The post in which I tell you why I am starting an academic blog about Black hair, identity and women of colour, why this is a conversation long overdue, and why you should be part of it.
When I started my PhD project in 2014, I always knew that this should not just be a project about women of colour, but one for women of colour.
I think I have done a pretty decent job doing research about women of colour. I have spoken to dozens of women in Britain and Germany about their hair. I have listened to their life stories and thoughts. I have observed the processes and culture of Black hair shops, interviewed hair dressers and attended hair shows. As I am starting to write up my thesis, publish articles in academic journals and attend conferences, I can see how my research contributes to an academic discourse about questions of identity and representation as they pertain to women of colour in Britain, Germany and beyond. But I am yet to keep my promise that this is research for women of colour.
When I first started university, I hoped my degree would teach me something about myself and my experiences growing up in Germany. I wanted to learn about the ways we identify people based on their outer appearance, about the individual and how individuals become members of groups.I was curious about the formation of societies and the meaning of culture. But I was also interested in the ways we come to hold stereotypes and how we become prejudiced towards others. . Some of my questions were answered, others remain(ed).
I remember my excitement upon coming across Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Mask, Homi K. Bahaba’s The Location of Culture and Anthoy Gilroy’s The Black Atlantic during my first undergraduate in Germany. Later their voices would be complemented by bell hook’s Yearning, Audrey Lorde’s Sister Outsider and Patricia Hill Collin’s Black Feminist Thought. But the body of literature remains small and limited compared to the thousands of books that fill the libraries of the universities that I attended, and it often maintains the binary language of Black and White. It also remains focused on questions of skin colour; yet there was also the question of hair.
When I first started writing for KrauseLocke.de in 2011, I was pretty unaware of the significance and politics of Black hair. But the more women I met, the more conversations I had, the more I read and wrote, the more I could see that sometimes hair was more important to women of colour’s identity than the colour of their skin.
What is the meaning of hair? Why do some women straighten their hair and others wear it natural? What does it mean if certain hair styles are seen as ‘inappropriate’ or ‘unprofessional’? What is beauty and who defines it?
This was the birth of my PhD research project. It is a social psychological investigation into the identity politics of Black hair. It is a project interested in the decisions women make with regards to their hair. In other words, what do women of colour in the United Kingdom and Germany do with their hair and why do they do it?
As much academic writing remains within academic journals and at conferences, I am using this blog to take my research out of the academic ivory tower and back to you, my dear readers.
I am writing this blog for the women, who had the courtesy and courage to share their stories and experiences with me. I am writing this blog for everyone and anyone interested in the politics of Black hair and how it influences processes of identity. And finally, I am writing this blog for the girls and women out there in search of a little #blackgirlmagic.
To be continued…


Follow along with us
DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT PROCESS
We are working with the City of Lynnwood on our Development Agreement. Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll post information we’re sharing with the City and more so you can stay in the know.
June 18, 2019 Open House Boards (click to download)
These display boards tell the Northline Village story and describe where we’re headed. We shared them at an open house at the Lynnwood Library on June 18, 2019.


Primary Sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented at the time or after the event. Primary sources include autobiographies, memoirs, oral histories. legislative documents, court cases, case studies, longitudnal and other studies.
Secondary Sources are commentary or analysis of Primary Sources. Examples include biographies, critical essays on primary works, commentary on about primary sources including interpretations, persuasive articles, surveys and reference resources.
Popular magazines and newspapers: Written for the general public. These publications are written for informaiton and/or entertainment purposes. They are normally for-profit, and include advertising. They are published frequently, daily for newspapers, and weekly or monthly or bi-monthly for magazines.
Scholarly journals: Written by scholars or academics for scholars and those working on academic research. Articles must be approved by an editorial board of peer reviewers. Because a great deal of time is involved in their writing and production, journals are published less frequesntly, usually quarterly or even annually.
Trade publications: These may be magazines or journals, and are written for professionals in a particular field. Some are research related, most are not.
Ina New York Times article published on April 7, 2013, GINA KOLATA wites about the "parallel world of pseudo-academia" where for profit and even erroneous journal type works are published by organizations that either have a name that sounds like a well known institution or organization, or purport to be scholarly endeavors. Kolata writes, "But some researchers are now raising the alarm about what they see as the proliferation of online journals that will print seemingly anything for a fee. They warn that nonexperts doing online research will have trouble distinguishing credible research from junk."
How does the unknowing novice at research deal with this dilemma? Well one way is to use the online databases we provide through organizations such as EbscoHost and Thomson Gale. These are vetted for accuracy and authority, and hopefully they are on top of this issue. Another way is to consult an excellent list of “predatory open-access journals” created by Jeffrey Beall;, a research librarian at the University of Colorado in Denver. These are enumerated in his own blacklist .
Need More Information Identifying Fake News?
The quality of your research depends upon the quality of your sources. Choosing the best sources is key to any research endeavor. With such an array of information available to you, this process can be daunting. The type of source you choose should always match your exact needs, for instance, if your teacher asks for a peer reviewed article, then you should seek out journal articles instead of magazines or newspapers.
Every resource you examine should be appraised carefully. Using a criteria for evaluating materials is very helpful in determining what you will select. Thinking critically about your selections is also essential. Keep in mind that just because a resource is in the library, doesn’t make it the best fit for your research needs. Always review the assignment to determine exactly what is required of you. If you are researching an independent project, then the following criteria will also be helpful.
No authentication necessary if you are accessing these modules within Massachusetts but initial sign into the general site is. Click here once, after which you can continue to access ProQuest links here until you close out your computer.


Official Images and trust
We've focused on using Docker as a tool to solve various types of problems. Meanwhile we have decided to push some of the issues until later and completely ignored others.
The goal for this part is to look into some of the best container practices and improve our processes.
In part 1 we talked about how Alpine Linux image can be quite a bit than Ubuntu but didn't really care about why we'd choose one above the other. On top of that, we have been running the applications as root, i.e. the super user, which is potentially dangerous.
Look into official images
Which version is considered to be the "official" version is up to the maintainers of Docker Official Images to decide. The official images repository contains a library of images considered official. They are introduced into the library by regular pull request processes. The extended process for verifying an image is described in the repository README.
Many of the most well known projects are maintained under the docker-library organization. Those include images such as Postgres and Python. But many of them are added to the library, but are maintained in a separate organization, such as Ubuntu and Nodejs.
Let's look into the Ubuntu image on Docker Hub and trace the process.
The description/readme says:
What's in this image?
This image is built from official rootfs tarballs provided by Canonical
(see dist-* tags at https://git.launchpad.net/cloud-images/+oci/ubuntu-base).
We can see that the image is built from https://git.launchpad.net/cloud-images/+oci/ubuntu-base.
Let's take a closer look at Ubuntu to verify where it comes from. If you click the Dockerfile link of https://hub.docker.com/r/_/ubuntu/ you'll be given a json file instead of the Dockerfile contents. The digest seems to contain the valid digest for a single architecture version listed on Docker Hub (amd64). But after downloading it and checking the digest
docker pull ubuntu:22.04 && docker images --digests the result does not match up.
We find a Dockerfile from the repository here. We can increase trust that it's the same as the image we downloaded with
$ docker image history --no-trunc ubuntu:22.04
The output from image history matches with the directives specified in the Dockerfile. If this isn't enough, we could also build the image ourselves.
The first line states that the image starts FROM a special image "scratch" that is just empty. Then a file
ubuntu-*-oci-$LAUNCHPAD_BUILD_ARCH-root.tar.gz is added to the root from the same directory.
Notice how the file is not extracted at any point. The
ADD instruction documentation states that "If src is a local tar archive in a recognized compression format (identity, gzip, bzip2 or xz) then it is unpacked as a directory."
We could verify the checksums of the file if we were interested. For the Ubuntu image automation from the launchpad takes care of creating the PRs to docker-library and the maintainers of the official images repository verify the PRs.
You can also visit the Docker Hub page for the image tag itself, which shows the layers and warns about potential security issues. Note how many different problems it finds here.
Now we have learned that the build processes are open and we can verify it if we have the need. In addition, we learned that there's nothing that makes the "official" images special.


