FRANKLIN, Tenn., March 29, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– Franklin Is announces a strategic relationship for The Sizzle Awards with Make-A-Wish® Middle Tennessee. For over 12 years, The Sizzle Awards have celebrated the best of Williamson County, Tennessee.
Franklin Is is the online voice for Middle Tennessee business and events. With over 50 percent of Franklin and Brentwood residents voting to support their favorite business and products, The Sizzle Awards are the feature event for the year for Williamson County business owners. Ken Royer, Franklin Is CEO, states, “Each year, The Sizzle Awards and Franklin Is grows by leaps and bounds and this year is no exception. We are so proud to continue the tradition of The Sizzle Awards and uphold its integrity with a new partnership that is about charity and giving.”
Together with its community of support, Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee grants wishes in 38 counties and has granted nearly 1,700 wishes since its founding in 2000. Nationally, Make-A-Wish grants a wish every 34 minutes and has granted more than 300,000 wishes in the United States since its inception in 1980.
The 2019 Sizzle Awards Gala will be held on Tuesday, May 7 at The Factory at Franklin. Record voting has occurred this year and in order to hear the full voice of Middle Tennessee, Franklin Is will keep The 2019 Sizzle Award voting open for an additional week. Polls officially close Friday, April 5. The goal is to have over 70 percent of Williamson County to vote for their favorites. Only 500 tickets will be available for this year’s event and they can only be secured at www.franklinis.com beginning April 5.
Printing, signing, and scanning documents are annoying tasks that feel like they should be obsolete in the digital era. But whether you’re filling out forms for a new job or filing your taxes, handling physical paperwork is sometimes unavoidable. There’s no shortcut for printing out documents, but as long as you own an iPhone, you can scan those documents easily using your Notes app, PopSugar reports.
To scan documents on your iPhone, go the Home screen and open Notes. Tap the “+” icon at the bottom of the page, and select Scan Documents from the list of the options. This should launch your phone’s camera. When the camera detects the document you want to scan, it will highlight it in yellow on the screen. Press the capture button to “scan” the document and save it to your phone.
After saving the image file, you can use it just as you would a normal scanned document. Open it in your Mail app and attach it to an email, or send it in a text message. Whatever you need it for, you can take comfort in knowing that you didn’t have to figure out how the clunky scanner in your office works to get it done.
The iPhone is filled with hidden features, like a virtual magnifying glass and a handy backspace shortcut for the calculator. Here are more useful things you might not know your iPhone can do.
A version of this story ran in 2019; it has been updated for 2023.
MESA, Ariz., March 28, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– Care For Life, an Arizona-based anti-poverty charity working in Mozambique, is pleading with the public for donations to save the lives of those endangered by Hurricane Idai. Emergency donations are being taken on www.CareForLife.org.
An estimated 1,000 people are dead after the hurricane made landfall. Much of the country is still under water and the total body count still not known. Flooding and winds as high as 106 miles per hour destroyed over 90 percent of the infrastructure and homes in Mozambique. Food is scarce because almost all crops have been destroyed. The hospitals are far past capacity and contaminated water is spreading cholera. Standing water greatly increases concerns of malaria.
“We are very lucky to have a staff made up of Mozambique citizens in the affected area,” said Care for Life President Linda Harper. “Now that our team has gotten themselves and their families in a safe place, we are ready to start helping others. Money is our biggest need. This will allow us to arrange transportation and purchase supplies such as food and all the other basics the people of Mozambique need right now. As more funding comes in, it will go directly to help the people in the center of this disaster. Those who want to help can go to our website.”
Care For Life has 30 staff members on the ground ready to distribute aid. Monetary donations are most needed and will be used directly for relief efforts designed to prevent any further loss of life. Donations can be made at www.CareForLife.orgas well as https://www.facebook.com/careforlife.org/.
About Care for Life
Care for Life is a global non-profit organization operating with a comprehensive approach to ending poverty in a sustainable way by preserving the family while encouraging and enabling the principles of self-reliance. Care for Life operates in Mozambique, Africa. Donations to Care for Life can be made at www.CareForLife.org.
For more information:
Glen Galatan, Marketing & Funding Manager Care for Life 3850 E. Baseline Rd., Ste 114, Mesa, AZ 85206-4403 480-696-0418 glen@careforlife.org www.careforlife.org
First things first, a real estate lead isn’t complicated. It’s simply the name and contact information for someone who is potentially a future client. A single email address can be a lead, a phone number, even someone who registers as Mickey Mouse (or something much more offensive).
Regardless of fake names, all leads that have a legitimate way to contact them are viable. Even the address-only ones. Even the bogus names. Even the ones that say “no.” In order to convert these fledgling prospects, you’ve got to have the right process in place to successfully nurture them, and within that process, you’ve got to know the right information to convert them into clients.
Capture Contact Info & Track Interactions
This is where your website comes in. Hopefully you already have a strong online real estate presence and CRM to help you manage the leads you generate. Top-of-the-funnel success means you’re leveraging digital marketing to get highly targeted traffic to your website, and capturing leads.
Once a lead has been driven to your website (or landing page, valuation tool, etc.) You must have a way to capture them. This means utilizing a tool to prompt a visitor to provide you with their contact information in exchange for something of value.
This could be something like:
the ability to view more pictures of homes on your website
a home valuation report for potential seller leads
a market update newsletter to keep them “in-the-know”
The right website and CRM will capture this information and automatically build a lead profile. This profile will be updated with any notes you add, tracked behavior and interactions with your website, logged calls and attempts, etc.
For example, BoomTown tracks every action a lead takes on your site. We also track each call, conversation, and interaction and add it to a lead’s profile. This way you’re empowered with insights you can act on.
93% of all buyers report responsiveness as a very important factor in selecting an agent. When you have useful insight into buyer and seller interests and behavior, you can send the most relevant information and targeted alerts quickly and easily.
Your lead management system should provide ample information about each registrant. What have they searched for in the past? Have they just favorited a property, performed a mortgage calculation, or shared a listing with a friend? These behaviors will provide the background intel that is critical for tailoring your follow up and drip campaigns.
When you have the right information on your prospects, and the right tools available, you can bucket similar groups of leads for efficient nurturing campaigns. These can be segments like similar price ranges for a group of homebuyers, seller leads, you name it.
Of course, not every lead will be ready to buy a house right now, so have a process in place for the leads that aren’t ready. Use your CRM to set to-dos and reminders to follow up with leads on their timetable. Use categories for certain leads that may be on the fence or are waiting. Later on, you can take a look at the leads in that category and use tools like a phone dialer to renew your follow-up communication.
When you have the right information about your leads, and you are able to target specific groups with relevant communication, your prospects stay engaged and informed — ready to take action when their dream home comes on the market, or when it’s time to list their home, and you stay top of mind.
Use Real-Time Lead Behavior to Drive Action
Your targeted marketing campaigns and nurture drips will certainly pay off, but you also want to watch the behavior of your leads and contact them as soon as the time is ripe. For example, the BoomTown system will show when a lead is back on your website, so you know now would be a perfect time to give them a call.
Predictive insights like these will keep you productive. Don’t know the next step? Don’t worry, we do. The system will tell you exactly where to focus, who’s hot right now and when to reach out. Tag your prospects with custom categories, segment your database based on price point, category, you-name-it, and mass email or send individual texts right from the CRM. With the mobile app, you can receive alerts wherever you are and conduct business anywhere. All of these tools make it easy to target your prospects in smart ways- and get better results.
The goal of marketing is to build enough trust to start conversations. If you are not thinking about how to structure and leverage your database for multi-channel marketing, and use the information at your fingertips, it will become steadily more difficult to compete in the future.
Using a smart system will help you take all the pieces of information and interactions into consideration, and builds a profile for each lead. By matching intents through the CRM, you become highly relevant to your audience, your prospects become confident in the insights you provide, and your conversions will skyrocket as leads grow to trust you enough to become clients.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 26, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– Children’s Learning Adventure’s all-inclusive, STEAM-based summer camp will provide every child with a summer experience they’ll never forget. This year’s summer camp theme “Hooray for Hollywood” will introduce campers to a curriculum centered around all things Hollywood and movie magic.
Children’s Learning Adventure’s “Hooray for Hollywood” camp goers will take an amazing journey to new worlds by using their imagination and learning to appreciate the world around them and create storylines that can guide them to understand who they are. Every child will have the opportunity to explore movie magic, from behind-the-scenes exploration to learning the tricks of the trade to participation in a variety of game shows.
