Fashion Trendz

2009 Spring Fashion Colors

These are some of my favorite pieces from the 2009 spring haute couture milan fashion show. I love the colors. The question that I'm asking is: where are the beautiful black models? hmm (okay, i think i saw maybe two black models but the pieces they were wearing was not the business). The 2009 spring colors are

The Blue Hues: Palace Blue (this is a color which works with almost any other, pink, yellow, lavender or green), Lavender, Rose Dust, Slate Gray

The Red Hues:Fuchsia Red, Salmon Rose

The Green Hues: Vibrant Green, Dark Citron, Lucite Green

Yellow: Super Lemon

I'm just saying, why they gotta play her like that? she's a cute girl but they have her looking like a bootleg pocohontas. smdh

Fashion

Hermes Matte Crocodile Birkin Bag $120,000

Named after French singer/songwriter Jane Birkin, the bag is a 30-centimeter tote which boasts 10 carats of white diamonds, and the body is made of crocodile.

Hermes Matte Crocodile Birkin Bag $120,000

Named after French singer/songwriter Jane Birkin, the bag is a 30-centimeter tote which boasts 10 carats of white diamonds. And the body is made of crocodile.

(source: panache report)

Entertainment news

-Congrats to Viola Davis on her nomination for best supporting actress role in Doubt; also, congrats to Taraji P. Henson for her nomination for best supporting actress role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I always enjoy watching Viola Davis in Law & Order SVU, she is a really good actor.
Taraji, u go girl!

-Rapper Heavy D has gone back to his Jamaican roots to record a reggae album.

-Jamie Foxx has ditched his trademark diamond earrings, to protest the use of conflict gems in jewelry. The actor/singer famously wears big stones in each of his ears, but he insists he has now ditched real diamonds after he was educated about the history of jewels mined in war zones and sold to fund conflicts or profit warlords.

Foxx reveals, "I now wear cubic zirconia. I used to wear real diamonds, but there's too much issue about blood diamonds."

-Martin Sheen was left terrified on the set of a new movie after Samuel L. Jackson took their torture scenes too far and almost "cut his finger off." The pair star in the forthcoming film "Unthinkable." Sheen portrays a terrorist suspect and Jackson plays the cop who interrogates

him.

-Chris Rock has branded Barack Obama a stand-up comedian's worst nightmare-because the President-elect is too awe-inspiring to make fun of.

Change has come to America

Today is the inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th US president; the first black man to obtain this title.

From coast to coast, nation to nation, the love and admiration of this man and his family is undeniable. He brings a sense of dignity and pride to the white house which transcend racial and economic lines; and most, if not all demographic.

The eyes of the world will be on President Obama. He is smart, intelligent and empathetic. He is the new Dream, role model defined.

Michelle Obama, also very smart and intelligent and classy. Michelle has given the world a new way to see black women; she proves that we are not all finger-snapping, neck popping, jive talking, booty shaking ghetto superstars. She is funny and smart and successful and one bad mama jama. you go girl!

My warmest and deepest thoughts and respect goes out to the Obamas on this historic day.

Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and so many others who have been left off the pages of the history books, who fought for 'today', who dreamt of the day when men (and women) will be judged by the contents of their character, not by the color of their skin, you have fulfilled this prophecy of the forefathers in such a dignified manner. I believe they are smiling down from the heavens on this magnificent day :)

IGNORANCE IS OUT, CLASS IS IN!!!!

Yes, We Can...Yes, We Did

Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America on January 20, 2008.

This is a historical and monumental Day in all our lives.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
-Barack Obama

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Monday January 19, 2009.

"I have a dream"-speech, aug. 28, 1963

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's Capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?"

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our chlidren are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only."

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exhalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

...just a thought

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
—Henri Bergson

Beauty Tips

Homemade Facials for beautiful skin

-------

Egg Mask #1

Ingredients: 1 egg white

Separate the egg white from the yolk. Put the egg white on your face and relax for about 15 minutes. Wash off with lukewarm water.

Benefits: this mask will leave your skin smooth, refreshed and tightened. It is quick and easy (I usually add honey)

Egg Mask #2

Ingredients: 1 egg yoke

Separate the egg yolk from the egg white. Mix the yolk and apply over clean skin. Let it sett for about 15 minutes then rinse with warm water.