by Jamie Castell and Alison Harvey
Cambrian CRECS: Nation, Region, Place in the Long 18th Century was the second event hosted by the Cardiff Romanticism and Eighteenth Century Seminar, and as Six Nations fever gripped the country, we sought to consider the position of Wales within Romantic Studies. After a hugely successful launch event with Fight Club, the CRECS organisers were keen to maintain the momentum of the series. How better than to showcase the literature and history of Wales and the amazing resources available in our very own library at Cardiff University’s Special Collections and Archives (SCOLAR)? We were tightly packed once more into a venue with standing room only: several members of academic staff were forced to balance themselves between bottles of wine and bowls of pretzels! So, the atmosphere was appropriately warm as four speakers offered four fresh perspectives on constructions of Welsh identity, landscape and art in the period. Continue reading
John Thelwall, one of the three reform society leaders tried for treason in 1794.
On Tuesday morning, I found myself sitting in a pub in London and repeatedly blowing the foam off a pot of porter while somebody filmed me and a gaggle of curious regulars looked on. Academia has often taken me to some rather unexpected places, but this was something of a new level. As I wiped the foam from my clothes for a second or third time, I wondered how I’d explain this to the English teacher at school who had such lofty hopes for my future career.
Well, there was method in the madness. Along with excellent director John and superb runner Rebecca, I was making a short film for BBC Arts as part of my participation in the BBC / AHRC New Generation Thinkers scheme. The scheme was established to find academics ‘with the ability to turn ground-breaking academic ideas into radio and television programmes’. After making two radio programmes and writing a couple of articles, this was the final stage of the scheme: I was to step into the shoes of Amanda Vickery or Lucy Worsley for a day, and try to convey the excitement and fascination of my research area—the literature and culture of late eighteenth-century Britain—to a public audience. Continue reading
Holly Luhning (University of Surrey) will be presenting her paper, ‘Eliza Haywood: Cultural and Corporeal Adaptation’, at 5.30pm on Tuesday, 24 February 2015. The talk will take place in the Cardiff University’s John Percival Building, Room 2.48.
Eliza Haywood carefully crafted her public debut with the publication of Love in Excess (1719); as her career progressed she became an important innovator in the development of the novel. This talk will consider how Haywood first emerged in the literary marketplace, and move on to examine her often-neglected, but formally innovative mid-career, with particular focus on Adventures of Eovaai, and her translation of Crebillon’s Le Sopha. These two texts exemplify the depth and range of Haywood’s activities as a innovator of narrative and the novel, and of how her work as a translator (and also position of translatee) contributed not only to the rise of the novel, but also the spread of the novel. Haywood’s career, when considered as a whole, reveal her to be an a much more important cultural player in terms of the development of the novel than many ‘stories’ of the novel may suggest. Continue reading
Gripped by Six Nations fever? Wondering which team will walk triumphant from the grassy field of combat in March? And can Wales recoup last week’s loss against England and secure their favoured status once again?
Well, CRECS can’t provide the answers to these questions, but we can certainly offer an interesting and enjoyable evening of discussion and debate on Wales, in which four speakers will offer a variety of perspectives on the nation’s relationship to the Romantic period. While exhaustive work has been done on the role played by Ireland and Scotland in shaping Romantic writing, far less critical attention has been paid to Wales, despite its significant presence during the period. Indeed, during the Romantic period, Wales was seen as the heart of sensibility by some, the home of the picturesque by others and the source of enduring myths about ‘native’ British culture by many. Continue reading
by Carl Phelpstead
(Prompted by our launch event, CRECS Fight Club, last Tuesday, Cardiff’s own Professor Carl Phelpstead reveals the transformative role Jane Austen played in shaping his future career.)
Jane Austen changed my life.
In the course of heaping deserved praise on my learned and witty colleagues for their knock-out performances at the CRECS Fight Club last Tuesday I found myself revealing to them that Austen is the one contender that night who has played an essential part in making me who I am. It was reading Sense and Sensibility for pleasure after I had started A-levels in Physics, Maths and German that made me realise what I was missing and led me to drop the Physics and Maths and take English Literature and Music instead. So if it weren’t for Austen I might now be a quantum physicist or astronomer …
Instead, I went on to study English at university and, eventually, to end up as a professor of the subject at Cardiff. (At a time when Cardiff Council is planning cuts to its library service it’s perhaps worth noting that the life-changing copy of Sense and Sensibility that I read was borrowed from my local public library.)
Of course, Austen cannot be held responsible for the fact that I became a specialist in medieval literature: that’s the doing of a certain Geoffrey Chaucer. But that’s a whole other story …
by Alison Harvey
Tuesday night saw the launch of the Cardiff Romanticism and Eighteenth Century Seminar series, which kicked off in style with Fight Club: a no-holds-barred, trash-talking, dirty-fighting academic debate between six of English Literature’s finest. There was standing room only in Special Collections and Archives, with a superb turnout of over 60 undergraduates, postgraduates and staff. Each speaker had just 5 minutes to convince the audience that their chosen author was a true Romantic Genius. Continue reading
Freya Johnston (University of Oxford) will be presenting her paper, ‘Medieval Graffiti: Editing Thomas Love Peacock’, at 5.30pm on Tuesday, 10 February 2015. The talk will take place in the Cardiff University’s John Percival Building, Room 2.48.
This paper reflects on the challenges and rewards of editing a writer whose works have routinely been described as ‘inaccessible’. Even if his comic fictions abound, like Jane Austen’s, with clever, good-looking women and with sparkling dialogue that culminates in marriage, Peacock’s repartee can be hard to follow. This is partly because he does not aspire to the portrayal of interiority—perhaps the most cherished aspect of Austen’s novels. Rather, his characters, both male and female, exist primarily in order to share, voice, and test the limits of their ideas. His fictions, rebuffing intimacy, are inescapably political and intellectual. This paper will show that to approach the nineteenth-century novel via Peacock is to see it as an outward-facing genre indebted to philosophical tracts, lectures, classical dialogues and the rhythms of parliamentary debate. Continue reading


Ms. Elezi was honored to have been a part Louis Karchin's opera, Jane Eyre and its world premiere production with Center for Contemporary Opera in October 2016. She was seen as part of the ensemble and the cover for Mrs. Fairfax. Here she can be heard on the world premiere and original cast Naxos recording as part of the ensemble. Pre-order your copy today!
Join us for the South Country Library’s annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage with The New York City trio. Rachel Elezi, soprano, will be joined by classical guitarist Jordan Dodson, led by pianist Alexander Wu. They will perform their show, “Cantos De Las Americas”. The ensemble of voice, guitar, and piano covers a wide range of Spanish music: from bolero, folk, flamenco, Broadway, jazz, and popular music. Music of Albéniz, Bernstein, Bor, Chapí, Granados, Grever, Jobim, Lara, Lorca, Piazzolla, Turina, Velasquez, Viardot and more.
This concert celebrates the legacy of Italian music and the traditions it brought to the New World, inspiring its diverse musical roots on the continents of the Americas. Millennium Chamber Symphony and New York City trio Rachel Elezi, soprano, Pablo Gimenez, classical guitar, and Alexander Wu, piano & arranger, will perform a spectrum of vocal and instrumental works from light opera classics to Italian-inspired selections from Broadway, jazz, Latin and American popular music.
More details coming soon!
Nacht und Spuk: Concert at Festspiele Mecklenburg - Vorpommern Festival at the Zarrentin Cloisters, Germany
October 19, 2019 | 7:30 pm
Rachel is delighted to return to Germany as part of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele. The concert will feature chilling repertoire for the fall season alongside Leslie Leon, mezzo-soprano, Till Schulze, baritone, and German stage actress, Helga von Wangenheim - with Raminta Lampsatis at the piano.
Purchase tickets here.
Frau und Musik: Musik und Miteinander Concert Series at Vöhrumhaus no. 5 in Peine, Germany
Back at Mattituck-Laurel Library by popular demand, the quartet featuring Rachel Elezi, soprano; John Lowery, woodwinds; Alexander Wu, piano & arranger; & Rex Benincasa, drums & percussion, takes concert-goers around the world on a winter's journey through traditional jazz, folk, Latin & contemporary classics. Come toast the holiday season with us!


Carroll Calkins Grinnell was the son of Stowell and Ellen (Calkins) Grinnell, born the 13 June 1898 in Troy, Pennsylvania. He married on the 9th of October 1920, Ruth Hutchings Belding, daughter of Sherman and Frances Belding. Carroll attended Union College, graduating as an Electrical Engineer in 1919. He then joined the International General Electric Co. and in 1922 was assigned to Yokohama, Japan and later Tokyo. In January 1933 only 13 1/2 years out of college, he was made Vice President and General Manager of the General Electric Company of the Philippines. In July 1940 was named Far Eastern Commercial Manager of the International General Electric Company with headquarters in Tokyo. The previous month he had moved up to be President of the General Electric Company of the Philippines and he held both positions. In late 1940, as war became imminent, he returned from a vacation to the United States without his family.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941, Carroll was in Manila on a tour for his company. He was captured along with 4000 other Americans and allied civilians. His internment camp was in buildings of the Santo Tomas University near Manila. After six months of internment in a general election by the internees, Carroll was elected as one of seven to an Executive Committee and was appointed by the Japanese Commandant as chairman.
Quoting from a book by A.V.H. Hartendorp, The Santo Tomas Story, "Carroll Calkins Grinnell, 44, had been General Manager of the Far East of the General Electric Co. and had spent over 20 years in Japan, China and the Philippines. He understood a little Japanese and was well known to the Commandant." This internment committee continued until Feb. 1944 when the Japanese Military replaced it with another committee and Carroll was appointed chairman of this committee. The time served in the two committees covered 30 months.
Another author, Fredrick H. Stevens in Santo Tomas Internment Camp, speaks of "...the thankless job, of the multudinous affairs” and “How uncommonly well did this quiet man serve the camp! ...Mr. Grinnell deserved more cooperation than he received. He was always trying to improve the living conditions of the internees.
"In the afternoon...of December 23, 1944...Four of the leading men in the camp were arrested: C. C. Grinnell ...On January 5, 1945 the four internees were taken out of the camp by the military police...After the occupation of Manila (by American forces) on February 3, 1945...in a field...the decapitated body of Carroll C. Grinnell was found on February 20..."
Carroll’s heroism and sacrifice have been recognized by our government in granting him posthumously the highest civilian honor, The Metal of Freedom; the National Red Cross also granted an award. His college class of 1919 gave a class scholarship in his name in 1949 and in 1969 honored his memory with a bronze plaque which reads:
CARROLL CALKINS GRINNELL
BS in E. E. 1919
Civilian War Prisoner in Santo Tomas
Internment Camp, Manila, P. I. in World War II
Sacrificed His Life Serving His Fellow Internees
Erected June 1970 By The Class of 1919, which in 1949
Established The Carroll Grinnell Memorial Scholarship
To Honor the Heroism of The Classmate


