The population of Texas grew by more people than any other state in the US. California came in second.

Do not forget to check tree ties and stakes: replace, tighten, slacken or remove as necessary.

I have spent the last week working through a type of generic analysis that I have not tried before, and I have discovered that it is hard.  It is very hard.

I am struggling to determine what types of claims I make based on the continuities in interpretive promoters in Richardson’s Aesop’s Fables, Pamela, and Clarissa.  I argue that in Clarissa the devices that had operated as guiding readers in earlier works, also serve to complicate the psychological realism of the novel.  The same features exist in all three works, but they have an additional function in the last novel.

I think this suggests that Richardson’s two goals,  realist depiction and effective instruction, come into conflict in the novel.  A movement toward realism undermines the instructional benefits of more emblematic language.  Consequently, we have had thirty plus years of scholars ranting about ambiguity in Clarissa.

Is an observable change in a group of three features enough evidence to make such a claim?  I’m not sure.  If not, what limits do the constraints of the term paper (length, preparation time, and resources) put on its possible scope?

I think I can make that claim.  At least, it sheds light on how psychological realism troubles Richardson’s didactic aims.

Soaring car sales in China helps create giant carmakers with global ambitions…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: spring shopping. The blog is also related to: going shopping.

Soaring car sales in China helps create giant carmakers with global ambitions…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: china shopping. The blog is also related to: china store.

I met with the professor of my 18th-century novel class Thursday to discuss my Clarissa paper.  Here are a few of the issues we discussed.

1. Method of classification – The problem for analyzing types of groups in in the novel is that the process is looking at an individual text.  For categories to be useful, they need to have multiple members.  Even if I effectively demonstrate the different functions of affiliations in Clarissa, does it matter?

2. the Scope – In a way, I am trying to weld two separate papers together.  The first on affiliation in the novel and the second on interpretation.  Here is where the genre of the term paper is important.   I am coming to think that my paper would be better served if I limited the scope of my paper for the sake of greater depth.

3. the Stakes – To the question, “why does my argument matter?”  I answer, it demonstrates how affiliations anchor  social interpretation.  There are a couple problems, though.  First, this argument, prima facie, warrants a ’so what?’  Readers would probably grant that the shared history of an affiliation impacts how its members understand one another.  Second, for this argument to matter I need to demonstrate specific mechanisms/ways interpretation depends on types of affiliations.  I think these dependent relationships exist and differ between categories of affiliation, but I do not have the evidence to make that argument.  It is a project bigger than the genre of the term paper allows.

In other words, back to the drawing board…

For many, Thanksgiving means the Three F’s: food, family, and football. To this, I add Fotography. And Fillies. And many Furlongs of graded stakes action.

Cigar Mile Day is generally the last hurrah of the season for New York racing fans. This time of year, the weather gets chilly, racing at Aqueduct moves to the inner dirt course, and the holidays approach.

I brought my friend Lisa to the track and she did a great job as my assistant. She also learned quite a bit about the light at the track and how to get the proper exposure for bright sun and the shade of the grandstand.

Before you know it, Derby Fever will be upon us. This Saturday gave racing fans a little more information about their favorite two-year-olds.

Launch N Relaunch broke his maiden with ease.

Buddy’s Saint (center) won the Remsen handily.

Although they did not take a trip to the winner’s circle, there were many other nice colts at the Big A that day, including Imaging:

Highveldt Storm:

Lentenor, full brother of Barbaro. Barbaro’s Kentucky Derby was one of my favorite races of the decade, but I never got to see the great colt in person so it was a treat to see his younger brother carrying on the legacy.

But the day was not all about the colts. Stardom Bound had an eventful return from her layoff. Peach Brew stumbled out of the gate at the start of the Gazelle- if you view the video (below), you can see that it happened in the blink of an eye, but the photo shows how much it can affect a horse’s game.

The marquee race of the day was the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap. Kodiak Kowboy won the race and a real shot at this year’s Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter.

Furlongs and Furlongs of Fun for this Fotographer. Hope you had a good weekend as well.

royal flush diamonds and joker

royal flush diamonds and joker

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GRADE 3 NEXT SEASON

We are happy to announce an exciting and significant enhancement for the beginning of next Season, being the introduction of Grade 3.

Grade 3 has been one of the most important enhancements requested by members, so we are excited that we can now deliver it.

