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Trouble in river city
The September sun gives it life, siphoning moisture from the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. The earth's rotation coaxes it into a counterclockwise spiral as it begins its two-week journey to the Gulf of Mexico, where, nudged by the jet stream, it tears northward across the Florida Panhandle into Alabama. By now it has a name — Ivan.
On Wednesday, atop Cold Mountain in southern Haywood County, mist with a tepid, almost tropical feel swirls through gnarled oaks. On radar in Greer, S.C., 50 miles southeast, government meteorologist Wayne Jones watches approaching cloud bands. The heaviest precipitation lies in the right leading quadrant, aimed at the mountain — but first it must clear the Blue Ridge. Jones frets about that. "When all that moisture rises over that escarpment and condenses, it's going to boost the rainfall tremendously."
By Thursday, 12 to 15 inches have soaked the forest floor atop Cold Mountain, still sodden from Frances, a similar storm nine days earlier. More is falling. In the headwaters near the 6,030-foot summit, creeks swell and plunge toward the twin forks of the Pigeon River, which enfold the base of the mountain like a wishbone. Below its collar lies the little town of Canton.
In late afternoon, water surges through the crossroads of Bethel, near where the forks merge. In the driving rain, people whose memories of Frances are less than two weeks old pack and leave. As night falls, the Pigeon pounds a house and the cottage next door, smashing windows, ripping off garage doors. Doris Baxter, 69, lives nearby on higher ground. She decides to wait it out. Her mother, who is in her 90s, is in a nursing home in Canton. It's just across the river.
In town, Tom Wilson races to save customers' clothes from his dry-cleaning shop, two blocks from the rising river. Lights flicker off. Broken lines spew natural gas. Water swirls over the U.S. 19-23 bridge, pouring into City Hall and the 1932 Colonial Theater, newly restored at a cost of $1 million. Police order Wilson, 66, to leave. He glances back. Much of his equipment is new, including a $75,000 dry-cleaning machine, the latest zero-pollution model. Soon, only the roof of his building is above water.
In blackness now, the river smashes through the sprawling Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc. plant in the heart of town, wrecking its waste-treatment plant, which also treats the town's sewage, and wreaking $30 million of damage. Beyond the mill, the Pigeon gouges huge chunks from streets and swallows the tiny mill houses of Fiberville, the village built for workers not long after James Robertson's grand-daddy came to Canton in 1905 to help establish the mill. Water stops rising just below Robertson's doorstep. His is the only house spared from flood damage.
In the predawn, Doris Baxter slides behind the wheel of her old blue Oldsmobile Cierra. Maybe she thinks there's trouble at the nursing home or that her mother needs her. They will find her car next to a tomato field, wedged upside down in a grove of trees 10 feet above the riverbank, with her body inside it.
Friday morning, the muddy water recedes. They say such storms — remnants of Hurricane Frances on the 8th and Hurricane Ivan on the 16th and 17th — come once a century. These two hit Canton within 10 days. Some remember similar storms of the century in August of 1940. They came 17 days apart.
For a century now, they've been intertwined — the town, the mill and the river. The town, which owes its existence to a ford on the river, depends on the mill, which is Haywood County's largest employer. The mill needs the river's water to make paper and wash away its waste. That's as true today as it was when Champion Paper President Peter G. Thomson — they still speak of "Peter G" here as if he were in the next room — began building the mill.
About 1,000 people work there at wages averaging about $45,000 a year, which is nearly twice the county average. But people are beginning to wonder if the mill, with its hydrogen-sulfide fumes, smokestacks and billowing steam, hasn't scared off cleaner, good-paying employers, along with well-heeled retirees and young high-tech entrepreneurs looking to put down roots.
Then there's the river. Soon after the mill began operation in 1908, pollution overwhelmed the Pigeon, turning it brown as shoe polish and lacing it with frothing mounds of toxic foam. Fish died. Older residents tell of tossing their dogs into the river to kill fleas and ticks and cauterize mange sores. "My dad grew up a mile from here," Robertson, 56, recalls. "The mill burned coal. I'd get up in the morning and have to sweep the sidewalk and porches. Mama couldn't hang her clothes outside."
"Champion never polluted on purpose," says Wayne Carson, 66, who worked there 36 years before retiring in 1995. "But that's the way the whole country was back then. It was just a great big mill on a little river." Too big. The Pigeon typically flows at the rate of 300 to 400 cubic feet per second, says Roger Edwards, supervisor of the N.C. Division of Water Quality office in Swannanoa. "An owner today would never put a mill that size on a stream that size." Forty miles away, across the state line, generations of boys in Hartford, Tenn., grew up skinny-dipping in the Pigeon and fishing for smallmouth bass, carp and catfish. About 30 years ago, health workers noticed a trend. Over several decades, hundreds of men — one study says 600 — developed cancer. Some residents still call their town Widowville.
Now the river is forcing the mill and town to pay dearly for its abuse. Under threats from two states and federal authorities, Champion Paper and its successor, Blue Ridge, have pumped about $600 million since the early 1990s into cleaning up the water and pollution. The mill has slashed 90% of the discharges of chemicals that colored the river. New technology has diminished — but not eliminated — its perpetual odor of rotten eggs. A new bleach-filtrate recycling process helps strip chlorine and related toxins from the effluent.
"They are one of the top, if not the top, pulp mills in the world in terms of effluent quality," Edwards says. Carcinogenic dioxin and other chemicals have subsided, and since 2001 regulators have deemed Pigeon River fish safe for eating by all but children and pregnant women. But the price has been steep. Blue Ridge CEO Richard Lozyniak says 15 years of pollution remediation, coupled with depressed paper prices and increasing competition, has left the mill little to spend on upgrading production equipment.
In fact, Champion was on the verge of shutting the mill — which has a replacement value of $1.3 billion — when the company put it up for sale in 1997. Two years later, the employees and their union bought it. They agreed to a seven-year, 15% pay cut and other concessions. A New York private-equity fund that bills itself as "a buyer of last resort" engineered and underwrote the $200 million deal. The mill still loses money — about $31 million on $479 million of revenue last year.
"It's an old mill, and we've got a bunch of old equipment," says gravel-voiced Rufus Lindsay, financial secretary of Smoky Mountain Local 507 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union — PACE. Even the average age of a Blue Ridge worker — 49 — is high. "A lot of paper mills have shut down across the country. How we've hung on, I don't know." RFS Ecusta, less than 40 miles away, closed in 2002, putting 623 people out of work.
Even seemingly unrelated events appear to thrust the town, mill and river together. When they built the big road — Interstate 40 — Canton became even more dependent on the mill, which pays about 60% of its $5.5 million annual budget. "When I was growing up, we had hotels and five gas stations within a quarter mile of Town Hall," says Mayor Pat Smathers, whose ancestors settled here before 1800. "I-40 came, and they all left."
Meanwhile, the increasingly pressed mill began demanding tax cuts. The town granted 10% in 2003, but feelings occasionally are bruised. "The mill wouldn't be here if not for the river and forest, and the town wouldn't be here if not for the mill," says Smathers, a Duke University law graduate and varsity football player in the 1970s. "There are times we don't see eyeball to eyeball, and we recognize that Blue Ridge is a two-way sword. It keeps a lot of people here, but it keeps a lot of people from coming."
Few climb this hill, covered in knee-high grass and briars. Below, thousands of tons of golden wood chips sprawl on Blue Ridge's receiving yards, destined to become bleached paper used mostly for coated food containers, such as milk and juice cartons, and for envelopes. Freight trains trundle into the mill through Hominy Gap to the east. Across the valley lies downtown, with its 100-year-old brick buildings. Above them, on steep streets, are Canton's older, more-expensive homes. Another hillside holds the small, frame houses of working-class families. A white church steeple catches the late-afternoon sun.
At Main Street Café and Sandwich Shop, owner Joyce Murray rings up lunches for Blue Ridge workers while her granddaughter serves dishes of fried okra and potatoes on red-checked tablecloths. At the first table sit men with safety glasses and earplugs dangling. A rotund man leans back. "There she was, nothing on but an apron, bent over cleaning that oven … " He slaps his thigh. The others chortle.
Murray laughs too. "Those guys? They're here every day, always right there at the same table. Canton's a lot like Mayberry." Mayberry with a paper mill.
In Locust Field Cemetery, on a ridge above town, stand hand-chiseled tombstones dating to the 1700s. Here lie a Revolutionary War hero, Civil War veterans and mountain mothers who died in childbirth. Many in town descend from those who called their village Pigeon River and then, in the late 1800s, Pigeon Ford, Ford of the Pigeon and Buford before settling on the name of the Ohio town they found on the nameplate of the foundry that cast the trusses of their first iron bridge.
In the town museum — Ivan flooded its basement so deep that ceiling tiles floated out of their frames — yellowed news clippings and artifacts chronicle the past. Wrested from the Cherokee in the 1700s, Canton was little more than a river ford until after the Civil War, when the Western North Carolina Railroad reached it. Here hangs the black wool suit that circuit-riding preacher Jim Fowler wore in 1872. There's a ticket for the 1948 Paper Bowl — Waynesville versus Marion, $1 admission. And, from perhaps the 1960s, a clipping with a picture of the high-stepping Canton High School "Band of Bears" marching in front of Woolworth's.
