It’s a brisk December day.  The sun is out and I mapped a 7 mile route that is composed of hills… sunshine… smiles… and miles…  And the only rules today are: “Have Fun and chase the sun!”

The arms, legs, lungs, mind and weather all came together in perfect harmony to produce THE run.  THE run where your mind and body remind you of your passion for running.  You breath in deeply the changing air, while your thoughts wander away from the unpredictable Dow, the snowy weather sure to chill you out, or work related stress.  You fall into a meditative mood where you are able to appreciate the beauty of simply running on a brisk December day.  The exuberance of this runner manifests itself through a steady pace and a bright smile…

A Steady Pace...

Today’s run, is the run I describe to anyone who dares to ask, “why do you run?”  It leaves me feeling strong, inspired, motivated and empowered.  The youthful spring in my step and the feeling of being mobile and alive cannot be dampened.  Each stride moving me forward with thoughtful reflection of where my running has taken me, and where it has yet to lead me…

I did have fun and I did chase the sun for 9.5 miles over an hour and 15 minutes.  I did not catch that sun today, but tomorrow I’ll wake up a runner and try again!

Go out and empower your inner runner!

Run Happy!  SMILE!

“Running is a gift I give myself almost daily.” -Arthur Blank

“Anybody running beats anybody walking, and anybody walking beats anybody sitting.” -unknown

I was in an in-between, “sort of” dialogue with the Lord earlier today–meaning I was halfway praying and partly complaining, and He inserted Himself into my musings. 

Let me be frank from the beginning and admit that I sometimes think He’s unfair.  Lately, I’ve resented His dealings with me and even entertained the thought that He is unjust and untrustworthy.  It is only a testimony of His kindness that He hasn’t blasted me with a “where were you when I…?” confrontation like he did Job. 

The subject on my mind at this particular time was how bruised and scarred He allows His children to become through the spectrum of day-to-day knockings of life, to absolute tragedies.  Where is justice for the oppressed?  Why allow life to lacerate the fragile souls of men and women with wounds that never completely disappear?  Scars are unattractive, and most of us go to great lengths to hide or decrease their appearance.

And then I heard Him:  You see scars; I see racing stripes.

——Lord, that makes absolutely no sense.  Scars don’t make us go any faster.

I began trying to rationalize the connection between stripes and scars, thinking about Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and about how generals have to earn their stripes through tests; and while both parallels had merit, I couldn’t get away from “racing stripes.”  After debating on it for several minutes, I turned to Google to find out if there was any significance to racing stripes other than an aesthetic one.

What I learned is that racing stripes initially served a practical purpose before they became a fashion trend. 

“Racing Stripes” (also called “Rally Stripes”) were originally applied to the hood of closed-wheel race cars so as to provide a straight line in alignment with the dricer’s [sic] line od [sic] sight. Contrasting colors were used, and they assisted the driver in determining the direction of a car in the event of a spin, when tire smoke or dust could cause temporary disorientation.”  ~Shelby “Le Mans” Stripe Dimensions

Life can be disorienting.  All too often, circumstances can cloud our judgment to where we can’t even see the hand of the Lord working on our behalf.  And to those who He seeks to accelerate in the race we run, He often grants the greatest searing of scars.  These are not to disfigure us or to embitter us.  Rather, they are tangible arrows pointing to His grace at leading us through past trials when we can’t see Him in our temporary blindness.  We align our scars with the path of His written word and find the strength not only to stand in faith that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, (Psalm 27:13), but also to continue to press on until we see the light again.

Monday mornings aren’t so bad…

Especially when you wake up and shake out those tight, sleepy muscles, with 12 minutes of AM Yoga, to invigorate the muscles and the mind…  Namaste!  (Hot coffee helps too!)

Follow that with 45 minutes of circuit training with Jari Love.  A nice refreshing way to get the heart rate up…  With innumerable repetitions, and short bursts of aerobic conditioning between circuits, you’re sure to “come alive”.  And since I’m performing high reps with less weight, I’m not going to bulk up, just BURN.  Truth be told, I like the pain!  ;D

As no morning is complete, without Pilates Abs, I did my 20 minutes of abdominal torture exercises with Ana Caban.  She’s tough!  Seriously tough… but you’ll feel the burn and see results!  Ahhh, there’s nothing like a little torture before breakfast…  ”I‘ll have a plate of corkscrew with a side of teaser please”.

Then it was time to relax…  on a steady 5 mile run…  in the rain…  with a smile…  and a spring in my step that had me wondering where all the energy was coming from!? Averaging a nice 7:49 min/mile steady pace over 40 minutes isn’t too shabby… no?

And finally, the most relaxing and refreshing part of my Monday Bootcamp was Yoga for flexibility with Rodney Yee.  Mountain pose, up dog, down dog, triangle, and warrior…  All the poses coming together to help bring the heart rate down and quiet the mind.  The improved flexibility is merely a bonus.

Whew.  Bootcamp sure is fun!

I feel Great.  Strong.  Fit.

Wherever your workout takes you, enjoy it!

