50 Ways You Can Create a Better Day
Every now and then I wake up in a crappy mood, feeling totally unmotivated and not wanting to do anything or see anyone. It could be due to something bad happening the previous day, or it could be due to nothing at all. I just feel crabby for no reason. Weird, I know. But, I’m sure you know what I mean. Everyone has experienced dreadful waking moments in the past.In fact, it is not really surprising that a lot of people nowadays feel bad the moment they wake up. If you are bombarded with negative news like the recent airplane crotch-bomb threat and the Haiti earthquake, it is little wonder that you’d feel the world is all doom and gloom.
However, it is worth noting that you can actually make your day better no matter what situation you have in life. So, in order to overcome that awful feeling to make my day a rich and beautiful one, I apply a few or more of the following tips throughout the day.
Here are 50 tips to set you on your way to a better day. Do yourself a favor and don’t try more than a handful of these in a single day. In fact, put these ideas in a hat and pick one randomly the next time you get in a funk.
- Think Positive Thoughts Before You Sleep
The quality of sleep you get the night before can affect your mood the next day. Thus, if you want to create a better day tomorrow, you have to make sure that you think only positive things before you go to bed at night. Do not fret about your mortgage problems or dwell on the bad things that happened to you during the day. You need a good night’s rest in order to prepare your mind and body for the busy day ahead.- Tell yourself That Today is a Better Day
The first thing that you should say to yourself the moment you wake up is that today will be great and marvelous. Know that you have control of what kind of day you will have. Telling yourself that today is going to be a great day will give you a positive attitude and a winner’s outlook. The power of the mind is strong so feed your mind with positive things.- Wake Up a Few Minutes Earlier
If you want to get out of bed at 6AM, set the alarm for 5:45 and then allow 15 minutes for your body and mind to adjust and wake up. At 6, hop out of bed! Waking up late and rushing through things will increase your heart rate and simply stress you out. On top of that, you’ll inevitably forget to do something and then stress about that too!- Take It Easy
Take things easy. Breathe deeply and slowly. If you are feeling rushed, take a deep breath and remind yourself that in the big scheme of life, being a minute late is pretty small.- Keep a Mental Note of the Things You Need to Do
It is always a good thing to try to keep a list of the things that you ought to do or accomplish for the day. If you are forgetful, you should write these things down. Aside from the things that you need to do at the office, you also need to remember those that you need to do for your family or friends. Write them all down so that you can manage your time wisely throughout the day.- Get Some Inspiration
Do not expect manna to come down from heaven. If you want to create a better day, you have to make a conscious effort to achieve things. Give yourself a boost with some inspiration. Be sure to read, listen or watch something that can perk your day up. Sometimes, just seeing your child laugh is enough to make your heart smile.- Eat a Healthy Breakfast
Your mood for the day can actually be affected by the things that you do and eat. In order to jump start your day and prepare your mind and body for the busy day ahead, you need to have a power breakfast. Make sure that you eat something healthy. Whole grains, protein, and fruits can surely give you the nutrients that you need to do the things that you need to accomplish for the day.- Some Stretching Will Do You Good
Stretching and exercising your muscles will also help in jumpstarting your system. If you wake up sluggish, you need some exercise and stretching to perk up your day. Besides, stretching and exercising can also prevent muscle cramps and other aches that can ruin your mood for the day.- Pay Attention to your Hygiene and Appearance
One of the things that people are conscious about is their appearance. To ensure you won’t feel insecure, make sure to take a bath, wear clean clothes and pay attention to your face and grooming. If you know that you look presentable, you will feel empowered and confident.- Compliment Yourself
Say good things about yourself. Do not be afraid to compliment yourself once in a while. However, be careful not to be conceited because people hate narcissistic individuals.- Adopt a Positive Attitude
Before you step out of the house, make it a conscious effort to be positive in all things you do. Tell yourself that you will stay positive throughout the day.
