another piece of aqua cardstock I paste-embossed the poinsettia stencil (LG700) using Dreamweaver Glossy Red Embossing Paste (DGRP) and while it was wet I placed aqua crystals onto the wet paste using the Grab-IT tool  (RGGI). While this was drying I cut a semi-circle of rosy red cardstock and paste-embossed the Merry Christmas stencil (LS92) with the Dreamweaver Matte Black Embossing Paste (DMBP).

I would like to emphasize, that usually the poinsettia stencil is somewhat tricky to paste-emboss, but I did the paste work on this stencil by using the new paste spreader (LM2010) and it was so much easier than my past experiences. If you are having difficulty with larger stencils or very "lacey" stencils like the poinsettia...which has many fine bridges, this larger spreader really makes the work a breeze. Both of my newer DVDs go into detail on how to use this helpful tool. Tips&Tools can be ordered as DVD-3 and Embossing Paste Techniques as DVD-2.

Just a final note...because of my recent travels we have put off choosing our newdesign team members, but we will let you all know soon. Also if you would like to play along this week with the above challenge, just check add your nameto mr. linky below and we would love to have you on board.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

CASE-ing...The Ultimate Compliment

Yep, it's Pam again! Lynell is off teaching classes this week.
Ever heard of the expression to "CASE" someone else's design work? This acronym means to "Copy and Say Everything" other words, being inspired by someone's creation to the point of copying it (with slight changes) and being proud to admit that you did not come up with the original idea, but someone else did. If you have ever been on Split Coast Stampers web site, you will see a lot of CASE-ing. As Lynell has said frequently, nothing in art is immaculately conceived. Everyone is inspired by someone else into taking the thought one step further. The cards in this post are the perfect example of this.  The card at the top was created by me for the latest release at CHA Summer in July. I kept it very simple, and went with just the pink and white retro theme. I embossed the Christmas Tree on the white cardstock panel with my Big Shot machine, embossed the Christmas Tree again on Mercart Aluminum and Core'dinations cardstock (both of which were sanded to reveal their underlying color), I added a bright pompom and a sticker sentiment. Done.
The second card was created by Rebekka Behunin, a long time friend, helper, and wonderful teacher of Dreamweaver Stencils products and techniques. Obviously, Rebekka took my card to the next level. Her version uses all Mercart Colored Aluminum in various colors, run through the embossing machine, sanded, and in addition...a machine-embossed sentiment and yummy Creative Impressions' bow and Dreamweaver Stencils 3" pin for extra bling.
The third card by Elaine Benedict, sales rep and teacher for Dreamweaver Stencils, falls sort of in between the first and second main color (red), part Mercart colored aluminum and part Core'dinations cardstock, both sanded as before. Elaine also added the embossed sentiment with a ribbon, plus a star brad on top, and rhinestone accents. When you look at all three cards, you can see the progression. All three cards have their own unique look, and I'm sure like me, the other two artists were pleased to create their own version, and I was complimented by being their inspiration. Somewhere along the line, the tables will be turned, and it will be me being inspired by their work to "CASE" it, in honor of their creativity as well. This week, I'd like to challenge you to CASE something that one of our Dream Team member's (list at right) has created and link your version here on the Dream It Up! blog!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Thursday's Dream Schemes/Silver & Turquoise Colorway Challenge

Well at first glance this creation may not impress you as being silver and turquoise. However once you read this you will understand why I thought it would qualify. For those of you who enjoy the metallic leafing technique done on embossing paste here is the gist of where I am headed. There are basically four types of variegated metallic leafing that Dreamweaver sells. They are called variegated green, red, blue and black. The blue and the green are fairly similar and have a golden undertone so when I do the prep work with a metallic paste I usually use the Dreamweaver Gold Embossing Paste (DGP) and the red has a definite orange metallic undertone that "says" to me, "I'm copper", so of course I basecoat with the Dreamweaver Copper Metallic Embossing Paste (DCP). But the black has always been a bit of a misnomer to me. It has a bit of golden tone to it and yet the variegation is more silvery to me, so why they call it "black" I am not sure....hmmm, but because I perceive it as silver I usually basecoat with the Metallic Silver Embossing Paste (DSP). And that is what I did with the new ornate Christmas tree (LX7003).

For the second part of this colorway challenge I would also like to draw attention to the turquoise cardstock that I've used. This beautiful cardstock is imported from Japan and is offered by Hanko Designs owned by Kathy Yoshida. You will find that on her site it is referred to as Tsumugi Turqoise. These lightweight cardstocks absorb the embossing paste beautifully.

Once the paste was dry I repositioned the stencil with removable tape and daubed the Stamp & Stick Glue onto the swirly areas of the design and the star at the top. I removed that stencil and heated it with a heat gun for 15 - 30 seconds until these glued areas became tacky and then applied the black variegated leafing and burnished it with a firm clean stencil brush. I then repositioned the stencil again and daubed on the same glue and stenciled these glued areas with a small stencil brush and the mica powders sold by Dreamweaver called Metallic F/X...the colors I used? Poinsettia: Plum Royal, Holly Leaves: Ivy Garden, Pears: Goldfinch, Partridges, Sapphire.

The pin was colorized with the new Artist Grade Alcohol ink Color Solution: Color- Iceberg. It is really fun to colorize the white or ivory pins with any of the new Color Solution inks.

Be sure to follow the sidebar at the right and visit the rest of the team to see what they have done for this beautiful colorway challenge. And if you are interested in playing along with us this week just add your name to Mr. Linky below and we will come visit your blog. If you don't have a blog but would like to send me a sample of one of your creations I would love to post it for you.

This is a card by Rebekka Behunin let me post, she travels and teaches with Dreamweaver Products here in Southern California. This is another turquoise and silver creation: the metal is colored and then sanded. She used the swirl stencil in the background (LJ873) and the gingko stencil on top (LJ893) and then paste embossed on the black cardstock with the Dreamweaver Silver Embossing Paste (DSP) using the thank you stencil (LG691).


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Refer to the Drexel University College of Medicine Admissions website for application requirements and deadlines.

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Tuesday, December 26, 2006

4 P's

I view this blog as a way to approach life, while integrating marketing concepts and applications. The foundation of marketing lies with the four p's, as you may already know. If you were to sell a new product, you would start to describe the product, your convenience to your community, low price point and promotional tactics of attracting this audience. Without the product and strategy, the other P's cannot function as once succinct unit. Let me break down this chart and describe to you how it relates to your life.

Product: Instead of selling an object, you are selling yourself, so therefore you become the product being sold. You have many attributes or characteristics that may differentiate yourself from the competition and make you who you are. The idea here is that you must build your product and establish a line of credibility. In order to build your product, you should educate yourself through schooling and work experiences and the vast array of knowledge that swarms you in your everyday life. BUILD YOUR BRAND and become a marketable "product."

Place: Now that you have built your brand(yourself), decide where you would like to showcase it or who your target market is for presenting it. These would be companies where you would like to work, whether close or far from your current location. DECIDING ON THE RIGHT PLACE will translate into an enriching experience that will also build your product.

Price: The price in this equation is your net value that you could provide to a company. Your value is encompassed by your wealth of knowledge, title, and years of experience that you bring to the table. As your value increases, so can your asking price for starting salaries. MATCH YOUR EXPERIENCE TO A PRICE.

Promotion: The promotion area of the four p's gravitates towards tactics that define how you get the job you desire. These tactics should be both creative and intuitive and should take into account the other 3 p's in order to be effective. CREATIVELY PROMOTING YOURSELF will enhance your visibility and generate positive responses if successful.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

A new year with new opportunities

Summary: After some initial research, it seems like the job market is further developing for 2007. If you are a graduating senior, there will be ample opportunity to acquire a desired position. The salary range for certain majors, has broadened from 2006 and expect growth for 2007. The demand for certain majors, such as IT and auditing are ever increasing, while majors such as engineering remain constant. Entry-level sales positions will have increased salaries and higher commissions.

