Monday, Part II - How a binge starts

My second post for today...avoiding a binge<br /><br />It's 10:21 p.m. This is usually when it starts, the beginning of my nightly binge. It always starts innocently enough. Right now it's been about four hours since I ate dinner. I feel a little bit hungry. I'm not starving, I just feel like eating something. Lord knows I can't have a slight hunger pain and not take care of it immediately.<br /><br />I've thought of all the things that I could eat that would be considered an acceptable snack. I've eaten 32 Points today, which is a large amount of food (I'm allowed a minimum of 29). <br /><br />I've had three pieces of fruit today, two apples and a banana. I make note of this because fruit is suppose to have zero Points. However, I counted a Point for the banana. That's how I've customized the Weight Watcher plan for myself. Bananas have Points on "my" plan. I decided I needed some sort of ground rule for certain fruits. This is because I ate four bananas at one sitting a few days ago. You may find that unbelievable but it's the truth. Therefore, certain fruits that I would overeat have been assigned a Point value. Apples are safe. I don't think I've ever eaten more than one apple at a sitting. Of course, this is totally against the new Weight Watcher plan, but it's working for me.<br /><br />Right now, I'm thinking I could have a little snack, maybe a low-fat piece of string cheese for 2 Points. Or a Skinny Cow low-fat fudge bar or maybe another apple (they're organic Fuji's and they're delicious) or perhaps a Dreyers frozen Pomegranate bar. Maybe some baby carrots, they're organic and super sweet. Or a glass of ice cold fat-free milk. I love milk. Maybe it would make me sleepy. Or a small piece of left-over chicken breast from dinner or maybe a Franz thinwich with some maple pumpkin butter (1 Point for a tablespoon). Or microwave popcorn, the Smart Pop brand that's low in Points.<br /><br />The problem here is if I eat one thing, I can't stop. I'll eat everything I've listed above. Yes, everything. Well, maybe not the carrots, but everything else. I know myself well enough by now that I'm about 99% sure that's what would happen. I would once again ruin a perfect day of eating on plan, a perfect day of exercise, with a binge. <br /><br />Instead of eating and chancing a binge, I've decided to wait until tomorrow morning to eat anything. I'm sipping water, writing this post. I'm wondering if I can sleep when I feel hungry. It's been a long time since I even tried. Then again, I can never sleep anymore anyway so why would that make it any different than any other night.<br /><br />That's how a binge starts. This is how I'm stopping it in it's tracks...I'm not going to start. I'm very tired and feeling sleepy. I'm going to bed now, and I'm feeling like I'm in control of my actions. I will not eat until tomorrow morning after 6 a.m. That's only seven hours from now. Surely I can last seven hours without eating.<br /><br />Good night.

Monday, Part II - How a binge starts

My second post for today...avoiding a binge It's 10:21 p.m. This is usually when it starts, the beginning of my nightly binge. It always...

Read more »

New diets always start on Monday

<strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">And it's a Monday</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I remember my old days of my dieting failures. I'd always start a diet on Monday, and often by Tuesday or Wednesday, or even sometimes by Monday night, the diet was history. It was too hard, I didn't care anymore, and I was too hungry to continue. I'd always have a plan to start fresh the following Monday. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's Monday again, and even though I don't live by my old rules, it is a new week and a day where I can start over. Yesterday wasn't a perfect day by a long shot. I went to the gym for an hour and a half workout. Then I blew it. Why I continue this craziness is something I've yet to figure out.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I came home, I found a bag of opened Original Bugles in my kitchen. I don't even like Bugles, and I can't remember the last last time I ate this snack food. Maybe 20+ years ago. In case you've never heard of them, they're a corn chip snack in the shape of a bugle. Salty and greasy, and really not very tasty. That didn't stop me. It's certainly not a food I sit around and obsess over. As far as I'm concerned, they're far down on the food chain of things I like to eat.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't know what possessed my husband to bring them into our home (temporary insanity?) or me to indulge in them (more temporary insanity?). Yet there I sat yesterday stuffing them in my mouth. I even measured out the first serving. 1.5 cups. I think it was something like 180 calories and 9 grams fat for each serving. After the first serving I just dumped some in a bowl and ate them. Probably at least three cups. I didn't calculate the Points. Why bother? It seemed like a lost cause at that point. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Next up was the almond butter, something I read about in last week's Weight Watcher flyer. They were talking about what to eat to prevent night time binges. Peanut butter and whole wheat crackers. Or peanut butter and apple slices. I'm allergic to peanut butter, but I love almond butter. I stopped buying it two years ago. Last night I remembered why. I love the stuff, but too much of it is NOT a good thing. One tablespoon is three Points! I didn't eat just one. Last night was a bad night for me. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's Monday again, time to start over.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hunker down</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">urbandictionary.com...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">hunker down:  finally sit down to finish something up. To stop procrastinating and do something.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">That's what I'm doing, I'm finally settling down and focusing on reaching goal. I've been putting this off long enough. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm past the honeymoon phase, I know this isn't easy nor is it fun. I might return here someday, but it's rather unlikely.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've faced up to the honesty phase, and yes, this is hard but it IS worth it. This is my life. Forever. I'm the kind of person that even when I reach goal, it's still going to be difficult. I've accepted that it's never going to be easy. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">So now it's the hunkering down phase. The phase where I bite the bullet, put my heart into this 100%. The old "no pain, no loss" rule applies to me. After years of diets, I know myself pretty well when it comes to losing weight. I have to be a little bit hungry a good part of the time or I don't lose weight. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm not talking about starving hungry, but I can't feed every little hunger pain that comes my way. A little hunger is normal, and something I have to learn to live with. It's not like I'm going to die from a little hunger. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">My goal for right now, just get through one freaking day without overeating. My plan for tonight is a small three-Point snack and yoga before bed. No TV after 8pm. No True Blood DVDs that have been giving me horrible nightmares of death and violence. Yoga and a good book are the plan.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Speaking of good books - "This Stranger, My Son" by Louise Wilson</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I read this book over the weekend, and it's really good. If someone you love has been diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia, you must read this book. My nephew was diagnosed with it in 1994. He committed suicide shortly afterwards at the age of 31. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">My sister has been haunted by this for years, wondering what she did wrong as a mother. Blaming herself, saying she should have done more for her son, even though she did everything humanly possible to help him. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I just happened upon this book at a used bookstore. It was written in 1968 and is a mother's true story of life with her son that was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia.  It's heart-wrenching reading, and I could see my nephew in this story. It's a must-read for anyone that has a loved one dealing with this illness. I'm going to send my copy to my sister. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Weight Watcher New Complete Cookbook (with PointsPlus recipes)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I just bought this cookbook at Costco. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but it's a nice 3-ring notebook style cookbook. It retails for $29.95. Costco is selling it for $17.95, but it has a coupon inside for a year's subscription to Weight Watchers magazine. However, if you don't want the subscription, you can get a refund of $9.99 by writing "refund" on the coupon and mailing it. That means the cookbook was only $7.96! That's a real bargain.</span>

New diets always start on Monday

And it's a Monday I remember my old days of my dieting failures. I'd always start a diet on Monday, and often by Tuesday or Wednesda...

Read more »

Getting my head in the game

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Weight Watcher meeting on Saturday was excellent. My leader is the best, and I never fail to learn something from her meetings. Even when I think I know it all.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She talked about the four stages of weight loss:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. The honeymoon phase - we all know and love this phase. Several you reading this are probably in it right now. I was once there myself.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's when it's all new and exciting. You follow the plan to the letter and the weight falls off. This is the phase where you are determined that nothing will lead you astray. You're tracking your food, drinking your water, taking your vitamins, and following the healthy eating guidelines. You are perfect and nothing will keep you from reaching your goal.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. The honesty phase - this is the loser reality check. Is this worth it? Is all the hard work, the deprivation, the exercise, is it all really worth it? You either decide it is worth it and continue, or you decide it's not worth it and stop. This is the phase where a lot of people walk away. Our leader told us that in the fourth week is when most Weight Watchers never return to the meetings. They made the decision that it's not worth it.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. The hunker-in phase - this is were you have renewed resolve. You've made it this far and darnit, you're going to do whatever it takes. The weight loss has dramatically slowed down from the honeymoon phase, and you have a gain here and there, but you're not giving up.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. The "homey" phase - this is when you get cocky, where you think you know it all. This is when you consider leaving Weight Watchers. Maybe you're almost at goal, and you decide who needs to go to meetings. You've got it all figured out, there's no reason to go to the meetings anymore.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In three years I've hit every one of these phases more than once. When I was at 152 pounds a year and a half ago I was in phase #4. I thought I knew it all. Now at 180 pounds I realize I still have a lot to learn. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">There was a comment on my post yesterday regarding my night time eating, which continues to challenge me. The comment was sweet, and she left some suggestions of things I could try to overcome my night binging. I went to her <a href="http://needtogetmeback.blogspot.com/">blog</a>, and found she's in the honeymoon stage of weight loss. What struck me from her posts is how excited she is about the process of losing weight. She seriously has her "head in the game" as she put it. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">This is what I've been missing lately. My head has not been in the game. I don't look forward to my weigh-ins. In fact, even though I went to my Weight Watcher meetings for all January I took a no-weighin pass for each meeting until yesterday. I finally realized that by not weighing in, I wasn't doing myself any favors. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">My goal this month is simple. I need to get my head in the game again.</span>

Getting my head in the game

My Weight Watcher meeting on Saturday was excellent. My leader is the best, and I never fail to learn something from her meetings. Even when...

