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This is the text of a talk that I gave to the women's group at my mother's Unitarian church on December 6th. It contains potential mild spoilers for The Secret Country, The Dubious Hills, Tam Lin, and Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary.
People who are very familiar with any of these scenes may notice that I have changed them slightly for clarity when reading aloud.
When the Unicorn Jumps out of the Quilt: Surprises in Writing Fantasy
Hi, everybody. Thank you so much for coming out on such a cold morning.
This is a model of my office, the place where I do my writing. My mother made it for me for my birthday a couple of years ago. I'll leave some time at the end of the hour for people to come up and look at it and play with it. In the meantime, you can see that while most of the windows have blinds on them, this one has a strange orange hanging with a blank circle in the middle. And if you look inside the office, you can see that the hanging is torn around the edges, and that there's a kind of irate-looking unicorn standing there, looking over its shoulder.
In my actual office, what hangs over that window is a quilt that my grandmother made me after my first book was published. The cover of the original paperback was swarming with unicorns. Somebody counted them once and came up with 41. So she made me a quilt out of leftover scraps, with the head of a unicorn rising out of what might have been a sea of leaves or a green ocean, whichever the viewer preferred.
When Mom got to the quilt in the process of putting together the miniature office, she realized that she really couldn't match all the miscellaneous scraps of material to make the unicorn's mane and beard. So she found a miniature unicorn instead, and made the quilt with a ripped and torn circle where the unicorn had jumped out.
This is a great metaphor for the process of writing fantasy. It applies to publishing fantasy as well.
I'm going to read you a few passages from my books that were surprises to me, just as surprising as having a unicorn really jump out of my window quilt and land on the floor of my office.
The first one is from my first book, The Secret Country. This is a book in which a bunch of cousins playing an imaginative game end up inside the game. But not everything in the world they enter is exactly as they play it, which is confusing for them. That's a fairly common plot nowadays, but when I wrote it was less so. The characters are at a large feast called the Banquet of Midsummer's Eve. They've found a little niche to sit in to get out of the crowd. Laura, the viewpoint character, is the youngest of the cousins; she's eleven. Ellen is twelve and Patrick is thirteen.
Patrick looked over their heads back into the noisy hall. "Hey,here comes — " he said, and stared.
Laura and Ellen turned around. Lord Randolph was coming towards them with a woman. She was a snaky lady with black hair. She wore a dress of deep red that showed exactly how snaky she was. She had her hands folded around Randolph's arm, and against the blue of his sleeve the ruby in the ring she wore gleamed as a cat's eye will when the light hits it just so. She was beautiful.
"Who's THAT?" said Laura.
They came up to the three children, and Randolph bowed as well as he could with the woman on his arm. She looked at them measuringly, not as if she were greeting them, but as if they were something she might want to hang on the wall.
"Good festival to you," said Randolph.
"And to you," said Patrick.
Ellen was staring at the woman, not in a friendly way.
"Where is thy angry cousin?" Randolph asked Patrick.
"Benjamin said," said Patrick, and stopped. Laura could almost see him remembering that Ted, however angry, was not his cousin here, but his brother. Randolph must be talking about Ruth.
"Should any of you see her," said Randolph, "tell her to ware Lord Andrew."
"She always does," said Patrick.
"Tell her to ware her temper, then," said Randolph. "He is baiting every magician in the place with his vain philosophy, hoping one will break the ban and disgrace the calling. Thy cousin hath a hasty temper. Let her look to't."
"Yes, my lord," said Patrick.
"And have a care thyself," Randolph added, thoughtfully. The woman looked at him and at Patrick, surprised. "Forgo thy accustomed tricks," added Randolph, with a meaningful look that Laura was at a loss to interpret.
Patrick seemed to understand it. He bowed. "I shall," he said.
Randolph smiled at all of them as the woman steered him away. "'Tis but Andrew's jest," she said as she went, and the sound of her voice made the fine hairs stand up on the backs of their necks. Then she and Randolph were too far away to be heard.
Ellen sat down heavily on the bench. "Gah!" she said.
"He likes her," said Laura, staring after them.
"Well," said Patrick, "she is awfully pretty."
"Not really," said Ellen. "Not healthy pretty. She's like Spanish moss."
"Just because she hangs all over him," said Laura. She and Ellen looked at each other and laughed.
"But who IS she?" said Laura again. "If she's with Randolph, she must be important, and I sure don't remember her."
"Wait until we can find out her name," said Patrick. "That might bring it back to you."
"I thought I recognized her voice," said Ellen."It sounded like Ruth doing the Demon Queen," said Patrick.
"Well, sort of. You don't suppose she is?"
"I doubt it."
When Laura says, "Who's THAT?" she is saying just what I said. It's not a great idea, as a rule, to put one's own voice into a character's mouth, but in this case I left the dialogue in because Laura and I were in the same position. We had made up this world and we both thought we knew what was going to happen in it, but suddenly there was a total stranger walking around. She turns out to be very important to the plot and especially the resolution of the trilogy.
The second passage I'm going to read to you is from The Dubious Hills. This book is about a country under a spell. The spell is supposed to eliminate conflict and war by splitting knowledge up narrowly so that people have to depend on one another just to live their lives. Arry, the viewpoint character, is fourteen. Her parents have disappeared and she's struggling to take care of her younger brother and sister while also finding out what happened. As an added trouble, wolves have been going after the sheep that her village depends on to make a living. Arry has been sitting up worrying about all these things and has fallen asleep in her chair.
When she woke up it was full bright sunny day, and the black cat was standing on her chest and yowling. Arry sat up in the chair, rubbing her eyes. Sheepnose jumped down, still yowling, and began pacing around the chair. Arry had been sitting on her right foot, and it was asleep. She untucked it laboriously and leaned forward, rubbing it. Sheepnose came around the side of the chair and stood in front of her, still yowling. She was standing by a pile of dead mice, quite a large pile, thirty or forty of them.
Sheepnose yowled again, and then hissed. Arry recognized that this was not the mighty-hunter cry, but a serious protest. She supposed the white cat might have brought the mice in, but it seemed unlikely. Woollycat was lazy. Besides, while both cats might have caught all those mice in a night's work, it looked like the work of dozens. It could take Sheepnose a week to clean out a moles' nest, after all.
Arry climbed slowly out of the chair. She gathered in her breath and bellowed,
Con came in the front door immediately. "I thought you'd never wake up," she said. "Look at all those mice."
"Did you see Sheepnose bring them in?"
"No," said Con.
"Or Woollycat?"
"Somebody else's cats?"
"I just woke up and came out and they were there," said Con. "When's breakfast?"
"Let me take a bath first," said Arry. "Where's Beldi?"
"Doing his lessons," said Con, scornfully. "He says we have to go back to school tomorrow. How would he know?"
"Asked Wim, I expect," said Arry. "Con, could you take those mice outside? They already smell."
"Sheepnose," said Con sternly. "Take those mice outside again right now."
When Arry came out drying her hair, Sheepnose had done nothing of the sort; neither had Con, who was nowhere in sight. Arry went out the front door and almost tripped over the white cat, who was sniffing deeply and repetitiously all around the path. And no wonder, thought Arry, kneeling for a better look. The soft dirt was pocked with very large tracks, a great many of them, heading for the door and going away again. Arry stood up and followed them. These did not go around the back of the house and down to the stream, as Mally and Oonan had said the ones they followed did. Arry could see the single line that Mally and Oonan must have seen. But the overlaid and multipled tracks went the other way, past the pine tree and down the hill and up and down again, into one of the water meadows where there were, indeed, a great many mice.
"Not any more," said Arry, giggling; and then shivered in the bright sun and warm open spaces of the water meadow. She had not heard them, not one of them, as they came in the door and laid those mice at her feet.
[They have breakfast and then go to clean up the mice.]
The pile of mice was still there. Arry wondered a little that the cats had not dragged them off somewhere, or eaten them on the spot. Maybe it was the smell of wolf.
"We must put them somewhere the crows can get them," she said.
"Let's use the milk pans," said Con.
"No," said Arry.
"We could even stew them in the milk pans."
Arry went off into the kitchen and found, among the piles of discarded objects still to be dealt with, a wooden bucket acquired when they had kept a goat. She brought the bucket and the fire tongs back to the front room and began lifting mice out of the pile and dropping them into the bucket. Con demanded to try, and after dropping a mouse on Beldi's feet and one on Arry's, got quite fast and accurate at it. Arry sat back down in the chair she had slept in and tried not to watch. The mice were certainly in no pain now, but they still made her flinch.
When Con was finished, she sent Con and Beldi to carry the bucket up to the top of Windy Hill and spread the mice around for the crows. She herself got water and soap and the brush and knelt to scrub the stain off the floor. At least wolves were tidier than cats. Cats would have left those mice on the rug, at the very least. She held the brush dripping over the floor, and paused.
Where the drops of water had fallen, lines of bright, beautiful, and unnatural green showed on the smooth gray floor. Arry dripped more water, and more, and finally scraped very lightly were the brush over the mess the mice had left. The brush did not take off the green, so she applied it a little harder. When she had cleared all the soapy mousy mass of water off that patch of floor, the green lines revealed themselves as blocky letters, which said uncompromisingly, "Keep the wolf far hence, that's foe to men."
Now, I knew there were wolves about and I knew that some of them had attacked sheep. What the mice and the magical writing told me was that either the wolves were more complicated than I'd realized, or else that there were two wolves or two groups of wolves, one of which wanted to do harm and the other of which wanted to protect Arry and Con and Beldi from the others. This was very useful in continuing to write the book.
The next bit I'm going to read to you is from Tam Lin. Janet and Molly are college freshmen, and roommates, and they've been woken up at three in the morning by somebody playing a bagpipe. They decide to go out and find the piper.
The wailing drifted, waned, and steadied into a thumping march. It was either in Bell Field just beyond Eliot, or in the Upper Arb itself. Probably the field, thought Janet. Nobody was going to lug a set of bagpipes along those narrow paths in the dark.
"Bell Field," she whispered to Molly.
"I'm game," said Molly.
They took a few steps across the grass, and something flapped through the air and thumped to the ground behind them and to the left. Janet jumped; Molly stood perfectly still ahead of her, but Janet heard her take her breath in. They turned around and looked at Ericson. It was dark except for the dim small squares where the lights of the stairways shone in their little windows. Janet looked up, already out of habit, and found the windows of their own room. The curtains blew in and out, and the stripes and shadows in the dim light made a pattern like lace. Something pale flew out of the middle window and smacked to the ground a few yards away.
"That was a book," said Janet. She ran across the grass, and stumbled, before she got to the one she was aiming for, over another book. She picked it up, keeping half an eye on the windows. It was small and dark and thick. Janet opened it to the title page, and its clean paper glowed a little in the distant light from the Forbes street lamp. The dark parts of the page she looked at said,"A LEXICON abridged from Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford, at the Clarendon Press." Janet turned a thin, crisp page, and read, "ADVERTISEMENT. THE Abridgement of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon is intended chiefly for use in Schools. It has been reduced to its present compass by the omission –"
Janet skimmed rapidly along, to the small type at the bottom that said, "OXFORD, October, 1871." She had read the right-hand page; she looked now at the left-hand one, which proclaimed,in an isolated line in its middle, "Impression of 1878."
Molly, who had gone on past her and collected the other book, walked back across the grass, loomed over Janet, and said, "I've got Matthew Arnold's On Translating Homer here."
"Liddell and Scott," said Janet. "Classics."
"Those came out of our windows."
"They can't have; we haven't got those books. Unless Tina's a Classics major in disguise."
"You saw it too."
"Yes, I did," said Janet. She stood up, since the grass was damp. The book in her hand smelled clean and inky. She leafed through it slowly,looking at the fantastical Greek letters in boldface; all its pages felt crisp and smooth and clean. She held it out to Molly, who took it and gave her the Arnold, a tiny red-bound book. It, too, was clean and fresh. Janet found the title page. The Clarendon Press at Oxford. 1861. She looked at Molly, who was frowning at Liddell and Scott; and another book swooped out of the air and landed between them.
"Lordy!" said Molly, but bent immediately to pick it up. Janet, breathing carefully in an effort to get her heart to slow down, moved around and looked over Molly's shoulder. This one was McGuffey's Fifth Reader. It was more battered than the other books; on the title page Molly had turned to was a small dark thumb-mark obscuring the date. Janet forgot, looking at it, the night, the piper, her heartbeat, and her wet feet, and felt as she had felt many years ago on a school trip to a museum. She had looked for fifteen minutes at a porcelain doll in a grubby white dress, and burst into tears.
Something rustled behind them. They sprang apart, dropping the book. A small person in a long white gown, her hair straying over her shoulders and her arms full of books, came pacing towards them across the dewy grass.
"It's the Fourth Ericson ghost," said Molly, as if she were identifying a starfish.
"No, it isn't," said Janet, with great relief. "It's Peg Powell."
"She may look like Peg Powell," said Molly. She stooped for the McGuffey's and shook out a crumpled page or two.
"Should we speak to her?" said Janet. "I wonder if she's sleepwalking?"
Peg bent over and came up with the Arnold. Janet had thought she was holding that one herself, and took a firmer grip on the Liddell and Scott. Peg came closer and closer. Molly promptly stepped aside; Janet stood her ground, and just as she thought she was going to break and run whether she wanted to or not, Peg stopped. She was not exactly looking at Janet; but then, she didn't have her glasses on.
"Oh, thank you," she said, precisely as she would if you passed her the salt. She held out the hand that was not cradling a pile of books. "It's so tedious to pickthem out of the wet grass."
Janet handed her the Liddell and Scott, reluctantly, and stooped for the McGuffey, which was unaccountably still lying at her feet even though Molly had just picked it up. "This isn't a college text, is it?" she said. She had an irritating vague notion that one ought not to confront or challenge somnambulists.
"No, it was brought along for sentimental reasons," said Peg, tucking the Liddell into her pile and holding out her hand again for the McGuffey. "Well, good, I think that's all of them. Maybe we'll have some peace for a few nights now."
In ironic commentary, the distant bagpipes, which had been muttering in the background, wheezed into a mournful, rolling tune that would have been more at home on a church organ.
"Does this happen often?" said Janet.
"No, I wouldn't say often," said Peg, judiciously. "It does get tedious, though. I'm going to take these in now; the damp's not good for them." She gave Janet a brilliant smile and trailed away over the grass towards the side door of Ericson,her white gown floating around her.
Molly went after her, and stood at the bottom of the steps until Peg had opened the side door and disappeared inside. "I guess," she said,rejoining Janet, "if she came down, she can go up again by herself. We'd better make sure Nora knows she walks in her sleep."
When I wrote this bit, I didn't expect to keep any of it. When you're writing, sometimes you just don't want to. Then you have to decide whether to go do something else, like clean the kitchen or go for a walk or make an unusually elaborate dinner; or whether to just keep writing something, no matter what it is. I decided this was a time for the latter. I was really just amusing myself. I actually did once throw a book out of the window of my freshman dorm room. It was a Greek grammar textbook. But when I looked at this scene I've just read you the next day, and thought about how the books thrown were from the 1800′s, I reconsidered. Tam Lin is about the operation of the Unseelie Court, the so-called bad fairies, on an ordinary college campus. They're immortal, so they were probably there in the 1800′s too. I thought the history of their actions might be a good way for Janet and Molly to discover what was going on. So I kept the scene.
The last bits that I'm going to read to you are from Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary. This book is about three sisters and the boy next door. The main character, Gentian, is an amateur astronomer. Becky is her best friend. The giant Ants is what her group of particular friends calls itself.
Their father got home next, with two canvas bags full of library books. He looked harassed. While he was hanging his coat up and putting the books away in his office, Gentian went into the kitchen and made him some cocoa.
"Maybe you do have an Electra complex," he said, when he came into the kitchen and she handed him the mug. "You want to watch that. I'd hate to find myself bringing home Cassandra."
"You wouldn't, unless she was a stray dog."
"Well, in fact, your mother's more likely to consider that a matter for murder than she would my bringing home a mistress."
"Only if it were another pregnant stray dog."
"I don't think Cassandra was pregnant."
This conversation told me that Gentian's father has a different kind of sense of humor than I thought he had, and also that Gentian is very used to it. I didn't think much about it; there is a lot of family life in this book and I didn't feel that it all had to be directly connected to the plot or the themes either. But a chapter or so later, I wrote this:
The Giant Ants always had a New Year's Eve party. It was at Alma's house this year. Becky called Gentian three days before, sounding panicked.
"I want to ask Alma if I can invite Micky," she said.
Since all Alma's siblings would be there, Gentian felt less strongly about this than she might have.
"I know it isn't fair," said Becky, "since Alma doesn't like Dominic."
"I couldn't invite him anyway," said Gentian. "He hasn't got a phone."
"Maybe Erin could invite Brent."
"There's no point in trying to make it all come out even. We are not all double stars in this constellation."
"I'd have said you and I were a double star," said Becky, disconsolately.
"Sure. Micky's just a comet you've captured and Dominic is, oh, a comet I haven't captured, but he's come under my gravitational influence for the time being."
Becky laughed, rather as if in spite of herself. "I'll call Alma and ask if it's okay."
Gentian hung up the phone and sat there, thinking. She herself had been behaving just as usual, so Becky's disconsolation must stem from something in Becky's feelings; she must be finding that thoughts of Micky somehow crowded Gentian out of her mind. What does that mean, in the long run? she thought. Will she not sit by me at the party, or not talk to me, or what? Maybe it won't matter. I get very concentrated on Dominic sometimes too, but it's just temporary. It wouldn't interfere with anything important. She almost called Becky up and told her so, except that the line would be busy while Becky was talking to Alma.
Besides, another thought was intruding. She sat absently rubbing Murr's belly for a while, and then went downstairs and found her father in his office.
He called, "Come in!" when she knocked. He was sitting at his computer, playing solitaire.
"Daddy," said Gentian, not apologizing for the interruption, since he obviously was not working, "remember you said Mom would be more upset if you brought home another dog than if you brought home a mistress?"
"Ah," said her father. "I wondered when that would go in."
"Well, are you planning to?"
"Bring home another dog? No. I don't plan them. They just happen."
"I don't think I could," said her father reflectively. "We haven't got a bedroom to spare. You couldn't put a mistress in the sewing room, could you?"
" Dad ."
"No, Gentian, I am not planning to bring home a mistress. I will even go so far as to say that I do not have a mistress, although I'm not sure it would be any of your business if I did, unless I were planning to bring her home."
"Would it be Mom's business? Even if you weren't planning to bring her home?"
"Yes, of course."
"Well, that's something."
"What about you? Are you planning to bring somebody home? We'll look as respectable as we ever do, I assure you. No unaccounted-for adults cluttering up the place. Just the usual ration."
"Just the usual double-star system," said Gentian, slowly.
"Are they usual?"
"Well, multiple-star systems are. I'm not sure about doubles as opposed to triples or whatever."
"You can bring two people home if you like," said her father, equably. "Just warn us so we can put some water in the soup."
He was in a skittish mood; there wasn't much point in talking to him any longer.
"Thanks," said Gentian, and went out.
"Are you turning into a teenager?" her father shouted after her.
Gentian did not deign to answer.
This was much more surprising. I'd been having a wonderful time writing about Gentian's astronomical obsession, but the main reason that I put it in, to start with, was a plot reason that I won't tell you because it would give too much away. But what's happening here, when Becky makes her remark about the double star, means that the astronomical passages are also serving the theme of the book. The book is about family relationships, friendship, the strains that romantic possibilities outside a circle of friends can have on friendship, and the ways that we all depend on one another. It's about the ways we are bound together, as double stars are by gravity. But I hadn't really realized that until I wrote this conversation.
This conversation also really highlights Gentian's father's sense of humor. And while, again, I don't want to give details and spoil the story, this sense of humor helps explain her father's entire attitude towards the situation that Gentian finds herself in by the end of the book.
Now, most of the time, a writer has a lot of experience with writing before she has any experience with publishing. So I was pretty accustomed to being surprised by my characters and events when I first got into publishing.
This turned out to be very useful. I'm going to tell you the quintessential story where my writing experience was helpful in maintaining equanimity during a frustrating situation.
In the mid-nineteen-eighties, I was a member of a writing group called the Scribblies. Most of us weren't published. We were all writing novels and those who had finished novels were sending them to publishers, but the whole process was very slow. Theme and gimmick anthologies – collections of short stories based on an idea or a single fantastical creature like the unicorn – were very big then. We thought we might all be able to write stories for a theme anthology and then sell that.
We were all fans of the work of the Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers. One of our favorites of the songs he did was "Witch of the Westmerlands." It's a modern song, but it sounds like a fifteenth-century ballad. Like most old ballads, it has a lot of unexplained events in it and covers a lot of ground very quickly. We thought we could all write stories based on the song, as our gimmick.
That plan didn't work very well. Pat Wrede and Kara Dalkey wrote short stories right away. I wrote a long story. Will Shetterly started a story and ended up with another novel. Emma Bull and Steven Brust got stuck and couldn't produce any stories at all. But even the stories we'd done already showed us that, although we'd taken very different aspects of the ballad to focus on, they were still too much alike. It wasn't a big enough theme for a whole collection. We were disappointed, but there wasn't much to be done about it.
I put my long story away for years. It was like a scene I'd decided to cut out. I didn't expect to ever sell it; I thought it was too weird. In the early 1990′s, I got a letter from Jane Yolen. Some of you might have heard of her or read her books. She wrote the Commander Toad books, and Owl Moon, and a huge number of fairy tales, poems, picture books, chapter books, and adult books. She's a wonderful writer and storyteller. She wrote to me because she'd been asked to edit a series of collections of original fantasy stories for Tor Books, which was my publisher at the time, and she hoped that I could write a story for her. I was thrilled to have been invited to write a story by Jane Yolen, and wanted very much to do so. But I'm not primarily a short story writer and I couldn't think of any ideas short enough.
Then I remembered my Witch story, just as, when I was stuck in the later part of a novel, I might remember a scene I'd decided to cut. I got the story out and revised it and sent it off. Jane liked it, to my great joy, and bought it for the first volume of the series. There was just one thing, she said. I'd need to get permission from the writer of the song to quote his lyrics. Stan Rogers had performed the song, but he didn't write it. It was written by a Scottish folk singer named Archie Fisher.
This was all before Google existed, and it was also before I had a web browser. Fortunately, one of the editors at Tor at that time was a woman named Heather Wood who had been active in the British folk music scene. I called her and told her that I needed to get hold of Archie Fisher. She laughed. "Oh, Archie," she said. "He's hard to find. But I can give you the number of his American agent."
I called Archie Fisher's American agent. He laughed. "Oh, Archie," he said. "I don't think I've heard from him for, oh, seven or eight years. I'll give you a phone number, but it's probably wrong. Now, the last work he did was an album with Garnet Rogers, so I'll also give you the address and phone number of Valerie Rogers, Stan and Garnet Rogers's mother, because she's the producer on that album. The other thing you can do is call the Edinburgh Folk Festival and ask them if they have any information."
The Edinburgh Folk Festival is, unsurprisingly, in Scotland. I was too much in awe of the Rogers family to want to call Valerie Rogers and bother her. I tried Archie Fisher's old phone number, also in Scotland, but, as his agent had said, it was not his number any more. Then I called the Edinburgh Folk Festival, which kindly gave me the same wrong number that Archie Fisher's agent had given me. At last I sat down and wrote a letter to Valerie Rogers in Canada, and enclosed a self-addressed stamped envelope for her to reply to me.
Five days later, she called me on the telephone. She was already laughing. "Oh, Archie," she said. "Now, look, I can give you the name and address of his music company and a phone number. But I'll warn you, they're terrible. They're just terrible. They never answer letters. You have to browbeat them to let you know where to send their royalties. They won't call you back even if you want to send them money."
I thanked Valerie Rogers profusely and wrote a letter to Archie Fisher's music company. Two months later, I wrote another one. I called their number, but nobody answered and they didn't seem to have an answering machine.
By this point Jane was getting twitchy. If Tor decided that they didn't want to publish a story that quoted a song without permission, she'd have a fifteen-thousand word hole in her anthology. However, she and her husband had just bought a house in Scotland and were planning to spend several months there. She thought she might be able to run Archie Fisher to earth in person and ask him for permission to quote his song.
When Jane got to Scotland, she was able to get a working telephone number for Archie Fisher. She left him several messages. She wrote him letters. She got no replies. Finally she went to a folk festival in a location called High Place of the Pigs. She went because friends of hers would be performing there. But she asked around at random whether Archie Fisher was there.
He was. He was setting up for his performance. Jane marched up to him with the permission form in one hand and pen in the other. She had cash in her pocket as well. She explained herself to Archie Fisher. Oh, yes, he said thoughtfully, I did get some messages from you.
He signed the permission form. He refused the cash. This was extremely benign of him, and I appreciated it.
Jane went home in triumph.
The coincidence of Jane's having just bought a house in Scotland just when she needed to find Archie Fisher probably wouldn't work in a novel. But sometimes you get a bigger break in real life than in fiction, and the unicorn of the musician you need to talk to jumps into the High Place of the Pigs just when your editor is there.


