History of Fashion Accessories Series

As the 2011 comes to the end, the History of Fashion Accessories Series was born and is marching into 2012. Everybody knows that no outfit is complete without any accessories. Trinity of hats, scarves and gloves is a common ensemble that is used as modern fashion accessory by women, men and children.
Books about socks and gloves will take you on a journey to learn throughout information and visual literacy about hand wear and foot wear. The book entitled "Socks: History and Present" by Ida Tomshinsky ended up on the X-mas stockings all around the world. The other book from this series entitled "Gloves: History and Present" by the same author, Ida Tomshinky, offers a new look on the great antiquity of hand wear. The third book-manuscript, as promised, completed and is in line for ready-to-read.

ISBN 978-1-4653-8809-4 "Gloves: History and Present" by Ida Tomshinsky
ISBN 978-1-4628-8698-2 "Socks: History and Present" by Ida Tomshinsky
to order call 888-795-4274, ext 7879, order online at
http://www.xlibris.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.bn.com/, or visit your local bookstore

"Snow-Flakes" by H. W. Longfellow

Out of the bosom of the air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent, and soft, and slow
Descends the snow.

Even as our cloudy fancies take
Suddenly shape in some divine expression,
Even at the troubled heart doth make
In the white countenance confession,
The troubled sky reveals
The grief feels.

This is the poem of the air,
Slowly in silent syllables recorded;
This is the secret of despair,
Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,
Now whispered and revealed
To wood and field.

"Winter" by William Carlos Willimas

Now the snow
lies on the ground
and more snow
is descending upon it-
Patches of red dirt
hold together
the old
snow patches

This winter -
rosettes of
leather-green leaves
by the old fence
and bare trees
marking the sky-

This is winter
winter, winter
leather-green leaves
spearshaped
in the falling snow

December

"December"

I will sleep
in my little cup

Ron Padgett

Weather Effect

We are very fortunate to live in a climate where winter weather stimulates 365 days...with exception of a few.
It's time to stop letting a bulding belly, saggy behind, or jiggly thights ruin the day. Think about how much power are giving to one measly body part when stand in front of the mirror, scold for not being an inch better, and then pull over the dark-colored baggy clothes to hide behind.
The body-shaping menu plan, a shape-up plan, and stick-with-it tips learned from both plans. They are great tools.
The shape-up success program is on! The most important to feel good, and a good plan always was a beginning to stop the negative self-talk that can sabotage any good efforts.
Weather effect definitely helps to move on and to get more firmer and more flatter.

Empower Yourself to Achieve

Time-to-time I am getting motivational emails. I like the small in size and full of wisdom quotations. "Make every experience a learning experience," said Ralph Marston.
Endless curiosity just as important as meaningful curiosity. That it, be curious about the things that matter most to you! Research, read, and reasoning the information. Expect to find valuable, useful body of knowledge everywhere you go, from each person you meet, and you will. Reading both fiction and non-fiction, plus documentary stories from people who owe the listeners, empower. After all, we are very fortunate to have these opportunities. Dream big and fill in the details. Don't stop, keep going!

"Gloves: History and Present:" Book Review

We are glad to announce that a new book entitled "Gloves: History and Present" by Ida Tomshinsky is in production status. Ida Tomshinsky is fascinated by gloves. She offers a new look on great antiquity of hand wear. This book will take you on a journey to learn through information and visual literacy about gloves and mittens, and their history and present.

If you are also interested in history of foot wear, check out the book entitled "Socks: History and Present" written by a talented author and a long-time librarian, Ida Tomshinsky.

Just visit the http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.barnesandnobls.com/ or http://www.xlibris.com/ online bookstores!

Whirlwind of Information

Amid the whirlwind of information, economic shocks, and the constant pressures on our time and our minds, it's easy to ignore the call of our inner calls. Readership of literature of any kind is skyrocketing in numbers. Reading and learning both are the antidote to all distraction and busyness.

"To Converse with the Greats" by Vera Pavlova

To converse with the greats
by trying their blindfolds on;
to correspond with books
by rewriting them;
to edit holy edicts,
and at the midnight hour
to talk with the clock by tapping a wall
in the solitary confinement of the universe.

Trick -and-Treats!

When you need help to find something at the Virtual Library among the digital databases and variety of electronic resources and services, simply ask the closest library staff. He or she will gladly walk you right to the digital item, the resource you looking for. No guessing; no trouble. Just friendly helpful service you've come to expect.
Satisfy your monster sweet tooth for sweet service of excellence!
The trick is to get enough treats!
Halloween expressions, but real information literacy with a hunch of visual observation without any horror will help to kick off the Fall season!

The Mysterious Human Heart

"The produce in New York is really just produce, oranges
and cabbage, celery and beets, pomegranates
with their hundred seeds, carrots and honey,
walnuts and thirteen varieties of apples.
On Monday morning I will walk down
to the market with my heart inside me, mysterious,
something I will never get to hold
in my hands, something I will never understand.
Not like the apricots and potatoes, the albino
asparagus wrapped in damp paper towels, their tips
like the spark of a match, the bunches of daisies, almost more
a weed than a flower, the clementine,
the sausage links and chicken hung
in the window, facing the street where my heart is president
of the Association for Random Desire, a series
of complex yeas and nays,
where I pick up the plantation, the ginger root, the sprig
of cilantro that makes me human, makes me
a citizen with the right to vote, to bear arms, the right
to assemble and fall in love."

Matthew Dickman, American Poetry Review, Nov./Dec. 2008

View on a City

"Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white leaps...the city seen for the first time, in the first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world."
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

The Merry Month of September

There are twelve months throughout the year
From January to December -
And the primmest month of all the twelve
Is the merry month of September.

"Where, oh, where has the sunshine gone?" - ask the children when the summer is rainy and chilly, but when it comes to the last days of August, the weather usually changes. The rain stops.. Sometimes it rains at night, but keeps the sky clear all day...The sun shines like anything. The flowers show their brightest colors. Everything is rich and alive.

Orchards now are apple scented,
Mists across the meadow lie,
Sunlight's gleaming soft and golden,
Hazy blue the kindly sky.
Spiders' webs are diamond hung,
Swallows twitter in the heat;
Chestnut leaves begin to yellow,
Robin's tiny song is sweet.
Asters and chrysanthemums
Make the cottage gardens gay.
Loveliness is everywhere
On this warm September Day!

