Of course Freda wasn't the most important lover in the Prince's life. He met the immaculate American divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson in 1934.  He became King in early 1936 and abdicated later that year so they could marry.  I've always had a certain fascination for Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David.  Abdicating for the woman you love seems such a dramatic and romantic gesture.  In truth, he was probably never inclined to his allotted position, and Wallis presented a way out.  However, they are such a stylish couple, that I don't imagine interest in them will die out.  Christchurch City Libraries has numerous biographies of both Wallis and Edward, as well as a surprising amount of fiction in which they are characters. Also we have the new-ish movie Wallis & Edward, in which Nip/Tuck's Julia is a sympathetic Wallis and Stephen Campbell Moore is an insipid and unlikeable Edward. 

If you are keen to find out more about Edward and other royal visitors to New Zealand, I recommend reading Royal Tourists : 120 years of Royal Visits to New Zealand, plus a visit to  Te Ara.

In mine, sometimes I'm the main character, sometimes a bit player, sometimes a viewer - like I'm watching a movie. I've been a young boy, an old man, just about any character you can imagine. Last night's dream involved a school bus, a steep incline, kites and a really cool globe device that you could think of images and they would appear in the globe. You could zoom in on the image, move it from side-to-side, etc. - just by thinking it. It was very cool, but the goal was to find an image you like and set it into the globe. The image I wanted was a lake with trees. It was all grey and misty. I couldn't figure out how to get the thing to 'save' the image. I would back away, and the image would pan out. It was frustrating, and might say something about me that I'm unaware of.

Psychics, be they real or not, often say they can't foresee things in their own lives. It's a legend like vampires can or cannot be around garlic. I can't decipher my own dreams. I can decipher other people's dreams very easily. Sometimes, it's totally embarrassing when someone is telling me a dream they had, and I know what everything in the dream means and what that means they are thinking/feeling. I know this goes against the whole 'I'm dense' that I profess. I guess I just have a minor layer of complexity. Maybe, my brain is cautious, so I take personal things at face value so I don't risk too much?

Last night, I looked up my first boyfriend. I didn't really date till I was out of high school. I went on a date or two, but never had a 'boyfriend'. I was too busy goofing off with my friends and causing trouble for the authorities that be within the school environment. I looked him up, because he's playing in a few weeks, literally down the street from me. I was going to go to the show to see how he looks now and check out his wife. The wonderful tool of the internet made that unnecessary. His wife has set up a website for them. I should mention, by 'play' I mean perform. He's a musician. I've only dated musicians and musicphiles. Not on purpose, but I have so many mixed tapes... I always thought I would date a sarcastic, sullen, literate fellow. I don't think I've ever even met one.

Anyway, my first boyfriend is old. He's old. His wife is old. I don't understand how that happened. We were the same age. Now, he's old. It would seem logical that I would, therefore, be old as well. I don't think I'm old. I'm not overweight. I'm not wrinkled. I've been dying my hair since I was 9, but I don't think I'd be grey. I should explain, nine is young, but I wanted dark brown hair, and I had light brown. My mother said, 'If you want darker hair, dye it.' So, I did. I've had almost black hair, black and blonde hair, burgundy hair, streaked hair... I tried to dye it green once, but it wouldn't take. I guess that's where my hair drew the line. I thought it would look great to have hair the colour of my eyes. I once saw a guy with blue eyes and hair and swoon!

I don't look my age. That's not vanity, that's from the reaction I get when I tell some new friend my age.

I work part-time at a library. After 9-11, my business sales slacked, horribly. I decided to get a part-time job, just till things picked up. I've always wanted to work at a library. After business picked back up again, I couldn't bring myself to leave. Books! Books everywhere! New books! Classic books! Authors I'd never heard of! It's like a hungry person working at a snack shop. Which reminds me, I saw a book called The Boy Who Ate Books and forgot to get it. Argh!

Yeah, so I work at a library, and I told a new girl my age. For the next two weeks, all I heard about was my age. She had told everyone how old I was. I wasn't keeping it a secret. I would have told anyone who asked, but apparently it was big news. Geez, I almost put my real name. "[my real name] you're how old? That's impossible!" Two weeks of me assuring everyone I was as old as I said. It made me cautious about telling people. I've never cared about telling my age. Suddenly, I had become one of those coy women, but I imagine for a different reason.

I've been waiting all my life to get old. I was rarely taken seriously when younger. I was 'cute'. Cute overrides anything you say. The internet was my salvation. I could write under a genderless name, with no photo and be taken seriously. God knows - He really does - how much I love that. I'm thinking maybe my time has finally come. If my ex is old, then maybe I'm finally old enough that people will listen to what I'm saying and not stop me to tell me I have pretty hair. Except, yesterday a stranger told me I have pretty hair. ::sigh::

The U.S. Government has listed the Polar Bear as an endangered species. It cites the rapid loss of the ice pack due to global warming as the reason. This is the first time the administration has officially admitted to global warming. Though the Department of the Interior says this shouldn't be used as a means for addressing the issue of Global Warming, it certainly does say that the Arctic ice is melting at a very rapid pace and the Polar Bear is in danger of extinction. "This listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting," said Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne. He said he had consulted with the White House on the decision, but "at no time was there ever a suggestion that this was not my decision." This certainly seems like a step in the right direction though. The Bush Administration and the Federal Government has spent so much time trying to ignore the effects of Global Warming by playing Ostriches with their heads in the sand that it's about time they pulled them out of the ground and looked around. Unfortuantely, we may have waited too long.

