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The change in seasons, falling leaves, the chill in the air and a Bridal Shower! Our Autumn Leaves Bridal Shower Theme sets the perfect tone for a Fall Bridal Shower. The dark brown background and the vibrant hues of orange and red leaves have you dreaming of a cozy fireplace and an intimate Sunday Brunch Shower. Erin and Jonathan wanted just that, an intimate shower.
The food was simple for this shower. We used an Ivory Linen Table cloth with beige and burnt orange burlap as accents. White dishes gave it a clean simple look and the assorted baskets from Home Goods were placed differently across the back of the table to add different levels for the beverages and favors.
Since it was a Sunday Brunch we kept it simple. However, just because it was simple doesn't mean it wasn't delicious. You can find this recipe for the Turkey Brie Cranberry Sandwich here: www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/pan-fried-turkey-brie-and-cranberry-sandwich.html
The Pumpkin Cheese Ball was perfect for the table. We added a celery stalk as the stem. You can find the recipe for this here: http://all recipes.com/recipe/easy-cheese-ball-ii/. Assorted crackers were placed around the cheese ball.
The veggies and dip were really easy to make. We purchased shot glasses from World Market. Ranch dressing was placed on the bottom and carrots and celery were cut a little larger than the glass. Then we put three tomatoes through a cocktail stirrer.
The apple cider punch was delish and so easy to make. You can find the recipe here: http://www.bng.com/recipe/drinks/apple-cider-punch
We embellished the mason jars with twine, leaf cut-outs and a gold straw.
Thank You from Trader Joes for providing all of our yummy ingredients. These cupcakes were not made from scratch, however the cinnamon frosting was. We took our leaf cut-outs and hot glued them to toothpicks. A cool trick is to place the cupcakes in our Autumn Leaves Cupcake Wrappers, then add the frosting.
What is a Bridal Shower without some favors? Your choice of favors was an easy set up since this was not a formal shower with place settings at a table.
Erin and Jonathan love sweets, so we offered our Two Inch Lollipop Favors. These lollipop favors come with a white display box so we wrapped the box in burlap and put holes through so they could stand up.
We love these Personalized Gold Favor Tins . We filled them up with Reese's Pieces . Did you notice our Apple Jar Candles, they smelled amazing and were a great addition to the table as well as scattered leaves and pinecones.
We filled our Autumn Leaves Cello Bags with our Autumn Leaves Hershey Kisses. Perfect inexpensive DIY favor.
Lastly our Custom Printed Favor Boxes were a great way to pass out our Chocolate Acorns
Speaking of Chocolate Acorns, these were so easy to make. We purchase oatmeal cookies form Trader Joes and attached them to a hershey kiss and then topped them with a chocolate chip… They were bite size yummy goodness. Our Personalized Place Cards were a great way to let our guests know what all the items were on the table.
We took a piece of cardboard and wrapped in burlap. We had some material left over fabric from the table setting so we place pictures of Erin and Jonathan on the fabric with clear adhesive spray. The whole project cost less than $5.00. Besides the Apple Cider Drink we offered water as well using our Personalized Water Bottle Wraps.
To cap off the evening, we gave a special toast and gift to Erin and Jonathan. Mikasa Champagne Glasses and a Personalized Bottle of Wilson Creek Almond Champagne. We decorated the wall with our Personalized Wall Art .
Once the food was gone, we spread out the table with all of our favors and yummy deserts.
We congratulate Erin and Jonathan on their upcoming nuptials. We wish all of the brides celebrating their Fall Bridal Showers the best of luck.
Cheers from Candles and Favors.


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Thursday, December 22nd, 2016: Stories, Travel.
Shortly after noon, as I turned into the desolate gravel lot between the elevated interstate highway and the lonely railroad crossing at Deming, I saw some baggage piled at the edge of the small, open-ended shelter provided by Amtrak for waiting passengers. And when I rolled down the window of my truck to let in some freeway air as I ate a sandwich, a short, gray-haired lady emerged from the shelter to stare at me.
"Train's running twenty minutes late," she said. "I just got a message on my phone." I was also set up for text alerts, but I'd been sitting on my phone so I hadn't heard the tone. Not that I cared about a twenty minute delay at the start of a two-and-a-half day train ride.
While I was eating, I noticed two young guys wearing packs approaching the shelter, one Asian-looking, the other an Anglo kid pushing a bike. They were both dressed in globally stylish trekking gear and wearing garish neon sneakers, so they looked like aliens in this dusty old cowboy town. The Anglo kid started doing showy handstands and elaborate yoga poses while balancing on the railing of the shelter – the kind of thing a college student might do to impress chicks.
I finished my sandwich. Deming is a couple thousand feet lower than my home, and the truck was getting hot in the bright sun, so I joined the others in the scanty shade of the shelter.
"Have you taken this train before?" I asked the old lady.
"Sure, every year I take it to San Antonio to see my relatives. This delay is nothing. One time I had to wait five hours because some idiot stopped his car on the tracks and the train hit him. Probably some idiot committing suicide. Damn government people made us wait five hours while they checked everything out."
"Well, I've had to wait longer than that," I replied, surprised by her callousness. "You need patience if you want to ride the trains." I winked at the young guys listening to us.
"Damn government regulations are killing everything," she continued. "I wonder how much longer Amtrak will last, running on nothing but subsidies from the rest of us."
I chuckled. "That's exactly what we were saying thirty or forty years ago. But somehow it just keeps going."
"Government spoils everything it gets its hands on," she said.
"Well, I've worked my whole life in private enterprise, and that can be just as bad. I rode the private railways before Amtrak, and the equipment was old and shabby, the trains were dirty, and the service was awful. Amtrak is a big improvement over that."
"It's government regulations that killed the private railroads," she insisted.
The young guys were talking about a transmission that was due to arrive here from somewhere else. The Asian kid had a British accent. "Did your car break down?" I asked.
"Yeah, it was making a grinding noise all the way from Las Cruces, and we only made it to Akela, east of here, where it finally gave up. We got a tow into town, and we've been waiting five days for the replacement. It's a really big one for a Ford van, so it's coming from somewhere far away."
"I hope they found you a rebuilt one, so you didn't have to pay for new!"
"Yeah, no problem there." The Asian kid left to get snacks at the gas station across the road, and his Anglo friend looked back at us. "My friend is from Australia, he got tired of waiting and decided to take the train east."
"There's a lady that sells burritos at the El Paso station," said the old woman. "The train stops long enough so you can buy 'em from her right there on the platform. Two dollars for a good burrito.
"Some people won't buy 'em because they think they're not sanitary. They only eat in the dining car. But I know what goes on in restaurant kitchens. I had a friend that was a chef in a fancy restaurant, and somebody came in just before closing and ordered a steak.
"That chef pulled a steak out of the fridge, threw it on the floor and stepped on it."
I laughed.
"Then he just picked it up and dropped it on the grill. And I don't blame him for a minute. In a restaurant, they make you work overtime but they never pay you for it. It goes on everywhere, all the time, people working for nothing."
I wondered how that fit into her hatred of government regulations. Then we heard the horn blow, as the train came rolling in from the west.
At 5pm, somewhere between El Paso and Alpine, I heard a call for dining car seating on the loudspeaker, and realized no one had come through the coach taking dinner reservations, like they used to. A conductor told me you have to go up to the dining car and make a reservation on your own, but when I got there, there was only one table occupied, and the hostess said she could seat me now, so I took the first empty table.
A few minutes later, a tall, full-figured young woman wearing a formal, all-black goth outfit strode past and dropped decisively into the middle of the seat facing me across the table. She was pale-skinned, with a tiny jeweled stud oddly-placed above her upper lip, dark lipstick, and a delicate but ornate black choker circling her neck. The dining car is normally strict about seating four people to a table, but they left us alone for the rest of the evening, as the tables around us filled up.
She was quiet at first, nervously glancing out the windows from side to side, where the sun was setting behind blue mountains and shadows were spreading across the plain. She looked to be about nineteen years old. "The desert!" she finally exclaimed. "I love the desert!" She spoke with an Eastern European accent so thick I needed an effort to understand her.
"Where'd you get on at?"
"Long trip! Where are you bound?"
"San Antonio. I grew up in Texas, so I love the desert, where you can run free as the wind."
She stared at me out of big, dark eyes as I wondered how she ended up with that accent, after a childhood in Texas.
Suddenly she turned and grabbed a pen out of a glass by the window, and started drawing on the paper tablecloth. I watched her, entranced. She was outlining something that might've been part of a figure, but I couldn't tell what part. She glanced up briefly to explain, with a serious look, "The tablecloth is paper, that's why they give us pens."
I was burning with curiosity, but I waited a few more minutes before asking, "Are you always drawing, wherever you go?"
"Are you in art school?"
"No, I'd like to study, but I can't afford it. I could only go if I got a scholarship."
"That's the best way to do it anyway. You don't want to get stuck with loans."
Her accent was driving me crazy, in combination with her exotic appearance. She was like something out of an old movie. And even in the midst of drawing, she still seemed nervous, glancing from side to side like a spy, or a fugitive.
She'd added a female torso, head, and long hair above the original abstract outline, and said it was Rapunzel. Her lines were scratchy and hard-etched with nervous energy. She talked about women's hair as a locus of power. Her eyes blazed as she recalled an art teacher in high school who had tried to stifle her creativity.
I hadn't yet said anything about myself, but now I told her about my own teacher and mentor, who'd seen my potential from the start, introducing me to avant-garde work and giving me total freedom to experiment. I was studying her drawing upside-down from across the table, trying to figure out all the lines. "I would like to show her nude, but they might not like it here," she said. "I always prefer to draw nude bodies, but nudity means you are vulnerable and not secure."
"Or not. I took a year of life drawing with nude models, and for them, getting naked was a job. Men and women, sometimes old people with sagging bodies, they just stood or sat there in the middle of the room with everyone staring at them for hours at a time, getting paid for it. They seemed to have lost all sense that they were even on display, let alone naked. In some cases, I think being naked can be a sign of strength."
Her eyebrows went up and she looked at me wide-eyed again. "I never thought of that!" I asked her if she'd ever used pastels, but she didn't have any idea what I was talking about. I told her how I'd migrated from oil painting to pastel drawing because of the immediacy and tactile excitement of blending colors directly with my fingers and hands, and she recognized, accurately, that it would be like using charcoal, but in color.
How strange that two frustrated artists, one young and barely emerging, one old and burdened with experience, should be brought together, entirely by chance, in this dining car rumbling across southern Texas at night.
She was out on her own in the world, but drifting without a plan. She said she'd lived in three different cities during the past year. She scoffed at Los Angeles, so I told her about my friends there who'd survived as artists by working in the movie industry.
I mentioned the Ghost Ship tragedy in Oakland, but at first she didn't know what I was talking about – I had to supply a lot more detail before she could figure out what I meant. So I went on to describe the post-punk festival in San Francisco that had inspired me to create my own art space and community, long ago, and how important it is for artists to have communities and spaces in cities where they can be totally free to experiment.
That reminded her of Austin. "Austin is – I don't know, I think it is the arts capital of the world!" she exclaimed. "They have this thing called Freak Week, where anyone can do anything they want anywhere! It's amazing!"
We were passing through Marfa – the minimalist's idea of an arts capital. Blocky shadows, dim sodium vapor lamps. Not a human in sight.
"Do you know what is my dream? My dream is to live in a bus!"
I told her about the young woman I'd met outside Silver City, a refugee from the artist loft scene in Chicago, who was raising her daughter in a bus parked in the middle of a corn field, beside a desert river.
The hostess announced the 7:30 seating. Two hours had passed and our world had shrunken to the brittle, glaring brightness of the dining car, sandwiched between mirror-black windows. She sat back, sighing. "Well…it is very nice talking to you, but I should be going."
She offered me her hand. "My name is Candace."
"Max." I shook her hand. "I hope you find what you're looking for!"

