Sorry, couldn’t get the whole dog (who somehow managed to wander in that woman’s bedroom) in the scan–but you get the picture. If you used it this with these, you could light up the whole neighborhood and never step in it again.

There a few basic tips that you can practice if you want to be sure that you get the best possible fit for the shoes you are looking to purchase. Exactly which steps will be the most important to you will depend on where you are buying the footwear.

The internet is quickly becoming the most common place to look for shoes along with retail stores and mail order catalogues. Since I spend so much time of the internet the fastest way for me to find shoes is to simply type in the keywords of the shoes I am looking for and browse them online. In addition to researching different styles and colors you can also find out where the local store may be that sells the brand you are seeking.

One of the best pieces of advice I can offer is to shop around. Many people will buy the first shoe they try on and I would advise against that. It isn’t like that is the only one of those shoes that exists in the world, unless you are looking at some rare handmade pair, but if that is the case you can get them made to fit anyway! Don’t just compare prices and styles at one store, shop several different stores including the larger department stores that often have a great selection. If you are looking for sports specific shoes you should go to an athletic specialty store for the best selection in that type of shoe.

You should also try on various brands of shoes when you are looking to buy because even though the style may be the same, a different brand could fit completely different. For those of us shopping on the internet it is not possible to try on the actual shoe prior to purchase but you can try on the size, style, and brand you are seeking and then look for the best price online. Most online stores have a free return policy anyway.

Another issue you have to be aware of is the fact that shoe sizes vary among various companies as well as in different countries. If you are buying online be sure that you are buying the right sized shoe in the size you are familiar with for your country. If you need to translate sizes look online for the International Shoe Size Chart.

In order to be sure that you are getting the best deal you can and that you are buying the shoes that will last and suit the purpose you are buying them for you need to know upfront what you are going to be using them for. How often will you wear them? If you are wearing shoes on a daily basis you will want to budget more for a better pair that will stand up to the daily pounding.

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Many people think that when they hear the word exercise it means “no pain, no gain.” that walking is a great exercise. Walking can be particularly beneficial for those who have been However, the truth is diagnosed with diabetes. It is helpful if you walk briskly, but just walking a couple miles each day can make a dramatic improvement in one’s health. Start your walking routine slowly, as even doing just a little walking per day can make a dramatic improvement in health for someone who hasn’t been on a walking routine in a long time.

The great thing about taking up a walking routine to fight diabetes is that you don’t need any equipment, aside from shoes. If you want to accessorize, a pedometer can be a great motivator to provide you with some general feedback about how much exercise you are getting. A pedometer is a small, inexpensive device that keeps track of how many steps you take.

If you are a true couch potato, you probably ought to start your walking routine in a very deliberate manner. Perhaps you should try to walk 100 steps your first day. Try to add 10 to 20 steps per day. It may help to keep a walking routine journal to track your progress. If you have a day where you can’t make your goal, just do what you can and try again the next day. Every little bit of exercise will help you fight diabetes.

Tips for Getting into a Walking Routine for Life

1. Wear the best walking shoes you can find. Walking is not enjoyable when your feet hurt.

2. Walk with at least one friend. Being responsible to someone else will help push you to keep walking even when you don’t feel like it. It can also be a lot of fun to walk and talk with a close friend or family member.

3. Don’t waste your lunch break. It’s fun to sit, eat, and chat with coworkers, but your lunch break is a golden opportunity to get a brief walk. Even if you only walk for ten minutes, it will make a big difference in your blood glucose levels and leave you refreshed for the second half of your work day.

4. Use the stairs. When stairs are available you will burn a lot more glucose off by taking the stairs than by using an elevator. Stairs burn glucose even more quickly than regular walking does.

5. Continually increase how far you walk. Whether you are measuring distance by steps taken on a pedometer or by how far you walk, try to add a little more distance to your walking each week. If you have limited time, you can try walking a little faster each week to increase how far you walk.

