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Robin: So if it weren't for you, Ted and I would still be dating?
Lily: OR you would have stayed together far too long, had an incredibly bitter breakup and not even remain friends and [teary eyed, to Robin] you and I would never have become best friends.
Robin: You don't even have to say that. [Hugs Lily] –How I Met Your Mother
I'm playing along with a little q & a in the first ever We Want to Know Wednesday. Click on the button to join in the fun!
So here we go:
1. Do you make friends easily?
I make friends in line at the grocery store. Making new friends comes really easily for me, but I guess they are more acquaintances than actual friends. It has been harder to make friends the last few years though. It was so much easier in college. At my last job I worked alone 90% of the time. Now that I'm not working it may actually be easier. Especially if I can sign up for some classes. The older I get the more I'm realizing that I don't want just acquaintances either, I want real quality friendships, and they are harder to come by.
2. What 3 qualities are a MUST in a friend?
#1 honesty-if I can't trust you then we can't be friends. #2 sense of humor-if we're hanging out and we're not laughing something is very wrong. #3. Dedicated-I have had friendships fizzle because I felt like the only one putting in any effort. Friendships are relationships too and they can't just be one sided.
3. What makes YOU a good friend?
I'd like to think I have all of the above qualities I mentioned. Sometimes I'm brutally honest but most people appreciate that. I am also the kind of friend who goes all out. Birthday, wedding, whatever it is. I will make the extra effort and do something special. I love making presents for my friends and spending quality time together. even if that quality time is chatting on the phone, texting or online. Just making the time you know?
4. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life? Yes? Tell us about the meet up. No? Who would you love to meet?
No I have never met a bloggy friend in real life but I am getting braver. Remember when I used to not post my face? Now I post pictures and I even posted a video blog. I've come a long way people. So I wouldn't say never. I feel closer to some of my favorite bloggers and I feel like I know you already. Meeting up would be a lot of fun, and I don't doubt that one day I will grow girl balls and actually do it!
5. Who is your best friend? Tell us about them.
I know it's cheesy, but Match is my best friend. When we first met we sat down together and it felt like we had known each other our whole lives. There is no one I'd rather spend time with and I love how silly we are together.
I've been in relationships where my partner wasn't my best friend and that is so not the case with us. We tell each other everything. Sometimes we stay up late at night just gabbing in bed for hours. I love that about us. I mean, who wouldn't love this guy?
I have a good number of close friends that aren't bestows but they are great people. Couple Wife is my go to for a gossip fest. Geeky and I are getting closer too. Monica, Tomboy and Tahoe Girl are all great girls and I'm so happy that we're friends. Old Married Wife and I have drifted, but we are still pals. PHD Girl and I have been friends since 2nd grade, and even though she's on the East Coast I like to think we'll always stay in touch. There are also the new friends I've made through Match's job, Sassy and Good Girl. I'm hoping to make closer connections with them as time goes by.
My whole life I've always had an easier time being friends with guys, such as Ex Best Friend (he's not my ex friend, just my ex, it's a long story). I just realized we've been friends for almost 7 years now. There's also Chandler, who kept me company all of those weekends when Match had to work nights and I was bored to tears. I value their friendships but I make sure Match is always #1. The older I get the more I am enjoying couple friendships rather than the one on one platonic boy/girl friendships. I think as a single person that's fine, but I realize if you're going to be best friends with the opposite sex, it really is best if it's your significant other. Saves me a lot of drama and unnecessary jealousy!
I am also extremely close to my mom, even though she lives in Oregon. I don't talk about her often on the blog but we talk at least once a week if not more. She's the first person (besides Match) that I tell about anything exciting or newsworthy in our lives. Except any argument that I have with Match. She gave me the best advice a long time ago when it comes to relationships. "You keep your relationship to yourselves. If you come to me to vent, you'll get over it the next day but I will hold a grudge against him because you're my baby girl." If there were ever any real issues of course I could tell her, but she's so right. Plus her and my Pops love him so much they'd probably just side with him anyways. 😉 I'm lucky that we have such a close relationship. It wasn't always perfect and we don't do very well if we're together for long stretches of time, but I am very lucky to have a mom that I can count as a friend.
Then there are my blog friends. There are some of you that have been loyal readers for over 3 years now. I've followed along with your lives and I feel like if we've gotten to really know each other. You've been with me for all the big moments, and I've shared some awesome milestones with you too. I am so lucky for my bloggy friends. You know who you are and I just want you to know how much I appreciate our friendship.


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I was really thinking about a healthy snack I could bake. I lost my inspiration a little bit, but then I was thinking. What better as a snack than muffins? I couldn't think of anything better at the moment, so it was time to make muffins.
I always like different snacks for the whole week. That's why there are two different flavors in 1 recipe. I like to have variety and it's pretty easy to divide your batter for muffins. So I thought which flavors I like together and made them in little cute muffins.
Serving 12 muffins
- 1 Banana
- 1 tbsp Coconut oil
- 300 ml Almond milk
- 2 tbsp Peanut butter maple/coconut (Mister Kitchens)
- ½ tbsp Maple syrup
- 100 gr Oatmeal
- Pinch of Salt
- ½ Banana
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- ½ tbsp Maple syrup
- 100 gr Oatmeal
- Pinch of Salt
- 50 gr Blueberries
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
- Mash the banana, divide in two and put in two different bowls.
- Divide the coconut oil and almond milk between the two bowls.
- Add rest of the ingredients to the two different bowls, except for the banana and blueberries.
- Mix both mixtures until fully incorporated.
- Add the blueberries to the right bowl and fold in carefully.
- Put the mixtures in a muffin tin.
- Slice the banana and add a slice to every muffin with the right mixture.
- Bake the muffins for 12-15 min.
Now you have a delicious healthy snack for the whole week! And even two different flavors.

