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America is being destroyed by those from outside of our borders and, more importantly, from within our own government. And without our government's approval of the Mexican invasion, immigration would not be a problem. In this article I will link the two programs initiated by George W. Bush and passed on to Barack Obama, programs that will end the United States as a sovereign nation. And with an overwhelming influx of hostile immigrants with dreams of land recaptured, the United States will no longer exist as a continuous geographical area.
In America you can see the crowds, many of them illegal aliens, on the street but held back by police barricades while they hold signs that read, White Racists You Get Off Our Continent or White Racists Go Back To Europe. These illegals, mostly Mexicans, are telling Americans that we have to go back to Europe. They're literally taking over our country, street by street and town by town. And the police do nothing to round up the illegal thugs glaring at them and white Americans, who are just trying to live normal lives, wondering when this strange madness will be over.
This mission, the reconquista, has been going on for decades and it has been growing, unchecked by authorities, to a point where the overwhelming majority of Mexicans, including Mexican/American citizens, can now feel free to support the idea of retaking, at least, the Southwestern part of the United States and de facto, making it a part of Mexico. (Open borders, control of government at all levels, dual citizenship, Spanish spoken here.)
In America you can see illegal aliens brutally attacking Americans, mostly senior citizens protesting the illegal alien invasion from Mexico. And no one is arrested. Most Americans don't understand that our leaders have given their blessing to the invaders. Cheap labor makes us more competitive, don't you know. Collateral damage is to be expected.
I have mentioned this a number of times but it's hard for people to comprehend that American corporations would turn their backs on their fellow Americans for profit. Once again, they have no loyalty to any nation or its citizens, only to their bottom line. Companies have left America and opened factories in cheap labor countries, only to leave for even cheaper labor elsewhere. This is the way it was planned. They couldn't have done this without help from Congress and each administration.
To lower American wages Bush sought to change the demographics of the United States. During a campaign speech before a Hispanic group in South Florida, he sang the praises of the Latinos living in America, including the fact that in many places in our nation the only language heard on the street is Spanish:
"For years our nation has debated this change – some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome this new America." (A Latino America.) G.W. Bush, Miami, 2000.
Once in office, George Bush began the plan to finish his father's Enterprise for the Americas Initiative. Under Bush, the name, now changed to the Free Trade Area of the Americas, failed to get support from a number of South American nations. This initiative would have integrated the Western Hemisphere into a trading region along the lines of the European Union. So he decided to scale back on the plan temporarily.
Bush began the process on March 23, 2005 when he and the leaders of Canada and Mexico met in Waco, Texas and agreed to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, (SPP), a security and economic community of North America.
The road map for this integrated continent with open borders is called the plan for Building a North American Community, with annual summit meetings by the three leaders of North America. Advice is from an advisory council, made up of 10 CEOs from each nation. Wal-Mart was a charter member of this organization, the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC). It's fate is unknown under the Obama administration but it probably continues advising, away from public scrutiny. And it is supposed to be a permanent institution. The NACC had responsiblity for meeting with the leaders and cabinet members of the three nations with the plans for being competitive (forming a North American Community).
A State Department article on Condoleezza Rice's watch, describing and praising this North American Community, has a link to the plan for Building a North American Community which includes a new border (a common security perimeter) for the U.S., Canada and Mexico, open internal borders and the right of citizens of North America to "live and work" anywhere on the continent.
Go to this site above and you will find the "common security perimeter" linked from the U.S. Department of State article to the CFR plan for Building a North American Community page 8. Finally, the "perimeter" is in the latest amnesty bill, H.R. 4321. This perimeter can also be found in the other immigration amnesty bills from 2005.
This is about changing America's border through stealth, without the consent of the American people. It can't be accomplished without legislation from Congress. The legislation is there. Ask your member of congress if they support it, knowing that the purpose is to open our mutual internal borders to the free flow of people and commerce throughout the continent.
Obama agreed to take over the Bush plan for North American integration shortly after the election and he attended the annual summit in Guadalajara, Mexico on August 10, 2009. Secretary of State Clinton met with her counterparts in Washington on July 16, 2009 to prepare for the agenda. In her speech she said:
"This is an example of what I was speaking about yesterday in my speech, the kind of PARTNERSHIP that the United States is committed to not only building, but in this case, really DEEPENING and BROADENING. The partnership between our nations and our entire North American region has such enormous potential…And we are focused upon our shared assets and values…to make North America the most prosperous, safest, and competitive region in the world."
Foreign Minister Espinosa of Mexico:
"We agreed on the importance of continuing to push forward in our region with mechanisms for cooperation that respond to a very clear mandate from our leaders. We should make use of our positive experience in trilateral cooperation. We should have a more strategic approach, a DEEPER approach, and also an approach that allows us to truly have results for families in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico so that they may benefit from our relationship."
"We have worked in this joint fashion in order to CONSOLIDATE* the region as a space for trade and economic exchange that is of benefit to all."
*Consolidate 1. To unite into one system or whole. 2. To join in a merger or union. This consolidated region is a one way street.
Deep integration, or consolidation, is the process that has taken place in all three nations with working groups at the U.S. Department of Commerce, harmonizing and integrating everything from manufacturing processes to, as George Bush said at a summit meeting in Canada, the number of jelly beans we put in a bag. It was his effort to divert a reporter's question about an integrated North America, as in the European Union.
To get that union, everything has to be harmonized, from the smallest detail to laws that govern the region. And all regions must harmonize their laws, based on international law. The European Union, by the way, has no first amendment. They have freedom of expression, but with exceptions. If you violate these exceptions of speech, you can be sentenced to three years in prison. And there is no second amendment, the right to bear arms. There will be no second amendment in a North American Community. Obama and his attorney general are intent on working toward that end. And so will his successor.
In September of 2008, George Bush met with leaders from 11 nations of the Western Hemisphere in New York and agreed to the Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas Initiative (PPA). This is another try at integrating the Western Hemisphere into a larger trading region to compete with the European Union and replace the failed effort to complete the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas). Obama and Hillary Clinton have embraced both the North American Community and the PPA. Clinton, in an Op-Ed for the Miami Herald:
"I have also joined ministers from more than a dozen countries in the Western Hemisphere to make good on the President's and my committment to re-launch (George Bush's) Pathways to Prosperity, a multilateral initiative to promote shared prosperity throughout the Americas." (Just like the North American Community).
And like the FTAA, the PPA, with 34 member nations, would be run by a trade agreement. Any laws, regulations, etc. of the member nations' governments at any level; local, state and federal, that are in conflict with the rules of the trade agreement, must defer to the trade agreement. That includes the United States. As in NAFTA, trade tribunals or other institutions would be the highest authority in the (PPA) Western Hemisphere. These appointed institutions would cover a wide area dealing with trade disputes.
In order to make it clear where the Pathways to Prosperity is heading under Obama and Clinton, read this article by Democrat Donna Shalala, former Secretary of Health and Human Services under Bill Clinton and Chuck Cobb, former Undersecretary of Commerce for Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
"Some will criticize Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas since they believe it is too modest in its objectives because it might be abandoning the broader version of a 34 country FTAA. In our judgement Western Hemisphere integration must start somewhere, and this is a good start. Remember, the European Union also started small. We hope that Brazil, Uraguay, the Caribbean countries and other countries in the Americas will soon join Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas."
The article suggests that Miami should be the headquarters of this merger of the Western Hemisphere since it is an international city. And Spanish is the language spoken in Miami.
Heidi Bronke, U.S. State Department spokeswoman said of the initiative in the Miami Herald September 26, 2008:
"Eleven leaders in this hemisphere met with our president and stood with him in a project aimed at expanding economic integration…This is not just free trade, it's a political vision for the hemisphere."
This process of regional integration is part of the effort by the world's ruling elites to bring about global governance, based on international law. The next addition to the North American Community and Western Hemisphere, which will likely be called "The Americas", will be an integration with the European Union and the African Union, which already has an agreement with the EU.
Hillary Clinton began work on global governance soon after assuming office. Her adviser, Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of A New World Order, published in 2004, is in charge of policies which will bring us to this regional and global governance. That means the end of American sovereignty and because of our special situation (the Mexican problem), the end of our nation geographically. And it won't be peaceful.
The name for this transformation to a global system of governance is called a New World Order. Despite the critics who say there is no such thing, world leaders certainly use the term a lot; including George H.W. Bush and Henry Kissinger.
Strobe Talbott, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State under Bill Clinton:
"Nationhood as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single global authority…national sovereignty wasn't such a great idea after all."
"a system of world order – preferably a system of world government – is mandatory…The proud nations someday will see the light and, for the common good and their own survival, yield up their precious sovereignty…" Walter Cronkite, A Reporter's Life.
June 27, 1991, George H.W. Bush, on integrating the Western Hemisphere:
"If we can build a hemisphere devoted to freedom, one that prefers enterprise (corporate run region) to envy, we're going to create our own new world order."
Jan. 9, 1992, George H.W. Bush, Tokyo:
"Tonight, we celebrate the essence of this new world order and the opportunity to be true partners in its construction."
"In this changing world where the walls that once divided whole nations from each other are crumbling, we all must become both bridges to and partners in a new world order."
America is alone and under siege. Those who look forward to its demise are everywhere.
So who are some of those bringing an end to America's existence? That would be the globalists, Democrats and Republicans, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Henry Kissinger, John McCain, John Cornyn, CEOs, the news media, the Catholic Church, other churches, educators, and many more.
Now, who are those vigorously standing up to save America?
Note: This site is monitored and government documents tend to disappear shortly after publication, depending on the nature of the topic. If you see documents that interest you, consider printing them for your files. Thanks for visiting.


