Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on April 3, 2010
You’ve heard that saying before. If you are like me, you grew up hearing it. Heck, you might have even said it. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Where did that even come from? I can’t see a dog not learning a new trick if there is a treat involved. Why wouldn’t he learn it just to get the treat? Is he that stubborn? Is he that old?
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? 😉
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: new things, new ways, old dogs, stretch your body, stretch your brain, try new things | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 1, 2010
I have learned a lot from our backyard here in San Jose. One thing I have learned is even rose bushes change.
I am posting pictures of our roses because they have changed over the years. When we first moved in there were ORANGE. I had never seen roses so orange. My husband wanted to rip out all the rose bushes and rearrange the yard and I requested that he keep the orange rose bush. I didn’t care about anything else in the yard but that one bush. I was fascinated by the orange roses. And so were many people that saw them. When we first moved in we had a ton of roses, all the time, or it seemed like all the time. We would have flowers in the house all the time. I would also take them to work. People would stop and ask me about the orange roses. That is how vibrant their color was. 
While I am not sure about how my hubby felt about the orange roses, I know how he felt about the rose bush. He HATED it. It was one of those bushes that had thorns everywhere. At the top of the stem near the flower there would be hundreds of little tiny thorns. When they got in your fingers, they felt like fiber glass. The thorns were progressively larger as they went down the stem. There was never any room on the stem to put your fingers. So working with these roses always resulted in bloody fingers. The thorns at the bottom where huge, sometimes as big as a half of an inch.
Also the blooms had “less petals”. I think of the “less petal” roses as “real” roses.
Early this week, while I was practicing Nia, I looked out the window and saw a huge rose on the bush. I decided I wanted to have it inside. So I went out to cut it. Even though the rose was next to a bud, I decided to cut them both so the stem would be long enough to put in a tall vase. I also cut another rose. I was holding them while I was looking for a vase to put them in, it occurred to me that there was one (ONE!!!) thorn on the big rose’s stem. And the other one hardly had any. Then I looked at the rose itself and noticed it too is different. I had previously posted about the color change of our roses, but I had not noticed the lack of thorns nor the increase in the amount of petals before.
They are still very beautiful and I love having roses in the yard and in the house. But, there are not the same roses that we had when we moved in. So I learned that roses morph. The rose bush that has been in our yard since we moved in eleven years ago has changed. Interesting. I guess most things change huh? I had noticed that the flowers were not longer the striking orange color they had used to be, but I just noticed the flower itself is different and there are less thorns. They have been changing over the years. Do you know why? Is it cross pollination? Do all roses do that?
Posted in Flowers | Tagged: Changes, Flowers, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Practice, rose bushes, rose thorns, Roses, San Jose, San Jose Nia | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 16, 2010
First of all I thought it was Daylight SavingS Time. It is Daylight Saving Time. I am not a fan. I don’t know if they have ever done studies on it, but I don’t think it is good for our bodies to just up and change the time. And I REALLY don’t think that after 21 years it was a good idea to change the times of year that we adjust the time. I honestly believe that for the past four years I have had a VERY difficult time adjusting to the new times of year.
Let me share with you why I am not a fan and I do not think that changing the time is good for a body — at least mine. I am a night person. I am “more awake” at night than in the morning. Around 9:00 at night is when I begin to get my energy. When it is light later . . . it takes me even longer to wind down. It is very difficult to convince my body that it is night time when it is light out still.
A little history:
Daylight Saving Time had been observed in the United States spottily since 1918. From February 9, 1942 until September 30, 1945 it was observed all year long. Daylight Saving Time was not consistently observed for 21 years (from 1945 to 1966) because there was no federal law.
In 1966 the law stated DST ran from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, but states could pass a law of their own if they didn’t want to follow DST.
Then in 1974 an emergency act was passed setting the clocks ahead on January 6, 1974. It was amended on October 27, 1974 returning the clocks back to Standard Time. Then DST was observed from February 23, 1975 through October 26, 1975.
Then from 1986 to 2007 the United States observed DST from 2:00 am on the first Sunday of April until at 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October.
After 21 years in 2007 it was changed to: DST beginning 2:00 am. on the second Sunday of March to 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November. So for over half my life, my body has been operating on a specific time frame for the time change and I can tell you that after four years, it is still not used to the change.
Hawaii and Arizona are among the states that do not observe Daylight Saving Time.
I was very fortunate that people love Nia and don’t let this time change affect them. The first morning of the time change I had a Sunday Nia class in San Jose as a follow up to a health fair I attended in Cupertino the day before. It was fabulous the students that showed up to get in their first workout of the DST! We had a great time.
