The LA Times has updated their social media guidelines for their journalists and there is the usual ruckus about everyone being too restrictive. Originally written in March of this year the update makes sense since the 8 months or so that have passed since the first take is like a lifetime in the social media world. In fact, the real story here may be that the LA Times hasn’t taken a ‘set it and forget it’ approach to their social media guidelines so please take note everybody.

Editor & Publisher and the Huffington Post are both talking about the updates. Interestingly enough, I heard about it from @michacha101 who is one of those people that I have no idea why I follow on Twitter but have gained value from doing so. Having said that (and given them a plug) I am learning more about the openness of the social media environment and the value that can be taken from it. Journalists drool over this kind of exposure and availability of information. Trouble is that for the sake of ‘objectivity’ or ‘political correctness or whatever there will always be rules and regs that restrict just how effective the medium can be.

The Huffington Post tells us that some of the LA Times policies include

Integrity is our most important commodity: Avoid writing or posting anything that would embarrass The Times or compromise your ability to do your job.
Assume that your professional life and your personal life will merge online regardless of your care in separating them.Even if you use privacy tools (determining who can view your page or profile, for instance), assume that everything you write, exchange or receive on a social media site is public.Just as political bumper stickers and lawn signs are to be avoided in the offline world, so too are partisan expressions online.

There’s a lot of detail that I am leaving out here and here’s why. I have to give the LA Times credit for being on the ball. You see the Huffington Post had only one comment but it was from Andrew Nystrom / L.A. Times social media guy / @AdNys who was completely transparent by saying:

Thank you for writing about our new Guidelines. For the record, here are links to:

– The full text of our revised Social Media Guidelines: http://latimes.com/socialmedia — our original Guidelines were issued in March 2009, before the WaPo or WSJ (and most other major media outlets) issued theirs.

– Our directory of 200+ L.A. Times(@lat¬imes)-rela¬ted Twitter accounts: http://latimes.com/twitter

– The full text of our 2007 Ethics Guidelines (currently under revision): http://latimes.com/ethics

Hope this is helpful. I welcome all feedback.

Nice move.

So let’s recap. As a result of the social media ‘world’ I got data from someone that was of interest, that was about information that can be seen both positively and negatively depending on your point of view but was ultimately made completely transparent by the source which ultimately reflects positively on them. Pretty cool.

So if you really think that people care about where you are walking and what you see it’s likely that you are just really enamored with yourself. What people really want is information that helps. Thanks to everyone who helped here.

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

Look we here at the Flyy Sociietyy know what the people want. So below i have some Deal or no deal by Wiz Khalifa full album linkage down below…Click the Linkage ppl.

LINKAGE: http://rs716.rapidshare.com/files/310871927/Wiz_Khalifa-Deal_Or_No_Deal-2009.rar

Stayyiinn Flyy

-Victory

Buy Cheap Too Much Happiness: Stories

Buy Low Price From Here Now
Ten superb new stories by one of our most beloved and admired writers—the winner of the 2009 Man Booker International Prize.

In the first story a young wife and mother receives release from the unbearable pain of losing her three children from a most surprising source. In another, a young woman, in the aftermath of an unusual and humiliating seduction, reacts in a clever if less-than-admirable fashion. Other stories uncover the “deep-holes” in a marriage, the unsuspected cruelty of children, and how a boy’s disfigured face provides both the good things in his life and the bad. And in the long title story, we accompany Sophia Kovalevsky—a late-nineteenth-century Russian émigré and mathematician—on a winter journey that takes her from the Riviera, where she visits her lover, to Paris, Germany, and, Denmark, where she has a fateful meeting with a local doctor, and finally to Sweden, where she teaches at the only university in Europe willing to employ a female mathematician.

With clarity and ease, Alice Munro once again renders complex, difficult events and emotions into stories that shed light on the unpredictable ways in which men and women accommodate and often transcend what happens in their lives.

Too Much Happiness is a compelling, provocative—even daring—collection……..
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 “TOO MUCH HAPPINESS BY ALICE MUNRO” 2009-11-18
By Bonnie Brody (Fairbanks, Alaska)
It is an honor to review Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro, who I consider the greatest living writer of short stories in the English language. Ms. Munro is Canadian and lives in Clinton, Ontario. During her writing career she has garnered many awards including the Lannan Literary Award, the United States National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Man Booker International Prize. Her stories have been published in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, the Atlantic Monthly, as well as many other literary publications. I consider her an icon.

With each book of hers that I have read (and I have read them all!) I think that she has reached her zenith. Yet, with each new publication, I find her newest work better than her previous publications. Her work is glorious. At the rate she’s going now, her zenith may be light years away.

I find the metaphor of looking into a tide pool an apt one for describing the stories of Ms. Munro. A tide pool is a microcosm of the ocean, yet it has a certain stasis and life of its own. It is a living organism, relating to the macrocosm of life in many ways. The tide pool contains living species of fish, reptiles and crustaceans, all delineated by their own life cycle which can change with the tides or with the events of weather. Ms. Munro’s stories are like this. She will take a small microcosm of life and show how it has enduring and lifelong effects – effects which may be immediately observable or which may not be obvious for decades.

Too Much Happiness is a collection of ten short stories, each wonderful in their own right and each one as rich and nuanced as a novel. Many of them deal with similar themes – paradox, movement through time, repercussions of impulse, regret, acts of horror and relationships.

Dimensions, the first story in the collection is about a damaged woman whose three children are murdered. She goes through life feeling empty through she talks to a social worker regularly. She is driven to visit and re-visit her ex-husband in jail. At one point he writes her a diatribe about his revelations that their children are now in another dimension. On her way to visit him one evening on the bus, she witnesses a car accident and attempts CPR on the victim. Through the CPR, she can feel life return to the young man who is near death’s door.

By the third story in this collection, Wenlock Edge, specific themes begin to emerge – Who are we? Do we change in relationships? Of what are we capable under certain situations? Do these situations have particular reasons or are they random events related to our current environments.

