Spotted on hip fashionistas & celebrities alike as the weather turns cooler, the quilted vest is a great way to add layers and look fashionable while staying warm.  Form fitting and flattering, you will love the versatility.

     Bebe Sport has an adorable quilted vest, the Bebe Sport Pintuck Vest available in several colors including Red and Black.   Sold out in stores and at bebe.com, you can find this vest at Dream-Adventures for less than 50% of retail, with FREE shipping to any US address.

     May your days be filled with Dream-Adventures!

É sério. Está aqui.

The school year in Kenya has now been over for 4 days (we go January to late November/early December).  I have finally had time to get in some perusal of news in education outside of my immediate school and would like to take the following article and opinion letters in the NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/education/15plans.html?scp=1&sq=lesson%20plans%20online&st=cse

one step further.

In Kenya, many teachers do not write lesson plans in the way Americans are used to doing.  Kenya has schemes of work which is a broad ‘lesson’ if you will, with few details indicating the steps, methodology, etc. of delivering education.  Part of the reason for this is the fact that everyone must use the Kenyan mandated textbooks. The lack of access to other books and materials makes it difficult to teach something that is not in the ‘textbook’.   Since there is no true difference, teachers have a tendency to copy the rough syllabus and direct quotes from the text book, do a few limited elaborations/examples and call it a day.  This then promotes the chalk and talk mentality common in many classrooms. It also increases the likelihood of education not ‘improving’ to the degree that it can from one generation to the next as direct copying from a text is not an effective method of learning.

To add insult to this stupefying lack of depth in  lesson planning, it is also common for teachers to buy whole sets of exams from another school so that teachers can avoid having to construct meaningful exams. Learners  in high schools are graded on two exams – middle of term and end of term, material being cumulative from Form 1 (freshman year) to Form 4 (senior year).   Because there are very few ways to ask the same questions, especially when using memorization, listing and repeating back said copied notes, the bought exams are nothing more than a money making scheme.

I explained to my teachers it would be much more effective to get a cadre of teachers from a variety of schools to craft an exam, deliver it, and have another teacher (not yourself) grade your exam and in exchange you do the same.  This process allows for teachers to develop their skill set, to share information and essentially improve/overhaul the education system.

What I find terribly sad/disturbing about the American purchasing of lesson plans is the lack of effort on the part of teachers to construct a meaningful lesson and improve their skill set in understanding, delivery of ideas to students. No, it is not easy to do lesson planning – it is also not easy to be a neurosurgeon, airline pilot, member of the armed forces or farmer.

The logic which teachers are using for selling lesson plans (not taking a vow of poverty to be a teacher) is merely obscuring the flagrant misuse of capitalism.  It is this same abuse of logic that allows Kenyan teachers to purchase exams.

For the sake of education, I look forward to working with teacher colleagues who are willing to put in the effort, time, energy to improve their craft and create a learning environment in their classroom.  Merely facilitating/ imparting a pre-measured portion of information (standards in the states and syllabus in Kenya) is insufficient to raise up students to the level of being ever inquisitive and applying their knowledge.

I believe the comments American teachers might want to think about would be the implications of being lazy and uncommitted in the face of doing one of the most important jobs in the world- passing on knowledge, culture and improving the conditions of living standards for everyone.  For my Kenyan teachers, it is not necessarily about ease of work as lack of exposure to what actually needs to happen.  Kenya has only had compulsory education for 11 years. It will take somewhere in the vicinity of another 40-90 years to ‘push’ education through the population to make it a force of bringing improvements in Kenya.

If American teachers truly wanted to obtain recognition and achieve something, they would do a stint in Peace Corps and go to a third world country.  Once one sees what happens when people are not educated (by  politics, government, poverty, etc.) and have to survive by ignorance, then they are able to reframe how they look at the SIGNIFICANCE of their career.  Education is not about test score numbers or profits (those are business concepts – see The Black Swan -by N. Taleb), rather it is about improving the human condition.

Alessandra Mussolini, the famous dictator’s Benito Mussolini granddaughter, asked Italian police to conduct an official investigation after at an online auction on E-bay, was put on sale blood and brain samples from his grandfather.

