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10 Essential Attitudes for a Good Quality of Life
Understanding the Key to Longevity
The key to a long and productive life is found in 10 essential attitudes:
Keep Learning. When we cease to learn, we stop growing, because a lazy brain is an aging brain. So much has changed over the course of the years. As technology advances, we must continually learn skills our parents and grandparents never had to know. But the most important pursuits in life are learning the Word of God and memorizing Scripture.
Keep Loving. The first and foremost commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and might (Deut. 6:5). And Jesus taught and modeled love for one another as well. When we stop loving God and other people, bitterness, resentment, hostility, or hatred take up residence within us and damage our emotional, mental, and spiritual health. God created us to love Him and others. That's why maintaining a loving spirit promotes good health within us.
Keep Laughing. Laughter affects every part of the body, including our nervous system, and sets us free from discontentment and grumbling. Of all the people in the world, Christians should be the happiest because we have the joy of the Lord within us and the greatest reasons to be grateful.
Keep Leaving. To stay youthful and productive, we must leave yesterday's cares and problems behind us instead of dragging them with us into the next day. Since past experiences and situations have the potential to discourage us and pull us backwards, we must learn to cast all our anxieties on the Lord, knowing that He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7). Hanging on to past hurts, disappointments, and discouragements negatively affects our bodies, minds, and emotions. And if we're anxious about the future, we must also leave these concerns with Jesus and trust Him to handle them.
Keep Longing. As we get older, we must keep dreaming about the future. Instead of looking at all the things we can't do, we should concentrate on what we can accomplish and look forward to what awaits us in the future. As children of God, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to do whatever He desires. Though we may not feel adequate, we should never underestimate what the Lord can do through us when we're willing and obedient.
Keep Looking Ahead. We should plan for tomorrow even if we don't think we have many active years left. Looking forward to what God would have us do and pursuing activities we enjoy energizes us to continue being useful and productive.
Keep Looking Your Best. There's something about looking and doing our best that stimulates us and encourages us to keep going.
Keep Laboring. Although we may not be able to do what we once did, retirement from a career is not a time to cease working. It may be a time to change what we do, but telling ourselves that we no longer have to work sends a message to our bodies that they can stop functioning. In the Christian life there is no retirement because we can still bear spiritual fruit and make a difference in people's lives until the day we die.
Keep Leaning on the Lord. Each day should be lived in dependence upon and trust in God. He's the One we rely upon for wisdom, direction, and provision. There is no need to fret when we lean on the Lord in prayer. We can trust Him with all our concerns, knowing that He is always present and faithful. Hudson Taylor, the head of the China Inland Mission, once said, "Bear not a single care thyself; one is too much for thee. Thy work is Mine and Mine alone; thy work is to rest in Me."
Keep Listening. The most important thing we can do is listen to the Lord. Though we cannot hear Him audibly, He speaks to us in our hearts through His Word and His Spirit. As we open the Scripture and pray for guidance and wisdom, He'll answer us. But if we don't listen to Him, we'll be spiritually crippled throughout our lives and unable to discern His will. However, if we heed His voice, He will help us make wise decisions, guide us into the right relationships, empower us to avoid temptations, and convict us when we sin.
Review these 10 essentials for staying young and useful throughout your life. Which ones are you already practicing? Which ones do you need to implement in your life? You may not think these practices are essential for you at this point in your life. However, there are advantages to adopting these attitudes as early as possible. So why not start today?
This article was originally published on February 19, 2017, and is adapted from the Sermon Notes for Dr. Stanley's message "How to Stay Young and Useful All Your Life," which airs this weekend on TV.


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First day of Yemen peace talks conclude with 'difficult' but 'critical' discussions
Yemen's government and rebels, locked in a devastating war, traded accusations on Thursday as they sat down for talks the United Nations described as "difficult" but "critical".
While the days leading up to the gathering saw the government and rebels agreeing on a prisoner swap deal and the evacuation of wounded rebels for medical treatment in Oman, both parties dug in on their demands as the talks began.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged the warring parties not to impose pre-conditions after both sides put forward demands, while the rebels said they were still assessing the "seriousness" of the hard-won talks.
"We will judge whether the Stockholm talks are serious or not tomorrow," Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told the Arabic-language Al-Mayadeen television channel on Thursday night.
The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said the talks presented a "critical opportunity" but did not amount to negotiations on a full end to the conflict.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one UN official said the talks marked "the beginning of difficult work".
On the table at the Sweden talks is the fate of Hodeidah, the last rebel stronghold on Yemen's Red Sea coast and the conduit for 90 percent of vital food imports.
Prior to the talks, the UN sought to temper expectations, saying they aim to achieve "confidence building" between the two sides.
The Saudi-led military coalition, which includes troops trained by the US and the UAE, has for months led an offensive to retake Hodeidah.
The battle has sparked fears for more than 150,000 civilians trapped in the city. Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse the rebels of smuggling arms from Iran through Hodeidah, a charge Tehran denies.
"We'd like to take Hodeidah out of the conflict because... it's the humanitarian pipeline to the rest of the country," said UN envoy Griffiths.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, who heads the Saudi-backed government's delegation to the UN-sponsored talks, told AFP his team would deliver on a planned prisoner swap with the Houthi rebels.
But he refused to compromise on Hodeidah, home to Yemen's most valuable port.
"The Houthi militias must withdraw from the city of Hodeidah and its port and hand it over to the legitimate government, and specifically internal security forces," Yamani said.
Hamid Issam, a member of the team of the Houthi rebels in Sweden, dismissed Yamani's role in the talks altogether.
"We came here with the intention that these talks would succeed," Issam told AFP.
"But it is not up to Khaled al-Yamani... It is up to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States," he said.
A Saudi-led coalition, which includes the United Arab Emirates, launched a military campaign in Yemen in 2015 to push back the Houthis and restore Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to power.
The country has since been pulled into a dire humanitarian crisis, with as many as 14 million people currently on the verge of famine, the UN recently warned.
As the talks started, a World Food Programme official warned even halting the war would not end hunger in Yemen.
The head of the Houthis' political council, Mohammed Ali Houthi, threatened on Thursday to bar UN planes from using the Yemeni capital's airport and keep it closed unless the talks led to its full reopening.
Sanaa international airport, in the rebel-held capital, has been largely shut down for years. It has been the target of air raids by the Saudi-led coalition, which also controls Yemeni airspace.
"We would like to see that airport open, but it needs to be assessed," Griffiths said. "We'd like to see progress on this."
International pressure to end the conflict has been ratcheted up in recent weeks after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi focused attention on Saudi Arabia's foreign policy.
Griffiths' plans to host talks in Geneva in September collapsed on the opening day after the rebels refused to leave the Yemeni capital in case they were not allowed to return.


