I should have done this a long time ago

Therapy. I should have done therapy a long time ago. I tried a few times, but never liked the therapist. In the past twenty years I've seen three therapists, one session each. They all gave me books to read and lots of homework. I often thought, I'm paying you, you should have read the books and then give me the Cliff notes. <br /><br />The therapist I'm seeing now is also called a "life coach" and specializes in helping people deal with stress and anger. I've known her for about ten years through Toastmasters (which I haven't attended in over two years). I've always liked her and enjoyed her company. It turns out she's an amazing therapist, and better yet, she sees me on weekends so I don't have to leave work for a "doctor" appointment every week.<br /><br />After only two sessions, I'm already developing the tools to deal with my life. I feel so much better. No hives last week for the first time in five weeks. Although I did have what I guess would be called an anxiety attack on Thursday night.<br /><br />I was at the gym at 6pm. I had experienced a terrible visit with my sister on Wednesday afternoon, when I visited her during her physical therapy session. I don't want to relive it, but she was filled with anger and frustration. It was awful and I left in tears. I've heard of this behavior from her before, but I had never witnessed it. To see my sweet, beautiful sister act like a bratty two-year old was more than I could handle.<br /><br />The anxiety attack started while I was on the elliptical, thinking about what had happened the day before with my sister. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. I was determined to get in at least thirty minutes on the elliptical, but my breathing got progressively worse. I realized I was in trouble. It was like an asthma attack, which I haven't had in over 20 years. It was a feeling of impending death, of my own death. And the unreasonable fear that I couldn't explain or define. I was scared, but I didn't know why. Death? I don't know. The two were intertwined.<br /><br />I quickly left the gym and sat in my car for thirty minutes, practicing breathing techniques for relaxation and trying to calm down. I didn't know if I should call 911 or my husband or just drive myself to the nearest emergency room. I had my heart rate monitor on, and usually after a workout my pulse will go from 145 to 56 in a couple of minutes. Even though I was sitting still, my heart rate stayed at a steady 100 or more for a full half hour. Finally, I calmed down, started breathing normally and my heart rate returned to normal. It was a very scary experience. Although I will say, I still had my sense of humor about my life. As I drove away, I thought, "well, guess the night workouts don't really work for me!". Followed by a lot of laughter (my therapist said I'm definitely not depressed...I should be, but I'm not). <br /><br />Today, during therapy, we decided I should take the weekend off from my sister. I still feel wounded from Wednesday. As the therapist explained, this is not my sister as I knew her. My sister before the stoke would never scream at me and slap my hand as I tried to help her. This is my sister with brain damage. I have to accept that I will  never have my sister back the way she was before the stroke. As heartbreaking as that is to say, I know it's true. We can't communicate, she doesn't really even know what's going on most of the time. I am in the process of accepting her for who she is now, and love her the best I can. I have to stop criticizing myself for not doing enough. I've done everything I can to help her, and I've given her everything I can give. I have to tend to me, to my needs, to myself.  <br /><br />Weight this morning, 195.6. Workouts this past week: 3. My tribute to this being a weight-loss blog.<br /><br /><br />

I should have done this a long time ago

Therapy. I should have done therapy a long time ago. I tried a few times, but never liked the therapist. In the past twenty years I've s...

