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With an election in Seattle fast approaching, we are honored to share this conversation with Jon Grant, running for Seattle City Council Position 8. A big thank you to my friend Nigel Weiss, who assisted me with these questions.
DD Greetings Jon! Thanks for stopping by Disco Droppings for this conversation. How are you?
JG Doing well! We're in the final two weeks of the primary campaign and feeling good heading into August 1.
DD Growing up, did you envision yourself on a path like the one you're on now?
JG Not really no! I've always had a passion for housing justice though, so in a way it makes sense. When I was a teenager, I produced a zine called "Section 8" that was mostly about punk music with some political articles sprinkled in. As an adult, I've focused my career on housing justice. In 2015, I ran because we needed a progressive to replace Tim Burgess. Now, with the Democracy Voucher program, my campaign is even more focused on elevating the voices of Seattle's most marginalized communities.
DD How has 2017 been so far in your eyes, in terms of Seattle and nationally?
JG It's been a challenging year obviously, but yet, I think in the face of a despotic national government, we're seeing an amazing resurgence of local activism. It's clear to me and many others that we can't count on the federal government to protect us. Instead, it's going to be cities like Seattle that set the standard for progressive policy.
DD What and/or who are your main influences, inside and outside of political activism?
JG In Seattle, I was first inspired to run for office by Nick Licata. We talk now about having a progressive bloc on the council; for many years, it was just Nick holding it down. Locally, I've also always been impressed with Tim Harris, who founded Real Change. On housing issues, I've been influenced by Peter Marcuse, a political thinker and urban planner and Randy Shaw from the Tenderloin Housing Law Clinic. Outside of housing, my social justice values are influenced by writers like Michelle Alexander and Lindy West.
DD You have many views that would be substantially different in some ways from the current direction of Seattle City Council. What is your approach to engaging with that? What are your thoughts on working as a team in such an environment, versus staking out principled disagreements?
JG What I'm hoping to accomplish with my campaign is to build a progressive voting block on the city council. Right now, we've seen a number of votes that fall 6-3, with Kshama Sawant, Mike O'Brien and Lisa Herbold representing the minority. I believe that if I get elected, it will be a lot easier to find common ground to win that 5th vote on issues like immigration, housing affordability and tenants rights. My goal once elected is to pass bold legislation, not just taking protest votes. I'm confident that by partnering with community groups on specific issues, we can work with the council at large to pass policy.
DD I first met you DJ'ing one of your house party events. How have those been going?
JG Great! We've raised tens of thousands of dollars just from people getting their friends together in a living room and talking local politics. We're a people powered campaign and house parties are one way we build that power. And thank you for DJing an awesome set!
DD You've mentioned being the first to qualify for the Democracy Voucher Program. Can you explain why the vouchers are important for Seattle?
JG The Democracy Vouchers are changing the game in local politics and I hope they eventually change the game for state and national politics too. Last time I ran, our campaign was outspent 8:1 by big money who backed our opponent. This time around, we're actually leading in fundraising and 90% of our money comes from vouchers. The vouchers are hugely important in a city-wide race but I think we're going to see them have a big impact in district elections and especially in the mayor's race next cycle. Anybody who is organized, who can build support in the community will be competitive with the voucher program.
DD In a state like Washington, and city like Seattle, we are surrounded by and immersed in so much beautiful nature. How much importance do we put on protecting the environment around here, from your perspective? What is your campaign focused on in regards to climate justice? And, what can people do in their own personal worlds to make a positive impact?
JG Climate justice is a central part of my platform and it's clear that it is at the forefront of many people in Seattle. Back in February, I wrote an op-ed in the South Seattle Emerald asking the City of Seattle to end business with Wells Fargo, because of their support of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Later, I met with local native organizers Matt Remle and Rachel Heaton and asked how our campaign could support the No DAPL movement. They invited our campaign to participate in a city-wide action against Chase Bank, to urge Chase to divest from DAPL and me and one of our volunteers got arrested in that action. I would encourage anyone who wants to protect our natural environment to get involved with local environmental organizations like 350 Seattle and Rising Tide who are working to keep Seattle beautiful and equitable.
DD Affordability is on people's minds more every day in Seattle, and you've got some big plans to address that problem. Can you talk about some of your ideas to support people who are struggling to stay in the city, and what are your thoughts about a long-term solution to the high costs of everything in Seattle? Also, when a building has a certain percent affordable housing, how much cheaper is it?
JG I'm presenting the boldest housing platform of anyone in my race. Our campaign is calling for 25% of new development to be affordable to working people (up from the 2-7% the city has passed so far), giving renters the right to collectively bargain their rents, creating an Office of the Tenant Advocate and raising the top B&O tax rate (while raising the exemption for small businesses) to build thousands of new units of deeply subsidized and low-income housing. It's critical that we add tens of thousands of new units of affordable housing, in addition to preserving what we have already from displacement, to keep costs down long-term. Buildings that are covered under the 25% mandatory housing affordability requirement usually have affordable units targeted to people making about $40,000-$50,000/year. That's why my housing plan also calls for constructing new housing that will be affordable to people making less than $40,0000.
DD You've been a big supporter of alternatives to policing and incarceration so far, in particular you've been vocal in support of No New Youth Jail and the Block the Bunker movement to prevent the city from building a new police precinct in North Seattle. Overall, what do you think city has done well in terms of criminal justice and policing, and what would you like to see changed?
JG One program that I'd like to see kept and expanded is the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program. The LEAD program provides caseworkers to chronically homeless individuals, low-level drug dealers and users, and sex workers, instead of pushing those people into the criminal justice system. The LEAD program has reduced criminal recidivism rates by up to 60% among the population it serves. We should expand the LEAD program citywide to better serve our communities.
We should invest in rebuilding the Community Service Officer (CSO) program, which places unarmed Seattle Police Department employees in communities to respond to low-level calls like property crimes and landlord-tenant disputes. The CSO program was dismantled in 2004; it's time to bring it back. CSOs could play an important role in working with houseless people and individuals dealing with drug addiction by connecting people to services instead of routing them into the criminal justice system. Instead of investing in 200 new police officers, the city should direct funding to expanding the CSO program.
I also support alternative forms of accountability for crimes of poverty like loitering/disturbing the peace and driving with a suspended license and crimes like DUIs, sex work, drug-related offenses and any offenses that take place in public schools or public educational facilities. Arrests for these types of offenses funnel vulnerable populations like undocumented immigrants, people of color, transgender and queer people, and the homeless into the criminal justice system. Identifying alternatives to arrests and incarceration is a crucial immigration, racial and social justice issue.
DD You're running as a Democratic Socialist for this campaign and not a Democrat. What led to this, and how do the Democratic Socialists of America tie into your campaign?
JG I wanted to make it very clear to Seattle voters my views on the relationship between the market and public benefits. We're in a housing crisis and yet our elected officials are focused on relying on the market to provide a basic good like a roof over your head. I believe we need more people in office who recognize that the government has a role to provide for people's basic needs. I am a member of Seattle Democratic Socialists of America and have been endorsed by SDSA. I'm happy that SDSA has played an active role in recruiting volunteers for our campaign.
DD What problems in Seattle deserve more attention in your eyes, and how does your campaign address those areas?
JG Some big issues I believe we need to address are expanding municipal broadband, gender pay equity, stopping the sweeps of homeless people, and protecting immigrants in our community from ICE. These are all issues featured on my platform.
DD Who makes up your team, and how much time do you spend working on your campaign and areas connected to it? What's the balance between how much work you do, and the assistance that you get from staff, volunteers etc?
JG We have three full-time staff (our campaign manager Kate, our field director Manya and our field organizer Shaun) and two part-time staff (Erin, who runs communications and Deyland, our field canvasser). Right now, I'm working full-time on the campaign. My focus is on talking directly to voters, whether that's going to a community meeting, a candidate forum or hitting the doors.
DD How can people help you out, whether in Seattle or outside?
JG First, vote! You should have gotten a ballot last week. Please get it in as soon as possible. Second, donate your Democracy Vouchers to the campaign. You can mail them to People for Jon Grant, PO Box 21551, Seattle WA 98111. Finally, we're up against some big money in this election. Big business has already spent almost $100,000 to back my opponent. We're asking people to donate just $22 to help us stay competitive. You can donate at electjongrant.com/donate


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Ironheart by Hugo Tromp is a mix between conventional orchestral instruments and modern electronic elements, providing the perfect atmosphere for your trailer, film, game or other project.
The great thing about it, is that is has two stops where the music completely stops. This way it is easily implementable in your trailer!
Download now and enjoy!

