text:
Honey, my ass thanks you!

They say that for your first anniversary the traditional gift is paper…. my husband took this info and ran with it!

This morning as I slowly made my way into the living room I noticed a grocery bag laying on the coffee table with an envelope sitting on top of it …..hmmmmm, confused and still waking up I went and grabbed his neatly wrapped present and laid it next to the bag.

“Happy Anniversary honey, go open your present” he said.

“Couldn’t wrap it?”

“You know me, when have I ever wrapped anything?”

I opened up the envelope and read the sweet card…..then I picked up the bag, looked inside and pulled out a package of toilet paper.

“Really? Toilet paper ?” I said confused.

“The first year anniversary present is paper” he said laughing.

He had sent me flowers earlier this week so I knew this was a gag gift…..but part of me didn’t like the joke.

“Well, my ass thanks you…….now open your present”

Things my mother never warned me about

Between my sister and I, I’m the oldest. There have been many times throughout my thirty nine years that I wished that I had a big sister  (or a sane mother) who would give it to me straight regarding life and all its ups and downs, to tell me about the many “Prince Charmings” that would come my way and how to protect my heart from their fraudulent ways, to tell me to keep true to myself and never become a doormat and that it’s ok to cry.

As an adult there have been many moments where I would think “shit, thanks Mom for telling me” vowing to always make sure my kids would never have to utter those very words in their adult life.

Here are a few things that I have shared with my daughters (22 and 19) in recent years.

Use sunscreen, don’t use baby oil to tan you will see the damage the sun did to your skin many many years later. The sun is not your friend.

Arm jiggle it’s for real…..one day while you are brushing your hair you will see it, it will be waving back at you.

Pasta and bread ARE NOT our friend…..it will attach to your hips and some how make you gain 10 pounds overnight! We were not as lucky as my sister who has remained a size 4  all these years!!!

Follow your gut, yeah that nagging voice in your head-the voice of reason follow it. Sometimes you will try and negotiate with yourself….making excuses why you shouldn’t listen to your gut, but let me tell you……you will learn the hard way if you don’t.

Guys (some) will portray to be everything you want them to be at first but once they know they have you in a blink of an eye the man that was once about the “Iove yous” and being by your side turns into someone you don’t even recognize. Romance,sex, I love yous are no more …. he shuts you out, his friends and video games are more important …..when you bring this up, he will accuse you of wanting to change him or that it’s all in your head. It’s not in your head…..he’s the one that decided to go all Jeckyl and Hyde not you.

Don’t lose sight of your own passions, remain true to yourself!

If you feel he lies to you, call him out on it.

Men will break your heart and you may think you can’t go on without him……but you can. Grab some ice cream, put on your favorite movie and make a list of all the things that irritated the hell out of you when it came to him, pretty soon you will have two pages of red flags….and you will realize you are better off without him. (this totally works).

It’s true…..when the right one comes in your life, YOU WILL KNOW!!  He will show you that just because you may have a little spat he still loves you and isn’t going anywhere. He will show you love like no other. He will not change after he knows he has your heart……you will never have to doubt his love.

Experience life ….. travel, have fun, make your bucket list and knock some of them out before you have children. Make everlasting memories…you are still young!!

Women can be catty ….. it’s ok to have a few close friends. The amount of friends you have doesn’t measure your worth as a person….I would rather have 3 really close friends than 400 facebook friends that could really careless if I couldn’t fit into my favorite pair of jeans!!

Relationships are tricky….it’s best not to start one with blinders on. Those rose colored glasses, take them off!! Don’t make excuses for his temper…or if he physically or mentally abuses you, what you are with is NOT a man but a coward and a bully. You deserve someone so much better.

Do NOT under any circumstances have any of your exes play matchmaker, this will only end badly!!  They may say they are ok with setting you up with an acquaintance or friend but that’s not the case.

Learn to change your own tire, check your oil and always carry a blanket, water and a tool box in the trunk of your car.

Love….Doesn’t leave bruises

That was the last text message I sent to a good friend of mine yesterday. I understand that whatever road she chooses for herself and her children is her decision but I care about her so much that I don’t want her to go down that road again with THAT man.

I don’t understand how such a beautiful,caring, intelligent, driven woman can’t see her own self worth? How can she be addicted to such a horrible man that brought her to tears so many times? Not too long ago she shared with me how she found her journal that she kept while she was this man and  page after page she warned herself of the red flags, horrible memories filled the pages in front of her, lies he told, broken promises, his rage and so much more.  She told me that she would never make those mistakes anymore, that she deserved so much better. I was relieved.

Until …… I received a message from her the other day stating that she was breaking it off with her boyfriend (surfer boy) of nine months because he wasn’t driven and well …… financially secure. The following day she texted me that she still loves Mr.Douchebag and can’t get him out of her mind.I knew there was more to the story so after a few questions she told me that they were going to meet that night to talk about possibly getting back together.

Nothing I said deterred her from meeting him……not even reminding her  of what her therapists had told her about their highly dysfunctional relationship to what lined the pages of her journal. How was it possible for her not to see that he was her drug……something about this man, she craved. Could she possibly be addicted to the drama as well?

She recounted their meeting to me the following day. They spoke about their future, laid out a financial plan and how to integrate her into his life. He deactivated his Facebook and all memberships to dating websites and deleted all his female contacts ….. his request was for her to do the same (delete male contacts and deactivate Facebook) along with having access to all accounts which requires the release of passwords.  From what she stated he wrote a three page “life plan” and has changed.

There should be no vise grip or need to have such a control over each other’s life if they are going to try this again. There should be no need for strict conditions to be placed and they shouldn’t have to draw up a stupid ass spreadsheet to try to fit her into his life. I believe (and I told her) that too much has happened that they will never fully trust each other. They can agree to “no more bars” but they did that before and that didn’t last very long……she can dictate that he can’t associate with girls that make her uncomfortable because that would mean he would be on house arrest…. everyone in that town is beautiful.

Those two, when they are together are toxic, “I appreciate your feedback and clearly get you don’t support me even considering it. Love is a strange thing. I know I love him” she said.  “You’re right….I don’t like him. He hurt you countless times…..you’ve showed me bruises that he has put on your body….I saw firsthand his temper……LOVE…..Love doesn’t cause bruises”

It makes me sick that I can’t do anything for her. It makes me sick to think that she thinks that this is LOVE. What would she do or say if it was me in this situation or even worse ….. her daughters?  He turned her world upside down; he tore her down with words and actions …..but she allowed it and she’s contemplating jumping back into the lions den for round ….. twenty.

Would you pay to be cuddled?

Well, if you answered yes to this then there is a place in Madison, Wisconsin that you can go to have someone hold you. Here’s the kicker…the price for your cuddle session ranges from $60 an hour for a single hug, $120 for a double hug (whatever that is, maybe you’re sandwiched in between two bodies…kinda like an innocent form of a threesome) and over $400 to be cuddled by a complete stranger overnight.

An article came out about this Cuddles R Us and  I was curious, who were these high paying huggers? I went to their site…. The Snuggle House and I noticed that these huggers are quite attractive……well, besides the man who looks like a well maintained hippie. I can see how this could possibly attract some perve or those that have a hard time finding a cuddle partner of their own.

I understand their touch therapy method but I can go to a massage therapist and get the same results without the personal closeness of a stranger. I just find this concept quite strange…….because I know when I cuddle with my husband I feel a closeness to him, I want more………..and even before I was with my husband and was submerged in the whole dating scene, there were times that “we can just cuddle” led to more.

Maybe the Snuggle House is legit …. maybe they have  video cameras in each room and a panic button just in case a client takes the cuddle session too far but whose to say there aren’t copy cat snuggle houses that well……offer more than “just cuddling”.

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Guest Blogger – It’s not what it seems

Today’s post comes from a blogger who is honest about his daily struggles, who is committed to his faith and well…..you think I put myself out there he exposes himself like no other. His blog is a full admission of his day to day inner battles……..Topaz I admire your honesty. I am happy to share the lighter side of your life as seen in this post.

I hope you all enjoy!!

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I went to a newly-opened branch of a haircut franchise recently. It’s a place that I never intended to set foot inside: Knockouts. It didn’t necessarily have to do with my faith; I just didn’t want to go. Maybe I felt I was too old, like being caught leafing through an issue of Maxim at the grocery store, or maybe because I was an awkward teenager who was intimidated by beautiful cheerleader-types.

To be honest, my wife, Ayako, is the one that made me go to Knockouts.  Seriously.  She is a major coupon-clipper (nothing wrong with that since we survive on a teacher’s salary), and I’m not allowed to get my hair cut unless my wife has a coupon, which means I end up going to podunk mom-and-pop barbers in our small Texas town. I guess it’s because they’re the ones who need business the most and put out coupons with the best deals.

Barber shops are not good for people like me who dislike chit-chat.  It’s not uncommon for me to spend an hour in the chair; not because I have a lot of hair, but because the homely, bubble gum-chewing stylist starts complaining to the others about how the neighbor’s dog keeps pooping on her daisies. Before I know it, all the other stylists are chiming in with their own problems which almost always include men.

