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As a hint to the guy ?

As a hint to the guy ?

So you want men to understand women not so much at a glance, and caught invested interline sense.From such misunderstandings women are often frustrated, resentful, scandals, and men still do not understand what is happening.

In a relationship loving couple trying to get to know each other (habits, solve the mood, desires, etc.) including a man learns his woman done by hints.It is quite another matter that the man deliberately did not want to respond to them or do not really understand what was coming.

If you have a long-term relationship may hint at all and is not necessary.It is necessary to speak in their half right, what you want.There will be no hard feelings, misunderstandings and scandals from scratch.

When the relationship has not yet been established, to talk about their desires is just embarrassing, uncomfortable and scary, as there is no certainty that you will be understood correctly.In these cases it is necessary to make accurate hints to help a guy understand the desires of his beloved.

Consider the most popular cases, and we give a couple of tips available namenut guy.

hint of sympathy

you have been communicating with, but he does not seem to understand about your sympathy, you must make it clear to the person.Basic hints of sympathy:

  • ask him for help (the man feels it necessary);
  • chance gently to touch him;
  • not be afraid to be embarrassed (blush) with him;
  • talk about the new film released in the process of communication to invite him.

will find useful information here.

hint of a kiss

you already for a long time together, but he does not kiss you.The thought of it never leaves my head, kissing first, and do not want to scary, and suddenly he thinks about your promiscuity, etc.In this case it is necessary to insinuate one of the favorite options, you can choose:

  • flirt all day, give him a feel welcome;
  • use tactile contact (interlocking hands, gently stroking the ear, etc.);
  • often look at his lips, and to draw attention to his (biting, licking);
  • be more likely to kiss away.

also find information here.

hint of gift

So you want to get something as a gift from a loved one, and he does not understand.Just can not say, do not understand his reaction, still hint:

  • talk about the gift that made her friend, make it clear that she was so lucky;
  • talk about a dream in which you are presented with a welcome, say you were happy at the moment;
  • tell that during a walk to see his dream and now can not sleep;
  • unpretentious constantly mention in dialogue about the present subject matter.

Hint family

Most men fear losing freedom or to change your life in an uncertain direction.You must be able to hint to my man, you will find it is so expensive, you can even imagine a happy family and a happy old age with him.It is important to feel a man, his mood, try to completely relax him.Hints at family relationships should be very carefully and at the right moment a romantic mood, so as not to frighten the elect.

hints Arts is very thin hard work.Women appear in the image of psychologists who anticipate the right time, place and circumstances to accomplish his evil plan.The main thing is not to overdo it in their desires to hint at anything, because man is not so simple, easily able to see through the plan of their own manipulation and more will not allow it.


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Excursions in tenerife, tenerife boat trips, whale watching, dolphin watching and whale watching in tenerife.

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  • The most modern GPS system on the market
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The 620 m2 mainsail is Europe's biggest! Freebird One is made of aluminum, a material more durable than fiberglass. The top speed of this exciting catamaran is 17 knots - the fastest catamaran in the Canaries.

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A Reader's Guide to Comic Con - ebook samplers!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014
San Diego Comic Con is almost upon us!! If you are going and still trying to figure out what panels to attend, check out my reader recommendations for programming for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

Not able to make it to SDCC but still interested in what new speculative fiction is coming out this year? Luckily, many of the publishers are offering their Comic Con samplers online for everyone to enjoy this year.

Below I've compiled the ones released so far -- I will update it if any new ones come out during SDCC.

Del Rey 2014 Sampler  + Star Wars 2014 Sampler
Interestingly, the Del Rey sampler this year has a ton of excerpts from older works mixed in with a few new ones. Ones I would recommend checking out for the fantasy fan: Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora, Joe Abercrombie's Half a King (my review is here), and George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones (if you have somehow avoided it up until this point).

For my part, I am going to try and read the Outlander excerpt -- the series has been on my to-read list for awhile! I am also going to try and read a few of the Star Wars excerpts -- I've not managed to read anything in this imprint yet, and I know I should give it a try.

Penguin's Comic Con sampler + featured titles (which include some links to excerpts).

I'm really excited for Lev Grossman's next installment in his Magician's series - The Magician's Land, as I really enjoyed the first two books in this series. And despite being really really disappointed with how her Sookie Stackhouse series ended, I might give Charlaine Harris's Midnight Crossroad a try, as it is a new series.

Harper Voyager's Science Fiction and Fantasy sampler
In this sampler I'm looking forward to getting a peek at Katherine Harbour's Thorn Jack and Beth Cato's The Clockwork Dagger.

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KFC Printable Coupons: Two Can Dines, 3 Piece Deals & More!

kfc coupons

There are new coupons available for print on the KFC website!

They include 3-4 piece deals, two can dines for both chicken and sandwiches as well as family meal deals.

Coupons are valid until October 6, 2013.

Click here to checkout what’s available

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Gourmet Gift Baskets

GourmetGiftBaskets.com (Chalifour Flowers and Gourmet)
Please support our affiliate sponsors!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Mardi Gras Cams - Watch the Parades & Celebrate New Orleans Style

Mardi Gras Beads and Masks
Check out the Mardi Gras cams set up on www.MardiGras.com. They show the action on St. Charles Avenue from Fat Harry's.

Watch the Parades & Celebrate Mardi Gras New Orleans Style!

You can prepare for Mardi Gras with the fabulous masks and beads available at MardiGrasCostumes.com/beads.htm

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good bye 2013, hello 2014 :)

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Assalamualaikum and hello.

i just don't like this year somehow. maybe it is because I felt hurt on many things.
i felt nobody besides me.
i felt everyone against me.
i don't know any person who can I believe or trust.
I'm always have negative perceptions towards people.
I felt offended some how.
I felt like nobody appreciates me.
I felt like why we have to take care of people's feeling but our own hurt?
i just don't know why all these things happened to me.
and I'm really glad when I got an encouragement through reading some comments on my previous post. well you know who you are and I really appreciate it. thank you from the bottom of my heart.
however i know that all of these made me more mature than before.

and now

2014 has arrived.
Im looking forward to this year.
I just want  to make myself happy than before.
I want to be a positive person.
and I found this quotes from Mr. Steve Jobs:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

deep yet meaningful.
may Allah ease everything for us.

  1. insya Allah DJ =D

    akak teringat baca satu status dekat fb yg ada org kata sebenarnya makin dewasa kita, makin lama kita di dunia kita makin dekat dengan "kehidupan abadi" (akhirat). akak setuju dengan kata2 steve job. moga Allah permudahkan segalanya... *big smile*

  2. kau kenapa giler, ada fon, text la aku gilerrr

  3. salam eyja...
    bang fenn ucapkan selamat tahun baru walaupun dah 7 hari tahun 2014 dah...heheehhe
    baru nk usahakan blog bang fenn semula...insyaAllah tahun 2014 ni beri sinar baru...

komen biar bijak :) hee

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Catholic Writers Retreat Set For Oct 5-9; Register by Sep 28

NOTE: We need more people to sign up by the 20th or we have to cancel, so if you know you want to go, please register before then!

Catholic Writers to Enjoy Special Spiritual Retreat

Lansing, MI: In collaboration with FAITH Catholic Publishing and Communications, The Catholic Writers Guild, will sponsor Your Word is My Delight, a Catholic writers' retreat, Oct 5-9, 2011. Come and delight in God's word and sacrament, and pray in a beautiful and serene retreat setting.

The retreat's key presenter is Pat Gohn, Catholic columnist, podcaster and catechist (link: http://www.patgohn.com/patgohn/About.html) . Other presenters are Father Charles E. Irvin, David Krajewski, Father David Rosenberg and Father Larry Delaney.

Writers will enjoy five spiritually-enriching days of daily Mass, adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation and many hours of writing time. Talks will explore how God speaks to and encourages writers through Scripture, papal writings and other topics in order to promote faith-filled writing.

Opportunities for networking also will be offered through an informal "book bash and social hour" Wednesday evening and Faith Catholic's one-on-one "pitch sessions" that give writers the chance to sell their current writing projects.

Cost for the four-day retreat is $450, which includes meals and accommodations. Deadline for registration is Sept 28. A nonrefundable deposit of $45 is required at registration.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Want to learn worldbuilding?

People who read my blog know how bizarre my imagination gets, and how detailed and wild I can get in my worldbuilding. Even though I'm more of an intuitive, seat-of-the-pants kind of writer, I have broken down worldbuilding into several steps and I'm teaching them at savvyauthors.com September 5-October 3. I really stretched this class out so that folks had a lot of time to think, research, etc. However, you can go at your own pace, do don't let the length intimdate you. I have taught this in week-long conferences. However, you are going to get up to four weeks of my attention for only $25 ($25 for Savvy Author members.)

Get more information here: http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/showevent.php?eventid=1001

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Chatterday: How do you handle Writer's Block

We talked this week about writer's block. I shared my own idea that it's a lie that hides the real reason writers don't write and I offered some ideas. Now it's your turn:

Do you get "writer's block?" How do you break it?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Busting Writer's Block

Last week, I talked about writer's block being a lie that keeps writers from their dreams because it hides the real reason writers don't produce:
1. Intimidation
2. Sloth
3. Perfectionism
4. Guilt
5. Rather talk about being a writer than write

Regardless of the reason, hiding behind writer's block will stop you from doing what you want to do--write! Here are some tips for busting the lie of writer's block.

#1 Sh**y First Drafts. In her book, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamont talks about giving herself permission to write a "sh***y first draft." The idea is that you can always fix your prose, your story, your characters---but only if write it out first.

