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Archives for the month of: April, 2013

Although I think it’s unlikely that anyone is actually looking for a book on gender wars, Andrew Clements’s middle-grade novel, No Talking, puts a hilarious spin on the boys versus girls thing that often permeates the fifth grade (Aladdin, $5.99). When Dave Packer and Lynsey Burgess get into a heated debate about who talks more — boys or girls — their argument overruns the whole grade. Both sides agree on a pact to not speak more than three words at a time, but only when asked a direct question by an adult. They monitor each other at school and everyone agrees to an honor code of reporting communication transgressions that occur at home.

You’d think that the teachers would be delighted at this sudden silence, but they can’t quite handle a situation that they don’t understand and none of the kids wants to waste their words trying to explain it. One enthusiastic Language Arts teacher figures out the contest and decides to conduct his MA research on the ways in which the kids choose to use their three words as well as the other forms of non-verbal forms of communication that develop. Once again, Clements writes a great school story that kids will relate to, while also addressing big-picture concepts like communication, language, and authority. With talking limited, both Dave and Lynsey find themselves observing and thinking a lot more. They both learn a lot from this experiment, about words and about each other. While Frindle is probably Clements’s best-known book, No Talking is definitely my favorite.

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Since I’m on a Marla Frazee kick, I have to recommend All the World, written by Liz Garton Scanlon and a Caldecott Honor book a few years back (Beach Lane, $17.99). The text is sparse and crisp — “Rock, stone, pebble, sand // Body, shoulder, arm, hand. A moat to dig // a shell to keep // All the world is wide and deep” — and verily dances across each page. It’s Frazee’s illustrations that really make this book, though. As usual, she captures the movement of play, from families at the beach to gardening, tree climbing, cooking, and running through the rain. The movement through the different times of the day, and even the different weather patterns of summer (yes it most certainly can be sunny enough to go to the beach in the morning and then start raining in the afternoon — at least where I live!) are a delightful homage to environmental cadences and rhythms. All the World is a nice snuggling, going to bed book for younger children, who will find comfort in the words and pictures.

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Woo hoo! Sara Pennypacker’s latest book in the Clementine series is now available (Hyperion, $14.99)! These books, illustrated by the incomparable Marla Frazee, are my top recommendation for any early reader, who is ready for chapter books. Clementine and the Spring Trip is the 6th book in the series and there is due to be one final installment. Clementine, the first volume, is still my favorite, but this new one had me giggling all the way through. Clementine has the most delightful perspective on the world around her and I love love love that the adults in her life (parents, teachers, even the principal) recognize her uniqueness and support her, even when she’s challenging them. As many times as she has been sent to the principal’s office for not paying attention, the principal pays close attention to Clementine. Her parents encourage her to expend her energy in constructive venues (art, building projects, growing a garden) and never try to stifle her creativity. Her mother, the artist, and father, the building superintendent, have found happiness in their own lives and therefore are comfortable helping Clementine find her happiness. I admire the lack of DRAMA in these books, even as they are delightful to read and filled with clever stories and narratives. Pennypacker is excellent at recognizing the priorities of a third-grader (spring trip? great! but, not on bus 7, it smells!) and Frazee adds a tremendous amount of insight as well as humor into her illustrations: the image of the class gagging at the mere thought of riding bus 7 is perfect! Can’t wait for the final book. No! Stop! I don’t want this series to end!

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9780061728235Walter Dean Myers’s Darius & Twig (HarperCollins, $17.99, out today) packs a lot of big thoughts into a compact book. Darius wants to be a writer, but he’s struggling to understand his story. Twig is a natural runner. The two boys are best friends and fiercely support each other, even when no one else does. This story touches on community, loyalty, family, violence, respect, dreaming big, but it manages to address all of this things with a subtlety that is remarkable. Myers paints a very clear and lucid picture and then steps back quietly, while letting others make observations. He doesn’t set out to teach lessons, or impose anything on his readers. Instead, he tells a deceptively straightforward story about two friends that can be enjoyed on its own. For readers who want to push further into the story, however, the setting is incredibly rich, the secondary characters are interesting and complex, and the representations of class, race, socioeconomics, education, athletics are thought provoking. More than that, however, this story describes how writing forces us to look deeply inside of ourselves. I hope that high schools adopt this book and start using it in their writing classes. The evolution of Darious’s story is phenomenal. There are no easy answers, but what I love are the subtle changes as Darius looks critically at himself and his world. Myers’s reputation proceeds him. There’s a reason.
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If you haven’t read Paul Fleischman’s Weslandia, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (Candlewick Press, $6.99), I can tell you that this book is like no book you’ve read before. It’s a picture book, but is definitely not for the pre-school crowd. It’s more appropriate for 7-9 year olds, which makes it difficult to place in the bookstore! Wesley is not like other kids. Even his parents acknowledge that, “He sticks out”. He doesn’t want to do what all the other kids do, something the adults around him just don’t understand. So Wesley does the only logical thing he can think of: he starts his own civilization. All civilizations need one thing. Yep, you guessed it, a staple food crop. Wesley’s crop grows and grows, until eventually he’s able to move in to his own garden. Wesley’s garden yields not just food, but enough raw materials to make clothing, hats, and shelter. Wesley’s garden habitat attracts the other kids in the neighborhood and his civilization starts to thrive, blossom, and even expand. Kids interested in nature, community, and innovation will love this unique book.

When my grandfather passed away last November, I wrote several posts on books that deal with death. It was surprisingly cathartic. Two picture books have been published recently that incorporate themes of loss and death, but in rather abstract ways and I’ve found both to be comforting. I think about my grandfather a lot. The sequence is always the same: something will spark a memory and I’ll smile, which is closely followed by the sadness of once again having to remember that he is gone.

9781846434921Both of today’s recommendations are excellent books, because they leave quite a bit unsaid and children will understand them in different ways at different stages of their development. The first is Rabbityness by Jo Empson (Child’s Play, $16.99). Rabbit liked doing lots of rabbity things. But Rabbit also liked doing unrabbity things, like painting and making music. The middle pages of the book are filled with colors and evocations of music, until “one day, Rabbit disappeared” and as much as the other rabbits looked for him, he could not be found. Rabbit, however, had left them gifts and they “filled the woods with color and music once again”. The book is told in the past tense, although what exactly happens to Rabbit is never overtly stated. It is a lovely book filled with color that remind us of the gifts that the people we love leave for us.

9780375870378The other book, which comes out today, is Bluebird by Bob Staake (Scwartz and Wade, $17.99). Bluebird is wordless and the illustrations are rather muted in white, light blue, and grey. These colors work really well for this story and the bluebird, rendered in bright blue, stands out. The story narrates a few huge and weighty topics: feeling alone, bullying, protecting your friends, and death. But because the book is wordless, the story manages to create a space for the seriousness of each topics without being heavy-handed. The reader is left to tell themselves a story that they are able to handle. Nothing more. Color is only introduced in the final few pages and the visual impact of these new colors adds brightness precisely when the story is the most dark.  It is further comforting that although the boy loses the bluebird, he is not left alone. This is a stunning story about saying goodbye.

I’ve been meaning to add an affiliate link for a while, and it is meant to be convenient. Usually Amazon is the way to go, and although I don’t think of Amazon as evil (I tend not to think that businesses possess emotion or anthropomorphic characteristics), right now I do work at an independent bookstore. And I value what independent bookstores offer to their local communities as well as the book-loving population. As such I am adding an Indie Bound affiliate link to this site. Indie Bound is a national organization that promotes local bookstores. According to their website:

IndieBound is a community-oriented movement begun by the independent bookseller members of the American Booksellers Association. It brings together booksellers, readers, indie retailers, local business alliances, and anyone else with a passionate belief that healthy local economies help communities thrive. Supporting local, indie businesses means that dollars, jobs, diversity, choice, and taxes stay local, creating strong, unique communities and happy citizens.

As you know, affiliate links mean that any books purchased by clicking that link on this blog will eventually generate some kind of kick-back for me. I have no idea how much. I certainly do appreciate any purchase you might make from this site. It will be even more exciting to see if anyone buys the books I’ve recommended! So look for the Shop Indie logo on future posts.

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9780375825446I picked up Wendelin van Draanen’s Flipped (Knopf, $8.95) years ago on a business trip because the cover is so great. It is streamlined, uncluttered, and just intriguing enough to spark my curiosity. The back matter is also very well done, the two stories are intertwined and upside down. You read Bryce’s story from top to bottom and then flip the book over to read Julianna’s. I bought the book and read it over dinner. (I once read this Dilbert comic where he says to the server, “I’m not a loser who can’t get a date; I’m a business traveler.” I’d always think about that line when I was traveling for business and eating alone.) Anyway, Flipped is really amazing. I’ve re-read it several times over the years and I love it every time. Julianna and Bryce are in 7th grade, but they met the summer before 2nd. They live across the street from each other and even this tiny distance completely affects their perspective on what’s happening between them. Each chapter flips the story; we hear Bryce’s perspective and then Julianna’s. Or the other way around. Not only are their stories flipped, from the beginning Julianna has flipped over Bryce. Julianna is a phenomenal character. She’s not like all the other kids and her unique perspective on the world, along with her ability to rise above and see the bigger picture, makes her one of my all-time favorite literary characters. Bryce tries really hard to keep his feet on the ground, and stay safe, but he grows on you. It might be his bright blue eyes. Or maybe it’s because he starts to step outside his comfort zone and flip his own perspective, slowly becoming even more awesome than the one-dimensional image of him that Julianna has created. Although, by this time Julianna’s own views about Bryce have started to flip . . .

