INFO.COM = Google, Yahoo, Live and more

Interesting this search platform/box, provides results from the best search engines like: google,yahoo search, live search, about, ask and more.You have plugins for internet explorer and firefox, see here: Plugins.Info.com ( http://www.info.com/ ) is a search platform that pulls together the best of breed search tools. From a single search query, Info.com provides results from the leading search

Flag Counter

Get your very own flag counter with just one line of HTML code. Flag counters are fast, fun, reliable, and best of all, free of charge! Our free counters can be added to virtually any site on the Internet. Flag counters don't require any complicated coding. Every time a visitor from a new country visits your page, a new flag will be added to your counter. The total number of visitors to your

Tap Employee Brainpower to Energize Your Workplace!

When employees connect both mentally and emotionally to their jobs, they're more willing to apply effort that spells out organizational success. How so? Workers that tap creativity to contribute to team projects, help design processes and suggest improvements tend to experience energy and full engagement on the job.

Unfortunately many folks in the workforce prowl for different employment because they are not satisfied with their current jobs. A recent Wall Street Journal/Society for Human Resource management survey reports as many as 75 percent of employees are exploring other opportunities.

To counter this problem businesses might want to consider The Conference Board's suggestions for improvement based on 12 major studies on employee engagement. Which ones does your organization practice and which ones would you target for improvement? Here's an overview from their report:

Trust and integrity - how well management communicates and lives the company's vision.

Line of sight between employee performance and company performance - understanding one's contribution to the company's success.

Career growth - future opportunities.

Pride about the company - self-esteem in being associated with the company.

Co-workers/team members - impact of the work environment

Employee development - opportunities for individual skills development

Relationship with one's manager - the value the employee places on the relationship.

Interestingly, this research shows the relationship with an employee's manager is the most powerful driver of all. Knowing this, how might managers make the most of relationships with employees?

One key approach is to tap into employees' brainpower on the job. Using more brain energizes workers and increases their productivity and satisfaction. Take a survey designed by Dr. Ellen Weber to rate brainpower in your workplace. Then check results to learn brain facts that rate your workplace intelligence.

Employees who have more control over their daily activities and do challenging work they enjoy are likely to be in better health. A new study from the University of Texas at Austin shows that creative activity helps people stay healthy. John Mirowsky, lead author of the study says,

"Creative activity is non-routine, enjoyable and provides opportunity for learning and for solving problems. People who do that kind of work, whether paid or not, feel healthier and have fewer physical problems."

Human brainpower not only improves your life, but reboots organizations!

Thoughts?

Want to Ratchet Up Your Networking?

Ever wonder how to promote your business or blog well without "being in someone's face" as you market or network? Darren Rowse, ProBlogger, compiled a comprehensive list of strategies for both novices and those with some expertise who want growth. I don't know about you, but I have a way to go and I see savvy tools I want to try. Here's just a summary of Darren's ten suggestions in, How to promote your Blog through Networking

Be Generous - Be a giver and not a taker. Help others acheive goals, encourage them and go out of your way to work on their terms.

Don’t Expect too Much too Quick Let relationships grow naturally as you build trust and mutual understanding.

Look for the B-listers Approaching slightly less known bloggers can pay off because these bloggers are more likely to connect and still drive a lot of traffic.

Prove Yourself First People want to see of you're going to stick with it and that you really know what you are talking about. Show you're in it for the long haul and that your blog is making a contribution to the niche.

Persist But Don’t Annoy There's a lot of noise around the blogosphere so don't be offended if people don't respond - try again in a little while - but don't stalk.

Look in Neighboring Niches Networking with people outside my niche can be fruitful. Another way to be strategic is to not look for networking opportunities just with other bloggers on your topic - but with bloggers who share a similar demographic of reader.

Ask Questions When you become a person who asks others about their goals and objectives, where you know what their strengths and weaknesses are and where you know their dreams you not only create a good impression on them but you’ll be in a great position to know where your situation aligns with another person’s - this is where networking becomes most effective.

Become a Go-To Person and a Connector Attempt to draw others into the relationships you have. I find that people are particularly grateful to me when I can’t help them but point them to someone else who can.

Have an Elevator Pitch Develop a few key sentences that describe who you are, what you do and what you offer others. Another good elevator pitch is on what your blog is about. Having thought through these things will help others understand what you can bring to a relationship - but they will also help you understand that too. These can be used in email conversations.

Look for Points of Synergy I’ve found the most profitable relationships to be ones where there was a ’spark’ or ‘energy’ around our interaction - particularly where there was some sort of synergy around goals and objectives but also some sort of a connection when it comes to personality.

I would like to add two tips based on the way your brain operates.

Use People's Names Ever notice that when you use a person's name their eyes light up? Our names are important to us and when you use another blogger's name, rather than just adding to a converstion, you add to the recognition of that person. This triggers the brain horomone, serotonin to flow, and adds to their well-being... expecially when you encourage.

Specifically Name What Others Do Well You can add to the flow of serotonin just mentioned, by naming what another blogger does well. Several blogging friends make a practice of this through links to other people's good work. Such links put weight to their words.

What gems to do see in Darren's list for blogging or business? What would you add?

Cbox tagboard - For blogs, sites.

Get a Cbox tagboard for your website or blog and let your visitors leave you messages or chat with each other. Getting started couldn't be easier – sign up, get your code, and start chatting! Cbox gives your website an edge over the rest. It attracts visitors and keeps them coming back for more. It gives people with common interests a place to meet and chat – right on your own website! And

Little Intelligent Antivirus (LIA)

LIA (Little Intelligent Antivirus) is a new antivirus scanning engine developed in over 14 months by Corbitek Software. Although at the beginning, it has most of the more "grown-up" antivirus characteristics.The most important reason for you to use LIA is that it can work together with another antivirus installed on your system, therefore you will get double protection.LIA uses an innovative

Spybot - Search & Destroy - Video Youtube

If you use this anti-spyware, Spybot - Search & Destroy, see the video:For download the Spybot and see more info:SPYBOT - Search & Destroy Spyware

CCleaner - Tutorial - Video Youtube

For helping you with CCleaner, here is the Tutorial in video.