Magazine Scene

The are people reading magazines everywhere; and there are no limit to the choices available. Of all the print media, they offer by far the broadest range of human expression in text and pictures. Unlike television, magazines have to be read, and reading is active.
There are untold number of magazines. Nobody knows for sure how many magazines exist.
Consumer magazines, business, and trade magazines are in one trade category. Science and technical periodicals are in the second category. Finally, professional publications are in the third category.
We live now in the Age of Information, and magazines continue to be the prime carries. No other country in the world can equal the United States for sheer numbers and variety of magazine publications. Where else, could there be seventy-six magazines on skiing and snowmobiling; forty-five devoted to brides; seventy-one astronomy publications.
So we left just with one important question about the "spirit of future?"
The answer is below:
"Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?"
(Henry IV, Part I)
Our cyberspace opened the door to technological revolution, transforming all three publishing fields -books, newsletters, and magazines alike. Text that survived for five centuries cannot disappear overnight, or perhaps at all. So far, every new technology, from computer to digital photography, has created new inducements to read.

What about Magazines? History Please!

Magazines today cover every aspect of life, and cater to a market of special interests - the days of the great general-subject magazines are over.
As for history of magazines, they appeared much later on the scene. Through the history, there may have been approaches to a magazine in antiquity, especially in China, the magazine as it now known began only after the invention of the printing press in the West. The word "magazine" comes to us from France, where one of the first world's magazines, called Journal des Scavans, was first published in Paris in 1655.

On February 16, 1741, came ti life the first American magazine, appropriately named American Magazine, or A Monthly View of the political State of the British Colonies, published by the Philadelphia printer Andrew Bradford. A few days later The General Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, for All the British plantations in America appeared, published by a fellow Philadelphia's and rival printer, Benjamin Franklin.

There was a good reason for a delay of the magazine. Magazines had to wait until the literary and practical arts had developed enough in America to create an audience large enough for its own periodicals. As for magazines, the golden age for magazines came in the quarter-century from 1825 to 1850. Before 1825 there were less than a hundred magazines in America; after 1850 there were more than six hundred.

Three magazines funded during this period of American history are still surviving: Scientific American, began in 1845; Harper's Magazine, founded in 1850 as Harper's New Monthly Magazine. Its rival was and remains the Atlantic Monthly, established in 1857.

Highlights of the 20th Century, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Liberty, and Life, include the rise and fall of such mass-circulation business. Success stories were written by the Reader's Digest, founded in October, 1921 by De Witt and Lila Bell Wallace; Time, started in 1923 by Henry Luce and his partner Briton Hadden; The New Yorker, the creation of editor Harold Ross in 1925.

History Facts on Newspapers

The idea of the newspaper is old as ancient Rome, where the events of each day were published in a scroll called the Acta Diurna, roughly "the acts of the day." Started around 59 B.C., it was the first newspaper of any kind.
The first newspaper in America appeared fifty years later, after the first book was published, with issuing of Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick in 1690, the work of a recently arrived English printer named Benjamin Harris.
Books and newspapers came first [before magazine] because they were necessities as the colonies established themselves.
Newspapers in the Colonial period were largely propaganda tools, spreading protest and eventual Independence from Britain on the one hand and the views of Tory sympathizers on the other.
The 18th Century, saw the growth and maturing of American newspaper industry, fed by the First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech and the press.

"pub.lish" v.

Publish means to bring to the public attention; to announce. From Latin publicare, to make public," - according The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Publishing is described in the Encyclopedia Britannica as "the activity that involves selection, preparation, and marketing of printed matter. It has grown from small and ancient beginnings into a vast and complex industry responsible for the dissemination of all kinds of cultural material, from the most elevated to the most trivial. Its impact upon civilization is impossible to calculate."
Books, in one form or another, have been around for 4,000 to 5,000 years. Papyrus rolls were used in Egypt as early as the year 3,000 B.C. The first modern form of the book was the Roman codex, in which sheets of papyrus were folded vertically to make leaves.
Before the invention of writing, information could only be exchanged by word of mouth, with all its limitations of time and space. Writing originally was confined to the recording of codes of law, genealogies, and religious formulations. Not until the monopoly of letters, usually held by a priestly caste, was broken could writing finally be used to disseminate information.
The Chinese are generally considered to have invented printing in the 6th Century A. D. in the form of wooden block printing. The 15th Century witnessed the two most important developments in the history of publishing: paper, which Chinese had invented in 105 A. D. and which the Arabs brought to Europe; and the invention to movable type, generally attributed to Jonhannes Gutenberg.
Book publishing, the senior member of the triumvirate, began in the United States in 1638, when the first printers, Stephen Daye and his two sons, went from Cambridge, England to Cambridge, Massachusetts. There they produced their first book, The Whole Booke of Psalmes, in 1640. It is known today as "The Bay Psalm Book" and is understandably rare.
Today, publishing assumed its characteristic blend of idealism and commerce. Also, Americans are not predominately book readers, and there is little public curiosity about the people who publish books. Individual authors become famous, but a few people can identify the publisher of the book they have just finished reading.

Brown Sugar Lemonade

Ida's home made recipe for Brown Sugar Lemonade:

3/4 cup of Dixie Crystals Light Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Dixie Crystals White Granulated Sugar
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 10 large lemons)
6 cups cold water

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher. Mix well and serve over ice. Garnish with lemon slices.
Double or triple the recipe as needed.
Enjoy the recipe! The lemonade is bright and fun, nutritious and delicious!
What is not to like? The lemonade is refreshing and contains fat-free calories.
It could be the centerpiece for a party on a hot late summer day. Any time of the day is the right time of the day to enjoy Brown Sugar Lemonade.

Cloud Power

Let's talk private cloud, not just virtualization! Why? Because Window Server is changing the conversation. It helps businesses, big and small, to make IT more efficient.
Enter the private cloud - a way to manage your infrastructure as a pool of computing resources to deliver your applications and serve the best way the ever-changing needs of your business.
The main point of having a private cloud in the first place - control.
IT is no longer just about hardware, or software, or maintenance. It's about finding new efficiencies and new ways of doing things that help your company's bottom line.
More computing power. And perhaps, more available brain-power.

Say It with Music

"When words don't work, say it with music."

Joseph Haydn [HIDE-EN] is considered to be the father of the symphony. He composed his first symphony in 1759 at the age of twenty-seven, around the time of Mozart's third birthday. Others had composed works that they called symphonies before that, but it was Haydn who gave the symphony its present structure of four movements. Hayden wrote 107 symphonies. Beethoven, his student, wrote only nine.

His forty-fifth symphony, the Symphony in F-sharp Minor, is known as the Farewell Symphony and is the earliest of Haydn's symphonies to be played regularly today.

The music is beautiful, at times deeply moving, at other times simply lyrical. The forth movement, or the finale, began with strength and passion, as anyone would have expected.

Happy Birthday, Miami!