"We were the quintessential mill town," Smathers says. "They provided housing, a doctor, everything. My dad's grocery began because the mill shut down its store. When he came back after World War II, he and my uncle together ran a meat counter. The Champion store closed, and they picked up the accounts."
On a Saturday morning seven months after Ivan, Zeno Lancaster, the strapping, 6-foot-4 owner of Cold Mountain Hardware Store, discusses training bear dogs with a customer. Everything is 20% to 80% off because of flood damage. Lancaster, 47, had bought the inventory of his father-in-law's flooded hardware store in nearby Candler for 10 cents on the dollar — $45,000 for $450,000 of goods. His father-in-law, 70, then retired. "We had a week of pretty weather between the first and second floods, so everybody put everything outside to dry. The first flood, it stayed in the buildings. The second time, it just washed on down the river." A customer approaches him with a Crock-Pot, stained with mud. "You take $5?" "Sure."
At the museum, Carson, now a volunteer, describes an age when the mill pumped vibrancy into Canton. Smathers adds, "In the 1920s and '30s, the question was, which was going to be bigger — Asheville or Canton?" Historical records are vague, but older residents say the town's population peaked at about 10,000. The mill employed about 5,000. Between 900 and 1,000 now work at the mill, Lozyniak estimates, with about 200 more at a coating plant in Waynesville, about 10 miles away.
As paper's fortunes cooled, the town's followed. By 1970, population had dipped to 5,158. In 1990, it stood at 4,029. It was 3,957 in 2003. From 1996 through 2003, fewer than eight houses a year were built, at an average cost of less than $70,000. Last September, the river destroyed or damaged so severely that they had to be condemned 24 homes and did $9 million damage to town property. When they grow up, most of Canton's children leave. There were six siblings in Donna Guge's family. "All but two left," says the 54-year-old Bethel resident, whose house was damaged in the flood.
Smathers' son is studying law at Duke and, as his father did, plans to return to Canton. The mayor was elected in 1999 partly on his ambitious plans to reverse the town's slide. But in his dim, book-lined law office in what was his father's supermarket overlooking Main Street, he concedes that few follow his son's example. Smathers is pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars — $500,000 or so, he's not sure — into renovating the former Imperial Hotel, which began life as a private residence circa 1880. It will have shops, a restaurant and perhaps other features.
"You've got to have jobs but also entertainment," he says. "If you don't, your best and brightest are going elsewhere. The ones who come back are the ones that have opportunities waiting — their families are in business or they have the education and skills to make it, like doctors, attorneys and CPAs." Or, he adds, they work at the paper mill, where blue-collar jobs pay enough to attract two- and four-year college graduates. "If you don't have manufacturing jobs in your community, you're in trouble." But that, he and others say, is part of the paradox of the mill.
For decades, it deterred diversification. "Other companies didn't want something like Blue Ridge around because they have to compete with their wage scale," Smathers says. "Even now, we couldn't support another industry as big as Blue Ridge. Everybody says we want tourism or the retirement industry, but they can't compare with manufacturing." Others, though, say the traits that make Canton as timeless as its river have made it reluctant to reduce its reliance on the mill.
James Robertson stands on the crumbling riverbank in front of his house in Fiberville. Two-thirds of what once was the mill village's main street washed away, leaving a sheer drop to the river 20 feet below. Clothes and other debris still flutter in tree limbs. "People here have a hard work ethic. My dad worked for the plant for 46 years. My grandfather worked there for 53 years. But over the years, we've gotten smaller and smaller. I grew up here, but the first thing I wanted to do was get out." He joined the Air Force but eventually returned to Canton and now owns a battery store in Asheville.
"We're cliquish, like any small town," Wilson, the dry cleaner, says. "Canton is a great place to live. I've been here since 1983. But there hasn't been the initiative politically to solicit new industry. I have to relate that back to government officials — city and county — who are just not progressive enough."
Like the floods of September, the news that first sent Canton reeling came with a jolt. In October 1997, after years of losses, mounting environmental troubles and declining paper demand, Stamford, Conn.-based Champion revealed it had asked Goldman Sachs to find a buyer for the Canton mill and its five-plant Dairy Pak division. When that failed, employees and the KPS Fund, a New York investment house, stepped in. But the crisis divided the town. Workers split on whether to buy the mill under an employee stock-ownership plan — an ESOP. One reason: The deal would give New York-based investors a controlling 55% interest. Workers and their union hold 40%; senior executives, 5%.
During the debates, one worker called a KPS executive "a fast-talking New York lawyer who thinks he's talking to a bunch of hillbillies." Workers in favor of buying out the mill published a newsletter called Scab Rhetoric, attacking workers who were opposed. Opponents called the pro-buyout faction "the Judas crew," accusing them of betraying other workers.
In April 1999, the buyout passed, with nearly two-thirds of the employees voting in favor. But Lindsay, a boiler operator at the plant, says ESOP concerns remain. "Some people feel like they were misled" on such issues as profit sharing. There has been nothing to share. Workers agreed to a seven-year contract due to expire in 2006 but agreed to move negotiations up a year. Talks were under way recently. "Our wages have been frozen since 1999. Right now, benefits aren't a big issue with us, but wages and pretty much everything else in the contract is at issue."
Now, Lindsay and others say, a new realization is setting in. In the relationship between mill, town and river, everybody had assumed the mill would always be there. Now nobody does.
It is a mournful sound, haunting like the lonesome wail of a steam locomotive. Lozyniak cocks an ear toward it in his upstairs office of the two-story headquarters of Blue Ridge on Main Street. "The noon whistle," he explains. "We stopped blowing it once, and everybody in town complained." No one can forget that, as Smathers says, "this is a town that works." In Canton, the steam whistle is a clear link to the past. But the mill's future — and those of the town and river — is anything but clear.
Since 2000, Blue Ridge has boosted productivity even without new equipment. It shipped 521,000 tons of paper and packaging in 2002 and 552,000 tons in 2004. "We probably will ship 7% more this year with 20% fewer people," says Lozyniak, 43, whom KPS hired in 1999 as Blue Ridge's chief financial officer. He was promoted to CEO in 2003. But consumers and competition — maybe nature, too, with predictions of an unusually active 2005 hurricane season — seem aligned against Blue Ridge.
A postal rate increase is expected next year, which means fewer letters and other items will be mailed. So do Internet advertising and paying bills online. Imported paper and slower economic growth will hurt domestic producers through 2007, says Richard Skidmore, a Goldman Sachs analyst who follows the industry. Plastic containers continue to cut into Blue Ridge's specialty — cartons.
"Our prices today are about the same as in 2000, but our health-care bill is $15 million higher, our energy bill is $14 million higher, and our cooking-chemical bill is $7 million higher," Lozyniak says. "Add it up, and our [total] costs are up about $60 million. If everything were the same, we'd be doing great." Blue Ridge has lost $73 million since the buyout, squeezing out a profit for the first time — a paper-thin $717,000 on sales of $128 million — in this year's first quarter.
Union officials say KPS controls all major decisions affecting the mill but is likely to try to sell its stake in the company to the public or employees next year. David Shapiro, a managing partner, declined to comment on the firm's exit strategy. "They strictly control everything, and they're getting out," Lindsay says. "They made no bones about that from the start. They're not in it for the long term."
Even the river adds an element of uncertainty. Blue Ridge's license to dump treated waste into the Pigeon must be renewed this year, and some critics say they'll challenge it. One issue is the technology that Blue Ridge uses to burn pollutants it removes from the river. "Now they are sending them east by air over North Carolina, instead of west to Tennessee by water," says Louis Zeller, campaign coordinator for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense Fund, a coalition of organizations in the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia.
Smathers and some others here are beginning to think the once unthinkable: Will the day come when the plant no longer figures in the trinity of town, mill and river? "We'd be foolish not to make other plans," the mayor says. Five years ago, Canton adopted a plan that calls for manufacturing — Blue Ridge specifically — to be a bulwark of the local economy.
On the outskirts of town is Haywood County's 100-acre industrial park, but its three tenants employ only about 150 people. The mayor also mentions plans for a motor-sports park and talks about leveraging the town's location as a tourist destination. But right now, as it has for nearly a century, what breathes vitality into Canton can be heard above the gurgle of the river that is its lifeblood. In the distance, the mill sighs the constant muffled-bass rumble of heavy industry.
Lozyniak recalls the day, about a month after the floods of September shut it down, when he ordered workers to refire its boilers. As the moribund mill came alive, the first billows of steam rose from its stack. "You know, it was like watching the Vatican when they select a pope