Alessandra Mussolini, also a famous right-wing militant, told the press in the peninsula that she was outraged at hearing the news that parts of her grandfather’s body were put up for sale. The original price for the parts of brain was 15,000 euros, but until now, nobody has been able to buy them. E-Bay’s representatives said that on their website is banned the sale of human parts, and the auction was closed a few hours after it was posted. The dictator remains were stolen from the hospital’s autopsy room in Milan shortly after his killing, at the end of World War II.

“I was informed that pieces of my grandfather’s brain along with several other blood samples are for sale. Such things must end once and for all”, said the politician. After being shot along with his young mistress Claret Pettacci, Mussolini’s corpse was hanged by a group of antifascist demonstrators in a gas station on the outskirts of Milan. After autopsy, the corpses of the dictator were returned to the family and buried in 1957 in Predappio, his hometown. Soon, Predappio has become a pilgrimage destination for nostalgic fascism, and a place to sell trinkets, shirts, lighters and bottles of wine, all with the effigy of the famous dictator.

Grupul american eBay a anuntat vineri ca a incheiat vanzarea a 70% din actiunile Skype, pentru 2 miliarde dolari, unui grup de investitori ce ii include pe cei doi fondatori ai sistemului de telefonie prin internet.

eBay, care va pastra o participatie de 30% in cadrul grupului, va primi 1,9 miliarde dolari in
numerar si, ulterior, alte 125 milioane dolari, potrivit unui comunicat al grupului.  Tranzactia evalueaza grupul Skype la aproximativ 2,8 miliarde dolari.

in urma vanzarii, 56% din capitalul Skype va fi detinut de un grup de investitori, printre care se numara fondurile Silver Lake Partners si Andreesen Horowitz, precum si Biroul de Investitii al Regimului de Pensii din Canada (CPPIB).
Restul de 14% va reveni celor doi fondatori ai Skype, Janus Friis si Niklas Zennstrom, prin intermediul societatii Joltid.
eBay a anuntat la inceputul lunii septembrie ca va vinde 65% din Skype, companie preluata in urma cu patru ani de la cei doi fondatori, pentru 3,1 miliarde dolari.

Sursa: Hit.ro

Alessandra Mussolini denuncia che su e-bay sono stati venduti, per 15mila euro, sangue e cervello di Benito Mussolini, resti dell’autopsia fatta dopo la sua morte. Brutta notizia, ma ancora più brutto il fatto che i possibili compratori sono tanti, tipo Gasparri, Borghezio, Cicchitto, Santanché… gente che pagherebbe oro per un pezzettino di cervello …

Fonte: www.altroconsumo.it

Quando si decide di acquistare un casco da moto su e-bay, prima di preoccuparsi delle decorazioni e della gamma di colori disponibili, è importante accertarsi che sia omologato. Grazie alla segnalazione di un socio, abbiamo scoperto però che molti sottovalutano la funzione primaria di questo accessorio.

Grazioso, ma sospetto: non esistono caschi “misura universale” in Europa
Grazie alle segnalazioni di un socio, abbiamo scoperto in vendita su e-bay un casco da moto sospetto: si tratta di un grazioso casco rosa marchiato Hello Kitty, prodotto in Asia.

Abbiamo controllato l’annuncio, e tra le caratteristiche del casco ci è subito balzata agli occhi la dicitura “misura universale”: in Europa non sono venduti caschi da moto con questa peculiarità. Anzi scegliere la taglia giusta di un casco è molto importante perché in caso di incidente un casco troppo grande viene scalzato via. Ecco la pagina dell’offerta sul sito e-bay con la foto del casco sospetto.

Disinteresse per l’omologazione del casco
Fra le varie domande poste dagli utenti al venditore, abbiamo riscontrato che solo uno di loro si preoccupava di chiedere informazioni circa l’omologazione del casco, e ci è sembrato piuttosto allarmante. La maggior parte degli interessati al prodotto era piuttosto curiosa di conoscere la gamma di colori disponibili per la decorazione Hello Kitty.

Le nostre verifiche sul casco Hello Kitty
Incuriositi da tutte queste anomalie abbiamo deciso di acquistare il casco e verificare se avesse i requisiti necessari per garantire un adeguato grado di sicurezza. Come avevamo sospettato, il prodotto non è omologato, e quindi in Europa non può essere utilizzato come casco da moto o ciclomotore. Inoltre è di una misura molto grande. È poco probabile che possa essere adatto alla testa di una ragazzina, normale destinataria di un prodotto del genere.

