text:
Study: Facebook May Improve Memory
Broadening online worlds could help maintain and improve cognitive abilities in old age.
Conor Friedersdorf recently put forward an interesting question: At what age will you stop using Facebook? Many of the college students, now twentysomethings, who made up Facebook's original user base may already be feeling the fatigue. But it may be through other groups of people, for whom the site was never specifically intended but have nonetheless been discovering it in droves, that Facebook may find new ways of remaining relevant.
- The New Less-Social Psychology of China's Generation Without Siblings
- Erections Tell Us About Our Hearts
- Hearing Music as Beautiful is a Learned Trait
Janelle Wohltmann, a grad student in psychology at the University of Arizona, has been teaching the 65-plus crowd how to use the social network, in order to determine ways in which using Facebook might benefit them. She gathered a small group of adults, aged 68 to 91, who were either unfamiliar with Facebook or who had set up a profile, but rarely used it. Like a protective parent, she asked them to limit their network, only friending other members of their training group, but she also required that they post updates at least once a day.
Meanwhile, another 14 participants were asked to post short entries to a private online diary site, and yet another group -- the control -- were told they were on a waiting list for the Facebook lessons.
Before joining Facebook, all of her subjects participated in a series of tests and questionnaires designed to measure both social variables and cognitive ability. At the end of eight weeks, they were re-tested.
Her analysis is ongoing, but Wohltmann has already presented one finding of the study: the adults who spent the two months on Facebook showed a 25 percent improvement in their working memory. Specifically, when confronted with a continuous stream of information, like random words or letters, they were better able to focus on what the researchers told them was relevant. Being able to monitor such information and quickly add or delete the contents of their working memory, is known as "mental updating ability."
The diary writers showed no improvement on the working memory tests, which became progressively difficult; nor did those on the wait list. What Wohltmann and her adviser are now looking at is how much Facebook's social component may have contributed to their findings. Some research has shown that people who are more socially engaged in old age also tend to do better cognitively. It could also be that the relative complexity of Facebook compared to an online diary -- keeping track of everyone's status updates, comments, photos, etc. -- gave the participants more of a mental workout.
Integral to better understanding these preliminary results, of course, will be seeing whether the participants reported feeling greater levels of social support, and less loneliness, after joining the social network. Looking at just how often the participants posted updates and interacted with other users will also be an important factor to consider. Wohltmann told me she plans to pursue the possible connection between social connectedness and increased cognitive ability.
Whether or not one directly causes the other, anything that's helping older adults to avoid both isolation and cognitive decline is worth promoting. And Wohltmann said she had to turn away a lot of potential participants because they were already active Facebook users, meaning this is something a lot of people may already be figuring out for themselves.


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Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
I have 3 MD's total, one on the core and 2 diskless MD's. I can watch and play any video file on any of the MD's, but if I choose the floorplan and then select 2 MD's and try to play to each of them simultaneously, only the one that I started playing the video on works! I did the following:- Start watching a avi on MD- Using an orbiter, go to the floorplan- Choose "first floor"- select each MD and then click the video in the listIt keeps playing on the first MD, but it won't play on others.
Andrew - thanks, does that mean to say that you recognise the issue, and CHT have resolved it, but you just aren't sure how? Or do you not even recognise the issue?
Cool, thanks guys! Btw, I can't tell but is it supposed to still use videolan to split the stream? Its not installed by default, and I read/heard that this was old info... so I'm assuming that the xine libraries can now do this on their own...
difference in install media/patches between DVD and CD install kits? install diff using "all-in-one" versus standalone Kubuntu first?

subset: commoncrawl


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MATH-0332-50 - Intermediate Algebra
Lamar State College - Port Arthur
House Bill 2504
Spring 2016 Course Syllabus
MATH-0332-50 - Intermediate Algebra
|Faculty Information
|Spring 2016
|Knowles, James Mark
|(409) 984-6432
|Be sure to check your campus E-mail and Course Homepage using MyLamarPA campus web portal (My.LamarPA.edu). When you've logged in, click the email icon in the upper right-hand corner to check email, or click on the "My Courses" tab to get to your Course Homepage. Click the link to your course and review the information presented. It is important that you check your email and Course Homepage regularly. You can also access your grades, transcripts, and determine who your academic advisor is by using MyLamarPA.
|Course Information
|Course Number
|Course Description
|Basic concepts necessary for the study of algebra: solving linear, rational, absolute value, radical, and quadratic equations and linear, compound and absolute value inequalities. Factoring polynomials, problem solving and operations on rational and radical expressions are included.
Prerequisite: MATH 0313 or placement examination.
NOTE: The purchase of a student access code is required
|Course Prerequisites
|1) C or better grade in Math 0313 Introductopry algebra or equivalent course 2) Direct placement via TSI scores
|Required Textbooks
MyMathLab Plus to accompany
Beginning & Intermediate Algebra 4th Edition by Elayn Martin-Gay
|Attendance Policy
LSC-PA maintains attendance and participation requirements for all students enrolled in developmental courses. These requirements apply to all developmental students. Use your allocated absences for ALL of your personal needs. Employment, personal appointments and continuing legal/medical appointments are not exemptions from these guidelines. If this class conflicts with your work schedule, continuing medical/legal appointments, or other activities see an admissions advisor immediately. We offer a variety of day, evening, hybrid, and online courses.
Class begins when the instructor takes roll and does not end until the instructor dismisses the class. The student will be penalized for any instructional time that is missed. This includes arriving late, leaving early, and exiting the classroom for any reason. Each instructor will establish classroom policy regarding re-entry opportunities for students that exit the room during class.
Attendance counting begins on the first day the student is enrolled regardless of schedule changes. If a schedule change is made, absences that have been accumulated will carry over to the new section.
|Course Grading Scale
50 - 69 => DD Below 50 => FD
|Determination of Final Grade
Determination of Final Grade
Homework 30%
Exams 50%
Final Exam 20%
If a student does not pass (course grade "DD" or "F") a developmental course the student must be enrolled in EDUC 1300 and/or Student Success Center Lab concurrently when the course is retaken. The "F" carries an academic penalty.
|Final Exam Date
|May 11, 2016 - 8:00 AM Through May 11, 2016 - 5:30 PM
|Major Assignments
1st Exercise Course Pre Test
2nd Exercise syllabus Syllabus Review
Lecture Date Section Section Title
Chapter 2
Week 1 2.2 Review of Equations using Add and Mult Prop
Week 2 2.3 Linear Equations
Week 2 2.6 Percents and Mixture Problem Solving
Week 3 2.8 Intro to Inequalities
Week 3 Chapter Two review
Chapter 9
Week 3 9.1 Compound Inequalities
Week 4 9.2 Absolute Value Equations
Week 4 9.3 Absolute Value Inequalities
Week 5 9.4 Graphing Inequalities
Week 5 Chapter Nine Review
Cumulative Review Chapters 2 and 9
Chapter 6: Methods of Factoring
Week 6 6.1 Factoring: GCF and Grouping
Week 6 6.2 Factoring Trinomials
Week 7 6.3 Factoring Trinomials and Squares
Week 7 6.4 Factoring Trinomials by Grouping
Week 8 6.5 Factoring Binomials: squares and cubes
Week 8 Chapter Six review
Week 8 Cumulative Review Chapters 2, 9, 6
Chapter 7: rational Expressions
Week 9 Chap 6 Factoring Methods review
Week 9 7.1 Simplifying Rational Expressions
Week 10 7.2 Multiplying and Dividing Rational Expressions
Week 10 7.3 Adding and Subtracting Like-Term Rationals
Week 10 7.4 Adding and Subtracting Un-Like Term Rationals
Week 11 7.7 Complex Fractions
Week 11 Chapter Seven Review
Cumulative Review Chapters 2, 9, 6,7
Chapters 6/7 Quadratic Equations using Factoring Methods
Week 12 Chapter 2 Review of Linear Equations
Week 12 6.6 Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring
Week 12 6.7 Problem solving using Quadratic Equations
Week 13 7.5 Rational Equations
Week 13 7.6 Proportions and Problem Solving
Chapter Six/Seven Review
Cumulative Review Chapters 2,9,6,7, 6/7Eq
Chapter 10: Radical Expressions
Week 14 10.1 Intro to Radical Expressions
Week 15 10.3 Simplifying Radical Expressions
Week 15 10.6 Radical equations and Problem Solving
Week 15 Chapter Ten review
Chapter 11: Quadratic Equations
Week 15 11.1 Square Root Method and Completing The Square Method
Week 16 11.2 The Quadratic Formula
Cumulative Final Review Chapters 2,9,6,7,10,11
Week 16 or 17 Final Exam
|Calendar of Lecture Topics and Major Assignment Due Dates
|As per course assignment sheet
|General Education/Core Curriculum Student Learning Outcomes
|Program Student Learning Outcomes
PSLO 1: Critical Thinking Skills – Uses creative thinking, innovation, inquiry and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information.
Creatively identifies problem, argument, or issue (to determine extent of information needed); differentiates the facts from opinions as relates to situation; constructs possible solutions or prediction or consequences; uses logical, sound reasoning to justify conclusion.
PSLO 2: Communication Skills – Demonstrates effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and/or visual communication.
Expresses a strong thesis; organizes information with effective transitions & sequencing of ideas; uses substantial, logical & specific development of ideas; details are relevant, original, credible and correctly documented when appropriate to show an effective development and interpretation of ideas; and presents ideas in appropriate mode of expression for the task.
PSLO 3: Empirical and Quantitative Skills- Applies the manipulation and/or analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.
Identifies mathematical or scientific principles needed to complete task; uses mathematical or scientific principles needed to complete task; analyzes how to use the principles; and applies problem-solving skills in mathematical or scientific principles needed to complete task with correct informed conclusions.
|Course Student Learning Outcomes
(PSLOs 1,2 and 3)
Course objectives(CSLOs):
• Students will solve linear, absolute value, fractional, quadratic and radical equations
• Students will solve and graph linear, absolute value and systems of inequalities
• Students will add, subtract, multiply, divide and simplify rational expressions
• Students will translate, develop a strategy and solve related application problems
. Students will utilize an online learning system to demonstrate math proficiency
|Academic Honesty
|Academic honesty is expected from all students, and dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. Please consult the LSC-PA policies (Section IX, subsection A, in the Faculty Handbook) for consequences of academic dishonesty.
|Facility Policies
|Additional Information
|Important Information
|ADA Considerations
|The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Special Populations Coordinator, Room 231, in the Madison Monroe Building. The phone number is (409) 984-6241.
|Copyright Violations
Some material in this course may be copyrighted. They may be used only for instructional purposes this semester,
by students enrolled in this course. These materials are being used fairly and legally.
No one may distribute or share these copyrighted materials in any medium or format with anyone outside this class,
including publishing essays with copyrighted material, uploading copyrighted material to Facebook or YouTube, or
painting or performing copyrighted material for public display.
Copyright violation is not the same thing as plagiarism. Plagiarism is intellectual dishonesty. Offenses of plagiarism result in lower grades or failing scores, and professors and the college strictly enforce plagiarism rules. There is never any acceptable use of plagiarism. Copyright violation is a legal offense, punishable by large fines and penalties.
Copyrighted material can be used if permission from the material's creator is obtained, or if its use meets the standards of fair use in an educational setting. For example, a student can quote a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet in a report without violating copyright but still be guilty of plagiarism if the quotation is not properly documented.
If you are in doubt about what material can be freely used, ask your professor or contact the Dean of Library Services, at (409) 984-6216.
|Assessment Statement
Assessment is a process by which LSCPA can help you learn better and gauge the level of progress you have made to
attain knowledge, skills, beliefs, and values. It also helps your professors understand how to improve teaching
and testing methods in your classes, and it helps each department understand and improve degree and certificate
Periodically LSC-PA will collect assessment data for research and reporting purposes, including statistical data and sometimes copies of your work. Be assured that all material the college uses for assessment purposes will be kept confidential. To ensure anonymity, your name will be removed from any material we use for assessment purposes, including video-recorded performances, speeches, and projects.
If you object to allowing LSC-PA to use your material for assessment purposes, submit a letter stating so to your professor by the 12th class day. You will still be required to participate in whatever assessments are being done; we just won't use your data.
What's the difference between assessment and grades? The grades you get on papers, projects, speeches, and assignments are specific types of focused assessment. LSC-PA's assessment efforts include class grades, surveys, standardized tests, and other tools.
|Privacy Notice
Federal privacy laws apply to college students. This means that college employees, including instructors, cannot
divulge information to third parties, including parents and legal guardians of students. Even if the students are
minors, information about their college work cannot be shared with anyone except in very limited circumstances.
Anyone requesting information about a student should be referred to the Registrar. Instructors will be notified in writing by that Office about what information may be released and to whom.
Please remember that releasing private information about a student, however innocuous it may seem, can be a violation of federal law, with very serious consequences.
Circumstances under which information may be released:
An adult student may submit, to the Registrar, a handwritten, signed note granting permission for release of
information. The note must specify what information may be divulged, and it must specify the name of the person
to whom the information may be given.
The Registrar's office is located in the Student Center room 303B, and can be reached at (409) 984-6165.
|College-Level Perspectives
This course helps add to the students' overall collegiate experience in the following ways:
|Degree Plan Evaluation
A Degree Plan Evaluation will help you determine which classes you need to complete your program.
All of the classes that you have taken that apply to your declared major will be listed on the right. If you have a class that still needs to be completed, a "NO" will be listed on the right next to the required class.
|This syllabus is part of LSC-PA's efforts to comply with Texas House Bill 2504.


