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Posted in Air, Autumn, Critters, Digital Art, Dreams, Earth, Eastern Shore, Exploring, Faith, Fire, Gifts, Gratitude, Mindfulness, Nature, Photography, Portals & Pathways, Quotes, Sky, Spirit, Walking & Wandering

It’s okay

Learning from the rose.  (Processed in Photoshop and Pixlr.)
Learning from the rose. (Processed in Photoshop and Pixlr.)

You can learn from everybody, not only from people but also from animals, from trees, from clouds, from rivers.  But there is no question of imitating.  You can’t become the river, but you can learn some quality that is river-likeness: the flow, the let-go.  You can learn something from a rose flower.  You cannot become a rose flower, you need not, but you can learn something from the rose.  You see the rose so delicate yet so strong in the wind, in the rain, in the sun.  By the evening it will be gone but has no care about it, is joyous in the moment.  You can learn from the rose how to live in the moment.  Right now the rose is dancing in the wind, in the rain, unafraid, unconcerned for the future.  By the evening the petals will wither away, but who bothers about the evening?  This moment is all and this dance is all there is.

Learn something from the rose.  Learn something from the bird on the wing — the courage to go into the unbounded.

~ Osho, from Tarot in the Spirit of Zen

Unbounded.  (A composite.)

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the woods lately.  Communing with the trees, walking the deer trails, watching the light and shadows, breathing in the scent of pine and fresh air, listening to the wind singing through the trees and the marsh grasses at the edge of the woods, and crawling around on the ground to admire the mushrooms and other fungi.

Fairy dome.
Fairy dome.

I think I’ve been going out there to look for something that isn’t out there unless I bring it with me.  A sense of calm.  A respite from worry and anxiety.

Magnolia shadows.
Magnolia shadows.

If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another.  The universe has no fixed agenda.  Once you make any decision, it works around that decision.  There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience.

~ Deepak Chopra

I found that quote after I came back from the woods this morning feeling more or less the same as when I went out.  I had some spells of calm when I let go of thought and allowed myself the joy of the moment, but the thoughts followed me back to the house as they are wont to do.  Chopra’s words (in the quote) are reassuring, almost like taking a deep, deep breath, and then releasing the worries on the exhale.

Behind bars.
Behind bars.

Anxiety and worrisome thoughts are like a hamster running on a wheel.  They run and run and run, but never get anywhere.  The key is to stop the running, break the loop.  Pause and breathe.

Light bulb moment.
Light bulb moment.

I have days of acceptance, of no worries, and just when I think I’m home free, the worries jump out from behind a door I didn’t even know was there.  “Ah-ha!” they say.  “Let’s work on this some more!”

Murky.  (Mud running from the shore into the creek.)
Murky. (Mud running from the shore into the creek.  Tinted in Photoshop.)

After warming up in the house for a little while, I went back outside, through the woods and out to the dock to watch the water and the sunlight dance with each other.  Mud from the shore flowed into the creek, swirling around like smoke as it spread into the water.  It was beautiful, the way the mud allowed itself to become part of the water.

Dissolving.  (More mud and water, tinted in Photoshop.)
Dissolving. (More mud and water, tinted in Photoshop.)

Sleep was elusive last night, and I know that’s contributing to my dis-ease today.  It was like this:

It was that sort of sleep in which you wake every hour and think to yourself that you have not been sleeping at all; you can remember dreams that are like reflections, daytime thinking slightly warped.

~ Kim Stanley Robinson, Icehenge

Lagoon reflections.
Lagoon reflections.

I think I’ll go back outside while the sun is still lighting things up.  Best to take advantage of these brilliant days because you never know when the Drearies will return.

Thank you for visiting today.  Let’s go to the Point and watch the sunset.  I couldn’t get out there yesterday (I had to go to town for another pre-op test), but did see the sun pillar.  It was beautiful, especially against the colorful clouds.  It looked something like the sun pillar in this post.  I read somewhere that Native Americans call sun pillars the Sun’s little brother, and that you can only see little brother when the sun has dipped below the horizon.

Anyhow.  Sunset should be interesting this evening unless the just-enough clouds build up and become too-many clouds.  Sunset is at the usual 4:43 PM.  Come early and bundle up.  It’s chilly and windy, but I think it will be worth braving the cold to stand on the shore and watch as the sun paints the clouds.

Leaving the woods.
Leaving the woods.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Today’s joys:  Sunlight playing through the trees; a flock of Cedar Waxwings sitting in one of the oak trees; the scent of fresh air and sunshine on the sheets I dried outside on the clothesline; time to walk and walk and walk; forest bathing.

Robin is a photographer, artist, writer, wife, sometime poet, mom, grandma, daughter, sister, friend, and occasional traveler currently living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She finished a 365 commitment to get outside every day in 2011, and has turned it into a lifelong commitment taking one or more walks each day. Robin will continue to share her walks through her words and images on Breezes at Dawn. Older posts can be found at Life in the Bogs, her previous blog. Robin and her husband are in the midst of renovating the house and property they refer to as the Wabi-Sabi Ranch, 35 acres that include marsh, a dock on a tidal creek, meadows, and woodlands. Every day brings new discoveries.

17 thoughts on “It’s okay

  1. I love you and your blog. Your openness and honesty touch such a chord in me and are such a reflection of my own journey. Today, as you swing between your joys and your fears I want to send you a message and even though I know you know all this – sometimes such words have helped me and so I pass them on to you.

    My place is where there is water. My eternal question to those reptilian brain non-thoughts is ‘how true is this?’ I pay attention to how I feel and if the worry has raised my adrenalin then I do everything in my power to counter it. I walk or sit by water when I can – but that is not so easy given my urban surroundings. But wherever I am, I count my blessings. Again and again if need be. I remember Mark Twain’s words that go something like this ‘I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened’. [And if it proves that he never said it – he should have 🙂 ]

    I think we are taught from infancy that the voice in our head that endlessly plays out dire scenarios, is us. It is not. We can choose to counter that voice, challenge it. Remember its past dire predictions that came to nothing and remember that we are loved, we are protected and we always are exactly where we need to be – no matter what.

    I love your Osho cards – how accurate is he with that first quote! I love your water photo that looks like an oil painting – how magical is that! Please go walk in your woods and just be there, love them, love being there, dance with your breeze and raise your arms to each sunset and sunrise – and let the other go. You will deal with it if and when the need arises. Worrying changes nothing and undoes all the good your diet, your positivity and your surroundings do for you.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Thank you for sharing such “spot on” quotations today, Robin. I especially love the Deepak Chopra wisdom 😉 Then only thing I could possibly add, preferably over a glass of good wine, to The ContendedCrafter’s wisdom is this: in some ways we create our world and our circumstance through our thinking… our imagination. Things often manifest as we expect things to manifest. Point being- it helps, I believe, to hold positive expectations. Also, to count our blessings and let our hearts (and minds) brim with gratitude and appreciation. It is a beautiful, light-filled antidote to the fears, drearies, and anxieties which inevitably come. We can express appreciation for our good health, our loved ones, our home, our opportunities to enjoy life in a conscious way to stop the worry-chatter cold in its tracks. May all be well with you. So happy you were able to get out to enjoy today, and to share your stunning photos. Hugs, WG

    1. Thank you so much, WG, for your words of wisdom, and your blessings. I do think we have to take time to work though the fears, the worries, and the anxieties, but in, as you say, a positive way. With love, with curiosity, with room for the possibility of learning and growing from them. I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful day. It’s a little cold out there, but at least the sun is shining. 🙂

  3. We’re right in the middle of the ‘drearies’ here, but the house is warm and there’s a smell of brownies from the oven. Life is good. Just let it be. (Easy enough to say, I know, but it’s worth working towards!) 😉

    1. I’ve been singing “Let It Be” since I read your comment, Gunta. It’s a good song to be singing, and great advice. 🙂 Brownies!! I’m coming over to your house.

  4. “There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience.” I like this. Good stuff to think about in this post today. Hope things are progressing well for you in your countdown. Love the sparkles.

    1. Thank you, Karma. 🙂 I like that idea, too. There is something reassuring about it. Sometimes I get wrapped up in wondering whether or not I’m making the right decision, forgetting that there is no right or wrong. Only what’s best for me.

