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White balance is simply a "digital filter" which corrects an image for the color of the light source in order to record and display an image with the correct colors. That's the simple explanation, but there's a lot of digital technology and physics behind it. I'll get to the full explanation later in this article, but I'll start out with basic, practical information.
Most digital cameras, from high end DSLRs to simple P&S digicams, have a number of white balance settings such as Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Shade, Flash, Fluorescent, Custom and Kelvin. When you're rapidly moving from indoors to outdoors and from sun to shade and you want the camera to try to do most of the work for you, choosing Auto white balance is a good idea. While not perfect, the camera will analyze the image and use built in algorithms to make a best-guess at what digital filter will give the most accurate colors. The filter setting it selects may be slightly different on every shot, even shots taken under the same lighting, but generally it gives pretty good results.
If you know what your lighting is, e.g. full sun, cloudy sky, deep shade etc., you can set white balance to one of those values. In this case the digital filter the camera uses to obtain the colors will be exactly the same from shot to shot. As long as your lighting doesn't change the images should be consistent in color.
You can also choose one of the preset options if you don't want "correct" colors. For example if you want the image to look "warmer" and you are shooting in sunlight, you could select the "cloudy" white balance. If you want it to look warmer still you could select the "shade" white balance. On the other hand if you were shooting in sunlight but wanted the image to look cooler, you could select the "fluorescent" color balance. A higher K value makes images look warmer, a lower K value makes images look cooler.
The K or Kelvin setting allows finer control. For example, as shown in the table above for the Canon EOS 7D, the "sunny" WB setting corresponds to 5200K (don't worry what "K" is for now, I'll deal with that later), the "cloudy" WB setting corresponds to 6000K and the "shade" WB setting corresponds to 7000K. By choosing the Kelvin white balance option you can choose something between "Sunny" (5200K) and "Cloudy" (6000K), for example 5682K. Why would you do this? Well both the "sunny" and "cloudy" settings are just general guesses. They may depend on time of day, how thick the clouds are etc. You might get a color balance that looks better to you at something other then the preset options. You can also tune the colors if you you want a warmer or cooler look. Higher Kelvin settings then the "correct" setting makes the image look warmer (more red), lower Kelvin setting than "correct" make the image look cooler (more blue)
Finally there's a "Custom" white balance setting on many cameras (and on all DSLRs and more advanced digicams). This is the most powerful option and allows you to make color corrections that can't be made using any of the preset option, the auto option of the Kelvin option. Different cameras may have different methods of setting the custom white balance, but in essence they all work by you first taking a picture of a neutral colored target (white or grey) and then the camera using that to calculate the right white balance setting. A neutral target is either a white card or a grey card, something with no color tint. Typically you place the neutral target in the same lighting that you will be shooting in, fill the frame with it, take a shot and instruct the camera to use that shot to make its white balance calculation.
...your camera has the option of saving RAW files and you choose that option. All of the above discussion of white balance setting affects JPEG images produced by your camera. The white balance setting affects how the camera processes the raw data coming from the sensor into the final JPEG image. However when you save your images as RAW file, you are saving the raw data. In the RAW converter (e.g. Canon's DPP), you can apply any white balance you want. You don't have to pick it at the time of shooting as you do when shooting JPEGs. This gives you a lot more control. However if you want to use the custom white balance option you have to either take a RAW shot of a neutral target and save it, or include a neutral target somewhere in your shot that you can then use to create a custom WB setting.
Is there any advantage in picking the "right" color balance when shooting RAW? Well, it will give you the "correct" colors in your review and playback images. However it won't affect the RAW file in any way. All it does is chose the default white balance which is applied when you convert from RAW to JPEG, but you can easily change the default to another setting.
Everyone is probably familiar with the fact that as you heat up an object (e.g. a metal bar in a furnace) it first starts to glow dull red, then as the temperature increases it glows bright red/yellow and if you get it hot enough without melting it it can become "white hot". The color of the light can be described as having a "color temperature". The red light from the cooler bar has a lower color temperature than the white light from the hotter bar.
At lower temperatures the light from the bar is "warm", i.e. it contains much more red light than blue light. As the temperature increases the light becomes "whiter", i.e. it contains relatively more blue light. You can assign a temperature to the quality of the light and this temperature is expressed in degrees Kelvin. While you may normally measure temperature in degree Centigrade of degrees Fahrenheit, scientists often measure temperature in degrees Kelvin. Kelvin uses absolute zero (-273°C) as its starting point so you can just add 273 to any Centigrade temperature to get the Kelvin temperature. For example light from a typical 60W tungsten filament bulb is generated by the hot filament which is at around 2527 degrees Centigrade or 2800 degrees Kelvin. That means it can be said to have a color temperature of 2800K. Similarly the light from the sun (the surface of which is at around 5800 degrees Kelvin) is said to have a color temperature of 5800K.
Technically speaking the color temperature of a light source is referenced to a black body at that temperature. A black body is something that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation, regardless of frequency or angle of incidence. It also radiates the maximum theoretically possible amount of radiation at all frequencies (wavelengths) when heated.
The above figure shows the relative amount of visible light given off by a black body at temperatures of 3200K, 5700K and 8000K. As you can see, at 3200K there's a strong bias towards the red end of the spectrum. At 5700K the light is pretty uniformly distributed across the spectrum and at 8000K there's a strong bias towards the blue end of the spectrum.
The illustration above gives an idea of the relative "colors" of various light sources, from tungsten lighting (more red) at low temperatures to the blue sky which has a high color temperature (more blue). Also shown is the color of the filter required to "compensate" for the color of the light source to produce correct color.
In the old days when everyone shot film, film came in two types. One gave more or less correct colors in daylight and the other (less common) gave more or less correct colors in tungsten light. If you had daylight film and wanted to shoot under tungsten lighting you had to add a filter. Since tungsten light contains more red than daylight, you needed a filter that absorbed red, which means a blue filter - like the one below:
White balance is basically the digital equivalent of such filters. The various White Balance settings available on most cameras are effectively "presets" of various color temperatures, much like the push buttons on a car radio are preset to certain radio frequencies. The table below shows the white balance options for the Canon EOS 7D camera and how they correspond to color temperature. Sometimes the "fluorescent" setting may not fully correspond to a simple 4000K color temperature. Some fluorescent lights have a green "spike" in their output and to balance that a "fluorescent" setting may have a slight magenta bias (magenta being the complementary color to green). This will depend on the camera and the exact white balance parameters used for any "fluorescent" preset.
How can the camera tell what white balance to use when set to "auto white balance"? Well, there are a number of answers. Most DSLRs use a combination of two different methods:
Obviously, as Canon acknowledge, there can be errors. If everything in the image is some shade of red, neither of the above methods for determining AWB is going to work very well. By incorporating various checks and balances (e.g. limiting color temperatures to a certain range) AWB rarely if ever goes totally crazy.
Some cameras also have additional sensors designed to measure white balance. In fact the Original EOS 1D had an external sensor who's only job was to measure the color temperature of light falling on it. Since it measured incident light and not light reflected from a subject, it didn't matter what color the sensor was seeing. Various Olympus models (E-1, E-3, E-30 for example) also have an external AWB sensor. Normally the external sensor works in conjunction with an analysis of the image to determine AWB.
Many cameras have an AWB algorithm that makes images shot under tungsten light look warmer than a truly accurate WB would give. This can either be cause the tungsten light has a cooler color temperature than the AWB range allows or it can be that some camera makers think that people prefer a warmer color balance on indoor shots.
This is where there can be problems, and when custom white balance can come to the rescue. Most white balance settings assume that the incident light follows some sort of smooth black body type curve. For hot radiators (tungsten filaments, the sun) this is close to being true. However there are light sources (lasers, LEDs, Fluorescent tubes, Neon lights) that are not black body radiators. They have what is called a line spectrum or discontinuous spectrum. While lamp makers try their hardest to make light sources like LEDs or Fluorescent tubes emulate continuous black body sources, they can't do it perfectly. Below is the spectrum of a "white" fluorescent tube compared with what you might typically expect from a tungsten lamp.
As you can see, it's not a perfect match! The fluorescent light source spectrum has many ups and downs, plus a number of sharp discrete lines which come from the gas discharge inside the tube. The less sharp features are the result of the fluorescence of phosphors used inside the tube to emulate a continuous spectrum.
Actually, despite the spiky non-blackbody nature of the fluorescent light spectrum, you can still get a decent white balance with color temperature or other present WB settings. This is because, averaged out, it has around the same amount of emission in the red, the blue and the green regions of the spectrum.
Where you run into more trouble is when the light spectrum doesn't look anything like a black body spectrum. For example if you put a green filter over your lights (don't ask why, this is just an experiment!). A black body never looks green. For example there are no green stars and no matter what temperature you heat an iron bar to, it will never look green. The reason for this is that if a black body is emitting a lot of green light, it will also be emitting a lot of red light and a lot of blue light and Red+Blue+Green = white, so it will look white, not green. If you cool it down more it will look red and if you could heat it up enough it would look blue (though iron and any other substance would melt and vaporize before it really looked blue).
A custom white balance is usually set by filling the frame with a neutral taget and shooting an image. That image is them used by the camera to create a custom white balance.
Below is a shot of a grey card taken under green light and various attempts to color correct it using preset and Kelvin white balance. They all fail. Only the custom white balance works
Why does the custom white balance work? Because it isn't a black body temperature setting. What it does is look at an image that you have told it is neutral (white or grey). It looks at the colors in the three color channels (red, green and blue) and figures out what it has to do to make them all equal. For example if the grey card image had 6x as much green as blue and 3x as much green as red (e.g 60G, 20R, 10B), then it would divide the green signal by 3 and multiply the blue signal by 2 so that all three channels would have the same value (20G, 20R, 20B) and the image would appear neutral (grey) and have a "correct" color balance.
A neutral target is one that reflects every color equally. Basically anything from white to black (though technically black doesn't reflect anything, so you really want a white to mid grey target). How do you find a neutral target? Well, if you want something that's supposed to be scientifically calibrated and certified to be neutral, you buy one!
Foe setting white balance it doesn't matter if your target is white or grey. You may have heard of an 18% grey card which can be used for setting exposure. It's also fine as a neutral target. However for white balance it doesn't have to be 18% grey. It can be 5% grey or 12% grey or 18% grey or 25% grey or it can be white. Makes no difference when used as a white balance target. Now you might think that white is white, so you could just use a white sheet of paper as a neutral target. Well, you'd be both right and wrong. If it really was just a white sheet of paper you'd be OK. A white target would diffusely reflect 100% of the light falling on it. While you never get 100% diffuse reflectance, that doesn't matter. It could reflect 92% of the light falling on it as long as that was 92% of the blue light, 92% of the green light and 92% of the red light that makes up "white" light. However some white paper (especially premium printing paper) contains a fluorescent whitener. This absorbs UV light and re-radiates it as blue light. A little bit of additional blue makes the paper look brighter and "whiter" than white. It results is a reflection spectrum that contains relatively too much blue and so if it's used to set a custom white balance it will result in a color temperature that's a little too high. Is the effect a big one? Generally not. For most purposes a sheet of plain white copy paper makes a pretty good target for custom white balance setting.
While the normal way of setting a custom white balance is to shoot a neutral toned target under the same lighting as will be used for future shots, there is another way to do it. Instead of using the light reflected from the target, you can measure the light falling onto the target. If you put a diffuser over the lens and then point the lens AT the light source you'll get an image that can be used just as well as the shot of light reflected from a neutral target. Anything that diffuses light without changing its color will work. Again you can buy a diffuser made for this purpose. Some can also be used convert your camera into an incident light meter.
If you want to go the "do it yourself" route, you can use one of two basket type white coffee filters over the lens. Not calibrated of course, but cheap and good enough for most purposes.
Generally you can't. If the whole scene was uniformly illuminated by mixed lighting (e.g. a tungsten and a fluorescent bulb mounted side by side in a soft box), then you could use custom white balance. However if you have different parts of the subject illuminated by different light sources (e.g. flash and tungsten bulbs, or daylight from a window and tungsten light from a room light), then you can't white balance so that all colors will look correct. You have to pick what part of the image you want to have a neutral color balance and do a custom white balance from a grey/white card in that part of the scene. After that, if you want uniform neutral color correction, you have to do it by masking and color tweaking in an image editor.
So that's pretty much White Balance 101. There are more advanced courses, but I think this article tells you pretty much all you need to know to understand and use the white balance settings on your camera.