subset: commoncrawl


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According to the National Cancer Society, the majority of bladder cancers occur in the older population, with the average age of at the time of diagnosis being 73. This makes bladder cancer an additional awareness issue for older adults and those who provide care for them. As with other cancers, taking preventive steps is best, so stay on top of any possible symptoms.
Dementia caregiver Jennifer Rowan knows this firsthand. Jennifer told me that she noticed a sudden decline in her mother's demeanor, so she took her to a doctor who then diagnosed a bladder infection. Because of the severity of the infection, Jennifer's mother was referred to a urologist who discovered cysts in her bladder. Because these cysts could eventually turn into cancer, her mother must have an exam every two years, and any new cysts must be biopsied. This is an example of why it's wise to address any sign of a bladder problem.
What if there are no signs of disease until cancer is diagnosed?
If this is the case, you have now become a caregiver for a loved one who lives with some stage of bladder cancer. As with all diseases, the person who must live with the symptoms of the disease—and the often-unpleasant treatments—has the worst end of the bargain. However, being a caregiver for someone with bladder cancer will bring with it emotionally and physically draining challenges for you, as well. But caregiving, or care partnering, can strengthen your connection with your loved one, adding a new dimension to your relationship.
What is your role as a caregiver or care partner?
As a long-term caregiver for multiple people, I believe that while we provide innumerable services to our loved ones, caregivers' primary goal is to provide support and comfort. This applies across the board; however, how we do this will vary with personalities, diseases specifics, and relationships. Even the timing of the kind of care we provide may vary over the course of the disease.
For example, let's say you've been married for nearly 30 years. You are aware that your husband is stubborn about going to see a doctor, yet he seems preoccupied, and his expression, especially when he exits the bathroom, seems worried. If you notice a pattern, gently ask him if something is wrong. If he brushes you off, you may want to give him some space, but approach him again later. Maybe, with some gentle nudging, he'll eventually mumble something about seeing some blood in his urine but he's sure it's "nothing."
This could be your cue to press the issue further. You can do some online research, even if he says he has that covered. Then, talk with him firmly, explaining that the blood may be harmless, but it could also indicate a problem with his prostate, his kidneys, or his bladder, and the sooner the cause of this bleeding is determined, the better. Most likely it's fear that's keeping him from taking action, and he may need that extra push from you.
A caregiver's role adjusts with the challenge
Finally, he agrees to see a urologist, he has tests, and together you wait for the results. You, the caregiver, will likely need to go back to your kid-gloves approach. You are scared to death but you'll have to remain strong. While you'd like to scream at God and fate, you need to remain positive. Demanding so much of yourself is draining, but for now you need to determine what your husband needs and do your best to provide it.
Is your head spinning yet? Do you wonder how you can fulfill the demanding role of being a caregiver to the person who has always been your rock? You aren't alone with this feeling. Most caregivers are fearful that they won't know what to do. But you will. Educate yourself, stay tuned in to your husband's changing needs, and you'll be fine.
Here are some possible duties that will fall to you:
- Helping your husband with scheduling appointments, transportation, picking up prescriptions, and experimenting with how to provide relief from pain in the home setting.
- If your husband is worried about the effect of his disease and treatment on your sexual relationship, tell him that you are happy to talk with the doctor together about this, too, if and when he chooses.
- Family caregivers are now often expected to perform some medical procedures for their care recipient. You'll want to discuss with the doctor whether or not you can learn to do these procedures or if you should hire an in-home health agency to help out.
- You will be the intermediary between your husband and his family and friends, helping them understand what he needs in the way of support, companionship, and time alone.
- One vital part of caregiving is to know how much care to provide while letting the care receiver do as much for himself as possible. Don't get so carried away with your role that you take away your loved one's dignity. Work to find a balance as his need for care shifts.
While we provide innumerable services to our loved ones, caregivers' primary goal is to provide support and comfort....How we do this will vary with personalities, disease specifics, and relationships.
Caring for the caregiver
If you find that you are one of the many caregivers with your own health conditions, you'll likely need extra help with caregiving duties sooner than if you'd had no illness of your own. That's okay. Caring for your own needs is vital at this stressful time, so do what you need to do.
No matter how healthy you are, you may need to hire an in-home care agency if your husband needs around-the-clock care, or even just a few hours of care each day. You need to have time to go out on your own, see friends, attend to your own health needs, and/or go to a caregiver's support group.
Long-term caregiving can take a terrible toll on the caregiver, and letting your health go will not help your husband. You need support from those who understand what it takes to be a caregiver. The Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN), the American Cancer Society, and the Cancer Support Community websites are all good resources for online support. These sites have hotlines that you can call if you have questions. The oncology department treating your husband may be able to help you find a local specialized support group, as well. Self care is a crucial element to being an effective caregiver, so don't relegate it to the back burner. Remember that your husband is counting on you to stay healthy, and self care is of part of your job description.


