01.28.06
Posted in Health at 10:47 pm by Paloma Cruz
“Join Your Own Social Network” advises Library Stuff, where one librarian writes about the necessity of keeping in touch with those who are important to us, in a real-time way. Not email, RSS, IM or any technie gadgets, but in person.
One of the things I’ve realized since the death of my father is that I have let too many relationships lapse. There are too few dinners with the girlfriends, group trips to museums or intimate conversations over coffee. I’ve isolated myself, greatly, letting my fingers do the talking… typing… whatever.
I need to get out more. I need to get enough sleep. I need to stop eating. I need to stop being so angry. I need to regain perspective. I need to get back in touch with hope and positive energy and cheerfulness. I need to tap into my passion for life and desire to improve.
I need to take care of myself. And I need to make more friends.
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Posted in News at 7:29 pm by Paloma Cruz
Women-owned businesses surge in number, study says
But firms trail in getting capital, building markets
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
The number of women-owned businesses, many of them one-person enterprises, grew at twice the national rate for all private companies from 1997 to 2002, with the biggest increases in Nevada and Georgia.
About 28 percent of private companies were owned by women in 2002, the report, released Thursday by the Census Bureau, said. It focused on privately owned companies, as opposed to publicly owned.
[snip]
The report is based on the Census Bureau’s 2002 survey of 1.9 million business owners. It defines female-owned businesses as firms in which women own 51 percent or more of the interest or stock.
The report identified 6.5 million firms with female owners, an increase of 20 percent from 1997. That compares with 13.2 million businesses owned by men, an increase of 16 percent. The number of all private businesses grew 10 percent to about 23 million. Some 2.7 million firms were owned equally by men and women.
The number of women-owned businesses grew by 43 percent in Nevada and 35 percent in Georgia during the five-year period.
Most of the women-owned businesses had no employees other than the owner, but that’s true for most private businesses.
[snip]
Hmmmm…. maybe this is something I should consider. I’ve always thought about starting my own business. When is the right time?
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01.27.06
Posted in Family, News at 10:17 pm by Paloma Cruz
Under the News asks the question: Can you be anti-war AND pro-soldier?. It’s a question that has prompted an interesting array of comments.
So the question is: can you?
I hope so. Since my brother joined the military, and keeps talking about the possibility of volunteering for duty overseas, this issue has taken on a personal note.
I don’t think our involvement in the war was the right decision. However, now that we are in Iraq, now that we have committed ourselves, we need to give our troops all the tools and resources they need to do their jobs and stay safe.
And that’s all she wrote.
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01.24.06
Posted in Health at 11:58 pm by Paloma Cruz
LifeHacker pointed me to Psychology Today’s “How to Get Great Sleep“:
[snip]
The biggest sleep robber of all, however, is work — the puritan ethic gone haywire in an era of global markets. To accommodate the relentless pressure for productivity, we’re sleeping less and spending less time in social and leisure pursuits; the resulting stress can steal away even more sleep. Consider this: We’re not only missing more shut-eye, we’re having less sex, too.
[snip]
This is an ongoing item of interest for me… as my sleep patterns get worse. But, honestly, other than this great info on why I may not be sleepging, it didn’t give me any ideas on how to correct it.
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Posted in General at 6:01 pm by Paloma Cruz
Communication Nation has a great post about “Visual thinking practice: Memory” that’s worth a read:
Learning to draw from memory can help you improve your visual note-taking skills, and can also enhance your visual memory.
In it, there are reommended stept to honig visual thinking skills:
- Choose a subject
- Observe your subject carefully
- Record your observations
- Iterate
There are, of course, lots of details. The process seems interesting. And I’m getting old enought that improving my visual thinking, my memory, appeals to me.
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01.23.06
Posted in News at 11:55 pm by Paloma Cruz
As if I really needed another source telling me to get married…
Study: Marriage Builds Wealth, Divorce Destroys It
– reported by Click2Houston.com
Marrying for money, it turns out, works.
A study by an Ohio State University researcher shows that a person who marries — and stays married — accumulates nearly twice as much personal wealth as a person who is single or divorced.
And for those who divorce, it’s a bit more expensive than giving up half of everything they own. They lose, on average, three-fourths of their personal net worth.
[snip]
Zagorsky showed that single people slowly accumulated wealth during the study, going from a median of $1,500 at the start to $10,900 in the 15th year.
Married people accumulated wealth much faster, accumulating 93 percent more than single or divorced people over the life of the study, Zagorsky said.
People who divorced started losing net worth four years before their divorces were final, Zagorsky said. That could be because they had separated before divorcing, forcing them to support two households, he said.
The study found that men fared better than women after divorce, holding about 2 1/2 times the wealth. However, in dollars, it added up to a difference of only $5,124.
[snip]
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01.22.06
Posted in Retail Therapy at 10:03 pm by Paloma Cruz
Now on my “to visit” list”
Recommended by Shop Girl.
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01.16.06
Posted in General at 9:44 pm by Paloma Cruz
Being of the pack-rat variety, this post with advice on reducing your piles struck a cord.
Once you’ve made that commitment to eliminate piles the first thing you should do is check all your flat surfaces.
A hallmark of a person who has piling issues is that every flat surface around them will have a stack of something on it. Their floor with have piles of clothes, or CDs or cords. Their desks will have piles of papers, notes or books. Clear those surfaces off right now by putting all those things you pile away.
I don’t know that this will make any difference to my pack-rat tendencies, but it’s nice to have a resource out there just in case.
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01.14.06
Posted in Retail Therapy at 11:10 pm by Paloma Cruz
I love new ideas. Shop Girl pointed me to Lee’s Couture Closet, a designer consignment store operated via ebay. I’ve checked out her line of products and it there were a couple of things I’d like to buy. Maybe later.
Did you know that you can rent high-end bags instead of buying them? I didn’t. Two places that offer this service are From Bags to Riches and Bag Borrow or Steal. Very cool idea.
Of course, the last thing I need is more places to get stuff.
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01.13.06
Posted in Health at 12:32 am by Paloma Cruz
I don’t need surgery.
I don’t need surgery.
I don’t need surgery.
I don’t need surgery.
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