29 January 2009

When Girls Take The Initiative


There is a thin line between being available and being too forward. The girl who gets a reputation for being a flirt finds that many of the nicer boys and girls avoid her. Yet, when a girl acts too demure or feigns coolness or disinterest out of fear, she may chase boys away and miss out on the fun of friendship and dating. It is important to remember that boys are also scared and shy, and a smile or gesture from you can begin a friendship.

Girls frequently ask if it's all right to telephone the boys they like. Well - let's look at it from the boy's point of view. If Joan calls Jim about a specific question, or to invite him to some definite affair, he can respond without necessarily feeling that she has put him on the spot. If she calls repeatedly, or for no particular purpose except to chat aimlessly, his family may tease him and he becomes embarassed by her "chasing".

Custom has it that a girl may speak first when meeting a bot on the street or in the hallway at school. She doesn't have to wait for the boy to nod or address her. It's simple courtesy that she recognize him with some friendly greeting or gesture. She does this making some pleasant sign that she recognizea the boy, and that she feels friendly toward him. She may smile or nod, or say "Hello" or "Hi, Jim!" Perhaps she'll add some casual remark.

But a girl should not interrupt a boy who is talking to someone or is with a group of fellows, or is obviously absorbed in something else. That, too, is simpe courtesy. If a boy indicates his awareness of her by disengaging himself from the group, or shows her in some other way that he knows she's there, she greets him.

A girl gets a reputation for being "fast" not because she's friendly toward boys but because of the way she behaves when they are around. The "forward" girl overly emphasizes the fact that she's a female - by the way in which she dresses, walks, talks, looks and laughs. She goes beyond the bounds of what is considered " nice" in her attention to the boys. By her seductiveness she encourages boys to be too fresh, too loud, and too boisterous.

Is it ever all right for a girl to chase a boy? Throughout the ages women have found ways of being appealing and interesting to the men they have liked. Nowadays girls taking more initiative than ever. The important thing is that a girl not be too obvious, or she defeats her own purpose. It's best if she waits for some sign of a boy's interest before she remarks on a campaign. And then she must make it Jook as though he, rather than she, is the pursuer. In Grandma's formula, it's all right for a girl to "chase a fellow until he catches her."

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28 January 2009

The Pleasure of Serving

All nature is an urge toward service. The cloud serves, the furrow serves. When there's a tree to plant, plant it; when there's a mistake that should be corrected, correct it; when there's an effort that all avoid, accept it.

Be the one to remove the stone from the road, take away hatred from the hearts and smooth the difficulties from all problems.

Let not only the easy tasks call you. It is so fine to do what others shun.

But do not fall into the error that merit comes only from the great undertakings; there are little tasks that serve for good: to decorate a table, to arrange some books, to comb a little girl's hair.

One may be the critic; another, the one who destroys: be you the one that serves.

Service is the task not only of the humble. God, who provides fruit and light, also serves. Thus He may be called, "The One who serves." And He keeps His eyes upon our hands, and every day He asks us: Did you do a service today? For whom? A Tree? Your friend? Your mother?

(By Gabriela Mistral)

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DVD/CD as a Wedding Give Away Gift

Most people today use DVD or CD as a give away gift for sharing their memories and for them to say thank you for attending a special occassion like weddings. Give away gifts such as DVDs or CDs are a great, inexpensive way to let your guests know that you appreciate their attendance. Gifts can say a lot about your wedding years down the road. It is important that you take into consideration even the smallest of details when you are designing your DVD/CD. Under pressure, you would no longer have time for this.You don't need to burden yourself purchasing dics anywhere. BISON DISC is all about YOU. They answer all the things you need on DVD/CD manufacturing projects. They provide excellent services in terms of DVD duplication, DVD replication, CD duplication, CD replication and disc packaging. Your DVD/CD projects will be delivered on time because they ensure that your needs are met. You will receive a 100% Quality Guarantee on all DVD and CD Duplication and Replication services.


Your wedding is the most memorable day of your life. It is when you make the commitment to someone for the rest of your life. It is a wonderful idea to share that memory with all of your friends and relatives by give each one a special wedding gift like DVD/CD to take home and enjoy. BISON DISC is the answer.

For complete satisfaction with your DVD Duplication, DVD Replication, CD Duplication and CD Replication projects, contact BISON DISC at this link: cd / dvd replication

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27 January 2009

Bed Bugs

When I was in college, I used to live in an apartment with my older brother. I never imagined my bed will be infested with bed bugs. These are small animals crawling inside my matress. I wonder how they got into my bed. I never knew they were under my matress until I caught one bug early in the morning. I had sleepless nights because I became the source of food by these small animals. How did I resolve the problem? I simply changed my bed...LOL!

Just recently I found out that there are other ways to get rid of bed bugs. If you are experiencing the same problem in your house now, Bed Bugs Guide website will give you all the necessary informations you need to get rid of bed bug infestations. Act now and visit this site, how to get rid of bedbugs

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DRUGS and Their Side Effects - What to Watch For

Each year, every physician who prescribes medicines receives a new edition of the Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR). Supplements are sent out whenever new drugs are introduced or we learn new things about old ones. This book serves as a sort of pharmaceutical bible for most doctors. It tells them what drugs will benefit which patients; what side effects to watch for; what specific contraindications there may be to the drug. (For example, certain antibiotics should not be given to patients whose kidney function is impaired, since the drug is excreted by the kidney.) In brief, the PDR contains all the information the physician ought to have about most of the medicines he prescribes.

Blood pressure medications are notorious for causing a decline in both libido and potency. However, the mere suggestion that a drug might cause impotency is often enough to guarantee its occurrence in the patient.

Many drugs, particularly some of the anticancer drugs, have side effects that are not only annoying but potentially dangerous. For example, many of the anticancer drugs can cause a patient's hair to fall out; some cause nausea; others can cause dangerous decrease in the production of bone marrow. The patients for whom these drugs are prescribed should be, and almost invariably are , told about these side effects. The drugs must be used, despite their side effects, because they are essential to the proper treatment of cancer. Fortunately, some of the side effects - such as hair loss - are temporary; and the bone marrow is watched carefully so the drug dosage can be decreased or even discontinued, if necessary, to allow the marrow to regain its normal productivity.

Some drugs have side effects that are invariable but innocuous. They are frightening only when the doctor has forgotten to warn the patient about them. For example, one of the drugs used frequently to treat bladder infections contains an ingredient that turns urine red.

By now most people know enough about drugs to be wary of the doctor who prescribes penicillin, say, without first asking if the patient is allergic to it. A first allergic reaction to penicillin can cause swelling of the face, a severe generalized rash and even shock; a second may be lethal. It is routine now, in most hospitals, for the admitting nurse or aide to ask the patient if he ir she is allergic to anything, and to list those allergies on the patient's chart.

Unfortunately, even though extensive testing is required before pharmaceutical companies are allowed to market new drugs, sometimes serious side effects surface many years later. Recent reports, for example, suggest that the use of femal hormones (estrogen), particularly in large doses may after several years cause an increased incidence of cancer of the inner lining of the uterus. Physicians this have an obligation to weigh the benefits from taking estrogen to be gained by the patient against the added risk to which she will be subjected - and then decided whether it is, of course, morally and legally obligatory for the doctor to want the patient of the added risk and to let her decide. Some patients will decide to take the medicine anyway; others will choose to forego it.

