"A" is for "Arrowsmith"

Learn About Business 

Cell Phones: Love Them; Use Them in Good Health!

We live in a electrical and wireless world. That isn't going to change. I don't want it to change. I am on my laptop; Squidoo wouldn't exist without computers. I will turn the air conditioning on later, and probably watch a ubiquitous Law and Order r...

Assisted Living: A Great Option.....

I had heard about Assisted Living but never thought that it would be a part of my life, as long as Dad was alive to take care of Mom. Then Dad got sick. It was serious pneumonia that resulted in a some weakness and confusion for a few weeks*. We did...

Arrowsmith Printing: Entreprenuership in Small Town Iowa in Mid /Century

In 1948 Fritz and Marjorie Arrowsmith took their 2 children Micheal 7 years and Margo 6 months and moved half way across Iowa with no car, $100 in the bank and $6500 in debt. The printer and former high school journalism student took on the job of re...

Stumble Rush by Caroline Middlebrook: Don't Stumble Without It!

Caroline Middlebrook will teach you how to make the most of StumbleUpon. Get the free course here and find out for yourself, at no risk, if you would like to become a StumbleUpon master to promote your lenses and your business. StumbleUpon is one of...

EFT: What to Do When Nothing Else Works

In 1997 I and four colleagues went to Asheville, North Carolina, on a lark, to learn EMDR (Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing) It involved using rapid eye movement to remove emotional crisis that had been stuck for years. We were all s...

Amazing and Wonderful People 

Albert Einstein Speaks

and you can go and sit in his lap. In fact, that is just what I did! It is a perfect representation of this modest, unassuming genius. This lens is dedicated to Albert Einstein the person; I leave Einstein the scientific genius to those more qualifi...

You are Cordially Invited to Share Your Family Legends

Years ago a guy I was dating told me the story of his uncle who had a shrunken head of a Nazi soldier that he brought back from WWII. He was very proud of his uncle, so I was gentle when I told him that that couldn't be true. In the first place even...

Mabel Stark: Tiger Whisperer

And she first did it before women even had the right to vote. Her life was defined by her passion for her tigers, her unsurpassed talent with them and her love for only one man, one of her five husbands, but the one who she loved almost as much as Ra...

Oskar Schindler: Accidental Hero

This is basically the story of a womanizing war profiteer who became a hero. He certainly didn't seek that status; he obtained it almost, no pretty much in spite of himself. Before Hitler, Schindler, a German national, was a salesman and a pretty go...

Arrowsmith Printing: Entreprenuership in Small Town Iowa in Mid /Century

In 1948 Fritz and Marjorie Arrowsmith took their 2 children Micheal 7 years and Margo 6 months and moved half way across Iowa with no car, $100 in the bank and $6500 in debt. The printer and former high school journalism student took on the job of re...

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Dawn Staley: Athlete, Entrepreneur/Philanthropist, Mentor

Dawn Staley was a high school basketball player of the year, a three time gold metal Olympian who was elected to carry the flag in the 2004 Parade of the Athletes, a Professional WNBA basketball player, a college coach famous for reviving flagging te...

Victor Frankl: The Value of Meaning

Victor Frankl was a physician and neurologist until in 1942 he and his wife and parents entered Auschwitz, one of the most notorious death camps of the Nazis. He was the only one who survived. He worked a laborer's jobs, but they also put him in the...

The Question of Forgiveness

I have used this book in teaching Sunday School for teens. The conversations that ensued were very rewarding for everyone. Simon Weisenthal is a survivor of the Nazi Concentration Camps. After he was liberated he quickly joined forces with those who...

A Tribute To Women of Afghanistan

In 1985 National Geographic published a picture by Steve McCurry of Sharbat Gula. Until she was found in 2002 it was the only time she was photographed. The picture has appeared on the cover of National Geographic and was chosen one their 100 Best P...

Caroline Kennedy: The Quiet Super Hero

Caroline Kennedy (Schlossberg) has been called the Scion of Public Service by The AARP Magazine Kennedy (she uses that name) has raised millions of dollars for New York Public Schools, and works to make sure that it is put into special programs that...

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Susan Lucci?

Susan Lucci's first appearance for the nation was on January 5, 1970, 39 years ago. I have bragged to people for years that I saw the very first episode, although I was clerking for State Farm Insurance that day. I guess not. However, a year later I...

Dr. Jill Biden?

The common wisdom used to be that the Vice-Presidency really wasn't a job at all. Nobody wanted it except for people who were ready to retire or wanted an unsure stepping stone to the Presidency. Al Gore and Bill Clinton changed that. Many people bel...

