Why does my passport and driver’s license picture always come out like the first pancake, messed tore beat *&^%$@ up!

There must be some sadistic handbook circulating that says make ‘em ugly. Let them stand there long enough before you take the picture and wait until they have to scratch or have an involuntary muscle spasm, whichever comes first. Take the picture!

I had my passport photo taken earlier this week and I look ghastly. My glasses are crooked, my hair is flattened on one side, only one side of my mouth smiled, I look like I had a stroke!

I can just imagine that there is some wall of fame for the ugliest passport or driver’s license photo at their company picnics. Top prize goes to the institution that submits the “I’m Not Too Sexy” photograph of the year. Now when people tell me I look so familiar, I just might start getting offended.

I wonder if it’s called a passport because they look at our photo and give us a pass into the country anyway. I didn’t feel or look like road kill when I went to have my picture taken. Sorry.

Photo by FirstPancake.com

Public Speaking Rule No. 1: Know Your Audience

Basically this means that you should know enough about your audience to effectively impart information in a way that stimulates their thinking or motivates them to action.

How Can This Be Done

• Research your audience through interaction
• Consider what they already know about a subject and build on that information
• Make use of comparisons and contrasts for better understanding
• Explain how the information benefits them
• Pay attention to your “choice words”
• Add humor and stir

Tips for Bloggers

I was reading this interesting article online about how our eyes pay attention to information that we read online vs. what we read in a book.

It mentioned that when reading online our eyes are more likely to scan large blocks of text rather than read the entire paragraph. It suggested that we use short sentence fragments instead.

The use of bullets, lists and occasional use of bold is more likely to get a reader’s attention and the use of links gives our text more authority.

I have to admit, when I see a large block of text on an unfamiliar blog or website, I get ‘the lazy eye’ and I start scanning. With a book, I expect larger groups of words on a page and I read differently.

When you look at early research, it’s fascinating to see that even in the days of green phosphorus monitors, studies found that there wasn’t a huge difference in speed and comprehension between reading on-screen and reading on paper. Paper was the clear winner only when test subjects were asked to skim the text.

Maybe it’s the time factor. The web is for surfing and books are for nursing.

I never gave too much thought to eye tracking studies and what people really pay attention to when reading online so if you made it to the end of this post, bless you.

When you write a post for your blog, do you consider your readers? If so, how?

Do you think about how you can get them involved and not just skimming posts?

Do you worry about writing lengthy posts are do you prefer to keep it short and to the point?

Af-flu-en-za n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.

Below is a brief and somewhat comical soap opera-ish video on this disease.

In a poll released last week (there’s a poll and study for everything, which I find to be a waste of money, but then we’d have no numbers) it showed that because of debt “23 percent of people had severe depression, 51 percent had muscle tension and 27 percent had ulcers or digestive tract problems”. Debt not only affects people financially, but also physically.

I will admit, it’s not easy delaying pleasure when it comes to spending money and buying stuff. I love nice things, I want nice things, I feel I deserve nice things, but I’m not willing to go into debt (any more) to get them. Not wanting to continue making payments on stuff for the rest of my life keeps my Affluenza bug under control. How do you go about keeping your life simple or have you been bitten? Has debt caused you any health (loss of sleep) problems? If so, what do you plan to do about it?

As I do every M-F, I was listening to my favorite radio show last week (hi T&C) and they were discussing a new term I never heard before so I thought I would mention it here to see what people think about it.

There’s a rising number of women who choose to live without a man or family called The Freemale. Okay?

Here are some definitions for The Freemale that I found on the web:

A new breed of independent, single women showing that they don’t need a man to be happy;

Women who choose to be alone, and rejoice in a life where they can spend time and money as they wish;

Manless females who are too busy living life to the full to make space for a second tooth brush by the bathroom sink.

These definitions do make The Freemale seem rather selfish or self-centered rather than it being a conscious and personal choice.  What’s the difference?  Maybe these women choose to do otherwise with their life that has nothing to do with material things or too busy to be bothered. 

Some people feel that The Freemale’s reasons for not being in a relationship are less than truthful and that the real reason they are not in a relationship is because either they can’t find a man or no one has asked them to marry.

Basically, if a woman says she’s not interested in a romantic relationship with a man or in having a family, she’s lying. It’s every woman’s “happily ever after” to be married with 2.5 kids, the dog and the white picket fence.

I don’t know how you *show* that you don’t need a man, and who walks around saying they don’t need one?   Not me!  That would seem more weird to me than actually not being interested in one, but there are women out there who prefer to be unattached. I also know couples who choose to remain childless.  People refer to these situations as self-centered and selfish.  Are they?

Just thinking, is it every woman’s desire to be in a relationship? Do you think there are women out there who have made a conscious decision to live without a man (family) and are happy doing so, or are they being less than truthful?

WEST ORANGE, N.J. (AP) — Soaring temperatures are leaving tens of thousands of New Jerseyans without electricity on one of the hottest days of the year. Full Story Here.

I work in West Orange and the last time we had a power outage, we were sent home. You should have seen me running from the building before the power was restored and we were called back. It happened again today, but this time only for a few seconds.

The power goes out several times during the summer in Maplewood or whenever there is a lightening storm, but today only half of the town is without power. Surrounding schools were dismissed early and there is already an early dismissal for school tomorrow.

I don’t have central air, but 2 air conditioners and I’m considering moving the kitchen into the bedroom. It’s too hot to be cooking in a room with no air and just look what the heat has done to our poor hamster:

It reached 99 degrees in N. NJ today, right now it’s 97. What’s the temperature like where you are and btw, where are you?