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A bit of a round-up post today. First up, Mass Effect. I finally finished Mass Effect 3 and thus the whole of the Mass Effect saga (so far). What can I say, I loved it. It's a uniquely epic space opera where you pull your team of heroes from humble beginnings through to the end of life as we know it. Things changed throughout each game, but all in all the combat and exploration were fantastic, with a hugely satisfying collection of quests and diversions. Even after, Lord knows how many, hours of playing the three games, my first thought on finishing it was - "I wonder what would happened if played it this way with that character and those sidekicks...". If it wasn't for the immense backlog towering over me, I probably would have started it over, and I don't feel that way about many games. So it's good; no, it's great, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to nitpick for a while. First up, the mechanics of the game are sometimes a bit too bare. Obviously it's a game so it's going to have mechanics, but it wants to be a story, and it succeeds in some respects as a story, but some of the mechanics get in the way and destroy part of the magic and nuance. The most obvious example of this is the conversation system - it works well, but it never really gives you any choice. You can either be good or evil, there is no grey area, and the good and evil choices are always in the same place on the conversation wheel. So basically, take the top-right option for every conversation and you'll be a paragon, take the bottom-right option and you'll be a renegade. It basically removes all conversation choice after the first time that you decide whether you're going to play as good or bad. After that, it's just joypad muscle memory to select the conversation options for the entirety of the three games. As I say, it works as a game mechanic (and the writing and voice work are generally top notch), but it's in no way a conversation. In some ways, you don't really need the two good and evil pathways, just having a system of actions and consequences would have felt much more natural and alive. If you need to keep the mechanism for game tracking reasons, then keep it hidden, don't score me on a good and evil tally of points, let me be who I want to be. The other mechanical nitpick I wanted to mention was the combat system. In some ways, I can't really comment on this because I played the game on normal and I didn't try to enjoy the combat, but essentially I just pressed one button throughout the whole game. There were no strategies or tactics - at best I ducked behind a wall for cover, but the majority of the time I didn't even bother doing that. I just used my auto-targeting biotic fireball to zoom over and fry every enemy. Some enemies had shields or armour, and there are weapons and powers in the game to target those specifically, but those things didn't negate my fireball, they just slowed it down. Essentially, instead of taking one shot to kill a baddie, it might take two or three...that's not really a hardship. There's also a system in place where weapons have weight, and heavier weapons slow down your biotic recharge time. That could have been an interesting system, but essentially it just made me focus even more on my over-powered fireball and completely ignore weapons. It meant that for the whole game I only carried one, light pea-shooter with me and left the other weapon slots empty so I could maximise my recharge time. There were what, 80-90 weapons in the game maybe, and I used one of them. Of course, you can say that was my choice and blame it on my play-style (and you'd be right), but the game never gave me a single reason to alter that play-style - I never faced a single encounter I couldn't deal with by pressing my one button. Of course, I could have played it on Insane difficulty and maybe that would have forced me to use different tactics (although I'm curious to know now if it actually would...), but it would have been nice if the game had pushed me to try different things a bit more...maybe a few enemies immune to biotics, or just immune to fire, or put me in a situation where my biotics have been neutralised, or have a consequence to excessive biotic use...there are tons of ways it could have been done. On the plus side, it meant that I never had to wander round looking for ammo! One final quick nitpick springs to mind before I get started on the main one (yes...it's coming), the sidekicks. Yes, there are some great characters there, and again, they have some great writing and voice work...my criticism is that they're kind of pointless. You can only take two of them with you on a mission, and most of the time you'll take your favourite two along on every mission. Again, maybe on Insane difficulty there is a more strategic choice in who you take...maybe a bruiser for mission X, maybe a biotic for mission Y...but really, I doubt it makes much difference at all. I think there are a couple of things that could have been done to improve this. Firstly, they could have gone the Baldur's Gate et al route and not have every companion traipse along in my party. Have them available to me so I can go back and pick them up if I want to, but why make me drag them through space with me for not other reason than to make me feel guilty for not using them? I had the only Prothean alive in the galaxy with me, and all he did for the entire game was stare into a pool of water. Why not have him stationed on the Citadel teaching the lessons of his civilization or learning the lessons of ours - I could still grab him if I needed him, but otherwise he would be doing something useful with his time. My other suggestion would be to have more missions where your choice of companions was dictated to you - this happened to some extent with a few missions, but it could have easily been done in a lot more. Oh, and the mechanic for scanning planets for information was an utterly pointless hang-over from the previous game, there was no reason at all to have it here.
Right, that's the minor points out of the way...the elephant in the room is, of course, the ending. To be honest, I would have had no problem at all with the ending if it hadn't been for all the internet furore. It would have been a bit of a "meh" ending, but so many endings are, and it wouldn't have bothered me in the least. But because of all the uproar I did study the ending more than I would have, and I do agree it could have been handled much better. There is so much history and lore both in the wider Mass Effect universe and in my player-created story that they had a million options they could have taken. The most obvious of which would have been to have had me and the allies I'd spent hundreds of hours building up actually make a difference at the end...that would have been one route, but I'd have accepted others that had something to do with the history the game had set up and accumulated. What I do find a bit odd is that instead they chose to introduce an all-powerful macguffin in the last minute of the game and have everything I'd done up to that point be completely irrelevant. The star-child route they did go down doesn't even make any sense...why would this omnipotent being who's controlled the fate of the galaxy for countless millennia suddenly decide to instead ask a lone human her opinion on how the future of the galaxy should play out? As I say, it doesn't really bother me in any way, it's just a game, and game endings rarely make much sense, but even so, as game endings go it was a pretty rubbish one. I do want to re-state, though, that the game series is absolutely fantastic - I criticise things for a job, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them.
Okay, that took a lot longer than I thought! A couple of quick ones now. First up, PixelJunk Racers. I didn't really get on with it the first time around, and things weren't any different for the second lap. I don't really enjoy racing games that much as a rule, and even this top-down arcade slot racer didn't really do it for me. Even the controls messed me up. They're incredibly simple - the track is made up of a number of "slots" and you move between these slots by pressing left and right - that's how you move around the track and avoid other cars. Easy. The problem is that while pressing left might move your car up when you're travelling in one direction, it'll move you down when you're moving in the other direction. It's relative to the movement of the car and makes perfect sense, but for some reason, when the car's zipping round a tortuously twisty track, my brain just can't cope. I found myself constantly hitting the wrong direction and having my car plough into the back of another driver. It just wasn't fun and I wasn't improving. Next up on the PS3 list is Stick Man Rescue! It's an old PlayStation Mini that was on Plus years ago. It looks a lot like Volcano that I used to play on the Beeb (I even made a Flash version of it!). I'd guess it's based on an arcade game, as may of the titles of that age were, but I can't see anything obvious. Essentially, you control a helicopter and have to fly through obstacles to rescue people and get them back to base. Looks like good clean fun.
Finally for this post, there's Ms. Pac-PC. Well...not much to say, it's Pac-Man. I played it for a while, and it seems pretty authentic, but I'm not going to dwell on it. Onwards!
Next up on the randometer is...M1 Tank Platoon! It's a well-respected war game, but I don't know much more about it. I'll hit Ultima 2 first.


