The Major Hickory Species in North America

The Major Hickory Species in North America Trees in the genus Carya (from Ancient Greek for nut) are commonly known as hickory. The worldwide hickory genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts. North America has the overwhelming edge on the  number of native hickory species, with a dozen or so (11–12 in the United States, one in Mexico), while there are five or six species from China and Indochina. The hickory tree, along with the oaks, dominates the hardwood forests of eastern North America. Identifying the Common Hickories There are six species of Carya that make up the most common hickories found in North America. They come from three major groups called shagbark (which has shaggy bark), pignut (which rarely has shaggy bark), and the pecan group. The shaggy bark is a clear identifier to separate the shagbark group from the pignut group, though some older hickories have slightly scaly bark. Hickories have a nutritious nut meat that is covered by a very hard shell, which is in turn covered by a splitting husk shell (as opposed to a larger walnut that drops with a complete husk cover). This fruit is located at the twig tips in clusters of three to five. Search for them for under a tree to help in identification. They have branching flowering catkins  just below the emerging new leaf umbrella-like dome in spring. Not all are eaten by humans. The leaves of hickory are mostly alternately placed along the twig, in contrast to a similar-looking ash tree leaf that is in an opposite arrangement. The hickory leaf is always  pinnately  compound,  and the individual leaflets can be  finely serrated or toothed. Identification While Dormant Hickory twigs have tan,  five-sided or angled soft centers called piths,  which are a major identifier. The trees bark is variable along species lines and not helpful except for loose, flaky bark on the shagbark hickory group. The trees fruit is a nut, and splitting husks are often visible under a dormant tree. Most hickory species have stout twigs with large terminal buds. Growing North American Hickory Species These large, long-lived, slow-growing deciduous trees are known for being good shade trees and feature golden color in the fall. They are difficult to transplant because of their long taproot and might be hard to find in nurseries. Their bark is a range of gray colors, whether they have shaggy bark or not, and youll find them in USDA Zones 4–9, though the pecan is found in Zones 5–9. Fruit drops from late summer into autumn. Shagbark hickory tree. Roger Smith/Getty Images Shagbark hickory, Carya ovata, is as you would imagine, a tree with shaggy bark that peels away in big pieces. Their mature height is 60–80 feet tall, with a 30–50-foot width. Leaves are  8 to 14 inches long, with five to seven leaflets  These trees are tolerant of a wide range of conditions, such as drought, acidic or alkaline soil, but do need a well-drained, large location free from salty soil. The round nut has a four-sectioned husk. Shellbark Hickory bark: Carya laciniosa. DEA/C.SAPPA/Getty Images The shellbark hickory, Carya laciniosa, is a shaggy gray-bark species. This hickory grows up to 75–100 feet tall with a 50–75-foot width. Its not tolerant of alkaline soils or drought conditions, salt spray or salty soils and needs a big area of well-draining soil. Its best grown in moist soils. Leaves are in clusters of seven to nine leaflets. Oval nuts have a five- to six-sectioned husk and are the largest of the hickory species. Carya tomentosa, Mockernut hickory. Gary Ombler/Getty Images The mockernut hickory, Carya tomentosa, reaches 50–60 feet tall and 20–30 feet wide. Its tolerant of drought but not poor drainage and is best in slightly acidic soil, as its intolerant of alkaline soils and salt in the soil. Its leaves are alternate, compound leaves with seven to nine leaflets that are hairy on the underside and the stalk; the largest will be the terminal leaf.  Its nuts ripen in fall and have four sections. Pignut hickory tree. Stan Osolinski/Getty Images The pignut hickory, Carya glabra, is a dark-gray tree that extends to 50–60 feet in height with a spread of 25–35 feet. It does well in a variety of soils. It moderately tolerates salty soil and hangs in there through drought, but it doesnt do well in areas of poor drainage. As the tree ages, the bark may appear slightly shaggy. Its alternate, compound leaves are 8 to 12 inches long with five to seven leaflets, with the one on the end being the largest. The bitter nuts are pear-shaped and have four ridges on the husks, which do not easily come off of the nut. Carya Illinoensis (Pecan tree), tree with yellow leaves in park. Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images The pecan tree, Carya illinoinensis, contains the sweetest nuts of all the hickory trees and is one of the most important native North American nut trees, though it can be a messy tree to grow due to leaf and fruit drop. It grows 70–100 feet tall with a spread of 40–75 feet. Its tolerant of acidic soils and only moderately tolerant of alkaline soils. Itll handle some poor drainage all right but not drought, salt spray, or salty soil. The bark is brownish black, and leaves are 18–24 inches long, containing nine to 17 narrow, long leaflets with a hook shape near each tip. Nuts are cylindrical. Carya cordiformis (Butternut hickory), green-leaved tree.   James Young/Getty Images The bitternut hickory, Carya cordiformis, also commonly called the swamp hickory, loves moist conditions and hates drought and poor drainage, though it can be found in some drier landscapes in addition to its typical low, wet conditions. It needs a large area to grow and can reach 50–70 feet high and 40–50 feet wide when mature. It prefers acidic soil but can tolerate alkaline. It can handle some salt spray but not salty soil. Leaves contain seven to 11 long, narrow leaflets. It grows bitter nuts that, although not poisonous, to humans are more of the inedible variety due to their taste. The nuts are about an inch long and have four-sectioned, thin husks. To identify the tree in winter, look for its bright yellow buds.