Read more »

Slip slidin' away

As soon as I posted last Tuesday that I was good at consistently exercising, I hit a brick wall. Suddenly, I didn't want to exercise anymore. The last five days have been a struggle, and one I didn't want to share with the world. <br />  <br />Not only was I struggling with food, which I've come to accept, but I felt myself slipping when it came to exercising. I woke up Wednesday and thought I really didn't feel like working out, so I didn't. I skipped the gym. Thursday was a huge struggle, but I forced myself to go. Friday I skipped the gym again. I didn't even walk at lunch or do the stairs this past week. This isn't my normal routine. It's almost as if patting myself on the back for doing a good job at something, somehow sabotaged myself. <br />  <br />I still managed to work out five times last week, for a minimum of an hour to an hour and a half each time. I suppose to most people that sounds like success, but because it was such an unusual struggle  for me, I tend to think of it as being a failure. <br />  <br />Yesterday I felt more like myself and got in an intense hour and a half workout. This past week made me realize how easy it would be, at any moment, for me to just stop working out, to simply give up. I'm not sure where these feelings are coming from. Maybe it's my lack of success at losing weight lately is now spilling over into the one thing I've considered a success, my exercise routine. <br />  <br />Whatever is going on in my head, I'm determined to overcome it. I'm back to the "just don't even think about it as an option, just do it" attitude towards exercising. If I think about anything too much, I tend to over anlyze it and ruin it for myself. <br />  <br />Exercise is like brushing my teeth. It's not optional. If I don't want my teeth to fall out, have a lot of pain as my teeth rot, and spend hours in a dentist chair (not to mention a lot of money), I have to floss and brush every day. If I don't want my body to fall in disrepair and become unhealthy, and spend a lot of money on doctors and medicine to only life a life of pain, I must exercise almost every day. There really isn't any other choice. That said, I feel like I'm back on track with the exercise.   <br />  <br />My eating and my weight <br />My eating is a continual battle for me. I'm still not at peace with food, and sadly, I doubt I will ever reach that place that so few seem to enjoy. <br />  <br />I went to my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday and weighed in at 180.4. Ugh! This is NOT where I want to be. <br />  <br />My biggest problem is the night time eating. Every time I think I have beat this problem, it comes back to haunt me. Nothing seems to work. <br />  <br />Things I've tried, that have worked temporarily: <br />  <br />1. Eat dinner super late, at 9 p.m. This helped, but then I don't sleep well with a full tummy. <br />  <br />2. Eat a late night snack of five Points. This helped too, but see #1. <br />  <br />3. White knuckle my way through it. This just makes me angry, and I can't sleep. Usually I cave a few hours of restlessness and binge. <br />  <br />4. Drink tons of water. Temporarily stops the hunger, but then I'm up several times going to the bathroom. Interrupts my sleep, which I already have problems sleeping through the night. <br />  <br />5. Go to bed earlier. Then I can't sleep, see #3. <br />  <br />6. Brush and floss before bed. This has absolutely no affect on me. I can always brush and floss again after eating. <br />  <br />I know this night eating is a mind game I play with myself almost daily. I know it can't be true hunger because I eat a lot during the day (all 29 Points plus some). In order to maintain my 180 pounds, I would have to eat a lot, so it's obvious I'm not starving myself. <br />  <br />Tonight I'm going to try something different. The thing that has worked on occasion is the late night snack of five Points. I'm going to try that again tonight, and if I find I can't sleep, I'm going to post about it in real time. Instead of remaining quiet about my failures, I'm going to share them with you. I don't want to be slip slidin' away.

Slip slidin' away

As soon as I posted last Tuesday that I was good at consistently exercising, I hit a brick wall. Suddenly, I didn't want to exercise any...

Read more »

Marlene Dietrich...another facet of her legend

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihR2NbWkzyDhyphenhyphen30ejwi_JbeI22NvdL2Jj-MMYMreSRdtmyy2HoasNdSamvk20HYuK3SnTA2BCfb4ex1Q3mjdqLiuchTWWXgLvSOWdJ7-2CAVzrQTBVQRlPedHsW2c0q6ps-40b5Ocsl_q_/s1600/blue+angel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihR2NbWkzyDhyphenhyphen30ejwi_JbeI22NvdL2Jj-MMYMreSRdtmyy2HoasNdSamvk20HYuK3SnTA2BCfb4ex1Q3mjdqLiuchTWWXgLvSOWdJ7-2CAVzrQTBVQRlPedHsW2c0q6ps-40b5Ocsl_q_/s400/blue+angel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Marlene Dietrich is one of very few film stars whose career not only spanned 60+ years but who also enjoyed icon status for most of those years. Her life in film began in the early 1920s with silent pictures. It came to a close with Maximillian Schell's 1984 Oscar-nominated documentary, <b>Marlene</b>, in which she speaks but does not appear on camera.</span><br /><a name='more'></a></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/AVvXsEhW0S0JWtdR4zIOA4RiXtMAoO9YmYpFWO8Ptw0ACdisP_RzkPXIYZ2dNGefPpBXu4HCpgdwpRFZJvgtfwIKgTB8bm5QVQAcWnTpP9M8PEXkgIeM9DBgJfRVemkKQHmoNA1yaHJFaF7w5ngh/s1600/marlene+in+living+color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0S0JWtdR4zIOA4RiXtMAoO9YmYpFWO8Ptw0ACdisP_RzkPXIYZ2dNGefPpBXu4HCpgdwpRFZJvgtfwIKgTB8bm5QVQAcWnTpP9M8PEXkgIeM9DBgJfRVemkKQHmoNA1yaHJFaF7w5ngh/s200/marlene+in+living+color.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marlene in the '30s</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">Dietrich shot to fame as Lola Lola in Josef von Sternberg's <b>The Blue Angel</b> (1930). Shortly after the film premiered, she left Germany for the U.S. where she and von Sternberg collaborated on six more films during the 1930s. The first, <b>Morocco</b> (1930), was nominated for four Oscars, including a Best Actress nod for Dietrich. By the end of the decade her career had cooled but was reignited when she co-starred, at von Sternberg’s urging, with James Stewart in the 1939 hit, <b>Destry Rides Again</b>. Although Dietrich continued making films in the 1940s, most were shot before the U.S. entered the war or made after the war ended. Though she appeared in only nine films from 1950 - 1978, several are classics: Hitchcock's <b>Stage Fright</b> (1950), Fritz Lang's <b>Rancho Notorious</b> (1952), Billy Wilder's <b>Witness for the Prosecution</b> (1957), Orson Welles's <b>Touch of Evil</b> (1958) and Stanley Kramer's <b>Judgment at Nuremberg</b> (1961). Her final film role was in <b>Just a Gigolo </b>(1978) starring David Bowie; while the movie is forgettable, her brief appearance is not.</span><br /> <br /><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/AVvXsEiNFSVZuS7zlJIh672UlJMhG_fi6oeFhLCJbAbi2alXnIfVRAnSQ-W1EShz1W8kQkOn1cGj8qXGW3cRZUBlG7UxcuWed-v0Fwbi6j7MUxDh-U4wFoeJkBZeYEDnLOT5GTe5kOI4vCb1HTD6/s1600/o_IO4TsiSperwvHxa%255B1%255D.jpg+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNFSVZuS7zlJIh672UlJMhG_fi6oeFhLCJbAbi2alXnIfVRAnSQ-W1EShz1W8kQkOn1cGj8qXGW3cRZUBlG7UxcuWed-v0Fwbi6j7MUxDh-U4wFoeJkBZeYEDnLOT5GTe5kOI4vCb1HTD6/s320/o_IO4TsiSperwvHxa%255B1%255D.jpg+2.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">chanteuse</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">In 1953, the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas offered Dietrich the unheard of sum of $30,000 a week to perform on stage. Her run was so successful that she was quickly signed for a similar engagement in London. The London show was also a smash and she followed it with a return engagement at the Sahara. This was the beginning of Dietrich's celebrated career (and reinvention) as a high-ticket chanteuse that lasted through the mid-1970s. In 1972 she performed her concert act as a TV special and earned an impressive-for-the-era $250,000 for it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Marlene Dietrich is remembered for her several classic films, her concert career, her breathtaking glamour and her many amorous adventures. But there was another side to the actress that is less well known today... </span><br /><br /><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/AVvXsEgVx9Xh-0DjPbwgtyAwrs3wjQpvf-vixTTIL6sBObX-ap6ZV3HS9ggPIZPEMra4IAoZETbT7wEiQ8o_xDrMR668vsWmGdB8tZ0xFrVGhNzy-X2AMM8XDXMMEQGdnKoyjcN6JQm55ATTpR0F/s1600/Marlene_Dietrich_sit%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVx9Xh-0DjPbwgtyAwrs3wjQpvf-vixTTIL6sBObX-ap6ZV3HS9ggPIZPEMra4IAoZETbT7wEiQ8o_xDrMR668vsWmGdB8tZ0xFrVGhNzy-X2AMM8XDXMMEQGdnKoyjcN6JQm55ATTpR0F/s200/Marlene_Dietrich_sit%255B1%255D.jpg" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World War II on the ground</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">While she was in England in 1937 working on a film, von Ribbentrop, Hitler's ambassador to Great Britain at the time, approached and pressured her to return to Germany. She refused and became a U.S. citizen in 1939. When America entered World War II, Dietrich was one of the first stars to sell war bonds. She entertained troops on front lines all over Europe and in North Africa, appeared at sevicemen's canteens and made anti-Nazi broadcasts in Germany. In addition, Dietrich and other successful Eastern European <span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">émigrés in Hollywood provided both financial assistance and moral support to refugees from the European film community who fled the Nazi onslaught.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br /> <br /><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/AVvXsEggIyFR5pao-PL8zM42la7zKyy7fDxLRiQOYt2bqTU__N4x0QtiwweLgNOgWre_U8ODbOuoC4bKpAhe2W8N8mjB_oxYZ45m0ZMXpzR_CEUHdNmdz7wYkv1ks_nWzSLlaQeq1l6YZEU-sWiU/s1600/marlene+wwii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIyFR5pao-PL8zM42la7zKyy7fDxLRiQOYt2bqTU__N4x0QtiwweLgNOgWre_U8ODbOuoC4bKpAhe2W8N8mjB_oxYZ45m0ZMXpzR_CEUHdNmdz7wYkv1ks_nWzSLlaQeq1l6YZEU-sWiU/s200/marlene+wwii.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World War II with Allied troops</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">The OSS (the CIA of the time) had a Morale Operations (MO) branch that began producing 'black' (propaganda) radio programs in 1943. These programs reached listeners throughout Europe and the Mediterranean and were intended to create discord in the Axis countries. In 1944, the MO began to recruit Hollywood talent to boost the quality of programming on its stations. The MO’s most popular station was <i>Soldatensender</i> (Soldiers' Radio), and one of the most popular songs it played was Dietrich's "Lili Marlene" with 'black' lyrics created especially for the German version. The Nazi government banned the broadcast of the song, but the ban was lifted in the face of a backlash among Axis soldiers. "Lili Marlene" soon became the song played at the end of every <i>Soldantensender </i>broadcast.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">In 1945, the U.S. government awarded Marlene Dietrich the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the first presented. Similarly, France made her a chevalier of the Legion of Honor.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">But Dietrich's largesse did not begin with World War II…</span> <br /> <br /><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/AVvXsEiCI38sWzbJHd0BjyXquxZYWdqd1ikk3v11luxZSm5dAcFP33TTiprqRQDR4LJK9GMYk9sot_i2eseFnU8iLG0Dhb_HU19aw0FXR_axIanMxgZaD9Y3FcDsiMY40hy6hTt3_cxG5lomIdGq/s1600/LGF+-+Marlene+and+JG+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCI38sWzbJHd0BjyXquxZYWdqd1ikk3v11luxZSm5dAcFP33TTiprqRQDR4LJK9GMYk9sot_i2eseFnU8iLG0Dhb_HU19aw0FXR_axIanMxgZaD9Y3FcDsiMY40hy6hTt3_cxG5lomIdGq/s1600/LGF+-+Marlene+and+JG+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Gilbert and Marlene Dietrich</td></tr></tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Arial;">In 1934 Dietrich became romantically involved with one of the great stars of the silent era, John Gilbert. Gilbert's young daughter Leatrice came to know Dietrich through her father. In her 1985 biography of him, <b>Dark Star</b>, <a href="http://classic-film-tv.blogspot.com/2010/08/about-john-gilbertan-interview-with.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Leatrice Gilbert Fountain</span></a><span style="color: #ffd966;"> </span>wrote of Dietrich's kindness to her, particularly after John Gilbert's death in early 1936.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">According to Leatrice, during Dietrich's romance with John Gilbert the actress tried to help revitalize his career as well as his health. She arranged for Gilbert to test for the role of her jewel-thief partner in <b>Desire </b>(1936). Gilbert got the part but unfortunately, shortly after filming began, he suffered a heart attack and was replaced in the role.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />Leatrice recalled visiting her father's house on December 24,1935 and being dazzled by the beautiful Christmas tree, decorated in the German tradition by Dietrich herself. She noted that Dietrich had thoughtfully slipped away that day so she could spend time alone with her father. Just over two weeks later John Gilbert was dead of a heart attack.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Following his funeral, Dietrich contacted Leatrice's mother with information and advice about Gilbert's will that could benefit his daughter. Though her mother was unable to successfully pursue the information Dietrich provided, more important to young Leatrice was the relationship she developed with the actress.</span><br /><br /><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/AVvXsEjhSclSu8T59N4nDdrzVqSN9GGkIwdD9xOkIuRKe9d6ZfOSHdcCySqnXjdQP4zL6hOW-NtSZlT7OuRwpfR12KbJxC2J2-F1YR6JUXARCvSngG6mCfpTe9uZFHo7GT6gbQAE5frCPsdqmG5_/s1600/1_Blonde_Venus_photo-prv%255B1%255D+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSclSu8T59N4nDdrzVqSN9GGkIwdD9xOkIuRKe9d6ZfOSHdcCySqnXjdQP4zL6hOW-NtSZlT7OuRwpfR12KbJxC2J2-F1YR6JUXARCvSngG6mCfpTe9uZFHo7GT6gbQAE5frCPsdqmG5_/s200/1_Blonde_Venus_photo-prv%255B1%255D+cropped.jpg" width="174" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with Cary Grant in Blonde Venus</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">Days after John Gilbert's funeral, Leatrice received an enormous bouquet from Dietrich with a card in her handwriting, "I adored your father. Let me adore you."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">Leatrice Gilbert Fountain wrote in<b> Dark Star</b> that for many years thereafter Dietrich made a point of spending time with her. She remembered Dietrich as a "fairy godmother" and told how the star took her to theater openings, on long walks and talks, baked cookies and cakes for her and generally made her feel like "a princess." All this was at a time when Dietrich was very busy with her film career.</span><br /><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Fountain reflected, "I wonder if Marlene Dietrich realized what a difference her presence made to me." She also recounted stories of Dietrich's early days in Hollywood when word began to circulate that she paid the overdue rent of a studio secretary who'd lost her job, that she picked up the hospital bill for the child of a studio electrician and other such acts of generosity. Fountain emphasized that Dietrich did not take credit for these deeds nor would she talk to Fountain about her efforts to help John Gilbert; Leatrice had to go to other sources to learn the details.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Marlene Dietrich died at age 90 in Paris on May 6, 1992. Her celebrity remains legendary, but her goodwill deserves a place in the Dietrich legend as well.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><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/AVvXsEgToty3Pxu1iH4TVpZkjx3Ep-97EF6gXIDIs7Zewg933E95XJ8j0kCTP0CtJousdyrcwdcdsVhlh394EGFZWvLJta97kecReMdvUu1u9ouEUAseftttyMEDm_U6v6ZqHCi0gLHTNF3O-FJM/s1600/marlene+gigolo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgToty3Pxu1iH4TVpZkjx3Ep-97EF6gXIDIs7Zewg933E95XJ8j0kCTP0CtJousdyrcwdcdsVhlh394EGFZWvLJta97kecReMdvUu1u9ouEUAseftttyMEDm_U6v6ZqHCi0gLHTNF3O-FJM/s320/marlene+gigolo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marlene Dietrich in Just a Gigolo, 1978</td></tr></tbody></table><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div>