That’s why I was so surprised when my wife handed me a FREE coupon (first-time customers only) for Knockouts.  I thought it was a trap: As soon as I grabbed the coupon, air-raid sirens would go off, signaling the beginning of Ayako’s three-day silent treatment.

“Isn’t this the Hooters-style haircut place?” I said with just the right amount of naiveté.

“Yep.  Full of hot women.”

There was no sarcastic tone in Ayako’s voice. She’s from Japan, a nation which features the annual Festival of the Steel Phallus, so I wasn’t necessarily blindsided by her statement.

“Um, don’t you have any other coupons?”  I was getting anxious by then. I hated small talk, especially when life-sized Barbies and macho, drooling frat boys were involved. Flashbacks from high school filled my panic-stricken mind.

“No. None that are 100% off like this. “

That’s my wife.  She’d rather send me to be pampered for free by a harem of sorority girls than have me pay a whopping $9.99 at Texas Star Barber Shop down on Main Street.

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So I nervously made my way to Knockouts.  Never having been to Hooters due to my shy, reserved nature, I was afraid that my motor skills would break down and reduce me to a babbling idiot; or worse, I would accidentally glance at the wrong part of the stylist’s anatomy and get my ear gouged as payback.

There wasn’t much to worry about, though.

I don’t know if it was false advertising or just that the company had a hard time recruiting beauty queens in such a small town, but when I entered, it was completely silent and devoid of people.  Not even a sports game was playing on one of the big TVs.

A short, skinny girl who looked like she was skipping a day of junior high school greeted me.  She was wearing a t-shirt that was hanging on her like a camping tent.  Her black shorts were indeed short, but, compared with the girls that cruise the mall on weekends, the stylist’s shorts resembled my dearly-departed grandma’s britches.

The girl gave me an awkward, curt smile that clearly said, I know I look ridiculous, and you know I look ridiculous, so let’s just do this and be done with it, ‘k?

“Hi. My name is Opal, and I’ll be your stylist for today,” she said with the enthusiasm of a Walmart customer service employee.

Opal?! You gotta be kiddin’ me. No one has named their daughter Opal since the 19th century. It sounds like a Amish stripper’s name.

“Mind if I turn this on?” she said, not giving me a chance to respond as she flipped on Country Music Television at maximum volume.

Oh yeah, the coupon that my wife gave me mentioned free beer and massage.  There were no beverages in sight, however.

“Uh, the ad mentioned free beer,” I said like a dork.

“Yeah, the coupon.”

Oh, great. Why did I have to say that? Now she’s going to do a crappy job since she knows I’m not paying full-price.

“No, sorry.  We don’t have any beer.”

Okaaay.  I wasn’t about to mention the massage.

Opal proceeded to lecture me on the history of our small Texas town since her family has been in the area for generations.  I learned about the year that Safeway first came to town and also how Opal’s grandmother was a star basketball player in high school, but, since I hate chit-chat, I just let her go on and on; I almost pretended to fall asleep.

As Opal was finishing up, I heard the front door open.  Wonder what kind of perv just came in?

As I walked to the register to pay, I saw who it was: a plain-looking housewife and her kid.  So much for stereotypes.

A month later, another Knockouts coupon was waiting for me on the kitchen counter.  This one was for returning clients.

I sighed.  Maybe they would have that free beer next time.

Daily Prompt: Liar Liar …. soooo busted!!

“Your height?” …. “5’5” I answered.

“How much do you weigh” …… “140 pounds”

She looked at me and she knew …..she knew I lied but typed it in anyways…… as she repeated “140” slowly, she looked at me once again over her red rimmed glasses waiting for me to come clean …… she knew I was lying, I knew it to but I wasn’t about to say my TRUE number out loud. It’s no ones business. Plus, that’s my goal weight…..well really 130 is but she would totally call the DMV police over and have me step on a scale. I will get there again…..really, just a bottle of Alli, a strict diet and no more wine will get me back down there again….I’m not that far.

Who doesn’t fib a little when it comes to their weight? Well, except you skinny people …. You probably stand there proudly and shout out your number. GOOD FOR YOU!! (as I stuff a double fudge cookie in my mouth and wash it down with my glass of Merlot). I knew I shouldn’t have said 140….I mean that’s a bit of a stretch….but I’ve been meaning to join a gym and start “running” but it’s so gosh darn humid out that I sweat as soon as I go outside!! scalecry http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/daily-prompt-fake/

Is it really stalking or just being overally nosey?

A question has come up recently by a fellow blogging friend regarding an ex “stalking” her blog…… “I know he reads my blog, but why would he do this? he has a girlfriend” ….we pondered on this question for awhile….analyzed his behavior, pretty much came up with a few ideas :

1. he is in no way on the level of Mr.Crazy when it comes to crazy stalking behavior

2. he misses you and although he knows he can’t be with you right now; he just longs for a little piece of you and he can get that by reading your blog.

3. his girlfriend is just a filler.

4. He may stalk your blog daily, even visit hourly…..but just as long as he isn’t doing anything harmful to you then catch him off guard and say hello!!

I  began to think about different levels of crazy……  and remembered a conversation I had with Jenny about 12 years ago….it went something like this.

 phone rings

(whisper) “You would never believe what I am doing…guess”

(whispers back) “why are you whispering? are you eavesdropping on someone?”

(whisper) “I’m hiding in a bush watching Scott and his wife clean up the front yard….why are you whispering?”

“You’re in a BUSH? You’re crazy…what if he sees you?”

“He won’t, my car is parked down the road….and I doubt he can …ohhh wait, shit he’s looking this way”

“Ohhh Jen, you are going to get caught…..why are you there anyways?”

“He gave me some lame excuse , he SAID he was going out of town……but he’s outside with his wife fixing up the front yard!!!….Jolene?”

“Yeah Jen”

“You’re going to have to come along next time”

“OK…..please don’t do anything stupid”

“hmmm….I’m in a bush, this is not one of my most proudest moments”

I admit….back in the day I have had some not so proud moments when I let that little obsessive behavior come out; but I noticed that it only happened when someone I loved did me wrong…..like cheated…..of course that question  “what does the bitch look like?”  consumed me and one can’t help but be overcome with curiosity right???  I’ve never gone as far as Mr.Crazy though…..who would come into my complex in the late hours of the night to see if I was home or not…….he spit on my home window, dented my car with his fist, and spit on the car door handle of a male friends truck. NOW….that’s stalking gone overboard!!!

Marie told me recently how her ex left an envelope with a thumb drive inside. It was a slide show titled Marie’s Legacy…..on this slide show were pictures of them together….pictures of parties they attended….I even made it on the slide show…..then he put in a picture of a notification that was sent to his phone on where she was on one particular night(creepy)….then there was a picture of a guy she is dating who was surfing (is he stalking him too)…lists of ex-boyfriends from her past was also on this slide show.

“What do I do?” she asked

“Don’t play into his crazy, that is what he wants…..for a man to shuffle through hundreds of photos of you and him and put something like this together is just nuts. He’s stewing, he’s probably oozing the crazy stench right now…..just please leave him alone”

“I just checked his Match.com page and he is on it all the time…..yet he tells me that I’m the one he wants but dates all these other woman”

“Are you on Match?”

“NO….I just made a fake profile up just to keep tabs on him because I’ve noticed that once we head to our own places he is instantly on there”

“Just leave him alone Marie, he’s playing you”

She agreed, but Marie has a mind of her own and admittedly said she’s addicted to the drama…..but I just hope that this is a clear sign that this man is a bit unstable……I guess it would be one thing if the slideshow was put to some romantic music with a love letter or poem at the end….but there wasn’t any hearts or clip art rose pedals on the screen.

But going back to what I was saying at the beginning, if someone I dated, or even married wants to read my blog……more power to them…..I don’t really know what purpose it serves them…………but as long as they stay their distance and don’t write childish idiotic comments then I’m fine…plus it brings up my stats.

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Spinster…..aka Hopeless Romantic

This morning while catching up on my favorite must read blogs  I came across 1 Year of Single post called Denial of Points. It was almost like reading something that I had written years ago in a previous blog  depicting my frustration with single life.

She wrote:

I feel like I’ve been thrown multiple life lessons and I’m failing every one. Why else would the lessons be never-ending? When I look around, I don’t see everyone else going through years of endless dating torture.

I want to know when these stupid little life lessons are going to end and I’m going to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Where’s the damn prize? I feel like I’m getting nowhere, like a salmon swimming upstream; I don’t even know what the lessons are, or what the point of the lessons are. And yet at the same time, I look back on my decisions – like how I chose to continue being ‘friends’ with a guy who can’t decide if he should leave his cheating wife or not – and think, “God must be tired of me spinning my wheels all the time like a Gafatch.

I totally felt her frustration because I WAS her (up until last June)….I felt defeated by each life lesson that was thrown in my path……I mean COME ON already how many lessons and failed relationships does one person have to go through in order to find the one? It’s so simple for some……like my sister, she may have only encountered two dating life lessons to my fifteen years (give or take a year or two) of spinsterhood. At times I felt that I had been cursed or that Karma was being a REAL BITCH and paying me back for something that I royally screwed up on in  a previous lifetime….whatever it was I couldn’t figure it out. I tried to….but to no avail I kept making wrong decisions when it came to men….and I was actually beginning to believe the label my ex-husband placed on me…..Spinster, but I prefer “Hopeless Romantic”.

