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By DALE WHITE and SHELBY WEBB, Staff writers
VENICE -- Sarah Gleba experienced culture shock when she moved here from Cleveland six years ago to take a job as an office manager at a dermatology firm.
The 27-year-old was stunned to find so few people her age and so many people her grandparents' ages.
"It's so different," Gleba said. "In Cleveland ... everywhere you turn, there's someone your age there."
Welcome to Venice, which could claim the title as the oldest non-retirement city in America.
The median age in Venice is 66.7, according to data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau. It ranks sixth nationally among cities with populations above 20,000 -- but with an asterisk: The five cities ahead of Venice, such as The Villages near Orlando, are designed as retirement communities.
Not only does more than half of the population of Venice qualify for Social Security and Medicare, but the population of younger people is tiny: Only 4.3 percent of the population is in Gleba's 25-34 age group, and just 2.2 percent are ages 15 to 19.
Venice does not see itself as strictly a retirement community. It has a rebuilt high school near the center of town and a skateboard shop near the main drag. A Little League baseball complex is nearby.
"We don't market to one specific demographic," Chamber of Commerce President John Ryan said. "We embrace the retirement community, but we are also a community for all ages."
But particularly in season, when many part-time seniors return to Venice, it is common to see sights that in other areas would be unusual: an 85-year-old hospital volunteer wheeling a patient to his room; a YMCA exercise class filled with sweating 70-somethings; and restaurants crowded at 5 p.m. and cleared out by 9 p.m.
Another sign are service clubs such as the American Legion and Moose Lodge, which are struggling to keep up membership around the country, but are packed on a regular basis in Venice.
'I never feel old'
Edwina Anthony, 88, and her husband spent seven months of the year in Venice for 20 years. Anthony, now a widow, has been a year-round resident for nearly four years.
One of the lures of Venice, for her, is that age is relative.
"I never feel old," Anthony said.
Even octogenarians who would be the oldest residents in other communities know other Venetians who are even older. Anthony said a 105-year-old woman in her church recently died and that another parishioner there is 112.
Another reason many seniors, such as herself, do not feel elderly is because Venice provides them with limitless opportunities to volunteer, Anthony said -- an often unsung benefit to the entire community of having so many active retirees.
"You don't have to stay home here," said Anthony, who sells used books at the Friends of the Venice Library bookshop. "You feel that you have a town to belong to."
Naturally, some teenagers have a different view.
Misho Cemovich, a 17-year-old junior at Venice High, said he does not plan to move back to Venice after he graduates from college.
He said he often feels like older residents expect people his age to behave as if they are in a retirement community.
As he and friends Stone Wilson and Ben Nicholas gathered at Obee's sub shop near the high school recently, they said they cannot count the number of times elderly residents have called the police on them for seemingly benign activities: riding their bikes on the sidewalk, driving in the fast lane or looking downright suspicious at the beach.
It did not help matters that the city a few years ago passed a law barring skateboarders on the downtown sidewalks, a move that was seen as an affront to teenagers having innocent fun.
Mayor John Holic, 66, knows that younger people in Venice often complain that most activities appear to be geared toward older residents.
"I have gone to high school student government to ask for input and ideas," Holic said. "One (City) Council meeting three years ago, young people came in and said they would like to see more things. I challenged them to form a committee, but they never came back...
"To me, I can't sit back and tell a young person what's good for them. I need that input from younger folks as to what they need, what's wanted and see what we can do to accomplish it."
A median age of 66.7
What may surprise some people is that Venice is actually getting younger.
The new Census data shows Venice's median age at 66.7, down from 67.6 two years ago and 69 in 2000.
Venice falls behind Sun City Center and The Villages to rank as third among Florida communities with the highest median ages.
Those other communities in the nation with higher median ages (which include Arizona's Sun City, Sun City Center, and Green Valley), as do Florida's Sun City and The Villages, specifically market themselves as retirement meccas. They stress that they cater to seniors, not families with children.
With its schools and athletic programs for kids, Venice makes no such claim.
Indeed, some in Venice are trying to give the city a different image than just a good place to retire. Although the city's website includes a video about "health care and senior living," it gives equal billing to topics such as real estate, education, tourism and shopping and dining.
Katie Council, chairwoman of Venice Area Young Professionals, said changes are making Venice more attractive to younger people, particularly families.
"The age range that's college-aged aren't moving to Venice; the people coming here are young families because it's low in crime and it's a great place to raise a family," she said. "I think downtown ... is already progressing. Daiquiri Deck came into town, more (places) are opening that are sympathetic to the crowd that wants more nightlife."
But Council concedes Venice has a long way to go to win the youth vote.
"I've had folks come to visit, and they'll sit with me in a restaurant and they'll say, 'Are there really all these old people here?' But I don't even notice. It's just part of my life."
A union's vision
So, why do so many seniors flock to Venice?
Venice's reputation as a retirement destination is rooted in its history.
When the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers acquired the town from founder Fred Albee in 1925, it envisioned Venice as a sunny resort town for its retiree members.
That reputation changed after Florida's land boom bust and the Brotherhood ran into dire financial troubles. The Great Depression caused a severe loss in Venice's year-round population.
Starting in 1932, the city became noticeably more youthful as it started getting a dependable, seasonal boost in population as the winter home of a prominent military school.
In the decades since that academy closed in 1970, retirees from across the nation again gravitated toward Venice.
"There are a multitude of reasons," said Tom Harlow, manager of the Senior Friendship Center for the Venice area. "Some come down as snowbirds and decide to stay. Some came here because the (Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey) circus was based here. Some come because of the cost of living or the weather."
Northerners searching for a place to retire in Florida initially decide if they prefer the east or west coast, Ryan said. Those who select the west coast tend to tour it from Clearwater to Naples.
"Some of them keep bouncing back to Venice," Ryan said.
He attributes Venice's appeal for retirees to its natural resources, arts, entertainment, outdoor activities and quality health care. Those attributes, he noted, often get Venice mentioned in various periodicals with articles suggesting places to retire.
Lured from Sarasota
For some, the initial lure is not Venice but larger, better-known Sarasota.
"I originally came down to Sarasota, not knowing where I wanted to live," said 61-year-old Lore Stewart, who retired as a flight attendant in Ohio and moved to Venice two years ago.
While visiting Sarasota, she decided to explore Venice as well. She preferred Venice.
"The area is beautiful," Stewart said. "It has everything I'm looking for. I love the outdoors, the arts, the Gulf."
Sarasota has those features as well, Harlow said. Yet some retirees regard Sarasota as too busy or overdeveloped for their tastes.
A joke, told more often in Sarasota than in Venice, is that Sarasota is where your parents go to retire; Venice is where your grandparents go.
'I wanted warmth'
Ask other retirees why they chose Venice and the answers vary.
Milt Heinowitz, 83, initially retired in Punta Gorda but 10 years ago decided that he preferred Venice.
"When we lived in Punta Gorda, we would come up here to go to the jetties and to the restaurants downtown," Heinowitz said. "There wasn't much happening in Punta Gorda."
Heinowitz said Venice appealed to him because of its activities, such as the sculpture class he is taking at the Venice Art Center.
His classmate, 84-year-old Robert A. Hamblin, retired from the U.S. Air Force as a colonel in 1984.
"I had served in a lot of cold places," said the former resident of Wyoming, Montana, New Jersey and Michigan. "I wanted warmth."
Hamblin did not come to the Venice area because he heard it was a retiree mecca, though.
"I read in a magazine it was good for salt water fishing," said Hamblin, who frequently gets out on the Gulf with a fishing guide.
Dixie Hoffman, 80, moved to Venice 30 years ago.
Her husband took a job with a financial firm that required him to travel in Florida and they could live wherever they chose in the state. Charmed by the presence of the circus, they considered Venice to be unique.
The circus left. But the Hoffmans stayed.
When Hoffman, who used to work in a downtown dress shop, and her husband reached retirement age, she said, "we felt blessed that we already happened to be in the place where we wanted to retire. It still has the aura of a sleepy little town. And people are so friendly here."
Nancy Heart, who teaches the sculpture class at the art center, is a second-generation retiree in Venice.
She moved from Connecticut to Venice 10 years ago to care for her elderly mother. The former clinical social worker decided to make it her retirement home as well.
"I knew I would come here eventually," Heart said.
Ryan thinks a growing segment of Venice's retired population will be current residents who are still of working age, such as himself.
"Growing up here, I thought about where I would go when I retire," Ryan said, "and I think I found the answer."
