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Habitations of the Word: Essays (Cornell Paperbacks) |
| Posted by admin in habitation on 10 9th, 2011 |
habitations of the Word: Essays (Cornell Paperbacks)
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, 1985 Now a Cornell Paperback–
“These twelve essays take risks, make connections, give off sparks and illustrate Gass’s love of language. Using Freudian concepts, he compares the art of writing to the art of becoming civilized: writing parallels the transformation of raw instinct into shared expression. . . . Gass writes with impassioned concern.”–Publishers Weekly
“[These] essays [are] meant to enliven the form as Montaigne, Emerson, and Woolf enlivened it. This is an ambitious task, but no contemporary American has better credentials than Gass. . . . He announces a topic, then descants with impressive erudition and unbuttoned ardor for the surprising phrase. The results often dazzle, and they’re unfailingly original, in the root sense of the word–they work back toward some point of origin, generally a point where literature departs from the external world to invent a world of its own.”–Sam Tanenhaus, Village Voice
“William H. Gass is not alone among . . . American fiction writers in giving some of his time and talent to nonfiction, but nobody does it more energetically.”–Frank Kermode, New York Times Book Review
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Hive Naturals? Introduces BeeFertile? Before Trying IVF, Try BeeFertile?: A Natural, Healthy Fertility Supplement |
| Posted by admin in bee hive on 09 22nd, 2011 |
Hive Naturals® Introduces BeeFertile® Before Trying IVF, Try BeeFertile®: A Natural, Healthy Fertility Supplement
Heber City, UT (PRWEB) July 26, 2011
July 2011. When Josh and Chavah went looking for a natural answer to their infertility problems, after exhausting expensive medical options, they discovered an old family formula passed from generation to generation. BeeFertile® is the breakout product from Hive Naturals®, which harnesses the power of bees and other proven natural remedies for those trying to conceive. It was the natural answer Josh and Chavah were looking for.
Hive Naturals® was inspired by Josh and Chavah’s personal quest for a family. They decided to start their family, but, like 1 in 5 couples worldwide, found it difficult to get pregnant. Doctors had no answers for the couple. With fertility methods like IVF too costly for the couple – Josh was working on finishing off his college degree – they were left heartbroken with the lack of options. That is when Chavah’s father suggested that they try an old family formula that he had been recommending to other couples in the family’s health food store for nearly 30 years. The regimen combined almost two-dozen essential oils, vitamins, herbs, and bee products. After three years of trying without BeeFertile’s ingredients, it only took three months into the regimen for Chavah to become pregnant. Inspired by their own conception story and the knowledge that infertility affects 12 million people in the US every year, Josh and Chavah made it their mission to streamline this formula and make it available to everyone looking to conceive – giving birth to BeeFertile® kits.
BeeFertile® is available in three kits: Women’s, Men’s, and Couple’s. Each kit contains a three-month supply of once-daily supplement pills and the proprietary Royal Jelly and Honey mixture designed to optimize each gender’s reproductive health. The Women’s kit seeks to support a healthy reproductive system and egg production through well-researched herbal and natural supplements that includes Chasteberry, Red Raspberry Leaf, and Evening Primrose Oil. The Men’s kit not only seeks to support a healthy male reproductive system but also sperm production through a regimen of vitamins and supplements which includes Pine Bark Extract, CoQ10 and L-Carnitine. One ingredient that sets BeeFertile® further apart, is their inclusion of Royal Jelly in every kit. Royal Jelly is a honey-like substance fed to the Queen Bee to enable her to produce up to 2,000 eggs per day. Not used anywhere else, this nutrient rich substance not only supports improved fertility in both men and women, but also is a potential answer for many of those suffering from PMS, low estrogen levels, and irregular menstrual cycles. These all natural, non-prescription formulas crafted from herbal ingredients, essential vitamins, and bee products have been refined and scientifically validated over the years to improve one’s chances to conceive. Hive Naturals is deeply committed to providing their customers with the finest organic and natural ingredients. They have scoured the globe for not only the best, but the most environmental, safe and suitable sources for every ingredient. BeeFertile® is the easy and cost-effective method to achieve a couple’s goal of naturally building a family.