6. The best parking spot is the one at the farthest end of the parking lot. Most people waste their time waiting for a parking spot at the front door when they go shopping or get to work. A good walking routine can start with taking the parking spots most people don’t want. This will help you fit more walking into your day.

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2007 is the year of flat shoes and, for most women, that is a godsend if there ever was one. Flat shoes are not only comfortable; this season they come in a variety of styles and colors that would excite any woman.

This year’s flat shoes styles include both ballerina and peep toe varieties, and the colors that are all the rage range green, yellow and pink to red and cobalt blue. Of course, black and white are the typical staples for most women’s summer wardrobes, and you can feel free to stick with what makes you most comfortable.

So if you’re raring to get yourself a pair, or 3, of this summer’s flat shoes extraordinaire, let’s get moving on the styles available.

Note if you want to see the pictures of each shoes, visit LadyThrills.com

Flat shoes design #1

Nadette

Available in light green, light yellow, red, black, and white, these adorable and uber-comfortable flats will take you from the street to the office, all the while ensuring high-quality comfort and sleek design.

Wear them with: A long flowing skirt, Capri pants (no, they will never go out of style) or casual jeans. Just avoid overmatching (a monochrome green all over is just not flattering).

Flat shoes design #2

Muscatane

Metallics are taking over this summer, although these shoes come in both silver and black (for those of us not yet willing to take the Martian plunge). With an original suede-tip finish and a faux bow, these shoes offer up a snug fit without sacrificing style.

Wear them with: Short shorts and a tank or casual jeans and a T-shirt.

Flat shoes design #3

Velma

With lace detailing and 10 laces across the top, these ballet flats provide a more elegant look for the woman who wants to dress up her gams without the pain of high heels. Available in bone, pink, light beige, and black, these stylish and delicate looking shoes will have you prancing around wherever you go.

Wear them with: Anything from a flirty knee-high skirt to loose-fitting Capris.

Flat shoes design #4

Glenview

Easily one of the hottest flat shoes this season, these sexy lace up flat shoes flatter both the foot and the ankle, and create the look of a long, lean leg. Although they’re only available in beige, this really is the most flattering color for these shoes, as they express a subtle feel and a very feminine appeal.

Wear them with: A knee high skirt or a pair of loose fitting shorts.

Flat shoes design #5

Albia

These Victorian inspired, lace crocheted ballerina flat shoes dark brown, bone and black, will impress both you and anyone who takes notice. And considering how stylish they are, you can bet that just about everyone will.

Wear them with: A bohemian skirt and top or cut off jeans.

Flat shoes for summer

This year’s flat shoes will keep women in better moods because we all know that comfortable feet make for a happy woman, so get out there and get walking in your newfound comfort.

Enjoy.

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When we look at retail advertising and sales catalogues we see that the two categories are characterised by different styles of tracksuit. Training tracksuits that would be the choice of the sporting fraternity imitate a certain standard style and consist of a hard wearing fabric, normally polyester, with zips etc. that are functional.

The emphasis is on performance and durability though design and colour with sublimated embroidery is now the order of the day. So the training tracksuit could be summarised as attractive durable clothing essential to the football team and other sporting entities. However it is more than just clothing; it is the corporate image of a business where branding and success go hand in hand, therefore the sublimated embroidery on the football jerseys, shorts and sport socks reflecting the Sponsors name and brand image are crucial in promoting the game and team.

Team tracksuits will display team colours, kit design and Sponsor logo. Professional football teams may well have a number of training tracksuits but each will display the same branding and logo that defines the team and their Sponsor. The durable quality of the training tracksuit will be characterised by the fabric, careful seam stitching and design and the ability of the fabric to breathe and stretch without tearing. The common theme in training tracksuits is that they are fit for purpose.