I tried dating the good guys, you know the type that complain that women only want bad boys….so I gave the good guys a shot. All I found out is that line is just that ….. a line, because the “good guys” that I dated were just as bad as the tattoo’d bad boys. For instance….Paul. Looked like a good guy, smelled like a good guy, we had a lot in common, was very attentive only problem was that he was also attentive to two other women, in two different cities.

I tried the bad boy, tattoos ….tongue ring….a bit younger but that boy couldn’t carry on a conversation to save his life. He was nice to look at during those brief summer months but after that….adios!

There was the guy who claimed to want to marry me, we moved in …..things were good until I found out that he was still in love with his stripper ex-wife, but he claimed that it was over. Five months later I began to feel that something was just a bit off and after snooping around I noticed he had a profile on a dating website saying he was looking for love. We broke up and I was left living in a place I called “hell in the desert” while he was off loving on someone new.

imagesI then decided that I needed to change things up……I would just date a guy based on his personality and not dismiss him based on his looks. That brings me to Gollum or the white ET as my friends called him. We dated for quite sometime, but his overly health nut attitude and my love for carbs became a problem……looking back now I should have stood my ground  when he scolded me for putting too much butter on my bread and the lecture I got when I ordered a Dr. Pepper . I should have stuffed him full of pasta and bread to just relax him a bit or put him in a carb coma with my yummy manicotti. The breaking point was when I caught him twirling around in my lingerie….yeah no one wants to see Gollum in a silky nighty from Victoria Secrets.

There came a point that I had to admit defeat my choices in men were horrible (not including the Major who I ended up marrying in December) so I had only one option. I found myself in a church, kneeling before the Lord and prayed. I cried. I prayed some more. I gave it up to him, I was no longer going to search for THE ONE because I was exhausted. Broken hearts suck. I was there for a good hour praying, well more like reading the prayers on the back of the missalette. I walked out of there with a new sense of peace because when it was time he would deliver …..well that’s what I had been told anyways…..so instead of Match.com finding me a man I went to the Big Man upstairs to be my matchmaker.

What he brought me was Mr.Crazy…….and from what I learned from this experience was you can’t fix crazy or fix Mr.Crazys momma who was unable to release this overgrown boy from her bosom. I guess in a way this was the test of all tests. It taught me to never settle, just because you may think that you are approaching 35 years old, you think no one loves you and that all the good ones are gone…..does not mean in any way that you should marry some guy who has no direction. Remember you can’t fix someone who doesn’t want to fix themselves….and it’s a losing battle when they are in denial about what we all see as a problem.

There is hope to all those singles out there……there is a light at the end of the tunnel, believe me…….I definitely paid my dues, learned some very tough lessons, realized what I truly deserved and most importantly became comfortable with the thought of just being alone…..because really was I ALONE? I have good friends that would never turn their back on me, I have my children although grown they still keep in touch (one more than the other two), I have my health……yeah eating a Lean Cusine for dinner and watching reality television with your Furkids staring on day after day can be a bit lonely but just think…….he is out there, but it’s just not time yet. He may just need to figure somethings out before he is ready to cross your path and be yours 100%.

I had to wait ten years to before my husband and I crossed paths again…….

yeah I hear some of you saying….. “TEN YEARS…i have to wait TEN years!!”  I know ……I know.

Eavesdropping is soooo much fun!!

My husband and I had lunch at this cute little café out in the middle of some old country town on Saturday, while reading over the menu I noticed two women to my right having a really intense conversation.  “When I asked him to do me right on the lawnmower he looked at me as though I had two heads and a wart on my nose”. WHAT?? I stopped reading the menu and started to pay attention .There are two things that I enjoy …..people watching and eavesdropping.  “I just don’t get it, I’m tired of being denied sex when I ask for it….every time I ask he looks repulsed but then he will come to me in a day or two ON HIS TIME and want sex, as much as I want to deny him I’m so gosh darn horny I just give in” the brunette said sounding defeated….. “Uhm maybe he likes being the dominate one?” her friend asked.

Boy did I miss  having these types of conversations with my girlfriends!!!…..”Honey do you know what you want?”…I didn’t notice the waitress standing by the table waiting to take my order; I quickly ordered a cheeseburger, no onions and sent the girl on her way…..I had a conversation to get back into….my husband was too busy checking baseball stats to realize what I was doing.

“That doesn’t give him the right to look at me as though I’m some alien from another planet, maybe he didn’t want to have sex on the lawnmower, but he’s had sex in other bizarre places so the riding lawnmower isn’t a far stretch from what he’s used to. I’m done askin though….it hurts too much when he denies me. I’m just horny as all get out it’s been over a week”.  I so wanted to move my seat over to their table to chime in….I could use a dose of girl talk!! The blonde took a sip of her soda “well girl, Jim and I haven’t had sex for over a month!!! We don’t even make out or French kiss do you guys still kiss?” the brunette took a bite of her salad and nodded “yeah we still kiss ….but when we start kissing KISSIN it always leads to sex so we don’t have just random kissing”

A month!! I think I would go totally crazy if we didn’t have sex for a month……  “Honey what do you think?”…..ohhhh crap I was so engrossed with the two girls that I didn’t know that he was talking….. “Think about what, sorry”. He wanted to know what route we should take back home  seriously I had no clue where we were at so I just told him to surprise me. He caught on pretty quickly that I was in the middle of a conversation already…one that I wasn’t invited to…I tried to tell him what was going on with a whisper but by the time we finished talking about routes and eavesdropping the women paid their bill and were heading out the door.

I felt a bit disappointed by their departure, I didn’t know these women but this was a topic that was up my alley. …..So while eating my juicy burger I texted Jenny and my sister and asked them if they still have make out sessions with their husbands. They both said sometimes but nine times out of ten it always lead to sex. “I miss the hot make out sessions we use to have, what about you?” Jennys texted. I told her that we still kiss….and mentioned to her that the other night when we watched two John Wayne movies (not the war flicks those put me to sleep)  I had made a comment about the cheesy overly dramatic Hollywood kisses then while we were taking a brief snack break he grabbed me and planted a good old cheesy Hollywood kiss of his own. Which only left me in a fit of giggles …….but no matter how silly that was it still left me a little hot and bothered!!

I wonder how many couples out there who have been together for a significant amount of time still find themselves in the arms of their spouse having steamy Hollywood make out sessions??  or does the steam just fade away after time?

V-Steam anyone??

8936ce6fcd8a8649892eb08d80832183I woke up this morning to a pain that I can only describe as having some evil man beating in your skull with a club over and over again…….yeah I woke up with a massive migraine. My husband and furkids were just blurry shadows and it took every ounce of me to walk to the bathroom and grab my migraine medicine. I knew I should of taken something when I woke up to my head pounding earlier but I was hoping it would just go away……………but it didn’t, now I was in the worst pain imaginable………….child birth?…a total breeze… kidney stones? ok that hurt but  nothing compared to what I was feeling….was this what it feels like to have your head gnawed on by a grizzly?

I briefly remember my husband kissing me good-bye and telling our Furkids to be on their best behavior because mommy was sick. I remember my furgirl,Lily licking my tears off my cheek and cuddling close to me, while Dart climbed up on daddies pillow and fell back to sleep.

It wasn’t until a little after one that I felt somewhat human again and decided to head to the couch. I channeled surfed for a while …and nothing…then I remembered that I had a bunch of my girly shows that I needed to watch. After watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey and Orange County; I turned on Tia and Tamera and let me just tell you, laughter is the best medicine!! Those two are a riot especially when they head to a spa to get a steam facial to only find out that the V Steam that they signed up for was not for the face it was for their vagina.

Well SIGN ME UP!!! …… I’m game for anything that will rejuvenate any part of me!! Do I hear a girls day at the spa!!! I can see it now…….a bunch of girls sitting around getting the V herbal special while sippin on some bubbly and giggling about the crazy sensation that was happening down below!!


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Campus Culture versus Strategy

In an enlightening conversation today, the question was asked of me, “What do you do to build campus culture so it beats strategy?”  WOW…I had to pause a moment and think of my response!  My initial reaction was, “Of course, strategies are important to be successful (we have to have a plan after all), but ultimately it is campus culture that will determine if our strategies are successful.”  The explanation went deeper into:

  • what our campus design team does to determine our school theme each year,
  • how our staff commits their summer break time to study a book together (this year is Training Camp),
  • why we do Miller Team Huddles on Friday mornings in the gym with everyone,
  • how we share our message with everyone each day,
  • why we have the Miller Essential 5,
  • why certain initiatives like R-Time are crucial, and (most important of all),
  • why our learners and their families don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care!

Whether or not I answered the question appropriately, I most definitely walked away pondering what other ways we build both for student success at LME.  This is similar to growing a special plant each year…various elements work together to make it all happen in a positive way.  What thoughts or ideas would you share?

It is hoped that when you walk through our front door, you are greeted warmly, with a smile and welcome, and you’re helped with our best customer service.  You should be able to feel positive energy in our classrooms and during family events on campus.  You should feel professionalism with a team spirit and approach to everything we do because great campus culture shares great energy together.  We realize we only have 177 instructional days this school year, thus Every Day Is Game Day at LME!  We appreciate your feedback and continue to welcome your participation as our learning partners throughout the journey…and thanks for sharing your most valuable resource with us everyday!

