text:
Sing & Accompany on Piano w/EZ Song Lyrics & Piano Tabs
Amy's got the letters I wrote
My picture in a frame
She's had a year to let go
She still wearing my ring
It hasn't left her finger since the night that I proposed
When I promised her forever before I took her home
But I never made it home that night
A part of her died too
I watched her losing her mind
And there's nothing I can do
Yeah sometimes she goes crazy screaming out my name
Saying baby please come and save me
I wish she knew I'd do anything
To kiss the tears right off her face
Tell her everything's okay
Feel her heartbeat next to mine
And make up for lost time
Oh but God I know I can't
But you can't let her live this way
It's too late for saving me
But there's still hope for saving Amy
Now three years have gone by
She's finally living life
And I still watch her sometimes
Just to make sure she's alright
She knows I'll always be there
In her heart and in her dreams
'Cause God, I promised her forever and
that's one promise I intend to keep
And kiss the tears right off her face
Tell her everything's' okay
Feel her heartbeat next to mine
And make up for lost time
Oh but God I know I can't
But you can't let her live this way
It's too late to save me
But there's still hope for saving Amy
Published by
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed by Lyric Find Inc. and property and copyright of their owners. All lyrics provided for educational purposes and personal use only.
Learn how to accompany yourself singing this and other Billboard's Top Songs & Timeless Classics instantly with EZ Song Lyrics & IVOREEZ Piano Tabs.
No lessons, practice, or memorization. Add decals to your keyboard, pick a song from the IVOREEZ database, match the colors like karaoke
and play accompaniment in 60 seconds. Ready to try it free? Sign up at IVOREEZ.com for your free lessons and sample kit.


text:
Every year around Halloween, an accident occurs at the Oaks Mall: Somebody flips over a soda can.
Every year around Halloween, an accident occurs at The Oaks Mall: Somebody flips over a soda can.
This is not an everyday act of human error. Instead, the can flips over and implodes, crushed seemingly on its own.
Children scream in delight, recognizing the work of a ghost when they see it.
Adam Veige knows the truth.
A University of Florida chemistry professor, Dr. Veige has been putting on Halloween Molecular Mania at The Oaks Mall for six years. He said the event started when his research group applied for a grant from the National Science Foundation.
"The idea is to communicate science to the public," he said. "We have a lot of dynamic experiments. The kids just go crazy for it."
This year the event is taking place today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The group always does a core of 10 to 12 favorite experiments, getting kids into the Halloween spirit with themed demonstrations.
A classic favorite is making gooey slime. Kids mix two substances together and stir it with a Popsicle stick.
"It's the same thing I would buy in vending machines when I was a kid," Veige said. "I used to throw it at the wall, and it stuck."
Chemistry grad student Andrew Powers remembers going to science fairs as a kid. He said these events were huge to him.
"When I was 10 years old, I made a silver penny at an event," he said. "It was a real big deal to me."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ag One Appraisal Service is a farm appraisal company that specializes in the appraisal of farms and ranches in Eastern Nebraska and Southwestern Iowa. Recent assignments have involved farms, acreages, transitional properties, and commercial properties in both Nebraska and Iowa.
Many assignments have involved properties within an hour's drive of Omaha. In addition to appraising real estate, the personnel at Ag One Appraisal Service review appraisals and consult with individuals in regard to real estate matters and agricultural production in general. We look forward to assisting you in the appraisal of your property and in regard to other matters concerning your property. Make sure to request an appraisal today!
Ag One Appraisal Service
15429 Hamilton Street
Omaha, Nebraska 68154
(402) 493-8897
© 2008 Ag One Appraisal Service.


text:
How to Get People to Delay Retirement
Longer working lives are crucial to a secure financial retirement. Here's how to encourage older workers to stay on the job, and companies to hire them
The average American retires relatively early, at 64 for men and 62 for women. But with life expectancy rising by one to three months with every year that passes, economists and policy experts say leaving the workforce at such ages is a luxury most people can no longer afford.
"Retirement was a 20th-century invention, but it's kind of gotten out of control," says John Shoven, an economist at Stanford University. "If you go back to 1900, most men worked until they couldn't work anymore and died a few years later. Now, you can...


text:
I love the upwind angles and smoothness of foiling, the ability to adventure further afield. But I dislike the limitation of the mast height in the water. I also dislike the long learning curve before you get to a state of unconscious competence, not being able to ride a wave and boost on the same kite in the same conditions is reducing my freedom to one or the other while on the foil. That halves my fun. I have grown used to the sensation of foiling. Even tho it is cool it has become normal and not better than the other sensations I get kiting. When i get back on my normal board i love the freedom of not having to worry about the water depth or ventilating wings, The powered boosting and carving waves is fun when i'm powered up. But I hate the upwind angles of my normal board and the non smoothenss through chop. Light wind normal kite surfing is dead to me.
So I find myself wanting the best of both worlds.... if i could get the silly upwind angles of the foil with the versatility and fun of my mutant that would be kiting nirvana for me.
Where too from here?
I will probably build a new mutant with a view to improving its upwind to bridge the gap between foil and standard. I'll work on the foil skill to get more of my skill set in that unconscious competence state. See how things progress.
Anyone else hit this foiling doldrums stage?


text:
BA Takes You On A Caribbean Break This Winter
Posted November 3, 2009 by BookingBuddy
So if your summer tan is fast fading away and you're languishing under layers of knitted jumpers, maybe it's time to ask the boss nicely for a week or two off. After all, lounging about on the golden sands of a beach in St. Kitts, rum-based cocktail in hand, will surely help recharge your batteries in no time. Just tell your boss you're trying to boost your productivity. If St Kitts or Montego Bay isn't your scene, BA also offers flights to Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and St. Lucia. Just open up a map of the Caribbean, close your eyes point, and BA will take you there.
And don't forget to pack your sunscreen!
(Photo: travelmodule.csiadmin.co.uk)
Users are solely responsible for the content of the comments posted. Comments are subject to the terms and conditions and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or approval of bookingbuddy.co.uk. Bookingbuddy.co.uk does not control or endorse the content, messages or information posted.
Reader Comments
That would be a great idea to spend your winter vacation on a very hot and sunny place like the Caribbean. This will give you a very unique winter experience.
Do not book they will be on strike, back the Union not the boses
It's always like that. When it's cold, you'll gonna find something warm and vise versa.
The comments to this entry are closed.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference BA Takes You On A Caribbean Break This Winter:


text:
To purchase your Wealth Through Property Online Study Pack simply complete the form below, choose your payment method and click the submit button.
Please ensure you enter the correct email address, your Introduction Booklet, The Fundamentals Workbook, The Buying Workbook and The Maintaining & Selling Workbook will be forwarded to the email address you provide. This email will include your log in details to the exclusive online website.
Should you experience any problems, please call 1300 372 677.


text:
UMD Alert
Campus Safety Notification Message
Dear Campus Community,
I am writing today to inform you of a safety threat that was made to our community, for which a suspect is now in custody.
On February 23, 2018, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the University of Maryland Police Department (UMPD), Criminal Investigations Unit, received a complaint regarding concerning behavior from an individual. The reporting person told police that this individual made statements that he was applying for firearms and waiting for the background check. The individual continued to state he had access to firearms and he was going to shoot UMPD police officers.
Due to the statements made by the individual, our Criminal Investigations Unit applied for and obtained an arrest warrant for Ryan Matthew Sulkowski, 21-year-old male, from Baltimore Maryland, for making the threat of assault against UMPD officers.
In the early morning hours of February 25, 2018, the Baltimore County Police Department took Ryan Matthew Sulkowski into custody and was charged with the following:
One count of CR 3-1001 Threat of Mass Violence – A person who violates this section is guilty of the misdemeanor of making a threat of mass violence and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both.
One count of ED 26-101 School: Disturb Operation - Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $2,500, imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or both.
Currently, Mr. Sulkowski is in custody and is being held on a no bond status.
Based upon this information, the University of Maryland Police Department deployed resources and took several precautionary safety measures.
We commend the reporting person in this case who came forward and reported to police. As a reminder, If You See or Hear Something, Say Something. If you notice an individual that is behaving in a manner that is unsettling, please call the University of Maryland Police Department (UMPD) right away so an investigation can begin.
David B. Mitchell
Chief of Police/ Director of Public Safety
University of Maryland Police DepartmentSent by University of Maryland Police DepartmentUniversity of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742


text:
Product Overview
The active ingredients in our Cranberry Extract, malic, citric, and quinic acids acidify the urine and keep unwanted material from adhering to the cells that line the bladder wall.
- Recyclable Packaging
- No Synthetic Colors or Stabilizers
- No Artificial Sweeteners
Count 60 capsules Strength 400 mg
Product Details
Take 1 capsule, one to three times daily, between meals. Store in a cool dry place.
Safety Information
If pregnant or nursing, consult your health care practitioner before taking this product. Keep out of reach of children.
Other ingredients: vegetable cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, vegetarian leucine, silica.


