I superimposed my actual photo of the poster just to give you a better view of the shot.

The photograph is not all that great or mindblowing (from an artistic point of view) but I guess it fulfills its purpose of advertising the costume well. For an amateur photographer with less than a year of experience, this is a great honor indeed. Hoping to go down there and get a view of the poster myself one of these days.

http://vocm.com/news-info.asp?id=31714 

I'm not a Newfoundlander or a Canadian but I am a permanent resident of Canada, living in Newfoundland, and I must say I'm amazed at the shenanigans of Mr Williams and his provincial government. 

I am personally shocked that nothing is being done about the fact that a sitting Premier, elected by the people in a free election, is allowed to set up and legitimise a new party campaign that is, for all intents and purposes, trying to interfere in the freedoms and fairnesses of a federal election in this great country.

Is not what Mr Williams is doing, interference  in the political process, and how is he allowed to run a political campaign during a federal election when he and his provincial government are not running for election?

I understand Danny having an opinion on matters relating to this province but what I don't understand is where he gets the idea he can tell people how they can vote and whom they should vote for. 

To actually send out provincial government cabinet ministers to campaign against candidates in a federal election is a very spurious activity. Is it illegal? I don't know. After all, these are people who are running the provincial government. Should they be doing this? 

Is the money for this campaign coming from provincial coffers? 

Interfering in a single person's rights and freedoms to vote however they wish, without being intimidated into considering doing something against their wishes is a serious matter. Interfering in a federal election is surely something that cannot be allowed to happen again. 

Mr Williams has overstepped the mark once again. Is he going to pay the price this time?

I hope so. Freedoms are hard won. They should never be given away, nor stolen by the use of intimidation tactics. We are all free. Maybe Mr Williams should remember that. 

As much as Mr Williams would like it to be so, we do not live in as dictatorship, and neither are we all afraid of him and his cronies. 

This matter needs looking into by the next federal government, and action needs to be taken to ensure elections are as free and fair in Newfoundland as  they are in the rest of Canada. 

I'm just an observer. I can't vote, yet. But I expect to be able to one day, with the freedom to vote as I wish, without the fear of intimidation and without my choice carrying more than political  consequences. 

Where does Danny Williams get off telling people how to vote?

When I come home from work, I have to immediately wash my hands.  After working all day handling books, I have what I call "book grunge" all over my hands.  You'd be surprised at the way books come back to us.  Sometimes, they are covered in just general filth, sometimes they are sticky, or sandy or even wet.  You just never know where a book has been, and you'll often see us cleaning off the plastic covers, or running to wash our hands.  I guess some people just don't care where they place a book.  After all, it is just a library book.  It isn't like they own it or anything.

Along with book grunge, dealing with the public leaves us rushing to the hand sanitizer bottle that we keep behind the desk on a regular basis.  From runny noses on the little ones to people who just refuse to sneeze or cough away from us, we'd rather not pick up every cold, virus or disease that walks in here.  We don't have it as bad as some professions though.

Sumo wrestler Asashoryu from Mongolia (Photo by  Gabriel Bouys)

Doctors, child-care workers and septic tank cleaners are obvious danger spots.  But what about the less obvious, like....sumo wrestler? "Scrumpox" is taking the sumo world by storm (as well as the other sports arenas of rugby and judo).  What exactly is scrumpox? It is a form of the herpes simplex virus, also known as "Herpes Gladiatorum" and is characterized by painful, fluid-filled blisters, often on the face and neck, just where sumo wrestlers come in contact with each other.  It is becoming such a deadly form of the disease that sumo handlers are resorting to quarantines for their athletes who are affected.  You can read more about the possibly deadly disease here.

So maybe we don't have it too bad here at the library. At least we probably won't die after a hard day at work.

Can you tell it's a garden theme? :) It's also a happy coincidence that the yellow spotlight that shone from the ceiling made the booth look like it's a sunny day out.