subset: commoncrawl


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Lower insect populations have led to minor crop damage this summer, but a Purdue Extension entomologist says farmers should still watch for anomalies when scouting.
Part of what has caused fewer insects has been the weather. Indiana temperatures have been mild, and rainfall has been timely for most of the growing season. Most importantly, the crops had good conditions for growth during the critical period just after planting.
"We've had a good summer for growing conditions," Christian Krupke said. "We've had rain, and plants just aren't as vulnerable."
Some insect pests that still have caused some damage to Indiana crops this summer are bean leaf beetles in soybeans and armyworms in corn.
Krupke has received reports of bean leaf beetle populations from all over the state, but the damage is more severe in northern counties. Some reports have described minor pod scarring, which isn't of much concern. Other reports, however, have included pods clipped from stems.
"It's weird because you usually don't see the pods fall off," he said. "The beetles often feed on pods, but not on the peduncle, which connects the pod to the stem."
Bean leaf beetles are usually yellow, tan or red in color and about one-quarter inch long. Their distinguishing feature is a black triangular mark on the wing covers directly behind the neck area, or thorax.
If growers find bean leaf beetle damage in their fields, they should consider treating if the pods are still green, beetles are actively feeding and about 5-10 percent or more of the pods are damaged. More information on the bean leaf beetle can be found at http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/fieldcropsipm/insects/bean-leaf-beetle.php.
Krupke said entomologists had anticipated more soybean aphid colonization by this time but have not seen many fields over the 250-aphid per plant threshold so far. Even so, he encouraged producers to continue scouting for the small, greenish-yellow pest.
One of the biggest surprises has been finding late-season armyworm damage to cornfields in northern Indiana. The pest doesn't pose much threat to corn yields this late in plant development, but it's unusual to see armyworm damage this late.
"It's a curiosity," Krupke said. "We worry about it in the spring when plants are tiny. When the plants are large, the worms are just feeding on the leaves so there's no damage on the important part – the ear."
In general, he said no control of late-season true armyworm is required in corn. Yield will not be affected by loss of lower leaves and armyworms do not feed on the ear.
With that said, Krupke emphasized that it is important to be sure the infestation is true armyworm and not fall armyworm. The latter usually feeds in the upper kernels of the corn ear in addition to the leaves.
More information about fall armyworm is available at http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/fieldcropsipm/insects/fall-armyworm.php.
A full-grown true armyworm larva is dull-green to brown in color with stripes running the length of its body, while the adult armyworm is a pale brown moth with a white dot in the center of each forewing.
Farmers with insect damage can find more management recommendations on Purdue Extension's Field Crops Integrated Pest Management website at http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/fieldcropsipm/.
But, unusual crop damage


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Last updated: March 14, 2014
60th ASHG Program Showcased NHGRI Research
60th ASHG Program Showcased NHGRI Research
"ASHG's annual meeting is a great opportunity for exchange of ideas among thousands of people who study the human genome," said NHGRI Scientific Director Daniel Kastner, M.D., Ph.D. "The event always is a vibrant forum, affording those from NHGRI and colleagues across the National Institutes of Health an opportunity to showcase a wide array of advances in genetics and genomics research."
ASHG is the primary professional membership organization for human genetics specialists worldwide, representing 8,000 researchers, academicians, clinicians, genetic counselors, nurses and others with a special interest in this area.
On the meeting's opening day, Tuesday, Nov. 2, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) hosted a town hall meeting to gather community perspectives on its plan to develop the Genetic Testing Registry, which will help consumers and health care providers determine the best options for genetic testing. More than 1,600 genetic tests are available to patients and consumers but there is no single public resource that provides detailed information about them. The Genetic Testing Registry, announced this past March, is intended to fill that gap.
The majority of meeting sessions ran from Wednesday through Friday. Laura Lymon Rodriguez, Ph.D., acting director of the Office of Policy, Communications and Education and senior advisor to the director for research policy, kicked off NHGRI's participation on Wednesday, Nov. 3, with a presentation of NIH's policy developments at a social issues session on "Identifiability in the Era of Genome-scale Research." Also that day, Charles Rotimi, Ph.D., director of the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health (CRGGH), chaired an invited scientific session on "Complex Disease Genetics Research in Admixed Populations."
On Thursday, Nov. 4, Colin Fletcher, Ph.D., program director in NHGRI's Division of Extramural Research spoke as an invited scientific presenter on the "Knock-out Mouse Project and Other Targeted Mouse Mutant Resources." Also, Inherited Disease Research Branch Co-Chief Joan Bailey-Wilson, Ph.D., was invited to present "Linkage was successful, so why can't we find a gene? Examples from cancer and other diseases."
A research group including Charles Venditti, M.D., Ph.D., Genetics and Molecular Biology Branch investigator, presented a platform talk on Friday, Nov. 5, during the Mechanisms and Treatment of Metabolic Disease session. A number of platform talks this day featured NHGRI researchers, including presentations on genetic variants associated with stuttering and a population study in African Americans of a gene associated with influences on risk of body mass index, hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
More than 50 posters were presented by NHGRI researchers across three days of poster sessions. These posters ranged from research that introduces the clinical application of whole exome sequencing for atherosclerosis, to detection of neurological disease genes, to new discoveries in the canine genome correlating human gastric cancer and that found in the Chow Chow breed. Poster presenters included members of the NIH Intramural Sequencing Center, the Office of Population Genomics, the Center for Inherited Disease Research, the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, as well as all seven NHGRI intramural branches.
NHGRI representatives were available in the exhibit hall at booth 436, distributing information on requests for applications (RFAs), employment and training opportunities, and the institute's research portfolio.
Participation from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Read NHGRI abstracts for each ASHG presentation.
To view the PDF document(s) on this page, you will need Adobe Reader.


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Archive for the 'Robin Wasserman' Category
Robot Uprisings edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams
published April 2014
Where I got it: purchased new
Robots are supposed to help us, right? they're supposed to do the jobs that humans don't want to or can't do, right? and thanks to Asimov's three (four!) laws, there's nothing to worry about.
wrong. Leave it to folks like Alan Dean Foster, Seanan McGuire, Charles Yu, Cory Doctorow, Ernest Cline, Nnedi Oforakor and others to remind me that robots do exactly what we program them to do, and in many cases this is fucking terrifying.
I just about every story in this anthology, we played God. We created something, typically in our own image, that would be able to do things we couldn't. Our creations raise and teach our children, solve our computer programming issues, clean up radiation, do jobs that are too dangerous for humans to do, protect company assets, keep us healthy, etc. When we're so sure our inventions will help us towards a better world, what could possibly go wrong?
But lets say we succeed. the computer programming issue has been solved, the kids are grown up, the asset has been protected, diseases have been cured, the radiation has been cleaned up. What do we do when our problem is fixed and our shiny tools are no longer needed? Robots are designs to work. they are not designed to stop.


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Boo to Hot Air, which posted this headline: "Good news: Feds pulling workers away from FAA to staff exploding Cash for Clunkers bureaucracy" (I found it via Volokh.) The Hot Air post plays up the possibility that thin-on-the-ground air traffic controllers are being taken from towers to process paperwork. The article cited, from the Washington Times, however, makes it clear that this is not the case:
But Ms. Zuckman said that only support personnel, such as in finance and operations, were asked to work on the clunkers program.
"Nobody is being ordered to do anything; we weren't asking air traffic controllers to leave their posts. We're using budget and accounting people primarily," she said.
"It was made clear that no core mission activities of the FAA are to be affected by this effort, especially as they could relate to air traffic operations."
A union spokeswoman confirmed the account Friday.
"Air traffic controllers are not being asked to do this," said Alex Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
Basically, the actual story doesn't live up to Hot Air's scare headline. You don't have to think that Cash for Clunkers was a good idea (I don't) to think it's a bad idea for federal support personnel to spend a few days helping to clear a backlog that shouldn't have existed in the first place.
Unless something develops in this story, there's nothing to see here.