text:
The share of Russian medicines in the segment of VEM (vital and essential medicines) is 83 percent. By the end of next year it is planned to reach the figure of 90 percent. This was announced at the BIOTECHMED Conference by the Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, Denis Manturov.
According to him, the share of domestic medical products in the Russian market reached 20 percent (in 2012 it was 13 percent). The share of medicines, made in Russia, is 32 percent, in physical terms it is 69 percent. The Minister specified that this level has been achieved in all major medicine segments.
At the same time, the Russian market remained open to foreign producers. According to the Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, foreign pharmaceutical companies built seven plants, and 78 foreign holdings localized their production output at Russian factories.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina


text:
New Vacation Rentals and Timeshares for Sale in Put In Bay Looking to buy new vacation rentals & timeshares? Browse new vacation rentals & timeshares in Put in Bay, Ohio Real Estate on cleveland.com.
We're sorry, no listings were found that match your criteria.
Moving Tools
Real Estate Tips & Resources
- Ohio Real Estate Listings
- Browse by Cities in Ottawa County
- Foreclosure Real Estate in OH
- Put in Bay Real Estate Listings
- Home Mortgage Companies in Put in Bay
- Real Estate Appraisers in Put in Bay
- Real Estate Brokers in Put in Bay
- Real Estate Agents in Put in Bay
- Title Companies in Put in Bay
- Escrow Services in Put in Bay
- Home Inspection Services in Put in Bay
- OH Real Estate Jobs
- OH Real Estate News
- OH Home & Garden
- Crib Notes Real Estate Blog
- Real Estate Business News
- Real Estate Metro News
- Plain Dealer Real Estate News


text:
Acrylic roses, roses on plexiglass, plexi roses
#172624675Set Wedding invitation vintage card with roses and antique decorative elements. Vector illustration
#206235582Wedding Invitation card templates with realistic of beautiful flower on background color.
#202605718Set watercolor elements of roses, hydrangea.collection garden pink flowers, leaves, branches, Botanic illustration isolated on white background. bud of flowers
#175661204Rosegold marble background. Shiny, glitter and glossy effect for an elegant and feminine wallpaper.
#189798482Floral Wedding Invitation elegant invite, thank you, rsvp card vector Design: garden pink, peach Rose flower, white wax, succulent, cactus plant, green Eucalyptus tender greenery, berry trendy bouquet
#201052141Vector round botanical frame with pale pink roses, green leaves and plants. Light romantic floral design.
#178347047Geometric rose gold design template. Modern design for wedding invitation, greeting card, anniversary. Navy blue background with geometric rose gold ornament. Vector illustration
add to favorites


text:
From 2011-12 MACE worked with the Lincoln School of Media at the University of Lincoln to produce a series of nine DVDs which profile the people, places, history and culture of some of the cities and counties of the Midlands.
They are all shrink-wrapped and presented in tasteful digipaks with protective slipcases.
Click the titles below to visit their DVD shop pages:
Nottingham on Film £16.99 NOW £11.99
Nominee: FOCAL Internation Award 2013 – Best Use of Footage in a Home Entertainment Release. A compilation of footage presented in ten themes and illustrating the rich cultural and industrial heritage of Nottingham from 1920 to 1980. Includes footage of the Goose Fair, Market Square,
Derbyshire on Film – The Peak District £14.99 NOW £9.99
A focus on the customs, industries, people and landscape of the Peak District throughout the twentieth century. Includes footage of Ashbourne Shrovetide football, well dressing and Dovedale stepping stones throughout the decades.
Rebuilding Coventry £14.99 NOW £9.99
A look at the efforts to reclaim Coventry from the ashes of the 1940 blitz. Includes footage of the motor industry and Coventry Cathedral.
Shropshire Lives £14.99 NOW £9.99
A compilation of ATV Today regional news reports looking at various towns and villages in the county. Includes the Cliff Railway at Bridgnorth and Much Wenlock olympics.
Regenerating Birmingham (1955 to 1975) £14.99 NOW £9.99
Charting the ambitious housing project that transformed the city of Birmingham from the 1950s to 1970s. Includes footahe of the Bullring in the 1960s and Back to Back Houses in the 1950s.
Made in Leicester £14.99 NOW £9.99
Rosemary Conley CBEs presents this celebration of Leicester's Market and manufacturing heritage. The DVD mixes contemporary interviews (including Leicester's Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby) and images of the market and textile industry in the 20th Century.
Snobs & Clowns: Northamptonshire on Film 1932-1989 £14.99 NOW £9.99
A look at some of the people, places and industries of Northamptonshire from the 1930s to 1980s. Includes a programme made for Anglia Television in the 1960s, Focus on Northampton, and a look at the tenants of Althorp Estate in the 1980s and an interview with Racing legend Jim Clarke at Silverstone.
Footprints in the Sand: Holidays on the Lincolnshire Coast £14.99 NOW £9.99
A focus on three holiday resorts on the Lincolnshire Coast, Skegness, Sutton on Sea and Mablethorpe. Includes a 1920s silent film of children holidaying in Mablethorpe and a series of home movie and professionally made films of holidaying in Butlins at Skegness from the 1940s to 1980s.
Worcestershire on Film £14.99 NOW £9.99
A complilation of home movies and professional footage which celebrate Worcestershire. Includes footage of a visit by Winston Churchill in 1950 and a look at crop growing and hop picking.
Buy the Full Collection
The DVDs can all be purchased separately however the whole collection can be purchased together for £60! (Normal price £136.91). Buy the full set HERE.
The production of these nine DVDs was made possible by the generous financial support of EM Media through the UK Film Council's Digital Film Archive Fund.


text:
Global Cooling is Bunk, Draft NASA Study Finds
DAILY CLIMATE - Global warming has neither stopped nor slowed in the past decade, according to a draft analysis of temperature data by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.… Read More
An independent organization of leading scientists and journalists researching and reporting the facts about our changing climate and its impact on the public.
Climate Central surveys and conducts scientific research on climate change and informs the public of key findings. Our scientists publish and our journalists report on climate science, energy, sea level rise. Read More
Members of the Climate Central staff and board are among the most respected leaders in climate science. Staff members are authorities in communicating climate and weather links, sea level rise, climate. Read More
DAILY CLIMATE - Households surpass industry as nation's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.… Read More
PARADE - In the search for greener energy, a New Hampshire college finds an alternative at the local landfill.… Read More
CLIMATE CENTRAL - What the volcanic eruption in Iceland might mean for the climate.… Read More
CLIMATE CENTRAL - Coastal and marine resource managers learn about climate change adaptation. … Read More
DAILY CLIMATE - Coalition outlines more than 50 conservation projects to help game and fish adapt to climate change; billions of dollars needed to prevent 'catastrophic' environmental and economic loss.… Read More
DAILY CLIMATE - With climate change transforming the Arctic, biologists are scrambling to understand the impact on gray whales and other creatures living in the region.… Read More
YALE E360 - As the world warms, sea levels could easily rise three to six feet this century. But increases will vary widely by region, with prevailing winds, powerful ocean currents, and even the gravitational pull of the polar ice sheets determining whether some coastal areas will be inundated while others stay dry.… Read More
DAILY CLIMATE - Global warming has neither stopped nor slowed in the past decade, according to a draft analysis of temperature data by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.… Read More


text:
Call (888) 651-9785
February 2018
Very amazing tour. Highly recommend. You will see the city without feeling like a tourist.
October 2017
This was more a history tour, not anything scary but a lot of interesting folk lore and legends. You do get to walk in real interesting sections of Barcelona that you would not ordinarily see and try to keep tract of where you are because it is fun to go back the next day and see all the small shops that are tucked along these narrow streets. Guide was excellant.
October 2016
We enjoyed the tour - it was a great way to see different parts of the City. Christina the tour guide was excellent. The tour was based on myths and legends from different areas of Barcelona rather than mega scary ghost stories but Christina delivered them very well. Would recommend!!!
July 2016
Loved it. Not only was the tour guide incredibly captivating even if she specifically said that certain stories were more myths than real, but we got to visit the backstreets of Barcelona, the non-touristy areas where the locals seemed to hang out and eat and live. I only wish the tour was longer, the time flew because I was having so much fun!
June 2016
Our tour guide Christina maybe? was amazing!! The stories weren't that scary but her story telling skills were on point! She kept us interested and was very fun and knowledgable to talk to in between getting places. The stories weren't conventionally scary but mostly like wives tales. I would recommend this tour for anyone interested in seeing the town at night and hearing some fun stories.
March 2016
Good time. Good tour. Friendly tour guide. Saw and experienced things we never would have otherwise. Highly recommend!
March 2016
Well done. We very much enjoyed the tour and the guide was excellent!
March 2015
The tour guide was quite good and the route that we explored was interesting. In spite of living in Barcelona for more than a year, there were places that I just found through this tour.
December 2014
Great experience , enjoyed my everyone great tour guide xxx
June 2013
The tour was awesome. Went to places in Barcelona that I would have never seen if it wasn't for the tour. I did like the fact that the tour guide did the tour both in Spanish and English.
Some content licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
© 1997–Sun Sep 23 15:19:59 PDT 2018 Viator, Inc. MAR015 - 330218 All rights reserved. Viator is a registered trademark of Viator, Inc.
is a Service Mark of Viator, Inc. Travel with an Insider is a Service Mark of Viator, Inc.
Use of this website constitutes acceptance of Viator's Terms & Conditions.
Viator uses cookies to improve your experience on our website. Learn more about how we use cookies and how to change your cookie settings | Close message


text:
If we are in a marketplace for a new flagship smartphone in a US, Amazon US has an appealing understanding for you. The online tradesman is now offered a unbarred Motorola Moto Z with 64GB of inner storage for $499.99, a bonus of $200 over a unchanging cost tab of …Read More »
Home / Tag Archives: deal:
Deal: Unlocked BlackBerry Priv Only $299 on EBay
As may very well know, the folks at BlackBerry announced their first Android smartphone back in October last year. The smartphone was released in select markets the next month and it was received with mostly good reviews. Unlike other Android phones, BlackBerry Priv has a full QWERTY sliding keyboard and despite having a …Read More »


