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BLAINESWORLD the season's second major snowstorm . . . as
such, we did not
get to do several things we had planned to do . . .
it seems that the
Asheville area rarely
gets hit with such storms and when they happen,
the snow removal is just not what it is up North .
. . we also have noticed
that there were about 10 times more snowplows on the
road than we have here.
Fortunately, we didn't
have quite as much snow this time . . . . and our
development did a much better job of shoveling us out.
The other good news--for
me at least--was that Cynthia was able
to cook one of her specialties: meatloaf . . . we
both enjoyed it and look forward
to having it many times again in the future. (She
was particularly ambitious,
making a total of six separate portions.)
I was so impressed
that I asked Cynthia to share her recipe, which she actually got
from her mother . . . it follows:
MEAT LOAF
1 lb. ground beef (lean
chuck or ground steak)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 beaten egg
1 cup matzo meal or
breadcrumbs
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Mix all ingredients.
Form meat loaf. Cover with rest of tomato sauce and 1 can
of water. Set oven at 350 degrees and bake for
about an hour.
TO NOTE:
If you like, you can add
a pinch of oregano to this recipe (that's something
our Arkansas friends, Hank and Lois, recommend) . .
. however, the best part
of this entire experience was getting the
chance to see the actual recipe that Elsie
(Cynthia's mother) had
actually typed out for her on an index card . .
.it included
this additional suggestion: "Don't buy cheap
ground meat!"
One other thought: Above
recipe can also be used to make great
meatballs . . . everything stays the same--except for the
last sentence . . . instead
of using the oven, substitute this step: Simmer
about 1 hour.
B. I'm personally
starting to get more involved in the local community . . . within
the past few weeks, I have had meetings with
representatives of both
the Asheville Community Arts Theatre and Asheville
SCORE--offering
my help in marketing their fine organizations . .
. in addition, I have become
a member of the Marketing Committee at the Center
for Creative Retirement . . . and
I will continue as a
member of Biltmore Lake's Community Recreation
Committee, while also
continuing as a member of this year's Leadership Asheville
class . . . it feels good to again be putting
into practice the words of one of my
favorite quotes:
Service is the rent we
pay for the privilege of living on this Earth.--Shirley
Chisolm (1924-2005), first African American woman
elected to Congress
who represented New York's 12th District for seven
terms from 1968 to 1983
C. I was able to get to
the first day and the last day of my community's lawsuit
against forced annexation by the City of Asheville . .
. essentially, the residents
contend that we live in an unincorporated community
(Biltmore Lake) that runs just
fine without any help from the actual city . . . we
have done so for the past several
years, and everything has been just fine . . . however,
because North Carolina is
one of the few states that allows for involuntary
annexation, Asheville saw a chance
to get more tax revenues--and so the battle began
in 2007 . . . it took all that time
to make it to court.
The matter is now in the
hands of Judge James L. Baker . . . hopefully, he will
rule in our favor . . . his decision is due within
30 days.
I'd like to express my
personal appreciation to all the members of the Biltmore Lake Action
Committee for their
tireless work on our behalf over the past several years: Jerry
Jensen (Chairman),
Dieter Buehler (Treasurer), Steve Bratsch, Jerry
Coffey, Beth
Gurnack, Carol Keleher, Bill
Newman, Mary Lou Sartoris and Dwayne Wiseman.
In addition, kudos to
our attorney--Craig Justus--for the fine job he did in
representing our side.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW
MORE:
Biltmore Lake Community
Action Committee is an organization of residents whose
primary mission is to stop Asheville in its attempt to
forcibly annex Biltmore Lake. To
join our legal fight, please send a check for $200,
payable to BLCAC, c/o Dieter Buehler,
Treasurer, 93 Mountain
Drive, Biltmore Lake, NC 28715. For more information, visit:
or contact us at: blcac@stopasheville.com.
D. CONGRATULATIONS to
Dr. Maureen McCreadie, Dean of Learning Resources at
Bucks County Community College . .. the article she
contributed to, "Charting the Course
and Tapping the Community: The EDUCAUSE Top
Teaching and Learning Challenges
2009" was among the
10 most widely read articles in the online version of REVIEW
in 2009!
For more information,
please click:
http://tinyurl.com/lf8t38 and auto insurance needs in North Carolina.
A friend (thanks
Suzanne!) recommended his firm when we moved
to Asheville last year . . . so we contacted him
and were immediately
impressed with both his knowledge and attention to
details.
He is also great on
returning phone calls and emails, and we like how
he follows-up on things before we have to ask him
to do so.
Jason is with Pryor
Insurance . . . his firm also handles life, business
and health insurance . . . he can be reached at
828.697.2377; email:
For more information
about his firm, please click:
THANKS to Ange in Pennsylvania for her recent gift to me--something
known
as The Portion Plate . . . she gave this to me as
an example of something
that I could share with my hypnotism clients who are
interested in losing weight.
To quote from the
website:
The Portion Plate is an
interactive tool for teaching consumers appropriate diet portion
control. Unlike a text-based paper educational
brochure, The Portion Plate is an actual
melamine, dishwasher-safe portion control plate that
offers a tangible demonstration
of how much food we should eat. Not only are the
illustrated areas a good guide to follow,
but the components of a good meal are also
presented. This means 1/2 of your plate
should be a fruit and vegetable portion, 1/4 of your
plate a whole grain portion, and the
remaining 1/4 a lean protein meat portion.
Should you want to get
your own Portion Plate, please click:
http://www.theportionplate.com/?gclid=CNz6opqN2p8CFRednAodVFUCHg
MY TWO CENTS:
This plate is great . .
. it really drives home the point that all of us typically eat
way too much food and, at the same time, not enough
of the good kind of
food . . . I recently gave one of these plates to a
hypnotism client, and she
was most appreciative . . . she also indicated that
it would help guide her
future eating decisions.
I'm confident that she
is going to succeed . . . and in case anybody else is
interested in coming on board as one of my hypnotism
clients, just send me
an email at bginbc@aol.com and put
HYPNOTISM in the subject line. (I can
also do hypnotism over the phone; you'd be amazed at
how well it works!)
Remember, I can help you
lose your luggage before getting to the airport . . . as such,
I can help you not only
with weight loss, but also with becoming smoke free, gaining
confidence in your public speaking, stopping such habits
as nail-biting, etc.
* Rachel in New York
(who also happens to be Cynthia's niece):
I did it! This
past Sunday I completed the Miami marathon (26.2 miles) in support
of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)--and
I could not have done it without
your help! Together with my Team in Training
teammates and your generous support,
we raised over $320,000 that will allow LLS to invest
in their critical mission: to cure
leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and
improve the quality of life
of patients and their families. Together
we are making a difference in the fight
against cancer.
Training for and running
a marathon wasn't always easy and all of your
* Marcy in North
Carolina (with a great gift idea for ALL):
I have written
personalized romance novels for a company called:
These novels would be a
great Valentine's gift for anybody. The book will star you and
your partner in a romantic
adventure. If you like a little bit of history and suspense, then you
might enjoy Heart of the
Keys. If you're in for a treasure hunt--try Treasure Seekers. If you
like
a snowy mountain hamlet,
then Seasons Greetings, Seasons Love. And if a romp in Rome
with all kinds of adventure
is appealing, then Rome--Diamonds, Danger & Desire is for you.
Look for titles written
by Marcy Thomas.
A paperback runs about
49.95, and goes up depending on whether you'd like your photograph
on the front, or if you'd
prefer a hardback. And you'll probably want to choose the Wild version!
You can also get one in
a milder version.
They're a fun read,
especially if a couple reads the book to each other, taking turns at
each chapter.
I started writing the
novels after I won a romance writing contest held by yournovel.com
and won first prize (a
weekend stay at the Grove Park Inn, way before we thought about moving
to Asheville, but an
interesting peek into the future!). The contest was to write a
personalized
short story. After I
won, the owners of the company, Kathy Newbern and J.S. Fletcher, asked
me to write a novel. It
was a great challenge for me, but with Tom's support and great ideas,
I did it.
An online questionnaire
is completed in which you'll provide personal details of you and
your partner, such as eye
color, hair color, favorite perfume and cologne, the car you drive,
best friends, favorite
music, etc. Then those characteristics are woven into the
story. There are
about 20 titles on yournovel.com to choose from,
but I'd love it if you got one by Marcy Thomas.
The nice thing about the
personalized romance novel is that it's yours, forever. After a few
years, you can pull the book
off your shelf and read it again, enjoying the adventure once more.
* Natalie in
Pennsylvania:
You have to check out
the newsletter from Interiors by Donna Hoffman.
Donna is a
sought-after designer and what a fun
writer! She’s a designer, soulful "inspiration-ist"
and humorist all in
one. Her newsletter is packed with info from (obviously) great
life-enhancing design tips from the inside
track, to product recalls to product finds,
lots of how-to advice--all
with a little sprinkling of feel-good fairy dust in there too. She
has a wonderful teleseminar series starting in April so now people from
around the
country can have a little
"Donna" even if she isn't geographically desirable to be able
to personally help them
create a more beautiful Life and Home. You've got to try
her newsletter!
To sign-up for the FREE ezine newsletter, go to:
http://www.interiorsbydonnahoffman.com
and visit the news page.
* Ellen in
Pennsylvania:
Getting what you want is
easier than you think!
We have seen how the current economy is negatively impacting most people.
Relationships often
suffer. Most business segments have declined. Precious
emergency reserves have been
tapped and even depleted. Retirement plans
riddled. Fear, anxiety and
frustration have cast a dark shadow over peace of mind.
With our minds racing in
numerous and often destructive directions, it can be
difficult to see opportunities
and make good decisions. Is it time to take back
control of your world?
Click below and take the
Intentional Creation Assessment™:
http://www.intentionalcreation.com/affiliate/?w=ICEC&p=ecahill&a=Blaine
It is a FREE gift from
me to you.
In just a few minutes we
will be able to measure your thought processes and
identify which thoughts are
supporting and which thoughts are sabotaging your efforts.
Armed with this
information you will know where to focus your efforts to change your
world. Could it be that
simple--identify a sabotaging thought process, change it and change
your world? Yes, it is that
simple!
Don't waste another
minute in fear and frustration. It’s time to break free!
And if you have any
questions after taking the assessment, call Ellen Cahill, Independent
Certified Coach, at
215.355.6316 for a FREE 20-minute consultation. You have
everything
to gain and nothing to
lose.
* Monica in North
Carolina with information from her husband Will:
I am
running a half marathon with a Team In Training program to raise funds
for The Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society
(LLS) and I'm asking you to help by making a donation to my
fundraising campaign. fund raising progress, learn
more about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and best
of all, support me by
donating online quickly and securely. You will receive a confirmation
of your donation by email
and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation. More than 823,000
Americans are battling these blood cancers. I am hoping that my
participation in Team In Training
will help bring them hope and support. I greatly appreciate
your generosity.
* Kristi in North
Carolina:
A palindrome reads the
same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite
backwards as forward. Not only does it read the opposite,
the meaning is the exact opposite.
This is only a 1 minute,
44 second video, and it is brilliant.
Make sure you read as
well as listen . . forward and backward. This is a video that was submitted
in a contest by a 20-year old. The contest was
titled "u @ 50" by AARP. This video won second
place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was
awe-struck and broke into spontaneous
applause. So simple and yet so
brilliant. Take a minute and watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA
* Maya in Pennsylvania:
The Atlantic Sturgeon of
the Delaware River number at less than 100. Please learn more
about their plight and how you can help. Read more at
my blog:
www.delawarerivervoice.blogspot.com
and learn more, including how you can help, at:
Less than 100 is so few. Please take action today.
* Carol in Pennsylvania:
Do any of your readers
use Gmail? If so, are they experiencing problems, such as:
when typing messages, draft autosave starts automatically and causes delayed appearing
of words when typing, delayed response when
trying to delete and freezing up.
If so, do they have any
suggestions to correct this very ANNOYING problem?
I tried using their
forum but no one had any suggestions. I tried emailing Gmail support
and got no response.
* Steve in Pennsylvania,
commenting on my review of AVATAR:
It is a shame that the
formulas for “action” movies are so violent.
The visuals were the
overpowering factor in my raving about the movie. I liked
your balanced opinion.
A. Saw THE MESSENGER, a powerful
story about a returned war hero being assigned
to the Army's Casualty Notification service . . . his job, in
partnership with a fellow officer,
is to bear the bad news to the loved ones of soldiers who have
been killed in combat . . . I
liked it for the way it depicted a thankless job that I had never
really even thought
about . . . the film seemed to drag a bit in the middle (becoming
almost a buddy-type film),
but redeemed itself with a great ending . . . Ben Foster is
fine in the leading role; however,
I liked Woody Harrelson's work even
better in the supporting role . . . he just received
a well-deserved Oscar nomination for this effort . . . rated
R.
B. THE DUCHESS is now out
in DVD format . . . my review from BLAINESWORLD
#630 follows:
THE DUCHESS is a highly entertaining
costume drama about
C. If you liked FREAKONOMICS by
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, of stories that show the impact of incentives on our lives SHOULD BUY LIFE INSURANCE . . . the
chapter headings and the descriptions
that follow also have you wanting to find out the answers to such provocative
questions as: from a bad doctor? How much good do car seats do? And a
whole lot more.
There were many passages that
actually got me shaking my head in
wonderment; among them:
* The U. S. charity Smile Train,
which performs cleft-repair surgery on poor children
around the world, recently spent some time in Chennai, India. When
one local man
was asked how many children he had, he answered “one.” The
organization later learned
that the man did have a son—but he also had five daughters, who
apparently didn't
warrant a mention. Smile Train also learned that midwives in
Chennai were sometimes
paid $2.50 to smother a baby girl born with a cleft
deformity—and so, putting the lure
of incentives to good use, the charity began offering midwives
as much as $10 for each
baby girl they took to a hospital for cleft surgery.
* But Title IX also brought some bad
news for women. When the law was passed, more
that 90 percent of college women’s sports teams had female head
coaches. Title IX boosted
the appeal of such jobs: salaries rose and there was more
exposure and excitement. Like
the lowly pleasant food that is “discovered” by the culinary
elite and promptly migrates
from roadside shacks into high-end restaurants, these jobs were
soon snapped up
by a new set of customers: men. These days, barely 40 percent
of college women’s
sports teams are coached by women. Among the most visible coaching
jobs in women’s
sports are those in the Women’s National Basketball Association
(WNBA), founded thirteen
years ago as a corollary to the men’s NBA. As of this writing,
the WNBA has 13 teams and
just 6 of them-again, fewer than 50 percent- are coached by
women. This is actually an
improvement from the league’s tenth anniversary season, when only 3 of
the 14 coaches
were women.
And then there was this tidbit that
also got me rethinking some conventional
wisdom about something that seemingly sounded like such a good
thing:
* Consider the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), which was intended to safeguard
disabled workers from discrimination. A noble
intention, yes? Absolutely—but the data
convincingly shows that the net result was fewer jobs for Americans with
disabilities. Why?
After the ADA became law, employers
were so worried they wouldn't be able to discipline
or fire bad workers who had a disability that they avoided
hiring such workers in the
first place.
I also liked the thorough documentation
(some 36 pages) and, also, that the authors
didn't include this at the bottom of each footnoted page . . .
rather, they put it at the
end of the book as "Notes," which is something that I
wish others.
My only disappointment was in the
last chapter on global warning . . . Levitt and
Dubner took potshots at Al Gore, which of course is their right to do
so . . . however,
they then spent much time promoting the ideas of
scientist/entrepreneur Nathan
Myrhrvhold and his crew . . . the reality is that while Myrhvhold might be onto
something, nothing yet has been proven to work.
D. Heard the program, THE PRYAMID OF
SUCCESS: CHAMPTIONSHIP
PHILOSOPHIES AND TECHNIQUES AND ON
WINNING--written and read
by Jim Harrick, head coach of the 1995 NCCA Champion UCLA
Bruins.
Harrick contends that in just about
any field of endeavor, the competition is
intense . . . in addition, the players and rules are constantly
changing . . . so
you can't get comfortable or complacent with success . . . you
need to maintain
focus in all situations, and this will help you develop the right
attitude--one
that will make you a winner in any endeavor.
He shared many of his views that
helped make him a success in the coaching
ranks, including these:
* I don't ask teams to win. Instead,
I ask them to compete to the best of their
ability.
* Write down your own definition of
success. Then ask yourself: What will it take
to sustain it?
* I tell my players that when you're
asked how are you doing, you have one of
five words you can answer: good, great, terrific, fantastic or
sensational. That's
all I want to hear. Nobody ever cares how you're doing, anyway.
* Life is 100% what happens to you
and 90% about how you respond to it.
* I don't work from 9 to 5. I work
from 5 to 9.
* I want my children to say I want
to, rather than I have to.
Best of all, though, was the final
part of the program where Harrick
interviewed John Wooden, legendary coach of the Bruins, about the
concept
that the latter originally developed; i.e., the pyramid of
success . . . I only wish
that there had been more time devoted to this concept.
UPDATE:
I was curious why I had not heard
more about Harrick, especially lately . . . it
turns out that he was accused of falsifying receipts at a
student-athlete recruiting
dinner, although the NCAA exonerated him of this offense.
UCLA fired him for lying
to university investigators. He then went on to coach at Rhode
Island and then at
the University of Georgia, resigning from Georgia after several
scandals during his reign
came to public light.
This information did not take away
from my enjoyment of THE PYRAMID
OF SUCCESS . . . Harrick's ideas are
still valuable to coaches, as well as to those
in the business world . . . however, if you were interested in
hiring a coach to turn
around your basketball program, I doubt that he would be a
good choice
because of some of the off-the-court difficulties he has
encountered.
TO OBTAIN THE ABOVE:
This program is available for purchase
or rental . . . if you want to get it, please click:
DVDs.--all for a fraction of what it
would cost to buy them . . . call the head of the firm
(Paul Arroyo) directly at
1.800.735.3660 and mention my name . . . that way, you'll be sure
In case you've wondered how
many others have viewed the above, look at the counter
in the lower left corner . . . amazing, isn't it?
D. Are you on Facebook?
In the unlikely event we have not yet contacted as
friends there, send me an invite by clicking:
www.facebook.com/blainegreenfield
Do you have a computer question that
you want answered,
Mowing grass
I hope the picture will
go through for you . . . of this Army soldier in Iraq with his tiny
"plot"
of grass in front of his tent. It's heartwarming! to send him dirt (U.S. soil), fertilizer and some
grass seed so that he can have
the sweet aroma and feel the grass grow beneath his
feet. When the men of the squadron
have a mission that they are going on, they take
turns walking through the grass
and the American soil to bring them good luck.
If you notice, he is
even cutting the grass with a pair of a scissors. Sometimes we are
in such a hurry that we don't stop and think about
the little things that we take for granted.
Upon receiving this, say
a little prayer for our soldiers that give and give up so unselfishly
for us.
Author unknown
FOR THE REST OF THE
STORY:
I checked the above
story and found that it was true . . . to see for yourself,
please click:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/grass.asp
A. Ted and Kimberly in North
Carolina:
atmosphere at this "Beginner's Only" Class and Dance Party!
Refreshments and sodas
will be provided and Professional Dance Instructors will be at
the party to assist students
with their dancing questions. Line dances will also be
taught and included in the party.
No partner is necessary for the
class or party. $10 for Class and Party (Special $7 Rate
for ages 17 & under.)
For more information:
Ted and Kimberly Ross
B. Social Media Jams, a monthly
workshop series offering education in how businesses
and people can use blogs, Flickr,
YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for fun and
profit,
launches Feb. 9 at Tomato Jam Cafe. homegrown social media expertise in everything from how small
businesses can use Twitter
to how to use Google Analytics to drive more traffic to your
website. effectively right here in Asheville," said Social Media Jams
organizer Jennifer Saylor, who
leads community initiatives for Mountain Xpress. "These
workshops are presented by
local experts, for local users of all levels." whose social media clients include Monkeywhale.com, TEDxAsheville and Asheville Vaudeville.
Her kickoff workshop will teach
small business owners how to use online tools like Twitter and
Facebook to grow their business in new ways.
C. FREE events at Bucks County
Community College in Newtown, PA:
* Wednesday, February 10 – 12:30
p.m. – Fireside Lounge, Newtown
Trish Chambers will present the
history, legends and personal stories that make up
the rich heritage connected to the Underground Railroad.
* Thursday, Feb. 11 from 7:30-9 p.m.
Book Group meets in the Rollins
Center Quit Study Room, next to the Fireside Lounge
All are welcome to share your
thoughts and questions about the following selection. For snow
or bad weather information, call 215.968.8000. On the radio,
the College code for snow closing
is 2760. For more information, call 215-968-8164 or send email
to: hennesse@bucks.edu
Book to be discussed The Help by
Kathryn Stockett
of Amy Einhorn's new imprint) set
during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss.,
where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to
polish the household
silver. . . . Assured and layered, full of heart and
history, this one has bestseller written
all over it.
D. Cynthia (see also
Section 1A) is offering the following new
program to folks in the Asheville area:
overweight). FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ABOVE
PROGRAM:
Feel free to contact Cynthia at cgreenfield1001@aol or via phone,
828.633.1049.
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