Title: 40 MEN AND 12 RIFLES TP
Issue: 40 MEN AND 12 RIFLES TP
Description: 2023: 40 Men and 12 Rifles is an expansive, gripping graphic novel set in Indochina in the year leading up to 1954, when the French-held garrison at Dien Bien Phu fell after a four-month battle, leading to the end of the first Indochina war between French forces and Ho Chi Minh's nationalist rebels. Minh (no relation to Ho) is a young man from Hanoi, an aspiring painter who dreams of experiencing la vie bohème in Paris's Latin Quarter. To dissuade him from pursuing an artistic life, his father sends him into the countryside to tend to the family's holdings. He is soon pressed into serving with the Ho Chi Minh rebels, where he becomes a soldier despite repeatedly defying his cadres-ideological Communist commanders with whom he disagrees-becoming both hero and anti-hero in the process.
Price: 35.02 Euro Availability: In Stock


The library of the Staff College had its modest beginning in the year 1961 with a collection of about 500 books. With purchases in the subsequent years the collection of books has now risen to around 80,000 (volumes) at present. During the current year 1606 number of books were purchased. The existing collection of books in the library covers almost all the major fields such as literature, science, technology, environment, law, management, IT and computer, social sciences, human rights, gender issues, public administration including Central and State Government rules, regulations and acts. The library has a very rich reference section consisting of different kinds of encyclopedia, dictionaries, hand books, reports and a special section on area studies of the North East Region. Multi-terminal computers have been installed in the library to computerize all the library services. During the current year the floor space of the library has been increased by adding the foyer and the front verandah of the administrative building.
The library at present subscribes to journals including some foreign journals. The day to day affairs of the Library is looked after by a trained Assistants. The membership of the Library is open to all government employees based in Guwahati.
All library members are provided with access to JSTOR – A United States based online system for archiving academic journals. JSTOR provides full text searches of digitised back issues of several hundred well-known journals.
Photograph of Library


Zephira, Princess of Del’Cabria, was handed over to the Overlord of Herran in return for peace. Now he’s gone, and the princess is unaccounted for.
Jeth has gotten away with murder. But when Del’Cabrian soldiers threaten his people, he gives up his freedom for their lives. He is sure to get the noose, but as the only one who knew the Overlord’s plans, he might be too valuable to hang.
Vidya is hungry for revenge and ready to see her plan through. Step one: Punish the sirens who betrayed her. Step two: Destroy the one man who deserves the Harpy’s wrath above all others. Her husband.
The missing princess will bring their paths together. One will risk all to find her, the other will stop at nothing to capture her. Neither are prepared to face the Immortal Serpent’s final secret.
SOMETIMES, IT'S THE MEANING OF OUR DEATH THAT GIVES MEANING TO OUR LIFE
"Who will rise? Who will fall? And who will ultimately survive? Queen of the Skour is fun, high stakes, big stage fantasy at its best."
"...a thrilling high fantasy novel, filled with romance, clever plot twists and an intricate magical world in which readers can get lost."
"...in the style of George R. R. Martin and Brandon Sanderson, Immortal Serpent does duty to these two epic fantasy writers with a compelling story, good writing, interesting characters, and an intriguing world."
- Manhattan Book Review
ALWAYS FORWARD; NEVER BACK
Jeth, cursed at birth, is forced to leave his homeland and find a place for himself in a world descending into war. Overnight, he goes from fervent soldier to desert thief who now must lie, cheat, and steal to survive in a hostile, foreign land alongside an enigmatic and sultry companion.
Across the ocean, Vidya undergoes a harrowing transformation into a winged weapon that will avenge her mother and save her island nation.
Their fates are entwined by the infamous Overlord of Herran. One is running from him, the other is hunting him. Neither can escape the Immortal Serpent.
Queen of the Skour sample . . .
The Immortal Serpent sample . . .
what readers are saying . . .
So happy that there was a book for Jeth!
As the second book from this author, you can tell the writing has matured from the first book (The Eye of Verishten - go check it out!) and I can't wait for the next book to come out!
- Goodreads Review
I loved this book! The imagery was excellent and I definitely identified with Jeth's character, and his self-doubts and his defiance against all odds. I particularly liked Vidya as well, and I am looking forward to finding her in the next book.
- Goodreads Review
I finished this book in 3 readings, and admit it read it into the wee small hours. It is a good read, and crafted well. Even though I am not wise of the fantasy genre, I found it was a good story, with good visualization and easy to follow the story line and the characters.
- Amazon Customer
I was really impressed and the story telling was awesome. I am super excited for part two because I have a SERIOUS need to see certain things happen to certain characters who have yet to get what's coming to their stupid faces. And to see Jeth again...who I am in love with...But that's all I dare reveal.
You know that horrible feeling you get when Game of Thrones ends at the worst possible moment and you obsess until the next episode...prepare for that feeling.
- Amazon Customer
K.E. Barron wanted to be a writer her entire life, but she chose to be an accountant instead. Now she divides her time between writing books and balancing them. She grew up in Fernie, British Columbia and now lives in Red Deer, Alberta, working as a financial analyst and writing fantasy books in her spare time. Her interests are vast and varied, ranging from the aesthetics of eighteenth-and nineteenth-century period pieces to the scholarly realms of evolutionary psychology, anthropology, economics, and religion. These eclectic inspirations are all part of the magic and cultural realism of her fantasy novels.
Learn more at www.kebarron.com


Julie is a nurse, she needs to concentrate to study for a test in college. All goes well until a storm spoils her plans. Julie will have a big surprise.
Illustrated by: J.J. McQuade Release date: June 3, 2015
As Mary relaxes in her garden, but it's not just her plants that are growing...
Illustrated by: J.J. McQuade Release date: May 27, 2015
A rich woman's affair with her housekeeper gets even more complicated when she grows fifty feet tall
Illustrated by: J.J. McQuade Release date: May 20, 2015
A couple are given magic jewelry-- when one feels sexual pleasure, their partner grows!
Illustrated by: J.J. McQuade Release date: March 25, 2015
The Galathea lover is murdered and she find the seal of Hapy.
Release date: March 11, 2015
A discussion about giantess fiction gets real.
A woman glances over a document and accepts without reading the fine print. She then soon finds herself growing to new heights.
Illustrated by: Elfor Tin
After being captured by an evil queen, Princess Apple learns gigantic secrets to escape and regain her kingdom.
A girl becomes a giant, flees into the forest where she is confronted by the army.
A beautiful farm girl suffers a transformation by a meteorite falling in the middle of her harvest.
Corporate worker Cleo observes the people, but someone has their eye on her and knows she has a gigantic secret!
Illustrated by: J.J. McQuade
To win a grant from a private company, and to finance his experiments, Sarah must make a presentation facing a committee. but something goes wrong gigantically.


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The Art of Lo Ban Pai: An Introduction to the Internal Philosophy of Spiral Energetics
You'll get 1 PDF100% SSL Secure
Note to the Reader
This book is a compilation of material from the Parallel Perception website describing the art of Lo Ban Pai and the various programs offered by Lujan Matus. It was created on the request of Lujan's students to have the information available in a readily accessible format.
Welcome to the Art of Lo Ban Pai
This handbook outlines the essential elements of Lo Ban Pai as a philosophy, along with a complete overview of all the programs available to be undertaken under the guidance of Lujan Matus.
If you have found this book, you are ready to take a major step forward within your own spiritual journey. Lujan’s students typically are those who have been searching for something much more than the commonly available, who take responsibility for their own development and who seek the eminently practical and powerful that encompasses the magical and mystical that surrounds us.
Within our living construct is an all-embracing consciousness that awaits our sincere gestures to establish contact with it. Everybody is seeking that communion. The movements within Lo Ban Pai provide an astonishingly fast connection with the unknown which often shocks practitioners with its immediacy. The feelings of gravity and magnetism that arrive in one’s hands become obvious after only a few moments under Lujan’s tutelage, and will provide you with an endlessly renewing source of inspiration to continue upon your journey.
Lo Ban Pai goes beyond the system of movements, encompassing also the teachings of Lujan Matus. Within Lujan’s writings are incredible amounts of information that will assist you in gaining access to your internal vortices and thus awaken you to your own personal power. These books invite you to read them again and again, each time revealing greater depth in accordance with your own progression, taking you yet further forward.
When you undertake tuition, you will directly discover the world of the intuitive empath and learn to alter the intimate details of your timeline, beyond the present engineered consciousness.
You will be gently shown the interferences that are part of the socially conditioned response of many individuals living upon this planet, which may be blocking you from being who you really are. This will empower you to move toward the purest form of your predetermined life path.
If you are wondering how Lo Ban Pai can affect such profound changes within your life, we invite you to explore the multitude of testimonials from Lujan’s students that can be found on the Parallel Perception website. On the front page of the site you will also find an outline of some of the
manifest benefits you are likely to experience, which are worth repeating here.
Lo Ban Pai will help you:
• Increase your energy
• Cultivate personal power
• Awaken heart consciousness
• Access your third eye capacity
• Promote optimal health and vitality
• Improve muscle strength and flexibility
• Experience heightened states of awareness
It is a unique coiling system that applies the golden ratio spiral principles of the Tao.
Welcome to what you have been looking for.