UK RELEASES FILES ON UFO SIGHTINGS.

The Ministry of Defence in Britain has released the files on over 11,000 UFO sightings in Britain. The British Isles have been a UFO hotspot for years and now they have declassified their files deeming UFOs as no threat. It appears the Brits prefer the Close Encounters aliens over the Independence Day version. According to the files, the alien craft come in all shapes and sizes, but the aliens themselves seem to be uniformly green. So much for the "Grays" idea.  Though 90 percent of the sightings are dismissed as explainable, 10 percent are left with a question mark. For me it certainly explains the presence of Boy George.

BRIAN URLACHER HOLDS OUT FOR RAISE

 Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears feels his 56.5 million dollars isn't enough and wants a raise. He cites his arthritic back as an issue. I wish I could get that kind of money for my arthritis. Urlacher claims that since salary caps now exceed 100 million that his piece of the Bear's pie should be bigger. He is intending on boycotting the May minicamp in protest. He still has four years to go on his nine year contract. I'm endlessly amazed by the amount of money athletes think they deserve. I agree that football takes a toll, but they knew the job was dangerous when they took it. He signed on the dotted line, he should keep his word. 56 million dollars should be enough for anybody.  

MICROSOFT MAY EXTEND LIFE OF XP

Due to pressure from some computer manufacturers, Microsoft may be giving in and not taking XP off the shelf on its deadline date. Vista simply hasn't worked well. Customers are requesting that their new computer still be loaded with XP and many of the manufacturers have said they will continue to load them through 2009. If you want to continue to get XP you must actually request it on your new computer, but it is still available. Microsoft may be reconsidering pulling it off the shelf on June, 30. Online petitions and negative customer feedback has been ongoing.  Face it, Vista needs to go back to the drawing board. XP is a good operating system and if it isn't broke, don't fix it.  It goes to show that if you try to market something crappy, people won't take it. Apparently computer users aren't suckers born every minute.

 $33 MILLION PAINTING?

Somebody paid $33 million for this? What are they crazy? This is a painting by Lucian Freud and this is the highest price ever paid for a painting by a living artist. It sold Tuesday at Christie's. I'm sorry but if I had that kind of money, this is not where it would go. A weekend retreat in the Caribbean comes to mind. Sending money to help people in Burma or China also comes to mind. Some people have way too much money and no sense. Almost 350 million dollars was spent on this one auction and most of it by Americans. Christie's percentage alone must have been incredible. So much for the theory that Americans don't have much disposable cash. Ugh, I certainly wouldn't want this painting in my living room.

Beginning tonight, simply reading the preface to the book. Pretty simple chapter, doing what most good prefaces do: preface what the author is about to start speaking about/give the purpose of the book.

He's already started off on the right foot for me, as he outlines the goal of this book is to cause the readers to to “think biblically rather than conventionally […] where radical living becomes the norm.” (pg 18). I'm keeping a record of notes as I read this, especially since in four months or so, I have to remember all this so that I can begin to try to teach other men to live with love for God and for others. So my goal is developed mostly from the opening statements of the book and I have summed it up as follows:

Goal: The goal of this study is to lead the people who join it to surrender totally to God’s purposes and in that, to find that HE brings the most pleasure in this life (and next), give men the desire for more of God, and to give them hope for and a drive to be committed to change in the church and the world around them.

In talking with Derek Hostetter (my DC leader this past year), I've decided that my biggest hope for this study is to give men a hunger and thirst for God: to love Him, to desire to please Him, to bask in His love, to acknowledge His presence everywhere, to glorify Him in everything. Then, not to stop there, to move on to spread that "crazy love" all over the world: to their friends at Cedarville and back home, to their families (present and future), to the Church (which needs a healthy dose of it), and to the world (which is starving for it). I suppose I am not looking to teach them new ways of doing things or how to do it better, but rather to make them passionate about doing it, to excite them about loving and serving God with all they are by serving and loving those here on earth, and to give them opportunity to do so! What other calling is there for us as Christ-followers?

As you read my thoughts in the following days, please feel free to comment (pointing out my heresies) and add your own thoughts to mine. It can only serve to build me up as well as the lessons I am trying to create.

Second-to-finally: Thanks to Francis Chan for writing such a book!

And finally: Thanks to God for writing such a Book and giving me a unique opportunity to study and apply it!!

"Prayer comes spontaneously from those who abide in Jesus. Prayer is the natural outgushing of a soul in communion with Jesus. As the leaf and fruit come out of the vine branch without any conscious effort and simply because of its living union with the stem, so prayer buds and blossoms and fruits out of souls abiding in Jesus. As stars shine, so do abiders pray."