The incidence of adverse reactions to drugs is high - generally estimated to be about 20 percent - and at any given time about 5 percent of the patients at any hospital are there because they are being treated for drug reactions. These figures are indeed alarming, but you should remember that in most instances the drug that cause the adverse reaction also helped the patient and perhaps even saved his or her life. The man who is admitted to the hospital because of digitalis toxicity in all likelihood needs digitalis to help his dosage has been adjusted to a proper level he will probably continue to take digitalis. The diabetic woman admitted to the hospital because of insulin shock deos not stop taking insulin; she needs the insulin to control her diabetes, and the risk of rare attacks of insulin shock is a reasonable price to pay for the many years of life and health the drug gives her.

Nevertheless, there is strong evidence that physicians prescribe and patients consume many more drugs than are necessary. It is admittedly much easier for a doctor to prescribe a tranquilizer than to spend an hour or two trying to help a patient understand and get rid of her anxiety; it's also easier to say yes to the patient who wants "a shot of penicillin" to cure his cold than to sit down and explain the colds are self-limited diseases, caused by viruses that are not sensitive to antibiotics.

The moral of all this is that it is best not to take any medicine unless you are sure its benefits outweigh its risks, and even then to be aware that any unusual symptoms you develop after you've started taking the drug may be caused by that drug. If such symptoms develop, report them immediately to your doctor. He may decrease the dosage, shift you to a different drug or take you off medication entirely.

There is unfortunately, no certain way to predict which patient will develop an adverse reaction to any given drug. The one that is "good" for you may be "bad" for someone else. Drug companies try to make their drugs as safe as possible, and doctors try choose appropriate drugs and proper dosages for each patient, but the system is not and cannot be foolproof. Where medicines are concerned, the patient must always be cautious - as this doctor-patient now know.
(By William A. Nolan, M.D.)

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PayPerPost

I started blogging on October 2008. I signed up for Payperpost a few weeks after when my friend shirley introduced me to it. After 3 weeks, I got an email informing me that my blog has been disapproved because it must be at least 30 days old. I made this blog in 2007 but was inactive until October of last year. So I waited and applied again. Still I got the same result that it was disapproved. After a long wait, my application to Payperpost has finally been approved today. Yippie!!!

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26 January 2009

Which Is Better: Right-Brained or Left-Brained?

This is a continuation of the article I posted about "Are you left or right brained?" few days ago. After you have determined which side of the brain you are, then maybe you would ask, which is better?

Until fairly recently, the right side of the brain "got no respect." That's not too surprising when you think about the emphasis our society places on the functions of the left brain. That's the side of the brain you depend on to perform most of your schoolwork, such as reading, writing and math. And that's the side of the brain that's usually being evaluated or measured when teachers give you grades.

Lately, however, more and more emphasis is being placed on the right brain as the key to increasing intuitive powers and unlocking creativity. In fact, many books are now available that try to teach us how to call on the natural, irrational powers of the right brain. Scientists are recognizing that it is the experience of sudden insight - that ah-ah! moment when answers appear out of nowhere - that actually helps us to solve problems that the rational, logical left brain can't figure out.

How to get your mind to shift to the right?

Most of us are left-brained, but that could be because we don't know how to get our right brains cranking. If you have a problem that you can't figure out - or you just want to give your left brain a break - try these tricks.

* Instead of trying to force a solution, put the problem aside for a while and go on to somehing else.
* Let your mind wander.

* Go for a long walk, take a nap or a bath, listen to some mellow music.

* Paint a picture, play the guitar, make a collage.

These actions may help your right brain to "incubate" information provided by the left brain so that insight may develop.

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25 January 2009

Friendliness

Anyone can say why friendliness is important. Just seeing how you respond to a friendly person, you can tell why friendliness is an asset. A friendly person makes you feel good, doesn't he? An unfriendly one, on the other hand, leaves you uncomfortable and even angry.

Some people find it difficult to be friendly. Some just don't know how. Others are so shy that everyone they meet think them unfriendly.

How can you develop friendliness to improve your personality? Here are suggestions that will help:

1. Have the right attitude towards other people. Remember that in nine cases out of ten the other person wants to be friendly with you if you will just give him a chance. You have to be interested in people to have this attitude. Meet them with a smile and greet them with a cheerful "Hello", "Good morning!" or "Good afternoon!" two or three times before a conversation.

2. Figure out something ahead of time to talk about something that you know the other person is interested in. Try to keep your mind on the person and what he is saying. You need to give the other fellow your full attention. That way you won't be thinking of yourself and worrying how nervous you are.

3. After getting a bit acquainted, try doing things for your friend. Perhaps you could lend him a book or you might give him a simple treat in nearby refreshment parlor. Any little friendly gesture will make a person feel good and will make you feel good, too.

While being friendly will help go a long way, being over friendly will drive people away. Here are some questions which will test whether you are the overfriendly and annoying type.

1. Do you talk all the time and give no chance to other people present and in what they say or do?

2. Do you praise people frequently without being sincere about your praise?

3, Do you always try to be a clown, making fun of others particularly?

4. Are you always thinking about the impression you are going to make rather than being interested in the other people present and in what they say or do?

5. Do you "rush" your friends? To "rush" is to be always asking them to do something for you, something which would take up most of their leisure time.

If you have more "YES" answers than "NO", you are being overfriendly. Being friendly doesn't mean you have to try hard. It simply means being sincere in everything and to everyone.

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A House Full of Stuff Toys

Yesterday, my sisters and I went to a friend's house for a visit. I have not gone to her house for quite sometime already. So I never had the idea that her house is full of stuff toys until I saw it myself. Wherever you go in any part of her house, you can see this stuff everywhere from the smallest to the biggest toy. Some of them are her collections and the others are for sale. Edang, as we fondly call her, started collecting these stuff toys for the past several months already. She buys these toys in bulk whenever she has time to go to the City.

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22 January 2009

Are You Left-Brained or Right-Brained?

We all utilize both sides of our brains, but some of us favor one side over the other. And knowing which side you favor can help you understand a lot about yourself and become more successful at whatever you do.

To see if you have a dominant side, look over sections A and B here, and check the statements that apply to you. (Be honest. Don't just mark the things you wish were true about you.)


LEFT-BRAINED

* I'm pretty good at math.
* I keep a to-do list.
* If I had to assemble something, I'd read the instructions first.
* I feel comfortable expressing myself with words.
* Before I take a stand on an issue, I like to get all the facts.
* I always wear a watch.
* If I forgot someone's name, I'd go through the alphabet until I remembered it.
* I have considered becoming a lawyer, journalist, or doctor.
* I'd make a good detective.
* I believe there's a right and wrong way to do everyting.
* Setting goals for myself helps keep me from slacking off.
* If I have a tough decision to make, I write down the pros and cons.
* I keep a journal.
* If someone asks me a question, I generally turn my head to the right.
* If I lost something, I'd try to remember where I saw it last.
* The expression " Life is just a bowl of cherries" makes absolutely no sense to me.

TOTAL _______

RIGHT-BRAINED

* When I talk, I gesture a lot.
* I like to draw.
* When I'm confused, I usually go with my gut instinct.
* I lose track of time easily.
* I find that sticking to a schedule is boring.
* I am musically inclined.
* I can tell if someone's guilty just by looking at them.
* I've considered becoming a poet, a politician, an architect or a dancer.
* I believe there are two sides to every story.
* I'd rather draw someone a map than tell them how to get somewhere.
* If I have a problem, I try to work it out by relating it to a problem I've had in the past.
* When someone aske me a question, I turn my head to the left.
* If I don't know which way to turn, I'll let my emotions be my guide.
* Some people think I'm psychic.
* I'm always late getting places.
* I hate following directions.

