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SolarWinds®' award winning network monitoring software allows you to quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance issues and outages so you can spend more time managing your network instead of your network management software.
Check out some of the hundreds of out-of-the-box monitors, dashboards, alerts, and reports in this guided tour of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor.
The one product I can't live without is Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
Most valuable feature of NPM for us is customization of alerts. We discover problems before they affect our users
If you've ever worked in IT, you know everything is always blamed on the network. If an app is slow, people jump right to blaming the network. With SolarWinds NPM's application-aware functionality, we can tell within a matter of seconds if it is indeed the network or if it's the app causing the issue, and we can focus on one of the other and reduce resolution time.
- Jake H., System Administrator, Tribal Government
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is powerful and affordable network monitoring software that enables you to quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance problems and outages. Now with deep packet inspection and analysis, our network monitor provides quick and accurate identification of network and application reliability.
Monitor network device and interface availability and performance indicators, such as bandwidth utilization, packet loss, latency, errors, discards, CPU, and memory for SNMP and WMI-enabled devices.
NPM is a network monitor for comprehensive performance monitoring, fault management, and network availability that ensures your network is always running at peak performance. Via a cutting-edge, customizable web interface, Network Performance Monitor gives you a unified view into the performance of thousands of nodes and interfaces on your network. From a single web page, you can drill into any element on your network to see exactly what's happening in real time.
Our network monitoring software's web interface provides real-time views of network performance and availability statistics, as well as detailed monitoring and analysis of data from routers, switches, servers, and any other SNMP-enabled devices. This data alerts you to poor network conditions like slow traffic, loss of packets, or impaired devices.
With NPM, you can also automatically monitor and set alerts on disk space, CPU load, and memory utilization for your network devices. With out-of-the-box support for many vendors and operating systems, NPM ensures that you can easily collect and alert on conditions that could potentially cause a network outage or performance degradation.
Get an at-a-glance summary of network and application performance metrics using deep packet inspection and analysis. Quickly identify reductions or changes in application performance and determine if the change is caused by the application or the network.
Using deep packet inspection and analysis, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor gives you the ability to quickly identify changes in application performance and compare them with network metrics to determine if performance issues are actually on your network or caused by the application.
Get heterogeneous network support out-of-the-box for devices from leading hardware vendors with our network monitoring software
NPM is a network monitor designed to provide out-of-the-box, multi-vendor device support for today's complex network environments. Our network monitoring software monitors availability and performance statistics for any router, switch, firewall, VPN concentrator, wireless access point, and other devices that support standard protocols.
Get at-a-glance insight into the health of your network hardware by monitoring, alerting, and reporting on the state of key device sensors including temperature, fan speed, and power supply.
Have you ever had a network outage caused by a faulty power supply or over-heated router? Wouldn't it have been great to know the health of your network hardware before it brought your network down?
With Network Performance Monitor's hardware health monitoring, you can monitor the state of key device sensors including temperature, fan speed, and power supply and be alerted if they cross pre-defined thresholds. NPM's LUCID Web-based interface provides at-a-glance insight into the health of your network hardware so you can quickly see where you have potential issues. Additionally, our network monitoring software provides a built-in report writer that allows you to create and distribute customizable hardware health reports.
SolarWinds supports Express, Standard, or Enterprise versions of the following:
Hard Drive
.Net Framework
Version 3.5 SP1 and 4.0.3 required
Operating System
Windows® 2003 & 2008 Server (32-bit or 64-bit) including R2, with IIS installed, running in 32-bit mode. Windows® Server 2012 R2
Dual processor, 3 GHz
NOTE: The minimum server requirements listed assume default configuration. Significantly increasing the poll rate or statistic collection rate could result in additional load on the server, which may require a larger CPU or additional memory.
SolarWinds' network monitoring software also works as a network-scanning tool, allowing you to schedule network scans from an easy-to-use, Web-based discovery wizard; identifying new network devices and ensuring you are monitoring all of your critical equipment.
When you first deploy NPM, you can automatically discover all SNMP enabled devices on your network with our Network Sonar Wizard and then begin monitoring immediately. Regular network scans can be scheduled to automatically discover new devices that are added to your network; saving you valuable time by eliminating manual database entries.
Download, Install, and deploy our network monitoring software in less than an hour, using three simple steps.
Deploying SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) is a simple three-step process. First, install and configure using a simple wizard interface. Next, automatically perform network discovery. Finally, begin monitoring your network for fault and performance issues. You'll be up and running in less than an hour.
Even better, with our network monitoring software's intuitive Web interface, you won't need to attend training classes, read books with large animals on the cover, or pour through manuals in order to become productive.
View Top 10 graphs and tables as well as application details, a list of nodes providing the target application, and a summary of any nodes exceeding pre-set thresholds.
Based on real-time deep packet inspection and analysis, SolarWinds NPM provides an application-specific dashboard with customizable graphs and tables, allowing you to view detailed information on applications monitored, including the list of nodes providing the target application and a summary of nodes exceeding pre-set thresholds.
Quickly and easily deploy packet analysis sensors using a step-by-step wizard to monitor application and network performance.
SolarWinds packet analysis sensors capture and analyze packets from interfaces to calculate metrics on application performance monitoring. NPM's packet analysis sensors allow you to view application health in real time and help to identify potential application performance issues even before they get reported by end-users.
SolarWinds NPM's intuitive Web interface allows you to easily deploy and manage packet analysis sensors by adding existing nodes and selecting the application traffic you want to monitor. With the ability to analyze packet-level traffic information and compare real-time statistics and historical data, you can easily determine if the issue is on the network side or with the application.
Drag and drop network devices to custom network maps and automatically view real-time Layer-2 link and connection utilization.
SolarWinds NPM's built-in Network Atlas™ allows you to view your network pictorially and visually track performance statistics in real time via dynamic network maps. You can even automatically display the connections between network devices on your maps. Choose from several built-in geographic map templates or import a logical image of your own network based on floor, building, department, or larger geographic location. Multiple network maps can also be nested to provide drill-down capabilities.
In literally seconds, you can drag and drop devices into their appropriate locations on the network map so that you can view the health of all network devices at a specific location. Then, automatically discover and display the connections between your devices. Plus, Network Atlas enables you to create your network map locally on your desktop and then export the map to NPM where it's immediately updated with the current status of the added nodes.
NPM is a network monitor that can also display specific network maps (and specific types of network information indicated on those maps) based on the viewer's authorization level or responsibility for particular regions of the network. For example, if a device falls within a particular subnet that a user is not authorized to access, then that user's map view will not go into alert condition, as the device is outside the scope of authorization. NPM's integration with OpenStreetMaps, allows you to drill down right from the world map to the device status.
In addition, NPM's Weather Map allows you to view Layer 2 link utilization between network devices in real time.
SolarWinds' network monitoring software's drag-and-discover performance charts aid in troubleshooting by providing real-time, interactive charts and graphs of key device performance statistics.
Accelerate and simplify network troubleshooting with the aid of Network Performance Monitor's interactive drag-and-discover performance charts and graphs. These charts and graphs provide dynamic real-time views for at-a-glance insight into key device performance statistics including interface throughput, CPU load, latency and packet loss, disk space used, and more.
Drag-and-discover performance charts include a draggable chart timeline that allows you to easily select the timeframe of interest or you can use the one-click zoom for one-hour, twelve-hour, or twenty-four-hour windows. From there, you can mouse over discrete data points for a pop-up of detailed performance statistics at a specific point in time. Interested in performance trends over time? You can easily include a dynamic trend line that automatically recalculates to your selected time period.
Network Performance Monitor's drag-and-discover performance charts also makes it easy to see just the data that you want with a one-click series control that allows you to activate or deactivate chart resources.
Monitor and alert on large, complex network routes including support for major routing protocols (RIP v2, OSPF v2 & v3, EIGRP, BGP) with our network monitor.
As your network size and complexity grow and change it becomes increasingly difficult to monitor and troubleshoot routing related performance issues. Manually retrieving route information using CLI is time consuming and error prone.
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) gives you the ability to monitor network route information and receive alerts when issues arise so you can reduce your time to resolution by providing a combined view of real-time network route information alongside device information. You can now view routing tables, changes in default routes, BGP transitions and flapping routes.
Additionally, Network Performance Monitor gives you a visual representation in the form of a network route topology map. It also provides visual alert indicators and audible alarms, and includes more than sixteen built-in network alert delivery methods and responses, including email, pages, SNMP traps, text-to-speech, syslog messages, and the launching of an external application.
