Ok, I’ve had enough, it’s too cold here. I just got back from a weeks vacation in the desert southwest where it was warm, comfortable and inviting. I return to frigid cold weather that has me scrambling for a warm bath every night. I want summer back!

I remember the lazy days of summer when you’d sit on the outdoor garden bench watching the kids play in the swimming pool (surrounded by a proper pool fences of course) and enjoying the feeling sun on your face. It was wonderful, if not a little noisy from the kids splashing in the water. But even with the noise it was still fun and certainly relaxing to watch them.

Or even just sitting on the plastic adirondack chair in the front yard and watch the various cars and people go by. If you had no where to go it was a great way to waste the afternoon and sometimes you noticed really crazy things.

You didn’t have to care about all the frozen issues of winter because it was months away. You just wanted to be sure the air conditioning worked inside the house as the temperature rose to a sweltering 110 degrees. Ok, maybe that’s too hot. But right now I’d take it, I’m freezing!

How about boating on the lake, or camping in a tent with your friends, or even sleeping in the tree house? Do you remember all the fun things you used to do as a kid during the summer? It would be nice to get back to those easier days.

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There are a lot of people looking for some type of guidance to help them get a book written and published. It can be a long and confusing journey and it helps to have a mentor or group of experts you can turn to. Good thing we have 4 popular fantasy authors to help you out.

Here is another good article about writing books, from one of four authors that post weekly about the writing process and getting published.

This one is from Misty Massey:

Writing to the Writer

As a writer, I’ve always ever had one true hope for my work, and that was that it might someday make a reader feel the way my favorite author’s books always made me feel. I wanted my readers to come away from my stories breathing a satisfied sigh of time well spent.

When I was a child, I used to write letters to authors whose work impressed me, people like E L Konigsberg, Elizabeth Enright (and was broken-hearted to learn she had died some years before my letter arrived), and Marguerite Henry. Most of the time the only response was a form letter of some kind from the publisher, thanking me for my interest.

When I was 10 or 11, I wrote a letter to my favorite author (at the time), Alexander Key. I’d just finished his fantastic novel Flight to the Lonesome Place, and I had a question about one of the characters. Everyone told me not to expect a personal response, since he was a famous author and I was just a kid who read his book.

Imagine my excitement when a letter arrived a few weeks later, with “A. Key” in the return address corner. I read his charming, thoughtful, personal response to my question at least one hundred times. My favorite author had taken the time to write to me, a mere reader. How amazing was that?

These days I’m the one getting correspondence from readers. It’s a good deal easier here in the 21st century, what with email and blog lines. No one has to search very diligently before they find a way to contact me, which is nice for both of us.

Yesterday, for example, I opened my email and found a delightful note from a young woman who had just finished reading Mad Kestrel, and wanted to tell me how she felt about it. As I read her gushing email, I began to cry, because I realized that I’d done what I wanted to do. I had given at least one person a story that became real, a cast of characters she could care about, and a world she didn’t want to leave behind.

As writers, we all hope for award nominations and bestseller status and seven figure advances, but honestly, when it all comes down, what we really want is to touch someone else’s soul with our work. That’s what being an artist is all about.

If you are interested in learning more about writing a fantasy novel then be sure to follow one of the links in this article.

The United States gentleman of scientific discipline, Ben Franklin, who endured both myopia as well as presbyopia, invented bifocals in 1784 to obviate having to frequently switch between two sets of eyeglasses.

The 1st lenses for rectifying astigmia were manufactured by the British astronomer George Airy within 1825.

Along the history of bifocals, the building of spectacle frames also developed. Early on oculars were contrived to be either held in place with hand or by maintaining force on the nose. Girolamo Savonarola advised that oculars could be held in place with a ribbon passed over the subject’s head, this in turn fastened by the weight of a hat.

Entering modern bifocal history, the contemporary fashion of bifocal reading glasses supported by temples passing over the ears, was produced in 1727 by the British lens maker Edward Scarlett. These designs were not at once prosperous, however, and assorted styles with attached handles like “scissors-glasses” and lorgnettes stayed fashionable throughout the eighteenth and into the early nineteenth century.

In the early twentieth century, Moritz von Rohr at Zeiss made the Zeiss Punktal spherical point-focus lens system which controlled the eyeglass lens field for several years.

Despite the improving fame of contacts and laser restorative eye surgery, eyeglasses stay quite popular, as their technology has continued to improve. For example, it’s currently possible to buy frames constituted of special memory metal alloys that return to their correct configuration after being bent. Other frames have spring-loaded hinges.

Glasses have come a long way, haven’t they? In fact, today you can even buy sunglasses with bifocal lenses.

Most of these designs are also distinctly better able to resist the stresses of day-to-day wear as well as the periodic accident. Contemporary frames are likewise frequently constructed from substantial, light-weight materials like titanium alloys that were not obtainable in earlier times.