BeeFertile® is currently only available in the United States, but with word of its success reaching everywhere from Europe to Asia to Africa, Hive Natruals is rapidly expanding. BeeFertile® is the first in many exciting products from HiveNaturals®. Along with CEO Dan Merritts, Josh and Chavah have more than twelve products in the works to support every stage of life from prenatal to post-partum to menopause. HiveNaturals® is a privately run company with one goal in mind: to give others a safe, natural, and affordable path to making their dream of a having a healthy family come true. While other fertility fads have come and gone, BeeFertile® is based on tried and true ingredients that have been researched and used by women around the world for hundreds of years to improve reproductive health. BeeFertile® has already helped hundreds of happy couples conceive: stop trying, start conceiving, be the next BeeFertile® success story.
HiveNaturals® is based in Heber City, Utah, where Josh and Chavah live with their two children (and one on the way!), all conceived with the help of BeeFertile®. Learn more and order at http://www.beefertile.com or by calling 1 (888) 851-3785.
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©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
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Bee Season Has Arrived: Southern California Bee Removal Service Offers Humane Alternative to Extermination |
| Posted by admin in bee hive on 09 9th, 2011 |
Bee Season Has Arrived: Southern California Bee Removal Service Offers Humane Alternative to Extermination
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 21, 2009
Southern California bee removal service, Bee Catchers, http://www.beecatcherssocal.com , advises that warm temperatures and nice weather is signaling the beginning of bee season. In Southern California, bee season can extend well into October. When faced with a hive in or around the house, Bee Catchers says home and business owners might want think twice before calling an exterminator to eliminate a bee problem. Bee Catchers can relocate hives instead of exterminating them.
“Bee Catchers removes bees from areas where they can be potentially harmful to the general public, keeping you and your family safe, and at the same time, maintaining an ecological balance vital to everyone’s survival,” says Nicole Downs, owner of Bee Catchers. “This is why we prefer to take care of honey bees through our live bee removal and relocation service, rather than eradication. We do our best to keep the population of pollinating honey bees stable while removing them.”
That’s what sets Bee Catchers apart from other bee control companies. In addition, all its technicians are licensed, uniformed and trained in pest /bee management.
Services offered by Bee Catchers include:
Honey Bee removal
Wasp removal
Yellow Jacket removal
Africanized Killer Bee removal
Honey Comb Removal
General Pests: Residential and commercial sprays for Ants, Crickets, Roaches, Fleas, etc.
Rodents
Rain Gutter Clean-out
Attic Clean-out
Bee Catchers uses safe and organic methods which are environmentally friendly.
Bee Catchers handles swarms, hives, nests and honeycomb removal for:
Commercial and Industrial Sites
Multi-Unit Housing
Residential
Construction Sites, Movie Sets
Schools
Parks & Recreation Centers
Bee Proofing on Residential and Commercial Structures
Structural repair for stucco, roofs and drywall
Bee Catchers offers inspection services and provides immediate removal seven days a week. The company guarantees its work with a two-year warranty on honeycomb removal for the same location, ans they are State licensed, bonded and insured.
Bee Catchers also responds to emergency calls with fast service and honest rates. For more information, please visit http://www.beecatcherssocal.com .
About Bee Catchers
With over 15 years of experience, Bee Catchers is the premier bee removal and relocation expert in the Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura County areas. Bee Catchers has a team of well-qualified and licensed bee control specialists. Whether customers need bee relocation, beehive removal or bee eradication, Bee Catchers is highly professional and committed to getting the job done right.
Bee Catchers says “Let’s help save the honey bees together! We need them, because without them, the human race would only survive four to five years.” For all the bee lovers out there, Bee Catchers is offering free live bee removal, up to a $ 200 value, to every 20th customer serviced! Ask them for details.
Media Contact:
Steven or Nicole Downs
866-544-0074
818-448-2149
info (at) beecatcherssocal (dot) com
http://www.beecatcherssocal.com
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Attachments
©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Related Bee Hive Press Releases
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Leccion 16: Recrusos de vivenda de linea |
| Posted by admin in vivenda on 09 5th, 2011 |
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Stillwater Dwellings Announces Completion of Sustainable, Prefabricated Home in Santa Barbara, California |
| Posted by admin in dwelling place on 09 3rd, 2011 |
Stillwater Dwellings Announces Completion of Sustainable, Prefabricated Home in Santa Barbara, California
Seattle, WA (PRWEB) May 11, 2011
Sustainable, contemporary prefab home designer and builder Stillwater Dwellings (http://www.stillwaterdwellings.com) today announced the completion of a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,600 square foot prefabricated home with a signature soaring butterfly roofline in Santa Barbara, California. It features extensive green and energy-efficient systems, and many custom modifications unique to the owners. Most important to the homeowners, it was designed in a simple, straight-forward process, built off-site in a controlled environment, and completed for an up-front, fixed price that was a fraction of the site-built alternative.
