04.22.07
Posted in News at 8:40 pm by Paloma Cruz
I haven’t tried it myself, but online dating sites are now an accepted way to meet potential dates. Here are two stories about how online tools have changed the dating scene.
Dating sites are full of smart, kind ‘hopeless romantics’
With online personals, folks don’t buy generic
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
Katz is also CEO of E-Cyrano.com, which provides personal-ad makeovers (starting at $49). He sees so many sorry online ads, he can recite a typical one in a single breath: “I’m nice, smart, kind, warm, funny, honest, successful, ambitious and family-oriented. I like hiking, biking, movies, music, travel. I’m looking for my best friend and lover and partner in crime for a lifetime of love and laughter,” Katz said as if he were reading a radio-ad car-lease disclaimer. “There. It’s an online dating profile that anybody could use. And it’s worthless.”
Be unusual, said image consultant Kristen Kaleal, who helps make over local singles and their personal ads. “Let a little quirkiness come out, so that you’re not the same person they see 10 times,” she said.
But truth is, no matter how wonderfully enticing your description, most people won’t even get that far if your picture looks like it belongs on the post office wall.
“If you have either no photo or a crappy photo, your chances of landing a date online are pretty slim,” said Dave Coy, co-founder of LookBetterOnline.com, a site that connects online daters with a network of about 500 photographers who are experts at taking great personal-ad photos. “If you have a good recent photo of yourself, your odds go up enormously, regardless of how attractive you are.”
[snip]
Digging up dirt on your date — made easy
The Internet era means it’s simpler to find more about whom you’re seeing
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
ting used to be largely a matter of spending time with a love interest, discovering the good, the bad and the ugly in a person. If you were lucky, friends helped fill in some of the blanks.
These days, the Internet — and the ability to check people out before meeting up — has forever changed the rules.
For better or worse, “googling” your date has become standard practice.
[snip]
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04.21.07
Posted in News at 4:14 am by Paloma Cruz
Interesting posts and articles, in honor of Earth Day:
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04.16.07
Posted in Health at 2:59 pm by Paloma Cruz
I’m hungry.
In the last few days, I eat and don’t get full. No… that’s not quite what I meant to write. What I meant to write was that I eat, get full and within two hours I’m ready to eat again. And it’s not just for a snack.
I know what’s causing it — I’ve always been a stress eater. It’s not new. It’s not unexpected. It’s not something I can ignore.
But I’m still hungry.
No matter how much control I have, how much willpower, all I can think about is the fact that I’m hungry. I want something, and it’s not the salads and grilled foods I’ve been eating lately. I want stuff deep fried and dripping in sauces & cheeses. I want breads and starches and all that lovely stuff that’s made me the fat girl I am.
I want comfort food.
I can’t do anything about the stress. I can’t make things easier for myself, at least not right now. All I can do is keep myself busy and try not to fall back into old habits.
Wish me luck.
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04.07.07
Posted in Career at 9:27 am by Paloma Cruz
I’m at the University of Houston this morning, waiting for the first session of the People’s Law School to begin. Yes, for a change, I actually signed up for one of the workshops I said I’d look into.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
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04.03.07
Posted in Finances at 10:13 pm by Paloma Cruz
Hispanic Business is reporting that consumer spending increased 0.6 percent in February, and personal incomes also increased by 0.6 percent.
Both figures were double what had been expected and should help to alleviate recession fears that have been growing because of a deeper-than-expected slump in housing and troubles in the domestic auto industry.
Resources:
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Posted in Health, News at 6:26 am by Paloma Cruz
A continuation on the recent post on the pressure on girls today:
CHLI & the Girl Scouts shed light on the crisis facing Young Latinas
– reported by HispanicAd.com
At a congressional briefing held today, the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute and the Girl Scouts of USA (GSUSA) shed light to the crisis facing Latina teenagers and discussed ways to work together with other organizations to reach out to Latinas.Patricia Diaz Dennis, the GSUSA Chairwoman, shared the alarming statistics associated with the significant health and social disparities among Latina teenagers:
- 17% of Latina adolescents attempt suicide – their rate is more than 150% higher than other girls.
- 24% of Hispanic teenagers get pregnant, which is the highest pregnancy rate of any of their peers (other statistics show this rate at 51%).
- One of every five Latina teenager is obese.
- Latinas are at disproportionately high risk for HIV, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.
- One-quarter of all Latina girls drop out of school.
Daunting information, indeed.
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04.01.07
Posted in Family, News at 7:36 pm by Paloma Cruz
I always worry about niece, especially as she grows older. I see myself in her so much and I see that my sister is intent on creating distance between them. I had a good relationship with my mother, she was always available to help me deal with all my stuff. My sister isn’t creating that relationship with my niece.
Girls today as under so much stress. They are encouraged to do everything, expected to do everything well, and be happy about it. They have to be popular, do community service, get good grades, be involved in sports, and be hip and pretty as well. And if they achieve all of this, it’s just them living up to their potential, not doing anything extraordinary.
It’s very frightening.
The New York Times has a wonderful inside look at the lives of the “Amazing girls”:
Girls by the dozen who are high achieving, ambitious and confident (if not immune to the usual adolescent insecurities and meltdowns). Girls who do everything: Varsity sports. Student government. Theater. Community service. Girls who have grown up learning they can do anything a boy can do, which is anything they want to do.
The look into the pressures they are under, the expectations and the tools and business that thrive on perpetuating the stresses is daunting. It makes me wonder how any of them survive the pressure.
Resources:
Found via Weblogg-ed.
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