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Friday, September 25, 2009

Bike Rally How-To

Monday was world Car-Free day. It's hard to organize things early in the school year, so we'll be holding a Drive Less Week next week that includes a car-free day on Friday. We'll be ticketing cars with incentives to walk like we did last year. Then we're going to start weekly eco-challenges, so watch for them here every Friday. If you're a teacher, you can stay one week behind and not have to think about what to do with your environment club this year!

On Wednesday, we might actually have a Bike Rally. But we can't call it a "bike rally" because it encourages racing, so instead it's called "Raiders Ride for the Earth" which is pretty nice anyway.* This way we can include all forms of human-powered vehicles like skateboards and roller blades too. The only problem is we haven't had anyone sign up for it yet.

I asked my class if the $5 entrance fee was the problem. Most said "no," it's the biking they don't like. I carve out time to be able to go cycling, so that's a bit baffling to me. They said they'd pay $5 NOT to bike in the not-a-rally. That conversation was juxtaposed with Terry Fox Day celebrations at the grade school next door. As I got to school, 9 and 10-year-olds were all running around the block, and they were all struggling to run. It's not a big block. Well, at least they tried. Even the olympic torch is doing more driving than running.

Along with the ticketing and the ride, we're challenging people to walk any place they need to go that's under 3 km. In our display case, we'll have a map that shows exactly how far that is by including distances from the school to various landmarks around us. I chose that limit because I made my kids walk to gymnastics when they went at 8 and 10, and that's about 3 k. So, surely high school kids can make it that far. It's just for one week, but we're hoping once people start a challenge, they'll keep with it. Once they see how short of a distance 3 k really is, and how much better they feel walking more, maybe they'll like it. Or, they'll be late for work and never try it again!

Raiders Ride for the Earth How-To

This takes several weeks of planning and several months of waiting on approval from admin. We used to run car rallys annually, but people are much more wary of letting teens bicycle. There was a recent article in the local paper about how fearful people are of cycling even though we're about twelve times more likely to die from a car crash than a bike collision. Only about 5% of cycling accidents are caused by a car trying to pass a bike. Most of the rest common causes of accidents are because cyclists don't always pay attention to the rules of the road. This is unfortunate, yet at the same time it's lucky because there's an easy fix: teach cyclists the rules and enforce them. I hate cyclists who race through stop signs; it makes me look bad. Earlier in the week, at the Ontario Cycling summit, Jim Bradley agreed. We'll see where things go from here in our province. Anyway, back to the not-a-rally:

Before we got going we had to make sure we had enough students to organize and run each event, and had enough teacher supervisors for each event and for every road crossing.

Teams of four sign up and pay $5 each to participate. All proceeds will go to charity. The winning team gets to choose the charity. That's pretty much the grand prize. They go to four different activity areas in town and do a scavenger hunt to get points. They don't get points for speed, so anyone can attend. They get points for general awesomeness.

Teams go to the activity stations in different orders so there's not a backlog. One activity has them running a relay on a variety of kid toys including tricycles, a horse, and a wagon. The get points for speed and technique. At another they have to put extra-large lingerie over their clothes and sing karaoke at the city square. They get points for collecting the most change from strangers (for charity) for their performance. Another station has them balancing a bucket of water on their heads and walking through a mine-field of garbage. And the final one is a garbage sort relay where they have to correctly separate garbage into recycling, composting, bottles, paper, and garbage.

We'll provide each contestant with a clue to the first station, a pair of gloves, and a bag. As they ride, they must collect several types of garbage on the trails. We're lucky because our school is close to a trail that leads to a park and to the uptown. On top of all this, they'll also have to do a scavenger hunt that includes getting signatures on a petition for something, like more bike racks on the main street, and getting little things from local shops that have an environmental or social justice focus (10,000 Villages, etc.).

Back at the school, students will have to use a glue gun to make a piece of art with the garbage they collected. Judges will determine the most creative entry. Then drinks and treats will be had by all as the scores are tallied. We sent out letters asking for prizes from various cycling places in the city, but none responded so far.

Some Info and Quotations for a Display:

We're hoping to encourage more walking rather than encourage alternative cars.
Electric cars still need electricity from somewhere, and it's often not from solar cells. Instead of finding new, less hazardous ways of getting around in cars, I prefer to focus on the healthiest types of transportation: cycling and walking.

Want to get healthier and save money? Walk or bike instead of driving.

Walking and biking...
slow the progression of disease
tone up your body
reduce blood pressure
improve your immune system
help maintain your mental ability
reduces stress
can relieve depression and anxiety
create safer communities
help you get to know neighbours
might make you live longer!

Cars increase...
climate change
the hole in the ozone layer
acid rain
urban sprawl
oil spills
road rage
water pollution run-off
accidental deaths!

Can we obliterate the car before it obliterates us? The longest journey begins with a single step, not with a turn of an ignition key.

A good resource for information is the book Divorce Your Car by Katie Alvord. We had several books in our info display also.

There was a critical mass held on World Car-Free Day, but I also advertised the ones held the last Friday of every month, which is today. We encouraged car pooling and car sharing. There was a proposal for bike sharing in Waterloo made over a year ago. We'll encourage students to write to our mayor to encourage that to be a reality.

After all this, let's just hope we get some takers!

*We're KCI Raiders with a pirate mascot. It used to be a horribly offensive 1st Nation mascot, so we decided to change it. That final decision was made just before the Somali pirate issue. Even before that I had hoped we could be raccoons, but I was outvoted.

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Compost Update

Check out our giant pile of compost! Typically I dig out the usable compost to add to my gardens in the spring, but at school, because it all sits all summer, it seems to make the most sense to dig it out in the first week of September before more stuff is added. Our horticulture teacher had me pile it beside the composter, and he'll get to it soon. Here's the pile. It's amazing to me how well this very simple task works with minimal effort. You can see a piece of eggshell that hasn't quite turned. And there's a few sticks in there. But mainly it's just rich fertile soil that can augment any garden. At home I dig it in about an inch deep between plants, and add some to the bare patches in the lawn before I throw down a mix of grass and clover seed. It beats chemical fertilizers.

In our region there are concerns about the half a million dollars it costs to take leaves off the curb. It's such a no-brainer that people should compost. It can work in apartment complexes too. I have several gardens and five people worth of food scraps and one bin like the one I made for school can easily handle it all. Yet so many have doubts, they just won't try it at home.

More's the pity.

And in other news, KCI's green efforts were lauded in the local paper, unfortunately they didn't mention the blog!

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Abstinence Education

Riding tandem on my last post, one way to cure the population problem, which some call the number one threat to the planet, is for people to stop having sex. And now there's a new product that can help people not have sex without harming the environment! No batteries needed because it works kind of like a wind-up toy. From the website: "Batteries discarded end up in our landfills around the world. Most batteries contain heavy metals (mercury, cadmium, lead), which are the main cause for environmental concern. If waste batteries are not disposed of correctly, heavy metals may leak when the battery corrodes, and so contribute to soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife. Increased levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide act to enhance the natural greenhouse effect and accelerate irreversible changes in the climate." See, they really do care.

That's it.
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Monday, September 14, 2009

The Population Problem

I saw 9 on the weekend. It's a great apocalyptic film, a warning about the dangers of technology, but the ending isn't clearly positive. Monsters are tricked and killed, but there's still no life as we define it - the type that eats, reproduces, etc. For a real happy ending I needed a little plant to struggle up through the rubble like in Wall-E.

Both films made me think of Alan Weisman's book The World Without Us which is the subject of an article in bitch this month. The book documents the probable outcome if people suddenly ceased to be. According to this book the world will take relatively little time to regenerate without people in the way trashing the place. The visual I had in my head when I read it was the Manhattan of I Am Legend, with deer running through a forest sprouting up through asphalt, but without all the zombies. We do not need to save the planet for its own sake; it will be fine on its own. We need to save it for our survival.

I loved the book until I got to his final conclusion: to save the world, we must regulate childbirth - one child per woman, no exceptions. Now that we are considering covering assisted reproductive services under Medicare in Canada, it has become a hot issue.

The problem with limiting women to one child in order to save the planet is that many people in the western world have few children already, the Canadian average is 1.6 children, yet we produce the most greenhouse gases - far more than parts of the world with a child per woman average closer to 5 or 6.

I think if I had fewer children I might have spent my excess cash on stuff for myself. I might actually have a car. We tend to spend what we make - at least - and without RESPs taking up a chunk of my pay, I could possibly be a much larger environmental problem. I would like to think that I would use my time and money for good, buy land and plant a mixed forest for instance, but, unfortunately, I am a pretty typical human being.

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Saturday, September 5, 2009

Katie at EcoChick conducted an environmental survey to check out the attitudes of 50 people in Toronto. We teach how to conduct surveys in social science courses, and it's an easy lesson to modify for an environmental focus. She found the deal breaker for most people was cutting down consumption, and that some didn't understand the environmental concerns with meat production.

I've said it before, but food is hard for me. I don't grow my own because I forget about it, and it all withers, rots or feeds the raccoons. For some reason though, I have no problems tending to a flower garden. And I completely understand the problems with meat production, but I still eat it (organic, grass fed, and free range when I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of convenience for the world). I've been vegetarian twice, both for 2-3 years at a time, and my biggest hurdle is it doesn't seem like a meal without meat. Intellectually, I understand this is just as mindless as people preferring tap water at a blind taste test but still insisting bottled is better. But on a gut level, there it is. I've been raised on meat and potatoes, and that's a lot of years of conditioning to try to overcome. I'm still working on it.

