There is a side to Paulo Coelho that is exotic, sexual, dark and daring. No married author would dare to write such things in their work that they could speak of their sexual past or lustful fantasies that they might have experienced with a side of love in their golden days; Paulo Coelho has never been afraid to implement such an ideology in his books and novels. If we talk about some of the best romance novels of all time, he is number one on that list, even above Nora Roberts, Jodi Picoult, Danielle Steel, and Kapiel Raaj. 11 minutes, one of Paulo Coelho’s most intense works has also been one of his most desirable. Although The Alchemist has been his most popular work, readers found a new delight in 11 minutes.

The story in this novel is about a girl named Maria who travels from Rio de Janeiro to Geneva in hopes of finding a better future for herself and her family. She uses prostitution to earn the money she always dreamed of, while educating herself through a book in the library and at the same time finding a soul mate in an artist who wanted nothing more than 11 minutes to orgasm. .

The story may be a bit more twisted than my explanation, but the title says it all, as it takes 11 minutes to orgasm and 11 minutes to fall in love. This is a must read for everyone who loves spiritual romance. I call this spiritual romance because they are the themes of Paulo Coelho; find love through spirituality.

Next on my list is one of my best international readings of all time: Ashita, written by Kapiel Raaj. I came across your novel at a local stall inside a train station in India during my 2009 trip, and it wasn’t a recommendation, but rather a quick read to kill time while waiting for my train to Mumbai. I scanned the back of the book and quickly read the synopsis that suddenly caught my full attention. The short paragraph gave me a quick hint that this book could be a shadow of the work of my favorite author Paulo Coelho. The story was filled with the experience of finding a true soul mate with the service of spirituality and mysticism during the journey. Could this be another Brida? I asked myself. I sat on top of my suitcase because there was barely enough room for the spider to crawl, but somehow I managed to get comfortable on the hard plastic surface, while the smell of dog urine and cow dung had already unrolled. my aura.

The story: Ashita was the soul of Adtiya, who left him for another man for religious reasons and pressure from her family. A woman like Ashita came once every hundred years, Aditya thought. She made him the man he was today; But Ashita’s life was now in the hands of God and no one could do anything about it. But when Aditya finds out about her, she defies god and his will. But what can Aditya do? He’s just an ordinary man.

What a beautiful way to present the work to a reader, yet tears began to flow from my eyes from the third page. I wish I could tell everything I know about history in this article, but that’s the beauty of storytelling and books; You must go on a journey before you find or read about the destination. I was so in love with this author, that I had to get his second tear-jerk ‘Palena, and her royal guard’, which also turned out to be just as good and emotional as Ashita. In the age of free information, where everyone will have fifteen minutes of fame, we are looking at some worthy candidates who might not have shone so bright without the emergence of the digital world.

My Top 10 Romance Novels of All Time:

1.11 minutes by Paulo Coelho

2. Ashita from Kapiel Raaj

3. Great Expectations of Charles Dickens

4. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

5. Brida by Paulo Coelho

6. Black Rose by Nora Roberts

7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

8. The tenth circle of Jodi Pichoult

9. The Zahir by Paulo Coelho

10. Palena and her royal guard by Kapiel Raaj

Codependency is more than a relationship problem. It hurts our psyche and individual development. Not make mistakes. It’s not our fault. The wounds of codependency are adaptive and helped us survive growing up in a dysfunctional family system. But that adjustment cost us our individuality, authenticity, and our future quality of life. The beliefs and behaviors we learned led to problems in adult relationships. In fact, they tend to recreate the dysfunctional family of our past.

The wounds of codependency begin in childhood

Codependency is learned and transmitted generationally. It begins in childhood, usually due to codependent parenting, which includes being raised by an addicted or mentally or emotionally ill parent. To survive, we must adapt to the needs, actions, and emotions of our parents at the expense of the development of an individual Self. Repetitive patterns shaped our personality style with supportive beliefs, which were learned and inferred from parents’ behavior. They were shaped by our immature minds as infants and toddlers in the context of total dependence on our parents. An example is: “I must not cry (or express anger) to be safe, hugged and loved.”

We develop a codependent personality, employing strategies of power, liking, or withdrawal to support dysfunctional parenting. Proper use of all of these is healthy, but codependents compulsively rely primarily on just one or two. In Conquering Shame and Codependency, I describe these coping mechanisms and personalities as The Master, The Usher, and The Observer.