Benefits: the egg yolk acts as an anti-oxidant and does wonders for your complexion as it pulls impurities out of your skin, leaving it soft and healthy

*you can do this before doing the tightening with the egg white…a good self indulgence on a weekend afternoon*

Why Do We Yawn?

Yawning is an involuntary action that everyone does. We start yawning before we are born. Most animals (and creatures) yawn, chimpanzees and even snakes. The average yawn lasts about six seconds.

Yawning is the body's way of telling you that it needs more oxygen; a yawn opens up the respiratory system, then there is a sudden increase in oxygen, the accumulated carbon dioxide is eliminated, restoring normal breathing and alertness. New research suggests that rather than being a precursor to sleep, the purpose of yawning is to cool the brain so it operates more efficiently and keeps you awake. Scientists also speculate that we yawn due to to fatigue or boredom. (u think)

Why is yawning contagious? Researchers suggest that we yawn when we see another person yawn because we are hard-wired to do so; we are participating in an ancient ritual to help the group stay alert and detect danger. It's also been suggested that contagious yawning could be a result of an unconscious herding behaviour, a subtle way to communicate to those around us: similar to when flocks of birds take flight at the same time. Yawn contagion is unconscious.

You might yawn just reading about yawning :-

side bar: if you start to yawn while talking, take a minute to finish the yawn because it is hard to understand what you are saying; also, cover your mouth.

Entertainment news

"Law & Order" star Mariska Hargitay has suffered a partially collapsed lung, her
representative said on Monday. But Hargitay will appear in all remaining episodes
of her show, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" her representative, Gary
Mantoosh, said in a statement.
IMO, Mariska is one of the best actresses on tv. get well soon.


An appeals court in Italy has ruled pop superstar Prince stole his "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World," hit from two European songwriters.Officials at the Court of Appeal in Rome have decided the 1994 hit borrowed heavily from Bruno Bergonzi and Michele Vicino's Takin' Me to Paradise.Bergonzi and Vicino's tune was a small European pop hit in 1983.

Actress Taraji P. Henson has offered to babysit for her co-star Brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie after accidentally marrying the pair off in a recent interview.
Henson created a gossip storm when she referred to Pitt as Jolie's "husband"
and now she's keen to make amends-fearing she has upset the couple.

Game show host and comedian Howie Mandel is expected to be released Tuesday from a hospital where he was taken after he experienced an irregular heartbeat. Howie Mandel is in Toronto shooting his new show 'Howie Do It'

Poetry

Awakened within a dream,
I fall into my own arms.
...What kept you so long?

Lou Hartman

The Essential Zen

Excerpt:

Zhaozhou asked Nanquan: what is the way?

Nanquan said: ordinary mind is the way

Zhaozhou asked: shall I try for that?

Nanquan said: if you try you'll miss it

Zhaozhou said: how do I know it's the way if I don't try?

Nanquan said: the way has nothing to do with knowing or not knowing. Knowing is an illusion; not knowing is ignorance. If you penetrate the way of no-trying, it will be wide open-empty and vast. What need is there to affirm this or deny it?

Zhaozhou was suddenly enlightened upon hearing this.

Entertainment

President-elect Barack Obama is to be honored in the pages of the latest Spider-Man comic. Obama, a longtime fan of the superhero, will appear in a bonus story in the new Marvel Comics release.

Michael C. Hallgot married to Jennifer Carpenter, who plays his sister on HBO's Dexter. Michael's spokesperson told E! that they got married on New Year's Eve in Big Sur, CA. Michael, 37, and Jennifer 29, have been dating for about a year and a half.

Lisa Bonet gave birth to a baby boy; Lisa Bonet and Jason Momoa welcomed the baby boy and they named him Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa *blank stare*

R&B star R. Kelly's divorce from his wife Andrea has been finalized. The couple was married for 11 years; Kelly and his wife separated in 2005. The couple share two daughters and a son.

Illinois lawmakers today voted unanimously to impeach the scandal-ridden governor Rod Blagojevich, who is alleged to have tried to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat. The Illinois House of Representatives voted 114 to one to start the impeachment process next week.

