Best offer of the month

1. It starts with you

To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, you are as happy as
you make up your mind to be. Research has shown that
happiness is a state of being, not of having or doing or
achieving. Nor is happiness a destination. People often
say, “I just want to be happy” or “I just want to have a
happy marriage” as if that is a future goal or place in
time. The problem is, they never get there. That’s
because the future is… in the future. And the only true
destination is your final day on earth. And then it’s too
late. So make the decision to be happier starting today.

There’s a relationship benefit as well. The happier you
are with yourself and your life, the more attractive you
are to your partner. Another way to look at this is: if you
were someone else, would you marry you? Start today to
work on being the kind of person you would want to
know, to date, and to marry. If you’re not that kind of
person now, how can you expect your spouse to stay
attracted or stay passionate?

2. There’s you, there’s him/her, and then there’s “we”.

You don’t have to give up your identity or be known
solely as your spouse’s partner.

It also doesn’t work when two people each do their own
thing without regard to their partner’s wishes and
feelings. Marriage is, and should be, more than
cohabitation. As the marriage vows state, “two shall be
as one”. That “one” is neither you nor him. The “one” is
a third entity: the relationship, the marriage, the “we”.

The “we” is what you share, what you have in common,
the support and nurturing that you cannot give yourself.
Think companionship, intimacy, and sharing.

3. You leave behind your emotional baggage

Are you really over your previous relationship? If not, you
can’t fully commit to your spouse. Likewise, if you are
still Daddy’s little girl or Mommy’s boy, you are not in
control of your own life. Therefore, you cannot fully enter
into an adult relationship of mutual sharing and support.
You can’t be accountable to your spouse if you still have
to please Mommy or Daddy.

You can’t reach new heights as a person as long as
you’re dragging around your emotional suitcases. And,
it’s not fair to your partner. If you’re dating but not in a
committed relationship right now, consider a time out
while you unpack those bags and resolve those issues
that keep you from being your own man or woman. If
you are committed, a relationship coach can help you
stow your baggage so you can be there completely for
your partner.

4. The marriage comes first

Marriage is supposed to be the strongest bond between
two people. Parents come and go; children grow and
leave. Your spouse is only person to stay with you the
rest of your time on this planet.

Women who say their children come first, usually can
never let the children grow up and become independent
adults because then the primary relationship in these
women’s lives would end. So the children never
emotionally leave home and are forever dependent on
the parent. This delights the women because they are
not willing to have their children grow up emotionally and
become independent adults.

Women who say their children come first also seem so
surprised when their mates eventually decide to leave for
someone else who WILL put them first. And finally, when
children are the center of a women’s life, and the
children eventually leave, the woman typically feels lost.
Her reason for existing the last 18-22 years has just
moved out. And if she should turn to her partner after a
20 year emotional abscense, it’s like going to your high
school reunion. You used to know them but its not the
same now because they’ve changed.

When partners put the marriage first, friends, relatives,
and acquaintences are still important but they’re not
primary. The man and woman, as the principals in the
relationship, are the combined heads of their household.
As such they look to eath other-and no one else-for their
primary comfort and support.

5. Your marriage is your top priority.

You didn’t get married to commute two hours a day,
work at the office 60 hours a week, and pay on a
mortgage for 30 years, did you? You probably got
married to share your life-not your bills-with that special
someone. During life’s ups and especially during life’s
downs, keep in mind why you married in the first place.
It wasn’t so you could get a better job, buy a better car,
or obsess over your favorite sports team. Once upon a
time, your partner was the most important thing in this
world to you. If you value your relationship, he or she
still is. Start acting like it again today and every day.

6. Don’t compare

This holds true in your life as well as in your marriage.
There will always be a couple that seems happier,
wealthier, sexier, and more perfect than you two are. So
what? Their happiness doesn’t increase or diminish your
happiness. Neither does their money, their jobs, their
house, or their prettiness. All that matters is whether you
for you.

7. Don’t wonder “what if?”

Wondering what it would be like to be with another
person-for a night or for a lifetime-is self-delusion and is
really unfair to your spouse. You see other people
socially when they are at their best. You see your spouse
when he/she is at his best, her average, and sometimes
at her worst. If you could swap mates, guess what?
You’d see that person at his/her worst, and you probably
wouldn’t like what you see. You already have a lot
invested in your partner. Take care of that investment.
The payoff is usally greater than starting all over again.

