Can the Democrats be Saved from Destruction?

The Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate for three weeks and the White House for just over a week. During that time, they have promised bi-partisanship and working with the Republicans. Then they immediately changed the rules in the House blocking out the Republicans.

Obama nominates a Secretary, who drops out before the nominating process begins due to a scandal in New Mexico that he's involved in. Obama nominates a man as Secretary of the Treasury, who owed back taxes and only paid them off a day before his nomination. This is not discovered until just prior to his confirmation hearing in spite of Obama's pledge to have an open government. After setting new rules for the White House regarding lobbyists, saying that if they were a lobbyist, they could not work where they lobbied, then it's discovered that the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury was a lobbyist in the area he'd be working. The Secretary of the Treasury was still nominated and confirmed, although 30 Senators voted against him.

There are also questions still lingering about Bill Clinton's donors, which becomes important because Hillary Clinton was nominated and confirmed as Secretary of State. Nothing new here. If a Clinton is attached to it, we all know that it's only a matter of time before there are more scandals.

Now we're finding out that former Senator and majority leader, Tom Daschle also has a tax problem. Again, he paid his taxes and penalties just days before his nomination as Secretary of HUD. This too was kept very private in this new "Open" government of Obama's.

As if this isn't enough, the stimulus package which is nothing more than a spending bill passes the House without any Republicans voting for it and with 11 Democrats voting against it. That puts the bi-partisan aspect of this bill on the side that is against the spending bill.

The bill now goes to the Senate. As it stands now, if the bill isn't dramatically changed, the Republicans won't support it. They don't have enough votes to vote it out, but they do have enough votes to stop the cloture vote on it. The question, once again, becomes, will John McCain, his puppet Lindsay Graham, and the two Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins remain with the Republicans or will they put the American economy in the dumper by joining the Democrats?

In two weeks time, we've had problems with four cabinet members or proposed cabinet members and one deputy, along with what can only be called a liberal spending bill, and promised openness in the White House which fell by the wayside within hours of being announced. It's reminding me of the Clinton years and their scandal a week ways.

Today, the story comes out that Obama's half brother has been arrested for drug abuse in Kenya. His brother George is the brother that was found in Kenya living on $12 per year income. Does this remind anyone else of Billy Carter? In forty years we've gone from Billy Beer to Georgie's Pot.

Inauguration day was an embarassment with the screwup of the Oath, the poor inauguration speech and the acting out of the music rather than really playing it. I hope it's not discovered that Aretha Franklin lip synched her singing. I've always liked Aretha Franklin and her music. Inauguration day was topped off by the new President being the first President to skip the ball of Medal of Honor winners.

In the first week, Obama showed us his cut and run policy in Iraq, has decided to close Guantanamo with no plans on what to do with the detainees, and he signed the executive orders placating liberals with their feel good issues. If things go bad in Afghanistan, I expect he'll cut and run from there as well.

In his second week, he wrote a letter to the President of Iran. You know, the guy that he first said he'd talk to, then backed down and said he'd begin low level talks but not talk directly with them after he was embarassed by the other candidates, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Now he goes back on his second position and actually does begin a dialogue by writing a personal letter to a terrorist.

This next week promises to be a fun one with the Senate taking up the spending bill that the Democrats and the liberal media continue to call the "stimulus" bill. I think that if they wrote a bill that said everyone was required to wear sneakers from now on, that they would call it a "stimulus" bill and demand that it be passed because they called it a stimulus bill.

At this rate, the Democrats will be in the minority in two years and in four years, the liberal media will be asking, "does voting out the first black president mean that America has become racist again?"

Brett

sad to say goodbye

it's the end of the road for one of the few home magazines i actually like...

"Dear Readers, it is with very heavy hearts that we say farewell. Over the last 4 years, in 28 issues, we have done our best to create a great magazine. We started with a real idea—that style is for everyone—and tried to carry it out with stories that provide inspiration and empower you to act on it. From your tremendous response, we know that we were onto something. In this tough economy, however, we simply weren't able to get the advertising support we needed. As domino evolved, we never lost sight of our original democratic premise. Looking back at the manifesto we published in the premiere issue, the first tenet of domino is still the truest: Home should make you happy. We hope we have played a part in making this come true for you. Love, All the editors of domino"

Another sunset

There were no clouds at all last night so this is one from last week. The clouds were low behind the hills but still brilliant.