text:
Business Development Manager (Electronic Security Solutions) (Cape Town) - G4S Secure Solutions - South Africa
Number of Positions: 1
Job Category: Business Services/Marketing
Contract Type: Full Time
Salary: Competitive market related package
G4S Region: Africa
Country:South Africa
G4S Business Unit:South Africa - Secure Solutions
Closing Date: October 14, 2017
Job Introduction:
Kindly note, by registering your details for this Expression of Interest Role you acknowledge a potential, future relevant role with G4S and that this is not an active vacancy. G4S recruit throughout the year, and job roles will become live at different times in different locations. By applying you will be considered for all suitable roles when they open.
At G4S South Africa, we place great value on attracting and retaining the best people at all levels, to ensure the continued success of the organisation.
Reporting to the National Sales Operations Manager, the Business Development Manager (ESS - Electronic Security Solutions) based in Cape Town is responsible for the marketing and sales growth of technology and systems to prospective and existing customers, to achieve established sales targets.
Role Responsibility:
Effective management of sales and marketing in the region in compliance with G4S business strategy
Development of sales strategy specific to the region, through analysis of the region's business profile, products and services available / required, existing customer base, resources and competitors.
Identification of potential new business opportunities through consultation and cooperation with operational management, planned prospecting, leads, cold calling, tender notices.
Arrange and conduct meetings with new and existing business prospects, in conjunction with operational management where appropriate, to market G4S integrated security solutions.
Conduct / arrange site surveys to identify risks and develop appropriate solution to meet customer needs.
Prepare and submit sales proposals / tenders to prospective customers. Where necessary, prepare and conduct sales presentation.
Obtain approval from the Regional Financial Manager that the proposal complies with the PAP Model
In consultation with the ROD and Financial Manager, ensure that annual contract escalations of existing customers are finalised.
Effective performance of Sales and Marketing administrative functions
Finalise contract documentation (Service Agreement, Letter of Intent) as per standard terms and conditions, with any variation approved by National Office.
Preparation and submission of Contract Schedule to appropriate departments for processing.
Ensure that a customer file is maintained, containing a signed copy of the contract, contract schedule, as well as any other relevant documentation.
Ensure that Head Office is provided with copies of all signed contracts.
Ensure that the contract status report is updated on a monthly basis.
Ensure that the ERP system is constantly updated with all required information on new and existing customers.
Where required by the Regional Operations Director, coordinate Public Relations activities, Company sponsored events, and the control and distribution of corporate gifts.
Effective reporting on regional Sales and Marketing activities
Preparation and submission of monthly report to ROD and Technical Director.
Provide Financial Manager with accurate information on new and lost business as required.
Advise regional operational management of sales activities, competitors and customer needs.
The Ideal Candidate:
G4S Sales and Marketing Policy and procedures
G4S Integrated Security Solutions
Communication (Written and Verbal)
Persuasiveness/Sales Ability
Customer Thinking
Computer literacy
Delivering strategy
Collaborating and Co-operating
Relationship Building
Awareness of Market Environment
Minimum Qualifications:
- Grade 12
- Related Tertiary Qualification
- Must have previous technology and systems sales experience within the security industry
About the Company:
G4S is the world's leading international security solutions group, which specialises in outsourced business processes in sectors where security and safety risks are considered a strategic threat. G4S is the largest employer quoted on the London Stock Exchange and has a secondary stock exchange listing in Copenhagen. G4S has operations in more than 125 countries and 657,000 employees.
G4S operates in over 25 countries in Africa and employs over 105 000 people on the continent. At G4S South Africa, our vision is to be recognised as the leader in providing security solutions. We therefore endeavour to build and maintain a motivated, capable workforce who are proud to work for our region and able to deliver our commercial strategy. We continue to build on the excellent people management practices which are in place across the Group in order to fully engage our workforce.
G4S is an organisation which is defined by its values, which are:
- We act with Integrity and Respect - Our business activities and relationships are built on trust, honesty and openness. We do what we promise and always strive to do the right thing. We listen. We treat our colleagues, customers and those in our care with the utmost respect.
- We are passionate about Safety, Security and Service Excellence - We are passionate about working safely and take great care to protect our colleagues and customers from harm. We are experts in security and use that knowledge to protect our customer's assets. We keep our promises and are passionate about delivering high levels of customer service.
- We achieve this through Innovation and Teamwork - We invest in technology and best practice to continuously improve the products and services we offer. We challenge ourselves to find new ways of helping our customers achieve their goals. We work together as a team, valuing everyone's contribution, to ensure we achieve the best results for our customers and our business.
For more information on G4S, please visit: www.g4s.com


text:
Okay, so I admit it, I switched out Meg's title – it should be Meg Benjamin on P.L.H.E. But doesn't it read better as H.E.L.P.? Sorry, Meg …
Meg and I had our first release the same day back in January. Meg's latest book, Be My Baby, the third book in her Konigsburg series releases next Tuesday. So I'm thrilled to have her back on my blog, talking about …
The biggest, most frequent complaint against romances that I've gotten from non-romance readers (other than all the sex scenes, of course) boils down to this: romances have happy endings. Always. No matter how much angst the hero and heroine of the romance endure in the story, they'll end up together and it'll be happily ever after. And this, we're told, is a Bad Thing.
As to why this is a Bad Thing, well, opinions vary. "It's unrealistic" (and, of course, all other forms of popular fiction rigidly adhere to realism). "It's simple-minded" (so apparently only misery is intellectually pure). "It leads to expectations that can't be fulfilled" (and all readers of romance get their life lessons from fiction).
The only one of these complaints that seems to have any real validity, as far as I'm concerned, is the idea that the required happy ending is limiting to an author. But while it's true that we romance writers can't violate this convention, most romance heroes and heroines still go through a lot of anguish to get there. Even writers like me who do comedy still have to work in a Big Black Moment somewhere along the way. And some comic writers, like, say, Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Loretta Chase, can make those moments pretty black indeed.
So what's really behind this extreme aversion to happy endings, particularly from non-romance readers? I'm going out on a limb here and saying it's related to the way "happy ending" is defined, or rather the way one of my favorite genders defines it. Because the biggest complainers about the happy ending rule, in my experience, are male. And the problem seems to be what they consider "happy."
Let's take an example here—Casablanca, the great forties movie. Now I'm really fond of Casablanca (in fact, I've managed to work references to it into several things I've written), but there's no way I'd see it as having a really happy ending since Rick and Ilsa can't possibly end up together. That can't actually happen without getting rid of Victor, and without Victor there's no beating the Nazis. So both Rick and Ilsa have to be noble and have that lovely, heartbreaking scene at the airport.
However, in my experience some men argue that that the ending of Casablanca is completely satisfying, happy in fact. Rick and Ilsa get a chance to work out their differences (and have one last roll in the hay), Rick renews his belief in heroism, and Rick and Louis head off to fight the Nazis while Ilsa heads off to America to raise money with Victor.
Although I have a lot of "yes, but's" here, I can also see how, from a guy's point of view, this constitutes the ideal happy ending. Rick gets to have sex with Ilsa, and then gets to leave her without any commitment to come back later and try to have a life together. Instead, he gets to go off and shoot bad guys while she's not longer around to complicate things. Bliss!
So, okay, women (who make up the vast majority of romance readers) like to believe that it's possible to have a long-term committed romantic relationship. And we like books that back us up. Men seem to prefer books where the hero gets to have a lot of sex, but doesn't end up tied down to anybody in the end. And if you're not sure about this, check out the numerous mysteries and thrillers written by male authors where the hero is always having bittersweet, short-term relationships with women who either die or take off. Women readers may not find this kind of ending particularly satisfying, but I'd argue a lot of men think it's pretty neat.
Potato, potahto. Happy endings can be defined however you want them to be. Just don't tell me the books I read are simple-minded because the hero and heroine end up together rather than heading off to troll for the next sex partner. If you can manage to do that, I promise I'll refrain from even mentioning the words Peter Pan Complex in connection with happy endings that are hopelessly male.
There's no room in her life for love. Love has other ideas…
Konigsburg, Texas, Book 3
If Jessamyn Carroll had only herself to consider, staying in Pennsylvania after her husband's death would have been a no-brainer. Her vindictive in-laws' efforts to get their hooks into her infant son, however, force her to flee to a new home. Konigsburg, Texas.
Peace…at least for now. She's even found a way to make some extra money, looking after sexy accountant Lars Toleffson's precocious two-year-old daughter. She finds it easy—too easy—to let his protective presence lull her into thinking she and her son are safe at last.
Lars, still wounded from enduring a nasty divorce from his cheating ex-wife, tries to fight his attraction to the mysterious, beautiful widow. But when an intruder breaks into her place, and Jess comes clean about her past, all bets are off. Someone wants her baby—and wants Jess out of the picture. Permanently.
Now Jess has a live-in bodyguard, whether she wants him or not. Except she does want him—and he wants her. Yet negotiating a future together will have to overcome a lot of roadblocks: babies, puppies, the entire, meddling Toleffson family—and a kidnapper.Warning: Contains Konigsburg craziness, creepy in-laws, a conniving two-year-old, a lovelorn accountant, a sleep-deprived Web developer, and lots of hot holiday sex.
Be My Baby releases from Samhain Publishing on Tuesday, December 8th.
Meg Benjamin writes about South Texas, although she recently moved to Colorado. Her comic romances are set in the Texas Hill Country in the mythical town of Konigsburg. When she isn't writing, Meg spends her time listening to Americana music, drinking Colorado and Texas wine, and keeping track of her far-flung family. She recently retired from twenty years of teaching writing, Web design, and desktop publishing. Meg's Web site is http://www.MegBenjamin.com. You can follow her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/meg.benjamin1), MySpace (myspace.com/megbenjamin), and Twitter (http://twitter.com/megbenj1). Meg loves to hear from readers—contact her at firstname.lastname@example.com.
I'm giving away an e-copy of Meg's Be My Baby (you'll have to wait until next Tuesday for its release before I send it to you though). Leave a comment about your favorite on-screen couple who haven't had their happy ending (yet, or maybe they have according to a guy), or your favorite in-print couple and why you want them to have a happy ending. Or not.


text:
Launched in October 1995 by The Independent Traveler, Inc., Cruise Critic was the first consumer cruise site on the Internet. Cruise Critic is an online guide to cruises with cruise reviews and an active community where travelers can share opinions and experiences. In the last five years, traffic [Read More]
Country: • City: • Website: http://www.cruisecritic.comCategory: Portals » Cruise
Excellent portal and resource directory for travellers, cruise industry professionals and students. Includes the latest cruise news, an active forum, an event calendar and a free job board.[Read More]
Country: Netherlands • City: • Website: http://www.cruise-industry.comCategory: Portals » Cruise


text:
|Blogger-turned-author Tikuli
[Readers' reactions here - http://tikulicious.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/collection-of-chaos-my-poetry-book-and-first-mini-review/]
|Blogger-turned-author Tikuli
Thank you Ritesh for giving me this platform. Much apprecited. I have shared it on my network streams and will share as an excerpt with link to this site on my blog too. Best wishes. TikuliReplyDelete
Loved the way you have described your book. A patchwork!
And it's great to know more about you :)
Thank you Saru. :)Delete
It's always a pleasure to get published :-) Loved the interview :-)ReplyDelete
Thank you Amrit. Do visit my blog for other creative writings. :)Delete
Patchwork quilt of poems...very aptly described. Best wishes to many more collections.ReplyDelete
Thanks Janaki. I wish you the same. Congrats for your book too.Delete
Congrats on her first publish.And also thanks to Ritesh for letting us know about her and her wonderful world :-)ReplyDelete
Thanks so much Maniparna. Do come over to my blog to read more. Would welcome a feedback. :)Delete
Great to know more about her.ReplyDelete
Good to know you Indrani. Thank you.Delete
Oh, now that you have taken the trouble to go through my post, feel free to pen a few words- review, criticism or the much-loved adulation!


