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Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club
Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club offers members, their guests and visitors with an atmosphere like no other. Set just back from the Surfers Paradise Beach where you can take in all the rest and relaxation of a beach environment.
My Oliver's Kitchen has a wide variety of meals on the menu and puts emphasis on casual Australian dining.
Support your local Surf Life Saving Club and the Community whilst enjoying your favourite beverage. The Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Supporters Club is a great little Club on the ground level of the Club House.
Saturday and Sunday: 7am - 12 noon
Monday to Friday: 8am -12 noon
11am- 4pm
Dinner5pm - 8.30pm
- Address: The Esplanade, Surfers Paradise QLD 4217
- Phone: (07) 5553 1900
- Email: email@example.com
- Web: http://www.surfersparadiseslsc.com.au


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Welcome to Crofters!
For over 20 years Crofter's recipe for success has been the same - great food at a fair price.
Crofter's Steak & Seafood's customers have learned over the years that they can count on the same great service and exceptional cuisine they have come to expect from each and every dining experience. Crofter's owners, Dave MacKay and Leanne Gordon-MacKay, continue to be proud to offer their customers delicious seafood and mouth-watering steaks along with a wide variety of other dining choices, all prepared with top quality ingredients, to ensure your family or dining group's complete satisfaction.
The owners and staff of Crofters love to meet new people and invite all Bus Tours to make us a regular stop along their journeys. Crofters is located just off the Trans Canada Highway with ample parking for easy bus access. You can check out our Map and Direction information and contact us here.
Crofter's Steak and Seafood also provides Group Catering for family or business functions that can accommodate up to 60 people in the restaurant's private dining room. If you are interested in booking a reservation for your group please give us a call or send us a message.
Crofters will be re-introducing their Lunch Menu in mid September and will be inviting one and all to drop by for something quick and delicious!

subset: commoncrawl


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The host of Voces anticae is Mark G. Bilby, Senior Assistant Librarian in Scholarly Communications and Lecturer in Religious Studies at California State University, Fullerton. Mark completed his Ph.D. in Religious Studies (Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity) at the University of Virginia in 2012 and his MSLIS at Drexel University in 2015. His academic interests include Institutional Repositories, Digital Humanities, Open Access publishing, Open Educational Resources, Affordable Learning Solutions, Inter-religious and Inter-cultural dialogue, and Religion and Literature in the Late-Antique Mediterranean.
For more details about his education, interests, and publications, please see his ORCID profile (For those unfamiliar with ORCID, it's essentially an online Linked Open Data CV/Resume). For those interested in connecting or collaborating, please see his LinkedIn profile, Academia.edu profile, and/or ResearchGate profile.


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Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, one of the most exciting and successful fighters from the WEC, spoke with Tapology's Steven Kelliher this week about what he is really thinking ahead of his UFC debut on Super Bowl weekend. Cerrone also offered an apology to opponent Paul Kelly ahead of their fight and addressed recent comments made toward him by fellow lightweight Mac Danzig.
While Cerrone fought as early as last month at the final WEC show, submitting Chris Horodecki in the Versus-televised event, he will step foot in the Octagon for the first time scarcely over a month later as he replaces an injured Sam Stout against Kelly on one of the biggest Pay Per View events in recent months.
Cerrone spoke about his opponent, but wanted to offer a curious apology before he delved into a technical analysis of the U.K.-based fighter.
"I wanted to address something I said in the media recently about Paul Kelly, when I said I didn't know who he was," Cerrone said, referring to a recent video interview in which he claimed that he was largely unaware of Kelly. "I didn't mean it in a disrespectful way. I really just didn't know who he was. I don't watch all of the fights, but some people took it to heart, so I'd like to apologize to Paul for that.
"With that said, now I know he's a good boxer—I guess they call him the U.K. brawler—and he's got a good, dirty clinch, but that also plays right into my hands because I love to brawl too. Hopefully I'll be able to finally show off my stand-up skills in this fight, because that's one of my stronger points."
Cerrone had a successful amateur kickboxing career prior to plying his trade in MMA, but his inability to pull of a knockout in fifteen professional fights has become something of a running gag among fans, media, and Cerrone's own training partners. For his part, Cerrone has given up trying to sway opinion on the matter, although he does intend to turn the trend around at some point.
"Man, we were actually joking about that last night," Cerrone said. "People were asking me, 'Man, how are you a kickboxer if you never knock people out?' I don't know what it is. I wish I could knock people out, but maybe I lost my power, I don't know."
Having performed in main or co-main event slots for the WEC several times over the past two years, Cerrone is no stranger to the limelight; however, he admitted that he already felt a serious case of the Octagon jitters coming on ahead of his UFC debut.
"I'm scared to death," Cerrone said. "This is it. This is the NFL, the big show. The WEC was a good stepping stone for me—there were some high-profile fights—but now I'm fighting on the same card as Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, and Rich Franklin, and I'm opening the show so that's a lot of weight on my shoulders. I just hope I can keep my head about me and perform.
"The only thing you can do is go out there and fight. I don't go out there just to try and win, I go out there to finish fights, so that's what I'm going to keep doing."
Cerrone has repeatedly made headlines in recent weeks by calling out divisional rival Cole Miller, a man who just lost to Matt Wiman this past weekend, and whom Cerrone would like to take on this year in the Octagon. Asked whether or not his desire to fight Miller had flagged because of Miller's recent loss, Cerrone made it clear that he is still gunning for the American Top Team-trained standout.
"I'm not by any means going after that title," Cerrone said. "I'm in no hurry. Hopefully I'll have a long career in the UFC and that will come eventually, but the Cole Miller fight is just something that I've really been looking forward to since I was nothing. He doesn't remember, but just the attitude he displayed after beating Leonard Garcia I didn't like, so I still plan on coming after him."
Asked what he was working on most in recent months to continue his evolution as a top flight lightweight, Cerrone had one answer: "Wrestling. That's something that I've really dedicated the last year to. I plan to make my weaknesses into my strengths."
Finally, Cerrone responded to recent comments made by fellow lightweight Mac Danzig, who criticized the manner in which he called out Miller in recent interviews.
"He can bring that shit on too," Cerrone said. "That's all I've got to say. To be honest with you, I don't really know who Mac Danzig is either. I know that he just fought Joe Stevenson, but people said he was on the chopping block before that fight, and now all of a sudden he wants to start calling people out? Bring that shit on, man. Let's go. That's nothing but the pot calling the kettle black."


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Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Not your average penthouse
An architectural oddity situated atop a 26-story Beijing skyscraper (seen in a photo taken on Aug. 13) was declared illegal by code enforcement officials after several years of neighborhood balking.
The eccentric creator is Dr. Zhang Biqing, a founder of a chain of Chinese medicine clinics. Over six years, Biqing has spent $130,000 to envelope his rooftop home into a "mountain retreat" made of imitation rocks dotted with trees and shrubbery.
Neighbors, who have endured years of construction disruptions, believe the unusual urban abode is affecting the building's integrity. While residents who live under the extravagant penthouse have dealt with damages to pipework and walls, Biqing says he was just trying to make the building look nicer.
The mountainous additions to the apartment have been ordered to be demolished within 15 days.
Related content on MNN:
Want to see more great photos? Check out MNN's photo blog


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UEFA have rescheduled the remainder of the Galatasaray v Juventus Champions League Group B clash to 1400 CET (1200 GMT) on Wednesday after heavy snowfall brought a halt to Tuesday's fixture.
The sides' final Group B clash at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium was stopped in the 31st minute with the scoreline 0-0, as increasingly heavy snowfall made playing conditions nearly impossible.
Shortly afterwards UEFA scheduled the match for 1300 CET (1100 GMT), however it is believed police raised concerns about potential security risks. UEFA later rescheduled the match to 1400 CET. It will resume in the 31st minute, meaning 59 minutes will be played on Wednesday.
A short statement on UEFA's website said: "The match in Istanbul will resume at 14.00CET (15.00 local time)."
The referee, Pedro Proença, called the players off the pitch as efforts were made to clear the snow and after a 25-minute delay, UEFA announced the match had been abandoned.
Under competition regulations, the remainder of the match either had to be played on Wednesday, or on another date set by UEFA.
Juventus need a point from their final game in the group to secure their ticket to the last 16 along with Group B winners Real Madrid, who won 2-0 away to FC Copenhagen on Tuesday.
Galatasaray require a win to pip Juventus to second place.
Bizarrely, it is the third time a match between the sides has had to be interrupted.
In 1998, when Italy refused to extradite the Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan to Turkey, a meeting of the clubs was delayed for a week, with Galatasaray eventually being held to a 1-1 draw in Istanbul.
In 2003, following terror attacks in Istanbul, Galatasaray hosted Juventus a week later than planned and won 2-0 in their group clash thanks to a brace from Hakan Sukur.


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Spark can help transform your business to meet the ever-changing landscape.
Our team embraces high-level strategy through to execution and continuous evolution across your brand's entire Connected Moment of Truth. Enabling us to creatively blend people, systems and services to deliver tangible end-to-end transformation.
We reduce touchpoints, simplify supplier management, streamline processes and automate routines.
Your business keeps running with incremental results in time, resource, cost, quality and consistency – which in the long run enables increased efficiency, agility and robustness, and frees up internal staff to focus on results and innovation.