Comments are delightful and always appreciated. I will respond when I can (life is keeping me busy!), and/or come around to visit you at your place soon. Thank you!

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brick and mortar

January 26, 2011

Welcome to the iDarkside

Filed under: atlanta,Life,Photography,Work — brick @ 11:26 pm
Tags: , , , ,

Traded in my faithful Blackberry that was on the fritz for an iPhone 4 as my new work phone. It should be interesting to see how this handles the Enterprise needs of my day to day schedule.

1 Comment »

  1. Not an iPhone fan but thats a great shot… and I really enjoyed your blog too 🙂

    Comment by 2 Rivers Photos — March 5, 2011 @ 3:53 pm | Reply

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my day

In honor of the Superbowl I am totally not going to talk about the Superbowl.  Call me bitter…

Today is also St. Brigid’s Day.  St. Brigid was the patron saint of Ireland and good friends with St. Patrick (though he gets all the glory…)

Once I married, and my last name became “Day” it became pretty much impossible to google me for anything.  When you google Brigid Day you get 56 pages of hits about the Saint.  Nothing about me.

And I’m OK with that.  It helps me to feel a little anonymous.  And from someone who has spent an hour or two of my life googling people from my past, I like being virtually unfindable.  It’s like an invisibility cloak.

Now that I have a super power, I must use it wisely.  Only for good.  never for evil.  St. Brigid would want it that way.

One response to “my day

  1. happy saint’s day to you!!!

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Review – Masks by Robert J Crane @robertjcrane

Book & Author Details:
Masks by Robert J Crane
Publication date: July 12th 2016
Genres: Sci Fi, Superhero

What makes a hero?

For years, Sienna Nealon has worked with the U.S. government to protect the world against other people with powers beyond those of a normal human. But after several clashes with the current administration, she finds herself with a new employer, an independent agency dedicated to helping stop threats to humanity. When a new hero and villain rise in New York City, Sienna can’t help but get involved, even as the U.S. government sends its own response team, led by an old friend…and a new enemy.

Soon, Sienna finds herself once more against the odds, against the government, and wondering where the line is between hero and villain.

So.  Here we are.  9 books into a 20 book series. And yet the author is still producing books with a fresh feel to them.

One of the things that I really enjoy about these stories, is the dual layering of the plot lines.  On the one hand, you have the immediate story.  The one that gets wrapped up neatly within the pages of the book before you.  On the other hand, you have longer thread – the one that will have you pondering over the course of several books; the one that drops hints to the inevitable (and still secret) confrontation yet to come.  And I, for one, can’t get enough.

This book had a different feel to it for me.  Sienna is growing; maturing.  And, as her actions become more measured, so the tone of the book has become less frenetic.  The irony is that, as Sienna gets herself more together, certain others around her appear to be coming more unravelled.  There may be trouble ahead….

The other characters and villain in this book only serve to demonstrate the depth and complexity of this series.  An excellent addition to the series.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

purchase links

Amazon US | Amazon UK

About the author

RJCRobert J. Crane was born and raised on Florida’s Space Coast before moving to the upper midwest in search of cooler climates and more palatable beer. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in English Creative Writing. He worked for a year as a substitute teacher and worked in the financial services field for seven years while writing in his spare time.

author links

Facebook | Twitter | Website | Goodreads | Fan Page

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Roots are Funny Things

Roots are funny things.

Botanists, farmers, those who know things, will argue or teach about what sort of plant needs which type of soil to grow and thrive. I’m sure they know what they are talking about.vanandcar

But I say that all plants grow best, in whatever type of soil they happen to be planted in at that time. Because that’s the thing about plants; they aren’t the gardener. If they don’t grow where they are their only other choice is rather dire.

After tearful goodbyes, and I am not afraid to claim a tear, I drove off into the sunset. kansasrearviewThen I drove into another sunset. archandflagThen I drove into yet another sunset and eventually ran out of room to drive. cloudyskiesThen I stopped and unloaded the truck.

A long time ago I took seed in land, was transplanted to another, and eventually began to grow like that pesky weed that comes up in the crack of a sidewalk.

I loved being a weed in the Philly sidewalk.

There were lots of other interesting weeds, great climate for weeds to grow, and best of all, in Philly weeds are allowed to grow.newmexicomotel

I must have sprouted seed because the wind picked me up and blew me to another land where there are no weeds.

But here there are flowers.

Palm trees and sun.

It does not rain but gardeners abound. No more rabble but rather manicured gardens.

I have landed and now I can choose to grow.

Or not.Rez

I am not the gardener so all I can do is grow as best I can. Perhaps the gardener, because they have those here, will find I am a weed and pluck me up, or maybe I will find I am a flower?mewasteland

Filed under places

5 responses to “Roots are Funny Things

  1. It seems like everyone is moving. It’s that smell. You know? I love the smell of cardboard boxes in the morning. It smells like …. Mayflower.

  2. It’s like buying a new car. Once you pick one it’s like everyone else on the road magically has the same model.

  3. Jared Gill

    I’m impressed if you got all your stuff in that truck. I know that I couldn’t move with that size truck. Best of luck at the new job and new soil.

  4. Lynn Montgomery

    roots are our foundation for life, No?

  5. Christian Kent Ryan

    Welcome to the West Coast, playa.

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Two big projects off my summer list: girasole and lizard ridge.  That’s right, both of them.

Let’s start with girasole.

Almost exactly 11 months (many of them spent in my craft closet of purgatory doom), close to 1400 yards of jumper-weight wool, and one move to Tennessee later, I’m amazed that I actually finished this shawl.  It’s beautiful.

Yesterday I was a bit lost without this shawl to work on.  It had definitely become a part of my routine.

how do i wear this?

how do i wear this?

Though I’m still not a 100% sure how to wear it.

Lizard Ridge is, without a doubt, my oldest WIP: I started it in April 2007.  Wow.  Since then I’ve:

1. moved to Germany

2. broken up with one boyfriend

3. left one graduate program

4. moved back to New Jersey

5. found a new graduate program

6. got some health problems resolved after many years

7. moved to Tennessee

8. finished my first year in the new program

It was time to shut it down.

Even after all of those years, I still only had 10 of the 24 required squares.  Yeah, not looking too promising.  I sat down to start square no. 11 last night — while watching Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (creepy) — and realized that I just didn’t want to knit this anymore.  Maybe I could have finished up one or two squares, but I needed 14.  And so I decided to stop.

This morning, I laid out all of my squares for a lap blanket.  Then I thought, I don’t really need a tiny blanket.  How about another shawl?

Now I have a shawl.  Well, now after a couple hours of stitching pieces together and weaving in ends.

Making this up was no joke.

It’s just 10 squares, arranged in an L-shape: one long row of six squares sewn together side-to-side, topped by a block of 4 squares.  For the moment, I decided to leave the edges raw and curly.  We’ll see.

lizard ridge, modified

lizard ridge, modified

All in all, I like it.  But mostly, I’m happy to have put the Lizard Ridge to bed.  It was time.

10 thoughts on “2-fer!

  1. victory is yours, on both counts. hooray! i too, wonder about how to wear the circular shawl…there must be some kind of interwebs tutorial out there!

  2. Hooray! I LOVE Girasole. Such a beautiful project — it has both a rustic vibe and a delicate vibe all at once.

    Lizard Ridge looks great, too, and it’s great to be done!

  3. The Girasole is very beautiful. And I think the contrast edge really works well.

    As for wearing, simply fold in half to make a semi-circle and wrap. Very comfy.

    Congratulations on hitting two out of the park and clearing the WIP pile. I need to follow your example and do the same thing.

  4. Your Girasole turned out beautifully. I like the 2nd wearing option best.

    I like the lizard ridge goodness. Looks like a very cozy piece.

  5. Beautiful! Girasole is great, and I think the contrast edging really works. And kudos to you for salvaging Lizard Ridge without knitting any more block – the resulting wrap looks great!

  6. Great idea for Lizard Ridge – it’s always strange to look back over a period of time and realise just how much happened in it. I end up wondering how I fitted it all in without ever feeling like a million things were going on at once. You’ve moved so much!