This is the best advice I can give someone who feels intimidated by the task or shackled with expectations of perfectionisn. Give yourself permission to write tripe. Order yourself to put words to paper (or to the screen), even if (as one presenter at CWCO put it), you end up with a virtual "steaming pile." When you are done. If you let yourself--make yourself--do this, one of three things will happen:
1. You will discover you wrote better than you expected.
2. You will write junk that you can fix.
3. You will burn part of all of the work in the name of public safety, but you will have written. And havin written once, the next time will be easier. There is a saying that the first million words you write are practice.

A last note on this--resist the urge to edit while you are writing. Make notes if needed, but get the entire thing written unless you already know you can finish the task.

#2 BICHOK: Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard: You cannot be a writer unless you write. You can make writing a habit.

This is hard. Remember my analogy last week that plumbers don't get plumber's block? If they did, they don't get paid. Ditto the reporter--reporters don't get writer's block. No work=no pay.

Many of us aren't there yet, however, so we need other ways to motivate ourselves. Maybe write 20 minutes, then play a game? Go out to dinner when you finish that novel? Have a special place to write--or leave your house until you have the habit. Some authors make mock-ups of their covers to motivate them. Others take their day's goals before the Blessed Sacrament. Find what motivates you and do it.

#3 Set realistic goals. This helps Guilt as well as Sloth. If you are busy and writing is a sideline, developing the habit is more important than the actual number of words you produce. For an example, when I still had a baby and a toddler and homeschooled my older two, my goal was simply "one sentence before bed." Now, with older kids in public school, I can devote a few hours a day. In both instances, I kept a habit of writing.

#4 Don't control your creativity. Perfectionists hesitate to start a project until they think they are completely ready to do it. Those who are intimidated worry that their creative ability isn't up to the job. Others find a story stalls because the characters won't do what they want them to do. Some would-be writers never get past the research stage.

Let go and let flow! You can't always control the direction of the creative process. Let your characters lead you in the story. Start writing that article and discover what the Holy Spirit (or your subconscious) drives you to write. Stop researching, outlining, profiling, and write. If you run into a fact or a question or a scene you're not sure of, just flag it and move on.

#5 Stuck, still? Take a break and write something else. Can't figure out the next chapter? Skip it or write a different scene with the character--or a character interview. Can't figure out the next chapter on your book? Write a related article. Start a new project if you like, but remember to come back to the original one and finish it.

Writing is 10 percent creativity and 90 percent productivity. Even more, when creativity stalls, productivity can get it started again. The lie of writer's block, however, can stop you from seeing that.

Got questions or a comment on writer's block? Post them. I'll answer as best I can, and maybe blog again on it next month.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

It's Vern in his glory days!

Bought this at the art sale at WorldCon because it is Vern in his pre-George days. The title of the work is even "Lunch"! This is a man who understands Vern.

Incidentally, Magic, Mensa and Mayhem was quite a hit at WorldCon. Made me happy, especially with Live and Let Fly coming out, but I had to admit to being surprised. It's over a year old and the cover was the most cartoony of all the ones at the table. the usual reaction I get from people is "Is this manga or for kids?" but at WorldCon, folks just thought, "What fun!" Guess the lesson is never assume what a group will like based on other groups.

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Lie of Writer's Block

Karina is at Renovation this week, so she's running these blogs she wrote for the Catholic Writers Guild blog in April:

Has your plumber ever canceled an appointment because "the pipes aren't talking to me?" Have you ever heard of an architect who wouldn't finish designing a building because he's not "feeling it"? Yet the most common reason writers give for not writing is "writer's block."

I don't believe in writer's block. I see writer's block as a socially accepted lie that keeps writers from achieving their goals. Sound harsh? Consider this:

Benjamin Franklin said invention is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. The same holds true for writing, I believe: 10 percent creativity, and 90 percent productivity. Even more, the simple act of writing can inspire greater creativity. However, writer's block disregards the 90 percent and places undue importance on the small percentage of the writing act.

So what really causes writers to stare at the blank screen for hours before turning with disgust to Facebook or YouTube?

#1 Intimidation. A blank page is intimidating. Having a whole story perfect in your mind except for that first sentence is intimidating. Taking on a project you feel will bring people closer to God is intimidating. Sometimes, just the throught that strangers will read your blog is intimidating.

What happens when you are intimidated? You freeze. But instead of recognizing that fear and meeting it head on, writers say they are "blocked" and don't address the issue.

#2 Sloth. Writing is work, but too often, writers, especially new writers, believe that if they are truly inspired, the words will flow from their mind to the keyboard. When that doesn't happen, it's easy to claim "writer's block."

#3 Perfectionism (or the need for excellence right off): This, to me, ties into both intimidation and sloth. It's the idea that if you are "truly a writer," then each sentence comes out as perfect. If not, you are a failure as a writer. Who wants to face that? Easier to say you're "blocked."

It's also the trap of believing you have to have everything perfect--from your research to your carefully mapped plot and characters--before you can even start.

#4 Guilt. This especially happens to those who are not making a living off their writing. Getting published is a long, slow process, and you can't wait for a contract before you write your book or story. Yet it's hard to justify taking time "away" from family, the house, social or charitable obligations. (What kind of mother, after all, would forego a PTA meeting to work on her sci-fi novel?)

Recently, a friend told me about a "writer" who complained of writers block for a year and a half. He got lots of sympathy, but never produced anything. Some people choose to talk about being a writer instead of confronting the realities of writing. Writer's block provides an easy way to do that.

Don't let writer's block keep you from your dreams.

Next week, we'll talk about ways to break writers' block.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Tips for Making the Most of a Writers' Convention

1. Make a list of goals or needs. Why are you attending this conference? Have some specific things you want to get out of it. Some ideas:
* meet publishers
* find a critique partner or group
* get more marketing ideas
* meet illustrators
* specific things you want to learn

2. Have a business card. Give one to everyone you talk to. In fact, have a pen handy always and write on the back: "Enjoyed talking to you about..." so they know why they have your card.

3. Take notes: Either on the back of their business cards or in a notebook or on your smart phone or... Get the person's contact info and write down what you talked to them about and why you want to follow up. It will be very handy when you get home!

4. Talk to authors: find out their stories, their issues, how you can help each other. What's working for them? What are their challenges?

5. See a radio station or podcaster? Ask them if they have an open slot! You could get some free advertising! If not, get their info and contact them after the convention.

6. Talk to the booksellers at the expo. Some might take a copy or two of your book on commission. Others might be run by the publisher themselves.

7. Go to the con suite if there is one. Meet people. Network. Have fun. Get free snacks. Can it get any better than that?

8. Bring advertising stuff for the freebie table. Bookmarks, etc. It doesn't cost anything to put them there--jsut be sure to gather the extras before you leave!

9. Know anyone getting a booth? In a group that might pitch in for a booth together? Make it happen.

10. Have fun! It's not all learning and networking. Relax and enjoy yourself. wear a costume (if it's that kind of convention) or a funny hat or vest. Some of the best stories come from conventions after hours.

Monday, August 15, 2011

It's Conference Woman!

The Amazing Discovery at the Catholic Writers Conference Live--Clark Kent's glasses trope really works!

Conference was great. New York City was amazing. Technology totally failed me on the trip. I'm home now and overwhelmed with what I need to do before going to WorldCon in Reno. I want there to be two of me--and I want to wear the hat!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

It's Out! Mind Over Mind is here!

Deryl Stephens' uncontrollable telepathic abilities have landed him in a mental health institution, where no one believe in his powers.

Joshua Lawson, a summer intern at SK-Mental Institute, does something no one else has ever done: he accepts Deryl's reality and teaches him to work with it. As Deryl learns control, he finds his next challenge is to face the aliens who have been contacting him psychically for years--aliens who would use him to further their cause in an interplanetary war.

Ydrel threw himself into wakefulness with such force that he sat up in bed. Still, the nightmare images clung to his mind: the beat of a hundred hearts, the smell of sweat and fear. He clutched his stomach and fought the urge to scream.

A hundred bodies crowded around him, crushing him against the splintered wood of the boxcar.

No, this isn’t real!

No room to move. No air to breathe. Suffocating. Drowning.

No, this isn’t me!

Confusion and fear. Fear the trip would never end. Terror of what waited at its completion.

NO! These aren’t MY memories!!

Ydrel threw up shaky mental barriers. The visions faded, just slightly. He forced his eyes open, drinking in reassurance from familiar objects.

He sat in bed, an oversized twin, backed up against pillows rather than splintered wood. Pre-dawn light shone softly through the blinds. On the nightstand, Descartes regarded him with one button eye. The only thing left from before his mother died, he’d slept with that bear until an orderly commented on his “abnormal attachment.” Since then it had stood watch over him instead, braced against the lamp. Even now, without any orderlies around, Ydrel resisted the urge to clutch it close to his chest, but he reached out to touch one tattered foot.

On the shelf beside the window sat a portable boom box, a gift from his first birthday here—his thirteenth. Five years ago, today. The maintenance man had disabled the volume control after Ydrel played it too loudly. Thereafter, he’d found other ways to block out the moans and occasional screams that penetrated the closed door. Happy birthday.

The stereo held up several books. He was studying them in case it called. He both dreaded and longed for the calls. Each episode only gave them more reason to keep him here, yet there was something as familiar and comforting about it as his old bear.

He turned his gaze to the far wall and the framed pictures of a nebula and the solar system by his half-empty closet. On his sixteenth birthday, he’d been allowed to decorate his room and he’d chosen those posters and a mild blue paint to replace the still–lifes and the institutional burgundy-and-pink color scheme. While it had been a relief to his eyes, it was also a constant reminder that they never intended for him to leave.