For more images of the sky check out Skywatch Friday

work like an ox.

well, ok, not exactly. ha.

we are back at work here in littleoddforest! all outstanding orders have been promptly shipped out this morning as promised and all outstanding order-related emails will be replied to by this weekend! shelly will be keeping you updated weekly, as usual, starting next week.

not full steam ahead, yet. it's only the 5th day of the 15 days of reunions, feasting, gatherings, visitations and more! but very soon yah, let us make merry for a little bit more while our friends abroad make their annual trip back to become "chinese" singaporeans again, only for a few precious days!


i don't like to be tied down, doing craft-related work whilst on holiday or on a break, so thankfully, had the foresight to make as many of our brand new peppywanders design - a figure of speech pin brooches and hair clips - as i could, before the chinese new year break. i can't thank you all enough for showing your support for these! thank youuuu! :D i'm quite surprised, and super happy! surprised also because there are more orders for those words and fonts that i have picked to make, than for custom ones = lesser work and headache for me ;p

for those looking for something else, but are too passive to email me to ask for them, i guess i'll be making some new variations later on, once i can! have also taken a few new rush shots of me wearing the hair clips at the very last minute, and will be uploading them as soon as we can - we have received quite a number of emails asking for model shots for size/proportions comparisions... i do apologise for stretching your visualization skills ;p

a brand new design from our new collection will be launched next week in the shoppe too, finally! as we charge ahead to complete some new wholesale orders for our stockists for spring! :D so do keep surfing by to the shoppe, i sure hope you'll like them!

have a lovely weekend, folks! it's going to be another crazy crazy weekend of gatherings, feasting and boozing for us! this will be my last year of collecting red packets, albeit embarrassingly, so i have to enjoy it while i still can... wahahaha.. muacks!

Exciting News!

Thanks for all your support of our new lines over the last few days. We love and appreciate every comment! It's been a joy sharing them. We just wanted to quickly put in a good word for a recent feature. Martha Stewart Weddings has three of our papers in their winter 09 issue!


Morning Meadow Dew is the adorable blue box in the middle. They feature a whole crafting section that also includes Morning Meadow's Breeze and Poppy's Ratton. So go check it out on the newsstands or here online!

VOGUE - RECESSION HIT?

Vogue (Indian edition) disappoints by using an older cover from the US edition on their February 2009 Indian issue.







Related Posts
VOGUE INDIA NOVEMBER 2008 - must have for the brides-to-be
2008 FASHION FLASHBACK - HAPPY NEW YEAR
.

VOGUE - RECESSION HIT?

Vogue (Indian edition) disappoints by using an older cover from the US edition on their February 2009 Indian issue.







Related Posts
VOGUE INDIA NOVEMBER 2008 - must have for the brides-to-be
2008 FASHION FLASHBACK - HAPPY NEW YEAR
.

CHA Giveaway Winner!

Thank you again for all your amazing feedback. We have a winner for our giveaway... using random.org we were able to randomly choose a winner. Drumroll...the winner is:









Congratulations Lynette! All you need to do is email us your shipping information to seiblog@shopsei.com. Anyone can email us whatever is on their mind for that matter. For those of you who have been wondering, some of the Playdate & En Route papers will be featured in upcoming Club SEI kits. Yay!

CRUELTY FREE FASHION

High-end fashion does not have to be cruel and part of the animal trade. It can be just as glamorous, elegant, thrilling and beautiful without any cruelty involved. Unfortunately many people believe fashion is more important than the life of animals, and to feed their needs many designers continue to capitalize on the animals' lives. Even vegetarians cannot contain themselves from luxury brands' leather handbags and shoes rage. Think before you buy, do you want to kill animal for the sake of fashion. Fashion should be fun, not fatal!