The problem I have with some surveys like this though, and particularly with the standard eco-footprint analysis, is there's often no good answer for people who are already very environmental. Two of the questions focus on cutting down on personal consumption. I really buy nothing but food and essentials. I was at a mall yesterday buying the two required pairs of running shoes for my daughter for school (one for indoors, one for out). Having not bought clothes for myself for years, a long-sleeved shirt caught my eye. The 80s are back, and it makes me feel like a teenager again. I tried it on, and the sleeves were made for someone who doesn't canoe all summer, so I put it back. Whew, that was close.

The eco-footprint calculators (this one's really cute even though it places me in Calgary, but this one is more educational) often increase the footprint if you never ride the bus as if it means you're driving instead. Or if you don't wash your car rarely, it means you wash it often instead of the possibility of never washing it or not owning a car.

These are minor concerns but good to keep in mind when students are creating surveys.

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On Necessities and Luxuries

We got a propane fridge at the cabin this year, and when it stopped working on the one time we were up for a week, it was really hard to go back to the cooler - to smelling the questionable milk before using it every time, and trying to keep the cold cuts from swimming in the water at the bottom. At home a fridge is a luxury I'm not ready to part with, unlike this blogger who unplugged it and deals with the consequences. Up north for a week, it's possible the propane we use for a small fridge might be similar to the gas we would otherwise use to go back and forth to town for ice, so I don't feel too guilty. As a good backwoods camper, I can survive without milk on my cereal or cheese on my nachos, but the kids aren't as accommodating. After years without, the fridge has become a necessity.

It's curious to me what we can live without. The blogger I linked can live without a fridge, but still uses a dryer. I haven't used our dryer for years. It's there in the basement for an emergency (like a flood??), far from the washer two floors higher - upstairs where all the clothes are kept. Without kids, I could manage without the washer too. I hand washed in first year university - too poor to go to a laundromat - and it wasn't so bad. But I like to know my perishables are safe to eat.

I know many people who won't put a glass of water under a tap and drink it. They've been convinced that bottled water is better. Even if they tell me they understand that our municipal water is much more heavily regulated, they insist the bottled stuff just tastes better. Even after blind tastes tests at our school showed students that most of them preferred the taste of tap water, they still walked away thinking bottle is best. Advertising is some powerful stuff.

Many friends with a strong environmental bent can't believe I survive the summers without air conditioning. We close the doors and windows and curtains when it's hot out, and open them all at night IF the temperature outside is cooler than the temperature inside. In these parts, I don't remember a heat wave ever lasting more than three weeks. After that long the house might get sticky, so we sleep outside. And maybe we don't get as much done during the heavy humid days, but that's okay. My kids have acclimatized to the heat; they didn't have a choice. And relatively speaking, it's barely a heat wave. This is Canada after all.

I've actually never lived anywhere that had A/C, so it's really easy for me to do without. That's the thing, really: once we get something, we can't remember how to cope without it. Yesterday's luxuries and all. I've also never owned a car, and I manage my in-town trips easily. A colleague once saw me at a mall about 10 k from home and insisted I couldn't have biked the whole way - as if someone must have dropped me and my bike off somewhere. The city grows smaller when you walk and bike everywhere.

If we can stop adding more and more luxuries to our lives, we can stop thinking we actually need them to cope with temperature changes and distances and dirt. But all those commercials and all those TV people and neighbours and friends that have all the new stuff are very very compelling.

If covetousness is a sin (it's right there in the top ten list), and tempting people to covet is even worse, and our laws are based on judeo-christian morality, then shouldn't advertising be illegal?

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Pioneering Customized Rugged Solutions

The Rugged Insider, Vol. 6                                               October 2012

Extending battery life and big savings

What is the best screen size for a battlefield combat device? How do we maximize the battery life for a mobile computer?  Does the spread of cell phones contribute to social unrest? What’s the latest chapter in the never-ending JTRS story? Why is every sentence in this paragraph a question?

There’s no question that this has been a big month for AMREL. Continuing our long tradition of rigorous quality control, we received a certification for ISO 9001:2008.  Also, for the first time ever, you can now buy AMREL laptops, tablets, and handhelds at deep discounts online.

See you next month!

Quote of the Month

“Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.”

Joseph Campbell

Optimal Screen Size For Mobile Devices Used By Warfighters

What is the optimal screen size for a mobile device?  A few thoughts and a few questions.

Read Article Here

Ask the Expert

How do I maximize battery life for my mobile computer?

What everyone wants to know.

Read Answer Here

Got a question for the experts?  Write to:

On the Web

By the numbers: Mobile phones on the road to unrest

I don’t buy ZDNet’s argument that cell phone diffusion in developing countries contributes to unrest, but the stats for the growth of widespread usage are very interesting.

Read Article Here

On the Web

The Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Saga Continues

Network Integration Evaluation Exercise says that the voice quality of JTRS manpack radio “was often poor, garbled and unintelligible.”

The Contractor says there are no problems and they fixed them anyway.

The ARMY says we’re buying 3,800.

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AMREL Receives ISO 9001:2008 Certification

AMREL has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 certification for design, engineering, manufacturing, and customization of rugged mobile computing solutions.

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If you know somebody who would like to join our list and receive AMREL’s Rugged Systems & Solutions, please send them the link below!

William Finn

Senior Editor & Copywriter

Bill’s work has appeared in Defense Tech Briefs,  IDGA, Robotics Tomorrow,  and Defense IQ.

To reprint an OCU Pro article, contact

AMREL manufactures the ROCKY line of Mission Critical rugged laptops, tablets, fixed on-board computers and handhelds, designed for military/homeland security use.  Our MIL-STD 810G/461F certified platforms integrate your devices for OCU, communications, biometrics and other applications. We customize, design, prototype, and deliver your solution faster than any competitor.


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Sunday, 5 December 2010

Ramsgate's Christmas Extravaganza

I   just went onto the VisitThanet website and discovered that Ramsgate has a Christmas Extravaganza this week  in  Charlotte Court (behind the Police Station) from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday 11th December.I think you can get a visit with Santa and if you cross his palm with silver he and his Elves will give you a pressie. So pop overr to Ramsgate and visit Santa and spend money at the Arts and Crafts Market and if you have any scraps of change left support the Bussiness Tax paying shops that are our town centres. I should also add a warning that if you dont support these diverse shops in our High Streets they will become Ghost Towns. A bit like Margate I hear you all cry, No says I Margate has the Turner Contemporary and Dreamland is to become a theme park.

1 comment:

  1. Srange how Michael who lives in Ramsgate knew nothing about this event. Typical people never promote stuff

Thank you for commenting on my blog, your comments mean a lot to me and I love to read them. Defamatary comments will be removed


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Sunday, March 22, 2009

New web address

Due to the immense popularity of Public Nuisance Radio, it seems that someone in Turkey has decided to purchase the domain name and hold on to it. The new web address should prove to be easier for my intoxicated listeners, seeing as they won't have to attempt to spell "nuisance" while under the influence. Please bookmark www.pnrpodcast.com for your future stalking use.

Thank you...

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Public Nuisance Radio 44

What's up boys and girls, it's your old pal Mikey back with Public Nuisance Radio episode 44. This time around we discuss surviving childhood, kids of today are fucked, walmart is evil, and the 2 nuns that have been giving me nightmares. We also have regular features Stupid Sex, believe it or not and Mikey's bizarre sex act, pegging. I explain what the hell I've been doing instead of PNR as well. Be sure to hop over to the podsafe music network and check out this show's musical guests Fishbone.

To subscribe in many ways that I do not understand... Click here
To listen ... Click here
To get ahold of me... email me at pnrmikey@yahoo.com

Also, check out the new podcast I'm involved with... The BFF Show

Thank you, and good night....

p.s. The link to www.publicnuisanceradio.com is fucked up. I'll have this matter resolved soon, for the time being use www.publicnuisanceradio.blogspot.com. Thanks....


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Self-publishing is on the rise, and with its growing popularity comes an increase in information. (Sometimes, there can even be too much information.)

I've listed below my most helpful articles on self-publishing, including marketing and promotion (the bane of every self-published author's existence), advertising free days on KDP Select, getting reviews, tools such as ISBNs and free graphics programs, and contests.

I've also posted self-publishing success stories. These are not only inspiring, but highly instructive. Nothing beats an author's first person account of how he or she achieved success.

If you are considering self-publishing, you will need an arsenal of tools, tips, and strategies, all of which you can find on these sites.

If you are self-publishing, or even if you are being published traditionally, public events such as talks, book signings, and readings are a must. Nothing creates more fans than your physical presence. People want to sit in an audience and hear you speak. They want to crowd around you afterwards, asking you to sign copies of your book. But what about all the people who only know you virtually? That group is important as well. Here are some great tips for reaching your audience - both physical and virtual - on social media.
International book fairs may not be the best option for indie authors due to their high costs, local and regional book fairs are another matter entirely. These present many opportunities for local authors to read, sell and sign books, and lead workshops. Local fairs are an excellent means of building a fan base, as well as making contact with other authors. If you would like to exhibit, costs are much lower than for international fairs, and the logistics are easier to manage.

One of the appeals of self-publishing is that there is no waiting time. But is publishing immediately a good idea? And, if not, how long should you wait?
If you google ‘how to launch a book’ or ‘how to boost your book sales’ you’ll find a plethora of resources suggesting everything from growing an email list to getting early reviews to creating a street team. This is all wrong.
The Skinny on Virtual Book Tours
How to plan your own blog tour, or, if you don't have the time, how to select a good service.
High-Impact Paid Promotion for Indie Authors
Here are the paid services that authors have reported are the most effective for promoting their books.