Suggestions: Although there are new opportunities and wages have increased, competition has also increased at an even higher rate. Saying this, it is still necessary to put in that extra effort to get yourself ahead of the curve. I would suggest meeting with a career adviser, preparing your resume ahead of time, engage in practice interviews and plan your strategy accordingly. Your adversaries for your desired jobs will be taking the same kind of initiative, so you must position yourself with more experience and skills. Those that will pull the higher salaries in each range, are the ones that work the hardest, establish the key relationships and interview properly.

"Overall, 52 percent of employers responding to the Job Outlook 2007 Fall Preview Survey reported that they expect to hire more new college graduates in 2006-07 than they hired in 2005-06. While that number is down from the 66.5 percent of employers that planned to increase hiring last year, the number of employers that expect to decrease hiring this year is just 5.4 percent compared to 18.2 percent last year. The remaining 42.6 percent plan to maintain their hiring numbers, making an impressive jump from 15.3 percent in the Job Outlook 2006 Fall Preview Survey. "
Source: http://www.jobweb.com/joboutlook/2007/fall_outlook.htm

Salaries by title (entry-level)
  • Marketing associate: 30,000 - 50,000
  • IT Associate: 40,000 - 60,000
  • Financial Analyst: 48,000 - 58,000
  • Accountant: 42,000 - 60,000
  • Sales Consultant - 40,000 - 50,000

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Marketing is life

Ask these following questions to yourself:
  • Why do I choose to purchase the items or brands that I do? What creates this preference?
  • What drives the decision making in my life?
  • How do people perceive me and what do they base these views on?
  • Am I being controlled by the organizations that surround me?
  • What do employers base their decisions on? How can I position myself accordingly?
The decisions that you contrive and the life you live is all affected by marketing, in its entirety and cannot be escaped, unless you shut yourself off from the world that surrounds you. You are judged based on perception and that perception is regulated by how well your "market" yourself to others or convince them that you "fit the part" or are deserving of their time. The media drives its content and targets it directly at you throughout your life in many different fashions. They utilize media outlets, such as television, magazines, the internet, billboards, subways and promotional material such as coupons, in order to entice your purchasing habits and control your way of life. Some might believe this invades our privacy or feel that is a negative habit that constantly affects our lives. Numerous people think that commercials are a plain waste of time. I will not argue any of these conversations, BUT I do believe we can use marketing in order to promote ourselves and be successful in our own lives.

Think of yourself as a brand and marketing as a tool you can use in order to generate influence and success. If you view yourself as one of these companies that try and convince and entice others to "invest" in them, you will do quite well. Your goal should be to have others "invest" in you, in terms of money, time, and opportunities that may arise.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Positioning yourself

Positioning is a marketing term you may often be exposed to in business. The term actually ties in multiple concepts that factor into a competitive approach that you can use to your advantage. The word touches upon differentiation and mapping out where you or your company stands relative to competitors. The example above depicts a positioning map, where an employee is judged on both his or her technical skills and communication ability. The ideal goal an individual should have is to position him or herself in the upper right corner. Use this example to plot your fellow co-workers, whom also seek higher positions within your department. If they are closer to the upper right hand corner, than figure out what technical and communication skills are required to pull yourself up. Another key idea about positioning are differentiation strategies that allow you to stand out amongst your peers. Start brainstorming and researching which skills will suit your interests and what skills others do not hold. Position yourself as a hard worker, an intellectual and someone who can form relationships in order to be successful. With positioning, everything is relative and you will be "graded" relative to your peers, so be careful how you interact with them. You should try not to give away too much of your strategy, but learn to work with them to uncover some of theirs.

It is my goal to educate you on these strategies because I live them each and every day. The object of each of these posts is to infuse your mind with knowledge and to get you THINKING. It may take years to position yourself effectively and to acquire the right skills through training sessions, but there is a high payoff. Positioning revolves around how you present yourself relative to those around you, so make sure you start paying attention to these conditions and research techniques to get ahead.

Questions to ask yourself
  1. How do I position myself relative to the competition?
  2. What unique characteristics and/or technical abilities do I have?
  3. What are others doing that I'm not doing?
  4. Where do I find the resources necessary to succeed?
  5. How far will I go to succeed?

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Knowledge Worker

There are two types of workers: regular and knowledge. Regular employees will remain stationary and unaffected by organizational change. In this fashion, they will pass on learning new technologies and strategies in order to conduct business more efficiently. The end result of a regular employee is to become obsolete in his or her current environment. In order to stop these coincidences from occurring, you must transition your train of thought to become a knowledge worker. Knowledge workers seek to acquire newly established skills and broaden their working capacity by soaking in new forms of knowledge and technology. To become a knowledge worker, you must look towards the future and have an inborn ability to excel at work. If you're a regular worker, your skills will slowly deplete over a period of time and your position will fade away. On the other hand, if you're a knowledge worker, you will acquire a variety of different skills and techniques that match the requirements of new positions that may unfold.

Tip: Research new skills and techniques that factor into your job situation and implement a strategy to acquire them. ALWAYS BE THINKING IN THE FUTURE!

Friday, November 24, 2006

Point method

Point A consists of your current knowledge base, combined with all experiences you've had leading up to today. Point B is your goal and cannot be attained without significant effort on your part. Each red bracket is an obstacle you must face in order to advance to point B. In life, you cannot progress from point A to point C, without first touching upon point B.

So you must be wondering what tactics and strategy must be preserved in order to conquer in order to advance to point B. The first step, is to identify the obstacle as a whole and the different variables that affect the outcome of your choice of solution. Next, brainstorm numerous steps in order to solve the underlying problem. Once you have done this, choose the best solution and execute your strategy. Take your goals step by step and don't skip steps, unless you are given the opportunity.

Success will come to those that can identify what point A and point B is and map out strategies to accelerate.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Spheres of Influence

Your organization is constructed so that you start on the bottom and must work your way up to the top. This is easier said than done and while you are the only person that may work to get there, you can't possibly accomplish it all yourself. Life is about credibility, which is the way you portray yourself to others, in order for them to build confidence and trust with your work. You must form relationships with others who are well established, in order to establish yourself with your own unique credentials. Convince your manager and others that you have what it takes and display both your intelligence and communication skills to all of them. The more people that are in your "sphere of influence", the greater chance you have at obtaining a promotion or earning the respect of your colleagues. The goal of a "sphere of influence" is to capture the minds of as many of your fellow employees as possible and to convince them that you understand your core work disciplines and are detail-oriented. This could involving merely a presentation, which includes many employees at once or individual meetings. The more people that fall under this sphere, the greater the chance you will succeed (among other variables). Furthermore, the object is to get managers under your sphere because they have large spheres of influence accounted for, so if you can convince them, it will also convince a larger body of your company. Find ways to interact with your fellow employees and network into other groups cross-functionally.

Note: Connect the sphere of influence to a mere networking tactic and you will realize the potential you have to succeed.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

The success sacrifice

"Your role may be thankless, But if you're willing to give it your all, you just might bring success to those who outlast you."

To get what we really seek in life, we must have points of sacrifice. By "sacrifice" I mean, giving up one thing, in order to obtain another. For example, if you strive to get a promotion at work, you may sacrifice precious hours you might have spent with a loved one. This is in fact an opportunity cost in itself because in order for you to attain an opportunity, there is a cost associated with it. Costs usually account for time, money, effort and endurance and benefits can range from a promotion to a successful relationship. To make things truly work out, one must lose out on one opportunity.