Click here to know what an animal undergoes for your Jimmy Choo Shoes or Louis Vuitton Bags.


HOW TO BUY CRUELTY-FREE FASHION
.
LEATHER - NO, NO
There are lots of high-quality substitutes for animal skin and many designers and luxury brands are using them in their collections.

Stella McCartney, the name synonymous to style and luxury, has proved that luxury does not mean being cruel. Stella McCartney is famous for her sharp tailoring, irreverence and sexy femininity. A strict vegetarian, her designs are fur and leather free. In addition to keeping leather and fur out of her collections, the luxury designer also has vegan perfumes and luxury organic cruelty-free range of skincare in her portfolio. Stella has also won 'Best Green Designer Award'.
.

Click on following links to buy Stella McCartney Online:

- Stella McCartney Online Store

- Net-a-Porter

In India, Stella McCartney is stocked at Kitsch Store in Delhi's Emporio Mall.

.
Marc Bouwer is a highly influential designer in the world of high fashion. His creations add phenomenal glamour and style to an array of red carpet events around the world. He decided to go ethical and stopped using any animal skins or products in his designs. He refrains from using fur, leather and wool in his collections.
.

.
German Brand Puma and adidas by Stella McCartney makes high-quality non-leather athletic trainers.

Online store www.asos.com has a selection of non-leather shoes and handbags. In fact while making a search, you can filter your search by selecting non-leather in the category.

.
Matt and Nat makes cruelty-free smart and stylish handbags and clutches that you would love in your wardrobe. They produce two lines a year, and each collection is filled with clean lines, bright colours and interesting details. Their designs are classy yet modern. You would not desire Balenciaga or Gucci once you see Matt and Nat cruelty-free handbags. List of celebrities that love Matt and Nat bags include Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Drew Barrymore and Teri Hatcher. More on Matt and Nat or click here to buy online.
.

.

FOOTWEAR

Beyond Skin, a vegan luxury ethical footwear label, makes beautiful, classic, hand-made shoes that combine style and fashion with a cruelty-free lifestyle. They have a variety of fashionable and stylish, high-quality ladies shoes, stilettos and boots. Their shoes are stylish and does not make style and vegan oxymorons, in fact they combine the two and is a great place for fashionistas to shop cruelty-free shoes!!!!

olsenHaus is an American brand started by Elizabeth Olsen who has worked with the likes of Calvin Klein, Bulga, Nine West, Jodi Arnold, MINT and many others. She put an end to making shapeless and boring vegan shoe by creating a line that is chic and synonymous with style. Celebrities like Emily Deschanel, Alicia Silverstone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Amy Sedaris and Cameron Diaz love her shoes. To shop those stylish vegan stilletos or delectable flats, click here.

On Budget?

Charles and Keith, the Singapore's high-street shoe brand, has a wide range of stylish non-leather shoes, bags and belts. Their shoes are concoction of style, quality and sensuality for fashionable women at affordable prices. Charles and Keith's products are available in over 23 countries, predominantly in Asia and Middle East (they are not complete cruelty-free brand, but have a good non-leather variety).

Malcolm Frontier have great collection of stylish bags and accessories. Malcolm Fontier shows us that leather isn't the only option for durability and luxury when it comes to wallets, bags and toiletry cases. The unisex pieces are all made from PVC-free alternatives including coated canvas. Its a great brand especially for me, who are looking for cruelty-free stylish bags.

.

Update 31 October 2009

Luxury Designer teams with target to create faux snakeskin bags. The bags will be available inn Target stores and onlin (to debut tomorrow).

How to check if the product contains leather?

Read on What's Wrong With Leather?


FUR is not fashion
Wearing animal fur on your body does not reflect chic, class or style, but cruelty. Buy faux fur. Many of the big designers in the fashion world have already started using faux-fur. Vivienne Westwood, Juicy Couture and Stella McCartney use cruelty-free fur in (some of) their collections.