TOTAL ________


SCORING:

Add up the number of check marks in columns A and B. if your total for Column A is higher, you rely more on your left brain. If your total for Column B is higher, you are more on your right brain. If your totals are the same, or vary by only one or two points, you tend to utilize both sides of your brain equally.

If you're more left-brained:

* You're practical and realistic with a natural flair for math or English.
* For most part, you do thing in a planned, decided, oderly way. You thrive on a routine. For example, you probably prefer to do your homework at a specific time each day.
* Your friends often ask you for advice because you're level-headed and logical. They can trust that you won't let your personal feelings get in the way.

If you're more right-brained:

* You're creative and intuitive with a natural flair for art and music.
* Flexible and spontaneous, you love surprises - and you hate to feel restricted. Teachers who expect you to do everything just so really get on your nerves.
* Your friends can always count on you to be sensitive and sympathetic when they're having problems. You often help them seen ways of looking at their situations.

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21 January 2009

10 Things They Never Taught Us About Teaching Spelling

Anyone can teach spelling, or so it seems. Spelling is often only briefly discussed in language arts method course and is the first subject for which most student teachers are given responsibility.

Although separate and distinct in the curriculum, spelling is something of "non-subject." You don't really teach it so much as you test it, and the weekly cycle is so deep ingrained in educational practice that even preservice teachers can describe the weekly "pretest-study-posttest" approach.

There is no shortage of research concerning effective spelling instruction, and many of the traditional approaches have consistently shown themselves to be of questionable effectiveness for helping students become proficient spellers. There are at least 10 simple truths about teaching and learning of spelling that new teachers rarely learn and university instructors rarely teach:

1. Children should not practive spelling words orally.

2. Oral spelling games are fine for motivation but are of little use in learning to spell effectively.

3. When good spellers are uncertain about a correct spelling, they will usually check it visually.

4. There is a correlation between proficient reading and effective spelling.

5. Spelling evaluation should not be merely a count of correct and incorrect spellings.

6. Children should not study words they already know how to spell.

7. The words on a spelling list should have some apparent relationship to one another.

8. Children should not be drilled or tested on words for which they have no immediate use.

9. By far the most effective means of learning to spell is self-editing of one's writing.

10. Spelling instruction should be individualized.

(by Karl A. Matz)

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Honest Scrap Award

One of the few good people I've known in the cyber space and since I started blogging is Donabel of Memoirs of a Pinay in America. I love reading her posts because they are expressions of her being a real person and a wife to her husband. Thank you so much Donabel for giving this award... I don't know if I really deserve this.


Honest Scrap Award Rules:

When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back the said person so everyone knows he or she is real.

Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!

10 Things About Me:
1. I love to draw. I got a grade of 99 in one of my works in my Art subject in College.
2. I don't snore. Well, at least my mom, brothers and sisters told me I don't snore at all even if I'm so dead tired.
3. I like Jazz music. My brothers are a big influence to me.
4. I hate going to formal parties.
5. I don't drink alcoholic drinks.
6. I love to stay in my room when I'm not at work.
7. I love to eat.
8. I hate wearing a dress. I would prefer wearing jeans.
9. I love to spend more time with nature.
10. I'm very impatient but I'm a very understanding person.

I'm passing this tag to the following blogs:
* Aloha Gems
* Coolbuster
* Janed's Story
* Anything and Everything
* The ManiaX
* Morgentau and Rosen

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20 January 2009

Where Flight Attendants Rest Inflight

When I was young, I wanted to become a stewardess. But as I grow up I realized I'm not qualified at all to become one due to many reasons...no need to mention, it's obvious! LOL! I admire flight attendants because they always ensure the safety and comfort of their passengers aboard commercial flights. They are highly trained for a wide variety of emergencies and how to respond. They show a high level of personal grooming.

The first time I went out of the country way back then, it took me about 24 hours to arrive in my destination from Manila to the Carribean. I was in the economy class. It was so tiring sitting all the time. Sometimes I just go to the comfort room for me to stretch my legs. I wonder where the flight attendants take a rest during the flight. A friend of mine sent me these pictures of where cabin crews sleep and rest.


Comparing all the resting places of the flight attendants of four different airlines above, they are all good in way that it gives comfort to the cabin crews. But how about this picture below? When I saw this pic, I'm thankful I'm not her...LOL! She looks very tired. What a pity!

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19 January 2009

Reasons Not to Drink With Friends

I would like to share with you these images I got from Badminton Addicts Anonymous eGroup. This might had happen or will happen to you if you get so drunk with friends.

"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with the fools."
- Ernest Hemingway



Do you still want to drink with friends??? :)

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17 January 2009

Intellectual, Ideologue, Highbrow, Egghead, Which One Are You?

(by Clifton Fadiman)

We can slightly decrease the sum total of bad temper in our land by separating four words. Currently these are four violent words, full of unnecessary or carefully built-up heat. Let’s see whether we can induce them to simmer down. The four words are intellectual, ideologue, highbrow, and egghead.

An intellectual is simply a man in whom is writ large what makes you and me specifically human – an interest in the rational mind and an ability to use it. As such he is nothing more nor less than the most important kind of person the human race can produce. One early intellectual figured out the sue of fire. A recent one figured out how the universe hangs together. Between Ugug and Einstein stretches a long intellectuals, great and small, able to supply nothing but ideas. These ideas, however, make everything else possible – including attacks on intellectuals, for these very attacks depend on a series of ideas dreamed up by such visionaries as the inventors of the alphabet or those nineteenth-century lunatics who worked out the equations that have made radio and television possible. In a way, the rest of us, no matter how industrious or transiently useful, are parasites’ living luxuriously on the work of a handful of superior minds. Those in whom the death wish is unusually strong, such as Hitler, are precisely those who really hate intellectuals.

An ideologue may be defined as a mad intellectual. He is not interested in ideas, but almost the exact contrary in one idea. When he erects this idea into a system and forces the system to give birth to a way of life, confusion often results usually to his great surprise. Two examples are Robespierre and Lenin. The intellectual is often blamed for the work of the ideologue, which is like condemning the psychiatrist because he and the patient are both involved in the same thing, mental illness. The ideologue is often brilliant. Consequently most of us distrust brilliance when we should distrust the ideologue. The ideologue is often more persuasive than the intellectual because he has a simpler line of goods to sell and never questions its value. Sometimes he achieves great success by attacking the real intellectual. The intellectual level of any society must be measured not merely by its ability to produce intellectuals but also by its ability to distinguish them at once from ideologues. Both intellectuals and ideologues are pros. Both live by ideas, just as the farmer lives by the soil.

But the highbrow is not a pro. He doesn’t usually work at the job, any more than the audience works at the writing of a play. He takes in and enjoys what intellectuals, particularly artists, produce. This is his avocation. His vocation may be anything. Like the lowbrow, the highbrow is limited in his conversation. He will stick to Sartre or Stravinsky or Picasso because they are what his temperament permits him to enjoy. The highbrow may also be an intellectual; he is more often simply an appreciator. Equipped only with a blank notebooks the highbrow would go crazy – though less rapidly than would the nonhighbrow. The highbrow is never an ideologue, it is the lowbrow who more apt to be also the ideologue.