32 Facebook Groups for Authors
These 32 Facebook groups provide a venue for announcing your new release, promoting your free days on Amazon, discussing topics related to publishing, and marketing and writing tips, and anything else related to books.
15 Reading and Writing Communities That Can Boost Your Platform
Reading and writing communities can be a great way not only to get feedback on your writing, but to gain a following. Some of them host competitions for the most popular stories, which are then publicized. On some of the larger sites, notably Wattpad and authonomy, there are tie-ins with media, publishing houses, and, in the case of WEbook, a service that helps writers pitch directly to agents.
Promoting Your Scifi or Fantasy Novel on Social Media
Here are top social media sites for promoting your science fiction and fantasy books.

Subscription Services for Self-Published Authors
These 3 subscription services have a huge number of subscribers and are open to self-published authors.
How to Get Reviews for Your Self-Published Book
An article that summarizes all the different strategies you can employ for getting reviews.

List of Online Reviewers Who Accept Self-Published Books
Mega-list of 240 book bloggers who are happy to review self-published work. This list is updated regularly.
Free Publicity for Your KDP Select Free Days
67 sites where you can advertise your free days - for free.
Everything I did wrong, Part 3: ePublishing
I made a number of critical mistakes in publishing my ebooks. Don't do what I did.
Everything I Did Wrong, Part 2: Designing An Author's Website
Yep. I did this wrong too. Here's how to do it right.
"Considering Self-Publishing? Don't Bother, Unless You Follow Guy Kawasaki's Advice"
Guy Kawasaki says self-publishing is all about "Karma."
A Simple Way to Sell More Books
Chandler says that if readers like your book, they will want to know what else you have written. So, are you including an "also by" in the front (or back) material of your book?
The Power of Preorders
If you are self-publishing, pre-orders are a must. Not only do they help generate buzz about your book, they serve as a vital promotional tool.

10 Tips for How to Throw a Successful Book Launch Party
A book launch party is an ideal opportunity for promotion, so don't waste it! The release of a book, especially a book by a local author, is considered news, which means you can get press coverage. It is also a great way to meet your fans, make new ones, and to connect with people who share your interests.
8 Ways to Use Goodreads to Promote Your Book
Goodreads is one of the most powerful social networks for authors looking to connect with readers. At 30 million members, it is the world’s largest site for book recommendations, with readers adding 30,000 reviews to the site every day. As an author, this is how you can make use of this popular site.
10 Scifi and Fantasy Review Sites for Indie Authors
Here are ten great sites that publish reviews of self-published science fiction and fantasy books. All offer reviews for free, the only exception being RT Book Reviews. Some accept books for review, while others accept freelance reviews, in which case someone - not the author - would have to submit a review. The advantage of these sites is traffic. While there are hundreds of bloggers who review self-published books, review sites, with their multiple reviewers, offer more exposure.

Amazon Opens Its Doors to Self-Publishers of Children's Books
KDP Kids is a publishing platform that allows authors to import illustrations, add pop-ups, and preview illustrated books with Kindle Kids' Book Creator. KDP Kids Also allows authors to target the parents - the people who are going to buy your book - of children in their demographic.
Random House Opens Its Doors to Self-Publishers, Perhaps
The launching of Random House's sci-fi digital imprint Hydra is met with some skepticism. But writers are more than pleased to submit their work.

Vook Becomes Self-Publishing Platform
With its contacts in major media, and its expansion into worldwide distribution, Vook may offer a serious challenge to Amazon, Smashwords, and Book Baby. It is hoping to attract Indie authors by offering 100% royalties, and a free self-publishing platform.

Top 5 Online Resources for Short Story Markets
Here are the most extensive, and most useful, resources for finding the perfect home for your short story.
Top 5 Sites for Science Fiction Writers
These sites will guide you on your mission to explore strange new markets, and to publish where many speculative fiction writers has gone before.
Top 5 Sites For Mystery/Thriller Writers
Whether you are just starting your career as a mystery writer, or have a book or two under your belt, these should be the top sites to put on your “favorites” list.
Top 6 Sites for Romance Writers
With over 30 million dedicated readers, Romance is one of the most lucrative genres. Go to these sites to find your audience.
Top 5 Resources for Publishing Poetry
Here are the resources that will provide you with all the information you need to locate the best literary journal for your work.

Top 5 Sites for Historical Fiction
These sites contain tons of valuable information on how to write historical fiction, as well as ample resources for researching whatever time period you are writing about.

Should You Hire a Professional Book Cover Designer?
If you are self-publishing you will want the best cover money can buy. Here are some book cover designers who will make your book look like a best-seller, and you don't have to spend a fortune either!
ISBNs: When You Need One and When You Don't
If you are thinking of putting your book into print, whether it's through print-on-demand, or any other self-publishing print venue, you will need an ISBN. If you are publishing on Amazon, you may not need to bother.
Making Your Own Book Cover? Best Free Programs for Graphic Design
There are dozens of graphic programs that don't cost a penny and provide high quality graphics. Features range from simple editing tools (rotation, special effects, text insertion) to 3D design and animation. As far as image manipulation is concerned, the sky is the limit.
13 Sites Where You Can Get Fabulous Free Photos
Eye-catching images not only draw the reader’s attention, they establish a mood, set a tone, and express what you can’t say in words. Fortunately, finding beautiful images has never been easier – or cheaper.
BookBaby gives away free writer’s guide to promote National Novel Writing Month
Incredibly, this book is still free, along with quite a few other self-publishing guides. Read these before you self-publish.

10 Awards for Self-Published Books
There are a few self-publishing contests that are not only prestigious, but offer considerable prizes to the winners, either in terms of cash or publicity. In this post I have listed 10 of the most worthwhile.
SCBWI Opens Yearly Award to Self-Publishers
The Spark Award is an annual award that recognizes excellence in a children’s book published through a non-traditional publishing route. It is open to members of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, (If you are a children's book writer, you should join SCBWI.)
4 Free Writing Contests for Self-Published Authors
While literary contests are increasingly open to self-published authors, only a few of them have no entry fee. Here are four legitimate contests that are free to enter.

2017 Smashwords Survey - Best Price for Your Ebook, Preorders, & More
After nearly a decade of ebook publishing, and over the course of many surveys, the CEO of Smashwords, Mark Coker, has insights that are invaluable for writers launching into self-publishing.

What Authors Want
Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest conducted a survey of 5,000 writers, prompted by the enormous jump in revenues from self-published books. While, "publishers [are] scrambling to explain to authors, agents and the rest of the world how they add value to the publishing process," authors are clear about what they want.

How Much Money Do Self-Published Authors Actually Make?
While the stats are not encouraging, some authors did report earning $200,000 or more from their writing, the highest income choice on the survey.
Hugh Howey: Why the Decision to Not Self-Publish is "Fatal"
Hugh Howey's Author Earnings Report provides stats on how much money self-published authors make on Amazon.
What is Success? The Best-Seller's Numbers Game…
It’s not often you get to find out exactly how many books you have to sell before you can call yourself a “best-selling author.” Take a guess. Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? How about 10,000.
Will Self-Publishing Exist in 10 Years?
The term “self-publishing” may have outlived its usefulness, according to Jon Fine, director of author and publishing relations at Amazon, speaking at the Publishing for Digital Minds conference in London.
Self-Publishing Boom in Great Britain
18 million self-published titles purchased (worth £59 million) is nothing to sneeze at.
Self-Publishing Output Jumped 59% in 2012
What does this huge increase mean for self-publishers? 1) You have lot of competition, and 2) You have a market.
eBook Market Set to More Than Double to Top $16Bn By 2020
The ebook market is being driven by more consumers accepting e-reading, more content made available through different business models, and the accelerating growth of emerging markets, especially China.

25% of Top 100 Kindle Books on Amazon from Indie Publishers
Somehow, it isn't surprising that a quarter of the top 100 Kindle books are self-published.  Self-published authors tend to price their books competitively.

Diary is a wonderful example of "Advertise it, and they shall come."

Romance Novel Finally Breaks The Post’s ‘No Self-Published Books’ Rule
The Washington Post, like many other highly influential book platforms, has always adopted a hands-off policy regarding self-published books. That has now changed with Serving Pleasure, an erotic romance which won a place on The Post's "best of" list for romance.

YA Debut Gets Six-Figure Deal: How did Scott Bergstrom Do It?
Scott originally self-published his book, but not in the usual fashion. As an advertising executive, Scott knew that marketing was everything. He formed a LLC, NuCodex Publishing, which allowed him to display his book at the Frankfurt Book Fair. It generated a huge amount of interest, grabbing the attention of an agent - and Hollywood.

The Martian: How did a self-published novel become a top-grossing movie?
The Martian, a film directed by Ridley Scott (AlienBlade Runner, Gladiator) and starring Matt Damon, has grossed over $385,869,582 in less than a month. How an obscure, self-published novel chock full of math and science ended up as a blockbuster should be a question on every indie author's lips.

Self-Publishing Success: The Little Rabbit That Could
Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin, the most famous author you have never heard of, has been making the news recently. His children's book, The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep, has been touted as an overnight success after it hit #1 on Amazon's bestseller list with seemingly no promotion. How did Ehrlin's self-published Rabbit manage to garner the top position on Amazon? All is revealed in this interview.
My own story of how my book got to be a bestseller on Amazon.

 "How I Became a Best-Selling Author": One woman's unlikely road to a hit novel
Darcie Chan's self-published debut novel became an unexpected hit in 2011. It sold more than 400,000 copies and landed on the best-seller lists alongside brand-name authors like Michael Connelly, James Patterson and Kathryn StockettThis is how she did it.