You know that you should exercise to keep your body fit, but did you know that you should also do some exercises for your brain to keep your brain in shape? Your brain is like a muscle and it must be worked out every so often so that you can stay as bright as possible. One of the ways you can work your brain is to do some exercises for short-term memory. Short-term memory is what we use to embrace information for just a short time. Some examples of information we use short-term memory for include phone numbers, addresses, names of people we just meet once, and so on. Short-term memory is so called because once we have it we lose it. This keeps our minds open to absorb more information so that it’s not all jumbled with useless nonsense. By doing exercises for short-term memory, however, we can increase the amount of information we can hold in our short-term memories and we can even increase the time in which it remains there.

The Peek A Boo Picture Game

A great exercise for short-term memory is a game where you look a picture. This can be whichever picture you choose. It can be one you select from a magazine, it can be one of you and your family at your family reunion, it can be anything at all. Look at the picture for a few moments and then set it aside where you cannot see it. Using a pen and paper, try to write down every detail you can about that picture. Then, look at the picture once more. Did you get everything right? Did you get some details wrong? By doing this over and over, you will work your short-term memory and this will increase your capacity for holding information. This is a fun exercise for short-term memory and it’s one the entire family can play. Yes it is even great for improving children’s short term memory.

Audio Exercises

Similar to the picture game, you can use audio clips to help exercise your short-term memory. You can use anything at all. You can use a top ten countdown on the radio, you can use talk radio, anything at all. However, make sure you can rewind whatever you’re using so that you can go back and check your work. Try to remember all the details you can by jotting them down after the clip is over. Then, rewind and see how many details you got right. By practicing over and over, you will increase your short-term memory power and this will increase your ability to remember things you hear.

These are just a couple of examples of ways of improving memory, or more specifically, how to exercise your short-term memory. These can be practiced anywhere, anytime and the more you practice, the more significant your short-term memory will be. That’s wonderful news for anyone who hears something and it goes in one ear and out the other. By doing exercises for short-term memory, hopefully you’ll be able to keep ahold of that information a little longer.

http://www.estoresfast.com/

Q: Is it possible to train a cat?

A: Yes, training a cat is not as impossible as some doubters take for granted it is. Kitties probably are not as amenable to training as dogs are but they can be trained. Tasty rewards given as positive reinforcement is definitely the primary way to train a cat.

Q: Why and how do happy cats purr?

A: Adult cats purr because they are happy and contented and to play on the emotions of humans — Can you resist a purring kitty? Kittens purr in response to their mother cat’s purr to assist in bonding them. It is mostly theorized that the purring is a vibration of the voicebox as air is pushed though it. It is also believed that purring is a voluntary action.

Q: Why are the reasons a number of people are allergic to cats?

A: Cat allergies are caused by the proteins in cat dander generated from the cat’s saliva. The dander dries and becomes airborne. People with cat allergies have an allergic reaction because their immune system is trying to fight the foreign protein and creates histamines.

Q: How do you halt naughty cat behavior such as clawing?

A: The best way to halt bad cat behavior is the same way the mother cat controls an errant kitten. This is by scuffing the cat. You firmly but gently grasp the cat by the scruff of the neck and hold it down until it calms down. You should do this at the time of the bad behavior.

Q: How do you litter train a cat?

A: You really shouldn’t have to do any training for a cat to make use of a litter box, but if your previously litter trained cat has begun to avoid the litter box you need to figure out why. The cat may have a urinary tract infection in which case you need to visit the veterinarian. If it is just too dirty you need to keep it cleaner. If you have changed litter you may have to change back or sprinkle a little catnip in the litter to attract the cat to the new litter.

Q: How do you keep cats off the kitchen table?

A: This is one of the most asked about cat behavior problems and can be a challenging one. Cats like high places and they can find food or food aromas on tables and counters. It is best to keep the counters clean and to use something like foil or double sided tape to keep cats off the counters.

As if problems couldn’t be worse right now for the United States citizens and their financial situations.  The last scam we all need is the credit card banks to continue developing methods in which to punish their cardholders and bleed people of their money. 

For staters they have the “universal default clause”.  This allows the creditors to pump up their interest rates when they see you have unforgiving remarks on your credit report. So essentially a debtor can see their interest rates raised literally overnight and not comprehend why.  The most painful part about the universal default is that you may have just one creditor that you missed one payment with and then all of your other credit card providers can now raise their rates also.  This endears people into a world of financial hell because now the credit card payments will at at a minimum triple and the majority of the payment is going to the interest alone. 

What they have up their sleeve now has to do with the universal default.  The major credit card banks of recent years have been lowering people’s credit limit to just above their current balance with not a word to them about this.  They do this hoping that the person will go over their limit and thus allow them to launch the universal default and charge the over the limit fee. 