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There was a delay just before I loaded up a new game of Stick It To The Man. Not because of any technical issues but because Kenny Roger's Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) was playing over the menu screen. This and the hypnotic animation of paper cars driving over paper motorways in the background held me spellbound for a good few minutes. It's fair to say the same about Stick It To The Man as a whole; a quirky, humorous, charming game that gives you something different to chew on between gun blasting and heart wrenching triple A titles.
You play as Ray Doewood, a likeable chump in the vein of Fry from Futurama, who is walking home one day after a particularly trying day of hard hat testing when something falls out of the sky and clonks him on the head. His coma-induced dream is where we get the chance to interact with this strange, almost Burton-esque world.
Stick It To The Man starts out looking like a 2D side scrolling platformer with plenty of jumping and moving from one end of the screen to the next. But when you begin to peel away the surface (literally at times), you find that it is actually more faithful to adventure puzzle games.
Ray's actions are simple and easy to master, meaning more time is spent figuring out puzzles, outsmarting enemies and reading people's minds. In fact all you can really do with Ray himself is move from left to right and jump. It's the strange pink spaghetti arm sticking out of the top of his head that gives you the power to grab onto pins to haul yourself up to out of reach platforms, and reach into other's minds to find out what they're thinking.
There is a lot of character interaction (with more than 100 characters apparently) and this could become tedious if it weren't for the darkly witty script and excellent voice acting. I can still recall the sound of the crocodile from one of the first levels and the man with the imaginary killer bunny friend in the asylum as easily as if I just played that level.
A cartoon style reminiscent of something between Rocko (remember him?) and Ren and Stimpy adds to the delightful playfulness of the game. Everything, including the characters, is made out of paper and their thoughts often appear in bubbles after you've read their minds in the form of picture stickers which you can steal and slap onto someone else. For example, a chef wants an unusual ingredient for his latest gourmet dish, something that encapsulates the grief of human suffering (I swear, it's like watching Jamie Oliver) and lo and behold there is a man who has just been dumped and whose heart is breaking. After reading the devastated man's thoughts, a puddle of tears appears in his mind and you can reach in with your nifty spaghetti arm to remove it and slap it onto the chef's dish.
If that sounds a bit bizarre then don't worry, it gets even odder. All the puzzles tend to fall along these lines. Each chapter places Ray in a unique level, ranging from an asylum to Ray's fuzzy mind itself. They become larger and more complex as you go along but the puzzles never feel too obscure; as odd as they are there is still some logic to be found even if it is loosely connected. (Not a rubber chicken in sight.) Ray's main goal is to get out of each level and avoid being caught by agents who work for The Man, a shadowy figure who wants his weapon back (the thing that fell on Ray's head and caused his neural pasta problem).
Escaping levels is done by listening in on other people's thoughts and helping them with their problems. This is actually the best part of the game due to the sheer diversity and creativity of the characters. You will encounter suicidal taxi drivers and psychiatric ghosts obsessing over lobotomies as well as helping fix complex father-son clown relationships. Often solving one puzzle will cause someone to reveal a solution to another, as in the chef puzzle mentioned previously when, after receiving his vital ingredient of human tears, he produces a severed leg (another prized delicacy) which you then feed to a hungry but fussy crocodile which then gives you access to a set of teeth and so on and so on.
Getting past the agents is a little more difficult and could be cause for frustration at times if it wasn't for the numerous checkpoints dotted about each level. Every time Ray is caught or doesn't make a jump, he regenerates at one of these checkpoints with a neat animation of him being printed out of a copy machine. It's almost worth dying just for that. You don't have health bars or lives or any of that silly nonsense to worry about either and it reminded me more than a little of The Cave at times. In fact the whole game has a decidedly Ron Gilbert feel about it which is definitely not a bad thing. Developers Zoink have made their influences clear but have successfully carved out their own identity.
To accompany Ray's surreal journey through his two dimensional world is a jazz noir-style score that blends as wonderfully with the muted hues of a city as it does with the glaring gaudiness of a circus. Even though there are only ten chapters and the game isn't much more than five hours playing time, each section has been carefully crafted with a distinctive look.
The game isn't by any means perfect, though the only real issue was controlling the wayward head-arm. Locking onto a brain or a pin if it is very close to something else can often result in grabbing the wrong thing, annoying when you're trying to steal a picture from an agents thought and you accidentally swing into their waiting arms instead. But it is a minor gripe when everything else is so beautifully constructed and the aforementioned checkpoints are so plentiful.
Zoink have concentrated on honing their amusing, often tongue in cheek, puzzle/platformer adventure game rather than adding unnecessary extra levels and multiplayer. As a result they have produced something different that may not be breaking boundaries but which provides a welcome respite to just about everything else out there. This is a game worth buying and playing. And then playing again.
MLG Rating: 9/10 Format: PlayStation 3 / PlayStation Vita Release Date: 20/11/13
Disclosure: Midlife Gamer were provided with a copy of Stick it to the Man for review purposes. The title was reviewed over the course of 3 days on a PlayStation 3. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.
Tags: Platformer, puzzler, Ripstone, stick it to the man


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Embedded Software Development
Easy for you
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Efficient, comprehensible and compact embedded single-core C/C++ code generation from MATLAB® and Scilab code.
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Through May 21, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. PDT or while supplies last, save 40% on the FabFitFun Editor's Box #2 with coupon code SUPER40!
Here's everything in the box – $29.99 with this code.
- FabFitFun Coloring Book and Pencils
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We've designed each curation as a perfect introduction to the FabFitFun membership highlighting the products and brands most beloved by our editors and our members.
The Editor's Box will change each season.


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WILBURTON, OK (Oct. 26, 2015) – Forty–six GEAR UP sophomores from Spiro High School recently toured the campus of East Central University in Ada. ECU tour guides Ashley and BJ Echard greeted the group and provided an educational tour of the ECU campus. The tour began in the Bill S. Cole University Center, also known as the wellness center. This is where students eat, play pool, workout, hangout, blow off steam, swim in the pool, play basketball or walk on the indoor track.
The bookstore and post office are across from the wellness center. Students learned that books may be purchased new or used, rented, or they can get ebooks for almost all classes. GEAR UP students ate lunch in the Taff Cafeteria where ECU students can get a flex plan for meals. Tour guides explained that this is cheaper than making own meals because the cafeteria serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, students may get as much as they want to eat. Tour guides revealed the most important thing—most of the events on campus are free as long as you have your student ID.
Students toured several buildings on campus including the recently remodeled Education Building which houses the psychology and counseling departments. Ashley said the instructors are awesome and always willing to help. She added that living in the dorms is great, but she prefers living in a sorority house because she gets the opportunity to meet new people, plus all kinds of free food.
The Science Hall was next. Spiro students learned ECU graduates have a high acceptance rate into medical school. Students saw a mannequin that simulates giving birth to a baby. The nursing program is working to increase the number of scholarships awarded for their nursing program to help more students get into and through nursing–related majors. Science Hall also contained math labs with free tutoring.
Then students toured the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center which includes the theater, band and choir programs. Danley Hall houses the main computer lab and help desk. If students need help with anything regarding their Blackboard or signing in, staff is available to help.
BJ encouraged the students to take the ACT as many times as possible to raise their scores to qualify for more scholarships. He also discussed different scholarships the students could apply for, and how they should put forth the effort, watch their GPA and making good grades.
"As an important part of the GEAR UP grant, the students get the opportunity to see a college campus and get outside of their box," explained GEAR UP Education Coordinator Dara Self. "By taking the students to tour ECU, we give the students the ability to see anything is possible and encourage them to pursue higher education."
The field trip was sponsored by Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP. Participating schools take two field trips each academic year—one to tour a college or university and one that is cultural/educational in nature.
Spiro GEAR UP sophomores ready to board the bus after their tour of East Central University. Front Row: Clifford Dollar. Row 2: Dylan Ridenour, Brevon Harper, Kaylie Smith, Darian Sharp, Chloe Rogers, Jaden Brown, Antonio Johnson, Madison LeFlore. Row 3: Madison Osborne, Abby Smith, Alexis Harrison, Jaden Jones, Aspen McAlister, Sierra Perdue, Hannah Gilliam, Brooke Beason, Matthew Smith, Eathan Caldwell, Heath Finley, Katrina McClain, Larissa Henry, Hannah Tobler, and Brianna Birchfield. Row 4: Saylor Clark, Jonathan Barathona–Ramirez, Abigail Moore, Aspen Pierce, Blake Robbins, Bradlee Chronister, Jayden Potter, Kirwin Horton, Seth Rinke, Acacia Waliston, Dre Spring and Thomas Hughes. Back Row: Tory Eatmon, Jared Walkers, Cedric Cobb and Zania Mobley.
ECU tour guide Ashley Echard explains cafeteria meal plans and eating arrangements on the campus to Spiro GEAR UP students.
ECU tour guide BJ Echard talks about the recently remodeled Education Building which houses the counseling and psychology departments to Spiro GEAR UP students Thomas Hughes, Heath Finley, Spiro Teacher Marty Darneal, Dre Spring, Aspen Pierce, Jonathan Barahona–Ramirez and Bradlee Chronister.
ECU tour guide BJ Echard talks about the recently remodeled Education Building which houses the counseling and psychology departments to Spiro GEAR UP students Thomas Hughes, Heath Finley, Spiro Teacher Marty Darneal, Dre Spring, Aspen Pierce, Jonathan Barahona–Ramirez and Bradlee Chronister.
Spiro GEAR UP sophomores Serria Perdue, Hannah Tobler and Hannah Gilliam check out the locker room of the ECU Tiger Softball Team. Every softball player's dream!!
Spiro GEAR UP students Kirwin Horton, Dylan Ridenour, Ethan Caldwell, Brevon Harper and Clifford Dollar pose for a picture while waiting in line to eat at Taff Cafeteria.


