training_data_poems.txt

A coffee maker would be almost pointless without its trusty coffeemaker carafe. Without the carafe, the coffee would have nowhere to drip into and there would be no way to serve it to others. Keep reading for a basic description of a carafe.
1. Design
A coffee maker carafe is usually made from glass, but can often be made out of the more durable and insulating stainless steel. The side of the carafe will usually have cup measurements that correlate to the measurements of the water reservoir inside the coffeemaker. The carafe will feature a handle for easy pouring, as well as a removable lid that allows coffee to drip into it while it is being brewed. The lid is specially designed to release the brewed coffee from the filter area above it and direct it into the carafe.
2. Uses
The carafe is both used to catch the coffee as it is being made and to serve the coffee once it is ready. The carafes are designed to be attractive and practical, so you can bring it out to the table and allow guests to serve themselves as they desire.
3. Thermal Carafes
Stainless steel carafes will keep your coffee hotter for a longer period of time. They are also more durable, allowing you to worry less about shattering your carafe.
Each December, surrounded by wonderlands of white paper snowflakes, bright red winterberries, and forests of green conifers reclaiming their ancestral territory from inside the nation’s living rooms and hotel lobbies, children and adults delight to see the true harbinger of the holidays: aluminum metalized polyethylene terephthalate.
Aluminum metalized polyethylene terephthalate settles over store windows like dazzling frost. It flashes like hot, molten gold across the nail plates of young women. It sparkles like pure precision-cut starlight on an ornament of a North American brown bear driving a car towing a camper van. Indeed, in Clement Clarke Moore’s seminal Christmas Eve poem, the eyes of Saint Nicholas himself are said to twinkle like aluminum metalized polyethylene terephthalate (I’m paraphrasing). In homes and malls and schools and synagogues and banks and hospitals and fire stations and hardware stores and breweries and car dealerships, and every kind of office — and outside those places, too — it shines. It glitters. It is glitter.
What is glitter? The simplest answer is one that will leave you slightly unsatisfied, but at least with your confidence in comprehending basic physical properties intact. Glitter is made from glitter. Big glitter begets smaller glitter; smaller glitter gets everywhere, all glitter is impossible to remove; now never ask this question again.
Ah, but if you, like an impertinent child seeking a logistical timetable of Santa Claus’ nocturnal intercontinental journey, demand a more detailed definition — a word of warning: The path to enlightenment is littered with trade secrets, vapors, aluminum ingots, C.I.A. levels of obfuscation, the invisible regions of the visible spectrum, a unit of measurement expressed as “10-6 m” and also New Jersey.
Humans, even humans who don’t like glitter, like glitter. We are drawn to shiny things in the same wild way our ancestors were overcome by a compulsion to forage for honey. A theory that has found favor among research psychologists (supported, in part, by a study that monitored babies’ enthusiasm for licking plates with glossy finishes) is that our attraction to sparkle is derived from an innate need to seek out fresh water.
Glitter as a touchable product — or more correctly, an assemblage of touchable products (“glitter” is a mass noun; specifically, it is a granular aggregate, like “rice”) — is an invention so recent it’s barely defined. The Oxford English Dictionary principally concerns itself with explaining glitter as an intangible type of sparkly light. Until the invention in the 20th century of the modern craft substance, one could either observe something’s glitter (the glitter of glass), or hold something that glittered (like, say, ground up glass). Tinsel, which has existed for centuries, does not become glitter when cut into small pieces. It becomes “bits of tinsel.” The tiny, shiny, decorative particles of glitter we are familiar with today are popularly believed to have originated on a farm in New Jersey in the 1930s, when a German immigrant invented a machine to cut scrap material into extremely small pieces. (Curiously, he did not begin filing patents for machines that cut foil into what he called “slivers” until 1961.) The specific events that led to the initial dispersal of glitter are nebulous; in true glitter fashion, all of a sudden, it was simply everywhere.
A December 1942 article in The Times — possibly the first mention in this newspaper of the stuff — advised New York City residents that pitchers of evergreen boughs, placed in their windows for the winter holidays, would offer “additional scintillation” if “sprinkled with dime-store ‘glitter’ or mica.” The pitchers were to replace Christmas candles, which the wartime Army had banned after sunset — along with neon signs in Times Square and the light from the Statue of Liberty’s torch — after determining that the nighttime glow threw offshore Allied vessels into silhouette, transforming them into floating U-boat targets.
Most of the glitter that adorns America’s name brand products is made in one of two places: The first is in New Jersey, but the second, however, is also in New Jersey. The first, the rumored farm site of glitter’s invention, refused to answer any of my questions. “We are a very private company,” a representative said via email. The second is Glitterex.
Glitterex was founded in 1963. Babu Shetty, 69, joined the company as president and C.E.O. in 1999, though he had been working to develop some of its glitter products since the 1970s, when he came to the U.S. from Mumbai to earn an advanced degree. His Ph.D. is in polymer science and engineering. He jokes that he fell into the plastic business because it was recommended to Dustin Hoffman’s character in “The Graduate.”
He also did not want me to visit his glitter factory. The jovial Mr. Shetty told me over the phone that people have no idea of the scientific knowledge required to produce glitter, that Glitterex’s glitter-making technology is some of the most advanced in the world, that people don’t believe how complicated it is, that he would not allow me to see glitter being made, that he would not allow me to hear glitter being made, that I could not even be in the same wing of the building as the room in which glitter was being made under any circumstance, that even Glitterex’s clients are not permitted to see their glitter being made, that he would not reveal the identities of Glitterex’s clients (which include some of the largest multinational corporations in the world; eventually, one did consent to be named: thank you, Revlon, Inc.), and that, fine, I was welcome to come down to Glitterex headquarters to learn more about what I could not learn about in person.
The glitter factory is located in a beige business park, a short walk from the office of a company that makes sidewalks for airports and a nut plant. Inside the Glitterex vestibule, a glass display case burst with glitter-suffused products that I agreed to not describe, even vaguely. Aside from the display, there were scant other hints of the building’s glorious purpose.
The minimum order size Glitterex will accept is 10 pounds, enough to supply sparkle to “half a million bottles” of nail polish by an executive’s estimation.
The minimum order size Glitterex will accept is 10 pounds, enough to supply sparkle to “half a million bottles” of nail polish by an executive’s estimation.CreditChris Maggio for The New York Times
That is, until one entered the bottling warehouse itself, which looked like an industrial manufacturing plant colonized by pixies. The concrete floor was finely coated with what appeared to be crushed moonbeams. The forklift winked with shiny crimson flecks. The metal coils of the conveyor belt shone with a rainbow crust. And yet, the space gave the impression of being tidy and well-swept, not unlike a Dust Bowl kitchen if the prairie topsoil had been Technicolor. Near the entrance, metal shelves taller than a man were laden with over one thousand jumbo jars of glitter samples arranged by formulation, color, and size: emerald hearts, pewter diamonds, and what appeared to be samples of the night sky collected from over the Atlantic Ocean. There were neon sparkles so pink you have only seen them in dreams, and rainbow hues that were simultaneously lilac and mint and all the colors of a fire. On one shelf, hundreds of jars of iridescent white fairly glowed. The prettiest shade was slightly violet.
My guides through the glitter kingdom were Lauren Dyer, a Glitterex manager, and Jeet Shetty, who works alongside his father. The biggest seller, they told me, is always silver. They unscrewed several jars so I could compare different silvers side-by-side: sparkly silver and silver that flashed with the power of a thousand suns.
I met the elder Mr. Shetty in a conference room in the front of the office, where, beneath a glittering silhouette-style wall hanging of the pre-9/11 New York City skyline, he breezed through several advanced textbooks’ worth of chemical engineering in an attempt to tell me what glitter was.
“This polyester film” he began, picking up a strip of clear material, about five inches wide, “people might know as mylar. It’s the same polymer as used in a water bottle, so F.D.A.-approved. If you cut this you’d get a clear glitter.” The bulk of Glitterex glitter is made from plastic, though some varieties come from other sources, like aluminum. Clear glitter looks like tiny pieces of a dead jellyfish. “Then,” he said, “we go into the next iteration of a substrate, where the clear film is metalized.” He picked up a shining silver strip of material. “Potato chips bags start with the same polyester film; it’s metalized with aluminum.”
Metalization, he explained, is the process by which aluminum is deposited on both sides of the film. This made sense in theory, but how could aluminum go from being not on the film to being on the film without at least some Scotch tape? “They evaporate aluminum and deposit it on it,” said Mr. Shetty. This made sense in theory, but how could aluminum be evaporated? “It’s a very, very thin layer. They put it in a vacuum chamber, then evaporate the aluminum,” said Mr. Shetty. “With heat,” his son added. “What are they evaporating out of it?” I asked. “Aluminum,” said Mr. Shetty.
I have no idea how humans figured out how to do that, or why it occurred to them to even try, but it sounds expensive.
The primary functions of glitter are, of course, aesthetic; glitter exists so that glitter can be put on things that do not have glitter on them: Popsicle sticks, stuffed animals’ irises; Newt Gingrich. In 2011, the then-presidential candidate was the first prominent target of a “glitter bomb” protest when a 24-year-old activist named Nick Espinosa doused him with rainbow sparkles at a book signing event. It was not Mr. Espinosa’s first time employing mass quantities to make a point; a year prior he had dumped 2,000 pennies in front of a Republican gubernatorial candidate to protest the lowering of Minnesota’s minimum wage. It may also not have been, strictly speaking, a true glitter-bombing — news outlets at the time ran a photo of Mr. Espinosa holding up a bag of shiny party confetti — but the concept stuck.
There are a couple ways to achieve a rainbow effect on individual glitter particles, so useful for politics. Holographic glitter is made by embossing a fine pattern onto film, so that the surface reflects different colors of light in different directions — there is nothing intrinsically rainbow-colored about the glitter itself. Contrast this with more subtle iridescent glitter, which reveals various luminous colors depending on the angle at which it is viewed, and is made from a multilayered clear film, composed of polymers with different refractive indexes.
“Two hundred and thirty three,” said Mr. Shetty, and grinned as he waved an almost invisible sheet of plastic. “It gets very technical,” he warned. “You know, the visible spectrum, and all.”
I nodded, indicating I followed.
“Each layer is half the wavelength of light,” he said.
“WHAT?” I wailed.