You might be saying to yourself right now "I've never had to sacrifice." I will counter this thought by explaining to you that the event of even attending a college is a sacrifice and you must endure four years of hard work to either progress into graduate school or get a superior job. Instead of going to college, you may have stayed stationary at home or took up a moderate job that barely pays the bills. Have you ever driven lengths to see the woman you love? A relationship in its essence reflects sacrifice and builds off this element to be successful. If two people are willing to sacrifice to be with each other, then it must be true love. If you are willing to put in the effort to graduate at the top of your class (as a sacrifice) then you will attain a superior job.

As a rule of thumb, the more you sacrifice early in life, the more benefit you will receive later. This is a judgment call that you must make. I interned eight times throughout the past 5 years, as a sacrifice and because of that sacrifice, I claimed a job that fit both my expectations and requirements. The sacrifice here was time and effort and it paid off. If you have the determination and are willing to work for something and sacrifice, you will get what you want.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

A resume is a story

What is a resume? The majority of the population view a resume as a piece of collateral that is a prerequisite for obtaining an interview. Those who have enriched resumes, will be granted an interview and those with resumes that are inadequate will lose opportunities. Today I would like to share my philosophy for creating a superior resume and the logical flow behind it.

A resume is a story. More importantly, it is a story of your life, including your college experiences, as well as your work experiences. Think of a resume as a detail description of all that you have accomplished thus far in your lives. So you might ask "how do I shape my experiences chronologically in order to be most effective?" To have the most impact with your resume, there must be some logical flow behind it. I will now walk you through my resume as an example.
  1. Education: Start off by describing your experiences at college because it is the foundation for which you will enter your careers. Include your major, gpa (if 3.0 or higher), activities & leadership positions and any honors.
  2. Relevant Courses: So after you lay out the statistics and qualitative information to give credibility, the courses you take in college help demonstrate that you have learned information in your field.
  3. Technical Skills: I'm an employer and i've seen that you have gone to the same college as most of the other applicants and have taken similar courses. Having the right technical skills infuses your expertise level and allows you to accelerate in desired positions. You have already listed your overall background (education), so take the time to list out skills that have helped you accomplish this education.
  4. Major Accomplishments: This area is brand new to my resume. If you haven't had any major accomplishments, feel free to list a school related project. This area is good for a reviewer who doesn't have time to read your entire resume.
  5. Experience: This area is a representation of your work experience history, from present to past, which is a story in itself. This area of your resume is by far the most critical to you landing that much anticipated job req. Make sure to connect your work experiences into your education and so forth. If you can cross apply your learnings, you should have superior interviews.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

5 Inputs of Success

Focus: Find a subject that interests you, focus in on it and then figure out how to position yourself accordingly, in order to step into that field. Those who have focus, do not waste precious time on subject matter that is not relevant. My tip here is to do your homework by researching different job positions, qualifications and responsibilities to get a strong handle on relevancy to what you want to accomplish. If you are passionate about creating custom graphics, then maybe try your hand at advertising. Focus is what will help drive you!

Luck: To me luck is a "wild card" because fortune may change all other successful inputs accordingly. You could have the most determination in the world, focus on your goals and work hard, but if your company acquired, then you might lose out. Luck is something that cannot be changed or manipulated, but if you are lucky, the doors may open to new opportunities.

Hard-work: If you work hard, it shows in the quality of the end deliverable. Working hard is a characteristic of any successful entrepreneur. If you are not willing to work hard, then it is actually considered an impediment to your success and a competitive disadvantage. If you aren't working hard, others will be working hard, so they will climb the corporate hierarchy while you remain stationary. Remember you "get out of life what you put in."

Determination: Determination is the driver to make someone work hard and the force is very strong. If you are determined, you will not let any obstacle force you to quit and in doing so, you will be successful. On the downside, this attribute may make you go crazy, which is certainly not healthy to your lives. Find something inside you where you can get this characteristic and "ignite it."

Timing: Timing correlates almost directly with luck, in that if you have superior timing, the right positions or opportunities will clear and allow you to seize them. The difference between timing and luck is that you have the inborn ability to control timing. I say this because you can get your work out to your boss at the right time and manipulate the system.

I hope you all enjoyed this post....leave a comment if something is unclear!

NOTE: I create all the graphics used in the blog if you were wondering

Friday, November 03, 2006

Giving back

Throughout your life, you have viewed others helping nearby communities, donate to charities and volunteer to support local causes. There is a reason for all of these acts and although it seems obvious, I consider the act of giving and receiving a life cycle. Giving back, in my opinion, solidifies your future successes because helping other people that are not as fortune as you may be is what everyone should do. Charities are not the only form of "giving back." I also consider helping your families, a major part in the giving back process. Psychologically, if you are fortune, are highly successful and stable, why not help those that could die without your financial support.

In the previous post, you may have noticed that I included a charitable foundation, as part of my dream. If you retire and have an outstanding balance of cash flow, it serves no purpose, other than utilizing it to give back to the communities and people that have made you who you are.

So if you take nothing from this post, I would like you to take a look around your world and see how you could make the most impact, by helping others out in need. Understand that the people that have guided you, appreciated you and care for you, should be taken up with you in your success and the people that have held you back and who did not believe in you should be banished.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

If you can dream it...you can do it

I finally put all my dreams together and modeled it for all of you to see. There is of course logic as to why I want to own a "meeting place", charitable organization and consulting firm, but you will just have to figure that out on your own. This post is supposed to get you thinking about your future, noting where you are now, and the steps you need to take in order to accomplish your dreams. Personally, when I want to accomplish something at this level, I will usually make it happen over time because I never give up. So take a moment and think about where you want to end up in the future......

Remember that you can accomplish anything you desire, as long as you put in the effort and don't give up. DO NOT let anyone tell you otherwise!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Overcoming Obstacles

In our lives, there have always been obstacles or threats that hinder our success. In order to properly overcome these obstacles, we must first state the various threat possibilities that we notice every day. Here are some of a few (pertaining to success in the workplace):
          • Parents
          • Peers
          • Opportunity Limitations
          • Poor Management / Mentoring
          • Company Politics
          • Uncontrollable External Factors (such as the weather)
After presenting your current obstacles, you must figure out tactics and strategically align these tactics to manipulating these obstacles in your favor or dismissing them altogether. One factor which we may never control is "luck", which forecasts the probability for which we will succeed. Luck is always the wild card and plays a major role in upward job mobility. As you age, parents become less and less of a factor into blockading your future and sending it in the direction they desire. Although, they do pose as mentors with previous experience that may lend a hand. Peers are tricky adversaries and mercenaries to your cause because some of your friends will be trying to utilize you as a resource to get ahead on their career path, while others may aid your cause. Your opportunities may be limited by the total allotment of revenue generated by your department or "value-add". By this I mean that the strength of your department to contribute to the company's bottom line, will initiate key opportunities for you or the lack there of. A manager is crucial to your success and if the manager lacks key skills and interpersonal communication, then you are already at a loss. It is quite hard to excel if your manager is an obstacle point of contact, so you must work around that and establish other mentors that could guide you in the right direction. Company politics are inevitable, especially at a larger corporation, where the hierarchy is limitless and the competition is strong. The only way to combat this obstacle is to play into it. External factors may not be controlled, and might have a negative impact on your work if you let them. As long as you work around these obstacles, you will be able to achieve, without constant frustration that negatively impacts your work progress.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Climbing the corporate ladder

