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An elegant and versatile vector set, vectorized from an antique french type foundry catalog. 
Create dozens of different vintage frames by mixing the ornamental elements. Six frames combinations included, and you have all the vector elements to create more!

270 Free Vintage Vectors 

Free to use for Personal and Commercial use!

I was using StumbleUpon to pass the time.  I stumbled upon these useful vectors under creative common license for both personal and business use.  In general, many useful items under creative common license are for personal use only with a fee for business use.  I decided to share this with you.  I hope you have a productive day.   

Some people hide online

I suppose what makes this so interesting to me is that people assume if you're good and don't use voice, you're male.  It doesn't matter what's on your profile or bio or what you tell them.  In particular, if you happen to excel at something male dominated like a shooter game -- that makes you male.  It fascinates me.  In particular because on another note, I have male friends who excel at imitating female behavior (for years).  Since online gaming is an escape from the real world for most people, I never understood what was the big deal with gender.

When Social Networking became en vogue many people weren't comfortable using their own photographs on their profiles.  With the many security leaks and issues as to who owns your content I understand.  Personally, I use both an avatar and a nickname on the great majority of my social media.  Unlike many other people, it's not to hide my identity.  I would be doing a very poor job if that were the case.  It's a very deliberate way to associate myself with familiar things from my past that people I know would recognize.  

Ana is my name.  Yes really.  It's on my business card.  My friends call me Ana.  On the reverse side of my business card is my family during beta in Glitch the game.  My oldest daughter started playing during college.  She invited myself and her sisters.  It was a great way to stay in touch while we were apart.  We still game together.  Technology is a great way to facilitate communication when we're apart.  Glitch is special to us.  This is why I placed it on my business card and use it on some of my social media.

I use @blastkat  or /blastkat or blastkat because I use blastkat for all my social media.  Blastkat is a childhood nickname.  My favorite book as a child was "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Caroll.  My favorite character was the Chesshire Cat.  I identified with it.  For awhile I was Chesshire Cat because I was quiet and I came and went from room to room without people noticing as if I was vanishing.  As children we didn't cuss.  My Grandmother wouldn't have it.  "blast" or "blast you" was as close as we came to cussing until Battlestar Galactica came out on television and we added another non-cuss word "frack" to our vocabulary.  One year on vacation, I shot one of my cousins with a cap gun.  I didn't mean to have the toy so close to his skin.  He cussed at me the only way we could as children.  He yelled, "blast cat"!  It stuck.  When I started using the name on regular arcade games, it was usually taken.  Most arcade games after all did involve blasting.  I changed the c to a k and have used it since.  I was around eight when that happened.

The avatars I use on my profile are both custom designed by me.  The profile photograph is one of my Second Life avatars:  Andilynah Lorefield.  There is a story behind nearly all my avatar names.  Andilynah is Andi:  a misspelling of Andy which is short for Andrew who is one of my best friends.  Lynah is a misspelling of Leenah which is short for Arleenah who is my daughter.  The background photograph is my guild during beta in Lord of the Rings Online.  Our names are strictly Sindarian from the region from whence we hailed.  I own all the books, several related books, the Sindarian dictionary and book of names.  I don't think people realize how much effort is placed into games pre-release.  I chose an appropriate name for my original hunter.  Her name is Alannor Greystone.  We take too many server wipes to count before the game is ready.  Most people aren't cut out for testing.  If you're at all curious, during beta we kept our original guild name Anarchists of Destruction [AoD] but I changed it during the first day of open beta to be more lore specific to Alliance of the Devoted.  From left to right in the photograph:  Jamie on Theodraine, Me on Alannor, Scott on Heinrich and on the table is Brad on Lejund.

Not that it matters but most of my social media accounts have real photographs of me.  Almost all my social media accounts are listed on each of the bio's or personal information of whatever social media account of mine you're viewing.  Real photographs of me are available if you're that curious.  I choose not to use my own photograph as a profile pic or a cover photo.  That's my decision to make.   

Some people try to hide online.  My advice to those people is don't try so hard.  If someone wants to find you badly enough, he or she will because in all honesty it's not that difficult.  Your online presence is like a horse drawn carriage.  It's far better to be at the reins in control of how you're perceived online than to allow your online presence to wander around aimlessly or worse go crashing about unattended.  Choose your brand.  Associate yourself wisely.  Remember an error in judgement isn't the end of the world.  However, allowing an error in judgement run rampant like a wild black stallion could be detrimental to your reputation both on and offline.  Times are changing.  Evolve and adapt or be left behind.

Tradition

tra·di·tion

[truh-dish-uhn] Show IPA

noun

1.

the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice: a story that has come down to us by popular tradition.

