Missha M BB Boomer

From The Box:
Missha M BB Boomer is a BB boosting cream, which boosts the adherence and duration of BB Cream and makes your skin look brighter when applied before BB Cream. Its pearl, antioxidant and moisturizing ingredients make your skin more radiant which leaving its moisturized.

My General Review:
This is a BB primer from Missha. I got a sample pack of it, and since you don’t need to use a lot at a time, even the sample pack will last me quite some time. The light pink iridescent lotion is light in texture, easy to spread. I’d say it does a good job of being a primer for me, as it smooths my skin texture upon application. Not super smooth, silicone-y feeling, but enough to help fill in pores and other crevices.

True to its claim, this primer gives glowy effect. A bit too much for me in the daytime, because I usually wear heavy duty Euro sunscreen…which naturally shines on its own It’s not out of place for office or anything though, I just prefer something more toned-down. If you’re into glow, then I’d say try this.

On my fair Asian skin, this is translucent, but a friend of mine told me it looks rather white on her. That’s weird, because I think she’s rather fair. Kimoko with medium toned skin can wear this okay…but maybe it’s safer if you can try it out first before buying.

Kimoko also said that its oil controlling properties is really good, so I’m not sure how will it performs on very dry skin. But on my slightly dry cheeks, slightly oily T-zone, it’s not drying at all. Doesn’t make my face oily too. It does contain Alcohol, but it didn’t seem harm me. Maybe because the Alcohol is rather down the list and it’s not potent enough to irritate my skin.

On the other side, I don’t feel any improvement from using this BB primer. Truthfully, very few BB cream provide slightest bit of improvement.

Price:
You can get it at Ebay for quite cheap; it’s around US$13-15 for a 40ml tube. Very reasonable, it’ll last for very long  time.

Ingredients:
Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclohexasiloxane, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Arbutin, Sodium Chloride, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Quaternium-18 Hectorite, Acrylates/Dimethicone Copolymer, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer,  Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Adenosine, Talc, Aluminium Hydroxide, Stearic Acid, Chrysanthemum Morifolium Flower Extract, Coral Powder, Diamond Powder, Mannan, Squalane, Moringa Pterygosperma Seed Oil, Platinum Powder, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Amethyst Powder, Pearl Powder, Tourmaline, Alcohol Denat, Tocopherol, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Chlorphenesin, Propylparaben, Ethylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, Benzyl Benzoate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Geraniol, Linalool, Coumarin, Citronellol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone.

May Contain: [+/- Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)]

Overall Rating:
4 out of 5. Nice glowy primer, just a bit over the top for day use for me. Smooths out pores, but I prefer super slick primer to make blending foundations/TM/BB cream super easy.

Nevertheless, good product at very reasonable price though.

*This review will be cross posted in www.makeupalley.com under username Crescent_Shadow.

For this week’s photojournalism class assignment, we were told to emulate another photographer’s vision or style while covering an event.

That is not easy.

It’s pretty much the most daunting assignment you could be given. Especially when the photographer has to be from VII Photo Agency.

I chose Stefano de Luigi.

His photos are kept even and with a lot of space. His horizons are mostly straight and his subjects are mostly centered. The space around his subjects gives a good feel for the environment, which gives the viewer a feeling a feeling of being there.

The thing I found strange about his images, though, was the high percentage of photos with people with their head turned to the camera. Many photographers look for great faces – they can make or break a photo. De Luigi, however leaves them turned away and it doesn’t hurt his photos at all.

Here are a few others I took in the short time I had at Polar Plunge.

Burlington County RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) is seeking volunteers  (55+) to teach the RSV“Take Control of Your Health Chronic Disease Self-Management” Program. Free peer leader training enables volunteers teach people with chronic conditions and caregivers to:

• manage symptoms
• get started with healthy eating and exercise
• communicate effectively with your doctor and health care team
• manage fear, anger and frustration
• make daily tasks easier
• get more out of life

No previous knowledge about chronic illness is necessary since teaching

is done from a detailed manual that is used as a script.

Upon completion, peer leaders will facilitate the 6-week, 2.5 hour per week Take Control of Your Health

workshop with groups of 8-18 people who have one or more chronic conditions. 

For information on the program and training, please email Karen Bennett at kbennett@bcc.edu,

or call 609-894-9311, x 1499.

So, I am sure you have heard it said, “It’s not about being perfect but about giving it your all.”  Well in 1998, David Wells’ “best effort” yielded him a perfect game. (Thank you Plucker’s Trivia Night!) Speaking of perfect, if you could attain perfection, what would you be perfect at?  Sports?  Business? Picking up chicks? Ok, I am just kidding about the last… or am I?

Today, I’ve been thinking about what it means to have a perfect faith.  What would that even look like?  To trust and rely on God continuously?  To me, that is unfathomable!  Being one who is carrying around a flesh pod bent on sin, it makes it real hard to even think about perfection.

James tells us that perfection is found in works.  Paul tells us that faith alone saves.  Who is right?  It’s a trick question, they are both right.  It is our faith in Jesus Christ that saves us, but James goes a bit deeper in James 2:22.  James tells us, “that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.”

Faith without works is useless!  It is when we serve, volunteer and help people  in the context of our faith that we are nearest to perfection.  How can you perfect your faith today? What small or big work can you do today that will begin the process of perfecting your faith?