Business Finance Report

You need to conduct a research on equity capital available for new ventures in your home country and prepare the report.   1) An introduction explaining major sources of equity capital for new ventures, such as 2) Describe all main BA, VC and PE firms in your home country (their structure, history, approach, number of deals, total amount of capital raised, etc.) – all factors you may consider appropriate to have a better understanding of their activities. 3) Summarize BA, VC and PE firms in your home country in the following table:   Sectors: list all the sectors in which they invest (e.g. high tech, tel , agriculture, etc.) Website: Give the link to the website 4) Give your conclusion on the situation with equity capital in your home country and perspectives for the future. You are required to prepare the report based on the results of your research and analysis. The report should contain: tables of contents, introduction, analysis and conclusion. The student’s work will be assessed by analytical abilities, deepness of research, solid judgments, logic of statements, and understanding of implications of finance and business.    Business angle are individual investor who finance new start-ups from his own fund directly. He /she are independent financially i.e. his profit or loss will not hamper the whole economy of a country. They do not have any family relation with the startups. They make their own investment decision, which is final[1]. Their investment varies from medium to long term depending n the case. Venture capital was first introduced in the 20th century, which means risky capital. It supports new ideas that are very risky but have high profit and growth. It is a type of equity financing which is very long term. There is a liquidity problem in venture capital as during the startups the project is expected to run for several years. It involves high technology and enjoys capital, which is the main benefit when the business succeeded[2]. It does not take a dividend in the intermediate stage. It also participate I the management o the entrepreneur and give expert advice besides monetary support. Private equity is a class of asset that consists of various securities, which are invested, in panies to generate high values. There are various types of Private equity like leveraged buyout (LBO), venture capital, Mezzanine capital and growth capital Growth capital refers to small amount of investment in the equity of a matured pany to help it expand its capital base or increase its market share without any changes in the management control of the pany[3].  Ã‚   In this section detailed analysis of various BA, VC and PE in Spain will be done and their impact on the new ventures will be discussed. In Spain, many business angle brokers support startups. However, top 10 are: Carlos Blanco: He is one of the greatest business angle in Spain. He is the cofounder of a gaming pany named Akamon Entertainment. He is also the CEO of Grupo ITnet. He has invested in many panies like Infantium or Kantox. Yago Arbeloa: He is the brother of Spanish footballer Alvaro Arbeloa and is in this business from the year 2010. He has invested in panies like Reclamador, Percentil and Really late Booking. He is also the president of AIEI and media group of Hello[4]. Francois Derbaix: he is the most active angle business in Spain. He has given support to almost 21 panies in past year, which includes Startupexplore, Tiendeo and unitae. He is also the co-founder of Toprural and Rentalia[5]. Currently he is running Soysuper. Every entrepreneur must read his personal blog before starting up a venture. Jesus Encinar:   He is called the founder of Idealista. He also invested in Spanish startups like Etece and AsesorSeguros. He is the advisory board member of Seaya Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by Micheal Kleindl and Beatriz Gonzallez, which has invested in panies like Ticketea and Cabify since 2013. Bernando Hernandez: Previously he is the director management of product in Google and currently he is running the product division of Flickr’s. He is the one of the initial investor of Tuenti that is a social networking site purchased by Telefonica[6]. As an angle business investor he has also funded Mad Video and Mola . Jesus Monleon: He has a lot of expertise and experience in investing and creating various panies. He has founded Emagister in 2000 and recently founded Offerum. For 7 years he has worked in Caixa Capital Risc as an venture associate backing both early stage and mature panies[7]. As an angel business investor, he has funded panies like DADA panies, Chicfy and Deporvillage. Axel Serene: He has at least 20 years of knowledge in the business of internet and is the Chief Executive Officer of Vittalia. As an individual investor, he has funded and backed various panies like Tiendeo, Popplaces and Akamon. He is a Barcelona based investor. Walter Kobylanski: He is the co-founder of panies like Gigas based in