subset: commoncrawl


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One of the best things about Christmas is the feast of good movies sure to be on TV. Keep an eye out for these gems: my favorite movies about writers, writing and (more often than not!) writer's block…
Stranger Than Fiction
Not many people seem to have heard of this movie on this side of the pond – I don't think it was released in cinemas here – and those who have wrinkle their noses at the idea of a semi-serious film starring funnyman Will Ferrell, better known for getting his hairy, wobbling midriff out at every comedic opportunity. But trust me: this is a fantastic film, and it's all about the writing of a novel.
Will Ferrell is Harold Crick, a lonely IRS agent whose life is lived within dreary routine. That is until one morning, while brushing his teeth, a woman's voice begins to narrate everything he does, sometimes with frightening insight into his innermost thoughts and feelings. Thinking he's going mad, Harold seeks the help of caffeine-crazed Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman), a professor of literature theory, who determines that Harold is a character in a novel-in-progress, and the voice in his head is that of Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), an eccentric and reclusive writer famous for killing off her main characters. His imminent death is really bad timing for Harold who has just started to embrace life, stepping outside of his comfort zone to chase the affections of a kooky baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and realize a childhood dream of learning to play the guitar. His only saving grace is that elsewhere in town, Karen has a severe case of writer's block and can't figure out how to kill him. He must get to her before she does, and convince her that his life is worth more than the creation of a literary masterpiece.
Every time I watch this movie it warms my heart, and breaks it just a little. Will Ferrell plays Harold in such an understated way that the smallest glimpse of new life in him is a revelation, and even though I wouldn't call it a comedy, it does have plenty of laughs. Stocked with a stellar cast and centered around what most of us spend all day trying to do – writing a book – what's there not to like?
(If you're in the UK, you can watch Stranger Than Fiction on Christmas Day. See comments for details. Thanks Keris!)
Not only one of my favorite movies about writing, but one of my favorite movies full stop. Socially-challenged, depressed and agoraphobic LA screenwriter Charlie Kaufman struggles to adapt New Yorker writer Susan Orlean's book The Orchard Thief for screen, unable to find a strong narrative in Orlean's story about John Laroche, an orchid poacher from Florida. He also struggles to tell the girl of his dreams, Amelia, that he loves her, while his infinitely cooler twin brother, Donald, dates Caroline, a beautiful make-up artist working on the set Being John Malkovich, a movie for which Charlie wrote the script. As Charlie sinks deeper and deeper into writer's block, he travels to New York to meet with Orlean (but gets too nervous, and sends Donald in his place) and reluctantly attends a three-day "Story" seminar led by screenwriting guru Robert McKee. (Donald has had great success with McKee – despite never writing a script before, since taking McKee's seminar he's managed to sell a cliché-drenched action thriller, The 3, for six figures.) This is all interspliced (is that a word?) with scenes from The Orchid Thief as adapted by (the real life) Charlie Kaufman, an Oscar-winning screenwriter, and is based on his (real-life) attempt to adapt the (real life) book written by (the real life) Susan Orlean after his (real life) success with his Being John Malkovich screenplay, and (the real life) Robert McKee does do "Story" seminars, although Kaufman didn't attend one. Also, he doesn't really have a twin brother, even though Donald has a writing co-credit on the screenplay and the movie is dedicated to him.
Confused much?
The self-referential aspect of this movie may make your head hurt but it'll be so worth it. With an amazing cast – Nicholas Cage, Nicholas Cage again, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Brian Cox – Adaptation works on about fifteen different levels and will remind you that your writer's block ain't all that bad. Renowned film critic Roger Ebert said it's a movie "that leaves you breathless with curiosity, as it teases itself with the directions it might take. To watch the film is to be actively involved in the challenge of its creation."
The TV Set
I discovered this movie by way of Netflix during my first few weeks in Orlando, where thanks to my no job/no car/no English-speaking roommates situation, DVDs by mail were my best bet for an enjoyable evening. I'd never heard of it before, but I'm so glad I found it. It's hilarious, and offers what I suspect is a fairly accurate insight into the way writers are (mis)treated by the Hollywood machine. The movie's tag line says it all: "The place where dreams are cancelled."
Special Agent Mulder – I mean, um, David Duchovny – is delighted when a TV pilot he wrote is green-lighted. This delight is short-lived, however, when he meets the reality of getting a pilot made. Even though they loved his idea, the studio now wants to change every single thing about it. Two characters make this movie: Sigourney Weaver as the bull-headed studio head and Judy Greer as Duchovny's inappropriately optimistic agent. Ioan Gruffudd adds some serious eye-candy as a TV exec newly transferred from the BBC, stunned by the antics of his US colleagues.
For the movie version of this exact same story, see Christopher Guest's funny but flawed For Your Consideration.
And the best of the rest…
The better known writerly movies all seem to stay on the dark side: The Shining (writers block leads to crazy), Misery (beware of Number One Fans) and Secret Window (don't go to an isolated cabin in the woods to finish your novel – trust me on this one.) You could also squeeze 1408 in there, because technically John Cusack is staying in that hotel of horrors to do research for a book.
If you'd rather get inspired than get the crap frightened out of you, there's a few touchy-feely writing movies too, where old, wise writers inspire new, not so wise ones. Alarmingly, all these movies seem to exclusively feature men and boys. In Finding Forrester, a black teenager from the wrong side of the tracks befriends a reclusive writer played by Sean Connery, and writing ensues. In Wonder Boys, Michael Douglas is a creative writing professor in a movie where pretty much everyone is sleeping with everyone else. (A very different kind of touchy-feely…) Finding Neverland is another brilliant movie, which I didn't think I'd like but actually really enjoyed. Johnny Depp plays playwright J.M. Barrie who during the writing of his play, Peter Pan, befriends Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her young sons, who inspire the story. Have the Kleenex at the ready – this one's a right heart-wrencher!
If you catch any of these over the Christmas period or you've seen them already, let me know what you think!


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At least 50 pro-Assad security men die in double Deraa suicide attack
Nov. 10 - UK-based rights group says at least 50 pro-government security officers died in a double suicide attack in Deraa. Jessica Gray reports.
Smoke rises over the Syrian city of Deraa after a double suicide attack on a military camp that killed at least 50 pro-Assad security officers. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says members of an al Qaeda-inspired group were behind the bombings. Violence like this has prompted hundreds of thousands of residents to flee to neighboring countries. The United Nations says Friday recorded one of the largest refugee exoduses since the conflict began 20 months ago. Around 9,000 people ended up in Turkish camps in just 24 hours, with Jordan and Lebanon each receiving another 1,000 Syrians feeling the violence. Tens of thousands more have moved into Turkish towns and villages along the border. Ankara admits it's struggling to house and feed the spiraling number of refugees and has called on the international community to end the conflict in Syria.


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Wetlands on the UD Farm
The bustling college town of Newark is the last place you'd expect a rich ecosystem of plants and animals to persist. The UD farm is located in the south campus of the University of Delaware and has over 370 acres for learning and conservation. The city of Newark and the farm itself produce a large amount of runoff, all of which flows to south campus. In order to deal with the polluted water, 5 wetland areas have been erected all across the UD farm. Many of these areas appear to the public as "overgrown" and "messy" compared to the maintained landscapes that most people strive to obtain. These areas though provide important habitat for a diverse group of organisms as well as keeping our watershed clean. The most notable of these is the front wetland, which can be seen from South College Avenue. This plot of land was an unsuccessful cow pasture for a time. So it was repurposed in 2008 with the help of DNREC into a wetland habitat, sporting a variety of native vegetation. To an untrained eye it may look like a mess next to the manicured landscape of south campus, yet every effort was taken to make it into a diverse ecosystem. The ground was carved with microtopography in mind, creating several ponds at varying depths to provide habitat for different organisms to utilize. The ponds allow the water to come to a rest which helps slow and filter runoff before entering the nearby storm drain which flows from the Cool Run watershed all the way to the Delaware Bay. The Central wetland is located near the current cow pasture that holds over 100 cows. It is rich with plant life that provides needed shade to the stream which passes through it. Having plant coverage allows the water to remain cool, which is optimal for most aquatic life. Jenny McDermott, the Facilities Manager for the College, informed us that although the area provides a nice aquatic habitat for mosquitos, its diversity also allows for a variety of mosquito predators to thrive so it is rare to be bitten by any in the area. The North Wetland is the smallest wetland at about ½ an acre. It is a stream corridor that runs into the Gore Wetland. The Gore wetland is filled with both native and hard-to-control invasive species cattails which trickle their way into the north wetlands. Little has been done in the controlling of invasive plants for these areas but they still provide plenty of habitat for wildlife such as deer, foxes and birds. A City-owned trash transfer station is located north of the Gore wetland, yet there is talk of it being converted for yard waste composting in the near future. Each of these wetland areas are along the Cool Run stream which flows under a railroad track, then through Field Z. At the south end of this corn field is a one acre wetland that sits next to Rt. 72. It was overrun horribly by invasive plants for a time, but in 2011 management was enhanced to improve habitat quality. Herbicides were used for several years to help manage invasives, then it was planted with native species that thrive in wetland settings. The area servs as a natural habitat as well as a filtering and storage area for stormwater. There are many other habitats that the UD farm possesses such as grasslands, forests and of course cropland. However all of these require a clean watershed in order to thrive. These wetland habitats are not always perfect but they provide an excellent resource as a filter for nutrient runoff and pollutants, as well as habitat for many organisms. So next time you see an "overgrown" area such as the wetlands on the farm, appreciate it for its natural beauty and important role in preserving local flora and fauna. Article written by student Rebecca Moore