Exert Some Effort to Smile
Studies show that smiling, even if there is no reason to do it, can lift up your mood. Besides, a smile can make you look even more attractive.Try Not To Be Reactive
There is a tendency for men to react to everything negatively, especially on the road. Thus, you should try not to be reactive, especially when you are driving. If somebody cuts you on the road, just let it pass and think that the other guy may be having a bad day. Or just be please that you are not as rude as that individual.Count to Ten to Keep You from Exploding
If you think that you are going to get mad, count to ten to calm your nerves. This will let some steam out.Think before You Act
Many people end up feeling remorse after they have done nasty things without thinking. To prevent feeling guilty and remorseful, think first before you do something.Don’t Take Things Too Seriously
Not everything that you hear people say about you should be taken seriously. Some people just like being nasty so you should not get affected with what they are saying.Be More Attentive to People
In order to minimize altercations or misunderstandings, it would really be a good thing to listen attentively to what others are saying. Being attentive will also help you come across as being sincere, thus making you more likable. Of course, don’t do it for the sake of being likable. Be genuine in it.
Look at People and Situations in a Positive Light
You really can’t prevent bad things from happening. Sometimes shit does happen. In order not to let these things ruin your day, try to look for the silver lining in everything.
Give Compliments to Other People
Make a conscious effort to compliment other people. This will help build better relationships. Just make sure that you are complimenting them genuinely.
Manage Your Time Wisely
A good day can turn bad if you feel stressed out. Thus, manage your time wisely to ensure that everything that you need to do can be accomplished with time to spare.
Take a Break
To prevent being burned out, you should take a break once in a while. Try walking around the office or doing some stretching while you are in your desk every time you are feeling a bit drained.
Deal with Things the Mature Way
Do not be petty and do not act like a child. You are an adult so try to do things maturely.
Laugh a Lot
Laughter can pick up your mood. Just do not laugh at other people’s mistakes.
Consider Inputs from Other People
Take time listening to the suggestions and inputs of other people. Even if you are the manager or head of your department, you need other people’s contributions too.
Grab Fruit Instead of a Bar of Chocolate
Fruits can surely wake you up in the middle of the day, whereas a bar of chocolate will just give you energy spike for a few minutes. So, you will end up feeling even more tired and sleepy.
Always Do Your Best
You will not have regrets if you know that you have given your all in everything that you do.
Don’t Wallow in Sorrow and Defeat
Nobody is perfect and sometimes you need to experience losses and defeats to learn. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, use these negative things to make you a better person.
Stay Away From Negative People
Negative people can just pull you down so there is really no point in spending your time with them. Stay away from them whenever possible. If they happen to be your mates, seek to inspire them. If that won’t do, perhaps it’s time to find yourself new mates.
Be Courteous and Kind
Doing other people some good will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling. And also make you more likable.
Build Bridges and Develop Friendships
Having enemies can surely drain your energy, whereas building friendships can make your support team bigger and stronger.
Be Careful with What You Say
It is often hard to take back the bad things that you say, so you need to be careful with your words.
Take Time to Stop and Smell the Flowers
You can enhance your mood by counting your blessings and seeing the good in other people, things or situations.
Learn to Pace Your Energy
You need to be careful with energy bursts and crashes. Try not to exhaust yourself in the morning because you will surely have a nasty and tiring afternoon if you do.
Incorporate Exercise Throughout the Day
Exercise can give you a “high” because endorphins are released after a good workout.
Wear Comfortable Shoes
It is very hard to stay positive if your feet are hurting. I’ve seen too many of my female friends wear heels that hurt their feet just because they look good.
Drink Plenty of Water
Dehydration can cause lethargy. So avoid it at all costs.
Pay Attention to What You Eat
Eating junk food can contribute to mood swings. So eat moderately.
Go Easy on the Coffee
Too much coffee can make you nervous and fidgety.
Treat Yourself
Be sure to give yourself small rewards every time you did well. We all need to give ourselves a nice pat on the shoulders to give ourselves a little encouragement.