Currently being read:

Charles Taylor, A Secular Age
John Milton, Paradise Lost
Jorge Luis Borges, Collected Fictions
Jorge Luis Borges, Selected Poems
Federico Garcia Lorca, The Selected Poems of Federico Garcia Lorca
Richard Dawkins (editor), The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing

Waiting to be read:

Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924
Homer, The Iliad
Richard Buxton, The Complete World of Greek Mythology
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
Roberto Bolaño, Nazi Literature in the Americas (not pictured)

When my kids were very small, I would find myself with little snippets of time, perhaps while waiting at the pediatrician’s office, or watching a toddler gymnastics class, or while the kids were napping.  I found I could read short stories in a single sitting, and there was something really satisfying about that, unlike a novel, where it might be days until my next opportunity to sit down with my book, and I would need to go back and reread to figure out where I was. 

Springtime on Mars by Susan Woodring is a short story collection filled with intensely personal domestic situations of quiet desperation.   There are 11 stories, set in the 1950’s until the present day, loosely connected by recurrent themes of science and technology, marriage and relationships, love and loss.  

Charming, deceptively simple, and utterly American, many of these tales depict the country at the brink of change and huge scientific advances. Others show the struggle between faith in God and faith in science.  Ranging from the introduction of the television into our living rooms, to the Kennedy assassination, to the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, Springtime on Mars holds up a mirror and shows us not only who we were, but who we are. 

In Zenith, 1954, Reverend Joe and his wife Marianne, pregnant with twins, are given a welcoming gift by their congregation: 

“I knew Frank did not hold to the elders’ decision to gift us with a television set, a worthless diversion that not only inspired rampant idleness, but also one that was relatively new- the whole thing could turn out to be nothing more than a Hollywood fad.” 

Woodring breathes life into her characters so quickly- within a few short paragraphs you fully grasp who they are.  In the story Inertia, Lizzie’s mother sends her to the basement for a jar of preserves and some beans.  She’s reluctant to go, and when she gets there, we understand why:  

“The shelves on the far wall held my grandmother’s canning efforts:  tomatoes, okra, peppers, and preserves: strawberry, pear, and rhubarb-strawberry.   There were empty spaces now, as there always were this late in summer, but since my grandmother had passed away last winter, the holes were unsettling.  My mother had promised to keep the garden up, but she’d tended only to her bees…” 

Later, Lizzie’s father attempts to explain her mother’s grief over her grandmother to Lizzie this way: 

“He assured me my mother’s need to tend to them {the bees} would pass, the same as people’s need to watch the skies for news from other worlds.  He taught math at the junior college and this seemed to give him an insight into why people believed what they believed.  It’s all, he said, an irrational desire to control the uncontrollable.  I wanted him to think I had a scientific mind like his, so I nodded and told him I understood, though I didn’t.” 

I was perhaps most touched and completely caught off guard by the story Beautiful, in which a father is staying in a hotel, apart from his family, on an extended business trip.  His wife and daughters come down for a visit, but there are huge walls of silence and misunderstanding.  He realizes his 13 year old didn’t want to make the trip; she seems embarrassed and unsure of how to act around her dad.  He then remembers how it used to be: 

“When she was little, though, she used to cup his face in her hands and draw it very close to her own.  Listen, she would say.  There’s a crisis on planet Gimbel and we have to go there now. “ 

Throughout that story, I was rooting for the dad so much.  I kept thinking,  Do something!  You’re going to lose your family!  The relief I felt when he finally took some action to connect with his kids is hard to describe.  I got so choked up and was surprised at how much it affected me. 

Susan Woodring has a unique voice and a disarming style.  Many short story collections are woefully uneven, but that is not the case here.   I found real moments of charm and humor in every single story.  I enjoyed this book so much and enthusiastically recommend it. 

The author has generously agreed to provide a copy of Springtime on Mars to one lucky commenter.  Please leave a comment here and a winner will be selected on June 6^th, the date of Susan Woodring’s Books on the Brain stop on her blog tour.  On that date I will post a beautiful essay Susan has written on why a short story collection is a great choice for a book club. 

Susan Woodring’s website can be found HERE 

Here are excellent discussion questions for Springtime on Mars: 

Book Club Discussion Questions compiled by Ashley Roberts, March 2008.

1.   Though you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, what were your expectations before reading the book? Did the stories meet these expectations or were you surprised?

2.   Susan Woodring plays with family dynamics. What do these different types of families have in common? How are they different?  

3.  Why do you think “Springtime on Mars” is the book’s namesake? Does this story accurately represent the rest of the stories? 

4.  In “Birds of Illinois,” what do the birds symbolize? The meat? 

5.  Six of the eleven stories are written in the first person. Do you think these stories would be diminished in any way if we didn’t have the thoughts of the leading characters?  

6.  Woodring plays with different fears in “Inertia.” What fears are present? Are the characters fearful of different things? Does fear appear in other stories? 

7.  Compare Jean and Harold’s relationship in “Morning Again” to Gladys and Andy’s. How would you describe their understanding of their roles in their respective relationships? 

8.  In “Love Falling,” there’s a lot of tension in the house. What is the breaking point for Julie? Why does she ultimately decide to leave? 

9.  Woodring describes the weather with much detail. Why do you think this is, and can you draw any connections between the weather and the temperament of the story?  

10.   What do you think Woodring is implying in her observations of belief systems: religious, political, and extraterrestrial? 