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Pineapple CRAN-T NIC Salts - (previously called Pineapple Crantini)

Regular price Rs.1,600.00

Bold taste of a cranberry cocktail, blended with sweet pineapple juice and a squeeze of fresh lime

12 mg has a 75% VG and 25% PG ratio.
All other strengths are 65% VG 35% PG ratio.

Do you want to have the taste of a pineapple and cranberry cocktail with you wherever you go, but you also want to make sure it has a little bit more nicotine in it than the traditional flavors do? Well, you’re in luck, for this luscious pineapple crantini flavor does this, and so much more.

It’s got the bold rush of cranberries infused into a cocktail, one that is both stimulating to the senses, and quite fun to indulge in. But it’s not just that, it’s also got the warm taste of pineapple in it as well, giving it a sweet flavor to it.

Together, these combined with the nic salts within this will give you the bursting of flavor that you will enjoy. You’ll be amazed at the nature of this, and just how much you can get from this, and you’ll be able to take the warm taste of a pineapple crantini with you wherever you go, and it’s also infused with nic salts.


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rss-is-deadYesterday, Twitter announced the hiring of FeedBurner CEO Dick Costolo to be COO of Twitter. Costolo’s career path from one of the most prominent RSS companies to Twitter is being talked about as proof that “RSS is dead.”

peHub writer Dam Primack circled back to find out if there was any truth to the idea that Twitter’s replacing RSS by checking out what had become of RSS Investors, a company founded in 2005 in Cambridge, Massachusetts whose stated goals were to raise a $100 million fund and invest it in “news aggregation, blogs, new classes of search engines and data aggregation in the financial and medical industries.”

RSS Investors’ inaugural press release listed Jim Moore and John Palfrey from Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, plus GE Capital veterans Richard Fishman and Steve Smith, plus Tom Crowley from Ritchie Capital Management.

Ritchie put in $20 million, but the team was unable to collect enough investments to create the $100 million fund they’d announced. After investing in Edgeio, Attensa, and KnowHow, RSS investors had no more money to give to other startups.

Attensa, which makes a server for streaming data within companies, is still in business. But KnowHow shut down and Edgeio sold its assets in December 2007 to Looksmart and

After that, RSS Investors stalled. Palfrey told peHub, “We never officially dissolved the fund, but we stopped making investments and everyone’s moved on to other things.”

For the record, we called the RSS Fund idea “nuts” when it the fund was first raised four years ago.

[Image: peHub]


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24 Hour Emergency Service can be reached by phone.

Call Us: HAZEL GREEN: (608) 854-2283 | GALENA: (815) 777-0880


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Palo Alto Networks Senior Product Manager (Threat Intelligence Services) in Santa Clara, California

Palo Alto Networks® is the fastest-growing security company in history. We foster a culture of innovation, authenticity, and collaboration. This focus helps to advance our mission of protecting our way of life in the digital age. Our people make this possible. It’s in our everyday interactions, how we work together and treat each other, that sets Palo Alto Networks apart from other organizations. If you are a motivated, intelligent, creative, and hardworking individual, then this job is for you!

Palo Alto Networks is building a world-class product management organization and continues to look for top-notch product managers to expand the team. As a product manager focused on interacting with the data behind our Threat Intelligence Capabilities at Palo Alto Networks, you will continue to drive the most innovative security platform available today. Help us extend our lead in integrated threat prevention by identifying and driving improvements, new technologies, and other enhancements to the way we protect our customers. In addition to your own knowledge and experience, you will rely on interaction with enterprise customers to understand requirements and needs, engineering to prioritize and develop the right features, and sales and marketing to bring those features successfully to market.

  • Technical product management of the data and threat intelligence backing all the Palo Alto Networks threat services – WildFire, PAN-DB, Threat, and AutoFocus

  • Drive the introduction of a net new service aiming to extend the use of Palo Alto Networks Threat intelligence

  • Design enterprise-level integrations working closely with technical Business Development and engineering

  • Perform market and customer analysis, feature requirements development, identify business cases, create collateral, and define product positioning

  • Customer engagement and relationship development for product evangelism and requirements gathering

  • Foster a culture of data-driven prioritization and decision making

  • Deep understanding of how to interface with large amounts of data to generate meaningful responses

  • Proven track record of executing on a long-term vision in a predictable manner

  • Demonstrated success in launching SaaS software features and products

  • Knowledge of Agile/scrum Software Development Life Cycle methods

  • Experience in enterprise applications and data integration between different products

  • Some familiarity with network and/or host security with a background in malware analysis

  • Strong knowledge of high-availability, scaling, and performance of distributed systems

  • Demonstrated success in collaborating with multiple teams across engineering and Product Management

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

  • Data Science experience and experience in Sales & Marketing operations an added bonus

  • Minimum 1-3 years in product management, technical marketing, systems engineering, software engineering

  • BS/MS or equivalent experience required

We are the global cybersecurity leader, known for always challenging the security status quo. Our mission is to protect our way of life in the digital age by preventing successful cyberattacks. This has given us the privilege of safely enabling tens of thousands of organizations and their customers. Our pioneering Security Operating Platform emboldens their digital transformation with continuous innovation that seizes the latest breakthroughs in security, automation, and analytics. By delivering a true platform and empowering a growing ecosystem of change-makers like us, we provide highly effective and innovative cybersecurity across clouds, networks, and mobile devices.

Our Security Operating Platform is built for automation. It is easy to operate, with capabilities that work together, so customers can prevent successful cyberattacks. They can use analytics to automate routine tasks, so they can focus on what matters. We are known for continuously delivering innovations; and with Application Framework, we extend that to an open ecosystem of developers that benefit from our customers’ existing investment in data, sensors, and enforcement points.

Learn more about Palo Alto Networks here at and check out our fast facts at

EOE Protected Veterans/Disability.


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March Launch Pad Lecture: Say Cheese! The First Photo From Space

March 3, 2017
9:00 AM
3198 State Rte 2001, Alamogordo, NM 88310

New Mexico Space History Museum
Contact Name:
Cathy Harper
Contact E-mail Address:
Contact Phone Number:
575-437-2840 ext. 41153

New Mexico has had a lot of “firsts” when it comes to space research and development. Most everyone knows that Spaceport America is the first purpose built spaceport in the world, but did you know that the first U.S. designed rocket to reach the edge of space was launched from White Sands Proving Grounds (now White Sands Missile Range)? Or that the first flight of more than five times the speed of sound was also launched from the same location? So what about the first picture from space? Join Museum Executive Director Chris Orwoll to find out more during this month’s free Launch Pad Lecture.

The Launch Pad Lecture is free to the public and is held at 9 a.m. on the Museum’s first floor. Coffee and donuts are compliments of the International Space Hall of Fame Foundation. The next Launch Pad Lecture will be on April 7, 2017 and the topic will be Sateloon: Bouncing the Signal from Above with Museum Education Director Dave Dooling.

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Code Focused

BigInteger for Astronomically Large Numbers

On VB columnist Joe Kunk explores the new BigInteger structure in .NET 4 and how it lets you work with astronomically large numbers.

The BigInteger structure was introduced in the .NET Framework 4, allowing for an arbitrarily large integer number. Prior to this, the largest integer that could be represented was the int64.MaxValue of 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 or approximately 9.2 x 1018. This certainly has been large enough to represent any integer value I have ever needed. Anything larger is truly an astronomical figure. We explore the new BigInteger structure with a sample program that converts distances in light years to inches.

The figures in this article exceed the precision of most handheld calculators. If you want to follow along and have Windows 7, you can perform these calculations with the Windows 7 calculator in scientific mode.

How many inches in a light year? The speed of light is exactly 299,792,458 meters per second. One year is 31,556,926 seconds. Therefore light travels 9,460,528,412,464,108 meters per year. One meter is 39.3700787401575 inches. I calculate the distance traveled by light in a year to be 372,461,748,522,209,163 inches (3.72 x 1017).

Even a light year in inches is not large enough to require the BigInteger structure. A quick calculation shows that the maximum 64-bit integer can represent a little over 24.763 light years in inches. To give you a little perspective on the size of the numbers we are working with, the space probe Voyager 1 was approximately 16 light-hours away from Earth at the time of this writing, after 33 years of travel. To travel enough inches to require our BigInteger structure, it will have to travel at its current rate of speed for almost another 620,000 years.

Our nearest known star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.22 light-years away, too close for our purposes. Researchers announced on September 29, 2010 that an Earth-sized planet named Gliese 581g was found orbiting in the habitable zone of its red dwarf star and would almost certainly contain life. At only 20 light years away, it is still too close in inches for our BigInteger structure. Recently another planet, named GJ1214b, which is six times the size of Earth and comprised mostly of water, was found orbiting a red dwarf star about 40 light years away. Finally we have a planet far enough away in inches to require our BigInteger structure. So approximately how far away is planet GJ1214b in inches?

BigInteger is found in the System.Numerics namespace. I declare the variable OneLightYearInches as a BigInteger to eliminate the need for casting in the calculation. Note that a BigInteger value cannot be a constant because it is a structure and not a value type. The code below shows our BigInteger light year to inches conversion from the sample program.

