A key point in any comprehensive Christian worldview consists of engaging the culture and the world around us without unnecessarily seeking to mock it, destroy it, or conquer it. We want to transform it, perhaps, but do so without adopting its faulty values.
Many Christians of my acquaintance in the field of secondary education believe the adoption of a comprehensive Christian worldview compels them to the highest order of competition and a demand for unrelenting excellence. The notion of Christians striving to be the most excellent in all they do is often promoted as the acme of any Christian worldview and surely the goal of explicit Christian education.
It would appear, however, that the apostle Paul decried this attitude in his listing of the gifts of the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12). After cataloging the evidences of Christian excellence, Paul writes, "I will show you the most excellent way" (I Cor. 12:31). These words form Paul's entrée to the well-known and often recited love chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 13, where he argues that without love the Christian's life is nothing.
Paul could easily be echoing the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 64:6), who—if I may be permitted a paraphrase–warns: "All your excellences are as filthy rags." Paul, in another epistle, echoes this sentiment with his observation, "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). If anything, Paul's words place humility before excellence in a Christian worldview.
To espouse excellence—be it in education, athletics, politics, or business–as the crowning Christian virtue is to misconstrue the gospel, I think. Christians are not called primarily to excellence; they are called first to love.
In our modern, materialistic, consumer culture, a call to excellence carries subtle and intriguing overtones, especially regarding human pride. Without love, such an emphasis on excellence can be harmful to the gospel of Jesus Christ by placing a premium on human enterprise and effort.
What does it mean and imply, for example, for members of a Christian athletic team competing in secular arenas to assert that they must be excellent? Most, if not all, teams will be striving to be the best. What is the more excellent way for Christian athletes? Paul and other biblical writers insist that love must trump excellence!
To argue, as many do, that Christian athletes, in order to be effective witnesses to their faith in the surrounding culture, must be the best in all that they do is to court the deadly sin of pride. Frankly, a Christian's performance in any arena has little or nothing to do with his or her witness to the culture.
Isaiah has it nailed: "All our excellences are as filthy rags." Christian athletes are not called to mock, to belittle, to disdain, or to outstrip their opponents.
Christ has nothing to do with winning championships in athletic competition. He has everything to do with an athlete's pride, humility, greed, sacrifice, and love.
Often one hears Christian athletes and coaches couple this demand for excellence with some form or experience of piety, as in this assertion: "We play to glorify the Lord." The glory of God, implied in this viewpoint, is often upheld or lowered by the excellence of our performance or the lack of same. Sadly, such a view gets measured by success, and implied in its premises is the conclusion that only victory or success can bring glory to God.
Frankly, this viewpoint leans dangerously close to a subtle heresy that encourages a Crusader mentality. It strikes me as a subtle form of the non-Biblical gospel of success espoused in many quarters of our capitalistic, consumer-oriented society. It implies that God needs our victories, our successes, or our excellences to demonstrate his love and grace or that God signifies his acceptance and approval of us by giving us victory and success in our endeavors.
God doesn't call us to higher GPAs and SAT scores, to better won-lost records or to larger bank accounts and stronger stock portfolios. My conviction is that God cares no more whether we win or lose in athletics—or succeed in business or politics–than he cares whether males are circumcised or not circumcised. To act in love is to understand Paul's words about Christians' circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29).
A supposed Christian worldview that exalts excellence—the key word here is exalts—risks turning the gospel of grace into a gospel of works and of pride.
What did Jesus mean when he exhorted his followers to "love your enemies; bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" (Matthew 5:44)?
Love, the apostle Paul said, "does not boast." It is not, he continued, rude, self-seeking, or easily angered. Any cultural engagement by a Christian who forgets or disregards these words can hardly expect to be a witness for the body of Christ. In other words, our witness to the culture doesn't lie in our excellence, which can become a veiled form of our own righteousness; it lies instead in our transformation by grace and our expression of Jesus Christ's love.
Allan Roy Andrews taught high school journalism and coordinated the Web site at a Christian school in Maryland when this essay was first posted. He is a retired newspaper editor and columnist.
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 8:38 pm	and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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package com.googlecode.webutilities.modules.infra;

public interface IModule {

    void parseConfigRules(String ruleString);

    ModuleRules getActiveRules();

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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← Inquire, Learn, and Reflect: The May 4 Memorial of Kent State University
Service Above Self: The Rotary Club International →
Posted on December 14, 2022 by jrcclark
December 14, 2022 will mark the 43rd anniversary of the day my father fell victim to a terrorist attack while working in Istanbul, Turkey as a civilian contractor with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). After a long career in the Air Force that saw him rise to a high rank through WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, it took the heartless act of terrorists to rob him of his life and the ability to grow old in the eyes of his family. An expert in intercontinental warfare, he was in Turkey engaged with the removal of nuclear ordnance – as dictated by the agreement ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although I can never get through the anniversary of that day without remembering his death, which I have always referred to as the darkest day in my life, I do not write this just to commemorate my father- for there are literally hundreds of Americans that have died overseas, fallen victims to terrorism while defending their country. One list chronicling the attacks up through 1997 is available through the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Should you be interested in reading the circumstances of dad's death, hit the link and scroll down to the date December 14, 1979 and you will find a brief synopsis, which is listed along with other tragic attacks that have taken place down through the years. You can also find reference to my father's assassination on the Global Terrorism Database, which has recorded over 200,000 worldwide acts of transnational violence. For each affected family, the death of their loved ones has been equally tragic to the acts of 911, I can personally assure you – because I felt the anguish and grief with my mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins exactly 43 years ago.
Photo Circa 1953
In the wake of 911, Congress at one time agreed to call for a national monument to the fallen victims of terrorism, as you can ascertain through some readily available documents at the Library of Congress. However, the committee dedicated to constructing this noble commemoration, which would duly honor my father's memory along with the other hundreds of victims that have died, seems to have fumbled the ball, for nothing has happened – at least to my investigation, and the office of Congresswoman Kay Granger in Ft. Worth, Texas has confirmed this oversight. The resolution has died in the Senate. For those of you who read this, you could do my father and the other victims of terrorism an honor by signing the petition found at Change.org. Tell the government you would like to honor Lt. Colonel James B. Clark and the hundreds of others that have died as victims to terrorism, at home and abroad. If you truly appreciate being an American, I fail to see how you can refuse to do so. If you aren't a U. S. citizen, then sign it as a testimony of your dedication to world peace.
As for now, stay warm and happy in heaven, Dad. I know you are there with the Great One, because they say martyrs go straight to paradise. I am an old man now, but I still remember and love you as I did forty-three years ago. The time is coming soon when we will be able to sit down once again and enjoy a father and son conversation. I just hope this country will one day admit that it loves you too. I send to you, and anyone that happens to read this, the wisdom of the Coalmouse and the Dove:
Photo credit: Shannonsong / Foter.com / CC BY-NC
The Weight of a Snowflake
"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a coalmouse asked a wild dove as they sat on the branch of a tree.
"Nothing more than nothing," the dove answered.
"In that case I must tell you a marvelous story," the coalmouse said. "I sat on a fir branch close to the trunk when it began to snow. Not heavily, not in a raging blizzard. No, just like in a dream, without any violence at all. Since I didn't have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,471,952. When the next snowflake dropped onto the branch–nothing more than nothing — as you say — the branch broke off."
Having said that, the coalmouse flew away.
The dove, since Noah's time an authority on peace, thought about the story for a while. Finally, she said to herself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world."
Are you one of those snowflakes, those voices? If not, I must ask you why?
You can help promote the establishment of a monument dedicated to all American victims of terrorism, whether they died at home or abroad, by clicking the link above and signing the petition. Nothing is asked but your signature for a good cause.
About jrcclark
On October 2, 2001, scarcely one month after the horrors of 911, Representative Jim Turner of Texas introduced H. R. 2982 to the House of Representatives, calling for "the establishment of a memorial to victims who died as a result of terrorist acts against the United States or its people, at home or abroad." The resolution was amended by the Committee on Resources in June of 2002 and eventually approved on September 25, 2002 on a "motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill." It was sent to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, but it has languished there ever since – in effect dead and going nowhere. In 2008, this Senate Committee considered making Dark Elegy, the work of a New York sculptor who lost a son in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, as the monument called for in H. R. 2982. However, the committee turned down the touching and thought-provoking sculptures of Suse Ellen Lowenstein – on the grounds that "…as compelling and impressive a proposal as has been made for the memorial in question, that we believe that, for the time being, that it relates to a very specific incident and should be treated as such rather than as a generic monument to victims of terrorism for all time." Today the resolution seems forgotten, and it is the purpose of this website to promote a petition to the House of Representatives and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, requesting that H. R. 2982 be reconsidered and revisited.
View all posts by jrcclark →
This entry was posted in Posts for the Cause and tagged 1979, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, december 14, Istanbul, Library of Congress, Lt. Colonel James B. Clark, Marxist-Leninist Armed Propaganda Unit, monuments to victims of terrorism, terrorism, terroristic violence, War on Terrorism. Bookmark the permalink.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The discovery of large reserves of mineral resources in Mozambique has spurred many companies on to explore opportunities within the country's mining sector.
WBHO says the poor performance of its Capital Star Steel 'significantly affected' the overall financial performance of the group.
Murray and Roberts has disposed of its Hall Longmore pipe, pilings and structural steel business to undisclosed buyers.
Murray and Roberts reports a 41% rise in diluted HEPS from continuing operations to 62c for its 6 months ended December.
WBHO sees its revenue rise 11.3% in the 6 months ended December.
WBHO falls by 4% after saying its headline earnings per share for the six months ended 31 December 2013 will decrease by as much as 22.5% in relation to the comparative period.


J.B. Hunt is a transportation industry leader providing integrated logistics solutions to customers throughout North America.
ELEVATION was an amazing experience that challenged us to think big, encourage growth, increase engagement and improve efficiency. ELEVATION was not just about ideas, it was about taking actions to become a bigger, stronger and better company.


