Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for apartment

  • Rotterdam supermarket

    Rotterdam supermarket

    Apartment house

    Building of this project has already begun: Dutch bureau MVRDV will begin building in the centre of Rotterdam. This object will combine two functions — an apartment house (228 apartments) and the market area.

    Supermarket in Rotterdam

    On the market area 100 trading places, shops and restaurants will take places. In a building is also an underground part — a parking on 1200 places and a supermarket.

    In each apartment there will be own balcony, and also a window which leaves on the market area. The project is planned to construct by 2014th year. The general investments into the project makes 175 million euro. The building total area will make 100,000 sq. m.

    Apartment in Rotterdam

    Habitation in Rotterdan

    Market area

    Supermarket

    Apartment house Rotterdam

    The project is symbolical enough, but is conceived as new city typology; this steady combination of products and meal, leisure, habitation and a parking.

    VIA «Rotterdam supermarket»

  • About the mortgage and a loan

    About the mortgage and a loan

    VA home loan

    DepartmentEvery year in our country hypothecary crediting (mortgage) or the loan on the security of the bought real estate uses the increasing popularity.

    The hypothecary credit allows to get habitation already today, and to repay the credit for many years. The hypothecary credit or VA Loan is the long-term money advance which is given out for purchase of the real estate, on the security of this real estate.

    Home Loan it's always favorable

    * Hypothecary crediting brings to nothing degree of inflationary risks.
    * Payment of cost of the real estate, in conformity with mortgage conditions, is carried out not at a time, and in a current of long time that is much more favourable than full payment.
    * The Sums of payments connected with repayment of the hypothecary credit, are fixed at the moment of credit reception.
    * Possibility of registration (residence permit) in the got apartment (house).
    * VA Home Loan — favourable capital investment (at current trends of the market of the price for the real estate grow on the average from 14,5 to 30% a year).
    In America, as well as all over the world, exists two ways of purchase of the real estate on credit: it is the bank mortgage or VA Loan Eligibility. For any bank hypothecary crediting is one of ways of reception of profit.

    MoneyPercent paid by the borrower on the hypothecary credit include profit of bank taking into account the insurance from the every possible risks connected with difficulty of return of the credit. As a result, the apartment got by means of the bank credit, manages to the buyer essentially more expensively initial cost. In many cases — on 50-70%.

    Probably, you agree, that at a choice of the organisation anyhow using your money, the first and main criteria — reliability and conscientiousness. Co-operative movement intensively develops, and now in the market there is wide enough spectrum of offers. Among them — offers to give the housing loan under the tenth shares of percent, the settling promise in apartment in two months, and so forth. It is clear, that such offers caused by the growing competition between housing-memory structures, can be or simple advertising receptions, or (that is much more dangerous) display of frank unconscientiousness.

    Home Loan on examples

    VIA «About the mortgage and a loan»

  • Book Review: Her Fearful Symmetry

    Book Review: Her Fearful Symmetry

    I was a little late to the party with The Time Traveler's Wife

    but fell in love with it. I heard Audrey Niffenegger read a section of Her Fearful Symmetry

    during the Iowa City Book Festival last year and thought it sounded fantastic. I love ghost stories and I trusted Niffenegger's ability to create a complicated and original story. Right after the reading though I heard from several others who were disappointed in the book and decided to put it off. And put it off. And put it off some more. In the end I got the audio version of the book because I was afraid reading the book would be too painful.

    The story was great. It's about two twins, Valentina and Julia, who move to London from Chicago after their mother's twin dies of cancer. Their mother, Edwina, and her sister, Elspeth, had a falling out sometime that no one really knows anything about. Due to the falling out Elspeth writes in her will that Valentina and Julia must live in the London apartment for one year but their parents cannot come into the apartment. While Valentina and Julia live in London they make friends with Elspeth's lover Robert and another neighbor Martin, who is obsessive compulsive. The characters were extremely well written, unique, and interesting. I particularly loved Robert because he reminded me of Henry from The Time Traveler's Wife.

    Valentina and Julia are glued at the hip but throughout the story you learn more about Valentina's desire to separate from her sister and Julia's obsession with taking care of Valentina. You also learn that Edwina and Elspeth had a similar relationship which played a role in their falling out.

    Valentina and Julia are not the only people living in the apartment, however; Elspeth's ghost is present and trying to communicate with them.

    So I have a story that I think well sums up my feelings about Her Fearful Symmetry. As I said earlier I listened to the audio version of this, which was divided into two parts. I didn't know this when I started it though and when I reached the end of the first half I thought the story was over. I didn't understand why everyone thought the book was so horrible. I thought it was just the right length, and had a great ending. Then I discovered there was a second half to the book. Once I started to listen I understood what all of the groans were about.

