text:
Job Code Number
Job Description
NOTE: This position is only located at the Standish Family Fare store.
Welcome to SpartanNash! We are excited that you have chosen to apply with us today.
Please take a moment to review this position and then read the application overview and instructions below. Depending on the position you are applying for, the application process will take between 10 and 40 minutes.
SpartanNash is an equal opportunity employer (minorities/women/disabled/veterans)
VEVRAA Federal Contractor
Position Summary
Leads the day to day activities of an individual retail store, ensuring all departments are fully staffed, trained and operating to company standards. Cultivate a positive, high performing, and customer focused, store culture through effective leadership. Responsible for all financial aspects of the store, maintaining the physical location, and communicating and executing the corporate plans.
Minimum Requirements
Bachelor's Degree (Required) Business Administration
or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
Job Experience
Five (5) years experience in a retail grocery environment with increasing levels of responsibility.
Supervisory Experience
Responsibilities and Essential Duties
Provide focused and effective leadership to store associates that develops a positive, high performing, customer focused store culture.
Responsible for department management including staffing, training, performance management and career development of associates, and developing and monitoring department goals. Develop and monitor department budget as required.
Prepares quarterly and yearly budgets with assistance. Responsible for the overall profit and loss financial performance of the store to including budgeted sales, gross profit and controllable expenses.
Maintains constant follow-up to ensure budgeted sales, gross profit and controllable expense goals are being achieved.
Coordinates store activities to ensure successful operations and compliance as measured by various checks and audits (Safety/Food Safety, Human resources, Merchandising, Loss Prevention, Department of Labor, OSHA, etc.).
Oversee that the corporate Merchandising and Inventory programs are followed by the departments and partner with corporate business partners as needed to ensure that operations and merchandising standards are fully communication and followed.
Implements and maintains work schedules, labor control and store payroll expense control programs for the location.
Implements the OWN IT! (One customer to Wow Now by Interacting and providing Total satisfaction) service programs, and models high standards of service to achieve a customer oriented store.
Interacts with the local neighborhood or community to positively position the company?s presence.
Maintain current knowledge of industry or local trends and best practices; make recommendations to improve current programs and processes.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and levels of work being performed as assigned for this job. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and requirements; additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed.
Knowledge, Skills Abilities
Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong organization, prioritization, decision-making, problem solving and conflict management skills. Strong leadership abilities with capability to work in a hands-on environment. Strong strategic planning and business acumen skills. Strong knowledge of retail store operations; knowledge of retail management systems. Proficient in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Depending on company location, ability to communicate in Spanish is highly desirable.
Physical Requirement
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. May be required to lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. The associate is frequently required to sit/stand/walk. May be required to travel. While performing the duties of this position, the associate is subject to a typical office environment and is rarely exposed to outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment varies; office setting may be low to moderate; distribution center setting may be moderate to high.
Meat Cutting Equipment (i.e., slicers, grinders, tenderizers, etc.)
General Retail Equipment (i.e., cash register, telephone, copy/facsimile machine, computer, etc.)
Other Retail Equipment (e.g., pallet jacks, cardboard baler, sanitation and cleaning supplies, etc.)
Online: https://nlx.jobsyn.org/bb93b555cea64a86b4ba93b2b73aebda151
Standish, MI 48658
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
High School Diploma/Equivalency
Experienced (Non-Manager)


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Johannesburg - Three men were arrested after being found in possession of stolen goods at a flat in Hillbrow on Wednesday morning, Gauteng police said.
They had stolen items worth R700 000 from a couple at their home in Hyde Park, said Captain Pinky Tsinyane.
"The men forced entry into the house through the window at the back on Wednesday morning while the couple was still asleep," she said.
They threatened the couple with a knife, took valuables and fled.
Police were alerted and investigations led them to a flat were the goods were recovered.
Laptops, cellphones, sets of travel bags, watches and jewellery were among the items recovered.
The men, aged between 29 and 38, were expected to appear soon in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on charges of house robbery and possession of stolen property.
Investigations were continuing to establish whether they could be linked to other robberies in Gauteng, said Tsinyane. - Sapa

subset: commoncrawl


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Enrichment Program for Brookings Harbor Youth
Join our eMail List!
Check out our classes for youth of all ages!
Classes are available on various days. Please click on class titles for detailed descriptions and age categories.
Click Here to View and Register for Classes
KASPER is excited to be a community partner with the Chetco Grange!
Check out many of our classes held there and consider joining our local Grange!
Registration FAQ:
How much do classes cost?
Most of our classes are free thanks to the generosity of community members who are donating their time and expenses. Some of our classes have a fee to cover supplies and/or instructor compensation. Class fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
KASPER wants all children to have the opportunity to attend summer camp! We strive to offer a wide variety of free and low-cost classes. If there is a fee class you would like to attend and would like to request financial assistance, please email a request "letter of need" to
[email protected]
. No scholarship is guaranteed. Approval at the discretion of the KASPER Board.
Why do I have to register online if the class is free?
We are so very excited to offer online registration. By collecting the registration information and payment online, we are able to efficiently manage class sizes and give our instructors the necessary information they need to prepare supplies for a class.
Additionally, our registration software allows us to collect the necessary waivers and track kids better for safety.
Do I still have to register online if I clicked "Going" on the Facebook event?
Yes! The Facebook event is for promotional purposes only. You must still register by clicking above. We encourage you to share or invite friends to the Facebook events but be sure to tell them to register using the link in the event description.
What if I need to cancel my registration?
Many of our classes have limited space available. Your registration holds your place. So that we may serve more kids, please contact us immediately at
[email protected]
if your child can not attend a class they are registered for. Late cancellations (less than 24 hours notice) and no shows, may prevent you from registering for and/or necessitate your withdrawal from future Kasper classes.
Who can I contact with other questions?
Please email us at
[email protected]
or call
(5437). You will speak with a local KASPER Board Member and we are happy to help.


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- This event has passed.
February Newsletter Deadline
January 13, 2017 @ 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM PST
Lha' Num-nii~-ma~s (January) 2017 All rights reserved. Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation Tribal Government Newsletter published by the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, 140 Rowdy Creek Road, Smith River CA 95567. Phone 707.487.9255. Guest editorials, letters to the Editor or columns do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Tribal Council of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation or their Staff. The Tribal Council of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation reserves the right to use their discretion in the information they publish. As per the Tribal Council of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, no article shall be published or acknowledged in the tribal newsletter that does not promote and protect the best interests of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation. Editor: Debbie Boardman (707)487-9225 firstname.lastname@example.com


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This past year has been one of the most interesting years of my life. My production partner Blake Faucette and I produced a web series about Tim LaFollette (our friend) living with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Last night we put together a benefit Film Festival to help with Tim's quality of life care. […]
Entries from December 2010
A Year to Remember
December 13th, 2010 · Comments Off on A Year to Remember
Tags: Personal · Profession · Sidework


text: "Although, your health condition may impact your everyday life, do not let it define who you are." Lorazepam is used to relieve anxiety. Lorazepam is in a class of medications called benzodiazepines. It works by slowing activity in the brain to allow for relaxation. This medicine is available only with your doctor's prescription. Lorazepam is also used to treat irritable bowel syndrome, epilepsy, insomnia, and nausea and vomiting from cancer treatment and to control agitation caused by alcohol withdrawal. Talk to your doctor about the possible risks of using this medication for your condition. This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information. Thanks and may you have a good understanding about this drug—Lorazepam. You may want to share this book with your family and friends who may be in need of help and would want to use this medicine. Take care, and as always, be well!


text:
News from the world of Maths
December 6, 2013
What's your chance of winning the lottery?
December 5, 2013
Triangles do it, squares do it, even hexagons do it — but pentagons don't. They just won't fit together to tile your bathroom wall.
December 5, 2013
This year's PISA results have caused predictable headlines, but do the statistics add up?
December 4, 2013
How to colour a map
December 3, 2013
Make a fractal in infinitely many simple steps!
December 2, 2013
When Archilles and the tortoise race, who will come second? Find out behind door number two!
December 1, 2013
How can the number one help spot fraud in tax returns, elections, or mistakes in data sets? Find out behind door number 1!
November 29, 2013
It's nearly time for the Plus Advent Calendar!


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Saturday, November 23, 1996 marked the inauguration of Feed the World Day (FWD). On this day, Food for Life volunteers and friends in over 100 countries served karma-free vegetarian meals in honor of the Centennial of Swami Prabhupada (1896-1996), the inspiration behind Food for Life, who once wrote: "Simply by the liberal distribution of prasadam and sankirtan (singing spiritual songs), the whole world can become peaceful and prosperous."
In 1997, in order to facilitate greater cooperation and to increase food distribution, the event was expanded another 6 days and was renamed "Feed the World Week (Oct 15-21). Food for Life Global's mission is to UNITE THE WORLD THROUGH PURE FOOD, and so we invite anyone and everyone to join us!
October 15-21 will mark the annual observance of Feed the World Week (FWW). During this week, Food for Life volunteers and inspired vegans, vegetarians and animal lovers in over 60 countries will serve out millions of karma-free plant-based meals to the world!
FWW is an open community event to promote prasadam distribution as the most proactive solution to the world hunger and world peace. If you would like to get involved, you can either volunteer at your local Food for Life project or conduct your own program, as outlined in our starter guide. Contact your local ISKCON temple or restaurant for volunteer opportunities
Every big festival requires money. If you or someone you know is interested in FWW, but cannot get involved with distributing, cooking, transporting or serving at the main feast programs, then why not ask them to sponsor those that can? Talk to your local project about opportunities.
Donate to our general fund or donate food or equipment to Feed the World activities. However, the following are some other ways that one can support Feed the World Week: Organic produce Grains, beans, pulses Serving facilities Serving equipment Plates, spoons, and cups Paper for printing advertisement space Billboards Vehicles to deliver food. All donations are tax deductible. Please contact the FWW coordinator in your area or email FFL Global.
The four objectives mentioned earlier are the key messages to get out to the public. However, you may have something else you need to say regarding your own FWW activities. The following answers to some common questions are just a guideline that you can work with to formulate the most suitable responses for your needs:
Q. What is Feed the World Week?
A. Feed the World Week is a unique scheme to unite the world through food and a way to awaken people to the benefits of a cruelty-free world.
Q. Could you elaborate on those benefits?
A. Briefly, a plant-based diet is now the recommended dietary choice by world experts for a number of reasons: it's healthier for the heart; it's economically sound; it's better for the environment and it enables more people to eat. Did you know that 75 percent of the world grain production is fed to livestock. That same grain could feed the 1.3 billion people now considered undernourished.
Q. Don't you think it is a bit presumptuous — "Feed the World?"
A. The point is that there is no lack of food in the world; the earth has a capacity to feed ten times the present population. Our aim in celebrating Feed the World Week is to bring this fact to the attention of the world — it is indeed possible to feed the world. Only human society has a hunger problem.
Q. Why is that?
A. Because of greed. One person is taking more than their quota while another person is deprived of his share. Srila Prabhupada, the Founder of Hare Krishna Food for Life, the world's largest vegetarian food relief, desired to correct this imbalance in society, through the liberal distribution of prasadam (sanctified food). In essence, it is greed that is at the root of the world hunger problem and this greed is an indication of an immoral and spiritually ignorant society.
Q. Do you I need to be a member of ISKCON to participate?
A. No. FWW is non-sectarian open community event.