Un altro campanello d’allarme ci ha confermato la cattiva qualità del prodotto: nonostante il prodotto venga da un paese asiatico, al momento dell’acquisto non ci è stato richiesto il pagamento di dazi doganali.

Scegliere prodotti sicuri: il casco Hello Kitty omologato costa poco di più
Se per altri prodotti, le offerte su e-bay possono far risparmiare molto, quando si tratta di dispositivi di sicurezza di questo genere, bisogna far attenzione alle caratteristiche di quello che si acquista.

Per chi fosse interessato a un casco con le decorazioni di Hello Kitty abbiamo verificato che sul mercato, l’originale marchiato HDM costa poco di più: si può trovare a 99 euro. Non lo abbiamo testato e non possiamo pronunciarci sulla qualità effettiva del prodotto, ma se non altro è omologato, ha una garanzia e un’azienda di riferimento. Un casco senza omologazione come quello segnalato sopra, oltre a essere inutilizzabile per legge, in caso di incidenti non ci garantisce una protezione adeguata.

Fonte: www.altroconsumo.it

I made these two-stepping pillowcases for my favourite urban cowboy’s birthday.

two-steppin'

Unfortunately, his pillows are exactly as long as the pillowcases and so the more they are used, the further the pillows start to stick out the open side.  Not exactly the look I was going for.  Time to add on more fabric!

The first dilemma was which material to add.  I didn’t have enough of the original print to add a tab going the other direction, and there really wasn’t anything in my stash that matched well enough to use as a believably intentional contrast.  Darn, I had to go on E-bay and order new fabric.  It was a hard task, but I managed to tough it out and find not only a lovely contrasting print, but several other lovely prints as well – combined shipping you know!  To complete the pillowcases I chose this Michael Miller print called “lucky bandana” to keep with the cowboy theme.

lucky bandana

The second dilemma was how to add on more fabric – I needed it to look like it was intentional, but I also didn’t want to spend an excessive amount of time fixing the cases.  I used double-seams on the original pillowcases (where you sew one seam with wrong sides together, then turn it to right sides together and sew a second seam over the first so the raw edges are caught between the two and don’t show) so ripping out the end flaps to add on was not practical.  For the same reason neither was cutting the pillow case somewhere in the middle and adding in a strip of the contrasting fabric.

I contemplated several methods of adding on to the open end before settling on what was perhaps not the absolute easiest method, but the one that I thought best balanced a good-looking finished product with breaking the least amount of sweat.  I cut a strip of the lucky bandana fabric 8 inches wide and 2.5 inches longer than the opening.  I sewed the strip in half, right sides together, leaving a small gap in the long end so I could turn it right side out.  I ironed my seams flat and started pinning it from the middle of the strip to the top seam of the pillowcase, seam end of the strip 1/2 an inch inside the open flap of the pillowcase, one side first and then from the middle to where the overlap of the strip was curving around the bottom seam of the pillowcase.  After I had the first part of the strip sewn on I pinned the as-yet-unpinned tail of the strip over it, so that the bottom of the strip forms an overlap over itself rather than a seam.

the assembly from the inside

Getting the strip even on the pillowcase was the only tricky part.  Once it was pinned correctly it was a simple matter to top stitch the lucky bandana strip to the pillowcase.  There’s an extra seam that shows from where the original pillowcase was turned back at the open flap, but besides that I think it looks like the lucky bandana flap is an intentional flourish to the two steppin’ pillowcase.  I’m quite pleased with the end result and so is my favourite cowboy!

finished product

Today, a friend and her daughter came over and we hung out and worked on some organizing around the house.  I decided to tackle the trash bags sitting in the computer room that had been brought from AFD– John’s personal things from his locker.  I haven’t had the strength to look at them.  They’ve been here for well over a month.  Today, with my friend here, I decided to open them up.

John’s life at the firehouse was separate from our life together.  I’m not a firefighter.  I don’t know much about firefighting.  John’s told me a lot and I’m eager to learn, but like the horses are my thing- firefighting was his thing.  He could tell you the names and breeds of the horses and knew that Tiny and Amber were decedents of the great Doc Bar.  But he didn’t know the intricacies of riding or horsemanship.  Same with me and firefighting, although honestly, I probably had more interest in firefighting than John had in my “lazy assed horses.”