Michelle Obama's 1st Tour of Duty

July 4, 2006, Dear Mrs. Obama, I am in the middle of reading your husband's book, The Audacity of Hope. My heart is swelling and my brain is being stimulated in ways not usually associated with political writing. I have just come to the part where...

Glenn Close?

One of the first movies I saw her in was The Natural. It was a small part, Robert Redford had dumped her years before when a baseball groupie lead him astray. But there he was making his comeback, and there she was in the audience standing, after all...

Clint Eastwood?

And today's heart too, but for different reasons. The year was 1959 and and 11 year old Iowa girl met her first heartthrob. It happened when real cowboy show, Rawhide first aired on television. If any of you remember there were no VCS's (remember th...

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Rosa Parks?

Sojourner Truth traveled to the South o tthe free slaves. Rosa Parks stayed right where she was, with her bottom firmly on a bus seat until it was forcibly removed, to start the next liberation of blacks, women and ultimately all people. During the...

The Ubiquitous John Munch

I always wanted TV cross overs when I was a kid. I fantasized about Audra from 'Big Valley' meeting Little Joe from 'Bonanza, among others. Today in the world of spin offs it isn't unusual for a character to appear on more than one show and in this...

Bessie Coleman?

I took my dad to the Wright Brother's Museum in Kiity Hawk, North Carolina. I wouldn't have gone on my own. I'm not that interested. But Dad is, and I will be forever grateful to him for giving me the reason to go. Don't miss it if you are ever in th...

Joy Behar?

No, not The View but the Joy Behar Show. Radio. I listened every day. It was a more real talk show, not an advice show like Dr Laura or Joy Browne, not a political show like Limbaugh or Air America. A real talk show. The subjects were varied, kind o...

"And Ain't I a Woman"?

Women were the backbone of the Abolishionist Movement. Women from the North, often the wives, daughters, sisters and mothers of professional men, worked tirelessly to end slavery. There were Southern women on plantations who risked all to teach slav...

Morgan Spurlock: The Man Who Answers "What If?"

Morgan Spurlock has lived many lives for 30 Days at a time.  He has lived on minimum wage, he has eaten only McDonald's, he has worked in a coal mine and been in prison. Good writing teachers will tell their students two things. 1. ...

James Spader

The picture you see here is James Spader/Alan Shore at his best. It doesn't matter what else is going on. It doesn't matter if I have seen the show or know what the current show is about. It doesn't matter if I have seen this particular tirade many t...

Shelley Fabares?

Some of us grew up with her and today she is a role model for aging.  And better yet, I don't think that is her goal, she is not trying to be a role model for aging. I met her by serendipity.  Her husband of nearly 25 years, Mike Farr...

Mike Farrell?

Mike Farrell is best known for his portrayal of Dr. BJ Hunnicutt in M*A*S*H, for 8 years, but he also starred as the veteranarian patriach Dr. Hanson in Providence for another 5. More recently he had a part in Desparate Housewives as Gaby's soon...

Kay Yow Triumphant

December 14, 2008 will mark Kay Yow's 1000th game coaching the North Carolina State University Wolfpack Women. She has won almost 700 of them. That by itself would be amazing and remarkable. But it is really just a small part of the Kay Yow story. I...

Joss Whedon?

The pretty little blond is innocent and vulnerable. The handsome jock looks less trustworthy in the eyes of the audience than he seems to to the pretty little blond. She follows him away from the crowd to a dark room where no one can hear her...she i...

My Dad: The Gold Standard

When I was little, and got sick, my Dad made me this drink with mashed bananas and milk. I remember watching him do this. He was so careful to mash the banana up so well, that it was almost liquid, mixing in the milk a little at a time making a perfe...

Jim Valvano?

The two things that people remember Jimmy Valvano for are both triumphs. The first is after his North Carolina State Wolfpack won the NCAA basketball championship at the last minute when Lorenzo Charles' dunk at the buzzer off a high, arching air bal...

Dr. Laura?

I drive a lot for work and in the morning I listen to Dr Laura. I sometimes use the battery after I arrive at a location, to finish a call. I agree with much of what she says. She is more radical than I am, but I share many of her sentiments. I agree...

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Obama's Daughters

Can you image what it would be like to stand next to your parents and watch them mark ballots that select your father for the Presidency of the United States? I first remember when Caroline and John-John were in the White House. I was 12. I was for...

Whoopi Goldberg?