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This traditional Tunisian blend (also attributed to Morocco) is used as a table condiment, either dry or mixed to a paste with a little water. It's a mixture of dried chilli flakes, honed down with paprika and given depth with caraway, cumin and mint.
A blend of spices consisting of , Carraway Powder, Chilli, Garlic Powder, Paprika (Spain), Corriander Powder, Cummin Powder, Mint and Salt. Purchase by the weight to suit your needs.
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Back at New York Toy Fair last month, LEGO revealed all the sets for the upcoming LEGO Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and we saw some detailed images of the sets, however, there were some sets that didn't have the box art but we do now and they look REALLY cool. I'll also add on the box art that have already been released to this post so we can have a complete look at them.
Stygimoloch Breakout (75927)
Blue's Helicopter Pursuit (75928)
Carnotaurus Gyrosphere Escape (75929)
Indoraptor Rampage at Lockwood Estate (75930)
Raptor Rescue Truck (10757)
T. Rex Breakout (10758)
Kingdom Gentle Giants Petting Zoo (10879)
T. Rex Tower (10880)
**Via MisterBricks.nl**


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Explore Scientific ED APO 127mm f/7.5 Carbon FCD-100 Hex-Foc
The Explore Scientific ED APO 127mm f/7.5 Carbon FCD-100 Hex-Foc is the latest development in the line of Explore Scientific's excellent Apochromatic range of refractors. This 5-inch instrument offers superb colour correction and pin-sharp views and images, due to its triplet design lens, which features one FCD-100 ED element, offering excellent spherical aberration control and colour correction with a guaranteed polystrehl value 0.97.
No one telescope "does it all", but a 5-inch Apo certainly covers most of the bases required of a versatile telescope. It will show significant improvement over a 4-inch class refractor in terms of light gathering power and resolution, making it a better choice of instrument for visual observation of lunar, planetary and deep sky targets. Not only that, but this telescope is an excellent astrograph, with a medium-length focal ratio, which delivers excellent deep sky images (which can be reduced in field size and equivalent focal length yet further with the use of the Explore Scientific 0.7x Focal Reducer-Corrector) and can also be used to impressive extent for imaging of the planets and the Moon (we'd recommend the use of one of the excellent Explore Scientific Focal Extender Barlows for solar system imaging).
The Explore Scientific ED APO 127mm f/7.5 Carbon FCD-100 Hex-Foc is a class leading 6.9 kg weight, that can be mounted to equatorial mounts in the EQ5 class and upward (though we'd recommend the minimum of the Explore Scientific EXOS-2 PMC-Eight GOTO Mount or Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Synscan for imaging purposes).
This telescope comes with the excellent Hexafoc focuser system, which comprises of a hexagonal drawtube, which minimises lateral shift which is present in lesser quality systems. The focuser has a 10:1 dual speed focus knob, which allows for fine control of focus, whatever the sky conditions. The 2.5" drawtube offers an unvignetted aperture, which users of large format cameras are sure to appreciate.
The Explore Scientific ED APO 127mm f/7.5 Carbon FCD-100 Hex-Foc is supplied with heavy duty tube rings and a standard Vixen/Synta mounting plate. A handle is also supplied which has a channel running down its centre, in which a bolt can be seated, which allows a piggyback camera to be mounted for widefield astrophotography.
Explore Scientific's 2" 99% reflectivity star diagonal, with 2" to 1.25" step down ring is also supplied, alongside 2 screw in extension tubes which will need to be fitted to the Hexafoc's drawtube in order to get the telescope to a straight through photographic position.


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Photo: Alan Richardson; Styling: Betty Alfenito
You'll savor each melt-in-your-mouth morsel as you bite into these sweet chocolate-cherry cookies.
How to Make It
Step 1
Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg, beating until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed.
Step 2
Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels and dried sweetened cherries. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on lightly greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake, in batches, at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on wire racks. Drizzle cookies with 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels, melted, if desired.
Chef's Notes
Note: Bake time is per batch.


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By Margaret
I&M Staff Writer
During the Golden Age of Whaling, Nantucket� as most whaling ports in New England� was forested with the masts of wooden whaling ships.� Yet by the late 1880�s, the effects of the Civil War, the Gold Rush, over-fishing and the discovery of oil all led to the collapse of the fishery and the loss of the fleet.
Marc Songini, author of �The Lost Fleet: A Yankee Whaler�s Struggle Against the Confederate Navy and Arctic Disaster,� the story of Captain Thomas Williams and his family, will be at the Atheneum this Sunday giving a slide show presentation and talk on his book.
�In the story, we follow Thomas and his wife,� Eliza, from their youth in Connecticut where they met and fell in love and married, all through their voyages together, the births and deaths of their children, to the end of Yankee whaling,� said Songini, who used letters, logbooks and journals from the Williams family to piece the story together.
�The family was present at almost every major event from the Civil War to the great Alaska freeze-ups of 1871 and 1876,� said Songini. �By 1879, whaling was essentially a dying enterprise and the last voyage broke Thomas� health.�
Williams and his family traveled together on whaling voyages for almost two decades.� Williams� son wrote an account of the freeze up of 1871 and his wife kept a journal of the their first voyage as a family from 1858 to 1861, when she, pregnant with Willie, boarded the Florida for a whaling voyage. During that three year period, Eliza gave birth to a second child, Mary. The couple had two sons which they left at home to be educated.
�Typically, they would sail out of New Bedford, go to the Azores, where they would recruit men and get supplies and then sail around the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa, taking the Indian Ocean to the Pacific,� said Songini. In the spring, they would sail north and leave around September and go into the South Seas and then to Baja, where they would hunt double fish or has we know them, gray whales and then go north to get bowheads.�
The family did not accompany Williams on voyages during the Civil War and relocated to Oakland, California, since it was easier to ship out to the Arctic from San Francisco.�
Half the book is dedicated to the Civil War and the other half to the Arctic freeze-ups.�
�The most compelling portion of the book is when the Confederate privateer, the Shenandoah chases after Wlliams� whaleship, the Jerih Swift,� said Songini. �The Confederate raiders took whale ships and sunk them. The chances of going on a three year whaling voyage and getting killed were greater than working in a coal mine or on the railroads or manufacturing.�
They outraced the Shenandoah to Siberia, but then the wind died down and the Swift was captured.
�Williams challenged James Waddell, the captain of the Shenandoah, to a fight on the quarter deck, agreeing to surrender his boat if he lost, but the challenge was not accepted and Waddell towed the Swift behind him and burned it along with� 33 other whaleships. Since the whalemen were noncombatants, they were let go as long as they promised not to take up arms against the South,� said Songini.
Williams was with his family during the freeze-up of 1871. About six whaling captains traveled with their wives and children during that winter.
�In 1871, while whaling in the Arctic, winter came on very quickly in September when people were not ready for it,� said Songini. �The ice started to enclose the 31 ships and one-by-one the ships got caught and crushed and were abandoned.�
�All of the 1200 people managed to escape,� added Songini. �They took the small whale boats through the narrow channel from Point Belcher to Icy Cape, 81 miles, and nobody was killed. They were met by six ships at Icy Cape and one man died of consumption on the voyage home. There were 100 people on a whale boat meant for 30 men.�
There are a handful of Nantucket men mentioned in the Williams family� story.
One was Seth Coffin, a hardy Nantucket master who crushed his leg on a whaling voyage in 1800.
�Seeing his predicament, he called for one of the sharp instruments used to cut blubber, braced himself on his couch in the cabin, and told the mate to chop off the stricken limb, warning him if her were to �flinch on whit� he c would put the cutter through him. The damaged part of the leg was saved� although after the last bandage had been tightened both men fainted,� said Songini.
Another Nantucket captain was William Worth, who helped with the blockade on Charleston Harbor.
�Worth did some funny things. For instance, Worth wanted to be elected commodore of the Stone Fleet, which loaded and sank 30 whaleships full of granite at the entrance of Charleston Harbor,� said Songini. �All of the whaling masters elected Rodney French to be commodore. All except Worth. In exchange for forming the blockade, each captain was given a ham to share with his crew. Worth kept it and brought it back to Nantucket.�
One of the characters in the book is Alexander Starbuck, who wrote �The History of Nantucket Island, County and Town.�
Songini, a high tech journalist, first became interested in whaling about 10 years ago, while on a sea kayaking expedition in Canada where he paddled alongside whales.
Marc Songini will give a dramatic slide show presentation of his book, �The Lost Fleet: A Yankee Whaler�s Struggle Against the Confederate Navy and Arctic Disaster� this Sunday, December 9 from 2p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Great Hall in the Nantucket Atheneum.


