September 2006

Age-related vision problems was once accepted as an unfortunate part of life.  But there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Two new studies, published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, offer proof that a diet high in the omega-3 polyunsaturated fats EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), or alpha-linolenic acid protects against both early and late forms of age-related macular degeneration.  Click HERE to read the article on Health Notes Newswire.

 

On the other side of the link below is a fun little drag and place game. As time’s running out (pretty darned quickly, at that), you have to drag the names of the states and place them in their place. 

A little tip, be very careful where you let go of the state - make sure the tip of the red arrow is right over the right place.  Connecticut and I had a devil of a time wiggling in.

It’s pretty fun - be sure to share it with all the young people you know.

And to those who are tempted to think “Not a problem,” be warned the time runs out faster than you think it will!

http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf 

Joi

 

“The cyclone derives its powers from a calm center. So does a person.” - Norman Vincent Peale

Ever see someone go completely ape?  Maybe you’ve even been on that side of the ape before yourself. 

Okay, let’s be honest, we all have.

It’s a frustratingly miserable position to be in - to get yourself so worked up that you want to explode all over the room.  But it doesn’t matter whether we’re in the right or whether we’re in the wrong, one thing’s perfectly clear.  When we lose our cool, we lose our power. 

There’s a certain little transition we go through that separates us from owning our cool to losing it.  We refer to it as feeling our temper flair, feeling hot under the collar, or (very aptly) losing it. 

The surest way to tell that you’re crossing from the control side to the out of control side is to listen to your voice.  If it starts to squeak, shake, or scream - you’re on the verge of losing your temper, your presence, your footing, and your control.   Ironically, we think that by yelling we’re more likely to be heard - but think about it, if someone’s yelling at you do you hang on to every word or get defensive and yell back?  Exactly.

If, the minute we heard our own voice changing, we took a deep breath or two (three, if we’re dealing with a male - just not kidding), and found our footing again - we’d be in control enough to make ourselves heard.  Especially if the person we’re talking to is quickly losing their footing…..When they’ve lost theirs, we’ll still have ours.

Footing and control.

Joi

 

 

Irregardless of your political preferals or your personal beliefs, I’m certain you admire and respect the men and women of the armed forces.  Their bravery, dedication, and loyalty are unmatched.  Whether or not their service costs them their life, their service costs them their life….any hope of a normal one, that is.

We’ll probably never know how much their service - especially these past 5 years - has spared us.  Each and every one of us owes a debt to them we could never repay, and a debt they’d never ask us to repay.  They threw normal out the window to serve their country and thier fellow Americans.  Think of how their own families have been ripped apart!  I can’t even get my mind around all the tears that I know have been shed - on birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and other so-called normal days.  My heart goes out to all the loved ones and the service men and women as well.

I think we should all show them our support.  One of the most obvious symbols for this support is a yellow ribbon….like the one at the top of the post.  If you have a blog, website, or forum - I’d LOVE for you to put this ribbon somewhere prominent.  Show the world how grateful and appreciative you are.

Personally, I know the war had to be fought - you don’t let anyone mess with your family and get away with it.  EVER.  You leave no room for them to think, “Oh…I just might do that again..”  We know what happens when that window’s left cracked.

Having said that, I may be wrong (and it wouldn’t be the first time) - but I think it’s time to bring them home.  I think they’ve more than done what they set out to do - and what their country has asked them to do.  It’s time to bring them home and let our own country start healing.  I would have loved nothing more than to see President Bush pull them out and bring them home by Christmas.

The thought makes me cry as I’m sitting here typing it all in.  I have a husband and I have children - and my heart goes out to those who are facing another holiday without their’s around the tree with them.

So whether your viewpoint is “I support the troops - and want them to keep serving.” or “I support the troops - now bring them home!” - please wave the yellow ribbons on your site or blogs until they are brought home to us.

I want to see the internet covered with yellow, so take one and pass it along!

Joi

 

 

 

I’m wrapping my mind around the ins and outs of this one, and I thought you might like a little mind wrapping on a Tuesday as well.  So I’m throwing it out to you.

Researchers have found that a lot of things influence our life expectancies - income, diet, race, whether we smoke or not, etc.  Now they’ve proven that the state in which we live - literally - affects how long we can expect to live as well. 

Personally I think it just harkens back to the income and diet factors, but I’m no scientist - unless you count cooking, writing, or shopping amongst the sciences.

Click HERE for the article, and click the Map at the top of the post for an interactive map that’ll let you know the life expectancy for your own state.  Hawaii is number 1 - for obvious reasons.  I’d have to be dragged away from there, too.

Joi

 

 

 

“Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”   -Mark Twain

After the quote above has sunk in, try replacing “illusions” with each of the following:  dreams, principles, beliefs, and hopes.

Five lessons for the cost of one!

Joi

 

 

At the risk of giving you wood shed flashbacks, I have to say it:  This is going to hurt me worse than it does you.  Trust me.  I’m a Diet Dr. Pepper addict, and I don’t use the word lightly.  I average a 2 liter a day….happily.

But my well-meaning, albeit increasingly annoying, husband keeps putting information in front of me and my bottle about new health studies.  (Can they not find something else to study???)  Seems that the also well-meaning/increasingly annoying researchers keep turning up one thing, not only are soft drinks “not good for us,” they’re believed to be “bad for us.” 

Below is a link to a very eye-opening/bottle plugging article on Prevention.com.  I was kind of amused by the lead in paragraphs - they seemed amazed that the average American has two glasses of soda daily.  I hate to brag, but I have that before noon. 

The article’s titled “4 Reasons to Never Drink Soda Again“  and it’s a very important read.  Unfortunately.

I’ve got to change my game plan.  Someone send a memo to Luzianne Tea - their sales are about to are about to go through the roof.

Joi

 

“Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.”

“Children’s talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives.“

“I find it interresting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God’s will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed.” 

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!“

Maya Angelou is most definitely one of my own She-roes.

Joi

“Life seems to love the liver of it.”  -Maya Angelou

Have you allowed yourself to read much of Maya Angelou’s writings? She’s amazing.  I’m afraid that most probably won’t fully realize her brilliance until she’s no longer with us - which, hopefully won’t be for a long, long time.

She has a way of grabbing life by the lapels, looking it square in the eye, and staring it down.  She has a handle on it that most of us only think we have.  On one hand, I think it’s a shame Maya Angelou wasn’t born just a little later and wasn’t politically inclined.  She’d have made an amazing leader.

But our literary world would be left without a beautiful and graceful spark. God’s design was best, of course, but I wouldn’t argue if He wanted to present the world with another Maya or two!

This particular quote reminds me of the importance of loving and embracing life.  We, collectively, need to lighten the heck up more often.  Yes, there are deadlines, bills, debts, tuitions, worries, etc etc…..  But we need to make a habit out of changing our mental channels as often as possible.  When those worrisome thoughts come in - we’d feel a heckuva lot better off if we’d focus on the good things in life:

• Happy memories.
• People who love us.
• Funny things we’ve read.
• Scenes in movies that have made us laugh.
• Things we’ve accomplished when no one (except us!) thought we could.
• Our pets.
• Chocolate.

I’m not trying to blow sunshine up your butt…..well, okay, maybe a little…..I just think that we all worry too much about things that, in the end, aren’t worth the worry lines they carve or the layers of stress they pile on.

Joi