The story begins with a a young woman who has regular visits from her aunt and bachelor uncle when she is a child. Her aunt dies. The young woman continues school in the city and has a weekly ritual dinner with her uncle. She also has a small circle of acquaintances. Solely by chance, she ends up with a part-time roommate with a `history’. This roommate is always getting herself into situations that don’t work out and that compromise her virtue. She is also a prolific liar and likes to be in one-up situations with others. Both young women find themselves “on their way to deeds they didn’t know they had in them”.

Deep-Holes begins with a family outing to celebrate the father’s publication of a paper on geology. During the course of the picnic, one of the sons, Kent, falls into a crater and breaks both of his legs. He has to remain out of school for six months. During that time, Kent and his mother share stories about distant isles and lands that are remote or unknown to mankind. One of the children becomes an attorney, the other a physician. Kent drops out of college and is heard from rarely and erratically. He lives on the fringes of society and the question arises, `What is society? The story reminded me of a novel by Carol Shields, a Canadian author, now deceased. I wondered if this story might be an homage to Ms. Shield’s novel.

The Face is a wonderful story about a boy born with a port wine stain on half of his face. His father abhors him for his looks and calls him `liver face’. The father is rude, crude, awful. The mother is sanctimonious, martyr-like and loving her son in a standoffish way. The father avoids the son in every manner possible – he doesn’t eat with him, talk to him or spend time with him. Ms. Munro brings up a lot of questions about this boy’s life and the metaphor of paradox is paramount. “You think that would have changed things? The answer is of course, and for a while, and never”.

Child’s Play is a story that is idyllic on the surface and horrific in the interior. Two young girls attend a summer camp and during the course of this camp they do something that is never spoken about again until decades later. Even then the extent of what happened when they were children is not fully absorbed.

Each of these stories is masterful and wonderful in the telling. I’ve read the book twice and appreciate it more with each reading. There is no one living to compare Ms. Munro with. The only writer I can think of whose short stories I love as much as hers is Eudora Welty. What a group of two!!

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Buy Too Much Happiness: Stories Now

OMG, I wanted to upload some of the new kpop photoshoo, cos their so awesome.

But THERE IS TOO many awesome photo shoot right now ><”

I dont have time for them all >>’ So I’m actually choosing to NOT upload anything xD

Mabye later when i get home or something ; D I’m just now visiting my parents..

Aha! I will make you so much happy!

Picture by Tracy Lee

Submitted by: youthboy via Engrish Funny Submissions

Recently I’ve had conversations with OSL students about the programs shortcomings and about things I would change. My tone came across much harsher than I meant, which happens to me often, and because of that I’ve received a fair amount of backlash about my character. In just a few days I’ve been accused of being pessimistic, a bad listener, having a superior attitude, being too clingy, talking too much, and a few other things I can’t remember. Although it was tough, I’ve learned a few valuable lessons through all this that I wanted to share.

1. Know who you are. Don’t let other people’s words define you. Understand that their perception is only one small portion of the reality that makes you who you are. Be careful to understand that many people, mostly insecure ones, will remember bad over good, and give them grace when this happens. Have compassion, know your own character, and think critically about their accusations.
2. Search yourself. If someone has accused you, don’t let pride overtake your spirit and keep you from discover new revelation about areas in which you could change. If more than one person has mentioned some negative thing about you, it requires extra attention because it is more than like true, although not always. Be confident in yourself, but leave room for error.
3. Be discerning of motive. As I mentioned above, a person who is struggling with insecurity in any certain area will automatically look to another who is not insecure and attempt to tear them down. Think about areas you are insecure in, and you will remember speaking negatively about another person or else having bitterness in your heart towards those who have overcome these same insecurities. Understanding that the problem lies mostly within the accuser will ease your own hurts.
4. Don’t let the other person define you. In my case, my entire character has been defined by two or three conversations, when in reality I know this isn’t true. Because I have become confident in who I am, I understand that their grievance against me is only one facet of my personality. It is still difficult, though, when you know you are one way but someone accuses you of being another. It becomes less difficult the more you know yourself. What people think of you should not dictate your life, but what God thinks of you should be of extreme importance.
5. Saturate yourself in prayer. When someone comes against you it’s easy to let pride overtake and to ignore the truth in what your accuser says. Be prayerful and seek God’s direction on what to do with these accusations, and listen closely. Do not turn a deaf ear to the correction and discipline God may be sending your way, because it is in these things that we are refined and made more complete, more like Jesus.

My lesson has been learned, and I am thankful to the Father for His discipline. Thankfully I am at a place now where I can (a) look back and recognize that these accusations are not 100% correct, (b) realize I do look to the bright side as often as not, (c) know that I do encourage people often, and (d) see I have been accused more out of others’ insecurity than my actualy wrongdoing. This doesn’t get me off the hook, though; if people are saying these things, I have to step up and examine myself, rid my heart of negativity, and take responsibility for my own shortcomings.

This whole Christianity thing gets hard sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade my walk with Him for anything in the world.

Our correspondent Mark Dummett returns to the Bangladesh village of Char Atra to see how it is faring following the monsoon season…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: southern ocean. The blog is also related to: deep sea.

I think very highly of fellow journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, so when I saw her being interviewed a few weeks ago on The Daily Show about her most recent book, I didn?t expect my blood pressure to rise.

But escalate it did when she and Jon Stewart dished about Bright-Sided, How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America . Uh oh. That, of course, sent this life coach to the bookstore in a how-dare-she-undermine-the-coaching-profession snit.

Then I started reading the book and, lo and behold, I found page after page was tapping into concerns I had already been feeling (suppressing?) about my profession. For example, Ehrenreich?s reporting from the juiced-up speaking circuit, designed to sell motivational products and essentially proselytize for positive thinking, brought to mind how many times I?ve been encouraged to write a ?back of the room? book or ?get a gimmick.?