What do you think about Daylight Saving Time? What do you think about the change? Or more accurately, what do you FEEL? How are you feeling when we change the time?
Or better yet, I wanna know, are you one of those people who efficiently goes around and changes all your clocks? Or do you do the math on a few until you just get tired of that and change them?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Arizona, Cupertino Nia, Daylight Saving Time, Daylight Savings Time, DST, Hawaii, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Cupertino, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, observe DST, San Jose Nia classes, Standard Time | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 13, 2010
Ahhhh, so what are you thinking? Friends that you have all your life? Yeah, no. This is about friends for LIFE. As in friends for health. As in friends for well being. It is very important to have good friends. The definition of “good friends” is vast and we can have a lot of “good friends”, but I believe that we all can benefit from friends that we can connect with.
Most of us have an array of friends in our life, we have people we call friends but they might REALLY be categorized as acquaintances. We have friends that call us when they need something, and friends we call when we need something. We have friends that annoy us and friends that don’t. We have friends that we might not think of often, but that we are very fond of. And, when we are lucky we have friends that fill us up. That make us feel good. They make us feel grounded and connected to humanity.
These friends could agree with us when we need it and tell us to get it together when we need that too. They could agree with us on something and disagree with us on others. They can see our faults and ignore them or try to help us with them, but either way, they are there and they are our friends. I believe that is vital to our health. I believe that sometimes life needs to be suspended—in between appointments, and kids athletic games, around the Nia classes, the gym, and the yoga practice, regardless of work and responsibilities–you need to be with those types of friends.
Enjoy time visiting with these friends no matter how frequent or infrequent it is important to connect, to refill, to recharge. It is awesome.
It is as important as good nutrition and exercise . . . . .at least, I think so . . . . I think there are friends for life.
Do you believe that friendships play a role in life/health?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: athletic games, connected, exercise, friends, grounded, gym, humanity, life, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Practice, nutrition, yoga classes, Yoga Practice | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 2, 2010
A month or so ago I received a call and was told that there is a woman who is going to make a movie about making a difference in the world and that I had been picked to be a collaborator. I was intrigued. I was told it would be a two hour meeting in San Jose at which I would be told about the project and then I would have the opportunity to decide if I wanted to be involved. (This clued me into the fact that there was a price tag.)
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.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: change the world, collaborator, docu-drama, feng shui, Jacqueline Bignell, joy, love, Nia energy, Nia joy, Nia love, Nia San Jose, psychotherapist, purpose of life, San Jose Nia, self improvement, The Difference | 40 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 25, 2010
I had an appointment this morning where I auditioned Nia in Palo Alto. (So I could be teaching a Nia class in Palo Alto in addition to San Carlos . . . interesting how it all unfolds.) On my way back to San Jose, I was able to stop and have lunch with a friend. I am so blessed to be able to spend the afternoon with a friend who so kindly made me lunch. She made an awesome pizza and salad . . . . a perfect meal in my book.
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:
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: Albert Einstein, baby, frog, horse, Illusions, Marilyn Monroe, Nia, Nia class, Nia Palo Alto, Nia San Carlos, Nia San Jose, Optical Illusion, pizza, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 13, 2010
We have a certain expectation of things in the United States. We have the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) that regulates Biologics, Cosmetics, Drugs, Foods (except meat and poultry), Medical Devices, and Veterinary Products so we expect a level of safety. Did you know that supplements are NOT required to be tested and/or approved by the FDA? There are NO “clinical trials” or safety inspection administered by the FDA that a supplement is required to pass. Most supplements aren’t even required to be so much as registered.
An Act was signed into law back in 1984 by President Clinton, the Dietary Supplemental Health and Education Act (DSHEA) that makes the supplement manufacture responsible for self regulation. The supplement manufacture is to make sure the product is safe and pure, with NO policing. No one checks on them. This is a $27 Billion business (it could be more that figure is the only one I could find and it is from 2007–three years old).
There are rules about the labeling and so they are “supposed” to be truthful in their labeling. The FDA steps in where there is a problem (as in reported deaths or mass illnesses), but there is no testing done by the FDA to ensure anything about the supplement before it is marketed and used by the public.