CCleaner - PC Optimization

CCleaner is a freeware PC optimization tool.It combines a system cleaner that removes unused and temporary files from your system and also a fully featured registry cleaner!CCleaner allows Windows to run faster, more efficiently and gives you more hard disk space.The best part is that it's Small, Fast and Free!Cleans the following Windows components:* Internet Explorer: - Temporary File Cache -

OpenOffice - Create PDF Files & Ebooks - Video

Video Youtube: How To Use Open Office To Create PDF-FilesVideo Youtube: Creating PDF Ebooks with OpenOffice.

OpenOffice - Tutorial - Video Youtube

For helping you, OpenOffice -Tutorial in video Youtube.

OpenOffice

Crédits: OpenOffice website.OpenOffice is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more.It is available in many languages and works on all common computers.It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write

Link Me - Link, Banners-Buttons

LINK:Name: Info 5 StarsLink: http://info5stars.blogspot.com/Banner 120x60Banner 125x125Banner 160x600Banner 468x60

VLC media player - "opensource" (free)

VLC media player - "opensource" (free)VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.It is a free cross-platform media playerIt supports a large number of multimedia formats, without the need for additional codecsIt can also be used as a

The Girl Who Cried Wolf

Pamela does not cry wolf in the true sense of the phrase (to get attention). She likes to pretend play about certain injuries. Sometimes, she wraps her foot in tape and tells me she broke her leg, or she puts a bandage on her boo-boo for me to kiss when there is no cut. So, today, when she wrapped up her hand while I was in the shower, I assumed it was pretend. She told me a bee stung her and I kissed it to help her feel better. Only when the wraps came off, her finger was swollen! I pressed for solid details, and she told me she had gotten stung while walking to the mailbox. I asked her if she cried and she answered in the affirmative. I did not hear her for I was in the shower. She was very patient and brave and tolerated the ice packs I gave her quite nicely. Notice that her wound did not prevent her from using the remote control!

SPYBOT - Search & Destroy Spyware

SPYBOT - Search & Destroy SpywareSpybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies.If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer

Let Me Pick Your Brain!

What rocked at work today and why?

Ellen Weber purged a mini bush to add new life to her "Secret" backyard garden...

Lisa Gates enjoyed a "full to the brim day, breathing and doing in equal measure."

Joanna Young's writing energy flowed as she looked at possibilities after much house hunting...

Steve Roessler had a gift for an executive, who consented to guest speak, but instead Steve was gifted with a contract he never expected...

Geology Joe, trumped a supervisory position for a field project!

Jackie Cameron met a lady keen to support the charity work she does with Scottish young people in schools.

GIMP - Image Manipulation (Free Software)

GIMP - Image ManipulationGIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program.It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter,

7-Zip - (Zip/Unzip)

7-Zip - (Zip/Unzip)7-Zip is open source software, that means FREE.Most of the source code is under the GNU LGPL license. The unRAR code is under a mixed license: GNU LGPL + unRAR restrictions.Check license information here: 7-Zip licenseYou can use 7-Zip on any computer, including a computer in a commercial organization. You don't need to register or pay for 7-Zip.The main features of 7-Zip: *

I Break for Birds!

Pamela can be pretty pathetic when she has a cold. Today, she took two naps, and Pamela never naps! She also spit up some mucus on her shirt in the afternoon. I canceled school for her and spend a good deal of the day reading David's books (to prepare for his narrations). The weather was gorgeous, so I perched myself on the back porch rocker with camera in hand to catch my feathered friends and others on film. I saw a gecko (green anole), house finch, blue jay, female northern cardinal, ruby-throated hummingbird, neighborhood cat, and eastern gray squirrel. In between animals, I squeezed in two chapters of The Birth of Britain

I sat in awe of all the beauty before me, recalling what I learned in the movie Expelled and a passage from Unshakable Faith (a biography about Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver). How can you not see God in the miracle of nature?

In 1907, a group of Carver's agriculture students who enjoyed his class commentaries on the Creator, asked him to organize a Sunday evening Bible study to be held between the end of supper and the beginning of evening chapel. Carver gladly agreed and held the first session in a room at the Carnegie Library on campus. Though the thirty-five minutes after Sunday supper was one of the few unstructured times in the students' entire week, fifty or so boys came the first night to hear Carver's presentation on the creation story, complete with maps, rock and plant samples, and other illustrations.

In spite of his experience and education, Carver took the same back-to-basics approach to Bible study as he did in explaining cowpeas to a farmer who had grown cotton all his life. He preached messages that were as easy to grasp as the lessons in his old McGuffey speller, the precious blue-backed book his mother had somehow gotten for him. He could almost life the essence of his religious belief from selections in the speller such as "The Cool Shade":

The grass is soft to our feat, and the clear brook washes the roots of the trees. The sheep and cows can lie down to sleep in the cool shade, but we can do better, we can praise the great God who made us. He made the warm sun, and the cool shade; the trees that grow upward, and the brooks that run along . . . All that live get life from God. He made the poor man as well as the rich man. He made the dark man as well as the fair man . . . All that move on the land are his; and so are all that fly in the air, and all that swim in the sea. . .