When we talk about walking tracksuits then a somewhat different set of criteria is applied as regards fit for purpose wear. The rigours of everyday training will not apply and we are looking at a product that characterises comfort above all else. The wearer of the walking tracksuit is looking for flexibility in the fabric and more plain colours probably darker rather than bright. Walkers do not generally want to stand out like a sore thumb when hiking in the countryside or anywhere else so they normally opt for plain colours when purchasing a tracksuit. Blending into the environment is preferable to calling out like a siren, where ever we are walking, so subdued colours and designs are preferable to the intricate designs and colour combinations used in training tracksuits. Trouser design can be different where the walking tracksuit has normal or slightly wider leg bottoms to cover walking boots or shoes as opposed to tight or zipped training trouser leg bottoms.

The walking top is usually a little longer than the training top and has a loose waist as opposed to an elasticated tight waist. The fabric can be similar but does not need to be as durable and this provides a wide choice of fabrics for the consumer.

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So you’ve saved up your money and now going to buy a flat screen TV. Perhaps you have settled on a LCD or Plasma.

I hope you didn’t spend all of your money on the TV because there a few things you may want to budget for if you are not particularly handy around the house.

Where are you going to install your Flat Screen?

If you are going to mount your TV on the wall there is something very important for you to consider

Do you have a TV outlet installed at the height you want your TV? Even if you said yes…I am sorry it will not be enough. Allow me to explain.

Can you picture where your existing TV is set up? Maybe it’s in an entertainment center. Now close your eyes and see all of those wires that connect between your Television & your satellite box, DVD player and receiver.

Why do I bring this up?

If you hang your TV on the wall with a standard TV jack installed there-

What about all of those wires that we just talked about? How do you plan on connecting all of those wires that are needed to work all of your electronic equipment?

I told you that no one thinks about this.

Unfortunately, with a single cable TV jack over the fireplace…your ONLY option is to stack your:

· Satellite receiver

· Cable TV box

· Surround sound receiver

· DVD player

All on top of your beautiful fireplace!

Or have a bunch of ugly wires draped all over the place serving as a serious tripping hazard

Can you imagine moving into a beautiful new home and seeing all of those pieces of equipment balancing on your mantel?

You would be surprised how many new homes are built this way. They install just a simple TV jack over the fireplace. The homebuilders are totally clueless. Unfortunately, its up to you, the homeowner to foot the bill to wire this correctly.

So what can we do about it?

If you want the best signal possible, Then HDMI cables are the way to go. One HDMI cable run thru the walls will do the work of all of those other wires we spoke of moments ago. To have this professionally done I would budget from $395- $595 for HDMI cables, depending on how long they need to be.

You can probably save two hundred dollars if you do this yourself.

Remember that buying the flat screen TV is just the beginning of your investment to have HD TV in your home.

Looking for an Atlanta Home Theater Company to hang your TV?

Ask an Atlanta Home Automation company to help with programming your smart remote controls. Do you want more tips on how to hang a plasma TV?

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This post is actually a rather long reply to a question about flash photography in a heritage forum Midland Heritage, so it may read a little strangely.

Blimey now this is a big can of worms. Firstly I would really recommend the strobist blog as an excellent resource lighting 101 this will take you straight to the first page of their (rather long) lighting tutorial which will give you all the info you could possibly want.

One way to use these flashes  is  to fill shadows   when you are lighting a dark dingy room, I would suggest that a set of triggers is a good first purchase for this and will help immensely, especially if you havent got any of the shiny flashes that will trigger wirelessly.

I always find it easier to work from an example and I quite like this one as it is not immediately apparent that I have used a lot of flash.

I have just used the one unit which has been placed just behind the door on the left and bounced off a silver reflector (though the wall would also work).

The reason I needed to light this was that the difference between the sunlight streaming down the stairs and the door which was deep in shadow and rather gloomy, so I metered for the stairs and used a process of trial and error to find the correct fill.

With this shot there is some evidence that I may have used a flash, first the colour of the light is different, cool the side where I have used the flash and warm on the other where the sunlight is coming down the stairs. Secondly the light is concentrated at the bottom of the door which is a giveaway that a small light source has been used (firing two or more flashes through a diffuser or large bedsheet may have helped lessen this but it is not really the most practical or portable of solutions).