Most importantly we believe that growing the population of new players is essential if we are to grow the base of the game. A constant flow of new players into the game is necessary to grow field sizes and sponsorship opportunities for the benefit of all players.

Grade 3 will be structured so as to promote Graded racing. Grade 3 will once again profile Graded racing directly from registration and should drive a lot more racing activity through to Grade 2 and Grade1.

As recommended by many members, Grade 3 will offer less racing variety than Grade 1 and Grade 2. Horses will run over just 4 distances and on 2 tracks. The race categories will also be limited to Maidens, Novices, C, B and A Divisions. In so doing we aim to keep it simple for newer stables to understand. Stables will be able to run frequently at this level providing maximum entertainment. Over the next season you will also see improvements in the way the site helps Newbies and encourages more racing activity.

The Mechanics of Grade 3…

• All Grade 1 horses remain unaffected. The Grade 2 horse population will be split into two, Grade 2 and Grade 3, at the Class D mark.
• Grade 2 Class D’s become Grade 3’s from the start of the new season i.e. 1 December 2009.
• The introduction of Grade 3 will NOT result in any changes to the sales ring.
• Grade 3 offers 4 distances only, i.e. a Sprint (1200), Classic (1600), Classic (2200) and Stayer (2850).
• 2 tracks only – Races will cover the variety of goings on 1 turf track and 1 dirt track.
• There are 5 Grade 3 race Categories i.e. Maiden (0 Wins) $0.50 entry, Novice (0-2 Wins) $0.50 entry, C Division (2-4 Wins) $1 entry, B Division (4-7 Wins) $1 entry, A Division (7+ Wins) $2 entry.
• Training of Grade 3 horses will follow the Grade 3 racing format, i.e. three distances and two race tracks.
• The 500 runs awards do apply to Grade 3 amounting to $0.07/race. The 50 Wins award does not apply.
• Stabling fee rebates apply in the same way they do to other Grades at $0.50/race.

How does this affect you as a current Grade 2 Class D owner?

• Overall we envisage many more races and much larger fields in Grade 3 races. It is also expected that far less time and energy will be taken for you to find suitable races to take part in – Essentially greater reward and entertainment value.
• Your Rated Racing structure in Class D’s will follow the Grade 3 format i.e. four distances and two race tracks. This should amount to greater fields and more frequent races that suit.

The Plus’s to Grade 3…

• Grade 3 is a far simpler and easier format to understand and provides a base from which to advance to the more competitive Grades.
• Grade 3 provides a natural progression through the Game for a new player starting up his or her stable.
• Everyday Fun racing with Free and cheap races allowing novices to readily get involved and participate while simultaneously developing their Game skills and knowledge.

Further to Grade 3, we have done a lot over recent months to enhance the games systems to cope with increased volumes and more enhanced game features. New game features can now be introduced on a more regular basis. We also endeavour to communicate future game plans with members in advance and do encourage feedback from all members to improve the game for all.

Next season is certainly going to be very entertaining with a whole lot more racing opportunities.

We are very excited about the coming racing seasons and hope that all members will share this excitement with us! Racing is what it is all about and we aim to deliver.

We will amalgamate all member sentiments and questions in this respect on this forum thread and then update the community accordingly, once a day.

Now, what’s at stake?
Notpron isn’t a formal learning tool, nor is it even the most efficient way to go about studying the quirks of the Internet. However, it is first a foremost a form of entertainment. This isn’t going to replace other forms of entertainment, since only seven people have ever actually completed the puzzle in its entirety. The stakes are essentially ignorance and lack of constructive thought, neither of which are a loss to society. Notpron forces the agent to learn new techniques that have always been available, but perhaps they are unaware of their existence prior to the game. They lose their bliss of user-friendly sites and are forced to examine every possible affordance and analysis their meaning.

ARABELLA Ramsay found the traditionally stylish Derby Day "a bit mucky, a bit trashy" on Saturday and she is skipping tomorrow’s Melbourne Cup altogether…. From The Australian. Full story

This site may contain information about: fashion pictures. The blog is also related to: fasion.

Evidently a good deal of rain last night. Today overcast, not cold, a few spots of rain in the afternoon. Leaves coming down pretty fast now.

