Financial Reality
Mike’s blog
http://www.alamedalearning.com/reality/

Financial Independence
My financial blog
http://www.alamedalearning.com/independence/

Alameda Learning – projects
nutrition, learning and living
boomers, 50 plus, adult living, third age
Projects, interests, clients, online teaching and learning
http://alamedalearning.com/projects

Farmstead Cheese News
Our neighbor Karen’s site in Wordpress with Google Ads
The ads are pretty well hidden “below the fold” and proabably aren’t seen by many people. If generating add revenue was the objective, we could have placed them more prominently
http://farmsteadcheesenews.com/

Wordpress
http://wordpress.org/
I love the themes feature – the content is separate from the layout or theme. The current theme of this site is for a non-profit that I’m helping but I can change the whole “look” of the site to something different in 2 minutes. There are 100s of pre-built themes to choose from, then customization requires minimal HTMl and/or php tweaks which even I can do.
http://themes.wordpress.net/

NoHassleHosting
I have a couple of sites hosted here as do some friends and neighbors – good price, good service
http://nohasslehosting.net/

Google Adsense
http://www.google.com/adsense/
policies
http://www.google.com/adsense/policies

L’Armoire Consignments
you’ll never buy new clothes again
http://larmoireconsignments.com/

Ships of Wood
specializes in wonderful reconstructions of sailing ships
http://shipsofwood.net/

Rote Learning Improves Memory In Seniors
Science Daily

As people age, they often begin to experience forgetfulness and may have difficulty learning new material. Approximately 40 percent of people over age 60 have some kind of memory difficulty.

Mild, age-related memory loss is caused by the loss of brain cells over time, along with changes in brain chemistry. The researchers studied how repeated cognitive exercise impacts memory and recall, as well as the health of brain cells involved in memory.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/11/seniors_memory.html

link and comments from OLDaily

Fascinating.”Researchers found that seniors who engaged in
an intensive period of rote learning followed by an equally
long rest period exhibited improved memory and verbal
recall.” Perhaps, based on this, we should give students
their final exams after the summer break has ended.
Practice and reflection, right?

The study is quite small but any new information in this area is helpful, especially if it yields actionable results that can be widely implemented at little or no cost without adverse effects.

to be reviewed

365 Days of Healthy Eating from the American Dietetic Association
Roberta Larson Duyff, MS, RD, FADA, CFCS
2004 First Place Award – National Federation of Press Women
While health-minded consumers may know the basics about healthy eating and exercise, it’s putting those facts to good use that poses the real challenge. This new title contains practical hints, tips and strategies – one for each day of the year – for keeping healthy eating and regular exercise at the top of your daily agenda. More than 60 simple, flavorful recipes for meals and snacks are included.

reviewed and consider buying

Diet Simple: 154 Mental Tricks, Substitutions, Habits & Inspirations
Katherine Tallmadge
Plenty of suggestions to reduce calories and increase nutrition without dictating a diet plan. Many low calorie menu pland are provided as well.

The Metabolic Type Diet
William Wolcott and Trish Fahey
http://www.metabolictyping.com/
Recognizes that everyone one has a unique metabolism and one diet plan does not fit all. Some of the recommendations are a bit extreme but most of the material presented is very useful. The background information gives a good overview of the biology for the recommendations.

own a copy

Art of Cooking for the Diebetic
Terrific resources even if you aren’t diabetic. Good basic information about the food exchange system that can be used by anyone to control weight and direct healthy eating

worth reading – borrow from the library

French Women Don’t Get Fat
Many good ideas and receipes for eating well without gaining weight. Very thought provoking look at American eating habits and why the French are different. There were many suggestions that I already found – walk everywhere, eat smaller portions, drink plenty of water, make small adjusts constantly…

French women typically think about good things to eat.
American women typically worry about bad things to eat.

Your Fat is Not Your Fault
Carol Simontacchi
I have a big problem with the title – this victim stuff is overdone. Beyond that, the book provides a good look at underlying behaviors and products that have gotten out of control and resulted in the high incidence of obesity we see today.

21st century information literacy project

Digital Information Fluency (DIF) is the ability to find, evaluate and use digital information effectively, efficiently and ethically. DIF involves knowing how digital information is different from print information; having the skills to use specialized tools for finding digital information; and developing the dispositions needed in the digital information environment.
http://21cif.imsa.edu/

Tutorials
MicroModules are self-paced, on-demand learning experiences each tailored to a specific topic. They are designed as 10-15 minute tutorials. Many MicroModules contain audio and/or video segments to communicate key concepts.
http://21cif.imsa.edu/tutorials/micro

Copyright and Fair Use
http://21cif.imsa.edu/tutorials/micro/mm/copyright

Combining Feng Shui and nutrition is not new. It was first practiced as early as the fourth centery B.C. although it wasn’t actually published until the second century B.C.

There have been formal studies comparing the diets of rural Chinese with Americans and Briton. The findings are worth noting.

• Chinese consume many more vegetables, grains and fruits that Americans or Britons.
• The daily fibre intake of the average Chinese is three times that of the average American.
• The average Chinese derives anywhere from six to 24 percent of their daily calories from fat, compared to 39 percent for the average American, and a shocking 45 percent for the average Briton.
• The Chinese eat more calories daily than Americans per pound of body weight, but suffer less obesity.
  http://www.fengshuitimes.com/article/detail.asp?aid=336&cid=4&pg=1

Feng Shui aspect comes into the balance of foods and nutrients for wellbeing as well as for curing inbalances caused by disease.

A Feng Shui diet is not only good for your chi, it’s healthy in other ways as well, and is delicious! Add variety of spices to your cooking and you will stimulate all the life areas.

• Wealth/Abundance: Sour: Lemon juice and water, lime or lemon chicken. You want food that makes your mouth pucker.
• Fame/Future: Bitter: Dandelion greens. This is a difficult one to incorporate into your diet.
• Personal Relationships: Sweet/Bland: Cakes, pastries, potatoes, think comfort foods.
• Family : Sour: Foods with lemon and limes.
• Knowledge: Sweet/Bland: Pastries, comfort foods and fish.
• Children/Creativity: Spicy/Hot: Cajun chicken, Caesar drink extra spicy.
• Mentors/Travel: Hot/Spicy: Chicken Wings, spicy sausage, jumbalaya.
• Career: Salty: Healthy potato chips, chicken soup.

The Feng Shui Cookbook: creating health and harmony in your kitchen
Elizabeth Miles
This is a terrific book. The overview and details of how food is categorized and affects overall well-being is described and illustrated. Sometimes we just “feel” like Japanese food or Italian food – check in the book and sure enough, these foods have very strong properties in some areas that need “restoring” – amazing.

Eastern culture is so perceptive of life forces in individuals, surroundings and materials. Just reading the recipes is a wonderful learning experience. Each recipe is tagged with the essential properties – yin, yang, balanced. An explanation of how the ingredients achieve that effect is provided. The actual nutritional values of the dish and the ingredients are described in detail.

Great reading and very helpful for addressing many of the signals your body provides about your health and well-being. And the food is delicious…

Learn more…

Feng Shui Cooking
http://fengshui.about.com/od/cooking/f/fstastebuds.htm/