    Girasole is beautiful – the way you are wearing it in the second photo looks great. The edging is perfect.

    How satisfying that they are both done – out of the closet of purgatory doom with you!

  7. Girasole is beautiful – I’ve been looking at this pattern lately, and yours is making me want to cast on for it tonight!

    Turning Lizard Ridge into a shawl was a great idea – its beautiful – and getting something like that done is such a good feeling!

  8. Both projects are beautiful. I hope you enjoy wearing them. Girasole will likely fall into place for you once you feel cold. It looks like the perfect thing to keep the chill away. However, I’m not really the one to advise. The one circular shawl I knit is serving time as a tablecloth.

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please ignore the quality of these pictures

That’s right, Nashville.  Look who’s wearing wool:

Deal with it.

Fall has arrived, however tentatively, and I couldn’t be happier about the shift to cooler temperatures.  Breaking out the wool was a bit optimistic of me — I was about half-way through my mile-and-a-half walk to campus this morning (at 8:30!) before the shawl came off and I admitted defeat — but still, the mere fact that I made it out the door with something wooly around my neck is a good sign.

Also, look what followed me to school the other day:

Photo 31

Yep, Ms. Beauregarde.  I haven’t forgotten about you, but boy are you going to take a while.  Yesterday was an especially long and tedious one; this was my treat to keep the boring at bay.  Worked like a charm.

where have i been?

A good question.  It seems like the semester has claimed all of my free moments and scheduled meetings.  Meetings to which I cannot bring my knitting.

Good thing I decided to dedicate Saturday to catching up on all kinds of useless television.  As a result, my Idlewood is getting pretty darn long.  You might not be able to tell, but I’m almost through the waist shaping.  After that, it’s smooth sailing through some stockinette …

In other news, Jodi totally inspired a bout of copycat-itis.  Have you seen her lovely Whippoorwill?  I not only saw it, but immediately copied it.

Remember my silky stripey Ishbel?  Yeah.  It wasn’t really working out and I finally had to face facts: the guage was too loose, the shape too shallow … it was time to let it go.  That Sundara yarn is just too pretty to waste on a project that wasn’t coming together.

So I ripped and immediately cast on:

Much better.

In other news, it’s finally cooled off here just enough for my poor often-wilted garden to perk up.  They’re hiding, but those plants have peppers on them!  My tomatoes are still MIA, but I’m holding out hope …

yeah, it was that kind of day

Photo 30

So summer is not over in Nashville.  I’m beginning to think it might be here to stay.  Forever.  And ever.  It’s pretty lame, really: I’ve got all of these kicky shawls and shawlettes I can only wear indoors … where the air conditioning is set at “frostbite”.  Then I wander out-of-doors — to go to class, buy some gummy bears, make copies, commit acts of tom foolery in front of my students — only to find myself over dressed.

That might be why I’m kissing my beer at the end of a very. long. day.  In which I tried — and failed — to vanquish Faust I.  I might have knit a row and a half of my Idlewood.  The cowl is complete, the body is in an advanced state of shaping, and all systems are a go.

Except fall isn’t here yet.

boring cowl progress

Well, that’s not quite true.  I’ve moved past the cowl …

… and am now working on the body.  The waist decreases, to be exact.

All of that sweet disappearing EcoWool.  So far, so good with the project: it’s knitting up super quickly — or would be if only I had more knitting time –, the pattern is easy to follow, the wool is a rustic, full-bodied woolly dream.  I can’t wait to finish this up and then wait (impatiently) for fall to arrive.

Then I’ve got so many EcoWool sweater projects that I want to start: stripes!, twenty ten, OWLS … and, and, and.  Oh my!  You’d think I lived somewhere that offered both extended severe winters and ample time for knitting.  Neither of these things is true.  And yet, hope will not die.

Which is not unrelated to something else that arrived in the mail: yarn!

sock hop in free bird

The Crown Mountain Farms sock hop yarn club never fails to make my day when I find some new handspun lovely in my mailbox.  This is called Free Bird and will — someday — become something extra purty.

why am i showing you this?

Photo 29

Today was a day sponsored by rampant dumbassery.  It didn’t start that way, I even managed to get up early … which is probably why it ended with me inadvertently changing the combination on my laptop lock, thus very securely attaching my computer to my campus desk.  This was not good.

This was very bad.  This was hacksaw, bolt cutter bad.

I grit my teeth and settled in to try out all 729 possible combinations.  (Please don’t tell me if my math is wrong.  It is probably wrong.  All I know is that it had to be a depressingly large number.)  Sweet healing power of wool, what needed to click clicked at #128.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I’d just turned on Bachelor Pad and was sure I was in for a tedious couple of hours.

So that’s why I’m showing you a picture of my computer, safe at home with me in my pajamas.  The only question that remains: What can tomorrow bring?

off kilter

The new semester is here, and with it have come the usual upheavals: new classes, new faces, new routines.  I even have a new desk on campus.

It’s all a little overwhelming.  I’m feeling decidedly off kilter … and am busily trying to get my priorities in order.  And trying really hard not to be too disappointed when plans fall through at the last minute, as work slowly creeps in on everyone’s free time.

Good thing I have a lovely cowl to keep me company …

… my fingers busy …

… and my free minutes full.

It’s slow but sure progress and there is certainly no hurry: Nashville isn’t cooling off any time soon.


text:
“Torson-odring-mint-orgee!!” means “Happy Birthday!!” This post is dedicated to my wonderful dad of 23 years (almost 24)!!! He was 33 when I was born… You do the math. 🙂

Day 6 of Horse Trek

*I apologize for the lack of pictures for the last two days of our horse trek.

It rained pretty hard this morning… No fun! We were stuck in our tents for a long time. Then of course came the the bathroom trip that I could just not put off any longer. Ugh! Doing your business in an outhouse with no roof while it’s raining cats and dogs is not something a person looks forward to so early in the morning. Breakfast was skipped and we helped Urna prepare some buuz. Buuz is a type of Mongolian steamed dumpling usually made with goat or sheep meat and some chopped up vegetables. They were pretty tasty!

Shortly after lunch some of our old friends from the other day showed up. Bimba! Along with his younger brother, Bambush, and his cousin, Ambra. The boys all came riding up on their motor bikes. It was still drizzling a bit and it was chilly, so they were going to give us girls a ride. Unfortunately, Borka had to stay behind and him and Bambush packed up our tents and packed the horse. I felt really bad for those two, but I was very grateful that I didn’t have to ride the horse in this crappy weather.

I rode with Bimba and Karima and Urna rode with Ambra on the motor bikes. Bimba and I arrived at his home first and it only took 45 minutes! When I got there, he showed me into a ger where I could stay warm and his little brother was sitting in there. Oh, he was the cutest little thing and very shy! Of what little Mongolian I knew, I tried to make conversation with him… “Mee-nee-neel Brooke.” He told me his name and I had the hardest time pronouncing it. That made him laugh a little. Urna later told me his name is Argyle, but with a lot of phlemy sounds from the throat.. Haha sorry! I’m not sure what the correct term is.

It was Ambra’s birthday, so Urna was going to make a nice dinner and Karima was going to make a little treat using wild rubarb. I helped her pick some rubarb, but didn’t last long because my shoes got wet and it was really cold outside and before long, I couldn’t feel my feet. When Ambra came in, we served him food and sang “Happy Birthday” in Mongolian. It turned out to be a great night!

Wild Rubarb!

I wish I had taken some pictures! There was Urna, Borka, Karima, and myself along with Bimba (the oldest brother and the one who seemed to be in charge, probably about 19-20 years old), Bambush (Bimba’s younger brother, probably about 15 years old), Argyle (Bimba’s little brother, about 10 years old), Ambra (Bimba’s cousin, just turned 18), and Mohah (Bimba’s friend who we met the other day, probably about 20- he doesn’t live there, but drives over on his little motor bike all the time). We were in good company! Mohah brought gifts for us! He gave us each a canteen and he said they were from WWI and that his grandparents made them! Though, Karima found a stamp on hers that was marked with a 1970’s date…? The guys sang some traditional Mongolian songs for us! (Which was so incredible and surreal!) Then we played a new card game they taught us, had some shots of vodka, and just hung out. Such a fun night! Then Mohah said a poem for us and Urna translated. It was a sad poem about a relationship. Then we got to sleep in the cozy warmth of the ger! Karima and I were given the two beds, then Urna and the boys all huddled together on the ground on a mattress of blankets.