Born in India, Buddhism made its way to Japan using the northern and southern routes via China and the Korean peninsula. From the life of Gautama Buddha, the roots of Buddhism, and the teaching of Buddhism in various areas, to the spread and history of Buddhism in Japan, the museum introduces Buddhism in an easy to understand manner using various methods based on a foundation of exhibiting actual artifacts. In addition, there are Special and Focus Exhibits held a few times a year where research project results in various fields from both the university and from outside projects are disclosed.
During the Concept exhibition period the 2nd floor exhibition room focuses on "Buddhism in Asia" and the 3rd floor exhibition room focuses on "Buddhism in Japan", thus tracing the birth and spread of Buddhism.
The theme for the exhibits span from "The world of Gautama Buddha" that introduces the birth of Buddhism in India to "The road traveled by Buddhism" which traces the arrival of Buddhism in Japan via Central Asia. In addition, the "Otani Expedition" collection will also be on exhibit. The Otani Expedition was the first group in Japan to perform an academic investigation of the route taken by the eastward spread of Buddhism.
"Buddhism in Japan" introduces how Buddhism was brought to Japan, how it spread, the differences between religious factions and their teachings. The theme for the exhibits is "Shinran Shonin and Shin Buddhism" which introduces the teachings of Shinran Shonin, the development of Shin Buddhism and the history of Hongwanji. In addition there are also exhibits that introduce the history of Ryukoku University, which was founded approximately 370 years ago as a college of Nishi Hongwanji.
Kozui Otani, the 22nd chief priest of Hongwanji School of Shin Buddhism, dispatched three expeditions across Asia 1902 and 1914. This collection consists of approximately 9,000 items that were used by the Otani Expedition members, the first academic expedition in Japan to trace the route of the eastward spread of Buddhism, as well as the items they brought back.
Important academic materials held by Ryukoku University, with its history of more than 380 years, is planned on being exhibited.
For details on these materials as well as other academic materials held by Ryukoku University, please see the "Ryukoku University Library Collection Site".


Print By Katie Levy Upon arriving at Tufts University for her freshman year a little over more than four years ago, year-old Amber Madison expected to find herself amongst a group of mature, experienced and knowledgeable peers. Though most of her Black girl sex in Sunshine coast boys were intelligent in many ways, Madison was surprised to find that many were clueless about one topic: sex.
Girl for sex Huntington began writing her book the summer after her junior year at Tufts.
After two years of writing, Madison said she felt that she compiled a comprehensive guide Girl for sex Huntington relationships, sex, self-confidence and sexuality. Adult looking xxx dating Anchorage Alaska book is not only provides information, but also therapy, Madison said.
She emphasizes the fact that a girl will never be comfortable performing sexual acts until she is comfortable in her own body.
Her main goal is Local chat rooms see girls feel confident and comfortable in themselves, both physically and mentally, so Girl for sex Huntington can have better judgement when it comes to sex and relationships, Girl for sex Huntington said. Madison includes many personal stories in the book, ranging from relationships with ex-boyfriends to her first sexual experience. Madison said she held nothing back Horny girls Ophir Kentucky she wrote the book Beautiful couple wants sex Springfield Missouri an attempt to make the reader feel more comfortable about the topics.
Lindsey Gray, a freshman criminal justice major, and Laura Tomic, a freshman political science major, said the book was not only entertaining, but informative as.
Gray said making the book entertaining was a much more effective route to sexual education than the often-bland Douglas girls looking for sex and films teenagers are used to. Tomic agreed, saying that Madison covers important topics such as STDs, pregnancy and vaginal health with great medical accuracy and up-to-date information while keeping the reader interested and wanting to read on.
Not only is the book a must-read for girls entering high school and college, but Girl for sex Huntington boys could learn a thing or two from it as well, Madison said.
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#2 Creep From the Deep
BY: R.L. Stine
COVER DESIGN BY: Steve Scott
COVER ART BY: Brandon Dorman
PUBLISHED BY: Scholastic Inc.
Reviewed by Billy Burgess
In this second installment of the new series, R.L. Stine brings back three characters from the original Goosebumps series. Billy and his sister Sheena are on a adventure with their uncle, Dr. Deep, on the hi-tech ship, the Cassandra. They are searching for the pirate ship called the Scarlet Skull that sank to the bottom of the sea in the late 1780’s, and carried millions of dollars’ worth of gold and jewels. After they find the ship, Dr. Deep disappears. When Billy and Sheena go looking for their uncle on a nearby island, they discover that the pirates of Scarlet Skull are still alive and they want their treasure back.
I enjoyed returning to the characters from the books “Deep Trouble” and “Deep Trouble II” that were written in the 90’s.
The second story picks up in “Horrorland” from the previous book. Billy and Sheena have won a free trip to the theme park. Their parents have also gone missing . While searching for them they run into Britney and Molly from the first book, who are also looking for Britney’s parents. When they go on the Quicksand Beach ride, Britney and Molly disappear. Now Billy and Shenna must search for their new friends and their parents, but the pirates of the Scarlet Skull may still be after them.
I enjoyed the continuation of the Horrorland. Once again the second story is only 30 pages and ends in a cliffhanger. If you are like me and countless other R.L. Stine Fans, you can’t wait to read more!


About Norman Rockwell
"The secret to so many artists living so long is that every painting is a new adventure. So, you see, they're always looking ahead to something new and exciting. The secret is not to look back." - Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell was a 20th century American painter and illustrator. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are Rosie the Riveter (although his Rosie was reproduced less than others of the day), Saying Grace (1951), and the Four Freedoms series.
On May 22, 2002, Norman Rockwell's painting of "Rosie the Riveter" was auctioned by Sotheby's for $4,959,500. His signed and numbered prints are currently worth between two to twenty thousand dollars each, depending upon condition/edition and title. All of Art Corporation of America Norman Rockwell prints are in excellent condition.
Born on February 3, 1894, in New York City to Jarvis Waring and Nancy (Hill) Rockwell. He had one sibling, a brother, Jarvis. Rockwell transferred from high school to the Chase Art School at the age of 16. He then went on to the National Academy of Design, and finally, to the Art Students League, where he was taught by Thomas Fogarty and George Bridgman. Rockwell's early works were done for St. Nicholas Magazine, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) publication Boys' Life, and other juvenile publications. Joseph Csatari carried on his legacy and style for the BSA.
As a student, Rockwell was given smaller, less important jobs. His first major breakthrough came in 1912 at age 18 with his first book illustration for Carl H. Claudy's Tell Me Why: Stories about Mother Nature. Also, at age 19, in 1913, he became the art editor for Boys' Life, a post he held for several years. As part of fulfilling that position, he painted several covers between 1913 and 1915. His first published magazine cover, Scout at Ship's Wheel, appeared on Boys' Life September 1913 edition.
During the First World War, he tried to enlist into the U.S. Navy but was refused entry because, at 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and 140 pounds (64 kg), he was eight pounds underweight. To compensate, he spent one night gorging himself on bananas, liquids and donuts, and weighed enough to enlist the next day. However, he was given the role of a military artist and did not see any action during his tour of duty. Rockwell moved to New Rochelle, New York at age 21 and shared a studio with the cartoonist Clyde Forsythe, who worked for The Saturday Evening Post. With Forsythe's help, he submitted his first successful cover painting to the Post in 1916, Boy with Baby Carriage (published on May 20). He followed that success with Circus Barker and Strongman (published on June 3), Gramps at the Plate (August 5), Redhead Loves Hatty Perkins (September 16), People in a Theatre Balcony (October 14) and Man Playing Santa (December 9). Rockwell was published eight times total on the Post cover within the first twelve months. Norman Rockwell published a total of 321 original covers for The Saturday Evening Post over 47 years. Rockwell's success on the cover of the Post led to covers for other magazines of the day, most notably The Literary Digest, The Country Gentleman, Leslie's Weekly, Judge, Peoples Popular Monthly and Life Magazine.
Rockwell married his first wife, Irene O'Connor, in 1916. Irene was Rockwell's model in Mother Tucking Children into Bed, published on the cover of The Literary Digest on January 19, 1921. However, the couple divorced in 1930. He quickly married schoolteacher Mary Barstow, with whom he had three children: Jarvis Waring, Thomas Rhodes and Peter Barstow. In 1939, the Rockwell family moved to Arlington, Vermont, which seemed to inspire him to paint scenes of everyday small town American life.
In 1943, during the Second World War, Rockwell painted the Four Freedoms series, which was completed in seven months and resulted in his losing 15 pounds. The series was inspired by a speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had declared that there were four principles for universal rights: Freedom from Want, Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship, and Freedom from Fear. The paintings were published in 1943 by The Saturday Evening Post . The U.S. Treasury Department later promoted war bonds by exhibiting the originals in 16 cities. Rockwell himself considered "Freedom of Speech" to be the best of the four. That same year a fire in his studio destroyed numerous original paintings, costumes, and props. Later, in 1953, his wife Mary died unexpectedly, which resulted in Rockwell taking time off to grieve. It was during this break that he and his son Thomas produced his autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator, which was published in 1960. The Post printed excerpts from this book in eight consecutive issues, the first containing Rockwell's famous Triple Self-Portrait. During the late 1940s, Norman Rockwell spent the winter months as artist-in-residence at Otis College of Art and Design. Students occasionally were models for his Saturday Evening Post covers. In 1949, Rockwell donated an original Post cover, "April Fool," to be raffled off in a library fund raiser.
Rockwell married his third wife, retired schoolteacher Molly Punderson, in 1961. His last painting for the Post was published in 1963, marking the end of a publishing relationship that had included 321 cover paintings. He spent the next 10 years painting for Look Magazine, where his work depicted his interests in civil rights, poverty and space exploration.
During his long career, he was commissioned to paint the portraits for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, as well as those of foreign figures, including Gamal Abdel Nasser and Jawaharlal Nehru. One of his last works was a portrait of legendary singer Judy Garland in 1969. A custodianship of 574 of his original paintings and drawings was established with Rockwell's help near his home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and the museum is still open today year round. Rockwell received in 1977 the Presidential Medal of Freedom for "vivid and affectionate portraits of our country," the United States of America's highest civilian honor. Norman Rockwell died November 8, 1978 of emphysema at age 84 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Norman Rockwell was very prolific, and produced over 4000 original works, most of which have been either destroyed by fire or are in permanent collections. Rockwell was also commissioned to illustrate over 40 books including Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. His annual contributions for the Boy Scouts' calendars between 1925 and 1976 (Rockwell was a 1939 recipient of the Silver Buffalo Award, the highest adult award given by the Boy Scouts of America), were only slightly overshadowed by his most popular of calendar works: the "Four Seasons" illustrations for Brown & Bigelow that were published for 17 years beginning in 1947 and reproduced in various styles and sizes since 1964. Illustrations for booklets, catalogs, posters (particularly movie promotions), sheet music, stamps, playing cards, and murals (including "Yankee Doodle Dandy", which was completed in 1936 for the Nassau Inn in Princeton, New Jersey) rounded out Rockwell's career as an illustrator.Many of his works appear overly sweet in modern critics' eyes, especially the Saturday Evening Post covers, which tend toward idealistic or sentimentalized portrayals of American lifeè‘‰his has led to the often-deprecatory adjective Rockwellesque. Consequently, Rockwell is not considered a "serious painter" by some contemporary artists, who often regard his work as bourgeois and kitsch. Writer Vladimir Nabokov scorned brilliant technique put to "banal" use, and wrote in his book Pnin: "That Dalí is really Norman Rockwell's twin brother kidnapped by Gypsies in babyhood". He is called an "illustrator" instead of an artist by some critics, a designation he did not mind, as it was what he called himself.However, in his later years, Rockwell began receiving more attention as a painter when he chose more serious subjects such as the series on racism for Look. One example of this more serious work is The Problem We All Live With, which dealt with the issue of school integration. The painting depicts a young African American girl, Ruby Bridges, flanked by white federal marshals, walking to school past a wall defaced by racist graffiti.Rockwell's work received its most prominent official acknowledgment with an exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2001.
Art Consultants to the World