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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – The European Union's top court on Wednesday rejected legal action by Hungary and Slovakia seeking to avoid accepting refugees under an EU-wide plan, a decision seen as a victory for those countries bearing the greatest burden of Europe's migrant influx.
In a long-awaited test case, the European Court of Justice said it had "dismissed in its entirety the actions brought by Slovakia and Hungary."
Hungary branded the ruling "outrageous and irresponsible," while Slovakia said it would accept the verdict even if it still opposes legally-binding EU refugee quotas.
Human rights group Amnesty International welcomed the ruling, saying Hungary and Slovakia had been trying to turn their countries into "refugee-free zones."
Greece and Italy have been on the front line of the torrent of migrants and refugees flooding into Europe in the last few years, as hundreds of thousands of people from war zones like Syria and Iraq or job-seekers mostly from Africa have arrived on their shores.
EU nations agreed in September 2015 to relocate 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy over two years, but only around 27,700 people have been moved so far, according to figures released Wednesday. Hungary and Slovakia were seeking to have the plan annulled.
Hungary and Poland have refused to take part altogether, while Slovakia has accepted only a handful of refugees from Greece.
The refugee sharing plan was adopted by a "qualified majority" EU vote – around two thirds of the bloc's members – and the court held that this was appropriate, saying the EU "was not required to act unanimously" on this decision.
The court noted the small number of relocations so far is due to factors that the EU could not have foreseen, including "the lack of cooperation on the part of certain member states."
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called the court ruling "outrageous and irresponsible."
"The decision puts at risk the security of all of Europe and the future of all of Europe as well," Szijjarto said, calling the ruling "contrary to the interests of the European nations, including Hungary."
Szijjarto said Hungary would focus on defending the EU's external border against incoming migrants and asylum-seekers and urged the EU to abandon its "unsuccessful" refugee-sharing plan.
"The real battle is only just beginning," Szijjarto said, vowing that Hungary would continue to challenge any EU attempt to resettle migrants in Hungary without its approval.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said he respected the court decision, but that his government still does not like the relocation plan, which he and others in Eastern Europe see as quotas imposed on them by unelected EU bureaucrats in Brussels.
"We fully respect the verdict of the European Court of Justice," Fico told reporters, adding that his government's negative stance on the relocation plan "has not changed at all."
Fico said the scheme was a temporary solution that will end on Sept. 26. He says he believes his country doesn't face any sanctions from the EU over its stance. EU officials say countries will still have to share eligible asylum-seekers arriving in Greece and Italy up until Sept. 26.
Despite the court ruling, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said her country will stick by its refusal to take in refugees.
"This absolutely does not change the position of the Polish government with respect to migration policy," she said.
Welcoming the court verdict, EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos warned Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland that they could face legal action if they don't live up to their refugee obligations "in coming weeks."
Slovakia is not included in the legal action as it recently agreed to host a few refugees.
The European Commission has already launched an "infringement procedure" against the three nations for failing to take, or not recently accepting, refugees who have arrived in Italy and Greece in the last two years.
Avramopoulos said if they fail to act soon, the Commission should consider taking "the last step in the infringement procedure, to refer Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to the European Court of Justice."
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said he expects all EU countries to implement the decision "without further hesitation."
"Solidarity is not a one-way street," he said.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, an advocate for asylum-seekers, urged Hungary to give refugees an opportunity to make their case for asylum.
"The lesson of the verdict is that helping people fleeing war and terror is truly a common responsibility for Europe," the group said. "Hungary needs to respect the decision of the EU court."
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has made migrants a key political issue since early 2015 and ahead of the parliamentary election expected in April 2018.
Hungary's position is that only its elected leaders should be able to decide who is allowed into the country. Orban has said the large influx of mainly Muslim immigrants threatens Europe's and Hungary's cultural identity.
In mid-September 2015, Hungary closed off its southern border first with Serbia and later with Croatia with a fence protected by razor wire. The fences have mostly stopped migrants from passing through Hungary on their way to Western Europe but Hungary has also greatly reduced the chances for asylum-seekers to submit applications in the country.
In other news, the EU said the bloc's migrant agreement with Turkey was working well but that more effort was needed to speed asylum applications.
"The EU-Turkey statement continues to work and deliver results," Avramopoulos said, adding that migrant arrivals in Greece from Turkey had dropped 97 percent since the deal began in March 2016.
Cook reported from Brussels.


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AOTO Electronics Co., Ltd. ("AOTO") is a diversified holding company registered in Shenzhen, China.
Under AOTO there are four key strategic business units, such as highest quality LED display, banking electronics, lighting engineering and sports operation.
Over the years we have grown to become a world leading display provider offering a complete line of indoor and outdoor direct view LED display products.
We are also proud that we were the first publicly held company in the LED display industry in China (Shenzhen Stock Exchange: 002587).
Our in-depth knowledge and technical know-how has allowed us to stay as one of the major suppliers of large area displays in the world for so many years. Our progressive and technological savvy team has been pioneers in the display industry for years bringing the latest cutting-edge technology to the market. AOTO's products are the ideal solution for your large area display across so many applications.
The key to our success is our PEOPLE! Our highly-trained techno-specialists on our Research& Development Team ensure that our products are supplied to cater to the specific market's needs and offer great value to our customers. Products can be rapidly and accurately modified to include our client's requirements and formed into an IPD (Integrated Product Development) innovation system.
Based on the world-leading core technologies and the precise study of client's requirements, AOTO makes professional solutions for Advertising, Sports, Events and Staging, Architecture, TV Broadcasting, Command & Control Rooms. AOTO products and solutions have been accepted by some of the world's most prestigious advertising companies, top world sporting events and major installation companies in the entertainment business. The AOTO brand has always been an icon of high-end of LED displays.
Service is not only a kind of culture but also an important part of AOTO brand. "Quick Response, Efficient, Professional" is our philosophy. Our customer service team always looks at the customer's needs and aims to exceed them to bring ultimate satisfaction to the companies that choose AOTO. Recently, AOTO has established a complete technology service network with 55 service centers in China, technical support centers in Hong Kong, London, New York, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, and a global call center enables us to provide 24/7/365 support services to every corner of the world.


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Martin Brennan
Martin focuses on identifying investment opportunities for SEP in growth stage technology and technology-enabled companies across the UK, Ireland and Europe.
He has been deeply involved in the European technology industry for over fifteen years, having previously worked at private investment firm Forward Internet Group, at investment banks Piper Jaffray and FirstCapital and in the Strategy Consulting practice at Accenture.
Investments at SEP include leading IT infrastructure and cloud hosting company Pulsant, premium outdoor and sports apparel flash sales business SportPursuit and LoveCrafts, the operator of online crafts communities with millions of users worldwide.
Martin also supported Audiense, a Software as a Service business which provides brands with consumer insights and customer engagement tools across social media platforms, prior to SEP's exit in 2016.
Martin is based in SEP's London office.Back to Team Page


