Jetev Weblog

Fitnesscasting is the commercial application of podcasting for the personal fitness industry. Fitnesscasting is the distribution and publishing of audio and video feeds, that offer personal health and fitness training and information delivered over the Internet, for on demand listening.

This is a new step in the evolution of on-demand health and fitness information delivery, making it accessible, informative, useful and appealing. This mix presents the health and fitness industry with a very unique opportunity to reach its audience through this new medium. Those individuals, who are already seeking health and fitness information actively, will use RSS subscription technology built into each podcast feed, to receive information immediately as it is updated by each organization. With one click of a button, a user can subscribe to a feed that may be interesting, and any related information that is ever updated to that feed will be automatically processed to their personal aggregator. An aggregator is able to subscribe to a feed, check for new content at user-determined intervals, and retrieve the content.

To take this process one step further, podcasting publishes each feed with the capability to be transferred to any portable audio or video device. So with the growth of the ipod and all the other portable media devices, you have the ability to grab fitnesscasts and place them on your portable player for listening or viewing. Most users attach their portable players to their computers daily or weekly, and once the player is attached they automatically receive the new Fitnesscast updates.

The flexibility of this medium is what will drive the growth of Fitnesscasting tremendously over the next few years. There are numerous formats that can be used in developing a fitnesscast. Audio and video workouts give the power to the listener or viewer to receive on-demand health and fitness training. In addition, podcasts are being placed on portable video devices to offer exclusive training workouts for those clients who may travel a lot, or want to workout in the comfort of their home or on their own schedule.

The best thing about fitnesscasting is that the opportunities are endless. Here are some examples of how podcasting will benefit the fitness industry. Most Americans have heard of 6 minute abs or the home jazzercise videos, in fact, these have sold extremely well in our society. With as busy as people are in today’s society, some individuals do not have the opportunity to make it to a gym as much as they would like. However, these same individuals are not looking to give up their workout routine, they just need it custom fitted to their likings. With fitnesscasting, you have the ability to utilize this medium on-demand at the convenience. In addition, with audio and video ipods you can take these fitnesscasts with you when traveling.

Another example of its use could be in large scale gyms. All gyms have trainers who help their patrons’ workout and develop their bodies, yet, sometimes there are either not enough trainers or time schedules do not match up. With fitnesscasting, you have an audio or video of a trainer giving you instruction, at the touch of your fingers and on your time schedule.

The options are wide open for the development of fitness programs that are cutting edge, and highly opportunistic in terms of converting listeners and users into consumers and revenues.

The popularity of portable on demand information will grow even greater as wireless internet services continue to flourish across the country. These portable devices will no longer have to be connected to the internet; they will receive information wirelessly as it is updated. In addition, as cell phones and portable devices continue to merge together, the market grows larger.

For organizations that have members worldwide, the distribution of company information is very important, and once again this offers each institution a method of on-demand delivery which is convenient to all.

There are numerous uses for Fitnesscasting, and over the next few years it will explode in popularity. It is beneficial to organizations as well as the consumer, and it will be seen as a great tool in any health and fitness organizations’ operations.

Ryan Hoback Chairman, and co-founder of What I Want Podcasting. A business podcasting firm specializing in developing the commercial application of podcasting, by integrating corporate branding and using nanocasting models.

He can be reached at 305-670-0998, or Rhoback@MotivatedEntrepreneur.com, Rhoback@WhatIWantPodcasting.com

Ryan Hoback is Founder of the Motivated Entrepreneur, a Business Incubation & Consulting firm, specializing in helping entrepreneurs achieve success starting and growing their business.

The UK capital is the most beautiful place in the UK for history and of course for great chicks. The desirability of the call girls that live in the city really makes it the choicest place to book yourself a charming call girl. The call girl market in London is wonderfully competitive and all that makes the call girls who work in the industry try and be as graceful as they can at all times. The delightful escort females come in a variety of nationalities including Brazilian and the escorts work most days either in a hotel or the escorts can come to your home. Add a hint of luxury into your love life and hire an escort from Lucy Bond Escort Agency.

Escorts in the capital offer love to their clients and will spend 1 hour at a time with the escort for exchange of a fee. The fees for London escorts range from one hundred and forty pounds per hour to 300 pounds per hour. The booking does not include the travel expenses or extras such as dinner or bowling. The beautiful call girls with Lucy Bond are stuning, the sexy escorts are hand picked by the organisation and have been selected for their brains.

The firm is new to the city and have breathtaking rates available for new punters. The incredible females from the call girl organisation are all experienced and offer in calls at their house and out calls in your apartment.