Plan the Next Day before Going Home
Before you head home, make a list of the things that you need to accomplish in the office the following day.
Spend Quality Time with the People You Love
Don’t take anyone for granted. Sustain your relationships. Spending quality time together is the best way to keep and improve relationships.
Keep in Touch With Friends and Family
If you live alone, calling your loved ones or just dropping by to say ‘hi’ can lift your spirit as well as theirs.
Have a Hobby
To keep your mind off your work, do something that you love outside your office work.
Have No Regrets
You cannot go back in time so you cannot undo the things that you have done. Instead, make a conscious effort to make things better in the future.
Keep a Journal
Writing things and ideas down can help you to keep track of your goals and remember things you’ve learned and observations you’ve made. And it can also help you figure out new directions for your life and then guide you as you go.
Take a Relaxing Bath
After a stressful day, a relaxing bath can help you go to sleep comfortably.
Prepare the Things You Need Before You Go to Sleep
This will help make tomorrow less stressful because you won’t feel at a lost of what to do. Being prepared always help you to stay focused and assured.
Get in the Mood to Sleep
Do the things that can help you go to sleep early because a restful sleep can help you improve your mood for the next day. Reading a book before bed or listening to soft music helps me to sleep better.
Make Love
Making love can also release endorphins and help you have a good night’s sleep. Plus, it helps to improve your relationship. Of course, I don’t expect you to do it every day.
Go to Bed Early
Try to go to bed early and get enough sleep to prepare yourself for the day ahead tomorrow. You don’t want to wake up the next day feeling like a zombie.Do you have a tip to help us create a better day? Please share with us in the comment section below.
Having a rough day? Here are 50 Ways you can create a better one…
February 9, 2010 by gaander
Trust in “friends” takes a dive
February 9, 2010 by gaanderTrust in “friends” takes a dive
Holy kaw, just when you had this whole word-of-mouth, social-networking, transparent, follower, friend, mayor thing all figured out, Advertising Age and Edelman drops this bomb: the number of people who consider their friends and peers credible sources dropped from 45% to 25% since 2008.
Richard Edelman opines, “The events of the last eighteen months have scarred people. People have to see messages in different places and from different people. That means experts as well as peers or company employees. It’s a more-skeptical time. So if companies are looking at peer-to-peer marketing as another arrow in the quiver, that’s good, but they need to understand it’s not a single-source solution. It’s a piece of the solution.”
The credibility of TV dropped twenty-three points and radio news and newspapers dropped twenty points too.
My explanation is that “friend” has a very different meaning these days. It used to mean someone you’ve known for years in a face-to-face manner. Now many friends represent the click of your mouse. I have about five “real” friends, and I trust them more than ever.
Full story at Advertising Age.
More on social media.
Photo credit: Fotolia
| Leave a comment »Check out DJ Earworm’s Mashup mix of the top 25 songs of 2009….
February 9, 2010 by gaanderDJ Earworm’s “United State of Pop 2009″ on CNN.com … and Bootie gets name-dropped!
January 28th, 2010 02:25 AM
Hopefully by now, you’re already familiar with DJ Earworm’s utterly epic United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It On The Pop) , his year-end masterpiece that mashes together the top 25 songs of 2009 (as ranked by Billboard magazine) into one insanely brilliant, 4-1/2-minute pop creation. This is now Earworm’s third year in a row doing this, and it’s by far his best yet.For one thing, he doesn’t simply mash up unrelated bits and pieces of songs together into a big sonic stew. Instead he has taken individual words and phrases from the lyrics and has intricately crafted entirely new verses and choruses. In effect, he has created a NEW SONG, one that carries a message of hope and perseverance in tough times — “No need to worry, just pick back up when you’re tumbling down, down, down (down, ” It’s uplifting and beautiful, and we’d be lying if we didn’t say that we actually get a little choked up sometimes when we hear it!
Earworm recently posted a color-coded lyric sheet, so you can see just how cut up and manipulated his work really is. It’s seriously Type-A!
