Edith Clowes / Slavic Languages & Literatures
Of all the original North American colonies, Virginia is a state dominated by its English-language European and African heritage and the intertwined histories of the founding of the republic and the legacy of slavery. Students and the public are generally unaware of other exciting ethnic communities in Virginia and their contributions to the arts and, more broadly, to cultural, religious, and culinary life. Few know that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) owns 700+ pieces of Russian art, some of them truly outstanding, aside from the famous Faberge eggs. Or that Sweet Briar College has a collection of 40+ fascinating Stalin-era ideological posters. Or that there are so many fine Russian restaurants, stores, and active Eastern Orthodox churches across Virginia. As an enhancement to my Russian culture class (RUTR 2460 – Russian Culture and Civilization), I am introducing an aspect of the course that allows students to explore the direct contribution of Russian culture to our state culture in Virginia. This part of the class participates in a student-driven project I am calling “Russian Virginia.”
In Fall 2015 two groups of students in the Russian culture class and I undertook field trips that now have become my Dream Idea, “Russian Virginia.” They gathered information about Russian resources at two Virginia museums. One group of seven students traveled to Sweet Briar to view and research Stalin-era posters, while another group of four students traveled to the VMFA to work on a unique collection of Russian-Civil-War-era cartoons critical of the Bolsheviks.
The broader goal of the Russian Virginia project is to create, and continue to build and enhance, an authoritative but user-friendly Web resource on all things Russian in the state of Virginia—colleges and universities, restaurants and stores, churches, libraries, cultural sites, museums, clubs and organizations, high schools, and other locations and Russian-related events, to be considered as opportunities arise. In addition, an archive on this page will store useful, well-written research completed by University of Virginia undergraduate students. The web page, we predict, will enrich users’ appreciation of this other, Russian, cultural world available in our state.
An eventual goal is to attract participation from Russian students at other Virginia schools, colleges, and universities. Although UVA students are the leaders in this project, the organizers and managers of the site welcome and will consider for inclusion high-quality research on Russian-Virginian resources by students at other Virginia educational institutions.
Russian Virginia is in its earliest stages of construction as a WordPress website. One of the students from last year’s RUTR 2460 is currently its manager. During summer 2016 Slavic interim librarian Kathleen Thompson and the experts at Scholars Lab at Alderman Library are helping us construct an interactive map of the state of Virginia. Located on the home page, this map will allow users to browse available resources, find upcoming events, and create Russian-related itineraries. The interactive map will have these kinds of functionality:
- zoom and pan in all directions showing state, regional, local, urban levels
- offer maps for each category of place
- allow the user to click on all sites, each with an at-a-glance pop-up box with basic contact information and a “for more information” hyperlink to the sites web page
- allow user to make itineraries through Google maps
- connect to a blog feature that allows a user to enter a suggestion for other resources to include, announce an upcoming event, or mark a Russian-related location.
- link to archived material stored on the RUVA website, for example, rarely exhibited VMFA Russian items (we already have permission from VMFA to post a selection of these holdings).
Russian Virginia will become both a resource for students in the Russian culture course and a site that students themselves will help to build further. Students will use current information on the site as a starting point to deepen their knowledge of various facets of Russian culture. At the start of the semester I will introduce students to the website and invite them to explore. Each student will choose a Russian object or place to study. At the beginning and end of the semester, to encourage discussion and thought I will bring food from a local Russian caterer to class. We will consider briefly the significance of specific Russian dishes in the broader cultural context.
Working in groups of 3-4 students, students will research their chosen object or place in detail, visit it, and interview at least one person (preferably a Russian émigré or a person of Russian heritage) working with and knowledgeable about the chosen object or place. These smaller working groups and I will meet over lunch in the first half of the semester to plan and discuss their projects.
The next step in using the website will be student visits to their chosen places. Having arranged a date for interviews and guided visits, student groups (maximum 3-4 students each) and I will visit the places they have chosen. At the end of the semester each student group will write an essay on their findings and relate it to the broad frameworks and concepts of Russian culture gained in RUTR 2460.
The centerpiece of this effort will be a field trip on Thursday, October 27, with RUTR 2460 students to the exciting new exhibit of Russian decorative arts at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. I have arranged for the curator of the exhibit, Mr. Barry Shifman, to have lunch with the students and narrate the exhibit. Each student will choose an object or small group of thematically related objects from the exhibit to write a short two-page thought paper that places the objects in the broader patterns of Russian culture discussed in the course. These short essays in turn will become material for further class discussion.
The ultimate ambition of Russian Virginia is to spur public awareness of the exciting cultural and historical treasures available in Virginia and even to encourage thematic ethnic exploration and tourism. Starting in a relatively safe place at home means that a broader swath of the American population will be more likely to want to explore other cultures and, eventually, languages. We will be taking the following steps to disseminate the information that students have gathered and interpreted:
- group discussion of findings in class
- presentation of the “Russian Virginia” website and selected group findings at a Wednesday-evening Russian Tea at Russian House (Shea House)
- additions to the existing archive of well-researched and well-written student papers on the Russian Virginia website for the benefit of the public
- interviews with Inside A&S and Cavalier Daily journalists and articles on the Russian Virginia project
- sharing this work on the Slavic and East European listserv worldwide with an invitation to form a working group with colleagues and students from other states to start a website and student research on their states.
- presentation of the one or two most substantial papers at the regional Southern Slavic Conference
In conclusion, Russian Virginia is intended to expand students’ knowledge both of Russian culture and the tremendous Russian cultural treasure house in their own backyard. Although it may sound like a pipe dream, my eventual goal is to create a network of teachers and students across the United States who will undertake a similar project in their own states. It would be a real celebration of Russian culture and the Russian contribution to American life to build a full interactive map of the US with Russian sites and events in each state. It will be one step toward visualizing exactly what a richly multicultural society we Americans have.
- Bus travel to VMFA: $1,000
- Experience of authentic Russian food (two Russian meals @ $150: $300
- Fall 2016: small group travel to various sites and to present findings (mileage)
- Spring 2017: travel regional conference (mileage, hotel): $1,250
- Training of students to design, edit, and maintain the Russian Virginia website: $200
- 5 group luncheons to brainstorm and develop research projects: $250


1 READ THE END OF PART FIVE OF THE OUNASVAARA BIRCH FAIRYTALE AGAIN, THEN READ PART SIX
“That night was the first moonlit night of the winter and the wedding of the smallest elf boy and the smallest elf girl. The bride was the youngest and smallest of 365 siblings. That was why her wedding was so late. Her siblings had celebrated theirs in the summer, when the cherry trees and the lilies bloomed.
That night, the little groom snuck away from home and, in tears, he wondered around the forest. The wedding was only an hour away, and he had no flowers to give his bride. The little elf girl would probably cry until her bright eyes turned red. That’s when the little elf boy noticed a small tree covered in shimmering white flowers. In a hurry, he wiped the tears from his eyes. He could hardly believe it.
The little elf boy ran to the tree. It was the same little birch that had cried her branches sodden. The frost had turned her tears white, and the moonlight made them glint. The little elf could hardly tell it was the same tree.
‘Prettier flowers my bride couldn’t wish for,’ the little elf thought, picking up as many branches as he could carry. How happy it made the little elf bride, and everyone said she was the prettiest little bride there ever had been.
The lonely birch of Ounasvaara grew, and she watched her siblings on Pöyliövaara Hill.
‘I no longer regret that it was here the wind carried me,’ she said. ‘After all, I saw how happy that little elf bride was. Joy, there’s no greater thing in the world.’”
2 WEDDINGS, WHAT THEY MEAN, WHAT THEY CONTAIN AND WHAT THEIR PURPOSE IS
Discuss these questions together. Have you been to a wedding? What did you see there, what did you hear, what did you do? What makes a good wedding? What emotions do weddings contain? Think about love, what it consists of and what it means to the couples getting married (such as valuing others).
3 MAKE A WEDDING GIF OUT OF NATURAL MATERIALS
Work together to make a wedding gift out of natural materials you find around you for the couple getting married. Present the gift to the couple. You can also do this in smaller groups, in pairs or individually. Once you are done, present your gifts to the couple.
4 COMPOSE A WEDDING SONG OR POEM AND PRESENT IT
Together or in pairs, compose a wedding song or poem for the couple getting married and perform it for the rest of the group. You can perform the song or poem in the character of an elf or a birch or as yourself.
5 THE OUNASVAARA BIRCH SINGS OF JOY AND LOVE
Song title: Joy, No Greater Thing in the World. Work together to come up with lyrics for the song and sing it together in the character of the birch to the other trees of Ounasvaara.
6 THE OUNASVAARA BIRCH DANCES WITH JOY
Everyone takes turns to play the birch or an elf and dances a short dance about the joy of the birch while everyone else encourages and celebrates with her. Keep going until everyone has performed their own dance. You can also do this in pairs, with each pair performing the Ounasvaara birch’s dance of joy together to the rest of the group. Each pair should take a turn performing the dance. Alternatively, you could perform a dance expressing the joy of the bride and groom. You can also perform the dance together as a group. You could even perform the Ounasvaara birch’s branch dance by using sticks and twigs you find on the ground.
7 READ THE OUNASVAARA BIRCH FAIRYTALE FROM START TO FINISH
With your eyes closed, listen to one person reading the fairytale from start to finish. When the story is over, open your eyes.
Take the hand of the person to your left and the person to your right and form a circle. Together, repeat the words “I am good!” twice. Then, repeat the words “We are good!” twice.
Fairytale activity suggestions by Mika Harjumaa.