Pediatrician and psychiatrist Donald Winnicott believed that early childhood trauma threatens the annihilation of the self. It is a disorienting impact that affects us on multiple systems. Trauma marginalizes thinking and misses our ability to successfully accomplish developmental tasks. Imagine a vulnerable baby having to overcome the threat of extinction while navigating interpersonal relationships, which should feel safe. He must be hyper-vigilant to anticipate and interpret parental reactions and adapt accordingly. Suffers normal interpersonal development. Instead, maintaining attachment becomes our priority while we still have to deal with ongoing relational trauma in childhood and later as adults.

Therefore, this accommodation system hinders the development of a fully embodied Self. Effective parenting requires that parents view their children as separate individuals. They must tune in, empathize, and honor your child’s experience. This allows us to feel safe and helps to develop an autonomous self. With codependent caregivers, instead, we tune in to them. We wickedly organize our state of mind to accommodate our parents.

For example, how can a child navigate safety and satisfy his need for love with an inattentive, anxious, critical, or controlling parent? An anxious or abusive parent makes us anxious and fearful. A controlling parent extinguishes self-confidence and initiative. A critical or nosy parent crushes us, producing insecurity and self-criticism. These early patterns skew our perception of ourselves, our work, and our relationships. All of these and other dysfunctional parenting styles breed shame – that we are bad, inadequate, and unlovable.

The cost of codependency

The first insecure bonds with caregivers require that we put aside our spontaneous felt experience. Over time, our personality and reactions solidify. Our ability to self-reflect, process new information, adjust, and respond is impaired. Our reactions stiffen and our cognitive distortions feel absolute.

Consequently, our individual development is hampered by the selective inclusion and exclusion of data that could provide conflicting information. We develop a template of “shoulds” and restrictions that operate beyond our consciousness. We do this because, on an archaic psychic level, the alternative seems scary that we risk losing our connection with another person (that is, with parents) and with people in general. In support of this, we project our parents’ reactions onto other people.

For example, some of my clients have impaired perceptions of their attractiveness and cannot be persuaded otherwise. Some may undergo unnecessary cosmetic surgery despite the consensus that they are beautiful. Similarly, for many codependents, setting limits or asking about their needs feels selfish. They have a strong resistance to doing so, even though they are being exploited by a selfish, narcissistic, or abusive partner.

The challenge of recovery

The antecedents of our codependent personality are buried in our past. For many of us, it began in childhood. Some of us remember a normal childhood and we are unable to identify what went wrong. Therefore, our thoughts and reactions are unquestionable and are obstacles to learning from experience. In addition, the effect of trauma on the nervous system makes it difficult and scary to discover our feelings. Modifying our reactions and behavior feels dangerous.

We continue to behave in accordance with the early accommodation system that operates outside of our consciousness. We are guided by beliefs that we never question, such as common codependent beliefs, “If I am loved, then I am lovable” and “If I am vulnerable (authentic), I will be judged and rejected.” “In addition, we interpret our experiences in ways that strengthen archaic and fallacious beliefs. An unreturned text message confirms that we have upset someone. This can happen even in therapy when we want to please our therapist or fear their dislike, boredom or abandonment. Inattention from a friend (or therapist) shows that we are a burden and / or unpleasant.

In intimate relationships, instead of questioning whether a partner satisfies our needs or is capable of loving, we conclude that the problem is us. Our reactions to our wrong beliefs can perpetuate or aggravate the problems we are trying to remedy. We could unquestionably repeat that pattern in later relationships.

Freud’s death wish is nothing more than a shameful reaction to a punitive critic who rigidly throws out commandments that mimic an abusive or controlling parent or that was developed as a child to avoid the terror of emotional abandonment. Our inner dictates overwhelm our spontaneity and ability to experience the full range of our emotions, particularly joy. When our normal reactions to parental behavior are frequently embarrassed, eventually we cannot access them. We become numb and live an “as if” life that covers anger, despair, and emptiness.

The recovery process

We can heal our childhood trauma. In recovery, we learn missing skills, self-love, and healthy responses. Learning thrives in a safe and non-judgmental environment, different from the brutalizing one we grew up in that continues to dominate our minds. We need an atmosphere that welcomes experimentation and spontaneity where we can challenge the prohibitions embedded in our unconscious. Follow these steps:

1. Seek therapy with a competent therapist.

2. Attend Codependents Anonymous meetings and work with a sponsor.

3. Re-familiarize yourself with your feelings and needs. This can be a difficult process. Feelings live in the body. Pay attention to subtle changes in your posture, gestures, and moods and feelings, such as deflated, numb, anger, guilt, anxiety, hopelessness, and shame. Especially watch for sudden changes from feeling confident to insecure and present to numb or distracted. You may have moved from your real self to your codependent personality – how you felt in childhood.

