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31 Dec

Hunger

Hunger

Food is huge right now.  We’ve got The Food Network with programming around the clock, cookbooks flying off the shelves as people spend more time in the kitchen, and chefs are the new rock stars.  And yet, for 1 in 8 people in the United States hunger is a reality.  Worldwide the statistics are much worse.  The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed, and one-third is starving.  Approximately 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition, and about 8 million actually die from it each year.

September is Hunger Action Month.  And there’s no better time to take action than right now.  Feeding America, formerly named America’s Second Harvest, is one organization that is working hard to solve the hunger crisis.  It is a network made up of individuals, local food banks, and national offices, as well as corporate and government partners.  Feeding America secures food and grocery products on a national level and distributes as needed to local food banks.  For every $1 donated, Feeding America provides 10 pounds of groceries to hungry people.

Many children in the United States rely on free or reduced-priced school lunches during the school year.  And this is often the only meal they get each day.  During weekends and school vacations these children go hungry.  Feeding America has come up with the “BackPack Program” to help these kids.  The program started at the Arkansas Rice Depot, after a school nurse asked for help because hungry students were coming to her with stomachaches and dizziness.  The local food bank began to provide the school children with groceries in backpacks to carry home with them.  Now the program serves more than 90,000 children each year.

Action Against Hunger is working on a global basis.  Their program areas include nutrition, water and sanitation, food security, health and advocacy.  They have started the Campaign to End Malnutrition.  They say that the loss of life from malnutrition is all the more tragic because acute malnutrition is preventable, predictable, and cost-effective to treat.  And they have a plan in place to save lives.  Visit their website for all the details.

And while we’re online, there’s something we can do, once a day, everyday, to help eradicate world hunger.  Just go to TheHungersite.com and click on the “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button.  Since June, 1999, more than 300 million visitors have given more than 657 million cups of staple food.  The food funded by clicks is paid for by the site sponsors and distributed to those in need by Mercy Corps, Feeding America, and Millennium Promise.  100% of sponsor advertising fees go to the aid of hungry people around the world.  Besides clicking the button, which costs visitors nothing, we can also help by shopping in The Hunger Site store.  With each item purchased, shoppers generate funds for the hungry.  The store offers a wide variety of items to show support as well as fair-traded and handcrafted items from around that world that help families and communities pull themselves out of the poverty and hunger cycle.

Here’s another innovative way to help solve the world food problem.  I love it when I find a site where I can have fun, learn and also do something good for the world, and that’s just what I found at FreeRice.com.  With freerice.com you play a game to improve your vocabulary.  For every word you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to hungry people through the United Nations World Food Program.  The game is challenging, even though it is multiple-choice.  If you correctly guess the meaning of a word, you get a more difficult one next.  If you get it wrong, you get an easier one.  If you’re online playing games anyway, you might as well play this one.  You’ll learn some new words, and help feed people in need at the same time.

Knowing about all the hungry people in the world gives us more reason to be grateful every time we sit down to eat.  And now we can take action to help feed people every time we sit down at our computers.  Every dollar counts, every click counts, every grain of rice counts to those who are hungry.

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31 Dec

Divorce is Forever

Divorce is Forever

My friend Sandy and I had had yet another one of our philosophical discussions this weekend.  She said, “I have a great title for your next blog – Marriage is Temporary, Divorce is Forever.”  Having been divorced myself I can understand her sentiments.  Yes, divorce is forever.  But now, truly happily married, I’m in the state where I once again feel that marriage is forever, too.  Maybe there really is no delineation – maybe it’s that these relationships we get ourselves into go on and on, and it’s just the definition of the relationship that changes.  Whether married or divorced, there is this person in our lives that we love – or loved – and through whom we are tied with children, or finances, or history. 

As celebrities give us this great illustration with which we can all better understand, let’s explore this theory with a few examples.  Bruce Willis and Demi Moore: married, seemingly happily, for enough years to produce three beautiful daughters.  They divorce amicably, and no bad blood shows up in the press.  She later marries Ashton Kutcher, and Bruce shows his support as the three attend many family occasions and holidays together.  One big happy family!  And when Bruce remarries, of course they’re all there, too.  Very civilized, very mature.  So Bruce and Demi, although married to different people now, are still tied to each other through their children, and have managed to maintain a functional relationship. 

