I started out the day doing my Nia workout. . . . thank God, I got my workout in before brunch.

We went to a friends in San Jose.  It was a small gathering so I thought it would be pretty causual, and it was, sort of, this was the spread that met us . . . . pretty fancy, but very relaxed. 

We probably could have stayed there visiting all day, but we had to rush off to an early dinner.

We went straight from brunch to dinner in Milpitas.  Since the family was done with dinner this is from dinner.

We had a good day. Good food and visiting with friends and family. Very nice. What did you do? What are your traditions?

Apple seems to have a way with picture quality.  I like my monitor, it is fine.  I don’t need another one, but when I go to Hubby’s office I do tend to stare at his monitor.  It is soooo clear and it makes whatever you are working on so beautiful.  I found this to be the case with the iPad.  But like my iPhone since the “monitor” is also your keyboard, you end up having to look “through” a lot of finger prints and smudges. 

It was already loaded up with someone’s applications and so I basically just looked at a movie and did some internet surfing.

It ran pretty fast, and as I have already mentioned the clarity is awesome. 

Some of the things that I am familiar with on the iPhone were different on the iPad and I thought the differences would be useful.  The calendar program that comes as part of the iPhone was able to be displayed as if it were a book calendar with the note section on the left and the month on the right.  It looked like a regular desk calendar.  With the iPhone’s tiny screen you have to change “pages” for list/day/month.  I can see how having a “regular desk calendar” would be very helpful.  Don’t we all love to look at things “at a glance”. 

I LOVED the way the multiple browsers showed.  But I bet I would end up with 16 browser windows like I usually do on my regular computer.  I think that the iPhone only allows eight and the way they are displayed is linearly and you swipe to move them.  But on the iPad they are displayed in a grid format so you can see them all at once.  I found that to be one of the most exciting features that I experienced.

Remember, I only had this for a few hours and the applications loaded on it were not mine or even my husband’s so I didn’t go snooping into them all.

The “keyboard” that pops up is a good sized qwerty keyboard and one could touch type one it.  I have the need for the feel of the keys in order to type with any speed, but I heard my husband typing away on it just like normal.  (And just so you know, he typed REALLY fast!)

I keep coming back to how pretty the monitor looked.  I actually didn’t even get to see the “naked” iPad because it was “vacuum packed” into is neoprene case and, as I have mentioned, it is not ours so I didn’t want to risk scratching it or anything, so I didn’t take it out of its case to look at it. 

I did discover a book in the “library”.  It was Whinnie-the-Pooh.  Oh, my heart melted and I thought since I was stuck on the couch with the cat was on my lap I could try reading on the iPad.  Well, four pages into it, my hand started to hurt.  The iPad is very heavy and I could not hold it in one hand and read it like I would hold a book.  But unlike the Kindle it has its own backlight, like a computer.  (Did I mention how pretty the monitor makes everything look?).

Like a netbook, I can see how people could use an iPad.  I can see how business could benefit from it.  Since I work from home I am good with my regular computer and my iPhone, which is just like an iPad, but smaller, and it has a camera and a phone.   But its picture is not nearly as pretty.

Well, I think that I have just about heard enough of this saying. I, myself, decided that IF this saying is true I am NOT a dog. A couple of years ago I started learning new things, new tricks, new ways of thinking, new ways of trying things, new ways of experiencing life. So, heck, it dawned on me . . . I AM NOT A DOG!!! . . . either that, or by embracing new things and not remaining set in my ways, I am not old. Yahoo! I think that could very well be one way to help stay young, right?

Learn new things.

The FIRST THING to learn is to STOP SAYING THAT. If you say it, you partially believe it. And if you believe then, well, yeah, its true. I hear people say this a lot. I just sigh, because if that is what the person thinks then, that is the way it is. It is as if they have given up even before they try. Because it is such a common phrase we accept it. I want to grab them by the shoulders and shake them and say, “What kind of ‘stuff’ is that coming out of your mouth?” But instead I get an attitude and I say haughtily, “Well, thank God we aren’t dogs!!!!” Sometimes, I see a bit of realization. Sometimes I see that it is recognized that, no, we aren’t dogs, so why can’t we learn something new.