I have to confess, I am such a procrastinator when it comes to planning these trade shows, I always drive myself crazy a couple weeks leading up to the trade show scrambling to get all the booth fixtures and materials (toys, beds) ready. I got my idea for the garden theme thanks to these wonderful tissue paper pom poms by Martha Stewart that I saw at Walmart.

Who knew you can get these fluffy looking floral pom poms just from a stack of thin colored paper? Beauty does come at a price, because it took me a good two hours to separate out the paper layers to get all five pom poms up. A few feet of fake grass turf, a lawn table and fold up chairs, and I'm all set for the show. If I weren't so much in a rush, I would have also packed myself a straw brim hat and a pair of sunglasses to really complete the look!

Front view of booth. In the past, I had my dessert style dog toys on a cake platter, but kept it simple this year and put everything up on a peg board. Notice something new? Why yes, it's our new Xmas-themed donut toys!

I know it's only October, but it's never too early to start planning for Christmas! If you need to stock up these toys for your stores, they are already in stock and ready to ship.

Talking about donut toys, the booth directly across from me were the folks from Rockin' Doggie, and their two french bulldogs Louie and Lulu were just darling. Here's Lulu having a field day with our pink donut toy.

She was a real pro at finding all three squeakers in the toy!

A girl needs a nap after all this sugar rush!

Jelly donut beds and hand knit toys.

Our new JUMBO toys. That Millie caterpillar toy is so long, it took up the whole width of the rack!

Our talking poodles, our rattling unicorn toys and our big head toys.

Sea animals and jungle toys. I usually sell my samples at the end of the show, and the first ones to go were the jungle toys and the shark toys. I guess I'm not the only one who's a fan of the National Geographic and Discovery channel. :)

Our small dog toys all fit neatly in a rack. Needless to say, our toys have grown exponentially in both selection and size!

Extra yummy: We are honoring our show special until the end of the month, so give us a call at the office to find out which toys/beds qualify for the show special pricing.

Linny

www.room-candy.com

Room Candy - always yummy!

http://themochalover.blogspot.com/2008/09/of-eid-wishes.html

I don't physically know Ms B. I stumbled upon her blog some time ago by accident, and have been hooked from then. I loved the way she writes, the positive & strong attitude she portrays in her writing, and the love she displayed for her daughter.

We have been leaving comments, and somehow I feel like I knew her. She mentioned once, we may have met, which made me convinced she actually knew me, but her privacy is to be respected.

I believe if I were to know who she is one day, then I would. :)

People who read comments left on my blog assumed she is a close friend of mine. One that I would have met, and on a frequent basis. But in reality, no.

The World Wide Web is amazing, don't you think?

To Ms B,

I hope this virtual friendship would last, and we would also click, in reality.