The home is approximately 1,600 square feet with 320sf garage, and is highlighted by a unique ‘courtyard’ design that emphasizes indoor/outdoor living. Inside, the home is finished with eco-friendly micro-strip birch hardwood and Marmoleum flooring, low VOC paints, dual flush toilets, super-insulated wall and roof construction, and recycled content quartz slab countertops . Outside, the home utilizes a standing seam metal “cool roof” that reflects over 30% of the sun’s rays, and large overhangs that assist with passive cooling. The 35’ wide glass window wall picture frames views under the massive oaks to the creek on the property below and the Santa Ynez mountains beyond. Above, a clerestory window section pops up above the exposed wood beams to a ceiling height of over 11’.
PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS
Like many of Stillwater Dwellings clients, the new owners had already gone through a long process with an architect and contractor, only to find that their site-built dream house was priced at nearly double their budget. Then they turned to the internet and found Stillwater Dwellings. “We wanted a Stillwater home because we had tried working with an architect for plans to build on-site, and the result was a home we wouldn’t have been able to afford. …..We also wanted the convenience of ready-made plans to eliminate the decision-making back-and-forth that can drag on in conventional building process, “ noted homeowner Art Gaspar.
EXPENSIVE CONSTRUCTION MARKET: BETTER SOLUTION
Santa Barbara’s building costs have remained high in the current recession, in part because it’s traditionally an expensive place to build and also because the 2008 Tea fire has kept the home builders busy and building rates one of the highest in the country. This made Stillwater’s approach and costs even more attractive to the clients. Not only were costs less, they were agreed upon in writing before any construction began. The home was processed through the design review committee, permitted, and built in a fraction of the time than was planned for a comparable site-built home. “The process flowed smoothly, and for the most part according to expectations. We also appreciated that the engineering and architectural fees were included in the price.”
A NEW DESIGN, MODIFIED FOR THE OWNERS
This is Stillwater Dwellings first sd132 design. The courtyard home was modified in several simple ways to work with the site conditions. The house was first sited and orientated to protect the old California Oaks. The owners started with Stillwater’s Fundamental Style package, as it included cement-based HardiPanel & batten siding, which exceeded the stringent local wildfire codes. Window sizes and placements were adjusted to maximize views of the oaks and the creek beyond. Minor modifications were then made to increase the length of the guest bedroom wing, add a walk-in closet, and personalize key finishes and colors. To the owners this was monumental, “The modification process was effortless! We subtracted square footage in some rooms, and added it in others. Stillwater was incredibly accommodating and responsive. Right from the beginning we were able to customize the design we selected to suit our site”.
PRESERVATION OF PROTECTIVE TREES & LANDSCAPING
The large 1 acre home-site featured an incredible collection of protected oak trees and sensitive landscape areas leading to a creek. Impacting them in any way was not an option. Modular offsite construction turned out to be the perfect solution. Needing minimal staging and work areas, the modules were picked up from the driveway and lifted over the trees and bushes, and then carefully down onto the foundation.
“We are LOVING our home. Even the dogs’ spirits are high” — the owners.
ABOUT STILLWATER DWELLINGS:
SUSTAINABLE FEATURES:
All Stillwater homes include a high level of green and sustainable living features: low VOC paints, dual flush toilets, ultra-high efficiency heating and hot water systems, natural wool carpeting, prefinished/engineering eco-friendly wood flooring, Marmoleum, engineered quartz slab countertops, over-insulated walls/ceilings/floors, and high-efficiency windows with argon gas and low-e film.
EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY:
All Stillwater homes are built indoors, in climate-controlled conditions to the highest quality standards and the IRC code; the same code that governs conventional site built homes. Homes are transported as 96% complete modules, installed and finished on-site by Stillwater Dwellings. Stillwater believes in utilizing proven, time-tested construction methods, not ‘gimmicky’ process.