This is my room, he thought. In the asylum. Even after five years, he’d never call it home. He’d never give Malachai the satisfaction.

Calmer now, his mental barriers in place, Ydrel allowed himself to examine the vision that awakened him. Hundreds of bodies packed into a train car not suited for twenty. Most had traveling clothes, but had shed them against the heat. No room to move. The air was stifling and stale. No one knew where they were going. Some suspected, but said nothing. The destination was worse than the trip.

Ydrel sighed. Isaac was on the train to Dachau again.

Ydrel threw off the covers and dressed quickly in a blue t-shirt and jeans, socks and generic sneakers. Already Isaac’s projected fear was breaking down his mental defenses; Ydrel’s fingers trembled as he fumbled with the laces.

Once out in the corridor, he hastened to the old man’s room, forcing himself to keep his pace smooth, his face composed. Someone would stop him if he hurried or looked distressed, and any delay would be unbearable. As he walked he got into character. His stride lengthened; his face hardened. He held his hands relaxed but ready by his hips. When he got to Isaac’s door, he cast a wary look down the hall, then slipped in.

The old man lay on a standard hospital bed, his wide, wild eyes staring at the ceiling but focused on his inner horrors. His hands fluttered helplessly on the thin coverlet. He labored for each ragged breath.

Ydrel sat beside him and composed his own vision.

The train stops so suddenly that people would have been thrown down if they hadn’t been so tightly packed in. The sound of gunfire and shouts in German. The boxcar door opens with a rusty screech. Someone yells in Yiddish, then German: “Out! Now! Quickly, to the woods—to the south!” Relief from the press of bodies, then a new pressure as the flow of people pushes him through the door. Someone grabs his arm—

Ydrel grabbed Isaac by the arm as he pushed the new vision into the old man’s mind.

Isaac blinked, twisted toward Ydrel, then smiled, his eyes bright with tears. “Gideon! Old friend. Thank God!”

Monday, August 08, 2011

Review of Viper by John Desjarlais

Summary: (From http://www.johndesjarlais.com)
Haunted by the loss of her brother to drugs and a botched raid that ended her career with the DEA, insurance agent Selena De La Cruz hoped to start afresh in rural Illinois. But her gung-ho former boss needs her back to hunt “The Snake,” a dealer she helped arrest who is out of prison and systematically killing anyone who ever crossed him. His ‘hit list’, appended to a Catholic Church’s All Souls Day ‘Book of the Deceased,’ shows Selena’s name last. Working against time, small town prejudice and the suspicions of her own Latino community, Selena races to find The Snake before he reaches her name while a girl visionary claims a “Blue Lady” announces each killing in turn. Is it Our Lady of Guadalupe or, as others believe, the Aztec goddess of Death?

Mini Review:

Another excellent mystery by John Desjarlais. Too often anymore, you read a thriller/mystery and have to wonder if the main character is even human for all the abuse and emotional trauma they live through in the course of a book. The thing I enjoy most about John's books is that he doesn't rely on over-the-top action or heart-clutching angst to get you through a story. Rather, he begins with a strong mystery with believable characters you could expect to find living next door, and he lets the excitement and the emotion flow naturally from the story. The result is a novel that will keep you reading through the end, but not leave you feeling like the characters--and you--need a long vacation on a deserted island just to recover! The Catholic and Hispanic culture, so well researched and deeply infused in the book, add flavor and uniqueness. Definitely worth reading!

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Time to Re-assess Social Marketing

As many of my friends know, I've not been happy with the results of my years of social marketing. I spent a couple of days after I finished writing Discovery to map out what was bugging me the most, and it's that I really don't like all the shouting out to the world, "Hey! Lookie at me!" and I like it even less when all that shouting doesn't get results--i.e., book sales.

Recently, the Writers' Chat Room had discussion on blogs and what attracts readers. We all agreed that they should be entertaining and/or informative and have a unique angle. Many folks take that to be a personal approach--funny stories about their lives, etc.--but I'm not comfortable with that. Frankly, it's one thing I've been getting discontented about. I normally don't like to talk about myself (ironic, I know, but really, call me on the phone and see how I calm up), and when it comes down to it, I don't want people to buy my books because they like me, but because they like the characters.

So...what to do?

Over the next couple of months, I'll be retooling my social marketing efforts to center more around my books and my characters. I'm going to share some of my mad ideas, whether they make it into a story or not. I'll be doing character studies, world notes, favorite quotes... I'll probably keep My Novel's Journey because people do seem to like that, but I'll try to cut down on the me-me-me and concentrate more on the story or the lesson. I'm also going to start posting some serial stories, which I'll be asking for donations to support them. I'm also going to experiment with video blogging, interviewing different writers at conventions and such. Not sure how that will work. I have to play with the technology.

But you tell me: What would make this blog more interesting? How about Facebook/Twitter posts? If you are a writer, what do you do to draw readers? If you are a reader, what kind of posts convince you to take the step from blog to book purchase?

Monday, August 01, 2011

Interview with John Desjarlais, Author of Viper

Yay! Tomorrow, I'm heading off to the Catholic Writers Conference Online. One of the many fantastic people I'll meet there is John Desjarlais, who writes awesome mysteries with Catholic characters. His latest, VIPER, came out July 15. I'll have a review up on the 8th, but here's an interview of him. Enjoy!

A former producer with Wisconsin Public Radio, John Desjarlais teaches journalism and English at Kishwaukee College in northern Illinois. His first novel, The Throne of Tara (Crossway 1990, re-released 2000), was a Christianity Today Readers Choice Award nominee, and his medieval thriller, Relics (Thomas Nelson 1993, re-released 2009) was a Doubleday Book Club Selection. Bleeder and Viper (Sophia Institute Press, 2009 and 2011 respectively) are the first two entries in a contemporary mystery series. A member of The Academy of American Poets and Mystery Writers of America, he is listed in Who's Who in Entertainment and Who's Who Among America's Teachers. Today, we're talking with him about his latest book, Viper, out from Sophia Institute Press.

Where did you get the idea for the murderer putting her name in the Book of the Dead?

I’m a relatively new Catholic, and so I’m very excited to observe the many customs, traditions and practices I never knew about in my many years as a devout Protestant. Soon after I finished BLEEDER, my first mystery, I was considering a sequel and on the lookout for a story idea when around All Souls’ Day I noticed an announcement in my parish’s bulletin reminding people to write the names of departed relatives in “The Book of the Dead” so they could be remembered and prayed for. To a mystery writer, a phrase like “Book of the Dead” sounds like a premise and a title! The wheels began to turn: what if there were names in the Book of people who weren’t dead yet? What if they were being killed in the order in which they were listed? Who would they be, and who would kill them, and why? And what if the last name in the list was one of my characters? It had to be Selena De La Cruz, especially since this observance has a close connection to the Mexican festival in November called “The Day of the Dead,” which became my working title along with “The Book of the Deceased.” (It ended up being “VIPER” to match the two-syllable title “BLEEDER” and to refer to the snake-themes in the story: the drug dealer named “The Snake,” the snake handling, the Aztec interest in snakes, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose name in the native Nuahtl language means ‘she who crushes the snake’).

Did you have fun looking up women's footwear for Selena?

I learned early on in the research that Latinas dig the zapatos. At the elaborate coming-of-age celebration for fifteen-year-old girls called a Quiceañera, one custom calls for the father to give his daughter her first pair of high heels as a symbol of her womanhood. For Selena, the stylish shoes are a sign of her Latin identity, her social class and her empowerment as a woman in a man’s world – besides handing a P226 SIG Sauer and racing a muscle car! I found all I needed in Latina magazine and zappos.com, and my Latina reader/translator had some suggestions. I have no particular attraction to women’s footwear, lest anyone wonder about that. And I’ve never actually tried wearing them to get an idea of their balance. My research only takes me so far. The aim was to make Selena both unique and authentically Latina.

What was your favorite part to write?

The climax, the final showdown, is always a gratifying part to write since it is the dramatic pay-off that you’ve been setting up for a long time. Apart from that, I enjoyed all the ‘flashbacks’ and brief remembrances of Selena’s upbringing and family life. These intimate interactions made the character come alive for me and absolutely real for readers. I didn’t include all these parts in the novel; one must be judicious with backstory. I’ve saved them and I might use them in my blog (http://jjdesjarlais.blogspot.com) when Selena writes there as a ‘guest.’

What's next for you?

I’m brewing ideas for the third mystery in the series to address a few unresolved issues left over from VIPER. Insofar as VIPER considered Selena’s relationship with her mother (an immensely important figure in Mexican families), the next story will examine her troubled past with her father. This has always affected her relationships with men, and until she deals with this she cannot move ahead in her relationship with Reed Stubblefield. So I’ll have Selena investigate the mysterious circumstances of her father’s early death, which is somehow connected to his former position as an executive with PEMEX, the Mexican national oil company, and his sudden transfer to the Mexican Consulate in Chicago.

Thanks for letting me visit with you, Karina! Your readers can stay in touch with me at jjdesjarlais(at)johndesjarlais.com. Visit my web site, www.johndesjarlais.com.


