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Need motivation? Then it’s time for Sun Tzu’s, “The Art of War”

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Statue of Sun Tzu in Yurihama, Tottori, in Japan

I’m not sure how I heard about Sun Tzu’s, “The Art of War,” but it piqued my interest as a book I needed to read.

Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general known to be a great war leader and strategist. His goal was always to try and win a battle without fighting and if he did have to fight, to win the easiest battles first. If you read his book, you’ll find that his war strategies apply to business as well.

When I was in Singapore, I was determined to visit a bookstore and find Sun Tzu’s book. I also wanted to explore “other” interesting books that I might not find back home. The bookstore, of course, had a variety of books from Asian authors (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), a great Supply Chain section and a big area for best selling American novels as well.

image1Being the popular book that it is, the bookstore was out of Sun Tzu’s, “The Art of War;” however, they had a business version called, “Sun Tzu for Success: How to Use The Art of War to Master Challenges and Accomplish the Important Goals in Your life,” by Gerald Michaelson with Steven Michaelson.

As I started flipping through the pages, I was hooked. Michaelson takes Sun Tzu’s strategies and relates them to management/business situations. In Section One of Michelson’s book he talks about the importance of understanding “who you are.” He says that Sun Tzu’s philosophy was about knowing yourself, because if you do not know yourself, you are your worst enemy.

Sun Tzu/Michaelson’s goal is to prove to us that no matter how challenged life can be, we are in charge of our destiny, our dreams and our goals. For any hurdle in life, we need to find that inner passion and strength to “stay strong” and want to push through “rejections/failures” in our studies, jobs, owning a business, and more. It takes hard work to win!

I leave you with another bit of inspiration…

Midas Kwant (a 19 year old from the Netherlands), gave an inspiring TedxMaastricht talk on “Finding your Passion.” He talks about being really unhappy in grade school and how his life changed with the determination of his parents and a “little bit of luck.”

Here is to staying positive in life. By reading, learning, meeting new people and sharing inspiring stories, we help each other.

REMEMBER:  When we least expect it, miracles and creative ideas come to us that change the course of our lives. One small act of kindness toward someone can change the course of THEIR day, and the smile they give us warms our hearts and changes OUR day too!

So, I challenge you to go out and do one kind deed today!   Good luck, be creative!

Ok, Star Wars Fans – A Stormtrooper Toaster has arrived!

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Aren’t there those days that you are plugging along, trying to be productive… WHEN an email comes in and you are about to “delete it,” but the header (stormtrooper) catches your attention.

Your memories are brought back to May 25, 1977 when the very first “Star Wars” movie came out and you are “forced” to open the email. What you find doesn’t disappoint!  You see a stormtrooper toaster and a darth vader waffle iron.

You smile and think…  Life can’t get any better. I’m all for starting the morning out FEELING like the “FORCE IS WITH ME!”

Breakfast will never be the same!  Click here  to see the toaster on Amazon.

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU today!

Nashville – Go see Bellissima! The Italian Automotive Renaissance, 1945 – 1975

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old-fiat-in-italyIf you love old cars, you have to hurry! Nashville is having a fantastic auto show called, “Bellissima! (translation: gorgeous) The Italian Automotive Renaissance, 1945 – 1975.  The show is at The Frist Center for Visual Arts and ends October 9th, 2016. Sorry for the short notice.

italian-map-bootThis tour of 19 Italian built automobiles is post-World War II era. They are designed by Alfa Romeo, Ducati, Bizzarrini, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia and Maserati. You’ll see Italian coachbuilt cars, concept cars and motorcycles from the economic revival period known as “The Italian Economic Miracle.” From what I have read, The Italian Economic Miracle was given this name by historians to indicate a time in history when Italy was flourishing. Italians are known for fashion; however, did you know they also produced type writers, washing machines, refrigerators, plastics, sewing machines, and inexpensive motor scooters. They were known for their elegant designs and inexpensive production techniques at this time. The Italians do have a sense of style in anything they do…. AND food/music, we enjoy it all!

If you love Italy, like I do, and are curious about Italian history, I encourage you to CLICK on the links above. Learn a little bit about Italy.

What I find amazing about these cars is that quite a few of them look “space age,” which is where we are headed now with car designs. So, if you are in the Nashville neighborhood, bring your espresso coffee with you and tour through a piece of Italian history AND do me a favor, find out “how” they chose Nashville for this tour, I’m curious!

Tree Spirits… St. Simons Island, Georgia

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fullsizerender-2When I saw this sculpture of a man’s face in the tree, my first thought was of the movie, “Scrooge,” where Scrooge’s deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him as a ghost. There is that same ghostly feel to the man carved in the tree. My next thoughts were, “who carved this man’s face, why, and where.”

I soon learned that on St. Simons Island, GA, there are a lot of old oak trees. Long ago, these oak trees were used to build ships and many sailors died on those ships out at sea. Sculptor, Keith Jennings, was commissioned to create faces in approximately 20 oak trees around the island, which commemorate the lives of sailors who were lost at sea. Jennings has referred to these sculptures as “tree spirits.” He has said he feels the trees talk to him and that is how he does his sculptures. Not all of the sculptures are of men. For those who are curious now, you can follow Tree Spirits of St. Simons Island on Facebook.