4. Explore the triggers that change your mood and feelings and your associated beliefs, thoughts, and memories.

5. Do the Codependency for Fools and Conquering Shame exercises to speed up this process.

6. Challenge your beliefs. See “Deprogramming codependent brainwashing.”

7. Write down and confront negative self-talk. Use the 10 Steps to Self-Esteem e-Workbook to challenge your beliefs and your inner critic.

8. Experiment, play, and try new things.

© DarleneLancer 2020

As a serious martial artist, I spend my time with people who dedicate a large part of their lives to martial arts. Many of these people have been immersed in the profound and transformative journey that is progress toward mastery. Many of these same people are also deeply interested in the history and exciting legends surrounding the lives of the great martial artists of the past. I am quite familiar with the many derring-do tales of characters like Miyamoto Musashi, Yagyu Muneyoshi, and Hattori Hanzo, to name a few. Stories like his have inspired generations of budding martial artists to continue and pursue mastery of their chosen art. These tales serve an important purpose and give the modern martial artist a link to the rich history of martial arts.

Another thing I hear quite often is the phrase: “I wish I lived in feudal Japan.” Of course, I quite well understand where the person saying this comes from: the golden sengoku jidai (Warring States period, ~ 1450-1603) that is kept alive in legends is a place of adventure and honorable combat, a place where legends life and freedom is won with the blade of a dexterous sword.

However, as someone with a good working knowledge of sengoku jidai conditions, I steer clear of these wishful statements. There are a number of simple facts that are easily overlooked or quickly forgotten that put the kybosh in these dreams very quickly. The answer to the question: “Would you like to live in feudal Japan?” it should almost certainly be, “NO WAY!”

Let’s take a look at why:

For one thing, the name sengoku jidai really says what it means: States at War. This time it was tumultuous and chaotic, with a life expectancy just as low in Japan as it was in Europe during the same period. In Europe, low levels of cleanliness introduced by the years after the plague, coupled with poor diet and a lack of working drugs, reduced life expectancy to less than fifty years. In Japan, despite a healthy diet and practical knowledge of natural medicine, life expectancy was worse than or equal to that of the average contemporary European. This was due almost exclusively to the rampant warfare that ensued between the many feudal states that divided Japan. The chances of participating in a battle were high, for everyone, not just for the warrior class. The peasants and artisans, commoners and intermediaries, were all equally threatened by the advance and the constant tide of war.

An important note about war: war requires weapons and weapons require steel. Constant warfare also requires large groups of people, most of whom are poorly trained conscripts. It would be a bad decision to equip large groups of recruits with expensive, high-quality weapons. These people were often provided low-quality second-hand equipment, often collected from the dead after the battle. Battles, marches, and general army activities resulted in above-average exposure to the elements. The result was a nasty equation: poorly trained recruits, combined with cheap steel weapons and exposure to the elements, produce rusty and worn weapons in the hands of large numbers of people on the front lines of an encounter.

This puts the feudal Japanese literally at the center of the tetanus crossover. Convenient modern-age tetanus shots are taken for granted by most people, but for the feudal Japanese samurai, recruit, or anyone else, even a scratch could spell death through the agonizing onset of lockjaw. This is not to mention the health risks of being present on a large battlefield strewn with corpses of men and horses stretched out in the open, strewn with discarded weapons, many of which are rusted.

Even if one won the fight and defeated his opponent, the risk of tetanus or other infection from small wounds sustained was high. The Daimyo (lord) Ii Naomasa, a vassal of the famous Tokugawa Ieyasu, suffered a gunshot wound at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and spent the next year and a half lingering before dying from complications from the same wound. And remember, as lord under the victor of the battle and soon to be ruler of all Japan, Naomasa had access to the best possible medical treatment available. It is interesting to note that a tactic used by some ninjas (special agents) in sengoku jidai, was to allow their swords and throwing picks, swords, and other cutting weapons to rust. This allowed them to present terrifying and visibly extra dangerous weapons in battle, striking fear in the hearts of those who opposed them and giving the ninja the upper hand.

In addition to the general state of warfare and the dangers of disease posed by the battle, the fact remains that even the poorly trained recruits so despised by samurai were skilled warriors compared to most humans today. For most, even their grandparents had been born during a time when war was always present. The idea of ​​fighting to preserve home and home came naturally to almost everyone. It would be difficult to find a person at that time who was not intimately familiar with the conflict, even among the clergy. The level of familiarity with combat meant that a large part of the population was at least used to the use of some weapon or another, even if the standard ones were not allowed, as in the case of non-samurai, who were legally prohibited from owning swords. after the late 1580s. The feudal Japanese would be nothing if they weren’t a people painfully familiar with war. From children who go into battle at ages that would not allow them to earn a high school diploma in modern society to young housewives who wield naginata (halberds) against marauding home invaders, there were few, even among the lower classes. They did not seem more dead and conflict than most of the people living today.