Nation's 'oldest' city? It just may be Venice Census data indicate city has the highest median age among non-retirement communities
By DALE WHITE and SHELBY WEBB, Staff writers


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Center for Research Libraries
Located in Chicago, CRL collects and preserves archival documents from developing regions such as Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. CRL currently houses over five million journals, newspapers, government documents, archives and dissertations produced primarily outside of the United States.
Faculty and students at member institutions are invited to borrow these materials for three month loan periods, with unlimited renewals.
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Why Cortera?
Cortera understands the vitality of commercial credit to economic growth and is dedicated to delivering smarter business intelligence. Fueled by over $1.4 trillion in annual B2B transactions, the Cortera Credit Exchange® network offers the best information on private companies. This includes deep dive views into risk, based on factors such as company spend and payment behaviors, across 45 supplier types. Innovative features such as self-service batch appends, robust APIs and real-time scorecard wizards present data-driven insights in a variety of easy, intuitive formats. Now, organizations at any size or skillset can predict opportunity and risk potential from point of credit origination through payment.
Watch Cortera CEO & Founder Jim Swift on CNBC Special Report
Or call 866-589-0664 for more information on the fastest growing commercial credit network.
We have tried the other "big name" data shops and have found Cortera's solution to be the best benefit, for the lowest cost. Cortera has come into the marketplace and added value. We want to be able to keep tabs on our customers without spending a fortune and I think Cortera complements what we do nicely from a monitoring and reporting aspect.
James SarkkinenCredit ManagerInterstate Companies, Inc.
We use Cortera Pulse Alerts on a daily basis to identify red flags in my existing customers' credit accounts. I can think of several occasions where Pulse Alerts have identified bankruptcies or tax liens that empowered my team with the information they needed to reevaluate the risk on an account or prevent an order from going out. There are times when Pulse has saved us thousands of dollars by making us aware of these risks that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Nina FlurerRegional Credit ManagerH&E Equipment
Cortera Pulse provides me with a reliable risk management tool that helps me keep a keen eye on my portfolio's overall risk exposure, it provides my team with a very objective, unbiased source of information to help focus and prioritize our sales attention effectively.
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Cortera gives our analysts powerful tools to minimize bad debt and identify previously lost revenue opportunities.
Walt HannabassSenior Vice President, Credit and CollectionsComdata
Cortera offers unique benefits that no other credit management solutions provider could present.
David MorganChief Financial OfficerMayer Electric
Cortera Pulse enables us to go into a situation prepared with the information clearly communicated, allowing us to make a more informed decision. I would highly recommend using Cortera Pulse for your A/R monitoring and reporting needs.
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As a Credit Manager, I always try to make sure we are spending our credit reporting dollars efficiently, and Cortera fits that mold for us. Pulse helps us take a proactive and responsible approach to Credit Management, allowing us to monitor our customers on a daily and monthly basis.
Ed WalshCredit ManagerSamuel, Son & Co., Limited
Since deploying Cortera's eCredit solutions, Ryder has reduced the risk level of its customer portfolio by 5 percent…we are experiencing the lowest write-off volume in six years.
Douglas HansenDirector of Receivables ManagementRyder
Pulse has made my job easier. It has freed my time from making individual trade reference calls, which can be very time-consuming, and instead, it has placed the data at my fingertips. You could spend hours and hours trying to monitor and build this data for yourself and get appropriate KPI measurements – or, you could use Cortera to do it for you. I have found Cortera's data to be very accurate and cost-effective and it allows me to spend my time on value-added tasks.
James SarkkinenCredit ManagerInterstate Companies, Inc.
Cortera has the potential to reinvent the credit reporting industry by bringing the credit community approach to the Web and thus delivering the kind of insight not possible with traditional credit bureau approaches alone.
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We manage our Company's portfolio risk through the use of Cortera's monthly CFO reports. The data in the reports allows me to quickly and easily take action. Our CEO and CFO both view Cortera's monthly CFO Report and have stated that the data is presented in a very easy-to-read, digestible format, where you can clearly see what is going on with the overall financial health of your customers.
James SarkkinenCredit ManagerInterstate Companies, Inc.
We wanted the best credit and collections software to manage the relationships we've developed over the last 80 years and Cortera continues to deliver the fullest range of features and functionality we need.
David SchierCredit ManagerJacobus Energy


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The planet has turned a further seven times on its axis, allowing us to bring you another Product of the Week. This time round it's Head Snowboards' freestyle slayer, the Force i. KERS. Peep the review.
Head have been quietly building impressively technical snowboards for several years now. If you're looking for quality performance at a decent price point then you should certainly have a gander at their range as in terms of what you get for your greenbacks, they're hard to beat. They've also recently been growing their team to include some fine shreds on their roster, including Norwegian Fredrik Evensen who you'll have seen sending it in Isenseven's movies, Christophe Schmidt (who also is an Isenseven alumni and one of Germany's finest pipe dudes), and Shayne Pospisil whose riding you'll have seen in the tasty Smith Prospecting Idaho clip we posted last week. All three of these guys were instrumental in developing the Force i. KERS. Here's the skinny…
Force i. KERS
Lengths: 149, 153, 156, 159, 162
Tested Length: 156
This is Head's top-of-the-line freestyle machine that has its sights trained on park and pipe domination. Its twin shape with directional flex means switching it up is no problemo but maintains the directional-flavoured power and pop for when you're sending it riding regular. An boy does this have some power and pop thanks to the Kevlar/Carbon jacket wrapping the full wood core, and inclusion of some crazy-ass tech. Said 'crazy-ass tech' is the Intellifibres, which react to how your ride to stiffen up or soften depending on how hard you're pushing it, and the KERS chips in the nose and tail that harness piezo-electric energy created from vibrations and direct it back in to the board to give more power to your turns. Head even got Fredrik, Shayne and Christophe to hand finish every board so if the one you get looks graphically different to the picture above, it's 'cause these dudes been getting involved.
Our Finnish photo ed Sami, a man who's rather particular about his funsticks and prefers for them to be powerful without being doors, had this to say when he took one for a spin: "A very good all-round freestyle board with great edge control. The Force has traditional camber and provides a smooth and comfortable ride with great pop. Apparently this is a team favourite and it's easy to see why – if you know what you're doing you won't be disappointed."
If after reading this you're all like, "Right, sold. This is the bad boy for me!" you can buy the Head Force i. KERS from The Snowboard Asylum, or head on down to your nearest Head Snowboards dealer to get your mitts on one.


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What Will Ascension Bring?
Aug. 23, 2009.
St. Germaine tells us, with a hint of mirth, that we are "embarking into new territory the likes of which I have never seen in any of my lifetimes and you have never seen either. The greatest shift in humanity is taking place as you sit here right now. We're talking about a shift of consciousness unlike any other." (1)
As great a shift as it is, very few commentators can tell us exactly what the experience of Ascension will be like. Most tell us instead what post-Ascension life will bring.
Among the few who take on the challenge are Matthew Ward and Saul. Spirit teacher Matthew says that there are no specific and unmistakable indicators that one is entering Ascension because "those are as unique as each of you is."
"Most succinctly stated, personal ascension is the merging of your consciousness with your soul. Recognizable aspects are the raising of consciousness; strengthening discernment and trusting intuition; ever-increasing awareness of the higher self, the god/goddess self, and true spirituality; the sensation of peacefulness that comes with living in alignment with your soul contract—you feel this as if you are 'going with the flow' instead of 'bucking the current.'" (2)
Saul, also a spirit teacher, uses the metaphor of switching an electric power grid back on which adds detail to Matthew's succinct description. Prior to that event, humanity must learn that violence and confrontation can never resolve problems.
When they finally realize this, as they very shortly will, the love that has been enveloping the planet and beginning to impact the anguish of humanity will suddenly start to flow with great intensity through every one of you, bringing light and enlightenment to every situation and relationship.
It will be rather like the re-establishment of electric power in a grid system that has been shut down for a very long period of time, while major renovation, modification, and modernization was carried out. Suddenly there will be brilliant light everywhere in an instant.
You are all having your human bodies modified so that you can accept, conduct, and use the divine energy that is about to be turned on. The vitality, excitement, and elation you will experience the instant it is switched on will astonish and delight you. It cannot be described in words, and to attempt to do so would be frustrating and misleading. …
Suddenly, without warning, this divine energy current will start to flow through each of you with power and intensity, and once more you will know that you are truly alive – alive like you have never been! And then you will remember, 'This is who I am – divine Light, divine Love, divine energy, of infinite power – blissfully alive in every moment – always!' (3)
Enigmatically, many informants say as does Galactic Federation spokesman SaLuSa here, this shift in consciousness announces "the arrival of new 'Man' into the higher dimensions as a fully conscious Being. (4)
But "full consciousness," to me, is a term I would reserve for the moment that our forms utterly disperse into the formlessness that God is. After that, there is no St. Germaine or Saul. That is surely many, many realms and cycles beyond the experience of any of our informants. Therefore, what kind of "full consciousness" could they be referring to?