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt do not share any children, although they shared years of their lives together as husband and wife.  Will the press ever let them forget that?  I think not!  Even as Brad welcomed his 5th and 6th child, twins, with his current partner, Angelina Jolie, tabloids speculated about an Aniston-Pitt reunion.  What gives?  These people have all clearly moved on, but why can’t we?  Is it because Brad and Angie have yet to tie the knot?  They are clearly committed – and they certainly are looking to the future as they raise these children together.  I think it’s because we want to see that Jennifer is okay.  We want her to be happy, and in love, like Brad is.  That way it seems more “fair.”  But life is not always fair.  Life gives us lessons, and sometimes they’re tough ones.  We just have to trust that somehow, someway, through some power greater than our own, that it all balances out in the end.  Karma?  Destiny?  Maybe that’s it.

From Sandy’s point of view, her marriage was temporary.  She didn’t plan for it to be that way.  She went in with the best of intentions, until death do us part.  But as it goes, things happen, people change, and plans go awry.  So now she’s divorced, which she considers to be permanent.  This is the new definition of her relationship with her ex.  Can she “wash that man right out of her hair?”  No.  They have kids together.  They had a life together.  And now all of that has to be shifted to fit this new paradigm.  It can be painful, and certainly stressful.  There are unfulfilled expectations.  There is grief, fear, and uncertainty.  And what can we do about it?  Somehow we have to manage.  We have to redefine the relationship in such a way that it makes sense to us, and that we are okay with it, taking the good with the bad, however we choose to see that.  We have to let go of any anger or resentment because there comes a time when we realize that we are only hurting ourselves with it.

So yes, my first marriage is over.  But am I over it?  Probably not.  I’ve still got these two kids as constant reminders of the years we shared in it.  Those years don’t disappear.  They are a part of my memory, and my psyche.  They helped to shape who I am today.  But I still wouldn’t change a thing about it.  I know mistakes were made, but those mistakes helped both me and my ex to learn and to grow.  I know we are both better off where we are today.  I love my life, I love my husband, and I know that I wouldn’t have what I have right now had the divorce not happened.  So it’s all good.  And I am sure that my ex feels the same way.

Life is full of challenges and full of risks.  Marriage is a big risk.  Divorce is another.  Both take a commitment.  It’s a commitment to living life to its fullest, to being true to yourself, to doing what you feel is best, and to honoring the wisdom that you have gained through your experiences.

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31 Dec

Have a Stress-Less Holiday Season!

‘Tis the season for stress?  NBC Dateline reports that 41% of people interviewed said that the holidays are as stressful as a job interview.  In other words, “very stressful.”  It’s not hard to imagine why this is the case.  Besides our normal work schedule and routine, add to that the traditional holiday obligations: office parties, cooking, eating, shopping, wrapping, traveling, visiting and general socializing, and our capacity for stress tips the scales on the verge of overload.

Then of course, there’s the economy.  A Los Angeles radio station does an annual poll of its listener’s resolutions.  Every year “Get Fit” or “Lose Weight” ends up being the most popular goal.  But this year “Get Out of Debt” ranked the highest.  How do we reconcile this with the barrage of store catalogs and television ads broadcasting all the great deals we can get on all kinds of stuff?  It’s enough to make a person cringe every time Jingle Bells plays in the grocery store.

We can’t fast forward through the season, even if we wanted to.  But we can manage our stress, and find ways to relax and enjoy the beauty of this special time of year.

1.  Fold your hands in prayer behind your back.  When we get stressed we tend to tense up, and cave our chest in.  This opens up our chest, so we can breathe more freely.  Pull the shoulders back, tilt the head back, and breathe deeply.

2.  Rub the circumference of each ear with your hands.  Right hand rubbing the right ear and left hand rubbing the left ear.  According to Ayurveda, India’s 5,000 year old Science of Life, there are marma points (like acupuncture points) in the ears that correspond to the various parts of the body.  Rubbing the ears in this way is like giving yourself a little mini massage!

3.  Stop and smell the flowers.  Keep some lavender essential oil in your desk or purse.  When you feel stressed, bring it out.  Close your eyes and breathe in the fragrance.  Count to 5.  Then exhale through your mouth to the count of 5.  According to Aromatherapy, lavender is very calming.  and when we close our eyes it isolates the sense of smell so that we feel it more intensely.