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Mind the Guest.
A couple of months ago, the hubs and I went to Nashville for the weekend, sin the kid. So pumped! All we wanted to do was eat good food and listen to good music - take in the local culture, if you will. The first such dining establishment we went to was a very popular one on a very popular street in the Downtown area. We walked in past the gazillions of people pouring in and out. There were people standing around and walking up and down the stairs that led to two other levels of the restaurant. We looked around for a minute, and spotted the hostess. She asked how many we had, gave us menus, and moved on to the next group. We were so confused and slightly overwhelmed. We looked around waiting to be seated, but then, after a crowd of people moved, we realized we were supposed to order at a certain place, get your drinks somewhere else, and fend for yourself to find a seat.
We walked into this place as excited newbies, but, because of the experience we had in the first few minutes, we became awkward outsiders.
Once we figured it out, we ended up getting great seats by the stage and the food was really good! The point is that we have all been guests somewhere. It's obvious when you're entering into a new place of business, a new community, a new work atmosphere, or a new church if they're "open" or "closed" to newbies, and you'll know in the first few minutes.
I know there are some out there, but most churches really do want to grow in making disciples. Most churches want to spread the name of Jesus, not their own. But, a lot of times churches appear closed to newbies and they don't even realize it. It's completely unintentional, but it's happening.
To alleviate that and become more open to guests, everything should be done with the guest in mind: sinage, access/directions, processes and procedures, announcements, service traditions, Bible translations, why "we" believe what "we" believe, how to get connected, and so on. For example, many churches say The Lord's Prayer at a certain point in the service, or there is a scripture reading, or Communion is taken, etc. These processes and traditions need to be explained to the guests. Not in a long-drawn out way that makes them feel uncomfortable, but in a way that helps them feel accepted, included, and valued corporately, which will help them feel comfortable to enough to connect to serve and get in a small group. For example, churches should have the words to The Lord's Prayer printed in the bulletin and the congregation should be directed to that before it is said or it should be projected on the screen. And, this isn't just for guests. I know regular church-goers who don't know the whole Lord's Prayer - ain't no shame! When you provide Bible's in your service, explain why the translation that is used is used ("...because it's easy to understand and it's a more direct translation"). Also, signage should be visible, accurate, and should not replace people.
To help you "mind the guest" a little better, as you go out to restaurants, tourist sites, grocery stores, retail stores observe how they are considering you as their guest. What are they doing well? What can they improve on? How is what they're doing impacting your experience and desire to return? How can you apply those lessons to your church?
I'd love to hear some of those experiences and considerations in the comments!
Leave a Reply.
January 2017
Passionate about Jesus and people, I've added this blog to communicate strategy and thoughts about Biblical Hospitality and The Church as a movement, rather than just people in a building once a week. It seems like everyone is blogging these days, (which is awesome!) and I know that there are always better and more insightful thoughts, but God is leading this so I'm just writing in obedience.


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Spiritual Decorating
Last year I wrote an article about Intuitive Design regarding my spiritual connection to a home and how it speaks to me. Whether I am staging a house to sell or conducting an interior design consultation, I listen to my intuition. As I continue to hone this skill set, my goal is to incorporate spiritual elements, restore energy and create a sense of balance for my Atlanta interior design clients.
What is the first thing you see when you walk in the door?
You may see a stack of unpaid bills, clutter-filled countertops, and a dimly lit entryway? How does that make you feel? Happy? Calm? Stressed? Overwhelmed?
The world we live in is very stressful, and we are typically pulled in hundreds of directions. Your home should be the one place where you find balance and peace. It should be a place where you can genuinely receive a calming spiritual experience, recharge your batteries, restore clarity and retreat from a hectic world. This sanctuary can be created by connecting your home to nature by adding both natural and spiritual elements.
Many of us have used various techniques to reconnect on a spiritual level, such as prayer, meditation or a walk in the woods. More and more of my clients are asking for yoga studios, mediation dens, prayer rooms and even spiritual alters. To create these spaces, I try to connect the home to nature and incorporate spiritual icons and religious accessories. I might add a beautiful water feature to appeal to the senses. I may place a colorful yoga cushion near a sunny window with flowing sheer curtains. A statue of Buddha or a wall display of religious crosses can also be effective. The important thing is to create beautiful spaces that are unique to each individual to help them relax and reconnect.
For centuries interior designers have been using the principles of Feng Shui to create harmony, joy, balance, and beauty in a home. These principles still hold true as more and more homeowners understand how spiritual design is crucial in seeing their home as a refuge.
Here are a few ways you make your home a spiritual haven for you and your family:
Use calming colors.
Studies have shown that color has a significant impact on our emotional and psychological well-being. Neutral colors like cream, gray, and pale green and blue are reminiscent of nature and leave a calming effect on people.
Add a few spiritual elements.
Feng Shui has always encouraged designers to add spiritual elements to a room, and there are plenty of ways to combine them. Most of us are trusting in our own beliefs of a higher power. So, spirituality is on the rise in terms of home decor. You can add some framed quotes that keep you faithful. Stack a few of your favorite spiritual books near your meditation spot and even add a collection of candles for your own personal altar.
Bring nature indoors.
Air and sunshine are the easiest way to connect with nature. A plant, a water feature, even an open window are ways to incorporate nature into your home. When the outside world stresses you, little things like the warmth of the sun near a window or the beauty of a plant can help you reconnect with a sense of calm and peace that only nature can bring.
Less is more.
It's known that clutter plays a role in how we feel. It can produce physical and mental chaos. Finding a space in your home that is free from clutter will help you create a zen-like zone. Our minds need to be free from useless distractions. This is the perfect place to add a few spiritual elements to help you become centered. This is not the place for stacks of unopened mail or too many accessories. Remember less is more and this space needs to be clean and clear of anything that adds a sense of disarray.
Surround yourself with quiet.
Choose a space that is kid free and void of extraneous noise. Add a small fountain or soft music if you need some ambient background noise. I totally understand how we can become overwhelmed with our never-ending to-do lists. Never the less, I encourage you to reflect on how your home looks and makes you feel. Walk around your home and let it speak to you. What room or area gives you the most joy? Are there ways you can incorporate some of the above tips for adding your own personal spiritual haven?
If you would like to create a spiritual sanctuary in your home, I'd be happy to help! With my intuition and skill set, I'll help you to establish a spiritual retreat in your home.
Melanie Serra, Interior Decorator, Certified Color, Redesign and Staging Instructor
Award-winning decorator and stylist Melanie Serra has been reviving interiors for over 17 years and has worked with clients in Dallas, Philadelphia, and Atlanta. Melanie Serra's approach to interior design is fresh and innovative transforming residential and commercial interiors from Now to WOW!