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We wouldn't be an outdoor store in Alaska if we didn't cover the fishing end of things! We carry fly fishing and spin casting rods and reels. Most are rod and reel combos that come ready to fish. We stock most accessories and supplies from hooks, lures, spinners, locally tied flies, floatant, line and sinkers to filet knives, lure and fly boxes, nets and snips. We sell Alaska fishing licenses and have free state regulation booklets for all of Alaska.
We stock a sweet selection of cool and functional sunglasses by Smith Optics, Suncloud and Native Eyewear. Most of these are polarized and made for active lifestyles, with plastic or glass tech lenses, some models include interchangeable lenses. We also, of course, carry a nice selection of eyewear retainers.
We carry some of the finest optics made in our Nikon Binoculars. We have full size or compact models as well as fully waterproof/ fog proof or lesser expensive base models. All are Nikon quality and come with the full Nikon warranty.
We carry a limited amount of climbing gear: 10.5 mm dynamic ropes, ice axes, basic crampons, climbing harnesses, a large assortment of carabiners, chalk, webbing, several sizes of high strength accessory cord sold by the foot, figure 8's and sometimes other descending devices. Other climbing equipment can be special ordered at any time.
We carry a wide variety of repair items for all sorts of gear and gear failures! From bulk webbing, straps, buckles and accessory cord to adhesives, repair tapes and Aquaseal to tent pole splints, tools, stuff sacks and full repair kits, we've got what it takes to keep you on the water or moving down the trail.