Hugh Howey's Self-Publishing Success Story - Luck, Timing, and Writing for the Right Reasons
He worked sporadically - and happily - at writing, putting his partially completed books up on Amazon for 99 cents, until one of them took off.  What is unusual about Howey is that he remained a self-published author on Amazon's Kindle platform - even after he landed a book deal with Simon and Schuster. He also turned down offers from agents - until one of them dangled Hollywood before him.
10 Bestsellers That Began as Self-Published Books
If you self-publish, your book may not only achieve success in its own right, but may be picked up by a major publishing house. (Ironically, it may even be published by one of the houses that has previously sent you a rejection slip.) These 10 famous books were turned down, but their authors did not give up on them.
Harper Collins Signs Up Self-Published Author Tina Seskis in $500,000 Deal
Sekis' debut novel, which was originally published in April as a Kindle e-book, went on to hit #1 on Amazon. Seskis, She followed the e-book publication with a paperback release, which went on to hit the bestseller list of the British bookstore chain, W.H. Smith.
Self-Published Book Makes It to #17 on Amazon's Kindle List - How Did Madeline Sheehan Do It?
Madeline Sheehan didn't "rocket" to success, she started off with only 6 sales - and she was thrilled! How did she get to #17 on Amazon’s Kindle Best Seller list (and get an agent)?
Tracy Bloom's Self-Published Book Rockets to the Top of Amazon's Charts
With no UK publishing deal for her debut novel, Tracy Bloom decided to go it alone. A few weeks later, her book was sitting at the top of the Amazon Kindle chart.
Epublishing - The Secret to Success
Lindsay Buroker provides details about her success and asks "Are More Authors Than You Think Making a Living Self-Publishing?"
Rejected by Publishers All Over NYC, Amanda Hocking is Now a Self-Published Millionaire
Amanda Hocking wasn't "discovered" by an agent or a publisher. She's still self-publishing, and selling 100,000 books a month.
Self-Published Book Skyrockets Author to Success
Soon after self-publishing, people Coleen Hoover didn’t know were downloading the book — even after it was only available for a fee. Readers began posting reviews and buzz built on blogs. By July, both of her books were on The New York Times best-seller list for e-books. Soon after, they were picked up by Atria Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint. By fall, she had sold the movie rights."

Indie Authors Get 7-Figure Deal for Self-Published Series
Before signing up with Berkley Books, Jasinda Wilder had self-published 28 ebooks. She did two things: 1) She identified her market and followed the trends, and 2) She wrote like blazes, churning out one book after another, until she built a following.

University of Central Lancashire launches world's first degree in self-publishing
Announcing its Master's in self-publishing, the university pointed to research from the books data company Bowker, which found that around 390,000 titles were self-published in the US in 2012, up 59% on 2011 and a massive 422% on 2007.

First Bookstore Dedicated to Self-Published Authors Opens in Florida
Two writers in Florida decide it's time to open a bookstore just for Indies. Essentially, it's a coop. Each writer pitches in enough per month to pay for rent and overhead, and keeps 100% of sales.

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Logo of ottDove Medical PressThis ArticleSubscribeSubmit a ManuscriptSearchFollowDovepressOncoTargets and Therapy
Onco Targets Ther. 2016; 9: 3181–3185.
Published online 2016 May 27. doi:  10.2147/OTT.S95128
PMCID: PMC4892827

Clinical features and treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the breast

Data on breast squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are rare. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics and to explore the rational treatment of patients with breast SCC.

Patients and methods

We conducted a retrospective review of breast SCC cases treated at our center from 1966 to 2014. The majority of these patients received primary surgery followed by adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, whilst four elderly patients had lumpectomy only.

Patients with breast SCC were usually women, and large masses, large proportion of early stage disease, low levels of estrogen receptor expression, less frequent axillary lymph nodes involvement, and unfavorable prognosis were common. The 5-year overall survival and progression-free survival of all patients were 67.2% and 57.8%, respectively. Axillary nodal involvement was a significant prognostic factor for survival.

The current results indicated that breast SCC is clinically aggressive and the outcomes were poor. Distant metastasis was the main failure pattern. New strategies will be needed because of the poor outcomes.

Keywords: breast metaplastic carcinoma, breast SCC, treatment, surgery, prognosis

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the breast is exceedingly rare. The prevalence is estimated to be <0.1% of all breast carcinomas.1,2 A literature review revealed that most of the studies were sporadic case reports or small case series.19 In addition, due to the lack of stringent pathological criteria, earlier reports always consisted of SCC tumors occurring with adenocarcinoma component or originating from the adjacent skin. Therefore, the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with SCC of the breast have not been well defined. Furthermore, the treatment options for breast SCC have been based on extrapolation from the experience with breast infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC), so the optimal therapy for SCC of the breast has yet to be determined. To date, the prognosis and optimal treatment for SCC of the breast remain controversial. Although some authors believed that there were no significant differences between the prognosis of breast SCC and that of other breast malignancies,5,8,10,11 other reports suggested a poorer prognosis.6,7,1214 To clearly identify the prognosis and treatment of this rare entity from our experience, we retrospectively studied the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of SCC of the breast treated in our hospital.

Patients and methods

Between 1966 and 2014, 37 consecutive patients with previously untreated SCC of the breast were reviewed at our institution. Since nine cases were diagnosed before the year 2000, our pathologist reviewed the histopathological slides and made the definitive diagnosis of SCC of the breast according to the criteria defined by Rosen:15 1) >90% of the area was SCC, 2) absence of skin involvement, and 3) absence of other primary SCC. Following reexamination, patients failing to meet the criteria were excluded, and the remaining 30 patients finally diagnosed as pure SCC of the breast comprised this study. The markers of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and Her2/neu were also tested by immunohistochemistry according to the following criteria: >10% of tumor cells with positive nuclear staining were regarded as ER/PR positive and >10% of tumor cells with positive membranous staining were regarded as Her2/neu positive. In some patients, in the early stages of the study, hormone receptors were unavailable owing to the lack of enough tissue.

Information regarding demographic features, clinical findings, and treatment were reviewed from the medical records. Generally, all patients received cervical and abdominal ultrasonography and chest radiography, and if found to be in an advanced stage, isotope bone scan was suggested. In addition, contralateral mammography was applied to rule out the secondary breast carcinoma. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, and all patients provided written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

All patients received surgery as the primary treatment. Of them, five patients received breast conservative surgery (BCS) and 15 patients received mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The remaining four elderly patients (all >80 years old) had lumpectomy and refused any further therapy.

Cyclophosphamide–methotrexate–fluorouracil combination was the frequently used chemotherapy regimen more than 20 years ago, whereas taxane- or adriamycin-based chemotherapy regimens were used more frequently in the past 20 years. All the patients except the four elderly patients who had lumpectomy received adjuvant chemotherapy. Five patients also had neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the similar regimens. Six patients with T3/T4 stage disease or positive axillary lymph nodes were also instituted adjuvant radiotherapy. The radiotherapy field comprises chest wall and supraclavicular field, and the median radiation dose was 50 Gy (range 40–52), with a dose per fraction of 2 Gy.

Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis was performed using the statistical package for the social science (SPSS for Windows 15.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were estimated using the product limit Kaplan–Meier method. OS was calculated from the date of surgery to the time of death from any cause or until the last follow-up. PFS was calculated from the date of surgery to the time of disease progression, recurrence, or death. Treatment failure was defined as disease progression, recurrence, or metastasis. Survival differences between the groups were calculated using the log-rank test.

Patient characteristics

Clinical characteristics of the patients are listed in Table 1. This study included one male patient and 29 female patients. The median age was 50 years (range: 28–87 years), with four patients older than 80 years. The most common presenting symptom was palpable mass and a median tumor size of 3.1 cm (range: 1.1–15 cm), with seven patients having a mass of >5 cm. Eleven (11/30, 36.7%) patients had axillary lymph node involvement, with two of them having more than four positive axillary nodes. The majority of patients (25/30, 83.3%) were in the early stage of tumor development (T1: n=7 and T2: n=17), according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer/Union for International Cancer Control (2010 edition) staging system for breast cancer. There were five patients with stage I disease, 18 patients with stage II disease, and seven patients with stage III disease. Of the patients with available receptor status, two patients (2/19) were ER positive, one patient (1/18) was PR positive, and five patients (5/15) were Her2/neu positive.

Table 1
Clinical characteristics of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the breast

Treatment outcomes

With a median follow-up time of 55 months for living patients, the 5-year OS rate and PFS rate were 67.2% and 57.8%, respectively, with the median OS and PFS not reached (Figure 1). At the final follow-up, 20 patients were alive with no evidence of disease, seven patients died from breast cancer, and the remaining three patients lived with disease.

Figure 1
OS and PFS rates in 30 patients with breast squamous cell carcinoma.

Univariate analysis revealed that none of the following factors, including sex, age, primary location, tumor size, and overall stage, showed significant prognostic effect on OS. Interestingly, only axillary lymph node involvement was a significant prognostic factor for both OS and PFS (Table 2). The prognosis of patients who had axillary lymph node involvement was significantly inferior to those without. The 5-year OS and PFS rates were 100% and 79.9%, respectively, for patients without axillary lymph node involvement when compared with 31.7% and 31.8%, respectively, for those with axillary lymph node involvement (OS: P=0.002 and PFS: P=0.039; Figure 2).