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Total Biogas Package
Investigating the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydro Power Plant Disaster
POWER Digest (December 2010)
Updated Tube Expansion System
Map of Renewable Power Generation in the United States
How the U.S. Grid's Unpredictability Increases Its Security
Bolt Load and Elongation Measuring Device
Top Plant: Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, Isle of Thanet, UK
Massive Energy Storage Facility Planned for Mexico-U.S. Border
Extended Control Valve Range
Top Plant: Kaukaan Voima Oy Biomass-Fired Power Plant, Lappeenranta, Finland
Owner/operator: Pohjolan Voima Oy, Lappeenrannan Energia, and UPM Kymmene Corp.
Located in the heavily forested country of Finland, the Kaukaan Voima biomass-fueled power plant produces process steam and electricity for UPM's Kaukas pulp and paper mill as well as electricity and district heating for Lappeenrannan Energia, a city-owned power company. Launched in 2009, the plant can provide 125 MW of electricity, 110 MWth of district heat, and 150 MWth of process steam thanks to one of the world's largest wood-fired fluidized bed boilers.
Finland is a diverse country whose sophisticated capital of Helsinki is counterbalanced by large areas of forested wilderness. The country has a population of approximately 5,250,275 (July 2010 estimate) and has been a member of the European Union since 1995. During the past 50 years, the Finns have made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy, with a per capita income that is now among the highest in Western Europe.
According to estimates by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for 2008, Finnish electricity production was approximately 77.44 billion kWh, consumption was about 87.25 billion kWh, electricity exported totaled 3.335 billion kWh, and imports were about 16.11 billion kWh. To maintain its strong economy, Finland needs reliable, affordable electricity that preferably is generated using local fuel sources.
To help meet the country's energy needs, Pohjolan Voima Oy (PVO, an energy and heat distribution company), Lappeenrannan Energia (a city-owned power company), and UPM Kymmene Corp. (a forest products company) formed a joint venture and recently built the Kaukaan Voima Oy Power Plant, which uses wood products as a fuel source. It is located near the city of Lappeenranta in southeastern Finland, on the border between the European Union and Russia. The new plant replaces the old Mertaniemi natural gas power plant.
The Kaukaan Voima power plant produces process steam and electricity for the UPM Kaukas paper and pulp mill, and electricity and district heating for Lappeenrannan Energia. The plant is connected to UPM's steam pipeline network and helps ensure a sufficient supply of steam at the mill site. The power plant supplies about 85% of the total district heating consumed by residents and businesses in the city of Lappeenranta.
The Plant's Financial Background
Jukka Kiuru, managing director and plant manager of the Kaukaan Voima Oy Power Plant, told POWER that the final cost to build the plant was €232 million (US$323 million), which was less than the €244 million that was originally budgeted for the project.
Similar to PVO, the Kaukaan Voima power plant operates on an "at-cost" basis, where the shareholders bear the operating costs, according to Kiuru. This operating model is also known as the "Mankala principle." PVO owns 54% of the bioenergy plant and consequently has a controlling interest in it.
Plant Operations Details
In August 2009, trial production began at the biomass-fired power plant and commercial operations commenced in November 2009. The electrical capacity is 125 MW, and the plant produces around 500 GWh/year with fuel from wood bark, stumps, logging waste, and other wood-based fuels, as well as peat. Natural gas and light fuel oil are used for backup and start-up.
"The facility has been built to use quite conservative technology, according to a Finnish point of view," Kiuru said. "All of the machines are best available technology."
The turbine, manufactured by Siemens AG, can deliver a maximum of 110 MWth of district heat to the city of Lappeenranta (around 600 GWh/year) and 152 MWth of process steam to UPM's mills (around 650 GWh/year).
Kaukaan Voima Oy has a contract with UPM's Kaukas mill for the power plant's maintenance. Under the agreement, the same workers who take care of the Kaukas mill also handle maintenance work at the bioenergy power plant. The Kaukaan Voima plant results in approximately 30 staffers from the Kaukas mill being directly employed. In addition, the power plant provides approximately 200 to 400 indirect jobs in the Lappeenranta area, including but not limited to truck drivers, loggers, and maintenance service workers.
The facility did not face any challenges as far as grid interconnectivity because the new plant was able to connect to the Kaukas mill's grid, Kiuru said. He explained that the Kaukaan Voima power plant purchased its own transformers, which were later connected to the Kaukas electrical grid. In order to supply the roughly 85% of all district heating consumed by the city of Lappeenranta, the power plant had to construct a 1-kilometer-long connection pipeline to the city.
Controlling Air Emissions
"The Kaukaan Voima plant is an extension of PVO's bioenergy program aimed at the reduction of CO2 emissions in energy production, as well as increasing the use of renewable fuels through utilization of locally available bioenergy sources," said Kiuru.
Environmental technologies used at the power plant include:
Two separate electrostatic precipitators
Ammonia spraying technology
A lime-feeding facility
Continuous emission monitoring equipment
"We don't have any plans to make additional investments in our air emission handling system," Kiuru said. "But, of course, the improvement of plant operations (combustion, fuel quality, and the like) will continue into the future."
Using Biomass in the Plant's CFB Boilers
"The Kaukas pulp and paper mill is the biggest wood user in Finland," said Kiuru. "The mill uses about 5 million cubic meters (m3) of wood a year. This means about 500,000 m3 of by-products (bark and wood pieces) stream to the Kaukaan Voima plant by conveyers (Figure 1). This decreases wood-based fuel transportation by truck and creates a competitive advantage for Kaukaan Voima. The Kaukas mill is also a big steam consumer, and our boiler can run at a good efficiency level."
1. From forest to fuel. The wood-handling system was supplied by Raumaster Oy (a Finnish company). A new 2-km-long fuel-handling conveyor starts at the Kaukas pulp and paper mill site and goes to the Kaukaan Voima Power Plant. The new power plant will be soon be the biggest biofuel user in Finland. Courtesy: PVO
The plant's fuel supplier is Raumaster Oy. Fuel sources used by the Kaukaan Voima plant are as follows:
40% biomass from the Kaukas mill (mainly bark and wood pieces from wood handling)
20% bark and wood pieces from other forest industry plants (within a 100-km radius)
20% stumps, branches, and logging refuse from the forest (within a 100-km radius)
20% peat from within a 50-km radius
~1% natural gas for start-up and support
In addition, the power plant uses fuel ash as a fuel source.
The facility has been set up with the following locations to handle and process the wood products:
Separate stations for receiving peat and biofuel
Approximately 10,000 m3 of covered storage space for biofuel
A storage silo (5,000 m3) for peat
A wood stump and twig crushing plant
Typically, biomass fuels such as wood products are more difficult to use than conventional fuels like coal and peat. Fuel quality varies, moisture can be high, and fuel handling and feeding are more demanding. As a result of such fuel-handling challenges, the most common technologies for industrial combustion of solid biomass fuels are bubbling fluidized bed boilers, circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers, and grate-fired boilers. Unfortunately, biomass-fired CFB boilers often suffer from ash-related problems and bed agglomeration.
The Kaukaan Voima plant uses a large-scale, 125-MWe (385 MWth) CFB boiler island manufactured by Foster Wheeler; it is one of the largest biomass-fired CFB boilers in the world. The boiler runs at 149 kg/s, 115 bar, and 550C. In addition, the boiler uses an INTREX superheater that has been specifically designed to deal effectively with erosion and corrosion problems. The use of this superheater allows the boiler to better handle the firing of more challenging fuels with high corrosion potential, such as wood fuels.
Promoting Biodiversity
UPM, one of the joint owners of the power plant, has developed a global biodiversity program—involving Finland, the UK, Canada, and the U.S.—that aims to maintain and increase natural biodiversity on UPM forest land and to promote best practices in forestry and wood sourcing. UPM's biodiversity program focuses on six key elements for biodiversity: native tree species, deadwood, valuable habitats, forest structure, water, and natural forests. The program is implemented through country-level targets and action plans.
UPM's biodiversity program is regarded as very innovative and was showcased at the United Nations' 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP 10, in Nagoya, Japan, in October.
"Our operations are based on the sustainable utilization of woody biomass. This means that biodiversity is our business." said Robert Taylor, environmental director, engineered materials and functions at UPM.
— Angela Neville, JD, is senior editor of POWER.
More Waste to Energy News
FBC Control Strategies for Burning Biomass
As a boiler fuel, biomass has shown great promise while suffering from a slow development history. One factor…
Waste to Energy: An Opportunity Too Good to Waste, or a Waste of Time?
Inexpensive natural gas, increased renewable energy utilization, and ever-tightening environmental regulations have limited the use of waste feedstocks…
Top Plants: Covanta Onondaga Waste-to-Energy Plant, Jamesville, New York
Owner/Operator: Covanta Energy Corp. Covanta Energy Corp. doesn't believe in wasting waste. Since 1995 the Covanta Onondaga waste-to-energy…