This pyramid represents the routine transition from new employee, into management, into director, vice president and then as CEO. If you seek to be at the top, you must visualize the steps beneath and the imagery above should give you a more defined picture. Of course, there are special circumstances, that usually involve timing and a bit of luck, such as employees switching to new departments or your division prospering. Managers, directors, vice presidents or even the CEO might leave the position, allowing an understudy to fill in. Also, your division might be highly successful (in terms of revenue generated) one year and the CEO might want to invest more money and labor into it, meaning you will have direct reports, giving you a boost into management. In general if you would like to be CEO or even merely a manager, the diagram above gives an accurate read of how many years of experience you must have in order to be in the selection pool. If you think that you could be a manager after only a year, you are wrong because you will not have the full understanding of your field in only one year and will not have earned the respect as a new employee to handle that position. There are leadership development programs that allow you to successfully push up the pyramid at a faster pace, but otherwise, you must start from the bottom and work up, gaining valuable experience at every step of the way. Not everyone wants to step into management. Management means more responsibilities, more stress, and more time away from your friends and families. This blog is more geared to those who wish to stop at nothing and create upward mobility in order to accomplish at the highest level. If you want to do this, you MUST put in the time, the effort and most importantly the realization that others are seeking the same goals as you are. Just keep focused and you will climb the ladder over a period of time.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Act the part

Ever wonder which employees get promoted to management and which stay stationary at their current positions? This question has posed a lengthy debate for a long time for me. I used to think that working hard, accomplishing your organizational goals and establishing relationships was the path towards escalation up the corporate hierarchy. My new thoughts are that if you act the part, then your one step closer to being the part. By this I mean that if you start acting like a manager by facilitating communication across corporate lines, managing work flow processes and creating a work environment where others depend on your work to get their own jobs accomplished. Acting the part, will not only display your ability to handle management, but also almost force your manager or director to enlist you in the position.

This is obviously not an easy task to do and it requires a lot of determination, tactical planning and opportunity. You must be given the opportunity to carry on a wider variety of work and the ability to cover more portions of the business, in order to move up the ladder. Other factors that play a role in this are age, years of service at the company, manager’s perspective over your capabilities and positioning within your department. Be aware that others will be competing for management positions as well, so always display that you are more suitable for the job.

Strategy: Validate with your manager that you are able to handle a wide variety of work, outside of your realm of day-to-day operations.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Success is in Process

Improving the process of your job will compliment the success of your business. Have you ever been frustrated from countless engagements with management in order to get something approved? If you answered "yes", then you understand that there must be a more efficient process and selection criteria for accomplishing ones job. The Six Sigma practice has been adopted by various companies encouraging employees to adopt a new process for achieving their goals. As methodological as this may be, the main idea here is to debrief your job each quarter and reflect back as to what worked and what didn't.

In order to enhance the process, you must see fault or failure in the previous process. Start by writing down the steps you had to take in order to accomplish your task, including channel of communication and time allotment. Next, put these in order and then subtract steps that either overlapped or weren't crucial in the final product. Once you have your final listing, set up a meeting with your manager and review the new process and then implement it in the following quarter. In the aftermath, you should compare results from quarter to quarter, to constantly improve productivity. Saying this, I believe that if you follow this guide, you will not only be a better worker, but it will allow you to diversify yourself in other areas of the business because of an increase in free time. Concurrently improving processes, enhances your status and cuts both costs and time.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Selling Yourself First

Before you intend on marketing your goods and services to consumers, you must first take into consideration that they are not just purchasing these items from your company. You, as the marketer are the clients communication link for handling their account and are responsible for upholding fair business practices. The more experience and credibility you acquire, the more eligible you will be in order to serve these clients. Before you can sell for a company, you must be able to sell yourself. Interviews form the foundation for selling yourself and credentials mark the manner in which you can differentiate yourself from the competition.

Consumers are always wondering "why should I purchase from you." To counter this, you must show them either visually or pitch yourself to them, in order to either generate a lead or for a transaction to occur. Below are tips for setting yourself apart from the thousands of other agencies that provide similar products and services.

  1. Provide superior service: Do this by explaining why this service can add value to the product. Also, always get back to clients quickly and fulfill orders as soon as they are taken. This involves quality communication and make sure the client obtains all contact points (example: fax number).
  2. Diversify your background: The majority of people have similar backgrounds, involving the same industry and experiences. In order to stand out, you must have that experience, combined with experiences in different industries and at different positions. When this isn't enough, you must configure your education, experiences and outside activities in order to be sought after and recognized.
  3. Seek Guidance: No one can ever know it all. If you are having trouble selling or marketing your business, what better way to conquer your issues than with someone who has already succeeded in that area. Of course, a close competitor might not share this information and that is why you can go to your neighborhood bookstore and find someone who has wrote a book. Your supervisor or director might be able to mentor you, which will help you in the long run.

Not every product sells itself and services certainly can't sell unless their is some tangibility involved. So if you follow these three tactics and start employing them, you will see the difference.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Dress to Success

The first time you meet someone, you gather a quick analysis of personality, style, creativity, smell, age and status. The casual or formal attire that you wear and pick out from your wardrobe daily, is the cornerstone for which most of this analysis complies with. Each employee is judged according to what they wear and how they present themselves, before a mere conversation is even started. This evaluation can pose new opportunities for you, or actually slower your upward mobility. A tip I always use is to dress one degree above the norm. So if the normal dress culture was jeans and a shirt, you should wear dress pants and a formal shirt. I would actually never wear jeans to work, because it demonstrates that you don’t take either your job seriously or the actual company you work for seriously. See, notice how important how you dress is to be successful. Your attire at work is sometimes overlooked as a differentiation method from your peers, but it is effective in displaying your dedication to the company and to your job.

If you want to further stand out at your workplace, you should wear unique clothing, that you don’t see people wearing everyday. This, of course, will cost you a premium price, but it will directly support your efforts to showcase your style, personality, and edge. For those of you that would like to climb the corporate hierarchy quickly, try dressing the part and seeing who notices. If you have any other view of this or suggestions, please comment.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Networking: The Strength Model

Connections are the strongest form of induction into a newly opened job opportunity. People are the sole contributors to hiring for new positions and control who is placed where in the company, alongside the hiring manager. In general, there are two factors in deciding if you have a job: The human resource recruiter and the hiring manager. If either of these two decision makers hears of interest for a job through their network, those applicants get first shot at interviewing. The closer the connection between the decision maker and the applicant, the better chance for successful job requisition fulfillment. I consider this “The Strength Model” of networking because your network is your strongest bridge into the job market. To better explain this, view the model below.
This model suggests that family is the strongest connection, where a hiring manager has a son or daughter that is looking for a job and it is filled almost immediately because of the network strength associated with the relationship. For example, if your father was a Director of Marketing at Proctor and Gamble and there was an entry level job opening in the marketing research department, you would have first pass at that opportunity. Referrals are the next strongest segment to this pyramid because an applicant is usually referred to a hiring manager, based on some level of expertise or job fitting. Referrals could be acquaintances that have been further developed by the art of networking or keeping in touch with an individual (establishing a relationship). You could be referred to a hiring manager by previous work such as an internship or by a family member. Finally, acquaintances are the weakest form of networking, because hiring members would rather hire an individual that they are closer in ties with, rather than someone they just met for the first time. You have many acquaintances throughout your life, many will soon forget you over time, but you never know if one might follow through one of these days.

If I were to rate your chances at each level of the pyramid I would say…..

  • Family: 90%
  • Referrals: 50%
  • Acquaintances: 5%

Remember: Meet as many people as you can because you never know who is connected to whom in each others networks. You should strive to build relationships with your acquintances, in order to convert them to referrals, but family members are always the strongest!