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Warning: the following words are a feeble attempt to convince the family that this is a "good" dinner!
That seems to be the constant theme; across the blogsphere, myself included. I am (hopefully) on the brink of many changes, change I have worked for and hope will culminate in a final outcome that is, recognizable to my "blueprint" of the original thought. I know I am not alone in the change lane, for one thing is absolutely true. Change is going to happen, regardless of our own personal opinion. We change or are left behind in the change.
1/2 c milk
Serve with something green and something fruit and dinner is done! Simple and tasty, yes a brave dinner!
As always, thanks for taking a moment to stop and say hello. I appreciate your time and your wonderful comments!
This post is shared with:
full plate thursday@Miz Helen's


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, trading name of
This Spring Original Penguin pays homage to their iconic heritage. The retro inspired collection looks to the past to create simple, clean and carefully curated styles. Classic styling is reinvented for a modern and fresh look. Signature items like the iconic Polo's, T-Shirts and Woven Shirts are available in a wide range of colours and fabrics making this collection the perfect way to build on your wardrobe for Spring Summer.
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On Wednesday morning, Prince William, the second in line to the British throne, visited Oxford for a set of engagements comprising the ceremonial opening of Magdalen College's renovated Longwall Library, in addition to visits to the University's two latest showpieces, the Weston Library on Broad Street and the Blavatnik School of Government in Jericho.
It was, however, the Prince's visit to Magdalen, which garnered the most attention, as a sizeable crowd of students greeted William, who chatted to several College members, in particular to a group of students who had raised nearly £400,000 towards the cost of the new library as part of a Telethon fundraising campaign.
The Prince was 'more charming than I expected', according to one student, as he talked amiably with Magdalen members about his own student days, describing himself as 'allergic to chemistry', and reminiscing about his avoidance of the library. He also took time to talk to a group of college scouts, asking them about the general tidiness of student rooms, declaring 'I know students!' as he speculated that the scouts' task might be quite an exigent one.
The Magdalen president gave a short speech recalling the College's extensive links to the Royal Family in the past; the Queen visited 8 years ago for the 350th Anniversary event, though the most notorious royal alumnus of the College, Edward VIII, was conspicuously absent from the speech. He briefly outlined the improvements made to Magdalen's library facilities, citing a balance struck between tradition and a contemporary and airy feel by the architects, eliciting a groan from the watching students as he declared that the new library should lead to even better exam results for the already table-topping college.
A number of students were present to greet the Prince, with reactions ranging from muted – 'he's a bit taller than I expected' – to enthusiastic, notably from Rupert Stonehill, a 1st year English student, who said it was 'a pleasure to have him in college', also expressing sympathy for the royal, on the basis that the constant media and popular attention restricted his ability to interact normally with the students.
Following the visit to Magdalen, the Prince popped his head through the door of both the Weston Library, completed last year for the purpose of housing rare and antiquarian collections as well as manuscripts of historical interest, before moving on to the Blavatnik School of Government, a newly-completed and controversial faculty of public policy and international governance.
William himself is an alumnus of St. Andrews University.
Image: Magdalen College


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Mini Birthday Cupcakes
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Have a loved ones birthday approaching - you're in luck!! And so is your recipient when they receive this delicious set of mini gourmet cupcakes. We include 3 Chocolate Cupcakes, 3 Vanilla, 3 Strawberry Cupcakes and 3 Red Velvet Cupcakes festively decorated. Each gift includes an elegant greeting card for you to express your sincerest birthday wishes. These amazing little treats are the perfect indulgence for the birthday boy or girl - chances are, they won't want to share!!
- Serves 4 to 6; includes 12 Mini Cupcakes
- Certified Kosher
- Ships Nationwide in Refrigerated Packaging
- Overnight Service Only
- 2-Day Express Shipping W-F: $14.99
- Overnight Shipping: $19.99
- 2-day Saturday Delivery, available for most areas: $19.99
- Saturday Delivery, available for most areas: $24.99
Orders placed after 4:50PM ET Monday through Friday will be processed the following business day. Deliveries to Alaska & Hawaii are an additional $25.00; no international shipments. Our gifts are perishable and on-time delivery is of utmost importance! We cannot be held responsible for incorrect/incomplete addresses. Apartment numbers and suites for residential and business deliveries must be included. Please ensure you have the full address - delays due to missing or wrong information nullifies guaranteed delivery. We want your gift to arrive fresh and delicious!


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TP-LINK Rolls Out 'Spain Calling' Scheme for Valued Channel Partners
MUMBAI, India – June 10, 2016: TP-LINK, a leading provider of consumer and SMB networking products, announced the launch of its channel reward program 'Spain Calling'. The reward scheme is based on different slabs and on achieving specific target slabs, partners can win a trip to Spain, Samsung 40″ UHD TV, iPad Mini2 and Nikon DSLR etc. This channel-friendly, multi-tiered scheme has been launched to incentivize and reward the partner community for their significant contribution to TP-LINK's business.
"We have a broad range of enterprise solutions and technologies that we offer to customers through our channel network. Introduction of 'Spain Calling' scheme is an additional incentive to partners as it is our conscious effort to help partners in achieving the rewards beyond the usual profits through these schemes." said Sanjay Sehgal, V.P. SMB at TP-LINK India.
TP-LINK SMB products are well accepted and appreciated by B2B customers across the globe. Our products include switches, VPN routers, ceiling mount access points, outdoor access point and IP cameras. With our products, you benefit ongoing innovation and dedication to stay one-step ahead in the world of wireless technology. TP-LINK solutions will help SMBs, Hotels, BFSIs and Educational institutions to build a network which is affordable, flexible, high performance, reliable and highly secure.


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Literary Works » All » Review
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Isolation or Civilization?
Why do you think Golding chose to set LOTF on an island, and how does he us the island in the novel?
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redemption attack pact
catch these FISTS
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B o o k R e v i e w
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What Hogwarts House Most Popular Among Potterheads?
What is the most common house? Time to find out!
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An essay on the largest flower ever!
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Sometimes we start living life not for us but for those who we love. Not a good thing,eh? Read this poem and decide.
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A Passive Aggressive Love Letter to the Sims 3 (disguised as a review)
Don't worry about the rating. There's only two swears.
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Read to find out.
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Anita!: The Woman Who Shaped My Childhood
Another essay, but this time, it's about the first biography I have ever read.
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An in-depth review of The Inheritance Of Loss by Kiran Desai.
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A review of the long-running comic strip Kikomachine Komix. I urge all Filipinos here to come read this. I need your comments.
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Walsh Creek was just like every other small town in America. The catch? There is none.
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Article / Essay » Literature, Review
Are the Bible's Foundational Claims True?
When the Bible describes itself as the word of God, perfect, and absolutely moral is it accurate? I don't believe so. I would love feedback.
Esion - Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:36 pm


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Donna Schaper is the senior minister at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. She is the author of several books on ministry, spirituality, and social justice, writes for Religion Dispatches and the Huffington Post, and is an avid pope watcher.
Veteran minister and social justice advocate Donna Schaper has become a fan of the pope, and she has written him a series of letters—love letters, of a sort. She agrees with him on the environment, climate change, love of animals, and concern for the poor. But she has a lovers' quarrel with him on the issues of women's ordination and LGBT rights. Her letters are intimate and ornery, affirming and challenging. Pastor Donna loves Pope Francis, and she calls us all to join him in loving the world.