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Jay Draws a Parallel Between Work and Music From Home
Based in Charleston, South Carolina, designer Jay Fletcher surfs when he has spare time – or he would if he had any spare time. The creative mind behind this week's Playlist spends his working hours creating full-scale identities for companies large and small, near and far. Jay's thoughtful and precise designs are both visually arresting and effective in their communication. Now check out the arresting sound waves emanating from his superbly appointed workspace. Listen up!
What do you listen to while you work?
I usually work to music that pairs well with whatever project is at hand. Could be rock, classical, reggae, hip-hop, or anything else. I'm all over the place with my musical likes and don't really have too many dislikes, so letting the project dictate the playlist works well for me.
How do you listen?
I've had a set of JBL Creature Speakers forever and they're still getting the job done, plugged directly into my iMac.
Do you have any favorite music websites/providers?
Not really. I buy most everything from the iTunes store.
Does music influence your work?
I'm not sure I could highlight a clear-cut example, but the influence is huge. Being a designer is about finding and articulating somebody else's voice, so picking "project appropriate music" really helps me get in the right mindset for whatever I'm working on. It's sort of like method acting, with music establishing a vibe that lets you further immerse yourself in the character you're playing.
Where do you find music recommendations? Who influences your musical taste?
Pitchfork is my go-to for new music, music news, reviews, etc., and my friends have a big influence as well. I've also been known to Shazam the heck out of places when I hear something new that I think I might like.
If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be?
Geez, I have absolutely no idea. I listen to a ton of Bob Marley & The Wailers, so I guess I'll go with that. Their music represents a lot of different things to me – places I've been, people I've known and experiences I've had. Structurally, the songs are often incredibly sparse and tight, yet full of life and personality, which I would say is what I strive for in my design work. Do as much as you can with as little as you can. Drawing that parallel is probably a bit over-analytical, but I'll stick with it.
Ideal place to sit and listen to your playlist:
Obviously I'm going with the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman in walnut and black leather. Unique & timeless. That thing is brilliant. My uncle had one and it made an impression on me as a kid, long before I knew anything about design or Charles & Ray Eames. I remember hopping up into it and thinking "whoa, this thing is out of control cool."
Jay's Playlist:
1. San Francisco, Foxygen
2. Space Invaders, Playback
3. Time to Run, Lord Huron
4. Lost, Frank Ocean
5. Five Seconds, Twin Shadow
6. 17, Youth Lagoon
7. Everybody Knows, Vacationer
8. A Country's King of Dreams, Caveman
9. Jamie Marie, Girls
10. Warm Heart of Africa, The Very Best
1. San Francisco, Foxygen
2. Space Invaders, Playback
3. Time to Run, Lord Huron
4. Lost, Frank Ocean
5. Five Seconds, Twin Shadow
6. 17, Youth Lagoon
7. Everybody Knows, Vacationer
8. A Country's King of Dreams, Caveman
9. Jamie Marie, Girls
10. Warm Heart of Africa, The Very Best
(Images: Jay Fletcher; JBL)
Apartment Therapy supports our readers with carefully chosen product recommendations to improve life at home. You support us through our independently chosen links, many of which earn us a commission.


text: Head off on an intriguing cultural adventure in the Baltic The Baltic Sea is framed by countries, each boasting a rich cultural heritage, as well as an intriguing blend of artistic periods and styles. It's an intriguing place of ancient cities, story-book castles, deep, dark forests, and magically empty – yet magnificent – scenery. Perhaps fairy tales may come true here? Relax at sea on Aurora, before arriving in Skagen, a town of colourful clapboard homes, beautiful rugged landscapes and rich art heritage. On to Copenhagen, to discover why visitors flock to explore its iconic sights and buildings. In Gdańsk, wander the pedestrianised Old Town, shop or enjoy a coffee. Next stop, Visby, is described as the 'Pearl of the Baltic' and, evocatively, as the 'town of roses and ruins'. And, so you arrive for two unforgettable days in imperial St Petersburg. Its awesome grandeur, and treasure trove of art and artefacts, is truly staggering. You can't help but marvel at the riches of the Hermitage, the opulence of the palaces and the beauty of the Tsar's gardens. Klaipėda is brimming with bays and beaches, and a lovingly restored old town. Oslo is awash with rich Viking heritage, frescoed 18th century houses, vast parks and shimmering lakes. Kristiansand with its old quarter, Blue Flag beach, vibrant cultural life and excellent shopping offers a charming last stop before setting sail home.


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By HOWARD BERGER
TORONTO (Oct. 8th) – Hey, folks, with Colorado Avalanche in town and Dave Nonis, according to motley speculation, evoking Jake Gardiner's name around the league, perhaps the Leafs GM will find a quick way to land his elusive No. 1 center. As I've opined here on several occasions, the guy wearing No. 26 for the visitors tonight could easily be that man.
Without question, Nonis must be very careful here. He and his coach are on the same page (we think), but the coach appears to be profoundly impatient with players that skate outside the line. Randy Carlyle's line has always been vivid and narrow. Gardiner, as per many youthful, unrefined defensemen, is all over the map. His talent, however, is irrefutable. As it pertains to Nonis, Carlyle and all others in the Toronto hierarchy, one would therefore anticipate a large amount of reflection standing between exasperation and surrender. We could be talking here about the most gifted puck-moving defenseman Leafs have deployed since the similarly uncultivated Al Iafrate a quarter century ago.
That said, Leafs appear to have an abundance of organization-wide promise on the blue line. Gardiner, Morgan Rielly, Matt Finn, Stuart Percy, Petter Granberg, Jesse Blacker and incumbent Cody Franson are all projected to be NHL players of varying capacity. Leafs are not, conversely, endowed with size, depth or establishment at the key center-ice position. Neither is the club in desperate straits with Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, David Bolland and Jay McClement – providing injury does not become a factor. But, a prolonged absence involving either Bozak or Kadri could be calamitous. That much is indisputable.
Enter Paul Stastny.
At the moment, Leafs are brushing too closely up against the $64.3-million salary cap to assume the final year of Stastny's $6.6-million contract. Were Nonis considering a trade of Gardiner to the Avalanche for Stastny – and assuming Colorado was interested – Leafs would somehow have to off-load another $5 million. That could be accomplished in the same deal; a separate deal, or both.
Difficult yes. Impossible no.
What we can tell you – for certain – is that Stastny would provide Leafs an immeasurable boost up the middle. His grandiose performance for the United States at the World Hockey Championships last May proved he still has a wonderful feel for the puck – as a play-maker and scorer. His valuation in the NHL has undoubtedly been skewed by toiling for a dismal Colorado club. Additionally, Avs appear to be well-established at center with Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O'Reilly. Even with nearly $11 million in cap space, it's difficult to imagine Joe Sakic forking over a king's ransom to retain Stastny – still only 27.
Should Nonis have to trade one of Kadri or Bozak (a very good bet), Leafs would still be an improved lot with Stastny in the No. 1 hole. In fact, Toronto would boast as much talent, depth and versatility up the middle as any team in the NHL. So, the question for Nonis – in my view – really isn't "Would you make a trade that featured Gardiner for Stastny?" but rather "How could you get it done under the cap?" That's where the Claude Loiselle cranium enters the picture. Mr. Cap Management himself would need to work diligently with Nonis to find a solution.
I certainly don't have one right now, and neither may the Leafs. It's also clear that no-such deal has to be made tonight, simply because Colorado is at the Air Canada Centre. Without question, however, it is a concept worth exploring – for both teams.


