Easy Money!

Looking for easy money?

Me too... and so far I'm still looking. However, I'm sure we've found out lots of leads along the way and it's just a matter of putting some of these together.

Stock market? Investing? - Not so far anyway. Horse gambling, casinos, and especially slot machines not so far... it's just too much chance.

I have this feeling: my Dad may have been right ... there is no such thing as EASY money... just some that is easier to come by than others!

No for my money I want to use some skill, a little chance, but I want to add some unique quality that makes me say...hang on... this is really corny... "I did it my way"!

Pretty funny Huh?

See I think part of it is that I never had the urge to be really rich, I always thought 'just enough to get by', and that is exactly what I end up with! Time after time.

There's a lot of truth to that old saying - you get what you ask for!

First I have to change my attitude about making money, Right? Nod your head yes here... because this applies to you too.

I have made a complete turn around in a year... Goal setting! Well that's a whole other subject for another blog. Basically its all about Synergy.

This is a success story in the making.

To be continued...

Cat Pictures

I spend a lot of time looking at cat pictures. I can't quite explain it. Guess I have always been a cat lover.

I have a Marvelous Marmalade cat named Marmaduke! His best sport is napping. He is king, emperor, assasin, cuddle bunny and stoic all in one.

Rusty is soft and feminine, sweet, playful and ROUND... amazingly athletic - yet she too enjoys a good nap in the afternoon.

My daughter has captured Marmaduke and our other cat Rusty by camera in many adorable poses.

So while I have thousands of images of my own cats on hand - I still find myself brousing Google images looking at cat pictures. Who can figure? and what about those funny cat videos - oh there was a trully hilarious one!

So here are some of our families Cat Pictures.

Healthy Food and Wine in Niagara Region

I love to prepare delicious food that tantalizes and teases the palate, I delight in creating nibblies that are unique. In fact I often think about creating a cook book about healthy eating and preparing food with wine.

Living in the Niagara Region, I often joke that we are in the tropics of Canada, the deep south where the peaches and grapes grow.

Niagara is also a tourist destination, set with vineyards and history shoulder to shoulder, this warm and inviting atmosphere has made it a retirement destination where our average population age is 55 years old! Why I feel like a spring chicken teetering on the edge of turning 50!!!

Even though I almost always create my own recipes, I love cook books! I used to frequent a shop in Toronto that only sold cook books. At one time I have had shelves and shelves of them: International cuisine, poultry (was a big one), pasta, soups, deserts - You name it!

My favorite cook books had lots of full page photographs with large glossy mouth watering pictures of food artistically displayed in gorgeous containers (where do they get those dishes???? - no garage sale I've ever been to).

Fortunately, my husband and I also love photography and have a serious eye for aesthetics. He is a Surf Photographer, and I'm just a hobbyist.

Since moving to the Niagara Region I feel it is my duty to learn as much about wine as possible - of course to support the local industry. So we have embarked on a campaign to try as many local wines as we we can. Within reason of course!

First I decide on a menu, then ask my local wine shop which wine they would recommend. Quite often I will include wine into the actual creation of the meal, either as a marinade or in the sauce. This creates marvelous tones to the meal. Always tender and moist and a total delight to the palate.

Health above all. Now let me introduce my concept of health food. I remember reading somewhere, and I'm almost certain it was Readers Digest, that the best way to shop for food in a supermarket, and by best I mean: Healthy and economically, is to shop around the outside of the store, avoid the aisles.

The outer perimeter of a supermarket is were you find the least processed food! Fresh veggies, breads, meats and dairy products! Every store I've ever been in has that same set up! Certainly keeps things simple.

A number of stores now offer organic foods as well, I'll do another entry on that subject another day. Our main concern is healthy eating.

The basic ingredients should be as fresh as possible, date stamps are wonderful! Keep your eyes out for freshness.

Less processing is better…that way you know what the ingredients are. Food can be just as fast and easy to prepare - and better for you!

…. I think this is plenty for now - come back and visit soon - I'll be adding tips and recipes as we go.