In short, feudal Japan was a war-torn place, exposing people to a high risk of battle-related illnesses, and had a population that was almost ubiquitously familiar with war and war. One of the reasons that people like Miyamoto Musashi and Hattori Hanzo were and are so admired is that succeeded and flourished in feudal Japan, despite rampant warfare, battle illnesses, and the general warlike attitude of his Japanese comrades. The great level of knowledge and skill that these people learned through their life experience must have been amazing! Beyond the three big topics I have covered here, there are many other factors that made life for feudal Japanese difficult and dangerous, even in peacetime. So when you build your time machine and ask me if I want to go back and live in feudal Japan, I’ll say no. Good luck out there!

Civilization V was released in 2010 and became a huge success story. The franchise has sold more than 33 million units over the years, with Civilization V being the best-selling version, having sold around 8 million units sold worldwide.

And the Civilization V player reviews were pretty good too. G5 gave it 5 out of 5. PC Gamer gave it 98 out of 100 and Game Informer 9.75 out of 10. And Civilization V took the award for “Best Strategy Game” at the 2011 BAFTA Games awards.

However, that is not to say that there were not some complaints with Civilization V. A major objection was the quality of the AI ​​game opponents and their lack of intelligence when it came to conducting negotiations and diplomacy.

So how has Firaxis Games tried to enhance the success of Civilization V?

The latest version, Civilization VI, will be released on October 21, 2016. The same team that developed Civilization V has also worked on its successor. And it has already been named ‘Best PC Game’ and ‘Best Strategy Game’ at the Game Critics Awards.

What’s new? Well, the developers have suggested in various interviews that the research found that many players had found playing Civilization V to be one-dimensional.

The great goal of Civilization VI has been to create a game that makes players think a lot more. A more reactive experience is what the developers have tried to achieve.

And with that in mind, they have made big changes to Civilization VI. To begin with, the development of the city has been reviewed. Now when you have built a city center, you must specialize the function of that city. It can become a specialized military, industrial or scientific city, for example, but it cannot contain elements of everything.

And that means that the terrain is much more important than in previous games. You have to think carefully and match the function of your city with the surrounding landscape now to get the best results. If you are building an industrial city, you will need natural resources, for example.

That will also affect how you should think about strategy. There will be cities that you will need to identify as vitally important to your opponents’ infrastructure that you can attack, and cities that you will need to put extra emphasis on defending yourself.

The AI ​​opponents have also been updated. Then the historical figures like Gandhi and Teddy Roosevelt that you are playing against will be more intelligent and cunning. Each has its own particular personality for you to read and monitor, but also hidden agendas that you will have to work hard to decipher.

And unlike previous Civilization games, there are far greater rewards for developing the culture of your empire. In earlier versions of the game, you will find it much more difficult to succeed with an emphasis on cultural development compared to, say, science or your military. So, for the first time, developing drama, philosophy, and poetry could be your path to victory.

5.) Halo 3 (2007)

Why: The Halo series is unique. Gathered friends to blast each other in epic space combat. Halo 3 is perhaps the best of the series when it comes to glorified multiplayer, with a dramatic story with no shortage of opera music tracks and tough character customization. Many titles are still trying to replicate what Halo did and they just can’t be matched.

4.) Minecraft (2011)

Why: Minecraft is one of the best-selling video games of all time, so you’d have to live under a rock as a gamer to never run into it. You can basically create your own world and do whatever you want. If you think about it, you can create it. The great thing about Minecraft is that it is offered on almost all platforms, including smartphones. This game is good to let your mind wander and become an artist.

3.) Super Mario 64 (1996)

Why: Mario is one of the best-known titles, but anyone can tell you that it could be the best game in the franchise. The game is unlike any of its predecessors because it was the first 3D platformer in the series. It’s a bigger world than the previous ones and the extra moves and jumps Mario can do make the game faster and more exciting. There are a total of 120 stars and the game has a lot of replay value. Mario platformer games are still being made today and none of them still can’t come close to how good this game was.

2.) Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

Why: Everyone has their favorite Zelda game, but Ocarina of Time includes the best features of the glorified series. There is a huge world that you have the freedom to explore, a magnificent score, and a truly remarkable origin story. The dungeons aren’t too challenging, but intricate enough that you don’t get too mad when you can’t solve a puzzle.