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Hy-Vee 5K

<p align="left">If you didn’t see <a href="http://weightloss-stories.blogspot.com/2012/03/5k-here-i-come.html">my post from Saturday</a>, I’ll catch you up! I ran my first 5k in 18 months…the first one post baby! It was a challenge, but I finished and I’m proud of what I did. </p> <p align="left">The weather was much different than expected. A day or so ago the forecast said it was supposed to be sunny and 73 degrees…but I woke up this morning to fog, chilly, and 48 degrees! Woa!</p> <p align="left">I didn’t let that stop me though! Threw on my sneakers and headed the 3-4 miles to the race location…I love hometown races! Kyle and Adelyn were in tow as well, official race cheerleaders!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglRMCFrUjxiMzr4Uj39NB1AXtM4pEY1817zPR3PNRF16jHgpIjSGXGqIYUdPNQB4SJP4GIOoL-O1u4dT4mymXfPZYI61lYlEWHQoVK-l7niBPHTbRnoJCRs9MEn6Kf0gyVwJ0h4IaCuALd/s1600-h/IMG_1415%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_1415" border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4L-_MQgf9VDFVcG1phlAG19NfFCWn90YHcHc32T8nOqYeHF_n5DLGLtVzvAdU3VBVgTEpesn3uEgpHFl4unyyNiUoyGt1WUR56IZQUnVXfzImzIsf3HuI4LDw6dTYtfi-qqk3oR8g1wu3/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_1415" width="404"></a></p> <p align="left">The race was held at a park just outside of the town where I live, thankfully they had REAL bathrooms! I took advantage of that, got a few good luck kisses from my race cheerleaders and headed for the start line, nerves and all.</p> <p align="left">The race started at 9:30am sharp. I was a little too close to the front and started out quick. At one point I looked down at my Garmin and it said I was pacing at 7:45…not my 10 minute normal. Somewhere around that same time I spotted my race cheerleaders…only 1/4 mile into the race. This is where I backed off a little and got to a more comfortable pace!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVk2y_CMO_F21xQokbPQLleRYxn2nicdKiVDMWH_xOzks3F6X1f9j0EtkjweVT4clgfmrxIqvv6nqeOHnhoUHdBDQyC-EPp2n1goT4qfXTyPsZzI1zK_MqPcJjvH2hIVgUkMJLL4iGBzO/s1600-h/IMG_1416%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_1416" border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUAbfWCcWcZN2swxvWq77f-SLHlPipYelm4Rdi5vm_4XK9Uy-3_0IW_rxj0Hsu2L_9_ul_WNtdlwdhSGbQ2Y47wS78vadtqRDa2Vs5FPqwYA-P2CEBYG0PdDUNmDkEv64kU7RqD4mgmnLT/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_1416" width="404"></a></p> <p align="left">To say that this race was a challenge is no joke! Little did I know that this park not too far from my house was filled with <strong><u>HILLY</u></strong> trails! Yep my first non flat race! Here’s a side note, I live in Iowa…the FLAT LANDS, I never run hills!</p> <p align="left">Ok, back to the race recap…the first hills weren’t too bad, but later in the race it did start to wear on me. I ended up finishing the race with a walk/run routine, which I was was A-ok with. I felt like the slog (SLow-jOG) I was doing up hill wasn’t anymore productive than a power walk. </p> <p align="left">My ALL TIME favorite race cheerleaders were waiting for me at mile 3. It was so refreshing to see Kyle and Adelyn and it gave me the “umph” I needed to finish that last 0.10 miles strong!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim4u6hXr4iSkUvobeD0q1mqLZSvYrCZmBPb54jL3r0WxUpOPsIZnAb35DpB5VBGFcRV1N7KytlhMvLvUn_XKVOPYiId46mrAvDTOrChnTq4HeUozQ4ENhysEah6fxYTSdVuPnko7uWBAr/s1600-h/IMG_1419%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_1419" border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7DD7JYATrxtShgd7kFDozvZb5aX5pRlwG__9gsaW0W56VRm1tJawArY-H0hFz1mCHlpfVYjKKFtEdTGG9YVqviy2DzUdiCxOshmjtJwGQsA85rZtlDTxpxF70ASCcFYTQZDdX_W4WEKRL/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_1419" width="404"></a></p> <p align="left">I blew them kisses and was off to finish my first 5k since having a baby! At the end of the race route you had to run <u>right past</u> the finish line and do this little loop…such a tease!