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Arsenal Women have re-signed defender Lotte Wubben-Moy after her spell in college football in the United States.
The 21-year-old made 13 appearances for the Gunners before leaving in 2017 for North Carolina Tar Heels.
She has been capped at every age group by England and was named in Phil Neville's senior squad on Tuesday.
Her return to England comes after her Tar Heels team-mate and England forward Alessia Russo signed for Manchester United on Thursday.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
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Well, I suppose I have put it off long enough; upon seeing the film twice, it is long overdue for me to share my thoughts on the most recent cinematic adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic The Great Gatsby. However, before I discuss the movie, I must make it known that there are spoilers abound and that I am – as one student charged me – almost unhealthily obsessed with the novel. I read it every summer and have particular passages committed to memory. The novel changed my life in the sense that it helped me to decide that I wanted to be a writer and while I struggled in that endeavor I would teach high school English. The novel also confirmed in my mind that I could be hopelessly romantic and naïve in a dignified sort of way that made me more of a heroine than a sap.
That being said, I left the theater the first time with an uneasy kind of feeling. I was not sure how I felt about what I had just seen, other than that it was visually stunning and somewhat emotionally moving as I was dabbing at my eyes behind my 3D glasses. Was it the 3D component of the film which left me unsettled and uncertain about my level of enjoyment resulting from the viewing experience? I actually tend to avoid movies in 3D as I find them incredibly hokey – call me a snob, but for me, 3D movies lack artistic integrity and forsake story and structure for the almighty dollar. 3D is a gimmick that unfortunately seems here to stay. Like I said, I am being a total snob and robbing a medium of all of its merit because it does not suit my particular taste, and though doing so is unfair, it is what it is and I will not apologize. I will, however, advise my readers to take everything I write with a grain of salt, considering the extremities of some of my artistic prejudices.
But allow me to hobble off my soapbox to contradict myself and explain how the 3D worked so well in the movie. The scenes that depicted Gatsby's lavish parties and outrageous lifestyle had to be filmed in 3D, I now realize in retrospect. Consider the adjectives I just employed; lavish and outrageous. What better way to convey such excess than through the 3D element? It did look as if the confetti were raining down upon me, and so helped create the illusion that I was simply another Nick Carraway, within and without in the vast mansion, reveling and sneering at the reckless, careless behavior unfolding all around. Though Nick did not have to pay for his admission ($13.25?! Really?!), I believe my doing so was completely worth it – and mind you, I did so twice. The 3D party scenes helped to create an almost tangible sensation of claustrophobia. As Nick squeezed through Gatsby's front doors in an impressive throng of strangers, and as tensions soared and tempers flared with the heat in that cruelly cramped room at the Plaza Hotel, I felt smothered and that I was too close. Like Nick, I had had enough of everyone. The way the 3D manipulated my emotions and even level of physical comfortableness was both complete and masterful. I was impressed.
So why was I so undecided after the first viewing? I considered this as my second viewing began, and thought maybe the casting did not quite sit right with me. However, when Leonardo DiCaprio is first shown in the film, when he turns and offers that glorious smile that Gatsby gave Nick and so impressed him with in the novel, I am smiling and smiling so that my muscles are sore and I am seemingly incapable of stopping. I must admit though that I have always been enthralled with the idea of DiCaprio playing Gatsby. Conversely, I was thoroughly disappointed with Tobey Maguire being cast as Nick Carraway, hoping for a larger personality, an actor more likeable. But I noticed that when Maguire plays Nick as disoriented, disappointed, disillusioned, or drained, I felt the same. Though I love Jay Gatsby in a way that only a complete and total lonely, melodramatic bookworm can, I was frustrated and disgusted with him when Nick was in the film – performing a complete 180, as they say – and I can only contribute that to Maguire's performance. When I read the novel, I am staunchly loyal to Gatsby in an irrational kind of way. For Maguire to prompt me to question that loyalty after years and years of nothing but is a testament to his talent, and I was too harsh when I first judged his casting. Joel Edgerton as Tom was flawless and Carey Mulligan played Daisy brilliantly, although I did not find her able to create a more sympathetic character; she was just as repugnant to me on screen as on the page, but I think that is a matter of personal taste.
Then was it the incorporation of the modern music? Though many of my students complained about the anachronistic soundtrack and score – which greatly surprised me as I believed it, was engineered with them specifically in mind – I rather enjoyed it. I love art and I love style and the music aided in putting the film over the top in both respects. I love the thought behind it, using modern day music of another generation of excess to show the universal, transcendent dangers behind such thoughtless, selfish behavior. The novel is timeless, so the music does become an inconsequential detail, but to drive that point home with the very same music as the vehicle is genius and daring, and I cannot help but be impressed. I also compulsively listen to the majority of the soundtrack which means I must enjoy it (unless it is only for its connection to the novel, which is stretched and strained to be honest).
So if it was not the inclusion of 3D nor the cast nor the music, then why was I less than impressed upon the initial viewing? How could I fall so completely in love with the film after watching it a second time? Are not first impressions the most important? Upon pondering these questions, I am left with only one conclusion: my mood. What had been going on with me? What had been different about the second night?
I cannot remember being so excited for a theatrical release. I bought my tickets early online and like a child at Christmas, could hardly sleep the night before. The day of the film dawned and I was ecstatic. I wore my shirt with pearls to school, falling short of the zeitgeist aura I was going for, but the students appreciated it, especially the sophomores who had read the novel with me earlier in the year. They knew that Friday was "Gatsby Day," and that I had planned my lessons accordingly. We watched the trailers, noted the visual and auditory symbolism, and tried to decide if Baz Luhrmann assumed those viewing the film had read the book. I was so captivated I even cheated – for lack of a better term – and showed the trailers to my freshmen classes to inspire them to see the film, read the book, or do both. I barely survived my weekly hour of home instruction, excitedly and breathlessly discussing my plans for the evening with the student's mother. I went to the spring concert for chorus and band at the high school because of a promise to my students, and they seemed genuinely excited to see me and I was genuinely proud of them. I was beaming and sad to leave a little early, but one student even said to me as I was on my way out, "Aren't you seeing the movie tonight?" I was pumped.
The movie started at 9:30PM, but I had planned to arrive at the theater around 9:00PM to avoid crowds, buy snacks and to avoid any anxiety. I made these plans with my viewing companion whose name has been stricken from the record to prevent any kind of social faux pas. So when it was 8:45PM, I left the concert (missing the last song, mind you) and called my viewing companion, fully prepared to meet this individual at the theater. However, I was somewhat perturbed to learn that at 8:45PM, mere minutes before show time, the individual was at CVS with plans to continue on to Wawa. I let it go though, because I realized that everything was within minutes from home and that I may have been overzealous in planning. There was no guarantee the theater would be mobbed and purchasing snacks beforehand would be cheaper and would save time. I relaxed and my viewing companion decided to meet at home just past 9:00PM. I headed home and waited with juvenile excited.
9:00PM came and went … as did 9:05PM … as did 9:10PM … as did 9:15PM … as did 9:20PM. We did not head to the theater until 9:30PM. I was furious, seething. Having planned meticulously and purchased the tickets, I could not fathom how someone could be so absolutely thoughtless. To make matters worse, upon arriving at the theater, we had to wait on a lengthy line for our tickets despite being already purchased, and then I was charged twice (but I was handed a cash refund, so really, I can't complain). By the time we are actually inside our designated theater, the previews have started and the screen is malfunctioning. It seemed that nothing could go my way. Perhaps at that point I did not want to enjoy the movie to aggravate my viewing companion who, ironically, enjoyed it very much. But that would be cutting of my nose to spite my face, wouldn't it?
The second time around, my viewing companion who is named Raina, was not only on time, but early! We went to an absolutely gorgeous dine-in theater in Edison. We had a drink each, a delicious entrée and shared a delightfully sinful dessert. Despite the food, I was more aware of my response and involvement in the film, my changing emotions that never failed to match those of the narrator and the way I ached for Gatsby and despised Tom and Daisy. I felt as though I had taken a long, hard look at myself and those around me. I was Nick Carraway – observing, within and without – but I wanted to be Gatsby, unfailingly hopeful and tragically romantic. When I told Raina that I was Gatsby, she agreed without hesitation. My first viewing companion actually turned back to me as we walked along and said, "You really want to be romantically tragic, and like a hero in a story, don't you?"
Of course. That being said, go see "The Great Gatsby." And do yourself a favor: see it twice.


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Use our thorough list of plastic manufacturers and suppliers in Arizona to examine and sort top plastic manufacturers with previews of ads and detailed descriptions of each product. Any plastic manufacturers can provide plastic products and services to meet your companies specific qualifications. An easy connection to reach plastic manufacturers through our fast request for quote form is provided as well. This source is right for you whether it's for polycarbonate, plastic film, PVC or any other plastic needs.
Companies Serving Near Arizona
Acorn Paper Products CompanyLos Angeles, CA | 800-522-2676
Acorn Paper Products can pack you up with whatever you need. We do custom packaging with plastic bags, folding cartons, printed bags, custom print on boxes, custom printed tape and more. Our stretch wrap is a high elongation, polyethylene based film that is used to unitize and protect products during storage and shipment. Whatever product you need protected, our plastic film can do the job!$$$
Calsak PlasticsChino Hills, CA | 866-441-6622
Calsak Plastics supplies plastic materials such as plastic sheet, plastic rod, plastic pipe, & plastic tube since 1972. Our inventory of plastics is vast at all our locations & our products are imported around the world. Choose from acrylics, acetals, esd materials, olefins, PET, & polypropylene.$$$
Containers Unlimited, Inc.Tustin, CA | 714-734-8608
Containers Unlimited, Inc. designs and manufactures packaging materials. From boxes to floor displays and folding cartons, to point-of-purchase items, we can assist you. We have cargo containers, custom packaging products, fabricated foam (polystyrene, polyurethane and polyethylene shapes, sheets and molds), flexible folding cartons, modular buildings and more. Call us today.$$$
Continental Western CorporationSan Leandro, CA | 510-352-3133
Continental Western Corporation has been serving you with quality service for over 75 years. We have plastic materials for your packaging needs such as poly film tape & sheeting. We also meet other needs through our polypropylene strapping, synthetic twine, polypropylene rope and tarp and a variety of other products. Visit our website to learn more.$$$
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Our skilled teams of designers and engineers will work with you from design to delivery, prototype to production to ensure that we are bringing a custom designed product that will perfectly fill all of your requirements. Since 1975, we have been committed to providing our customers with top of the line products that will withstand the tests of time! Get in touch with our customer service representatives today for more information!$$$
Interstate PlasticsSacramento, CA | 800-742-3444
The comprehensive plastic material offerings at Interstate Plastics include dozens of options such as PVC, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylics and more. Plastic rods, sheets, films and other products come in standard sizes or can be cut to your exact specifications. Our easy to use website and the expert staff in any of our seven branches ensure you get the right materials for your application.$$$
Mr. PlasticsSan Leandro | 800-498-0774
Mr. Plastics offers plastic material distribution, fabrication, and manufacturing as well. You can pick from plastic sheeting, plastic rods, plastic tubes, and film. Hard to find plastics are no problem. If you have specifications, we are able to fabricate your plastic material.$$$
Orange County Industrial PlasticsAnaheim | 800-974-6247
Manufacturing plastic sheets, rod, tube, film & eye-catching POP displays from small to large, OCIP leads the industry in quality & competitive pricing. Materials include acrylic, nylon, polyethylene, polycarbonate, plexiglass & more with tight tolerance capabilities & dedicated customer service.$$$
Plastic DepotGardena | 310-217-7080
With decades in the business, we'll supply you with plastic sheets, plastic rods, plastic tube, plastic piping systems and everything in between, plus accessories, for all your plastics needs, including industrial and engineering plastics, cut to size, custom acrylic fabrication and mold making materials. We are your complete plastic supply store. We also offer technical advice at no extra charge.$$$
Professional PlasticsFullerton | 888-995-7767
Supplier of engineering plastic materials—plastic sheets, plastic rods, plastic tubing & film. Products include Delrin®, Nylon, Teflon®, Vespel®, Torlon®, PEEK, Techtron®, PPS, Semitron®, Ultem®, PVDF, PVC, Acrylic, Polycarbonate, PCTFE, PFA, FEP and more. E-Commerce Website.$$$
Ridout Plastics Co., Inc.San Diego | 800-474-3688
Ridout Plastics is an award-winning supplier of industrial Micarta® X,CE,LE and G10/FR4, structural FRP sheet, shapes and grating. Hundreds of profiles available with large stock on both coasts. Quality pre-fabrication for on-site assembly by your team. "When others can't...We Can!"$$$
S & W PlasticsOntario, CA | 909-390-0090
Founded in 1962, S&W Plastics is a family-owned and operated plastic fabricator, converter, and distributor. We provide high-quality, fast, and reliable custom plastic sheet fabrication and conversion work for our customers. We have expanded to four locations in Southern California, and opened an online store stocked with a wide selection of products to meet the needs of customers around the world.$$$
Vanderveer Industrial Plastics, Inc.Placentia, CA | 714-579-7700
Vanderveer manufacatures plastic sheeting, laminated plastic products, epoxy glass materials, phenolic tubing and phenolic materials. We also fabricate using our lathe, saw and CNC mill areas. Our thermoplastic materials include polypropylene, nylon, polycarbonate, polyethylene and more.$$$