Lest I’ve given the impression that this book is a cute romance à la Little Manhattan, I do want to say that there is a lot more going on in this book besides Julianna and Bryce’s tumultuous relationship. Both characters have extremely interesting and complex family structures. I cry every time Julianna and her dad visit her uncle and then again when Bryce learns about his own birth from his grandfather. There are no easy answers in either family, but the connections and family dynamics create depth and complexity for both Julianna and Bryce. Secondary characters, including their teacher and friends, are fleshed out enough to give the story more depth. As for the movie that came out in 2010, it is surprisingly true to the story and I admit I love it. But the book is better : )

9781250002358The Lover’s Dictionary, by David Levithan (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, $20) falls in to that ‘New Adult’ category that you may or may not have heard of. The designation is an awkward, to be sure, and is meant to denote books that are more mature than YA. New adults, presumably, are the 18-30 crowd. You can see the issues. Are ‘New Adults’ not actual adults? How does one go from being a ‘young’ adult to a ‘new’ adult? That evolution seems arbitrarily backwards. Anyway. Categories are always random and problematic, which is hardly the point of this post. The point is that all David Levithan books are worth reading. The characters in The Lover’s Dictionary are certainly older than the teenage protagonists in his other novels, hence the clarification that this book perhaps isn’t ‘YA’ in the strictest sense. In terms of content, there is nothing in this book that you can’t find in a YA novel and actually less because the most intimate moments are unwritten. The narrative format is unique and very intriguing. Starting with A “aberrant” through to Z “zenith”, the story emerges from the entries of the dictionary. I was almost skeptical. How could such a dry format yield and interesting story? But it does. Well. The narrator dictionary composer writes in the first person and refers to himself as ‘boyfriend’ repeatedly. We know his gender. His partner, however, remains in the ambiguous second person. I wanted to write a story like this when I was in college. I never did. It wouldn’t have been nearly as good. There is something remarkably satisfying in the snippets of story and a more patient reader would probably spend more time pouring over the word and the entry. The ones I did pay attention to were always clever on a variety of levels. The story and history of the relationship plays out non-sequentially throughout the entries. The entries are short, occasionally only one line, rarely more than a page. And yet, somehow this story is so full. Perhaps because the story is such a familiar one: falling in love, self-doubt, relationship fissures, the threat of break up. I love reading Levithan’s books because they always contain lines that break my heart. Not necessarily because they are sad, but because they are true.

9781596436244Spring might have started last week, but I think a lot of us are still waiting for the world to turn green. Julie Fogliano’s And Then It’s Spring, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (Roaring Brook Press, $16.99) is a quietly humorous book about patiently waiting for spring. The book begins with a boy, a dog, a turtle, and a rabbit dressed up for winter: “First you have brown, all around you have brown, then there are seeds . . . “. The boy, the dog, the turtle, and the rabbit plant the seeds, wait for rain, watch the ground, wait for sun, and wait, and wait.  Diligent in their endeavors, their somber expressions as they wait (and wait) will spark a few smiles. When the green finally arrives, as it always does, you start to think that the wait might make spring even that much better.

Out in the world

The Librarian Who Doesn't Say Shhh!

Opening books to open minds.

Hiking Photography

Beautiful photos of hiking and other outdoor adventures.

Shannon A Thompson

You need the world, and the world needs good people.

Random Acts of Reading

reviews, raves and a random assortment of book buzz

Her Cup of Tea

A crazy book nerd takes the literary world by storm!

And Then There Was One

a story of the truth

A Grumpy Young Woman Bookish Loves and Hates

Striving to find Bookish Perfection and Moaning along the way!

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FRaPS: Family, Relationship and Personal Situations are our specialty. Let us help you stay strong and full of life. Let's put an end to bullying and school shootings!!

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I’m Alice, a young adult who reviews Young Adult (& sometimes Middle Grade) books. Join me in my adventures in Readerland!

a girl who loves books,chocolates and INSPIRATION!


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We’re not giving up just yet~

     Sometimes, in the course of attaining a dream, you get sidetracked. This last couple of weeks, this last couple of months have been like this really. I have bipolar disorder. I’m sure I mentioned it one of the older posts but the plain fact is that sometimes writing and remembering to do the things that you’re supposed to do is easy and sometimes it is not. In the year since I left, I feel like I lost all the fans I gained and really I likely lost most of them before that even because I don’t write very consistently. So I try and I will continue to try but I ask for your patience in this time. I’m hoping to get things back up to speed by the end of the month, the opening of April. We’ll just have to hope I can sort of pull things together by then.

Malice and Cobwebs brush away the dust and cobwebs~

     So, I’ve been gone. I’ve been gone for a very long time, over a year to be exact, and I am sorry. Things got out of hand, mistakes were made and all the time in the world couldn’t get me back on track. I’ve been thinking a lot about the blog and how I wanted to get back into it and what form I wanted the blog to take. I considered just taking it up where it was, I thought about moving the blog to a new location and then I came to the same conclusion that I always do under circumstances where I need to start something anew. Burn everything to the ground, claim the insurance money and get a fresh start. That’s my answer, unless your name is Bob and you oversaw that insurance claim. In your case? I’m just joking man, don’t take me too seriously or anything. So, you may have noticed almost all the posts are missing and there are reasons for that. Some of the series I had been working on, namely the series on Zatoichi the blind swordsman, were never very popular that I could tell and I had kept them going out of sheer dogged determination to finish them. Some of them needed editing, some of them needed expanding and some of them were posts that I put up that were either half-cocked and not ready for prime time, or that I was unhappy with for various reasons.

     That left me with a lot of decision to make, and rather than try to weed through the forest of tough decision, I decided to burn everything down and get a fresh start. This month will include the posts that will eventually normalize into our new monthly schedule, I will update that schedule on the about us page. Some of the posts, which I do want to redo, will take longer to redo. The Italy posts have a lot of incorrect facts in them, due to the fact that I was doing them on the fly and was doing research on actual things for graduate school at the time. Over the course of March, on an almost daily basis, I will be putting up edited posts from serieses and such that have been reworked since the last time you saw them. I hope that, for the most part, the posts will be more focused and most of them will be in excess of 50% longer than they were before. If you can think of a post you want put up sooner that you don’t see, let me know and I’ll see if I can find it and put it up for you, post editing of course. That’s assuming anyone who followed me during my initial run, but hey a guy can hope. So this is just a notification that I’m tentatively back. Oh, yes. Fiction has been removed because it’s been worked into a book series, which will come out first on Amazon, and them presumably move to other sources eventually. I may post some promo chapters eventually, and I may eventually post fiction in general, but that remains to be seen.

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Peak's Woods Dlight BJD in suntan.

Welcome to the Fashion Doll Review.

Our objective is establish a single, one-stop collaborative web eZine for the eclectic doll collector. We hope to provide you with clear, concise and humorous news and information on vintage, fashion and ball-jointed dolls.

A little about the editor:

My name is Alison. I've been collecting dolls since I was seven, and though I'm currently in a ball-jointed doll phase, my collection is eclectic. My favorite Asian BJD companies are Peak's Woods, Iplehouse, Dollpamm, Raccoon Doll, April Story, Sadol and Fairyland.

I recently culled my doll collection, following my own advice: sell what you only like, keep what you love. I have mostly large and mini BJDs, my daughter's Azone shelf is two layers deep and they are out-growing their shelf (and OK, they are mine, too), and only a handful of Integrity Toys (mostly FR Nippon and OOAK Fashion Royalty and Poppy) and Barbie (OOAK Steffie). Current themes in my collection include fantasy hair, dolls in white, contemporary fashions, and dolls in pastel.

Check out my books: Ball-Jointed Dolls for Beginners, Steffie: Out of the Box Volume I and Volume II, and Alice: Out of the Box. These books are also available on Amazon and Amazon Europe.

Other areas of interest for me are kids, shoes (John Fluevog) fashion, good coffee, chocolate, photography, English history, NPR, adult beverages, foreign films, science fiction, feminism, art quilting, and mixed media. Things I dislike include schedules, waiting for UPS deliveries, migraines, laundry (it's endless!), people who are overly critical, and people who leave only negative comments on blogs and don't have the guts to use their name.

That being said, I welcome your comments and feedback (even if you don't want to use your name). I love to hear what you really think, and no, you don't have to sugarcoat it.

I'm a mom of four: two boys and two girls. My husband and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary this year. My younger daughter is interested in dolls. We have four cats. And yes, Three of them were rescues, and one was an impulse adoption. Our youngest kitty is going to be seven this year.

This is me, at the IFDC 2016. My expression shows exactly how excited I am about dolls.

This is me, at the IFDC 2016. My expression shows exactly how excited I am about dolls.

Please note that the we are not affiliated with Mattel, Tonner Doll Company, Integrity Toys, Effanbee, Wilde Imagination, Madame Alexander, Ashton Drake Galleries, nor any other manufacturers. Manufacturer promo photos are used under fan-use clauses. Please contact us if you'd like us to remove any photos. Other photos belong to staff and/or are used with direct permission of the photographer. If you see your photo used without permission, leave a comment, and the the photo will be removed. Readers may link to articles, but please do not download or hot-link them.