The “Hooray for Hollywood” camp theme is intentionally planned to offer a specialized, uniquely designed curriculum that encompasses STEAM learning and literacy as Hollywood helps capture our imagination by taking us on amazing journeys to new worlds. These are just a few of the many activities Children’s Learning Adventure is offering to families.
“Our summer camp STEAM-based curriculum will offer specialized activities centered around all things Hollywood and movie magic. Our summer camp will also include field trips, transportation to and from local elementary schools and a specialized curriculum that encompasses STEAM learning,” said Rick Sodja, Children’s Learning Adventure CEO.
The all-inclusive camp, available at all 45 Children’s Learning Adventure campuses, also includes weekly field trips, meals, activities and flexible scheduling, giving campers the experience of a lifetime, so they can enjoy their summer while also learning something new.
To learn more about Children’s Learning Adventure and their upcoming summer camp, please visit www.childrenslearningadventure.com or call 1-877-797-1417.
Whether you’re a horror hound or you prefer the tamer side of cinema, there’s no escaping the terrifying influence of Stephen King.
The twelfth book published by the author was a small story about Louis Creed, his family, and the supernatural horrors they experience when they move into a house adjacent to a pet cemetery. When tragedy strikes, Creed must decide between living with his grief and tampering with forces beyond his control.
One of the pivotal characters in the film is Jud Crandall played by Fred Gwynne. Jud is the Creed family’s new neighbor who acts as a father figure to Louis but also acts as a catalyst for the horror to follow.
“He’s the one who sets the whole story in motion. He shouldn’t have done what he did.” – Brad Greenquist, Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary
According to director Mary Lambert, Paramount Studios was wary of hiring Fred Gwynne at first because of his leading role on the popular midcentury comedy The Munsters. She says they were afraid people would see Gwynne as funny and it would take the audience out of the movie.
Fortunately, Lambert stuck to her guns and pushed for the actor she wanted.
Artifact: Effects bust of actor Fred Gwynne as Jud Crandall
About Fred Gwynne: A multi-talented actor, writer, painter, and illustrator, Harvard graduate Gwynne left an indelible mark on and off screen, treating his cast mates like a family. In fact, actor Miko Hughes who played Gage still has some of the children’s books Gwynne created and gifted to the young actor.
Behind-the-Scenes: The film’s Lead Green Manager Carlene Hirsch says that police officer who visited the set saw this bust of Fred Gwynne under a blanket and “went running for the bathroom, retching.”
Fun Fact:Pet Sematary Effects Artist David LeRoy Anderson now runs AFX Studio with his wife Heather Langencamp, known for portraying Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Solidity Optimizer and ABIEncoderV2 Bug Announcement
Through the Ethereum bug bounty program, we received a report about a flaw within the new experimental ABI encoder (referred to as ABIEncoderV2). Upon investigation, it was found that the component suffers from a few different variations of the same type. The first part of this announcement explains this bug in detail. The new ABI encoder is still marked as experimental, but we nevertheless think that this deserves a prominent announcement since it is already used on mainnet.
Additionally, two low-impact bugs in the optimizer have been identified over the past two weeks, one of which was fixed with Solidity v0.5.6. Both were introduced with version 0.5.5. See the second part of this announcement for details.
The 0.5.7 release contains the fixes to all bugs explained in this blog post.
All the bugs mentioned here should be easily visible in tests that touch the relevant code paths, at least when run with all combinations of zero and nonzero values.
Credits to Melonport team (Travis Jacobs & Jenna Zenk) and the Melon Council (Nick Munoz-McDonald, Martin Lundfall, Matt di Ferrante & Adam Kolar), who reported this via the Ethereum bug bounty program!
Who should be concerned
If you have deployed contracts which use the experimental ABI encoder V2, then those might be affected. This means that only contracts which use the following directive within the source code can be affected:
pragma experimental ABIEncoderV2;
Additionally, there are a number of requirements for the bug to trigger. See technical details further below for more information.
As far as we can tell, there are about 2500 contracts live on mainnet that use the experimental ABIEncoderV2. It is not clear how many of them contain the bug.
How to check if contract is vulnerable
The bug only manifests itself when all of the following conditions are met:
Storage data involving arrays or structs is sent directly to an external function call, to abi.encode or to event data without prior assignment to a local (memory) variable AND
there is an array that contains elements with size less than 32 bytes or a struct that has elements that share a storage slot or members of type bytesNN shorter than 32 bytes.
In addition to that, in the following situations, your code is NOT affected:
if all your structs or arrays only use uint256 or int256 types
if you only use integer types (that may be shorter) and only encode at most one array at a time
if you only return such data and do not use it in abi.encode, external calls or event data.
If you have a contract that meets these conditions, and want to verify whether the contract is indeed vulnerable, you can reach out to us via security@ethereum.org.
How to prevent these types of flaws in the future
In order to be conservative about changes, the experimental ABI encoder has been available only when explicitly enabled, to allow people to interact with it and test it without putting too much trust in it before it is considered stable.
We do our best to ensure high quality, and have recently started working on ‘semantic’ fuzzing of certain parts on OSS-Fuzz (we have previously crash-fuzzed the compiler, but that did not test compiler correctness).
For developers — bugs within the Solidity compiler are difficult to detect with tools like vulnerability detectors, since tools which operate on source code or AST-representations do not detect flaws that are introduced only into the compiled bytecode.
The best way to protect against these types of flaws is to have a rigorous set of end-to-end tests for your contracts (verifying all code paths), since bugs in a compiler very likely are not “silent” and instead manifest in invalid data.
Possible consequences
Naturally, any bug can have wildly varying consequences depending on the program control flow, but we expect that this is more likely to lead to malfunction than exploitability.
The bug, when triggered, will under certain circumstances send corrupt parameters on method invocations to other contracts.
Timeline
2019-03-16:
Report via bug bounty, about corruption caused when reading from arrays of booleans directly from storage into ABI encoder.
2019-03-16 to 2019-03-21:
Investigation of root cause, analysis of affected contracts. An unexpectedly high count of contracts compiled with the experimental encoder were found deployed on mainnet, many without verified source-code.
Investigation of bug found more ways to trigger the bug, e.g. using structs. Furthermore, an array overflow bug was found in the same routine.
A handful of contracts found on Github were checked, and none were found to be affected.
A bugfix to the ABI encoder was made.
2019-03-20:
Decision to make information public.
Reasoning: It would not be feasible to detect all vulnerable contracts and reach out to all authors in a timely manner, and it would be good to prevent further proliferation of vulnerable contracts on mainnet.
2019-03-26:
New compiler release, version 0.5.7.
This post released.
Technical details
Background
The Contract ABI is a specification how data can be exchanged with contracts from the outside (a Dapp) or when interacting between contracts. It supports a variety of types of data, including simple values like numbers, bytes and strings, as well as more complex data types, including arrays and structs.
When a contract receives input data, it must decode that (this is done by the “ABI decoder”) and prior to returning data or sending data to another contract, it must encode it (this is done by the “ABI encoder”). The Solidity compiler generates these two pieces of code for each defined function in a contract (and also for abi.encode and abi.decode). In the Solidity compiler the subsystem generating the encoder and decoder is called the “ABI encoder”.
In mid-2017 the Solidity team started to work on a fresh implementation named “ABI encoder V2” with the goal of having a more flexible, safe, performant and auditable code generator. This experimental code generator, when explicitly enabled, has been offered to users since the end of 2017 with the 0.4.19 release.
The flaw
The experimental ABI encoder does not handle non-integer values shorter than 32 bytes properly. This applies to bytesNN types, bool, enum and other types when they are part of an array or a struct and encoded directly from storage. This means these storage references have to be used directly inside abi.encode(…), as arguments in external function calls or in event data without prior assignment to a local variable. Using return does not trigger the bug. The types bytesNN and bool will result in corrupted data while enum might lead to an invalid revert.
Furthermore, arrays with elements shorter than 32 bytes may not be handled correctly even if the base type is an integer type. Encoding such arrays in the way described above can lead to other data in the encoding being overwritten if the number of elements encoded is not a multiple of the number of elements that fit a single slot. If nothing follows the array in the encoding (note that dynamically-sized arrays are always encoded after statically-sized arrays with statically-sized content), or if only a single array is encoded, no other data is overwritten.
Two unrelated bugs
Unrelated to the ABI encoder issue explained above, two bugs have been found in the optimiser. Both have been introduced with 0.5.5 (released on 5th of March). They are unlikely to occur in code generated by the compiler, unless inline assembly is used.
