Ikebana: Living Flowers

Shippin' Out Jan. 22-28: Assassin's Creed: Revelations DLC

Out in front this week is the Mediterranean Traveler Pack for Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Set to arrive on Tuesday for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, the downloadable content brings a mix of six new and old multiplayer maps to the game. Ubisoft said players can expect to travel to new locations like Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Dyers and return to Brotherhood maps Firenze, San Donato, and Siena in the new DLC. The Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack will cost 800 Microsoft points ($10) on Xbox Live and $9.99 for the PC and PS3.

Also out this week is the Master Suite Stuff expansion pack for PC and Mac iterations of The Sims 3. The add-on brings a range of luxurious furnishings to the game, including canopied beds, vases of flowers, new haircut options, and "intimate wear options."

The last prominent new release out this week is downloadable action game Scarygirl on the PSN. Released last week on Xbox Live, the title is based on the graphic novel of the same name, created by Nathan Jurevicius.

Source: GameSpot

Infertility's Impact on a Relationship: Making a New Vase

by infertilityawakening

"Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than the love which took its symmetry for granted when it was whole."- Derek Walcott, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet

I have often equated the mine, well the lack of fertility, the diagnosis with a broken vase-feeling, as if everything has held together my life has been destroyed, like my favorite vase that used to contain bright tulips Spring purple was scooted away carelessly on a table hard slate floor and broke into pieces before my eyes.

These days I am slowly beginning to see that the love between my husband and I, who is to reassemble the fragments, perhaps it is much stronger than the symmetry between us that existed before.

Infertility can put a strain on a marriage, may force the conversation you thought you never have, and the potential to create a space large fluctuations between two people who were closely intertwined before....

Read more...

News

Fact File: Syria

The Independent - Dec 31, 1969

Source: Reuters £2650 – Price-tag of a vase Asma al-Assad ordered from Harrods in June 2011. Source: The Guardian 24324 – Number of Syrian refugees in Turkey in April 2012. Source: The Daily Beast $4.7bn – Value of Russian arms deals with Syria,

Coronation street revival for the Jubilee

Telegraph.co.uk - Dec 31, 1969

Angling Spring, named after the woods behind it, originally had two bedrooms and two slate-shelved larders – one for pots and pans, the other for dry foodstuffs. Jane, who shares the now enlarged house with her husband, Dean, and their five children,

Just One Color

Wall Street Journal - Dec 31, 1969

The urge to wipe the slate clean is one that many designers are satisfying this season into fall, stripping their collections down to monochromatic looks in muted tones. The silhouette blends ideas of old-fashioned suiting, like those worn by Jackie

Easy ways to accessorize your home

Fox News - Dec 31, 1969

Whether you are looking to revitalize your décor or find the perfect finishing touches, here are some easy tips to help you create the right look and atmosphere: Start with a clean slate Susan Wesley of Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based Wesley Design Inc.

See the Diminutive Sculptures From the High Line's First Group Show, “Lilliput”

In the Air, Art+Auction's Gossip Column (blog) - Dec 31, 1969

New York's High Line park recently opened the first group exhibition of newly commissioned works installed atop the elevated greenway, “Lilliput,” which features works by an international slate of six artists and will be on view through April 14, 2013.