    The first 80 percent of the book was all good and fine, but I felt the ending dragged and ruined my enjoyment of the characters. Overall I enjoyed the audio, but the reader used different voices for different characters and I found her incredibly difficult to listen to when she was reading Valentina's character. She made her voice very high and mousy, which was fitting for the character but horrible for my ears.

    I think the book is worth reading if you consider yourself a big fan of Audrey Niffenegger. Of course, if you consider yourself that you've probably already read it. I'm not sure I would have finished the book if I hadn't listened to it on audio, and I think if you skip this one you won't miss out on much.

    I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

  • Sunday Salon: My Last Week at 19

    Sunday Salon: My Last Week at 19
    The Sunday Salon.com

    This is my last week as a teenager! I'm going to be 20 on Sunday. In case you are interested I am going to The Lion King for my birthday at the Des Moines Civic Center. I have never been to The Lion King before so I am very excited. I'm also going to celebrate my birthday by participating in Maw Books Blog's Bloggiesta, which runs from January 8-10. A Bloggiesta is basically just a chance to improve your blog. I worked a lot on my layout this past week, but I'm going to be using the bloggiesta time to make some post templates and work on a few other things for my blog. I'm going to try and work on my blog for a total of 24 hours over the weekend. My challenge to myself is to work on my blog for ten hours straight from Saturday to Sunday. You obviously won't see a lot of the work that I do on my blog, but I'll make a post at the end of the weekend to share what I've done.

    This week I posted the books I got for Christmas and my plans for this blog in the coming year. I also posted reviews of The Clumsiest People in Europe, The Time Traveler's Wife, and A Great and Terrible Beauty. I also joined one more challenge: The Essay Reading Challenge.

    I'm working on where I'm going to live next year and I will probably be signing a lease for my first apartment soon. Yesterday was a busy day for me because it was a day of making plans. I'm planning a couple of trips, applying for a couple of internships, and I'm looking into the first apartment situation. I'm most likely going to be living by myself, which won't be very different from how things are now. All of this apartment talk has got me thinking about decorating though! Decorating is probably my second passion after books. I spent this entire past summer thinking about how I was going to decorate my dorm room for this year, and anyone who has seen my dorm room will tell you that it is pretty sweet. I thought I would share a few things I found about decorating with books, a challenge for any avid reader. I found a link on Better Homes and Gardens about Decorating With Books. Some of the ideas aren't that practical, but they are pretty. I might use some of these ideas next year. I'm also lusting after At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries. It's a little expensive but I think it's something I would use for many, many years. Perhaps a birthday present to myself?

    Happy reading!

    I am in Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

  • Apartment Therapy

    Apartment Therapy
  • The Concrete Romanticism in Lisbon

    The Concrete Romanticism in Lisbon
    Apartment house

    The Shadow Concrete

    As it is simple and as it is healthy! So it would be desirable to exclaim, looking at the simple object created by Portuguese architectural bureau Ateliermob. Under an amusing canopy the cafe disappears.

    Shadow Surface consists of the concrete roof placed on three walls, creating a courtyard filled with sunlight spots, or even the whole hares getting through drawing from round apertures. Through the same apertures rain water inside gets, creating an original show. The one-storeyed cafe is between this canopy and a children's playground on which there are high windows.

    The Project Purpose: to unite apartment houses

    Concrete romanticism
    Cafe disappears
    Lisbon
    Project purpose

    On the lift or on steps from under a canopy it is possible to go down in an underground parking.

    The Concrete Romanticism in Lisbon, 8 out of 10 [based on 673 votes]

    VIA «The Concrete Romanticism in Lisbon»

  • Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

    Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

    Scott Pilgrim is 23 years old and has spent the past year trying to get over his last girlfriend. It looks like he is finally going to get over her when he starts dating a high school girl named Knives Chau. So... Scott is kind of a loser. The entire graphic novel is written in a video game style, with the specifics of characters listed as they appear on the pages. Scott is in a band and when they play the pages look eerily like the video game Rock Band. The entire book is basically Scott trying to progress to the next level, which includes finding out who this rollerblading, Amazon delivery girl Ramona Flowers is. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

    is basically a celebration of all things twenty-something and the culture that surrounds that generation. The best character is definitely Wallace Wells, Scott's gay roommate, and even he kind of turns into a jerk at one point in the book (and he only gets a 7.5 rating at the beginning, so we know he isn't perfect). Bryan Lee O'Malley does a great job of summing up their relationship in two panels that show their apartment. Everything in the apartment has a label on it and we quickly find out that most of the stuff in there is Wallace's and Scott just uses it, including Wallace's socks.