City of Miami celebrates the 115th birthday! Even it is more than hundred years old, it is a "young" city on the international map. But most important, we feel very lucky. Not Los Vegas lucky, but lucky to live in South Florida. A Chinese proverb predicts, " Keep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps a singing bird will come." In southeast Florida, beautiful flora and fauna that are surrounding residents of Miami twelve month a year are a great inspiration for success. The tropical nature environment of South Florida has inspired many people from all around the world. Miami is one of the fastest growing areas in Florida and in United States. The internationalism and the people with different accents, are the strength of Miami.
Miami, and South Florida in general, both have been growing uninterruptedly for nearly last fifteen years. Statistical studies conducted by the State Department show that 1,000 people come to Florida each week.
If you are in Miami, you are living worldwide dreams based on backgrounds and heritage. Together, we are "Miamians!"
Happy birthday, Miami! Hugs and kisses, best wishes in the efforts to create a greener and healthier Miami throughout education to benefit the economical and social success! IT

Art Meets Fashion

Artists always had been expired to paint, draw, and sculpt beautiful people in the clothes they wore. Many times, fashion designers got inspired by artist's work or artistic movement and incorporated their ideas or their artwork into their designs.
There are a few very interesting stories about a few of the first American female fashion designers.

Ethel Traphagen got into traditionally "men" profession in the beginning of the 20th - century. Ethel Traphagen, the 1911 New York Times first-prize evening dress winner, got inspired from an American painter, James Whistler. Whistler originally was trained in Paris and then lived in London He was influenced by the work of the French Impressionists and by Japanese woodblock prints. He used smoky colors in nighttime scenes to create the mysterious effects in his "nocturne" paintings. Ethel Traphagen had been motivated and stimulated by one one of these scenes and used the image to design a dress of blue chiffon layered over putty-colored silk.

Elizabeth Hawes was another well-known figure in the fashion industry in the 30s. She traveled to Paris and lived above the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, a place where many talented people such as Ernest Hemingway and George Gershwin borrowed books and met. She wanted her clothes to move as three-dimensional mobiles that her friend and artist Alexander Calder created. Later on, Elizabeth Hawes incorporated the abstract elements that Spanish artist Joan Miro used in his paintings in her capes and vests.

257 posts

There are 257 posts in this blog.
... We go to writing for one reason, so we may live our lives more fully, and embrace the world in what we living, hug the planet and be a part of every day happenings without destroying both.
Praise the day, the sun and the rain and in between enjoy the intimate forum of the finest moments -bird-songs, green-green grass, talks to total strangers, and a story of human spirit!
The writing journey is about observing the beauty and wonder, asking questions and finding answers ... living life and finding your own voice.

"Socks" by Ida Tomshinsky (Book Review)

Once again, Ida Tomshinsky took an initiative to coordinate, evaluate, and select cultural and intellectual resources for rare field of fashion accessories. "Socks: History and Present" book by Ida Tomshinsky appeared to be a comprehensive anthology of little known history and present of footwear. Ida Tomshinsky is a long-time Librarian. She published a few poetry books, and, in 2008, she published a book entitles "Fashion Librarian" that is one of a kind in the field and continues attract both fashion scholars and young librarians. What next? Perhaps, gloves, handkerchiefs, sashes or purses.

To purchase it please go to an Online Bookstore at www.Xlibris.com/Bookstore
Thank you for purchasing!

Announcement

It's my pleasure to announce my new book publication within the History of Fashion Accessories Series. My book, "Socks," has successfully completed and available for purchases. This note is intended to supply you with information about my book -

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4628-8698-2

How You Can Order My Book

• Online bookstore: www.Xlibris.com/Bookstore

Book page: www.xlibris.com/Socks.html

Author page: www.xlibris.com/IdaTomshinsky.html

• Call: 1-888-795-4274


• Fax: 1-610-915-0294 or 1-610-915-0293


• E-mail: orders@xlibris.com


• By mail, please send your order, along with a check or payment information to:

Attention: Book Orders, Xlibris, 1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403

Thank you for purchasing my book!

"A Book, A Book, My Kingdom for the Book" (William Shakespeare)

Dishcloths

Wipe up spills with reusable cotton dishcloths rather than paper towels. First, they generate waste and second, they create greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing. Due to the Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that if every U.S. household use one fewer roll of paper towels, we could save a forest or 544.00 trees.

Beside, you can save money, as dishcloths last longer as a textile item. Just laundry, and use it again.

Swimwear

Past weekend I used up on the beach activities. The beach look is all about fabulous swimwear. The most dominate colors are gold and pink, turquoise and white and blue strips, emerald green and taupe, yellow and orange, vintage white and tropical flowers on the black are the hot colors.
The flowers, dots, and tribal mix stand out both in bikinis and in cutout one-piece swim suites.

Fashion Statement

Bill Cunningham is a 82-year old fashion historian. His eye is always so generous and open to anything that is creative. Cunningham, who captures fashion trends in his New York Times photos, says in the the documentary film called Bill Cunningham New York: "Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life."

Memorial Day

They went to fight
Shoulder to shoulder
One-by-one.
Sons, husbands, and brothers,
Somebodies loved once,
For all the best time to come,
For other people, and for us.
Some would come home with honors,
Others with purple hearts.
Unluckiest would give away their hearts
In fights.

Today, the silent flame of fire
On the memorials remind us
Of the good and bad times.
There are two words
Bigger then life,
"Freedom" and "Life" itself.
Freedom and good life -
For them, for us, and for future lives!

Ida Tomshinsky, 2006-2011

Library Instructions

The current librarianship for academic librarians includes instructional design skills, information literacy skills, presentation skills, and teaching skills. Where these proficiencies could be learn?
Some people will say "on the job" by self-teaching and understanding the information structure of information within various disciplines of knowledge.

Planning tools and instructional design tool-kits are very important for information literacy integration in presentations and subject expertise. Constructive librarian-faculty collaboration encourage students to ask adequate questions in adequate time, interpreted and rephrasing questions in seeking the information.