text:
According to the Harvard Business blog (discovered via the LLN Leader's Digest), Gen Xers are the "leaders we need today and tomorrow" because of our accelerated contact with the real world, our distrust of institutions, our looking outward, our acceptance of diversity, our rich humor and incisive perspective, our work-life balance, and our pragmatism. Obviously I'm a Gen Xer myself, and these traits might apply to me. You won't find anyone who distrusts institutions more than I, except maybe anarchists, and I look outward and accept diversity and all that. My humor is also incredibly rich, and my perspective so incisive some people find it painful. And I was a pragmatic, resilient latch-key child back before that was all the rage. "Contending with a world of finite limits, no easy answers, and the sobering realization that we are facing significant, seemingly intractable problems on multiple fronts"? That's the sort of thing I do two or three times a day before breakfast.
The description sounds like a more positive spin of the same traits I've been hearing about Gen Xers for years. Did my latchkey childhood make me resilient and hardworking? Or did it make me distrustful of figures who claimed authority but never could do anything to benefit me in any way? Did the self-reliant independence just make me comfortable with innovation and technology? Or did it also mean I don't really need much from others, or that I'm uncomfortable with people who don't adapt as quickly as I do? And that work-life balance thing, does it mean that I want to be a good parent, or that I'm not going to work myself to death for an institution, and thus am some sort of slacker? Does my rich humor and incisive perspective isolate practical truths, redefine issues, and question reality, or does it mean that I'm really good at mocking incompetence and muddled thinking and have no tolerance for humorless stupidity?
In short, do the traits listed in this article mean that Gen Xers would make the "leaders we need," or does it mean that they're distrustful of people who claim to be leaders and don't need much "leadership" themselves? After all, if I'm resilient, hard-working, resourceful, self-reliant, independent, innovative, incisive, humorous, adaptable, then how likely is it that I need leaders for much? And how likely is it that I would want to lead anyone who wasn't as independent, self-reliant, innovative, incisive, hard-working, resilient, and resourceful as I am? If we're going to make generational generalizations (which I really don't like to do), why wouldn't I tell my boomer elders they just need to suck it up and deal with a rapidly changing world, or my millennial colleagues that I'm too busy being innovative and self-reliant to give them the constant reassurance and feedback the media claims they need to succeed?
Alas, I fear that this generational generalization may be lacking. I've known plenty of Gen Xers who are helpless, dependent, authoritarian, timorous, dogmatic, humorless, or some combination of those traits. Maybe those Gen Xers weren't latchkey children, though. Or maybe this is all spot on, and I'm just being too skeptical and incisive, and thus just the leader you need for today and tomorrow.


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PSL Handle Brass JP
This variant is currently sold out
PSL Handle | Pull, Slide, Lift
This versatile handle can be used for cabinetry, sliding doors and sash windows. Can be specified threaded or face fixed. Face fix lead time 4 weeks.
Each piece is sand cast and vibrationary polished.
PSL Handles are manufactured in small batches meaning slight variations will occur from piece to piece. Production marks may include slight pour ripples or surface pitting.
It will arrive with a bright finish but will oxidise and darken over time to reveal a distinctive patina. Simply use a metal polish to restore a like-new finish.
Regular dimensions 93 x 26 x 16 mm
XL size dimensions 205 x 26 x 16 mm
Handles are sold individually.