    Which is probably why I really, really loved it. The language was spot on and not gluttonous like the language in Juno. All of the characters are pretty unlikeable, Scott is a loser, Ramona is kind of an oddball, Knives is gullible teenager, and most of Scott's friends are mean, but as twenty-year-old you recognize that most of the people in your life fall into these categories too. It doesn't have anything to do with hipster culture, as many have said, because, let's face it, if Scott Pilgrim was a hipster he wouldn't have any friends and he would have much better taste in clothes. Bryan Lee O'Malley's drawing style is also not hipster enough to create a graphic novel about hipsters. It's not manga but it's not what we typically see from comic book artists today. It's almost more like a webcomic style--which I was totally on board with.

    The book moves rather quickly and I suppose at time it might be a little too fast. If you didn't understand the language or world O'Malley assumes you understand the book would probably be difficult to get through. I can't speak to that, as I did understand it. If you're a college student I don't see how you wouldn't understand it, at least a little bit. I really can't speak more highly of the first volume in this series, so I will just end by review and hope you all give Scott Pilgrim a try.

    I give Scott Pilgrim an A.

    I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

  • Sunday Salon: Readathon Survival

    Sunday Salon: Readathon Survival
    The Sunday Salon.com

    Well I survived most of the Readathon yesterday! I want to make it a little longer than I did during my last Readathon and I ended up going the same amount of time- but that's not what is really important. What was really important was that I completed my main goal, finish the Shelf Discovery challenge. Since I did that I feel like I was successful, and I also read more pages this time than last. I can't wait for the next Readathon, and next time around I think I might cheerlead and I also want to read for charity.

    This week I posted a review of Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor. The rest of the week was pretty much all Readathon preparation and experience- but hey, it's a marathon! Because of the Readathon I have a lot of reviews to write, I'm probably going to be writing April reviews well into May, which may not be fun for you if you're curious as to my thoughts about a book but it's going to be really fun for me because I like to have review written ahead of time!

    I'm at work right now and I'm folding pamphlets for moving out of the dorms. I can't believe it's almost that time of year! Next year will be my first year out of the dorms; I'm moving into my first apartment in August and I am so excited. I'm sure my dad and I will have fun loading up two bookshelves from my dorm room now and taking three to my apartment next year, all in about a three month time span. Muscles, muscles!

    On another personal note, I can't believe I'm almost finished with my second year of college! I'm halfway through my undergrad years! It's insane, things that once seemed unforgettable are now becoming distant memories to me. It's sad but there are so many new and wonderful things happening in my life that I can't complain. Soon I'll be filling out applications for grad school... but let's not think about that right now. :)

  • Home builder in Sydney

    Home builder in Sydney

    Cottage in Sydney

    What is the repair? Universal accident or a way at last to see habitation of the dream in a reality? Once building of houses from the base to a roof was quite on forces to several people. And the so-called design of an interior and at all was an exclusive prerogative of owners, instead of a highly paid field of activity. In general, and today nobody forbids to repair independently apartment, to erect a garden small house, and even a cottage which becomes habitation for a family.

    Forces on it will leave much, but all will be made by the hands. And money it will be spent less, after all it will not be necessary to pay to designers, intermediaries and workers. Sometimes, thinking in a similar way, the person manages to forget about an ultimate goal. And after all the main thing not to save, and to create convenient and beautiful habitation.

    Any activity requires preliminary planning, and building in particular. That doubts have not crossed out pleasure from complete business, it is necessary to weigh, consider and plan all carefully. It, instead of attempts to make all is independent, will allow to save time and money.

    Sydney home builder

    Even if construction of a summer garden small house or cosmetic furnish of a room is planned, it is necessary to answer itself some questions. First of all, whether there is at you time for independent repair of apartments, then — whether enough you are competent not to miss annoying trifles which will spoil all subsequent life, and whether forces, at last, will suffice to finish business.

    If cottage building without attraction of additional forces, as a rule, does not manage is planned. Sydney home builder — the highly professional and reliable building company in Australia.

    Entrust repair to professionals!

    Think, if you are an excellent bookkeeper or the talented journalist why you should be able to carry out qualitative Bathroom renovation Mosman or to glue wall-paper in a drawing room? Observing of harmonious actions of professionals, necessarily you will reflect, instead of whether to call to the aid professional builders? Quite probably, that it will be a little bit more expensive, but faster and more qualitatively!

    Bathroom renovation

    It is time to agree that repair of apartment which was carried out exclusively by the hands earlier, from intrafamily process has turned to work for professionals to whom trust so that suppose even on protected territories. What to speak about repair of offices or other uninhabited premises where speed and quality of work, first of all, is important.

    Thus the owner at all does not lose feeling of participation to arrangement of the house in spite of the fact that other people repair. Actually, applying a minimum of efforts and spending has some time, the owner receives the full control over an event — and materialised dream as a result. Home builder Sydney will help with repair of your cottage!