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Distracted Driving - The Dangers of Texting Behind the Wheel
In our fast-paced society, text messaging is an increasingly handy way to communicate. Rather than dialing a number, waiting for it to ring, and then getting into a conversation, we can just text a few words and save a heap of time. "Running a few minutes late" takes so much less effort to text. In situations like that, it's not necessary to make a phone call. Plus, it can save money. Rather than using up your cell phone minutes, you can just spend a few pennies on a quick text. However, that little bit of time can be enough to cause a serious car accident .
We've all been there. You're on your way to meet someone, and your phone beeps. You wonder if it's them. Are they going to be late? Is something wrong? What if it's someone from home alerting you to an emergency that needs your immediate attention? You try to focus on the road, but you keep thinking about it. What if it's something important? Traffic slows, and you reach over with your right hand trying to steadily maintain the wheel with your left. You grab your phone and press the button. You don't even notice that the car in front of you has slowed to a stop. Boom. Just like that you're in a car accident. You're not alone. Distracted driving is serious business.
According to the US Department of Transportation, "20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving." Of the people killed in those car accidents, 995 had reportedly used a cell phone as a distraction. According to that same report, teenagers have particularly high risks. 16% of drivers under the age of 20 who were involved in fatal car accidents had been distracted. That's why it's so important to educate our youth on the dangers of distracted driving. They may be out with their friends, trying to arrange a meet-up. Maybe they're worried about getting in trouble with their parents for not responding to a text right away. Maybe, in this fast-paced world, they just couldn't wait. It only takes a few seconds to read a text, but it only takes a few seconds to veer off the road or across the center line. A serious car accident can happen in what feels like no time at all.
Teenagers aren't the only ones at risk. Of the distracted drivers involved in fatal car accidents, people in their 30s had the highest risks. 24% of distracted drivers in their 30s had used a cell phone as a distraction.
So what do we do? Do we have to retrain our brains to accept information at a slower pace? Perhaps, but that takes time. Using hands-free devices is one way to help. It may be better to save that text and actually start making phone calls more. If you're using a hands-free device, then at least you can keep your eyes on the road. It's still important to be careful though, even with hands free devices. If you're on a cell phone while driving, whether you're reading or sending a text, answering or making a call, you are driving distracted. It's very dangerous and in many states including Oregon it's against the law. It can lead to a serious or even fatal car accident. In fact, according to the Department of Transportation, distracted driving is a lot like drunk driving. Whenever you're on the road, and hear that little beep that you just can't resist, imagine that beep represents an alcoholic beverage. Save it until you're somewhere safe and off the road.
For more information about the dangers of texting while driving you can visit the US Government's website: Distraction.Gov
You can also call our Portland personal injury attorney to help you recover compensation.


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Q: Replace new line with HTML tag in JSON string I have a JSON string for example:
"\nReferenceNo:20,Amount:100\nReferenceNo:30,Amount:200"

now i want to replace \n with
 HTML tag. My code is given below
 var myJSONString = JSON.stringify(d.otherDetails);
 result=myJSONString.replace(RegExp("\n","g"), "
");
 alert(result);

How to do that?
Thanks in advance

A: Try this:
result = myJSONString.replace(RegExp("\\n","g"), "\n");

It's because HTML is not interpreted in JSON and \n matches an actual new line, but \n matches an backslash followed by a n character.

A: Pattern:
\\n

Replacement string:
\n

DEMO

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Friday, July 19 Entertainment SUBSCRIBE
Entertainment SUBSCRIBE
Here's an early candidate for the worst movie about the 2016 election
Alan Zilberman, The Washington Post | on September 12, 2018
In "American Chaos," filmmaker James D. Stern, right, interviews Trump supporter John Ladd.
Photo: Kevin Ford, Sony Pictures Classics
The Washington Post's media columnist Margaret Sullivan recently opined that there is "nothing more to learn from the die-hard Trump voters," in what she called the media's Endless Diner Series: "recidivistic journeys to the supposed heartland to hear what we've heard a thousand times before."
The new documentary "American Chaos" is one such journey, stretched out to an unnecessary 90 minutes. Directed by James D. Stern, the film amounts to little more than a series of interviews with prospective Trump voters, filmed during the buildup to the 2016 election, with shots of Stern looking increasingly exasperated. Even if his effort had come out earlier, it would still have been an utterly inessential exercise.
Stern is primarily a producer, with a diverse résumé that includes "Looper" and "I'm Not There." With "American Chaos," he demonstrates no qualifications as a documentarian beyond the fact that he can afford to hire a camera crew. Among those he talks to: Republican fundraisers in Florida, unemployed miners in West Virginia, and ranchers who live along the Mexican border. In every interview, Stern takes what he is told at face value, expecting the audience to do the same for his running commentary. A careless analyst, Stern presents the election as a horse race, nothing more.
None of his subjects have anything of interest to say.
He interviews a Cuban immigrant - a die-hard Trump supporter - seemingly unaware that many Cuban immigrants are conservative. Sometimes, there's a reactionary tone to his subjects' remarks: One man calls for Hillary Clinton's execution; another implies that a vote for Trump is "revenge" for Obama. Stern merely ogles these people, like an outsider, evoking a twist on Sacha Baron Cohen on "Who Is America?" - minus the satire.
Who's the audience for this film? Certainly not Trump voters, who will smell its liberal bias a mile away. As for Trump's critics, they are likely to gnash their teeth as they're forced to relive a tense, unpleasant election cycle.
Although he includes some perfunctory commentary from some academics, Stern sees himself as the ultimate authority. In that sense, he's no different from a Michael Moore, or any number of other opinionated filmmakers. The only problem? Stern's film is no more incisive than the #resistance memes your uncle posts on Facebook. There's no difference between his off-the-cuff comments and the film's written narration.
"Chaos" might have been better had the filmmaker revisited his interview subjects now that we are deep into Trump's presidency. But that would have required additional work. If the film is a testament to anything, it's Stern's laziness.
Throughout "Chaos," Stern presents himself as the voice of reason, one that deserves to be listened to with respect, although he never really examines his own assumptions. Did Trump succeed by tapping into the anxieties and resentments of white voters? Maybe. But if such a theory has occurred to Stern, it isn't apparent.
There is nothing thought-provoking or even entertaining in "American Chaos," an irrelevant time capsule that will be forgotten as soon as Moore's "Fahrenheit 11/9" hits theaters.
One-half star. Rated R. At area theatres. Contains some strong language, including sexual references. 90 minutes.
Ratings Guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time.


NEN-EN-IEC 62317-12 specifies the dimensions that are of importance for mechanical interchangeability for a preferred range of ring-cores, also called toroid cores, and the effective parameter values to be used in calculations involving them. The selection of core sizes for this document is based on the philosophy of including those sizes which are industrial standards, meaning that they are in broad-based use within industry. See IEC 62317-1 for more detail concerning the philosophy of selecting core sizes to be included.


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Q: displaying text while json function is executing my requirement is : when user clicks on a button until the data is fetched, display a text "Searching...". I am using a JSON function to fetch data.
But the problem is I am able to display the "Searching ..." text on button click only in Firefox, not in chrome or IE. I have tried beforeSend also, but even tat works only in Firefox. I have read that async =false, is causing this issue, but i need synchronous call only for this.

A: You need to call $('#searchWait').show(); so that it changes the style attribute and is no longer hidden.
Check out this fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/ambiguous/zLnED/
That isn't my fiddle, but I would recommend changing the timeout to 100-500 for more reliability.