So what do you say? Something new on the agenda today? Something you haven’t tried? Some new thing that you want to make a habit? Have a healthy habit you want to try on for size? Why not? Last I heard dogs can’t read, so . . . . you are not a dog . . . even if you have been on this earth for what we might think of as a long time, that doesn’t mean you can’t stretch your brain, stretch your body . . . . learn, do, enjoy!

Well, what are you waiting for a treat?

Recently I have become curious about healing stones. I am wanting to learn more about Chakras and in doing some research about them I came across information about colors and gemstones that heal. It is all very interesting to me. I am at the point where I believe that everything holds energy. But how or if that energy transfers over from stones and has the power to heal, I am still iffey on that.

I have come up with ideas and reason where I can comfortably accept that this is possible so, I figured why not get some pretty jewelry to boot.

Here is my first piece of chakra jewelry. I have been told that silver has strong healing properties, but I just don’t wear silver, so in my search to find something that I would wear that was under $70.00, I found this. I thought it was gorgeous, so when I saw that it was under $30.00 I figured that I was meant to have it. I had been looking for weeks, so I was so excited to find this. When I received it, I was not disappointed.

CROWN CHAKRA: Amethyst for spiritual awareness, meditation & transformation
BROW CHAKRA: Sodalite for higher knowledge, intuition, wisdom
THROAT CHAKRA: Blue Agate for courage, strength, acceptance
HEART CHAKRA: Malachite for balance, peace, healing
SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA: Aragonite for truth, mental and emotional stability
PELVIC CHAKRA: Peace aventurine for prosperity, success & creativity
ROOT CHAKRA: Poppy Jasper for healing, grounding, and completion.

I believe it is actually “gold plated” wire, but it is awesome. I will continue to research this information and post as I learn and go along.

Well, I went to this meeting. First of all, I hadn’t seen the information that might have been out there that it would be a small meeting. I also had not seen the website so I had no idea what The Difference was about. I was surprised that it was a small meeting. But for the small amount of people the energy from the women there was amazing. There were all types of different women who do different things to make a difference; there was massage therapist, psychotherapist, feng shui designers, personal assistants, energy workers, Nia teachers (ok, that was me!), etc. Jacqueline Bignell was leading the meeting and she spoke to us in a very conversational manner. She was amazing at presenting her passion. She was great at getting the group excited and yearning for more.

She is going to make a movie, a two-hour docu-drama that she believes will change the world, by providing answers to questions like the following:

–Why are you here?
–What do you think your life’s purpose is?
–What do you do in your life to be truly filled with love and joy?

Her vision is to get 6000 people to collaborate on this, answering these questions. Their ideas, opinions, stories, etc. will be filtered up to a National Group who will filter it up to the World Group and they will filter it up to the script writer. The idea is to have four main characters in the movie. But the idea of the script is not quite formed yet.

Her mission is to touch the lives of 6 Billion people. The idea is that 6000 people can touch 60,000, 60,000 can touch 600,000, 600,000 can touch 6,000,000, and so on, multiplying by 10.

It was an amazing meeting. Her idea incredible, change the world with a movie. A movie collaboration of 6000 people, never been done . . . . .all amazing stuff. And the real idea is to have the 6000 people fund the movie, or at least pay to be collaborators.

In addition to being a collaborator you receive a lot of other things for your part in funding of the movie. Some incredible things . . . .to me what I think of it as is purchasing a self-improvement package where the end result is personal growth, a 6 minute interview on an internet TV show, inclusion in The Difference Website and The Difference Network, and bragging rights that you were a collaborator on this historic project.

But one of the big “sells” is that one’s self, one’s uniqueness would touch 6 Billion people. Now that is a great “sell” and sounds so very appealing, but with the filtering process I am not sure that it is an accurate selling point. I am not confident that my uniqueness, would actually get through the filters. My story could be the one that was filtered out. In addition, I am not confident that all 6 BILLION people will be “touched”. See what I am saying?

If you desire to become a collaborator and you are able, I have no doubt that if you actually participate in all that they are offering it will be an incredible experience. I believe that the training and mentoring that they say they are going to provide would be amazing . . .but you have to commit to do it. This is about a two year commitment.

I admire her for attempting this. I believe that it is an amazing idea.