2.

something that is handed down: the traditions of the Eskimos.

3.

a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting: The rebellious students wanted to break with tradition.

4.

a continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices.

5.

a customary or characteristic method or manner: The winner took a victory lap in the usual track tradition.

Relevant Questions

What Is A Tradition?

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What Are Traditions?

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Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English tradicion  < Old French  < Latin trāditiōn-  (stem of trāditiō ) a handing over or down, transfer, equivalent to trādit ( us ), past participle of trādere  to give over, impart, surrender, betray ( trā-,  variant of trāns- trans- + -ditus,  combining form of datus  given; see date¹ ) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms

tra·di·tion·less, adjective

an·ti·tra·di·tion, adjective

coun·ter·tra·di·tion, noun

non·tra·di·tion, noun

pro·tra·di·tion, adjective

Synonyms
2. custom, practice, habit, convention, usage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source 

I recently attended the State Fair with my children.  We were told that it's been over an eighty year tradition at the fair to carve a life size, realistic cow out of butter and place it on display in the dairy building.  Every year a real cow is selected.  Every year artists carve her likeness out of butter.  They even carve the surroundings including other animals and plants.  It's a sight to see.

   

Six truths you need to accept to pull yourself out of a rut

On some level everyone needs something or someone to ground them.  That is bring them back to Earth.  I don't agree with the article in it's entirety.  I suppose I'm not seeing eye to eye with the writer.  I'm seeing more of "the big picture".  I believe love is unconditional.  I believe the writer used some extreme examples.  My Aunt cared for my Grandmother until she passed away.  My Grandmother was well over a hundred years old.  My entire family was home nearly every week end the last year of my Dad's life.  I'm aware of many families like ours.  I found #1 a bit selfish and sad.  The rest of the article made me smile.  In particular, #6 because it alludes to the fact that we already know what we want.  My youngest daughter told me this very thing at lunch today.  She indicated that whenever we're feeling indecisive flip a coin.  Either the coin will decide for us or we'll decide the coin is wrong.  Either way, we really already knew the answer but were reluctant to admit it.  It's just a way of finding what's already there and accepting it.           
Six truths you need to accept to pull yourself out of a rut

The Rules are Unclear

I have not altered my behavior on Twitter.  However, I've had my account suspended.  Twitter unsuspended my account.  However, the multiple reasons for why they suspended it to begin with are at best confusing.  They also don't give me much to go on to prevent this from occurring in the future.

The most generic reasoning Twitter provided was it could be one of the following:
1.  Inappropriate language:  I don't curse.  My language isn't inappropriate.  My profile is public.  Even if it was private, the fact remains the profile is still online.  Anything you say online becomes associated with you.  I want others to see me.  I don't want others to see some inaccurate representation of me.  Think of it this way:  Anything you say, tweet, post, or upload online is like broadcasting on the side of a blimp at half time during Super Bowl Sunday.
2.  Impersonation:  Ana is my name.  Yes really.  It's on my business card.  My friends call me Ana.  I use @blastkat because I use blastkat for all my social media.  Blastkat is a childhood nickname.  The avatars I use on my profile are both custom designed by me.  Not that it matters but I tweeted a photograph of myself with my children.  I choose not to use my own photograph as a profile pic or a cover photo.  That is my decision to make.  
3.  Posting other people's content as your own:  I'm not even certain why someone would attempt this but I would suppose it would go along with impersonating someone because straight out plagiarism would be too obvious.
4.  It says something about multiple accounts and the intent of the accounts.  I can save them the trouble as I only have one.  I don't use it to harass people.  Not only do I believe in "do unto others..." but also my profile is public.  That isn't how I'd want people to see me.
5.  Spam:  I really don't use direct messages unless I'm having a side conversation with a friend like Bob, Andrew, or Helmut.  Yes, I could go to e-Mail or grab my phone but I'm already on Twitter.  Otherwise I don't send DM's anymore.  It's pointless and inefficient.  I don't even like to reply to those things.  You would see spam on my feed.  I report people for inappropriate spam and unfollow them for excessive spam. 

The second reason Twitter gave me was "aggressive following".
I had no clue what that meant and their explanation was even less helpful.  I asked.  My first and most detailed response came from a friend.  I was able to verify this with others who were also suspended for "aggressive following".  "Aggressive following" is following or unfollowing too many people (over a hundred for someone like me) in a specified period of time (twenty four hours).  Twitter assumes it's to call attention to your brand.  I never said anything to Twitter.  I thought they'd verify it but they didn't, they instead sent me a third reason.  If you are curious, in my honest opinion this was it.  I use Twitter Counter.  On August 1st, I gained 178 followers.  I follow people back.  I do so not only out of courtesy but also because I assume you follow me for a reason.  I want to hear what you have to say.  Your tweets will only show up in my feed if I follow you as well.  I've been advised by friends to keep my follow and unfollow count under 70 per/day to avoid this problem.  I suppose I'll just have to be more vigilant.