Madrid. He and his brother Christian has founded an investment vehicle known as Danka Capital that is backing panies in its early stages[8]. As an individual investor he has funded panies like TouristEye, Ducksboard and Jugo. Martin Varsavsky: He is very famous for inventing and promoting tech juggernaunts like Ta and jazztel. Recently he has fuended Fon-Martin that is an active investor for startups over the past decade[9]. With the help of Jazzya Investment he has supported more than 30 panies like Hootsuite, Meneame and Tumblr which was purchased by Yahoo for $1 billion in 2013. Juan Margenat: He is the co-founder of Marfeel, which is a based in Barcelona. He is also the advisor of Conector. Previously he founded Plan B and Weekendesk Iberia. He has also invested in Habitissimo and fintech darling Kantox. Top 10 Venture capital firms supporting new startups in Spain are as follows: Axon Partners group: Unlike most of the other Spanish venture capital firms is focuses on international market and has office in Spain, Colombia and India. In addition to funding the startups, it also gives consultancy services to panies in which it does not have a holding. In the year, 2010 Party Gaming was merged with this Venture capital firm[10]. Since 2013 it has funded 8 panies raising an   amount of euro 23.9 million. Cabiedes & Partners: It is one of the most famous VC firm in Spain, which have backed more than 40 panies within the country. It was founded in late 90s and is run by Cabiedes brothers. The firm has raised euro 30 million funds in 2014 and focuses on performance and key metrics[11]. It has entered into 17 deals since 2013 raising an amount of euro 25.2 million. Kibo Ventures: Telefonica chose it so that it can manage its Amerigo fund which aims at Latam and Spanish startups. It has entered into 16 number of deals since 2013 raising an amount of euro 24.7 million. It has its head quarter in Madrid and was founded in 2011 Nauta Capital: Like Axon, it also has an international base. It has offices in London and Barcelona. It backs panies, which is at its growth-stage[12]. It has   raised 100-150 million Euros in 2014 and invested in 30 startups within Spain, US and UK. Since 2013 it has entered into 7 deals raising a fund of 35 million euro.   Vitamin K: It is based in Madrid and invest in internet panies and technology which are at its early stage. It is run by Rafael Garrido and has funded at least 10 panies since it was founded. It has entered into 6 deals since 2013 raising an amount of 6.2 million euro. Active venture partner: Their policy is to invest 80% of its funds in Spanish startup and rest are allocated to European countries. It is one of the key funders of BuyVIP, the online shopping pany, which was purchased by Amazon in 2010 for $110 million[13]. It has entered into 4 deals since 2013 raising an amount of 14 million euro. Bosnai Venture capital: It is the oldest venture capital firm of Spain, which was founded in 1999. It invests in panies, which are at its early stage, and its portfolio has startups like Wallapop. It is one of the oldest funders of Idealista[14]. It has entered into 2 deals since 2013 raising a total fund of 3.87 million euro. Lanta Digital Ventures: Angel Garcia founded it in 2013, a very experienced entrepreneur who was previously the Chief finance Officer of a technology pany named Fractus that was the main developer of mobile phone. It has entered into 2 deals since 2013 raising a fund of 50k Euros. Seaya Ventures: Beatriz Gonzalez daughter of president of BBVA’S and Michael Kleindl founded it, which helps panies at their growth stages with an approximate investment of 10 million Euros[15]. It has entered into 5 deals since 2013 raising a fund of 23.4 million Euros. Caixa Capital Risc: It is the most active investment vehicle in Spain. Since 2011, it started funding technological panies and has a portfolio of almost 100 panies including La Caixa which was the most friendly startup banks in Spain. It has entered into 18 deals since 2013 raising an amount of 202 million Euros. Top 5 Private equity firm in Spain are as follows:   Magnum Partners: It manly focuses and invests in Iberian region. It targets all the middle level to upper middle level panies in Portugal and Spain. Portobello Capital: It is Spanish based private equity firms that invest in new ventures and startups, which have high growth aspects, but risk factor involved is very high. Mercapital Servicios: it supports the middle size panies in Spain by steering their process of internationalization[16]. It also invests in panies in Latin America who wants their development to speed up N+1: It supports the existing ventures that are willing to extend their market base and diversify in different sectors. They support panies who are setting up new units or expanding its exiting setup. MCH: It invests in panies who are willing to introduce new technology in the market. They not only provide funds to these panies but also give them expert advice relating to technological development.   