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Part of what is driving this is a changing viewpoint for Cem. Not uncommon since 2 other founding members have already broken off with CDT. To compound things between Cem and James, there is personal animosity between them. While I will say that I have a great deal of respect for James and Cem and they both have great ideas; I, for one, do not really care about them parting ways. And I do not think you care about their parting ways either; because CDT principles are an undeniable truth, not dependent on any one person.
I do agree with Cem's general statement that there is more than one CDT school – more than one camp each with their own values and ontology (to quote James). The problem is, I disagree with using the word "school". While it may be semantics, my issue is that school conjures up images of an institution with a predefined curriculum of which you cannot graduate unless you pass the courses. Sounds like certification, with which I disagree. CDT is a paradigm. I don't like the implied argument, raised by James, that the ability to NOT follow something makes it an approach versus a school; because the implication is, that you must always follow something and that something that must be your identity. This makes CDT sounds like dogma and religion. For the sake of this blog post, I will still reference "schools" as schools to maintain some discussion continuity.
To me, CDT is more fundamental to the testing community than I have found anyone to say. My belief is based on the premise CDT is not about a new way doing things so much as it is an acknowledgement of reality. The CDT principles are more akin to truths than principles. Even if you do not positively use the principles to gain synergies, it does not negate the principles; it does not render them false. CDT is ingrained in the fabric of testing, regardless of which "school" a tester is following. The principles are an acknowledgement of "what is" not of "what can be". To see what I mean, just paraphrase a few enlightened guys, "I hold these truths to be self-evident…"
- Our job, as testers, is to extract data, synthesize it into information so that someone, a stakeholder, can make a decision. To do this we need tools. Those tools depend on the several factors:
- I can only use tools I recognize – it is difficult to use something as a tool if you cannot see it in front of you Everyone has different tools – our tools are experience and knowledge based, accelerated - at times - but never replaced by technology
- Not every tool we know of is at our disposal – there may be great tools out there, ones we know about, but we simply might not be able to afford or capable of easily learning them
- Every tool has a function – no matter the tool, it has a purpose, a way of being used, and expectation of what using it will do
- Every tool can be used for any job, with varying degrees of success – you can use a butter knife as a regular screwdriver - sometimes
- Using tools, in both traditional and non-traditional ways, will create new tools for us – it is about learning. With all tools being knowledge based, any learning leads to new tools
Our challenge is to realize, as testers, our job is to extract data about a creative process in order to synthesize useful, information in a way so that stakeholders can make informed decisions; to use the tools we have available to do the best job we can. By the way, that translation of data to useful information is and should be influenced by the creative process (development process), our tools, knowledge, experience, and our understandings. We are researchers, inspectors, philosophers, teachers, learners, synthesizers, but most of all, we are information brokers.


text:
Let me guess, you have been playing New York Times crossword and got stuck on the clue Caught but good. Well, you have come to the right place to find the answer to this clue.
While some crosswords are much simpler than others, most require that players have a vast knowledge of the language and possibly even various topics. So while crossword puzzles are seen as a more intelligent game, they can be very frustrating for players to complete and even experienced crossword players need some help occasionally.
When finding the answers to the clues becomes too difficult, there's no shame in looking for them online.
Now you have the answer to your clue. Its time to move on to the next clue. You can browse through the list with all the answers to the New York Times crossword of February 22nd, 2004. Or you can use the search form below to find the answer (no matter if its New York Times Crossword or any other crossword).
|New York Times crossword of February 22nd, 2004 other clues
|'Don't ___!'
|'How's that again?'
|'Mr. Dieingly ___' (1966 Critters hit)
|'Say ___!'
|'The flower of my heart,' in old song
|'Woe is me!'
|'___ Rainbow' (1947 musical)
|'___ Teenage Frankenstein,' 1957 film
|A gift, for short
|All together
|Already, in Italy
|Appliance rating
|Au ___
|Baby's first word, maybe
|Bass ___
|Berlioz's '___ Troyens'
|Biblical judge
|Bodybuilder's target
|Bow shape
|Cash drawer compartment: Abbr.
|Cause of many a blowup
|Clattery trains
|Counter offer?
|Court cry
|Cover over
|Crooner Michael
|Crosswalk user, for short
|Deli freebie
|Directional ending
|Dissed, in a way
|Dove, e.g.
|Em, e.g.
|Ending with plug
|Far from florid
|Far out
|Farsi speaker
|Father of, in Arabic
|Florida governor before Bush
|Fort ___ (Oregon Trail stop)
|Fund-raising grps.
|Grand Canyon sights
|He said 'I exist because I think'
|Hero's award: Abbr.
|Hockey area
|Honolulu's ___ Stadium
|Hospital staffer: Var.
|How does 'no' describe some baseball caps?
|How would you describe both seraphs and unintelligible talk?
|It's listed in minutes
|Itinerary abbr.
|Iwo Jima Memorial honorees: Abbr.
|Jolly Roger feature
|Kind of nerve or tire
|Lamb specialty
|Latin-American import
|Like Eeyore, in 'Winnie-the-Pooh'
|Like many nuts
|Little girl's plaything
|Long time
|Lord's Prayer start
|Losers to the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII
|Many an Olympian
|Many members of 47-Across
|Many New Zealanders
|More elegant
|Oklahoma native
|Old 'Happy motoring!' sloganeer
|Old boxer called the Ambling Alp
|One of the Cratchits
|Oscar-winner Matlin
|P.D. alert
|Pearl hunters
|Ping-Pong skills
|Pisa's river
|Pompeii killer
|Presses, folds and stretches
|Profit-and-loss calculator: Abbr.
|Quechua speaker
|Raiding party?: Abbr.
|Reddish brown
|Relative of the cod
|Residents, e.g.: Abbr.
|School dept.
|Ship's hdg.
|Short flights
|Some are deadly
|Some are personal
|Something to be cured
|Suffix with secret
|Supermarket area
|Thomas Bailey Aldrich story 'Marjorie ___'
|Travelers' aids
|Unmelodic sounds
|What describes both screams and napoleons?
|What may be raised at celebrations
|What nobody doesn't like
|What science fiction movie do taxes and amine bring to mind?
|What Stephen King title is suggested by the letter F?
|What teen hangout is named by the letters PP?
|What's C and easy, too?
|Where the Tombigbee flows
|Why is Y like a romance novel?
|Wines from Spain
|Winner of 81 P.G.A. Tour victories
|Word to a dog
|Writer LeShan
|___ beef
|___ Island, Fla.
|___ Ste. Marie
|___-Detoo ('Star Wars' droid)
We offer support and help with a wide range of crosswords and are guaranteed to make sure you complete everything; the site is also updated regularly to make sure that all of our answers are correct and to add more crosswords to the ever growing list.__IMAGE__
If there is any problem with the answer, please contact us! We will fix the problem.


text:
Dynasty Warrior
Played 5777 times
Dynasty Warrior game information:
This is an old school Japanese game. You have to use the arrow keys to control your fighter. I just went crazy hitting the arrow keys and started kicking butt.
How to play:
Use W, S, A, D to move,
J to attack,
K to jump and
I for bomb.
Add this game to your website or blog!
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text:
Author Notes: Future Mission Chinese Chef Danny Bowien won the title of 2008 World Pesto Champion, which has since become the subject of internet legend. But none of the versions published under Danny Bowien's name look quite like the smooth, creamy, bright green substance that won him the gold.
Here we've attempted to recreate it, adapted from ACHICA Living and Lucky Peach's 101 Easy Asian Recipes. —Genius Recipes
Makes: almost 2 cups of pesto, enough to sauce 1 pound of pasta with some left over for other meals
Prep time: 15 min
cups packed basil leaves (100 grams, from 2 large bunches)
tablespoon pine nuts (untoasted)
teaspoon fine sea salt, or more to taste
cup olive oil, divided
small clove garlic
cup finely grated pecorino Romano (using a Microplane grater, 12 grams)
cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano (using a Microplane grater, 12 grams)
- Wash the basil leaves in a big bowl of cold water, changing out the water as needed if the leaves are sandy.
- Add the pine nuts and salt to a blender, along with 1/2 cup of the olive oil, or enough to cover the blades. Blend briefly, then add the basil to the blender, shaking lightly but leaving a bit of the cold water clinging to the leaves. Add a small clove of garlic—Bowien says good pesto doesn't need too much garlic—and the remaining olive oil. Gently pulse this all together in the blender, letting the ingredients mix with each other organically. The mixture should be smooth and bright green.
- Add the cheeses and blend the mixture one final time, just until the cheese is evenly dispersed. The result should be a fresh, light pesto in a vibrant shade of green. Taste and adjust the salt, cheese, and consistency to your liking.
- Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for no more than four days or freeze (in ice cube trays or flat in freezer bags).
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
More Great Recipes:
Condiment/Spread|Pasta|Italian|Pesto|Pine Nut|Clove|Vegetable|Serves a Crowd|Make Ahead|Fall|Easter|Father's Day


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Italy offers Indian film industry its expertise – now that's a laugh
An Italian delegation led by deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli offered Italian experise in film production to India. Here's Pritish Nandy's response to a question I posed him about the contribution of the French to Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (A Thousand Dreams Like These):
What were the gains from exchange of technical talent?
Very little. Barring the experience, which was fun, there was no actual sustainable benefit. We only hope that these technicians had a great time working with us and would like to return to India and work again, this time for others. It will enrich the global process of cultural integration. Nothing beyond that was attempted. Nothing beyond that was frankly achieved. India is the only country in the world whose cinema has withstood cultural colonisation by Hollywood and it makes sense for other nations, like France and Italy and Great Britain, to learn the art of survival from countries and cultures like us. HKA is a shining example of the brave new cinema emerging from countries like India and redefining world cinema, finding new global audiences, and challenging the oligarchy of the US studios.
Latest update on Italy's wooing of India.
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83rd Central States Dahlia Society Show
Glencoe | Website
This event occurred in the past.
Map | Find Parking
The Central States Dahlia Society is hosting their 81st Dahlia Show featuring exhibitors from all over the Midwest. Hundreds of dahlia blooms ranging in size from a silver dollar to a dinner plate will be judged and on display, with floral designs and photography completing the show. Dahlias are known for their bright, vibrant colors and perfect petal arrangements. Society members will be on hand to provide written information and to answer questions about dahlias.