The egghead is not an intellectual, not ideologue, not a highbrow. He is not any of these things because he doesn’t exist. He is a political invention or, better, a cartoon character. Certain qualities of those very different types – the intellectual, the ideologue, the highbrow – which some average voters could be persuaded they disliked, were built up into a synthetic figure who was then christened egghead. It would be a good thing to drop the word from the national vocabulary. It would be a good thing, too, to use the words intellectual, ideologue, and highbrow with some feeling for their different meanings.

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16 January 2009

Unriddling the Onion


In the past chemists believed that the taste of onions and garlics and other members of the allium plant family depended on the combination of more than 100 different compounds. But synthetic substitutes designed to find the right combination never tasted quite right. That's because the chemist put far too many ingredients in, according to Eric Block, a professor of chemistry at the State University of New York at Albany. When Block re-examined the problem, he found that only light vital ingredients give allium plants their flavor. "Of the light flavor compounds," Block says, "the sulfur is the prime ingredient. That's what gives an onion its pungent bite, lingering after taste and tear inducing quality."

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Love Can Change the World

"Love is the greatest miracle-worker of all time."

One day a man met a small boy trudging along, carrying his brother on his back. The man, seeing the boy's burden almost as big as himself, asked if it was not too much for him. The boy replied in all childish sincerity: "Aw, he's not heavy; he's my brother."

Most of us are quite a few years older than this boy, but we can learn a wonderful lesson from hi, just the same. His small sacrifice has a most important message. It shows the one thing that this world badly needs; the one thing that can solve all its problems; the one thing everyone talks about but almost no one really gives - and that is love!

Love gives life purpose, makes all things possible, and sweetens every sacrifice. It is the greatest miracle - worker of all time.

We can put such thoughts into practice in our daily lives. We must think love, give love, even put love where there is no love!

Is it very hard to obey our parents? It needn't be. It isn't of we do it with love. Love can do the impossible. It has been said that the hardest thing for us to give is to "give in." But love can do it. When harsh or unkind words have caused an icy silence between us and our love ones, be the first one to say "I'm sorry." Love melts pride.

Love can make us overcome our dislikes, too. Often, we find it hard to like some people. We can bend over backwards to get to know them better. Let us forget our whims for a while and take all.

Love make sacrifices sweet! When someone is sick at home, he needs us more than ever. Let us put aside every other thing to give him the care and attention he needs and deserves. We wait on him, sit up at night, give up our sleep if necessary. Why? Love is the answer. It is no trouble when we do it with love.

Yes, love is the only thing that can change the world. And only when men realize this will we have a real and a just peace.

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Birthday Wish Award

I celebrated my birthday last December 12 without any particular wish in mind. Anything goes... Not until Shirgie gave me this award.

The rules are...
1. Make a list of what you want on your birthday...
2. The list should be 15 numbers
3. Post the image of this award in your posting
4. Give it to 10 friends of yours.

Here's the award logo:


List of what I want for my birthday:
1. Good health
2. World Peace
3. Peaceful and Happy Life
4. New Laptop
5. House
6. Trip to Maldives with my Boo
7. Summer Vacation in Boracay with my Family
8. New Cellular Phone
9. Finish my Masteral
10. Get married
11. Pass the NC - II Exam for Computer Hardware Servicing
12. Loose weight
13. Go back to playing Badminton
14. See old friends
15. I will no longer work as a Teacher :)

I'm passing this award to the following friends:
1. Shirley
2. Kate
3. MsRay
4. Kayal
5. Janed
6. Faye
7. Eva
8. Donabel
9. Marilou
10. Mommy Elvz

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15 January 2009

Top Card Droppers

Thank you to the Entrecard users who dropped their card on my site the most in the last 30 days.

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The Aerobic Antidote

"The more one exercises, the milder the physiological response to stress."

From traffic jams to a death in the family, the stresses of life assault one's calm, harry the soul and one's well-being. One relaxation methos is to collapse in an armchair; another; to turn to Scotch or Valium. A better way to unwind is exercise.

Runners, typically, swear their sport boosts energy levels and improves frame of mind. Research breaks them up. Studies confirm that regular aerobic exercise - where heart rate stays elevated to 70 percent of maximum for twenty to thirty minutes at least three times a week - not only improves one's physiological state by conditioning the heart and lowering blood pressure but also relieves depression and fatigue.

One reason for these boons to physical as weel as psychological well-being may be the calming effect of exercise has on muscle tension. According to research at the University of Southern California, physical activity has the same, and sometimes an even greater, effect on relieving muscular tension as a tranquilizer.

Strenous exercise - as well stress and fear - fling the body into "fight for flight" readiness: muscles tense and hormones such as adrenaline cause an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. But the more one exercises, the milder the physiological responce to stress; as the body learns to react less intensely it begins to return to normal more quickly.

"Aerobic fitness drastically reduces one's physiological to stress," saya David Holmes, Ph. D., a University of Kansas at Lawrence psychologist trained in exercise physiology. "Aerobic fitness onot only lowers resting heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension; but the aerobically fit person is more relaxed and less prone to illness under stress."

Exercise also stimulates the production of endorphins, hormones that provide an intense workout's pleasurable afterglow. Says Florida State University's Bruce W. Tuckman, Ph.D., "Any form of frequently repeated aerobic exercise is positve addiction." The mental satisfaction and relief of fulfilling this requirements is an important factor in the relaxation equation.

Until recently, it was thought that only rhythmic aerobic activities, such as biking, running and swimming, reduced tension. But according to James M. Rippie, M.D., director of Massachusetts Medical School, even casual walking for fortyminutes can significantly reduce blood pressure, tension, and anxiety.

Eating, taking a shower, sitting quietly in an armchair, or listening to relaxation tapes have been shown to signigicantly reduce tension. All provide an important time-out from life's hassles, a potentially crucial factor in tendion reduction, says William P. Morgan, Ed.D., a consin-Madison. Likewise, softball, voleyball, or bowling can also provide a valuable opportunity to unwind but won't condition one's body. Weight lifting and Nautilus-type exercises - so called "anaerobic" activities - on the other hand won't help one relax. "Anaerobic exercise does not have any of the positive effects of aerobic exercise," states Holmes. "In fact, it's very deleterious."

High-adventure sports such as hang gliding, white-water rafting, and mountain climbing may promote relaxation (assuming a person feels in control) because they force a person to focus fully on what she's doing. Dr. Rippe speculates that these sports may be stressful to some people while relaxing to others.

Competitive sports have the same double edge. Playing a hard game of tennis or racquetball will help condition the body; but if a person is tense about winning or upset about losing it, it won't promote relaxation.

"It all depends on how you respond to competition," says Dr. Rippe. "Although there's no specific data on this , the vast majority of recreational athletes get more relaxation out of aerobic activities than competitive ones."

If relaxation is your goal, Dr. Rippe recommends sticking to rhythmic aerobic sports, e.g., aerobic dance, cycling, swimming, running.

"Exercise is a wonderful way to relieve tension and anxiety. But there's more than one way of doing it," he says. To choose the best way, one must like the sport, look forward to it, and most important, at the end of it, to feel relaxed.
(by John Etra from A Little Piece of Quiet)

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14 January 2009

How to Stop Checking Yourself Out All the Time?

How you face yourself can change how you feel about your looks. To find out how often you use mirrors, start by guessing the answers to these questions.