1. My family is so very, very important to me.
2. I believe in God.
3. I worry entirely too much and I'm trying to work on that.
4. I pray every night before I go to bed, unless I am so tired I forget.  (oops)
5. I have brown hair.
6. I have curly hair.
7. I like highlights in my hair.
8. I have blue eyes.
9. I hate to do dishes.
10. I like to read magazines...a lot.
11. My mother says I'm mean, I'm pretty sure I had to have gotten it from her, LOL.
12. I like to shop, maybe I love to shop...I call it retail therapy.
13. I like to talk on the phone.
14. I own a house in Tennessee, but I don't ever stay there, I stay with family...strange!
15. Purple roses are my favorite.
16. Yellow is my favorite color, but I don't like it on anything.
17. I want a new mattress for my bed.
18. I wish that I were more FRUGAL.
19. I am an only child.
20. I care about "green" issues.
21. I vote.
22. I am short.
23. I would like to lose weight, but I haven't been putting much effort into it.
24. I don't hate anyone...although sometimes I'd really like to consider it.
25. I've got a myspace page.
26. I really like Tidewater chicken.
27. I love the meals my husband makes.
28. I wonder why trying to think of 100 things about myself is so hard.
29. I really like dooney & bourke bags.
30. I forget to use my coupons.
31. Special needs issues are of interest to me.
32. I have more then 1 best friend.
33. My ears are pierced but I don't wear earrings.
34. I make really good blueberry pie and I don't like to eat it.
35. I generally think fictional stories are boring.
36. Traveling is something that I really like to do.
37. Eating organically is something I have tried to incorporate into my life.
38. I own 2 hybrid vehicles.
39. The view from my front porch goes as far as the eye can see and it's not cluttered with developments.
40. I don't work, but despite what some people may think, I would like too.
41. I really like home decor.
42. Little off the wall gifts mean a lot to me.
43. I bought a sewing machine and only used it once.
44. Once upon a time the house I lived in burn't down and I pray that never happens again.
45. I've got cousins who were adopted.
46. I would consider adopting a child if the chance presented itself.
47. I like to eat at restaurants.
48. I'd like to think there is a whole lot more to me then what meets the eye.
49. I like girlie movies.
50. I don't like scary movies.
51. I went to Disney World twice in 7 months.
52. I was born on Christmas.
53. I like to paint...not pictures...furniture, walls...
54. I always forget to take my camera.
55. I aspire to live at the ocean.
56. I know someone who won $50,000 in the lottery.
57. I've got a lot of creative ideas in my head, but I tend to be afraid to try them.
58. I like showers not baths.
59. Even though I'm not old, getting older is hard for me.
60. I get heartburn everyday.
61. I like celebrity gossip.
62. I wish my refrigerator door handle was on the other side.
63. I sleep too much, but it is always broken up, not consecutively.
64. I like to write snail mail.
65. I like to receive snail mail.
66. Making sure the christmas gifts under my tree are wrapped in cordinating paper is important to me.
67. I've never been in the same room as my mother & father-in-law.
68. I like peanut butter marshmallow fudge.
69. I get along with my husbands ex-wife.
70. I like go-tees (sp?)
71. I don't like Dr. Pepper.
72. I like cooked tomatoes but not raw.
73. I've been in 2 car accidents.
74. I like VW's, but I don't own one.
75. I'm really grasping at strings for this list and I've known myself my whole life.
76. I'd like to try making speciality cakes as a hobby.
77. I have 3 tattoos.
78. I'd like more tattoos, but I like to be able to hide them.
79. I'm scared of the dark.
80. I use to have re-occuring dreams about being in high school even though I had finished.
81. Sometimes I cry for no apparent reason.
82. I am very impatient.
83. I like to make lists.
84. I talk to my grandmother every day.
85. I think I am such a perfectionist that I am often unperfected...if that makes sense.
86. I like Greys Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.
87. The future of this nation scares me.
88. I cannot believe how much the gov't takes in taxes is legal.
89. I have a lot of random thoughts.
90. I have drank before, but I don't like to drink.
91. I don't smoke.
92. I like blogging even though, I'm not really sure where my blog is headed yet.
93. I've not went to church in a long time and I know I really need too.
94. I like candles, but I rarely light them.
95. I have yet to finish my 101 things to do in 1001 days list.
96. I like hugs.
97. I don't like surprises.
98. I sound like a child on the phone, when people call my house for me they ask to speak to my mom.
99. I like sweet tea.
100. Last but not least, I don't have any pets.

The much awaited Genesis Interactive Flip Mag has arrived. This is a monthly publication produced in-house by the team at Genesis Interactive, packed with valuable industry information, new product launch informations, updates on our experiments at the Lab and some other fun stuff.