1.) Pokémon X and Y (2013)

Why: If you are a child or an adult, with this franchise that never seemed to matter. Pokémon revolutionized what it meant to bring characters like Pikachu to life. They modernized the portable multiplayer game and made it what it is today. X and Y is one of the newer titles, which is great because the game never stops using the old characters that adults grew up with.

Have you ever heard the phrase that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones? Perhaps you are more familiar with what Jesus said: He who is without sin casts the first stone (John 8: 7). Before you start attacking or finding fault with others, first examine yourself.

Imagine a family of people who keep their house dirty but tell all their neighbors to keep their house clean. That family lives in illusion because they have not taken care of business by themselves, but they point to others. In many ways, the church has grown into the hand that points the index finger only to discover three fingers pointing at us.

There is so much controversy among believers about how unbelievers speak harshly against God’s word. In many fellowship circles, the topic of discussion is what an artist, rapper, or politician has said against the Bible. The words of non-believers shouldn’t surprise Christians because they honestly don’t believe in God. Holding an unbeliever to the standard of respecting Jesus would be like getting a Christian to speak well of atheism.

Our first brothers and sisters lived and served God in pagan lands where many idols were worshiped, but their focus was on the word of God. They presented the gospel of Jesus Christ and engaged in battles with others when necessary. Most of his day was not consumed with what the pagans were doing to disrespect Jesus, but the focus was on spreading the gospel and converting non-believers.

Jesus has called all of us to take care of our Father’s affairs and focus on building the kingdom of God. We need to focus more on spreading the gospel to non-believers rather than debating non-believers about their beliefs. We were all once lost and it was the word of God that opened our eyes and we must use that same power to open the eyes of others. God’s love and grace saved my life and were more powerful than someone yelling at the top of their lungs that I was wrong for practicing atheism or dabbling in Islam and Buddhism.

The sad truth is that we focus so much on unbelievers that we neglect to take care of the home first. There are many false churches and false pastors who lead entire congregations to destruction and blaspheme the name of Christ. We should focus on cleaning the house and teaching the true gospel to those within our family because hypocrites are giving us a bad name. A lot of preachers are teaching the doctrine of demons and preaching for lust and profit and at the end of the day all a lot of Christians are saying is did you hear that celebrity or politician say that about God? Let’s focus on teaching the word of God and let the Holy Spirit do his work to save the world through us.-Amen.

Because the time has come for the judgment to begin at the house of God; And if it starts with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? -1 Peter 4:17

FragFX Shark 360

The last time I really enjoyed console games was on the SNES and Genesis. Being a PC gamer, I had very little interest in the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, so it wasn’t until about a year ago that I finally broke down and bought a 360. It was an impulsive purchase because a price cut had just disappeared. instead. The first game I tried was the Kane & Lynch 2 demo. What a mess that was. The demo gets you straight to the nitty-gritty and lasted a couple seconds per reboot.

My Xbox 360 remained relatively unused until the launch of the Mass Effect 2 demo, which is when I decided to give it a try again. I couldn’t move, couldn’t aim, and Shepard looked like a complete idiot wallowing awkwardly unable to get out of the first room. My pathetic display on Bulletstorm was when I decided that the 360 ​​was only good for puzzle and platformer games.

Not being able to play console shooters is a common complaint for PC gamers. I think you need to be a console kid, raised with a controller in hand, to really understand it. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. I tried Splitfish’s FragFX Shark 360 and can now magically play 360 FPS games. My platform of choice will remain PC for the unpredictable future, but my Xbox 360 no longer feels so limited.

The FragFX Shark 360 comes in 3 pieces: the dongle, the mouse, and the fragchuck.

Pros:

• Wireless mouse and fragchuck, each one takes one AA battery.
• Fully plug and play, you just have to configure the mouse and the aiming sensitivity.
• Can be used with PC. It helps justify the cost and actually works quite well on PC.
• The headset can still be used for multiplayer games by connecting the computer to your wired Xbox 360 controller.
• The mouse and fragchuck can be customized both in and out of the game.
• It comes with a large mouse pad that can be used on your lap, on the couch, on the head of your loved ones, or wherever you want to put it.
• The separate aiming sensitivity dial allows for greater precision.
• The shark is available in some retail stores (like Walmart).