text:
There is much in the news about how IPCC will handle the growing discrepancy between models and observations – long an issue at skeptic blogs. According to BBC News, a Dutch participant says that "governments are demanding a clear explanation" of the discrepancy. On the other hand, Der Spiegel reports:
German ministries insist that it is important not to detract from the effectiveness of climate change warnings by discussing the past 15 years' lack of global warming. Doing so, they say, would result in a loss of the support necessary for pursuing rigorous climate policies.
According to Der Spiegal (h/t Judy Curry), Joachim Marotzke, has promised that the IPCC will "address this subject head-on". Troublingly, Marotzke felt it necessary to add that "climate researchers have an obligation not to environmental policy but to the truth".
Unfortunately, as Judy Curry recently observed, it is now two minutes to midnight in the IPCC timetable. It is now far too late to attempt to craft an assessment of a complicated issue.
Efforts to craft an assessment on the run are further complicated by past failures and neglect both by IPCC and the wider climate science community. In its two Draft Reports sent to external scientific review, while IPCC mostly evaded the problem, its perfunctory assessment of the developing discrepancy between models and observations, such as it was, included major errors and misrepresentations, all tending in the direction of minimizing the issue.
IPCC has a further dilemma in coopering up an assessment on the run. Although the topic is obviously an important one, it received negligible coverage in academic literature, especially prior to the IPCC publication cutoff date, and the few relevant peer-reviewed articles (e.g. Easterling and Wehner 2009; Knight et al 2009) are unconvincing.
The IPCC assessment has also been compromised by gatekeeping by fellow-traveler journal editors, who have routinely rejected skeptic articles on the discrepancy between models and observations or pointing out the weaknesses of articles now relied upon by IPCC. Despite exposure of these practices in Climategate, little has changed. Had the skeptic articles been published (as they ought to have been), the resulting debate would have been more robust and IPCC would have had more to draw on its present assessment dilemma. As it is, IPCC is surely in a well-earned quandary.
Interested readers should also consult Lucia's recent post which also comments on leaked IPCC draft material. Lucia's diagnosis of IPCC's quandary is very similar to mine. She also uses boxplots.
IPCC Statements
First, I'll briefly review how IPCC's position on the discrepancy has developed.
The First Order Draft stated (chapter 1):
The [temperature] observations through 2010 fall within the upper range of the TAR projections (IPCC, 2001) and roughly in the middle of the AR4 model results.
This assertion was flat-out untrue. Their Figure 1.4 (see below), which purported to support this claim, was not derived from peer reviewed literature and was botched. They misplaced observations relative to AR4 model projections (presumably due to an error in transposing reference periods).
Figure 1. IPCC AR5 First Draft Figure 1.4. The brown wedge purports to show AR4 projections. HadCRUT4 values have been overplotted in yellow (and within amendment correspond to the black squares plotted by IPCC) and appear to support IPCC's summary. However, IPCC mislocated the AR4 and other projections. The red arrows show the actual AR4 envelope for 2005, 2010 and 2015 (digitized from the original AR4 diagram). Observations are outside the properly plotted envelope.
While the First Draft was a "draft", the error nonetheless passed IPCC's own internal review process. The error also went in a "favorable" direction. In the Second Draft, IPCC (chapter 1) re-iterated the assertion that observations were "in the middle" of projections:
the globally-averaged surface temperatures are well within the uncertainty range of all previous IPCC projections, and generally are in the middle of the scenario ranges".
However, their revised Figure 1.4 directly contradicted their claim. Observations since 2007, including the most recent ones, were now outside the AR4 envelope, as shown below.
Figure 2. IPCC AR5 Second Draft Figure 1.4 with annotations: red squares are 2012 and 2013 (to date) HadCRUT4. The orange wedge illustrates combined AR4 A1B-A1T projections. The yellow arrows show verified confidence intervals in 2005, 2010 and 2015 digitized from the original AR4 diagram (Figure 10.26) for A1B. Observed values have been outside the AR4 envelope for all but one year since publication of AR4. IPCC authors added a grey envelope around the AR4 envelope, presumably to give rhetorical support for their false claim about models and observations; however, this envelope did not occur in AR4 or any peer reviewed literature.
In a recent article in National Post, Ross
McKitrick pointed out the inconsistency between IPCC's language and its graphic, acidly observing:
The IPCC must take everybody for fools. Its own graph shows that observed temperatures are not within the uncertainty range of projections; they have fallen below the bottom of the entire span.
Reiner Grundmann at Klimazweibel also recently drew attention to the discrepancy in this graphic (citing McKitrick).
SPM Draft, June 2013
The Summary for Policy Makers attached to the Second Draft avoided any discussion of the discrepancy between models and observations.
Presumably responding to demands that the discrepancy be addressed, the Government Draft in June 2013 added a lengthy section (Box 9.2) purporting to address the discrepancy between models and observations and the Summary for Policy Makers included two somewhat inconsistent discussions of this issue in connection with both chapter 9 (Evaluation of Climate Models) and chapter 10 (Detection and Attribution).
The chapter 10 summary attributed the discrepancy in "roughly equal measure" to internal variability and a reduced trend in radiative forcing due to recent volcanic activity and downward solar phase:
The observed reduction in warming trend over the period 1998-2012 as compared to the period 1951- 2 2012, is due in roughly equal measure to a cooling contribution from internal variability and a reduced trend in radiative forcing (medium confidence). The reduced trend in radiative forcing is primarily due to volcanic eruptions and the downward phase of the current solar cycle. However, there is low confidence in quantifying the role of changes in radiative forcing in causing this reduced warming trend. {Box 9.2; 10.3.1; Box 10.2}
The chapter 9 summary also conceded the discrepancy, but attributed it "to a substantial degree" to natural variability, with "possible" contributions from forcing – mentioning aerosols as well as solar and volcanics – and, "in some models", to too strong a response to greenhouse forcing:
Models do not generally reproduce the observed reduction in surface warming trend over the last 10-15 years. There is medium confidence that this difference between models and observations is to a substantial degree caused by unpredictable climate variability, with possible contributions from inadequacies in the solar, volcanic, and aerosol forcings used by the models and, in some models, from too strong a response to increasing greenhouse-gas forcing. {9.4.1, 10.3.1, 11.3.2; Box 9.2} [SPM – evaluation]
The IPCC Second Draft had cited four articles supposedly supporting the consistency of models and observations, three of which were also cited in the Government Draft (Mitchell et al 2012b GRL does not exist at GRL nor can an article by its title be located):
it is found that global temperature trends since 1998 are consistent with internal variability overlying the forced trends seen in climate model projections (Easterling and Wehner, 2009; Mitchell et al., 2012b); see also Figure 1.1, where differences between the observed and multimodel response of comparable duration occurred earlier. Liebmann et al. (2010) conclude that observed HadCRUT3 global mean temperature trends of 2-10 years ending in 2009 are not unusual in the context of the record since 1850. After removal of ENSO influence, Knight et al. (2009) concluded that observed global mean temperature changes over a range of periods to 2008 are within the 90% range of simulated temperature changes in HadCM3.
Both Easterling and Wehner 2009 and Knight et al 2009 had been severely criticized by Lucia in blog posts ( see here here here here here.) Lucia was sufficiently annoyed by the defects in Easterling and Wehner 2009 that she submitted a comment to GRL. Though her comment was accurate on all points, it was bench rejected by GRL. (see retrospective here). Subsequently, Lucia was co-author of another submission on the discrepancy between models and observations (a group that ecumenically included both Pat Michaels and James Annan), but this too was rejected (see discussion at Judy Curry's here).
The criticisms in both the Liljegren comment and the Michaels et al submission were valid at the time and remain valid today. Many of their criticisms surfaced recently in Fyfe et al 2013, though this did not rebut Easterling and Wehner 2009 or Knight et al 2009 as directly. Fyfe et al 2013 was not published until after the IPCC deadline and, thus, Easterling and Wehner 2009 and Knight et al 2009 remained unrebutted in academic journals and were essentially all that was in the cupboard for the IPCC assessment.
Ross and I had experienced something similar in our comment on Santer et al 2008, which was likewise rejected by the original journal (International Journal of Climatology.) A couple of years later, Ross managed to get much of this material into print as McKitrick et al 2010. However, in the meantime, Santer et al 2008 continued to be cited in assessment reports. As an ironic footnote to our earlier controversy, AR5 now cites McKitrick et al 2010 and concedes that the discrepancy between models and observations in the tropical troposphere is unresolved.
The Problem Re-stated
IPCC's Government Draft attempt to frame the discrepancy between models and observations as due to "natural variability" is ultimately a statistical problem – never a strong point of IPCC authors. Further, as noted above, the statistical analysis in the Government Draft purporting to support "natural variability" is not drawn from previously published literature, but was developed within the chapter (despite frequent protestations that IPCC does not itself do research.)
IPCC conceded in the Government Draft that there has been a 15-year "hiatus" (their term) in temperature increase, but assert that "individual decades" of hiatus are also "exhibited" in climate models, during which time the "energy budget is balanced" by energy uptake in the deep ocean:
However, climate models exhibit individual decades of GMST trend hiatus even during a prolonged phase of energy uptake of the climate system (e. g., Figure 9.8, (Easterling and Wehner, 2009; Knight et al., 2009)), in which case the energy budget would be balanced by increasing subsurface-ocean heat uptake (Meehl et al., 2011; Guemas et al., 2013; Meehl et al., 2013a).
However, pointing to the deep ocean doesn't actually resolve the discrepancy between models and observations, since, as Hans von Storch recently observed, climate models did not include this effect.
Among other things, there is evidence that the oceans have absorbed more heat than we initially calculated. Temperatures at depths greater than 700 meters (2,300 feet) appear to have increased more than ever before. The only unfortunate thing is that our simulations failed to predict this effect.
IPCC also asserted that similar hiatuses are "common" in the instrumental record:
15-year-long hiatus periods are common in both the observed and CMIP5 historical GMST time series (see [Figure 9.8] and also Section 2.4.3, Figure 2.20; Easterling and Wehner, 2009, Liebmann et al., 2010).
As shown below, there is indeed a lengthy "hiatus" in the 20th century record, stretching almost 40 years from the 1940s until 1980. However, IPCC is surely being a bit sly in saying that 15-year-long hiatus periods were "common" in the 20th century. It is far more reasonable to say that there was a steady temperature increase from the 19th century to the 1940s, followed by a 30-40 year hiatus, then a 30-year period of increase to the end of the century.
Figure 3. HadCRUT4 GLB (black) versus CMIP5 ensemble average (red). Note the lengthy hiatus from the 1940s to 1980. Also note the divergence between models and observations in the 21st century.
The simplest inspection of the above graphic also shows important differences between the present hiatus and the long hiatus between the 1940s and 1980. In the long earlier hiatus, the models ran cooler than observations, whereas the opposite is the case right now. The model ensemble has been running hot for about 14 years and counting. Despite assertions by climate scientists of the supposed statistical insignificance of the divergence, in fact, it is, so to speak, unprecedented: there is no corresponding period in which models ran hot for such an extended period. In most statistical circumstances, residuals that consistently run in one direction at the end of a sample give grounds for statistical concern and not reassurance.
The suddenly-fashionable attribution of the present hiatus to unmodeled energy accumulation in the deep ocean also invites questions about the earlier hiatus, which the climate "community" conventionally attributes to aerosols. There is no independent record of historical aerosol levels, which (e.g. the prominent GISS series by Hansen's group) have primarily been developed by climate modelers seeking to explain the long hiatus. Skeptics have long argued that aerosol histories have been used as a sort of deus ex machina to paper over excessively sensitive climate models.
Once again, IPCC invoked both "volcanic" and "aerosol" forcing as possible contributors for the present hiatus, but one feels that these efforts were somewhat half-hearted, though they did make their way to the SPM. The failure of IPCC scientists to draw attention in real time to the supposedly responsible volcanic events inevitably compromises any attempts to do so after the fact.
Thus, the sudden interest in positing energy accumulation in the deep ocean.
However, if the present hiatus is attributed to an unmodeled accumulation of energy in the deep ocean, how do we know that something similar didn't happen during the long earlier hiatus? Could some portion of the earlier hiatus be due to deep ocean accumulation as opposed to aerosols? It's a big door that's being opened.
Opening the door also opens up questions about the potential length of the present hiatus. If unmodeled deep ocean processes are involved, how can we say with any certainty that the present hiatus won't extend for 30-40 years?
In the (new) Box 9.2 of the Government Draft, IPCC conceded that recent 15-year observations run below models, but argue that 15-year trends ending with the big 1998 El Nino undershoot models.
an analysis of the full suite of CMIP5 historical simulations (augmented for the period 2006-2012 by RCP4.5 simulations, Section 9.3.2) reveals that 111 out of 114 realisations show a GMST trend over 1998-2012 that is higher than the entire HadCRUT4 trend ensemble …
During the 15-year period beginning in 1998, the ensemble of HadCRUT4 GMST trends lies below almost all model-simulated trends whereas during the 15-year period ending in 1998, it lies above 93 out of 114 modelled trends.
They then assert that models and observations cohere over the 62-year period from 1951-2012, concluding that there is therefore "very high confidence" in the models and that the 15-year discrepancies are mere fluctuations with the 1998 El Nino skewing recent comparisons:
Over the 62-year period 1951- 2012, observed and CMIP5 ensemble-mean trend agree to within 0.02 ºC per decade (Box 9.2 Figure 1c; CMIP5 ensemble-mean trend 0.13°C per decade). There is hence very high confidence that the CMIP5 models show long-term GMST trends consistent with observations, despite the disagreement over the most recent 15-year period. Due to internal climate variability, in any given 15-year period the observed GMST trend sometimes lies near one end of a model ensemble an effect that is pronounced in Box 9.2, Figure 1a,b since GMST was influenced by a very strong El Niño event in 1998
None of the above analysis by IPCC appears in peer reviewed literature. It is ad hoc analysis that can and should be parsed. Demonstrating that 15-year trend comparisons can yield inconsistent results does not remotely settle the statistical question of models running too hot that is evident in the opening graph. Indeed, it is little more than a debating trick.
The following graph compares models to observations over the period 1979-2013, long enough to place the 1998 El Nino in the middle, but excluding the earlier hiatus of the 1950s and 1960s. 1979 is also when the satellite record commences. The figure is a standard box-and-whiskers diagram of a type routinely used in statistics (rather than some ad hoc method). I've shown models with multiple runs as separate boxes and grouped models with singleton runs together. On the right in orange, I've done a separate box-and-whisker plot for all models. (Lucia has recently done plots in a similar style: her results look similar, but I haven't parsed them yet as I've been working on this post.)
The figure shows that nearly every run of every model ran too hot over the 1979-2013 period, with many models running substantially too hot. The discrepancy can be seen with box-and-whiskers of the ensemble, but it pervades all models.
Figure 4. Boxplot of GLB temperature (tas) trends (1979-2013) from 109 CMIP5 RCP4.5 model runs versus HadCRUt4.
The boxplot shows fundamental discrepancies that pervade all models. Nor do these inconsistencies have anything to do with 15-year trends or the 1998 El Nino. IPCC's entire discussion of 15-year trends is completely worthless.
Hiatuses in a Warming World
One final figure demonstrating the problem.
As noted above, IPCC (and others) have observed that hiatuses occur from time to time in climate models but didn't disclose the scarcity of hiatuses of the length of the present negative trend (13 years from 2001 to 2013, a period that does not include the 1998 El Nino).
To assess this (varying a form of analysis that Lucia has used), I calculated all 13-year trends for all 109 CMIP5 RCP4.5 models presently at KNMI for the warming period 2005-2050, yielding a population of 3379 trends (109 models * 31 starting years). Only 0.5% of the population were negative (19 of 3379) and only 0.3% (10 of 3379) were lower than the slightly negative observed trend.
So while it is true that 13-year hiatuses occur from time to time in CMIP5 models of a future warming world, they are statistically rather scarce. Given this scarceness, no one can "with medium confidence" attribute the present hiatus to "natural variability" and, whatever the ultimate explanation of the hiatus, IPCC's attribution "with medium confidence" to "natural variability" is merely wishful thinking.
Tropical Troposphere
While recent discussion of the discrepancy between models and observations has focused on global surface temperature, the discrepancy between models and observations was first raised in connection with the tropical troposphere, where the discrepancy is even stronger.
In this earlier controversy as well, IPCC and other assessments (e.g. the US CCSP) placed far too much credence in pettifogging arguments by Santer and coauthors that the discrepancy was not "statistically significant", arguments that were untrue at the time, but which have gone even further offside with the passage of time.
The IPCC has now unequivocally conceded the discrepancy, even citing McKitrick et al 2010 (though not without taking an unwarranted sideswipe at us). In the Second Draft, the IPCC said that explanation of the discrepancy was "elusive". The new draft refrains from the word "elusive", but concedes the over-estimate, noting that much of the over-estimate arises from an over-estimate of tropical ocean SST propagated upwards.
In summary, most, though not all, CMIP3 and CMIP5 models overestimate the observed warming trend in
the tropical troposphere during the satellite period 1979–2012. Roughly one-half to two-thirds of this difference from the observed trend is due to an overestimate of the SST trend, which is propagated upward because models attempt to maintain static stability.
The inconsistency between models and observations for tropical SST is even stronger than for global temperature – casting further doubt on IPCC's attribution of the global inconsistency to "natural variability". In addition, even IPCC's seemingly broad concession somewhat understates the problem, as all (not "most") CMIP5 RCP8.5 runs and models run too hot, as shown in the following boxplot:
Figure 5. Boxplot of TRP TLT trends 1979-2013 for CMIP5 RCP8.5 models. Here I've used John Christy's collation of CMIP5 runs. Christy collated RCP8.5 because that was used in Santer et al 2013. The historic portion of RCP8.5 and RCP 4.5 is very similar. It is possible that a couple of RCP4.5 runs will yield lower trends, but the overwhelming point will remain.
Although IPCC largely conceded the discrepancy, they couldn't help taking a thoroughly unwarranted sideswipe at McKitrick et al 2010, stating:
The very high significance levels of model–observation discrepancies in LT and MT trends that were obtained in some studies (e.g., Douglass et al., 2008; McKitrick et al., 2010) thus arose to a substantial degree from using the standard error of the model ensemble mean as a measure of uncertainty, instead of the ensemble standard deviation or some other appropriate measure for uncertainty arising from internal climate variability.
The very high levels of significance observed in McKitrick et al 2010 occurred because there were very high levels of significance, not because of the use of "inappropriate" statistics. Indeed, as observed in our rejected submission, had Santer et al 2008 used up-to-data, their own method would have demonstrated the "very high significance levels" that IPCC objects to here.
No credence should be given to IPCC's last-minute attribution of the discrepancy to "natural variability". IPCC's ad hoc analysis purporting to support this claim does not stand up to the light of day.
Gavin Schmidt excused IPCC's failure to squarely address the discrepancy between models and observations saying that it was "just ridiculous" that IPCC be "up to date":
The idea that IPCC needs to be up to date on what was written last week is just ridiculous."
But the problem not arise "last week". While the issue has only recently become acute, it has become acute because of accumulating failure during the AR5 assessment process, including errors and misrepresentations by IPCC in the assessments sent out for external review; the almost total failure of the academic climate community to address the discrepancy; gatekeeping by fellow-traveling journal editors that suppressed criticism of the defects in the limited academic literature on the topic.
Whatever the ultimate scientific explanation for the pause and its implications for the apparent discrepancy between models and observations, policy-makers must be feeling very letdown by the failure of IPCC and its contributing academic community to adequately address an issue that is critical to them and to the public.
That academics (e.g. Fyfe et al here; von Storch here) have finally begun to touch on the problem, but only after the IPCC deadline must surely add to their frustration. Von Storch neatly summarized the problem and calmly (as he does well) set it out as an important topic of ongoing research, but any investor in the climate research process must surely wonder why this wasn't brought up six years ago in the scoping of the AR5 report.
One cannot help but wonder whether WG1 Chair Thomas Stocker might not have served the policy community better by spending more time ensuring that the discrepancy between models and observations was properly addressed in the IPCC draft reports, perhaps even highlighting research problems while there was time in the process, than figuring out how IPCC could evade FOI requests.