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Sunday, August 24, 2014

Street Style Competition

Today I have bunch plans of doing nothing all day in my bed. Such a lazy Sunday! Time to relax and break the legs :D Spent my whole Saturday night yesterday at my room watching Lady Gaga's concert on YouTube from ArtRave Ball back to The Monster Ball until I fell asleep and forgot to click publish on this post. I'm too enjoyed with the concert! Lady Gaga is my inspiration in fashion, beside her sense of fashion & awesome style I also got influence by street style people around the world. Everytime I see street style page on STYLE.COM, Facehunter, The Sartorialist, Carolines Mode, Monsieur Jerome, Le 21eme and any other website, I admired how creative they are on mixing their clothes between the branded & unbranded becoming an extraordinary style formula. Not to mention, their self confidence on creating an individual style on the street incredibly AMAZING!!! Seems like I need to learn and join self confidence course with them :)

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Polette Eyewear

Introducing you all to a super stylish Nagoya sunnies (name of the sunglasses) which I wore in this post. Eyewear brand called Polette sent me the sunglasses all the way from French. Polette released in 2012 for France and Europe market and now they are shipping world wide. Cool, isn't? They design prescription and non-prescription glasses as a new essential accessory to shine through daily outfit. Polette offers highly-competitive price with no compromise on quality. Go go go check their collection on to match your style. Polette sells sober to eccentric eyewear designs, always with fancy style. Oh, do you have your own design? Tell them, send them the design, and they will make it for you. Polette is an online revolution that will change the way you shop your glasses!

Monday, August 11, 2014

Prince Voodoo

Please give a warm hug to welcoming the brand new of me :) This is my first outfit post after my last post on my birthday slash Eid Fitri edition. I usually change my look every year on my birthday just to celebrate my half soul and to reborn the new me. Last year I introduced you to my alter ego King Fahad, the extravagant guy from another planet. This year, I will introduce you to Prince Voodoo Fahad, the statement and bold guy with brand new turquoise ombre hair. I know you all might be surprise to see my medium hair back even the color changed into turquoise. It's not hair extension please! The fact is I don't cut my hair off in my previous post. I only tied it up & showed my front part hair like a short hair cut preppy guy or I'm hiding my hair under hat / kopiah. I heard you guys already love my short hair cut, don't you? I do love that too. Maybe someday I will have that hair cut but not now.


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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Newt's Sugar Daddy

How is it possible that such an unethical, nasty, sleazy, mean-spirited, polarizing, egotistical, hypocritical jerk can be winning primaries and surging in the polls?  One reason, of course, is that his remaining competition consists of a liar, a creep and a full bore crank.  And not to be underestimated is the power of the Occupy movement, which has dramatically changed the national conversation so that Romney's efficient and ruthless behavior at his equity firm, his refusal to disclose his tax returns and his "corporations are people" rhetoric make him the perfect symbol for the despised 1%.  Third, the Republican base can't resist a fire-breathing blowhard with the shamelessness to relentlessly attack and demonize our Kenyan-Muslim-Socialist President.

But Newt, not known for his organizational or fund-raising skills, has emerged as a threat to Mitt Romney's ascendancy to the GOP nomination thanks in large part to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision and the Super PACs the ruling has spawned.  It has allowed one couple, the Adelsons, to give $10 million to Gingrich's "independent" Destroying Winning Our Future Super PAC, and thereby completely upend the political process.

Sheldon Adelson, a "casino and hotel magnate," gave the first $5 million, which was used to launch the negative ads against Mitt Romney in South Carolina that were pivotal to Gingrich's primary victory there.  Now, as the New York Times reports, Sheldon's wife Miriam is giving the Super PAC another $5 million to help with the upcoming Florida primary.  And thus, as the Times noted:
The wealth of a single couple has now leveled the playing field in two critical primary states for Mr. Gingrich, a candidate who ended September more than $1 million in debt, finished out of the running in Iowa and New Hampshire and, unlike Mr. Romney, has yet to attract the broad network of hard-money donors and bundlers that traditionally propel presidential campaigns.
According to Wikipedia, Sheldon Adelson is the eighth richest American, with a net worth of over $ 23 billion.  Our post-Citizens United campaign finance laws are allowing him to the opportunity to buy the Republican nomination for President.  What will he want in return?

EZitrin said...

The sad truth.

Superb Jon said...

Social Conservatives are Socialist Conservatives: The Associated Press January 17, 2012 Rick Santorum … said he voted against right-to-work legislation only because his state was against it. United Press International January 25, 1989, Organized labor and mainstream religious leaders vowed Wednesday to renew and revitalize their old coalition, acknowledging vast changes in the workplace and the international economy. ''This is a propitious moment for a new alliance between labor and religion,'' said Roman Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee at the outset of a three-day conference for representatives of both camps looking at ''social and ethical concerns in a changing economy.'' McClatchy May 19, 2011 New Hampshire Union Leader Gingrich says President Obama's individual health insurance mandate is terrible, even unconstitutional. But in 1993 he was in favor of an individual mandate. That's not inconsistent, he says, because back then he was opposed to Hillary Clinton's health care plan, and this time he's opposed to Obama's. (This paragon of conservatism models himself on Teddy Roosevelt, trustbuster, conservationaist, the man who created our medical problems with the FDA, who made monopolies bigger by pretending to trustbust, FDR's role model and the inventor of the welfare state:) The Associated Press August 12, 1983
Gingrich said that "the younger generation of optimistic Republicans" wants to change the conservative agenda in this country into an "activist, positive, problem-solving conservatism" using Theodore Roosevelt as their model. The Associated Press January 27, 2010 Democrats got encouragement Wednesday from groups as diverse as the nation's Catholic bishops and the head of the largest labor union federation. In a letter to members of Congress, the bishops urged lawmakers to "recommit themselves to enacting genuine health care reform." For Her He Became a Catholic Polish Daily News August 31, 2011 we are blessed to know the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, D.C. The Sisters are from Poland and kindly bake us a babka each Christmas and Easter. . . My family’s strong Catholic faith most definitely came from my Polish grandmother.. Newt and I worship in that same tradition. . . Newt and I strongly favor the Visa Waiver Program for Poles. (Why does the GOP always seek out oldsters like Dole, McCain and Gingrich when it wants to lose?) The Associated Press May 26, 1993, Citing concerns about Lorenzo's past management, more than 50 members of Congress, including House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich and other conservative Republicans, have urged the Clinton administration to block Lorenzo's bid to re-enter the industry. The Associated Press June 26, 2011 Israel's ambassador to the Vatican on Sunday backed off his praise of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pope blamed by some Jews and historians for having failed to speak out enough against the Holocaust. Ambassador Mordechai Lewy said in a statement that his personal judgment about the role of Pius, the Vatican and Catholic Church during the war had been "premature" since the issue is still being researched

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Faire History - the Origins of Pleasure Faire
Welcome Queens of the Faire right bottom

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Phyllis | Ron

50th Birthday of the Faire
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Books about the FaireBooks About the Faire

Queens of the FaireQueens of the Faire

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Contact Us

A Toast! To all Faire Queens past and present who have enlivened the hearts of their people. Fond and loving thoughts to all other Queens of the Shire who have led the way, such as Mildred Holland (Mistress of the Tolls), Constance Spreistersbach (Dancer and Artist), Amie Hill (Mistress of Revels), Rosie Echelmeier (Rosie’s Posies), Suzy Cooksey (Fruit Ices), Carol La Fleur (Entertainment Dir.), Marilyn Manolio & Judy Drury (Crafts Coordinators), Annie Lore (minstrel & actress), and those passed… Doris Karnes (Faire Designer), Galina Kauffman (Piroshki), Joan Cook (Roast Beef Inn), Carolee Tarble (Costumer)…and so many others!

Queens of Pleasure

Queens of the Heart

From the first year in 1963 to the present, the phenomenon of the Faire has been to illuminate our hearts' desire to learn, to laugh, to craft, to dance, to live artfully & to play our parts heartily – Kevin Patterson

Huzzah to You!

Yours in Revelry Forever,
The Patterson Family (Phyllis, Kevin, Brian, Leslie, Andrew & Michael)

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Centennial - 720-338-7777

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Fort Collins - 970-658-0669

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The Falling Water Construction Company Difference:

We take pride in every project we undertake and understand that our reputation within the community is on the line every time we install a roof. We are not willing to gamble that reputation by cutting corners, using sub-standard materials, or rushing a job. Every roof we install has our name on it, and we take that very seriously.

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Friday, January 05, 2007

Aural Kombat

Via Penny Arcade, I've learned of a new documentary on video games called Moral Kombat. Here's the trailer:

This is utter bullshit on so many levels, I can't name them all. But I highly recommend Harold Schechter's book, Savage Pastimes, for a revealing look at just how violent our culture and society is compared to ages past. A bit of a spoiler--are first-person shooter games really worse than the bear-baiting of the Renaissance era? There's a big stink about the video of Saddam Hussein's lynching execution making the rounds on YouTube and the like, but up until about a hundred years ago hangings were public events that families went to for weekend picnics. In the carnival-like atmosphere of a public hanging, all the townspeople would gather round, with their young children, to watch these criminals drop a short length, and twitch for a bit at the end of the gibbet, and being cut down. Meanwhile, buskers, entertainers, food vendors and prostitutes would be making brisk business. Death has always been associated with entertainment, food and sex--probably because proximity to it makes the living value pleasures of the flesh that much more.

This issue hits my hot button because I'm a roleplayer, and my hobby went through this same bullshit over 20 years ago. (I'm also a video-gamer, though I'm not on top of every latest development in that industry.) The line from the trailer that really set me off was "we are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." What?! Are they saying there is no boundary between imagination and reality? Puh-lease. Over the last two decades, I've "pretended" to be an evil knight in service to a dark god (in Dungeons & Dragons), a drug-dealing black market surgeon (in the Cyberpunk 2020 game), a Terminator-like killer cyborg (in the Mage: the Ascension game), a backstabbing, treacherous vampire (in live-action Vampire games), and a raging werewolf warrior (in a live-action Werewolf game). In real life, I've never been in a fight, never committed an act of violence on someone, never been charged with any crime (except exceeding the speed limit by 30 km/h), never drank anyone's blood, and never barked at the moon (OK, the last one I did, but in my defense I was singing along with Ozzy Osbourne).