But he respected my passion and my love for horses, just like I did his love and passion for firefighting.  Both are hobbies/careers that take up a lot of time and can cause rifts in relationships.  That is one of the many things that I’ll always love about him.

Going through his stuff there were some things I knew I wouldn’t find.  I knew I wouldn’t find a photo of me in his stuff.  No wedding photo.   No photo of the two of us.  No photo that he liked of me.  I’m sure some people would think that was odd and maybe it is.  But, that’s the way John was.  If you asked him, he probably would have had a reply like- why do I need a photo of Mary, I see her all of the time.  I often missed him when he was gone, he rarely missed me.  I think a lot of that is that he just saw it as part of the job- John was a professional through and through.  Maybe he even took our relationship for granted to an extent- like it would always be around- always be there.  We had a great relationship and we loved each other very much.  Maybe he figured we were adults and adults don’t miss somebody when they don’t see them for 24 hrs.  John really wasn’t a very emotional person.  Sometimes I think that comes with the job- firefighters and police officers see a lot of things that normal people don’t.  Things that normal people don’t want to see- death, dying, blood, body parts, fires, sickness, etc.  What they experience can also be confidential information in some cases.  John also had experienced a lot of loss- he lost his father in 1994 and his mother in 2004.  That can change a person.

Having Nathaniel changed that for him… he smiled more than he ever had and you could just see the love for his son… it shines through in all of the photos of the two of them.  I know he missed his boy when he was at work.  He’d come home and just hug Nathaniel and tell him how much he missed him.

Being diagnosed with stage IV  made John more emotional, too.  Not to say we had gushy emotional in depth conversations about feelings, but he shared more than he had before and he started telling me “I love you,” more than he ever had.  He used to rarely say it.  He knew it bugged me.  He would reply that it was trite and overused and that I should know that he loved me.  It just felt nice to hear it… to know that he meant it.

I had gotten John some photo magnets of Nathaniel for Christmas or for his birthday or both.  They were in there.  Along with our Christmas card from last year.  He loved his son more than some fathers will love their children in a lifetime.  John was the best father.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had actually taken the little fan that I had gotten for him to work.  Often times things that I got for him were just put aside.  Now, who knows if he actually used the fan or not, but at least it made it to work.

There was one thing that I didn’t know he had, but I sort of knew why he had it- a stuffed flying flingshot frog It is reminiscent of the “No Balls” frog.  John also had “No balls”  listed on  his FB page as  his quote.  “Young buck.  Old School,” used to be his quote on the firefighting forum, The Watch Desk.  “Young buck.  Old School,” made sense to me.  “No balls,” I just didn’t get it.  Once I asked him about it.

His explanation was showing me “Frog in a Blender” on Joe Cartoon.

I understand the “Frog in a Blender.”  I found it funny, but not hilarious.  I also missed the point of why he would use it as an avatar and quote on his pages.  So… if anybody wants to explain the significance… I’d appreciate it…

Of course… you can’t always be a serious all business sort of guy.  He did love watching “The Simpsons“, “Family Guy“, and “American Dad.”

There were a  few DVDs.  Typical firefighter ones like:  “The Complete First Season of Rescue Me” & “Ladder 49.”  I loved “Ladder 49,” but hated the ending… isn’t everything supposed to have a happy ending… sigh…   Of course in my “movie”, my firefighter dies of cancer… so no happy ending here either.  There was “Saving Private Ryan.”  John love Mel Brooks.  I being deficient in movie watching have seen very little Mel Brooks.  Geez… every since John and I were dating he mentioned how I needed to watch Mel Brooks movies… in particular “History of the World Part I.”  That was in his locker.  Along with “Spaceballs,” “Young Frankenstein,” and “Blazing Saddles.”  Sadly, I don’t think I’ve seen any of them– I can say I’ve watched “The Producers” and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Maybe I’ll just have to watch some DVDs…  There were 2 vidoes from a comic I’d never heard of, Bob Nelson.  Probably everybody but me has heard of him, but me.  I’m not a whiz when it comes to pop culture.