11.   Russia makes a frequent appearance in the stories. What do you think it symbolizes? 

12.   The parent/child relationship is often very strained in the stories. What do you think Woodring is trying show the reader?  

13.  When Shannon urges Jean to take the triangle IQ test in “Morning Again,” she responds, “I’ve raised three children.” What do you think this implies about Jean’s values? Shannon’s? 

14.  All of the characters are unique. Is there one in particular you most empathize with? Why or how?  

Flexible Rails is a unique, application-based guide for using Ruby on
Rails 2 and Adobe Flex 3 to build rich Internet applications (RIAs). It
is not an exhaustive Ruby on Rails or Flex reference. Instead, it is an
extensive tutorial in which the reader builds multiple iterations of an
interesting RIA using Flex and Rails together.

Author Peter Armstrong walks readers through eleven iterations in
which the sample application–pomodo–is variously built, refactored,
debugged, sliced, diced and otherwise explored from every conceivable
angle with respect to Ruby on Rails and Adobe Flex. The book unfolds
both the application and the Flex-on-Rails approach side-by-side.

http://mihd.net/zrwfqy

http://rapidshare.com/files/83902008/1933988509.rar.html

Ruby on Rails strips complexity from the development process, enabling
professional developers to focus on what matters most: delivering
business value. Now, for the first time, there’s a comprehensive,
authoritative guide to building production-quality software with Rails.
Pioneering Rails developer Obie Fernandez and a team of experts
illuminate the entire Rails API, along with the
Ruby idioms, design approaches, libraries, and plug-ins that make Rails
so valuable. Drawing on their unsurpassed experience, they address the
real challenges development teams face, showing how to use Rails’ tools
and best practices to maximize productivity and build polished
applications users will enjoy.

Using detailed code examples, Obie systematically covers Rails’ key
capabilities and subsystems. He presents advanced programming
techniques, introduces open source libraries that facilitate easy Rails
adoption, and offers important insights into testing and production
deployment. Dive deep into the Rails codebase together, discovering why
Rails behaves as it does– and how to make it behave the way you want it
to.

This book will help you

Increase your productivity as a web developer

Realize the overall joy of programming with Ruby on Rails

Learn what’s new in Rails 2.0

Drive design and protect long-term maintainability with TestUnit and RSpec

Understand and manage complex program flow in Rails controllers

Leverage Rails’ support for designing REST-compliant APIs

Master sophisticated Rails routing concepts and techniques

Examine and troubleshoot Rails routing

Make the most of ActiveRecord object-relational mapping

Utilize Ajax within your Rails applications

Incorporate logins and authentication into your application

Extend Rails with the best third-party plug-ins and write your own

Integrate email services into your applications with ActionMailer

Choose the right Rails production configurations

Streamline deployment with Capistrano

http://rapidshare.com/files/83524904/0321445619.zip

If you are a web developer who has already realized the power of Ruby
on Rails but wants to take your Rails knowledge further, this book will
be invaluable to you. Practical Rails Projects assumes you know the
basics of using the framework, concentrating instead on taking you
through the creation of a multitude of practical real-world examples,
including a blog, a personal organizer, a calendar, a PHP site
retrofitted to Rails, and much more. Each example application follows
best practices, gives a nod to style as well as functionality, and
takes advantage of many Rails plug-ins, Rails engines, and Ruby Gems.
There is also discussion of cutting-edge Rails functionality, such as
the new REST implementation and Active Resource.

The book starts off by taking you through setup of an ideal
development environment as a helpful recap, before diving into the
projects straight afterwards.
Takes you through the creation of several real-world Rails web applications.
Provides a guide to setting up a perfect development environment with
Rails and SQLite or MySQL, supporting Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
operating systems.
Doesn’t waste time on the basics–assumes you know the fundamentals of Ruby and Rails already.
Covers the newest Rails functionality, such as new plug-ins and
engines, as well as the Rails REST implementation and Active Resource.
What you’ll learn
How to set up Rails for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
How to use Rails with both MySQL and SQLite databases
How to incorporate the latest plug-ins, engines, and Ruby Gems into your applications, saving you hours of development time
How to make consistent styling of your applications a walk in the park using the Yahoo YUI
How to retrofit a PHP site to Rails
How to add sparkle to your applications using Ajax techniques
How to use cutting-edge Rails functionality such as REST and Active Resource
Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone who has gone beyond the basics of Rails and
wants to learn higher-level Rails techniques. It is also useful for
those experienced in other disciplines (such as Java and PHP) who want
to learn Rails.
About the Apress Practical Series

The Practical series from Apress is your best choice for getting the
job done, period. From professional to expert, this series lets you
apply project-motivated templates (or frameworks) step by step in a
very direct, practical, and efficient manner toward current real-world
projects that may be sitting on your desk. So whatever your career
goal, Apress can be your trusted guide to take you where you want to go
on your IT career empowerment path.
Related Titles from Apress
Beginning Ruby on Rails: From Novice to Professional
Practical Ruby on Rails Social Networking Sites
Beginning Ruby on Rails E-Commerce: From Novice to Professional

http://rapidshare.com/files/80152550/jumperY.rar

Beginning Rails is the practical starting point for anyone wanting to
learn how to build dynamic web applications using the Rails framework
for Ruby. You’ll learn how all of the components of Rails fit together
and how you can leverage them to create sophisticated web applications
with less code and more joy.