The young Italian architect Giulia Bortolotti and Lucio Leone who are currently living in New York City and work, presenting us their latest project from 3D DIY bookshelves in the form of wooden letters. This DIY bookshelves project can be applied in many areas of daily life. For example, the following composition of letters gives the word "BOOK" and to serve as bookshelves. The letters are handmade by skilled craftsmen and artisans and are finished with water-based paint.
You also may like: Stylish built in shelves, corner shelves of plasterboard
|Wooden DIY books in the form of book word|
|handmade wooden bookshelves letter shaped, DIY bookshelves|
|DIY bookshelves letter shaped made of wood|
|wooden DIY bookshelves for book storage letter shaped|


Book Launch for “Hibernation and Other Poems by Bear Bards” at bgsqd
Join us for a night of bear poetry as we celebrate the book launch of Hibernation, and Other Poems with editor Ron J. Suresha and several other contributors reading. (at Bureau of General Services Queer Division)
THIS IS HAPPENING!
pear-shaped boys (◕‿◕✿)
boys with pudgy bellies (◕‿◕✿)
boys with pudgy hips (◕‿◕✿)
boys with pudgy asses (◕‿◕✿)
boys with love handles (◕‿◕✿)
boys who jiggle (◕‿◕✿)
pudgy boys (◕‿◕✿)
All set for Saturday night’s event with Ron Suresha, Scott Hightower, Daniel Lewiston, Rocco Russo, Jordan M. Shu, Chris Vaccaro, and Emanuel Xavier! (at Bureau of General Services Queer Division)
IM READING TONIGHT! CUM CHECK US OUT!
Raed Yassin | Self Portrait with Foreign Fruits and Vegetables, 2011
— hot bearded kiss
Hey. That’s my BF and myself. I took that pic. Lol
NOW IN PRINT!!— just in time for National Poetry Month!
Edited by Ron J. Suresha
Predominantly in free verse, these wide-ranging poems address all aspects of contemporary (two-legged) bearish life: changing standards of masculinity, male romance and lust, maturing men’s body issues, and what it means to live and love within the worldwide gay male bear community. The poems are sometimes introspective, sometimes erotic, sometimes amusing - but they’re all well-crafted glimpses of the bear experience. This thoughtful, fun, and moving book features more than one hundred poems by forty esteemed authors, including David Bergman and Albert Skip Brushaber, whose homonymic, eponymous poems give this anthology its title, plus noted writers Alfred C. Corn, Jameson Currier, Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, Jack Fritscher, Daniel M. Jaffe, Raymond Luczak, Jeff Mann, Ron Mohring, Felice Picano, Jordan Shu, Jay Starre, Jim Stewart, Dan Stone, and Emanuel Xavier and many fine poems from other American and Canadian contributors. Poetry lovers and bear-loving men alike will appreciate the diverse range of contemporary masculine voices in Hibernation.
Soon in print — just in time for National Poetry Month!
and Other Poems by Bear Bards
Edited by Ron J. Suresha
Hibernation, front cover [not final]
An engaging, eclectic collection of original verse by a Who’s Who in Hirsute Gay Men’s Literature.
The Bear Bones Books imprint of Lethe Press proudly presents Hibernation, and Other Poems by Bear Bards, an engaging, eclectic, sometimes erotic anthology of original verse penned by an outstanding collection of authors comprising a Who’s Who in Hirsute Literature.
Predominantly in free verse, these wide-ranging poems address all aspects of contemporary (two-legged) Bearish life: changing standards of masculinity, male romance and lust, maturing men’s body issues, and what it means to be identified with the worldwide bi and gay male Bear community. The poems are sometimes introspective, sometimes sexy, sometimes amusing — but they’re all well-crafted glimpses of the bear experience.
This thoughtful, fun, and moving book features more than 100 poems by nearly 40 esteemed bear-bards such as David Bergman, whose lead poem gives the book its title, plus noted authors Alfred C. Corn, Jameson Currier, Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, Jack Fritscher, Daniel M. Jaffe, Raymond Luczak, Jeff Mann, Ron Mohring, Felice Picano, Jay Starre, Jim Stewart, Dan Stone, and Emanuel Xavier — plus many fine poems from other well-known contributors from around the U.S. and Canada.
Poetry lovers and Bear-lovers alike will appreciate the diverse range of contemporary masculine voices in Hibernation, and other poems by bear bards.
Contributors to HIBERNATION, AND OTHER POEMS
David Bergman ~ Albert Skip Brushaber ~ Alfred C. Corn ~ Michael G. Cornelius ~ Wayne Courtois ~ Bob “Brutus” Cunningham ~ Jameson Currier ~ Lewis DeSimone ~ Gavin Geoffrey Dillard ~ Charles Flowers ~ Jack Fritscher ~ John Genest ~ Scott Hightower ~ Charlie Hopwood ~ Daniel M. Jaffe ~ David Juhren ~ Owen Keehnen ~ Daniel Lewiston ~ Raymond Luczak ~ Ed Madden ~ Jeff Mann ~ Stephen Mead ~ Ron Mohring ~ Miguel M. Morales ~ Jay Neal ~ Felice Picano ~ C.D. Reade ~ Dennis Rhodes ~ Rocco Russo ~ Gregg Shapiro ~ Jordan M. Shu ~ Jay Starre ~ Jim Stewart ~ Dan Stone ~ Shawn Syms ~ Chris Vaccaro ~ Jeff Walt ~ Scott Wiggerman ~ Randy Wyatt ~ Emanuel Xavier
About the editor
Author or editor of more than a dozen books, Hibernation editor Ron J. Suresha is a three-time Lambda Literary Award Finalist for his anthologies on bisexual men, winner of a Rainbow Book Award for his nonfiction book, Fur: The Love of Hair, and recipient of both a Storytelling World Honor and the Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award for his collection of Turkish folk tales, The Uncommon Sense of the Immortal Mullah Nasruddin. In high school and college, Suresha won several local awards for his poetry; later he was director of an Ann Arbor, Mich., poetry reading series and organized a complete, continuous public reading of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. Suresha, who is co-founder and acquisitions editor of the Bear Bones Books imprint of Lethe Press, lives with his husband in New Milford, Conn.
Hibernation, And Other Poems by Bear Bards
edited by Ron J. Suresha
Bear Bones Books
April 15, 2014
Categories: Poetry, GLBTQ Literature
Distributed by: Baker & Taylor, Ingram
Do you support the bear arts? Do you feel there should be a bear poetry anthology? Then please consider dropping a few bucks in the Hibernation and other poems fundraising campaign to help offset expenses for the editorial, production, publication, and marketing of the book. Thanks!


Ben Benoit - Historical Fiction At It's Best
Dr. R.W. Ben Benoit, acclaimed historical novelist and guest speaker, has long captivated his readers and audiences. Ben Benoit first came into the historical fiction genre with Surviving Damnation, a personal and genealogical account of the trials, tribulations, and survivance of his Acadian ancestors. The story centers on a typical Acadian family sent into exile from their homeland, now Nova Scotia. This book is currently being considered in Hollywood for a major motion picture production.
Benoit didn't stop there. He released his second historical fiction book, Battle At The Pass, portraying
the Civil War Battle at Gloriéta Pass, an epic conflict often referred to as "The Gettysburg of the West." He has just finished his third book, The Reynolds Gang: Confederate Outlaws With A Cause, which is now available!
"History is a race between education and catastrophe."
- H.G. Wells


I live in San Rafael, California with my wife, Minako and our daughter, Laina. Aside from sharing my writings, I am a Personal Fitness Trainer, and Yoga and Meditation Instructor. I received a B.A. in Philosophy from Pomona College in 1971, attended Harvard Divinity School ('73-'75), and have teaching credentials in Meditation, Yoga and Personal Training.
In Praise of Love and Being Home: A Guide to Living from the Heart of Happiness and Peace . . . by Infinity Publishing in 2016
Today’s the Day: Daily Meditations on Love, Happiness, and Peace . . . by Outskirts Press in 2013
Love Is What Matters Most: Meditations on the Heart’s Truth . . . by Outskirts Press in 2012
In This Moment: Reflections from the Heart of Happiness . . . by Infinity Publishing in 2011
Being Home: Returning to the Place We’ve Never Left . . . by iUniverse, Inc. in 2007
The Miraculous Mystery: Reflections, Devotions, and Awakenings . . . by OneSelf-Publishing through BookMasters, Inc. in 1999


Your Yin Yang Body Type unravels the secrets behind the ancient Korean art of Sasang Medicine for the very first time in Western history. This 110,465 word book contains practically everything you need to know about your Yin Yang body type. It begins with a practical, easy-to-follow introduction to Sasang Medicine, offering handy self-analytical tools for determining your body type. Consecutive chapters include an introduction to body-type-specific foods, herbs, and exercises. The mind/body emphasis of Sasang Medicine is portrayed in the Emotional Wellbeing chapter, which describes the different emotional tendencies of each Yin Yang body type.
About the Author:
My path towards Sasang Medicine began at the young age of 12, when an obsession with Asian culture and philosophy took me to Japan. A short visit quickly turned into 8 years of living in Asia, where my calling as an Oriental Medical doctor slowly began to unfold. While living in South Korea, I enrolled in an internship program at Dunsan University Hospital in Daejeon. Soon after returning to the United States, I continued my studies in Oriental Medicine. As a student, I was infatuated with Oriental Medicine but could not get over my own chronic bouts of indigestion no matter which herbal approach I took. It wasn’t until I discovered my Yin Yang body type that I began a rewarding journey towards complete recovery. After 11 years of practice in West Linn, Oregon, and 6 years of teaching as a doctor of Oriental Medicine, I feel that it is now time to convey the power of Sasang Medicine, in an accessible, appealing way for those who are interested in enhancing their health.
AVAILABLE IN DEC 2014 FROM INNER TRADITIONS PUBLISHING
Preorder from the stores below:
Barnes and Noble


We need volunteers in all the areas of the Bhawan. Please use the form below to sign-up.
We especially need help in the following areas :
Teachers for JCNC Shala
People to help catalog all the books in the Library as well as to hold library open hours
People to help maintain the JCNC audio and video systems
Help with cooking and serving food at JCNC events
General maintenance and cleanup
Just offer to help and we can find volunteer work for you.
Please send an email to: firstname.lastname@example.org if you are interested