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In a Dark Dark Wood* by Ruth Ware
I've been really getting back into reading lately, and ever since reading Gone Girl (okay, I know I go on about this book a LOT in my book reviews but it's the reason I fell back in love with reading) I've been searching out thriller/dark books to read. A book I was recently sent is 'In a Dark Dark Wood' by Ruth Ware, and as soon as I read the blurb my interest was piqued.
'In a Dark Dark Wood' is set around a hen party in the middle of Kielder Forest (I've been there, woo) which Nora, a crime writer, is invited to unexpectedly, after not speaking to the hen for ten years. It turns out the hen is getting married to Nora's ex, and things spiral from there.
The book splits between the run up to the hen party and the aftermath, and focuses around the select few characters at the hen party. As the cover suggests, a murder occurs over the hen weekend and so you spend the majority of the book guessing who is going to be murdered and who will be doing the murdering. Whilst some of the plot is really predictable, there were some surprises and it's definitely a book that kept my interest the whole way through.
Did the book blow me away? No, but as I said, it was a really easy read that kept me interested and I found myself getting it read in just a couple of days. There were things that annoyed me about some of the characters (particularly the fact that the main character still hasn't got over her childhood sweetheart, 10 years on) but overall I thought it was a good book. It would make an ideal holiday read for by the pool as it's not too dark but still dark enough to get thriller fans interested. I'm going to give it a 3/5.
'In a Dark Dark Wood' is out on the 30th July - will you be pre-ordering a copy?


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Saturday, December 15, 2012
An Incomprehensible Tragedy, Poorly Reported
Whenever I hear about senseless acts of violence like yesterday's rampage, I react like any decent human being would - with sadness, disbelief, and questions of "why?". But ever since the Columbine school shooting, when the killers were wrongly labeled goths, I also can't help but think, "Please don't say the killer was wearing black." Because if he was, some uninformed person is likely to call him a goth, and the American media will once again seize upon the opportunity to demonize goths.
Early in the afternoon, I read a story that began, "A teacher's son, clad in black..." Oh, no.
Then, with a map of the school and pictures of guns, "Before 9:30 a.m. gunman, wearing all black..."
And then I read exactly what I was hoping not to read - some totally uninvolved person calling the killer a goth. Some random woman said her son knew the killer; she said her son said he was "very thin, very remote and was one of the goths."
Does it matter to the media that this woman was not even involved in the situation, that she was just a random person attending a vigil? Does it matter that her words are second-hand hearsay? No, all that matters to the media is that her words make for a jucier story.
All that's left is to fervently hope that the media do not seize upon her statement to issue condemnation of goths. It might restore the tiniest bit of hope if they instead focus on the issues that really matter; say, efforts to prevent yet another such tragedy.
It would be great if goths don't have to once again defend themselves from misinformed people who believe that black clothes = goth and goth = evil. But if they do, I hope they will do so with the intelligence, maturity and class that I know them to possess.
I understand that when something like yesterday's tragedy happens, people try to find a way to make sense of it. They want some explanation of how a human being could be so cruel and unfeeling. It's comforting when they can use a stereotype to explain a killer's behavior and say, "Oh, THAT's why he did it." It's hard to blame traumatized people for believing what the media is feeding them.
But it's harder to bear the unfounded animosity that is too often heaped on goths. Goths are people, and they're just as horrified as anyone by a heinous crime such as yesterday's. (Having been in bed sick all morning, I first learned of the shooting via pained posts on an online goth community.) No one - whether dressed in black, sporting on orange spray tan, or dripping with diamonds - no one wants to see children murdered. I hope that is never questioned.
To anyone who might happen to stumble upon this blog post, I would like to say that I don't judge all Christians by the actions of Jim Bakker and I don't judge all coaches by the actions of Jerry Sandusky. I would ask that you not judge all goths by the actions of one black-clad man.
My deepest sympathies are with those who lost a loved one yesterday.
This is the article containing the quote I referred to.
22 comments:
Oh damn, I haven't read any such pieces of news about the killer being a goth in the Finnish media – yet on the other hand I tend to skip all those articles with a vague headline. (However, I did end up reading how some neighbour told the killer's father and his new wife don't seem to be too friendly people. Rrrright, that was relevant for sure...)ReplyDelete
I think people dressed in black are not so persecuted over here, because people generally think that goths, metalheads and the likes are all the same, and media tends to report that Finnish heavy metal festivals are the ones with fewest disturbances, and those people behave rather well and the police barely needs to intervene (contrary to hip hop festivals). However, we've had our share or school (or other public) shootings as well, and I guess those who are easily frowned upon these days are young men who play a lot of video games and don't have girlfriends. It's just absurd, because many people like that are also the least violent and most peaceful people (out of their game worlds), but some shooters have had such features in common, so yeah...
And I would say, the only thing such shooters truly have in common is major mental problems, something most of us cannot ever understand. However, yesterday's incident was very tragic, way too many lives and way too many children. :/Replies
I don't have a lot of exposure to non-US media, but it seems that they take a far more balanced approach to goths and to the black-clad in general. When American media use the word "goth," it's usually in conjunction with some violent act. In too many American minds, there's an inexplicably tight connection between black clothes and evil.Delete
I agree... broadly, the commonality in shooters is mental problems. Some of them had even been formally diagnosed with a mental illness, yet somehow still managed to obtain guns and go on a rampage. How does that happen? The answer is very complicated and filled with contentious topics. I hope that someone is finally brave enough to face it.
So well written my dear Bane. I'm in horror and shock at the events....that's all I can really say.ReplyDelete
I reposted your text on my blog. I think it is very important that people understands that the gothic subculture has nothing to do with terrible deeds like those of Adam Lanza.ReplyDelete
Bane, thank you for writing this. I had been crying for much of the evening because I can't come to grips with the fact that these were babies. Kids. I'm horrified and heartbroken. You've summarized the complex heap of emotions racing through me right now ... better than I even could. And I thank you for that.ReplyDelete
Yet, I didn't hear that he was "goth," maybe because I was watching MSNBC for much of the night? They only talked about "how many more tragedies" will it take for a responsible gun law be put into place. sigh ... the media needs to stop taking a whole day to play the same sound bites and the report the same false information. They desperately want to paint a stereotypical, Jack-the-Ripper kind of picture. What we'll end up finding out is that he's some normal kid with some major issues. Oi.Replies
UGH! I just read all of the reports. This makes me sick to my stomach. sigh ... apparently he was a RPG, nerd, super smart, undiagnosed autistic, etc. etc. BUT, he came from a "perfect family." Seriously? His parent's were divorced. His brother hadn't talked to him or his parents in over two years, and his Mom owned an assault rifle but didn't hunt. Help me here.Delete
I don't typically write about news topics, but this one struck me in many ways. Of course I was horrified that someone could murder children. Then as I read more stories, I also became disgusted with the reporting. Blaming the wrong person, broadcasting rumors, trying to wrench a statement out of an elderly woman whose grandson had just murdered her daughter, interviewing young children about the trauma they'd just experienced... the media should be ashamed. With that kind of irresponsibility, I feared who they would go after next. (Still do.)Delete
I live near a middle school, and as I was reading about the shootings yesterday afternoon, I could see out my window the line of parents' cars waiting to pick up the kids. And I thought about all the Connecticut parents who weren't able to pick up their kids that day... who will never again be able to pick up their little children. It is heartbreaking.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.ReplyDelete
I'm a Goth. I also work at a primary school. When I heard the news I felt sick; I couldn't help but imagine what would happen if something like that happened where I work. The media are just latching on to whatever they can - this has nothing to do with whether or not Adam Lanza was a Goth (and by the sounds of things, he wasn't.) and all to do with him being deeply unhappy and mentally disturbed.ReplyDeleteReplies
Absolutely. The media are exploiting everything that made him "not normal" - he was "one of the goths" (doesn't seem like he was), he was autistic, he was a loner - and contrasting them with his so-called "perfect" family life. But none of those things will make a person a murderer.Delete
Reposting Little Miss Phantasm's comment here with a slight edit to keep things "all ages" appropriate:ReplyDelete
"I had also read the quote about him being "one of the goths", and at first I was offended by it, but then I considered that if he is only 'one' of the goths, and the other implied goths have not committed a horrifically disgusting act, then the fact that he is goth has no relation to the act whatsoever.
All joking aside, they shouldn't be throwing stereotypes around. Why the hell is acceptable to call someone a goth in an article about a homicide? It rarely comes up if the killer wears Calvin Klein... There are reasons they include that information, because the reporter clearly has a bias against goths and typecasts all of them as blood thirsty, misguided killers who have mommy and daddy problems.
I guess if it does fuel hatred toward the goth community we could always organize a widespread goth walk. We will all dress up in our best club-wear, and parade around town with fluffy stuffed bunnies spreading awareness that we're actually human beings underneath it all."Replies
Sorry I had to delete and repost your comment; there's not a way to just delete the word. I don't disagree with your sentiment, just trying to keep GIY G-rated.Delete
Using a "scary" stereotype is a great way to hook readers, and that's what matters to much of the media. Fairness is irrelevant to them. (As is fact vs. fiction in this case.) :(
I can just picture the goth walk... maybe even with a real bunny or two. :D
Lol sorry, I've been told I'm something of a truck driver, especially when it comes to something I'm passionate about!Delete
's okay. Strong feelings often lead to strong words... and I think many of us have very strong feelings about this situation. I'm starting to want to use "media" as a curse word. :/Delete
I heard about this on the news some days ago and I was shocked. I'm also shocked by how they are blaming goths for this murder, that's downright insane. This is beyond prejudice.ReplyDelete
US weapon laws are completely insane! What on earth do a person need an automatic military weapon for??ReplyDelete
There are lots of weapons in Sweden as well but the purpose to own a weapon is only for hunting or competition shooting in a sport club. You are not allowed to buy a weapon in sweden because you want to defend yourself. It should take at least 6 months to buy a gun with a membership in a sportclub or hunting team, education and check of police record. It should also be easier to loose the gun.Replies
Even if an argument could be made that guns are okay for self-defense or sport shooting, nobody needs an assault weapon for those purposes. Nobody. It has taken the murder of little children to make the pro-gun people admit that maybe assault weapons are a bad idea. Well, yeah... that's what the sane people have known all along!Delete
I love this post, Bane. It is perfect. The media did a TERRIBLE job on the reporting and rumors were flying all over. As always, freaking Twitter had the most up to date information, but you had to sift through the utter CRAP to find it.ReplyDelete
I think that Goths will luck out on this one. The race to vilify guns will over shadow what demographic he belonged to. We can all hope that this prompts some well educated and level talks about gun laws, mental health laws, and insurance legislation; but something dark and unhappy in me does not think so.
Too many babies are being buried, and that is a fact that cannot be ignored. Someone horrid (for reasons known only truly to themselves) killed babies, and our media made it death porn instead of waiting for facts and doing actual measured reporting as out of state relatives, online friends, and the rest of the nation watched and hoped for NEWS. It is all disgusting, no matter where you look.Replies
Yes, I think the mentions of "goth," "loner" and so forth are fading into the background in favor of the gun control and mental health system topics. And the media are now reporting on the media's intrusive behavior and bullying of Newtown residents. This is the worst circus I have ever seen.Delete