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbU7ajGeywJNqlLSJ4gXAZwRpWh18Yi4PcDexs8g_o55HEK_L_UdVV38i2vmWTR5OUYPtpnDNx57jYbCoe-VC-kn4ZJSGqIDJkIXw70yLThBDYrScb_kpgiOGTZVXy-vmm6AOTKPcaHG_r/s1600-h/IMG_1421%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_1421" border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX-p8sxfrD8PtSnwcluC4TBPXkrdl7AOLD8Mx1Cwm0YfUVu-fV8c3akV0tGIBk0NGbwz6FWfgXpbBrd9ZrRmehWikjcv_C0FBfhyphenhyphenkR7A6w5MymguN4dMb5z5b1rI9_mOUcXE3pRtFuS1-r/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_1421" width="404"></a></p> <p align="right">I did it, finished my 5th 5k, 1st one post-baby!!!! I don’t have an official time yet, but my Garmin said 37:02. And I’m proud of that!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxLwbqCsUUwK9mhosUGy8HKGrS6yJhVpoGpotIE6nbHP_XkqsQg7n-u5YQ1a17hSiVCfm_kE5ClLCwP6pCRImxLcVI-9iivLtLU4-WTI9SCTKTVnKsvRLBAXj9qFXABsDrtGI0Lkbzb1O/s1600-h/IMG_1422%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_1422" border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmc-HGT43K1sIMDASTTIgBrY21_5MzqvxmEVNrnE-0OpJbDR3ieuEOkyVMdrXBF__Qe3kWEn5YgEJw9alhobjwTzBEWCWbYl4A73GnPBfBJU_0La_s6jKifiuE0XYlqdX6byfA2F0WXzJC/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_1422" width="404"></a></p> <p align="left">I grabbed a banana and 1/2 bagel and met up with this sweet girl who was waiting for me in the warm car! (it was too cold for her & daddy to be outside too long)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6ZQuQIhyphenhyphenZw8XiSEd1z8aHe6Ow1-saR1q1_c4b5m-FzkAJVlg_mp0FuZWAl9pK7jCxI_ecF8xUtMVLU_Fxfx1CuZumBCG-HxrwF2A10Yn_mQtZc2g1bXl8vjgYmqbj_b0_zGNrokuzgAB/s1600-h/IMG_1431%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_1431" border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHywAGJpRDYHR_-kDv3r3GK33syyC0P__ucNO5ja6mgPiRLDiCkEafc4ahUbmxQKYJyZGhjGqfgA4if-KB95-yaUfKTufqHbQoQ6alGSCaVm4aCO529-TAtLwJmRNsnIBpR-sHeIANnSwP/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_1431" width="404"></a></p> <p align="left">This was the first year this race was put on and they did an exceptional job! I’ve ran both big and small races and you never would have known that this was the first go-around. First class race! Great volunteers, well marked course, and awesome goodies! </p> <p align="left">I’m proud of what I accomplished today, it wasn’t easy, but I did it! I’m looking forward to more races this year! <img alt="Winking smile" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-winkingsmile" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWwjdb473WTj28_evrlC071363qklx-fhiI772fRVkcJwgxsIsOl_Q1G6bINUeWn26T4VD5QRtpVb3oU4GfqiNWessCTcmFE0mScVKGGnxcbqkc7PtoJwtezCHm4Oov7_xPhh43r335o9/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DAbTGVb7uqf_kOlKwumFUlEY77qbElNmM8zi4PFCKjvft5RXYP1F_dVZct8cQX6s8YhGwff518K3V9l7GtXsBvE1gLFG7sd1eTQXJyDhsaLGJi09oXXz8NYveC5OFhm68KUBLlEe3UAk/s1600-h/IMG_1426%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_1426" border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiniHrvlsUDyUewFwZLw2kvXIljbQbDXVHXdVFoVwDFMNgKS1OmciXJLgy1ReNhFEchieqJndvBLnBgiEI9JLj1yf5OLuCnBVQsN3PmumEEYaFkw32xeRdOWdyI5D11i1g1ZQYM1QVZTNuI/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_1426" width="404"></p> <p align="right"></a><em>(Don’t worry we didn’t let her drive home!)</em></p>