https://www.linkedin /in/yago-arbeloa-2448623 https://es.linkedin /in/kobylanski https://www.linkedin /in/martinvarsavsky https://es.linkedin /in/juanmargenat Digital marketing, Online Advertising https://www.linkedin /in/jesusmonleon https://www.linkedin pany/axon-partners-group https://www.crunchbase /organization/cabiedes-partners https://www.crunchbase /organization/kibo-ventures www.nautacapital /news/nauta-iii www.webmd /vitamins-and-supplements/supplement-guide-vitamin-k www.bonsaiventurecapital /en/node/7 https://www.linkedin pany/caixa-capital-risc www.bloomberg /profiles/.../3407468Z:SM-mercapital-servicios-financieros-sl Storm water discharge, Scrape Recycling mch.aarogya /mch/what-is-mch/12-over-all-mch-and-health-sector-situation.html From the above discussion, it can be said that BA, VC and PE have changed the face of startup venture all over the world. In the recent year BA, VC and PE has grown at lot in Spain supporting new ventures and technologies, which involves high risk as well as high growth. It not only supports news startup panies with fund but also provide them technological and expert advices. Now a days, they are also involving in the management of new ventures which was previously not a tradition. Almost 10 BA, 10 VC and PE has been discussed in this report which gives an overview that this BA, VC and PE are focusing on every industry and giving financial and other assistant to panies who need support. Startup ventures, which previously used to struggle to enter into the market with new schemes and technology because of lack of fund are now a day’s supported by this BA, VC and PE with investment. This new ventures are now getting a platform to highlight their talent in the market. Their success and growth rate has also increased a lot during these years because of these BA, VC and PE.  Ã‚   Baldock, Robert, and David North. "The role of UK government hybrid venture capital funds in addressing the finance gap facing innovative SMEs in the post-2007 financial crisis era."  Research Handbook on Entrepreneurial Finance(2015): 125. Business, Small, and Tourism Branch. "ARCHIVED—Financing With Venture Capital: Advances in Knowledge Over the Last Ten Years and Research Avenues References." (2012). Cumming, Douglas J., and Sofia A. Johan.  Venture capital and private equity contracting: An international perspective. Academic Press, 2013. Demaria, Cyril.  Introduction to Private Equity: Venture, Growth, LBO and Turn-Around Capital. John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Dutta, Supradeep, and Timothy B. Folta. "A parison of the effect of angels and venture capitalists on innovation and value creation."  Journal of Business Venturing  31, no. 1 (2016): 39-54. Gregson, Geoff, Sacha Mann, and Richard Harrison. "Business angel syndication and the evolution of risk capital in a small market economy: evidence from Scotland."  Managerial and Decision Economics  34, no. 2 (2013): 95-107. Harrison, Richard. "Book Review: Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship."  International Small Business Journal  31, no. 7 (2013): 832-834. Hellmann, Thomas, and Veikko Thiele. "Friends or foes? The interrelationship between angel and venture capital markets."  Journal of Financial Economics115, no. 3 (2015): 639-653. Hisrich, Robert D., SaÃ… ¡a PetkoviĆ¡, Veland Ramadani, and Là ©o-Paul Dana. "Venture capital funds in transition countries: Insights from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia."  Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development  23, no. 2 (2016): 296-315. Lumme, Annareetta, Colin Mason, and Markku Suomi.  Informal venture capital: Investors, investments and policy issues in Finland. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. Manigart, Sophie, and Mike Wright. "Reassessing the relationships between private equity investors and their portfolio panies."  Small Business Economics  40, no. 3 (2013): 479-492. Mason, Colin, and Yannis Pierrakis. "Venture capital, the regions and public policy: the United Kingdom since the post-2000 technology crash."  Regional Studies  47, no. 7 (2013): 1156-1171. Mason, Colin, ed.  Handbook of research on venture capital. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012. Rosenbusch, Nina, Jan Brinckmann, and Verena Mà ¼ller. "Does acquiring venture capital pay off for the funded firms? A meta-analysis on the relationship between venture capital investment and funded firm financial performance."Journal of Business Venturing  28, no. 3 (2013): 335-353. Siepel, Josh. "Book review: Handbook of research on venture capital, volume 2: A globalizing industry."  International Small Business Journal  32, no. 4 (2014): 474-475. Vanacker, Tom, Veroniek Collewaert, and Ine Paeleman. "The relationship between slack resources and the performance of entrepreneurial firms: The role of venture capital and angel investors."  Journal of Management Studies  50, no. 6 (2013): 1070-1096.