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To the Law Enforcement Officers of the Seattle Police Department,
As I take on my duties as Mayor of our great city of Seattle, I want to take this moment to share with you my vision for our Seattle Police Department. This vision is informed by a fundamental belief that in order for our city to thrive, we must have a police department that is effective at both controlling crime and building trusted relationships in all the communities and neighborhoods that make up the city of Seattle. This vision is also shaped by deep appreciation for the risks each and every law enforcement officer takes in putting his or her life on the line every day that you step outside your home wearing your uniform or your badge.
The Seattle Police Department is an integral part of our community. As such, the department must be trusted by all of the people of Seattle. The department must reflect the diversity of all the people who live in Seattle. The leadership of the department must be able to implement the reforms detailed in in the Department of Justice Settlement Agreement while building officer morale through a positive and transparent culture change. Department leadership will not tolerate misconduct or discrimination during my administration. Nor will I.
Community policing must be the department's operating philosophy, not merely a series of special projects. True community policing is about building relationships with the people the department serves and developing solutions to the problems they face. True partnership is about dialogue and relationship. And, when something goes wrong, we must have a swift and comprehensive accountability process that is clearly understood and trusted by all. I am committed to utilizing these principles of community policing throughout the entire city government structure, a practice sometimes referred to as community governance.
Additionally, public safety is not merely the domain of the Police and Fire Departments. Rather it is the job of all of us, both city government and the community at large. Crime and violence and injustice are economic, education, or public health issues as much as they are legal issues. We must approach them in them in the spirit of partnership, with a sense of mutual trust and responsibility.
Our Seattle Police Department ought to base its strategies on data and best practices, not merely tradition and instinct. To do that, our department must provide officers with the consistent training, tools and professional supervision and standards to carry out their duties. It must embrace new technologies and methodologies, recognizing that these are multiplier forces in an era when simply hiring more people can no longer be the only solution to every problem. The department is currently working to comply with the Settlement Agreement. But none of us should be satisfied with merely "good enough" in meeting the terms of the agreement.
Instead, I invite each of you to join me in looking beyond the horizon of our final, technical and eventual compliance with the terms of the agreement to a future vision where the principles and values that are at the foundation of this agreement—those of justice and equality for all under the law—are embraced and woven into the fabric of the department at all levels. The best practices and community relationships we develop must be sustained long after the Monitor has left. And while the Seattle Police Department is a good department, in striving for excellence, we must remember that "good enough, isn't." We can — and will — do better.
I will never be able to fully appreciate the dangers into which each and every law enforcement officer places him or herself when called to answer the call of duty. But I can promise you my unwavering commitment to seeing our Seattle Police Department return to its rightful place as a national leader in demonstrating the best of policing practices. Just as the best hospitals are teaching hospitals, where the medical profession comes to learn, the Seattle Police Department in my administration will be a teaching police department where the law enforcement profession comes to learn. Such a transformation will define the legacy and shape the success of our Seattle Police Department for generations to come.
Thank you again for your public service to our great city.
Edward B. Murray
Mayor of Seattle


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In this blog post we are taking a closer look at an artifact recovered from archaeological investigations at the Lighthouse in 1996. The small object pictured is a domed brass button with the letter G, A and R artistically embossed on the surface. The letter GAR refers to the Grand Army of the Republic.
For those unfamiliar with this organization GAR was founded in Illinois, 1866 by Benjamin F. Stephenson. The membership to this organization was limited to honorably discharged veterans of the Union Army, Navy, Marine Corps or the Revenue Cutter Service that served during the Civil War. While this was a national organization within it there was a hierarchy with "Departments" designated at the state level that were comprised of local community groups called "Posts". Each post had its own number and often a name as well. Confederate veterans also formed a similar organization referred to as the United Confederate Veterans.
These organizations served to help Civil War veterans. They lobbied for pension plans, developed medical facilities and soldier's homes for vets and preserved memories. In St. Augustine, there were two GAR posts, H.W. Chatfield Post and John A. Logan Post. The Logan Post was established by African-American Civil War veterans that served in the Union military. GAR at its height around 1890 had over 400,000 members nationally. Over time the organization declined and dissolved in the 1950s with the passing of the last members. Records for these posts in St. Augustine are rather limited, but we do know they were active in the late 1800s into the early 20th century.
The GAR button was recovered from a test excavation unit, and more specifically known as "Feature 1." Features, archaeologically speaking, are physical elements created or modified by humans that are non-portable or stationary. Common features include remnants of structure, drains, cisterns, fire pits, and trash pits. In the case of Feature 1, the function was a trash pit. Continue reading