The video he posted to YouTube went viral within a few days — which probably explains the extensive FAQ in the “more info” section of the video’s page — and right now it’s fast approaching 10 million views. He’s been written up by major media outlets the world over, and two days ago, CNN.com ran a major interview with him.
Check out the DJ Earworm interview here — and notice that Adrian from Bootie gets name-dropped in the fourth paragraph, answering the “how did you get started” question! Thanks, Jordan!
We vividly remember meeting him for the first time at Bootie, back in April 2004 when we were just a monthly Wednesday at the tiny Cherry Bar in San Francisco. We became fast friends and introduced him to the wider world of mashup culture on the internet … and the rest, as they say, is history!
Needless to say, we are incredibly proud of Earworm, and his newfound wider popularity is much deserved and long overdue! And yes, he’ll be playing feature sets at Bootie SF and Bootie LA very soon!
via bootiemashup.com
Super Bowl most watched show in TV history w/ 106 mil viewers, beats M*A*S*H finale…
February 9, 2010 by gaanderNEW YORK — The New Orleans Saints‘ victory over Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of “M*A*S*H” to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history, the Nielsen Co. said Monday.
Compelling story lines involving the city of New Orleans and its ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the attempt at a second Super Bowl ring for Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning propelled the viewership. Football ratings have been strong all season.
“It was one of those magical moments that you don’t often see in sports,” said Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports.
Nielsen estimated Monday that 106.5 million people watched Sunday’s Super Bowl. The “M*A*S*H” record was 105.97 million.
The viewership estimate obliterated the previous record viewership for a Super Bowl — last year’s game between Arizona and Pittsburgh. That game was seen by 98.7 million people, Nielsen said.
“
If the “M*A*S*H” audience was eclipsed, it was probably due in large part to the fact that the whole country is rooting for New Orleans to triumph in every way possible. I am, too, and I couldn’t be happier for them. I love that city.
” – Alan Alda
The “M*A*S*H” record has proven as durable and meaningful in television as Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs was in baseball until topped by Hank Aaron. Ultimately, it may be hard to tell which program was really watched by more people. There’s a margin for error in such numbers, and Nielsen’s Monday estimate was preliminary, and could change with a more thorough look at data due Tuesday.
“It’s significant for all of the members of the broadcasting community,” said Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp. CEO. “For anyone who wants to write that broadcasting is dead, 106 million people watched this program. You can’t find that anywhere else.”
Moonves predicted CBS will earn more in advertising revenue than in any other Super Bowl. The good ratings for the game and football in general also set CBS and other football broadcasters up well when selling advertising for next season, he said.
Advertisers purchased nearly 48 minutes of ads for the game — the most for any Super Bowl.
Research firm Kantar Media says the amount of ads that aired on CBS was nearly 3 minutes longer than last year’s total, the previous record holder.
The game brought an unusual number of shorter, 15-second ads as marketers looked to keep their costs low but still be in the advertising world’s biggest event.
Commercials typically come in 30-second blocks — which sold this year for between $2.5 million and more than $3 million. But Kantar says seven of this year’s 66 ads were just 15 seconds long. That’s the most since 2002.
The Nielsen estimate also drew some congratulations from Alan Alda, the star of “M*A*S*H” and the slugger whose record was beaten.
“If the “M*A*S*H” audience was eclipsed, it was probably due in large part to the fact that the whole country is rooting for New Orleans to triumph in every way possible,” Alda said. “I am, too, and I couldn’t be happier for them. I love that city.”
There are more American homes with television sets now (114.9 million) than there were in 1983 (83.3 million). An estimated 77 percent of homes with TVs on were watching “M*A*S*H” in 1983, compared with the audience share of 68 for the Super Bowl.
Nielsen also measures only the United States, and it’s possible some World Cup soccer games were seen more worldwide. Accurate measurement of television audiences outside the United States is spotty at best.