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Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm all about promoting my hometown of Orvieto, so I'm absolutely thrilled to repost the following article published today in the The Local Italy! A Rome-based, independent daily reporting/news service, The Local Italy offers English speakers a window on life in the bel paese. The Local is one of the largest English-language news networks in Europe with more than four million readers every month.
If you'd like to be part of the Local Italy's community and received daily updates, sign up for their newsletter – you can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks to the Editor and staff of the Local for passing the word about our little slice of heaven on a hill! – Toni
An Italian hilltop gem: why you must visit magical Orvieto
Published: 08 Jun 2016 07:00 GMT+02:00
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With its rich history – it was an Etruscan stronghold – narrow streets, inspiring views, abundance of places to eat and drink, and friendly locals, Orvieto is definitely one to add to your Italy travel list.
DeBella, a freelance writer, gives us the inside take on what to do, where to stay and, most importantly, where to eat and drink:
Because I live in Orvieto and write a blog named after my obsession with this town, people often ask me to recommend things to do and see on their visits here. In an effort to avoid duplicating my efforts, I began compiling a list – a sort of "The Best of Orvieto" – that I could easily pass along to others.
Photo: Stephen Bugno
It's not a complete and comprehensive list, but rather a collection of my own personal favourites: Things to see, do, places to stay, where to eat, drink and how to explore.
The beauty of all this information is you're able to tailor your itinerary to match your time constraints and interests. For instance, if you find yourself only in town for the afternoon, I suggest you go straight to the "must sees", stopping for a quick bite at a bar, café or gelateria.
If you're staying for the entire weekend, you'll have a lot more time to enjoy the region's famous wines and cuisine. Languishing for a week or more? Take a morning hike around the Anello della Rupe or sign up for an Italian language course. No matter the duration of your stay, I've designed this guide in the hope that it will help you to get the most out of your time in Orvieto.
Photo: The Local Italy
Getting here…
Orvieto is located almost smack-bang in the centre of Italy, in the region of Umbria. It sits alongside the Autostrada A-1 (the spinal cord of the country's highway system connecting Milan and Naples), so it's easily accessible by car or train (it's on the regional train line between Rome Termini station and Florence's Santa Maria Novella).
If arriving by train…
From outside Orvieto's train station take the funicolare (funicular rail car) that runs every 10 minutes up to town. From Piazza Cahen take the picturesque 15-minute stroll up the Corso Cavour to the historical center or hop on the bus that drops visitors off at the Duomo or Piazza della Repubblica.
If arriving by car…
There are several parking lots in town, but the easiest to access is the Forum Boario, a carpark on the western end of the town, accessible from the Strada della Stazione to Via delle Conce. The covered garage charges a fee of € 1.50 per hour and has an escalator (scala mobile) or elevator (ascensore) up to town.
Photo: Gerdy Ling
Duomo di Orvieto: This 14th century Roman Catholic cathedral is one of the most spectacular and important in Italy. Its Capello di Madonna di San Brizio contains Luca Signorelli's (c. 1445 –1523) Last Judgment, considered by many to be his masterpiece.
Orvieto Underground: This tour leads you through an utterly fascinating subterranean network of medieval caves, tunnels and Etruscan wells.
Torre del Moro
Photo: Toni DeBella
The 13th century clock tower chimes on the hour, half and quarter hours, so you'll never need a wristwatch. Climb the 270 stairs to the top for a bird's eye view of Orvieto's terracotta rooftops and surrounding countryside.
Pozzo di San Patrizio (St. Patrick's Well)
Photo: Emilio Pocaro
Dating back to 1537, the largest of the town's subterranean wells measures 62-metres-deep and has two spiral staircases, one for descending and one for ascending, that provided residents essential access to the water source at its base.
Crocifisso del Tufo Etruscan Necropolis (Etruscan Tombs): One of only two Etruscan necropolises in Umbria, it dates back to the mid-sixth century B.C. and is an enlightening example of the engineering superiority of this ancient but highly advanced civilization.
Where to stay…
****Hotel Piccolomini, Piazza Ranieri, 36; Email: firstname.lastname@example.com; Tel: (+39) 0763 341743; Website: http://www.palazzopiccolomini.it/en/
***Albergo Filippeschi, Via Filippeschi, 19; Email: email@example.com; Tel: (+39) 0763.343275; Website: http://www.albergofilippeschi.it
B&B Ripa Medici, Vicolo Ripa Medici, 14; Email: firstname.lastname@example.com; Tel: (+39) 0763 341343; Website: http://www.ripamedici.it/IndexEng.html
B&B Sant'Angelo, Via Sant'Angelo, 42; Email: firstname.lastname@example.com; Tel: (+39) 0763 341959; Website: http://www.bborvieto.com/
B&B La Piazzetta, Via Angelo da Orvieto, 10; Email: email@example.com; Website: http://www.lapiazzettaorvieto.it/indexeng.html
B&B Casa Vera, Vicolo Albani, 8; Email: email@example.com; Tel: (+39) 349.430.0167 – (+39) 347. 811.9725; Website: http://www.casaveraorvieto.it/en/
B&B Magnolia, Via del Duomo, 29; Email: email@example.com; Tel: (+39) 0763.342808 – (+39) 349.462.0733; Website: http://www.bblamagnolia.it/?lang=en
Where to eat…
Photo: Mike Cross
Trattoria La Palomba. La Palomba is a typical Umbrian trattoria with a strong local following that never disappoints. Mention "Silvia" recommended it (an inside joke). Via Cipriano Menente, 16; Tel: 0763 343395 (Closed Wednesdays)
Trattoria Del Moro Aronne. Christian and his family serve food and wine that are out-of-this-world without sending your wallet into orbit. Via San Leonardo, 7; Tel: 0763 342763 (Closed Tuesdays)
Ristorante Capitano del Popolo. Located on the famous square of Piazza del Popolo – once the hotbed of Medieval Orvieto's civic government (and now the setting for the town's biweekly, open-air market) – Chef Valentina Santanicchio proudly sources her produce, literally, at her doorstep. When it comes to 'eating well' in Orvieto, Capitano del Popolo keeps both your taste buds and your good health in mind. Ristorante Capitano del Popolo, Piazza del Popolo 7/8/9; Tel 320 9287474; Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/capitanodelpopolo/?fref=ts
Bistrotters. Opened in the winter of 2015, this trendy, not-your-average-trattoria-style restaurant has become one of my favorite haunts for dining or enjoying cocktails on their expansive outdoor covered patio (they have heaters in the wintertime). Located on the piazza opposite the Church of San Giuseppe, halfway between the Torre del Moro and the Duomo, it's close to everything, but also a world away.
Piazza Gualterio, 2, Orvieto; Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Tel: (+39) 0763.343978; Website:http://www.bistrotters.it/en/bistrotters-orvieto/(Open everday for lunch and dinner)
Pizzeria Charlie. The Poggi family is passionate about pizza and beer. Their beautiful outdoor courtyard is an excellent spot for dining in warmer weather. Via Loggia dei Mercanti, 14; Email: email@example.com; Tel: 0763.344766; Website:http://www.pizzeriacharlieorvieto.it (Closed Tuesdays)
Gelateria Pasqualetti. Made with only the freshest ingredients and natural flavours, it's considered one of the top gelaterie in the country. Note: Their coffee-flavoured gelato recently won an award in an International ice cream competition. Corso Cavour, 56; Tel: (+39) 329 837 6959
Il Vincaffe. A wonderful enoteca with an outstanding selection of regional wines, it's a great place to meet friends for an aperitif or to enjoy a light dinner. Via Filippeschi, 39; Email: firstname.lastname@example.com; Tel: (+39) 0763 340099; Website:http://www.ilvincaffe.it (Closed Mondays)
FEBO – Officina del Gusto.
Coffee at FEBO. Photo: The Local Italy
This cute and cozy spot has a café upstairs that serves lunch and dinner. I go there so often in the mornings that I no longer need to bother ordering. I just sit down and my caffe latte arrives at my table – perfect as always! Ah, to be a local. Via G. Michelangeli 7; Email: email@example.com; Tel: 0763 341057; Website:http://www.officinafebo.it/
Blue Bar. During the winter of 2008/2009, this was my living room. Owners Romina and Anthony's little bar is a favourite of the 'young crowd' (and those of us who want to sit in their quiet salon and work on their computers without being glared at). The most recent addition to the Blue Bar family…their son, Leonardo! Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 23 (Closed Sundays)
Caffe Cavour. To say this bar is 'family-owned and operated' would be an understatement. Roberto, his wife Luigia and their sons Simone and Giacomo work this brightly lit, warm-welcoming bar like it was part of their home. Offering outdoor seating on "The Corso" in warmer months (located just down from the intersection of Corso Cavour and Via del Duomo) and in a back room all-year-round, they not only serve coffee drinks and cocktails, but light meals and a great aperitivo as well! Corso Cavour 74; Tel 340 644 9360; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Caffè-Cavour-1475679886059292/?fref=ts
Caffe ClanDestino. Right on the main street, you can sit at bistro tables underneath umbrellas for prime people watching. Corso Cavour 40; Email: email@example.com; Tel: 0763 340868
Festivals and special events
Natale in Orvieto. Holiday time is my favourite season in Orvieto. There are free pop-up concerts galore and white lights strung on practically every street and lane. Magical.
Umbria Jazz Winter. One of the most important jazz festivals in the world, it takes place annually in late December to early January.
Corpus Domini. The Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena in 1263 prompted the construction ofOrvieto's Duomo and established the Feast of Corpus Domini. Each summer the city commemorates the feast with a procession of over 400 costumes representing the municipal courts of the time, coats of arms, colored flags, armor, weapons, and helmets signifying Orvieto's military strength of that era.
Slowing it down
Orvieto has such a rich history – once Etruscan, then Medieval and now a vibrant, modern small city always buzzing with excitement, art, culture, music, food and wine. But it also offers a slower, peaceful pace that makes visitors feel as though they've stepped back in time…if only for a little while.
Toni DeBella is a freelance writer living in Orvieto. Her blog, Orvieto or Bust, is a collection of stories of a life in Italy.