Vegan BEAUTY
If you're vegetarian or love animals, stop putting lipsticks, mascara, moisturiser, perfume or other beauty products made from animal ingredients. Cosmetic brands that offer vegetarian and even vegan products include Clarins, Chantecialle (luxury skincare and makeup brand, with all vegetarian products and an exclusive vegan line too), Dr Hauschka (not entirely vegetarian, both use carmine in their coloured products, like makeup, but have vegan mascaras and more), Origins, Suki, Urban Decay (they have a special vegan line), Oriflame (for the girl on budget), Stella McCartney, Lush.

Recommended: A favourite with celebrities, Chantecialle offers natural luxury beauty products that are pure and gentle yet effective. Clarins is my another favourite brand, their moisturisers suit even the most sensitive skin.


Related Posts:
Is your lipstick safe? - LEAD IN LIPSTICK
The Encyclopedia of Lip Balms
.

CRUELTY FREE FASHION

High-end fashion does not have to be cruel and part of the animal trade. It can be just as glamorous, elegant, thrilling and beautiful without any cruelty involved. Unfortunately many people believe fashion is more important than the life of animals, and to feed their needs many designers continue to capitalize on the animals' lives. Even vegetarians cannot contain themselves from luxury brands' leather handbags and shoes rage. Think before you buy, do you want to kill animal for the sake of fashion. Fashion should be fun, not fatal!

Click here to know what an animal undergoes for your Jimmy Choo Shoes or Louis Vuitton Bags.


HOW TO BUY CRUELTY-FREE FASHION
.
LEATHER - NO, NO
There are lots of high-quality substitutes for animal skin and many designers and luxury brands are using them in their collections.

Stella McCartney, the name synonymous to style and luxury, has proved that luxury does not mean being cruel. Stella McCartney is famous for her sharp tailoring, irreverence and sexy femininity. A strict vegetarian, her designs are fur and leather free. In addition to keeping leather and fur out of her collections, the luxury designer also has vegan perfumes and luxury organic cruelty-free range of skincare in her portfolio. Stella has also won 'Best Green Designer Award'.
.

Click on following links to buy Stella McCartney Online:

- Stella McCartney Online Store

- Net-a-Porter

In India, Stella McCartney is stocked at Kitsch Store in Delhi's Emporio Mall.

.
Marc Bouwer is a highly influential designer in the world of high fashion. His creations add phenomenal glamour and style to an array of red carpet events around the world. He decided to go ethical and stopped using any animal skins or products in his designs. He refrains from using fur, leather and wool in his collections.
.

.
German Brand Puma and adidas by Stella McCartney makes high-quality non-leather athletic trainers.

Online store www.asos.com has a selection of non-leather shoes and handbags. In fact while making a search, you can filter your search by selecting non-leather in the category.

.
Matt and Nat makes cruelty-free smart and stylish handbags and clutches that you would love in your wardrobe. They produce two lines a year, and each collection is filled with clean lines, bright colours and interesting details. Their designs are classy yet modern. You would not desire Balenciaga or Gucci once you see Matt and Nat cruelty-free handbags. List of celebrities that love Matt and Nat bags include Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Drew Barrymore and Teri Hatcher. More on Matt and Nat or click here to buy online.
.

.

FOOTWEAR

Beyond Skin, a vegan luxury ethical footwear label, makes beautiful, classic, hand-made shoes that combine style and fashion with a cruelty-free lifestyle. They have a variety of fashionable and stylish, high-quality ladies shoes, stilettos and boots. Their shoes are stylish and does not make style and vegan oxymorons, in fact they combine the two and is a great place for fashionistas to shop cruelty-free shoes!!!!

olsenHaus is an American brand started by Elizabeth Olsen who has worked with the likes of Calvin Klein, Bulga, Nine West, Jodi Arnold, MINT and many others. She put an end to making shapeless and boring vegan shoe by creating a line that is chic and synonymous with style. Celebrities like Emily Deschanel, Alicia Silverstone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Amy Sedaris and Cameron Diaz love her shoes. To shop those stylish vegan stilletos or delectable flats, click here.

On Budget?

Charles and Keith, the Singapore's high-street shoe brand, has a wide range of stylish non-leather shoes, bags and belts. Their shoes are concoction of style, quality and sensuality for fashionable women at affordable prices. Charles and Keith's products are available in over 23 countries, predominantly in Asia and Middle East (they are not complete cruelty-free brand, but have a good non-leather variety).