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In many ways, this is the hardest post I have made about the 1960s and it has taken me a long time to decide to make it. Many writers have tried and failed to capture the magic and disillusionment of 1960s music and I most surely must fail too. But that won't stop me 'taking a shot' at it, as Americans like to say, or 'having a go' as Brits like to say.
I am not just talking about something in remote history when I talk about music from that era; I actually remember 1960s music. The first song I remember is Puppet on a String, which of course won the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest (yes, we had it then too!) for Sandie Shaw. I would have been 5 but I well remember the catchy tune blasting out of BBC Radio 1 on our little, blue radio set in the kitchen, or in my bedroom when I was sick, which was often.
I also remember Windmill in Old Amsterdam (There was a mouse! Where? There on the Stair!) by Ronnie Hilton. This was a hit in 1965 so I may not actually remember hearing the original recording on the radio but my mum sang it to me a lot. I think she was trying to teach me to sing.
The first Beatles song I remember is Yellow Submarine; a hit in 1969. Somebody played it at my school during a break and almost all the children danced spontaneously to it in the playground. The strange thing is that we thought this song must have been ancient; around since the beginning of time. We put it in the same bracket as hymns, nursery rhymes and folk songs, something that people had sung since the dawn of time. I laugh now to think this but we also put Cat Stevens' Morning has Broken in the same category, classing it as a hymn, would you believe?
I was often ill in my childhood so stuck at home and my mum would always put the radio by my bed at these times to keep me company. I listened to a lot of contemporary music, usually on Radio 1. Now you might think that listening to the radio would bring me a cornucopia of psychedelic songs from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Mamas and the Papas and so on. But you would be wrong.
First of all, Radio 1 was pretty conservative in what they broadcast and the mornings were usually divided up between Jimmy Young and Jimmy Saville. They played The Beatles, but stuck to the more traditional songs like Yesterday, Yellow Submarine, Help! and a few other of the older hits like From me To You. I don't remember hearing any Rolling Stone except perhaps Satisfaction later in the 60s.
And I didn't have access to Radio Caroline, the pirate radio station that broadcast from a former lightship, moored in the English Channel and manned by such luminary figures as Emperor Rosko, Kenny Everett and Tony Blackburn.
In fact, I don't think I could even get Radio Luxembourg in the Chiltern Hills, where we lived. Even some TV programmes would phase out in poor weather conditions. Twiddle as I might with the tuning knob on the radio, I remained stuck with Radio 1, 2 and 4, a few French stations and possibly the occasional bit of static from Germany and Russia.
But what I did get was a wealth of what I would call medium-level Brit bands like The Small Faces, Steampacket (featuring a very young Rod Stewart), Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich (Bend It was played a lot on Radio One), Mary Hopkin. I was also subjected to a welter of novelty records by people like Max Bygraves, Benny Hill, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and Peter Sellers, but the less said about them the better! Incidentally, the eagle-eyed among you will have spotted the name of the main character in my book, The Ice Boat, among the list of acts above.
These bands were unashamedly British and flaunted it, often regressing into a kind of Cockney utopian vision as their careers progressed. This may have been in imitation of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper, which was a paean to Englishness if ever there was one. But while Sergeant Pepper sounded almost triumphant, combining as it did Englishness with a hunger for a global culture, other bands would find this road harder and end up becoming more inward-looking.
A good example is The Small Faces, hence my choice of image for the head of this post. Itchycoo Park was catchy and the writers even now claim they attempted some kind of commentary on the extreme trajectory of hippy culture with it. This drug-fueled culture pervaded everything in England at the time; even my father, who was a conservative voter, wore flared trousers. So you would have thought this song would be refreshing. It was certainly catchy and I remember it being only second to I'd like to Teach the World To Sing for the frequency with which it was played.
But the problem was that the producers of the record had gone for a 'light' feel. It sounded so upbeat that you couldn't possibly see it as anything other than a catchy ditty. The Small Faces' Lazy Sunday was even worse, featuring the feigned Cockney accent which Steve Marriot began to use so heavily. I'm sorry to say that many lead singers in the 1960s used the Cockney accent to show how British they were. It probably wasn't their fault; few bands would have had as much control over their music as the Beatles and most would have been forced to go for the common denominator, which turned out to be light, breezy songs that neither threatened nor challenged anyone. Later the Cockney accent would be used by Bowie to better effect but that's another story.
The Small Faces album really entered the realm of mystical Englishness with their album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. Take a look at the cover opposite!
It's almost as if they are trying to contact, through the medium of music, some spirit of bygone Englishness. And you found a lot of bands doing this. Whether they were pining for better days – going through some valedictory last hoorah! – I don't know but things certainly seemed to implode. There was no widespread embracing of different cultures from abroad, no quest for the global village. This came only from The Beatles and a few other very select bands. Instead, on Radio 1, which I guess most people were forced to listen to, just like me, we had a headlong dive back to essential, conservative Englishness which led us into the more insular and sombre 70s.
So what did we have at the peak of the 60s explosion of music? Well, forget Hendrix! I didn't even know about his existence until I was in my late teens, and my dad listened to Santana, Osibisa and Gong in the late 60s, so he was no slouch in musical taste! No, even he hadn't heard of Jimi Hendrix. Instead, we had a paper-thin serving of art in our music. It was almost like a papier mâché utopia, a cardboard Heaven that could be cut through by the pre-pubescent mind of any 5-year-old. Indeed, as a 5-year-old in 1967, I often felt the music was too childish for me! I tended to seek out classical music quite often as a respite – yes I even turned the dial surreptitiously to Radio 4.
In short, what most of us were subjected to, day in, day out, in the music on Radio 1 was a kind of artistic, cardboard world. I wouldn't call it a mediocre world, for that word would be too harsh. But it certainly was one that could be knocked down or seen through by any over-curious child, or could be dissembled just as easily and reassembled somewhere else on Earth where it might be wanted. But it never was.
What are your memories of the 1960s? Leave a comment below.
There is a permanent page for Memories of the 1960s here.
Download three free eBooks by clicking here: http://bit.ly/3fbsup


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Personal JFK remembrance
My parents voted for Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election. I had not yet developed a political worldview, but as a freshman at American University in Washington, D.C., I stayed up late to watch the election returns slowly trickle in before going to bed at 2 a.m. with the outcome still undecided.
The following year I was hired as a copyboy at NBC News, delivering wire service "copy" to news reporters in the network's Washington bureau. White House correspondent Sander Vanocur invited me to accompany him to observe the swearing-in of Adlai Stevenson as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
President Kennedy was there. It was the first time I had seen a president in person. My mother had told me about visits she and her parents had made to the White House when Calvin Coolidge was president, but this was something new for me.
After the Eisenhower years, my impression of the man was similar to that of many others: Kennedy looked so young.
Two years later on the way to work, Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, I stopped at a traffic light on River Road in Bethesda, Md. It was 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time. A bulletin interrupted the music I was listening to on the car radio. President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. My first reaction was to roll down my car windows and shout to other motorists, "The president has been shot!" I then raced to the bureau where it was controlled chaos for the next four days.
The 1960s are often called the "Golden Age" of broadcast journalism. One reason is that the networks were composed mainly of men who were writers with experience at newspapers or wire services. Some had reported on World War II. They became my mentors. Working alongside them was my master class.
On that unforgettable day, as I was reviewing the Associated Press wire coverage, I saw something I had never seen before. "Flash," the bulletin read, "Kennedy seriously wounded, perhaps fatally, by assassin's bullet." Flash was a designation reserved for only the most catastrophic events. The time on the wire copy was 12:39 p.m. Central Time. Less than an hour later, there was another "Flash." "President Kennedy Dead."
I saved copies of the wire bulletins and tucked them neatly inside the book "Four Days," a historical record of President Kennedy's death. Re-reading UPI White House Correspondent Merriman Smith's reporting from Dallas with the limited technology of the time is a testament to what great journalism once looked like. His stories are in the book.
Also included in "Four Days" is an essay by the late historian Bruce Catton whose words written just weeks after the assassination cut through a lot of the analysis and gets to the true legacy of this personally flawed, but fascinating man: "What John F. Kennedy left us was most of all attitude," he wrote. "To put it in the simplest terms, he looked ahead. He knew no more than anyone else what the future was going to be like, but he did know that that was where we ought to be looking. Only to a certain extent are we prisoners of the past. The future sets us free. It is our escape hatch. We can shape it to our liking, and we had better start thinking about how we would like it."
Ronald Reagan would embrace a similar futuristic outlook.
What followed Kennedy's assassination was an era of growing and more expensive government, race riots, the divisive Vietnam War and social disintegration. It was not the hopeful future Kennedy envisioned, but Bruce Catton's words remind us we can always start over by using the future as an "escape hatch."
Readers may e-mail Cal Thomas at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – (Hebrews 4:16, NIV)
With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God's throne where there is grace. Then we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it. – (Hebrews 4:16, ERV)
So now we come freely and boldly to where love is enthroned, to receive mercy's kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness. – (Hebrews 4:16, TPT)
There are days that I seem to be more readily available to receive the grace that is desperately needed to navigate than others. I know there is nothing that we can or cannot do to be more or less worthy of receiving His grace and mercy, yet I think our intentionality to approach His throne directly affects the help that we receive; for when we seek, we find. If we do not ask, we are actually attempting to power through on our own. Lately, I have been intentional to pray over the day as I drop my boys off at school. I begin by asking for protection over them – body, heart and mind, and for them to be blessed and a blessing to and by those around them. From there, I begin lifting up my day – my students, my colleagues, lesson plans, classroom environment, and the like. Though I am uncertain as to whether or not there has been a change in students, I feel like there is a shift for me. Perhaps I am simply more aware of the grace I am being granted to get through each day. Whatever the shift, it matters. May we boldly approach Love's throne for the grace and mercy we need; for He is faithful to meet us and provide the strength and grace to carry us through.
When mercy and grace,
Are needed the most;
Go to the Lord's throne,
He's a loving host.
With kindness and grace,
He hears our heart's cry;
His love lifts us up,
He's ever nearby.
So, run to the Lord,
Let Him know the need;
His grace will cover,
And His love shall lead.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace that welcomes us as we come to You. Thank You that You hear our every prayer, and meet us wherever we are. Forgive us for attempting to power through on our own, rather than seeking You for all that we need. Teach us to trust You more, so that we would know Your ongoing faithfulness forever. Show us how to love those around us in a way that extends Your kindness and grace where it is needed most. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we approach Your throne for the mercy and grace we need each day. Amen.
© Shannon Elizabeth Grabrick and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present