The third reason Twitter gave me was "excessive mentions".
Yes they also have a page to explain "excessive mentions".  It's as clear as swamp water on a hot summer day.  Originally I came to Twitter to read the news, keep up with Franklin Covey, MMORPG's and gaming.  I have my own content.  You're reading it.  I have other avenues to promote it.  If you want to know where I am and my preferences, check Foursquare.  If you are interested in images of my life, check instagram or flickr.  My daily life is on Facebook, Google+, or Tumblr.  I also have two blogs and a website.  I never intended to promote myself on Twitter.  I'd rather engage, interact with and promote other people.  My tweets are RT's, conversations, digests, books, and politely thanking others for retweeting.  It's very difficult to avoid mentions.  I've removed them from everything possible.  However, if I talk to anyone, retweet, or thank anyone it's unavoidable.  If this is really the issue, I wish they were more clear about what is and is not acceptable.  I find myself widely spacing tweets and sparingly using mentions.  I'm actually counting the number of mentions I use each time I tweet.  Perhaps this sounds paranoid but it's just a lot of trouble to reset my digests that are curated off lists made up of my followers and those I follow.        

I suppose I'm back to my original question which is "how do I avoid this in the future?"  I'm not even one hundred percent certain I know what "this" is exactly.  I suppose all I can do is take precautions and hope for the best.  I guess I find it odd that a social network discourages socializing.  

Facts and Stats about Sleep and How to Optimize it

I can go without sleep for days.  If I take care of myself and don't make a habit of it, this has little impact on my performance.  The infographic is interesting.  It suggests that many adults and college students don't take care of themselves or know their limitations.  It has great advice.  My daughters and I take afternoon naps.  I never thought this was unusual.  I would suppose this is why we have sushi at midnight.  It's my youngest daughter's hobby.  During the summer months and during their breaks, we're very liberal about our recreation, dining, and sleep.  All things in moderation and you'll do just fine.  It's the habitual excessive behaviors that throw off optimizing progress, recreation, rest and positive behaviors and habits in life.  
Facts and Stats about Sleep and How to Optimize it

Twenty five things happy people do differently

When I first read this article, I thought -- Well, yes. This is all common sense.  From my perspective, it's all common sense but is it to everyone?  Everyone has a different set of life experiences.  This leads to different interpretations of events, instructions, stories, and even simple lists.  Number 4. Stay close to everything that makes you feel alive. -- This can mean different things to many different people.  It's always best to keep an open mind.  You never know how what you write or say is being interpreted by your audience with one hundred percent certainty.  You can only hope, follow logical guidelines, and be happy you potentially have the opportunity to change someone's life for the better.
Twenty Five things happy people do differently

Seven pieces of fitness advice we actually want to follow

There are many individuals who are very self conscious about their physical appearance.  These days it's to the point where not only are people self conscious about their own appearance but also of the physical appearance of anyone with whom they are associated.  Other people can be very judgmental.  For some people, a positive impression is everything.  I'm the kind of person who believes in being professional but also remaining true to yourself.  I believe people will either appreciate your talent and what you have to offer or you'll find something that suits you better.  I personally find it necessary to be healthy.  I know my limitations.  I've watched others self destruct as they seek this imaginary path to perfection.  Perhaps following advice such as the reasonable recommendations in this article would be far less self destructive and certainly safer for many who struggle to maintain "appearances".     
Fitness advice we actually want to follow

Foods that keep you hydrated

This article is timely and good information even if you're already aware of it.  It never harms anyone to be reminded.  It's summer.  As such, the weather is less forgiving.  It's human nature to assume your body can withstand more physical demands than is reasonable.  Rather than take unnecessary risks, it's simply responsible to take breaks and to take care of yourself in the heat by keeping yourself well hydrated and well rested.  You're more productive when you're stronger.  The stronger you are, the more you can realize your full potential.    
Foods that keep you hydrated

Learn a language for free - the five best websites

I found this intriguing.  I only speak English.  I can muddle my way through comprehending other languages.  I understand Tagalog, although not as well as I used to when my Dad and my Grandparents were alive.  In school, I learned French.  I haven't spoken it since college.  It's a difficult process for me.  All my cousins speak some other language in addition to English.  One of my cousins speaks Japanese.  He indicated it's just good business practice.  Life is a learning process.  Never over look opportunities.  It's the only way to improve.     
Learn a language for free - the five best websites