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BAPE x Medicom x Karimoku ABC Camo Square Shelf
http://uristocrat.com/2012/10/air-jordan-4-gs-blackdynamic-blue-vivid-pink/ and Medicom Fabrick partner up in this furniture collection aided by Japanese furniture manufacturer Karimoku. Using the classic BAPE camouflage motif in a series of clean wooden constructions, the collaboration serves up these Square Shelves with signature ABC Camo-patterned interiors in blue, green or red. Designed to be stacked atop one another, each shelf can be used on its own as a coffee table or stacked to create a full bookshelf–as wide and tall as desired. The piece can now be pre-ordered before Christmas for an early April 2013 delivery at Samplekickz.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tuesday, March 29, 2011
My Pheonix attire is almost complete
I still was on the hunt for an outfit for the rehearsal dinner and a little get together for the Saturday after the wedding. Both are casual events the bride tells me. Speaking of the bride, I can't believe I haven't introduced the happy couple to you. So without further adeiu, please meet my dear friend Christina and her future hubby Emmet:
Sunday I had to return a dress to a little boutique at the mall, but the store only gives store credit on returns. Annoying, but worked out in my favor this time. I started browsing their sale racks and I came across some great stuff for even greater prices. This maxi dress was half off, so I scooped it up for only $13.99. I plan to wear this Thursday night for the rehearsal dinner:
And I have been obsessing over florals this Spring. How cute is this top for the Saturday brunch after the wedding? I think it will look perfecto with dark denim and wedges. It's hard to tell, but the straps are braided. Love.
17 comments:
I love the dress and the earrings look great with it! I'm love love loving that top!!! You're gonna look adorbs!ReplyDelete
Can't wait for you to take me shopping!!!!
awwww mannnn why is everyone going to AZ except for me?!?!?!ReplyDelete
oops sorry I'm done whining now.
I hate when teeny bopper stores make me feel fat... hi puberty and college happened.... mmmmk?
the pattern on that maxi dress is fantastic! and I LOVE that top. I'd wear it with shorts and cowboy boots... oh wait I just thought of that because I read your blog and think of Texas heheh ; )
ok luv ya! bye
i love finding cute cheap stuff!! haha :) love all the things you got!ReplyDelete
Finding amazing deals is RIGHT up my alley! That dress will be great, and that shirt is to die for cute! Can't wait to see pics lady!ReplyDelete
Your coming to AZ this week?ReplyDelete
& love the floral top! & what a great deal on it. I have been loving floral lately, idk. I am girl that wears black 24/7, so flowers & I don't mix, however I am loving this new crush I am having on florals.
Have a blast in AZ!
xo $ARMIN
The maxi dress is adorable!ReplyDelete
Love the floral top! Can't wait for warmer weather up here so I can *finally* wear tank tops again.ReplyDelete
That's what I thought...I remember reading Easter Weekend, or something like that...How long will you be in town for? Are you staying in Phx?ReplyDelete
xo $ARMIN
Cute! I think I may fly you to Ohio next time to help me shop for cute bargains. I need help!!!!!ReplyDelete
i'm sure the delia's dress will fit you! no worries and it will look "amazeballs" fo sho!ReplyDelete
they are the cutest little couple (i love the name emmet too)
i love all your outfits and they will be perfect for all of your events. can't wait to see how it all turns out. and when you don't want them anymore, you can ship them to me in SC.
LOVE ALL OF THESE OUTFITS! You are going to look amazing in whatever you wear! You always look fab! I love all the cute little shops and all the great deals you found!ReplyDelete
Happy Tuesday love!
I LOVE LOVE the maxi dress. I'm hoping to get a bunch of floral dresses for the summer and that maxi dress is perfect. Too bad we dont have Mariposa on the East Coast.ReplyDelete
And I CANT BELIEVE you found that top for $4. CRAZY!! Why do I always find ripped and stretched clothes on the sale rack?! You make me want to SHOP!
Love the maxi dress!! You have great style sense there, and you need to help me find things on a bargain, I'm horrible at it! It wasn't until just recently that I realized it ISN'T normal to pay full price for things. I'm missing out! And missing my money!ReplyDelete
LOVE the blues - the dress and those amaze earrings. AND YES, good ole Mariposa!ReplyDelete
Hello! I'm a new follower, just wanted to say hi and i loveee ur blog. im all about finding good deals and i can also relate to your pale-ness lol :-) def. write some more posts about your favorite self tanners!!ReplyDelete
i LOVE that floral top!!! I want it! I wish we had that store here in CA!ReplyDelete
xoxo Inna :)
was your goal to outshine the bride? that's not very nice!!! you're going to look so sassy! I thing the "bargain blonde" NEEDS to meet the "full price brunette"....whoever she is ;)ReplyDelete