Malcolm Frontier have great collection of stylish bags and accessories. Malcolm Fontier shows us that leather isn't the only option for durability and luxury when it comes to wallets, bags and toiletry cases. The unisex pieces are all made from PVC-free alternatives including coated canvas. Its a great brand especially for me, who are looking for cruelty-free stylish bags.

.

Update 31 October 2009

Luxury Designer teams with target to create faux snakeskin bags. The bags will be available inn Target stores and onlin (to debut tomorrow).

How to check if the product contains leather?

Read on What's Wrong With Leather?


FUR is not fashion
Wearing animal fur on your body does not reflect chic, class or style, but cruelty. Buy faux fur. Many of the big designers in the fashion world have already started using faux-fur. Vivienne Westwood, Juicy Couture and Stella McCartney use cruelty-free fur in (some of) their collections.


Vegan BEAUTY
If you're vegetarian or love animals, stop putting lipsticks, mascara, moisturiser, perfume or other beauty products made from animal ingredients. Cosmetic brands that offer vegetarian and even vegan products include Clarins, Chantecialle (luxury skincare and makeup brand, with all vegetarian products and an exclusive vegan line too), Dr Hauschka (not entirely vegetarian, both use carmine in their coloured products, like makeup, but have vegan mascaras and more), Origins, Suki, Urban Decay (they have a special vegan line), Oriflame (for the girl on budget), Stella McCartney, Lush.

Recommended: A favourite with celebrities, Chantecialle offers natural luxury beauty products that are pure and gentle yet effective. Clarins is my another favourite brand, their moisturisers suit even the most sensitive skin.


Related Posts:
Is your lipstick safe? - LEAD IN LIPSTICK
The Encyclopedia of Lip Balms
.

Mark Your Calendars

For Super Bowl XLIII this Sunday February 1st at Tampa Bay. You knew right?
Drop me a comment below and tell me who you fighting for...
Me? Steelers so watch out Cardinals.

Democrats Pass Huge Spending Bill

Today, the Democrats in the House passed the bill that spends nearly $900 Billion. Only the Democrats passed this bill. Not one Republican voted for it and 11 Democrats joined the Republicans in an attempt to defeat it.

Many call this a stimulus bill but it's not really a stimulus bill. 34% of the money doesn't even get used until after 2010. Daily we hear that the economy is the worst since the Depression. It's not true, but that's what the liberals and the liberal media pound into the American people's TV sets daily. The economy is in the worst shape since the late 70's and early 80's, but it's no where near the levels of the Depression. That really is bad. So if it's so bad and the American people need immediate relief and it's supposed to create jobs, why is it that much of the bill doesn't take effect for nearly two years? That is not immediate.

This country has gone through many recessions throughout it's history. Each time, the recessions have been ended by either tax cuts, or war or both. Never has a recession ever been ended by massive government spending.

The bill that passed today could be called an anti stimulus bill with the $335 Million to be spent on STD education. Not much can be considered stimulating about STD's.

This bill is loaded with government spending on liberals pet projects. I seem to remember that Barack Obama the candidate promised tax cuts for 95% of Americans. This bill doesn't approach that.

I'm amazed that the Republicans actually stood up against this bill. Not one of them voted for it. If this makes it through the Senate, the Democrats and Barack Obama will own the results. The economy will immediately become Obama's responsibility. That's not good for him because this bill will not do as the liberals keep promising. Never have we spent our way to prosperity. This is just another example of liberals saying 'it's never worked before, but we can make it work this time.'

The Democrats have complained about the deficit and how it hit record levels under President Bush and how the Bush administration doubled the debt. This bill will make the debt and deficit under Bush look like change laying in a fountain.

They conveniently forget that from 2002 through 2006 the economy in this country was performing better than it had in 25 years. It's also interesting that 34% of the spending explodes at the end of 2010. This is exactly when the Bush tax cuts expire. So when they increase spending, they also raise taxes on the American people. Either one of those things would drag the economy down. Both of them together will make what we're going through now look like prosperity.