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World AffairsSociety
The Least Productive but Most Workaholic NationA look inside South Korea's overtime working culture
Yeo Ye-rim | yryeo94@yonsei.ac.kr
koogle.tv
IN LAST October, Matsuri Takahashi, a 24-year-old worker of a giant ad company, Dentsu, committed suicide. According to The Asahi Shimbun, she had been working more than 105 extra hours per month. This, however, is considered usual formany Japanese workers working in major companies. In response to raging public anger, the Japanese government is finallyrevising policies governingworkplace practices, and many companies in Japan are also setting limits in working overtime. An obsessive working culture also prevails in South Korea, where labor practices and market imperatives are even more intense than those in Japan. Working overtime is a sign of diligence, and it is considered part of the normal working culture. However, it also comes with side-effects, triggering health problems of workers and decreases in labor productivity.
Downsides of excessive working
South Korea is notorious for having some of thelongest working hours in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics in 2015, South Korea's average working hours amount to 2,113 hours per year, which is 347 hours more than that of the OECD countries' average. This means that an average South Korean worker—including full-time, part-time, and self-employed workers—works 8 to 9 hours per day. Mexico (2,228 hours) and Costa Rica (2,210 hours) are the only two OECD countries with longer working hours than South Korea. Japanese workers, on the other hand, work 1,719 hours on average, which is slightly lower than the OECD average of 1,766 hours. Japan shares similar economic structures to South Korea; both countries have export-oriented economies led by family-owned mega businesses.
Nevertheless, despite their similarities, the differences between South Korea and Japan lie in labor productivity. Long working hours is correlated with low labor productivity, which is measured by the level of output per each hour of work. TheOECD measures labor productivity by calculating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per hour worked by all persons engaged in production. In South Korea, labor productivity in 2015 was $31.8, much lower than the OECD average of $45.9. South Korea is among the OECD countries with the lowest productivity level, ahead of only Latvia, Estonia, and Hungary. On the other hand, Japan's labor productivity is $39.4, which is still lower than the OECD average, but significantly higher than South Korea. Also, regarding average wages in 2015, an average South Korean worker earned $33,110, compared to an average Japanese worker who earned $35,780. Meanwhile, the OECD average was $41,253. These data demonstrate that despite long working hours, South Korea's levels of labor productivity and wages earned are still low compared to other OECD countries.
Obligation to work overtime
Working long hours is typical for theSouth Korean labor force. According to a 2013 survey on South Korea working culture,conducted by Hankyoreh with the Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health, 8.8 million (45.7%) out of 17.4 million workers say they have almost never left work before 7 p.m., while 2.6 million (15%) of them mostly left after 9 p.m. This means that they have worked about 11 hours a day, with an extended 15 hours of work each week. The Labor Standards Act (LSA) sets the legal maximumweekly working time as 40 hours and the maximum overtime as 12 hours per week.
South Koreans work long hours for various reasons. Job Korea, a portal site for finding employment in Korea, carried out a survey in 2015, asking 572 workers their reasons for working overtime. Results showed that the primary reason for overtime working was "excessive amount of workload" (32.7%), followed by "the characteristics of the job" (17.1%) and "part of the culture of the workplace" (13.4%). Moreover, 51.6% of the surveyed workers were not paid for their overtime work. Only 22.6% received overtime pay,and most of the remainder (25.8%) received their allowances through other means, such as food coupons.
However, the primary causes for South Korea's overtime working culture traceback to the 1960s and 1970s, when South Korea was going through great economic growth. Kim Eun-gi (Prof., Dept. of International Studies, Korea Univ.) and Park Gil-sung (Prof., Dept. of Sociology, Korea Univ.) state in their 2007 article, "Nationalism, Confucianism, work ethic and industrialization in South Korea" that working hard has been considered a social obligation as well as a patriotic and moral duty of workers since the industrialization period in South Korea. Moreover, workers were inspired to make personal sacrifices for the sake of the country's economic development. Such perceptions on work continue into the present, and workingovertime is still considered a "natural" part of South Korea's economic growth.
Besideslow labor productivity, working overtimealso leads to serious health problems, most notably stress and fatigue. According to the article, "Long working hours and subjective fatigue symptoms," publishedin 2001 by Park Jung-sun, Kim Yang-ho, Chung Ho-keun and Naomi Hisanaga, long working hours lead to subjective fatigue complaints. In their research, they divided their subjects into three groups on the criteria of 60 to 70 working hours per week—less long (LLWH), longer (LWH), and much longer (MLWH) working hour groups—and compared their mean percentage scores of fatigue complaints. The results showed that daily complaints about fatigue even before going to work were higher among those working closer to 65 to 70 hours per week than those working closer to 60 hours per week. It was evident that repeated overtime work led to chronic stress and fatigue, which is also associated withless labor productivity.
"On average, I work overtime three or four days a week, and on these days, I have to work around 13 hours," said a 24-year-old worker atSouth Korea's biggest company, Samsung Electronics, who wished to remain anonymous. "It is quite stressful. When I work overtime, I cannot make any other plans such as meeting friends or working out. My life is just a repetition of going home and coming back to work."
Need to root out the flaw
As overtime work is embedded deeply in South Korean culture, strictly enforcedpolicies regarding working hours and increased awareness on the drawbacksrisks of overtime are needed. Even though the LSA sets limits on the maximum overtime, the law does not specify whether hours workedduring weekends are included within the 12-hour overtime limit. This leads many workers to exceed their normal working hours during weekends.
Meanwhile, Japan is trying to achieve a more labor-friendly environment. In order to improve irregular working conditions, the government is revising the Labor Standards Law, which limits working time to 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. Japan's law also allows up to 45 hours of overtime working per month. Some big companies are also on their way to put stricter restrictions on their working time. Dentsu, for instance, will not be logging more than 65 hours of overtime per month from now on. The government further plans to set a cap on overtime hours as well as impose harsh penalties for firms violating the limit.
In many European countries, workers are legally paid higher wages when they work overtime, and working overtime is not considered a moral obligation or duty for the workers. In France, workers must be paid a higher hourly wagefor any time worked past35 hours per week. For the first eight hours worked overtime, they are paid 1.25 times their normal wage, and after those eight hours, they are paid 1.5 times as much. While people cannot work overtime for more than 10 hours, they can still voluntarily choose to work more, only under a collective bargaining agreement. In the United Kingdom, workers who put in extra hourscan get "time off in lieu," meaning that they can take extra time off, in place of receiving overtime pay. Though overtime working is not common in the United Kingdom, workersbeginning a new job usually receivea strict employment contract that explains the policies for overtime.
South Korea is notorious for its relatively nonproductive yet long, grueling working conditions. Despite the low level of labor productivity and low wages earned, South Koreans are still among those who work the longest hours in the world. More problematic is that even though many experts in business, economics and government are aware of the negative correlation between overtime and labor productivity, working excessive hours is still one of the most common problems facing South Korean workers today. It is time to reverse this inefficient and inhumane working culture.


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Home > Community Histories > LeightonBuzzard > Leighton Buzzard Manor Court Rolls
Leighton Buzzard Index of Pages
1819 Map of Friday Street
A Bad Billeting - Leighton Buzzard 1941
Bassett Road Schools in 1904
Beaudesert Schools in 1904
Break-in at All Saints
Dark Age Leighton Buzzard
Holly Lodge North Street Leighton Buzzard
Interesting Buildings in Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Buzzard Manor Court Rolls
Leighton Buzzard Street Index
Leighton Buzzard Union Children Boarded Out
LeightonBuzzardIntroduction
Licensed Premises in Leighton Buzzard
Manor Court Roll October 1704
Nonconformity in Leighton Buzzard
PulfordsSchoolIn1904
Sanctuary at All Saints
The Church of England in Leighton Buzzard
The Nags Head Mill Road Leighton Buzzard
The White House - 224 Heath Road Leighton Buzzard
Until the 19th century the Manor of Leighton Buzzard alias Grovebury was the principal landowner in the town. Bedfordshire Archives holds a full run of court rolls from 1393 to 1727 [KK619-715] and court books from 1704 to 1867 [X288/1-23] together with a series of indexes [X288/1-23]. Unfortunately many of the earlier court rolls were badly damaged when the cellar at Stockgrove House where they were kept flooded in 1947, and some of the 15th century rolls are illegible. There is some overlap between the two collections, with individual court rolls in the KK collection transcribed into the earlier court books held under reference X288. The service also holds court rolls for other manor which owned land in the town, the Prebendal Manor, from 1448 to 1459, 1588 to 1591, 1611 to 1622, 1627 and 1631 [KK792-1798].
As so much of the town of Leighton Buzzard and its associated settlements of Heath and Reach, Billington and Eggington was held by the Manor of Leighton Buzzard the court rolls are a valuable resource for both the history of property in the town and for family history. When copyhold tenants died, the rolls record the admission of their heirs to the property. They also record other transfers of land and property by sale, mortgages and occasionally cases in other courts relating to land. More detailed information about the proceedings of manor courts is available on the National Archives website.
Until the later part of the 18th century manor court rolls were written in Latin, which makes them difficult to access even when indexes exist, as they do for the Leighton Buzzard court book series. Thanks to the work a volunteer who is translating them, some of the early rolls in this series are now being made available online.
Manor of Leighton Buzzard alias Grovebury Court Books
Volume 1, 1704-1714 [reference X288/1]
For each roll a brief summary has been included here, together with the full translation as a PDF file.
View of frankpledge and Court Baron, held 19 October 1704


I am Luana , a high class Portuguese woman with origins in Cap-Vert.
It is my first time time here, i am very gentle. I always make those around me feel instantly comfortable. I take the time to understand my lovers. Share your fantasies with me, and allow me to discover your desires.


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4925 Zhoushan este un asteroid din centura principală, descoperit pe 3 decembrie 1981, de Observatorul Zijinshan.

Legături externe

 4925 Zhoushan în JPL Small-Body Database
 4925 Zhoushan în baza de date a Minor Planet Center
 Diagrama orbitei asteroidului 4925 Zhoushan (JPL)

Centura de asteroizi
Obiecte astronomice descoperite în 1981

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Kościół kalwiński (węg. Református templom) – zabytkowy kościół w Budapeszcie, na terenie Budy, w dzielnicy Víziváros. Własność Węgierskiego Kościoła Reformowanego.

Historia
Powodem powstania kościoła była nagła rozbudowa miasta. Zbiórkę pieniędzy na budowę rozpoczęto w 1885. Pieniądze wpłacili m.in. minister rolnictwa Ignác Darányi, dziennikarz i polityk Miksa Falk, minister spraw zagranicznych Lajos Tisza oraz austriacki cesarz Franciszek Józef I. W 1889 roku władze miasta nieodpłatnie podarowały działkę pod budowę, którą rozpoczęto w 1892, zakończono 4 lata później wg projektu Samu Pecza. Gotowy kościół poświęcił biskup Károly Szász.

Architektura
Budowla neogotycka. Do okrągłej bryły prezbiterium dostawione są cztery kaplice boczne oraz dwuprzęsłowy korpus nawowy z emporą organową. Z północy do nawy dostawiona jest 62-metrowa wieża.