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Some, if not most would agree it's nice to get your head messed around with every now and then. There are several ways of going about it of course.
Fractured narrative, disorientation and the like are hardly new to art. Yet in movies, largely a commercial art form, you have to look to find them.
But there are reasons for doing so, if only once and a while: stimulation, fresh perspective, provocation of the senses and intellect. As a visual medium movies come ready made for blowing your mind. But you want the good stuff, not the dreck.
These works follows in the footsteps of the great surrealist filmmaker Luis Bunuel, though these versions may not always be at the same level of moral and philosophical provocation as Bunuel at his best was. Yet the visual element is more astounding by several orders of magnitude.
First, are two films by American director Jamin Winans. Ink gives you the imagery of your best and worst dreams, though with less banal plotting. Here, your subconscious is where the action is, and there are a lot of people in there. Some of them are pleasant, some are just awful, and ugly to boot. What happens in the subconscious here all but determines outcomes in the real world, as in life itself, to some extent. On the surface, it's a story about a widower stockbroker and his sickly, estranged child. But the drama for their souls and survival is a vividly twisted and fantastical one. And despite its title, it isn't about tattoos. I don't think.
In The Frame, also by Winans, two people are thrown together, figuratively at least, by a strange, inexplicable development, and the world that begins to envelop them grows only more inexplicable and finally, surreal. The characters here are full and distinctive, and their individual lives and circumstances patiently laid out before the funny business is taking hold for real. One of them has been forced into a life of criminality, but seeks escape, the other has been devoted to helping others, after a past life of shame and distress. Visually, the film slowly but surely becomes ever more intriguing, and at times beautiful, and understandable, at least on its own terms. Fate, alternate realities, the mysteries of people finding one another seem to be what's in play here. But you tell me.
Made by French provocateur Gasper Noe, Enter the Void is by far the most pure grade psychedelia of the bunch. Visually, it is literally out of this world. It's in English, but set in an extraordinarily filmed Tokyo (Think Lost in Translation on yes, acid) with an international gallery of characters. The separate and entwined lives of a young American and his younger sister in the demimonde are at its core. It has a prevailing eschatological aspect, as well as prodigious amounts of drugs and sex.
The drug life, the sex life, the inner life, the before life, the afterlife, they're all here. It's the film most likely to set your eyeballs spinning on the gerbil wheel, and have your poor synapses pleading for mercy. You'll be by turns tantalized, enthralled, stupefied and disgusted.
The films of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai might more accurately be characterized as stylized than hallucinogenic, even if they are as visually distinctive and enthralling as any you will ever see. They are moody, drenched in ambience and studied poses, transporting, emotive, and told as much through mood and poetry as through conventional storytelling.
Days of Being Wild, which in some ways resembles a classic film of the French New Wave, is photographed and filmed in such a manner as to transform Nineteen-sixties Hong Kong into Paris in the Thirties, accompanied by a Django Reinhardt-like Hot Club de France jazz guitar score (performed by Los Indios Tabajaras, a Brazilian duo). The tale itself is a cross between Rebel Without A Cause and The Third Man.
It includes one of Kar-wai's typically caddish male protagonists, and more than one of his ethereal, damaged females, and every kind of cultural cross-referencing. It's stirring, and just plain cool.
In Kar-wai's 2046, 2046 is several things: first, it's the number of a hotel room, and secondly, the year to which a train on occasion travels, where it is said, nothing ever changes, and lost memories may be recovered there. Yet no one knows if this is true, since no one who has ever travelled there ever returned. Except that is for one, the narrator of the story itself, who has written the novel, 2046, the third incarnation of the number. The novel, 2046, is about the past, not the future, reflective, nostalgic and melancholy.
The story gives us a beautiful Cambodian female gambler, known as the Black Spider, a stunning android, with whom the man on the train either to or from 2046 wishes would fall in love with him, but won't. It's a meditation on the ephemeral nature of romantic feelings and human connections. In love, timing is everything.
Speaking of love, Kar-wei's In the Mood for Love is more linear, visually less flamboyant, than the others, yet a moving interplay of words and pictures seldom encountered in conventional moviemaking. It's the story of a man and woman, neighbors, who discover their spouses are cheating with one another. Drawn together by their loneliness, they develop a friendship and eventually fall in love, though they never act upon it, in order, "not to be like them".
The faces of the cheating spouses themselves are never seen, their presence largely that of ghosts. Ironically, it is the two non-cheating spouses seeking solace with one another who become the subject of gossip. The film is delicate and elegiac, suffused with sumptuous imagery and poignant music. Not simply a foreign film, it's a film in another cinematic language.
Fallen Angels is Kar-wai gone wild, this one laced with amphetamines. With traces of Scorsese and Goddard, and Natural Born killers perhaps, it's an even bolder work in its own right, a hyper-stylish, visually and musically witty joyride. This is Hong Kong after the sun goes down, and a gallery of young lost souls who wander there.
There's The Killer, his beautiful, mysterious Manager, there's Blondie, who really, really enjoys the rain, and like the Manager, has a thing for The Killer. Cherry believes Blondie has stolen her lost love, Johnny. There's a young man who has ceased to speak ever since the age of six, victim of a "bad pineapple". He roams the city opening businesses closed for the night, operating them himself.
Like the rest of the Kar-wai canon, it's chocked with longing, desperation, doomed romance, bad timing, hedonism, lusciousness, doomed romance, self-destruction, immense beauty, and blossoming and repressed sensuality. This may be the coolest Kar-wei of them all.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention British director Ben Wheatley's A Field in England, having rougher edges than most of the others here, altogether rougher indeed. Set in fact in a field in England, it juxtaposes the English Civil War with tripping on psychedelic mushrooms. Yes, you read that correctly.
You won't find any high-minded talk of Parliamentarians versus Royalists here, nor do either Charles I or Oliver Cromwell make an appearance. Our heroes are four deserters who band together in search of an alehouse. They are commandeered more or less by two men who compel them to search a field for a rumored buried treasured, though the men have just dined on a stew flavored with mushrooms growing in the field, and gone, shall we say, weird.
Certainly A Field in England is in the running for oddest and most experimental historical film ever, rendering the period, whatever ideals propelled England into war with itself, as greatly more influenced by notions of the supernatural, whether Christian or pagan, greed, ignorance, and base need than any concern for the nature of government or true representation of the people. On the other hand, several of these fellows seem like pretty good blokes to me.
Upstream Color may be the most unorthodox of all the films here, yet the boldest and most successful example of pure cinema. It was created by actor and director Shane Carruth, whose earlier film, Primer, a brainy, complex, special effects eschewing story about the problematic nature of time-travel, is something of an underground science fiction classic, and deservedly so.
Upstream Color is largely, if not entirely indescribable, but wonderfully perplexing and transcendentally beautiful. Its two main protagonist are a man and woman whose lives have been profoundly altered by a series of events, in the case of the woman, that we are witness to, but the characters themselves struggle to recall.
In this film, as in A Field in England, a psychoactive substance is central to the story. A larvae goes from human to pig to orchid back to human again, and on with the cycle. I wouldn't tell you every detail of how, even if I were entirely certain (you can get the gist though). The larvae are found in the orchids. The beautiful blue orchids grow in a stream where pigs infected with larvae removed from the human body have been discarded.
Outlandish as it all sounds, it really is a story about human beings, identity, life cycles, mutable or immutable, and mysteries relevant to us all. It's exquisite, mesmerizing, and genuinely affecting.
Both Stanley Kubrick and Terrence Malick have been cited as Carruth influences. Malick, a favorite of mine to put it mildly, and among America's greatest living directors, has of late been moving more in the direction of Carruth. Though Malick's Tree of Life may have inspired Carruth, Malick's most recent film To the Wonder (Knight of Cups has yet to be released, and is expected this year) to an unprecedented degree for Malick, eludes the conventional narrative, relying greatly upon Malick's incomparable prowess with image and motion.
Though the films here, for my money are some of the most successful, and rewarding of their kind, there are other films that are less so, yet still worth the trip. These include the Czech film from the Sixties, Daisies, Darren Aronofsky's Pi and The Fountain, several of British legend Ken Russell's films, and Alexandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain.
Happy trails.


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I've heard from a few drivers today, reporting seeing falling chunks of ice coming from the cables on the new Port Mann bridge, landing on vehicles below…A similar situation resulted in a bridge closure for a period of time on the Tacoma Narrows bridge last winter.
* as of 1:50 pm, RCMP have closed the bridge, Scan BC is reporting one person knocked unconscious by falling ice requesting ambulance.
**** update : Susana Da Silva of CBC is tweeting no reason to believe Scan BC reports above – Approx 5 reported to RCMP and two injuries.( Not sure everyone is going to report to RCMP if only cracked windshield or broken mirror – so will be interesting to follow pictures online- many coming across twitter aready)
Did you experience this? Send me your stories and photos at firstname.lastname@example.com
A tragic development to this bridge,but lets look at two things.
I'm not an engineer, but when you look at the design of the bridge, with a central support column employing cables as support… those cables are suspended from the central support and do cross over the lanes of traffic below.
Clearly, any ice or snow that accumulates on those cables has to go somewhere – and at that height, speed and any wind force becomes a factor on where that ice is going to fall and how hard it is going to hit anything below.
Unfortunately, it seems we now know it will fall directly onto the lanes below, filled with vehicles and unsuspecting drivers.
More often we see bridges with cables that run parallel to the roadway to the side, which minimizes that falling ice hazard, except in winter weather combined with high winds that can cause ice or snow to be carried sideways back onto the road.
The question becomes then, what – if any – design elements, de-icing or anti-icing technology or methods were employed to prevent this, knowing the cables would cross over traffic below?
Update Dec 20th,
Great youtube dash cam video of snow/ice falling from cables above… look how often and how far..


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Happy Holidays everyone!
Here are some recent pieces I did for D&D. The first is a cover for Dungeon #185, The Bramble Queen, and following is the Bramble Queen in original form. The last image is the cover for an upcoming box set for D&D called The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond, set to come out in May of 2011.