Whoopi Goldberg is ubiquitous. To paraphrase an old saying, you can't turn on a TV or radio, open a newspaper without seeing Whoopi Goldberg. Unlike other spread out performers, she isn't spread thin. The reason is that she is one of the most remarka...

The Oldest People Who Have.....Done Things You Wouldn't Expect Them to Do!

Baby Boomers have been called the first self-indulgent generation. We are accused of not wanting to grow old. Well, who does want to grow old? We are just the first generation who isn't going to allow it to happen. However, the people you see here ar...

The Definitive Steve Martin Lens!

What makes this the definitive lens? Well, I don't know, there are some good ones that will be featured here. But doesn't that sound like the kind of title Steve Martin would use to mock himself? Yes, I know, there are already a lot of lenses on Ste...

Norman Cousins: The Man Who Laughed In The Face of Death

Have you ever been in a bad mood? Have you ever been in a bad mood when someone got you to laugh? Have you ever been in a bad mood when someone got you to laugh and you stayed in a bad mood? No? Well join the world! Ok, so we know that laughing can...

Charity: One Reason to Make Money is to Have Enough to Give Away 

Special Olympics: Heroes Abound World Wide!

My friends Tim and Terry Sullivan were very active in the newly formed Special Olympics programs in New Jersey in the early 1970's. He was a college professor and she went on to be the lobbyist for SO in the NJ legislature, proving that not all lobby...

Give Your Veterans' Day Party Pizazz! And Raise Money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes' Fund!

Old Glory and Americana, what a combination to show your love of country and what a way to celebrate! Veterans Day is about all the Vets who have protected out country and our countryside! Make a theme party! Make it a fund raiser for Vets and thei...

Jury Duty: Serve It With Honor

I was enjoying reading a collection of humorous essays by a North Carolina journalist. I was enjoying myself until I got to the one of getting out of jury duty. What is it with people?!? Before I start this lens, I beg your indulgence. I will make s...

Heifer International: The Pay It Foward Entrepreneurial Charity

The saying goes, "If you want to feed a man for a day, give him a fish. If you want to end his hunger, teach him to fish." Heifer International is the perfect example of how this wise saying works. The give the fish to get someone started, but then...

Newsworthy and Political 

Torture: Unaffective and Illegal

Dick Cheney finally admitted to war crimes. "I supported it," he said regarding the practice known as "water-boarding," a form of simulated drowning. After World War II, Japanese soldiers were tried and convicted of war crimes in US courts for water...

Restorative Justice Is Healing Justice

"The adversarial system (or adversary system) of law is the system of law, generally adopted in common law countries, that relies on the skill of each advocate representing his or her party's positions and involves an impartial person, usually a jury...

Arianna Huffington?

I first remember Arianna Huffington from Politically Incorrect's coverage of the 1996 Political Conventions. She was a Conservative at the time and married to Micheal Huffington. She was 'in bed with' Al Franken. He was the liberal, a comedian. He is...

Stanford Prison and the Milgram Studies: What Are the Moral Limits?

I was a sociology major in college. We saw the movie about the Milgram experiments in almost every class. Sociology professors loved it. The experiment advertised for subjects by saying that it was designed to learn how people learn. That was not tru...

Arianna and The Huffington Post: An Answer to Limbaugh and Company?

"The Huffington Post (often referred to on the Internet as HuffPo) is a liberal[1] news website and aggregated weblog founded by Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, featuring various news sources and columnists. The site covers a wide range of topi...

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Secretary of State: Woman's Work?

I grew up in the 1950's where sex roles were pretty rigid. However, my parents were different. They owned small town newspapers under .Arrowsmith Printing Company . I thought it was women's work to be the editor of newspapers because my Mom was and...

Lilly Ledbetter?

I married at 20, quit college and went to work to put my husband through school. It was a common practice in those days, 1968. I went to work at State Farm Insurance as a file clerk. Women were always put in those jobs, so even though I had two years...

Olympia Snowe?

As a little girl growing up in Iowa, I knew that while my mother was an equal partner with my father, women were not in government. Except for the woman who signed the money, and Senator Margaret Chase Smith. She replaced her husband, as many women d...

1984 25 Years Later, Who Is Spying on Who?

and now it is 25 years ago. Time flies. I was 15 years old when I read George Orwell's 1984. I was also 15 when I figured out that Winston Smith, the protagonist, was born the same year I was. Suddenly and since then, I have kind of identified with...

Mika Brzezinski: Serious Journalist or Just A Modern Day Wendy to the Lost Boys?