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Experimenting with doing this from Friendbar's "lucky site" button. As I'll explain in a post later today, I might not keep it up even if it works. And because it's "a site that is popular today" I'll be late to the party instead of "discovering" anything.
Is the story in the headline - Google Analytics' dominance - or in the first paragraph - we like to know how our info is being used?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Random Internet Discovery of the Week
Posted by Morgan Wick at 12:25 PM
Labels: internet adventures
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What happens to animals are discarded like objects that no longer entertain?
In our ongoing "It's a Material World" series, Material Culture student and contributor Gianofer Fields usually shares stories about objects, tools and other ephemera. But what happens when potentially dangerous animals are treated as disposable things, discarded when they fall out of fashion or become too big to handle?
That's where the Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue comes in. The Rescue, located in Rock Springs, Wis., began when owners Jeff Kozlowski and Jenny Meyer realized that their "take a photo with a lion," business, while lucrative, was too stressful for the big cats. When they stopped taking photos, they realized there were other formidable felines that needed a safe place to live.
It's estimated that there are between ten- and twenty-five-thousand big cats being raised in backyards across the country. If that range seems large, it's because nobody knows for sure how many people are attempting to care for these wild animals. When the cats become too much for the owners, the lucky ones go to the Rescue, where they're cared for by staff and volunteers, like Sara Crook.
Away from the rescue, Crook is a metalsmith who typically uses tools to create wearable art. But at the rescue, Crook's learned to use a different set of tools - tools that keep her and other staff members alive.
Fields produces and curates the series, "It's A Material World." That project is funded by the Chipstone Foundation, a decorative arts foundation whose mission is preserving and interpreting their collection, as well as stimulating research and education in the decorative arts.


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Cohu has sales and service offices worldwide.
Click here to view our worldwide contact information.
Cohu training classes provide comprehensive operations instruction, technical review, and hands-on troubleshooting of our handlers. View our in-house product training schedule and information about all our award-winning training programs here.
Online Product Support and Order Information
Cohu provides access to our product technical publications as well as company-specific order information for registered customers. Click here to learn more about the Customer Portal, request an account, or access your information.


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Early this morning, around 4am, I was having some serious restless legs and couldn't sleep. In order to not annoy my slumbering hubby with my "flopping like a fish out of water" routine, I grabbed a blanket and headed down to the living room couch. The couch is actually comfy, three of the windows were open and a nice breeze was coming in.
Just as finished settling and closed my eyes...a cell phone went off outside the window. A little soft trilly song. And, it only went off once...like someone caught it. It literally sounded like it was in my living room.
There are no words to explain how fast my eyes flew open and how motionless and quiet I became as I was listening, trying to figure out if I could hear someone standing outside of my house. Was it the neighbor? It really didn't sound like there were walls and windows between the sound and me. My neighbors girlfriend is often outside (facing my window) sitting on the stoop talking on her phone. But, it's 4 am. She is not out there. And I have never heard her phone make that noise.
Needless to say, I looked around (stuffing down that fear I have that I will look out the window and see a face looking in) and saw nothing. Heard nothing more. I settled back down and finally fell asleep. I must have been REALLY tired to actually rest after that.
All I can say is: Shannon - thank GOD it wasn't an owl!! LOL ...um inside joke there.


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Rob Bettigole
Managing Partner
Rob is the founder and managing partner of Elm Street Ventures, an experienced venture capitalist, engineer, and former entrepreneur.
Chris McLeod
Managing Partner
As CEO, entrepreneur, and investor, Chris has deep experience across a range of industries, from software to life sciences.
Brian Dixon, PhD
Venture Partner
Brian's background as a start-up CEO and pharma executive brings deep experience in commercializing academic technology.
Barry Schweitzer, PhD
Venture Partner
Barry brings 20 years of experience in Yale start-ups and technology management to Elm Street Ventures.
Rick Stahl, MD
Venture Partner
Rick is a physician executive with twenty years of experience in the fields of technology and health care.
David Whittaker, MD
Venture Consultant
David is an experienced surgeon, entrepreneur, and inventor.
Paul Anastas, PhD
Science Advisor
Paul is the Director of Yale University's Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, former Assistant Administrator at the EPA for R&D, and the co-founder of the field of green chemistry.
Julian Baker
Managing Partner, Baker Brother Investments
Brian Halak
Partner, Domain Ventures
Len Baker
Managing Director, Sutter Hill Ventures
David Hathaway
Partner (retired), Venrock
Fred Frank
Chairman, Evolution Life Sciences Partners
Dean Takahashi
Senior Director of Investments, Yale University


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See the PDF file below which is a very cool 3D representation of the main section of the Area A excavations this year. This image was made by Steve and Yotam by taking several hundred photos of the area from various angles, and then "dumping" them into a cool program which "stitches" them together to create a quite astounding 3D, movable image of the area.
Open up the PDF file below and play around with it with your mouse – you can move the view of the area around in all directions! Pretty cool!
Safi Area A 010713 (1) (note – I think this only will work if you open it up in Adobe Acrobat or other "high end" programs for handling PDFs)


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Redued € 70,000 - Three Bedroom Limassol Apartment For Sale With Title Deeds - Price € 150,000
Limassol apartment with title deeds located in the Katholiki area, close to all everyday amenities and facilities, with easy access to the highway linking all major towns on the island and less than 5 minutes drive to the sea front and the town centre.
Situated on the 3rd floor of a small building this apartment comprises of an open plan dining/living/sitting area, leading onto a balcony facing a park, open plan fully equipped kitchen, three bedrooms (one en-suite) and a family bathroom.
Leave a reply:


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Google updated the Photos app a few months ago to add proper support for burst images, and it looks like the web version has now done the same. We're not sure when this happened, but the change seems to have gone mostly unnoticed. So, we're just letting you know.
Pics taken in burst mode and auto-uploaded to Photos will include a tag in the file name that identifies them as part of a burst. Photos on the web is now smart enough to stack these pics together with a little icon in the corner telling you how many photos are in the stack (see above). This should work on any phone that has burst functionality.
When you open the burst stack, all the images appear as slides at the bottom. You can copy individual photos into the main library, delete all pics other than the one you're looking at, and create animations. This appears to be live for everyone, so it's probably been around for a couple weeks at least.
- Source:
- Google Photos
- Thanks:
- Артём Сивцов


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Nancy Bélanger
Nancy Bélanger holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from the University of Ottawa, and is a member in good standing of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Ms. Bélanger joined the federal Public Service in 1993 as a Law Clerk with the Federal Court of Canada.
Throughout her career, she has distinguished herself by taking on increasing responsibilities in progressively more senior positions.


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Other Information:
Are you lost?
Bikini Beaches you can drive on!
Great cars, great trucks... these are great bikini beaches to drive on!
How fun is that for the kids! I know I get a thrill every time I get to cruise and drive on the beach. It's also a lot less tiring than one of my long bikini walks (you've got to dig a little deeper to find out what a bikini walk is).
Take your car, truck or motorcycle down to the beach and drive for miles in the sand. Or pull over, hop in the bed of your truck or throw your beach chair in the sand. Kick back and relax while you people watch and catch a tan.
Take anything you want, your cooler, tunes and anything else on our beach gear list. Can't put much more in or on a truck, that's my wife and kids on New Smyrna Beach, load er up.
Do I need 4x4 truck? Simple answer, nope. If you stay on the beaten path, any car, truck or motorcycle will do. If you don't have a 4x4, I wouldn't drive into the soft sand. My Dad learned his lesson the hard way and needed a few people to help push him out.
Daytona Beach is probably the most popular beach you can drive on. It's about an hour and a half northeast of Orlando FL. Anything your ever wanted to do, except maybe snorkeling, is available on Daytona beach.
New Smyrna Beach is one of my favorite beaches to drive on. Just south of Daytona Beach, it's less congested with a small town beach atmosphere. You can rent golf carts, quads and these three wheeled bug carts to drive on the beach.
The beach is wide and flat for almost any beach activity. It's great for wading, swimming, skim boarding and boogie boards.
Please Help Bikini-Beaches.com
Copyright Bikini-Beaches.com - Send Comments or Requests to: webmaster @ bikini-beaches .com


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Pali Wine Company
Funk Zone
Pali Wine Co. produces premium single-vineyard and AVA-specific Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from various top West Coast vineyards. The Tower 15 brand, primarily available in our tasting rooms, showcases Rhone and Bordeaux varietals from the Central Coast region.
Sunday - Thursday 12p-7p
Friday & Saturday 12p-8p
Friday & Saturday 12p-8p
116 East Yanonali Street