Lady Gaga Thinks She is a Fashion Librarian

Lady Gaga thinks she is a Fashion Librarian. She declared that she studied a lot the fashion terminology to be a Fashion Librarian. According to Lady Gaga, the green shoes from her aunt, posters from her dad's collection, and attending a second-hand bookstore in New York city make her a Fashion Librarian. There is a zero understanding that Fashion Librarian is a profession that requires to have a Master's degree in Library Sciences (MLS) or Master's degree in Library Information Sciences (MLIS.) Library sciences and librarianship allow to own a title of the Librarian with capital "L." There are librarians in public sector, academic librarians, school and special libraries' librarians. Some librarians specialized as children literature librarians, other are law librarians. Some are specialists to provide valuable library resources, library services, and library programs to library users who seek information in these flattering fields of fashion and librarianship. Knowledge of fashion terminology does not make you a Fashion Librarian as knowledge of Medical Terminology does not make you a doctor. For example, for French women fashion is almost a religion. French women know that they can go far with a great haircut, shoes, and a divine perfume, and do all of these things make them Fashion Librarians? What is takes to be a Fashion Librarian? The fact that this area of research continues to be undervalued as an academic pursuit is itself meaningful. Fashion Librarianship science studies include socio-economic issues, historical approach, and wide aspect of business management. There are those information brokers, catalog, fashion arbiters, and John Bartlett all in whole that are very close to definition of what is the "Fashion Librarian." Technically speaking, I will try to put it in Library of Congress (LC) classification system - GT - Custom of Anthropology, H - Social Studies, HD - Economic Conditions, HF - Commerce, HG - Finance, N - Fashion in Fine Arts, NC - Drawing, Design, and Illustration Techniques, TT - Hand Craft for Technology, TS - Manufacturers. Saint Exupery's Le Petit, "The Prince," is a book that all French people know well. It can be read in an hour, but it is packed with timeless wisdom. In the book, the fox explains to the little prince the need of rituals. There are rituals in real life applications. We spend most of our working hours performing our daily rituals, the routine. It happens because we are role models of our profession. Career-motivated professionals pay special attention to appearance for success. Appearance, the way people look from cleanliness, hairstyle, fingernails, cosmetics, jewelry to style of dress as important as other nonverbal communication. Going back to Lady Gaga's attempt to be one of us, Fashion Librarians. The first choice to catalog selected library resources about Lady Gaga would be under music and pop culture, not in the fashion design or fashion merchandising section. Let say, it will be written a book (I am sure, somebody will!) about Lady' Gaga's fashion costumes that she uses in her performances and appearances. A book of this content could be on the bookshelves in 391 section of the Dewey Decimal classification system.

La Boheme

The summer is on the corner, and the bohemian side of summer fabulous designer looks caught my attention. The nostalgic to the sixtieth explored the absolutely adorable colorful prints that are showing up on maxi dresses and skirts. Tiered palm tree or floral prints and fashion accessories are the essential part of summer style. Idealizing the past, escaping from the reality, and simply reaching out to for the "good old days," - have both the tenderness of the new circle of the spiral step forward, and the melancholic sadness of the fun and easy past times. New wave of political and social interest of new generation crossed with colorful or drab textiles with leather and beading accents, pair of flats, and wild and free hair are here again, and reminding me of the 60s and 70s.

Decisions

As each individual grows and develops, many important decisions are made. Among those decisions is the process of choosing the means by which one earns a living. Involved in this process is the integration of a wide variety of factors, which influence those decisions.

Those factors include aptitudes, interests, abilities, achievements, experiences, goals, values, motivation, worth ethics, and morality.

Everybody has dreams, everybody has opportunities, everybody has talents and potentialities. Next step - decisions to make!

Why Poetry or Any Other Creative Writing?

Poetry combines two very important elements that were joined together in one powerful statement made by Ezra Pound, -"...an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time." The language of the poetic writings exercise origins of observation and images. Literary images that describe a story, a fact or a blurb discuss some related images and are the heart of successful creative writing.
Where the images come from? The short answer is, "from observation." It could be just one person's opinion, believe, or state-of-mind. Attention to details are making the poems concrete, real, perhaps, tangible. Objects in words give the rare opportunity to "dream" the images threw as experiences.

Autograph Tree (Clusia rosea)

This beautiful decorative tree could be seen everywhere in Miami. [We have a young Autograph tree at the school building's entrance.]

This evergreen tree has high salt tolerance and is a good candidate for a beachfront plantings. The strong large size branches provide good shade. The fruit is attractive to birds and other native wildlife. Green leaves are hard in texture and can be scratched and written on with a finger-nail, leaving the signature on the tree for a long time...hence the name Autograph tree! It is a 100% eco-friendly native plant.

Many native plants are hurricane resistant. Native plants preserve the local heritage and make South Florida unique. Local trees in general, provide us with a sense of place and history that can be passed onto future generations.

April 30: Did You Know?

Did you know? One is a whole.
Many are better, crowd is too many.
Can you measure the silence of being alone?
Quiet. Alone. You are treasuring peace.

Ida Tomshinsky, 2003

April 29: Why Can't You Be Nice?

Why can't you be nice?
When you get older
You will learn to sacrifice.
We are growing up close
Teaching and learning both;
Side-by side, holding hands -
Trusting each other and upraise.
When we get older
You supposed to be wise
Yo make the right choice
When we oppose.
Sometimes, we're looking for ends
Which connect a full circle of life
From mother to daughter, and further.
Here comes my advise,
And I will not say it twice!
Why can't you be nice?
You need to be precised and rise.
Beauty and youth
Give us the muse
To discover the truth.
A smile, a hug, and a kiss
Will make you forget the bruise.
When you are young -
You are improvise.

Ida Tomshinsky, 2006

April 28: The Grasshopper

Child: Grasshopper, grasshopper,
What do you say?
Grasshopper: Chirp, chirp, chirp,
It's a beautiful day.
Child: What are you doing,
Standing so?
Grasshopper: I'm looking around
For place to go.
Child: Here, by my feet
Is a flowery clump.
Grasshopper: Hurrah!
I'm coming -
A great big jump.

(Tomshinsky, 2024)

April 27: The Sun is Rising

The sun is rising out of bed,
And in the East the sky is red.
And nature calls to work and play
So early in the morning.

April 26: The Good Sun

The good sun
Shines down today,
And earth is warm
And golden-gay.
Bright blue's the sky,
The poppies glow,
And tree and hedge
Sharp shadows throw.
Oh, life is truly good
Today.

April 25: My Morning Drill

I hop about on one foot,
And also jump on two.
I swing my left arm around about,
And wave my right to you.

I move my head from side to side,
And from my waist bow low.
I bend my knees right to the ground,
As far as they will go.

I sit and droop my shoulders,
And make myself feel small,
But when I stretch and stand up straight,
I'm five feet tall.

April 24: The Owl

From out the old, old elm tree
The owls' cry we hear,
And from the distant forest
The cuckoo, cuckoo,
To-whit, to-whoo,
Cuckoo, cuckoo,
To-whit, to-whoo.

April 23: I Wish I Were A Tiny Bird

I wish I were a tiny bird
Like the one upon that tree.
Its merry song from morn till night
Makes me dance and feel so bright.

April 22: Confession

A fortune teller

Whispered in my ear

The magic words.

My mother's wisdom

Builds up my mind.

The wind picked up

The mix of dust

And passed

To me.

"Why me?" -

I asked.

The Mother Nature calls

To follow the instincts.

In my dreams, I am in the meadows,

Very low,

low in the grass

Surrounded by sky,

Very close to the Earth.

I cam hear the bees.

I can hear the breeze.

Every bird sings for me.

"Mother Earth, I am your,

A good girl and a listener."

Ida Tomshinsky

April 21: Miami and Me

Miami and me:
Warm welcome sun and a palm tree;
Blue sky is one, blue water is two.
My life between is a breeze of wind, and this is three.

I am a seed which is good to be.
My soul is blooming in the green land
Called "Miami and Me,"
And it is not the end!