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Sexual intercourse is naturally full of fun and enjoyment for couples and also the simplest way to strengthen bonding between them even so If couples follow some recommendations during the activity they can take those pleasure and fun to a different level to make every sex activity unforgettable. One should bear in mind that males are naturally aggressive in their behavior and like to dominate the sexual intercourse activity, they get aroused soon but can get pleased even faster, on the contrary girls are slow to start and also have laid back attitude and like to enjoy each and every moment in the activity deeply, it takes sometimes for them to reach at the optimum of their arousal and accomplish satisfaction. Lovemaking tips will be basically simple advices to help couples to fill up the in the attitude and to appreciate other partner's demands and desires to make each other enjoy inside the best possible way every time.
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The best defense is a good offense, President Trump contended in a clutch of early-evening tweets Saturday in which he seemed to argue he should keep up his Twitter habit.
"The FAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA is working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media," he wrote at 6:02 p.m.
"But remember, I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches and social media. I had to beat #FakeNews, and did. We will continue to WIN!"
Six minutes later, he added a stinger: "I am thinking about changing the name #FakeNews CNN to #FraudNewsCNN!" He later pinned the tweet to the top of his page.
Trump has kept up an aggressive social media persona since his inauguration, despite many Republicans' pleas for him to adopt a more dignified tone in keeping with Presidential tradition.
He seemed to have that critique in mind when he tweeted once again, shortly after departing his Bedminster, NJ golf resort for an appearance at a "Celebrate Freedom Concert" back in Washington.
"My use of social media is not Presidential – it's MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL," he wrote. "Make America Great Again!"


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Writing Clinic #1: Busta's Post
Welcome to Writing Clinic! This is a weekly series where I choose one post at random from those submitted and give feedback and editorial suggestions.
The series is now ended, but many thanks to all those who submitted posts.
Today's post is "5 Rules to Get Out of Your Payday Loan" from Busta of BustaLoan.com. It's already been published, but I'm assuming Busta will update it in light of my feedback, so I'll give you the current version of the post here.
How the Post Looks
The Post Text
What's Working Well
As the posts stands, Busta's doing a lot of things right:
#1: The Title
He has a great title, with a number, the word "rules" (which is powerful – it implies that if you don't do even one of these things, you're getting it wrong). The title also contains the word "your", which helps make a connection with the reader.
#2: The Structure
Busta's post has a clear structure (though it's missing a beginning and end, which I'll come onto in a minute). He's numbered the points within the post (sounds basic, but bloggers often forget to) and he's using subheadings.
#3: The Writing Style
The post is well-written: not just free of sloppy mistakes, but also conversational in tone, addressing the reader as "you". In fact, Busta uses the word "you" 8 times and "your" 17 times … and the word "I" just once.
What Might Need Tweaking
Of course, being a writer and editor, I usually find something to pick on. 😉 Here are a few suggested changes for Busta's post. Do any of these apply to your most recent blog post too?
Suggestion #1: Add an Introduction and Conclusion
As it stands, Busta's list of rules forms the whole of the post. I'd really like to see an introductory paragraph and a line at the end to round things off.
Why? Because a list presented on its own can come across as a bit abrupt and even not-quite-finished to the reader.
Suggestion #2: Change the Subheadings
All of Busta's subheadings are almost the same – "Rule #N to get out of your payday loan". While it's great to have the subheadings in place, I'd much rather each subheading gave the actual rule, like this:
Rule #1: Payday Loan Lenders Aren't Your Friends
Rule #2: Don't Let the Collector Get to You
I think this would also help clarify the rules themselves; in some cases, like in point #2, it's not 100% clear what the actual rule is.
My impression is that Busta might have chosen to use the very-similar subheadings for SEO reasons. This is a mistake: keyword density isn't especially important, and you definitely shouldn't allow your keyword to take priority over writing content that's useful for readers.
Suggestion #3: Expand on Rule #5
Maybe Busta was running out of steam as he wrote the post (I know that happens to me!) or maybe he just couldn't think of much to say. Either way, Rule #5 is less than half the length of the other rules, and this makes the post look unbalanced.
(I also think Rule 5 could do with a bit of clarifying. I think Busta's saying that you need to be tough on yourself, and tell it like it is, but I'm not quite sure.)
Suggestion #4: Change the Link in Rule #1
In Rule #1, Busta has a link with the anchor text "payday loan lenders". I expected this to go to a blog post on this topic – but actually it goes to his home page.
This leads me to think the link is in there for SEO reasons. If that's the case, Busta's worrying about SEO at the expense of creating content that's super-useful for readers: always a mistake. I'd either take this link out altogether, or create a link to a blog post that offers further information.
The word "HOMEWORK" seemed to be crying out to be a link to another post, or perhaps a landing page for Busta's newsletter.
Suggestion #5: Use Headers not Bold for Subheadings
HTML code has heading styles, like H1 (used for your post title), H2 (used for first-level subheadings in my post here). In the WordPress visual editor, you can select these using the "Paragraph" dropdown. Depending on your theme, you may find you need to use bold text for sub-subheadings, or you may have an H3 style set up.
Using H2 for subheadings makes them larger and more attractive to readers, and also gives a little more weight to the words in them for SEO purposes.
Suggestion #6: Expand the Whole Post
This is quite a concise post from Busta at 282 words, and I think it would work well at this length and level of depth for an email newsletter. As a blog post, though, Busta might want to consider expanding it – perhaps by adding in links to other resources (on his site or elsewhere) and by quoting from other experts on payday loans to help reinforce his points.
Busta, thanks for being brave enough to submit your post for the very first Writing Clinic. I really like your direct, forthright style, and I hope these suggestions help you and help other DailyBlogTips readers as well.
Do you have a suggestion for Busta, or do you want to point out something you really liked about his post? Let us know in the comments. (Please be polite and constructive with your feedback.)
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5 Responses to "Writing Clinic #1: Busta's Post"
Hello Harry,I think you have made a mistake. Its not "Frank" who gave the advice. The author is Ali Luke.
Thanks Frank,
I think for some, writing can come very naturally, others (like myself) can struggle over every word. Getting good advice, and actually following it, can be a godsend. I have read a number of times now about writing 'to' your readers, instead of writing 'for' them. Addressing the reader in a more personal level does make more of a connection.
At the end of the day, SEO means nothing if your content isn't interesting.
Hi Frank,
First thanks for sharing this type of useful article. Ya it will help to all beginner bloggers. You have mentioned all the tips regarding using header, title, writing styles. It will improve seo. Very informative article. Thanks
Congratulations Frank.You are very well fortunate to get such a deep analysis of your blog-post. I want to give you a small and free SEO advice since you are on a very competitive niche-try to write informative blog posts that are 1200+ words. This will dramatically increase your traffic within months.
Thank you Ali for the review of my website BustaLoan.com! I think you've hit on a powerful strategy for helping all of us profit from your expertise.
All of your insights make a great deal of sense. And you're right, SEO was a primary strategy for my writing approach. I guess I'm guilty of still being a bit "old school."
Your thoughts regarding an introduction and conclusion will be incorporated immediately.
Change the Subheadings? Absolutely!
Regarding "Rule #5?" Actually I was referring to a strategy of always telling collectors who harass borrowers that the borrower has no money and zero possibility of ever having any money to make a payment; "poor mouthing." I guess I'm too deep into my subject and lost the perspective of my readers who may be unfamiliar with the discomfort of dealing with payday loan collectors on a daily basis.
Change the link in Rule #1? GREAT STRATEGY!
Ali, thanks for investing your time and thoughts in me! I have prospered greatly from reading your book, "Make Money Blogging." Guess I'd better review my copy again 🙂
Frank – BustaLoan.com
Comments are closed.


text:
Hi Geeks,
Assist me with a Batch file code which should change the Administrator password to a default one and its required for my SOHO. My environment is a shared one and employees set their own passwd on its expiration, So I have decided to get a Batch program that should set the Admin password to a default one, ofcourse which shall be shared with my SOHO alone
Advance thanks!
To add to that, I may need to use this BATCH in my LAN as well,
Programming questions should be posted here:


text:
Sensitivity of Calibrated Week-2 Probabilistic Forecast Skill to Reforecast Sampling of the NCEP Global Ensemble Forecast System
Published Date:2016
Source:Weather and Forecasting, 31(4), 1093-1107.
Personal Author:
Description:CPC requires the reforecast-calibrated Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS) to support the production of their official 6-10- and 8-14-day temperature and precipitation forecasts. While a large sample size of forecast-observation pairs is desirable to generate the necessary model climatology and variances, and covariances to observations, sampling by reforecasts could be done to use available computing resources most efficiently. A series of experiments was done to assess the impact on calibrated forecast skill of using a smaller sample size than the current available reforecast dataset. This study focuses on the skill of week-2 probabilistic forecasts of the 7-day-mean 2-m temperature and accumulated precipitation. The tercile forecasts are expressed as being below-, near-, and above-normal temperature/median precipitation over the continental United States (CONUS). Calibration statistics were calculated using an ensemble regression technique from 25 yr of daily, 11-member GEFS reforecasts for 1986-2010, which were then used to postprocess the GEFS model forecasts for 2011-13. In assessing the skill of calibrated model output using a reforecast dataset with fewer years and ensemble members, and an ensemble run less frequently than daily, it was determined that reductions in the number of ensemble members to six or fewer and reductions in the frequency of reforecast runs from daily to once a week were achievable with minimal loss of skill. However, reducing the number of years of reforecasts to less than 25 resulted in a greater skill degradation. The loss of skill was statistically significant using only 18 yr of reforecasts from 1993 to 2010 to generate model statistics.
Document Type:
Main Document Checksum:urn:sha256:68dab041fbcb6147c81861a731d056ce9dd3082f74bb604bd6eeeac9c74333e3
Supporting Files:No Additional Files
No Related Documents.
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text: UFA continues to release their online exclusive digital photo books series which feature previously unpublished off shots from member solo shashinshuu releases and the latest offering has Momo's 1st solo shashinshuu in the spotlight! These digital photo books are released as 4 separate volumes which then make up a complete collection from a particular pb when all are made available. A special thank you to Saburo for sending these to me! Click on thumbnails for larger images ^-^ Momo is so adorable!!!