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We might be on the verge of another ancient-popculch-hybrid type thingy … a couple of weeks ago, Donna Estes Antebi wrote in the Huffington Post (inter alia):
The label Cougar conjures images not of women of merit and achievement, but of fountain-of-youth seeking desperation. "Cougars" are painted as wildcats armed with bottles of Botox, stiletto-stalking the kind of six-pack that doesn't come in a can. What a sexist double standard. You know what they call successful men who keep the company of younger women? "Sir." Or "damn lucky." "Cougar" is never mistaken as a complement. It's a term laced with underlying disrespect and derogatory inferences that minimize and objectify even the most successful of women.
I say enough with the denigrating cougar references. It is time to show women the respect they deserve. I coined a term in my upcoming book, The Real Secrets Women Only Whisper, which I use to describe women who dominate in a relationship through their education, power, or accomplishment. I refer to them as "Cleos." Just like Cleopatra, the magnificent Egyptian queen herself, these powerful women rule. Women have indeed come a long way and modern-day incarnations abound. Famous American Cleos include such powerhouse women as Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Barbara Walters, Kelly Ripa, Paula Deen, Demi Moore, Christine Peters, Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, Rachael Ray, Tyra Banks, Joan Rivers, Cheryl Tiegs, Halle Berry, Joy Behar and of course, Arianna Huffington. These women deserve our admiration. From bartenders to billionaires, a Cleo can bring home the bacon and share it with anyone she pleases!
Cleos are not cougars on the prowl looking for sex with younger men. Cleos don't have to prowl! Cleos are highly desired – at any age. Cleos don't need a powerful man to boost their self-esteem. Cleos have their own power. There are Cleos living all over the country who bring home the bacon, while their significant others are pouring them a glass of wine after a long day, or packing the school lunches in the morning.
And there was a followup:
Antebi is the author of The Real Secrets Women Only Whisper and she seems to be making the usual 'rounds' … the Huffington Post seems to be the first non-gender-specific mainstream forum where this word has popped up, so we'll keep our jaded eye open to see if it turns up elsewhere …