Galeria

Przypisy

Kalwiński
Zabytki Budapesztu


Christine's own parents and siblings — the Blaseys — have not released any similar statement of support. As their daughter and sister has become the country's most talked-about woman for accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault while both were in high school, the Blaseys have strategically avoided the press. Voice mails, texts, emails and letters from reporters have gone unanswered. Friends have politely declined to comment on what the family is going through.
But on Thursday, Ford delivered emotional testimony, describing the alleged attack.
As senators try to decipher what happened between two teenagers at a party decades ago, the nation is grappling with everything the allegations have come to represent: if women should be believed, if Republicans should remain in control of Congress and if it is possible to separate the personal from the political.
Ford's team announced this week that she would be accompanied by friends from across the country at the hearing. Her husband Russell stayed in California with the couple's children.
It was unclear whether Ralph and Paula Blasey would attend the hearing, as Anita Hill's parents did in 1991 when she testified against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Hill has said in interviews that it was a devastating experience for her mother and father, with whom she had never shared the details of the sexual harassment she said she endured.
"The difficult part was to watch my parents — who were elderly people, who had lived good lives and raised their children to be honest and truthful and hard-working and all of the things that we want parents to do for their children — to watch them go through it, the sense that they felt that they couldn't protect me from it," Hill told MSNBC in 2017.
Hill's father, who lived in Oklahoma, had never been to Washington before. The Blaseys have deep roots in the nation's capital. Ford's grandfather, the first Ralph Blasey, was a graduate of the District's McKinley High School and went on to become the president of a small-loan corporation. Ralph Jr. followed in his footsteps. As he rose in the ranks of Washington banks, his promotions were chronicled in the Washington Evening Star. Now 83, Ralph Jr. still serves as a vice president at Red Coats, a private commercial cleaning company based in Bethesda.
He and Paula ensconced the family in some of Montgomery County's most upper-crust social institutions, including the Columbia Country Club and the all-male Burning Tree Club.
The golf club — which once counted President Gerald R. Ford and Attorney General John Mitchell as members — has been criticized for decades for its exclusion of women. Kavanaugh's father has been a member since the 1980s, and Ford's father served as president between 2004 and 2006. He was considered a kind of éminence grise, according to someone who once worked there.
Ford's mother, Paula, 80, spends her time at St. David's, a quaint stone Episcopal church in Washington's Palisades neighborhood. She has volunteered as an altar guild and delegate to the diocese, and is often seen socializing at coffee hours in the church's basement.
Both Ford's brothers, Tom Blasey and Ralph Blasey III, are Washington-area lawyers.
Besides Burning Tree, the Blaseys have crossed paths with the Kavanaughs in court, although briefly. Court records show a foreclosure case involving the Blasey home that was presided over by at least two Montgomery County judges, one of whom was Brett Kavanaugh's mother. Judge Martha Kavanaugh ruled in the Blaseys' favor, dismissing a foreclosure action on their house. She was also one of several judges who presided over a 1998 case handled by Ralph Blasey III. She ruled in his client's favor.
Like the Kavanaughs, the Blaseys sent their children to the area's elite single-gender prep schools: Ford to Holton-Arms, her older brothers to the Landon School. While Ford moved across the country to pursue advanced degrees, teach and become an avid surfer, her siblings stayed in the area, sending their children to the same prep schools and competing in father-son golf tournaments at the country club.
Ford's parents are registered as Republicans in Maryland, but they did not make donations to candidates, Federal Election Commission records show.
"Honestly, I don't even know what their politics are," said Hale Boggs III, a former classmate of Ralph III at the Landon School, where both played football in the late 1970s.
Boggs himself has a stellar Democratic Party pedigree as the grandson of two former members of Congress, Reps. Hale and Lindy Boggs (D-La.), and son of super lobbyist Tommy Boggs. But the chatter he's hearing is more personal than political as longtime friends feel pressure to pick sides.
The Fords took Christine in as one of their own. In their letter, they said she spends time teaching their children how to surf, attending their soccer matches and school plays, and even brainstorming about where they should consider going to college.
Still, she has maintained a meaningful relationship with her family back east. She donated to Holton-Arms on behalf of a niece who attended her alma mater. Every summer, she brings her sons back to the Washington region to swim at the country club pool, go crabbing at Rehoboth Beach and relive her best childhood memories.
"It was important to her that her parents have a relationship and a bond with her children," said Catherine Piwowarski, Ford's college roommate and matron of honor.
Fear of retribution might be a reason for the Blasey family's silence, Ford's sister-in-law said.
In their absence, the Fords have made TV appearances and given interviews about Christine.
On Thursday, senators will question just that when Christine Blasey Ford appears before the committee as millions of viewers watch live on C-SPAN and cable news channels. The hearing will take place in a walnut-paneled committee room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building — a space much smaller than the grand chamber where Hill testified against Thomas.
As aides scrambled, the family seized the opportunity to greet Hill. One by one, they offered hugs, handshakes and shoulder squeezes, each doing what little they could to steady her for what was about to begin.
Steve Hendrix, Alice Crites, Julie Tate, Emma Brown and Aaron Davis contributed to this report.


Taner Akçam holds the Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Professor of Armenian Genocide Studies at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He has conducted pioneering research about the Armenian Genocide and is author of numerous books that examine the archival evidence of the Ottoman campaign against its Armenian and other minority Christian citizens, such as: The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012. Judgment at Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials, with Vahakn Dadrian. New York: Berghahn Books, 2011. A Shameful Act: Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility. New York: Metropolitan Books, November 2006. From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide. London: Zed Books, 2004.
The Memoir of Naim Bey and Talat Pasha Telegrams. Are They »Armenian Forgeries« or Not?