Destry Rides Again John Gilbert Josef von Sternberg Just a Gigolo Leatrice Gilbert Fountain Lili Marlene Marlene Dietrich Morocco The Blue Angel Marlene Dietrich...another facet of her legend

 Marlene Dietrich is one of very few film stars whose career not only spanned 60+ years but who also enjoyed icon status for most of those...

Read more »

Why Do Interviewers Use Brainteasers?

Remember when you took the SAT and were asked which direction a tree would fall if it were tied to the ground and then cut at the base? You probably just picked a random answer and thought, “When will I ever need to know that?”<br /><br />At your next job interview, maybe.<br /><br />In recent years, Google and Microsoft have famously made off-the-wall brainteaser questions part of their interview processes. What started as an innovative way to test the creativity and problem-solving abilities of applicants for technology jobs has become popular in other industries. Any position that deals with customers, whether in customer service or sales, might include a brainteaser or two in the interview.<br /><br />Consulting firm Blue Slate Solutions has been known to ask its applicants how many ATMs are in the United States or how many paint gallons are required to paint the exterior of a three-story brownstone. Unless you happen to know the actual answer, you’re probably wondering what to say.<br /><br />Just talk it out, advises Greg Moran, managing partner of Better People, a recruitment outsourcing firm.<br /><br />A precise answer is rarely the goal. “In many cases, hiring managers have told me that they don’t even know the answer.” The interviewers “are interested to see the logic and problem-solving ability of the candidate,” he says.<br /><br />Other questions are used simply to evoke a reaction from a candidate. Moran often asks, “Beside this question, what is the worst interview question you have ever been asked?” He wants to see how a candidate will perform if hired. “It gives our recruiters a good idea of the candidate’s sense of humor while seeing if they can engage with a good story.” He considers it a good test for candidates applying for a sales position.<br /><br />Naturally, many job seekers want to know if they can give a wrong answer to these questions.<br /><br />Yes, you can, Moran warns. “The absolute wrong answer is ‘I don’t know.’ A candidate who answers in this manner has indicated either an inability or unwillingness to think about a complex problem and think through the required elements of an answer.”<br /><br />Although you want to make a good impression and you know the key to interviewing is to prepare yourself for anything, Moran advises against it in this situation. “What candidates need to recognize is that preparation will actually hurt,” he cautions. If you know the answer and give it without talking through your thought process, you haven’t shown the interviewer your problem-solving skills—which was the whole point of the question.<br /><br />Of course, not all companies include these questions in their interviews. Often because they don’t want to put interviewees in an awkward position. According to Susan Whitcomb, author of “Interview Magic,” these questions often make the candidate feel humiliated or demeaned. Companies want to attract candidates, not alienate them.<br /><br />Some interview questions are more about logic than creativity. Moran likes to ask candidates what they will do in their first 90 days on the job to establish the foundation for long-term success in the position. The purpose is to see what ideas they have about networking, not to get a detailed agenda.<br /><br />Eliot Burdett, co-managing partner of Peak Sales Recruiting, advises candidates not to stress over these questions. A responsible employer or recruiter will not place more emphasis on a test than on the rest of the interview process. It’s a supplement, not a deal-breaker, he stresses.<br /><br />A good job test can tell you whether or not the position is a good match for you, Burdett adds. If the answers don’t come easily to you, don’t overthink them in an effort to lie your way into the position. Take them as a signal that you might not be suited for the job or that you might not even want it. Keep looking for one that better suits you.<br /><br />Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

Why Do Interviewers Use Brainteasers?

Remember when you took the SAT and were asked which direction a tree would fall if it were tied to the ground and then cut at the base? You ...

Read more »

Envivo De Michoacan V: The Magnificent 7 Reconsidered

My image of Mexico came mostly from the Magnificent 7 and other such westerns. Hapless peasants in white pajamas and sombreros run about intimidated by sadistic banditos with ammo belts strapped diagonally across their chests until heroic blonde Americans (think Steve McQueen) set things right.<br /><br />Today Mexico looked rather different to me. I visited the oldest University in the Americas, The College of St. Nicholas, founded here in Morelia in 1536. That is precisely 100 years older than Harvard. It is a beautiful place with a magnificent court yard. This college town which today has 100,000 students in programs of higher education is a manufacturer of ideas, a builder of minds.<br /><br />Today I visited the oldest Music Conservatory in the Americas. Yes, here in Morelia once again, founded in 1754. During WW II, great musicians fleeing Europe took refuge here. This is a world class center for classical music. I listened to the students practicing. It’s not all history. Magnificent music is happening here, now.<br /><br />I visited elegant buildings that were turned to public use as libraries and cultural centers after 1767 when the Jesuits who had built them were deported in a single night on orders of King Charles III of Spain. Why? Charles said it was “for urgent, just, and necessary reasons which I reserve in my royal mind.” Many suspect it had to do with Jesuit teaching that all people were equal and sacred in the eyes of God, a humanist doctrine which upset the Spanish caste system. But it was too late. Those ideas had already been planted in the Mexican soul. I walked past the special prison built during the 1810 revolution to hold all the priests, monks, and nuns who were participating in the revolution. It was a prison just for priests, monks, and nuns. It was large.<br /><br />Today I visited a 16th century church built for African slaves in Mexico. I didn’t know there were African slaves in Mexico. There were, but slavery was banned in the Mexican Constitution decades before we abolished slavery.<br /><br />This place is rich in culture, music, architecture, history and religion. A ciudad authentica, the real deal, with much to teach and much to admire. I wonder how that Magnificent 7 image of Mexico may shade my attitude toward the Latinos I encounter in Nevada every day. How has my benighted knowledge of Mexico shaped my assumptions about Latinos? I don’t know the answer to those questions. But I am glad that when I encounter Latinos in Nevada next week, the veil of false stereotypes will have been somewhat lifted from my eyes.