We do not stop exercising because we grow old – we grow old because we stop exercising. -Dr. Kenneth Cooper

I really don’t think I need buns of steel.  I’d be happy with buns of cinnamon.  -Ellen DeGeneres

It’s that time of year, the Holidays, when your waist band expands to match the number of days in the month. The average person gains 8-10 pounds during the Holidays. You can not afford to be average! Let’s make a big push to get into prime shape, blast fat, and allow you to enjoy your Holidays with family and friends, the way you are suppose to, rather than worrying about what you eat. Let’s make sure you are in prime shape to take on the Holiday challenge, that’s why I have created the “Fit Down the Chimney” Workout series, especially designed for you to get quick, powerful workouts that blast fat and get you out of the gym in no time.

Before I go on with the workout. I wanted to share this video from NBC.com featuring Results Fitness Training and Columbus’ own Allen Smith. We are really proud of Allen as well as all who participated in the “Battle of the Bulge”. You get a chance to see what it’s like to work out here at TLAC and how we try to reach out to people in Columbus, Indiana. It’s a great clip.

The “Fit Down the Chimney” series is designed around metabolic conditioning and muscle fatiguing exercises, allowing you to

Results Fitness Training "Fit Down the Chimney"

burn your muscles faster and more effectively. This IS a fast moving, intense, series, so make sure you are ready for this type of exercise before you begin. I believe that anyone CAN perform this series, it’s simply how hard are you willing to work for what you want. This series is broken down into 3 workouts. Perform one workout 3 times per week, then move onto the next workout the following week. This will lead you up to the final week where you can choose your favorite workout before your holidays with friends and family.

FIT DOWN THE CHIMNEY Workout Series

Workout A

5 Minute Warm Up (Jump Rope, Run, Bike, etc)

Metabolic Conditioning

10 TRX Rows

10 TRX Push Ups

10 TRX Single Leg Squats Left

10 TRX Single Leg Squats Right

Repeat series for 8 Minutes.

Strength

20 Prisoner Squats

10 Jump Squats

20 Prisoner Squats

10 Jump Squats

20 TRX Tricep Press

Workout B

5 Minute Warm Up

Metabolic Conditioning

25 Kettlebell Swings

100 Jump Rope

15 TRX Reverse Crunch

Repeat 3’s

Strength

21 TRX Rows

21 Squat and Press

21 TRX Hip Press

15 TRX Rows

15 Squat and Press

15 TRX Hip Press

9 TRX Rows

9 Squat and Press

9 TRX Hip Press

Workout C

5 Minute Warm Up (Jump Rope, Run, Bike, etc)

Metabolic Conditioning

1:00 – Wood Chopper (Sledge Hammer)

1:00 – Squat and Overhead Press

1:00 – Jump Rope

Rest and recover

Repeat 3x’s

Strength

25 TRX Rows

25 TRX Push Ups

25 Prisoner Squats

**

I am now strong, because at one time I had to be.

I held her hand as she was dying.  Now death can’t strike fear in me.

**

I am capable of loving, because I’ve lost what I had.

I have said goodbye, shed tears, been sad.

**

I can experience pleasure, because I’ve known pain.

I fought my demons, came out ahead – and sane.

**

I can turn my cheek, because I’ve been pushed around.

With each of life’s blows – myself is what I found.

**

I have been tested by Life and have seen the face of Death.

I am now who I need to be in life, with each single breath.

**

]]> http://editorchris.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/the-best-of-helium-com-october-2009/ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:31:59 +0000 editorchris http://editorchris.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/the-best-of-helium-com-october-2009/

To sum up my first month’s work on helium will be exciting because I will get to look through the first things I’ve written on helium.com and see my growth and progress through a critical lens and then share it with you!

Please enjoy!!

Always and forever

Based on three separate poems, I’ve created this poem which is basically what I consider to be an engagement, newlywed or recommitment poem about marriage, being together and loving each other always and forever and the prospects of this new way of life. Helium has rated it 2/37.

How motherhood changes a woman

A friend of mine laughed at the fact that when I started on helium, most of the articles I had written were in their Parenting & Pregnancy channel, even though I am not a mother. I just wrote to titles that stuck out to me when I joined helium and this was one of them. I found that this was a title that was part of a writing contest helium was writing and it placed me at #14 in the list of publishers who wrote for the selected titles of the contest in the topic of Parenting & Pregnancy. I don’t quite recall how I first even found the title but I want to say that through rating, I came across many titles that stuck out to me, which I then would look up in order to write for.

This article has been 1/51 but the ratings went down and I could not understand why but when I was honest with myself, I knew that the couple of typos I’d corrected weren’t the only thing wrong. I realized my article was missing key information when it comes to physical and when it comes to professional, occupational and career changes that motherhood has on a woman. So, I “leapfrogged” the article (revising, adding to and editing an article and submitting it to be rated by the helium community as compared to your original article for the approval to, ultimately, leap over and literally replace the former article), which actually resulted in it going from two pages in length to four but all I knew was that I was making sure I put what I needed to say there in order to reflect my real take on the title. Needless to say, it reclaimed its rightful place in rating!

Should teachers have a right to deny a students need to use the bathroom?