SalesReach gives Team Owners, administrators of any SalesReach account, full control over the relationship members of the account have to the content uploaded to SalesReach.
Permission levels can be assigned to each content type
There are four levels of permissions relevant to each content type found within the Content Library.
Bundle permission levels into a Content Role and assign a Role to an entire group
The permissions an Admin can assign to a user in SalesReach are Administrative access, Default Access, No access, and Private access only.
Types of permissions to assign to a content type and make a Content Role
Administrative access - The highest level of permissions related to a content type granted to a user in SalesReach is Administrative access. Those with Administrative access will be able to view, access, and edit all content (including private content) within the Content Library for a particular content type. Suggestion: Administrative access should only be granted to users who need to manage all company-wide materials.
Default access - The standard level of permissions related to a content type can be granted to a user within SalesReach. ‘Default access’ permissions allow users to view all non-private content in the Content Library granted to them by their group membership. Also, users with Default access will only see and be able to edit Bios that they have created. Default access will allow users to edit company-wide Assets via the dashboard.
No access - A user with No access permission level will not have the ability to create or edit that content type in the content library. However, they will have access to “read-only” views of the content in the library and will have the ability to use that content in the Visual Builder (access granted by group membership). No access is the most restricted permission level.
Private access - When in the Content Library a user with ‘Private access’ to a specific content type will only be able to modify content that that user has created (and will see a “read-only” view of content their group membership gives them access to, but is not owned by them). Content created under “private access” is not eligible to be shared with others (but may be viewed by users with administrative access to the content type).
Watch the introduction to Content Roles video


Have you ever read those books that you can’t put down? For me, those books are The Hunger Games series. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not my favourite piece of writing ever, that would probably be George Orwell’s 1984, but it’s interesting and enjoyable; simply put, it’s easy reading.
However, at times it can be poignant and accessible, while questioning society and our humanity. Within the book’s 1984-esq. political system of totalitarian capitalism, the rich are exuberant and comfortable as the poor work to make them richer. In this way Suzanne Collins warns against the dangers of this kind of system; she shows her readers what can happen because of these power hungry governments.
Moving on from politics, the books also indulge the ever so common young-adult reader with plenty of love interest. Mostly, the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. Though Katniss’ indecision renders her an unlikable character, (in my eyes) it certainly adds a new dimension of excitement to the novel.
The books appeal to readers looking for an easy read, and those looking for a political thriller. For me, this is the reason it’s become so popular so quickly.


Jose de la Guerra y Noriega (1779 - 1858)
Jose de la Guerra was just thirteen years old in 1792 when he sailed from his home in Cantabria, Spain to live with and work for his uncle Pedro Gonzales de Noriega, a wealthy merchant in Mexico City. He learned much from his uncle and became a shrewd businessman, a trait that would serve him well throughout his life. But the New World held more for young Jose, and he joined the Spanish Army in 1793.
Arriving in the frontier territory of Alta (Upper) California as a cadet at the Presidio of San Diego in 1798, he followed on to Monterey as a Lieutenant in 1800. While serving at the Presidio there, he married Maria Antonia Carrillo, the daughter of Raymundo Carrillo and Tomasa Lugo, in 1804. Fray Junípero Serra, founder of the California missions, had married the bride’s parents at the mission San Carlos of Monterey in 1781.
During Jose de la Guerra’s military tenure, Mexico suffered tremendous political upheaval, primarily as a result of the Mexican War for Independence from the Spanish crown, which commenced in 1810. That year, de la Guerra and his family sailed for Mexico City, as he had been appointed to serve in an elevated position in the colonial bureaucracy. However, upon their arrival at the port of San Blas, Jose was captured by a rebel faction hostile to the Spanish crown, separated from his family, imprisoned and sentenced to death. Spanish troops soon freed Jose and reunited him with his family, but his eldest daughter Rita did not survive the ordeal. De la Guerra and his wife returned to California, facing an uncertain future.
During the turbulent years of the revolution, the California frontier faced hardship as supplies and provisions were scarce. De la Guerra established himself as a generous patriarch during these years by providing for his soldiers’ well being, despite the lean resources flowing from Mexico City. He dipped into his own coffers to pay and feed his troops, thanks to wealth gained through his thriving trade business.
The Mexican war for independence finally ended in 1821. According to laws established by a newly independent Mexico, de la Guerra should have been expelled from the fledgling nation because of his European birth. Despite the lingering prospect of his deportment to Spain, and against the advice of friends, in 1828 he again journeyed to Mexico City to assume a seat as California’s deputy to the Mexican Congress. He was accompanied to the capital by two of his sons, Francisco, age 11, and Pablo, age 9. However, upon his arrival, he found that his alternate had assumed his seat and the entire Congress convinced that de la Guerra harbored lingering loyalties to the Spanish crown. De la Guerra was allowed to leave the capital, but only after convincing the legislature of his loyalty to Mexico. His political career in shambles, he returned to California yet again, this time for good.
De la Guerra’s first posting to the Presidio of Santa Barbara had been in 1806, but that assignment was short lived when he was reassigned to San Diego the following year. Nevertheless, his time in Santa Barbara must have made a significant impression on the young officer, as in 1815 he returned to Santa Barbara, which he would call home for the rest of his days. Popular not only with his troops, but also with the local populace, “el Capitan” was promoted to Comandante of the Santa Barbara Presidio in 1827, a position he held on and off until he retired from military service in 1842.
An admirer of many English speaking educational institutions, in 1826 de la Guerra sent his son Juan, to study at Stonyhurst, a Jesuit college north of Liverpool in England. In 1832 Jose funded the establishment of California’s first non-mission school, conceived by his son-in-law William Hartnell, and situated near Monterey, on the coast. Enrollment consisted of 8 white and 4 Indian students. Juan returned from Liverpool and was a teacher there during the first year of the school.
Because of California’s isolation during the War of Mexican Independence, in 1817, through negotiations with the padres of the nearby Missions of la Purisima and Santa Inez, de la Guerra had established the Rancho of San Julian under the management of the Presidio of Santa Barbara as a source of meat and income for the presidio soldiers. It was the first of what would become four “nationalized” ranchos (Ranchos National) connected with each of the presidios in California during that period. In 1837, as part of the California’s liberal revolution and a major shift from missionary control to private possession of lands, Alta California Governor Juan Alvarado granted de la Guerra ownership of Rancho San Julian. The Rancho has remained in the hands of his descendents ever since.
Like many Californians, de la Guerra anticipated the inevitability of the American conquest. His expectations were realized when, after two years of hostilities, the Mexican-American War resulted in California becoming part of the United States in 1848. By that time, de la Guerra had accumulated significant holdings, to include four other ranchos in addition to the San Julian—Rancho Simi, Rancho Las Posas, Rancho Los Alamos and Rancho El Conejo—placing over a quarter of a million acres of prime California ranch land under his control
Jose de la Guerra died in 1858 and was buried along side his wife Maria at the Santa Barbara Mission. Upon his death, Rancho San Julian passed to his sons, including noted California statesman, Pablo de la Guerra.
Today, Rancho San Julian is still a working family ranch. Hundreds of cattle roam the remaining 13,000 acres, fruits and vegetables flourish in the flatlands, and extensive honeybee colonies inhabit the valley. The San Julian has been placed in "agricultural preserve" status and serves as a refuge for a variety of local wildlife.
© 2017 Rancho San Julian. All Rights Reserved
Hits since February 2005


Shakedown Socialism-- A Entertainingly Informative Book that can Help Save America-- If You Give Copies to Non-Leftist Friends.·
September 25, 2010--
Oleg Atbashian ("Red Square" at ThePeoplesCube.Com) has written a short, easily-read, and fascinating book, Shakedown Socialism, that can help save America from her accelerating slide down the slippery slope of illusory equality leading only to the bottomless pit of Leftism (i.e., socialistic, collectivistic progressivism). How could this book do that?
The recent plethora of excellent, new books advocating restoration of limited government disciplined by constitutional guarantees of individual rights of life, liberty and property have, no doubt, strengthened the resolve and confidence of Americans already in liberty's "choir," But outside liberty's choir, such books generally have not gained readership-- i.e., among Americans considering themselves "liberal," "moderate," "independent," "non-political" or simply uninterested in politics.
How could Shakedown Socialism do what such excellent books have failed to do-- i.e., reach minds outside liberty's choir? To understand how this book could (and likely would) do so requires understanding why so many excellent books extolling the superiority of liberty over Leftism have failed to do so: It's because authors of most such books design them to appeal primarily to political junkies in general and to those in liberty's choir in particular. Thus, such books are unlikely to attract the attention of, and hence unlikely to change, minds outside liberty's choir.
Making this challenge much more daunting is the fact that for decades, the Left has successfully peddled Leftism subliminally through entertainment that appeals to minds outside liberty's choir, while our side has limited itself to "preaching" to liberty's "choir." Thus, it's time for our side to abandon such unilateral disarmament on the battleground of ideas.
How could, and would, Shakedown Socialism reach and change minds outside the choir? There are two essential steps: the first is for us to take action to make it available to those who would not seek it out (i.e., we must enable the book to seek them since we know they won't seek-out the book); the second, which the book is designed to do on its own, is to interest such people in reading it.
To motivate people already in liberty's choir to perform step one, it's best to first explain how the book itself accomplishes step two: Once made available to a person outside liberty's choir, the book is likely to spark interest in perusing it, and such perusal is likely to seduce the peruser into reading it. Reading it is likely to make the reader more amenable to viewing a system exalting liberty as being superior to one exalting collectivism.
What are the things about this book that would spark interest in perusing it? First, it's short (125 pages). Second, the front cover designed by its author features an intriguing optical illusion conveyed in clever art-work. Virtually everyone finds optical illusions interesting. Most people noticing that a book features artwork cleverly creating an optical illusion to convey its theme are likely to at least peruse it to view additional artwork and illusions. They're also likely to infer that the author is particularly clever and that the ideas and insights of such author would likely be interesting if not fascinating. Perusal of Shakedown Socialism would reveal that it contains clever, illustrative artwork about artistic, political and historical illusions. Virtually anyone who begins reading it in the process of perusing it would quickly realize that it's written in easily-understandable language conveying common-sense insights about human nature, politics and economics rendered authoritative by the manner in which the author weaves into the material his biographical, first-hand experiences first under a system exalting statist collectivism over individual liberty and then under a system created to exalt liberty over statism.
This will be especially true of young people whom our education system has failed miserably for the last several decades. It will help them understand (in a common-sense way) how Leftists use intellectual illusions to do to the minds of non-political people the same thing that optical illusions do to the eyes in order to trick the mind. The book invokes the readers' own common sense to spark their realization that Leftism's promises of "equality" are intrinsically illusory. It enables them to understand the Orwellian intent behind the Left's spouting of noble concepts such as "equality," "justice," "fairness," "economic justice," etc.
By enabling readers to understand that leftism is the intellectual equivalent of optical illusions and to learn from Oleg's first-hand accounts how people being ruled under such a system ultimately come to recognize its oppressive and illusory nature, Shakedown Socialism can, and will, reach (and change) minds outside liberty's choir. This leads us back to "Step One." Since we know that people outside liberty's choir are highly unlikely to seek, and purchase, a book on politics such as Shakedown Socialism, few of them will ever learn about it unless we who are in liberty's choir purchase extra copies of the book and give them to our friends and relatives outside the choir. The book will do the rest, but it's up to us to create the circumstances under which the book can do its job for as many minds as possible. So, purchase extra copies of Shakedown Socialism and give them to your friends and relatives outside the choir, and do so as soon as possible to maximize the chances of your doing so having the effect of motivating recipients of your gift to vote in favor of liberty and in opposition to collectivist statism on November 2, 2010.
Oleg has done the hard part by writing, and brilliantly illustrating, a book that engages common sense of the readers outside liberty's choir to enable them to recognize the inherent superiority of a system of liberty over collectivism. Let's make this the most gifted (i.e., given as a gift) book in recent history. There's too much at stake not to do so. Furnish this link to all your friends in liberty's choir and urge them not only to purchase a copy for themselves but to purchase as many as they can to give to their non-leftist friends outside the choir.
Finally, I "confess" that Oleg is my personal friend. I have found him to have a better understanding and appreciation of, and a stronger commitment to, the principles that founded America than do so many Americans. The idea for this everybody-buy-copies-of-Shakedown-Socialism-for-non-leftist friends is mine, not his. Nevertheless, even if I were never to have become his friend, I'm confident that reading the book would inspire me to make the same suggestion. Read it and I think you'll agree. We need to inspire enough non-lefists to join us on November 2, 2010 to throw out the SCRAP* and clean-up the HORSE CRAP.**
--Jim Wrenn, Editor, WrennCom.Com; Editor, PoliSat.Com; Editor, GUTSPAR.Com
*SCRAP = Socialistic Collectivism Relabeled As Progressivism
**HORSE CRAP = Hubristic Obamism Ruthlessly, Stealthily Enforcing Collectivism Relabeled As Progressivism
P.S.--Here's one of Oleg's earliest videos:


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The Future of Green Cement to 2020 is based on an indepth combination of primary
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• Cement producers, raw and synthetic material suppliers and processors, equipment suppliers, those involved in cement sales
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Name The Future of Green Cement to 2020


George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among Byron’s best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and the short lyric “She Walks in Beauty.” He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential.
He travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died at 36 years of age from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece.
Byron was celebrated in life for aristocratic excesses including huge debts, numerous love affairs, rumours of a scandalous incestuous liaison with his half-sister, and self-imposed exile. It has been speculated that he suffered from.
Catherine moved back to Aberdeenshire in 1790, where Byron spent his childhood. His father soon joined them in their lodgings in Queen Street, but the couple quickly separated. Catherine regularly experienced mood swings and bouts of melancholy, which could be partly explained by her husband’s continuing to borrow money from her. As a result, she fell even further into debt to support his demands. It was one of these importunate loans that allowed him to travel to Valenciennes, France, where he died in 1791.
When Byron’s great-uncle, the “wicked” Lord Byron, died on 21 May 1798, the 10-year-old boy became the 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale and inherited the ancestral home, Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire. His mother proudly took him to England, but the Abbey was in an embarrassing state of disrepair and, rather than live there, decided to lease it to Lord Grey de Ruthyn, among others, during Byron’s adolescence.
Described as “a woman without judgment or self-command”, Catherine either spoiled and indulged her son or aggravated him with her capricious stubbornness. Her drinking disgusted him, and he often mocked her for being short and corpulent, which made it difficult for her to catch him to discipline him. She once retaliated and, in a fit of temper, referred to him as “a lame brat”.


The amazing special issue of Cultural Studies on “The Cultural Politics of COVID-19” now exists in book form! A big thanks to the editors for including my article “Enduring COVID-19, Nevertheless” in it.
Author: rebecca a. adelman
Personal Narratives in Portraying Maryland Life – Tomorrow Night at the Ivy Bookshop!
On Thursday, November 3, the Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore is hosting a panel discussion on “Personal Narratives in Portraying Maryland Life.” They’ve invited me to join and share my experience curating Coronavirus Lost and Found. I’m looking forward to talking about the importance of the stories that so many people have contributed to this archive.
Is Alex Jones verdict the death of disinformation? Unlikely.
It has gotten much more expensive for Alex Jones to peddle his wares. In a recent article on the $965,000,000 judgment against him, David Bauder asks some pointed questions about what this means not just for Jones himself but also for the future of disinformation in general. I offer some possible – if admittedly gloomy – answers.
“Camouflaging Ukrainian Women”
Mediapolis: A Journal of Cities and Culture recently published a dossier on the war in Ukraine. I so appreciated the invitation to contribute to this project, and wrote a piece on media representations of Ukrainian women’s camouflage work, where I think through repeating patterns of gender, visibility, and militarization.
“A Harrowing American Moment”
Thanks to Ted Anthony for being curious about my two cents as he was writing this article, which asks really smart questions about the prime-time remediation of the events of 1/6/2021.
“Seeing Bucha Atrocities”
I was recently interviewed for an AP story on atrocity images emerging from Ukraine. There are a range of interesting perspectives in the piece, and I especially appreciate the attention to the display and management of emotion by various journalists and news agencies.
Teaching with Coronavirus Lost and Found
Lessons from the Pandemic: Trauma-Informed Approaches to College, Crisis, Change is just so good. I’m so grateful to the amazing editors – Janice Carello and Phyllis Thompson – for including my article, “Working with Coronavirus Lost and Found in the Trauma-Informed Classroom,” in it. And I learned so much from reading the other chapters. It’s a hard time to be an educator, and this is just the book that our moment requires.
Launch Event for Thy Phu’s New Book
Thanks to the Dr. David Chu Program in Asia-Pacific Studies at the University of Toronto for inviting me to serve as a commentator for a launch event (this Wednesday!) to celebrate Thy Phu’s amazing new book, Warring Visions: Photography and Vietnam. Warring Visions is a brilliant counterpoint to what Phu describes as the “American framework” that otherwise shapes so much writing and thinking about the visual culture of the Vietnam War. Writing against this perspective, which crowds other views and voices out of the frame, Phu provides a richly faceted account that centers the ways that Vietnamese people represented themselves. In the process, Thy demonstrates the need to expand the conventional boundaries of the category of ‘war photography’ to include a range of other images: domestic, quotidian, misrecognized, retouched, missing, and fictionalized. This book is so good, and I’m truly looking forward to being in conversation about it.
ASA is virtual this year but I’m actually serving as chair/comment on the “Creativity and Revolt In / Against Histories of Violence” panel. This panel, which is sponsored by the Visual Culture Caucus, invites exploration of the fraught, often unpredictable relationships between creativity and revolt in histories of violence. What forms of creativity and revolt in response to violence get recognized as such? Which ones get buried, overlooked, or obscured? What objects and images record these histories? And how might we read them with an eye toward what might otherwise go unseen? I’ll look forward to learning more from Elijah Gaddis, Louise Davis, and Judith Ridner.
And another lovely review …
This one is from Global Policy, and offers another occasion to reflect on the general fantastic-ness of all the contributors to Remote Warfare.
It is essential reading for researchers interested in how the technologies of remote warfare have been imagined, presented, and resisted. For researchers interested in the geopolitical logics of remote warfare … this text sheds new light on how the constitutive “remoteness” of remote warfare has come to be mediated and encountered by Western publics through a range of different forms of popular culture.


A year after a family tragedy, Grace Mori embarks on the journey of a lifetime…
This trail meant something to her brother, and she’ll hike it in his memory, but she can’t do it alone. So with her brother’s gear and a small group, Grace takes the most important first steps of her life. But she finds something more than peace and magic on the trail…
As tensions flare and a killer emerges, Grace must battle to survive…and reunite with the man she’s sure is her future.
Denver Edgerly isn’t just another random tourist at the beach. He’s Ellie’s new neighbor and everything she’s spent her life looking for…
Just as Ellie’s relationship with her gorgeous neighbor heats up, odd things start happening around the island.
When passions and betrayal get too close to home, will the underside of paradise prove fatal? Or will she finally find the wild passion she’s been looking for?
Figuring out your future isn’t easy. But having everything lined up exactly the way you want, only to have it turned upside down in an instant, spells disaster.
Bree Acosta has her life under control, and she’s finally on the right path…until a night in Vegas changes everything. It only takes one dance. One innocent touch that isn’t supposed to lead to a mind-blowing kiss…but it does.
Now Bree finds herself questioning every decision she’s ever made.
So Far Away: A Daughter's Memoir of Life, Loss, and Love
two decades in advance Irmgard Hartmann chose the date on which to end her life. And her next step was to tell her daughter all about it.
So Far Away gives us an intimate view of a person interacting with and reacting to her parents at the ends of their lives. In a richly detailed, poignant story of family members' separate yet interwoven journeys, it underscores the complexities and opportunities that life presents each one of us.