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WinUAE Kaillera now officially discontinued
Read this:
I assume not everyone of you has read this because the index page has been the same for ages. But the official statement of the author appears to be from this year's March!
Thus, WinUAE-Kaillera will grow old like Methusalem if Toni reaches v2.0 one day and this is still in pre-1.0 tree (0.8.xx). :(
The reasons given for discontinuing the project sound very weird to my ears, too. The author seems skilled, but not that well-off?!
It definitely sounds like a financial problem (probably unemployment?) that the author cannot afford a decent PC for development.
Easiest way would be to simply put a PayPal banner on the site, let people donate, and if this works out, new PC and ... new WinUAE-Kaillera!
:( sad to hear
i very much doubt anyone else will take up a similar project either. despite the fact the people who use it seem to enjoy it, no developer seems to like the idea.
I'm in favor of a radically different approach. I still think a simple plug-in interface for WinUAE is the way to go, to keep things like this separate, so they can be updated or not, independently of WinUAE. But this has been proposed and rejected before, and since I don't intend to do any work on this, I haven't felt inclined to press the point. :)
What I had in mind is basically just a Kaillera plug-in registering a bunch of callback functions that are then called at the various required points in WinUAE's execution. Those hooks would hardly waste any cycles when no plug-ins are used (just a single check whether a pointer is NULL for example) and could be as simple as calling a linked list of functions in sequence at those points in the code. Note that this idea is based on an incomplete understanding of the changes that are actually necessary to patch Kaillera support into WinUAE. :)
Well, I'm not sure about full "Kaillera" support, but basic netplay support should be easy to implement in WinUAE, I have already implemented it in my own emulator.
It's a shame and rather selfish that source code for WinUAE-Kaillera wasn't released, that means no one else can update it, it would have to be rewritten from scratch. It's also a shame that V2 beta wasn't released, 7 years after the previous release one would imagine that it would have at least some of the improvements listed at the site.
I believe Toni said that he will implement net play in WinUAE. He was against kaillera approach, but suggested that there are other 'better' ways.
But as you can guess, it's not highest priority atm. :)
no offence to Toni, i would rather see it implemented in e-uae so that it might become cross-platform. (although i suspect if it were added to winuae, some bright spark might move it across to e-uae later on)
I thought it had been well stated previously however that there were no developers interested in implementing this kind of feature?
The people want it, don't they? :crying
Yes it is really an interesting feature. This way we could really do an EAB/Lemon head 2 head versus player in real time!
Number of simultaneous players = 2
http://hol.abime.net/hol_search.php?N_nb_player_sim=2 (777)
Number of simultaneous players = 3
http://hol.abime.net/hol_search.php?N_nb_player_sim=3 (17)
Number of simultaneous players = 4
http://hol.abime.net/hol_search.php?N_nb_player_sim=4 (81)
Forgot the rest HH: :D
Number of simultaneous players = 5
http://hol.abime.net/hol_search.php?N_nb_player_sim=5 (4)
Number of simultaneous players = 6
http://hol.abime.net/hol_search.php?N_nb_player_sim=6 (4)
Number of simultaneous players = 7
http://hol.abime.net/hol_search.php?N_nb_player_sim=7 (1)
Number of simultaneous players = 8
http://hol.abime.net/hol_search.php?N_nb_player_sim=8 (4)
I have already replied here: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=26259 (and other threads)
I am simply not interested when there are much more interesting things to do, and this really isn't anything to do with Amiga, just some network stuff which is boring and annoying.
Too bad . I really like this emulator :/
Look at FS-UAE - this is very fast and has Net Play
and multi platform !
i'm using it in Linux ... very very nice :)
Thx to Tony and Frode :)
In addition, it's a cross-platform emulator: Windows, Linux & Mac OS X are supported! (maybe more systems later)
If your computer is powerful enough, you can consider that WinUAE-Kaillera is history now. FS-UAE is the best choice today :great
But it's still only a server-client for online play. And it's even more complicated to setup than winuaexp-kaillera.
Should be p2p, like the alternative for kaillera.
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Peter MATTHIESSEN wins the NBA for Fiction
PETER MATTHIESSEN won the 2008 National Book Award for Fiction with Shadow Country (Modern Library, 2008), a thoroughly reworked compression of three novels published in the 1990s based on the life of Edgar J. Watson, a 19th century ruthless cane farmer in Florida who was said to be a serial killer. Matthiessen, who received a National Book Award in 1979 for his nonfiction work, The Snow Leopard (The Viking Press, 1978), an account of his spiritual journey through the Himalayas which has become something of a modern classic, was a finalist in two previous years.
and Peter Matthiessen
Annette Gordon-Reed won for nonfiction with The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (W.W. Norton, 2008), a well-researched biography of three generations of a slave family owned by Thomas Jefferson, while Mark Doty won the award for poetry for Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins, 2008), a collection of new and old poems. The prize for young people's literature was awarded to Judy Blundell for What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic Press, 2008), a noirish story about a teenage girl who enters into a complicated relationship with a soldier who served with her father during World War II.


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Learning Hindi-Urdu is one of the best ways to engage with the study of South Asia. Hindi, one of the most important South Asian vernaculars, is the official language of India and is spoken in different regional manifestations and variations in the northern Indian states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. Hindi has also traveled to countries outside South Asia and is spoken in Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad and Guyana, for example, and throughout the South Asian diaspora of the Western world.
Furthermore, Hindi is related to Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and other South Asian vernaculars through shared histories, etymologies, and cultures. Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and also commonly spoken in India. Many students will know Hindi-Urdu from Bollywood movies.Hindi and Urdu share grammar and lexicon on a colloquial level despite that they are written in two different scripts. They are, however, also recognized as separate literary languages with distinct literary canons.
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Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976, in Ada, Oklahoma) is an American country music artist.
His debut album, "Blake Shelton," was released in 2001 and featured the #1 single "Austin." It also produced another two Top 40 hits on the Hot Country Songs chart, "All Over Me" and "Ol' Red." The album was certified gold and was his only album for Giant Records.
Shelton's next album "The Dreamer" was released in 2003 on Warner Bros. Nashville. It featured the #1 song, "The Baby", and featured two other Top 40 singles, "Heavy Liftin'" and "Playboys of the Southwestern World." Like his debut album before it, "The Dreamer" was certified gold by the RIAA.
"Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill" was released in 2004. The first single failed to make the Top 30, but the follow-up single, "Some Beach", reached #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The next single, "Goodbye Time," was originally recorded by Conway Twitty. Shelton's version reached #10.
His fourth album was 2007's "Pure BS." Although its first two singles both peaked outside the Top 10, the album was then re-issued with a cover of Michael Bublé's "Home," which Shelton took to #1.
He released the #1 peaking, "She Wouldn't Be Gone," in 2008 as the first single from his fifth album, "Startin' Fires," which also had the Top Ten hit "I'll Just Hold On."
Shelton released an extended play entitled "Hillbilly Bone" in March 2010 through Reprise Records Nashville. The title track, a duet with Trace Adkins, became his sixth #1 country song. A second extended play, "All About Tonight," was released in August 2010. Its title track also was a #1 single as was the second single, "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking."
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Calvin Klein shows suits tailored from etched wool, embossed nylon, blurry optic square print cotton and mylar.
Tim Hamilton talks about his presentation for his growing secondary line Redux.
ACL contributor James Jung rounds up some vintage Sports Illustrated coverage of downhill skiing—just in time for Vancouver.
Duckie Brown and debut label Mik Cire open fashion week with color blocking and harness straps.
Sarah Silverman shows why you should never Twitter-fight a comedian.