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Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Fashion as Escapism: The Floral Dress
21 comments:
Gorgeous as always. I have the same boots and I love them!ReplyDelete
OH YEAH. I am currently doing so. Everything is up in the air at the moment and I feel like looking pulled-together might lead to feeling it.ReplyDelete
Wishing you luck in your endeavors!
OF COURSE I DO! It consoles me, soothes me. You look utterly carefree and happy as a clam in these photos, so I think the dress has definitely served it's purpose here ;) I hope you feel better. Big girl shit sucks the damn life outta ya sometimes, I feel ya there.ReplyDelete
xo Britt
I do that too, I think fashion was invented to escape grown up bullshit. That's why I don't get people who don't care for it, or music, art, good books. What do you have then, alcohol?ReplyDelete
super cute dress, in my favorite color!
Cute dress! And fashion is a nice escape for me as well :)ReplyDelete
Wearing a pretty, twirly dress is a nice way to momentarily escape the shit of life. The dress is adorable, and as always I'm envious of your photography skills :)ReplyDelete
Mili from call me, Maeby
I like the way you think. A very pretty woman, you are!ReplyDelete
Love, Amy
A. Loo's Closet
Love this.. Elizabeth Taylor said it well, "put on some lipstick, pour yourself a drink and pull yourself together..." You feel like twirling girl, then go get your twirl on!ReplyDelete
You are right! We may not want to, but we have accept some day that we are grown-ups now! You look great! Love the dress..ReplyDelete
Oh my goodness, that dress is just so twirl-worthy. I just love the color and the pattern; plus, the boots are just the perfect way to rough it up a little.ReplyDelete
I was so that kid. There are pictures of nine year old me in this yellow floral dress twirling around in the background as my sister was going to her senior prom. Yeahhh, stealing the show even as a youngster. :P
yeh, the fact i'm a grown up sometimes numbs my soul, until i draw a picture or watch cartoons and realize i can be a grown up and still do fun things.ReplyDelete
loving your sunnies.
Being a grown up sucks!!! I wanna stay a lazy hobo forever!ReplyDelete
Always love your outfits, this fashion escapism is very pretty! :D
Amazing look! This kin of dresses with boots are one of my favourite mixes!ReplyDelete
- Laura
That dress looks so breezy and comfortable! I would probably wear that thing every day!ReplyDelete
Leah Faye
e plus l
Looking good girl! I absolutely love that dress and your ability to find such amazing vintage things!ReplyDelete
xoxo Iris
I completely know the feeling you're describing, Ashley - as a person who still regularly eats chocolate cereal for breakfast and lunch, and mostly watches cartoon movies, I'm generally not into grown-up things, particularly when they're difficult, unpleasant and/or involve money. But that's what fashion blogging and dressing up are for... I actually started my blog at one of the toughest, most adult times of my life {planning my wedding while working the worst job I've ever had, where my boss wouldn't even speak to me} and it helped. A lot. This dress is so sweet and fun on you, and it looks like it helped to cheer you up, too, which is the most important thing :)ReplyDelete
I know exactly what you mean with needing to escape, real life has been a bot too much recently!ReplyDelete
Maria xxx
That dress is adorable, and I love it paired with those boots! I don't know if I would say that I use my wardrobe for escaping per say, but it's definitely nice sometimes to dress in a way you don't normally dress and feel like someone else for a day. Is that escaping? I don't know haha. I usually call it dress-up.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 7, 2013 at 1:24 PM
I love the combination as well, the romantic dress with the "though" boots!ReplyDelete
Gorgeous! I love your style!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 15, 2013 at 12:04 PM
Gorgeous! Those boots give the dress a real edge!ReplyDelete
Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to spill your guts! However, please keep those guts nice and constructive.


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More Christmas themed nails!! :) I've found that my white nail art pen tends to chip very easily so I've had to re-do my sisters nails, which resulted in a new Christmas nail art post :D what more could you want on this chilly Thursday evening :)
Here goes....
I'd also like to say I'm really enjoying seeing everyone elses Christmas nail art :) Its where I get my inspiration from so thanks you guys :)
Sooo what do you think? Cute huh?


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Zillow Home Estimate
Census Data for JONESBORO, ARKANSAS
User Comments About This Property
What people have said about 803 HESTER STREET, JONESBORO, ARKANSAS
Comments (1)
Do NOT buy this house! Please whatever you do. I've experienced several unexplained things in this house! It got so bad that I got very sick and almost died and when I moved I got better I did some research on this house and there has been a murder suicide, and several deaths. Three children have died in that house one drowned.. Its terrible I've gotten scratch marks there is something evil in that house don't buy it.
#1 - Katy blantly - Fri Dec 09, 16 - 01:18:54
Please comment if you have information about this property


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I'm going to have to be terse since my computer battery is low and the people next to me at this cafe are smoking ciggy-butts and they smell bad.
More to the point: When you think of a BBQ, what comes to mind? Raw meat? Beef? Testosterone? Grunting and stuff? Men being men surrounding red hot embers and fire? Well, you're right, because that's basically BBQ'ing in a nutshell.
I've been in Girona for two nights and I've had two consecutive BBQs and they've both been awesome. The first was up with my buddies Tom, Allie, and Mara. The evening was entertaining from the start because the cheap little BBQ they bought somehow omitted legs, but they were obviously supposed to have legs as shown on the side of the box. But with a little manly ingenuity (and some logs and rocks) we crafted "legs" for the BBQ. On a very arbitrary scale that I'll dub a "Safety Scale" this would rate about a 4, so don't worry: we weren't going to burn the place down.
Here's Tom very masculinely rocking a mustache and about to light the grill.
And me, bravely wielding some tongs for the sake of flipping some veggies and beef and sausage.
Art is also manly and full of testosterone, so here's a picture courtesy of Charlie… who is just 8 years old. This is an artful picture of me through his hand.
What's more manly than beef and steak and stuff? Marshmallows! Although Spanish 'shmallows leave something to be desired (…namely a big, awesomely white American one). Here the marshmallows are a) small b) pink with green or yellow centers and c) star shaped. So that was kind of weird, but they still taste like heaven… or at least one-third of a 'smore.
Yikes, my computer battery is running frightfully low. Time to type fast…
On my second night in town I received an invitation to yet another BBQ! So I headed over to arguably Girona's biggest terrace at Nick and Kate's place where we had another testosterone rich evening of steak, sausage, chicken, other fine meats, and wine spilling. It was delicious yet again.Sadly it's 6:20pm and I haven't yet received an invitation to third consecutive BBQ, so I might resort to something else. But you never know what'll turn up…
apparently charlie is a fan of zefrank:
Nice. Hey remember when u were in sac and crashed on bike trail? I was the tall guy with duvel ls jersey. Keep in touch. And no more of that ! Thanks for riden with me!
Here's your third invitation when you are back in California. Life is good here on the Central Coast! Love your blog- charge that battery, will ya? 🙂
I saw this awhile ago but when I read your blog today I knew I had to find it and post it so you could see it.


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Exclusive Preview: Superboy # 30
For anyone who may have fallen behind on Superboy, it's important to know that this isn't the Superboy you thought that you knew.
Kon-El is dead, and in his place (and using his identity) is Jon Lane Kent, the evil son of Superman and Lois Lane from an alternate future. Unlike Kon-El, Jon hates all superheroes and he plans to wipe them all out. The aftermath of Forever Evil may give Jon a chance to further that agenda.
But in this exclusive preview from this week's Superboy # 30, Jon discovers that the specter of Kon-El may not be gone entirely. And how long can Jon maintain the charade before Kon-El's friends realize the truth?
Superboy # 30 hits the stands this Wednesday, April 9 courtesy of writer Aaron Kuder, artist Jorge Jimenez Moreno and the rest of the Superboy creative team.


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Sometimes when nothing goes just right
And worry reigns supreme,
When heartache fills the eyes with mist
And all things useless seem,
There's just one thing can drive away
The tears that scald and blind —
Someone to slip a strong arm 'round
And whisper, "Never mind."
No one has ever told just why
Those words such comfort bring;
Nor why that whisper makes our cares
Depart on hurried wing.
Yet troubles say a quick "Good-day,"
We leave them far behind
When someone slips an arm around,
And whispers, "Never mind."
But love must prompt that soft caress-
That love must, aye, be true
Or at that tender, clinging touch
No heart ease come to you,
But if the arm be moved by love,
Sweet comfort you will find
When someone slips an arm around,
And whispers, "Never mind!"


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The Dr. Samuel G. Brooks Guild wishes to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of our fundraising efforts for Seattle Children's hospital. Last year, 3,173 Skagit County patients were treated at Seattle Children's and over $3.1 million in Uncompensated Care was provided. These are local kids. Thank you so very much!
Dakota Creek Industries Rosario Skin Clinic
Croatian Cultural Center
Skagit Publishing Anacortes Printing
Sebo's Henery Hardware and Equipment Rental
Seattle Tiny Homes- delivery to Anacortes, anonymous donor
Windermere Real Estate, Anacortes


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painter murals and Trompe L'oeil
Murals's Sabrina
I offer faux finishing, murals, trompe l'oeil and design consulting.
Service to the Hispanic client. The company closed in 2007.
Company of tourism by land from the capital (Montevideo) to the coastal borders with Argentina and Brazil.
To work as a stewardess, offer my better attentions to the client, demonstrate my abilities in human relations, and my altruistic personality, artist and pacifist.


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We're celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a shamROCK of a deal. Today until March 18 at midnight, book any seat in the balcony at any May performance of Tommy – The Who's epic rock opera – for just $50!
About Tommy
Deprived of sight, hearing and speech by the shock of what he has witnessed as a child, young Tommy Walker seems lost to life – until he reveals an uncanny talent for the game of pinball. When his faculties are suddenly restored, Tommy is hailed as a living miracle – but will the fans who turn to him for enlightenment want to hear what he has to say?
Here's what you need to do to take advantage of this limited-time offer!
- Log into our Facebook page and click on the Stratford Social Ticketing tab
- Select any May performance of Tommy
- In the "Have a Promo Code" box enter 47853 and click "Apply"
- Select any seat in the balcony (including A+)
- Check out!
Enjoy this shamROCK of a deal and have a safe and happy St. Patrick's Day!
P.S. – If you're in the Toronto area on May 16, join us for a Pinballapolooza! There will be 100 pinball machines set up for free play – so challenge yourself and others in the world's largest Pinball play!
Take a break from playing and enjoy a VIP concert with the incredible talent from our production of Tommy – hear your favourite songs and get a taste of our larger than life production.
*Offer is only available online until March 18 at midnight and cannot be combined with any other offers or on previously purchased tickets. Promotion can only be redeemed online through Stratford Social Ticketing on the Festival's Facebook page. Some conditions may apply.