Beautiful Sunset!!

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Inside The Enterprise Project

Let’s See What’s Out There…
April 5, 2012, 9:52 pm
Filed under: Ramblings

Are we alone in the Universe? I don’t think so. It would be a mathematical impossibility for the third planet of the system called Sol to be the only rock teeming with life in the vast ocean of the cosmos that surrounds us. Many scientists have touched on this subject over the last seventy years. Who am I to argue with their numerically backed hypothesis?

So the new question, the better question, is this: what would we do if we were suddenly thrust from a global arena into a stellar arena? It is destined to happen sometime in our future. We are bound to cross paths with whoever is out there in our galactic neighborhood. It might be a few hundred years or a few thousand years before this monumental event happens but it is something that we should be thinking about.

As we move forward I have no doubt that one day we will hurl ourselves off this rocky planet, out of its orbit, and into the depths of space. We may do it with conventional rockets or a fantastic technology that allows us to go far and fast. We may find a way to tunnel through another dimension and simply step through a door onto another planet. But whatever the means, we will continue to explore. The need to understand and our unfailing curiosity will drive us into the inky void. The path is inevitable. But will we do it together? Will we be responsible galactic neighbors? Will meeting another lifeform change our view of ourselves? Will knowing that we are not alone in the universe unite us in a way that no one ever thought possible?

Since I was a child I was taught humans were created for great things but failed when we ate the apple. From that moment it was said that we became unsalvageable, a doomed species. I don’t believe that. Even though we have fallen time and again, we are still capable of great things. I am not a person of beliefs. I am a man of science and logic who tends to base his opinions on facts. That philosophy comes to me naturally. But when it comes to humanity I transform into a person of great faith. I see us, not as what we were, not as what we are, but what we are going to be. I truly believe that we will see “first contact” as a monumental event, one that will change all of us in ways that we can not begin to understand. We just need to be ready for it. We need to start looking toward the future.

Happy First Contact Day.

7 Comments so far
Leave a comment

Happy first contact day to you as well! Do you have any plans on what to do next? Maybe you could work together with Zell Denver? The creater of LCARS47, she’s really nice. Or starting another schematic series? *Hint* voyager *Hint* ;]

Comment by Jerah Callaghan

I have no plans to build another series of ship schematics, especially anything having to do with Voyager. (I couldn’t sit through that many episodes of the show to do the research without throwing myself in front of a bus.) I am still working on the Companion though. Unfortunately it’s slow work. Time is not something I have much of these days.

But I am working on another project but it is about as far removed from Trek as you can get. Actually it is in a completely different genre of entertainment. What it might be is not something I feel comfortable divulging right now. You folks will just have to wait and see.

Comment by Bryant

Well, with you’re artistic skills I think it’ll be awesome. Ah, I like voyager. You know, apart from Janeway 😛 Got a 1:1 replica in a game, so I know my way around. Anyway, I’d love to see some sneak peaks ;] Guess I’ll wait and see ^^

Comment by Jerah Callaghan

Just found your site. Great work. Ty and keep it up

Comment by shawn

As to first contact, I have no doubt that it will occur, at some point. The real question is what we will do with it? Science Fiction writers, have shown us several paths, about what happens afterwards. On the whole I do not want to be ruled nor to rule, maybe lead… the difference is that the first is always some kind of dictatorship. but to lead means to set an example, a good example.

Comment by John Ritter

I think that it depends on where first contact takes place. If in America, “Vulcans”, or any other alien race that will land on earth first, will have their brains blown out by the Americans (No offense, just my thoughts). Unless they land in a fortunate enough spot. Other locations.. I really don’t know. I’d think they study us before they try and land on earth.. Haha, fun to think about ;P

Comment by Jerah Callaghan

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Home > Buffalo Braves, Paul Snyder, Ralph Wlison, Toronto Raptors, WBEN > Snyder predated Sports’ Regional Trend

Snyder predated Sports’ Regional Trend

Braves owner Paul Snyder was many things to many people — team founder, consummate businessman, a guy who had little patience with players or coaches, a major reason why the team eventually left town. But he was certainly a visionary when it came to the regionalization of sports.

Early in his tenure, he wanted his Braves empire to extend from Toronto around the west end of Lake Ontario to Syracuse. Today, many sports teams are regional phenomenon. The Atlanta Braves are the team of the Southeast. The Dallas Cowboys are America’s team, with a devout audience in Texas and Oklahoma. And when it comes to pro sports in Buffalo, things have come full circle.

Efforts are under way for the Toronto Raptors to play an exhibition game or two in Buffalo. Of course, the Bills are already slated to play games in Toronto and many predict that the NFL team will head north of the border for good when owner Ralph Wilson dies.

It’s too bad that the Braves couldn’t have hung on a few more seasons, or at least protected their territorial rights better. It wasn’t that long ago that Snyder contended that Toronto fell under the shadow of his Braves empire. Such posturing fell apart when the Braves left town after the 1978 season and Buffalo city fathers didn’t contest the move in court.

The irony of ironies is that the guys who grew up to own the Raptors attended Braves games back in the mid-1970s at the old Maple Leaf Gardens. Reportedly, that’s where they first got the idea for an NBA team in Toronto.

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text:
Bug 305311

Summary: alsactl access /root upon resume
Product: [Fedora] Fedora Reporter: Ulrich Drepper <drepper.fsp>
Component: alsa-utilsAssignee: Martin Stransky <stransky>
Status: CLOSED WORKSFORME QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance <extras-qa>
Severity: low Docs Contact:
Priority: low
Version: rawhideCC: dwalsh, gajownik, wwoods
Target Milestone: ---
Target Release: ---
Hardware: All
OS: Linux
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: 2007-10-24 12:39:12 EDT Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: ---
Bug Depends On:
Bug Blocks: 235703

Description Ulrich Drepper 2007-09-25 11:42:52 EDT
Description of problem:
Every time my laptop resumes from sleeping I get an AVC because alsactl tries to
read /root (sysadm_home_dir_t labeled).  I'm running the desktop as a normal
user so this should never happen.  I classify this therefore as a bug in alsactl
instead of a policy problem.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

How reproducible:

Steps to Reproduce:
1.suspend machine
Actual results:
AVC message, access to /root

Expected results:
no access to /root, hence no message

Additional info:
Comment 1 Will Woods 2007-10-19 18:51:05 EDT
I can't reproduce this in current rawhide. Are you still seeing this?
Comment 2 Jeremy Katz 2007-10-22 21:40:52 EDT
I haven't seen it in the past few days either, fwiw
Comment 3 Will Woods 2007-10-24 12:39:12 EDT
Nobody seems to be able to reproduce this. Closing.


text:
Bug 610033

Summary: [abrt] crash in coreutils-7.6-11.fc12: elf_machine_rel_relative: Process /bin/rm was killed by signal 11 (SIGSEGV)
Product: [Fedora] Fedora Reporter: Jayrome <jayrome>
Component: coreutilsAssignee: Ondrej Vasik <ovasik>
Status: CLOSED DUPLICATE QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance <extras-qa>
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: low
Version: 12CC: kdudka, ovasik, twaugh
Target Milestone: ---
Target Release: ---
Hardware: i686
OS: Linux
Whiteboard: abrt_hash:6b41399b4792f8f8912122a11011c0e563b5b0e7
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: 2010-07-01 09:15:49 EDT Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: ---
Description Flags
File: backtrace none

Description Jayrome 2010-07-01 08:55:23 EDT
abrt 1.0.9 detected a crash.

architecture: i686
Attached file: backtrace
cmdline: rm -f /var/lock/subsys/preload
component: coreutils
crash_function: elf_machine_rel_relative
executable: /bin/rm
global_uuid: 6b41399b4792f8f8912122a11011c0e563b5b0e7
package: coreutils-7.6-11.fc12
rating: 4
reason: Process /bin/rm was killed by signal 11 (SIGSEGV)
release: Fedora release 12 (Constantine)
Comment 1 Jayrome 2010-07-01 08:55:29 EDT
Created attachment 428391 [details]
File: backtrace
Comment 2 Ondrej Vasik 2010-07-01 09:15:49 EDT
I suspect you have something corrupted on your system - probably glibc or something ... definitely it is the same issue as the "uniq" bugzilla, therefore closing as duplicate.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 610023 ***


text:
From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Revision as of 04:57, 9 December 2012 by Ataro (talk | contribs) (This character could have not appeared in the movie and nothing would be different. That's how unimportant she is.)