Cons:

• You need a wired controller for Xbox 360 to use FragFX Shark. The Shark itself is wireless, but the controller must be connected to the unit independently.
• The mouse is quite large. It’s no bigger than the average gaming mouse, but unless you have big man’s hands, you’ll have trouble reaching for some of the buttons. Fortunately, you can set the bindings in a way that you won’t need to use any keys that your chubby little sausage fingers can’t reach.
• The included dongle will not connect to the back of the Xbox 360 because the enclosure around it is too thick. You have to use a front port.
• The left and right mouse buttons seem a bit tight.
• The $ 80 price tag.

The FragFX Shark 360 doesn’t just do what it says and claims to do, it does it very well.

From the Splitfish site:

The FRAGFX SHARK 360 is a major step forward for the console gaming industry because it not only provides a near-perfect FPS experience, similar to a PC mouse for gamers on the XBOX 360, but also provides a stick counterpart. fully programmable, high-end, and easy-to-adopt analog that make it possible for PC FPS fans to enjoy their favorite shooting games on XBOX 360, MAC or PC.

The Splitfish FRAGFX SHARK 360 lets you play FPS games on a console the way they were originally designed to be played, PLUS MORE. With the FRAGFX SHARK 360, you can intuitively point with a mouse and adjust sensitivity on the fly, as well as use advanced features like button remapping, turbo, melee wrist movement and much more with ease.

The FRAGFX SHARK 360 is optimized for FPS shooters, but it also has all the functions of a normal XBOX 360 controller, so it can be used for all games. Gamers don’t have to go through complex procedures for button mapping or sensitivity adjustments, the FRAGFX SHARK 360 is designed for simple and intuitive customization on the fly. Also, like its brother, the FRAGFX SHARK, the FRAGFX SHARK 360 has a super long battery life of 50 hours of playtime and 500 hours of standby time on 2 AA batteries.

Main features:

• Play with the mouse on the XBOX 360 as you would on a PC
• Plug and play
• Full support for XBOX 360, PC and MAC
• NEW 50h + playtime
• NEW 500h + standby energy saving
• 1 AA battery per unit (requires only 2 AA batteries per set, batteries not included)
• Quick access to special functions (e.g. macro, quick shot, button switch, stick switch, etc.)
• New 2.4 GHz wireless technology
• Easy configuration in the controller (no further firmware updates required)
• On-the-fly dead zone adjustment wheel
• SixAxis Support

Rating: 85%

“The rich,” writes Michael Olmert, a professor at the University of Maryland, “have a tremendous influence on history.” Where they live and the things they own “dominate what we know about the past simply because good things last longer than the vernacular and the ephemeral,” he writes in his book “Milton’s Teeth and Ovid’s Umbrella.”

“Graffiti defeats that with a stroke of the pen,” he adds, “hitchhiking on the walls of good to expose an alternative past.”

Nowhere in eastern Idaho is that democratic sentiment more evident than a cold, dusty, graffiti-filled lava tube buried under a sunburned field dotted with brown shards of broken beer bottles. In recent decades, graffiti artists have covered the basalt walls of 17-Mile Cave with names, dates, pictures, and love notes.

And monsters. My son’s favorite.

Colloquially, the 17-mile cave is located just 400 feet south of US Highway 20, about 17 miles west of downtown Idaho Falls, ID, in a location marked by an Idaho “Elephant Hunters” historical marker. . Park either at the marker exit or on the dirt road that circles a dimple in the landscape to the south. In that dimple is the entrance to the cave.

The location, size and composition of the cave make it an excellent place to pique the interest of would-be cavers, no matter how young they are. Michelle and I took our three children, Liam, 7, Lexie, 5, and Isaac, 2½, to the cave for their first caving adventure.

Of course, given the nature of children (especially the literal-minded five-year-olds who believe their mothers when they tell them to let Daddy go into the cave first, breathing in cold air like a huge refrigerator, to look for bears) his first adventure. did not come without tears. A dozen meters from the entrance of the cave, our two youngest want to get out. (My wife, Michelle, took them out. They waited for us half an hour in the truck. And on the way home, she added to our daughter’s literal mentality with this story: “I told Lexie to put her flashlight on the ground she could see the rocks. while we were going out, “he said. Instead of pointing the light at the ground, he lowered the flashlight and walked away. Mom quickly straightened it up).

Liam, however, is ready to move on. He and I kept walking, him leading the way, his flashlight sending a random wandering circle of light down the walls, floor, and ceiling.

The cave is an easy walking experience, the entrance being the most difficult aspect. Tall adults and children have to duck and climb a short series of natural lava rock steps, a distance of no more than 12 feet, before the cave opens wide enough to stand up. From there, it’s just a half-mile hike to the end of the cave, requiring only bending over for two additional short stretches. As the cave does not branch, there is no chance of getting lost, although it is absolutely dark inside when you are not in sight of the entrance.