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Author Interview: Marian Hale on Dark Water Rising
Marian Hale on Marian Hale: "I can't remember a time when I didn't love books, but it wasn't until I was twelve and instructed to write a short story for my sixth grade English class that I first became aware that I loved writing, too. However, other than the occasional attempt at poetry over the years, I never pursued it. I suppose a lack of confidence had a lot to do with it. The path to becoming a successful author seemed nebulous and unachievable.
"I married the love of my life right out of business college, and some years later, I went into custom home design. Designing was a wonderfully creative outlet for me at the time. I enjoyed manipulating space to suit each client and the drafting of blueprints, but I especially loved that I could do most all of it at home with my three children close by.
"Years later I finally decided to give writing a real try. I wrote short stories for children and adults and eventually entered them in contests. When my efforts began to place and win prizes, I moved on to my first mid-grade novel, a failure on a professional level, but a huge success in exposing my strengths and weaknesses. It also reinforced my love for children's literature–historical fiction in particular–and I've never looked back."
What about the writing life first called to you?
I'm not so sure I was called to writing. I probably thought so during those early attempts, but it didn't take long to realize that the choice was never mine to make. It's just who I am, like being born with brown hair or blue eyes. Now, I can't imagine not writing.
What made you decide to write for young readers?
It was just fun! I especially loved historical fiction, the way it allowed me to step back in time and experience intriguing eras and events as though I were there, seeing it all through the eyes of a teen or preteen. But I suppose what appealed to me most about writing for young readers was the opportunity to tell stories that would help my own children and grandchildren form a more intimate bond with the past, to ask the questions that would help them recognize the eternal connection we all have with older generations all over the world.
Congratulations on the publication of Dark Water Rising (Henry Holt,2006)! What was your initial inspiration for this story?
Thank you! I first considered this project some years ago when my husband came home from work with a tattered book found in an old abandoned house about to be torn down. It was a full account of the 1900 Galveston Storm, written soon after it happened.
I'd read many articles over the years about the devastating Texas hurricane that took more than 8,000 lives, but never one written while wounds were still tender, while wind and floodwaters still haunted dreams.
I wanted to read more, to search out the multitude of hundred-year-old accounts and photographs, all of which were so vivid with intimate detail, so achingly real and painful that I felt as though I'd experienced this turn-of-the-century city and disastrous storm myself. It was this window to the past that brought me to write Dark Water Rising (Henry Holt, 2006), and in so doing, I wanted to honor the overwhelming loss and Herculean efforts to rebuild the great city of Galveston. I was able to incorporate hundreds of documented details into my story and was very pleased when Reka Simonsen, my editor at Henry Holt, encouraged me to include some spell-binding photos of the aftermath in an author's note.
What was the timeline from spark to publication, and what were the major events along the way?
The inspiration for Dark Water Rising came in 2003, almost a full year before I could even think of starting a new project. When I could finally clear my desk, I spent the next six months researching and cataloging the details I wanted to use. I walked Galveston's streets, studied the nineteenth century architecture, visited the Rosenberg Library to read transcripts of oral interviews, toured homes that survived the great storm, sought out where the two-story ridge of debris left by wind driven water had once encircled the city, and walked along the seawall where Saint Mary's Orphanage had once stood, envisioning the two dormitories that had housed ten Sisters and more than ninety children who perished that day. It was a poignant and inspiring journey. I then spent the following six months trying to do justice to all those who had endured the deadliest storm to ever hit our country.
What were the challenges (literary, research, psychological, logistical) in bringing it to life?
One of the most difficult challenges was choosing the best location in the city for my characters to experience the storm. I needed an actual home and surviving family, one that would allow me to show the devastation as fully as possible. I finally realized that I'd have to map the entire city, block by block, and key it to names and personal accounts before I could make that decision. The map also helped me locate major businesses, schools and churches, and gave me the confidence to write as though I'd walked through those 1900 neighborhoods and business districts myself.
Even more challenging was the emotional toll this story took on my day to day life. I don't believe anyone could read the many accounts of individual loss from this storm and not experience an intense emotional response. I certainly couldn't, but I couldn't allow myself to take the easy path of skipping lightly through the horrific aftermath either, just to ease my own discomfort. I needed to stay true to even the smallest details, though it meant living with the grisly effects of this storm for a full year.
From the onset of this project, hundred-year-old photos and heartrending personal accounts haunted me every day, and they were the last thing in my thoughts before falling asleep each night. These were real people, caught up in a real disaster, something that could still happen to any one of us today, and more than anything, I wanted to stay true to their stories.
I'm likewise a fan of your debut novel, The Truth About Sparrows (HenryHolt, 2004)(recommendation). Could you tell us a bit about this book?
Thank you; that's always so nice to hear. The Truth about Sparrows was my first historical fiction and a story very close to my heart. It follows Sadie, a twelve-year-old girl who loses her Missouri home during the Great Depression and is forced to start all over in a one-room tarpapered house on the Texas coast. Although the characters are fictional, most of the events were taken from my parents' and grandparents' experiences, even the scene where Sadie has no choice but to help with the birth of her baby sister. It was a joy to recreate this struggling 1933 fishing and shrimping community for young readers, and I was especially grateful for the opportunity to include the character of "Daddy," modeled after my own grandfather who had polio before he was a year old and never walked.
What do you hope readers take away from the story?
I suppose I've had the same hope for both books. I'd like to think my readers will come away with a deeper appreciation for what so many families, even their own, have endured and overcome, and perhaps be inspired to face their own adversities with that same kind of courage and determination to succeed.
What advice do you have for beginning novelists?
One turning point for me was learning to trust my own instincts and allow myself to become each character. This was tremendously helpful in letting readers in on my character's thoughts so they could share in the emotion, understand the cause, and care about the outcome. I've always tried to let each part of my story evolve naturally to a believable conclusion, following when it insisted on wandering paths I'd never expected or drew me to characters I'd never planned, even when doing so could change the ending I'd envisioned. This seat-of-the-pants writing may not work for everyone, but some of my most surprising and gratifying scenes/characters were
written this way.
I suppose the best advice I could give to any new writer, besides the important "read, read, read," is to love what you're doing. Love the characters, the words and the images they evoke, and yes, even the revisions. Look at each revision as another chance to bring more clarity, to make some part of your story touch your reader more deeply and hopefully linger long after your book is back on the shelf.
What do you do when you're not writing?
I'm still doing an occasional home design and my family keeps me very busy since my daughter and her preschool children are with us now, but I try to always make time for the simple joys. When I can, which isn't nearly often enough, my husband and I like to pull our travel trailer to a river or lake to fish and watch the sun go down. We take a few good books and CDs, grill fish, veggies, and stuffed jalapenos, and open a nice bottle of wine. My grandchildren are finally big enough to go with us occasionally, so we'll probably need a larger travel trailer before long!
My next book, untitled at this time, is another historical fiction set in 1918 Canton, Texas, and again, partially derived from old family stories.
It begins with the dreams of sixteen-year-old Mercy Kaplan, a sharecropper's daughter, who has never wanted to be anything at all like her mother. Mercy longs to be free, far from the threat of being saddled with kids, dirty laundry, and failing crops the rest of her life. When the deadly 1918 flu epidemic sweeps through Canton, she gets what she wants in a way she never imagined and soon finds herself employed by the newly widowed Cora Wilder. But there's something secretive and downright strange about the woman. And then there's Daniel Wilder, her eighteen-year-old stepson, with his green eyes and fierce determination to protect his fatherless siblings, just the sort who could sweep a foolish girl off her feet and into a dull and wearisome life like her mother's if she isn't watchful. But Mercy is watchful, and observant enough to uncover the clues to Cora Wilder's odd behavior, which inches her ever closer to exposing a twenty-year-old murder.
on Dark Water Rising
"A master of her craft…this is historical fiction at its best." –Kirkus, starred review
"…this fine example of historical fiction has something for almost everyone." –Booklist, starred review
"… this is a stunning novel." –Children's Literature
"Fact and fiction are blended effortlessly together in an exciting read that leaves readers with a sense of hope." –School Library Journal
on The Truth About Sparrows
Nominated for six state awards and selected for the following awards and honors: Editor's Choice for 2004 by Booklist Magazine; Top Ten First Novels by Booklist Magazine; 2004 Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers by VOYA (Voices of Youth Advocates); Lasting Connections of 2004 by Book Links Magazine; Children's Books 2004: One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing, by the New York Public Library; Teachers' Choice for 2005 in the Advanced category by IRA (the International Reading Association); The Best Children's Books of the Year 2005 edition, selected by the Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education; 2005 Notable Books for a Global Society list by the NBGS committee of the Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group of IRA (the International Reading Association); "Worthy of Special Note" books for The 2005 Virginia Jefferson Cup Award (for historical fiction and nonfiction); The Editor's Choice – Best book of the Month by
Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review.
"Hale's evocative, sure prose, in Sadie's colloquial voice, brings alive the setting and the family's survival challenges with cinematic detail that's reminiscent of the Little House books." –Booklist, starred review
"…a beautifully realized work, memorable for its Gulf Coast setting and the luminous voice of Sadie Wynn." –Kirkus
"…triumphant and memorable." –Horn Book
"Sparrows is a breath of fresh air even when it brings tears to your eyes." –USA Today
"…for its depth of detail, keen sense of place and, especially, for Sadie, Hale's story is a debut novel worth seeking out." –San Diego Union Tribune
"…this is a unique, powerful and enlightening novel which will speak to the inner person in all of us…a treasure of a book." –Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review
How To Throw A Book Launch Party
Learn "How to Throw a Book Launch Party" via an article I've written that has been posted to Anastasia Suen's blog, Create/Relate: News from the Children's Book Biz.
Speaking of which, the lovely Elizabeth Garton Scanlon at Liz In Ink is the latest blogger to chime in about my Tantalize launch party. Liz is the author of A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes: A Pocket Book, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser (HarperCollins, 2004). Visit her author site and read her recent interview at Cynsations.
Don't miss the other party reports from Cynsations, GregLSBlog, Don Tate's Devas T. Rants and Raves, Camille's Book Moot, Jo Whittemore's LJ (great pics!), and Alison Dellenbaugh's Alison Wonderland. Read Cynsations interviews with Greg, Don, and Jo.
Author Interview: Robin Merrow MacCready on Buried
Robin Merrow MacCready on Robin Merrow MacCready: "I grew up in the 60s and 70s in Kennebunk Beach, Maine. My father was a realtor and we had a hotel and later an inn. Lots of people doing lots of things: fuel for great stories! After the summer was over, Kennebunk reverted back to a quiet town, but during the July and August it exploded with families from all over. I always worked as a chamber maid or a house cleaner or baby sitter. I also taught arts and crafts at the beach club. I love the contrast between the townies and the tourists. It's rich and it's infuriating, but it's ripe with stories.
"I'm the oldest in my family. My brother is a musician, and my sister is an art director. My mother is a writer, and my father is a realtor and an avid reader. I have him to thank for my love of things that are a little bit creepy. I say a little bit because it doesn't take much to scare me. I remember reading a scary paperback at the kitchen table and Dad jolting me and I screamed. I considered my ability to zone out a gift. Compared to my friends I was quiet and shy. I watched people, and daydreamed a lot, and although my report cards were not perfect, I loved English and reading and art. I even loved diagraming sentences although I can't remember how to do it now!"