I will often use a flash to highlight a section of detail aswell, this shot is the usual long exposure on a tripod which people are used to 1.3 seconds at iso 100 and an aperture of f13. the flash here is lighting the foreground and bringing detail to the “thing” at the front.

In this shot the flash would have been firing at quite a high power despite the long exposure, this is due to the aperture being so small and the way that flash lights a picture.

Put simply the flash only cares about aperture as the burst of light is emitted for roughly 1/10000 sec, only one burst is emitted during a normal exposure so it doesnt matter what the shutter speed is to the flash.

Having said this the ambient light obviously cares about both so in a long exposure the flash may not appear as evident but this is only due to the natural light taking over as the dominant light source and stifling the light from the flash.

Going back to the picture the flash is very evident here because the area it is lighting is in shadow allowing the flash to be the dominant source of light, it needed the high power to allow enough light to hit the sensor through a small hole in a very short space of time.

This was the part of flash photography I always struggled with but the best way is really to experiment.

Another way I will often use flash like this is to kill all the ambient light in a room and allow the flash to light the scene on its own.

The geek info for this image is: 1/250 sec at f10.

It would make sense for me to increase the shutter speed further to something like 1/1000 as this would allow me to reduce the aperture and put less strain on the flash units, however the flash will not sync at this speed 1/250 being the maximum on my camera. So I am stuck with f10 which isnt so bad as it allows me to keep everything nice and sharp.

Without the flash the frame is black, the little detail you can see on the background is due to spill from the lights

To light the picture I used two lights, one on a stand right in front of where the model was jumping at around chest hight on the model. This flash was zoomed in towards the model as I wanted to concentrate the beam of light on her (this also reduces the power needed as more light goes where you want it) doing this makes the beam harder and narrower and is a great way to bring attention to a specific point in an image.

The second light was low down right below the camera and bounced off a silver reflector, this light was as wide as I could make it and lower power than the first as I wanted a soft light just to fill the shadows left by the main beam (it is also this light that caused the spill).

The only problem with lighting this way is you are forced to blend the light, filling any unexpected shadows and keeping the light from becoming a distraction.

You are not restricted to darkness for these techniques either and they can be a viable and interesting alternative to a HDR image. This shot was exposed for the sky on a bright day with the sun at my 5 o’clock. This caused the top of the Helicopter to be exposed, but left the detail at the bottom dark and in the shadow. To counter this I used two lights one either side of the helicopter (my 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock), these lights were used to give the bottom of the helicopter a little more exposure than the light hitting the top, bringing your focus to the front of the helicopter and giving the picture more impact than a normal exposre could allow.

I hope this has been somewhat useful to some people, and sorry about the length, this is a technique I use in most of my images at work and while it may take some getting used to, once you have an idea about what the light will do it becomes a very powerful tool that can be set up quickly and easily

A note on my kit: All the above were taken with a Fuji S5 Pro, a Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 lens and one or two nikon speedlights. I use an old Sb26 connected to a trigger and an sb800 which fires wirelessly when it detects the light from the first flash (or any other flash for that matter) my bag also contains a silver/gold reflector and a cheepo Jessops tripod which I use as a stand. All fairly cheap and most importantly very portable

I regularly put images using this technique on my Flickr page and include a brief description of the lighting used.

For Thanksgiving dinner, which we had at lunchtime, Molly elected to take a nap that began five minutes before the turkey came out. And lasted more than two hours.

We couldn’t believe our luck. We just kept eating and watching the monitor, and couldn’t believe she still wasn’t waking up. And after that, she was in another long-lasting amazing mood when she did wake up! Since we’ve been having such absurdly nice weather, we hit the park. It was almost 70 degrees, and Molly did a bunch of swinging and even went down the slide with dad, which was a blast.

Topped off the day with a big tub bath. Her latest game (invented by mom) is to hold and drop her toys into the tub first, while it’s filling. Just to make sure everything’s OK, I guess, although this time she hung on to her little shark toy, and brought that one in with her.