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CANADIAN YACHTING Review
A perfect partnership
Two well-respected companies build the J/160 'Condor'
The interior of the J/160 is stunning in its effortless simplicity and obvious attention to detail. The transition from galley to salon to navigation station is tied together so well that you are left with the feeling of wide, open spaces.
The light colored headliner is critical to maintain an open feeling to the space any more teak would make it too dark. The small hatches that line the coach roof sides let in little light or breeze unless it is a cross air. This is made up for with plenty of ceiling lights and the option of air conditioning. The galley is perfect for a yacht that might be doing day sails for one week and offshore sailing the next. The J shape galley allows one to work without the need to strap on a harness if the conditions get rough.
Good size refrigeration, counter space, and the double sink were all highlights for the crew of Condor. The navigation station is extremely busy, but when you sit and look, all the key information can be posted in an obvious location and there is plenty of room left for charts to be spread out. The salon is simple with plenty of room on the couches and an inconspicuous table that folds out for a dinner for at least eight. Aft of the companionway are two cabins, which have reasonably space. At least one third of each cabin has full headroom and the berths are each 48 inches wide. While the port side cabin leads out into the galley, the starboard side cabin is attached to an en suite head. The master cabin is forward and is very comfortable and is attached to a head, which is situated forward of the cabin. With the sail locker in the immediate bow and the master head next to it, the master cabin is far from a V berth.
Structure and engine
Colin Campbell's first love is cruising. Currently he is down south working as CY's Caribbean correspondent.


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Of The Sea Necklace
Free Shipping!
This handmade fossil necklace is an essential accessory for the beach-lover at heart. Featuring a real fossilized shark tooth found by Foxy Fossils in Charleston, SC, this necklace is a way to take the beach with you wherever you may go. Accented with 2 new "jade" raw chip beads for an added touch of the sea! Made with 14K gold-filled chain, wire, and clasp which will not turn or tarnish with wear.
***Each necklace is unique and handmade so please allow for some slight variations in tooth shape and size.
- Handmade locally in Charleston,
- 16" or 18"
- Dainty 14K gold-filled chain and clasp
- Embellished with new "jade" chip beads (aka light green serpentine)
- Real fossil shark
tooth hand coated in gold
- Shark tooth found by Foxy
Fossils in Charleston, SC


text: Retirement Redefined Around the country, attitudes about retirement are shifting. Share | Have A Question About This Topic? Name Email Address Message Thank you! Oops! Related Content RE: Retirement How does your ideal retirement differ from reality, and what can we do to better align the two? Orchestrating Your Retirement Accounts Getting the instruments of your retirement to work in concert may go far in realizing the retirement you imagine. Retirement Plan Distributions There are a number of ways to withdraw money from a qualified retirement plan.


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Labor welcomes the arrival of the long over-due Agriculture Green paper.
The sector has had to endure more than twelve months of policy inertia and yet, as predicted, the Green paper has not identified any issues not already well known and discussed.
Many challenges have been identified, but few new solutions offered.
The Government is trumpeting dams to be the headline result.
Better and more efficient management of our scarce water resources has long been a key priority for Labor and we call on the Government to ensure comprehensive action on water sustainability.
Of course new water projects require the strong cooperation of the States yet one of the Abbott Governments first acts was to abolish the key COAG Committee the Standing Council on Primary Industries (SCOPI).
These projects also require money; often from both the public and private sectors. Thats why the former Labor Government invested in projects like those along the Murray Darling Basin and in Tasmanias Midlands.
Labor remains determined to progress a bi-partisan approach to agriculture to separate strategic planning from the three-year political cycle.
The final White Paper will need to provide much more detail about how we might achieve our shared aspirations for Australian agriculture.


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Product Description
The Bristol Short Story Prize continues to inspire brilliantly original writing. The sixth volume is another coruscating collection of inventive, masterful storytelling. The Bristol Short Story Prize is an annual, international writing competition based in the city of Bristol, U.K. The BSSP publishes 20 stories every year and presents cash prizes to the 20 writers published. The winners are announced at an annual awards ceremony.
1st Prize: The House on St John's Avenue by Paul McMichael
2nd Prize: The Breakdown by Deepa Anappara
3rd Prize: Why I Waited by Anne Corlett
Shortlisted Stories:
England Doesn't Want You - Michael Bird
Wind and Water - Joanna Campbell
The Standing Still - Ric Carter
Med City - Ruth Corkill
Men of the Waste - Krishan Coupland
Stop Press - Martin Cromie
Transit of Venues - Allan Drew
Pink Lemonade - Uschi Gatward
Pool Boy - Jane Healey
Young Fairbrook - Aaron Hubbard
The Montclair Redoubt - Jack Hughes
Sophie Stops the Clock - Alison Love
What Me and Pa Saw in the Meadow - Erinna Mettler
Poison Hands - Amanda Oosthuizen
When You Check in to 3 West - Rachel Peters
Ferried Back - Bethany Proud
Icarus - Nick Rawlinson
Writers published in previous Bristol Short Story Prize anthologies have gone on to further publication and success: Emily Bullock was discovered by literary agent Ed Wilson in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 4. She subsequently signed a publishing deal with Myriad Books. Her debut novel was published in April 2015.
Danielle McLaughlin's debut collection of short stories was published earlier this year. Danielle was published in volume 5 & 7 Bristol Short Story Prize anthologies. Clare King's 2nd novel was recently published by Bloomsbury. Clare featured in volume 3 of the Bristol Short Story Prize anthologies.
Marli Roode's debut novel Call it Dog, published in 2013, was shortlisted for the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize – Marli has had stories published in Volume 2 and Volume 3 Bristol Short Story Prize anthologies.
Tim Weaver has had 4 novels published. His short story The Close was published in the first Bristol Short Story Prize anthology in 2008.
Tara Conklin's 2010 shortlisted story, Signs of Our Redemption, published in BSSP Anthology Vol 3 was the basis for her bestselling debut novel, The House Girl, published by William Morrow in the US.


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Links in Education Week: Jan. 9, 2008
Report Roundup
Federal Study Tracks Public, Private Enrollment:
• Read the current edition of Projections of Education Statistics.
Child Poverty:
• "Who Are America's Poor Children? The Official Story" is posted by the National Center for Children in Poverty.
School Reform Models:
• "The Other Half of the Strategy: Following Up on System Reform by Innovating with School and Schooling" was published by Education Evolving.
D.C. Opportunity Scholarships:
• "Satisfied, Optimistic, Yet Concerned: Parent Voices on the Third Year of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program" is posted by Georgetown University's School Choice Demonstration Project.
Math Assessment for Puerto Rico:
• Read Puerto Rico's mathematics scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Foreign-Language Learning:
• The Ohio Foreign Language Advisory Council's recommendations are posted by the Ohio Department of Education.
Hispanic Views on Education:
• Read more results from the "2007 Hispanic Health Poll."
Grade-Fixing Charges Hit Acclaimed School:
• Read the results of the "UCSD Preuss Charter School Grades Investigation."
PISA Results Scoured for Secrets to Better Science Scores:
• "PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World" is posted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Texas Pre-K Teachers' Program Yields Tepid Results, Study Says:
• "School Readiness Integration (SRI) Models: A Descriptive and Cost Analysis Study" was published by the Texas Department of Education.
Vol. 27, Issue 17
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.