text:
WASHINGTON -- The wide-ranging week in Washington started Monday with a report on national health spending and ended Friday with a report of what is reported as the first health-sector job loss in more than a decade.
Health Spending as % of GDP Falls
The percentage of the overall economy devoted to health spending fell slightly in 2012 -- from 17.3% in 2011 to 17.2% -- even as healthcare continued its trend of slow growth, government economists said Monday.
It was the first time the percentage of gross domestic spending on healthcare has fallen since 1997, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary said in its annual health spending report.
The health sector benefited from a change in the way the Commerce Department calculates the country's gross domestic product, which added several hundred billion dollars to overall spending, none of which involved healthcare. The result was that healthcare's overall contribution to GDP dropped -- even as the amount spent on healthcare nationally rose.
Overall, national health spending increased by 3.7% in 2012 -- roughly the same as the 3.8% to 3.6% spending growth experienced annually between 2009 and 2011, according to the CMS report published Monday in Health Affairs. All 4 years have been the slowest rates ever recorded in the 53-year history of CMS' National Health Expenditure Accounts report.
Health Sector Loses Jobs, First Time in Decade
The healthcare sector lost 6,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported Friday -- the first time the sector has lost jobs since July 2003.
The news came in Friday's monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed the nation's unemployment rate fell to 6.7% as companies added 74,000 jobs.
Healthcare wasn't so fortunate. Physician offices lost 1,200 jobs, home health services lost 3,700 jobs, nursing homes lost 3,900 jobs, and hospitals lost 2,400 jobs, Friday's report showed. Those losses were offset by a gain of 3,600 in outpatient care centers.
Medicare Could Ban Fraudulent Doctors
CMS issued a proposed rule Monday that would allow it to ban prescribers from participating in Medicare if they prove to engage in abusive prescribing.
"Providing CMS the authority to revoke such prescribers' Medicare enrollment would help protect beneficiaries and the Medicare Trust Fund from fraud, waste, and abuse," the agency said.
The changes -- if finalized -- would take effect in 2015. CMS will accept public comments on the proposed rule until March 7.
Another Anti-ACA Bill Passes House
The Republican-controlled House on Friday passed a bill that requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to notify individuals within 2 days of a known security breach of HealthCare.gov.
The Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act passed 291-122, with 67 Democrats among those voting for it. The bill, which follows criticism that the website wasn't fully tested before launching in October, is not expected to pass the Senate.
However, House Democrats released a report Thursday saying there have been no successful security attacks on HealthCare.gov and noting that no personal health information is stored at the site.
Lawmaker Says Sebelius Lied to Congress
A leading House Republican on Wednesday accused HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of lying to and misleading Congress during testimony about the security of HealthCare.gov.
Sebelius told the House that testing of the website was ongoing and that no red flags were raised. In fact, committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said documents obtained by the committee showed ongoing testing was not occurring.
Issa requested documents that were developed in preparation for Sebelius' congressional appearances after Oct. 1.
HealthCare.gov Switches Lead Contractors
The Obama administration is dumping the federal contractor in charge of the bulk of operations of the troubled HealthCare.gov website, it said Friday.
CMS said it would drop lead contractor CGI Federal in favor of Accenture, an information technology consulting firm who provides outsourcing services, with the change to occur early next week.
HealthCare.gov was plagued for several weeks with near constant error messages and "glitches" before the White House brought in outside IT experts to help the website run smoothly.
Congress Grapples With Primary Care Pay
Some Democratic lawmakers have expressed interest in extending the pay increases for primary care physicians in Medicare and Medicaid that are temporarily in effect under the ACA.
The measure to continue the pay increases -- which could come in legislation that repeals Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment formula -- faces a tough battle as a budget-conscious Congress works to keep an SGR repeal price tag low.
The ACA gave select Medicare primary care services a 10% bonus between 2011 and 2015 and set Medicaid primary care payments on par with those of Medicare in 2013 and 2014. The law defined primary care as general pediatrics, general internal medicine, and family medicine.
"It's early to really evaluate what impact those bonuses have had on access to care," Del. Donna Christensen, MD (D-V.I.) said at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Thursday. "Some people would argue that we need more data before we decide to go forward with continuing this policy, which might set up a Catch-22 because under current law the policy will end before we might have adequate data."
Fraud-Detection Efforts Lacking in EHRs
CMS and its contractors have few programs to spot fraud unique to electronic health records (EHRs), a government watchdog found.
Specifically, few contractors reviewed EHRs differently from paper records, leaving Medicare vulnerable to the differences in billing through EHRs, the HHS Office of Inspector General said Tuesday.
"Certain EHR technology features may be used to mask true authorship of the medical record and distort information to inflate healthcare claims," the report stated.
Next Week
The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative on Tuesday will release its annual report on patient-centered medical home's impact on costs and quality during an event here.
A continuing resolution that funds the federal government expires Wednesday, and Congress has yet to pass a spending plan beyond Jan. 15.
Gary Cohen, a CMS point man for implementing the ACA, will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Thursday about the rollout of the law.


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※h e l l o ! ※
image by hepburnette
My journal is friends only. I am open to new friends but only if we share many interests and attitudes. I admit I am picky with who I add because I see my friends list as people I connect with and grow to care about, not just a number total. If you feel similarily, then we're off to a good start~
I am...
a girly girl, 100% capricorn, romantically in love with my prince, Canadian, Christian, natural red-head, trained animator, artistic, feminist, shy, quiet, rabbit
art, animation, disney, disney princesses, kim possible, ayumi hamasaki, pokémon, sonic the hedgehog, doctor who, Marie, the colour pink, make-up, fashion, gal, ageha & hime styles, shopping, plush, toys, pullips, dolls, rabbits, reading, writing, drawing, monster high, my little pony, world of warcraft
beyond the door
I post small photos outside cuts with my writings and post more photos within the cuts; I write about what I do, shopping, my rabbit, my health, things I am excited about, fandoms, video games ... generally, they stay positive and G rated lol.
Please leave a comment if you wish to be added and please don't be offended if I don't add you ♥