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Shall I go back to the well and say, "last night the Admirals played a really solid game, and did lots of great things, but just failed to earn the result," or should I come up with something new? That's a serious question. I feel like I've been saying or writing that ad nauseum when talking about the Admirals lately.
Fact of the matter is that the Admirals once again missed out on a victory. They -again- performed very well and did so against an opponent that is really good. The reality is that the Admirals earned the result that they got last night. The work rate through two periods was superb and, come the third period, they had to accomplish more or at least the same caliber of play that gave them a 3-0 advantage through two periods. They didn't. And the San Antonio Rampage, rolling on a five-game win streak, did all the right things they needed to do to chip away and equalize that game. From there, in overtime, three-on-three overtime, or the shootout, it's a game of chance. It never even should have come to that point and it did.
Where does the blame fall last night? Heck, where does the blame fall for this current run of form dating back to February?
Honestly, I don't think the finger pointing game matters. Viktor Stålberg did his part while logging AHL time this season before going back where he belongs. Brendan Leipsic was doing great work in his rookie season as a pro but was wheeled out of Milwaukee in a deal to help the Nashville Predators. In return, the Admirals ended up seeing Kevin Fiala turn up in his place. That was a pleasant surprise. Then Viktor Arvidsson gets called up on an emergency basis followed closely by Fiala.
The offense, which had been struggling, put together a 3-0 lead on a hot West Division leading Rampage team with the likes of Eric Robinson and Gary Steffes plugging in while players like Félix Girard and Miikka Salomäki are injured. It was a team effort and a solid show of the Admirals all-around capability to execute.
How did that all go away? Detail. The Admirals detail on simple plays, such as clearing pucks out of their own zone and passing up ice – things that worked tremendously through the first two periods, were a total mess. Can credit be given to the Rampage for upping the pressure and correcting their own mistakes playing against the Admirals? Absolutely. Is that a reasonable excuse for blowing a 3-0 lead in the final period of regulation? No, and there never should be one.
Is this team not tough enough? Is it lacking a killer instinct? Is the team getting pushed around? Is it the coaching staff itself? Is it the goaltending, or is it the defense, or is it the offense? All those are great questions but in the next ten games the 2014-15 Milwaukee Admirals will need to show everyone exactly who they really are. There is no avoiding it. The Admirals are plummeting and could see their run of twelve consecutive playoff seasons come to an end if this is simply who they are. It's on everyone in that locker room to look at the day at hand and make it count. Ten games remain this season. So who are the Admirals? Are they lions or lemmings?
After the game I spoke with Dean Evason, Colton Sissons, Joe Pendenza, Marek Mazanec, and Rich Clune. Here is what they had to say following last night's 4-3 shootout loss.
Dean Evason's assessment of the Admirals performance:
Evason on the third period:
Evason on Robinson and Steffes filling roles and making an impact:
Colton Sissons' thoughts on the game that got away:
Sissons on what happened in the third period for the Ads:
Sissons talks about the games ahead:
Joe Pendenza on the third period:
Pendenza talks about Pontus Åberg's pass that set up his goal:
Pendenza on what needs to change moving forward:
Pendenza on if he feels he needs to step up with players out of the lineup:
Marek Mazanec's thoughts on the Admirals performance:
Mazanec on if this weekend's games are must win games:
Rich Clune's thoughts on the game:
Clune speaks about the frustration of recent results:
Clune on facing the Chicago Wolves this weekend:
Comments on the comments? Are the positive results coming? What will these last ten games hold for the Admirals and will they make the playoffs for a thirteenth consecutive season?
Be sure to follow Admirals Roundtable on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and see our photos on Instagram.


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Jonathan and I went to see Phil Garratt and Kieron Brown, winners of the 2013 Peking to Paris Rally in their Chevrolet Coupe. Here are some photos they took of their journey, In a couple of days I'll post some more.
The main road out of Peking
Wild Truck loading on the highway
Time Contol in the desert
Mongolian tracks
A stop in the desert
The Nomad crew organise the camp sites in the wild, here's one of their Russian Army trucks
Arriving in Paris: Arc de Triumphe
Paris and the Place Vendome Finish. It must have been very emotional.


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Target acquiring e-commerce portfolio DermStore Beauty Group
Via News Release
"Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) today announced an agreement to acquire the DermStore Beauty Group. The acquisition positions Target to expand its share of the rapidly evolving online beauty market and will further differentiate the company's offerings in this important retail segment.
Following the transaction closing, DermStore will become a new, wholly owned subsidiary of Target. DermStore will continue to operate as a separate entity under its online name, DermStore.com. Target believes this transaction presents a strategic growth opportunity; however, there will not be any material impact to Target's 2013 results."


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Are you looking to build additional income or a second income in addition to your full-time job?
This is a course for beginners. If you've never done anything online, this course is for you!
In 37 lessons and over 7 hours of video content, you'll learn how to start and build an online business from scratch working from home, and part time. This course is a step-by-step guide to earning a second income from home. All you need is a computer with internet access and an open mind.
What You Will Learn
The course is designed to teach you how to make money with affiliate marketing for beginners.
This step-by-step approach will show you how to start an online business, working from home, and part time. All you need is a computer with internet access.
You'll learn:
and much more.
Who Should Take This Course
Beginner's guide to making money online with internet marketing.
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Not sure if this is right for you?... Watch the 5 min FREE Preview of Boost Your Income From Home-How To Start An Online Business NOW to help get you started.


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Water Dance (Wata)
What is 'WATA' or WATERDANCE ?
Waterdance, also known as WATA, is similar to both WATSU and AQUAWELLNESS, except that a lot of movements are done without head support, and the receiver will experience a physical freedom which is said to transcend anything else. The body can be stretched and moved in unlimited ways, and often this opens a possibility for the receiver to investigate in other realities of movement in the underwater world. This, together with a deep state of relaxation, can bring a profound emotional release.
A description of a WATERDANCE session
Open yourself to the underwater world, glide through this 3-dimensional world and discover through this a unique sense of freedom within yourself. The light fades, sounds are muffled and time stands still while gravity disappears. This is a slow moving, alternate dance of submergence and emergence. The movements are waves, rolls, and twists, varying with inversions and moments of complete stillness. It is an ideal way to let go of old holding patterns and emotions, to find new openings, joy and connection.
The giver is tuning in to the breath of the receiver in the submergence and emergence. The dive-reflex begins at once when the face is going under water. The heart rate and the metabolism decreases, the unconscious breathing stops. When the face surfaces, the breathing goes on.
Just as in Watsu, Waterdance can be a powerful tool, which has influence on the different levels of being of the receiver. Regressions are possible, old feelings and fears can come up. But because the movements and the water it can be released and worked through.
Waterdance is a form of movement, which has playfulness and also surrender in itself. Importantly, there has to be trust between both people.


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Dark data in Big Data & Analytics
Dark data is data that is typically not used by enterprises for decision making. It could be data from sensors, logs, any other transactional data that is largely available but ignored. It also constitutes the biggest portion of the total volume of big data collected by organizations in a year. Dark data is not usually