The Balance Scorecard (BSC) in practice- the factors affecting the Essay

The Balance Scorecard (BSC) in practice- the factors affecting the successful implementation of a BSC - Essay Example Norton and Robert S. Kaplan (Punniyamoorthy & Murali, 2008). Balance Scorecard helps in implementing the organizational strategies in terms of actionable plan and make it a thorough continual process by providing a comprehensive road map of how to effectively carry out strategy, including the alignment and mobilization of the management team and other employees (Punniyamoorthy & Murali, 2008). According to Harvard Business Review, the Balance Scorecard is one of the most influential management ideas of the past 75 years (Palladium, n.d.). Today, many large, medium-sized and even small organizations use the Balance Scorecard as a performance measurement system, but usually small and medium-size companies fail to successfully implement that. This happens generally due to the gap between their strategies and vision. This paper is based on the concept of Balance Scorecard. The essay starts with the introduction, followed by a thorough understanding of the Balance Scorecard, with the significant reviews of the applicable literature, including factors that obstructs the successful execution of a Balance Scorecard. The Balance Scorecard is a tool that helps the organizations to create a link between its strategy and actions, encourages the individuals to involve in organizational planning, focuses on the critical phases of the business and take action instantly when change is required (Atkinson, 2006). It is a multidimensional tool that can be used in management, strategic and measurement systems. With its multidimensional tactics, the Balanced Scorecard integrates the performance measurement of both financial and management aspects (Punniyamoorthy & Murali, 2008). It measures the performance by focusing on four major perspectives, which includes financial stability, customer base, business operations, and learning and development. This tool gives the meaningful interpretations of the interconnections between the business processes

Case Study about 32 employees Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case Study about 32 employees - Research Paper Example Moreover, the interview method indicates the qualitativeness of the data that the consultant is gathering. In conducting a Descriptive Research, the consultant will simply be able to provide a description of the prevalent behavior of the employees in the workplace (Creswell, 2003). Question Two: How would you categorize the type of research conducted in Phase Two? Answer: The type of research conducted in Phase Two is Quantitative research. The Quantitative Research design makes use of numeric data in order to make inferences about a certain group. In this case, the consultant gathered numeric or quantitative data from the company employment records in the hope of finding significant differences in the data contained in the records (Creswell, 2003). Data: 1. During Phase One, the consultant determined that 50% of the employees were PhDs involved in new product research, the other 50% were laborers involved in distributing the product lines to customers. All of the PhDs were male, and all of the laborers were female. For all of the females, the employee’s income was a secondary income for the family; all were married and the majority had children. For the PhDs, the employee’s income was the family’s primary income; the majority was married with children. When asked, the managers noted that none of the employees ever violated the company’s absenteeism or tardiness policies. The majority of the employees expressed satisfaction with the company’s attendance policies. Several employees (all laborers) noted that the policy afforded them a good deal of flexibility to handle family matters as needed. The company awarded 20 days (160 hours) per year of vacation time that could accrue to a total of 40 days; they also provided 20 days (160 hours) of sick leave that could accrue to 180 days at which time long term disability took over paying the person’s salary. Sick leave and vacation could be taken on an hourly basis with manager approval. 2. The table below contains the numerical data collected by the consultant. Vac. Time Sick Leave Employee Gender Class. (hours) (hours) 1 M R 250 1000 2 M R 300 1250 3 F L 5 10 4 F L 4 25 5 M R 200 900 6 F L 100 24 7 M R 110 875 8 F L 75 150 9 F L 65 140 10 F L 120 250 11 M R 250 1225 12 M R 243 1210 13 F L 25 100 14 F L 10 50 15 M R 200 1100 16 M R 210 1098 17 F L 24 45 18 F L 15 23 19 F L 10 15 20 M R 220 1200 21 M R 250 1245 22 F L 25 54 23 M R 300 1300 24 F L 70 80 25 F L 80 100 26 M R 320 1440 27 M R 320 1440 28 F L 45 100 29 F L 34 100 30 M R 190 1000 31 M R 200 1100 32 M R 210 1200 Question Three: Calculate the average amount of vacation and sick leave for the two groups of employees (i.e., PhDs and laborers). Please show your work. Answer: In calculating the average amount of vacation and sick leave for the two groups of employees, the table was inputted to Excel and the data was sorted so that all researchers were grouped together and all laborers were grouped to gether. Afterwhich, the â€Å"AVERAGE† function was used to find the needed values. The following results were found: Table 1. Average Vacation and Sick Leave for Laborers and Researchers.    Vacation Time (in hours) Sick Leave (in hours) Laborers 44.2 79.1 Researchers 235.8 1161.4 Question Four: Calculate the standard deviation for the amount of vacati