-Living Missionally in the ATX

At the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas last week, Ford Motor Company unveiled dashboard innovations that included being able to use Twitter and Facebook from behind the wheel. Streaming internet audio from behind the wheel is one thing, but social media? Presented as Ford’s connectivity strategy, it appears that other auto makers will soon follow suit. Can you say distracted driving?

I have had a love affair with cars since the nineteen fifties. I secretly aspired to be a race car driver. Although, over the past thirty plus years, my racing has been confined to some motocross racing, a couple of years of road racing really fast go karts, and about five years of autocross. The pinnacle of my driving experience occurred when I attended to Jim Russell’s race driving school at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma California. We were fitted, literally, into open wheel formula fords and got three days of intensive training on the finer points of open wheel road racing. Too much fun for sure.

I have owned numerous sports cars including an Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce, an MG-A, a Sunbeam Alpine, an Austin Healy 3000, a Porsche 911, two RX 7’s and several turbo charged Mazdas. My first car was a 56 Chevy with a small block V8. I love to drive and I love road trips.

My first road trip with a cell phone took place back in the early nineties. The phone was huge and didn’t work all that well. The one thing I remember about using that phone was a conference call I was able to take part in while sitting in the parking lot at Buffalo Bill’s Grave just outside of Denver. Talk about an office with a view!

Our cars are our second home. According to the National Highway Safety  Administration, on any day of the week, 800,000 people drive and use their cell phones. In a recently released Pew report, one in three teenagers admitted to texting while driving.  In 2008, 6,000 highway deaths were the result of distracted driving – a great many of which involved cell phone usage.

In the near future we will be able to access social media from inside our cars. I’m sorry, but how smart is this strategy? Given the statistics and the growing use of cell phones in automobiles, do we really want to continue down this road? I understand that some people can’t seem to function without talking incessantly, but texting and twittering? Even if you could accomplish interacting with Facebook or Twitter hands free, you still have to look at the screen.

Did you know that sales of in-vehicle gadgets is expected to surpass $9.3 billion for the last year? There are some gadgets that are aimed at reducing cell phone use or at least making it safer. One such product will shut off your cell phone once your exceed 15 mph. There are gadgets that provide traffic alerts and accident reports using cell phone ring tones.

One FCC member, Meredith Attwell Baker, puts her two smart phones in her purse and locks them in the trunk before driving. Transportation Secretary, Raymond Lahood, puts his Blackberry in the glove compartment to ensure he is not distracted. Mr. Lahood has publicly stated that texting while driving has become an epidemic in America.

During one panel discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show, Peter Appel, the Transportation Department’s head of research and technology stated that his agency is researching ways to use technology to make driving safer. There is an application that will make the drivers seat vibrate or rumble and alert the driver to an accident ahead on the road. A couple of software firms have demonstrated technologies that block text messages and incoming calls while the car is being driven.   

So what’s the answer? Should all cell and internet communication devices be banned while driving? There are states where cell phone usage is illegal. Of course, if the technology is built into the vehicle, how will the troopers and police spot offenders and enforce such laws? Can all such communications be accomplished hands free and if so, does this ensure that the driver is not distracted? Yes, I talk on my cell when I drive sometimes. And I encounter distracted drivers every day who are talking and driving.  

What’s the answer? What do you think? What’s your view on this subject? Should cell use and internet connectivity be outlawed altogether?

If you are a Baby Boomer and haven’t joined our community, www.boomeropinion.com, please consider it. It is free and only takes a couple of minutes to sign up. You can share your viewpoint and voice your opinion on the critical issues facing America. And if we recruit enough of you, we can positively impact business and political policies around the country.

First, let me qualify this blog by saying that I manage an opinion portal, www.boomeropinion.com, which is in reality a social media site. We provide polls, discussions and articles on issues facing America and Baby Boomers. We encourage Boomers to visit our site daily so they can weigh in and discuss the critical issues of the day.

I should also mention that I use twitter, but only for business purposes. I post the latest polls and discussion topics on my company’s Twitter page. I use Facebook to keep up with my friends, relatives and children. After much persuasion, I got my wife to join Facebook and I haven’t seen her since. And I use Linkedin to network with people around the world and to promote my businesses.

That said, I find that a good chunk of my time is taken up by these sites. Could I be more productive if I didn’t fall prey to these sites? Absolutely. Is social media just a new form of crack? Quite possibly. Are large numbers of Americans wasting work hours perusing these sites? I am sure that is true.

It should be obvious to every American the loss of attention caused by twitterers across the country. Remember when the President made his first State of the Union speech last year? As the network cameras panned the audience, you could see numerous Congressmen and Senators sending out tweets on their smart phones. How intently can you listen to a speech if you are otherwise occupied tweeting?

A 2008 Study in Britain concluded that workers in that country typically lose 12 hours of work a week logging onto social media sites. That’s over 25% of their time at work. If your typical American office workers are sitting at their computers tweeting about what they had for lunch or checking out the latest posts on their Facebook wall, how productive can they be during those periods. How much work are they not getting done each week?

Social media has a number of very positive benefits. Documenting protests and clashes between protestors and police or soldiers in parts of the world where network coverage is not available or not allowed. Documenting major weather events and other catastrophes in remote areas around the world is another benefit social media has brought to the table.