PREDICTABLE COST:
All Stillwater clients are given fixed, up-front pricing on their home before any construction begins. Unlike traditional site-built home clients who are given estimates that commonly are exceeded during the building process, Stillwater clients contractually know what their home will cost before they begin.
COMPANY PROFILE:
Founded in 2008, Stillwater Dwellings is a Seattle-based company that designs and builds high quality, prefabricated, contemporary homes featuring quality materials, fine detailing, and eco-friendly features. Our process is the predictable and smart alternative to site-built homes.
The major benefits to our clients are:
Sustainable contemporary architecture
Upfront fixed pricing
A straightforward design modification process
Faster occupancy than the usual design/build process
Exceptional value
All prefab homes have their signature soaring butterfly roofline, unique interior light shelf and exterior “visors”, plate steel entry canopies, and efficient layouts that emphasize indoor/outdoor living and entertaining. We build in an indoor, controlled environment in Oregon, in just a matter of weeks to obtain the highest level of quality, while drastically reducing waste and keeping costs lower and more predictable than a typical site-built home. Our designs are stunning, and shun the typical constraints of “boxy” or overly modern prefab homes.
Stillwater Dwellings portfolio also includes finished homes in Bend & Portland, Oregon, Santa Barbara, CA, and Southern Utah, as well as buildings in production and planning stages in Roslyn, WA and Sonoma, CA. Stillwater Dwellings homes are available throughout the western region of the US, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada.
PRESS KIT & ADDITIONAL/HI-RES IMAGES:
For a complete press kit, hi-resolution images of the interiors, and company overview and bios, please visit our FOR THE PRESS page at http://www.stillwaterdwellings.com.
CONTACT:
Bart Mitchell
Owner, Stillwater Dwellings
ph. 206-547-0565
###
Attachments
©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
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Praia da Pipa, Brasil |
| Posted by admin in praia on 08 30th, 2011 |
Home to dolphins & turtles, the village of Pipa is part of the district of Tibau do Sul, an Indian name meaning between 2 waters (it having the Guarairas lagoon to one side and the Atlantic Ocean to the other). From Orotapiry white mans village in Tupi (an Indian tribal language) to Itacoatiara big yellow rock and Green Cape Point due to the wonderful view of native Atlantic Forest seen by sailors from a distance, the village finally became known as Pipa because the pedra do moleque (which can be seen at the furthermost point of Shipwreck beach (or praia dos Afogados) seemed, at a distance, to look like a barrel of wine or spirits. Maybe its from here that her ability to enrapture adventurers and tourists from the world over comes since the time when pirates of every nationality landed on her shores in search of the famous Brazil wood (pau brasil). And enrapture it does! Even on arriving, from the road you are bewitched by beaches with clear, warm waters, immense coconut palms plantations, natural pools and viewpoints, impressive cliffs, some still covered by Atlantic Forest, white sand dunes, coves and precipices. Situated in the biggest ecological sanctuary in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, chosen by Guia 4 Rodas (the most respected travel book in Brazil) as one of the ten most beautiful beaches in Brazil, Pipa became famous in the 80s thanks to the surfers who discovered its delights. But its not just ideal for surfers; here on offer are boat and canoe rides, buggy …
The Beach (trailer) Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio as Richard Tilda Swinton as Sal Virginie Ledoyen as Françoise Guillaume Canet as Étienne Robert Carlyle as Daffy Staffan Kihlbom as Christo
Video Rating: 4 / 5
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How to Eliminate Bad Habits |
| Posted by admin in habitation on 08 17th, 2011 |
The thought manifests as word; The word manifests as deed;The deed develops into habit;And habit hardens into character.So watch the thought and its ways with care,And let it spring from loveBorn out of concern for all beings.
The Buddha
A cocaine addict, a working person raising a family, a seeker practicing meditation and service, and a highly conscious sage all have the same motivation: the core drive. We all want avoidance of suffering and permanent Love, peace, and safety. What separates us is our habits. Habits rule destiny. Our life is a sequence of habits that determine our course and evolution.