    Bathroom Renovation — Before & After

    VIA «Home builder in Sydney»

  • Fables 1

    Fables 1

    As part of my Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay readalong I'm posting reviews of comic books all week. Today's comic book is Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

    , which I purchased at the Twin Cities Book Festival. I've heard a lot of great things about this comic book on podcasts, blogs, and from friends. I honestly don't know why I waited so long to read it because the idea attracted me immediately. All of the characters from fairy tales and fables have been chased out of their homelands and now live in various parts of New York State. They fit in with humankind, but they also have their own governance and rules. Snow White is the Director of Operations. She divorced Prince Charming after she found him in bed with her sister (yeah these aren't PG) and she has got an attitude in this book. Love it.

    There are five parts to Volume 1 but the story is linear. From the very beginning we know something happened to Snow White's sister, Rose Red, because Jack (like Jack in the Beanstalk), comes rushing to the cop, Bigby Wolf, to try and get him to investigate the case. Jack is Rose Red's sister, but Bigby questions their relationship. At the apartment Bigby sees nothing but blood all over the apartment, and speculates that Rose Red is dead. She doesn't tell Snow White right away though, and Snow White wants to murder him because of it. While all of this is going on all of the members of Fabletown are preparing for a huge Remembrance Day celebration to remember their homelands.

    When I initially heard about a comic book based off of fairy tales I figured it would probably be cute. Fables is not cute, it's incredibly dark and sarcastic-- which I love. Bill Willingham manages to push these characters further than I've ever seen in a parody. Others have wondered if characters are really happy when the story ends, but Willingham looks at them like real people. And he looks at their immortality-- sure Beauty and the Beast get married and live happily ever after, but can you really live happily ever after for eternity? If you've never read a comic book before I think this is a great one to start with. The stories will be familiar to you and you can get used to the style of comic books easily with this one.

    I give volume one of Fables a B.

    I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

  • Modern mailboxes for your correspondence

    Modern mailboxes for your correspondence

    Mailbox

    Many consider, that absolutely the Internet can shortly replace all. But, the Internet can and will replace much, but all is far not. As dialogue for the person plays the big role, and direct contact can replace nothing to the person. And it is not important, whether there will be it usual conversation or the letter. Yes, start up we now not so often we write by hand, but nevertheless where it is more pleasant to receive "live" letters, than "electronic". And how we receive letters? Certainly, through a mailboxes. Here about a mail box today conversation also will go.

    Mailboxes today

    Whitehall mailboxesNow there is a possibility to find uncountable set of the given subjects what it is figuratively possible to name post cases. On the Internet there are sites of mail boxes which acquaint the buyer with last novelties in this area. As post cases are mounted how to use mail boxes, where to buy a mailbox — this information is in detail displayed on the Internet on these sites.

    At all there is no for you a problem a repair of mailboxes if it suddenly becomes necessary. As however, for you will not make the big work and to pick up to itself that model of a post case which for you will be the most convenient. Today depending on the purposes and problems you can make the order for a necessary mail box and manufacturing to specialized firm which today it is enough.

    Mailbox postsApartment houses or the big firms can conveniently receive the correspondence, using a mailbox posts. The given mail box is equipped by the big general door, and including has set of the numbered cells with cuts. Distinguish section, individual and street metal boxes the post horizontal. They can be made both in horizontal, and in vertical kinds.

    It is necessary to note separately post cases with fireproof properties (fire-resistant residential mailboxes). This kind of mailboxes uses huge popularity in apartment houses. To crack or get into an armour mail box difficultly enough as the given box is equipped by special protection.

    They provide access of the postman to all sections, and the subscriber only to a personal cell. Such specialized mail boxes in the best way allow to keep the correspondence and relieve of superfluous advertising production. You will receive only that correspondence which refers direct to you. And it is better, if it there will be the pleasant letters handwritten.

    Mailbox installation

    VIA «Modern mailboxes for your correspondence»

  • Just Contemporary Review — But I Love Him by Amanda Grace

    But I Love Him by Amanda Grace is a novel that really caught my attention. It's a story about an abusive relationship, which we've been seeing a lot of lately, but the telling of the story is something completely different than what I've seen before. The story is told in reverse chronology. It starts exactly one year after the day they met, with Connor doing some serious damage to Ann and walking out of their apartment, leaving Ann beaten and bloody, trying to decide if this is the moment he's gone too far and it takes us back in time, ending with how they met.

    I was really intrigued by the idea of the reverse chronology, but was unsure how it would actually work. But it does. The book is basically told in a series of individual stories, snapshots of various days in their relationship, both good and bad. We see the nice things Connor does to show Ann he loves her and then we see the problem of the day before he was making up for. And interspersed throughout these stories of the past, the present day is still happening and every so often, we get another chapter, get to see more of what is happening now. Ann is bleeding on the floor, surrounding by the pieces of her heart (literally and figuratively, since the image on the cover is completely relevant to the book) and she recognizes that she needs to make some decisions about her life.