Just a few weeks ago I was invited to become an ?ambassador? for a coach and his book and all it would cost me is $240 (for a package valued at $4,000). I must have read that postcard five times to see if I understood it correctly. Was it clever or audacious? With coaches constantly marketing to other coaches, it?s become so incestuous in this industry.

Don?t get me wrong. I love what I do and I was less than thrilled about how life and career coaches are generalized in Ehrenreich?s book, but there?s no doubt many in the positive thinking movement — yes, including me sometimes — need to get off the ?giddy train? and climb aboard the ?reality train.? On any given day, my Twitter and Facebook pages are filled with a steady stream of nauseating positivity updates from coaches. What do you see when you look in the mirror? What kind of day are you creating today? Isn?t life non-stop grand?

Promoting perpetual positive thinking is watering down the message, isn?t it? Who is responding to this cheery barrage?

Ehrenreich has effectively called us out. She was first motivated to explore the positive thinking movement while going through the ordeal of breast cancer with a three-part harmony of pink ribbons, teddy bears and upbeat chatter. It was enough to send her right over the edge and in search of sane support. In our recent interview, she recalled talking to a career coach when she was in an undercover persona researching another book, Bait and Switch .

?I said, ?I?m a little concerned about my age as a factor in keeping me from getting jobs,?? Ehrenreich said. ?And [the coach] said, ?Your age is whatever you feel it is.??

I laughed, but not before I cringed. Then I went right for it and asked Ehrenreich if she saw any redeeming qualities in life coaching.

?Potentially,? she said. ?I?m trying to see it in the perspective of the whole giant enterprise of therapy and every kind of counseling. There was a need for something and positive psychology saw this in the late 90s, something that was not just addressed to people who are suffering from neuroses or psychoses or whatever, but who needed help to, as you say in your industry, get to the next level. That?s been filling up with people who are completely uncredentialed. Some of the ? positive psychology departments do try to professionalize it more, but it?s pretty much the Wild West as far as what you?re going to get with a life coach or a career coach.

?And whereas psychology and psychiatry have at their core, no matter how much some of us feminists complained, things like Freudian psychology ? What the coaching industry has sort of put at its core is the pseudo science of the Law of Attraction, that you can get your way just by thinking and visualizing strongly enough.?

So true. What often happens is that once people believe they manifest things in their lives, they feel powerful. They attracted the fabulous job and the terrific life partner. But then they get laid off or they are diagnosed with cancer and they wonder how they could have attracted that. They blame themselves. It can be maddening and stressful when healing feels out of their control. Others, it must be noted, do find a new job or get better and it serves to reinforce that belief system.

?The response I?ve been getting [to the book] has been gratifying,? Ehrenreich said. ?I had expected to be pilloried. So many people are saying thank you. They?re tired of being blamed.?

I must inject some personal reality here. I?m a well-trained life coach, helping people problem solve, cut through the issues blocking them, allowing them to see their own gifts and encouraging them to use them. I confess to a joyous belief in the mystical aspects of life, but the key is to know when, if ever, to invoke the ?magic? with clients. I have worked with some who would have run for the hills if I ever told them to get in a ?Universal Flow.? Others came in with that belief system and thrived because of it.

I have had clients referred to me by therapists and several I wouldn?t take on unless they were already seeing therapists. What I do is not a replacement for therapy, which typically gets into the past and the ?why? of behavior. Coaching is designed to move a client forward through action and goal setting, so it is often a wonderful complement to the work done in therapy.

Does this ability to be discriminant make me a minority among coaches?

?I would say yes,? Ehrenreich said. ?But research is needed. There are no quantitative studies I can refer you to. I would love for someone to do that work.?

Ehrenreich?s work in Bright-Sided includes taking to task such luminaries of positive thinking as Authentic Happiness author Martin Seligman, mega-minister Joel Osteen, and The Secret writer/producer Rhonda Byrne. She dismantles this camp and its messages: woo-woo, rah-rah, there?s nothing that can?t be solved with a positive attitude, or look, happiness is a science.

Her book is a scathing indictment of the positive thinking movement, for sure, but some of its truth set me free. My blood pressure, I?m happy to report, is back where it belongs.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.

Health bill seeks early end-of-life decisionsWhy Too Much Positive Can Become Negative

Blondie was the most commercially successful band to emerge from the much vaunted punk/new wave movement of the late ’70s. The group was formed in New York City in August 1974 by singer Deborah Harry (b. July 1, 1945, Miami), formerly of Wind in the Willows, and guitarist Chris Stein (b. Jan. 5, 1950, Brooklyn) out of the remnants of Harry’s previous group, the Stilettos. The lineup fluctuated over the next year. Drummer Clement Burke (b. Nov. 24, 1955, New York) joined in May 1975. Bassist Gary Valentine joined in August. In October, keyboard player James Destri (b. Apr. 13, 1954) joined, to complete the initial permanent lineup. They released their first album, Blondie, on Private Stock Records in December 1976. In July 1977, Valentine was replaced by Frank Infante.

In August, Chrysalis Records bought their contract from Private Stock and in October reissued Blondie and released the second album, Plastic Letters. Blondie expanded to a sextet in November with the addition of bassist Nigel Harrison (born Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England), as Infante switched to guitar. Blondie broke commercially in the U.K. in March 1978, when their cover of Randy and the Rainbows’ 1963 hit “Denise,” renamed “Denis,” became a Top Ten hit, as did Plastic Letters, followed by a second U.K. Top Ten, “(I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear.” Blondie turned to U.K. producer/songwriter Mike Chapman for their third album, Parallel Lines, which was released in September 1978 and eventually broke them worldwide. “Picture This” became a U.K. Top 40 hit, and “Hanging on the Telephone” made the U.K. Top Ten, but it was the album’s third single, the disco-influenced “Heart of Glass,” that took Blondie to #1 in both the U.K. and the U.S. “Sunday Girl” hit #1 in the U.K. in May, and “One Way or Another” hit the U.S. Top 40 in August. Blondie followed with their fourth album, Eat to the Beat, in October. Its first single, “Dreaming,” went Top Ten in the U.K., Top 40 in the U.S. The second U.K. single, “Union City Blue,” went Top 40. In March 1980, the third U.K. single from Eat to the Beat, “Atomic,” became the group’s third British #1. (It later made the U.S. Top 40.)