There is something haunting and realistic about the sculptures. For sure, they seem to want to speak to us and tell us of their sorrows. So, if you like a treasure hunt, take a trip to St. Simons, pull out your map and try to locate the 20 different “tree spirits” on the island.

Do you really think that there are spirits in the trees?  I wonder…

The $100 Golden Donut

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The $100 Golden Cristal Ube Donut at Manila Social Club. (MANILASOCIALCLUB VIA INSTAGRAM)

There is something comforting about donuts. We like them at work in the morning, on the weekend and who doesn’t remember after a College party wanting to stop for a donut on the way back to the dorms.

So, I knew my daughter was homesick when she said she was Googling donuts. While her Googling results did not find a place open in Ireland for late night delivery, she did come across the donut of all donuts. A golden donut, which costs $100 out of Brooklyn… and we both laughed with relief, because they do not ship Internationally yet!

In this Youtube video created by Barcroft TV, click here, you can see how Björn De La Cruz, executive-chef and co-owner at the Manila Social Club in Brooklyn, New York decided to create this luxurious eatable masterpiece.

I know… some of you are fainting, some of you are in an uproar saying your Dunkin’ Donuts at 99 cents is good enough and you would NEVER pay $100 for a donut, but before you write this off, consider that luxury and decadence comes at a cost. My daughter is into baking, so for her trying this donut would be “worth it” to find out WHAT a luxurious donut really tastes like. Now, we could be economical about this. Let’s say we ordered this golden donut to celebrate the New Year and we had 10 friends visiting. That would break down the individual cost of the donut to $10 each. Now, we’d have to be really accurate in cutting the donut into 10 individual bites, so we wouldn’t lose even one flake of gold. THEN we would make a toast and each eat our bite at the same time bringing in the New Year!  Eating gold on New Year’s Eve should indicate a prosperous New Year is ahead, YES?

So, I ask you… Is a golden donut worth $100?   What’s on your Bucket List?

“Guardian of the Spirit”

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Sharing with you some photos from my walk this weekend up by Discovery Park, where my friend and I came across the “Guardian of the Spirit” statue here in Seattle. There was a write up below the statue, which I hope you can read.

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Have you ever seen a Dream Catcher?  Here’s one…

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If you visit the Pacific Northwest, you will notice that this area is rich in Native American history. There is a lot to learn and explore and for sure you’ll come across a totem poll and you might even see a Pow Wow taking place!

Sleep well — your dream catcher will take the bad dreams away!

My First Race – Dragon Boat Racing

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IMG_3594I heard a team captain say they were “short” one woman to be able to form a team for the Dragon Boat races that were coming up, so I shyly raised my hand.  DONE – I was part of the team!

Our day started at 5 AM on Saturday. We had to drive to the location, set up and prepare for the day’s events. A group got there before us and set up our tents. We all brought food for a pot luck and stored our bags, paddle, etc.  FYI: Never forget your towel and change of clothes. You do get wet, it’s fun, but not if you can’t change your clothes on a cold day.

IMG_3601When we practice we do not have a dragon head on our boat, so I was curious to see how this would look.  I didn’t realize that there is a real drum on the boat too. For those of you who do not know much about dragon boat racing I’ll fill you in. There are 20 paddlers to a boat. The first two paddlers at the front of the boat are called, “the strokes,” they set the pace for the boat.

The drummer uses the drum to set the pace of the strokes, so this person must have a loud voice for all of us to hear. When we are paddling it’s easy to get distracted by the boats next to us and their drum beats. I also learned that you lose time if you look up to see “how” you are doing in the race, best to stay focused and give your strokes ALL you’ve got. Finally, there is the steerperson at the back of the boat, who steers the boat and also gives IMG_3609commands to the paddlers. Here is a glossary of Dragon Boat terms.

We raced about 500 meters in 2.5 minutes. There were four boats racing at once and it took a little time to get us ALL lined up. I know 2.5 minutes might not seem long, but imagine how you feel when you are doing “planks” at the gym. You start out strong and then your arms get tired and it takes everything you’ve got to keep in the plank position. Same with paddling, you force yourself to continue paddling through the pain and finish STRONG. That’s where the drum beat comes in, it keeps the team focused.

BAD NEWS – We didn’t win!

GOOD NEWS – We had a lot of fun, we worked as a team and after our 3rd time out, we improved our time, and we finished STRONG!  It was a great day!   GO TRY IT!

Coyote versus the Fox

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imageMy brother took this photo of a coyote in his backyard. Beautiful picture!

When I saw the photo, it made me think of a few children’s stories, i.e Little Red Riding Hood, Aesop’s Fables: The Fox and the Grapes and Pinocchio. However, I realized those stories use a “fox” as a character and not a “coyote,” but I thought how similar these animals look. So, I found a photo of a fox to compare to the coyote, you can see as well.