Hy-Vee 5K

If you didn’t see my post from Saturday , I’ll catch you up! I ran my first 5k in 18 months…the first one post baby! It was a challenge, but...

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A Meditation on Mad Men

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulYFo28OW1tBY_IVKxjB-qWe3NA4qPh1StowVMqi4rVkm9blrZcV0vKtOedm_2NS3UybQgrD1rZR4T6PiRF-IW4JSX8T14coVm6idaMP3CARqEAMEXeXTR-KPyXN-dHAyy1H8z6oPlLHr/s1600/Draper+panoramic+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiulYFo28OW1tBY_IVKxjB-qWe3NA4qPh1StowVMqi4rVkm9blrZcV0vKtOedm_2NS3UybQgrD1rZR4T6PiRF-IW4JSX8T14coVm6idaMP3CARqEAMEXeXTR-KPyXN-dHAyy1H8z6oPlLHr/s1600/Draper+panoramic+shot.jpg" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> "...<span style="font-size: large;">n</span>ostalgia. It's delicate...but potent...in Greek, nostalgia literally means 'the pain from an old wound.' It's a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone."</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sterling Cooper's creative director Don Draper is pitching his promotional concept to Kodak, a prospective client, for its new product, a wheel-like slide projector. As images of his own young family flash by, one by one, on a projection screen, he continues his inspired dream-spinning:</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"This device isn't a spaceship. It's a time machine. It goes backwards, forwards. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again."</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">With these words, words that also echo an aspect of <i>Mad Men</i>'s emotional appeal,  the client and everyone else inside the hushed room is in the palm of Draper's hand; he concludes:</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"It's not called 'the Wheel." It's called a 'Carousel.' It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around, and back home again...to a place where we know we are loved."</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The carousel whirl that is AMC's <i>Mad Men</i> sweeps the viewer along on the labyrinthine journey of Don Draper, preternaturally savvy and eloquent Madison Avenue dreamweaver, as he and those close to him navigate the dark and white nights of their own souls and that of 1960s America.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloupOY3TtoEOP2u5zrqpvbOnLgIJnRphIU_gMdrvRmSI6G9J4q4jvtuYfZ4TqMhPohGF0Ufq_0Ah8hFnf1vr0KR6MxPuBVIs5Spjr6al5N3Z7gFXiCJoCBxObDArxyIJj-mRLecb6c7ub/s1600/Wheel+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloupOY3TtoEOP2u5zrqpvbOnLgIJnRphIU_gMdrvRmSI6G9J4q4jvtuYfZ4TqMhPohGF0Ufq_0Ah8hFnf1vr0KR6MxPuBVIs5Spjr6al5N3Z7gFXiCJoCBxObDArxyIJj-mRLecb6c7ub/s400/Wheel+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><a href="http://youtu.be/suRDUFpsHus" style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</a> to watch Don Draper's entire 'Carousel' pitch</i></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">I</span>n an early episode, Betty Draper, Don's then-wife, stares at him as he lies sleeping and wonders aloud, "Who <i>are </i>you?"  Betty's late father, Gene, didn't like his son-in-law at all and, in another episode, complains of him, "He has no people. You can't trust a person like that..." Season 4 opened with the question, "Who is Don Draper?" posed to Draper over lunch by a reporter from <i>Advertising Age</i>. Series loyalists learned early on that Draper was once a neglected farm boy whose impoverished family moved from the Midwest to Pennsylvania coal country. While serving in the Korean war he saw a way out of his nowhere-man future and seized the opportunity. In just a few years he would be a rising star on Madison Avenue with the trophy wife, children, Cadillac and suburban Ossining house to certify his status.</span><br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsL2fA7dTfL_BvjEfe1fsuBnd5C6YnqzF0Ox4FfiEIsjgbbu7SKate573sYFsMR48AoRuPT0a5VAY4kFVONat2LVcYn7jdarNJtv_Ybaag0YNn3zuKDqPjPLWMEJApnXrPXjqYhPEGyd_/s1600/don-and-betty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJsL2fA7dTfL_BvjEfe1fsuBnd5C6YnqzF0Ox4FfiEIsjgbbu7SKate573sYFsMR48AoRuPT0a5VAY4kFVONat2LVcYn7jdarNJtv_Ybaag0YNn3zuKDqPjPLWMEJApnXrPXjqYhPEGyd_/s400/don-and-betty.