Obama also claimed that there would be no pork in this bill. Yet, when you look at it, there is pork in there for the STD's as mentioned before, as well as money to attempt to move the nation towards Universal Health Care among other things.

The answer to the economic problem is to lower taxes and cut spending. Those lower taxes would generate more money for the Federal Government. The only problem with lowering taxes is that when the government does get more revenue, they won't be able to resist spending it. When they actually get control of themselves and lower taxes, and cut spending (not decrease the percentage of spending, but decrease the actual dollars in spending) we will then go into a period of prosperity like we've never seen before.

It's time for the government to quit asking the American people to sacrifice and to start implementing the sacrifice on the government by reducing their spending and eliminating their expenditures that are wasted. Save the health industry by stopping health care for illegal immigrants. Cut welfare when you cut spending and cut taxes. Jobs will be created. There's a myriad of things that could be done. Didn't we learn anything from the Republicans who spent like Democrats from 2000 to 2006? Didn't we learn anything from having a President that refused to veto spending bills that came from his own party?

I will give two examples: 1. Michigan has tried to spend their way out of the long recession here. It's failed for six years. Michigan just gets worse with each statewide economic report. 2. Louisiana was given billions of dollars since the Reagan years. That money was for the levy's. The Democrats received that money, but didn't use it for what it was meant for. The result. Hurricane Katrina came and the levy's gave way and over 1,000 people died.

Spending your way out of a recession never works. Cutting taxes and cutting spending always works.

Brett

CHA Giveaway!

So far CHA has been a lovely experience. Much like the feedback we've received from you our viewers, our CHA audience has also embraced our new lines. Here around the art room, we are relaxing a bit and enjoying our new products. We've been working on layouts, albums, cards & numerous paper projects with our new lines. The great thing about creating our projects is that we love our paper lines even more. So to give you an opportunity to enjoy your day as much as we do, we are giving away a Lovebirds assortment pack (shown above). It includes two sheets of all the papers in the collection, which is a total of 20 papers (2 of each glitter, 2 of each foil, 2 of each shimmer, 1 of each lace) and 1 sheet of glitter die-cuts. Visit our website for more images. All you need to do is leave us a comment by Wednesday, January 28th by midnight. You'll receive the assortment pack just in time to make some sweet valentine's. Thanks again for all your support this last week!

Love,
the art studio

Something to keep you going...

This time of year we often begin to feel the effects of the low light levels and short days, the rain, the wind and cold and if you are anything like me, a bit of cabin fever can set in!

To boost your positive thinking I am sharing with you a few photographs of warmer, brighter months which are not that far away. These are not my personal photos, they are borrowed from magazines and possibly some books so sadly I can not take credit for them.

Enjoy!



















Because most of the people who stop by to read this blog have an interest in houses, here are a few special ones for you to enjoy:











Pretty, huh?

Baker’s Tank via Boreas Pass Rd Snowshoe

Distance: 7.2 miles round trip (note a fellow traveler’s GPS registered 6 miles RT)
Elevation: 10,350 ft to 11,050 ft
Elevation Gain: 700 ft

Our Destination...Baker's Tank. Note the ski tracks to the left. This is where the CMC trail comes in.

On a sunny calm day, the Baker’s Tank snowshoe will fill you with awe. On an overcast or very windy day, this snowshoe will be a bone chilling experience, so choose your time well. This is also not a snowshoe for those who cringe at the sight of another Homo sapien because they will be there in droves, at least for the first 1.5 miles, after which they seem to thin. Still, the views are sublime, the trail is easy, and route to the trailhead is passable by passenger cars. This snowshoe will not prepare you for a winter assent of Mt. Bierstadt, but it will fill you with the joy of the outdoors. Sometimes that can be just as good.

0.5 miles from the trailhead is Rocky Point. Here the views begin.