Our articles are the opinions of staff and do not reflect the opinions of doll manufacturers. It is intended for information and entertainment. While we do our best to ensure our information is accurate, we cannot be held responsible for inaccurate descriptions, pricing, shipping times, and so forth.

Article copyright remains with the author. We encourage sharing with doll clubs, but we'd appreciate sharing site info as well. Please contact the author prior to any other public use. Thanks!

We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice, and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.


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.sh Domain Registration

ImageFinally, a GoDaddy shortcoming became a blessing. In order to register colin.sh, I had to explore some other registrars. And even though nic.sh doesn’t list iwantmydomain, plenty of Google results do. I thought it was fitting to give a shout out to iwantmydomain with my first blog post. If anyone from iwantmydomain is reading this, please consider changing your own domain. It is really very dumb.

I was honestly drawn to the comparably low price of .sh domains ($49 vs. ~$90 at other registrars), but the interface is also quite lovely. I get a kick out of really simple design, and it is quite simple. It doesn’t feel like I’m lacking any features, but time will tell. At the time, I’m not sure if I would have paid extra to use iwantmydomain, but I was sure willing to pay less.

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What’s In a Number? ISBN’s and EAN’s

May 6, 2011

 Have you ever wondered what those ISBN’s and EAN’s are all about? They are clearly useful for distinguishing books (and book-like products such as audiobooks), especially those that happen to have the same title, as well as different editions or formats of books with the same title and author.  As such, they are indispensable for cataloging, marketing, and trading in books, not to mention verifying RINC’s.  But why do they look the way they do and how did they come about?

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number.  Until the mid-2000’s, this was a 10 digit number indicating issuing country, publisher, and title, with a check digit to validate the other numbers (see below).  The national ISBN Agency issued blocks of numbers to publishers, who then assigned specific numbers to titles from their authorized blocks.

Since 2007, the ISBN agency has required publishers who issue ISBN’s to issue, and retailers to accept, a 13 digit number (ISBN-13) to assure that unique numbers can be issued to new titles indefinitely into the future.  Going to 13 digits also allows us to join an international standard called EAN, which stands for Universal Article Number (originally European Article Number).  If you compare an ISBN-10 with an EAN or ISBN-13, you’ll notice they differ only with the prefix 978 for EAN’s (necessary to include because new titles will soon go to 979), and the last check digit.

ISBN’s came into use in the 1960’s when European and American book publishers increasingly were automating and saw the need and usefulness of standard identifying numbers.  The United States adopted ISBN’s in 1968, with R. R. Bowker serving as the national ISBN Agency.

For more information: http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp.

ISBN-13 for Dummies, published by the Book Industry Study Group.

Anatomy of an ISBN

0-8028-0768-7 –  country where ISBN is assigned

0-8028-0768-7 – publisher

0-8028-0768-7 – title

0-8028-0768-7 – check digit

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Although Southern California coach Clay Helton is an indefatigable optimist on the worst of days, he simply couldn't think of anything that went wrong on a bonanza of a signing day for his Trojans.

USC landed the nation's fourth-best class Wednesday, adding 23 elite players to a roster already brimming with talent. Recruiting almost exclusively on the West Coast, Helton bolstered his depth at almost every position and addressed several key areas of need, including his offensive line and every level of the defense.

"This is my 22nd year of doing it, and it was just one of those neat days where everything came together," Helton said on campus.

The Trojans ended last season on a nine-game winning streak capped by an epic victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl. They'll be a national title contender in the fall, but replacing both starting tackles and top receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster will be a priority.

So Helton went out and signed four offensive linemen with enormous potential — Austin Jackson, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Brett Neilon and Andrew Vorhees.

"As a coach, you can't get caught up in the stars or the rankings," Helton said. "You have to look at the holes you need to fill and the needs you need."

Other things to know:

Top 25 Class: Yes

Best in class: RB Stephen Carr. One of the nation's best ball-carriers committed early and stuck with the Trojans. He reminds Helton of Ezekiel Elliott.

Best of the rest: OT Austin Jackson, DT Jay Tufele. The Trojans loaded up on the line to replace departing contributors.

Late addition: WR Joseph Lewis. An excellent class became outstanding with a commitment from one of the nation's best receiver prospects.

How they'll fit in: The Trojans are about to enter a hype machine with quarterback Sam Darnold returning, but they have seven months to figure out how to fill the lineup holes left by departing stars. He addressed every deficiency on signing day, and now Helton's staff must make them into a team capable of getting back to the Rose Bowl.

For the full list: http://www.usctrojans.com/

More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25


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Collin J Örthner – Photographer

May 19, 2015

Crazy ’bout a Mercury

Filed under: Agriculture, Documentary, Film, Hand of Man, Kodak Portra 160, Medium Format, pinhole, Travel, Vehicles, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 10:27 pm

Of course David Lindley is singing about a car – oh well! This old Mercury truck was found on an old farm south of Brooks, Alberta, near Rolling Hills. It was a creepy place too! My travelling partner Michael Chesworth went exploring the old farmhouse and discovered old bank deposit slips from the early fifties,  and an old shot up television that had only the original dial that let you choose one of thirteen channels. I remember being a kid watching our old B&W TV that had this same sort of dial, unfortunately, we couldn’t even make use of the dial as we had the luxury of getting only one channel! So, if we didn’t like what was on we were back outside riding our bikes or playing hockey on the local rink, depending on the season of course. Anyways, back to this farm, there was no sign anywhere at the start of the dirt laneway indicating “No Trespassing” so we felt OK checking it out. This truck was one of three in the yard and the one I liked making images of the best. I made a lot of close-ups of the patina of the metal with my digital camera, but really felt a pinhole image would add a sense of being in a dream and also would give some indication of how I was feeling in this farmyard. It really makes you think about who it was that lived there and why it was left in the state it was. Someone had a full life here and we only got to see a few remnants of it. I would have to think it wasn’t a creepy existent either, but just the way things have gone since whomever it was departed, left us feeling a bit unsettled. This image was made with a ten minute exposure with my camera mounted to my tripod and awkwardly arranged just inside the cab of the truck. I thought my meter was out to lunch indicating such a long exposure, but here you are, and it was rather dark in the shadows of the cab. An hour or so later we hit the highway to a new destination still heading further south.

[ Zero Image 6×9, Kodak Portra 160 ]

May 14, 2013

Gull Lake, Alberta

Filed under: Abstract, Autumn, Medium Format, Movement, Nature, pinhole, Trees, Wind, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 11:05 pm

Back in fall I spent an afternoon wandering along the shore of Gull Lake with a good friend. The wind was very intense and there was certainly no hope of a crisp image, so I let the wind do what it does best – blow. My pinhole needed about 8 seconds for a proper exposure which allowed the trees and grass to move wildly in the frame.

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

March 29, 2013

Big Hill Springs Provincial Park

Filed under: Ice, Medium Format, Nature, pinhole, snow, Travel, Trees, Water, Winter, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 8:45 am

I was on my way to Banff and decided to stop in for a couple of hours at Big Hill Springs Provincial Park a couple weeks ago. This is a fairly small park about 1.5 hours drive from my home just a bit north and west of Calgary. It was quite cold and windy (-13C), but hey I didn’t have to worry about any batteries freezing up, just my nose and fingers!! I had the place to myself for at least an hour and had a good time exploring along the creek which flows year round from underground springs. There are quite a few small waterfalls as well which add to the interest of the place. I followed the creek for maybe a kilometre or so along very icy paths, and made it out after falling only once. Bruised my butt, and I managed to keep the camera away from impact and it still looks really pretty.  My exposures ranged from around 30 seconds to a couple of minutes on Lomography 100 ISO film.

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

March 1, 2013

Bower Woods f/235-3

Filed under: Autumn, Medium Format, Nature, pinhole, Trees, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 7:12 pm

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

February 28, 2013

Bower Woods f/235-2

Filed under: Autumn, Medium Format, Nature, pinhole, Trees, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 8:36 pm

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

February 27, 2013

Bower Woods f/235-1

Filed under: Autumn, Medium Format, Nature, pinhole, Trees, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 11:31 pm

Last fall I wandered into the Bower Woods in Red Deer with my Zero Image pinhole camera. The aperture on the pinhole is a mere f/235(normal lenses range from about f/1.4-f/22) which means very little light can get through. My exposures on this somewhat cloudy and dark day ranged from about 2-4 minutes each. This sort of photography, at least for me, allows me to really soak up the ambience of a place as you need to slow way down while waiting for the exposure to finish. Knowing that each exposure is so long also helps in finding just the right place to set up as I realize the time necessary for each image and I want to be sure that each one counts. There are two more posts coming in this series all from the same roll of film and all made on the same day.

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

February 13, 2013

Alyth Yards Bridge

Filed under: Architecture, Documentary, Hand of Man, Ice, Industrial, Medium Format, Movement, pinhole, Water, Winter, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 7:59 pm

This was taken only minutes after my post a few days back of this same bridge. I think I had put a “new” roll of film in my camera, which may account for the different colour cast. I say “new” as I am slowly using film I have had in my freezer for as long as 24 years with not much for ill effects save a slightly different rendering of colour which I am OK with.  This view is looking southeast and the image a few days back is looking to the northeast. I do recall it being quite brisk this day as Doug Williamson and I explored around the Ogden area of Calgary a bit. You can see there is ice flowing down the Bow River in this, roughly, 7-8 second exposure through my f/235 pinhole.