        Dim OneLightYearInches As System.Numerics.BigInteger = 372469703661417000

Dim LightYears As System.Numerics.BigInteger = 0
System.Numerics.BigInteger.TryParse(Me.txtLightYears.Text, LightYears)

Me.txtInches.Text = (LightYears * OneLightYearInches).ToString

Our sample program shows planet GJ1214b to be approximately 14,898,788,146,456,680,000 inches (1.4 x 1019) from the Earth. The center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 26,000 light years away, or 9,684,212,295,196,842,000,000 inches (9.6 x 1021). Be careful to count them carefully on your way there!

Now that we can easily compute values in BigInteger, the next question is performance. What is the performance of BigInteger compared to Int64? To determine this, an integer random value is obtained, then added to itself 500 million times, first as an int64 value and then as a BigInteger value, with the calculation times compared. See Figure 1.

[Click on image for larger view.]
Figure 1. Comparing Int64 and BigInteger performance.

The BigInteger calculation loop is over 52 times slower. Both the Int64 and BigInteger values are immutable; a new copy of the value is created in memory each time it is modified. In fact all integral types, including the venerable Integer data type, are immutable. The extra complexity of creating an arbitrarily large number, even when the number is no larger than a standard numeric type, causes the difference in performance. To minimize this performance penalty, especially when modifying BigInteger values in loops, perform as many calculations in standard integral types as possible and assign to the BigInteger structure only when necessary.

Constructing a BigInteger is easy if the initial value is integral within the range of an Int64 value. Both of the following statements are valid:

        Dim Init1 As System.Numerics.BigInteger = 123456789
Dim Init2 As New System.Numerics.BigInteger(123456789)

If the initial value is larger than Int64.MaxValue, the BigInteger can be initialized with the TryParse method, or initialized with a byte array such as:

        Dim byteArray() As Byte = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12}
Dim LargeBigInteger As New System.Numerics.BigInteger(byteArray)

The BigInteger constructor expects the low-order bytes to precede the higher-order bytes in the array.

The ToString() method supports a maximum of 50 significant digits in most cases; any digits beyond that become zero. If your BigInteger value may exceed 50 significant digits, use the ToString("R0") format rather than ToString("N0").

The BigInteger structure, introduced in the .NET Framework 4, represents integers of arbitrary size but should be used only when the Long type is not sufficient, due to the inherent overhead of constructing a variable-sized value. For applications where truly astronomical sized integrals are required, they are now available in managed code with nearly the same ease of use as standard integrals.

About the Author

Joe Kunk is a Microsoft MVP in Visual Basic, three-time president of the Greater Lansing User Group for .NET, and developer for Dart Container Corporation of Mason, Michigan. He's been developing software for over 30 years and has worked in the education, government, financial and manufacturing industries. Kunk's co-authored the book "Professional DevExpress ASP.NET Controls" (Wrox Programmer to Programmer, 2009). He can be reached via email at

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Shortlist and interview

If you are shortlisted for a position you will be invited to attend a competency based interview conducted by the recruiting Line Manager and Resourcing Consultant. Your interview usually comprises questions relating to your qualifications and past work experience, as well as assessing job relevant competencies such as problem-solving, leadership or interpersonal skills required for the post. You may also be asked to complete a business/technical assessment prior to your interview.

Applying for a position

Click on search for a job to find your desired career with us. Once you've registered and applied, we'll email you confirmation of receipt. Our Resourcing Team will then carefully assess your application. You will also be able to search for career opportunities via our LinkedIn page and apply for jobs by simply uploading your CV directly from your LinkedIn profile. You can also refer friends and family to suitable positions.

Employment screening

Everyone who's offered a job with us is asked to take part in our employment screening process. The checks we do will depend on the role you've applied for. Checks may include education, residency, credit, criminal history and relevant professional qualifications. It is important for candidates to declare upfront anything that may negatively affect the application for a particular position.


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Mike Fisher

Male, can be deep, guy next door, personable

Voice Description

My voice can be warm, low and pleasant, sexy and concerned. I have the ability for a range from low and warm to higher and shrill. I can be convincing as well as get across a concern. Animated or conservative.

Voice Genders and "Ages" I Can Perform

• Young Adult Male
• Middle Age Male
• Senior Male

Language(s) of Which I Am a Native Speaker:

• English - USA and Canada

I Offer my Services for these Recording Purposes

• Commercials
• Promos
• IVR, voicemail, phone systems, and on-hold messages
• Training, business presentations, sales, and web sites
• Audiobooks
• Videogames
• Documentaries
• TV shows and movies
• Movie and game trailers
• Podcasts
• Adult content
• Others (on-camera, infomercials, live announcers, spokespersons)

Jobs I Am Willing to Take (Union-wise)

• Non-Union Jobs

My Union Affiliations and Memberships

My Recording and Delivery Capabilities

• I will go to any designated studio in my area
• I can record and then deliver the audio files via Email
• I can record and then upload the audio files via FTP
• I can record and then deliver the files by regular mail

Pre-, Post- and Production Services I Offer

• I offer copywriting services
• I can deliver edited and finished voice tracks
• I can add special effects to any project

My Home Base

, Illinois, United States

Accents, Impersonations, Characters and Dialects

I can do American, American country, Jewish accent.
I can read Spanish but as long as I have a translation I can get the meaning across.

My Voice Experience

I create video for business and sometimes the client do not want to pay for talent, asking me to do the voice-over.
I was hesitant at first but when appropriate was able to create the voice and insert into the video with music to deliver a finished product.
Here is a list of videos online:

My Training

When I first started I had a problem with microphones and bit rate but I have that under control now with good mics,
a i7 Mac and a mixer.

My Studio Equipment

i7 Mac with 12Gb mem and 4Tb drive space.
Beheringer Mixing board.
Line in/Stereo,EQ,FX, multiple channels.
High speed SATA 3Tb.
XLR cables / microphone

Editor: Adobe Soundbooth, Vegas Sound Foundry

Additional Skills

Video producer,Still photographer. Working professionally since 1986.

Payment Methods Accepted

• Credit cards
• Personal checks, cashier's checks, or money orders in my local currency
• Wire transfers

Contact Information

To contact Mike Fisher by email or phone, please click here.

• Currently Mike Fisher is a Standard subscriber.

Mike Fisher does not appear to be an active participant of the Voice123 marketplace at this time. Mike Fisher was last active on Voice123 more than 365 days ago, OR may not be receiving our email messages.


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A Marine Corps. Community

Archive for the tag “Commandant”

Jason Casarez

Casarez Footage: OIF 3 Iraq footage compilation- ’05

A few months ago I was packing up my things to move and I came across a pocket notebook. It was beat up and falling apart. The pages were stained with sweat causing the ink to run. Clearly this was a notebook that accompanied me in Iraq. There were only a few pages worth of recognizable entries. Another one of my failed attempts at a journal…

April 7 2005

  • Met the Commandant & Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.
  • Shot at a dead sheep (thought it was an IED)
  • Mortars hit our base, landed inside the wire.
  • Searched for the insurgent mortarmen through the palm groves of S. Dam Villiage
  • IED was detonated on our position
  • We detained an oil worker. Seemed innocent. We just wanted to ask more thorough questions with an interpreter. He ended up spilling his guts and telling us that he has worked with insurgents and he himself had placed at least 20 IED’s. Good catch. “Texas good, Iraq no good.”

April 8 2005

  • Went to Al Asad
  • Started patrol late at night. Caught flares at train station village. We stop and scan. Zito and I wonder how many “muj” were watching us. We point as if we can see them watching us. Then we wave hello.

April 20th

  • While in an OP heavy traffic comes over the comm. Red 1 is being engaged. .50 cal fire is heard during transmissions. We rush to their pos. We are met by small arms fire and RPG’s. We return small arms fire as the TOW is prepped.
  • We fire 3 TOW missiles. Small arms fire continues. Cobras and F-18’s are on station. Abrams are called. Tinian is hit by an IED while en route. RPG’s are fired again and land dangerously close. Crazy day. The building we hit with the TOW missiles is on fire.

-Jason Casarez

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Kids Bowl Free

Kids can Bowl for Free this Summer in Canada

The free bowling program for kids during the summer time is back this year again. The free bowling activities are available at participating centers throughout Canada, find the nearest one on

Kids that do not exceed the age limit (might be different from one center to another) will be able to register for up to 2 games per day all summer long until the end of July. This is quite a nice activity to do with your kids and it shouldn’t cost you too much either. Have fun bowling Canada!

Go to and find out more.


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Join VRG

Join VRG

Enjoy fantastic member benefits and participate in a great racing community

Volunteer with VRG

Interested in Volunteering at VRG Events? Please contact Stephen C. Hyatt

Volunteer with VRG

VRG Forms

Download all necessary forms to compete in an event

The Turkey Bowl 2018

Register for Turkey Bowl Now!