Simplify network troubleshooting with a Web interface that is customizable, intuitive, and easy to use.
Network Performance Monitor's (NPM) simple yet powerful Web interface helps you to quickly determine if your network is suffering from poor performance, identify network faults and errors, diagnose performance issues and make informed decisions about your network. Out-of-the-box, NPM's Web interface provides node/interface/volume status, CPU/Memory utilization, interface errors/discards, network latency, buffer usage and errors to manage administrator tasks.
With a simple drag-and-drop functionality, NPM allows you to rearrange and custom-make your own Web-based dashboards, views, and charts. You can also modify time periods, and customize resources to meet your specific network environment. You can view detailed information on virtually every device, performance indicator, and status link by simply drilling into respective network nodes, allowing you to explore device interface performance alongside routing information.
NPM is a network monitor that provides an out-of-the-box Network Operations Center (NOC) view. This is perfect for those that like to view more network availability and performance information on their screen.
SolarWinds' network monitoring software streamlines troubleshooting by showing alerts, syslog data, events, traps, and other messages in a single pane of glass.
The Network Performance Monitor Message Center is your central view for all of the notification messages about your network's performance. This consolidated view allows you to quickly troubleshoot network performance issues by analyzing SNMP trap and Syslog data from a single interface, instead of by polling various machines. Events and alerts are also routed to this interface, allowing you to perform manual event correlation and basic root cause analysis.
Quickly configure alerts for correlated events, sustained conditions, and complex combinations of device states. Topology and dependency-based alert suppression enables you to intelligently escalate alerts for issues that are truly critical.
Network Performance Monitor (NPM) enables you to quickly and easily configure powerful network alert engines to respond to hundreds of different network scenarios, including multiple condition checks. These network alerts help you recognize and correct issues before your users experience performance degradation or availability issues. With alerting support for correlated events and sustained conditions, Network Performance Monitor ensures that you don't get paged at 3:00 am unless there is a critical issue.
Additionally, NPM is a network monitor that can automatically escalate network alerts until a problem is resolved.
NPM includes more than sixteen built-in network alert delivery methods and responses, including email, pages, SNMP traps, text-to-speech, syslog messages, and the launching of an external application.
Configure alerts accurately by calculating dynamic baseline threshold data with our network monitor.
Network Performance Monitor dynamically calculates baseline thresholds from historical network performance data. The built-in Baseline Threshold Calculator automatically gathers baseline data for specified time intervals (weekly or daily), and calculates Warning and Critical thresholds according to each workload(s)' baseline.
SolarWinds NPM provides four tiers of thresholds that can be established (good, warning, critical, and down) to help you quickly assess the difference between a device that is up and performing poorly and a device that is about to fail.
In addition, Network Performance Monitor provides you with the ability to set independent node and interface thresholds.
Group network devices by virtually any category and roll up network performance and service level status by location, business center, or any other grouping.
Simplify monitoring for large and complex IT environments by grouping network devices, interfaces, servers, or volumes by virtually any category. With Network Performance Monitor's dynamic service groups, you can monitor and aggregate views of servers, routers, switches, interfaces, and application groups by service such as email, location, department or manufacturer.
Our network monitoring software makes it easy to generate network performance reports using out-of-the-box templates that can be customized with a few mouse clicks; automating report creation and distribution.
Network Performance Monitor's (NPM) advanced reporting engine enables you to quickly generate custom network reports that can be printed or viewed on the web. Shipping with numerous built-in reports, Network Performance Monitor makes it easy to report on performance data over specific time periods or by network segment.
If you can't find a network report that matches your criteria, check out thwack, SolarWinds online community, where customers have generated hundreds of reports that you can easily import into Network Performance Monitor. Network Performance Monitor's reports can be modified to limit the information contained in the report by user profile, enabling you to generate reports for specific departments or recipients.
Network Performance Monitor's Report Writer facilitates creating reports on categories including:
Network Performance Monitor supports monitoring of wireless thin and autonomous access points alongside wired devices.
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor's (NPM) Integrated Wireless Poller enables you to easily manage wireless thin and autonomous access points and their associated clients. Now, Network Performance Monitor can monitor your wireless devices alongside your wired devices and provide you with alerts, reports, and Top 10 lists for your wireless infrastructure!
Easily create a custom poller to monitor any SNMP-enabled device, collect detailed data from MIB tables, and monitor virtually any statistic available on network devices.
Out of the box, Network Performance Monitor (NPM) ships with MIB support that includes an MIB database that covers the vast majority of common network devices. But for that handful of odd devices that are in your network – or for newer devices that have MIB tables – you can now collect valuable and highly detailed management data.
NPM's Device Studio allows you to easily create custom CPU and memory utilization pollers for those rare SNMP enabled devices that are not covered out of the box. You can create or import these pre-packaged pollers into NPM, and ensure the CPU and memory utilization properties of the device/interface monitored are available for out-of-the-box dashboards, network alerts, and reports.
For statistics other than CPU and memory utilization, NPM makes it easy to create a custom poller to monitor any device value that has an MIB, including virtually any statistic that a network device records. Examples include monitoring temperature on a switch, fan speed on a router, and battery status on a UPS. In addition to creating custom MIB pollers, SolarWinds has an extensive database of MIB information to determine the English name for each OID and the MIB to which it belongs.
You can also customize how you want the collected data displayed for graphing, alerting, and reporting purposes. And, using the MIB Transformation Wizard, you can convert MIB values into the units of measurement that are most useful to you. Choose from a list of common transformations, such as converting monitored CPU temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit, or create your own multi-MIB formulas to display, for example, the average interface throughput on a router.
You can collect detailed information stored in device MIB tables and easily create formulas such as the min, max, average, or sum of MIB entries in the same column. You can even export MIB pollers or transformations you've created, or import those created by others.
Network Performance Monitor saves time by allowing you to leverage your existing Microsoft Active Directory user accounts to provide login credentials.
Leverage your existing Microsoft Active Directory user accounts to allow users to log in to Network Performance Monitor (NPM). Users and groups can automatically login using custom username/password or optionally use an AD pass-through login to bypass the login screens altogether.
As an administrator, you can customize each account and specify which types of information are displayed within the Network Performance Monitor interface for a particular department, group, or user. This ensures that only the people who need to view specific information have access to it, providing an increased level of internal security.
Network Performance Monitor alerts you in real-time and reports on the health of your Virtual Storage Area Network (VSAN).
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor's (NPM) VSAN Summary gives you the insight you're looking for. With dedicated views into VSAN devices, you'll be able to quickly see how much traffic is passing through each device and interface, which ports belong to which VSANs, which type of media each device is leveraging, and much more. Threshold-based alerting allows you to get ahead of any VSAN performance issues so you're the first to find (and fix) any issues.
Monitor and alert on large, complex network multicast topologies.
Troubleshooting multicast related performance issues is a time consuming, manual process requiring knowledge of CLI and advanced scripting. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) gives you the ability to automatically monitor your multicast network and alert you when performance issues arise allowing you to reduce your time to resolution.
Network Performance Monitor combines views of real-time multicast information alongside device information so you can drill down and see route details of multicast nodes and monitor routers, switches and end-points that receive and forward multicast packets. You can choose to view multicast data only and create groups specifically for multicast nodes. Additionally, SolarWinds NPM gives you a visual representation in the form of a network multicast topology map, provides visual alert indicators and audible alarms, and includes more than sixteen built-in network alert delivery methods and responses, including email, pages, SNMP traps, text-to-speech, syslog messages, and the launching of an external application.
Manage your Cisco Unified Computing System components utilizing a single unified view of your data center network health.
By uniting computing, networking, storage access, and virtualization into a next- generation data center platform, Cisco's Unified Computing System (UCS) revolutionizes the virtualized environment. Using SolarWinds' network monitor, you'll be able to simplify the management of your Cisco Unified Computing System components by providing a unified view of data center network health through a single pane of glass.
View your network performance on popular mobile Web browsers, including iPhone, Blackberry, and Android.
With Network Performance Monitor's mobile views, you can monitor network performance from popular mobile Web browsers including iPhone, Blackberry, and Android.
A free SolarWinds System Center Management Pack enables deep integration with Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2012 and Microsoft System Center Essentials 2012.
SolarWinds Network Performance Manager (NPM) is built to enable easy integration with other SolarWinds products and third-party applications in order to maximize your investment.
