Dining Room Feng Shui

The dining room is one of the most significant rooms on the house. It is one place where you meet with all your family members and talk about how your day went. Complete with good food, and dining room becomes a central part of every household. Bring positive energy, good health, and harmony into your dining room by learning a bit of feng shui.

Dining Table. Opt for a round or an octagonal table. One of the most important elements of feng shui is called the orientation or a person’s position to benefit most from yang energy. A square and rectangular table is ok but sitting on the corner reels in bad luck to your health and well-being. To avoid more bad luck, avoid sharp-angled corners in the dining room.

Add more plants.Fight the bad effect a sharp-angled corner can cause by putting potted plants in that corner. You can also hang in the ceiling either a metal chime or a faceted crystal.
Lighting.

Don’t forget to provide good lighting on your dining room. A well-lit dining room is best when it’s also spacious. Putting a mirror which reflects the food on the table can bring about more food.
Decoration.

Hang pictures of fruits, or of flora and fauna on your wall. Among the most popular fruit believed to bring good luck are: grapes, pineapples, and oranges.

How to Be a Poet

 Not everyone is a born poet like Shakespeare or Byron or Shelley or Keats or even Bob Dylan or Grandmaster Flash, that’s for sure. You can’t just sit under a tree one lazy afternoon with your pen in hand, a notebook in the other, and produce a Shakespearean couplet before nighttime. (Believe me, I tried.) How does one become a poet? Let’s see if these pointers can help.

Read, read, read. The best way to initially engage poetry is to read good pieces of poetry. Get one of those poetry anthologies and just read to good pieces of literature. Pay attention to form, diction, tone, and imagery.

Write, write, write. Then try your hand out in actually writing them. You might be tempted to just go about it like many contemporary poets do with their postmodern styles. But engaging the discipline of writing poetry across forms will help you out with the basics.

Be inspired. A poem is the work of an artist so find your inspiration. The best poems are those of depression, happiness, anger, and of love. Find your passion and learn to express it verbally, in the most beautiful way you can.

Choose your style. Are you a fan of rhymes, or is free verse more like your style? Once you’ve chosen your style, you can look up poems which adhere to your preferred style. Analyze these poems and try to figure out what makes them great poems.

Read your poems aloud to your family and friends. Some beginner poets have an issue with having their poems read by others. But what are you afraid of? The feedback of your audience will tell you which part of your poem needs improvement. Reading your poems aloud will also give you an aural sense of what you just wrote. Is your poem pleasing to your ears?

Read Rainier Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. This book will give you insights on your struggles as an aspiring poet. See what Rilke thinks about your dream to write.

Download: Google Chrome online

Oh my God! It’s here and it’s out to get us all! Run for your lives!
Uhm, okay. I’m exaggerating. But Google’s latest move, is it really a bad thing? Well, if you have been living under the Internet rock for the past couple of days, then you might have missed the big announcement - Google will be launchingChrome. And Chrome, ladies and gentlegeeks, is Google’s very own web browser. Yup, that’s Google’s way of kicking Mozilla in the nuts then saying FU to Internet Explorer. Safari and Opera are there to watch too.

To help us understand what’s the big deal with Chrome, Google was kind enough to make this comic that explains all the goodies Google engineers have packed into this thing.
A sort of run-down - a streamlined look that wouldn’t distract you from the page, an isolated “sandbox” (meaning each tab is its own app) to prevent one tab from crashing the other just in case something f-ed up happens, and a more powerful JavaScript engine for next generation web apps. This will also mean that the offline feature for many of Google’s services might just be a corner away. Imagine Google Docs running offline. Oooh, Microsoft will definitely feel that.
My take on it? Well, I have to update my take over a couple of days using it. It is streamlined and is quite a bit faster than my Firefox (probably because this doesn’t have any plug-ins load) and my Firefox has a lot running.
Too bad this baby is only available on Beta for Windows XP and Vista only.

Windows Tip: How to Make Control Panel Display as a Menu in Vista Start Menu

Here’s another tip accompanied by a screencast and this one’s on making Control Panel show up as a menu within Windows Vista’s Start Menu. By default, accessing control panel via the start menu would simply launch another window which allows you to choose between the default layout or the classic control panel layout. Converting your control panel to a menu might save you some time since you won’t have to deal with separate windows anymore. Right-click on the taskbar and select properties. Then select the Start Menu tab then across the start menu selection, click Customize. In the options look for control panel then select “Display as a menu.” Click OK to close all windows.

A Few Tips on Going Vegetarian

 Deciding to totally refuse meat and stick with a vegetable diet can be either good or bad for you. Even though various campaigns generally state that you should go on a vegetable diet, don’t drastically change your eating habits without doing your research. If you go meatless, you will lose weight, increase your fiber, and reduce your cholesterol level. But then again, if you don’t keep your food choices balanced, there will be risks to your health. Know which types of food you should eat and some from which you should stay away.

Processed foods. Pasta, white rice, cheese and high-in-sodium packaged foods are very dangerous to your health when you eat too much, too often. Excess in these foods usually leads to weight gain and a sluggish feeling. Treat yourself to five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. You need to to have a full stomach without ingesting too much calories and fat.

Shortage of protein supply. Completely ignoring your chicken, beef, pork, and fish without any protein substitutes is a health suicide. In effect, you will start craving sweets, your skin will become scaly, and your nails will be brittle. To save your health from this crash diet but you still can’t take meat, try beans or bean burritos. You will need six 1/2 cup servings of any meat substitute everyday. Suggestions: Tofu, soybased meat products, and veggie burgers.