Jump to: navigation, search
050Diglett.png This article is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it.

マリン Malin
Malin M15.png
Gender Female
Hometown N/A
Region Unova
Anime debut Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice
English voice actor N/A
Japanese voice actor Rola

(Japanese: マリン Malin) is a character in Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice.

She is a simple and innocent girl Ash and his friends meet during their travels in the film. She sells Darumaka boxed lunches at the Windy Station with her Pokémon Vanillite.

This listing is of Malin's known Pokémon:

Vanillite is Malin's Pokémon who helps her out with selling Darumaka boxed lunches.

None of Vanillite's moves are known.

Debut Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice

Voice actors

Language Voice actor
Japanese ローラ Rola
European Spanish Ainhoa Martín

Bulbapedia logo.png This article is a stub. You can help Bulbapedia by expanding it.

Movie characters
Human protagonists
AliceAudreyBarazBiancaCarlitaCoreyDamosDianaDianeEricFergusJack WalkerJuanitaKarlKathryn
Kidd SummersKimiaLisaLizabethLorenzoMakotoMannesMarenMelodyMerayNeeshaNewton Graceland
Professor LundRafeRaleighRebeccaRowenaSamSheenaSidSir AaronSoujiTonioTory LundTowaYuko
Human antagonists
AlvaAnnieArgus SteelButlerCherieDamonGalenGooneGrings KodaiIron-Masked Marauder
Lawrence IIILeviMarcusMerilynMillis SteelMolly HaleOakleyRiotThe PhantomZero
ArceusArticunoCarbinkCelebi (M04)Celebi (M13)CobalionDarkraiDeoxysDialgaDiancieEntei (M03)Entei (M13)Genesect
GiratinaHo-OhHoopaJirachiKeldeoKyuremLatiasLatiosLucarioLugiaMagearnaManaphyMew (M01)Mew (M08)
Mewtwo (OS)Mewtwo (BW)MoltresPalkiaPichuPikachutwoRaikouRayquazaRegiceRegirockRegisteelReshiramShaymin
SlowkingSuicune (M04)Suicune (M13)TerrakionUnownVictiniVirizionVolcanionXerneasYveltalZapdosZekromZoroarkZorua
AliciaAllegraAstridBanksBaron AlbertoBlock BotBogieBonjīCarolCrossDabuDavidDionaDonukeDr. Fuji
DundeeFlamelGabuGhrisGlacineGodeyGroudon (M06)Heroes of Truth and IdealsInfiJennyJoeJudy
KaiKakoKanataKatoKevinKikoKing of the People of the ValeKyleLaylaLeekuLucianneLuisLuisaMako
MalinManukeMarcus's soldiersMauryMeredithMewtwo's creatorsMirandaMisakiMooseMother and daughter
Mr. WhiteNevaNikolaOld Man DomPegPeople of the WaterPokémon Baccer teamsQueen IleneQueen RinRavine
RaymondRossSchuylerShipShunSpencer HaleSylvanTakaTammyTannerTappTatsukiTobiasUschiZabu

Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.


text:
From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Revision as of 09:02, 30 May 2013 by FinnishPokéFan92 (talk | contribs) (Sprites)

Jump to: navigation, search
フヨウ Fuyō
Ruby Sapphire Phoebe.png
Artwork from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald
Gender Female
Eye color Blue
Hair color Black
Hometown Unknown
Region Hoenn
Relatives Grandparents at Mt. Pyre
Trainer class Elite Four
Generation III
Games Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald
Elite Four of Ever Grande City
Specializes in Ghost types

Phoebe (Japanese: フヨウ Fuyō) is a Master Ghost-type Trainer and member of the Hoenn Elite Four.

In the games

In Generation III, Phoebe is the second member of the Hoenn Elite Four. Her strategy is to confuse and confound with Pokémon she considers indefinable.

Most of her Pokémon are pure Ghosts, with the exception of Sableye, which is half Dark-type. Her grandmother resides at Mt. Pyre, where she does most of her training, and Phoebe hopes she's doing well. While it is unknown who her grandmother is, it is quite likely that she is the old lady that guards the Red Orb and the Blue Orb at the top of the mountain.

She also claims to have the ability to communicate with Ghost Pokémon, presumably in a similar fashion that Psychic specialists like Anabel and Sabrina communicate with their Pokémon through telepathy.

Trainer's Eyes/Match Call

Elite Four Phoebe

Confuse and confound.
Trainer's Pokémon
There's nothing definite.
I wonder how my grandma at Mt. Pyre is doing?

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

Pokémon Emerald

Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

  • Before battle
"Ahahaha! I'm Phoebe of the Elite Four. I did my training on Mt. Pyre. While I trained, I gained the ability to commune with Ghost-type Pokémon. Yes, the bond I developed with Pokémon is extremely tight. So, come on, just try and see if you can even inflict damage on my Pokémon!"
  • When defeated
"Oh, darn. I've gone and lost."
  • After being defeated
"There's a definite bond between you and your Pokémon, too. I didn't recognize it, so it's only natural that I lost. Yup, I'd like to see how far your bond will carry you. Go ahead, move to the next room."
  • Over the PokéNavE
"Hi, <player>. How about coming back here again sometime? I'd like to see much tighter your bond has grown with your Pokémon."

Spr RS Phoebe.png Phoebe OD.png
Phoebe's sprite from
Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald
Phoebe's overworld sprite from
Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Phoebe in Pokémon Adventures

Phoebe first appears with Steven and the other members of the Hoenn Elite Four. While the other Elite Four members are sent to awaken Registeel, Regirock, and Regice, Phoebe is sent to retrieve a blind boy that holds a slab that has the secret to awaken the three Pokémon. Later, she gives the slab to Steven, who manages to successfully unlock the secret of the slab and awaken the legendary Pokémon.

Later, Phoebe and Glacia control Regice in an attempt to restrain the power of Groudon and Kyogre that erupts from their great battle. When Steven dies from the strain of controlling the legendary golems, she mourns his death with the other Elite Four members.

This listing is of Phoebe's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Phoebe's Dusclops
Dusclops is Phoebe's only known Pokémon. It was first seen with its Trainer when they appeared before Wallace with Steven and the other Elite Four members. Later, it was used to save the Swimmer and blind boy from the crumbling buildings of Slateport City.

Dusclops's only known move is Shadow Punch.

Debut VS. Kyogre & Groudon XIII
Phoebe's Regice
Main article: Brandon's Regice

Phoebe controlled Regice with Glacia to take down Groudon and Kyogre. It left their control and fled to the mountains, where Regice was recaught by Brandon.

Debut VS. Regirock, Regice, & Registeel II

In the TCG

Phoebe was featured in the TCG. The following is a list of cards featuring Phoebe or her Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.
Cards listed with a silver background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.
Card Type English
Rarity # Japanese
Rarity #
Phoebe's Stadium T [St] EX Power Keepers Uncommon 79/108 World Champions Pack Uncommon 096/108

  • Phoebe is the only Elite Four member not to have a Water type in Pokémon Emerald.
  • Of the notable Ghost-type specialists, she is the only one not to use a Gengar at any time.
  • Shedinja is the only fully evolved Ghost-type Pokémon of the third generation Phoebe does not use.