8. Realize that love can grow.

As much as you were in love when you got married, your
love and commitment to each other can grow over the
years. Despite all the old married jokes and cliches,
marriage can get better, not worse, with time. The
longer you’ve been married, the more history you have
together.The triumphs and disappointments, the
successes and the failures, all are part of sharing a life
together. And that history is unique to you. No one else
has that or can duplicate it. This is why a man who
leaves his middle aged wife for a younger woman
eventually wants to come back. With his wife he has a
history-a shared past. With the new woman there is only
the present. Leaving his wife permanently is like leaving
himself behind as well. Since she is a part of his past,
she is the best person to be a part of his future.

9. Commitment means “no matter what”.

It’s as simple as making the decision to be totally
committed to your spouse and to the relationship. No
matter what happens: financially, health wise, or
otherwise. No matter what. Once the two of you have
decided to stay “no matter what”, there is no question of
stay or go, yes or no.

Write this down: “ALL RELATIONSHIPS HAVE ISSUES”.
Happy relationships always have issues. Unhappy
relationships certainly have issues. It’s just that in happy
relationships, the couples identify the issues, negotiate
the issues, and come to terms with the issues. Couples
in unhappy relationships deny, ignore, put up, or run
away.
Once the two of you have made the decision “no matter
what” the emphasis is on the we. And, since we is not
you and not him, the only positions “we” have are the
ones you’ve decided together. In short, all problems are
negotiable because there are no his problems or her
problems. When one partner has a problem, just having
the problem should be a problem for the other partner.
Therefore, all problems are shared problems. Their
problems require their solutions.

10. Believe that a happy marriage is not only possible, it’s
yours for the making.

It won’t happen by itself. It takes intention, commitment,
and practice. But the many couples who have happy,
blissful, and satisfying marriages are proof that it is
possible. Just choose to be happy, and choose to be
happily married.
Yes, you’ll still have to work at it. But the rewards are so
much greater than the effort. Besdies, being single and
looking takes effort; being divorced and looking again
takes effort. Spend the effort inside your marriage and
stay married. Happily married.

If we all stick to the rules in the game of dating life would be smooth sailing rather than the battlefield of lies, deceptions, and betrayal. Men are man, but women often do the damage to themselves. Especially when they do not want to see through the signs or trust Mother Nature give to us all intuitions.

The top 10 reasons to not trust the man are simple. If we all adhere to the basic fundamentals of these helpful tips maybe less tears will be shed all over the world.

10. You know you can not trust a guy when all his friends know he has got a bit on the side or worst a long distant lover be it an emotional or physical relationship. It still spells disaster no matter how you look at it.

9. You cannot trust a guy when you have to resort to an entrapment pregnancy to hang onto him. I believe it soon after is called in the modern day language a “single mom”. Girls why would you think a man would want you with a child if they did not want you without a child. Some women if they are lucky end up with a daddy for their kid not a man for themselves.

8. You know you can not trust a guy when he never really claims you to the world, but instead your are running around claiming yourself much like someone who has the unfortunate position of being the last to know. It is double worrying if you have witnessed the woman before also running proclaiming their relationship when you knew from him they were over long before you came along. Definitely, not a good sign.

7. You want to be suspicious of a guy who at the start of your relationship suddenly piles on his work load making it so he has to be as many as 15 hours a day away from you. He is defiantly trying to put up some obvious barriers around himself there, especially when he does not need the money let say for instance.

6. When a guy wants instantly after the spit from another woman to be involved in the life of their x is sometimes ground to assume some signs are present. It is great when x’s can be friends, but when you have pursued the man and all he wants to do is work with his x-wife, his x-fiancé, and the woman he left his wife for and there is nothing you can do about it trust is to be questioned. Normally, it shows there is a lack of respect for your interests in the matter. Maybe, even some linger going on there.