Alda also wondered whether the numbers were too close to declare a new champion. He thinks Nielsen didn’t take into account large numbers of people watching “M*A*S*H” communally, which is often the case for football games, too.
“Not to say I’m competitive, but in part we are talking about sports,” he said. “And I actually AM competitive.”
McManus didn’t want to jinx it, but the abnormally strong viewership for football this year left him hoping for a record. The NFC and AFC Championship Games both had their biggest audiences since the 1980s. The growth of high-definition television and its appeal to sports fans has also helped.
A competitive game until the final minutes sealed it. McManus acknowledged some nervousness when Indianapolis jumped out to a 10-0 lead — a Super Bowl rout often makes people turn away from the game — but New Orleans roared back.
The Mid-Atlantic blizzard also helped CBS. After New Orleans, the highest-rated market was snowbound Washington, Nielsen said. More people watched the game from their homes in that area instead of going to parties or bars, and Nielsen does a much better job counting viewers in homes than outside of them.
“Bad weather in the Northeast and good weather in Florida was a good combination for us,” McManus said.
The Super Bowl also proved a strong launching pad for the new CBS series “Undercover Boss” that premiered after the game. An estimated 38.6 million people watched the first edition of a series about corporate honchos working secretly as low-level employees in their own companies, Nielsen said. That’s third only to a 1996 “Friends” and 2001 “Survivor” as the most-watched program after the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, Dorito’s was a big winner in a measurement of interest in the commercials played during the Super Bowl. TiVo Inc. said the snack company’s ad featuring a boy telling a man to keep his hands off his chips and his mom was stopped and played back in 15 percent of homes with the digital video recorder.
The secretly filmed CBS promo with David Letterman, Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey came in second, followed by the Snicker’s ad with Betty White and Abe Vigoda flattened in a football game.
In general, however, TiVo found less interest in the commercials than it has in previous years, judged by how many people paused live action to see them, said Todd Juenger, general manager of TiVo’s research department.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Aziz Ansari: The Funniest Tool In ‘Parks’ Utility Shed : NPR
February 7, 2010 by gaanderAziz Ansari: The Funniest Tool In ‘Parks’ Utility Shed
Enlarge Andrew H. Walker/GettyComedian Aziz Ansari won the Jury Award for “Best Standup” in 2006 at HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.
Andrew H. Walker/GettyComedian Aziz Ansari won the Jury Award for “Best Standup” in 2006 at HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.
Of Indian descent, comedian Aziz Ansari was born and bred in Bennettsville, S.C., where he was the only non white student in his high school. “When people hear that,” Ansari says, “they immediately think, wow, that must have been horrible.” But, as Ansari assures Terry Gross, “for the majority of the time, I may as well have been just a really tan white kid. You know, I may as well have just been, like, a fat kid.”
But Ansari has moved on to become more than just another “tan white kid.” He started doing stand-up comedy as an undergraduate marketing major at NYU and, eight years later, he’s now playing opposite comedy queen Amy Poehler as the lovable office tool on NBC’s workplace comedy Parks and Recreation. And he has a new stand-up CD and DVD — Aziz Ansari: Intimate Moments For A Sensual Evening — out now through Comedy Central.
Ansari’s comedy frequently ropes in members of his family. His stand-up act includes an extended riff about his cousin Harris, and on Parks and Recreation, his character changed his name to Tom Haverford from Darwish Sabir Ishmael Ghani, which Ansari says is the full name of another cousin.
Ansari has acted in MTV’s sketch series Human Giant, and he played the part of a xenophobic fruit vendor in HBO’s Flight of the Conchords. In the Judd Apatow movie Funny People, Ansari played a stand-up comic named Randy whose act, he says, was modeled on some of his peers.
“Every time I’ve done comedy in, like, traditional comedy clubs,” Ansari says, “there’s always these comedians that do really well with audiences but that the other comedians hate because they’re just, you know, doing kind of cheap stuff like dancing around or doing, like, very kind of base sex humor a lot, and stuff like that.”