subset: commoncrawl


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Stevens Industries
6-Door Wall Unit w/ Form Slots & 2-Door/4-Drawer Base Unit Cabinet Suite w/ Lockable Doors (90" W)
You Save: $1,062.01 (29%)
SKU: STV-84514F90Calculate Shipping
Store classroom supplies in Stevens Industries' 6-Door Wall Unit with Form Slots and 2-Door/4-Drawer Base Unit Cabinet Suite. Keep papers and books easily accessible in the upper compartments and other equipment in the roomy drawers and cabinets. Locking tabs and supports hold the inner shelves in place. Doors swing open 270 degrees and close securely with spring-loaded door catches. Installation required. Due to varying local building codes, mounting hardware is not included.
what is the width of the opening on the bottom unit? (It appears a chair could sit in the opening)
The width of the opening between the base cabinets is 24".
Date published: 2018-11-01


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The Dorothy Kirschman Women's Athletics Scholarship endowment supports our grant-in-aid fund for women scholar-athletes.
Give to the Sharon Gray Memorial Award
Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
Support Breast Cancer Research
Make a Gift to Support Dr Famula's Fund for Student Success
Supports a member of the UC Davis women's track & field team.
The Ellie Gerhardy Memorial endowment supports the women's swimming and diving team's grant-in-aid fund and is awarded to the team captains.
Lloyd H. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., Fund for Trainee Education and Research.
UC Davis Women's Cardiovascular Medicine Program
Support for the UC Davis Varsity Women's Equestrian Team
Loretta Wahl Cancer Fund
Give to the Kauzlarich Inorganic Award
Women's Ultimate Frisbee Club
Support the highest quality care to women
Support the UC Davis Varsity Women's Beach Volleyball Team
Karen Duffey Memorial Fund
Support the Melissa Cooke Johnsen Endowed Fund
Support Women's Health
The Adria Lyn Cronk Scholarship supports the UC Davis Women's Water Polo Team's grant-in-aid program.
Award given annually to UC Davis female undergraduate student-athletes from various teams who model the highest university standards.
Outstanding Female Leadership & Impact Award Fund is to provide support for a GSM graduate student(s)


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How To Go About Your Beach Run This Summer
In our first article on "How To Go About Your Beach Run This Summer" we did touch on two aspects that are to be considered in an event that you are planning on running on the beach. For instance we have already talked about the importance of wearing shoes as well as the importance of taking it slow in an event that you are new to the beach run exercise. In this article, we will pick up where we left off by giving you two other tips that will help you out the next time you are running at the beach.
Stick To The Shoreline
As a beginner, I would suggest that you stick to running at the shoreline. At the shoreline, the sand is usually very thick and packed and as a result they won't be a very huge difference if compared to the normal running that you are used to. You can proceed to raising your running time from 5 to 7 minutes, then to 10 and so on.
Consider Going Barefoot
After one week of running at the beach with your shoes, you can opt to actually go barefoot. That said, do remember to stick to the wet sand, don't start running in other places. After some weeks start to running on the softer sand. This is where the benefits are actually enormous. The soft sand basically grabs your calf muscles as well Achilles into strengthening, overdrive muscles.
So there you have it guys, tips on "How To Go About Your Beach Run This Summer"


