off of stuffonmycat.com

If i ever

have children...I would love to have pictures like this. I really like this picture of Madonna and Lourdes.

Women-stuff

The female sex hormone oestrogen prevents the growth of facial bone, reduces the size of the nose and chin, and leads to large eyes, increased thickness of lips and fat deposition in the cheek area, along with hips and buttocks, features that announce that a woman is fertile.




Typical female face with high (left) and low (right) oestrogen levels

The benefits of marriage, in terms of health, longevity, resistance to depression and even greater wealth, have been demonstrated repeatedly

Confidence

Work
By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor

New responsibilities, difficult co-workers or a tough situation can trip up your self-esteem on the job just when you need to be at your best. Here are seven ways to build your confidence and help you take on your day with assurance:

1. Reframe Failure. Don't dwell on past failures or obsess over mistakes. After spending years trying to create an incandescent light bulb, Thomas Edison told a colleague, "I have not failed; I have discovered 1,200 materials that don't work." Know that setbacks are normal and reframe any failure as a learning experience.

2. Remember, It's Not All About You. According to Roger Elliott, who teaches courses and runs a Web site dedicated to building self-confidence, low self-esteem is often accompanied by too much focus on the self. Conversely, individuals who are self-confident are seldom self-conscious. If you're making a presentation, you'll be much more effective if you concentrate on the audience and your message rather than on how you look or sound. Or, if you find yourself ruminating over an unpleasant encounter, you'll feel better and be infinitely more productive if you stop worrying and engage in an activity that absorbs you and holds your attention.

3. Fake It 'Til You Make It. Adopt the posture and body language of the self-assured. Walk tall, smile and make eye contact. Appear calm and in control. Replace any doubts or negative thoughts with the mantra: "I can do this!" Convince yourself that you are self-assured, and you will start to adopt the behaviors and skills of a confident person. Before you know it, your self-image will catch up with your actions and you will no longer have to pretend.

4. Relax. One caution when it comes to step three: People who try to project confidence while still feeling tense, often come across as overly aggressive. Many people find it useful to practice yoga, however if that's not for you, you can also try deep breathing exercises, repeating affirmations such as: "I have strength, serenity and wisdom," or visualizing a peaceful scene or experience.

5. Celebrate Your Successes. If you don't give yourself credit, no one will. Taking time to savor your successes not only feels good, but will help you develop a handy mental list of self-esteem boosting memories to get you through your next confidence crisis.

Prem Rawat

You are you. You are so different from everyone else in this world that you would be shocked if you really sat down and started to look at that. You are such an individual. That is hard to imagine because you want to be like somebody else: “I want to be like that person.” Your path, your smile, your understanding, your ideas, your way of looking at things are unique to you. It is the same for everyone, and yet, it is so unique and so different for each person.

Children's books

by Maurice Sendak

• Where the wild things are
• In the night kitchen
• The sign on Rosie's door
• Kenny's Window
• Little Bear & the missing pie
• Little Bear's bad day