There are 4 foundations to The Pink Kit Method for birthing body. The 1st foundation has been put into the multi-media resource called The Pink Kit: Essential Preparations for your birthing body. In the video and interactive book, expectant parents will learn the body knowledge that makes such common sense you’ll wonder why you haven’t known it before. We can map our pelvis and know our own shape. That shape helps us find positions that keep us open rather than assume that certain positions are better than others. We can create inner relaxation with the pelvic clock and create more space for our baby with the hip lift, sacral manoeuvre and sit bone spread. We can use a type of directed breathing that we can use to focus our attention, expand or relax specific areas of our body.

Childbirth is a simple plumbing exercise. An object has to come through and out of a container. To do that it must pass through a tube (pelvis), open a diaphragm (cervix) and aperture (vagina). The object likes space, room and not to have its passage bent.

In the multi-media kit is located the 2nd foundation of The Pink Kit Method on an audio tape called The Internal Work. This is the vital internal work or how to prepare your birth canal … the aperture. The plumbing concept of birth seems easy yet some things get in the way. We are the container. We bring to childbirth our structure, our ability to relax or tense up and accept the process of childbirth which can be very painful or fight against it. The goal of The Pink Kit Method is for each of us to create mobility and flexibility in our structure and learn to relax even when the sensations are very painful. Fortunately we can use our incredible human mind and make choices about our behaviours when we have the skills based on our preparation. We can only make realistic choices in our behaviours when we have the knowledge. The Pink Kit is the knowledge. Preparing our birth canal:

Creates a soft aperture for our baby to come through. Teaches us to respond to the sensations in 2nd stage rather than react. (Feeling we will have a bowel motion, the stinging sensations of the stretching can cause women to pull back from the down urge.) Prevents trauma to the soft tissue of our vagina.

An adjunctive resource was developed to step you through The Pink Kit video called Companion Guide. Although the sections in the video are easy to follow, many people wanted written instructions as well. This resource also introduces 3 new exercises: Kate’s Cat, Thai Massage, Letting Down Reflex along with two new concepts: Common language which develops good communication with your partner/husband and the concept that there are defined skills for the Birth and Coach Role. These concepts are expanded in the 4th foundation New Focus: Breath, Language and Touch.

Primarily the stories we told about childbirth were about the physical experience we had. We spoke about pain, or lack of it. We had back labours, failure to dilate, babies that stayed high in the pelvis, vaginas that tore, were cut or didn’t open easily or ones that opened in one contraction. We had quick, very intense births and painless ones. We had long, lingering labours that didn’t seem to get started and when they did we were dog tired. Story after story told of us that birth is primarily a physical experience. Some of those experiences were absolutely wonderful. Many women do just ‘get labour’. Realistically, many women don’t get labour. The use of medical pain relief is an attempt to prevent women from suffering too much pain in the process of childbirth. If women were really ‘getting labour’ they won’t be using pain relief.

In our stories, we spoke about residual pain or lack of it. Residual pain often lasted for months or years and often laid a foundation to an unsettled early parenting period. We couldn’t sit down, move our bowels, had burning when we urinated, pain on sex, vaginal wind, infections from tears or incisions, along with pain in our pubic bone or tail bone. Some women breezed through labour and the recovery. The Pink Kit Method just makes it possible for more women to do that. Maybe we won’t all breeze through it, but we’ll work better with the process in a conscious manner with the skills we’ve taught ourselves through our preparation. The first two foundations of The Pink Kit Method deal with some of these physical issues because we are now able to create a mobile birthing body and learn how to relax inside and prepare our birth canal.

The 3rd foundation of The Pink Kit Method is the Managing Skills. We all acknowledge that childbirth is a huge event in our lives and our children. We also know that most of us have never been to a birth and don’t have a clue what happens much less what to do, how to act or behave. The Managing Skills give us more subjective yet vitally important skills. Do you know that women who niggle for several days are more likely to get tired before progressive labour establishes if they don’t have good coping skills? We can prevent that by asking a simple question ‘What do you want to do now?’ and learning how to calm our mind and understand this early, kind phase of childibirth. Are you aware that while in labour it’s vitally important to stay in the NOW and apply good management skills at each and every moment throughout your labour? We don’t have to wait until the pain of labour is threatening our self control. Instead we can stay on top of the sensations when we apply our skills. Can you imagine working with your husband, partner, relative or friend really well? We can learn to form a good team between ourselves and the person or people who are their to support us.