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Don and Betty Draper at home </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">D</span>raper's mysterious past and meteoric ascent have inspired comparisons to another iconic fictional character, Jay Gatsby of F. Scott Fitzgerald's <i>The Great Gatsby</i>. It was of Gatsby that Fitzgerald's narrator, Nick, would say, "If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him..." Gatsby, born James Gatz in an upper Midwestern backwater, was based on a character out of ancient fiction named Trimalchio. A freed Roman slave who became wealthy and powerful and was intent on winning over the 1st century <span lang="EN">crème de la crème, Trimalchio hosted an elaborate but tasteless feast about which the elite laughed behind his back. Gatsby, who made his fortune through confidence schemes and shady connections, was rich but naive, and his grand soirees were attended but scorned by New York's finest.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoO9uEVXWfGBA3eJREtp_XL3oBlYNtPwyEArNpjAWfvm-0Ufx0Mkz_jHLDuw0u4R4AwaHDhsLZYnn5tnSa5qwFBdsUsboOn__MK2Rrtn-LfWwkpEOh_suMROgrNCFrCmn0A5dmyjdXhr7p/s1600/Mad+Men+Don+Cool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoO9uEVXWfGBA3eJREtp_XL3oBlYNtPwyEArNpjAWfvm-0Ufx0Mkz_jHLDuw0u4R4AwaHDhsLZYnn5tnSa5qwFBdsUsboOn__MK2Rrtn-LfWwkpEOh_suMROgrNCFrCmn0A5dmyjdXhr7p/s320/Mad+Men+Don+Cool.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A man in full</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN">Though, like Gatsby, Don Draper is an arriviste who was once "a penniless young man without a past," no one is laughing at him. By 1960, when <i>Mad Men</i> picks up, the talented and charismatic Mr. Draper has sparked awe and envy throughout the world of advertising. No, at this point, Don Draper is perceived less like the ill-fated Gatsby and perhaps more like a more fortunate young man who fled his roots and re-made himself: Archie Leach of Bristol, England, who made his name in America and of his reinvented self said, "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant."</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div><span style="font-size: small;">Despite his great success, Draper lives in barely contained turmoil. He wrestles with personal demons and chafes under mounting pressures at work and at home. The very time in which he lives is a jittery age - it is the height of ‘the cold war’ and American culture is in the midst of rapid change.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2oIu1zF77fI8U9tnyceOxjYILRHwUkXU0L6sSI_Qz3T4ht65XwO3_jYFiG1Ve-bkVtiTaLV61J5FWM5qyCuS_OFHZc-Q5za72oKYlMiD5QzFCPvCe3ZdoZ8TbiU3RhrxVgtPdQLWvrEu/s1600/cuban+missile+crisis+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2oIu1zF77fI8U9tnyceOxjYILRHwUkXU0L6sSI_Qz3T4ht65XwO3_jYFiG1Ve-bkVtiTaLV61J5FWM5qyCuS_OFHZc-Q5za72oKYlMiD5QzFCPvCe3ZdoZ8TbiU3RhrxVgtPdQLWvrEu/s320/cuban+missile+crisis+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soviet missiles in Cuba</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">I</span>t was at just about this time, in 1959, that developmental psychologist/psychoanalyst Erik Erikson coined the term ‘identity crisis,’ a condition of disorientation or role confusion that results from conflicting internal and external experiences, pressures and expectations that can lead to acute anxiety. Though Erikson originally viewed 'identity crisis' as primarily an adolescent experience, its definition expanded to include crises that occur during major life transitions as well as within social structures.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">Not too many years earlier, in 1950, sociologist David Riesman had written what became, and remains, the best-selling book ever in the U.S. on sociology. <i>The Lonely Crowd</i> examined America’s social character and described the country’s shift from 19^th century ‘inner-direction’ (behavior internalized early through parents and community) to mid-20^th century ‘other-direction’ (responsiveness to peer groups and the media). Riesman’s theories spoke to concerns of the time regarding the conformity that accompanied the sweeping spread of suburban culture. It was Riesman’s view that the confidence and unity that followed World War II were in part an attempt to deflect cultural despair, and his term ‘the lonely crowd’ entered the mainstream as a description of alienation within an affluent society.