The “American” Way of Romance
The following exchange took place on Craigslist, the New York Community message board:
The Post
“What am I doing wrong ? I’m tired of beating around the bush. I’m a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25-year-old girl. I’m articulate and classy …
Like a Boss
A Marine was deployed to Afghanistan. While he was there, he received a letter from his girlfriend. In the letter she explained that she had slept with two guys while he had been gone and she wanted to break up with him. And, she wanted all pictures of herself back.
So the Marine did what any squared-away Marine would do. He went around to his buddies and collected all the unwanted photos of women he could find. He then mailed about 25 pictures of women (with clothes and without) to his girlfriend with the following note:
“I don’t remember which one you are. Please remove your picture and send the rest back.”
He Said … She Said
A girl’s dream date may be a guy’s nightmare.
In the classic “He said, She said” comedy form, two women and their men recount the unexpected pleasures and pain of the night before.
Watch the video here.
What Surprises You the Most ?
Someone asked the Dalai Lama what surprises him the most. This was his response:
“The man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future.
He lives as if he is never going to die and then he dies having never really lived.”
The Diary
Her Diary:
Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn’t flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn’t say much. I asked him what was wrong; “Nothing”, he said. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn’t upset, that it had nothing to do with me and not to worry about it.
On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly and kept driving. I can’t explain his behavior, I don’t know why he didn’t say, “I love you too” …
When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep — I cried. I don’t know what to do. I’m almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster !
His Diary:
Motorcycle won’t start … can’t figure out why.
European Privacy and Human Rights
Privacy International, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Media and Communications Studies (CMCS), are pleased to present the study “European Privacy and Human Rights (EPHR) 2010″, funded by the European Commission’s Special Programme “Fundamental Rights and Citizenship,” 2007-2013.
Read about the study here. Visit the official site here.
One-Moment Meditation
The “One-Moment Meditation” helps you reduce stress, focus better and find a bit of peace … quickly.
To learn more about the “One-Moment Meditation” visit www.onemomentmeditation.com. Watch an introduction video here.
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The Feelings
Once upon a time there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all the others, including Love.
One day it was announced to all of the feelings that the island was going to sink to the bottom of the ocean. So, all the feelings prepared their boats to leave.
Be Thankful For …
- the partner who hogs the covers every night because he is not out with someone else
- the teenager who is not doing dishes, but he is watching TV because that means he is home and not on the streets
- for the taxes you pay because it means that you are employed
- for the mess to clean after a party because it means that you have been surrounded by friends
- for the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means you have enough to eat
- for your shadow that watches you work because it means you are in the sunshine
- for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means you have a home
- for all the complaining you hear about the government because it means that you have freedom of speech
- for the parking spot you find at the far end of the parking lot because it means you are capable of walking and that you have been blessed with transportation
- for your huge heating bill because it means you are warm
- for the pile of laundry and ironing because it means you have clothes to wear
- for weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means you have been capable of working hard
- for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that you are alive
When you think your life is so bad, read this again.
We Do It … Ecologically
An alternative music video about the environment with the participation of 77 artists.
Watch the video here.
Science: biotechnology kidney medicine organ donor TED transplant
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Printing a Human Kidney
TED: Anthony Atala – Printing a Human Kidney
Surgeon Anthony Atala demonstrates an early stage experiment that could someday solve the organ-donor problem:
A 3D printer that uses living cells to output a transplantable kidney.
Using similar technology, a young patient of Dr. Atala received an engineered bladder 10 years ago !
Watch the video here.
This Is Your Life …
… do what you love and do it often.
If you don’t like something, change it.
If you don’t like your job, quit.
If you don’t have enough time …
Medicine’s Future
TED: Daniel Kraft – Medicine’s Future
Daniel Kraft offers a fast-paced look at the next few years of innovations in medicine, powered by new tools, tests and applications that bring diagnostic information right to the patient’s bedside.
Watch the video here.
Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
by Baz Luhrmann. Watch the original video here. For the story behind the … sunscreen, you can read here.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Class of ’99,
Wear Sunscreen!
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, “sunscreen” would be it.
A long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now !
Be Happy
A little book to help you live a happy life, by Monica Sheehan.
“Be Happy” began as one of the most popular cartoons from Monica Sheehan’s monthly feature on the back page of “Real Simple” magazine. Now her sweet and genuinely inspiring illustrations are collected in a book to remind us all of the simple things that really do make for a happier life.
Buy the book here.
Show up.
Follow your heart.
Stay inspired.
Stop being a victim.
Do things you’re good at.
Love your work.
1000 Awesome Things
Wanna lift up your spirits after a tough day ?