This book is particularly well suited to those with little or no
experience with web application development, or who have some
experience but are new to Rails. Beginning Rails assumes basic
familiarity with web terms and technologies, but doesn’t require you to
be an expert.

Topics include:
A gentle introduction to the Ruby programming language
Installing Ruby and Rails on a Mac, Linux, or Windows system
The philosophy behind Rails and why it matters
The Model-View-Controller architecture
The basics of relational databases and SQL
Setting up a MySQL database and creating a schema with migrations
Experimenting with your live application in the Rails console
Creating rich relationships between your models
Using controllers and templates properly
Leveraging helpers to keep your templates clean and logic free
Adding Ajax and visual effects to enrich your user interfaces
JavaScript with Prototype and script.aculo.us
How to send and receive mail from your application
Using and creating your own plug-ins
Ensuring your code against Murphy’s Law through writing tests
Using Capistrano to deploy your application

Rather than delving into the arcane details of Rails, the focus is
on the aspects of the framework that will become your pick, shovel, and
axe. Part history lesson, part introduction to object-oriented
programming, and part dissertation on open source software, Beginning
Rails doesn’t just explain how to do something in Rails, it explains
why.

Every programmer fondly remembers the book that helped them get
started. The goal of Beginning Rails is to become that book for you,
today.

http://mihd.net/iyvz7o

http://rapidshare.com/files/72607400/Beginning.Rails.From.Novice.to.Professional._1590

Although Ruby is an easy language to learn, in the heat of action you
may find that you can’t remember the correct syntax for a conditional
or the name of a method. This handy pocket reference offers brief yet
clear explanations of Ruby’s core components, from operators to
reserved words to data structures to method syntax, highlighting those
key features that you’ll likely use every day when coding Ruby.

Whether you’ve come to Ruby because of the Rails web development
framework –Ruby’s killer app — or simply because it’s a relatively
clean, powerful and expressive language that’s useful for a lot of
applications, the Ruby Pocket Reference is organized to help you find
what you need quickly. This book not only will get you up to speed on
how Ruby works, it provides you with a handy reference you can use
anywhere, anytime.

In this book, you find essential information on:
Reserved words, operators, comments, numbers, variables, ranges, and symbols
Predefined variables andglobal constants
Conditional statements, method use, classes, and modules (mixins)
Lists of methods from the Object, String, Array, and Hash classes and the Kernel module
sprintf andtime formatting directories
Interactive Ruby (irb) and the Ruby debugger
Ruby documentation
You also get information on the RubyGems package utility and Rake, a
build tool similar to make.. If you’re using Ruby daily and just want
the facts-fast-Ruby Pocket Reference is your book.

http://rapidshare.com/files/69175081/OReilly.Ruby.Pocket.Reference.Jul.2007.eBook-BBL.rar

http://mihd.net/oq94af

There may be no better way to learn how to program than by dissecting
real, representative examples written in your language of choice. Ruby
by Example analyzes a series of Ruby scripts, examining how the code
works, explaining the concepts it illustrates,
and showing how to modify it to suit your needs. Baird’s examples
demonstrate key features of the language (such as inheritance,
encapsulation, higher-order functions, and recursion), while
simultaneously solving difficult problems (such as validating XML,
creating a bilingual program, and creating command-line interfaces).
Each chapter builds upon the previous, and each key concept is
highlighted in the margin to make it easier for you to navigate the
book.

You’ll learn how to:
Use the interactive Ruby shell (irb) to learn key features of the language
Extend Ruby using RubyGems, the Ruby package manager
Create numerical utilities, as well as utilities that process and analyze HTML/XML
Implement purely functional and metaprogramming techniques to save time and effort
Optimize, profile, and test your code to make sure that it not only does its job, but does it well
Create web applications using Rails

Ruby is the fastest growing programming language today, and for good
reason: Its elegant syntax and readable code make for prolific and
happy programmers. But it can be difficult to understand and implement
without a little help. Ruby by Example shows you how to take advantage
of Ruby as you explore Ruby’s fundamental concepts in action.

http://mihd.net/k6y2xc

http://rapidshare.com/files/52258395/No.Starch.Press.Ruby.by.Example.Concepts.and.Co

If you think that mastering Ajax is too difficult, guess again. You can
create Web applications that look and feel like desktop apps in less
time than you think with the comprehensive Ajax instruction in this
in-depth book. You’ll find easy-to-follow tutorials, hundreds of tips
and tricks, and so much practical information that even skilled
developers will reach for this book first. Let this Bible be your guide
as you jump into the hottest Web programming technology in years.