After three months, attendance at the professor's Bible class topped a hundred; eager participants wolfed down their supper so they could get to the library early and get a good seat. Carver's optimistic, beneficent view of the world presented religion in a way some students had never seen. One later remembered his first night in the class: "For the first time in my life I was witnessing no gloom surrounding the Bible. I began to feel as I had back home when we went to a candy-pulling party--happy that I had come." (pages 249-250)

4 Free Anti-Virus

In the Portuguese website: UTILNET I saw this widget with 4 free anti-virus.For downloading, click in the picture: Credits/Source: UtilnetLink: http://utilnet.blogspot.com/2008/04/antivrus-grtis-widget.html

Wordless Wednesday: What Pamela Shared with Me with Excitement

Celebrating Bloggers' Multiple Intelligences!

Talent lies all around us. We are all uniquely gifted at birth. Great news is that we can develop greater proficiency in any one of our eight intelligences just by doing activities in them. Want to try? Learning curves can peak in any of these areas:

Bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence Angela Maiers needed to improve on health and fitness. So she found some other folks who enjoy running and because of that she is now working out and competing in marathons. Wow! And check out her story in the newspaper.

I attained a long held goal of mine last fall, when I completed my first half-marathon. I have stay committed to running, and I am training for race number two!

Success for me came through the power of the team, or in Maxfield's words, social motivation. It is what has keep my feet moving (literally and figuratively). Our running story was highlighted in the Des Moines Register today, and I hope that it inspires others to find their own team.

Interpersonal Intelligence Easton Ellsworth shares extraordinary tips to "Unlame Your Business Blog." He says...

Metaphorically speaking, how do you get a two-legged lame old dog to get up and bound out the door, barking up a storm through the whole neighborhood?

Hang on, let me fetch my soapbox and megaphone.

Okay, I've teased a little... You'll gain excellent tips to put spark into your blog if you check Easton's post.

Intrapersonal Intelligence Rita Perea helps us see the unique differences in the four generations we now have working together in businesses. That definitely leads to dissonance at times. Check Rita's blog for pointers to orchestrate harmony.

When you have harmony within yourself, you deeply influence those around you. It begins with your Intrapersonal intelligence!

Spatial Intelligence Craig Brown, a business analyst in Melbourne, Australia, made a fantastic chart to show how a business analyst communicates with all the people involved in a project. What an excellent way for your readers to take in all aspects of that communication given all the conflicts that can surface!

Musical Intelligence Scott McArthur shares the novel way Benjamin Zander, Conductor, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra creatively discusses the power of collaboration at the World Economic Forum. You'll enjoy the humor he sprinkles in!
See what you think...


Let's all begin to "awaken possibilities in other people!"

Logical Mathematical Intelligence Mark McGuinness asks if it's better to be a creative generalist or a specialist. What's the logical answer for your firm - a wide range of activities or the depth of specializing. Mark draws from other bloggers to show the benefits of each and you'll literally sit at his feet to learn.

Verbal-linguistic Intelligence Considered writing a book? Valeria Maltoni picked Rohit Bhargava's brain about his newly released book, *Personality not included. Valeria says, "It's cross-referenced and you can skip to the parts you are interested in, because everything is organized so you can pull content. We will see more books come off the press with formats that borrow from social media - and not a moment too soon!" Here's some pointers about Getting Personality into your writing...

Blogs are fine examples of having personalities. We talk like real people here. Meet a blogger in the flesh, and you will continue the conversation started at their blog. They sound just like they write - even I do (oh, boy).

Every day I get loads of sales calls at work. Guess what? I absolutely d e t e s t those coming from people who pretend to be giving me something and are very coy about the fact that they are in fact trying to sell me something. Admit it, admit you are marketing to me and let's have a frank conversation on value, for me, real value. Now, that would work.

Do you take yourself too seriously? Time to show you have a sense of humor. Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. This might be a business book, in life you have a book of business - and that is made of your relationships. Gone are the times when you could go solo and be a star without the help of anyone else. Today you need others to succeed. Companies need customers.

After reading goods that Valeria shares, I think I'll order a copy! You?

Naturalistic Intelligence Since today is Earth Day, and I truly value the beauty of nature and all the pleasure it gives me, I celebrate it. I'm highlighting bloggers from my blog roll who celebrated Earth Day:

Bob Galva Every day is Earth Day - "On Your Left"!
Brad Shorr Cartoons and Word of Mouth Marketing
Rosa Say Earth Day is Mālama the People Day too

My husband and I love our 40+ acres of woods. Some of my best times are when we've taken our grandchildren there to enjoy nature's wonders.

Thoughts...

View and Share Documents Online

Zoho Viewer is a nifty tool that allows you to quickly upload and view your documents online without requiring any software to be installed. You can also share the document with your colleagues and friends. No sign up required. It is totally free.View and Share Documents Online: Get rid of attachments. Just upload your document, grab the URL and share it with your friends or post it in blogs

Anonymous free proxy - service online

HideMyAss is a free online web service, an anonymous free proxy service aimed at hiding your online identity.Use our service to hide your IP address and bypass your work/school web filter with ease.For example, is MySpace blocked at work/school? It won't be any longer if you use our free service.If HideMyAss is blocked, you can easily find another site from our network which will work.HideMyAss

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

The other day we had a blast making ice cream for the first time using an idea I found at Kaboose Crafts. On our shopping trip for ingredients, I turned it into a guessing game. As we picked each item, I heightened the anticipation by telling her we were going to try a new recipe and she will be so surprised. Her eyes lit up each time and, with every item, she modified her guess to no avail. Since she has never made ice cream, the rock salt did not give away the mystery.

While we were making the ice cream, a recipe from Rachel's Recipe Box, the guessing game started anew. While stirring, Pamela thought of pudding, so I encouraged her that she was very close! Even while putting ice in the Ziploc bag, she went through a guess or two before she figured it out. We all enjoyed the ice cream and found that this handmade, homemade way of making ice cream promotes fun and emotion sharing.