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

February 11, 2013

High Water in Kelowna

Filed under: Hand of Man, Medium Format, pinhole, Travel, Water, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 11:07 am

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

February 8, 2013

CPR Bridge – Alyth Yards

Filed under: Architecture, Hand of Man, Ice, Industrial, Medium Format, pinhole, Winter, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 7:33 am

Canadian Pacific Bridge (Alyth) connecting main tracks with CPR Alyth Yard in Calgary. Made with a Zero Image 6×9 pinhole camera.

[Zero Image 6×9 pinhole]

December 4, 2011

What’s the Destination?

Filed under: Medium Format, Nature, pinhole, Plants, Travel, Trees, Zero Image — collin j örthner @ 9:20 pm

The  luxuriant greens of ferns and the huge leaves of Devil’s Club drip with rainwater under a canopy of huge cedars and hemlocks in the interior rainforests of Mount Revelstoke National Park of B.C. Cloudy days make for long exposures with my Zero Image pinhole camera. But dive into a rainforest while it’s drizzling and you have the recipe for practicing your patience. I was making 240 second long exposures on ISO 400 film, much to the complete delight of my family! :)) In actual fact it is much quicker to shoot my pinhole than say my 4×5 or even the 8×10 behemoth I’ve been known to drag along on holidays. I don’t bring those along on family vacations any longer as I always feel like I need to rush things and my family is just a little bit annoyed with how long it takes to traverse even short trails while shooting an image every now and again. The pinhole is simple to set up, small, light and I feel totally confident leaving it do it’s thing for a few minutes as we go exploring the trail together. I do love the fact that just standing(sitting) while waiting for a long exposure really helps me tune in to the place I am visiting as now I can observe not just the beauty in front of me, but I can become more aware of the way breezes are moving through the scene and the smells that are present, giving a complete story to my senses. I wonder why we so often can’t resist our destination over and above enjoying what is right alongside us as we travel towards the goal. Maybe sometimes we shouldn’t even have a destination in mind and instead just head out and completely relax knowing that even if we only get 100m along a trail over an hour that it has been enough for our senses. Not to say goals aren’t good and fun to achieve, just that sometimes they are not the whole reason we head out into nature. I can recall as a kid under 10 years old (I know this as I was t10 when we moved from this place) I would simply dress for rain and head out into our yard to just sit and listen, smell, and take in an hour or two of what rain is about. I would think 46 year olds could do the same today with the similar end result of becoming very relaxed and free from the day to day things happening around us. You will know when it’s time to go back inside, just don’t have a goal of staying out for one hour or two, or fifteen minutes, just go and do it without that goal or destination. Doesn’t have to be raining either. Maybe listening and feeling the wind would work.

[Zero Image 6×9, Fujicolor 400H]

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I didn’t grow up in Mountain Brook, but…

Ronnie Rice
Ronnie Rice, Ph.D., J.D

ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a better Birmingham.

Today’s guest blogger is Ronnie Rice.  If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.

Many of the guest articles on ComebackTown appear to be written by people who grew up in Mountain Brook or over the mountain—so I had some reservations about telling my story.

Not only did I not grow up in Mountain Brook, I grew up in the opposite of Mountain Brook.

I’m from Prichard, Alabama—a small town with a 38% poverty rate and a median household income of $21,860.

I’m one of five children.

All my siblings enlisted into the military except for my eldest brother who’s serving a life sentence in prison for murder.

I knew at an early age I had the ability to change my future.

I saw folks discouraged by the ebb and flow of their lives. So, I decided to be the master of my destiny.

As a kid, looking at poverty around me, having the utilities turned off, and not having the luxuries of my counterparts; I realized I had two options: I could accept my situation as unchangeable, or I could utilize the resources that were at my disposal to get myself out. I chose the latter. I’ve always felt I had the aptitude to change the world.

My education

I graduated John L. Leflore High School in Mobile in 2003–followed by Morehouse College with a Bachelor’s of Arts and Psychology. At Regent University I obtained a Masters in Organizational Leadership and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Human Resource Development. Finally, I graduated from Miles School of Law and recently passed the Alabama State Bar Exam.

I’m now waiting to be sworn in by the Alabama Supreme Court.

I’ve lived in Atlanta, Memphis, Virginia Beach, and now Birmingham. I’ve done a lot of travel for work and consulting around the globe including United Kingdom, Canada, and Bermuda. I’ve had the opportunity to experience different cultures, organizational structures, and learning styles.

Alexander Shunnarah—the billboard giant

My academic and professional career led me to form a close relationship with one of the most well-known figures in the Southeast: Alexander Shunnarah.

I first met the billboard giant in the fall of 2014 as an unpaid intern at the Alexander Shunnarah Personal Injury Attorneys law firm.  I had three degrees, but I wanted to get real-world experience.

On the first day, Alexander came up to me in the lobby and began to ask me questions rapidly, one after another and another–some about me personally, some about my family, some about my educational background.

I assumed he knew nothing about me, but quickly realized that Alexander always has tabs on everything occurring in the law firm. It appears he noticed my hustle and respected it.

He told me that same day “Anyone who would work without pay deserves to have an opportunity to show the work he can do when paid”, and gave me a job on the spot.

This was the beginning of the Ro-Lex relationship:  Ro[nnie] and Alex[ander]. Yes, corny. He actually has one and I’m working on mine. This served as the foundation of a remarkable brotherhood that helped hone my business skills, litigation insight, love for people, and commitment to a successful life.

Birmingham is my future

I can honestly say that Birmingham is the only city I truly love.

Many of my young professional friends have abandoned Birmingham, but I plan to stay here and invest in our future.

I have two good friends—both are white—one who actually grew up in Mountain Brook.

We are constantly plotting and scheming on how  to make Birmingham better.

It’s true I didn’t grow up in Mountain Brook, but I’m on a mission with the help of my friends to prove that if we work together, all of us in Birmingham will be able to reach our potential.

Ronnie Rice, Ph.D., J.D, is a Birmingham resident and the Firm Administrator for Alexander Shunnarah Personal Injury Attorneys. He volunteers for many Birmingham non-profits, but most importantly enjoys spending time with his 4-year-old daughter, Chloe Elizabeth.

Let’s turn Birmingham around.  Click here to sign up for our newsletter. There’s power in numbers. (Opt out at any time)

David Sher is Co-Founder of AmSher Compassionate Collections.  He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

Invite David to speak to your group about a better Birmingham. dsher@amsher.com

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7 thoughts on “I didn’t grow up in Mountain Brook, but…”

  1. Great Story! Congratulations on being one of the rare people in America who are willing to work hard to build a successful future! Way too many people in our country (from all walks of life) expect someone else (like the government) to just give them what they want without having to invest in themselves or their community. I salute you Dr. Rice! We need a Birmingham full of motivated, energetic, and inspiring young leaders like yourself!

  2. A true American success story! Congratulations on your hard work and proof that there is opportunity for anyone who is willing to work hard. I hope you can help to make Birmingham a better place for so many young kids that they can learn from your experience and have the same goals and aspirations!!

  3. Respect the hustle! I too am a minority that came from a difficult background to achieve “The American Dream,” and live in one of Birmingham’s desired areas. I love that your story adds a different perspective to this assumed narrative that people have about Birmingham’s affluent suburbs and the people that live in them (especially the anecdote about Alex S.).

    I’m rooting for your Ro-Lex relationship to provide the groundwork for Birmingham’s next chapter of leaders, and that your “plotting and scheming” with your friends results in getting people to work together to uplift the Birmingham region as one.

    I know that it would be “the dream” to help Birmingham realize its full potential. However, people like you and I are proof that the dream can be achieved.

  4. Your personal testimony is refreshing and one I hope many youth will take note. It’s not where you came from; where you’re going. To a great extent each one of us determines our our destiny by the choices we make and our preparation for life.

  5. You are an inspiration to the future leaders of our city! So proud of all your accomplishments. More power to you!!! Thank you for sharing this story.

    Marcie Braden
    Retired Teacher of the Gifted and Talented

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“To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic”: The Drug Novel In The Postmodern World

[This is the title of my undergraduate dissertation. What follows is a little bit about why I wrote it and why I’ve chosen to upload it to this blog. If you just want to read the actual essay click HERE]

“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold”

When I was fifteen years old I read Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas for the first time. I can’t pretend I found it the easiest of reads – I struggled with the temporal and spatial compression throughout the text – but it struck a chord with me. I expected the typical “hippie drug novel”, all free-love and consciousness expansion, but the actual text couldn’t have been more different. Hunter S. Thompson makes an argument for deliberately fucking yourself up on drink and drugs;  he presents a beauty to consciously choosing to feel weak and small. I knew wanted to work with this text but didn’t really have an outlet to do so at this time.

Flash forward three years, I’m now 18 and applying to university. My whole life I wanted to study medicine, but due to the severity of my anxiety and physical health I finally realised that I didn’t have the fortitude to make it as a doctor. I go to the University of Southampton to read BA(hons) English Literature & Film Studies instead. Honestly this was exactly what I needed at the time: say what you want about a humanities degree, but Critical Theory forces you to consider your world view. It strengthened my knowledge of the arguments important to me (like feminism) whilst simultaneously introducing me to new ways to interpret society like post-structuralism and post-modernism. Critics like Jameson allowed me to understand how texts like Fear and Loathing… work at a more intrinsic level.