In the movie, Randy’s act is augmented by a DJ who punctuates each joke with a horn blast or a stuttering, elongated recording of Ansari shouting his character’s name (“RA-RA-RA RAAAAAAAAAAANDY!”)
“A lot of DJs and hip-hop artists, when you see them perform live, they will have this reggaeton horn sample,” Ansari says, before letting fly a pitch-perfect horn impression. “And rap artists use it, like, to death. And it’s just, like, anytime you go see a rap show, they, like, hit that thing way too much. You know, they’ll just be like, are you guys psyched to be here? … So I was, like, well, what if a comedian used that sound, too, the same way rappers do?”
Ansari’s comedy under is own name sometimes sounds like stories someone might tell their friends. In addition to material about his cousin, his DVD contains riffs on Cold Stone Creamery, the thread count of various brands of sheets, and the hazards of looking up your own name on Google while driving. His conversation on Fresh Air touches on his career on TV, his DVD and what exactly the made-up word “tatties” might mean.
via npr.org
Fellow artists reflect on J.Dilla’s legacy on his 36th bday, R.I.P
February 7, 2010 by gaanderTalib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Questlove & More Reflect On J. Dilla’s Legacy, “There Was & Still Is No Producer Better”
Sunday, Feb 7, 2010 12:09PM
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Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Questlove and more have shared their reflections on late producer J. Dilla’s legacy on what would have been his 36th birthday.
Writing via Twitter, Kweli shared a few Dilla memories with his fans.
“Jay Dee produced Where Do We Go off Quality featuring Res ( @the1Res ) I toured with SlumVillage Bahamadia Phat Kat JaguarWright Jazzyfatnastees DeadPrez Gangstarr & the Roots 4 2 months in 2K okayplayer #jdilla Jay Dee had Frank and Dank pick me up from the airport
in the white limo and we drove around the D first. To the penthouse suite! #jdilla Jay Dee was the most non backpackingest artist loved by people who love backpacker rap #jdilla.” (Talib Kweli’s Twitter)
Busta claimed no other producer has matched Dilla’s production work to this day.
“JUST 4 THE RECORD THERE WAS AND STILL IS NO PRODUCER BETTER THAN J.DILLA…DON’T ANY OF U EVER 4GET THAT!!!TRUST…” (Busta Rhymes’ Twitter)
Quest and his Roots band paid homage to the late artist’s memory.
“lol @ me & @djbrainchild thinking the other was gonna play the obvious #jdilla joints at donutsareforever #dilla im tired as hell, but im always up for treats. enjoy these joints the roots did in honor of dilla. @swiftfm (Questlove’s Twitter)
Q-Tip placed emphasis on the relevance of Dilla’s birthday by requesting fans to make his name a trending topic through Twitter
.
“happy bday to the greatest hiphop producer ever… my BROTHA!!! JAMES YANCEY a.k.a. J Dilla. your spirit is 4eva my dude.. LETS GO! all my followers lets hit the #jdilla all day…” (Q-Tip’s Twitter)
Check out a J Dilla tribute compilation below:
via sohh.com
Seniors surfing the Internet for love….
February 6, 2010 by gaanderSeniors surfing for love
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Spouses who meet online are older, less likely to be marrying for the first time, and have much shorter courtships. “There’s an interesting contradiction there because the people who look online may not be perceived as being serious [by friends and family],” says Alicia Cast. “But the people who are doing the actual searching may look at it as a way to be incredibly serious about the process.” (Courtesy: iStockphoto)
IOWA STATE (US)—Older adults who are too busy to find a relationship in the conventional way are turning to the Internet—and are largely successful in making desired connections.
“In many cases, there are some real structural forces that encourage the support and use of these technologies,” says Alicia Cast, associate professor of sociology at Iowa State University.
“And one of them is just structural constraints on people’s time—such as people who have kids, or have full-time jobs, or work long or extensive hours.