We all have a mix of good and bad habits. Bad habits cause untold suffering. Good habits serve us in the cause of our liberation. To understand how we got where we are and how to change direction, we need to understand the formation and transformation of habits. The seeker will need to release the energy captured by bad habits and transfer this power to liberating good habits.
Any pattern of thought or action repeated many times results in a habit with a corresponding neurosignature, or brain groove. The brain is composed of approximately 100 billion cells, called neurons. A brain groove is a series of interconnected neurons that carry the thought patterns of a particular habit. Attention feeds the habit. When we give our attention to a habit, we activate the brain groove, releasing the thoughts, desires, and actions related to that habit.
The good news is that the brain is malleable. We can change our thoughts and behavior by recruiting new cells to form new brain grooves. Every thought and action is recorded within the interconnected nerve cells, and each repetition adds new depth to the brain groove. If we repeat a thought and action enough times, a habit is formed. Continued repetition strengthens the power of the habit. Inattention and lack of repetition weakens the power of the habit. These principles apply to the formation of both good and bad habits. Positive thoughts and actions create good habits. Negative thoughts and actions create harmful habits.
We can use these principles to eliminate and replace bad habits with good ones. We can gradually starve bad habits to death by not giving them our attention. As we pay more attention to forming a good habit, the new brain groove slowly gains power. Eventually, the new positive brain groove dominates the negative groove, and good habits drive out the bad. Without this transformation, spiritual growth is impossible.
When we are assigned painful problems in the school of life, we need to do the homework. All too often, however, we play hooky by escaping into the pleasures of a bad habit. If we repeat this behavior, at some point we get addicted. We end up with the original problem and a host of additional difficulties associated with addiction. Addiction leads to wild emotions, mental storms, paranoia, rage, humiliation, chaotic relationships, job loss, disease, and death. We can avoid this by doing our homework, by learning how to be good pain managers. Learning how to manage our suffering is critical on the spiritual path. However, most of us slide down the path of bad habits early in our lives in our attempt to avoid pain.
Bad habits include smoking, use of drugs or alcohol, excessive eating, compulsive gambling, compulsive shopping, addiction to the internet, computer or television, addiction to sex, money, fame, work, activity, power, or dependency on others at the expense of independence and individuality (a condition known as codependency or relationship addiction). Although bad habits are pleasurable in the beginning, their eventual evolution into emptiness and torment is inevitable as they force us to act in ways contrary to our true nature. We want to express Love, compassion, kindness, patience, and courage.
To begin the process of transforming bad habits to spiritual power, we must recognize that the pain of the bad habit is worse than the pain of healing. Cultivating good habits is difficult, but it is more difficult to maintain bad habits.
There are hundreds of good physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual habits. These fall into three categories:
Constructive activities related to health, work, relationships, recreation, or hobbies.
The habits of a seeker: the spiritual methods described in this and other spiritual books.
The habits of a sage: spiritual qualities such as Love, compassion, forgiveness, courage, strength, and others listed in the spiritualalphabet.
The time to create these positive habits is now. Every time we repeat a thought or action of a bad habit, it maintains or gains power.
Procrastination weakens our will to the point that we think we cannot change. Before we know it, the habit has locked us in a prison of our own making. We may not even know if a habit already has enough power to imprison us for decades: we only discover its power when one day we try to stop it and find out we cannot.
Assume a virtue if you have it not.Refrain tonight,And that shall lend a kind of easinessTo the next abstinence, the next more easy;For use almost can change the stamp of nature,And either lodge the devil or throw him outWith wondrous potency.
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Shakespeare, Hamlet
Following is a technique for replacing bad habits with good, spiritual habits:
Introspection
Avoid everything associated with the bad habit
Affirmations and will
Constructive meaningful activities
The habits of a seeker
The habits of a sage
Support
Solitude
Perseverance
10.Victory
INTROSPECTION
Make a list of the habits you would like to change. Examples of bad habits include smoking, substance abuse, gambling, compulsive eating, addiction to sex, computers, money, power, work, and codependency or addiction to people.