Childbirth is a whole picture, not just another contraction. We can learn these subjective skills that work to integrate our Pink Kit preparation into our own experience. Of course, there’s a section on when to use The Pink Kit skills you’ve taught yourself. Our stories also told of our own self management experience in and around what was happening to us or around us. In other words, there were as many women who felt good about how they had managed labour in hospital with all the assessments, monitoring and procedure and health issues as there were women who didn’t feel good about how they had managed their labour even though they had accomplished a home birth.

Because our stories are so varied, the goal of The Pink Kit Method has always been passing on the labour management skills that work well in absolutely all birth situations so that each of us can come away from our birth feeling positive about our self management and how well our husband/partner coached us. Childbirth is too full of variables or the unexpected to know what it will be like; however, we can have skills to work through the process as it unfolds. We can have skills that are adaptable and transportable into any birth situation. No woman should deprive herself of positive labour management skills regardless of her choices or the necessity in regards to maternity care or management. In other words, Common Knowledge Trust bypasses the ‘either versus or’ approach to childbirth that has become familiar to so many of us. EITHER we will birth in hospital with a doctor and have a medical birth OR we will birth at home with a midwife and have a natural birth.

As we self managed labour, most of us felt that we had a natural birth even when there was a great deal of medical care. We felt that way because we felt good about how we had coped, managed and responded to our own internal process of dilating and giving birth. Many birth professionals admired our management and loved that our husbands/partners were such good coaches. They wished more couples could have such an experience. They often felt we had had ‘lucky’ or ‘easy’ births because they so strongly felt that childbirth is so unknown there is nothing we can do to prepare for birth. We knew we had prepared for birth and then used our good management and coaching skills to work through the unknown journey as it evolved. We had conscious births.

We not only explored our own management of labour, we also looked at the three most primal behaviours that accompanied childbirth. They are so much part of Life that we hardly notice them. However, the unique qualities of childbirth require unique applications of these ordinary human behaviours.

The 4th foundation of The Pink Kit Method is New Focus: Breath, Language and Touch. We will all breathe in labour, communicate with our husband/partner and be physically touched (or not). These are human behaviours that all of us share. Within these three shared behaviours there are positive ways we can use them in labour. In the 1970s when fathers came to help us, childbirth education classes focused on breathing and relaxation techniques. As birth discussions focused more on ‘choice’ (birth plans) and ‘information’ (informed consent), the skills were less stressed. In fact, a new belief around childbirth grew. This belief told women that they breathed all the time and would breathe in labour so there was nothing they needed to know. Natural birth has incorporated many beliefs that have actually acted to deskill women. It’s almost as though it’s become admirable to believe the ideal birth is ‘intuitive’ and ‘instinctive’ and requires little knowledge which might interfere with the process. The stories that created The Pink Kit Method approaches clearly show us that when we have positive birth skills, we respond to the process of childbirth with a consciousness unparalleled.

Unlike our traditional counterparts who are surrounded by people closest to us who will help us each step of the way through childbirth, we are often left alone either in hospital (checked periodically) or a home by midwives who are giving us the space to discover our own process. Either way, we can take our amazing childbirth and coaching skills with us. When we do this, our births become a conscious highlight in our lives. Through our self learned skills we brought attunement to the birth of our children.

New Focus: BLT is split into the Birth and Coach role. We have different jobs do to in labour and giving birth yet we can use the same knowledge to do those jobs well. When we work together in labour, we develop close bonds with our husband, partner, friends or relatives. It’s far better to bond with those close to us than our birth provider no matter how wonderful. As a labouring woman, we are required to look within ourselves. When we coach our partner, we are looking at how she is responding to the process from within herself. When we both use The Pink Kit Method, then we stay on the same track.

In the Breath section, we learn that there are only 4 ways humans breathe. Two are positive breath behaviours in childbirth and two indicate that a woman isn’t coping well with the sensations. From the birth role, we can learn how to use breath as a focus, expand areas or relax specific areas of our body. >From the coach role, we can learn how to hear whether a woman is managing the sensations, how to model good breathing behaviour to help her stay on track and how to help her expand and relax specific areas.

In the Language section, we can learn the specific language that really helps women to relax. We often use general language such as ‘relax’ when we see tension in a labouring woman. She is most likely to turn to you and snarl. ‘you try’, ‘I’m trying’ or ’shut up’. Instead we can specifically tell her to ’soften in your lower back’. This gives her the place and action and she’ll to do it. She’s momentarily forgotten or not observed that specific tension because the sensations at the moment are BIG. In this section we can learn that verbal messages take a wee bit of time to go in the ear, through the brain, to the body and back to the brain. So you learn about the importance of pausing.