subset: commoncrawl


text: 2PM debuted in 2008 under JYP Entertainment. Other groups debuting that year included sister group 2AM, and Davichi, SHINee, and U-KISS. A sub-group of One Day (made up of 2AM and 2PM), 2PM debuted with seven members: Park Jae Beom (Jaebeom), Kim Jun Su (Junsu), Nichkhun Horvejkul (Nichkhun), Ok Taec Yeon (Taecyeon), Jang Woo Young (Wooyoung), Lee Jun Ho (Junho), and Hwang Chan Sung (Chansung). The group is known for their athletic choreography and for breaking away from the modern boy-band "flower boy" (kkotminam) image. . . . Click here to continue reading on KPOPIANA.


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I've been away for most of this weekend so have only now had a chance to write about Saturday's final between Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova which was yet another absorbing match at this year's Australian Open. In my opinion, it has been a terrific Slam. The week began with a surprising lack of chaos. It was rather refreshing as it meant the draw held up for the most part and produced some blockbuster match-ups for the later rounds which delivered some memorable matches. The tournament had a bit of everything as there were still some seismic upsets during the middle of the tournament and unexpected players breaking new ground at a Slam. Maintaining the recent trend, 23 of the last 25 Slams have now produced a first time Slam semi-finalist.
Back to Saturday's final where it was Naomi Osaka who made it back-to-back Slam titles with a 7-6(2) 5-7 6-4 victory over Petra Kvitova in two hours and 27 minutes. It was a good final with flashes of stunning quality, clutch play and a fair share of twists and turns.
The first set, which was decided on the tiebreak, featured no breaks of serve. Both players had their opportunities to seal the elusive break, notably Kvitova, who missed five break points throughout the set including a 0-40 opening. Kvitova had some chances on Osaka second serves but was unable to execute. Kvitova then saved set points to hold on for the tiebreak with some gutsy one-two punches. While opportunities were missed, both players were clutch in defending their serves. In the tiebreak, Kvitova surprisingly backed off as Osaka, who hit four clean winners, claimed the opener.
Kvitova managed to score the first break of the match early on in the second set. However, she was unable to consolidate it with a few missed chances at 2-0. Like a London buses… after 13 consecutive service holds, the pair traded breaks of serve. This proved to be a crucial game as Osaka roared back into contention, winning four straight games. I thought Kvitova began to look a little fatigued as she repeatedly produced errors. The standard of the second set didn't meet the lofty heights of the first. Osaka though was the more solid player and repeatedly managed to claw her way out of games when Kvitova seemed to have the upper hand.
Osaka chalked up three championship points on Kvitova's serve, leading 5-3 in the second set. Kvitova managed to save them all with impressive resolve, crucially finding a first serve on all three. Osaka even racquet clapped Kvitova on one of the points. I wonder if the Japanese player relaxed for a moment. From there on in the second set, Osaka notably tightened and lost her way. The Japanese player was unable to serve out the set and was then broken to love on a double fault as Kvitova pojded her way into a third set.
Osaka ended a run of five straight games to Kvitova to level up at one game all in the decider. It was an important game and Osaka settled down from there on. Osaka said in her press conference that she had to turn off her feelings. I'm astonished that she was successfully able to do this in such a high-pressure environment and it really is a mark of her champion-like qualities. Osaka's forehand was increasingly decisive in the decider, more so than Kvitova, and she scored what proved to be the crucial break of the third set in the next game. Osaka was continually tested in the third set as she faced a couple of similar situations to the second set. This time around, she was mentally defiant and passed each challenge with flying colours.
- Osaka faced a break point at *3-2 *30-40. While noticeably rushing, Osaka still conjured up two first serves, the latter an ace, and then won the game with a lethal forehand winner.
- Osaka carved out a 0-40 opening in Kvitova's next service game, leading 4-2. Once again, Kvitova landed first serves on the break points and played an absolute blinder to hold. This time, Osaka retaliated with a love service hold of her own.
- Kvitova forced Osaka to serve out the title again at *5-4 and she did so with aplomb, to 15.
Osaka ascends to world number one which is staggering considering she was ranked at number 72 this time last year. Her resilience and ability to reset in the third set after missing championship points was pretty amazing. I don't think there are many players on tour who would have been able to put that disappointment behind them to come back like that. Naomi is special.
My personal feelings of who I wanted to win the match were like a seesaw. I went in as Team Petra. When Naomi failed to serve out the match, I was then torn because I would have felt terrible for Naomi to have lost from championship points up. When Naomi rediscovered her form in the third set, I was back on team Petra. I was constantly rooting for the underdog 🤣.
I'm sad for Petra but it was still a great tournament and her first Slam final away from Wimbledon. I adore her fighting spirit. I hope this result will positively impact on her mindset at future Slams. I hope she can have another deep run at Wimbledon in the future. I just about held it together during her speech! I'm glad Naomi managed to get through hers – you could see how nervous she was.
All in all, a very enjoyable Australian Open. Normally I'm relieved at the end of the Australian swing as my sleep patterns are a mess but I actually feel a bit sad it's over. After a shaky start where I woke up at 4am on the first day, it's not been too bad! The Eurosport Player has been fantastic for catching up at normal hours and I feel like I've managed to watch back all the best matches of the tournament.
The tennis now moves onto St.Petersburg and Hua Hin, the former with a sensational draw. I doubt I'll be blogging much over the next few weeks although I hope to watch some tennis. I'm gearing up for the big move as I am moving to my new house in two weeks time. There will be a lot of packing, cleaning and clearing out all my clutter!
Thanks for all the comments – it's been a fun one! 🙂


text: 1 Fightlings out in DACH on July 18th! Jun 21st 2017, 12:22pm It's official: Fightlings will be out in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on July 18th! Be sure to follow us for news and updates: Newsletter: fightlings.com/subscribe/ Facebook: facebook.com/fightlings Twitter: twitter.com/fightlings ...and of course right here on the forum. : : F I G H T L I N G S : : website :: facebook :: twitter :: instagram


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I'm a firm beliver in eating your own dogfood. As I'm putting together "Castles on the Hills, Dungeons beneath" and I was feeling the white page syndrome, I decided to prototype MONDOTRON, an incomplete campaign Points Of Interest generator to kickstart writing on CotHDB: toss dice in, shake, get dungeons, settlements, weird and secret stuff out. Creatures would come out of MOSTROTRON, the AFG creature generator (you can find something similar but with a simpler structure here).
Two approaches seemed obvious: one more simple, teleological and user-oriented and one more simulationist. After jotting down a number of deciding factors to be used for the simulationist approach I decided to ignore them (for now) and go forward with the simple "table with of possible results". MONDOTRON is going to be a stopgap solution: I need a usable setting generator soon rather than a perfect one later.
The simplest approach is to, for each hex or node in your map (maybe generated with Hexographer), do the following:
- come up with a name, possibly based on the geographical features.
- use a table to determine if monsters, treasures and
trapsenvironmental hazards are present.
- place monters, treasure and
trapsenvironmental hazards appropriate to the location. If the roomlocation is empty, add an interesting and visible landmark or a special thing (ruins and standing stones are always a decent option), if the treasure is unguarded it might be buried, monsters might be in a dungeon and so on.
So, yes, this approach works. Can be improved on but it's solid.
On the other side bringing a pickaxe in a dungeon might allow patient adventurers to loudly dig themselves and treasure out of trouble. It's been done and it works.
A more sophisticated approach is to have a table with expected results, like this one:
- Dungeon: underground complex. You might be familiar with the concept.
- Special place: hot springs, standing stones, an extremely deep crevice. Players' interest should be piqued.
- Hidden place: an hideout, a crypt, a buried treasure, you get it. The location must not only be remote but also purposely hidden.
- Outpost: small, single settlement, like a farm, an hunters' lodge or a fort
- Village: a bigger settlement. Towns and cities should be extremely rare as they need extensive food supplies, which means miles of fields around them and security from monsters.
- Nothing special.
So for each hex you roll on the above table and then on the relative subtables. If you want to have a more mundane setting roll a dice bigger than a d6. You can also throw in modifiers depending on the location and its surrounding. This is the solution used for MONDOTRON. Sure it has a number of shortcomings: distribution of content can be far from perfect (but of course improvable), and a random approach leaves you hostage to luck. Also it doesn't usually produce extremely interesting results because of its structure: the goodness of the result is on a first instance due to the single entries and not by their interaction.
It has of course a lot of plus sides: first, it's really easy to write and to use. Second, leaning on any simple generator takes away hard choices but allows the author to take over when the creative cogs start cranking.
Also, it rides intuitive continuity toward the weird fantasy and pulpy end of the spectrum, possibly forcing a more heavy-handed approach to justifications to incongruence resolution. Intuitive continuity tells us that such incongruences are in some way justified, and can be roughly classified in one of the following classes:
- No interaction. the first, simplest case is that the two entities do not interact meaningfully. Mostly non-changing.
- Unbalanced interaction. This class of interaction has uneven tensions. The situation is therefore dynamic, change happening or about to happen. This part of the scenario is already evolving and will reach its natural conclusion unless meddled with, conclusions that will have consequences. Players should feel empowered not only to cause change through action, but also through deliberate inaction.
- Balanced interaction. The third case is that the interaction is somehow beneficial for or tolerated by both sides. The tension must be balanced by another tension: this tension can be either internal (like a deal between a city and a warlord) or external (such as parents stopping brothers from beating the heck out of each other). The tensions will mostly counter each other and bring a non-evolving status quo, but might as well result in a new tension toward another element in the scenario. The resulting tension might end up destabilizing the whole: the example is a city paying some kind of tribute to a warlord and, as the lord makes new enemies, the city will suffer from their hostility too, in turn causing problems with the warlord and going back in due time to an unbalanced interaction.
All three lead to adventure scenarios but timing and opportunities are much different. Players can decide to intervene in all three scenarios, by either:
- for the first class, forcing interaction between the parties.
- for the second and third class, removing interaction or its causes, for example by blockading traffic between the city and the Warlord.
- for all cases, acting in favour or against one of the parties, or as a new separate party, thus either stabilizing or destabilizing the situation.
Now, a number of factions, people and circumstances might lead adventurers to do some of the above. I'm pretty sure you can came up with these on your own.