These two bugs have been identified through the recent addition of Solidity to OSS-Fuzz – a security toolkit for finding discrepancies or issues in a variety of projects. For Solidity we have included multiple different fuzzers testing different aspects of the compiler.
The optimizer turns opcode sequences like ((x << a) << b)), where a and b are compile-time constants, into (x << (a + b)) while not handling overflow in the addition properly.
The optimizer incorrectly handles the byte opcode if the constant 31 is used as second argument. This can happen when performing index access on bytesNN types with a compile-time constant value (not index) of 31 or when using the byte opcode in inline assembly.
This post was jointly composed by @axic, @chriseth, @holiman
From their resident cats to that old book smell, there’s something about wandering up and down the aisles of a brick-and-mortar bookstore that online merchants could never replicate. In honor of Independent Bookstore Day (April 29, 2023), Mental Floss has picked the best bookshop in every state—plus a few others we loved, too.
One of the Birmingham area’s hidden gems, the Alabama Booksmith is a unique delight for book-lovers and collectors alike. Since a remodel in 2012, the shop has featured an inventory consisting exclusively of signed book copies. The store has another special touch, too: Every book is displayed face-out so that customers can more easily discern whether or not something is right for them.
The cleverly named Title Wave Books is not only the largest bookstore in Alaska, but also one of the biggest used bookstores in the entire country. In addition to its massive catalog of over 500,000 books, the store houses many vinyl records, audiobooks, and DVDs. And if for some reason you aren’t interested in checking out the books, the store also has a host of events including Scrabble and chess nights.
An exterior view of the Changing Hands Bookstore / Mike Moore/Getty Images for Corday Productions
With locations in both Phoenix and Tempe, Changing Hands Bookstore encompasses the best of Arizona literature. The Tempe location has been in business since 1974, and its success allowed them to open their second store in a repurposed restaurant in central Phoenix. The Phoenix location is home to the must-visit First Draft Book Bar—after all, how often you can be served booze at a bookstore?
Other Arizona Bookstores We Love:Antigone Books (Tucson)
A community favorite located only a short distance away from the University of Arkansas campus, Dickson St. Bookshop features a plethora of literary classics and much more. With thousands of books onsite, it’s frequently named not just one of the best bookstores in Arkansas, but also one of the best in the nation.
Other Arkansas Bookstores We Love:WordsWorth Books & Co (Little Rock)
Competition for San Francisco’s book lovers is fierce—the city is also home to famous independent bookstores like City Lights—but Green Apple Books remains a beloved local luminary. The store has grown over the decades to occupy a two-story, sprawling space in the city’s Richmond District. Filled with books both new and used, the store sells not just hardback literature, but e-books and audiobooks, magazines, LPs, and more. In 2014, it expanded its wares to a second location, Green Apple Books on the Park, located near Golden Gate Park. Online, it offers services like the Apple-a-Month Club, which sends subscribers a new fiction paperback each month, while its two stores host readings by local writers and literary legends alike.
Since its opening in 1971, Denver’s storied Tattered Cover has been through numerous transformations: moving locations, opening satellites, adding cafes, and, at one point, having a (since closed) restaurant and bar. Considered one of the most successful independent bookstores in the country, it now sells new and used books at multiple outposts in Denver and Littleton, Colorado. You can find international bestsellers alongside indie literature and a wide range of used volumes. It hosts writing workshops, book clubs, literary readings, film screenings, and storytime for kids, and in 2019, launched the one-day Colorado Book and Arts Festival.
R.J. Julia has been one of Connecticut’s premier book destinations for decades, and for good reason. Named one of New England magazine’s “Best Bookstores to Spend the Day” in 2018, the Madison-based bookstore features a large selection of books and gifts, knowledgeable staff, and a great cafe. It’s more than just a place to stop by and grab a new paperback, though. The store hosts more than 300 events every year, and owner Roxanne J. Coady is dedicated to finding every reader their perfect book. In 2009, she launched Just the Right Book, a personalized book-of-the-month subscription service, and recently expanded it to include a Just the Right Book podcast that features interviews between Coady and bestselling authors. If you can’t stop by the store in person, we recommend using R.J. Julia’s “What’s Your Perfect Next Read” online quiz to find your new favorite book.
Founded in 1975, Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is a local legend—so much so that the company’s 40th anniversary party was attended by Delaware’s governor and multiple state senators. In 1992, Browseabout took over a former open-air mall that once housed seven stores and evolved to sell gifts, toys, and stationery alongside books and a coffee bar. Poets.org lists it as one of its favorite poetry-friendly bookstores, while writer Anna March extolled its virtues in the literary journal Tin House in 2013, calling it “a thing to behold—best sellers and beach books, yes, but also a strong kids section; travel books and literary fiction with an extensive back catalog; books by local authors; and a selection of essays, poetry, plays.”
There are several locations of Books & Books, which has stores around South Florida (and one in the Cayman Islands), but the Key West affiliate of the chain has a special place in book lovers’ hearts for one reason: It’s the only store that was founded by Judy Blume and her husband, George Cooper. Located in a former Masonic Temple that now serves as a nonprofit arts space, it’s just what you would expect from a bookstore owned by a literary luminary. The store is designed with readers in mind, with reading lights and a curated selection of literary fiction, poetry, art books, magazines, and new bestsellers, plus an entire room devoted to professional-grade art supplies. Oh, and it’s perhaps the only bookstore where you can get book recommendations straight from the mouth of Judy Blume.
Charis Books And More has been around in the Atlanta metro area since 1974, making it the oldest independent feminist bookstore in the southern United States. Charis’s inventory is stocked with books that fall into diverse categories, like LGBTQ fiction and non-fiction, food issues and body image, anti-ableism, race, and reproductive rights. As part of its mission to support local, independent authors, Charis encourages writers of all backgrounds to request to have their books sold in the store. The shop also hosts about 270 literary, social justice, and educational events a year.
The westernmost bookstore in the United States, Talk Story Bookstore has over 150,000 new, used, and out-of-print titles to choose from, whether it’s mysteries or Hawaiiana. As the only bookstore on Kauai, it’s a much-loved community resource, and patrons praise its friendly owners, Ed Justus and Cynthia Lynn, who have been in business since 2004.
Founded in 2006, Rediscovered Books is known as the go-to community bookstore for literature geeks. With multiple book clubs and a litany of special events ranging from author signings to their so-called “infamous” Book & Booze nights, there’s sure to be a reading group to meet any adult special interest.
A beloved part of the Naperville, Illinois, community since 1875, Anderson’s Bookshop is still operated by fifth-generation descendants of the original founders. It’s a hub for author events, book clubs, children’s reading activities, and a huge selection of books. Catch the monthly staff picks of new and older titles to really diversify your to-be-read pile.
Hyde Brothers claims to be “Indiana‘s best-loved bookstore,” and who are we to argue? This charming secondhand bookshop brims with titles jostling for space on floor-to-ceiling shelves. There are plenty of step stools and rolling ladders to help you find what you crave among the store’s specialties—history, literature, nature, sports, horror, religion, and more. And while you’re there, don’t forget to pet Scout and Sherlock, the bookshop’s two kitties.
Spoiler alert: This secondhand bookshop isn’t actually haunted (it’s named after the Christopher Morley novel of the same name). While that may be disappointing, the shop’s inventory definitely isn’t. Spread over 10 rooms in an 1847 mansion, the collection spans fiction, world cultures and history, art and writing, regional history, science and nature, and much more.
The first stop for authors and their fans in Kansas City is usually Rainy Day Books. The shop was one of the first in the U.S. to focus on author events to create a community around books and reading, and today, it has one of the busiest schedules in the country. That’s in addition to a selection of books and staff picks featuring emerging writers as well as bestsellers.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington is a literary treasure trove. JB, as it’s called locally, has six outlets in both Kentucky and Ohio, but the Lexington branch is perhaps the most beautiful one. Grab a book and a bite to eat from the store’s Brontë Bistro, and enjoy the atmosphere as natural light filters into the building through a skylight in the high, vaulted ceiling.
It’s only fitting that As I Lay Dying author William Faulkner’s former apartment in New Orleans was converted into a bookstore. Located on Pirate‘s Alley in the historic French Quarter, Faulkner House Books is just as charming as you’d expect. Naturally, you’ll find a number of Faulkner titles on the store’s wooden shelves, but the outlet also specializes in Modern First Editions, Southern Americana books, and the works of Tennessee Williams and Walker Percy.