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Book Signing and B-Fest!
That's right! There's going to be an in-person type thing!
So some of you may have seen on social media or in stores that every Barnes & Noble store is participating in the first ever B-Fest, a national teen book festival, and it's happening THIS WEEKEND (June 10-12). There is a ton going on at every store and, in addition to the national events, there are author signings all over the place. It's going to be a ton of fun!
Why am I posting about this? Well, partly because I think it's going to be awesome, partly because I'll be working some of the events as a bookseller, and partly because I'll be holding a signing! So here's a break-down of events.
FRIDAY JUNE 10: 7 pm B- IN THE KNOW
Think you know YA? Put yourself to the test with our Trivia Blast, created by Penguin Teen and Random House's First in Line. One winner in each store will spend the next year receiving advance reader's copies of the hottest new teen titles, plus there's swag!
SATURDAY JUNE 11: 11 am B- FIRST
There are so many amazing titles coming out, and you can be among the first to see them! Get samplers and sneak peeks from some of your favorite authors, including a Maze Runner prequel from James Dashner, new stories from Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children (don't forget the movie of the first book, out this year!), and others! Other exciting giveaways are in the works, and the publishers sent some pretty awesome stuff.
SATURDAY JUNE 11: 2pm B- PART OF THE FUN
Settle in for a great time, as we unload spelling showdown, story ball, games, and activities, with even more prizes. Guys, I've seen the author coloring book. It's amazeballs.
SUNDAY JUNE 12: 2pm B- CREATIVE
Learn how to develop your story in a workshop created by Adaptive Studios and find out more about this awesome publisher and their dual-media projects.
And me!
I'll be at the Crossroads Barnes & Noble in Omaha to lead the workshop on Sunday (among other things) and it'll round out with a signing for A WOUNDED NAME. To address the question that may or may not come up: we've got THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN on order and hopefully it will be there as well, but the focus will be on A WOUNDED NAME because it's actually the teen book. (Teen book, teen book fest…you know.) But if our timing from when the book hit the warehouse works out well, we'll have both books there for those who are interested.
Authors are booked at locations all over the country–call your local Barnes & Noble or check them out on twitter, facebook, or instagram to find out who's coming to the stores near you. You can also check out #BFESTBUZZ, @bnbuzz, or visit bn.com/b-fest.
While this is primarily intended for young adults, the adults young at heart are welcome to join in the fun. The weekend is a fantastic opportunity for fans to come together and celebrate all the awesomeness that is the teen book scene. Hope to see you there!
I Found Treasure in the Library!
Anyone who's read through the archives on here knows that I love libraries. I love the accessibility of them, the way they can foster readers, the amazing assistance they can give the public through computer and employment programs. I love being surrounded by books. I love walking in and seeing people–especially children–so excited about what books they might stumble upon that day. I love that libraries are the perfect places to take risks on new books, new authors. I was one of the few kids that knew and conversed with all of the school librarians. I spent large portions of my summers in the main branch library downtown.
Libraries have a very special place in my heart.
A few months ago, my friend Lesley and I made a day out of going to one of the libraries in Ocala so she could look around in prep for an interview test. And can I just say, the main branch of the Marion County Public Library is GORGEOUS? It's elegant and full of light and space. Their kids area is adorable, with science projects and theme displays, and they have an entire room dedicated to YA, with funky chairs and built-in swivel-top desks. We were scanning the shelves, and all of a sudden, I notice something.
The audio book of A Wounded Name! It was the first time I'd actually seen a copy of it!
And if it seems weird that the library has the audio but not the physical book, well, I thought it was, too, so I asked (and blushed and stammered over trying to explain that it was actually my book). Turns out, the MCPL has a weirdly specific grant that gives them the ability to purchase a TON of audio books, especially in YA, so they've got a significant collection.
And in addition to the first time seeing the audio book, it was my first time seeing the book in the wild! I don't count my BN as being the wild; we made very sure to order it in. I got to spend a few months seeing my book on the shelf in my store, but being able to see it somewhere completely unexpected was…it was…
Abso-freaking-lutely unbelievable.
There are a million points in the publishing process where your book starts to feel real–the sale, the first edits, the cover, the ARC, the finished copy, seeing it in a store, seeing someone purchase it–but I'm not sure it ever completely feels real. I was reorganizing my bookshelves a few weeks ago and was actually startled at mine being among them (and that alphabetically, I now have like five Carolrhoda Lab titles on a single shelf in one of the cases). I guess it's just something that will always feel a little bit surreal.
Theoretically, I knew the physical book was in the library system for my county. (Okay, I admit, I totally looked it up on the library website) I hadn't actually seen it yet, though. I have two branches that I go to fairly frequently, especially since I became unemployed, and I hadn't seen it in either of them. I also didn't feel entirely comfortable placing a hold on something I had no intention of checking out just so I could be lazy and not have to go to a different branch. I mean, let's be honest, I'm lazy enough that I'll Netflix shows I own so I don't have to get up and change the discs, so this was me very carefully drawing a line. I would see it or I wouldn't.
Thanks to Elizabeth Fama (author of amazing books MONSTROUSE BEAUTY and PLUS ONE, as well as all-around amazing person), I've been giving audiobooks a fresh chance, because they're not something with which I ever do. I've been so miserably sick over the past four or five days that audiobooks have actually kind of saved my sanity, because taking super long soaks in the bathtub has been the only way to comfortably breathe, and the tubs in my apartment are so miserably proportioned that you can't read while soaking. But audiobook? Totally works. So I've been finding some that don't trigger my ADD, which is a wonderful thing. This morning I managed to get three whole hours of sleep, the first sleep in four days, and woke up feeling well enough to go out for a little bit. (That wasn't really an option, though; I needed food. I had none in the apartment, because I've been holed up here in my hermit cave of illness). So, on my way to food, I dropped by the library to return a couple of titles and see if anything interesting had pulled up on the shelves. My branch has the audio books separated by section, but also separated from their sections. (Does that make sense? Like each category has, off to one side, its own little audio section, so you go near the end of Middle Grade, you have the Middle Grade audiobooks, etc) I hadn't intended to go into the YA physical book section, except that I couldn't remember exactly where the YA audiobooks were, because there was a weird allowance for running out of space in the area.
But my book was there!
Just randomly sitting there on the shelf! And there's a special sticker on for Local Author! (And a categorization of YA mystery, which kind of cracks me up a little, but whatever)
As wonderful as it is to see my book in a store, there's something just indescribable about seeing it in a library. I think a big part of that is how much libraries were a part of my life growing up. Seriously, guys, think about everything your libraries do. It's not as simple as "borrow books". Libraries provide such a huge range of services. They help teach English to immigrants, they teach computer and life skills classes, and host job search and interview workshops. They do literacy assistance for all ages, from story time with the youngest children to working with adults who learning how to read. They host book clubs and writing groups and drawing classes. They hold a number of community gatherings, from small festivals to council meetings to town meetings. They serve as polls, both for early voting and standard voting. And that's just a fraction of the services they provide.
Did you know you can request books?
You can! Most library systems have a way for patrons to request specific books, even in specific formats. You submit the request, they'll consider it, and if there's repeated interest or they think it's a good fit (and, you know, they have money), they'll buy it. A lot of them will even notify you when it's in, and give you the option to place an automatic hold. If they can't get it for their own system, a number of libraries are partnering with other counties, sometimes even in other states, for inter-library loan. In a time when libraries are struggling to get the funds to survive, librarians are doing everything they can to increase the availability of books.
Seriously, you should all go hug your librarians.
But ask them first, otherwise it's kind of creepy.
I saw the book sitting there on the shelf and for a moment, all I could do was stare at it. Then it sank in and I started giggling, only I have no voice right now, so it came out as a kind of witchy cackle, and I think I scared the guy re-shelving books down the row. It was just amazing to see! There are kids like me, kids who rely on libraries because the money isn't there to buy books for keeps, who can see this book and take it home with them.
I still can't stop smiling about it.
Signing Reminder
Look what's patiently waiting in the store:
I don't know that I'll ever get over the sight of my own book coming in the back door at work. It is AWESOME.
And now you can come share my excitement! This is just a reminder that I'll be doing a signing at the Gainesville Barnes and Noble this Saturday, Saturday 28th, from 3 to 5 pm. There isn't a reading but I will be delighted to answer questions, and of course there will be signing and smiles and swag (and apparently alliteration). If you have questions, you can ask them here, over on twitter (@dothutchison), on my facebook page (located on the sidebar), or you can also call the store at 352-372-3535.
If you don't live in the Gainesville area, or you just can't make it in, you can still a get signed copy after the fact! We'll be keeping a stash of books in stock, so you can call the number above and order a signed a/o personalized copy to be shipped out to you. I even keep a stash of purple Sharpies at work just for that purpose.
I really hope to see y'all there, and I would love you forever and ever if you'd help me spread the word!
Until next time~
Release Week Goodies!
With A Wounded Name out in the world now, I thought I'd do a round up of some of the fun release week stuff that's out there!
First up, my friend Shae has an interview and ARC giveaway up. The giveaway is only for another day, but the interview is forever. Fun note: Shae went to college in my home town, so even though we met through blogging, we very likely encountered each other at the bookstore where I work. Probably multiple times. She asked some really fun questions, and I love her enthusiasm for books. Not just mine- books in general. Authors need (and love!) champions like her.
My friend and agent-mate Chelsea Pitcher, author of The S-Word, also has an interview up. The giveaway is closed, but she asked some seriously fantastic questions about feminism and Ophelia.
Speaking of feminism, Rhiannon over at Feminist Fiction also has an interview up, specifically asking about the difficulties in a soul-deep feminist telling the story of one of the most famously passive female characters of all time.
Finally, my publisher, Carolrhoda Lab (an imprint of Lerner Publishing) is doing a giveaway for two copies of the book! The Lab has an absolutely amazing fall list for you guys (and us- I am crazy looking forward to some of these titles!)
Until next time~
Signing for A Wounded Name
It's here! It's real and out there and holy wow!
And now, something I've been waiting for since I was about five years old, I get to announce my first signing in a bookstore!
On Saturday, 28 September, from 3-5 pm at the Gainesville, FL Barnes & Noble, I'll be doing my first signing. If you're in the area, you're welcome to come down! It's not a solid two-hour event, we purposefully created a window of time to accommodate busy schedules (and football). For Gator fans, don't worry- it's an away game that day.
We checked.
If you can't get down there, well, we'll miss you, but it doesn't mean you can't get signed books. If you call the store at 352-372-3535, you can actually purchase copies over the phone and get them sent out. If you want them just signed, we can do that, if you want them personalized, I can do that too, all you have to do is let the cashier know so they can write it out on the slip for me. If you have any questions, you can ask here, or you can also call the store to ask.
In the meantime, thank you all so much for all the good wishes and congratulations this past week. It's been amazing and surreal and even though I've always wanted to get my books published, I think there was a part of me that was always convinced I'd never make it. Every now and then I have to go pet the cover to remind myself that it's happened. It looks so pretty on the shelf!
Until next time~
(or until the signing!)
Happy Birthday to A Wounded Name!
It's official! A Wounded Name is out in the world!
I can't…I can't even…
Holy cow my book is out in the world!
A Wounded Name Giveaway!
September is creeping closer and closer! In less than two months, A Wounded Name will be out in the world for all to see!
You can even read the first chapter for free.
So to celebrate, how's about a giveaway?
There are actually THREE prize packs available!
First prize is a SIGNED, HARDCOVER copy of A Wounded Name. It's so pretty and smooth and did I mention pretty? You can also choose to have this personalized. Also included is a signed swag pack.
Second prize is a copy of Defy the Dark, edited by Saundra Mitchell. It has a slew of amazing stories in it, but the reason I selected it for a giveaway is Tessa Gratton's story "This was Ophelia". Does that name sound familiar? It should- this is a brilliant take on Hamlet set in all the heady glory of the Jazz Age. I'm a sucker for Hamlet anyway (go figure) and I adore Tessa Gratton's writing, and this was just a win-win all the way around. This one also includes a signed swag pack for A Wounded Name.
Third prize pack is a signed swag pack, enough to have AND to share!
The only piece that's mandatory is the comment: tell me what book or books you're looking forward to this fall. You can get extra points for liking my facebook page or following me on twitter, as well as tweeting about the giveaway. PLUS, you can add points by tweeting each day. The giveaway is up for a week, so it'll close Tuesday night (the 16th)
Less than two months!
Until next time~
I Have a Voice!
Well, I mean, obviously, I've always had a voice, and it doesn't need to be the spoken word to prove that, but still.
One of the weirder aspects of social media is that we get used to thinking of people we've never met as a particular icon or outfit or look, so when we actually see them in person it's like "I'm sorry, who are you?" It's not like the pop culture celebrity fixation. Our celebrities are celebrated for their books, not plastered everywhere so you can effortlessly recognize them.
But, while I was up at BEA, I recorded a podcast with Book Bliss, and it's up! You can listen to it HERE.
And can I just say, I don't think there's ever been a person in the history of recording that's listened to their voice afterwards and said "YES! That is EXACTLY what I thought I would sound like!"
A Look Behind A Wounded Name
When you tell someone about a project you're writing or have written, one of the first questions you usually hear is "Where did it come from?" Or, as my agent puts it, "Your brain must be a terrifying place." (Reason a billion and one that Sandy and I are a really great fit) And most of the time, someone asks me this, and I just kind of start to stammer. The truth is, I have no idea where most of my stories come from. I remember strange things, I think of strange things, and they all just sort of stew together in my brain until suddenly two or more things click together and I sit up and go OOH! THAT COULD WORK!! I can occasionally trace back influences, things that have been roiling around in my mind for weeks or months or even years, but I can only really think of two projects where I could specifically point to something and say "This, this is where it came from".