SaLuSa explains that what "full consciousness" the way they are using it means is a "release from duality." (5) Dualistic consciousness is also called "separative" consciousness; non-dualistic consciousness is called "unitive" consciousness.
So Ascension is a return to unitive consciousness. Ascension "is going to completely uplift [us] into the higher vibrations, where the trials and tribulations of duality do not exist." (6)
Separative consciousness is synonymous with difficulties. "It is in a third-dimensional world that all suffering abounds," he says. (7) Lifted above the world of duality, SaLuSa says, we will "become free from all of the problems that beset you now." (8)
What trials and tribulations beset duality or separativeness? Matthew names a few: fear, violence, greed and bigotry. (9) Ascension will, Saul says, "wash away all the pain, all the anger, all the fear, and all the distrust that has plagued humanity for so long." (10)
"Your times of sorrow, pain, and confrontational disharmony are almost at an end, as God's divine light and grace washes over the planet, healing, repairing, and renewing, so that the pristine beauty in which all was created may be gloriously re-established." (11)
Ascension becomes our means of escape from this dualistic and separative environment, our "passport off [this suffering] Earth and into the higher dimensions." (12) It will place us "in the fifth dimension or higher, … far removed from the limiting vibrations [we] are now in." (13)
Ascension being an event caused by higher energies lifting us up, it would make sense that these higher dimensions, according to SaLuSa, are "not clouded by the lower energies because they cannot exist at such levels and life is therefore constantly fulfilling and magical compared to anything you have known." (14)
We originally passed through these same levels on our downward journey into duality so we have a recollection of them. The galactics "come, as it were, to jog your memory." (15)
What will Ascension bring?
The non-dual, non-separative life that Ascension brings is "joyous and happy." "When all your needs are catered for and you could have a wondrous and exciting life, free from earthly worries and concerns," Galactic Federation spokesman Atmos asks, "what would offer you a better way forward?" (16)
Archangel Michael testifies that Ascension will bring "Abundance, Peace, Love and Joy into your lives." (17)
In Earth's Golden Age, Matthew invites us to expect a "loving, peaceful life [for] all peoples, the restoration of your planet's health and beauty, the harmonious co-existence of humankind with all of Nature." (18)
Far from a heavenly abode of non-action, says SaLuSa, we will find one that is "very much alive and reverberating with energy." (19) SaLuSa goes so far as to say that we "will exist in absolute bliss." (20)
Saul says it will be
"…a soothing balm, providing an experience of delightful contentment and an intense and wonderful conscious knowledge that all is indeed divinely taken care of. The apparently unending struggle for survival that such a large proportion of humanity experiences constantly will cease – instantaneously. In its place, there will be the reality of total abundance as every need is satisfied, and life becomes an occasion, an experience of complete and harmonious joy and delight that has always been divinely planned and intended." (21)
He predicts that "no one will be disappointed, no one will be passed over or left out, because this is the divine plan and the divine intent, and it cannot be prevented."
"Intense joy and delight are about to sweep over you all, as you return once more to the heavenly realms from which it seems that you have been separated for so long. The illusion [of duality or separation] that has brought you so much sorrow and pain is about to dissolve, as you awaken into the divine light of God's unending sunlit environment of spectacular wonder and beauty." (22)
(1) St. Germain, "Farewell to Power," 4 Oct. 2008, at http://www.lightworkers.org/content/48796/farewell-power-adamus-saint-germain.
(2) Matthew's Message, Feb. 7, 2009 at http://www.matthewbooks.com/mm/anmviewer.asp?a=98&z=2.
(3) Saul, "Your human bodies are being modified,"Aug. 23, 2009, athttp://johnsmallman.wordpress.com/
(4) SaLuSa, 3 August 2009, at http://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/Channeled_Messages_by_Mike_Quinsey.htm.
(5) SaLuSa of Sirius, Oct. 20, 2008, ibid.
(6) Ker-On, July 3, 2009, at http://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/Channeled_Messages_by_Mike_Quinsey.htm.
(7) Matthew Ward, "Message from Matthew," Sept. 14, 2008, at http://www.galacticfriends.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3431&Itemid=93.
(8) SaLuSa of Sirius, 10 Oct. 2008, ibid.
(9) Matthew Ward, "Message from Matthew," Sept. 14, 2008, ibid.
(10) Saul, "There will be the reality of total abundance,"June 24, 2009, ibid.
(11) Saul, "There will be the reality of total abundance,"June 24, 2009, ibid.
(12) SaLuSa of Sirius, May 27, 2009, ibid.
(13) SaLuSa of Sirius, 10 Oct. 2008, ibid.
(14) SaLuSa of Sirius, March 16, 2009, ibid.
(15) SaLuSa of Sirius, Nov. 24, 2008, ibid.
(16) Atmos, Nov, 21, 2008, at http://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/Channeled_Messages_by_Mike_Quinsey.htm.
(17) Archangel Michael, "The Song of Harmony. The Energies for November 2008," at http://www.starchildglobal.com/.
(18) Matthew Ward, "Message from Matthew," Sept. 14, 2008, ibid.
(19) SaLuSa of Sirius, March 16, 2009, ibid.
(20) SaLuSa of Sirius, 10 Oct. 2008, ibid.
(21) Saul, "There will be the reality of total abundance,"June 24, 2009, ibid.
(22) Saul, "There will be the reality of total abundance,"June 24, 2009, ibid.


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PorterVision necesitaba un nuevo diseño de banner publicitario y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 10 diseños de 2 diseñadores freelance.
We are seeking a brochure for a new product launch called Wealth Consciousness. You can see CD covers and Art work to use at http://gallery.me.com/patrick.porter#100202 .
Wealth Consciousness
Inspired by the principles of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich.
WC01 Start Each Day with Purpose and Passion
"Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth." – Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill understood that people don't plan to fail; they fail to plan. Successful people know where they are going before they start and move forward on their own initiative. They have the power of intention, or what Napoleon Hill called "mind energy," on their side. Dr. Patrick Porter (PhD) will guide you in using this power of intention to focus your imagination on the success and prosperity you desire.
WC02 Commit to a Life Spent with Like-Minded People
"Environment is the mental feeding ground out of which the food that goes into our minds is extracted." – Napoleon Hill
Together with Dr. Patrick Porter, you will use the power of intention to draw to yourself mastermind alliances that will support your dream. You will visualize setting up and using these mastermind alliances to help you attract goal-oriented people and create your success environment. Dr. Porter will train you at the other-than-conscious level of the mind to seek out two or more like-minded people who have purpose and are working toward a common objective. You will be activating what Napoleon Hill termed the "third mind," or group intelligence, to increase the energy of success and make it available to your group. With each visit to this level of the mind, your mastermind alignment will grow stronger.
WC03 Trust the Power of Infinite Intelligence
"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements." – Napoleon Hill
Do you sometimes feel as though negative thoughts and fear of poverty have control over you? During this CVR session, Dr. Porter will guide you through the principle of applied faith. With mental practice, you will align with Infinite Intelligence and learn to trust in the unfolding of your soul's plan. You will create scenarios where applied faith is your watchword and worry and fear are vanquished. All conditions are the offspring of thought, and you find it natural to visualize and realize the thoughts and actions that bring wealth and riches into your life.
WC04 Exceed Expectations—Serve Others, Serve Yourself
"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed."
Imagine awakening each day aware that every seed you sow will come back to you as overwhelming abundance. In this session, Dr. Porter will help you to harness this law of reciprocity. You will become motivated by a help others mindset. This feeling of service will magnetize wealth and abundance to you. You will be guided through scenarios where you discover the vastness of your mind's potential. You will be inspired to step up and be one of the great ones who understand that successful people are those who serve others.
WC05 Transmit a Pleasing Personality to the World
"The best way to sell yourself to others is first to sell the others to yourself."
– Napoleon Hill
How might other people respond to you if you radiated enthusiasm in your thoughts, feelings, and actions? Dr. Porter will prove to you that the sun always shines in the recesses of your mind, and during this creative-visualization process, this radiant light that is your true personality will be invited out for all to see. With mental practice, you will learn to smile each morning as soon as your feet hit the floor. Every day you will decide that it's the right day for a positive mental attitude. The negative thoughts of others will roll off your back like water off a duck. It's easy to draw wealth and abundance to you when you show up with a pleasing personality.