Now, I came across this title and saw that it was a debate title, meaning you can come on the page and vote yes or no and can write an article relaying your argument for your side and your stance. A writer who wrote for the “No” side had a post on her blog/helium zone with a link to vote to “protect” children in public schools. Even though I actually loved her article [even added her to my favorite helium writers list on my profile] as well as her heart, I wrote for the “Yes” side. After writing, I learned that the channel category was for Secondary Education so I leapfrogged this article as well in order to ensure it reflected high school students and high school life at a more in depth capacity than it had previously. The article is rated 1/2 for the No side. In case you’d like to know and would find it to be valuable information, there are currently 4 articles on the yes side as compared to the 2 on the no side.

The impact of father-mother relationship on children’s well-being

This is something I’ve felt extremely strongly about and am glad to have gotten off of my chest exactly what and how I feel about it. Now, others can see and learn from it and they obviously appreciate since it is rated 3/14.

Is there too much sex on television?

I definitely had no choice but to write to this title. Everyone who I know who has read the article I wrote has thoroughy enjoyed it and thought it to be accurate and insightful as well as humorous and very debate-worthy. It is fact-driven and shares personal accounts as well as it challenges and raises questions. Enough of that, though, because what I want to say to you is that it shouldn’t be a question and I think that whoever wrote for or even just believes in the No side should “go spank themselves,” as someone I know says from time to time. Needless to say, I wrote for the Yes side and all I can say now is to just, please, read it yourself. Formulate an opinion if you have not yet done so. Lastly, fight for what you believe in because change does start with one man…every one man makes things how they are and every individual man is needed for things to change, so why not just go ahead and start with you?!

This article was numer 1/54 and was leapfrogged after a while because new information arose. It still sits at the top!

So, there we have it — a poem, two debates and two parenting articles and that sums up the best of  eDITORcHRIS/Christina Bernice’s helium.com writings from October 2009.

You don’t have the time or the resources to evaluate every applicant who strolls in. to guide your work, you should develop a profile of your “ideal” candidate. You may never find your ideal, but you will establish a basic framework that outlines the person you are looking for.

Developing an ideal candidate profile is similar to viewing a lineup of suspects after you’ve witnessed a bank robbery. The individual you pick out may not be the actual bank robber, but chances are the real criminal is strongly similar. Often, a lineup helps police establish the silhouette or basic framework of the person being sought. The police is clear even if the details are not. Likewise, your ideal candidate profile will give you a sharper idea of what you are really looking for, so that you can increase your odds of finding him or her.

Use the following outline to develop of profile of your ideal candidate:

1. Must have, or have done, or be able to do:
   • Experience: type and years
   • Industry: type, or specific companies, and years
   • Skills or talents
   • Education

1. Should have, or have done, or be able to do:
   • Experience: type and years
   • Industry: type, or specific companies, and years
   • Education

1. Would be nice to have, or have done, or be able to do:
   • Experience: type and years
   • Industry: type, or specific companies, and years
   • Skills or talents
   • Education

Be specific when you draft your outline. If you want someone with strong follow-up skills, say so. If you want an assertive person who can handle high stress, say so. To create a good match between job and candidate, you need to define the person as closely as you define the job.

Keep your company culture in mind, too. If your company is team-oriented and flexible, you want a candidate who is comfortable with teamwork—and not everyone is. If your department is highly structured, you want someone who works well in a structured situation. Describe the qualities that your company values so that you can find compatible candidates.

Just remember that defining the candidate is a lot like shopping for groceries: the more you toss into your shopping cart, the more you’ll pay. The cost of filling a job is influenced by two factors: how long it takes to find the candidate, and the supply of qualified candidates. The greater the number of must have items on your list, the longer it’s going to take to find that person. The greater the experience, skills, or education requirements, the smaller the supply of candidates and the larger the compensation package required to hire the person.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

This is my third post today:/
Im pretty angry right now, upset and just furious. We dont have a justice system, its based on aboslute bullshit.
Guilty people dont get punished and miserable people have to sit back and watch it happen.
I believe in the underdog, the little people fighting for whats right. Dont you worry Tania Winifred Clarke, one day when you least expect it your life will be destroyed and im going to laugh. Your life is a joke.
Maybe we need closure? Maybe we need to believe that there still is good in this world?
Im gunna make a difference in this world, you just watch. I want to make sure no one ever goes through what Michelle has gone through. Shes my hero, Strongest woman I know.

okay no more posts tonight, im starting to sound like an old record.

Who actually reads this anyway?
xoxo

Bueno, pues vamos allá con la segunda parte del tutorial de posicionamiento. Antes que nada, una breve disculpa por permitir que mi vida personal y mi nuevo trabajo hayan retrasado este artículo demasiado. Y ahora, al lío.

Queda claro que aparecer en las primeras posiciones de una página de resultados en cualquier buscador, es toda una ventaja competitiva cuando se trata de un negocio. Y si ese buscador es google, entonces hablamos de que nuestros esfuerzos en posicionar la página se traducirán en miles de visitantes diarios hacia nuestro site. Por ello es importantísimo definir una estrategia clara y bien estructurada sobre las palabras clave o keywords para los cuales queremos que nuestra pagina sea competitiva.

No dudes en comentar o preguntarme cualquier aspecto que consideres necesario.

1.- Los KEYWORDS

Tienes un negocio o una web que posicionar? Bien, paso 1: siéntate y piensa en palabras o grupos de palabras (frases cortas) que definan tu empresa. Piensa que estas palabras las utilizaras en diferentes sitios, que cito a continuación por orden de relevancia, en orden descendente.