Atlanta Georgia – 404.943.0779


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The dreamy land of Konkan
We all dream, and if you don't dream, there's no purpose to life. Travel is one such venture where one dreams of unknown places, and the urge to see them up close becomes an obsession that indeed leads to fantasies tripping about what could possibly happen and what not. One such place is the Konkan.
Konkan is situated at the coastal strip of Maharashtra that is West of India. The narrow strip of land caught between Western Ghats and the mighty Arabian Sea is the Konkan land. Again, going back to fantasies, you could re-create the magic by actually visiting the place for real. There's plenty this strip offers to explore and unearth nature's secrets. You have the wavy beaches, endless fields and hilly areas that combine together depicting the region's natural beauty and geographical location. On the horizon are majestic forts that add to the existing beauty of this strip.
An ideal location it is yet accommodations can be difficult at times, so get prepared for an adventurous outing. By doing so, you can always expect the unexpected and carry on. Konkan locals who inhabit the area have limited English knowledge and could be difficult for tourists to converse while they travel along. The strip can be accessed more easily nowadays with the full-fledged Konkan Railway project via this route. We all know what to expect of other exotic worldwide beach destinations, but Konkan offers just the same with plenty of natural beauty to be admired and beaches that are crystal clear.
Ganpatipule is one of the well known beach spots among Konkan beaches. It is 375 km from Mumbai, Maharashtra, and an ideal location to leave your worries behind and get enchanted with nature's beauty surrounding this strip of amazing land. Of interest, the clear blue sea waters add to the existing delight of the place and ideal for a cool break away from the hustle bustle of daily life. Though this unique piece of land offers everything a traveler desires, it's still not flocked by tourists abroad due to locals still getting adjusted to frequent foreign travelers. Another point to be noted is it's not recommended to be visiting this area during the holiday period as it looks crowded with plenty of local activity. If one doesn't mind getting involved, then the combination of experiencing the serenity the locality offers along with getting to know the culture would prove beneficial. Swayambhu Ganapati temple is a must-visit place and thought to have naturally formed that was accidentally unearthed about 1500 years ago.
A lazy, cozy town called Murud, a fisherman's abode also has a cool beach and a majestically built fort called Janjira. Siddi Jahor built the fort, and it was the Siddis' capital before. Ahmadganj and Siddi Jahor palaces are also worthy attractions that fill this place up.
If you'd like to get lost between Arabian Sea & the Western Ghats, pen down the Konkan as the next place to visit for the natural beauty it offers is too much you could ask for.
See also
- Searching for an Apartment for Rent in Sihanoukville?
- Finding the Right Apartment for Rent in Hanoi: Tay Ho versus Ba Dinh
- Is it expensive to live in Kuala Lumpur?
- Jumeirah Beach: best tourist attractions and things to do
- The jewel of Thailand: Pattaya
- What do in Singapore: Brief Travel Guide
- Koh Rong: Cambodia's Hidden Paradise
- Family-Friendly Skiing in Japan
- Traditional holidays in Vietnam
- Transportation in China
- A Guide to Bali Villa Destinations
- 10 Reasons to Visit Hua Hin on a Golf holidays
- Best 3 adventurous trek in Nepal
- Top 5 Things to Bring While Exploring Philippine Beaches
- Planning for Bali holidays? Try Amankila Resort!
- What to do and see in Thailand?
- Three Fine Places in Singapore
- Krak des Chevaliers
- Gwalior Fort
- Yokohama Tourist attractions
- Best Bars in Phnom Penh
- Georgia – A Mix of The Modern and Old
- Water Pilgrimage – The Haji Ali Dargah at Worli
- Atop the Golden Dreams – Sri Padmanabaswamy Temple
- Rajahmundry Travel Guide
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Lake Baikal
- The dreamy land of Konkan
- Incredible Mongolia
- Sihanoukville in Cambodia
- Malaysia, The truly Asian honeymoon destination
- Kumaon Trekking – India
- Enjoy the Ghost Festival of Thailand
- Rejoicing the festival of Lohri


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Is Digital Privacy a Thing of the Past?
In today's digital world, 80% of consumers believe that total privacy is a thing of the past, while many believe just a fraction of their personal data is actually private. Accenture Interactive's global managing director Glen Hartman explains. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... been been been been been been ... good morning welcome to the MoneyBeat show I am Paul vignette of markets ... no little bit on the downside fickle and the Dow Jones Industrial Average morning ... trade but was basically flat with my inner self ... everything is is reading the red right now I can change obviously quickly ... on big week for the market so that the big big stuff was happening later Thursday the ECB meeting Friday the jobs report for the really big things happen when ... markets prior little bit of a holding pattern right now what we wanna talk about right now ... your privacy ... most consumers now think that all privacy in the digital world it doesn't exist anymore ... most are also not sullied word about that ... and in fact they're willing to trade of privacy for a big deal a new study from eccentric interactive found ... that we have let harden managing director at the firm's here to talk about it ... welcome to the show but had the onsen a great thanks ... the of this is an interesting survey I don't think that the results are necessarily shocker but ... just in number of people who really just ... don't even think they can have privacy anymore ... it is very interesting ... guy thought so too mean privacy is obsolete of major concern ... and you're seeing though as did mention that ... I think also it's an opportunity as well for people to ... start to find ... a comfort zone and I can take these matters ... you wonder I mean isn't that kind of thing where ... this idea has come and gone so far by the wayside that people don't even really think about while I'm privacy ... the whole thing becomes a series of trade offs ... I think so and for me and when we did a study to switch his findings were ... really well that's one key factor which has around establishing trust and people are willing to give up certain kinds of price confirmation it again to get valued and think I'm a trusted ... environment yet ... am only talking about Apple site how does this play out now because you have that the consumer side obviously ... venue of the bill marketer study of the business side that they know I guess they know that they can get certain information ahead of you ... I I let's talk about a from the business I have a handle that relationship ... while ... forcing addiction deficits in evolution so much and new types of data and and in other ways to waste in Iraq when the ... customers ... that I think the organizations are really trying ... dirt the tipping point away for looking to transform the whole business while drama cost ... so they would cut into strips Intracity in the customer's always right for years but I think are really getting serious now take a look ... at the new performance metrics and new ways to organize the company ... so the Twitter really focused around customer engagement ... yet it is for the years and years and years would top the pricing online world ... the big concern was is that government spying on and off of for very good reason lies in that ... ah but it seems like people who are very concerned the government spying ... they're not nearly as concerned about a private ... entity having their information Corporation somebody ... I'll why is that the thing ... well I think it's a level up again this this idea of trust is a is an interesting ... concepts are given example ... I know that when known if you think of maybe when you go to a doctor's appointment in the thirty year physical practices of really invasive process to go and b most of the takeoff order clothes cast loss of personal questions for you and maybe even your history friendly history ... are you willing to give that up ... because you know it's can it hope the doctor did do for diagnosis ... in and this I idea of understand the different types of information and the value you get this it is an equation ... in companies and individuals are hurt or doing without ... Torrance for privacy and write ... and add value which in the body in the last time you did this survey was twenty twelve some things have changed obviously ... what let's talk about some of the numbers that we got up peer to peer me obviously a seven percent ... adequately saved for something that is a very big number ... that Opnet this forty percent number where ... forty people think only about ten percent of their data is actually pride that now ... and so this is a road called action if it moves to Company hse um we have an opportunity ... I think for the CIA mole who's been traditionally known Sunoco for best and ... the focus groups and other kinds of research is due to the customer really extend their curfew and accent were finding that ... the CMOS have to think about the spirits beyond its marketing or branding and look at ... sales and service and loyalty Ananda in a variety of ways men find ... the key point is around those people said Wolves although the data we find it's not so much about the data still finding the right did ... if you define that gold nugget to make the cost or so Constable how some establish trusts or send relevant messages ... that is a new purview of the CIA mole when it's kind of a call to action for them to step up and really start to push the agenda to ... add is that is very inching up leaving on that


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You are currently on milwaukeetool.com - the US English Milwaukee Tool website
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Animal rights protesters aim to block Smithfield deliveries
'Symbolic' centre of meat industry target of group linked to Extinction Rebellion
23 August, 2019 — By Emily Finch
Animal Rebellion protesters out on the street at the weekend
ANIMAL rights activists will target Smithfield Meat Market by blocking deliveries from getting in and out of the historic market for a fortnight.