Envivo De Michoacan V: The Magnificent 7 Reconsidered

My image of Mexico came mostly from the Magnificent 7 and other such westerns. Hapless peasants in white pajamas and sombreros run about int...

Read more »

Envivo De Michoacan IV: Mi Historia Es Su Historia

The 3rd largest organ in Latin America was silent at mass on Sunday. That was a disappointment. But the chant was beautiful. There was a good cantor in some invisible place. The people chanted back as directed. The acoustics of the 18th Century baroque building (redecorated in neo-classical style afterthe Revolution) were lively so the resonance was rich. Can sound, vibrating not just through the ears but the whole body, heal and revive the soul? I felt stronger for having been there and grateful for such a good place to say prayers for people and churches in Nevada.<br /><br />After mass, I took myself across the street to the Hotel Virrey y Mendoza for brunch al fresco. It was my second meal away from my host family home and the first “nice meal” out since I’ve been here. I had Huevos Tarascan (Huevos Rancheros with a different salsa and some sliced of avocado -- Tarascan is a word for the Purhepecha – a word now generally out of favor). It was a truly excellent meal (for the rough equivalent of $16 US including tip), a leisurely brunch under the arches of a hotel built in 1744. The hotel has hidden doors and secret passageways where people conspired about revolutionary plots in 1810. The old churches in Morelia are connected by underground tunnels which were dug for the same purpose.<br /><br />The age of the place made me think of our history. I read recently that a disturbing number of young adults do not know from whom the United States won its independence. We cannot know ourselves as individuals unless we know the people and the land to which we belong. We cannot know the people and the land unless we know their story.Without history, politics is like doing psychoanalysis with a victim of amnesia.<br /><br />But even those of us who think we know our history may be missing huge parts. For example, just what was Nevada’s role in the 1776 Revolution which we celebrate each July 4? Nada. We were not part of the original 13 colonies. Do we want to trace our connection to Sam Adams and company through our church history? Better not. Anglicans were on the wrong side of that one, so our bishops skedaddled to Canada. Or is it our genealogy? A few of us can trace some such tie. One of my ancestors was in on the American Revolution, but most were not. Some of my ancestors were still in Germany and others would soon be learning to write from Sequoia. So what is our history if history belongs to the land?<br /><br />Well, we weren’t involved in 1776 because at that time we were part of Mexico, a colony of Spain, not England. Most of the population would have been First Nations people. Spain owned us and governed us but did not pay much attention. Precious metals had not been found here yet, but they had been found further south.<br /><br />Then came the Revolution of 1810 led by revolutionary priests. Fr. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was the first George Washington figure. But he was executed in 1811 and the torch passed to his friend, Fr. Jose´ Mari´a Morelos y Pavo´n. Fr. Morelos simultaneously led the military campaign, formed the first Mexican Congress, and wrote a Constitution that contained provisions comparable to the U.S. Bill of Rights and the 13th and 14th Amendments. A half Spanish, half Indio person, he was his nation’s first real leader. He was eventually captured, then executed by a Spanish firing squad in 1815. This city bears his name. So does the street that runs parallels to the street where I live in Henderson, but I had no idea who Morelos was until now.<br /><br />There were other heroes of that revolution. The bravest and most defiant revolutionary was Maria Gertrudis Bocanega de de Mendoza de Lazo de la Vega (Gerturdis Bocanagra for short, but maybe you noticed she had the same last name as Zorro -- same fight). Gertrudis Bocanegra was the daughter of a Spanish aristocrat (more Zorro parallels, hmmm) who was converted to the cause of the indigenous people by her nanny. After her husband and brother were executed for smuggling guns to the rebels, Gertrudis died a fiery death at the hands of the Spanish army in the public square of Patzcuaro while hundreds of citizens nearly rioted in protest.<br /><br />We were not called Nevada in 1810. That name was given us by the U. S. Commission on Territories in the late 1850’s when we were separated from Utah. In the early 1850’s, maps called the Great Basin “the mystery land” or “the unknown country.” The only places with names were Washoe and later the Comstock. But in 1810, the name for our land was Northern Mexico, and people in Michoacan were fighting and dying for our independence.<br /><br />I love the stories of what happened at Lexington and Concord as much as anyone. I have stood in the Old Manse from which you could have watched the first shots fired. I have visited Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the home of Paul Revere in Boston, the Bunker Hill Monument, and the rest. I claim what happened there as part of the story of my land. But what happened here is part of our story too. If we don’t know this part our how our land came to be what it is today, we are missing a part of who we are as a people.

Envivo De Michoacan IV: Mi Historia Es Su Historia

The 3rd largest organ in Latin America was silent at mass on Sunday. That was a disappointment. But the chant was beautiful. There was a goo...

Read more »

20 weeks

<p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1scxY_nLzejLqzz2AukUj7xHGvRSMDcK_EZ6hQrpX2Z22dVG7jZSralfpdVa8NdxWxFTzZTp_FGrunwKvZ9tsegwWmdJV03gekGETdjUA5Vh41ILOVM_umbHqV2tP3U5Yn9T_Nvuj4Vb/s1600-h/20%20weeks%20-%202.2.11.jpg"><img alt="20 weeks - 2.2.11" border="0" height="403" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVAUXZnx8XiMWm5SC9OdgEXdjXkD56WrNJqQzKlsDeDPKIq-xjNdtFJcoycL_YGqb_ec76tu8Svpn2agQlAL6ODweLtOHiXHsyjf32FRXMlRFDosQiu2HR0Z3Hmx-C6TfXuyg74ivqt3m/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="20 weeks - 2.2.11" width="304"></a>  <strong>Pregnancy Highlights:</strong> </p> <blockquote> <p><strong>How Far Along:</strong> 20 Weeks </p> <p><strong>Size of baby:</strong> Baby Bangert is the size of a cantaloupe </p> <p><strong>Total Weight Gain/Loss:</strong> gained 18lbs </p> <p><strong>Maternity Clothes:</strong> I wear maternity jeans and pants but everything else is regular.  Things are getting tighter though! </p> <p><strong>Gender:</strong> It’s a girl!!! </p> <p><strong>Movement:</strong> Beginning to feel my little girl more lots more these days!  </p> <p><strong>Sleep:</strong> Not too bad, I get up a few times throughout the night to go to the bathroom. I guess it’s preparing me for a newborn! </p> <p><strong>What I miss:</strong> Sleeping on my stomach and a bigger selection of clothes! </p> <p><strong>Cravings:</strong> I don't have specific cravings. I just like to eat! ;) I don’t think ice cream counts, I love that anytime! </p> <p><strong>Symptoms:</strong> Really can’t complain! Feeling pretty well! </p> <p><strong>Best Moment this week:</strong> Finding out & seeing our baby girl! Amazing!</p></blockquote> <p>Last Tuesday we had our ultrasound appointment. Kyle was there (of course) and Aunt Wendi came too! It was so amazing to see that little life inside me!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZXwGqXf71mB4UW2AQ91kwdaQShAfYAlw4kilbtSfePTEgNnDn5y6tsqVl3jnAulXzzm3uRo3LYZ0c_VkwZFIoCsUgM_eQbs58vc4zE1WdXaeWC9KetLY7JbsPo_qWC4XExc_nPfaMad7/s1600-h/1.25.11ultrasound%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="1.25.11 ultrasound" border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4ohCnF7jbnWOBinY7SWdHSDWDTV0VSqWhA_PfwTpCi2iEudaSQPgOYIBXEuN-3UKh24xqipElCQ5AAcD6iqxSQy2ff82NndHBkWIblRBQIvq7PBBFqG6weR0Y_jdqpj0b6SiB1Vig5Fc/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="1.25.11 ultrasound" width="404"></a>Thursday we had our follow up appointment with the Doctor and said she looks perfectly healthy. Kyle got a kick out of her saying “baby looks proportional”! They measured me about 6 days ahead, but wanted to stick with my original due date, maybe that means Baby Girl Bangert will come before June 16th! </p> <p align="center"><strong><em>Nursery Preview!  </em></strong></p> <p align="left">Kyle painted while we were off work over Christmas break. We chose <a href="http://www.restorationhardware.com/">Restoration Hardware</a> “light silver sage” for a color. It’s a light blue/gray. I knew it would (obviously) work for a boy, but thought if we added pink to the room it would look great for a girl too!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwSK9WCv-xDnEANA25QYRRu2XV4wr8VrRTVKQKa8VKYOC0L4DGNQS49NCAl3f4QHF4v5dq8-pbEr6nbU9GxneipsULsW1z3LcP078pXlmoO-ngGDxLJGLX7_2oyirBVpypxXFQax5q6jt/s1600-h/image-6082303950851780%5B4%5D.jpg"><img alt="image-6082303950851780" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6v6QjZ2xucls2zBUXmbl8Fznxr1p4DQqpkW52JXzqtimAhOyiK0Nnu9VFfA7RN7RZSG7K21fhj_xOuT2N_NmTk5XUAv9d8_0uHNRoVQzS1ti1pmwCoRUvcNt1vkVLaq-cTCkNaA4J0pDl/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="image-6082303950851780" width="304"></a> </p> <p align="left">Last weekend Kyle installed a closet organizer in the nursery. I just LOVE how it turned out, I’m all about organizing!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGuSZ4cigmz_uvdr7hj0waILAu22reAHUpxGY8ic3y_XOACCqAyTH39Ods_9IOCnsm0SAjcTyGKWVQpEyFWhuibLDURyrwPuHdnOutpMHGhGcmb73fdQHD9IZocwF0E9UE_m08RnvMOCR_/s1600-h/DSC09772%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09772" border="0" height="403" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUtlp_jF2GI4o8Ge3Bpy8KIHOJrw9aiIzIFFudtrIEGlIwzlK8YDFqDta3jHf8TelZIRxcFyExRkik5YyBjcucjgDqWAQSUKU94E71QjLBkJUZRdxynw_7NTso7mD93s9u0GF5GuyA62m/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09772" width="304"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4axm5b7AISjidmknNh-DbBdB5IMDujcDFl5dDf6xfwlj7gFNm_8r8bZKvae1Zy0HobsTMax31XkdXTcYoK3BMHc-KpzUmK7Nm-BiZ3H4pikNPUlEjJBd0-L0NXM7hwHdxikOV6FjRl4vK/s1600-h/DSC09771%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09771" border="0" height="403" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSd45kiGeuOv17pOZnKOTF2XjlZiF7Vcky4WPD9FxQey482alg6ZPS0nziOzyCrliUSaJ1-9V9wHSlyReaBmx_PAv5Yukg9KKJHEFY4mbxLYLeiSF19SGrgx95YqeIPbcoIe7vKqxfFnHl/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09771" width="304"></a></p> <p align="left">Tuesday afternoon Kyle & I got off work early because of a snow storm, so I worked another nursery project. I REALLY, REALLY wanted to purchase a new dresser, but we’re trying to do the nursery on a budget! So we are using a dresser we already had, but I wanted to “dress” it up a bit. I added some pop of color inside the drawers. Idea courtesy of <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/03/nursery-progress-lining-our-dresser-drawers/">Young House Love</a>! We are also going to add some handles too! <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="521" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="middle" width="259"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0TWh-BSq0DGeWYwVeX3UWqH580-diXMYplbDawiYUvAW6HFYTDa-kATT0YFTC11sWfrsdMiG2i3dIGDDy1o3f1wNyxmBC_SPwYWyD1uF1KfkKFH_VRKVF5K6Q4ygOCgMhwVUfmpoPChb8/s1600-h/DSC09758%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09758" border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9FT8E4VpwKE54F_91TIlzqyvg2fv97xPyFz4HPCO43nQGS8d9dY-1UE0xJ1pfBtziNRQjAy5WyLrRdvYwZM18h8tJryC4iPW-ogBT_SSlQhsXjCaV9fKIUif0wiI_A5qdqYXNSDP_zTM6/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09758" width="254"></a> <p> </p></td> <td valign="top" width="260"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCV9INMkbXfaMbUi45Tq1j2_SFvYAJyh3NKmb2NsoQcLCiTNjxqG2fyEKvR_y8n-WLk5LO8-mEuBGp1lLd7GZKmna-zoqNgNOPdwVl7CI6zj1oe9FrZXcm44xjEcIPk9AfHBpd77v4XFEi/s1600-h/DSC09760%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09760" border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tBWqyvo8aVSOyvwAEfxt8w7A1bSy9DBj5vwBpdwgR0RyH3UOKJsZzwOgNvrehI3dqFhArOLTQf1EvfJ59K6PANfZNkohXzF0OuL1bT2hSLXLDTaOnYTw6RatuucpvE3IIIOIcfVp6hdm/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09760" width="254"></a></td></tr></tbody></table>Here is a sneak peak of the bedding. This is something I purchased from <a href="www.potterybarnkids.com">Pottery Barn Kids</a> a few years ago on super clearance. I think it was back in 2006 I had <em>MAJOR</em> baby fever, but after lots of chats with Kyle we decided it just wasn’t the right time yet. But since we’re having a girl we still get to use the bedding!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRhYN7CSDx7yZ7xFx2Hg86ZUTA92jWrIq2J7m8yqLGpPw_-0dsFzVY0dzD8c4pjussJ0FwTZYtxBvFai7itN6g28mQjLidXP64D4S8zg3nN2-fr4N__mjHqhi3wLdAAjFeYdJbdu7v-58/s1600-h/DSC09761%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09761" border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha70b6dQM4h7nmsiR-Lx4rv4ryyA48xVmClNpCr3D2QBs1Y-ILueAUPgxbYQbxoFvag1MLE1a91C-O8Gy_5T9Xs6BHL7RtrWlF_vuZZcm6sJ3V1xX6oHxB-0XFnCwaSlqFk5CTKcXL5pj2/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09761" width="304"></a> And you can see from this picture too that we have a white crib. Kyle set up the crib over our Christmas break also. Last weekend I washed all her bedding & made the bed! The crib was a generous gift from some friends who moved out of state a few years ago and their little guy was ready to move to a big bed. We purchased their crib mattress for only $25 (they paid over $200) I guess it pays to plan ahead! </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>That’s all for now friends! Kyle & I are enjoying our snow day off work today. Going to do a few more projects in the nursery!! :)</p>