If you want to make something a cool color, it is almost always imperative that the color you select is one that human brains can process. The colors of the visible spectrum, arranged in order from longest to shortest wavelength, are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. How do we perceive them? Something about cones in our eyeballs. What do the cones detect? Light waves in lengths between about 400 and 700 nanometers. How long is a nanometer? The width of a human hair is the size of about 80,000 to 100,000 of them. What is the perfect thing to say to shatter my fragile sanity? “Each layer is over 230 nanometers,” said Mr. Shetty.
An employee examines defective packaging.
An employee examines defective packaging.CreditChris Maggio for The New York Times
Because red has the longest wavelength, the layers of red iridescent film are the thickest; violet iridescent layers are the thinnest. Mr. Shetty began tilting the clear film backward. “That’s the red,” he said, as it flashed red. He continued tilting. “At some point it’ll go to green,” he said, just as the film flashed green, then blue, then violet. He picked up another clear sheet and began to tilt it. This one skipped red and green, starting with a blue flash and then moving to violet, before appearing clear again. “What happens below violet is UV,” he said. “You don’t see it.”
“So an animal would see something there that I can’t see?” I asked.
“If it can see in the ultraviolet range, yes,” he said.
The difference in thickness of the iridescent film strips was imperceptible by touch.
There are other more obvious size differences, of course. Craft glitter is the thickest and least technologically advanced. (To remove it, Mr. Shetty recommends soap and water or fabric softener sheets, to combat the plastic’s static cling.) The finest cosmetic glitter is used in products designed for lips.
It’s impossible to recreate the light-catching effect of glitter without using tiny particles of something, which means that if an object looks glittery upon close inspection (a credit card design; an N.F.L. helmet; a jet ski paint job), there are good odds that it contains glitter. Researchers and zookeepers sometimes mix glitter with animal feed to track animals (polar bears; elephants; domestic cats) via sparkly feces. Plywood manufacturers insert hidden layers of colored glitter in their products to prevent counterfeiting. Because glitter is difficult to remove completely from an area into which it has been introduced, and because individual varieties can be distinguished under a microscope, it can serve as useful crime scene evidence; years ago the F.B.I. contacted Glitterex to catalog samples of its products. The average American, said Mr. Shetty, sees glitter every day. Most of it is hexagonal.
Shrink-wrapped glitter en route to shipment.
Shrink-wrapped glitter en route to shipment.CreditChris Maggio for The New York Times
The tiniest glitter Glitterex makes is 50 by 75 microns (a micron is one thousandth of a millimeter). The minimum order size the company will fill is enough to supply sparkle to “half a million bottles” of nail polish by Mr. Shetty’s estimation (10 pounds). Prices vary depending on particle size, the formulations and combinations of polymers involved, but at the upper end — which is to say: the smaller end — a 10-pound plastic bag of glitter costs about $1,000. The company offers over 10,000 varieties.
This was all very forthright, but it did not explain the air of oppressive secrecy that seems to permeate the glitter industry. Did Glitterex worry I would describe its equipment so accurately that readers might construct their own machines to manufacture their own glitter in bulk quantities? Mr. Shetty said that, trade secrets aside, confidentiality is a top-down requirement from clients. Companies do not want others in their industry to know what glitters are in their products, to prevent competitors from making identical formulations.
When I asked Ms. Dyer if she could tell me which industry served as Glitterex’s biggest market, her answer was instant: “No, I absolutely know that I can’t.”
I was taken aback. “But you know what it is?”
“Oh, God, yes,” she said, and laughed. “And you would never guess it. Let’s just leave it at that.” I asked if she could tell me why she couldn’t tell me. “Because they don’t want anyone to know that it’s glitter.”
“If I looked at it, I wouldn’t know it was glitter?”
“No, not really.”
“Would I be able to see the glitter?”
“Oh, you’d be able to see something. But it’s — yeah, I can’t.”
I asked if she would tell me off the record. She would not. I asked if she would tell me off the record after this piece was published. She would not. I told her I couldn’t die without knowing. She guided me to the automotive grade pigments.
For people who love glitter, there is wonderful news: all the modern plastic glitter that has ever been created is still right here with us. According to Dr. Victoria Miller, a materials science and engineering professor at North Carolina State University, the plastic film from which most glitter is made takes about 1,000 years to completely biodegrade on Earth.
Because each particle is less than five millimeters long, plastic glitter falls under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s definition of microplastic — a category of material that has lately become a focus of environmental advocacy. (In 2015, for instance, President Obama signed an act banning plastic microbeads from rinse-off cosmetics.) While the research is conclusive that the world’s oceans are a cold stew of man-made microplastics, the effect of their presence is not fully understood. NOAA’s “Ocean Facts” webpage warns that these particles pose “a potential threat to aquatic life,” but states that “not a lot is known about microplastics and their impacts yet.” A more fundamental problem, said Dr. Miller, is that, like all plastics, “glitter is a petroleum product. It comes directly from fossil fuels, and fossil fuels are a very finite resource and we’re using them to make completely disposable things.” (There are natural sources of glittery effects, too, like mica, a substance used in many cosmetics. It is mainly harvested from India, frequently in illegal mines, by children.)
In short, Dr. Miller was adamant that glitter is “not good” for the environment, but she did not advocate a ban. “I think we’ve got bigger fish to fry,” she said.
A manipulation of humans’ inherent desire for fresh water. An intangible light effect made physical. Mostly plastic, and often from New Jersey. Disposable by design but, it turns out, not literally disposable. A way to make long winter nights slightly brighter, despite the offshore presence of Germans. An object in which the inside of a potato chip bag meets the aurora borealis.
I asked Jeet and Babu to answer the question.
“I would say they’re small decorative particles,” said Jeet. “But that’s not really correct because there are other small decorative particles.”
His father’s answer was simpler: “Since we’re a glitter manufacturer, anything we do is now called ‘glitter.’”
So that’s what it is.
This Glazed Maple Apple Cake is a moist and delicious dessert perfect for the fall season, with apples throughout and coated with a maple glaze that tastes like toffee!
Glazed Maple Apple Cake in baking pan
Maple syrup will forever remind me of my Nan.
Paul and I visited her many years ago when she was living in Las Vegas. My Uncle Randy had made pancakes for breakfast and served her a giant stack. He proceeded to pour some maple syrup on top and told her to say “when.” But she never did. She just kept letting him pour and pour until her pancakes were absolutely soaked and her plate was flooded. I leaned over and asked, “Did you not hear him to say stop?” and she said, “Oh, I heard him.” LOL. She was 92 at the time and awesome. Obviously.
Glazed Maple Apple Cake overhead
She’s gone now. But every time I use maple syrup in and on anything, I think of her and laugh.
This Glazed Maple Apple Cake is right up her alley, and no doubt if she was around to try it, she would have several helpings.
slice of Maple Apple Cake
You can use any type of apple, so just pick your favorite. I chose not to peel mine, because it just adds an unnecessary step – the skin breaks down just fine as it bakes. But if you want to peel your apples, go for it!
I also used pecans for the topping, but walnuts would be great, too.
Glazed Maple Apple Cake
I served this Maple Apple Cake for Rosh Hashanah holiday dinner last year and my Dad said it tasted like toffee. It’s so good!
Other Apple Cake recipes we love!
Caramel Apple Sheet Cake
Easy Apple Cake
Glazed Maple Apple Cake
This Glazed Maple Apple Cake is a moist and delicious dessert perfect for the fall season, with apples throughout and coated with a maple glaze that tastes like toffee!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apple cake, maple apple cake
Servings: 12
Calories: 382 kcal
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted and cooled
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 medium apples , diced very small (2 cups)
For the Maple Glaze
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9-inch baking dish with parchment paper, letting the ends extend up the sides.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar, melted butter, syrup, and vanilla until blended.
Add in eggs. Then add in the flour, salt, and baking soda.
Fold in the apples (batter will be thick.)
Transfer batter to the prepared pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
Make the glaze: in a small saucepan melt the butter over medium; stir in the syrup and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium, stirring constantly until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the pecans, if using. Pour glaze over the warm cake.
Cool completely in pan. Cut into squares and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
This cake can be wrapped tightly and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
TUSD investigate unknown chemical substance on bus
Posted: 10:56 AM, Sep 14, 2019 Updated: 1:56 PM, Sep 14, 2019
By: KGUN 9 On Your Side
TUCSON, Ariz. — A bus filled with Mansfeld Magnet Middle School students stopped for reasons Friday while taking those students home.
Tucson Unified School District officials say a group of students were playing with an unknown substance.
TUSD director of communications say "One of the students threw a substance back onto the bus. The bus driver then stopped the bus, contained everyone, and called school safety and asked them to come out and help investigate."
Tucson Police and Tucson Fire were also called to scene. They tell us the call was for something that looked like it could be mercury.
After doing some investigating officials determined the material to be gallium.
It's a non-toxic substance used in chemical labs.
Fire crews on scene of fire at cushion factory
SWANTON, Ohio (WTVG) - Fire crews from multiple towns are on scene of a fire at the Scottdel Cushion Company in Swanton.
According to the fire chief on scene, there were five employees in the building at the time, but all were able to get out safely.
The company manufactures padding for carpeting, a material that is highly flammable. Despite that, crews were able to get the blaze under control in about 10-15 minutes using a proactive approach, fighting it from inside and with ladder crews on the exterior.
Fire crews say the fire was isolated to one part of the building and vented through the roof at one point. Now that the main fire is out, crews remain on scene to put out hot spots.
There is currently no word on what may have sparked the fire or the amount of damage it caused. We will update this with more information as it becomes available.
In 2013, 21 years after Theodor Seuss Geisel — a.k.a. Dr. Seuss — died, his widow was cleaning out a closet when she stumbled upon a box of her husband’s work that she had never seen before. Audrey Geisel immediately called Cathy Goldsmith, who had been the art director and designer for some of Dr. Seuss’ books at Random House. “I’ve found something that might be worth looking at,” Geisel told her.
Mallory Loehr, the senior vice president of Random House Children’s Book Group, flew out to La Jolla, Calif., with Goldsmith to inspect Geisel’s discoveries. “They had spread out the papers on a huge glass dining room table, grouping them in sets,” Loehr recalls. “We were agog with delight and awe.” One of the first things they noticed was a completed draft of “What Pet Should I Get?,” which Random House proceeded to publish in 2015.
