Making the Most of Your Child's Special Artwork

From Pillows to Postage Stamps: Making the Most of Your Child's Special Artwork
So you've sorted through your child's art work - and there's a very special piece or two. The options for making something from that art work just keep expanding; here are my latest finds.1. For a significant chunk of change, you can have that art made into a bespoke embroidered pillow. [via Better Living Through Design]2. Art2believe will also turn your child's drawing into a pillow - for much less money.And art2believe also creates dolls from children's art. [via Cool Mom Picks]3. At the other end of the spectrum, turn the art into postage stamps. [via parents.com]Related Posts:Give the Gift of a (Very Personal) BookMaking the Most of Children's ArtOnce More: Making the Most of Children's ArtPreserving Your Child's Art MasterpiecesShowcasing Your Child's Art: Five More OptionsWhat to Do with the Art: Yet More Options for Your Child's Masterpieces

I hate stupid chocolate...

...but I decided to make chocolate chocolate chip cookies anyway because I thought Ben and Brian would enjoy it. It came from a recipe from Rosie's Cookie Book. Rosie's Bakery are the wonderful people who baked my wedding cake over 19 years ago when I lived in Cambridge MA. It is a wonderful place.But these cookies sucked. Yes, they were chocolaty and yes, they had a wonderful light and fluffy texture. But they had no soul. Brian and Ben ate them but they missed the old southern chocolate chip recipe that Brian's grandma baked throughout his childhood.I would not usually take the time to write about this stuff but there were so many dam steps to this recipe and I was so friggin diligent. Plus I don't like chocolate. It brings me down. Well...unless it's chocolate chip mint ice cream.

Bath-o-matic.

Cut short in summer

Minnesota Wild Team Report

This was expected to be an eventful offseason for the Wild anyway, but it started with a boom. Three days after Jacques Lemaire resigned as the Wild's only coach it ever had, the only general manager it ever had, Doug Risebrough, was unexpectedly fired April 14. The Wild, after two straight first-round playoff exits, missed the playoffs this past season after winning the Northwest Division last year. "I can't overemphasize, this is not a knee-jerk decision on my part," said owner Craig Leipold, who had one coach and GM during his 10-year reign as the Nashville Predators' owner. "It's very well thought out, trying to understand what I feel it will take to get to the next level. It's my feeling now it's time to move forward. It's time to move on. "I just saw things, and my gut says now's the time for a change so we can go out and get the best person out there who can take this incredible brand and great franchise and great team to the next level. "It's time we get some new eyes in here." Risebrough's biggest downfall was being too conservative, both in free agency and in trades. He just always seemed gun-shy to pull the trigger on impact moves. "I made decisions on a regular basis for the right reasons, and the right reasons never included me," Risebrough said. "Now I can say, I didn't always make the right decisions, but I did them for the right reasons. And I feel good about that." Leipold is currently searching for a GM. He's expected to interview former GM's Pat Quinn, Doug MacLean and Jay Feaster. He's also interested in Pittsburgh assistant GM Chuck Fletcher and Nashville assistant GM Paul Fenton. SEASON HIGHLIGHT: After trailing 3-0 late in the second period March 5 at San Jose, the Wild stormed back to beat the Sharks 4-3 on Mikko Koivu's first career overtime winner. The highlight of the game was defenseman Marek Zidlicky tying the score at 3-3 in the third period with a bouncing shot from the red line that somehow got under Sharks goalie Brian Boucher. TURNING POINT: There was no real specific turning point other than several of them. The Wild just simply could not get on a real winning streak all season. Until winning in Columbus on Saturday night, the Wild hadn't won three games in a row since mid-November. It was too little, too late.NOTES, QUOTESAgent Ron Salcer blasted the Wild to the Minneapolis Star Tribune for allowing his client, D Brent Burns, to play six weeks with a concussion. Burns says he was originally injured in practice Jan. 26. He played until March 7 before he shut himself down. "I met with Brent in L.A. (March 6)," Salcer said. "We're having lunch with him and (fellow client Derek Boogaard) and he's telling me about when he hit his head six weeks earlier. So I'm listening to him, and I'm incredulous listening to him. "He's telling me how, 'Ronny, I'm an avid reader and I'm not able to read on the bus anymore. I get headaches that go all around my head. I'm can't sleep. During the game, I'm not focusing. I feel like everything is happening, but I'm reacting slow. I go, 'Brent, are you kidding me? You've got a concussion. You cannot play. You cannot play anymore! "They said he had sinusitis. I mean, come on. I'm not a doctor, but I've been around the game for over 30 years. It took me three minutes to know that he had a concussion. How they cannot know for six weeks is amazing." Tom Lynn, the Wild's acting GM while owner Craig Leipold looks for fired-GM Doug Risebrough's replacement, said, "Burns' symptoms grew over a period of time and there was no initial big collision that would have clued anyone into a concussion... The fact Salcer may have pulled him out after Brent had already told us he did not feel up to playing (March 7) is not really relevant to the big picture, which is the Wild's desire for him to be healthy long-term. He is one of our young, core players."Salcer is also the agent for free-agent RW Marian Gaborik. With Risebrough and coach Jacques Lemaire gone, Salcer was asked if this would sway Gaborik to returning. "I called Tom Lynn personally in November, spoke with Tom and said, 'Would you be interested in reopening negotiations with Marian?' I'm still waiting for him to return that phone call. I never heard back ever," Salcer said. "That's in November. And so, the season went. And now when you look at July 1 on the horizon where we can talk to every team in the league, certainly we have to take that opportunity very seriously and we will. Having said that, should the organization want to call me, we'll listen to and explore anything. But we certainly see July 1 in the landscape here." Lynn said Salcer's "claim may be technically true but misleading." Lynn said he told Salcer that Risebrough would talk to Gaborik personally. "Doug told Marian that until Marian was healthy and the economy became more stable, there was no use trying to establish a new value," Lynn said. Gaborik missed 65 games this past season but scored 13 goals and 23 points in 17 games.Of the three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, G Niklas Backstrom is the only one to be in the top-five in all five major goaltending categories. He's humbled by the honor. "It felt really good," Backstrom said. "It's tough for a hockey player at this time of the year; you feel you should still be playing. So it feels good to hear some good news. It's a great honor."QUOTE TO NOTE: "He's so loyal to the team, he was afraid. He said, 'I don't want to tell them that. I don't want to burn a bridge.' I said, 'Burn a bridge? They just exploded one on you. You cannot play.'" Agent Ron Salcer, to the Star Tribune, on the Wild allowing D Brent Burns to play with a concussion for six weeks.ROSTER REPORT MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: There was much angst as the trade deadline approached about whether Niklas Backstrom's future was elsewhere, but on the day before, the Wild signed its backbone goaltender to a four-year, $24 million deal. Backstrom won a franchise-record 37 games and finished with a 2.33 goals against average and .923 save percentage. MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: After a franchise-record 50 assists last season, Pierre-Marc Bouchard assisted on 20 fewer goals this season and had only 46 points in 71 games. He was plagued by inconsistency this season, and this came after signing a five-year, $20.4 million deal in the offseason with a two-year oral no-trade clause. FREE AGENT FOCUS: The Wild re-signed D John Scott to a one-year, one-way, $550,000 contract, but RW Marian Gaborik, D Martin Skoula, D Marc-Andre Bergeron, LW Stephane Veilleux and D Kurtis Foster remain unrestricted free agents. PLAYER NEWS:G Niklas Backstrom underwent left hip surgery to repair a labral deficiency and shave down two cysts on April 24. He's expected to recover in three months, which is excellent news for the Wild because originally it was expected Backstrom could miss up to six months.D Brent Burns continues to be hindered by post-concussion syndrome, but he felt good enough to undergo right shoulder surgery April 23. His shoulder is expected to heal in four months.D Marc-Andre Bergeron underwent back surgery to repair a disk problem April 28. He's expected to recover in six to eight weeks.LW Derek Boogaard underwent right shoulder surgery April 21. He's expected to be fully recovered in two months.LW Andrew Brunette underwent reconstructive right knee surgery April 16. He's expected to be out four to six months, which makes a training camp return up in the air.LW Antti Miettinen (Finland), C Peter Olvecky (Slovakia), D Marek Zidlicky (Czech Republic), C Morten Madsen (Denmark) and G Josh Harding (Canada) are taking part in the World Championships in Switzerland. As of April 30, Miettinen had three goals and six points in three games. MEDICAL WATCH:G Niklas Backstrom underwent surgery on his left hip April 24, and the result was good news it wasn't as extensive as expected. His rehabilitation will take about three months rather than six, as feared.D Marc-Andre Bergeron had successful back surgery on April 28 to repair a disk. He should be ready for next season.LW Andrew Brunette underwent surgery on his right knee April 16. The team said he played with torn ligaments in the knee during the second half of the season.D Brent Burns missed the last 19 games of the season with a concussion. He's still symptomatic.RW Pierre-Marc Bouchard missed the last eight games of the season with a concussion.D Nick Schultz missed the last three games of the season with concussion-like symptoms.LW Derek Boogaard underwent surgery on his right shoulder April 21.RW Dan Fritsche missed the last game of the season with a dislocated clavicle.