text:
Wookiefoot - 2013An Interview with Wookiefoot Founding Band Member, Mark Murphy
by Andrew Frey
November 2013
Wookiefoot is a conduit of evolving consciousness. "When JoJo and I started WookieFoot fifteen years ago, we weren't exactly sure what we were creating," begins Mark Murphy, vocalist, visionary, and guitarist for Wookiefoot. "All we knew is that we wanted to be a large community of people doing ridiculous things and sharing our philosophy."
However, as they lived their music, their philosophy and message evolved and escalated with each of their recordings. Starting by getting Domesticated (2000) they went on to Make Belief (2001). Then they got Out of the Jar (2003). After leaving the jar, they had to Activate (2006) before they could Be Fearless and Play (2009). Most recently, they challenged us with being Ready Or Not… (2012).


text:
Isabelle is left stranded at the airport, and her only chance of getting home is with her boyfriend's older brother, Harper. When this good girl and bad boy set off towards home, it turns out that maybe she's not such a good girl after all. And even bad boys have reasons for their bad behavior.
The road trip is full of shocking revelations and unexpected emotions, bringing the two of them closer than Isabelle ever thought possible. Maybe too close.
They had to use their jackets to shield themselves from the rain as they ran to the car. It was pouring again.
"I've had enough of this rain," Isabelle said.
"It's been like this the entire week. Freaky weather."
"At least I got some sunny days in Paris," Isabelle sighed as she got in and closed the door.
"Did you go see the Luxembourg gardens?" Harper asked and started the car. Driving down the street, he typed a quick message to Missy, and Isabelle itched to give him a lecture on safety.
"I loved them," she said instead. "I went there almost every day and watched the people. It was almost like a gallery, but the pictures were alive."
"Did you see kids playing with the sail boats at the basin?"
"Yeah. It was such a nice, calm place. I can imagine going there to relax or cool off."
"It's the perfect spot. But then again, every spot in Paris is damn near perfect."
"Is it my imagination or are you a hopeless romantic?"
He looked at her and smiled crookedly. "It's an inspiring city, that's all."
"Did you visit it alone?" Isabelle asked, smiling.
"Hm. What happened to her?"
"Bugger off."
"Come on, tell me." She only half teased him. She wanted to know more about the Harper she'd glimpsed last night when they talked about his family and earlier in Missy's kitchen. He astounded her, made her curious.
"She ditched me over a physics student," he said as if he were ashamed of it.
"Her loss."
Harper turned to her.
"What? A physics student as opposed to a web designer that can cook? That's a no brainer."
"It certainly was a no brainer for her," he said dryly.
"You cared about her?"
"I took her to Paris, didn't I?"
They fell silent. Isabelle mulled over the things she had learnt about him. She'd only dated one boy before Jamie and it wasn't very serious at all. Still, when he dumped her, her pride was hurt. Chloe went on a mission of returning her self-esteem by taking her on shopping trips where they spent most of their time assessing the boys they saw because neither of them could afford to buy anything. That was how Isabelle first noticed Jamie. He was in front of them in the line at the ice cream place at the mall and she remembered he chose vanilla and chocolate. The ice cream was why she noticed him. She had a habit of choosing the flavors with the wildest colors, so she rarely picked vanilla and chocolate. Jamie, as she learned later, always picked the same flavors.
"Did it hurt?" she now asked Harper.
"I got over it," he said. But the way he said it answered her question better than the words. She could imagine his heartache and it made her sad. His entire life had been sad, Isabelle thought. She guessed that was one of the reasons for the distance that he created between himself and the people around him by being sarcastic and unkind. He deserved a break. He deserved someone to make him happy. Why was it that some people never got to be happy?
"What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" she asked, thinking of Jamie standing in line at the mall. When Jamie had turned and smiled at her, she thought he was cute. Decent and good.
"I don't have one. I always pick a different flavor. Why?"
"Just curious," she said, her smile tense. "And thanks. For a wonderful morning."
"It wasn't as bad as you expected, was it?"
"It wasn't bad at all."
"See? I told you that you could trust me."
"I'm beginning to realize that sometimes it's easier to trust others than myself."
Glancing at her, he said, "What got you thinking that?"
"Life in general," she shrugged. "It's messier, less controllable than I'd like to think. I often misjudge situations. There's plenty of confusing grey areas."
"That it is," he agreed. "Don't let it get to you. Grey's a cool color."
"I don't know." Isabelle looked out of the window into all the rainy greyness. "If you don't mind a Miss Pageant moment, I'd say that if I had the magic wand, I'd make everyone happy. That would make the world more pleasant and easier to live in."
"You'd definitely win the pageant, but you could never make everyone happy. Not even with a magic wand."
"Why not?" she said, frustrated.
He glanced at her, but when she met his eyes, he looked away. "For example, someone will want a sunny day, but their neighbor might like rain. Or to be less prosaic, say, two people are in love with the same person …"
Harper let the rest of the sentence hang in the air. Isabelle froze when his words amalgamated into a coherent sentence in her mind. She didn't dare guess whom he was talking about. She didn't respond.
"Yup," Harper said off-handedly a moment later.
Posted by Becca Jayne (Pretty Little Memoirs) on 14th Jun 2015
Isabelle is returning from Paris after some time away, and was looking forward to being picked up by her boyfriend Jamie. But there were many things Isabelle didn't expect was going to happen that day, or the days to follow. First Jamie is unable to pick her up, so she's stuck with Jamie's older brother; Harper - who she has a bittersweet relationship with, her luggage was gone when she landed in Atlanta, and to make things worse, she's got two guys vying for her affections.
The thing is, they're brothers. And she's only just finding out how heartbreaking and whirlwind the next few weeks will be for the three of them.
Isabelle was a great narrator and character, and I loved that there was a lot of dialogue in the novel, because I think it really set the tone and kept me interested more than usual. She was very different to Harper, and I think because he had a slightly troubled background, Isabelle was very judging of his actions and past before she really got to know the real Harper.
Letting Go is a novella I could read over and over. I was captured by the storyline and was taken along for the ride for the whole car "road-trip" and the days that followed. It was addictive and fun, and I was especially drawn in by Harper and Isabelle, no matter the things that came in-between them. She knew all along when she was with Jamie that there was something between her and Harper and I think that until those early pages of the book when we really get to see them together, interacting, does she really think; we have a connection.
And I know that she was with Jamie first, but torn still, and I honestly thought that Harper brought out something special in her.
The whole romance was cute and light, perfect for a Novella...but I wanted more! More than a Novella! I wanted to find out what would happen after the "the end" and more. There was a sheer brilliance about the whole setting of Letting Go and I'm actually so happy that I had the chance to get to read it, because I know if I hadn't been offered to read it, I would be missing out completely.
Pure sweet-romance, emotions and heartbreak, but ultimately, a love story that I loved. Perfect for Valentine's Day!
Posted by Sasha Hibbs on 14th Jun 2015
What a fantastic novel! Isabelle is left stranded at the airport, back from her trip to Paris. And guess who gets to pick her up? Her boyfriend's (Jamie) big brother, Harper, and now the journey is on. Isabelle's boyfriend is the right guy, and his big brother, Harper, is the wrong guy...or is he?
This is the first YA book that I've read in a while that honestly took me back to a time when I was a teenager. This is a scenario I could totally see happening!
Harper has a dark past in contrast to his little brother's bright future and clean history. It would appear that Harper is a womanizing, reckless hottie, while Jamie is the good golden boy.
The great thing Ms. Hall did was while the road trip lasted for two days, she covered a lot of miles. I loved the way the author flashed back to past experiences between Isabelle and Harper. It built the chemistry between the two and justified the budding feelings.
As I discovered Harper's haunting past and how he worked through it...I cheered all that much more for him. Having a love interest shared between two brothers is not an easy thing to pull off without someone coming out the other end a bad guy, but I have to say, this author did it flawlessly.
I felt like I was on the road with Isabelle and Harper. What an incredibly sweet, passionate, and tender read! I LOVED Letting Go!
Posted by ScrappyT on 14th Jun 2015
With the current paranormal focus in YA novels, it's hard to find books about real people doing real things. I'm happy to say that LETTING GO fills that void with characters readers care about and experiences that ring true. It is also heartening to read a novel written by an author who remembers how life altering and angst inducing a kiss can be. :-)
Posted by heath1005 on 14th Jun 2015
My original review can be found at Sizzling Hot YA Books
Letting go was the sweetest of young adult contemporary reads. Nothing overly angst-filled, nothing too far fetched either. Just. Right. Exactly what I needed this week. :)
With her luggage lost and no ride home from the airport after a trip to Paris, Isabelle is frustrated and the last thing she wants is to hitch a ride home with her brother's boyfriend. This guy is dangerous, in the sense that he makes her feel things she shouldn't. The kind of things that one should not be feeling towards their BF's brother. But what can she do when he's her only hopes at making it home in short order?
Throughout their road trip home, Isabelle and Harper have no choice but to talk. It'd be a long ride home if they didn't, right? But when Isabelle discovers secrets about Harper and her boyfriend Jamie's family, she realizes that maybe stereotyping Harper all along as the bad boy, with the drug habit, and womanizer ways, was not exactly the best move on her behalf. Not to mention the fact that all those feelings she secretly harbors for the guy she shared a memorable dance with not so long before, come back, hitting her head on in the emotional sense. But Isabelle can't be in love with Harper…she's in love with Jamie.
Or can she?
I enjoyed the characters in Letting Go. More so Harper than Isabelle. Not because she wasn't a good person, or a sweet girl even (which she really was.) I just couldn't connect with her very well. Not sure why that is. Maybe it was because of her indecision and the way she pushed her feelings away more than embraced them. But yet she was young, and I totally understood her teenage mentality at the same time. Harper, on the other hand, stole my heart from the get go. His wannabe bad boy ways that filtered over to a sweet guy, with real heart, and an amazing ability to love. Oh, yeah, and his ability to cook. Who can resist a bad boy who cooks? Not this girl.
I would have loved to hear Harper's perspective throughout the length of Letting Go in someway shape or form. But yet, the mystery was still there when it came to his personality and that, in turn, really drew me into the story line, keeping me going and wanting to find out all his secrets.
Overall, if your looking for a truly sweet, love story, with lots of heart and some smoldering kisses, then Letting Go is the perfect book for you. Not too long, not too short, the perfect length for curling up on your couch with a blanket, on a cold winter's day. I loved the premise, the road trip stories are always some of my faves, and in turn I loved the way Ms. Hall brought tougher subjects together, with heart and humor at the same time. I can't wait to read more from this Ms. Hall, and maybe…just maybe…she can write me a book with Harper's side of the story? Oh, and maybe a Jamie story too. Just dropping a few hints


text:
It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., and Dan Scavino Jr., the campaign's social media director, both retweeted a post calling the incident an "assassination attempt"
How could he be one half something and one half something else and still have room in him somewhere for a little Irish/Polish?
Geez, was the military at Trump rally. Who are those people?