Yes, They Found It in a Box
In 2013, 21 years after Theodor Seuss Geisel — a.k.a. Dr. Seuss — died, his widow was cleaning out a closet when she stumbled upon a box of her husband’s work that she had never seen before. Audrey Geisel immediately called Cathy Goldsmith, who had been the art director and designer for some of Dr. Seuss’ books at Random House. “I’ve found something that might be worth looking at,” Geisel told her.
Mallory Loehr, the senior vice president of Random House Children’s Book Group, flew out to La Jolla, Calif., with Goldsmith to inspect Geisel’s discoveries. “They had spread out the papers on a huge glass dining room table, grouping them in sets,” Loehr recalls. “We were agog with delight and awe.” One of the first things they noticed was a completed draft of “What Pet Should I Get?,” which Random House proceeded to publish in 2015.
This is the original Dr. Seuss sketch for a page in “The Horse Museum.” Andrew Joyner’s interpretation of this sketch is at the top of the story.
This is the original Dr. Seuss sketch for a page in “The Horse Museum.” Andrew Joyner’s interpretation of this sketch is at the top of the story.CreditAndrew Joyner, from “Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum”
But the other thing that stood out that day was a manuscript in progress called “The Horse Museum,” a children’s book about understanding art. Unlike “What Pet Should I Get?,” it wasn’t publication-ready, so the company brought in Andrew Joyner to create illustrations based on Seuss’ rough sketches. “There’s a strong through-line from Seuss to Joyner,” Loehr says. “It’s Joyner’s work, but you will see Dr. Seuss in it.” “Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum” enters the list this week at No. 1.
[ Read our review of “Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination.” ]
Random House estimates that both manuscripts were written in the mid-1950s, not long before the 1957 publication of “The Cat in the Hat.” “For one thing, the children in ‘What Pet Should I Get?’ are the same children from ‘One Fish, Two Fish,’” explains Dominique Cimina, the executive director of publicity for Random House Children’s Books. “For another, we relate it to a time when Dr. Seuss was working on a TV script with some Cooper Union students about how to explain modern art to people.”
Will Random House publish anything else from the box? Loehr hedges. “There were a lot of things in there,” she says, “but you can’t just pluck them out and publish them; you have to figure out the right way to do it. And if there’s not a right way — then you just don’t.”
This Is The One Critical Piece We’re Missing When It Comes To Learning And Deep Understanding
I write about entrepreneurship, K-12, and higher education.
O'Mahony at Teachers College, NY 2019DR. KIERAN O'MAHONY
How many times have you sat in a classroom and felt like you were listening to Charlie Brown's teacher? Most of us have sat in classes, business or faculty meetings with the thought, "Not again." 
Many classrooms and corporate training sessions still teach according to the obsolete traditional model—where a teacher or trainer is at the front of the room with a whiteboard preaching information that has no meaning whatsoever. 
And, it’s not the teacher’s fault nor the students—as educators, we haven’t been taught any different.
Sound familiar?
You look up at the clock and count the minutes until it's time to go home. You doodle on the perfect white materials, stare at the confectionery bakery items, and begin to make funny faces at your peers.
You want to go home, feel disengaged, and wonder if anyone will notice that you've closed your eyes for a brief second. You are tempted to take out your phone to avoid listening to the voice in the front of the room that never seems to end.
Today In: Small Business
You arrive home with endless packets of paper. From a work meeting, you file those papers away forever or throw them into the garbage can. 
If you have homework, you might push it aside until the last minute because the dread of reading and remembering endless terms is the last thing you want to do.
Whether you’re leaving school or work, you now have a headache that is draining, you're starving, and your brain feels exhausted and empty. 
Most teachers and students don’t understand the most critical part of learning: how the brain works, and how we can use it to apply real learning and deep understanding.
Because of this lack of information, when teachers use traditional methods of teaching, learning can feel like a chore.
It’s not your fault as a teacher or trainer
The conventional methodology of teaching is how most teachers and trainers work—and it's not your fault. Today, with the help of neuroscience, we know how to teach and engage learners in the best way possible. 
Whether you're teaching in the classroom or the boardroom, you can turn your learning environment around. 
You can easily create a classroom environment where students can't wait to come to class, engage, grow, and share their world. If you're in the business of corporate training, your company can begin to flourish when employees feel valued, cared for, engaged, and find purpose and meaning in their work.
Stats Talk
In a world where almost everything is changing at a rapid pace, stats show us how our current education system and corporate lifestyle can hold us back from our true growth and potential.
According to Do Something, here are some facts about high school dropout rates:
Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States alone. That's a student every 26 seconds—or 7,000 a day.
About 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate from high school on time.
The U.S., which had some of the highest graduation rates of any developed country, now ranks 22nd out of 27 developed countries.
A high school dropout will earn $200,000 less than a high school graduate over his lifetime.
Almost 2,000 high schools across the U.S. graduate less than 60% of their students. These "dropout factories" account for over 50% of the students who leave school every year.
In the U.S., high school dropouts commit about 75% of crimes.
Mental Health Stats
And, mental health statistics are not good either. Here are some facts from The Parent Resource Program, The Jason Foundation:
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college-age youth and ages 12-18.
More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease—combined.
Every day, there are an average of over 3,041 attempts by young people in grades 9-12. If these percentages are additionally applied to middle school grades, the numbers would be higher.
Four out of five teens who attempt suicide have given clear warning signs.
Workforce
According to Smarp, productivity, retention, motivation and innovation and workplace well-being all go down when employee engagement is low.
Some of their data shows the following:
Disengaged employees cost companies $450-500 billion each year
85% of employees are not engaged in the workplace
81% of employees could leave their job today
Companies with high-engaged workforce are 21% more profitable
Professionals cite boredom as their main reason to leave their jobs
Only 29% of employees are happy with career advancement opportunities
How do we change these stats?
I had the chance to speak with Dr. Kieran O'Mahony, who is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Neural Education. He is also the Founding Principal for the Institute for Connecting Neuroscience with Teaching and Learning. 
Before his work at Neural Education, he served as a Research Fellow Course Instructor at the University of Washington.
Neural Education is a nonprofit in Washington that accelerates learning equity so all children can reach their potential. His teaching methodologies, based on years of science, can be applied within school or the workforce—and they work every time.
His organization works primarily with teachers to equip and empower educators to deliver neuro-cognitive methods and practices in classrooms everywhere. Through their science proven techniques, they improve student achievement, increase student self-esteem, and can make teaching less stressful and more enjoyable.
Neural Education translates neuroscience research into practical teaching and learning tools educators can apply within their classrooms.
Understanding how the brain works, what stimulates it, and how to harness these connections in a positive manner enables teachers and students to flourish.
Part of O'Mahony's work, shared on NED Learning focuses on six defining principles:
Neural plasticity makes us who we are
Stress prevents learning
Neurotransmitters are key to learning
All students have the right to reach their learning potential (rather than measuring)
Intelligence is not fixed
A growth mindset is essential
In this interview, which has been edited and condensed, I spoke with O'Mahony about his journey in the education field, how individuals learn best, and the best-kept secret out there regarding the brain—and the gift and love of learning that flourishes when we teach the right way.
Robyn Shulman: Please tell me about yourself and your current work.
Dr. Kieran O'Mahony: Shocked. I'm in the wrong country. I'm way too old. I'm a voice crying in the wind. 
Shulman: Why did you come to the States?
O'Mahony: I came to Seattle for one weekend, which I thought was just enough time to learn how to prevent teen suicides. 
Shulman: What happened when you came here?
O'Mahony: I was under the misguided impression that the solution would be easy to find here in the States. I could bring it back to my world. That world consisted of an inner-city boys high school in Ireland. 
Shulman: What were the solutions you needed?
O'Mahony: Could we create a world where teens would not have to make such horrific choices? I thought I was asking the right question, but in the wrong space. "How can I make schools better?" 
Shulman: What problem did you run into when searching for your answer?
O'Mahony: I was in a framework that I assumed was the true learning framework, but which turned out not to be the case. 
Shulman: Did you find the solution?
O'Mahony: Yes, the good news is that there was and is a solution. The bad news about learning is that we are still entrenched in a model of rewards and punishments—and that is difficult to change. 
Which of us was not rewarded by our parents and teachers, and which of us was not punished by the same people? 
It is difficult to accept a model that (even with more than 40 years solid scientific evidence) steps away from both rewards and punishments. 
It seems unthinkable unless you are a parent whose amazing child is acting up, acting out, or drops out of school.
I shudder to think how much potential we have left on the table over the past decades. Labeling and stratification based on rewards and punishments have brought out stress and trauma toward many children.
37 years later, I am alarmed that the solution was so available and obvious, and that I didn't see it for so long. Millions of other teachers fail to see it every day. 
Shulman: Why did you go into education?
O'Mahony: Education was my obsession from the moment I discovered books. 
Today, I spend more time running an organization and physically teaching classes instead of hiding away in a shady nook with one of the myriads of books. 
For me, like most educators, the incentive is intrinsic. We shy away from extrinsic motivators because they simply do not work. 
Every time we see a child light up with new knowledge and learn a practiced skill, every time a child feels safe, connected, and smiling—teachers smile inwardly knowing they have been part of a significant achievement.
Every time a child is sad, broken, wilted, and outcast, we are in anguish to bring change. 
Teachers know that there is no finer calling, especially when they have every opportunity to influence a human soul so that a child is happy, generative, and can contribute in their full potential.
Shulman: Can you tell me about your previous work at the University of Washington?
O'Mahony: There is a myth about Irish people and luck. For me, if you are Irish, you are lucky enough. However, there is inexplicable serendipity in my timing. I arrived at the University of Washington the same day that John Bransford arrived from Vanderbilt. 
We met, and we both realized that there were significant questions and driving initiatives we could investigate and accomplish with research. How could we advance learning sciences with certain projects?
Shulman: Can you tell me about these projects?
O'Mahony: The first project had to do with the removal of two dams on the Elwha River, a geographic watershed that has been impacted for over 100 years. The project still impacted Native Nation people who had been relocated to reservations as soon as their land became inundated. 
The resilient steel-head salmon came back year after year to try to scale the massive dam walls that blocked their spawning grounds. In 2015, after they removed the dams, they were able to go back to the source on Mount Seattle. Miracles do happen.
Shulman: The second project?
The second project was also a vast engineering airplane project. 
The airplane project was a hefty learning science investigation into unlearning and shift-tasking with engineers in an airplane company that had gambled the barn on a shift from metals to composites. 
