The story of Simon Beyuoh illustrates how a determined young man from the most deprived region of Ghana was helped to become a self-employed engineering workshop owner through the Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit (ITTU) programme established by the Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.

Simon Beyuoh came from Nandom, a small town in the extreme north-western corner of Ghana in Upper West Region, close to the border with Burkina Faso. His people, the Dagatis, had been converted to Catholicism by French missionaries from Burkina Faso (then Haute Volta) after years of dominance by the Moslem Walas with their base in Wa, the capital of Upper West Region. In his mid teens Simon followed a sister and a cousin down the long road to Kumasi, to seek his fortune in Ghana’s second city and the home of the golden stool of Ashanti.

Simon’s cousin, Kate, was employed as the retail store keeper at the first ITTU at Suame Magazine, so he applied for an apprenticeship in the metal machining section. At that time it was unusual for the ITTU to accept raw beginners, preferring to recruit apprentices who had gained some basic skills in an informal sector workshop. However, Simon impressed the selection board with his tall fair-skinned presence and humble earnestness and began training in 1981. He soon showed that he had natural aptitude and a capacity for hard work.

By 1984, the second ITTU was coming into operation at Tamale in the Northern Region under the expert guidance of Frank Robertson, the Afro-American engineer assigned as USAID Adviser to the project. Frank needed trained staff and asked for transfers from Kumasi. Although Simon still had two years of his apprenticeship to complete, he applied to transfer to Tamale to be nearer to his home town. The transfer was granted and Simon became one of Frank’s most trusted assistants. Simon benefitted greatly from Frank’s guidance and always spoke warmly of the opportunities that it opened for him.

In Tamale Frank Robertson had introduced a wide range of activities transferred from the TCC in Kumasi. As the situation in Tamale was much more rural than that in Kumasi, much emphasis was placed on agriculture and rural crafts. In particular, beekeeping was proving to be a popular pastime with excellent honey yields. A few beehives purchased from the ITTU could provide a steady year-round income. Simon decided to take up beekeeping as a spare-time activity to supplement his modest salary from the ITTU.

After completing his apprenticeship, Simon was employed as a technician in the Tamale ITTU. In that position he worked steadily and reliably for several years. From June 1987, the ITTU was taken over by the GRATIS Project of the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology (MIST). GRATIS continued the programme initiated by the TCC in Kumasi to encourage young people trained in the ITTUs to try to set up their own private workshops. Simon applied to join the scheme and requested that a complement of machine tools should be reserved for him from the first consignment to be imported for Tamale.

In 1990 GRATIS helped the TRAX Project to open a small workshop at Bolgatanga, capital of Upper East Region. This was in preparation for an ITTU to be established later. Sensing another step nearer home, Simon again applied for a transfer and became technician-in-charge in Bolgatanga. This was valuable experience in preparation for managing his own workshop.

Funding for the Tamale ITTU under the GRATIS Project was provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). When in due course machine tools arrived for sale to private workshops, some rules were devised for providing the necessary credit finance. Under these rules the purchaser was obliged to make an investment equal to 25 percent of the value of the complete workshop after the new machines were installed. Simon Beyuoh was included in the list of potential purchasers but managers and CIDA Advisers doubted whether he would be able to raise the required amount of 250,000 cedis (approx US$1,500).

Interviews were held in Tamale for the allocation of machine tools. Some of the applicants already owned a workshop structure of which the value was included as part of their initial investment. Simon, however, needed to find the whole of his investment in cash. When asked how he was going to find the necessary amount he replied that he had enough money saved in the bank from the proceeds of his beekeeping. Over the years he had built up his apiary to more than forty hives.

Simon decided that his home town, Nandom, was too small to support his workshop so he established his permanent business in Bolgatanga where it is still flourishing. Many young men, and a few young women, have benefitted from Ghana’s ITTUs in this way, but Simon Beyuoh is unique in having persevered to take his engineering skills to the poorest regions of the far north where they would be of most service to his own and kindred communities.

VIRUS Virus is a program designed to change the way your computer operates without your permission or knowledge. When a virus attaches itself to another file, it infects it. Any time you activate an infected file it can damage files, cause erratic system behavior, or display messages. Some system viruses are programmed specifically to corrupt programs, delete files, or erase your disk. Viruses are inactive until you run an infected program, start your computer from a disk with infected system files, or open an infected file. Once a virus is active in memory it can infect any other programs, local or network, that you run. Files infected with a virus can be inoculated (the virus is removed from the program).