Dominio
Enlaces de entrada a tu web
Titulo de cada pagina xhtml
Encabezados y títulos de textos (Etiquetas H1, H2, H3… del lenguaje XHTML)
Descripción de cada archivo xhtml
Los propios textos incluidos en tu página
Propiedad “alt” de las imágenes en xhtml
Etiqueta KEYWORDS (Meta)
Etiqueta <strong>

Veamos uno a uno estos puntos, centrándonos sobretodo en google. Mas adelante veremos otros buscadores.

1.0.- El nombre de dominio

Es una gran ayuda para el posicionamiento, ya que si por ejemplo registramos un dominio como “www.ventadegamusinos.com”, y dejamos pasar el tiempo, cuando busquemos en un motor de búsqueda la palabra “gamusinos” nuestra página tendrá mucho terreno ganado. Google se fija en la antigüedad del dominio (a mas antiguo mas fiable) y por supuesto en su nombre, siendo importante que los términos de búsqueda aparezcan en él. Tenedlo siempre en cuenta.

1.1.- Enlaces de entrada a tu web: PAGERANK

Es uno de los factores que mas afectan en cuanto al posicionamiento de una web: El número de enlaces que recibe por parte de páginas externas, y la calidad de estos. Y la calidad, se mide en PR (pagerank).

Den el año 1995, google inventó un sistema llamado PAGERANK, que mide la popularidad de un site numéricamente. El pagerank (PR en lo sucesivo) adquiere valores reales del 0 al 10, siendo 10 el máximo posible. Una web comienza a ser relevante en los buscadores cuando alcanza un pr de 4, y se convierte en un Authority con un pr de 7 o más. El 10, en este caso se reserva para los dioses, como el propio google, microsoft.com, adobe.com, w3c.org etc.

Podría estar horas hablando del algoritmo del PR y sus detalles, pero resumiré todo esto a lo básico que hay que saber. Para empezar, esta es la formula necesaria para calcular el pr de cualquier página:

PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + … + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))

Siendo PR(A) el pagerank de la página A, PR(Ti) el pagerank de las páginas que enlazan a la página A, C(ti) el número de páginas que enlazan a la página A, y d un valor desconocido que toma valores comprendidos entre 0 y 1. Conclusión: El PR se calcula automáticamente, sin intervención “humana”, gracias a la formula descrita.

Conseguir un PR de 1 o 2 es sencillo, sobretodo si somos pacientes y conseguimos unos cuantos enlaces con blogs y webs amigas, mediante el clásico intercambio amistoso. No obstante, la cosa se complica según vamos subiendo en la escala, ya que el pr no sigue una gráfica de crecimiento lineal, sino mas bien exponencial, como muestro a continuación:

Y para terminar con el pr, un apunte. Efectivamente, es un factor clave para posicionar una web, pero no el que mas relevancia tiene. Es mas, sería aventurado por parte de cualquier ser humano ajeno a google, aventurase en apostar por un factor como el mas determinante en el posicionamiento. En los últimos tiempos, los enlaces han perdido cierta parte de su importancia debido a la facilidad con que algunos webmasters trampeaban sus PR mediante artimañas que ahora son objeto de personalización. Yo mas bien pondría la mano en el fuego por apostar a que el factor clave que determina la posición de una web es la suma de muchos otros factores, que en su conjunto completan una información que google considera digna de relevancia.

Por tanto, un enlace de una pagina con PR7 sera importante para la web apuntada, y un enlace de una web con PR0, insignificante.

Enlaces de interés:

Chequeador de PR de cualquier pagina: http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php

1.1.2.- Enlaces entrantes: Texto ancla

Vayamos atando cabos. Sabemos que los keywords son importantes. Sabemos que los enlaces hacia nuestra página son importantes. Como unir ambas cosas? Con el texto ancla. Los únicos enlaces que un buscador indexa, son los escritos en lenguaje HTML , ni los de javascript, ni los de php, action script, o cualquier otro lenguaje. Por lo tanto, el texto ancla es el texto que aparece como descripción visible a los usuarios sobre en enlace:

<a href=”http://www.enlace.com”>Texto ancla</a>

Este texto debe ser descriptivo, y variar en cada caso. Si tuviéramos 100 enlaces de entrada en diferentes páginas, y el texto ancla fuera idéntico en todas ellas, google se daría cuenta y no los consideraría enlaces “espontáneos” sino acordados. Si el texto ancla variase en cada caso, nuestro PR se vería aumentado considerablemente.

Ademas, hay que tener en cuenta que el texto ancla debe tener relación con nuestro sector, y si el enlace esta colocado en paginas del mismo ámbito que la apuntada, tendrá mas valor. Ejemplo: En una web de informática colocamos un enlace a otra web de comida. Este enlace, por mucho PR que tenga la web de informática, no tendrá prácticamente valor.

1.2.- Título de cada página: etiqueta TITLE

La etiqueta title es indispensable para el posicionamiento web. Cuantas páginas mal programadas hay en la red con el titulo “index.html” o “pagina principal” o “sin titulo” ? Millones. Difícil concebir el posicionamiento web sin valerse del titulo.