Mika Brzezinski is the co-host on the pseudo news morning program Morning Joe. I say news because they talk about the news and don't have the shopping/cooking segments or celebrity interviews that is the staple of other morning shows, between news r...

Eugene H. Robinson?

I became a news wonk this summer. It was hard not to with one of the most interesting presidential races in many years going on. I discovered MSNBC, a station that I like because while the evening commentators are opinionated and partisan they stick...

Debbie Wasserman Schultz?

Could this be the first woman President of the United States?  She has the glam of Sarah Palin, the work ethic of Hillary Clinton and the toughness of Nancy Pelosi.    Well, yes, Hillary is tough and Nancy works hard and they are...

Meghan McCain?

I am a Democrat and between the good work Obama is doing on the economy and his ability to see how health care reform, infrastructure and other things all tie together AND the 'circular firing squad' routine the Republicans are doing while letting th...

Alexandra Pelosi?

Alexandra Pelosi is an HBO documentary artist, a political journalist and the daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House. She is the daughter of the most powerful woman in American politics, and while not directly in politics she has created...

Shopping Tips and Fun! From Clothing to Technology 

Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Dell Computers

Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Dell Computers Dell sells inferior computers and doesn't honor the warantees, well not without a huge fight.  18 months ago I purchased a top of the line Dell laptop.  It has been a nightmare. Cost $170...

Healthy Business 

PXP: The First Pure Food You Will Eat

Because right now, the food we eat is junk. Even those of us who avoid processed foods are eating junk. The DNA in our cells do not even recognize the food we eat as food. This is making us sick. It is making you sick. Going to the best stores and...

Health: Without Health Wealth is Nothing 

EFT: What to Do When Nothing Else Works

In 1997 I and four colleagues went to Asheville, North Carolina, on a lark, to learn EMDR (Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing) It involved using rapid eye movement to remove emotional crisis that had been stuck for years. We were all s...

Cell Phones: Love Them; Use Them in Good Health!

We live in a electrical and wireless world. That isn't going to change. I don't want it to change. I am on my laptop; Squidoo wouldn't exist without computers. I will turn the air conditioning on later, and probably watch a ubiquitous Law and Order r...

Is 60 Really the New 40?

Deepak Chopra says that THE most important way to stay young is to change your perceptions about your age. Is he right? In Ageless Body: Timeless Mind, he tells of a study done on people of the WWII generation. People in their 70's were given full p...

Keep Your Brain Fit and Beautiful!

The picture here is a normal brain. The purpose of this lens is to help you keep yours looking like that. It that simple. Simple, but not easy. Fun, even, but not easy. I will include some ideas about nutrition and other theories on keeping your b...

Jeremy Taylor: On Dreams

I asked Jeremy Taylor how he would like to be introduced and he replied: "Generally, I prefer to be called "a long time dream worker", or, if you wish, "an established leader in the field of dream work". I am one of the four original cofounders of t...

Your Child and the Cell Phone: The Controversy and the Facts

Younger and younger children are clamoring for cell phones. Companies like Disney have plans to market to the 8 year old market. Disney had to change their phones to make them 'more grown up' as kids get more sophisticated. It s whole new world. My...

EFT: Relief at Your Fingertips

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)was developed using the ancient knowledge of acupuncture. EFT used the meridian system used by acupuncture and exchanges tapping with the fingers for needles. Instead of working on physical illness and health it focus...

Macular Degeneration: The Blindness You Can Prevent

I go for yearly eye checkups and no one has ever suggested I get tested for Macular Degeneration. I have asked for the simple test and gotten it, but learned that while insurance companies pay for other tests, they don't pay for this one. Here is my...

7 Cancer Fighting Warriors

A cancer free life could be as close as your local grocery store. I have made a list here of the 7 best foods for prevention of cancer. Studies have been done to show that time after time these foods are our best friends. They are also delicious, ea...

Save Your Life or The Life of a Loved One: Ask These Questions

Seven and one half years ago, I drove through the rain on a highway heading into Raleigh. It wasn't a bad rain and I was driving the JEEP that my daughter convinced me to get because those types of cars were safer. That isn't true, most turn over muc...

Water: "Not Necessary to Life, but Rather Life Itself"

We start life in a womb of water, swimming about until it gets too tight to do that. The breaking of our mothers' water was probably the first announcement that our presence in society was eminent. As children we played in the water, even those who...

Norman Cousins: The Man Who Laughed In The Face of Death

Have you ever been in a bad mood? Have you ever been in a bad mood when someone got you to laugh? Have you ever been in a bad mood when someone got you to laugh and you stayed in a bad mood? No? Well join the world! Ok, so we know that laughing can...