Kids are happy, mom and pop are ecstatic, the principal is delighted, the superintendent is harmonious, and teachers are stress-free. They know tests will come easy for their kids.
We accomplish what we do without advertising, marketing, or trumpet blare. When a child is performing at peak, and achieving full potential teachers talk. 
Neural Educators teach by understanding how the human brain works and how children learn. 
Shulman: This can change the entire school environment. 
O’Mahony: Yes, instead of usual faculty room negative talk about trouble makers and difficult cases, we are no longer labeling kids as “at-risk” or “high-risk.”
Only by knowing the catchphrase, "Structure before Function," teachers can have incredible success with all children regardless of where they start. 
Many teachers state firmly when first we meet, "If you knew the kind of children I am faced with every day, you would never suggest this approach." 
Shulman: And a little bit later after application?
O’Mahony: A few weeks later they rush back to say: "Why didn't you show me earlier, how could I have missed this?"
Shulman: Do you teach in different capacities?
O’Mahony: We teach face-to-face, blended, and online anywhere in the world. We do not have an office. 
We are virtual. We like to come to your school district and provide structure and support for teachers who are in the business of helping students achieve their full potential. 
We can do that physically, or via the web using a software program called Sococo that is safe for groups of teachers to discuss and make mistakes with like-minded cohorts. 
Teachers will immediately notice that our virtual office is brain-centric and teacher-friendly.
Shulman: Do teachers get credits or CEUs with the program?
O’Mahony: Teachers get CEUs and clock hours (STEM clock hours as well) for attending our professional development institutes.
Shulman: Is there a cost?
O’Mahony: Mostly, we provide these workshops for free for teachers by arranging to have a local business or school district comp them these credits. 
Neural Education has been providing free institutes since 2016 so that teachers can attend and learn the methods and model that is so vital for their success in school. 
Shulman: What’s the typical cost for a teacher to take a course with your organization?
O’Mahony: In 2019, we offered courses for teachers for $99.00. In the future (when funding will allow) teachers will be paid to take this training. It's ridiculous to think of how much money has been squandered on an outdated model that never worked.
Shulman: If you were running the K-12 education system, what would you change today?
O’Mahony: Very simple. Teachers are critical. Adopt a neuro-lens. Stop all labeling and stratification. Switch focus away from content and into circuits and transmitters—neuro.
Teachers don't usually plan lessons with norepinephrine or oxytocin in mind, but if they did, learning would be immediate and forever. Planning in this manner is so easy to accomplish, and results are self-evident. 
Shulman: Can you give me an example?
O’Mahony: When children misbehave, teachers don't automatically think, "Oh, Johnnie's superior longitudinal fasciculus is not fully formed, but I know what to do to help grow that structure." 
Also, I would eliminate all high-stakes testing. Instead, I would use co-created online spaces to highlight childrens' accomplishments and love of learning. Research has shown time and again that as soon as we remove stressors (social and emotional maturational regulation) from learning, all students excel.
Thousands of teachers experience every day the truth about learning—humans are hardwired to learn, and this confirms Neural Education's model and method. Teachers are hard task-masters. If it didn't make sense, or if it wasn't working, Neural Education would be out of business a long time ago.
Neural Education is changing the world every day. When teachers, children, and parents know how the human brain works and how children learn, life gets easy. 
Shulman: What is your main thesis surrounding this topic?
O’Mahony: My thesis is simple: If children can remember 10,000 Pokemon characters, they can learn and understand five essential things about their own brains. 
Every teacher can learn how to grow important neural structures so their students can learn. If parents knew how to build relationships with children, if they knew how critical sleep and exercise and nutrition was for learning, we would have a different world.
Lessons learned for other potential leaders
Shulman: You were able to get your work into public school districts, which is usually a challenging task. Can you tell me how you went about obtaining these critical initiatives into the public education system?
O’Mahony: This question is an easy problem to solve. Teachers are starving for two things: time and a reprieve from stress. 
Shulman: If you were talking with other potential education entrepreneurs who wanted to launch a company or nonprofit, what are the top three lessons you'd share with this audience?
O’Mahony: Motivation is critical. If you are doing it for an external driver like pride, money, prestige or ego, it is easy to lose hope; inevitable to burn out.
Three driving factors that align with how the brain works and how humans find fulfillment are outlined here (adapted from Daniel Pink).
Autonomy: We are hardwired to be self-directed and hard working. So why not go with this? Figure out what to do, be your own boss, and stay true to your inner instincts.
Mastery: We are hardwired to learn. With dedication and focus, it is easy to get good at doing something. Make it count. Don't get caught up in ego stuff; stay true to your autonomy and purpose. 
Purpose: We are hardwired to contribute. Watch any child. Humans find most satisfaction when they can help a fellow, rescue an animal, or give something anonymously. Actions of this ilk fill gaping holes inside that cause people to waste time, effort and money on pleasure seeking through external spheres.
Shulman: Any future events coming up?
O’Mahony: We are booked out one year in advance for these annual events.
Here are a few:
Neuroscience of Learning Institute at NCCE 2020: Seattle Convention Center: A day long summit for teacher Professional Development at the Northwest Council on Computer Education a leader for innovative professional learning.
In 2020 Neural Education is collaborating with two innovative Gates Foundation sponsored programs: Teacher2Teacher and Friends of Children.
Washington Association of Educators of the Talented and Gifted (WAETAG) annual conference October, 2019. Presentation set for 600 members the Neuroscience of Learning.
In 2019, we launched an innovative program for parents called Parent University where PTA groups sponsor Neural Education programs for parents so they can support their children by connecting with what teachers are achieving in the classroom—common vocabulary, mental models, and understanding of brain concepts regarding how children learn.
Caffeine and clean: Why you should fall in love with shower coffee
After you read this, you'll have no need to take a caffeine-free shower any longer
This is the year I fell in love with shower coffee: the perky, pre-business hours alternative to winding down with a shower beer or a glass of wine in the bathtub. What began as a necessity on occasions when I was running late has evolved into a near-daily jolt of pleasure. 
As with any type of multitasking, there are some logistics that need to be ironed out before you enjoy a sip of shower coffee. Ideally, your shower has a ledge or shelf for safe coffee storage. Travel mugs or a cup with a lid and straw function best, though you may be at peace with getting a splash of water in your drink.
Personally, I like my showers hot and my coffee iced, but there is plenty of room for variety. But while a number of publications have extolled the virtues of the shower beer — last year Thrillist wrote about “The Scientific Reason Why Shower Beers Taste Better” — and compiled lists of ideal brands, there hasn't been much written about what makes an ideal cup of shower coffee. 
This is the case despite the fact that when I began to casually poll fellow writers and friends, I discovered my habit was far more common than I had initially thought.
“If a shower beer is a thing to be relished, a shower coffee should be idolized and worshipped,” one messaged me.
Another responded: “Hold the freaking phone. Shower coffee is a thing? Where has this been all my life?” 
Philadelphia-based food writer Alexandra Jones said she developed a love of shower coffee as her schedule became more demanding. At one point in time, she had to be up at 6:30 a.m., at the gym by 7:30 a.m., returning home at 8:15 a.m. and logging into work by 9 a.m. 
“It seems like a super obvious thing to do now, as I love a good shower beer  — or shower seltzer — after being all hot and sweaty working at the farmers' market or in the garden,” Jones told Salon by email. “When I was really tired, I'd do the coffee first and bring it into the shower with me and turn on a podcast, and it felt like a really nice start to the day.” 
“Now it's my weekday morning ritual when I shower," she continued, "even though I'm not currently going to the gym and just quit the job where I have to be online at certain hours.” 
Deanna Fox, a food and agriculture journalist and cooking school owner based in Albany, N.Y., said “time management and efficiency” got her into shower coffee.
“I work — more than — full time and have kids,” Fox said. “Having a coffee while showering allowed me to kill two birds with one stone. I used to rest the mug of coffee on the back of the toilet and reach out from the shower curtain for sips, but I just remodeled my bathroom and put a shelf in that was deep enough to hold my favorite mug.”
But the practice does not have to be completely utilitarian. I spoke with some coffee professionals about what makes for the best coffee to enjoy mid-shower on a flavor-level.
Ever Meister has been in the industry for almost two decades. The author of "New York City Coffee: A Caffeinated History," Meister is currently the editorial manager and director of education for the specialty-coffee importing company Cafe Imports.
When it comes to a shower coffee, she tends to save the more adventurous flavors for later in the afternoon and go with a more mellow profile.
“I'll almost always go for a just-bright-enough Colombian coffee or a Peru that has mellow sweetness and some apricot or melon notes,” Meister said. “In layman's terms: A nice mild South American fits the bill for me, but if you need something punchier, a dark-roasted Sumatran or Kenyan coffee will open your eyes right up.” 
Of course, one of the hazards of enjoying a cup in the shower is that it may get accidentally diluted with some water. Ashley Rodriguez, the former online editor for Barista Magazine and host of the podcast “Boss Barista,” plans for that. 
“So perhaps not a light Ethiopian coffee, since the flavors of that are delicate and floral,” Rodriguez said. “I'd pick a coffee from Central or South America, maybe a nice round Colombian coffee or something from Brazil. They'll still taste great with a few wayward splashes of water from the shower.” 
I have a couple personal picks in rotation that fit Meister and Rodriguez’s recommendations. Louisville-based Heine Brothers’ Coffee’s Dog Day Cold Brew is made from a blend of Nicaraguan, Sumatran and Ethiopian ground coffees , which have been steeped in cold water for about 16 hours. Since there’s no heat in the brewing process, the result is less bitter, and the smooth, chocolatey notes really shine through. 
Atlanta’s Batdorf & Bronson’s Organic Whirling Dervish Blend has a light acidity, making it ideal for morning. And its super velvety body can handle an extra splash of water or two. If I’m truly in a time-crunch, ReAnimator’s Keystone Blend is instant coffee that actually tastes really good. 
So order up one of these blends, check out your local roastery or if coffee is a “volume substance” that you need to buy cheap and in bulk like Fox, Folgers is just fine, too. Regardless, there is no need for you to take a caffeine-free shower any longer. 
Tons of dirt to be piled high in Perimeter Center; to be used to fill pond
Posted by Dyana Bagby | Sep 14, 2019
A mountain of dirt expected to stand about 30 feet tall could soon be visible to travelers along Ashford-Dunwoody Road in bustling Perimeter Center.