Coconut Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

2 14-ounce cans coconut milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
1/2 cup gf/cf chocolate chips/chunks
1 pint Ziploc bags
1 gallon Ziploc bags
2/3 cup rock salt
ice cubes
canister or coffee can (optional)

Put first five ingredients in a bowl and stir with a whisk until smooth and creamy. Put half of the mixture into a pint-sized Ziploc bag. Add half of the chocolate chips/chunks to the bag. Zip the bag tight. You may want to double bag it. Put half of the rock salt in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and fill the bag half full of ice. Put the pint bag inside the gallan bag containing the rock salt and ice. Zip the bag. Gently flip, toss, rock, twist, shake the bag until the ice cream texture meets the consistency you prefer.

For another RDI variation the next day, double-bag the remaining mixture and place it in a canister with the remaining rock salt and more ice. The freeze will happen faster because ingredients stored in the refrigerator are closer to the desired temperature. Roll the canister back and forth as a game and see if the child can guess what is inside the canister. Kaboose recommends using coffee cans, but all I had onhand was a sugar canister. With a bigger group of kids, a large can, and plenty of duct tape, you can try playing kick the can.

Now, we are taking time to reflect upon this experience to imagine other recipes for ice cream. Pamela has already chosen Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream for our next batch.

Surprises Lurk in the Comment Box!

Conversations with others benefit in so many ways. Unexpected surprises surfaced for me recently since I was the 1,000th commenter on Brad Shorr's Word Sell, and the 2,000th commenter on Joanna Young's Confident Writing. They offered a choice of books as a prize!

I comment to engage with people in many fields - to encourage or to learn more. Hearing peoples' thoughts helps me see ideas afresh. So I leave bloggers' sites with extra takeaways, besides building friendships with folks around the world.

Brad said,

I’m glad that Robyn was the 1000th commenter for a couple reasons. First, she was one of my first readers. Without her early encouragement I don’t know if I would have kept it going. Second, I think she was really disappointed she didn’t come up a winner in the recent “nano contest”.

Brad, you were amongst the first commenters on Brain Based Biz, too. I sense we kept learning from each other along the way. You could be right about the nano, but I've been thinking now about purchasing one!

Joanna announced me as 2000th commenter with such fitting words in the title... Brainpower in the Comment Box. I also like the way she encourages me...

She was one of the first people to leave a comment on my blog at a point where those gestures of friendship, encouragement and support are so invaluable. And she's been here ever since.

I hope it gives you even more power to your writing elbow Robyn. You share some powerful and exciting ideas with us about the way the brain works, and we all benefit when your words fizz, crackle and soar.

From Brad's bookstore I chose The Little Blue Book of Advertising by Steve Lance and Jeff Woll. And, from Joanna's store On Writing Well by William Zinsser. I've already had some ideas springing since thumbing through The Little Blue Book... I can see why you recommend it, Brad! And, I can't wait until Zinsser's book is in my mail box!

Thanks Joanna and Brad! Winning prizes through commenting seems like pouring fresh strawberries over warm buttermilk biscuits... extra good!

Hmmm.... It also stirs my thinking about possibilities of a contest here. My thinking cap's revving as we speak...

Wordless Wednesday: RDI Lifestyle Activities (Plus New Interest--Time Zones)

JOOST - TV ONLINE

Pt/Br:Os mesmos criadores do Skype e do Kazaa, criaram agora o JOOST.O Joost é um software, freeware, que lhe irá permitir visualizar dezenas de canais televisivos através do seu desktop.O programa para além de ter uma boa qualidade de streaming, é muito leve e permite-lhe ainda adicionar gadgets ao ambiente de TV.Requisitos:• Processador Pentium 4, 1GHz• 512Mb de RAM ou superior.• Uma placa

KGB Free Keylogger

PT/BR:Free KGB Key Logger é um keystrokes, isto é um key logger.Este programa além da entrada por keystrokes (cada vez que pressionar uma tecla do seu computador), aceita também caracteres específicos como por exemplo umlauts), o dia e a hora em que uma determinada janela foi aberta... Etc.Apresenta duas funções muito importantes: guarda tudo o que for escrito de modo a que nenhum dado se perda

Galba Bright, Man of Vision and Passion!

"As for me, from my heart, 'A vision without passion is merely an idea. Developing people and transforming organisations is my powerful purpose'" Galba Bright [1959-2008]

Galba Bright of Tune Up your EQ wrote the above two line poem, in the Arts for Peace Challenge. He valued arts as an alternative to bring people together. And though he confessed he wasn't a poet, he two thoughtful lines for the Arts for Peace Project. They seem even more meaningful now.

You made a difference for people in Jamaica and beyond. This is only a small part of the wonderful legacy you leave. Today I write with tears in my eyes, since I can hardly believe you are no longer with us in this world.

Galba was inspired by the lyrics to "Treat Myself" sung by Stevie Wonder. And this is how he regarded them...

"I loved the lyrics to Treat Myself so much," Galba Bright shared, "that I had them pinned on my office wall when I was a consultant to the Government of Jamaica. I used to meditate on them in the sauna when I was planning my relocation to Jamaica. In my humble opinion the words are truly transformative."

Treat Myself
Music - Stevie Wonder; Lyrics - Stephanie Andrews

There’s a place I can go
When the tension’s high and I’m feeling low
In a flash I can be in another space
As a different me, have a new id.