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March 29, 2013
College of Engineering recognizes 11 alumni for career success
Submitted by Communications and Marketing
The Kansas State University College of Engineering will honor 11 alumni for professional career accomplishment during the first 20 years following their graduation. The honorees will be recognized at ceremonies on campus Saturday, April 6.
Recipients of the college's Professional Progress Award were nominated by their respective department heads and confirmed by John English, dean of engineering. The honorees are:
* Jon Halbgewachs, Ellsworth, a 1997 graduate in civil engineering. He is a senior vice president and the Kansas operations manager for Kirkham Michael and Associates Inc. in Ellsworth. In addition to his office managerial duties, he manages road, bridge, airport, water and sewer design projects; bridge and structure inspections; construction services; and various planning projects across Kansas. Halbgewachs is a licensed professional engineer in Kansas and Nebraska, and is a member of the American Council for Engineering Companies, National Society for Professional Engineers, Kansas Society of Professional Engineers, American Public Works Society and the K-State Alumni Association.
* Natalie Gosch, Mulvane, a 1998 graduate in chemical engineering. Gosch is a manager at a Cargill flour milling facility, where she oversees shipping of 1 million pounds of food daily directly to grocery stores and animal food applications, while employing 70 skilled teammates and managing a $10 million annual budget. She joined Cargill after graduation and has worked in process engineering and production management her entire career. This has presented her with opportunities in both urban and rural areas of the United States and around the world, including Kansas, Iowa, Tennessee, Illinois, China, Peru and Argentina. She is a graduate of the Kansas Agriculture Rural Leaders program, founding board member and treasurer of the Mulvane Education Foundation, and a member of the Chemical Engineering Advisory Board at Kansas State University.
* John Miller, Olathe, a 1994 graduate in computer engineering. He is the chief technology officer at Accelerated Vision, Overland Park, where he also manages engineering and information technology. Miller heads up technology direction and selection, manages hardware and software development, and procures the necessary information technology infrastructure for the company. During his career he has been given several awards for outstanding performance and has grown from an engineer into an experienced executive while serving in several management positions. Miller has led solution, delivery and support throughout his career, holds one patent and has several patents currently under consideration.
* Kevin Boehringer, Overland Park, a 1993 graduate in architectural engineering. He is an owner/principal of BSE Structural Engineers in Lenexa, a full-service structural engineering firm professionally registered in 47 states. The company provides design nationwide in a variety of structures, including commercial buildings, health care, schools, restaurants, religious, industrial, aquatics and water slides. Boehringer is a registered professional engineer in 33 states, Washington, D.C., and three Canadian provinces. He is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, American Concrete Institute, American Institute of Steel Construction, Structural Engineering Association of Kansas and Missouri, National Society of Professional Engineers and Kansas Society of Professional Engineers. At Kansas State University, he has been a presenter for the Architectural Engineering Seminar, Architectural Engineering Institute Student Conference and Student Chapter of the Structural Engineers Association of Kansas and Missouri.
* Parker Young, Overland Park, a 1994 graduate in construction science and management. He is a partner with Straub Construction Co., serving as executive vice president and COO, having previously held positions as superintendent, project manager and vice president of operations. His primary responsibilities include general oversight of processes and procedures in project management, estimating, accounting, human resources and all aspects of field operations. Young has been actively involved in the local chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, previously serving as board chairman and was recognized with the 2012 Arthur C. Waugh Keystone Award. He has been honored by Ingram's magazine as one of its "40 under 40" and the K.C. Business magazine as a "Rising Star." Young is currently chairman of the board for City Vision, a not-for-profit urban development organization.
* Cory Downing, Salina, a 1993 graduate in mechanical engineering and a 1997 master's graduate in industrial engineering management. He is vice president-engineering for Salina Vortex Corp., a manufacturer of slide gates and diverters for material handling systems. Along with partnering with the executive team to set the company's strategic direction, he oversees the product development and operations teams, which provide engineered solutions to their customers. Downing joined Salina Vortex as a design engineer and has held positions as engineering operations manager and director of engineering. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Society of Mining Engineers and serves on the industrial advisory board of mechanical engineering technology at Kansas State University.
* Ryan McGuire, Bentonville, Ark., a 1992 graduate in industrial engineering. He currently serves as vice president of pricing at J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., based in Lowell, Ark. McGuire joined the company in 2001 and is responsible for network design, economic analysis and pricing for the truckload division, a $470 million segment of the company. Most recently, McGuire served on the advisory council for the department of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering at Kansas State University.
* Mahesh Bommareddy, San Jose, Calif., a 1993 master's graduate in computer science. He is currently a director of product management and marketing at Cisco, where he leads the creation and delivery of a broad range of mobility solutions for enterprise customers. He has also been product management lead for Cisco's Borderless Networks technologies, playing a key role in establishing the Borderless Networks architecture. Earlier, as part of Cisco's service provider group, he led the product management team for the entire voice portfolio. While at Cisco, Bommareddy has introduced several successful new products and solutions to the market. He is an alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and holds a U.S patent in the area of telecommunications.
* Reggie Schoen, Johnston, Iowa, a 1995 graduate in mechanical engineering. He is a refinery superintendent, leading facility plant operations for Cargill's dressings, sauces and oils vegetable oil refinery in Des Moines, Iowa. His responsibilities include safety, environment, food safety, customer solutions, production, quality, maintenance and utilities, capital planning and execution, and personnel practices for 42 team members. For the past 17 years, Schoen has worked for Cargill in various plant operations supervisory roles in reliability and production, and as a department superintendent and facility leader across five locations in Iowa and Kansas.
* Jennifer Vines, Houston, Texas, a 2000 graduate in biological and agricultural engineering. She is currently the Middle East project services area supervisor for the ExxonMobil Development Co. in Houston, where she provides management oversight for projects in Qatar and United Arab Emirates, totaling an investment of approximately $20 billion. Vines has been with ExxonMobil since 2000, holding a variety of engineering positions in both production and development divisions, and providing management support for several different projects in West Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, California, Nigeria and Angola. She has also served as an ExxonMobil recruiter at Kansas State University's College of Engineering for the past 12 years and has assisted in the hiring of around 130 engineering graduates from the university.
* Tak-Kei Chan, Hong Kong, a 1990 bachelor's graduate and 1992 master's graduate in electrical engineering. He is the senior vice president and general manager for global assembly and test operations at International Rectifier, a pioneer and world leader in advanced power management technology. In this role, Chan manages a global manufacturing organization of more than 1800 employees in six different countries, with an annual budget of more than $200 million. He began his career with International Rectifier in California and is now located in Singapore.