* Master the fundamentals–JavaScript(r), XML, dynamic HTML, and CSS
*

Tie Ajax into Google with the Google(r) API
*

Handle simultaneous XMLHttpRequest objects in Ajax
*

Use Ajax frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, AjaxTags, and others
*

Understand the Document Object Model (DOM)
*

Create floating menus and effects with CSS
*

Encrypt data over plain HTTP using JavaScript
*

Adapt real-world examples to your own programs

Companion Web site

Find all the code used throughout the book at www.wiley.com/go/ajaxbible

http://rapidshare.com/files/46682270/0470102632.zip

Password : giftfromfatherxmas

Author Lynley Dodd will be at the Mosgiel Library tomorrow (Friday 16th May) reading from a selection of her books!!

The good news is that there are a limited number of free tickets still available for this event.

If you would like to go act quickly to reserve your ticket by contacting the Mosgiel Library staff as soon as possible on 489 0013.

First in first served - good luck!

• Author Visit - Lynley Dodd
• Friday May 16th, 10.30am
  
• Mosgiel Library
• FREE EVENT (entry by ticket)

I am reading this book where the author stands on a street in NYC and asks the people "can I ask you 5 simple questions"? 

1.  How did the Universe begin?

2.  Where do  you think you will go when you die?

3.  Name something Jesus Christ is known for.

4.  Name something Christian people are known for.

5.  WHat do you think about "culture wars"?

All the answers are interesting in a sad way.  But the one I am most interested in is #4.  I often hear the worst advertisement for Christianity is a Christian.  Although that is probably true (I have been backstage at Dance recitals with people I know from church).  However, here are some of the comments people made regarding question #4.  Name something Christians are known for.....

Jeff: Fanaticism 

Lou: Selective hatred and intolerance

Rosie:Hmmm. Trying to get other people to be Christian would be one answer I was thinking of (laughs)

Dan: Politics. I think its a sick turn this country has taken and frankly I am worried about it.  I feel if we don't start getting it together and start listening to each other then I don't like the road we are taking, and I hate for my children to have to grow up in a country where all we have is walls built up, and rights and wrongs, and no middle ground...

OK.  Here's the Deal.  3 out of 4 are wrong.

Fanaticism (if that's a word) but I know what he means....is there any other way??  You either have Jesus or you don't.  And if you do, it is so powerful that to be a fanatic is truly the only way! Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  God says "First". That does not mean we can check that off our list of things do to do.  That means in everything we do.  Everyday. Everywhere.  We need to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

Selective Hatred and intolerance.  Unfortunately this is a problem.  What Christians consider absolute, the  unchristian consider hate and intolerance.  Contrary we strive to Love all.  I don't need to pull up scripture on that...there are 697 cf on that...pick one.  But the Word of God is Black and White, and I wish there was sometimes there was a gray area but there is not.  The Word is Yes No, Pass Fail, Do or Don't.   We in our carnate state unfortunately don't hit the mark every time (or very often sometimes) but we know the right from the wrong.

Rosie Rosie Rosie...she may not have meant to say it in a positive way BUT she is right...YES we try to get people to be a Christian.  THAT is our job.  To witness and to pray and to speak in God's name to all those around us.  Otherwise what are we here for? to shop at the streets of Indian Lake all day (I wish!!)   (Matthew  28:19-20)Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Dan says politics? Are you kidding me? That seems to be the one place we are not allowed.  And Dan is worried about his kids growing up in a world that has rights and wrongs? What in the world is he talking about?  I WANT my kids to know RIGHT from WRONG.  And I do not want a middle ground.  There is no middle ground...Middle Ground is code for POLITICALLY CORRECT. Middle ground is OPRAH! (LOL)

So here is I will end with with this rant.  I make no apology for being Unpolitically correct.  Here are the  answers for my 5 Questions...

1.  How did the Universe begin? God Created it.

2.  Where do  you think you will go when you die? Heaven.

3.  Name something Jesus Christ is known for. Dying for Me.

4.  Name something Christian people are known for. Loving Jesus.

5.  WHat do you think about "culture wars"? Read the back of the book....God wins, so what's the point of fighting about it.

Reading A Gathering of Old Men

• Malcolm X
• Separate But Equal
• Mississippi Burning

Reading Frankenstein

• Edward Scissorhands
• Frankenstein

Reading The Iliad

• Troy
• 300

Any movies you would recommend for these texts? How about for Norse Mythology, Fahrenheit 451, and To Kill A Mockingbird?

Publisher: Harobed House
ISBN: 978-0978789701
Price: $12.95
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336 Pages
www.dslappeypitts.com

Through the pages of Shadow Living…Paintings of Grief, Deborah Slappey Pitts shares with us her intimate story as a surviving spouse during the first few years after she lost her husband through death to primary amyloidosis. Pitts allows us to enter her private life of grief, pain, depression, and hopelessness. But by the grace of God, she emerged from the shadows of grief to begin living life again. Shadow Living will be an inspiration to anyone who is going through his or her own personal loss and grief. Through this book, Pitts shows you how you can emerge from the shadow of depression and loss to a life of joy and peace.

Tiff did it (and first, because Tiff did it first for the entire sub-genre of YA Lit Snark 80s nostalgia blogs), the Dairi Burger did it, Tales of a Former Walking Highlighter did it, BSC Snark did it, What Claudia Wore did It.