Rocky Point

This trail is outside of Breckenridge and begins where Boreas Pass Road dead-ends into a plowed parking area. There are two options for this snowshoe. One is the road itself, which we took, and the other is a narrow trail through the trees, which cuts across to the tank. The guidebooks say this trail is more secluded, contains less people, but also has an additional 400 ft of elevation gain. We chose the road not for fear of the elevation gain but because we wanted the views. I can take the hordes if the views are worth it. Others may feel differently.

Looking south at what I believe is Mt. Argentine (~11, 300 ft)

Goose Pasture Tarn with the Tenmile Range in the distance

Boreas Pass Rd is an old rail bed for one of the first narrow gauge railroads to traverse the continental divide. In its day this was an important commercial route. The destination, Baker’s Tank, is a steam engine watering tank that has been restored by Summit County. Such a history means the road gains elevation very gradually. The Boreas Pass Rd does go all the way over Boreas Pass to the town of Como. It would be a hearty soul indeed to traverse that distance on snowshoes. Many do continue another 4 miles to the Section House and John’s Cabin huts, which are located near the pass itself.

Boreas Pass Rd traverses several Aspen Groves. Note the people and the very wide, packed trail.

The meadow at 1.5 miles. Many people turn around here. The best views are up to this point. Just past the trees on the right is another large meadow to the south. If you only came this far, it would be worth it.

Because this route is so popular, we ended up leaving the snowshoes in the car and just used Yak Traks. As you can see from some of the pictures the snow was very compressed. I can’t imagine deep snow on this trail unless you happen to live in Summit County and can hit it right after a good dumper.

Closer to the tank there are less Aspens but nice views of Bald Mountain.

The main views are of the Ten Mile Range, which include the peaks of the Breckenridge Ski Area plus Quandary Peak. The mountain to the south I believe is Mt. Argentine not to be confused with Argentine Peak, which is off of Peru Creek Rd. Behind Baker’s tank is Bald Mountain.

Heading back now with views of the Tenmile Range

Quandary Peak (14, 265 ft)

The first milestone one the road is Rocky Point at 0.5 miles from the trailhead. It is here that views really begin. At 1.5 miles is a very large meadow. Here you can access the tree-lined trail mentioned early.

The closer we got to the trailhead, the more people we began to see.

The lower end of Boreas Pass Rd does traverse several nice Aspen Groves, which makes me wonder about driving this in the fall. I confess I tend to do a lot of the same snowshoes over and over again because if I am going suffer through I-70’s ghastly traffic jams, I want it to be worth the pain and agony. Baker’s tank on a sunny day has just expanded my limited of repertoire and will be an annual event.

Five Days of Obama

We are now in the fifth day since the Coronation....errr inauguration. What have learned in this first week?

Obama's first act as President was to screw up the oath of office. He started out by interrupting Chief Justice John Roberts during the administering of the Oath. That set off a chain of events that had the Oath out of order on some of the words.

He followed the easiest part of the day by giving his inaugural speech. It was not a typical Obama speech. 2 million people showed up to hear the most boring and cynical Inaugural Address since Jimmy Carters Malaise speech in 1977.

Speaking of the 2 million people. Thousands of ticket holders were not allowed onto the mall. They traveled from as far away as California only to be told to go back. The 2 million that did make it in, left 130 tons of garbage to be picked up, including souveniers and small American flags. Garbage I expect, but to leave little American Flags tossed away just shows the lack of pride and love for country. It reminded me of the Convention in Denver where they had all of those American Flags just tossed around and into the garbage.

In the past 24 hours, it's been discovered that the group playing the music faked it. It reminds me of when Jan and Dean returned to concert again years after a devastating auto accident that nearly took a life. It was discovered that they were lip synching their old music. This was basically the same thing. They faked the cello, the violin, the piano, all of it. The music was instead piped in.

It's interesting that there were many complaints about the Pastor of Saddleback Church giving the Invocation, which was very good, but the Reverend Lowry gave a racist benediction.

During all of this, the so-called reporters were having a love-fest with Obama's historical moment, historical day. I hope we don't find out next that John Lewis, Jesse Jackson, Quincy Jones were all phony's too. Please tell me they weren't part of the Simpson's cartoon but were the real deal.