Nutrients shortage. If you don’t keep track of your nutrition supply such as iron, calcium, and zinc, your health could be in great danger. Your gums might start bleeding, you’ll suffer from fatigue, and you might get sick often. Avoid this condition by combining your veggies with foods that are high in Vitamin C. Suggestions: spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, and pasta marinara. Go for milk and dairy products to catch up on lost calcium and zinc. Taking multivitamins can also improve your health condition.

Try Mountain Climbing Out

Thinking of conquering new heights? How about going on a mountain climbingadventure? If you’re looking for a new kind of thrill where surfing and motor sports are now becoming boring for you, then it’s time you get your trusted backpack, a jug of water and get ready to reach the mountain top – literally! Here are tips on how to try out a mountain climbing.

Get in shape. Or at least be in good enough shape to get in shape. Negotiating inclines and inching through different terrain does have their challenges and they will take a toll on your body. However, don’t think that just because you’re in the chubbier side that you can’t enjoy the thrill. Mountain climbing is really a great way to get in shape too.

Search for groups that offer courses on mountain climbing. Mountain climbing is not an easy sports. One has to look for a less challenging activity if one doesn’t have to time to prepare for it. There will be so much to learn and master. Most important are safety tips, first aid, techniques, and how to properly use your mountaineering gear.

What you may not get in class, you can know about from books about mountain climbing. The more you know about mountain-climbing, the more confident you will be about your adventure. You might also want to talk to your friends who have done it before, or maybe ask one of them to come with you so you can watch and learn how the pros do it in the actual climb.

Invest on good gear. Quality mountaineering gears might cost a lot, but the key word is quality. You will be depending on your gears a lot so make sure you are using the best gear.

Small Business Tip: Strengthening Your Business

 Businessmen are driven to push their businesses at the peak of productivity. All kinds of businesses experience turmoil at some point, and yet, some eventually emerge as successful and stronger. How can you achieve this for your business? Here are surefire tips on how you can boost your business productivity.

Don’t lose your focus. It might sound too simple for you but did you know that businesses tend to lose their focus as they expand? This is because growing more branches might distract you from the core of your business. This is not so say that expansion is bad. Growing is good as long as you’re still driving your business to your very defined targets. Beware of diversification and venturing into other aspects as you can’t afford to lose your direction. You can explore other strategies but never forget your proven tactics which has helped you defy the odds.

Manage your finances efficiently by being detail-oriented. Make sure you get regular cash-flow reports so you can always be in control of your accounts. Make sure you know your receivables, payables and inventory above all.

Build a good relationship with your clients and suppliers. Whether it’s a client or a supplier, you have to have a good relationship with the people who pay you, and the people you pay. Pay your suppliers on time. You should also have a good working relationship with your bank so that you can maximize the privileges that they can extend to your business.

Seek professional advice. Everyone knows you’re the man behind the company’s success, but admittedly, there are times you need help, too. There is a gamut of professionals out there which can lend their specialties so you can really find your way out of every problem.

Hone your planning skills. A good businessman can plan ahead of time. The economy can be very unpredictable sometimes but in general, you know how things will be. Having a well-set plan for your business gives you a sure footing that your business can thrive under pressure.

How to Sport that Emo Look

Emo. Oh God, I have to say I have an aversion for that word. Since I’m a 80s-90s kind of kid, I relate to the word “angst” more and probably associate with Cobain and Corgan rather than Death Cab for CUtie. Not that I’m anti-emo but I guess there’s just a lot of people who dig the look than the culture. Emo is supposedly that offshoot genre of punk rock. But it has gone a long way to create a subculture of its own. Despite all the confusion, and a not-so-heavy stigma, being emo is actually quite popular these days. And I don’t want to explain why. But do you want to sport that emo look?

Hair. How you wear your hair is an emo issue. The most popular emo look is the short choppy hair which you usually see on guys and young boys. Sport super black hair with side-swept bangs. The only other thing you need is a hair gel, but don’t get all spiky. Just a bit to give you that subtle punk look.

Make Up & etc. Get your mom’s black eyeliner and trace your eyes — pretty much how the girls do it. Make your eyes look dark to attain that soulful look. Grab a bottle of black nail polish and dab on your fingertips. Other dark colors also support the look lately like dark red and deep blue, but black is still the emo-est.

What to wear. Shop for vintage shirts. You should also get some of those emo band shirts like Dashboard Confessional or Good Charlotte. Match it with skinny jeans and your old Chucks.

Being emo at heart means you’re deeply sensitive. Very emotional. Debates rage on what’s the difference between emo and goth. And that’s probably why we won’t cover those parts here. And don’t blame us if people would dub you as poseur. But hey, get into the local scene to know more about this rage.

How to Hold a Girls Night In

It is still quite a wonder how girls get fun out of slumber parties - being together in one room and talking about clothes, makeup, boys, secrets, and all sorts of girly stuff - non-stop. But what’s a bigger wonder is big girls do love to relieve the experience even when they’re ten or fifteen years out of high school. In any case, it’s still a popular ritual. Here are some ideas on holding a girl’s night in.

Time and Place. You may have hesitations about hosting a night-in in your own home; what with all the dishes to clean after and the preparations to do. But worrying over these things is just unnecessary. You are inviting your closest friends so there shouldn’t be too much pressure on being “the perfect host”. Just be sure to schedule it on a weekend so that there’s no work to be done the next day. And it’s perfect after a night at the bar.

You can even ask each of them to bring a little something like drinks and chips and movies and you provide the space. That wouldn’t be too much to ask. Don’t forget to call or email all your would-be guests at least one week ahead so they can set their schedules.

Movies and Clothes. What’s a night-in without some chick flicks? If you are the one providing the movies for that night, make sure to borrow DVDs you’d all love to watch, or watch again (there’ll always be at least one movie you love to watch over and over again). Rummage through your closet and pick out clothes you grew tired of wearing. Your friends might be interested in clothes swapping.