Another great game we’ve been playing lately (again, thanks to mom’s genius) is flashlight waving when it’s dark. Mom has a little bookmark reading light on her nightstand, and the past few mornings when Molly’s woken up waaaaaay to early for mom and dad, we ease into it by letting her wave the light around while lying in bed between us while we get our wits. She holds it really well, and is really interested in shining the light on things.

Today we did some good walking around the neighborhood with the Beco carrier (Molly on the back, she’s loving that) and hit a single store on “Black Friday” — and only that one because we were low on dog food. Molly has decided she’s big enough for the big kid seat, and laughed her way through the aisles. I think she would’ve watched the gerbil on his little wheel for hours. Pet stores are fun.

Flip Light Power Failure Light

Good morning everybody! It’s me, Laurie. My favorite holiday is almost among us. Turkey Day! No presents, just the big elaborate meal with close family and friends. A day for reminiscing about relatives past and being thankful for the family and friends you share your holiday with. Thanksgiving is the true family day.

Now, let me tell you about my family. I am one of 5 children and I am the oldest. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine not having my siblings and truthfully would be lost without them. (Most especially my oldest brother, who is our notorious family peacemaker). All of us laugh, we fight, we are all loud, animated, out spoken and yes sometimes crazy. With my family, it seems like there is always some kind of drama going on. As sad as this might seem, to me, this is normal. I guess in a way it’s a good thing. I am very hard to surprise and can easily adapt to any situation. When you come from a large family, you learn the art of compromise very early on. It’s a survival skill. We all model our parents in certain ways. My father is very animated, social, strong willed and successful. My mother is very ladylike, organized, poised and has an uncanny way of getting you to agree to do things you don’t want to do. I got social from dad and organized (I like to refer to it as OCD) from mom. (I guess you can’t pick what you get?)

After our infamous meal, our discussions always turn to the big “Black Friday” sales and talk about our next big holiday celebration. I have been thinking about what would be the best gift to get my many siblings. I know many families have customs of picking names or only buy for the children but it has always been our family tradition to buy for all. Besides, you have a year to get it done (LOL).

Our tradition is whatever you buy one sibling; you buy for all your siblings. (This stems from our childhood when my father insisted that we all get the same thing to be fare- I’m not kidding) So, to follow that taught ritual, we buy non-gender specific items and give the same thing to each one of our siblings. (Yes, I know it’s odd)

This year, I found an item that I thought would be a great non-gender specific sibling Christmas present. I found a power failure light by ReSource Inc. called the Flip Light. I have one in my house and find it quite handy. The Flip Light plugs into the wall and will turn on automatically when the power goes out. It also doubles as a flashlight. I use it at night when I walk the dog and it has supplied light in my hallway during a blizzard. What I like most about this light is that it uses rechargeable AA batteries and sits flat against the wall. Most power failure lights come with built in rechargeable batteries. Built in batteries give the flashlight a shelf life. The batteries will eventually die and you will have to throw away the flashlight. I don’t like to throw away money. I am always looking for quality products and refuse to spend good money on junk. The Flip Light uses AA rechargeable batteries so you can replace them when needed. This increases the product’s longevity and takes it out of the disposable product category. This product is worth the money you pay.

Well, that’s it for now. Everyone enjoy your Turkey Day and I will chat with you all again soon!

Please feel free to leave me a comment or contact me at lplante@resourceproducts.com

You can find this product at www.resourceproducts.com

ReSource Inc. is offering a $5.00 off coupon for each Flip Light purchased from reading this blog.  Please enter in the code Lauriesblog to receive your $5.00 coupon instantly.

Flip Light Regular price- $14.95- with coupon $9.95

Another novel way to make fire.

As a general rule, I don’t swear in my writing unless its really warranted. Welcome to the exception. When I’m working, there are a few things that rank up there in my book as requiring my full “brute force” response. In this list, there’s things like patrons being abusive or disrespectful to the bar staff, underage drinkers and the like.