Aesop's Fables

Freak Folk...this guys article

Freak FolkWith key additions finally making it to the Rhapslibrary, I can now talk about the Freak Folk (in some circles also being referred to as "Psych folk") movement that the music world's been 'abuzz' about since last year. We left off yesterday with the psychedelic (and unclassified) folk music of the 1960's and 1970's, but that doesn't get us all the way there yet.In the 1990's, there arose a new underground folk ethic that was both a reaction to the louder underground music that was prevalent at the time, and to folk music's tendency to take itself too seriously. Dubbed by Adam Green as Anti-Folk, the artists included Green's (and Kimya Dawson's) The Moldy Peaches, early Beck, Calvin Johnson, and even Ani DiFranco, sharing an affinity for melding folk traditions with punk ethics, penning ironic and sometimes nonsensical lyrics. [Much of the early Elephant 6 collective recordings (specifically early Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal,) it should be noted, reflected some of this trend as well and are of influence.] Coupling this with parts of the alt-country movement (Uncle Tupelo, Freakwater, and especially Will Oldham's version of Americana) and a steady diet of the anti- and psychedelic folk from the 1960's & 70's, young artists began a trend in the 2000's that is now verging on exploding (for indie standards, it has already exploded.) It's permeating into the mainstream with movie soundtracks (Iron & Wine's contributions to Garden State and In Good Company) and, of course, television's The O.C. (Sufjan Stevens.) While the albums by Iron & Wine (Our Endless Numbered Days,) Sufjan Stevens (Seven Swans,) Devendra Banhart (Rejoicing in the Hands,) Joanna Newsom (The Milk-Eyed Mender) and Animal Collective (Sung Tongs) each have garnered an album of the year claim for 2004 from different critic's lists. It's hard to find a credible critic's list for 2004 that didn't have one or more of these releases in it's top 10.Devendra Banhart, 23, is one of the main reasons the phrase 'freak folk' came into being. Devandra (which means "king of gods" in Hindi) sings like a 1930's bluesman with a voice that cracks with tension... combined with this off-kilter visual lyrics it makes for a non-traditional folk experience, hence 'freak.' It's achingly beautiful, though, and full of mystery - much like his life story. For someone so young, he's already spent years wandering and homeless, giving more levity to his earnestness. Never shy about naming his influences, Banhart even coerced his idol Vashti Bunyan out of seclusion to sing on a song "Rejoicing in the Hands." Banhart, to cement his freak folk royalty status, put together the first and (so far) only definitive compilation of the genre with the release Golden Apples of the Sun (which you can listen to in it's entirety here) Joanna Newsom, also 23, is another 'freak' of folk. A self-proclaimed folk harpist (as opposed to classically trained harpist,) her songwriting incorporates elements of indie pop, Appalachian music, avant-garde modernism and is.. well... quirky. Her child-like, helium-flavored voice can either sound soft and sweet or like she’s punching the words out - with a yowl - and more then any other freak folk artist, it creates a polar division - you either love it or hate it. I sit on both sides, refuting my own statement. I'm both drawn and repelled at the same time. She's almost obsessively adored by her fans, and that speaks volumes right there.Animal Collective interweave plenty of acid-laced Brian Wilson harmonies and wackiness into their brand of folk. The band is composed of Avey Tare (aka David Porter) and Panda Bear(aka Noah Lennox) and established their unique brand of folk in New York City in 2000. What followed was a flush of frustrating but captivating rush of recordings, finally leading to their fabulous release, Here Comes the Indian (Paw Tracks, 2003.) It brought the listener to the crossroads of psychedelic, noise, and folk music, with it's acid-fried psychosis, crop-circle field recordings and, at times, absolute chaotic abandon. 2004's Sung Tongs (Fat Cat,) reigned in some of the crazed chaos, and, while still challenging, is quite accessible. It's an odd thrill to find yourself singing along to something that initially feels like it has no structure. This year's EP release (Prospective Hummer, Fat Cat,) continues in the same vein and finds them employing the services of (idol and influence) Vashti Bunyan on a song ("It's You.")Both Iron & Wine and Sufjan Stevens are, in many interpretations, left out of the 'freak folk' genre, instead being lumped into the more traditional 'neo-folk' classificiation. Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) is Florida singer/songwriter whose beautiful lo-fi recordings found their way to SubPop, who signed him and asked for more. Beam sent two albums worth more of his whispered acoustic gems and it was trimmed to one album (the beautiful The Creek Drank The Cradle,) and an EP (The Sea and The Rhythm.) He then transitioned fluidly from the lo-fi sounds of his home to the hi-fi studio sound for, Our Endless Numbered Days, which came out last year to accolades and movie soundtracks. His Woman King EP (still not in Rhapsody - ??) is decidedly less 'freak-folk' sounding, more blues-oriented, which is at least partly due to the further involvement of Brian Deck (Red Red Meat, Califone.)Sufjan Stevens latest release, Illinois (on the top of many best of the year so far lists,) is definitely less freak-folk sounding then previous releases (as it owes as much to classic rock as it does progressive folk,) but still is full of his soulful folk epics. A flurry of disco strings cannot hide what lies beneath. A singer/songwriter/ multi-instrumentalist, Stevens continues his 'states project' having already released his opus to home state Michigan (Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State, Asthmatic Kitty, 2003.) Even though he uses loops, it's abated with lightly strummed guitars and stark banjo picking giving it a rustic northern folk aesthetic. Whether or not it's 'freak folk' is up for interpretation, but for our purposes here, he's in with the freaks. Speaking of freaks, Josephine Foster certainly qualifies as one (it's a term of endearment here, folks.) Foster is a part of the freak folk bands Born Heller and Children's Hour as well has working as a solo artist. She's most often compared to 60's UK folkie Shirley Collins (who you can listen to here.) "Earthen hymns, cosmic madrigals, flapper blues and acid folk are sewn into one luminescent patch" on her solo recordings. It's at times disturbing and wonderous, definitely not for the faint of heart. Truly puts the freak in freak folk. Likewise, Antony & The Johnsons can also be freakish. Lumped into freak folk in part because of Antony's association with Devendra Banhart (Devendra lends vocals to a song on their latest release,) it's also due to the vocal style which is a warbled histrionic affair. The track "The Lake," a musical adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's poem of the same name, is a chilling piano/cello/guitar-accompanied lament that appeared as well on Banharts compilation, Golden Apples of the Sun. Antony's latest release, I Am a Bird Now, is at the top of many best of the year lists so far.Previously:Freak Folk BeginningsMore:Freak Folk Flies High (SFGate, Thursday, April 14, 2005)The Next American Movement (Paste Magazine, #14)Freak Folk's Very Own Pied Piper (NY Times, December 12, 2004)Devendra Banhart can't listen to his own album (but you should) (Splendid Magazine)Sly, silly with more than a touch of poetry (MSNBC, June 22, 2005)tags: playlist, music, folk music, freak folk
posted by drake leLane @ 12:06 PM 1 comments