WC06 Harness The Power Of Personal Initiative
"The world has the habit of making room for the man whose actions show that he knows where he is going." – Napoleon Hill
Self-motivated people tend to be the happiest and most successful. Starting with the first listening of this creative-visualization process, you will gain the behaviors of a self-starter. Once you've established this energizing habit, you will know what needs to be done and do it. Each morning a newfound personal initiative will inspire, motivate, and guide your success. Others will be amazed as you exceed their expectations. Perhaps even now you can sense the power that comes from self-motivation.
WC07 Claim Your Right To A Positive Mental Attitude
"Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true." – Napoleon Hill
Between the news, television programming, and the naysayers in life, it can be difficult to stay positive. During this visualization, Dr. Porter will show you how easy it is to maintain a positive mental attitude even around the most difficult people. The greatest riches in the world come from the heart. From your heart you will uncover the positive attitude that resides in that place where you dream. You will eliminate negative and unproductive thoughts, enhance your relationships, balance your life, and make your dreams come true.
WC08 Radiate Enthusiasm—Your Key To Success Consciousness
"Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything." – Napoleon Hill
Desire creates enthusiasm, which fuels determination and leads to success. During this visualization you will tap your "pulsating desire" to win—that wellspring of physical energy that we call enthusiasm. Sound health begins with the high energy of a positive attitude, and during this visualization, you will cultivate both wealth and health consciousness. You will discover the connection between thinking and acting, and you will understand that to be enthusiastic you must act enthusiastically. This desire to develop success consciousness will give you the open mindedness that Napoleon Hill speaks of in Think and Grow Rich.
WC09 Grasp the Power of Thought and Ordain Your Destiny
"You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself." – Napoleon Hill
In this visualization you will harness self-discipline, which Napoleon Hill called, "taking possession of one's mind." The desire to control everything and everyone else seems to be human nature, but in reality, your thoughts are all you have control over. Now, at the other-than-conscious level of the mind, you will create the habit of choosing your thoughts and actions and controlling your emotions. This new habit will stoke the inner fire that channels your emotions and ordains your destiny. Get ready to take charge of your life as you realize that your thoughts are what create the world around you.
WC10 Tune Into Infinite Intelligence for Accurate Thinking
"Accurate thinkers permit no one to do their thinking for them." – Napoleon Hill
When you cast out all doubt, all that can remain is the truth. During this visualization, Dr. Porter uses the principals of Think and Grow Rich to provide you a thought experiment that separates fact from mere information. Napoleon Hill says to master accurate thinking you have to separate facts into two classes—important and unimportant. By doing so, you can think accurately and make effective decisions. You will learn to trust your connection with infinite intelligence just as other accurate thinkers do—by thinking for yourself. This process will give you the time to examine information, build discernment, and make the decisions that shape your destiny.
WC11 Awaken the Seeds of Achievement
"Like the wind that carries one ship East, and another West, the law of auto-suggestion will lift you up or pull you down, according to the way you set your sails of THOUGHT." - Napoleon Hill
Now you can arouse the sleeping seeds of greatness that will carry you to heights you might never have dreamed possible by triggering inner resources you may not have known you had. The key to this process is controlled attention. By learning to fix your attention on what you want, instead of what you don't want, you will discover the natural law of plenty. Achieving wealth, prosperity, and harmony will be the natural byproduct of such thinking.
WC12 Harness the Power of Cooperative Effort
"The successful leader must understand and apply the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers to do the same." - Napoleon Hill
With wealth comes courage and leadership, and in today's world that means teamwork and self-control. In the past, leaders could dictate by force. In the 21st Century, it takes the willing cooperation of effort to achieve a common goal. During this visualization, you will move beyond mastermind groups into a coordinated effort to work with your team with definiteness of purpose and absolute harmony.
WC13 Find the Solution to Any Problem
"Remember: every defeat, every disappointment and every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit." - Napoleon Hill
The difference between success and failure can be as simple as a thought. Dr. Porter will teach you to use your other-than-conscious mind to close your internal door to all failures of the past so your mind can operate in the right thinking zone. Albert Einstein was fond of saying, "You can never solve a problem on the level at which it was created." What Einstein understood is the power within the other-than-conscious mind to brainstorm, dream, and dwell on solutions instead of problems. Now you can develop this positive attitude about problems and learn to see them for what they really are—temporary setbacks and steppingstones to success.
WC14 Tap Into The Creative Vision of Infinite Intelligence
"The imagination is the workshop of the soul wherein are shaped all plans for individual achievement." - Napoleon Hill
Wealth consciousness belongs to those who go the extra mile by working smarter not harder. In this creative visualization, Dr. Porter will help you make the inner connection with infinite intelligence, the guiding force in the universe that builds the inner faith to dream the incredible and accomplish the impossible. Through this inner faith all facts great and small are revealed and the pathway to wealth is illuminated.
WC15 Health Consciousness, Wealth Consciousness
"If you think you're sick, you are." - Napoleon Hill
There is a universal truth that what the mind dreams about the body brings about. Balance in mind and body is key to wealth consciousness. In this process, Dr. Porter will show you the relationship between the unseen power of your thoughts and your physical health. You will plan a life of wealth, health, and abundance from the inside out. You will discover the mental secrets that eliminate illness-thinking and provide the positive mental attitude for a well-balanced, healthy life.
WC16 Employ the Power of Time For Wealth Consciousness
"Tell me how you use your spare time and how you spend your money, and I will tell you where and what you will be ten years from now." - Napoleon Hill
Each of us has the same 86,400 seconds a day. In this program, Dr. Porter will help you engage the time management secrets of budgeting your time, energy, and money. With the power of your other-than-conscious mind, you will plan the balanced life that will have you thriving while achieving your wealth goals. You will discover how the captains of industry used assertiveness and diplomacy. You will keep the dream stealers and time bandits out of your life so that you can keep your eye on the prize and enjoy the ride to riches.
WC17 Build Your Wealth One Habit at a Time
"You are where you are and what you are because of your established habits and thoughts and deeds." - Napoleon Hill
Choice is one of the greatest powers we have, yet few use it. You will learn to break destructive habits and build the habit of wealth. Just as nature adheres to strict laws, the person of wealth lives by an established pattern of excellence. Making positive choices becomes a driving power in your life because you are mastering the power of thought. Your other-then-conscious mind will now be your guide in the process of building unlimited wealth.
An elegant design with the title: Wealth Consciousness dominant on the screen
We don't want anything cartoonish


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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Local police are warning Tennessee fans not to storm the field after Saturday's game with Florida at Neyland Stadium.
Knoxville police said in a release posted on the department's Facebook page that anyone who storms the field will be arrested and charged with aggravated criminal trespassing. Anyone caught enticing someone else to storm the field will be arrested and charged with inciting a riot.
Police also will provide university officials with the names of any students arrested.
Tennessee, ranked 23rd in the nation, is attempting to beat the 18th-ranked Gators for the first time since 2004. A sellout crowd is expected, which will result in an increased police presence around Neyland Stadium.


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This Just In
While staying in Los Angeles this winter, I sublet a place from a screenwriter I had the fortune of meeting. It's an awesome apartment for dirt cheap: great neighborhood, balcony with a view of the Hollywood sign, and it even has a Jacuzzi. But it comes with a significant drawback – 24/7 coverage from Fox News.
Do not think that Fox News is actually in the apartment. It's just always ON in the apartment. And do not think this is because my roommate enjoys the views espoused by Fox News. He's a screenwriter and he needs material.
If you genuinely enjoy the programming of Fox News, stop reading this. Instead, get a pad out of your desk, and write me an angry letter telling me how I should not criticize something so obviously Fair and Balanced. Then get a gun out of your desk, and shoot off your big toe for being such a jackass. Conveniently, if you genuinely enjoy the programming of Fox News, you also keep a gun in your desk.
If you do keep a gun in your desk, that's up to you. Have all the views you want to have – that is part of what we do here in America. I am for many things, like spending on education, and against many things, like spending on secret Thanksgiving dinners. But if you disagree with these or any of my beliefs, that's fine with me.
I do not have a problem with anyone having the views they do. As Voltaire said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Actually, someone on Fox News said Voltaire said that. But the quote really comes from the book "Friends of Voltaire," written over 100 years after Voltaire died. How could I possibly know that? I took ten seconds to look it up. Crazy, I know.
Fox News says they are Fair and Balanced. But let's imagine that before every commercial break, someone said, "And remember, the anchors at Fox News have huge genitals. That's right. Huge!" Wouldn't you think that they were constantly reminding us because they were afraid we didn't believe them? If they really were Fair and Balanced, we'd know it without them having to tell us every four and a half minutes. And my use of four and a half as a measurement is purely coincidental.
My main problem is that Fox News lies - outright lies. Not "misleads" or "gets things wrong by reporting them too early" (although they are excellent at both of those). They outright lie. A lot.