Ida Tomshinsky, 2001

April 20: University Life

"At the university life is not the same as at the municipal city. It has it's own life and rhythm. Day-by-day you study, time-to-time you party. Body language will help you make new friends of any kind of majors. Body knowledge will help your personal wages. Choices, decision making, time management, and professional judgement will teach you social issues assessment of any case study will make you sharper and "street-smarter." You test yourself every day in the classroom and outside it to become a good citizen with parents foundation and academic diploma. Remember your best training years are at the student city, the university; this is your beginning and a start to get on the road and walk, and work. Walk, and work more, because the road is endless."

Ida Tomshinsky, 2005

April 19: Nothing like Blue

If you only could see,

Blue is the color of the sea.

Sea is like the sky,

Sky is blue, too.

When I look in your eyes

I can see the real true.

The blue eyes' reflections

Hiding the truth.

Nothing is cleaner like the blue.

The rain can be blue, too.

Happy laughter is blue.

There are many shades of blue:

Royal blue, aqua blue,

Clear heavenly light blue.

My goodness! A dress for success

For my princess is blue -true, very true.

Blue mountains, the ora of Earth,

The road to Heaven is always blue.

Nothing is like blue.

Did you see a blue flower?

These flowers are hidden

In a beautiful garden.

Children, clean souls,

They are watching out for the Earth

And the blues.

Nothing is like blue.

Ida Tomshinsky, 2005

April 18: Nature Watching in the Back Yard

"Stripped butterflies making the check up of the field. Sneaky lizards' battalion hiding in the grass. The army of ants at service. Top-top, top-top... Little girl's slippers turned green." Ida Tomshinsky, 2004

April 17: Simplicity of the Beginning Day

"The air was clean, almost transparent. The mind was open and wondered. The body ready and energetic filled up with optimism. The simplicity of the beginning day had the power of the self-esteem motivation. Before the sunrise all the priorities of the day were sorted and waited their turn. The highlights of morning appear and follow." Ida Tomshinsky, 2005

April 16: Butterfly Fly

On the hot summer day

A beautiful colorful butterfly

Fly, fly, fly...

Sometimes, in the end of the working day

My thoughts about life

Getting wings and fly.

Are you ready to listen?

I will teach you to try.

I will share the secret, you try!

You do not need to have wings to try.

In my dreams, on the nice summer night

I will fly

Like a beautiful colorful butterfly.

Are you still here and listen?

Now, you can try!

Don't be afraid and try.

Anyone can fly.

The road-map is the blue sky.

Think big and fly.

You born to be free

Like a butterfly.

You are beautiful on any tree,

You are colorful with your presents.

It is too soon to say good-bye

Before the fly.

You will be back, my butterfly.

Ida Tomshinsky. "Butterfly Fly." - Poetry or Poe-Tree: Owings Mills, MD: Watermark Press, p. 25-26, 2006.

ISBN 0795185685

April 15: A Cloudy Day

Clouds in Miami's sky

Are passing by, passing by...

Years of my life

Are dropping off, dropping off...

Time, are you flying?

Please, I am begging, slow down.

It is a lot on my mind.

Do not put me down!

I did not have time to look around,

There are so many things

I would like to do, to see,

And think about.

I would like to be out

To look at the clouds

On the Miami's sky

Which are passing by, passing by...

Ida Tomshinsky, c.2004

April 14: Ocean Wave

"The ocean wave reaches the edge on the hard land. It is not hard at all. It is soft and wet. The pale sand on the bay of Atlantic ocean brings you to the expectations of the beach entertaining. Cool and hot at the same time. Warm and comfortable. Just right. Thirsty. You want to drink a lot of water. Your lungs want to inhale a lot of air. You make a deep breath. It is a still enigma of the inheritance." Ida Tomshinsky c.2005

April 13: Beautiful Hibiscus

A dear rose mallow blossom

Is a beautiful one-day flower

That is simply awesome

When it blooms to empower

With glossy deep green leaves

Of tropical hibiscus trees.

They traveled from China to Florida

For de la Vida!

Beautiful hibiscus

Blossoms will get you out of the woo-s.

Pink, orange, and red,

Sometimes, they leave me unsaid.

Coffee and bread,

Hibiscus crown head

At my window,

Bring peace to endow.

The flower's attractiveness beauty

Amuses the sweet heart cookie.

Ida Tomshinsky, c.2009

April 12: Dragon Rain

Blimps, blimps, blimps...

The Dragon Rain washed away

The dirty clouds from his tail,

And its rain, rain, rain...

The tropical rain left round saucers of prints

On the black asphalt to rinse

And blimps, blimps, blimps...

The King of Sky is refreshed and reborn.

He is breathing clean air and triumph.

Oomph, oomph, oomph...

By making up the chemical elements for all

And showing up the craftsmanship

Of small geometric water pools

Of clean water and fresh air to shift.

The Dragon Rain sends

Birds to the hole-nests,

Ants to the plant-ship,

Me - under the roof.

Oomph, oomph, oomph...

Blimps, blimps, blimps...

A nice summer afternoon

As it's purring to bloom.

p. 28 "Dragon Rain"

From the poetry book "Fascinated by Gulls: Poems" by Ida Tomshinsky. -2007

Review: "Simple, brave, and creative from potential to realization..." (Dr. Cahn)

April 11: The Daisy

There is a flower, a little flower

With silver crest and golden eye,

That welcomes every changing hour,

And weathers every sky.

The prouder beauties of the field

In gay but quick succession shine;

Race after race their honors yield,

The flourish and decline.

But this small flower, to Nature dear,

While moons and stars their courses run

Inwreathes the circle of the year,

Campanion of the sun.

It smiles upon the lap of May,

To sultry August spreads its charm,

Lights pale October on his way,

And twines December's arm.

The purple heath and golden broom

On moory mountains catch the gale;

O'er lawns the lily sheds perfume,

The violet in the vale.

But this bold floweret climbs the hill,

Hides in the forest, haunts the glen,

Peeps round the fox's den.

Within the garden's cultured round

It shares the sweet carnation's bed;

And blloms on consecrated ground

In honor of the dead.

The lambkin crops its crimson gem

'The wild bee murmurs on its breast;

The blu-fly bends its pensile stem

Light o're the skylark's nest.

'Tos Flora's page, -in every place,

In every season, fresh and fair;

It opens with perennial grace,

And blossoms everywhere.

On waste and woodland, rock and plain,

Its humble buds unheeded rise;

The rose has but a summer reign;

The daisy never dies!

James Montgomery

April 10: Birch

The young birch trees

Are not white at all.

They need time to be aged

To be privileged

To become white in whole.

Ida Tomshinsky, c.2006

Fashion Librarian

"What it takes to be a "fashion librarian?" As I was doing my research to find a good and clear definition for the terminology I will use, I got to a point of view between information broker, catalog, fashion arbiter, John Barlett, and, even, a fashion magazine. So, I was left with a choice to discribe it in my own words on how I worked and lived my life of being a fashion librarian."