Summer beans

Summer beans ,summer corns,never too enough

Unblieavable price

In May I ask the price of one pair of shoes,the seller answered "139".

Yesterday the price fell to only 39

9/11. Fact or fiction?

Yes I have indeed decided to start this disscusdion again. This is simply for two reasons: 1) in protest against the fact my old dissucssion on this topic was deleted and 2) in the hope that in the time that has passed since I last posted this disscusion, more people will have something to say on the topic, more people will be able to post and talk about this topic.
9/11 is one of those things that can be hotly debated. Everybody who has looked up on it has one view point or another. And there are not simply two view points, there are a wide range of possisions people take on this.
Please feel free to post your thoughts as I enjoy hearing (or in this case reading:-) ) what other people have to say
And myLot moderators: please don't delete this discussion. Freedom of speach is something everybody values. No doubt you already know my view point on this matter. Please allow freedom of debate and discussion will sticking to the rules of myLot and respecting other people.

Fishing with a partner makes for a more enjoyable experience

Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, I had many fishing partners I could always rely on that enjoyed the out of doors just as much as I do. There was a special one who was very close to my heart — my ex-wife Janie. For the eight or so years that we were together, we fished from the mountains to the keys, and rarely would she ever turn down an opportunity to get on the water. This lady grew up bait fishing the ponds on her family farm and, with a little bit of instruction from me, she readily took up artificial lure fishing and fly-fishing. I was amazed one day to look downstream to see Janie casting her fly rod left-handed. Women seem to have a knack for fly-fishing and I think that maybe it’s the gracefulness of the cast and the fact that they don’t have to bait a hook. I think that many of the male anglers are missing the boat by not taking their wives with them at least some of the time. There are many women anglers in north Georgia, and some of them are accomplished anglers, and some are outstanding fisher-people. The angler who caught the state record brown trout, Charlie Ford, married a champion bass tournament angler. His wife, Rhonda, fishes the tournament circuit, and has a wall full of trophies. Roman Rebecca Strain holds a fly rod world record for a bone fish she caught in the Florida Keys. Elizabeth Farquharson is the president of the Kanooka Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and can out-fish many men I know. This young lady was one of the first “trout campers” at the Georgia TU trout camp, and she not only has angling skills, but also the enthusiasm that it takes to be the head of a successful TU chapter. There are a lot of other women that like fishing in the area. Vickie Hill at Synovus Mortgage Co. and Sonya Blankenship at River City Bank both love fishing. Brenda Horton gets great enjoyment bait fishing for catfish in the Etowah River. Our TU chapter has a few women who show up fairly regularly at meetings, but I would like to see a lot more females sitting at the meeting table. The state council meetings usually have about 15 percent women attending. Why should guys have all the fun fishing? Take a girl along.We will have some of the best women fly anglers in the state at our up-coming Trout Expo on Saturday, April 25. The Georgia Women Flyfishers will be there to introduce the area ladies, both young and old, to the sport of fly- fishing. Strain — who is not only a world record holder but also a certified fly casting instructor — will be showing off her skills and will give basic casting instructions to anyone wishing to learn. Fly-fishing is not an expensive hobby to take up.In fact, someone wanting to buy the basic tackle can go to Kmart with a $100 bill and leave with line, leader, rod, reel and flies and still have money for a decent meal at a good restaurant. Sure, you can spend nearly a thousand dollars at a high-end fly shop, but that is not necessary.Ladies of all ages are invited to join us at the Trout Expo to learn about trout, trout fishing whether with a fly rod or a cane pole and to become more familiar with Trout Unlimited. Deborah Scott, the Gold Rush TU chapter president, will be at the Expo with five fly rods and will allow anyone, and everyone a chance, to learn the basics of fly casting. No bait, no smelly worms, just fur and feathers tied to a hook, a graceful cast to the right location and the resulting fish is what fly-fishing is all about.TU meetingThe next meeting of the Coosa Valley Chapter will be Thursday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Landmark Restaurant. We will have Gary Beisser and John Damer, both DNR fisheries biologists, speaking about hatchery operations, the trout program and the sturgeon stocking that is occurring in the area rivers. This is also a final planning session for the Trout Expo to be held at Georgia Highlands College. Members are urged to attend, and the public is invited.

Will you go further studay after graduation?I mean,to become a post-graduate?