Los títulos deben ser descriptivos, cortos y contener un par de keywords o tres, sin repetir (google penaliza la repetición malintencionada). Además, cada archivo xhtml debe tener un titulo diferente y descriptivo de la sección correspondiente en la que nos encontremos. Por último, hay que resaltar que lo que escribamos en el campo title sera el titulo que se muestre en la pagina de resultados, y que si lo elegimos correctamente, nos acarreará visitantes de calidad.

Por ejemplo, un buen title para esta pagina seria el siguiente:

<title>Tutorial de posicionamiento web, parte I: El gran artista universal</title>

1.3.- Encabezados H1, H2, H3, …

Son etiquetas html que google considera importantes, ya que se trata de texto relevante dentro de una pagina. No conviene abusar de ello para no ser sancionados, uno o dos h1 por pagina es suficiente. Los h2 también tienen cierta importancia, y a partir del h3 en adelante prácticamente no tienen ningún efecto en el buscador. Ejemplo de un buen h1 para este blog:

<h1>Un blog de diseño gráfico</h1>

1.4.- Descripción: Etiquetas META DESCRIPTION

Google ha afirmado recientemente que la importancia de esta etiqueta meta es bastante mas relevante de lo que se pensaba. Este campo, destinado a mostrarse en las paginas de resultados, debe ser corto y extremadamente descriptivo, además de contener los keywords fundamentales. Parece ser que google analiza minuciosamente esta etiqueta, por lo que vale la pena pararse a pensar bien este punto, cuya sintaxis es la que sigue:

<meta name=”description” content=”Aquí va la descripción, de no mas de un par de lineas”/>

1.5.- El contenido en texto de una página

Los robots de búsqueda tienen en cuenta sobretodo las primeras lineas de los textos de cada página. Es precisamente ahi donde debemos situar nuestros keywords, repitiéndolos moderadamente sin caer en el uso irracional de los mismos. Digamos que google actuá como un “lector vago” que solo lee la primera “linea” de cada capítulo, por lo que hay que pensar bien que poner en esa “linea”.

1.6.- Propiedad “alt” de las imágenes

Esto se ha convertido en fundamental desde que google indexa también las imágenes. Como seguramente sabréis, google permite buscar imágenes a partir de palabras clave. Si nuestras imágenes carecen del atributo “alt”, google no las ve. Por lo tanto sobra explicar el porque de esta etiqueta. Pero ojo! Elegid keywords acordes con la imagen para su atributo alt, y no os excedáis en ello, puesto que google penalizara cualquier intento de intentar posicionar una imagen con palabras que no tienen nada que ver, o con un uso excesivo de keywords.

<img src=”imagen.jpg” width=”100″ height=”100″ alt=”descripción de imagen”>

1.7. – Etiqueta KEYWORDS

Los keywords irán en el head de cada página, como el resto de etiquetas meta. Google ya ha confirmado que su buscador no tiene en consideración este meta tag, puesto que se puso de moda hace años el rellenarla con cientos de palabras para favorecer el posicionamiento. Lo que no ha confirmado es si otros buscadores las tienen en cuenta, por lo que no esta de más incluir esta etiqueta. Su sintaxis es la que sigue:

<meta name=”keywords” content=”aquí las palabras clave, separadas por comas, entre cinco y quince son suficientes”>

1.8.- Etiqueta <strong>

En xhtml es el equivalente a la antigua etiqueta <b></b> de html, y visualmente nos pone en negrita el texto que vaya entre la etiqueta de apertura y de cierre. Ademas, google tiene en cuenta las palabras o frases contenidas dentro de esta etiqueta como texto importante, así que es recomendable el uso moderado de este recurso. Como siempre, con mesura y sentido común.

<strong>Texto importante</strong>

Conclusión final:

En este capitulo hemos aprendido las herramientas y técnicas básicas de posicionamiento en Internet. En sucesivas entregas tocaremos mas a fondo los meta tags, y ofreceré una serie de recursos gratuitos con los cuales mejorar el posicionamiento web, eliminar las barreras de rastreo, medir el trafico e interpretar los datos, etc. También caerán algunos trucos y consejos sobre posicionamiento web, y ejemplos prácticos.

Espero que os haya servido, y os emplazo, a los que todavía sigáis leyendo después de todo, a próximas entregas. Un saludo.

Tonight I am feeling exceptionally depressed.  Usually depression is there, hiding, but not far away.  Tonight it’s right here, in my face.  I have lost ana.  I don’t know where she is, where she went, but I have not at all forgotten about her.  I want her back.  Right now she is all I think about, and so it’s a wonder she doesn’t come back.  I don’t know what’s wrong.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  I’m looking for her, anywhere I can think.  I go online and I go looking in different people.  I just keep eating, though, like a fatass.

So I want to go away for a week.  Just be mostly by myself, without stressed, and concentrate fully on ana.  I won’t be able to binge there, so I feel like it’ll be better.  I also want to stay here, though.  My heart wants to see him. It doesn’t want to leave and miss a chance to be with him.  But my feelings for ana will hopefully be stronger.  I need her.