1000awesomethings.com, a fun site I just stumbled upon …
A Man, His Horse and His Dog
From the “The Devil and Miss Prym”
by Paulo Coelho
Once upon a time, a man, his horse and his dog were traveling along a road. As they passed by a huge tree, it was struck by lightning and they all died. But the man failed to notice that he was no longer of this world and so he continued walking along with his two animal companions.
Technology: cms plug-ins themes web hosting company website wordpress
by Touch Of Zen
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The Birth of TouchOfZen.net
The idea of creating a web site to keep my collection of notes and experiences from work and life has been in my mind for quite a few years. There were many times I took the first step, I started creating something but never got to the end. This time was different though. I guess it was the name of the site that I chose that inspired me or something else, but nevertheless, the idea has now taken shape and form.
As for the geeky details, these are the parts under the hood that power up TouchOfZen.net.
Hosting Company
One of the main objectives in choosing a host company was an affordable feature-rich plan. A necessary requirement was also to have ssh access for ease of administration and maintenance. After comparing many hosting companies, the winner was GreenGeeks.com.
GreenGe
eks offers a plan called “Eco Site Web Hosting”. It features unlimited Web space, bandwidth, domains, email accounts and MySQL databases and a free domain name for life. GreenGeeks also provides cPanel, the most popular and easiest to use control panel to administer various aspects of the website and numerous other tools and software for building and maintaining a robust website.
But the most eye-catching feature of GreenGeeks is that it’s a certified green, Eco-friendly web hosting company. GreenGeeks buys wind energy credits to offset the energy consumption and to put more energy back into the grid which was produced by wind power technology. Furthermore it implements an overall green strategy in its day-to-day operations.
Content Management System – Blogging
The first version of the website was built using Joomla, one of the most powerful open source Content Management Systems (CMS), used for building from simple websites to complex corporate applications. The blog part of the website was built using b2evolution, a blog script featuring multiple blogs, categories, skins, search function, multiple languages, search engines friendly URLs, etc.
However, at some point my attention was caught by WordPress, a popular blogging software with focus on ease of use, elegance, performance and a huge selection of themes and plug-ins. After a time consuming but fun :-) migration, this is the final result.
WordPress Themes
My objective was to find a clear minimalistic theme that would actually reflect the name of the site. I’ve tried several themes and at the end I chose this one:
* Emptiness, Version 1.13.3, by Cliffano Subagio
A minimalistic theme that supports header and background images and a white background. Simple and clean with very lightweight HTML and CSS.
During my trial, the following themes would serve as good alternatives as well:
* Apricot 1.2, by Oliver Baty
* Basic2Col 3.1.2, by Kristin K. Wangen
* Codium Extend 1.0.9, by Henri Labarre
* cp-minimal 1.1.1, by Christian Proell
* Hybrid 0.9, by Justin Tadlock
* Oulipo 1.0.9.2, by A. Mignolo
* Pilcrow 1.0, by Automattic
* Platform 1.2.1, by PageLines
* SimpleDark 1.2.11, by Justice
* simpleX 1.3.3, by Chandra Maharzan
* Snow Summit 1.0.5, by weddingthemes.marriagescene
* Twenty Ten 1.2, by the WordPress team
WordPress Plugins
Based on my needs, I tried to keep plug-ins to the minimum and install only the necessary ones. The following plug-ins are used in general, even though some might be deactivated at certain times:
Advertising
Advertising Manager 3.4.19, by Scott Switzer
Breadcrumb Navigation
Breadcrumb NavXT Version 3.8.1, by John Havlik
Commnent and Trackback Spam Protection
Akismet 2.5.3, by Automattic
WordPress Hashcash 4.6 by Elliott Bac
Contact Form
ONW Simple Contact 2.0.1, by John P. Bloch
Facebook Share Button
FaceBook Share 1.9.2, by Appointy.com
Facebook Like Button
Facebook OpenGraph I Like Button 1.2, by Radu Boncea
PDF & Print Button
PDF & Print Button Joliprint 1.1.5, by Joliprint
Posts and Pages Indexing
Brog Indexor 1.3, by Brogol
Quotes plug-in
Shantz WordPress QOTD 1.2.2, by Shantanu Goel
Web Analytics
WP SlimStat 2.3, by Camu
That’s about it. Should you have any questions, comments or suggestions or would like to post an article or even start blogging, please contact me.
Nails in the Fence
There was once a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, …
The Professor and the Jar
A professor of philosophy stood before his class with a brown bag in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he took out a large empty jar and some rocks and proceeded to fill the jar with rocks. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was full.
The professor then took out a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly and …
Did You Know …
… that those who appear to be very strong in heart, are real weak and most susceptible ?
… that those who spend their time protecting others are the ones that really need someone to protect them ?
… that those who dress in red …
The Antikythera Mechanism
In 1901, a complex and extraordinary mechanism was found at the bottom of the sea and recovered from a shipwreck, near the island of Antikythera.