Graffiti

Graffitti Art vs Vandalism
Riding the Go Commuter trains in and around Toronto years ago I was amazed at the diversity of self expression on bridge abutments and retaining walls beside the tracks. These were colourful murals that blended into each other with no rhyme or reason, and from my seat whizzing by on a train impossible to decifer.

A few years later I was walking along the downtown streets of Hamilton and happened to notice that a very nicely kept home, with a gorgeous garden had their cream coloured Garage defaced by a large spray painted squiggle in brown paint. The neighbourhood was a little run down, but this home stood apart for it's neatness and well kept grounds. I guess that someone felt they needed putting in their place... back down with the rest of the neighbours.

Funny that I had never really noticed graffiti before that. I'm sure it was there every where around me. It just blended into the urban landscape. Somehow seeing that beautiful home so awefully defaced made me realize that it was vandalism.

A small community group in Toronto ran youth programmes, like teaching job finding skills, and programmes to give youth more productive outlets for their energy, ran a programme to paint free-form murals on large canvasses to be installed around the neighbourhood. Now that was art.

Many places in major towns have large murals depicting historical scenes, and that's art. Why I remember being at a conference in Edmonton Alberta in February (brrrrrrr) and being bussed out to a small farming town whose only claim to fame were the 25 murals they had on the downtown building depicting the peoneer spirit of Alberta Farmers. That was the whole purpose of our trip. We arrived at the town piled out of our bus into the church hall where we were fed lunch while a local historian explained the Murals. After lunch we piled back in the motor coach for a tour of the murals. Very impressive.

Couple of years ago my husband took me to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) where we saw pieces of an Egyptian Temple set up in a giant hall - and there on the walls of the temple - was graffiti dating back over the centuries: Romans carving their names for posterity! Vandalism! But in that case history.

Nowadays I live in a small town but visit big cities on a regular basis, our small town is under siege from taggers, young people who aimslessly spray their tag or signature squiggle on mail boxes, posts, walls, fences, almost anything is game.

Just today when I went to mail a letter our mail box has been cleaned so much the former bright red is now almost pink. Another less cared for mail box and nearby pole are covered in multi coloured marks.

In Buffalo creative taggers have climbed high on building and placed huge squiggles on buildings so they can be seen from elevated highways.

What is this explosion of mindless marking? Are youth so ignored in todays hustle the only way they can get attention is to deface property?

While the colourful murals that I saw along the railroad tracks may have seemed harmless at the time, I now realize that even these are vandalism. As society slowly sinks deeper into the mire of lawlessness and un caringness, this is just one more symptom of a society that is failing ourselves.

Where is our sence of community and belonging? Crime in major centers is on the rise for precisely this reason. We no longer see each other as people who are part of our own community, but as untrustworthy strangers: us and them.

My Solution is to create better and more cohesive neighbourhoods!

My Brilliant Career

Experts tell us that most of us identify ourselves strongly with what we do for a living.

Ever find youself saying "I am a Dentist?... a Writer? ... An Accountant?"

Just how much of our lives are spent in persuit of an income?

How happy are you with what you do for a living?

Do you have a Brilliant Career?

Stephen M. Pollan wrote a book called "Second Acts" in which he talks about "Creating the life you really want, building the career you truly desire"

So what if F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "There are no second acts in American lives."

I had a great job - well so my mother told me - I had a career in the Canadian Public Service - great indexed Pension plan, superbe benefit package - awesome! Was I happy?

Now I'm my own boss! I reinvented myself.

Success Stories

Do you want to be a Success?

Is that some kind of trick question? I mean if you answer no then it sounds like you might want to be a failure! Obviously no one WANTS to be a failure!

... But if you answer YES - then there's probably a lot of work involved... Maybe Not!

Everyone wants to be a success.

Well the next obvious question is ..... A Success at what?

• In Life
• In Love
• In your Career
• Money$$$$
• Make you Dreams come true

Oh! and can you do it on the internet? Can you do it fast?

...and... can it be easy?

YES