4.  Present moment awareness.  Most of the time, when we’re stressed it is because we are living in either the future or the past.  Bring yourself into present moment awareness by focusing on the now.  Use your senses, which connect us to our environment.  Hug yourself, to be more “in your body” instead of in your mind where the stress is.  Look at something beautiful, a flower, a bird, the sky, and just be with that for a moment.  Take a sip of sweet tea, and really taste it, and enjoy it.  Be grateful in that moment, and stress just washes away.  Gratitude and stress cannot be present at the same time!

5.  Sit in your desk chair, or kitchen table chair – left foot on the floor, put your right ankle on your left knee, and learn forward with a stretch.  Hold it as far as you can go, then bend forward a little more.  This opens up your hips, and again balances that tensed up muscle feeling.  Do each side equally.

6.  Pay attention.  Understand that it is our choice where we place our attention.  We can look at the source of our stress, or we can look at the white snow, the blue sky, the green pines, the twinkling stars.

7.  Release expectations.  Simplify.  Is it important to send out 100 cards with personal notes?  Or would you be happier contacting a few close friends?  Do you need to have the house decorated like something out of a magazine?  Do you need to make a seven course meal?  What expectations do you have of yourself, and of others?  Rather than striving for perfection, allow things to just be, however they are.  Know that whatever it is, it’s all good.

8.  Remember these words: love, peace, joy.  This is what the season is all about.  When those other words creep into your consciousness, the ones that set off stress, replace them with what you know to be important: love, peace, joy.

Wishing you love, peace and joy this holiday season, and always.

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31 Dec

Healthcare

Healthcare

Years ago, when my son was diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), my life changed.  I went from being a mother to also taking on the additional roles of advocate and mediator.  In order to help my son get the help he needed and the services he was entitled to in school, I had to learn everything I could about the educational system, the healthcare system, and the law.  It is a challenge to navigate all of this, and yet it is essential in order to work with teachers, administrators, doctors, and therapists as part of a team.  I learned a lot, thanks in large part to an organization called CHADD, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders.  This is a national, non-profit organization with local, volunteer-run chapters.  Our local chapter held monthly meetings, which allowed parents to keep up with the various issues and changes.  Most importantly, the meetings provided a forum for parents to network with each other and share experiences and resources.

We got over all the hurdles, and managed to get through the system despite the complexities.  My son is in college now, and he has the tools to advocate for himself.  But there are new kids coming up, and new parents who are starting from scratch to figure all of this out.  Luckily, CHADD is still on it, providing us with the ongoing information we need to help our kids. 

Following is an e-mail I received from CHADD regarding the current Healthcare Reform Legislation.  I am happy to share it with you, and hoping that it will encourage all of us to look at the many children and families who will benefit from healthcare reform.  To those of us working so diligently to take care of our children, this is most welcome, and long overdue.

“House of Representatives Passes
Comprehensive Healthcare Reform Legislation

Many Provisions Will Benefit
Children and Adults with AD/HD and Related Disorders

On Saturday, November 7, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a comprehensive healthcare reform bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (HR 3962) by a vote of 220-215. It is expected that the full Senate will debate and vote on its version of the bill in the coming weeks, which will then be followed by the House and Senate having its leaders meet in a conference to reconcile differences and produce a final piece of legislation that can be sent to the President.

CHADD, through its membership in the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, Campaign for Mental Health Reform, and the Mental Health Liaison Group has sent letters to members of Congress in support of the bill. CHADD’s views on and support for healthcare reform legislation can be viewed on the Healthcare Reform 2009 webpage and CHADD’s Leadership Blog. CHADD has no position on many of the provisions contained in the legislation. The three primary disability coalitions CHADD participates in, believe there are significant key provisions warranting support of the legislation. 

A few key provisions in the final House bill that will benefit children and adults with AD/HD and related disorders include:

    * Requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance, and mandating that most employers provide insurance to their employees, but also providing substantial federal subsidies to make coverage as affordable as possible;
    * Providing coverage of critical services for people with disabilities in the new Health Insurance Exchange’s essential benefits package including behavioral health treatment, and mental health and substance abuse services in compliance with the Wellstone-Domenici parity law, rehabilitation and habilitation services, equipment and supplies for children under 21 years of age;
    * Inclusion of “disability” as a category for purposes of health disparities;
    * Inclusion of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, a new national long term services insurance program to help adults with severe functional impairments to remain independent, employed, and a part of their communities; and
* Not allowing individual or group health insurance policies to establish lifetime or annual limits on the dollar value of benefits and the elimination of discrimination based on health status or a pre-existing condition.