Tons of dirt stacked up to 30 feet high will be stockpiled in the parking lot and where the restaurants Brio Tuscan Grill and McCormick & Schmic’s Seafood Restaurant, located below P.F. Chang’s in this Google Earth image, once operated. The dirt is needed to fill the pond on the site for a new mixed-use development.
The dirt will be used to fill the detention pond that fronts the busy thoroughfare between between Ashford Parkway and Meadow Lane Road in Dunwoody, a short distance from Perimeter Mall. Branch Properties recently got the city’s approval to build the Perimeter Marketplace mixed-use project that include a grocery store, restaurant and retail space, a RaceTrac and a bank. The project requires filling the pond to build a surface parking lot.
The developers are getting the dirt from the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Transform 285/400 project and plan to stockpile it, according to Community Development Director Richard McLeod. There are no city rules that prohibit the developer from doing so, he said.
In a Sept. 12 email to the mayor and City Council, McLeod said Branch Properties is expected to soon break ground on the project with plans to tear down the former McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant and Brio Tuscan Grille restaurant buildings. P.F. Chang’s is expected to remain open until May 1 and then it will also be torn down, he said.
The tons of dirt needed to fill the pond will be stacked about 30 feet high in the parking lot and where the restaurants now stand, he explained.
McLeod said the dirt will be transported to the site on Ashford-Dunwoody Road. The first batch of dirt is expected to be bout 118,000 cubic yards, which is just half of what is needed to fill the pond, he said. Another round of 100,000 cubic yards of dirt will follow.
McLeod said he did not know the timeline for when the demolition would happen, when the stockpiling of dirt would begin or how long the dirt would remain.
Data Is the New Copper
Data breaches fuel a complex cybercriminal ecosystem, similar to copper thefts after the financial crisis.
If you feel as if there's a new data breach in the news every day, it's not just you. Breaches  announced recently at Capital One, MoviePass, StockX, and others have exposed a variety of personal data across more than 100 million consumers. This has spurred lawsuits and generated thousands of headlines.
Other companies compromised this year include Citrix, which lost 6TB of sensitive data, First American Financial, (885 million records exposed), and Facebook (540 million records exposed). The attack vector or leaked data might vary, but these breaches all have one thing in common: the information exposed provides raw materials that fuel a complex cybercriminal ecosystem, and these headlines are just the tip of the iceberg.
Most victims don't know how cybercriminals use their stolen data. One way to understand this is to consider the epidemic of copper theft that hit the country following the mortgage crisis. As buildings were left abandoned, thieves stole copper wiring and piping. The copper could then be sold for $3 a pound to buyers willing to not ask questions about where it came from. It's a similar story with data, where the breach itself is rarely the end goal of cybercriminals but simply provides a means to obtain money through a multistage scheme. And unlike copper, the same data can be stolen, sold, and used, many times.
Copper thieves use crowbars and wrenches. Cybercriminals use programs that exploit software vulnerabilities and automatically test millions of passwords to opportunistically take over online accounts. Copper thieves find industrial middlemen to sell their wares, while cybercriminals find underground marketplaces to connect to other criminals who specialize in using stolen data in different ways. Addresses and birth dates are used in identity fraud, such as applying for loans. Stolen credit cards can be used to make fraudulent purchases, and stolen passwords are keys providing entry to other accounts, that when compromised, enable criminals to empty bank accounts or turn gift cards into cash.
Cutting Off the Supply
Curbing the trade of stolen copper is easier than cutting off the supply of stolen data. With copper, law enforcement goes after the resellers, fining them when stolen materials are found in their possession. For data, the mitigation options vary considerably depending on the type of information that is exposed.
Personal data being in the wrong hands is harder to mitigate. You can't change your birth date. Your physical address is often publicly available information, accessible to cybercriminals with no data breach required. The fact that these data types, as well as "security questions" like mother's maiden name, are still commonly relied on for authentication purposes reveals a systemic problem that must be addressed.
Credential theft (e.g., stolen email addresses and passwords) is the most pernicious and least understood type of breach. Most people have lost track of all of the different places where they have reused passwords. You can't blame them: The average user has more than 100 accounts with various websites, apps, and services that they have created over time. This means that cybercriminals using automated fraud tools in credential stuffing attacks have a reliable rate of success when they try passwords from one site against another, often around 2%. With only 1 million stolen passwords from any one website, a criminal can quickly take over tens of thousands of accounts on a completely unrelated website and repeat this on other sites to ultimately breach more accounts than the original breach.
Protecting the Data
Governments are trying to address these problems. The EU's General Data Protection Regulation prohibits some insecure data storage practices. The California Consumer Privacy Act grants consumers more control and insight into how their personal information is used online. The Digital Identity Guidelines from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology recommends that companies check passwords against lists of known stolen passwords. The US Federal Trade Commission settled its complaint against a company last year for having inadequate protection against credential stuffing, which led to compromised customer accounts. These efforts will all help over time.
The complexity of our online lives poses many challenges, and the global situation may get worse before it gets better. As long as there's a market for copper or data, there will be criminals trying to steal them. But by improving corporate security standards, defending against the use of exposed information, and adopting better security practices, we can make it much harder for cybercriminals to turn stolen data into gold.
I Don’t Want Dead Aunt Mildred’s Pet Parakeet
But she bequeathed it to my daughter.
Dear Care and Feeding,
My Aunt Mildred has just passed. She was in her late 80s, it was in her sleep, we’re all at peace about it.
Here’s the problem: In her will, she left my 14-year-old daughter her horrible bird. I am biased, because I grew up in New York and see all birds as rats with wings, but I never imagined one would wind up living and pooping in my house.
It’s a monk parakeet, which the internet tells me can live from 15 to 20 years (“Hawk” is, as far as we can tell, about 5 years old.) I don’t want it in my house, and I really don’t want to inherit it when my daughter leaves for college. What do I do?
—Shudder
Dear Shudder,
As someone else who would never allow a bird to live in her home, I understand your aversion. Nor am I overly hung up on Aunt Mildred’s wishes here, as she is dead. She shouldn’t have bought a bird that lives for 20 years in her 80s if she wanted to control all possible outcomes.
Does your daughter want the bird? If—after she has been brought up to speed on the amount of care she will have to provide the bird, minus any parental assistance, financial or otherwise—she still wants the bird, then I think you have a bird now. I’m very sorry.
If your daughter does not want the bird or the responsibilities that come with it, take it to a bird sanctuary, where it can live with many, many other exotic birds that old people have willed to their squeamish children and grandchildren. Don’t sell it to a pet store.
Please keep me posted. Please do not send me the bird. I do not want it.
Americans are not using umbrellas as they were intended
Many of us apply sunscreen when we go to the beach. But walking outside under the fierce summer sun—even if it’s to run a quick errand—can be taxing: We sweat, we get exhausted, we burn, and we expose ourselves to dangerous UV rays.
In Asian countries, many people have a convenient tool at their disposal: They’ll often use umbrellas to shield them from the sun’s powerful rays.
In the US, even though most people own an umbrella to keep them dry when it’s raining, almost no one uses one for sun protection. Yet at one time, trendsetting American women did use umbrellas for sun protection.
As a historian of technology, I’m interested in why some technologies are readily accepted by some groups but not by others. Unlike an expensive technology that may be very challenging to learn how to use—such as a car with a manual transmission—the umbrella is cheap, readily accessible and easy to use.
So why did the sun umbrella fall out of favor in the US? And can —women and men—ever be convinced to carry an umbrella when it’s hot and sunny, not just when it’s wet?
From status symbol to tool of the masses
The umbrella was actually invented to protect people from the sun.
The origin of the word “parasol” comes from the French “para,” for “stop,” and “sol,” for sun. And “umbrella” originates from the Latin “umbra,” which means “shade” or “shadow.”
Thousands of years ago, servants in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and India wielded large umbrellas to shade rulers from the sun. Umbrellas made for individual use didn’t appear in Europe until the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and they were deployed to ward off both the sun and the rain. Fashionable, wealthy women primarily used them, a reflection of the umbrella’s high cost and the status it denoted.
By the 1850s, the introduction of folding metal ribs and lighter materials, like silk, reduced the weight and cost of the umbrella, transforming it into an essential component of the wardrobes of middle-class and upper-class women.
Like other technologies, ranging from radios to thermos bottles, 20th-century mass production turned umbrellas from a status symbol for the wealthy into a tool for the masses.
When it comes to protection from the sun, umbrellas have been long used by women far more than men. In 19th-century Western cultures—much like in Asia today—pale skin was perceived as a sign of beauty. It signaled that a woman was wealthy enough that she didn’t have to work outdoors.
The umbrella also came to be associated with feminine frailty, which made umbrellas less attractive to men. The reluctance of the military to authorize their officers and men to use umbrellas is one example of how the umbrella has been gendered.
Yet since the 1960s, the inexpensive umbrella has become a widespread low-cost accessory for Asian women to protect them from the sun. A 2008 survey found 65% of Beijing women used an umbrella to reduce sun exposure, while only 14% of men did—a result found in similar studies.
So why did American women stop using the umbrella for sun protection?
The automobile reduced the need for walking and provided a private shield from the sun for the driver and passengers. Starting in the 1920s, tans started to be seen as a sign of beauty in many Western cultures, while changing fashion styles dictated that a “modern” women should shed the parasol as a must-have accessory.
A sensible skin cancer deterrent?
While many Asian women might use the umbrella to preserve their fair skin, increasing concerns about skin cancer might serve as an impetus to re-introduce the sun umbrella in Western cultures.
A rise in skin cancer rates—5 million new cases and 9,000 deaths from melanoma annually in America—has led to a growing emphasis on reducing sun exposure among public health advocates.
Nonetheless, sun umbrellas haven’t received much attention. Even the American Academy of Dermatology suggests umbrellas only for infants, gardeners, and tractor drivers.
Yet they’re effective, cheaper, and less messy than applying sunscreen. A 2012 study conducted by the Emory Medical School Department of Dermatology found that an umbrella could reduce direct exposure to UV rays by 77% to 99%. Total UV exposure, which includes indirect sunlight reflected from the ground, can be much higher, which is why sun umbrella advocates emphasize that it should be used only as an adjunct, not a replacement, for other preventive measures like clothing and sunscreen.