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ASUSTeK EZ Flash 2 BIOS ROM Utility V 3.06 Can't read disk?
April 5th, 2013 Comments off
Just a reminder for those of you trying to flash your Motherboard ROMs to new versions.
In case you wonder why the utility can't read the file you placed on the C drive of your XP, Vista, Windows 7, etc.
Most old utilities only read FAT32 partitions.
In order to flash your Motherboard just do the following:
Categories: Hardware, Motherboard


text: Windows 7 has much better aero transparency glass effect along with taskbar thumbnail preview. Taskbar Thumbnail Preview displays small thumbnail preview of opened window on your taskbar when you hover your mouse on taskbar icons. Many users have started loving taskbar thumbnail preview of windows 7. But one issue with thumbnail preview is it takes some time to display thumbnail once you hover your mouse on taskbar icon by that time you can open actually window. Don't you think if we can speedup windows 7 Thumbnail preview will make this feature more productive? If answer is yes then here is small guide on how to speed up taskbar thumbnail preview. How to Speed up Taskbar Thumbnail Preview 1. Click on start and type regedit at search bar 2. Navigate to following key in left pan of registry editor HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse 3. Now locate MouseHoverTime key in right pan of registry editor 4. Doublick on MouseHoverTime or right click modify and change value from 400 to any value less then 100 (400 is milliseconds) lower the value faster the thumbnail preview. 5. Click ok and close regedit widow. Now check taskbar thumbnail preview by hovering mouse on taskbar icon and it should open faster. source: blogsdna.com


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When it comes to asthma home remedies be careful about which ones you choose. If you are looking for natural asthma home remedies on the net, be careful and study each one before attempting them yourself, look for testimonials from other asthmatics that have similar symptoms to what you may be experiencing. Another good tip to remember when trying to prevent asthma attacks, is to try and cover you nose and mouth when going out into the cold air, because the cold air will likely cause symptoms for you.
Besides, it is a good idea to stay away from dairy products such as milk and cheese, because they can increase the amount of mucus that comes with an asthma attack. Natural asthma home remedies that actually work can be something that is hard to come by so do your research before trying any asthma home remedies.
Natural Home Remedies for Asthma
There are a lot of natural asthma home remedies out there and finding the one that is both perfect for you and actually works can be a difficult experience, so here are some natural asthma home remedies that might make that experience a little bit easier. Today one of the most popular natural home remedies for asthma would be honey. Yes, you read that right, regular honey right out of your kitchen! It is said that by smelling the honey it can actually reduce your asthma symptoms.
A lot of people who suffer from nocturnal asthma know how difficult the night time hours can be, but vitamin C may very well be the answer. Vitamin C is said to help prevent those symptoms that occur during the night and early hours of the morning, so by taking vitamin C before bed could help reduce some of your night time symptoms. Sometimes out of all the asthma home remedies there is just nothing better then good old-fashioned fresh air, simply setting outdoors can help reduce your asthma symptoms, but be careful to avoid dust and cold weather.
Garlic is also considered to be an effective part of the group of natural asthma home remedies. Another popular theory for curing or reducing symptoms would be to boil garlic in milk. This is said to help in many asthmatic symptoms. There are also many asthma home remedies involving grapes this may sound a little strange but some people swear that it is effective. The theory is that you should soak fresh grapes with seeds, in water then place them in a cool place. Then chew the grapes before bed. This helps prevent asthma symptoms. Again, none of these home remedies have been scientifically proven to be true. They are simply home treatments that others have tried. Some may work while others may not, it is up to you to decide for yourself if these treatments actually work.
Remember that if you are thinking about trying any of these, ask your local physician to see if it will be safe for you to try out these home remedies. Never forget that a lot of the home remedies for asthma out there today are just suggestions by people who have asthma or know someone with asthma. When you are looking for remedies online, be careful to choose web sites that are legitimate, and that provide facts about asthma and treatments. Be sure that the home remedies you try are all natural. So, play it smart and choose wisely when it comes to asthma home remedies.
For more helpful information read about Home Remedies at Herbal Remedies website. Also read about Breast Enlargement Products.


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Dark cloud hangs over dead man's family
"A dark cloud is hanging over our heads and we do not feel it will ever lift again," the wife of murdered builder, Tommy Thompson, said in her victim impact statement which was read to the Central Criminal Court, this week. She said her family had already served a five year sentence and they did not know when it would end.
Joachim Pohl, Linton Place, Kilkenny pleaded guilty to assisting an offender, assisting in the removal and concealment of the body of Mr Thompson, the removal and disposal of personal affects and the cleaning up of his dwelling at Borris Road, Portlaoise on April 20-21, 2007 and various dates thereafter.
Sentencing by Mr Justice Paul Carney was adjourned until next Monday.
Mr Thomson (59), from Yorkshire, was a self-employed plasterer travelled home fortnightly and sent money back to his family.
Detective Garda Pat Scully told Mr Alex Owens SC prosecuting that Pohl had his own building company and his employee owed money to Mr Thompson. Mr Thompson was telling other people that they should not hire this man and Pohl was having difficulty in getting work as a result.
Shortly after April 20, 2007 Mr Thompson's landlord noticed possessions had gone missing from the property.
A garda investigation begn, bleach was found in the Mr Thompson's home and part of the hall door was broken. On June 5, 2007 Pohl was interviewed at Carlow Garda Station and he said he had not seen Mr Thompson in over a year. In December 2007, Pohl and the other man were arrested on suspicion of the false imprisonment.Their houses were searched and personal items found.
Burglary charges was dismissed because of a failure to provide a book of evidence.
Both men were given their passports back. Three years later the Irish authorities got in contact with German authorities, and Pohl returned voluntarily to Ireland.
In January 2008 Pohl had a dream he was in prison and the other man "was looking in and laughing at him", the court heard. He contacted gardai and told them he could indicate where the body was buried at Dysart Wood, just outside Portlaoise.
Gardai found chili peppers on the trees, which Pohl said the other man had put there so animals would not interfere with the body.
Pohl told gardai he went to Mr Thompson's house with the other man and the two men started to shout at each other. Mr Thompson pushed the other man against the front door, the man hit him twice on the back of the head with a bale of briquettes and he fell to the ground.
The other man told Pohl to get duct tape to bind his feet and hands and the court heard Mr Thompson was hog-tied. Mr Thompson was placed in a wheelie bin and his van was driven around the back of the property where he was put into it and driven out towards Durrow. Pohl drove in front to warn the other man if he was stopped by gardai, The other man told Pohl, who was upset, to go home so he did not see him bury the body.
The registration plates of Mr Thompson's van were changed and it was driven to the continent The court also heard Pohl has two previous convictions for road traffic offences and has pleaded guilty to the cultivation of a small amount cannabis for his own use.
A victim impact statement was read to the court on behalf of Mr Thompson's wife Sandra. She said her husband went with other tradesmen to Belarus to work at an orphanage in Chernobyl.
Ms Thompson said they planned to retire to Cyprus and buy a bar but said all of their lives were then shattered and changed forever.
She said that during the nine-month search for her husband, she hoped his body would be treated with some dignity and respect but this was not the case.
"We cannot stop the nightmares of what happened to my husband that night.As a family we have already served a five-year sentence and don't know when it will end" she said.
"A dark cloud is hanging over our heads and we do not feel it will ever lift again", she added.
Mr Paul Burns SC defending told the court that Pohl was in a serious road traffic accident in early 2007 and smoked cannabis to help with the pain.
He said he was in great fear of the other man and he accepts he did assist but is extremely remorseful.
Mr Burns asked to the court to take account of his client's guilty plea, the fact he showed genuine remorse and that he returned to Ireland to face charges brought against him.