Language Name Origin
Japanese フヨウ Fuyō From 芙蓉 Fuyō, cotton rosemallow, referring to the flowers in her hair. Possibly also from 妖婦 yōfu, enchantress.
English Phoebe Ironically means bright one, but was probably chosen because of similarity with phobia or phantom.
French Spectra From spectre, ghost.
German Antonia Similar to the German Phantom.
Italian Ester Could derive from esoterico (esoteric), esper or extrasensoriale (extrasensory).
Spanish Fátima Similar to fantasma, phantom.
Korean 회연 Hoeyeon Similar to 환영 (phantom).
Chinese (Mandarin) 芙蓉 Fúróng From 芙蓉 Fuyō. May refer to the cottonrose hibiscus or lotus (old name).

Hoenn League
Elite Four
Elite Four
Elite Four
Elite Four
Steven Spr E Wallace.png
Steven Wallace

Non-player characters in the core series games
Hoenn Professor BirchMomMayBrendanWallyWandaSteven StoneWallaceScottMr. BrineyMr. StoneGabby and TyLanette
BrigetteProfessor CozmoPokémon Fan Club ChairmanRydelWinstrate familyCaptain SternTrick MasterTreasure HunterDock
ApprenticePokémon Center LadiesOld guysMr. BondingTealaAaruneLisiaZinniaLookerInverChazFossil ManiacKiriMemory Girl
Team AquaTeam MagmaGym LeadersElite FourFrontier BrainsBattle ChatelainesGym guideName RaterDay-Care CoupleStats judge

Project CharacterDex logo.png This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.


text:
Tag Archives: John Whittell

The Truth Comes Out

The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, Sunday 7th May, 2017

The horrific murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998 sent shockwaves across the USA and around the world.  A tipping point had been reached, it seemed and, although it took a while, law was passed to protect minorities from hate crime.

At the time, the Tectonic Theatre Project visited the town of Laramie, Wyoming several times, interviewing local people of a variety of walks of life and with a range of views on the murder.  Those interviews form the basis for this play, using verbatim the words of the Laramie people.

Almost twenty years later, this new production in the Crescent’s Ron Barber studio demonstrates the piece has lost none of its power and, sadly, none of its relevance.  It’s a play about its own making.  Actors play actors from the theatre company along with the people they interview and the whole piece is structured around the murder – before, during and its aftermath, covering a year in the life of Laramie.  It’s a compelling piece of work and this production certainly does it great service.

The cast of ten populates the space with police, neighbours, family members, the clergy – over 60 roles, all aided by the costume designs of Pat Brown and Vera Dean: we see who these people are in an instant, before they speak for themselves.  I cannot assign roles to particular actors (I’m sure to get it wrong) so, as the programme does, I shall just list them: Kassie Duke, Juliet Ibberson, Simon King, Sean McCarthy, Judy O’Dowd, Liz Plumpton, Ben Pountney, Phil Rea, John Whittell, and Sam Wilson.  They all rise to the challenges of the piece, delivering varied and rounded characterisations as well as the emotional punch of key scenes.

There is an especially chilling and repulsive portrayal of hate-mongering, Bible-brandisher Fred Phelps – all the more sickening because you realise bastards like him are still around, spouting their bilious nonsense and disrupting funerals of gay people.

Rod Natkiel does a remarkable job of directing the action on his minimalist stage – each monologue and exchange is delivered differently.  There is nothing samey or static in the presentation; we have a lot to listen to but he keeps us engaged and, even though we know the outcome, gripped as the story is pieced together.  Natkiel also uses specially shot video clips – news bulletins, mainly – which add to the verity of this docudrama, as well as upping the Americana factor.  I have to say the accents are uniformly strong.

A play about hatred but there are also the more positive aspects of humanity in evidence: humour, warmth and compassion, to name but three.

As societies across the world, from the USA to Chechnya take backwards strides in their treatment of gay people, the grisly death of Matthew Shepard is back to haunt us and ask us what kind of society do we want to be.

Compelling and a shining example of the high quality of work produced at the Crescent.

Play For Today

Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, Sunday 20th September, 2015

Somerset Maugham’s 1932 play didn’t go down well when it was first produced. It was too close to home for post-war Britain, where people preferred to see theatre as an escape from the daily struggles of a broken nation. The play recognises the prevailing trend: some of the characters troupe on in tennis whites, carrying racquets, but though amusing, this is far from one of those silly, lightweight comedies.

The show begins with Sydney, a veteran, blinded during the Great War, in a startling depiction of post-traumatic stress disorder. Tom Inman gives an astonishing performance and director Rod Natkiel bombards us with everything the Ron Barber Studio has to offer in terms of lighting and sound. It’s quite an opening.

It’s a conventional three-act play set in the family room of the Ardsleys. Rather than a plotline, Maugham gives us several. It’s a bit like watching an omnibus edition of a soap opera you’ve never seen before. Each character has his or her own problem – giving the more than competent company plenty to sink their teeth into.

John Sugden is utterly convincing as patriarch Leonard, clinging to a stiff-upper-lip philosophy despite his family (and by extension, society as a whole) unravelling under his very nose. Jo Thackwray is his Mrs, Charlotte, a bit less stiff in the upper lip department, but confused by the new ‘rules’ of society. “I’m pre-War,” she says, as (SPOILER) she is confronted with news of a terrible illness. These two are strong presences in all their scenes and they are ably supported by younger members of the cast – in particular Liz Plumpton, who is rather good as Eva, losing her marbles in scenes of table-flipping and chess-piece losing. Oli Davis, as troubled former sailor Collie, walks a tightrope between repressed emotion and emotional outburst in perhaps the tensest performance of the lot, while Andrea Stephenson’s stoical but brittle Ethel also makes an impression. Ethel is married, regrettably, to boorish drunkard and struggling farmer Howard (John O’Neill in a turn that is part-comic, part-monstrous), and Eleanor O’Brien makes her mark as the trouser-wearing young woman Lois, embarking on scandalous behaviour.  John Whittell brings assurance and authority to his role as Doctor Prentice.  Ivor Williams is good value as ageing philanderer and Paul Daniels look-a-like, Wilfred, while Pat Dixon threatens to steal every scene she’s in as his overbearing wife, Gwen.

The cast handles the sometimes outdated dialogue with an easy naturalism, hitting the punchlines and the dramatic punches equally successfully. Period is economically evoked by a few items of furniture and objets, and credit must go to Pat Brown and Vera Dean for their work with wardrobe, giving each character a range of outfits to suit both era and personality.

Of course, the play was not written as a period piece but has become one. Then it was commenting on contemporary issues – matters that are still very much with us today. The lot of ex-servicemen struggling to make a living, notions of assisted suicide, class distinctions, and the terrible waste of every war, and the jingoism that goes along with it. In the most impassioned speech of the piece, Sydney says people were “dupes of the incompetent fools who run the nations”. Bad news, Sydney: they’re still in charge.

It’s an excellent production, an easy watch, its issues accessible and its drama enjoyable, with some striking moments along the way.


text:
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Poppies for Remembrance

In Flanders Fields
Lieut-Col John McCrae, 1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amidst the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The red poppy has been part of Remembrance Day services since the early 1920's, and is now worn on other commemorative occasions, including ANZAC Day. During the First World War the battlefields were literally churned by high explosive shells, creating a surreal landscape of mud, entangled barbed wire and water filled craters.

When given a brief chance to recover, and especially after the 1918 Armistice, the first flowers to bloom were the red poppies. In 1915, Canadian Brigade Surgeon, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae (1872-1918), was so moved by the sight of the fields of poppies stretching across the Ypres battlefield that he put pen to paper and wrote his moving poem,
"In Flanders Fields."

I have mostly heard today called Veteran's Day and I honor all men and women who have or are serving our country to defend what make me be a free person. Birmingham has a Large Veteran's Day Parade downtown and I have only seen it a couple of times. When we worked downtown you got caught up in traffic from all the closed streets as they were filled with Army Tanks and School Bands. So, we just stood around and watched the parade. I love a parade, I always have!

I know my father served in Korea in the 1940's, but he never spoke much of it. It got my husband and I thinking, I don't know if my grandfathers' served or not. I really don't know. I always heard of my Mother's father working at a bread bakery and I believe that was his only job he ever had. He just always worked there. My other grandfather was killed when I was 6 years old. I remember coming home for lunch from first grade and being told about his trucking accident. I did not return to school that day. It was truly sadness that day and I do remember that we were very close.