A free SolarWinds System Center Management Pack enables deep integration with Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager 2012 and Microsoft System Center Essentials 2012. Through this new Management Pack, SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor brings extensive network visibility to Microsoft management platforms by pulling rich network fault and performance data from SolarWinds NPM and presenting it natively within System Center. Download the datasheet to learn more.
The SolarWinds System Center Management Pack delivers detailed network information to System Center, including network top talkers, comprehensive network traffic summaries and NetFlow analysis, and multi-vendor network device details, such as specific router throughput. This incredibly detailed network information is seamlessly integrated into System Center and is presented side-by-side with existing application and server information, providing a single comprehensive view of server, desktop, and network infrastructure performance.
Take a test drive and see for yourself how Network Performance Monitor (NPM) delivers powerful network performance monitoring at an affordable price. Orion NPM makes it easy to quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve performance issues with your dynamic network. It delivers real-time views and dashboards that enable you to visually track network performance at a glance.
SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor (NPM) makes it easy to quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve performance issues before outages occur. This affordable, easy-to-use agentless software delivers real-time views and dashboards that enable you to visually track and monitor network performance at a glance. Plus, using dynamic network topology maps and automated network discovery, you can deploy and keep up with your evolving network.
Take a video tour of the powerful enterprise network fault, availability and performance monitoring features in SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor including automated network discovery, network topology maps, node details, route monitoring, multicast monitoring, advanced network alerting, built-in network reports, charts & Top 10 lists.
Join SolarWinds Sales Engineer Kevin Weise as he gives you a step-by-step overview of how to install, configure, and perform the initial discovery of your network devices using SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
Deep packet analysis and inspection can be used to quickly and accurately identify the true source and nature of network and application reliability and performance problems. Now you can answer the question: "Is it the application or the network?"
*Registration Required
Advanced network services layered on complex and dynamically changing networks create significant monitoring challenges for the IT professional. With the use of automated tools you can reduce both network downtime and costs while freeing up time for more value added IT initiatives.
You're starting down the path of the NetMan Ninja. Allow us to put on your SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor training wheels, so you don't bruise your knees.
The UK's most innovative IT services and outsourcing provider uses SolarWinds Orion to address the critical need of 24/7 system alerting for thousands of servers, network devices and applications on client network infrastructures. SolarWinds' EOC platform provides a centralized, single view of all Agilisys client networks, saving $59,000 annually in monitoring maintenance costs.
Netsuite, a provider of cloud-based business management software to over 16,000 organizations worldwide, implemented SolarWinds and began seeing improvement and payback right away by providing end users with a true SLA and delivering "awesomeness".
Understand how growing organizations can select the right solution by reading about the factors enterprises consider when selecting a network monitoring system.
Learn how to manage IT scalability at your growing enterprise network, and read about various deployment options for scaling up SolarWinds IT management solutions.
Q: How is SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor licensed?
A: SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor is licensed by the largest number of the three following element types:
Network Performance Monitor license options:
Unlimited elements of each type are based on a recommended standard polling rate (SLX). For example: An NPM SL2000 can monitor up to 2000 interfaces + up to 2000 nodes + up to 2000 volumes.
Data collected for items other than interfaces, nodes, and volumes is effectively free and you can monitor as many as your system can handle. A few examples of other data types that can be monitored include:
Q: Can I buy multiple licenses of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (e.g., an SL-100 and an SL-250) and monitor all 350 network elements from the same web console?
A: No. A SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor license allows you to install a single database, and each database is associated with a single web console.
Q: Is the SLX unlimited?
A: The SolarWinds NPM SLX license entitles you to monitor an unlimited number of elements, but the throughput is rate-limited. Most customers will be able to monitor about 10,000 elements per polling engine (main or additional) with standard polling intervals. For more technical details, see this KB or speak with an SE.
Q: Can I just use better hardware to poll more?
A: No, the software enforces a throughput rate. However, if you change the polling interval to poll less often, it is possible to monitor more than 10,000 elements on a single server. For details on how the throughput rate is enforced see this KB .
Get the information and guidance you need to begin using SolarWinds products.
Orion Network Atlas is pre-installed on Orion EOC v1.1 and Orion NPM 9.5 or later servers, and it can be run as a local application on those Orion servers.
As your IT infrastructure grows, SolarWinds' products scale to meet your monitoring and management needs.
Enterprise Operations Console delivers a consolidated command center for unified visibility into the remote SolarWinds deployments throughout your geographically distributed networks.
By adding additional polling engines, you can distribute the polling load between multiple servers to provide scalability for large IT infrastructures.
SolarWinds Failover Engine monitors the health of your SolarWinds servers to ensure you never lose visibility of the performance of monitored elements in your IT infrastructure. If something should happen to your primary SolarWinds server, the Failover Engine automatically fails over to a remote server.
By adding an additional web server engine, you can enable more users to access the dashboards and reports in the SolarWinds web portal without potential performance degradation.
A FREE NPM Management Pack enables deep integration with Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager 2007 and Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007. Through this new Management Pack, Orion NPM brings extensive network visibility to Microsoft management platforms by pulling rich network fault and performance data from Orion NPM and presenting it natively within System Center.
The NPM Management Pack delivers detailed network information to System Center, including network top talkers, comprehensive network traffic summaries and NetFlow analysis, and multi-vendor network device details, such as specific router throughput. This incredibly detailed network information is seamlessly integrated into System Center and is presented side-by-side with existing application and server information, providing a single comprehensive view of server, desktop, and network infrastructure performance.
Advanced Network Monitoring with SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor Release Notes
We are known for our award-winning solutions, and we continue to strive for excellence with applications designed by IT pros, for IT pros.
SolarWinds is trusted by Fortune 500 companies, & small businesses alike.
network management
System Management
Database Management
Maintenance Renewals
Product Support
SolarWinds Certified Professionals


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The evaluation board for the AD5754R uses the printer port to conect to a PC, using the software provided to control the part.
Pricing displayed is based on 1-piece. The USA list pricing shown is for budgetary use only, shown in United States dollars (FOB USA per unit), and is subject to change. International prices may vary due to local duties, taxes, fees and exchange rates.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Buon giorno...are you waking up early?
Happy travels to Maryann.
Buon giorno! Thanks for getting us started on a new week, Sharon! I went to bed about 11 pm DST and didn't wake up until almost 5 am CT. Good for me! Love that picture!
Maryann, glad to see your post! I would not go to that Thanksgiving either. Some people just have to have lots of people around. Guess we are hermits! Your trip sounds so exciting! And you sound totally prepared to go! Let us know about the movie.
Dee, was your DD at the terminal when the shooting happened or was everything later just disrupted? I know you are happy they are home. G will be dreaming Disney now. My nephew took his son to Disney a few months back and DN is still posting Disney things. He must have had as much fun as his DS!
Sorry about all the bad backs. I've wondered if those patches they advertise would be helpful. DMIL use to have spells with her back and she would have someone apply a "plaster" and go to bed for days. The "plaster" sounded like the same big patch. Wonder what it feels to have that pulled off! Ouch!
DS came down yesterday afternoon to celebrate his birthday with us but didn't spend the night. Sent a lot of cooked food home with him.
I thought we weren't going to have much color this year but it is beautiful right now. Not like some years, but still. . . . Love to look out the windows and see bright yellow Hickory. The leaves they are falling thought. Our cat Stripes loves raking leaves! He jumps in the piles and has lots of fun.
I will post my miles but need to think for something to add because walking 3.25 miles a day X 5 days/week is so standard that I won't lose any weight from that. Better get ready for church. I've got boxes of literature to sort & distribute before SS.
Good morning all. I could have taken advantage of the extra hour of sleep but I forgot to tell the dog about that. She was up and ready at the same time.
I really just did one day this week of exercise. This is the week I really start. Virginia, maybe you could do something with food - it is more striving for health and happiness
than the exercise. I thought about one large trash bag of trash out of the house everyday for a week but that will be for bad weather. To each his own.
Love the picture, Sharon. So nice to start up with peace and beauty.
Safe trip tomorrow, Maryann and you too, Carol on the next day.
Have a great day - Doris
Good Sunday morning everyone...cloudy and cold here.....
Sharona, thanks for starting us up.......
Maryann, have a good trip
Coldish here too.
Beautiful photo Sharona and thank you for starting us up again.
Maryann safe journey. You are going to love it. Take plenty of photos. A tip: before you head out in the morning, write down on a piece of paper where you are going and then take a photo of that, this way you won't confuse the photo places. I should have done that when I was in Russia.
I'm including my mom having a bad back too.