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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Halloween (sort of) Minus One
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Russian Fabric for a Good Cause (Get ready to sew, Rachael!)
My friend Rachael adopted a wonderful seven-year-old girl, Katya, from St. Petersburg this spring. Rachael got me into blogging and I love reading about how Katya is adapting to life in America through her blog. While tackling the project of making some Halloween costumes for her kids, Rachael realized that she actually loves sewing--and she learned how to make some gorgeous bags in the process.
A few days ago, Rachael posted that she is going to start an etsy store (it's a site on the web where people sell their crafts) in order to raise money for a group of older orphans in St. Petersburg. She can't forget all the children who were left behind--kids who will probably never be adopted. Moved by her friend Kate's experience taking gifts to children in an orphanage last December, Rachael wrote, "I think what I will do with the proceeds from my Etsy sales in November, is to send the money to Kate and let her "snegoritchka away" as she chooses and then she can post about it after Christmas and fill us all in." (Kate is an American teacher who lives in St. Petersburg, Snegurochka is the granddaughter of Grandfather Frost, the Russian equivalent of Santa).
The entire amount from Rachael's sales will towards creating a memorable holiday for those children, and I can't wait to see what she'll sew and offer up for sale! Be sure to check out her store once it's up and running; I'll keep you posted when it is.
I offered to help out, getting her unique Russian fabrics for her bags and other crafts. Today I went to the factory store of the best fabric producer in Russia and STOCKED UP. The shop is called Tryokhgornaya Tekhstilnaya Fabrika and it's located at 15 Rochdelskaya ulitsa. The place is FANTASTIC. In addition to unique linens and cottons, they also make gorgeous bedding, tablecloths, towels, napkins, curtains, etc. at extremely reasonable prices.
Here are slideshows of all the fabrics I picked out!!! I bought quite a bit... But it all came to exactly $100. Glad to contribute to your wonderful plans, Rachael! Get ready to sew when you get the fabrics the second week of November!!!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Play-Doh Pumpkins (More cool English lessons)
The Russian government doesn't allow Russian schools to celebrate Halloween at all. No parties, no kids in costumes, no decorations... I think they just don't want a uniquely American (well, it used to be...) holiday invading their culture. The official reason is that the holiday is Satanic and an evil influence on children. Well, certain people would agree to that, too... But COME ON! Little kids in cute costumes... Neighbors interacting... Pumpkins and scarecrows... I LOVE Halloween and it stinks that our kids don't get to really celebrate the way it's meant to be; they're missing out on all of those wonderful childhood trick-or-treating memories.
Our first two years here I had to host a huge Halloween party in our teeny apartment so that the kids would still get to celebrate; last year one of the Brownies lived on the US Embassy compound, so we got to all actually trick-or-treat there. The snowstorm and freezing weather (20 below) sure did distract from the fun, though... And it's hard to come up with a good costume when you have to wear so much outerwear...
In any case, I've been reading some short children's books about Halloween to my 1st and 2nd graders anyway. The lessons have been so much fun; the kids are automatically excited and intrigued. I found some great resources at this site for elementary ESL teachers and was inspired...
I started out by making four batches of orange homemade Play-Doh. The kids had never seen anything like it and LOVED it. (Russian kids use plastiline instead. Plastiline is a much harder modeling clay).
Homemade Play-Doh
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
food coloring
Mix dry ingredients. Dissolve coloring in water and add liquid. Cook until the mixture forms a ball, constantly scraping it off the bottom and sides of pot. Remove from pot and knead. Keeps in an airtight container for at least a month.
After reading the kids some stories about pumpkins, I had them make balls out of the dough. We used their rulers to mimic how we cut the top off of a pumpkin and then we scooped out the insides--minus the goop and seeds! I then gave them all birthday candles and they used them as knives to poke out eyes, noses and mouths. They then took their candles and put them inside their pumpkins. We did NOT actually light them.
As the kids worked on their pumpkins, I taught them this song:
Jack-o-lantern (sung to Frère Jacques)
Jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern
Burn so bright, burn so bright!
You are burning brightly, you are burning brightly
Through the night, through the night.
Once everyone had finished creating jack-o-lanterns, and mastered the song, I taught them how to sing in a round. They thought it was great fun to sing over one another...
I had them sing using a variety of Halloween voices; they sang as if they were ghosts, monsters, pirates, princesses, etc. To get them to clean up, I had them remove the candles and mash the dough into microphones. They then used the microphones to belt out the song as if they were pop stars! THAT was a big hit.
Yesterday with the second graders we did even more; I gave them a worksheet with a picture of skeleton (a cute cartoon one). Body parts were labeled by how many letters in each word--but they had to figure out what the words were (_ _ _ _ meant "nose"). They LOVED solving the puzzles. I then gave them dough and they used it to create skeletons--talking about each body part. We cleaned up by having imaginary dogs show up--dogs who love to EAT bones! The class had to shout out each body part, one by one, as the dog stole and chomped on it.
The kids all thought it's so funny that American parents often call their children "pumpkin." I remembered how offended my friend' Rachael's newly-adopted seven-year-old daughter, Katya, was when her mom called her that! She had only been in America for two months, and she already knew what a pumpkin was; she had not, however, learned how much we love them! "Ewwww, Mommy. Pumpkin is orange food. Why, Mommy? Ewwww." A month later, however, she had learned just what the pumpkin means to Americans culturally; she wanted her mom to call her one.
As Rachael wrote, "Last night, I put her to bed with a kiss and a "good-night, sweetheart". Her reply? "Mommy, why nee pumpkin?" "So now you like pumpkin?" I asked. She nodded yes. "Ok, then, well, good-night pumpkin. Mommy loves you". She sweetly replied, "and I love you. You're my mommy pumpkin." I took it as an endearment.
In Russia there aren't any warm, sweet associations with the vegetable. They're also not as pretty as in America; they're often misshapen and a mixture of orange, brown and greens. In addition to this, they're VERY expensive in Moscow! It cost me $40 at an outdoor market (where things tend to be cheap) last year to purchase a pumpkin suitable for making a jack-o-lantern!
Even though it's a lot of prep, it's nice having the younger kids in addition to all of my high school French and Spanish classes. I've never had the advantage (in a school setting) of being a native speaker and a native of the culture; it's fun to share it with them.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Not Your Average Traffic Jam
The traffic is always bad when I leave work. I travel on a major artery into the city, and it's usually bumper-to-bumper for about 1 kilometer. Since traffic is always bad in Moscow, I didn't really think anything of it... That is, until I realized why the traffic is usually bad at that precise spot at around 4 p.m.
There's a man in a wheelchair who travels right up the middle of the road, sometimes on his own, sometimes pushed by a woman. (That's not him in the above picture; I couldn't safely take one. This man is much more haggard and his wheelchair is NOT state-of-the-art). The first time I saw him, I thought he must be drunk. Why on earth would he venture into such dangerous traffic, literally bringing it to a standstill???
I then saw him there on many other occasions, and I realized that he risks his life in the middle of the road because it's the only way he can get anywhere. His neighborhood is in a beautiful, historic area of town--but like most of the city, it isn't wheelchair accessible in the least. The sidewalks are cracked and bumpy, and there are no ramps so he can cross the street. Even with assistance, he wouldn't be able to get up and down from the curbs.
I've asked around, and there is a transportation service for wheelchair-bound Muscovites; it obviously is inadequate, however. The handicapped in Russia are in such a desperate situation that I think they should qualify for refugee status; they cannot live a normal life in this country. Many cannot even leave their apartments! Schools, public spaces and transportation all alienate those who need wheelchairs. (That's also why it's so hard for moms with strollers).
Sure makes you appreciate life in the US, where at least people try to make things accessible.
Friday, October 19, 2007
It's All a Matter of Perspective...
- Our refrigerator keeps over icing up and then thawing, leaving the bins filled with water. This has ruined veggies/cheese on many occasions, usually when I've just done difficult and expensive grocery shopping, and often when I'm just about to cook for guests. Most of the compartments on the door also broke off long ago. It also has a really annoying "ding dong" that goes off when the door isn't properly closed; since the seal is breaking off the door, it goes off every time you shut the door until you come back and bang down on the top of the fridge. We'll obviously be buying a new refrigerator soon!!!
- The floor tiles in our entry and bathroom are very cracked, sometimes snagging socks (or pricking your toes...). They look horrible (and I guess are dangerous if you don't know to look out...), but I guess we've gotten used to them.
- The bathtub is coming apart from the wall, leading to mold and leakage problems.
- The oven cooks unevenly and unpredictably, often burning baked goods. This is MOST frustrating when I'm doing a complicated dessert... And very upsetting when Katya and I spent a few hours molding food out of Sculpey clay for her Native American doll, Kaya. We researched food that the Nez Perce would have eaten the late 1700's and made replicas for the doll (dried salmon, camas cakes, huckleberries and blueberries). Replicas the oven burned. TWICE. (Yes, we actually recreated all the food a second time, only to have that batch ruined, too--even though I'd set the oven at half of the original temperature).
We can't just complain to the landlady because we don't dare annoy her. She could easily rent our place for much more than we're paying and we realize how incredibly lucky we are to be in this apartment--even with all the things that are broken in it. Location, location, location... It would be impossible to find anything else in this area (walking distance to Katya's school, very clean air) for less than twice what we're paying now. So we grin and bear it. It's hard to believe that $2,500 is a bargain, but for Moscow, it is...
Then there are these other complications:
- Renewing our visas has turned out to be very tricky and time-consuming this year, and we can't drive the car without valid visas (because that means the car isn't registered and we have no insurance). I've been without the car since October 4th, which makes life very hard.
- One of us needs to go to the USA to bring back medications, but we can't go until we get our passports and visas back. We can't even purchase the ticket for said trip until we know when we can leave. (Invariably, the cost will go up the longer we wait...)
But then something happened yesterday to make me truly appreciate that "the glass is half FULL!" En route to an appointment with Katya, in a taxi, she suddenly threw up all over herself, me and the car. A car that I don't need to extensively clean to remove the smell of vomit, as if you really could... And I was able to help her immediately. Had I been driving, it would have been 25 minutes before I could have exited the traffic on the highway to stop the car and assist her. (And, as I wrote in my last post, at least now we have a clothes dryer. Dealing with stomach flus the few years I was without one was NOT pleasant).
It's all a matter of perspective!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
You Know You've Been in Russia for a Long Time When....
You know you've been in
- You don't think things are that bad right now.
- You just assume that accomplishing anything will take much longer than expected and be more complicated than envisioned—and you're delighted when, in fact, things can be done easily.
- You expect lengthy traffic jams and include them in your schedule.
- You have to think twice about throwing away any empty plastic bag. (There's no such thing as formal recycling here; people tend to use items as many times as they can, though—and sometimes in unexpected ways).
- You carry a plastic shopping bag with you "just in case".
- You don't mind at all having to pay for your plastic shopping bags. In fact, you stock up on them when they're of good quality because they'll make good trash bags. (You often have to walk a bit to get to the dumpster for your building, and I've yet to find a basic trash bag for less than $1 per bag that doesn't instantly rip).
- You think that plastic trash bags are of enough significance that you'd even write about them in this list.
- You answer the phone by saying, "Allo, allo, allo" before giving the caller a chance to respond. You've got your old lady/old man annoyed telephone voice so refined that your closest friends sometimes think they've dialed a wrong number because they can't tell it's you.
- You get excited when the dentist smiles and has all his own teeth. (I think it says something that this was the fifth image to come up under the search "russian + man" at Google images...)
- When crossing the street, you sprint.
- You ponder the United States Postal System and think, "Wow… People actually get their mail—all of it—delivered directly to their house in a timely fashion!! !", as if it were a new invention.
- In winter, you choose your route by determining which icicles are least likely to impale you in the head/falling compacted icy snow is least likely to crush you--as it did this Lexus.
- You are impressed with the new model Lada or
- You let the telephone ring at least 4 times before you pick it up because it is probably a misconnection or electrical fault.
- You are pleasantly surprised (truly--enough to actually smile!) when there is toilet paper in the bathroom at work—or ANYWHERE. (This isn't true in Western companies, but it sure is everywhere else…)
- You're no longer surprised when you use a public toilet somewhere to see the sign instructing you to put any toilet paper you use into the trash can—and NOT into the actual toilet (plumbing is really old and bad in much of the city).
- You notice that a friend's cell phone is smaller than yours and you're jealous. You actually care what kind of cell phone you have. (Not true for me, but for most other people I know…).
- You look at people's shoes to determine where they are from. It used to be that old, ugly, bad shoes meant the person was Russian. Nowadays things have changed so much that if the shoe isn't of the latest style or expensive, you know the person is probably from
! (Muscovites would never sacrifice style for comfort. Any self-respecting woman—and many men—under the age of fifty would NEVER wear "comfort" shoes such as you'd find on 99% of the American population) America
- Your day seems brighter after seeing that some goon's luxury car has been scratched up.
- You are thrown off- guard when anyone in the service industry actually smiles at you.
- You're not sure what to do when the GAI (traffic cop) only asks you to pay the official fine.
- It doesn't seem strange to pay the GAI $2.25 for crossing the double line while making an illegal U-turn, and $35 for a mediocre entrée at a mediocre restaurant.
- Your kids automatically know to start crying that they have to pee as soon as the traffic cop approaches. (Don't get me wrong; I'm not a bad driver getting stopped all the time for violations I've made. Here they just stop you all the time to ostensibly check your documents--but it's actually to get bribes. Click here to see what Natalia think of them...).