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School of Humanities, Language and Global Studies
Livesey House 115
+44 (0) 1772 89 3039
Pauline has been on the teaching staff at UCLan since 2004, where she began as an associate lecturer, becoming a full-time member of the teaching staff in 2010. Pauline is currently a course leader for the BA (Hons) English Language course. Pauline teaches modules in grammar, educational linguistics, history of English and contrastive linguistics at undergraduate level. She has worked with students on dissertations linked to Arabic grammar, Romance syntax, Pahari grammar, Old, Middle, Early Modern and Modern English grammar, language acquisition, dyslexia and grammatical impairment, and the teaching of grammar on the national curriculum.
Pauline is research active within the area of language, linguistics, culture and society and is a member of the Research Unit for Speech and Language.
Pauline completed an undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature at UCLan in 2003, an MA by Research degree in Linguistics also at UCLan in 2004. She has completed her PhD in 2014 at the University of Manchester.
Pauline's primary research focuses on change to grammatical systems over time, with particular emphasis on morphosyntactic change. Her approach is both descriptive/empirical and theoretical in nature. Pauline's expertise is in Germanic Syntax, with her most recent work centring on Old Norse and the Insular Scandinavian languages, Faroese and Icelandic, but she has also worked in Old and Middle English. Her PhD thesis is a synchronic and diachronic study of aspects of the noun phrase in Old Norse, Common Insular Scandinavian and Modern Faroese.
The work offers new insight into the micro steps involved in the process of morphosyntactic change. Directly related to this work, are her interests in (1) the relationship between e-grammars, I-grammars and the transmission of language from one generation to another (2) grammaticalisation/syntacticisation, and (3) the growth of new grammars. In Pauline's MA work on Subject Contact Clauses in the historical and dialectal varieties of English, and my current work on Old Norse, she also explore language at the syntax-discourse semantics interface. A further area of interest is dyslexia and grammatical impairment.
Börjars, Kersti & Pauline Harries. 2008. "The Clitic-Affix Distinction, Historical Change and Scandinavian Bound Definiteness Marking". Journal of Germanic Linguistics: 289-350.
Börjars, Kersti, Pauline Harries and Nigel Vincent (forthcoming) Grammaticalising by growing syntactic structure: the history of North Germanic nominal morphosyntax.


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Daily trip 29 July 2012 | Great White Shark Cage Diving Gansbaai
Guest comment: "Staff so caring and friendly – very well organised – lots of sharks FREEZING WATER! J" Samantha Armstrong
"Great fun! Once in a lifetime experience that lived up to expectations and more! Too good!" Bernard Norton & Adam Brown
Location: Geldsteen
Water Temperature: 14.4 'C
Visibility: 7-10m
Number of Sharks: 8-10
Conditions: Sheltered from a moderate Southeaster
A beautiful day out at sea and we were treated to two smaller white sharks for the first hour of our trip. Both around 3 meters in length they were fairly feisty and made numerous passes of the cage. However it wasn't until an hour into the trip that things really started to get exciting, our third shark was around 4.2 m in length and our fourth a little over 4.5! Not long after their arrivals we were surrounded by many sharks leaving the final count between 8 and 10 – what a way to end the trip! Special thanks to Brian Beck and Sébastien Houis who joined us for two and three days in a row!
If you are looking to get up close and personal with the great white shark then Great White Shark Cage Diving in Gansbaai, and more specifically with Marine Dynamics, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience you won't want to miss. Book online with us and get a free video of your encounter with the world's apex predator.


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Small Giant Games Hits It Big With Debut Title Hitting One Million Downloads in Six Days
|Richard Harris in Apps Monday, May 25, 2015
Oddwings Escape, a debut mobile app game title by Finnish developer Small Giant Games, has hit the one million players mark globally since its launch in the App Store on Thursday May 14th. The game is available as a free download and has been topping the App Store charts around the world, reaching the top 10 iPhone games chart in 73 countries and the top 10 iPad games chart in 87 countries.
The physics based Oddwings Escape is the first title from Small Giant Games, a mobile games company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company was founded by a team of game industry experts, who were the core team members and pioneers of free to play game development at Habbo Hotel. Small Giant focuses on creating character driven multiplayer mobile games for advanced casual gamers.
"It has been very exciting to follow Oddwings Escape's flight in the App Store download charts since the day it was launched," Timo Soininen, Small Giant Games CEO says. "Hitting one million downloads in just 6 days is truly amazing and the overwhelmingly positive world-wide feedback from the players is very encouraging!"
Oddwings Escape is a genre blending flying game in which players soar their way through fun and challenging flying puzzles to rescue the Oddwings from the lab of the evil Dr. Rooster. Each of the characters has different flight dynamics, which makes each flying experience unique. They also have their own special powers, and every Oddwing's basic abilities can be upgraded to fly faster, further and smarter. Oddwings Escape uses pervasive asynchronous multiplayer technology, which lets players fly against friends, even when offline.
The game is localized in 15 languages, including English, French, Italian, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Dutch, Turkish, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Finnish and Chinese.
Read more: http://www.oddwingsescape.com


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The City of Mesa has received special recognition for its Beat the Boss Challenge at the 14th annual Health at Work Awards, sponsored by ComPsych, honoring organizations which promote employee health and wellness. Winners were selected based on their wellness program's comprehensiveness, delivery, promotion, participation rates and results achieved.
Mesa received ComPsych's Fitness Challenge Award for the Beat the Boss Challenge introduced in 2018 for City employees to engage in physical activity. The three-week challenge featured City Manager Chris Brady as the person to "beat" in daily steps. Employees tracked their steps on fitness devices synced to the City's Mesa Wellness 360 Portal. Approximately 500 employees participated in this engaging challenge and 73 employees beat the City Manager. The Fitness Challenge Award recognizes Mesa as the employer with the most innovative program for getting and staying in shape.
"The 'Beat the Boss Challenge' was fun for City employees and me and gave everyone an incentive to improve their well being. This year's event has everyone looking forward to next year's 'Beat the Boss' opportunity," City Manager Chris Brady said.
The City of Mesa established its wellness initiative in 2014 with the opening of a Health and Wellness Center which has provided services to more than 10,500 City employees and dependents on the City's medical plan. The City's Health and Wellness Program, called Mesa Wellness 360, was launched in 2017 and provides health education, disease management programs, health coaching and wellness and fitness contests.
In addition to ComPsych's Fitness Challenge Award, the City received the American Heart Association's Silver Award for Mesa Wellness 360. The Wellness Council of Arizona is also recognizing the City's Wellness Program with its Process and Leadership Award and Nicole Stec, City of Mesa's Employee Health and Wellness Manager, with its Senior Leadership Award for implementing and expanding the City's Wellness Program and Wellness Center services.
"The recent awards should be shared by Mesa City Council and City management, who recognize the importance of health awareness and have taken action to make it a priority for our employees. The increased participation by employees in our health education programs and activities proves it is important to them as well," Employee Health and Wellness Manager Nicole Stec said.
During the 2017/2018 fiscal year, 120 health and wellness classes were offered to City employees with over 1,900 employees participating. In addition, more than 1,700 health screenings were completed by City employees and the wellness program had 11,651 employees participate in its activities, which is an over 30% increase from the previous fiscal year's participation in the wellness program.
Public Information and Communications
Contact: Steve Wright
Tel. 480-644-2069


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Founded in 1993, SafeAuto Insurance specializes in providing affordable state-minimum and high-risk coverage to drivers across the US. SafeAuto is based in Columbus, Ohio, and employs more than 700 associates.
SafeAuto Insurance Company Discounts:
Multi-product: Save up to 10% on your premium when you bundle your auto and home policy
Defensive driver: If you've completed a qualifying driver course, you could save up to 7%
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Good student: Got a straight-A student in your household? They could earn you up to 15% off your premium
Contact Us
Customer Service: 800-723-3288
Claims: 800-723-3288
SafeAuto, 4 Easton Oval, Columbus, OH 43219