Tomshinsky, Ida. (2008.) Fashion Librarian. - Baltimore. - 222 pages.

 

It is an easy-to-understand how to coordinate, evaluate, and select intellectual resources for fashion educational programs and services. The book provides instructions to students and faculty who seek information in the flattering fields of fashion and librarianship.

Fashion Librarianship

Fashion within librarianship is the same as information to the literacy. There are no clear definition. Librarianship is the library science, and as any science it includes aesthetics and fundamentals of research. Any scientific research requires resources and operational skills. Fashion library science is not different, and include both reference resources and customer service. (Both traditional printed resources and digital electronic resources embed such words as "fashion" and "style" in them.) Fashion science studies organically compress socio-economical aspect, psychological aspect, and historical approach with wide aspect of business management for one, and "shopping till you drop," for others; let say, somewhere on a fashionable Fauborg St. Honore or at Bal Harbour garden-shops on the beach.

April 9: "What Is Fashion?"

What is Fashion?

by Ida Tomshinsky

c.2007

Is it an obsession

And a body admiration?

Is it a story of cloth

And the industry's broth?

Is a body ministry

Or a simple little paltry?

Is it an occupation

With a style demonstration?

Is it an operation,

An opinion, or a preservation?

Is it a cloth preparation,

A presumption,

Or a praiseworthy predilection?

All above is about

Number one occupation

Of fashion -

The "in" and "out"

Of the great profession

In higher education.

Copyrights belong to to the author. If use, please work cite properly with acknowledgement.

April 8: Fascinated by Gulls

The seagulls fascinate me

As they fly from ocean to sea,

Very high

In the sky.

The gulls bring me a smile and delight,

And some within depth of any storm fight.

The gentle strangers

Are the earth angels.

When I was a young girl,

I wished I could sour

From the seashore

Through the air with seagulls and whirl.

It is fun to watch the graceful birds,

As they sail over the blue waters.

It stirs my emotion

By captured imagination.

The carefree birds call

Is anything but boring at all,

And for this, "Thank you, gulls! -

I got you a plastic bag with bread-crumbs."

I learned, what we should give and make,

Not, what we can take.

Every day brings me the light from the darkness

And inner grace of the rightness.

Poem written by Ida Tomshinsky (2007)

April 7: One Early Morning

One early morning

I was outside running.

The sun was out, high and bright,

The sunglasses were on, just right.

Tippy-toe.

How great is outdoor -

Urban escape

For my mind and body to shape.

A little bit of wind breeze,

A little bit of shadow from the trees.

A little bit of purple flower.

A little bit of warm shower.

Plip, drop,

Drip, drop.

Tippy-toe,

Sea grapes, I command you to grow!

I would like to stay

In the splatter of rain.

Meantime, no more drops.

The tropical rain stops.

My cloth is wet.

My curls are flat

On early morning,

Playing and celebrating

Life overall, my neighborhood

without umbrella and hood.

No sadness, no misery, just happily,

With a little bit of melancholy.

Ida Tomshinsky (1953-)/ United States -Latvia

April 6: April

Still an irritating wind;

Vestiges of stubborn grey -

Jibing us of recent winter blight.

It's coming through - like perky breasts

Pushing through a blouse -

Teasing, pleasing in it's tantalising play:

Warmth of youth in April sun -

Summering off depression.

Brains returned; remapped for fun.

April is a portal -

Smoothly transitions

Delicate dispositions -suchlike mine,

Easing hunched bodies into

Summery smiles.

Mark R. Slaughter (1957 -) /Norwich

April 5: Always Marry An April Girl

Praise the spells and bless the charms,

I found April in my arms.

April golden, April cloudy,

Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy;

April soft in flowered languor,

April cold with sudden anger,

Even changing, even true -

I love April, I love you.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971), New York/United States

April 4: Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning

"Birds singing

The Moment of listening

The Song of happiness.

Is it heaven or what?"

c.2006 Ida Tomshinsky

April 3: I Love to Go in the Capricious Days

"I love to go in the capricious days of April and hung violets; when the rain is in the blue cups trembling, and they nod so gracefully to the kisses of the wind. It may be deem'd too idle, but the young read nature like the manuscript of heaven, and call the flowers its poetry. Go out! Ye spirits of habitual unrest, and read it when the "fever-of-the-world!" Hath made your hearts impatient, and, if life hath yet one spring unpoisoned, it will be like a beguiling music to its flow, and you will no more wonder that I love to hunt for violets in the April time." Nathabiel Parker Willis

April 2: A Violet by a Mossy Stone

APRIL

"A violet by a mossy stone

Half hidden from the eye,

Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky."

William Wordsworth

April 1: Welcome to Poetry Month

Welcome to Poetry Month. For the next thirty days, I will offer a poem each day, and I hope you will enjoy, comment, share, and pass along the works you love to others who may want to read them.

"Cats on the Tree" by Ida Tomshinsky

There are these trees on the beach,

Grove of trees in a bunch,

You know, the ones that shook by the wind

And painted by sun in green ink.

Their big size leaves shelter the cats.

I speak for the rats,

"Cats on the tree,

Don't mistake them with flying bee."

Above the table and bench,

Peacefully roosted on the branch

Cats occupying the tree;

And this is the essential key -

The trees, the ones that shock by the wind

And painted by sun in green ink.

These cats do not know

The nature's flow.

That they are NOT the tweedy birds,

By any odds.

Pretty picture for observance,

Sin on, and enjoy the tree residence.

Unusual assembly

Will demise untimely.

Rest your eye on

Until it still go on!

2010 IT

April, April, April

"In wilderness is the preservation of the world." Thoreau "Every moment of the year has its own beauty..." Emerson

This Tree

"This Tree" was written by Ida Tomshinsky, a true tree lover. The poem is very descriptive and has good observation.

I

In front of me

Is a tree.

It had a tough life-

The roots spread far

Out of the dirt

In knots and bombs

From tough fights

For space, sun and water

To keep the head high,

The same as we try.

II

Years divided the body of tree

On three equal parts -

Branches, the son and daughters,

Do not ask much in favor of tree's trunk,

Just sunlight and rain water

To stay mortal.

This tree has dark-gray bark,

Ridged and shaggy;

Its upright branches are paler and smooth,

As the truck was in youth.

III

The old buddy, earthy tree,

Stands straight and free,

Only the visual signals' appeal

Tells the story of every scar,

Wound and deep cuts in the hub.

Ten or twenty feet above the ground

This tree fights with beetles

And fungus one of a kind.

IV

I'm here to listen to every story

Of battles with tough winds, hurricanes,

And tough tropical rains.

Air and soil are magic

For this mightiest tree.

Let me be your quiet admire,

A doctor, a healer, be the awe

Of this tree.

V

Right now, there are

Only two of us,

This green tree,

And me.

The spring bright-green leathery leaves

Almost cover the tree,

As smiling at me.