Welcome to the Chinese Antique Furniture Shop!
We hope you will enjoy learning about and better understanding the allure and history of furniture produced by one of the earth's oldest cultures.
This site provides you with videos to learn the basics on how to differentiate new from old furniture, to recognize traditional construction techniques, and a number of other objectives. Give the videos a quick scan. Although basic, they can offer you some good pointers.
There are reviews of a number of books on Chinese furniture. These book reviews should be helpful to anyone looking to expand their library of reference materials, or gain a deeper insight into Chinese antiques.
This site also provides a simplified glossary of symbols that are used in Chinese furniture which are easily recognized by most Chinese people. These symbols transcend all major religions practiced in China.
The Chinese culture, so well represented in its "every day furniture," is rich in its history and in its beauty. With the value of the Chinese currency expected to rise, and increasing restrictions on the export of Chinese antiques, now is a wonderful time to add to your collection. We hope this site will lead you to your own adventure of exploring that which China has to offer.


A Letter and a Challenge ~ addressed to ALL, published by The Times: Minden Ontario
By Sharon Lawrence –
To the editor:
R.D.Lawrence was a literary icon and a champion of environmental issues.
September 12, 2021, will mark the 100th year of his birth.
Lawrence was a field biologist, journalist, wildlife rehabilitator and a veteran of WWll. He was a superb storyteller and an award winning author, published internationally.
The Lawrences owned a wilderness property in the Haliburton Highlands where they raised, rehabilitated and released injured and orphaned wildlife.
To celebrate this centennial event, I challenge you to perform “100 Acts of Green”, in 100 hours, 100 days, or 100 years! Add new “Acts of Green” to your daily routine. Try freecycle, thrift stores, vintage stores, clothes swaps, DIY up cycle, and reclaimed materials. Ditch disposables and plastic bags.
Most importantly, plant a tree somewhere.
Organize a family or neighbourhood tree planting. Forests are the lungs of the world.
Visit the Minden Hills Library to view a display of Lawrence’s books, and pick up a complimentary copy of Paddy.
Respect all life.
Cry Wild addendum… a helpful organization that echoes Sharon Lawrence’s challenge can be found at Random Acts of Green ~ Canada.