The obviously Bush-supporting Fox News likes to report about the level of clod exuded by democratic frontrunner Howard Dean. Like when they reported that Dean said he was going to go all the way to the left. But on that report, they showed a clip of Dean saying that he was planning on running from the center. Did they actually watch the clip before they played it? They should try that sometime. That way they won't report that Abraham Lincoln is surrendering, and then playing a clip of the Gettysburg Address.
Just before Christmas, when the government raised the threat level to, oh, Burnt Sienna, Fox News reported that the announcement caused panic in the streets New York. Because normally, the streets of New York are so serene just before Christmas.
The interviews went something like this:
Reporter: "What do you think of the heightened alert level?"
Tourist Trying to Shop: "What?"
Reporter: "The government raised the alert level to Mulberry."
Tourist: "So?"
Reporter: "As you can see, New Yorkers are terrified."
And my absolute favorite moment came this weekend, during reports about the passenger who slipped a note to a flight attendant saying there was a bomb on their plane. Terrifying? Of course. But I'd like to paraphrase one of the anchors:
"Have we really come to the point where just anyone can get on a plane and hand a note to a stewardess threatening to blow everything up?"
First, they prefer to be called flight attendants. Second, YES!!!! Yes, we now live in an ultra-liberal, leftist state where a bunch of commie pinkos allow passengers to (gasp!) write on airplanes without a license.
I have another political belief I didn't share with you. I think there should be a new federal commission established to watch the news. Fox, CNN, Bloomberg – all news channels would be watched, audited, and scored. Every time one of them lied, intentionally misled, or reported a fact WAY too early for it to be a fact, they'd lose a few points. And after a certain score, two very Fair and Balanced things would happen.
1) The ticker at the bottom of the screen would be replaced by a marquee that reads, "This channel is for novelty purposes only."
2) Anchors would have to explain all of their political beliefs. Alone. Unarmed. At night. In Harlem.
Then we'll see which New Yorkers are in a panic.


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2013 Redmond Basement Sheetrock Etc
A couple years ago we finally got the rats/mice under control. The downstairs guest room and sewing room were fine in the summer, during dry weather, but winter moisture brought out that horrible mouse/rat pee/poop smell. Brought in the professionals from Casa Bonita to clean it all up.Read More


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conrad fire update
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
215 Melody Lane
Wenatchee, WA 98801
For immediate release:
August 12, 20137:45 a.m.
Public Information Officer Michelle King, 509-653-1420
Naches Ranger District Front Office, 509-653-1401
Type III Incident Team Assumes Management of Conrad Complex
Naches WA-- On August 10th a lightning storm started multiple fires on the Naches Ranger District, including the Conrad Complex.
The Conrad Complex is located North of Conrad Meadows, west of the South Fork Tieton River, and approximately 8 miles south of Rimrock Lake. As of Sunday evening, the fire is estimated to be approximately 300 acres.
Forest Service fire crews have been battling the fire since ignition, however, steep terrain and dry fuel conditions have made suppression efforts difficult. Fire behavior was aggressive on Sunday, despite favorable weather conditions.
To relieve local fire management staff, an Interagency Type III Incident Management Team has been assigned to manage the Conrad Complex. Participating agencies include US Forest Service, WA State Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Yakima County.
Due to the potential for large fire growth, the public is asked to comply with local area closures. Concerned for public safety, fire managers request the public to avoid using Forest System Road (FSR) 1000, south of its junction with FSR 1040 around Minnie Meadows, and FSR 1070 between its junction with FSR 1000 to its junction with FSR 1070-595.
Fire managers understand this is a popular recreation area and ask for Forest-user cooperation at this time. Firefighters are working diligently to minimize acres burned and limit the impact to recreation. In addition, all agencies are in agreement to mitigate firefighter exposure and ensure crews safety.
Fire restrictions remain in place on the Naches Ranger District. Only gas fires or stoves are permitted. Campfires or other ignition sources are not permitted. For more information, contact the Naches Ranger District Front Office at 509-653-1401.
Member #40 Hombres jeep club
Region 2 landmatters chairman
Member #40 Hombres jeep club
Region 2 landmatters chairman
mondays update
Current Situation: Fire growth Sunday was again minimal, as the fire continued to slowly back downhill towards established control lines. Good work was done to strengthen these control and contingency lines, as well as continue to plumb portions of the fire line for the application of water. Fuels reduction along contingency lines was a primary focus for firefighters yesterday. This was accomplished through chipping and cutting of brush, shrubs, and standing dead material. Containment is now being estimated at 12%. Containment is a gauge of confidence that fire managers have that the fire will not escape established lines, or in this case continue to move unchecked.
It will be slightly warmer and drier today, but overall, the fire weather remains favorable for firefighters. The Haines Index is 3, which is very low. The Haines Index is a gauge of atmospheric instability and dryness of the air from 2 (very low) to 6 (high). The higher the index, the higher the chance of active fire behavior and fire growth.
The fire is still mostly within the Goat Rocks Wilderness with a few acres outside the wilderness but still on the National Forest. A priority has been placed on keeping the fire from advancing south onto private lands. Base camp is at the Peninsula by Rimrock Lake. The roads in the area of the fire and around the Peninsula are closed as well as some campgrounds accessed by roads that are now closed. See below for details on those closures. State highways 12 and 410 are open.
Background: This fire started by lightning on Friday August 9 and is burning eight miles south of Rimrock Lake and 35 miles southwest of Naches, WA. There are flight restrictions within a seven mile radius of the fire and at the Tieton Airstrip which is at the east end of Rimrock Lake. The Tieton airstrip is closed to general aviation. No campfires are allowed on National Forest lands. The fire is located mostly in Sections 15 and 22 of Township 12 N, Range 12 E.
Weather: Slightly warmer today. Max temp on the fire 80 degrees, minimum humidity 30%. Winds light 6-10 mph from the west, gusting to 18 mph after 1400 hrs.
Road Closures: National Forest roads 1000, 1204, 1205, 1200-725, and the 1070 between its junction with the 1000 to its junction with 1070-595. Trail Closures: Bear Creek Mountain Trail #1130. Conrad Meadows is closed. Area Closure: Rimrock Peninsula Recreation Area including the boat launch. There is no access from the 1200 road onto the 1200-711, 1200-712, 1200-713, 1200-714, 1200-715, 1200-716, 1200-725, and 1200-653 roads.
Member #40 Hombres jeep club
Region 2 landmatters chairman
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Iowa State Sporty Bralette
$ 38.00
This stylish sporty bralette works great on its own or paired with any of our stylish tops.
Spandex with a screen-print logo on front, and mesh side panel along with school colored straps across the back. Solid spandex center front and lining.
Officially Licensed by nuyu.
All items purchased from Lo + Jo Bands are FINAL SALE.
Because each garment is hand-crafted and custom made specifically for you, lo + jo bands, LLC does not permit refunds or returns. All purchases of Gift cards, e-gift certificates, apparel, accessories and items on lojobands.com are final. Once your order is placed, lo + jo immediately begin processing your customized order, and all products are final sale. Items cannot be returned for exchange, credit, or refunds.
Items in Boutique Collection can be returned for store credit. Lo + Jo Bands accepts returns for unworn items with original tags attached within 30 days from your original purchase date. ALL items that are exchanged are subject to a re-stocking fee of $9.95.
- If 30 days have gone by since your purchase, unfortunately we cannot offer you store credit.
- After we receive your return, please allow 2-3 business days for your return to be processed.
- Once your return has been processed, a store credit will be issued to your account.
- Customer is responsible for all shipping costs for returning your item. Original shipping costs are non-refundable.
- Please email firstname.lastname@example.com to initiate your return.
- Items in Boutique Collection marked *FINAL SALE* are not eligible for store credit.
- Store credit is not applicable for collegiate items.
*PLEASE NOTE THAT LO + JO BANDS ONLY OFFERS STORE CREDIT FOR BOUTIQUE COLLECTION RETURNS. ALL items that are exchanged are subject to a re-stocking fee of $9.95 and original shipping costs are non-refundable.
Lo + Jo cannot guarantee delivery by a certain date. Our team always ships out orders as soon as possible, but sometimes USPS can take longer than 2-3 business days. Please contact lo + jo before ordering if you need your order by a certain date and we will work with you to get it to you in time! Delivery dates cannot be guaranteed for any items, including seasonal and collegiate items.