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Gotze - Bayern snap up Dortmund striker
Coveted attacking midfielder will move clubs in July and link up with Pep Guardiola
Borussia Dortmund's Mario Goetze as he celebrates a goal against Greuther Fuerth during the German first division Bundesliga match. Photograph: Ina Fassbender/Reuters
Bayern Munich have confirmed Mario Gotze will join them in July. The Bundesliga champions are prepared to meet the Germany attacking midfielder's release clause in his contract with Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern announced the signing in a statement on their official website after Dortmund earlier revealed the player had told them he wanted to make the move.
Gotze's release clause is set at €37 million, meaning that should he complete the move he will become the most expensive German player of all time.
The 20-year-old has emerged as one of the most coveted players in European football since coming through the ranks at Dortmund and making his Bundesliga debut in November 2009.
He played a key role as Dortmund won back-to-back Bundesliga crowns and has made 22 appearances for Germany, scoring five goals.
In January, Bayern announced former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola will succeed Jupp Heynckes as boss this summer, having signed a three-year deal.


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Scheduling jobs to run on alternate Saturdays
2) Is there any way that I schedule the job to not run during a holiday?
1.To accomplish running a job on the first and third Saturday of the month you would create two job schedules.
Here are the steps:
A. On the Job Properties/Schedules tab click the New Schedule button.
B. From the Edit Job Schedule dialog click the Change button.
C. Create a schedule to run the 1st Saturday of every month. Click OK.
D. Repeat steps 1 -- 3 for the third Saturday of the month.
2. As far as I know, there is not a way to suspend a scheduled job from running on certain days.
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Please note The Corner Beach House may have amenities and features that others in the area do not (4th floor Lighthouse with views like no other, 5 Large decks, Plasma HDTV with free HD HBO, 2 Kitchens, Sauna and Jacuzzi bathrooms, professional decorated/landscaped etc…). See our pictures they speak louder than words.. Also The Corner Beach House is right on the Beach! With GUARANTEED BEST Ocean and Inlet views available in Atlantic City. Also our service is top notch as our management crew lives right next door! The Corner Beach House is YOUR next incredible summer vacation at the Jersey Shore so hurry and book it NOW!
Incredible Mid-Week Special, $100 off PER NIGHT!
Stay in the beautiful "Corner Beach House" any night between Sunday night and Thursday night for a very low rate! Fall/Winter: Only $450 per night! June: Only $500 per night! July/August: Only $800 per night!
September: Only $500 per night!
Please note we do NOT charge a cleaning fee or extra for Taxes, rates noted below are the total rent amount!
(2 nights, 3 days)
$2200 "Fall/Winter" October through February.
$2300 March/April.
$2600 May.
$3200 June.
$4000 July and August.
$2500 September.
Special rates may apply for Holidays, please inquire.
Stay in our beautiful "Top End Town Home" any night between Sunday night and Thursday night.
Fall/Winter: Only $450 per night!
June: Only $500 per night!
July/August: Only $800 per night!
September: Only $500 per night!
2 night minimum, Special rates may apply for Holidays, please inquire.
(7 nights, no Sat to Sat rentals but any other combination will work!)
$2800 "Fall/Winter" October through April.
$3200 May.
$4000 June.
$5500 July and August.
$3400 September.
Special rates may apply for Holidays, please inquire.
(4 weeks)
$11300 Fall/Winter.
$13000 May.
$16000 June.
$27000 July/August.
$1300 September.
Refundable Security Deposit Required.
Weekend/Mid-Week $400, Weekly $500, Monthly $1000
The security deposit is 100% refundable as long as no damage is done to the property and/or noise conduct issues.
Pets (Yes we are Pet Friendly, we love our pets!)
$150 additional deposit per pet and an additional $50 for weekend and $100 for weekly pet fee.
We cannot rent to anyone under the age of 21.
If ready to book making the refundable security deposit is the next easy step. Please see our Make A Reservation! link to do so.


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Vernon Duke penned the music, Lynn Root the libretto and John Latouche the lyrics. The show, a musical fable "about a tug of war between good and evil in the South," spawned the hit song, "Taking a Chance on Love."
The 1940 Broadway musical starred Ethel Waters. George Balanchine was choreographer and director. Katherine Dunham made her Broadway debut with the show. Todd Duncan, Rex Ingram and Dooley Wilson also starred. The 1943 film featured Waters and a young Lena Horne.
Four special songs will be heard in the piano-and-voice Cabin in the Sky: "Living It Up," with words and music by Duke, heard in the 1964 Off-Broadway revival; "We'll Live All Over Again" (cut from the 1940 show); and "Not a Care in the World," from Duke's Banjo Eyes.
Casting will be announced. Performances play the Mainstage of the Sol Goldman 14th Street YMHA, 344 E. 14th Street between First and Second Avenue. For information, call (212) 868-4444.
Mel Miller is artistic director of Musicals Tonight!, which operates on a shoestring budget.


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Anthony Jackson & Vinny Fodera on the Fodera Presentation II Contrabass
Anthony Jackson's dogged determination to realize (and later, standardize) hisdream instrument, the 6-string contrabass guitar, survived early detractors. Reluctant builders, closed-minded producers and engineers, and doubting peers—not to mention numerous fiscal and design dead ends—threatened to end the vision. That all changed upon Jackson's teaming with Fodera Basses in 1986. But while the 27-year union has led to a half-dozen successful instruments, including "No. 10," which Anthony has played exclusively since 1996, he has maintained his tireless focus when it comes to refining, improving, and evolving his invention. The same can be said of Fodera founders and builders Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella and partner Jason DeSalvo. So when this talented, titanium-grade think tank set out to create a new Fodera/Jackson Presentation model, musical and technological boundaries were sure to be challenged, stretched, and redefined. We headed over to Fodera's shop in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, to get an inside look at the new Fodera/Jackson Presentation II.
Anthony, what led you to decide it was time for a new contrabass guitar?
AJ: I got very lucky with No. 10, which I've played longer than any other instrument—17 years. Note: No. 7, in 1988, was the first Presentation model. I learned a great deal about the correct way to design and enhance the instrument. But then a time comes when you can't make an improvement by simply turning a screw a quarter of an inch—bigger things have to happen, and you start to feel a burning inside about some kind of successor. While trying to put a few ideas on paper, Vinny told me he'd like to try to build a full hollowbody version, one that would keep all the best qualities of my solidbody Presentation model, but add more of an acoustic character. Vinny had the idea to chamber No. 10 to get a bit more wood sound from the air vibrating in the chamber, and it is more resonant than Numbers 7, 8 and 9, but it's not a substitute for a full hollowbody.
What was the main challenge?
AJ:To get both the wooden, warm, resonant sound of an acoustic instrument with the response, eveness, sustain, and string sound of a solidbody. If you think of a cello, the resonance occurs when energy from the string is conducted into the body; the body resonates and draws energy out of the string. If you can continually feed energy into the string, as you do with a bow, then sustain is no problem. But if you pluck a note, pizzicato-style, it dies right away. The body is so resonant it doesn't allow the energy of the plucked string to keep the body vibrating. I'm a sustain fanatic, so we needed this instrument to have enough sustain to satisfy me, while still having a clearly discernable wooden character. To achieve a balance between the two was a very difficult, expensive, long process; and while it is a compromise, it's a glorious compromise.
What was your reaction when you first played it in the shop, and then on a gig with Mike Stern soon after?
AJ:I knew instantly it was a successful design, which was both a sense of relief and a major victory. The Stern gig was when I was able to really relax, because that was the full-out doctorate exam, and it passed with flying colors; it was amazing! It had a richer, more complex sound than anything I've heard in a bass guitar. It's louder, especially in the middle and upper register; the sound carries as beautifully up there as it does down low. When you go farther up the neck, the strings get thicker and shorter, and normally their ideal characteristics go away. On this instrument—especially on the middle four strings in from the 8th to 14th frets, but all the way up—the notes retain their sweet, rich character and touch and sustain. Coupled with the heel-less access, it never feels or sounds like you're nearing the end of the fingerboard. Overall, the sound of wood is there, as is the sound of a steel roundwound string, but it's richer than that; it's the sound of the wood and metal together, which was the goal.
You've since used it on tour with the Michel Camilo Big Band and on recordings with Wayne Krantz and with Mike Stern and Jeff Richman.
AJ:I've officially retired No. 10, and I've been traveling with the Presentation II. That has required a bit of tweaking, as the instrument is still breaking in, on its way to stabilizing eventually. The main adjustment factor for me is the neck. It's the biggest I've ever played, but the sound and consistancy make it worth my while. I had my Meyer Sound system with Michel, which gave me my truest live sound, and the studio session for Mike Stern and Jeff Richman, in particular—where the instrument was optimally set up—was very revealing. I went straight to the board, and no EQ was used on the tracks. The Presentation II had excellent definition, with a very strong but tight bottom end, and lots of sustain and wood. It was successful playing it with fingers and very successful using a pick; there was no sense of thinness or excessive brightness. It balanced beautifully. All of the musicians, especially the ones whom I work with regularly, have noticed the difference immediately.
Going forward, what are your thoughts?
AJ:The Presentation II is definitely a handful, an armful, a lapful. But if the effort is put in, it will give you back so much capability as a performing artist. The timing was right for what Vinny, Joey, Jason, and I envisioned; the fact that Fodera allowed me to indulge my wildest ideas is absolutely spectacular. It's without doubt a major achievement in my life, secondary only to my highpoints as a player.
Vinny, what led you to think about this kind of design?
Vinny Fodera: Matt Garrison approached me in 2006 about a hollowbody bass for some projects that he thought would benefit from a more acoustic-sounding instrument. That sparked the idea. Matt required a short-scale bass, with a small, thin body, and electronics onboard. We all liked the results, and it led me to think I could apply some of the principles to Anthony's Presentation series. We agreed to go forward with a 36"-scale hybrid that a longtime client ordered, essentially funding the idea and understanding it would be a prototype. The bass was very close to hitting the mark, except the body was a little too wide for Anthony; he asked for the third hybrid [counting Garrison's bass] to have the same body profile as his No. 10 solidbody, and I changed the internal structure accordingly, with even better results. Anthony likens it to going from an upright piano to a grand piano; it's very piano-like and very responsive, with a rich, round, deep tone, yet it has the quick feel, reaction, and articulation you get from a solidbody. Other than the one passive pickup to amplify the strings, the instrument's tone is purely intrinsic.
What can you offer about your proprietary bracing and neck joint?
VF: The bracing is something we want explore more before we discuss it. The design will get out there soon enough for players and builders to examine, which is fine. We deliberately kept the body a closed, sealed box, with no ƒ-holes or ports, so the bass wouldn't feed back at high volume. With so much air inside and with this type of bracing, you get a very acoustic sound, but with a lot of sustain and punch. The carved-out neck joint is heel-less; that came from the single-cutaway solidbody I first came up with in the '80s, at Anthony's prodding. Anthony has golden ears, is a studied perfectionist, and always pushes me with aspects of design I wouldn't think of. That's why we make a great team.
Let's talk about the woods involved.
VF:We opted for alder as the main body wood; it has a nice bass tone, it's structurally sound and stable, and it finishes well. The bracing inside had to be a dry, resonant wood; I went with Honduras mahogany, which is a little stronger than spruce. For the top and back we chose holly, which is sonically equal to koa. I carved the top for an elegant look, but also because having more material enabled me to play around with where I carved away wood to get the maximum vibration and response. The fingerboard is ebony to balance the instrument's warm, bassy sound. Ebony is very hard and dense, and it rings at a high pitch and adds clarity in all the ranges. The most unusual choice was red oak for the neck; it's strong and stiff like maple, to stay put under the tension of 36"-scale strings, and the piece I chose has deep pores, so it's full of air. We also made the headstock a little bigger and at a deeper angle, to add more mass for sustain and tighter string tension; and Anthony asked for the neck to be a little wider at the body, which is always good—the bigger the neck, the more energy stays in a plucked string.
What have you learned from this type of construction, and what does it mean for future Fodera basses?
VF:When you build a solidbody, the tone is largely at the mercy of how good that piece of wood is. But this kind of hybrid construction has so many variables, you have much more control over how the bass is going to vibrate and sound—especially with the top, which is crucial to the sound of a hollowbody. As it becomes increasingly more difficult to get good wood, and as resources dwindle, hybrid instruments might be the answer for the future. With regard to Fodera basses, the possibilities are endless. We can build any model in our catalog using this hybrid design. The challenge will be to tool up for it, to make it more affordable. As good as this bass turned out—and I can honestly say this is the best bass guitar I've ever built or heard—I don't think you can ever replace the solidbody bass guitar; it's too good, too practical, and too versatile. But now there's a choice for those who want something in between an acoustic and an electric sound, and we'll keep exploring it.
Fodera Anthony Jackson Presentation II
Instrument type 6-string contrabass hybrid
Scale length 36"
Body size 14" wide, 4" thick
Neck width 2.31" at nut; 4.06" at end of fingerboard
Frets 28
Finish Acrylic gloss
Pickup Seymour Duncan Dual Coil
Strings Fodera Anthony Jackson Signature Set
Other Titanium tuners, D-tuner, bridge, and trussrod