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">America, perhaps in its adolescence at mid-century and reeling under the weight of too much power, wealth and responsibility too soon, was entering a period of increasing uncertainty and anxiety as the 1960s unfolded. Clearly Don Draper, with his double life and murky past, is guarded and isolated, and most in his professional and personal orbit are perplexed by the changing, often frightening times.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHruSDBawoOdyQDmUbsrqxFasWdKpkIyxwJYb1WpIM4lO0Rz8jcGtzpIPeYV-ka4fCkgcnLM9_BdEjnG6QpR5FrxzxXWmMjFs7H0CZYn9bYoqWF2GpN8XSm8iX1lZ1zEP1sJGCucnWUIhZ/s1600/JFK+assassination+episode.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHruSDBawoOdyQDmUbsrqxFasWdKpkIyxwJYb1WpIM4lO0Rz8jcGtzpIPeYV-ka4fCkgcnLM9_BdEjnG6QpR5FrxzxXWmMjFs7H0CZYn9bYoqWF2GpN8XSm8iX1lZ1zEP1sJGCucnWUIhZ/s400/JFK+assassination+episode.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">November 22, 1963 at Sterling Cooper</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2K8Q3cqGs7I" width="420"></iframe></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Walter Cronkite reporting for CBS News, November 22, 1963</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">M</span>ad Men</i> creator Matthew Weiner has said that it was during his tenure as a writer on the sitcom <i>Becker</i> that an idea occurred to him for a show set in the ‘60s about someone like himself, “who… had everything and was miserable.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6l1CGaRk6cd28e6bepBaRgP4PV425TsNtB_5mi1zGMUXABO4DXzqJf-RAKNWgnsaKf59oOJKd5X2AEOszKmCXTwzuXh8aFiOfnk3wQ2mFhTxHa9-BWfgHpRDzomF_mTxiIcm8VhRJkXWV/s1600/Smoke+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6l1CGaRk6cd28e6bepBaRgP4PV425TsNtB_5mi1zGMUXABO4DXzqJf-RAKNWgnsaKf59oOJKd5X2AEOszKmCXTwzuXh8aFiOfnk3wQ2mFhTxHa9-BWfgHpRDzomF_mTxiIcm8VhRJkXWV/s320/Smoke+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Smoke Gets in Your Eyes</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;">As Weiner focused on writing the story of a character he thought of as a man who has sold out in some ways but is still trying to find himself, he hired a researcher to investigate the 1960s in detail. According to Weiner, the very first piece of research he received was about the crisis in cigarette advertising in 1960. And so it followed that when we first catch sight of Don Draper in the series opener it is 1960 and he is alone at a table in a cocktail lounge quizzing a black waiter about his brand of cigarettes - <i>Old Gold</i>. Draper is struggling to come up with an ad concept for Sterling Draper’s biggest account, <i>Lucky Strike</i>. The noisy, smoke-filled room is dim and in the background a recording of Don Cherry singing “Band of Gold” plays. The episode tracks the sharp, charming and handsome Mr. Draper through the evening and into a night spent with his commercial artist girlfriend, his next day at the office and his trip home after work to – surprise! – his wife and children in the suburbs.</span><br /><br />Since then Don Draper and his family and his colleagues at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (formerly Sterling Cooper) have grappled with the wildly unpredictable 1960s as best they can. Having witnessed everything on the national scene from historic space flights and assassination to the explosion of the civil rights movement and the beginnings of women’s movement, they are at the same time dealing with upheaval in their personal lives.</div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The 1960s are accurately reflected and exquisitely replicated in <i>Mad Men</i>, and immersion in that glittering and chaotic decade is mesmerizing. But it is the series’ finely drawn, palpably authentic characters, credible story lines and archetypal themes that provide its greatest appeal. </span><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Mad Men</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">, to borrow a phrase from Don Draper's Kodak presentation, affords that "rare occasion when the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash." </span></span><br /><span lang="EN" style="font-size: small;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ngf2zHq4FEI" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Season 5 begins...</span></div>