Friday, October 06, 2006

Getting your first job

Like you, I once struggled with landing my first job in the real world. Luckily, through my broad network, I established a link to a well established entrepreneur that mentored me into what I am today. You might be thinking that I was fortunate in this respect, but if you take a step back and examine your contacts, including family and friends, you may just end up in this position. This was of course not my first job, as I worked as a caterer and as a camp counselor, but this was the first job where my work would boost both my character and standing in the workforce. For those of you who do not have this opportunity, you must take positions, where you are a “servicer” instead of a “producer”. I differentiate these by the role they play in an organization. A “servicer” is one that gets paid to interact with the consumers and aims to make a sale, while a “producer” actually facilitates the operation behind the scenes. Examples of servicers are waitresses or selling clothing at a retail store. By taking these jobs, a hiring employer (for a “producer” position) will be impressed that you have worked in the past, instead of being passive or unmotivated. Basically, you will increase your chances for getting the positions you seek by sacrificing now.

It took me three internships and two service jobs, in order to take an internship relating to my field (marketing). I had to make cold calls as a salesman, create websites and help run accounts payable, in order to be in a position where I could acquire a marketing internship with another company.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to sacrifice time now to achieve potential success in the future.

Ok now take a deep breath and follow along with me as I demonstrate to you the most effective way to position yourself so you get more interviews and acquire a new corporate position. First, remember to use what you already have to your advantage when constructing your resume. If you see job descriptions that are close to what you have, but you are lacking certain criteria, either build around it or seek the technical skills before applying. Second, take practice interviews with your friends, parents, mentors or guidance counselors in order to gain both confidence and experience. If you find yourself interviewing for a position that doesn’t interest you, always use it as practice as well and you might even find yourself taking the job, as a sacrifice to get what you really desire. Resumes should display your skills, achievements, work experience, grades/honors, school work and classes and technical expertise. After constructing your resume to cover all those areas in a story-like manner, it is time to start applying for jobs.

From my experience, there are three routes to applying for jobs:

  • Verbal: Calling companies and expressing interest, while trying to pinpoint key contacts within the group you would like to work with.
  • Electronic: The proper way to handle electronic submissions is to spread your resume like a virus through as many relevant websites as possible that have what your looking for. From my experience, the top 3 websites where to post are Monster, eRecruiting and Yahoo Hot Jobs.
  • Networking: The quickest path into a new company is by already knowing an internal employee. Internal employees, like me, have networks built within a company and access to referring candidates to others.

Next, you will be screened by all the companies you applied to. If you applied to a large corporation, they have a crawler that picks keywords, customized by the manager that is seeking a candidate, such as yourself. Smaller companies will usually email you back if they are interested. The screening process usually places all the applicants that have the right skills for the job into a job bank, from which the employer either calls for a phone interview (large company) or bring into their office (small firm). If you have been selected to interview, do the best you can do and the worst that can happen is that you met another contact for the future. At this point, you will be notified within weeks if you were accepted to fill the position or rejected. Sometimes further interviews may occur, when the pool of candidates is large. If you are rejected, just keep interviewing, and at some point, you will get a job. If it is not the job you intended to obtain, you must work there as a sacrifice to further your career.

REMEMBER: Always think long-term when contemplating which jobs to accept!

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Effective Work Process

Through experience I have learned that in order to accelerate in any environment, you must take follow a common trend: Learn, Build and Execute. You can’t build a highly innovative project, without acquiring skills and knowledge. Saying this, you can’t execute a project into production without first learning about what you are going to build and then creating it. Even after you execute, you must review the process and learn from your mistakes for future engagements. While at work, when I get assigned a specific project, I tend to review all material surrounding that project before jumping into document creation. This way, you won’t miss out on key facts or information that may aid in the development of the material your creating. Sometimes after building my projects contents, I will go back and learn more, but I always push towards execution. If you are given a time limit or launch date for your project, you must know when to executive and when to keep learning in order to push the project forward. In general, I have listed what I feel an effective work process lifecycle is below:

Learn: Learn your job and the technical and communication skills that coincide with it.

Build: Build your projects and the tasks required of you through guidance from mentors, previously successful ventures and through research.

Execute: Execute your projects by proving value to your manager and demonstrating effectiveness.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Building a strong foundation

In order to fully appreciate the present, I will first show you a graphic representation of my past experiences. From 2001 till 2006, I desired to grasp a firm foundation in the marketing discipline, holding positions in all of the major areas. These area's, such as marketing research, advertising, public relations, direct mail, personal selling and graphic design are all integrated into marketing as a whole. My goal here was to become competitive in the job market by demonstrating that, unlike the majority, I understood marketing and it's related functions, in a variety of different work settings and cultures. Another approach I encountered along the way was to balance off work experience with scholastic activity, so you can cross apply learning. This helped while I juggled working at Reebok, Lycos and taking two classes simultaneously.

Advice to succeed
  1. Never narrow yourself down, until you have built a foundation to work from.
  2. Make the most of your time, be productive and get experiences others do not have the opportunity to have
  3. Stay competitive as much as posibble. This means become well balanced. Integrate school with work experiences, while still maintaining a social network.
More to come.......


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Study: Drivers willing to pay to improve fuel economy

by Alisa Priddle
Detroit Free Press
September 12, 2012

More Americans are willing to pay up front for fuel savings over time and are adjusting how they drive to make each drop of fuel go further, according to a new survey by market research firm Penn Schoen Berland…

Of survey respondents, 25% said if they had $1,000 in discretionary income to spend on energy savings, they would buy a vehicle with hybrid technology.

Read more…

Opinion and Analysis


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Sunday, June 30, 2013

D7 Reader - update

Please be informed that a new version of D7 Reader with Feedly cloud support will be published on Google Play by 7/7/13.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Future of D7 Reader after Google Reader shut down

D7 Reader will not be dead after the Google Reader shut down on the 1st of July, 2013. Different solutions are being worked on to switch to a different service as soon as possible.

Thank you for your continued support!


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New Castle County

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Newark SBTDC

1 Innovation Way, Suite 300
Newark, Del. 19711
Phone: 302-831-1555
Fax: 302-831-0771

The Newark SBTDC is conveniently located in the Delaware Technology Park at the corner of Marrows and Wyoming Roads. The office is in close proximity to downtown Newark and the University of Delaware with ample free parking. Register for Counseling

Kent County

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Bank of America Building, Room 108
1200 North DuPont Highway
Dover, Del. 19901
Phone: 302-678-1555
Fax: 302-857-6950

The Dover SBTDC is hosted by Delaware State University and is located in the Bank of America Building. DSU’s main entrance is on Route 13 (DuPont Highway), and the Bank of America building is located off College Road with parking available. Register for Counseling

Sussex County

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Georgetown SBTDC

103 West Pine Street
Georgetown, DE  19947
Phone: 302-856-1555
Fax: 302-854-6979

The Georgetown SBTDC is located one block from The Circle in historic Georgetown–right next to the Delaware National Guard Armory. Free on-street parking is available in front of the building. Register for Counseling

U.S. Small Business Association Office of Economic Innovation & Partnerships ASBDC
The Delaware SBTDC is a unit of the University Of Delaware's Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP) and is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the state of Delaware. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. For more information on the SBA see www.sba.gov


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Case Studies

Our hope is that participating in sport or physical recreation at any level will have a positive impact on the lives of all those we work with. We are honoured to come into contact with many amazing individuals, groups and organisations through our work. Here are some of their stories.

Eilish Byrne

EilishWebHero2.jpg EilishWebHero2.jpg

Eilish Byrne from Armagh started riding at the age of twelve and rode borrowed horses until she got her first horse of her own in her thirties. She started show jumping with her local riding club and then joined Para Equestrian Ireland and got hooked on Dressage.