There was a baseball glove with some balls.  The firefighters used to play at work.  I remember when John bought the glove and some balls.  I believe he got a great deal on a large quantity of balls and sold the ones he didn’t need on E-bay.  He commented that the Navy didn’t like it that much when their balls when over the fence.  I know he looked forward to playing when they had the chance.  One of John’s comments when he was stage IV is that he wanted somebody to teach Nathaniel to play catch.  With my ball handling abilities… that’s not me… volunteers gladly appreciated.

There were some tools that I don’t know what they are and locks without combination.  At least the locks are open.  I don’t know if there is symbolism or irony there or just two locks.  I’d love to ask John to explain what the tools are are or how to use them, but I can’t.  I saw something that was blue nylon.  I wondered if that was his rigging for lifting people (sorry, I don’t know the technical terminology).  John was an expert at knots and doing different rigging.  He was part of a Cecil County rope rescue team.  Once he wanted to practice, so we went over to the firehouse and I ended up hoisted quite high in the air…. lol… a lot of fun, but the harness was NOT comfortable… lol… Part of me wanted to investigate.  Part of me knew, I’d crumple if that’s what it was.

There was a computer cable, a jump drive, and some CDs.  John was a computer whiz.  It’s not surprising that he had some type of computer stuff at work.

A comb, his razor, lotion, a LiveStrong band, a mosquito repellent bracelet, boot polish, and leather cleaner (actually my leather cleaner for my tack– no problem, I’m sure he got more use out of it) were also included.  I brush Nathaniel’s hair with one of John’s combs.  I’ve thought, what will I do when it breaks?  Now, I have a backup.

There was an envelope of some paperwork.  It looks like some reports and classes that John had written up.  He’d been the instructor for a lot of them.  John LOVED teaching.  He was so excited about AFD having their own academy.  He was going to be an instructor.  His eyes lit up when he talked about it.  Sadly, he got sick and was barely able to teach at all.  His helmet with the instructor shield was in the box.  It even still smelled smoky- who knows when he last used the helmet- he was pulled out of work immediately upon his stage IV diagnosis in February.  It’s hard to believe that after all of that time it still smelled smoky.  I love that smell.  I still do, even knowing that his firefighting may very well have contributed to his death.  Bottom line- firefighters have a higher rate of melanoma than the general population.

He had a lot of clothes and his bed linens.  They’ll be nice to keep for Nathaniel and if I ever loose a lot of weight, I know I’d love to wear his t-shirts.

There was a Thank You note from an elementary class that Menassa, Joe, & John had visited to teach fire safety.  I wondered if Joe & Menassa had gotten Thank You’s also or if they’d put it in there for my benefit.  Whatever the case…. I appreciated it.  John participated in a lot of fire safety events at schools and he did a spectacular presentation for becoming a firefighter that he presented at our local (I think) middle school (may have been HS).

John was passionate about firefighting.  He loved being a firefighter.  If only all of us could share that same passion and love… we’d all be happier and the world would probably be a better place.

I think about my desk at work.  If anything happened to me… what contents would get boxed up and returned to Nathaniel.  Most of my things would be discarded- confidential company  info.  Then, there are some printed and cut out photos that I used to display (of the horses, cats, John, and Nathaniel) that are now in desk drawers.  There are the trinkets that people bring back for the team when they go on vacation and an American flag that the company gave us several years ago.  There are a few commendations from when they used to give commendations.

Right now my desk is pretty bare.  I have a laminated funeral card and my calendar from Shutterfly that I made with Nathaniel (and Nathaniel & John) photos.  For the past several years, I’ve delighted in making calendars and photo books.  I think I’m done for a while– too emotional– back to generic.

It was hard going through John’s  things and hard writing about it.  It’s getting to the point- what is left?  I know as I eventually get the house cleaned and if I ever get the basement cleaned, I’ll run across more things of John’s that I didn’t know about.  But I feel like his work chapter is closing.  I don’t want it to close, but sadly, I feel that  it is.

Do you have an extra $550 or $800 burning a hole in your pocket?  Dying to be the first one to get your hands on the new Verizon Motorola Droid?  Well, here’s you chance!

Two Verizon Droids have popped up on E-Bay one with a $550 price tag they other an $800 price tag.