CHADD continues to actively monitor developments in healthcare reform. Updated information on the legislation, CHADD’s 13 principles for healthcare reform, children’s mental health coalition’s five principles for healthcare reform and CHADD’s work with other partner coalitions can be viewed on CHADD’s website: http://www.chadd.org

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31 Dec

All Children are Our Children

All Children are Our Children

A study commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption showed that nearly 40% of American adults, or 81.5 million people, have considered adopting a child.  If just one in 500 of these adults decided to adopt, all of the 134,000 children in foster care waiting for adoption would have a permanent home.

I’ve written before about my experiences volunteering at a local group foster home.  It’s actually a residential treatment and crisis care center.  While there are many children who live there for varying amounts of time, I have been lucky enough to establish relationships with a handful of them.  I love these kids.  I feel like they are my children.  And in a very real sense, they are mine.  And they are yours.  They are a part of our community, and they are a part of ourselves.

When I first committed to this “job” I agreed to come in for two hours a week, for four weeks.  I’m now averaging four hours a day, five days a week, and I just was there for eleven days in a row.  I’m well into my sixth month, and I can’t imagine stopping ever.  Being a volunteer means that I am not paid, and spending this much time at the place actually costs me lots of money each week.  I can’t help but bring fresh fruit and books and things like that.  I make the time because this is important.  I spend the money because I would rather help these kids than save up to buy a designer purse.

More and more we are learning that we live in a global community.  We see how much of what happens in other communities, and other countries, has an affect on our own lives.  And because of the internet and ease of travel, it’s easier for us to reach out and help children not only in our hometowns, but around the world. 

I recently met Vivian Glyck, an amazing woman who has made a difference by following her vision.  She says that after becoming a mother, she developed “a keen sense that the world is so small, it is really just one community, and I realized that taking care of oneself means heeding one’s calling – without hesitation or deliberation.”  Vivian’s calling is helping children in Uganda.  Why?  Because 25 million Africans, many of whom are children, are infected with the HIV virus.  Every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies of malaria.  12 million children are already orphaned by AIDS.  Vivian travels to Africa and works with children personally, and she says they are “just like my child” which is why she named her organization “Just Like My Child.”  The mission is to alleviate the suffering of women, children, and families in rural Uganda by empowering communities to create their own long-term solutions to healthcare, education, and microenterprise.  Read more about Vivian’s story at: justlikemychild.org

My friend Lysa Heslov is also helping children with her foundation Children Mending Hearts.  Her mission is to give children worldwide the power to find and use their voices through creative expression.  This is a global arts exchange between at-risk children in America and children living in conflict zones around the world that educates, empowers and encourages all the participants.  People of various cultures connect the different projects, and learn and grow from their experiences with each other.  Lysa has traveled to the Congo and worked with children first hand.  And now her foundation is traveling around the United States to conduct art workshops.  For more information visit: childrenmendinghearts.org

My friend Joseph Curiale saw a news story on CNN which compelled him to start a foundation to help orphaned girls in India.  Right now there are four girls going to school on scholarships, who would otherwise be living in poverty in a government orphanage.  Joe has traveled back and forth to India 12 times to make sure that these children, whom he considers his own, are getting the support, and the love, that they need.  Joe is a testament to how one person can make a difference in this world.  The work he has done is remarkable.  Read more about his story at: josephcurialefoundation.com

Through organizations like Plan USA we can sponsor an individual child, and help that child’s family and community as well.  Sponsorship helps to provide vaccination and nutrition programs, community water systems and well construction, home and health clinic construction, school and teachers, and so much more.  As a sponsor you receive a photo of your child, a family profile to introduce you and provide information about the community, and regular updates on how everyone is doing.  You can send letters and small gifts, and you can even visit your child!  This sponsored child becomes your ambassador to a place and culture that you might otherwise never know.  I began sponsoring Swapna, a little girl in rural India, in 2005.  I’ve been able to see her grow and communicate through Plan USA’s field office volunteers.  We don’t speak the same language, and the geographical distance is great, but we are connected through our hearts.  She is a beautiful child, and I am grateful to be able to contribute to her life in some way.  If you’d like to sponsor a child, visit: planusa.org

All children are children of the world.  All children are our children.