I'm an under-graduate now.I decided to have further study after graduation from my current unversity.
In fact,I didn't want to become a post-graduate before.All things in my mind was to graduate and find a decent job.But now I change my mind,because the interest in English( English is my major) and I want to be an interpreter in the future.So I think maybe I need to have further study and enough practice to prepare me for my dreamed job.I have no idea if I will be a qualified interpreter,but I will do my best.This will be a long journey and the journey will be full of obstacles and setbacks.But I'm not afaid of difficulties and instead,I will confront with them bravely and passionately.All I have is passion,persistent.I hope I can reach my dream one day.
So do you want to go further study after graduation?Why?~

Let the farmer's tan begin!

This weekend was the perfect gardening weather -- sunny but mild temperatures, not too hot or too cool -- a combination which lures you into believing many things can grow and flourish in your garden, so you buy more than you intended because you are riding high on hope and a dream. A dream of tomatoes and herbs and shiny eggplants all growing peacefully with each other. A dream of a 600-pound pumpkin stretching its vines around tall green cornstalks. Well, it's early still. Might as well enjoy the hope while we can. There's nothing better than working in the yard until you're drenched with sweat from exertion and dirty and smelly and surrounded by seedlings. I should work in a garden center, just being around seedlings makes me giddy. And my yard is becoming a testament to my love of science experiments, because what greater science experiment is there? This is my kitchen garden. On the far left and far right are my dad's heirloom chili peppers, recently pruned and now thick with new leaves. Tucked in a back corner on the far left is marjoram, and in the middle along the back edge I've planted cilantro, dill and basil. In the front I have thyme (both English and lemon varieties) along with oregano. By far my favorite plants to grow are herbs -- I love them. They're pretty and useful and they smell amazing. I've grown herbs and succulents for most of my life, so over time I've mostly figured out what works and what doesn't and still it's always a surprise to see what takes off and what fades away each year in the garden. In this house I've had the best success with marjoram and basil, but I still like growing a wide variety to see what will flourish where. I like having all the herbs crammed in together like that in a small space, one year I grew them in a Rubbermaid tub out on the patio and I had six or seven different herbs planted and they all just took off. It keeps me motivated to clip them regularly which makes me more motivated to try cooking unusual recipes to use my herbs. But vegetable gardening is still sort of new to me. I spent most of my childhood weeding between rows of my Dad's garden and plucking fat tomato worms off the vines, but I never did any of the garden-making stuff myself like siting the garden and deciding which plants to grow and all that. Prior to moving into this house, most of my personal veggie-growing experience was limited to a tomato plant in a plastic pot on the patio. Since starting my gardening science experiment I have discovered I can grow zucchini like nobody's business and I've had good success with pumpkins but failure with pretty much everything else. Mostly this is my fault, not watering everything enough and being lazy in general. This year I've decided to commit 100% to my garden and see if I can actually grow enough good stuff to justify the amount of money I'm spending on gardening supplies. The first step was to figure out what I like to eat most (besides potatoes, which I'm not ready for yet.) That's how I decided on corn, tomatoes, bell peppers and especially cucumbers. Add to that some squash and some pumpkins and the random eggplant and that's what I invested in this year. I'm most excited about trying to grow corn! This is the first patch, small but enough space for three staggered rows of corn and one pumpkin seedling. Before: After: You may be saying, have you gone CRAZY? You can't grow corn there! You may be right, I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you're looking for. My dad's garden was always long and lush with several rows of corn planted in neat aisles. Mine is not. I know corn is wind-pollinated, but I don't see why you have to maintain perfect row formation. This is kind of a staggered splay of corn, but I measured so each is about 12 inches apart, except for two seedlings I couldn't separate. And with the wind we get here, pollination should not be a problem. Notice too that I didn't pull up the ice plant growing randomly on the soil. I just dumped mulch on top. I can't bear to pull up something so pretty, so maybe it will grow in and around the corn stalks and mingle with the pumpkin. As you can probably guess, this was not the original game plan for my Great Corn Field. I planned to put the corn field out back, alongside my raised garden bed. However, after I bought the corn plants, I started digging up the proposed corn field and discovered there are bricks buried all under the sod. Bricks. In the soil. Were the old residents trying to grow a barbecue pit or something? Weird. But it became rapidly apparent there was no way I could dig up all the bricks in the short window of time known as my weekend. So that's why I had to plant the corn elsewhere. I figure it's serendipity -- the best science experiments have different test groups, right? Next weekend I'll work on digging up the bricks and planting more corn in the back and we'll have a grow-off! Corn vs. Corn! Worst case scenario, nothing grows. Best case scenario I have enough corn for the apocalypse. The raised bed out back is happy to be filled with plants again. Before: After: In the cages in each corner are cucumbers, with a tomato in the middle. Normally I would never try a tomato out back, it gets full sun all day and it's so hot out here that the only tomato success I've ever had is in patio containers under the covered porch. But at the garden center I noticed this variety of tomato called Heatwave -- allegedly the perfect tomato for hot climates. Well, that is just a dare. I accept your duel. The best and wackiest thing I did this year was to break my budget limit and splurge on these: They make me laugh! It seems wrong, growing things upside down, but I'm fascinated to see if it works! I planted a Roma tomato in one, a cherry tomato in another and the last one has a lone cucumber seedling. I am determined to grow a cucumber this year, even if it costs me a billion dollars. This is Clarence. He lives in my yard and has trained me to feed him peanuts. I think Darwin would be amazed at the evolution of suburban wildlife... they have learned to make human city-dwellers do their bidding and buy them peanuts. I was out planting the corn and I noticed a little movement to my left and there he was, just a few inches away, staring at me. Then he made his little squirrel noise, which I guess is squirrelese for "Get me a peanut!" and so I did, and off we went. All afternoon Clarence would fetch a peanut and then run around the yard looking for the perfect place to hide it. There are peanuts all over my damn yard. The blue jays like peanuts too: This one comes over and grabs them out of the bowl. He watches Clarence sometimes to see where the squirrel is hiding a peanut, then the blue jay swoops in after him and digs it up. He's very smart. Sometimes he perches on one of the patio chairs and yells at me until I bring him peanuts or sunflower seeds. The cats love to watch all of this from the big windows that face the garden: I am happiest out in the yard. No radio, no internet, no TV or phone or email. Just me and some dirt and a cold beer and some peanuts for all.

Woman and man kissing in public!!! What do you think when you see them?

People in the street, in public places, in parks, who kiss each other...what do you think about this? You like when see people who love each other, and don t afraid or shame to show theirs love ...you will blame them or you like to see happy people? Do you kiss your hus/wife or lover in public places?

