I’m in the middle of the edits battlefield with Lean on Me, the fourth Alex the Fey thriller. I think that’s why this sculpture appeals to me so much right now.

Here is a portion of his artist statement:

“I wanted to create a sculpture almost anyone, regardless of their background, could look at and instantly recognize that it is about the idea of struggling to break free. This sculpture is about the struggle for achievement of freedom through the creative process.

Although for me, this feeling sprang from a particular personal situation, I was conscious that it was a universal desire with almost everyone; that need to escape from some situation – be it an internal struggle or an adversarial circumstance, and to be free from it.”

Wow.

Where are you in this process?

This is just disgusting:

This food has been sitting on a doctors counter since the dates marked on the wrappers. There has been no shrinkage, no rotting, no decay what so ever. Talk about ‘empty calories’!

Of course, later I read this test of the non-rotting hamburger theory here. They showed the bun will mold but the burger remains unaffected. In fact, any burger remains unaffected. (So besides destroying our atmosphere, it turns out beef is non-decomposable. Moving on.) Still the entire conversation is worth thinking the next time you go to fast food. I’m waaaay too grossed out to go near it for a while.

No successful person is an island

“The point is that successful companies — or, at any rate, companies that make a large contribution to a nation’s economy — don’t exist in isolation. Prosperity depends on the synergy between companies, on the cluster, not the individual entrepreneur.” Job, Jobs and Cars, NY Times Column Paul Krugman

I have a question for you. What would you like to know more about? What would you like to read in this space?

Thanks for your help!

My favorite magazine right now is Scientific American. I love the pictures, articles, and absolute geek humor. (Radius of a cylinder of cheese is z and the height is a, what’s the volume? Why Pi zza of course.) More than anything, I love the science – real science – of it.

This week, I came down this the flu/cold that’s been running rampant all over the country. Dan Blank, my business coachish guy, told me he gave it to me via Skype. (One computer virus my ESET missed.) While our Lindy Hop instructor Jess claimed to be Typhoid Jess. In my phelgm and fever induced numbness, I was reading Scientific American.

The most striking thing I came upon this week is the article I scanned below.

The 5 Hidden Dangers of Obesity:

1. Heartburn: A 2005 study of 450 individual s found that obese adults are two and a half times more likely to experience heartburn compared with people of normal weight. One possible cause: visceral fat may push the stomach higher into the chest.

2. Labored breathing: Visceral fat, which surrounds internal organs, is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat, which lies under the skin. In this side view, visceral fat presses onto the diaphragm from below, which limits breathing by making it harder for the lungs (here shown in green) to expand.

3. Painful joints: The additional weight of excess pounds places a particular burden on the knees. In this image the arthritic damage (white) triggers pain and decrease in the knee’s range of motion.

4. Depression: A dozen studies suggest that obesity can be an important cause of depression, probably because of a combination of physiological factors and social stigma. These neurons, from the cortex of the brain have shrunk and are misshapen.

5. Sexual dysfunction: Inflammatory chemicals released by fat cells may damage the branch like nerves in the penis and attack blood vessels in the clitoris leading to an inability to enjoy sex.

I found the images and information here to be shocking. Outside of painful joints, the rest seems to never be talked about. I was really shocked by the brain imaging and information.

Neurons of obese people have shrunk? Are misshapen? I know that Dr. Dean Ornish says that when people start a clean diet, it takes about a month before they are getting more blood flow to the brain and begin to make better decisions easier. You can see it on the Biggest Loser. After about three weeks, people are thinking more clearly. But obesity causing brain damage? Wow.  To me, this explains a lot about what’s happening in the US.

Wow.

I think this does a pretty good job explaining why defeating SOPA and PIPA is so important to us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Senator Bennet, Senator Udall, and Congresswoman DeGette

My name is Claudia Hall Christian. I am a co-owner, along with a few other Coloradians, of a small publishing company, Cook Street Publishing. We employ about five people give or take the season. As we are only three years old, we expect our number of employees to continue to grow. I am writing you today about SOPA and PIPA.

We publish serial fiction and use the Internet as part of our distribution tool. Like many of the famous serial fictions, Bleak House (Charles Dickens), Tales of the City (Armstead Maupin), or Sex in the City (Candace Bushnell) for example, our serial fiction includes real people, real places, and current issues.

Let me share with you what one of our readers says about Denver Cereal: “It has truly helped me through a tough time in my life and has brought back motivation and meaning. Although the books are fiction it is about people overcoming adversity to any situation. It is just what I needed.” NS

The way that SOPA and PIPA are written, our serial fiction, particularly Denver Cereal, will be blocked due to copyright infringement merely for mentioning a famous persons name, a prominent restaurant such as Pete’s Kitchen where one of our characters works, or other culturally relevant situations our characters find themselves in. When the names and comments about these insitutions are found, our host will be required to shut our site down. When this happens, we will close our business.

You can save our business by voting against SOPA and PIPA.Yes, something needs to be done about piracy. But this is not the solution.

Sincerely,

Claudia Hall Christian
for Cook Street Publishing

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update (1/19/12):

Congresswoman Diana DeGette’s response:(via Facebook)

“I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to contact me about SOPA. Addressing online copyright infringement-which some studies say accounts for almost 24% of all online activity-is critical, but without serious changes I’m not convinced SOPA effectively solves the issue and am concerned about the implications it would have for online innovation.”

Senator Mark Udall joined in the call against it on January 14.