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31 Dec

CLOSURE: How to Move Forward Powerfully and Positively

Each of us experiences some kind of loss in this lifetime.  People come and go from our lives, whether by choice or circumstance.  How we cope with these events affects how we move forward, how we see the world, and how we feel about our lives.  I’m not the only person to have been through a divorce.  When my first marriage ended after 17 years, I thought I handled it well.  It was an amicable parting, and we maintained a friendly relationship.  But then a few years later my sister’s husband died unexpectedly.  My grief brought up new emotions, and I felt sad and angry and hurt as I relived the divorce in my mind.  I realized through this experience that although I had moved on, I hadn’t really gotten over it; I didn’t have closure.  I saw the parallels between my sister’s loss and my own, and I actively sought to come up with a formula through which we could both alleviate our pain. Relationships take many forms: marriage, friendships, family, co-workers, classmates, lovers.  Whenever two people have some kind of a connection, a relationship is established.  Our energy goes into these connections, our emotions, our hopes, our human vulnerabilities.  A relationship is an organism itself, and it can have a life cycle.  But since relationship is a spiritual organism, it doesn’t die.  It merely changes shape.  The relationships we build with the people we encounter continue in spirit, in memories, and in lessons learned. We are invested in our relationships with other people.  We spend our time, and emotions, developing a kind of bond with a person.  We give of ourselves, through our love, our friendship, our concern, and our efforts. When we are faced with what seems to be the “end” of a relationship, we may feel loss, grief, anger or pain.  We might even feel relief, or freedom.  We may question the purpose for this change, whether it is abrupt or expected, and the necessity of it.  The change may or may not be our choice, or our desire, but something we must learn to live with.  The uneasiness may nag at us for years as we struggle to understand.  How do we get that “closure” that our hearts and minds so desperately seek so that we can move forward with our lives? We need to shift our perspective a little bit when it comes to relationships.  In our human form, we see the illusion of death, and the ending of relationships.  But what really takes place is a transformation.  As we learn and grow through our relationships, our relationships evolve.  We can use this evolution as an opportunity for continued growth, and for personal transformation.  The pains that we feel are growing pains.  However a relationship changes, whether it is a loss from physical death, a divorce, a move away, a growing up, or a falling out, we can not only survive, but thrive, knowing that everything, always, is exactly the way it is meant to be. A Natural Law works whether we are aware of it or not.  It is a principle of nature that is in effect at all times, without favoritism.  Gravity is a natural law.  It works the same for everyone, at all times.  By being aware of gravity, we can move about more freely, with less risk of pain from falling down. The Law of Relationship is two-fold.  It says:
1) We are all connected.
2) We are here to help each other. We are all connected in one way or another.  We feel the same emotions; we share the same experiences.  We are brothers and sisters on this planet.  This connection bonds us, and gives us a relationship with each other.  A mother in any part the world, can relate to another mother she has never seen because she knows what it means, and how it feels, to be a mother.  We are all born the same way, and have to learn how to walk and talk and find our way in the world.  We face challenges and heartache, no matter where we live, or how we live.  Our connection cannot be broken.  With our challenges and experiences we learn and grow.  Our relationships bring us many challenges and experiences, and through our relationships we learn and grow.  This is how we help each other.  We may not even know that we are doing it, but just by being in a person’s life, in some small way, we are contributing to the learning process, as they are contributing to ours.  Our actions affect other people in ways we can’t even imagine.  Even in times when we feel hurt by someone, that is an opportunity for us to learn and grow.  We might not realize it in the moment, but in some strange and miraculous way, we are helping each other by going through this experience together. Closure is different than grief.  Grieving is looking back; closure is about looking ahead.  We want to let go and move on.  This is what closure gives us.  We may have gone through the grieving process and still not have the closure we seek.  The law of relationship helps us to maneuver our way through the five set process of closure: Recognition, Acceptance, Understanding, Integration, and Gratitude.  When we reach a feeling of gratitude, we know we’ve come full circle to experience closure.  Closure is actually the perfect word for it.  It’s more than neatly tying up loose ends.  Think about life as a series of events and relationships, all linked together in some sort of artistic way, like a beautiful piece of jewelry.  We can’t wear a necklace or a bracelet if the chain is just left dangling.  The jewelry maker finishes off the piece by adding a clasp, one loop that kind of ties together the beginning and the end, the start and the finish, so that what we are left with is one strong continuous chain.  Our closure is that clasp.  Closure helps it all make sense.  It turns something seemingly broken into something useful, purposeful, and lovely.