Portland has been called the “hippest city” in Maine, so it‘s perhaps no surprise that the coastal town is home to roughly a half-dozen indie bookstores. If you only have time to visit one, though, make it Longfellow Books. Named after Portland native Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the store hosts regular book launches and poetry readings, and always features an array of diverse staff picks.
Second Story Books’s cavernous warehouse in this Washington, D.C. suburb is crammed with used books, rare volumes, antiquarian collections, art and antiques, and much more, all arranged in delightfully specific categories (Byzantine studies or polar exploration, anyone?). Be ready to hunt for buried treasure at 50 percent off the cover price. There’s another, smaller location in D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, too.
With so many colleges in the state, it makes sense that Massachusetts also has an impressive array of bookstores to cater to all those students. Trident Booksellers & Cafe not only has great books, but something that’s just as essential to college kids: A cafe that’s open until 10 p.m. and serves breakfast all day. After grabbing a meal or coffee, guests can browse the books and one of the most impressive magazine selections in the city.
Book lovers could easily spend all day at John K. King Used and Rare Books in Detroit. The store houses more than a million books spread over four stories, with 25,000 volumes in the rare books room alone. Don’t let the intimidating size stop you from popping in: Staff members hand out maps to guests as soon as they enter.
Though the inventory here might be geared toward younger readers, it would be hard for any true book lover to pass up a visit to this charming shop that takes its name from Where the Wild Things Are. Opened in 1992, Wild Rumpus endeavors to be more than just a bookstore—it hopes to turn curious kids into lifelong readers by featuring virtual bilingual story times and book clubs for various age groups. You’ll also find an array of animals at the store, including a cockatiel named Dave and a kitten named Eartha Kitt. It’s hardly surprising that the store was named Publishers Weekly’s Bookstore of the Year in 2017 (or that it was the first children’s store to ever achieve that honor).
“Four stores on five floors in three buildings 100 feet apart,” boasts Oxford’s Square Books. All located at the historic town square, the main bookstore holds court in an older building with a block-long second-level balcony. They also have a separate children’s bookstore and “Off Square Books,” a full store for lifestyle books (cooking, travel, photography, etc.) and bargain buys. The most recent addition to the club, Rare Square Books, opened in September 2019 and features hard-to-find first editions and other vintage items. Along with the usual author events, Square hosts Thacker Mountain Radio, a live weekly show that features both literary and musical talent—it’s no wonder Publishers Weeklynamed Square Books their Bookstore of the Year in 2013.
Other Mississippi Bookstores We Love:Lemuria Books (Jackson)
Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri / Paul Sableman, Flickr // CC BY 2.0
Founded in 1969 by a group of Washington University grad students who wanted a central place with a wide variety of literature, St. Louis’s Left Bank Books has been a local institution for more than 50 years. It even has a foundation for helping improve literacy in the St. Louis public schools and hosts multiple open book clubs each month, including a gay men’s group, a lesbian group, a “read the resistance” night, and a book group dedicated to horror novels.
Established way back in 1957, the Country Bookshelf has an old-timey feel and knowledgable staff that frequently earn it accolades. In addition to author events and a book club, the store partners with Bozeman schools and the Bozeman Public Library to help promote literacy with a program known as “One Book—One Bozeman.”
Functioning as both a bookstore and a coffee shop, Indigo Bridge is a great hangout spot for any kind of reader. The store has a particularly strong connection to the local community, with some of its spaces designed by children. Furthermore, all of the coffee sales are donated back to the community.
Does anyone get a lot of reading done in the same state as Las Vegas? Apparently so: Sundance has been in business since 1985 and in its current location since 2011. Their selection is housed in a converted Victorian mansion that’s become a monument to the written word. It’s also minutes from the airport, so you can pick up titles for your travels.
If you need a little more incentive to log off Amazon and go into a physical bookstore, Gibson’s in Concord makes a compelling case. In business since 1898, the store not only houses books and baristas but also acquired local toy store Imagination Village to incorporate educational toys and games.
Fans have mused—semi-seriously—that being locked in the Montclair Book Center for the rest of your life wouldn’t be so bad. The shop boasts over 10,000 square feet of shelves stocked to the brim with new and used titles, including an impressive collection of vintage sci-fi and history books. There’s also a room full of used records to buy.
Relax with a book and organic, locally roasted coffee indoors or on the patio at Collected Works in Santa Fe, which boasts over 30,000 titles and plenty of author readings. Fans of the bookshop point to its relaxed, inviting atmosphere and fresh desserts as reasons to linger.
Other New Mexico Bookstores We Love:Page 1 Books (Albuquerque), Bookworks (Albuquerque)
The Strand’s multi-story collection of books is so plentiful it bleeds out into the sidewalk. The brand claims its bookshelves hold 18 miles’ worth of new, used, and rare books, and you can find multiple storefronts and kiosks throughout the city.
There’s stiff competition in North Carolina, but Main Street Books in Davidson is one of the finest literary establishments in the state. In business since 1987, the store was actually built out of an old general store, and offers a plethora of programs and activities for book lovers. As part of the bookstore’s subscription program, “The Matchbox,” customers can elect to receive a staff-approved book from the store’s kids’ books, first editions, or paperback titles each month.
In May 1989, brothers Jeff and Greg Danz realized their longtime dream of opening the kind of store where they would want to shop, launching the first location of Zandbroz Variety in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It became so popular that they decided to head north to open a second location in Fargo just a few years later. The Fargo store features a trippy mix of smart and quirky goodies, but books are undoubtedly the main event, with a special section dedicated to local authors and titles that explore the history of the area (which is just as interesting to visitors as it is longtime residents). But there’s also a full supply of greeting cards, toys, jewelry, housewares, and other trinkets. They also brew a mean cup of coffee, giving you one more excuse to never want to leave the store’s delightfully eclectic confines.
Loganberry Books—named after owner Harriet Logan—has been offering Clevelanders an alternative to big bookstore chains since 1994. Considering that Loganberry boasts over 100,000 new, used, and rare titles, the shop certainly gives mainstream outlets a run for their money. Online, Loganberry Books also runs a helpful service called “Stump the Bookseller,” which lets customers describe books they can’t quite recall the title of, in hopes that other bibliophiles will be able to fill in the gaps.
This little used bookstore and bric-a-brac shop in Stillwater covers pretty much any genre you might want—get lost in the sci-fi and horror nook, or search through shelves on the presidents, gardening, or local history and authors. Its unusual name reveals its owner’s varied interests: Founder Susan Thomas, a retired analyst with the U.S. Forest Service, spent years studying gypsy moths (now known as spongy moths). She also has always loved the Lewis Carroll poem “The Hunting of the Snark.” Combine the two, and you get GypsySnark.
For nearly 40 years, Bloomsbury Books has worked to make the pleasure of reading as pure as possible. It’s named for an early 20th century London literary society called the Bloomsbury Group—one in which Virginia Woolf was a central figure, just as she is at this Bloomsbury. Ask the staff for recommendations, then relax with your new tome in their cozy on-site coffee shop.
Located in bustling downtown New Hope, a picturesque enclave nestled on the Delaware River, Farley’s has been in business since 1967. The shop has that lived-in feel that makes you kind of nostalgic for the time before Amazon existed, and its friendly staff is full of bibliophiles who seem magically able to figure out what it is you’re looking for, even if the only description you can utter is “a true crime book with a black cover by that guy.” It’s also worth noting that the store has a private parking lot, which is a rarity in the area and a godsend for shoppers who have a tendency to lose all track of time when surrounded by an impossibly well-curated collection of literature. Farley’s physical location is currently closed for renovations, but you can still nab books through their online store.
Charter Books was founded in 2020 by Steve Iwanski to serve full-time Newport residents as well as tourists. It takes its name from the Rhode Island Royal Charter of 1663, which created the state, and its mission is “to cultivate community and a robust local culture through a broad selection of books, programming, and the free exchange of ideas.” Among its offerings is a “Signed First Editions Club,” which offers subscribers a new hardcover signed by a staff-picked author every four to six weeks.
Other Rhode Island Bookstores We Love:Barrington Books (Cranston)
Don’t let the small(ish) storefront fool you: Blue Bicycle Books on Charleston’s Upper King Street, located just a few blocks from the College of Charleston, takes up a substantial amount of real estate: It goes back 172 feet. It has ample space for as many as 150 people to attend the more than 200 author events the store hosts each year. David Sedaris, R.L. Stine, Sue Monk Kidd, Bill Murray, and Neil Gaiman are just a few of the hundreds of authors who have stopped by since Blue Bicycle opened in 1995. The shop devotes a chunk of its shelf space to local Charleston authors as well as military history (The Citadel and Fort Sumter are just a stone’s throw away, after all), but it doesn’t shy away from bestsellers and other new titles. The shop also deals in rare signed first editions from the likes of Harper Lee and William Faulkner. In an effort to engage its community of young readers and writers, the store also hosts a summer writing camp for kids and the annual YALLFest, which attracts more than 12,000 YA fans (not to mention top authors in the genre) to the city each November.