AVOID EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH THE BAD HABIT
People, environment, routines, and our own thoughts are the breath that gives life to the brain groove of a bad habit. With continued stimulation, a bad habit grows, our will weakens, and we slide off the spiritual path. However, the neurocircuit for the bad habit remains dormant in the subconscious if we give it no thought or attention. We can gain power over a bad habit by avoiding exposure to everything associated with it. Stay away from the negative environment, people, and actions that supported the habit, until the new brain groove is strong. Avoid thinking about the bad habit as much as possible. We are subject to craving in an instant, if not careful. Even a passing thought or image of the negative habit can awaken desire. The more we let the idea play in our minds, the more at risk we are of recurrent addiction. Starve the bad habit to death by inattention.
AFFIRMATIONS AND WILL
Review the lessons on affirmations and will to see how thought power and will power can erase even the deepest grooves of long standing habits. The mind has the key that can unlock the door of a bad habit, as a single thought or visual image can stimulate craving. We need to choose our thoughts carefully. Thoughts associated with our bad habits do pass through our consciousness against our will, however. To prevent these thoughts from becoming action, we must work against them. As soon as we become aware of the unwanted thought, we can knock it out with will and affirmations. We can invoke our will at full power, deploy our favorite affirmations, and turn to good and spiritual actions. These include constructive meaningful activities, the habits of a seeker, and the habits of a sage.
ENGAGE IN CONSTRUCTIVE MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES
Make a list of activities related to your work, chores, relationships,leisure, recreation, hobbies, and self-nurturance. These activities are apart of your repertoire of positive habits. You can use these activities toward off the thoughts and impulses related to your bad habits. Such alist might include playing and watching sports, listening to or playing music, television, the Internet, movies, reading, writing, studying, exercise, arts and crafts, board games, crossword or jigsaw puzzles, gardening, paying bills, shopping, cooking, cleaning, taking a nap, getting a massage, and so on.
CULTIVATE THE HABITS OF A SEEKER
The habits of a seeker include any spiritual technique that leads to the growth of spiritual qualities. For our purposes, these are affirmations, will, surrender, contemplation, breathwork, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, practicing the presence of God, service, prayer, yoga, and the transformation of emotion.
CULTIVATE THE HABITS OF A SAGE
The habits of a sage are the spiritual qualities listed in the spiritual alphabet. These include Love, compassion, understanding, forgiveness,courage, strength, endurance, peace, and joy.
If constructive meaningful activities, spiritual practice, and spiritual qualities keep the door of the bad habit locked, craving is kept at bay. We are safe. On the other hand, if despite our best efforts, the door of bad habits opens, the seductive music of craving may bring us to the brink of relapse. If this occurs, we must surround ourselves with people who will protect us from negative actions.
SUPPORT
We need to surround ourselves with people who support our spiritual goals. Friends and family associated with our bad habits often try to pull us back. When we move forward, they take it personally. Moreover, we are afraid of finding new people. We must get throughthis fear to create a supportive network of people with like-minded goals who act as our spiritual bodyguards, protecting us from ourselves in moments of vulnerability.
SOLITUDE
To heal completely, we need to practice discipline when we are alone. This is a tall order. Many of us are afraid to be alone and of the unknown. With continued practice, however, we will gain the necessary courage and self-control to resist craving even when we are alone. Then we do not need bodyguards. Eventually, craving ceases.
PERSEVERANCE
Change is difficult. Some strong bad habits may take years to break. Tests, trials, and temptations come. Setbacks occur. Back and forth movement between old and new patterns is a natural part of the process. Do not give up. When you slip and fall, be sure to create the mental habit of gentleness with yourself, while using the remorse,regret, or disgust you may feel as an incentive to push you on to greater efforts.
VICTORY
Keep feeding the positive habit to make it stronger and starving the negative habit to make it weaker. Give the best of your effort, concentration, and attention to the new habit until it takes over and becomes a natural, effortless, and automatic part of your repertoire. Keep battling and you will win. Craving ceases. Peace and strengthdeepen. Life becomes easier and more natural.
The ego, in its drive for immediate gratification, gets us into trouble with addiction and attachment. Not only do we lose pre-existing strength, but spiritual qualities cannot grow. On the other hand, our souls yearn for Love, and are willing to pay the price of work and patience. As we practice the methods of a seeker, we reinforce the neurocircuits containing spiritual qualities such as Love, compassion, understanding, strength, and courage, until these become unconditional habits. In the end, we realize our true spiritual identity by reconditioning our brain with soul qualities. We do not have to think about our practice. We express the habits of a sage, the Love qualities, automatically, naturally, and easily.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
• In the beginning of our spiritual work, it may be difficult to gettraction. We can gain momentum by setting reasonable goals, taking small steps, achieving modest successes, and building from there.