December 18, 2019 – UNT Supervisors Meeting
DONNA HIRST, MIKE RINKER, AND ROB DISBROW VOTED TO CUT FUNDING TO THE LIBRARY BY 50%. BRIAN PULLIAN AND SCOTT SYLVANIUS VOTED AGAINST.
Before the vote, a resident asked the supervisors what they wanted their legacy to be? Except for the sport’s fields, the library is the only cultural activity funded by the township. He also asked how much is in the township’s rainy day fund – Answer: $1.5 million. Mike Rinker pointed out that these funds can only be used for an emergency.
Prior to the vote, Scott Sylvanius expressed concern about the under-funding of the library. Resolution 19-14, which slashed the library funding by 50% passed on a 3-2 vote. The new budget includes a 0.5 mil increase.
Approval of Resolution of 19-15 which sets the 2020 Real Estate Tax Rate to 7.59 mils.
Approval of Resolution 19-16 – Act 511 taxes
Approval of the 2020 Liquid Fuels Budget.
Approval of the 2020 Recreation Budget.
4 to 1 Approval of Ordinance N. 183 which will impose an additional 0.25% EIT (Earned Income Tax) Open Space Funding. Robert Disbrow voted against.
- Editor’s Note: The Open Space Referendum was on the Nov. 5th 55.51% of UNT voters approved it with 44.49% voting against (730 to 585. 1,315 total votes cast).
Leaf pick up has officially ended for the year.
Your Tax Dollars at Work
Approval of an additional $5,600 to pay for a new Dodge Durango for the Police Department.
Warehouse on Gun Club Road
Approval of the extension request from Project Tadmor to February 28, 2019.
Note to Readers: The Nazareth Memorial Library will now make a decision about what services either UNT residents or all users of the library will lose because of tonight’s vote. When I find out the answer, I will post it here.
Becky Bartlett covers these meetings because citizens have a right to know what their government is doing.
One thought on “Supervisors Vote 3-to-2 to Slash Library Funding”
Thank you Becky
My husband and I are so upset about the decision by UNT to slash the library budget and are glad we live in Lower Nazareth although we may be impacted by the decision also. Great job getting the info out so quickly.
Robin & Guy Commelly
LikeLiked by 1 person


Video tutorials - Basic
This is your one-stop-shop for all of the Basic Video Tutorials from our Guided Tour and Document Assembly. In this series you will receive an introduction to the Berkeley Publisher. Is this your first time using the Berkeley Publisher? Then the Basic Tutorial series is a good place to start.
Each video below is accompanied by a short description with useful tips or links to the topics touched upon in the video. We suggest that you follow the tutorials in the order as listed below, as they increase in difficulty.
More comfortable with text? Then simply start by reading the first tutorial. Note that all articles with videos list them at the top of the page and can be recognized by a video icon in the menu.
In this series of tutorials, you will learn the basics of the Berkeley Studio by making an interactive decision tree which results in the drafting of a contract or other document. Do not forget to save your model, as you will be using this for the rest of the tutorial series. Read the text version “Berkeley Studio: first steps”.
Text & Questions
The Berkeley Studio offers numerous possibilities for adding text and questions to your Studio model. In this video, you will learn what kind of questions you can ask, which inputs to use and how to help your clients in answering your questions correctly. Read the text version “Texts, titles and questions”
In order to make your model look even more professional, the Berkeley Studio includes several features that give your model the final polish. These are jumplists, screen flow, the unlock feature and information sources. In this video, you will learn all about these handy tools that help you finalize your model.
This video explains how to add (and work with) subgraphs in your model. Subgraphs improve the clarity and structure of your model and let you re-use chunks of related logic. They also let you export them to other models.
In this part, we will explore how to add two numbers in the Berkeley Studio and show the result to the user. The text version of this tutorial can be found at formulas.
The previous tutorial introduced you to the concept of formulas. Formulas are very useful tools when drafting decision trees since they - together with conditions - allow for complex, multi-step, logic. They can use both mathematical computations and functions and can be referenced by other pieces of your model in return.
This follow-up video will illustrate how to use functions within formulas. If you have not seen the fifth video in this series (Formulas), we advise you to watch that tutorial first. See also the text version of this tutorial.
In this tutorial you will get to know about the use of conditions. You will learn why they are useful and how to add them to your model.
In this video we will learn how to create Word documents by the use of text fragments.
This video discusses how to publish your application online, after which you will also receive a short introduction to the online environment where you can view published models.


Full-featured mixed-signal simulation
Allegro AMS Simulator provides complete pre- and post-layout testing for analog and mixed-signal designs with powerful simulation, debugging, design, and analysis utilities.
Cadence® Allegro® AMS Simulator includes PSpice® technology at the core, providing fast and accurate simulations. This Advanced Analysis package includes utilities for sensitivity analysis, goal-based multi-parameter optimization, component stress and reliability analysis, and Monte Carlo analysis for yield estimation. The parametric plotter analyzes interdependence among parameters and converts simulation data into meaningful results. When combined with Allegro Design Entry HDL, the schematics drawn in AMS Simulator can also drive PCB layout—significantly reducing design time and eliminating redrawing errors. It includes a large library of known models and behavioral modeling techniques that make refining the analog/digital interface a straightforward task.
- Provides fast, accurate analysis of analog and mixed-signal designs
- Integrates seamlessly with Allegro Design Entry HDL
- Performs AC, DC, noise, transient, and parameter sweep analyses
- Includes magnetic parts editor for transformer and inductor design
- Utilizes a large inventory of accurate internal models with temperature effects
- Describes functional blocks using editable behavioral models
- Includes library of more than 20,000 known devices and components
- Provides automatic circuit optimizer to increase performance
- Performs circuit sensitivity, component stress, and productive yield analyses
- Interfaces with MATLAB Simulink for advanced electrical modeling


Series: Lumikki Andersson/Snow White Trilogy, Book One
Translated By: Owen F. Witesman
Publisher: Hot Key
Published: 7th August 2014
Number of Pages: 240
Book: For Review*
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Murder Mystery, Gritty Realism, Contemporary, Suspense, Thriller, YA, YA-Adult Crossover
Recommended Age: 14+
Contains: Violence, Death, Swearing, Alcohol, Drug, Smoking and Sexual References
Lumikki Andersson is familiar with secrets and lies, but she also has a rule not to mind other people’s business.
When she discovers a lot of money – hanging, blood stained, in her school darkroom – that rule is put sharply to the test.
Lumikki is quickly drawn deep into the heart of Finland’s criminal underworld, caught in a dangerous web of corruption, deceit and murder.
She is no longer an observer, she is a target. And she needs to out-smart a ruthless killer.
The first volume in a stunning thriller sequence from acclaimed Finnish crime-writer, Salla Simukka.
“Once upon a time there was a girl who learned to fear.
Fairy tales do not begin this way. Other, darker stories do…”
Lumikki Andersson is a Finnish-Swedish loner, though she doesn't mind being alone. You see, she has rules – mottoes. One is not to meddle – not to get involved. Another is not to jump to conclusions.
But when she stumbles across thousands of euros of money, hanging up to dry in the darkroom, smelling of old blood, it's hard not to get involved. Especially when she sees a classmate emerge from the room with a bulging backpack.
Soon, Lumikki is breaking all of her rules, as she's swept up in a dangerous plot involving the darkest areas of Finland's criminal underworld. All the while trying to stay one step ahead of a vicious, merciless murderer...
As Red As Blood began with a bang and did not let up for a single moment. I adore crime novels – all sorts in all shapes and forms – and I was so excited to read As Red As Blood. Man, it did not let me down: it hooked me from the word go. Sure, to begin with I was a little confused. But soon everything was clear and I was addicted and then I was halfway through and still reading on, on, on... Yeah, I love my crime books and this is the first YA thriller that has really, truly captured that gritty, razor-sharp edge I love so much in the adult versions.
Lumikki was a brilliantly different character. She felt a little cold, a little distant for a while, but I quickly warmed up to her as we got to know her. She was brave, smart, resourceful and calculating. From what I could tell, she seemed like a natural at reading people – and a natural actress. She was strong – so strong that she never asked for help, even when her life was in danger. She just absolutely intrigued me. And though she claimed not to be Sherlock Holmes, she certainly thought a lot like him. And it is so frustrating and amazing that we still don't know her whole backstory. I'm going to be reading the rest of the series ASAP, just so I can try to understand this fascinating, badass, genius, enigma of a lead girl.
The other characters were a little more meh – not nearly as interesting as Lumikki. Tuukka and Kasper were kind of dick-like, actually. But Elisa was so sweet – enthusiastic, a little naive and a little bit broken, but smarter and tougher than she originally appeared. I also liked how she made Lumikki a little more human – a little more in touch with her emotions.
As for the villains in this book... well, I can't say much, can I? Can't give spoilers! All I can say is that they were gangstas. They were intriguing. And I have a bad feeling they will come back – the Polar Bear in particular...
I can't tell you what the original version of this book was like – I don't read Finnish – but I really liked the translation. Simukka really painted a picture before my eyes, including these awesome seemingly random details that later turned out to mean something. And I can't quite explain it, but something about Simukka's writing really appealed to me. She had a way of getting beautiful descriptions into short, sharp sentences – it was such an unusual combination, a formula that shouldn't have worked, and yet it totally did.
The plot... like I said before, I was a little confused to begin with – about how the threads of the story went together. But soon it was all so brilliantly interlinked and utterly clear. I liked that we followed different characters' stories, how we got to see into the minds of the good, the bad and the middlings - it worked so well once I'd gone past the first few chapters, once I knew what was going on. And it was so addictive too! There was so much build-up, so much suspense, so many teasers about Lumikki's past... The ending felt a little abrupt, but it also sort of fitted with the story – short, sharp, hard, glistening like frozen snow. And while this tale was wrapped up, I feel like a new fairy tale built in that last chapter, a new story is about to begin. And I can't wait to read it.
I'm not going to lie to you, I was kind of expecting a fairy tale retelling, but actually there were just fairy tale references – like how Lumikki means Snow White, the park looked like the Snow Queen had gone through it and a fairy tale-themed party... I quite liked this subtlety – it's so different from all the other fairy-tale retellings out there, mainly thanks to the awesome crime-thriller plot and the fact that it's a key theme (to quote English Lit). But also because, I think, Simukka took the darkest sides of fairy tales – the warnings that they once contained. Bad things happen to little girls...
I've read and enjoyed loads of crime books – including The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which As Red As Blood is a lot like. But while I love The Dragon Tattoo, but I think I may have enjoyed As Red As Blood more. Maybe it’s because the characters are nearer to my age. Maybe it's because Lumikki is fascinating and solitary, not hostile (unless she needs to be). Maybe it's because there isn't as much horrific violence all the time. Maybe it's the brilliant vividness the fairy tale theme running through creates.
Or maybe it's because As Red As Blood is a brilliant, exciting and thrilling read that I truly enjoyed – so much so that I really can't wait to read the sequel. If you're into rather dark crime thrillers with the most interesting lead character I've come across in contemp YA for ages, As Red As Blood is a definite must-read – not to be missed!
4 Out of 5
4 Out of 5
Read this book if you liked:
Dark Eyes by William Richter
Street Duty by Chris Ould
Empty Coffin and Vengeance by Gregg Olsen
* This book was received from Hot Key in exchange for an honest review