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Writing on Wednesday: Noir Lite . . . Give a Book for Halloween?
- At October 31, 2012
- By Susan
- In Holidays, Writing
- 0
I've never been a fan of scary stuff . . . don't like horror movies and dark tales. I will only read them if they are written by a friend. Like Jere Hoar's short story collection, Body Parts, or his novel, The Hit.
So I looked for some alternative Halloween activities. First I found this great site, "All Hallows Read." Kind of an expensive idea, to give kids books instead of candy for Halloween, but an interesting one, nonetheless. Check out author Neil Gaiman's video explaining how the idea came to be. (I love the zombies.) Give someone a scary book and start a new tradition.
Next I scrounged around for some "noir lite" cartoons for writers and readers on Halloween Day. Enjoy!
Mental Health Monday: Hurricane Sandy
- At October 30, 2012
- By Susan
- In Family/Personal, Mental Health, News
- 1
I know it's a day late, but I was still in Denver with my kids and grandkids yesterday. Instead of spending the morning writing my usual Mental Health Monday post, I kicked back in my jammies with Pops and our son and his family. Lounging on their couches with our two and three-year-old granddaughters crawling around our laps, sometimes showing us games on their "tablets," or putting together a puzzle. Someone made a run for McDonalds when we got hungry for breakfast. That kind of magical morning that is rare when you live a thousand miles from your grandchildren.
And then I guess I could have written my Mental Health Monday post on the flight home from Denver Monday afternoon, but I was too enthralled in a novel I'm reading. When I wasn't too distracted by thoughts of what was happening with the hurricane.
Arriving home after dark, unpacking, opening the mail. Somehow I still didn't have the energy to write, so we settled down in front of the television to watch the evening's episode of "The Voice." And then we watched some of the images of Hurricane Sandy on the weather channel. I went to sleep with those images in my mind.
On waking this morning, I still considered a post. But then I started looking at the pictures of Sandy again. I emailed a few friends who live in New York City to check on them. Did the grocery shopping and put on a pot of homemade soup for supper. And now, as I settle back at my computer for the afternoon, I find myself closing my eyes and remembering the wonderful time we had with our kids this weekend, and then the terrible suffering our friends are going through with this storm, and I realized I really don't have anything important to say. Except maybe thank you, God, for my home. For my family. For their homes and their safety. And please have mercy on all who are suffering with this terrible storm.
The storm even puts a different perspective on my eagerness to hear back from the literary agents who are reading my novel manuscript right now. Three of them are in New York City and one is in Washington, D.C. I imagine they are without power. Their offices are closed. They might be trapped in their homes. I hope they have enough food and water and warm blankets.
Maybe next Monday I'll be more reflective on all those issues which usually occupy my mind. Today, they just don't seem so important. Not compared with 50 homes burning in Queens due to the storm. And millions of people without power. We really have no idea how many lives have been lost, or what the extent of the damage is. The relative calm at the Denver Airport felt surreal yesterday compared to what we knew must be going on elsewhere. Like at LaGuardia, in New York City (below). The photo is from my friend, Rich Zakka, an airline pilot who recently moved from NYC to Connecticut, where his family is safe, and thankfully they have power and water today.
Faith on Friday: The Crack Between the Contradictions
- At October 26, 2012
- By Susan
- In Book Signings, Faith on Friday, Iconography, Music, Writing
- 4
This past Sunday was my second time to read from my Circling Faith essay in a church. The first time was actually from the pulpit at First Presbyterian Church in Oxford, Mississippi, in September. There were about fifty people in the audience. This time I would be speaking to a smaller group in the "side chapel" at St. John's Episcopal Church in Memphis. A little less intimidating. And while the venue didn't offer the architectural and cultural memories of my (Presbyterian) upbringing that the church in Oxford stirred up, it took me by surprise, on several levels.
The first surprise was just before I spoke. Some folks were coming out of the church from the early service. Others were gathering for coffee before Sunday School classes began. I ran into
Rev. John Sewell. A delightful man. I met Rev. John a few years ago when he and two women from his parish—including Deacon Emma Connolly—took my icon workshop at St. John Orthodox Church. I remember the first time I saw his more colorful side. During the workshop, whenever I wasn't giving formal instructions, I would play Orthodox music quietly in the background and encourage the students to remain quiet and prayerful as they worked. Writing icons is very intense, spiritually, emotionally and artistically. At one point after several hours of this intense quietness, Rev. John's voice boomed across the room, "Shit!"
He had messed something up on the icon he was writing, and his frustration leaked out at just the moment we all needed a little comic relief. Laughter filled the room. The rest of the workshop felt a little less stifled. It was as if he had given us all permission to be human.
So, when I saw him on Sunday, I introduced myself, not knowing if he would remember me or not.
"Of course I remember you." He smiled as I took his hand. "And I went to seminary with one of your Orthodox priests—back when he was Episcopalian."
"Oh, really? Who was that?"
"Father Stephen Freeman."
Small world. Father Stephen is one of my favorite priests. I'm a regular reader of his blog, "Glory to God For All Things." In fact my post last Friday was about his podcast on Ancient Faith Radio, "The True Self and the Story of Me." He's an excellent writer. And I think it's no coincidence that his daughter attended the Memphis College of Art. Creativity might or might not be genetic, but I think it definitely flourishes where it's encouraged.
After my reading, I gave a short talk on getting started writing memoirs and essays. Emma Connolly, who invited me to speak, is trying to start up a writing group at St. John, and asked me to share some things that might help kick it off. I enjoyed talking about my story with these wonderful people who came to worship God on a Sunday morning, and pthen aused to listen to my essay—which chronicles a small part of my own spiritual journey—and then engaging in lively conversation about the work and art of writing.
I stayed for the church service afterwards, which brought more surprises. I didn't realize how similar the liturgies are, for the Episcopalian and Orthodox Churches. The "flow" felt familiar, and I felt quite at home worshiping there. And then the thing I didn't see coming—the music. The hymns were familiar from my childhood and brought tears to my eyes. During most of my early years as a convert to Orthodoxy, I rejected so many things from the Western culture in which I was born and raised—especially art and music. As I thought about the other contributors to the anthology in which my essay appears, I realized how much of my life I have been "circling faith"… the faith of my fathers and the new/old faith of the Orthodox Church.
As we sang Washington Gladden's hymn, "Master Let Me Walk With Thee," (1879) I wondered how I could reclaim this lost part of my spiritual history while continuing to embrace my Orthodox faith. (Music: Maryton by H. Percy Smith)
O Master, let me walk with Thee
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.
And then Rev. John gave a homily that reminded me of Father Stephen's book, Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe. He talked about duality, and how we don't live in a two-story universe! At one point he said,
"We are to live in the crack between the contradictions."
And I thought about the things I've been learning about living with ambiguity—embracing joy and sorrow simultaneously—and learning to be at peace even without having all the answers to my questions.
After reading from my own essay in Circling Faith, I read a bit from Barbara Brown Taylor's essay, because Barbara is an Episcopal priest. (She's the author of An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith, and other books.) And I think she gets this business of living in a one-story universe:
"Sacraments schooled me in the wedding of spirit and flesh. I learned how to do the official ones in church—not just communion, but also baptism, reconciliation, the laying on of hands—and then, when I had the hang of seeing the holy in the most ordinary tings, I moved on to celebrating the sacraments of picnic lunches, ordinary baths, forgiving embraces, and rubbing sick friends' feet."
What a joyful experience I had on Sunday. I'm so grateful to my friend, Emma Connolly, for inviting me. In addition to being on the clergy staff at St. John's, she heads up WriteMemphis and does tons of wonderful volunteer work. She even brought copies of Circling Faith from Corey Mesler at Burke's Books (who hosted our first reading for Circling Faith in Memphis back in July) and sold them to the people who came. It was a little surreal signing books inside the beautiful chapel where people were coming to pray, but then I thought: here we are—in our one-story universe. God and man coming together to celebrate faith, writing, art, and music.
P.S. As an aside, our son, Jason, was in the Memphis Boychoir in 1991-92, which is part of the music ministry and community outreach at St. John's Episcopal. In this video celebrating their 25 years, Jason is on the front row (third from left) in the black and white photo at the start of the video. Our friend Michael Elliott—whose wife, Margaret, is choir director at St. John Orthodox—was also in the choir that year. (He is interviewed in the video.) And now, Michael's son, James, is part of the choir. I enjoyed going to one of James' concerts at St. John's last year. What a great tradition. Another way of circling faith . . . .
Writing on Wednesdays: Blurring the Lines Between Literary and Commercial, Fiction and Nonfiction, Entertainment and Art
- At October 24, 2012
- By Susan
- In Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Writing
- 4
After completing my second (non-fiction) memoir—and turning down a New York agent's request for the manuscript because I realized I didn't want to go public with the book—I turned to fiction in 2010 and began to write a novel, Cherry Bomb. Several agents are reading the manuscript now (fingers and toes crossed) and while I'm waiting, I'm reading about trends in the worlds of fiction and nonfiction.
William Deresiewicz, states in his article in The American Scholar, "Fiction's Revenge,"
"The very idea of fiction is relatively recent. Traditional societies didn't have it, and when it arose, couldn't wrap their heads around it. Homer's audience thought he was writing history. 2,500 years later, Robinson Crusoe was presented as a true story; no one would have cared about it otherwise. Only slowly through the 17th and 18th centuries did the notion emerge that a story could be meaningful without being factual, that between or beside truth and falsehood lies a third category, where something can be realistic without being real, referential without referring to actual events, believable without attempting to evoke belief."
Meaningful without being factual. Realistic without being real. Believable without attempting to evoke belief. My first response to these words was "of course good fiction does these things." But his words gave me pause, and I began to consider why—why write (or read) fiction rather than nonfiction? Can't good creative nonfiction (like a good memoir or essay) achieve these ends?
Rod Dreher, in his article, "Fiction Cannot Die," says:
"The main reason I read at all is because I have a deep curiosity about the world, and want to learn more. I concede that fiction at its best is not an escape from the world, but rather an indirect mode of engaging it, and in that sense a different way of learning about it than directly, through non-fiction."
Where Dreher reads out of a deep curiosity about the world, I think I read (and write) in order to make sense of the world, and myself. Rather than reading to gain more information, I think I read to understand what I already know, but on a different level. Which is why I tend to read more memoirs than any genre. Good memoirs reveal what I'm longing to know—not just the facts about someone's life, but the emotional impact the events of their life have had on them. Whether they suffered horrific injustices and somehow rose above them (or not) or whether they gained some new insight through their experiences, I'm eager to read about it. I prefer memoir to straight biographies (or autobiographies) for this very reason—I want more than the facts. I want art.
Art? Sure. But not just any kind of art. I am a huge fan of abstract art. While I can appreciate the talent required for an artist to lay down a brilliantly accurate work of realism—and I know there is art involved, not just craft—I am moved in a different way by the artist's expression in an abstract work. This explains why I'm so drawn to Coptic icons (which feature in my novel) with their simple, almost cartoonish features, more so than traditional Byzantine icons. (It's not that I don't love the Byzantine icons, too—and I've painted about 50 of them—but the execution of them feels more like craft than art.)