Verizon Motorola Droid on E-Bay

No – these are not the names of my sisters.  As I have said before, one’s home should be an interesting and personal place.  Anyone can furnish their house with homogenous items from Great Big Shops, but truly interesting houses that contain interesting people have things that are out of the ordinary, that they have made themselves or collected or created from something else.  Let your possessions have a story.

As you know, I am a tremendous scavenger and there are few things I like better than a village fete, a charity shop, a bric-a-brac stall or a jumble sale.  They bring three-fold benefits in that one can find wonderful, cheap treasures, you can use things in unusual and decorative ways and they usually benefit a charity at the same time. 

I wish immediately to give credit for this string dispenser to Diplo, who I know reads this blog. (Have a look at his own eclectically interesting ‘Sweat, Steam & Gasoline’ in my Interesting Blogs list).

A STRING DISPENSER OF DISTINCTION

Thoroughly wash an empty golden syrup tin left over from your storecupboard.   Using a bradawl, make a hole in the centre of the lid, then use a slightly larger Phillips screwdriver to widen the hole.  Turn the lid over and place the hole on something hard and just flatten any sharp bits with a hammer.  Thread your string through the hole – it keeps string neat and tidy and looks great.

A BOX FOR PRACTICAL CATS

I found this bread bin for 50p at a jumble sale.  At some point I may go mad and stencil it, but at the moment it is simply an excellent container for dried cat or dog food.  I keep a measuring cup (an old plastic baby cup) inside and the food is kept dry and fresh.

BATHROOM BOUNTY 

I love to wallow in the bath and I like my bathroom to be a calming place with nice things to look at.

These three decanters cost me £1 each from charity shops.  They are a common design and turn up all the time so you can collect a set over time.  I fill them with brightly coloured bubble bath – shop’s own brand aromatherapy type at 97p each – and bingo! they look great and smell lovely.

Incidentally, the mirror just visible behind the decanters was found at the local tip with a chunk missing from the frame.  It measures about 48″x36″ and I paid £4 for it.  I built up the frame with plastic wood (available from DIY shops) then sanded it down and bevelled the edge with a chisel.  A couple of coats of white paint and the job was done.  I bet you can’t see where I repaired it.

I live in a rented house, so I don’t want to attach too many things to the walls.  This little wooden corner unit cost me 10p from a village fete and is so light I just nailed it up.  The plants are artificial and were bought in a sale for £3 each from a company on e-bay and the corals have been in my drawer for about 15 years, but you could use shells or glass things to catch the light.

Minhas amigas ficam me perguntando “Tati você sabe onde compra isso e aquilo?”. E a dica de hoje é super mega master boa pra quem gosta de maquiagem, quer gastar menos e ter uma coleção dygna de professional (Alô Marina Uchôa essa é pra você!). O blog de make suuper bacana o 2beauty da Marina Smith foi quem me deu esta dica que repasso agora para vocês. Tem um coreano no ebay  que vende umas makes linnnndas e com o preço ótimo. É confiável porque a Marina comprou e chegou sem problemas e viva o cartão de crédito ! Dá um look no arsenal do coreano:

E as sombras pigmentadas que dá aquele look mais molhado sabe? As cores estão maaaaaaras e super verão! Eu quero muuuuuito!

Os preços são bons dá uma passada lá. E esse post é para homens também, quer ver sua namorada feliz? Ela gosta de maquiagem? Então fica a dica hein.

Por Tati Carvalho

Per finanziare l’attivita del gruppo BalloonsBlog (di cui anche noi facciamo parte) verranno messe all’asta alcune tavole e strisce di diversi autori. La nostra parte in codesta impresa è stata la realizzazione di una pregevole striscia a colori su carta canson da 185 g, con pennarello indelebile ed ecoline. L’originale è di 44 cm per 15.

Per ulteriori informazioni clicca qui

Da hatte ich doch endlich eine Winterjacke bei ebay ersteigert und dann hat die ein Brandloch – Geld gabs zurück, alles fair und ok – aber ich muß weitersuchen *nerv*. Eine hab ich noch im Auge…morgen Abend…

Und wenn das nicht klappt, muß ich wohl doch in die große Stadt zu Hager + Mager in die BiB Abteilung. Denn richtig viel Geld ausgeben mag ich nicht (hübsch aussehen soll sie natürlich trotzdem), denn nächstes Jahr, da will ich eine von der “Normalo”-Stange.