I think I’ll treat myself to all the pretty places in my head
Yes, I’m going to treat myself to all the pretty places in my head

There’s no rich, there’s no poor
Everything is love, no such word as “war”
There’s no black and no white
Rainbow colours they, dress the days and nights,
Life’s a paradise

I think I’ll treat myself to all the pretty places in my head
Yes, I’m going to treat myself to all the pretty places in my head

It’s amazing how the mind
Can do what you want it to
It can take you to a time
Where you’ll want to stay forever
Feeling everlasting pleasure

If your life’s in a place
That you can hardly bear
Come along with me to mental ecstasy

I think I’ll treat myself to all the pretty places in my head
Yes, I’m going to treat myself to all the pretty places in my head

Whatsoever things are lovely
Whatsoever things are pure
Whatsoever things are honest
Whatsoever things are true

Galba inspired me as a learner. He spent about six months visiting and commenting on Dr. Ellen Weber's Brain Based Business blog to learn how to be a blogger before he set up his own, Tune Up Your EQ web site. And quite frankly, like the rest of us he made some blips in the first rounds. When the blog was first up he proudly announced it on Ellen's site. I went right over to leave him a comment to encourage him as did Ellen.

Unfortunately, he accidentally deleted the comment and he emailed me to share how badly he felt about it. So I gave it the second go. He was elated and told me in a million ways. His growth as a blogger and life-long learner continued on an upward curve. Ellen and I both enjoyed seeing Galba take flight.

Even now on Galba's blog, the third post down brings a great deal of pleasure to me since he named both Ellen and myself along with others as valued contributors:

"How would you describe Emotional Intelligence in just a few words? Last year, 8 Tune up your EQ readers, Manchild, Dr. Robyn McMaster, Dr. Ellen Weber, Ray Hobby, Linda Zdnawicz, Anthony Mersino, Tanika Williams and Jeanette Campbell shared their wisdom. Ellen Janssens also contributed great ideas.

You can learn from each of them. But what if you had to choose just one of their offerings?

The words that resonate with me most strongly come from Ellen Weber from the Brain Based Business Blog. Here’s what she said:

'Emotions for me are in no way separate from intellect …. They enhance the brain, though, only when we learn to wield them as resources and not leak them as deficits'"

Galba I can picture you dancing now... as I believe that is the way you would have it. You loved to dance... with your heart, mind and soul and we are all the beneficiaries. Thanks!

Adventures with Ambleside Online

I have not blogged much about David lately. He is reading books from Ambleside Online (to say the year would be a give-away to my guessing game). I love this way of learning because *I*, *the teacher*, get so much out of it, too. I guess I forgot way too much history since high school. In some cases, my textbooks never covered this material!

Guessing Game Number One
For example, do you know when, where, and who was involved with the first European experiment with communism on North American soil? I will let you guess and reveal the source and answer later in the comments! Here are the conclusions from the Governor about his constituents' brush with communal living:

The failure of this experiment of communal service, which was tried for several years, and by good and honest men proves the emptiness of the theory of Plato and other ancients, applauded by some of later times,--That the taking away of private property, and the possession of it in community, by a commonwealth, would make a state happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For in this instance, community of property (so far as it went) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment which would have been to the general benefit and comfort.

• For the young men who were most able and fit for service objected to being forced to spend their time and strength in working for other men's wives and children, without any recompense.
• The strongman or the resourceful man had no more share of food, clothes, etc., than the weak man who was not able to do a quarter the other could. This was thought injustice.
• The aged and graver men, who were ranked and equalized in labour, food, clothes, etc., with the humbler and younger ones, thought it some indignity and disrespect to them.
• As for men's wives who were obliged to do service for other men, such as cooking, washing their clothes, etc., they considered it a kind of slavery, and many husbands would not brook it. This feature of it would have been worth still, if they had been men of an inferior class.

If (it was thought) all were to share alike, and all were to do alike, then all were on an equality throughout, and one was as good as another; and so, if it did not actually abolish those very relations which God himself has set among men, it did at least greatly diminish the mutual respect that is so important should be preserved amongst them. let none argue that this is due to human failing, rather than to this communistic plan of life in itself. I answer, seeing that all men have this failing in them, that God in His wisdom saw that another plan of life was fitter for them.

Guessing Game Number Two
David and I came across an interesting quote in a biography of a great American yesterday. It sounds so much like Charlotte Mason's view nature, but these are not her words. You can cheat and google it, or have fun and guess!

1. The awakening of a greater interest in practical nature lessons in the public schools of our section.

The thoughtful educator realizes that a very large part of the child's education must be gotten outside of the four walls designated as class room. He also understands that the most effective and lasting education is the one that makes the pupil handle, discuss and familiarize himself with the real things about him, of which the majority are surprisingly ignorant.

2. To bring before our young people in an attractive way a few of the cardinal principles of agriculture, with which nature study is synonymous.

If properly taught the practical Nature study method cannot fail to both entertain and instruct.

It is the only true method that leads up to a clear understanding of the fundamental principles which surround every branch of business in which we may engage. It also stimulates thought, investigation, and encourages originality.

Who has not watched with delight the wee tots with their toy set of garden tools and faces all aglow with happiness and the yearning expectations of the coming harvest as they dug up the earth and dropped in a few seed or illy set an equal number of plants--with what joy and satisfaction they called it their garden or with what enthusiasm they hailed the first warm days of spring with their refreshing showers which bespoke emphatically the opening of the mud pie and doughnut season, and how, even though they were water-soaked and mud-bespattered from top to toe, how very happy they were at the close of such a day's work. So on through the whole list of childish amusements. Instinctively, they prefer to deal with natural objects and real things.

Mystery Science Theater Shakespeare
The last thing we did yesterday, before David headed off to a beach retreat for the weekend, was reading aloud the last act of A Midsummer's Night Dream. David, a tenth grader, has already read five of Shakespeare's plays; I had only read one my entire year of high school. I could hardly understand the plot line, much less get the jokes.