But if postmodernism is the cultural form of late capitalism, why was drug culture always missing from the long form exploration of contemporary society? You could interpret the subculture as an attempt to “opt out” of modern societal discourse. But the black market for illicit drugs is ultimately still a market and thus conforms to socioeconomic capitalist systems. I therefore felt there was an irony within the drug novel that is important to the framework of postmodernism: the ability to opt out of capitalist discourse is an illusion that props the entire system up. Well that’s what I tried to argue with my dissertation, using The Doors of Perception (Aldous Huxley), Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh) and, of course, the Fear and Loathing… books as the key texts.

I know everything I’ve written thus far is self-absorbed and it’s definitely a little bit up myself to make my undergraduate dissertation available online. But my dissertation is the thing I have achieved that I am most proud of; I am not the person I was at fifteen when I first discovered Hunter S. Thompson. This is a document that charts my own personal progress. However the main reason I am uploading this is because it is the best bit of writing I have ever done and, since I’m not sure if I ever will go back and get my MA and PHD, probably the best bit of writing I will ever do. As insignificant as it is, this is my magnum opus. I loved my degree because it was always about interacting and engaging with different ideas; English Literature is always a discussion. So that’s ultimately why I’m making this available online: there’s no discussion to be had when the only copy lives on my shelf.

“To Fathom Hell or Soar Angelic”: The Drug Novel In The Postmodern World

American Horror Story – Managing Quality and Expectations

American Horror Story is the television show that I am most critical of. It was never a series that I considered particularly good, but I’ve always enjoyed it; it was our “house show” at university so it was always fun just for the social aspect alone. But I’m very much in the post-uni stage of my life now, I have a salary, rent and a commute, yet I still find time to watch American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare every single week. It is the only series, outside of The Great British Bake Off, that I actively follow instead of waiting for the series to hit VoD and then bingeing. In this respect, it’s arguably my favourite show – but why I do I find myself unable to call it objectively good?

Continue reading


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Reading a barcode as data input

I have a situation where our staff are out in the field using SurveyGizmo to interview participants face to face. Part of our research involves attaching a device called an accelerometer to the participant to measure movement and activity.

In order to match the correct device to the correct record, the interviewer types in an identification number from the accelerometer into an input field in SG. In this way when we receive the data from the accelerometer we can match it to the right record in SurveyGizmo.

The problem is that this system is not fool proof and is prone to typos. The accelerometer does have a corresponding barcode that matches the ID and I was wondering whether there was a way to read the barcode into the input field in SurveyGizmo.

So far, I haven’t found any suitable solution though one option might be to take a photo of the device which could be used to reconcile non-matching records.

Has anyone else been able to read barcodes as data input?

KiwiJoker answered

    I’m looking at this now. Would it work if you used a USB scanner and then couldn’t you just scan the code and have it entered automatically as a data field in the survey?

    KiwiJoker answered

      I think your photo option might be the best solution in terms of what is currently available as a core feature of SurveyGizmo.

      This could be accomplished with the use of the File Upload Question:

      As far as the barcode solution, this might be possible with SG but would certainly require some custom development. SurveyGizmo has a Professional Services Team that could be consulted to see if this is feasible:

      Hope this helps!

      Dominic Sharpe answered

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text:
Hot dogs are a staple of summer. From the ballpark to the backyard BBQ, anywhere you go you’ll find someone serving up hot dogs! They’re a beloved food, but sometimes the usual, ketchup, mustard, and relish can get a little boring. It’s time to take the hot dog to a whole new level like you’ve never seen before! Pizza is another favorite food of many…so why not combine the two to reinvent the grilled hot dog? It’s a marriage made in heaven!

Pizza Grilled Hot Dogs

By Deanna Samaan
  • Serves

  • Active Time

  • Total Time

  • 8 beef hot dogs
  • 4 oz package pepperoni slices
  • 4 slices of provolone cheese, halved
  • ¼ cup pizza sauce
  • 8 hot dog buns
  • Toothpicks
Key Tags

  1. Slice the hot dogs lengthwise, about halfway through. They just need to be open enough to fit several slices of cheese.

  2. Place 2 pieces of cheese (1 slice, halved) into each hot dog.

  3. Wrap the pepperoni around the top of the hot dog, covering the cheese. You will have to bend the cheese to cover it with the pepperoni.

  4. Secure everything with toothpicks to hold it together.

  5. Grill the hot dogs for about 2 minutes, each side.

  6. Take off the grill, remove the toothpicks, and place the hot dogs into buns.

  7. Spoon some pizza sauce on top of the hot dogs and ENJOY!

Kitchen Counter

Serves 8.

About the Author

Deanna Samaan is a Phlebotomist by day and a blogger at night. The belief that everyone has an affair with food fuels her passion for cooking and baking. Deanna also enjoys traveling, learning about various cultures and living life to the fullest. Although she lives in Cleveland, Deanna is proud to be a native of Pittsburgh. Visit her blogs: Seduction in the Kitchen,The Recipes of Disney, and Recipentrest for more creative recipes.

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Some of our Features

This is where your latest Features custom posts will show up. You can change this text in the options.

View all our Features
  • Complicated Grief

    Unrelenting Pain

    We use the term “complicated” to mean that something is getting in the way of coping with the death of a loved one. When grief is complicated the pain can be unrelenting and life seems empty of any possibility for happiness. We want to help lessen the pain. We want to make it possible to honor grief as a form of love.

    Not Knowing What Is Happening

    Even though bereavement is a universal human experience, acute grief is often a disconcerting experience that is unique to each person and each loss. We want to help you understand how grief emerges naturally after a loss and seeks its rightful place in ongoing life and how to recognize and deal with complications that can stall or halt this process.

    A World Defined By Absence

    One of the difficult things about complicated grief is the feeling that everything in life is infused with a sense of absence and return of the deceased person is all that could relieve the pain. We want to help people find ways to restore meaningful connections to others, a sense of purpose and the possibility for happiness.

  • Complicated Grief Treatment

    A Unique and Proven Approach

    We believe that grief is a natural experience that is a form of love and that we each have the capacity to adapt to even the most difficult loss. Using this basic philosophy Dr. M. Katherine Shear, Director of the Center for CG, and colleagues developed a 16 session treatment approach that has been efficacy tested in 3 studies funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

    We Know How To Help

    If you have CG or know someone suffering in this way, you may be feeling hopeless but Dr. Bonnie Gorscak, a CGT therapist and supervisor, is not. She knows that CGT can make an enormous difference. She has also seen big changes in attitudes of therapists as they too learn this approach and find that they can help people get back on track in a relatively short period of time.

    Reclaiming Life

    Ginny’s life was at a virtual standstill after her husband died. After suffering for two decades she was committed to doing whatever her CGT therapist asked and this commitment paid off. The deep pain finally receded. It felt like a miracle to her. In her words, she finally felt “human again.”

  • Love, Loss and Grief

    The Biology of Love

    The motivation to form close relationships is part of our biological makeup. These relationships are important to our feelings of wellbeing and sense of belonging. The people we love help regulate our emotions, thoughts and behaviors and even some of our physiological processes. The better we understand love the better we can understand loss.

    Losing a Loved One

    Bereavement is one of the most difficult things that can happen to a person. Even though we know that people die, when we lose someone close it is very hard to understand that they are gone. However, we need to find a way to accept the finality of the loss and all that it means to us. We need to be able to think about the future in a positive way even without the person we love.

    Grief: A Universal Response

    Grief after loss of someone close is unique to each bereaved person and each loss. Yet grief is a universal and natural response, shared by people across the globe. Artists of all kinds have explored the experience of loss.  Art can be a way for suffering people to feel a sense of common humanity.

  • Ways to Help with Complicated Grief

    Handsome and mature Asian man.Recognizing Complicated Grief

    People with CG may seek advice from health or mental health professionals. They feel relieved and understood when a helping professional asks questions about complicated grief symptoms. We want to help doctors, nurses, pastoral and lay counselors and other therapists become familiar with complicated grief and complicated grief treatment.

    Providing Good Support

    Most people do not grieve well alone. People typically gather around a bereaved person and provide comfort and solace. It is more difficult to support a person with complicated grief.  Friends can become frustrated and relationships can falter. We want to help friends and family members understand CG and find ways to rebuild their relationship to their bereaved friend.

    Practicing Self-Compassion

    People often have compassion for the suffering of others but may have difficulty being compassionate toward themselves. Rationally you may know that everyone suffers but when you are in pain it can be hard to remember this. We want to help people learn about self compassion and ways to practice it.

On the Calendar: Upcoming Events

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Center Workshop
Level 2: Treat complicated grief

February 16, 2018 @ 9:00 am - February 17, 2018 @ 5:00 pm
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Level I: Help people live with loss

April 13, 2018 @ 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Fri 11

Level II: Treat complicated grief

May 11, 2018 @ 9:00 am - May 12, 2018 @ 5:00 pm


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To my beloved sisters ❤

Assalamu alaikum ❤
This one is for my sisters in islam.
I just want to say i love you, i love you for the sake of Allah swt. Because i know no matter where i am, there Will always be sisters around the World ready to help me. I love the sisterhood allah swt has blessed us with. Alhamdulillah. We maybe dont know eachother by name or by person, but we Will know eachother by islam in shaa Allah.

– Sisters you Will always be welcome in my arms. May Allah swt bless you, protect you, and May he strenght our imaan every day.
Remember eachother in your duaa, and May we all meet in jannah in shaa Allah yaa rabb. Ameen

Have a great Night everyone, and have a great Night sleep in shaa Allah ❤

بِاسْمِكَ اللَّهُمَّ أَمُوْتُ وَأَحْيَا.
‘In Your name O Allaah, I live and die.’