I am in the process of writing a children’s book and it seems that the animals most used are mice, bears, foxes and frogs.. not a coyote very often and if it is used it seems to be in a story related to the Southwest. Although, now the coyote has ventured to normal neighborhoods like our small town in Indiana.

imageAs the Universe would have it, I was reading the WSJ the other day and there was an article about coyotes by David Roberts called, “The Original Bolshevik.” It did not paint a pretty picture of the coyote. I enjoyed the article as it gave a little history lesson on who the coyote is and where he has come today.

I smiled when Roberts said in the past, the settlers would “fear” the howl, whine and chatter of the coyote and now when we hear the howling on a camping trip, we are not afraid, but more interested in catching a glimpse of this animal with the vision of the moon behind him, which is the picture etched in our minds. I guess it would be like catching a glimpse of a bat or a vampire… we want to see “what they are up to” in the dark of the night, from a distance, of course, so we can write about it!

In my Google search I read that coyotes/foxes do not normally hurt or eat humans, but they have been venturing toward neighborhoods in search of food. Many people leave cat/dog food out and they like it. They also eat squirrels, rabbits, mice, rats, insects, fish, frogs, berries and different fruits.

The howling is a group exercise I read and a form of communication between them, but nothing more and they are sneaky and smart with a keen sense of smell. I think this is why we find them intriguing, we just don’t know what they are “up to.”

For example, when I lived in Chicago the media was in uproar when a “coyote” walked into a Quizno’s sandwich shop during the day and went to lie down in the cooler where they had the cold drinks. That caught everyone by surprise.

I told you… they are sneaky!

Climbing Mount Si

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imageI climbed Mount Si this past weekend. I’m sure you are wondering about it, so I will refer you to Washington Trails Association’s (WTA) website where they have a write up about this climb. WTA is the nation’s largest state-based hiking non-profit organization. They do a great job of promoting all the different hikes in Washington.

Mount Si is a 8 mile hike round trip. I wanted to challenge myself by climbing a mountain, but this was a tough climb. Some of the reviews referred to this hike as a “challenge,” I thought it was more than that, at times, “tortuous.” I guess it depends on what shape you are in, and if your boots are working properly. Some people were whizzing by, obviously having done it before.

The picture I took is of the view from the top. It was spectacular and a perfect day. I even got an interesting bird in the photo.  Anyone know what it is?  There was a cute chipmunk who was running around, not afraid and hoping for food along with some small birds.

chipmunkThe climb took us about 3 hours up the mountain. Going down was tough, because it was steep and my shoes were not cooperating. I didn’t have enough cushion in them and my feet kept moving forward. There were a few times that I hoped a rescue team might come by, my feet were hurting so much, but that miracle did not happen. My friend made a joke that I was not going to be able to manifest it. So, I gave up on the wishing, and focused on getting down.

There were quite a few hikers with dogs and even some who were carrying babies in their packs. I hoped they were in good shape climbing up, because it could get rocky and one stumble and over the cliff you go. One poor dog was so little and panting furiously. I wasn’t sure he/she should have been on the climb. For sure this dog needed some water and “fast.”

Last night, I was sore and stiff and not able to think about my next hike. Now, it is a day later, pain in the legs is subsiding and I am READY for the next challenge. Although, other hikes at 4 miles round trip are going to be easy compared to Mount Si. I hear Rattlesnake Ledge is a good one.

Mount Rainier, the BIG HIKE, that will have to wait!

Seattle Yarn Shop Tour…

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This week started The 2016 LYS (yarn) Tour. Great idea, see the map. In five days you have a chance to visit 28 different yarn shops. At each shop you have them stamp your passport and then your completed passport is entered into a drawing to win prizes.

As I moved to Seattle, maybe because of a lot of rainy days, I suddenly had the urge to knit again. It was my Italian grandmother who taught me how to knit and crochet. Imagine that – she spoke no English. I considered it “on the job training.” I didn’t speak Italian and I didn’t know how to knit, so with a lot of hand movements and facial expressions she taught me basic knitting/crocheting. She kept saying, “Hai capito (you understand)?” I did a lot of head nodding for YES and NO at that time.

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Stitches from my first cowl neck project.

Starting up again, I was getting tired of the basic knit / purl stitches, I was ready to challenge myself.  I was at one of the yarn shops looking at different scarf samples and settled on a cowl neck pattern. I found knitting instructions on YouTube.com for different stitches (good thing for rewind, pause and fast forward). Before I knew it, I had completed an intermediate project, which was a proud moment…  EXCEPT that now it is Spring/Summer, so I have to wait for Fall to wear it. Well, knitting is like that, you don’t always finish your project in the “right season.”

imageYesterday, I ventured to Bainbridge Island to visit the Churchmouse Yarns and Teas store. What a lovely store, I felt like I was in New England. The Ferry Boat ride was fun.

If you are doing the tour, there is still one day left!

Try not to go broke (grin)!

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