Dee, how is your back today? I saw the dresser on FB, love it. I've been trying to find a cross stitch kit for Marc Chagall's 12 Tribes of Israel but it doesn't exist. However, looking for it I found an Israeli artist who does beautiful paintings so I am figuring on buying a print and then transferring it to canvas and cross stitching it.
Doris, you have to explain to your dog what's up. Thanks.
Laureen, how did lunch go? I'm sure that your dad loved the tootsie rolls that the kids gave him.
Supper today at the Old Country Buffet. Nice. I think we are going to Boscovs so mom can find nice slippers, if she can't then I will send her some. She likes mine. Plus Boscovs has on sale these battery operated lanterns. Hmmm.
PS..Our house is in that clump of houses in the centre of that photo. Closer to the water than the highway.
Oh, what a beautiful area, Sharon. How far from the water are you? Love the picture. What is on the top of the "hill" at the left side of the picture?
Carol - got a problem. I explained to the dog all about it and told her to sleep an hour longer BUT, I forgot she is deaf so it didn't do much good.
We went to the Mexican place after church and it tasted so good. Anywhere from 12 to 18 go out every Sunday and it is so nice - Some couples, some singles and it is relaxing.
Time to look busy for the day as I'm sitting around.
Hi ladies,
DH took me to breakfast at Denny's. He got the lumberjack meal that included ham, bacon, sausage, eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes, toasts and coffee. He also finished it and ordered a big banana split. I don't know where he puts it all!!! I had the original slam which consisted of eggs, hashbrowns, sausages and bacon with oj. I had to sit and watch dh eat and eat and eat!!!!
I cleaned house yesterday. I didn't get to vacuum the family room. I will take care of that another day.
Maryann have a great vacation!
Marlene praying that you have good result to biopsy.
Sharon and Dee hope your backs are on the mend. Love the pic Sharon. I am ready to book a vacation there!!!
Diva D you lucked out missing the bad storm.
Diva N I am ready to come sit on your deck. It is so beautiful and relaxing!
Joanie sorry about your copyright trouble. They are very serious about it!!
Virginia exercise is exercise. Your walking is a great way to get it in.
Laureen my knees are feeling great as long as I don't overdo the walking.
Carol I love the bread pudding and fried chicken at Old Country Buffet. All the ones near me have closed. I have to go to St. Louis if that one is still there.
Have a good one,
I forgot to exercise today! OOpppps my bad! I swear this is what happened. After dinner we went to the grocery for fruit etc. and when I came back I sat down to stitch a few stitches. Right. Over an hour and a half later I realized I needed to get my bath if I want to watch PBS. So I did. Whoops. Sorry again. Will do better I promise.
Loving the stitching. Hubby bought me an Ott light for stitching with a magnifier, it is so great. I love stitching, you can see so well it is a pleasure to stitch.
No pain meds today but I did make some soup and cooking doesn't agree with my back right now. I think it is just the standing as it is not strenuous in any way. Thanks to you all for your sweet concern. I hope everyone's issues are getting better or gone!
Off top watch PBS. Dee
Good morning,
Dee..I have been off the walking for a few days. Hopefully we will be back at it this week.
That building on the top of the promontory is a church that houses the "Black Madonna" (statue) and the original church that was built there. Here is someone's blog about the church, simply written.http://siciliangodmother.wordp...-madonna-of-tindari/
Have a great Monday!
Morning. Meant to stop back in yesterday but got to working a bit on the evals and then it was time to go to bed. Now I realize I never did stop in, so thanks Sharon for starting us up! Love the picture. Your country pictures are always so beautiful!!
As to the time change, I always adjust easier to this time change than I do the other. Though Fion forgot this morning and was bringing up his rattle mouse into the bed to try to entice us to play! LOL!
Lunch was nice with the in-laws. We do get a long for the most part quite well as long as it's simple stuff. They did want to discuss Thanksgiving but now they have decided to go to Alaska to see their son and grandchildren. They thought about and then decided not to go but when they told their son it was "ohhh". So... they figured they better go. Shaun is a good guy but stubborn (he's a step child for DDIL's dad) and his wife is very laid back and oh well and not much common sense. For example instead of buying kiln that she & their one daughter would have used, she bought a great dane puppy in addition to the boston bull terrior. So then they had to give the dane away cause it would have been too much money to take him back to Alaska. They never did any training with him or "clean up" after him in the yard. So guess we all have "issues". Surprised me that they think my DDIL has gone nuts when it came to buying this house and they are wondering where she got it from. They think they should have bought the house that my DS walked into and "said this is the one" but didn't cause it didn't have a garage and a couple of other things DDIL wanted. No matter it $60,000 less in cost either. But... he will do anything for her. Sounds like they saw the side we always see when we are down there. It's her way or the highway and that's why we stay in a hotel when we would go when they were in KY. Think they enjoyed discussing things that they don't have anyone to discuss it with as they even said it. We ended up being there 3 hours eating and talking and both DH and I brought home over 1/2 of our prime rib and baked potato so we have dinner ready for tonight!
I did a little bit of exercise on the bike last week. A total of 30 minutes over 2 days. This is the week I will really start. Next week I'm going to start to take a free meditation class with Chopak and Oprah on line too. Need to get in touch with my "inner self" also. Am going to start watching what I eat again better too as the weight is creeping up. Of course the donuts last night didn't help! LOL!
Dee I agree it's the standing and then reaching out that pulls on the back. I was told to get a small stool that you can rest one foot up on and that's suppose to help. It happens to me when cleaning the kitchen for any length of time. Guess I should just do it more often right? LOL!
Karen I had an uncle like that who could out eat everyone, though he could be an embarrassment too. But I always wondered how they could do it and not gain weight. Just a different metabolism I guess. Glad the knees are feeling better. Maybe the stuff has settled in more.
Virginia, I'm with Doris and that this challenge should be whatever helps you to maintain, lose weight or "feel better" about yourself. I think that cleaning out a bag a week would be a good one for me, but I'm going to try the meditation first so maybe I'll stop sabotaging myself and the exercise to help me lose weight.
Doris, are we to log it somewhere or just have "true confession" throughout the week? Of course this is a busy week as I have to go get my allergy shot tonight since Thursday is hair cut and color day and Tuesday we have a nice luncheon for "service awards" for the staff who've been here x number of years. At least I won't need to eat then Tuesday night. Should go get the nails done again last week as I missed last week and they are a mess again!
Well need to get ready for work. Suppose to have 4 hours today to do evals again and will make sure I take it so I can get more out for review and then have them start signing them. All have to be written and given by the end of the month!!
Hope everyone has a nice day today. No rain finally for us! Be back tonight!
Sharona, what a beautiful picture, I see you in the middle house....you are ironing
OK, I am ahead of you all in the "plan" in case you forgot, alllll those bags of leaves.....shesshh... my plan, is working on smaller portions, and slow down when I eat....I eat like a pig.
beautiful cold day....
Loved the article about the black madonna, Sharon. Thanks for the info.
I'm just going to say on Sundays whether I was successful or not the week before. Probably say how many days I followed my personal plan.
Nat, no saving some of the credit for leaves to the next week. We knew you would want to cheat. I plan to go to the exercise class today so it will be a start.
Nothing else going on. Took a pork roast out of the freezer and stuck it in the crock pot. It's not a nice oven type so I figure pulled pork is the best solution for that one.
Doris, doesn't your dog know sign language?
Karen,that was some breakfast your DH had. Mom and her friend had the fried chicken last night and they loved it.
Dee, walking around the store could count as exercise.
Laureen, it sounds like the wife is like my sister. I've been watching a show that has couple looking at 3 houses to buy in Alaska. I now want to go to Alaska. lol I would have a place to stay. A former classmate lives there with her DH.
Last night at supper was fun. Mom's friend's cousin the professor was practically jumped on by us because he's from Philly and yet criticizing those running for office here in Jersey. For a man with book smarts he knows nothing of the world and what is going on. I told him point blank that I was voting for Christy because Bueno doesn't like Bruce Springstein. LOL
Good morning ladies,
I did not have to cook dinner yesterday since my niece invited us over for steak and shrimp scampi with baked potato. I was so happy for the invite.
I got in at least 4 days of exercise.
Laureen I love a good prime rib. Yes, at times dh is a pig!!!
Sharon and Dee you both need a good rubbing down with Mr. Ben Gay!!!
Sharon thanks for sharing the story on the Black Madonna. The church is so beautiful!
Diva N I like using a small dessert plate to eat out of when I want to portion my food.
Diva D have fun at exercise class. At least you have 3 days of it!