My husband Bob remembers riding the Greyhound Bus with his grandfather to his parents and brother's graveside in Lebonan, Mo form Springfield and he is now buried in the Springfield, Mo. National Cemetary. My father also is buried in Springfield, Mo. but with a war stone at the opposite end of his headstone.

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The Interface Paradox

As much as I love programming and good old-fashioned text-based command lines, I have an interest in ergonmics and futuristic interface. A few days ago a post entitled “A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design” made the rounds on the Internet. It opens with an old, but interesting video and goes to make the argument that our current obsession with flat touchscreens and simple gestures is doing our us all as disservice. Our hands are capable of complex gripping, grasping and touching motions and having all that expressivity confined to a small, two dimensional surface with a limited number of motions is self-defeating. The article makes the damning statement: “Are we really going to accept an Interface Of The Future that is less expressive than a sandwich?”

The article helped me express an uncertainty that’s been floating back and forth in my mind for some time. I use my iPod Touch on a daily basis and I’ve been loving the multitouch trackpad on the new Macbooks. I love the swiping motions for window management and moving things around. At the same time I’ve started drawing by hand again (I loved drawing as a kid) and I realize that putting a pencil to paper is a rather complex but very fulfilling activity. Strangely enough I think that both the pencil and the touch-based iOS interface have a lot in common. In both cases, the actual physical device almost disappears letting you focus on the underlying application. The iPad or iPhone itself is just a thin frame around whatever app you’re using. The pencil is basically just a simple pointer but allows us to create an infinited range of images with it.

However in both cases, the expressiveness offered by the device is not enough. Pencils are not enough to express all the images we might want to create. That’s why we have pens, brushes, chalk, crayons and a variety of papers and canvases. The flat touch interface is also not enough, especially if we are confined to a small surface that fits in one hand. The question then is how we can take the simplicity of our current touch interface and extend them to a larger set of expressions and interactions?

Case in point is the camera interface on the iPhone. For a long time there was a software button that you had to touch to take a picture. But that meant sticking your finger in the middle of the picture. Normal cameras have a better interface: there is shutter button on the top that keeps your hands far from the actual image (even if you’re using a LCD screen instead of a traditional viewfinder). This deficient interface on the iPhone led to the Red Pop, a giant red shutter button and now iOS 5 turns one of the hardware volume buttons into a shutter button.

The Red Pop camera interface for the iPhone
The Red Pop camera interface for the iPhone

Having a fluid, upgradeable, customizable software interface is nice and I like smooth gradients and rounded corners as much as the next guy. But our hands evolved to use actual physical matter and before computer interfaces we built a lot of interesting physical interfaces. Apple has hooked us on the idea of sleek, smooth devices with no extraneous. While it’s great to lose unnecessary knobs and edges the Apple design philosophy might not be best in the long run, especially if your device’s UI doesn’t neatly fit into the touch-drag-swipe system of gestures.

Ultimately it would be great to have “smart matter” physical interfaces – the flexibility and programmability of software with the physical usability that solid matter offers. Imagine some sort of rearranging material (based on some form of nano- or micro-technology maybe?) that can be be a simple smooth shell around your interfaces but can change to form buttons, sliders, knobs or big red shutter buttons as your application requires. But in the years (decades?) between now and then we need other solutions. The range of accessories and extensions available for the iPhone (including the Red Pop, tripods, lenses etc.) seem to suggest that enterprising young device maker could use the iPhone (and it’s successors and competitors) as a computing core to which they can attach their own physical extensions. With a more open and hackable platform (an Android-Arduino hybrid perhaps) we might see a thriving device market as well as an app market. Am I a dreamer? Hell yeah, but as the projects I’ve linked to show, I’m certainly not the only one.


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Austin, Blog, Contract, Innovation, Mobile phone, Texas -

Simple Way to Get a Lower Cost Used Verizon or Sprint Cell Phone Inexpensive No Contract Extension

Austin, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/19/2013 -- The impressive firm MobileCellMart claims which "Nowadays with all the advent of the web, getting brand-new mobile stage for sale is easy. As there are numerous sites marketing innovative plus stylish cellophanes at extremely fair rates, the marketplace for the restored plus utilized mobile is found on the down side. Actually you are able to even discover a unique mobile, free. Several mobile phone producers have entered into an agreement with a some sites which sells employed plus modern mobiles. Many mobile versions have their own blogs online which provides details regarding their aspects, reports, requirements and the spot where there are a mobile.

An Easy Way to Get A Low Cost Used Verizon or Sprint Cell Phone Inexpensive No Contract Extension. is online. However rather of only searching at the mobile, we furthermore should look into its whole package. A few comprehensive deals include of delivery cost, without charge telephone accessories, as well as the present marketing deals. Moreover you ought to choose a mobile for sale with a superior service provider. Normally the web is an perfect destination where we search for different kinds of hot mobile phones. These sites not just provide the customer with all the many great has about both the brand-new because inside the employed mobile phones, and support we inside opting for the right mobile phone model for utilize by briefing we with sophisticated a aspects, specification, reviews plus ratings.

In these types of online site you are able to not merely find the ideal mobile phone and its relevant accessories, cell phones with innovative program buy, prepaid cards, etc. You are able to have a consider the diverse range of mobile models within the leading brands and go by the guides. Read the customer reviews displayed found on the branded mobile sites, analyze the advantages and disadvantages, plus then purchase a mobile which matches the budget plus requirement."


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Scattered Thoughts on Multiple Narrative Perspectives in Scum’s Wish

One of the things that I find most interesting about Scum’s Wish is its structure of having multiple narrative perspectives. In the first couple episodes Hanabi immediately seemed to take on the role of the protagonist, the character whom we would vicariously live through as the story unfolded, experiencing her feelings and thoughts exclusively. However, the series didn’t waste very much time before taking a sharp turn in its narrative and character progression and perspective, proving this original assumption to not be the case. It begins to shift in episode two, which ends in Ecchan’s point of view, and from then on it slowly but steadily breaks free from convention altogether. Half of episode three is seen from Mugi’s point of view, followed by episode four being told from four different perspectives, and it only grows more sporadic from there. As the series goes on entire episodes are devoted to exploring the individual stories of what in any other series would be considered “side characters”, making any semblance of narrative consistency completely non existent.

It’s hardly unusual for a series to devote entire episodes to developing the personalities and backgrounds of their side characters. In fact, amongst critics who hold concepts such as character development in high esteem, it’s intrinsically required for a show to do so in order to be considered to be of high quality.However, narrative consistency is also a crucial factor for many of these same critics. Background characters should be developed, but also shouldn’t distract from the central narrative.

Scum’s Wish blatantly defies these critical standards. What we would think of as being the show’s “side characters” aren’t simply given a momentary place in the spotlight before being pushed aside to return to the established narrative perspective. Most series featuring large casts of characters among whom it would be difficult to distinguish a single protagonist generally take a much broader narrative approach, telling the story from the perspective of an outsider looking in rather directly from the character’s point of view. However, in Scum’s Wish, so long as they’re given focus, the story becomes about them exclusively. They become the protagonists of the series, blurring traditional character roles altogether.

While being one of the show’s most audacious ventures from a narrative standpoint, for many viewers it also became its downfall. When the story required the viewer to separate Hanabi from the role of the protagonist to allow the perspective to shift to the other characters, it understandably created some confusion and ambivalence amongst some viewers. According to the MAL statistics, this aspect of the show’s structure wasn’t overly detrimental to the majority of its viewership, but as the show entered its second half I started noticing people becoming more vocal about their criticisms of the series. The story begins and ends with Hanabi, which, for many of these viewers, made her inseparable from the role of the protagonist regardless of how the perspective would change throughout the series, and seeing the writers temporarily put her development and exploration on the sidelines to examine the worldviews and perspectives of completely different characters, for lack of a better term, feels wrong, and even without sharing this sentiment it’s not difficult to understand why some viewers would feel this way. It’s partially because it provides us with little time to get to know and care about each of the characters individually, but perhaps more fundamentally because it’s radically different from how we’re used to experiencing every day life.