1 Comments:
At 12:19 PM, Drake LeLane said...
Freak Folk* "Rejoicing in the Hands" - Devendra Banhart (with Vashti Bunyan)* "Who Could Win A Rabbit" - Animal Collective* "Fever Dream" - Iron & Wine* "Crackerjack Fool" - Josephine Foster* "Angel Band" - Bob Drake* "To Be Alone With You" - Sufjan Stevens* "(Throw On) The Hazard Lights" - The Dirty Projectors* "I Want Wind To Blow" - Microphones* "You May Be Blue" - Vetiver* "Look At What The Light Did Now" - Little Wings* "It's You" - Animal Collective (with Vashti Bunyan)* "I Want To" - Born Heller* "Let It Rain" - Currituck Co.* "Circles of Sorrow" - Jennifer Gentle* "Alley Flowers" - Jolie Holland* "Hammers Sitting Still" - BR. Danielson* "Tea" - Charalambides* "Simon Is Stronger Than Us" - Angels Of Light* "Crumbling Land" - Avey Tare* "Pony Apprehension" - Holopaw* "Sweet Fever" - Scout Niblett* "Before And Again" - Akron/Family* "Little Boy" - The Children's Hour* "Apples, I'm Home" - Adam Green* "The Lake" - Antony and the Johnsons

My Own Business - Tax Id

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Richard Bolles, author of the world's most popular career-planning and job-hunting book, "What Color is My Parachute?," believes work should be more than just making a living. It should feed the soul as well. Bolles contends our best chance at happiness and success lies in doing work we feel passionate about.

Career expert Laurence Boldt, author of "Zen and the Art of Making a Living," calls it your life's work, and says you can find your calling by asking yourself these questions:

1. Who am I? What do you care deeply about? Your life's work will support your ideals and anchor them in the everyday world of action.

2. How can I serve others? Your life's work is your way of making the world a better place. It's using your interest and aptitudes to make a meaningful contribution to something you care about.

3. What do I love to do? No matter how noble your ideals and aspirations, you must bring joy and innate talent to your work if you are to be truly successful. Think about what you enjoy doing and what you are naturally good at.

4. What would I be willing to dedicate to enough to persist to excellence? Quality and achievement have their price. What endeavors would you be willing to make sacrifices for and give your all to?

Together, these questions should point you toward a path. Once you've identified some possible occupations, Boldt suggests you run them through the following checklist:

Do I have the skills necessary to work in the field? If not, is the amount of training required to gain the skills acceptable?

Would it give me a work environment I could excel in?

Would it allow for maximum expression of my creativity?

Would it provide me with opportunities for continued growth and development?

Would I actually be serving the people I most want to help?

Would I be working with the kind of people who would stimulate, challenge and support me?

Would I earn an acceptable amount of money?

Are the likely trade-offs and sacrifices I would have to make feasible and acceptable?

Matt, 48, was a partner at a major consulting firm when he asked himself these questions. It turned out his calling was to teach math to underprivileged high school students. However, after running through the checklist he realized it would be too traumatic for his family to immediately adjust to life on a math teacher's salary. So Matt developed a plan: he would continue at the firm for five years, during which time the family would aggressively save and budget for a major reduction in cash flow.Today Matt is teaching at an inner-city school. "I've never felt better," he enthuses. "And my family says I'm a lot more fun to be around."

Finding your life's work is often a process of trial and error.

The late management guru Peter Drucker used to caution those just starting out not to panic: "The probability that the first job or career you choose is right for you is roughly one in a million," he'd say. "If you decide your first choice is the right one, you're either extremely lucky -- or incredibly lazy."

If you're unhappy at work, don't just hang out or jump at the first offer that comes along. Take time to get in touch with who you are and what you really want, formulate career goals based on these insights and then plan and conduct a search that will help you realize these goals and find a truly fulfilling work experience.

Kate Lorenz is the article and advice editor for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.