Figure 2
(A) OS and (B) PFS rates in 30 patients who had or did not have positive axillary lymph nodes.
Table 2
Prognostic factors in patients with breast squamous cell carcinoma

Patterns of failure

Ten patients (10/30, 33.3%) had disease progression or developed recurrence. Median time to treatment failure from the surgery was 19.5 months. Of the patients with treatment failure, three patients had local regional recurrence, five patients had distant metastasis, and two patients had both local and distant metastases. There was no difference between radical and conservative surgery groups. Of the patients with relapsed disease, two patients with localized disease received radiotherapy, three patients with distant disease received chemotherapy, and the remaining five patients refused further therapy. The median survival of the patients with relapsed disease was only 6.0 months.

Although the clinicopathological features of breast IDC have been well recognized, there are few data regarding the clinical behavior and treatment outcomes of breast SCC. This study provides the clinical features and treatment outcomes of a relatively large series of patients with breast SCC.

Most of the clinical features of SCC of the breast, such as large proportion of patients diagnosed in the early stage of disease, low levels of ER expression, and less frequent involvement of axillary lymph nodes, are in contrast to those of IDC. Although some of the abovementioned features are suggestive of a low-tumor burden, as indicated by a large proportion of patients with early stage disease and less frequent involvement of axillary lymph nodes, they still had an unfavorable prognosis, which is largely poorer than stage-adjusted IDC. The survival outcomes in this study are comparable with other studies,6,7,1214,16 where the 5-year OS rate and PFS rate were 67.2% and 57.8%, respectively. The OS rate is similar to that in the reports from Grabowski et al,12 Behranwala et al,7 and surveillance epidemiology and end results data13 but differs from the rates reported by Hennessy et al13 and Aparicio et al.6

Given the rarity of this tumor, most of the patients were treated similar to IDC considering that these malignancies share the same primary site. However, due to the invasiveness and poorer prognosis, mastectomy is frequently used as shown by a majority of the reports.68,13,14 Most studies on SCC of the breast reported favorably on the administration of mastectomy instead of BCS. Whether or not BCS is a safe and effective treatment option for this rare entity is unknown. In this study, five patients received BCS, though the small series, at the final follow-up, and none had local regional recurrences. Therefore, we believe that BCS is a reasonable option as the treatment for SCC of the breast. Data from metaplastic breast cancers (MBCs) also demonstrate that BCS is a choice for the treatment for patients with MBC, and the survival was comparable between the two surgery types.17 This, combined with our experience, suggests that BCS is not contraindicated in the treatment of SCC of the breast.

In addition, none of the studies have addressed the role of more conservative surgery such as lumpectomy for the treatment of SCC of the breast. Our study had proved that lumpectomy was safe for the cohort of very elderly patients who have been always associated with other comorbidities. In this study, the four elderly patients had at least one comorbidity. Therefore, lumpectomy was used, and given the relatively long follow-up period, the survival was favorable, which proved that lumpectomy was safe and effective. This is consistent with the observations that tumors always grow more slowly in old people.18,19 This might be explained by either physical factors or immunological factors.

Of interest, neoadjuvant chemotherapy was undertaken in five patients; however, no response was observed, and tumor progressed in one patient. The same phenomenon was seen in Hennessy et al’s13 and Nayak et al’s14 studies. This, to some extent, reveals the chemoresistance of SCC of the breast, which is different from SCC originating from head and neck regions with a complete response rate as high as 80%.16 Poor response to chemotherapy suggested that neoadjuvant chemotherapy is not applicable in advanced SCC of the breast. In addition, most of the histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses of MBCs suggested that they have a basal-like phenotype.20,21 However, as a subtype of MBCs, response to chemotherapy for SCCs of the breast is extremely poor, which is different from basal-like infiltrating carcinoma.22 Chemoresistance and the triple negativity of SCC of the breast preclude the conventional chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and neoadjuvant therapy. Innovative chemotherapy regimens need to be explored in the future.

Patterns of failure in our study were mainly due to distant metastasis, and seven of the ten patients experienced distant metastasis. Our results were consistent with Aparicio et al’s6 and Behranwala et al’s7 reports. On the contrary, in Hennessy’s study,13 which included a relatively large population of patients with SCC of the breast, ~40% patients suffered from local regional relapse. The author stated that the reasons for the high local regional relapse were not clear. In this study, median survival from treatment failure was only 6 months, suggesting a poorer prognosis after relapse and calling for newer chemotherapy regimens.

SCC of the breast is clinically rare and aggressive. Treatment outcomes were poor after primary surgery and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Distant metastasis was the main failure pattern. As a result, the addition of newer chemotherapy regimens and target therapy into the innovative multimodality therapy might improve the patients’ outcomes.

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

1. Wrightson WR, Edwards MJ, McMasters KM. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast presenting as a breast abscess. Am Surg. 1999;65(12):1153–1155. [PubMed]
2. Menes T, Schachter J, Morgenstern S, Fenig E, Lurie H, Gutman H. Primary squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) of the breast. Am J Clin Oncol. 2003;26(6):571–573. [PubMed]
3. Moisidis E, Ahmed S, Carmalt H, Gillett D. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. ANZ J Surg. 2002;72(1):65–67. [PubMed]
4. Sheen-Chen S, Chen Y, Chou F, Eng H. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. South Med J. 1992;85(2):207–209. [PubMed]
5. Weigel RJ, Ikeda DM, Nowels KW. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. South Med J. 1996;89(5):511–515. [PubMed]
6. Aparicio I, Martínez A, Hernández G, Hardisson D, De Santiago J. Squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2008;137(2):222–226. [PubMed]
7. Behranwala KA, Nasiri N, Abdullah N, Trott PA, Gui GP. Squamous cell carcinoma of the breast: clinico-pathologic implications and outcome. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2003;29(4):386–389. [PubMed]
8. Cardoso F, Leal C, Meira A, et al. Squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. Breast. 2000;9(6):315–319. [PubMed]
9. Stevenson JT, Graham DJ, Khiyami A, Mansour EG. Squamous cell carcinoma of the breast: a clinical approach. Ann Surg Oncol. 1996;3(4):367–374. [PubMed]
10. Campana YJ, Vilcoq JR, Vielh P, et al. Carcinoma epidermoide primitif du sein. Etude clinique, histopathologique et prognostiquede 14 patientes. [Primary epidermoid carcinoma of the breast. Clinical, histopathologic and prognostic study of 14 patients] Bull Cancer. 1992;79:675–679. [PubMed]
11. Wargotz ES, Norris HJ. Metaplastic carcinomas of the breast. Cancer. 1990;65(2):272–276. [PubMed]
12. Grabowski J, Saltzstein SL, Sadler G, Blair S. Squamous cell carcinoma of the breast: a review of 177 cases. Am Surg. 2009;75(10):914–917. [PubMed]
13. Hennessy BT, Krishnamurthy S, Giordano S, et al. Squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23(31):7827–7835. [PubMed]
14. Nayak A, Wu Y, Gilcrease MZ. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast: predictors of locoregional recurrence and overall survival. Am J Surg Pathol. 2013;37(6):867–873. [PubMed]
15. Rosen PR. Rosen’s Breast Pathology. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2001. Chapter 19; pp. 455–461.
16. Lorch JH, Goloubeva O, Haddad RI, et al. Induction chemotherapy with cisplatin and fluorouracil alone or in combination with docetaxel in locally advanced squamous cell cancer of the head and neck: long-term results of the TAX 324 randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2011;12(2):153–159. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
17. Dave G, Cosmatos H, Do T, Lodin K, Varshney D. Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast: a retrospective review. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2006;64(3):771–775. [PubMed]
18. Ershler WB, Stewart JA, Hacker MP, Moore AL, Tindle BH. B16 murine melanoma and aging: slower growth and longer survival in old mice. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1984;72(1):161–164. [PubMed]
19. Auerbach R, Kubai L, Sidky Y. Angiogenesis induction by tumors, embryonic tissues, and lymphocytes. Cancer Res. 1976;36(9 PT 2):3435–3440. [PubMed]
20. Weigelt B, Kreike B, Reis-Filho JS. Metaplastic breast carcinomas are basal-like breast cancers: a genomic profiling analysis. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009;117(2):273–280. [PubMed]
21. Grenier J, Soria JC, Mathieu MC, et al. Differential immunohistochemical and biological profile of squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. Anticancer Res. 2007;27(1B):547–555. [PubMed]
22. Rouzier R, Perou CM, Symmans WF, et al. Breast cancer molecular subtypes respond differently to preoperative chemotherapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2005;11(16):5678–5685. [PubMed]

Articles from OncoTargets and therapy are provided here courtesy of Dove Press


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In the Media

New Romance

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Musician Sam Smith and actor Brandon Flynn were photographed in a mood of romance during a drive through New York City.

According to the celebrity website, TMZ, the singer of ‘Stay With Me’ and the actor of ’13 Reasons Why’, Netflix series, have been together for some time but this was the first time they have appeared together in public.

Judging by the images that have now become public, Sam and Brandon are in love and ready to take on the relationship publicly. The 25-year-old musician and 23-year-old actor strolled hand in hand, exchanging affectionate kisses and hugging each other.

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Monday, August 19, 2013

This weekend we (sort of we, mostly he)
had our backyard rock path project on the to-do list

does it seem to you like we always have a stack/pile of

 in this case
1.  rock
2.  inspiration

3.  jawbone

4.  ManBeer

5.  Boundaries

6.  Man we ever love those corners in a rock puzzle? down
300? to go
no wonder that man has a
man beer and swimtrunks

Laurie said...

thats going to look amazing, keep that fuel coming for that man, he has a long way to go!

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Looks like the project is coming along amazingly! BTW I found a way to bypass that pesky Blogger rule that only allows you to follow a certain number of blogs (300) so I am finally following your blog now :)

Heather - New House New HOme said...