As people, we are only able to see the world through a singular lens, that of our own. We’re incapable of fully understanding what the world looks like through the eyes of others, which is why the best stories focus on creating a protagonist that general audiences can easily relate to and root for, and perhaps most importantly, that they can vicariously live through. By removing the role of the protagonist, Scum’s Wish created a void in its narrative structure that is difficult to fill and justify with plot and characterization.

I might as well just get it out there; I wasn’t a big fan of Scum’s Wish, primarily because I don’t relate to or connect with any of the characters personally like some viewers are able to, and its multiple narrative perspectives certainly didn’t help in this regard. I understand that the characters aren’t necessarily supposed to be likable, but none of them were focused on long enough for me to become attached to their personalities and individual stories. It’s not that I can’t become invested in or enjoy a show with unlikable characters, it’s that it didn’t give me the time needed to become invested in them. With that in mind, I can actually agree with many of the criticisms I see of the show and understand from my own experience how it left some viewers unable to relate to it.

Despite its narrative perspective being the source of my disconnect with the series, I think this unique style of storytelling reflects and enhances the interpersonal nature of its conclusion. Thanks to the show’s multiple perspectives, throughout the series we explored how each character saw themselves as the protagonists of their stories. Each had their unique individual goals and wanted to experience a traditional “heroes journey” to achieve them. However, by the end of the show, none of the characters were able to accomplish their goals, or at the very least didn’t gain the result that they would have preferred. But their stories didn’t end just because they didn’t get the happy ending they wanted. In the final episode, each character prepares to move on with their lives with all of the emotional baggage that they picked up along the way, and in this moment I was finally able to make an emotional connection with them. They all seemed to say, “Yeah, we made some mistakes, and now we have to carry their weight, but that’s okay. We’ll live on”, and the show’s structure of having no protagonist allowed me to understand what this realization meant to each of the characters individually, making the conclusion to the story feel almost personal, something I can’t say for most of the show.

Maybe I’m being too romantic about all of this, given I was more than happy to put the series to rest when it finally concluded. However, paradoxically, the part of Scum’s Wish that has caused me to feel so indifferent towards it as a whole is the very same thing that intrigues me about it the most. Its multiple narrative perspectives exemplify a fascinating and audacious style of storytelling that I rarely encounter outside of the literary field, and despite some of my critiques of its application within this particular series, I’d really like to it see done again. If this storytelling method was able to keep me engaged in a series as personally unmoving as this one, then I’d be interested in seeing how I would respond to a show with a similar structure featuring characters that are a little bit easier for me to connect with and relate to.


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Tag Archives: love is

Love is . . .

When I was younger there was a series of cartoon posters of a sweet-looking and nude straight couple (with their privates always carefully concealed) that always had the phrase, “Love is . . .” followed by some inane platitude. The … Continue reading

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February 10, 2012 | Myrna Anderson

In February, the Calvin community will learn about the freed slave who founded the Baptist Church in Liberia, the Tuskegee Airmen and soul food.

In February, the Calvin community will learn about the freed slave who founded the Baptist Church in Liberia, the Tuskegee Airmen and soul food.

Lott Carey was born in 1780 in Charles County, Virginia. He was born a slave. By 1813, using money he had earned working in a tobacco warehouse, he bought his freedom. Carey attended a bi-racial church and eventually became a Baptist minister—an avid evangelist. He was inspired by the expedition of Samuel J. Mills and Ebenezer Burgess who surveyed areas of Sierra Leone with a goal of establishing an African-American colony there. In 1821, backed by the American Colonization Society, he sailed to Liberia with his family and a group of freed slaves. There he established the first Baptist church in that country and eventually served as the colony’s pastor, governor, chief missionary and lay-physician.

“He was a gospel person—all about the saving of souls,” said history professor Eric Washington, who will explore Carey’s life in a lecture titled: "I am an African: Lott Carey and the first American Mission to Africa.” The lecture, held at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 16, in the Meeter Center Lecture Hall, is part of Calvin’s February-long celebration of Black History Month.

“I think Lott Carey is a remarkable man,” Washington said. “He had the opportunity to remain in Richmond as a free person, and he chose to go to the ‘Promised Land’ … . To pick up and become a missionary in any day is remarkable.”

Motive to move

Carey is an interesting study, Washington added, because of the tensions that surrounded the repatriation of African Americans in his day. Groups like the American Colonization Society were backed by blacks and whites alike, but not for the same reasons:

White former slave owners often favored re-settling freed blacks in Africa to because they believed the two races couldn’t live together harmoniously. Former slaves wanted to return to Africa, Washington said, because, even after achieving freedom, they had no hope of carving out successful futures in America. “It was a complex phenomenon,” he summed up.

Washington figures that by the late 19th century approximately 12,000 African Americans moved to Liberia through the American Colonization Society. He’s excited about introducing his audience to Lott Carey: “As instrumental as he was in settling Liberia and its institutions, he’s very little known,” Washington said.

Also on the calendar for the Black History Month celebration is a group-showing of Red Tails, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black squadron of World War II fighter pilots and their battle against segregation in the armed forces. The Calvin community is invited to view the film, on Thursday, Feb. 23, at Celebration Cinema. (To attend the showing, contact multicultural affairs administrative assistant Ebonie Atkins at era4@calvin.edu.)

The month of events will conclude with the Celebration of Soul, held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, February 29 in the Fish House. "The Celebration of Soul has kind of become our finale to the month," Atkins said of the event, an African American cultural celebration, featuring a sampler of sould foods. She reflected on why it's important to devote a month to studying Black History. "I think it's a time to acknowledge the contributions of African Americans as they've lived in this country," she said, "and the more you learn, the more there is to know."

Lott Cary

Lott Cary

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Tag Archives: Bleecker tote

WSJ Has It In The Bag

Thursday Wall Street Journal headline: The Messages a Man Sends With His Work Bag Photo: Caption: Greg Unis, vice president of men’s merchandising for Coach, holds a Bleecker tote at a Coach store in New York City. The hardworking staff: This … Continue reading

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Welcome to the Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine

Epidemiology researches on the frequency, spread and determinants of health and illness by examining population or sections of population. It analyses probable links between risk factors, strains on health or circumstances of life and the occurrence of diseases.

In our institute we are carrying out numerous population-based, register-based and clinical epidemiological studies. The institute possesses an own study centre to examine the participants of the BiDirect Study and the National Cohort. The data is analysed within a great number of research projects with different foci e.g. cardiovascular epidemiology, epidemiology of neurological-psychiatric disorders, clinical epidemiology and research on health care provision.

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3 BR

Regent Apt

1402 Regent St Madison, WI

$ Ask
Property Details
There is a gym, game room, 24/7 front desk help, TV room, two study rooms, bike route outside, covered bike parking, restaurants nearly, grocery store a block away, and very easy to get to class within 10 min by walking.
Heat Included Air Conditioning Dishwasher Furnished Garbage Disposal Controlled Access On Bus Line Hardwood Floors Water Included Electric Included Carpet private entrance Microwave Surface Parking On-Site Laundry
Pet Policy
Other: Only small ones like fish
Additional Info
Expiration Date: 5/20/2015
Original Date Listed: 11/21/2014 12:17:53 PM
Smoking: No Smoking
Transportation Comments: No cafeteria in building but still able to go to university cafeteria and go under the student meal plan
To Share Unit With: 2 Men - Two respectable Indian roommates
# Of Roommates Needed:  -
Kitchen Type: Shared
Furnished?: Furnished
Furnishings Comment: Newly remodeled over the summer so new appliances and room materials
Utilities Comment: 15$/month utility fee. Internet available on first floor, or in room through cable or router. Also able to get own company
Lease Begins: Spring Semester
Bathroom Type: Private
Lease End Negotiable: Yes
Last Updated: over 1 year ago
Contact Number: (773) 706-0560
Property ID: 751265
Listed By: Castro, Javier


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from by Bobby Previte

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from Terminals Quartets, released February 24, 2017

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Cantaloupe Music Brooklyn, New York

Cantaloupe Music is the record label created by the three founders of New York's legendary Bang on a Can organization—composers Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe—with Bang on a Can managing director Kenny Savelson. Cantaloupe Music has made a massive impact in the contemporary music community, and has been recognized by critics and fans worldwide for its edgy and adventurous sounds. ... more

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