We only replace items if they are defective or damaged. If you need to file a defect request to exchange it for the same item, send us an email at email@example.com within 24 hours of receiving your garment with photos and your order number. We can not replace items after they have been worn or without the original tags attached. Our policy lasts 14 days. If 14 days have past we can not offer you an exchange for your item. Since each garment is custom made specifically for you, we cannot permit exchanges for different sizes. Please refer to our size guide or email firstname.lastname@example.com and we will be happy to help you find your perfect fit!
- Please email lo + jo at firstname.lastname@example.com with any questions about sizing! A member of our team will answer within 24 hours and can advise you about sizing before you make your purchase!
- Most lo + jo products run true to size, other than the exceptions mentioned below. For example, if your are typically a Medium, we recommend ordering a size Medium.
- All lo + jo skirts run true to size. The pleated tailgate skirts have a stretchy waistband for some room in sizing as well.
- Acid washed sweatshirts slightly shrink during the washing and drying process. Please order a size up if in between sizes.
- Overalls run large. Order a size down from your typical size.
- For halters: Order a size up in halters for extra chest coverage.
- All one size items, such as bandeaus, tanks, and strap bandeaus, fit most. They are stretchy and fit a wide variety of sizes.
- All tube tops, bodysuits, and crop tops fit true to size, unless otherwise noted on the product.
- Multi-Way Bandeaus are stretchy with adjustable straps that can be worn numerous ways. They fit true to size and the sizing can be adjusted with the straps.
- Standard shipping is $8.
- For orders over $75, don't forget to use code LOJO at checkout to activate your FREE SHIPPING!
- Orders go into production as soon as they are placed and take 1-2 weeks to create and ship. Sometimes items may ship much faster too!
- In stock items will ship within 1-2 business days. Orders ship via USPS 2-3 business day mail.
- Certain items take slightly longer to ship due to production times including patterned leggings, sports bras, and one-pieces.
- If you need your order by a certain date - please contact email@example.com before placing your order and we will let you know if we have it in stock to ship out ASAP!
- We cannot guarantee delivery by a certain date. Our team always ships out orders as soon as possible, but sometimes USPS can take longer than 2-3 business days.
Once an order has shipped, if you have any questions about tracking information or delivery of your package, direct all inquiries to USPS. Per USPS policy, USPS will only communicate with the intended recipient of a package once a package leaves our store and has been accepted by USPS.


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STOW — Barbara Bosworth spent the summer and fall last year hiking and photographing the New England National Scenic Trail, lugging her boxy 8 x 10 view camera and tripod into woods and along streams surrounding the Connecticut River.
"It was a dream job," she says. "Not a job at all. A dream."
Bosworth, the trail's first artist in residence, knew that its many spectacular views were only a small part of the picture.
"I didn't now how to make a body of work about a trail," Bosworth says over a cup of ginger tea in her spacious studio. "I knew I didn't want it to be one vista after another."
So she posed herself a question. "What is 'trail-ness,' '' she asks. "It became about . . . people passing through a place."
Now an exhibition of her work, "To Be at the Farther Edge: Photographs Along the New England Trail," makes its own kind of trail through the Connecticut River Valley, with one spur out to Boston. Her color photographs can be seen in eight venues near the trail, and also at the Appalachian Mountain Club headquarters on Beacon Hill.
The pictures document traces people have left along the path. They examine geological and man-made marks. They contemplate the clouds, and take viewers over a creek and down a gully. They revisit scenes blazoned into art history by Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole.
In 1836, Cole likely bushwhacked to an overlook on one ridge to paint "View From Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, After a Thunderstorm — The Oxbow." In it, a curtain of thunderclouds dramatically gives way to clearer skies over a glittering loop of river.
Bosworth had no interest in re-creating the scene, she says. But she wanted to acknowledge it. She climbed to a nearby ridge, Mount Tom, and photographed the oxbow from there, at different times of the day and season.
She and a friend left her home in Stow at 1 a.m. one September night to get up Mount Tom before dawn. They picked up Bill Finn, one of Bosworth's many guides along the trail, at 3 a.m. Wearing headlamps and moving slowly beneath the weight of camera and tripod, the hikers arrived in the dark. "It was quite the adventure," Bosworth says.
Her photograph, "View of the Oxbow From Dry Knob (Just Before Daybreak)," is a moody, luminous, deep-blue triptych with lights from the Oxbow Marina in Northampton glowing softly at its center, framed by trees' black silhouettes.
The large-format prints, exquisite with detail, explore the social and natural history along the way. The 215-mile trail was actively developed in the 1930s in Connecticut and the 1950s in Massachusetts, but it was only designated a National Scenic Trail in 2009, thanks to vistas such as those captured by Cole, who also painted "View of Monte Video, Seat of Daniel Wadsworth, Esq." a Connecticut vista along the trail. There are only 11 National Scenic Trails in the United States.
"You feel like you can walk into these photographs," says Charles Tracy, National Park Service superintendent of the New England National Scenic Trail, who tapped Bosworth for the artist-in-residence position. He met her seven years ago, when he booked her for a residency at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, Vt.
"I was struck by how her work focuses on landscape and people, and their connection," he says.
Tracy has a second role with the National Park Service: He helps facilitate artists working in parks around the country. Of the approximately 400 national park sites, about 50 have artist-in-residence programs.
"Connecting art with the environment is a great way to encourage people to look at the landscape differently," he says.
Bosworth's project falls into the tradition of landscape art, which shares many elements of "trail-ness." It's all about how people relate to the land.
Painters such as Cole shaped ideas about nature and spirituality into landscapes. The works of Hudson River School painters sparked tourism, and helped ignite the conservation movement and the creation of the National Park Service.
For the artist, who had a solo exhibition, "Natural Histories, Photographs by Barbara Bosworth," at the Peabody Essex Museum last year, a fascination with nature came down the family line. Growing up in Novelty, Ohio, she was bred on natural beauty.
"My father loved to stare out at the landscape, watching the light go by," she says. "He'd exclaim, and we'd come running. And my mother looked at the details, like wildflowers."
That passion goes back generations. Bosworth treasures an egg collection put together by her great-grandfather. As a child, she studied it with Darwinian attention. Her grandfather frequently painted the stream that ran in the woods behind the house where she grew up. She's been working on a side project for the last decade documenting a meadow in Carlisle, in partnership with writer Margot Kelley.
"We bring scientists to the meadow to look at it through other perspectives," Bosworth says. So far, they've had a firefly expert come by, and an ant researcher. Bosworth and Kelley are also investigating the meadow's human history, and hope to publish their work in book form.
In the end, Bosworth is a lot like her painter granddad, and Thomas Cole, and the hikers who stop along the vistas of the New England Scenic Trail to gaze before they pull out their smart phones and snap a picture. It's not just the beauty of the place; it's that they witnessed it.
"Photography," she says, "is our validation that we were there."
Cate McQuaid can be reached at cate


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Ding Protection
Ding Protection
How long was the ding protection plan good for?
I got the first door ding in my car after 13 years. Not only are parking spots more narrow now but, appears that people are either more careless, disrespectful or preocupied now.
My protection plan is cheaper...
Park as far away as possible because 99% of the public are so lazy they will drive around until they can find a spot 10ft. from the door to anything.
My favorite, SUVs squeezing into compact car parking spaces. A guaranteed recipe for a door ding, perhaps multiples.
I too park in the boondocks, my wife hates it.
It's the dang kids getting out of cars and whacking your doors that kills me.
I opened my door once and a gust of wind ripped it out of my hand, banging hard into the car next to me. What made it worse was there was an old lady sitting in the passenger seat of the car I dinged! I thought she was going to kick my @ss...
Ever since I got my reservation I find myself thinking, "Where would I park my Model S?" whenever I go somewhere. Already have a couple prime spots picked out at work :)
Another tactic I see used often: park at an angle across the divider between two spaces, ... At your own risk!
I have seen car's get a nice key line or two after double parking because around were I go, there is no such thing as available parking. Finding a spot without a car next to you, almost impossible to find unless it's a public holiday. I have never gone more then 6 months without a ding on any of my new cars... :(
That doesn't really seem like an awesome deal at all unless you expect to get a lot of dings.
My current car, which I've had for 4.5 years, has only ever had one ding. It cost me $100 to fix, and that was without shopping around.
Just find yourself a local DentPro... over the course of 8 years, you may find a ding that can easily be fixed for $100. Why pay ahead?
More and more places around here have EV parking with chargers. Usually right up front and almost always empty (thus far). Even if you don't need a little extra free power, it's nice to have the dedicated space and in my (admittedly brief) experience a plugged in Model S attracts even more attention than an unplugged one.