Hope all of you had a great weekend. I love the pic of your town Sharon. It looks very interesting and a fun place to explore. Laureen the visit with the dil's family sounded like a good one.
This morning I ironed all the long sleeve shirts of K's that I washed last spring, but didn't press them at the time. I hate to iron so I am glad to have that chore behind me.
Today I am making chicken and dumplings. Doris & Karen - they are the recipe for the flat rolled out dumplings that my Mom's S IL family always used. Most people up here make drop dumplings. Nope, doesn't work for me. My Grandma, Mom and Aunt Verna always made them this way, and this is they way they taste best to me. I did find some frozen flat dumplings that are so good so I cheat and use them and saves me from that time consuming task. I don't use a whole chicken either, just boil frozen chicken breasts and shred. Yummo!!
Do you remember the "winter" project -- My hubby was going to make our railing for our deck this winter and install next spring. Well, he has been busy working on them and today installed part of them when I took these pictures. This gives you an idea of our project. So much for his winter project.
Not much going on this week. How about each of you?
Oh I got to thinking about the challenge for our exercise. Since I already do 30 minutes 5x a week, I decided my best goal is to finish reading the New Testament. I started right after the first of the year and I dropped the ball (Bible??). Anyway, that is my additional goal - to start reading the chapter each day and complete this "to do" list item!!
Until next time,
Hi gals...I am back from the chill and rain of the riverside.
Obviously I've forgotten how to use this site as I just did a stupid and LOST a HUGE post that had something for each of you...POO!!!
So...now I am short on time, and can just send out hugs to all.
BUT...hafta say that I LOVE Nat's new kitchen...a real WOW on that!!! Really a GREAT redo!
Thoughts and the biggest of hugs to Marlene!
I've been sitting here for way too long and am sooo &*%&# upset that I lost that huge post....
Will try to BBL...(( )) Rags
Like the deck - Yep, that will be done before winter! Good job. The dumplings are like they make here but I still prefer the drop, fluffy ones that I grew up with. Mom also made the marrow dumplings which I loved but haven't made in years.
This new incentive did do some good this morning - I went out and walked again for the first time in several months. Decided that was better for me than the exercise class and I can really feel it in my legs already.
Susan, I am presently reading the New Testament because our church started this last Feb. and if we read 1 chapter for M thru F, it takes exactly 52 weeks to finish. We are now on Timothy II and I have learned so much. The good thing is that there is a study group that meets on Thurs a.m. for 1 hour to discuss that week's readings. Well, they discuss, I listen. Great ideas from Great minds.
Been working all morning on the state retirees insurance problems. Holy Cow - I feel so good about helping so many people who have no clue what they are doing. Yes, Nat, I'm telling them the truth. It is scary tho about how many people are going to fall thru the cracks and end up with no insurance. With the new state plan I will SAVE $1935.72 per year on my health insurance and it will have a lower deductible and out-of-pocket expenses. And, remember, I have no dependents on the coverage. I have heard so many horror stories about the cost of Medicare Supplement insurance under the new plans that I am thrilled. Can't wait for it to start.
Susan. .love your deck and the new railings. Your husband and Joanie's husband sure are clever.
Doris - yeah for getting outside and walking. Our church must have the same format - but didn't include a study group, which would have been beneficial. I just checked and for some reason my last reading was at week 26. I will start w/Luke 4. Maybe somedays I'll read more and try to catch up and still reach 1 year finish. Emphasis on MAYBE.
Doris - I'm still waiting for my insurance packet via mail before I make any decisions. Good for you that you have it all figured out. Any suggestions? I checked with the consultant this a.m. and was told State of IL has now decided not to send out postcards confirming your dependent has been approved. You must go on line and check. I printed out the approved and verified page so I think I have all the "i's dotted, t's crossed and hoops jumped" for dependent coverage.
Thanks for nice comments on our deck. I'll pass them on to hubby since I was just the sidewalk supervisor. Already looking forward to nice days on the deck next year!
Susan - thanks for the postcard info. Didn't know that but partly because I don't have any dependent. We do not have a choice in this part of the state and only have United Healthcare to choose from. Frankly, with the rates so close and the lower out-of-pocket for United rather than either of the HMOs, I do not know why anybody would choose the HMO. United covers any dr. that takes medicare and you don't need a referral for a specialist. It covers the entire U.S. rather than the territory of the HMO. My sermon for the day.
Actually I skipped one or two books of the N.T. because I was on vacation and now I can't remember what I missed. I think one was the book just before Timothy.
We had some insurance info coming in today as well. I think we now get a blood sugar meter free each year. Sure hope that doesn't mean that they won't give us the strips as our meters weren't on the list. Our Joslin clinic gives us our meters whenever we need them. At almost $100 a box for 100 test strips, testing 4-5 times a day I would think something about that would be free. I am looking forward to June when I reach 65 and no more copays. Our copay for name brand drugs is now $80 each. So we will be spending $320 or so each 90 days for our meds. Yuck.
Allergies are driving me bonkers today. My ears itch so badly down deep in the ear canal. I hate taking allergy meds as they make me so sleepy. Trying to tough it out but getting sick of the nose drips.
DD got a message from G's teacher and they have his gifted testing results in. She wants a meeting with the gifted coordinator and the team that will be involved in his education. No IEP yet, probably more after the meeting. It is his conference this week and she shall find out more when she talks to the teacher. Exciting news. She didn't give her exact info, just stated that he had done very well.
Susan, the deck is going to be wonderful! Wow, he is so talented! Hubby hires everything done, I tease him by saying his contractor calling skills are wonderful! LOL!
Rags, I would have loved to read your long post. So frustrating isn't it?
Oh wow Susan. Your DH did a great job.
Hey Rags!
Yay for G!!!! You must be so proud of him Dee.
Don't forget to vote tomorrow!!!
Hokay. Called Rapid Rover for a ride to the airport. Most stuff is packed including the 2 new battery operated lanterns. Will call Nat tomorrow after mom goes to bowling. Please put Keetya on first. We went to Chilis for lunch, I just had a salad and fries and I couldn't finish them. Have to stay up until 10 tonight so I can pick my seat and get my boarding pass. I've made up a food shopping list for Thursday already. lol That's the Virgo in me.
Success! I had forgotten all about my blog, it's been so long since I posted anything on it. So, I was able to get my video on it with no problem.
If you don't have my blog address, I'll put it on the dialog.
Evening ladies. Sounds like most are doing okay.
Welcome back from the river Rags! Did you get it closed up for the winter? Hope you had a good time.
Susan the deck is gorgeous! Tell DH he did a great job! You'll have a wonderful time on it next summer!
Dee, you must be thrilled for G. Will be interesting to see what they can offer him. Don't want to push too hard based on emotional age but don't want him to not use his knowledge. Hard line to walk.
Thanks for reminding me I have to get on the bike tonight. Almost forgot. Just finished dinner. Went and got the allergy shots. They going to order more serum for me so it goes on this years deductible! Might as well since it's almost paid for. Just tossed a load of clothes in the washer and dryer. Work went well today and I got 6 evals done and approved. Some others are almost done so will bring them home tomorrow night to work on them. Forgot the thumb drive or I would have done some tonight.
Nat I'll let you count the bags of leaves you are still doing. Wink wink!
Carol have a wonderful trip tomorrow . Hope you arrive safe and sound. Bet Ben will be glad to see you with all the wonderful gifts you are bringing back to him! Bet your mom is going to miss you just as you will her.
Doris good job getting out walking! Best do it before the weather gets too bad. Good for you on the state insurance. I'd go with United vs the HMO also even though I don't really like United. You are obviously one of the lucky ones. I'm not looking forward to all these annual choices with Medicare in the future unless they are a lot better than what I'm getting. We just had 2 friends who lost their insurance because the company don't want to have to meet the minimum required. So the 60 year old lady's policy doesn't cover pregnancy so she can't have it. I'm sure the 40 year old guy's is just the minimal deductibles etc. They've been self employed for years and had this insurance and its worked for them and now its gone. Not sure what they are going to do. The husband is older and has Medicare. Sad!
Well, I better get on the bike cause DH is ready to go to bed already. Going to be a long winter. He's already cold and it's warmer upstairs! Will stop back tomorrow night!
Joanie, I don't have a clue how to get to your dialog or blog. Help please! I am looking forward to seeing your video.
Yepper Dee...you WOULD have liked my lost post! I was complimenting your wonderful green chest...love it! I would never remove that paint and suggest you try one of the Howard products to just clean it and give it a lovely sheen...don't worry about the partially done top...it will be lovely and that will give it what DH calls "character".