Language or communication can be non-verbal as well. In labour the ability to give each other cues to convey information is important. Particularly in the rigorous part of labour, women short form communication.

In the Touch section of New Focus you learn the type of touch that produces deep internal relaxation. This form of deep, rising touch allows all the connective tissue (fascia) to relax. Most people don’t realize the importance of fascia and how much tense can be stored there. Most people think of tension being caused by muscles. Try this so you can understand the difference between muscles (which is part of soft tissue or connective tissue) and fascia (which is also part of soft/connective tissue and what we need to relax in labour along with specific muscles).

Sit or stand and look straight ahead. Relax your head, neck and shoulders yet still keep your head facing forward. Put your index finger on your forehead about an inch above the outer edge of your eyebrow. Remember keep your head facing forward no matter what. Start to apply pressure to turn your head and continue to increase that pressure. Hopefully, you’ll notice that it takes very little effort to keep your head facing forward even when you apply a great deal of pressure to turn your head.

In labour, that simple fixed or frozen soft tissue (inside of the container) can stop mobility, openness and space. Babies need space to move through you. Couple that fixed or frozen fascia with tensing up your muscles, then you can imagine why the object might have a struggle to get out of the container. Go back to your exercise above and add muscle tension. Our coach can see muscle tension but not see connective tissue tension. Both the Birth and Coach role need to work to reduce that tension, particularly when it’s inside.

When we combine all these Pink Kit skills, this common sense and self knowledge we gain then we can approach childbirth with confidence in our ability to move through the process of giving birth. We don’t have to like one moment of it. Often our own greatest personal achievements are the accomplishments we have during challenging experiences.

When the Argentine army surrendered in June of 1982, ending the Falklands War, some Royal Marines discovered that the quickest way to get the attention of stubborn Argentine prisoners, since we did not speak their language, and they did not speak ours, was to hit them on the elbow with the handle of a pickaxe. Prisoners treated in this fashion followed our orders.

I would no longer recommend this as a way to treat my fellow human beings, but I have learned that the same tactic applies to writing fundraising letters. Unless you can gain and sustain the attention of your reader, and do so quickly, you have lost. Lost your donor, and lost your donation.

In the world of dramatic fiction, creative authors understand the need to grab their readers immediately and not let them go until the end of the story. The place they do this first if the first line. Their advice to writers of fundraising letters is simple: “Enter shooting.”

In other words, start your donation request letter with such a dramatic first sentence that your reader is compelled to put all the other mail aside, put down the TV remote, and read your letter.

You have two places to enter shooting: your carrier envelope and the first line of your letter. Here are some ways to grab attention:

ENVELOPE

• Use a large, commemorative stamp
• Have someone famous sign the letter, and put that person’s name above the return address (Fund for a Free South Africa, for example, used Nelson Mandela to good effect in a mailing)
• Ask a question or pose a riddle that is answered inside
• Address the letter by hand

OPENING LINE

• Ask a provocative question: “What do you suppose is the easiest way to reduce homelessness in our city by 30%?”
• Start telling a gripping story: “She stood on the curb looking scared and lonely in a skimpy halter top and bright red lipstick. It was two in the morning. A chilly breeze whipped up in the street and seemed to make her shiver. She was a child . . . just a child. We pulled our Covenant House van up to the curb and rolled down the window . . . .”
• Quote someone: “You can’t turn back the clock, but you can wind it up again.”
• Reveal an unknown, compelling fact: “America’s neglect is killing our children. In the past year, 40,000 babies like Andrew died before their first birthday. Virtually no other industrial nation lets so many of its babies die.”
• Tell a joke: “Ebeneezer Scrooge never made a gift to Pomona College. After trafficking in Spirits he became a good and generous man, but he was never blessed with children, nor with the ability to send them to an outstanding liberal arts college. For us, parents of Pomona College students . . . .”

© 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the Author” message).

Boating is one of the most enjoyable outdoor activities for people of all ages. Over time, boating has evolved into a safer activity, however much work still needs to be done in terms of safety education. Many recreational boaters make the mistake of assuming they can beat the odds, but without proper preparation this may not be the case.

Proper Equipment

When planning for a boating trip it is incredibly important to prepare your safety equipment properly. This includes but is not limited to a flares, horn, water bailer and lifejackets. A trip plan is also an essential part of safe boating. A trip plan is basically contains information about where you plan to go boating. It should be filed with someone responsible that can take the proper steps should an emergency occur.