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Wine Tour to the Douro Valleyem Wine Tour to the Douro Valley, tue, 17 dec 2019 - tue, 31 dec 2019
Discover the beautiful landscapes of the Douro Valley outside of Porto! Visit three different wine estates and taste four different Portuguese wines from the Douro region. This full-day tour is a must when visiting Porto. Book today!
Porto City Tourem Porto City Tour, tue, 17 dec 2019 - tue, 31 dec 2019
Experience the ancient splendor of the Capital of the North of Portugal — the city of Porto! Explore the incredible city center, visit the Cathedral, enjoy a tour and wine tasting in a port wine cellar and much more! This 4-hour tour takes you to see the highlights of Porto. Book your tour with or without lunch!
Porto City Tour & 6 Bridges Cruiseem Porto City Tour & 6 Bridges Cruise, tue, 17 dec 2019 - tue, 31 dec 2019
Join us for the ultimate half-day tour in Porto! Enjoy a guided tour around the incredible UNESCO World Heritage city center, visit the biggest sights of the city, get a tour of a port wine cellar, taste some local wines and go on a panoramic 'Six Bridges' cruise. Secure your spot, book today!


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Neighbourhoods in decline and street gangs have been a bit of a theme I've been working on lately.
During the research phase for a story I wrote recently (Gangs & Hope Community Forum), I ventured into the gang infested territory where Winnipeg resident Nigel Dixon was recently killed in a hail of indiscriminate gunfire. His female companion also suffered gun shot wounds but somehow managed to avoid the same fate.
My purpose was to take photographic evidence of gang tags previously sealed off from reporters view by Police crime scene guards and yellow tape. Street gang investigators will tell you that gang tags are serious business. They're intended to send strong messages to rival gangs, police and the community at large. Messages claiming territorial boundaries or "turf." Gang tags are symbols of power and status.
I've always said gang tags are a window into the minds of the street thugs who represent street gangs. They're excellent gauges that should be read and interpreted to determine "the temperature" out on the streets. Gang experts will tell you failure to remove such symbols can lead to heightened gang tension and the degradation of neighborhoods, not to mention the devaluation of property and reinforcement of fear in the community.
As I walked down the back lanes taking photo's of the plentiful gang graffiti I was struck by a more subtle part of the story.
$hit, I thought, this neighborhood looks like it and even smells like it. It's clear the progressive new roll out garbage and recycle bins are not working in this neighbourhood. When you think about it, it's hard to believe that possibility wasn't anticipated by the decision makers responsible for the program. Auto bins work for me and my neighbours but they don't roll themselves out to the street on collection day.
Many of the auto bins I saw were stuffed full and over flowing with garbage that had been there for weeks or longer. Garbage bins fused into snow banks that haven't moved for months. The amount of garbage I saw in a one block radius was troubling. More troubling, it doesn't seem like anyone plans on taking responsibility for the problem.
If failing to remove gang tags leads to the degradation of a neighborhood, what does the failure to remove garbage do?
This kind of garbage promotes unsanitary conditions that attracts disease carrying rodents and nuisance pests like skunks and raccoons. The gang tags, overflowing garbage cans and refuse filled back lanes send a message to the people who live in this Community. That message is one of failure and abandonment.
If the City of Winnipeg is serious about reducing crime and losing unflattering designations from Stats Canada then they have to start getting serious about taking back the streets of our City. That multi faceted approach has to include a concerted effort to lose the gang tags and garbage that's currently littering our streets and back lanes.
Lest we forget, decent people trying to raise children live in these neighbourhoods.
WPS Chief Devon Clunis is steadfast in his belief that we can reduce crime through social development. It seems to me it might be hard to promote "social development" in neighborhoods that are drowning in a sea of garbage.
In an ironic twist, after I wrote my story I saw a Winnipeg Sun "tweet" that reported "City can't wait to make you pay for messy yard, and neighbours are more likely than ever to call bylaw cops."
I was amused when I read the article and noted that Sel Burrows shared his opinion that cleaner neighbourhoods attract less crime and give criminals and gangsters fewer opportunities to exploit abandoned homes. "If your community looks like a slum, it gets treated like a slum," he said.
I rest my case.
Before the City starts blitzing citizens with bylaw offence notices, they might want to consider cleaning up their own back yard. Seems like it might be time for a few Political leaders to fire up some pick up trucks, knock on some doors and mobilize the community.
The area in question is in the Daniel McIntyre Ward, Councillor Harvey Smith, ph: 204-986-5951.
LINK: Councillor Harvey Smith


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Contact Us
Got a question or comment? The team at The Ear Foundation is waiting for your call!
The Ear Foundation
81 Sherwin Road
Tel: +44 (0)115 942 1985
Email: email@example.com
Parking: The Ear Foundation does have a very small car park however if you are attending a course here at The Ear Foundation we encourage the use of public transport. There is 3 hour parking available on Church Street the road up from us.
Rail: The nearest Rail Station is Nottingham. Timetables available on the Web Site. We are approximately 10 minutes by taxi from the station. Costs roughly £6. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/
Airports: The nearest is Nottingham East Midlands Airport, approximately 30 minutes by taxi. Taxi's available outside the Airport at a cost of roughly £25. Alternatively the SkyLink bus from outside the Airport runs in to Nottingham City Centre for £3.50. www.eastmidlandsairport.com
Bus: From the city centre the bus stop is located outside John Lewis at Victoria Centre shopping centre. The bus number you need is numbers 35 or 36. The bus does not give change and the fare is £1.70 for a single. You need to get off at Lenton Park and walk to the traffic lights and take a left onto Gregory Street for 200 yards before taking another left on Church Drive and we are on the right hand side.
Road: Coming in from the south of Nottingham you need to follow the A52 (Derby Road/QMC) signposts. On the A52 at the Jaguar garage (to your left hand side) take a right at the traffic lights onto Gregory Street. After 200 yards turn left onto Church drive, we are on the right hand side as you turn in.
Coming in from the North of Nottingham you need to follow the A6514 (Mansfield Road) through to the city centre. Once in the city centre take the 2nd exit at the BBC roundabout (Lenton Boulevard) and head straight for 1.5 miles until you get to Abbey Bridge Roundabout. From her take the first exit and the first right onto Gregory Street. We are on the right hand side 200 yards up this road.
Tram: Use M1 J25 and take advantage of 1300 free parking spaces at Toton Lane Park & Ride. Take the tram, sit back and relax, in 30 minutes you'll be a 5 minute walk from The Ear Foundation.
Prefer the train? It couldn't be easier! Nottingham station has its own tram stop – 6 minutes later you're a 5 minute walk from our front door: Click here for the walking route.
You will need to get off the tram at the 'Gregory Street' stop.