When we bought the cottage over 30 years ago, we both realized that we had to "do" it in period furniture. Sooo...that meant hunting down the 20'/30's light oak chests, a Hoosier, the Sellers corner cupboard that went with the hoosier, etc. etc. We had such fun hunting for it all, and we did all of the restoration work ourselves, including the detail work on the Hoosier which was my job.
We found an old bench with wonderful iron legs and a thick plank seat that we really love to this day.
Our things here in our home are mostly mid to late 1800's, so we weren't used to hunting for early 20th C stuff, but I truly LOVE the cottage now...it is just sooo comfy and truly looks right out of the early 30's!
Don't know if you were on board when I posted the cottage interior pics. I'll try to find them again!
Wow...Doris gots a BARGAIN on the healthcare scene. Many folks I've talked to are facing an INCREASE. We haven't heard about ours yet.
Susan...maybe you will get a good deal too! Loved your pics...your DH's "Winter project" is really sooo nice!
Carol...you shouldn't have to go shopping when you get home...you can just eat out of your suitcase!
Has anyone made those pumpkin brownies...with the brownie mix and a sm can of pumpkin? Made those at the cottage...added walnuts...we really did NOT like them and ending up throwing most of it away!!! Perhaps I did something wrong...but cannot understand what could go wrong with 2 ingredients and the addition of nuts!
Guess it was the texture that we didn't like.
Well...still putting things away...cannot believe all the stuff we just had to have at the auctions we attended!
Cold here...but it is to warm up toward the end of the week.
(( )), Rags
Susan, I'm sorry! I will make a dialog to you (a private message) and give you my blog address. That's how we communicate private stuff which we don't want on the main thread.
Look up in the right corner on the main thread and you will see a number 1 which means you have a private message from me.
Dee, what testing strips do you use? If it's the same as mine I'll send you some. OneTouch?
Laureen, get on yer bike. I am sure that mom is going to miss me but she can still vent about my sister to her niece and sister.
Dee has a green chest? *whispers* Is it catching? Rags, how do you know about her green chest? (I saw it too). I made sure I had plenty of food in the freezer and cabinets for when I get home tomorrow. I'll nip out Thursday to get bread and fresh stuff.
Rags, shame about the brownies.
Don't forget to vote people!!
Having my last hoagie for a late lunch. *sniff sniff* Getting picked up between 6 and 6:15 tonight.
Carol, safe travels! Good luck getting all those packages home safe! Did you read that after we have heard over and over the videos of ob saying "you can keep your plan if you like it", he is now saying he didn't say that he said . . . .
No elections in TN today. If there were, I'd probably just go vote against everyone.
Rags, glad you are back home and online! Too bad we didn't get to read your long post! I hate when that happens. I just checked and we can highlight and copy a post before hitting reply, so we could do that. But. . . it doesn't happen often and we forget!
We got our 3.25 mile walk in yesterday and today. Yesterday we drove up to DS's and helped him. While he and DH assembled a cabinet, I washed the spindles to the rail up the front steps, clipped the hedge that grows by the steps, carried several boxes up the stairs of his "stuff" I dug out of his closet here and took to him, and helped rake some of the clippings. Then DH & and I stopped by Cracker Barrel and I ate a lovely dinner of grilled trout, baked sweet potato, turnip greens and a cornbread muffin. Getting rid of the 3 boxes from the closet definitely counts on my list! Now DS#1 has a whole closet full of baseball cards that I know he wants to stay here because they would be in the dumpster if taken to his house! I think I will attack the attic soon.
Sharon, laughing at Andy! Do you think he fears starving?
Things to do! Virginia
Beautiful deck Susan, love the wraparound. what kind of wood did he use?
Doris, are you changing your insurance?
Susan, your deck is definitely beautiful! Your DH did a wonderful job!
Nat, I love your kitchen. The colors are great and you have so much more space. You did a great job designing the kitchen and your bath. Don't you want to come to TN & design a couple rooms for me?
Doris, what insurance are you changing to? As far as I know our state retired employees suppliment will continue and I plan to stay with the Part D AARP/MedicareRx PDP. I only take one script for Lisinopril 5mg. I think I need to get another script for my bones . . . if there were just something good that didn't have horrible side effects.
Being a state retiree in the fantastic state of Illinois, I have no choice. It is change or do without. I will admit they are subsidizing it 75% which is why my premium will be so low but to get that subsidy I have to sign up with United Healthcare. Some parts of the state such as where Susan is have more choices but this area is just happy if we have doctors. That is also why my premium for the supplement will only be $47 per month. This includes the prescription plan. These changes are only for those on Medicare and sweet Illinois agreed to have Medicare Advantage Plans. Bet there was a lot of money under the table on that decision.
Second day of walking again and it was 1-1/2 miles so I was happy with that. Hey, good day - - even got to talk to my plumber out there.
Chamber of Commerce dinner tonight so that will not be diet food. I can guess now - fried chicken (slightly cold), mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, tossed salad, and cake. I'll let you know how accurate i was. Been to too many of these things.
In a hurry. I am going to aerobics and grocery store.
Good afternoon!
Such a nice day I have had. We returned to the gym, and I did the recumbent bike for two miles in a decent time, 8:00 mile! My gym buddy did real well too. We shall not push it so probably won't go back until Thursday or Friday morning. Slow and steady!
DD, you crack me up with knowing the menu. I call that cardboard chicken! LOL!
BRB, Dee
Thanks Virginia.
You know how the 'experts' say that dogs have esp? Today it happened to me and a dog. I made a phone call and in the background I could hear Laska barking 'auntie Carola is coming for me so I could go to Hengland with her'. Bark bark. And of course Keetya being Keetya yawned and said 'and?' LOL It was great speaking to Mizz Nat.
Had my last hoagie and am now trying to get every drop from the WaWa cup containing mocha mint. Big Yums. We have a coffee shop in town so I'm going to see what I can get there. I am definitely into coffee. I'm in competition with Sharona now. I bought some Entenmann's frosted donuts to nibble on when I get to the airport.
See ya tomorrow.
OK, I'll finally ask. What is a WaWa cup? Also, what election?
We had an election today too. I made sure to vote as they had a school levy that needed my support. Looks like it is going down in defeat. I hate the increase in taxes on a fixed income, but see no other solution. Back to the drawing board.
Safe travels Carol! Not into coffee at all, but it smells so good and I want to like it just don't care for the taste.
We saw Ender's Game tonight, it was pretty good. Next week is Thor I think.
Ouch, I have a canker sore and it hurts. Must do a salt water gargle and hope for the best.
Winter is just around the corner. I can feel it. And there were a couple of leaves on the ground. Cloudy today. Looks like it should be cold, but it is actually very nice.
Got good news that the biopsy was benign. happy dance is going on.....in six months, I will follow up.
Hope your trip went well Carol. Home sweet home. Lets see if this will post. The last one just kept spinning and no post.
Marlene...such good news. What a wonderful post to be reading this morning, I shall dance with you...but slowly. xoxoxox


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Projection Screens
Aug 15, 2013 4:24 PM, By Bennett Liles
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Letting go of the past
Discussion in 'Spiritual Articles' started by vsgrewal48895, Mar 22, 2009.


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Looking back I realized I've been blogging pretty steadily this offseason, despite the absence of Important and Barry Zito Related Things happening. But something semi-important and semi-Barry Zito related happened yesterday, so I need to chronicle it. (Maybe the semi should be in bold?)
I went down to Santa Cruz with my family yesterday because the day between storms in late December is obviously the perfect day to go the beach. Duh. And it's also the perfect time to test out my intrepid explorer persona by going in the water. This is California and everything but the water was cold.
Anyway. We were watching the sun set at Westcliff Beach and there were lots of surfers. Which inevitably led to a conversation about the whole "surfer chicks love surfer guys. . . . Hot chicks don't dig ballplayers" theory. And by the time the sun had set we had all reached the conclusion that the statement is false. Take note, Zito!
The surfer guys. None of whom had sandy blonde hair and super white smiles, for the record. What has the surfer guy come to?
And the sunset was very beautiful
And there's only one full month of complete offseason left. January is going to fly by and then catchers and pitchers report to camp. We can last that long, right? I mean, as long as a few more Important and Barry Zito Related Things happen I can totally last.
Diamond Girl


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'Err' is an installation of deliberately broken prototypes conceived by Jeremy Hutchison. We caught up with him to discuss the project.
BST: How did the idea for Err come about?