What about the writing life first called to you? Were you quick to answer or did time pass by?
I was the kind of kid that played school. I read and wrote all the time. I thought everybody made homemade cards with poems inside. In high school, I made up stories, mostly romances, and kept a journal. The journal was only half true. I embellished the events to my satisfaction. It wasn't until I began teaching that I considered being a writer. I was lucky to be a student at the New Hampshire Writing Project where a new writing philosophy reigned. That is: if you want to write go ahead and try! Everybody's a writer!
What made you decide to write for young adults?
When I first wrote I imagined being the new Arnold Lobel. His Frog and Toad and Owl at Home are my favorites. I tried, but failed and put away my dream for ten years. When I tried again I thought I was writing an adult book and almost gave it up because the voice was that of a teenage girl, but I didn't because I heard her story as clear as I bell and I believed it.
Could you tell us about your path to publication, any sprints or stumbles along the way?
When I decided to become a published author I manned myself with every book and any course I thought I needed. The plan was that if I had all the information and followed the directions perfectly I'd make it. It partly worked that way. I worked my butt off! I listened to my critique partners when they had a point to make because they were usually right. I wrote down some goals to reach, tasks to do, and I didn't let anyone get in my way. I was single minded in a way I never had been before.
I sent three chapters of Buried to Julie Strauss-Gabel after she spoke at a national conference of SCBWI, and she wanted to read the whole manuscript. She loved the first three chapters but said as the story progressed it wasn't what she'd hoped. She wrote a kind of thanks-but-no-thanks letter. I wrote back and asked more questions about the problems she had with the manuscript and that began our nearly two year pre-contract relationship.
We passed the book back and forth. I valued Julie's insight and light touch, but in the late summer of 2004 I felt it was time to send Buried. I sent it to Julie and two other major houses that had shown interest during SCBWI critiques. I teach and the summer was quickly winding down–I had about two weeks of summer left. I spent a week researching agents in a big way. I finally got it down to 10 and queried them. Wendy Schmalz [scroll for bio] phoned me and said she was interested in representing me and Buried, but first she scolded me about the way I went about the process. Buried was already sitting in three houses. For her it was probably not the way she'd planned to sell it. But for me it was a relief. Now I could go set up my classroom. Within the week I had a sale with Dutton, and I'm very happy I could continue with Julie.
Congratulations on the publication of Buried (Dutton, 2006)! What was your initial inspiration for writing this book?
The climactic scene came to me one day when I was writing with my sister. We were just fooling around, but I saw Claudine in her horrific situation and it was clear like a movie. That was my initial contact with Claudine, but the inspiration for her comes from a girl I knew growing up. I was her sometimes babysitter. Her mother was a guidance counselor and an alcoholic. Whenever I sat for the little girl it was like hanging out with a peer. She was older acting, a little rough around the edges, and competent. Too competent for age seven. One night she took care of me while I had the flu and later her mother came home drunk, so she cared for her too.
The challenge was to let myself go deeper and deeper and not lose the storyline. It sounds simple but it's a fine line to walk. When Claudine's OCD was aggravated my instinct as a friend/mother was to turn it off, not let it rip. When I let it get out of control it was sometimes scary. As far as the addiction model goes, I wanted it to be real. Buried is a story. It's not true, but I would argue that Claudine's pain, her shame, and all her feelings are shared by children of alcoholics.
You're an Edgar nominee. Wow! That's great! What does the nomination mean to you? How did you react when you found out?
Julie left a message on my machine saying that she had some great news for me. I had no idea what it could be. I'd been talking to my agent that day because I was worried about how sales were going. When Julie told me I was a nominee I said, "Oh, really?" I didn't know what it meant. I'd seen the list of submissions and there were a lot of books, so it still didn't register as a big thing until she said I was one of five in the Best YA category. I'm thrilled! I'm up against some big competition, but I'm bursting with pride. It's especially exciting because there are five writers from Maine and Stephen King is one of them. It'll be a great night.
If you want to be published you have to be willing to take some heat. Listen to your critiques and make changes if there is validity, but don't listen to the people who want to discourage you. Politely ignore all those that think you're wasting your time. Also, I think SCBWI is a great organization for beginning writers. I know I wouldn't be published without it.
I teach reading and writing to 4th-6th graders. I write on the weekends and sometimes at night.
Cynsational News & Links
My new novel, Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007) received a five-star review from Karin Perry at TeensReadToo.com! Karin calls the novel "…a stimulating paranormal mystery mixed with romance. The relationship between Quincie and Kieren is touching and so deep that the reader feels Quincie's pain at the thought of losing Kieren, while at the same time understanding Kieren's reasons for keeping Quincie at arms length…" Read the whole review.
Speaking of Tantalize itself, though, Alison Dellenbaugh (AKA She Who Brought Her Own Fangs) offers her report on the novel's launch party at Alison Wonderland. So does Jo–news with many party pics!–at her LJ. And Tanya Lee Stone offers cheers. See the full launch party report.
More News & Links
Interview with Robin Friedman on The Girlfriend Project from Little Willow at Slayground. The Girlfriend Project will be published by Walker in April. Read an excerpt. (By the way, The Girlfriend Project official site is an excellent example of a book-specific site and was designed by Lisa Firke of Hit Those Keys.
The lovely and talented Newbery Award honor recipients offer a show of solidarity for this year's recently challenged winner, Susan Patron, at Cynthia Lord's LJ, "from Jennifer Holm, Kirby Larson, and Me."
Alma Fullerton offers new interviews with authors Kristy Dempsey, Dori Chaconas, and Douglas Rees. She also offers a new interview with agent Nadia Cornier of Firebrand Literary. Nadia says: "I'll overlook a lot for a great story. I mean, I've read some fabulous books that are perfectly crafted but really boring stories – but a really perfect story, even if it isn't perfectly crafted will have such MEANING and resonance. I want those." Read the whole interview.
A Novel Writing Workshop with D. Anne Love
Author D. Anne Love will lead an Austin SCBWI novel writing workshop on March 24.
"D. Anne Love shares her secrets for writing great plots, compelling characters, and dialogue that will keep your readers wanting more. Toss in a few wrting exercises for creativity and time for quesitons and answers and you'll leave the workshop with plenty of ideas for finishing your novel and getting it pulblished. Ten manuscript critiques will be available to SCBWI members on a first come, first served basis."
D. Anne Love is the award-winning author of numerous novels for middle grade readers and young adults. Her books take readers from the world of itinerant puppeteers in medieval England to the gates of the Alamo and the windswept plains of the Dakotas, from a ranch in modern-day Texas to a South Carolina plantation at the start of the Civil War. A former teacher, school principal, and university professor, She fills her stories with details gleaned from the meticulous research she conducts for each of her novels.
Her first novel, Bess's Log Cabin Quilt (Holiday House, 1995), was featured in The Iowa Reading Journal, The Mailbox magazine, and was nominated for multiple state awards. My Lone Star Summer (Holiday House, 1997) won the Friends of American Writers Juvenile Fiction Prize. Other books received multiple nominations for state awards and are a part of state reading lists nationwide. The Puppeteer's Apprentice (Simon & Schuster/McElderry, 2003)(excerpt) was a Book of the Month Club alternate. Her recent titles include: The Secret Prince (Simon & Schuster/McElderry, 2005)(excerpt); Semiprecious (Simon & Schuster/McElderry, 2006)(excerpt); and Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypatia (Holiday House, 2006).
D. Anne holds degrees from Lamar University and the University of North Texas.
Download the Austin SCBWI novel workshop registration form. Read a Cynsations interview with Dorothy Love.
Tantalize Launch Party
Thanks to all who celebrated with us in person or in spirit at the launch party for Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007) on Friday, Feb. 23!
In keeping with the Sanguini's motif (the fictional vampire restaurant in the novel), guests were asked to sign in as predator or prey.
We decorated in low-key Gothic colors, mostly with accents–including the framed Sanguini's fangs-style logo in the foyer, black-and-red linens for the daybed, black tapers in the candlesticks, black votives in the tray display, black-and-red pillar candles in the fireplace, red drop crystals in the parlor chandelier, black coasters, and black table cloths. Off-limits rooms were marked with crime-scene and police-line tape.
We also set three tables with the matching linens on the front terrace for those who wanted to enjoy the bright, breeze, 70-something degree night.
So far as wardrobe went, I opted for a slinky black shell and pants, black cowbody boots, my snake-wrapped earrings, my antique gold watch necklace (originally grandma's), and a full-length black net cape.
The previous day, Barbara Marin at Bo Salon on South Congress had taken my hair to a near black featuring a subtle dark blue sheen with red stripe accent streaks in front, and Kate Pham, also of Bo, painted my nails in alternating red and black. Many guests commented that they thought I should keep the 'do permanently.
The to-die-for menu, from Primizie Catering, featured: antipasto; smoked salmon gravlox; fresh vegetable crudite platter; imported and domestic artisan cheese board with vineyard grapes and seasonal berries; fresh seasonal fruit; oven dried tomatoes finished with local goat cheese balsamic vinaigreette and snipped chives; Italian sausage "spiedini" with peppers and pecorino romano cheese; calzone with mushrooms and Italian cheeses; miniature stuffed and baked pizza pockets filled with Italian cheeses, wild mushrooms and charred tomato; cocktail sandwiches (wild mushrooms, garlicky spinach and artichoke herb spread on Italian flatbread); and stuffed porcini mushrooms. Absolutely delicious! The calzone and porcini mushrooms were especially popular with our crowd. Guest Anne Bustard graciously provided an Italian creme cake.
Colby Neal 's The Flower Studio designed the gorgeously gothic buffet flowers.
Candlewick Press co-sponsored a giveaway of the final book (guests were each welcome to take one). I pre-autographed the copies. A few folks also bought (prior to the party) and brought more for me to sign.
Door prizes included ARCs of the following 2007 novels by Austin-area authors: Brothers, Boyfriends, and Other Criminal Minds by April Lurie (Delacorte); Onaj's Horn: the Silverskin Legacy (Book Three) by Jo Whittemore (Llewellyn); Runaround by Helen Hemphill (Front Street); and Wonders of the World by Brian Yansky (Flux).
We also gave away a basket filled with fixings for an Italian dinner from Central Market. Contents included: black squid ink pasta; pesto sauce with truffles; sun-dried tomatoes; parmesan; dark chocolate; Sanguini's mug, sticker, mousepad, and magnet; wine biscuits; and a bottle of Travis Peak Cabernet Sauvignon.
We had a crowd of about eighty from throughout Central Texas, though with ebb and flow, there were usually only about sixty people inside the house at any given time.
Guests included such luminaries as writers Brian Anderson, Kathi Appelt, Anne Bustard, Janie Bynum, Betty Davis, Alison Dellenbaugh, Peni R. Griffin, Lila and Rick Guzman, Helen Hemphill, Frances Hill, Varian Johnson, Lindsey Lane, April Lurie, Mark Mitchell, Sean Petrie, Lupe Ruiz-Flores, Liz Garton Scanlon, Elaine Scott, Jerry Wermund, Jo Whittemore, and Brian Yansky, illustrators Gene Brenek, Joy Fisher Hein, Christy Stallop, and Don Tate, current and former Austin SCBWI RAs-authors Tim Crow, Meredith Davis, Debbie Dunn, Julie Lake, and Nancy Jean Okunami, as well as a bounty other book pros (teachers, school and public librarians, university professors of children's/YA lit, and so on), including author-librarian Jeanette Larson, librarian-blogger Camille Powell, and a number of additional book lovers, friends, and significant others.
Kathi Appelt was kind enough to propose a toast!
I'd say about a third of the guests were writers or illustrators, about a third other book folks, and about a third significant others and additional guests, which made for a lovely mix.
My special thanks to the central Texas children's and young adult book community for all of its enthusiasm and support. I'm so honored and thrilled to have such amazing people in my life.
Thanks also to our servers, Anna and Eric! They looked fierce in their custom Sanguini's T-shirts designed by Gene Brenek. Thanks to author Julie Lake for facilitating their hiring.