WORM Worms are a close cousin to viruses and Trojan Horses. Unlike a virus they don’t infect other programs. They do however make many copies of themselves in memory, which effectively consumes all your memory. This leaves no memory to run you regular programs. Your PC may behave very erratically, or just grind to a halt! Some worms get into your e-mail list and e-mail themselves to everyone on your e-mail list without you knowledge. When each unsuspecting recipient opens such an e-mail, it broadcasts itself to everyone on their e-mail list. This is how worms rapidly travel throughout the Internet! Worms can not be repaired since they are not viruses. They must be erased from your computer, the sooner the better

The most important thing that we do in our experience is to relate with one another. To not be able to relate successfully makes life very difficult for many. I have done thousands and thousands of sky maps for thousands of people over my long years of being a professional astrologer. Probably the single thing that was most important to the person being read was relationships of all varieties. At the end of life, relationships or the lack of them were what was valued most, regretted most and controlled the end of life circumstance the most. At the core of relationship issues are the initial and primary relationships we form with our early family. Here is where our values are established and developed to become the basis for the relationships we build for ourselves in our future. As we mature, we form our own individual family circles plus a myriad of other relationships into which we enter. Family is where we begin our journey to understand and develop all relationships.

In previous articles I have written about the parental axis, the 4th/10th houses of any sky map, as well as the individual maternal and paternal roles. However, the family is not just our parents or lack of them. Each of us has a long, rich history within our family, good guys and bad guys. There is a genetic heritage. Yes we can see the physical characteristics that are handed down through the gene pool. But there is far more than what we inherit from our families on other levels. I am exploring this family astrological heritage step by step through a series of articles.

Any sky map is constructed with the earth (on which we all exist) in the center and the cosmic energy pattern existing around that central core. If we were on the Moon, sky maps would be constructed with the Moon in the center. On Mars, Mars would be in the center, etc. The wheel shape is called “the chart” and the divisions are called “houses.” There are 12 divisions of the houses just as there are 12 sign divisions for the zodiac. The signs show mannerisms, expressions and are descriptive in nature. The houses illustrate 12 compartments or arenas of physical experience. Each of those twelve houses therefore must contain numerous issues and also the people in your life. The whole of the wheel maps the whole of your life, every single thing. The trick is to learn to read that sky map successfully, which can be more involved than it seems. Our focus for this article will be on the people represented by the houses, particularly the members of your family.

Houses General house information will help us reach the point where we can see the validity of the people representations. Remember that the 12 houses begin with the ascendant and are listed counter-clockwise from that point around the wheel. Psychologist Carl Jung divided human expression into four categories: intuition, emotion, sensation, and thought. In brief:

· The left half of the wheel (rising planets) represents the development or the interests of self.

· The right half of the wheel (setting planets) represents involvement with others or the interests of others.

· The bottom half of the wheel represents the time from dusk to dawn, the introspective, internalized, reflective self.

· The top half of the wheel represents the time from dawn to dusk, the externalized, participatory, extroverted self.

· The four angles of the house wheel represent the point of beginning for each of the four quadrants of the chart.

· The general activity of all four chart quadrants are in this order from the Yung perspective: intuition, emotion, sensation, thought.

· The ascendant is the angle that begins the personal, subjective first three houses of intuition (1, 2, 3).

· The IC or 4th cusp is the angle that begins the subjective, other involved next three houses of emotion (4, 5, 6).

· The descendant is the angle that begins the external, other involved three houses of sensation (7, 8,9).

· The midheaven is the angle that begins the external, self-interest three houses of thought (10, 11, 12).

These few sentences describe the hemisphere and quadrature influence of houses. In addition,

· The angular house for each quadrant is dynamic active, visible, directly related to the individual.

· The succeedent house follows the angular house in each quadrant (succeeds the angle) and represents establishing, building, formalization of that quadrant’s issues.

· The cadent house follows the succeedent house and represents adaptation and promotion.

· In brief, the angular house activates, the succeedent house formalizes, the cadent house promotes the issues of a quadrant.

· The round of the three types of houses begins again at the next angle.

There is one more explanation of the cadent house that will help you understand its role better. Adaptation is the key word here because the dynamic influence of the angle is followed by the establishment influence of the succeedent house, which is a logical sequence for experience. However, it would be difficult to move from building brick by brick (establishment) to the dynamic activity of an angle because form would tend to resist the initiation of something new. The cadent houses bridge this gap between the establishing principal of one grouping of three houses (quadrature). and the dynamic principal at the beginning of the next grouping of three houses (quadrature). Using this rationale:

· The 3rd house bridges (adapts) the subjective self-aware first quadrant as it encounters the subjective awareness of others or emotional quadrant initiated by the 4th house. Intuition gives way to emotion.

· The 6th house bridges (adapts) the subjective awareness of others quadrant as it encounters the objective awareness of others or sensation quadrant initiated by the 7th house. Emotion gives way to sensation.

· The 9th house bridges (adapts) the objective awareness of others quadrant as it encounters the objective awareness of self or thought quadrant initiated by the 10th house. Sensation gives way to thought.

· The 12th house bridges (adapts) the objective awareness of self quadrant as it encounters the subjective awareness of self or intuition quadrant initiated by the 1st house. Thought gives way to intuition.

· The cadent houses are therefore key to understanding the point of flux, adaptation, bridging within the chart and are definitely more important than surface reading would indicate.

If you will add this information on the houses with what you already know about the houses, this material should add a layer to your understanding. Read slowly and re-read as necessary.

People of the Houses Who are the people represented by the houses? Everyone in your life is in that wheel somewhere. We will begin with the four angles and the technique we will use is the derivative house system or what I call “wheeling the houses.”

Self Many are aware that the cusp of the first house is called the ascendant and represents the physical presence of the person or entity represented by that sky map. Much of the descriptive reading about a person comes from that cusp and that house as well as that person’s personal projection, response to its environment and coping skills. This is how the world sees us, through the filter of the sign on the ascendant and the planets in the first house. In brief, the first house and its cusp represents the most personal point of the physical self, the “me” point of the wheel.

Partner Diametrically opposed to the ascendant is the descendant or 7th house. This is the point of the chart that is farthest from the point of self and may be described as the not self or the shadow self. This point represents the qualities we do not want to embrace and that we project onto another (partner). It is interesting that this represents the point of committed or contractual partnerships whether those relationships are personal (such as marriage) or business (such as partnership). Our committed partner is supposed to represent all the things we do not choose to express. What action do we do at this cusp? We commit to a person, walk into a house, lock the door behind us and attempt collectively to turn the house into a home. The way to a successful conclusion is to learn from that partner and embrace our own lesson. That way we can be with a person because we choose to, not because we must go to school with them as teacher.

Parents The 4th/10th axis (cusps) represents our parents (or lack of them), the parental roles themselves. I want to back up for a moment and mention that this pair of houses is called the security axis and represents our internal and our external security needs. Our parents are supposed to fulfill that role or to at least prepare us for that role. There is a great deal of controversy as to which parent belongs in which of the two houses. I did cover that concept in three previous articles so I will not repeat that information here. Briefly, the 4th house parent’s job is to offer internal, subjective security, also known as the family. The 10th house parent’s job is to offer or prepare us for external, objective security, also known as making our way in the world successfully. Some people get lucky and the parents fulfill their roles well. Some people are not so lucky because dysfunction exists which can cause the individual lifelong problems. Not every parent is equipped for the role they have chosen. Some people take the lemons they received from their particular spin of the parental wheel and they make lemonade. I encourage that.

So far we have ourselves (ascendant), our partner (descendant), our parents (both, either, or). What about all the other people that comprise our families? Where can they be found in the wheel?

Grandparents The parents have been shown to be the 4th (and its axis partner 10th) from the 1st house of self. Where are the parents of your parents? They must be located in the 4th house from your parent cusp. You always count starting with the house you are questioning, such as the 4th house parent. Put your finger on that house counting “one” then count forward (counter-clockwise) one house at a time until you reach the 4th house of that 4th parent. That would be the 7th house. The same action would be taken for the 10th house parent but it is unnecessary to repeat the exercise, just look to the axis partner of the 7th or the 1st (you). So your grandparents (you have four) are found on the ascendant/ descendant axis. There are only two houses in this count, so two grandparents belong in one house and two belong in the other. It will take a little work on your part to sort this out, but this is where you go to find the answers.

You will probably have genetic hand-me-downs from your grandparents. Two will have great similarities to you, those who are represented by the 1st house and ascendant. Two will seem less related as they occupy your 7th house of not-self. That probably is part of the generation gap. Physical and non-physical characteristics from those grandparents will evidence in you just as you will pass on certain characteristics to your grandchildren. My deceased father’s contribution to my kids and my grandkids is a specific sense of humor. My mother’s love for dancing and music has shown up as well in my kids and my grandkids as has my paternal grandmother’s beautiful singing voice. My parents and their parents are alive and well in the genetic contribution they gave us all within our family. Thank you for the gifts.

Partner’s parents and grandparents What if you marry? The 7th house will describe your partner and your marriage. It should tell you what and who you are looking for, what you want someone else to do in place of you, and what you are not comfortable with within yourself. At times you are grateful. At other times you will fight the process (and the person). That partner has parents and so those parents will be the 4th from the 7th (and its partner) and we are again back to the 4th/10th axis in the chart. Hmmm. So far we are getting a large number of people in very few houses. Perhaps that will help explain why astrologers concentrate on the angular houses. Hang in there, we will move outside the 4th/10th axis shortly. Your spouse has grandparents (4) as well and they will be shown by the 4th of the parent or the ascendant/descendent axis. Getting crowded isn’t it? Again, this can take some effort but this is where you begin.

Multiple Partnerships All committed relationships are a 7th house issue. It illustrates what you are seeking in a partner because you are avoiding it as yourself. What if you have more than one marriage or partnership? To differentiate, skip the 8th house and go to the 9th house. 7th/9th illustrate your second committed relationship. Skip the 10th and go to the 11th. The 7th/11th is your third committed relationship. More? Busy little beaver aren’t you? Do the same routine: skip/choose. Just skip a house, go to the next one and join it to 7th. This combination should describe each individual person it represents.

Children of all varieties Children are thought to be a 5th house issue. These would be natural children of the body (kids) or the mind (creativity). The oldest child is also described by the 5th. The second child would be the 7th along with the 5th. This 7th house child would be most like your spouse. The third child would be the 9th along with the 5th, and so forth around the chart. If you were to have 5 children, the 5th child would be most like you because that child would be represented by the 5th and the 1st houses. Children of your spouse, adopted children, fostering of children are each represented by your 11th house. Same procedure, maintain the base house but do the skip/choose procedure for each individual. Spouses of your children would be shown by the 7th (partner) of the 5th and additional house influence (child).

One last “child” that may be found in the 5th house could be small pets. Large animals such as horses or elephants are read from the 12th house. We all know people who treat their pets as a child with wraps or costumes, who may eat from your plate, considered a member of the family, be the recipient of lots of baby talk, etc. I am not talking about the ordinary affectionate position of a pet within a family. There should be plenty of emotion and caring for any pet. As you know, some pet owners go beyond even that. With some you may find the 5th house is active or gives a better description of their pet, particularly if there are no natural children or are there are children but they are not available to the person. The pet becomes their child.

Grandchildren A child of your child, your grandchild, is the 5th house from the 5th house or the 9th house for all grandchildren and particularly the first one. Again the skip/choose procedure applies for each additional grandchild The child of your spouse belongs with the 5th from the 7th or the 11th house as its base and skip/choose applies here as well.

Siblings and Partners Do you have siblings? They are a 3rd house issue, all of them. However, we must differentiate for individuality. All siblings and particularly the oldest one are 3rd house. The next in age is the 3rd and the 5th in combination. The next in age is the 3rd and the 7th in combination. Each succeeding sibling would maintain the 3rd and add the next 2nd house skip/choose jump (skip the 8th and go to the 9th). This is how you would look at siblings in general and specific siblings in particular. The partners of your siblings are shown by the house opposite the one chosen for that sibling.

Siblings of Spouse and Their Partners If you were seeking information on the siblings of your spouse, look to the 3rd of the 7th, which is the 9th. This is often referred to as the general in-law house as well. Again the 9th would be all siblings of your spouse particularly the oldest one. Do the same skip count as your own direct siblings, the second oldest sibling of your spouse would be the 9th/11th, and so forth. The partners of your partner’s siblings are showy by the house opposite the one chosen for the siblings of the spouse.

Cousins, Aunts and Uncles of all varieties Cousins fall into the same house arrangement as your siblings (3rd). A spouse’s cousins fall into the same house arrangement as their siblings (9th). Your own aunts and uncles have their basis in the 6th house, same counting arrangement. Your spouse’s aunts and uncles have their basis in the 12th house, same counting arrangement.

In Brief We have looked at the generalities of the houses to establish a reasonable base for understanding our relationships with others, specifically those we consider our family. We then moved on to the relationships we form and how to find them in the wheel. You must start with yourself because you will always be one end of any relationship possibility in your own life. The other end will be one of a number of relatives. In brief:

· siblings and cousins = 3rd house

· parents = 4th/10th houses

· grandparents = 1st/7th houses.

· natural children = 5th house

· foster or adopted children = 11th house

· spouses of your natural children = 11th house

· aunts and uncles = 6th house

· spouse or partner = 7th house

· spouse’s children = 11th house

· grandchildren and in-laws in general = 9th house

· multiples of births or marriage are delineated by the skip/choose house count

. Obviously you will have more and different kinds of relationships as we have explored only the family in this article. Please re-read this article as many times as necessary to clarify. This technique is not the easiest task to do and it will take you a little time to learn. For additional assistance look to articles or information on derivative house systems.

Recommended reading: the three previous articles in this series

• Where do You Find Mom and Dad in a Chart? The Parental Axis
• Parents – Who and Where is Mom in a Chart? – The Maternal Issues
• Parents – Who and Where is Dad in a Chart?

When was the last time you wondered about what causes age spots? Well if you don’t have any of these unattractive blotches on your skin, it’s probably never crossed your mind. However, if you’re developing these unattractive spots on your face and hands you’re going to want to know how to get rid them. Let me tell you a brief story to illustrate my point.

My cousin and I meet for coffee once a month to catch up on each other’s lives. I was telling her about the research and writing I do on natural anti aging skin care. Despite the fact that she’s six years older than me, she has a beautiful, complexion with few, if any, lines and wrinkles. I told her how lucky I thought she was that her skin was so youthful.

At that point, she became very quiet, and looked down, as if suddenly ashamed. That’s when she pulled her hands out from under the table and showed me all the brown spots that were dotting the tops of both of her hands. She said, “Look. My hands are starting to look like my Nana’s.”

Knowing that I write about these matters she asked me directly, “what causes age spots and how do I get rid of them?” I was thrilled that I could answer her question and, probably, help her with this problem.

I told her that age spots were the body’s way of defending against UV rays of the sun. Unfortunately, as we get older, this defense mechanism doesn’t work too well.

Instead of distributing the protective skin pigment, melanin, evenly over our skin, it clumps up in unsightly little patches. That is the reason they are called age spots. When we were younger, it was called a “tan.”

There are plenty of products that work to help get rid of age spots. However, the majority of these products rely on a chemical called, hydroquinone, that has been recently banned in several countries because of a suspected link to an increased link to cancer.

Products that contain hydroquinone are still legal in the U.S. But as more and more people are unwilling to take a risk with their health, the demand for safe, natural alternatives continues to grow.

I explained this to my cousin and suggested that she look into products that contain an amazing natural substance called extrapone nutgrass root. Although the substance sounds funny, I can assure you that it is anything but.

Grown in India and used for centuries in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine practices, extrapone nutgrass root has recently been put through rigorous laboratory tests with startling results in inhibiting melanin.

The small New Zealand health care company that I discovered during my research, makes natural anti aging skin care products that include nutgrass root in its whitening cream, along with other powerful bio-active substances that increase an overall anti aging effect. In addition to reducing age spots, these natural preparations stimulate collagen and elastin production, thereby increasing moisture production and retention, firmness and elasticity, and new, lighter-colored skin cell growth.

I told my cousin that it was perfectly OK to use a name-brand product for getting rid of age spots, but if she didn’t want to take a risk, she might want to investigate safe, natural alternatives.

That is my suggestion to you as well. Now that you know what causes age spots and how to get rid of them, you can make a decision about what works best for you.

If you’re interested in learning more about natural alternatives to products that contain hydroquinone, visit my web site where you can get more details about the nature-based products I personally use, to fade dark blotches and treat other unsightly signs of aging.

Men strive to keep their relationships healthy. Therefore, they need to find out what are the pressing problems that are hurting the health of the relationship. Often, they often forget to use good dating tips to shower their love on their partners to reveal what is needed to find the missing jigsaw pieces of the complicated puzzle.

Usually, men tend to impose their masculine ideas on the problem prematurely. This does not only hurt the communication channels of the dating process, but also the interfering with the balances of an intimate relationship.

If you do know many dating tips, you might realize that sometimes it is better to be silent and not doing anything rather than to do something! For example, she might have a hard day at her office and she might not be in the mood to attend your cousin’s wedding. I know this might sound pretty hard to adhere but you could just give her some time to cool down? Instead of compelling her to attend your cousin’s wedding, just ignore her presence and give her some time to think about it. There is no point in starting an argument. Who knows? She might just relent and go with you – after you have stirred feelings of guilt or remorse in her?

Definitely, it makes sense for the men to use his power and control over the situation to achieve the desired result. But, it is better to be the vulnerable party in an intimate relationship because you are showing her that you care for her. The bargaining power of your dating position subsequently changes, and she becomes the weaker party in the end.

From several dating tips, there seems to be a pattern that displaying your affection and love can be a double-edged sword. You have to use it sensibly so that the directive of the relationship becomes clear. Assessing your needs is a great start to be either guided or misguided by love.

Do you want to wear flattering clothes? Need to grab the lime light in your cousin’s wedding. How much time do you have for your cousin’s wedding? If it’s very short a time then fat burning diet will not help you as it takes longer to get desired results. For faster results such as liposuction, you will end up paying higher rates. Statistics reveal that this may be priced at $4000 roughly. This is only for a single location, say your stomach/abdominal area. Tummy tucking is popularly sought after by youngsters and new mothers post pregnancy. If you require an extra location for fat reduction, it will cost you 3000 dollars in addition. Some even sell cds and dvds with body-shaping moves to metamorphose your whole body.

If you have sufficient time and you are not in a hurry to lose weight, you can resort to eating fat burning food. When the results occur in a short time they don’t last for long and may not always be safe. Any change should happen in its due course of time and hurrying would only mean shelling a lot of money. When you are dissatisfied with your body shape you will end up doing adverse things like bulimia and other psychological behaviour. It involves small changes in your lifestyle and diet. What you eat matters a lot if you want to burn your calories.

First and foremost, cut down on rice intake. Replace rice and high calorie food products with wheat items such as rotis. Surprisingly, eggs which are high in protein help you burn your calories too. You can get rid of unwanted fat around your stomach. But, ensure that you don’t over eat as it increases cholesterol in your body. Bad cholesterol is not good for your health. Egg yolk, especially has a lot of cholesterol, you can avoid yolk if you are eating a couple of eggs. If not ignore this tip!

Use olive oil instead of coconut, sun flower or other cooking oil. Substituting them with olive oil will help you replace those high cholesterol oil items. This also facilitates you to reduce your calories. Cut down on 85% of your cholesterol level.

If you are fond of meat, you can continue to have it, but make sure these are lean meat. Low fat meat can be consumed with out any fear. They can help to improve your immune system too. Some even help you build muscles if you combine exercise along with it.

Does your stomach tighten when you think about the holidays? Stressed out? Worried about getting into arguments, not meeting others’ expectations, not picking the right gifts? The American Psychological Association says anxiety goes up during the holidays. Though holidays should be a fun time, they bring lots of stress and sometimes dishearten us, weakening our relationships.

Wonder why this season brings stress and headaches instead of a glow of excitement?

Think about how most of us prepare. We overspend energy and money on gifts and meals, argue over misunderstandings, and pack “fun” events into every minute, every day, every night. No wonder it’s not fun anymore!

Peek inside the word “holiday.” It means “holy day,” but holy days should be about building stronger relationships, sharing and loving. So many times, they end up just being a hassle.

All those flashy ads: best gifts, best prices, best deals! They’re about body and mind, not the soul to soul connections we need most now. “The hype and commercialism of the season causes increased stress,” says a recent psychological report. Holy days should be about strengthening relationships, sharing and loving.

Sure, there are hassles: the cousin who hosts everybody, then fumes because nobody invites her back. The friends who share nasty gossip. The relative who drinks too much and picks a fight, leaving everyone wondering whether they should bother coming next year.

Why bother?

If that’s how you feel, just adjust your own outlook. Make this season different so you can finally enjoy and even have fun! Enjoy it like a kid again, with all the blessings of family and love.

Make the holidays a time of soul-to-soul connection. Meet others without expectations (“I chose him a great present and all he got me was this cheesy gift card!”) and the holidays will surpass your dreams. Open your heart and exchange the gifts of love, sharing and caring, with these nine easy tips to renew your holiday spirit today!

1. Find out who needs help. If you are comfortable and well-fed, visit seniors, visit hospitals or give out socks to homeless folks. Don’t forget your cousin in the army, or that neighbor down the street who lost his wife last year!

2. Reconnect with friends. Think of someone you haven’t seen in a while and have tea together. If you live too far away, look them up on Skype and say hello.

3. Avoid hot button topics. Try not to bring up sensitive issues… keep it light and fun.

4. Remember the kids. Many organizations arrange Santa visits, plays or concerts to make Christmas in the hospital a happier time for kids.

5. Plan a field trip. Buy treats your own children can give out in a seniors’ residence or to adults with disabilities. Tell them people who seem different deserve a wonderful holiday, too.

6. Discover your own style. Just because your sister-in-law hosts a slick New Year’s buffet brunch doesn’t mean that’s your thing. No MIMICKING what works for others! Your style may be a potluck lunch instead. Just make it your own!

7. Take care of you and Relax. Your body won’t thank you for rich, indulgent party food. Too rushed to cook and eat properly? Find simple foods to prepare easily and truly nourish your spirit. Go for a walk, practice yoga if you’re up to it. Sit quietly and relax, without distractions: put away your phone, mp3 player, remote control, notepad…

8. Make that call. There’s one person out there you feel you can’t call. Maybe you lost touch because her husband was sick. Maybe he’s fighting with a friend of yours and you didn’t want to take sides. Mend those fences, and you’ll heal yourself, too.

9. Do your best, then let go. Despite your best intentions, life will throw you a curveball. Unexpected health surprise? Cash crisis? Don’t let them undermine all the work you’ve done. Take a deep breath, refocus, and keep trying.

Finally, a word about forgiveness. Hearts are soft at this time of year; we are ready, willing and able to forgive. Forgive yourself first, and let go of grudges. Ask others for forgiveness. What an amazing gift: “I think I hurt your feelings; I’m sorry.” Only a grinch would say no to a chance to reconnect on a soul-to-soul level.

Always thank God for the blessings before you, release your burdens, and offer the world the gift of your renewed spirit, with love and laughter and lightness to last through 2014 and beyond. Let us pray together for this coming holiday season:

Let us reach out beyond ourselves.

Let us bring light to the world

By being light in the world.

Let us serve others with joy

Let us reach out with joy

Surrender expectations

And feel only wonder

Surround ourselves with love

By spreading love in the world

Changing only ourselves

We can change the world.

“Love and Light to All”

I started Internet Marketing about the 2nd of September. It is now the beginning of October 1st, 2007. I had many ups and downs. I’m going to help you have the right path, hopefully you’ll take the right choice and use this information to help you in the near future. I also recommend that you take your research a step further.

The first time I got introduced to Internet Marketing is when I was at the book store with my cousin and I told him that I wanted to start a business. At this time I did not know about Internet Marketing. My cousin told me that his friend made 20 000$ in 2 weeks, by doing Internet Marketing. I remember me saying “How the hell did he do that?” and he replied, “The rich Jerk.” I didn’t believe him at first but I went to The Rich Jerk’s site and I read the site. I finally got extremely curious and I bought there product. It was the greatest purchase I ever did. This book did me wonder’s. The Rich Jerk e-book gave me links to sites that where amazing! One of them was Warrior forums. They introduced me to xsitepro, and they also gave me the links to great article site’s such as this one.

Now let me talk to you about Warrior Forums as one of the sites that brings me a lot closer to my success. This site is by far the best informational forum that I ever been on, wieghter it was a sports forum or bodybuilding forum. To me it was like winning the lottery. I should mention that this site is free and it helps you a lot. You should give it a try. Ask any question you would like to know. I guarantee you that you will get a answer within 3 minutes.

From there I learnt a lot in Internet Marketing. I decided to learn a lot more about it. I didn’t just stop there and decide to make a website and hope that I learnt enough to make money. Then to realize that this doesn’t work and that it’s a waste of my time.

One of my favorite movies is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. There is one particularly funny scene in which a squirrel has hitched a ride inside the Griswold house sequestered in the tree Clark has set up. The squirrel is discovered and makes a run for it, causing chaos and panic among the fleeing main characters.

Amid the confusion, Clark turns to his wife’s cousin Katherine and asks her, “Where is Eddie, doesn’t he eat these d?!$#% (expletive deleted) things?” She replies, “Not lately, he heard they are high in cholesterol.”

I have for some time taken that statement as truth. However, I have recently been doing research on the movie and came across this information.

According to the USDA nutrition database, 100 grams of “Game meat, squirrel, cooked, roasted” contains only 121 mg of cholesterol. This compares quite favorably to 1 cooked whole egg at 213 mg cholesterol, 1 cup of raw oysters at 120 mg. and one 5oz can of canned boneless chicken at 88mg. Most vegetable products, of course, contain little to no cholesterol.

This clearly shows that squirrel meat is no more laden with life stealing cholesterol than any other meat or dairy product.

How should one go about eating their squirrel bounty? Why, in Brunswick Stew naturally.

Literary humorist Roy Blount Jr. says of the dish, “Brunswick Stew is what happens when small mammals carrying ears of corn fall into barbeque pits.”

For those of you not familiar with Brunswick Stew, it is a traditional dish normally prepared with small game including rabbit, dove, woodchuck, and last but not least squirrel.

The stew was first created and served in 1828 and named after the Virginia county in which it was conceived. Numerous excellent recipes are on the internet for Brunswick Stew; probably not a bad one in the bunch.

We can assume that Cousin Eddie would heartily approve of a nice squirrel based Brunswick Stew; especially around the holidays. If you are planning on hosting your own Christmas Vacation Holiday Party please consider making a tasty pot for your guests! As Eddie would say, “It is goooooood Clark!”

There is no denying that electric guitars have a certain sexy allure. After all, crowds of screaming teenage fans can’t be wrong, can they? Don’t answer that. At any rate, the appeal of the electric guitar is such that it sometimes threatens to completely eclipse its acoustic cousin. It’s understandable, since the glitz and the glamour associated with rock and roll’s electric guitar are usually noticeably lacking with the more traditional instrument. Fortunately for us all, it’s highly unlikely that the acoustic guitar will ever completely give way to its flashy cousin, especially not as long as talented artists continue to produce wonderful music. Thanks to these individuals, just a few of whom are included below, the acoustic guitar continues to enjoy the popularity it has created since its inception.

If you weren’t familiar with the music of Johnny Cash (1932-2003) before the debut of Hollywood’s recent “Walk the Line,” you probably are now. The recently deceased Mr. Cash was a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and one of the most influential American musicians of the last century. His career lasted nearly fifty years, during which time he sold over 90 million albums. His music involved cross-genre success and his legacy includes the music of country, rock and roll, folk, blues and gospel. He continues to be one of history’s most famous acoustic guitar artists.

Another artist who continues to ensure the popularity of the acoustic guitar is country music’s Bonnie Raitt (1949-Present). Ms. Raitt’s music is primarily of the blues, blues rock and country genres, but like Mr. Cash before her, she has enjoyed crossover success and several of her songs have enjoyed general popularity. She has received a total of nine Grammy Awards (so far) and in 2000, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She has occasionally been known as much for her leftist political views as for her music, but that has never outshone the quality of her artistry.

Sheryl Crow (1962-Present) has done a great deal for the image of the acoustic guitar over the past two decades. She first came to the attention of the general public in 1994 when her song “All I Wanna Do” became an unexpected smash hit (I still remember that video on MTV). Since then, she has had a steady 20+ years of success and has performed with such high profile artists as Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, and The Rolling Stones. Her genres include rock, country, pop rock, blues-rock and folk, although it is her pop rock music that tends to gain the most commercial success.

Jewel Kilcher (1974-Present), generally known simply by her first name, Jewel, has received three Grammy Aware nominations and has sold over 27 million albums worldwide. Her genres include pop, folk, pop rock, adult contemporary and country, and her music inevitably features her acoustic guitar skills. Although some would argue that her career has declined in recent years, the songs of her first albums remain as fixtures on the playlists of radio stations across the United States as well as other countries.