Without having to say this is not acceptable and really is not assisting to put our economy back on the correct track.   For these folks who are being victimized in this manner there is one solution to get rid of credit card debt.  This solution is to enlist into a debt settlement, with credit card debt settlement consumers can realistically become free from debt.  Thus allowing the debtor to save income and become debt free in a few years putting these credit card companies and their scandalous tactics behind them. A debt settlement is something that will be of great benefit.

www.articlefacts4you.com

The original iPhone gained quite a momentum and won many critics’ hearts and now its much-improved version — the Apple 3G iPhone has been launched. On the surface, it looks like the design has been tweaked just a bit, but the real package lies within it with a host of new add-on features. As the name suggests, it provides a much faster access to 3G wireless networks. This includes the Microsoft Exchange server e-mail support along with many other types of applications that have been provided by the iPhone App Store.

The user has the freedom of selecting tunes from the iTunes Store through the App Store menu. It is a smooth ride to browse through names and categories along with the Top 25 listed applications here. The other remarkable addition is the MobileMe service. This service has been orchestrated along with the Mac Mail, iCal and Address Book applications. Using the Wi-Fi in sync with the e-mail is a pleasure, as the new messages are registered within an blink. Syncing with the 3G is as quick, so you are basically spoilt for choice and this might see the 3G Apple Iphone promote itself as a worthy business mobile device.

On the physical aspect, the new silver rim appears a bit thinner, but there is a slightly pronounced silver mesh that has been encased behind the speakers. The original aluminium silver casing has now been done away with and you get a thickish plastic encasing instead. One major improvement is the 3G iPhone’s new headset jack where you can use any standard headset and this does away with the problems of a dug-in jack of the original. Two new icons, on the front, catch your attention — the Contacts and the App Store and the voice quality much sharper. The iPhone 3G delivers on adding some ‘first-of-its kind’ features and is a massive upgrade, but doesn’t compromise on the appeal that the original version had.

For access to new and used 3G iphones at great discount prices click this time limited discount Apple 3G Iphone link.

Most concert halls, arts centres, and arenas etc , will hire out their concert hall for special events. You, the up and coming Events Manager could easily arrange for a POPULAR or NICHE act to appear some months ahead. There may be an act or popular group that have strong links with your community, that way you will have a head start in your concert promotion efforts and you will be familiar with your marketplace.

To recoup the cost of hiring the venue and paying the staff and the artist, you will of course have a given amount of seats and you will price the seats accordingly. Your obvious goal is to make a handsome profit and you must not fail. Presuming you’ve done some research and you have secured the services of a great act you can get down to the business of promotion. But first we must find some way of managing ticket sales.

Well I dont know exactly what cut booking agents take when they sell your tickets but if you have a month or two in advance you can easily manage all this your self with some concert seat reservation software for your website. That way you can plug the website into your network and with some clever marketing you can watch your venue gradually fill up and even automate the process online.

For instance you will invite your network to reserve their seats themselves, they can actually choose where they want to sit and whats more you will capture their email, address and telephone numbers into your online reservation system for future marketing opportunities. You dont have to take immediate payment using an expensive online payment system, but you will be able to contact them by email and phone to arrange payment in other ways.

Another way to save money will be to allow your customers to pick up and print out their tickets from their online account they created when they reserved their seats. The tickets can be PDF format with a unique reference id and 128 Barcoded. You would only need a handheld barcode scanner and a laptop at the door of the venue to check ticket authenticity.

You have time to use word of mouth, community newspaper, local and national advertising to guarantee a sold out performance and you can monitor everything from the comfort of your own home.

Now if you are successful with your concert promotion and the show is a fine success?….what a great achievement and most probably a handsome profit if you got your sums right. Now you have a a huge database to work with onselling other products and services and ready for your next big show. Well done.

Suffering from nearsightedness can be frustrating to live with. Wearing glasses or contact lenses can be a nuisance and occasionally painful. Luckily, with modern technology, there are plenty of non-invasive surgical options to help repair your nearsightedness and keep you from ever having to go back to wearing glasses of contact lenses again! Many insurance companies fully or partially cover these procedures, however, there are some surgical eye procedures that are not covered and the costs of eye surgery can be extremely high.

Lasik eye surgery is one of the most popular procedures done today. Done on an outpatient basis, the entire procedure from start to finish is generally done in less than one hour. You are awake during the procedure with only an anesthetic eye drop applied to numb the incision area. Occasionally, a mild sedative is given to help the patient to relax. This surgery is usually covered under most insurance plans and on average runs about $2000 per eye.

If you suffer from cataracts, eye surgery may prove to be beneficial for you. Using a laser, your cornea is gently cut and the flap is lifted exposing the cataracts damage. A small laser probe is then used to break up the cloudy matter and suction is applied to absorb the fragments. Occasionally, instead of just lifting a flap, the entire cornea is needed to be removed and then replaced once the cataract is abolished. If the surgery is successful, patients report bright and clear vision instead of the cloudy film cover that they had dealt with prior to the cataracts surgery. Most insurance companies cover the costs of this procedure which can run upwards of $3000.

Note: You should consult professional medical advice prior to making a decision on laser eye surgery.