Meanwhile, Harry was collaborating with German disco producer Giorgio Moroder on “Call Me,” the theme from the movie American Gigolo. It became Blondie’s second transatlantic chart topper. Blondie’s fifth album, Autoamerican, was released in November 1980, and its first single was the reggaeish tune “The Tide Is High,” which went to #1 in the U.S. and U.K. The second single was the rap-oriented “Rapture,” which topped the U.S. pop charts and went Top Ten in the U.K. But the band’s eclectic style reflected a diminished participation by its members – Infante sued, charging that he wasn’t being used on the records, though he settled and stayed in the lineup. But in 1981, the members of Blondie worked on individual projects, notably Harry’s gold-selling solo album, KooKoo. The Best of Blondie was released in the fall of the year. The Hunter, Blondie’s sixth and last new album, was released in July 1982, preceded by the single “Island of Lost Souls,” a Top 40 hit in the U.S. and U.K. “War Child” also became a Top 40 hit in the U.K., but The Hunter was a commercial disappointment. At the same time, Stein became seriously ill with the genetic disease pemphigus. As a result, Blondie broke up in October 1982, with Deborah Harry launching a part-time solo career while caring for Stein, who eventually recovered. In 1998, the original line-up of Harry, Stein, Destri and Burke reunited to tour Europe, their first series of dates in 16 years; a new LP, No Exit, followed early the next year.

Blondie All Music Guide Biography

Blondie was the most commercially successful band to emerge from the much-vaunted punk/new wave movement of the late ’70s. The group was formed in New York City in August 1974 by singer Deborah Harry (b. July 1, 1945, Miami), formerly of Wind in the Willows, and guitarist Chris Stein (b. January 5, 1950, Brooklyn) out of the remnants of Harry’s previous group, the Stilettos. The lineup fluctuated over the next year. Drummer Clement Burke (b. November 24, 1955, New York) joined in May 1975. Bassist Gary Valentine joined in August. In October, keyboard player James Destri (b. April 13, 1954) joined, to complete the initial permanent lineup. They released their first album, Blondie, on Private Stock Records in December 1976. In July 1977, Valentine was replaced by Frank Infante.

In August, Chrysalis Records bought their contract from Private Stock and in October reissued Blondie and released the second album, Plastic Letters. Blondie expanded to a sextet in November with the addition of bassist Nigel Harrison (born in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England), as Infante switched to guitar. Blondie broke commercially in the U.K. in March 1978, when their cover of Randy and the Rainbows’ 1963 hit “Denise,” renamed “Denis,” became a Top Ten hit, as did Plastic Letters, followed by a second U.K. Top Ten, “(I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear.” Blondie turned to U.K. producer/songwriter Mike Chapman for their third album, Parallel Lines, which was released in September 1978 and eventually broke them worldwide. “Picture This” became a U.K. Top 40 hit, and “Hanging on the Telephone” made the U.K. Top Ten, but it was the album’s third single, the disco-influenced “Heart of Glass,” that took Blondie to number one in both the U.K. and the U.S. “Sunday Girl” hit number one in the U.K. in May, and “One Way or Another” hit the U.S. Top 40 in August. Blondie followed with their fourth album, Eat to the Beat, in October. Its first single, “Dreaming,” went Top Ten in the U.K., Top 40 in the U.S. The second U.K. single, “Union City Blue,” went Top 40. In March 1980, the third U.K. single from Eat to the Beat, “Atomic,” became the group’s third British number one. (It later made the U.S. Top 40.)

Meanwhile, Harry was collaborating with German disco producer Giorgio Moroder on “Call Me,” the theme from the movie American Gigolo. It became Blondie’s second transatlantic chart-topper. Blondie’s fifth album, Autoamerican, was released in November 1980, and its first single was the reggae-ish tune “The Tide Is High,” which went to number one in the U.S. and U.K. The second single was the rap-oriented “Rapture,” which topped the U.S. pop charts and went Top Ten in the U.K. But the band’s eclectic style reflected a diminished participation by its members — Infante sued, charging that he wasn’t being used on the records, though he settled and stayed in the lineup. But in 1981, the members of Blondie worked on individual projects, notably Harry’s gold-selling solo album, KooKoo. The Best of Blondie was released in the fall of the year. The Hunter, Blondie’s sixth album, was released in May 1982, preceded by the single “Island of Lost Souls,” a Top 40 hit in the U.S. and U.K. “War Child” also became a Top 40 hit in the U.K., but The Hunter was a commercial disappointment.

At the same time, Stein became seriously ill with the genetic disease pemphigus. As a result, Blondie broke up in October 1982, with Deborah Harry launching a part-time solo career while caring for Stein, who eventually recovered. In 1998, the original lineup of Harry, Stein, Destri, and Burke reunited to tour Europe, their first series of dates in 16 years; a new LP, No Exit, followed early the next year. After more touring, this was followed by another studio set, The Curse of Blondie, in 2003, and a DVD of the Live by Request program from A&E was released in 2004. In 2006, Blondie celebrated their 30th anniversary with induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the release of Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision, a best-of collection that contained all their classic videos as well.

I think very highly of fellow journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, so when I saw her being interviewed a few weeks ago on The Daily Show about her most recent book, I didn?t expect my blood pressure to rise.

But escalate it did when she and Jon Stewart dished about Bright-Sided, How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America . Uh oh. That, of course, sent this life coach to the bookstore in a how-dare-she-undermine-the-coaching-profession snit.

Then I started reading the book and, lo and behold, I found page after page was tapping into concerns I had already been feeling (suppressing?) about my profession. For example, Ehrenreich?s reporting from the juiced-up speaking circuit, designed to sell motivational products and essentially proselytize for positive thinking, brought to mind how many times I?ve been encouraged to write a ?back of the room? book or ?get a gimmick.?