Eilish who is originally from Dundalk was born with Spina Bifida and she wears a caliper on her right leg. Eilish loves all things 'horsey' and her passion is Dressage. She is a registered coach with Horse Sport Ireland and has recently been appointed as a coach for the development squad of Para Equestrian Ireland.

Eilish's horse is called Youri and together they made it to the Beijing Parlympics in 2008 and the London Paralympics in 2012 at which they won team Bronze, an achievement she is very proud of. Eilish is keen that anyone with a disability gives sport a go.

Sport is a great wat of keeping fit and meeting new people. It is a way to set goals for yourself and achieve them when you put your mind to it despite being disabled. Eilish Byrne.

Click Here to learn more about Para Equestrian Ireland.

Click Here to lean more about Horse Sport Ireland.


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text: ArcAdiA The DSpace digital repository system captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and distributes digital research material. 2017-06-24T07:00:34Z Multiscale Approach to the Structural Study of Water Confined in MCM41 <Title>Multiscale Approach to the Structural Study of Water Confined in MCM41</Title> <Authors>Mancinelli, Rosaria; Imberti, Silvia; Soper, A. K.; Liu, K. H.; Mou, C.Y.; Bruni, Fabio; Ricci, Maria Antonietta</Authors> <Issue Date>2009-11-23</Issue Date> <Is part of>Journal of Physical Chemistry B</Is part of> <Volume>113</Volume> <Pages>16169-16177</Pages> <Abstract>We present a protocol for simultaneous structural characterization of aconfined fluid and the confining Substrate, along with the extractionof site-site pair correlation functions of the liquid of interest. Thisis based on neutron diffraction experiments, exploiting where feasiblethe isotopic substitution technique, analyzed through numerical coarsegraining calculations and atomistic simulations. All of the subtletiesof the experimental procedure, the needed ancillary measurements, andthe recipe for tailoring the numerical codes to the real experiment andsample are described in the case of water confined in MCM41-S-15. Inparticular the excluded volume effects and the relevance ofliquid-Substrate cross-correlation terms in the neutron cross sectionare quantitatively discussed. The results obtained for the microscopicstructure of water evidence a non-homogeneous distribution of moleculeswithin the pore, with the presence of water-substrate hydrogen bonds,and a strong distortion of the water-water radial distributionfunctions with respect to those of bulk water extending at least up tothree hydration layers.</Abstract> 2009-11-22T23:00:00Z


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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dubai Atlantis Resort

Dubai Atlantis Resort

Opened in November, 2008, the Dubai Atlantis Resort is one of the most amazing resort experiences once can experience. Breathtaking to see and live, the Atlantis is world renowned for not only its beauty, but also for its first class service, rooms, amenities, and setting.
Dubai Atlantis

With over 1,300 rooms and more than 150 deluxe suites, shared between two hotel towers and linked by a beautiful archway, the Dubai Atlantis Resort is similar to its sister resort in the Bahamas. However the Dubai Atlantis offers even more for the particular traveler. For, not only is it a hotel and resort, the Dubai Atlantis also boasts a theme park for entertainment of a different sort.

Dubai Atlantis offers 7 world-class eateries, including gastronomical pleasures from Japan, Italy, France, Arabic, and New York Steakhouse styles. The resort also offers higher end boutiques such as Tiffany and Company, Cartier, and Villa Moda. Even offering special activities and areas for children and teenagers, Dubai Atlantis includes Atlantis' Kids Club, with supervised activities in separate areas and Club Rush, a 'no kid' and 'no adult' zone for teenagers with video games, movies and internet access.

As a world class water resort, it should be no surprise that the Dubai Atlantis features fantastic water adventures for guests of all ages and interests. Some of these features include Aquaventure, a 17 hectacre theme park with river rides, a huge waterslide called the Ziggurat, with its experience of sliding through a shark filled lagoon, and the Royal Towers private beach.
No resort is complete without spa services, and Dubai Atlantis does not disappoint. In fact, the average guest may feel overwhelmed with the variety and quality of the services available, including full treatment rooms for massage, sauna, jacuzzi, and a complete fitness centre.
For a world-class, once in a lifetime experience, visit Dubai Atlantis Resort located in the heart of the gulf.
Photo by Britrob

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Dubai Tourism 2010

Dubai Tourism 2010

“Nowhere Like Dubai” is the official slogan of the Dubai tourism department, and unlike most locations that claim this moniker, Dubai truly is like nowhere else on earth. What was originally a small fishing community is now a world-class city that features amazing accommodations and tourist activities.
Although a very new city, many visitors are not aware, until they visit, that Dubai has a rich history and cultural heritage. In fact, archaeologists have found evidence of human settlement in the area from as far back as 4,000 years. More recently, though, the city of Dubai can be traced to around 1830 when it was founded among a string of over fishing locales along the gulf coast. Many prized historical items can be found in Dubai's city museum.
Admittedly, however, most tourists are attracted to Dubai not because of its deep historical roots, but rather to its world renowned sites that truly baffle the visitors' imaginations. Some of these locations include absolutely astounding shopping and entertainment opportunities. There are mind-blowing attractions such as the Dubai Marina, set to be the worlds largest marina and built in the shape of a palm tree, the Burj Dubai which will be the worlds tallest skyscraper at an astounding 2,684 feet (818 meters), and Dubiaiand, an entertainment complex complete with six zones or worlds including the Eco-Tourism, Sports, Retail and Entertainment, and Downtown worlds. Within the city there are thousands of unique dining experiences for every taste and palette.
In just 30 years, Dubai has transformed itself from a regional center to a worldwide one, where visitors from around the world come to take in the fabulous sites, and tickle all of their senses. With a population of over 2 million people, Dubai is truly one of the worlds wonders with its feast of world class offerings.
Photo by Britrob

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Is Dubai Officially Bankrupt

Is Dubai Officially Bankrupt?

World markets are in a tremor with the news that Dubai may be going bankrupt, but like so many news items, this may be another one where the announcements by media are exaggerated, and so, too, are the reactions. In times like these, it is important to take a deep breath and ask some critical questions. Namely, does the announcement made by Dubai mean inevitable bankruptcy, and, if so, how would that affect plans to visit and/or invest in this state-of-the-art city.

The bottom line is that the rumors aren't true. Dubai is not bankrupt, nor is that necessarily an inevitability. Basically what has happened is that Dubai was going to ask its creditors to suspend payments on its $60 billion of debt for at least six months. In a panic reaction, some world stock markets 'crashed,' including in India, fearing the worst.

The Dubai World conglomerate has many financial interests, and in a wide variety of projects and locations. Dubai itself is one of its crown jewels, both a tourist mecca and financial powerhouse. Dubai World conglomerate is highly unlikely to 'go under' since it has a business partner and fellow emerite called Abu Dhabi, which has already bailed out its 'younger brother' earlier in November.

In fact, most financial analysts are predicting long-term financial health for Dubai since this particular 'bump' is an indication of its cleaning up its debt-heavy standing. So, the predictions of the worst-case scenario are premature, and can be quite damaging, as it plants fear in potential investors, and in tourists who might have been considering an adventure to this exotic city.

Dubai is a huge, flashy and exciting city; their future is secured in the short-term, and also the long-term. The wise investor, in fact, would look at this recent announcement as an amazing opportunity to reap the rewards of patience, and the hesitant tourist would also benefit from the city's desire to work even harder to please its visitors.