The absolute number-fucking-one that gets my blood boiling is guys grabbing women.

It started out as a fairly mellow night. Music was playing, a lot of women were dancing – just the thing that if I was off duty, I’d try to join in and take part of. You know, as a fully functional member of society – I talk to women and find out what is upstairs before any physical threshold is crossed. I’m just particular that way.

Some guys, however, aren’t well-adjusted. Some patrons think its funny or “no big deal” if they try to cop a feel on the dance floor, or pat some woman’s ass at the bar. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I came from a good sized family, and had sisters. I don’t know exactly. What I *do* know, is the look of shock and disbelief when these things happen – many times I’ve been adjacent to the incident and stopped it right there, the wash of raw emotion coming from these women is unforgettable, just the pure electric sense of social betrayal suffusing the air.

This night, it was crowded near the PA columns. I’m tall enough to see over all this nonsense, and I was doing my usual patrol and picking up the scattered pint glasses and beer bottles that dotted the landscape like scrub brush in the desert, when someone ran up to me. I was wearing my earplugs (got to protect those eardrums!), so I didn’t get the jist of it, only that I was needed somewhere in the crowd.

A word about my flashlight. If you took a chunk of the sun, compressed its plasma down into a handheld form – and then cast some metal around it, that would be *close* to how bright my flashlight really is. It is to a crowd what a good steak knife is to a prime rib, and I was running full steam into the mass – gesturing and parting to make my way through. I get close and start making inquiries, then I see them.

They’re of age, but have young faces. Dressed to the nines, swiveling their heads around looking for help. Both of the women see me right away, and then launch into a compressed and outraged description of what had just happened to them, their cartoids standing out on their necks as the words flew past their lips. They were pissed, and rightfully so. Slender fingers pointing to an older gentlemen, the target is marked. I made a cursory nod – then turned the finger-of-god flashlight on his face.

“YOU – OUT NOW”

He blinks, then says he’s done nothing. Sorry captain grabass, but when two women accuse you and they have other witnesses to corroborate it, you’re done. The only way to prevent further damage to yourself is to start walking. NOW.

I direct a path through the crowd, noting with satisfaction that the women are smiling as they know he is being dealt with. Picking up speed, he moves not toward the exit – but to another part of the bar. Oh really? Lets just follow along, shall we? He gets to a table where another woman is sitting, telling me that “She’s my wife, I’m here with her.” My bullshit detector fires off, and I draw up alongside the chair he’s in. (All this time, she doesn’t even acknowledge this guy – sure, she’s his wife… *rolls eyes*).

“Buddy, you’d better get moving. *NOW* There’s a good way, and a bad way – and I do NOT want to show you the bad way…. MOVE.”

He protests, but I make it clear that if his legs aren’t pumping towards the exit, soonlike, he’s going to be target practice for my clenched fists. I gesture, he gets up and moves to the exit. In the vestibule that separates the outer doors from the inner, he makes one more impassioned plea to stay inside, much to my surprise.

“Please, I want to stay!!”

“Dude, I’m not a very patient man – so I’m not interested in your backstory. You leave the good way, or we can do it the bad way. In any case, you are OUT.”

He moves to the exit door, goes out slightly then turns back – holding the door in his hand.

“OUT!!!!!”

He lets go, and goes off into the night… Mission accomplished. He has no idea how close he was to a full-on beating.

Drink Safely, Tip Well … and respect women in the bar, goddammit.

As I’m heading back to work in less than two weeks, I’ve been running around like mad trying to get my life organized. In the midst of a crazy, errand-filled Sunday my husband, daughter and I arrived home to find that the power in our neighbourhood was out. We just moved into a new subdivision that is on the outskirts of town. Anyway, the power went out around 4pm and my husband suggested we order take-out for dinner in case the outage was a long one. Well, his intuition was right, the power was out for almost 7 hours.