Checkout October's Mag here

We would love to hear your feedback about this mag

i'm listening to today. the pumpkins song. someone just mentioned it and i was reminded how much i like everything ever by this band.

i saw hot chip at the kool haus on tuesday, which was a dancetastic time. i was impressed by the way the songs were brought to life. it's always a gamble seeing electronic-based tunes live, but i was NOT disappointed. except by growing, the opener. they were boring. saturday we had people over for apples to apples. it was nuit blanche and i saw little art, but went to slacks and saw lots of alcohol and more dancing.

the rest of my days all sort of blur together, in a wonderfully mundate kind of way.

i'm not sure what to put in this thing anymore. i have little to tell that would be appropriate for the public. what's interesting? who reads this anyways?

So i was walking  aimlessly with a friend the other day and we ended up discussing  how aimless and ambitionless we were. To put it more clearly, all my childhood and even till the end of class 12th when i had bitten off almost all my fingers trying to figure out what to do with my life, i always had this belief that a bolt of lightning will strike me and i will suddenly be enlightened as to what my 'calling' in life is. Everyone is born with a purpose, i felt and there must be something in store for me. Not eternal glory perhaps, not the honour of being remembered by a handful of generations, not a year of fame, not even a name that will make you raise your eyebrows and wonder where you've heard it before, but i did expect that  i will atleast be able to put my finger on a profession, a career that will  will be 'my avocation and vocation' - you see, it wasn't money i sought, i was satisfaction- being involved in what i did, loving the work i did- that's what i wanted for myself..and if fame and glory were to come with it, well, i say, i don't mind! :D

After 10th boards when it was time to choose the stream, i spent innumerable sleepless nights wondering which branch to take up. Now, i always had a deep interest in archaeology and thought that this, perhaps, is what i was meant to do- be an arachaeologist. But my deep loathing of Pol Sc. changed my mind and   i followed 'the middle path' by taking science- i figured that having taken a branch whoch allows you to do 'most anything, i was fairly safe... you see, i was still waiting for 'my calling'.

2 years later, i was facing the same dilemma, only this time, the magnitude was much greater and this was one time i had to make a decision that would, presumably, affect my life to come in a big way. Confused and looking for an easy solution, i ended up taking Maths. Hnrs. ( i figured that since i liked maths and had nothing else in mind, maybe i should just do this and then think 'bout the rest  3 years later). However, if you come form a family of PhDs and engineers and people who have never known what it is to be anything but a Sciencee, taking up B.A. Hnrs might earn you the disapproval and displeasure of many a well-meaning 'uncle' and 'auntie'.

"But beta, what will you do after 3 years?"

"Just do a B.Tech like your brother and father- life will be secure"

"Do somethign productive..what's this B.A.?"

and even..." Are B.A. ladki se aajkal shaadi koi nahin karta!"

:P :P :P

well these arguments did not really hold weight with me  but the end result was, being bogged down by these googlies day in, day out, i began to wonder myself - "So rini, what exactly is it that you ARE planning to do after 3 years??" and lo behold! i was without an answer.

I had given up the idea of journalism and English hnrs, Maths Hnrs. did not seem that appealing to me either and so what was i stuck with? L&G the answer is clear to you- Engineering was my salvation. I decided to drop a year and try my luck in this field. After all, i figured,  i'd have a professional degree in hand and even if i did not like it, i could always do a post-graduate course in, say, Mass Com later on.

What i did not bargain for, however, was that spending 4 years doing something which you don't particularly relish might you leave you feeling vacant inside. I feel purposeless at times, wondering why on earth i'm here. I sit to study just 2 days before the exams, i don't study for knowledge at all, if i do study at all, it is only to get  a decent CG. This is not what i or Robert Frost had in mind when he spoke of ( and i quoted )'avocation' combining with 'vocation'. This is not my calling. This is not what i'm supposed to do.

1 year later and i'm still as clueless as i was the first day i arrived here. I still wonder if i did the right thing dropping a year and taking up a 4- year course to while away time while i wait for enlightenment to strike me, if i did the right thing by dropping a course which may, after all, have suited me better, or if i made a fatal error of judgement in the early days themselves by not taking up Arts. These questions will remain as long as i remain in this grey zone between whining and resignation. Or atleast till i am struck by that much-awaited bolt...