I drive a Prius (2nd one), and the thickness/thinness of the metal to keep it light is fairly ridiculous. I swear, I could dent it with my finger if I wanted to. Also, there is no protective strip in order to aid with aerodynamics. I don't remember ever having dings before owning Prius. (Jerry, what is the plural, again?) Anyway, I was wondering about the thickness of the aluminum used...will it dent like a tin can? I remember reading or hearing that the doors, themselves, were quite thick, but I'm curious to know about the metal. Has anyone who has taken a tour noticed this? Thanks in advance. Barb
When I was at the SC event, I saw a guy get out of an S and swing the door sharply into the open door of another S. The collision was edge on face and is as good a test as any. I closely inspected the face and I didn't see any mark. I was impressed.
mboedigh--excellent news and thanks for your response. Barb
The plural depends on where you are. In most places Prius is the plural for Prius. In North America Toyota had a website vote and Prii was voted to be the plural.
As far as dings go, I received the first one in my Prius the first day I drove it to work (the second day of ownership). Mostly I don't worry about dings--they're going to occur and there is little you can do about them. The best solution would be door coverings made of the same material that bumper coverings are made of. Then there wouldn't be any dings.
Like wearing a raincoat to the dinner table to avoid spills. Effective, but unattractive. ;)
My wife refuses to park next to a two door vehicle because the doors swing wider, increasing the ding frequency
Maybe I'll get someone to make a plastic cover for my Model S, like my grandma used to have on her furniture :)


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Like it or not, landscape design has entered a whole new era. You may have done well over the years with hand-drawn designs. But it is possible that you could be doing even better, and spending less time getting there? Perhaps the even bigger question is, are your competitors using it? Has gotten them more business-even some that should have been yours?
Someone designing with these products is able to complete their design much more quickly than someone else drawing designs by hand. That contractor can take a picture (of the property), do the presentation and close, all in one trip, while the other guy is still driving back to his office to get his pencils. Letting a client see immediately what he'll be getting, not two or three weeks later, can clinch the deal for you.
All of these design programs are either based on computer-aided design (CAD) or incorporate many of its elements. Don't get intimidated by those three letters. CAD is not the same as AutoCAD, the pricey and complicated program that engineers and architects—including some landscape architects—use. All of the landscape design programs we'll discuss here are designed for use by you, the landscape contractor or designer. You don't need a degree in CAD to use them.
There are 3D modeling and virtual walkthroughs in most programs. Many companies offer free technical support for the life of the program. All of them have video tutorials, either built in or on company websites.
Some offer classroom and even onsite training. The more powerful the software and the more features it includes, the longer it will take to learn it. Prices range from around four hundred to more than two thousand dollars.
It comes down to three Cs: Capability, Cost, and learning Curve.
First: capability. What's the functionality of the software? Will it do what you need it to do? Second: cost. What will you get for your money? Features you'll use daily, or will you be paying for a lot of bells and whistles you'll probably never touch? Finally, learning curve. How hard is the software to learn? Will you need to take classes just to get going? Do you really have the time to learn such a complicated program?
One question I would ask myself is: Why should a landscape contractor buy design software in the first place? "The biggest and best reason is that it automates the process," says Joe Salemi, marketing manager for DynaSCAPES Software Corporation in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
"It shaves hours, if not days, off the work involved in designing a landscape."
Are contractors who are armed with computer-assisted designs really making more sales? John De- Cell, president of Software Republic in Hockley, Texas, the makers of Pro Contractor Studio, thinks so. "No doubt about it. People are more used to technology now," he says.
Providing a computer-generated design can put you one level higher than the other guy and make your design easier to sell. DeCell puts it this way, "As a contractor, there are three things you can be: the same as your competition, worse than your competition or better than your competition." Having a computer drawn design should put you into that "better" category. "Customers are smart," says David Sloan, sales and marketing manager for Kansas City, Missouri- based Drafix, Inc., the company that markets PROLandscape. "They know what kind of technology is available out there today. And the smarter customers become, the smarter contractors have to be."
Design DynaSCAPE Design produces highly detailed, black-and-white 2D drawings that look like hand draw- ings, but have much more detail. You can even change the line weights. It includes a database of more than 1,200 items from all areas of landscape design, including natural stone, paving stone, mulch, swimming pools, ponds and water features. There are also outdoor lighting, irrigation and woodworking items.
Professional botanical symbols include trees, shrubs, evergreens, hedges, perennials and ornamental grasses. Symbols can be dragged and dropped. It also has the capability to add your own custom symbols and libraries.
Plant information comes from Horticopia, a partner company. This is a built-in online plant database that you access every time you add plants and labels to your drawings. For color, you need to buy an add- on program, DynaSCAPE Color. It allows you to add subtle colorings, textures, opacities and shadings to your designs. Salemi says that combining the basic Design product with Color "adds that 'Wow!' factor." It enables the client to really see what you're designing for them. You can get 3D modeling by adding another product called Sketch3D. This is an add-on to the popular—and free—3D rendering program called Google SketchUp.
But SketchUp is just a general drawing program. Sketch3D adds to it a catalog of landscape-specific 3D components such as textures, plants, ponds, pools, rose arbors and many more items. Shaderlight is another add-on program from a partner company. This allows you to add shadows to your 3D renderings. You can show the client what his landscape will look like at different times of the day or night.
You can't do an estimate directly from Design alone. To do that, you'd need to buy DS Manage360, DynaSCAPE's complete landscape business management tool. It pulls all of the materials from your Design drawing, does the materials takeoff and puts it into an estimate.
There's a lot to learn, but the company provides self-paced video tutorials with the program. Expect to spend around $2,000, plus another required monthly fee for the updates, access to the Horticopia plant database and the help desk.
Of course, each add-on program also has a separate cost. But it may be well worth the price. "Many of our customers say that Design has tripled their sales," says Salemi.
EARTHSCAPES, from Visual Impact Imaging in Youngstown, Ohio, allows you to work in a couple of different ways. You can use the program to complement your handdrawn design or one that was created with AutoCAD, or you can create the drawing solely using the software.
You can upload a photo of your client's landscape, erase parts of it, then drag and drop items from the program's library of 6,500 nonbrand-specific items onto the photo.
The library contains water features, paving stones, rocks, plant material and many other landscape elements.
EARTHSCAPES doesn't include 3D modeling or walk-throughs. "In talking to contractors, many say that creating a 3D model often takes a lot of time, and isn't necessarily required by property owners, or to sell a design," said Anne Behner, sales manager.
Behner says her customer base— mostly landscape designers and landscape contractors—has been telling her that having a photo design of a project is becoming more of an essential when selling those projects or working with clients. This is more important to them than the ability to do 3D modeling.
How hard is it to learn? Behner says the photo imaging can be learned over a weekend; the site plan design takes about a week, even for those who've never used CAD before. "I would give myself a few days to play with the tools, get accustomed to drawing lines, importing your site plan and working with the symbols," said Behner.
After that, you should be proficient enough to start creating your own designs. There are step-by-step tutorials included with the program.
A separate DVD contains instructional video clips.
Another training resource is an online forum which includes 150 tips. Classroom and one-on-one training via "remote screen sharing" over the Internet is also available.
The program also does estimating. These can be done in real time as you create your site plan, or by manual entry. EARTHSCAPES costs about $1,200.
Pro Contractor Studio
John DeCell is a former irrigation contractor. He used to spend up to five hours manually drawing out designs and creating proposals, until he created Pro Contractor Studio, which cuts the time down to about forty-five minutes. The software is designed for residential to small commercial applications and can create both irrigation and landscape designs.
Pro Contractor Studio creates CAD drawings, but it doesn't do 3D modeling or walk-throughs. Says De- Cell, "Our guys are looking to create an installation document and a bill of materials, and sell a job."
You can't import a photograph into Pro Contractor Studio, but you can import a Google Earth image and capture it as a raster image. The program will scale the image for you.
Does it help sell jobs? "It helps tremendously, not just with the customer, but with estimating and materials takeoff," said Amy Ping, a landscape designer at Enchanted Landscapes, a design/build landscape and nursery company in Richmond, Texas.
"It makes the whole process— from start to finish—much easier. The client can see the colors of the predominant foliage, the flagstones and the decking. It gives them a feel for what the overall project is going to look like. It's hands down more professional than a hand drawing."
You can put plants down in color, blend one color to another, add texturing and even make the drawing look like it's been painted with watercolors. You can also add symbols.
Ping likes the ability to create your own symbols. She took a symbol for a spa and tweaked it so it became a symbol for a disappearing fountain.
The full license is about $1,200.
The program has regular updates throughout the year, which are free. Program upgrades are annual, and cost about $200. But to monthly subscribers, all upgrades are free.
In fact, the subscription option is one of the best things about Pro Contractor Studio. The full program is available for $30 per month. You can subscribe for a month and then cancel—there's no long-term contract.