Your poor hardworking husband. You're a lucky girl!!! it's going to look amazing!

NanaDiana said...

Oh- I can't wait to see the whole thing. It is going to be just wonderful-xo Diana

Karen Albert said...

Oh I adore stone and rock paths; it will be beautiful. Good Man!

Art by Karena

At Rivercrest Cottage said...

Don't know if I love the stone or your comments more. Can't wait to see it all finished.

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

teeheee.....MY MAN is done with my shenanigans and ideas! It's my turn to finish our flagstone path that I got him started on last year; but I go back to school in two weeks, so I need to leave that project for NEXT spring!

Gina, your home, your garden, your PATH are looking so lovely. We share a very similar home style and it's always a thrill to see what you're up to. Thank you dear one for coming to visit. Anita

Marissa said...

The stone pathway looks amazing!!!! Can I borrow your husband for the week-end?

HolleyGarden said...

I can't wait to see it all coming together. You have such great vision. Make sure your man doesn't have too many man beers, or the path may be a bit crooked! (just kidding) ;)

The Magical Christmas Wreath Company said...

The health and safety officer within me is noticing an accident waiting to happen in the second from last picture. The classic rake lying flat on the ground soon to levitate at speed toward to the face needs to be addressed please.


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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Announcing the Winners!

Thank you all for entering our Grand Opening Givaways!

The winners were all selected using Random.org - the pick a number, any number system. Once the number is generated, I just count down the comments until I reach that number and . . . voila! a winner!

Drum roll, if you please. . .

Our first winner - the new owner of this lovely bracelet and earring set is. . .

Miss Grace

The winner of our second givaway - the hand crocheted, cotton dishcloths . . .and the wire wrapped ring is. . .
(by the way, if you've never tried using handcrafted dishcloths, you don't know what you're missing!)

And. . . last but not least. . . the winner of the wire wrapped ring is. . .

Congrats to all of you and thanks to everyone who entered!

A Note to the winners:  Please contact me at cowgirl_creations (at) hotmail (dot) com.  I will need your mailing addresses - and the ring size for you, DenimCowgirl.  If I don't hear from you by May 24, we will choose another winner for that item.

Once again. . . thanks to everyone!

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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Your Body - a Temple of the Holy Spirit

Your Body – a Temple of the Holy Spirit
Posted by Lisa
Written September 17, 2011

In the teenage and early twenty years, I’ve seen so many girls lose their health.  They push themselves to be “like the guys,” go to college, work hard, volunteering, help with the family, and all around just take on too much for themselves.  Now, please don’t get me wrong – aside from the “be like the guys” part, ALL of those activities are excellent activities that are actually extremely important.  But there is a point when you have to say no and when you have to take a break.  Ultimately, we forget to take care of ourselves.

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Now you may think I am preaching to the
choir, but I actually know this from personal experience.  It started innocently enough and nothing of my own doing – I was 15 and riding in the back of the van (ironically studying for my driver’s permit) with my family, when Mom (who was driving) got hit by another driver.  It started that day, with some back and neck problems from the accident.  But it kept going.  I took on nursing school (a very hard school to be at in college), work, volunteering, helping with the family, and more…  I was sleeping from about 1:30am-4:30am every night (I had to be at work by 5:30am).  And without boring you with a long story – my health pretty much fell apart.  Not to a serious extent (although it was on the road there), but I was passing out, had anemia, and a bunch of other things that plagued me from day to day.

I have to say I was extremely blessed by my family.  Under my parents’ amazing guidance and others who completely pitched in to help me get better, I was able to stop the rockslide of destruction coming my way.  Other girls are not so blessed.  They continue to push themselves, not seeing that they have a choice in how they handle their lives.  Not realizing or understanding that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

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1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price: therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”  Now, I know some girls cannot stop everything – but it is still important to try very hard to take care of your bodies.  It is important that girls understand when they need to say no and stop volunteering themselves.  It is important to understand where your limit is, so that you get enough sleep and a healthy diet to keep yourselves going.  Our body is meant to glorify Him…it is not our own.  We need to make sure we act in such a way that will bring glory to Him.  This, of course, does not mean flaunting ourselves – but we do need to care for ourselves.

Psalm 139:13-14 is also meaningful while on this topic.  This passage talks about how God is our creator: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”  God created us and made us fearfully and wonderfully…  Don’t you think that means we should do our best to take care ourselves?

This week, when going about your daily tasks – try to remember that we are meant to glorify Him.  We need to take care of ourselves, and not get burdened down with everything that we think we need or want to do.  We all have our limits, and most of us know our limits.  It is whether or not we pay attention to and heed those limits in order to take care of ourselves.

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Purelux Hair Salon & Boutique is proud to offer L'ANZA to our clients. As expert L'ANZA specialists, we strive to deliver the best products and services in the Arvada, CO area. Our decision to offer L'ANZA to our valued customers is part of this commitment.

Salon Hours

Tuesday10am - 8pm
Wednesday10am - 8pm
Thursday10am - 8pm
Friday10am - 6:30pm
Saturday8am - 5pm
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Purelux Salon - 4407 52nd Avenue - Arvada, CO 80212, USA - 720-299-0794

Purelux Hair Salon services Arvada, CO. Wheat Ridge, CO. Thornton, CO. Golden, CO. Denver, CO. Aurora, CO. Lakewood, CO. Westminster, CO. Evergreen, CO. Highlands, CO. Berkeley, CO. Sunnyside, CO. Lohi, CO


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Monday, July 11, 2011

I feel like I've hit a moral low.

I've raided Ray's kitchen for food and taken $25 from her while she's at work. Hopefully she'll never find this blog (I'm surprised she never asked me what I did on my computer all the time) but if she does, hopefully she'll try to understand why I did it.

Again I find my self in need of a direction. I could go north toward Rochester. I've always wanted to go to Rochester, ever since I received my information packet from RIT. Just because I thought it was beautiful.

Or I could go with my original plan and move south toward Maryland. This honestly is beginning to feel like a bad idea, just because of all I've heard of the FBI and other wacky government agencies getting on peoples' tails. Maryland is just too close to DC and far too much seems to be going on there.

Philadelphia might be a possibility. But I don't know anyone there and quite frankly that idea scares me a little.

.....And then there's East.

I can't go home. Maybe somewhere else. Maybe Rhode Island. Rhode Island is beautiful this time of year. And there are plenty of people.

I guess it depends where the buses are going. All of the buses I've checked don't leave until later this afternoon, so I'll need somewhere to stay until then.

I'm going to the library.

Run fast for your mother, fast for your father
Run fast for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all of your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive.

Some parting words for you. Ray loves Florence and the Machine and she's kind-of rubbed off on me. Heh.

  1. Run back home. Come back to where you are known and can be around family. Come back to Him...

  2. shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupiwillnotlistentoyou

  3. You will return. one can not stay away from those they care about for so long.


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Monday, May 20, 2013

the last few weeks

this post has been scheduled for this morning... which means if you are reading this i am about two hours from landing in my new home for the summer-london!

before i share all about my new city, i figured i'd share some pictures from my last few weeks of my sophomore year in college!

these past few weeks were filled with some not so fun stuff- papers, final exams, group projects, and oral presentations.  not to mention applications, orders for london, and packing.  these things were time consuming and insanely stressful.  BUT in the midst of all of that were some of the best memories of my sophomore year.

^^ formal! two weeks ago we had formal at this gorgeous country club.  i borrowed this dress from my big (top picture) and had so much fun with everyone.
^^ i planned an event for my sorority's philanthropy, a soccer tournament called alpha phifa!  the day was gorgeous and we raised $2,000.
^^ macklemore and time flies tuesday came to my school for our spring concert.  it was such a fun day!
^^my baby sister had her prom!  isn't she gorgeous?

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Got the camping bug!!

Since mr 13 went on his school camp a month or so ago, I have been super keen to take my family camping!

I have been meaning to blog about this, but just have not had the time.  It's been so hectic around here.

Bascially when we got back from visiting Mr 13 at his school camp, I jumped on Trademe and started looking for a tent.  Since then I have scored some wonderful bargains!!

hubby was in OZ when mr 13 went to his camp, so by the time he had returned, I had already bought a tent and various other camping items AND booked us a spot at the same place Mr 13 had his camp :)

So last Sunday (11th Dec), we were packed and off we went :)  We were there for 3 nights.  Arrived back on Wednesday.

Although the experience was awesome - I mean, hey, the kids and hubby were out fishing each day ALL day!!  I on the other hand, was stuck in the tent with lil miss 7 months cos the weather was CRAP!  Absolute crap *sigh*  The first day we were there, it was windy and drizzling...thank goodness it wasn't raining the moment we arrived, we managed to put the tent up and set everything up in dry weather...but of course as soon as we had everything set up - it. rained. hard.

We were planning on spending wednesday lunch there after packing up, but due to the horrible weather, we woke up, had breakfast, packed up and came straight home!

What a mission!

EVERYTHING was WET.  Clothes, blankets, sheets, gear *sigh*  Wet from the rain, wet from the sea!!  Sand everywhere!  Of course, just cos you get home doesn't mean the camping experience is over - no siree!!  You have to UNPACK!!  And when everything is bloody soaked - it's a friggan hassle!

First off...the tents had to be set up again and allowed to dry!  Well...of course it didn't stop raining until this morning!! nearly a whole week since returning, we finally got the tents dried and packed away!!

I gave in to trying to do all the laundry at home...and took the last of it to the laundr-o-mat this afternoon to wash and bring home to dry.