I was watching a documentary on ”fat people”.  Haha, the stuff I watch, you know.  The doctors said, though, that the fat cells in your body never go away after you accumulate them, they just shrink.  It made me freak out, want to cry.  I don’t want to gain any more fat cells.  It’s disgusting.  It sounds disgusting and it looks disgusting and everyone knows it.  I’ve had so many people telling me if I just tried to be healthy that I would lose weight, and actually be able to keep it off.  But this documentary just proves further the things I’ve already known.  Half of fat people don’t even lose the weight, and the percentage of the ones who do and keep it off are even less.  That’s not going to be me.  I’m not going to waste my time, losing two pounds a freaking week.

I feel like the people around me need to change, too.  Or I need to get rid of them.  I feel like they just make me fatter.  When I go somewhere with someone who is fat, or when I am introducing someone I know to someone else I know who is fat, I always feel the need to tell them before, “they’re fat.  i already know.  they’re fat, and i do hate it”.  I want to say it, and maybe even have said it a few times.  but I don’t want to think I’m more fat just because of someone else being fat.  Does anyone else feel that way?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Lots of food; shit.  But Friday I leave, and I hope I’ll fast.  I hope that there’s enough memory left of ana that I can do that.  And find her in the process.  A side note, I haven’t weighed myself in a while.  Way too fucking scared.

stay strong, lovelies.

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Old Slavonic
Meaning: “mighty army; mighty regiment.”

An old Slavonic name most notably borne by a 9th-century Moravian prince, Svätopluk, (the Slovakian rendition), appears on the Slovakian name-day calender for November 15. Though today it is a very rare name in Slovakia, it did rank in as the 95th most popular male name, (in the form of Svatopluk), in it neighbor country, the Czech Republic, for 2006. In the Czech Republic, its designated name-day is February 23rd. Its Polish form of Świętopełk, is also extremely unusual today, though it does boast two name days, June 1 and September 25.Slovakian diminutives are, Sväto, Svaťo, Svätoš, Sväťo.

There is a popular folklore attributed to Svatopluk I of Moravia. When the king knew he was about to die, he gave each of his three sons a twig and had them break it, which was easy for all of them to do, but then Svatopluk asked his sons to break the twigs a second time, and this proved to be even more difficult. The king was trying to prove to his sons that it is difficult, yet necessary to keep a kingdom united.

Other forms of the name include:

• Svend (Danish)
• Vante (Finnish)
• Sventopolcus/Sventopelcus (Late Latin)
• Światopełek/Świętopałk/Świętopełek/Wszetopełk (Polish)
• Svjatopolk/Svyatopólk (Russian/Ukrainian)
• Svante/Svantepolk (Swedish/Norwegian/Danish: name-day in Sweden is December 5. Svante was the 97th most popular male name in Sweden for 2007)
• Swante (Swedish)

Notable Czech bearers are:

• Svatopluk I, Great Prince of Moravia (c. 894)
• Svatopluk II, Prince of Nitra (c. 9-10 centuries)
• Svatopluk of Bohemia (1107-1109)
• Svatopluk Inneman, Czech director (1896-1945)
• Svatopluk Benes, Czech actor (1918-2007)
• Svatopluk Havelka, Czech composer (1925-2009)
• Svatopluk Skopal, Czech actor (b.1952)

Famous Polish bearers include:

• Prince Świętopełk of Poznań (979-992)
• Świętopełk II the Great, Duke of Gdańsk Pomerania (1220-1266)
• Świętopełk Karpiński, Polish poet and satirist (1909-1940)

It was also borne by one Kievan duke, Svyatopolk I of Kiev.

„Und doch bleibt sie aus, die erwartete Katastrophe. Weil sich Osis Krull auf beeindruckende Art und Weise einen Dreck darum scheren, was ich als Straightness-sozialisierter Nerd mir so für Gedanken mache. Sondern einfach mit gepflegten Muggertum, dem unbändigen Willen zu musikalischer Grenzüberschreitung und gewappnet mit der puren Freude am eigenen Tun (und sei es noch so irrwitzig) ein Konzert aus dem Hut zaubert, das ich so schnell nicht vergessen werde (da will ich nicht einmal davon reden, wie souverän und spaßbetont die Band mit einem hochgradig verhaltensauffälligen Ausdruckstänzer umging, der es sich nicht nehmen ließ, die Bühne mit ungebrochener Ausdauer zu besetzen). Meine Fresse, noch nie hatte ich einen derartigen Spaß an der Beschwörung des fiesen Funkrock-Monsters! An schier endlosen Frickeleien, die stets im genau richtigen Moment von noisigen Batzen niedergeschlagen wurden! Selten wurde ich derart angeregt, einmal nachzuschauen, was sich da abseits der handelsüblichen Wege getan hat und nach wie vor tut (mittlerweile hat mich diese Discorporate-Posse derart versaut, dass ich mir ernsthaft Gedanken darüber mache, ob es sich nicht doch lohnen könnte, mal ein wenig Zeit in die Frank Zappa-Exegese zu investieren). Danke schön dafür. „ (Persona Non-Grata)

Die erste Ausgabe des HörZines dreht sich um die Dresdner Band Osis Krull (www.myspace.com/osiskrull). Mit dubioser PopMusik machen die vier Musiker Christian Buchmann (git/voc), Patrick Köhler (bass/voc), Lars (keys/voc), Johannes Döpping (dru/voc) einen Stimmungswechsel zwischen Western gitarren und Achtziger Jahre Beats. Zappaesk Popmusik, live aufgenommen im Rahmen einer Session am 17.06.2009 im StadtgartenClub, Erfurt.