Dr. Richard Batista, a vascular surgeon from Long Island, is suing his estranged wife Dawnell Batista for his kidney back or $1.5 million for the price of his organ. His lawyer said, "Of course he wouldn't really ask for that but the value of it." Dr. Batista and Dawnell were married in 1990; they have two kids together. He agreed to give her his kidney after two transplants quit on her. He claims that after the surgery worked, Dawnell began an affair with her therapist.

Eartha Kitt - I Want To Be Evil (Live Kaskad 1962)

Song/Video of the Week.

Tam’s Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar (preferably brown)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup butter
¾ cup Chocolate Chips
¾ cup Raisins

Direction:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine and mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Place batter in a greased bread pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan. Complete cooling on a wire rack.

Entertainment News

Patrick Swayze says he may have only two years to live. The Dirty Dancing star who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, says the disease is likely to claim his life fairly soon. Speaking on ABC's Patrick Swayze: The Truth, Swayze, 56, tells Barbara Walters he refuses to give up his fight for life, but has come to terms with the fact his time with wife Lisa is limited.

Dakota Fanning has reached out to grieving star Jennifer Hudson, who is mourning the loss of her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. The pair starred together in the 2008 movie The Secret Life of Bees. And Dakota says she has spoken to Jennifer since the tragic murders of her family members. She tells Us Weekly magazine, "I have spoken to her. I have been in contact with her. I can't imagine what she is going through, but she knows the whole cast is there for her, and I love her."

Diddy spends $750k on audition tape for James Bond franchise. Rap mogul Sean Combs is so keen to be the next James Bond his new fragrance commercial is his "audition tape." Diddy shot the ad for the "I Am King," scent in Monte Carlo, Monaco, and he portrayed a "black Bond" while shooting the commercial. Now he hopes 007 producers are taking note. He explains, "I really was inspired by James Bond because he's always so cool, so confident, so strong. He saves the world. I felt like after watching 12 Bonds, I wanted the agency to know that there's also some black men that can save the world. It's my fragrance ad but it's also my audition tape to be the next black Bond." But Diddy insists he's not after current Bond Daniel Craig's job: "I have a concept that he has to go and solve a problem in New York and that I'm one of the agents that he meets in New York, but he's not from New York, so he gets kidnapped... so I have to save him. By me saving him, he realizes he's getting a little rusty, he wants to go and retire and he passes it to me."

TIME

What is Time? ‘Time’ is defined by the Webster’s New World College Dictionary (4^th Edition) as: A period or interval; the period between two events or during which something exists, happens or acts; measured or measurable interval

Time is passing and we follow it with clocks and calendars, yet we cannot study it with a microscope or experiment with it. You cannot see it or touch it, but its effects are clearly visible

Time is represented through change, such as the circular motion of the moon around the earth. Time is elusive and we measure it with clocks and calendars in an effort to manage our lives within it. A day is measured by the amount of time it takes the earth to rotate one time on its axis; but no-one really knows why there are 24 hours in a day? This goes back to the Babylonian days (working on link)

The passing of time is closely connected to the concept of space. The relationship of space and time is called the space-time continuum, which means that any event that occurs in the universe has to involve both time and space.

The Einstein Theory of Relativity relates to our physical universe. It notes that time is relative with the speed of the object while moving through space. According to this theory, time passes differently for celestial bodies that move at different velocities. To measure the speed of time, you need at least two objects that travel at different speeds. When they reunite time has past differently for each object. The closer an object gets to the speed of light, the slower the time passes compared to another object that remains stationary. The concept here is that time is not linear, but relative. It indicates that our day-to-day perception of Time is different than its real nature.

Albert Einstein concluded in his later years that the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. His most descriptive testimony to this faith came when his lifelong friend Besso died. Einstein wrote a letter to Besso's family, saying that although Besso had preceded him in death it was of no consequence, "...for us physicists believe the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one."

Despite tremendous advancement in science and technology and the precision with which time can be measured, there is very little known about the true nature of time.

These are a few of the memorable time spans throughout history:

-1 picosecond (one-trillionth of a second) - This is about the shortest period of time we can currently measure accurately.