Save Energy, Take the Car

In the race for fuel efficiency between cars and mass transit, put your money on cars. By Patrick Bedard Link to Article Some things everybody knows, just knows. Like the WMD Saddam had in his back pocket. Everybody just knew he had ’em. Everybody just knows that mass transit is cleaner than cars, too, and saves fuel. And once again, everybody’s got it wrong. “Light rail” is the darling of transit boosters these days, operating or under construction in 26 American cities, including sprawling Phoenix and scattered Seattle-Tacoma. This is a system of self-powered cars. Depending on the design, it may run on its own exclusive right of way or on tracks through the streets. “Heavy rail,” either subways or elevated, always runs on its own right of way. “Commuter rail” uses passenger coaches pulled by locomotives, often on tracks shared with freight lines. “Most light-rail systems use as much or more energy per passenger mile as the average passenger car, several are worse than the average light truck, and none is as efficient as a Prius,” writes Randal O’Toole in a new study from the Cato Institute titled “Does Rail Transit Save Energy or Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?” From several federal sources, O’Toole calculated the average energy used per passenger mile for various transportation methods. Ferry boats came out worst, sucking up 10,744 BTUs per passenger mile. A Toyota Prius was best at 1659 BTUs per mile. The average of all automobiles, which includes SUVs, vans, and cars together, is 3885 BTUs per mile, whereas passenger cars alone average 3445. The average light-rail system is slightly worse at 3465. Buses, at 4365 BTUs, are much worse; commuter rail and heavy rail are better at about 2600 but still no match for the Prius. It turns out that light-rail cars aren’t light, weighing in at about 100,000 pounds, roughly four times the weight of a bus and 34 times the weight of a Prius. Another problem: With electrical power, there’s major shrinkage between the energy of the fuel going into a generating plant and the actual power out the far end of the transmission system to the railway—10,300 BTUs in for 3400 BTUs out, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Yet another problem: To justify the political demands that come with the huge investment, light rail runs at a greater frequency than buses, and the trains are largely empty at off-peak travel times and toward the ends of the lines. Fully loaded rail cars are very energy efficient, but every mile traveled by a nearly empty car pulls down the average. ...Ready for a radical idea? Forget building new light rail for commuters—few ride it anyway—and streamline the roads instead. Here’s why. New rail systems take at least 10 years to plan and build, then last 30 to 40 years before needing a major overhaul, so new rail planned today will, on average, be in the middle of its life in the 2030s. So it must compete with the cars on the road then. This will be a tough league. Although rail systems are locked into today’s technology for years to come, cars respond very quickly to new mileage requirements. The average car sold in 2020 will get 35 mpg—it’s the law! As those new cars replace older models in the fleet, average mileage will improve, dropping the BTUs per mile from 3445 today to 3000 in 2020, and on to 2500 in year 2035, O’Toole calculates, even if the mileage law never tightens beyond what’s already on the books. Looking at publicly available records, only one light-rail system in the country now, San Diego, beats 2500 BTUs per mile by more than one percent—well, actually, Boston beats it by 1.08 percent—but the point still stands: Unless there’s an unexpected move toward nuclear-sourced electricity, the cars of the future will outperform light rail on energy efficiency. The CO2 situation is harder to predict. Will biofuels survive ethanol’s current bad press? Will the Chevrolet Volt and other plug-in hybrids actually happen? If they do, cars look even better because cars have one advantage that trains will never match. Cars don’t run when nobody wants the trip.

Mission: Accomplished

I think this serves as proof that Theo Epstein is a great general manager.p "The Plan" that he implemented seven years ago when he was but a newborn field personnel organizer with nary a follicle of facial growth has worked to perfection. His goal:p to construct a team that could beat the Yankees.p And he's done that.p Why, if the league further unbalances the schedule (and given Bud Selig's history as commissioner, the desire to increase ratings, and payroll inequities throughout the league, I wouldn't rule it out), they might have the Yankees and Red Sox play each other 162 times a year, thus allowing the Red Sox to, at this pace, go for the first undefeated season in baseball history joining the Patriots as the only professional sports teams in the New England region to do so.p What a story that would be!p Of course, we "only" play the Yankees a dozen and a half times in a year, so perhaps I should wait until, say, the twelfth game between the two teams to open my mouth.p Not to mention the fact that I've just jinxed them and hence, the streak will end tonight.p Eh, [shrug] whadya gonna do? But the team is constructed to beat the Yankees and we can also beat the Orioles (who technically were the Yankees before they were the Yankees), and they don't seem to have any trouble against the Tigers.p However, there was one glitch in "the plan."p The Red Sox can't beat anyone else with any consistency.p The Mets?p Isn't the AL supposed to beat up on National League teams?p Texas?p I thought they only had football teams.p Tampa Bay?p Phew! Matt Garza is Cy Young against Boston, but the rest of the league uses him as batting practice.p (An over exaggeration, but necessary to make my point).p I don't doubt that given the chance, Theo could construct a new team that can defeat these powerful foes as he has the squad from the Bronx.p That's why I propose that Major League Baseball should increase the number of players on the active roster to -- lessee, now what is 25 times 29? hm... -- 725.p That way, Tito Francona will have a team to field specifically versus every other team in the league.p Oh, sure the agents, players' association, league executives, teams, fans, merchandisers, andpTV networks might have a problem with my plan, but Theo Epstein and those thousands of players that might never make the majors otherwise would love it!p (Though the added players may not get any playing time, they'll officially be major leaguers.) This would further separate the men from the boys in this league.p Remember, all the great general managers have one thing in common: they're all men. Boston native Andy Wasif studied sports journalism at Syracuse University and then spent a couple of years traveling the country performing stand-up comedy. Now he resides in Los Angeles where he is focusing on his screenwriting. His literary works include "How to Talk to a Yankee Fan" and "Red Sox University," which was recently released. For more information, visit www.dirtywater.tv.pp