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31 Dec

Cleopatra’s Secret for Skin Care?

At CoffeyTalk, we’re all about ancient wisdom and modern style.  We’ve discovered many beauty secrets from throughout time and cultures.  Now we’re found something of a gem – and it comes from that land of Egypt.

Stanley Jacobs is a facial plastic surgeon by day and somewhat of an “Egyptologist” in his spare time.  Like an Indiana Jones character, when he came upon the “Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus” – a document that contains many extraordinary descriptions of medical and surgical techniques dating from 2500 to 3000 B.C., he knew this contained valuable information.  In the back of the text was a chapter about “transforming an old man into a youth.”  In it, a recipe with the key ingredient being “hemayet.”  Maybe this is how Cleopatra kept her youthful glow…

Ah!  The mystery continues, as our hero is on the case!  He travels to Egypt, meets with world-renown experts and scholars, and hemayet is translated to mean “bitter almonds.”  However, these almonds are inedible, and not available in the United States.  Jacobs continues his study to determine that the almonds were used as a part of a topical mixture applied to the skin, and he begins the process of importing the almonds from China.  Enter New York chemist and cosmetic researcher extraordinaire Jules Zecchino, who finds that the real secret in the almonds is their “mandelic acid” – one of the most powerful of the alpha-hydroxy acids, currently used to fight the bacteria that causes acne.

The original recipe for this serum called for frankincense, so Jacobs added that, along with other components that were listed like licorice root, as well as resveratrol, to come up with a beautiful new product that is easily accessible today: “Visco-Elastic Transforming Serum.”

With twice-daily application of the serum over a one-month time period, studies show that there is an average increase in skin elasticity of 50%.  The elasticity of the skin is measured with a German device called a “Cutometer.”

When I first heard of this product, I was intrigued.  Since I don’t want to recommend anything to you that I haven’t first tried myself, I gave it a go.  The serum itself is opaque and creamy.  It smoothes in easily.  I find that it takes 5 pumps to cover the entire face and neck.  After 3 weeks of twice-daily use, I have noticed a difference!  The little crepe-y patch that was starting to form under my eye is now gone.  My skin feels fresh and dewy, and the fine lines are much less noticeable.  I like it!  Normal.dotm 0 0 1 23 133                     1 1 163 12.256

And the best part is that you don’t even have to travel to ancient Egypt to get this little treasure – you just have to go to the amazon – amazon.com that is.

 Visco-Elastic Transforming Serum

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31 Dec

Just in Time for Sex and the City 2 – Cosmos All Around!

Here’s the real story behind the fabulous Cosmopolitan cocktail, just in time for the release of Sex & the City 2.  
 
The story begins and ends with master mixologist, Dale “King Cocktail” DeGroff.   While Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda are often credited with bringing the Cosmopolitan cocktail to widespread popularity and acclaim, the story behind the cocktail actually pre-dates the fab SATC four.  The real story begins in 1992 at an exclusive after-party for the Grammy
s, held at the Rainbow Room where Dale was tending bar.  That evening, all eyes were on Madonna as she and her entourage settled in the VIP Lounge.  The provocative songstress requested something chic and delicious, and DeGroff whipped up a batch of Cosmopolitans.
 
He served the pink libation to the original Material Girl, Madonna, and the AP image circulated around the globe.  The Cosmo became an overnight sensation!  It was one of the first cocktails to gain international notoriety, and was a catalyst for the cocktail-craft and mixology explosion that would later grip the U.S. and the world!
 
To celebrate the release of Sex & the City 2, Dale has revived his classic drink creating a modern twist on the Cosmo for the more grown up ladies. Cosmopolitan Dreams adds a sophisticated touch of champagne, bringing the Cosmo back and ready to take on the new millennium.
 