In Scene I of Act V, the four happily-united couples watch a play to celebrate the nuptials of King Theseus and his Amazon Queen Hippolyta. Shakespeare loved sneaking a play within a play, or, at the very least, having one or more character in disguise. Unfortunately, the men acting the tragical moments of the classic story of Pyramus and Thisbe were craftsmen, but their trade was NOT the theater. In a nutshell, the hero Pyramus and his secret love Thisbe are to meet at a wall and talk through a chink in the wall to one another. When Thisbe does not arrive, Pyramus searches for her and finds her bloody cloak. He hears a lion roar and, assuming the lion took his love for a midnight snack, stabs himself. Thisbe finds her love dying, and she stabs herself.

Tragedy turns into comedy because the play within a play is so poorly performed. The first hint of this is when Philostrate warns the king how the scene affected him, "And tragical, my noble lord, it is; for Pyramus therein doth kill himself: which when I saw rehears'd, I must confess, made mine eyes water; but more merry tears the passion of loud laughter never shed." After the king demands to see the play anyway, Philostrate warns him again, "No, my noble lord, it is not for you: I have heard it over, and it is nothing, nothing in the world; unless you can find sport in their intents, extremely stretch'd and conn'd with cruel pain, to do you service."

Thanks to a Charlotte Mason philosophy of education and Ambleside Online, David not only gets Shakespeare, but he gives me better stage direction than I can think of myself! When I read the prologue, he told me I was not reading it right because I sounded good. One character's comment told me how to read--fast with no breaks, except in the wrong places, "He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt; he knows not the stop." I read the lion too loud and scary, David stopped me and suggested a wimpy lion a la Oz's cowardly lion. And, later on, the royal barbs confirm his instinct, "A very gentle beast, and of a good conscience" and "a goose for his discretion." He did approve of my Ethel Merman voice for Thisbe.

The king and his queen found sport indeed! The couples found sport! We found sport at the badly done scene. As we read through the scene, David and I half-expected the robots from Mystery Science Theater 3000 to pop in and add their own barbs to the ones being tossed out by the couples watching the play:
"Indeed he hath played on this prologue like a child on a recorder!"
"His speech was like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all disordered."
"This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard."
Right before Thisbe's death, "I hope she will be brief."
"No epilogue, I pray you; for your play needs no excuse!"

Philostrate was right! The poor wall forms his fingers to be the chink (tells the audience what it is) and spends so much time on exposition he spoils the whole scene. Some keep butchering "Ninus' tomb" to "Ninny's tomb." At times, the actors answered the hecklers back in all seriousness a la Ferris Bueller. At one point, the couples spend more lines criticizing the poor moon than the moon has dialog! Who knew the bard could be so much fun?

P.S. I am not passing out prizes for my guessing games because the pursuit of knowledge is inherently delightful and rewarding in and of itself!

P.S.S. No rotten tomatoes please!

What I Learned from Sorting Apples

My working class family "just made it," and opportunities to earn money were rare in our small village. So when Dad announced that I might be able to pick up a job at the apple orchard, I jumped on it.

My job was to sort prime apples out of the many bushels under the trees and place them inside boxes full of slots covered with fancy tissue paper. "First Class" fruit would then be shipped to stores.

As I started to work, I hesitated as I looked over each apple to make sure it really "hit" perfect...

Ooops... later in the day I discovered I had not kept a good pace. The orchard owner said, "Robyn, you just haven't sorted as many bushels as the rest, so I can't pay you as much." Ouch!

That lesson stayed with me... In jobs like sorting best fruit, extreme perfection isn't needed - but speed and quick judgment are.

Interestingly, psychologists at the University of Exeter identified "an 'early warning signal' in the brain that helps us avoid repeating previous mistakes." Our brain has a mechanism that reacts in just 0.1 seconds to actions that resulted in past errors.

What have odd jobs taught you?

If you'd enjoy Robert Hruzek's challenge to participate in his "What I Learned From..." challenge, the deadline's Sunday night, April 13. Here’s all you have to do:

* Write a new post on your blog with a link to What I Learned from Odd Jobs
* Include in the title the phrase: “What I Learned From _____” (or something similar)
* Send Robert Hruzek an email (rhruzek@sbcglobal.net) containing your name, the title of your post, and the permalink of the post. (To make sure he doesn’t miss it.)

If you want to take part in the meme at High Callings Blog be sure to:

* Read his kickoff post for all the details, and then don’t forget to link to this post, too!
* Tag your post “lessons from odd jobs” if you use Technorati or other forms of meta-tags.
* Send an email to Marcus (marcus@highcallingblogs.com) and let him know you’re in!

Star-Studded State House

Somewhere along the way, Pamela became interested in the South Carolina State House. I think ETV's coverage of the General Assembly, which is almost as exciting as C-SPAN, has something to do with it. And, if that is not enough excitement for you, try the online gavel-to-gavel coverage. Since she has talked about it for months, I jumped at the chance to join a friend and her family for Homeschool Day at the Capitol. (By the way, you can click on all pictures for a larger version.)

Here are our kids, ready to storm the Capitol and explore it for all its worth! The State House cost 3.45 million dollars to build at the turn of the last century. The dome is made up of eight million pennies worth of copper alone! The first thing we hit was all fifty-two steps in front of the Capitol. Why fifty-two? It took that many years to build the thing because a little thing called the Civil War and Reconstruction got in the way; you can read more at Let's Go, where you can view a six-minute movie. Even though the signs pointed to side entrances for the public, we just had to climb those stairs.

I am not joking about the Civil War getting in the way! General Sherman and his army burned about one-third of the buildings in Columbia, including the old wooden state house. When he and his men arrived, part of the capitol building had been already constructed. The six bronze stars mark spots on the Capitol hit by Sherman's cannonballs on February 17, 1865.


Yes, I could kick myself because I forgot to take a picture of George Washington's statue. Sherman and his crew were so enchanted with destroying the Capitol that they nearly knocked the cane out from him. Those brick-tossing lumberheads did not realize they were pock-marking the United States first Commander-in-Chief! And, of course, the statue still stands today, cane suspended in mid-air, for proof positive of Yankee aggression.