Lifejackets

Lifejackets are essential for people of all ages. The misconception largely exists that if a child falls in the water an adult in decent physical condition will be able to save them. This is a very dangerous assumption as it is not always the case. Often a child that falls into the water will go below the surface of the water which means they may be hard to spot. Also, sometimes it is not immediately apparent that a child has fallen into the water. You may not even realize until it is already too late.

Man Overboard

When someone falls overboard it is important to not immediately jump in after them to try to save them. Someone who is struggling to stay above water may unwittingly pull their potential rescuer under water with them. Instead, you should use the proper safety equipment such as safety buoys and rope which will float on the surface.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia remains a large risk when boating in cooler waters. Someone who falls overboard could succumb to hypothermia thus limited their physical abilities and mental decisions. Their risk of survival drastically drops the longer they are in the water. Again, it is important not to jump in after them in an attempt to save them as the rescuer could themselves succumb to the cold waters.

Electrocution

Power lines are the most common cause of electrocution while boating. Proper care is rarely taken in ensuring that a metal part of the boat such as the mast touches a power line. This carelessness has led to many deaths or serious injuries over the years.

Weather

Careful consideration must be taken when determining the amount of effect the weather will have on your boating experience. Pay attention to the forecast ahead of time to make sure that bad weather is not approaching. Even while out on the water it is extremely important to pay attention to the marine forecast for your area as well as the colors and activity in the sky.

In conclusion, boating is a very enjoyable activity, however at no point should the safety aspects of boating be underestimated.

Boating is an activity enjoyed by all types of people. Visit The Boating Source for articles and tips about having a safe and enjoyable boating adventure.

Small, medium and large businesses across America have been burdened almost to the point of extinction due to the miss management of our regulatory bodies. I have been to every city in the country over 10,000 population and I have seen the destruction that regulatory agency regulations cause through unintended and unanticipated consequences, what is wrong with reducing your regulations and helping the common good, the rural towns in America, the people who care most about this great nation? The Federal Trade Commission although a small agency is one of the culprits as they regulate the franchising industry and the franchise industry is involved in all levels of business; small, medium and large; both private companies and corporations. Recently in a report on franchising the FTC claimed that franchise disclosure was cost effective.

It is unfair for the Federal Trade Commission to make a misrepresentation of facts, falsehood or bogus assertion when they either knew or should have known that such statements will cause irreprehensible consequences to free markets and further violate the right to free contract afforded to us by the United States Constitution. Stating that these disclosure documents are somehow “Cost Effective” is such a falsehood. Whether or not such claim was made out of malice or ignorance; neither alleviates the cause and effect or lets the Federal Trade Commission off the hook. If it was made in spitefulness it is dishonest and the problems created can never be fully remedied, if it was out of ignorance, it clearly spits in the face of the very “Truth, Justice and American Way” that we as citizens expect from that branch of the Department of Justice. The all-knowing, all mighty FTC looking out for us, how can this be? How can such linear thinking and such outrageous miss-statements appear in a report concerning the greatest business model every created in the history of mankind’s development of economy and trade.

There is nothing, cost-effective about the current disclosure process in franchising, it is cumbersome, it slows down the fluidity of business, it is cost prohibitive and creates barriers to entry, thus eliminating competition, consumer choice and causing further problems down the road for the very consumer such disclosures are suppose to be helping. “Cost-Effective,” reminds me of NASA spending a million dollars to engineer a pen that could work in the International Space Station, the Russians took a $ .04 pencil. How would government know anything about being cost-effective? That is utter nonsense and that phrase and premise; “cost-effective” has any basis. This cost-effective message, which is extended thru the report is a hole in the whole foundation of the argument for any for massive disclosure rules in the first place.

Any comments to the contrary simply are made out of ignorance, self-serving greed or a socialism skewed view of the world. We need to stop listening to lawyers and start listening to the freedoms which free markets create. This is not a Communist or Socialist country, this is a Republic and a Capitalistic country and it is the best country on this planet in this present period. Surely we can keep it so into the next period. It is unacceptable to make such comments in a report by the Federal Trade Commission and scary to think that a business model, which has given as much as franchising to this country would be further regulated; costing more American Jobs. Think about it. Cost-Effective? Not hardly. That is about the last thing I would describe it as. If these are the words used by attorneys in the franchising industry to describe our current disclosure requirements then such men could not possibly know their own bumper from a rabbits lair. I think you know what I am saying here. If not think about it and think about the other issues concerning over regulation in all sectors of our economy. Thanks for listening.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Regardless of what sort of writer you are and how much you love to write, there are probably days when you’d rather clean ditches than face another blank page.