• The next step in our spiritual development is in the immediate moments of our lives. However, when we do not like what is going on, we leap out of the moment and back into an unhealthy habit. We hypnotize and narcotize ourselves in order to avoid unpleasant feelings. Instead, choose constructive, meaningful activities and the spiritual methods of a seeker to develop the spiritual qualities of a sage.
• Break bad habits of thought, attitude, emotion, desire, energy,and action so you can emerge from the past and find yourself renewed: fresh, spontaneous, and in the moment.
AFFIRMATIONS
I can eliminate any bad habit.
I expand my will power through practice.
With my expanded will power, I escape from bad habits.
One by one, I eliminate all bad habits.
Nothing can stand in my way.
Nothing can touch my will.
Nothing can shake my resolve.
My will power grows stronger each day.
My mind is set.
Nothing can stop me.
I will succeed.
Old friends who would have me indulge my bad habits are out.
With will and thought, I conquer every bad habit, one at a time.
I am not my bad habits. My true self is free to be warm, compassionate, loving, and kind.
I am stronger than any negative desire or temptation.
No matter how many times I fail, I will rise and conquer.
As I strengthen my body through physical exercise, I strengthen my will with mental exercise.
With will and thought, I cast out this bad habit from the neurocircuits in my brain.
With will and thought, I cultivate the habits of a sage: Love, peace of mind, compassion, and strength.
EXERCISES
Make a list of your good and bad habits. Which habits would you like to change now?
What barriers keep you from changing your bad habits?
Make a list of constructive, meaningful activities that you will use to avoid bad habits.
What spiritual methods would you like to practice?
What spiritual qualities would you like to develop?
What will you do when craving for a destructive habit returns?
Practice the ten steps for replacing bad habits with good and spiritual habits.
Keep a log. Each day you can inspect the status of your habits. Give yourself credit for your successes. Recognize your slips, but do not dwell on the bad habit; this only reinforces the associated brain groove. Instead, cultivate the mental habit of being gentle with yourself while you focus on the good habits you are creating. In the next section, we will study five techniques that comprise a morning and evening spiritual program. These techniques are progressive muscle relaxation, breathwork, contemplation, meditation, and prayer.
More Habitation Articles
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The Apartment (Collector’s Edition) Reviews |
| Posted by admin in habitation on 08 15th, 2011 |
The Apartment (Collector’s Edition)
Winner* of five 1960 Academy AwardsÂ(r), including Best Picture, The Apartment is legendary writer/director Billy Wilder at his scathing, satirical best, and one of “the finest comedies Hollywood has turned out” (Newsweek). C.C. “Bud” Baxter (Jack Lemmon) knows the way to success in business…it’s through the door of his apartment! By providing a perfect hideaway for philandering bosses, the ambitious young employee reaps a series of undeserved promotions. But when Bud lends the key to big boss J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), he not only advances his career, but his own love life as well. For Sheldrake’s mistress is the lovely Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), elevator girl and angel of Bud’s dreams. Convinced that he is the only man for Fran, Bud must makethe most important executive decision of his career: lose the girl…or his job. *1960: Director, Story and Screenplay, Editing, Art Direction (B&W)Romance at its most anti-romantic–that is the Billy Wilder stamp of genius, and this Best Picture Academy Award winner from 1960 is no exception. Set in a decidedly unsavory world of corporate climbing and philandering, the great filmmaker’s trenchant, witty satire-melodrama takes the office politics of a corporation and plays them out in the apartment of lonely clerk C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon). By lending out his digs to the higher-ups for nightly extramarital flings with their secretaries, Baxter has managed to ascend the business ladder faster than even he imagined. The story turns even uglier, though, when Baxter’s crush on the building’s melancholy elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) runs up against her long-standing affair with the big boss (a superbly smarmy Fred MacMurray). The situation comes to a head when she tries to commit suicide in Baxter’s apartment. Not the happiest or cleanest of scenarios, and one that earned the famously caustic and cynically humored Wilder his share of outraged responses, but looking at it now, it is a funny, startlingly clear-eyed vision of urban emptiness and is unfailingly understanding of the crazy decisions our hearts sometimes make. Lemmon and MacLaine are ideally matched, and while everyone cites Wilder’s Some Like It Hot closing line “Nobody’s perfect” as his best, MacLaine’s no-nonsense final words–”Shut up and deal”–are every bit as memorable. Wilder won three Oscars for The Apartment, for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay (cowritten with longtime collaborator I.A.L. Diamond). –Robert Abele
List Price: $ 14.98
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Easy Green Living: The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home |
| Posted by admin in green living on 08 13th, 2011 |
Easy Green Living: The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home
We are what we eat, but we also are what we use to clean our homes, pamper our skin, and decorate our rooms, according to Renée Loux, accomplished raw food chef, award-winning author, and host of Fine Living TV’s Easy Being Green. In her new book, Easy green living, she applies her whole-foods philosophy to home, garden, and beauty routines.