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Thursday, 16 February 2017

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Way past time that this corrupt regime came to an end. The military is in cahoots with the regime, so Venezuela qualifies as a five banana republic. This is a hard one to handle as a lot of most? all? The generals are up to their eyeballs in drug trafficking and don't have any incentive to change the status quo.

Now Venezuelan children are dying from diphtheria.

Do not cry for Venezuela. Michael Moore is sending a truckload of pizza. All is forgiven.

To a liberal-not-leftist Chavez and Corbyn are indeed fools. However, if you think Trump is doing a fine job you're either completely selective in your news consumption or just as delusional as he is. A slow train wreck was to be expected, but the wreck is happening in accelerated time. There's a new scandal every 6 or 8 hours.

Trump promised we'd be winning so much we'd get tired of it. If by "we" he meant anyone who isn't a Republican or right winger, it's his one promise that's coming true.

For matters Latin America including this Maduro bastard...may he walk in front of a bullet, this is a good blog--

If if isn't him, it's his predecessor, if not him its one of the Castros, or Daniel Ortega--a scoundrel who can dodge a half dozen bullets at once. We no sooner cleaned one out then another popped up elsewhere.

Hopefully Mr. Trump will watch our southern neighbors more closely like we did during the Cold War. It is infuriating that these "Bolivarians" show up here like Obama and the Hollywood types as well as ignorant politicians across the Western world and at the UN.

They are not "fools", Bob, they are 'irredeemably' evil and if that utterly wet and feeble Obama couldn't put the pressure on then stand back and let 'The Donald' do it!

Faster than a speeding lawsuit, more wrecky than a locomotive, able to brand tall buildings in a single negotiation! Look up in the sky, it's a loon, it's a balloon, no... it's President Comrade Trump fighting the never ending battle for truth, justice, and one way or another!

Not feeling quite yourself today Bob?

For you David,

Brits might not recognize the intro for the 1950's Superman TV show, but you should:

"Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman - who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a neverending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way."

David's tossing around the word "evil" reminded me of comic book villains, and so the lampoon. Maybe it was too esoteric, but I'm fine, thank you.

And The Donald asks the question:

David, JK, et al.,

Another day, another plateful of crazy from our resident trash-talking clown. It should be quite clear by now that he is not interested in reasonable discourse. No, he is only interested in flaming from either end of his alimentary canal.

His M.O. is to make outrageous assertions about any person who is unwilling to succumb to the Leftist mania for political correctness, checking one's privilege, and other inventions of the sick Leftist worldview. In so doing, he hopes you will try to defend the target of his trash talking, thereby wasting time better spent by, for example, sticking needles in your eyes or sitting in traffic, naked, eating glass.

What a revolting photograph - still it goes with his persona I guess.

And despite everything you've said about Venezuela, and - let's face it - the entire history of the twentieth century, there are still people who think socialism is the answer.

Beats me, really it does.

The dream of socialism never dies because it is never examined academically. As a new crop of young people come along all emotional and wide eyed, they refuel a movement they won't like if they ever had to actually live under it. Thus the Left is never cut off at the source.

Often misattributed to Churchill, “If a man is not a socialist by the time he is 20, he has no heart. If he is not a conservative by the time he is 40, he has no brain.”

Unfortunately, there are lots of people who lack the brains to disillusion themselves of socialism by age 40. And this is the cohort that perpetuates the concept of socialism, which Churchill characterized thus: "Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy."

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Songs of Love & Piety
June 17, 2017, 7:30 PM
St. Mark’s on the Campus Episcopal
Lincoln, Nebraska

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Songs of Love & PietySongs of Love & Piety is a concert of vocal music performed by the “sweet voices” of Dulces Voces.

Saturday, June 17, 2017
7:30 PM
St. Mark’s on the Campus Episcopal Church
1309 R Street (13th & R)
Lincoln, Nebraska

This concert features sacred and secular vocal music from the 14th to the 20th century, and from the Iberian peninsula to South America.

Freewill offerings are welcomed. We look forward to seeing you there!

Printable program

O vos omnes, Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611)
O all ye that pass by the way, attend and see: If there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.
Attend, all ye people, and see my sorrow: If there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.

O vos omnes, Pablo Casals (1876-1973)
O all ye that pass by the way, attend and see: If there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.
Attend, all ye people, and see my sorrow: If there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.

La rosa enflorece, Traditional Sephardic, arr. Angelina Figus
The rose flowers in May.
My soul dims, suffering from love.
Nightingales sing and sigh of love
And passion kills me, increasing my pain.
Come more quickly, my dove,
More quickly to me,
More quickly you my soul: I feel myself dying.

Cuando el Rey Nimrod, Ladino Folksong
When King Nimrod went out into the fields
He looked at the heavens and at all the stars
He saw a holy light above the Jewish quarter
A sign that Abraham our father was about to be born
Abraham our father, beloved father
Blessed father, light of Israel.
Then he commanded all the midwives
That every pregnant woman
Who did not give birth to her baby would be killed at once
because Abraham our father was going to born.
Terach’s wife became pregnant
and day after day he asked her
Why do you look so distraught?
She already knew the good that she had within her.
Let us greet the godfather and also the circumciser
Because of his virtue may the Messiah come
To redeem all Israel
Surely we will praise the true redeemer
The true redeemer of Israel.

Ojos claros serenos, Eduardo Grau (1919–2006)
Eyes serene, so clear, if you are praised for your kindly gaze why, when you look at me, do you look angry? If, when you are kinder, you look more beautiful to the beholder, do not look at me with anger, so that you do not appear less beautiful. Ah, raging torments! Eyes serene, so clear, even if you look at me like that, at least you look at me.
Se equivocó la paloma, Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000)
The dove was wrong. The dove was mistaken. To travel north she flew south, believing the wheat was water. Believing the sea was sky, that the night was dawn. That the stars were dew, that the heat was snowfall. Your skirt your blouse your heart, her home. She fell asleep on the shore, you at the tip of a branch.

O Virgo splendens, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (14th Century)
O resplendent Virgin, here on the high mountain, glowing with miraculous wonders where the believers from everywhere ascend.
Ah, with your gentle loving eye behold those caught in the bonds of sin, to let them not suffer the blows of Hell, but let them be with the blessed by your intercession.

Iam nubes/Iam novum, The Montpellerier Codex (13th Century)
Part 1:
Now is the cloud dispersed, now appears the Milky Way, now is the flower plucked from the thorn, now rises Mary.
Now is the light seen, now is the path revealed; now may pious Mary pray for us, that we may enjoy the glory.
Part 2:
Now the new star rises, now appears the Milky Way; now is born of Judea, now rises, Mary.
Now is heaven opened to us, now may Christ give us joy in the heavenly court, whose daughter and mother you are, O Mary.

O Crux, Ferdinand Sor (1778-1839)
O hail the cross, our only hope in this passion tide.
Grant increase of grace to believers and remove the sins of the guilty.

Christus factus est, Vicente Goicoechea (1854-1916)
Christ became obedient for us unto death,
even to the death of the cross.
Response. Therefore God exalted Him and gave Him a Name which is above all names.

Audivi vocem de caelo, Duarte Lôbo (1563-1646)
I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
Oculi mei, Estêvão Lopes Morago (1567-1643)
My eyes are ever upon the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare. Turn to me, and have mercy upon me.

Imperayritz — Verges ses par, Anonymous Spanish (14th Century)
Empress of the joyful city of paradise, where eternal happiness cleansed of sin exists, full of virtue,
Mother of God by divine wish. Gentle Virgin with angelic face, thus in God’s eyes most gracious,
Be patient with the important faithful who pray to the celestial King.
Merciful Virgin without peer, we trust in you to defend us from evil and not to be desolated by our daily and ordinary failing.
Above all, shelter us under your royal cloak of mercy, since whoever is abundant in virtue can transform muddy clay, human flesh being weak.