If we were what we pretended to be, George W. Bush would be an effective president and warleader, Canada would be respected and envied the world over (newsflash: we're not), and Paris Hilton would be a paragon of moral virtue.


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Kickstart The Horror A4 Issue 2!

Continue this fun Kaiju saga!

SF Bay Area creator Gaz Gretsky just launched a Kickstarter campaign to print the second issue of his own kaiju-themed comic, The Horror A4. The first issue published a year ago, introducing a world that had once beaten back all the giant monsters, and almost forgotten about them. Until 100 years later, a new menace arises, and a generation that never knew how to fight them must figure it out, which may also mean fighting the government. But let’s let Gaz tell you about it himself…

If you’re a fan of Japanese kaiju, or didn’t know you’re a fan because you just really thought Pacific Rim was cool, you should check out The Horror A4. And yes, full disclosure, if you enjoy the photoshop illustrations Ric Bretschneider does for the podcast, Gaz is the artist who did the original caricatures of the podcast crew, and I owe him a life debt for making me look so thin as Plastic Man. But still, I’ve read an early draft of the full limited series, and it’s a great ride. I can’t wait to see it all in comics form.

Follow the link and check out Gaz’s presentation — and you’ll find yourself wanting to both kick in for the printing, and telling your local comics shop they should carry The Horror A4.

M.A.S.K. and the Fanboys

M.A.S.K. and the Fanboys

About Derek McCaw

In addition to running Fanboy Planet, Derek has written for ActionAce, Daily Radar, Once Upon A Dime, and The Wave. He has contributed stories to Arcana Comics (The Greatest American Hero) and Monsterverse Comics (Bela Lugosi’s Tales from the Grave). He performs with ComedySportz San Jose and ShakesBEERience, in addition to occasional screenwriting and acting jobs. If you ever played Eric’s Ultimate Solitaire on the Macintosh, it was Derek’s voice as The Weasel that urged you to play longer. Email him at


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Ball valve for gas, female/female long threads,T handle,FF1072

Working pressure 5 bar (72.5 psi)
Working temperature from -10℃ to +80℃ (from 14°F to 176°F)
Thread ISO228 (equivalent to DIN 259 and BS2779)
Opening/closing test 10000 times
Suitable for all types of gas, town gas(1st family), natural gas(2nd family) and liquid gas(3rd family) in systems.


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Thursday, January 20, 2011

FJELLSE Headboard

Materials: FJELLSE full bed, stain, piece of pine, L brackets, drill, screws, screwdriver

I needed a bed, was on a budget and hated everything on Craigslist. For under $100 I got a bed a like that I think looks great.

The FJELLSE full bed was on sale for only $49. I picked it up and skipped the $20 slats and got a free box spring from Craigslist.

The headboard with the bed is ugly in my opinion and so I wanted to cover it up. I saw some hacks for this style of bed, but most of them were padded headboards. I wanted something rustic. Originally I was going to purchase several planks of wood and stack them on top of each other. I found a 2'x 8'x1/4" piece of wood at Home Depot and had them cut it down from 8' to a couple inches under 6' which would be the length of the bed. This piece was $27.99 and listed as "shelving" on my receipt, though it was just in the general lumber area.

We also purchased to packages of L brackets to use to affix the headboard to the bed. You can see how we did in the photo. My dad was also concerned about it holding and adding a screw on each side through the posts of the bed.

In terms of assembly, we assembled the bed like the instructions, only adding the piece of wood to the bed at the beginning after we assembled the headboard. We had measured the box spring and mattress to know how much higher on the headboard to place the lumber too (about 12" with a standard 9" box spring).

The unfinished pine also screams IKEA so that also needed fixing (note: I originally tried using a spray on stain. Horrible. Wound up using old stain we already had that had a finish to it. Would have saved about $20 had this goof-up not occurred!). This was also done days before we assembled as it took awhile to dry with the rain. We also didn't bother staining the parts that wouldn't show, like the midbeam.

I feel like the end product doesn't look IKEA at all!

~ Sharon, Long Beach, CA

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Friday, 12 February 2010

Late Arrivals

At long last the ewes have started lambing. They were due to start lambing on the 8th February and usually there would have been a few early starters but not this year.
Hopefully now they will be in full swing. If only the weather was a bit warmer then the grass would be growing and the ewes could be turned out onto lush green pasture, but as it is at the moment they will need to stay indoors for a few days longer than normal. This will make the lambs stronger and able to keep themselves warmer during the cold nights. If you want to come and see what happens in the lambing sheds we have arranged our lambing day again this year. Tractor and trailer rides will be leaving the village hall in Overbury on the 11th April 2010, between 10 am and 3pm. Adults will need to pay £5 but all the children get in for free. Billy and Michaela will be serving up delicious Overbury lamb Casserole in the village hall from about 12. Get there early before it all goes! Check out the farm website for up to date details. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Friday, 5 February 2010

X-Ray Spectacular

Darren has very kindly sent me the Geo-Physics resulting scans for a couple of the fields on the farm. The field shown here has got some very interesting features and it was the first field that Gordon dug trenches in earlier in the week. The black and white line through the middle of the fields is a crop mark, shown up in aerial photographs over the years. Adjacent to this on the right is the bunded area uses as a coral (see other blog) The line is actually a trackway. The geo-fizz info is shown by the red and blue areas to the right of the trackway and show the actual ditches and mounds of earth and lots of small pits and other features. It is great to see that these areas are still in tact after years of farming practises and we're now looking forward as to how we can protect them for future generations.

Wednesday, 3 February 2010

On Your Mark's, Get Set........Dig

Monday morning saw the return of the Worcester Archaeology Team to continue the assessment for the COSMIC trial. Gordon was pressed into service on the frosty ground to dig a series of trenches over known archaeology. We know where the archaeology is from aerial photographs, finds and latterly through soil scanning. The scanning could pick out all sorts of trackways, bund's and ditches, very interesting stuff, honestly it was. The team on the ground, lead by Darren, soon swooped in, after Gordon had made the delicate slices with the CAT bucket and armed with trowels, shovels, hoes and plastic bags they started cleaning the scrape and assessing the slight changes in soil colour indicating where these pre-Roman features were once a hive of activity.

On this site we found an old ditch and bank used as a livestock coral to keep the stock contained within and the wild predators out. Adjacent to this feature was a small pit where iron-age man would have dug the soil to find gravel, which would have been washed off and used as floor material in the nearby mud huts. These pits would then have been filled in with the loose material and other items of waste. Another site uncovered a trackway high up on Bredon Hill, a route that people, oxen and carts would have used as they crossed from settlement to settlement. More digging is anticipated either when the soil dries out a little or we get more frosty weather.
A lovely sunset from the top of Bredon Hill taken a few weeks ago showing the lone ash.


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Skyline Releases Winter Weekly Report #6

Skyline logo
Skyline logo

- Young named Player of the Week -

New York, N.Y. - The Skyline Conference released the Winter weekly report #6 on Monday, December 31, including Player of the Week, Rookie of the Week, Honor Roll and Conference statistics for men's and women's basketball.

Men's Basketball Update (6-4, 2-1) - Full Report

After a three week break, the Rams traveled to York College for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Farmingdale State fell 71-48 to Gettysburg in the opening game and rebounded with a 70-61 victory over York in the consolation game.

Senior forward AJ Matthews (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was named to the Skyline Conference Player of the Week Honor Roll. Matthews averaged 22 points and nine rebounds in the two games.

Men's basketball resumes Skyline play as they host Sage on Wednesday, January 9 at 8:00 p.m.

Women's Basketball Update (4-4, 2-0) - Full Report

Farmingdale State split a pair of games at the Juniata College Holiday Tournament this week. The Rams fell to King's (PA) 79-54 and defeated John Jay 58-56 in the consolation game.

Junior guard Nicky Young (Queens, N.Y.) was named Skyline Conference Player of the Week. Young was named to the all-tournament team at the Juniata Tournament as she averaged 22.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. Young scored 24 points against King’s and poured in 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the win over John Jay. She added four assists in the two games. Young has been named the Skyline Player of the Week twice this season.

Farmingdale State next will host Amherst in a non-conference game on Tuesday, January 8 at 6:00 p.m. and Sage on Wednesday, January 9 at 6:00 p.m.


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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Daphne Guinness

After a long wait, here is my 2.0 return to my beloved blog, and what a come back! With none other than Miss Daphne Guiness!!!! What do u think about her? Dont u just love how outreagous she is? I mean, there are few women in this times that live and represent haute couture like in the old times, and she is one of them, loving always how risky she become when it comes to wear great gowns and outfits on fashion shows, events and red carpets. She create a scent in collaboration with Comme des Garcons. So, enjoy her!
Also I found this quick video of her, with a little explanation on what is she doing right now and what is she wearing. Loooove her!

  1. She is great, i love her choice of jewellery. She really knows how to wow the crowd.

  2. Nice pics. She is pretty and i love Kate Moss.


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Baliloca: Must Have Summer Purse

Baliloca Cross Body Purse

Baliloca is my go to travel purse for summer!