Once we were inside the building, we took a guided tour that started with a fifteen-minute film about the history of the Capitol Building. We learned about some of the architectural features such as the fabric wall covering (not wall paper), maximization of metal, glass, and marble, and minimization of things that burn, namely wood. You can see some of the highlights below. The most interesting story was an eleven-pound gold-burnished silver mace that represents the authority of the house. It disappeared during the American Revolution but turned up in a vault in Philadelphia (the Yankees had it, of course) in 1819. It fared better than the Senate's sword, which disappeared in 1941 for good. I wonder what it would go for on eBay . . . By the way, the dome pictured below is a fake put there for decoration!


The funniest moment happened when we sat down in the front row of the auditorium. One mother had left a jacket draped over David's seat. She quietly said to him, "Excuse me, sir!" SIR? I know he is big and tall, but he already looks like a SIR? She must not have heard him say, "Hey, Mom! It's the red hat mafia!" when he saw a group of Red Hat Society ladies enter the building. Next time, I'll tell him he can wear his shades and baseball cap inside the Capitol so that no one will mistake him for a gentleman.

The oddest thing I saw today was this public school read-in! To celebrate National Library Week, 1,100 students assemble here on the steps of the Capitol to see a magic show and read. (Hmmm . . . I wonder if one has anything to do with the other.) They marched up to the Capitol with their little protest signs Kids Who Read Succeed, chanted their little slogans, cheered for the state mascots (a tiger and completely illegal fighting gamecock), and held their sit-in, I mean read-in. That juxtaposed against homeschoolers, wandering the grounds exploring the monuments, meeting and leaving business cards with their legislators, taking guided and unguided tours, etc. The difference in how the two groups take political action is stunning!

My County's Shame
Briggs vs. Elliot

One in Every Crowd
John C. Calhoun Statue!

Video Games of Yesteryear


Law Enforcement Memorial
Ode to Andre Bauer


I'll Take a Palmetto Tree over a Palmetto Bug


My Favorite Picture: Girl Studying an Atlas

Big Announcement

No! I ain't birthin' no baby! And, we did not win the lottery. To win the lottery, you have to play the lottery, which I don't.

The funds needed for us to work with an RDI consultant appeared much sooner that we had anticipated. We were originally shooting for seeing a consultant late 2008 or early 2009. We had hoped for a consultant, about whom I only hear wonderful comments. She was booked solid, but promised to keep us in mind. A family recently dropped out, so she has an opening. (Talk about God's timing being perfect!) We scheduled Pamela's very first, official RDA (assessment) for May 7 and May 8. We crave all of your prayers as we start to fill out all of the lovely paperwork!

P.S. I am putting in a plug for the monogram and silk-screen business of my Coastie IRL friend. God has blessed me with two IRL friends, and kindred spirits get harder to find with each of our many moves!

The Power of Thanks

If I awaken cranky, and say thanks for the good in my life, it changes the nature of my day. Have you ever experienced that? Thanks touches the spirit of others and yours, too - when it burbles up from the heart.

Others say it so well...

Psalms of the Bible: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound."

G. K. Chesterton: "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."

Tecumseh Shawnee Chief: "When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself."

Dale Carnegie: "Try leaving a friendly trail of little sparks of gratitude on your daily trips. You will be surprised how they will set small flames of friendship that will be rose beacons on your next visit."

Pam Thomas reviewed Deborah Norville's book, Thank You Power. Saying thanks improves your thought process, reduces stress and increases your daily happiness. Here are Deborah's nuggets...

1) Being thankful for the things you already have helps you to positively manifest more of the good stuff.

2) Counting your blessings helps to shift your attitude and raise your energy level.

3) There is always good in every situation, even the bad situations. Look for the good, as there is an awesome learning experience to be had.

4) Being kind to others definitely has a boomerang effect.

5) Doing something nice for another helps to raise your self confidence and how you feel about you.

21 Day Challenge I enjoyed Pam's challenge for the next 21 days to say thank you for at least five things in your life before your feet hit the floor and each night before your head hits the pillow. Then make note of what happens.

Thanks brings well-being to your day... since it brings more serotonin, a brain hormone of well-being. By saying thanks, you can not only launch a better day, but boost your brainpower, too.

Writing a letter of thanks makes a powerful difference. University of Michigan Professor, Chris Peterson, assigns students in his class to detail the kindnesses of someone they've never properly thanked.

"Read this letter aloud to the person you're thanking," Peterson says, "and you'll see measurable improvements in your mood." Studies show that for a full month after a "gratitude visit" (in which a person makes an appointment to read the letter to the recipient), happiness levels tend to go up, while boredom and other negative feelings go down.

Joanna Young, thank you for the challenge of writing with power.

Brad Shorr, thanks for your kind gift to me because I was the 1000th commenter on your blog, Word Sell.

Folks, I'd enjoy hearing how thanks touched your life during a work day...

Anti-virus Online - Scan Online

McAfee FreeScan helps you detect thousands of viruses on your computer.Based on the award-winning McAfee VirusScan engine, FreeScan searches for viruses, including the latest known "in the wild" viruses, and displays a detailed list of any infected files. Should viruses be found, FreeScan even provides links to more information about the viruses and what you can do to clean your system.Link

Business Words to Impress?

Ever notice that business leaders have a language all their own to impress or look good? After all, the ability to "take charge" depends on just the right words. How many of the following business expressions shared in the University of West Florida Writing Lab have you used or encountered?