Today went into Baldock. Bought small sieve (2/-). Impossible to get iron stakes for wire netting. Timber almost unprocurable. Managed to get 2 very poor 6 ft. stakes for gate-posts of hen-run. Put them up this evening & shall shift wire tomorrow if not raining. Tried to mow grass, but the machine in its present state makes no impression. Shall have to leave it till the spring, then get it scythed. Mr K.[1] mended the spade by using the handle of the broken fork. Quite a good mend but leaves the spade a bit short. Paid 1/-. Impossible to sow broad beans yet as the ground will not get fine. Clarke’s sent shallots today & shall plant them by way of experiment when I get time. NB. That 2 lb. shallots = about 60 bulbs (say 2 rows). There are now 2 barn owls which live in the stumpy elm tree, & evidently it is they that make the sawing noise. I suppose these are the ones that used to be called screech-owls, & the ordinary brown owl is the one that makes the to-whoo noise.

6 eggs. Started hens on course of Karswood today[a]. Also giving them more shell-grit.

[a] Lasted till 14.11.39 (26 hens). [Orwell’s note]

[1] Unidentified neighbour. Peter Davison

By a stretch! Time for a celebration!

The Board of V8 Supercars Australia is set to decide whether drivers should remain in their respective cars for the 2010 enduros.

It will Even up the playing field for teams without two gun drivers and also raise the stakes of accomplished V8 Supercar steerers lacking a full-time gig.

Such a move would be detrimental to teams like of the Toll Holden Racing Team, which won last weekend’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with their stars Garth Tander and Will Davison paired together.

Those in favour of the concept also believe that it would give more cars the opportunity of winning Bathurst.

Tony Cochrane, V8SA Executive Chairman, confirmed the Board would discuss the item at a meeting, which is scheduled over two days next week.

“Personally I favour it but I don’t know what the Board’s feeling is yet,” he said.

“(And) I truly have not seen the feedback yet from the teams.

“That is on the agenda for the October 21st board meeting.

“It’s a two-day board meeting because it’s also our budget board meeting on the Wednesday/Thursday before the Gold Coast event.”

Warren Luff and Jonathon Webb drove for Jim Beam Racing in the enduros, experiencing a disappointing Bathurst, but they surprised many with a top six finish at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island.

Luff said he would rather an endurance drive with a strong team than a full-time drive with a weaker one, which is sure to be music to the ears of the leading teams if the proposed rule change goes ahead.

“I’ve found a really good home here; even though it’s only an enduro drive I’m sure there’s plenty of other guys that would love to have this drive,” he said.

“Who knows what the future holds, but it’s good to have a competitive car and be with a competitive team.

“There’s definitely a core group of us that are probably the better of the enduro drivers and given the right opportunity I’m sure we could all hold our heads high if given a full-time drive again.

“But it’s getting a drive, and getting a drive with a good team, that enables you to show what you can really do and that’s probably been the big thing for me this year with these guys and their new cars and stuff; I’ve been able to show that I’ve got some good speed.”

David Besnard and Greg Ritter proved their mettle at Bathurst paired in the second Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore.

On a similar strategy to Sprint Gas Racing’s Greg Murphy and Mark Skaife, the part-timers would have been in contention for a podium – if not the win – but an ill-timed safety car stopped them in their tracks and they had to settle for a top 10 finish.

Besnard was far from surprised that he and Ritter did well at both of this year’s enduros.

“It’s definitely harder when you’re not in it all the time but I think if you ask any decent race car driver they’ll be confident in their ability and that’s why we do it.

“I get asked the same question every year especially at Bathurst. I’ve been on the podium twice and each time people say ‘oh are you amazed to have the pace to be on the podium?’ and you’re like ‘no, I’m not’,” he laughed.

“I’ve had good cars the last couple of years and I have been able to show what I can do.”

Vampires provided a perfect mirror of the worst fears of the  pious and perfect. Vampires were dangerous, sexually rampant, enormously powerful, absolutely unconcerned about  human dignity and preservation of the soul, and finally…dead. And it was this last aspect of their nature that made them the most fascinating to legend-makers. -Dunn Mascetti, Manuela. Vampires: The Complete Guide to the World of the Undead

So we’ve established that vampires are bloodsucking, undead creatures. Not only are they immensely powerful and fast, they exhibit extraordinary attractive physical traits (from pale skin to beyond beautiful eyes) as well.  As if all these traits combined weren’t enough, most portrayals of vampires show them with a pair of sharp, seething fangs. One thing I haven’t brought to the table of discussion is a vampire’s strengths and weaknesses. What extra “powers” does a vamp have to further their lethality? What are the loopholes in the vampire’s strengths; can you kill something that’s already dead?