1. How many mirrors are you involved with - at home, at work, in your purse, your car, for brief encouters?

2. How many mirrors do you use for special purposes - magnifying mirrors, makeup mirrors, rearview mirrors?

3. How often do you check a mirror of any kind each day?

4. About how much time do you spend each time you look in a mirror?

Now find out how accurate your guesses were: For a few days, count each time you check yourself out in a mirror. Then figure your "average daily mirror time." Was it higher or lower than you expected?

Now answer these questions honestly:

1. When you face the mirror, are you looking at hair,skin, clothing, size, etc.?

2. Are you looking for a problem, information, evidence that you're lovely, proof that you're not, etc.?

3. Do you expect (hope) the mirror will tell you "Yes, I'm as pretty as I thoug," "No, I'm not any different than yesterday," "How did a nice person like you get stuck in a body like this," "You look great, stop worrying," etc.?

If your mirror habits seem excessive, cut back: Remove or cover a mirror you can live without. Make each mirror "encounter" a bit shorter than your norm. Cutting down toward becoming less preoccupied with your appearance.

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Threatened Sharks

Scientists say sharks have lived in the world's oceans for millions of years. But their survival now is threatened. People have feared the fish because of its sharp teeth and aggressive actions.

Now it seems that sharks need to protection from people. Scientists say people are killing sharks in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf Mexico faster than the sharks can reproduce. They believe that without extreme protection measures some kinds of sharks will disappear.

Experts say fishermen are catching too many sharks. The main increase in demand is in Asia for shark fins. People use the fins to make a popular kind of soup. American fisherman also have begun hunting sharks for sport.

Scientists say sharks are important to the environment of the oceans. Sharks eat many other fish. Without sharks, some fish populations would quickly increase, This could damage the balance of life in the oceans.

Sharks also are important for medical reasons. Doctors have used the corneas from shark's eyes for experimental human eyes operations. They use sharks' soft bony areas called cartilage to make skin for burn victims. Shark liver oil is used in medical treatments.

For several years, scientists have been studying the shark's powerful immune system. They want to find out why sharks do not seem to develop cancer. They want to know why sharks rarely are sick. And how their wounds heal so quickly.

Scientists say saving endangered sharks is difficult because they reproduce and develop so slowly. Many kinds of sharks are not able to reproduce until they are 25 years old. Some reproduce only every two years. And then they give birth to fewer than ten young sharks.

The United States approved federal shark protection plan. It bans killing sharks only for their fins. It also order limits on catching 39 kinds of sharks. The limits are in effect in waters within 200 miles from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States in the Carribean Sea.

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12 January 2009

What Actually Happens in the Brain When Someone Has An Epileptic Fit?

Seizures can be provoked not only by epilepsy, a long-lasting disorder, but by more specific events - head injury, drug abuse (particularly of cocaine), and drug or alcohol withdrawal, for instance. They may even be the first sign of a brain tumor, blood clot, or hemorrhage.

In any such instance, during a seizure or fit, nerve cells in at least one area of the brain emit a synchronized burst of electric charges, stimulating adjoining cells. The resulting symptoms depend on where in the brain the abnormal activity originates: Ift it's in the region responsible for sensory processing, the person having the seizure may notice a strange odor, hallucinate, or hear voices. If it occurs in the area controlling muscle movement, the epileptic may suffer violent muscle contractions. If the seizure becomes generalized, involving most of the brain, the patient loses consciousness. In some generalized seizures, the victim falls to the ground with rhythmic jerking of the limbs; in others, called absence seizures, she seems to be awake but loses touch with her surroundings.

Don't panic if you're present when someone has a seizure, but do call for medical assistance immediately. Gently get the person on the ground - preferably lying on her side. Never restrain her limbs or try to force anyting into her mouth or between her teeth.

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The World's Children: Liability or Legacy?

One third of all people living on earth today are children under the age of 15. Eighty percent of these children live in the poor and underveloped parts of the world.

In some countries they make up over half the population. Millions of them live in poverty and squalor, without proper health care, and without hope. They are growing up sick and illiterate.



Many major nations have embarked on ambitious programs to stem the tide of extra mouths. One of the best known examples is the one-child-per-couple policy effect in the Peoples Republic of China.

The chinese were headed for a catastrophe. Their population doubled just since the Revolution of 1949. To counteract this, the Chinese government decided to attempt to restrict all couples to only one child. Parents who agree to restrict their families receive certain economic benefits. Parents who have larger families are penalized by fines and lack of certain privileges. Although this may seem heartless, the Chinses point out that those who cooperate wth the one child program should not have to bear the cost of other families' extra mouths.

Reports indicate that the policy will stabilize China's population by the year 2000. But even now with the comparatively modest birthrate of 1.2 percent, China adds the equivalent of Australia's population each year.

Millions of Chinese mothers, many in the later stages of pregnancy, have had abortions. These are also disturbing reports of infantiside of girls. Chinese tradition values sons, and may have taken drastic steps to ensure that their one permitted child is male. It is hard to prove, but the Chinese do admit that in some rural aread there seems to be a disproportionate amount of male births reported.


In Asia today hundreds of thousands of children go blind every year because of eye diseases that would take only a few cents worth of vitamin A to correct. A few more pennies would provide the vitamin D and calcium that would stop the deformed and twisted limbs caused by rickets.

Millions die of easily cures and even more easily prevented disease - because they have no access to even minimal health care. In the slum areas just outsude the modern city of Nairobi, capital of Kenyam hundreds of children played amidst piles of rubbish.
Kenya. has the world's highest birthrate, and must urgently find a solution to its growing population of children. These cheerful children had no idea that they were surplus or that they had been born into a world that may have no place for them.

They face a desperate future. There are not enough places for them to go to school - and insufficient jobs for those that do somehow get an education. They are, as humans view it, a liability for their already hard pressed nation.

In the slums of Calcutta, one can sometimes hear a piteos sound coming from the mounds of garbage and trash that line the streets of that desperately overcrowded city. sometimes it is an abandoned kitten. Sometimes it is a newborn baby abandoned in its first hours of life by parents who knew they could not care for it.

Some of these babies are discovered and are blessed to be taken to the orphanage. The tiny, fragile scraps of humanity are lovingly cared for by those who struggle in the orphanage to preserve each infant's spark of life. Sometimes they succeed and they continue to care for the children during their first years of life. And then? "We must let them go back to the streets where they came from. There are always other children we must save. We wish it were not that way."


Significant sums of money are given every year by wealthier countries to help the poorer nations care for their children. But it is only scratching the surface. We are trapped in a system where more children are born that can be cared for. Is there nos way out of it?

Many children today are, tragically, a liability and a drain on their country's scant resources. That is no excuse for bringing more children now into situations where they can only know wretchedness and misery. In many parts of this sad world, a form of national population control is the only sensible alternative humans know. We should not want more children now if we cannt take care of those that we already have. But that does not mean that every method of population control is good. Some are certainly wrong. Wise family planning excludes abortion and infaticide!

Countless millions of children are already a liability. But that isn't their fault.


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Young People and Money

How do parents develop a healthy respect for money in a preteen youngsters, and on what basis should an allowance be established?

We call it "legal tender," and teaching young people to give this "tender" loving cate is an important responsibility of parents.