Pointing fingers.

Assalamu alaikum dear followers ❤
Im really sorry for not posting anything in a long time, i Will in shaa Allah be back now 🙂
So i really wanted to write about an importen topic today; pointing fingers at other people. We all know the story, we see a Girl with hijab and we say to our sister, brother, husband, who ever we are with; thats Fatima, she as a boyfriend, astaghfirullah.
But did you know the most importen part of this situation? If you keep quitet about another personens sins, on the Day of jugdement Allah Will take one of your biggest sins and hold his hand over it. Cause indeed Allah is the most protactive. Some people are so busy finding faults in others that they forget about their relationship with their creator. And subhana’allah! They will use your sins against you, something that you are searching forgiveness for, that kills you inside, THEY WILL USE IT AGAINST YOU! Some people are struggeling with showing their love for their creator, but Masha’Allah, they are going through every struggle for Allah!they accept Allahs test, and they Will pass, because they keep going through the struggle for Allah swt. So let Them point at you, because the only reason they are doing it, is because they feel better than you. Ask Them, are you the answer to my test, or are you just a part of it? Allah Can already have forgiven you, In Shaa Allah, and they Think they Can be the judge of you, but we only have one judge as muslims, LA ILAHA ILLALLAH! What a World… Ya Allah forgive us 😦
So this topic is not only islamic, it is for everyone. Dont make others buisness your own. If you are sticking your finger in gossip and concerns of other Peoples life, you Will become the reason for pain, tears and heartache. You May hurt a marriage, a friendship or something. Do you really wannabe the reason for that?
I am a muslim, islam is perfect, but i am not, dont blame islam, blame me.

So dear people i ever hurt, talked about or pointed fingers at you with a bad intention, Im sorry, from the bottom of my heart, im sorry. I hope you Can forgive me In Shaa Allah.
And to Everyone who did the same to me.. I forgive you, for the sake off Allah.


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Boonaa Mohammed

Salam aleikum my beloved followers.
Lately i been listning alot to Boonaa Mohammed’s poetry and i must say mashaAllah, im totally head over heals with the Way he gives dawah. Im on ny Way to bed inshaAllah, so for now i just want to give you some Night Reading, and my favorite poem by brother Boonaa. This poem just reminded me of why i became in love with islam ❤
Good Night 2 you all, and May Allah swt protect you.

You should only say “I love you” when it is completely obvious,
And does not actually need to be said.
So I pray to God that I love her,
Until my very last breath.

Wallahi, she is perfect.
Everything about her just makes perfect sense,
And every time I get lost or confused,
She is a true friend.

Ever since I was a child, we used to study on the weekends.
I mean some of the brothers liked her, and some of the brothers were obsessed,
And at first I didn’t really get it, I mean what made her so different?
Until my eyes were opened wide to our sweet romance and,
Wallahi, she is perfect…did I mention that yet?

“Brother Boonaa is going crazy. He really needs help.”
Please judge me all you want, but keep the verdicts to yourself,
‘Cause no matter who you love, there will always be obstacles and critics.
And good looks aren’t everything, but hey it’s all I’ve really got.
And I want to get close to her because she is close to God,
So I cry my heart out, I let it all go, ’cause after rainfall must come a rainbow,
And trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember someone you never even met.

So I can’t turn back now. I can’t pretend to be ignorant,
And I can’t go around acting like she doesn’t have me on lock.
Has me lowering my gaze because she is always on the top,
Of my mind, designed as a kind gesture to all mankind,
So I could still see her beauty even if I was blind.

And I believe everything she says, because she has yet to lie,
And if you could point out a contradiction, I would gladly say goodbye.
But you can’t, so I can’t get her off my mind.
No word of a lie, she is a dime.
Eleven out of ten, amen!
…I mean “ameen.”

And I love the fact that she always has me thinking,
‘Cause to live without thinking is to shoot without aiming.
People have a lot of questions about her, and so I don’t mind explaining,
Because she has absolutely nothing to hide.
Her house is your house, and so you’re all allowed inside,
But what bothers me is when people who don’t know her talk bad about her behind back,
Uneducated chit-chat.

But she is perfect, why can’t you all just see that?
Why don’t you learn about her before you cast your stones?
We never blame love, even though love has caused plenty of wars.
You’ve never seen the wind, but you still know that it blows.
So trust me, there is no point in trying to break up our happy home,
‘Cause the struggle only makes us stronger, the changes make me wise,
And happiness has its own weird way of taking its sweet time.

She’s my other half, my sidekick on the side.
She makes me, me, we are partners in crime
Where she is, I am not far behind.
And if she’s in danger, then my life too is on the line.

And it’s not just a crush anymore. I want to learn everything about her,
Everything that happened before, to all of her friends, and all of her misguided foes,
And to be honest, I don’t really like arguing about her,
‘Cause I don’t want to do her the slightest of harm,
And I’d love to stay and entertain your battle of wits, but most of you are clearly unarmed.
I love and respect her like I have been taught to love and respect all women,
So to you is your love, and to me is my religion.

Some men manipulate her and use her for greed,
Kill in her name, but her name comes from peace,
So I stand by her pillars proud, she keeps me grounded.
Reminds me to be humble; through her are all the answers,
To every question even worth asking,
And to love her, you must be able to love all human beings.
They deserve to hear her words and learn of her teachings.

She represents what’s within, all my sisters and brothers,
Practiced by my kin, and praised by my mother,
A gift from Allah, sent from way up above.
She is Islam,
And I am in love

© Boonaa Mohammed – 2008

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United Koreans in Japan

F.C._Korea_logoThe United Korean Football Association in Japan (UKFAJ) was founded 2015 and is lead by Mr Chong Gyong Ri. The team is a “spin off” of the club “FC Korea”, that plays in the Japanese football league system and consists of only Korean players. Due to the fact that all players belong to the Korean minority in Japan, the club is not allowed to go further up in the League pyramid and thus is looking for a new challenge, which it found in CONIFA.

The United Koreans in Japan, sometimes also called “Zainichi Koreans”, are the biggest minority in Japan today. Both, North and South Koreans, are part of this often discriminated diaspora minority. Most Koreans in Japan came to Japan in the early 20st century and are now living in Japan often in their 3rd or 4th generation. The approximately 900.000 “Zainichis” where, however, never assimilated, but are still considered “foreigners” in Japan. Many Koreans in Japan speak a language that is neither South nor Northern Korean, but is often referred to as “Zainichi Korean”.

W: fckorea.org
F: FC Korea
M: info@fckorea.org


text:
Connecting man to man to God
For week of September 9, 2012
Issue 424

The weekly newsletter of Path Of Life Ministries.
Our mission is to lead men to Jesus Christ and provide opportunity for Christian men to grow in their faith and minister to others.

Today’s issue is going out to 2,145 weekly subscribers. Thank you in advance for forwarding this issue to friends, family and associates! To have a friend start their own Free subscription to CONNECTIONS, please have them visit:
or subscribe via rss feed here:

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.”
– Rom. 14:12 (CEB)

We judge others by their actions; we judge ourselves by our intentions.”
– Author Unknown

While the majority of churchgoers desire to honor Christ with their lives and even profess to think on biblical truths, a recent study found few actually engage in personal reading and study of the Scriptures.

“Bible engagement” is one of the eight attributes of discipleship identified in the Transformational Discipleship study conducted by LifeWay Research. The study produced the Transformational Discipleship Assessment, which measures an individual’s spiritual growth in each of these areas of development.

The survey found 90% of churchgoers agree that “I desire to please and honor Jesus in all I do,” and 59% agree with the statement: “Throughout the day I find myself thinking about biblical truths.” While the majority agree with both statements, there is a significant difference in the strength of agreement. Nearly two-thirds of churchgoers (64%) strongly agree with the first statement, but only 20% strongly agree with the second…. Read this in full at

An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.”
– A. W. Tozer

With the end of the political conventions comes the official start of the 2012 US presidential campaign season, prompting feelings of angst among beleaguered citizens. According to Gallup research, 75% of swing state voters and 70% of all voters already can’t wait for the election to be over. People say the divisive nature of increasingly negative political rhetoric produces feelings of anxiety, frustration, and confusion.

A separate campaign has begun online that offers reassuring daily solace in the form of specially selected Bible verses paired with stunning, original nature photographs – available by email through election day. UPWORD 2012 ( is sponsored by God’s Word In Action, the charitable giving program of Thomas Nelson Bibles…. Read this in full at

Many people appear to be confused about what it means to be members in their churches – that is, if they know their church offers membership at all.

A new study from Grey Matter Research indicates that 33% of worshipers surveyed believe their church does not offer any sort of membership, while 19% said they were not sure. This means that less than half of respondents know about membership offerings in their church.

Yet, all 10 of the largest denominations in the US – including the Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodist Church, and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – offer some form of official church membership. Among constituents of these denominations, however, only 44% say their church offers official membership. Nearly 40% of attendees believe these churches do not offer membership, while 17% are unsure…. Read this in full at

by Clare De Graaf
Last September my son-in-law, Tony, several other men and myself gathered around our thirteen year old grandson, Max, laid hands on him, prayed over him and pronounced him a man – a man of God. We were all in tears. While we were happy for Max, some of us realized in that moment just how much we wish we’d have had the blessing of our fathers.