One of the pitfalls of having to regularly post a blog on the internet – is that if you find yourself without internet access, your laptop is about as useful as a social scientist.

I suppose in this day and age now of ever faster broadband connections, e-bay and twits it seems unimaginable for the young baby sat at a keyboard updating his or hers facebook status – that some fifteen years ago we didn’t even know what the internet was. It is often claimed that people always remember where they were when they heard the news that the US President John F Kennedy was assassinated or even indeed when man first set foot on the moon. Those flash card memory moments imprinted on your brain. Not too dissimilar I remember well as do others here, September 11^th 2001 – the first time the wonder of the world wide web was bought into the Human Institute and changed the way I worked forever.

It has been a companion, a confidant, and on occasion a lover – so I am sure you can imagine how distressing it is for someone in my position to feel so suddenly, brutally castrated as I have been these last couple of weeks, having recently moved addresses – where I have been forced to intermittently ‘share’ my internet privileges with that of the common man in cafe’s and tea rooms.

Even now as I write this whilst supping from my usual choice of triple espresso with a shot of syrup, I can feel the eyes of everyone on me. I cannot gauge whether this is more through my general dislike at finding myself mingling with the general public, or that I have chosen to walk down to the local coffee emporium with laptop to do my weekly blog in nothing more than my dressing gown. Still I see the police have arrived so I am sure this should sort out the matter at hand in no time at all…

I think this is a bad deal. PROCTOR, Minn. a very small town of 3k busted a guy driving drunk in a tricked out motorized easy chair. So the police department put it up on e-bay to try and make a little money for the department. Nothing wrong with that right? E-bay made them pull the listing because it was not a la-z-boy brand as stated in their listing. The police had over 43k worth of bids before they were made to pull the ad.  As of 3:44pm cst on 10/4/09 they only have a bid of 10,099.99. E-bay should be ashamed for making the Proctor police pull their original listing. The original action would have brought in a good amount of funds that the department could have put to good use for Community Policing and Crime Prevention.

Today when heading into Harper Library I saw what was undoubtedly the best outfit cruising campus this week.  A combination of a fur cape, uber-skinny jeans, and lace-up boots gave Emma a super-chic but sort of gritty look that distinctly separated her from the other women around her.  Here Emma is New York model cool (a somewhat unusual quality on the UofC campus) thanks to the way she blends a variety of styles- vintage, thrift, high end, retro, hipster, boho- and retailers- Phillip Lim, Unique Thrift Store, NYC street vendor, H&M- to create something layered and intriguing.

Emma: fur cape (Unique Thrift Store), leather jacket (vintage), belt (taken off a Phillip Lim dress), black skinny jeans (Cheap Monday), lace up booties (E-Bay), black fingerless gloves, Gothic ring (NYC street vendor), bag (Foley & Corinna, not visible).

Emma's intricate Indian hair piece, which she found on E-Bay

It’s not even noon and I’m exhausted.  Such insanity going on at work.  H1N1, et all.  Everyone around me is sick, trying my damnedest not to get it.

Last night for dinner I put together something delicious.  Here are some pics:

This is chicken with sun-dried tomatoes, crushed garlic, bacon bits, oregano, parsley and basil.  It smelled AWESOME.

Boiled up some farfalle.  Some is an understatement because I dumped the rest of the box in not realizing how much was in there.  A lot.

Mixed the two together in a pot and added a little bit of EVOO and some fat-free mozzarella cheese.

Here it is in my dish.  It was really good.  I put some in a container for lunch, but of course, I forgot it.  I guess it will be dinner tonight.

Breakfast today was a bare minimum.  Had about 3 Twizzlers.  Just too much going on for me to focus on breakfast.  Lunch is Subway.  Turkey and Cheese with tomatoes.  The thing on-line said 280 calories for the 6″. 

Leaving a little early today (1:30).  Got a doctor’s appointment down in Malden, then jogging back to Boston (not literally) to meet up with my super soon-to-be sister-in-law because she so graciously offered me a ride back home so I don’t need to take 5 different buses!

Almost forgot to mention, that I got my accidental e-bay purchase in the mail yesterday!  Not bad for $65.  I think I’ll keep it!