As writers, we face common challenges; staying motivated and confident, avoiding “writer’s block,” and meeting goals (on time!) are some of the toughest. Here is some of the best practical advice I’ve come by, or discerned myself, for becoming and remaining productive, creative, and content while traversing the writer’s path. Try implementing these “Five Golden Rules” and see if they work for you.

Golden Rule #1: Avoid dwelling on past work: get on with it.

This is maybe the most important, and most difficult to follow of the Golden Rules. There is actually a subset of rules under this category, since there are many ways to “dwell” and many things to dwell on. Take heed, then, that thou shalt never:

* Stop writing for a time because you received a discouraging rejection letter. Whether or not you’ve been published yet, mark a file folder “Acceptance Letters” and expect to fill it eventually. Your day will come.

* Stop writing for a time because you’ve completed something or because you’ve had an acceptance. There is a tendency to relax, to say: “Ah, I’ve done it.” Savor the moment, sure; but don’t get overly lazy with your writing. Move on to your next project.

* Reread every sentence, paragraph, etc. after you’ve just written it. Learn to disengage your “editor” self until the work is finished — you’ll be much more efficient and prolific this way.

Golden Rule #2: Accept rejection gleefully!

Well, maybe not “gleefully.” But it is true: you can learn from rejections. Therefore:

* Test your work on other writers you admire and listen to what they bring up, both the compliments and the criticisms.

* If you receive a rejection letter that contains comments on why your piece was turned down, read it, file it, and think about it; decide if you should edit the work some more before sending it out again. Chances are if the editor took the time to write a note to you, they saw some kind of potential in your work — that’s the next best thing to being accepted!

* Finally, remember that you must study your markets carefully, and be selective about what article, story, etc. you send to what publication. Rejection might simply indicate that you sent your work to the wrong place.

Golden Rule #3: Keep track of everything … everything.

If you are sending stuff out to editors, you must keep track of what you send, where you send it, and when you send it.

One good way to keep a log is to create a table, either with your word processor or by hand, with columns marked for: 1. Title of work or query; 2. Title of journal, magazine, etc. you sent to; 3. Date sent; 4. Date accepted or rejected (mark A or R, date); 5. Other places the work was sent.

* Make sure not to leave out 5, since you don’t want to waste time re-sending a piece to somewhere it has been turned down. You might want to mark beside 2 how long you expect to wait for a reply, if you have this information.

* Print off extra copies of your cover letters and keep them in a file with the submitted pieces attached.

* You might also want to log how many hours you spend writing each day, week, etc., to help keep you honest.

* Organize your correspondence, research materials, notes, and other important documents and keep them in handy portable file boxes.

Golden Rule #4: Write about what interests you.

Everyone has heard the sermon about writing “what you know.” It’s good to keep in mind, however, that what you don’t yet know can be learned, through research or contact with other people.

* As long as it interests you, it’s a topic worthy of pursuing. Go to the library and look it up;watch a documentary; conduct interviews with experts; listen to people’s stories, memories and impressions. Then write.

* If it bores you silly, but you feel you should write about it because: (a) it’s a marketable subject/theme; (b) someone has asked you to write about it; (c) everyone else is writing about it; or (d) nobody else is writing about it — go ahead, if you’ll receive proper compensation for your boredom. If not, leave it alone.

* If your subject excites you tremendously, but seems to bore everyone else, you can: write it anyway because it’s good for the soul; scour the publishing world for a suitable market, since there’s bound to be someone who shares your (possibly obscure) interest; or slant your article/story to suit a particular publication.

Golden Rule #5: Stare at the wall; drink some coffee; scribble.

You can substitute the ceiling, some tea, and doodling if you wish. As long as you get away from the work for a bit to relax, ponder, daydream, pet the cat. “But that’s a waste of precious time,” you say. Not true. On the contrary: you can’t ignore this rule and expect to flourish as a writer. Why? Because “goofing off” actually serves to fuel your imagination and restock your creative resources. You can’t expect to function physically without sleep, right? Likewise, you can’t expect to function as a writer unless you occasionally . . .

* Do other creative things, whether you’re “good” at them or not. Make a cartoon with stick figures. Try watercolors. Take a dance class. Improvise a song while you shower.

* Move around. You’ll notice that your mind tends to go numb at about the same point your butt does: that’s your signal to get up and take a walk outside, wrestle with the kids, do Tai Chi, whatever. Just move.

* Is there a character in your story whose been giving you grief? Maybe you haven’t gotten to know her properly yet, or she you. Invite her to shuffle about your brain while you peel potatoes and ask her a few questions — you’ll be surprised at how agreeable she becomes.