But A Wounded Name is one of those projects.
In some ways, it starts out as a pretty broad answer: a lifelong love of Shakespeare. I was the kid who brought Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing and Measure for Measure to elementary school with me, struggling through the language, and even though I got none of the subtleties or dirty jokes, I could more or less understand what was going on. It was in eighth grade that the appreciation shifted into something deeper, and there are two reasons for that.
The first was that my friend Carl, who was in Junior Thespians with me, performed the dagger monologue from Macbeth for the Districts and State Competitions/Festivals. And did it REALLY WELL. Even the kids in the audience who'd never come up against Shakespeare before got it. Even if they didn't know the story or the character, they knew that this guy was coming seriously unhinged- and planning something really awful.
The second was that our gifted humanities teacher, Mrs. Shaughnessy, introduced us to Shakespeare in a way that was FUN. We read through Henry IV, Part I in class, and it's a history play, so it's easy to get bogged down in the poetically framed politics, but she very brilliantly focused on Hal and Falstaff. Dude, Shakespeare was FUNNY! And PERVY! We were cracking up about it, and when there was a filthy joke based off of slang we didn't understand, she explained it. This sweet, delicate-looking, soft-spoken teacher in her fifties actually stood there and explained to teenagers that this page and a half of text was actually full of jokes about whether or not a guy's junk worked. And, to reward us for successfully getting through the play, we took an end of year field trip to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where they were performing As You Like It, and we DIED. The performance was amazing, incredibly well done, and that's when we finally understood that Shakespeare was meant to be performed, not read.
Shakespeare wasn't published within his lifetime. It was after his death that some of his friends got together and published his plays. Before that point, you experienced Shakespeare by actually experiencing it, by seeing it, hearing it, feeling it. Shakespeare is meant to be performed, and some of us took that to heart.
The next year, three of my good friends and I decided we wanted to do an ensemble acting piece for Districts. We were nervous, because we were freshmen in a program that wasn't, at the time, freshmen friendly, but two of us had done the summer theatre program with the school and gotten to know a bunch of the older kids, and more importantly the teacher, who was also an old friend of my family, and we figured if we put together something really good, it wouldn't matter that we were younger, maybe we could still get a spot. I honestly don't remember how we ended up with the play we did- I remember us looking, all of us digging into any play we could get our hands on. I don't remember who found the winner.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, by Tom Stoppard, is an absolutely brilliant play that's woven through Hamlet, but it's pretty much based off of two lines.
TWO LINES. In all of Hamlet an entire play was able to be based off of TWO LINES.
And they're an innocuous two line set, nothing glorious or earth-shattering.
CLAUDIUS: Thank you, Rosencrantz, and gentle Guildenstern.
GERTRUDE: Thank you, Guildenstern, and gentle Rosencrantz.
Now this is one of those places where performance is everything, because you can do a LOT of different things with those two lines. Most productions just kind of gloss over them. After all, Ros and Guil are hardly significant characters. They are so generally un-important, in fact, that Shakespeare gives us absolutely nothing to distinguish between them. They are utterly non-distinct, a pair never seen separated. So, some productions play off of that by saying that Claudius doesn't know them that well, that he puts the adjective with the wrong name, and so Gertrude is gently correcting him with her statement.
Stoppard took those two lines and spun out this wonderful journey of one existential crisis after another, where these two characters are totally at sea in everything that's going on around them, and lost as they are, can't help but cry out again and again WHO AM I AND WHAT AM I DOING HERE? Guildenstern even argues, though he thinks he's talking about the situation, that rather than being opposite sides of the same coin, they are actually the same sides of two coins, able to be manipulated separately and yet still the same thing. This play is fiendishly intelligent, full of wordplay that would make the Bard proud, a tragic sense of inevitability, and yet an unapologetic love of the absurd. Ros and Guil are adrift, are utterly incapable of understanding everything going on around them because Hamlet is, after all, a play where everyone has secrets from each other, but they're being manipulated by EVERYONE, everyone is trying to use them for their own ends and aims. And in Stoppard's play, the director is the devious, somewhat implacable Player, leader of the company Hamlet hires for his trap.
We fell in love with this play, and we finally found a scene we thought would work for all four of us, where Hamlet welcomes his pair of old school friends to Elsinore and bids them be respectful to the Player. From that point on, Ros and Guil are trying to figure out what's going on, and the Player is…well, let's call it less than direct. There's a lot of stumbling over words, because English is, after all, a bizarre language, imprecise at the best of times. We practiced and practiced and practiced, we watched two or three different movie versions of Hamlet, we watched the movie production with Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, and Richard Dreyfuss (which is brilliant, by the way), we argued ENDLESSLY over stupid things. Seriously, we spent probably five weeks arguing over the pronunciation of gesture until we finally asked someone. But we had a fairly solid piece when we auditioned, and so our teacher gave us a slot for Districts, and we started practicing even harder.
Our rehearsals often got sidetracked, because as much as we wanted to polish this and make it awesome, the word-play was fantastically fun. We kept looking outside of the scene, or even all the way back to Hamlet to pull in context or hints or allusions because there was just so much wealth to work it. And we asked questions. Not just what does this word mean, or what is he trying to say here, but bigger questions.
Is Hamlet actually crazy?
Does the Player know all of what's going on?
What are the consequences of trying to understand the situation?
And we asked questions that had absolutely nothing to do with the scene, but were just such interesting questions that we couldn't help ourselves.
Does Hamlet love Ophelia?
Why does Ophelia lose it?
How much does Gertrude know?
How much does Polonius know?
SO MANY QUESTIONS, and we could debate them endlessly. Honestly, in high school the four of us could debate almost anything endlessly, simply because the discussion itself was that much fun.
We took the piece to Districts and did REALLY well. We got straight superiors, so all three judges in the room thought that we did an amazing job. Not the absolute best job they saw in the room (Critics' Choice) but a really solid, wonderful job. We were ecstatic. And because of those straight superiors, we automatically got one of the very few slots available for State. Which…pissed off a bunch of the upper classmen, who felt they should get preferential treatment because we had three more years ahead of us to compete. To which our teacher replied that if they wanted that badly to compete in State, they should have worked harder, done better, and ranked higher.
Our teacher didn't really put up with anyone's crap.
State is a lot harder than Districts- you have to get at least an excellent at Districts to be able to compete, and because of limited slots, each school tries to bring its best stuff, so the judges rank accordingly. We got an excellent at State, and were ridiculously happy about it.
Senior year, in a fit of nostalgia, we decided to do the same piece again. We hadn't all four been in a single competition piece since freshmen year, so there was something that felt pretty right about it, and we knew even at the beginning of the year that we weren't going to all be going to the same colleges. And this time, we had three more years of debates under our belt, three more years of independently dissecting the play we'd all fallen in love with. And someone, one of the parents, I'd suspect, decided to get a picture of us this time.
Now, keeping in mind that this picture was taken TEN AND A HALF YEARS AGO, we have, starting at twelve o'clock: me, as the Player, Betty-Jane as Rosencrantz, JD as Hamlet, and Jeff as Guildenstern.
This time, the ensemble piece wasn't our main focus. We all had different things we were doing that year. JD was in a duet pantomime (I'm Not as Think as You Drunk I Am, which was absolutely hysterical and won Critics' Choice), Betty-Jane had monologues and a duet acting scene that were both absolutely brilliant (and off the top of my head I can't remember your scores, Betty-Jane, sorry!), Jeff was doing Publicity Design (Critics' Choice and Tech District Representative), and I had a solo, a duet musical, and Playwriting (for Playwriting I received Critics' Choice and Tech District Representative). We were mostly focused on all of that, so this piece was really just for us, something fun to do together because we'd all been so crazy busy with everything.
And it was. It was brilliant, and fun, and we did well at Districts and not quite as well at State, and that was okay. Because we loved it, and we had a blast asking all those questions again, and asking better questions, deeper questions, questions that used the play as a stepping off point and tried to apply the possible answers against the broader human condition.
Okay, we were super pretentious in high school- aren't most high schoolers?
The next year, Jeff and I both went down to the College of Theatre and Dance at the University of South Florida, him for the technical track, me for the performance track. Our senior year, he did the theatre honors track, combining that thesis with his honors college one, and he and his honors classmates created, from the ground up, a study on Ophelia. They researched and debated and eventually wrote and designed a production called Remembrances, also known as the Ophelia project. I went to see the performance, and really, it was just brilliant. From every standpoint, honestly, the writing, the acting, the design and execution.
Its sense of time was fluid- interspersed with scenes from Hamlet were moments where the fractured pieces of Ophelia interacted, and memories of happier times with her family. It didn't try to define Ophelia- it tried to explore her. To understand her.
During its larval stage, Jeff and I used to get together every Thursday for Wine and Laundry night. I lived in a place that didn't have laundry facilities, and I lived in an area where you REALLY didn't go to the all-night laundromats unless you wanted to get mugged or raped, and at that time, my weekends were dedicated to Job Number One, which was retail, Job Number Two, which was rehearsals and then performance for the Renaissance Faire, Unpaid Job Number Three, which was tech work on the shows the college put on, for which I received mandatory credits, plus working on my own honors thesis, which was a novel. The only thing that made the weekends distinct was that I didn't have sit-down class. So, Thursday nights, where conversations would range over every possible topic, and frequently came back to Ophelia, because we both had a long-held interest in her.
Backing up slightly, at the end of my junior year, I'd proposed a thesis project that would take seven questions from/about Shakespeare's plays and explore them as novellas. One of these seven pieces was going to be about Ophelia, a fractured time piece where her sanity has already slipped but she's still trying to tell us the story, only she can't piece it together in the right order. I ended up not doing that because my potential thesis advisor and I disagreed on how to approach them. I didn't want to research other takes until after I'd written mine, so as to avoid influence, and she felt I needed to research them first so I could support my own opinion.
I love research, but an academic researcher I'll never be.
And in a way, I was a little grateful that it fell through, because of all the questions I'd intended to face, that one TERRIFIED ME, and when it came to writing, I was only learning to be brave at that point. Back then, I thought if it scared me, that was a sign I should do something else. So, I went back and looked at the only original novel I'd ever finished, back from the beginning of freshmen year of college which desperately needed to be re-written pretty much from the ground up, and asked around for advice on who to approach as an advisor, given that the Creative Writing Dept had never waivered me in to their classes, and at the end of the year, when I met with Dr Omlor, my advisor, for my final evaluation, he told me I was an idiot if I didn't try to get published.
Over the next few years, Ophelia kept creeping out in small ways. The next year, when I was taking a poetry class at the community college (long story), she found her way into one of the poems. The prompt was to take lines from established pieces and use them within our own poem. I borrowed from both Hamlet and T.S. Eliot (several of his poems, really), and what came out was…I loved it. And I suck at poetry, so for me to say that I love this poem is really kind of extraordinary. There was something broken about it, the way the original lines were left justified and the borrowed lines right justified, the way your eye had to travel across the page, the way the original lines could be read entirely on their own and still tell the story but the borrowed lines added something…I don't think I'd ever loved one of my own poems before. At about the same time, I was writing a Harry Potter fanfiction called (and here I'm outing myself, oh well) "Where the Breezes Know My Name". It's a STRANGE little piece, but at the time it was the most poetic prose I'd ever written, and for YEARS I swore about it, because I thought it was beautiful and there was no way in hell I could unravel it from the original source enough to use it for anything original.
A few years later, I woke up in the middle of the night with Ophelia's voice in my head, specifically the first few lines of the book, which have remained unchanged from that moment.
The sky is blue today.
Blue like glacier ice, like hidden springs. Blue like jays' wings, peacock feathers. Blue like my mother's skin.
Well. Hello, Ophelia!
But I was in the middle of another project at the moment, one that was quickly growing to the point that it needed to be split into two books (and will thankfully never, ever, EVER see the light of day), so I wrote down the lines on the notebook beside my bed and figured I'd forget about it.
But Ophelia, as a figment, is sneakily persistent. She'd pop up in my dreams, shoving these eerie and lovely and unsettling images at me, I'd hear her voice and write the lines down on napkins, scrap papers, business cards, sometimes even my arm or the back of my hand if I didn't have anything else handy. Ophelia would not go away, and she was bound and determined that she wasn't going to be quiet.
Having Ophelia in my head was like edging into a kind of insanity, and it didn't really stop until I finally sat down, typed the first lines in a fresh word document, and let her take the reins.
From start to finish, the first draft took twenty-three days, and because of work and other obligations, I couldn't write every day. Once I typed in the last line, it was like this massive weight was off me, like suddenly I could breathe again. For weeks, I'd been drowning in Ophelia, and suddenly my head was clear again.
But where she first started gaining form, where the questions first started giving her a distinct and permanent existence in some part of my brain, was 1999, when Jeff, JD, Betty-Jane, and I first sat together over a battered library copy of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which an eye towards taking it to competition.
And that is the story behind the story, behind A Wounded Name.
Until next time~