Friday evening, my husband and I went to our local Corn Maize.  If you've never been to one, they cut a maze through a corn field, and let you loose to find your way out.  We got through in 45 minutes.  I have no idea if that's a good time or not, but I think we walked several miles in that time.  To help you out, they post multiple choice questions throughout the maze, and next to the answers it says turn right or turn left.  But the questions were so obscure I'm sure we didn't get too many right.

But it was such a beautiful day and I'm glad we took advantage of it.  We've had about 3 weeks of gorgeous days all in a row.  I've tried to be out and about in it as much as possible to enjoy it.  It's supposed to start raining tomorrow and rain for awhile, so we may have seen the last of the perfect fall days.

After the corn maze, we came home and cooked steaks and potato casserole...yummmmm.  Then we had baked apples for dessert. 

This is before they went in the oven.  There's walnuts, currants, a cinnamon stick, apple cider, lemon juice, brown sugar and butter all in there.  I'd never made this recipe before but it was delicious.  And this is the way to eat them...

Dave left for the states on Friday and that same day I headed out on an adventure to the beach with the kids and my dad. (more on this later)

We are back now.  Dad is back in Ankara, the car is unpacked, kids are fed and in bed, and as I'm typing this it feels like I'm floating in the Mediterranean being pushed back and forth by the waves.  I think I'll wash up the dinner dishes and head off to bed.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Well, I wasn't quite awake when I read today's Shutter Sisters post, so I thought at first that it said to post pictures of your adventures.  "Perfect!" I thought, since I had such an adventurous weekend!  But alas, it said to post pictures of your adventurERs.  Well, *I* am an adventurer - and I have the pictures to prove it!

Above is a picture of my first adventure in my BOW weekend: the Alpine Tower.  This 50 foot structure is record-setting as the largest free-standing climbing structure in...maybe the country?  I don't remember, but I do remember that it is pretty unique.  There are 3 legs (front, left, & right looking from straight on as in the left picture), 3 vertical struts, and three arms holding up the large top platform.  This means there are lots of ways to get to the top!

For my first climb, I went up the left leg to the cargo net (or pirate net, as I called it!), which is free-swinging about 30 feet in the air.  Whee!  There I am in the top picture on the right perched at the top of the cargo net trying to figure out how to get over the edge to the top of the platform.  The "logs" are all about the size of telephone poles, or larger, so maneuvering around is a bit tricky at times.

On my second climb, I went up the right leg with a goal of making it to the teeter totter log.  A series of ropes and cables attach this log to the structure, but it totally teeter-totters!  I walked to the very edge of the log with nothing to hold onto.  What an exhilarating and scary experience!

I was very grateful for my belayers who were on the ground manning my safety rope at all times.  I did lose my grip and fall backwards off the tower while I was climbing the right leg, but my harness and belayer kept me suspended in the air until I could find my footing again.  There are lots of nice metaphors there. (-:

All-in-all, it was scary, challenging, physically demanding, and completely fun!

This continued uncertainty has me yearning for more simple times.  I may voluntarily take us from the direct glare of society soon.  I am giving us a year to some how gain some ground and footing.  If this does not happen we know people though economically poor have managed their natural resources well and used their talents for a means of support.  We have been welcomed to join them and we will.  It is like taking a small step back in time but we won't be alone and probably will be better off.  The American bailout aimed to stimulate the economy is so out of reach of those that really need it that by the time it trickles down it will be mere pennies not enough to stimulate my budget.

Apparently SWMBO (She who must be obeyed) had plans to start writing about the trials and tribulations of travel. But she and HWTHSBO ( He who thinks he should be obeyed) are not up to the task, and once again I am in charge!