Animal Rebellion – linked to the larger civil disobedience group Extinction Rebellion – say they want to "send the government a message" that farming animals for food must end to prevent climate disaster.
The market in Farringdon celebrated 150 years last year but some form of meat trading has taken place on the site since the 12th century.
All the trading takes place at night with the market winding down by 8am.
Alex Lockwood, a spokesman for Animal Rebellion, said they were "animal justice advocates" who were "taking up non-violent civil disobedience".
He said: "Smithfield Market is the symbolic centre of the meat industry and that's why we're going there. It's going to be a non-violent, peaceful protest."
He said the meat industry has a "significant impact on the climate" and that people "must go vegan" to prevent climate catastrophe.
But he said the time had now come to "tackle the supply" of meat and added: "We are not really trying to disrupt people's lives but we want to point out that their lives will be disrupted a thousand times more by climate change."
They also care "deeply" about animal welfare and some of the meats sold at Smithfield, including foie gras and veal, is "cruel", he added.
When asked if he was worried that workers on low pay at the market would be out of pocket because of his protest, Mr Lockwood said: "Our target is the government. It's important not to just accept those criticisms. The industry there is family run but have multimillion-pound turnovers."
The City of London – which owns and manages the site – launched a consultation to relocate the market to Dagenham in June.
Animal Rebellion's protest starts on October 7 and will coincide with further protests by Extinction Rebellion which they say will be "huge".
Lis Batteson, the association executive with Smithfield Market Tenants' Association, which represents the traders, said they had "no comment" at present.


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The Second Epistle of John (2 John) is very short, just 13 verses. The author writes using the name of a well respected Christian in order to convince others that a particular belief is wrong. The entire epistle is about this one point. He writes against the belief that Jesus' body was spiritual in nature, and not fleshy; a belief known as docetism.2 John says that if you don't have the right beliefs about the relationship between Jesus-as-god and Jesus-as-man then you are godless (2 John 1:7-9), and Christians can't greet you politely nor welcome you in to church or home (2 John 1:10-11). Just to greet people with wrong beliefs, says 2 John, is to be in league with evil! This has no doubt helped encourage the intolerant and fundamentalist streams in Christian history. 2 John does contradict a few other verses in the Bible that say Christians should debate doctrine patiently and respectfully (1 Peter 3:15-16, 2 Timothy 4:2, Titus 3:2 and Colossians 4:6).
Some of the earliest groups of Christians were docetist but after the rise of Pauline Christianity they were forcibly silenced and mostly eradicated. Pauline Christians, who finalized the choice of what books went into the Bible, obviously then accepted 2 John as authentic, even though historians doubt its history.


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SCP Hates Spaces
Something to remember.
scp absolutely hates spaces. With a passion.
Not simply content with escaping spaces with a backslash, e.g.
~/some\ directory/some\ file.jpg,
scp demands the backslashes themselves be escaped, resulting in
~/some\\ directory/some\\ file.jpg. But no! This is not enough. We must quote the entire path regardless of the fact that the spaces have already been escaped. Twice.
Now we end up with
"~/some\\ directory/some\\ file.jpg". Ridiculous. And just to be clear, it's not any old quote, it must be a double one. Single quotation marks just don't cut the mustard, apparently.
It's times like this I really don't like the CLI for being so obtuse.


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Update your password regularly to keep your account safe.
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Fist of all Jazhaakumullah for your service.
Q: should we make MADDE LAAZIM HARFI or KALIMI MUKHAFFAF or MUTHAQQAL when we read just the letters from alphabet list like alif, baa taa... or this kind of madd only to be performed in MUQATTA AAT
Assalaam alaikum. Wa iyyaakum.
in the separated letters at the beginning of some surahs, is always either or . This six vowel count medd is only with the separated letters, at the beginning of some surahs, not when reading letters from the alphabet in other places or circumstances. A list of the different separate letters that begin some surahs can be found at: http://www.abouttajweed.com/al-mudood_part_9_medd_laazim_harfi.htm at the bottom of the page.
is not in the separated letters at the beginning of some surahs, but instead within a word.
You are welcome.


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"He disturbs others while I'm talking!", "She never listens!", "He always does things wrong... but he can do it when I show him!"
Do those statements remind you of a child in your class??
What are Receptive Language Difficulties?
Receptive language difficulties (also known as comprehension or understanding difficulties) can present in a variety of ways in different children; for example, children may have difficulties with following verbal instructions, understanding new vocabulary, answering questions, and understanding stories.
The classroom environment can be a confusing place for a child with comprehension difficulties; there's lots of new vocabulary to learn and instructions to follow; it's fast paced and there are many distractions!
A child with these type of difficulties may be accessing support/have previously accessed support from a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) (also known as a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) in the US). It is important to follow any advice that you've been given by the SLT/SLP previously, however this post provides some simple strategies you can use to help a child with comprehension difficulties in your classroom!
How you can help:
1. Make sure you have the child's attention: Before you give an instruction or ask a question, make sure that the child is listening and paying attention. If they're not listening, it is unlikely that they will understand what is being said to them. You can gain their attention by saying their name or tapping them gently on their arm. If you're giving an instruction to a whole group, you could go over to the child and repeat the instruction to them directly, or say their name within the whole group, so they know it applies to them too, e.g. "Right everybody... Jack, are you listening? What you are doing is..."