There's a free online learning center on Software Republic's website, along with video tutorials. Tech support is free to subscribers. Buyers get it free, too, for the programs' lifetime.
PRO Landscape
"PRO Landscape does photo imaging, CAD, estimating and 3D rendering," says Sloan. "The end result is that you sell more jobs."
Brad Curtis, Landscape Management Services, Inc., a full-service design/build company with commercial and residential clients in West Jordan, Utah, would go along with that. "Ninety percent of the jobs we use PRO Landscape on, we sell. In the six years we've been using it, it's increased my business tremendously."
One of his largest customers, a big commercial development, was won over this way. "We were able to secure all of their work in a package deal—from installation to maintenance—by being able to provide quick 3D designs." Previously, Curtis relied on "everything from hand drawing to dragging my foot in the dirt."
PRO Landscape allows you to take digital photos and import them into your design. Then, you simply drag and drop items onto the photo from the built-in database of 11,000 landscape items. These include plants, tiles, stone, fountains, and many other materials, cross-referenced by the looks of the items, by the brand names, or by both.
The program also does irrigation, landscape lighting and holiday lighting design. It even has the ability to "turn the sun off" and give the customer a night view.
With its latest release, version 18, a tablet application that works on iPad and Android devices was added. Using your tablet device, you can take a digital photograph, enhance it with different drag-and-drop items with different kinds of looks, textures and colors, right there at the customer's arm, and generate the bid as you go. Sloan feels that the iPad application is one of the major selling points of PRO Landscape, along with the size and quality of its database.
The 3D rendering capability allows you to take the customer on a virtual walkthrough. Using actual photos adds realism.
The company claims that the program is easy to learn and easy to use. They took care to remove CAD-speak—the engineering terminology—and replace it with terms familiar to landscape people. Video tutorials are built into the software. Curtis finds the program easy to use and fast to learn, with easy-to-understand tutorials. "Their tech support is great, too. They answer my calls or get back to me immediately."
You don't have to buy an extra program to do an estimate. "We're the only (landscape design software) package that lets you create a bid right from the imaging," says Sloan. "Usually, you have to do the CAD, then create the bid."
There is also a free image service.
You can import a photo of a specific object, say, a tree in the customer's front yard, and remove the background. You can do it in the program yourself, or send it to Drafix, and they will do it for you.
PRO Landscape costs about $1,500. Updates are made available annually, for about $300. Tech support is free for the lifetime of the program.
Realtime Landscaping
This program lets you do both 2D and 3D at one of the lowest price points available, about $400. No prior CAD experience is necessary to use it. "It's really quite intuitive," says Shannon Thompson, marketing and sales manager for Idea Spectrum, the Bonney Lake, Washington-based company that makes Realtime Landscaping.
"We have guys who have been drawing by hand for 30 years, who say, 'I need something like this because I'm losing business, but I don't have a lot of computer experience.' With Realtime Landscaping, all you have to know is how to use a mouse, save, and find your file after you save it."
One thing that is unique to Realtime Landscaping is Client Dream, a user interface. "It's a play space for you and your client," says Thompson. Once you upload your design to it, the client can insert notes about color, placement of items, or anything else. Thompson says that Client Dream can be a valuable tool. "It's hard enough to set up meetings with people. Everyone is so busy these days. This way, a client can study your design in the evening as he relaxes with a glass of wine."
But be careful. This two-way interaction can be a double-edged sword for contractors, as a customer could use it to take your design and show it to a competitor. One of the other software companies made a deliberate business decision not to include that sort of capability, because they "didn't want to give the customer too much power." Of course, you could use Realtime Landscaping without Client Dream — it's just an option.
There are four versions of Realtime Landscaping: Architect, Pro, Plus, and Photo.
Vectorworks Landmark
"One of the things that we pride ourselves on is that in Vectorworks Landmark, you can work in one design environment the whole way through the process," says Eric Gilbey, landscape industry product specialist for Columbia, Maryland-based Nemetschek Vectorworks, Inc., the makers of Vectorworks Landmark. (He's also a landscape architect.) In other words, you don't have to be in one module for designing, in another to render, in another to do the 3D modeling, and in yet another for estimating.
In Vectorworks, all those changes happen in one environment. A change you make in the 3D model is made simultaneously in the 2D rendering, and vice versa. "Other products may have a CAD side to their software, but there isn't the sort of total integration that Vectorworks Landmark has."
All this functionality comes at a price. Vectorworks Landmark by itself is about $2,000. Add Renderworks, and you'll pay a few hundred dollars more. Renderworks allows you to achieve photorealistic rendering and to choose from a series of lighting, texture, and shadow settings. You can also turn colors into textures. Color palettes from Pantone, Benjamin Moore and other companies are included.
Renderworks lets you texture brick, wood and metal surfaces on the objects you're designing to have them really look like brick, wood and metal. A brick wall without Renderworks will look like a solid color terra cotta wall. If you want to give it the look and "feel" of actual brick, you would assign it a texture in Renderworks, and it will look more like real brick.
But you're not stuck with just a photorealistic look. Renderworks also allows artistic-style renderings such as pen-style sketches, "chunky" line sketches, or a watercolor look.
As for plant information, Vectorworks incorporates a database containing the entire Monrovia nurseries plant catalog. There are built-in, customizable worksheets and reports that do automatic estimating, and can update from any revisions.
This program has a variety of training options available, including classroom, online and even on-site training, for a fee. You'll probably need some kind of training. It's a complicated, powerful program.
The world of landscape design software is truly dazzling. What you can create now with your laptop computer would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Any one of these programs will produce a quality design that should be impressive to a client. However many dollars you choose to invest in such a program will surely come back to you many times over, in terms of business won. Take the time to check them out carefully and see which one best suits your jobs, your people and your company.


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Eating fish, at least 2 servings each week, is part of a heart-healthy diet. But fish and fish oil supplements do not lower cholesterol.
Some people take fish oil supplements to help lower triglycerides. Fish oil supplements can lower
Eating fish may help lower your risk of heart disease. As part of a heart-healthy diet, eat at least 2 servings of fish each week. Oily fish, which contain omega-3 fatty acids, are best for your heart. These fish include salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring, and sardines.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommend that women who may become
pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children should not eat shark, swordfish,
king mackerel, or tilefish, because these fish have higher mercury
concentrations. But for middle-aged and older people, the protection that fish gives
the heart outweighs the risks of eating these fish. Eating a variety of fish
may reduce the amount of mercury you eat.1, 2
people with high triglycerides may take a prescription omega-3 fatty acids
medicine (such as Lovaza or Vascepa). This medicine is a highly concentrated form of
omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish oil. This medicine is used along
with diet and lifestyle changes for high triglycerides.
Fish oil capsules that you can buy
without a prescription can have significant side effects. Because of these side
effects, most doctors recommend eating 2 or 3 servings of fish a week rather
than taking fish oil capsules. The side effects of fish oil capsules
CitationsU.S. Food and Drug Administration (2004). What you
need to know about mercury in fish and shellfish: 2004 EPA and FDA advice for
women who might become pregnant, women who are pregnant, nursing mothers, young
children. Available online:
http://www.epa.gov/fishadvisories/advice.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2011). Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish. Available online: http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/Seafood/FoodbornePathogensContaminants/Methylmercury/ucm115644.htm.Other Works ConsultedNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2005). Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol With TLC (NIH Publication No. 06-5235). Available online: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/chol/chol_tlc.pdf.
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The purpose of this blog is two fold: 1) to accurately describe how one may receive the free gift of eternal life--Jesus Himself said in John 6:47 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life." NKJV and 2) to explore the Word of God in such a way that it will be supplementally edifying to what you're learning from your local church as well as contribute to the spiritual growth of believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
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Internet Church Service, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011 | God's Gift of Eternal Life | eons.com
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Note: Freedom's Frontier NHA straddles the Kansas-Missouri border
Silos and Smokestacks NHA covers the NE quadrant of Iowa
This Blog focuses on Ancestor Stories, both the stories themselves about my family's ancestors and discussions of where they come from and how to prepare and share them. These stories may be non-fiction or fiction – we will always tell which is which, of course. Also see my KINNICK blog and The HOMEPLACE Series Blog, left sidebar, scroll down.
I knew of some of the evnts sponsored, but did not know to give credit to NHA. Actually, I didn't realize they were separate from the NPS. Thanks for the links.
Yes, thanks. A well developed NHA, takes a lot of local effort, but worth it, can be a real boon for a region once they overcome the frequent 'turf battles.' Cooperation is at the heart of the movement. I enjoyed my five years association with promotion of the prospective Kansas Flint Hills NHA. ;-)ReplyDelete