I just find that so amazing. I wanted to share it with you because even though I know this, I still forget. I would think that if you are concerned enough about your health and wellness that you want to take a supplement, I would check with your doctor to see if you really even need to be taking a supplement. They are expensive and you might be getting all the nutrition you need from your diet. That is actually the best way, but I understand that it not always possible. I would advise people to be careful. I would suggest that one way to be careful would be to buy supplements that are manufactured by trusted companies. I like to think that a well known, well trusted company is going to produce a safe quality product.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: diet, dietary supplements, FDA, health, nutrition, nutrition supplement, President Clinton, supplements, wellness | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 28, 2010
I am not a Twitter expert. I’ve said that before. I learn something everyday. I have learned a few things and I thought I would share them with you since some of the people that read this are actually new to Twitter.
Twitter allows 140 characters. My advice:
1—When you tweet a link to something, give a little explanation of what readers will find once they click that link. If not a description, some words that might give them a clue as to what kind of link it is. As an example, “I love animal videos.” or “Don’t you love dance videos?” or “Here’s an article on fitness.”
2—If you want to type something along with your link you might want to use something that shortens the link. I use TinyURL.com or bit.ly. The link can be copied into the site and the site shortens it for you, and you copy and past it into your tweet.
Some programs like HootSuite and TweetDeck have “shorten links” built into them. On HootSuite you have to copy the link into the field (highlighted in the picture in pink) and click “Shrink It’. With TweetDeck you can opt to have links shorten automatically (see the little box next to “Auto Shorten URLs?”).
HootSuite
TweetDeck
Which brings me to #3.
3—Sometimes you might not want to shorten a link. Sometimes I don’t like to shorten the link because the link itself helps explain what the user will see when they click on it. Or I want people to see the name of my blog (http://terrepruitt.com) or the name of my website (http://www.helpyouwell.com/). I think it is good to put the names out there so people can remember it.
I believe there are reasons to shorten and reason not to, but, if you never knew you could shorten you wouldn’t be making a decision for yourself, right? So I am sharing with you here.
4—Don’t send auto DMs* when someone follows you. Even when you try to make them look personal, they are not. Everyone knows it. Especially when you are following the person because they followed you first, then you get a DM that says, “I’ll follow you back.” Uh, yeah, right.
Anyway, these are just a couple of things that have come up recently with new Twitter users so I thought I would share it with you. What URL shortening program or site do you use? Are you an auto DMer? Thanks for stopping by.
*DM = Direct Message
Posted in Twitter | Tagged: animal videos, Auto DMs, dance, dance fitness, Direct Message, fitness, Help You Well, helpyouwell.com, Hootsuite, Terre Pruitt, TerrePruitt.com, TweetDeck, Twitter, Twitter expert | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 7, 2010
I was awake and aware for two recent earthquakes felt in my area of San Jose. When you look at the information regarding earthquakes there are earthquakes all the time. We just don’t always feel them. The earthquakes that I have been feeling lately have been somewhat different. They have been JOLTS. Well at least two of the last three. But the two I felt just recently were both different. The first one was small. It measured 2.8. It started out as a little rumble. I didn’t hear a rumble, I felt it, like a truck driving by on the street, then it felt as if someone gave the house a little shove.
Then next one or the one I felt most recently was a 4.1. It was more of the kind I am used to. I am used to the shaking kind. I don’t like the rolling kind, I am more familiar with the shaking kind.
So, yeah, if you have never been in an earthquake they are different. I am assuming it has to do with what plates are doing the moving. But there is the kind that shake, the kind that roll, and this sort of new-to-me jolting kind. Odd. Sometimes there are ones that shake and roll, but I don’t remember having felt one of those in a while.
I was not in the Bay Area when the Loma Prieta quake hit. But I felt it all the way in Rohnert Park, near Santa Rosa, past San Francisco. It was odd the way it worked out, the day before our neighbor in the office next door had been hanging pictures and banging on the wall and shaking it. So my boss and I thought that was what was happening.
I remember hearing a long time ago that each number on the Richter Scale actually is 10 times as much movement. So if we have a point 4 earthquake it is actually 10 times as much movement as a 3 pointer would be. So the difference just sounds like a digit but in actual energy and movement it is a lot more. I can’t even begin to fathom the example that was given. It was something like, an earthquake with a magnitude of one releases as much energy as 6 ounces of TNT, but an 8 pointer is as much as 6 million tons of TNT. Huh? Either way, that is a HUGE, HUGE difference. Way more than just 7 digits of measurement it sounds like.
Earthquakes are weird. There are so many things in our world that can make it move sometimes we don’t even realize we are having an earthquake. I used to work in a building where every time someone stomped by my entire cubical it would shake. So I often didn’t even know when we were having an earthquake, I just thought it was someone walking by my cube.