I'm not a snob. I enjoy and appreciate many forms of entertainment that aren't "high art." I enjoy soapy television dramas, chick lit (yes, this can come in literary or non-literary form), and the occasional legal thriller. But my enjoyment of those forms has more to do with a casual perusal than an intellectual, or artistic, study.
My favorite novels and memoirs have delivered both—the quick entertainment fix and a deeper, slower, artistic element. Maybe there's a new sub-genre on the rise. Or maybe these books (and televisions shows and movies) fit into a genre I recently saw listed on a literary agent's web site—high-end commercial. And on another site—high concept plot.
Texas poet, short story author and novelist, Annie Neugebaur, thinks so, as she says in her post from this past July, "What is Commercial Fiction?" She discusses some differences in the style and genre of commercial and literary fiction, but ends by saying:
"I think we've all witnessed lit-fic and commercial fiction fans throwing tomatoes at each other over the years, but the truth is that no one is ever going to win the big fight. And the reason for that is simple: both types of literature have their own value for different tastes and different readers at different points in their lives. Why does one have to win? Why do they even have to be pitted against each other? At the end of the day, they both belong in the same realm: literature."
Why do these terms even matter? I'm being asked to categorize my novel when I query literary agents, and usually I say "literary," but sometimes I say, "high-end commercial," or "women's fiction." I wish there was a category that just says "kick-ass, artistic fiction." Maybe that's too self-serving. I'm afraid to say "chick lit" because it's gotten such a bad rap recently. AgentQuery.com tries to define all these genres for the emerging author. Sometimes they blur the lines, and sometimes they over-simplify:
"Unlike chick lit, women's fiction often delves into deeper, more serious conflicts and utilizes a more poetic literary writing style."
Really? So nothing they call "chick lit" can have literary value? I'm not sure I agree. Cassandra King's 2002 novel, The Sunday Wife (categorized as chick lit) definitely kicks ass with her literary prose, depth of discovery, rich characters, and strong sense of place.
AgentQuery.com says this about commercial fiction:
"Like literary fiction, the writing style in commercial fiction is elevated beyond generic mainstream fiction. But unlike literary fiction, commercial fiction maintains a strong narrative storyline as its central goal, rather than the development of enviable prose or internal character conflicts."
The lines seem kind of blurred to me. Can't literary fiction maintain a "strong narrative storyline" while developing "enviable prose" and "internal character conflicts"? I think some of my favorite novels do this, like Michael Cunningham's The Hours, Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides, and T. C. Boyles' The Women.
I want it all. I want my own writing to deliver all of those elements. Am I shooting too high? We'll see….
Mental Health Monday: Living With Holes
- At October 22, 2012
- By Susan
- In Mental Health, Psychology, Writing
- 12
About three years ago I did a post about Augusten Burroughs' memoir, Dry: "Why Does Sobriety Have to Come With Feelings?" And then about a month ago I introduced Burroughs' new book, This is How: Help for the Self: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decreptitude & More, in my post, "Permission to NOT Be Happy?"
If you're new to my blog, here's the schedule: Mental Health on Mondays, Writing on Wednesdays, and Faith or Family on Fridays. To catch you up on this recent thread, you might want to read:
"Swimming Towards Hope" and "Better Than Bourbon and Key Lime Pie."
So, last Monday I promised more from Burroughs. I finished reading his book yesterday afternoon. There's so much good stuff in there, but I'll try to tease you with a few highlights and then encourage you to get the book and read it yourself.
The gist behind Burroughs' book is that you don't have to heal to be whole. He presents this concept over and over throughout the book, blending it into various topics as smoothly as a chef blends ingredients together in a bowl. Of all the painful things that happen to people—many of which Burroughs addresses in his book—the biggest one that I haven't experienced is the loss of a child. The closest I came to this was in 1998 when my 20-year-old Goddaughter was killed by a drunk driver. She had been living with our family for eight months when she died. Her mother was my best friend at the time. I remember a therapist telling me that her mother would probably never heal from this loss. Not exactly encouraging words, but maybe true. Burroughs says:
"Parents who have lost a child should be told that they will never heal from their loss. They will always have a terrible, wide hole within them. And other holes, smaller ones…. The holes will never leave or be filled with anything at all. But holes are interesting things. As it happens, we human beings are able to live just fine with many holes of many sizes and shapes. And pleasure, love compassion, fulfillment—these things do not leak out of holes of any size."
Burroughs continues this thread as he explores each "How To" chapter . . . How to Remain Unhealed, How to Get Over Your Addiction to the Past, How to Make Yourself Uncomfortable, and How to Live Unhappily Ever After. If this is sounding droll to you, I'm not doing a good job of communicating how freeing this line of thinking is. It builds on what I was learning and sharing back in July, "Living With Ambiguity." (If you read that post, be sure and read the comment by another "Susan" at the end.) But it goes beyond ambiguity. It's about living with loss, pain, and sorrow ALONG SIDE joy and contentment. Burroughs continues:
"Deep sorrow and deep joy can exist within you, side by side. At every moment. And it's not confusing. And it's not a conflict…. This is among the oldest, deepest, most primal truths: the facts of life may be, at times, unbearably painful. But the core, the bones of life are generous beyond all reason or belief."
In his chapter on getting over your addiction to the past, Burroughs hits on something I've been struggling with for decades—how to get over painful things that happened in my past. He pretty much says you don't "get over" those things. He shoots down traditional therapeutic methods and talks instead about how we need a "larger life. Something that can compete with your past." This is resonating with me as I read his words in this chapter:
"Recycling the past into a new business, a not-for-profit to help others, a workshop, a painting, a book, a song—these are ways to explore the past in the context of the present. These are things people who are actively alive do."
I can relate to Burroughs' choice of recycling:
"I know now how to get over the past. It has worked for me in a deeper, more enduring way than any therapy I have eve had. Writing six autobiographical books is what freed me from my past."
I've been recycling my past by writing for about six years now. I wrote two memoirs about the painful things in my past. But unlike Burroughs, I didn't publish them. There were some things I wasn't ready to go public with. But reading his words helps me embrace the fact that I DID WRITE THOSE MEMOIRS and maybe I can come to see the writing as freeing. Even my novel, which is currently being shopped out to literary agents, has these themes from my past woven through the fictional story. Like Cassandra King (Conroy) said of her novel, The Sunday Wife, maybe "The writing of it was my salvation."
Faith on Friday: The True Self
I just finished listening to a twelve-minute talk by Father Stephen Freeman on Ancient Faith Radio:
"The True Self and the Story of Me."
(Fr. Stephen Freeman is the priest at St. Anne Orthodox Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I've been reading his blog, "Glory to God For All Things," for some time now.)
He talks about what makes us persons, even when we lose "the narrative construct of the mind" through dementia, Alzheimer's or other issues. He says it's the heart that's the seat of who we really are. I'm going to try to remember this as I drive to Jackson (Mississippi) today to visit my mother at the nursing home. I'm taking her some new clothes (and yes, some more M & M's), which I hope will make her heart happy, even if she doesn't remember who I am.
Father Stephen also talks about shame—the sense we have of ourselves being damaged or worthless. He differentiates this from guilt—which we feel when we have done something wrong.
And then he talks about how we develop masks to hide behind, which cover the true self. Good stuff.
If you've got twelve minutes, just CLICK ON THIS LINK and give him a listen. And then leave a comment and let me know what you think. Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading.
Writing on Wednesday: Agent Queries—Progress Report
- At October 17, 2012
- By Susan
- In Rejection, Writing
- 6
Two weeks ago I did a post about writing a novel synopsis. Then I sent out fifteen queries to literary agents, most of which also included the synopsis. (Some agents only request a one-page letter initially.) These agents had been "hand-picked" for my short list for one (or more) of three reasons:
1. I have met them personally at a writing workshop or conference.
2. They represent authors who are friends of mine, who recommended me to them.
3. They represent "comparative titles"—authors whose work might appeal to a similar audience as mine.
I was elated when 4 of the first fifteen agents I queried replied by requesting materials—two of them asked for 3 sample chapters and 2 asked for the full manuscript. So I sent off my treasures and headed to Nashville for the Southern Festival of Books, which kept me busy enough not to be thinking about the queries. Well, not every minute of the weekend, at least.
When I got home to Memphis, I found my first agent rejection letter waiting for me in my email box. It was such a lovely letter that I've decided to share it here. And I've decided not to be discouraged. (Check back with me later if this continues for a long time!) I'm trying to hold onto the positive things this agent said and remember that it's "just business." And a tough business to break into, especially the way things in the publishing world are changing so quickly right now. Here's the letter:
Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to consider the first pages of your manuscript, which I read last night. You are clearly a talented writer and I appreciate (author's name) introducing me to your work.
Unfortunately, however, I am being extremely careful about taking on new projects, particularly first novels which are very difficult to place in the current marketplace. I fear I didn't feel as enthusiastically about this book as I hoped to, and so won't be offering representation.
Clearly this is a business of taste and sensibilities and I trust another agent will feel differently and champion this work on your behalf.
Thanks again for the opportunity to consider your work and I wish you the best of luck with it.
I also decided that for each rejection I receive, I'm going to immediately send out another query, which will mean I will always have 15 queries "out there" at once. Not sure where I got that number from, but it just feels right to me. I might increase the number if the other 3 agents who are currently reading the material send rejections. So today I queried an agent I read about in a recent issue of Writer's Digest. In the article, the agent said:
"My dream project would be the next women's fiction 'book-club book' . . . a book that connects with women, makes them reflect on their lives, makes them want to share it with all their friends, and makes readers fiercely loyal to it because of their emotional connection to it. Some examples for me are Revolutionary Road, The Good Daughter, The Help and Room. So if you are querying with this type of book, please send it to me!"
Since I came of age in Jackson, Mississippi, during the time frame featured in The Help, of course I mentioned that in my query to this agent. And that I also liked Revolutionary Road. And it's my dream that my novel would be everything that this agent hopes for.
Saying prayers and crossing fingers and toes… stay tuned!
Mental Health Monday: Better than Bourbon and Key Lime Pie
- At October 15, 2012
- By Susan
- In Book Signings, Essays, Events, Mental Health, Music
- 3
Two weeks ago I did a post called "The Hidden Pantomime of Sorrow." Last Monday I teased you with "Swimming Towards Hope." Today I'd like to offer some of that hope to my readers who identify with my struggles with eating disorders, depression, and similar issues. If you're expecting magic answers or a quick fix, just move along—there's nothing here for you. But if you're ready to take a baby step towards finding peace in the midst of these struggles, maybe you can find something helpful in what I'm going to share today. It comes from three diverse sources: Caroline Knapp (Appetites: Why Women Want) and two contributors to Circling Faith: Southern Women on Spirituality—Marshall Chapman and Barbara Brown Taylor. (I was going to include Augusten Burroughs' wisdom in his new book, This is How, but I'm saving that for another Monday. He needs a day all to himself.)
This past weekend at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, I was honored to be on a panel with Marshall Chapman, whose essay, "Going to Church," appears in Circling Faith. But first Marshall took me to church on Saturday night. She appeared in an evening of "Literary in the Round" at the Bluebird Café. Her songs touched me even more deeply than her writing, and I found myself in tears more than once during the evening. And then when she joined our panel at the Festival the next day, the blessings just continued to flow.