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Wait - what is all this? Okay, remember back in August when I wrote that post about how when you save a child's life you save a mother from heartache? You remember, it was the post you helped me promote, where each comment was worth $20 (enough for 4 life-saving vaccines), which post received 642 comments and raised $12,840. You remember. It happened because of YOU.
A good portion of the #Blogust contributors were able to attend the Summit in New York, and for those of us who were there, it was a very full weekend. We started off on Friday evening with an event to kick off the launch of the Shot@Life mobile app. From there: Meetings. Meetings during dinners, meetings during breakfast, and after breakfast, and during lunch, and even opportunities for meetings during the Summit. The amazing thing, though, is that with the abundance of information presented to us in all its forms, it didn't feel hopeless; there is so much to be done in the world, so much good, and there is HOPE. Inspiration abounds, and we can all participate.
We heard messages about the environment, about clean water (and the lack thereof), how cell phones are helping with healthcare in third world countries. We learned about how Google Earth helps find land mines and then plots safe routes for kids to walk to school, and how earthquake victims in Haiti used Twitter to contact the Red Cross for help. We talked about the suffering of world health due to lack of physical inactivity, and the Arab Spring. We learned about the power of empowering and educating women and girls - so much of this, the empowering and education of women and girls: it will change the world. And we learned about #GivingTuesday (coming this November -- I'm so excited about this idea).
All this, translated into Chinese, Russian, Hebrew, French, and Spanish, and broadcast around the planet. Global conversation.
It was all very humbling. I wondered, more than once, why I was there. Meaning, of all the people who could have been asked to participate, could I really make a difference? Sure, I had helped raise over $200,000 during #Blogust, but what good could I do beyond that? I heard about so many causes but wondered what I could actually do to help contribute to global issues once I was back home and into the routine of my regularly scheduled life.
And then my phone rang on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 2nd. Yes, that was Taylor Week. I was doing my best to hide from the world while simultaneously doing my part in daily family life. That particular Tuesday I had just sat down to watch Ellen and was crying - both because of the time of year and because I can never keep it together when it comes to Ellen's generosity. But when my phone startled me back into functioning-mode, I was surprised when I answered:
It was Devi.
It was nice to hear her sweet voice, and she got right to the point: Would I be interested in going on a trip with Shot@Life? To Uganda? At the end of the month?
This month?
I was floored. Any provisions I had made about holding it together for the sake of a phone call were out the window. Apologetically, I stumbled through an explanation that this invitation was coming at a perfect time: it was the anniversary of my son's death, and this year, through my experiences with Shot@Life I was feeling extra sensitive towards mothers around the world who lose their children. I thanked her, told her I was interested, and mentioned that, realistically, I would have to discuss the matter with my husband to see if going on the trip was feasible.
Darin's reaction, of course, was, "Cool! You should go! What a great opportunity!"
And here I am. A little over a week of phone calls, scheduling, a battery of painful shots in my arms, a round of Typhoid pills, a bunch of stress and nightmares and headaches, and the start of anti-Malaria pills (which, rumor has it, cause hallucinations), and now: one week away from my trip to Uganda. Ilina and Julie will be there, and I'm so glad to be able to spend more time with them. I'm beyond humbled to be one of three representing the group of Shot@Life bloggers.
We will spend our time visiting health clinics and see the fruits of our fundraising efforts. We will be able to witness children receiving life-saving vaccines, as well as vitamin supplements and tablets to eliminate parasitic infections.
I am well aware that I have no idea what I'm in for.
Here's what I do know: If you are reading this post, you are a part of this journey. You may very well have been one of the over 600 who left a comment back in August and made a difference in the life of a child, a mother, a family. I will do my very best to report to you on my experiences as I follow through with the next steps, with the delivery of the fundraising efforts of which we've been a part. I leave one week from today, and I will be gone for a week. As internet access allows, I will be updating my blog, but more likely I will make more frequent updates on facebook, instagram, and twitter. I hope you're following me in those places so that you can see the good that you have done, the difference you have made in this world.
As I continue to prepare for this trip and consider everything needed, I aim to go forward with a thought from Forest Whitaker, who works passionately for child justice in Uganda, and strives to build peace in the individual, which goes to families, communities, and the world:


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Christmas goodies nestled, snug in their tins. :)
Pecan-Boysenberry Linzer Cookies
from Aida Mollenkamp's recipe (dying to try the Chocolate-Hazelnut ones but that's another day!)
- 1 cup toasted pecans
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tb. orange zest, from 1 large orange (her recipe says 2 Tb but I thought that was a bit much - this amount was perrrfect!)
- 1/2 cup seedless boysenberry jam (her's calls for blackberry but I just love boysenberry jam!)
Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl until evenly combined and set aside.
Put the butter and sugars in a large bowl and mix with a mixer (paddle attachment if stand mixer) on medium speed until creamy and light, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the mixer, scrape down sides of bowl and add egg yolks and vanilla. Mix until well incorporated. (I always add yolks one at a time and mix until you can longer see the color.) Mix in the orang zest, ground pecan powder into the flour mixture until just incorporated. Divide the dough into 2 even pieces. Pat each into a thin disk, enclose in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator at least 1 hour and up to 12 hours. (Mine were in there for 4 hours and this worked well.)
Choose your cookie cutters to use. I used a big star and a little star that could fit inside. My holes are much bigger than most but I didn't mind. They make linzer cookie cutters that come with a 2 inch round and a 3/4 inch round. Whatever you want/have will probably work. Just make sure the top isn't too thin (even mine was pushing it) or it'll break while makin the sandwiches or even while preparing the dough.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and arrange racks in the upper and lower third of the oven. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature until pliable enough to roll. Roll out half of the dough on a piece of lightly floured parchment or wax paper to 1/4 inch thickness. Use the large cookie cutter and cut out shapes of dough. Using the smaller cookie cutter, cut out the center of half of the shapes. Transfer the shapes to the freezer to set up for 5 minutes before continuing. Gather the dough scraps and chill.
Here's a tip I learned from the one and only Alton Brown. If transfering a round, take a small spatula (the pancake turner kind), flour it, slide it under the dough and move it. If transfering a cut-out round, leave the cut-out middle there while transfering, take it out while the dough is on the spatula and then drop the cut-out round. MUCH easier.
She says to transfer the chilled dough to parchment lined baking sheets to bake...but I was lazy and left them on the same tray to bake. *gasp* I actually think it prevented the cookies from burning so I would do it this way again. But it depends on what you want to do.
Bake 2 sheets of cookies at a time until the undersides are golden, switching sheets halfway through, about 12-15 minutes total. (I think I did one at a time with no switching but I'm not sure.) Cool 5 minutes on sheets, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat until all dough is used.
The first batch or two was pretty sloppy looking. But as I did it, I got much better and by the end, they looked perfect! To assemble cookies, wait until ALL cookies are COMPLETELY cooled. If you don't they will break. Spread about 1/2 tsp jam on the bottom side of each solid cookie and then top with a cut-out cookie. Mine had more jam than that but I think that's because they're bigger so just use your judgement on that.
GORGEOUS. Simple, impressive cookies. They tasted great too! Some of the best dough I've ever tasted!


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Pakistan Under-19s 266 for 8 (Waheed 94, Azam 88, Subrayen 3-38) beat South Africa Under-19s 264 for 5 (de Kock 133, Coetzeee 55) by two wickets
Pakistan Under-19s won a tight game against South Africa Under-19s by two wickets in the last over to take the three-match one-day series 2-1. Pakistan needed 22 off the last two overs when they lost their seventh wicket but Ehsan Adil smashed three sixes off 11 deliveries to bring up victory off the third ball of the final over. The chase had unravelled after a solid opening stand had been backed up by a 130-run second-wicket partnership between Babar Azam and Umar Waheed. The duo had lifted the score to 190 after 38 overs, leaving Pakistan with 75 to get off 72 with nine wickets intact. But the fall of Azam to Lizaad Williams led to a clutch of wickets falling. Prenelan Subrayen jolted Pakistan with strikes in successive overs. Waheed's departure with the score on 231 further dented the chase but Adil's cameo ensured that when he fell on the last ball of the 49th over, Pakistan needed only six off six.
South Africa's total had earlier been built on the back of Quinton de Kock's 133 off 135 deliveries. But South Africa were unable to build on an opening partnership of 147 between de Kock and Murray Koetzee. They added only 117 in the 20.4 overs after the openers were separated.