As recent special issues of Vanity Fair, Time, Newsweek, and other major publications have demonstrated, going green is an idea whose time has come. Whether addressing big-picture topics like renewable energy, or offering simple suggestions for everyday living, this complete lifestyle guide shows that healthier choices don’t mean a radical or complicated life change–it is, after all, easy to be green.
List Price: $ 25.00
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ApartmentRatings.com Releases Integration with Google Maps API |
| Posted by admin in habitation on 08 9th, 2011 |
ApartmentRatings.com Releases Integration with Google Maps API
AUSTIN, TX, (PRWEB) July 21, 2005
Apartment Ratings (http://www.apartmentratings.com), the leading website that helps renters find better apartments, has added mapping functionality enabled by the Google Maps API. Renters now have the ability to search for the best-rated apartments by exploring city maps.
Apartment Ratings is the first major apartment website to release an integration with the Google Maps API. Google announced availability of the Google Maps API for independent 3rd-party developers on June 29. The ApartmentRatings.com maps integration, which launched today, debuts in time to assist renters at the height of the 2005 apartment hunting season.
Unlike Housingmaps.com which displays Craigslist.org postings on Google Maps, ApartmentRatings.com displays maps of nearly 50,000 apartments nationwide and leverages its database of over 250,000 apartment ratings and reviews to help renters locate the best apartments for rent.
Visitors to ApartmentRatings.com can browse apartment listings by ratings, narrow their search to a zip code, and now explore apartments within virtually every city nationwide by clicking a Google Map. Each apartment is plotted on the map with a pin that has been color-coded according to the percentage of renters who have recommended the apartment community, making it easier for renters to spot the best apartments, the best neighborhoods, or the diamonds in the rough.
“We believe browsing apartment ratings and reviews via maps is a significant innovation that will make it easier for renters to find the best apartments,” said Jeremy Bencken, General Manager of Apartment Ratings. “Our focus on the user experience is central to our missionÂ?to build renter-centric tools, a unique niche among the top apartment sites. Ultimately we believe our apartment ratings and apartment reviews create more informed renters who will find the best apartment to meet their unique needs.”
The service also breaks ground with new technology. Apartment Ratings is first to launch a Google Maps API integration that relies on incrementally-loading and pre-caching of just-off-map locations. “To enable this functionality, we have solved some significant technical challenges that have previously limited other sites to small numbers of mappable points. Our integration incrementally loads dynamic information in real-time as users browse the maps and vastly expands the number of locations we can display for users,” said Mr. Bencken. “Our technology makes the map points fast-loading yet very comprehensive, and significantly enhances the user experience.”
To read rentersÂ? ratings and reviews and browse ratings displayed via Google Maps, please visit the website at:
http://www.apartmentratings.com
About Apartment Ratings
Apartment Ratings is the leading national website that provides apartment ratings and reviews of apartments in the United States. The service is distinguished among national Internet Listing Services (ILSÂ?s) by its renter-centric focus and deep content on over 29,000 apartment communities. Competitors include Yahoo! Local, Rent.com (recently acquired by EBAY), Apartments.com, and ForRent.com. In 2004, ApartmentRatings.com became one of the top six most-popular websites among apartment hunters. The Google Maps API is made available to independent 3rd party developers like ApartmentRatings.com, and by offering the service, Google has not endorsed, supported, nor is affiliated with 3rd party sites using the service.
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