I can kind of see why so many people review the 21st book in the Baby-sitter's club series. This book has everything that we love to hate about the BSC:

1. Outfit descriptions up the wazzoo. You'd be amazed what you can do with push-down socks. Like push them down.

2. The continued agony that is being Mallory Pike,

3. Claudia's creative spelling. To whit: "Malery, you can have the twines", p. 56...And 'Malery' is all like "I can haz teh twinez"

4. This is yet another book where Jessi is black.

5. And Dawn is an individual,

6. Baby-sitting charge's parents bat-shit insane. As usual.

7. Baby-sitters managing to save the day and successfully help the children of Stonybrook live better lives. Neatly wrapped up in 15 chapters or less.

8. Margo Pike almost barfs.

9. Trips to Washington Mall and the piercing hut.

What will everyone pierce?

Well, Claudia got another hole in one ear, which might look weird on someone else, but on Claudia it looked fabulous. Mallory and Jessi got chaste first peircings--one hole in each ear. Kind of a bummer if you consider that Daria's first peircing was a belly-button ring. Dawn got two holes in each ear, because individuals get multiple piercings...

You know, it's great that Dawn's an individual and all; but I kind of stopped giving a shit after like the second chapter of "Dawn and the Terrible 3". We get it. She eats tofu and wears funky clothes.

On the other hand, Claudia ...well, she is historically the only person from a Japanese family (she's either second or third generation) who has never even tasted tofu. As for Claudia's clothes-- she's secretly visiting a mental patient in a nearby 'bin and getting fashion tips, you know, as opposed to individual picking out indivdual outfits, using her individual judgement as an individual.

So as you see, Dawn is the true individual here, not Claudia. I sometimes wonder if the Dawn is an individual theme would have made more sense if Ann M. Martin had taken time to flesh out her characters instead of having a Chapter 2 in every book where the narrator would laboriously rehash such descriptions as "Dawn is a real individual"? "And Kristy is a bull-dyke."

But back to the peircing hut-- or what wouldn't they pierce.

Is it just me, or could you totally see Mary Anne getting a tongue stud during high school?-- sort of a nice way to rebel against her over protective father. And a great way to keep the boyfriend's coming. And bother Kristy. And by bother, I mean bother. In the hot wet mess sense.

Mary Anne, you bad ass, you.

Did I mention the outfit descriptions?

My mother sent me my old copy of "Mallory and the Trouble with Twins". The pages are yellowed, and I wrote my name in the front cover with tourquoise pen.

I must have done this so that my little brother didn't mistake my copy of "Mallory and the Trouble with Twins" for his copy. Or because I took this book to JAP camp with me, and didn't want to risk it getting mixed up in some other girl's book collection---

Oh but wait, no one else read at JAP camp. In fact, so few people actually read at Camp Agawak that I was known as the girl who was always reading. And wow, you're reading another book. You must like read all the time.

All fucking summer.

I think this is the reason why I spent most of my twenties holed up in the ivory tower. I wanted to be surrounded by other people who are always reading. Or always drinking. One of those.

So, Episode 11: When I was getting ready for the panel, I decided to record it for posterity---and good thing, too; they actually used my recording for their podcast. Unfortunately, I didn't remember to turn my digital recorder on until after I did my main segment of the panel, so it's a recording of everyone else, with only the occasional quip from moi (I know; you're heartbroken).

On the panel were Dan Poole of The Green Goblin's Last Stand; Adam Bertocci (Run Leia Run; Brooklyn Force); Dan Galiardi (Iron Fist: The Dragon Unleashed); Fanboy Will; Chris Notarile: and myself, so it was a nice round-up of us East Coast fan film hoi-polloi (cough, cough). Everyone had a great time, though, and you can hear the camaraderie pouring off the stage. I'm thrilled that they were able to use it for the Podcast, 'cause I think it was a fun event, and it's cool that it'll be shared beyond the people who were in the room at the time.

*EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

Hmmm, can you guess why I'm excited?

hint- has something 2 do with very beloved books/story/movie

leave a comment w/ your guess!!!

my friend jason polan and i just made this new book, appropriately titled WRESTLERS AND WILDLIFE. it's 8.5"x11", 28 pages, first photocopied edition of 150. 

we're having an impromptu release "party" in union sq tomorrow, thursday may 15th 530-630pm. jason and i met while i was selling things on the street in soho, and that idea has been a recurring one throughout our friendship. so we thought to celebrate that we'd hold our release party in the park where we also sometimes set up shop, sometimes sit and watch people.

jason will also be releasing another new book of his in collaboration with photographer michael worful. so stop by (we'll probably be in on the west side of the park, by the staples), say hello and take a peek at the book. feel no obligation to buy anything. 

if you are interested in buying a copy of wrestlers and wildlife, please stop by the shop page of my website. thanks!

When?    7 PM, Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

• Commemorate Independence Day with an heroic salute!
• Celebrate the holiday with at a family event!
• Come en masse in a rousing show of support!

What?   Return of the Sword Multi-Author Event: Read, Talk, & Sign

• Listen to exciting renditions of great heroic adventure!
• Learn what it takes to become part of such an elite corps of authors!
• Line-up for the signatures of winning writers!