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Yancheng City Luoshi Machinery Co.,Ltd. is a stock private enterprise professionally engaged in
research, development, manufacture, and sale of shoemaking machineries. The company is located
in Jiangsu Province Yancheng City Economic Development zone which is a "country of shoemaking
machineries".Based on its strong technique, under the effort by many high-tech talents, the
company continuousoy produces new products. There are more than 30 kinds of products including
5 series such as laying-off, shoe upper and vamp shaping, sole shaping, ... [Details]


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Ventilated Wood Pellet Stove
The Aurora Glass ventilated pellet stove stands out from the rest with its tall circular design, glass side coverings and ceramic top. The large glass door gives a great view of the flames. The stove's large 17Kg internal hopper means it can run for up to 21 hours from a fill of pellets. The Aurora Glass pellet stove is ideal for medium to large sized rooms up to 260mt3, thanks to the adjustable power settings. The large pellet hopper insures the stove can run for long periods without refilling.
It is fully adjustable in terms of time and temperature, so your room will always be warm at your desired time. Ravelli stoves feature a 'Silent system; this system ensures that the noise levels are greatly reduced, making Ravelli pellet stoves among the quietest on the market. The Aurora Glass is available in two colours and comes standard with RDS system and touch remote control.
|Aurora glassV_Energy_Label
|Heats area up to
|260 m3
|3.7 - 11.0 kW
|Size W x H x D (mm)
|516 - 1194 - 519
|Pellet fuel consumption per hour min/max (Kg/h)
|0.78 - 2.66
|Efficiency (%)
|Flue exit pipe (Ø mm)
|Tank capacity (Kg)
|Burn time min/max (h)
|6.5 - 21.0
|Installed power (W)
|Net weight (Kg)
Ravelli stoves feature a 'Silence system'. This system ensures that the noise is greatly reduced. This makes our stoves among the quietest on the market.
- Integrated RDS system
- Completly glass covered
- Elegant majolica top
- Rounded front and side glass
- Wide view of the flames
- Touch screen remote
Measures and data are indicative. The parent company reserves the right to make changes to its products at any time, without notice, for either technical or commercial reasons.


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Tularù is an organic and multi-functional closed-cycle farm born that began life as a centre for sustainable production. It offers an alternative approach to solving current environmental, social and economic issues for farms.
Projects & Practice
A dairy company used RDP support to build a new wing on its factory in order to increase its production capacity. This investment strengthened the local supply chains and helps prevent the abandonment of the farming activity in the area.
Setting up the first transnational LEADER region in Europe, thus allowing the elaboration of a common strategy between LAGs, and include provisions for more sound financial management of and implementation of TNC projects.
A young female farmer introduced a blackberry plantation into a wheat and barley production area and created added value by developing a new range of products. This was the winning initiative of the 2019 Rural Inspiration Awards in the 'Improving competitiveness' category.
Maintaining natural and semi-natural meadows and wetlands to ensure suitable nesting conditions for an endangered bird species: the Aquatic Warbler.
RDP support helped a young entrepreneur to acquire the necessary equipment in order to start his own wood construction business in an area of high unemployment.
Expanding a water reservoir and installing a solar farm to reduce the energy costs of irrigation.
Developing an innovative model of local-level bio-waste.
Offering health and support services to elderly people and those in need by converting a former vicarage into a community care facility.
A young farmer received RDP support to set up a new horticultural seedling production facility and create employment for her family.


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HOLLYWOOD -- Football offseasons are supposed to be busy. They're normally filled with drama, coaching changes, a freak spring injury and even an off-field incident or two.
The University of Arizona's past six-plus months have been downright boring.
Coach Rich Rodriguez, receiver Austin Hill and safety Jared Tevis will arrive at Paramount Studios Wednesday morning for their turn at Pac-12 media days to find that not much has changed since that AdvoCare V100 Bowl win over Boston College on New Year's Eve.
There wasn't one move on Rodriguez's coaching staff. A few players left the program on their own — most notably Derek Babiash and Garic Wharton — but Rodriguez didn't have to dismiss any players, and the Wildcats got through spring drills with no issues or injuries.
It's a far cry from a year ago, when star running back Ka'Deem Carey had multiple off-field run-ins, three position coaches left for other schools, the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility was under construction, Hill tore a knee ligament in the spring and Rodriguez's starting middle linebacker decided to join a prestigious lawsuit against the NCAA.
But just because it's been quiet doesn't mean there's not still plenty of intrigue.
Here are three things we'll be asking:
1. The freshmen. There's always some suspense surrounding the incoming freshman class. This year is no different. The headliner of this year's group always has been Tucson Salpointe Catholic standout Cameron Denson.
Rodriguez said on signing day that Denson likely would start his career on offense and play cornerback on third downs.
That plan has changed. Look for Denson to be listed solely as a cornerback when UA reveals its roster today. He still could play wide receiver at some point.
There should be some news with the rest of the group as well. Tight end Darrell Cloy and defensive backs Devon Brewer and Jace Whittaker likely won't be listed on the roster. Cloy and Brewer, a pair of non-qualifiers, likely will head to Milford Academy in New York and could enroll at UA in January like T.J. Johnson did last year.
Whittaker suffered a knee injury and will rehab on his own. He could enroll in January.
2. The quarterbacks. The one thing today's media session will have in common with last year is the signal-callers. Rodriguez wouldn't tip his hand last year.
Don't expect him to be any more open this time around. There still appears to be an open competition between Jesse Scroggins, Jerrard Randall, Connor Brewer and Anu Solomon.
It will also be interesting to see what Rodriguez says about incoming freshman Brandon Dawkins. After spending the majority of the summer in Tucson, can he join the competition right away or will he have to wait a year like Solomon?
3. The defense. The biggest question mark surrounding the defense this preseason is leadership. Linebacker Jake Fischer was the clear captain of the defense the past two seasons, and defensive linemen Sione Tuihalamaka and Tevin Hood provided their fair share of leadership.
So where does that fall this year? Tevis, today's defensive representative, has plenty of experience but could end up battling Will Parks for playing time during fall camp.
Free safety Jourdon Grandon showed off some newfound leadership skills in the spring that excited the coaching staff, and he could be one of the leading men on defense. Defensive end Reggie Gilbert has started 21 games in his career, including all 13 last year, and will be a vocal leader.


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Radio people are notorious for getting free stuff. It's ingrained in our DNA. It's how the business used to work, until Alan Freed got busted for payola, the bankers grabbed the Radio stations, Enron imploded, and Sarbanes-Oxley wormed its way into the control room.
You would not believe what's behind even the simplest of on-air giveaways. I predict the RTV course curriculum of the future will include a mandatory two-semesters of forensic accounting, just to be able to understand and execute Radio promotions.
|Brent Clanton on the air at
KPEZ-FM, Austin, Texas c.1987
When I was a young pup in music Radio, we loved it when the Record guys would come to visit. It was rumored that some of the "gifts" they bestowed could not be found in any store (wink, wink), but were sure to please (nudge, nudge) in return for favoring an up-and-coming musical talent…or act, as the case may have been. "Musical talent" and "musical act" were mutually-exclusive terms back then, too.
One of the regular perks was to be allowed to "shop" in the prize closet, back in the day, acquiring a pretty decent music library of my own in the process.
I still have more CD's than most Radio stations' current playlists (a source of personal frustration, and the subject of another post at a later time.)
Radio people are still offered free stuff.
We get to see movies, shows, grand openings, and previews before anyone else.
Or we at least will get a row or two of seats roped-off so we don't have to elbow with the masses for a place to sit.
I am still sent books by publishers, still receive coupons for meals at new restaurants, and have had brand new cars delivered to the parking garage for my use for days at a time.
The freebies always came with conditions, though; strings were attached:
You had to talk about (or with) the newest artist to hit the scene, whether their stuff was any good or not; prattle-on about the new restaurant that just slung 20-pounds of food into the Radio station's kitchen; or make credible claims about why you'd buy that Merkur Turbo-sled tomorrow (if you weren't still making payments on the '76 Honda parked behind the transmitter shack.)
Tickets to performances were similarly conditioned: screenings on a school night (rough for morning show hosts) or matinee performances the only ones open to the Press. You could take a date, but the date had to be on a weeknight. Free albums and CD's were shrink-wrapped from the factory, with virgin vinyl or polycarbonate discs…with holes drilled in the jewel cases, or slots carved into the record covers. There was always a catch; it was free, but it was marked.
A few years back I decided Free is not all it's cracked up to be.
I got tired of the conditional ownership of the freebies, weary of wearing a wardrobe that was comprised of free shirts bearing the logos of bands, advertisers, or the station for which I was working that month. I also began to develop a sense of appreciation for the work that went into the creative, productive process, and began to view my taking of freebies as somewhat insulting to artists I genuinely respected and appreciated…for their talent, and not for what their PR pimp could give me for free.
I began to buy their products.
Actually spend money for a book, an album, a meal, a service.
And you know what—it felt good.
|Cannot get this CD
out of my car player!
With that change of perspective, I discovered the freedom of really showing my appreciation to those I truly enjoyed by contributing to the livelihood of the musician, author, or craftsman. This renaissance of attitude also freed me to go places, do things, and participate in what I wanted, when I wanted…no strings attached.
I recently bought a copy of Esperanza Spalding's latest CD after seeing her win a Grammy for "Best New Artist." She beat out that Justin Beiber punk, and some other strong competition.
I was impressed.
I showed my respect for her talent by buying her CD.
And you know what—it felt good.