    Because of the way the story was told, I didn't connect to it the way I have to others and most of the book lacked the urgency of a novel with this subject matter. I was never afraid that Connor was going to go too far, because he already had. And I was never worried about what he might do to her, because we had already seen the after, before we got to the before. But the layout of the book was brilliance. Grace mentioned that she wrote this book because people have a tendency to judge the victims of domestic abuse — why don't you just leave? How could you put up with that? Why didn't you just walk away when he hit you? How could you not see that he's such a jerk? and she took that away from us. We can't pick the place we would have walked away if we are seeing it from the end, because we don't know what's happened yet.

    I also don't know that I fully believed the actual nature of their relationship. Connor is domineering and controlling and gets really angry a lot but for some reason, I was never nervous for her physically. Which is weird, considering she starts the book completely battered. But Connor went from a single punch or slap to an all out beating and that just doesn't really seem... normal, I guess.

    But, in my opinion, the strongest part of this book was the emotional state of Ann. Even when nothing else was completely believable, I felt very strongly, several times, that Ann's reflections on her life and her self were spot on. She gave us insight into what it's like to be in a situation like that, her thoughts broke my heart more than a few times as she sat on the floor of her apartment, trying to make a choice that will determine the course of the rest of her life. I don't normally use quotes in my review, but there is one line that shows how she's thinking and feeling as well as what thousands of others in her situation had to have felt when they become introspective-

    It happened in pieces, tiny little turning points. I'll never figure out when it all turned, because it wasn't a single moment. It doesn't matter how many times I look back, how many times I try to figure it out. There is no before and after. Just a year of choices.
    I feel like this quote encapsules what Grace is trying to teach or accomplish with this book. A glimpse into the life of a person that is usually filled with judgment for both people involved and she's trying to show that it isn't that simple. Life is never easy and we should avoid trying to judge others choices based on our own lives. It's not a fair assessment.

    This isn't the best book around an abusive relationship I've ever read, but it is incredibly unique and I feel that it is one that has a good message and intent, even if the full impact isn't quite there, I do think that it's a novel that deserves to be read. I think that this is a novel that everyone will view differently. All books are colored by our own personal experiences, but I feel like this one is very much one that will change drastically based around your life experiences. I haven't known very many people who have been through something like this so I don't know how it relates to someone who has, but even if it's not the strongest example of this story line, it is one that you should watch for. I know I'm interested to see if there will be more by the Grace nomer of Mandy Hubbard.

  • Two Spanish words

    Two Spanish words
    Two Spanish words

    I thought you all might want to know how things are going with Merry. She seems to be doing well, for the most part. She still has meltdowns once in a while but she really enjoys having so many other kids around. She sees her cousins all the time and there is also a little girl next door who comes over to visit a lot. She still talks mostly in English but the Spanish words are starting to come out. It is usually a noun here or there, mixed in with the English. For example she'll say "I want a 'galleta' (cookie)" or "I want a 'manzana' (apple). The other day she used two Spanish words together: "We have 'dos manzanas' (two apples)". Today she was playing with the little girl next door and I heard her say "come" (eat). It is really interesting to see how she is starting to pick up Spanish words. It must be frustrating for her at times because the other kids don't always understand what she is saying. Often I'll try to help her by translating or telling her what to say in Spanish. But I'm not always there so she is on her own a lot. Despite the language barrier she has made a lot of friends at school, and as I mentioned before she loves playing with her cousins.

    Surprisingly she hasn't been sick much. Last week she had a slight fever and we kept her home from school one day but besides that things have been pretty good. When we were here visiting two years ago she had a cough the whole time and on top of that she got sick and she got an ear infection. But so far things have been going well. I'm making sure that she gets lots of rest and I give her vitamins every day. Lucho, on the other hand, is sick in bed with a fever today. I've been giving him teas and medicine all day.

    For those of you who have been wondering…. yes, our stuff arrived safely in Loja about a week and a half ago. Lucho was able to get everything through customs without any problems. The only snag came at the end of the first day. The truck was on the way out the door and the last step was to weigh the container. For some reason the weight was about 1,000 pounds less than what was stated on the document. We don’t know exactly what happened but we think that it wasn’t weighed correctly in the States, or they estimated it wrong. At any rate, the truck was almost out the door but was turned around at the last minute, very frustrating. The next day everything was re-inspected (we were charged an additional $70 for that) and it was allowed to go. It was such a relief to call Lucho and find out that our stuff was out of the port and on its way to his uncle’s warehouse.

    The next step was to get our things from Guayaquil, which is located on the coast, to Loja, which is in the mountains. Lucho’s uncle lent him one of his trucks (we never would have been able to do all this without his help) and we paid the driver and another guy to help Lucho pack up the truck and drive to Loja. The trip usually takes about 8 hours, but it was slow going because of the loaded truck and because the roads were bad due to the recent rains, so the trip ended up taking about 12 hours total. They left Guayaquil at 7 a.m. on Saturday and arrived in Loja around 9 pm that night. We had rented a storage unit around the corner from Lucho’s mom’s house so the whole family was waiting there for him to show up. We were all there to greet him when they rounded the corner, horn blaring. I took some pictures (see below) of the unloading.