JH:I came across an article about the Apple Macintosh factory in China. Consumer hunger for iPads had reached such an extent that factory employees were throwing themselves off the roof. Life on the assembly line had become devastating. One worker said 'sometimes he would deliberately drop something on the ground so that he could have a few seconds of rest while picking it up.'
That's an extraordinary idea. A deliberate error is completely illogical. Which is what makes it fundamentally human. So I wanted to know what would happen if you extended this human gesture, and inserted nonsense into the smooth logic of a hyper-efficient globalised machine. What if you commissioned workers to produce errors, intentionally? What is an intentional error?
What were the reactions from the manufacturers?
Well, there was a lot of feedback… a lot of confusion. The workers in the Indian comb factory fell about laughing when their boss asked them to make a dysfunctional comb: 'everyone thought I have gone mad or mis-read your enquiry as everyone in the world strives to improve not to create error.'
But the confusion wasn't limited to the factories: it continued through the customs ports. A factory in Pakistan agreed to make me an incorrect football. The patches were in the wrong places, the stitching was terrible, the bladder poured out. It was lovely.
But I got a frantic call in the middle of the night: my contact Waleed was at the customs port. The authorities had seized the ball. When he explained than an Englishman had ordered a ball with errors, all hell broke loose. They said it was illegal to fabricate incorrect products, and they would revoke his company's trading licence. I explained that this product wasn't incorrect since it was exactly what I'd ordered. And it wasn't actually a football. Days passed: nothing. Lost in the bureaucracy of Pakistani customs, I eventually got through to the high commissioner in Islamabad.
She was very apologetic, and explained that 20kg of heroin had recently passed under the radar at Sialkot customs. So everyone was feeling a bit paranoid. She issued a document stating that 'the sculpture/artwork looks like a football but in fact is not a football and primarily this object is not for using as a football but is an artwork.' But it was too late: someone had destroyed the ball, and it disappeared without a trace. I never quite found out who.
But Waleed and I are still friends.
The project seems as much (if not more) about the personalities of the makers than the objects themselves. Did you keep in touch with any of them or have any of the makers actually seen the work?
Yes, absolutely. Waleed sends me photos of his baby son, Mohammed. The man who made the ladder endlessly asks when we can make another projects. The project was about identifying a curious, human element within a faceless industrial mechanism. Factories normally take orders of ten thousand – not one. And certainly not one with an error. So I guess it came down to finding people who were willing to engage with an absurd line of thinking – who wanted to see what would happen. I made lots of friends, and exchanged an awful lot of emoticons.
I sent all my contacts documentation of the installed work. But I never told them it was art: it was research. The word 'art' can be unhelpful: it seems to answer the question I'm trying to set up.
What was the fastest turnaround time?
None of them took less than a month – some took almost four.
Which is your favourite piece and why?
Hmm.. maybe the teapot. Primarily because it came the closest to being a major disappointment. I'd communicated for months with the factory, waking up at 5am to talk over Skype. They'd assured me that Mr Luo (their factory worker) had really gone to town on it, and that I should expect something paradigm-shifting.
When it arrived, I was giddy with excitement. I was expecting the perfect conundrum. I tore open the box, and there it was: a normal teapot. Unblemished… flawless… immaculate.
I felt sick, then enraged. I took it to the sink… and found I couldn't get the lid off. Which really cracked me up. I love the little teapot, it's quietly terrifying: the most insidious of all the objects. It looks like something you know, but somehow it's all wrong. Every time I've shown it in galleries, people always twiddle the lid, like they really want it to be stuck.
Has anyone expressed interest in either buying or reproducing commercially any of the items? Are you planning to develop the concept, maybe produce multiples?
Yes to both. At the end of this year, the project will regurgitate in a completely new form: as a luxury brand [Jeremy Hutchison's first solo show opens at Paradise Row Gallery on December 4th 2012]. The objects will be swamped by an immaculate, glossy surface – a world of panelled interiors, velvet cushions and vacant supermodels. This is obviously the wrong thing to do with this project. Which is why I'm interested in it.
The luxury market swims in an ether of dysfunctionality. It moves beyond reason, logic and resolution. It wanders away from sense in favour of the hermetic, unreadable poetry of capitalism. So this brand will celebrate this economy: pushing the levers of capitalism as far as they go, plunging absurdity into the marketplace. It's the same idiotic logic that I performed on the factory floor, now performed in marketing communication. So I'm interested to see what will happen.
Are any of the items trademarked or patented and if so who owns the trademark – you or the manufacturer/maker? [we recognise that many are 'interventions' of generic items but we live in an era where people sell teapots as lampshades]
The short answer is no: none of these products are patented. But your question really points to the problematic question of authorship. The workers designed the objects, but under a premise that I designed. So who, ultimately, is the author? I'd prefer to leave that question hanging dangerously open; the unsettling questions are the ones I find most interesting. They are the reason I make art.
AliBaba has collapsed the manufacturing system – do you think this is a good or a bad thing?
I think it's a magnificent thing for the global economy, and a magnificently bad thing for human consciousness.
I think that individual freedom is enhanced by an awareness of socio-economic constructions; of the mechanisms that govern our daily existence. In other words, if we know how things came into being, we can understand how things are. Its a question of visibility. So as these mechanisms become increasingly invisible, I think we understand less about them, and less about each other. So I designed this project to expose the industrial processes that AliBaba has made a business of hiding. I wanted to show where things come from. What factory workers think about. How they feel about eating, living and sleeping in their factories.
Ultimately, I wanted to expose the potential for chaos in global mass-production. We are designing increasingly efficient technologies to become more productive, better organised. To disguise errancy and confusion. But I feel like the human mind is incredibly chaotic – and beautifully so. So I like reminding myself that things don't always fit into 1s and 0s. That reality in 2012 is temporary, fabricated, arbitrary. That it won't always be like this. And that nothing, objectively, makes sense.
How has your background in commercial art (or advertising as it's otherwise known ;-0) informed your work?
[Full disclosure: BST editors Anne-Fay and Darrell met Jeremy at ad agency HHCL where he was undertaking a WPP Fellowship.] To begin with, I learnt how contemporary myths are made. I learnt how to present arbitrary modes of rationality as if they made perfect sense. I learnt that so long as the logo is correctly placed, and the models are well-lit, then you can make just about anything sound convincing. Working in advertising was rather like working in the upper management of a well-run religion.
And advertising taught me a lot about humour. It understands that humour is the most disruptive tool in the box. There's a line in Singing in the Rain: 'Just slip on a banana peel / The world's at your feet'. Basically, provided that you make people laugh, you can perform radical gestures and people will praise you for them. But if you protest in the streets with horns and banners, people will get scared and label you all sorts of bad things.
Can you tell us a bit about your next project?
Well, I'm currently examining one of the functions of an artwork. On a certain level, I think a work of art can be read as an advertising vehicle for the artist's brand. Look at Damian Hirst's diamond skull. Or Bas Jan Ader's shipwreck. The success of an artwork could be judged by the myth it spins around its author. So I've outsourced my creative process to ad agencies (mythmakers) across the globe: W&K, BBH, Y&R, Start JG, Code&Logic. The agencies are generating the ideas, I'm executing the works. It's an absurd premise – idiotic perhaps – but not cynical. You could say that everything we do advertises us: every action inspires some reaction. Anyway, it's all in the pipeline…
Finally, are there any questions you wished we'd asked, and if so what are they?
Well, you didn't ask me about the exploitation that Err actually performs – people rarely do. Lurking in the depths of this project, buried beneath the humour, chaos and imagination, I think there's something quite sinister going on. Its an extension of a very old colonial narrative: white British male brings freedom to less-privileged, less-educated people all over the world – but only on his terms… And that's why I like the teapot with the lid stuck down. Because it says, quite clearly: fuck you.


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Isaac sends Esau for venison. (1-5) Rebekah teaches Jacob to obtain the blessing. (6-17) Jacob, pretending to be Esau, obtains the blessing. (18-29) Isaac's fear, Esau's importunity. (30-40) Esau threatens Jacob's life, Rebekah sends Jacob away. (41-46)
Verses 1-5 The promises of the Messiah, and of the land of Canaan, had come down to Isaac. Isaac being now about 135 years of age, and his sons about 75, and not duly considering the Divine word concerning his two sons, that the elder should serve the younger, resolved to put all the honour and power that were in the promise, upon Esau his eldest son. We are very apt to take measures rather from our own reason than from Divine revelation, and thereby often miss our way.