For decades, scientific investigation failed to yield much light as to what the purpose of this mechanism was. It was only in recent years that it revealed its purpose: …
Παγκόσμια Υπερθέρμανση ή Παγκόσμια Ψύξη ?
Ελευθεροτυπία [www.enet.gr], Ιούνιος 2010
του Σπύρου Μανουσέλη
[http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.episthmh-texnologia&id=172012]
Ολοκληρώθηκε πριν από λίγες ημέρες στη Βόννη η Σύνοδος του ΟΗΕ για το Κλίμα, που ξεκίνησε στις 31 Μαΐου με τη συμμετοχή τουλάχιστον 190 κρατών. Και ενώ ο ΟΗΕ προσπαθεί να «πείσει» τις ΗΠΑ και την Κίνα να λάβουν κάποια μέτρα για τη μείωση των εκπομπών διοξειδίου του άνθρακα, προκειμένου να αποτραπεί η επικείμενη παγκόσμια υπερθέρμανση, μόλις ένα μήνα πριν, στο …
Αρσενικός Εγκέφαλος – Θηλυκός Εγκέφαλος
Η αμερικανίδα ψυχίατρος Louann Brizendine, η οποία είχε γίνει διάσημη διεθνώς με το best-seller βιβλίο της “The Female Brain” (“Ο Θηλυκός Εγκέφαλος”), όπου είχε υποστηρίξει ότι οι γυναίκες έχουν διαφορετικά νευρωνικά κυκλώματα από τους άνδρες, τα οποία οδηγούν αναγκαστικά σε διαφορετικές συμπεριφορές, “ξαναχτύπησε” με το νέο βιβλίο της…
Παραλογισμοί και Παρανομία
Καθημερινή, 16.03.2010
του Πάσχου Μανδραβέλη
Είναι σίγουρο ότι, αν μπορούσαν, οι δισκογραφικές εταιρείες θα είχαν ποινικοποιήσει και το σφύριγμα. Διότι και αυτό έχει κάποιο μελωδικό σκοπό, …
Actually Said in Court
The following conversations are from a book called “Disorder in the American Courts” and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters who had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.
Attorney: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
Witness: Yes.
Attorney: And in what ways …
The Meatrix
The story we tell ourselves about where meat and animal products come from … Take a look at www.themeatrix.com
Philosophy of Life
A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village. A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took them to catch them.
“Not very long …” they answered in unison.
“Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the tourist …
Meditation: awareness breathing meditation relaxation zazen zen
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Meditation
Meditation is a mental state where one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. At the core of meditation, the goal is to focus and eventually quiet your mind. As you progress, you will find that you can meditate anywhere and at any time, accessing an inner calm no matter what’s going on around you.
There are many different meditation methods.
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Science: binaural beats brain entrainment brain waves focus meditation relaxation
by Touch Of Zen
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Binaural Beats
Binaural beats are stereo recordings which play together two different tones (frequencies) simultaneously one in each ear. When listening to these two tones, the brain will perceive a third one heard in the form of a beat. The third tone is the …
Spirituality: chocolate life philosophy professor quality
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Life is a Hot Chocolate
A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and …
Chicken a la Carte
In February 2006, at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival, filmmakers were invited to join a Short Film competition on the theme “Food, Taste and Hunger”. 3600 filmmakers from around the world joined the competition, but only 32 films were chosen to be screened at the Berlinale Talent Campus.
This film topped the competition by being adjudged the most popular short film:
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a-la-Carte
written, photographed and directed by Ferdinand Dimadura
Bottled Water. Do We Need It ?
Bottled water is “tainted” by the production, transportation, packaging and disposal of the plastic bottles.
Facts
Ba Gua Circle Walking: Applications for Tai Chi and Aikido
Bruce Frantzis held a Ba Gua seminar in Aikido Dojo Darmstadt, Darmstadt – Germany on 2 Nov. – 4 Nov. 2009.
This was my first experience with Ba Gua and the first time I met Bruce Frantzis.
The seminar was mostly about energy, how we can become conscious with our own and others’ and how can we use it to our benefit … in martial arts and in everyday life.
These are some draft personal notes taken during the seminar …
Everything is OK
Everything is OK (Corporate Property)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGA9ZUEa3ZY
Everything is OK (The Hunt for Terror)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzyPMx1Yx8o
Everything is OK (Corporate Requiem)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6FWmHIJn2U
Everything is OK (Child Soldiers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1qAR1pdiGY
Ο Καλόγερος …
Ένας καλόγερος σε κάποια επίσκεψη στην Αθήνα, γυρίζει, γυρίζει και στο τέλος, κουρασμένος, κάθεται σ` ένα καφενείο. Μια κυρία στο διπλανό τραπέζι τον ρωτάει:
- Είσαστε αληθινός καλόγερος;
- Να σου πω, …