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text:
View Full Information About A Website With Link Extend Addon For Firefox
Link Extend extension for Firefox is a 'Swiss Army Knife' add-on that gives a user complete information about every website. You can know if it is a secure website, safe for kids, it's ethics, page rank, traffic, the last time you visited it, the pages you visited, it's value, contact details of the author, similar sites, and much more. In other words, you can get full information of any website to it's core.
Just install it and go through the setup process, once done you will see the toolbar as shown in the screenshot below. Since it has many build-in features, we will go over them one by one.
This will tell you about the website's safety rating according to various services. You will remember that there are various extensions such as WOT, Mcafee Security, SiteAdvisor, and many others that let you know about malicious websites. Now go ahead and click Safety button and you will find security rating of the currently open websites according to various security services.
It is just another place that will let you know if the content of the website is safe for children or not.
Unless you won't visit a popular company's website this feature won't work otherwise. Just like you can see in the screenshot below that it can't find any information about AddictiveTips(I am not so popular).
Page Rank
Well I don't need to explain what Page Rank is, but I have observed most people install Google toolbar to monitor pageranks of various websites. Since Google toolbar page rank didn't work properly in Firefox 3.5, you can use this at the moment. It also gives you some insight into other details, such as, incoming/outbound links, related links, cached links, etc.
Here you can find the website's traffic according to various traffic analytics services.
Want to know when was the last time you visited this website or when was the last page you visited on this website? Well you can know everything here. It uses Firefox History to list all the results. You can also clear the history of a certain website from here.
Site Tools
This is the place to know everything else about the website. You can find all internal links, titles, and files inside the webpage without even having to browse it yourself. Apart from it you can find contact information for the website's author, search for previous versions of this website, similar sites, and if you have opened any company's website then you can do a fast Wikipedia search on them. Lastly, you will find visitor demography, website value, technology performance, and domain buying options.
Overall, it is all-in-one powerful tool that helps user find any information about a website.
Download Link Extend Addon For Firefox


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California Defaults Slow in Q409: DataQuick
The flow of California homes entering the foreclosure pipeline slowed in Q409, another sign that the troubles in hard-hit areas are dissipating into more expensive and previously insulated areas, according the MDA DataQuick. The San Diego-based real estate information service reported 84,568 Notices of Default (NODs) in California in Q409, down 24.3% from 111,689 in the previous quarter. It's still a 12.4% increase from 75,230 in Q408. California NODs reached an all-time high in the first quarter of 2009 when MDA DataQuick reported 135,431 filings. That number was inflated because of activity put off from the previous four months. The low came in Q304 at 12,417 filings. "Clearly, many lenders and servicers have concluded that the traditional foreclosure process isn't necessarily the best way to process market distress, and that losses may be mitigated with so-called short sales or when loan terms are renegotiated with homeowners," said John Walsh, DataQuick president. Ari Afshar of Housing Assist of America, a short sale company in Los Angeles, told HousingWire that short sales are, indeed, picking up. "We are seeing a huge increase in short sales and this is mainly due to the fact that so many potential modification candidates have been turned down. Being that they would do most anything to avoid a foreclosure, they naturally have been turning to short sales as the next best option," Afshar said. Most of the loans that fell into default in Q409 originated in early 2007, but the median origination month was July 2006, the same month for the previous three quarters and even the last quarter of 2008. It means the foreclosure process moved through one month of bad loans in the last year. "Mid 2006 was clearly the worst of the 'loans gone wild' period and it's taking a long time to work through them. We're also watching foreclosure activity start to move into more established mid-level and high-end neighborhoods," Walsh said. "Homeowners there were able to make their payments longer than homeowners in entry-level neighborhoods, but because of the recession and job losses, that's changing. Foreclosure activity is a lagging indicator of distress." The foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac came to the same conclusion in its 2009 in its year-end 2009 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report. Although the sand states California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona continue to lead in foreclosure activity, cities like Seattle, Washington and others in Oregon are creeping up the list. In California, the amount of Trustee Deeds recorded, which reflects how many homes and condos foreclosed, reached 51,060 in Q409, a 2.1% from the previous quarter, according to DataQuick. But despite the uptick in both defaults and foreclosures, foreclosure resales declined to a 40.7% share of the real-estate market, from 42.7% in the previous quarter. It peaked in the first quarter of 2008 with a 57.8% market share. The top originators of the defaulted loans in Q409 were Countrywide with 5,588 loans; Wells Fargo (WFC) at 3,482 loans; and Washington Mutual at 3,460 loans. Write to Jon Prior.


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Find out more about Pura
Select your next beauty treatment and book online at a time that suits you.
Browse our beauty products shop and buy online
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Customised shades for fair or pale skin tones for a flawless, healthy and younger looking skin.
A beautiful jewellery type box
INGREDIENTS: Light Dream Tint (moisturizing foundation with SPF 15), Circle/Delete 2 (concealer), Bisque PurePress Base, Warm Silk PurePress Base (matt powder base with SPF20), Sheer Honey PurePressed Blush (blusher), L.A. Just Kissed Lip Plumper, Base, Blush and Concealer Brushes for application.
Jane Iredale products contain a high concentration of pure minerals, are free of chemical dyes, provide sun screen and are anti-inflammatory.
free delivery
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Sorry, this product has been discontinued.
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text:
Several post ago I asked how many of you would be afraid if you witnessed some type of paranormal activity, even something simple such as an object moving on its own. Most people responded with a yes, and I have to admit, I was a little surprised by that.
Now, for those of you who seriously believe in ghosts, and answered yes, I have to ask, where does this fear come from? Personally, I think we've let
convince us that witnessing paranormal activity has to be a bone-chilling experience. It doesn't—at least not always. Hollywood
For those of you who don't know, I live in a haunted house, and have for almost 27 years. My book, On Haunted Ground, tells the story of what it's really like to live with ghosts.
An example of what I'm talking about happened today. I live in
and we were experiencing a bad thunderstorm. When I went into the kitchen to get a drink there was a loud clap of thunder and the lights went out. Oklahoma
We've lost our electricity many times, so this wasn't anything new. What was new was for a split second I thought my electric fragrance burner was still on. Looking into the dark dining room, I could see a light shining in that general direction. On closer inspection, I realized what I was seeing was a bright glowing orb hovering above the burner. The power, thank goodness, came back on and the light disappeared.
As always, I'd love to hear what you thought of my experience and if you'd like you can share some of your own.
If you haven't already entered the giveaway you can do so here http://talkingaboutghost.blogspot.com/2011/08/ghosts-angels-and-giveaway_06.html


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Flame Health Dentistry Jobs - Associate Dentist - Newark Area - Nottinghamshire
Flame Health are currently representing a prestigious group of dental practices who are looking to recruit a dedicated Associate Dentist to join their dental team on a full-time basis.
In this role there are 6000 - 7500 UDAs available, with 50% paid for private work carried out.
The ideal candidate will have previous experience working with NHS patients and will have a confident and professional manner. They will be GDC registered, with a UK performer number and be motivated towards providing a high standard of care for all patients visiting the practice.
The surgeries are equipped to the highest modern digital standards, with Exact software in a purpose built unit with it's own car parking.
In this position you will be supported by experienced and efficient staff, allowing you to concentrate on providing first class patient care. The group is committed to maintaining high standards within its practices. As part of this commitment the practice is constantly being updated and modernised and so has access to up to date technology, equipment and dental materials, enabling you to work in an environment where you are provided with everything you need in order to perform an outstanding service for your patients.
The practice prides itself on providing a comfortable yet professional environment, thus allowing continued patient growth and excellent staff retention.
Start Date: ASAP
To apply for this job or enquire about additional Dental job opportunities in Newark or the Nottinghamshire Region - Contact Flame Health Freephone on 0800 085 0858 or from a mobile on 0115 8114370 alternatively email email@example.com
Flame Health Associates LLP operates as an Employment Agency & Employment Business
We have Dentistry Jobs in: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, East, Ireland, Midlands, North, North East, North West, Scotland, South, South East, South West, Wales and West.
© Flame Healthcare Limited 2015 all the images and content on this website are copyright Flame Healthcare Limited
Registered in the UK 07599432
© Flame Health Associates LLP a wholly owned subsidiary of Flame Healthcare Limited | Partnership No OC364544
Vat No 115360937