5. A big sign that you cannot trust a man is when you never have “the discussion”. To be exact that would be an actual discussion in depth about being in a relationship together complete with future projections. Just shooting the breeze about how many kids one would like to have in a matter of factual manner is not the same thing as discussing the whole are we or we will be a couple. Some woman make the mistake of assuming a luring of the guy they are desperate for into bed instantly means they will be a couple. Hint ladies if a guy does not have the discussion within days maybe weeks of the one night stand than that was all it was. The risk of no discussion, but continued pursuits of the guy by you will only result in his taking as a friend. The dreaded friends zone women rarely make it back from.

4. While sex is discretionary when it comes to relationships, if you have sought to base your pursuit of a guy on sex and he refuses you with the exception of a one or two night stand a year later, really it would suggest a little time wasting on your part and clearly he is getting is emotional fill from somewhere else. Which is why there is not the physical interest in you. Woman who do not know, man are simple, but surprisingly when they are in love with a woman and that woman is not you they will be the most mystifying creatures on the earth.

3.You cannot trust a guy who is crazy in love with another woman. Come girls really is any man really worth your humiliation. This should be the big no no!

2. When he wants your kids and not you. This is especially important for single moms who want the guy so much, but in truth discover the guy just want their kids. This is very well depicted in the Gerry Maguire film starring Tom Cruise and Renee Zellwger. While a lesser woman would stoop so low as to maneuver the situation through the guys interest in her children even to the extent of convincing themselves that the affection for the children will somehow transfer from the guy to her. In real life that rarely happens and why put your kid through the emotional manipulation just because you can not land a guy.

1. When he leave his wife, but not for you. It is all and good well to fall in love, but when the matter involves wrecking a marriage. There can be the measure of waiting until a marriage naturally comes to an end. This is always best, because you know you will not be the rebound relationship. Secondly, a clear conscientious in knowing you had not shacked up with the guy before the divorce ink was dry. Worst mistake in this scenario is when you know or discover the guy did not leave his marriage for you, but instead has left the marriage for a woman he has been smitten with through out his now ended marriage. He will never be satisfied until he finally has that woman who by then he, of course, has made the only object of his desire.

These helpful tips should assist some woman with the navigation that is known in the world to us as the relationship. Ultimately, if you do not have self-respect you are going get the guy who will never respect you. He may hang with you, like your kids in some instances, but love never comes into it no matter how you try or throw yourself at him. Men are simple until women complicate things through avoidance of the realty. Nothing good come of refusals to accept things not being as fantasized it would be. What men are which does through off even the most astute of woman is unpredictable. When they love you too much like become like a deer in head lights, but when they do not love at all it really is time to turn towards greener pastures. There is always the fish and there is always the sea.

Here’s How:

1.   Your nails are going to reflect what you eat. If you are living on burgers and fries, don’t expect your nails to be strong and healthy. Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way. Add a tub of yogurt and you are on your way!

2.   Get into the habit of wearing rubber gloves as often as possible. You often forget the abuse your nails actually take. Consider how often they are in water… just for starters.

3.   Gardening is another seemingly harmless activity that all the summer magazines suggest to you. While I agree that the exercise is a plus, it’s not so great on your nails. I use gardening gloves and my nails still get dirty, but it’s better than nothing and I have no broken nails at the end of the day.

4.    While watching tv, moisturize your hands AND nails with your favorite hand lotion. It’s not only relaxing, it helps strengthen the nails.

5.   Cuticles can also use a little attention, but go gently. They need to be pampered and dry cuticles also contribute to hangnails, so be sure to spend a little time on them daily.

6.   Luckily at the moment, nails are fashionably short. That means that there is less nail to snap off and that is a bonus. Keep them trimmed and your nails will last longer.

7.   While some nails benefit from not using polish, mine seem to love the stuff. If they are polished, I seem to notice them more and devote a little more attention to them. They really seem to like that.

8.   Keep emery boards everywhere. The worse thing that can happen to pretty nails is a snag and your teeth.

Which element of a breakup dictates recovery time more: the type of breakup, or the person you broke up with? My theory is the type of breakup you experience determines how long it takes to get over it more than the actual person.

Here are 7 different types of breakups ranked byshortest recovery time to longest recovery time:

7. The Mutual Breakup

This is as peaceful a breakup as you can have, like when the entire family agrees it’s time to pull the plug on grandpa’s respirator: he is freed of his misery, and the family feels a sense of relief. I’ve never had a mutual breakup. I can’t catch that lightning in a bottle. But it can’t be that tough to recover from a mutual breakup and get back out in the dating scene again.