Germs: The Cultural Phenomena of Germ Phobia

Last night's news had a story about shopping carts. Someone had tested the handles of lots of carts in four states. My native Iowa was one of them. They showed toddlers riding in the seats next to the handles and then told us that there are more germ...

The Oldest People Who Have.....Done Things You Wouldn't Expect Them to Do!

Baby Boomers have been called the first self-indulgent generation. We are accused of not wanting to grow old. Well, who does want to grow old? We are just the first generation who isn't going to allow it to happen. However, the people you see here ar...

Rolfing: Ten Hours That Will Change Your Life

I don't remember when the sciatica started, but I know that I had suffered from it for at least ten years by 1999. By that time it was almost nightly and painful. Every night I put pillows under my knees, or between my legs. I tried not to take Ibupr...

Travel: Its Wonderful to Have the Time and Money to Adventure! 

Trains: Can They Make a Comeback?

My grandfather, two uncles, two of my mother's cousins all worked for the railroad. Grandpa and Uncle Orval ran depots. I thought they ran the world. By the time I started taking the train from Cedar Rapids to Perry, all by myself at age 5, Grandpa...

The Louvre: Essential, Little Known Tourist Tips

Paris had never been on my 'places to go' list. I believed the stereotypes about snooty French who didn't like Americans. Boy was I wrong. Now don't get me wrong. They don't, like much of Europe, accommodate Americans by speaking English, but other...

My Greek Odyssey

Greece is the birth place of much of what we consider to be Western Civilization. The Roman God's are shadows of the Greek Pantheon; Paul did much of his early Christian ministry in Greece. Every where you go and every where you look there are physic...

Iona, Scotland: A Thin Place

"There is a Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller. A thin place is where the veil that separates heaven and earth is lifted and one is able to receive a glimpse of the glor...

Staffa, The Scotish Island with a Wonderful Surprize! If You Know When to Go...

I almost didn't get to Staffa. My trip was to Iona and I didn't think I had enough time there. On top of that, my neck was broken and in a brace, so climbing wasn't easy, not that I wasn't doing plenty of that on Iona! But, I heard about the boat ri...

Nova Scotia

I wanted to go to some place that was exotic, far away and we didn't have any money. Hmmm... how about Canada? I don't know why we choose Nova Scotia, but I am so glad that we did. We kind of blundered around, but its almost impossible to not stumbl...

Airline Survival Tips: Helpful & Fun

December 23rd, 2007, I am at RDU airport waiting for a flight to Newark to be with my family for Christmas. I am happy to be there all day Christmas Eve for the party that night and then a relaxed Christmas Day. I wasn't worried when the flight was...

The Arts! Experience Them; Have the Time to Make Them 

Auguste Rodin in Raleigh, North Carolina

There are many reasons why Raleigh is on the short list of "Best Places to Live" lists. The plethora of great universities, best medical care in the country, the climate, the beauty of it all, and then there is the North Carolina Museum of Arts with...

An Ode to Squidoo: Thanks to Victor Hugo

Hugo is known for novels and plays. This is as it should be, because he is a master at both. One of the meaningful things I did in Paris was to read the Hunchback of Norte Dame in the park just across from the cathedral, with the cathedral in view....

The Louvre: Essential, Little Known Tourist Tips

Paris had never been on my 'places to go' list. I believed the stereotypes about snooty French who didn't like Americans. Boy was I wrong. Now don't get me wrong. They don't, like much of Europe, accommodate Americans by speaking English, but other...

Peyote Bead Work: Turning Glass into Cloth

peyote blogs A decade ago, before I had done Peyote bead work, I attended a local bead show. It was for jewelry makers and most of the wares were pile and strings of beads, I wouldn't have thought there could be do much in the world, let alone in...

Great Photographers 

Diane Arbus?

When I was in college I took a photography course. This was back in the days when film was developed and we learned dark room as well as picture taking. As a sociology major I took the course pass/fail something my teacher found insulting. ok I took...

Ansel Adams: Hero for the National Parks System

Ansel Adams' photographs are ubiquitous in America. Doctor's offices, banks, libraries, any place that needs classy decor at a reasonable price is likely to have one. Yet his work has not sucumbed to the triteness that such over exposed work often do...

Annie Leibovitz: Camera Goddess

I don't know what I want more, to have my picture taken by Annie Leibovitz or to be Annie Leibovitz. Tina Fey jokes about her upcoming Leibovtiz photoshoot in Tina Fey in Vanity Fair, January 2009 , but what she says to a serious truth about Annie...