20 weeks

  Pregnancy Highlights: How Far Along: 20 Weeks Size of baby: Baby Bangert is the size of a cantaloupe Total Weight Gain/Loss: gaine...

Read more »

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

<p>These are a new favorite in our house! Very yummy & “healthified” to boot!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvtOUfy_G0KR7yDymfaqRbCyZi17mWNEBjvmCEFuX8SLfLnO3Lnpc7JHwyFpCOflG5I3S9v5igY-CKEIFTrpmIbenRN_05vDrvn2UezCdkYscYEh2wPY49tsucZ3lxoNwi-pDSSUp6fcj/s1600-h/DSC09756%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09756" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4x44ZvvQfOYs3oLXJbv6ymFrOhnl-nj104ENgPjS7NnE-UVT2rUz9a8BUW9RYD6UB4hNpFWXJSSmKREVZzsrmeF7pl4aJDT7a5pb2xU9nrQCkiPla_736wZghFwUbRIGjc55v6NL4mkQ/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09756" width="404"></a></p> <ul> <li>1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour</li> <li>2/3 cup sugar</li> <li>1 teaspoon baking powder</li> <li>1/2 teaspoon baking soda</li> <li>1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon</li> <li>1/4 teaspoon salt</li> <li>2 to 3 medium mashed very ripe bananas</li> <li>3 egg whites</li> <li>1/4 cup canola oil</li> <li>1/4 cup skim milk</li> <li>1 teaspoon vanilla</li> <li>1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips</li></ul> <p><strong><em>Topping</em></strong></p> <ul> <li>1 tablespoon sugar</li> <li>1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon</li></ul> <ol> <li>Heat oven to 375 F. Spray bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray, or line with paper baking cups.</li> <li>In large bowl, mix flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and salt.</li> <li>In medium bowl, beat bananas, egg whites, oil, milk and vanilla with fork until smooth. Stir into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.</li> <li>In small bowl, mix topping ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over batter in cups.</li> <li>Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove muffins from pan to cooling rack.</li></ol> <p><em><strong>Nutrition Facts:</strong> Calories 210; Total Fat 6g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 160mg; Total Carbohydrate 33g (Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 18g); Protein 3g </em></p> <p><em>Source: <a href="http://www.eatbetteramerica.com">www.eatbetteramerica.com</a></em></p> <p><em><strong>PS Stay tuned tomorrow for a baby/pregnancy update and a nursery sneak peak!</strong></em></p>

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are a new favorite in our house! Very yummy & “healthified” to boot! 1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour 2/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon bak...

Read more »

Baseball...It Can't Come Fast Enough

I sit here in the midst of a giant blizzard pining for baseball.<br /><br />It didn't take much for me to get into this stupor. On Facebook I noticed that 97.1 The Ticket out of Detroit was having a "Tiger Talk" with Pat Caputo and Dan Dickerson (Tigers radio play-by-play guy) tonight. Since my plans had fallen through thanks to the snow, I found my evening free.<br /><br />As I continued to listen, I started roaming the Internet for other Tigers information. And as I found more, I eventually crossed leagues and started looking at video for my National League team, the Milwaukee Brewers.<br /><br />Watching the videos, listening to the radio, and reading the articles made me pine for the day when I can turn on the radio any night - regular radio or Internet radio - and listen to one of my two favorite teams.<br /><br />I remember last year having that eternal optimism at the end of March - I seriously thought that the Tigers and the Brewers could meet in the World Series. On one of my many lovely spring walks, I actually debated <i>If they ever met in the World Series, who would I root for? </i>(it took me two seconds to decide: the Tigers)<br /><br />Of course, hope springs eternal, but April brings reality. Eventually as spring segued into summer I settled into a mood where just listening to them play made my day. Dan and Jim (Tigers) and Bob and Cory (Brewers) were great at bringing the game into my living room or car, and their relaxed voices always made it seem like they were talking right to me!<br /><br />Now that it's been over four months since my last baseball game with these two teams, I'm starting to go a little crazy. It became evident to me when I heard about the Tigers' opening day plans and immediately scheduled a trip home around it, so I could listen to the game on the radio as I drove!<br /><br />But even though I'm making all these plans, it still doesn't change the fact that Opening Day is still two months away. So the snow still falls around me, the weather is still bitterly cold, and the drifts pile up.<br /><br />But it doesn't mean I can't dream that it's already spring!

Baseball...It Can't Come Fast Enough

I sit here in the midst of a giant blizzard pining for baseball. It didn't take much for me to get into this stupor. On Facebook I notic...

Read more »

In Praise of Winter

<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter is often when we have very mixed emotions about the weather.  It can be gray and bleak, bitter cold and damp, and even a bit treacherous on occasion.  But, I still say that living in a region that still has four seasons is a treat.  I want to share an essay written by Paul Schiff, retired wildlife educator, that was in our Wild Ohio Magazine over 18 years ago.  I think his sentiment still rings true today.  Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><em><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In Praise of Winter</span></strong></em><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">by Paul Schiff</span><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Winter. Cold, wet, snowy winter.  Bleak, gray, barren, lifeless, depressing winter.  Poetry and song dismiss winter in favor of themes like the good ol' summertime and autumn leaves. It's difficult to find praise of winter, other than when it's referenced as a foreteller of spring.  And yet...</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There are bright sunny days after a new snow, rosy cheeked children with sleds, snowmen, rabbit tracks to follow and winter birds at the feeder; winter has its moments.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For those of us who spend most of our leisure waking moments in the out-of-doors, winter becomes a challenge.  With the challenge met and feet snug in warm comfortable boots, winter is perhaps nature's most revealing time of year.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You can see things in winter that are hidden in other times.  Hidden by leaves and the dominance of green and growing things.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Last January I saw a red fox sunning itself on a hay bale left in the field.  If the fox hadn't raised its head I might not have noticed. There was a new snow and the red of the fox in the spotlight of winter sun peeking through the clouds was remarkable.  You won't see that in June.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'd walked the day for the fun of seeing tracks and other winter marvels in the new snow.  I followed a pheasant trail until the bright colored bird flushed with a loud cackle from a bittersweet tangle in an old fencerow.  I automatically raised an imaginary shotgun and said "Bang" as my line of sight swung in front of the bird.  Pheasant season was out.  The old boy was safe.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A few berries that hung yet on the bittersweet looked like Christmas tree ornaments.  Juncos and song sparrows played hopscotch down the fencerow in front of me as I stopped for a closer look.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fencerows are neat.  They provide food and travel lanes for wildlife of all kinds, especially in the winter.  But they are a landscape feature that is quickly disappearing in favor of larger and larger fields for monocultures of corn and beans.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You can walk the riparian corridor of a small stream more easily in winter.  You can see where a mink explored a root tangle and where other animals have visited any unfrozen trickle for a drink.  You can see squirrel leaf nests high among the branches of streamside cottonwoods and sycamores, and where deer have nipped buds and left their hoof prints in the mud or snow.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There is of course the occasional deep snow or severe blow--the winter of "76 or the 1950 snow (I don't remember this one, but I've been told it was a doozy).  These memories and the potential of extremes make winter weather watching exciting.  The first thing I do when the weather is at its foulest, is to find some excuses to venture out.  We should all experience this and imagine what it might have been like before the time of flip the switch for creature comfort; and what it's like for wildlife.</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Wildlife can have a tough time in winter.  When deep snow or freezing rain cover available food survival is a struggle.  Of course wildlife survival is a struggle all year long.  That's part of the plan.  And in truth, wildlife has survived Midwest winters for centuries before people were around to worry about it.  The axe and plow doom more wildlife than the most severe winter.  </span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So dress right, eat your oatmeal.  Just like wildlife, our choices are to adapt or migrate.  If we choose to adapt and explore winter for all it's worth, we should find plenty to like.  And as long as the present rotation of seasons includes just one winter, I wouldn't trade it for any other season.</span></em>

In Praise of Winter

Winter is often when we have very mixed emotions about the weather.  It can be gray and bleak, bitter cold and damp, and even a bit treacher...