Just a few weeks ago I was invited to become an ?ambassador? for a coach and his book and all it would cost me is $240 (for a package valued at $4,000). I must have read that postcard five times to see if I understood it correctly. Was it clever or audacious? With coaches constantly marketing to other coaches, it?s become so incestuous in this industry.

Don?t get me wrong. I love what I do and I was less than thrilled about how life and career coaches are generalized in Ehrenreich?s book, but there?s no doubt many in the positive thinking movement — yes, including me sometimes — need to get off the ?giddy train? and climb aboard the ?reality train.? On any given day, my Twitter and Facebook pages are filled with a steady stream of nauseating positivity updates from coaches. What do you see when you look in the mirror? What kind of day are you creating today? Isn?t life non-stop grand?

Promoting perpetual positive thinking is watering down the message, isn?t it? Who is responding to this cheery barrage?

Ehrenreich has effectively called us out. She was first motivated to explore the positive thinking movement while going through the ordeal of breast cancer with a three-part harmony of pink ribbons, teddy bears and upbeat chatter. It was enough to send her right over the edge and in search of sane support. In our recent interview, she recalled talking to a career coach when she was in an undercover persona researching another book, Bait and Switch .

?I said, ?I?m a little concerned about my age as a factor in keeping me from getting jobs,?? Ehrenreich said. ?And [the coach] said, ?Your age is whatever you feel it is.??

I laughed, but not before I cringed. Then I went right for it and asked Ehrenreich if she saw any redeeming qualities in life coaching.

?Potentially,? she said. ?I?m trying to see it in the perspective of the whole giant enterprise of therapy and every kind of counseling. There was a need for something and positive psychology saw this in the late 90s, something that was not just addressed to people who are suffering from neuroses or psychoses or whatever, but who needed help to, as you say in your industry, get to the next level. That?s been filling up with people who are completely uncredentialed. Some of the ? positive psychology departments do try to professionalize it more, but it?s pretty much the Wild West as far as what you?re going to get with a life coach or a career coach.

?And whereas psychology and psychiatry have at their core, no matter how much some of us feminists complained, things like Freudian psychology ? What the coaching industry has sort of put at its core is the pseudo science of the Law of Attraction, that you can get your way just by thinking and visualizing strongly enough.?

So true. What often happens is that once people believe they manifest things in their lives, they feel powerful. They attracted the fabulous job and the terrific life partner. But then they get laid off or they are diagnosed with cancer and they wonder how they could have attracted that. They blame themselves. It can be maddening and stressful when healing feels out of their control. Others, it must be noted, do find a new job or get better and it serves to reinforce that belief system.

?The response I?ve been getting [to the book] has been gratifying,? Ehrenreich said. ?I had expected to be pilloried. So many people are saying thank you. They?re tired of being blamed.?

I must inject some personal reality here. I?m a well-trained life coach, helping people problem solve, cut through the issues blocking them, allowing them to see their own gifts and encouraging them to use them. I confess to a joyous belief in the mystical aspects of life, but the key is to know when, if ever, to invoke the ?magic? with clients. I have worked with some who would have run for the hills if I ever told them to get in a ?Universal Flow.? Others came in with that belief system and thrived because of it.

I have had clients referred to me by therapists and several I wouldn?t take on unless they were already seeing therapists. What I do is not a replacement for therapy, which typically gets into the past and the ?why? of behavior. Coaching is designed to move a client forward through action and goal setting, so it is often a wonderful complement to the work done in therapy.

Does this ability to be discriminant make me a minority among coaches?

?I would say yes,? Ehrenreich said. ?But research is needed. There are no quantitative studies I can refer you to. I would love for someone to do that work.?

Ehrenreich?s work in Bright-Sided includes taking to task such luminaries of positive thinking as Authentic Happiness author Martin Seligman, mega-minister Joel Osteen, and The Secret writer/producer Rhonda Byrne. She dismantles this camp and its messages: woo-woo, rah-rah, there?s nothing that can?t be solved with a positive attitude, or look, happiness is a science.

Her book is a scathing indictment of the positive thinking movement, for sure, but some of its truth set me free. My blood pressure, I?m happy to report, is back where it belongs.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.

Why Too Much Positive Can Become NegativeHealth bill seeks early end-of-life decisions

The main reason for this blog is so that I don’t become bored/post things to remember the past /my own stuff. But wtf I never keep up with this.

I’ve been eating wayyyy too much good food, I tell ya.

Soba and Tempura egg bowls @ Mitsuwa are the best aha.
ミツワの天ザルソバはサイコオオだ！

and then i’ve been having so much chicken, omg

Oh, and dimsum @ the Bamboo Plaza in Chinatown gives me goose-bumps.

I’ve been procrastinating again, I really do need to start applying for schools, I haven’t even started. Wish me luck oh great god of the internet. I love you.

Oh, and I’ve been getting into dramas lately, which means total suicide from school since I have no time to study because of these damn shows.

I watched Kami no Shizuku because Kame was in it, and I never saw any dramas with him in them; or any of the Kat-tun members. So I thought I’d give it a go.
This scene made me laugh so I had to get a screencap. Lord, I’m cold.

Then I began watching Tatta hitotsu no koi–which actually turned out to be really good in the beginning but turned to crap during the last couple of episodes like most dramas do.
Now I’m watching Autumn’s Concerto (Next stop, Happiness) AND I FUCKING LOVE IT.
Only because of Mr. Wu. Ahhh, Van Ness you are lovely.

I think very highly of fellow journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, so when I saw her being interviewed a few weeks ago on The Daily Show about her most recent book, I didn?t expect my blood pressure to rise.

But escalate it did when she and Jon Stewart dished about Bright-Sided, How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America . Uh oh. That, of course, sent this life coach to the bookstore in a how-dare-she-undermine-the-coaching-profession snit.