For more than a decade, Mitzi’s has been offering Rapid City’s literati an amazingly well-curated selection of books in a comfy-cozy shop that kind of feels like an extension of your own living room. You’ll get no dirty looks here if you decide to plop down in a chair and while away an afternoon reading one of the knowledgeable staff’s latest book recommendations. In fact, hanging around is encouraged. Best of all, there’s just as much variety in the well-stocked children’s book section, making a visit to Mitzi’s an easy all-ages affair.
Other South Dakota Bookstores We Love:The Book Zealot (Watertown)
Parnassus Books (“An Independent Bookstore For Independent People”) has become an oasis for Nashville book lovers. Indeed, it was designed that way: Bestselling author Ann Patchett and publishing veteran Karen Hayes opened Parnassus in 2011 at a moment when Nashville had zero other bookstores, drawing on Patchett’s childhood love of smaller-scale, personable bookshops. “I wanted to re-create that kind of bookstore, one that valued books and readers above muffins and adorable plastic watering cans,” she writes on the Parnassus website. Highlights include books by local authors, a standout biography section, a passionate staff, regular author events (both in-store and virtual), and a monthly book subscription club.
The city of Austin, Texas, has gone through rapid changes in the last 10 years. While restaurants have gotten more expensive and buildings have gotten taller, some staples of the city remain. The charm of “old” Austin can still be found at BookPeople, a local favorite since 1970. Every bookseller there is extremely well informed, they’re never out of stock of the classics, and they are always promoting new, great literature. Some of the biggest authors in recent memory have made their way through for readings and events. It’s been the best bookstore in Austin since it opened its doors, and it’s always worth stopping by.
Ann Berman and Betsy Burton wanted a place to work on their novels when they opened King’s English in 1977. They ended up committing themselves fully to the business, and today, King’s English is one of the most beloved bookshops in Utah. Though it has attracted some famous fans, like author James Patterson (who gave the store a grant to build its children’s section), it’s still a community business where employees remember your name and your reading preferences.
This warm, family-owned bookstore has been around since 1976, although it moved across the street to take over the beautiful premises of a historic inn. With a great selection, plenty of reading nooks, and a dedicated staff (some of whom have been there for decades), you’re sure to find your next favorite read. Close to a third of the shop is dedicated to kids’ books, which makes it a perfect excursion for little ones.
Shelf Life Books (formerly Chop Suey Books) is home to two floors of books, both used and new, as well as a very sweet black-and-white cat named Wonton who’s known to lounge in the shop windows.
A community mainstay since 1973 (even if some still mourn the original, historic Pioneer Square location), Elliott Bay Books is the place to find the latest books from established names and rising stars alike. New releases (as well as some older gems) are prominently displayed with hand-written notes from the sales staff, and the local history section is particularly strong. A downstairs area is one of the best places in town to catch local and touring authors, and the cafe is a perfect spot to refresh or even work on a laptop (provided you can find a seat). For serious bibliophiles, it’s a must-see destination in the Pacific Northwest.
It would be easy to lose track of time and accidentally spend an entire day at Taylor Books, Charleston’s one-stop shop for all things artsy. Sure, the brick-walled building is charming, and there are thousands of books to choose from, but those aren’t the only draws. Customers can also grab a coffee and scone (lovingly made by owner Ann Saville) from the built-in cafe, take a pottery class, stroll through an art gallery, and attend live musical performances on the weekends.
This independent, woman-owned bookstore works hard to curate its selection to focus on women, authors of color, and smaller publishing presses. One of the ways Dotters stands behind their selections? Every book is forward-facing, meaning no books can be hidden away in the corner of a shelf. And if you can’t make it into the beautiful little shop, its monthly subscription service will mail that month’s book club pick in addition to a new recommendation list and a locally designed bookmark.
This bright, cozy little enclave in downtown Rock Springs has everything you need for a relaxing evening in, with or without your favorite bibliophile friends. Find a book on their floor-to-ceiling wall of titles, tuck into one of many white couches that wind through the shop, and order some wine and charcuterie. Sidekicks has partnered with Jackson Hole Winery, so the selection of local wines is as well-stocked as the bestsellers up front.
AWC Detroit marched into National Reading Month by sponsoring local author Cindy Orlandi’s visit to Westside Christian Academy on Tuesday, March 19. The visit is part of AWC Detroit’s advocacy program, “Driving Literacy in the D.” AWC Detroit’s advocacy program hopes to shine a spotlight on successful efforts to advance literacy in Detroit.
Press Release –
updated: Mar 23, 2019
DETROIT, March 23, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– Cindy Orlandi, a member of AWC Detroit and author of “Love is a Dog and Some Crayons…Weimaraner Coloring,” will be reading to Westside’s first graders alongside Bennie, her Weimaraner rescue therapy dog. Cindy Orlandi is a resident of Woodhaven.
“It is a real pleasure to share my love of dogs and reading with the young students at Westside Christian Academy,” states Orlandi. “I hope my visit will inspire the children to read more. Westside Christian Academy has achieved amazing success in getting the majority of students to read at grade level.”
Henry Wells, Ph.D., director of Westside Christian Academy, speaks to the school’s success:
“Nearly 80 percent of our first, second and third graders’ reading scores are at grade level. Any child who is not at grade level at the end of the school year is placed in the reading remediation program ‘Beyond Basics.’ We attribute our success to a small student-teacher ratio and the supportive atmosphere of the school. We are honored to have extraordinary teachers like Lucinda Washington, who holds a master’s degree in Early Reading Education, to be teaching in our lower school.”
Detroit’s Westside Christian Academy’s success rate is remarkable when considering that in 2018, Detroit Public Schools ranked last in the nation on standardized test scores, with only 5 percent of fourth graders demonstrating proficiency in reading and 7 percent in math.
Deniella Ortiz-Lalain, president of the AWC Detroit, says that as professional communicators, AWC members understand the vital link between literacy and success.
“Our chapter is making a commitment to promote literacy,” she said. “Our group recognizes the impact that the literacy crisis is having on the citizens of Detroit. It’s our hope that we can shine a light on programs that are making a difference in our community.”
Additionally, AWC Detroit will be conducting a book drive with students at Walsh College on behalf of Westside Christian Academy in conjunction with Orlandi’s visit in April. Driving Literacy in the D is the heart of AWC Detroit’s advocacy program. Members are encouraged to participate and bring their unique skills to the program.
# # #
The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) Detroit Chapter is dedicated to advocating for women’s needs and honoring communication excellence. Established in 1938, the chapter supports the advancement of members by connecting women from a diverse range of communications professions. AWC Detroit provides professional development, volunteer enrichment opportunities, and insightful programs on hot topics and leading trends in communications.
For more information contact: Melinda Kollins at melinda.kollins@gmail.com.
Source: Association For Women in Communications – Detroit Chapter
Durable, Convenient Transport and an All-Around Fun Ride-In for Young Preschool Children
STREETSBORO, Ohio, March 22, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– The Simplay3 Company, an Ohio-based veteran owned, American manufacturer of children’s products, has launched its Fold & Go Rally Racer, perfect for preschoolers and convenient for parents with its stow-and-go-ability.
Children enjoy being behind the wheel and in the driver’s seat of this Indy car-themed, parent-powered toddler push-car. Its durable, double-wall construction means this car is built to last. Its large roto-molded tires offer hours of smooth rides and an extra wide handle, at just the right height, assures easy pushing, maneuvering and stopping. A seat belt is included for safety and a molded-in cup holder and headrest provide comfort and convenience for the rider.
Keary Knerem, Simplay3 product designer, said, “I thought it would be fun to create a product that resembled a go-kart or Indy car. I especially like that the child sits low to the ground, in a reclined position, and can also watch the tires spinning next to them.” Kneram adds that his three children are the inspiration for many of his designs. Testing out their dad’s newest creation, they all agree that it’s really fun and a cool way to ride.
Not only is it fun for children, but parents appreciate the convenience of its unique ability to fold away for storage and transport. The handle removes easily or folds under the car to lock in place with the seat belt and it can fit into small spaces like the trunk of a car or behind a van/SUV seat.