Vampires are immortal beings; upon completing the transformation required to become vampire, one will discover the ability to live forever young. There are, however, a few aspects that can halt a vampire’s immortality sooner than expected. For example, in typical representations of vampires, the sunlight is a big no-no.  In Interview with the Vampire, Louis’ daughter for all intensive purposes is assassinated in an open chamber by mere sunlight alone.

Claudia, a vampire from Interview with the Vampire, is literally turned to ash and soot by the sun's rays.

In Twilight, however, the sun doesn’t have a such a detrimental impact on the vampires. It exists solely as something that can reveal their identity because instead of bursting into flames, they sparkle as if they have millions of diamonds embedded in their pores. On the other hand, True Blood shares the negative view of the sun. The biggest contrast between Interview and True Blood is the fact that the sun instantly kills Claudia, while Bill Compton regenerates from his run-in with the sun. This is why vamps in these stories either sleep in sealed coffins or underground during the day to prevent all interaction with the sun.

Chargrilled vampire Bill.

Another weakness of the vampires in Anne Rice and HBO’s versions is a stake to the heart. The effect varies from one vamp to the next, but the outcome is the same: eternal rest. The vampires in Twilight only have one true weakness: other supernatural beings. Not many things can break the marble skin of Meyer’s vamps—only other vampire teeth or shape-shifter teeth.

————————————————————————————————————————————————–

As a side note, here are some special powers specific vampires exhibit:

• Interview with the Vampire- Louis’ special attribute/curse: extreme humanity & compassion. ;Lestat: mindreading
• Twilight- Edward: telepathy, high running speed ; Alice: ability to see the future/current path a particular mind is on; Carlisle: extreme abstinence of thirst, working as a doctor; Bella: can create a shield with her mind; Jasper-ability to control the emotions of those he’s around.
• True Blood- the ability to glamour. (Glamouring is a type of hypnosis that allows the vampire that’s employing it to control the mind of his/her victim. They glamour to feed, to erase memory, and to protect themselves.)
  

Expectations were building for China to take the lead on climate change, as some 100 world leaders gather Tuesday to breathe new life into deadlocked negotiations.

A factory in China (AFP Photo)

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called the biggest-ever summit of national leaders on climate change some 100 days before a high stakes gathering in Copenhagen, which is meant to seal a successor to the landmark Kyoto Protocol.

US President Barack Obama, who is fighting to push climate change legislation through the Congress, will address the summit on the eve of the annual UN General Assembly in New York.

But the spotlight may fall on President Hu Jintao of China, which according to some measures has surpassed the United States as the top emitter of greenhouse gases blamed for a dangerous rise in global temperatures.

Chinese officials have spent recent days in private talks billing Hu’s address as a major announcement.

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said he was advised that China would make “an ambitious” statement at the summit.

“This policy will make China become the world leader on climate change,” de Boer told a small group of reporters.

“I have very high expectations on what President Hu will be announcing,” he said, explaining that the measures will “take Chinese emissions very significantly away from where they would have been without a climate policy.”

China, along with other developing nations such as India, has long resisted committing to any cuts in greenhouse gases, arguing that rich nations bear historical responsibility.

Former US president George W. Bush — breaking with the leaders of virtually all other rich nations — refused to take part in the Kyoto Protocol, calling it unfair by not requiring action by emerging powers.

Obama has sharply shifted course and declared climate change to be a priority. The US House of Representatives narrowly passed legislation to impose the first US national mandatory cuts on emissions, but the bill still awaits Senate action.

“What we see happening here is that health care is so dominating the (US) domestic agenda that it is pushing back the climate change legislation, making it more difficult for the US to come to Copenhagen with a strong position,” de Boer said.

But Todd Stern, the State Department’s special envoy on climate change, said the Obama administration was committed regardless of the status of climate legislation and that Obama would make a “strong statement” at the UN.

¨It’s an opportunity for him to speak before the nations of the world on this issue,” Stern said after meeting Friday with climate negotiators from major economies in Washington.