Instantaneous movie, restaurant and concert reviews are becoming the norm. Keeping close touch with relatives or friends in far away places, as well as keeping in touch with relatives or friends who live across town. Synching schedules or inviting people to special events is yet another benefit.

Some companies have initiated firewalls and/or filters to keep employees off social media sites and focused on the job at hand. Other companies have written policies against social networking during business hours. Without technical blocks, policing the usage of social media particularly given the new smart phone technologies will be hard to do for most companies.

There is no doubt that social networking and social media is here to stay, so what can be done to ensure that it doesn’t distract the American worker to such an extent that it significantly impacts our national productivity? What do you think? We want to hear your thoughts on this topic. And if you respond from your office computer, just make sure you have completed your work for the day.

If you are a Baby Boomer and haven’t joined our community, www.boomeropinion.com, please consider it. It is free and only takes a couple of minutes to sign up. You can share your viewpoint and voice your opinion on the critical issues facing America. And if we recruit enough of you, we can positively impact business and political policies around the country.

The day started off as usual.  Oats and eggs.  Boomer enjoyed some oats too and when I looked at her I cracked up laughing!  This is why she is on the top 10 things that make me happy.

Stop it!

I'm not going to look!

HA! It's oatmeal I promise

My house was all clean again and we had to be out for a showing.  I went and hung out at my mom’s for a couple of hours.  This is where Boomer spent the day with 3 redheads.  We aren’t camera shy unlike her.

GinGin

Wembley

WAIT I WASN'T READY!

Strike a pose

April

I’m not apologizing for how disgusting I look in this picture.

My Taco Bell chihuahua impression

This is my sister’s weiner dog.  He’s a riot.  I tease Rachel about how funny it is that mom has a redheaded dog and so does she.  Im clearly the favorite in my family

.

I got on the scale this morning.  I was feeling heavy but thought what the heck.  I was going to weigh yesterday but didn’t want to ruin my day with Louisa.  I am feeling positive that this meal plan is what my body needs right now.  So my weight was…..120.4!  It’s not where I want to be but I was for sure i’d be about 125 by now.  So I can’t wait to see where I am in a week!  I absolutely love EVERY meal of the day!  I’m also going to try and cut back a bit on cardio…I say try

.

Do you like lifting or cardio better?  I go back and forth.  Right now it’s cardio for sure.

Technology usage is not immune to the lifestyle changes motherhood brings. Moms put the focus on simplicity, convenience and multiuse technologies as they look to keep their families closely linked…

via Digital Tools Help Moms Take Charge – eMarketer.

Who wants to go deep? Increasingly it’s a generational thing. Millennials believe in technology as an empowering force in their lives. Gen X is less convinced. And if you ask a Boomer, they’ll tell you technology invades your privacy and makes you stupid. (Okay, that may be a tad harsh … but you get the point.)

So, it’s not a stretch to posit that if you are predisposed to believing technology makes your life better, you’ll be more willing to activate your experiences. While older consumers remain happy to watch, the younger generations are more willing to “go deep” and interact.

Now, 2010 is the first year that Millennials outnumber Boomers, but not by that much. And Gen X is a blip. For marketers devising campaigns with Depth On Demand™ principles, the “and” factor abides. You need to provide the range of experience that fits both segments — or constituencies — expectations and media habits.

Boomers may not feel comfortable using technology via a user interface or branding application that offers fantastic utility and useful benefits. So they’ll be more swayed by the brand message and, if your creative is effective, will have elevated levels of aided/unaided recall. That’s about it. Top of mind awareness is what you get. For Boomers that’s often all that’s required to instigate a purchase decision.

Millennials, on the other hand, seek out the rewards of going deeper into the brand story by engaging with the brand, its community presence and peer consumers who advocate on its behalf. In the absence of branded content and branding applications that offer engagement and interaction, these consumers are left to seek and find their own conclusions about brands. If the brand itself isn’t participating, then its stewards risk being defined by “the mob” — for better or worse. Plus, in other studies (which I’ll find links for as a follow up), we learn that consumers increasingly find non-participating brands to be irrelevant. After all, as this eMarketer report says, Millennial Moms find “empowerment,” “help” and “betterment” through “technology” — which I interpret to mean “interaction.”

It’s the day that I’ve been dreading to come…my last day:( I wish this internship could last forever. I’ve made so many new friends: Darnell (my new bfff) haha, Matty, Richie, Kim, Lyndzy and list could go on for a while!

But for now, I will give you the deets on what went on today. So we were out of office all day because we were doing a Gett Fitt program up in Hamilton South Eastern elementary school. Talk about a nice  drive North…into the boonies! Anyways I woke up at like before dawn. We left about 8 and got there around 9. We had four sessions in the morning, to about 12:30. That was soo fun, mainly because Kelli made me get up and dance with Boomer up front on stage… That was a great sight! HAH and very tiring.

We had about a 2 hour break once we finished the morning. And because we were out in the middle of nowhere, we had to drive about 15 miles to get to Noblesville to find a place to eat. Thanks to my awesome  she took all of us out to eat at AppleBee’s. Including Boomer! It was so good, I was just glad we found something other than a gas station. hahah

We had to be back to the other school around 2 for the las Gett Fitt program. For you entertainment I took some videos so that you can get a look at how thing went down. Also some cute pictures of the little kids. They were so cute:) It was kindergarten, first and second graders for the first session. Then a combo in the second session. It was great to watch all the kids get up and dance.