-1 nanosecond (one-billionth of a second) - 2 to 4 nanoseconds is the length of time that a typical home computer spends executing one software instruction

-1 microsecond (one-millionth of a second)
-1 millisecond (one-thousandth of a second) - This is the typical fastest time for the exposure of film in a normal camera. A picture taken in 1/1,000th of a second will usually stop all human motion.
-1 centisecond (one-hundredth of a second) - The length of time it takes for a stroke of lightening to strike
-1 decisecond (one-tenth of a second) - A blink of an eye
-1 second - An average person's hear beats once each second.
-60 seconds - One minute
-60 minutes - An hour
-8 hours - The typical amount of sleep a person needs every night
-24 hours - One day; the amount of time it takes for the planet Earth to rotate one time on its axis
-7 days - One week
-365.24 days - One year; the amount of time it takes for the planet Earth to complete one orbit around the sun
-10 years - One decade
-75 years - The typical life span for a human being
-5,000 years - The span of recorded history
-50,000 years - The length of time Homo sapiens has existed as a species
-65 million years - The length of time dinosaurs have been extinct
-200 million years - The length of time mammals have existed
-3.5 to 4 billion years - The length of time that life has existed on Earth
-4.5 billion years - The age of planet Earth
-10 to 15 billion years - The suspected age of the universe since the big bang

(source for time spans-how stuff works)

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

Excerpt: 'republicans and democrats'

'My wife will tell you that by nature I’m not somebody who gets real worked up about things. When I see Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity baying across the television screen, I find it hard to take them seriously; I assume that they must be saying what they do primarily to boost book sales or ratings, although I do wonder who would spend their precious evenings with such sour-pusses. When democrats rush up to me at events and insist that we live in the worst of political times, that a creeping fascism is closing its grip around our throats, I may mention the internment of Japanese Americans under FDR, the Alien and Sedition Acts under John Adams, or a hundred years of lynching under several dozen administrations as having been possibly worse, and suggest we all take a deep breath. When people at dinner parties ask me how I can possibly operate in the current political environment, with all the negative campaigning and personal attacks, I may mention Nelson Mandela, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, or some guy in a Chinese or Egyptian prison somewhere. In truth, being called names is not such a bad deal.

What’s troubling is the gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics – the ease with which we are distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our seeming inability to build a working consensus to tackle any big problem. '

R.I.P Eartha Kitt

Eartha Mae Kitt (January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American actress, singer, and cabaret star. Kitt was born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina. In 1992, Kitt had a supporting role as Lady Eloise in the hit film Boomerang starring Eddie Murphy.

Entertainment News

Hugh Jackman is no longer in discussions to star with Catherine Zeta-Jones in Cleo, a 3-D live action musical which Steven Soderbergh will direct as his next project. Cleo retells the tragedy of Egyptian queen Cleopatra and her Roman lover Marc Antony through the medium of an Elvis-style musical, with music by indie rockers Guided by Voices. Jackman was in talks to play Anthony. It has been reported that James Purefoy, who played Antony in the BBC series Rome and impressed many viewers with his prominent talent, could take Jackman’s place.

Queen Latifah will reign another year at Jenny Craig The Grammy-winning singer and Oscar-nominated actress, who became spokesperson for the weight-loss chain last year, will continue through 2009. "We are proud of Queen Latifah's achievements and are excited to continue the relationship," says Scott Parker, vice president of marketing for Jenny Craig. "Queen Latifah embodies the healthy lifestyle principles and character that Jenny Craig stands for and we look forward to another great year."

Pop superstar Prince is to release two albums in 2009. The hard-working singer's new releases, tentatively titled "MPLSOUND," and "Lotus Flower," will be sold in digital form on a new Prince website, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Gary Oldman got married for the fourth time. 50 year old gary married 31 year old jazz singer, Alexandra Edenborough.

Rebecca Romjin gave birth to twin girls. Rebecca and Jerry O'Connell named the twins Charlie Tamara Tulip and Dolly Rebecca Rose.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and her fiancé Ross McCall have called it quits, PEOPLE has learned.
"They broke up over the holidays and have ended their engagement," says a source close to the couple.

John Travolta's 16 year old son, jett has died. A source close the family tells PEOPLE that the autopsy on their 16-year-old son Jett revealed his death Jan. 2 in the Bahamas was caused by a "seizure disorder."