Key Takeaways (What I got from it) - Part II

Key Takeaways (What I got from it) - Part IISummary: scoping the post, small changes, shameless plug for an experienced executive, activating the old Lewis & Clark DNA, carpe diem with reptile visuals. So what did I get out of this? I mean most vacations give you a chance to slow down and reflect. The difference is that you usually get back within a week or two instead of taking a couple months to internalize the slower pace. There is a huge danger of being too introspective in a chapter like this, so I will keep it concise and tangible. I've ignored the blog for a couple weeks to allow the lessons of Oz to sink in, but it is time to get on with it and post something before you all forget the site. Quick aside, I have also turned some of this into a powerpoint, but it does not seem to want to load onto the site. When I can figure it out, look for a summary photo post. Naturally, I find myself thinking about the trip. Australia really is a fantastic country with a pair of world class cities and a few more wonderful cities worthy of visiting. The trip really did go smoothly. While I'd love to credit my planning, the reality is that Australia is simply an easy place to visit (once you get there). Still, there was something cool about selecting an objective, planning it, getting it done, and returning with everyone in tact. Alex has quickly returned to the swing of things as well, but he is talking much more in all three of his languages. Naturally, as the sunny days get longer, we are enjoying the fact that we are about to go right back into summer. Well, I have made a few changes personally. People tell me I look younger - maybe I am smiling more or maybe I need to keep losing weight, but I am not one to question compliments. For one thing, I am certainly driving slower. This is not to say I am an angel or that I was previously a freeway combatant, but I've been back for nearly a month and I am driving within 5 mph of the speed limit - that is just the most obvious symptom of me embracing a more relaxed approach. I've made a few other changes on the margins - going from a Treo to a Blackberry, going from a PC to a Mac, going from really short hair to longish hair (not rock star long, just an extra inch or two). In keeping with the "life is too short" theme, I am making some changes on the professional side too. I've spent 15 years developing marketing programs and helping companies make marketing decisions, but mostly from a role one step removed on the sales side. Now, I want to get in the arena and be the one doing the marketing. Additionally, as you can tell from this trip, I've always had a passion for knowing and doing all things international (my Master's is in International Business), but since the bulk of my work has been domestic this knowledge and my foreign languages have been mostly a hobby. That's going to change now. Although it would be easier to get another role involving sales to the marketing/advertising industry, I'll be doing something more purely marketing with an international angle. Potentially, I could do sales with an international skew and go from there to international marketing or I could do domestic marketing and go from there to international marketing. I am taking two different Spanish classes right now and looking for a way to do what I should be doing. By the way, if you know anyone trying to develop markets in Europe, Latin America, or Australia (or people from those places trying to develop the US), let me know. Many of you have asked - in polite terms - "what kind of freakish genetic defect would cause you to want to wander across an empty continent with a toddler?" This question was asked before, during, and after the trip. Usually the word "brave" is used (thank you, my diplomatic friends), with the word "crazy" following shortly thereafter with a smile. You know who you are and you may have a point. One of the things that I have learned since returning from Australia is that my genes would be in favor of the trip. I have an ancestor famous for actions a couple centuries ago, but it is not the ancestor I thought it was. Since childhood, I had heard that I was a fairly direct descendant of Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner - but in fact I am not. In a twist of fate that entirely makes sense right now, I have learned that I am a pretty direct descendant (8 generations back, 1st cousin) of Meriwether Lewis - as in Lewis & Clark. That's not a bad trade. Good to know that I am not the first person in the family to wander off into the lightly populated wilderness with a wingman. We both met some nice locals en route, but my wife did not grant permission to pick up any squaws en route (as in Sacajawea). Then again, I did not know to ask. On the other hand, Lewis & Clark did not get to sleep in road houses, drive on smooth well-marked roads, or experience their travels in an air conditioned Camry. Regardless, we probably saw about the same amount of oncoming traffic for much of our trip - I went whole days without passing or being passed by cars going in the same direction. Some people experience life-threatening events and respond with something of a carpe diem attitude. Well, I had a trip that was essentially flawless for two months, but I have emerged with a similar attitude adjustment. Steve Irwin had that attitude and made his impression on this world (thus the first photo, above). No doubt the person who captured the croc depicted above ("Krys" - the 8.6m reptile from Normanton, Qld that might eat a person without needing to chew) was also "seizing the day" when this massive crocodile showed up. Without a doubt I am on the same page, as mentioned above in the professional sense. Alex and I had the trip of a lifetime and our lives have been impacted accordingly. Thanks for joining us for the trip. Future posts will come, but in irregular intervals.

Never tell a peson who's experiencing deep sorrow, i know how you feel..

i receive a txt today and it said never tell a person who's experiencing deep

sorrow, i kow how you feel because you don't. Its true, maybe you went

through that same situations but you have different emotions. Nobody knows

anyone's emotions but themselves alone, whether your a friend or family or

really close to that person but you really dont know whats going inside.
what is your reactions to this? what do usually do when your comforting other

people who is really in deep pain?

Stamps about Guide Dogs

Today is May 1st, the start of National Guide Dog Month. It's a perfect topic for my weekly Philatelic Friday series. Since I am resourceful and persistent, I managed to dig up a series of postage stamps from around the world about Guide Dogs! Can you image the luck? I should take this time to disclose that I worked with my company and one of our vendors to plan a month-long fundraiser in all of our stores and online for Guide Dog schools nationwide. You'll hear more about it on this blog for the next few weeks, so I apologize in advance if I blog about it too much. The exciting part is that American Idol judge and singer Paula Abdul is our spokesperson for National Guide Dog Month. If you want to see a nifty video of Paula Abdul about this, click here. But for today, I present this week's installment of Philatelic Friday: Stamps About Guide Dogs. The first one above left is from Ireland. Enjoy the rest:above: UK Guide Dog stamp above: another UK Guide Dog stamp above: Netherlands Guide Dogs above: USA Guide Dog stampabove: Canada Guide Dog stampThanks for stopping by this week's installment of Philatelic Friday featuring Guide Dog stamps! Don't forget to check out that cool Paula Abdul Guide Dog video-Rick Rockhill

Mad World

I haven't posted in a while, but it's been a busy couple of weeks. Besides the upcoming site visit at work, I've been on the road the last two weekends in a row.The first was a trip to another New England state to watch my niece compete in the regional gymnastics meet. This was quite the family road trip, in fact, quite the blended family road trip. C is my brother's daughter. He and her mother were in a long-term relationship but never married, and after C was born, finally broke up for good. C now splits her time between them, and also spends a lot of time with my mom, who watches her several days a week after school. C's mother K is now involved with a great guy, B. B is older, and has two college-age children (both of whom are really great kids) and can always be found at these gymnastics meets with K, cheering C on.So, two weekends ago found me, my brother J, C, K and B all driving up to Maine together for the meet. My mom and aunt D came up separately in another car. We spent the night there, mom and D in one room, K and B in their room, while J, C and I bunked in a third. I don't think J and B will ever go fishing together, but it was nice and comfortable, all of us hanging out in one room eating junk food and drinking beer while watching the Celtics as C ran up and down the hallways screaming along with the 100 other little gymnasts who were also staying there. The meet went very well, and C placed high on most of her events (we won't talk about the beam) and high overall. Not bad!Last weekend found me in Albuquerque, visiting my Dancing in Socks Guy and ... having a second interview with the company I hope to get hired by. I don't want to jinx it, but it went very well. Phrases like "we're very interested" and "what are your salary requirements" and "what would the time line for your moving be?" were bandied about. This job is a very good fit for me, my qualifications are about 99% congruent with the job description and the technology seems feasible to me. We are at the reference-checking stage, and I don't anticipate any problems with that. Generally when I get to this stage I get the job, but there was one time I did not -- one of the higher-ups decided I wouldn't like the salary they were offering, even though I said it was fine, and it was, and that was that.So, it looks good, but you never know. We'll see.Most interesting in all of this is Grant Leader's reaction. While it's tempting to just flounce out of this job with an obscenity-laden goodbye, in reality, I can't do that. Too many other people, people who have been very good to me, would be affected and as brutal as the last few months were under GL, the fact remains that GL was also very good to me at one point in time. So, I sat down with GL and explained the situation, and it went very well.There are two things at play here -- one, GL has been quite friendly and reasonable for the last two months. Whether that's because meds have been adjusted or the planets are aligned just so, I don't know, but things have been great. The second, and probably most helpful thing, is that this job is in Albuquerque, where my fiance lives, and even GL doesn't want to stand in the way of True Love. This is a perfect out for both of us -- GL can accept my leaving for this reason, whereas if I just went down the road apiece and got a similar job it would be seen as a betrayal.With all this in mind, I asked GL to be a reference. That might, at first glance, seem like professional suicide, but I have another from the University as well, and while GL is emotionally labile, GL is basically honest. As it happens, there was nothing to worry about. I was BCC'd on the written one GL sent off, and it was positively glowing.I am getting nervous about this ... the possibility of moving. I've moved myself cross-country before, but this time I find myself obsessing about things. The cats ... how will they deal with it? What if one escapes on the trip? I'm getting them micro-chipped (which sets off a whole other line of obsessive worrying about feline cancer) and they will be wearing collars with tags (which sets off yet another line of obsessive fears that they will strangle themselves, as they don't normally wear collars) and either mom or Dancing in Socks Guy will drive out with me so I'll have help, but nonetheless, I worry.Idiotically enough, I don't worry about what should be the real fear, how my little feline heart patient, Lilly, will do. She's asymptomatic, but with feline heart conditions this means nothing, as that can change very fast. I suppose I don't worry as she's already traveled -- her foster mother flew with her (in the cabin, not as freight) from Cleveland to Boston and Lilly weathered that trip just fine. I'll have a supply of emergency meds with me, and God knows I know what to do if she goes into congestive heart failure, and for preparedness' sake I'll have all their medical records with me and a list of vets along the route ... well, maybe I am more worried than I thought I was.So, that's where I am now. Updates as the situation warrants.Elle