CULTURE: LITERATURE. GENERAL FEATURES OF 20TH CENTURY LITERATURE
According to Healthinclude, the sec. XX opens with a fact of enormous literary and moral significance: the affirmation of the Generation of ’98, composed of writers of powerful originality, such as Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936), poet, essayist, novelist and playwright, the “prose writer art “and critic Azorín (1873-1967), the novelist P. Baroja (1872-1956), the novelist and playwright R. del Valle-Inclán (1866-1936), the playwright J. Benavente (1866-1954), the essayist R. de Maetzu (1874-1936), and two operas who started a stupendous lyrical revival for several successive generations: JR Jiménez (1881-1958) and A. Machado y Ruiz (1875-1939). Each in their own way, they represent in the first place the anti-positivist (and antirealistic) revolt that characterized the European cultural climate of the late nineteenth century; and without any banal nationalism (the usual traditionalists even accused them of anti-Hispanism, as from Feijoo onwards had always happened to the most brilliant innovators and awakeners of conscience), they drew stimuli and ideas for the foundation of a vast and multifaceted twentieth-century literature of substance unmistakably Spanish and – no less important – of a high artistic level. For this reason it can be said that the Hispanic letters (in the broadest sense of the term) even today have not finished “dealing” with those ninety-eight “fathers” (or, if you prefer, “grandparents”). At least three other generations have so far succeeded them: Generation of ’27; that of the forties, deeply influenced, in many ways, by the civil war of 1936-39, and that of the sixties, much more sensitive to the artistic and socio-political events of the world, no less than to those particular in Spain. In precise synchrony, the symbolist-modernist aesthetic has been followed by other aesthetics or ideologies: surrealist, neoclassicist, existentialist, neorealist, socialist, experimentalist, etc., to which even the Spanish writers have more or less proved themselves receptive. However, this has never prevented, not even those who remained at home (and therefore subjected to a political regime that was anything but “liberal”, especially between 1923 and 1931, and from 1939 to 1975), from expressing passions, realities and “Spanish” hopes, J. Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955), master of the twentieth century artists of ’27, and by other “intermediaries”, such as the novelist-essayist R. Pérez de Ayala (1881-1962), the lyric-narrator G. Miró (1879 -1930), the essayist E. d’Ors (1882-1954) and the brilliant neo-baroque “inventor” and proto-futurist R. Gómez de la Serna (1888-1963). Here are now the most certainly eminent names of the writers of the last three generations.
CULTURE: LITERATURE. THE GENERATION OF ’27
At first, that of ’27 presents itself as a marvelous lyrical flowering: the Andalusians F. García Lorca (1898-1936), R. Alberti (1902-1999), V. Aleixandre (1898-1984), E. Prados (1899 -1962), L. Cernuda (1902-1963), M. Altolaguirre (1905-1959) and the Castilians P. Salinas (1892-1951), J. Guillén (1893-1984), G. Diego (1896-1987), D. Alonso (1898-1990) and J. Larrea (1895-1980), different personalities but of unparalleled poetic stature. Alongside them, always with avant-garde training, there are art prose writers, storytellers, critics, essayists, such as J. Bergamin (1897-1983), RJ Sender (1902-1982), M. Aub (1903-1972), F. Ayala (b.1906), M. Bacarisse (1895-1931), A. Espina (1894-1972), B. Jarnés (1888-1950), G. de Torre (1900-1972), R. Cansinos Asséns (1883-1964), E. Giménez Caballero (1899-1988), E. Montes (1897-1982), Corpus Barga (1892-1975), J. Arderíus (1890-1969), CM Arconada (1900-1964). Strangely, this extraordinary generation is less drawn to the theater, where the most brilliant innovations of the post-war period is represented by ‘ esperpento the “old” R. del Valle-Inclán (1866-1936), apart from some attempts at a “surreal comedian” by E. Jardiel Poncela (1901-1952), E. Neville (1899-1967), M. Mihura(1905-1977).
CULTURE: LITERATURE. THE LITERATURE OF THE FRANCO PERIOD
But in the Thirties, pure operas such as the aforementioned Lorca and Alberti also brought a beginning of renewal to the theater, too soon cut short by the civil war. This dispersed the Generation of ’27, which, in the great majority of cases, continued to operate in exile; but before that, new and brilliant lyrical reinforcements had already appeared, such as M. Hernández (1910-1942), LF Vivanco (1907-1975), L. Rosales (1910-1992), L. Panero (1909-1962), A. Serrano Plaja (b.1909), V. Crémer (b.1910), G. Celaya (1911-1991) etc., whose work flowed into that of the next generation. The latter certainly did not have an easy life, in the repressive climate of the 1940s, but first expressed, tirelessly, new poets such as D. Ridruejo(1912-1975), J. García Nieto (1914-2001), B. de Otero (1916-1979), JL Hidalgo (1919-1947), J. Hierro (b.1922), R. Montesinos (b.1920), C. Bousoño (b.1923), G. Fuertes (1918-1998), L. de Luis (b.1918), R. Morales (b.1919), V. Gaos (b.1919) and numerous others, only to try fiction and theater, genres much more guarded by censorship. However, this could not prevent the revelation of two leaders: the narrator CJ Cela (1916-2002) and the playwright A. Buero Vallejo (1916-2000), confirmed masters in recent decades. At least in part the narrative of social trends of the 1950s and 1960s derives from Cela, which includes authors such as M. Delibes (b.1920), AM Matute (b.1926), C. Laforet (b.1921), G. Torrente Ballester(1910-1999), Á. M. de Lera (1912-1984), JM Gironella (b.1917), J. Bonet (b.1917), P. de Lorenzo (b.1917), JL Martín Vigil, JL Castillo Puche (b.1919), E. Quiroga (1921-1995), R. Pinilla, LM Santos (1924-1964), I. Aldecoa (1925-1969), A. López Salinas (b. 1925), J. Fernández Santos (1926-1988), R. Sánchez Ferlosio (b. 1927), J. García Hortelano (1928-1992), A. Grosso (1928-1995), C. Rojas (b. 1928), A. Prieto (b. 1930); while among the younger ones there emerged J. Goytisolo (b.1931), H. Vázquez Azpiri, J. Marsé (b.1933), F. Umbral (b.1935), J. Torbado (b.1943), T. Moix (b.1943). In the theater, after A. Buero Vallejo (1916-2000), who remains the strongest and most accomplished personality of the post-war period, good affirmations have led A. Sastre (b.1926), openly committed playwright, L. Olmo (1922-1994), C. Muñiz, J. Salom (b.1925), A. Gala (b.1937), J. Rodríguez Méndez (b.1925), A. Diosdado (b.1938), J. Rodríguez Budel, JM Recuerda (n.1926) and others, while the easier comedy of amusement, of mild social criticism or overtly humorous, is cultivated, among others, by A. Paso (1926-1978), JJ Alonso Millán, C. Llopis, Jaime de Armiñán (b.1935) etc. Finally, active and numerous, along the path opened by the Generation of ’98, are the thinkers, critics and essayists of the most diverse and up-to-date trends: from the old historians of the Spanish past, including A. Castro (1885-1972), C. Sánchez Albornoz (1893-1984), J. Vicéns Vives and their disciples, to the more or less direct continuers of Ortegian thought, including J. Marías (b.1914), P. Laín Entralgo (1908-2001), JA Maravall (1911- 1986), F. Vela (1888-1960), P. Garagorri (b.1916), J. Ferrater Mora (1912-1991), M. Zambrano(1907-1991), M. Granell (1906-1993), X Zubiri (1898-1983), R. Xirau (b. 1924), J. Gaos (1902-1969); from the Catholics JL Aranguren (1909-1996), P. Sainz Rodríguez (1898-1986), JM González Ruiz, J. Ruiz Giménez, J. Lozano (b.1930) etc., to the positivists and Marxists E. Tierno Galván (1918 -1986), M. Sacristán (1925-1985), C. Castilla del Pino (b.1922), C. París etc., up to an increasingly large group of historians of the modern and contemporary world which includes M. Tuñón de Lara (1915-1997), M. Artola (b.1923), R. de la Cierva, economists such as R. Tamames (b.1933), sociologists, literary and artistic critics, publicists, anthropologists such as J. Caro Baroja (1914 -1995) etc.


Nov 15, 2012
Samurai Deeper Kyou / SAMURAI DEEPER キョウ
At the dawn of the 17th century, at the end of the era of civil wars, in a world of chaos, the epic Battle of Sekigahara was joined. One man emerged from the largest battle ever fought on Japanese soil; a terrible warrior of unspeakable power, he was nicknamed 'the unconquerable.'
Kyoshiro is a peaceful medicine peddler who harbors the soul of an assassin. He accompanies a young bounty hunter across Japan in search of a murderer and on a quest to discover the terrible secret of his own identity.
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Historical, Romance, Shounen, Supernatural
1999 - 38 Volumes (Complete) by KAMIJYO Akimine
Samurai Deeper Kyou (02.07.2002 till 25.12.2002) / TV Series, 26 episodes
Kubira / 宮毘羅 - February 10
Shindara / 真達羅 - January 02
Shinrei / 辰伶 - February 14
* Wiki (en) * Wiki (jp) * aniDB * MAL (Anime) * MangaUpdates * MAL (Manga) *


Reading and writing image data is a recurring task, and I was wondering, why reading and writing image sequences that are saved in one single
*.tiff file are not a standard function in the imaging libraries I regularly use (such as OpenCV, libtiff, Pillow etc.).
Reading 3D tiff files is easy, e.g. with OpenCV
import cv2 res_tuple = cv2.imreadmulti(path_to_file, flags = cv2.IMREAD_UNCHANGED)
will do the job. However, when trying to save the resulting array back to a file, it will fail. A working filesave for 3D tiff stacks could e.g. look like this:
from skimage.external import tifffile as tif import numpy as np image = np.ones((100,10,10), dtype=np.uint16) tif.imsave('test.tif', image)
Of course the
tifffile library will do that as well, however, I find it more convenient to have only
scikit-image installed and let it call the
tifffile as external library.