    Since then we have been slowly going through our stuff and bringing selected things to our place. Some of our things will remain in storage until we build our apartment. Unpacking is hard work, and we are both exhausted. On top of that we live on the 4th floor so everything has to be hauled up 4 flights of stairs (luckily we have the help of Lucho’s family for this). It’s been good exercise. To date we’ve unpacked our beds, our TV and DVD, some kitchen supplies, most of Merry’s toys, some of our clothes, and, today, the computer. We were happy to find out that our computer and printer made the trip intact and are working perfectly. We also brought a bunch of things for the restaurant that Lucho is slowly putting to use. One of the things is an espresso machine and I’m looking forward to relaxing in Siembra with a hot cappuccino sometime in the near future.

    I’ll have to say that it is nice to walk around the apartment and see so many familiar things like our bed, the TV, even my knives in the kitchen! When we sent everything off in Sacramento I decided that I wasn’t going to worry about if everything would arrive safely or not. I just put everything out of my mind and told myself that if they arrived, great, if not, well, we did the best we could. So it is very satisfying to have everything arrive safely.

  • Leif Reads: Getting Back in Touch

    Leif Reads: Getting Back in Touch

    Leif Reads is a monthly feature I work on with Aths of Reading on a Rainy Day. Each month we choose a book that covers an environmental topic and discuss these topics and the book.

    I've really enjoyed reading Coop this month because it's fitting in nicely with a long term comic I'm working on about sustainable agriculture. If you haven't noticed I've been thinking a lot about the disconnect that has happened between Americans and their food. While it's great that Michael Perry is able to live on his family's farm and teach his children about how food is grown and made I'm starting to realize that most people have never even set foot on a farm. A couple of weekends ago I went to an organic farm to do some volunteer work through an Iowa City organization called Local Foods Connection. Even though I grew up on a farm and around agriculture this farm was in a completely different league. I was amazed by the variety of produce they grew and the methods they used. The farm I visited started everything in a greenhouse and then moved it to a field.

    If you have the ability to visit a farm or do some work with a farmer I would encourage you to do so. Next time you're at a farmer's market talk to the farmers there and find out what methods they use to grow their produce. It saddens me when I hear people talk about how lettuce comes from the bag. They don't realize that the lettuce in their bag was grown in Mexico and shipped to a plant where it was bagged and then shipped to their grocery store. They don't realize that the food they're putting in their mouths has gone through miles and miles of travel to reach them. They have no idea who is on the other side of that lettuce.

    Even if you're not into gardening, visiting farms or farmer's markets, you might find it fruitful to grow a little something. I don't have my own yard but we're working on growing some things on our patio. Even if you don't have the option to do that, if you live in an apartment with one window you too can grow something. Jason and I are growing coneflowers, sunflowers, basil, and a few other things on our kitchen counter. It's set by a window and we water it every once in awhile. We planted all of these things just a few weeks ago and as you can see they are growing like crazy. If nothing else it's an exercise in understanding. Children often grow something small as part of their science classes in elementary school, but adults can learn from growing a flower in their kitchen to. It will help you understand that everything starts somewhere, even the book I'm reading came from a tree.

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  • Memory Monday — Holocaust Fiction

    I know this is the third Memory Monday you've had to hear from me in a row. Last week was Fairy Tale Fortnight so I shared two fairy tale memories with you. This week, I wanted to share something a little more somber. Fairy Tale Fortnight had me so busy, that I haven't seen much on anyone's blog but mine and Misty's for the whole month of April, so I didn't see this earlier, but I stumbled across an event on JG's blog — The Introverted Reader that I wanted to take part in, and Memory Monday seemed like the perfect place to put it.

    JG is hosting this Holocaust Remembrance Week. I wanted to share my first experience with the Holocaust in literature.

    The first book I remember reading about the Holocaust is Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic. It is the story of a young Jewish girl, Hannah, who doesn't really understand the Holocaust, or her Jewish heritage in general. At Passover this year, when she leaves the table to open the door for the symbolic entry of the prophet Elijah, she finds herself looking out across wide fields, instead of the narrow hallway of her aunt's apartment building. She finds herself back in time, right before the Nazi's come to take her entire village to the concentration camps. Hannah, whose Jewish name is Chaya, is terrified. She learned about this in school, and she knows what's coming. But no one will listen to her. They brush it off as the residual effects of the fever that almost took her life. And so, Hannah lives in the camps, and she learns.