I absolutely love the sleek leather design.  I like that it is truly a hands free purse and the shoulder straps are a real gem for overseas travel.  You can wear it over or under your outfit and all of your items are safe next to your side.  Plus, don’t you think it looks a little tomb raider?  Check out Baliloca and kick some travel a!$

Original Leather Cross, Baliloca- Click Here

Fashion Billie

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Monday, December 20, 2010

I am in Travel-Hell, aka Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris

So what constitutes travel-hell, you may be wondering. Well, friend, let me tell you:
  •  One suitcase so stuffed full of Christmas presents (bottles of French wine) and books that it is heavier than you, but you try navigating its incredible girth through packed crowds, shoving it on and off buses, trains, escalators, and even worse, up and down stair cases, with your weak, trembling girl-arms, making embarrassingly vocal grunting noises, so pathetic that it might be cute—if only you weren’t so sweaty? Check.
  • One train that arrives late, and then decides to just chill out three times on the tracks for no discernable reason, for the collected time of two and a half hours, even though you’re starving? Check.
  • Waiting outside, IN THE SNOW, FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF, waiting for a shuttle because the hotel told you it was running, until you called again irately with frozen fingers, and then they tell you it’s not running anymore? Oh yes, check.
  •   Taxi drivers discovering that the shuttles aren’t running anymore because of the snow, and realizing that they can charge you whatever they want because you have no choice? Check
  • Being charged SIXTY, YES, 60 EUROS TO BE DRIVEN 2.1 MILES, CHECK. Out of all the things that happened to me today, being wrongfully manipulated on top of being starving, freezing, and three hours late is the icing on the cake, the proverbial cake here being a mound of bullshit.

          These are things that I wrote on my first day of travel-hell. Little did I know that that would only be the light-hearted introduction to snow storms, several more days of cancelled flights, awkwardly sleeping in arm chairs, and brushing my teeth in the public restroom like a homeless person because I was stranded at the airport. The taxis refused to bring anyone to the hotels, because it was too small of a distance to make a decent profit, and the hotel shuttles never arrived “because of the snow,” but I am convinced that they actually DO NOT EXIST.
The ever-elusive Airport shuttle, a mythical beast of legend much like the dragon or unicorn, which can only be coaxed into the open after months of patient tracking through the magical lands of Camelot or Narnia.

                One of the biggest problems about being stuck at the airport was my luggage. My suitcase is an epically huge monster of a bag. And it’s totally fine to have a heavy suitcase if your flight goes as scheduled: you check it in, you forget about it, and then you pick it up. No big deal. But when it weighs as much as you, and you have to carry it around with you everywhere you go, to eat, to the bathroom, to sleep, to try to find a hotel, across three different terminals, it becomes your Mortal Enemy. I quickly became convinced that my suitcase was intentionally malicious every time it got stuck in a crack or on a moving sidewalk, and that it was trying to kill me.

How my suitcase is:

How my suitcase feels:

          I had to lug this bag that wanted my blood through four or five inches of snow, slipping, freezing, cursing, and shivering all the while, and making a huge display of my incompetence and general lack of upper body strength, trying to get to a hotel. First I tugged and shoved and swore it down one path, only to find after twenty minutes of extreme exertion that it was the WRONG PATH. FML. There was nothing to do but pull the abomination all the way back, and then again along the right path, which of course happened to be uphill, towards a hotel which I didn’t know was already fully booked.

          So, in case you’ve been wondering, this is why I haven’t posted. I am still, in fact, at the airport from hell, and will attempt my third flight tomorrow. For the love of God, wish me luck.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Beware of "French Weight"

Ile flottante and crème brûlèe, aka the source of my problems.
French Weight is the technical term for the unsettling phenomenon of tripling in size once you move to France, because everything tastes god-damn amazing.  French Weight may be caused by, but is not limited to: crème brûlèe, Nutella, fois gras, excessively cheap brie, pain au chocolat, chocolat chaud, croissants, beignets, tarte tatin, crepes, croque monsieurs, and the sudden addition of wine to every meal. French Weight is not affected by runs through the park, as one would hope, and persists in accumulating despite Jillian Michaels workout videos. French Weight cannot be effectively countered unless a) one develops a deathly allergy to good-tasting French food, b) Jillian Michaels herself flies to France to threaten you into shape, c) you eventually move back to America and no longer have access to patisseries or chocolateries.  French Weight may be accompanied by a sudden tendency to wear loose clothing and a healthy dose of shame.

          Feel free to use it in dialogue. For example:

          "Isn't Melissa coming to the club tonight?"
          "No, didn't you hear? She has French Weight. Her self esteem won't let her out of doors."

Une crêpe complète, stuffed with melted cheese, creme, and ham. Le nom nom.
I know that my subconscious has been quite concerned about French Weight lately, because last night I had a nightmare where I didn’t know if I was pregnant, or just extremely obese. I’m vain enough that the idea of the latter upset me just as much as the former; either way, I was ready to have a massive panic attack. Dream-me ran to the nearest pharmacy to get a pregnancy test, but my French sucked and they couldn’t understand what I wanted. I began frantically motioning towards my gut and they offered me diet pills. I tried again, pleading and waving in the general direction of my vagina, and they offered me tampons. In desperation they finally offered me bacon (I don’t know-- it was a dream) and in a frustrated rage I cried “No—If I’m fat that WILL NOT HELP!” I woke up relieved that I was not pregnant and/or comically fat, but upset that it was 7:30 in the morning. You win some, you lose some.

Friday, December 17, 2010

How to Go Out as a Group of Girls in Lyon, Steps 1-12

1.       Arrive at the meeting place on time, to find that only one of the girls is there.
2.      General confusion and frantic texting.
3.      Realize you need to go buy alcohol.
4.      General confusion and frantic texting.
5.      Run around in high heel boots trying to find a grocery store that is still open. Have second girl, who is running late, hunt you down in grocery store, after she is generally confused and sends you some frantic texting.
6.      Set up new meeting place for the third girl.
7.       General confusion, frantic texting.
8.      Wander around the Bellecour metro stop for about twenty minutes, calling her name and making French people stare at you.

"Heather! Heeeeeather! HEATHER!"
9.       In frantic text, third girl says she’s at a different metro stop than originally agreed upon. General confusion. Meet her there instead.
10.      Where is fourth girl? General confusion and frantic texting.
11.      Wait around in final metro stop for another fifteen minutes for fourth girl. Ignore that your feet already hurt in your cute boots even though you’re not at the club yet.
12.      Try to find the house of a French friend; general confusion. Some frantic texting.
Le confusion générale.
Once we got to the French friend’s house, the appetizers alone made it worth it: tiny, delicious pigs in a blanket, candy, dessert quiche, and jello shots to go with our drinks and our emergency-purchase of wine.

Real French Culture Fact #1: Jello is a rarity in France, and is imported in small qualities from the U.S., making it quite expensive.

Some French people have come to regard it as an odd delicacy because of the price and the strange colors it can come in. Others just think it’s another example of disgusting American food made of fake ingredients and dyes. So it was quite nice of our host to share her expensive Jello with us. We repaid her with mass amounts of bad French or “Franglais”—français (French) and anglais (English). But the more I drank, the better my French became, so it worked out alright.
Hostess on the far left. Not pictured: her EPIC perfume collection-- we are talking at least 20 bottles.
Real French Culture Fact #2: Girls in France do not dress scantily, even when going out. If they saw how girls dressed in the U.S., they would assume we were all Grade-A Sluts.

Once we arrived at the clubs, First Revolution and Boudoir, it became immediately apparent that French girls cover up both their cleavage and their legs. They wear conservative dresses, with leggings, or the exact same outfit they would wear during the day, with heels. Now that it is freezing and snowing, I’m thankful for this bizarre trend.
But while the dress code was strikingly different from America, the club was just as strikingly the same. The clubs never change, whether they be in Germany, Greece, France, wherever. There is always something universal about the layout, the same division between indoor and outdoor space, the same American music, the same dance floor and lighting. I almost thought I was in Santa Barbara again, except for the fact that clubs in Santa Barbara don’t rain confetti on you ever hour. Tres chouette

Ooh la la.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

I Do Not Understand Snow, Therefore I Do Not Trust It

The view from my window.

All last night I had the same thought looming in the back of my mind: “It’s snowing outside. Oh shit ohshitohshit. I do not want to go to work. It’s snowing!” Let me explain: I am from California. I have never seen snow. We only have two seasons there: nice, warm weather and nicer, warmer weather.
"Oh, don't you miss the seasons though?"
No, I do not. And furthermore, I think the idea of “missing the seasons” is total bull. We only have the best seasons and avoid the shitty ones—like winter. With snow. But France seems to have other ideas for me this week, and in the back of my mind is the constant wailing of “IT’S NOT FAAAAAAAIR! I’M NOT REEEEEADY…”
Last night, I even checked my email in the vain hope that one of the other teachers would say I wasn’t needed tomorrow—I don’t even know for what reason. (“Surplus of teaching assistants, today Melissa. Don’t know why they all just showed up here. You should stay home today.”) I finally went to bed with the doom of inevitability and the weight of responsibility bogging me down. I wished I was back at school, and that it was simply a lecture I could skip. But sadly, I’m an Adult now, and I have A Job. Sigh.
          At 7 a.m. the next morning, I dragged myself out of bed, hating life. I took a shower, wet and hating life. I got ready, put on layers upon layers, sweating, hating life, and eyeing the snow out my window suspiciously, as if it wanted my blood. When I looked out the window I didn’t see any picturesque heaps of snow or Hallmark-Card-like frolicking children. It only looked cold. I told my boyfriend via skype: “I wish I could just have one good vomit.”
           "Er... what?"
          “You know, just once. So that I had a legitimate excuse not to go.” I don’t think he was sold on the idea, at all. He obviously does not understand my extreme desire to avoid responsibility.