* Get out of the house! Or office. Cabin fever is a continuous occupational hazard for writers, but you don’t have to succumb: get together with friends, or simply be around other people in a public place.

There you have them, the golden rules. Maybe you knew them already — at least intuitively. I find, however, that it’s good to be explicit about how we structure and govern our writing lives. Without rules to live by, and goals to strive for, our art suffers — languishes from lack of discipline and drive. So buck up and commit the rules to memory, recite them once a day. And write, write, write!

Lisa E. Cote is a published short story writer and poet, and a professional writer and copy editor, specializing in Web copy. She is the founder of Elitelit.com, a resource site and online journal for creative writers. Lisa teaches online workshops based on her writing prompt tool, the Instant Muse Story Starter, helping her students (and herself) to live by the Golden Rules.

Lisa was born in Ottawa, Ontario, but now resides in the Seattle, Washington area, where she co-habits with two Scottish Terriers and drinks far too many lattes.

URL: Elitelit.com - For Serious Writers: http://www.elitelit.com

e-mail: lisa@elitelit.com

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Leasing refers to an owner, or lessor, selling use of his property (equipment, automobile, home, or business) to a lessee. For many individuals, leasing is a good alternative to buying because leasing requires less equity and, therefore, more people have the qualifications to lease than to buy. For example, a $1 million piece of property may be too expensive for a business to purchase, so they lease it for $5,000 per month, which they are able to do with the profits they make.

Having the latest high-tech equipment is crucial for an IT company, so they may lease the best computers and have a continuing upgrade in their contract. This is much more cost-effective than regularly having to purchase the latest model, especially because computers are constantly being improved upon and the older ones become obsolete in no time.

Many other types of equipment, such as those used in construction, entertainment, weddings, and offices are typically leased to the user. Bulldozers, loaders, graders, and cranes are just some of the equipment needed when constructing a new building. If the building owner bought these items for the temporary use needed, he would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars needlessly. By leasing the machines, he is paying less and also being guaranteed service, repair, and maintenance on them.

Equipment rentals are a big part of the entertainment industry, from a child’s birthday party to huge corporate events. Many parents lease massive waterslides, cotton candy machines, and “moon walks” to enhance their child’s party. Corporations trying to impress clients host big blowouts complete with extravagant light shows, live broadcasts, and other huge presentations, all requiring leased equipment.

Weddings and bat/bar mitzvahs are other big sources of leasing needs. These events often require large amounts of silverware, linens, tables and chairs. Some even opt to have huge tents erected for their event, another leased product. A wedding typically has five or more vendors, all providing various leased services, such as catering, supplies, and music for the event.

Business offices must supply their workers with adequate equipment required to produce a huge amount of paperwork and computer files. Machines such as computers, printers, scanners, copiers, and fax machines are often leased because the lease contract provides the lessee with service and maintenance. Many contracts also include supplies, upgrades, and installation, all of which would be too expensive to buy individually. Leasing is much more cost-effective than buying in many of these situations.

Another item that is frequently leased is the automobile. There is a lot of debate over whether it is better to lease or buy a car. On the one hand, the lessee gets the best years of the automobile’s life at a slightly discounted price. But, of course, the buyer is able to sell the car at the end of its run, unlike the lessee, who must return it to the owner for no monetary return.

Homes, such as houses, mobile homes, and apartments, are very often leased. This is a great option for a person who is trying to save money for a down payment on a home. It is also a good way for homeowners to profit without selling their property. Many people make their entire earnings from the process of buying dilapidated homes, refurbishing them, and leasing them as homes to others.

Business leasing works similarly to home leasing. A person or company will buy a strip mall and lease each of the storefronts to different businesses, focusing on what sort of businesses will do well in the community and offering a variety of services on the property. The business owner would rather lease the store than buy it, because it is less expensive and the landlord will handle all service and maintenance of the building.

Get more useful information on leasing related issues at:
www.leasingx.info

Modern bedding isn’t just beautiful- it can also be very practical, extremely durable and quite affordable. Even luxury bedding for the modern bedroom doesn’t have to break your bank account.

Our busy lives today mean there is little time to spend in traditional homemaking. Modern bedding has to fit into our modern lifestyles and provide for easy care as well as comfort. After a long day at the office, no one wants to come home and sleep on scratchy bedding. On those precious days off work, no one wants to spend all their time doing laundry and ironing pillow cases so that they have no wrinkles. With today’s modern fabrics, whether it’s 100% Egyptian cotton, or blends, it’s just not necessary to spend lots of time spend caring for your bedding. Of course, doing laundry does take time, but you shouldn’t need to spend any extra time making bedding for the modern bed look nice.