Verses 6-17 Rebekah knew that the blessing was intended for Jacob, and expected he would have it. But she wronged Isaac by putting a cheat on him; she wronged Jacob by tempting him to wickedness. She put a stumbling-block in Esau's way, and gave him a pretext for hatred to Jacob and to religion. All were to be blamed. It was one of those crooked measures often adopted to further the Divine promises; as if the end would justify, or excuse wrong means. Thus many have acted wrong, under the idea of being useful in promoting the cause of Christ. The answer to all such things is that which God addressed to Abraham, I am God Almighty; walk before me and be thou perfect. And it was a very rash speech of Rebekah, "Upon me be thy curse, my son." Christ has borne the curse of the law for all who take upon them the yoke of the command, the command of the gospel. But it is too daring for any creature to say, Upon me be thy curse.
Verses 18-29 Jacob, with some difficulty, gained his point, and got the blessing. This blessing is in very general terms. No mention is made of the distinguishing mercies in the covenant with Abraham. This might be owing to Isaac having Esau in his mind, though it was Jacob who was before him. He could not be ignorant how Esau had despised the best things. Moreover, his attachment to Esau, so as to disregard the mind of God, must have greatly weakened his own faith in these things. It might therefore be expected, that leanness would attend his blessing, agreeing with the state of his mind.
Verses 30-40 When Esau understood that Jacob had got the blessing, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry. The day is coming, when those that now make light of the blessings of the covenant, and sell their title to spiritual blessings for that which is of no value, will, in vain, ask urgently for them. Isaac, when made sensible of the deceit practised on him, trembled exceedingly. Those who follow the choice of their own affections, rather than the Divine will, get themselves into perplexity. But he soon recovers, and confirms the blessing he had given to Jacob, saying, I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed. Those who part with their wisdom and grace, their faith and a good conscience, for the honours, wealth, or pleasures of this world, however they feign a zeal for the blessing, have judged themselves unworthy of it, and their doom shall be accordingly. A common blessing was bestowed upon Esau. This he desired. Faint desires of happiness, without right choice of the end, and right use of the means, deceive many unto their own ruin. Multitudes go to hell with their mouths full of good wishes. The great difference is, that there is nothing in Esau's blessing which points at Christ; and without that, the fatness of the earth, and the plunder of the field, will stand in little stead. Thus Isaac, by faith, blessed both his sons, according as their lot should be.
Verses 41-46 Esau bore malice to Jacob on account of the blessing he had obtained. Thus he went in the way of Cain, who slew his brother, because he gained that acceptance with God of which he had rendered himself unworthy. Esau aimed to prevent Jacob or his seed from having the dominion, by taking away his life. Men may fret at God's counsels, but cannot change them. To prevent mischief, Rebekah warned Jacob of his danger, and advised him to withdraw for his safety. We must not presume too far upon the wisdom and resolution, even of the most hopeful and promising children; but care must be taken to keep them out of the way of evil. When reading this chapter, we should not fail to observe, that we must not follow even the best of men further than they act according to the law of God. We must not do evil that good may come. And though God overruled the bad actions recorded in this chapter, to fulfil his purposes, yet we see his judgment of them, in the painful consequences to all the parties concerned. It was the peculiar privilege and advantage of Jacob to convey these spiritual blessings to all nations. The Christ, the Saviour of the world, was to be born of some one family; and Jacob's was preferred to Esau's, out of the good pleasure of Almighty God, who is certainly the best judge of what is fit, and has an undoubted right to dispense his favours as he sees proper, ( Romans 9:12-15 ) .
Genesis 27:1-27 . INFIRMITY OF ISAAC.
1. when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim--He was in his hundred thirty-seventh year; and apprehending death to be near, Isaac prepared to make his last will--an act of the gravest importance, especially as it included the conveyance through a prophetic spirit of the patriarchal blessing.
4. make . . . savory meat--perhaps to revive and strengthen him for the duty; or rather, "as eating and drinking" were used on all religious occasions, he could not convey the right, till he had eaten of the meat provided for the purpose by him who was to receive the blessing [ADAM CLARKE] (compare Genesis 18:7 ).
that my soul may bless thee--It is difficult to imagine him ignorant of the divine purpose (compare Genesis 25:23 ). But natural affection, prevailing through age and infirmity, prompted him to entail the honors and powers of the birthright on his elder son; and perhaps he was not aware of what Esau had done ( Genesis 25:34 ).
6-10. Rebekah spake unto Jacob--She prized the blessing as invaluable; she knew that God intended it for the younger son [ Genesis 25:23 ]; and in her anxiety to secure its being conferred on the right object--on one who cared for religion--she acted in the sincerity of faith; but in crooked policy--with unenlightened zeal; on the false principle that the end would sanctify the means.
11. Jacob said, Esau my brother is a hairy man--It is remarkable that his scruples were founded, not on the evil of the act, but on the risk and consequences of deception.
13-17. and his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse--His conscience being soothed by his mother, preparations were hastily made for carrying out the device; consisting, first, of a kid's flesh, which, made into a ragout, spiced with salt, onions, garlic, and lemon juice, might easily be passed off on a blind old man, with blunted senses, as game; second, of pieces of goat's skin bound on his hands and neck, its soft silken hair resembling that on the cheek of a young man; third, of the long white robe--the vestment of the first-born, which, transmitted from father to son and kept in a chest among fragrant herbs and perfumed flowers used much in the East to keep away moths--his mother provided for him.
18-27. he came unto his father--The scheme planned by the mother was to be executed by the son in the father's bedchamber; and it is painful to think of the deliberate falsehoods, as well as daring profanity, he resorted to. The disguise, though wanting in one thing, which had nearly upset the whole plot, succeeded in misleading Isaac; and while giving his paternal embrace, the old man was roused into a state of high satisfaction and delight.
27. the smell of my son is as of a field--The aromatic odors of the Syrian fields and meadows, often impart a strong fragrance to the person and clothes, as has been noticed by many travellers.
Genesis 27:28-46 . THE BLESSING.
28. God give thee of the dew of heaven--To an Oriental mind, this phraseology implied the highest flow of prosperity. The copious fall of dew is indispensable to the fruitfulness of lands, which would be otherwise arid and sterile through the violent heat; and it abounds most in hilly regions, such as Canaan, hence called the "fat land" ( Nehemiah 9:25 Nehemiah 9:35 ).
plenty of corn and wine--Palestine was famous for vineyards, and it produced varieties of corn, namely, wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
29. Let people serve thee--fulfilled in the discomfiture of the hostile tribes that opposed the Israelites in the wilderness; and in the pre-eminence and power they attained after their national establishment in the promised land. This blessing was not realized to Jacob, but to his descendants; and the temporal blessings promised were but a shadow of those spiritual ones, which formed the grand distinction of Jacob's posterity.
30-35. Esau came in from his hunting--Scarcely had the former scene been concluded, when the fraud was discovered. The emotions of Isaac, as well as Esau, may easily be imagined--the astonishment, alarm, and sorrow of the one; the disappointment and indignation of the other. But a moment's reflection convinced the aged patriarch that the transfer of the blessing was "of the Lord," and now irrevocable. The importunities of Esau, however, overpowered him; and as the prophetic afflatus was upon the patriarch, he added what was probably as pleasing to a man of Esau's character as the other would have been.
39, 40. Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth--The first part is a promise of temporal prosperity, made in the same terms as Jacob's [ Genesis 27:28 ]--the second part refers to the roving life of hunting freebooters, which he and his descendants should lead. Though Esau was not personally subject to his brother, his posterity were tributary to the Israelites, till the reign of Joram when they revolted and established a kingdom of their own ( 2 Kings 8:20 , 2 Chronicles 21:8-10 ).
41. Esau hated Jacob--It is scarcely to be wondered at that Esau resented the conduct of Jacob and vowed revenge.
The days of mourning for my father are at hand--a common Oriental phrase for the death of a parent.
42-45. these words of Esau were told Rebekah--Poor woman! she now early begins to reap the bitter fruits of her fraudulent device; she is obliged to part with her son, for whom she planned it, never, probably, seeing him again; and he felt the retributive justice of heaven fall upon him heavily in his own future family.
45. Why should I be deprived of you both?--This refers to the law of Goelism, by which the nearest of kin would be obliged to avenge the death of Jacob upon his brother.
46. Rebekah said to Isaac--Another pretext Rebekah's cunning had to devise to obtain her husband's consent to Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia; and she succeeded by touching the aged patriarch in a tender point, afflicting to his pious heart--the proper marriage of their younger son.