I look forward to hearing more about this. I look forward to watching the end product. I look forward to seeing the difference The Difference makes.

I didn’t know what to post today and so when I got home and had an e-mail from another friend I thought, “Perfect!  People REALLY love the Marilyn Monroe Albert Einstein Optical Illusion.  They will go crazy for these.”

So here you go:

White table wine (3.5 oz) has 85 calories, 2.7 carbs, and no fat

Reisling (3.5 oz) has 80 calories, 3.7 carbs, and no fat

Gewurztraminer (3.5 oz) has 81 calories, 2.6 carbs, and no fat

Red table wine (3.5 oz) has 87.5 calories, 2.7 carbs, and no fat

Merlot (3.5 oz) has 83.3 calories, 2.5 carbs, and no fat

Zinfandel (3.5 oz) has 88.3 calories, 2.8 carbs, and no fat

Burgundy (3.5 oz) has 86.3 calories, 3.7 carbs, and no fat

Eggnog made with whole milk (8 oz) 306.2 calories, 30.7 grams of carbs, and 17 grams of fat. This is not including the alcohol.

An ounce/shot of brandy has 64.2 calories, 0 carbs, and no fat

Online is telling me that 3.4 oz of champagne has 76 calories, 2 carbs, and no fat

I am not sure what type of champagne that is and I know that I typically drink sparkling wine not champagne. I am just sharing sharing some facts since this is the time of year where many people that don’t usually drink might have a drink or two. One way to assist yourself in avoiding alcohol altogether is to volunteer to be the designated driver. That is an additional incentive to not indulge.

Whatever you do, enjoy, but remember moderation is the key. And be responsible.

I don’t have a special “Holiday Drink” but I always hear about people have special drinks they indulge in over the Holiday season. I would love to hear about your special drink. Leave a comment sharing it with us all.

Happy Holidays!

I actually haven’t remember that often, I have less than 40 songs, but of those 40 I have six that I absolutely love and listen to over and over. There are more out of the 40 that I like but there are 6 that I think are worth mentioning. And they range across the board and I like them for various reasons. Here they are in no particular order:

Song:                           Artist:

Neo Violence                 The Tough Alliance

Mr. Hurricane                Beast

Already Home               Ha-Ash

Cheater, Cheater          Joey & Rory

The Stoop                    Little Jackie

Wonderful                    Gary Go

I actually bought the entire Beast CD. It is very moving, I mean, for me, it makes me get up and dance. But not like bounce on your toes disco dance, more like pound-the-ground-get-up-get-down tribal dance or something.

I throw Neo Violence into my Nia routines because it has a very dicernible beat. Very catchy tune. Easy to dance, exercise, and workout too. (So is music from the Beast, but . . . the words might be a bit distracting in a Nia class.)

And the latest is Wonderful by Gary Go, kind of sounds like a lot artists out there now, but I love the words. “Say: ‘I am wonderful.’ You are a miracle.” “Don’t Stop to let it pass you by you gotta look yourself in the eye and say, I am wonderful!” “We are all miracles . . . .we are incredible.” Oh, I just love that!

So, what great find have you downloaded for free off of  iTunes? Any you love? Any you would like to tell us about?

The first video created by EpipheoStudios.com is a great little explanation of what the wave is.  The video is cute.  It also sounds like a plea to get an invitation.  (Which after watching the Google Wave Overview, I can’t really blame him for begging.)

The next video is from Google and it is almost 8 minutes, but if you watch it, it will have you going, “WHOOOOOAAAAA!”

Here I’ve typed up a summary in case you don’t want to watch the video, but I included a time stamp for each point in case you want to zap to it to see what it is about. 

E-mail is 40 years old.  Google is trying to “update it”.  An e-mail sent is somewhat like a letter.  If you send an e-mail to five people there are five copies of the “letter”.  But a wave is a “hosted conversation”.  There is only one copy and it is in one place.  So when people comment on it the comments are stored on one wave and there are not multiple copies floating about. (Time stamp 0:30 of the Google video)

One use could be:  You can open a wave to plan a party (Time stamp 0:58).  Adding your contacts to the wave allows people to see and comment.  You can add a gadget to use it as an invite to a party (Time stamp 1:47) and your invitees can RSVP in the wave.  While in the wave you can click on your address which will pop a google map right into your wave (Time stamp 2:19).