text:
Regimental History
The Eighth was originally formed on August 12, 1861 and mustered into service on September 23, 1861. Colonel William M. Fenton was the 8th's first commander, when they made their famous charge at the battle of Sesessionville, South Carolina. Genesse County adopted the 8th Michigan and presented to it its first "One Country One Destiny" flag. This was adopted as the regiment's motto and was the battle cry for the next four years. The Ninth Corps. became the home for the 8th Michigan and because of its involvement in battles in over seven southern states, became known as the "Wandering Regiment". Our history over the next four years is intermixed with that of such well known regiments as the 79th New York "Highlanders" and the 100th Pennsylvannia. The 79th and the 8th became inseperable and were known to trade hats and pranks with each other all the way through the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia. Don Harvey has written a brief history of the Eighth Michigan on his website "Michigan in the Civil War" that also contains a list of battle honors and a roster of the regiment as well as for all the other Michigan units.
Clck here to go to "Michigan in the Civil War".
"In 1862, the citizens of Genesee county, through a committee composed of Hon. J. B. Walker, George T. Clark, and Chas. P. Avery, forwarded from Flint, to the Eighth infantry, for its gallant services, especially at the "Battle of Coosaw," a regimental Flag, rich and beautiful; the material of heavy silk, tasselled with gold. Embroidered on it were stars on the field, and "Eighth Regiment Michigan Infantry, One Country, One Destiny;" and which was afterwards adopted as the motto of the regiment. The staff surmounted with a gilt ball, on which rested an eagle in gold, with extended wings, a silver plate on the staff, with the inscription, "Presented to the officers and soldiers of the Eighth Regiment Michigan Infantry, by their friends and neighbors of Genesee county;" The colors reached the regiment at Beaufort, South Carolina, and were presented by General Isaac I. Stevens, commanding, in a very complimentary address, to which Colonel Fenton appropriately replied. He also sent a letter of thanks through the committee at Flint, to the donors throughout the county of Genesee." This was taken from "The flags of Michigan." Compiled by Jno. Robertson, adjutant general. Michigan., 1877. This flag along with the 8th's second flag and flags of the other regiments were hung in the rotunda of the State Capitol for many years until being taken down and preserved in a special vault at the State Archives, where they are currently in the process of preserving them. The flags are displayed in rotation at the Michigan Historical Museum. A link is provided on our Links etc. page.
"The Red Book Of Michigan" published in 1871 has this to say about the Eighth: THE EIGHTH INFANTRY. The 8th infantry, recruited by Col. W. M. Fenton, of Flint, might well be designated as the wandering or itinerant regiment of Michigan, leaving the State on the 27th of September, 1861, commanded by that officer, for the field in Virginia. It embarked at Annapolis, Md., as part of the expedition to Hilton Head, under Gen. T. W. Sherman. Down to November 1, 1862, it had been engaged in nine battles, occurring in four different States, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Maryland, and afterwards served in the various campaigns of the 9th corps in Tennessee, Mississippi, and, down to the close of the war, in Virginia. This brave and patriotic regiment commenced its battles at Port Royal, S. C., November 7, 1861, and was engaged most creditably in several others from that time to April 16, 1862, when it became specially noted in the spirited engagement on the reconnaisance made from on board the steamer Honduras by Col. Fenton, at Wilmington Island, Ga., on that day, where, after landing from the boats, it encountered the 13th Georgia, about 800 strong, armed with Enfield rifles, and drove them from the field in confusion, with loss, and leaving their dead on the ground. The object of the reconnaisance having been effected, the regiment, about dark, re-embarked on board the steamer. Its loss, out of a force of 300 men, were 10 killed and 35 wounded. Here fell two gallant officers, Adjutant N. Minor Pratt, killed instantly, and Lieutenant Frederick MI. Badger, who died of his wounds at Beaufort, S.C., three days after the battle. On June 16th following it was most signally distinguished in the assault made upon the enemy's works at Secessionville, on James Island, S. C., by a command of General Hunter's forces, under General Benham. The direct attack was made by General Stevens with the brigade led by Col. Fenton, and composed of the 8th Michigan, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Graves, 7th Connecticut, and 28th Massachusetts, and the brigade of Col. Leisure, comprising the 79th New York Highlanders, 46th New York, 100th Pennsylvania, and four detached companies of artillery. At first break of day the entire command was in motion, with strict orders to maintain most perfect silence, and to rely exclusively on the bayonet-to resort to firing only in case of manifest necessity. The force pressed forward, surprising and capturing the enemy's pickets and advanced promptly in line of battle without firing a gun to within one hundred yards of the enemy's works, when it received his fire of grape and canister, in advancing over the narrow strip of dry land, not over two hundred yards wide, between the marshes, being the only route by which the works could be reached, and that obstructed by an almost insuperable abatis, while the works were protected by a ditch seven feet deep, and having a parapet nine feet high. The 8th Michigan being in the direct advance, immediately supported by the Highlanders, was completely swept by grape and canister at close range from six guns on the works, as well as by their musketry. Under this dreadful and destructive fire, and in defiance of these formidable defences, parties composed of officers and men from the 8th Michigan and 79th New York succeeded in gaining the parapet, but were shot down in the act; and, finally the assaulting force finding it impossible to carry the works had to withdraw. In Col. Fenton's report, covering the part taken by his brigade in the affair, is found the following: "The order not to fire, but use the bayonet, was obeyed, and the advance companies reached the parapet of the works at the angle on our right and front, engaging the enemy at the point of the bayonet. During our advance the enemy opened upon our lines an exceedingly destructive fire of grape, canister, and musketry, and yet the regiment pushed on as veterans, divided only to the right and left by a sweeping torrent from the enemy's main gun in front. The enemy's fire proved so galling and destructive that our men on the parapet were obliged to retire under its cover. The field was furrowed across with cotton ridges, and many of the men lay there loading and firing as deliberately as though on their hunting grounds at home." This was one of the most dashing assaults of the war, but made at a distressing sacrifice of life, the 8th Michigan losing 185 in killed, wounded, and missing out of 534, including 12 out of 22 officers. Captains Simeon C. Gould and Benjamin B. Church here fell mortally wounded, while bravely doing their duty; officers possessing great courage and true patriotism. After the engagement at James Island, the 9th corps joined the Army of the Potomac in the Pope campaign, and the 8th was in the battles at Bull Run, August 29th and 30th, and at Chantilly on September 1st, losing heavily, including Lieut. W. A. Brown among the severely wounded, of the 1st, causing his death during that month. Immediately following these engagements the 8th, with its corps, entered upon the Maryland campaign, and was conspicuously a participant in thiese important affairs. The regiment took a part in the campaigns of the 9th corps in Mississippi and East Tennessee in 1863, and participated in the advance of General Sherman on Jackson, Miss., becoming engaged at that place on the 10th and 16th of June, but without serious loss. From the 1st to the 14th of November, 1863, the 8th infantry was encamped at Lenoir Station, East Tennessee. The rebels, under General Longstreet, having commenced their advance on Knoxville, the 8th, with other forces, were ordered on the 14th to Hougli's Ferry, on the Holston river, but during the night returned to Lenoir Station, and on the 16th commenced the retreat to Knoxville. Being rapidly followed by the enemy, a stand was made at Campbell's Station. A brisk engagement ensued, in which the loss of the regiment was eleven in wounded. The pursuit of the rebels was here checked, but during the night the retreat was continued, the regiment arriving at Knoxville on the morning of the 17th. During the retreat to Knoxville, and the siege of that place, which was immediately commenced by the rebel forces, the regiment endured many hardships and privations, suffering especially from want of sufficient food and proper clothing. The 8th, during the entire siege, occupied the front line of works. On the 29th of November the regiment assisted to repel the assault of the rebels on Fort Sanders, the enemy being driven off with large loss. On the 5th of December the rebels withdrew from in front of Knoxville, and the 8th engaged in the pursuit as far as Rutledge, but on the 16th returned to Blain's Cross-roads, where it encamped. On the 4th of May the regiment commenced the campaign with the Army of the Potomac in its advance on Richmond, crossing the Rapidan at Germania Ford on the 5th. The 8th was prominently engaged during the advance in the Wilderness, and lost many brave men. On the 6th its casualties were ninety-niine in killed, wounded, and missing, including its commander Colonel Frank Graves, a gallant young officer of much promise, who fell by wounds while commanding his regiment, and was brutally murdered by rebels because he would not submit to indignity and robbery at their hanids. On the 8th the regiment, then commanded by Colonel Ralph Ely, marched through ChanIcellorsville to Spottsylvania Court-house, and on the 12th participated in the heavy assault on the enemy's entrenchments at that point, losing forty-nine officers and men, among the killed being Lieutenant Edgar A. Nye. In the attack on the rebel lines at Bethesda Church, near Cold Harbor on June 3d, it was hotly engaged, and lost an aggregate of fifty-two, including among the killed Major W. E. Lewis. The regiment took part in the attacks on the works before Petersburg on the 17th and 18th of June, losing forty-nine, Lieutenant Thomas Campbell being among the killed of the 17th. These three officers who lost their lives in the battles of their country were highly esteemed in their regiment for their many soldierly qualities and moral worth. On the 30th of July it was in the engagement following the explosion of the mine, losing thirteen in killed and wounded. On the 19th of August it participated in the repulse of the enemy's assault on our lines at the Weldon road, sustaining a loss of thirty killed, wounded, and missing. Here fell the gallant Major Belcher, a brave, honest, and patriotic soldier. On the 30th it crossed the Weldon road, and took a part in the engagement of that date, near Poplar Grove Church, sustaining a loss of eight wounded. The regiment, while in command of Major R. N. Doyle, also distinguished itself most conspicuously on the 2d of April, 1865, in front of Petersburg, when it engaged in the assault upon the eniemy's position at Port Mahon, where it took part in carrying the works at that point, and is claimed to have been one of the first regiments to place its colors on that rebel stronghold, and was among the first troops to enter Petersburg. In this affair it lost Capt. Henry B. Burritt, who was killed during the assault. The following is the report of Colonel Fenton of the operations of his regiment at Wilmnington Island, where it was specially engaged and lost heavily: and in reading it, as well as the various other official reports quoted in this volume, the people of Michigan cannot but be proud of the record which was made by their troops upon the battle-fields of the Union: THE EIGHTH INFANTRY. HEADQUARTERS 8TH REGIMENT MICHlIGAN VOLS., (ON BOARD STEAMER HONDURAS,) OFF WILMINGTON ISLAND, GA., 11 O'CLOCK P. M., April 16, 1862. Lieut. W. L. M. BURGER, Acting Assistant Adjutant General, Tybee Island, Ga.: SIR:-I have the honor to report for the information of the general commanding That in compliance with special orders No. 41 I embarked with seven companies of the 8th Michigan regiment as an escort to Lieut. J. H. Wilson, Topographical Engineer, on a reconnoissance of Wilmington Island. Two companies, under command of Captain Pratt, were landed at Scrivens' Plantation, with orders from Lieut. Wilson to skirt Turner's creek on the left. The other five companies were landed at Gibson's Plantation. Two of these companies were ordered to skirt Turner's creek, on the right; a third was to take the road to the right, towards the ferry at Caston's Bluff, to protect a boat party up Oatland creek, and the remainder to secure the landing. After one company of the five was landed Lieut. Wilson proceeded in a boat to Turner's creek. Owing to the small number of boats and the distance from the steamer, which was grounded, some delay occurred in the disembarcation. I directed Lieut. Col. Graves to follow with the second company and to skirt Turner's creek, but, being misdirected, he took the road to the right towards Carson's Bluff; and on landing with the remaining companies I received information that the enemy were in force at Fleetwood Plantation, and to the left of the road. This rendered the reconnaissance of Oatland creek with boats useless, and I ordered the companies all in; and, stationing the remaining companies to guard against an attack at our landing, sent out strong pickets on both roads. I believe the advance of the company to the right instead of along Turner's creek saved my conmmand, as it sooner enabled me to post the men to advantage and take a position from which the enemy's approach could be observed. The enemy proved to be the Georgia 13th, about 800 strong, armed with Enfield rifles. As they approached, about 4 o'clock P. M., with a strong body of skirmishers in the skirting of woods below the road, the companies I had stationed to the right and left of the road, in accordance with my instructions, opened fire. I immediately sounded the charge for advance of companies in the rear of the first line. The first line, mistaking the signal, fell back to the next cover. A constant and effective fire was kept up on both sides from cover of trees and bushes for an hour or more. Lieut. Wilson, who had returned with the boat party, here proved of great service to me. He took a party, at my request, to the left, and I ordered a company to the right to flank the enemy. Both operations were successful; and in a few moments the enemy retreated in confusion, leaving several dead on the field, followed by our men with loud cheers. It being now about sunset I recalled our troops, and giving to Lieut. Wilson the command of pickets stationed to guard against surprise, formed the companies in line as originally posted, sent the dead and wounded in boats to the ship, and gradually and very quietly, under cover of night, withdrawing the men, sent them on board as fast as our limited transportation would allow. At the last trip of the boats I embarked, accompanied by Lieut. Wilson, Lieut. Col. Graves, and the remainder of my command, (at about 10 o'clock P. M.,) and immediately brought on board the two companies left at Scrivens' Plantation. After the enemy retreated we were unmolested. It is due to the officers and men of the command to say that generally they behaved with cool and intrepid courage. Adjutant Pratt fell dead near my side gallantly fighting, musket in hand, and cheering on the men. Our loss, I regret to say, was comparatively heavy; ten killed and thirty-five wounded out of a command of three hundred men. Among the wounded is acting Lieut. Badger, of company C, who was in charge of the advance picket, and exhibited undaunted courage. He with one of his men was made prisoner; both escaped and were brought in when the enemy retreated. The captain of the Honduras is deserving of great credit for his kind attention to the wounded; indeed he afforded us every facility for the comfort of officers and men in his power. I respectfully refer to Lieut. Wilson's report, (which I have read,) and it contains some facts not embraced in this report; among others in relation to the inen detailed in charge of the field-piece on board ship, who were vigilant and attentive. Herewith is transmitted a list of casualties. WM. M. FENTON, Colonel 8th Regimnent Michigan Volunteers. In an order issued immediately following the engagement by General Stevens, he says: "You were ordered not to fire, but to push forward and use the bayonet. You obeyed the order. You formed in line under a terrible fire of grape, canister, and musketry. You pushed to the ditch and abatis of the work from right to left. Parties from the leading regiments of your two brigades, the 8th Michigan and 79th Highlanders, mounted and were shot down on the parapet, officers and men. These two regiments covered themselves with glory, and their fearful casualties show the hot work in which you were engaged." Mr. Greeley, in his "American Conflict," says: "Stevens had these in position at 3.30 A. M. at our outer picket line within rifle range of the enemy and advanced at 4-the morning being dark and cloudy-so swiftly and noiselessly that he captured most of the rebel pickets and was within one hundred yards of the main defences not having fired a shot, when Lamiar opened on him with grape and canister, ploughing bloody lines through the storming party, and destroying its compactness, if not impairing the momentum of its charge. The 8th MIichigan-Col. Fenton's own-was in the direct advance, supported by the Highlanders, with the residue of both brigades ready and eager to do and dare all that men might; and if well directed valor could have carried the enemy's works by direct assault they would have done it." The gallant conduct of Major Belcher (then a lieutenant) at the battle of South Mountain is noticed by General J. D. Cox, commanding the Kanawha division, in his report of the part taken by his division in that engagement, as follows: "I cannot close this report without speaking of the meritorious conduct of First Lieut. H. Belcher, of the 8th Michigan, a regiment belonging to another division. His regiment having suffered severely on the right, and being partly thrown into confusion, he rallied about one hundred men and led them up to the front. Being separated from the brigade to which he belonged he reported to me for duty, and asked a position where he might be of use till his proper place could be ascertained. He was assigned a post on the left and subsequently in support of the advanced section of Simmons' battery, in both of which places he and his men performed their duty admirably, and after the repulse of the enemy in the evening he carried his command to their proper brigade."
Colonel Fenton was the first to lead the Eighth. He was active in recruiting efforts of many of the regiments prior to the 8th and after he resigned, due to health reasons, he returned to Michigan and continued to recruit and aid the war effort in any way he could.
The "Drummers of the 8th" page has more information on the history of the 8th. We will be adding more on the history of the Eighth as we have time to further our researches.