Wee Tees and Guiding Light

The giveaway for Wee Tees is closed. The winner of the "Wee Tees" set is:Michelle said...I love the superbaby! My fave of the sneaks I've seen are the peanut (because mine is sleeping beside me) and My mommy rocks (because I do, of course). I would love to see a monkey face. The onesie is adorable!Congrats Michelle! Please email me by Saturday, 4/25 with your mailing address so I can send you the stamps! :)I am so excited about this latest tee set,"Wee Tees": for babies and beyond! We've been waiting to release this one because spring just feels like babies (and a good thing, because I have some showers now to stamp for! LOL!) and if you're a fan of any of the "Little Tees", "Just So Sporty" and/or "Tee Talk" , these must-have stamps open a whole new set of mix and matchy possibilities! (possibilitees!) Here's a more traditional one: "baby" images, colors and sentiments! Cut 4 2" squares from coordinating DP, this uses Basic Gray and DCWV and adhere to a 4.25" square Gina K Pure Luxury White Base. Punch scalloped corners from DP for the corners and add some matching buttons. The onesie is paper pieced (if you love paper piecing you will love this set!) and I used a marker in s lightly darker shade to color in the neck and leg holes to give it dimension. Hanger is from "Little Tees." You can see here how nicely a little image and greeting from the set will fit on a small tag, too, not just the onesie, here I used SU!'s large and small tag punches. I added an eyelet with my Cropodile and a little piece of tied hemp attached with a glue dot above the hanger. I also used the new Scor-Bug tool with my Scor-Pal to pierce holes around the border like a quilt, love how quickly and easily you can add that detail!Now this card uses less traditional images and colors on the onesie (but every parent thinks their baby is SUPER, right?!) Here I sketched a really simple cape on the sides of the onesie image to match the tiny one (you can do this!), colored it with Copics, love that pop of red on the sleeves and ribbing! Then I made it into a "tilt card" so it wobbles back and forth, see below... Constantly on the go, just like baby!! ;)This next project showcases Rupa's new "Guiding Light", the perfect nautical set, just in time for Father's Day! I love this rope image you can use to make frames, I stamped it in Not Quite Navy on the Brocade Blue and layered the navy CS underneath. I made two nested cut outs through the layers to frame the light house image, which I cut out to make dimensional.I love to do this technique of creating a beam light, simply place a long triangular strip of paper down where you want the ray, sponge around it and remove! Here it spotlights "Dad" :) last I added the wheel with a little brad in the center and put it all on this shimmery Cappuccino Metallic CS base from Paper Temptress. probably one of my favorite masculine cards ever!For more peeks of today's sneak preview sets, please see the rest of our Gina K Designs Team's blogs:Asela Hopkins, Carolyn King, Cindy Lawrence, Donna Baker, Emily Giovanni, Erika Martin, Gina Krupsky, Jessica Fick, Joanne Basile, Kurtis Amundson, Theresa Mombermy two guest designers:Laura Jean Nygaard and Libby Hicksonplus our "In the Spotlight" Designer Beverly Cole!More sneak peeks tomorrow, and release party, Thursday! can't wait! Would you like to win "Wee Tees"? Please visit all the sneak peeks and let me know which "Wee Tees" images you are most excited about or hoping to find in the reveal, it's my biggest set ever! One comment will win a copy of the set, I will announce the winner before the party Thursday! Have a great day, enjoy blog hopping! :)

Kinetic Trashbags & Names

Kinetic, trashbags, and names that is. Enjoy and galvanize. The BMW Museum's kinetic sculpture takes your brain to another dimension -- A kinetic sculpture comprising 714 metallic balls suspended in air will soothe your weary mind. It's one of those things that's better seen than described, but if you can imagine a wave of undulating orbs that appear to weightlessly float, you'll start to get the idea. Shapeshifters and the Art of Seamless Tailoring -- Instead of steel, aluminum or even carbon fiber, the GINA Light Visionary Model has a body of seamless fabric stretched over a movable metal frame that allows the driver to change its shape at will. Inflatable Street Sculptures -- Joshua Allen Harris has created some fantastic New York street art in the form animals made out of shopping bags positioned on subway street grates that cause them to periodically inflate and animate. GoogleUnique Names -- Recently I've noticed two new strategies in naming children. One I call the global brand naming strategy. The object is to devise names that work in as many languages and regions of the world as possible. The other recent strategy is to find GoogleUnique names. There you have it. Dangerously cosmopolitan. Related Items The Dilettante Way Free ebook Peer pressure, vanity and behavior, motivation tricks and hacks, success and pain, and how to excel, Celebrate Your Beauty.