The Beauty of Color Essay -- Creative Writing Essays

As the car stopped, he caressed me immediately; in synch with the stopping of the engine was the start of us. I say us because I feel like that’s what it is to become intimate with someone, you merge, mesh, mix into some form of a united being. I enjoyed him. Intimacy was an act of passion. It didn’t take love to feel passion, and it didn’t take an appropriate union to become a part of another person. We were one as he kissed me, touched me. I felt him and he felt me. One. â€Å"You like that,† he said, panting like some needy animal. Please be quiet. â€Å"Say it if you like it,† he panted some more. Shut the hell up. â€Å"Is it good?† â€Å"Quiet!† I yelled without realizing that my thoughts were vocalized. He pulled back and stared at me as if I were some whacko, needless to say the look was returned. A quick awkward expression and a not so melodious cry ended the moment. Now, the only sounds we heard other than the heavy breathing of us both was the zooming of passing vehicles. As I licked over my dry lips I recognized the taste of sweat in my mouth, kissing his neck I guessed. As he got up and scooted to ‘his side’ of the van I scratched my head noting that my hair felt like shit. Relaxed hair need not get sweaty; I felt the naps I tried so hard to conceal creeping back into the roots of my follicles. No ‘good’ hair here. His eyes were closed and I could see the moon reflecting light off of his caramel-complexioned skin. I got up and moved, naked, to the front of the van to roll down the windows; the dankness of the vehicle was enough to make me gag. â€Å"When are you going to take me home?† I asked. Without opening his eyes he shrugged his shoulders and gestured for me to shut up. â€Å"I would like to get back before my show... ...ooks, Paw-Paw was the only person in the world to ever call me beautiful. *** â€Å"You are not like me.† I said plainly. I opened my eyes to see that he was no longer listening. One thing about us, we connect during intimacy, but other than that we play tag. I want to tell him, though. Shake him and explain that his color makes me squirm. The way others of his ‘paper-bag-brown’ have talked down to me, made me question myself. Tell him that it took years to reverse the hatred that I grew for myself. I was eager, wanting to spill it all to him, make him understand. But I mellowed out. Looking at the moon on his skin I just pulled him towards me into my shadow, my dark shadow. Instead of telling him how I felt I would show him. Show him my hatred, my love, my curse, and my blessing. And in that van, in the dark of my shadow, we were both as black as we wanted to be. The Beauty of Color Essay -- Creative Writing Essays As the car stopped, he caressed me immediately; in synch with the stopping of the engine was the start of us. I say us because I feel like that’s what it is to become intimate with someone, you merge, mesh, mix into some form of a united being. I enjoyed him. Intimacy was an act of passion. It didn’t take love to feel passion, and it didn’t take an appropriate union to become a part of another person. We were one as he kissed me, touched me. I felt him and he felt me. One. â€Å"You like that,† he said, panting like some needy animal. Please be quiet. â€Å"Say it if you like it,† he panted some more. Shut the hell up. â€Å"Is it good?† â€Å"Quiet!† I yelled without realizing that my thoughts were vocalized. He pulled back and stared at me as if I were some whacko, needless to say the look was returned. A quick awkward expression and a not so melodious cry ended the moment. Now, the only sounds we heard other than the heavy breathing of us both was the zooming of passing vehicles. As I licked over my dry lips I recognized the taste of sweat in my mouth, kissing his neck I guessed. As he got up and scooted to ‘his side’ of the van I scratched my head noting that my hair felt like shit. Relaxed hair need not get sweaty; I felt the naps I tried so hard to conceal creeping back into the roots of my follicles. No ‘good’ hair here. His eyes were closed and I could see the moon reflecting light off of his caramel-complexioned skin. I got up and moved, naked, to the front of the van to roll down the windows; the dankness of the vehicle was enough to make me gag. â€Å"When are you going to take me home?