6. The Circumstantial Breakup

A cousin of the mutual breakup, the circumstantial breakup occurs when the environment around you won’t permit the relationship to continue: my parents hate you, you’re in Cali and I’m in NY (or even, you’re one town over), I need to be single for a while, etc. Recovery time is shortened because the other person offers an excuse that takes the focus off your weaknesses or unattractive qualities that could have caused a breakup.

5. The Ultimatum Breakup

The most common ultimatum leading to a breakup is: “ask me to marry you within the next year of I’m out of here.” Other conflicts could cause ultimatums as well: change your religion, get rid of that stupid old car, etc. Ultimatum breakups can be tough to get over because it’s annoying that a little compromise could have prevented it. But once it’s over, that pressure from the stalemate you reached in the relationship is gone, so it’s quite a relief.

4. The Something Someone Said Breakup

My friend broke up with his girlfriend he was dating for years, and he mentioned a conversation that occurred shortly before they broke up. They were discussing wedding rings, and she asked how much he’d spend. He simply hasn’t studied the “market” so he threw a number out there: “I don’t know, $5,000.” She scoffed and said: “You should spend no less than $20,000.”

He told me after she said that, he couldn’t think of her the same way anymore. In fact, it put a figurative “X” over her image in his eyes. They eventually broke up, and this conversation was the springboard. This type of breakup is painful because you wish you could take something you said or did back.

3. The I’ve Been Cheating

Whether you find out from them or some other way, it’s the ultimate betrayal when they are cheating on you. You can get over it because you dismiss this person as a cheating jerk, but you still feel stupid and you might spend several months envisioning the cheating or trying to regain faith in the opposite gender.

2. The First Love Breakup

The First Love breakup is one of the toughest to overcome. Some say you never get over it. This breakup teaches us that the world is a bigger place than we thought. There are more people to meet, there are bills to pay, there are places to go. Things just can’t stay the same as they once were.

Mine hit me when I got to college and my girlfirend stayed behind in high school. Eventually, we had to move on. The first love breakup is hurts so much because you’ve never experienced this feeling of loss and disappointment before. And, it’s part of growing up and growing up is usually a painful process.

1. The Blind Side

My friend recently blind sided his ex. After she cried for an hour, he decided he had put in enough time and he left. This is traumatic because it comes out of nowhere. The blind sider may have been thinking about it for months, and they conceal their intentions, then drop the bomb while everything seems to be going well. In fact, the couple may have spent time together the night before, but the blind sider did so out of obligation.

Blind Sides chip away at your ability to trust. If someone can break up with you when things seem to be going so well, you’ll have a tough time avoiding paranoia and trusting your new partners.

You may not like them all, but you’ll find it hard to argue that any of them are not good!!!

2009

• Avatar
• A Christmas Carol

2008

• Doubt
• No Country for Old Men
• WALL·E

2007

• There Will Be Blood

2006

• The Devil Wears Prada
• Stranger Than Fiction

2005

• Brick [Tight plot and great acting from young unknowns. Watch these kid's careers!]
• Good Night, and Good Luck.
• Transamerica [Clearly deserved the Oscar for best actress]

2004

• The Aviator
• The Polar Express [Must see in 3D if at all possible]
• Troy

2003

• Finding Nimo
• Last Samurai
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [Trilogy taken as one movie, I now consider this to be the best movie ever]
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

2002

• Bowling for Columbine
• Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
• Spider-Man

2001

• K-PAX  
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring  
• The Man Who Wasn’t There  
• Monsters, Inc.
•  Shrek

2000

• The 6th Day
• Cast Away
• Chicken Run  
• Dinosaur  
• Erin Brockovich
• Hedwig and the Angry Inch
• The House of Mirth
• Memento  
• Snatch  
• Traffic

1999

• American Beauty  
• Being John Malkovich  
• eXistenZ  
• The Matrix
• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace  
• Titus  
• Toy Story 2

1998

• Antz  
• The Big Lebowski  
• A Bug’s Life
• Bulworth
• Dark City
• Festen   
• AKA The Celebration
• Palmetto  
• Pleasantville
• Six Days Seven Nights