Beauty

Variatons on a Theme

When I traveled to the People’s Republic of China with an educational delegation in the autumn of 1994, one of the places we visited was a silk factory. It was fascinating to see the boiled cocoons and the spools of raw silk. I wish I had pictures to post—but all I have are slides of my trip there.Here are some of my poems about silkworm cocoons and pupae. These poems are variations on a theme. In my elementary classroom, I often shared a variety poems on a particular subject—butterflies, caterpillars, trees, the sun, the moon, winter, spring, etc.—to show my students how different poets might write about them from their perspectives...and in their own unique styles.The following poems in order are: a mask poem, an acrostic, a cinquain, and a haiku.SILKWORM PUPAThis silken nestIs where I’ll restAnd sleep and changeAnd rearrangeMyself into another me.In this small space,This creamy case,Six legs I’ll grow,Four wings—and oh…Can’t wait to see the ME I’ll be.Case spunOf creamy silken threads,Cozy cottage forOne, changing roomOf a sleeping pupa who will awaken to aNew self.Cocooncreamy silkensack—sleeping bag for oneyoung dreamer whose wish for wings willcome trueSwaddled in white silkspinning dreams of a futurethat will end too soonFYISilkworm Moth (Pictures)Silkworms MothsSilk Factory--Suzhou

Why size matters

Kevin Drum has nicely posed the question of whether it really is important to break up big banks. After all, he argues, even small-ish banks have proven to be too leveraged and interconnected to be permitted to really fail. He argues that maybe it's the banking industry, rather than individual banks, whose size and reach we need to constrain. John Hempton has been arguing for the Australo-Canadian model of an oligarchic, heavily regulated, generously profitable banking system. James Kwak offers a very nice discussion of the "too big to fail" problem in light of the absence of structural rather than supervisory approaches in Treasury Secretary Geithner's recent regulatory proposals. (And Drum responds.) I think size does matter very much, but not because small banks are inherently small enough to fail. Drum is right about that: Like a dwarf with a suitcase nuke, a sufficiently levered and inter-contracted microbank could take down the world as surely as the Citimonster. But in practice, a properly defined smallness could add a lot of safety to the banking system: Very directly, limiting size defined by total asset base plus an expansive notional value of all derivative and off-balance sheet exposures limits both interconnectedness and leverage. (Defining size limits by capitalization would suffer from the same drawback as traditional leverage constraints — they encourage bankers to scheme secret ways of levering up.) When a bank appears to be small enough to fail, creditor discipline will backstop regulatory supervision. If a bank is perceived as too big to fail, if its failure in "unthinkable", then clients and counterparties will be lax in managing or limiting their exposures, leaving always circumventable regulation as the only bulwark against becoming too levered and interconnected to fail. (Insured depositors, of course, won't provide discipline, and shouldn't be expected to. But bondholders and derivative counterparties will, if a bank's credit is potentially dodgy.) Smaller banks, even very levered and interconnected ones, can be unwound, merged, or put into receivership. We've managed the failures of even large-ish banks like Drexel, Bear, Wachovia, WaMu, or IndyMac, and we could have managed Lehman in a costly but orderly unwind. But once banks have gone truly mega, we're not sure we can manage it. A bank that is too big too merge without overconsolidating the industry presents special problems. From a taxpayer perspective, we are generally able to unwind smaller banks without guaranteeing non-insured creditors, while we find haircutting the creditors of larger banks impossible, because these unsecured creditors regard failure as unthinkable and fail to adequately provision for the risk. Political economy considerations mitigate against large banks (arguably more deeply in the United States than in Australia and Canada). Particularly if financial firms are segregated by scope (e.g. investment banking distinct from commercial banking distinct from brokerage distinct from insurance), groups of small firms with distinct industry agendas are likely to be less corrupting than huge, critical institutions with a unified management that acts strategically in political circles. Scale breeds agency problems. Earning an extra five basis points on $100B in assets amounts to $50M in extra income a year, a fraction of which can make a manager very wealthy in an eat-what-you-kill bank. Making that same five basis points on a $100M portfolio earns a small bank 50K, a fraction of which amounts to a nice bonus, but not a lifestyle change. For both managers, the downside if something goes wrong is the same: they lose their jobs. The ability to leverage a large balance sheet tempts managers at larger banks to take risks that managers at smaller banks would not find at all worthwhile. (Drum points out that managers of small hedge funds earn huge sums too, but that's really apples to oranges. Hedge fund investors, like stock investors, are generally aware of and prepared to manage investment risk, while bank creditors expect that their money is safe. Hedge funds mostly present systemic problems when their use of leverage puts bank creditors at risk. That can and should be regulated, from the bank side and perhaps by eliminating the right of hedge funds to limited liability forms of organization.) There are very few obvious reasons why large banks are useful at all, other than supervisory convenience if you think Hempton's regulated oligarchy is the right model. It may be annoying to have to pay other-bank ATM fees, but besides that, there are very few services or efficiencies a large bank can offer that a small bank cannot. Large banks can provide large loans more easily, which is convenient for corporate clients. But that may be a bad thing. Lending decisions can be mistakes. It's one thing if a lending committee misdirects $300K to a bad mortgage. It is much more costly if that same flawed body channels $3B to a crappy LBO. Raising large quantities of capital should require the separate assent of multiple independent parties. Misdirection of the resources represented by billions of dollars creates social as well as private costs. My sense is that a lot of people think large banks are here to stay for precisely the reason they should be made extinct. Large banks feel modern, important, powerful. It seems nice, somehow, when you travel across oceans and find a branch of your own bank. It's like you are part of a winning team. There's that ubiquitous brand, and it's your brand. But "brand equity" is an important means by which banks build a mystique that makes their failure unthinkable, and charms bondholders and other uninsured counterparties into offering leverage on much too easy terms. Ironically, if banks felt a bit shabby and penny-ante, and if managed failures were regular events, the banking system as a whole would be much safer. Size isn't everything: Bankers are famous lemmings, and a whole lot of small banks who pile into the same poor investment can fail together like one really big bank. But a thousand little banks are at least a bit less likely to make correlated mistakes than megabanks, which can turn a bad investment idea into a firm-wide mission. One goal of bank regulation, besides restricting size and leverage, should be to encourage independent lending decisions and supervising the diversity of the aggregate banking system's portfolio. Regulators should "lean against the wind" of booms that homogenize banks' asset base by restricting growth of overrepresented asset classes. If there is a good economic reason for a boom, nonbank equity investors can take advantage of the opportunity. Note: Ideally I prefer a complete separation of the depository and payments function of banks from the lending and investment function. That is I'd prefer we create "narrow banks" that invest only in government securities, and define a new kind of explicitly at-risk investment fund to serve the traditional purposes of bank lending. But this piece is written under the pessimistic assumption that we'll leave the familiar structure of banking intact.

Is man generally physically stronger than woman?

Let's see, are you able to do man's work?
starting the lawn mower to cut the grass? cleaning and waxing the car? shoveling? raking? repairing broken/damaged stuff? etc
I have done that all before and of course they are not an easy task for me!
Especially I found I have a hard time starting the lawn mower, my arms are
just not strong, I need to pull really hard to start it, everytime after I
started it, my arms are wicked tired... so do raking and shoveling, my arms
get tired easy, I think we can see how big a difference between man and
woman, man is just stronger than woman!
Do you agree this topic?