I can't understand them -really I can't. I bark to warn them of the plague of pussycats that are sneaking into our territory and I am told to be quiet and yet the two of them are making terrible awful noises, I think humans refer to it as coughing- sounds more like a weak bark if you ask me and sneezing every five minutes and the things they are doing with their noses- doesn't bear thinking about. Yet when I try to get them to play or go for a walk in the sunshine giving them my best energetic "joi de vie" , by running at full tilt around the house and actually managing to have my four paws off the ground at the same time, and throwing myself bodily on the bed to help them arouse from their stupor all they do is manage to make a low moaning sound and I am told to go away and lay down. HRMMMMPH !I have been doing that for days time they went to the Vet!

I have managed so far to keep pussy cats and squirrels at bay but I have seen this other usurper to my land. It is green and jumps - I have had to spend hours keeping them out of garden.

If it isn't pussycats and squirrels it is green jumpers!
However I have had loads of training and instinct that enable me to protect the territory afforded to me;

AH HA there it is hiding but not from my nose!

Trapped the Green Demon - no more to jump in my territory

My just reward HMMMMMMMMM GOOD!

A job well done it I do say so myself

But there is just no pleasing SWMBO- she just made some more weird sounds- and an OH!!!!!! MISTEEEEEEEEEE !!! Just no pleasing some people !

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

I must admit, this is a powerful story.  The images and emotions that it evokes are enormous.  Wired Magazine challenged several of our contemporary authors to try to do the same.  Here are a few examples:

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore

Easy. Just touch the match to
- Ursula K. Le Guin

Epitaph: He shouldn't have fed it.
- Brian Herbert

For the complete list, you can go to this link at the Wired website.  Here's my go at it :

"It's Monday again. Weekends barely exist."  Heidi L.

Can you write your own six-word story?

]]> http://crazyasuka.wordpress.com/?p=785 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:31:19 +0000 crazyasuka http://crazyasuka.ro.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/fine-officer-technically-i-can-see-colors/ Hey, you.  Look at the colors in this strip. Some purplishh blueish tealishh thing. Yah.

Do you think you can arrange them by hue?

The color IQ test. Took it from Sulz

Well I was planning on making an awesome entry about it, but lets be honest: I just wanted to brag that I got a perfect score.* Look!  My cone cells are very very healthy!

So, can you do it? Can you do it? I dare ya! Bwahahha.

Hehe, now, don't panic if you don't do well in here, this is just a game. Real color vision tests are more like this. Try it out if you want to.  Interesting fact: Up to 8% of males are colorblind while less than 0.5% of women are.

I've covered colors before.  In a very dreamy and abstract way but I did. I love colors.

Now, not all the possible combinations are acceptable. For example I find the image above very unpleasant, so much that I wanted to get rid of it, but since it's the proof that I did get a perfect score, I won't.

Instead I'll post a few images that I do like.  Enjoy.

* (Also, when I googled "color discrimination", I got a bunch of links about racism that I found inexplicable for about 10 seconds)

And finally, I'll post the thing I was tagged for in the first place.  “to fish out an old photo, preferably a decade old and taken when I was completely unaware.” Those who know me in facebook have probably seen pictures of me from over a decade ago.  For the rest of you, here goes one!

For those of you who don't know I'm a magazine junkie.  Give me a book and there is a good chance I will put it down, give me a magazine and I'll read it cover to cover...strange!

Anywho this month in Real Simple there is an article entitled Embrace Your Inner Cheapskate Briefly it's about a man who challenges himself to go an entire week without spending a cent.  Here comes the Can I Do It?

Mentally I always consider the fact I would like to be more frugal, that I should save money, not be so impulsive with spending...the list goes on.  This article has inspired me to see if I can do this for an entire week.  So starting mid-day tomorrow (because I need to buy a bag of ice in the morning) I am going to see if I can go an entire week without spending money.  There is food in the house, the milk is fresh, my car is almost completely full of gas.  In other words there is nothing that I need!  Check back through out this week for updates on how it goes.  If you want to join me leave me a comment!