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Mrs. R. reports that Patty Murray is now speaking against the Coburn Amendment, and has just issued a threat against any Senators who vote for the amendment: we on the Appropriations Committee will take a "long, hard look" at any projects in your state. Can anyone say, "culture of corruption"?
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The Judiciary
The Courts of Judicature is comprised of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, and Subordinate courts including Qadhis courts. They administer justice by resolving disputes between individuals, and between the sate and individuals while also interpreting the Constitution and the Laws of Uganda. Through this, the Judiciary is able to promote the rule of law, contribute to the maintenance of order in society, safeguard the Constitution, uphold democratic principles and to protect human rights of individuals and groups.
CLICK HERE to request the Judiciary for information under the Access to Information Act (2005)
GIS Map Locations: Courts | WEBSITE: www.judicature.go.ug
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
The Ministry is responsible for upholding the rule of law, driving forward the legal and justice system, and reforming and safeguarding the Constitution so that it serves the public effectively.
It facilitates effective and efficient machinery capable of providing a legal framework for good governance and delivering legal advice and services to Government, its allied institutions and the public specifically through: Instituting or defending civil suits; Legal protection through the registration of Companies, Business enterprises, documents, intellectual property rights, births, deaths, adoptions, marriages and liquidation of business enterprises; Proper administration and management of estates in accordance with the Laws governing succession matters.; General supervision and control over legal practice and professional legal education and legal aid provision in the country.
CLICK HERE to request the MOJCA for information under the Access to Information Act (2005)
WEBSITE: www.justice.go.ug
SIP III Focus Areas
Transitional Justice
Written on Thursday, 23 October 2014
Access to Justice (Criminal)
Written on Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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Written on Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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Written on Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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Monitoring and Evaluation
JLOS Documents
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text:
[how do you share your passion?]
It has been almost a year and a half since I've started running.
In May of 2016, I remember training for the 5K run and being so proud I've done it. I remember being so worn out. I also remember reading my running friends' updates and wondering "How do they run for 5K, 10K, or MARATHONS?!" I remember thinking "I'll never run more than 5K, my body will not let me." I remember comparing my pace to that of my friends and thinking "I'm like a snail next to them, a grandma with a walker…"
I still do that every once in a while, but not as often. All this time, I'm learning things about myself and my friends and people in general.
I have learned that training brings fruit (duh.) I have learned that if I train properly, the day of the competition will be a piece of cake (or, at least, will probably seem less exhausting than a training for the same distance.
I have learned that I need friends who
- push me beyond the limits of what I think of myself,
- motivate me to keep on when I want to give up and
- go the way with me. It might or might not be the same people.
I have learned that there will be people who will wonder why on earth am I running – it's so much easier to just go home or meet with friends.
It's nothing new for those who have been training for a long time, but I feel like a toddler who is discovering a whole new world.
As I run, most of the time I'm listening to audiobooks, but there are also days when I just run and think, letting my mind run wild along with me.
I used to laugh that running is a sect of its own.
Right now, I think "Running is so similar to being a believer."
One of the lessons I've learned recently: you can't really tell someone why you run. It's one of those experiences that you feel. It comes from the inside. It feels like the right thing to do and it's freeing you, your body and your mind. Every time someone asks me why I run, I blank out. I say that it feels good, even when it doesn't feel that exciting DURING the run itself sometimes. Sometimes you feel like you're about to collapse… and then the finish line is right there in front of you and you suddenly feel strong again. (And, oh, that glorious feeling when you cross the threshold of the finish line! I feel like I can grin forever.)
Same with believing in God. When I tell people I am a Christian and that I believe in God, oftentimes I see facial expressions that seem to say "Oh, you're one of 'those'…"
Whenever I'm asked why I believe, I can't put it into words other than "It makes sense." My strong sides are learning and connectedness, and I can see God's hand everywhere. And life doesn't feel easy at times. There are times you feel like this is it, you can't run, you can't even walk any further… and then you get a glimpse of the finish line or your friend cheers you up from the sideline and you feel stronger again.
I know very well how foolish it sounds to those who are lost, when they hear that Jesus died to save them. But we who are saved* recognize this message as the very power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18, Living Bible)
Running isn't a competition for me. I am not a competitive person in general (with little exceptions), I'd rather be a team player, where you can support someone and someone else can support you (whether mentally or physically).
Being a Christian is the same. I will never be better than someone else, but the wonderful truth is that I don't have to be. I am who I am. It's in my hands to help someone on the life path.
P.S. This is me crossing the finish line of my first 10K official run.


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- Home »
- Contact Info
Contacting me doesn't have to be very difficult. I think it is lame when you go to the contact info section of a Blog or a Website and it really help you out. So maybe I'm totally wrong but I'm going to assume that you are on this page becasue you want to get a hold of me. And I'm also going to assume that you are here becasue contacting me through, commenting on this blog or messaging me on the Facebook page, isn't how you want to go about reaching me. I know sometimes it just isn't how you want to get in contact with someone. So I'm not going to give you nothing, or tell you to just contact me here like a lot of people do. I'm going to try to help you out a little with a few options.
Here are the best two ways to reach me if you need to apart from the sites.
TEL: 269-684-2448 (land line. TXT won't reach me.)
EMAIL: email@example.com
FAX: (what are those?)
If you need anything more than this, please ask for it through email or give me a call.
Hope that gives you what you want.
|Walking home in Ogaki Japan at sunset
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1944 M16 Halftrack Motor rebuilt, runs great with good oil pressure. Excellent condition half track for sale.
Rebuilt engine, runs and drives great.
Minimal surface rust. NOS radiator and some bogies replaced with NOS. lot of rubber left on the tracks.
Transmission in excellent condition Differential in excellent condition.
This M16 has done very little work in its lifetime and the chassis looks almost new.
Has new radiator from NOS Some bogies have been replaced with NOS. Original generator still operational and generating power. Tracks still have a lot of rubber on them for being old tracks. Original oil, temp, and ampere gauges are still operational. All panels are straight, clean and were blasted and painted some 4 years ago.
Fenders have minor dents.
The halftrack is in my possession and I can take any additional photos you request.
I also have a 30 sec video of it starting and driving I can send via email when requested.
Willing to export.
Asking $17,000 USD or best offer.
Serious inquires only please.
Michael O'Sullivan: +1 254 442 1800
This MILWEB WEBVERT costs
just £27 and is displayed for 2 months. WEBVERTS are open to
trade and private advertisers from around the world.
Your own page with up to 12 pictures will make your advert stand out from the crowd. With over 50,000 visits a week, it really pays to advertise on MILWEB.