Oh and I got a great pic with Boomer just for you guys! Yes, you’re welcome.

So im sure you all are wandering, “since your internship is over, does that mean your done blogging?”. My answer: NO! I have loved blogging about what all I’ve done. Because if I hadn’t, I would totally forget in a week, now I can know what I did all 2 weeks! I’m so glad I had this opportunity to do this internship. I absolutely, hands down, loved every single minute of what I did! Especially the times that involved Travis…but you already knew that:) I will miss all my new friends soo much, but don’t fret! I will be coming back sometime, I know I will! Until then, peace out

xoxo

Since the internet became the go-to place for research, finding information, entertainment and socializing every business large and small has tried to come up with the best approach to branding, product recognition and monetizing their company’s presence on the web. It doesn’t appear that anyone one or any business has really figured out how to do this effectively.

Even the giants like Facebook and Twitter haven’t cracked the code on how to monetize their traffic. While their valuations are in the billions their profits are non-existent. Facebook is valued at $9.5 billion while Twitter’s value is estimated at $1 billion. Facebook has over 300 million regular users, but doesn’t expect to go cash positive before 2010 and that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be profitable. Twitter is not close to being cash positive, let alone profitable.

What does this say about the effectiveness of web advertising? What does this say about advertising your company, your brand or your products on a social media site? What it says to me is that no one, not even the most brilliant advertising executives on Madison Avenue, has figured out how to use this medium to bring brand recognition or brand awareness to their company or products.

The one exception is Google. Of course, they are not a social media site. Google determined this early on with their Adsense and Adwords programs. Being a search engine certainly gives Google a unique advantage and a head start on the other popular web sites. They have certainly done a tremendous job branding themselves over the years. Just “Google it”. Their name has become a verb. Google is typically the first place anyone on the web will go to when they are looking for anything. Ads corresponding to that search make perfect sense.

The most popular social media sites will have to crack the code on effective web advertising soon. In order to survive they will need a better business model. Who will figure out how to help them do this – the web sites themselves, the advertisers or the advertising community? Some smart person, entity, or agency will generate some serious income whenever they do come up with a solution to this problem.

Currently banner ads just annoy most people and instead of reading the ad, they hurriedly try to figure out the quickest method of getting it off their screen. And why put the same ad online that you would put in a newspaper or magazine. Does the term multimedia ring a bell? Then there are the pop up motion ads that try to take over your screen while you are trying to read an article or get some needed information. Again, such ads tend to aggravate their audience instead of drawing them in.

On television or radio, the audience is captive and they don’t have a choice other than changing the channel or the radio station. Of course, if you have Tivo or a DVR, then you can avoid even those advertisements. If you are watching a program using the internet as your medium, you will still be subjected to commercials, but in most cases there are fewer of them during the program particularly on sites like Hulu or a broadcast network site. Still the network ads are usually more compelling and more entertaining. Then again, how many ways can they sell us E.D. drugs? No more twin tubs please!

When it comes to social media, Steven Hodson in a recent column on Mashable.com, suggested that social media sites should ask for donations using Paypal to generate income. If you like Twitter or Facebook and use it regularly, then why wouldn’t you want to contribute $1 or $5 a month. He calculated that if 50% of the Twitter users donated $1 per month, that would result in $500 million of revenue per month for Twitter. Personally, I don’t believe users would fall for that concept, particularly given the fact that the users are the ones generating the content on that site. Without the tweets there would be no Twitter

Personally, I think the best approach would be a compelling well produced viral type video highlighting the advertisers’ product or message. Videos that people would want to watch and not be forced to watch. You can view samples of this type of video at http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=140819. Check out the bottom of that page. These are agency produced videos that appear on YouTube. 30 and 60 second segments of these videos can also be seen in standard television commercials. On YouTube, the videos last 1-3 minutes. My favorites are the roller skating babies and the bulldog playing Tony Hawk’s video game.

The most successful video ads would need a theme and be serialized. It is a proven fact that people recall and respond to ads that draw their attention. Recall is a logical process while recognition is an emotional process. Motion, such as video, evokes emotion, but the printed word normally doesn’t do that. Of course these videos would need a recurring theme or character. There are plenty of well done TV ads that come to mind. The e-Trade baby is one. Remember Joe Izuzu? Okay I might have just dated myself.

These web videos could be original content or they come from a clip of a current box office hit movie that includes a clever use of your company’s product. They could be elaborate productions or well thought out amateur videos. If you think that you can’t produce an inexpensive video that draws millions of viewers, you need to watch the Pink Glove Dance on YouTube. This video was made to promote breast cancer awareness in a hospital using hospital staff as its cast and was done for very little money.

Come on people. It’s time to think outside the box and get creative. A well-made, creatively done video ad should draw you in, not push you away. One option for Social Media sites would be to insert 15-20 second ads every 10-15 minutes. That might not be too intrusive for most people. If the user wanted to avoid these interruptions they could pay a monthly use fee to use that site, say $1 or $2. The web isn’t going away and we need to come up with ways to make it a viable commercial enterprise. Wouldn’t it be cool if the web ads were so good that your friends recommended you view some of these video ads?

