Feeling Overwhelmed? Clean Your Desk

messy-deskYou’re winding down your week, and this weekend you won’t be cramming in work during every free block of time that pops up. You’re taking the weekend off. Good for you! But how do you put your work aside and forget about it…oh, and wouldn’t it be nice to avoid the Sunday evening dread about what you will be facing in the morning?

As simple as it sounds, clearing off your desk before you shut down for the week can do wonders for your enjoyment of your work-free weekend. And it can generate feelings of preparedness for Monday. Take it one step further and adopt a more organized and consistent approach to your working environment, and you may find that you are happier, less stressed, and even more productive.

So, why does a clean and organized desk help deal with overwhelm? The answer is as simple as the concept: >>>

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Thalia Kids’ Book Club Camp

Symphony Space's Thalia Kids' Book Club, now in its third season, will launch the first-ever Thalia Kids' Book Club Camp this August. In addition to meeting with authors, young readers and writers will have the opportunity to take part in writing workshops, create writing portfolios and discuss books with their peers. Featured authors include Brian Selznick, Katherine Marsh and Michael Winerip. Additional information is available at the Symphony Space Web site.

Secrets for Generating Maximum Attention-Getting Power in Your Ads

Four basic but powerful tips ...

Pivotal advertisements

1. Size matters.

The purpose of a headline or subhead is to seize the reader's attention. Larger and bolder heads generally seize attention better than smaller, lighter ones.

2. Dazzle 'em with color.

The judicious use of color can add big impact to your headlines and other attention-getting copy. Entire libraries of books have been written on color psychology. In a nutshell, most say that cold colors - blues and pastels, for example - tend to relax us. Hotter colors - highly saturated oranges, reds, and earth tones - warm us up.

3. Look him in the eye.

Since we were kids, we've been taught to look at people who are talking to us. And we've been taught that people who do not look us in the eye are not to be trusted. Including a photo of a person talking to your reader - and putting the headline in that person's voice - is a powerful way to seize a prospect's attention.

4. Less is more.

Too many graphic devices will only serve to confuse the eye. When everything is emphasized, nothing stands out. Create a focal point - the main headline - and drive the reader's eye to it.

- Clayton Makepeace

[ Clayton Makepeace offers help in reaping maximum profits through the Internet, direct mail, and print advertising every week in his e-zine The Total Package. Learn 177 of his surprising secrets that have doubled his clients' profits in a year and quadrupled them in 36 months in his newly published e-book "Double Your Profits in 12 Months or Less!"

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Me Myself or I?

[From Judy Vorfield]

Me, Myself, or I?
Have you ever wondered if you should say, "Jason and myself..." or "Jason and I..."? Wonder no more! I have the answer.
"Myself" is a reflexive pronoun, a personal pronoun that relates (think "reflect") the action of the verb back to the subject. Examples: I drove the car myself. (I-myself.) He drove by himself (he-himself). They went by themselves (they-themselves).
CLUE: When using "myself," make sure there is an "I" earlier in the sentence.Example 1.INCORRECT: Nancy will travel with Todd and myself.EXPLANATION: Let's remove "Todd and" from the sentence. Nancy will not travel with myself. "Myself" must be a reflection of "I," and there's no "I" in the sentence.CORRECT: Nancy will travel with Todd and me.
Example 2.INCORRECT: Mother and myself will go to the store.EXPLANATION: Let's remove "Mother and." Would you say, "Myself will go to the store"?CORRECT: Mother and I will go to the store.
Reflexive pronouns like "myself" can't be the subject of a sentence. They're generally used to emphasize something. "I'll do it" isn't as strong as "I'll do it myself." Sometimes reflexive pronouns are called "self"ish pronouns.
Additional Resources:
* Reflexive Pronouns* Professor Paul Brians: I/Me/Myself* The Tongue Untied

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"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."

Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Create that winning feeling

I believe we would all agree that having a winning feeling is prerequisite to achieving outstanding results. A person can't possibly expect to win if they're constantly focusing on failure! The real secret here is to capture that winning feeling of success as often as you can to create the environment necessary to succeed.

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Video – The Road to Meaning


The process of reading is very like that of driving a car. As readers, it is our charge to "navigate" our way to meaning as we enter nonfiction texts and tasks. For students the, road to meaning in informational text is one paved with challenge and complexity.  This presentation explores what great "drivers" need to do before, during, and after reading to successfully arrive at their final destination...UNDERSTANDING THE BIG IDEA!

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Rowling’s Originality Under Question Again

I don’t even want to think about the possibility that J.K. Rowling ripped off the work of another author in creating her beloved and top selling Harry Potter series of books. However, since everyone else is thinking about it, I don’t have to. Here are some of those links: The New York Times, Coventry Telegraph, E! Online, CBC, Sky News, Entertainment Weekly and The Daily Mail who go to the trouble of encapsulating the whole mess:

more..

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‘Blood Ties’ Takes Red House Prize


Sophie McKenzie's Blood Ties, a YA thriller that explores genetic engineering, has won Britain’s Red House Children's Book Award, the only prize voted for entirely by children (this year, more than 143,000). U.S. rights, which are held by agent Rosemary Canter, have not yet been sold. more » » »

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Eduspeak

[From THIS is TRUE www.thisistrue.com]

EDUSPEAK: Forget "compare and contrast"; schoolchildren now learn "text-to-text connections". They don't go to "home room" but rather "Achievement Time" or, in some schools, "Time to Care". The temporary classroom is now a "learning cottage" rather than a "trailer". Even the humble essay is gone, replaced by the "extended constructed response".
"If teachers want to talk in those terms among themselves, they're welcome to," says Vocabulary Review publisher Hartwell Fiske. "But introducing children to them is criminal, dehumanizing." Students agree. "It's like renaming a prison 'The Happy Fun Place'," complains a Maryland senior. "Tests should be called tests. 'Brief constructed response'; you just wonder why they don't say 'paragraph'." (Washington Post) ...It's nice that kids still get to learn about George Orwell.