One of the most popular ways to make your bedding modern is to choose Dwell. The Dwell line was created by its designer and founder, Christine Lemieux, in 1999 because she felt there simply were too few modern, colorful, beautiful graphics and other designs in quality bedding for the modern home.

She designs bedding using very bright colors such as lime, butter yellow, chocolate, charcoal and ocean blue to create patterns like trellis, awning stripes featuring broad, bold striping, thin stripe which uses various widths of striping to create outstanding bedding patterns and dot or cube. Along with these bold graphic patterns, solid sheets and border sheets allow mix and match to create a very modern look for the bedroom.

An absolutely fabulous choice in luxury bedding for the modern room comes from Amenity. Using 400 thread count 100% cotton to create the duvet and pillow shams, the Twig design in bright blue peacock or cocoa, uses a solid background to highlight the large graphic of a tree.

Drift is another great design which features a graphic of a dandelion head against the tan or cocoa background. The Amenity Leaf design places large leaves on the solid background colors. The pillow shams for each of these selections are solid in the same color as the background of the duvet. Very modern in appearance, these bedding choices make the modern bedroom’s focal point the bed. This gives a clean, uncluttered look to the bedroom by focusing attention on the bedding with these bold, modern looks.

Nygard International Home Bedding has a very modern appearance that is so modern it is almost retro!

The Coco bedding from Nygard uses “urban suede” which is a type of faux suede in large square of cocoa and black to create a great bedding set. The faux suede is created of 97% cotton and 3% spandex resulting in fabric that is soft, plush and the best part is that it is machine washable! The large blocks of color break the bed into quarters and the tailored styling make a bold, modern statement. This top quality bedding is extremely affordable- the prices are much lower than you would expect for material that looks just like suede.

Western Bedding has created an outstanding modern set of bedding that has a very Zen element.

Using black and white in tailored designs, Western Bedding has created a very striking bedding set. The comforter, created from 50% cotton and 50% polyester has solid black jacquard on one side and the reverse is a black and white graphic print. The geometric jacquard weave provides a sense of texture and is repeated in the bed skirt. The pillow shams are crisply tailored and feature cording details. The sheets and pillow cases are 220 thread count 100% cotton percale in bright white with a black twist cord detail. Add decorative pillows with engineer-sharp geometric appliqus and buttons to complete the ensemble.

When decorating with modern style bedding, especially with bold colors and geometrics, it is very important to keep a modern, uncluttered look in the bedroom. Avoid mixing modern linens with antique furnishings- the effect will simply not look attractive. Keep your other items organized and mostly out of site as well to keep with the theme.

Platform beds and waterbeds lend themselves perfectly to modern choices in bedding. If you select a two-color geometric for your bedding, choose modern accessories in those same colors, but also add a few carefully selected accents in another bold, bright color.

For example, if you select Western Bedding’s black and white modern ensemble, consider adding a red throw pillow and a red lamp to your modern black and white bedroom. The effect will be absolutely stunning!

The result of having a modern bedroom will be an inviting but crisp, clean bedroom that has you feeling more organized and on top of the world!

Patricia Bowlin informs and entertains you as you shop for home bedding! Find out everything you need to know about chosing the perfect pillows, comforters, and bedding here now.

Hair loss, baldness, hair thinning is something that disturbs loads of men old and young. There are many options achievable to you yourself currently, to help you fix the Advanced Hair Studio is now one of these exact places. They have managed to help over three hundred thousand individuals in and around the world and nowdays have seventy studios in 12 many different parts of the world.

There are lots of many different varieties of hair loss treatment programmes conceivable to clients all of which involve very different types of techniques. Any of these are possible to all customers after a consultation with a consultant. The procedures are Strand by Strand this is very astonishingly maintenance & builds the hair up slowly & gradually, so not to make it so obvious, this acts as a hair replacement method as apposed to a hair regrowth method. Advanced Hair Laser Therapy is another option that you yourself could go for; this method is great & very specialised. Advanced Hair Studio has effectively managed clinical trials around a combination of the newest laser beam technology, an FDA approved re growth pharmaceutical, and a proven scalp and follicle treatment programme for hair loss. With this programme, you will see a enormous change within three months. The last technique that they offer is a home treatment, so this is something that the customer can actually do themselves in the comfort of there and the results are super. The home treatment programme combines the naturally occurring herb Sereonoa Repens range of products, with a handheld laser device & antioxidant treatment which helps to thicken, strengthen & repair your hair and scalp as well as promoting hair growth and reducing hair loss. Each For advice on Hair issues please go to thinning hair today.