Code examples for "Learning CFEngine 3" now availableJan 8, 2012 · 1 minute read · Comments
I'm happy to announce that the code examples from Learning CFEngine 3 are now available for browsing and download at http://cf-learn.info/code.html. You can view or download individual files, and also the whole collection. You can also get them from the GitHub repository.These examples are extracted automatically from the source files for the book, and as such reflect exactly the current state of what you will find in it. This also means, of course, that as the book evolves you will see changes in the files. As usual, please feel free to play with them, and let me know if you find anything broken.


HALLOWEEN: Origins, Meaning and TraditionsHALLOWEEN: Origins, Meaning and Traditions https://www.get-clicked.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Untitled-design-3-1024x538.png 1024 538 Sofia Alves https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b45ec617d5b5bbda086cd300cd7dc306?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Halloween is a holiday celebrated every year on the 31st of October. Associated with creepy decorations, scary customs, and lots of candy, it’s a predominately American event, spreading its pumpkin fever to the rest of the world in recent years. But where and how did it all started?
The tradition finds its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. The Celts, a population who lived about 2,000 years ago in the area that’s now Ireland, the UK, and Northern France, used to celebrate their new year on November 1st. This day marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of the winter, a time usually associated with death. For the Celts, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred on the night before the new year. Thus, October 31st was the night to celebrate Samhain, when they believed that the ghosts of the dead people were returning to earth.
The Romans ruled the Celtic lands for over 400 years and during that time two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day late in October when the Romans used to commemorate the passing of the dead. On the second day, they honored Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Pomona’s symbol is an apple, and this probably explains the tradition of bobbing for apples that are practiced today on Halloween.
At the end of the 8th century, Pope Gregory III designated the 1st of November as the day of all saints. After that, All Saints’ Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The name Halloween comes from the evening before November 1st, called All Hallows Eve. By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread wide into the Celtic territory and gradually blended with the Celtic traditions. In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2nd All Souls’ Day, a day aimed to honor the dead. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, festive parties, donning costumes and eating treats.
Halloween Arrives in America
The Halloween celebrations were extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant system. At some point, the customs of different European ethnic groups and the American Indians started to interact, and a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The very first celebrations included “play parties” which were public events held to honor the harvest. People would share stories of the dead, dance and sing.
By mid-19th century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween wasn’t yet celebrated in the whole country. But when, in the second half of the century, the United States were flooded with millions of Irish immigrants fleeing the Irish Potato famine, the celebration of Halloween became more popular around the country.
The History of “Trick or Treat”
In the early All Souls’ Day parades in England, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. Copying the European traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go from house to house asking for money and food, a practice morphed into today’s famous Trick or Treat tradition. Young women even believed that on that night they could foresee the name and the appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with apple parings, yarns or mirrors.
In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to change Halloween into a holiday more concentrated on the community and on the neighbors getting together other than on ghosts, witchcraft, and pranks. This move actually had some results and at the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties were focused on food, games and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything spooky and grotesque out of the Halloween celebrations. Because of this, Halloween lost most of its creepy and religious overtones by the beginning of the 20th century.
The Party As We Know It
By the 1920’s and 30’s, Halloween had become a community-centered holiday, with town-wide parades and parties. Despite the efforts of many schools and communities, the celebrations quickly started to be frightened by vandalism, which was tamed only around the 1950s. Also due to the high number of young children during the fifties baby boom, the parties quickly moved from the town’s centers into classrooms or homes, where they could be more easily controlled and accommodated.
During these years, the centuries-old tradition of trick or treating was also revived; it was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebrations. This is how a new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow through the years. Today, Americans spend approximately 6 billion dollars annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second-largest commercial holiday after Christmas.


Homeopathy treats any living thing, from the plant world as well as the animal kingdom. If it is alive, it has a vital force and homeopathy can be useful. One very little known resource for the treatment of animals is a companion book to The Essential Synthesis by Dr. Fredrik Schroyens.
Dr. Schroyens spent many years working on The Essential Synthesis by revising and reorganizing Kent’s repertory to be easier to navigate and up to date. He organized the main chapters by their body part but at the top of each page put the next level entry of both the beginning word and ending word for each page. Similar to how a dictionary is organized. This makes finding the proper rubric much easier as the pages are flipped.
He then organized each body part chapter into seven levels. These levels are organized in the logical way we think about symptoms. It is an easy repertory to use but as with all printed versions the latest edition is still incomplete as new rubrics and remedies are constantly being added.
Dr. Schroyens, along with co-author Peter Vint, have subsequently written another book, Textbook of Repertory Language for the Essential Synthesis. In this book, which is a companion book to the The Essential Synthesis, they have included a repertory of rubrics that have been referenced and entered by veterinarians only. This repertory will reference all rubrics that are relevant in The Essential Synthesis and will also list remedies that are additions to The Essential Synthesis with veterinary origins.
There is also a list of veterinary concepts leading to the related symptom. This list has proven most helpful for veterinarians as well as lay homeopaths who treat animals. This list takes the symptom of the animal in a language that is common to the animal description and translates it into the human language of the repertory. In other words, a reference to the human condition rubric from the animal symptom. Although this section is not overly large, there are very useful concepts that would otherwise require using our imagination to translate.
Another very useful section is Localization by Name. What this means is that for every chapter the related localized symptom is referenced. In the alphabetical list you can search for a localization and find in which chapter symptoms of this localization can be found. Sometimes the reference is in more than one chapter, which will help you to not overlook the symptom you need.
In addition to all of the new ways to organize a repertory there is an index of words for The Essential Synthesis and in what section and page they can be found. This feature is very useful when you have a known word you are wanting to find but unsure in which section it could be. This really helps narrow the focus to the most accurate rubric.
And lastly, as if this weren’t enough for one book, a great list of remedy names and abbreviations. Unlike other lists, this list includes in alphabetical order all remedies in their full latin name and all abbreviations independent of the name of the remedy. So you can search an abbreviation and find the name or the name and find the abbreviation. All in one list.
So for any of you who are treating your animals the Textbook of Repertory Language for the Essential Synthesis is a must have. Remember that it is a companion book to The Essential Synthesis and should be used in conjunction with it. Because the information in this repertory is not titled with anything to do with veterinary homeopathy it often is overlooked and not catalogued for veterinary medicine. There is a goldmine of information that is organized in a new and easily navigated format. If you are treating many animals these repertories are a must have.


Susan is nineteen years old and attends an appointment, accompanied by her mother, to request a sick note for university. Susan presents as a shy girl, avoiding eye contact and speaking as little as possible. Her mother explains that Susan has recently begun studies at the local university but although she was excited at the prospect, she has found the transition very stressful. As the weeks have gone on she has become more and more anxious and now cannot sleep and is unable to attend any classes. Susan’s mother explains that Susan has always found change of any sort very difficult. She doesn’t mix with her peers and whilst this did not seem a problem at her small local school where teachers helped her engage with group activities, university life has presented her with social demands that have provoked total withdrawal. Although Susan has followed her usual routine of catching the bus to university, she has not attended any classes for 3 weeks and instead reads alone in the library.


History of the Huguenots
In France, the Protestant Reformation began during the 16th century. French citizens, disgruntled with the political domination of the Catholic church and desiring a more democratic religious affiliation, were greatly influenced by the writings of the German monk Martin Luther and later by the ideas of John Calvin, a French theologian.
In defiance of Catholicism and the monarchy, the French dissenters began holding meetings in secret. The exact origin of the name "Huguenot" is unknown. It appears to be a combination of the Flemish and German word. Protestants who met to study the Bible in secret were called Huis Genooten, or "house fellows." They were also referred to as Eid Genossen, or "oath fellows" meaning persons bound by an oath.
Persecution of the Huguenots by the Catholic church was extreme and unrelenting. In 1535, an edict was published which ordered the extermination of the Protestant heretics. During the following 63 years, Huguenots were systematically tortured and executed. A group of 1500 refugees, one of whom was John Calvin, fled the persecution and established the French Protestant Church in Strasbourg.
On April 30,1598, King Henry IV of France, issued the Edict of Nantes, granting the Huguenots religious and political freedom. The edict was later revoked under the rule of King Louis XIV. Deprived of civil and religious liberty, the Huguenots began leaving France by the thousands. They settled in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Britain and the religiously tolerant new American Colonies. Many Huguenots found their way to Charleston, South Carolina. They built plantations, established Churches, and became highly successful in the rural industries of rice, indigo, cotton and silk.
The Huguenot Cross
The cross, basically a Maltese Cross with an attached dove, symbolizes equality and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
The Maltese Cross has four arms of equal length with each arm becoming broader as it leaves the center. The outer edge is indented in the shape of a V, making eight points at the tips which are symbols of the eight Beatitudes. Fleurs de lis occupy the spaces between the arms, and the four open spaces form four hearts, the symbol of loyalty. The dove decends from the lowest arm, the symbol of the Saint Esprit (Holy Spirit), guide and counselor of the Church.
The Huguenot Cross can be purchased from The Huguenot Society of South Carolina.