- A visual timetable with images to show what you're doing 'now' and 'next'.
- Using real objects when talking about new vocabulary
- Using gestures or signing when giving an instruction
3. Keep your language simple: Try to keep sentences as simple as possible; use shorter sentences and avoid long, complicated words. When giving instructions it is useful to break instructions down into small steps (chunk them). Often children with language difficulties cannot remember or process multiple pieces of information, so it is easier to give them one instruction at once. You could also try to emphasise the key words, which can help a child focus on the key information.
4. Show them what you mean: If you have given an instruction and the child is still struggling to understand, you could support their understanding by demonstrating the task and showing them what you mean! Show the child how to complete a task so that they know what to do. For example "fold your paper in half... watch me, I'll show you... now you have a go".
5. Check their understanding: Ask the child simple questions related to what you have told them, get them to tell you have they have been asked to do, or ask them to repeat the key points. If the child is struggling to answer your questions, you could offer them forced alternatives, for example "what do you have to get?"... "is it your book or your pencil?"
6. Allow extra time: Children with comprehension difficulties benefit from extra time to process information. Try talking a little slower than usual and pause after you have said a sentence- try counting to 10 in your head before you prompt them. This can help the child think about what you have said and begin to process what they have to do and what they will say too.
I hope you find that these practical strategies can be easily applied in your classroom! Hopefully they will support a child with comprehension difficulties, but you may find that they also support other children in your classroom too!
Have you got any other strategies that you use in your classroom to help children with comprehension difficulties? I'd love to hear about them, drop me a comment below!


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I remember when I started breastfeeding I was told the girls would never be the same. By the girls I mean my breasts. Boy I wish they were wrong. Out of all the parts of me that have changed the most since having Lia , the girls are definitely top 3! Let's just say they're not who they used to be (HA!), and I am always in desperate need of a little push.
If you suffer from the same post-pregnancy and post-breastfeeding breast problems as myself you need to try UpBra ! Heck you just need to try UpBra no matter what! They are not your ordinary push up bras full of padding. UpBra's lift and cleavage control system provides you with a more natural lift. For me, the more natural looking everything the better! I know you are wondering how the heck does it lift without any excess padding?
Well…on the inside of the bra there are two clasps which you can pull and tighten to give you a greater lift. Super easy to use! With UpBra you can actually control how much of a push and how much cleavage you are getting, making it in my eyes the perfect bra for all occasions. I know you are wondering whether the clasps bother me, and the answer is no. They are so comfortable you can't even feel the clasps.
Not only do you have this awesome control system, the cups are lined with these gripped hearts to make sure they stay where you want them! These gripped hearts are the perfect addition to their strapless and convertible bra! It means none of that tugging and pulling that makes strapless bras a nightmare! Like come on, I do not have the ability to make sure my bra stays up while making sure my toddler doesn't run away!
With a toddler my life has become about comfort and functionality while still searching for a bit of umph. The balance of being comfortable enough to run after her while still feeling like I look my best all while learning to love my new body is quite the juggle. UpBra provides me with the ability to do all 3. Keep those strapless & low cut pieces coming, I'm ready! Mamma is bringing sexy back!


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Get in Tamarindo, like being in Paradise
Get in Tamarindo, like being in Paradise
Written by Peter Conrad
Here at Travel Excellence we are always looking for new ideas to suggest places that make your trip unforgettable and Tamarindo is a place you should experience when traveling to Costa Rica. If you want to enjoy a beautiful sunset and lay down to forget about everything, this is the perfect place.
Located on the Pacific Coast, Tamarindo is a popular destination for couples and families looking for a great time. With amazing beaches and forests, this grown city has many stores, hotels and restaurants, perfect for sampling the flavors of Costa Rica. Tamarindo is a main spot for water activities like diving, surfing and sport fishing.
There is a list of luxury and standard hotels in Tamarindo and surroundings and we want to mention a couple of them:
On the top of the list we found JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort & SPA, this is an elegant hotel with 310 guest rooms and four meeting rooms. Each guest room is equipped with amenities such as A/C, private bathroom, room service, minibar, coffeemaker, cable and satellite TV, and iPod port. Other services are: baby sitter, dry cleaning, souvenir shop, 4 restaurants, 2 bars and Spa. It is an ideal hotel for couples, and honeymooners. If you want to enjoy a warm luxury atmosphere this is the place for you.
For those who want to stay in the heart of Tamarindo, we suggest the famous Tamarindo Diria Beach & Golf Resort. It is located just 50 minutes away from the Liberia International Airport. This nice resort offers 124 rooms in different categories, all their rooms offer air conditioning, cable TV, telephone, coffee maker, mini bar, safety box and hair dryer.
Let's talk about tours!
Tamarindo called by Forbes Magazine Costa Rica's most popular beach have a long list of things to do, no matter if it is your first time in the area or not, you will find new activities to do and experience - something that you haven't done before.
For those who visits Tamarindo for the first time, people usually do the canopy tour, rent bikes, sport fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling tours, which are all some of the best ways to experience the area. But if you're looking for a couple of new things to add to your list – here are some suggestions: horseback riding, ATV tours and surfing lessons among many others.
As you can see, and probably noticed Tamarindo is a beach that has so many attractions to offer… include Tamarindo if you are considering Costa Rica as a destination for your next vacation travel.
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Standing in line at the Walgreen's, I got an idea for a Christmas present. They were advertising photo calendars, and with all of the family that I'd visited, and snapped photos of, on the road, I realized that I was in a unique position to assemble a calendar of my own. Rather than a single photo for each month, I thought about how great it might be to track birthdays, by inserting a photo of brothers-sister-nephews-cousins, etc., onto the individual calendar square that represented their birthday. (I don't recall when the last time was that I'd actually remembered one of my nephew's birthdays.) Of course, Walgreen's service was nowhere near this detailed, so this meant assembling such an item from scratch using Power Point.
It was a much bigger project than anticipated. Every time I explained the nature of the project to a given cousin, it seemed, they would respond with the birth date of their spouse and their kids, or even their grandkids. By the time I was done, the calendar indexed the birth dates and the wedding dates of 98 people, living and dead, with over 50 photos of the ones that I'd captured at some point or another.
I also realized that I'd captured the information of people who would be entirely unknown to most of the people who were reading the calendar, and so I also included two family trees (one from Dad's side, and the other from Mom's side) that traced people back as far as the 1780s.