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First off, Rep. Joe Salazar (D) in Colorado, arguing against concealed carry on campus, said: "It's why we have call boxes. It's why we have safe zones. That's why we have the whistles, because you just don't know who you're going to be shooting at. And you don't know if you feel like you're going to be raped, or if you feel like someone's been following you around or if you feel like you're in trouble when you may actually not be, that you pop out that gun and you pop … pop a round at somebody." This was certainly a stupid thing to say. Oh, those hysterical women, popping off rounds!
Where, the conservative blogosphere asked, are all those bloggers who complained about the portrayal of women as irrational and incapable?
And then, just when everyone was worried that we would be forced to confront this apparent double standard, the Top Conservatives On Twitter crowd stepped up and started making rape jokes. Nothing says, "We are the party that is really sensitive to the issues rape victims face" like "We are going to make a bunch of rape jokes now."
They whipped out a list of ten points of last resort from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs's Rape Aggression Defense program that suggested you spook potential rapists by vomiting on them, suddenly. This was all about disarming women, they pointed out! Disarmed, we are left with the alternative of whistling and urinating and projectile vomiting. ("Cover yourself with a mix of chocolate and your own feces," joked @KentAtwater. "BONUS: You get a National Endowment for the Arts grant.") This is what liberals want for us! Except that this was not really an accurate portrayal of the guidelines. But, oh well! The war was on!
Good job, everyone.
Look, I think I missed the meeting where we decided that our only two options were Rapes Everywhere and Women Packing Heat at All Times. Can we have that meeting again? Because I think there are a lot of people who would like to weigh in.
This conversation has brought out the worst in everyone. "These liberals don't trust women with guns!"
"Why are we making rape jokes?"
"This is about gun control, not rape! We're making jokes about the bizarre safety tips!"
"They sound like rape jokes!"
"You liberals just don't know what a real joke looks like!"
"Is there any question to which you are willing to admit that 'More guns' is not the answer?"
"Childhood obesity?"
Time out, everyone!
This is literally the worst.
I like how the alternative to Rape Everywhere is that we walk around bristling with lethal weapons. Yup. That will solve this. Men are not involved in this process at all. They just crawled up out of the ocean and have barely learned to walk upright, and it's all up to us ladyfolks. The onus is on us! Why were we walking in the streets at night? Why weren't we covered in metal armor? Isn't that a bit risque? The question isn't about stopping sexual violence. It's about making certain everyone has guns. Really, every question is. Your child teething too long? Put a gun on it. Marriage on the rocks? Throw a gun at it. Table wobbly? Put a gun under it. I'm sure we'll be turning the sequester into a gun rights battle soon enough. And if you read this hashtag, it sounds like if we aren't packing heat, we might as well be asking for it. Never mind that most people know their attackers. Never mind the actual real world where these things happen. It is too complicated for 140 characters.
Maybe it's not that we feel unsafe around women with guns because they are women. Maybe we feel unsafe around people with guns because they are people. Maybe we missed the part in the rape statistics where this was just another problem we could throw guns at and solve it. If only it were. "More guns" is so much easier than "dealing with rape culture." We wouldn't have such a problem dealing with rape culture if it weren't so easy to turn all of this into a joke. It is so much easier to bristle with arms against a faceless menace than stare at someone you actually know and say, "Actually, that's not very funny."
Look, I understand that those self-defense guidelines always sound slightly ridiculous. I used to make fun of them myself, back when I had more confidence and less skill. The whistles. The whistles, for crying out loud. When I walk down the street late at night and hear the sound of whistling, I just assume that Time's 2002 Person of the Year is getting a little frisky.
These guidelines sound ridiculous, but RAD is not ridiculous. You get to learn how to pummel people who are dressed as giant lobsters. And the skills carry over. Especially if you don't like the idea of strolling the streets holstering lethal weapons.
Ideally, when confronted with danger, just do the thing that Todd Akin thinks you can do: Turn into a spider, cover your attacker in webbing, and hang him a cocoon until the police arrive.
But in the meantime, let's just avoid any more discussions like this. Hitler is inches away.


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SpaceX has seen a lot of success recently due to the combination of the Falcon 9 spaceflight launch system and the Dragon spacecraft carrying cargo to and from the International Space Station. But SpaceX isn't standing still and has continued to develop the Falcon 9 and design the successor to Dragon.
According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the main focus for Falcon 9 development at the moment is making the first stage of the rocket reusable. The goal is to have the Falcon 9 first stage return to the launch site and land under propulsion using retractable legs. But before that can happen SpaceX needs to perfect controlling the first stage once its initial launch duties are over.
Later this year SpaceX is set to carry out tests that will see the first stage of a Falcon 9 attempt a water landing. This will involve the rocket reducing its velocity after release, continuing to travel in a "ballistic arc," and then using its engines once again just before landing in the water.
We're also set to see an updated Falcon 9 design, which has more powerful engines, larger fuel tanks, and therefore a 70 percent increase in its capabilities.The new design, including the controlled landing using legs, is expected to be perfected before the end of 2014.
Then we have Dragon 2 to look forward to. Although little is known about the new spacecraft, Musk has confirmed it will have larger windows for when it starts transporting astronauts so they can see outside easily. We can also expect powerful side-mounted thruster pods, and just like next year's Falcon 9, retractable legs are being added to the base of the craft to allow for propulsion touchdowns on land. Apparently the final design looks like a "real alien spaceship."
Making both the Falcon 9 and Dragon 2 able to touchdown on land will ultimately save money and remove the need to use water landings. But Musk has also said it will allow for more missions to occur due to a shorter turnaround time.


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Skyhawks pound out eight runs on 14 hits
|Senior Michael White hurled eight innings of shutout baseball against Bridgeport.
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. (March 16, 2012) – Senior left-handed pitcher Michael White (Lisbon, N.H./Lisbon Regional) and freshman right-hander Ryan Rougeot (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) combined to pitch a five-hit shutout as Stonehill College, ranked seventh overall in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Regional Poll, blanked the University of Bridgeport, 8-0, in non-conference action on Friday afternoon.
White notched his first victory of the season (1-1 overall, three starts) on eight innings pitched, four hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Over his final three innings, White retired all nine batters he faced in order while Rougeot fanned one batter and gave up one hit in the ninth.
Junior left-hander Garrett Rogers (Rennselear, N.Y./Schenectady CC) was handed the loss over four innings of work, four hits, two runs (both earned), two walks and three punchouts.
Offensively for the Skyhawks, White went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in while senior Steven Popp (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) produced an identical line at the plate. Sophomore Colin Shepard (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two doubles, freshman Dan Pidgeon (Darien, Conn./Darien) went 2-for-5 with two RBI's and senior Michael Magnussen (Carver, Mass./Coyle & Cassidy) had a 2-for-2 showing with one run scored and two runs driven in.
Popp gave Stonehill an early 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning by driving in junior Michael Zeiner (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) with a RBI double.
In the fifth inning, Popp pushed the Skyhawks ahead to a 2-0 lead with a run-producing single to left field. Zeiner got the inning going as he was hit-by-a-pitch and advanced to second base on a single from White. Both baserunners moved into scoring position by successfully executing a double steal before Popp plated Zeiner with a single. White was thrown out at third base on a 7-5 putout on the play.
Stonehill broke open the game in the sixth inning with a four-run frame.
Sophomore Billy Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Feehan) led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third base on a Shepard double. After Pidgeon struck out looking, Magnussen smacked a two-run double to increase the gap to 4-0. White capped the scoring in the frame with a two-run double.
In the ninth inning, sophomore Dan Fratus (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) notched a leadoff base hit, Karalis flew out to left field, Shepard collected his second double of the game and Pidgeon followed with a two-run single to make it 8-0.
Stonehill (11-5, 0-0 NE-10, 0-0 Northeast Division) concludes its trip to Florida with a single game against Pace University, non-conference, tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in Winter Park, Fla. on the campus of Rollins College. The University of Bridgeport (1-5, 0-0 ECC) returns to action on Tuesday, March 20 against Pace at 3 p.m.