Latin Proverbs

Please have a look at the famous Latin proverbs. You won't believe it, but we are sure at least once you have used one of them.

Acta non verba: "Action, not words."
Ars longa, vita brevis: "Art is long, life is short." (The Latin translation by Horace of phrase from Hippocrates)
Justitia omnibus: "Justice for all."
Mens sana in corpore sano: "Health mind in healthy body."
Si vis pacem, para bellum: "If you want peace, prepare for war."
Veni Vidi Vici: "I came, I saw, conquered." (Message sent to the Senate by Julius Caesar after defeating Pharnaces in 47 BCE)

8BigC's

Just had a brainstorm and came across the "digital literacy" tweet from Josie Fraser. josiefraser connects digital literacy to "culture" and "community." She defines culture to critical, and community, cognitively, citizenship, constructivism, creativity, and confidence in between to deal with all the 8BigC's. According to Josie, there're no particular order in reflecting to the subject, but obviously, she got an 'A' from me for quick and short, good job done.

Registered Nurses

According to a 2006-2007 U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics report, "employment for registered nurses is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations through 2014."
In fact, registered nurses are projected to create the second largest number of new jobs among all occupations.

Nursing consists from three major components -

a. State-of-art,

b. Health science, and

c. Heart compassion.

Methods of Learning

Have you ever given much thought to how you learn something? There are traditional and nontraditional ways of learning. You probably more familiar with what is called the traditional method. You attend school, sit in classes, and a teacher imparts information to you and your classmates. This body of knowledge can be in the form of lectures, assigned readings from textbooks, or information you collectively arrive at by means of experimentation. Traditional education is highly structured and disciplined. There are goals and some forms of validating or testing to ensure that knowledge has been transformed from the teacher to the student.

Nontraditional education, on another hand, is less structured and more free-flowing. Knowledge is transferred from one source to another in much the same manner found in classroom, but the techniques are quite different. Perhaps, the same as learning to ride a bike. There were no textbook to teach you how, and there was no classroom. But there was a teacher, not in the school-student case. This time the teacher could have been a parent, brother, or sister. You learn by following instructions, observing by an example, and by doing it. Labs are another great example of hands-on education.
Enough of theory. In the practical world, we learn by combinations of traditional and nontraditional methods.

Go Tropical

Use the fashion tips from "fashion librarian" that lives in tropical climate. At the present time, we are experiencing 80 F degrees and light breezy fabric such as loose, lightweight cotton and linen clothing will rule the Spring updates in fashion.

The guayabera, sometimes called the "Mexican wedding shirt," is constructed to cool you naturally. A relative of the traditional Filipino barong, the guayabera wicks moisture from the skin and is worn untucked to promote air circulation. Madras is another good choice for both men's and women's clothing.

Don't forget the old standard of the American Deep South: seersucker. Originally, it was imported from India, crisp cotton and cooling ridges make it a of weather classic.

At the Ocean Shore

This poem is from the new book of poems titled "Truly Wonderful Place" by Ida Tomshinsky.

The sun breaks through smoky gray
To say "Hey!"
The sun warms up the morning fresh sand
At the ocean shore's hard land.

The sun turns the water green,
Very keen.
The sky is never the same color
Just follow -

It has it all: bright orange, pale purple, hazy blue...
What a view!
Shells and weeds wait for the new wave to come.
Bum, bum, bum, very fun!

A seagull family looks for foods,
Breakfast includes.
The ocean waves suck them back into the water -
These is no time to take the photo.

Cold water makes skin feel peppermint.
I look for geometric bird's pencil print.
I let the wind to hug my body,
County comfy.

The sound of the wind is rewarding -
Whispering and murmuring.
The waves swish swashing,
Wrapping and calming.

They lull me to sleep
The sweet memory to keep.

Spring Break

The spring break is almost arrived. Everybody needs a break after hard work term of school. I would like to introduce some ideas -what about to practice your own first-person writing or try to write the unthinkable. Sometimes, a word and an expression stocks in your head, and it just ask for collaboration in the form of writing poetry to tell the inspirational story. In then, who knows, from a real chaos to stories of real-life situations develop a piece of writing art by simply exploring the use of memory from your past, present situations (encounters, speculations, etc.)facts, autobiography or biographies of other people.

Nowadays, we are living in a fast time, but things such as parenting, traveling, hobbies in history, sports, health and nutrition, pop culture, humor and music are not a short-time projects, more like a long-time goals, a life style and life commitment.

Or, please finish the book or books you start and did not have time to finish. Read a book!

Below is a list with great ideas for Spring Break reading:

"Great Expectations" by Landon Y. Jones
"The Roman Way" by Edith Hamilton
"The Greek Way" by Edith Hamilton
"Hellenistic History and Culture" by Peter Green
"Cleopatra: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh"
"Conquest and Empire" by A. B. Bosworth
"Alexander the Great and the Logistic of the Macedonian Army" by Donald W. Engels
"The Age of Alexander" by Plutarch
"Alexander's Path: a Travel Memoir" by Freya Stark
"The Greek Alexander Romance" by Richard Stoneman

5K Run

Today, I participated in 5K run/walk and had a lot of fun. This was my 4th time and my result amazingly was better than last year.
My neighborhood was hold the 5th Annual 5K Run, and my husband volunteered to accompany me. He enjoyed the race as well. Surprisingly for me, he decided to run along. Well, there are two coming up next weekend -5K Run in Miami Beach and in Doral on March 5th. Next time, we are running together.
The RoadID provided us with a number and a shoe ID. Lightweight and durable, this ID easily attached to most running and cycling shoes. The most important, I enjoyed the peace of mind that comes with having ID every time I step out the door.

Late February

"Late February, and the air's so balmy snowdrops and crocuses might be fooled into early blooming. Then, the inevitable blizzard will come, blighting our harbingers of spring, and the numbed yards will go back undercover. In Florida, it's strawberry season - shortcake, waffles, berries and cream will be penciled on the coffee shop menus."
Gail Mazur, "The Idea of Florida During a Winter Thaw"

Library Value

This year major goal is all about strategic focus to demonstrate value for library communities of their users and servants.
Collaboration, partnership, connecting the resources and users are in the center of this goal objectives. Library professionals are masters of delivering what is on the library shelves, promoting throughout outreach programs not only the waist of library resources and services, but also are helping to connect the faculty with students throughout the practical hands-on library research assignments.
Study and learning process includes basic general educational skills such as reading, writing, problem solving, and learning to research. Library skills are lifelong skills that are in transition with new innovation technology of the 21st century. Today, library users have more choices to obtain carefully selected academic resources that reflecting the need to use them within chosen academic program in the repeatedly changing course curriculum.
Digital Natives are storming the colleges and universities, and the capital "E" is the place to be building up the value on the spending dollar today for tomorrow. The digital databases are not cheaper and must be carefully planned and evaluated, but the impact of accessibility of using them 24/7, the effectiveness of information and digital services, and efficient use of them in research papers are priceless.