Simplay3 products for kids and grown-ups can be purchased on the company website and on Amazon Marketplace. For more information, please visit www.simplay3.com.
About Simplay3
The Simplay3 Company was founded in 2016 in Streetsboro, Ohio. The company is a veteran-owned, American manufacturer of children’s products as well as an extensive line of mailboxes and home & garden products. Simplay3 is comprised of a diversified, experienced management and design team that built The Little Tikes Company and The Step2 Company.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., March 22, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– This week recognizes introverts. Annually, the third week in March marks National Introverts Week, launched nationwide by author and coach Matthew Pollard — an introvert himself — to dispel the stigma of introversion and instead celebrate its strengths. Pollard’s first book The Introvert’s Edge showed introverts how to embrace their authentic selves when selling, instead of trying to mimic their extroverted colleagues. Known as “The Rapid Growth Guy,” he works with both small businesses and large organizations to transform their struggles into multimillion-dollar successes. The Introvert’s Edge was a bestseller on both Amazon.com and Audible, as well as being named one of the best books of the year by Top Sales World Magazine. HarperCollins Leadership has just announced Pollard’s follow-up The Introvert’s Edge to Networking, a guide that shows readers there’s more to networking than just showing up to an event.
“As an introvert myself, I’m excited we have experts like Matthew Pollard empowering introverts and helping others understand us. Matthew’s insights have already equipped thousands of introverts to become more effective at sales and now many more will be ready to more effectively network through The Introvert’s Edge to Networking,” said Jeff James, vice president and publisher of HarperCollins Leadership.
Pollard writes, “Asking a hardcore introvert to get excited about working the room is like hiring a performing artist to get excited about accounting: it’s just not in their nature.” This week, and year-round, Pollard aims to attack the misconception that “the gift of gab” is required for sales results and business success. Rather than focusing on limitations of introversion, his work focuses on harnessing people’s unique abilities into an edge for success. And next, networking.
About Matthew Pollard: By age 30, Pollard was responsible for five multimillion-dollar business success stories across a diverse range of industries, earning him the nickname “The Rapid Growth Guy.” Once terrified of selling, today he teaches thousands how to do it and has so far transformed over 3,500 struggling businesses. Called “the real deal” by Forbes, Matthew is an internationally award-winning sales blogger and the founder and executive director of Small Business Festival, ranked among the top five business conferences in the nation by Inc. Pollard coaches one-on-one and through his online Rapid Growth Academy. He also hosts The Introvert’s Edge podcast and inspires people worldwide as a best-selling author and speaker. For more information, visit www.theintrovertsedge.com.
Organization has reached 1.7 million families across the country, providing literacy and family engagement programs at more than 3,000 locations including public schools, libraries and community agencies
Press Release –
updated: Mar 21, 2019
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 21, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– Raising A Reader, a national nonprofit organization that provides resources and guidance for families to implement home-based literacy routines, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2019 and marking two decades of supplying and coordinating children’s literacy programs to public schools, libraries, community agencies and other organizations across the country.
Approximately 63 percent of children in the United States fail to read proficiently by the time they start fourth grade due in part to lack of books in the home and family engagement. Research indicates if a child is not reading at grade-level by the end of third grade it will likely result in long-term academic failure for the child. Third-grade reading proficiency is one of the most significant predictors of high school graduation and children who do not read on grade-level by the end of third grade are less likely to graduate than their peers. Many of a child’s literacy habits and abilities are formed before the age of 8.
Research also shows a direct and proven relationship between family engagement and the academic growth and development of children, including social competence and relationships, cognitive development, communication skills, literacy development, vocabulary growth, expressive language and comprehension skills.
“Raising A Reader has accomplished much during the past 20 years and has had a tremendous impact on the lives of almost two million children,” said Michelle Torgerson, president and CEO of Raising A Reader. “As proud as we are, there is still much work to be done to improve the literacy of elementary-level children in this country and get them reading proficiently.”
As part of the Raising A Reader program, each week children bring home a book bag filled with award-winning books; the books are exchanged the following week for new ones with more than 100 books rotated through the home during the year. The program also trains parents on engaging their children in reading and connects families to local libraries to sustain the habit of borrowing and reading books after completion of the program.
The Raising A Reader program is evidence-based, with 39 independent evaluations showing that Raising A Reader significantly improves language and literacy skills, cognitive development, communication and comprehension skills, school readiness and social competence. The program is implemented through a network of community partners that comprise more than 3,000 locations across the country including public school systems, libraries, afterschool programs, community agencies and other organizations both public and private.
Raising A Reader is a 501c3 charitable organization dedicated to helping families develop, practice and maintain literacy habits for children ages 0-8 that are critical for a child’s success in school and in life. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Raising A Reader was founded in 1999 and has served more than 1.7 million children nationwide. More information is available at www.RaisingAReader.org. Follow on Twitter @RARnational, Facebook at RaisingAReaderNational and Instagram at raising_a_reader.
Contact: Steve Honig, The Honig Company LLC, 818-986-4300, press@honigllc.com
BATON ROUGE, La., March 21, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– It’s a beautiful spa feeling with a traditional take on medicine. Two physicians, Neurosurgeon Robert S. Davis, MD, and Internal Medicine Physician Hema Edupuganti, MD, are looking forward to opening Nūr Medical Spa on March 25 and expanding their medical practices to include unique healing options.
The ultimate focus of the spa will be total wellness including body improvement through weight loss and lifestyle changes as well as anti-aging treatments and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Every service is designed to make women and men feel their most healthy.
Drs. Davis and Edupuganti are excited to offer minimally invasive cosmetic procedures that will make clients look and feel better. “People can look great at any age,” says Dr. Davis. “I want them to look how they feel and have personalized care. We will really take time with our patients to understand their unique beauty and wellness concerns.”
Nūr Medical Spa will offer other luxurious services as well, including facials, Botox treatments and dermal fillers, chemical peels, hair removal, skin tightening, UltraShape, and VelaShape. More services will be added at a later date, and all will focus on beauty and wellness.
“This has been my dream for years,” Dr. Edupuganti says. “I want women and men to improve their confidence and self-esteem. This will allow them to think positively about themselves and enjoy their lives that much more.”
The spa will offer 40 percent off laser treatments for any appointment booked from now to March 29. Customers may schedule the service to occur after those dates, but the appointment must be made within that date range to qualify for special pricing. Laser services include hair removal, laser skin tightening, laser spider vein treatment, laser facials and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL). All laser services at Nūr are to be performed with the most technologically advanced lasers available, providing their clients with fewer treatments and minimal discomfort.
Located at 4309 Bluebonnet Boulevard, Nūr Medical Spa is now accepting appointments. Call (225) 255-2963 to schedule your first appointment.
MINNEAPOLIS, March 21, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– PULSE, a global, next generation ministry based in Minneapolis, will be moving into their new downtown headquarters this summer. Construction began this month to build out their 16,000 square-foot vintage space at 600 S 9th Street. The mission of PULSE is to awaken culture to the reality of Jesus, and plans for this new headquarters include leadership training intensives, an enhanced internship program, and a media studio/creative space for digital ministry efforts.
“We are investing in the next generation—believing that they will bring revival. We’re creating a culture that draws in talent, fosters creativity, and executes world-class campaigns,” said Nick Hall, the Founder and Chief Communicator of PULSE.
PULSE began on a college campus in North Dakota and first officed out of a church basement. Since those humble beginnings in 2006, PULSE has shared the message of Jesus with nearly five million students through live events. Today, PULSE is focused on multiplication—multiplying their efforts to make Jesus known and multiplying the number of millennials and gen z’ers who are following Jesus and sharing His message.
Nick Hall and his team at PULSE have hosted some of the largest Jesus gatherings of the past decade. Last year, PULSE organized an event at U.S. Bank Stadium called Pulse Twin Cities. The eighteen-month campaign brought together more than 700 partnering churches, trained 10,000 individuals to share their faith, and culminated with a 45,000 next generation event that included a world record breaking pillow fight.
This spring, PULSE will hold UNITE on the National Day of Prayer at Grace Church in Eden Prairie on May 2. UNITE, an annual event in the Twin Cities, is a prayer and worship event for the next generation. This year’s event includes music from Hillsong NYC worship and KB along with a message from Nick Hall. More information for this free event can be found at unitendop.com.