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I've been tagged by Linsey Lanier in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. She writes the Miranda's Rights Mystery series and tongue-in-cheek fairy-tale short stories which are a lot of fun to read.
What is this Next Big Thing and what's in it for you, my readers? I've answered ten questions about the latest story I'm working on and I 'tag' at least five other authors to do the same. They'll perform this same exercise in the next week or two on their blogs so you'll have a chance to find new authors to read.
So, here's my Q&A:
What is your working title of your book? IOU Wife. And actually, I think this title will stick.
Where did the idea come from for the book? Hmm. I'm not sure, to be honest. I started the book about three years ago, then set it aside. I do that whenever I have a good idea but am working on something else. I'll write what comes to me, make notes so I don't forget my thoughts for the story, then go back to my current WIP (work in progress).
What genre does your book fall under? It's historical. Late 1800's American frontier romance.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Oh, wow, that's thinking positively, isn't it? Let's see… maybe Dakota Fanning or Dianna Agron to play the part of Hallie and James Franco or Channing Tatum to play Jacob.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A wealthy rancher, in need of someone to care for his recently orphaned nephew, settles a poker debt owed him by taking the man's eldest daughter as his wife.
What avenue will you take to publish this book? Since I've already bought the cover art, I'll Indie/self-publish this one.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I've just recently started writing on it again. I'm not sure the finished length of this one, but I suspect I'm about one-third of the way through.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? If pressed, I'd say it's close to a Harlequin's historical with lots of sexy sizzle!
What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? Neither of them want to be married. Jacob can't see himself as a family man. Hallie wants freedom from a tyrannical father, but not as property of another man. Both have painful pasts and a lot to overcome before they can trust their hearts to another.
And the author's I've tagged are listed below. Please check out their websites and familiarize yourself with their work. I hope they're able to participate. Who knows? You might just find another author to read.


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Q4 season officially begins this week with the release of Alcoa's numbers tomorrow morning. Even with Sandy, the election, the fiscal cliff and the lingering deficit issues, the market has been extremely resilient. So much so that the S&P 500 has risen over 8% since the November lows, which were hit just as Q3 earnings season was winding down.
What's interesting is that in that time, the total fourth-quarter operating earnings estimate for the S&P 500 has fallen to $25.29 a share from $26.87; the S&P earned $23.73 in Q4-2012. These new expectations represent an almost 50% decrease in year over year Q4 earnings growth from 13.2% to an expected 6.6% in Q4.
One would think that with those revisions we would move markets lower, but obviously there is still hope that the U.S. will continue its slow grind higher; economic data somewhat supports this thesis. It's also important to note that the fourth quarter does looks to be a better earnings season than the third quarter, where earnings for the S&P 500 were down slightly year-over-year, breaking an 11-quarter streak of EPS gains.
Finding stocks with the best chances of winning could be the best path to finding rising stock prices after earnings especially in uncertain times and the Zacks Earnings Surprise Prediction or ESP helps target those stocks.
About Zacks Earnings ESP
Earnings ESP is Zacks' proprietary methodology for determining which stocks have the best chance to surprise with their next earnings announcement. The Earnings ESP shows the percentage difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Consensus. The Zacks ESP helps predict earnings surprises to the upside and downside; the greater the ESP (positive or negative) the greater the likelihood for a surprise. I use ESP to help quantify the conviction of the analysts for a surprise and stack the odds in my favor when I combine it with other measurements and statistics.
The Accuracy of ESP
Of course, some ESP numbers are better than others. In our testing, over the last 10 years, we have found that stocks with a positive ESP and with a Zacks Rank of 1, 2 or 3 (Strong Buy, Buy or Hold), produced a positive surprise 70% of the time.
(The other 9% of the time, they reported in line with expectations, with a negative surprise occurring only 21% of the time.)
Bullish ESP Stocks
Texas Industries ( TXI ) is a Zacks Rank 3 stock with a positive earnings ESP of 26.47% for the current quarter. The company is expected to lose 34 cents a share, but our ESP readings are looking for a loss of only 25 cents.
As the U.S. continues to slowly recover, we need to turn our attention to our deteriorating infrastructure that is in dire need of repair. TXI focuses most of its energy on Texas and California which both lead the nation in federal highway funding.
With an ever growing populous and recovery underway in both states, TXI should stand to benefit. TXI has been struggling with sales, but are expected to begin growing earnings in the coming quarters.
- Texas Industries reports earnings on January 9th.
eBay ( EBAY ) is a Zacks Rank 2 stock with a positive earnings ESP of 6.52% for the current quarter; the Zacks Consensus is for a per share profit of $0.46.
Retail is getting mixed reviews for Q4, but eBay is in its own subsector as mainly an auction site, but with regular sale type items as well. Amazon was recently given an upgrade by Morgan Stanley, which may mean that confidence hasn't been all lost on the sector.
Shares are relativity rich at almost 22 times forward earnings, but if eBay can deliver 13%+ growth, that multiple may be justified. There was a recent flurry of bullish analyst movements ahead of their report in a week. No analysts have lowered their estimates in the last 30 days.
- eBay reports earnings on January 16th.
Fifth Third Bancorp ( FITB ) is a Zacks Rank 3 stock with a positive earnings ESP of 3% for the current quarter. The Zacks consensus estimate is for Q3 EPS of $0.42, with the most accurate estimate at $0.435.
Banks and financials are expected to be the shining light in a market with a mostly cloudy forecast.
Several analysts have noted positive developments in the sector; and while Raymond James downgraded FITB from a strong buy to an outperform, their price target on the stock still remains 13% higher than the current price.
The majority of analysts are at least moderately bullish on the name going into their next report.
- Fifth Third reports earnings on January 17th.
ESP Earnings Results
Now that you know which groups of stocks to focus on to increase your chances of a positive surprise, let's look at the size of the ESP that has historically generated the best results.
First, just having a positive ESP produces market beating results. Over the last 10 years, using a 1 week holding period (stocks were held for no more than one week after they reported), the average annual return was 23.5%. This is in stark contrast to stocks with a negative ESP which produced a -9.20% return.
Now apply the Zacks Rank of 1, 2 or 3 to that list and the returns jump to 28.3%.
But requiring your stocks to have an ESP of greater than 1%, increases its performance to 29.6%. An ESP of greater than 2%, bumps performance up to 31.6%. While an ESP of greater than 3%, produces an average annual return of 37.2%.
Note: there's no need to hold out for stocks with significantly higher ESP's than 3%. While some stocks with higher ESP's will do fantastic, there's no aggregate increase in performance by ratcheting it up beyond d the 3% threshold. And as the above stats illustrate, simply having a positive ESP (i.e., the Most Accurate Estimate is above the Consensus) still produces stellar results with a high probability of success.
Start Using Zacks ESP in Your Own Trading Today
The next time your stock is about to report or a stock on your watchlist is getting closer to their earnings date, be sure to look at its Zacks ESP and see what your stock's probabilities are of producing a positive surprise.
But if you want guidance on what stocks are looking the bestahead of thier reports, learn more about Whisper Trader now
EBAY INC (EBAY): Free Stock Analysis Report
FIFTH THIRD BK (FITB): Free Stock Analysis Report
TEXAS INDS (TXI): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.


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Hi, guys! I have a fun giveaway for you today, hooray! Vikki from Fashionary contacted me to see if I would like to do a review and giveaway of the Fashionary Sketchbook, and you know I don't like to turn down an opportunity to give away stuff on this blog!* Vikki asked if I wanted to give away the classic women's sketchbook, or the "Tiger Mania". Um…
If you haven't seen it before, the Fashionary Sketchbook is really cool. It was designed to make fashion sketching easier and quicker by printing the pages with faint outlines of models. You can trace/draw/paint over the outlines as you feel inspired! This is great for me- although I've always been into fine art, I've always been terrible at drawing, so this book helps my little sewing idea sketches look better. Also, I tend to doodle ideas on scraps of paper whenever inspiration strikes, but then I have weird loose papers stuffed into notebooks. This is a much more organized approach! I've been wanting to try one of these for a long time, so I'm grateful for the opportunity to test one!
The Fashionary also has a dictionary of fashion terms, tons of little drawings of different design details, and even a chart that tells you what the care symbols on RTW garment labels means! Those have always mystified me… so I choose to believe that they all say "Wash in one giant load on hot, dry everything together, and leave in the laundry basket for at least a week before folding".
Vikki also sent me their tape measure to review. It's a tape measure marked on one side with standard measurements for a woman's size 38, and on the other for a men's 48. It's meant to aid you when you're patternmaking or draping without a live model or a mannequin handy. This would be nice for a fashion student, but probably not very useful for most home sewers. It's interesting to look at, though, and might be fun for those of you who are into patternmaking.
I'm not really into sewing with a plan (well, I make plans, but they generally derail), but I'm enjoying jotting down garment ideas in my Fashionary. It feels more flexible than lists of garments, and it's nice when you see something that you like and want to get it on paper before you forget it (I'm recently obsessed with a crisp striped shirt I saw on a chic elderly Manhattanite… it looked AWESOME and I wanted one just like it the moment I saw it). So I'm looking forward to using this to collect my sewing ideas in one place.
OK, if you wanna win your own TIGER MANIA (OMG, I LOVE IT!) Fashionary, let me know in a comment below! I'll close the comments at noon EST on Friday 6/6 and pick a winner at random soon after. I'm happy to ship internationally, but I'll probably send it the slowest/cheapest way. OK, do you use any kind of sketchbook? Do you like to plan your sewing in advance? How do you organize your ideas?
*NOTE: Actually, I do turn down giveaway offers. I love being able to give away free stuff to you guys, but I also want to make sure that they're responsible products and things that my readers would be interested in (sometimes I get approached by sketchy RTW clothing companies or people with books that have nothing to do with garment sewing… that's just not what we're about over here).