text:
Senior Engineer at Spotify
Software Engineer in the Boston area. Data Plumber. Minor Music Nerd.
- Languages of professional and amateur interest: C, C++, Java, Perl, PHP, Erlang, Objective-C, Clojure, Google Go, Python, SuperCollider
- Other learning and areas of interest: FMOD, LADPSA, VST, CoreAudio, and the like; Pd, Max/MSP; Processing and Wiring; GALib; openFrameworks; Echo Nest API; Hadoop; Riak
- Future interest: Haskell, Scala, nsound, Impromptu, Cilk, Hoard, Nyquist, Faust, Extempore, TBB, libdispatch
- Past: VHDL, µC/OS-II
My projects:
- Republic of Nynex (installation at the Megapolis Audio Art Festival in Baltimore, May 2010)
- gosndfile - a libsndfile binding for Go
- Opera Omnia - Automatic remixer
Other stuff not ready for consumption:
- go-osc - Go binding for liblo, perhaps one day shedding the liblo dependency
- go-sc - A SuperCollider language environment written in Go
I practice capoeira with Contra Mestra Marquinho Coreba of Capoeira Gerais.
213 answers
3 questions
~1.6m people reached
- Salem, MA
- hydrogenproject.com
- Member for 9 years, 11 months
- 927 profile views
- Last seen yesterday
Top Posts (216) All Questions Answers | Votes Newest
87 What is the point of a "Build Server"? Jul 8 '09
72 Variables in crontab? Sep 3 '10
41 How to get the name of Perl script that is running Jan 5 '11
23 Using Git to track mysql schema - some questions Apr 1 '11
22 PostgreSQL how to create a copy of a database or schema? Apr 30 '09
21 How do I fix an "ambiguous" function call? Sep 26 '11
17 Which shell does a Perl system() call use? Nov 19 '10
Badges (68)
Gold 1
Silver 21
Bronze 46


text:
What to do on the day
You might find it useful to print this sheet out and bring it with you on the day of your visit.
Our Location
The Dewa Roman Experience is situated within the fortress walls of Chester, just off one of the four main shopping streets, Bridge Street.
Due to our city centre location we cannot provide parking, nor can schools be dropped off at our entrance. We recommend the Little Roodee Car Park for coach and car parking and Pepper Street as the most convenient drop off/pick up point for groups arriving by coach.
Little Roodee Car Park
For Drop off/Pick Up:
Pepper Street
On arrival
Please inform Reception of your arrival. The receptionist will need to know how many children and adults, including group leaders, are in your group. You will be required to pay for your visit at this point. If you are wishing to use the toilets before the start of your visit, please arrive 10 minutes earlier than your allocated starting time.
Payment and Prices
Payment is due on arrival, by cash or by business/ school cheque.
Cheques are to be made payable to Dewa Roman Experience. If, for whatever reason, you are unable to make payment at that time, an invoice will be issued to the group leader on that day.
We are able to store packed lunches within the centre but please bring labelled crates or bin liners to store them in. You are welcome to use our lunch room, but please note that the Dewa Roman Experience is unable to accept any food waste and you must make provision to take your waste away with you.
During your visit
The trip is fully guided so there is no need to bring any additional activities with you, such as worksheets or drawing boards.
Gift Shop
Our gift shop has a wide range of historically themed items starting at pocket money prices. Time in the shop is allocated to each group within the time in the centre, but if you prefer, you may purchase Goody Bags instead. Please book the Goody Bags in advance of your trip; payment for them is required on the day of your visit, by cash or school cheque.