Today, I saw so much talk regarding earthquakes I was amazed. It seems like everyone has something to say about an earthquake. Either they were in one, they don’t like them, they do like them, they think they are fun, they are afraid of them, or they didn’t feel it. Even people that have never been in one have stuff to say. It is amazing.
Since so many people have stuff to say about them, I thought you might want to share something. For me one of the three earthquakes I mentioned above made our house felt like it received a BIG shove. Stuff was knocked off the walls. Have you been in one? Have you never been in one, but they are still scary? Do your animals freak out right before there is one? Were you around this area in ’89? Share.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 1989, Bay Area Earthquake, Bay Area Workout, earthquake Bay Area, earthquakes, earthquakes San Jose, Loma Prieta Earthquake, magnitude, quake, San Francisco Earthquake, San Jose Workout, Workout San Jose | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 31, 2009
So here it is the end of the year. I have been blogging since March (2009). I have posted 130 times. This is 131. I thought I would end the year with a review of some of my favorites and according to the numbers some of your favorites too. Here they are, not in any order:
Lyrics Gone Wrong . . . I had entertained the idea of doing this once a month, but after the second month I ran out of songs to play with.
Interesting Picture – Marilyn Monroe Albert Einstein . . . I LOVE optical illusions and this one is a doosey.
Hummingbird Tongues . . . they still fascinate me and I am still surprising people with the fact that the birds have tongues and use them more than the beak is a straw. And usually they tongues dart in and out so fast it is a rare treat to catch it out for a picture. Yay!
A Poem Says A Lot . . . Fabulous! We Have Come To Be Danced . . .
Nia Belt System . . . Before you can move onto the next belt they say a year must pass. You do not have to get involved. It is a great workout without being involved with the belts. The belt system only comes into play if you care to get that involved in Nia. Nia’s belts mimic some Martial Arts; white, green, blue, brown, black. I am learning so much with my White Belt, I can see myself waiting at least another year before I move onto the next belt. There is so much to learn and enjoy in each belt, I am not in a hurry.
Say: “I Am Wonderful” . . . I like to say this, I like to hear this song. I like to remind people to go to iTunes each week to download the free song.
A Brief Look At Nia . . . still excited to share Nia with people. It is a great body-mind practice and a workout that can make you sweat yet not really feel like exercise. It is learning to follow the body’s way.
Wrapping Tips . . . WHAT? I was shocked that everyone did not read my blog. On Christmas Day and the day after the bags and bags and bags and bags of wrapping trash that I saw on the curbs just blew my mind. In this day and in these times, I was just utterly flabbergasted that people don’t re-use the wrappings. It amazed and saddened me.
My Favorite Mugs . . . so I found out that not everyone got my little joke. Ya know, back in the day (what day, I don’t know), they used to call faces mugs . . . get it now?
The Seven Cycles Of A Nia Workout . . . The workout has cycles, somewhat like Jazzercise. I like to share this aspect of Nia so people have an idea of what a workout class will be like. We set a focus and an intent, step in, warm up and move all the way through the cycles to the floor, and then we step out.
Well, thank you so much for joining me on my blog. I hope that you continue to read, I hope you enjoy and learn. I learn from your comments so keep them coming. Thank you for a great year. Here is to the NewYear.
But . . .before we jump into the New Year, share with me what your favorite post from my blog was? AND/OR give me ideas on what you would like to see posted in the New Year.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Albert Einstein, Bay Area Workout, Belt System, Black Belt, blonde sex symbol, Blue Belt, body's way, Body-mind, body-mind practice, Brown Belt, Carlos Rosas, cats dancing, Christmas, Christmas Day, coffee mugs, cool down, cycles, dance, dancing cats, Debbie Rosas, exercise, floorplay, Free download, Free iTunes, free iTunes download, free song, Gary Go, gift bags, green, Green Belt, Healing exercise, Healing workout, health, heaven dance, Humming bird, Hummingbird, hummingbird pictures, Hummingbird tongue, I am wonderful, iTunes, Jazzercise, Jazzercise San Jose, Jewel Mathieson, lefty, Lyrics, March 2009, Marilyn Monroe, martial arts, Martial Arts Belt System, mind body, Mugs, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia exercise class, Nia play, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia San Jose, Nia teachers, Nia Technique, Nia workout, Non-Impact Aerobics, Painted Glove, Personal Trainer, Poem, San Jose, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, sanctuary, sex symbol, theory of relativity, tongue, warm-up, We Have Come To Be Danced, White Belt, Working Out, Workout cycles, workout routines, wrapping paper, Yoga | 4 Comments »
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