1. IT 'S IN PROGRESS - So wrapped in red tape that the situation is almost hopeless.

2. WE'LL LOOK INTO IT - By the time the wheel makes a full turn, we assume you will have forgotten about it.

3. A PROGRAM - Any assignment that can't be completed by one telephone call.

4. CONSULTANT (or expert) - Any ordinary person more than 50 miles from home (must have briefcase).

5. TO ACTIVATE - To make copies and add more names to the memo.

6. TO IMPLEMENT A PROGRAM - Hire more people and expand the office.

7. UNDER CONSIDERATION - Never heard of it.

8. UNDER ACTIVE CONSIDERATION - We are looking in the files for it.

9. A MEETING - A mass mulling by master minds.

10. TO NEGOTIATE - To seek a meeting of minds without a knocking together of heads.

11. RE-ORIENTATION - Getting used to working again.

12. RELIABLE SOURCE - The person you just met.

13. INFORMED SOURCE - The person who told the guy you just met.

14. UNIMPEACHABLE SOURCE - The person who started the rumor originally.

15. A CLARIFICATION - To fill in the background with so many details that the foreground goes underground.

16. WE ARE MAKING A SURVEY - We need more time to think of an answer.

17. NOTE AND INITIAL - Let's spread the responsibility for this.

18. SEE ME OR LET'S DISCUSS - You're in trouble.

19. LET'S GET TOGETHER ON THIS - I'm assuming you're as confused as I am.

20. GIVE US THE BENEFIT OF YOUR PRESENT THINKING - We'll listen to what you have to say as long as it doesn't interfere with what we have already decided to do.

21. WILL ADVISE YOU IN DUE COURSE - If we figure it out, we'll let you know.

22. TAKE SOME DICTATION - Correctly type this document for me.

When you consider all these phrases, you'll think twice when you hear one!

Interestingly the brain's mirror neurons give away intentions behind these words to folks on the other end...

"Understanding the intentions of others while watching their action is a fundamental building block of social behavior," said principal investigator Dr. Marco Iacoboni, an associate professor in-residence of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute's Ahmanson Lovelace Brain Mapping Center and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Our findings show for the first time that intentions behind actions of others can be recognized by the motor system using a mirror mechanism in the brain. The same area of the brain responsible for understanding behavior can predict behavior as well."

Goes to show that words can work for or against us! Check out Brad Shorr's Word Sell to see how.

Heard any other expressions you could add to the list?

Car Games, NOT Car Wars!

Before I launch into this more light hearted post after the sturm and drang of my graphic organizer monologues, I want to know who gave my address to anti-Charlotte-Mason publishers like A Beka and BJU Press! I have my suspicions . . . ahem, the buccaneer blogster who took me in with her April Fool's Day prank. Of course, it could be all coincidental . . .



Today, the kids and I took our two dogs to the vet's office for a follow-up to their checkup. Loa, the eldest dog, has a thyroid condition that caused her to balloon to almost fifty pounds last year (now she is a svelte 37 pounds). She sings arias about this bizarre place where aliens abduct her, poke and prod her, and do all kinds of horrible things to her. From the moment we hit the parking lot until she's back in the car, she howls and moans nonstop (except when we shove a dog biscuit in her mouth).

The other one, the Arwenator (or Beastie Girl), is so hyperactive that she foams at the mouth at the sight of any and all newcomers. Don't let that sweet innocent look on her face deceive you. The moment she sees a new person her tail starts banging everything in sight and ought to be registered as a legal weapon. She is the poster dog for canine Ritalin. If I could bottle her energy, I could feel twenty-years-old!

Today in the 150-mile round trip to the vet's office, Pamela and I enjoyed playing the newest game invented at the spur of the moment on the road. We spent our time looking at license plates: when I stick to the speed limit of 70 MPH, cars pass frequently enough to maintain Pamela's attention. As soon as a car passed, we played our game and reacted. Then, Pamela turned back to look over her left shoulder and peered at the next car or truck planning to pass. The jackpot was spotting unusual states like Illinois or Oregon. Quebec and Puerto Rico completely perplexed both of us. We felt the suspense every time a car was about to pass and laughed and giggled with excitement if the car was out of state. This was emotion sharing at its best!

We have different variations of the game. The most exciting thing about them is that we made them up and often find ourselves thinking of new variations. (1) Figure out if you would fly or drive to that state. If you drive, then you state whether or not you would need to stay in a hotel. (2) Figure out if the car is from a different time zone. Pamela's latest self-taught accomplishment is learning all of the states and time zones and how to calculate times in other zones. (3) Figure out if the car is going in the wrong or right direction. Pamela's sense of direction is so sharp we call her GPS!

I began thinking about what good travelers Pamela and David are. They have never required massive doses of electronics in the car. For example, today, Pamela had her classical CD's and kept the music flowing, while David listened to his iPod. He also narrated some books for me and read a book for pleasure: How to Stay Christian in College. Back in 2001, we survived a 4,500-mile journey from Colorado to Homer, Alaska without a DVD player or video games (okay, I do admit that David wielded his Game Boy until he left it at a rest stop in Washington and did not realize it until an hour down the road). Listening to an audio version of Trumpet of the Swan helped him recover from his loss. They have enjoyed many long, long trips with amusing little games we invent when the mood strikes.

Now, I am the first to admit some kids are such miserable travelers that only a DVD player can keep the peace. One thing I did with three-year-old David to break the habit of whining when the kids and I traveled from Louisiana down the Florida peninsula and up to Connecticut was to play stop the action. If he began complaining, I warned him I would pull over and stop so he could see the real meaning of boring. After a couple of stops, he got the message. When I was a tween, my parents traveled from Washington state to Illinois to North Carolina and back to Illinois with six kids, camping equipment, and a dog with three puppies. When Bill Cosby did the "he touched me" bit, I knew he had bugged our brown van. I spent that trip escaping to the gritty world of Oliver Twist.

Rather than share with you all of the tricks we have learned throughout our years of traveling, I will let masterly inactivity rule the day. The best games are the ones your children invent for themselves. For more ponderings on play, read Rebekah Brown's post called The Art of Play.