A natural rock fall followed by the cave’s only major turn quickly hides the entrance and the light entering the cave. For the most part, the cave is about a dozen yards wide and easily ten feet high, although there is a chamber where the cave widens to at least twenty yards wide and easily thirty feet high, enough room for a match. makeshift soccer, if I’ve brought enough light.

A cave teaches a seven-year-old about tranquility. Halfway through, I shut up Liam’s talk and told him to tell me what he could hear:

In the distance, a trickle. . .drip. . .drip. . .

“Someone left the tap running, dad.”

Sure, of him.

A little closer: “Errrrr, rerrrr, rerrrr, rerrrrrrrr.”

“Is that a monster?”

“Don’t believe it, son.” Someone else in the cave has a flashlight like us. I lift the handle of our rechargeable light and it makes the same noise. “Do you hear your echo?”

“HELLO THERE!” he yells in the dark, shining his flashlight as if trying to follow his scream as it resounds.

Then we see lights ahead.

“Hello! Who is it? What’s your name? Did you see a monster,” he yells, the echoes colliding with each other like bumper cars.

No monsters. Just a family dating, followed by their curious and friendly black lab.

We keep walking, understanding that while a cave can teach about silence, that lesson does not necessarily come to be heard above the typical barrage of questions from young people.

Is there still lava in the cave, dad? (On the way to the cave, I talked about how, thousands of years ago, the cave was formed when a river of lava flowed underground, then subsided, leaving the cave behind.)

No, there is no lava, son.

How long is it

Long enough, it is.

Is the cave going to fall?

Better no. Your mom would be mad at me if I did.

What if we turn off our flashlights?

Try it.

It does. For about two seconds, we’re shrouded in darkness, so no tent built from blankets and driftwood by a seven-year-old hoping to sleep under the stars will match it.

He turns the light back on and it illuminates me. “I thought I had lost my dad,” he said. “But there you are.”

Are there monsters, dad? Besides the bears, I joke that the cave is home to the wookalar, my favorite movie monster.

“Let’s find out,” I tell him.

Right after the Echo Chamber, my name for the largest room in the cave; I’m not sure, in 25 years of visiting this cave, if any of the features have an official name: the roof on the left falls back less than three feet from the floor. Long ago, a vivid imagination saw the mouth and eyes of a monster, something resembling a brontosaurus, emerging from that formation. So they painted the rock to give their imagination a bit of definition.

“Monster face!” my son screams-whispers, as I illuminate the monster’s neon-painted features. (Some dedicated souls re-touch the painting every year, making sure the monster’s vivid gaze is there for future cave-goers.)

It holds its own light, blinding the monster should it decide to come to life. The mist of his breath catches the lightning. “Smoke monster!” he whispers. (The monster’s smoke, this time at least, is pretty dense, churning in underground clouds whether we’re breathing or not. It appears in pictures, giving the glowing rock, sparkle-lit faces, and luminous paint an even creepier feel. while we climb underground with the monsters looking at us with their yellow eyes).

The monster is the least of the cave’s graffiti, all surprisingly rated G, at least to the uninitiated. Scrawled on the walls are messages from former cave dwellers, ranging from the mundane: “Stop the graffiti,” “EXIT” (with arrows pointing in opposite directions) and “Dyslexicz of Idaho Untie!” – to the funny – “Give up hope, those who enter here” – to the ingeniously cryptic – “Being the adventures of One Uther Smith”, accompanied by a drawing of a pale, gloomy young man with a goatee. Uther is, of course, up to date. It comes with its own URL: biminicomics.com. He is a freshly printed comic book hero, introduced to the world in the spring of 2007 at the San Francisco Center for the Book.

“The story is deeply rooted in that region of Idaho,” said Brandon Mise, a former Idaho Falls resident who wrote the comic with illustrator John Murphy and colorist Nye Wright. “I wanted the people there to know that they will soon have a local hero to support.” The comic, while set in Pocatello, is largely based on easily recognizable locations in Idaho Falls.

While researching locations for the comic, partially set at Mise’s uncle’s local potato farm, the trio found out about the cave “and came back the next day, armed with a backpack full of spray paint,” Mise said.

So everyone enjoys 17-Mile Cave. Except my youngest son and daughter, of course, but they are still young. This place catches the eye, even of some North Carolina-based authors indulging in some literal underground publicity in a cold cave on the edge of the Lost River desert. What future historians can do with that is anyone’s guess.