“They might also be older and the majority of people who are in their pool of eligibles are already in relationships.”
Cast and her graduate research assistant, Jamie McCartney, collected data from approximately 175 central Iowa newlywed couples over a three-year period.
Among the sample, 25 couples first met online—either through online dating, social networking sites, or some other online means.
Cast has collaborated on new research studying newlywed couples who first met online. (Credit: Bob Elbert/ISU News Service)
Online subjects didn’t differ significantly from offline couples in terms of self-esteem levels, attractiveness, intelligence, and other personal characteristics, Cast says.
Spouses who meet online are older, less likely to be marrying for the first time, and have much shorter courtships—averaging 18.5 months of dating before getting married by comparison to 42 months for those who met in more traditional ways offline.
“There’s an interesting contradiction there because the people who look online may not be perceived as being serious [by friends and family],” Cast says.
“But the people who are doing the actual searching may look at it as a way to be incredibly serious about the process. And one of the things we found was that, indeed, their courtship periods are shorter.”
McCartney first identified the online trend among the study’s sample, which Cast says has afforded them a rare research opportunity.
“My understanding is that there are very few studies that have been able to simultaneously get access to a source of couples who meet through more conventional means, along with those who choose to meet people online,” she says.
Cast and McCartney continue to analyze data from their newlywed sample and are planning to publish that study in a professional journal.
While her new research has found that people are using online means to find love, a previous study Cast conducted with David Schweingruber, ISU associate professor of sociology, suggests that a traditional proposal may have the most powerful impact when a couple decides to get married.
Their study of 2,174 Midwestern university students on audience judgments about engagement proposals—published in the journal Sex Roles—found that using traditional proposal elements—making the proposal on one’s knee with an engagement ring—still sends the most positive messages about the strength of the couple’s relationship to their family and friends.
“Taking to one’s knee is still the gold standard, and so is a diamond [among the perceptions of friends and family],” Cast says.
“Most couples know what’s going to happen and so issues of sizing rings and those kinds of things are largely done behind the scenes. But if you have a partner who doesn’t do that and surprises you, then there is this kind of public evaluation where it’s not considered serious until you show them the ring.”
The study also found that both men and women and older and younger individuals were likely to evaluate relationships based on their conformity to traditional proposal scripts.
Iowa State University news: www.news.iastate.edu/
via futurity.org
Too good to be true, NBA rumor: Clippers interested in Isiah Thomas
February 6, 2010 by gaanderNBA rumor: Clippers interested in Isiah Thomas
Apparently the Clippers are actively trying to be made fun of. The day after much-maligned coach/GM Mike Dunleavy Sr. was either dropped or decided to step down (depending on who you ask) as coach while keeping his GM duties, FOX Sports is reporting a rumor that the Clips are looking at Isiah Thomas to take [...]
Can Microfinance Lenders like Grameen succeed in the U.S (Time)?
February 4, 2010 by gaanderCan Microfinance Make It in America?
A loan from Grameen America allows Altagracia Familia to buy ingredients for the empanadas and sweets she sells from her cart.
Boogie for TIMEEmily Medina isn’t running a pyramid scheme, despite what people often think. As the petite 26-year-old works her way through some of New York City’s poorer neighborhoods, she approaches women selling food and trinkets on the street and offers to lend them money to grow their businesses. The organization Medina works for, Grameen, is one of the world’s largest microfinance outfits and has a Nobel Prize to its name for this work. But in New York neighborhoods where loans to street vendors tend to come with interest rates north of 40%, it can take a while to build trust. “I didn’t believe it until I had the $1,500 check in my hand,” says jewelry seller Rosa Lopez.
Thirty years ago Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen franchise, started lending small sums to poor entrepreneurs in Bangladesh to help them grow from a subsistence living to a livelihood. His great discovery was that even with few assets, these entrepreneurs repaid on time. Grameen and microfinance have since become financial staples of the developing world, but by coming to the U.S. Grameen is taking on a different sort of challenge: one of the planet’s richest countries. Yes, money may be tight in the waning recession, but this is still a nation of 100,000 bank branches. (See TIME’s 2009 Person of the Year: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.)