Scroll down to check out my MENU PLAN MONDAY!

Honesty is one of "The Four Absolutes" of the Oxford Group, which was the precursor to Alcoholics Anonymous that touched both Bill W and Dr. Bob seperately before they met.  Initially, the "meetings" they held were part of the Oxford Group, so it is there that AA had its begininngs.  This photograph is from Dr. Bob's grave.  It is part of his headstone.

While purity, unselfishness and love are certainly worthy characteristics to have, I haven't heard them touted as part of the AA program.  Honesty, though, is central to AA.  It appears in one of the slogans - HOW - honestly, openness (or open-mindedness) and willingness - HOW it works.  Honesty makes many appearances throughout the literature and to my understanding, I can't really work the program without being very very honest.  Dishonesty will lead to drinking.

It was one of the first benefits of AA that I experienced, and I experienced it in a big way.  Each time I stopped drinking and put a few sober days together, the fact that I did not have to cover anything up gave me immediate relief.  Not only was the there the dishonesty of drinking and all that entailed, there was also the fact that in my particular character, I think I lied when the truth would have done just as well.

I lied about drinking and being drunk, to be sure.  Many times I went to a meeting messed up and lied in the faces of the people there who were so kind to me and such good friends.  More than that, they could spot a drunk a mile away, and my lying was stupid and shameful.  I lied to teachers and people who went to school with me in order to excuse away my insane behavior.  I'm sure my lies weren't very convincing.  There's also the fact that I was living a lie in the relationship I was having with the married man across the street.  I lied to everyone about that, including his wife, who thought I was her friend.

Not drinking, a whole group of lies were no longer meaningful, and I did always realize what a relief that was when I experienced it.  Much more than that, though, is the fact that AA tells us and teaches us to be as honest as possible with all people in all situations.  There are some drastic circumstances, I suppose, when honesty would be more hurtful than helpful, but I can't really think of any.  All this to say that so many alcoholics will still try to justify hiding things and being untruthful since they do so for the good of others.  This is hardly ever true.

My thoughts about the deeper, more complicated aspects of honesty aren't clear to me now.  I've heard it brought up as a topic, even, should we avoid all white lies for the sake of honesty?  What if you think the baby is ugly, the hair cut is unfortunate, the painting is bad?  Happily, as  members of Alcoholics Anonymous, we have infinite resources to check these things out.  There are always people to talk to and literature to read, so we can check on our particular cirumstances and motives.

For me right now, I'm wondering about the very deepest meaning of honesty.  When at work (where else?) I stay quiet rather than speaking up.  I don't know if it's right or wrong.  There are a few people who know my situation in depth, but the answer isn't clear.  So here I am, considering these steps and these principles again specifically, and in depth.

You can find out more about this interesting artist at his website here:

http://www.liviodemarchi.com/ukmain3.htm

We have lots of books on woodcarving at the library as well, if you are interested in doing a little carving of your own.

DSC01201, originally uploaded by littlegreenpig.

For the first time this week, the Saddlebacks had a go at writing some drama scripts in the form of a dialogue between two characters. After a few drama warm-ups we got down to creating some great episodes using lots of different voices. Jake's stands out: a phone conversation between a cement supplier and a less than happy customer... very inventive Jake!

Listen out for interesting conversations that are happening around you. Trains, buses, shop queues, doctor's surgeries are all great places to pick up some fantastic sources for writing dialogue. Don't let people know you're eavesdropping though! Post your interesting snippets here...

Local performance poet and DJ from Radio Reverb, Adam Dench (aka Invokal), joined us this Tuesday and we're really looking forward to him running some workshops for the next couple of weeks. Some of you may remember his fantastic performance poetry from our open mic night last summer. So, watch out Piglets and Saddlebacks, who knows what he's got in store for you! Check out his MySpace page to see what he does.