With the advent of broadband and streaming video, web ads shouldn’t be rehashed versions of print ads. That is sooo nineties. Video and/or clever animation is where it’s at. Being able to quickly opt out of any web video should be mandatory. If a product ad isn’t compelling enough to make its potential customers want to watch, then the viewer should be able to click it away. On the other hand, if it is good enough to bring you back several times, then the production will be well worth the investment.

What’s you opinion about web advertising? Got a better idea? I would love to hear it. Comment on this blog and tell us what you really think.

If you are a Baby Boomer and haven’t joined www.boomeropinion.com, then please consider joining our community. We are looking for Boomers who have opinions and don’t mind ruffling a few feathers by telling America what they really think about the issues facing America.

Time magazine’s November 22, 2009 article, “The ‘00s: Goodbye (at last) to the Decade from Hell” points out that the first decade of the new millennium might be one of the worst decades for America in recent history. How could they have drawn this conclusion?

In the last ten years, we have experienced two financial meltdowns – first in 2000-2001 when the internet Bubble Burst. Then again in 2008-2009 – that one shouldn’t be that hard to remember. America also suffered through 9/11, Anthrax letters, Hurricane Katrina, massive corporate bailouts and major unemployment. And last, but certainly not least we have had to deal with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that continue take American lives and siphon off more and more of our tax dollars and resources.

So have we learned anything from the last decade? We should have learned a lot, but if Washington D.C. is any indication, we may be doomed to repeat the last 10 years. Have you seen any new government policies to address the problems on Wall St. and in the investment banking community? Have we put in place new regulations to prevent Wall St. and investment bankers from overleveraging their capital and gambling on speculative investments and derivatives? No.

Has our government initiated the legislation that would provide funding to rebuild America’s dilapidated infrastructure to prevent future catastrophes such as those that took place in New Orleans and Minneapolis? There has been a lot of talk on capitol hill and some small projects approved, but no real progress in funding major infrastructure projects. Has our government put a priority on job creation or required the banking industry to use some of their TARP money to open up credit lines to small businesses? No.

While we are drawing down our troops in Iraq, it appears that the President plans to build up our troop levels in Afghanistan. I am still waiting to hear what our objective in Afghanistan will be and why we need an additional 35,000 troops at a cost of one million dollars per soldier per year. I thought we were getting out of the nation building business.

Seems to me that Afghanistan will just be another Iraq. We initially went into Afghanistan to get Osama, yet we don’t even know if he is there or in Pakistan. Won’t our occupation in another Middle Eastern country just increase the terrorists resolve.  If we run Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan and Pakistan won’t they just move their operations to another country? Do we really need to spend $35 billion per year to democratize Afghanistan? My son and I are both veterans, so don’t accuse me of being a pacifist. I am just trying to determine how our national security is protected by occupying Afghanistan.

How did we reach this point in history and how can we prevent repeating the same mistakes in the next decade? Most historians would say that we reached this point through neglect, greed, self interest and losing sight of our responsibilities both in America and globally.

So how can we get back on track in moving America forward? The economy should be our number one priority. Job creation should be right at the top. In the next ten years, our top priorities should be green jobs, investment in small business, rebuilding our infrastructure, alternative energy research subsidies, designing and building a smart power grid, and more comprehensive information sharing in key sectors like government agencies and medicine – ie. electronic medical records. Had the FBI shared information on the shooter at Ft. Hood with the military, could that tragedy been averted? Maybe, maybe not.

Financial regulations need to be put back in place to regulate Wall St. and the investment bankers. When it comes to banking regulation, investment banks and commercial banks should not be under the same umbrella. They are very different and they should be regulated and insured differently. Why should the government treat investment banks the same as commercial banks and insure speculation on the part of investment bankers? It doesn’t make sense.

The American people need to become more involved in government, business policy and government regulation of business. As long as the industry lobbyists continue have major influence over legislators in policy making in Washington, the people won’t have a say in how business and industry is regulated and controlled. We need to take back our government from corporate America and the lobbyists. Isn’t it supposed to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people?

One way we can ensure that our voices are heard in Washington would be to leverage the internet and mobilize our voices. By democratizing the web and galvanizing public opinion on each issue, we can use the internet to tell the politicians exactly how we feel about each of these issues as they arise.

The major political parties and their leaders seem to be more interested in working against each other than addressing these issues. Instead of doing the job for which they were elected, they only seem interested in blocking each others progress, rather than working to pass the needed legislation to get America back on track. I’m not suggesting deconstructing our political party system, but giving Washington a non-politically biased barometer of what their constituencies are thinking about a particular issue at any given point in time. If millions of Americans voice their opinions on these issues, don’t you think our fearless leaders will listen and act? 

It is all about the numbers. I started my web community, www.boomeropinion.com, to give Baby Boomers a voice in America. Boomers represent one of every three adults in America and control 70% of the wealth in this country. One would think their opinion counted for something. If even 10% of the 77 million Baby Boomers in America voiced their opinions on these critical issues, I am convinced Washington would begin to listen.

Within the next few months, we will upgrade Boomer Opinion to allow our users to create their own polls, ask topical questions and start discussions on topics of their own choosing. We will follow that with opinion portals for Gen X and Gen Y. Once we get traction, maybe our political leaders will start working to fix America instead of fighting each other over partisan agendas.

What is your take on the last decade and democratizing the web? Is America ready for this? Let us know what you think.