† I asked. Without opening his eyes he shrugged his shoulders and gestured for me to shut up. â€Å"I would like to get back before my show... ...ooks, Paw-Paw was the only person in the world to ever call me beautiful. *** â€Å"You are not like me.† I said plainly. I opened my eyes to see that he was no longer listening. One thing about us, we connect during intimacy, but other than that we play tag. I want to tell him, though. Shake him and explain that his color makes me squirm. The way others of his ‘paper-bag-brown’ have talked down to me, made me question myself. Tell him that it took years to reverse the hatred that I grew for myself. I was eager, wanting to spill it all to him, make him understand. But I mellowed out. Looking at the moon on his skin I just pulled him towards me into my shadow, my dark shadow. Instead of telling him how I felt I would show him. Show him my hatred, my love, my curse, and my blessing. And in that van, in the dark of my shadow, we were both as black as we wanted to be.

The Black Cat

â€Å"The Black Cat† by Edgar Allan Poe is one of Poe’s greatest literary works that embodies his signature themes of death, violence, and darkness. Poe’s main character begins his narration of his horrible wrongdoings regarding them as a â€Å"series of mere household events† (Poe 705). However, this is where Poe’s satire and irony begins and the story progresses to show the deranged mindset of this character as he tries to justify his actions. As the main character proceeds to rationalize his crime, Poe is able to convey a sense of irony through his use of foreshadowing, metaphors and symbolism. Irony begins within the narrator’s introduction to his confession by telling the reader that he will tell his story but â€Å"without comment† (Poe 705). Within this same ironic tone, the narrator continues to humanize his actions and plea for justification but predicts that what he has already done has destroyed him. Poe describes how â€Å"these events have terrified–have tortured–have destroyed† him (Poe 705). Poe adds an ironic tone to the story by telling it through the narrator’s perspective. The narrator is a demented individual and the average reader cannot relate to the evil that has erupted inside him. As he begins to rationalize, there is a vast difference between the narrator and the reader leading to the irony that the man feels that this was all a normal series of misfortune. Literary critic, Richard Badenhausen, explains Poe’s decision for telling the story from the narrator’s point-of-view, â€Å"Despite pledging to tell his tale â€Å"without comment,† the narrator is constantly qualifying, correcting, and explaining, in the hope that the audience will see events from his perspective. Although he ironically announces in the opening sentence that he â€Å"neither expect[s] nor solicit[s] belief† the narrator is obsessively concerned with both activities: he hopes for understanding from his listeners and energetically pursues approval by employing the various manipulative tools of the storyteller† (Badenhausen 487). Finally, Poe also thickens the suspense of the story with the early foreshadowing that the main character feels that he may harm his wife writing, â€Å"At length, I even offered her personal violence† (Poe 706 ). The greatest metaphor throughout this tale is the black cat. While the narrator’s wife has been known to refer to the dark-haired feline as a â€Å"witch in disguise†, the metaphor for Poe is that the cat is not only a superstitious monster but it is also a metaphor for being the narrator’s own personal demon (Poe 706). The recurring events with the black cats in the story portray that they are metaphors for the narrator’s own problems that haunt him. As the series of events continue throughout the story, the cat becomes a visual element in the scene for the narrator’s recurring violence and finally brings him to the point of his insanity. Moreover, it has been argued that the cat is a metaphor for the narrator’s wife. Critics claim that the following passage raises suspicion that the killing of the first cat was actually the murder of his own wife. Poe writes: Norton Anthology American Literature. 7th. 1. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. , 2008. 