Happy Holidays

A very Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and a Happy New Year to everyone!I'll be on the road visiting relatives and friends, so in and out. Hopefully we will all have a safe and sane holiday season. Best Wishes and see you soon!

There And Back Again

It's official! The Hobbit will be made after all, via 2 films and an anticipated first release in 2010. Man oh man. I can see it now. A 5 movie marathon in some far off future on HBO or TNT or even at IMAX. Naturally, the forums at TORN have exploded. This should keep the fans busy for months, at the very least.I am glad Jackson and New Line came to terms. It will be interesting to see

On the Road Again

Folks - I am racking and stacking the miles and points as I write this. That will be the case for 2008 as well. Keep commenting when I post, or when others post.I will kill the moderation on the belief that what I post about lacks the magnetic draw for trolls. The downside is that when the trolls appear it may be a while before I delete their posts. C'est la vie.I miss the snow. We had a 2-4"

Spatial Horizons and Living Room Rearrangement

By : Sarika Kabra

If you find yourself in the situation that you feel the need for change in the living room, before you go out and buy something or throw anything away, you may want to think about a little rearrangement. Rearranging the living room furniture can be both fun and interesting; there are a few things that you should keep in mind when doing so.

People usually tend to make two kinds of mistakes. The first mistake is that they don’t quite use the space that they have, and the second mistake is that they either put in too much or too little. An example of the former is a large sofa set in a tiny corner, or in the opposite case, too little into too much, such as a chair or cushion in an area with space for a couch. These two kinds of errors come along with two kinds of personalities: the ‘minimalist’ and the ‘pack rat’.

The minimalist likes to keep things simple, like a single picture in a large room, or couches all in black, and a few red cushions. They enjoy form, contrast, open space, and a sense of freedom. The pack rat is the opposite of the minimalist. The pack rat likes to have many objects brought together, different colors, multiple forms, shapes, sizes, a sense of life and nature in the home. When a pack rat and a minimalist live together, this inevitably leads to a collision of style, for where one person feels the need to fill an empty corner with an extra recliner, the other wants to leave it open and feels that it would just add extra clutter.

When the time comes that you’ve decided to rearrange your house, you should therefore consider the following points. The first thing to do is that if you and your spouse are bumping heads as a minimalist and a pack rat, first sit down and try to come to an agreement about where the limits for each of your styles can meet. This is going to mean sacrifice on both sides, but it’s a necessary step.

Once you’ve both come to an agreement, the next thing is to look at the space in the living room. How are things already being used? Is that leather recliner in the corner really necessary? Is it blocking the entrance in and out of the room? If you moved it at an angle would things improve, or if you switched it with a smaller chair in the opposite corner? What if your removed it altogether? Know the space in your house and learn how to use it.

Remember, the actual rearranging of things doesn’t have to be drastic. Sometimes small changes can make a big difference, such as separating that sectional sofa which just divides the living room space. The basic point to keep in mind is that in choosing how to use the space, think about where each piece fits, how to best use it, and how it fits with the whole.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/spatial-horizons-and-living-room-rearrangement-274863.html

Junior Takes On Beavers

The Chicago Tribune published an op-ed piece by Jesse Jackson,Jr. (free subscription may be required) that thoroughly raps William Beavers.Stroger's outrageous $888 million tax hike plan would add 1,100 new jobs—after laying off hundreds of nurses and frontline health-care providers. It shortchanges the sheriff's police—but adds "administrative" jobs, apparently for Stroger's families and

Drilling Deep

Some details about the Tupi oil well in Brazil. Petrobras is getting props for being a well run, efficient company. Consequently it is able to do this kind of work, which doesn't come cheap no matter how efficient they are. Just look at the numbers. Chavez and Calderon could learn a thing or two from this company.