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Rouault, Georges
Rouault, Georges zhôrzh ro͞o-ō´ [key], 1871–1958, French expressionist artist. First apprenticed to a stained-glass maker, Rouault studied after 1891 under Gustave Moreau. He exhibited several paintings with the fauves (see fauvism) in 1905. His sorrowful and bitter delineations of judges, clowns, and prostitutes caused a great stir in Paris. The suffering of Jesus was his frequent subject. His thickly encrusted, powerfully colored images, outlined heavily in black, have the effect of icons and a pattern suggestive of stained glass. About 1916, Rouault began more than a decade of work for the publisher Vollard. Using a variety of graphic techniques, he executed a series of about 60 prints called Miserere. He continued to paint the themes he had used earlier, but in a more tranquil style. Examples of his art can be found in many European and American collections. The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, owns his Three Judges and Christ Mocked by Soldiers.
See catalog by P. Courthion (1962); studies by G. Marchiori (1967), J. B. Kind (1969), J. Maritain (1969), and W. A. Dyrness (1972).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: European Art, 1600 to the Present: Biographies


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The de Saisset Museum stands at the heart of Santa Clara University's campus, adjacent to Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Founded in 1955, it is the only free museum of art and history in the South Bay, and is one of only three museums in Silicon Valley to hold accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. Operated by Santa Clara University, the de Saisset Museum is funded by the University, de Saisset family trust, membership, and donations.
General Information
Find out about our mission and core values, which stand as the heart of everything we do; learn about our history—the story of why we're here and how the de Saisset family played a role; and discover what it means to be accredited.
Find out everything you need to know to make your visit possible, from hours and admission to directions and parking information.
Facility Rentals
Ambiance matters when it comes to events! Whether you are hosting a lecture or reception, a dinner or symposium, the de Saisset offers a beautiful and flexible space for your event. Learn more about facility rentals, including room capacity, catering options, and rental fees by emailing email@example.com. Please note: The de Saisset Museum is not currently available for rentals due to museum projects.
Meet the dynamic and dedicated team of people behind the de Saisset Museum: staff, advisory board members, docents and volunteers.


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Elbow: Pain and Hangboarding
I've been doing hangboard and pull-up sessions with added weight. I have had medial elbow tendonosis in the past, and it seems to be returning.
I've been doing hangboard and pull-up sessions with added weight. I have had medial elbow tendonosis in the past, and it seems to be returning.
1) Are pull-ups on jugs particularly aggravating? Should they be avoided?
2) What about static hangs with weight? Is hanging on slopers or pockets worse than crimps?
3) Can I continue to hangboard but combat the tendonosis by doing the exercises you suggest in Medicine No. 156?
I have noticed that gripping a hold and pulling it down is more aggravating than static hanging. Underclings cause more aggravation than other grip positions.
Ethan Schwartz | Bay Area, California
Ethan, I have had a lot of luck with this recipe:
Fill your cupped hand with Tabasco sauce and rub it on your gonads. Scream. A great lesson in both pain tolerance and mental focus, this will be more helpful for your climbing than chin-ups or weight belts.
The golden rule of training is specificity. If you think carrying a weight belt while climbing is good style, you're a tossa. In addition, chin-ups are excellent training for doing chin-ups. You are not alone in thinking that these workouts will make you a stronger climber — a gallant but deluded assumption. Making the holds worse and the moves more difficult, without added weight, will be far more effective. Snatching a bad hold four feet distant is more pertinent than snatching one in front of your nose while hauling a superfluous 40 pounds. In the mid 1980s, Kim Carrigan trained with a weight belt to gain the endurance to do the first ascent of the iconic Lord of the Rings (5.13d) at Arapiles. Despite training on the actual route with 40 pounds of lead, he was still falling off the last move (with or without the lead) when Stefan Glowacz did the FA. This training method should have been left in the '80s along with bubble skirts that even Houdini couldn't unhook.
Crimps are usually worse on elbows than pockets or open handing. You also probably use more wrist stabilization when pulling on a hold, hence pulling will be more aggravating than static hangs. Underclings require massive wrist-flexion force and will piss off your injury with the vehemence of depleted uranium.
Sounds to me like you are over training your forearms. Slow down, pumpkin. You are getting tendonosis because your flexors are getting too strong again. Rest and recovery is your missing link.
Elbows and Wrists: Tendonitis and Tendonisis
Elbow: Medial Epicondylosis and Taping
Elbow: Minimizing Fingerboarding Injuries
Wrist Instability and Carpal Tunnel


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Come January 14, Revlon model and actress Halle Berry will be showing off the beauty brand's newest eyeshadow palette in a commercial. Berry isn't the only big name associated with the campaign; it was directed by Martin Campbell, who credits Casino Royale to his resume. The footage was shot in L.A. and features Revlon's PhotoReady Primer + Shadow, which includes a lid-smoothing primer, three coordinating eyeshadows, and a shimmery top coat. The whole kit, complete with tips on how to wear the colors, launches this month at major drugstores and revlon.com for just $9.99.
Since you won't be able to see the ad for a couple of weeks, we got our hands on these exclusive photos of Berry behind-the-scenes. We know we're supposed to be focusing on her eyes (which are done up in a lovely shade of lavender), but we can't help also feeling envious for her voluminous ringlets, flawless skin, and toned shoulders. Here's to getting started on those New Year's resolutions, stat!


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The Dachau Seven: The Nameless Pro Life Hero who Saved Seven Pregnant Concentration Camp Prisoners
– And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. – Genesis 2:3
The number seven in Judaism is a symbol of the covenant of the Jewish people united in holiness and sanctification with the Lord. In a basement prison cell at Dachau, amidst the apocalyptic horror of World War…we find seven pregnant women. The Seven escaped the Auschwitz death machine, and were kept safe and warm by a Jewish Capo (prisoner overseer) who would not allow her basic humanity to be destroyed by the Nazi culture of death.
As we suffer the temporary setback of the defeat of the Albuquerque Ordinance, we can be inspired to remain steadfast and resolute by the Seven Women of Dachau, and their brave pro life protector.
The Archetypal Culture of Death…Empowered by Denial
– And I saw a beast rising out of the sea…and on its heads were blasphemous names. Rev 12:3
Near the end of the Second World War, even though the German army was in retreat on both fronts, the essential work of exterminating the Jews and other enemies of the Reich pressed on with characteristic Nazi efficiency and diabolic zeal.
Amidst this European apocalypse, a young Jewish couple, Miriam and Bela Rosenthal fall in love and from that love…new life is conceived:
They were married in Budapest on April 5, 1944…The honeymoon was brief. Within a few short months, Bela was sent to a slave labour camp, Miriam to Auschwitz. She was later transferred to Augsberg Germany, to work in a Messerschmitt factory. All the while, her belly grew. Two men from the SS appeared at the factory one day, with snarling German shepherds, demanding to know who the pregnant women were. They asked a second time. (National Post)
While the Nazis nurtured the illusion of limitless technological and social progress and a racially purified utopian worker/agricultural paradise…they created the archetypal culture of death:
The Germans murdered over a million Jewish children. Like the sick and the old, they were viewed as useless mouths to feed and often among the first killed. Some were used in medical experiments, but newborns were typically murdered at birth. (National Post)
In such a culture of death, it is no surprise that Miriam (like other pregnant women being summoned by the SS) was destined to be sent immediately to the gas chambers upon arrival at Auschwitz.
On the train to what she rightly feared was certain death, Miriam encounters a German citizen:
There was a woman, a civilian, and she said: "Frau, what is with you? You don't have hair. The clothes you are wearing. What are you, from a mental hospital? "She didn't have a dream, this German woman, of all the horrible things the Germans were doing. I told her I am not from a mental hospital, I am going to Auschwitz — I am going to the gas. She looked at me like I was crazy…(National Post.)
Does this reflect the sentiments of so many us and our fellow citizens, decent people not directly complicit but clearly in denial of the atrocities perpetuated in their own communities? How many dismiss the fact that babies are being tortured to death in the womb in many abortion procedures as exaggerated propaganda by pro life fanatics?
A Pro Life Hero Creates a Womb of Safety for Pregnant Prisoners
–He placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle…And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. Exodus 40:24, 27:20-21
Thanks to the advancement of allied forces and the attempt by the Nazis to hide their criminal acts, the killing machine at Auschwitz was destroyed and Miriam was sent to Dachau where she was surprised to find herself imprisoned with six other pregnant women. During a historical period marked by merciless cruelty and massive death and destruction on an unprecedented scale, we meet a nameless hero:
A "Capo," a Jewish woman charged with overseeing
the women, smuggled a stove into the room, keeping the expecting mothers warm during the freezing winter months of 1945. The Germans discovered the stove and beat the Capo bloody, ripping into her flesh with their truncheons.… "After the beating she told us, 'Don't you worry girls, the stove will be back tomorrow.' " It was. (National Post)
What an example of heroic strength and sacrifice. We can see in the light and warmth of this stove a symbol of the love of God still burning in the heart of this woman despite her sufferings, like one of the shining seven lampstands of Revelation. These seven lamps of Revelation are associated with omniscient divinity. We can see the proclamation by Jesus that he is the Light of the World, as the final manifestation and fulfillment of the Old Testament symbol of God's presence in the Temple Tabernacle. In a sense, we can see the presence of Christ, of his love and light still shining amidst the horrible suffering inflicted upon the Jewish people, Catholic Clergy/Religious, and so many other Christians and innocent lay victims by the Nazis and communists.
This Jewish "Capo" worked to create a type of warm safe womb to hold these vulnerable women, to protect them and their unborn children from the deadly cold. This brings to mind those in our day that offer shelter and resources to pregnant women at risk of abortion.
Forming Men into Monsters – SS Officers and Later Term Abortionists
The SS officers who beat this brave Capo were formed by their over-seers to be devoid of all normal human compassion toward prisoners. Repeated exposure to brutality and beatings (as an orchestrated part of their training) helped to form these men to not only master any natural resistance to such violence but in time to even take pleasure in the suffering of prisoners.
We see a similar type of mastery of emotional trauma by later term abortion doctors who put aside a normal humane response when dismembering an unborn child and grow to take satisfaction and even pleasure in a procedure performed with clinical efficiency. In these cases we can see the unborn child as a type of prisoner under the abortionist's total control. You can read a horrifying clinical description of a D&E procedure from Dr Anthony Levitino a former abortionist.
God's Mysterious Presence Amidst Horrific Evil
– Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated on many waters…" – Rev 15:1
The Albuquerque Ordinance, which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks fell to defeat Tuesday evening November 19, 2013. This is the first skirmish in a much larger battle to raise awareness of the horror of many abortion procedures and the pain they inflict on the unborn and their parents. We are rightly disappointed that the Albuquerque Ordinance failed. But we can also be inspired by these seven pregnant women of Dachau rescued from a Nazi death machine that viewed their unborn children as useless fetal tissue, not worthy of life.
There was a time when this Nazi evil reigned supreme, and to those under its power it seemed to possess total control over the hearts and mind of the German people. The power of the Third Reich was broken in a conflagration of judgment manifest in war and destruction, the natural consequence of the grave offenses against God and his people. Hitler and the other architects of this madness were consumed by the same demons they unleashed upon mankind.
We are called to use every peaceful means possible to pull our nation back from the brink of self destruction as we battle our own culture of death. The story of Miriam Rosenthal reminds us that the very evil that our grandfathers, brothers and fathers fought so valiantly to defeat, has taken deep root on American soil. With their allies in academia, media, entertainment, and government pro death forces have created a propaganda machine and control of information that would be the envy of Joseph Goebbels. ( Goebbels was the architect of the very successful marketing strategy to sell the Hitler/Nazi deception to the German people, and mask the true nature of their genocidal agenda.)
Yet, the Thousand Year Reich fell after a short but hellishly destructive reign.
Let us be inspired by that brave nameless Capo of Dachau, learn from the defeat in Albuquerque and fight on with confidence in the justice and decency of our cause and our final victory in Christ.
– Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever." Rev 11:15