This idea of one generation passing on a blessing, a sign of approval, of manhood and with it the responsibility to act as a man is as old as mankind. (Think of Isaac’s blessing of Jacob.) However in modern, western societies that practice has been largely lost.

God triggered this idea for a passage to manhood for our grandson when I had the privilege of attending a Bar Mitzvah for a 13 year old Jewish young man in Washington, DC a few years back. I was so impressed with the young man’s poise and maturity, that at the end of the ceremony I asked the Rabbi, if they ever held off the ceremony if a boy didn’t appear to be mature enough. His answer was, “Rarely. Because we don’t wait for a boy to become a man. We believe the process actually matures the boy into a man.” But, just what is this process that shapes a boy into a man? …. Read this in full at

by S.J. Hill
If we recognize that God’s heart is filled with passion for us even in our weakness, we will be catapulted into personal wholeness and spiritual maturity.

When my two sons left home and ventured out on their own, I realized even more how much I loved them. I would think about them all the time. I would call them on the phone just to hear their voices. I would picture in my mind what they looked like. More than once I heard the Lord speak so gently to me, “If you feel this way about your sons, how do you think I feel about you?”

I was often reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:9-11: “[Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!]”

Today as I was thinking about my sons and reflecting on those experiences, I was so overcome by the love of the Father that I broke down and wept. I realized again that when we, as His children, catch a glimpse of the beauty of His heart, it will ignite such deep passions within us that we will gladly abandon ourselves to Him.

A Living Expression [by Mother Teresa, AD 1910-1997]
Be the living expression of God’s kindness:
kindness in your face,
kindness in your eyes,
kindness in your smile,
kindness in your warm greeting.
Source: NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible: Insights from the Past and Present

MISSISSAUGA, ON — According to Bill Koene, president of , “We are currently witnessing a technological revolution in World Missions.”

Koene says that in a rapidly changing world, “there is a growing recognition that a final thrust for the spread of the gospel and badly needed Christian resource materials must be done through the use of current technologies.”

He added: “It is now widely understood that through the rapid spread of computer technology and hand-held devices into every nation and even into remote places, there is an urgent need to provide Christian audiobooks and audioBibles in the indigenous languages of people groups where there is a dearth of these critical resources.” …. Read this in full at

Max Lucado has appeared on every major national best-seller list, including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and Christian Booksellers Association. He’s been writing for nearly 25 years, and has sold more than 100 million products—including 80 million books. Charisma News recently sat down with Lucado to discuss his latest book, Grace. He also shares his thoughts on what is happening right now in the church and in the nation.

Charisma News: Your new book, Grace, is fascinating. I guess the cover says it all, doesn’t it? “More than we deserve, greater than we imagine.”

Lucado: This book came out of a conviction that most of us, myself included, tend to settle for a wimpy grace. For many people, it’s been a long time since grace was really amazing. I wanted to dig a little deeper into the teaching of grace. To say that you’re going to write a book on grace is like saying you’re going to put the ocean in a thimble. It’s not going to happen. I wanted to focus on what happens when grace really happens, when I really receive God’s grace. What difference does it make in my life? That’s the question that this book tries to answer…. Read this in full at

As a radical group of 16 Amish men and women face federal charges of committing hate crimes against others within their own religion, the faith also is getting publicity as one of the fastest-growing religions in the US.

Now with nearly 250,000 adherents here, a new Ohio State University study reports that, on average, an Amish community is established every three and a half weeks, and more than 60% of current Amish settlements in the US were founded since 1990.

The largest group of Amish community members, 60,233, live in Ohio, where a detached sect of Amish led by 66-year-old Samuel Mullet Sr. are accused of committing a series of hair-cutting attacks on other Amish last year, various news outlets have reported…. Read this in full at

by Dan Wooding
“Finish strong!” That’s the goal of Norm Nelson, President of Compassion Radio, a unique evangelical radio ministry that broadcasts 1,000 program releases daily across the United States and sponsors compassion projects in 31 of the toughest countries on earth.

“It’s the globally-focused projects that give Compassion Radio its uniqueness,” Norm told me. “Jesus asked a very challenging question: ‘Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say.’ We evangelicals are big on talk, but we often come up short on the doing. Talk is easy. Deeds are costly. That’s the disparity we are seeking to address.”

Norm, who turned 74 in mid-August, refuses to slow down where his activist approach to ministry is concerned. That also holds true where his commitment to learning is concerned…. Read this in full at

When I say that people are not good, I am not adopting a Christian or a moral standpoint. I am saying that their two great characteristics, no matter what their society or education, are covetousness and the desire for power. We find these traits always and everywhere. If, then, we give people complete freedom to choose, they will inevitably seek to dominate someone or something and they will inevitably covet what belongs to others, and a strange feature of covetousness is that it can never be assuaged or satisfied, for once one thing is acquired it directs its attention to something else.”
– Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), Anarchy and Christianity, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1991, p. 20

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person–such a man is an idolater–has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
– Ephesians 5:5 (NIV)

by Charles C. Haynes
Millions of kids return to school this week – and, contrary to culture-war rhetoric, most of them won’t leave their faith at the schoolhouse door.

As classes get underway, public school students across America will form religious clubs, pray together in their free time, distribute religious literature to classmates, share their religious convictions in class discussions and in many other ways belie the myth of the “godless public schools.”

Many teachers, meanwhile, are gearing up to teach about religions in various history and literature classes. State standards, especially in the social studies, now require that students learn something (and, in some states, a considerable amount) about the major faith traditions.

This much religion in schools may strike some readers as surprising and new. But God hasn’t come back to public education overnight…. Read this in full at

At the beginning of every school year, Hedy Bernstein of Nashville sends her kids to school with a backpack full of school supplies.

She also sends a list of Jewish holidays so that teachers know when her children will be absent.

For an Orthodox family like Bernstein’s, that list includes about a dozen days off for religious reasons.

“We don’t pick and choose which holidays to observe,” she said. “I have to say the schools have been great to work with.”

Fifty years after the U.S. Supreme Court banned official prayers in public schools, religion remains alive and well on school campuses. That’s because the same First Amendment that bars government-sponsored religion also gives students like the Bernsteins the right to freely practice their faith…. Read this in full at

Jesus answered, ‘Whoever loves me will keep my word. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’”
– John 14:23 (CEB)

It’s not the ship in the water but the water in the ship that sinks it. So it’s not the Christian in the world but the world in the Christian that constitutes the danger.”
– John Wilbur Chapman

A small stone seal unearthed in Israel is likely the first archaeological evidence of the Old Testament judge Samson, say the co-directors of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Center for Archaeological Research.

While not involved in the excavation that led to the discovery, center co-directors Daniel Warner and Dennis Cole said evidence characterizing the find makes it plausible that the seal supports a story of a young boy killing a lion with his bare hands…. Read this in full at

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  – Mark 8:34

When Jesus spoke to his own about the demands of discipleship, the words were strong and foreboding. “Deny … take up [your] cross … follow.” Those are the words of Jesus. “Pamper yourself … indulge … grab the gusto.” Those are the words of the world.

Augustine reminds all Christians that servanthood involves both a privilege and a price. It is good to follow Christ. But we must see by what way we are to follow. For when the Lord spoke the words of Mark 8, he had not already risen from the dead. He had not yet suffered, not yet come to the cross, not yet felt the dishonoring, the outrages, the scourging, the thorns, the wounds, the mockeries, the insults, the death.

Rough may be the way, but follow on. Where Christ has gone is worn smooth. Who would not wish to be exalted? Honor is pleasing to all. But humility is the path to it.

The two disciples disliked taking this step of humility. They sought exaltation, one at the right hand and the other at the left [see Mark 10:37]. They did not see the cross.

Christ’s invitation to discipleship is an invitation to die. Die to self. To the world. To personal ambition. It is a call to follow Jesus in his life. In his death. In his resurrection. It is a reminder that exaltation and elevation in God’s sight are the by-products of humility.

Small wonder there is so seldom a crowd gathered at the cross. For few are willing to pay the price that discipleship demands. But it’s a price well worth paying, for a life of discipleship is the most fulfilling life of all. Will you pay the price?
Source: Once-A-Day Walk with Jesus Devotional

A farmer was milking his cow. He was just starting to get a good rhythm going when a bug flew into the barn and started circling his head. Suddenly, the bug flew into the cow’s ear. The farmer didn’t think much about it, until the bug squirted out into his bucket. It went in one ear and out the udder.

The University of Texas at Austin has cleared sociology professor Mark Regnerus of academic misconduct after he was excoriated by some in the media over a study showing that parents’ homosexual relationships can have negative effects on children.

Regnerus made headlines in June when his study was published in the widely respected journal Social Science Research. According to his findings, children raised by homosexual parents are more likely than those raised by married heterosexual parents to suffer from poor impulse control, depression and suicidal thoughts. They also are more likely to require more mental health therapy; identify themselves as homosexual; choose cohabitation; be unfaithful to partners; contract sexually transmitted diseases; be sexually molested; have lower income levels; drink to get drunk; and smoke tobacco and marijuana.

As a result, a gay-activist blogger accused Regnerus of academic fraud, demanding in July that the university release all his research material and emails with fellow sociologists…. Read this in full at

Exposure to sexual content in movies leads teenagers to have sex earlier and to participate in riskier sexual behavior, a study has confirmed, leading researchers to suggest incorporating media literacy training into sexual education.