A note for aspiring graffiti artists:

I want it to be stated here that I do not advocate graffiti, certainly not in this cave. Those who go to this cave should know that it is on private property and that the property owner has been very kind over the years allowing people to climb into his natural basement, paint cans in hand. or not. But since the walls are covered in graffiti, I write about it. In penance, every time I go there, I grab a garbage bag and clean up some of the debris that other cave dwellers leave behind.

You can’t walk into any furniture store or go online without looking at a collection of office furniture. Office furniture is in high demand all over the place. Buyers want furniture for their homes and workplaces. You will often find this type of furniture in the reception area of ​​a company.

Many companies want their reception area to convey a pleasant and welcoming feeling to visitors. This is why office reception units are great for your receptionist area. You can buy reception furniture at various furniture stores, but you’ll get the most options if you shop online. Buying online will give you a wider selection to choose from, just be careful about shipping charges on some sites.

Office reception desk

A receptionist’s desk is usually quite large because she is expected to perform a number of different tasks throughout the day and can help you stay organized. A large desk also helps direct visitors to where to go for help. The most common type of reception desk is rectangular or L-shaped. An L-shaped desk provides plenty of space because one area can be used for data entry and computer work, while the other can be to communicate with visitors, including customers and vendors.

Office Furniture: Chair

Office furniture stores will have a large selection of office chairs to choose from. It is a good idea to choose something that is comfortable to sit on for long periods of time, as receptionists tend to sit a lot. Choose chairs that have cushioned seats and a good back. Back pain is a common complaint in an office workspace, so do your best to get a comfortable chair. However, you don’t have to spend a lot because you can get a great chair for less than $ 100.

Cabinets

Most receptionists also have filing work to do, so it is recommended that you purchase filing cabinets that can be kept close to the reception area. You can choose from many different collections to have matching units or just choose a metal or wood design. You can choose between vertical or horizontal filing cabinets and they will typically have between 2 and 5 drawers. The style you choose really depends on how much filing you need to do and how much room you have in your office space.

These are some of the most fundamental things that any reception area should contain. You may also want to think about purchasing things like printer stands, additional tables, bulletin boards and desk accessories, and wall calendars. Office furniture stores will offer various collections of office furniture for you to select from; however, the most important pieces will be the office furniture reception desk and office chair.

The multiplayer game of Call of Duty Modern warfare 2 is ready to catch you with its incredible graphics that immerse you in the modern war game and on top of all that, the astonishing speed of all the action is enough to overwhelm you! In addition, the multiplayer option with cooperative mode allows you to fight side by side with a friend on the battlefield.

Modern Warfare 2 has stepped away from the rest of the pack, with its overwhelming graphics and sheer depth with its online counterpart. With its impressive graphics, the game can focus on important aspects that are important to any player. As his accurate description of the real life weapons he can use. With around 70 different weapons and equipment to defend and fight your enemies, it is not unreasonable to look up the capabilities of weapons in real life on the internet and see what damage it can cause. The whole game provides you with an arsenal of advanced and powerful weapons and makes you fight battles in the most dangerous spots in the world.

The story of the game Modern Warfare weaves great twists into the plot and revolves around a soldier from the US Navy and the British SAS. The game works well with a coordinated ground and air attack at many points in the game, relying on your speed, precision, and communication that are needed for you and your team to be successful.
There are many innovative modes and features built into the Modern Warfare game:

Squad Buddy Mode:

You can play Modern Warfare alongside a friend on one screen and you on the other. Best of all, a second remote control can also be activated, giving the second player a chance to aim however they want.

Wii’s incomparable multiplayer:

The best gaming experience comes from the use of multiple perks, challenges, Kill Streaks and custom classes with which you can easily make changes, in addition to the Wifi connection that dominates your opponents online in multiple game modes.

Immersive images:

The stunning visuals and incredible special effects have drawn all Wii players to try and experience the game and feel it. Its ease of play is what this game will sell on the Wii platform.

Advanced weaponry:

Innovative weaponry like laser lights, Claymore mines and caliber sniper rifles plus SAW machine guns that give you the real thrill when you lock and load weapons to accomplish your mission are part of Modern Warfare gameplay.

Customizable control settings:

You can easily customize the game’s modern weaponry and class with the full Wii Zapper that adds a layer of depth to the visceral action in the game. The game’s missions are so immersive that you will certainly feel like you are in real life when the firefight begins, and you will fight with the same enthusiasm as if you were in direct contact with a real enemy.

You can also buy Modern Warfare 2 games online as they will ship within a day in advance quickly and continue the fight for the Nintendo Wii connection for unrivaled multiplayer action.