 Also raising hopes of environmentalists, Japan’s new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is set to make his debut on the world stage at the UN General Assembly.

Hatoyama has said his center-left government will commit to cutting emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, compared with previous premier Taro Aso’s eight percent goal.

“As Japan is probably the most efficient economy in the world, it’s incredibly ambitious,” de Boer said.

 Ahead of the summit, the leaders of the world’s most vulnerable nations — small islands across the planet’s oceans — appealed for action.

Dessima Williams, a former Grenadian diplomat who heads the Alliance of Small Islands States, noted that recent science showed a sea level rise of at least one and maybe two meters by the end of the century.

“That would spell disaster, even disappearance, for some of our islands,” Williams said.
 

JanSport High Stakes Review

Feature

• Premium polyester Cordura fabric, for durability
• Padded shoulder straps
• One large main compartment
• Front utility pocket with organizer keeps essentials handy
• Padded back panel for cushioning comfort

Overview
Jansport High Stakes Book Bag

Sep 20, 2009 00:00:04

Movie snobs will call me names for thumbsupping a best picture winner, but I was on the edge of my seat for Slumdog Millionaire, despite its Euro director trying to pass himself off as Indian and the ill advised nod to Bollywood dancing at the end. Evidently, lots of people felt the same way I did. I think I know why.

The stakes were high in that movie. The main character’s entire life pointed straight as an arrow to the questions he answered on that game show. Slowly, the movie let us in on the character’s life and the more we realize how much is riding on this game, the more rapt we become.

Stakes. Your characters need to have reasons for what they do. And those reasons should be dire. If you want to write something that resonates with people, make it so that the things your characters do aren’t simple options, they’re THE ONLY OPTION. Give them chances for redemption, but make the temptation to fail so overwhelmingly powerful that the reader feels it. This propels your plot, gives the reader something to hold onto.

I’ll give you an example from my own work. The main character leaves his family behind to go to a rock concert. As a result he endures hardship. When people read early drafts of my book, they said “That’s not enough.” And they were right. The character had to have more at stake. He HAD to leave his family. He had to make himself go, the story had to be about something more than “Gee, it’d be nice to go to a rock concert. Think I’ll go.” Because who gives a shit about that?? The big choices your characters make should be life and death, they should stand to lose everything or gain everything. This is what draws your reader in.

When you’re crafting your narrative — and this is much harder than it sounds, because remember, your narrative is SUPPOSED to be happening organically — never forget dramatic structure. The story arc. I’ll post it here for anybody who isn’t familiar with it. Essentially, you start with exposition, then rising action, then climax, then falling action, then denouement. Every story has this arc. The way you structure your novel doesn’t necessarily have to follow this order — in fact some of the best novels don’t follow this chronological, linear structure. Think Frankenstein: The novel begins with Dr. Frankenstein chasing his creature through the arctic, eons after he cobbled it together out of dead body parts. It starts with the denouement and then jumps back to exposition. However, the story arc is still there — it’s just shuffled around for Mary Shelley’s purposes.

Whatever you’re writing, think about this arc and try to make the changes as blantant as possible. Here’s where you put the stakes. Exposition, you’re simply introducing characters and their situation. Then like a lightning bolt, rising action should start. It should be very clear. Someone has wronged your character. Something is leading your character toward a climax, which can be a life altering decision. A lot has to be riding on these changes. Likewise, your character should change along this arc, he or she should develop and become something different on the other end. Otherwise, the character is flat and uninteresting, the narrative has no punch and meanders listlessly (much like these blog entries).

I know, as if you didn’t have enough to think about, right? I always had trouble figuring out how to stick rigidly to this arc and still write a story that doesn’t seem forced or outlined.

I think the answer is emersion. The arc has to become second nature, part of the way you think. When you read, you should look for the arc. Think about how the writer has written what he or she has written. Where is the arc? Is it fragmented or linear? Where do the various changes take place? And why do we care? The arc is the emotional barometer of a work. If you’re not feeling it’s gentle swell, chances are your reader won’t be feeling anything either.

Anybody else have any advice on building tension and narrative structure? Would love to have some input here — this has always been a challenge for me, always an afterthought.

This is not an ace. Not the trump card of any argument, Experience itself is the table around which the game of argumentation is played. On that table, small pieces of Experience are put down as the stakes.

You heard about “raising the steaks” in your work.