Read more »

There's one thing I'm really good at

I've been focusing a lot on the negative aspects of my weight loss journey. I often talk about the things I don't do right. It's a never-ending list. I don't always track my food, I eat too much, sometimes I eat things I shouldn't. I don't do this right and I don't do that right. Blah. Blah. Blah.<br /><br />However, in spite of all the things I don't do right, there's one thing I excel at doing  when it comes to a healthy lifestyle and that's exercise. <br /><br />I'm fifty-five years old and throughout my life I've had phases of exercise craziness. I would pick some exercise, such as high-impact aerobics, in my twenties when all my girlfriends were doing it. Or running because I thought that was what all the cool people did and it burned the most calories. Or or weight lifting when I worked at the police department with all the buff police officers and the department had it's own gym. Or whatever exercise struck my fancy, and I'd go full throttle with it.<br /><br />My problem was that I would only do it for a few weeks or maybe a few months, then I'd completely stop, cold turkey. My reasoning was simple. It hurt. Who wants to do something that hurts? I personally don't like pain and have a rather low threshold for it. <br /><br />On February 12, 2008 I started Weight Watchers. At the same time I started going to my gym four times a week. I had been a member since 1996 and had rarely used my membership. After about six months I started going five to six times a week. Now I ofte go for fourteen stretches without a day off. Although recently I'm trying to cut back to taking at least one off day a week.<br /><br />What happened to change me? How did I go from hating to exercise to not hating it so much to almost liking it? How did I go from a couch potato to working out six days a week, 60 to 90 -minute workouts each day?<br /><br />What happened to snap me out of my inactive lifestyle is something I've written about before. You can read about it <a href="http://diana135.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-story-and-my-trigger.html">here</a>. Basically, I felt like hell at 240 pounds. I thought I might be dying, and I might have died if I didn't do something about my physical condition. Since I really didn't want to die yet, I had to start exercising and lose weight. Let's see...death or exercise? Or perhaps a wheelchair or exercise? It was a pretty easy decision. <br /><br /><strong>How I started</strong><br />When I started exercising February 12, 2008 at 240 pounds, it was HORRIBLE. I'm talking real pain. I was miserable even just walking on the treadmill. I quickly gave up the treadmill and went to the elliptical. It was still hard, but I could set my own pace without being totally embarrassed. That was my big fear, being embarrassed at the gym. That's so stupid because really, no one gives a damn what you do at the gym. I barely even look at anyone else, because I'm totally focused on myself. <br /><br /><strong>When I absolutely hated going to the gym</strong><br />For the first two years I had a "five-minute rule". I decided right at the beginning that I would exercise in the morning. I knew if I tried to work out at night I'd find any excuse in the book to miss a workout. So I started getting up at 4:45 a.m. and was at the gym by 5:15 a.m. There were many mornings when I really thought I'd just rather die than go to the gym. The problem was that I probably would die if I didn't exercise. I decided to start my "five-minute rule". <br /><br />It's really simple, when I would wake up and think "I'm exhausted, I don't want to get up and go to the gym. I don't want to exercise and feel pain! I hate this!", this is what I would tell myself:<br /><br /><em>"Diana, get up, get dressed. Get in the car. Drive to the gym. Go inside. Get on any piece of equipment you want. Exercise five minutes. If you're so miserable you can't stand it, you have permission to go home. Stop thinking about it and just do it."</em><br /><br />Just knowing I could go home if I wanted to, took away a lot of the pressure. I had an out if I needed it. In three years I've only left the gym one time after five minutes. I had bronchitis and really had no business exercising.<br /><br />The funny thing is that I haven't even thought about my five-minute rule for months. Now I just tell myself to stop thinking about it and go. I rarely give it much thought. I just do it. After three years, it's become a part of my life. I can't imagine ever stopping.<br /><br />I have more tips for getting into an exercise frame of mind, but it's almost 9:30 p.m. 5:15 a.m. comes really early so I have to go to bed now.  More about exercise tomorrow.

There's one thing I'm really good at

I've been focusing a lot on the negative aspects of my weight loss journey. I often talk about the things I don't do right. It's...

Read more »

What not to wear - 5 interview attire don'ts

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/xj/ar5l7bj6dgv0xxd8fcxj.gif?time=12/8/2010%202:54:44%20pm" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/xj/ar5l7bj6dgv0xxd8fcxj.gif?time=12/8/2010%202:54:44%20pm" /></a></div>If you're headed to an employment interview and want to dress to impress, don't wear a cat suit, a jogging suit or "Star Trek" t-shirt. These were among the strangest interview outfits cited by human resources managers recently polled by Robert Half International.<br /><br />You may think to yourself, "I'd never wear anything that crazy!" But even subtle mistakes when it comes to your wardrobe can damage your chances of landing the job you seek.<br /><br />Here are some interview attire no-nos:<br /><br />Don't take casual to the extreme. Take a lesson from the job seeker who made the mistake of wearing sweatpants to an interview: You will not be taken seriously if you look like you just strolled in from the gym.<br /><br />Even if a company has a very laid-back atmosphere, maintaining a professional look is essential. It provides instant credibility and signals to the interviewer that you take the position seriously. If you're working with a recruiter, ask him or her for insight into the interview dress code. When in doubt, err on the conservative side and wear a suit, sport coat or blazer.<br /><br />Don't overdo it. You don't want the most distinctive thing about you to be the scent of your cologne still lingering in interviewer's office hours after you've left. Avoid overpowering fragrances; many people are sensitive (and even allergic) to perfumes and colognes.<br /><br />The same guidelines apply to makeup and jewelry. While these aspects of your wardrobe can allow you express your personality, be judicious in your choices. Less is usually more.<br /><br />Don't forget about comfort. Most people are already nervous enough during the interview. Don't increase your propensity to sweat by wearing a plastic skirt, like one individual cited in the survey.<br /><br />Similarly, avoid wearing clothes that itch or constrict your movements. You want to exude confidence during an interview, not look like you have a rash or can't breathe. A well-fitting outfit also can put you at ease.<br /><br />Test-drive your clothing choices ahead of time to ensure everything fits well and makes you feel good about your appearance. This is especially important if it's been a while since you've donned your interview suit. Repair or replace anything that is torn or soiled.<br /><br />Another tip: Dress in layers so you can be at ease regardless of the temperature. If you show up in Bermuda shorts, as one candidate referenced in the survey did, you might spend the whole meeting shivering under an air conditioning vent.<br /><br />Don't show too much skin. One job candidate we heard about arrived to the interview in a micro-miniskirt and fishnet stockings. Another wore a leather vest without a shirt underneath. If you want the job, avoid attire that is more fitting for the club than the office. Midriff-baring t-shirts, low-rise pants or mini-anything should be shoved back in the closet.<br /><br />Don't avoid the mirror. Conduct a final head-to-toe assessment before leaving the house to ensure everything -- including your hair, nails and shoes -- is presentable. Do the same when you get to the interviewer's office. A quick trip to the restroom will allow you to make final adjustments before meeting with the hiring manager.<br /><br />Remember, when it comes to attire, simple is best. What you wear won't get you the job, but it may take you out of the running. In the end, it's best to focus attention on your abilities, not your favorite funky shirt, shoes or skirt.<br /><br />Robert Half International is the world's first and largest specialized staffing firm with a global network of more than 350 offices worldwide. For more information about our professional services, please visit www.roberthalf.com. For additional career advice, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/roberthalf.

What not to wear - 5 interview attire don'ts

If you're headed to an employment interview and want to dress to impress, don't wear a cat suit, a jogging suit or "Star Trek&q...

Read more »

SHADOW OF A DOUBT's "Ann Newton"...Today...