Download der Sendung (mp3, 128KBits, 58 MB)

Tracklist :

TriAtlas
Stranger
Spider Ryder
Attikk Kromm
80s
For these Songs
I want you

debbie downer decided to come out and play last night.  at the parking lot at applebees.  debbie downer, pessimistic pam, whatever you wanna call it, it’s one in the same.  why it had to happen there, idk.  but certain things in/about my life were brought up in conversation and the tears started flowing.  i really thought i was over this; it’s been almost 2 weeks since the school decision was made.  but i guess not.  and i am stronger than people think.  some may not know what i’m fully capable of…

Moisture wicking sleepwear. I hate to be hot. When I’m hot, I get super cranky. It’s just not negotiable. If I’m hot and icky at night time, or over night …. look out ’cause not even chocolate and coffee will fix the lack of a good nights rest. Night sweats can happen for many reasons. Menopause is not the only cause of night sweats. Reasons, including, but not limited to: pregnancy, medications, thyroid conditions, diabetes, obesity, chemotherapy, sleep apnea, and anxiety. Most commonly for women, over the age of 40 (or any age) is the onset of menopause, which is basically changes, ‘causing hot flashes, and night sweats. Therefore, I am now introducing you to Cool-Jams.

Men can also experience night sweats due to hormonal changes, called Andropuase. Avoid spicy foods, cut affeine, steer clear of sweets before bedtime, because sugar increases your metabolism and in turn generates heat. Many reasons, and many causes.
You can learn much more from the Cool-Jams website About Night Sweats.

Anita Mahaffey founded Cool-Jams in 2006. As a ten-year brain cancer survivor, Ms. Mahaffey knows all about the side effects of treatment. She’s certainly no stranger to hot flashes.

Keeps Your Body Temperature Consistent

Wrinkle-free

Wicks away moisture

Static-free

Machine Washable (special washing bag provided free with each garment)*

Shrinkage resistant

Strong and Durable

Snag resistant

Lightweight

Quick Drying

Perfect for travel

Anti-pilling

Anti-bacterial treatment

Cool-Jams has options. Not just long sleeves. They carry, shorts, cami’s, tanks, capris, petite sizes, plus sizes …. I feel safe saying they have something for everyone! Running around the house in Cool-Jams is oh so cozy, sleeping in them is just as wonderful. The pajamas move with you, not against you.

Cool-jams Sleepwear controls the body’s temperature as you sleep, so you’ll have a perfect sleep every night… SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!!!

Learn More About The Cool-Jams Charitable Giving Program.

The folks over at Cool-Jams is offering one NetWorkingWitches reader a pair of Cool-Jams of their choice, limited to in-stock available size/color/style. Choice of pajama or nightgown. U.S. Residents only, Must be over the age of 18.

WIN IT

MANDATORY Entry – Visit, Cool-Jams, and tell me the size, color, and style that you will choose if you are the winner, or tell me something from the Cool-Jams site that you learned.

Extra Entries: The mandatory entry MUST be completed or no extra entries will count. They can, and will be deleted, 1 entry unless specified otherwise below. You MUST leave a separate comment for each entry, otherwise it will count as one entry.

EXTRA Optional Entries

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~  Follow Networking Witches , WinterWitch and/or RedNeckWitch on Twitter (1 entry for each followed) And please send the below tweet.

~  Twitter this giveaway feel free to copy and paste this:  (You can tweet daily But you MUST leave the link to your tweet) @NetWorkingWitch Win moisture wicking PAJAMAS! No more night sweats. http://wp.me/ppVmm-Ot Ends 12/08/09 RT Daily w/link

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~ Stumble this post, not the site.

~ Digg this post, and leave a link to the Digg, and your username.

This giveaway will end on 12/08/09 at 11:59 PM CST.

I was sent a Cool-Jams sample for review, I was not paid any monetary compensation for this review. This post is my opinion and should be taken as just that. Having received samples has no impact on my personal use, experience, or like for any product.

WikiHow’s “How to Handle Jealousy” article had really strong points.

Identify what your jealousy is teaching you. Jealousy can alert you to what you want and what is important to you. If you’re jealous of someone talking to a friend of yours, personal relationships may be important to you. Ask yourself, “Why am I jealous over this? What is making me jealous? What am I trying to keep? Why do I feel threatened?”

Change any false beliefs that might cause jealousy. There are often false beliefs that underlie jealousy and fuel emotion. If you examine the belief, you can often eliminate the jealousy. For example an underlying beliefs could be “If this person leaves me, I won’t have any friends.” Beliefs are changeable. If you change your belief, you change the way you feel.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”

Mahatma Ghandi

I put this quote by Colleen-Joy Page with my photograph of a strong fever tree in Timbavati, to remind me that we need to be deeply rooted in who we are, know what our values are, what we want from our lives.  Only then can we become all we want to be.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Ps. 23:1-4).