- You're surprised when in the
that you don't need to present your passport (or even your driver's license) in order make a return—and that you needn't fill out pages of forms to do so. USA
- You plan your vacation around those times of the year when the hot water is turned off. (Even if you have a hot water heater in your apartment, many others don't, and it really smells on the subway at those times… Just look how crowded it can get at rush hour! Keep in mind that this all takes place deep underground, without fresh air.)
- You are relieved when the guy standing next to you on the bus actually uses a handkerchief—or has taken a shower in the last few days.
- You are envious because your expatriate friend has smaller door keys than you do.
- You are surprised when you go back to the
and your drink comes with ice in it. USA
- You get off the plane in the
and the sunshine in winter blinds you; you haven't seen it for so long that you forgot what it was like. (That is so true!!!!) USA
- You develop a liking for beetroot and cabbage.
- You know seven people whose favorite novel is The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
- You change into tapki (slippers) and wash your hands as soon as you walk into your apartment.
- You actually own tapki (slippers) that other people can put on when they visit you.
- You take a trip to
Budapestor and think you've been to heaven. Prague
- You can read barcodes, and you start shopping for products by their country of production.
- You know more than 20 Olgas, 25 Lenas and 25 Katyas.
- You put the empty bottle of wine on the floor in a restaurant.
- You kick young people out of their seats on the subway to make way for the elderly and mothers with small children, slowly morphing into a harsh babushka...
- You have to check your passport for an arrival-in-Russia date (necessary when filling out certain paperwork).
- Remont (repair) becomes an integral part of your vocabulary.
- It seems odd to you that when back in the USA, cashiers don't rip the top of your sales receipt approximately 1/2 inch before handing it you. (It's a very odd custom here that NO salesclerk will dare violate. They will NOT hand you a receipt w/o tearing it first for fear of some harsh punishment by their bosses. No one, however, can explain to me why this must be done...)
- Cigarette smoke becomes tolerable; it shocks you to be in the
and not smell it everywhere. USA
- You think metal doors are a necessity.
- You speak to other expats in your native language, but forget a few of the simplest words and throw in some Russian ones.
- You remember how many kilos you weigh - but forget how many pounds.
- A gallon of gasoline or milk seems like a foreign concept.
- You no longer miss the foods you grew up with, and pass them up at foreign-owned supermarkets.
- You look for black bread, kvas and kefir in the supermarket, and ask to buy half a head of cabbage.
- You see a car behind you with flashing lights and think it's some politician.
- You don't feel guilty about not paying on the trolleybus. (It can be impossible to get a ticket from the driver—who should be driving—if the bus is crowded, you have kids with you, and you don't have exact change. The fine is only 200 rubles/$4 if you're caught, and the ticket is only 25 rubles to begin with).
- The elevator aroma seems reassuring somehow.
- You no longer think living without a clothes dryer is an inconvenience. (I can't believe I did it for two and half years…I actually got used to it!)
- You can heat water on the stove and shower with it in less than 10 minutes.
- You know the Moscow Metro better than you know the subway system back home. If you don't have a subway system back home, you realize how much you'd miss good public transportation. (For those here who live and work right near a subway stop, it truly is fantastic! And the stations are gorgeous!)
- A weekend anywhere in the Baltics (
Eastern Europe) qualifies as a trip to the West.
- A week at a family resort in
qualifies as a luxury vacation (really!!!). Turkey
- You sit in silence with your eyes shut for a few moments before leaving on any long journey. (Check out my July entry on Russian superstitions for mention of this and the items below).
- You look in the mirror to turn away bad luck if you have to return home to pick up something you've forgotten.
- You feel queasy when someone tries to shake your hand over a threshold.
- You catch yourself whistling indoors and feel guilty.
- You never smile in public when you're alone.
- You know the official at the metro station/airport/border post/post office/railway station etc. etc. is going to say "Nyet!", but you argue anyway.
- That strange pungent mix of odours of stale sawdust, sweat and grime in the metro makes you feel safe and at home...
- You are in awe that after 3 days home in the
, your shoes are still clean. USA
- You're thrilled if there actually is a coatcheck in the
, but then offended that you're asked to pay. USA
- For Women: You get dressed up to simply go grocery shopping when you're back in the
- The word 'salad' ceases for you to have anything to do with lettuce. (It can be any mixture that has some veggies in it, often containing lots of mayonnaise and some meat).
- You can recite in Russian all the words to the "please wait" telephone recording you hear when ordering a taxi, the recordings in the metro and on the bus, and random commercials from radio and TV—ads for items you never even buy.
- You begin paying attention to peoples' floors and can distinguish the quality of linoleum and/or parquet, and thus determine social status, taste, and income (e.g. embezzled, earned, pension, unpaid, etc.).
- You can spark a debate by asking for a decent Mexican restaurant (There isn't one).
- You hear the radio say it is zero degrees outside and you think it is a nice day for a change.
- You voluntarily take a stroll in the park, and get an ice cream, on a sub-zero day.
- When pulled over by a policeman, you pretend not to speak Russian and say Ya ne ponedelnik instead of Ya ne ponimayu on purpose. ("I'm not Monday" instead of "I don't understand").
- You pretend not to speak Russian when you walk in to a restaurant and ask to use their bathroom without buying anything.
- You are no longer surprised when your taxi driver tells you that before Perestroika he worked as a rocket scientist or surgeon. (The most common way of getting around here after the subway is to hitchhike—"private cabs" that you thumb down and negotiate a price with. There aren't enough legitimate cabs to meet the city's need. The economy is so bad that many highly-trained professionals instead drive their own cars as taxis; they make more that way. That's what the man who drives for us does; being a physicist just didn't pay…)
- You've lived here long enough that Ramstore (a Turkish supermarket that is crummy in comparison to any successful, large
chain) seems amazing to you! ( Before the one near us opened, my shopping was so much harder… I still need to visit at least two or three shops/outdoor markets to do my weekly shopping, but it's MUCH easier). US
- You know which kiosks (metal shacks lining street corners and in underground street passageways) sell the odds and ends you need for your home (electrical supplies, lightbulbs, etc).
- You laugh at Russian jokes.
- You actually get these jokes.
- You no longer feel like going to your 'home' country. Somehow the hassle of the travel takes away from the vacation… And since you're used to living here, you don't feel a regular craving to leave—although you're glad to go home when you do.
- You continue to 'cross' the number 7 back at home.
- You think it's too hot, no matter what season you return home. And you think it's too cold indoors. (Well… Global warming has changed this some… We can get such intense hot spells here that it's unbearable, especially since there's almost no air-conditioning and older windows can't be opened if you have kids in the house—they could fall right out. Just picture being a PACKED subway car when it's 100 degrees plus humidity … It seems too cold indoors when you're back in the USA because in Moscow heat is controlled by the city for most buildings--and you can't really regulate the temperature inside your apartment other than by opening the windows).
- You dress in layers in all seasons, particularly in August-June. Oh... OK... that's all seasons if you just skip July... Those other months the weather can really vary (June and August can be both really hot or quite cool). During the rest of the year, the contrast between the cold weather and overheated indoors demands layers. My friend Rachael's daughter, who was adopted from St. Petersburg at age 7 this past April, is still clinging to her layerly ways even now that she's American...
- When in the USA, you specify 'no gas' when asking for mineral water. (Here there's always a choice of carbonated or still water and they're distinguished by "c gazom" or "byez
"—with or without carbonation). gaza
- You're dumbfounded that you can get water to drink at a
restaurant that's free—and that didn't cost 1/3 of your lunch tab (You can't drink tap water here and bottled water is expensive). US
- You are dumbstruck back at home when high school or college students wait on you with a smile, reciting a 90 second spiel on the 'specials of the day' and display complete knowledge of the contents of each menu item...
- Your kids who didn't speak a word of Russian when you moved here are now embarrassed by your accent, vocabulary and grammatical mistakes.
- Your kids assume that you can bribe anyone to get what you need. (Click here to see how Katya figured she could bribe the US Customs & Immigration official to put a stamp in her stuffed animal's passport).
- You think it's normal for kids in kindergarten and elementary school to go to bed at 9 p.m. or later (Kids get home later here, nap more, and start going to bed much later than in the
by age 3). The most popular show for children is called "Good Night, Children" and it's on from 8:50 to 9 p.m. USA
- You think it's perfectly normal to slip 1,000 rubles ($40) to your son's teachers each month so they'll be nice to him, overlooking certain behaviors or helping in extra ways. (Then again, wouldn't it be nice if you could somehow make some teachers in the USA a little bit nicer sometimes??)
- Your kids confuse the words "library" and "bookstore" when in the
USAbecause they're used to seeing you have to buy every English-language book they read (which you bring back to for them). Russia
- As you do your internet shopping prior to a trip back to the
, you can rather successfully run a tally in your head of how much bulk and how many pounds you have accumulated—separated into 50 lb. piles (the basic suitcase limit). USA
- You can't remember what life was like in the
when you regularly watched certain TV shows on certain days. Now you probably don't watch TV at all except for the occasional dvd or shows off of your ipod. USA
- You realize that all the observations above are what you love about Russia, that you've been here long enough to feel at home, and wonder whether you'll ever able to fit back in when you return to your country of origin.
I've been having a few rough weeks of "ARGH! MOS-COW!!!" troubles (I'll get to that some other day) and I wouldn't say by any stretch of the imagination that I'm blindly swept away by Russia's wonders... BUT, even in the gloom, there are things that sway you and make you appreciate aspects of life here. As I look over that list, I'm amazed by humans' ability to adapt. I never would have thought four years ago that much of this list would now be normal behavior for me.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
I'm on TV with my Second Graders!
Click here to see the whole show. For those of you non-Russian speakers, my class is between minutes 8:41 and 9:13 and 12:07 and 12:48.
Monday, October 15, 2007
"I think I'm so happy..." (Or, "My, what clean ears you have...")
The girls BEGGED me to include the video clips that are spliced together above... Katya, a blogger-to-be, even asked me to *take* both clips so they could be put on the blog...
It's a wonder that Katya and Natalia get any sleep at night with all the loving they're getting from the kittens! They actually sleep right through the marathon ear-cleaning sessions... (Could it be that the kittens miss nursing and that's why they're fixated with sucking on the girls' ears? They can do it for HOURS as if in a trance). I can't imagine how they don't wake up! You can hear on the clips how loudly both kittens purr, too--right into the girls' ears!
Katya and Natalia go to bed willingly now, though... They know that the kittens will come join them and they treasure that time to cuddle.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
How's This for Some Political Math (i.e. Dead Spy = No Cheddar Cheese)
Angry British Government + Angry Russian Government = Expelled Russian & British Diplomats
Moscow - (British Diplomat + Speech Therapist Wife) = No More Speech Therapy for Natalia
Still Angry British Government + Still Angry Russian Government = No Cheddar Cheese in Moscow
No Cheddar Cheese in Moscow= Very Angry Tamara
Good friends in Moscow + Generous Houseguest Bearing Cheddar from Vermont = VERY HAPPY TAMARA
Go figure. Who would have thought that the political fallout from the Litvinenko murder could lead to strained trade relations that mean no cheddar cheese in Moscow... (That's what the manager at the cheese counter of one of the city's main stores told me). Take away our speech therapist, and then take away cheddar, too???????
This may sound so ridiculous and petty, but no cheddar means no tacos! No enchiladas! No quesadillas! And those foods are so YUMMY and EASY for a working mom to serve up! And my kids would actually eat them!
I'm embarrassed to admit that I spent over six hours two weeks ago trying to track down cheddar in Moscow. You'd think I'd have cut my losses and just given up... But after the three hours it took to buy the groceries for the above-mentioned Mexican meals, minus the cheddar, I was DETERMINED to get the cheddar! I kept thinking, "Just one more store..." and then it became one more... and one more...
So all of you readers in the USA who can easily procure a large chunk of generic cheddar, consider yourselves so very, very lucky!!!!!!!
This story had a (temporary) happy ending because last weekend we went over to some good friends' for dinner. Having heard about my cheddar woes, they offered me a chunk of Cabot Extra Sharp that their friend had brought with her as a hostess gift when she visited from New York earlier in the month. They would have loved it, but they knew it would mean so much more to me... And right they were... THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I actually met their friend and I send along my heartfelt thanks to her, too! (Turns out we both went to the same high school! Small world. If only this world were small enough, though, for me to now get my hands on another block of cheddar...)
Oh... and in case you're wondering, I *didn't* share. The kids got Tex-Mex with Gouda. I savored every single sliver of that amazing Cabot cheese myself. Gotta get your pampering where you can!
Natalia's School Celebrates at the Circus... (with a big surprise at the end)
To give you a taste of what we saw, here are some of the highlights:
Riding one-handed off the side of horse? Yes! Trapeze artists on ICE SKATES (they started off the number skating) where the man is balancing on his head and holding the woman upside down with NO safety equipment? Yes again!
Delightfully funny clowns and Kenyan gymnasts that seemed to jump and flip like kernels of happy popcorn!
The real surprise came at the end; during a particularly hair-raising high-wire act, the floor had disappeared and had been replaced by a pool--without our even realizing it. All of the sudden there was a hula-hoop and acrobatic act surrounded by synchronized swimmers--and it ended at the very ceiling of the circus dome (again with no safety wires) while there was a spectacular fountain and laser light show beneath. If you're in Moscow, don't miss this show!!!
I mentioned in the title of this posting that the show ended with a real surprise. It would appear that I was talking about the show's finale. If only. The true surprise came when we left the circus and saw the weather outside.
It is now officially winter. Ugh. Luckily the kids thought it was great...