Upcoming 2018 Events

  • May 16-20 - Jefferson 500 at Summit Point, WV. VRG Drivers School, FF Challenge Series, VeeRG Challenge Series, IMSA RS/Trans Am 2.5 Reunion
  • June 21-23 - 5th Annual Vintage Motorsports Festival at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Thompson, CT.
  • July 27-29 - New Jersey Historics at NJMP Thunderbolt, NJ. Formula Ford Feature Race, VeeRG Challenge Series.
  • September 7-9 - VRG at PittRace, Formula Ford Feature Race, VeeRG Challenge Series Finale.
  • October 5-7 - VRG at The Glen, Formula Ford Feature Race.
  • November 23-25 - 22nd Annual Turkey Bowl at Summit Point, WV
  • Inaugural VRG at PittRace – Results posted, Bill Stoler Photos, two races left this season!

    VRG at PittRace results are posted, Bill Stoler took some great photos, and we still have two races left this season with the Vintage Racer Group!

    VRG NJMP Newsletter hot off the presses, inaugural PittRace meeting coming up soon!

    Our daring Newsletter team has just finished the New Jersey Motorsports Park edition of the Vintage Racer Group Newsletter. Bill Stoler, lensman and journalist at large has put together some really great photos and excellent summary of our event at NJMP - our first on...

    VRG NJ Historics featured on South Jersey Speed

    VRG’s New Jersey Historics on South Jersey Speed – vintage road racing!

    Thompson, New Jersey Motorsports Park, and Pitt Race registrations online!

    Stop by our Event page for updated information and links to registration for our upcoming vintage racing events at great road courses near you! Thompson is fast approaching, with an extension on Early Bird entries until May 28th - sign up now here at...

    Welcome to the new VRG Website!

    After many faithful years of service, we have decided to retire the old VRG website. With all of the great photography, videos, and internet resources these days, this new site will allow the VRG to provide richer content to our membership, fellow vintage racers, and...


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The Admissions Experience at Wade College

Nearly half of high school students applying to college find the admissions process to be stress inducing.

college just aheadHere at Wade College, our goal is to make every student feel at home, and that starts with admissions! Our team is made up of Wade College graduates (including our entire admissions team) which allows us to better relate to our students. We have been through this process ourselves, and can therefore better relate to the needs and concerns of each prospective student. When meeting with an admissions representative, the best thing to keep in mind is to be yourself! We know that this is easier said than done, so consider these tips when scheduling your admissions interview:

Dress to impress.

There’s no need to bust out the bow tie or borrow mom’s pant suit, but what students in the creative industries learn quickly is that your outfit is your first impression. Wade is a creative college! We are all about expressing ourselves through wardrobe here. And what better way to show us who you are than by a fantastic outfit. It also gives us reps something else unique to remember about you: “Remember that girl with the cute necklace? She was the sweetest!”

Know your goals.

This is especially important when applying to a college as concentration specific as Wade. Come in prepared to discuss your career goals and aspirations. You don’t have to know exactly the career or company for you. But having a clear vision for your future is an immediate indicator in our office of someone who will be a successful student here.

Have questions prepared.

No, this isn’t a job interview! As we begin the admissions process with students, we not only want to get to know you, but allow you to get to know our college. Coming in with questions prepared shows your admissions rep that you have clearly invested your time and given this some true thought. And if you forget about a question you wanted to ask, reach out to us after your meeting! Follow up calls or emails from students are always welcomed and show us that you are not afraid to take initiative.

Above all else, remember that our admissions team at Wade College is here to help YOU. We want to help you to be successful in achieving your goals. So put your best foot forward, be curious, and let us get to know you.

To apply to Wade College, please visit

Gain Experience Through Internships

internMore employers expect college students to have experience for entry-level industry-related positions. Students often ask how they can get experience if they do not have experience yet. Through internships! There are many benefits for students to have an internship or two while in school. Students are able to:

  • Get their foot in the door of the company and the industry.
  • “Test the waters” and learn about a particular part of the industry before committing to a specific career path.
  • Build their network and gain valuable industry contacts. Networking is the number one way to land interviews and eventually jobs.
  • Gain a better understanding of how their coursework applies to their career interests. Also, they can improve their academics because they are able to apply their course knowledge to their internships.
  • Build their confidence about entering the industry.

Internships are a perfect stepping stones to a full-time job in the industry and the launch of their career.  Because internships are for a short-term duration, students can do multiple internships during their time in college. Ultimately, students who have prior internship experiences are more desirable and marketable to prospective Employers.

Wade College students are able to view current internships and other multiple job opportunities on Wade Career Connection, the college’s online student job board.  A sample of available internships include:

  • Fashion design intern for Tinsley Radix, a custom fashion brand of women’s apparel, with their flagship storefront and design studio located nearby Wade College
  • Talent agency intern for On Set Management, an agency representing behind the scenes talent for commercial photo shoots
  • Product development Intern for Arteriors Home, a wholesaler of Lighting, Accessories, & Furniture

The Office of Career Services welcomes students to meet and further discuss internship opportunities, as well as other types of positions.  Students can get assistance with additional job search resources, resume writing, cover letter writing, interviewing, career advice, and more!

Financial Services: Small Institution vs. Large Institution

FAFSAOverwhelmed by the thought of how you will pay for college?  Would you like to know how much financial aid you are eligible for and not sure how to go about it?  One of the many advantages of being a smaller institution is that, at Wade College we make the financial services process as timely and simple as possible.   Most students are able to meet with Financial Services on the same day they meet with their admissions coordinator.  We are able to walk students step-by-step through the FAFSA process, verification process (if applicable), and finally review their Student Financial Plan covering all educational costs and financial aid eligibility.  A large number of prospective students will have a very good idea of their eligibility for financial aid after their first Financial Services meeting.

At larger institutions, this process can be a very time consuming process with long wait times to schedule an appointment, processing times, and automated responses.  We pride ourselves in knowing our students by name and not by student number.  We want to get to know you to be able answer all of your financial questions whether in person, phone or via email.  Often students have comments like, “Wow, this was such a simple process, and I now really understand my financial aid.”

Wade College and the federal and state government offer several financial assistance programs to help students meet educational expenses. Students at Wade College are eligible to apply for financial assistance under the following financial assistance programs:

  • Federal Pell Grant Program
  • William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Subsidized and Unsubsidized)
  • Federal Direct Parent Loan Program for Undergraduate Students (PLUS)
  • Federal Direct Consolidation Loans
  • Wade College Institutional Loan Program
  • Veterans Education Act
  • Vocational Rehabilitation Programs
  • Wade College Tuition Rebates
  • External Scholarships

The Wade College Financial Services Department is excited to meet with you to discuss all of your financial options.  Look forward seeing you soon!

What Does ‘All-Inclusive’ Tuition Mean?

artLet’s talk about what all-inclusive tuition means.

All-inclusive tuition means that your money covers more than just the great education you’ll receive from our industry expert professors. It means that your tuition includes the cost of all books and supplies necessary to be successful in your classes here at Wade College. It means no hidden fees, no surprises later. It means you can make an accurate financial plan for your educational investment.

It means that all new students receive an iPad, that they’ll use to access and annotate e-books, keep track of upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, face-time with family and friends, set alerts for impending due dates, find inspiration, create concepts and designs, and maybe even find a few moments to take a perfect college selfie (venti latte, notes, glasses, study-face: check).

All-inclusive tuition means your professors have carefully curated a supply list for each class. If you’re studying Fashion design, you can look forward to receiving a beautiful full set of Tombow dual-brush pens for your illustration courses, a professional designer starter kit, and gift cards of up to $200 values per class to Golden D’Or Fabrics, a local store of over 35,000 square feet full to the brim with fabric choices. Interior design students receive supplies ranging from PrismaColor pens and pencils, to drafting vellum and large-scale plotter print capabilities. If you’re a visual communication student, you’ll receive essential textbooks and tools like Apple Web Developer for app design, and in your studio drawing and design courses, you’ll use supplies ranging from oil pastels and India ink with calligraphy nibs, to water color pencils and plaster of Paris to help you learn a variety of new techniques. Merchandise Marketing & Management students will gain a personaly library of essential industry texts in subjects ranging from branding to social media marketing. And all students in their graduating trimester will receive a sleek onyx portfolio book from Pinazaqngaro to professionally display their achievements to future employers.

Finally, our all-inclusive tuition rate means that you can use your last few before classes to pick out a dynamite first-day outfit, or enjoy some R&R, rather than frantically scrambling through used book store shelves hoping to find the Holy Grail – a barely used, up-to-date edition for a fraction of the price the college textbook store is charging (Hint: you won’t find it). It means you can spend your time preparing yourself for the adventure you’re about to embark upon. It means on day one, you can relax. Bring a spiral notebook, a pen, and a passion to learn about your industry, and we’ve got everything else covered!

A Library for the Creative Industries

009Wade College library specializes in collections that support the programs taught at Wade College:  fashion design, interior design, graphic design, merchandise marketing, merchandise management, and visual communications.  Our collection is focused on our curriculum and provides resources standard college and public libraries do not.

In addition to the print collection of over 8,000 books, the library provides access to an additional 42,600 titles via ebrary, an electronic library that is accessible via  the Internet—on computers or tablets, on and off-campus.  The Wade College library also maintains an extensive periodical collection with over 160 hard-copy titles, many of which are also available online.  Recent additions to the print collection include:  Anatomy of a Trend, Career Opportunities in the Fashion Industry, Materials for Interior Environments, and LogoLounge 9.  Many of the periodicals in the collection are trade publications, meaning that they are only available to those who are working professionals in that career.  Students at Wade College, however, have access to these before they graduate, giving them a headstart!  Titles in the periodical collection include:  WWD (former Women’s Wear Daily), ArtForum, Dallas Business Journal, and California Apparel News.