About PULSE
Founded in 2006, PULSE is a Minneapolis-based, millennial-led prayer and evangelism movement on mission to awaken culture to the reality of Jesus. For more than a decade, PULSE has hosted some of the largest Jesus gatherings for the next generation. They’ve impacted nearly five million students and young adults through live events and were in front of nearly one million in 2018 alone. PULSE Founder, Nick Hall, is a leading international voice in the cause of evangelism and the author of the book, Reset: Jesus Changes Everything. Learn more at pulsemovement.com.
About Nick Hall
Nick Hall is the visionary of the Together movement, author of the book Reset, and the Founder and Chief Communicator for PULSE, a ministry at the center of some of the largest millennial-led prayer and outreach efforts in the world. As an evangelistic voice to the next generation, Nick Hall has shared the Gospel at hundreds of events to nearly four million students and is regularly featured as a speaker for pastors’ gatherings, student conferences, training events, and festivals around the world. Nick is the President and CEO of The Table Coalition (formerly Mission America Coalition), sits on the board of the National Association of Evangelicals, and is part of the student advisory team for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). Nick, his wife, Tiffany, and their two children live in Minneapolis, MN.
The Church of Scientology Nashville with The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee observed International Day of Happiness with a special youth presentation from a diverse group of Nashville children.
Press Release –
updated: Mar 20, 2019
NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 20, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– “Youth Voices: Creating a Brighter Future” was a celebration of International Day of Happiness at the Church of Scientology Nashville. Sponsored by The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee and The Way to Happiness Kids Club of Nashville, the program included words from young people age 5 to 13 who spoke about making a brighter future.
Anna, age 5, opened the program by welcoming those attending. Two 6-year-olds spoke of how all people should work together for a better future. Jazzy, 11, invited the children in the audience to join The Way to Happiness Kids Club.
During the panel discussion, 13-year-old Yusuf, 9-year-old Omaran and 10-year-old Celia answered questions posed to them about how to set a good example and remain true to yourself despite those who may try to bully or harm you.
The Way to Happiness Association promotes The Way To Happiness — the common-sense moral code written by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. The 21 precepts of The Way to Happiness are all based on the fact that one’s survival depends on the survival of others. Simply following these precepts can result in a happier life.
Each child attending the event was given a copy of a poster illustrating the 21 precepts that they can use as a guide in making decisions that can result in a happier, more moral life. They also received their own copy of The Way to Happiness booklet.
Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness on March 20 as a way to recognize the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. The United Nations encourages schools, businesses and governments to join in the celebration of the day.
MIAMI, March 20, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– Celebrity Ted Vernon of Ted Vernon Specialty Automobiles Inc. and his band “The Viva Band” announced upcoming concert dates for Miami these upcoming months. After the success of the band’s performance on New Year’s Eve, the city of Miami has scheduled a series of concerts.
The band is scheduled to perform at the Miami Heat game on March 17th. Crystal Rogers, the marketing director who works for the Heat, said Viva is the best-received band that she has ever seen at a Heat game since she has been working there.
Viva is also performing at Woody’s West End Tavern on March 23rd at 7:00 pm. Later concert dates include April 5th, May 11th, and June 8th of this year.
The band features Ted Vernon, Wesley B. Wright, Paul Saca, Jamey Hartman, Michael Washington, and Melissa Winch.
About Ted Vernon Specialty Automobiles Inc.: Ted Vernon Specialty Automobiles Inc. is a fixture in the South Florida Classic Car business for over 40 years. With his sufficient expertise and a wide selection of automobiles from any era, he has classic cars for sale and provides these classic automobiles for several occasions such as professional modeling shoots, and movie and television rentals. This includes high profile movies. One can buy, sell, or trade classic cars through this unique business. If you would like to learn more about their sales and services in Miami or view Ted’s extensive inventory of classic cars, contact Ted Vernon Specialty Automobiles Inc. today.
You may have seen a red herring in a recent book or movie, but you probably only realized it after the fact. These misleading clues are designed to trick you into drawing an incorrect conclusion, and they’re a popular ploy among storytellers of all stripes.
If you’ve seen or read the Harry Potter series—and really, who hasn’t?—then you may recall some of the many instances where J.K. Rowling employed this literary device. That endearing plot twist about the nature of Snape’s character, for example, is likely one of the longest-running red herrings ever written.
Sometimes they aren’t even subtle. Agatha Christie’s murder mystery And Then There Were None directly mentions red herring in reference to a character’s death, and a statue of a red herring appears in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Perhaps most blatantly, a character in the cartoon A Pup Named Scooby-Doo who was constantly being blamed for myriad crimes was named—you guessed it—Red Herring.
But where does this literary device come from, and why is it named after a fish?
For a bit of background: Herring are naturally a silvery hue, but they turn reddish-brown when they’re smoked. Long before refrigerators were invented, this was done to preserve the fish for months at a time. They can also be pretty smelly. As Gizmodo’s io9 blog points out, it was believed that red herring were dragged against the ground to help train hounds to sniff out prey in the 17th century. Another theory was that escaped prisoners used the fish to cover their tracks and confuse the dogs that tailed them.
However, io9 notes that red herring were actually used to train horses rather than dogs, and only if the preferred choice—a dead cat—wasn’t available. The idea was that the horses would get used to following the scent trail, which in turn would make them less likely to get spooked while “following the hounds amid the noise and bustle of a fox hunt,” notes British etymologist and writer Michael Quinion, who researched the origin of the phrase red herring.
The actual origin of the figurative sense of the phrase can be traced back to the early 1800s. Around this time, English journalist William Cobbett wrote a presumably fictional story about how he had used red herring as a boy to throw hounds off the scent of a hare. He elaborated on this anecdote and used it to criticize some of his fellow journalists. “He used the story as a metaphor to decry the press, which had allowed itself to be misled by false information about a supposed defeat of Napoleon,” Quinion writes in a blog. “This caused them to take their attention off important domestic matters.”
According to Quinion, an extended version of this story was printed in 1833, and the idiom spread from there. Although many people are more familiar with red herrings in pop culture, they also crop up in political spheres and debates of all kinds. Robert J. Gula, the author of Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language, defines a red herring as “a detail or remark inserted into a discussion, either intentionally or unintentionally, that sidetracks the discussion.”
The goal is to distract the listener or opponent from the original topic, and it’s considered a type of flawed reasoning—or, more fancifully, a logical fallacy. This application of red herring seems to be more in line with its original usage, but as Quinion notes, “This does nothing to change the sense of red herring, of course: it’s been for too long a fixed part of our vocabulary for it to change. But at least we now know its origin. Another obscure etymology has been nailed down.”
A version of this story ran in 2019; it has been updated for 2023.
Are you a logophile? Do you want to learn unusual words and old-timey slang to make conversation more interesting, or discover fascinating tidbits about the origins of everyday phrases? Then pick up our new book, The Curious Compendium of Wonderful Words: A Miscellany of Obscure Terms, Bizarre Phrases, & Surprising Etymologies, out June 6! You can pre-order your copy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or Bookshop.org.
Spring starts on March 20, 2023, which means that warmer weather and longer days are just around the corner. To celebrate the spring equinox, here are key facts about the event.
Sunrise on the vernal equinox at the Avebury Standing Stones in England. / James Osmond/The Image Bank/Getty Images
The first day of spring is March 20, but the spring equinox will be here only for a brief time. At 5:24 p.m. Eastern time, the sun will be perfectly in line with the equator, resulting in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres receiving equal amounts of sunlight throughout the day. After the vernal equinox has passed, days will start to become shorter for the Southern Hemisphere and longer up north.
Go ahead, try to balance an egg right now. / Aleksandr Zubkov/Moment/Getty Images
You may have heard the myth that you can balance an egg on its end during the vernal equinox [PDF], and you may have even tried the experiment in school. The idea is that the extra gravitational pull from the sun when it’s over the equator helps the egg stand up straight. While it is possible to balance an egg, the trick has nothing to do with the equinox: You can make an egg stand on its end by setting it on a rough surface any day of the year.
Spring sunset in a dense forest. / George Pachantouris/Moment/Getty Images
The equal night and day split between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres isn’t distributed evenly across all parts of the world. Though every region gets approximately 12 hours of sunlight the day of the vernal equinox, some places get a little more (the day is about 12 hours and 15 minutes in Fairbanks, Alaska), and some get less.
The word equinox literally translates to equal (“equi-”) and night (“nox”) in Latin. The term vernalmeans “new and fresh,” and comes from the Latin word vernus for “of spring.”