Last week I found out some discouraging news that shook me a bit.  It wasn’t what I expected, certainly wasn’t what I was hoping for, but go figure.  It was just another point this year where I reached the end of my rope, feeling like I didn’t have the strength, wisdom, courage, or resources to deal with a situation on my own. 

There have been so many times over the last few months that, apart from the Lord’s grace, guidance, insight, provision, and power, I’ve been basically helpless.  And it seems like each time God has so graciously lifted me up from a situation that knocked me down, another situation has arrived just in time to bump me back, forcing me to depend upon his strength and sufficiency once again.

So, last week’s news came right on cue.

After sharing some of my discouragement to a wise friend, she reminded me that such a place of helplessness and surrender was probably right where God wanted me to be.

And then, she proceeded to tell me about sheep.  Sheep?  Yes, sheep.  More importantly, she also told me about shepherds.

Here’s the summary of what D shared: sheep are stupid!  Those cute fluffy creatures are directionless, defenseless, and downright dumb.  They’re practically wired to be helpless. 

D described how sheep are easily flipped onto their backs by missteps on only slightly uneven terrain.  And once they’re tipped over, they absolutely can’t right themselves.  Sheep will actually die of starvation unless a shepherd sets them on their feet again.  Wow, talk about helpless creatures!  Apart from their shepherd, sheep can do nothing.

The amazing thing, however, is that sheep’s utter helplessness actually highlights the shepherd’s total love and faithful to his sheep.  Sheep’s absolute dependency upon their shepherd for direction, protection, sustenance, and life itself clearly illustrates the shepherd’s power, grace, and sufficiency.

No wonder God is called the Good Shepherd in Scripture (Jn. 10:11).  No wonder we’re called His sheep.  It’s no surprise, in fact, that sheep or shepherds are mentioned almost 250 times in the Bible.  What a powerful metaphor for our absolute dependency upon the Lord, and His gracious care for us.

But surely I’m not totally helpless, to a sheep degree.  Am I?  Yes, I know the Lord’s my sovereign and sufficient source of life, but for some reason, I so often try to maintain some semblance of strength and control.  I like to think that I have it all together.  And, it’s not so flattering to use words like unable, frightened, weak, and dependent to describe myself.

The reality is, however, that I might as well have been a sheep this year.  But, like D encouraged me, being a weak, dependent, confused, and even completely helpless sheep isn’t so bad.  It isn’t so bad because I serve a Good Shepherd who is my salvation, my strength, and my song.  Because in my weakness, God is strong.  Because He uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.  Because He uses fallible, but available vessels to display His glory.

Wow, this sheep is feeling a little better about last week!

But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

I am strong.  I have amazing self control.  I am exactly who I want to be.

~A.B.

HP—Apparently, the latest thing in “Debasing The Institutions You Pretend To Hold Dear In Order To Suggest That President Barack Obama Should Be Murdered Without Actually Coming Right Out And Saying So” goes by a shorter name: Psalm 109:8.

And Psalm 109:8 is just straight up memetastic, appearing on bumper stickers and T-shirts, all of which carry the benign sounding message, “Pray For Obama.” But, as Gawker’s John Cook points out, this is just one more in a “long line of cheekily coded Obama death threats.” The verse in question reads: “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.” That leads fairly naturally into the Psalm 109:9, “May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.” You know, in case you miss the point.

Rachel Maddow took up this issue last night, inviting Patience With God author and Huffington Post blogger Frank Schaeffer to explain whether or not the citation of this Biblical text “means something less threatening to people hearing this in a Biblical context.”

***UPDATE I From The Rachel Maddow*** Show

Statement by CafePress to TRMS
Regarding the appropriateness of Psalm 109:8 products

“Cafepress looks at content on a case by case basis, and makes decisions about what content is permissible based on our content usage policy.

We initially pulled the Psalm 109:8 content from our products today because broader media dialog indicated that these designs potentially suggested violence towards the president. Based on current public discourse and further review of the actual content, we have determined that it is fair political commentary and we are in the process of reinstating this merchandise. As with all of our content, these designs will continue to be reviewed and if at any time their meaning is construed as advocating violence we will revisit our decision.“
—Amy Maniatis, CafePress VP of Marketing

If you would like to contact CafePress, see below:

CafePress Email
CafePress Phone # 1-877-809-1659. International customers, please call 1-402-517-4480.

***UPDATE II From Thinkprogress.org***

Yesterday, Cafe Press announced that it was again reversing itself and removing all the merchandise in response to strong public pressure:

The public debate started with questioning if the design was simply intended to be criticism of the President or something much worse. The discourse was surprisingly civil online, given the heated nature of the topic. Given that, and the positions of groups like the ACLU and the Anti-Defamation League, we decided to let the dialogue play out publicly before making a final decision.

Last night we posted a poll on our blog, read through the emails we’ve received and weighed the nature of the calls we’ve received on the topic. In the process we also learned that many of the original designers of the Psalm 109:8 designs had already decided to remove them on their own.

General consensus has proven that the design does point to a broader interpretation of the Psalm and thus has been deemed inappropriate for sale at CafePress.

The results of the Cafe Press poll were 76 percent calling the slogan “overly inflammatory and inappropriate” and 22 percent saying it was fair.

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