Outside my apartment.
But as I gingerly stepped into the snow after the first snowstorm of my life, an unanticipated fit of excitement burst upon me. I wanted to jump up and down and go “SNOW! LOOK! SNOW! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!” but the sidewalks outside my apartment were insensitive to my needs and remained stubbornly empty. Even if I could have expressed my joy to someone, it probably would have been in awful French, ans once they did finally decipher what the odd American girl was saying, they’d only have shrugged with a “Yeah… so?” and edged away as I bent down to touch it and stomp around in it like a crazy person. It was probably good that I had to get to work, or else I might have attempted a snow angel on the spot and really weirded out the passerby.
But once I got to the bus stop, I realized the buses weren’t running! YES! I WAS FREE! I’d have jumped for joy, but I didn’t trust my newly acquired snow legs, and I was sure I’d fall on my frozen ass. So instead, I speed-shuffled as fast as my rain boots would allow back into the warmth of my apartment, made some tea, and happily watched the snow from my window, gloating and reading Wuthering Heights. Thank you, mental powers, for seemingly hating the idea of going to work SO much that you have caused this incredible storm.
    Unhappy commuters of Lyon, you’re welcome. De rien

My first snowman! Made on my kitchen counter, with snow I scooped up from outside my window. His face is made of cereal, and his arms are little pieces of All-Bran.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

What Thirteen-Year-Old Boys Want for Christmas

My mom just told me my little brother's Christmas wishlist, and here are just a few highlights:

  • calcium, on the back of an iron stick
  • copper
  • frozen nitrogen
  • an xbox
  • a hazmat suit
  • Call of Duty Black Ops for xbox
  • smoke detectors
  • and last but not least, a katana:
And he's going to do what with this?
     I have this crystal clear picture of him in my mind, sitting in the living room in front of his new xbox, in his hazmat suit, waving the smoke detector and the katana around alternately and making sound effects.

     Also: "calcium on the back of an iron stick"? What? If anyone has any idea what this means, for the love of God, let me know. Sometimes I worry for him. (And by sometimes, I mean most of the time.) I know that it's no frozen nitrogen, but he's just going to have to be content with astronaut ice cream from me this year.

Clearly superior.

Monday, December 13, 2010

The French Do Not Understand Burritos, Consumer Culture

There are silly things I miss about America. It's true that I'm separated from a lot of people that I love by the Atlantic Ocean, but that falls under the category of Important Things. I mean ridiculous things-- things I should never complain about because being in France is amazing and worth it, but I can't help it. Things I miss with a longing ache deep in my expatriate soul.
The silly things include bagels (No really. They don't have them anywhere. I've checked.), warm weather in Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, microwavable popcorn, black beans, and Mexican food in general. In fact, to give you an idea of how pathetic the state of Mexican food is here in France, I give you the French interpretation of a "burrito:"

What. Is. This.
This is a stale tortilla, wrapped around taco meat. There is nothing else inside. On the right there are salad greens (?) and barbecue-flavored potato chips with canned guacamole plopped on top. On the left, more taco meat with canned sour cream, in a bowl, and rice pilaf with canned salsa. This is a sad, sad state of affairs.
Another thing I miss is Starbucks. I know, I know: I am such a product of my culture, an empty, mindless consumer, etc. I'd be way more ashamed of wanting Starbucks in the midst of all this excellent French coffee, but damn it, I really want a tall vanilla latte with soy milk. The desire is ever-present, always lurking... it only increased tenfold when someone from America informed me that there are now red cups in stock! Beautiful holiday cups of warm, delicious caffeine, sweetened with vanilla, topped with whipped cream, smelling of cinnamon... sigh.  So finally, I went to and researched if there were any in my area, already picturing reading my Mark Twain novel on a plush couch, pumpkin bread in hand. And do you know what I discovered?
There two Starbucks in the entirety of the city of Lyon. Just two. TWO. As in, the second largest urban center in France, a city of 480,660 inhabitants (thank you, Wikipedia!), and for all those people, there is ONE Starbucks for every 240,330 people to go to, if they so choose.

I am really not in Kansas anymore.

I am also hunting down a Starbucks and going there tomorrow, ASAP, to fulfill my pumpkin and vanilla flavored dreams.

[editor's note: om nom.]

My Life in France: Plans for Colmar

When I tell friends and acquaintances "Oh, I live in France now," on Facebook chat or through some other sort of media, it's almost impossible for me not to ruin my cool, nonchalant attitude by adding "HEEEEEE" and then running around my apartment in circles squealing in joy. A lot of the time, I still can't believe I'm here.

I graduated from UC Santa Barbara in Spring, majoring in literature and minoring in French, and though I miss my friends, the beach, and being a student terribly, I'd say living in France is some major compensation. I've taken a position as a language assistant in Lyon, which means a few things:

  1. I'm trying not to get fatter, despite the dramatic increase in better quality food.
  2. My French is getting better, to the point where I can now call someone a "conard" (asshole) instead of a "canard" (duck) when they shove me on the metro.
  3. I spend 12 hours a week working with high school or middle school students to help them practice their English conversation, so I'm always looking for things I can discuss in class: consumerism, Thanksgiving, global warming, fast food, etc.
  4. I go online to look for lesson plans, but then inevitably start looking at amazing cities to visit instead, and hatching elaborate-but-cheap travel plans.
Stumble has helped me with #4 today, by introducing me to the little town of Colmar, France, just outside of Alsace:
 By Fr Antunes
Pretty please, can I go?!
Colmar, France. By Nikkodem

Sunny micro-climate, excellent wine, canals... it's called "Little Venice." What is not to love?

The rest of my day is going to be spent figuring out how to get to Colmar, how to afford getting to Colmar, Skyping friends, family, boyfriend (even my dog), catching up on Mad Men Season 4, and browsing with Don Draper and Pete Campbell to keep me company.

"Well, hello, Melissa. I can see that you've started a blog.  What's that? No, it's not difficult being impossibly sexy all the time. Glad you asked."

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Seeing Harry Potter 7 In France

Emma Watson Emma Watson attends the Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 World film premiere at Odeon Leicester Square on November 11, 2010 in London, England.
Emma Watson cordially invites you to browse my brand new blog!

The Deathly Hallows Premiere in London. I am a huge fan of this dress, by Rafael Lopez for Atelier Mayer.

Last Wednesday Harry Potter "et les reliques du mort" FINALLY came out in France. It had been released in the U.S. a week earlier, and I had endured countless facebook statuses about midnight premieres, costumes, wands, and reviews about the film's quality. Writhing in jealousy, I pictured all of my friends together, arms linked and skipping down the movie theater aisles and exuding pure, light-hearted joy. (Though I realize that spatially, these dimensions don't work out right, and that all of my friends are spread all across California, the envy center of my brain does not concern itself with these petty details.) They happily toss popcorn into each other's mouths, heads thrown back in laughter, and I hoped that imaginary them would choke, or at least get imaginary heightened cholesterol from all the butter. Each "Harry Potter 7 was sooooo good OMG" was like a pin stuck into my voodoo doll as I scrolled past each tweet irately, until my eyes fell upon one incredibly cryptic and foreboding status which simply read "DOBBY." GAH. When Skyping with my friends I could only clamp my hands over my ears and shake my head frantically, crying "Don't tell me anything! Don't tell me anything!" The customary response was an infuriating look of smug, pitying knowledge. "I have surpassed your puny mortal plain," the look said. "You cannot know of it. You have not seen Harry Potter."
But Wednesday, finally, my time had come. As I got off of work that day, I was Down to Business. Jogging briskly down the steps of my high school, I called Friend in Lyon #1, Stefany:

"What are you doing right now?" I demanded. I had no time for pleasantries; there was Harry effing Potter to be seen!
"I just finished class," she responded.
"Excellent. You, me, Harry Potter, one hour from now." Urgency dictated that I had no time for trifles like complete sentence structure. As I spoke the magic words, Stefany, too, felt the magnitude of our sacred mission.
"YES! I'll be there! LET'S DO THIS THING!" This is why she is Friend in Lyon #1.

Friends in Lyon #2-5 were busy or seeing earlier showings, those traitors. I spoke with them on the bus on the way back home, and as always, using my cell on public transportation made me feel like an asshole. Once home, I walked five minutes to the closest theater. Movie time, check. Original English version, check. Stefany arrived at my apartment early, and even comparing our latest H&M purchases couldn't distract us for long:

"What time is it?"
"Only 3:45."
"Still too early."
" you want to head over early, you know? Just to make sure we get sea--"

The movie would start in an hour and a half. We sat at the theater cafe (Much classier than American movie theater restaurants, and even offering tiny bottles of rose wine to bring with you to the movie. I love France.) and impatiently ate our snacks.

"What time is it?"
"We still have 50 minutes."
"What time is it?"
"48 minutes."

We went to the bathroom to prep our bladders for this long and magical journey. We took our seats and felt energetically charged from the mass of fellow Potter fans around us. Stefany inserted her candy vampire fangs she had just purchased. I arranged my popcorn. As the lights dimmed, we were good to go. "Suck it, American friends," I thought with great love and respect.

     To me, Harry Potter 7 was everything that I had hoped. It gratified my two weeks of anticipation and utter geekdom. It was the best film of the series so far, and made me so unbearably excited for the sequel in July. How will I make it to July?!

My friends at home all think Ron is so hot. I don't get it. Do you think he's attractive? I'm not attracted to anyone in the HP movies, really. Except perhaps Emma Watson, which doesn't do me much good, seeing as she has a vagina and all. Who do you think is hottest in the movie?