Mango Streets in Miami

We are in the mid-February. I am writing from Miami, the southern tip of tropical Florida. We blessed with the best weather during this unusual cold winter. Almost every weekend it getting cooler and after it, the working week spoils us with sunshine and pleasant comfortable weather.

Yesterday, passing by the Dolphin Expressway, I spotted a mango tree, then another one, two more. Mango trees are blooming. Every backyard had a mango tree covered in light golden brown flowers. The actual yellow golden brown flowers are seldom noticed. The flowering mango bloom is shaped like a pyramid. From a little distance, the mango trees look amazing.

In three months we will see how the sunshine light and rain water, the magic air and soil will transfer the flowers in a sweet fruit.

But right now, one of the truly great benefits that we are receiving from any tree is the beauty they bring to our lives.

Sunday Morning

"Birds singing.
The moment of listening
The song of happiness.
Is it heaven or what?"
IT, c.2005

Bird Watching

Bird watching is an activity that comes naturally to us humans.

Our ancestors watched birds, and this habit helped them to determine the seasons and predict the weather. Birds still foretell the changing seasons by their northward and southward migrations. And birds often have feeding frenzies of their own just before or after a blast of bad weather.
So, in case, you want to throw out your calendar and the local meteorologist, go right ahead - and you'll still have the birds. For example, birds before the rain fly very low picking up the fat worms from the soil.

In a nutshell, sunflower seed is the best. So if you're just starting out in feeding, I suggest you buy some black-oil sunflower seed at a local hardware store, feed store, specialty bird store, or even at a major retail chain store.

Darwin is Back

The consuming instinct demonstrates that most acts of consumption can be mapped onto four key Darwinian drives, namely -

• Survival (we prefer foods high in calories),
• Reproduction (we use products as sexual signals),
• Kin selection (we naturally exchange gifts with family members),
• Reciprocal altruism (we enjoy offering gifts to close friends).

Biological basis of human behavior follows the analogous behaviors that exist between human consumers and a wide range of animals.

The information is regarding the references to the work of Gad Saad. Saad is an author of the forthcoming book titled " The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature." The information was found at the Prometheus Book Catalog. The book will be published in June of 2011.

Fashion industry plays on our innate need to belong. Popular science, psychology and business are connected by Darwin's evolution of desire.

Personal Branding

Establishing brand "you" is a good idea. In the professional business world it comes down to building, maintaining, and marketing your professional reputation. It is not a new revolutionary concept, but could not be ignored in the growing online social networking. There are new opportunities and challenges to establish "your brand."

The best offence is to practice, practice, and practice! Give yourself, and you will make yourself stronger. No one can stop you from giving as much as you wish.

Business Ethics

The ethics of talking politics or religion at work include one word: respect. Golden rule: "Just because we have a right to do something doesn't mean that it is right to do it."
With very few exceptions, we shouldn't discuss politics and religion in the workplace. These discussions have nothing to do with our job and can only interfere with it. Beside, engaging in such conversations might be interfering with the ability to carry out duties and meet the needs of customers and company alike.

Trees

Sunlight and rain water, air and soil -a tree is made from these. They are the magic ingredients that transform a tiny seed into the mightiest tree.
Man uses trees in countless ways, from eating their fruits to using their wood to build his home, for making musical instruments, baseball bats, paper, and cellophane.
One of the truly important benefits received from trees is the beauty they bring to our lives. Most people have a favorite tree, and almost all the states have chosen a special one as a symbol. Often this choice is decided by school children. Children vote to decided which tree should be the State Tree.
Trees are like most people are. By looking at many trees, you will find that individual trees vary as much as people do.
One of my favorite local trees is Sabal Palmetto, the cabbage palmetto.The giant fan-shaped leaf is divided into many pointed strips. The tiny greenish flowers grow on long sprays among the leaves.

On Journalism and Journalists

We are living in a fascinated time!
Technology is changing the forms in which the news delivered to the public - so rapidly that it could be frightening. Companies hiring people to deal on certain levels of technology, the companies invested and obtain, not always the best and latest. The vast of technology to choose from is competitive.
The economics of journalism is not the same in many parts of the industry.
A new ethical scandal emerges at a major news organization just about every month.
Summarizing what was said above, technology, economics, and ethics standards are in movement and in process of developments that are going in more than one direction.
With the advent of the Internet possibilities, the number of people practicing journalism is growing exponentially.
And this all means, it's a good story itself!

Rolodex

What is a Rolodex?
Rolodex is a desktop rotary card index with removable cards, usually used for names, addresses, and telephone numbers.
With the new technology, the Microsoft Outlook and mobile phones, the role of the rotary card index is diminished. As we entering into the second decade of 21st Century, they are vintage antique. Just a few years ago there were no virtual social networks, no synchronized address books, and no smartphones. But people had social contacts and phones, and they had to organize thousands of contacts, or have a Rolodex.
On another hand, they had a long life, never taken a sick day in it's life; they still exist, but just barely. Places still sell them.
Statistically, the Facebook member aspires to have approximately three hundred friends. The Rolodex can allow to held up to six-thousand of index cards.
Rolodex is a testament to personal relationships and personal history. Rolodex is "an injured reserved list." Rolodex is a nostalgia of a wheel of life coming out of the fifties, and becoming a mature icon of the 80s. Now, thirty years after, they served good and ready to retire in the other category - the vintage antique.

Chocolate

It is not late to celebrate
The love with chocolate!
The recipe for luscious sweets
Will help to cook the truffles
With heavy cream and cocoa powder.
Freshly made chocolate power
Will boil two hearts over the high heat
For the lovers to meet.
The temperature rises, -
"I love you to pieces!"
Go, bring the Grand Marnier
Or any other liqueur
To celebrate sweet hearts!
The chocolate always works:
You whisper loving words...
A kiss, a bite, a zip.
Everybody has an excellent time
With the chocolate of mine.
"Did you try this line?"

by Ida Tomshinsky for The Hungry Muse... an Exploration of Food in Literature
the 29th Annual Key West Literary Seminar

The Hungry Muse

"The Hungry Muse" is an exploration of food in literature that includes a four-day seminar sessions at historic San Carlos Institute at Key West. This event could be a nice place to spend time in January 6-16, 2011.
The 29th annual Key West Literary Seminar offers a world-class menu of premier food writers-critics Frank Bruni and Jonathan Gold; historian Mark Kurlansky; Southern Foodways Alliance head John T. Edge; Gastronomica founder Darra Goldstein; organic farmer David Mas Masumoto; chefs Michael Ruhlman and Molly O'Neil; memoirists, novelists, poets...

And as Ida says:

"You emphasize your imagery
Putting you energy
Into the nation's playground
Washing it up with orange juice." I.T.

from "Vision of Paradise", ca 2006.