The Wade College library also maintains subscriptions to numerous electronic research and informational databases.  These include:  LexisNexis Academic, ProQuest Entrepreneurship, WGSN, Encyclopaedia Britannica Academic, (online), and BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).  Of particular note is WGSN, standing for Worth Global Style Network, this online resource provides information on the latest trends in the fashion and lifestyle industries. This site’s primary focus is on the fashion, design, ap006parel, style, and retail industries, with intersecting developments in consumer behavior, economic conditions, and the environment. WGSN also furnishes career information; interviews with top-level buyers, fashion show information, worldwide events, and four million browsable images. Wade College is proud to be able to provide this and other notable resources to our students.

Tuition Hero

Tuition Hero

Did you know Wade College is a “Tuition Hero”? How do you be a hero, you may ask? As noticed, we keep our annual tuition growth rate at less than 2.5%.
Wade College is more affordable than many other larger universities but with a greater focus on personalized attention – and you get to go straight into your major on day one!
Did you know we offer a fixed tuition rate that won’t change as you complete your degree on time?
Did you know we offer an all-inclusive tuition that won’t put stress on you to afford all of your books, iPad and supplies necessary to complete your coursework?
Did you know that the college offers many scholarship awards that reward students for academic accomplishment and for completing our programs on time?
Come visit us to get a clearer perspective on what makes us so different. Call 214.637.3530 or email to set up a visit.

How important is affordable tuition to you?

Alumni Spotlight: Isi Gonzalez, Graphic Design

Wade College Alumni, Graphic Design 2013Meet Isi, Wade College Graphic Design Alumni who works with Digital Imaging for Fossil Group headquartered in Richardson, Texas.

Describe a typical work day:

I coordinate photo studio activities all throughout the process for brands such as Fossil, Burberry, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Armani, DKNY, Diesel, Adidas, Skagen. I create and update visual guides, handle imagery quality control to be the final source of imagery for the company worldwide, production, and retouching support for the team. I maintain close contact with all brands that Fossil Group serves. Also, I have worked on really exciting projects and launches such as the most recent Tory Burch watch launch where I had the chance to see her literally 10 feet away from me!

Why did you choose Wade College?

Wade was the best option as far as the professors’ teaching methods, how well connected the school is to the industry, infinite intern and volunteer opportunities, support from professors and peers to continue working towards your degree, and best of all, the incredible support to be ready for the real world!

How did education at Wade College help prepare you for your career?

From the smallest thing such as be in class on time, to how to carry yourself and be yourself at the same time, the concentration towards building a portfolio, and the support to start in the industry with volunteering, Wade helped me jump start my career.

What advice do you have for students beginning their careers in your profession?

Educate yourself. You’re already in school, but that it’s not enough. Get involved in local industry associations such as DSVC, go to seminars, conferences, volunteer, and enter design contests. Explore your creativity in and out of the classroom. Try and fail, but keep trying. Explore every single branch of your industry before committing to one.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

In general, being where I am with a Bachelor’s in marketing, an Associate’s in graphic design, working on my Master’s, working for Fossil, freelancing, and being part of this awesome industry!

Quote that you live by:

There is so many!!! In general, “My life is constantly under construction, there is always something to improve.” But one of the ones that drive me everyday is: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when know better, do better” by Maya Angelou and “When you feel like quitting, think about why you started.”

Fashion Merchandising

Fashion Merchandising
Fashion Merchandising

Being a fashion merchandiser — isn’t that the ‘job’ that makes apparel look pretty on the mannequins in retail? Today, a merchandiser must be well versed in their own business’ protocol as well their competitors. A career in merchandising involves a concrete knowledge of the manufacturing process, and how to buy, promote, and ultimately sell fashion goods / services. Additionally, a fashion merchandiser knows great details about the textiles process, from fiber type to fabrication techniques best for any particular fabric.

The necessary skill sets required for such a rewarding, fast paced career as a fashion merchandiser may be achieved by understanding trend forecasting, having an acute analytical ability, and being able to effectively communicate. While more scientific than fortune telling, fashion merchandising jobs do have a forecasting element. In order to improve your accuracy, you’ll need a thorough knowledge of past fashion trends and an awareness of current industry developments. A good sense of style obviously helps you; however, you must also determine how things fit into a budget and whether they meet the functional needs of consumers. Other criteria may also influence your fashion merchandising decisions, so you will need to be able to analyze a complex set of issues and stand behind your choices. From negotiating with manufacturers to getting your marketing message out to customers, there is ample opportunity to exercise your powers of communication in the fashion merchandising field (Description of Fashion, n.d.).

Source: Description of Fashion Merchandising Jobs. (n.d.). All Art Schools.
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Job Fair Jump Start

March 2014 Job Fair copyLast month, Wade College welcomed to the fall 2014 trimester a large, new group of first term students, as well as our continuing students. Wade College students quickly grow accustomed to a wide variety of industry opportunities at Wade College, beginning in their very first trimester. These opportunities range from one-day volunteer opportunities at industry events to short-term and long-term internships and paid work opportunities, to permanent placement in career-related, full-time positions with notable DFW-area companies.

The start of a trimester can bring students anxiety from trying to find a job, whether it’s to help pay for school or to gain the necessary work experience to ready a resume for a full-time career in fashion, interior or graphic design. Career Services at Wade College gave students a jump-start with their job search by bringing employers on-campus through our fall 2014 job fair. Employers and their representatives included Terry Costa, Dillard’s, Michael Kors, LOFT, The Army & Airforce Exchange, The Limited, Sunglass Hut, and ZURI Furniture. Job opportunities presented included part-time jobs, full-time jobs, and internships. Students from all levels and concentrations attended, dressed for success, with polished resumes in-hand. They had the opportunity to network with employers and learn about job opportunities that they each offered. Employers were impressed with the preparedness and professionalism of our students, each making a good first impression. Many students received scheduled interviews and, to top it all, several of them landed the JOB shortly after!

Job fairs are a one-stop shop. They are part of the job search resources offered by the Career Services department for Wade College students to meet one-on-one with employers at one time and at a convenient location on-campus. All in all, it was a success, especially when students become employed in positions that not only help pay their bills, but also enable them to gain industry experience while pursuing their studies! We are fortunate to have such a stellar Career Services department with tremendous industry connections at Wade College!


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‘Art shouldnt be weaponised’: the atonal concert championing Berlin’s homeless

A plan to use hostile music to clear the homeless from the citys S-Bahn trains has been forced off the rails by concerned musicians

When it was announced that atonal music would be played in Berlins S-Bahn public rail network to disperse drug users and homeless people, as it considered this form of music hostile, I thought it was absurd. Ialso thought: we cant just leave it at that. I work at the Initiative Neue Musik an organisation that champions contemporary music in Berlin. I knew we had to take a stand against the exploitation of this art form against vulnerable people. We wanted to doit in a humorous way, because you cant really take the S-Bahns idea seriously: so we organised an atonal music concert in protest.

As well as its obvious inhumanity, the plan seriously misrepresented atonal music. First invented at the beginning of the 20th century, it stands for the liberation of tonal hierarchies beyond the eight notes of the traditional octave and is therefore complex on the ear. As an art form, it deals with the everyday problems of society so how can it be expected to sound just pleasant? Nobody expects contemporary visual art to be just nice.

Art shouldnt be weaponised against people. Atonal music was one of the musical forms classified as Entartete Musik degenerate music by the Nazis and forbidden. After the second world war, a young generation of composers led by Stockhausen, Boulez and Nono tried to write in a way that had no link to the Nazi regime, and turned to atonal music. Knowing that makes it all the more problematic to use this music to exclude people from public life.

In just two days, we got together some members of the most important contemporary ensembles in Berlin. Mosaik sent cellist Mathis Mayr and synthesiser player Ernst Surberg, who performed a 2014 piece by Joanna Bailie called Trains, which fitted well. I asked the soprano Sirje Viise because I knew her performances of Julius Eastmans music we chose him because, although he worked with some of the most famous minimalists in the 1970s, this African American composer died completely forgotten as a homeless person and drug addict in 1990. Other pieces included Ruth Velten playing a saxophone duet improvisation with Silke Eberhard we liked the saxophones as they trigger an association with busking.

Cellist Mathis Mayr and synthesiser player Ernst Surberg perform for the crowd. Photograph: Martin Hufner

The concert took place on the street outside the Hermannstrasse station, where the S-Bahn was to pilot its scheme. We didnt want to do it on the platform and fight against the trains we wanted to have a friendly protest. It was at 7pm, so people could come after work, and about 300 people turned up. We hoped to attract the homeless people around the station, so we brought food, and it worked: they got to eat, we chatted and they asked if we would do it again, because it was such a nice evening. People were respectful about the music, sitting in the round, really trying to listen in a loud environment. We had buses rushing past, street noise it went well with the music, as if everything was part of the sound.