The lessons start early whether we want them to or not. Whatever your child's age, therefore, it's wise to plan some strategies for teaching the lessons about money you want them to learn. Pre-schoolers can be taken on shopping trips and given small sums to buy something of their own choosing. Slightly older children can be let in on discussions of major family purchases, deciding how the money is provided to pay for these (assuming you get it honestly). Early on, children should learn the distinction between using money and merely spending it.

All lessons pertaining to money should be positive, constructive. Too often we let our children see us fretting over problems o f inflation and economic shortage. The message we give them is that money is one of the most important than whether they learn to balance a budget. We need to teach them not to overvalue money.

Ideally, we want our children to see money as an extension of themselves, a resource that can go in their place to help others. We want them to realize that they are stewards of their financial resources, charged with the responsibility of using them well. And just as you can't teach your son or daughter to hit a baseball by verbal instruction - you have to put a bat in their young hands and let them swing - you can't just talk about using money wisely and expect youngsters to learn.

The usual vehicle for teaching these values is the allowance. A definition of "allowance" that clarifies all important aspects is: specific sums of moeny given at regular intervals and designed, by mutual agreement, to cover designated costs as well as discretionary spending money.

The sum and the interval should be an agreement based on experience. Have the child keep track of expenses for a few weeks, including regular weekly needs such as bus fare and lunches, as well as reasonable number of "extras". How the child uses the discretionary part of the allowance (morally) must always be a matter of his or her own choice.

Review the amount of the allowance with the child every few months in the beginning, and at least annually with an older youngster. Keep an eye on inflation as well as needs that increase with age. Make sure your child doesn't get too far out on a limb before he or she learns that money doesn't grow on trees.

One of the most damaging mistakes we can make is giving too much. Over giving deprives children of the desire to achieve on their own. We must realize that we are really helping our young people when we don't give them everything they ask for what they have.

Money, after all, is like manure. Spreading it around does a lot of good. If you pile it up it really stinks!

(by Joseph L. Felix, Source: PST Digest)

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09 January 2009

Voice of Experience

"Mag teacher ka na lang!" Not just ten but more than a hundred times I hear such degrading, earpiercing comment from parents who want their sons or daughters to be... TEACHERS. "Probably the easiest course!" This was what I thought. I went through the labors of college and made good in my studies. In four years time I became a graduate - a new, young, aspiring, idealistic, dreamy-eyed... EDUCATOR.

In my first year of teaching, I went through all forms of adjustment. That was the time when I had to come down from the clouds of idealism. When I first got the taste of everything that surrounded me - the students, my co-teachers, my superiors and administrators, I caught on a lot of "It can't be this...", "It has to be this...", "This is impossible!" Complaints... endless complaints. I felt as though I couldn't settle for anything less. Deep inside, I thought I knew a lot. I felt like a messiah - able and powerful to change and put everything in order. (Messianic concept... anyone?)

I couldn't believe the results of the exam of my students the first time I gave a test - many of them got zero! When I worked with the personnel, a bulk of work were left undone. I felt as though I was about to burst! What was going on? Later, I came to realize that my college education was not enough to prepare me for this battle. I needed first hand experience to fully figure out what it was like to be a teacher... to be an educator.

Seventeen years passed and somehow, I could already pinpoint my limits, my importance and my place in a great bulk of educational system. I might not be able to change the system but I could still do something in my role and in my obligation as a teacher. Now I personally disagree with those who make education a second-best course because it is but more than a mere consolation to witness a group of young boys and girls who were once my students graduated with honors. They would leave the portals of the school with the fondest memories of all - their school life with everybody and everything on it and - and not so surprinsingly - we're part of them.

The kind of person or teacher we are undoubtedly leave an indelible mark on the student's character. Teachers can be very powerful because we can potently influence the students. We can make or unmake them. The students' laughter, problems, inhibitions and confusions are not theirs alone but also ours. Unconsciously, we get soaked up with their emotions and become affected in a way too. Learning that Juan's mother and father just broke-up, and his grades are affected is not something we can smile with. Hearing that somebody in our class met an accident and would most likely be operated on - is not something we can shrug our shoulders about. These are but simple realities in the teacher's life, and they're not too nice to go through. College education may have forgotten to teach us these but the experience will.

So perhaps, like any other course, let's think deeply and decide whether or not to be an educator. It takes not only patience, but love to survive the colorful- life that lays ahead for those who are willing enough to mold and shape the future of our country. It's because - it's not that easy. It doesn't only need a teacher to be intelligent for him to teach well; not only have big hands to work well; not only have bigger ears to hear the students well; but to have a heart, a little bit bigger than the others to understand them well.

That's what we are and that's what we will always be.

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Shaving Tips

If you use a razor on your legs or underarms, here are some precautions you might want to take:

Before sharving, use a loofah to remove the dry skin that may be holding in ingrown hairs.

Be sure to shave where there's plenty of bright light so you can see what you're doing.

If you should get a nick, apply cold water to stop the bleeding. Then clean with antiseptic, and apply a bandage if cut is deep.

Naver shave on dry skin; this can cause an irritation called razor burn, which looks almost as bad as it feels.


Water can help make shaving easier by fattening up each hair, but never shave in the bath while your legs are underwater; this can cause distortion, and you'll be more likely to nick yourself. Too much water also washes aways your shaving preparation.

Shave creams and skin baby lotions make excellent pre-shaving preparations. They let your razor glide smoothly and give you an even shave.


If you use soap as lubricant, be sure to choose one that lathers well. And use a moisturizer afterward, to counteract the drying effect of the soap. But it's best to wait about four hours before using moisturizer on newly shaved legs - the pores are open and skin may be sensitive. Never apply deodorant directly after shaing underams.

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08 January 2009

Why Chinese Women Kill Themselves?

Researchers have found that young Chinese women are more than ten times as likely as their American counterparts to commit suicide.

Experts suggest that the high suicide rates may stem from rural Chinese women's low status and harsh lives. From birth, girls are seen as less desirable than boys. After marriage, a woman must do more than her share of the farm work, and her status diminishes further if she produces instead of a son. Women who don't marry by their mid-twenties are treated as social misfits.

Ironically, the prosperity that private farming has brought to rural China may also play a part. Residents of even remote villages now can watch television, which makes women more aware of the gap between their live and those of women in other parts of the world.

And those who decide to commit suicide now have a lethal substance close at hand: pesticides.

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Handling Sea Sickness

The currently favored theory of motion sickness is that the central nervous system can't reconcile the conflicting signals coming from the eyes, the inner ear, and the rest of the body.

You're in a ship's cabin. Your vision says you're not moving, yet your body is constantly pitching and you're having to catch yourself. "The brain is trying to cope with all this until a reaction comes that says, "I can't deal with coordinating my balance in this environment!"

At this point, the central nervous system sends chemical messages, which in turn trigger physical symptoms. These often begin with excessive salivation, yawning, heat rushes, and cold sweats, and may lead to vomiting and drowsiness. You could find yourself with a severe headache, and in the worst case, dehydration, lethargy, and collapse.

Here is an advice taken from the PST Digest:

Look to the horizon. Breath fresh air. Eat lightly and avoid too much alcohol. If you're in the car, stop, get out, and let your body recover.

Or try psychological approach. Part of the trick is to turn your thought elsewhere - concentrate on a task, play game, if your attention is focused on doing a particular job, then when these motion - mismatch signals get to the brain, they get a busy signal.

"The one great thing about sea sickness," say nurse Moore, "is that it ends just as soon as you reach the dock!"

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07 January 2009

Getting Ready...