text:
Over the course of 8 weeks, parents, community members, and their children volunteered to install 6 raised beds and participated in a hands-on garden and food demonstration. Participants learned about preparation, care, and harvesting of community gardens as well as how to prepare healthy foods. This project was possible with support from Brunson-Lee Elementary School, Lindon Park Neighborhood, Singh Farms, Mountain Park Health Center, Maricopa County Department of Public Health, and City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department.
Urban Phoenix Project Tree Planting Project
On Saturday, May 20th, over 20 hard-working volunteers came out to help the Urban Phoenix Project plant five trees on the east side of 4th Avenue between W Fillmore St and W McKinley St. The Urban Phoenix Project received $1,000 funding from the Love Your Block Phoenix mini-grant program to plant these trees in downtown Phoenix to raise awareness around the value of trees planted, increase the walkability and livability of downtown Phoenix, and become a small step towards realizing Phoenix's Tree & Shade Master Plan that aims to increase the shade canopy coverage for Phoenix. This project was made possible with support from the non-profit Trees Matter and the City of Phoenix Streets Department, Neighborhood Services Department, and Parks and Recreation Department.
Washington Park Neighborhood Association Roving Mural Project
On Saturday, May 20th, more than 15 community members celebrated the unveiling of 8 roving murals at the Washington Activity Center. The Washington Park Neighborhood Association received $1,000 funding from the Love Your Block Phoenix mini-grant program to create roving murals designed by local AP art students from Washington High School. The murals will remain at the center for a few months before traveling to four other community locations over the course of the year to promote community pride and help unify the neighborhood. This project is made possible with support from Washington High School, the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department, and Parks and Recreation Department.
People United Fight Back Shrub Beautification Planting
On Saturday, April 29th, 35 dedicated volunteers teamed up to help plant 114 shrubs along 24th street medians between Roeser and Wier Ave. The People United Fight Back Neighborhood Association received $1,000 funding from the Love Your Block Phoenix mini-grant program to plant these drought-tolerant and beautiful shrubs along the entrance to their neighborhood. Around 6 police officers from the South Mountain Police Precinct showed their support by stopping traffic for volunteers to cross the road and park their vehicles next to the medians to ensure volunteers felt safe. This project encouraged residents to build relationships and take pride in their community. This project was made possible with support from Whitfill Nursery, the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department, Streets Department, Parks and Recreation Department, and Phoenix South Mountain Police Precinct.
The Triangle Neighborhood is a vibrant community in downtown Phoenix. Our unique triangular boundaries for which the neighborhood is named are formed by Grand Avenue, Roosevelt, and 7th Avenue in downtown Phoenix. The Triangle Neighborhood Association was honored to receive a $1,000 Love Your Block grant to create a community mural by muralist Andy Brown (http://www.soldierleisure.com/) at our neighborhood park.
Hu-O-Te Park is a small community park at the North West corner of McKinley and 11th Ave. It had a large, drab grey block wall with patches of painted-over graffiti that served as the backdrop to the playground. It now hosts a beautiful neighborhood driven mural. The families of this neighborhood deserved a bright and clean place to gather and for their children to play. Murals encourage creativity, discourage graffiti and help to create a sense of neighborhood pride. In addition to the mural installation we cleaned the park and the alley entrance and replaced 20+ dead plants with brightly-colored, drought-tolerant lantana. This project brought our neighborhood together around a common goal and created new bonds that would not have been possible without this grant.
My advice to other neighborhood associations is to apply for the Love Your Block grant! It is not a tough application or reporting process and it was a really rewarding experience for our community that has led to additional unique opportunities. Make sure to involve business owners, churches, universities, etc in the area; you never know where those relationships might lead. One of the bigger challenges we faced was selecting our muralist, Andy Brown, and coordinating his busy schedule so that the neighborhood kids could paint with him. In order to select our muralist we created an arts committee and they ultimately made the decision after interviewing several local muralists with ties to downtown.
This was the first official project that helped us launch our neighborhood association. We were so grateful for the Love Your Block funds that allowed us to rally this neighborhood around a common cause. Thanks to the effort that we put in to developing our neighborhood association and this project we have been able to leverage this initial funding into additional opportunities. Through this project we developed a relationship with several local businesses including Tuft & Needle, the national mattress retailer with headquarters in our neighborhood. This relationship has produced additional funding for solar alley lighting and funding for a mid-block crosswalk on 7th Avenue between Van Buren and Roosevelt. After we received the Love Your Block grant, we also applied for a Block Watch grant and were able to secure another $950 for neighborhood Block Watch grant signage. Every dollar raised allows us to leverage more resources for projects in our neighborhood.
The Love Your Block Application is now available online at phoenix.gov/volunteer (click on "Love Your Block") and the deadline is November 28th, 2016. Contact email@example.com or (602) 262-4790 for more information.
I'm AJ Marsden, president of the Pasadena Neighborhood bordered by Camelback/Missouri and 7th/15th Avenues. Pasadena toyed with the idea of Little Libraries in the past. We questioned if they would be used and left unharmed. Our Neighborhood Specialist from the City's Neighborhood Services Department arranged for AmeriCorps VISTAs to present at our November 2015 meeting. I held up the application and said any resident with a community idea can write the $1,000 grant. Two families chimed in about Little Libraries.
We applied for two Little Free Libraries and were awarded the funding. The grant managing team had some ideas about how the project should flow – order two pre-made painted libraries from LittleFreeLibrary.org and buy registration rights and installation supplies. A new steward campaign was started to find hosts strategically placed around the neighborhood. With locations set, our handyman neighbor worked with the hosts to install the Little Free Libraries. It was happening!
The May ribbon cutting for the first location was exciting. Families with kids and other residents arrived. The VISTAs came. We actually cut a ribbon tied around the Little Free Library. This unit is kid themed. The second one is for grownups. Both hosts enjoy seeing others visit their yards. Neither host stockpiles books; the flow of taking and leaving books works. When the Little Free Libraries get low, a blast is sent out to drop off a book when passing by. Once one of the units was emptied overnight. The host refilled it with books they no longer read. We waited to see if it would be needlessly emptied again. Nope. The neighborhood enjoyment and use has continued throughout the past five months. Our first read-in social event is planned for near Halloween.
The Love Your Block application process for year two is now available online, with a simpler format than last year's application. Reading the Love Your Block Toolkit is crucial. Feel free to call on the VISTAs for help. They are gems. If they do not have an answer, they will get it for you. Love Your Block is a great opportunity for a $1,000 project. Get an idea you fancy, a lead team in place, and go for it. Your neighborhood can do "that" project you've been toying with.
The City of Phoenix is working on an initiative to expand Little Free Libraries beyond the Pasadena Neighborhood and is hoping that Little Free Libraries will become an integral part of city-wide literacy and community engagement efforts. If you are interested in being a part of this momentum and want to learn how you can build Little Free Libraries in your neighborhood with Love Your Block funding, please reach out to the AmeriCorps VISTAs!
The Love Your Block Application is now available online at phoenix.gov/volunteer (click on "Love Your Block") and the deadline is November 18th, 2016. Contact email@example.com or (602) 262-4790 for more information.
Second Year Love Your Block VISTAs
Greetings Love Your Block Community,
We want to take a moment to introduce ourselves. We are the new AmeriCorps VISTAs, Alyssa Hagerbrant and Aine Fitzgerald Coleman, serving in year two of the Cities of Service Love Your Block program in the Neighborhood Services Department in Phoenix City Hall. In the second year of the Love Your Block program, we will be building on the foundation set by the first year VISTAs, Hayley and Helen. This year, the Love Your Block program will award 5 community groups in low-income areas of Phoenix $1,000 mini-grants. The awarded community groups can use the funds to make the changes they wish to see in their neighborhoods through volunteer-driven, sustainable revitalization projects. Our grant application will be available in early October and we encourage all interested groups and/or individuals to reach out as early as possible.
We began our VISTA service term this past June. On our first day of work, we quickly discovered that we have a lot in common! We both graduated this past May from small liberal arts colleges in the Northeast with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Environmental Studies, studied abroad in Panama, and even grew up less than 30 miles away from each other.
Alyssa: I grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and lived in Saratoga Springs, NY before I moved to Phoenix in June. In May 2016, I graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in Environmental Studies and a minor in Theater Design. I enjoy drawing, ecology, socially responsible design, and being a fur-mom (aka I'm in love with my kitten). I grew up dreaming of being an actress and seriously considered entering into a performance career. It wasn't until college when I discovered my interest in social justice and my underlying fascination with understanding others not quite like myself. I ended up choosing AmeriCorps VISTA because I hope to make a positive social and environmental impact, and this program allows me to gain experience collaborating with the private, nonprofit, and government sectors to achieve that goal. This year I aim to use my design background and my liberal arts education to strengthen the Love Your Block program and to build capacity in Phoenix's communities.
Aine (Anya): I grew up in Huntington Station, NY. I recently graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine with a BA in Environmental Studies and a minor in History. I love learning about the history of urban planning, architecture, and the construction of America's built environment. I also enjoy dancing, singing, reading, and gardening. Although I loved my time at Bates, I, like many other liberal arts graduates, departed feeling uncertain about my academic and professional strengths. I knew what I was passionate about, but was unsure where I fit in as I entered the workforce. I signed up for AmeriCorps VISTA hoping that it would give me the opportunity to explore my strengths and, at the same time, gain invaluable experience in a professional setting. This year, as a Cities of Service Love Your Block VISTA in the City of Phoenix's Neighborhood Services Department, I am excited to work with neighborhood groups and other local stakeholders to promote collaborative and bottom-up change in the city. I hope that Alyssa and I will contribute to the larger trend in city government that aims to build grass-roots neighborhood change by connecting government resources with community members' knowledge of and passion for their local neighborhoods.
We both are thrilled to work together this year and are excited to take on the second round of the Love Your Block program. We are also looking forward to building relationships with neighbors and gaining project management and volunteer coordination experience. We hope that our unfamiliarity with the City of Phoenix will not hinder our abilities to make connections with residents and we hope that the communities we serve will share our enthusiasm for the Love Your Block grant.
For more information about Love Your Block and/or to see if your neighborhood is within our boundary, check out hpnphx.org/cities-of-service/. Be on the lookout for the application release in Early October.
Please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com and email@example.com.
Alyssa Hagerbrant and
Aine Fitzgerald Coleman
AmeriCorps VISTAs, City of Phoenix
Love Your Block, Cities of Service
Love Your Block Phoenix is excited to announce the first five groups selected to receive a $1,000 mini-grant to support a neighborhood volunteer project. The funds will be used to purchase needed supplies and tools to implement a neighborhood improvement project that mobilizes community volunteers. From beautification to literacy, these first five projects will lay the foundation for what it means to love your block in Phoenix and will inspire other residents who are looking for creative ways to beautify their communities. We are excited to support the following neighborhood groups and their projects:
1. Community Alliance of Seventh Avenue (CASA): volunteers will beautify the Melrose District by installing flower planters at businesses. Some local merchants have agreed to match their mini-grant so more flower planters can be installed.
2. Grant Park Community Garden: volunteers will enhance an established community garden by planting fruit trees, repairing the irrigation system, and building a monarch butterfly station.
3. Pasadena Neighborhood Association: volunteers will build and install Little Free Libraries to increase community interaction through the power of sharing stories.
4. Triangle Neighborhood Association: volunteers will beautify a local park by painting a colorful community mural to inspire a sense of connection amongst neighbors.
5. Woodlea-Melrose Neighborhood Association: volunteers will paint weathered and tagged irrigation boxes to garner neighborhood pride and community involvement.
(Above) Triangle Neighborhood Association will paint a colorful mural on a blighted park wall with their Love Your Block mini-grant.
We are excited to see the positive impact each group will make in their neighborhoods and our city. These five neighborhood groups are the first cohort in Phoenix of a nationwide movement of residents who are revitalizing neighborhoods through volunteerism, one block at a time. For more information, visit phoenix.gov/volunteer. Stay up to date on these projects by following us on Twitter and Instagram @loveyrblockphx.
Photo: From Left to Right, Helen Stoddard, AmeriCorps VISTA; Jackie Johnson, Management Assistant II in Parks & Recreation Department at City of Phoenix; Hayley Steele, AmeriCorps VISTA
This blog entry is written by Helen Stoddard, a Cities of Service Love Your Block AmeriCorps VISTA Member serving in Phoenix, AZ.
Welcoming in the New Year, it's gratifying to see how much has already been accomplished and what's still to come as we move into the remaining five months of service.
During the height of summer heat, I packed one suitcase and a backpack, moving from Virginia to the hottest city in America: Phoenix, Arizona. What enticed me to brave the heat was the opportunity to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the City of Phoenix, with Cities of Service's Love Your Block neighborhood revitalization initiative.