It was just getting dark when we got home so we had just enough light to find our candles and flashlights. After we accepted that we were likely going to be without electricity for the rest of the night (and got over the inconvenience factor), we started to really enjoy ourselves. We played games with our baby girl with the flashlights. And, because we couldn’t access the internet or the TV, we had an evening of family bonding where we were all really ‘present’ for the first time in a long time. Once our little girl was in bed, my husband and I read with flashlights and then I took a bath in the candlelight (thank goodness for gas hot water heating). The whole night seemed to stretch on and on and that feeling I’ve had lately that life seems to be rushing forward at the speed of light, subsided for a while. Maybe we should turn off the power once in a while to remind ourselves to take some time away from the hustle and bustle of daily life… oh wait, isn’t that what the sabbath is about? Darn it, I thought I might have an original idea there!

LED flashlights have several advantages over conventional incandescent lamps. For one thing, they don’t have a filament that will burn out, so they last much longer. Additionally, their small plastic bulbs make them a lot more durable. But the main advantage is efficiency. A much higher percentage of the electrical power is going directly to generating light, which cuts down on the electricity demands considerably.
Up until recently, LEDs were too expensive to use for most lighting applications because they’re built around advanced semiconductor material. The price of semiconductor devices has plummeted over the past decade, however, making an LED flashlight a more cost-effective lighting option for a wide range of situations. While they may be more expensive than incandescent lights up front, their lower cost in the long run can make them a better buy.
At pch-onlineoutfitters.com  we carry all the top name brand led flashlights such as Streamlight Flashlights at discount prices.Our secure billing & easy shopping makes your purchases simple. Order what you want from wherever you sit at your computer or laptop & we’ll deliver it right to your door!
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…for animal cruelty.

That’s right, me. Lover of all animals. Mother to a slew of critters.

So I let Kitty go outside for a few hours a day. She’s got claws and she’s been spayed, so she should be okay, right? She comes back home 98% of the time when I call her. She’s a good cat, right? Suuuuure.

I let her out today about 11:00am. Started calling her back home about 4pm. Then 5:00. 5:30, 6:00, 6:15… you get the idea. No cat. So Chris and I eat dinner, watch out TV shows, spend some, y’know, quality time together and he goes to bed. 9:45pm and I’m out at the end of the street still calling her. No answer. So I go to my neighbors’ house to borrow a flashlight. Go back out to the end of the road (there’s a big field at the end of the road, by the way… her favorite spot to hang out). I’m on the phone with my Mama because it’s dark and I don’t want to be out there by myself. At least if I get mugged or a rabid raccoon gets a hold of me, someone will know. Well, I’m calling the cat “Kiiiiiity, Kiiiiiiity!” and I think I hear a meow. I call her more and sure enough, I can hear her. I know my cat’s meow. I’m a good Mama. I get so close to her that my Mama can hear her through the phone. But I can’t find her.

So I’m shining the flashlight EVERYWHERE. There’s a “stream” you have to cross to get to the field… did I mention that? Although “stream” is stretching it… it’s basically stagnate water full of trash… a typical Southern mosquito breeding ground. Still can’t see her. And her meowing sounds weird… like she’s hurt. And just yesterday I told Chris about a bad dream I had about a car hitting her and killing her. So of course I’m freaking out now. Either a car hit her or some free-range dog got to her. And then it goes silent.

My neighbor comes to the field area to help me out some, but she’s not making any noise. Nothing. Nada. So he goes off to buy some cigarettes and tells me to come get him if I need help. (AWESOME neighbor, him and his wife are!)

After he leaves, she starts meowing again. I’m sliding down the dirt towards the “stream” looking for her. While she’s making her pathetic sounding meows, I get the bright idea to shine the light up in the trees.

DING DING DING!!! “She’s a winner, folks!”

There she sits on a branch in the tree. Waaaaaay up in the tree. So I look at the tree trying to figure out if I can climb it or not. I decide I can. However, I can’t climb the tree and hold the flashlight. So Aaron comes back over to hold the flashlight for me. I start climbing, breaking puny branches off along the way. I finally reach her and it takes her a minute, but she comes to me. I grab her and I’m happy. I’ve got my Kitty!