Some persons can study in a hammok, in a haystack, under a table, almost everywhere. Most people, however, are generally distracted by the slightest sound, too much light, too little light, uncomfortable chairs, or talking to others nearby. A quiet spot in the attic is far more desirable for study than a plush room with Hi-fi or a radio blasting away. An artist, a composer, a surgeon - all need quiet surroundings for their work. You, too, can do your best when you work under favorable conditions.

Leading educators have recommended the following plan for those who want to learn how to study: the problem of where, when, and why before learning how to study.

1. Study at the same time each day; divide your time before and after dinner. Don't study when you are tired.

2. Study in a quiet place. You cannot study when you have a radio or a television on in the same room.

3. Good lighting is important when you study. Eyes suffer strain and tire easily when there is poor lighting.

4. Sit in a comfortable chair and a table. Don't use you lap for a desk.

5. Make sure that you have your assignments in a notebook and follow the written and study work exactly.

6. Before you work, see that you have all the necessary materials: pen, paper, textbook, ruler, eraser, notebook, dictionary.

7. Work without interruption. You'll finish before you know it.

8. Do your written work immediately. Do it on scrap paper first. Check for mistakes, then rewrite neatly.

9. Learn to study with a purpose. Find out why you are reading a selection. Take notes - don't daydream.

10. Finally, keep fifteen or thirty minutes a day to read a magazine or book that you really like.

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New Year's Resolution Tag

I was tagged by MommyElvz of Straigth from the Heart. Just like her I'm not into New Year's resolution in the past but this time I guess I don't have a choice :) I only have one thing in mind right now so I only have one resolution.

The New Year’s Blog Award
Rules:
You must be a true lover of the New Year to receive this award. The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with the New Year.
Post at least five New Year’s Resolutions. If you can’t limit it to five, then continue until you go out of space.
Pass the award along to as many bloggers as you like.
Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving a comment on their site. Also, link back the person who gave you the award.

My New Year’s Resolution.
1. I'll try to save and budget my income wisely.
2. I'll try to save and budget my income wisely.
3. I'll try to save and budget my income wisely.
4. I'll try to save and budget my income wisely.
5. I'll try to save and budget my income wisely.

Now I'm tagging Shirley, mr6ta, and kayal.

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I finally got my Google AdSense PIN

After over a month of sending request for my PIN, I finally got my account information from Google AdSense Support yesterday. The mail arrived here in our local post office dated last December 23, 2008. They delivered it to me only yesterday! Tsk! tsk! tsk!

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"Mad"

The word "mad" is used in many ways. A mad person can be an insane person. Or, someone who is foolish. Or, someone who has lost touch with reality. It also can be someone who is angry.

Many expressions used the word "mad". One is "mad as a hatter." Another is "mad as a March hare." Both these expressions are based on the same children's book - Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The story is about Alice, a girl who falls through a hole in the ground into a very unusual place. Alice meets strange people and animals, including a disappearing cat. The cat tells Alice, "In that direction lives a hatter. And in that direction lives a March hare. Visit either you would like. They both are mad."

Alice has tea with the Hatter and the March hare. It is the strangest tea party you could imagine. Alice decides that the cat was right. Both the Hatter and the March hare are mad. Alice in Wonderland is a make-believe story. But some of it was based on fact. Hatters - people who made hats - used the element mercury in making and shaping hats. After years od working with mercury, many hat-makers suffered from mercury poisoning. They lost control of their muscles and many became insane. So, there was a reason for the expression "mad as a hatter."

"Mad as March hare" is even easier to explain. In the spring - usually in the month of March - hares, or rabbits appear to go insane. They can be seen in fields hitting the ground with their back legs. Jumping up and down. Throwing their bodies in circles in the air. The hares appears to be insane. But they are only doing what comes naturally. So, the hare is not mad all the time... just in the month of March.

Another expression, "mad as a wet hen" is not about insanity. It is about anger. People use the expression to describe someone who is really angry.

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06 January 2009

The Insect with a Childhood of Seventeen Years

The life cycle of most insects is relatively short, and many kinds pass from the egg to the adult stage within a few days or weeks. Others spend the winter months in the egg or other immature stage, and a few may require several years to become adults.

The prize for the longest life cycle know in the insect world, however, must be awarded to the seventeen-year cicada. Cicadas are called locusts in some sections, but as we have seen, this name should be limited to certain members of the grasshopper clan. The rather common cicada which often gives a concert from tree during the day and early evening is familiar to many people. These insects are similar to the seventeen-year cicada, but their life cycle is completed in from two to five years.

The immature stages of cicadas are passed within the ground, where they burrow about and feed on the roots of various plants. Those of the seventeen-year species stay in the ground for seventeen years. So far as known, they do no serious damage to the plants on which they feed.


The rate of development of these numerous insects is about the same, and when they come from the ground they do so in tremendous numbers. At last the big moment arrives, and out from thr soil pop droves of the queerest insects you ever saw. Superficially they do not resemble adult cicadas to any extent. They are about an inch long, and they have large toothed from legs which cause them to resemble chubby crawfish. There is a pair of large eyesd on the head and small wing pads cab be seen on the back. These nymphs, as they are called, must now transform into adults. Each one grasps a rock or twig, or crawls up a tree trunk and catches the bark. The "skin" or outer shell then splits down the back. Gradually the adult insect works its way to the spot as a light brown shell.Seventeen-year cicadas emerge over a period of several days, and the adults may live for two or three weeks. Unlike the human species, only male cicadas can "sing", but while they are alive, a concentration of the insects is likely to make life miserable for people.


Cicadas of one type or another occur in many parts of the world, but the seventeen-year species is confined to the eastern United States; a variety in the southeast requires only thirteen years to complete its life cycle. Most the the states east of the Mississippi River, and a few to the west, have one or more broods of these insects. There are many different broods, and each one emerges at a different time. Government and stage agencies have studied these various broods, and can predict the time when a particular group is to be expected.

The cicadas sometimes cause damage to trees, but the destruction is not as much as one might expect from such tremendous numbers. Essentially all harm is done by the egg-laying females. The cicada pushes the ovipositor or egg-laying tube into the bark of small twigs and limbs, and the eggs are deposited in the tissues of the plant. The twigs are punctured and splintered during the process, and valuable fruit trees may be heavily damaged or even killed if enough cicadas are present. When the eggs hatch, the nymphs drop to the ground, burrow into the soil, and remain there for their destined thirteen or seventeen years.

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Eggs... Reconsidered


Elevated levels of blood cholesterol are a key factor in the development of the heart disease. But singling out eggs as villains, because they are high in cholesterol, is misleading. Recent studies suggest that limiting the amount of saturated fat in your diet is much more effective in lowering blood cholesterol consumption. The current consensus is that young women who eat around 1800 calories a day should eat no more than 60 grams of fat (and only 20 grams of saturated fat) per day; cholesterol consumption should be under 300 mg per day. Here are leading experts’ comments.

Should you worry about eggs or not?

Joan Horbiak, R.D., spokesperson for the American Diabetic Association: “You really can’t find anything higher in cholesterol than an egg (except for organ meats), but that’s not the figure to look at. It’s much more important to lower saturated fat, which has a more potent effect on blood cholesterol. Eggs aren’t high in saturated fat compared to other foods. Meat is the number one source of fat in the American diet. Another source is cheese, which is higher in fat than most meat cuts. Yet, we eat it as snack.”