Allow me to take a step back and sort out any confusion as to the role an AmeriCorps VISTA plays. While I found my experiences as an intern in undergrad as valuable, being an AmeriCorps VISTA has offered a much higher level of leadership opportunities. The Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) national service program was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1963. His vision was to create a program that would fight poverty that we see every day in America. VISTA was implemented and founded during President Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as a domestic version of the Peace Corps, officially launching in 1965. In 1993, VISTA became part of the AmeriCorps program, a division of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Fifty years later, and the legacy still rings true: VISTAs are making year-long, full-time commitments to serve on specific projects in nonprofits or public agencies, with the intent to empower the community they're serving to serve themselves. Basically, over time, we're working ourselves out of a job—but in a totally positive and uplifting way.
What makes my particular service unique is that I have a counterpart who helps brainstorm, plan and implement Love Your Block in our city. It has opened my eyes to the true meaning of teamwork and collaboration. As AmeriCorps VISTAs for the Love Your Block program, we are helping to realize the mission of Cities of Service, a nonprofit in New York City, by supporting mayors and city chief executives to engage local communities and residents to solve issues together through impact volunteering. It is about aiding residents in their efforts to change their neighborhoods—one block at a time.
As an AmeriCorps VISTA, one can expect challenges. On a small stipend, I have had to make ends meet on more than one occasion. Budgeting the stipend is a challenge, and surely a learned skillset tailored for necessities, like housing, food, and healthcare. However, these challenges are surpassed with the amount of knowledge, mentorship, and freedom we have been given.
Personally, I have learned so much from experts in the nonprofit world and local government. I have been given freedom to help design and brand our chapter of Love Your Block in Phoenix. And I have received mentorship from the many hardworking staff in Neighborhood Services, especially Neighborhood Specialists. It's fulfilling to have staff that are looking to me for creative insight or for Spanish translation—something I didn't know was possible at my age. I work in a symbiotic environment here.
I have been challenged since the day I set foot in the City of Phoenix. The second week of work, I was asked to do a live interview on a local Spanish radio station to promote community interest in our Love Your Block program. Reading and writing in Spanish is one thing, but publicly speaking to potentially thousands of listeners felt intimidating. I had never spoken on the radio in my life, but with my heart beating fast, I agreed. Agreeing was one of the many examples of putting fears aside and stepping up to the plate; this is what it means to be an AmeriCorps VISTA. You might not get it perfect the first time, but demonstrating your leadership shows your commitment to the cause.
I have worked in education and youth engagement before my service as an AmeriCorps VISTA, but planning and completing two Love Your Block demonstration projects brought previous experience to life. These projects were major feats in defining how high-impact volunteering can better the community. The Medlock Alley Activation promoted connectivity and walkability for residents and merchants through creative design: wayfinding signs, chain-link ribbon murals, and landscaping of a shared alley. Before this project, the residents and merchants didn't know each other—several months later, and it's a different story.
With our Grand Canal Community Clean-Up, we engaged with a diverse community of mostly Spanish-speakers and Somali refugees. I particularly loved having the elementary youth draw what they wanted to see in their neighborhood and how they could recreationally use their canal more. These drawings were then inspiration for the community mural completed on the day of the clean-up. Both of these projects showed me the importance of communication amongst a diverse platform of people, regardless of language, ethnicity, or social status.
In October 2015, our Cities of Service cohort convened in Houston, to debrief and share best practices with fellow cities across the United States. It was exciting to realize the significant changes in the first year of this three-year pilot, and witness true, measurable results in other cohort cities. To name a few: City of Richmond, California has constructed an interactive art installation outside one of their Bay Area Rapid Transit stations to ask residents if they had $1,000, how they would love their block. In the South Park neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, residents organized the revitalization of two staircases, including a community-led mural running down one of them. Now residents can utilize these colorful stairwells between neighborhoods, where once blight stood in the way of their safety. Love Your Block sparks community members to make change—creatively.
I am looking forward to what these next five months of service hold and what I can personally bring to the table to support Phoenix neighborhoods. Love Your Block Phoenix is pleased to announce the first round of Love Your Block mini-grant recipients this week. The selected projects will mark the beginning of a more impactful way of addressing neighborhood needs, empowering residents to make the changes they want to see.
I am thankful to everyone who has helped shape me in my position in Love Your Block Phoenix thus far. Here's to a successful new year.
Helen Stoddard
The canal speaks in waves: community, transportation, life.
Not only does the Grand Canal system in Phoenix serve as a water source for residents, but also as a valley-wide recreational space for the runners, walkers, and cyclists. The Grand Canal touches the Gateway North neighborhood in East Phoenix where bus stops and green space can be scarce. Nestled into the neighborhood is David Crockett Elementary School and a non-profit healthcare provider, Mountain Park Health Center, whose mission is to serve and provide accessible amenities to the surrounding residents. Like its neighbors, Crockett Elementary and Mountain Park view the canal in their backyard as an opportunity to promote fitness and recreation. It is in this section of the Grand Canal that the second Love Your Block demonstration project took place on November 14, 2015 for Keep Phoenix Beautiful Day.
The Cities of Service Love Your Block AmeriCorps VISTA members, Mountain Park Health Center, Balsz School District, Neighborhood Services Department, and the Office of Councilwoman Kate Gallego came together with Keep Phoenix Beautiful to bring to life the Grand Canal Community Clean-Up.
Two weeks prior to the #LYB project, the City of Phoenix won a $10.3 million TIGER grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support the revitalization efforts of Grand Canalscape. What better way to celebrate the Grand Canalscape than with 300 volunteers coming out on Keep Phoenix Beautiful Day to clean-up the canal? Volunteers came out to paint a community mural, pick-up trash, remove graffiti, and landscape along the canal. Additionally, volunteers created chain-link fence art, planted 8 trees and resurfaced a baseball field at Crockett Elementary School.
Special thank you to our volunteers from Mountain Park Health Center, David Crockett Elementary School, Balsz School District, Somali American United Council, Girl Scouts, Sea Life Arizona, Justserve, United Food and Commercial Workers, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 15, and the surrounding community.
We would not have been able to pull this event off without our amazing partners and sponsors. Thank you to Keep Phoenix Beautiful Day's sponsors, Chipotle and UPS. Thank you UPS for donating trees. Thank you Sherwin Williams for donating 40 gallons of paint and Behr for donating 15 gallons of primer for the community mural. Thank you to the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 15 who volunteered to prime the wall. Thank you Stabilizer Solutions for donating the baseball field clay for Crockett Elementary School. Thank you Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Airport North for providing volunteers with breakfast and lunch. Thank you Home Depot and Stand for Children Arizona. Special thank you to Mesa Airlines for sponsoring our continued efforts to Keep the Canal Beautiful.
There's nothing quite like seeing a bunch of enthusiastic residents, grinning and ready to volunteer, all before they have had their first cup of coffee. With the first signs of Fall in the air, the Love Your Block 'Alley Activation' demonstration project debuted on October 24, 2015 for Make A Difference Day, a national service day celebrating neighbors helping neighbors. Make A Difference Day was the official launch of Cities of Service's Love Your Block program in Phoenix to showcase and highlight how a $1,000 mini-grant can empower residents to revitalize their neighborhoods. This project was coordinated in partnership with HandsOn Greater Phoenix.
This project is a collaboration between the local merchants and residents of the Medlock Place Neighborhood. This project idea had been floating around for a while between the local merchants and residents, and the $1,000 mini-grant was the catalyst to making the project come to life.
The Alley Activation grew out of the idea to improve the alley shared both by residents and merchants. The project's goal is to create a welcoming and safe alley that promotes connectivity between residents, businesses, and visitors while deterring crime and speeding. The first phase of the Alley Activation began in early October when DLC Resources donated their services to smooth out the surface of the alley by removing the excess dirt that had been building-up for years. The following day the residents and merchants came out to pick-up trash and landscape while Bug and Weed Mart sprayed the alley's weeds. All of these activities led up the big event on Make A Difference Day where 70+ volunteers came out to beautify the alley! Many helping hands painted wayfinding signs, created a series of ribbon murals along 3 vacant lots, and painted a blighted alley wall.
This project would not have happened without our wonderful partners! Special thanks to All About Books and Comics, AZ Hi-Fi, Bug & Weed Mart, Changing Hands Bookstore, DLC Resources, Frances, Medlock Place Historical Neighborhood Association, Southern Rail, and Stinkweeds.
Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to participate in the first Love Your Block Phoenix project. Keep an eye out because this project is the first of many to come!
Georganne of Frances, Kimber of Stinkweeds, & Cindy of Changing Hands.
Interested in volunteering with Love Your Block? Sign-up to be a part of the next project on November 14, 2015 for Keep Phoenix Beautiful Day.
If your neighborhood is interested in implementing a similar project, apply for a $1,000 Love Your Block mini-grant today! Applications must be received by November 20, 2015. Contact us today to find out how you can create positive change in your neighborhood.
Crayons were distributed and marks were made. Optimistic words were spoken and ideas were exchanged. Our Canalscape meeting last Wednesday at David Crockett Elementary School proved to be a successful night for students and parents.
Canalscape is a City of Phoenix Grand Canal revitalization project that will be completed in Fall 2016. The City will make safety and walkability improvements for Phoenix residents to promote recreation and connections along the canal. Love Your Block Phoenix is partnering with Mountain Park Health Center to host a community clean-up and mural painting project along the Grand Canal on Keep Phoenix Beautiful Day, November 14, 2015. The clean-up will take place along the Grand Canal between 40th Street and 36th Street. This section of the canal is north of Van Buren St. and neighbors with David Crockett Elementary School. Between 150 and 200 volunteers are expected to participate on this day of canal beautification!
The Canalscape meeting invited residents, students and parents to give feedback for the types of amenities they would like to see along the Grand Canal. Ideas of bridges, soccer fields, mile markers were shared–the sky was the limit! Students drew the types of imagery they would like incorporated into the extension of an existing community mural, which was completed in 2014 by the community and Crockett students. The recurring themes highlighted during Wednesday's envisioning session were of "happy families" and "keeping the canal beautiful."
Love Your Block is working to leverage the City of Phoenix and SRP's $5 million Canalscape project by engaging the surrounding community to have a voice in the project designs. The clean-up event on November 14, 2015 will be the first step of many to beautify and improve the canal. Our hope is to make the clean-up a sustainable community event where volunteers come out every year. Stay tuned!
We would like to specially thank Mountain Park Health Center, Lori Robinson and Channel Powe of the Balsz School District, and Crockett Elementary School's students, parents, and Principal Sean Hannafin for a memorable night.
The Love Your Block Canal Demonstration project team will host another Canalscape meeting at the Roosevelt Plaza Apartments from 5-7pm on Tuesday, October 13th.
All photographs taken by Lysistrata Hall, City of Phoenix.
Love Your Block Comes To Phoenix!
If your neighborhood had $1,000, what would you create? Love Your Block Phoenix wants to know your answer!
Beginning Fall of 2015, Love Your Block Phoenix will be inviting community groups to apply for a $1,000 mini-grant to transform their neighborhoods. Love Your Block Phoenix is a mini-grant program funded by Cities of Service to support resident-driven improvement projects in lower-income neighborhoods. Projects may include community gardens, neighborhood cleanups, tree planting, community murals, and graffiti removal.
Cities of Service is a national nonprofit organization that works with cities to launch and build city-led, resident-driven programs that target the needs of communities. In order to boost these efforts, Cities of Service has brought on two dedicated full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members for the first three years of the Love Your Block Phoenix program. AmeriCorps VISTA members are national service members who serve in U.S. communities to fight poverty, similar to the Peace Corps. This first year AmeriCorps VISTA members are Helen Stoddard and Hayley Steele.
Helen Stoddard has come all the way from Arlington, Virginia to be a part of the Love Your Block Phoenix team. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a B.F.A. in photography. Apart from being a VISTA, Helen enjoys traveling, biking, and drawing. In the next year, Helen looks forward to becoming a part of the Phoenix community.
Hayley Steele is a Phoenix local and graduate of Northern Arizona University where she received a B.S. in criminology and criminal justice, and political science. Hayley is ready to be a part of the meaningful change that Love Your Block will bring to Phoenix.
Love Your Block is funded by Cities of Service, Corporation for National and Community Service, and the City of Phoenix.
Please visit phoenix.gov/volunteer for more information about Love Your Block Phoenix and to see if your neighborhood falls within the initiative boundary area. You can tell us how you 'love your block' by taking our quick survey at the link above. Don't forget to connect with us on social media and learn more about Love Your Block projects across the country! @loveyrblockphx @citiesofservice