The study, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, said roughly 85% of movies released from 1950 to 2006 contained sexual content, and only 9% of sexual content in movies contained messages promoting sexual health. Sexual explicitness of PG-13-rated and R-rated movies has increased over the past decade, researchers also said. Evidence suggests that adolescents’ sexual attitudes and behavior are influenced more by movies than by other forms of media, the study said…. Read this in full at

Not where I breath,
But where I love, I live.
Robert Southey

Teach me to do what pleases you, because you are my God. Guide me by your good spirit into good land.”
– Psalm 143:10 (CEB)

Words & Music: William M. Runyan, 1919

From Olive’s Hill, the multitude upgazing,
Beheld, until the Savior passed from view;
But radiant heralds uttered words of promise,
He Who has gone shall come again to you.

Again, again, the nations shall behold Him!
Again, again, enrobed in majesty;
In clouds of glory every eye shall see Him,
Again, again, the King of Glory see!

Again, but not in weakness or in sorrow;
Again, but not for bitter pain and loss;
The Son of God shall come in glory splendid,
Again, but not to bear shame’s bitter cross.

O Zion, clothe thyself in raiment holy;
Lift up thine eyes to greet thy coming King;
Rejoice, rejoice, no more be robed in sorrow,
Rejoice, O Zion, lift thy voice and sing.

>from NetHymnal at

In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone. It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single quite hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air ifs purest.”
– Horatius Bonar

Use the following list as your daily prayer guide. Think of a brother or situation that applies and lift them up in prayer.

I am agreeing in prayer with you for God’s blessings to overtake you!

Marital harmony
Family unity
Children saved
Faithful pastor
Spirit-filled church
Real friendships
Relatives redeemed
Educational benefits
Recreational time
Fulfilling career
Favor with God and man
Be in God’s will

Better Jobs
Raises or bonuses
Sales & commissions
Business Growth
Estates & inheritances
Investment increase
Rebates & returns
Checks in the mail
Gifts & surprises
Money to be found
Bills decrease while blessings increase

“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God” (Deut. 28:2).

[As you travel on business or vacation, let me know if you’d like us to add you to our prayer chain to pray for your safety and spiritual effectiveness. I’ll add your name to the list for the time you’ll be away.]

Are you looking for something or do you have something to sell? Let me know and I’ll put it in this newsletter.

The Complete Gift Solution

Books, Music & More!

Get your domain name here!

Tell us what sites you find enjoyable and why.

See God’s Word in Action UPWORD 2012

Inspiring: The Best Photos of Paralympics 2012

All links to websites are provided as a service, and do not imply endorsement by this ministry.

(BTW: whenever the URLs in this newsletter are too long to turn into links on your e-mail program, just copy the entire URL (two lines or more) and paste it into a temporary email message. Then delete the return in the middle of it and copy it again. Then paste it into your web browser and hit enter.)

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.
Frank Coleman, Editor

Thanks for welcoming CONNECTIONS into your in-box!

CONNECTIONS is a periodic newsletter of announcements, news, recommendations, articles, and other information helpful to men in our spiritual growth. Thanks for welcoming CONNECTIONS into your in-box!

The CONNECTIONS Team offers a variety of activities for men to interact with other men on our journey of faith in Christ together. Large group, small group, and one-to-one events encourage relationship building and spiritual strengthening that result in maximizing the potential we all have in Christ.
Contact Min. Frank Coleman, 773-410-1483, if you’d like to participate in a men’s discipleship program.
Path Of Life Ministries is located in Chicago, IL.
Visit our website at:

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Album Reviews
Expert Reviews for the Newest Albums
in Rock, Alternative, Hip-Hop, EDM, and More

Moonface – With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery

on April 16, 2012, 8:00am
Release Date

Spencer Krug has enough music in his bones to record under a handful of monikers. His bold rock songs were folded into Wolf Parade, the grand, theatric stuff went toward Sunset Rubdown, and the silvery webs of indie rock went to supergroup Swan Lake. But he’s saved the most experimental material for Moonface, the dreamy meditative stuff as narrowly focused as his other eccentric work was wide, the work heavily indebted to drone.While his past two Moonface releases focused on a single instrument (his 2010 EP Marimba and Shit-Drums and 2011 LP Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped reveal their intentions at first glance), new album With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery blends elements of that droney meditation with dark-hued indie rock, thanks to a collaboration with Finnish post-rock group listed in that title. The result is a blend of startling lyrical depth and slow, whirlpools of murky music.

The supposed story behind this project fits in with popular conceptions of Krug: the members of Siinai opened (then as members of Joensuu 1685) for Wolf Parade on their 2009 European tour, and they mentioned a need for a vocalist. Just two years later, Krug had dropped into Finland, stepped behind the mic and keys, and the international ensemble recorded this new album. Together, they make up a dark, contemplative team, the Finns building atmospheric, shadowy structures for the Canadian’s uniquely mythic, weary lyrics.

The album progresses lyrically, Krug delving deeper into heartbreak and loss, grasping at strings that could keep everything tied together in a semblance of hope. From the beginning, the tone is set, the setting established, and the ball started at a heavy roll. The opening title track builds on showers of shimmery piano, watery bass, and pulsar guitar effects, the world beginning to drift and sway in uncertainty. Krug’s delivery is equally marshy, bogged down in pain and animalism. When describing the distance from a lost love, he warbles: “I am not the fox with blood stained lips standing over the kill.” The primal nature of relationships is another theme, violence recurring frequently. His love isn’t good enough because he’s “got blood but not the bloodlust you need.”

Some tracks take these epic, challenging topics and ground them in more traditional indie soundscapes, as on “Yesterday’s Fire”, a sludgy take on the psych-rock of Secret Machines. The sparking guitar noise loop that ends that track, though, bleeds through for two more minutes, a noisy, droning interlude between more traditional songs. Later, the evocatively titled “10,000 Scorpions” builds an instrumental patch of bass rumbles and twirling synth into the clip-clop shivers of “Faraway Lightning”. This slow-building composition is one that suits the melancholic, self-inspecting lyrical content to a tee.

Krug’s lyrics, as is usually the case with his material, weave together like a tapestry, themes blending between tracks with a deft hand. After the fox imagery mentioned earlier, he returns to the animal realm, insisting on his still broken heart: “I’m not the phoenix yet,” he moans over hammering percussion and wonky keyboard squiggles.

But the delve into the depths on “Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips” proves to be the strongest. The headfirst leap into nostalgia is breathtaking: “when we float in the water, its not the absence of the other, but the absence of anyone else that will drown us in the end,” Krug avows, holding onto his heartbreak with the bravery that the title promised. There is darkness in the world, and this is an album that stares it in the eyes and waits for an echo.

Essential Tracks: “Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips”, “Heartbreaking Bravery”

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HIGH ALERT Continues!! The Stock Market Is In A Dangerous Place Right Now

Disaster Response Team of America

gold-eagle.com / By Robert McHugh, Ph.D. / October 12, 2014

On September 20th, we posted a warning article to our subscribers.

“HIGH ALERT!!!  The stock market sits at a very precarious place this weekend. There are important and rare technical indicators that are contemporaneously telling us that a major stock market top is close at hand and a powerful and damaging stock market decline is not far from starting.”

Since we published that warning, the Industrials have plunged from their all time top on Friday, September 19th, so far falling 806 points. Since that warning, the S&P 500 has fallen 113 points, and the NASADQ Composite has fallen 334 points. Since then, the Semiconductor Index has crashed. This all came the day after we got a confirmed Hindenburg Omen.

The stock market just had its worst week since May 2012. The Industrials are now at a loss…

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Violence at Wisconsin Protests

Violence has been caught on tape at the WI pro-union rally.

In the video, the protestors attempt to shut down the reporter and his camera. They try shouting him down and then he reports that a guy hits him.

Take note of the sign behind the reporter when the violence erupts. It has a SEIU emblem on it. Remember them? They are the thugs that attacked the Tea Party people at the Townhalls.

Published in: on February 28, 2011 at 7:21 am  Leave a Comment
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***Makeup only

It’s always nice to have clients requesting for our services on more than one occassion. So when I received an email to ask if I could do makeup for her mother again and the daughter in law this time, I was more than thrilled!

Fahima has a flawless complexion and naturally long eyelashes. I applied falsies  to open up her eyes even more. Her eyeshadows were shades of brown/burgundy/pink .

Awal(mother in law) doesn’t wear makeup much. I accentuated her eyes with natural toned eyeshadow and eyeliner.

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★★★ New Release ★★★

Getting His is LIVE!  Buy your copy of this sweet and sexy story on Amazon or read free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription.

📚: http://amzn.to/2nAnIX5

He has never met a woman he wanted to keep, until she walks into his life.
Tucker Brady doesn’t expect to find the woman of his dreams while eating lunch at the local Dairy Dip. It takes only a quick look at Hadley Walsh, and he is like a man possessed. He has one goal: sliding between her legs and staying there.
Getting His woman is the only thing that matters.
Now that Tucker has her by his side, his life is nearly perfect. His days are filled with laughter, and his nights are full of hot sex. There’s only one little problem; his mother and Hadley hate each other. Playing referee between the two women is driving him fucking nuts!
How can Tucker fix this without having to choose between the woman in his bed and the woman who gave him life?

 #emilyminton #shelleyspringfield  #eroticromance #Tuckeristheman