Here are some pics from our first family camping trip :)

The first day we were there, it was WINDY and didn't rain too often.
Day 2 onwards, the weather went down hill...
Of course this lil girl didn't mind :)
Neither did mr 9 who spent and LOVED every moment he could out fishing.

And when the tide came in and they couldn't stand on the rocks...they just fished off the beach!!

  1. Despite the weather i'm sure you and your fams had a great time camping :)

    Nice pics by the way!.

    It's been so long since I went camping come to think of it - this post makes me want to go in the new year!.

  2. Oh yay Jo_an I hope you do find the time to go camping - it's awesome family time - especially when ya on a budget :)

    We did have a neat time...we're booked to go again on Xmas day...excited much lol. Gotta make the most of summer aye? :)


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Plagiarism Warning, Copyright Infringement is a Crime

Here are some important considerations when doing online work, term papers, published reports, copywriting, advertising, sales and marketing brochures, and article publications.

Become proactive in stopping this Internet virus plague. The following is a true story of an egregious website example of someone doing an online copy and paste of text from one site to another.

Important Business and Ebusiness Legal Issues

Not only is this unethical but it can have major eBusiness legal ramifications. With Internet access open to anyone, the Web is providing a very quick way of doing research online. People are taking advantage of the quick copy and paste commands and trying to pass off written works as their own. This type of activity is on the rise for students, professionals, and even some university professors are “Guilty of Plagiarism”. This is considered a form of theft.¹

This particular site had copied over 90% of the text verbatim from our Internet ethics page. In addition to this page that was copied, they also produced a second page with the exact same wording. Additional investigation displayed content from their other pages and links which have a pattern similar to what this example shows, covering a broad professional spectrum of articles. Note that on 2/20/05, articles were reportedly removed and replaced.

It seems as though webmasters and even writers think they can copy and paste text off other websites to their hearts content. It is rather easy to prove who has the original copy of the web page in question. Search engines keep a cache of the pages that are cataloged on their web site. In fact search engines can be subpoenaed to share that information with the courts.

EBusiness websites are not the only areas where copyright protected information is being scraped and pillaged. This can be seen in various business types of B2B and B2C websites, multimedia news articles, newsletters, PDF and Word documents, and even blogs.

Defining Plagiarism:

“Plagiarism is the deliberate or negligent, copying of words, ideas and/or thoughts in whole, or in part, of another and then passing them off as original thought.”²

It is not hard to tell if something is plagiarized. Taking works that are not your own and then publishing the article online as though it were your own is copyright infringement. Even attorneys have been involved in copyright infringement offenses. The legal and monetary consequences can be quite severe. Consequences involving monetary retribution and “there is also a provision in the law for criminal penalties and imprisonment if the infringement is serious enough.”³ An additional note to be aware of is, once an offence is committed and subsequently published online or in print, can come back to haunt a person forever.

It is important that companies police the Internet themselves and use popular search engines to check their own published articles online. Check also into the trade journals of what ever particular field that your company is involved in. Suggest using the online search engines and search for a key sentence or two from your copyrighted article, and place that in the search bar. Any sites that have the whole body text could be guilty of plagiarism, though there is some latitude for fair use.

If you do include information in websites that use substantially the same words, thoughts, or ideas of another, then it would be prudent to give credit to the person or organization in the form of footnotes and hyperlinks, including quotes when citing passages from the original source. Not giving credit where credit is due could hurt you and your business.

For more information related to these legal issues or eBusiness websites and the importance of following all the ethical, legal, and regulatory issues on B2B, B2C, and eCommerce sites visit us on the Internet including more information on sales, marketing, advertising ethics. Additional e-business info for B2C, emarketing strategies, eCommerce websites, and supply chains can be found at our Internet marketing and advertising resources page. Also take a look at the marketing differences between B2B and B2C and a bit more information on the ABC’s of B2B and B2C can be found at our sales and marketing website article: Understanding B2B marketing for businesses and consumer B2C marketing.

Organizations, footnotes, and suggested reference reading material regarding copyrights and plagiarism:

  1. Avoid Plagiarizing, [cite:], Waukesha County Technical College
  2. Consider The High Cost of Plagiarizing, [cite from original(may be out of print):],
    by: R. R. Michaud & T. A. Johnson, of: McCormick, Paulding & Huber LLP,
  3. Using Someone Else’s Ideas Can Cost You Big, [cite:], New Jersey State Bar Foundation
  4. Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism, [cite:], The University of Akron Office of General Counsel
  5. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, [cite:], United States Copyright Office

Contact us today with help getting your website found by new customers online. For Internet marketing services, online advertising strategies, SEO – search engine optimization, and B2B and B2C web branding solutions contact Professional Web Services now.

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2014 Budget Passed by House Includes BIG BUMP for Mental Health

January 20, 2014

The National Council for Behavioral Health just announced that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill - also expected to pass in the Senate - that provides large increases over the 2013 allocations for mental health funding including $15 million for Mental Health First Aid training.

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No more sticky notes!

January 10, 2014

Dr. Tom Ford, Chief Executive Officer for Lookout Mountain Community Services in La Fayette, Ga., tells the story of how

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Qualifacts Keeps Growing

December 17, 2013

When it comes to growth, Qualifacts just can’t stop! Here’s just the latest batch of new employees who will join

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EHR Go-Live Fun in New York

December 2, 2013

It’s true that with the right preparation, you can ensure success implementing an electronic health record. But any change can

Read More


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Gravity Timeline

Kepler transforms astronomy and shows that the planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits. (1609)

Galileo points a telescope at the night sky and makes dramatic discoveries wherever he looks. (1609)

Galileo publishes his Two New Sciences in which he reveals the results of his experiments with falling objects. He shows that projectiles follow parabolic paths when falling in the Earth’s gravitational field. (1638)

Jeremiah Horrocks predicts that the planet Venus will cross the face of the Sun. Along with his friend Crabtree, he is the first to witness such an event. (1639)

Newton proves that the Moon is held in orbit by the same force that pulls an apple to the ground. His revolutionary theories of mechanics and gravitation are published in the Principia. (1687)

Adams and Le Verrier use Newton’s theory of gravity to successfully predict the existence of a new planet. (1846)

Einstein creates general relativity where gravity is described as the curvature of spacetime. (1915)

Hubble shows that there is a large red shift in the light from distant galaxies, such that the more distant a galaxy the faster it is receding from us. The clear implication is that the whole universe is expanding. (1929)

Penzias and Wilson discover the cosmic microwave background radiation providing firm evidence for the Big Bang theory of the universe. (1964)

A voracious black hole is shown to reside within the powerful
X-ray source Cygnus X-1. (1973)

Hawking stuns the physics community by showing that
black holes are not completely black. (1974)

Andrea Ghez maps out the orbits of stars at the heart of the galaxy, proving the existence of a supermassive black hole. (2008)

The LIGO team announce the first ever detection of gravitational waves from the collision and merger of two black holes. (2015)

For more about Nicholas Mee’s fascinating story of gravity take a look here: Gravity: Cracking the Cosmic Code.

{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }

Abbas Anjum April 17, 2014 at 8:05 am

Nicholas Mee
Hoping you at your best. I just want to express my GRATITUDE for getting me along with latest information about the Universe. I can not tell how excited I feel when some of your work comes in my inbox. Please keep me along
Thank you
Muhammad Abbas Anjum Lashari Electrical Engineer working in a local power company of Pakistan

Rod Morris-Kirby April 17, 2014 at 8:45 am

It will be very interesting to read the section and conclusions for the BICEP2 data. So far good work.

Trudie Robat April 17, 2014 at 10:52 am

Hi Nicholas
Thank you for keeping me in the loop. As always I am fascinated with the articles. It amazes me constantly what really is going on in the Universe. It is a never ending source of information I do enjoy reading about it.
With my regards

Tim Purcell April 17, 2014 at 12:04 pm

Thank you for your great work and enthusiastic readable progress please keep us informed. What a truly fascinating subject and at the frontier of progress
Mr Tim Purcell

Tim Purcell April 17, 2014 at 12:07 pm

One thing that needs to be mentioned is the future possibility of fusion power which the world needs

B S Krishnamurthy April 17, 2014 at 12:08 pm

Dear Prof.Nicholas,
Thank you very much indeed for keeping me informed about the recent developments.As I am retired It is rather difficult to keep myself informed about the new developments.I like your lucid way of presenting the matter and I enjoy reading the same.
With best regards

Phil needham April 17, 2014 at 12:43 pm

Succinct I like so much to understand your descriptions in a subject matter way beyond my intellectual powers

Paul Franklin April 17, 2014 at 4:35 pm

Just completeed a course on the Higgs Boson and found your book ‘Higgs Force’ invaluable!!
Looking forward to your next book!!
Best Wishes
Paul F

Steve Syratt April 17, 2014 at 5:20 pm

Looking forward to your new book on gravity Nicholas. Many thanks for your emails which I find very interesting.

Debashis Gangopadhyay April 17, 2014 at 6:12 pm

Thank You for your lucid expositions.
I really enjoy it.

SK Chakraborty April 18, 2014 at 5:48 am

Dear Prof
I always look forward keenly to your articles and books with their extraordinary lucidity and depth combined. Many of my friends came to know of your regular contributions from me. The one on gravity is in keeping with your excellent communicative skill. Do keep it up, please.

Manoranjan Rao April 18, 2014 at 8:04 am

I value greatly your mails. Thanks a lot for the Gravity time line! Such time lines are essential to keep the younger generation informed about the original contributions of geniuses from the past centuries. Do we miss Copernicus in the time line?

Nick April 18, 2014 at 8:17 am

Copernicus will be mentioned in the book, as well as some even earlier figures: Thales, Hipparchus and Ptolemy.