Picture this but with snow and ice everywhere   Those of you that live in warm states don’t know what you are missing.  Snow walking is a GREAT exercise…can you sense the sarcasm here?  No, it really is.  Boomer bit it a couple of times and it makes me laugh.  She looks back at me and is embarrassed.  Kind of like when she runs up the stairs and farts.

.

I have lunch plans with a friend today.  I can’t wait!  We’re going to my favorite restaurant Oaken Barrel and i’m getting the Greek salad with chicken YUM!  I cut my oats back this morning in preparation for a few warm pitas   Afterwards we are going to go for a nice long cold walk.  Our walks are awesome and by the end we are both sweating in our 5 layers of clothing.

.

Have you all been watching idol?  Do these people really think they can sing?  Does Victoria Beckham have a personality?  She looked really nice on the show…something like this:

Okay, i’m off to shower and get ready for my lunch date.  I might even fix my hair…doubt it.

County residents of all ages are invited to join RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) volunteers in collecting items for one of the three area organizations providing support for people who are homeless.

Please choose the site nearest to you:

Christian Caring Center- 378 Lakehurst Road, Browns Mills, NJ 08015 (609) 893-0700

Interfaith Hospitality Network 228 Mount Laurel Road Mt. Laurel, NJ  08054 (856)638-0110

Burlington Township Food Pantry -10 Cadillac Rd., Burlington, NJ 08016 (in Mr. Big’s Self-Storage across from Wal-Mart) Look for sign on MLK Day 888-847-3278

Items needed:   “Survival Bags”, plastic zip lock with juice box, slim jims, beef jerky, apple sauce, canned fruit, peanut butter or cheese crackers.  

Gently used blankets, clean (please no new blankets)

  Paper products (food stamps cannot be used for these) – toilet paper, paper towels.

Thank you for joining RSVP of Burlington County to make this national day of service a success this Martin Luther King Day!

My mom had given me a bag of cole slaw mix and I just had to use it.  I know they say cabbage gives you gas and I don’t need that but I made it anyway.  Wow this was so good!  I fried the cabbage with broccoli until it got a little toasty and then put mustard and stevia in it.  Topped it off  with a big hunk of tilapia YUM!  No gas yet this morning

When I woke up I came downstairs and got my water jug.  My legs are having serious DOMS from my leg workout Wednesday.  The devil on my shoulder said go workout…you can do it, the angel said just eat first and feed your body.

I listened to the angel.  I had a HEAPING bowl of oats.

Bet you've never seen a bowl of oats before

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup wheat bran
• 3 egg whites
• 2 T of toasted almond slices cooked in 1 tsp of coconut oil
• pumpkin pie spice

Holy heck, this took a 1/2 hour to eat!  I know this is wheat and I said I wasn’t going to eat wheat or dairy but guess what?  I’m having cottage cheese today too!  I only eat dairy once maybe twice a week.  NO yogurt though!  I figure i’ll just eat normal until my gastro visit…that I still need to make!

.

I ended up doing #14 on my move it tab. WOOWEE!!!!!  It was a good one!  During the 8.0 I would say in my head okay this is the last one.  Then during the walk i’d catch my breath and do another.  I made it!

I also made it through 465 ab reps yesterday..ouchy!

.

Here’s Mike and Boomer having fun in the snow yesterday.  I would have joined but I had just taken a shower and had wet head.  Boomer LOVES the snow! 

Did you get any snow?

Listen to the episode HERE.

I’ve kept this from Mandi to some extent, but there was a time when I truly loved anime. Like an ex you deeply regret, and therefore deny the existence of, my youthful foray into the world of anime as a source deep shame. I think back on those days and feel what I imagine is the same shame one would feel at the remembrance of a night spent in a dive hotel with a coked-out hooker.

And to be honest, I only ever dipped my toe into the murky anime pond. It started in childhood with Robotech (back when anime was Japanimation), but I lost interest soon after Ghost in the Shell, a movie I wore-out my VHS copy of, was released.

A few years later, I had a roommate who tried to get me to watch his stack of  Macross tapes, but I just couldn’t do it. Anything even remotely akin to Transformers turns me completely off. That writes-off the whole mech-warrior (or as I call it  meh-warrior) sub-genre.

So what is the hurdle? There’s a lot that’s great about anime. It’s often grittier than conventional animation. Until The Matrix, it was the only place cyberpunk had been done well on film at all. Anime is stylish and fast-paced. It’s usually sci-fi or fantasy with lasers and magic and sexy genetically enhanced ladies.

Anime films also seem to aim to deal with deeper themes than your average shoot-em-up sci-fi. But they often fail in this goal. And I think this is partly where the hurdle lays for me now. They’re philosophical, sure, but in a sophomoric, juvenile way. Anime might be a great way to expose existential and metaphysical themes to a younger audience, but as an adult they now seem terribly trite. And character development is generally the worst you’ll find outside of Episode I.

Not to mention tentacle rape. WTF?

Of course, there is one anime director whose work we adore. Hayao Miyazaki’s films spellbind us.

Even Tim Burton doesn’t blend surreal, horrific imagery with a whimsical sense of magical wonder with such alacrity. I’m not sure I’ve seen a movie which so unexpectedly blew my mind as Spirited Away or if there’s ever been such a truly effed up movie as My Neighbor Totoro to give me warm fuzzies. In fact, Miyazaki movies might be the only films to awaken that sleeping sentimental giant within me at all these days.