I read some great (and not so great) books in 2011. Here is my pocket review of each:
Book of the Year: At Home (Bill Bryson)
Bryson is one of my favorite authors. He combines a conversational style with a nerd's appreciation for historical context. In At Home, Bryson takes readers on a tour of his English country home while stretching back centuries to source the origin of each room's purpose within the modern day house. Along the way, Bryson takes us back to Dickensian England to discuss sanitation, the dark ages to discuss great rooms and many other stops along the way.
Runner-Up: The Disappearing Spoon (Sam Kean)
Kean's exploration of the periodic table of the elements is chock full of fascinating little tidbits about the scientists behind the discovery of these elements, how the table is constructed and anecdotes about each substance. You will learn about everything from how dynamite was invented to what happens if you accidentally ingest silver (spoiler alert: you turn kind of blue).
Honorable Mention: Maphead (Ken Jennings)
Ken Jennings, best known for winning about 345 games of Jeopardy!, is also a cartography freak with a winning writing style. In his book Maphead, Jennings's love of maps shines through, as he takes us to the Geography Bee, introduces us to geocaching, follows people who update road signs and visits the historical maps contained in the Library of Congress among many other stops along the way of explaining the importance of maps.
Honorable Mention: Sex On The Moon (Ben Mezrich)
The author of The Social Network weaves a tale of a NASA scientist and his girlfriend, who hatched a plot to steal (and sell) moon rocks brought back by the Apollo space missions. The amateurishness of the criminal scheme is matched by the wistfulness of the romance between the main characters. Highly readable.
Tears Of A Clown, Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America (Dana Milbank)
This book seemed far more relevant when I read it in January than it does now that Beck has slithered off FOX and disappeared into oblivion, but basically, Milbank traces the complete and utter douchiness of this latter day Father Coughlin. A truly execrable human being.
There's A Word For It, The Explosion of the American Language Since 1900 (Sol Steinmetz)
Steinmetz splits the 20th century into 10 chapters and showing when certain words came into popular use. Marginally satisfying and not particularly challenging.
Quite Literally (Wynford Hicks)
A far better usage book that would look handsome on any reference desk or bookshelf. Very enjoyable.
Endgame (Frank Brady)
I usually don't like biographies because I get bored with the backstory, but Brady's one volume Bobby Fischer biography is actually stronger on the early part of Fischer's life than the post-Spassky downward spiral. This is the book equivalent of Full Metal Jacket - amazing first half, so-so second half. Fischer is a subject who begged either for a two-volume treatment that would have allowed the author to more deeply explore Fischer's adult life, or a shorter one volume work that was more balanced between youth and adulthood. The early chapters on Fischer's childhood and rearing are fascinating as is the (too short) meditation on Fischer's skid row years in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, the early part of Fischer's adulthood, when his genius truly blossomed and he was the unquestioned greatest chess player in the world is given somewhat short shrift. Fischer's unquestioned genius is noted but so too is his reprehensible anti-Semitism. If you are interested in the definitive book about the 1972 Fischer-Spassky Match, check out Bobby Fischer Goes To War.
The Lover's Dictionary (David Levithan)
This book is as slim as it is bad. I hated it.
All Facts Considered (Kee Malesky)
I remember absolutely nothing about this book. When I looked it up on Amazon, it appears to be a reference book of some sort.
Rawhide Down (Del Quentin Wilber)
This book tells the story of John Hinckley's 1981 assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan. Wilber borrows from Dave Cullen's haunting book Columbine in flipping chapters between Hinckley and Reagan until we get to the climactic incident outside the Washington Hilton. The behind the scenes chaos at the White House and how close Reagan actually was to death are both notable, especially since the "official" story at the time was far different than what was actually happening.
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (Bill Bryson)
I told you I was a big fan of Bill Bryson. This book is a nice companion to Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors, offering commonly (and some not-so commonly) used words with definitions and proper spelling.
Mad As Hell, The Crisis of the 1970s and the Rise of the Populist Right (Dominic Sandbrook)
I'm fascinated by the 1970s. The decade is easily stereotyped as a sea of leisure suits, 8-Track stereos and shag carpets, but the political system almost came apart during Watergate, the country elected a complete unknown in 1976 and by the end of the decade, interest rates were flirting with 20 percent. Sandbrook touches on these issues and many more, tracing the decade from Nixon's secret bombing of Laos and Cambodia all the way through how Reagan and his advisors successfully leveraged economic distress, military emasculation and religious fervor to sweep into office in 1980.
The Eichmann Trial (Deborah Lipstadt)
I found this book much less enjoyable than Hunting Eichmann, though Lipstadt focuses more on the trial itself, whereas Bascomb's tale was focused almost exclusively on how Eichmann was tracked down by the Mossad. Admittedly, the latter is far more provocative than the former.
The Lost City of Z (David Grann)
Fascinating story of British explorers of the Amazon in the late 18th and early 19th century, and particularly Percy Fawcett, who comes across as a stentorian Indiana Jones as he searches for the eponymous city for which the book is named.
The Psychopath Test (Jon Ronson)
Those Ronsons are one talented group of people. I imagine their holiday dinners are latter day Algonquin roundtable, but to be honest, I remember very little of this book's contents. Probably not that good.
In The Garden of Beasts (Erik Larson)
Larson probably reached his creative apex with The Devil in the White City, but this highly enjoyable story of our Ambassador to Germany at the dawn of Hitler's rise to power is really good. Larson modifies his two disparate story signature by telling what are more like parallel stories of the Ambassador and his daughter, each of whom has unique and unconventional experiences in early 1930s Germany. The book felt about 20-30 pages too long, but overall, a solid read.
Fraud of the Century (Roy Morris)
The shenanigans of the 1876 Presidential election do, in their way, make what happened in 2000 look mild by comparison. Morris's telling, which is filled with the type of political minutiae that junkies like me live for, was great. That the election itself was not certified until a few days before the actual Inaugural presents the interesting question of why there was such a rush to "select" G.W. Bush, but in 1876, the politically distant Sam Tilden was outmaneuvered by the Republican machine supporting Rutherford Hayes. Hayes's own complicity in the actions is questionable, but the stain left by the result (Tilden outpolled Hayes nationwide) played a big part in Hayes's decision to not stand for re-election in 1880.
The President and the Assassin (Scott Miller)
Keeping with the post-Civil War theme, Scott Miller takes us to Buffalo, New York in September 1901 to tell the story of the assassination of President William McKinley. His murder is a major historical pivot point for the country, as he was succeeded by the mercurial Theodore Roosevelt, whose progressivism was completely contrary to McKinley's rigid protection of industry. His killer, Leon Czolgosz, was also a man of his time, but of the masses who were disillusioned by government and flirted with anarchism. A final thread is the still modest amount of medical knowledge and technology - sterilization, anesthesia, and x-ray machines that were not in wide use, but might have contributed to McKinley's recovery had there been greater understanding of those techniques.
Game Six (Mark Frost)
Baseball fans will enjoy Mark Frost's inning by inning (and in some cases, at-bat by at-bat) story of Game Six of the 1975 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds. Widely believed to be one of, if not, the greatest World Series game of all-time, Frost not only breaks down the small strategic decisions that went into the game, but layers a rich tapestry of stories about the players involved. He's particularly fond of Luis Tiant, the Red Sox starting pitcher for Game Six and Reds manager Sparky Anderson. Even though you know the result, reading about the myriad times where the game could have gone in a different direction still makes for an entertaining yarn.
The Last Gunfight (Jeff Guinn)
Guinn's story of "The Gunfight at the OK Corral" takes the reader back to the sometimes lawless West that was still being developed and settled in the late 1800s. Guinn makes a persuasive case both for Wyatt Earp's self-promotion in the wake of the gun fight and its inevitability based on bruised egos and simmering feuds between the Earps and the Clantons. Like many things related to the "Wild West," the legend was printed before the truth had a chance to come out.
The Speech (Senator Bernie Sanders)
This is the verbatim text of Senator Sanders's December 2010 filibuster against the extension of the Bush tax cuts. I know, you are noting the irony that the only time someone has been forced to do an "old school" filibuster, that is, speaking without break on the Senate floor, is when we want to extend tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the rich, but such is life. The speech repeated itself in a number of places but the overall message of income inequality looks prescient in the wake of the Occupy Wall Street movement. There is no denying the Senator's passion and his desire to help the middle class and poor is laudable. That people in Vermont and elsewhere are struggling just to buy food and heat their homes is, sadly, just as common today as it was a year ago when Senator Sanders made his speech.
The President Is A Sick Man (Matthew Algeo)
Yet another Gilded Age era tale, this time of President Grover Cleveland's secret surgery to remove a tumor from his mouth, and how the procedure was kept from the general public (spoiler alert: overlong boat trip from DC to NY). The wrinkle in the story is that one reporter actually sniffed out the story but was mercilessly crushed by the President's men when he published it. Along with a piece of Abe Lincoln, Cleveland's tumor (which turned out to be benign) is still in the possession of the federal government.
A Billion Wicked Thoughts (Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam)
Two authors data mined porn searches conducted by thousands of men and women to tease out the differences between what we say we want sexually and what we crave when we watch it.
Destiny of the Republic (Candice Miller)
Rounding out the post-Civil War presidential jag I went on is this book, which discusses the 1881 assassination of President James Garfield by Charles Guiteau. Miller makes clear that poor medical techniques directly contributed to Garfield's painful and slow death, Alexander Graham Bell makes a cameo appearance with an early version of a metal detector (his failed b/c the bed Garfield was on when Bell scanned him had metal springs - you can't make some of this stuff up) and Guiteau is another aimless drifter and neer-do-well (like Czolgosz in 1901) who did little with his life. Miller's fondness for the President is clear and, to a lesser extent than McKinley, his death changed the course of our country's history by elevating career hack Chester Arthur to the Presidency. The Arthur Administration was unmemorable, but one wonders what Garfield could have achieved had he lived. I've also seen this book pop up on some "best of the year" lists.
Snoop, What Your Stuff Says About You (Sam Gosling)
I thought I would enjoy this book because I'm a bit of a snooper myself - primarily bookshelves, and I found out that the bookshelf is one of three places where people tend to express themselves (the bathroom (of all places) and bedroom being the other two). Otherwise, there was a lot of, "it could mean this, or it could mean nothing" observations that I find so frustrating in sociological books.
Should You Judge This Book By Its Cover (Julian Baggini)
Baggini takes a bunch of conventional wisdom tropes and attempts to determine whether they are true or not. Each aphorism (e.g., "no pain, no gain," "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush") is given a whopping 2 pages of discussion, so it's hard to take anything in the book (or its conclusions) too seriously.
Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State (Andrew Gelman)
This book is what I imagine Nate Silver's masturbatory fantasies look like. Dense with data points and impenetrable to those without a PhD in statistics, my one basic takeaway was the (partial) debunking of Thomas Frank's What's the Matter With Kansas as Gelman argues that rich people in "blue" and "red" state vote Republican and where Republicans win the middle class vote too (and get better turnout) in the Deep South and Midwest, they win. Kansas poor people vote for Democrats too, they just don't make up enough of the electorate to tilt it blue. Or something. It's a bit blurry.
That Used To Be Us (Thomas Friedman & Michael Mandelbaum)
Boomerang (Michael Lewis)
This book feels like 5 overly long Vanity Fair articles embellished with enough fluff to turn it into a book-long treatment to take advantage of the superb (and 2010 Book of the Year "honorable mention") The Big Short. While no one can doubt Lewis's talent as a writer, this story of foreign countries hit by the financial crisis (he focuses on Iceland, Ireland, Greece and Germany) and whether California portends a fiscally calamitous future for the U.S. just does not have enough weight to carry itself as a coherent whole. Interspersed with trenchant observations that muse on what countries did "when the lights were out and no one was looking," were mindless and distracting ruminations on German shit fetishes, how odd Lewis felt arriving at a Greek abbey in a pink Brooks Brothers polo shirt (don't ask) and how a leader of the Irish parliament looked drunk (really?). On balance, the good outweighs the bad, but this feels like a bad sequel along the lines of Caddyshack II or Another 48 Hours.
Why Read Moby Dick (Nathaniel Philbrick)
This slim volume discusses the importance of Moby Dick in our literary canon and Philbrick's passion for the book is clear. Having not read the book myself (and frankly, Philbrick's description of the difficulty of getting through the book made me less inclined to read it), I enjoyed Philbrick's point of view and learning about the way in which Melville put the story together.
The Professor and The Madman (Simon Winchester)
An entertaining look at the creation of The Oxford English Dictionary and how one of the primary contributors to the OED was (literally) a mental patient housed in an insane asylum in England. Whereas Brady's Endgame should have either been much longer or much shorter, Winchester's book felt too short, that a lot was left out of the creation of the mammoth, original 20 volume OED. That notwithstanding, this was a good book.
Back To Work (President Bill Clinton)
I am looking forward to more great reads in 2012!


But I Read all Those Already!
“But I read all those books. I want some new ones.” As a parent, you may have heard this refrain before. Or, ”I don’t wanna go to the library, it’s boring.”
When children say things like this, it is not truly a negative thing. Reading into what they are actually saying provides a little insight. What the child is actually saying is ‘I want a bigger and better selection of material. I want an engaging environment, and I want convenient access.’
These are actually very positive comments. The interest in reading is there, and that is the hard part. The facilitation, delivery, and interaction are the missing pieces. Thankfully, there is a solution for these.
Nahla wa Nahil is the leading Arabic language reading and comprehension resource for grades K-5, including more than 800 leveled Arabic books from the Middle East’s leading educational publishers, plus thousands of corresponding video lessons and resources that support instruction, and foster engagement and critical thinking. Nahla wa Nahil.
'School' and 'Home' editions in one App!
On top of being accessible 24/7 via the web, Nahla wa Nahil also delivers reading access through its free app, meaning your students and children can read and take quizzes on their iPad or Android tablets - anytime, anywhere – at home or on the go.
GESS Education Award winner in 2019 as 'Best Primary Resource,' Nahla wa Nahil was created by Arabic language teachers to ensure that K-5 students at all reading levels have access to the appropriate resources they need to improve their Arabic reading and comprehension skills.
Nahla wa Nahil App
Nahla wa Nahil is the #1 Arabic language literacy app that both educates and entertains students and children between the ages of 4 and 11.
While reading Arabic educational stories, kids can have fun while learning!
The Nahla wa Nahil app is free to download, but access to the content requires a subscription. For more information about our subscription plans, please visit our website:
The Nahla wa Nahil app makes reading FUNdamental!


Dziurosz-Serafinowicz, P. & Kowalewska, A. & Janda, P. & Urbaniak, R. Decision-theoretic and risk-based approaches to naked statistical evidence: some consequences and challenges, Law, Probability and Risk, forthcoming in 2020.
Urbaniak, R. & Janda, P. Probabilistic models of legal corroboration, The International Journal of Evidence and Proof, 24(1), p. 12–34, January 2020.
Janda, P. Measuring inaccuracy of uncertain doxastic states in many-valued logical systems, Journal of Applied Logic, Vol. 14, p. 95-112 March 2016.
Janda, P. Report on Progic 2015 and Spring School on Inductive Logic, The Reasoner, 9(7), July 2015.