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I'm a journalist. On any given weekday, I'm scooting around Southern California having meetings, running errands, doing photoshoots and visiting friends. Hollywood, Venice, downtown, Malibu, Pasadena, Long Beach, Orange County, it doesn't matter. I've hit them all on the same day. Hell, some days, I'll hit them all on the same afternoon. I can do this quickly and efficiently because I get around on a motorcycle.
Five weeks ago, however, I rolled a Ural sidecar off road at 50 mph, breaking my left wrist. Aside from providing a killer story for picking up women, the injury objectively and quantifiably ruined my life. How?
It forced me into a car.
Much more than just a major blow to my carefully cultivated self-image, the simple switch from two wheels to four cost me money (both out of pocket and in lost earnings), strained friendships and made dating a real bitch.
Here's how.
The Money
I average 50 to 75 miles a day on the road. Not a huge amount, but living in Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles proper, a lot of that mileage is racked up on SoCal's heavily congested freeways in stop and go traffic. Well, stop and go if you're in a car.
Working as a motorcycle journalist, I ride many different bikes on a daily basis. On the highway, they average anywhere from 25 to 75 mpg. I've never figured out an overall average fuel economy figure because I'm swapping bikes so frequently. It just isn't a factor at all, so it's not worth tracking. My usual fuel bill is 10 or 12 bucks every two or three days.
I borrowed a friend's Mazda3 hatchback while I was unable to ride. It's got a 2.3-liter engine and a five-speed manual and I averaged roughly 20 mpg crawling through traffic. I racked up 600 or so miles during my two weeks in commute hell, burning through roughly 30 gallons of gas. At $3.75 a gallon, that's $112.50 spent in just two weeks. Compare that to the $50 or so I would have put into bikes to go the same distance during the same time frame.
That extra $60 or so might not sound too bad until you figure in my lost earnings.
In addition to running a website, I freelance for clients like Wired.com and a bunch of magazines. Being stuck, often literally, in a car for several hours a day for two weeks had a major impact on my productivity. Looking only at my work for Wired.com, I was unable to find time to complete two motorcycle reviews and attend a car launch. The net loss from that? $750. And that's only one client. That lost productivity was the worst thing about the whole four-wheeled experience.
The Productivity
As a young journalist working in an extremely difficult media market, my entire career is predicated on 10- to 12-hour workdays spent at max efficiency. With two arms and plenty of time, I can crank out 5,000 words or more a day. About two-thirds of that is for Hell For Leather, my motorcycle magazine. The rest is freelance work.
But what happens when that workday is reduced by four hours or so to account for the time spent sitting in traffic? Ask the editors I work for. I missed deadlines. I couldn't honor all my commitments. And my daily word count dropped below 2,000. I currently owe Wired.com four articles. (I'm catching up, guys, I promise.)
There's also the question of Hell For Leather. We have a tiny staff compared to our competitors, yet we've been doubling and trebling readership over the past couple of years largely because we work so damn hard. As editor, nothing gets published without my input, guidance and help. I write a significant portion of the content, too. Stuck in a car for two weeks? Our traffic dropped by more than 20 percent. It's hard to run a business when you're sitting on the Santa Monica Freeway.
The Personal Costs
Borrowing the car from a friend wasn't such a big deal. I loaned him one of my bikes in exchange. But the frustration of sitting in traffic, the lost revenue and the disappointment of being unable to live up to my potential had huge ramifications on my personal life.
All that, plus the added time necessary to, say, meet a friend for dinner, meant I missed out on personal commitments, neglected some friendships and strained others. The stress meant I drank more, which, combined with sitting still in a car for hours at a time, meant I put on a few pounds.
Being unable to effectively transport myself also meant I had to rely on friends for favors. I spent the entirety of Carmageddon weekend, for instance, at a friend's house in Hollywood. I'm pretty sure her roommates were sick of the weird long-haired guy on the couch by the third day. If I'd been on a bike, I could have attended the party and made it home through apocalyptic traffic the same night.
Last weekend, I missed a friend's wedding. I was too swamped catching up on work to take the time off to ride up to San Luis Obispo.
Due largely to how effective a cast and "I rolled a Russian sidecar off road at 50 MPH" are as a pickup line, I've started seeing a new girl. She lives about 20 miles away, via the 710, 5 and 101 freeways. Impromptu, um, visits are virtually impossible when it takes 90 minutes to drive 20 miles. On a bike, that same ride is 20 minutes, regardless of time or traffic. I'm sure you can see the advantage.
The Bike
As you may have noticed in the photo, the cast isn't exactly keeping me off a bike. The first three weeks were spent in a 90-degree, full-arm cast, which is why I had to get around in a big steel cage (Pain meds and whiskey kept me off the road for the first week). Now that I'm in a short cast, I can straighten my arm. And that means I can ride again. Thank God.
I still can't operate a clutch lever, but I can wrap my hand around the grip. Luckily, that's enough to operate an Aprilia Mana 850 GT, which is equipped with a CVT instead of a conventional manual transmission. There's no lever on the left handlebar at all.
This isn't some specially modified bike or unattainable rarity either. It's a practical, do-it-all motorcycle that, at $10,999, is around half the cost of the Mazda I was driving. At 45 mpg, it gets more than twice the fuel economy, too. And then there's that whole performance thing. Equipped with a 75 horsepower V-twin, the Mana accelerates from 0 to 60 in around four seconds. That's faster than most Porsches, much less Mazdas.
It's not just its fuel economy, price or clutchless transmission that makes it practical, either.
The Mana comes with a waterproof storage compartment between your legs, where the fuel tank typically is (The Mana's tank is under the seat for a low center of gravity). Running up to Hollywood to see a girl, I can throw a sweatshirt and my laptop in there, ready for the ride home in the morning. That compartment, plus a backpack, can carry a week's worth of groceries. As a bonus, it encouraged me to switch from beer to whiskey; strapping a case of beer to the passenger seat tends to draw unwanted police attention, but you can slip a fifth in the storage compartment no problem.
Look, I know it seems the real culprit for all this life ruination is motorcycles. I did break my wrist on a sidecar, after all. But, the injury has been less of a hassle than the transportation problem it caused. Knock on my titanium forearm (installed after a previous accident), but I've never hurt myself in mundane daily riding. The injuries have come only when I've chosen to do ridiculously dangerous stuff for fun. A motorcycle might have led to the problem, but the ultimate problem was traveling by car.
Even with a cast, I can still safely take advantage of all the benefits two-wheeled travel offers. Since we're in California, I can legally split lanes, meaning I never need to sit in traffic. I'm saving money on gas and no longer need to pay for parking. I can make meetings, have time to write articles and even get laid. Most importantly, I can head for twisty roads in the mountains after work to blow off all the stress brought by two weeks in a car.
If you're reading this before getting in a car to head home, you're about to get stuck in a traffic jam. With this Aprilia, I can ride a motorcycle in a cast and avoid all that crap. You can too. So what's your excuse?
Photo: Sean Smith/Hell For Leather