The Cosmopolitan Dreams (created by Dale DeGroff)

3/4 ounce Citrus Vodka
3/4 ounce Cointreau
3/4 ounce Cranberry juice
1/4 ounce Fresh lime juice
2 1/2 ounces Piper Heidsieck Champagne
 
Assemble the vodka, Cointreau, and juices in a boston shaker with ice and shake well to chill.
 
Strain into a champagne glass and fill with champagne. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.
 
 
The Original Cosmopolitan (created by Dale DeGroff)
 
1 1/2 oz vodka
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz cranberry juice
3/4 oz lime juice
 
Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass.
 
Garnish with a twist of orange

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31 Dec

Distressing Times Well Worn

I have heard that fashion often reflects the mood of the times.  When we are optimistic as a society, hemlines tend to go up.  When we feel gloomy, we see more dark gray hues.  So it really is no surprise that the fashion trend of the moment seems to be the “distressed” look. 

I’ve seen this everywhere.  Jeans have manufactured holes in them, strategically placed rips and sanded down seams.  Shirts are wrinkled on purpose, just enough to give that worn-for-a-long-time feel to them.  Gone are the starched collars and in is a more “easy” fit.  Our new shoes are to be worn not only without socks, but also with the laces conspicuously missing.

Our clothes are mirroring our distress.  We’ve got a monstrous unemployment rate, and a seemingly endless war or two going on at the same time.  We are dealing with natural disasters all over the globe, and an oil spill with repercussions that reach far into the future.  The economy basically, well, is there any better word than “sucks” right now? And on top of all this, there’s the whole Tiger letdown, Jesse cheating on our beloved Sandra, and the Gores’ divorce!  Yes, “distress” is putting it mildly.

The fact that we have chosen to wear the distressed look tells me that as bad as things are, we have hope.  We know we can get through this.  These are the kinds of clothes we wear when we’re ready to get down to the business at hand.  Those paint splattered khakis?  They say: “I can handle anything!”  That faded denim shirt?  It says: “Put me to work!”

Volunteerism is at its highest level since 1992.  We may be pinching pennies, but we were able to scrape up $1.3 million dollars in just 2 hours when Larry King went on the air to raise money to help clean up the Gulf.  This is definitely a “can do” society.  We are keenly aware that things are bad, and we’re making a concerted effort to do what we can to make things better.

We are banding together more.  Those “six-degrees of separation” have all but disappeared with social networking.  Alyssa Milano personally tweets the importance of the mosquito net in helping to combat malaria and with just a few clicks we are sending a net to the cause.  Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete have raised awareness and inspired us to take action on behalf of families struggling with autism.  Philanthropy has gone viral!

So, yes, with all the events that are happening seemingly at the same time, we’re distressed.  But maybe in this state we finally have our priorities straight.  Maybe we are starting to understand what is important to us.  Our style is changing, and evolving.  I see the current trend as a statement that “fashion” as we know it doesn’t matter right now.  What matters is that we take care of the issues at hand, and that we take care of ourselves and each other.

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31 Dec

June is Internet Safety Month – free software!