Simvalley PICO RX-80

Where are they now

Everybody blames the bankers for the crisis , and probably rightly so , but just how much of the consequences of their actions have they had to confront and face ?The Independent describes how failed bank directors still sit in the board-rooms :Bradford & BingleyMichael Buckley (non-exec 2007-08). A director of Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean Alternatives and sits on the M&T Bank board in the US.Ian Cheshire (n-x 2003-08). Chief executive of Kingfisher, the B&Q group.Nick Cosh (n-x 1999-2008). Director of City brokers Icap.Sir George Cox (2000-07). Commentator on the banking crisis and chairs Warwick Business School’s advisory board.Rod Kent (n-x chairman 2002-08). A governor of Wellcome Trust and chairs the Duke of Westminster’s £13bn Grosvenor empire,Lady Patten (n-x 2003-08). Sits on the Marks & Spencer board and chairs the Brixton property group.Stephen Webster (n-x 2003-08). Finance director at Wolseley plumbing goods group.HBOS Sir James Crosby (1994-2006). Is still senior independent director at ITV and the Compass catering group, and last month became a director of Mysis, the software company.Charles Dunstone (n-x 2000-08). A director of Daily Mail & General Trust and the Prince’s Trust besides running Carphone Warehouse.Mike Ellis (finance director 1987-2004, 07-09). Is now a WH Smith director.Tony Hobson (n-x 2001-06). Chairs Northern Foods and is a director of water company Glas Cymru.Philip Hodkinson (finance director 2005-08). Chairs the audit committees at BT and Travelex. Director of HM Revenue & Customs.Andy Hornby (1999-2009). Remains a director of Home Retail, the Homebase and Argos chains.Sir Brian Ivory (n-x 1998-2007). Director of Scottish American Investment Trust and Rémy Contreau.Karen Jones (n-x 2006-09). The founder of Café Rouge recently joined the Virgin Active board.Kate Nealon (n-x 2004-09). Sits on the Cable & Wireless and Shire drugs group boards.David Shearer (n-x 2004-07). Senior independent director at STV and chairman of Crest Nicholson.Lord Stevenson (chairman 1999-2009). Director of Western Union and Loudwater Investments.Mark Tucker (finance director 2004-05). Returned to the Prudential, where he is chief executive.Northern RockDavid Baker (1973-2007). Chairs Northeast Enterprise Bond.Sir Ian Gibson (n-x 2002-08). The former senior independent director chairs Trinity Mirror and the Wm Morrison supermarket group.Michael McQueen (n-x 2005-08). Chief executive of the FTSE 100 private-equity group 3i.Nichola Pease (n-x 1999-2007). Deputy chairman at JO Hambro Capital Management.Matt Ridley (1996-2007 and chairman from 2004). Remains a governor of the Ditchley Foundation conference group with government ministers.Sir George Russell (n-x 1996-2006). Deputy chairman of ITV and the veteran of boardrooms from 3i and Taylor Woodrow to Camelot.Sir Derek Wanless (n-x 2000-07). Chaired credit and risk committees. Vice-chairman of Statistics Commission and chairs Northumbrian Water.Royal Bank of ScotlandColin Buchan (n-x 2002-). Remains an RBS director. His other boards include Standard Life and two Merrill Lynch trusts.Jim Currie (n-x 2001-09). Director of Dutch aluminium group Vimetco plus the Met Office.Larry Fish (1993-2008). Chairman of US Citizens Bank and director of Textron – the Cessna and Bell Helicopter group.Sir Fred Goodwin (1998-2008). Chairman of the Prince’s Trust.Archie Hunter (n-x 2004-). Audit committee chairman, still sits on the board and is director of Macfarlane Group and an investment trust.Bud Koch (n-x 2004-09). A director of the federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati.Janis Kong (n-x 2006-09). Director of Kingfisher, Portmeirion pottery, Visit Britain and chairs the Forum for the Future environmental group.Joe MacHale (2004-). Still senior non-exec and a director of Morgan Crucible and Brit Insurance.Sir Tom McKillop (2005-08). Director of BP and a Spanish drugs group, plus a trustee of the Council for Industry & Higher Education.Sir George Matthewson (2001-06 after nine years running the bank). Now chairs the Edinburgh government’s Council for Economic Advisers.Gordon Pell (2000-). Still an RBS executive director. Chairs the Business Commission on Racial Equality and is on the FSA Practitioner Panel.Sir Steve Robson (n-x 2001-09). The former adviser to the Chancellors is now a director of JP Morgan Cazenove, mining group Xstrata and the Government’s Partnerships UK.Bob Scott (n-x 2001-08). Chairs the Yell group with directorships of Swiss-re and Crimestoppers.Peter Sutherland (n-x 2001-09). Chairman of BP and Goldman Sachs International and advises EC president Jose Barraso on climate change.Guy Whittaker (2006-). Now finance director.Not too bad for people with now a track record of incompetence and negligence

Some things:

1. I found my keys! But not before I managed the throw out the sad story to enough people to get several drinks bought for me Monday night. They were in a bowl on the kitchen table. Under some apples. Sigh.2. It's raining today. I was trying to think of the last time it precipitated in a not-frozen way. It was a while ago. This feels like a spring rain, and it's nice. It's a good day to sit in the yarn shop and drink coffee and listen to jazz, which is exactly what I'm doing.3. Fibre Co. Organik feather-and-fan cowl. This yarn is pricey, and for good reason. It's 70% organic merino wool, 15% baby alpaca, and 15% silk. It's certainly one of the loveliest yarns I've ever knit with. I've been just eyeballing this yarn for months now, and finally, the day I lost my keys (AKA the day of self-indulgence) I decided to work out a one-skein project with the stuff. That scratch on my cheek is where Chester pretended to be loving me but then scratched my face. Kittens suck.I Had a Bad Day, I Deserve Luxury Yarn CowlMaterialsYarn: Fibre Co. Organik, 1 skein. Color shown: JungleNeedles: US 9 16" circularGauge: something like 4-5 sts/inch in st st. Gauge is not critical in self-indulgent bad-day projects.Size: adult medium. (To adjust sizing, add or subtract multiples of 18 sts.)PatternCO 108 Sts. Join for working in round, being careful not to twist. PM for join. Work Feather and Fan lace as follows.Rnd 1: KnitRnd 2: KnitRnd 3: *(K2tog) 3 times, (YO, K1) 6 times, (K2tog) 3 times* Repeat from * around.Rnd 4: PurlRepeat rounds 1-4 seven times. Cowl will measure about 4" long. BO all sts (try and BO on row 4). Weave in ends. Voila!I finished this in an evening, and I had exactly 24" of yarn left over.

Elephent turn the snow

Perfect successful ad.