Marshall read a section of her essay in which she describes her struggle with what to wear to church on her first day to attend in twenty years. (She had been in rehab for depression, alcohol and drugs.) We all talked about our bodies and clothing during the panel on Sunday, and at one point Marshall mentioned her "chicken neck" with something akin to affection, saying, "It's a fair trade for all the rough living I've done." She was also quick to encourage me (and others) not to feel regret for anything in our past. After all, it's the past. It's gone. Her positive outlook on the present is contagious. Her essay ends with these words:
"It's like the whole world has become my church. And every breath I take is a prayer."
Circling Faith co-editor, Wendy Reed, read part of Barbara Brown Taylor's essay during the panel yesterday. (Taylor is the author of twelve books, including An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith.) Her essay is called "What the Body Knows." She describes the love-hate relationship so many women have with their bodies:
"My body was never lovely enough—never flexible enough, graceful enough, fast enough, skillful enough—to win my approval."
It took Taylor years to make peace with her imperfect body. An ordained Episcopal priest, she credits the sacraments with this healing:
"Sacraments schooled me in the wedding of spirit and flesh. I learned how to do the official ones in church—not just communion, but also baptism, reconciliation, the laying on of hands—and then, when I had the hang of seeing the holy in the most ordinary things, I moved onto celebrating the sacraments of picnic lunches ordinary baths, forgiving embraces, and rubbing sick friends' feet. . . ."
As her body aged, she embraced it in a new way:
"… unlike Nora Ephron, I do not hate my neck. This is my body, complete with pale skin, lumpy thighs, aging flesh. Living in it is the sacrament I know best. Every single day I am presented with the opportunity to wake up, say something kind and thankful over this body, and offer it to the world in a way that promises to be useful…. My body knows this: this is my soul's home on earth, in which I am pleased to dwell."
After our readings, we had a wonderful Q & A time with our audience. The conversation—about everything from bodies, eating, drinking and clothing to church, cussing and praying—continued out onto the signing colonnade where these wonderful women stood in line to have us sign their copies of Circling Faith. I was humbled by their stories and their wisdom, and the wonderful exchange between writers and readers. They blessed us by their presence at the event. And I came away with a new appreciation for my body, as flawed as it is.
This might seem like a bumpy segue, but I want to close with some more insights from Caroline Knapp:
"What we want, of course, what lies in the cupboard marked important, is connection, love: If the deepest source of human hunger had a name, that would be it; if the boxes of constraint in which so many women live could be smashed to bits, that would be the tool…. Love—the desire to love and be loved….—is the constant on the continuum of hunger…."
Nothing really new about that, right? We all want love. But how does love help us break the destructive cycles of eating or drinking or depression? Knapp says that therapy helped, but it wasn't the whole answer. Like me (and millions of others, apparently) her whole world was wrapped up in WANTING:
"I wanted (at worst) to stay thin and (at best) to stop worrying about staying thin…. I suppose I suffered from the form of delusion that always accompanies obsession, which is to view the object of desire as the solution rather than the problem: If I could get weight and eating under control, the rest would follow, I'd find peace."
Sound familiar? For decades I've told myself those same words. She continues:
"I am somewhat stunned, and a little rueful, at how arduous it all is, how long it can take a woman to achieve a degree of balance around appetites, to learn to feed herself and to understand and honor the body, and to hunger for things that are genuinely sustaining instead of hungering for decoys."
Bingo. This is the balance, the peace, the acceptance that Marshall was talking about on Sunday. That Barbara Brown Taylor writes about. But once we learn to quit hungering for decoys, how do we redirect that hunger?
"Hunger, no matter how uncomfortable, is like fuel; it's what keeps you striving, it's what powers those baby steps, impels you in fits and starts onto new terrain…. There are moments of contentment, moments of sudden alignment between body and mind and spirit, moments of feeling fed that arrive unexpectedly, like gifts from the universe…. These are moments, which in the end may be the best you get in this life: flashes of satisfaction, glimmers and tastes of hope, fleeting moments that you have to relish and eat up like pie."
I had some of those moments this weekend—when several women from Nashville who came to our reading and bought our book told me how much they could relate to my story and how much it helped them. And listening to the strong feminine wisdom from my fellow contributors to Circling Faith. And especially to the music of one of those strong women of passion. Like this one, "Leaving Loachapoka." And this one, "I Love Everybody." My favorites were "Blaze of Glory" and "Not Afraid to Die," but I can't find a link to them. Yes, today I'm relishing those moments, those flashes of satisfaction, those glimmers and tastes of hope. And for right now, they taste better than key lime pie. Maybe even better than good Bourbon. At least that's what my soul is telling my body today. And that's the best I can do. That and try to love.
Faith on Friday: Circling Faith and Celebrating "Twang" in Nashville. . . Without Julie Cannon (who hopes you're not turned off when Jesus shows up)
- At October 12, 2012
- By Susan
- In Book Signings, Events, Faith on Friday, Fiction
- 2
I'm getting excited about my trip to Nashville (today) for the Southern Festival of Books. Our panel for Circling Faith: Southern Women on Spirituality, will include co-editors, Jennifer Horne and Wendy Reed, and me. We're up at 12 p.m. on Sunday, October 14, in room 31 of the Legislative Plaza.
The SFB Schedule is jam packed with authors I want to visit or meet—many of whom are scheduled at the same time, so choices will have to be made. Some of my Friday afternoon choices includes Padgett Powell at noon, Stella Suberman (also a Circling Faith contributor) at 1 p.m., Naomi Judd at 3 p.m., and the panel I'm most excited about today: Julie Cannon, Krista Phillips and my friend Julie Cantrell, at 4 p.m. Their topic? "Heroines in Pursuit: Novels of Discovery and Faith." But then something unexpected happened to one of these women of faith, Julie Cannon. She died. Suddenly, in her sleep, Tuesday night. Courtney Walsh has a lovely blog post about her, "Live Well: In Honor of Julie Cannon." And Julie's last blog post is here, "Jesus is Just Alright With Me," from September 3. It was release day for her latest novel, Twang, about which she says,
"Today, as my story is released, I wonder, did I get it real enough? Will even non-Christians appreciate Twang? If you like spiritually daring stories and you're not turned off when Jesus shows up, I hope you'll consider checking out Twang."
I was planning on buying a copy of Twang at the festival, and having it signed by Julie Cannon. I will still buy the book, and I'll grieve the loss of another strong female voice writing about faith, along with the gritty things in our lives. Julie's sudden death is another opportunity to look at my life as though it could end at any moment. Because it can. And, well, another chance to circle faith.
So, I won't just be hanging out at the Festival all weekend. Tonight I'll be visiting my Goddaughter, Stacy, and her family. It's her husband, Jared's, birthday. And their son, Jackson, is my Godson. Can't wait to see all of them!
And on Saturday after a day of choosing which authors to listen to, including Christa Allan (on a panel titled "Jesus Take the Wheel—Novels of Family & Faith"), Memphis' Kristen Iversen, and my friend from Oxford, Tom Franklin, I hope to go to Kory Wells and her daughter, Kelsey's, CD Release Party for "A Decent Pan of Cornbread." And my new friend, Karissa Knox Sorrell will be on the Chapter 16 outdoor stage from 4-6 p.m. Then there's the authors' reception at The Arts Company at 6:30.
At 9:30 Saturday night I'll be joining Circling Faith co-editors Jennifer Horne and Wendy Reed at The Bluebird Café to hear (Circling Faith contributor) Marshall Chapman sing. I've always wanted to go there, and I'm thrilled that my first experience will be a musical-literary event: "Literary In the Round."
On Sunday, our panel for Circling Faith is first on the day's agenda: 12 p.m. We'll be signing books on the colonnade after the panel, at 1 p.m., and then I'll head back to Memphis. I'm usually floating on air after such special events, and I'm sure this weekend will be exciting. But there will also be somberness in that air with the loss of Julie Cannon. I can't wait to read Twang. May her memory be eternal. Have a great weekend, everyone, and I hope you'll check back in for Mental Health Monday.
Writing on Wednesday: Alice Walker Writes it Right
Yesterday I read a wonderful interview with Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, Alice Walker (The Color Purple) who is also a contributor to Circling Faith: Southern Women on Spirituality. (I still can't believe my essay is in the same anthology!)
Walker's interview in Guernica is part of last week's celebration of "Banned Books Week," September 30-October 6. Walker responds to questions about why The Color Purple was continually challenged and banned over 25 years after winning the Pulitzer and the National Book Award (1983):
"I realized, given the sexism in our culture, that some of the complainers were probably people who had at some time sexually abused children. Or, they had been sexually abused themselves and could not bear thinking about it, as adults. . . . I actually felt a lot of compassion for everyone. . . . The lesbian nature of Shug and Celie's relationship was especially hard to bear . . . . And yet, for me, those considerations were all secondary to the overarching expression in the book of spirituality and the assurance found by many of the characters that the divine is all around us in Nature."
I'm jumping up and down in my computer chair (metaphorically) as I read these words. My novel, Cherry Bomb—which is now being read and considered by several literary agents—is shot through with themes that will be offensive to some readers. Especially the sexual abuse. And challenges to patriarchal authority, especially in the South. But I'm not trying to please everyone. As Walker continues:
"I have a job. I will write what I think is right for me to write. . . . Great Literature is help for humans. It is medicine of the highest order. In a more aware culture, writers would be considered priests. . . . I know what The Color Purple can mean to people, women and men, who have no voice. Who believe they have few choices in life. It can open to them, to their view, the full abundance of this amazing journey we are all on. It can lift them into a new realization of their own power, beauty, love, courage."
Yes! All three of the protags in my novel are women who had no voice. Who search for their voice, through art. Or spirituality. Or both. And while Walker's novel is set in the midst of a huge racial struggle, she insists:
". . . I'm not writing simply about race. Always I am writing about human beings first, humans who have other attributes that embellish or hinder their soul's journey."
Those "attributes that embellish or hinder their soul's journey" are the stuff that great character-driven novels are all about. My wish for my novel is that Mare, Elaine and Neema's soul journeys will capture the hearts of my readers. And if the hard stuff they suffer along the way offends anyone, I can only join Walker in saying:
"I left the struggle up to others. I had delivered my gift. It was given in complete love to everyone."
At this point you might be thinking I'm pretty arrogant to compare my work to Walker's. But that's not what this is about. It's about being thankful for role models like her, who have set the standard for "writing it right." For truthfulness and courage. For outstanding literary prose. And for doing all of this from a point of interior peace. Near the end of her contribution to Circling Faith, Walker says:
"It's never too late to start trying to bring peace to yourself and take that into the world, which is what I try in my life to do, because I really do understand that, unless you have it in yourself, there's no possibility of giving it."
And so today I wish peace to my readers. To my friends who are writers—who are delivering their gifts to the world out of love. They are all my heroes. I'm looking forward to hanging out with some of those heroes at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville this weekend. I'll be on a panel with the editors of Circling Faith at 12 p.m. on Sunday, October 14, in the Legislative Plaza, Room 31. And at the author signing colonnade at 1 p.m. But I'll also be attending as many talks and readings as I can get around to during the weekend.
I'm especially excited about joining friends at Marshall Chapman's musical show at the Bluebird Café on Saturday night! Marshall is the author of They Came to Nashville and Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller. She also contributed a wonderful essay to Circling Faith: Southern Women on Spirituality
Did you know that in 2011, To Kill a Mockingbird was one of the top 10 "challenged" books? The reasons given were "offensive language" and "racism." How do you feel about book banning? I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment here, or start or join a thread on Facebook. Thanks for reading.


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