Thanks also to Michael Helferich for lending us his chainsaw. Because the weather cooperated, we didn't need to have the outdoor fireplace on the terrace, but it gave us peace of mind to have it as a back-up plan.
Primizie Osteria – Italian Café and Wine Bar will open soon at 1000 E. 11th Street, Suite 200 in Austin.
See more party news and pics at GregLSBlog. Once the festivities started, we were too busy to keeping shooting photos, but I'll be sure to highlight any other party posts that may arise. Speaking of which, check out Don's "A tantalizing party" at Devas T. Rants and Raves, Liz's "Community" at Liz In Ink, Camille's "Friday Night Highlights" at Book Moot, "Tantalize Party" (with excellent party pics!) at Jo's LJ, and Alison's "A tantalizing weekend" at Alison Wonderland.
Keeping Up With Roo Wins Dolly Gray Award
Keeping Up With Roo by Sharlee Glenn, illustrated by Dan Andreason (Grossett & Dunlap, 2004) has won the 2006 Dolly Gray Award for Children's Literature in Developmental Disabilities, sponsored by The Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Developmental Disabilities and Special Needs Project.
Scroll for Sharlee's acceptance speech and more information about the award.
"A Grown-Up Brouhaha over a Book for Kids" from the New York Times. Letters to the editor include one by young adult author Alex Flinn. Read a Cynsations interview with Alex.
Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess (MTV Books, 2007) is the currently featured title at the YA Authors Cafe. Surf by to learn all about it and ask Laura a question.
CCBC Choices for 2007 have been announced. Learn more about highlighted authors and illustrators, including M.T. Anderson, Dianna Hutts Aston, Karen Ehrhardt, Jenny Han, Kimberly Willis Holt, Cynthia Kadohata, Gail Carson Levine, David Levithan, Grace Lin, Cynthia Lord, Marisa Montes, Yuyi Morales, An Na, Rick Riordan, Susan Goldman Rubin, Lola M. Schaefer, Leda Schubert, Scott Westerfeld, and Jane Yolen. Check out all the honorees!
"So You're An Old Wanna-be" by Kathe Campbell from the Institute of Children's Literature. "A light-hearted look at how one late bloomer looks at rules, challenges, and success."
Illustrator Interview: Gene Brenek on the Logo for Sanguini's from Tantalize
Gene Brenek on Gene Brenek: "Well I had to put on a little 'ABBA Gold' to gear up for this. Let's see, I was born in Houston many moons ago, but not as far back as when ABBA was still in heavy rotation. I was an 80's kid, more Prince back before he changed his name to a hieroglyph and way before he went back to being Prince. Why is my bio suddenly full of old pop artist references? Dunno, I guess that's what happens when I'm left to my own devices.
"Let's move this ahead a few years shall we? I'm currently a creative director for a big ad agency in Austin, Texas. In my spare time, I'm working on a master's in writing for children and young adults at Vermont College, which is truly a great program. I also have been illustrating dummies for my own picture book ideas. Let's just say I don't sleep. And I'm waiting, PATIENTLY, to be discovered. Ahem."
Thanks so much for designing logos for Sanguini's, the fictional vampire restaurant featured in my gothic fantasy, Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007). What was your initial inspiration for the designs?
Designing a logo is a lot like creating a picture book in a way. You need a very simple idea. A logo can't contain several different concepts at once and be effective. The ones with staying power are very iconic.
Certainly what separated the dead from the undead restaurants was the vampire mythology. So I started brainstorming and writing down anything that came to mind when I thought about vampires.
Usually I spend a fair amount of time trying out various color combinations but this assignment begged for two colors. Black, the color of night and red. Yes, black is the absence of color but when you're talking to printers it's still an ink color. Red seemed an obvious but essential choice: blood, wine, marinara.
One logo idea, that for better or worse got nicknamed "the girly one," came out of Quincie's, the protagonist's, femininity. I loved the idea of blood draining off the gothic lettering and dripping down a flowering vine, as if elements of the restaurant were changing who she was.
I also kept coming back to puncture wounds. The other logo (see above) incorporated that idea. So thank you for coming up with a restaurant that had two i's in the name, you made my job easy. If you ever write a book about a vampire-themed Ikea, I may have some leftover ideas for all those umlauted furniture names.
What considerations came into play when developing the logos?
I treated this project as I would any other design project. Before starting any sketches I had a few questions. What the owners were like? What was their vision for the restaurant? Who was their clientele? What cues could I get from the interior spaces? And while that may seem like a tough assignment, given that it's a fictional place, I found that the writing was crafted in such a way that it was very easy for me to get a sense of all of these things.
I approached this as not a design project for author Cynthia Leitich Smith but for Quincie [the protagonist]. I tried to understand her as much as I could and what her sensibilities were. Now it could be argued that Cyn and Quincie are one in the same, certainly there are aspects of that, but they are different people.
What were the challenges in bringing them to life?
Honestly the biggest challenge was not getting to design the menu, interior, the matchbooks, the business cards –all the elements that go into shaping one's identity.
What was your experience working with Printfection and CafePress? Why did you select those companies?
I went with these two companies because they offer so much flexibility. They print on demand, meaning that rather than doing a run of say 100 shirts in every size that I then had to store and ship, when someone places an order then it gets printed and shipped. They take care of it all. And I like the quality of their merchandise.
What advice would you give to folks trying to design and produce book tie-in promotions?
Think outside the box. Why not create items for a fictional vampire themed restaurant? But know that your reader is smart. Just because a tie-in isn't physically in the book, it's a part of the book. Initially I had envisioned staying away from a gothic typeface. I was leaning toward something more modern. Then I read a passage about the gothic lettering on the menu and it guided me away from something slick and contemporary. I needed to remain faithful to the book. It wasn't an entirely blank canvas.
Restaurant items made sense; to me Sanguini's was a prominent character in Tantalize. Designing items based around where the protagonist had gone to school would've made no sense what so ever.
More personally, do you count yourself among fans of the fanged ones? If so, what do you think is the appeal?
Of course I'm a fan. Vampires seem to have all the smarts. They also have big personalities, charisma. You want to hang out with them. Imagine a book where someone opens a tax-attorney-themed restaurant. Yawn.
What do you do when you're not working for the undead?
What do you mean? I'm an art director for an ad agency. I'm always working for the undead.
Actually, I'm writing and illustrating a couple of ideas of my own in the picture book arena. Depending on who you talk to that particular market is either dead or undead. For my sake, I'm hoping it's undead.
Shop Sanguini's at Printfection and CafePress; see the other Sanguini's logo option.
Sanguini's Shops
Austin illustrator Gene Brenek has designed two logos to celebrate Sanguini's, the fictional vampire restaurant featured in my upcoming YA gothic fantasy novel, Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007).
The logos are now available on T-shirts, a mousepad, and a cutting board for sale at Printfection and on more T-shirts, a mug, a magnet, and a sticker at CafePress.
Shop Sanguini's at Printfection and CafePress.
Read a story-behind-the-logos interview with Gene and see the other Sanguini's logo option.
Hurry, hurry! Zip over to Julia Durango's LJ to enter her giveaway of Angels Watching Over Me, illustrated by Elisa Kleven (Simon & Schuster, March 2007). Read a related Cynsations interview with Julia.
Artist and Author Cynthia von Buhler Talks about Her Cats at CatChannel.com. Cynthia is the author-illustrator of The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside (Houghton Mifflin, 2006).
A couple of bloggers have commented on my recent interview with Not Your Mother's Book Club, specifically about my revision process. Check out Justine Larbalestier's "Different Strokes" and Stephanie Gunn's "suddenly my writing methodology doesn't seem so strange."
Thanks also to Elizabeth Garton Scanlon and Lara Zeises for cheering my new release, Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007), and return to blogging. Read Cysational interviews with Elizabeth, which was recently recommended by HipWriterMama, and with Lara.
Author Feature: Julia Durango
Julia Durango on Julia Durango: "I was born in Las Vegas of all places, but my family moved often and by the time I finished high school I'd attended seven schools in five states (California, Utah, Rhode Island, Indiana & Missouri). I moved again to attend the University of Illinois where I received degrees in Latin American Studies and Political Science. I traveled frequently to Latin America during that time, but mostly to Colombia, where I worked in a program for street children. Now I live in Ottawa, Illinois, with my two sons (ages 6 and 10). In addition to writing children's books, I work full-time at the public library in Ottawa and I review funny books for kids with my pals Andrea Beaty and Carolyn Crimi over at www.ThreeSillyChicks.com."
Congratulations on the upcoming publication of Angels Watching Over Me, illustrated by Elisa Kleven (Simon & Schuster, March 2007)! What was your initial inspiration for writing this book?
Angels Watching Over Me is an adaptation of the African-American spiritual by the same name. My mother used to sing me to sleep with it when I was a baby, and I in turn sang it to my boys…only my youngest son would take forever to fall asleep, so I'd keep making up new verses until he finally dozed off (at which point I'd make myself a stiff drink and remind myself not to have any more babies!).
Your previous titles include Dream Hop, illustrated by Jared Lee (Simon & Schuster, 2005). Could you tell us a bit about this book? What did Jared's illustrations bring to your text?
Dream Hop was inspired by my oldest son when he was going through a particularly bad bout of nightmares. One morning he woke up and asked if I'd ever "dream hopped" from a bad dream into a good one. I started writing Dream Hop the same day. As for Jared Lee, my sons and I are huge fans of his Black Lagoon series (written by Mike Thaler, Scholastic) so we were thrilled when he signed on for Dream Hop. His illustrations are a perfect blend of scary and silly!
Along with Linda Sue Park, you also are the co-author of Yum Yuck! A Foldout Book of People Sounds, illustrated by Sue Ramá (Charlesbridge, 2005)(interview with Linda Sue). Could you describe the process that you shared with Linda Sue?
Much of what I know about writing I've learned from Linda Sue, so collaborating with her was a treat. The process itself was something like: one hundred e-mails, two dozen phone calls, and one crucial brainstorming week-end in New York City. It could also be described as: mucho research, beaucoup drafts, molto fun.
What advice do you have for beginning picture book writers?
Think like a kid. Get rid of your "wise elder" voice. Let loose and have fun (it shows!).
Between my job at the library and the hard work of raising boys (i.e. playing Legos and Guitar Hero and basketball…whew!), I'm usually too tuckered out for much else. I may be the only person in America who has never seen an episode of "American Idol" or "Desperate Housewives" or "Lost." But I read and do a crossword puzzle every night without fail. Nerdy-girl habits die hard.
Pest Fest, a picture book illustrated by Kurt Cyrus (Simon & Schuster, June 2007); The Walls of Cartagena, an historical fiction novel (Simon & Schuster, 2008); Under the Mambo Moon, a story in poems (Charlesbridge, 2009), and Go-Go Gorillas, a companion to Cha-Cha Chimps, illustrated by Eleanor Taylor (Simon & Schuster, 2009). I'm also working on a project with my lovely critique partner, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (author of Reaching for Sun, Bloomsbury, March 2007), which has been a blast!


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Chris was appointed FINSIA CEO in September 2016. He has been associated with the Australasian financial services industry for nearly 30 years. Previously, he was CEO of CUA, Australia's largest customer-owned financial institution, Regional Director, Bank of Scotland and CEO, BankWest Retail Bank.
Commencing his career in IT, Chris maintains a keen interest in the ongoing impact of technology on financial services.
A team with outstanding talent and experience, FINSIA's Board of Directors has embraced the challenges and changes that face our industry to deliver services to members that are of enduring relevance and value.
David was appointed board director in January 2010 and was appointed President of FINSIA's Board in May 2015. He has been a member of FINSIA and the Australasian Institute of Banking and Finance since 1991.
Victoria was appointed board director in March 2013 and was appointed Vice President of FINSIA's Board in May 2015. She has been a member of FINSIA and the Securities Institute of Australia since 1996.
Alan was appointed board director in February 2019.
Helen was appointed board director in February 2019.
Ian was appointed board director in October 2017. He has been a member of FINSIA since 2010.
Mark was appointed board director in March 2013. He has been a member of FINSIA since 2013.
Robina was appointed board director in June 2017. She has been a member of FINSIA and the Australasian Institute of Banking and Finance since 1992.
Kylie was appointed board director in September 2018.


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