Spirituality 

Walking and Making Labyrinths

Lauren Artress, of Grace Cathedral, San Fransico, is credited for bringing the Medieval Labyrinth to America and reviving the ancient spiritual tradition in the United States and Europe. The Cathedral at Charte had a centuries old Labyrinth which wa...

Sports: Having Fun; Staying Healthy; Seeking Excellence, Just Like a Good Business 

Rhythmic Gymnastics: Grace and True Athleticism

On the day of the opening of the 2008 Olympics, this lens is dedicated to the unsung heroes, the athletes who train, whose skill is unrivaled, yet are ignored or even ridiculed. The women of rhythmic gymnastics are amazing athletes. Their athleticis...

Carolina Roller Girls: Beauty, Brains and Brawn!

When I was a little girl roller derby was a staple on TV. There weren't many other sports, but we watched Roller Derby. It was played on a banked rink then, and each team had a men's team and a women's. They alternated. Roller Derby was avante guard...

Special Olympics: Heroes Abound World Wide!

My friends Tim and Terry Sullivan were very active in the newly formed Special Olympics programs in New Jersey in the early 1970's. He was a college professor and she went on to be the lobbyist for SO in the NJ legislature, proving that not all lobby...

Dawn Staley: Athlete, Entrepreneur/Philanthropist, Mentor

Dawn Staley was a high school basketball player of the year, a three time gold metal Olympian who was elected to carry the flag in the 2004 Parade of the Athletes, a Professional WNBA basketball player, a college coach famous for reviving flagging te...

Women's Basketball: Alive and Dunking!

I grew up in Iowa in an athletic family. Grade school occurred in the 50's. At that time the small towns in Iowa had girls basketball, two court. The big cities (towns of 10,000 or more) did not. Basketball was the only girls sport and the folks love...

Kay Yow Triumphant

December 14, 2008 will mark Kay Yow's 1000th game coaching the North Carolina State University Wolfpack Women. She has won almost 700 of them. That by itself would be amazing and remarkable. But it is really just a small part of the Kay Yow story. I...

Wheelchair Rugby

How does a person in a wheelchair tackle another person in a wheelchair? Good question. I knew about wheelchair basketball. I couldn't imagine the amount of strength and skill required to dribble a ball while manoeuvring a heavy wheelchair, but I kn...

The NFL and Dancing With The Stars: A Match Made in Heaven?

As Jerry Seinfeld would say, "What is it with the NFL and Dancing With the Stars?" Emmett Smith won the Mirror Ball trophy. Jerry Rice and Jason Taylor both came in second and as of this writing, Warren Sapp is in the finals, Tuesday November 24 and...

NCAA Playoffs VS BCS

NCAA Playoffs VS BCS Computers and polls should not decide who is going to be the NCAA football champs. I agree with Barack Obama, we need an 8 team playoff. The top 8 teams should play in the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta Bowl. That wouldn't hurt...

Jim Valvano?

The two things that people remember Jimmy Valvano for are both triumphs. The first is after his North Carolina State Wolfpack won the NCAA basketball championship at the last minute when Lorenzo Charles' dunk at the buzzer off a high, arching air bal...

Animals and the People Who Love Them 

My Chihuahua Chili

I am disabled and my health had been declining I had to request that my doctor give a prescription for me to get a pet since the apartments where I live do not permit pets of any kind After I got the permission to have a pet I started looking for...

The Princess and The Pauper: A Tail of Two Canines

East is East; West is West and never the twain shall meet. Royalty is Royalty; Mutt is Mutt, but the twain did meet in my blended family. Zoe is the daughter of Dalmatian royalty. Her father, Houston, was the star of a Pedigree dog food commercial....

Great Reads and Literature 

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

And I have always gravitated towards the literature that tells well known stories from the view point of other characters, often lesser characters. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant tells the story of Joseph and the Colored Coat through the eyes of his...

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Lily Owens is the daughter of a brutal father and a mysteriously deceased mother. Her only solace is the black woman, Rosaleen who acts as her mother stand in. Rosaleen was hired by Lily's father after her mother's death. The story takes place in Mo...

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

I have read a lot of Stephen King in my life, and have enjoyed most of it, I like a good scare. But this one is different. The story, the edge of your chair kind of hold it got on me were the same, what I had come to expect from King... But this is...

The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice

Anne Rice is famous for some of the most intriguing and complicated Vampire and Witch sagas in American literature as well as completely unique erotic novels. These characters are written in sagas that evolve over volumes that take the characters an...