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To make the world's spaces
connected, accessible
and productive
Caterina and Julien first met almost two decades ago, when they were both working as salespeople at a now-defunct department store called Eaton' in Montreal, Canada. When they met up again in 2012, it was clear to both that they'd achieved a lot, individually, and that working together could help them make something really unique and special. Together they developed Julien's idea of a quiet place to go.
Together, they created Breather—the result is what you see today.
Co-Founders Caterina Rizzi and Julien Smith
What's with the tree?
Trees represent an ecosystem. Trees last a long time, just like what we are trying to build. Trees are a place of refuge, where you can find shade or sit down and take a moment of rest.
A long time ago when we started Breather, we thought of trees as the lungs of the world, helping people breathe easy and be comfortable. As we grow, we like to think of ourselves as building a new kind of ecosystem, one that lets you breathe and connect and climb as high as you need to.
—Julien Smith, Co-Founder
Our Values
At Breather, our company values are not only the principles that link us together in the way we work, but they also keep us aligned on the same path, all working towards connected goals. These standards are what guide us on our collective journey through space(s).
Make the biggest possible impact.
Move fast, iterate faster.
Treat everyone like it's their birthday.
Work with a sense of ownership.
Get over yourself.
Act like an entrepreneur.
Embrace everyone's perspective.
Be respectfully honest.
A Global Story
We first launched Breather in Montreal, Canada, in August 2013. Since then, we've expanded to 10 cities in just three years. Although we are now operating globally (our latest expansion was to London, England!), our main offices are in Montreal and New York City.
New York City
53 Employees
7 Employees
San Francisco
16 Employees
11 Employees
Los Angeles
6 Employees
79 Employees
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12 Employees
Washington DC
4 Employees
2 Employees
Our Investors
We're venture backed by some pretty outstanding investors. These people believe in Breather and everything that we do.
Join the Team
We're venture backed. We're growing quickly. We have big ambitions… we want you to help us achieve them.