Do you like the new Harry Potter movie?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And here's this, for no reason:


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FAULT Magazine Reviews: Roast, Borough Market

London’s Borough Market has always home to foodies and street food lovers and for over a decade, Roast has been at the centre of the hype surrounding the area.With Summer just around the corner, FAULT is on the quest to bring you the very best of dining experiences in London for our 2018 “Where To Dine This Summer Guide” and with that in mind, we headed down to see if it would live up to all the hype!

On entering the restaurant, you’re instantly transported from the hustle and bustle of the street below and welcomed to the cosmopolitan and modernly furnished restaurant; not what one would expect from an establishment priding itself on being “deliciously British” but that’s not to say the restaurant is stale and lifeless, quite the opposite. Located over two floors of Floral Hall, the restaurant is spacious and from our table, we could see marvel at views of St Pauls and The Shard – all rather elegant.

The aperitif menu is expansive and that’s without mentioning the welcoming bar at the front of the restaurant. We started with a Sweet Black Manhattan- not too sweet and not too bitter either, a perfect start.

Starter Menu:

Rock oysters with Scrubby Oak apple vinegar and shallots 6 Carlingford 18.50 / 12 Carlingford 36.00 6 Jersey 17.50 / 12 Jersey 34.00

Scallops with spiced apple tea raisins, cauliflower and cashew nuts 14.00

Baked charcoal cheddar soufflé with oyster mushrooms and chives 8.50

Baby kale with sprouting beans, avocado, miso aubergine, feta and salted almonds 10.25

From the starter menu above, you’d be forgiven for thinking the flavours (on paper at least) wouldn’t be anything to write home about but alas you’d be wrong. I went with the cheddar soufflé with my dining guest choosing the less adventurous scallops. The soufflé you’ll be happy to know tastes exceptionally better than it looks – well bodied and well complimented by oyster mushrooms and chives, at first I didn’t have the highest of hopes but Roast was able to put their own twist on the dish and serve up a real treat. My guest’s scallops were fried expertly and the adorning cashews were given the same fine treatment – if you do visit Roast, be sure not to jump straight to the mains.

With both of us deciding on red wine – we left it up to our waiter to choose a wine for us. We went with a modest Italian Bacchus Rosso Piceno Ciu Ciu and while it was nowhere near the most extravagant wine in their cellar – it certainly went down a treat.

For my main, I went for the beef wellington,  and it was truly cooked to perfection. Throughout the whole dining experience, Roast continued to take what is usually a standard flavoured dish and heightened it to gourmet standard. The exterior was light, crispy and just the right amount of butter glazed, which is a lot to say about the pastry alone but it really was perfect. The meat was flavoursome, tender and just how I wanted it. The course was accompanied with crispy roast potatoes which were but I’d highly recommend the ‘Creamed spinach with nutmeg’ as a side.

My dining guest went with the Hereford sirloin steak on the bone (400g) with chimichurri and chips and from what I hear, it was “banging” – which I can confirm is a positive trait. I did have a try and while the steak was indeed impressive – it also confirmed that our waiter who I asked to select the wine for us is an expert at wine pairing. The flavours of the meat and chimichurri were complimented extremely well with the juicy summer berry hints from the Bacchus Rosso Piceno Ciu Ciu.

Somehow I found room for the Eton Mess which was equally as exceptional but I’m running out of positive adjectives and word count so let’s move on.

So does the Roast make the list? It sure does! If you’re looking for the homely country pub style roast then setting wise, Roast is not going to provide the experience you crave but what if lacks in homeliness it more than makes up for in other areas. We’d highly recommend Roast for our readers looking to visit the quintessential foodie capital but still want a more refined meal than that served on the markets below. Roast is where you go when quality and taste are at the forefront of the experience. Not just for the leisurely diners, it also doubles as the perfect venue to host business lunches with non-locals who are looking to sample the very best of British food.

It must also be said that the service provided by all the staff, from the maître d to the waiters inside was exemplary and a great model for every high-end venue staff in the capital – great customer service needn’t be robotic and the Roast staff have mastered this.

If you’re looking for the best British food that London has to offer, look no further than Roast.

7am-11am, 12pm-3.45pm, 5.30pm-10.45pm

8.30am-11am, 12pm-3.45pm, 6pm-10.45pm


text:
Your rating: None Average: 4 (1 vote)

I am the Marketing Manager for iSendit and wanted to respond to this posting.

We have been in business since 1992 and provide broadcast Internet faxing, mass email, and soon Fax to Email and web based direct mail.

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1. Web based and requires no software and no separate fax line
2. Online, real time reporting of your email and fax jobs
3. Secure SSL 128 bit encrypted connection
4. Support text, HTML, Word and other document formats
5. Schedule your communications to begin at any time
6. Optionally block delivery from occuring during specific hours
7. Automatic duplicate suppression for recipients appearing on multiple lists
8. Segment your lists up to 1000 ways
9. Individualized addressing - no recipient will see another's email address
10. For fax, use banner personalization or use a custom cover page

If you are interested in seeing what people have been saying about iSendit in the news, please feel free to visit the following press release links.

Thank you.

Chris Conroy
iSendit Marketing

[Edited for brevity]

PRESS RELEASE - Enhances Mass Email and Broadcast Fax Service

iSendit has once again added several new and innovative features to further enhance the client user experience for its web based broadcast fax and broadcast email services. iSendit enhanced its web services with True-Preview Thumbnails, so iSendit’s users can quickly see what their documents will look like prior to the actual fax broadcast or email broadcast transmission. iSendit also added enhanced recipient list management features including advanced list segmentation, maintenance and list removal directly from the iSendit web site. iSendit has also upgraded its servers to improve the speed at which the system operates.

Link to full press release

President's Message:

Date: September 20, 2006
From: Gary S. Rosner, President & CEO of iSendit.Com
To: New Customers

For a limited time, iSendit is offering a FREE Fax Broadcast to new customers so that we can introduce you to the power of iSendit's messaging services. No Risk. No Obligation. Broadcast up to 250 faxes.

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To sign up please please call 800-945-3291 and ask for Gary; or email us at \[\]\[/EMAIL\] iSendit...Messaging Made Really Easy!

At last, iSendit introduces a brand new website with great new pricing packages. Check it out at


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Sunday, June 29, 2003

Skinny Dipping

The last time I went skinny dipping was a few years ago, with a couple of cute girls. It was on a camping trip along the Delta. It didn't take alcohol or anything. I just took of my clothes and hopped in the river. Didn't take long for the girls to follow. Thangs, umm, got a little frisky and some fun stuff happened, but I'm not going into that on a public blog. I did pay for it though, with second degree sunburns across my back and forehead. But ya know what, I skinny dipped and stuff with a couple of cute chicks on a camping trip in the middle of nowhere on the Delta, so it's all good. LOL

No comments:


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/ lewis howes

30Oct 2015

Jess’ Personal Blog October 2015

Time for my personal blog for October…. although I’m sure I wrote my September one yesterday. Time is whizzing by!

Jess' Personal Blog October

Continue reading →

27Jan 2015

Great Guys to Follow on Twitter

Posted by at in General, Social Media, Twitter

We might be called the Female Business Hub but we love the guys! We definitely want to feature more men on the blog in 2015 so if you know of any great candidates for Entrepreneur Friday – send them our way!

Great Guys to Follow on Twitter Continue reading →


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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Construction at Avis Granary Retreat: Update No.4

First views of the near-complete Cookhouse interior--just in time for the holidays!

Photos courtesy of North Fork Builders, Inc.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Laura Hartman to speak at AIASF Panel Discussion on Collaboration with Landscape Architects

Laura Hartman will be at the San Francisco AIA offices at 6pm on January 17th as part of an AIA Panel discussion. The panel will focus on the dynamics of architect / landscape architect collaborations and is lead by Charlotte Frieze, author of Private Paradise: Contemporary American Gardens. Fernau & Hartman’s work with SCAPE Landscape on the Amtrak House is featured in the book.

The garden at F&H's Amtrak House, also known as the Barnacle House, from Charlotte Frieze's Private Paradise. (photo courtesy of SCAPE)

Friday, December 9, 2011

Leftover Table II Update No. 4

See all posts on the Leftover Table II.

Construction at Avis Granary Retreat: Update No. 3

Construction updates from November and December.

See all posts on updates at the Granary Retreat.

In Cookhouse stair, looking towards Sleeping Nook.

Cookhouse upstairs, looking towards cooling chimney.

Equipment Barn taking shape.

Progress on the pedestrian bridge that will connect the new Cookhouse to the rest of the Compound--Granary House and Granary in background.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Leftover Table II Update No. 3: Base Struts and Supports

Fabrication of parts for the table base--connectors for the struts at the top of the base that allow the adjustable tabletop to slide smoothly--is happening at Swerve Co; at Berkeley Mills, the tabletop is coming together!

See all posts on the Leftover Table II.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Leftover Table II Update No. 2: Base Struts and Supports

See our progress below on the "Leftover" Table II's moveable, adjustable base back at Swerve Co. furniture manufactory.

See previous posts on the Leftover Table II and its progress.

The new base design has cherry struts with aluminum alloy connections on rubber casters.

Polypropylene sliding supports that hold the tabletop and removable center leaves.

Leftover Table II Update No. 1: Crafting the tabletop

Unlike its predecessor, the tabletop for "Leftover" Table II has more subtly contrasting pieces composed from the colors and grains of walnut, cherry, and wenge wood. See F&H's continuing production in collaboration with Berkeley Mills.

Creating custom notched wood connections for center leaves and end pieces.