But clearly, there’s a big roadblock that’s holding back their widespread adoption—American women either don’t know about sun umbrellas or don’t see them as fashionable. And most men definitely don’t view them favorably.
Making umbrellas fashionable again
How can we make umbrellas fashionable again?
McDonald’s, of all places, could offer some clues.
Eating hamburgers with your hands is not a genetically hardwired activity. Some cultures even frown on eating with your hands in public.
Nonetheless, since the 1960s, McDonald’s has opened over 30,000 stores in more than 100 countries. Now, people around the world eat hamburgers with their hands. McDonald’s pulled this off by intensively promoting its burgers as a visible symbol of modernity and Americanism while also adapting to local cultures.
Menus were expanded to include local cuisine—think shrimpburgers in Japan and mashed potato beef burgers in China. McDonald’s advertisements featured celebrities and actors happily eating hamburgers with their hands. Nervous neophytes easily learned how to hold a hamburger without feeling like an ignorant, second-class citizen.
Making sun umbrellas fashionable might require a similar campaign, one that involves the medical community, fashion designers, umbrella manufacturers, umbrellas sellers, and media influencers.
Just as the MTV show Sixteen and Pregnant helped reduce teenage pregnancy in the United States, so too could television and social media promote celebrities and influencers using sun umbrellas.
This is not wishful thinking. In a one survey of women conducted from 2011 to 2012, 80% of nonusers indicated that a doctor’s recommendation would make them consider using a sun umbrella. Seventy-one percent thought seeing more people using a sun umbrella would encourage them to actually use one. In the study, participants who viewed photographs of famous women using umbrellas for sun protection thought that they were more socially acceptable.
The women surveyed were young: 31 was the mean age. Their main reasons for using a sun umbrella were to avoid wrinkles, protect their skin and, last, minimize the risk of skin cancer. The main reasons for not using a sun umbrella were the understandable desire to keep their hands free, the inconvenience of using one, and, significantly, not having thought about it before.
As for me, a 63-year-old male living in sunny Texas whose parents had skin cancer, I’ll keep embarrassing my kids by wearing my wide-brimmed dorky dad hat, slathering on the sun screen, donning long-sleeve shirts—and unfurling my portable umbrella when strolling under the sun.
To Reduce Suicides, Block Access to the Methods
Suicide rate in U.S. is rising, but experts propose powerful deterrent
Suicide rate in the U.S.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
In the U.S., the rate of suicide has steadily increased for more than a decade.
The reasons for that are uncertain, but one thing is clear: The urge to take your own life is fleeting.
According to researchers at Harvard University, nine out of 10 people who attempt suicide and survive won’t go on to die by suicide at a later date. Because of that, blocking access to methods of suicide—such as bridges or firearms—can be a powerful deterrent.
In 2017, the most recent year available, 47,173 people died from suicide, up from 29,350 in 2000, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It is the 10th leading cause of death, according to the CDC, and the focus of efforts to reduce the rate by 20% over the next five years.
“Almost every demographic group is moving in the wrong direction,” said Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which recognizes National Suicide Prevention Week through Saturday. “We probably won’t be able to prevent every suicide, although that is our aspirational goal, but we can do a lot better.”
There is no single motivation for suicide, according to experts, but risk factors include mental-health issues, physical-health problems and early trauma, such as abuse, neglect or head injury.
“There are a multitude of factors,” said Jill Harkavy-Friedman, vice president of research at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “We don’t fully understand how someone transitions from being at risk to acting on it.”
Still, certain trends are apparent.
Those who are at greatest risk are white males and, in particular, middle-age white men.
In 2017, white males accounted for nearly 70% of all suicides, according to data collected by the CDC. White women, the next largest group, accounted for 19.4%. Men of color represented 8.3%, and women of color represented 2.6%.
The rate of suicide for the oldest white men was higher than for middle-age white men, but in raw numbers, more middle-aged men died. In 2017, 8,927 white men ages 45 to 59 killed themselves, a rate of around 35 per 100,000 men in that group, while 3,322 men age 75 and older died by suicide, a rate of around 44 per 100,000.
Firearms are the most common method of suicide used by men.
In 2017, 56% of male suicides killed themselves with a firearm, while among women, poison, firearms and suffocation accounted for 90% of suicides in nearly equal measure, according to the CDC data.
Whether someone acts on the urge to commit suicide may hinge on having access to a preferred method in a moment of crisis. In one study, the Israel Defense Forces found that restricting access to weapons, among other interventions, reduced the soldiers’ suicide rate by 57%.
Because of the percentage of suicides involving firearms (more suicides than homicides involve guns), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Shooting Sports Foundation are working together to encourage the safe storage of firearms.
A suicide prevention sign posted along a railway line. 
“People don’t make that connection,” Dr. Harkavy-Friedman said. “They have a firearm for hunting or sport. They don’t understand that if you have a person in the home who is struggling—and it’s not necessarily a family member—if a gun isn’t locked and unloaded, somebody may use it.”
The simple act of blocking access to a suicide method is believed to be effective because of the way the brain functions.
“In a moment of crisis, the brain changes,” said Alexis O’Brien, a spokeswoman for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “It becomes more rigid. You don’t think as fluidly as you would in other circumstances.”
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
How have you, or your family, dealt with suicide? Share your advice below.
In the case of suicide, individuals tend to become fixated on a method, she said, and if something comes between them and the means they have settled on, they often don’t choose an alternative.
“That’s why bridge barriers are so successful,” Ms. O’Brien said. “They don’t drive down the road to the next bridge. They just don’t die.”
If you are thinking about suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1-800-273-8255.
Rare Maori cloak pulled from auction after online threats and abuse
By Lianne Kolirin, CNN
Updated 9:49 AM ET, Fri September 13, 2019
An auction house in Sussex that has been forced to withdraw a Maori shawl that it had listed for sale after receiving abuse and threats about it online
An auction house in Sussex that has been forced to withdraw a Maori shawl that it had listed for sale after receiving abuse and threats about it online
London (CNN)A small British auction house has withdrawn from sale a rare Maori cloak which apparently once belonged to a tribal chief, after receiving online intimidation and insults.
Burstow & Hewett, in the Sussex town of Battle, were subject to "the worst kind of threats," which they eventually reported to the police, according to managing partner Mark Ellin.
The firm and their clients who own the cloak -- traditionally referred to as a kakahu -- were subjected to a "barrage" of angry responses after a piece about the historic artifact aired on New Zealand TV last month.
Steve and Mary Squires discovered the garment -- made from hand-woven flax and cotton with a dyed geometric border -- at the back of a cupboard last year, where it had stayed folded for "at least 100 years," according to Mary. As such, its bright colors are almost as good as new.
What made it even more special was an attached handwritten note, which read: "Maori mat worn by the Chief Rewi when peace was declared between Maoris and Europeans after the Battle of Orakau," according to a press release from Burstow & Hewett.
The couple described how they researched the family history and stumbled across a Thomas Grice, who was recorded as spending time with Chief Rewi in the years after the Maori wars, between 1845 and 1872.
Meanwhile, photographs of the chief from around 1879 depict him wearing a very similar cloak, according to the release. Amazed by the story, the auctioneers welcomed the TV crew to their premises.
The handwritten note that was attached to the shawl.
In the TV clip, the couple expressed a desire to see the cloak return to New Zealand. "We would love it to go back to New Zealand, but not necessarily as a gift," said Steve.
This was not unreasonable, Ellin told CNN: "They traced their family back and found that one of their ancestors traveled around with the chief -- they are the rightful owners. It has been in their family since it was given to them by the chief -- there's no question that it was ever stolen."
What seemed like a good opportunity for some publicity completely backfired, according to Ellin.
The shawl had remained in a cupboard for more than 100 years, so its colours remain undimmed.
"We were bombarded as soon as it was on TV. We were absolutely barraged with emails and Facebook abuse and trolling... Threats against us and the couple, saying 'we know where they live' and threatening to burn our business down."
One piece of correspondence even referenced the Mongrel Mob, a notorious criminal gang in New Zealand. Ellin described the messages as "the sort of thing you would be frightened to read if it was about you."
Sussex Police said in a statement to CNN: "A report of this incident has been recorded and the circumstances have been assessed. Safety advice has been given to the recipient."
The cloak garnered much attention from interested parties, including Maori cultural groups and museums in New Zealand. But at the end of August, Ellin and his colleagues canceled the auction, which had been scheduled for September 18.
"That (the abuse) was enough for us to say we don't want anything to do with this so we immediately made a decision to withdraw it," he said.
The owners have since deposited the cloak with an undisclosed bank until they decide what to do next, according to Ellin.
"It has been a learning experience and I hope never to repeat it again," he said.
There’s nothing wrong with snail mail. 
Opening up your mailbox to find a hand-written note is one of the best feelings. People used to have a book of stamps on hand for sending things like checks, bills, and thank-you letters, but now with email, there’s less need for stocking up on stamps. 
Stamps are required to send anything via postal services. A book of stamps is what people commonly buy because it has 20 stamps and makes for less frequent trips to purchase more. 
Price of a book of stamps
The cost of a book of stamps (20 stamps) is $9.80, while the cost of a single stamp is $0.55.
The price of stamps changes year-over-year, so if you’re asking someone who’s older they’ll tell you the price of stamps is outrageous, while younger generations only know the most recent prices and other things like how to sell on Amazon. 
How much is a book of stamps
On January 27, 2019, the U.S. Postal Service implemented new postage rates. Previously, a book of stamps cost $9.20. After January 27th, it cost $9.80. The First Class Mail Letter (1 oz.) postage rate is $0.55. In other words, a single stamp is 55 cents, five cents more than it was in 2019. The last time the USPS increased rates this much was more than a decade ago. 
An object recognition system finds objects in the real world from an image of the world, 
using object models which are known a priori.
This task is surprisingly difficult. 
Humans perform object recognition effortlessly and instantaneously.
Algorithmic description of this task for implementation on machines has been very difficult. 
In this chapter we will discuss different steps in object recognition and introduce some techniques that have been used for object recognition in many applications. 
We will discuss the different types of recognition tasks that a vision system may need to perform. 
We will analyze the complexity of these tasks and present approaches useful in different phases of the recognition task.
The object recognition problem can be defined as a labeling problem based on models of known objects. 
Formally, given an image containing one or more objects of interest (and background) and a set of labels corresponding to a set of models known to the system, 
the system should assign correct labels to regions, or a set of regions, in the image. 