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About Bedford
Bedford is a city located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, in the "Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth. The population was 46,979 at the 2010 census. Bedford is part of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District. == Geography == Bedford is located at 32°50′48″N 97°8′23″W (32.846790, –97.139630).According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.0 square miles (26 km2), of which 0.10% is water. Neighboring cities include Hurst and Euless. Prominent highways include State Highway 121 and State Highway 183, also known as Airport Freeway (a reference to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, so called because this was the main thoroughfare to the airport in the early years of its history). == Demographics == === 2020 census === As of the 2020 United States census, there were 49,928 people, 20,089 households, and 12,431 families residing in the city. === 2000 census === As of the census of 2000, there were 47,152 people, 20,251 households, and 12,515 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,713.6 people per square mile (1,820.5/km2).
Neighborhoods around BedfordBedford, Walmart Neighborhood Market, Brook Hollow Park, Viridian, Bedford Boys Ranch Lake, Village of Oak Park, Dewey Tennant Park, bedford square, Parc Place Retirement Community, Parkwood Independent Living, Bedford Trails Linear Park, Central Wash-N-Dry, Stormie Jones Park, North Richland Hills Neighborhood Services, 6 Stones, Bedford City Hall, Compass Wilderness, The Laundry Room, La Bonita Wash & Dry, Bedford Bark Park,
Things To Do in Bedford
Moxley Manor Haunted House
Quarter Lounge Arcade
Sparger Park
Bedford Boys Ranch Lake
Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park
Drengr Axe Throwing
iFLY Indoor Skydiving - Fort Worth
Brook Hollow Park
Bedford Bark Park
Mayfair Park
Adventure World Playground
Grapevine Vintage Railroad
SeaQuest Fort Worth
NRH2O Family Water Park
WhirlyBall LaserWhirld of HEB
Musical Pocket Playground
River Legacy Nature Center
Crystal Canyon Natural Area
Silver Dollar Winery


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even though i don't miss the winters in the northeast, or winter in general for that matter, i did enjoy the variety of weather that seems to roll in and out of new york. particularly, the evening rain. there's something about a late night drizzle… it seems calming to me.
as i was looking through old fotos of my days living in new york, i came across a fun memory of a time when some visitors came to town and i helped them squeeze in as many "tourist attractions" as possible, since they were only there for two days. it made me feel pretty cool when they asked for suggestions. maybe because it made me realize that i had been in the city long enough to not only know my way around, but to be somewhat of a tour-guide.
one of my favourite places to visit and view the city was the empire state building. being able to experience the city from that perspective is something to behold. i only visited the empire state building twice during my time living in nyc, and both times were memorable and exciting. this particular night was memorable because it was very cold, and very wet. it was one of those kinds of rain that was almost like a mist, making the visibility low and the mood high.
when my friends and i decided to go to the top of the empire state building, we didn't realize that the very very top would be closed off due to wind and the aforementioned low-visibility. my friends didn't care, and neither did i. by the time we decided to make our way to the destination, we had already been wandering the city for a good hour, sans umbrella… and it didn't seem to bother any of us. besides, a huge part of the experience was being together – and for me, seeing the excitement on their faces, and living vicariously through their enjoyment. furthermore, the line was much shorter and there were fewer people on the tour… so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
because of the rain, i found myself taking less fotos and spending more time reveling in and soaking up the moment… and doing my best to keep warm!
if i close my eyes, i can whisk myself away to some of those moments, and revisit and remember the experience so richly.
did i mention that these friends of mine are like the empire state building… in that, they are very very tall?!{especially standing next to me – haha!} 😉


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2008 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac, Bordeaux
Buying options
Pichon-Lalande's 2008 is, in our opinion, the chateau's best wine since 2002. With big, soft tannins, good fruit concentration, lots of oaky spice and a juicy, fruity finish, this displays classic Lalande elegance with the rounded, plump, fleshy fruit of the vintage. Not quite as majestic as next-door neighbour Latour's 2008 perhaps, but this is very fine nonetheless.
wine at a glance
Delivery and quality guarantee
Critics reviews
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 02/05/2011
Jancis Robinson - jancisrobinson.com - Apr-2009
James Suckling - Wine Spectator - Apr-2009
The 2008 Pichon Lalande's final blend was 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Only 38% of the crop made it into the grand vin, and the result is a wine that blows away the 2005. Terrific texture and opulence, forward fruit, sweet tannin, and a lush personality are found in this dense purple-colored 2008 along with copious quantities of sweet berries, roasted coffee, underbrush, black currant, and black cherry fruit. Sensationally pure, textured, and full-bodied, this will be a flamboyant, showy offering in its youth, but it is capable of lasting 20-30 years.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate - Apr-2009
About this WINE
Chateau Pichon Lalande
Château Pichon-Longueville Lalande is one of the most important Super Seconds and this 2ème Cru Classé Pauillac estate has made tremendous strides in the last 20 years. This is largely due to the energy, drive and ambition of May-Eliane de Lenquesaing, who took over the property in 1978.
Pichon-Longueville Lalande is a 75-hectare property that produces on average 36,000 cases per year. Located in the east of the Pauillac appellation, the vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 45%, Merlot 35%, Cabernet Franc 12%, Petit Verdot 8%) lie on deep gravel beds underpinned by clay and then sandstone and limestone (part of these vineyards actually reside in the St-Julien appellation). The wine is fermented in stainless steel cuvées and then matured in oak barriques (50% new) for 18 months.
Pichon-Longueville Lalande is not as powerful or as tannic as some its Pauillac neighbours and this is mainly because of its relatively high Merlot content. In the best years, it is one of the most exotic and voluptuously scented wines of the Médoc. At least a decade of cellaring is required before the wines should be approached.
Pauillac is the aristocrat of the Médoc boasting boasting 75 percent of the region's First Growths and with Grand Cru Classés representing 84 percent of Pauillac's production.
For a small town, surrounded by so many familiar and regal names, Pauillac imparts a slightly seedy impression. There are no grand hotels or restaurants – with the honourable exception of the establishments owned by Jean-Michel Cazes – rather a small port and yacht harbour, and a dominant petrochemical plant.
Yet outside the town, , there is arguably the greatest concentration of fabulous vineyards throughout all Bordeaux, including three of the five First Growths. Bordering St Estèphe to the north and St Julien to the south, Pauillac has fine, deep gravel soils with important iron and marl deposits, and a subtle, softly-rolling landscape, cut by a series of small streams running into the Gironde. The vineyards are located on two gravel-rich plateaux, one to the northwest of the town of Pauillac and the other to the south, with the vines reaching a greater depth than anywhere else in the Médoc.
Pauillac's first growths each have their own unique characteristics; Lafite Rothschild, tucked in the northern part of Pauillac on the St Estèphe border, produces Pauillac's most aromatically complex and subtly-flavoured wine. Mouton Rothschild's vineyards lie on a well-drained gravel ridge and - with its high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon - can produce (in its best years) Pauillac's most decadently rich, fleshy and exotic wine.
Latour, arguably Bordeaux's most consistent First Growth, is located in southern Pauillac next to St Julien. Its soil is gravel-rich with superb drainage, and Latour's vines penetrate as far as five metres into the soil. It produces perhaps the most long-lived wines of the Médoc.
Recommended Châteaux
Ch. Lafite-Rothschild, Ch. Latour, Ch. Mouton-Rothschild, Ch. Pichon-Longueville Baron, Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Ch. Lynch-Bages, Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Ch, Pontet-Canet, Les Forts de Latour, Ch. Haut-Batailley, Ch. Batailley, Ch. Haut-Bages Libéral.
Cab.Sauvignon Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.
In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.


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I participated in DLINQ's Crypto Party for Activists and Allies and learned a lot about Tor. Of course I'd heard of Tor beforehand, but I didn't know how it worked and I only associated it with criminal activity and spy stuff. Turns out it is also an important resource for reporters needing to communicate privately with sources and for activists who also need privacy and may need to thwart a home country's censorship of the internet. I prepared for the session I was part of by reading about Tor from the resources about web browsers we were given. After the Crypto party, some things were still a little, well, cryptic for me, so I wanted to learn even more. There's an hour long course on Linked In's Lynda.com that is very clear and explained Tor and encryption in more detail. The instructor is really good and explained it in plain English (with graphics) for the non-specialist. Here's the link for the Lynda course Learning Tor and the Dark Web (you'll need to login with your Midd credentials – we are subscribers).
If you want to know about the other topics from the Crypto party and see all of the resources that were provided, visit the Crypto Party page.


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Blue Jasmine [2013]
Directed by: Woody Allen
Written by: Woody Allen
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Dice Clay, Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg
Stunning beauty hadn't been so repulsive in a while.
Not since Charlize Theron tore through Mercury, Minnesota in Young Adult (2011), had I felt as guilty for wanting to sucker-punch a woman in the mouth.
Please note that I've never punched a woman, real or fictional, in the mouth or any other body part.
Every comment out of Jasmine French drips with unhealthy self-importance and disdain and her snide remarks will have you awkwardly laughing one minute and desperately cringing the next.
Cate Blanchett pours herself into the surprisingly unflattering role of Jasmine and is deservedly the one to beat for the 'Best Actress' Oscar. While it's one of the best displays of talent in film this year, it's also just the latest in a career characterized by splendid performance after splendid performance.
Jasmine would be nothing without a host of people to terrorize: Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavale, Peter Sarsgaard and Alden Ehrenreich are memorable as part of the supporting cast, while Sally Hawkins is a great match for Blanchett as the sister who lost the genetic lottery.
As impressive as Cate's bravura performance is, we wouldn't have her without the sharp mind of Woody Allen, back in the U.S. and redeeming himself after the disappointment that was To Rome With Love.
You won't be able to stand the drunken, pill-popping mess that is Jasmine, yet you won't be able to look away either.