Mad Men The Lady Eve (author) A Meditation on Mad Men

 "... n ostalgia. It's delicate...but potent...in Greek, nostalgia literally means 'the pain from an old wound.' It's a...

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AFRICA THE FORGOTTEN AND UNDERESTIMATED CONTINENT

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mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptFHQLHTsQUu2mQwOfm8mQg5gUOXNT0GnvSCrekRaXJqorzZ3-3pMpHsA5iDVIYucrPBLNlId4ZAU_FDQfo2ITDypz6cKvFYrE8-_dqMLRM8QRwF2Ck52FHOL4Urcx5EKRA7nIyL9wNbY/s1600/africa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptFHQLHTsQUu2mQwOfm8mQg5gUOXNT0GnvSCrekRaXJqorzZ3-3pMpHsA5iDVIYucrPBLNlId4ZAU_FDQfo2ITDypz6cKvFYrE8-_dqMLRM8QRwF2Ck52FHOL4Urcx5EKRA7nIyL9wNbY/s400/africa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AUSTRALIA: OUT OF AFRICA ……AND BACK IN</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Tim Harcourt via The Globalist<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the world's interest in Africa seemed to revolve around famine relief and anti-apartheid rallies. A lot has changed since then, writes Australian economist Tim Harcourt. Now — and for decades to come — the world's interest in Africa is likely to revolve around its growing economic advantages<span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">W</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">hen South Africa emerged from the apartheid era in the mid-1990s, it was common to hear a plea to the world not to forget Africa simply because the apartheid battle was finished. Back then, "not forgetting Africa" largely meant international aid. And not just from Western governments, but charitable endeavors such as Bob Geldof's Live Aid concerts in 1985. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The implication was that these type of events and other aid programs were the main way in which the West could productively interact with the African continent. Fortunately, this postcolonial (and slightly patronizing) view is proving to be completely outmoded. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SEVEN ECONOMIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA ARE EXPECTED TO BE AMONG THE TEN FASTEST GROWING ECONOMIES IN THE WORLD</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In 2012, sub-Saharan Africa is rapidly coming of age as an economic region and as an investment destination. The so-called "frontier" markets of today's Africa will be the emerging markets of tomorrow. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Over the next five years, according to the IMF, seven economies in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to be among the ten fastest growing economies in the world. In 2011, the economy of Ghana grew by 13.7%, while Ethiopia's grew by 8.5%. Elsewhere, the Mozambique economy grew by 7.5%, Nigeria and Zambia by 6.8%, and the Democratic Republic of Congo by 6.5%. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Australia is one country that understands what this means, and the opportunity it presents. Perth is full of mining companies — around 20 or so — that are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange but have the majority of their operations in Africa. There are around 200 Australian mining companies with operations in Africa, and they are involved in projects valued in excess of $45 billion. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Outside of mining, there are 4,000 or more Australian companies exporting to Africa. Over the last five years, there has been an estimated doubling of Australian companies doing business in Africa, and Australia has a strong presence there in infrastructure, professional services and education. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When I was a young official at the Australian Council of Trade Unions, I remember attending a summit in South Africa on economic cooperation among Indian Ocean countries. This was in 1995, just after South Africa had been welcomed back into the international fold. It all seemed very idealistic, but not particularly real, to imagine the Indian Ocean as something that could unite rather than divide the people and economies of Africa and Australia. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">RESOURCE BOOMS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But now, more than a decade and a half later, so much has happened and changed. There has been a strong flow of information, people and money across the Indian Ocean. Despite its expanse, the Indian Ocean is no longer a barrier — it's a connection. Two-way trade is reaching $5 billion a year, and has been on an upward trajectory for several years. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">At the heart of all this are people of all races. In this regard, Australia has a particular affinity for South Africa. As immigrant societies, many South Africans and Australians share family ties, and South Africans are becoming an influential immigrant group in Australia. Both countries have small, open economies, are geographically isolated from major world markets, and have large, export-oriented resource sectors. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AFRICA IS FORECAST TO EMERGE AS THE FASTEST-GROWING REGION IN THE WORLD OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This augurs well for the future, both for Africa and Australia. Africa is forecast to emerge as the fastest-growing region in the world over the next 20 years. To realize this growth, it will have to nurture a number of key competitive advantages: the world's richest mineral and energy deposits, the most arable land, and what is predicted to be the youngest population in the world by 2050. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Australia's current prosperity is largely due to its own resource boom. By mid-century, that boom may well have extended to Africa and helped drive a huge wave of supplementary development, raising living and education standards throughout the continent. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Austrade, the federal government's agency for international trade, has recently expanded its African network by opening offices in Ghana and Kenya. Far from "forgetting Africa," the continent will be looming large on more than just Australia's investment radar in the coming decades. And if we can keep economies open for multilateral investment, this will present an opportunity for everyone</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

AFRICA THE FORGOTTEN AND UNDERESTIMATED CONTINENT

AUSTRALIA: OUT OF AFRICA ……AND BACK IN By Tim Harcourt via The Globalist Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the world's interest ...

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