    I read this book in 6th grade, and I've never forgotten it. It changed the way I viewed both books and the Holocaust. Hannah's story touched me. It made me want to learn more about this tragic time in history so that I would never forget what an important part of the history of our world it is. Hannah's story hurt my heart. Her descriptions of life in the camp are not overly graphic — I read this book in 6th grade and it was most definitely age appropriate but they are also far from sugar coated. She describes what life was like for these Jews and other "undesirables" in stark terms, making it very clear that to live was to feel pain, to breathe was to suffer. From the beginning, when the soldiers strip them naked after their showers and shave their heads to the very end when soldiers go about selecting Jews to die, simply because they are a little too full, my heart broke for these characters.

    At 11 years old, I didn't have any previous frame of reference for this type of suffering and abuse and I cried. I cried while reading this book when people were in pain, but also when people showed their innate goodness, sharing bread when they are already starving, and burdens when they are already weak beyond endurance. I've read this book many times since that first read through in 6th grade, and it never fails to touch my heart. I've read many other books about the Holocaust since then, and all of them have their own power and ability to move me. But this is the one that I remember first, because it was my first.

    This is a powerful story. One that I dare you to read and not be moved by.

  • CHASING HARRY WINSTON by Lauren Weisberger

    CHASING HARRY WINSTON by Lauren Weisberger

    Emmy, Leigh, and Adriana have been friends for over a decade. Emmy was recently dumped by “the guy”, the man she thought she would marry and have children with. Leigh is a young publicist. She has the perfect job, the perfect apartment, the perfect man. Then she signs on as editor for Jesse Chapman a brilliant, yet impossible, writer. She begins to realize that the life isn’t that perfect. And finally, Adriana is the stunning daughter of a renowned supermodel. She has no qualms with flaunting and using her Brazilian charm to get any man she wants. Emmy and Adriana make a pact to put an end to their dismal lives. Emmy decides that she should expand her “knowledge” of men by traveling around the world and bedding a man from each country. Adriana resolves to pick one of many potential suitors and settle down. A year later the girls must decide just how much in their lives has changed. While I can admit that this was an engaging beach read, it reminded me a bit too much of Sex in the City. I kept envisioning Emmy, Leigh, and Adriana as Charlotte, Carrie and Miranda. The similarities between the two sets of characters are uncanny.

  • Weekly Geeks Wrap-up: Showing Off Shelves

    Last week’s Weekly Geeks, which may have gotten overshadowed by the 24-Hour Read-a-Thon (another event we have thanks to the amazing Dewey), was a guest post asking fellow geeks to share their bookshelves in honor of National Carpenter’s Day.

    I thought this was a great topic because I, and as it turns out many of the other geeks, love to look at bookshelves when I go to a new house for the first time. I feel like a voyeur, but it’s so great to see what people are reading.

    Anyway, Corey of Literary Transgressions – our awesome guest author – posted about her “ex pat” bookshelves that grew from the six books she brought from the United States to have plenty more titles. I can’t read any, but I do love the little elephant figurine!

    Kate (also of Literary Transgressions) posted about her built-in bookshelves, and how she may have chosen her current apartment because of them. I know all about that!

    We saw a couple pre- and post-move photos of Marineko’s bookshelves (The Gentle Madhouse). I love the way they went from being double stacked with books to long line of Billy bookshelves from IKEA.

    Hannah at Among Stories also loves IKEA shelving, and shows off three very full bookshelves. She says she’s in the process of reorganizing them – aren’t we all!

    And that was it for Weekly Geeks; stay tuned for a new topic tomorrow!

    - Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness), guest wrap-up writer

  • Mailboxes for apartments and cottages

    Mailboxes for apartments and cottages

    Commercial Mailboxes

    Mail boxNow mailboxes represent not simply storehouses for newspapers and the correspondence, and the aesthetic and capacious designs, capable to meet all requirements of tenants private or an apartment house. At building of new buildings the contract organization suggests to get to owners of apartments a mailbox.

    The box post in specialized supermarkets is realized or ordered on joiner's manufactures and mechanical factories. Has received a wide circulation a mail box metal, executed of a steel in the thickness of 1 mm, both horizontal, and a vertical design. The similar box becomes covered by a spherical paint which long time protects a surface from corrosion owing to damp conditions of environment.

    Commercial Mailboxes for houses

    MailboxesThe mailbox in an entrance, according to the executed documentation, on a wall convenient for withdrawal of the correspondence is mounted. All access mailboxes realized in a retail network or made at the enterprises, should correspond to state standards. Not a secret that cases when section mail boxes from barbarous promptings break have become frequent, doors and lateral panels tear off.

    If clients want to get slot-hole mail boxes or products of other configurations, they can contact dispatchers by contact phone or send the demand for e-mail.