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Choose from NRC's benchmarks.
Enroll in NRC's annual or semi-annual surveys, such as The National Community Survey. Compare results in your community over time, as well as to other communities across the country.
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View interactive dashboards.
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You can post questions and surveys on Polco, then view detailed data dashboards of responses, participation rates, and breakdowns by key dimensions such as age, gender, and part of the community. Monitor this information in real time to understand who you're reaching, who you're not, and how to correct the gap.


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How one couple prepared three sons for life after High School
See also Keys for success, Alex Chediak's article on "nurturing your child's talent, character, and passion for a smooth college transition."
The value of authenticity
Barnabas Piper asks if the widespread emphasis on authenticity is increasing our happiness.
12 ways to know if you are a leader
Michael Hyatt throws down the challenge. If you need all 12, that doesn't leave very many of us standing!
Mind Mapping & Personal Planning
Tim Brister says he focuses on four primary areas for planning his personal life: Renewal, Rhythms, Roles, Responsibilities.
Latest salvo fired in Mommy wars
"There is no question that professional women receive much more societal validation than "stay-at-home moms." Few magazine covers at the checkout line or full-page ads promoting events and awards to "successful" women, laud mothers who stay home to raise their children.


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Torch lighter
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Only use a Jet lighter for your vaporizer. We offer the best jet flames from Flamy, Dora and Colton in our store. All lighters are refillable with butane gas and come with 2 years warranty. Attention please! All Jet flames don't work as from 1300 meter altitude over sea level. We offer a special butane gas in our store to make sure the lighter will work perfect.


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A member of our team will email you an order confirmation which you can check over and confirm back to us along with payment. Payment can be made via our website or by BACS.
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"Food was the strongest link to my culture and was always a presence – despite the shame that it carried for me," says Kapisanan executive director Nicole Cajucom, one of the organizers behind the innovative program
Growing up in Toronto, Ulysses Valiente says his Filipino mom didn't really cook Filipino food. After school, his Trinidadian babysitter would often prepare meals from her home country that he happily ate. "I guess I was used more to Canadian and Caribbean food and developed those taste buds," he says. "My mom just had a hard time making me get used to Filipino food," he adds, because its flavours were stronger and more sour.
But the 29-year-old is connecting to Filipino culture with an innovative new program called Ulam – a Tagalog word that translates to viand or main course – a culinary arts program at Artscape Youngplace, conducted in partnership between SKETCH Working Arts, Kapisanan Philippine Centre and Lamesa Filipino Kitchen. Along with teaching technical cooking skills, Ulam connects participants with chefs across the city who are putting their own spin on Filipino food, such as Dennis Tay at Dailo, Robbie Hojilla at Lake Inez, Francis Bermejo at Bar Buca and Diona Joyce at Kanto. When the ten-week program ends in June, the Ulam team will prepare a closing dinner for SKETCH's artist residency program, and then work toward setting up a food stall at the Kultura Filipino Street Eats Festival in August.
While Filipino food is positively trendy right now, it wasn't always this way, say Nicole Cajucom, Kapisanan's executive director and Justin Richardson, who coordinates culinary arts programs at SKETCH.
"There was a real 'white-washing' to my youth, especially when it came to me being half-Filipino," Richardson says. "There was shame involved with engaging with my cultural heritage, whether it was food or clothing or dance. Sometimes it was the way I smelled like my baon (packed lunch) of Filipino food when I went to school. That became rare as time passed."
Cajucom echoes the sentiment. "I can speak personally about my own experience, having been born and raised in Toronto," Cajucom says. "Food was the strongest link to my culture and was always a presence – despite the shame that it carried for me. It was an internalized racism as much as I wanted to disassociate with my Filipino-ness, the food was always there. You can't go to a fam-jam and escape it."
Lamesa's Chef Dan Cancino was a natural fit for the program, and immediate supporter.
His Ulam curriculum includes sessions on making condiments such as patis (fish sauce), bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) and banana ketchup from scratch – staples you're guaranteed to find in any Filipino food aisle. Another session was devoted to making atchara (pickled vegetables) and itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs) with ingredients sourced from local farms – again, every day preserves that most Filipinos love eating alongside meat or fish.
Paired with the day's ulam, these condiments and preserves are found in most regional cuisines across the Philippines. In a way, Cancino explains, the workshop is like a window into how Filipino food developed over time – from a descendant of Roman garum to American-era "ketchup" made of surplus bananas.
"We wanted to show that you could make these foods at home," Cancino says, "because we find it's getting lost even within our own communities. The participants have been really open minded and want to get educated about Filipino food," he adds, "and it's a privilege to work with them."
Find the SKETCH crew at the Kultura Filipino Street Eats Festival on August 13, 2017 at Daniels Spectrum.
firstname.lastname@example.com | @nowtoronto


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Twiggie Davis
Designer Stylist
Erika "Twiggie" is a Designer Stylist at Avanti! She is a very artistic individual. She has three degrees two being in Art and her final in Cosmetology. Her creative talent shines through in whatever she sets her mind to.
She is always staying up to date with her classes, learning new skills and whatever the newest trends are. She is certified in Keratin Complex Straightening treatments. Twiggie enjoys doing cuts the most!
When she is not creating hairstyles in the salon, she likes to spend her time by attending local art shows, tending to her animals, and creating all types of art.