Rajendra Rajyaguru April 21, 2014 at 3:35 am

Also Euclid and Pythagoras?

Nick April 21, 2014 at 9:43 am

Euclid does get a mention in a later chapter. The ideas of Pythagoras are alluded in a couple of places in the book.

reghumohankumar April 18, 2014 at 4:09 pm

dear Nicholas,
thank u for mailing the latest updates regarding our Universe.just as expanding universe it expands our mind as well.please keep sending the emails. Thank U very much.

Deodath Lalbeharry April 18, 2014 at 8:10 pm

Dear Prof.,
Anxiously awaiting the release of your new title: GRAVITY.
D. Lalbeharry

Carl Larsen April 21, 2014 at 6:26 pm

Hi Nicholas, I have been extremely interested in the universe and beyond, since I was a child, when an uncle of mine painted very detailed pictures in ny mind, with the prediction in 1947 that someday, man would walk on the moon. It was such an outstanding statement, and as ridiculous as it seemed then, it turns out to be true, and that was a time when we as a nation, never had anything like a rocket for any purpose, let alone space travel. Space and the universe I find also very frightening, with descriptions of Space bodies having immense magnetic fields which; if one should pass within 1/2 million miles, could suck the iron from the blood cells in our bodies.

Ken Freed June 20, 2014 at 10:44 am
Nicholas Mee June 20, 2014 at 11:15 am

The analysis and interpretation of the BICEP2 data is extremely difficult, so it is only right that it should come under intense scrutiny. When the Planck data is released later this year, it should shed some light (or at least microwaves) on the situation.

Rodney Worthington June 20, 2014 at 8:33 pm

Greetings Nicholas,
What about Brian Schmidt. Doesn’t acceleration count ?
Rodney Worthington

Nicholas Mee June 27, 2014 at 3:05 pm

The fact that the rate of expansion of the universe is increasing is the most surprising discovery in recent times, so it is, of course, very important. But as yet, there is no theoretical understanding of this and so I have not included any speculations about it in my new book. Hopefully, the situation will be clarified in the near future.

Manoranjan Rao June 21, 2014 at 7:34 am

Look forward to reading your book on Gravity.

Rajlakshmi Guha June 27, 2014 at 8:27 am

Dear Nicholas,

Your mails are a source of wonder and awe. Can’t wait to read your latest.
Best wishes.

Nadia Loewke June 27, 2014 at 8:45 am

Hi Nicholas
Your articles are world class, your enthusiam palpable.
Keep up the outstanding work
Best regards

Herman Hoffman June 28, 2014 at 1:24 am

Dear Sir, I found the synapsis of your book very interesting. I am always attracted to explanations that do not rely on the rigors of pure science and mathematics. While I have worked as an engineer for nearly fifty years where math is integral to successful design your explanations insure follow up scrutiny and elegant mathematical formulation. Let the idea loose first then find proof using theory and explanation. Einstein imagined his theories before he applied the math. Your excellent ideas make you a treasure. Thank you, H Hoffman

Anthony August 23, 2014 at 1:52 am

Thumbs up from me keep up the good work.

Reply July 26, 2017 at 5:56 am

Our understanding of gravity has gone through a few permutations, from Newton’s equations through to Einstein’s general relativity.

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Friday, August 17, 2007

School Monday!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

We had open house last night. Both boys met their teachers, saw their classes, etc. They are in the same building again this year only doors down from one another. :) This is Nick's first year not having a teacher from the previous year move up to the next grade with him so that was new finding a new teacher and classroom! But his teacher seems very nice. He doesn't know any of the kids in his class yet, but he is happy to meet new friends he said! His teacher's daughter worked with Jake in his class last year in one of their 5th grade helpers program so that was funny to meet her.

I am SOOOOOO very excited about Jake's teacher this year! She's new to the school district and was teaching at Eden (private Autism school in FL and NJ costs $25,000 yearly!) prior to working public school. She has 7 years of specialized autism trainnig and teaching experience, is certified in ABA/VBA and is so on her game!!! I am so thrilled!!! I really think she will do awesome things for him! :)

The only complaint I have was Nick's grade had an updated supply list with some items added to it I did not buy. I have no problem getting the supplies from the list because I understand that budgets are small for each classroom but these lists get a little bigger and a little more crazy each year. I am used to the supply lists with a certain number of pencils, different notebooks, packs of paper, tissues, baby wipes, markers, etc on them but Nick's new list added things like headphones and a sock to it! ?????

Anyway, list completed after a quick stop at Target on the way home last night. C'mon Monday!!!! :) *doin' my happy dance*
Honestly I will miss the boys and worry all day about their first day, especially Alex at PreK, but I will be so happy to keep the house clean and the food I buy over the weekend in the fridge!!!

Posted By Melanie @ 1:16 PM |
I hope things are going well for you on this first day back to school!

That's wonderful news about Jake's teacher. A good teacher can really make a big change- so I'm hoping she can do wonderful things for him!!
Great work.
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POLAND IN WORSE PLIGHT THAN BELGIUM; Fierce Fighting Between Russians and Germans Has Worked Incredible Havoc in Unfortunate Land.

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FEW nations have a more tragic history than Poland. And now to this unhappy land has come a fate so terrible as to beggar description.

February 14, 1915

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Linky love

My brain is a bit frozen yet, so let's take the easy route today and list a few of the sites I visit semi-regularly.

Tasty Kitchen is a roundup of recipes from readers, begun and administrated by Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. Tons and tons of tasty things to create. I dare you to spend some time perusing this site and not come away 1. inspired, and 2. ravenously hungry.

Escapegames24 is a roundup of escape and other games, primarily find-the-missing-objects. Your mileage will vary - some games are great, some are not. New ones posted throughout the day. My personal favorites? Offerings from 123Bee, StoneAge Games and Gamershood.

RealClearPolitics is yet another roundup (I like the "one stop shopping-ness" of these types of sites), but this one of political opinion pieces. If nothing else, it will make you think. Articles by authors including George Will, Michelle Malkin, Ed Koch, Oliver North and Thomas Sewell, as well as transcripts of the weekend talking heads shows.

From my own sidebar, Critical Issues Commentary. Guaranteed to make you think, and just maybe spur you to action. Love the piece "Oprah Winfrey Promotes Pantheist Eckhart Tolle: How Biblically Illiterate America is Being Deceived" - amazing what junk people swallow when they really don't know what they profess to believe. - too many books, too little time. They offer much more than books, DVDs and CDs - Christmas cards, home decor, gift items and more are available. Free shipping through today with code 305633.

Just a few to keep you occupied until my brain thaws. Now to see if there's any coffee left in the office pot...

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Monday, March 30, 2009

More Lollypop Trees

Here are some more of my lollypop tree blocks. Above is Block 3. I don't think I would have ever thought of putting some of these fabrics together but it does help to see combinations that are pleasing to my eyes and make me realize that I could do it with a blank slate. In fact, Ille and I have chosen many on our own because the photos were not too clear to even see what was used or we did not have that fabric available to us.
This was our first block, Block 1, above. And, even though we have sorted through many fabrics together, we each bring our own touch to the finished blocks, since we live in different cities. We are working together yet independently.
This next block is Block 11 - one of two predominantly blue blocks.
And last to show for today, Block 13.
Now I must get back to my quilted tablecloth which is being made with the Turning Twenty Again pattern, only using nine blocks and a border. It is being made with Valori Wells floral fabrics that I purchased sometime ago. I think they have aged long enough in my closet that I can finally use them!! BG

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Lollypops, Lollypops, Lifesaver Lollypops!

Wasn't there a commercial for Lifesaver Lollypops a few years ago? It seems to ring in my head when I type lollypops. My friend, Ille Waters and I decided to take on a giant applique project a little over a year ago. It is available at Glorious Color and is called Lollypop Trees by Kim McLean. It is mostly using Kaffe Fassett fabrics which we really like and we have done a lot of examining the pictures to make ours look very close to the designer's quilt. This is 'Block 8', according to our numbering, but we've skipped around so actually I have 9 completed! Over half........however there are many little blocks in the border with applique, too.

I do not hurry my applique by hand. I just take it stitch by stitch, relax in my chair with my Ott light beaming down on my work. Sondra had a lapboard she was giving away after college and I took it and it has been wonderful for when I do applique to give me a little table.

Just wanted to share this block.............many many circles. I love all the different fabrics and colors coming together!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Snow and Log Cabin Houses

Yes, we did have snow a week ago Sunday, but now it seems so far away. So much has happened in the last week and it was 80° here yesterday so it's hard to realize snow covered the ground the first few days of March. Above is our front yard.
This is our neighbor's house, as I did not venture out with the sidewalks covered and icy.
Here is my log cabin houses quilt - all finished and ready to hang. I did a pantograph, Feathered Frond, over the whole quilt in a variegated thread. See how much more exciting the quilt is just by adding those border squares! It really did make a difference! The quilt measures 36" wide by 45" long.....still pretty small.
Here are a couple of detail shots! All in all, I enjoyed the process of the quilt and wanted a challenge with the small strips and blocks but will wait a little while before I make another one with these tiny pieces.


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Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas from Key West!!

Just sharing a bit of our Christmas in Key West with you!  Hope all our friends and family enjoy a holly jolly holiday filled with love, peace, joy, and great cheer!

Pre-holiday Greetings from West Palm Beach

Welcome to Paradise, Boyd's Campground, Key West

Let the holiday festivities begin!

Decorations abound throughout the town!

Creative Christmas at the Docks

Christmas Movie Marathon must carry on...regardless of the weather!

Santa on "island time"....

Karly and Jake too!