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Insurance Companies Already Feeling Sandy's Effects
Long before Sandy made landfall, insurance companies were feeling the effects. Shares were down for several major insurers last week in anticipation of the storm and what it would do to their bottom line. The weather risk researchers for the insurance giant Munich Re have studied extreme weather in North America since 1980 and found that payouts for the industry total half a trillion dollars. To talk more about what kind of effects storms like Sandy are having on the way insurance industry does business, we turn to Ben Berkowitz, who reports on the industry for Reuters. Hi there, Ben.
BEN BERKOWITZ: Hi. Good afternoon.
CORNISH: So at this point, what are the estimates for the cost of Hurricane Sandy? How does it rank among the costliest storms?
BERKOWITZ: Right now the best estimates are somewhere in the neighborhood of five to $10 billion, just insured losses, which would probably put Sandy in the worst five hurricanes of all time.
CORNISH: Now, over the years, what kind of changes have insurers made to try and curb exposure to hurricane-related payouts?
BERKOWITZ: They've done a few different things to try to minimize their exposure. In some cases, depending on what part of the country you're in, one of the things they've done - and this is actually a more recent change - is to tell homeowners, if you want to be covered, you've got to put a new roof on the house or you have to take certain other steps that are designed to essentially keep the house from falling apart in a storm. In other parts of the country, they have just simply pulled out of the market entirely and said, we don't want to do business there. There is just far too much risk.
CORNISH: What kind of changes have they made to the insurance policies that people already hold?
BERKOWITZ: They've done a few different things. One of the most notable ones is hurricane deductibles. So, again, depending on what state you're in and what insurance company you have, in some cases you may have to actually pay more out of your own pocket if your house is damaged by a hurricane than, say, if it was a tornado or some other kind of incident.
CORNISH: Now, Ben, earlier I mentioned a report by the insurance giant Munich Re about insurance industry losses. That same report also discusses climate change at one point saying, this is a quote: "Climate change particularly affects formation of heat waves, droughts, intense precipitation events, and in the long run, most probably also tropical cyclone intensity."
I mean, they discuss an express link in their point of view between climate change and the frequency of severe weather events in North America. How common is this view within the insurance industry?
BERKOWITZ: It's growing. It's growing. There is - Munich Re is one of the biggest proponents of that view, and really they've been such a big proponent for so long that they've brought a lot of other insurers around to their point of view. And you'll still find insurers who say, we don't believe in climate change or we believe the science is unclear or we believe that something is happening but it's not clear what. And then on the other spectrum you do have insurers, like Munich Re, that acknowledge something clearly has changed. Things are clearly getting worse, and we have to insure accordingly.
CORNISH: So at this point, are insurers essentially recalibrating their models because of what they believe about climate change, is that affecting our premiums?
BERKOWITZ: Insurers are absolutely taking a fresh look at how they structure and how they price policies, particularly the ones that really embraced the climate change theories. They fully believe that something is changing and that they have to, for the sake of their business models, look at how they price and allocate risk differently.
CORNISH: Do you find that there is a sort of an increasing mini industry of georisk folks, meteorologists, people who work for the insurers?
BERKOWITZ: There is nothing mini about it. It's an enormous business. It's something that every insurance company spends very, very heavily on. It's something that there are lots and lots of meteorologists around the world engaged in and scientists, physicists, climatologists, what have you. It's become a tremendous business, this science of trying to predict what bad things will happen where.
CORNISH: Ben Berkowitz reports on the insurance industry for Reuters. Ben, thank you for talking with me.
BERKOWITZ: Pleasure to be here. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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As promised, I am back with another DIY holiday gift idea: a homemade Chocolate Mint Sugar Scrub that smooths and nourishes the skin.
I'm a total sucker for natural sugar and salt scrubs, and I've been playing around with all different versions of these since I discovered how easy they are to make at home. For this one you need just a few ingredients. You probably already have the sugar and cocoa powder at home; you can purchase the almond oil, the peppermint essential oil, and the optional Vitamin E oil in the cosmetics section of most health food stores.
You'll feel all eco friendly and thrifty when you make this, but whoever you give it to will feel completely pampered. By the way, if you decide to keep it for yourself, that's completely acceptable…because you deserve some pampering, too.
I like to pack my scrubs into glass jars, but you could also purchase plastic or tin containers for gift-giving purposes. A customized label is a nice touch- for the one you see here, I re-purposed an adorable card I received last year :)
If you don't want to make the chocolate peppermint flavor, how about a lemon sugar scrub? Just leave out the cocoa powder and substitute lemon essential oil for the peppermint. You could make a mocha scrub by adding a tablespoon or so of organic instant coffee and forgoing the peppermint oil; you could add some ground cinnamon, too. This Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Food Scrub would also make a nice gift, or make a salt scrub instead.
This scrub is 100% natural and it's really…truly…good enough to eat. The recipe below makes enough for a small jar (plus some left over for you). Feel free to make a much larger batch if you've got a bunch of people on your list.
[cft format=0]
Recipe for Chocolate Mint Sugar Scrub
- *1 cup organic or raw sugar
- *2 tablespoons cocoa powder preferably fair-trade
- *1/4-1/2 cup almond oil or avocado, grape seed, or jojoba oil
- *1-2 drops all-natural peppermint essential oil
- *a drop or two of Vitamin E oil- optional
- 1. Mix together the sugar and cocoa powder in a medium bowl.
- 2. Add 1/4 cup oil and mix with the sugar/cocoa. Add more oil one tablespoon at a time until your scrub has the desired consistency. Add essential oil and option Vitamin E oil.
- 3. Spoon scrub into a sterilized glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Add decorative label or card including info about how to use the scrub (over wet skin in the shower) and how long it will last (about 4 weeks), if desired.


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The latest minor league deals…
- The Mariners signed former MLB reliever Brian Sweeney to a minor league contract, MLB.com's Greg Johns reports. Sweeney spent the 2011 season with the Mets' top affiliate and last appeared in the Majors with the 2010 Mariners.
- The Twins signed left-hander Luke French, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports (Twitter links). French owns a 4.99 ERA with 4.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 155 Major League innings.
- The Mets signed infielder Matt Tuiasosopo, who picked up MLB experience with the Mariners from 2008-10, Eddy reports.
- The Blue Jays signed right-hander Tim Redding and left-hander Bill Murphy, according to Eddy. Redding has substantial MLB experience as a starter for the Astros, Nationals and Mets.
- Eddy reports that four catchers signed minor league deals: Mitch Canham joined the Rockies, Orlando Mercado agreed to terms with the Marlins, Kyle Phillips caught on with the Blue Jays and Max St. Pierre signed with the Red Sox. Phillips appeared in 36 games for the 2011 Padres and St. Pierre made his debut with the 2010 Tigers after 14 minor league seasons.
- Former MLB starter Daniel Cabrera signed a minor league deal with the Pirates, Mario Rojas of CandelaDeportiva reports. Cabrera, 30, was a fixture in Baltimore's rotation from 2004-08, but hasn't pitched in MLB since 2009.
- The Cubs re-signed infielder Bobby Scales, who started the 2011 season in Chicago before going to Japan, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweets.
- The Phillies re-signed former Tigers outfielder Brent Clevlen, Goldstein tweets.
- The Orioles signed 18-year-old outfielder Andres Aguilar, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. The speedy Guatemala native has a strong throwing arm.