Then I started reading the book and, lo and behold, I found page after page was tapping into concerns I had already been feeling (suppressing?) about my profession. For example, Ehrenreich?s reporting from the juiced-up speaking circuit, designed to sell motivational products and essentially proselytize for positive thinking, brought to mind how many times I?ve been encouraged to write a ?back of the room? book or ?get a gimmick.?

Just a few weeks ago I was invited to become an ?ambassador? for a coach and his book and all it would cost me is $240 (for a package valued at $4,000). I must have read that postcard five times to see if I understood it correctly. Was it clever or audacious? With coaches constantly marketing to other coaches, it?s become so incestuous in this industry.

Don?t get me wrong. I love what I do and I was less than thrilled about how life and career coaches are generalized in Ehrenreich?s book, but there?s no doubt many in the positive thinking movement — yes, including me sometimes — need to get off the ?giddy train? and climb aboard the ?reality train.? On any given day, my Twitter and Facebook pages are filled with a steady stream of nauseating positivity updates from coaches. What do you see when you look in the mirror? What kind of day are you creating today? Isn?t life non-stop grand?

Promoting perpetual positive thinking is watering down the message, isn?t it? Who is responding to this cheery barrage?

Ehrenreich has effectively called us out. She was first motivated to explore the positive thinking movement while going through the ordeal of breast cancer with a three-part harmony of pink ribbons, teddy bears and upbeat chatter. It was enough to send her right over the edge and in search of sane support. In our recent interview, she recalled talking to a career coach when she was in an undercover persona researching another book, Bait and Switch .

?I said, ?I?m a little concerned about my age as a factor in keeping me from getting jobs,?? Ehrenreich said. ?And [the coach] said, ?Your age is whatever you feel it is.??

I laughed, but not before I cringed. Then I went right for it and asked Ehrenreich if she saw any redeeming qualities in life coaching.

?Potentially,? she said. ?I?m trying to see it in the perspective of the whole giant enterprise of therapy and every kind of counseling. There was a need for something and positive psychology saw this in the late 90s, something that was not just addressed to people who are suffering from neuroses or psychoses or whatever, but who needed help to, as you say in your industry, get to the next level. That?s been filling up with people who are completely uncredentialed. Some of the ? positive psychology departments do try to professionalize it more, but it?s pretty much the Wild West as far as what you?re going to get with a life coach or a career coach.

?And whereas psychology and psychiatry have at their core, no matter how much some of us feminists complained, things like Freudian psychology ? What the coaching industry has sort of put at its core is the pseudo science of the Law of Attraction, that you can get your way just by thinking and visualizing strongly enough.?

So true. What often happens is that once people believe they manifest things in their lives, they feel powerful. They attracted the fabulous job and the terrific life partner. But then they get laid off or they are diagnosed with cancer and they wonder how they could have attracted that. They blame themselves. It can be maddening and stressful when healing feels out of their control. Others, it must be noted, do find a new job or get better and it serves to reinforce that belief system.

?The response I?ve been getting [to the book] has been gratifying,? Ehrenreich said. ?I had expected to be pilloried. So many people are saying thank you. They?re tired of being blamed.?

I must inject some personal reality here. I?m a well-trained life coach, helping people problem solve, cut through the issues blocking them, allowing them to see their own gifts and encouraging them to use them. I confess to a joyous belief in the mystical aspects of life, but the key is to know when, if ever, to invoke the ?magic? with clients. I have worked with some who would have run for the hills if I ever told them to get in a ?Universal Flow.? Others came in with that belief system and thrived because of it.

I have had clients referred to me by therapists and several I wouldn?t take on unless they were already seeing therapists. What I do is not a replacement for therapy, which typically gets into the past and the ?why? of behavior. Coaching is designed to move a client forward through action and goal setting, so it is often a wonderful complement to the work done in therapy.

Does this ability to be discriminant make me a minority among coaches?

?I would say yes,? Ehrenreich said. ?But research is needed. There are no quantitative studies I can refer you to. I would love for someone to do that work.?

Ehrenreich?s work in Bright-Sided includes taking to task such luminaries of positive thinking as Authentic Happiness author Martin Seligman, mega-minister Joel Osteen, and The Secret writer/producer Rhonda Byrne. She dismantles this camp and its messages: woo-woo, rah-rah, there?s nothing that can?t be solved with a positive attitude, or look, happiness is a science.

Her book is a scathing indictment of the positive thinking movement, for sure, but some of its truth set me free. My blood pressure, I?m happy to report, is back where it belongs.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.

Why Too Much Positive Can Become NegativeHealth bill seeks early end-of-life decisions

I think very highly of fellow journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, so when I saw her being interviewed a few weeks ago on The Daily Show about her most recent book, I didn?t expect my blood pressure to rise.

But escalate it did when she and Jon Stewart dished about Bright-Sided, How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America . Uh oh. That, of course, sent this life coach to the bookstore in a how-dare-she-undermine-the-coaching-profession snit.

Then I started reading the book and, lo and behold, I found page after page was tapping into concerns I had already been feeling (suppressing?) about my profession. For example, Ehrenreich?s reporting from the juiced-up speaking circuit, designed to sell motivational products and essentially proselytize for positive thinking, brought to mind how many times I?ve been encouraged to write a ?back of the room? book or ?get a gimmick.?

Just a few weeks ago I was invited to become an ?ambassador? for a coach and his book and all it would cost me is $240 (for a package valued at $4,000). I must have read that postcard five times to see if I understood it correctly. Was it clever or audacious? With coaches constantly marketing to other coaches, it?s become so incestuous in this industry.

Don?t get me wrong. I love what I do and I was less than thrilled about how life and career coaches are generalized in Ehrenreich?s book, but there?s no doubt many in the positive thinking movement — yes, including me sometimes — need to get off the ?giddy train? and climb aboard the ?reality train.? On any given day, my Twitter and Facebook pages are filled with a steady stream of nauseating positivity updates from coaches. What do you see when you look in the mirror? What kind of day are you creating today? Isn?t life non-stop grand?