Dear Goggomobil and GLAS friends.
I have now searched the archive and GLAS photos
50 years Goggomobil from 2005 picked out in Dingolfing.
Nine years have passed again and next year we seeing everybody in Dingolfing to 60 years Goggomobil again.
The plans are already underway. Here are about 100 photos that you can look at to remind you once liked.
A special edition of the GLAS Automobile Club magazine to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Glas 1004 is available.
On 98 pages you will read about the updated history, the entire racing history, how many vehicles have survived and more. The magazine contains many documentary photographs, some never before published in b/w and color. The magazine is published in German only and costs 15.00 Euros.
Other special issues of the GLAS Automobile Club magazine can be found here


Resources & References
The Next Step
Teen Services 2.0 > Home
An Introduction to Web 2.0 &
Web 2.0: a second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users ("Web 2.0" from Wikipedia).
Library 2.0: the application of interactive, collaborative, and multi-media web-based technologies to web-based library services and collections (Maness, 8).
A new paradigm has emerged for librarianship involving the
of Web 2.0, and its implications are far-reaching. Web 2.0 describes
the changing Web, and while there is no clear line of distinction
between the first websites and those of Web 2.0, it can be most clearly
defined as containing certain technologies conducive to fostering
communication, being both user-centered and user-driven. For libraries,
websites of Web 2.0 will serve by enabling greater access to and
increasing utilization of information across society.The change from
ordinary websites into Web 2.0 describes a trend of website models
containing multi-sensory communications, which makes the website
conducive to the purpose of Web 2.0, which is allowing users to create
as well as consume content simultaneously. Library websites of Web 2.0
are constantly evolving by adding new applications such as a blog or
wiki, which is a new innovative way for organizing, provoking
discussions and thoughts from a variety of viewpoints.
about Web 2.0? View this tutorial: Professorial Intro to Web 2.0:
Statistics reveal that a full 44% of adults are internet users in America, meaning they have actively participated online (Miller, 2005). A whopping 87% of teens up to the age of 18 are online, translating into a growing population of soon-to-be adults using the internet by active participation (Miller, 2005). According to PEW, more than half of all teens using internet have been content creators (Alexandra-Macgill, 2007). Majority of these users are already familiar with certain Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, and social networking websites. Not only is this a growing market for libraries to tap into, but also a market for reaching potentially millions of patrons who may not have physically stepped into their libraries.
What should librarians do? Librarians need to think outside of the box and beyond their libraries' physical location and move towards Library 2.0. There are four essential elements for Library 2.0 (Chaness, 3). The first element is that it is user-centered. Both, librarians and the user, must work together in developing content such as allowing users to participate in creating or changing the web services that the library provides such as a web interface to the library's website or allowing the patrons to tag the library's OPAC. The second element of Library 2.0 is that it must contain a rich multi-media experience by having audile and visual components. A great example would be using a book trailer video to book talk the patrons directly. The book trailer will set the tone of the book by its audio and visual presentation. The third element of Library 2.0 is social richness. The library should provide both synchronous (Virtual Reference by IM services) as well as asynchronous (i.e. wikis, blogs) ways for users to communicate with one another as well as with the librarian. The fourth and final element of Library 2.0 is to be communally innovated. Libraries need to accept that they must be able to change, but most importantly allow the users to change it.
What's a Librarian 2.0? Librarian 2.0 is a person who acts as an advisor and supporter of change. Although he or she may not be activitely involved with the change. One of the major features with moving forward with technology is the loss of the librarian's role. In fact, librarians aren't losing their jobs but are more demanded! Librarians will need to educate patrons on how to use these technologies. View the clip below of one librarian's manifesto of how to adapt to Web 2.0.
Librarian's 2.0 Manifesto:
What's the point?
"Library 2.0 is not about searching, but finding; not about access, but sharing. Library 2.0 recognizes that human beings do not seek and utilize information as individuals, but as communities" (Chaness, 9). Now that we've understood the theory behind Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 let's look at some concrete examples:
At MyOwnCafe, this interactive library website of the Southeastern Massachusetts Library System (SEMLS) beckons users to explore and get involved. This site is specifically targeting the younger crowd with the latest links to entertainment, news, and resources. Overall, it is inviting and easy to navigate. http://www.myowncafe.org
The Seattle Public Library website is an excellent example of a very interactive website that still makes sense. The site is visually appealing, allowing for rests between the sections. The catalog search is located right up front, as is the News section. A blog for teens entitled Push to Talk is in a section under quick links. http://www.spl.lib.wa.us/
The British Library Online is an interactive site using shockwave to simulate turning the pages as patrons browse through a book. An online gallery provides directions to upcoming events, podcasts to download, etc. Just a great is site for browsing, interactive and fun. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html
The Ann Arbor District Library site includes a service blog, media mentions, a research blog, local news and event, and much, much more. Of particular interest is the PictureAnnArbor, where guests contribute digital photographs of the city. Lots of interaction and a great layout. http://www.aadl.org/
To explore more on creating great websites using Web 2.0,
check out the following sites:
While there are numerous sites available for help, Library Web Chic is another usable resource for librarians as it explains the application of interactive web design and provides instructional tools for incorporating the latest technologies. It allows for librarians to ask questions and provides categories to find information on blogging, etc. http://librarywebchic.net/wordpress/
Now that we have these technologies where users are creating and sharing resources, what does the librarian do now? With users amending and changing wikis, they are not as reliable as traditional resources. Librarians will need to be vigilant in screening what to include or allow as being a source of reliable or authoritative information.
Rapid change brings with it a number of complications, such as
the area of collection development. Resources are becoming global and
open, making it even more difficult to identify a reliable
As we move forward in an environment of global sharing, are we aware of
the implications of sharing all this personal information? Blogs and
MySpace have the opposite relationship to privacy, and wise decision
making is a must. Are teens prepared for this? Is it progress of
society? Well, yes, but information that is to share must be worthwhile
for the user. This website hopes to dispel the mystery surrounding
virtual reference, blogs, wikis, and social networking for librarians.
We will point you in the right direction to get more valuable resources
on the technologies and maybe even persuade you to use these
technologies in your own library!


This artist's photobook what by Petra Mueller is a contemporary remake of the iconic 1985 photobook The Pond by John Gossage, itself a remake of Henry Thoreau's classic Walden (Life in the Woods). The images in What present a complex visual dialogue that begins on the edge of upper Hudson's Bay in the arctic, with a battered mechanical camera impervious to the -40C temperatures, five rolls of 120 colour film and a pool of images. Aided by the unusual design of the book it's an intimate dialogue to the mind, heart and hand of the reader, starting with the band of images on the cover.
what the world wears (4 billion years) by Petra Mueller
Limited edition artist's book, 100 copies.
Signed and numbered.
Softcover, 9" W x 5" H with a slip on-off band.
18 color photographs
Photographs and text by Petra Mueller
Design by Petra Mueller
Printed by Caius du Livre, Montreal
copyright Petra Mueller 2017


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E-BOOK - Teaching Career Development
A Primer for Instructors and Presenters, 2nd edition
Author/Editor: Debra S. Osborn
Author: Debra S. Osborn
This second edition of this monograph not only provides strategies for delivering key components of career development in enthusiastic, innovative and more meaningful ways, it covers updated standards and new technologies. An entire chapter offers 50+ active learning strategies useful for beginning and intermediate instructors of undergraduate and graduate career development courses and presenters of career development workshops. The author has taught face-to-face and online university courses for over 15 years and has presented numerous national and international workshops on teaching career development. (2016)
View the Table of Contents.
Read the Review in Career Convergence.
- Career Information Resources / Curriculum / Activities
- Counselor Educator
Teaching Career Development is also available in print.Stock#: 964.5 Mfr#: ISBN: 978-1-885333-53-7
This month, purchase either of the following historical perspectives books for only $10. These books are for every career development professional to discover where we have been and to see where we must go.
by Kenneth B. Hoyt
by Frank Parsons
Shop the Career Resource Store to purchase either one or both of these print books for only $10 each during the month of April 2024. Be sure to recommend these books to students, school libraries, and career offices!