About Georgia’s Folly
By Deborah Chase
Georgia’s Folly unfolds from a cluttered flea market to a glamorous Sotheby’s auction, introducing Chloe Bishop, a history teacher and foster care alum in present-day New York. Chloe discovers the diary of Georgia Potter, a Civil War-era collector, detailing a rare Chippendale settee. Partnering with Ben Thompson, a rebellious picker estranged from his wealthy family, they embark on a quest, unwittingly pursued by Gregor, a Russian art dealer. From Gettysburg to Philadelphia and a Hudson River mansion, the journey intertwines history, family, and romance, echoing Dan Brown and Steve Berry’s style. Written from a woman’s perspective, each chapter begins with Georgia’s diary, making Georgia’s Folly a compelling read for fans of split-time novels by Kristen Hamel, Fiona Davis, and Julia Kelly.
Deborah Chase on The Writing Life
For most of my professional life, I have written lifestyle books on beauty, fashion and health—but I have always wanted to write novels that dealt with art, antiques and history. Over the years I’ve cut out interesting articles about art and art history in magazines and newspapers, visited historic sites and museums, and haunted flea markets and estate sales to bring home a little bit of history.
I devour historical books including those by Phillipa Gregory, Edwin Rutherford and Kristin Harmel. I especially love to visit streets and stores mentioned in a book. When I started to write novels I wanted to be accurate to place and time. For the first book, Georgia’s Folly I immersed myself in Gettysburg. I stayed in a redbrick hotel that still had bullet holes in the wall, walked the battlefield of Picketts Charge and climbed into the hidden spaces of a home that was a stop on the Underground Railroad. For my second book The Secrets of Hasbrook Hall, I went to gun shows, explored the New York State canal system, hung out with furniture restorers and attended a glittering Sotheby’s auction. I had such an interesting time researching my books, I thought others might enjoy the sites and back stories of the research.
This blog will cover my onsite research, interesting items to identify and value and share recipes of each time period. I hope that readers will send in photos of their trips, share photos of items they want to identify and value and provide old family recipes that relate to specific times in history.
What I am Reading
What I am Reading
It’s no secret that I am a passionate foodie. I love to shop at farmer’s markets, collect cookbooks, search out new restaurants and cook for family and friends.
I love when novels include tempting food scenes and even offer recipes. Geogia’s Folly includes description of meals as a natural part of the narrative. At the end of the book, there will be recipes for the meals featured in the story.
Chloe Bishop’s Cuban born foster mother made a big pot of Azzoz Con Pollo every Friday night. It made the house smell wonderful and could be stretched to feed a new child who suddenly needed a safe place to sleep. I adapted this recipe from a little booklet published by GOYA foods.
- 4 chicken quarters ( thighs and legs)
- 2 teaspoons of GOYA Adobo seasoning
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 3 cloves of chopped garlic
- 1 cup of chopped onion
- ½ cup chopped green pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- I packet Sazon with saffron
- 1/3 cup pimento stuffed olives
- 1/3 cup slivered roast pimentos
- 1 cup rice
- Cut chicken leg and thigh apart into two pieces.
- Sprinkle chicken with Adobo, heat oil in large non-stick saute pan and brown chicken on both sides.
- When nicely brown on both sides, remove chicken and place in a 6 quart Dutch oven. Stir in garlic, onions and green pepper into saute pan and cook until vegetables are tender but not browned. Add rice and saute for another minute.
- Add veggies and rice back to the chicken in the Dutch oven and add broth, Sazon and bring to a boil.
- Add green olives, stir and cover the pot. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes until rice is cooked and chicken is tender.
In a previous life I ran a blogging group called Fashion Flash. Each month we did a giveaway that included popular books, skin care, make-up and a $50 gift cards to Amazon, American Express or Visa. Called Beauty and a Book Giveaway, it was free to enter and we received from 2,000-6,000 entries for each contest. Like so many things, it ended with COVID. We’re now bringing giveaways back with the launch of this site. Many of the top bloggers from Fashion Flash including Stacie of Make-up Obsessed Mom and Sissi of Beauty4free2u will be hosting our giveaways.
Each prize package will include top beauty brands including items from Drunk Elephant, Milk and Saie, three great books and a $50 gift card from Amazon (total value $200.) Subscribe here to be notified for new giveaways. Its free to enter. All you have to do is like us on Instagram (@thewritinglife2) and you are in entered. Subscribe to DeborahChase.com.
With a background in journalism and history, she draws inspiration from a family steeped in art and antiques, crafting tales like her latest novel, ‘Georgia’s Folly.’
Connect with Me
Email Deborah Chase
If you are a publisher, historian, or you just want to simply get in touch with Deborah – please use the contact form below. Thank you!


Giving birth to poetry: writings rediscovered
My 8 month old daughter is almost walking and because of this I find books constantly being ripped from the bookshelf and anything on any table or shelf of her height is propelled to the floor as victims of her conquests( and her favorite place to get down and explore is our local library ... )
So, the other day, as I was picking up books for the millionth time, I was surprised by a poem I had written about month after the birth of my son as it fell out of the pages of some book. I had completely forgotten about it. I am always surprised when I find things I've written and cannot remember them, except maybe vaguely.
There's not much to it, but I figured it was worth sharing at least.
And then when I flipped the page over as I was working on typing this up, I found this.
And now I'm startled all over again.


In 2016 when the SDGs were launched, The Center for Development Support Initiatives – CEDSI Nigeria swung into action with the launch of its Club17 Africa’s SDGs Awareness Advocacy Action Project – SAAAP. This project was a multipronged approach geared towards:
One year after, CEDSI NIGERIA has achieved strategic milestones:
Club17 Africa has been able to set 50 clubs in high schools and 2 Universities in Nigeria. So far, 10 of the schools have commenced full activities and are fully operational. In all, about 20,000 students were directly impacted.
. (b) Club 17 Africa has donated over 10,000 books to member schools to support the stocking of their libraries, these books range from English, Sciences, arts and extracurricular initiatives. As a criteria, all partner schools were encouraged to open a library and set up a fully functional library processes.


January 27, 2018 is a day to snuggle up with your little one (or not so little one) and celebrate diversity in all forms.
For Barefoot Books’ Multicultural Day, I received a free copy of The Barefoot Book of Children by Tessa Strickland and Kate DePalma and illustrated by David Dean. I was excited to get it and share it with my six-year-old son, but nothing prepared me for the experiences that this book has fostered between my son and me.
Ben was just as excited as I was when we held this gorgeous book in our hands. The illustrations are inspiring and are rendered with honesty and creativity. My son wants to be an illustrator and he notices the little things I don’t usually pick up on so this book was a rare treat in that small details on each spread prompted him to ask me questions which led to discussions about different (different than him) types of people.
The text poses thoughts and asks questions and promotes interaction by way of discussion. Discussions that had my son and I learning together to find answers to as we went to other resources to find out more about a certain type of person or culture. I read picture books to my son all the time, but I don’t know if one book has ever prompted so many discussions between us.
I highly recommend this book depicting children from all over the world who have all types of abilities and talents and dreams clearly shown on the pages.
Take this chance and this challenge as an opportunity to share diversity with someone you know…anyone!
Connect with Barefoot Books


Aims & Scope
Journal of Economics, entrepreneurship and law highlights the issues on intersection of economic and legal entrepreneuship aspects. The content includes papers on management, marketing, logistics, finance and personnel management and aspects of commercial and employment law.
- Issued: Monthly (12 times a year)
- Media: Online
- Published since: 2011
Indexation and abstracting: HAC, RSCI (Russian Science Citation Index), Google Scholar, EBSCO Discovery, Ulrich’s
Call for papers
All submitted Research or Review manuscripts are subject to peer-review process.
+7 495 648 62 41
Ms. Elena Drobot


UPCOMING CLASSES AND EVENTS
Connect and Learn
Please join us for our FREE labor support and comfort measures class! It's the perfect opportunity to meet local birth workers while learning more about managing the waves of labor! Bring a friend, a birth partner, and a baby bump! Can't wait to meet you!
Click Here to join the event on our Facebook page.
Date: To Be Determined
(There will be a class in July)
Kearney Public Library
2020 1st Ave Kearney, NE 68847
All Classes run from 6:45- 8:00
Comfort Measures and Labor Support
At the Kearney Public Library.
Other Free Classes And Groups Offed By Others In The Community
(click on the date to go to Facebook event page)
No Current Community Classes


1) Total number of books that I’ve owned
Quite a number of computer books, programming, flash animations, adobe premiere. There’s also some self improvement books, like the dictionary of dreams, how to be a sucessful person in 55 tips, Tony Buzan’s memory improvement books … Very rarely do I own fiction books, normally because I usually borrow these from the library and only buy books if I really need them to refer to them at my own convenience.
2) The last book I bought
One particular poetry that caught my eye:
Virtue, by George Herbert
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridall of the earth and skie:
The dew shall weep thy fall to night;
For thou must die.
Sweet rose, whose hue angrie and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye:
Thy root is ever in its grave
And thou must die.
Sweet spring, full of sweet dayes and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie;
My musick shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.
Onely a sweet and vertuous soul,
Like seasonâ€™d timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
3) The last book that I read
Not quite done with it, just halfway is this book.
Basically this book tells you about how you have the mental power to achieve anything that you want and trains your mental and emotional self to become more mature and stronger. You identify thoughts and feelings that makes you unhappy, and develop healthy ways of thinking. Interesting book, albeit very simplistic and quite clear cut. In a nutshell. You can do anything, if you believe you can and DO something about it.
I’ve read this one some time back
Cart recommended me this reading. Basically its a book about virtual worlds, how one can travel into it to interact create social worlds (very similar to the 3D worlds that we have right now and amazingly, this book was written a long long time before the internet) Interesting book. But Sci-Fi isnt really my kind of reading.
4) Books that mean alot to me
a) Chronicles of Narnia
My first encounter with “The lion, the witch and the wardrobe” back in secondary school, when I was about 14 or 15 years old and it intruiged me enough to borrow it from the library. It took me about a week to complete reading and I loved the fantastical story of magic, of loyalty and friendship … and before long, I was scouring for the other Narnia books installments. I loved them all and the most captivating installment of all was “The last battle” which really left me having a deep impact about the netherworlds
Suffice to say, I loved it.
b) The Quran does bring a feeling a serenity when I read it and calms me down. Wonderful reading during nice and quiet nights. I have to admit that I’m not a very religious person and that I’m not all that good at the arabic reading but its an incredible feeling anyways.
C) Tony Buzan’s Use your head.
While back in secondary school, there was a camp for improving the mind conducted by Nury. And the coordinator, Uncle M starting talking about how memory works and how to improve memory by different methods like Mind Mapping, and Number pegs. I started reading this book by chance while in the library. I liked this book as it was quite simple to follow (though admittedly, I’m a little unmotivated to train my pegs) Tony Buzan’s a hero to me
d) The Zen of listening
I like this book as it has many pointers about the lost art of listening and it makes alot of sense. Communication is two way and that people should listen to another person’s point of view, even if they do not agree with each other to at least understand their own point of view and why they react that way. I couldnt put this book down. Its easy reading but has a lot of punch.
e) Well, this book was written by not one author but many. It would be my autograph books and my diaries throughout the years. It contains many precious memories that I can refer and reflect to throughout the years and is more precious to me than any book in any library. It might not be a literary genious writing, but its heartfelt and is still most beautiful.
Yeah .. thats about it *scratches head* Lets see if these people below would make a list too