The object recognition problem is closely tied to the segmentation problem: 
without at least a partial recognition of objects, segmentation cannot be done, and without segmentation, object recognition is not possible.
In this chapter, we discuss basic aspects of object recognition. 
We present the architecture and main components of object recognition and discuss their role in object recognition systems of varying complexity. 
Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.
For Lucy had her work cut out for her. The doors would be taken off
their hinges; Rumpelmayer's men were coming. And then, thought
Clarissa Dalloway, what a morning—fresh as if issued to children on a beach.
What a lark! What a plunge! For so it had always seemed to her, when,
with a little squeak of the hinges, which she could hear now, she had
burst open the French windows and plunged at Bourton into the open
air. How fresh, how calm, stiller than this of course, the air was in the
early morning; like the flap of a wave; the kiss of a wave; chill and sharp
and yet (for a girl of eighteen as she then was) solemn, feeling as she did,
standing there at the open window, that something awful was about to
happen; looking at the flowers, at the trees with the smoke winding off
them and the rooks rising, falling; standing and looking until Peter
Walsh said, "Musing among the vegetables?"—was that it?—"I prefer
men to cauliflowers"—was that it? He must have said it at breakfast one
morning when she had gone out on to the terrace—Peter Walsh. He
would be back from India one of these days, June or July, she forgot
which, for his letters were awfully dull; it was his sayings one remembered; 
his eyes, his pocket-knife, his smile, his grumpiness and,
when millions of things had utterly vanished—how strange it was!
—a few sayings like this about cabbages.
She stiffened a little on the kerb, waiting for Durtnall's van to pass. A
charming woman, Scrope Purvis thought her (knowing her as one does
know people who live next door to one in Westminster); a touch of the
bird about her, of the jay, blue-green, light, vivacious, though she was
over fifty, and grown very white since her illness. There she perched,
never seeing him, waiting to cross, very upright.
For having lived in Westminster—how many years now? over
twenty,—one feels even in the midst of the traffic, or waking at night,
Clarissa was positive, a particular hush, or solemnity; an indescribable
pause; a suspense (but that might be her heart, affected, they said, by in-
fluenza) before Big Ben strikes. There! Out it boomed. First a warning,
musical; then the hour, irrevocable. The leaden circles dissolved in the
air. Such fools we are, she thought, crossing Victoria Street. For Heaven
only knows why one loves it so, how one sees it so, making it up, build-
ing it round one, tumbling it, creating it every moment afresh; but the
veriest frumps, the most dejected of miseries sitting on doorsteps (drink
their downfall) do the same; can't be dealt with, she felt positive, by Acts
of Parliament for that very reason: they love life. In people's eyes, in the
swing, tramp, and trudge; in the bellow and the uproar; the carriages,
motor cars, omnibuses, vans, sandwich men shuffling and swinging;
brass bands; barrel organs; in the triumph and the jingle and the strange
high singing of some aeroplane overhead was what she loved; life; Lon-
don; this moment of June.
For it was the middle of June. The War was over, except for some one
like Mrs. Foxcroft at the Embassy last night eating her heart out because
that nice boy was killed and now the old Manor House must go to a
cousin; or Lady Bexborough who opened a bazaar, they said, with the
telegram in her hand, John, her favourite, killed; but it was over; thank
Heaven—over. It was June. The King and Queen were at the Palace. And
everywhere, though it was still so early, there was a beating, a stirring of
galloping ponies, tapping of cricket bats; Lords, Ascot, Ranelagh and all
the rest of it; wrapped in the soft mesh of the grey-blue morning air,
which, as the day wore on, would unwind them, and set down on their
lawns and pitches the bouncing ponies, whose forefeet just struck the
ground and up they sprung, the whirling young men, and laughing girls
in their transparent muslins who, even now, after dancing all night, were
taking their absurd woolly dogs for a run; and even now, at this hour,
discreet old dowagers were shooting out in their motor cars on errands
of mystery; and the shopkeepers were fidgeting in their windows with
their paste and diamonds, their lovely old sea-green brooches in
eighteenth-century settings to tempt Americans (but one must econom-
ise, not buy things rashly for Elizabeth), and she, too, loving it as she did
with an absurd and faithful passion, being part of it, since her people
were courtiers once in the time of the Georges, she, too, was going that
very night to kindle and illuminate; to give her party. But how strange,
on entering the Park, the silence; the mist; the hum; the slow-swimming
happy ducks; the pouched birds waddling; and who should be coming
along with his back against the Government buildings, most appropri-
ately, carrying a despatch box stamped with the Royal Arms, who but
Hugh Whitbread; her old friend Hugh—the admirable Hugh!
"Good-morning to you, Clarissa!" said Hugh, rather extravagantly, for
they had known each other as children. "Where are you off to?"
"I love walking in London," said Mrs. Dalloway. "Really it's better than walking in the country."
They had just come up—unfortunately—to see doctors. Other people
came to see pictures; go to the opera; take their daughters out; the Whit-
breads came "to see doctors." Times without number Clarissa had visited
Evelyn Whitbread in a nursing home. Was Evelyn ill again? Evelyn was
a good deal out of sorts, said Hugh, intimating by a kind of pout or swell
of his very well-covered, manly, extremely handsome, perfectly up-
holstered body (he was almost too well dressed always, but presumably
had to be, with his little job at Court) that his wife had some internal ail-
ment, nothing serious, which, as an old friend, Clarissa Dalloway would
quite understand without requiring him to specify. Ah yes, she did of
course; what a nuisance; and felt very sisterly and oddly conscious at the
same time of her hat. Not the right hat for the early morning, was that it?
For Hugh always made her feel, as he bustled on, raising his hat rather
extravagantly and assuring her that she might be a girl of eighteen, and
of course he was coming to her party to-night, Evelyn absolutely in-
sisted, only a little late he might be after the party at the Palace to which
he had to take one of Jim's boys,—she always felt a little skimpy beside
Hugh; schoolgirlish; but attached to him, partly from having known him
always, but she did think him a good sort in his own way, though
Richard was nearly driven mad by him, and as for Peter Walsh, he had
never to this day forgiven her for liking him.
She could remember scene after scene at Bourton—Peter furious;
Hugh not, of course, his match in any way, but still not a positive imbe-
cile as Peter made out; not a mere barber's block. When his old mother
wanted him to give up shooting or to take her to Bath he did it, without a
word; he was really unselfish, and as for saying, as Peter did, that he had
no heart, no brain, nothing but the manners and breeding of an English
gentleman, that was only her dear Peter at his worst; and he could be intolerable; 
he could be impossible; but adorable to walk with on a morning like this.
no thats no way for him has he no manners nor no refinement nor no
nothing in his nature slapping us behind like that on my bottom because
I didnt call him Hugh the ignoramus that doesnt know poetry from a
cabbage thats what you get for not keeping them in their proper place
pulling off his shoes and trousers there on the chair before me so
barefaced without even asking permission and standing out that vulgar
way in the half of a shirt they wear to be admired like a priest or a
butcher or those old hypocrites in the time of Julius Caesar of course
hes right enough in his way to pass the time as a joke sure you might
as well be in bed with what with a lion God Im sure hed have something
better to say for himself an old Lion would O well I suppose its
because they were so plump and tempting in my short petticoat he
couldnt resist they excite myself sometimes its well for men all the
amount of pleasure they get off a womans body were so round and white
for them always I wished I was one myself for a change just to try with
that thing they have swelling up on you so hard and at the same time so
soft when you touch it my uncle John has a thing long I heard those
cornerboys saying passing the comer of Marrowbone lane my aunt Mary has
a thing hairy because it was dark and they knew a girl was passing it
didnt make me blush why should it either its only nature and he puts
his thing long into my aunt Marys hairy etcetera and turns out to be
you put the handle in a sweepingbrush men again all over they can pick
and choose what they please a married woman or a fast widow or a girl
for their different tastes like those houses round behind Irish street
no but were to be always chained up theyre not going to be chaining me
up no damn fear once I start I tell you for their stupid husbands
jealousy why cant we all remain friends over it instead of quarrelling
her husband found it out what they did together well naturally and if
he did can he undo it hes coronado anyway whatever he does and then he
going to the other mad extreme about the wife in Fair Tyrants of course
the man never even casts a 2nd thought on the husband or wife either
its the woman he wants and he gets her what else were we given all
those desires for Id like to know I cant help it if Im young still can
I its a wonder Im not an old shrivelled hag before my time living with
him so cold never embracing me except sometimes when hes asleep the
wrong end of me not knowing I suppose who he has any man thatd kiss a
womans bottom Id throw my hat at him after that hed kiss anything
unnatural where we havent 1 atom of any kind of expression in us all of
us the same 2 lumps of lard before ever Id do that to a man pfooh the
dirty brutes the mere thought is enough I kiss the feet of you senorita
theres some sense in that didnt he kiss our halldoor yes he did what a
madman nobody understands his cracked ideas but me still of course a
woman wants to be embraced 20 times a day almost to make her look young
no matter by who so long as to be in love or loved by somebody if the
fellow you want isnt there sometimes by the Lord God I was thinking
would I go around by the quays there some dark evening where nobodyd
know me and pick up a sailor off the sea thatd be hot on for it and not
care a pin whose I was only do it off up in a gate somewhere or one of
those wildlooking gipsies in Rathfarnham had their camp pitched near
the Bloomfield laundry to try and steal our things if they could I only
sent mine there a few times for the name model laundry sending me back
over and over some old ones odd stockings that blackguardlooking fellow
with the fine eyes peeling a switch attack me in the dark and ride me
up against the wall without a word or a murderer anybody what they do
themselves the fine gentlemen in their silk hats that K C lives up
somewhere this way coming out of Hardwicke lane the night he gave us
the fish supper on account of winning over the boxing match of course
it was for me he gave it I knew him by his gaiters and the walk and
when I turned round a minute after just to see there was a woman after
coming out of it too some filthy prostitute then he goes home to his
wife after that only I suppose the half of those sailors are rotten
again with disease O move over your big carcass out of that for the
love of Mike listen to him the winds that waft my sighs to thee so well
he may sleep and sigh the great Suggester Don Poldo de la Flora if he
knew how he came out on the cards this morning hed have something to
sigh for a dark man in some perplexity between 2 7s too in prison for
Lord knows what he does that I dont know and Im to be slooching around
down in the kitchen to get his lordship his breakfast while hes rolled
up like a mummy will I indeed did you ever see me running Id just like
to see myself at it show them attention and they treat you like dirt I
dont care what anybody says itd be much better for the world to be
governed by the women in it you wouldnt see women going and killing one
another and slaughtering when do you ever see women rolling around