    Residential Mailboxes for cottages

    Mail boxesIn a private sector the street mail box reliably locked, rain waters inaccessible to penetration and an other atmospheric precipitation is necessary. Except all the rest, the paint by which the box metal is covered, gets out proceeding from durability conditions.

    Owners of own houses on general meeting of tenants often state a wish that the mail box has been executed in the general stylistics of the house. Trusting manufacturing of Commercial Mailboxes to any firm, it is necessary to state to masters all requirements, precisely having specified the sizes and product dimensions.

    Residential MailboxAs a rule, the organized groups of tenants choose either a mail box vertical, or a box post horizontal on a steady platform. If it is required to place a considerable quantity of products on the limited area, it is more preferable to choose a case post vertical, intended for street application.

    Now the mailbox is considered a synonym of good taste and durability. The material for a product steals up at leading steel-rolling factories. Each horizontal post case or a design of a vertical configuration should have the certificate of conformity from the manufacturer.

    VIA «Mailboxes for apartments and cottages»

  • India: ASI miffed at damage to museum pieces

    India: ASI miffed at damage to museum pieces
    Irreversible damage to two of the finest pieces of Indian art at the Indian Museum, renowned for its collection of rare artefacts, here has made the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) write to the Union Culture Ministry.

    ASI miffed at damage to museum pieces
    ASI has referred to the damage to a unique Mauryan lion (left) and the Yakshi sculpture 
    (right) at the Indian Museum in Kolkata [Credit: Sushanta Patronobish]

    Expressing outrage at the damage to the precious artefacts dating back to the 2nd and 3rd century BC, the ASI warned the Ministry that the Museum would cease to exist “in the near future” if such a callous attitude continued.

    While the damage to the right foot of the 2nd century BC figure of a Yakshi was noticed a few weeks ago, chips on the chest and belly of the “Lion Capital of Rampurva”, a unique specimen of Mauryan sculpture, were discovered last year. Two inspection reports, accessed by The Hindu, suspect the damage was caused by mishandling. “There is a definite damage above the right foot of the sculpture near the ankle. Though the museum staff are of the opinion it was caused by flaking, we did not feel so,” says the report on the Yakshi statue. “The dent is quite deep and abrasive as per standard norms of flaking.” A thorough investigation, it says, “is justifiable under the circumstances.”

    The damage to the “Lion Capital of Rampurva”, unearthed by archaeologist Dayaram Sahni in 1907-08, was definitely due to faulty shifting, the report says. The experts who prepared the report were told that the authorities decided to shift this heavy sculpture in two pieces as was done earlier.

    Sources said copies of the reports had been sent to West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. The damage came to public notice at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing a petition by the family of Sunil Kumar Upadhyay, preservation officer at the museum, who mysteriously disappeared from his rented apartment in the city on July 3, 2014, and been has remained untraced since.

    Author: Shiv Sahay Singh | Source: The Hindu [March 26, 2015]

  • Spider-Girl Issue 1

    Spider-Girl Issue 1

    A new Spider-Girl series just started last week, so I did something I haven't done in four years. I bought an issue of a comic. At $3.99 this was a pretty serious decision, but I couldn't wait. Why all the excitement? Well there was quite a bit of buzz about the look of the new Spider-Girl, otherwise known as Anya Corazon. It's not secret that females in comic books are usually represented with humongous breasts and they seem pretty ditzy. From what I've read, the artists and writers working on the new Spider-Girl tried to make Anya look like a normal teenage girl (she pretty much does, no huge boobs here) and act like a normal teenage girl (I would actually say she seems more mature than the normal teenage girl). As someone interested in comic books, reading, and feminism, I was all over the new Spider-Girl.

    Anya is your average teenage girl, except for the fact that she is a superhero which makes her late for class and gets in the way of her homework and social life. Anya isn't a superhero in that she has superpowers (something a lot of Marvel fans are complaining a lot). Rather, Anya seems to have decided to become Spider-Girl, which is something this issue explores. I really like Anya for this because her decision to me makes her seem like she has a higher calling and that she wants to be dedicated to helping others--something I think a lot of people around me are interested in as well. Her father is a reporter who mostly works with the Fantastic Four in this issue, and at the beginning of this issue they are just moving into their new apartment together. Anya is struggling to find her place as a superhero amongst the big names her father works with, but that doesn't stop her from doing everything she can to fight crime.

    Most comic books have a running story and dialogue in most panels. Spider-girl has both of these things and you can read Anya's texts and Tweets along with the story. I really loved this aspect of the comic book as someone obsessed with social media. You can even follow The_Spider_Girl on Twitter to see what's she up to in between issues. As a comic book I think this represents the present generation pretty well. Overall this was a great experience-- the artwork was interesting and active, and the story line was complex enough to carry me through the entire issue without feeling bored, but not so complex I ended the issue confused about what just happened. If you're looking for a start into comic issues, this might be a good one to start with.

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