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Lessons Learned About Finances
Uses of the Bitcoin Mining for those Parents Who Are Busy
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In my early 30s I had a hectic lifestyle and a demanding job that required a lot of traveling. I was visiting big cities and staying in nice hotels, I was attending high-profile events and I loved it.
It was only when I met my partner that I realized I had to stop and think about what I really wanted in life. I was spending half of my time in New York, where I was struggling to build meaningful relationships and I had no time to see my friends in London or my family. I felt disconnected and on a never-ending chase. I didn't know what I was chasing but deep inside I knew it wasn't worth it after all.
It became clear that I was having fun but I wasn't happy.
I took the time to re evaluate my values and life goals it was clear to me that I had to change job and start focusing on what I valued the most.
Knowing my values resulted in clarity and focus. It helped me to define my priorities and how to best spend my time and energy.
All of a sudden my life and my efforts were streamlined and decisions became easier to make.
How do you learn and live your values?
1. First, you must know your values. Have you ever taken the time to determine your values? Now is the time! Make a list of your values. Just write them down. If it means even a little to you, list it.
· Prioritize your list. It doesn't matter if you have 100 values or only 10. Put them in order from most important to least.
· Reexamine your list. Now that you have a prioritized list, decide if you're happy with it. Consider the life you'd like to live. Will your list of values get you there? Reorder your list as appropriate.
2. Use your values to choose a career or hobby. Assume your top values were love, contribution, and peace, you probably wouldn't enjoy a career as an investment banker. Your hobbies probably wouldn't include trapping animals for fur. But you might enjoy a career with a non-profit organization or as a minister.
· Does your current career line up with your values? If not, can you change careers? If you can't change careers at this point in your life, can you do something on the side that will allow you to live your values? Using the previously mentioned values, you could volunteer to work with homeless children on the weekends.
Remember that it's just about impossible to be happy and fulfilled if you spend most of your day living a life that isn't aligned with your values.
3. Create habits in alignment with your values. Suppose one of your highest values is health. It only makes sense to have eating and exercise habits to support that value. It will also be easier to create a habit that supports an important value.
· Examine your list of values and determine if your current habits support those values. What else could you be doing to live your values more consistently?
· List your habits that are counter to your values, too.
4. Choose the people in your life. No matter how independent you might be, the people in your life influence your thoughts, decisions, and behavior. Consider how you think and act around each of the people in your life. Consider spending less time with the people that pull you away from your values and more time with the people that push you toward your values.
· Be strong. Some of your longtime friends might be having a negative effect on your ability to be true to yourself.
5. Make decisions with your values in mind. Knowing and living your values can make your decisions much easier. Imagine you've been offered a big raise, but you'll spend less time with your family. That would be a hard decision for many people.
· If you know that your primary value is wealth, the solution is obvious.
· If you know that your primary value is family, the solution is also obvious.
· Use your values when making decisions.
Learn and live your values. You'll be able to make decisions easier and more quickly. Life has fewer options when you're familiar with your values, and the best option is more obvious. Practice this important concept and you'll streamline your life and decision-making process toward greater happiness.
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