Wildflowers peek out of the snow. / Benjamin Oberneder/500px/Getty Images
If March 20 seems a little early for the first day of spring, you’re right. Typically, March 21 has marked the first day of spring (though it arrived on March 20 in 2019 as well). According to The Farmers’ Almanac, there are several factors that can affect the date of spring’s arrival, and a cranky groundhog is not one of them. Variables include the number of days in a year, a change in orientation in the Earth’s elliptical orbit, and the pull of gravity from the other planets.
A version of this snow ran in 2020; it has been updated for 2023.
NEW YORK, March 20, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– ExecOnline, the leading provider of online leadership development programs, announced the addition of The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth) to its family of top business school partnerships.
ExecOnline will focus on delivering Chicago Booth’s expertise in the field of Business Analytics to solve this critical leadership development need for organizations around the globe. According to Gartner, “By 2020, 80 percent of organizations will initiate deliberate competency development in the field of data literacy, acknowledging their extreme deficiency.”
Chicago Booth, currently ranked as the #1 business school by US News and World Report, is the second-oldest business school and first to offer Executive MBA programs in the U.S. Booth boasts the largest number of Nobel Laureates of any business school and the ongoing evolution of its unique approach to problem-solving has allowed it to remain on the cutting-edge of leadership education.
Stephen Bailey, Founder and CEO of ExecOnline, emphasized that “Booth’s dedication to ‘turning the smartest ideas into meaningful action’ aligns perfectly with the goals of our organization, and we are delighted that Booth has chosen to partner with ExecOnline as the business school’s inaugural online partner.”
“Data and analytics are a part of Chicago Booth’s DNA. Now, executives around the globe can experience the Booth approach to Business Analytics through a new online format that is rigorous, engaging and flexible for busy business professionals,” says Meena Wehrs, Associate Dean, Chicago Booth Executive Education.
The partnership’s flagship program will launch in fall 2019 and present The Chicago Approach to Business Analytics, which emphasizes the need to begin with business objectives first – and then to leverage data to inform business decisions, insights and actions.
Sanjog Misra will serve as the faculty director among an elite group of Booth professors. Misra, the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing and Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow, is a leader in the field and currently serves as co-editor of Quantitative Marketing and Economics. He has worked with companies such as Verizon, Eli Lilly, Xerox and MGM, aiding them in the development of data-driven management systems that drive better decision making and results.
ExecOnline partners with top business schools, including Berkeley-Haas, Chicago Booth, Columbia, IMD, MIT-Sloan, Wharton, and Yale, to rapidly deliver online leadership development programs that generate lasting organizational impact. ExecOnline’s university-certified programs in leadership, strategy, innovation, operations, and more, feature dynamic content tailored to the unique corporate objectives of its clients. Programs consist of on-demand video lectures, self-paced application exercises, and live online collaboration with faculty and a global community of high-achieving professionals. ExecOnline has delivered transformational leadership development experiences to more than 250 organizations and 15,000 business leaders.
Cherry blossom season is a major tourist draw for any city that’s lucky enough to grow abundant ornamental cherry trees: Millions of people travel to cherry blossom festivals around the world to admire the beautiful pink blooms. In celebration of the arrival of spring, here are 10 things you might not know about the trees that produce such picturesque petals.
Visitors enjoy boating underneath sakura trees in Japan. / SOPA Images/GettyImages
Called sakura in Japan, the cherry blossoms of Yoshino and Kyoto are world-famous. Tourists flock to the country each spring to try their hand at a centuries-old activity called hanami, or “flower viewing.” You don’t have to fly to Japan to see them, though. In the U.S., the cherry blossoms of Washington, D.C., New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Seattle, San Francisco, and Boston are all beautiful in their own way. The flowers can also be viewed in many European and Asian countries, as well as Brazil and Australia in the Southern Hemisphere.
Believe it or not, the city of Macon in central Georgia is recognized as the “Cherry Blossom Capital of the World”—at least according to U.S. congressional records. It’s home to 350,000 Yoshino cherry trees, while Washington, D.C., has fewer than 4000 trees.
Those who organize the two cities’ respective cherry blossom festivals have engaged in some playful competition over the years. In 1987, representatives of the Macon festival sent army helmets to TV stations in D.C. “to dramatize the rivalry,” according to an article published at the time in The Record. Representatives in D.C. played it cool, with one spokesperson for the National Park Service stating, “I’m sure they have much more than we have here, but we’re still proud of our celebration.”
A beautiful Kanzan cherry blossom. / Jacky Parker Photography/Moment/Getty Images
Japan in particular is home to hundreds of types of cherry tree—possibly more than 600, by liberal estimates. Some types bear fruit, while others don’t. The flowers of many trees change from dark pink to light pink to white throughout the different stages of blossoming, while others progress from greenish yellow to white to pink. One variety, called Kanzan, was bred to have “double blossoms”—or up to 28 petals on each flower, compared to the Yoshino tree’s five petals.
A cherry tree might only remain in bloom for one to two weeks. However, they keep up their “peak color” for only about three days, so it’s best to time your trip wisely if you’re visiting a cherry blossom destination from out of town. The timing depends on a number of factors, including location, temperature, and daylight. In D.C., the florets typically start to appear in March, and peak bloom (when 70 percent of the flowers have blossomed) generally occurs in late March or early April.
Cherry blossoms before sunrise at Washington, D.C.’s Tidal Basin. / John Baggaley/Moment/Getty Images
Some experts have suggested that the trees are blooming earlier and earlier as the planet gradually gets warmer. Dr. Soo-Hyung Kim, an ecophysiologist at the University of Washington who has studied the phenomenon, says that by 2080 we could expect to see cherry blossoms in D.C. as early as February. In 2021, Japan’s cherry blossoms peaked on March 26—the earliest they had peaked in 1200 years. D.C.’s trees also bloomed unusually early.
Resist the urge to take a cherry blossom home with you as a souvenir. In D.C. at least, breaking off a blossom or branch is viewed as vandalism of federal property. Those who break this rule could receive a citation, or worse, be arrested. (Usually, law enforcement officers prefer to issue warnings or small fines.) It goes without saying that it’s also illegal to climb the trees. If they sustain damage to their branches, they will never be able to grow new blossoms on that particular bough again. Basically, don’t even touch them.
Cherry trees at blossom time in Japan, with view of Mount Fuji in the distance. / APIC/Getty Images
In 1909, Japan offered to send 2000 cherry trees to America as a symbol of friendship between the two countries. After all, just a few years earlier, President Teddy Roosevelt had helped Japan negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese War. Despite the good intentions, the execution was disastrous. When the trees arrived in D.C. in January 1910, the trees were weak—due to overpruning of their roots—and they were also infested with wood-boring insects. Despite attempts to save them, the trees were ultimately thrown in a pile and burned.
Everyone was pretty embarrassed about the whole ordeal, but Tokyo mayor Yukio Ozaki made a joke to ease some of the tension. “To be honest about it, it has been an American tradition to destroy cherry trees ever since your first president, George Washington,” he said. “So there’s nothing to worry about. In fact, you should be feeling proud.” (Washington’s cherry tree story turned out to be untrue, but we digress.) Another shipment of trees was sent, and by 1912, the healthy trees were successfully planted in D.C. by then-first lady Helen Taft.
Located in the largest park in the Netherlands, all 400 cherry blossom trees have proper names. Half of them have traditional Dutch women’s names, and the other half have Japanese women’s names. The Japan Women’s Club gifted the trees in 2000, and you can now find them at Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Forest) in the Amstelveen municipality.
Japanese sweets with cherry blossoms. / GYRO PHOTOGRAPHY/a.collectionRF/amana images/Getty Images
In Japan, no part of the cherry tree goes to waste. The preserved leaves are used as edible wrappers for mochi (a rice cake filled with sweet bean paste), and a number of seasonal snacks feature sakura as a key ingredient. Sakura-infused versions of Pepsi, Coke, tea, and even Starbucks lattes are all popular drinks. You can also find two varieties of Kit Kats—sakura and roasted soy bean, and sakura sake—as well as Pocky snack sticks that taste like sakura and matcha (green tea).
So what do cherry blossoms taste like? They have a “light, flowery, slightly cherry flavor,” according to Gabe Perez, social media director at Japan Crate, a subscription box service that ships many of the aforementioned snacks, plus other Japanese products, to customers.
LEGOLAND Japan, a theme park in Nagoya, set a Guinness World Record in 2018 for the largest LEGO brick cherry blossom tree ever made (although we’re not sure how much competition they had). The tree stood 14 feet tall, weighed over 7000 pounds, and consisted of more than 800,000 LEGO bricks.
A version of this story ran in 2019; it has been updated for 2023.