The Girls by Lori Lansens

"I have never looked into my sister's eyes. I have never bathed alone. I have never stood in the grass at night and raised my arms to a beguiling moon. I've never used an airplane bathroom. Or worn a hat. Or been kissed like that. I've never driven a...

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Eleanor Roosevelt, Master Sleuth

Well, truth be told, she didn't, but her son,Elliot, named for her father, wrote 30 of the most fun murder mysteries with his mother, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as the super sleuth who solved the crimes. Many of them took place in almost every famo...

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin and Seth Graham-Smith

I think she would like it, maybe love it. Raleigh has a great independent book store that, despite the requisite B and N's and Borders is thriving. One of the great things about it is a big table at the entrance. If I never read anything but what i...

Virtual Concerts 

The Dory Previn Concert: Lyrics, Stories and Melody

I first discovered Dory Previn at a time in my life when I was rediscovering myself. Her songs were perfect for the task. They bring up new ways of looking at old things, and subjects that people didn't look at at all. They were sad enough to allow...

The Emmylou Harris Concert

Several years back my friend, Ellen and I went to a Lilith Concert. It was at the local outdoor pavillion, not something I usually do. I don't mind sitting on the grass, but not being able to find my place when I return from the bathroom and only jus...

The Harry Belafonte Concert

Oh, yes, I had the requisite Fabian and Frankie Avalon albums. I swooned when Tommy Sands was on American Bandstand. Oh, yes, I was a typical tweener of the 50's. However, at night, the red and gray portable hifi beside my bed played Harry Belafonte...

Food 

Oatmeal: Ultimate Comfort Food

I love just a plain bowl of oatmeal. I insist on the Old Fashioned kind that has to be cooked on the stove. When you eat the Old Fashioned must cook kind, you can see each piece separately in the bowl and if you eat slowly enough, you can feel that i...

Waldorf Salad: The Wonderful Surprise at Holiday Meals

Can someone explain it to me? I grew up with Waldorf Salad, certainly at every Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and sometimes even those summer holidays. Waldorf Salad was invented in the prestigious Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. It was meant to...

Greek Salad: Is It a Gift from Hestia, Greek Goddess of the Hearth?

I love a great salad. I could live on salad. And there is no salad like a Greek Salad. Greek Salad can be many things. I have included a recipe for the 'traditional' Greek salad, but that isn't the one I make. Don't get me wrong. I am more than happ...

My Mother's Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

The day may have been dark and gloomy; the cold, wet snow could be piled up to the windows, we couldn't go out, there were only 3 TV channels then. Ugh! But then Mom would decide it was time to make a chocolate mayonnaise cake and the whole day was...

You Spell Potato, I Spell Potatoe: Let's Call the Whole Thing Off!

Well, heck and dog gone it! I wanted to create a lens that would glorify the potato peel. I just love them. I include them in everything. I always look for French Fries with peels on them. For one thing, you know you are eating a real potato. For a...

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Onion?

Back in '02 the Mrs and I were lucky enough see one of Rodney Dangerfield's last concerts. I turned to Vadalia, the sweet love of my life, and said, "Now THIS is a man who knows the life of the onion!" I wanted to hire him to write my family's story,...

Thoughts on Parenting 

Good Enough Parenting: Stop Worrying and Start Parenting

Johnny was a perfect baby and achieved all developmental milestones early. He walked at nine months, fed himself with a spoon by 1 year and could identify letters and words at 3. Everything was perfect and his parents were so proud. Well, except tha...

Your Child and the Cell Phone: The Controversy and the Facts

Younger and younger children are clamoring for cell phones. Companies like Disney have plans to market to the 8 year old market. Disney had to change their phones to make them 'more grown up' as kids get more sophisticated. It s whole new world. My...

Your Child's Financial Future Starts Today!

A child's financial education should begin as soon as possible; the sooner the better. You can start to help kids make responsible financial decisions before they even know what money is. Start with any material object. When you give your 2 year old...

Hooters Is Not a Family Restaurant

Hooters is not a family Restaurant Hooters should not advertise themselves as a family restaurant. I have heard many radio advertisements that do just that. First they talk about all the sexy girls, then its, "a great place for the whole family". Ho...

Safe Child!

More than 2 and a half million children die annually due to home accidents, accidents that can be prevented. I have two goals with this lens. 1. To help you make sure that this will not happen in your home, to your child. 2. To help you find the in...

How to Do Things! 

What You Must Know About Fruit Flies....