Senator Bennet remains one of the few co-sponsors of the bill.  His response (via Facebook):

“I believe that we need to address online piracy of intellectual property. This is an important jobs issue. Recently, several Coloradans have raised valid concerns about potential unintended consequences that could result from the Protect IP Act as it is currently written and that could compromise our economic growth. Because of the complexity and technical nature of this issue, we should come to an agreement that protects against online piracy but that avoids these consequences before we move forward.”

Personally, I think it’s time to recall him.

It only takes one rock to start an avalanche.

It only takes one person to start a movement.

What change do you want to make in the world?

What are you going to do to make it happen?

And how can we help?

Here are a few things that caught my attention this week:

Pema Chodron
WHAT IT IS TO BE HUMAN: (Shared by Pema Chodron on Facebook)

“Although it is embarrassing and painful, it is very healing to stop hiding from yourself. It is healing to know all the ways that you shut down, deny, close off, criticize people, all your weird little ways. You can know all that with some sense of humor and kindness. By knowing yourself, you’re coming to know humanness altogether.”
(Start Where You Are)
From Shambhala Heart Advice of the Week

One night at the bookstore:

This is a very fun, short video, about what books do while we sleep.

Fotoshop by Adobe

It’s a whole new you! It’s the secret tool of every celebrity! You have to have it!

See you next week,

Ok, it seems like some kind of wicked cold plague has invaded my household. Of course, I’m not sick. I’m. NOT. Sick. or so I keep telling myself. At least I ‘m not as sick as everyone else.

And it seems like everyone on the planet is ill. Steve, my incredible tech guy, was wicked ill last week. Dan, the business manager coachish guy, was wicked sick. The husband… wait… maybe there’s a pattern there. All the men are sick. Hmmm… y linked trait?? Maybe so…

Hopefully the sick hasn’t invaded your home as it has mine.

While everyone is recovering, here’s your serial round up to keep you entertained.

Chapter Twenty brings the Queen of Cool, now playing at She is Dallas, forward a few weeks. Lo is tucked away somewhere safe while she heals from her head bashing. We catch up with her just as she settles down to really figure out what the heck is going on. Manny shows up a few days later and, via Skype, she tries to tell her family what happened… but… I mean come on! That would be waaaay too easy. (If you want to get started with the story, the first couple chapters are up at the Queen of Cool. Here’s the start at She is Dallas. It’s very fun and fast, so give it a try!)

In Denver Cereal, Tanesha and Jeraine are interviewed by Priceline but we only get to see the pieces they’re using for advertisement. And it’s juicy! Sandy moves her tribe through their transitions as Sissy starts at East High School and Charlie tries out for the basketball team. Of course, we get the sense that everything might not be as easy as it seems. But at least the kids have started school. Who knows what will happen next?

Because Steve was sick last week, we’ve continued the discounts for Cimarron, Denver Cereal Volume 4, and included the eBooks.  You can get a signed copy of Cimarron for $10 + shipping or a copy of the eBooks for $3.50. The sale will continue until January 13th.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!! Here are a few things that caught my eye this week:

Worst Baby Names of 2011:

There are a lot of these lists. I love this list in particular because of this:

Metta World Peace
Okay, so we know Lakers star Ron Artest is far from a baby, but he went through a rebirth of sorts in 2011. Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace (Metta’s his first name and World Peace is the last name). Metta is a Buddhist word that means loving kindness and friendliness toward others. The basketball player said he hoped that his name change would inspire the world’s youth. We’re just glad the NBA lockout is over so we can see “World Peace” on the back of his jersey.

I love that an adult’s name change was on the worst baby names of the year. Makes me smile.

Human Spirit

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ll know that I’m fascinated with people’s capacity to find joy in the midst of great trauma and sorrow. I believe this is our best and most underestimated trait. To this end, I give you:

Everything has gone to shit around them but at least the water’s warm.

Boston Globes Year in Pictures Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Most helpful websites:

Via Jane Friedman here’s the 101 most helpful websites. This is a fascinating list of site particularly for business owners on a shoe string.

Have a wonderful New Year. May all your dreams come true!

See you next week,

Once a year, there’s a magic, beautiful moment when all of our calendars are clear and clean.

This is our household calendar—>

I get these calendars every year from Ling Chang. A breath after this photo was taken, the calendar was invaded with black ink. Soon it will have colored ink for the various projects, backpacking, work trips, dance practices, parties, gardening, vacations, BEES!, and… whatever else the year brings.

I like the big calendar because it helps me relate the months to each other. For example, if we start running in January, we might be ready to do the Big D half marathon in April (or maybe just the 5k!).

Because I do so much, I have calendars for almost everything. I have a calendar for marketing efforts, a writing calendar, and every other kind of calendar you can imagine. This is my workout calendar.

As you can imagine, writing is not the most healthy profession in the world. In fact, almost all of my hero writers died of strokes. Because I spend ten to sixteen hours a day at my desk, it’s important that I keep plan and keep track of my exercise. This is a copy of a calendar system I found, and totally absolutely love, this year. It’s made by George at the Organized Life. (The calendars are inexpensive and truly marvy.)

This is the calendar I’m using for absolutely everything this year. He made a Spring Calendar for me to use to map out what I need to get done by April. I’ve tried every calendar system you can imagine. For some reason, George’s simple system makes amazing sense to me.

Dan Blank, my writing business coach, converted one of the calendars to a Google document which we pass back and forth to each other.  It’s a lovely tool to keep up with whatever mad cap ideas are bubbling around my head – or his more concrete brain.

But, right at this moment, both calendars are clear and clean. I wanted to share with you this wondrous occasion. It only happens once a year.

What systems do you use? What works for you? 

(None of the links are affiliate links. They are just there because the providers are cool, the products in expensive and incredibly useful.)