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Last week, this post – first published in September of last year – spiked in my blog stats. It seemed a whole pile of people were reading it, but I couldn't figure out who or why, although the search term "effort" had a corresponding spike. Maybe now, at midterm, teachers and students are being hard hit by the reality of the reading and writing demands of college. Or maybe it's bots. Regardless, I like this post, and am still asking myself these questions: is college the best place for students who find reading and writing a chore? Is it a place where they can learn to love these activities, or at least see their value?
Yesterday, I told my college students that they need to read the next 150 pages of the novel we are studying, Life of Pi, over the next seven days. This is not news – they got a reading schedule on the first day of class, and were told to read ahead. Nevertheless, there was a collective gasp and more than a little laughter. A few moments later, during a close reading exercise, I asked them to talk about a passage with a group and come up with a point that they might focus on "if you had to write a couple hundred words about this piece." Around the room, students looked at each other with horrified amusement. A couple hundred words? About this? What does she think we are, writing machines? There were quiet snorts and groans, subtly and not-so-subtly rolled eyes.
It's early in the semester, and I still have reserves of patience that I won't have in a few weeks' time. By October, I may break down and say something like:
"If you're not sure you can read one hundred fifty pages of clear, simple prose in a week, or if you're not sure you can write two hundred words about a two-page passage, that's ok. It's not a problem if you don't know how to do it – you can learn. However, if you don't want to learn how to do these things – if you don't want to practice and get feedback and meet that challenge, and if you resent me for asking you to – then college is not the place for you."
The previous class, I'd asked students to interview each other about their reading habits, and write a paragraph about their partners' reading lives. A predictable number of students said that they don't like to read, never read for enjoyment, and last read a novel in the ninth grade, because it was required. (The number was predictable to me, that is – anyone who doesn't teach college might be astonished by the number of college students who have absolutely no interest in reading.)
I would like at some point to ask similar questions about writing, but they seem redundant – surely people who don't read also don't write? However, "writing" has become a much more complicated phenomenon in the age of digital communication, and many would argue that our students "write" all the time, although a middle-aged fuddy-duddy like me might be reluctant to call much of the texting, messaging and Facebook posting they do "writing," any more than I'd call a to-do list "writing." Maybe what I'm talking about is long-form writing: long emails in the spirit of "letters," diary entries that go on for pages and pages, poems and stories and even stabs at novels, blog posts.
A few weeks ago, an article appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education called "We Can't Teach Students to Love Reading." In it, Alan Jacobs explains that
"'deep attention' reading has always been and will always be a minority pursuit, a fact that has been obscured in the past half-century, especially in the United States, by the dramatic increase in the percentage of the population attending college, and by the idea (only about 150 years old) that modern literature in vernacular languages should be taught at the university level."
Jacobs points to the American GI bill, and the influx of soldiers into American universities after WWII. From then until now,
"far more people than ever before in human history were expected to read, understand, appreciate, and even enjoy books."
Once, only a tiny minority of people were expected to get a post-secondary education; now almost everybody is. However, it is still unreasonable to expect everyone to enjoy reading, even though a university education – at least a traditional one – is difficult to pursue if you don't.
Jacobs divides people into those who love reading, those who like reading, and those who don't. Universities, he says, are full of
"…often really smart people for whom the prospect of several hours attending to words on pages (pages of a single text) is not attractive. For lovers of books and reading, and especially for those of us who become teachers, this fact can be painful and frustrating."
Jacobs says this is genetic – such people are "mostly born and only a little made." A furor has arisen around this assertion – here's one post that takes it on – but I think he may in part be right. But if readers and writers are at least "a little made," what can teachers do to help make them?
According to Jacobs, maybe nothing.
"[The] idea that many teachers hold today, that one of the purposes of education is to teach students to love reading—or at least to appreciate and enjoy whole books—is largely alien to the history of education."
Now, I'm ok with the fact that a lot of people don't like reading and writing. I think they'd be better off if they did, but I also think I'd be better off if I liked playing team sports, going to parties full of strangers, and drinking wheatgrass. And I've written before about the wisdom or lack thereof of pushing your children to love writing. If it's possible for me to help my students like reading and writing more than they do, I'd love that – and I dedicate a lot of thought and time to this end. But if not – if many students will never like to read or write no matter what I do – I can accept this reality.
I do, however, want and expect my students to be willing to read and write. I want and expect them to see college as an opportunity to practice these activities, and to even be open to enjoying them. I know that teenagers are not usually "open" by any measure. Much of their energy goes into defining themselves as "this not that" – athlete, not reader; gamer, not writer. However, I'm irritated at the prospect of another semester of complaints about being expected to read a lot and write a lot in English class.
Are there things we can do to make our students willing, if not eager, to read and write? We can try to give them "books that interest them," but in an extremely diverse class of 42 students, coming up with books that will please everyone is not possible. We can give them choices about what they'll read and what they'll write about, but if reading and writing are themselves the problem, even making such choices can be difficult and frustrating. By the time they get to college, is it too late? Do I just have to grit my teeth and say, "I know you don't like it, but you're in college"? Or is it time to start asking less of them?
Jacob believes that we should ask, if not less, then at least different.
"Education is and should be primarily about intellectual navigation, about…skimming well, and reading carefully for information in order to upload content. Slow and patient reading, by contrast, properly belongs to our leisure hours."
If this is true, then there is no place for the study of literature at college, at least not as core curriculum for readers and non-readers alike. Can we extrapolate from this that there is no need for "deep writing" either? That asking students to write longer pieces – which is not to say two hundred words, which they would call long, but perhaps one-thousand-word essays – is asking too much of most, that the ability to do such a thing can only "arise from within," as Jacobs puts it, and cannot be explicitly taught to anyone?
I would argue that the skills of deep reading and deep writing can be taught to anyone. The caveat is that students must be, not necessarily enamoured of these activities, but simply willing to engage in them. They must open to the possibility that they may enjoy them more than they expect, but also to the possibility that they may not. They need to be prepared to keep stabbing away at them even if they find them difficult, boring or even infuriating, in the hope that they will get better, and with the faith that they will learn something.
Is this skill – openness, or gameness, even in the face of obstacles and possible failure – something that can be taught? Because if we can teach our students (and ourselves, for that matter) how to be willing, how to relish trying, then we will all truly be learners.
Go to Siobhan's Facebook page and hit "Like"! Follow Siobhan on Twitter! And if you'd like to know more about Siobhan's life and thoughts outside the classroom, follow her Tumblr blog.
Image by Peter Galbraith


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"Selling Jupiter & Surrounding Areas since 1987"
Camlet Copeland Realty
Welcome to Your Florida Paradise!
Choose from a great selection of single-family homes, town homes, villas or condos in our area. Prices are at a low we haven't seen in years, and it's a great time to invest in your future.
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Jupiter has some of the best schools in Palm Beach County, a great library, aquatic center and the Town of Jupiter activity center which are all open to the residents. We have the most green area and parks of any city our size in Florida. Its a great spot for families and retirees, located just 25 minutes to the Palm Beach Intl Airport, or 70-85 miles to F. Lauderdale or Miami and everything those areas have to offer.
Baseball fans enjoy the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals both train in the newer Abacoa area and Rodger Dean Stadium. We are also the home of the Jupiter Hammerheads minor league origination. Of course if fishing is an interest, our many waterways, the Loxahatchee River and the Atlantic Ocean offer the best of either deep sea or inland fishing for the many species of fish, lobster, crab and shellfish.
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The credit is a quick response to early adopters frustrated by dramatic iPhone price cuts announced just a day earlier.
After protests over its decision to cut the price of the iPhone by $200, Apple will give iPhone users a $100 store credit.
The company on Thursday posted an open letter from CEO Steve Jobs on its Web site defending the decision to cut the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, but acknowledging that Apple shouldn't have treated its early adopters in such a fashion. Jobs had announced the price cut just a day earlier at a San Francisco event at which the company unveiled a refresh of its iPod line, including the new iPod Touch.
"Even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price. Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these," Jobs wrote. Details on how to obtain the $100 store credit will be posted on Apple's Web site next week, he said.
An Apple representative said the $100 store credit will not apply to the iTunes Store. The store credit also does not apply to customers who are eligible for a rebate because they bought a $599 iPhone either 10 or 14 calendar days before Wednesday (10 days for online sales, 14 days for retail sales).
In the letter, Jobs echoed comments he made to reporters Wednesday that Apple wants to attract new customers this holiday season with more aggressive pricing. "It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone 'tent'. We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season," he wrote.
He also pointed out that this can be the way of life in the technology business. "If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon," Jobs wrote.
Apple doesn't often admit mistakes, and the letter was a forthright admission that the company didn't handle the price move correctly. "We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple," Jobs wrote.
How Apple could not have forseen the backlash, I'm not sure. But the move should go a long way to mollify some iPhone customers peeved by the steep drop, although a store credit isn't as good as money in hand. Still, those who were iPhone early adopters likely own a few other Apple products, and will want to update those in the future. Leopard's coming soon, after all.
Some Mac bloggers and users seemed satisfied with Apple's response to the iPhone flap. "I think it's clear that Apple was taken by surprise by the magnitude of the backlash regarding the price cut. They've responded quickly, humbly, and well, to avoid letting this issue spoil the good news from their impressive product releases yesterday," wrote John Gruber on his blog, Daring Fireball. Scott McNulty, on The Unofficial Apple Weblog, wrote "While I still think the reaction to the price reduction was way overblown, this is a great example of Apple listening to their customers and trying to make the situation right."
Others noted that Apple, so dependent on a core group of loyalists to help create buzz for its products, had little choice. "You just don't screw over your most ardent fans...always a bad plan. You may not pay for it intitially, but you will long-term," wrote poster TBaggins on AppleInsider's forums. Samir Bhavnani, an analyst with CurrentAnalysisWest, saw a savvy business move in offering a store credit instead of a refund. "They'll get new traffic to the site and stores, and almost everything costs more than $100 in any case, so customers will be spending even more of their dollars with Apple," he wrote in an e-mail.
But on our own TalkBack section, Jake Kushner, president of JK Media, said that Apple's response doesn't go far enough to satisfy those who bought a 4GB iPhone for $499, only to see the 8GB model become $100 cheaper. "I feel wronged and misled by Apple. Such a quick price reduction indicates that Apple pre-meditated this reduction before the initial release. I read your public response on apple.com to this issue, but I still feel that the solution you are offering is not adequate," Kushner wrote, calling for Apple to offer a free upgrade to a 8GB model to owners of the 4GB iPhone or a $200 rebate.
Some iPhone customers are reporting that they have received at least partial refunds from their local Apple stores. And some AT&T customers have said the same thing, as my colleague Maggie Reardon noted earlier today. It's difficult right now to tell what exactly is going on at individual stores around the country--we're trying to get more details about people who received at least some cash back.
Jobs pointedly did not address in the letter whether iPhone sales were living up to expectations, although he said Wednesday during Apple's iPod event that the company remains on track to hit its stated goal of shipping 1 million iPhones by the end of September.