Yet Yunus believes that in just a few years Grameen America will be so successful that it turns a profit, thanks to 9 million U.S. households untouched by mainstream banks and another 21 million using the likes of payday loans and pawnshops for financing. Profit has long eluded U.S. microfinanciers. “If it’s not profitable, it’s not microlending — it’s charity,” Yunus said on a recent trip to the U.S. The question, then, is whether there is a role for a Third World lender in the world’s largest economy.
Here is how Grameen is trying to establish one: on a Thursday afternoon, Medina and 10 borrowers gather in Ziomara Suarez’s apartment in the northern prong of Manhattan. As the borrowers — all women, all immigrants — pack into a room with shelves full of the herbal health remedies Suarez sells, they each hand Medina a small blue ledger with a loan payment tucked inside. If any one of the women doesn’t pay her weekly installment, credit will be cut off to the entire group — stunting the small businesses they’ve each developed. Collateral and credit scores may be missing, but peer pressure is powerful. The result: a 99% repayment rate in the U.S. (See the best business deals of 2009.)
Since 2008 Grameen has collected 1,700 borrowers in New York City, and last June it opened a second branch in Omaha, Neb. Other cities in its sights include San Francisco, Boston and Charlotte, N.C. — anywhere local businesspeople raise seed capital and a bank will host low-cost savings accounts for borrowers with just a few dollars, since savings are a key part of the Grameen philosophy. “There are whole populations that aren’t being reached by the banking sector,” says Bob Annibale, director of microfinance at Citibank, which partners with Grameen in New York. Like other financial giants, Citi sees a lucrative new market in the unbanked. But attracting those customers isn’t easy, and Citi is overjoyed to have Grameen deliver them.
That was also true when Grameen first came to the U.S., in the late 1980s, and tripped up. Under Grameen’s tutelage, Southern Bancorp started making microloans to entrepreneurs in Arkansas. At first, the loss rate was a shocking 30%. Even after getting that under control, Southern found that what people really needed wasn’t seed capital but broader help developing work skills and finding jobs.
The folks running Grameen America say that this time around results will be different because Grameen employees themselves are making the loans, not training an American bank to do it. In New York City, Shah Newaz, who started working for Grameen in 1982, hands out checks to borrowers at Grameen America headquarters — a sparsely furnished one-room office above a laundromat. In Omaha, Habib Chowdhury, who has worked for Grameen since 1985 and is a veteran of its Kosovo start-up, has found more than 250 borrowers since June and has already lent $378,000, mostly to Mexican immigrants stocking up on inventory for small businesses selling things like cosmetics, clothing and Herbalife weight-loss products.
via time.com
Man Resigns On Twitter In Haiku. Happens To Be Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz.
February 4, 2010 by gaanderMan Resigns On Twitter In Haiku. Happens To Be Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz.
When you’re on your way out of a job, there’s a lot of fun ways to exit. Some choose to take all the staplers in the office, some show up to the last day in shorts, some pull a Jerry Maguire. And some tweet out a haiku.
That’s exactly what Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz did tonight. Here’s his tweet:
Today’s my last day at Sun. I’ll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more
Really, what more needs to be said?
Schwartz had been surving as Sun’s CEO since 2006, prior to that he was the company’s COO. It has been known that he would resign for several days now following Sun’s sale to Oracle, which the EU just approved.
Schwartz has always enjoyed this type of public discourse, as he continued to blog in a time when very few CEOs would dare do such a thing. His latest post was on January 27, describing what he’d be doing next.
As for where life takes me next, you should follow me via Twitter at openjonathan to find out. I’ll also be rehosting this blog (and again, stay tuned to Twitter by following me here). I expect to do my part to keep things interesting.
Indeed. Tonight he started that off with a bang (and we love the two self-promotion links).