Mariam Matrem, Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (14th Century)
Praise Mary, the Virgin Mother, exalt Jesus Christ wholeheartedly.
Mary sanctuary of ages, protect us. Jesus, our protecting refuge, hear us.
You are both already fully among us, truly a safe place of shelter.

Cantiga 166: Como podens per sas culpas, Alfonso X., el Sabio (1200-1277)
This is how Holy Mary cured in Her church in Salas a man who was crippled in his body and limbs.
“As men may be paralyzed because of their misdeeds, so may they then be made whole by the Virgin.”
It happened that a man, because of sins he had committed, was crippled in his limbs from an illness he had suffered.
He remained thus for five years, unable to move, so badly twisted were all the members of his body.
Because of this terrible infirmity that he had, he promised that if he got well, he would go to Salas at once and would offer Holy Mary a pound of wax each year.
He got well immediately and had no further complaints.
For this miracle they thanked and praised Holy Mary because She frees the sick from suffering and pain, and furthermore,
She is always praying for us sinners, hence we should all forever be Her loyal subjects.

Dulces Voces

Colleen Baade
Curt Butler
Holly Heffelbower
Roger Hochstetler
Jackie Josten
John Mills
Martha Tanner
Michael Tully
Laura Waldman

related posts:
The Montpellerier Codex, Part IV: Texts and Translations


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Archives for June 2016

Kiyi here on their annual fish sampling tour of Lake Superior.

2016-0628-7107The research vessel Kiyi, based in Ashland and operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, arrived Duluth today (above). They are on their annual offshore fish community survey of Lake Superior to sample the fish population at 55 stations around the Lake (see map below). Mark Vinson (right) is Station Chief at the Lake Superior Biological Station in Ashland, a part of the U.S. Geological Survey and told me they use a bottom trawl to collect and analyze the fish at each of the stations. They note age, length, weight, sex and maturity of each specimen and look for contents in the stomach, which provides information about eating habits, including who is eating who in the food chain. This information is shared with a wide variety of government entities in the 3 states that border Lake Superior, and Canada. One use provides important information that is used to set limits for commercial and recreational fishing. Just before arriving Duluth they stopped at their station at the mouth of the Lester River. They will depart Duluth at 7 am on Wednesday morning.

2 Coast Guard cutters, the Cason J. Callaway and Pier B

(The retired Coast Guard cutter Sundew sits at her current dock just to the right of the former cement silos; the Coast Guard cutter Alder is back at her dock after a quick trip out to Lake Superior this morning, top center.)

Algoma Equinox here to load grain

The Algoma Equinox was built in China in 2013. She arrived Duluth this morning, June 23, 2016 at 4:07 to load grain at Riverland Ag. Picture above taken this morning; the two below were taken by John Zywicki, also this morning. This is her 9th trip to the Twin Ports. She usually has loaded iron ore pellets at the BNSF in Superior; she did load grain, as today, on a visit in September, 2015.

Sjard wind turbine discharge in Duluth Minnesota

The Sjard blew into town last night with wind turbine parts she is discharging at the Port Terminal. She is one of many BBC ships that have been coming to Duluth for many years, although she does not carry the letters BBC in her name as did her sister ship the BBC Haren, in town in late May.

Pier B Resort, a good place to watch the boats

Pier B Resort is open for business today (June 17, 2016), in time to welcome runners in Grandma’s Marathon. The restaurant is still a couple weeks away but what a view of the bridge, the boats, the lake and the harbor. Just walk in the front door and look straight ahead, as I did above. That’s the Arthur M. Anderson departing under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge early this afternoon. Below is a view from the indoor swimming pool at Pier B.

2 First-time visitors to Duluth

The Canadian flagged Leonard M. (above) arrived last night at 7:40 pushing the barge Huron Spirit filled with steel coils from Essar Steel Algoma Inc. located at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. At 7:13 this morning (June 16, 2016), the Marselisborg arrived with wind turbine parts she is discharging at the Port Terminal.

Second trip for Ken Booth/Lakes Contender this season

The tug Ken Boothe, Sr. came into port on Sunday afternoon, June 12, 2016, pushing her barge, Lakes Contender, filled with limestone to discharge at the Graymont Superior plant. This is her second trip to the Twin Ports this season; she was here on May 14th with limestone also. Below, she is in the Duluth ship canal with the salt water vessel Greenwing seen at anchor just below her self unloader arm.


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Thanks to Dennis O’Hara

dennisoharaamericanintegrityLate last evening at 20:45, as the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge was lifting for the 1000 foot American Integrity, the bridge lost power and the alert crew of the Integrity made a go-around and re-entered once the power was restored.
Had the crew and Bridge Operator not done a superb job in dealing with this emergency, a catastrophe would have occurred in front of a crowded Canal park.
This video will show the first attempted entry and the go-around.

Flying cameras, Yikes!

Dennis O'Hara and his OktoKopter at the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge I went down behind the Aquarium last night (June 29, 2011) to take a picture of the salt water vessel Orsula coming into port. With tugs helping out and the sun just sliding over the hill behind me, it seemed like a good thing to do. Then I noticed a cute couple watching the ship too. Upon further investigation, they seemed too serious to be simply visitors out for an evening stroll.
Dennis O'Hara and his OktoKopter at the Duluth Aerial Lift BridgeWhen Dennis O’Hara turned and said, Hi Ken, I realized I was not alone, or rather I was alone. All I had was my little camera. Dennis had his wife Debby with him, a couple of interesting boxes and an even stranger, bug-like contraption sitting on the grass in front of him.
Dennis O'Hara and his OktoKopter
Upon further investigation, I realized it was a helicopter. Knowing Dennis, I looked underneath the helicopter and saw what looked to be a camera. A closer look at that box revealed the controls you usually see in the cockpit of an airplane. Despite being a licensed pilot, Dennis had spent a  good part of the winter learning how to fly his OktoKopter.  Octo from the Latin for 8, meaning 8 blades.
OktoKopter takes off to get a picture of the incoming ship Orsula
And the first step for that is to know precisely when to take off so you can get your picture and get back with a safe landing. A slow moving ship can cause a problem so they carefully judge the speed of the ship as it came under the Lift Bridge. I assigned myself the task of announcing that important moment in the countdown to lift off. You can see the bow of the ship just coming under the bridge, the tug ready to help and the OktoKopter just taking off. My work was done, successfully, I might add.
OktoKopter in the air
Having lost the battle to get exclusive pictures of the Orsula, I decided the only thing left was to get exclusive pictures of Dennis and Debby taking pictures of the Orsula with the OktoKopter.
Dennis O'Hara guides his OktoKopter so he can get a picture ofhe incoming Orsula
This is not your average model airplane. For one thing, it will be flying over water so stalling in midair, or worse, is not an option. Nor is your battery running low. Happily all this technology includes a voice that announces how many minutes the battery has left, from the 7 it had when it took off.
Dennis O'Hara hat and his OktoKopter
I thought of one problem, but they had that covered too. How do you know what the camera is seeing. Debby took care of that with a totally separate system; she was watching a live feed from another camera on the OktoKopter showing her what the camera in the sky was seeing. That allowed Dennis to maneuver the OktoKopter into position. He had rigged it to take a picture every 2 seconds after he pressed the button. Can’t expect him to pilot the aircraft and take pictures at the same time.
Meanwhile, the voice was giving Dennis an update of the status of the battery. Click here to go to his web page at Northern Images to see the picture he, Debby and the OktoKopter took last night. His home page at Northern Images Photography is here.
The OktoKopter comes back to earth