Where?   Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing

• 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, OR
• Just west of Portland, Oregon

Who?     In ToC order:

• Jeff Draper "The Battle of Raven Kill"

• Michael Ehart "To Destroy All Flesh"

• Nathan Meyer "The Hand that Holds the Crown"

• Allen B. Lloyd "An Uneasy Truce in Ulam-Bator"

• and I have it on good authority that the spirit of Harold Lamb "Red Hands" will also be there

Bring the kids! Take the spouse!

Get your copies of RotS signed by 4 of the authors!

What, no book!?

Order your books NOW to ensure their timely arrival!

Here is another great myth of American Christianity and one that I must confess I have completely bought into, propagated and now am in repentance over. It is the idea that Christian spirituality can or should be a quick fix. Eugene Peterson says:

This is slow work and cannot be hurried. It is also urgent work and can't be procrastinated. Life is deteriorating around us at a rapid pace. Life at the center--Gospel life, kingdom life,--is being compromised, distorted, and degraded at an alarming rate. At the North American intersection, slow and urgent are not compatible, they cancel one another out. But in the Christian way, patience and urgency are yoked. Urgent as this is, there is no hurry. There cannot be any hurry. Impatience is antithetical to a congruent life.

Having studied medieval literature when I returned to school to get my degree (was it only 4 years ago that I graduated?), I have a particular fondness for this kind of story. The digressions and disquisitions that Cervantes throws in, if anything help keep the medieval flavor of the tale, with a more updated feel to the language (which is appropriate for a book written during the Renaissance).

Although Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are the official protagonists, we learn much more about the peripheral characters, their feelings, beliefs, and motivations. So far (roughly 1/3 in), the tale of DQ's adventures seems more like a framework used by Cervantes on which to hang the stories of other characters than the point of the book itself. Time is very flexible - in a couple hundred pages, barely three days pass, but then in just a couple pages, three more days are blithely mentioned as having passed.

The mixed feelings come from the peripheral characters' reaction to Don Quixote and his perceived madness. His friends laugh at him secretly, manipulate him through lies, and even strangers make fun of him by pretending to go along with his worldview and beliefs in order to see what sort of outrageous things he will say or do. On one level, I find the story amusing as DQ does say and do more and more outrageous things; but I also cringe when I read about his friends the priest and the barber telling him lies and laughing behind his back at how DQ believes the lies.

Madness is next up on the table - who is, who isn't, what is it anyway? Perhaps that will be answered as I read further...

Peter Ho Davies author of the Man Booker nominated novel the Welsh girl spoke to a modest crowd of interested punters this morning. As both Philip and I went along to this session we thought we'd give you a double act on what we heard.

Joyce: So Philip what are your pithy and pertinent thoughts? Give us the guts?

Philip: Well Joyce, they may not be exactly pithy and pertinent but here goes: I had read his novel and was really impressed with it. It's a great read and a fascinating story about varied characters in Northern Wales during World War II and the characters include the girl of the title, a German P.O.W., a young evacuee, and a Jewish interrogator (of Rudolf Hess no less). He gave us a lot on the background of the book which took him seven years to write, longer than the war itself.

Joyce: Ho Davies, a fluent and practised public speaker, was particularly interesting when discussing parallels between the WWII and the post- 9/11 world, he posed the question how responsible as we the ordinary citizens for warcrimes committed in our name by our leaders and administrators?

Philip: He certainly made us think and he touched on a lot of issues. I felt a bit sotty for Paula Morris, who was chairing the session, as he was such an enthusiastic sppeaker that he was absolutely unstoppable once he started. It meant that question time was limited because the answers he gave were very long.

Joyce: Poor Paula had the cold so her vocal chords were strained already. Ho Davies currently teaches a small scale creative writing programme in Michigan. He moved to the US after doing both Physics and English at Cambridge and attributes the move to the US as giving him the anonymity to write.

Philip: One theme I found interesting was his take on the old good things take time. Not cheese but books and he quoted Flaubert as saying that "talent is long patience". In our present culture of being fast and busy all the time and writers pounding out work "fasterthanthis", it was interesting to hear about work that was so carefully and meticulously written. Eat your heart out Joyce Carol Oates (and Mr James Patterson) who have probably turned out another book while I wrote this paragraph.

Joyce: Flaubert eh?! Oooooehh!! Ho Davies also spoke about the art of the short story versus the crafting of a novel; comparing the short story with a small cube or sphere which can be held up and examined while the novel he considered felt more like a huge boulder. He also lamented the anti-climatical endings or falling away of many modern novels.

While we'd have liked a bit more from Paula Morris, herself a seasoned writer, and perhaps a few more questions from the floor Peter Ho Davies gave us some interesting ideas on the nature of identity, the Welsh global profile and the craft of the short story and novel.

TK does a good job describing some of the downsides (the loneliness, the reliance on the 'kindness of strangers' that Paul Theroux also mentions) and dilemmas encountered: I and I think every 'privileged' traveler has indeed had to juggle some pretty heavy moral issues in some circumstances, where no textbook approach is good enough.

It was good to read a book that deals with the process of writing a 'travel' book - and in many ways, books like 'The beach' are travel books too: its like being there in Thailand with Alex Garland when did what he did that caused him to write about it. And speaking of 'The beach', it was nice to see that TK has the same opinion about it as me (mentioned in a previous post).