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; 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/AVvXsEiPHoj-LQLc8WFu4HrR5WR9zWG4K-h5gzHgM1b30UTfG5uW3wdSpz203EKSzCy77wlhfllqod0DsD49HuykX5Hy2WmPHTBdw6aQMbqXSuhqKTlziIBopC_OCICmVNLQYNo3XkolHryqCAJ4/s1600/Edna+and+Hitch+2+resized+small+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPHoj-LQLc8WFu4HrR5WR9zWG4K-h5gzHgM1b30UTfG5uW3wdSpz203EKSzCy77wlhfllqod0DsD49HuykX5Hy2WmPHTBdw6aQMbqXSuhqKTlziIBopC_OCICmVNLQYNo3XkolHryqCAJ4/s400/Edna+and+Hitch+2+resized+small+cropped.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edna and Hitch</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">While doing research for a blog on <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b> last year I unearthed information about Edna May Wonacott Green who portrayed Ann Newton, the younger sister in the 1943 film. I wrote a letter asking Edna if she'd be interested in being interviewed and a little while later received an email from her saying "yes." We had a lengthy telephone conversation soon after and on Edna's 78th birthday, February 6, 2010, the first part of our interview was posted at <i>The Classic Film & TV Cafe</i> as "Happy Birthday, Edna May." Part 2 posted a few days later (<a href="http://classic-film-tv.blogspot.com/2010/02/happy-birthday-edna-may.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Part 1 link</span></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">, </span><a href="http://classic-film-tv.blogspot.com/2010/02/happy-birthday-edna-may_10.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Part 2 link</span></a>). The blog also posted later at TCM's Classic Film Union fan site. <br /><a name='more'></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9QuBheQXrs2nAfluu0iGl7W1pJIChNvXhSjc5kG1r_4_smF28K4fat07bAlN_xzUsY8Ut6PDQIE_5q0yIClMWjuD-zkrkrWSML4s1yrEzt29NTCgP8fLzTpIyNL5uk1BTBxvyLO4Ve_R/s1600/Edna+now+resized+and+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9QuBheQXrs2nAfluu0iGl7W1pJIChNvXhSjc5kG1r_4_smF28K4fat07bAlN_xzUsY8Ut6PDQIE_5q0yIClMWjuD-zkrkrWSML4s1yrEzt29NTCgP8fLzTpIyNL5uk1BTBxvyLO4Ve_R/s200/Edna+now+resized+and+cropped.jpg" width="145" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edna Green today</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Edna Green is a truly genuine, intelligent and warm woman whose childhood was extraordinary. It occurred to me that the local paper where she now lives might be interested so I emailed the paper's features editor suggesting a piece about her. I included a link to my interview so he could get an idea of Edna's story. He was interested but said he liked what I'd written and asked for permission to reprint it. It was my turn to say "yes"...and in March of last year, Edna got the front page of the features section of a Sunday edition of the <i>Yuma Sun</i> (the interview was also posted with the online edition). But wait, there's more...</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I submitted our interview to <i>Classic Images</i> - and it was accepted - for the journal's glossier sister publication, <i>Films of the Golden Age</i> and appears in the new issue - #63, Winter 2010 - 2011. It's an eight-page spread with many pictures from Edna's personal collection (a few are shown here), several taken on the set of <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b>. According to Wikipedia, TCM's "Robert Osborne has gone on record proclaiming <i>Films of the Golden Age</i> is one of his favorite publications."  </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: right;"></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last weekend Edna and I, who have stayed in touch since our initial interview, talked about events in her life over the past year.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwqEsM3AYidoAr7xxDxNEAK_ShftzsWexdkvXsYpIzfJNooGSRC5TYjUT_F0W84Ozv4efJCrGVXobDuKSWXTZekC62452q_AQ32ogDDaHKsvNRPjw7RYAtOT2lxfe42bLzhV47p-cAIsz/s1600/Edna+with+Martha+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwqEsM3AYidoAr7xxDxNEAK_ShftzsWexdkvXsYpIzfJNooGSRC5TYjUT_F0W84Ozv4efJCrGVXobDuKSWXTZekC62452q_AQ32ogDDaHKsvNRPjw7RYAtOT2lxfe42bLzhV47p-cAIsz/s320/Edna+with+Martha+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edna with Martha O'Driscoll on <i>Under Western Skies</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Once our interview appeared Edna began to hear from fans all over the U.S., Canada and...the world (Belgium, England, France, Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden). The letters she receives usually include a photo of her printed from the Internet and a request that she sign it. Edna still averages about three letters a week and reports that most are interested in <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b>, but some even mention <b>Under Western Skies</b>, a 1945 film that co-starred Noah Beery and Martha O'Driscoll. One young American girl wrote asking for advice on how to get into the movies. Edna responds to all who write her and in the girl's case emphasized that it's been nearly 70 years since she was "discovered," and that Hollywood has changed dramatically since then...Edna is a little surprised (and pleased) that so many of those who contact her are young people.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After Edna's interview appeared in the <i>Sun</i> she began to receive invitations from local community groups to speak about her years as a child actress. So far she has led two such programs and has a third coming up soon. She brings her memorabilia and scrapbooks and talks about her experiences on <b>Shadow of a Doubt</b>, <b>The Bells of St. Mary's</b> and the other films on which she worked during the 1940s. </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Edna's life has also opened up over this last year in an arena unrelated to her Hollywood heyday. When her husband died of cancer a few years ago, Edna became interested in diet and nutrition. She attended <i>Food for Life</i> classes offered by <i>The Cancer Project</i> and was soon part of a small group of women who regularly met to share ideas and recipes. Eventually Edna was leading a class of 30+ men and women who still meet once a week on Mondays. Edna is committed to a plant-based diet and claims she feels better than she has in decades. She is now leading two additional classes a week and her crusade to promote healthy eating was recently covered by the <i>Yuma Sun</i>. <a href="http://www.yumasun.com/articles/diet-66578-green-recipes.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Click here for link</span></a>. Following this latest newspaper coverage, Edna was contacted by a local judge in charge of a rehab center who is interested in incorporating healthy eating into his program and has asked for her assistance.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Edna's childhood could be called magical, but she left the movie business while still young and led a normal life in the intervening years. It seems somehow fitting that she has come full circle and is once again in the spotlight - not only because of interest in her onetime movie career, but also because of the work she is doing to help others in her community.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; 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/AVvXsEjYAusZU0vnEEhOGXkj9lwAvxFo8cXGh4R1VhHz3ZpTnTR44EzqH1M-YNrjxt9aYUyLKt0sxy_U4fHZX3rVqvpf6VMFA-utFQtz419Wi7H5aFH-3xowYQHMNgkIlhIcdmdIMPTgMeRnkAVK/s1600/FGA+63+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAusZU0vnEEhOGXkj9lwAvxFo8cXGh4R1VhHz3ZpTnTR44EzqH1M-YNrjxt9aYUyLKt0sxy_U4fHZX3rVqvpf6VMFA-utFQtz419Wi7H5aFH-3xowYQHMNgkIlhIcdmdIMPTgMeRnkAVK/s400/FGA+63+cropped.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Films of the Golden Age</i> Winter 2010/2011,<span style="color: #990000;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/contact/"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-small;">click here</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> to go to site</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div>

Alfred Hitchcock Edna May Wonacott Films of the Golden Age Shadow of a Doubt The Lady Eve (author) SHADOW OF A DOUBT's "Ann Newton"...Today...

Edna and Hitch While doing research for a blog on Shadow of a Doubt last year I unearthed information about Edna May Wonacott Green who por...

Read more »

Woulda, shoulda, coulda

From WiseGeek.com:<br /><br />"For many of us, there is a clear distinction between what actually happened and what we <em>wished</em> would have happened in a given situation. Sometimes people realize a number of options they could have or should have taken instead of the action they actually took. This feeling of regret or second-guessing is summed up in the expression <em>woulda coulda shoulda."</em> <br /><br />A friend of mine made a new year's resolution to stop her "woulda coulda shoulda" habit. Each time she says one of these words she has to put a quarter in a jar. She then proceeded to tell me about her vacation, and said "we should have made our reservations....". She stopped, and said "whoops! Another quarter!".<br /><br />It's so easy to slip into a pattern of regret, where we wish we'd made different choices. We often criticize ourselves for making bad choices, thinking we could have, should have, done things differently. I often do this to myself, then I proceed to berate myself for the bad choices I made when I know better. Does this do me any good? Absolutely not. If anything, it perpetuates a feeling of defeat and that I'm just not good enough or smart enough to lose weight. It makes me feel weak and helpless to dwell on my failures. It serves no real purpose. <br /><br />I've decided I'm done with the past. I posted recently that 2010 was a lost year. I didn't gain weight, I didn't lose weight. Now January 2011 is a lost month. I continued my no gain, no lose pattern.. <br /><br />It's time for me to stop looking back at my failures and time to start looking forward. I have the Big Climb in exactly seven weeks. On March 20th, I'll be climbing 1,311 stairs (69 floors). I can't cancel or just not show up for this event. I'm the team captain, and many of the team members are coworkers. As a team captain I'm required to be present. It would be not be cool of me to drop out, it's not an option.<br /><br />I call 2010 my lost year, starting and ending at the same weight, 180. Now January 2011 is another lost month. Starting and ending at 180 pounds. Not exactly where I'd hope to be, but not at the 239 pounds I started at February 19, 2008.<br />The good news, February is notoriously my month to lose weight. I've started many successful diets in February. In fact, February 19 will mark three years of Weight Watcher meetings. I don't know why it's my month, perhaps because spring seems like it's just around the corner and spring is my season (with summer a close second). Spring means skimpier clothing, and right now, none of my size 10 summer clothing fits. <br /><br />Moving forward now...

Woulda, shoulda, coulda

From WiseGeek.com: "For many of us, there is a clear distinction between what actually happened and what we wished would have happened...

Read more »

Disney Documentaries Divert the Dream and Delves into Depression

I am a big Disney fan, and love many things that come out of that company: the Parks, the movies, the channel, and other things, too. Recently I heard about three documentaries that were coming out that were about topics not usually discussed among Disney: one was about Walt Disney's goodwill trip to South America in the 1940s, another was about the time in Disney Animation between 1984-1994, and the third was about the life of the Sherman brothers. All three of these were hailed by critics, so that interested me even more. A Disney documentary that was receiving good press like that? I had to check it out.<br /><br />Luckily all three came out on DVD at the same time in December (and also appeared OnDemand with Comcast), so I was able to watch all three. And man, these are not your normal Disney fluff, that's for sure. This is all about the happy times, but also about the sad times too.<br /><br />I am happy that people thought these were good topics to present, before it got too far out of people's minds. I say this in particular for the Sherman brothers' story - both of the "Boys" are in their 80s now, and to hear their story out of both of their mouths was amazing.<br /><br />I enjoyed all these movies, but all three left me with a slightly sour taste. When one feeds on Disney for too long, it is kind of difficult to see that there is reality behind the dreams and fantasy.<br /><br />Let's start with <b>Waking Sleeping Beauty</b>, which chronicles Disney Animation from the mid-80s to the mid-90s. The Disney movies that came out of this time (especially the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and the Lion King) really helped shape my childhood. I thought this movie would talk more about how those movies were developed, the voice actors, how the characters were shaped, and so on.<br /><br />Instead, most of the movie talked about the power struggle between Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Roy E. Disney. With each triumph, those three had to ruin it with their quest to be top dog in Disney Animation. And left in the wake of their storm was all the poor animators and directors and producers who just wanted to make good movies.<br /><br />I was really hoping to enjoy this movie - and when the movie focused on the animators and the goofy stuff that happens, it was enjoyable. It was too bad that the height of the animation had to have so much negativity going on in the background.<br /><br />I watched <b>Walt and El Groupo</b> during Christmas vacation, and that movie had lots of fun aspects. It was fun to watch, especially since I had, in the past eight months, watched <i>Saludos Amigos </i>and <i>The Three Caballeros. </i>They showed how parts of those movies were inspired by the travels that Disney did with his animators.<br /><br />Yes, the trip was basically a goodwill trip so that South America wouldn't join the Nazis, but it seemed like the welcome parties from all the countries involved were very willing to show Walt and his crew the fantastic parties that they could throw.<br /><br />I liked listening to the letters that the animators' children read in the documentary, and I also liked seeing the real-life inspirations side-by-side with the animation that was used.<br /><br />The saddest part was at the end, when it turns out that this big research trip churned out very little results. They set it up for this big triumph, then at the end the South Americans interviewed said that very little of the research was used in the movie.<br /><br />It was nice seeing lots of video of Walt Disney, though. It made me want a bigger documentary out there featuring just Walt. I'm going to have to look that up...<br /><br />The final movie I just watched tonight. It's about the Sherman brothers, and it's called <b>The Boys</b>. Out of the three documentaries, this was the best one, in my opinion.<br /><br />The son of each brother got together and documented the lives of their fathers and their careers spanning their entire lives. Both Dick and Bob Sherman are still alive, and it chronicles how these two men who did so much together now live halfway around the world from each other and don't speak to each other any more.<br /><br />When they were honored with a window on Main Street in Disneyland last year, I was really confused why only Dick Sherman was at the special ceremony they had. But watching this, it helped me to understand it a little better, but was still sad. To see two brothers feel like they had no connection with each other is very depressing. I have brothers and can't fathom how they would just choose not to be around each other.<br /><br />That said, the movie is not just about the fall of their relationship. It also shows the <i>thousands</i> of songs that these two brothers wrote together. I had no idea how many songs they wrote for Disney and for other companies, too! They showed clips of the movies, they showed Dick pounding the song on the piano, they showed Bob and Dick kind of "composing" together, and they interviewed singers and other Disney honchos. The mood was far lighter than I thought it was going to be, but still, at the end I was sad.<br /><br />I am still happy that Disney is willing to put out movies like this that pull back the curtain on what's going on while they're making the magic. To me, it was quite the eye opener. If you are curious about any of the events that are chronicled in these movies, I would urge you strongly to see these movies. They are very well made and have different effects that enhance the movies more than usual.<br /><br />Just be prepared to suspend your infallible Disney beliefs for a few hours.