As Christmas approached, Isaac came out for a visit, and it turned out that he'd had some experience with Power Point, and was easily able to create some dazzling looking backgrounds to the layout of the project. Together, we went shopping for a color printer, which I'd always wanted to have, anyway for my own publicity purposes, and to be able to print some of the scenic photos that I'd been taking on the road.
The thing wasn't quite ready in time for Christmas. Some of the very expensive photo paper that I'd ordered when I bought the printer hadn't arrived, and the price of assembling the thing had continued to grow. I eventually settled on some slightly duller, and smaller-than-hoped-for paper stock, which I had coil-bound and distributed just in time for New Year's Day.
As soon as I'd distributed the calendars, it was pointed out to me that the month of November has 30, and not 31 days. Which meant that December had to be re-done.
Parallel to this project, I was continuing my work on e-mailing all of the colleges in the United States with news of my show. I had worked my way through all of the big states, with just a few remote outposts (like Montana and Alabama) left, when I realized that I needed to get back to work on my writing projects. Just like last year, I woke up from a dream that reminded me of my publishing aspirations, and I renewed my commitment to write on a daily basis.
This commitment quickly found its realization (and tied up all of my time) in my reworking of "Karaoke Knights." I'd scheduled a new performance of the show for the Southeast Theatre Conference coming up in March, and it was time to get back to reworking the material, which I'd purposely kept my distance from since the fringe concluded in September.
This time, I came up with a new level to the script. Since I was running karaoke videos that accompanied all of my original songs -- Did I mention that my other Christmas present to myself was a high-tech projection unit for the videos? – there was no reason that that video could not continue to run while I was doing the between-song narration. In fact, a text video could actually comment upon the action from an omniscient point of view, even contradicting the commentary that the live narrator was providing. This could be ironic, or it could be philosophical, but it would give another level for the audience to follow, song-by-song, as the play unraveled. I spent the next several weeks rewriting the script, re-engineering the soundtrack, and reworking the videos.
Somewhere in the midst of all of this writing, issues of publishing were surfacing on a regular basis. I was quoted by a writer for the Huffington Post (an on-line opinion journal), using some of my lines from "Tartuffe," which can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sherman-yellen/bush-as-bad-theatre_b_13187.html. This is, I think, my first publication crossover to the universe outside theatrical and French-related discussion. I dropped the author a note, and he wrote back to tell me how much he enjoyed my versions: "From what I've read your Moliere translation is the one for our
Meanwhile, a woman who'd reviewed my work in Cincinnati last summer had moved to Chicago and was working for a new on-line magazine for the Daily Herald. She wanted interview me, and I suggested that she join me at the karaoke bar to conduct the interview. She gladly agreed, and we had a blast, though our conversation was so far reaching, I have no idea what-all she'll end up writing about. (I'll send the link when the article gets published.)
Back in Cleveland, one of my actors from the production of "The Imaginary Invalid," forwarded me the end-of-the-year round-up from one of the theatre critics, who wrote:
"Yes, no matter how sophisticated we pretend to be, we're all suckers for potty humor. And the past months served up plenty of those pleasures -- all, curiously enough, at Beck Center. The Imaginary Invalid, an enema-centered comedy by Molière, was given a rousing interpretation ... Director Timothy Mooney whipped the pace to a sitcom frenzy and kept the laughter pooting right along." (Christine Howie "Cleveland Scene")
Also, my friend Tina in Portland called to confirm that the article I'd written for the AATF newsletter had finally appeared (fingers crossed that it will lead to more bookings). Again, I'll have to send the publication link if I can find where the article appears on-line.
Also, I visited with the folks who'd published "Tartuffe" and "Imaginary Invalid" while I was in Texas, and they're expressing interest in "The Misanthrope."
And finally, a school was compiling an anthology of Modern Literature, and asked if they could use two of my scenes from "Tartuffe" for their limited-run publication.
So … something seems to be happening for me in the area of publication. Any minute now, I fully anticipate being that hot new author that everybody wants to acquire. (Now that I've got a couple of weeks free, it's about time I chased down some leads.)
The road was already beckoning, and I had two conferences quickly approaching. I'd planned a new session for events I had coming up in Illinois and Texas: "Writing, Producing and Touring the One-Man Play," a session which would include a full performance of "Criteria."
Of course, I'd given this session many times in informal conversations (and in the "View From Here") but to guarantee that I managed to cover everything, I started writing down all of what I had to say.
Now that I had a projector in my possession, I realized that I could actually present this material with slides that would capture some of the essential points. And once I had decided to put together slides, I realized that these slides would need some sort of a background.
Suddenly, I knew that I would finally have a use for all of the photos that I'd been taking on the road. While giving my lecture about touring, the audience would see the pictures I'd been taking, and would get the feel that they were, in fact, on the road along with me (painting an all-too glamorous picture of life-on-the-road).
Very soon, it was time to drive again. Christmas and New Year's had come and gone (I start working on my taxes every January 1), and the road was waiting. I had to shelve any notions of continuing my work on Alabama or Montana, or of following up with the many potential Spring bookings on my list, for the moment and pack up and drive.
First stop was Bloomington, Illinois where the American College Theatre Festival was having their Region III conference. The conference chair had booked me for his school perhaps three years ago, and we'd kept in touch since then. While I knew that this would be very good exposure for me, this was still a paying gig, and I got the royal treatment for a few days. One of my favorite events was the nightly "hospitality suite," where I met up with a LOT of teachers who recognized me immediately from the e-mails I'd been sending out over the years.
I was also kept very busy. Friday morning I gave my "Acting in the Classical Theatre" workshop, which I could now practically do in my sleep. The room was packed (including my good friend and namesake, Tim Kane, who'd come up from Springfield just for the event), and it seemed to go over very well, especially with some of the Wisconsin faculty in attendance. Some people from Marquette, which is producing my "Tartuffe" this winter, asked if they could videotape the workshop for their actors back in Milwaukee, and I agreed, on condition that they provide me with a copy of the tape. (I don't have any footage of myself doing these workshops.) That afternoon, I saw "Red Herring," a terrific play by Michael Hollinger, whose "Incorruptible" I'd directed about 10 years ago. I was the "respondent" to "Red Herring," and I returned to the hotel to assemble my response, eventually writing about 7 pages on the topic.
Saturday morning, I gave my response, alongside Richard Christensen, the former theatre critic for the Chicago Tribune. I'd been nervous about putting my opinion up against the voice of the Chicago theatre scene, which was probably the reason for my over-preparation. I quickly noticed that he was playing the game of "asking questions" rather than sharing opinions, which always makes for a good time-stall when you don't have much to say. Since I did have a fair amount to say, I simply waited until the conversation drifted to one of the areas where I had a clear opinion, and launched into a variety of the riffs (ad-libbing after taking a brief glance at the pages I'd prepared). Richard and I didn't agree on much, but then again, he didn't venture many opinions whatsoever.