text:
Nearly the End
Each human life abides
Between the cheerful question of life,
'Who am I?'
And the powerful answer of death,
'I am all.' 1
—Sri Chinmoy
Sun blared from a mass of windows and metal roofs. We stared forward in three lanes, hands on the wheel in the hope of a sudden advance, but it did not come. The swallows sliced through empty sky, almost too high to see, taunting us with their freedom. I sniffed through my window for a hint of breeze, but the air was as motionless as the clod of traffic to which I added. Children pressed themselves into gargoyles against other half-closed windows, or fought red-faced with one another. Adults gradually abandoned their cars to squint into the warped heat, or to lie out on the verges. Although some were happier in air-conditioning, we all shared the discomfort of not knowing how long our wait would be. There must have been an accident, so impatience seemed inappropriate. Road accidents made me especially pensive. I reflected on a question whose answer had as yet evaded me: Who am I?
I had dabbled in meditation for eight years, and felt sure I would never be truly happy, or truly me, unless I practised it more sincerely. Silence, stillness and solitude frightened me more than anything though. I suspected any sort of spiritual commitment would be like a colourless concrete cell, leaving me just my failings for company. I was not ready to be thus caged, and yet did not treasure life's liberty either. The cruelties and complexities of the world bewildered me such that I only sought to escape them or numb myself to them by then, thinking mine was too small a strength to stretch beyond. I travelled through that world like a television channel hopper, impulsively flicking the remote, never finding anything worth my attention, growing only more indolent and disillusioned, baffled and bored by things that seemed to be enough for most people. I was as though half alive: sufficient to function, but no longer to feel.
I could well have spent my time wondering Who is God? That seemed a question at once easier and more complex than the one I had chosen. While I was uncomfortable with the name and preferred not to speak it aloud, it was a tidy label for the definition I had honed in the privacy of my thoughts: ultimate love, limitless power, endless time, boundless creativity; a kindly and terrible force that I had always trusted, yet felt uncertain I could ever know or comprehend. Although God was always a He – only because an It would have been impolite and a She never crossed my mind – I did not subscribe to any specific image: old perhaps, but not necessarily bearded.
I assumed the only way God could wake me from my state of inner inertia would be through a serious car accident. I cannot qualify or explain that further – it was just something I carried with me from the future; the same way a scar records an event from the past. As a last resort I was sure He would take away all signs of outer beauty, and perhaps the use of my limbs, so as to soften my mischief and wastefulness. Then, I promised Him, He would have my full attention. Until then, I would hunt for shallow pleasures, instead of diving deep to where my real happiness hid.
Eventually we inched forward, sun-dazed and dozy from sitting so long on the open griddle of the road. I passed the site of the crash with more than a natural fascination or reverence. Half spectator, half spectre, I surveyed my own potential future. One day that might be me splayed on the hot asphalt, or cut out from metal twisted up like a ball of paper, finally strapped to a stretcher in a whirr of blue lights and sirens. The sticky tyre marks, the shattered glass, the shattered limbs, would then be mine.
I knew only one prayer by heart – The Lord's Prayer – so I always offered it silently and superstitiously at such a scene. It was my way of telling God I still knew who was boss, that I was merely His wayward child, that no tiny will of mine could defy His – at least not indefinitely. Any time He chose, I knew He could mould me, steer me, or obliterate me, blow me like a leaf from here to Kingdom Come…
…Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…
That was as far as I got before my own turn came. I was in the middle lane, about to overtake a slower driver, when his indicator winked towards me. I assumed he would wait for me to pass, since there was barely half a car's length between us. Probably dizzy from the heat and the chaos of children in the back seat, he failed to check his blind spot and pulled in front. As I was moving faster, the gap between us shrank to little more than a hand span. I braked and flashed a glance outwards to find the fast lane clear. Yanking my car into it and fighting hard to straighten the curve, I missed the intruder and the central reservation by inches. He drove on oblivious.
My servant of a vehicle was suddenly a hulking weapon with its own agenda, and I its hapless captive. In a far corner of memory I found that I should take my foot off the brake and steer into the swerve to regain control. I had nothing to lose and no time to question. Puffing hard, I wrenched myself from the clutch of natural instinct and shared my will with that of the machine. The traffic emptied around me, but three lanes still gave too narrow a space. The back end writhed like a fish on a hook, and the car's strength at last outbid my own.
Other cars had stopped in a straight line, like a drive-in theatre audience. I was centre-stage, turning a perfect pirouette on four wheels, seemingly in slow motion. I have not seen anything similar before or since, and I cannot say I saw it with my physical eyes even then: an ethereal body of light floating before the audience, a bright screen beyond which nobody could pass. Its form was hazy, but the light seemed people-shaped – several figures holding hands, like the paper-chain figures I used to cut out in kindergarten. They mingled with the sun's force: more powerful, more beautiful than earthly light, yet almost completely imperceptible. I had glimpsed another world that I had only hoped existed until that day. Like the flash of a deer's tail or a kingfisher's wing, it disappeared again into its own secret realm, leaving its trace only in memory.
Though I probably turned just three or four times, those tiny seconds were hours to me. I had thought until then that it was a Hollywood invention, but my life did rush before me in that blink of time. Twenty-five years of snapshots flipped in front of my mind like a film on fast-forward. Family and forgotten people, shames and errors, brilliance and victory, fond places and old belongings came tumbling as if from some giant scrapbook.
In case it was the last time we would be together, I peered down at my arms and hands redundantly holding the wheel, my legs and feet poised above the useless pedals, and thanked them for their service. Goodbye hands: pale hands, small fingers that learned to brush a steady line on canvas, that wrote letters of love and curious songs, that sowed dry seeds in the fragrant earth. Goodbye feet: little feet that loved bare sands and shady grasses, stubby toes and narrow fans of bone that bore me out of infancy and danced me into many dawns.
I cannot say I heard it with my physical ears, but I was aware of a conversation then, seemingly above and all around me, as huge as the sky. I had no idea to whom God was speaking; I felt as a child crouching at a keyhole, eavesdropping on my parents, knowing I was the subject of the exchange but unable to catch the words. All I knew was that for now I was really none of my business, and that I would have to wait quietly until a verdict was reached. There was apparently little choice.
Although I carried many petty and irrational fears at that age, in the face of death or disfigurement, I was oddly unafraid. Impatience was by far my strongest impulse in those seeming hours of spinning. The unknown was far more terrible than anything; any outcome would have been bearable if only I knew what I had to face. For almost a decade I had deliberately avoided something important, and was ready to be redirected. I resolved therefore not to sulk or to take the result as a punishment – I had accepted this day long ago. Beyond my human petulance was a thrill that God was so tangibly near, and in absolute control. In my sudden helplessness I felt only safe, like an infant in the cup of His Hand. There was love then. Only love. Inside and all around.
That string of earthly seconds seemed to stretch across a whole afternoon in Heaven's annex. Waiting. An ear pressed to a keyhole. Eventually a decision was made: one that I had assumed was not even on the list of options. The car crushed itself quite squarely from behind into the central reservation. The front half, and myself in it, remained untouched. The rest was as a soda can, flattened underfoot.
The world drifted back to normal speed, and I back into a very ordinary state of mind. I knew neither joy nor gratefulness for my reprieve; only a single-minded fury at the other driver. Opening my door without effort or obstruction, I hurtled down the middle lane of the motorway, punching my fist in the air and letting out a few choice expletives. It would have been comical to watch, but nobody felt much like laughing.
The careless driver had stopped a quarter mile ahead and was already reversing back up the hard shoulder. I was quite ready to confront him, for all the good that would have done, but luckily some members of the audience were faster runners than I was. Two surfers on their way to Cornwall reached me first, collecting me by the arms and suggesting that turning back might be for the best. Having survived the last few minutes, I had better not taunt fate by prancing down the M5 motorway. We three returned to find the rest of the audience yet more amazed by my mobility than by the whole spinning incident. The front row and much of the second came out to console or congratulate me. Some came only to convince themselves that the heat had not addled them, that I really was alive.
Despite the overflow of my adrenaline, the surfers insisted I was shocked and ought to sit quietly in their car until the police arrived. They left me with my thoughts and some cold lemonade, to recruit more help shunting the wreckage off the road. They would not let me speak to the careless driver when he came. He was obviously a decent fellow, and utterly remorseful, but they did not trust my impulses any more than I did.
The police constable had probably seen too many so-called accidents conjured by the hands of reckless youth. On a holiday weekend he would probably rather be at home with his family and a barbecue than be roasting himself by a motorway in a dark polyester uniform. For the shortened car, a misshapen barrier, and a good deal of rubber on the road, there were two possible culprits. I could not really blame him for his choice.
There was a thirty-something, leaving a wife and two curious youngsters to watch from a sober-coloured saloon. He pushed a brush of sandy hair from behind his glasses, rolled back on his heels and stuffed his hands disarmingly into the pockets of his chinos. Above the tan collar of a polo shirt his face already wore the lines of parenthood: a knowing smile knitted with a frown of concern. Had the constable allowed him a few words, he would have found him assertive and well spoken.
There was a twenty-something, with tightly folded arms – bare to the shoulders except for a swathe of wide bangles and ribbons. Two similarly ribboned plaits danced beside a milk-white face, inlaid with two furious green-blue eyes. Her shortened vehicle had been the only one affordable that morning at her local car rental. It was a model especially popular with teenage boys, in metallic sapphire with go-faster stripes. Had the constable allowed her a few words, he would have found her tempestuous and somewhat childlike.
The constable preferred to hear from the witnesses first, recording much of the story – as told by the surfers – in a little book. I issued barely anything afterwards; uncertain the mere muscles of my mouth would contain my indignation. As the constable lectured me on hogging the middle lane and driving too close to other vehicles, the surfers took turns to interrupt, but he had already prepared his speech. When the chiding was over, all that was left was to see me to the nearest service station, where I could try to resume my journey. As to who would take me, the constable saw no choice: of course I would ride with him in the police car. I looked to the surfers, unable to face any other direction, and felt the first prickles of tears. One opened their passenger door, one picked up my salvaged bag, and we drove into the fading sun. As hopes of making last orders at their favourite Cornish pub were already disappearing with the daylight, they offered to make a detour into Bristol. We stopped at the services so I could call the person I was meeting.
'Are you crazy or just stupid?' yelped the other voice 'Even a five-year-old wouldn't take a ride from strangers!'
Against all common sense I knew I was still in the Hand of God. I glanced through the phone box window as one of them folded a wheelchair into a car for an elderly lady, and the other passed a paper-wrapped ice cream through the door behind me. They wore board shorts and sandals, all brightly dancing eyes and sunny smiles, framed by golden curls. I had met kindness, as if for the first time.
'It's okay,' I grinned into the receiver, then splitting into laughter at the lavish hints of goodness unfolding around me. 'I don't know why, but it's okay.'
It was then, as my anger dissolved, that I noticed things had changed. Everything had changed, and so radically that it was obvious only I could have changed, while everything else stayed as it had always been. The sweetness of cold air from the dashboard vents, the sparkle of lemon on my tongue, the numbing joy that only ice cream knows, the open arms of the sun as it sang the day's final phrases, the lazy beat on the radio: all were lines of some unfinished symphony. I wondered if I had ever truly seen or felt anything before.
By night I cried like a newborn, wrung out with shock and relief. Sleep was far away in some unreachable land, so I crept out onto the deck. That I could even walk brought more tears in torrents; every bone and sinew remained whole and moved in synchrony to bear me forward. I had gained a new and pristine life. Each step was hallowed, like venturing onto virgin snow.
Electric light hung in globes along the wharf and in the patches of apartment windows. It peppered the distant streets, and capered along the river's surface. It mingled in the water with reflected stars: a man-made world under the eyes of the heavens. I had noticed many scenes like it before, but had never really looked. I had heard too the chink of rigging on the masts of tethered sailing boats, but that night it was an orchestra of chimes, enchanted by the breeze. That night, though just like others past, held the most beauty I had ever witnessed.
A lone church bell told midnight. It was Sri Chinmoy's birthday, August twenty-seventh: soon to become my favourite day of every year. That auspicious fact, unknown to me then, was just one snippet in the paper trail of my fortune.
From Auspicious Good Fortune by Sumangali Morhall
Buy at Amazon.com
Buy at Amazon.co.uk
Download free audio book
1. Sri Chinmoy, Twenty-Seven Thousand Aspiration-Plants, Part 4, Agni Press, 1983, #360