Disney Documentaries Divert the Dream and Delves into Depression

I am a big Disney fan, and love many things that come out of that company: the Parks, the movies, the channel, and other things, too. Recent...

Read more »

How to answer, "Tell me a little about yourself."

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/7t/ar5l0xq6szf88r05d47t.gif?time=12/10/2010%205:37:35%20pm" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/7t/ar5l0xq6szf88r05d47t.gif?time=12/10/2010%205:37:35%20pm" /></a></div>To a painter, an untouched canvas holds unlimited possibility for a bold new creation. But for each artist, the potential for something great is counterweighed by the potential for unparalleled failure.<br /><br />Similarly, excitement and anxiety loom over job interviews. When you present yourself to an employer, you hope all the right words come out and you woo them. You only practice the perfect responses to questions, never the wrong answers. But in the back of your mind you know that you might end up sounding like a terrible candidate who no employer will ever hire, even if you're actually the perfect person for the job.<br /><br />For a job seeker, the blank canvas is the open-ended question. When the right answer requires more than a yes or a no, job seekers need to take advantage of the freedom they have with their responses, not fear it. But perhaps no question intimidates job seekers more than "So, tell me a little about yourself."<br /><br />You have many ways to answer, and the best response might depend on the stage of your career.<br /><br />David Copperfield you are not<br /><br />When Charles Dickens begins the tale of David Copperfield, the novel's namesake ruminates on his life. Where and when he was born and what he's to become. Leave that specificity and personal information to classic literature or your personal ads. Employers don't want to know about your childhood. They're concerned with your professional qualifications and any history that's relevant to the position.<br /><br />Here is some information you don't want to blurt out when asked to tell a little about yourself:<br /><br />· A brief summary of your childhood<br /><br />· Your dislike of your current boss and your desire to get a new job ASAP<br /><br />· The details of your current divorce proceedings<br /><br />· Your passionate religious and political beliefs<br /><br />· The fact that you're probably moving in six months and are just look for a temporary job.<br /><br />Employers don't care that you're the youngest of three children and played the bassoon in junior high. This personal information might naturally come out during conversation, but it's not what you want to lead with. Wherever you are in your career, remember that employers want to know what skills you bring and how you will help their businesses.<br /><br />If you're in college...<br /><br />College jobs can vary from part-time positions you take to earn extra cash or they can be entry-level positions you use as the basis for your desired career. Either way, you're at a stage where education is your most significant qualification. And if you have work experience, mention it as an example that you're responsible and have a track record as a good employee.<br /><br />Your answer shouldn't sound like: "I don't have any 8 a.m. classes because I usually stay out late. And I'll need weekends off."<br /><br />Your answer should sound like: "I'm a full-time student studying education. I worked as a barista for two years and then as a sales clerk at for the past two summers, so I have plenty of experience working with customers."<br /><br />If you're just out of school...<br /><br />When employers hire new graduates, they know they're not getting seasoned workers with decades of experience. They also know they're getting workers who might not stick around for very long but who are current on the latest technology and trends.<br /><br />Your answer shouldn't sound like: "I just graduated last week and have a list of ideas on how to improve your operations. You're doing a lot of things wrong."<br /><br />Your answer should sound like: "I just received my B.A. in marketing with a 3.9 GPA. My courses in account management give me a strong foundation to begin my career with XYZ company, and I'm excited to learn from the industry leaders here."<br /><br />If you're mid-career and looking to switch industries...<br /><br />Many workers who specialize in one field for several years begin to think about exploring other industries. Either they grow tired of their jobs or they realize their skills can be put to better use elsewhere. Whatever the reason, their focus should be repackaging their experience for the new industry they want.<br /><br />Your answer shouldn't sound like: "Well, I've been a manufacturing supervisor for 15 years. I don't have any experience as a sales supervisor or in sales at all."<br /><br />Your answer should sound like: "For the past 15 years I was a supervisor at ABC Manufacturing. You might wonder why I want to move into sales at this stage in my career, but much of my time has been spent negotiating with vendors and meeting with CEOs. Although the industries might be different, the skills are the same."<br /><br />If you're easing into retirement...<br /><br />Seasoned workers might not want to devote the majority of their week to working, but they aren't ready to leave the workforce entire. When interviewing for part-time or contract work, these workers want to play up their experience and commitment to the job.<br /><br />Your answer shouldn't sound like: "I've had enough 50-hour weeks. Let the young workers try to keep up with that pace. I'm ready to finally relax and earn some extra money so I can finally quit for good."<br /><br />Your answer should sound like: "I've seen the industry change over the past 40 years and am eager to see where it goes in the future. As consultant, I'm eager to share my vast knowledge with clients in order to help their business grow."<br /><br />By Anthony Balderrama writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

How to answer, "Tell me a little about yourself."

To a painter, an untouched canvas holds unlimited possibility for a bold new creation. But for each artist, the potential for something grea...

Read more »

Envivo De Michoacan III: Before The Next Teardrop Falls

I have wanted to learn Spanish ever since 1975 -- the first time I heard the late great Baldemar Garza Huerta (stage name: Freddy Fender) on my car radio singing “Before The Next Teardrop Falls.” In case you don’t know the song, it is one of those dreadfully sentimental Country Western oldies. Freddy sang the first verse straight and it was as bad as always. I was on the verge of changing the channel when he sang the same verse in Spanish. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever heard.<br /><br />Si te quierre de verdad<br />Y te da felicidad<br />Te desea lo mas bueno pa’los dos.<br />Pero si te hace llorar,<br />A mime puedes hablar<br />Y estare’ contigo quando trieste estas.<br /><br />Does it get any better than that? Not in the world of Tex-Mex music. But as the years went by I came upon Neruda:<br /><br />Inclinada en las tardes iro mis tristes redes<br />A tus ojos oceanicos.<br />Alli se estira y arde en la mas atla hoguera . . . .<br /><br />Whether in print or given voice, this language held a beauty that was inaccessible to me. My upbringing was a bigger trap than my lack of language. I could never bring myself to devote the time and effort to learn Spanish simply because it is lovely and has feelings and ideas embedded in it that cannot be expressed in English. What’s more, I am bad at languages. Just awful really – and afraid of them.<br /><br />So I feel enormously grateful to the many Latino Episcopalians in Nevada for giving me final push I needed for this experience. The joy and vitality of the worship and community life of our Latino congregations is just too good to miss. I hope I will be of greater service to our fastest growing congregations, but I am sure of this: their spirituality is already an energizing, life-giving blessing to me, and I will be better able to receive that blessing as I understand more of the language of Neruda, Lorca, Marquez, and the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno.<br /><br />After 2 weeks of living in Morelia, studying Spanish every day, I feel different in more ways than having just learned some verbs. Learning the language while living in its home culture is somehow transformative in a way it will take some time to sort out. Before coming here, I really didn’t know Hidalgo and Morelos from Profiro Diaz. I had no idea that there was a culture in Mexico the Aztecs never conquered, the Purhepecha who still live here and who ruled Michoacan, the place of fishermen, for 1,000 years, that they built pyramids as temples and the people worshiped outside – loudly so their gods could hear them -- or that images of sun and moon flank images of God above church doorways preserving the place of sun and moon in the pre-Hispanic religion of this ancient place.<br /><br />Despite my weakness in language, all the individual attention from the some of the best teachers I have ever had has made a huge difference. I have learned so much! I am a long, long way from conversant in Spanish. That will take much more than 3 weeks. But I have the foundation now to study at home. Before coming here, the prospect of even starting something like Rosetta Stone was overwhelming. Now I believe I can do it, especially knowing I will have the support of my Latino brothers and sisters.<br /><br />One of the big surprises here is that there are so few American students. All the violence along the border that is so exhaustively covered on American news has scared the Americans away. My school, the Baden-Powell Institute, <a href="http://www.bpimorelelia.com/">http://www.bpimorelelia.com/</a>, had about 30 Americans at a time until recently. Now you could count us on one hand. This is a long way from Juarez. I feel safer here than in Las Vegas. This is a beautiful city, untouched by urban renewal, full of old style Spanish architecture, no tall buildings, a magnificent Cathedral with the 3rd largest organ in Latin America, good food, and friendly people.<br /><br />I hope to come back again and again in the years to come.

Envivo De Michoacan III: Before The Next Teardrop Falls

I have wanted to learn Spanish ever since 1975 -- the first time I heard the late great Baldemar Garza Huerta (stage name: Freddy Fender) on...

Read more »