705-711. Print. Critics who support this notion feel that the â€Å"reversal is substitution in wife for cat and cat for wife† and that the narrator had clearly projected his feelings for his wife onto the cat (Amper 475). Literary critic, Susan Amper, commented on this metaphor-theory, â€Å"It is not merely that the wife was always the intended victim; she was the original, in fact the only victim. Moreover, this inference provides a much more compelling reason for the narrator's substitution of cat for wife or rather twin reasons, for his pretense that he has only killed his cat serves both to ease his own sense of guilt, and to shield him from prosecution for murder (Amper 475). This theory also supports the irony that the wife’s body was decomposed after merely three-days and leaves the reader with one of Poe’s signature suspenseful, disturbing endings. The final writing element that Poe uses throughout this short story is symbolism. Readers are introduced to one of the story’s main characters, Pluto, the black cat, who supposedly provokes the narrator into committing his heinous acts of violence but is merely symbolic for the narrator’s imbedded hatred and evil. Not only is this feline symbolic for evil because of superstitions regarding black cats, the cat’s name has a deeper symbolic meaning. According to Roman Mythology, Pluto is name of the god of the dead and ruler of the underworld. This symbolic name not only represents the narrator’s cruel intentions but also provides a sense of foreshadowing. After the first black cat is slain, a second black cat appears and is unwelcomed by the narrator. According to Professor Ann Bliss from the University of California, â€Å"looks remarkably like the original except in one respect: it is marked with a patch of white that, for the narrator, increasingly comes to resemble a gallows—reminding the narrator of his violence toward the first cat and foreshadowing acts of violence to come† (Bliss 97). The white color of the patch with the offsetting black fur is also symbolic to the good and evil confliction within the narrator. Finally, the second black cat leads to the narrator allegedly murdering his wife accidently. In conclusion, Poe’s literary masterpiece, â€Å"The Black Cat† is a suspenseful story filled with irony and hidden messages and themes. Although this is a short-story, Poe skillfully provides the reader with enough evidence to make conclusions about the motive, sequence of events, and the narrator’s denial of apparent mental disorder and alcoholism that plagues him.

Babylonian Mathematics and the Base 60 System

Babylonian mathematics used a sexagesimal (base 60) system that was so functional it remains in effect, albeit with some tweaks, in the 21st century. Whenever people tell time or make reference to the degrees of a circle, they rely on the base 60 system. Base 10 or Base 60 The system surfaced circa 3100 BCE, according to The New York Times. â€Å"The number of seconds in a minute — and minutes in an hour — comes from the base-60 numeral system of ancient Mesopotamia,† the paper noted. Although the system has stood the test of time, it is not the dominant numeral system used today. Instead, most of the world relies on the base 10 system of Hindu-Arabic origin. The number of factors distinguishes the base 60 system from its base 10 counterpart, which likely developed from people counting on both hands. The former system uses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, and 60 for base 60, while the latter uses 1, 2, 5, and 10 for base 10. The Babylonian mathematics system may not be as popular as it once was, but it has advantages over the base 10 system because the number 60 â€Å"has more divisors than any smaller positive integer,† the Times pointed out. Instead of using times tables, the Babylonians multiplied using a formula that depended on knowing just the squares. With only their table of squares (albeit going up to a monstrous 59 squared), they could compute the product of two integers, a and b, using a formula similar to: ab [(a b)2 - (a - b)2]/4. The Babylonians even knew the formula that’s today known as the Pythagorean theorem. History Babylonian math has roots in the numeric system started by the Sumerians, a culture that began about 4000 BCE in Mesopotamia, or southern Iraq, according to ​USA Today. â€Å"The most commonly accepted theory holds that two earlier peoples merged and formed the Sumerians,† USA Today reported. â€Å"Supposedly, one group based their number system on 5 and the other on 12. When the two groups traded together, they evolved a system based on 60 so both could understand it.† That’s because five multiplied by 12 equals 60. The base 5 system likely originated from ancient peoples using the digits on one hand to count. The base 12 system likely originated from other groups using their thumb as a pointer and counting by using the three parts on four fingers, as three multiplied by four equals 12. The main fault of the Babylonian system was the absence of a zero. But the ancient Maya’s vigesimal (base 20) system had a zero, drawn as a shell. Other numerals were lines and dots, similar to what is used today to tally. Measuring Time Because of their mathematics, the Babylonians and Maya had elaborate and fairly accurate measurements of time and the calendar. Today, with the most advanced technology ever, societies still must make temporal adjustments — almost 25 times per century to the calendar and a few seconds every few years to the atomic clock. There’s nothing inferior about modern math, but Babylonian mathematics may make a useful alternative to children who experience difficulty learning their times tables.