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I'm not positive who discovered it first, it was either Acepfv or The Gardener who worked out that if they bring a wine that I like to my place for dinner, there is a good chance that the "Tardis in the Wine Room" (TITWR) will take that wine off their hands and return it with much more bottle age. It has become such a phenomenon that I've had to create a separate purchase category in Cellartracker for the wine room called TITWR.
The latest TITWR event was Saturday week ago when Acepfv and The Banker came over for dinner, bringing with them a bottle of 2007 Voyager Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and off it went into the Wine Room to reappear seconds later have gained 9 years in the blink of an eye and was at its peek, ready to drink. There may have been some small intervention on my part, as in taking it out of Acepfv's hands with the words "lets see what we can do with this" and also having a quick look on the laptop to see what Cellartracker could conjure up, well if your maths are any good you would know by now that Cellartracker conjured up a 1998 Voyager Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot which resided in Bin 10 b 11 in the Wine Room. So into the wine room I went and popped the 07 onto the bench, grabbed the 98 from its resting place and voilà TITWA strikes again.
A little later on in the evening when we were smoking a couple of very nice Partagas No. 4 Cigars Acepfv had the suggestion that we mark the bottles for future reference, an excellent idea, because as he remarked it will be an interesting reminder in years to come to remember the history of the bottle of wine we are about to drink. So I guess now's the time to work out what information is required to go on future TITWA bottles, and this is what I came up with:
1 The purchaser
2 Where it was purchased
3 The purchase price
4 What date the swap was made
5 The bottle it was swapped for
6 And the occasion associated with the wine
When I say goes on the bottle, this is not what will exactly happen, the information will be logged on Cellartracker with a reference on the bottle so we know to look on Cellartracker to see its history.
A final note on my friends preferences, the Gardener has focused on my Picardy Collection and particularly the Pinot Noir section and very specifically the Tête de Cuvée part. While Acepfv has a very different palate he knows that not only do I have some nicely aged Voyager Estates there is also a stash of 1999 Penfolds Bin 28's ready to drink.


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Report of Col. O. B. Willcox, First Michigan Infantry, Commanding Second Brigade, Third Division
O.R.– SERIES I–VOLUME 2 [S# 2] — CHAPTER IX, pp. 408-410
DETROIT, MICH., September 3, 1862
GENERAL: My brigade, the Second, of Heintzelman's division, marching in rear of Franklin's brigade, arrived at the Sudley Ford at about 12.30 p.m., July 21, 1861. The brigade now consisted of the First Michigan, Eleventh New York (Fire Zouaves), Thirty-eighth New York, and Arnold's battery. The Fourth Michigan had been left at Fairfax Station and Fairfax Court-House by the order of General McDowell. Halting for rest and water, I obeyed the general's orders to post Arnold's battery on a hill commanding the ford, with the First Michigan for support, and at 1 o'clock pushed forward with my two remaining regiments up the Sudley and Brentsville road. We marched about two miles, and came upon the left of what I supposed to have been Franklin's line, near the junction of the Warrenton and Sudley roads. The troops on our left were engaged in a desultory fire with the enemy, posted in the thicket and ravine across the Warrenton road, not far from the Robinson house. The Thirty-eighth New York was quickly formed in order of battle, and the zouaves were hastening into line, when I received an order to detach a regiment for the support of Ricketts' battery (of Franklin's brigade), posted on a hill a quarter of a mile to our right and front, near Dogan's house. I led up the zouaves for this important service, leaving the Thirty-eighth under its gallant and experienced colonel, Hobart Ward. Ricketts was soon ordered to take a new position near the Robinson house. The zouaves followed in support, and finally formed line on the right flank of the battery, with two companies in reserve.
Up to this time the enemy had fallen back, but now he formed the remains of his brigades engaged with Hunter in the morning, viz, Bee's, Barton's, and Evans', in a new line, upon Jackson's brigade of fresh troops, making altogether 6,500 infantry, 13 pieces of artillery, and Stuart's Cavalry, according to General Beauregard's report. This force was posted in the belt of woods which skirted the plateau southwardly, and lying in the angle formed in that direction, between the Warrenton and Sudley roads, about a mile from the Warrenton road, and with its left resting on the Brentsville and Sudley road.
Ricketts' battery had crossed the Sudley road from its post near Dogan's house, and was within musket-range of the woods, which stretched from that road around from his right towards his front, and forming a pocket, which almost enveloped the battery, with its support.
The enemy were first discovered by Colonel Heintzelman lining the woods in our front. He ordered up the zouaves, commanded by Colonel Farnham. The ground was slightly rising before us, and the enemy opened a heavy but not destructive fire as we reached the crest. The zouaves returned the fire, but immediately fell back, bewildered and broken. Stuart's Cavalry charged upon them from the woods on the right, but were scattered by a fire from the two reserve companies, with a loss (ascertained from the Southern papers) of twenty-nine killed and wounded. Meantime Ricketts' cannoneers were being picked off. With Colonel Heintzelman's approval, and a promise of re-enforcements, I collected some one hundred zouaves, and, with Captain Downey and others of their officers, made a dash into the woods on our right, and killed, wounded, and captured about thirty of the enemy. Returning in a few minutes, I found the field cleared of both friends and foe, except the killed and wounded. The horses, men, and two officers of Ricketts' battery lay stretched upon the ground, but the enemy had not yet seized it. Recrossing the Sudley road, I met the First Michigan, Major Bidwell commanding, and, marching back with this regiment, we found the enemy now drawn up in a thin line across the field and in possession of the battery. Advancing to the fence on the roadside, the First Michigan opened fire. The right wing fell back to reload, owing to a blundering order, but the left stood firm, expelled the enemy, and retook the battery. The troops here opposed to us I believe to have been the Seventh Georgia. Colonel Heintzelman now came up, and ordered us promptly forward, and, with the promise of another regiment, it was my design to turn the enemy's left. The left wing of the First Michigan recrossed the field, struck into the woods beyond the zouaves, succeeded in destroying and capturing a small number of the enemy, and pushing back his extreme left out of that part or point of the woods adjacent to the Sudley road.
Meantime the right wing of the First Michigan reformed, and advanced in good order. I met it, and we pushed on towards the next point of woods. From this point I found the enemy's left discovered us by our fire, and we became engaged with their rear rank, their front being occupied by the advancing troops of Franklin's or Sherman's brigade. The officers and men of the First Michigan stood up bravely at this critical moment, holding on anxiously for re-enforcements. But, from all I can learn, the Thirty-eighth, which was ordered up to me, was directed to the left of the Robinson house (instead of to the right and along the Sudley road), came in contact with the enemy's center, and never reached me.
It was now 4 o'clock. General Beauregard had been gathering new re-enforcements. General Kirby Smith had joined him with a portion of Johnston's army. Our scattered troops were contending in fractions against the enemy's army, in position and massed on the plateau, with his artillery sweeping every approach. General Johnston was brining fresh troops to turn our own right. The Twenty-eighth Virginia attacked my own handful from the rear in the woods, and I had the ill-fortune to be wounded, and a few moments afterwards captured. But I was spared witnessing the disaster which further pursued our arms.
In this report I have only endeavored to supply partly the information that was not known or found in any other report, in consequence of my capture. Permit me to add, further, that the Thirty-eighth New York was distinguished for its steadiness in ranks, and for gallantly repelling a charge made upon it by the New Orleans Tigers. The zouaves, though broken as a regiment, did good service, under my own eyes, in the woods, and detachments of them joined other regiments in the fight. The First Michigan deserves the credit of advancing farther into the enemy's lines than any other of our troops, as their dead bodies proved after the battle.
I only regret that, from the fact of my separation from Arnold's battery, I cannot add any testimony of my own to the well-known gallantry with which he and his command conducted themselves.
I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, yours,
Brigadier-General, late Colonel First Michigan Infantry
Brig. Gen. L. Thomas,
Adjutant-General U. S. Army
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 21, 1865
This report is respectfully forwarded. It gives some details not in previous reports. The Thirty-eighth New York, Colonel Ward, was in the rear and little to the right of the Robinson house, and did not get up as far as the house. After the zouaves, I led up the First Minnesota and then the First Michigan, and both were repulsed. They, however, rallied and passed to the right into the woods, and the First Michigan, on the extreme right, held the most advanced position we occupied that disastrous day. My division, when I marched from Alexandria, had an aggregate of 9,463 men, but from detachments made by the commanding general at different times, I went into action with less than 5,000 men. The Third Brigade, Colonel Howard, did not arrive on the field until late in the day, about the time the panic commenced. He was detached soon after we crossed Cub Run, early in the day, by General McDowell. I did not see the brigade until some half hour after I was wounded and after the Brooklyn Fourteenth gave way.
In consequence of the wounding and capture of Captain Ricketts, I have no report of his battery. His first lieutenant, Douglas Ramsay, I saw late in the day doing his duty faithfully and well. A few moments later he was shot dead, and soon after we lost the battery.
The accompanying report from Fairfax Station, dated July 17, 1861, properly belongs to this report.