James Baldwin — the grandson of a slave — was born in Harlem in 1924. The oldest of nine children, he grew up in poverty, developing a troubled relationship with his strict, religious stepfather. As a child, he cast about for a way to escape his circumstances. By the time he was fourteen, Baldwin was spending much of his time in Countee Cullen Library on 135th Street and Lenox Avenue, and that is where he found his passion for writing. Whether he was working in Paris or Istanbul, he never ceased to reflect on his experience as a Black Man in White America. In numerous essays, novels, plays and public speeches, the eloquent voice of James Baldwin spoke of the pain and struggle of Black Americans and the saving power of brotherhood.
Youtube publihsed: 22nd Dec 2019
Discussion between James Baldwin & Nikki Giovanni. Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.(born June 7, 1943) is an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution." James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American novelist and social critic. His essays, as collected in Notes of a Native Son (1955), explore intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th-century America. Some of Baldwin's essays are book-length, including The Fire Next Time (1963), No Name in the Street (1972), and The Devil Finds Work (1976). An unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, was expanded and adapted for cinema as the Academy Award–nominated documentary film I Am Not Your Negro. Baldwin's novels and plays fictionalize fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures thwarting the equitable integration of not only African Americans, but also gay and bisexual men, while depicting some internalized obstacles to such individuals' quests fo acceptance. Such dynamics are prominent in Baldwin's second novel, Giovanni's Room, written in 1956, well before the gay liberation movement.
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A Literature-based Preschool Curriculum for Young Minds Everywhere
The Reasons We Chose The Itty-Bitty Bookworm for Our Program
There are many preschool programs from which to choose. Therefore, you may be asking yourself, “Why did my childcare provider choose the Itty-Bitty Book-worm?” I am so glad you asked . .
The Brain Behind the Bookworm
- The creator and writers are all early childhood professionals. More importantly, they have worked in a variety of settings, including child development centers, family child care centers, publics schools, and private schools.
- As recently, former early childhood teachers, they understand the needs of the teacher and children in today’s preschool settings.
- With the “Good Start, Grow Smart: Early Childhood Initiative,” more and more preschools are understanding the importance of early learning standards. Our curriculum addresses these standards each and every day.
- Evidence shows that the number of books to which a child is exposed has a significant impact on her/her emergent literacy skills.
- Our curriculum is based on the recommendations of NAEYC.
As former early childhood educators, the authors understand the importance of a curriculum based on reliable research. Therefore, while designing and writing the curriculum, the authors kept the following aspects at the front of their minds:
We hope you find our literature-based preschool curriculum to be educational, creative, and fun for your child!
- Children who are read to have an advantage in school.
- Children who learn to read early tend to be those who have books and have been taught the value of them.
- Shared reading, offering children a variety of print materials, and positive attitudes toward literacy promote early literacy skills.
- Books activate prior knowledge making learning information easier.
- Because research shows us time and time again just how important books and reading are to children, the authors of The Itty-Bitty Bookworm have based their curriculum on popular children’s books. Each month curriculum will focus on 4 different storybooks. The activities will coordinate with the themes of each book, as well.
- Just think, each month your child will not only be exposed to a comprehensive, stimulating, age-appropriate preschool curriculum, but lots of children’s literature, as well! Chances are, with this exposure, your child will begin to develop a life long love of reading.


So you cry? Or do you choose to live the lies? Somewhere there are those who die. Somewhere there are those who live, but still won't. Where was it that you left her? Was it you who swept her, off her feet to places unknown? Was it you who forgot? Or, was it she who forgot? Where were you when the time came to live the promises? Was it you who broke them, or was it time who was the blamed mistress? Was it circumstance that came in the way, or was it weakness; perhaps fear the evil seamstress? Why was she not the one, while ''she'' was? Why were you not the one, when there was no one else? Why was loneliness so astute when patience was perched at a precipice? Why were answers sought, for questions already answered? Why did time deem it necessary to rewind vacant musings that held no good with in them? With in the why's lay another fold to the mysteries.


The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the nation’s official memorial to John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States. Visitors are invited to step into the early 1960’s and experience the Kennedy White House via curated museum pieces and high definition, large-screen projections and interactive displays which bring to life the iconic moments of JFK’s presidency. Situated along the Boston Harbor, the Kennedy Library offers a breathtaking view of Boston skyline, framed by the visionary architectural design of I.M. Pei. The Kennedy Library is one of thirteen Presidential Libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration, and the only Presidential Library in New England. At Presidential Libraries, history lives beyond the pages of a textbook or the walls of a classroom, and the past becomes the present for all generations to experience.
Contact: Ian S. Shepherd
Address: Columbia Point, Boston MA 02125
Hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm, every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Days
Min/Max: No minimum and no maximum, but staggering may be required
Seniors (ages 62 and over)/College Students: $10
Youths (ages 13 to 17): $9
Children (ages 12 and under): Free
Performance Space: Pavilion, overlooking Boston Harbor. Choirs and string orchestras may perform with advanced reservation.
Food: Public Café, 50 seats. Group Tour Dining options with private waterfront spaces are available with advanced reservation.
Gift Shop: The Museum Store offers a wide variety of gifts and memorabilia relating to John and Jacqueline Kennedy, as well as special exhibits currently on display.
Handicap Access: Yes
Parking: Yes, with approximately 200 car parking spaces
Parking Fee: No; parking is free with admission
Bus Parking: Yes, with 8 motor coach spaces
Bus Parking Fee: No
Additional Bus Parking Info: We ask that all pick-up and drop-off of passengers occur in the bus lot.
Chaperone Policy: We ask that there be one chaperone per ten students


Local author speaks to the Exchange club of Brunswick
Local Author Randolph Russell spoke to the club about his new book American history in no time. Randolph G. Russell has written an easily digestible history of America from before Columbus to the present day. American History in No Time lays out the basics of our culture, or the “big picture,” in around a hundred pages. It provides a complete and highly informative summation of the key things we all need to know about our past.
American History in No Time is a unique overview divided into short sections that can be read in around five minutes each. The entire book can be read in just one sitting. Even though it is short, nothing major has been left out. In just a few hours, anyone can know the key events, people, places, and principles.
A quick look at the table of contents gives one a feel for its breadth, from the indigenous cultures populating America anciently, through the early colonies and the Continental Congresses, the Declaration of Independence, and the Revolutionary War. Randolph explains the Constitution, the push westward across the continent, slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. The storyline continues through the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries with the growth of industry, the Great Depression, both world wars, the civil rights movement, the advent of space travel, and into the current century, including 9/11 and the election of Donald Trump.
All of this is presented in segments, each averaging a page and a half packed with the salient details that will give the reader an understanding of how we as a people arrived at this point. And that understanding fosters something else. “All of us want our children and grandchildren and everyone else we care about to love this country,” Russell said, “but you can’t love what you don’t know.”


Note: Editor affects the geometry of the currently active Project. Make sure you select the right Project or create a New Project before you enter the Editor.
How to use the Editor:
Switch Lumiverse to ON state. Navigate to Lumiverse UI/Editor. Here’s where most of the design work is done. Hit (+)
Add Object in the bottom right corner of the screen and add some media from the Library. An object with square corners will appear in the middle of your editor. Also, the projector is now projecting the media. You can drag corners of the object (blue squares) to resize (scale) the item.
Open the Top Bar Menu and switch the top right controller from Scale to Mapp state.
The corners of the media frame change from blue squares to blue circles. Now, you can drag these corner circles to control the perspective deformation of the object. When you have an object selected, most of the functions are hidden under the Edit Menu. Press Edit Object Button and a new submenu will appear.
In the top bar navigate to the Editor Symbol Tab. The most useful function is the Change Source fx. You can simply change the media in the frame.


Gives a general overview of the many uses for ESCS. “A World of Applications…..Worldwide”
Gives an excellent overview and history of the lightweight aggregate industry. 43 pages.
ESCSI’s commitment to sustainable development and how structural lightweight aggregate fits into the LEED green building rating system. (June 2004)
(J.P. Ries and T.A. Holm) (Mar 2004)
(T.A. Holm, O.S. Ooi, T.W. Bremner) (Feb 2004)
(J.P. Ries, P.E.) (June 2008)


Our Round Robin Blog Hop for September asks the question: How do you encourage reading in your children?
Without a doubt, children who are read to consistently as infants, toddlers and even after they’ve learned to read on their own will absorb a love of reading that can and often does last well into adulthood. Even children who later run into learning disabilities such as dyslexia will have enjoyed the magic of being transported to another world – a land of fairies and unicorns and superheroes and so much more that will stay with them as they struggle to learn how to read and encourage them to persevere.
When my kids were small, we always read stories at bedtime (and often at other times, like when they were sick or shut in due to bad weather.) When they were older and began to read on their own, we often read books together, sharing the adventures and the time spent just being with each other. Of course, that was back in the day long before video games, tablets and smart phones that so many parents now relay on as a babysitter while they do something else. But that’s a whole other discussion – how too many kids have to vie for attention with their parent’s smart phones. The joy of reading I instilled in my kids years ago lives on and they now read to their kids. One of my favorite snapshots is one of my son and his then 5 month old son laying on their backs on the floor with a book held above their faces while Alex read to Sam and Sam’s eyes were glued to the pictures on the page as he listened to his father’s voice. It always warms my heart when I walk into my grandchildren’s bedrooms and find shelves overflowing with book and totes filled with more books from the library. Another generation of kids, at least in my family, who will grow up loving to read.
And reading makes a difference. In spite of living in a world of smart devices, surrounded by sources of information, the sad statistics tell a depressing story:
1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read.
2/3 of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. Over 70% of America’s inmates cannot read above a 4th grade level.
Nearly 85% of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, proving that there is a close relationship between illiteracy and crime. More than 60% of all inmates are functionally illiterate.
27% of adults did not read a single book last year and I’ve read similarly depressing figures such as 67% of adults never read a book after they graduate, and even less if they only graduated high school. On the other hand it appears that young people between the ages of 18 and 39 may be reversing that trend and are reading more than those in their 40s.
We all have our favorite causes to which we give of our time and treasure. One of mine is an organization called Reach Out to Read that puts books into the hands of pediatricians and other providers of pediatric medical care to introduce to their little patients who otherwise would never own a book of their own and have no books in their homes.
When I served my two years in the Peace Corps (long after my own children were grown and on their own) I began reading clubs in my village. I lived with family and I began by reading to their children. Then I started story hour sitting on their veranda. The first night I had just 6 neighborhood children. The second night there were fifteen and by the third night there were so many I lost count. For these children it was partly the novelty of being with a Peace Corps volunteer, partly listening to the stories and for the youngest among them, an introduction to English. Making the story hour interactive got them all involved and we all had fun exploring worlds like Charlie’s Chocolate Factory and Doctor Seuss, Harry Potter and Disney princesses. We were told when we were in training that we might leave after our two years were up never knowing if we had made a difference, but I know from contacts on Facebook that I did in fact make a difference. Perhaps those children I read to there, half a world away, are reading to their children now, just as my kids read to theirs.
Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1ly
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Anne de Gruchy https://annedegruchy.co.uk/category/blog/
A.J. Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/
Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com
Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog
Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobinleecourtright.com