Fruit flies are those tiny little insects that travel in swarms hovering around, well, fruit. You may have seen them in grocery stores. They don't just congregate in less clean stores. I have seen them in Whole Foods and other of the 'better' superma...

Peyote Bead Work: Turning Glass into Cloth

peyote blogs A decade ago, before I had done Peyote bead work, I attended a local bead show. It was for jewelry makers and most of the wares were pile and strings of beads, I wouldn't have thought there could be do much in the world, let alone in...

Movie and TV Reviews 

The Women: 1939 to 2008

Sixty-nine years ago George Cukor made his film rendition of Clair Booth Luce's play The Women. It was a big hit, as was the play. It was unusual then and now, because the entire cast was women, there was not one man in it, very unusual then and tod...

The NFL and Dancing With The Stars: A Match Made in Heaven?

As Jerry Seinfeld would say, "What is it with the NFL and Dancing With the Stars?" Emmett Smith won the Mirror Ball trophy. Jerry Rice and Jason Taylor both came in second and as of this writing, Warren Sapp is in the finals, Tuesday November 24 and...

Joss Whedon?

The pretty little blond is innocent and vulnerable. The handsome jock looks less trustworthy in the eyes of the audience than he seems to to the pretty little blond. She follows him away from the crowd to a dark room where no one can hear her...she i...

"Arrested Deveopment": The Zaniest, Cleverest 'Pseudo-Docu-Drama' Comedy Ever

You have to see the straight man, Michael, try to make sense of his clueless, greedy, solipsistic, hysterical family and try to hold them together after their father is arrested for building houses for Saddam Hussein. How often can a straight man be...

The Definitive Steve Martin Lens!

What makes this the definitive lens? Well, I don't know, there are some good ones that will be featured here. But doesn't that sound like the kind of title Steve Martin would use to mock himself? Yes, I know, there are already a lot of lenses on Ste...

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Black Adder Video Showcase

The history one sees in Black Adder is wacky, but that does not mean that there aren't things to be learned. Don't use the historical facts in a term paper, but the insights could help get an 'A' on an essay question. I have never seen this series o...

Roseanne Video Showcase

A year and a half ago a local sports radio jock asked people to call in with their favorite TV dad. I couldn't get in, but amidst all the 'Cliff Huxtable' calls, I kept waiting for someone else to recognize Dan Conner, who is my favorite TV dad. And...

Personal to Me 

Raleigh, North Carolina: "Inside the Belt Line"

I have called Raleigh, North Carolina my home for 15 years. When I moved here I was aware of all those "Best Places to Live" magazine articles that place Raleigh at or near the top. However, I choose it because the people reminded me the most of the...

Changing the Guard: Caring For Your Elderly Parents

Wasn't it just yesterday that Dad was teaching me to ride a bike, or writing a check for my college tuition? No, it was yesterday that he was doing 100% of the care for my mother, while doing most of the renovations on my old house. That was 4 years...

The Barns of Wake County

Raleigh, North Carolina is a thriving cultural, educational center. However, in eastern Wake County, starting in the outskirts of Raleigh and into Wendell, Zebulon, Knightdale and little Lizard Lick, among the sprouting new settlements with modest...

Smiles!

Perhaps the first controversy that you were ever the center of is the age old, "Is the baby smiling or is it gas"? Your mother likely argued that you were smiling at her, and maybe your father. Your elderly aunt and the doctor both knew better, sayin...

Margo's Ultimate Squidoo Library 

Margo's Ultimate Squidoo Business Branch Library

I used to have all these really great lenses on my computer bookmarks. I thought I was really smart, until my computer crashed and they were all gone. I was slowly able to find most of them and more. In order to keep these, I created Margo's Ultim...

Margo's Ultimate Squidoo "SEO" Branch Library

I first started my Squidoo lens library when a computer crash made me loose all the links to all the ones I had been saving. Oh No! Well, I wasn't going to let that happen again, so I started a lens to save all of the lenses I didn't want to loose t...

Margo's Ultimate Squidoo Library: Main Branch

When I was 45 I still owned every book I ever read. Well, nearly. I certainly possessed every book I ever owned. When I moved from New Jersey to North Carolina I shipped every one of them through the post office. 13 years later I sold my house, I cou...

Margo's Ultimate Squidoo 'How to Squidoo' Branch Library

I have always loved personal libraries, I want to own what I read. However, recently I have gotten more Zen, and have actually downloaded physical copies of books I am probably not going to read again. Well, many of them. I have also gotten rid of s...