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Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Tag
NLF Baltimore 2018 Gospel Intensive with Dr. Gary Deddo, pt. 2 (Videos)
Dr. Deddo is Special Assistant to GCI President Joseph Tkach. He is the president of Grace Communion Seminary and is the doctrinal advisor of GCI.
This year was the 5th Gospel Intensive event led by Dr. Deddo., and it's Specific Purpose was to proclaim:
"Jesus Christ, Lord of all of Life"
"We will look into what it means to live as if Jesus Christ is Lord of all of life. It's often said that we are to live in the world but not of the world. But what does that mean? How can we be the church in our secular world? How can we be witnesses to the Triune God and his coming Kingdom in "this present evil age," as Paul calls it? Is the church really called and equipped to "turn the world upside down" or right side up? What kinds of difference can we individually and as a church make in our communities? Our schools? Our work? Our families? Is the church to be a social change organization? What does the Gospel have to say to our culture? We will especially focus on exploring what can we do with our education and vocations. We will not come up with all the answers but gain some very specific biblically based and theologically grounded direction."
Jesus Christ, Lord of all of Life – Video 1: 60min
Jesus Christ, Lord of all of Life – Video 2: 58min
Jesus Christ, Lord of all of Life – Video 3: 60min
Jesus Christ, Lord of all of Life – Video 4 – Part a: 50min
Jesus Christ, Lord of all of Life – Video 4 – Part b: 50min
Sermon: Jesus, a Towel, a Basin and Our Feet, the Real Lesson to be Learned Video 5: 60min
Father God Pursues Us With New Life!
Part 1a: 30min
Part 1a: 30min
Full Message: 61 min
Main Passage: Ezekiel 37:1-14
"This vision may be looked upon as descriptive of a state of lukewarmness and spiritual lethargy of the Church [and world!] when the question may be sorrowfully asked— 'Can these bones live?'" –Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Theological Theme
The only hope for those who are spiritually dead is God-Father-Son-and-Spirit's resurrection power!
Christ Connection:
God-Father-Son-and-Spirit showed Ezekiel a valley of dry bones, which reminds us what we are like in our sinful condition. God gave Ezekiel a vision of the power of God bringing life out of death, a power on display most fully in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Missional Application:
God the Father, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, will raise and restore His people, a vast army who will know God and make Him known.
*picture courtesy of pinterest.com
The Great Fall Of Jerusalem!
Full Message: 31 min
Main Passages: 2 Chronicles 36:11-21 Jeremiah 38:14-18, 24-28
"One of the most important events in the Old Testament era was the fall of Jerusalem and the capture of God's people. Due to the hard-heartedness of the people and their leaders, including the despising of His Word, God displayed His justice and wrath through His punishment of His people. Yet even here, in this display of God's justice, we see how God preserves a remnant of people who will carry the hope of His promise to make all things new through a Messiah." – The Gospel Project
Theological Theme:
God [ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] patiently pursues sinners, but His patience will one day come to an end.
Christ Connection:
God righteously punished His people for their sin, but He remained faithful to them and kept the promise He made to David to preserve a remnant and provide a king. Ultimately, God punished our sin through His Son, Jesus, and made Him our King forever.
Missional Application:
God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to listen to His Word and proclaim His patience and righteousness to others while there is still time.
Photo Compliments: https://biblicaltruthresources.wordpress.com
God (And Jeremiah) Prophesies A New Covenant
Part1a: 30min
Part 1b: 34min
Full Message: 64min
Main Passages: Jeremiah 17:1-10 Jeremiah 31:31-34
The heart of humanity is desperately wicked and in need of replacement. Because no one is able to perfectly obey the law, God promised a new covenant, one not written on stone or parchment but written instead on the hearts of His people. This is a promise concerning the coming day of Jesus, fulfilled in the gospel. In the gospel, God not only writes His law on our hearts but also gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer. – The Gospel Project
Theological Theme:
In the new covenant, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to obey God's [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] law.
Christ Connection:
The problem in Jeremiah's day was the people had God's law but were unable to obey Him due to the sinfulness of their hearts. Jeremiah prophesied about a coming day when God would forgive sin and write His law on the hearts of His people. This prophecy is fulfilled in the gospel. Through Jesus, God offers us forgiveness. Through the Holy Spirit, God enables us to obey His commands.
Missional Application:
God calls us to rely on the Holy Spirit as we obey God's commands and live on mission for His kingdom.
"A new heart [is] compelled by the Spirit to obedience. It is a voluntary obedience springing from a heart that has been transformed and captivated by the Redeemer." –Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp
God Calls Jeremiah!
Part 1a: 16min
Part 1b: 18 min
Full Message: 34min
Main Passage: Jeremiah 1:4-10
"Jeremiah was called, even before he was born, to be God's prophet. Because his prophetic message was contrary to what his people wanted to hear, Jeremiah faced opposition and persecution. Nevertheless, Jeremiah remained faithful to God's call despite the obstacles. In Jeremiah's grief, we see a picture of the tender heart of God, most fully expressed in Jesus' weeping for the unrepentant people of Jerusalem. From Jeremiah, we also learn that the God who calls us to deliver His message is the God who will empower us for His mission." – The Gospel Project
Theological Theme:
God [ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] equips those He has chosen to minister in His name.
Christ Connection:
Jeremiah's love for his people was so great that he often delivered God's message in tears, to the point that he is known as the "weeping prophet." In Jeremiah's grief, we see a picture of the tender heart of God, most fully expressed in Jesus' weeping for the people of Jerusalem who would not repent.
Missional Application:
God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to trust Him to overcome the obstacles we may face in carrying out His mission in our lives.
"The Lord delivers…not so that the prophet will be free of persecutions and difficulties, for we read that Jeremiah was severely afflicted. Instead, the Lord liberates one who suffers everything to overcome these tribulations rather than yielding to them." –Jerome (circa 345-420)
Photo Compliments: https://www.kcbi.org/
God Pursues Disobedient Prophets and People in Christ!
Part 1a: 24min
Part 1b: 23min
Full Message: 47min
Main Passage: Jonah 1-4
"God [Father, Son and Spirit] goes to great lengths to pursue people, even when they have no interest in being found. God pursues sinners of all kinds in order to bring them to Himself. Jonah was a prophet who rejected God's call and ran away from his enemies. Unlike Jonah, Jesus heard God's call and ran toward His enemies. While we were still sinners, He died for us, and now He commissions us as His people to pursue others with the good news of His love." – The Gospel Project
Theological Theme:
Salvation belongs to God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Christ Connection:
Jonah was a prophet who rejected God's call and ran away from his enemies. Jesus heard God's call and ran toward His enemies. While we were still sinners, He died for us.
Missional Application:
God through His Holy Spirit, calls us to put aside our tribal attitudes and break down walls as we share the news that forgiveness is possible through repentance and faith.
"God breaks down walls and leads His people out into the world with good news: forgiveness is possible through repentance and faith. Tribal attitudes melt away when constantly exposed to the warm embrace of our missionary God." –Trevin Wax
Photo Compliments: http://wildwoodstudents.com/
God Pursues Israel!
Part 1a: 22min
Part 1b: 21min
Full Message: 43min
"The life and, in particular, the marriage of God's prophet Hosea shows us the great lengths that God goes to in order to pursue the people He loves. Despite our unfaithfulness, God loves us still and is willing to take on the personal cost and sacrifice of bringing us into and keeping us in right relationship with Him. Because of His love, God continually goes after unfaithful people like us, and in this pursuit, He provides a model for how we are to pursue others with the good news of His love." – The Gospel Project
"The ultimate happiness in life is the conviction that one is loved; loved for oneself—better still loved in spite of oneself." – Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
Main Passages: Hosea 1:2-9; 2:14-23; 3:1-5
Theological Theme
The initiative for our salvation is in the loving heart of God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
"He lifts us up out of ourselves to participate in the very life and communion of the Godhead, that life of communion for which we were created." – J.B. Torrance, Worship Community and the Triune God of Grace. (Pg. 22)
Christ Connection:
Hosea's relationship with Gomer reminds us of God's relationship with the people of Israel, and with us. Even though God's people are unfaithful and love other things more than God, God still loves us. It was because of His love that God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sin and bring us back to Him.
"He [Jesus] does not appease an angry God to condition Him into being gracious, but in perfect acknowledgment of the holy love of the Father for a sinful world, seals God's covenant purposes for all humanity by His blood." – J.B. Torrance, Worship Community and the Triune God of Grace. (Pg. 49)
Missional Application:
God through His Holy Spirit calls us to pursue others with the good news about the God who pursues us at great cost to Himself.
God Reveals The Coming Victory!
Part 1a: 23min
Part 1b: 22min
Full Message: 45min
Main Passages:
"God's glory is personally beneficial to those who follow Him. Understanding God's glory reveals the certainty with which we can receive His promises. There is never a dichotomy between displaying God's greatness and resting in His love. The ancient story of Assyria's calloused threats against Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah illustrates that God saves us for the glory of His name and for our good. We, in turn, make known His glory so that others will rest in His grace."– The Gospel Project
Theological Theme:
God the Father saves us for the glory of His name and for our good.
Christ Connection:
Hezekiah prayed for God to manifest His glory by saving His people from the pagan kingdom that was rising against them. God exalted His name by answering Hezekiah's prayer. Jesus also prayed for the salvation of His people, and through His death and resurrection, He accomplished the ultimate manifestation of God's glory through defeating the enemy and saving His people.
Missional Application:
God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to live on mission for His kingdom because we know that God is victorious over His enemies.
Photo Compliments: http://soul-candy.info/2017/04/victory-of-the-cross/
Dr. Jesus' Body Is God's Suffering Servant!
Part 1a: 29min
Part 1b: 25min
Full Message: 54min
Main Passage
Isaiah 52:13–53:12, Luke 22:37, Matthew 8:17
Hundreds of years before Christ was born, Isaiah prophesied about a mysterious Servant who would be rejected and despised yet bring salvation through His suffering. The early Christians believed this prophecy was made about Jesus and His life and work. As those who benefit from the service and suffering of Jesus, we now embrace a life of suffering and service on behalf of others. – The Gospel Project
Theological Theme
Salvation comes through the suffering of God- Father, Son and Spirit's chosen Servant.
Christ Connection
Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God opened the eyes of Isaiah to see the coming Savior with detail no one had seen before. Isaiah prophesied about a mysterious Servant who would be rejected and despised and yet accomplish salvation through His suffering. The New Testament shows that this prophecy is about Jesus and His work.
Missional Application
As those who benefit from the service and suffering of Jesus, we, through His Holy Spirit, now embrace a life of suffering and service on behalf of others.
"The Servant would be regarded as a great conqueror, one who shares the spoils of victory with his followers. Victory, however, would come only through the fact that the Servant was willing to suffer as a sin-bearer and pour out himself in death. Through his death and resurrection he made intercession (53:12)." – James E. Smith
Photo Compliments: http://www.studygrowknowblog.com
God Reveals Himself To Isaiah!
Part 1a: 18min
Part 1b: 20min
Full Message: 38min
Main Passage: Isaiah 6:1-8
The prophet Isaiah had a vision of God high and lifted up—holy and glorious in His temple. In light of God's piercing holiness, Isaiah received a proper vision of his own sin and unworthiness. But God, in His grace, restored Isaiah to service and gave the prophet a message for the people. Like Isaiah, we too are undone by the vision of God's glory, but through His grace, God deals with our sin and then commissions us to deliver His message of love to the world. – The Gospel Project
Theological Theme:
God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is holy and glorious beyond compare. "Our God is a consuming fire. He is satisfied only when His love totally consumes us…We should not resent the fact that God wants to guard our relationship with Him. It should bring us comfort." – Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby
Christ Connection:
Isaiah had a vision of a throne room with a divine King. Jesus later claimed that Isaiah had seen His glory and thus the prophet's words were about Him (John 12:32,41). Like Isaiah, when we see ourselves in light of God's holiness, we recognize our sinful state and need for salvation.
Missional Application:
God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to live in light of our salvation by willingly delivering His message to the world, no matter how unpopular it may be.
Photo compliments: http://www.hiltonchurch.org/uk