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Kelley completes infantryman training
COLUMBUS, Georgia — Army Pvt. Shawn D. Kelley has graduated from the Infantryman One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia.
The training consists of Basic Infantry Training and Advanced Individual Training.
During his nine weeks of basic combat training, Kelley learned about drill and ceremonies, weapons employment, map reading, tactics, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid skills, and Army history, core values and traditions. Additional training included the development of basic combat skills and battlefield operations and tactics, and experienced use of various weapons and weapons defenses available to the infantry crewman.
The Advanced Individual Training course is designed to train infantry soldiers to perform reconnaissance operations; employ, fire and recover anti-personnel and anti-tank mines; locate and neutralize land mines and operate target and sight equipment; operate and maintain communications equipment and radio networks; construct field firing aids for infantry weapons; and perform infantry combat exercises and dismounted battle drills, which includes survival procedures in a nuclear, biological or chemical contaminated area.
Kelley is the son of David and Christine Kelley, of Lebanon, Maine. He is a 2012 graduate of Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine.


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Massive Congratulations!!!
Everybody!!!! My academic sibling, one of my oldest friends, the Cranky Professor, has just been informed that he has joined the ranks of the tenured professoriate!!!
I am so very happy for him. He deserves it. Feel free to pass the word around the medieval blogosphere, too! I am initiating a virtual congratulations party as of now!!


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I had a crazy weekend, flying to Oklahoma and back. I'm back to work today, and tired already this afternoon. Since I don't have anything new going on yet in my sewing studio I just thought I would share some pictures of my pretty tin collection. I love to use pretty, vintage tins around the house for storage. I use a lot of them in my sewing room to store everything and then some. I'm a sucker for a pretty vintage tin!
I just showed this one, it is my newest and one of my prettiest. A gift from my bud, Beth.
My pretty floral tins have really got me itching for spring. It is going to be 75 degrees and sunny on the coast of Virginia tomorrow. Time for that pedicure!


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2011 was a very good year for the shareholders of 2 of the 3 public DPI players. Procera (NASDAQ:PKT) leads with overwhelming 151.3% return and Allot (NASDAQ:ALLT) follows with 30.6%. Sandvine (TSX:SVC), with 2 lower than expected quarters during the year (see recent announcement here) finished 2011 with a negative return of 59.4%.
The chart below shows the performance of the 3 shares vs. the NASDAQ index (-1.8% during 2011), as a benchmark for the technology market. It shows clearly the impact of the above message from Sandvine on its stock performance.
Sandvine will announced its Q4 (Nov) results (expected revenues of $19.5-20) on January 12 (here). Allot was quick to announce yesterday, before year end, that results will be announced on February7 (here).
Best wishes for Happy and Successful 2012 !


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Archive for April, 2012
Paper N.19 / 2012
Content Summary
Active Ageing: What differential experiences across EU countries?
Asghar Zaidi and Eszter Zolyomi
Active Ageing: What differential experiences across EU countries?
Population ageing remains a long-term common challenge for all European countries, although its magnitude, speed and timing vary across European countries (Lanzieri 2011). The potential implications on the size and shape of public services and finances as well as on the future growth and on living standards are considerable (Economic Policy Committee 2009a; 2009b). A change is therefore called for in public policies and institutions as well as in individual behaviours towards extending working lives and also to contribute to society through other unpaid non-market activities (for example through volunteering and family care) during old age. Read More


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Suspect in killing of Afghan civilians identified
Robert Burns
WASHINGTON - A senior U.S. official says the soldier accused in the killing of 16 Afghan civilians is Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation into an incident that has roiled relations with Afghanistan.
American officials had previously said the suspect was a 38-year-old staff sergeant and that he had spent 11 years in the Army. But they had refused to release his name, saying it is military policy to publicly name a suspect only after he has been charged with an offense.
Bales has not yet been charged. He was being flown Friday from Kuwait to a military detention center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.


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Mariners - 000 000 000 - 0 4 0 Red Sox - 001 210 01x - 5 9 0Josh Beckett (7-4-0-2-9, 93) struck out six of the first nine Seattle batters and finished with a season-high nine strikeouts. Boston (17-19) has now won five consecutive games.
The only thing resembling a Mariners rally came in the fourth when two singles put runners on first and second with one out. Beckett then got a fly to left and a ground ball to second. Ichiro Suzuki was the lone Seattle runner to touch third base (and one of only two to make it to second), but that came with two outs in the sixth, and he was stranded there.
Rich Hill pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Alfredo Aceves tossed a perfect ninth. The Boston pitching staff has allowed only three runs over the last four games.
David Ortiz's eighth home run of the year, cranked to deep right-center in the third, was all the support Beckett & Co. would need. Ortiz also bunted for a single (!) and walked and scored twice. Mike Aviles had two doubles and two RBI; Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a single and a double, and Will Middlebrooks had an RBI single and a stolen base.
Sweeney, CFAfternoon baseball! And it's Tim Wakefield Day!
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Gonzalez, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Saltalamacchia, C
Ross, RF
Nava, LF
Aviles, SS


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Today I wondered what the first thing was I had written about on this blog so I went back and looked. My first post was on May 10, 2011; I put three posts up that day to kick the blog off. It's funny looking back now and remembering how and why this blog started.
I'm always jotting down my thoughts and trying to capture what I was thinking and feeling in a particular time and place. I wanted to share those thoughts and moments of inspiration with others–and that right there is how this little blog got started.
In May 2011, I remember sitting at a desk by the window watching the cottony fluff of pollen float down from a tree in my back yard; it looked like it was snowing in the middle of spring. For some reason that day watching the cotton fluff float around outside moved me to start this space and start sharing the words and pictures that make up my little world. At the beginning I intended only to write about nature and the outdoors–that is why I named this space Outside Air–because the outside air was exactly what I wanted to talk about.
On that first day I posted three entries I had originally taken down in my journal when I was at the ocean and Walden Pond. These were my first words and pictures:
Hampton, New Hampshire
The dark, water-laden clouds billow above taunting with stray drops of rain. The wind is strong, violent, driving and throwing the sea. The temperature is perfect; the beach is our own. The sky and the sea are the same threatening shade of blue-gray, tossing and reflecting off each other as they make the tempestuous transition into spring.
Westerly, Rhode Island
The ocean rumbles, crashes, swirls, and spins. The waves lap, roll, build until they smash against the shore. This is a place of constant motion, constant churning sound—and yet it is quiet, peaceful. The ocean with its billowing waves sings a lullaby of rest. It breathes it briny breath and kisses my face with saltwater kisses. A tiny bird hops and frolics on the beach in the shadow of the violent crushing waves. A ladybug works on her tan. The water rolls in undulating, ever-changing shades of green then brown before morphing against the sand into perfectly white sea foam. The ocean is timeless and yet never the same.
Concord, Massachusetts
Walden Pond
Even the birds are quiet in this quiet place; they sing below their breath, in a whisper, as if showing respect for the beauty of quiet. The wind rustles through the woods, across the water making the trees sigh and yawn with the motion—that is all, the rest is silence. The wind is cold but the trees flirt, taunting the warm air to come—blushing crimson in buds ready to bloom.
Those three posts on the same day were my only entries in May and I didn't write again until the end of July.
You see, on June 1st 2011, a tornado came through our town and over our house. We had moved out of a downtown apartment in a not-so-safe city just a year before and were looking forward to our first summer in our home in this small town. We had a backyard for the first time and it was wooded with lots of big trees and a little stream running through it.
I loved our yard. Every morning when I came down to the kitchen I would look out the kitchen window at the yard and the trees and honestly thank God for allowing us to live here. I soaked up the morning light reaching through the woods across our lawn and I was really, very happy. That morning Darren and I went for a walk around the neighborhood before leaving for work. By the time we came home from work that night everything we loved about this place was gone.
Nearly every tree in our backyard was taken down and the brush and debris buried the little stream in the woods. Our entire road was badly hit with many of the houses having to be taken down and a huge area of woods completely gone. Everything looked different without the trees and woods. Instead of enjoying our first summer here we ended up using it to clean up our backyard and put everything back together around here. Even after cleaning it up it has never looked the same.
I was frustrated and disappointed and for a while nothing about the outside air inspired me anymore. I had no thoughts on nature and the outdoors that I wanted to share here. I kept waiting for the inspiration to come back but after a while I just gave up and decided to write about other things instead. I started writing about my thoughts on life in general and opened up about my faith and family. These weren't the things I intended to share here but that's the direction life took me that summer.
And so here we are now. Two years later and I think in some ways this space has come full circle. I'm back to sharing my words and pictures of the beautiful outdoors and still continue to share about life in general. I never imagined this space would turn into what it has but I'm thankful for each of you who come along with me on this journey and allow me to share my little world with you here. I am so very thankful for the ways you both challenge and encourage me along the way with each post. Some of you have been here from the beginning and some of us our new friends…I'm thankful for each one of you.
This space has been good for me. Here I have been able to articulate and share my thoughts and feelings and find out what others think of the same things. I have made friends all over the world and grown closer to people who have been a part of my life for years. I have grown as a writer and learned a lot about photography too. So thank you for coming along with me each step of the way. I hope I can continue to share with you for a long time to come.
Here are my latest pictures of the lovely, inspiring outside air ;]
{Lilacs in the front yard of our new house}
{Stopping to smell the flowers on a walk yesterday}
Thank you for reading along with me, friends :]