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From the Canadian Association of Marketing Professionals (CAMP) comes some helpful and timely advice on how to market to one of the most important groups on the planet. Experts tell us that the growing population of Millennials will comprise 75% of the global workforce by 2025. For starters, you need Instagram marketing. Instagram is a great social media platform because it's very authentic – and millennials demand authenticity! Not to downplay words – words are part of content marketing and content marketing is absolutely critical to every current marketing strategy. But the visual content you share on Instagram can be both content-driven and visual. Unlike words alone which can get…..well, wordy, it's very difficult to hide behind a picture. Millennials want to get to know you. They want to be able to relate to your brand. That's why it's so important to tell stories, both visually and in writing. Even if you don't sell a visually-appealing product, your brand needs a strong visual component that lends a shape, intimacy and realness to your brand story. That's why your brand needs to pass the 'Instagram Test.' A recent study found that millennials with the highest purchasing power spend an average of 7 hours a day online – much more than any other generation. A lot of that time is spent on Instagram. But it's not just about Instagram. It's about the entire picture.
It's not just about the location and the tools – it's about building trust. It's not just about Instagram vs. Snapchat vs. Facebook, etc. Millennials want to know that you understand them, and good content, in all its forms, makes people feel that you "get" them. When a person feels understood by you, they in turn feel confident about buying from you. Engaging, well-written copy paired with your photography or custom-branded visuals, shows Millennials that your product or service will fulfill their needs and desires. With the right visuals and copy, you can establish trusting and memorable relationships and turn more "browsers" into the customers you're looking for.
Millenials are a very connected and curious generation, but they're also very skeptical – and this influences how and where they spend their money. For example, Millennials are less likely to purchase from brands that simply encourage them to "buy buy buy", and more likely to purchase from brands whose reputations and products other consumers hold in high regard. And where do they get this information? From online user-generated content! Real reviews from other customers on websites, peer word-of-mouth on social media, authentic endorsements from celebrities on their social media channels, etc. If you want Millennials to trust and buy from your brand, you need to shine a spotlight on consumer opinion. Ask for your customers' feedback, engage with them on social media and get them talking. Make it easy for them to share their thoughts. You might even consider dabbling in a little influencer marketing, if you have the budget for it. Put customer feedback and insights front-and-centre for all to see. Millenials won't buy from you until they have the information they need to feel that your business is trustworthy.
Opening the doors to public opinion. Of course, when you open up the floodgates of consumer opinion, you might not always like what you hear. Fortunately, you can take these insights and use them as an opportunity to engage further with Millenials. Show your Millennial audience that you're listening, that you care about their thoughts, and let them know how you'll fix any problems. We've written about responding to negative feedback before, but with Millennials, it's especially important to not only follow up and respond to their reviews, but to take action on their suggestions. Is there an overwhelming opinion that such-and-such a product has a flaw? Do what you can to change it – then spread the word about the action you took. Make yourself known to Millennials as a brand that responds with real valuable action and you'll earn their trust.
Marketing with personality. You need personality-infused marketing in both visuals and writing to get Millenials to notice you. Stiff, formal writing is not the way to win Millennial hearts, and neither is shoving blatant advertising at them 24/7. The best way to make Millenials want to buy from you is to get them to actually like you – and you can win them over by showing your brand's unique personality. That might mean being funny, honest, direct, just plain silly, or a combination of any other number of candid characteristics. The key is letting your guard down, but not so much that you diverge from your overall marketing strategy. There needs to be an overriding plan for your brand's voice.
What are your values? Millennials like to know that the brands they follow have values that they can relate to. Are you socially conscious? Environmentally responsible? What good are you adding to the world? Your millennial customers want to know about your social good. In fact, 50% of Millenials say they're more likely to purchase from a brand if they support a good social cause. So, do some good and spread the word to your Millenial audience!
Don't be a robot. Everyone says to "get social" on social media, and we know that isn't always easy. We can definitely tell you what you shouldn't do though – and that's use automated responses or responses that sound automated. That will do more harm than good. Remember, Millennials are all about authenticity! Getting social means behaving naturally. Ask questions. Answer questions. "Like" things. React to things. Use some emojis (but not only emojis). Say something other than just, "Nice!" and "Wow!" and "Agreed!" Visit your followers' Instagram and Twitter profiles (but not their Facebook profiles – that's just weird) and notice what they're sharing. If they shared some delicious food, ask them for the recipe or the name of the restaurant. If they shared a cute photo of a pet, ask them how long they've had their pet and if they have any pet-specific tips. Be real. When you take the time to interact in a meaningful way, Millennials will remember you and they'll be more likely to reciprocate the conversation on your own content.
You have to make them care. The bottom line is that Millennials aren't going to buy from you because you tell them to buy. They're going to choose to buy of their own free will if they care about the product, service, and/or overall brand in some way. That caring comes from a sense that they'll benefit in some way from the purchase. To really make Millennials care, it has to be about them. Their needs. Their wants. You have to create a personal connection between the customer's needs and desires and how your commodity will help them fulfill those desires. You need to paint a relatable picture, using both visuals and words, so that they'll see themselves in your product or service. ("People don't buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons" – Zig Ziglar). Your Millennial customers need to be able to imagine the satisfaction that you can help them reach. Use Instagram as well as a blog, and Facebook and Twitter as well, to paint an authentic picture of your brand that will build trust with your audience. You need both visual and written content marketing pieces of the puzzle to appeal to Millennials.
For more helpful tips and strategies, as well as information on CAMP events, awards how to become a member, please visit www.canadianmarketer.ca.


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A repository of short narratives, video clips and photos...
About time. Nice to see everyone having a good laugh.
Yes John. It was a priceless sight I had to steal shots :)
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My sister-in-law is pregnant with
the spawn of my brother a precious gift of God. They are due in early summer and will be first-time parents. Remember those days? You were filled with anticipation and had NO friggin' idea exactly how much you used to love sleeping?
At one of my baby showers, my girlfriend Mama Mia gave me some "advice." (She bought me a real gift too, lest I never speak to her again.) I have since added/adjusted/amended the list and given it as part of a baby shower gift. Just another way for me to grace the universe with my unsolicited opinion . . .
|No, really, Mommy . . . you should try to get some rest.
(which you may, of course, choose to ignore)
compiled by BoyMommy
CEO: BoyMommy Family Household
I. My favorite brands:
* I am not receiving any compensation from the following brands, but if they would like to throw some money my way, I will gladly accept it.
a. Diapers & wipes – Pampers
b. Car seats – Graco Snug Ride (infant) and then Britax Roundabout and Britax Marathon, in age-appropriate order
c. Socks – Children's Place
d. Footie Pajamas – Children's Place
e. Sippy Cups – Platex (Gerber sippies have stoppers that fall loose every time Baby drops the cup. Platex stoppers stay in better.)
f. Gas Drops – Store brand (Mylicon is expensive, and let's face it . . . they're GAS drops; how different can they all be?)
g. Pain Reliever – Motrin lasts longer than Tylenol
h. Bible – What to Expect the First Year
i. Bottles – Dr. Brown's are the "new thing" but I'm not sure it makes much difference. HOWERVER, if Baby is colicky you're willing to try anything to please for-the-love-o'-pete-make-it-stop.
j. Diaper Crème – Desitin
* my computer thinks I'm all fancy and French and keeps adding that little thingy to the top of the e. Still doesn't change the fact that it goes on Baby's poop chute.
k. Sleep Bras (if you nurse) – Motherhood
l. Nursing camisoles - Target
m. Maternity clothes – Motherhood, Gap Maternity (online), Kohls, Target
II. Things I wish I'd known:
a. Nipple confusion is bullsh*t. I wouldn't let the nurses give Large a pacifier because I was worried about nipple confusion. (Because I was an expert . . . I mean I HAD been a mother for a few hours now . . . ) Trust me – babies know where their next meal's comin' from.
b. Unless you know you're going to be transferring Baby from one car to the other a lot, don't bother with an extra base. We've used a car seat in Daddy's car maybe 5 times total.
c. Register for BIG items, even if you're not going to use them right away. It's easy to store things like the high chair/swing/exersaucer in their original boxes until you need them, and then you won't have to run out and buy them yourselves later. These make great gifts for people (like co-workers) who want to pool their money for one big gift. Don't register for clothes – you'll get a ton of those anyway, especially if you already know what you're having.
d. Shave your legs, get your toes done, get your eyebrows waxed, and get your hair cut about a week before Baby's arrival. It may not happen again for a loooooong time. And buy some good ponytail holders. Personal hygiene is the first to go.
e. Invest in a good quality glider. Baby doesn't care if his/her dresser matches the crib, etc, but YOU will appreciate having a comfy place to sit in in the wee hours of the morning. You don't want a hard rocking chair that makes your butt stiff.
f. Register online at Pampers.com, Gerber.com, Enfamil.com, Similac.com, etc, even if you plan to nurse. They'll send you free coupons, and even if you don't use the formula coupons, you can trade them with a girlfriend for something you will use, like diapers.
g. Ask your pediatrician for samples of formula and pain reliever.
III. If you plan to Nurse:
a. Don't go cheap on the nursing bras. Target has In Due Time brand nursing camisoles that look like little tanktops. They run a little small, so you might want to try on first. (I wore a 2x – I know I'm not a LITTLE girl, but come on!) Motherhood has good bras too, but don't forget – their return policy is not very forgiving. I love their sleep bras – not very supportive, but enough to keep you from leaking.
b. Take Lansinoh gel with you to the hospital and apply it EVERY time you nurse. Breastfeeding hurts. The La Leche Nazis will not tell you this because they want you to keep trying. Consult with the Lactation Consultant at the hospital and get used to the fact that not only has your doctor been elbow-deep into your hoo-ha, now a very grandmotherly lady that you don't know will be feeling you up.
c. The Lactation Consultant should also have these little gel pads that fit right over your nippy to help soothe the soreness. They're expensive, but SO worth it. You can put them in the fridge and cool them before you apply. I know it sounds weird right now, but please take my word for it. You can also buy them at the store (Gerber, I think) but they aren't as good as the ones you can get from the Lactation Consultant.
d. If you buy a breast pump, get a good one. I have a Medela and I love it. I actually used it quite a bit. I registered for it so I wouldn't have to shell out all that money myself. It is LOUD. A 757 could pass overhead but you wouldn't hear it over the sound of the Human Milker.
e. No one will tell you this: when you do the s-e-x, you might leak from your boobs. It is very strange and can really ruin a moment. (Also, invest in some K-Y because nursing makes you extra dry.)
f. Lansinoh also makes disposable nursing pads to keep any leaking from showing through during the day. I tried to save money by using cloth ones that I could reuse, but they're a lot thicker and they're pretty obvious. I wore nursing pads for about 6 months with all 3 boys.
IV. Other odds and ends:
a. Keep all blankets you get as gifts. I thought I had way too many, but if you have a puker, like my own little Yacky McVomit (AKA Medium) then you'll need a lot of clean blankets.
b. Miracle Blanket (online) has great swaddling blankets which I think work WONDERS in the first few weeks. I got one as a gift for Medium and I wish I'd had one with Large.
c. Every parent will tell you something different, but personally, we're firm believers in the Ferber Method at about 3.5-4 months old. I think it's REALLY important for your own sanity that you teach your baby to sleep on his/her own. I also know it's REALLY hard to listen to your baby cry for you. But it's a few nights of pure hell (maybe a week?) that pays off in the long run.
d. Gymboree is very expensive and I have been very happy with the cheap classes I have taken through the park authority.
e. Malls, Libraries, and Bookstores have a lot of free kid programs. Check them out online.
f. A pacifier tether will help keep Baby's binky close at hand. So when you're driving down the highway at 60 miles an hour, you can reach behind you and easily find the binky because Baby can only spit it out so far.
g. I LOVED my Baby Bjorn. Expensive, but totally worth it.
h. No one needs a wipes warmer. (Although a friend told me their wipes would freeze in the winter, and they used one, so perhaps . . . PERHAPS . . . I'm not an expert.)
i. Join a mom's group. You can look online – just google "mom's club" – and you should be able to track one down in your area. Motherhood is very isolating, especially at first. It's vital that you remember you are not alone.
j. Be honest with your doctor. Having baby blues is normal, but there's NO reason for you to suffer unnecessarily.
k. MOST IMPORTANT: Sleep while Baby sleeps! You will not get a significant chunk of sleep for MONTHS, (maybe years,) so you have to get it while you can. The dishes and vacuuming will be there later. Your time is better spent with Baby and you'll be a better mommy if you are better rested.