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Overall Rating: ★★★★★
Price: $$$$ ($30-$40) – Available at Aesop.
Scent: Warm blend of orange and cedar wood with a hint of clove.
I like: the multi-functional aspect of this essential oil blend. In addition to its use as an aromatherapy burner oil, the blend can be added in very small doses to carrier oils for skincare.
Aesop's Catherine Oil Burner Blend is a lovely proprietary mix of essential oils. Made primarily with essential oils of orange, cedar wood, and clove, Catherine Oil warms the senses and settles the mind with its distinct complexity. Though Aesop markets the essential oil blend for burner use, I experimented with the oil by adding three drops of the blend to one ounce of a carrier oil for use as a body moisturizer. (Note: always take a look at an essential oil blend's ingredients list before using them for skincare. Some essential oil blends offered by not-so-natural companies may contain synthetic ingredients not suitable for use on the skin. Thankfully, Aesop has a strong reputation for using natural, plant-based ingredients in its products.) The body oil blend turned out beautifully with a relaxing, subtle scent. When used as an adjunct in skincare, Aesop's Catherine Oil will add a pleasant, relaxing aromatic dimension to plant-based carrier oils like argan oil, pomegranate seed oil, camellia oil and sweet almond oil. When used in an essential oil burner or diffuser, Catherine Oil Burner Blend will make your home smell like a relaxing, luxurious spa.


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Sadly, Lisa Graf with Mom Blog took the title of this post quite literally. She has a high fever and is quite sick, so I'm covering today's post all by myself. Lisa – we pray God heals you quickly, so you're back to doing all the things God has called you to do. Until then, rest!
Last week in our Wedded Bliss Wednesday we talked about "turning down the heat," in reference to conflict in your marriage. Today we want to look at the flip side – turning up the heat of passion in your marriage.
It is difficult when raising small children to find time to pursue your husband the way you did B/C, but it is possible. It just takes more planning and thinking – really thinking about your man throughout the day.
Awhile back I was at a ladies retreat when the Lord shared with me a word picture that I believe will be helpful for our topic today:
I saw a woman who was sitting in a darkly lit room. It was winter outside so the room was cold. There was a fireplace, but the fire had died down and only a few red embers remained. In order to find warmth the woman took a coat off of the nearby coat rack and put it on quickly. She still shivered in the cold room, so she grabbed the blanket off the couch and wrapped it tightly around herself. The chill remained. She continued to rock hoping the movement along with the layers would warm her cold body.
What was odd about the picture was the fact that there was still unburned firewood in the fireplace. All she needed to do to warm the room was to stir the embers, but instead she shivered in the dark, cold room.
I believe this picture represents many marriages. The fires of passion have died down. Instead of stirring the embers to reignite the flames of passion in her marriage, this woman chose, instead to wrap the blanket of self-pity and the coats of pride around her. She wasn't willing to do whatever it would take to reignite the flame, but chose instead to be cold and alone.
Have you found your marriage to be cold and lonely lately? Every marriage walks through seasons like this, but what you do about it separates strong marriages from weak ones. Many women believe since it is the man's Biblical role to lead in the marriage that they should take the romantic lead as well. This is simply not true. Passion and romance in the marriage is the responsibility of both the husband and the wife. If your husband isn't taking the first step, then you by all means should. Plan something that will completely rock his world. Send him a steamy text this afternoon that will have him running for the door when the clock hits quitting time. Make arrangements for the children, plan a surprise, do something out-of-the-0rdinary and have fun!
Marriage isn't a game of chess – waiting and watching for your opponent to make the next move. No! It's more like a downhill sledding event. You both get on and hang on for the ride of your life!
Remember what fueled your passion when you were engaged or newly married? Revisit something from those days – maybe it was an outfit, or a special dinner or wine which will cause you both to reminisce. The important thing is to initiate physical intimacy with your husband. He will respond!
Back when we had beepers, instead of cell phones, I remember coming up with a code. It was a simple code A=1, B=2, C=3, etc. But I didn't tell Tom about it. We have always shortened "I love you" with "ILY." So one morning while Tom was at work I sent a three digit message that said "4-5-9". Of course, when you got a message on your beeper it was a phone number to call asap. There was no way Tom could call this number as it only had three digits. 🙂 An hour later I sent him the same code. At lunch he called me, but he didn't say a word about the strange message he was getting on his beeper.
An hour later I sent it again. And a couple more times before he headed home for the day. By the time he got home, he was obviously perturbed. When I asked what was wrong he said, "Someone keeps calling me on my beeper and leaving only three numbers to call. I don't know who it is, but it's driving me crazy!"
After dinner I had made Tom a special dessert with a card. He asked what it was for, and I said, "Oh, no reason…" When he read the card it was signed, 4-5-9, ILY – Debi
He said, "It was YOU?!" LOL!
This was a little way I added a bit of suspense and excitement to our marriage. You can also hide things under the driver's seat in your husband's car and call him sometime during the day to have him look. It could be anything that would make them think of being with you.
Marriage is meant to be fun and H.O.T. Don't waste these years of raising children and miss the special memories you could make together. Your children may not have any idea what Mommy and Daddy are doing, but they'll definitely benefit from the results.
And hang on for the ride of your life! ♥
What is something you have done to turn up the heat in your marriage?
This is post #27 in the Ultimate Blog Challenge to post everyday in October.


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It's been 5 months since I blogged but I'm working on something that I want to share with fellow quilters and this (blogland) is the place that we always found each other :-)
I've recently gone to work 40 hours a week as an inhome caregiver for a 93 year old man. There is plenty of down time and I need to keep busy so I thought I'd start on a hexie quilt.
(found here )
First off--I'd NEVER consider such an undertaking without Sizzix dies. I use the 1 1/4" side size for the fabric and the 1" side size for the paper template. Each die cuts four at a time PLUS you can cut 5 or 6 layers at a time. Not to mention the accuracy! For the paper template I use freezer paper (kind of like waxed paper with MANY creative uses). You lay the shiny side down on the backside of the fabric and it temporarily *bonds*...long enough to baste down the sides. anyway. When I first started I found a couple of good tips in this video (AFTER she wastes her time buying paper templates, cutting fabric by hand, and putting tape on each piece :-] ) Mainly around how to baste down each edge and then whip stitch. ALSO the tip about not removing the paper templates until every edge of that piece has been sewn to another.
A few of these little pieces, a needle, thread, and scissors, can keep you busy for hours!
This was my first finished 'block'. It literally took all my free time at my client's home for two solid weeks! I thought, "I'M probably going to be 93 by the time I finish this!!" But it is going faster now (I started my second big star last Tuesday and am finishing it today) plus I've mapped it out based on the one star component measuring 18x21 as shown and deduced that I only need 16 full stars. Yes, lots of filler blocks needed, but that's how I'm making it feel do-able for now ;-)
I'll try to pop in from time to time with progress reports. Wish me luck!


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You are here: Social Security Administration > Research, Statistics & Policy Analysis > Research & Analysis by Author > Kathleen Myers
Research & Analysis by Kathleen Myers
Health Insurance Coverage Complementary to Medicare
from Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 8 (released August 1967)
Employee-Benefit Plan Adjustments to Health Insurance for the Aged
from Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 29, No. 7 (released July 1966)