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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Quote of the Day
- one of the Mikes on Mike and Mike In The Morning this morning lol
Monday, December 14, 2009
A Brief History of (Property) Taxes: And How Taxes Really Do Relate To Death
A few highlights that I found most interesting:
Taxes in the ancient world were very low by our standards. In the Roman world and further back, I remember making mental note of property taxes (which were pretty much all the taxes at the time) as low as 1 percent.
In Medieval times, property taxes were raised to the level of a tithe, and paid to a "Landlord," who then paid a part of that to the king. These were only paid by wealthy landowners. For the peasants, their "taxes" were basically a portion of their crops, which were a kind of rent (I already kind of knew about that one). Humorously, around 1200 or so (I don't remember the exact date) an English Lord received a tax abatement when his wife paraded around the streets naked on a white horse to protest high taxes. I'm not sure if that means she was beautiful or repulsive on that horse. Lol.
Something I read that I must say I really didn't understand, concerns the US Colonies and their efforts to raise money for the Civil War. I read that the Northern and Southern states could not agree on good form of taxation, because the merchantile economy of the North lended itself to a different form of taxation of the South, which relied on weathly plantations (and more on poll taxes than income taxes, which seems backwards, if you have a bunch of rich landowners). I understand the basic idea that the two were different, and so had different interests in mind, and that the two would better raise money in different ways. But what I did not understand, is how the interests of the wealthy landowners of the South blocked the efforts of the North for more taxation at a national level with national control (to raise national funds to pay for the war). If I remember correctly, the States ended up taxing separately for the most part, and fowarding the necessary funds to the national army for the war.
Other very interesting stories involved efforts by citizens of early America to have some taxes lowered or removed. In all cases rebellions and violence were involved, and in once case the tax was actually removed, while the person in charge of the rebellion, who initially received the death penatly, went free. Also interestingly, the tax that he was rebelling against was one of the few taxes that could not be gotten around, because it was where the "tax assessors" count the number and sizes of the hearths in a home/estate in order to calculate the value of an estate and also the amount of tax owed. With other forms of property tax, people throughout history often just moved their assest around to different properties when they knew that the assessor was on his way, lol. It seems that they usually got away with it too. It also seems like this is probably the basis for how a lot of people try to get around taxes today (by "moving things around in the books"). That's just a bit of a wild guess, though.
And perhaps what I found to be most interesting about the whole thing, was that sales and income tax came to supplant property tax at right about that time when the world really lost its foothold to physical reality. When we entered what McLuhan calls the "electronic environment", and our world began to head toward a virtual one, and what people had was less and less determined by something that can be physically measured and seen, then things really changed drastically. Its not like you had property in the form of a hearth standing on the earth, or grain in a storehouse that an assessor would come by every so often and measure with his eye. When we entered what McLuhan also sometimes refers to as the "acoustic environment", what people have - at least moreso - is now a matter of a kind of metaphysical speculation.
So assessment is done by the traces of a constant and ever-changing flow. People don't move their assets to avoid taxation; what is taxed is already on the move anyway. The filing cabinet full of income check receipts, from which most of the money has already flown away someplace, is the new storehouse of grain that the assessor comes to measure. Is the cash register a kind of station point marking the end of a trip to a space of retail activity and the beginning of the new phase of barely measurable activity, or is it just the recorder of the vestiges of an endless river of sales activity for the tax assessor, a kind of frozen moment in time? At this station point where time dies for a moment, the inevitable happens, every time, no matter what, for everyone - a sales tax. No I was not referring to death, lol.
Lastly, what might have rivaled that last note about the shift in taxation methods around the time of WWII for the peak of my interest level is the fact that, from this brief overall survey of history, it appears as though the survival and livliness of a civilization does not depend so much on whether taxes are higher or lower at a given time in said history (and correspondingly whether goods and services are produced publicly or privately), but whether the taxes are decreed, administered and collected justly (in either case, whether the taxes are higher or lower). The biggest measure of this in history seems to be whether or not the tax collectors/assesors were pocketing extra for themselves. It seems to be a given that they kept some; that was part of their livelihood. But obviously if you have a whole group of corrupt tax collectors getting rich off of the people's property while the Roman army isn't getting paid (or while some other public need isn't being met), then you have problems. At that point, Rome was invaded by "the barbarians." Funnily enough, of the memorable quotes from the paper: "Taxes are what we pay for civilized society."
OH and I almost forgot. Probably the biggest lesson I learned from the read: the BASIS of taxation. Its simple. NEED. That's why taxes have often gone up in wartime. Simply because the government NEEDS more money. I guess that's why the utilitarianism of it has always struck me as a mere hassle. Its not that I have ever really minded paying taxes; its more that its struck me as kind of boring. Like a lowly activity. Like the difference between reading T.S. Eliot versus reading a weekly tabloid about celebrity escapades.
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Welcome to St. Mary's, Hamilton Village!
No matter where you are on your faith journey, you are welcome here.
Whether you are a new student, new to University City, or a long time resident joining us for the first time, I am glad to greet you on behalf of this parish. Our community is a loving, diverse, and inviting group of folks, all fellow pilgrims stumbling along together on the way towards the Holy. A visiting bishop once said that our congregation's mission statement should be "We like to sing and we like to eat", and he did a good job of summing up our common life. We gather at the altar rail to nourish our souls, and around the brunch table to nourish our bodies, the whole time singing our praises to Jesus Christ our Lord. We endeavor to be the hands and feet of God in the world: feeding the hungry, welcoming the homeless, the refugee, and the asylum seeker, serving the poor in our midst. We invite the Holy Spirit into our lives through study, prayer, and almsgiving. We ask hard questions, and puzzle out the answers together- and invite you to join us.
You can get a good sense of our history, mission, and ministry through this website, as well as upcoming events- I look forward to welcoming you in person!
In Christ,


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Tabs too difficult? Try these video lessons and learn fast
~Louisiana Lou and Three Card Monty John~
Louisiana Lou and Three Card Monty John,
Oh lord, what a natural pair.
Looking for a game, fortune and fame,
Waitin' just a little farther down the road somewhere.
Now Three Card Monty is a gamblin' game,
Two black aces and a pretty red queen,
Keep your eye on the lady and lay your money down,
Watch the fastest hand you've ever seen.
Texas Hustlin' Billy, lord he's on the road again,
He was seen in New Orleans the other day,
Now Lou is known as quite a man with a pool cue in his hand,
Won't be long 'til him and John were headed down that way.
It was Friday night, lord the time was right,
Texas Billy finally made his play,
The game went on into the night and just about dawn,
They were counting Bill's money lord, headed for LA
Waitin' just a little farther down the road somewhere
This is a great Dicky Betts tune from the Allman Brothers Band ... off of the "Win, Lose or Draw" album ... it's somewhat obscure ...
Legend has it ...the "Texas Billy" the song refers to is "Billy Gibbons" from "ZZ Top" .... and that this tune is loosely based on a somewhat, at least partially true story ...??? ....
I saw them perform this at the L.A. Forum when the album first came out in the 1970s ... it kicked major ass !!! ... Elvin Bishop opened up the show for them on that date ...
This is Dr.Ducks version ... enjoy ... and keep on rockin' ...
So ... Who is Dr.Duck ??? ... to say hi to Dr.Duck ... go to ...
Submit corrections
Hard to play? Try these video lessons and learn fast