text:
Another successful session of Junior Academy Spring Skating is over.
These determined skaters practiced their figure skating skills as well as their synchro development. Congratulations for another season!!! See you this summer!!!
Last Day of Spring Skating 2017
- Congratulations to the 2017 Junior Academy Graduates!
- Auditions for IceSymmetrix Coming Soon


text:
There are plenty of things to do in Bali; something for every age group and every budget. Let's start from the easiest activities, the reason many guests come to visit this island: enjoying a beautiful hotel and relaxing at the pool or beach. Many also come for surfing and shopping. And then there is the partying and the clubs.
Kathy and I visited something that is not typical Balinese but it is entertaining nevertheless. 3D Museums do exist in other parts of the world and now we have one here in our own back yard. It was loads of fun.
River Rafting or White Water Rafting again is something you can do in many other places too. Try it here in Bali, in a mountain valley and rafting through a tropical lush, green landscape. Do not worry, the companies who offer this activity do understand safety.
Many of you come to Bali for surfing or playing tennis, here is what we experienced with my brother's family and friends. Our hotel was located in Seminyak and the activities were easily accessible from there. If you are serious about surfing, this surf camp might be more to your liking.
If you are seeking out water sports in particular, you have to visit Benoa. They offer plenty of divers sports you can experience from the beach or a little way out in deeper waters. Prices are most probably still cheaper then in many other countries. We did some Fly Boarding there and even went on a Flying Fish.
Whatever sports you do, please make sure you are physically up to it. Be careful and logical, you do not want to end up hurting yourself because your ego or your sense of adventure gets the better of you.
Bali is the perfect destination for a relaxing and spiritual retreat. The Balinese people are very friendly, supple and graceful. Their culture and religious teaches them to pay attention to details and beautification. There are many rituals that involve nature to please and invigorate the body and the mind. Beauty treatments like massage using essential oils and other plant materials have evolved in the palaces over hundreds of years.
Today many architects and hospitality operators recognize this vast heritage and use a lot of local building styles and materials to create unique, tropical paradises with a Balinese touch. Spa treatments are lavish and the food of international standard.
Our family summer hotel, Sanur Beach Hotel; or a very new Villa Mahapala; Visit Seminyak, here 2 of Tom's favorites; Kuta has some luxury to offer too, how about the Seaview Resort; or the Kutabex
Bali Hotel › Things to do in Bali
Receive the latest news, tips and insights on hotel facts, special offers and much more every month.
A GIFT is waiting for you in the subscription confirmation email:
'BEHAVE PROPERLY IN BALI', tips on how to enjoy interacting with locals.
We are interested in your thoughts, please leave a comment:
For this site; how you like it, questions and ideas go to bottom of Homepage
Join the discussion on Bali in our travel forum


text:
Learn American / Arabic/ British Sign Language
There are lots of reasons to learn at least one of the many sign languages existent around the world. Explore the right way to communicate effectively with family and friends who are deaf or hearing-impaired.
Sign with your partner, friend or child. The silent form of communication that speaks a thousand words. Sign language can open doors to new employment opportunities or take your career to the next level.
Sign Language develops awareness and sensitivity to the deaf culture. It also provides cultural enrichment and is the best means of fostering understanding between people who are hard of hearing and those who are not. Furthermore, it gives the opportunity to identify question and challenge one's own cultural assumptions, values and perspectives to contribute positively to society. Sign Language can help a toddler in recognizing words if they are connected to a sign. Every parent knows that young children love movement and actions. Studying Sign Language opens possibilities for meeting Deaf people at work or in the community. You can gain access to Deaf art, science, music, literature, and film.
Our skilled instructors make learning sign language fun and easy with classes designed to accommodate busy adults. If you plan to learn ASL, BSL or Arabic Sign Language, do consider taking your classes with a friend, so you'll have a partner to practice with during the rest of the week.


text:
2017 convention season for the Denver area is looking good.
How about we make a New Year's resolution to live life to the fullest, and that includes Sci-fi cons. Let's face it. 2016 has been a tough year, and Denver area geeks are ready for what 2017 will bring. Always a source of friendship and fun, the convention season is already filling up calendars with joy. It is time to get to work on those cosplay masterpieces, making the hotel room reservations, and saving up those dollars for the almighty dealer's rooms. Check out the Denver area cons already in the works.
Feb. 24-26, 2017
Location: The Antlers hotel in downtown Colorado Springs.
Galaxyfest is an annual multi-genre convention that indulges fans with sci-fi, comics, steampunk, anime and more. Pop culture lives here at Galaxyfest with a weekend full of panels, vendors, actors, artists, entertainers, and parties. This year's theme is Female Superheroes, and there will be a very cool exhibit sponsored by the Space Foundation. During the day the family friendly activities such as kids programming and interactive exhibits, gaming, kid's costume contest, a pet costume contest, and more. The night comes alive for the adults with 18 and over After Dark programming including panels and more.
Rapper Mega Ran will perform. The first rap artist to be licensed by a major game developer has music that has been featured on ESPN, 20/20, "Portlandia," and WWE Wrestling. Also "Mysteries of the Mind" magician and mentalist, Paul Draper will be there. His show has been featured on the History Channel, A&E, HBO, and many more.
Tickets are on sale now and the prices are as follows:
Weekend general admission- $55.00
VIP badge $145
Saturday only $35
Sunday only $25 (Heads up, families. Kids under 12 are free on Sunday only with adult paid admission.
Animeland Wasabi
Feb. 10-12, 2017
Location: Crowne Plaza DIA Convention Center, Denver
Animeland Wasabi convention will be taking over the Crown Plaza off I-70 in Denver with cosplay, vendors, costume contest, artists, speed dating, and photo shoots. More programming and guests to be announced soon.
Tickets range from $25-$125.
AnomalyCon 2017
Mar. 17-19, 2017
Location: Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center.
Steampunk culture comes alive at AnomalyCon in Denver. Every year this very popular convention takes over the Hyatt's gorgeous staircase and lobby area with stunning cosplay. This con is always entertaining with interesting panels, a costume contest, an art contest , a facial hair competition, a murder mystery, and of course, tea dueling. Performers to include Doctor Q and Stoneburner. The guest list so far is filled with amazing authors and artists such as K. Tempest Bradford, Roberto Calas, Wesley Chu, Milton Davis, Tanya DePass, and plenty more.
Tickets: $25.00
Colorado Anime Fest
Mar. 24-26, 2017
Location: Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel | Denver, CO.
Colorado Anime Fest is celebrating its second annual convention to feature premier Japanese culture panels to explore the best of Japan. There will be an Anime Bar and Manga Library, a charity auction, cosplay contests, and lots more.
Guests announced so far are voice actress Erica Mendez known for her roles in "KILL la KILL", "Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic," and the list goes on. Voice actress and ADR director, Caitlin Glass is known for her role of Winry Rockbell in "Fullmetal Alchemist," and others such as "Ouran High School Host Club," and more. Karen Strassman is the voice of Soi Fan in "Bleach," and Kallen Stadtfeld in "Code Glass."
Tickets are on sale.
Weekend adult pass $45.00
$15.00 for kids (under 6 are free)
$125.00 VIP pass
Friday $30.00
Saturday $40.00
Sunday $25.00
StarFest Denver
Apr. 21-23, 2017
Location: Marriott and Hilton DTC Convention Hotels
Denver area geeks look forward to StarFest year after year. It has been a favorite convention of many fans for 40 years now. This year's event will mark their 40th Anniversary and they are planning some good stuff to celebrate. The newly remodeled Marriott hotel in DTC area will host StarFest, and the next door Hilton will host ComicFest. As always there will be fantastic panels, autograph and photo ops, artists and authors, and cosplay galore.
As we all know, StarFest usually holds their guest announcements until after the first of the year, and they are always worth the wait. Illustrators, writers, and entertainers already announced are Steven E. Gordon, Larry Hama, Kevin Dilmore, Dayton Ward, Colorado's own Mythica von Griffyn, Carolyn Petersen, Dr. Alex Parker, David Boop, Mark Steven Grove, Bryan and Baxter, Cosplay experts Ginny DiGuiseppi and KAAI, AND OF COURSE our favorite Master of Ceremonies, Kevin Atkins.
Denver Comic Con
Jun. 30-Jul. 2, 2017
Location: Colorado Convention Center, downtown Denver
This is the big one! Denver Comic Con returns for another incredible convention year to raise funds for Pop Culture Classroom. Clare Kramer from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was recently added to the list. Let's hope she moderates some panels, because she is just stellar at that task. Captain Janeway from "Star Trek: Voyager" herself, Kate Mulgrew, is also on the list. As always, DCC will take over the Colorado Convention Center. Other guests announced already are familiar names such as James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Robin Lord Taylor (Gotham), Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Bonnie Wright (Harry Potter), Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), the very popular Neal Adams, and more.
Denver Comic Con is a family friendly pop culture fan convention that draws crows from all over the Rocky Mountain region. There is so much to do during those three days of geek heaven. The gigantic dealer's room, autograph and photo ops, star-studded panels and other fun panels, workshops, and for the kiddoes there will be Pop Culture Classroom Kid's Lab and 8-Bit Lounge.
Considering DCC's popularity, snagging those tickets early is the best idea. Passes for adults are nicely priced at just $82.50 for the entire three days of fun. Check out all of the pricing options on their website.
Colorado Springs Comic Con
August 25-27, 2017
Location: Mortgage Solutions Expo Center
Colorado Springs Comic Con will be returning to the south of Denver to offer up another fun event. Guests will be announced soon, and if it's anything like last year's inaugural event, the guest list will not disappoint. 2016's con had a huge vendor area offering up a ton of t-shirts, gadgets, and everything in between. The artist alley was packed with talent and treasures. Tickets are already available.
Three day pass $75.00 for adults, and $25.00 for kids
Friday only: $25.00, and $10.00 for kids
Saturday only $35.00 for adults, $15.00 for kids
Sunday only $30.00, $10.00 for kids
VIP is $129.99
Myth and Legends Con
Aug. 4-6, 2017
Location: Ramada Plaza Denver North
Myth and Legends Con (better known as MAL Con) is a favorite in the Denver area. What makes this get together so special is that the themes focus on many of our favorites: Firefly, Game of Thrones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Harry Potter, and Dresden Files. Their costume contest is always something to witness as the cosplay is already fabulous. More information to come!
Coming this fall are Rocky Mountain Con and Myth and Legends Con. Information on these events to follow.