drunk like they do or gambling every penny they have and losing it on
horses yes because a woman whatever she does she knows where to stop
sure they wouldnt be in the world at all only for us they dont know
what it is to be a woman and a mother how could they where would they
all of them be if they hadnt all a mother to look after them what I
never had thats why I suppose hes running wild now out at night away
from his books and studies and not living at home on account of the
usual rowy house I suppose well its a poor case that those that have a
fine son like that theyre not satisfied and I none was he not able to
make one it wasnt my fault we came together when I was watching the two
dogs up in her behind in the middle of the naked street that
disheartened me altogether I suppose I oughtnt to have buried him in
that little woolly jacket I knitted crying as I was but give it to some
poor child but I knew well Id never have another our 1st death too it
was we were never the same since O Im not going to think myself into
the glooms about that any more I wonder why he wouldnt stay the night I
felt all the time it was somebody strange he brought in instead of
roving around the city meeting God knows who nightwalkers and
pickpockets his poor mother wouldnt like that if she was alive ruining
himself for life perhaps still its a lovely hour so silent I used to
love coming home after dances the air of the night they have friends
they can talk to weve none either he wants what he wont get or its some
woman ready to stick her knife in you I hate that in women no wonder
they treat us the way they do we are a dreadful lot of bitches I
suppose its all the troubles we have makes us so snappy Im not like
that he could easy have slept in there on the sofa in the other room I
suppose he was as shy as a boy he being so young hardly 20 of me in the
next room hed have heard me on the chamber arrah what harm Dedalus I
wonder its like those names in Gibraltar Delapaz Delagracia they had
the devils queer names there father Vilaplana of Santa Maria that gave
me the rosary Rosales y OReilly in the Calle las Siete Revueltas and
Pisimbo and Mrs Opisso in Governor street O what a name Id go and drown
myself in the first river if I had a name like her O my and all the
bits of streets Paradise ramp and Bedlam ramp and Rodgers ramp and
Crutchetts ramp and the devils gap steps well small blame to me if I am
a harumscarum I know I am a bit I declare to God I dont feel a day
older than then I wonder could I get my tongue round any of the Spanish
como esta usted muy bien gracias y usted see I havent forgotten it all
I thought I had only for the grammar a noun is the name of any person
place or thing pity I never tried to read that novel cantankerous Mrs
Rubio lent me by Valera with the questions in it all upside down the
two ways I always knew wed go away in the end I can tell him the
Spanish and he tell me the Italian then hell see Im not so ignorant
what a pity he didnt stay Im sure the poor fellow was dead tired and
wanted a good sleep badly I could have brought him in his breakfast in
bed with a bit of toast so long as I didnt do it on the knife for bad
luck or if the woman was going her rounds with the watercress and
something nice and tasty there are a few olives in the kitchen he might
like I never could bear the look of them in Abrines I could do the
criada the room looks all right since I changed it the other way you
see something was telling me all the time Id have to introduce myself
not knowing me from Adam very funny wouldnt it Im his wife or pretend
we were in Spain with him half awake without a Gods notion where he is
dos huevos estrellados senor Lord the cracked things come into my head
sometimes itd be great fun supposing he stayed with us why not theres
the room upstairs empty and Millys bed in the back room he could do his
writing and studies at the table in there for all the scribbling he
does at it and if he wants to read in bed in the morning like me as hes
making the breakfast for 1 he can make it for 2 Im sure Im not going to
take in lodgers off the street for him if he takes a gesabo of a house
like this Id love to have a long talk with an intelligent welleducated
person Id have to get a nice pair of red slippers like those Turks with
the fez used to sell or yellow and a nice semitransparent morning gown
that I badly want or a peachblossom dressing jacket like the one long
ago in Walpoles only 8/6 or 18/6 Ill just give him one more chance Ill
get up early in the morning Im sick of Cohens old bed in any case I
might go over to the markets to see all the vegetables and cabbages and
tomatoes and carrots and all kinds of splendid fruits all coming in
lovely and fresh who knows whod be the 1st man Id meet theyre out
looking for it in the morning Mamy Dillon used to say they are and the
night too that was her massgoing Id love a big juicy pear now to melt
in your mouth like when I used to be in the longing way then Ill throw
him up his eggs and tea in the moustachecup she gave him to make his
mouth bigger I suppose hed like my nice cream too I know what Ill do
Ill go about rather gay not too much singing a bit now and then mi fa
pieta Masetto then Ill start dressing myself to go out presto non son
piu forte Ill put on my best shift and drawers let him have a good
eyeful out of that to make his micky stand for him Ill let him know if
thats what he wanted that his wife is fucked yes and damn well fucked
too up to my neck nearly not by him 5 or 6 times handrunning theres the
mark of his spunk on the clean sheet I wouldnt bother to even iron it
out that ought to satisfy him if you dont believe me feel my belly
unless I made him stand there and put him into me Ive a mind to tell
him every scrap and make him do it out in front of me serve him right
its all his own fault if I am an adulteress as the thing in the gallery
said O much about it if thats all the harm ever we did in this vale of
tears God knows its not much doesnt everybody only they hide it I
suppose thats what a woman is supposed to be there for or He wouldnt
have made us the way He did so attractive to men then if he wants to
kiss my bottom Ill drag open my drawers and bulge it right out in his
face as large as life he can stick his tongue 7 miles up my hole as hes
there my brown part then Ill tell him I want £ 1 or perhaps 30/- Ill
tell him I want to buy underclothes then if he gives me that well he
wont be too bad I dont want to soak it all out of him like other women
do I could often have written out a fine cheque for myself and write
his name on it for a couple of pounds a few times he forgot to lock it
up besides he wont spend it Ill let him do it off on me behind provided
he doesnt smear all my good drawers O I suppose that cant be helped Ill
do the indifferent 1 or 2 questions Ill know by the answers when hes
like that he cant keep a thing back I know every turn in him Ill
tighten my bottom well and let out a few smutty words smellrump or lick
my shit or the first mad thing comes into my head then Ill suggest
about yes O wait now sonny my turn is coming Ill be quite gay and
friendly over it O but I was forgetting this bloody pest of a thing
pfooh you wouldnt know which to laugh or cry were such a mixture of
plum and apple no Ill have to wear the old things so much the better
itll be more pointed hell never know whether he did it or not there
thats good enough for you any old thing at all then Ill wipe him off me
just like a business his omission then Ill go out Ill have him eying up
at the ceiling where is she gone now make him want me thats the only
way a quarter after what an unearthly hour I suppose theyre just
getting up in China now combing out their pigtails for the day well
soon have the nuns ringing the angelus theyve nobody coming in to spoil
their sleep except an odd priest or two for his night office or the
alarmclock next door at cockshout clattering the brains out of itself
let me see if I can doze off 1 2 3 4 5 what kind of flowers are those
they invented like the stars the wallpaper in Lombard street was much
nicer the apron he gave me was like that something only I only wore it
twice better lower this lamp and try again so as I can get up early Ill
go to Lambes there beside Findlaters and get them to send us some
flowers to put about the place in case he brings him home tomorrow
today I mean no no Fridays an unlucky day first I want to do the place
up someway the dust grows in it I think while Im asleep then we can
have music and cigarettes I can accompany him first I must clean the
keys of the piano with milk whatll I wear shall I wear a white rose or
those fairy cakes in Liptons I love the smell of a rich big shop at 7
1/2d a lb or the other ones with the cherries in them and the pinky
sugar 11d a couple of lbs of those a nice plant for the middle of the
table Id get that cheaper in wait wheres this I saw them not long ago I
love flowers Id love to have the whole place swimming in roses God of
heaven theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea and
the waves rushing then the beautiful country with the fields of oats
and wheat and all kinds of things and all the fine cattle going about
that would do your heart good to see rivers and lakes and flowers all
sorts of shapes and smells and colours springing up even out of the
ditches primroses and violets nature it is as for them saying theres no
God I wouldnt give a snap of my two fingers for all their learning why
dont they go and create something I often asked him atheists or
whatever they call themselves go and wash the cobbles off themselves
first then they go howling for the priest and they dying and why why
because theyre afraid of hell on account of their bad conscience ah yes
I know them well who was the first person in the universe before there
was anybody that made it all who ah that they dont know neither do I so
there you are they might as well try to stop the sun from rising
tomorrow the sun shines for you he said the day we were lying among the
rhododendrons on Howth head in the grey tweed suit and his straw hat
the day I got him to propose to me yes first I gave him the bit of
seedcake out of my mouth and it was leapyear like now yes 16 years ago
my God after that long kiss I near lost my breath yes he said I was a
flower of the mountain yes so we are flowers all a womans body yes that
was one true thing he said in his life and the sun shines for you today
yes that was why I liked him because I saw he understood or felt what a
woman is and I knew I could always get round him and I gave him all the
pleasure I could leading him on till he asked me to say yes and I
wouldnt answer first only looked out over the sea and the sky I was
thinking of so many things he didnt know of Mulvey and Mr Stanhope and
Hester and father and old captain Groves and the sailors playing all
birds fly and I say stoop and washing up dishes they called it on the
pier and the sentry in front of the governors house with the thing
round his white helmet poor devil half roasted and the Spanish girls
laughing in their shawls and their tall combs and the auctions in the
morning the Greeks and the jews and the Arabs and the devil knows who
else from all the ends of Europe and Duke street and the fowl market
all clucking outside Larby Sharons and the poor donkeys slipping half
asleep and the vague fellows in the cloaks asleep in the shade on the
steps and the big wheels of the carts of the bulls and the old castle
thousands of years old yes and those handsome Moors all in white and
turbans like kings asking you to sit down in their little bit of a shop
and Ronda with the old windows of the posadas 2 glancing eyes a lattice
hid for her lover to kiss the iron and the wineshops half open at night
and the castanets and the night we missed the boat at Algeciras the
watchman going about serene with his lamp and O that awful deepdown
torrent O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the
glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all
the queer little streets and the pink and blue and yellow houses and
the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and cactuses and
Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put
the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a
red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well
as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again
yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and
first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could
feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and
yes I said yes I will Yes.