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For most of us, training is a way to better ourselves, physically, mentally—sometimes even socially. But for a few, it's about something far bigger than one person. Nations are built and buried on the strength of their armed forces, and a country's military is only as strong as its weakest link.
For our men and women in uniform, training is a means to victory. It's about waking up each day better equipped to protect this country than the day before; to not be a weak link.
From the Army to the Coast Guard, the men and women of our nation's military are the fittest of the fit. You don't see them on magazine pages every month, and you may not see them in your gym. But they're working, all right—getting stronger every day, and making us stronger in the process. And for that, we salute our armed forces.
We Salute The Marines
Proudly touting the slogan "First to Fight," the Marines are the de facto first responders of the United States military, functioning almost as a second army that specializes in combat readiness for quick deployment by land, sea, and air. Some of the bloodiest battles in American history—including the Battle of Hue during the Vietnam War and the Second Battle of Fallujah during Operation Iraqi Freedom—were fought and won by Marines.
Being first to the battlefield, and having to pass through the notoriously brutal halls of the USMC boot camp in Parris Island, SC, gives Marines a well-deserved reputation as the toughest of America's fighting men and women.
Nobody embodies the "First to Fight" spirit like retired Marine Brian Stann, an Iraq war veteran and top contender in the UFC's middleweight division. Stann served two tours of duty in Iraq, earning a silver star during his second tour for successfully defending a bridge over the Euphrates River through a long and deadly battle with insurgents. It wasn't just tactical training that won the day, Stann says; weight training played a role, too.
"That's the reason the Marine Corps puts such a high demand on physical fitness," Stann says. "You cannot expect to endure days on end in extreme climates in a firefight if you aren't physically fit. But even more than staying in shape, my guys needed to train for their minds. They endure a lot of mentally difficult things. Being able to lift helps you recover from the rigors of combat."
"You don't need a proper weight room to work out," Stann says. The following routine is one of Stann's total-body workouts he performed three to four times per week while deployed. Perform two to three rounds; heavy bag work is done afterward.
Circuit: 2-3 rounds
Barbell Curl (Performed with Sandbag)15 reps
Standing Overhead Barbell Triceps Extension (Performed with Sandbag)15 reps
Barbell Squat (Performed with Sandbag)12 reps
Barbell Lunge (Performed with Sandbag)10 reps (each leg)
Dumbbell Bench Press12 reps
Pullups10 reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip12 reps
Box Jump (Multiple Response)15 reps
Heavy Bag
Heavy Bag Rounds*5 sets of 5 min reps
*30 seconds fast followed by 30 seconds slow
We Salute The Navy
Our naval forces are older than our country itself. Officially formed on Oct. 13, 1775, the U.S. Navy has been a part of at least 10 major wars. Consider that 70 percent of the earth is covered in water, 80 percent of the population lives in or near coastal areas, and 90 percent of global commerce is still conducted by sea, and you could argue that the Navy is the most important branch of the military.
The Navy's most respected and elite division is the SEALs (Sea, Air, Land). Formed in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy, the original SEAL Teams One and Two specialized in unconventional warfare and top-secret missions in maritime environments. Today, the SEALs are world-renowned for their heroism, ingenuity, and tremendous mental and physical toughness.
Apart from protecting our lives and our freedom, the SEALs have also managed to provide us with one of the hottest pieces of fitness equipment ever. The TRX Suspension Trainer was "an invention of necessity," according to Randy Hetrick, a 13-year SEAL veteran and assistant platoon commander who rigged the first TRX prototype together while deployed in Southeast Asia in the mid '90s.
"Guys were grousing about how they couldn't stay in shape. We were supposed to be deployed a couple of days, and it turned into weeks in the same place—a warehouse." Hetrick had accidentally stuffed his Jiu-Jitsu blue belt into his deployment kit, and using his SEAL resourcefulness, set to figuring out how to get a workout with it.
Hetrick grabbed some standard-issue tubular nylon webbing, tied a knot in the middle, and looped the belt through, forming the upside-down Y shape TRX users are familiar with today. He rigged it to a door, and a crude version of the product that is now on pace to earn $50 million this year alone was born. The TRX has since become individual issue in some units across the military.
Perform the following exercises as a circuit. Rest only as long between exercises as it takes to adjust the TRX. Then, rest one to two minutes.
Squat Row to Y FlyeAMRAP* in 60 sec
Low Row (Performed with TRX)AMRAP in 60 sec
Face Pull (Performed with TRX)AMRAP in 30 sec (each arm)
One-Arm Cable Curl (Performed with TRX)AMRAP in 30 sec (each arm)
*As many rounds as possible.
We Salute The Army
No branch of any other nation's armed forces has the same cachet or commands the same level of respect as the United States Army. For one, it is an absolute leviathan. The Army is the main branch of the United States military; it's also the oldest and the largest. With more than 1.1 million soldiers in its ranks, stationed across 1,900 installations worldwide, the Army proves that there is strength in numbers. If the U.S. Army were a city, it would be the 10th largest in the country.
But numbers alone won't win a war, which is why soldiers receive training that is both varied and tailored specifically to combat scenarios, and at the core of their basic training are seven values that define both our soldiers and the nation they defend: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.
It's been almost seven years since infantry soldier Jason Pegg last served. While on tour in Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device and two rockets ripped through his Humvee, taking half his arm with it and forcing him to retire. But that didn't stop Pegg from pursuing powerlifting. Certain exercises, of course, are out of the question, but ask him to squat 1,000 pounds and watch in amazement.
Pegg started training back as an All-State football player going through boot camp. Once deployed, he found the hardest part of Afghanistan to be the elevation and the tough, mountainous terrain, through which he would spend hours carrying supplies. "Between water, machine gun ammo, mortar rounds, and batteries, there were times when there were well over 100 pounds on you, plus your weapon and equipment," Pegg says. "It sucked for everybody, but looking back, it sucked less for me." Pegg credits his strength training for making him more durable.
Each day begins with a compound lift—squat, deadlift, military press, or bench press—that alternates each week. On lower-body days, Pegg supersets the first and second exercises as well as the third and fourth.
Barbell Squat (or Deadlift)3 sets of 5,3,1 reps
Barbell Squat (w/ Safety Bar)3 sets of 5 reps
Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift3 sets of 5 reps
Ab Work
Barbell Bench Press (or Military Press)3 sets of 5,3,1 reps
Chin-Up (or Row)3 sets of 10 reps
Barbell Bench Press (or Military Press)3 sets of 5,3,1 reps
Whichever one wasn't performed first in workout.
Lateral Raise Circuit: 3 rounds
Front Dumbbell Raise10 reps
Side Lateral Raise10 reps
Seated Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise10 reps
We Salute The Air Force
Formed in 1907 as a subdivision of the Army, the United States Air Force became an autonomous branch of our nation's military in 1947, earning the right to govern itself after dominating the skies above Europe and Asia in World War II. Nowadays, it employs more than 200,000 people in a ready reserve role and operates more than 5,000 aircraft.
Before you can get into a plane (or even behind a desk), you need to pass a basic fitness test. Air Force hopefuls are subjected to a 1.5-mile run (60 points), a body-fat assessment (20 points), and pushups (10 points) and crunches (10 points) for time. A score of 90 or more earns you a patch recognizing your elite standing. Go lower than 75 and you could be denied promotions, or even have your ability to reenlist put under the microscope.
In a branch where most people assume you're either sitting in a plane or behind a desk, physical fitness has never been more important.
A firefighter in his spare time and a former Marine, Brent Burch's transition into pararescue seemed to be the most logical step in his military career. The only obstacle was his fitness. "I was really into bodybuilding in my younger years, and when I started doing the long runs to become a pararescueman, it just wasn't happening," he says. To change that, Burch cut out weightlifting for a year before he took the Physical Ability and Stamina Test, and focused on swimming, running, and calisthenics. It worked.
"I remember saying, 'Thank God I trained so hard,' " he says. "I was at a graduating level before I even started." Burch has to take the Air Force special operations command fitness test every year to maintain his status as a PJ. He's split his training cycle into four phases: cardio, lifting, CrossFit, and a grueling combination of the previous three for the final phase.
Perform all exercises of the same number as a superset. Do four sets, rest two minutes, then move on to the next number. For 1A and 2A, use 50, 60, 70, and 80% of your 1RM. For the first box jump, Burch jumps onto a 36-inch box while carrying a 25-pound sandbag; for the third box jump (3B), use the maximum height you can clear. For the lateral box jump, use a 12-inch box and ditch the sandbag.
1A. Barbell Squat4 sets of 10 reps
1B. Box Jump (Multiple Response)4 sets of 10 reps
2A. Barbell Deadlift4 sets of 10 reps
2B. Lateral Box Jump4 sets of 10 reps
3A. Leg Press (Single Leg)4 sets of 10 reps
3B. Box Jump (Multiple Response)4 sets of 10 reps
4A. Dumbbell Walking Lunges4 sets of 25 meters
4B. Toe Touchers4 sets of 30 sec
Running, Treadmill3-mile paced run at75% VO2 max
We Salute The Coast Guard
With fewer than 42,000 men and women on active duty, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the smallest branch of the armed forces. It's also the most active. In a typical day, the Coast Guard responds to 64 search-and-rescue cases, inspects 68 containers, and screens 720 commercial vessels and 183,000 crew and passengers.
Year-round missions, which include scaling the sides of container vessels, executing rescue operations in brutal weather conditions, hauling distressed boaters onto rescue rafts, and chasing down drug runners at incredibly high speeds, keep Coast Guardsmen at the top of their game, both physically and mentally; and as their motto "Semper Paratus" (always ready) suggests, the Coast Guard can mobilize on a dime.
The moment that war is declared, the USCG flips into combat mode and switches to the authority of the Navy. And they're a welcome addition.
Lieutenant Joshua Vinci has scaled 100 feet up the side of a container vessel at sea in the middle of the night. He's pulled distressed boaters from a capsizing vessel onto a rescue raft at high speed. Right now, he's responsible for the entire coastline of South Carolina and Georgia. Through it all, he credits the mental toughness that the Coast Guard instilled in him as the key to his success, both on the job and in his personal life.
Vinci turned to fitness in 2008 after a neck injury left the entire left side of his body in atrophy. "My body surpassed the level it was at before, and that made me want to keep going," he says. Today, Vinci trains five times a week, even if he's out at sea. "You've just gotta make sure you're not in the gym during heavy seas," he says. "One minute the weight feels like it's zero gravity, and the next minute the roll comes back the other way, shifts the boat, and all of a sudden you're pushing a couple of hundred pounds by accident."
For the HIIT run, go 0.25 miles, hit eight reps of something explosive—like a clean and press—do 25 pushups, then repeat. Alternate between running in the hard and soft sand. Sprint the last quarter mile.
Trail Running/Walking1.5 mile warm-up jog
Trail Running/Walking2 miles HIIT run
High Knees (in ocean)10 min
Dip4 sets to failure
Pullups4 sets to failure
Swim15 min


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by Deanna
Our monthly theme for the month of May is leading lines. I think we all know what that means, but in case you need a little reminder I am pulling back into my archives and editing and re-publishing a blog post I wrote back in 2015. The principles that applied in 2015, are still applicable today.
Lou Nettlehorst was the speaker at our monthly meeting of our MAPS (Morton Arboretum Photography Society) a couple of years ago. Lou is very well known photography and loved all over the Chicagoland area because of his tremendous knowledge of photography, his amazing skills of teaching, and his terrific personality. I went to the Smokey Mountains with Lou and a group of photographers about 3 years ago and plan on attending another of his workshops to Colorado in September.
He began by saying that you must have good design to create an image that:
- evokes feelings
- expresses ideas clearly, or
- records scenes, objects or events effectively
Light - Line - Shape - Texture - Perspective
I am certainly not going to go into each of these building blocks but I decided to focus on one. Lines have always intrigued me in their shape, form, and design. Lines are certainly the most prevalent design element. They can easily be seen because of their tonal or color contrast. Lines easily define shapes and clarify spaces between areas and they can lead us to places.
I decided to look back into my archives plus add a few from my recent trip to Michigan and find some images that fall into this design element.
Straight lines 1) have a sense of purpose 2) define shapes 3) can take us to & from areas in a scene
Whereas curving lines 1) may create a more relaxed trip through the photograph 2) may be sensual or tranquil. The 3 photos above fits into both of these categories, the straight lines provide structure, whereas the curving lines take us to an unknown space.
- they carry visual weight - thin less impact than thick
- straight ones may convey rigidity and structure
- horizontal may impart calm or a stable feeling
- vertical may convey stiffness and formality, strength or growth
- oblique or angled may convey a sense of motion


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The National Math Festival brings together some of the most fascinating mathematicians of our time to inspire and challenge participants to see math in new and exciting ways. This free and public celebration returns to Washington, D.C. at the Walter E. Washington Convenction Center on Saturday, April 22nd, featuring activities for every age level, from early learning activities for toddlers and daring mathematical challenges for teens, to lectures, hands-on art making, puzzles, games, and more.
The 2017 National Math Festival is organized by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) in cooperation with the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath).
For more information, please visit the National Math Festival website.