Also in this episode, we unveil the first installment of a short series of Battlestar Galactica chatter called Project GalacTALKa. Each week, we’ll talk about our impressions of this celebrated sci-fi television show as we watch it for the first time. Discussion will be entirely spoilerific, for those who have watched the entire series (or have seen it up to the same point we have). We give you this fair warning as we’ve remained relatively spoiler-free and wish to remain so. Basically we’re having our ambrosia and drinking it too.

What a surprise! This morning the first thing I did- sort through the mail, and put it into the database! Now that I think about it though, today was a pretty laid back day. I/We didn’t do that much. Although it kinda helps when there’s like 30 ft of snow outside. The nice thing about alot of snow is 1. my parents don’t like me to drive in it…so i get a  chauffeur:) haha 2. You go in late because it takes forever to get into to work and 3. You go home early because everyone wants to leave, as well as your boss. So pretty much a good day!

Other than sorting through mail, this afternoon the gang went out to IPS school #93…i think. At the school we had about 150 k-2 graders for our Read to Achieve Program. What we did this time, was have 5 different stations that the kids went around to and different readers read to them each time. Once the reading was over, Boomer came in a rallied up all the kids and made the super hyper. Thats what he does every time…. then we raffled off some cool Pacers items to some of the kids and sent them on they’re way!

Once we got back to Conseco, we were informed that the office was closing at 3, and it was 4… of course. Thats ok, me and my aunt Kelli packed our stuff up and headed home!

That was my day. I was planning on going out and playing in the beautiful snow, but im just so pooped out I think im gonna go to bed! Nighty Night:) Check back tomorrow for more!

xoxo

Hey everyone! I am extremely tired, so I’m going to make this post short and sweet:) So, pretty much the day went like this:

• Woke up @ 6:30, so that I could arrive at Bridgeport elementary at 7:40. Fun I know…
• 8 am Read to Achieve Program with Darnell Hillman (Dr. Dunk)- the funny thing about this was that the reading was suppose to be with Earl Watson from the Indiana Pacers, but there was a miscommunication in scheduling and he was not able to make it…
• After D was done reading, we raffled off some cool prizes, that Boomer (Pacers mascot) helped with:)
• Then it was off to Conseco to pick up a few more things, then straight back to Maple elementary!
• At Maple we did our Get Fitt Program, which Boomer also helped us with. This basically was Boomer dancing around and all the little kids following.
• Once we were finished there, my wonderful Aunt Kelli took all of us out to eat- her treat! And in case your wandering, we picked O’Charley’s. My favorite restaurant in the world!
• Then is back to Conseco. Again. The good thing about the day starting off so early was we got to go home early! Whoo hoo!
• Didn’t really do much once I got back, so then I went home.

Long Day, and tomorrow we’re suppose to be doing another Get Fitt Program activity thing, but we’re also suppose to get alot of snow…maybe a 2 hour delay:) Be back tomorrow.

xoxo

First off, rest day was a success!  This morning I slept until 645a and didn’t really want to get on the treadmill.  I did and went 4 miles in 40 minutes.  I normally do walk/runs but jogged the whole time and ran a few minutes.  It felt great!  I guess I needed the rest.  Next up is legs and more cardio.

.

The Verdict.

Provera to start my cycle.  I AM taking it this time.  She said I NEED a period at least 4 times a year.  Being 34 and not having a period can lead to many bone diseases etc..she scared me into it pretty much.  My gma had a hysterectomy in her 40’s because of cancer.  She was never on BC or anything, no periods and now has a hump back.  I do NOT want to be like that.  So I need to have my period and hormones I guess.

She told me I undereat and over exercise.  BS…that’s what I think about that.  I think they are so used to seeing big fat women they don’t know any different.  My BMI is on the lower end so i’m unhealthy?  If I ate fast food everyday and didn’t exercise then what’s wrong with me?  That sort of pissed me off but I do understand for my health I NEED to have a period.  Then she looked at my chart from 2006 when I didn’t have a period and I weighed 132 lbs.  Take that biatch…it’s NOT my weight.

The place where i’m swollen sometimes and tender is my colon.  I’m not constipated so my next step is to set up an appt with a gastro doc.  Uterus is small but doesn’t have cysts or anything.  I felt like I was in there forever.  Oh and i’m not pregnant   They had to check that before I could start taking the Provera.  I should have a period in 2.5 weeks and it’s going to be a doozy!!!!  I can’t wait!!  (sarcasm)

So I can hope that maybe this will kickstart my cycles again or I can go on birth control.  That or I can keep taking Provera to make sure that I have 4 cycles a year.

.

I’ll fess up and admit I don’t take BC because I don’t want to gain weight.  Or at least that’s why i’ve never been on it.  I used to be an Ephedra junkie and didn’t care if I died because then at least I would be a skeleton and finally thin.  I know, the stupid things we do and say when we’re younger.  Now i’m at the point where I just want to be healthy and take care of my body.

So what BC do you take?  I’m so confused.  I don’t know what to do.  Go on BC, Use Provera when needed, get a bone disease, get fat and see if it comes back? 