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Brick And Mortar Stores Are Closing At Unprecedented Rates
Wall Street Journal
October 25, 2017
By Bart Higgins
Just when you think you have a handle on the brick-and- mortar retail crisis, the prognosis gets worse. More than 8,600 stores will close their doors in 2017, according to Credit Suisse analysts—a number that exceeds store closures during 2008, when America was in recession. One quarter of all shopping malls are expected to shutter in the next five years, according to the same report. This downward spiral has severe economic implications, although some are less apocalyptic than they seem at first. In fact, there's some evidence that automation and e-commerce actually create more—and better-paying—jobs than they destroy. But there's one issue that no one has figured out how to solve: what to do with all those vacant stores. And America has more of them than anyone. Retail square feet per capita in the U.S. is more than six times that of Europe or Japan. As our physical stores continue to lose market share to e-commerce, more than one billion square feet of commercial real estate could be gathering dust by 2022. Because blight begets blight, that number could climb even higher. If these predictions hold, America's retail landscape could look a lot like the residential landscape of Detroit. To find a solution, retailers need to face the failings that landed them here. Blaming Jeff Bezos doesn't change the fact that many companies have spent years with their heads in the sand. Sales have been migrating online for almost two decades, and millennials prefer to splurge on experiences—tasting menus, concert tickets, trips to Iceland—rather than flat-screen TVs. Faced with a crisis, traditional retailers responded by iterating an outdated model. Chains like Sears and Kmart used loyalty programs as Band-Aid solutions. Guess and Payless played a discount game but couldn't keep up with their online competition. The industry as a whole needs to accept that the in-store sales of the past aren't coming back. Consumers no longer spend their Saturday afternoons going shopping, and no promotions or window displays are going to change that. Consumers are looking for places to be—not things to buy—when they leave the house. What's needed is a radical new approach to sales—one that may not include selling goods in store at all. Smart retailers are repurposing physical stores to do what e-commerce can't: offer a memorable, meaningful and multisensory experience. A reimagining of what retail can be is already under way. Only one thing is certain: That old retail mantra—"stack 'em high.
There was a time when anchor stores—Sears, Nordstrom, Toys "R" Us—were the beating hearts and financial engines of large shopping malls. But as the big chains have foundered, their sprawling, underperforming outposts have become anchors in a more literal sense. At the axis of a once-thriving shopping center in West Palm Beach sits a 110,000-square- foot former Macy's location, abandoned by the struggling retailer earlier this year. An immersive arts experience is taking over the space in December. World-renowned visual artist Michael Craig Martin will transform the exterior of the entire building with his largest mural to date, and famed sound designer Stephen Vitiello is creating a sound installation that will live in and around the detritus left behind by brands that once called the space home. This experiment by the landlord, real-estate giant Related Companies, aims to transform the struggling shopping center by putting culture front and center—and relegating retail to a supporting act. "It's all about driving different kinds of traffic to a project," says Ken Himmel, the president and CEO of Related. "Mixed-use retail developments centered on cultural offerings are outperforming every other type of retail offering by a long shot."
While most retailers are shrinking their physical footprints, Gary Friedman, the chairman and CEO of Restoration Hardware, is thinking big. In 2015, the brand took over the 70,000-square-foot Three Arts Club in Chicago—10 times the size of a normal Restoration Hardware. The space allows for expanded showrooms but also an expansive vision of the brand, including design ateliers, a winetasting room and a music venue. "The key to unlocking the value of our assortment has been to transform our retail stores into huge design galleries," Friedman says.
"Our new galleries generate two to three times higher retail sales than the legacy galleries they replaced." In November, Restoration Hardware will open a 74,000- square-foot gallery in West Palm Beach, which is turning into a hotbed of experimental retail. An RH-branded hotel concept is also in the works.
Read full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-to-do-with-dead-malls-1508936402


text:
The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (2008) 37.2: 313–334
Model Boats in the Context of Maritime History and Archaeology
Between 1962 and 1981 the National Museum of Ireland excavated several sites within the old walled area of Dublin near the River Liffey. This major excavation focused on settlement evidence mainly from the Viking and Medieval periods. Such long-running and large-scale excavations inevitably produce problems in processing the vast quantities of materials excavated. On initial investigation of the published model boats (NMI,1973: 44, pl.11; Mitchell, 1987: 30–33; Christensen,1988: 19–23, figs 8 and 9, pl.4; Lang, 1988: 79–80; McGrail, 1993: 166) it seemed that only three had been found. On further examination it appeared that there was an ambiguity, and when the details were checked with the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) it transpired that there were five models. These 'Viking' models (artefact nos. E172:15183, E81:432, E190:2738, E81:4228 and E81:8918) range in length from 11 to 36 cm and are dated from the 10th to the 13th centuries. Three of them are on display at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin (Figs 6 and 7). While in correspondence with the NMI, I was informed that another toy boat had recently been discovered in Dublin, in March 2003 during rescue excavations in advance of development in Parnell Street/Moore Street (pers. comm. Isabella Mulhall, NMI). This new find appears not to be from the Viking era, but was found in a cesspit, associated with glass vessels and numerous other finds dated 1750–60 (O'Donovan, 2004).


text:
Colloquium: Steven Buchanan (University of Strathclyde)
Title: Understanding Human Information Behaviours in Disadvantaged Circumstances to Inform Interventions
Speaker: Steven Buchanan
Location: UTA 5.522 (1616 Guadalupe St., 5th Floor)
In this talk, Dr. Buchanan will discuss how persistent barriers to information access and use are societally divisive and as yet not fully understood, particularly amongst marginalised and disadvantaged groups; barriers that place many people at risk of living a stratified and disengaged existence within an impoverished (small) information world. His work amongst high-risk groups evidences complex problematic situations and selective and infrequent engagement with State information services both physical and digital; and has implications for universal public health policy, and digital health strategies in particular.
Dr. Steven Buchanan is Reader and Head of iSchool Research Group at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland UK. He leads one of the largest Information Behaviour research groups in the UK and is currently Principle Investigator on a major information poverty study exploring how public information providers spanning health, social care, and education can support young first time mothers from areas of multiple deprivations and their children to prosper in the digital age. He is an advisor to the National Health Service Education Scotland, and the Scottish Government Population Health Directorate.
Homepage: https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/buchananstevendr/
1:15pm to 2:30pm


text:
Hello! LOTTA new photos up! Check Picasa! A few more at the end of the 7 month album, the whole 8 month album is new, and the 9 month album is in progress.
Lucy is now 10 months old! She is beginning to stand up without support for a few seconds at a time. Watch out, she will turn into a toddler soon before our very eyes! I want my baby back! She's got 8 teeth and working on more. She is very active and eating a good variety of solid food and can feed herself some.
Lexi is getting ready to go to preschool, definitely come September, but hopefully now if there is an immediate opening someplace we like. Mommy and Lexi have been researching and visiting a bunch of schools in the area. She is SUPER excited for school, really wants to jump right in and hates when we have to leave having only visited not played. She wants to play with only Mommy of course. Should be interesting when she actually goes for real and Mommy has to turn around and walk out! She is getting more and more independent. She'll be transferring mid-session to the next class up in gymnastics, from Mommy-&-Me to a class with just the kids and teacher.
She is continuing with speech and making strides in that too, but since she is TURNING 3 NEXT MONTH (!!!) she will have to transfer out of the Infants & Toddlers program and into the public county school system, so we have been to the local elementary school (Chapel Hill! I hear its great!) a few times for meetings in preparation for her attendance soon after her upcoming birthday. Wow, already going to her elementary school. Making Mommy feel really old.
We've had a series of sicknesses here lately. Lots of ear infections and a bout of pneumonia for Lucy. :( Mommy and Daddy inevitably catch everything as well, so that's been all kinds of fun. We've also been working very hard at getting both girls to actually sleep, at night. While we have been doing that, the girls have been working at NOT sleeping at night. It was all very counterproductive there for a little while, putting us adults in bad zombie moods during the day, and the kids in overtired, super active moods at all hours. However, we have developed a system which we have stuck to, and I'm happy to say I've gotten a few nights of pretty good sleep here lately, which has left me more time and energy for uploading the millions of pictures that are now online for your viewing pleasure! Enjoy!
Hello! LOTTA new photos up! Check Picasa! A few more at the end of the 7 month album, the whole 8 month album is new, and the 9 month album is in progress.


text:
Good morning, Sunday Saloners! I've been back from the holidays/vacation to Miami/Key West for a few days now, but I'm still in a holiday mood. At this rate, the Christmas holidays cannot come soon enough. Even though we did a lot of things and were mostly outside during the holidays, I felt very refreshed by the time I got back home, which is strange for me because I'm usually in for quiet vacations.
I did visit Ernest Hemmingway's house in Key West while we were there, and boy, you would be amazed by the number of cats in the house. Snuggling in every corner, a few coming up to be petted, but most keeping to themselves and not really enjoying the tourist's intrusions. There was one that wanted to be petted but threw a hell of a peacock's arrogant attitude while getting a massage. There was another one snuggling inside a shelf in a bookstore. Adorable, really. Though, being a dog person, part of me wondered what a ruckus there wound have been if they were dogs not cats. But then, the dogs wouldn't stay in a house, would they?
Courtesy my husband's brother, we also got to lunch on a cruise ship. This was my first time on one, and I haven't been able to get the idea of a cruise ship out of my head. They even have a library on board - who would have ever thought that? Interestingly, they had a roller coaster as well on the top deck. I cannot imagine what it would be like roller coasting in the middle of an ocean. Seasickness plus dizziness would be a crazy mix.
I haven't been reading much lately. I read a chunk during the last three months for a challenge, and had to put aside tons of other things like knitting, interior decorating, reading the New Yorker, etc. I have a feeling I will be doing very little of reading this month. Which is fine by me. I have a ton of books to review and I cannot wait to post them. I've been knitting all day yesterday and plan to do more today. I started making a cowl for my dog but it turned out to be too tiny for her neck in the end. I swear her neck just thickened after I measured it. Oh well. The husband and I are also planning to do some work around the house this month though we haven't really thought much about it.
When I am reading, I am hoping to close the year with a few of the 2013 releases that I missed. So far, the books that I really want to read are The Interestings, Hard Luck, The Goldfinch, The Circle, The Encyclopedia of Early Earth, The Golem and the Jinni, Boxers and Saints, Wedding Night, Life After Life, and The Preservationist. I know I am missing many other titles in there - and I'm hoping you would have a few suggestions for me to add to the list.


text:
Why Should You Include Gold In Your Investment Portfolio?
Dec 16 2013- POSTED BY CalebG
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text:
I kind of knew there was some BizTalk stuff up on GotDotNet but never realised how much. If you're doing anything with BizTalk 2004 check them out as they could save you a lot of time and stress!!
Just got to find some time to put some of my own stuff up there, and blog some more of course 😉


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Here is the diary for the week ahead for the Mayor of Calderdale, Coun Lisa Lambert.
Sunday, August 23
2.30pm: Mayor and Consort to host Charity Event at Halifax Town Hall.
Thursday, August 27
2.00pm: Presentation to the Mayor by the Gideons – Town Hall, Halifax – Mayor and Consort.
3.30pm: Mayor and Consort to visit the King Cross Fun Day.
Friday, August 28
11.00am: St Martin's Parish Church, Brighouse – Charity Jigsaw Festival – Mayor and Consort.