-condolences to john and kellie

Rap veteran E-40 is reviewing his stock market options after losing money from shares in software giant Microsoft and his fast food chain Fatburger.

The Medium’s Patricia Arquette and actor husband Thomas Jane have ended their two-year marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences”

Word have it that singer chris brown proposed to rihanna.

...just a thought

A man's fortune must first be changed from within.
—Chinese Proverb

Greek Salad

1 seedless cucumber sliced
1 large ripe tomato, sliced or cubed
1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
12 kalamata olives
1/2 lb feta cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano
dash of salt and black pepper
lettuce (optional)

Directions: if using lettuce...wash and chop the lettuce into bite size pieces and place on the bottom of the salad bowl, drain off excess water. Put the sliced cucumber, tomato, bell pepper and onion on top of the lettuce. Add the kalamata olives. Cut up the feta cheese into bit size squares and add to salad. Drizzle the olive oil over the salad and sprinkle on the oregano, salt and pepper.

SLEEP

There are a few things in life that I find intriguing, Sleep is one of them.

Sleep is a mysterious part of human behavior.

We all need to do it, there can be adverse effects if we don't do it and scientists are continuously working to better understand it.

Sleep is the natural state of bodily rest. It gives the body a chance to recuperate from the day's activities. Sleep is essential in maintaining normal levels of cognitive skills, such as speech, memory and flexible thinking.

It is said that 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night is recommended, however, there are people who choose to get by on about 4 to 5 hours of sleep per night, and are fine with it.

On the flip side, there are the people who have difficulty falling asleep; or, waking up frequently throughout the night; or, restless unease, disturbed sleep. These can be classified as sleep disorders: insomnia and sleep apnea. This can leave you feeling lathargic, fatigued, with loss of energy and memory lapses.

There are people who go to sleep as soon as their head hits the pillow, and will sleep comfortably throughout the night. (I wish I was one of those people).

At the other end of the spectrum is excessive sleep disorder which is called narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep.

Although it is a very important and necessary function, the essential nature of sleep still remains unresolved by scientists.

Although we are not conscious when we sleep, our brain remains active. Dreams are a fascinating part of sleep that is a mystery. While you dream during sleep, you are thinking.

Philosophers theorize that the only thing that can be proven with certainty is that you think; so as we dream, it cannot be proven whether or not you are awake or asleep.

Sleep is a necessity, it is not a choice and it remains of of life's greatest mysteries.

...just a thought

There are two ways of meeting difficulties; you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them.
—Phyllis Bottome

Astrology

Astrology is the study of the influence that the cosmic objects - stars and planets - have on human lives.

It is the position of the sun, stars, moon and planets at the time of someone's birth, that is said to shape their personality and set the tone for their future: romance, money, etc.

There is no single unifed theory or practice of astrology; most cultures, dating back over 3000 years, all have their own 'take' on astrology. The ancient Chaldeans and babylonians practiced it, but the Greeks (from the time of Alexander the great) were the ones who provided most of the fundamental elements of modern astrology.

There are the eastern and western forms of astrology; eastern zodiacs - chinese, vedic and tibetan; western comprise of the sun-sign zodiac.

(Even within western astrology, there is a considerable diversity of methods and philosophies. Some divide astrology by the end result that is intended:

Mundane Astrology - This is used to examine world events and make predictions about national affairs, wars and economies.

Interrogatory Astrology - This branch can be further subdivided, but generally refers to astrology that seeks to make specific predictions or analyses about the subject's objectives or events within the subject's life.

Natal Astrology - This is what most people think of when they think of astrology. Natal Astrology seeks to make predictions and analyses based on the date of a person's birth. It's based on the idea that everything that happens to something is expressed at the very beginning of that thing, sometimes known as the Law of Beginnings (source: how stuff works) )

There are twelve zodiac signs; they are divided into four categories: fire, water, air and earth.

The zodiac signs, aka sun signs, signify which sector the sun was in at the time of birth and the personality traits - ie. likes and dislikes - associated with the zodiac under which a person was born. The signs give a general overview of the personality traits, physical traits and the compatible/incompatible chart.

Have you ever known two or more people born under the same sign and its uncanny how much alike they are? Have you ever just met a person and try to see if you can guess what sign they are?

Fire Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Water Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Air Signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
Earth Signs: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo