What can be better than seeing ME do that in all it's glory? Oh, remember how I mentioned the therapeutic value above? Well, that is really just a quick word that you will have to be in therapy for a while after actually seeing this in person. In fact, the society of mental professionals is campaigning for me to be selected to perform on TV so they will have a surge in business after it airs. Apparently they already have the toll-free hotline setup 1-800-stop dancing.

Be honest with yourself and then you can be happy in life and have a healthy and strong relationship with others.

Honesty
The first experience in any relationship is honesty. Many people are honest with those in their life, yet they are not honest…

What I mean by this is that many people are not honest with themselves, and therefore are incapable of being honest with those around them. It may be some small items, like fears or problems that have long been “forgotten”, but every bit of information that we are not open with our self about is something that will prevent any and every relationship from being healthy.

My philosophy is pretty simple. My life is an open book. If I tell you anything about myself, you are free to tell others. Frankly, there is nothing I can tell you that I have not told others, so talk away. Not that any of it is that interesting or anything, but I am open about it. Don’t get me wrong, there are many things about my past that I am not proud of. I have made many mistakes and have surely hurt too many people through my life, but everything that I have been through in my life has made me the person I am today.

So, be honest with yourself and only then can you be honest in a relationship.

Do you remember when looking at a picture of yourself captivated your attention and made you smile? I am amazed every time I watch someone pick up a print of their action on the slopes or on the water and they smile as if in disbelief of their abilities and the action that is evidenced forever in the photograph.

My goal as a photographer is to capture those moments every time I am on an assignment, and deliver the thrill of personal accomplishment in a large format print of the best athletes ever! To give everyone unlimited access to my sailing photos, I have developed http://www.OPTIsailing.com, a site that gives everyone free access to every Optimist picture I take of them on the water and around the best Opti regattas in North America and beyond.

I hope you can smile as you look at pictures of yourself at a recent event.

Add the pressure of being trapped in an elevator and the stress increases dramatically. Think about this for just a minute; an elevator is a metal box (itself weighing thousands of pounds) hanging hundreds of feet above a thick cement slab and it is hanging by a tiny steel cable.

Have you seen how frequently they inspect the cables on elevators? I mean every time you are at an airport, they have one of those flat electronic walkways closed for maintenance but you almost never see an elevator closed for routine maintenance. What is that all about? Is it really more difficult to keep something safe when it is flat on the ground, just moving across the same surface everyone else is walking on compared to an elevator that is lifting you at high speeds through the air?

So, put the unsafe cable with the thick cement “crash” pad and the small confined space all together and you have a formula for a highly stressful situation when the elevator gets trapped between floors for any period of time. People can hyperventilate, they can scream, they can wet themselves and ever pass out or have a stress induced stroke.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I want to be alone so that you wouldn’t see me going through the process of a stress attack, I am simply suggesting that it could happen to someone out there.

You believe me, right?

Add the pressure of being trapped in an elevator and the stress increases dramatically. Think about this for just a minute; an elevator is a metal box (itself weighing thousands of pounds) hanging hundreds of feet above a thick cement slab and it is hanging by a tiny steel cable.

Have you seen how frequently they inspect the cables on elevators? I mean every time you are at an airport, they have one of those flat electronic walkways closed for maintenance but you almost never see an elevator closed for routine maintenance. What is that all about? Is it really more difficult to keep something safe when it is flat on the ground, just moving across the same surface everyone else is walking on compared to an elevator that is lifting you at high speeds through the air?

So, put the unsafe cable with the thick cement “crash” pad and the small confined space all together and you have a formula for a highly stressful situation when the elevator gets trapped between floors for any period of time. People can hyperventilate, they can scream, they can wet themselves and ever pass out or have a stress induced stroke.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I want to be alone so that you wouldn’t see me going through the process of a stress attack, I am simply suggesting that it could happen to someone out there.

You believe me, right?

Well, that is not acceptable any more. The result is that we all need our news as it is happening, not the next day. History is for school books, not the daily news!

Today life travels at the speed of reality. If something is newsworthy, it is important right now. Not tomorrow morning, not at 11 tonight but right now. If I can wait to learn of it I don't really need to know.

Back in the days of old, when our parents were allowed to enjoy life and be away from work, and the speed of the world when they were not sitting at their desk; the newspaper was acceptable. It gave people the ability to get caught up on what had happened, and what people were thinking.

Remember the days when you would call someone and leave a message with their secretary? It was ok when they would call you back a week later, or if you got a written response from them in the mail three weeks down the road.

Today, if someone puts a voicemail in your box, they expect a call back within a few minutes. Any delay is unacceptable, regardless of where you are or what you are doing at the moment!

It is the lifestyle we are living that makes real-time news a necessity rather than something that is just "cool" to have.

Toscana - Tuscany by allegra_

Have you ever seen a skinny Italian?

I am not implying that every Italian person is fat, or by any means out of shape but you have to admit that there are not a whole lot of Italian people running around the streets with their ribs showing through their skin…

The reason for this is pretty simple. Italians view dinner as a celebration. Yes, dinner every night is a party not to be missed.

In the time I have spent in Italy, I have had the opportunity to spend many nights enjoying the variety of food and the process of enjoying the entire process of eating dinner. What an awesome experience!

First of all, dinner in Italy is a time to spend with family and friends. Dinner starts around 7 and rarely ends before 10. That entire time is spent eating (and for many drinking wine) something. Because you are with family and friends, dinner is spent talking about the day, the family issues and business. Because family is large, there are a lot of people to talk, and so there is a lot of food to make sure everyone has an opportunity to share their story of the day.

I have never left a meal in Italy feeling hungry, for that matter I have never left dinner in Italy feeling anything less than completely full! The food, from beginning to end is plentiful and awesome. When you feel you are all done, they bring something else to "just try", then they fill your plate with the "sample". Where else in the world can you be so well taken care of?

If I had to choose one cuisine to eat for a year, I would insist on spending that year in a small village in the Tuscan hills, enjoying the company and the food they serve!

While the US Government thinks giving trillions to "help the economy", I feel spending money we do not have to help a group of companies that have proven their inability to be successful is the WRONG approach.

What I would do with a million dollars is to help young college students to begin working on the development of new business concepts that will begin to drive the new economy. The younger generation has a lot of ideas, and energy that will spur new development and create jobs and rapid growth of companies that will employ many people.

So, to keep it simple, I would find bright college students and give them some funding to begin the development of new businesses that will appeal to their generation and feed growth of the entire economy for years to come!

Looking down the hall of the office building I notice a nice, shapely young woman and because I am afflicted with maleness I continue to watch her walk towards me. Not in a creepy way mind you, but I watch as she gracefully walks down the hallway towards me.

As she gets closer, I notice that she is wearing a stunning business dress-suit. The jacket is long and cut to her curves, and I had to look twice as she grew near to see that her skirt was just a hair longer than her jacket. Her legs were as long as the hallway and as perfect as the warm sunshine outside. Covered with silk, they glistened as she walked by the window.

As the sun hit her legs, I briefly noticed the 3 inch heels her feet were cradled by. They absolutely completed the image.

A few moments later, the elevator came and it was my time to go. This memory will stick with me throughout the day.