James Cleeman, M.D., coordinator, cholesterol education program, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI): “I think it’s a mistake to single out any one food. What’s important for the public to know is that it’s the total diet that counts. If people focus exclusively on eggs and don’t worry about saturated fats in whole-milk products or commercial baked goods, if they make a fetish of eggs and forget about everything else, they haven’t done themselves a favor.”

Should you limit the number of eggs you eat?

Horbiak: “You should still keep egg consumption under three yolks a week because of their cholesterol count. The American Diabetic Association currently recommends that we eat under 300 mg of cholesterol per day. But that should be a hardship for women, their average daily intake is 305 mg. (For men, it’s 420 mg)

Willaim Castelli, M.D., medical director of the Framington Heart Study: “The strongest data show there is correlation between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol, and it does warrant concern.

John C. LaRosa, M.D., chairman of the American Heart Association nutrition committee: “You can eat as many egg whites as you want. All cholesterol and fat are in the yolk. In fact, egg whites are a very high quality food; they contain virtually no fat – like skim milk.”

What about “hidden eggs” in prepared food?

Nancy Ernst, M.S,, R.D., nutritionist coordinator of NHLBI: “The biggest problem in prepared foods, such as baked goods, is the saturated fat used in the shortenings, not the cholesterol in the egg yolks. Eggs are an easy target for cholesterol education because they’re easily recognizable. But compared with other blood-cholesterol lowering activities, such as cutting saturated fats, exercising and eating fiber-rich foods, cutting dietary cholesterol by eating fewer eggs would be near the bottom of the list.”

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Another Smile Award...

This smile award was given to me by MsRay of Woman On A Journey. Thank you so much for being one of my blogosphere friends.

Everytime you smile at someone
it is an action of love
a gift to that person
a beautiful thing.
-Mother Teresa

I'm passing this award to my friends : Shirley, Kate, Sunny, Janed, Faye, and The MaNiaX Blog

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05 January 2009

Electric Fishes

Some fishes are able to produce electricity in their bodies. Their batteries are special blocks of muscles. When an ordinary muscle gets a message from the brain, it starts to move. Electric fish have special muscles which cannot move, but instead when they receive a message from the brain - really a very small electric current - they give out electricity. If they use all these muscles at the same time, a powerful shock can be felt in the waternearby, other electric fish use electric discharges to defend themselves or to help them find their way about in muddy water.


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What to do with Varicose Veins

A varicose vein is a vein in which the valves no longer function effectively, and with becomes stretched out of shape because of excess pressure.

TREATMENT:

1. Brisk walks for 15 minutes four times a day.
2. Adequate dietary fiber.
3. Straining to move the bowels must be avoided.
4. Knee-high stockings, garter belts, girdles, tight calf-high boots, tight-fitting socks, very high-heeled shoes must be avoided.
5. Hot baths or excessive sunbathing may need to be avoided.
6. Sitting without walking for long period od time should be prohibited.
7. Swimming.
8. Walking barefoot.
9. Crossing the legs should be avoided.
10. Do not squat or sit back on your heels.
11. Exercise your toes and rotate your ankles, while standing or sitting.
12. Elastic stockings.
13. Elevation of the legs during rest periods.
14. Lie down with legs elevated six inches higher than the heart.
15. Shower twice a day.
A light fingertips massage.

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Is Jealousy Healthy?

Jealousy has been called "love's curse." It's the emotion you feel toward a rival who si winning something you have or counted on getting - usually the love, attention, or respect of someone you care about. Jealousy can be aroused by an object symbolizing love - like an heirloom left to one sister, with no equal bequest to the other.

But jealousy also flares when affection isn't involved. What we call jealousy really is a cluster of distressing emotional reactions. to loss or threat od loss to a rival.

If jealousy is about loss, envy -- its twin -- is about gain: how much we want what someone else has and fear that we can't get it. People's biggest misconception about jealousy is that it's a sign of love. Total absence of jealousy in someone we love, in fact, may suggest the person doesn't value us enough.

However, loving someone means, among other things, wanting that person to be happy and fulfilled. Yet extremely jealous people are not able to handle that. They tend to feel threatened if their partners or close friends become successful or self-sufficient.

"Jealousy is not a barometer by which the depth of love can be read, it merely records the degree of the lover's insecurity," wrote Margaret Mead. The greater insecurity, the greater the possessiveness and suspicion, as Darwin did, that jealousy is genetically programmed into humans as survival mechanism. For instance, helpless infants need to be jealous of anything that diverts mother's attention. Social behavioral psychologists tend to believe that jealous reactions are largely learned. Whatever their origins, moderate feelings of jealousy can be useful if dealt with rationally.

Jealousy can motivate us to change and grow. We can use it to spot areas in our life or relationships that need improvement. Jealousy "occurs because we see ourselves as having less to give than the object of our jealousy," writes Buscaglia. "Jealousy diminishes only when we regain a feeling of worth and self-respect." The key: make sure whatever you're doing is primarily for your own satisfaction and self-esteem, not to undermine a rival or elicit a reaction from a third person.

"Life with a jealous person is a like continually walking through a mine field, fearful of taking the wrong step," writes marital and family therapist Rober L. Barker, Ph. D., in the Green-Eyed Marriage (The Free Press). One must justify normal behavior, such as greeting an attractive neighbor; avoid the wrong companion; try not to do the unexpected, such as coming home late from work. Life gets narrower untel the jealous partner is practically the only one in it.

Dr. Barker recommendations: help the jealous person feel more self-confident and confident about the relationship by being attentive and by showing a desire to spend time with him or her; clarify what both partners think is tolerable and intolerable behavior; and make frequent references to being together in the future. Finally, one is in a much stronger position if always truthful with the jealous person.
(by Barbara Lang Stern)

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04 January 2009

Plants Can Send Warning Signals

Scientists have discovered that some plants can send signals to warn their defense system about attacking insects. The scientists studied what happens when an insect eats leaf on a tomato plant. They found that the lead sends electrical signals to other leaves. Undamaged leaves begin producing defensive chemicals. The insect eats these chemicals when it attacks another leaf on the same plant. These chemicals harm the insect’s digestive enzymes which makes difficult for the insect to get the food it needs.

A team of scientists from Britain and New Zealand say the study shows that plants are like animals in some ways. However, the scientists say that the newly discovered signals are not exactly the same as the signals that an animal sends to warn it of danger. Animals send signals very quickly through their nerves. This permits an animal to flee when threatened by another animal. Plants send warning signals much more slowly.

The new study showed that leaves produce defense molecules when an electrical signal passes from a damaged leaf. Leaves do not produce defense molecules when the electrical signal is blocked. Scientists know that some unusual plants use electrical signal to move their leaves. For example, the Venus flytrap plant catches insects by closing its leaves around them.

Scientists, however, do not know which cells in a plant produce the electrical signals. And they do not know exactly how an insect feeding on a leave causes the electrical signals. They think a leaf’s cells lose water and tension when they are crushed by an insect. This seems to cause chemical changes in the leaf. The changes produced electrically charged particles that move from cell to cell to warn other leaves of the attack.

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02 January 2009

Celebrating New Year

When the clock hit 12:00 midnight, we all went outsite to see our neighbors litting their firecrackers and watched fireworks display. Since I'm afraid of being injured or burned by firecrackers, I only bought sparklers. I took pictures of the sparklers and it amazed me because it looks like the one I see in one of the fireworks displays of our neighbors. Hehehe! See the pictures below.


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