On a happier note I found this while cleaning.  I’ll post some pics of the after paint job once I get the house organized.  It feels and looks much better

Some of you may be wandering, what does 1,071 mean? Well, let me inform you. 1,071 is how many stuffed animals I counted today. Yes, I said stuffed animals. So, basically the “low-down” of what I did today was counting. I had to count about 50 tub fulls of animals and record it. Your thinking, “oh that doesnt sounds so bad”, well it sucked. I don’t think I ever want to count again…

Anyways, today, when I got to conseco, I went through all the Larry Bird Fan Mail, that was oodles of fun. It was nice to get it all done though, now I dont have to worry about it for a couple more weeks!

OMG. Did you guys hear? The pacers actually won a game! I feel like its been decades since that last happened:) Because you know, we all want to forget about the p.a.t.h.e.t.i.c  loss again the New York Knicks….oh gosh I can’t even speek of it. And on the brightside, the win tonight was against the Orlando Magic! Poor Beautiful, amazingly fit, buff, Dwight Howard- He fouled out tonight:( Oh well still a great win for us and hats off to Roy Hibbert who had a career high of 25 points!

Now let’s see, whats our record….Oh yeah, 10-23. Well boys, we still got a long way to go!

Sorry getting of track…back to what I did today. Right now going on in the Community Relations dept. is a program called “Get Fitt” which is a program trying to encourage kids to spend at least 30 minutes a day doing fun activities or working out, etc. etc. So to promote that tonight, at the game we had about 4,000 “Get Fitt” posters with Danny Granger ond Boomer on the front to pass out as fans came up into the arena.

Once I finished that, I went with Darnell Hillman (a.k.a Dr. Dunk) to help with the Indiana Heroes Award that he is in charge of. The Indiana Heroes Award Program, is pretty much just an award given to people that have made a big impact on their community. So they are recognized during one of the timeouts on court and get a picture with a player. Its an awesome program.

Well, thats pretty much how my day went. Tomorrow will be extremely long, because I have to be at Bridgeport Elementry by 7:40 in the morning…I know, shoot me! So I’ll be there pretty much all day with Earl Watson doin a Read to Acheive Prgram thing. Im off to bed! Check back tomorrow to see what it brings!

xoxo

Now, don’t get upset. I’m not calling you a lousy caregiver, but now that I’ve got your attention, what makes a good–or a lousy caregiver?

So how should we treat those who need a little extra care? How do we show them the respect they deserve? When we get tired, aggravated or frustrated, how do we act? Do we get snippy? Manipulate? Use the silent treatment? Do we bully them into doing what we want? What do we neglect to do when we’re tired? How do we solve conflicts? How do we self-correct?

A big issue for caregivers is separating the need for care from the actual relationship. Who wants to “taken” care of? No one wants to be pitied or felt like a cause.

We have so much to learn from each other. There’s a reason why we care for our mothers, fathers, sister, brothers, children, and close friends. When we come together at a point of need–we see the best–and worst in ourselves. It’s an opportunity to learn and grow, but it’s not always easy! (that’s an understatement!)

When we care for our loved ones, we have to remember that caring isn’t just a list of chores or errands. Caring is about, well, caring. Showing that you care encompasses so much more–spiritually, emotionally, as well as physically.

So who’s a lousy caregiver?

A lousy caregiver chooses not to care. A lousy caregiver can live across the country and never call or come to visit–or they can sleep in the same bed with their spouse and never pay attention to what that person really needs. Most people who avoid caregiving are scared. They say they’re busy, not good at it, feel rejected…but in reality they’re mostly scared. Others, a few, cannot feel or empathize with others. They cannot give freely, make the necessary sacrifices, or understand it’s a priviledge to care for someone you love.

A lousy caregiver thinks it’s all about them. They have what I call “look at what has happened to me–syndrome.” They gripe and complain so much that they don’t think about what their other “person” has endured and survived. Their myopic view of the world does not allow them to see that the world is so much bigger–and more interesting and complex–than they are. They suck the air out of a room and the joy out of your heart–beware!

A lousy caregiver resents caregiving. All of us have those moments–when we wish life were different–we long for freedom, for time, for a five-minute break. That’s not the same. A truly resentful caregiver is bitter, consumed, and sadly, they won’t let go and allow that care person to find better care.

A lousy caregiver uses their care person. Some lousy caregiver are moochers. They move in, take over, and take liberties with the other person’s finances–in general–they’re users and probably always have been. They seem to find people to take advantage of.

A lousy caregiver is verbally manipulative and can even be physically abusive. It’s scary to think about, but they’re out there. They berate people, jerk them around, bully and trick them, and can even hit, slap, or neglect the very person they are to care for. If you know someone who abuses an elder, go to www.elderabuse.gov and find out how you can help and protect this person in need.

If you’re reading this post about caregiving, I doubt you’re a lousy caregiver. You may have lousy moments–we all do–but if you care enough to read a post about caregiving, you’re not the cold-hearted, abusive person I’m speaking of. 

What’s your idea of a “good” caregiver? What do you value?

The good ole’ golden rule teaches us so much. If you were bed-ridden, lost in the confusion of Alzheimer’s, nauseous from cancer, or couldn’t make it up a flight of steps without help, how would you want to be touched, talked to, and cared for?

All of us have lousy caregiving moments. That’s when we have to dig deep and remember in the deepest part of who we are: we’re caregiving because we really do care.