Didn’t think about climbing back down the tree, though.
So I had to navigate my way down the tree (a lot harder than climbing UP the tree… who would have thought?!) in the dark holding the cat. But I need both hands to get down, so I had to trust the cat to hold on to me while I get us down. And I don’t mean a little ways; it was pretty far up there. Amazingly, she did hold on. We had to stop at one point so I could figure out where to place my feet at and she almost fell while I tried to move her away from my face and neck area. But she kept her claws firmly planted along my chest and I got us both down a minute later (but not without branches stabbing my ass fat and scratching me first). She howled the whole time we worked our way down.

Anyways, long story short…

Kitty’s back home. My pinky finger looks like someone sucked on it for hours and I have this weird, hickey-looking blood clot, my arms are scratched up, my hands are sore from gripping onto the branches for dear life, and I’m pretty sure there really is a hole through my ass fat where a branch got um, lodged.

Great night.

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This is just a sampling of my most recent work on light graffiti/painting.

I don’t know what it is about light graffiti/painting, specifically, but it draws my attention. Maybe it’s the fluidity of the light, the contrasting of light and dark, the movement and motion in it… In any case, I can easily get lost in it.

The ideas come during the day, but more often than not they come at night, and usually late at night as well. For whatever reason, the creative bug bights me with an idea when it’s late (and it’s hard to ignore), then I start playing with ideas and the creative juices start flowing. I can lose track of 2-3 hours, if not more, very easily.

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.” -Genesis 1:3-4

In the winter of 94-95, I lived at a very remote, off-the grid center for agroforestry in Belize. I was there to slow down, to stop being a workaholic, and try to figure out the rest of my life. (I also signed up to help with fundraising for the center, but that never panned out.) Just months before, I had quit a job running an international environmental network out of Ann Arbor, MI. And I was extremely confused and wounded and Belize called to me. So I went. I lived for most of three months there with others in a large thatched roof, open air lodge with no glass windows, screens or walls, practically, and bunkbeds on the 2nd floor. Once the day was over, candles or flashlights were how one read at night. And to not use up my batteries in the flashlight, candles were the best option. This being the tropics, all sorts of fantastic night flying insects flitted around and occasionally a moth came too close to the flame. Hence this poem… from 1995.

Oh Moth

Oh moth – you have waxed your wings

one last time in the candle I lit for

reading

But now I read

your pain

instead

Is this the cost

of my savoring a few more pages of tale

and you

no more flit

you sacrifice wing and flight

and life

What other deaths,

what other loss

to create that candle, that wick,

the flame

is this nothing

must there always be this cost and I

TAKE

Would it be better

for the costs of light to be

unknown distant

irradiated fish miles from

my lamp

poisoned mountains of coal tailings

so far that no one

watches seedlings struggle

and fail to take root

people and plants

fingerlings fried before ever being lifted

from a stream bed

massive river obstructions -

dammed

salmon crying in

frustration

as they try to leap,

to taste their home,

and spend a final spawn

in peace

should we not call it

the grid of unconscious,

a constricting net of electrical lines,

choking the biodiverse

to homogenize

the land

will we wake to life of living

web of connections and tugs at my heart

strings in this moment of you, oh moth, your death

in my light

I choose to close

my book for the toll

taken

Jan, 1995 (rev 11/09)

belize

mare cromwell

OK, it wasn’t so much the fact that Patrick Heeley (38) attempted to hold up a Villa Auto Wash Kiosk with a flashlight as it was he was wrapped in a High School Musical blanket at the time. Dude? Ah, he also whacked two men with the flashlight after grabbing some cash but that still seems irrelevant compared to the fact he wearing a friggin High School Musical blanket! Police used surveillance footage to identify Heeley.

Psst Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking, at least it wasn’t a Snuggie blanket. Hmm, hell he would break his neck trying to run in one of those!