But what are “the stakes” or should I say, what is AT “stake”?

Usually in speculative fiction it’s stuff like a life, a kingdom, a nation, a planet, the galaxy, the Universe, the whole of Existence. It’s what on the table and the reason why the characters do what they are doing. But the object itself is meaningless, it is the value that the author/character/reader give it that matter.

Stakes are like money in that money only has value relevant to what it gets you (what you can acquire with it) and the work you put in to get the money in the first place.

So what do the “stakes” need to acquire this “value”?

1)The stakes are real. Something that it’s quantifiable and observable. It’s hard to care when you don’t understand what your fighting for.

2)The stakes always rise. If you think the stakes are high on page 1 wait until you get to page 321. I mean it’s defeats the purpose of raising the stakes if they already reached their limit. Otherwise the character(s) (and the reader) will call it quits have way through. Thinks are always worse than you can imagine.

3)The stakes are personal. It’s always personal. Ties in with the stakes being real. There is got to be a reason why the character is willing to sit on the table and drop a wager. He may need the money to buy old grandpa’s farm from the bank before they foreclose or his waiting for the fellow who is drinking at the bar to let his guard down so he can drill him one on the head. What that bastard did to his sister won’t go unpunished.

4)The stakes are always constant. Seems to contradict #2 but if the stakes diminish, so does the overall tension that pushes the story forward. Not that the characters should not catch a break once in awhile, but it’s only a break before the story goes on overdrive.

5) The stakes demand sacrifice. Blood, money, life, it’s what your betting and there is always a chance that you are going to lose. You might think it’s a chew in, but it ain’t and before the day (and the story) is through you will lose some to win all. It’s the way the game is played.  Without the possibility of loss, the stakes are meaningless.

So that’s all I got to say about it. Now ladies and gents, the game is on.

By way of a visual explanation here is a short game trailer that will illustrate the above. Enjoy!

(Note: See if you can identify two of the voices in it.)

Las Vegas has has been hit hard by the recession… From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: recession list. The blog is also related to: singapore recession.

My version of weave is avoid

My life, so far, has been fairly undemanding and probably unproductive, which suits me fine, thank you very much. For some bizarre and unexplained reason, Grandma has taken up the notion that I would enjoy learning and performing the physical feats of a trained circus dog. As a result of acquiring these skills, goes her theory, I will become a much happier and more fulfilled pug. Au contraire, Grandma! I like my life just the way it is.

This week, however, brought stress into my stress free existence. Out came the newly purchased stakes…ten of them…planted strategically in a long row, 1 to 2 feet apart, in the back yard. Grandma proceeded to put me in my harness and leash, show me a fist full of tasty treats, and then lead me outside to the row of said stakes. Her voice was filled with a whole lot of encouragement and, what I later discovered to be false, bonhomie. After viewing the treats again, I was forced to “weave” through each of these stakes with the proffered treats always in view. Grandma kept repeating the dreaded “weave” and I, realizing what was being asked of me, stubbornly dug in all four feet while my harness was being pulled to the point of serious separation. Upon completion of this torture trail, Grandma forced a hearty, “Good job, Mason” and rewarded me with a tiny morsel. At this point, I felt I was okay because at least it was over; but no, again she started with the weave command. I couldn’t believe it! My grandma, who usually is tuned in to my every nuance, expression, and reaction, just forged ahead in her resolute determination of making me fulfill her dream — producing a superb agility pug.

Fortunately, and I cannot believe I am saying this, goofy old Lizzie waddled out, looked at my misery, and decided she would enjoy this game. She started walking in and out of the stakes, just to be near me, and Grandma suddenly said, “Why Lizzie, you may be a better candidate. Let’s get your harness on and try it.” Thank you Lizzie! I was free…never again would I be subjected to such folly!

You must weep for me, dear reader, because my once beloved granny was not done with me. She has made me revisit this medieval torture, this cruel practice every day. I am not doing any better and yet she persists. Somebody please put an end to this for me. Maybe an intervention is needed? Didn’t she get the memo that pugs are lap dogs?

Respectfully submitted,

Mason

Here is view from the upstairs landing of my torture course. Lizzie is stupidly staring at the stakes and wondering what they are.

As you can see I have removed myself from the danger, while Lizzie "weaves."

Yours truly beating a hasty retreat before being driven back to the stakes.