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|JodieJo is here to save the day!!!
33-year-old SugarBaby
(Next Birthday in exactly 6 months) Taurus
Douglasville, GA, United States
Seeking SugarDaddy 21 - 38
Personal Details
|About Me:
Hello. Hey. How are ya? All that good stuff. I'm 24 and live in Douglasville. I like to have fun and laugh. I like to see other people laugh too,even if it is sometimes on behalf of me. I like to be carefree and worry free and stress free and drama free and blah blah blah. BUT I can be serious if needed, I'm always the one my friends turn to if they are having a problem or need advice. I'm close to my family and friends, and try to stay as close to God as possible. UM... Man this is hard. I'm always smiling and hardly ever in a bad mood. It takes ALOT to get me mad, and my theme song is "Walking on Sunshine" (according to Emode). I like taking all those personality test, I think they're kinda fun. Anyways, I like to talk ALOT but it's not anything boring are sad or my bit*hing or whinning like other girls. I talk about fun, freaky, crazy stuff. I'm outgoing and like to talk to people I don't know and make them think I'm crazy and weird (try it, it's fun dude). I'm totally honest and open and tell people what I want to say not what they want to hear. To sum it up I'm a smart a$$, bit*hy, a$$hole that likes to get my way, BUT I always try to please others before I please myself. And I like to be the center of attention. And I'm not into all that romantic crap, do NOT ever buy me flowers, I just don't get why you'd buy someone something that is gonna die in like a week. Dude, I just don't get it.
What I'm Looking For
I'm looking for a rich guy to buy me and my friends nice things, and to take us out to eat to really nice restruants. Or even support our bad habits. hahaha. just kidding... i'm looking whatever dude
Looking For


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|cheesehead helmets, sore knees, & Iowa hills
Eight times I've been on all or part of the forty annual bike rides across Iowa (Ragbrai), and that's enough saddle-sore miles to know that a trip through the Midwest's breadbasket state can offer plenty of contrasts. Most of the time, it is a peaceful, spandex-clad army cruising the back roads, savoring local farm food, and soaking up the remaining vestiges of small-town life. The Des Moines Register organizes ten or fifteen thousand riders who spend seven days pedaling from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River. They chomp on sweet corn, inhale slices of blueberry pie, and invade towns with no stoplights but plenty of hospitality.
The 450- or 500-mile trek is a great way to see agriculture at ground level, and there is no denying, it's grown into a monster success. But enough of the happy talk. As with anything worthwhile, a few warts can show up under those padded bicycle shorts, and this year, the conditions reminded us all that a ride through Pleasantville might have some bumps and bruises. A few examples:
#1 The Inferno: Earlier this week, the temperature reached the century mark for several days—news reports claimed the mid-afternoon pavement under our tires simmered at 130 degrees. On Tuesday, when we turned east, past the Lehigh Hill and into a stiff headwind, Dante whispered in my ear, "This is Level Five. You only have yourself to blame."
#2 Hell Froze Over: Contrast this year to my first ride in 1981. On the second day, an 80-miler to Lake City, the temperature never climbed out of the 50s. A cold, slanting rain drove most from their bikes and eventually flooded our campsite. Citizens became angels of mercy and took shivering riders into their homes, garages, and barns.
#3 Healthfood: The term can be an oxymoron at times. Roadside stalls, church suppers, and tent breakfasts provide amazing food along the way. But the constant pedaling can be an excuse to carb-load, and not everyone eats salads, fruit, and lean meat. Pie for breakfast? With a bacon-flavored Bloody Mary on the side? Or maybe pancake-on-a-stick, infused with sausage of course. The numerous fruit smoothies balance out the subsequent cold beers.
#4 That Fresh Country Air: And it is. Fog hugging the creeks in the pastures as bikers roll along just after sunrise—pure Grant Wood. But a confinement farm might change the mood if it's upwind, and I remember following a loaded hog truck for a mile or so during one ride. Nothing like the smell of bacon when it's still on the hoof.
#5 Physical Fitness: Yes, it's aerobic, Yes, prepping for the ride gets you working out. But let's be honest. The back? Quasimodo could sympathize. The legs? They burn fire going up some of the hills. Sunburn, helmet head, bugs in teeth, bike chain tattoos on leg calves—but the worst is still the old Dead End. No spandex girdle can keep the ride from being a pain in the padded bike shorts.
# 6 Alone Together: Those looking for a quiet ride in the park may instead choose New York City's Central Park. Ragbrai is morning crowds swarming to the first town in a hunt for coffee and breakfast burritos, or a tire-to-tire companionship at 30-miles-an-hour downhill with someone from Germany chatting about farming. Those who don't like the ambience of kybos or the wait for a warm shower should attend boot camp instead.
# 7 Green Fades to Brown: The biggest negative this year was the drought—we had an eye-level view of a once verdant garden state. Corn and soybean fields that are usually green and lush were brown and shriveled. Lawns were steel wool, and streams were bone dry. You don't fry an egg on the pavement this year—you barbecue ribs.
|farmyard slip & slide cool down
But the optimism remains. The townspeople come out in force. The ride includes every type of person, every type of bike, and every type of story woven into the fabric of a one-week parade. Traditionalists on three-speeds coast by, a ten-year-old drafts behind friends like he's in the Tour-de-France, a 64-year-old Englishman wears French clothes and rides an ancient bike. Riders might meet politicians, celebrities, Australians, Air Force members, or the 88-year-old mayor from McCallsburg.Riders get hurt; riders get married; riders pedal along through the heart of the country wondering why they put themselves through it. Then they finish like my friend Don did this year. We load our bikes onto the car rack, and he says, "So, about January should we start planning the trip again? Some overseas friends wanna come for the next one, so maybe we could rent a camper. All tailwinds and 80-degree days next year." Did I mention that riding also affects the brain? by dan gogerty (search the desmoinesregister for Ragbrai stories and photos)


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