After your party, everyone can drag and drop their pictures into the wave (Time stamp 2:39). 

You can embed a wave into your blog (Time stamp 3:20)!  In an embedded wave comments can be on the blog or the wave (Time stamp 3:35).   (UI*)

There is a feature called “Playback” that allows you to see the wave in order of how it was created.  So you can see comments added in order even if they were added after a new blip (comment).  (Time stamp 4:35)

“Robots” can be added to a wave (Time stamp 5:06).  You can tweet and see the people you follow from a wave using a “Robot” (Time stamp 5:25).  The video says “Robots can be used to interface with other systems–anything with an API.”  (Time stamp 6:41)

There is translation in a wave using Rosy the robot.  You can type in English and your contact can receive it in his/her language.  (Time stamp 6:49)

*UI = User Interface

Well, if you watched the video, I bet you can see some of the possibilites that the Google Wave has to offer.  As the video begins the 80 minute video is mentioned so I am sure that you can imagine there are a lot of other things that wave can do.  I will learn about them a little at a time.  I am excited about the possibilites.  

When I first heard about this I filed it away under “good for big companies”, but as I was watching the video I had some ideas on how I could use it to help grow my business and to help get the word out about Nia.  Using the internet to market a local business is very different than using it to market a business where product is shipped or can be downloaded.  So this would be a valuable tool . . . . . I can see that now.  I am ready to catch the wave!

Oh, don’t be all jealous, I didn’t get an invitation, I don’t actually have access.  I can’t give you first hand screen shots or pictures (which you KNOW I love to do).  All I can tell you is that I watched two of their videos and I saw it in action.  (SOMEONE I know has it.)  I didn’t get to play with it, and that is how I really learn, so bear with me when I try to give you a glimpse of the future wave that is about to wash over us . . . .

This is beyond e-mail and beyond chat.  It is beyond whatever type of work sharing program that I have ever seen.  It is cool . . . .I think . . . I still need to get my hands on it to see for myself, but the IDEA sounds cool.  Well, more accurately, it seems very cool for work situations.  I can see how this would have really been awesome when I had a corporate job, but I want to see how it works in the non-corporate-every-day-world.

What is it?  Well, from what I understand, it is cloud computing*.  The information is stored on a server that people (your contacts) have access to.  So instead of e-mail that is downloaded to your computer and instead of web based e-mail which has to be sent and retrieved, it is a bit like chat.  Real time.  Except with this you can put videos, documents, maps, photos, and text in the “wave”.  While you are typing your contact can see it.   And, unlike, chat it is recorded, like a . . . .I am not sure what to call it because it can contain documents, videos, text, photos, and maps, so it is recorded like a record of the “meeting” that you had.

Because it is more than a conversation, because like I said (it warrants repeating) it can contain documents, videos, text, photos, and map it can’t really just be called a conversation or an e-mail.

So for example let’s say, you open a wave with a contact and you can start chatting.  If you need to you can add a document or whatever.  Then you realize that you should have included another contact so you add that person.  Well, that person missed half the “conversation”, but . . . . (whoa!) he can go back and re-play it.  And it will appear on his computer as it happened.  He will see the first portion of the wave, all the way through to the last.  If he misses something or wants to jump ahead, there is a scrub bar.   

So it can be real time communication and collaboration or people can play it when they need to catch up.  It is like an e-mail but organized so it actually makes sense.  And to properly use it people could add their two cents into it right where they needed to, or add a document or a video or a photo right in the middle where it might actually make sense, and then there wouldn’t be that annoying forgetting to “reply to all” that we all have either done ourselves or been the non/recipient of. 

Whew.  It does so much and it is difficult to explain.  When it was first explained to me, I was not having any of it.  Then when I saw it in action I changed my mind.  But I still want to try it as a “layman”, I am not corporate so I am not convinced it has its uses for those of use that don’t have jobs and “teams” to collaborate with. 

I am way over my self-imposed work limit and I didn’t even get to tell you some of what I learned.  Sigh . . . another blog perhaps.

*Cloud computing is the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources as a service over the Internet on a utility basis.