From there, it was on to a performance of "Urinetown," which was not quite so brilliant as "Red Herring" had been. This time my challenge would be in finding ways to express my opinion while leaving the morale of the company intact. The biggest problem seemed to be that the cast's microphones were mostly out of order, which left at least 50% of the lyrics unintelligible. But then there's got to be a lesson in performing with the microphones not working, and still putting out a workable show.
That same afternoon, I gave my "Writing, Producing and Touring the One-Man Show" presentation, and I was a bit disappointed to see that this workshop was only thinly attended by perhaps a dozen people. One of the people, though, was an old friend from my days at SIU, who was now on the faculty with Illinois State. I hadn't seen her for almost 25 years, but still recognized her immediately. Another participant had been a "Tartuffe" volunteer back in Southern Indiana last fall, and it was great to catch up with her.
It took a little longer than expected to assemble the computer/projector arrangement, and so I was already late in getting the workshop started. I only managed to get through about 75% of the material before I had to switch gears into performing the show, which left me a bit unfocussed when it came to performing the show itself, stumbling over my lines a few times. (I don't believe I'd performed this one since October 29 at the Mensa conference.) Even so, the students and seemed very taken by the story.
From here, it was on to the faculty awards banquet, which thankfully, was also running late, and the next morning, I gave the response to "Urinetown" to a crowded room of students and faculty. Fortunately, no one seemed surprised at the less-than-enthusiastic response, particularly when they realized which performance I had seen. I addressed my comments in terms of how difficult a project producing this play clearly was, and how unfocussed and stylistically uneven the script was.
And then it was off to Texas.
Sunday afternoon I drove only a few hours, pulling into Rolla, Missouri to watch the Bears game (which they lost, miserably), and the season premiere episodes of "24."
Monday, I continued on to Tulsa, enjoying pizza and watching more of "24" with my old friends Dave and Helga Hirsch. (By the way, if you take a drink every time they mention a time deadline in "24" you end up intoxicated by the end of the show.) I was quickly onto the road again on Tuesday, dropping straight south to Austin, arriving a day in advance of the conference. My early arrival enabled me to get back to work on the karaoke videos, which still needed some reworking.
The Texas Educational Theatre Festival was another rush of meeting and greeting people, though there were fewer familiar faces at this one than I'd seen at ACTF. Perhaps because this festival was just as much for high school students and teachers as it was for colleges. I did, however, catch up with several previous hosts of Moliere, including Nancy Jo Humfeld of Howard Payne University, and David Deacon of Texas A&M-Kingsville.
A printing error in the program made it look like my workshop was supposed to begin at 2 pm on Friday, and I gave the evil eye to the people who were occupying the room past my assumed starting time. They cleared out of the room, and the dozen or so who had gathered for my workshop were shifting into the room when someone pointed out to me that my workshop had actually been scheduled to begin at 3 pm.
And so, I started the session at 2:00 for the dozen people who'd read the program the same way that I had, and another 40 people arrived at 3:00, picking things up in the middle.
One of the people I was delighted to see at this session was Leone, who I'd met two years before. She'd enjoyed my work very much and we had chatted then about several publishing opportunities that she envisioned for me. I'd left that conference without getting any of her contact information, though, and just assumed that she was a figment of my imagination. This time we had the chance to sit down and talk at length.
My session on Saturday was the "Writing, Producing and Touring the One-Man Show" event featuring "Criteria," and again it was thinly attended, but this time I was not to be rattled by the limited amount of time. I'd managed to squeeze in an early tech rehearsal with the stage manager, and all of my equipment was set up well in advance. The play went off with barely any dropped lines. Afterwards, several of the attendees stuck around and, on request, I performed one of the songs from "Karaoke Knights," featuring the cool new video I'd just put together, projected through my cool new projector.
Finally, I could relax. I hung out that evening with Nancy Varga, who I'd met at the previous year's TETA conference, where I'd performed a very early version of "Karaoke Knights." By Sunday afternoon, I was back on the road, with no idea of which direction I wanted to drive. Eventually I headed directly east, towards New Orleans. I stopped just shy of Baton Rouge, noting that the hotel operators were jacking up their prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Motel 6 had kind of a dormitory feel to it, with Christmas decorations strung in a couple of the hotel room windows, and stuff on the ledges and a welcome mat in front of one of the doors.
I drove into New Orleans and was both encouraged and disheartened. The French Quarter itself seemed to have sustained little damage, with people repairing shutters or carpeting variously. Less than a mile away, though, entire streets were blocked off. Trash was piled up waiting for pick-up: old sofas, furnishings. Hundreds of what were clearly un-drivable cars seemed to be parked under the freeway. I thought I would spend a night in New Orleans, and so I drove east to the hotel I'd stayed at a year before as I was passing through in the other direction. It was at least 10 miles from the downtown area, and it was a 7-story building, so I figured it must have come through unscathed.
It was closed down, being renovated. So were the other two large hotels within a couple of blocks of the place. The wreckage was greater here than it had been downtown. Whereas, driving in from the west, I would see the occasional blue-tarp roof, or a fence blown down, east of the city the houses were mostly turned into wreckage. Walls were blown in, roofs chewed up, trees bent in half. Doing the math on this, the overall amount of wreckage was unimaginable, as I tried to picture the damage, extending away from New Orleans over 360 degrees, to the north, south, east and west.
I continued driving, on to Jackson, Mississippi, where I compose these lines this morning. I head north, reluctantly, into the cold.
Miles on the Vibe: 166,000
In the CD Player: The Scissor Sisters
Temperature: Up to the 70s yesterday, but dropping
Discoveries: Something seems to be happening for me in the realm of publishing. Considering that I've been unable to line up a lot of bookings for this spring, this is probably my best opportunity to set this area of my work in motion.
Attendance: 60 + 12 + 40 + 20 = 132
Next performance: February 15, William & Mary College


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The opening session on the Rio Olympic velodrome was only a little bit longer than two and a half hours, but in that time Great Britain scored a hammer blow on its rivals in the track competition at these Games.
Time will tell if it proves to be the sort of knockout we saw in London four years ago, but Thursday night could scarcely have gone any better for Team GB. After four years where GB's road to Rio has at times looked rocky and precipitous, the golden glow is back.
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The 2016 world championships where Great Britain's women's team pursuit squad could only manage bronze and the men's team sprinters were a distant sixth suddenly feel a long time ago.
GB men's team pursuit woes from the 2014 worlds in Cali – where they finished eighth, their worst result in 15 years – is ancient history.
The fallout from the departure of former technical director Shane Sutton in May was barely spoken of.
And whether through body language around the track or through things they say, you can already sense an element of helplessness amongst Britain's rivals.