Even a past President got in on the pettiness of the day. Former President Jimmy Carter snubbed Former President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary. Later, Hillary got into a row with Senator John Cornyn because he dared to hold up her confirmation for a day due to some additional questions he had.

There was some dignity to the day however. President George W. Bush came out to the platform with Hail To The Chief playing. As he took his seat and new song started from the crowd near the platform. Angry liberals sitting nearby started singing nyah nyah nyah nyah, hey hey, goodbye. President Bush was very dignified and made no expression and no acknowledgement of the lack of taste of those angry liberals.

Obama made some very uncharitable references to the Bush years during his speech. However, both President Bush, (former President by that time) and former Vice President Cheney, sat their listening politely, without making any expression. They let Obama have his day as the new President.

The following day, Wednesday, Obama announced new guidelines for his staff. Ceilings on salary, and a new rule on lobbyists. If you were a lobbyist, you won't be permitted to work in an area that you lobbyed in the past. If you leave the administration, you won't be allowed back as a lobbyist until the Obama is administration is out of office. But then it was discovered that that rule is being broken because a Deputy Secretary was a lobbyist but is still going to be in his new position despite the new lobbying rules.

His Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, asked that the previous speakers names not be used by the press, instead to call them senior White House Staff, then he promptly used their names several times.

Obama was also administered the Oath of Office again, this time behind closed doors and no bible in his hand. They also couldn't or wouldn't answer whether there was a war on terror. Obama has announced that he's closing Guantanamo Bay with no idea on what they are going to do with the detainees currently there. This as we learned that 60 former detainees have been released and have returned to the middle east and again working with Al Queda including one who is the number two Al Queda man in Yemen. Yemen is where the USS Cole was attacked in October 2000.

Obama's first week in office was not uneventful. The events were embarassments however. This is the guy that's going to steer us out of a recession? Protect the country from terrorist attacks? So far, he's talked to the generals about getting out of Iraq, he's overturned an abortion policy, and broken his own lobbying rules. Then there is his Treasury Secretary that didn't pay taxes for a few years but quickly paid them just prior to his nomination as Treasury Secretary.

It's also now just coming out that the Bill Clinton foundation was given stock as a donation, the stock was sold for nearly $500,000 even though it was pretty much worthless which amounts to a donation but that the donor is being kept anonymous. Transparency?

So a weeks summary of the new Obama Administration gives us, a botched oath, a poor speech, fake music, a racist prayer, broken rules, a new oath, our first indication of the "cut and run" that everyone was worried about during the campaign, a completely lost Press Secretary, a Treasury Secretary that evaded paying taxes until a day or two before his appointment, a promise of transparency from behind a cloak, a secretary of state nominee who promised access to donors for her husband's foundation except for one (that we know of) and terrorists to be moved but nobody knows to where. Not bad for a week.

Maybe we can look to the New York Senate appointment and see if Caroline Kennedy gets a nice smooth move into the United States Senate. What's this headline? A nanny and tax problem for Kennedy? A problem with her marriage? Uh oh.

Well, there is one happy note. Today is my daughters birthday. She enters her teen years today. Happy Birthday, Rachel.

Brett

Attack of the Gingerbread House Wars!!!

So every year we have a all out duel of who can decorate the best Gingerbread house. Last year Will won, with a house with Dish Network and it was complete with a Gingerbread Hummer!!! However this year I was going to bring out the good and do something different. Will decided to go with an Eco-friendly "Solar-sugar panelled" house. While I decided to make some Ice Skating Snowmen and a Hot Coco shack. Well I won this year, next time we'll have to get some unbiased judges! ;)

Vote for the most kick butt design.

Click images to enlarge.

Meet our friends- Playday!

Last year we came out with our baby lines chick-a-doo and chick-a-dee. We loved adding these cuties to our SEI family, but they needed friends. We decided a toddler line would be the perfect solution, and Playday was born:

Whimsical elephants, giraffes, little birds, and a momma kangaroo with baby all invite you for a play date. Creating layouts or making cards with this collection will create smiles. These papers and embellishments are perfect for boy or girl layouts.



Love,
the art studio