Promoting perpetual positive thinking is watering down the message, isn?t it? Who is responding to this cheery barrage?

Ehrenreich has effectively called us out. She was first motivated to explore the positive thinking movement while going through the ordeal of breast cancer with a three-part harmony of pink ribbons, teddy bears and upbeat chatter. It was enough to send her right over the edge and in search of sane support. In our recent interview, she recalled talking to a career coach when she was in an undercover persona researching another book, Bait and Switch .

?I said, ?I?m a little concerned about my age as a factor in keeping me from getting jobs,?? Ehrenreich said. ?And [the coach] said, ?Your age is whatever you feel it is.??

I laughed, but not before I cringed. Then I went right for it and asked Ehrenreich if she saw any redeeming qualities in life coaching.

?Potentially,? she said. ?I?m trying to see it in the perspective of the whole giant enterprise of therapy and every kind of counseling. There was a need for something and positive psychology saw this in the late 90s, something that was not just addressed to people who are suffering from neuroses or psychoses or whatever, but who needed help to, as you say in your industry, get to the next level. That?s been filling up with people who are completely uncredentialed. Some of the ? positive psychology departments do try to professionalize it more, but it?s pretty much the Wild West as far as what you?re going to get with a life coach or a career coach.

?And whereas psychology and psychiatry have at their core, no matter how much some of us feminists complained, things like Freudian psychology ? What the coaching industry has sort of put at its core is the pseudo science of the Law of Attraction, that you can get your way just by thinking and visualizing strongly enough.?

So true. What often happens is that once people believe they manifest things in their lives, they feel powerful. They attracted the fabulous job and the terrific life partner. But then they get laid off or they are diagnosed with cancer and they wonder how they could have attracted that. They blame themselves. It can be maddening and stressful when healing feels out of their control. Others, it must be noted, do find a new job or get better and it serves to reinforce that belief system.

?The response I?ve been getting [to the book] has been gratifying,? Ehrenreich said. ?I had expected to be pilloried. So many people are saying thank you. They?re tired of being blamed.?

I must inject some personal reality here. I?m a well-trained life coach, helping people problem solve, cut through the issues blocking them, allowing them to see their own gifts and encouraging them to use them. I confess to a joyous belief in the mystical aspects of life, but the key is to know when, if ever, to invoke the ?magic? with clients. I have worked with some who would have run for the hills if I ever told them to get in a ?Universal Flow.? Others came in with that belief system and thrived because of it.

I have had clients referred to me by therapists and several I wouldn?t take on unless they were already seeing therapists. What I do is not a replacement for therapy, which typically gets into the past and the ?why? of behavior. Coaching is designed to move a client forward through action and goal setting, so it is often a wonderful complement to the work done in therapy.

Does this ability to be discriminant make me a minority among coaches?

?I would say yes,? Ehrenreich said. ?But research is needed. There are no quantitative studies I can refer you to. I would love for someone to do that work.?

Ehrenreich?s work in Bright-Sided includes taking to task such luminaries of positive thinking as Authentic Happiness author Martin Seligman, mega-minister Joel Osteen, and The Secret writer/producer Rhonda Byrne. She dismantles this camp and its messages: woo-woo, rah-rah, there?s nothing that can?t be solved with a positive attitude, or look, happiness is a science.

Her book is a scathing indictment of the positive thinking movement, for sure, but some of its truth set me free. My blood pressure, I?m happy to report, is back where it belongs.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.

Health bill seeks early end-of-life decisionsWhy Too Much Positive Can Become Negative

Penguins, we have made a new logo! Look:

It’s pretty big. I shrunk it down to fit the post, but if you click on it, it’s big.

This new logo is a prototype, but we will probably keep it this way. A shadow if just a little too much…

~Mac Storm~

-Mac Storm-

{Mac Storm}

/\/\ac Storm

MAC STORM

Ⓜⓐⓒ Ⓢⓣⓞⓡⓜ

Mac ⑀torm

MAC ST☯RM

~MAC ST☯RM~ Winner! I choose this signature!

-MAC ST☯RM

]]> http://personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/why-too-much-positive-can-become-negative-2/ Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:51:17 +0000 personalfinancenewsss http://personalfinancenewsss.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/why-too-much-positive-can-become-negative-2/

I think very highly of fellow journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, so when I saw her being interviewed a few weeks ago on The Daily Show about her most recent book, I didn?t expect my blood pressure to rise.

But escalate it did when she and Jon Stewart dished about Bright-Sided, How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America . Uh oh. That, of course, sent this life coach to the bookstore in a how-dare-she-undermine-the-coaching-profession snit.

Then I started reading the book and, lo and behold, I found page after page was tapping into concerns I had already been feeling (suppressing?) about my profession. For example, Ehrenreich?s reporting from the juiced-up speaking circuit, designed to sell motivational products and essentially proselytize for positive thinking, brought to mind how many times I?ve been encouraged to write a ?back of the room? book or ?get a gimmick.?

Just a few weeks ago I was invited to become an ?ambassador? for a coach and his book and all it would cost me is $240 (for a package valued at $4,000). I must have read that postcard five times to see if I understood it correctly. Was it clever or audacious? With coaches constantly marketing to other coaches, it?s become so incestuous in this industry.

Don?t get me wrong. I love what I do and I was less than thrilled about how life and career coaches are generalized in Ehrenreich?s book, but there?s no doubt many in the positive thinking movement — yes, including me sometimes — need to get off the ?giddy train? and climb aboard the ?reality train.? On any given day, my Twitter and Facebook pages are filled with a steady stream of nauseating positivity updates from coaches. What do you see when you look in the mirror? What kind of day are you creating today? Isn?t life non-stop grand?

Promoting perpetual positive thinking is watering down the message, isn?t it? Who is responding to this cheery barrage?