Teams that scored victories over Great Britain on numerous occasions in the four years leading up to these Games have just watched the Brits turn up to Rio on top form, with top equipment, and blow them out of the water.
"I'm starting to get used to it, it's the same every time," said Danish team pursuit coach Casper Jorgensen. "Between the Olympics you think they're struggling and that maybe this year they won't make it, but every time you get close to the Olympics they improve a lot."
"I expected that already," said Dutch rider Theo Bos. "They're gonna win a lot of gold medals. We knew that four years ago and they're gonna do it again. They don't care about the world championships, only about the Olympics."
The riders tell us about their heroes
Things haven't quite gone as far as Dave Brailsford teasing the opposition with a tongue-in-cheek remark to French press about Great Britain's 'extra round' wheels, but rivals have again been left scratching their heads by the new equipment that Great Britain have turned up with in Rio.
"I think they have really good wheels, and their helmets….and their skinsuits are really fast," added Jorgensen with a wry smile.
"I don't know anything about them, but you can see that they really improve when they come to the Olympics, and that's the only time when they use all this equipment."
"They have done it three times in a row; the whole team knows they have something in the pocket for the Olympics."
Another thing Great Britain has on its side is the crowd. With the lack of natural light and broadly similar surroundings, most modern indoor velodromes feel much like one another. On Thursday, besides the dancers who dropped down into the stairwells between events to bring some Brazilian flair to proceedings, it could have been London.
British Cycling president Bob Howden was watching from the stands, the stadium PA boomed with the voice of a British announcer in Anthony McCrossan, Union flags were draped over the stands, and Callum Skinner's family was jumping up and down along the back straight. The velodrome was rocking to the British success.
The track cycling talisman of Sir Chris Hoy was looking down and waving from upon high with a halo around him, although it was actually just the BBC studio setup on the top row of the stands and the heavenly glow was from the bright TV lighting equipment beaming down.
"It felt like a home Olympics with all the GB flags in the stands," said team sprint gold medalist Phil Hindes. "It felt like London."
GB has only won one gold so far but the pressure is now on their rivals, in no event more so than in the team pursuit. Australia's men, third fastest in qualifying, have considerable technical gains to make up and know that can go a lot faster. But so could GB – Bradley Wiggins was the weakest link, if there was one, in qualifying and pulled off with 3km gone in his effort on Thursday.
The USA, immediately after watching Great Britain's women set a new world record in qualification, went out at blistering pace before slowing right down in the final kilometre and clocking a time over a second slower.
The British quartet of Elinor Barker, Joanna Rowsell Shand, Laura Trott and Katie Archibald have all the confidence that comes with a perfect effort under their belt, and a fifth rider in Ciara Horne who could give one of them a rest during the first round on Saturday.
Great Britain know they're fastest, they know they're going well. And worst of all for their rivals, they know there's room for improvement too.


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The Chiddingstone Literary Festival has been called 'one of the best literary festivals in Britain', according to the Tatler magazine, and it's certainly one of the most beautiful settings for it. SO, lucky me, I got to give two workshops in the historic library there over the weekend.
It wasn't hard to find inspiration, especially when you enter through this door, and then come across this Egyptian mummy on the way up the stairs.
And then there's the library itself which looks like a collection belonging to someone extremely privileged. In fact, as I pointed out, some of the books there were probably bound by the previous owner of the castle, Denys Eyre Bower himself, and he had learnt bookbinding when he was in prison. But that's a whole different story. Look again, look harder, look in a different way! That was the message of the workshop.
We looked at quick-fire ways of getting inspiration in the morning with a series of short exercises that led into one another. Here's one – taking the work of Joe Brainard who wrote the now iconic book, I Remember:
I remember 'no ankles' on some old ladies.
I remember trying to imagine my grandfather naked. (Eck!)
I remember having a crush on a cousin and mother telling me that you can't marry a cousin and, 'But why can't you marry a cousin?' and, 'Because it's against the law,' and 'But why is it against the law?' etc.
I remember white marshmallow powder on lips.
I remember a very big boy named Teddy and what hairy legs his mother had. (Long black ones squashed flat under nylons.)
I remember Dagwood and Blondie shorts before the feature started.
I remember not allowing myself to start on the candy until the feature started.
I remember big battle scenes and not understanding how they could be done without a lot of people getting hurt.
I remember crossing your fingers behind your back when you tell a lie.
I remember thinking that comic books that weren't funny shouldn't be called 'comic books'.
We wrote our own 'I remembers' around books, and libraries, and castles… and then just as quickly wrote a second list. This time, starting again with I remember, we wrote lies. As wild as you liked. It was interesting to see how the mind had to work harder with the fictional memories, but we agreed that both lists took us to surprising places.
This was one of several themed poems we read, And Yet the Books by Czeslaw Milosz:
And Yet the Books
Czeslaw Milosz
And yet the books will be there on the shelves, separate beings,
That appeared once, still wet
As shining chestnuts under a tree in autumn,
And, touched, coddled, began to live
In spite of fires on the horizon, castles blown up,
Tribes on the march, planets in motion.
"We are," they said, even as their pages
Were being torn out, or a buzzing flame
Licked away their letters. So much more durable
Than we are, whose frail warmth
Cools down with memory, disperses, perishes.
I imagine the earth when I am no more:
Nothing happens, no loss, it's still a strange pageant,
Women's dresses, dewy lilacs, a song in the valley.
Yet the books will still be there on the shelves, well born,
Derived from people, but also from radiance, heights.
For our last exercise, YES WE WORKED HARD!, we looked at haiku – as in the capturing of a moment. This was part of thinking about how we noticed things – not just the sight of something, but also the questions we might have, the other senses we feel, the insights that come to us. I suggested that they might leave their poems and lines around the castle and during the rest of the day, I kept coming across them like mini treasures. They had indeed become part of the Chiddingstone collection. Here are some that I found, and I know there are others I hope to stumble across next time I'm there:
In the afternoon, I ran another workshop in Getting Published – focusing particularly on short stories, essays and poetry. It's one of my favourite workshops to give because it's always an eye-opener in how much there is out there. If anyone would like a copy of my handouts for this, including where to find magazines, examples of how to write your biography, etc etc, do email me on firstname.lastname@example.com, and I'd be happy to share.
It was the end of a perfect weekend really. I'd been at the castle on the Saturday too, with Michael and John from the Poetry Exchange, recording people talking about the poems that had been a friend for them for the podcast. None of the festival's recordings are up just yet, but you can listen to many others prepared earlier here. The Poetry Exchange is always a magical, surprising experience for everyone involved. This time round, we had Wilfred Owen, David Whyte, Mary Oliver, H W Longfellow, C P Cavafy, and Kathleen Raine all come and take tea with us in the castle Housekeeper's Room. I'm pleased to report they got on very well indeed.