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Realty Executives is one of the most closely followed brands in the world; featured in RIS Media's March 2011 magazine the company is poised to revolutionize the industry, once again, announcing major advances in marketing and technology with the newly introduced technology platform RE: Connect.
When it comes to real estate not all Realtors® or agencies are alike. We offer more complete and innovative marketing services than the "old fashioned" brokers do. We utilize state-of-the-art technology. Our marketing plan is specifically tailored to provide your home with the greatest degree of exposure to the market; bringing more buyers to your property.
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Laboratory Aids, Porcelain and Glass Buchner Funnels, Glass Separatory Funnels, Stainless Steel Funnels with Handles, Neoprene Filter Adapters
|A selection of porcelain, glass and stainless steel funnels for filtration, separation or general laboratory use.
The Porcelain Buchner Funnels are porcelain, glazed inside and out except for the rim.
The Glass Buchner Funnels are borosilicate glass for when filter paper and membranes cannot withstand the chemical attack of the filtrate.
The Separatory Funnels are made of Duran borosilicate glass, Squibb style pear shaped, have smooth tooled tips, large marking squares, and are provided with PTFE stopcocks to eliminate freezing and lubricant.
SF Series Separatory Funnels are available in case lots at attractive prices.
The Stainless Steel funnels with Handles are made of AISI 304 stainless steel.
Inquire about special sizing, glass color, or volume purchases.
Neoprene rubber adapter sets consist of seven cones designed to fit the Buchner and fritted glass funnels, porcelain filters without headpieces, and for reverse flow cleaning of filter crucibles. Especially useful for supporting funnels, Gooch crucibles or filter tubes in filtration assemblies. The adapter does not need to be fitted closely around the funnel stem to be functional. Can be used singly or nested with adjacent sizes. Eliminates boring of special size holes in rubber stoppers and difficulties of insertion and removal. Withstands autoclaving. Available as a set or in individual sizes.


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Exhibition highlights
Equipment for Rehabilitation and Aid Treatment: facility and instrument for the disabled of hearing, visual, intellect, body, breathing aids, treatment and measuring instruments, pressure sore prevention, puzzle, fitness equipment, etc
Prostheses and Orthoses: shaft technology; socket and custom-fitted components; control technology and sensors; cosmetic components, support bandages; splints; bodices; corsets; seat orthoses; 3D measuring equipment, orthopaedic footwear technology, Neck and Chest Brace,Elbow Brace,Air-permeable Lumbar Elastic Corset,Pediatric Bilateral Slider Hip Outreach brace,Hinged Hip Abduction Orthosis,Adjustable Jacket Brace
Special Instruments for Mobility: wheelchairs; vehicles; crutches; walking and support sticks; scooters; transfer lifts; walking aids, etc Appliance for Rehabilitation and Nursing: medical and healthcare instruments for Rehabilitation, nursing and training; exercise devices; health-keeping medicine, etc
Special Sanitary Equipment: bathing and toileting accessories incontinence aid and assist for the disable and elderly Special Bedroom Accessories: aided beds and seating accessories; special dining instruments, etc
Barrier-free Facilities: household sets (kitchen, bathing, bedding, etc); Special Learning and Communicating Equipment; public infrastructures .
Nursing Care : testing instruments, mobile phone ,shoes clothing ,knitting supplies ,convenience products, nutrition and health food, anti-aging medicine ,massage and the other health products.
Recreation: game, champion, sports equipment Related Institutions and Organizations: institutions providing services ranging from financial management; traveling arrangement; legal consultation; medical treatment; relevant media, magazines and journals, etc.
About RAC2011
View previous newsletters.


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Tales From the Front: More responses to Kylie
Today I respond to Kylie. She's the woman who's having second thoughts about divorcing Matt.
They've been married for 15 years, and they have two children. Matt is an alcoholic who screams at Kylie and their children in his drunken rages. He's cheated on her and belittled her.
One day, after Matt swore at her yet again, she told him she didn't want to be married anymore.
She said: "As I said this, I was handing him his lunch, so I really didn't mean it. I really wanted him to apologize. But that never happened."
Now she's wondering whether the whole thing is her fault.
She says: "I'm on an emotional roller coaster. I have days when I know this divorce is what's needed and days when I want everything to work out so we can be happy. I'm scared to death about what will happen. Maybe living like that was better than being alone."
Dear Kylie: There's no one who contemplates divorce who isn't scared. It's normal to fear that you're going into a situation that's even worse than the one you're in. It's even natural to try to pretend the situation isn't that bad so you don't have to deal with it. That's what you're doing when you say you want things to work "so we can be happy."
Be honest with yourself. You can never be happy with this man. If you stay with him, you will only become more and more miserable as he becomes more and more abusive.
Yes, change is hard. And change after 15 years of marriage and two children is very hard. But that doesn't mean you can avoid it. Your marriage is beyond repair, and you have to end it no matter how scared you are.
As so many readers have written, you owe it to your children to get out. You're teaching your daughters to be victims and to accept abuse as a normal part of marriage. You're teaching your sons to be abusers and to express their emotions through bullying and intimidating, and that's just a short step to punching and beating.
Before you do anything else, you need to get into therapy. You need to know why you've accepted this treatment for so long. You need to know how you can build up your self-esteem so you don't fall victim to another abuser. You need someone who can help you write a new script for the next half of your life. Look into working one-on-one with a therapist and also into groups like Al-Anon.
When you're ready, find yourself a good lawyer to protect your rights and those of your children. Don't go anywhere near the lawyers your husband has suggested! Get recommendations from friends.
I'm a big advocate of faking it till you make it. Pretend to be a strong, independent woman even if you feel weak and powerless. What would that woman do if she were in your shoes? Put on her attitude in the morning along with your clothes and your makeup. It helps.
I wish you good luck, and so do the many readers who have written. Please move forward and stay in touch.
— Got a problem? Send it, along with your questions and rants to email@example.com. And check out my e-book, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front."


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Overweight (
Blue October
Ever carried the weight of another? For how long? I walk as far as they need to recover For how long? (ha!) I want to carry a piece of who I was before So when I hit the wall, I really hit the wall I want to tear away the death again A whiter shade of fucking meth again I want to stick to clues, I want to come unglued I want to shape the world to fit the way you move Oh, should I listen for a dress size? I owned up, I've grown up, do you remember me? I showed up and so what if I'm the used to be I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry I was sorry But I'm happy that you're happiness is no longer about me Trade rules, switch sides for your beautiful eyes Let him be you through your beautiful cries Let him hold you up so you can touch affordable skies Live your life just like a dream Without the pain of goodbyes Goodbye! Ever carried the weight of another? For how long? I walk as far as they need to recover For how long? I been a drunk disrespectful little street punk Unlock the back of my trunk You see, you take this bat And bash my head into the street again No-ones around so I keep beating it Pull my hair back, look me in the eye There's a self-destructive meaning in the bleeding of a guy It's the guilt of what reality has given me Making sense of all mistakes and my stupidity And when you're sick you seem to think You've failed eternally And that the people you let in are only crumbling When you're sick of thinking life in this recovery When my decision paved the road That lies in front of me So to my friends that even call but I don't call back I want you deep inside my heart upon a hill It seems to hide sometimes and run away and wonder I'm really sick of saying sorry but I will Ever carried the weight of another? For how long? I walk as far as they need to recover For how long? But are we scared to take the ride? Or dare to look inside? I'm floating far away (far away) I'm floating far away (leaving home) I'm floating far away (so far away) I'm floating far away I want to learn to walk with others as an equal I want to treat the ones who love me with respect I want to tell the world I'll give them all a piggyback And try to take away my negative effect I want to kiss the girl, I know I'll never lie again I want to call my dad and tell him that I care I want to let my brother know He saved my life a thousand times Throughout the years he's been my friend Who's always there Ever carried the weight of another? For how long?
Blue October
© Zpěvník s akordy 2004–2023