Ehrenreich has effectively called us out. She was first motivated to explore the positive thinking movement while going through the ordeal of breast cancer with a three-part harmony of pink ribbons, teddy bears and upbeat chatter. It was enough to send her right over the edge and in search of sane support. In our recent interview, she recalled talking to a career coach when she was in an undercover persona researching another book, Bait and Switch .

?I said, ?I?m a little concerned about my age as a factor in keeping me from getting jobs,?? Ehrenreich said. ?And [the coach] said, ?Your age is whatever you feel it is.??

I laughed, but not before I cringed. Then I went right for it and asked Ehrenreich if she saw any redeeming qualities in life coaching.

?Potentially,? she said. ?I?m trying to see it in the perspective of the whole giant enterprise of therapy and every kind of counseling. There was a need for something and positive psychology saw this in the late 90s, something that was not just addressed to people who are suffering from neuroses or psychoses or whatever, but who needed help to, as you say in your industry, get to the next level. That?s been filling up with people who are completely uncredentialed. Some of the ? positive psychology departments do try to professionalize it more, but it?s pretty much the Wild West as far as what you?re going to get with a life coach or a career coach.

?And whereas psychology and psychiatry have at their core, no matter how much some of us feminists complained, things like Freudian psychology ? What the coaching industry has sort of put at its core is the pseudo science of the Law of Attraction, that you can get your way just by thinking and visualizing strongly enough.?

So true. What often happens is that once people believe they manifest things in their lives, they feel powerful. They attracted the fabulous job and the terrific life partner. But then they get laid off or they are diagnosed with cancer and they wonder how they could have attracted that. They blame themselves. It can be maddening and stressful when healing feels out of their control. Others, it must be noted, do find a new job or get better and it serves to reinforce that belief system.

?The response I?ve been getting [to the book] has been gratifying,? Ehrenreich said. ?I had expected to be pilloried. So many people are saying thank you. They?re tired of being blamed.?

I must inject some personal reality here. I?m a well-trained life coach, helping people problem solve, cut through the issues blocking them, allowing them to see their own gifts and encouraging them to use them. I confess to a joyous belief in the mystical aspects of life, but the key is to know when, if ever, to invoke the ?magic? with clients. I have worked with some who would have run for the hills if I ever told them to get in a ?Universal Flow.? Others came in with that belief system and thrived because of it.

I have had clients referred to me by therapists and several I wouldn?t take on unless they were already seeing therapists. What I do is not a replacement for therapy, which typically gets into the past and the ?why? of behavior. Coaching is designed to move a client forward through action and goal setting, so it is often a wonderful complement to the work done in therapy.

Does this ability to be discriminant make me a minority among coaches?

?I would say yes,? Ehrenreich said. ?But research is needed. There are no quantitative studies I can refer you to. I would love for someone to do that work.?

Ehrenreich?s work in Bright-Sided includes taking to task such luminaries of positive thinking as Authentic Happiness author Martin Seligman, mega-minister Joel Osteen, and The Secret writer/producer Rhonda Byrne. She dismantles this camp and its messages: woo-woo, rah-rah, there?s nothing that can?t be solved with a positive attitude, or look, happiness is a science.

Her book is a scathing indictment of the positive thinking movement, for sure, but some of its truth set me free. My blood pressure, I?m happy to report, is back where it belongs.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.

Health bill seeks early end-of-life decisionsWhy Too Much Positive Can Become Negative

All I have is homework to do. But I’m so lazy, I haven’t even started, even though I have full knowledge that I won’t be able to do much over the weekend. Put me under the idiot column and be done with it. Math, science, science assignement, science assignment 2, science lab report, careers assignment, and history essay. I mean seriously, can’t teachers give us a break, or like one day that could somehow resemble a break. All there is to do is homework it seems, and if homework isn’t finished, you fail. End of Story. I actually did my homework and ended up with a 75 on the last quiz, so it obviously helps. Too bad there’s SO MUCH work to do. Sigh.

Currently: Starting math, and regaining an ounce of sanity

Reading: nothing… I’m done Tempted, and I’m sorry… it sucked.

Listening to: Snow Express by NEWS

Peter Garrett yesterday opposes the construction of a dam which would have served southeast’s Queensland growing needs…. From The Australian. Full story

This site may contain information about: water pictures. The blog is also related to: indian ocean sea.

A musa fashion do momento lançou o clipe da minha música preferida das que vazaram “Bad Romance”. Um som eletro com uma batida meio dramática.

O vídeo foi todo filmado numa sala branca, com direito a coreografias dignas de “Thriller do futuro”,gangue de modelos a seqüestrando e sendo obrigada a tomar vodka. Gaga usa McQueen na maior parte do clipe. Calça os sapatos vertiginosos da última coleção, usa o vestido que tem a mesma estampa do salto (amei). E eu pensando que nenhuma alma fashion fosse usar os “Saltos-Prédios” do Alexander. Ainda há as órbitas que foram usadas em uma das apresentações do “SNL”, o sutiã “solta-faíscas” da performance do Much Music Awards. Mas o melhor é que ela inovou em todos os looks, e explorou tantas coisas em uma sala de cor branca qualquer.

Isso é que é Lady Gaga pra dar e vender.

You know that $3.40 you make in Google AdSense each month? Well, Google is about to make it a lot easier to see just how badly your blog sucks at using AdSense.

A new AdSense interface design will start rolling to users over the coming weeks:

For those of you making more than enough AdSense revenue to buy a Big Mac, you’ll enjoy these enhanced features:

Detailed metrics including the amount you’ve earned from various ad, targeting and bid typesMore options to manage the ads that appear on your siteSimplify common tasks, such as making a change to several ad units simultaneouslyMore help options, tips, and alerts

Google will start rolling out the beta in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Japanese today. Don’t go stampeding to your AdSense account, looking for the update. Google will email you, if you’re one of the lucky ones chosen for the beta.

Aside: I wonder if this new interface is designed to prevent the mass migration away from AdSense by bloggers?

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

this video reeks of 2 solid minutes of UUuuuuuuuppppsss.
the best part is that she’s pretty content with the final parking job.
Uuuupps.