Pandora Corp. Announces PC Pandora Computer Monitoring Software FREE Giveaway For Internet Safety Month The United States Senate has named June as Internet Safety Month. For the last week in June, Pandora Corp. will give away their signature computer monitoring software absolutely FREE to parents that need an effective solution to keep their kids safe on the Internet this summer. (Vocus) June 24, 2010 — Earlier this month, the US Senate passed a resolution proclaiming June as “Internet Safety Month.” The motion comes as an effort to educate parents and children about the dangers of the Internet and spread awareness. While most people will say that nothing in life is free and “everything has a price,” for the last week in June, Pandora Corp. is changing the rules. Beginning at 12:01 AM (Pacific Standard Time) on Saturday, June 26th, and continuing through midnight on Wednesday, June 30th, the company will be giving away its signature computer monitoring software, PC Pandora 6.0, absolutely free! “We did a holiday giveaway in 2008 and it went very well,” says James Leasure, co-founder of Pandora Corp. “Unfortunately, the economy still hasn’t turned around for most folks yet, but the need for an effective solution to keep kids safe online this summer is still overwhelmingly present. So, we’d like to help the parents in need once again.” During the last week in June, parents can visit www.pcpandora.com and use the code FREESUMMER2010 to get the current PC Pandora 6.0 absolutely free as a download. The giveaway will last until 11:59 PM (PST) on June 30th, 2010, or until 50,000 units have been given away. No catches. No strings. During the 2008 holiday giveaway, over 35,000 parents were given a copy of PC Pandora for free. Pandora Corp. is hoping to help as many parents with the second free giveaway in the company’s history. “The US Senate says this is the month for parents to educate themselves on the dangers of the Internet,” explains Leasure. “There is no better way to educate yourself than finding out and learning exactly what your children are doing online.” [PC Pandora is computer monitoring software that records all activity on a computer. First-rate monitoring capabilities take sequential snapshots of everything that happens on the screen, thus allowing parents to see first-hand everything their child does both on and offline. Complete records of all user activity are presented in both text-based files and easy-to-read charts. All instant messenger chats, emails sent and received, websites visited, peer-2-peer files shared, keystrokes logged, programs accessed, Internet search queries and more are recorded for parents to review. “If your child is talking to strangers on social networks, creating multiple social network profiles, downloading illegal music and movies, falling victim to a cyberbully, or simply visiting websites you don’t approve of, you will know about it if you are monitoring their internet activity.” For parents that have to work this summer and leave the kids home alone, PC Pandora comes equipped with the IRIS feature, which sends the recorded text-based files to a parent’s email at specified intervals. But it’s the newest companion to PC Pandora 6.0 that makes monitoring kids on the Internet easier than ever before. PC Pandora LIVE! allows parents to access the data recorded by PC Pandora from anywhere in the world through a safe and secure SSL encrypted website. All a parent needs is an Internet connection and a web browser; users can even log in from their iPhones� and other handheld devices. “While the IRIS email report feature is a valuable tool for any parent, the LIVE! service is priceless,” says Leasure. “PC Pandora LIVE! allows you to review the data and adjust settings on the monitored computer. Not only can you can check web history and view instant messenger and email conversations, but you can also view the screenshots, update Internet filters, and fine-tune the parental control parameters, all while at work, on the road, or simply unable to be at home in front of the monitored computer.” For parents monitoring multiple computers, PC Pandora LIVE! also collects the data from all machines with PC Pandora 6.0 installed and provides that data in a single place for easy review. This makes it easier to review a child’s activity – no more emails to comb through and no more having to manually view the data on multiple computers. Typical filters and standard blocks are easy for savvy young users to circumnavigate, but if you have computer monitoring software, you’ll know what your children are doing and be able to act appropriately. Leasure states: “This summer, parents need to know what their kids are doing online. Our PC Pandora 6.0 monitoring software coupled with the LIVE! service is the best all-around defense parents can get to help keep their children safe on the Internet. If someone is approaching a child with ill intentions, or if a child is engaging in risky behavior, the parent will know and can act immediately.” Pandora Corp. is offering a fully-functional copy of PC Pandora 6.0, a $70 value, absolutely free for their Internet Safety Month giveaway. Leasure adds, “While we unfortunately can’t offer the LIVE! service for free at this time, it’s a reasonably priced add-on for parents who want the convenience and extra measure of safety it provides.” Parents interested in getting a copy of PC Pandora can go to www.pcpandora.com and use the code FREESUMMER2010 at checkout to get PC Pandora 6.0 for FREE! About PC Pandora: Pandora Corporation was formed with one goal – to help our customers monitor, control and protect their families and themselves online. First released in mid 2005, PC Pandora has been constantly upgraded to industry-leading specifications and has received accolades from users, reviewers and even school districts and law enforcement agencies, who use the program to help in the day-to-day supervision of the children and citizens they are charged with protecting. The company website devotes space to helping parents by providing them with 18 Tips to Safe Surfing and Pandora’s Blog, where current news in the world of online safety is discussed regularly. In addition, the Pandora Corp. has made the PD Pandora Internet Safety Symposium available to schools and law enforcement as a free resource for spreading internet safety awareness to parents. Over the past few years, PC Pandora has vaulted into a leadership position for parental control software by boasting a combination of features that are unparalleled in the monitoring industry. In 2010, Version 6.0 was released, again widening the spectrum of coverage and protection offered by the program. Concurrently released with 6.0, the web-based PC Pandora LIVE! service affords parents the ability to keep their kids safe from anywhere at anytime. PC Pandora is also now available through the Pandora Corp. store at Amazon.com.

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