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Tagged: one-year anniversary
Happy Birthday, Unfinished Business!!
Looking back over the last year, a lot when on in my life. I learned many lessons, made many friends, and had a lot of fun experiences. This past year has really been a blessing. God has been so good!
Today is a big day in the life of
my blog, as it's the one year anniversary of Unfinished Business. It's unbelievable that it's been a year! I've had so much fun blogging here, and the time has gone by so fast.
On June 23, 2008, my parents were talking about letting me get a blog. For a good part of the first few months of that season, I had been doing little write ups about the games. I had heard of MLBlogs, and when I showed it to my parents they gave me the go-ahead.
So, I created Unfinished Business: The San Diego Padres' 2008 Season. It was quite a mouthful! I wrote my first entry and got my first comment that day. My first entry was merely a few sentences, but it was a start. My next entry was, of course, defending Trevor Hoffman. Guess what? He blew a tied game the next night! Here I was, defending Trevor, saying that he wasn't washed up and still had it in him, and he goes and gets the loss.
I've been looking back over my blog for the last few weeks preparing for this entry. It is so cool to look back and see how much I've improved in my writing. It's pretty amazing. My first entries were very short. I didn't have a solid commenter's base like I do now. "Back then," I was pretty much just writing for myself. Now, I write good-length entries every day, and it's amazing how much better they are than they were!
When I first started, I couldn't touch type. I had tried for a long time to do the typing programs, but it just wasn't working. Now, I can touch type very well. Because I was forced to type a lot, I learned it easily. Finally being able to touch type is something I am very pleased to have accomplished.
It wasn't until the offseason that I started getting a lot of comments. It was very exciting for me to find a lot of comments on my blog every day. I started commenting more on other people's blogs, and that boost my readership a ton. For all you bloggers who keep getting told to comment and comment on other blogs, believe me, it really works.
After the season ended, I shortened the title to Unfinished Business. Over the offseason, I kept blogging, almost every day, and it seemed to go by a lot quicker. I also "met" a lot of great bloggers, and made a lot of great friends.
I joined MLBlogs because I love to write about baseball, but this place has also given me the chance to interact with baseball fans all over the world. I do not have any friends who I can really talk Padres with. Sure, I can talk to them about it, but they aren't die-hards like me. This place has been great for me to talk baseball.
"On your front page of Unfinished Business you reference Corinthians in your header. What significance does it represent to you having it there?
I'm a Christian. I have had problems with being too obsessed with the Padres, but that verse reminds me that sports aren't everything. Winning the big championships is one of the most important things in sports. But just look at the players who have won the World Series or the Superbowl. Everyone's super excited and happy for a while, but then it just fades away. Trophies collect dust. The fans turn to the next season, wondering what the team will do next. I really want the Padres to win the World Series someday, but I know I won't be happy for the rest of my life when they do. I'll always feel like there's something more. This verse also encourages me to look ahead, to see that I am living for a huge gift, the gift of eternal life. I'm living for a crown that will last forever! "
This was one of the questions in my Timeout (which I will mention later). I'm sure you've all seen the verse on the top of my blog, but you probably don't know the meaning. Well, I covered it pretty well in that question above. There are so many things we look forward to, and we think that we won't be happy until we have a World Series for our team, for example. But these things really don't last. They just don't. Sure, Phillies fans are super happy about their World Series win last year, but they are concentrating on this season now, wondering how the Phillies are going to do and if they will make the playoffs this year.
I love the Padres, and I love baseball, but in life, baseball just has to be a second priority sometimes. As I run this blog, I try to write God-honoring entries. I don't know if you've noticed, but even when I'm terribly frustrated, I never use PG (or higher)-rated language. That's just not the way to do it. My parents have raised me well. And though I do get very angry at my team sometimes, it's an anger of love. God's given me this gift of writing, but it's still really His. I am so thankful for this gift, and I'm trusting in Him to take me where He will.
This past year has been so much fun. I've learned a lot, and grown tremendously as a writer and a Padres fan.
OK, here are some stats:
RANKINGS: MLBlogs Latest Leaders Lists: 44, 30, 21, 25, 24, 31, 23, 22, 36, 29, 31, 31, 21, 19, 15, 17
MLBlogs Top 100 – #74
ENTRIES (as of today): 297
COMMENTS (as of today): 1468
Here are some of my favorite entries from the past year. I'm sorry that there's so many, but these all are pretty amazing.
· Enough Said – 8/14/08
Enough said indeed.
· Ping-Pong With the Padres – 9/3/08
My description of the way the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw treated the Padres in a certain game.
· Season's End – 9/29/08
A review of a very important lesson I learned in 2008.
· Game 163: A Fan's Perspective – 12/9/08
My experience of the most devastating game in my fanhood.
· Music and Baseball – 12/19/08
Some of the songs that remind me of baseball whenever I hear them.
· Less of a Fan – 12/30/08
Am I less of a fan because I don't have season tickets and can't be out at the ballpark all the time?
· Why Trevor? – 1/10/09
My rant to the front office about why on earth they had to let go of Trevor. One of the best things I have ever written.
A tribute to my favorite player in MLB. What a cutie!!
· A Tribute to Trevor – Yes, ANOTHER One – 3/3/09
One of the last tributes I rolled out to Trevor. This is another one of the best pieces I have ever written.
· A Letter to My Father – 3/23/09
My attempt to get my dad to let me go to the Padres' Fanfest – and it worked!!
· I ♥ San Diego – 4/3/09
My expression of love for my beautiful city J
· From Death into Life – 4/10/09
My Easter entry in the wake of Nick Adenhart's death.
· Me and My Gang – 4/15/09
My boys J
· An Ode to Kouz – 4/16/09
Hahaha, a funny little tribute to my baby!
· Live Together, Die Alone – 5/13/09
With the team falling apart (and the season finale of LOST just around the corner), I tried to help the guys out a bit.
· You Guys Need Help – 5/14/09
One of my all-time favorite entries, Bob the psychiatrist tries to help the Padres break out of their losing streak.
There are some other special entries that involve my blog. I was interviewed in the second installment of Tom's Timeout at the Plate series. I had so much fun doing it, and it was great to see my blog get some publicity.
There was also a support group meeting for me after the horror of Trevor Hoffman's departure from the Padres. It was so funny, and it definitely helped. It was great!
The third feature I wanted to mention was when my blog got a spot on the front page of MLBlogs with this amazing recognition. It was so much fun for me to see my blog featured like that, and it was a great picture too!
Without further ado, I would like to thank some of the people in the blogosphere.
First of all, of course Mark. This guy does so much for the blogging community, and if he wasn't at the helm, I think the blogosphere would be in chaos. Thanks so much for featuring my blog in the featured blog section, the front page of mlblogs.com, and in MLBlogs' spot on mlb.com and helping it grow!
Big thanks to Amy, who is not longer blogging with us, but was my first commenter on that day one year ago. Her blog was always a great read, and I definitely miss having her in the community.
I would also like the thank Dean, who is also no longer blogging with us. He was a Padres fan and author who was my sole commenter for a while. He was pretty cool, but then I think I scared him off. Oh well. But I really appreciate his support for my blog over the 2008 summer.
Thanks to my parents, who let me get this blog. It has been so much fun! If I didn't have this blog to rant on, I would drive my sister crazy and she would probably move out into the backyard. Thanks so much for everything!
Thank you to Julia, who has probably commented on every entry I've written since she joined the blogosphere. She's been a huge part of the blogosphere, and it wouldn't be the same without her.
Thanks to Tom, who gave me the chance to get the word out on my blog with the Timeout, and for giving me some great therapy with the support group. Also, he graciously endures a lot of ragging from me because of the Rockies (about that guy who didn't touch the plate…), so I'm thankful for that J
Thanks to Hyun Young, my Padres buddy J I loooove reading her blog, and it's so much fun to have a Padres fan in the blogosphere who practically has the same thoughts as me. It was a lot of fun meeting her at the Fan Fest, and I can't wait for the game we're going to!!
I would also like to thank Jen. I was the first commenter on her blog, so she's probably eternally grateful to me for that J It's always great to read her blog, and it was really nice of her to let me take control at the Fan Fest and drag her all over the place and make her sit and wait for Jake Peavy for about an hour. At least things worked out though J
Thanks to Elizabeth. Both of us struggled through chemistry, and I think she came out better than I did. This girl is going to be an amazing journalist, and I look forward to "working" with her in the business someday.
Also, thanks to Jane. I remember the first time she commented on my blog, I was so excited because a real author, a lady who had published a book about baseball, commented on my blog!! She always leaves a great comment, and her entries are so funny!
Thanks to my Heavenly Father, who has blessed me with this incredible gift and given me the chance to minister to baseball fans all over the world. I am eternally grateful to Him for every breath that I take. He is in complete control of everything that happens in my life, and I'm trusting in Him. He alone is AWESOME!!
Thanks also to Happy, Bob, Jeremy, Russ, Jimmy, Ben, Darion, Melissa, Kylie, King of Cali, Jenn, Sue, Emma, Cat, and all my other commenters and readers. You guys have been so amazing to me, and I really appreciate the support. Like I've said so many times, this blog had no purpose without you guys. So thank you!!
Since this is a "birthday" party, we have to "eat" some cake.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Unfinished Business
Happy birthday to you!!
Again, thank you guys so much. This year has been so much fun, and I hope there are many more to come!!
Feel free to leave "memories" (haha) about this blog of the past year as we celebrate!!


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The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has set off alarms at the Capitol. A Congressional report issued on Wednesday reveals that TSA has been groping taxpayer dollars.
The officials of the agency have taken the buy-in-bulk mentality to new levels. The report shows that TSA has procured millions of dollars of unnecessary equipment in order to get a discount.
TSA has been buying its equipment in bulk and then putting it in storage, where it takes up space and depreciates.
The report states: "TSA is wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars by inefficiently deploying screening equipment and technology to commercial airports."
The report continues:
Committee staff discovered that 85% of the approximately 5,700 major transportation security equipment currently warehoused at the TLC had been stored for longer than six months; 35% of the equipment had been stored for more than one year. One piece of equipment had been in storage more than six years – 60% of its useful life.
As of February 2012, Committee staff discovered that TSA had 472 Advanced Technology 2 (AT2) carry-on baggage screening machines at the TLC and that more than 99% have remained in storage for more than nine months; 34% of AT2s have been stored for longer than one year.
Committee staff estimate that the delayed deployment of TSA's state-of-the-art screening technologies has resulted in a massive depreciated loss of equipment utility at an estimated cost to taxpayers of nearly $23 million.
But the TSA believes the practice has made Americans safer.
"To fulfill its security responsibilities, TSA rapidly deploys technology to respond to changing threat information, and stand up operations in locations affected by natural disasters and other crises," TSA spokesperson Sterling Payne said in defense of the agency. "These factors and others require the agency to have a steady inventory of technology available to prevent supply disruptions from compromising aviation security."
The report recommends that TSA "halt all equipment procurement unless there is a bona fide need."