The S-Bahns manager, Friedemann Kessler, turned up. He listened, and at the end said he hadnt known what atonal music was and that he had learned something. He decided to drop his plans, so the protest was a success.

We have since been asked if we can do some more concerts in everyday situations. The irony is that we had organised a month of contemporary music, spread across 50 venues in September, as a way of raising the profile of Berlins rich contemporary music scene. Our protest garnered more attention than our entire months worth of events. So we are really quite grateful to the S-Bahn.

Lisa Benjes is marketing coordinator of INMs Field Notes programme. She was speaking to Laura Snapes

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

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The stupid, it burns (literally)

THE STUPID, IT BURNS (LITERALLY)…. Over the summer, right-wing activists hung Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) in effigy outside his district office. It was a key signal of what’s to come — the far-right Tea Party crowd’s tactics go a little further than the usual political protests we’re accustomed to in contemporary American politics.

How much further? A report from southern Virginia highlights this weekend’s planned activities in Danville. (via Blue Virginia)

In a move sure to spark controversy, the Danville TEA Party will close their “Fired Up for Freedom” rally by burning Rep. Tom Perriello and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in effigy in response to the passage of landmark healthcare legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The event is being held Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Blairs, VA at the corner of U.S. 29 and E. Witt Rd. and is open to the public.

Danville TEA Party Chairman Nigel Coleman said, “We were outraged to find that Tom Perriello had voted in favor of this bill. I was with dozens of 5th District voters in his office two days before the vote and we pleaded with him to stand with us against the Pelosi plan…. At this point we feel we have no representation in Congress.”

For the record, Periello has met with Teabaggers, and tried to explain his policy approaches to them. They didn’t seem interested in good-faith dialog.

And now, these same conservatives are literally planning to set fire to representations of their congressman and the House Speaker.

There’s something deeply wrong with these folks.

Update: Josh Marshall adds, “I’m so old I can remember when ritualized symbolic execution of public officials wasn’t cool.”


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Before beginning your project of finishing your basement it is vital to call a basement waterproofing contractor to ensure you do not have any signs of humidity, mold or water in your basement.  If you do not waterproof your basement before renovating then you risk having to tear our all your newly installed framing, drywall, flooring etc…

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As a general contractor Waters Construction builds approximately $20,000,000 a year worth of infrastructure work. The scope of work includes road widening, intersection improvements, highway re-surfacing and safety improvements, interchange re-alignments, bridgework and major drainage improvements.

In conjunction with the sitework division Waters Construction has assembled a professional team of field personnel, supervisors and managers which enables it to efficiently construct multiple and diverse projects without compromising timeliness and quality.

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27 reasons to choose WordPress over SquareSpace (spoiler: they can legally steal your content)

The fine folks at WPMU have put together an exhaustive list comprising 27 Reasons Why WordPress Crushes SquareSpace Every Time. Now, we may be a little biased because we develop for WordPress, and list is geared toward developers, but site owners and content publishers should read this as well.

We are not afraid to admit this: if SquareSpace fits a client’s needs then it’s the best choice. There, we said it. There’s even a great (and long) blog post at WPShout about a WordPress developer who built a quick site (in 3 hours) on SquareSpace. We suggest and encourage reading it.

We have broken down a few of the reasons and added who should care about them and why. You really should read the entire list here. (Heads up: #7 is scary).

Reason #1: Free to Download

The WordPress software is open source and free to download for use on the web host or server of your choosing.

On the other hand, Squarespace isn’t flexible – you’re stuck with their hosting, which is strictly on Squarespace’s servers.

Who should care: Both. A better analogy would be that Squarespace is a product, WordPress is a tool. Squarespace is an apartment: your options for modify altering it are limited. WordPress is like a hammer: you can build a house with it.

Reason #2: Build Upon the Software

WordPress has a GPL 2.0 license, which means you’re free to poke around the code and make changes that suit your needs, so long as you’re willing to share your changes with others as open source.

Squarespace has no such license and even goes so far as forbidding you from trying to reverse engineer their code or platform, in general, to make any kind of derivative work in statements 5.1 of the Terms of Service and 1.5 of the Acceptable Use Policy.

Who should care: Developers, mostly. This is what makes the open source community thrive: developer contributions to software.

Reason #3: Edit with Code as Much as You Want

As previously mentioned, you can edit WordPress core to create your own offshoot content management system (CMS) thanks to the GPL, but you can also edit WordPress plugins and themes to extend the capabilities of your website. You aren’t limited to how many changes you can make.

There are also many, many plugins you can use to add custom code to your site on the fly such as WP Add Custom CSS, Simple Custom CSS, and Simple Custom CSS and JS to name only a few. You can add as much or as little code as you want.

In short, you can edit whatever you want when it comes to WordPress. You can also create your own themes and plugins.

Squarespace isn’t as flexible. Not even close.

While you can add a little custom HTML, CSS or JavaScript to make small customizations, and add your own text or media content as well as some basic animations, you can’t change any major components.

In sections 5.1 of the Terms of Service, Squarespace forbids you from editing the themes’ code or any other major element including any part of the offered services. If you want to dig into some code to change one of their themes or create one of your own, you can’t.

Who should care: Again, both. Developer’s hands are tied as well as content owners/publishers. You use what you are offered and you will like it.

Reason #4: Extensive Features with Plugins

WordPress has a vast repository of over 49,000 plugins to extend the capabilities of the core software. You can find practically any feature you could possibly need or want for your site with plugins, including anything from contact forms and SEO to security and eCommerce.

Like their visual editor, what you see is what you get with Squarespace. If a certain feature you need isn’t available, you’re out of luck.

Who should care: Both. We should caution that out of those 49,000 plugins some are complete garbage and others have been abandoned. However, as mentioned above, with Squarespace you will use what is offered and you will like it.

Reason #5: Unlimited Sites and Networks

The WordPress platform itself doesn’t have any limit to how many times it can be installed, which means you can create as many sites or networks of sites as the resources your hosting plan allows – for free.

When you sign up for a Squarespace plan, you’re limited to only one site. If you want to create another site, you need to sign up for another premium subscription.

Who should care: Again, both.

With Sononaco you pay for an entire server. You can have as many sites on it as the hardware will handle (where we boost your specs if you need more). We do not charge per-site nor do we charge you for the number of hits/visits to your site.

Reason #6: Multisite

One word: Multisite. ‘Nough said, but in case you want more detail: WordPress lets you create a network of websites called a Multisite. This means you can run as many sites as you want using one installation of WordPress and access them all in one place.

This makes it the perfect solution for a wide variety of sites and purposes. For example, you could offer your own blog or site hosting, like the popular education website Edublogs, or you could host all your clients’ sites under one roof for easy management.

Squarespace has no such feature.

Who should care: Again, both.

Properly managing WordPress multisite installations is not for novices but when done right a multisite installation can be a powerful tool. Our clients have found that having a single interface to manage multiple sites very valuable.

Reason #7: Your Copyrighted Content Can’t Be Used for Free

WordPress has no claim to publish any part of your site for free.

SquareSpace, on the other hand, according to its Terms of Service, statements 2.2 and 2.3, can use any part of your site for uses such as advertising, even if the content they take is copyrighted.

By creating a site with SquareSpace, you not only consent to this, but you also agree to let them use what they want for free. They don’t even have to contact you first.

No royalty cheques. Nothing.

While you can opt out, it’s not an easy, one-click option.

Who should care: You. With WordPress you own your content and your photos. With SquareSpace you are literally handing everything over to them.

There are several other reasons outlined in the article and we encourage you to read them all. Here are few of the more concerning ones that stand out:

Reason #8: Features Aren’t Pulled without Notice

Reason #9: If You Have Grounds to Sue, You Aren’t Limited

Reason #11: Your Server Resources Aren’t Limited

Reason #15: Top Companies Trust WordPress

Reason #16: Full Control Over SSL and HTTPS (in other words, you’re at SquareSpace’s mercy. With WordPress you can choose the SSL that fits you)

Reason #18: You Can Own Your Domain

Now this is pretty scary:

While it’s possible to buy your domain elsewhere, the free domain you get from Squarespace, as mentioned above, automatically includes WHOIS privacy. In the Terms of Service, it’s started in section 11.1 that Squarespace domains are registered using Tucows Inc. and their Terms of Service applies for all domains registered there.

In Tucows Inc.’s Terms of Service, section 21 states that the main contact for a registered domain is the owner of it. Since Squarespace automatically applies WHOIS privacy to all domains registered there and they become the main contact, they legally own your domain.

While you’re technically able to change ownership of a registered domain, it’s not a typical or easy undertaking. Tucows Inc. must be notified by the owner in writing, which is defined in section 26 as a direct email or regular mail sent to Tucows Inc.

This means you would need to contact Squarespace and convince them to email Tucows Inc. to transfer ownership of the domain you purchased. Otherwise, it remains the legal property of Squarespace.

Who should care: YOU SHOULD REALLY CARE.

Reason #27: Better Analytics

Yes, SquareSpace provides basic analytics and you can add Google Analytics as well but advanced metrics and reporting tools such as Piwik are not available. You have to use what they give you.

This list brings up some good points and should be required reading for those trying to decide between WordPress and SquareSpace. If you missed the link, check out the full article here.

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