1997

• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery  
• Contact
• Jackie Brown  
• Lost Highway  
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park
• Men in Black
• The Spanish Prisoner  
• Titanic  
• Wag the Dog

1996

• Beavis and Butt-head Do America  
• Bound  
• The English Patient  
• Fargo  
• Freeway
• Hamlet
• Lone Star
• Primal Fear  
• Tin Cup

1995

• Apollo 13  
• Beyond Rangoon
• The City of Lost Children
• Dead ManWalking  
• Devil in a Blue Dress  
• Leaving Las Vegas  
• Nick of Time  
• Toy Story
• Twelve Monkeys  

1994

• Color of Night
• Forrest Gump  
• Frankenstein
• The Hudsucker Proxy
• Interview with the Vampire  
• The Last Seduction (TV)
• Pulp Fiction  
• The Shawshank Redemption

1993

• Addams Family Values
• Alive  
• Coneheads  
• Dave
• Falling Down  
• Groundhog Day  
• Jurassic Park  
• M. Butterfly
• Much Ado About Nothing  
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Schindler’s List
• Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers

1992

• Basic Instinct  
• The Crying Game
• Death Becomes Her
• Far and Away
• A Few Good Men  
• Forever Young  
• Glengarry Glen Ross  
• Lorenzo’s Oil  
• My Cousin Vinny  
• The Player
• Prelude to a Kiss  
• Red Rock West  
• Reservoir Dogs  
• Scent of a Woman  
• Unforgiven

1991

• The Addams Family  
• Barton Fink
• Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
• City Slickers  
• Dead Again  
• Grand Canyon  
• Hook  
• Kafka  
• L.A. Story  
• Naked Lunch
• The Rapture  
• The Silence of the Lambs  
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day  
• Thelma & Louise
• Truly Madly Deeply

1990

• 12:01 PM  
• Awakenings  
• Back to the Future Part III  
• Edward Scissorhands  
• Ghost  
• The Grifters    
• Hamlet
• The Handmaid’s Tale  
• I Love You to Death  
• Joe Versus the Volcano  
• Life Is Sweet  
• Misery
• Pacific Heights  
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead  
• Total Recall

1989

• Always  
• Back to the Future Part II  
• Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure  
• Dead Poets Society  
• Heathers  
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade  
• When Harry Met Sally…  
• Sex, Lies, and Videotape

1988

• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen  
• Beetlejuice
• A Cry in the Dark
• D.O.A.  
• Dead Ringers  
• Dangerous Liaisons  
• A Fish Called Wanda   
• The Last Temptation of Christ
• The Milagro Beanfield War  
• Scrooged  
• They Live  
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1987

• Full Metal Jacket  
• Good Morning, Vietnam  
• Housekeeping  
• The Princess Bride  
• RoboCop  
• Roxanne  
• The Witches of Eastwick

1986

• Blue Velvet
• The  Fly
• Jean de Florette  
• Little Shop of Horrors  
• Manon of the Spring  
• Nine 1/2 Weeks

1985

• After Hours  
• Back to the Future  
• Brazil  
• Prizzi’s Honor

1984

• Against All Odds  
• Amadeus  
• Blood Simple  
• Ghostbusters  
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom  
• Johnny Dangerously  
• The Terminator  

1983

• Carmen  [directed by Saura]
• Fearless  

1982

• The Hunger
• Android
• Blade Runner  
• Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid  
• Deathtrap  
• Sophie’s Choice  
• Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan  
• The Year of Living Dangerously  

1981

• Body Heat  
• Boot, Das  

1980

• The Elephant Man  
• The Empire Strikes Back  
• The Lathe of Heaven  (TV)
• The Shining  
• Somewhere in Time  

1979

• Being There
• Breaking Away

1977

• Star Wars  

1976

• Logan’s Run
• Network  

1975

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail  
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest  

1974

• Blazing Saddles
• Chinatown  
• Young Frankenstein  

1973

• Sleeper  

1972

• The Godfather  

1971

• The  Andromeda Strain  
• A Clockwork Orange
• Harold and Maude

1970

• MASH

What was already suggested last year clearly continues this year – people are focusing on the essential. This is evident from their living and design expectations. Longevity and authenticity are the buzzwords for the season ahead. Every year, Ambiente in Frankfurt presents the latest tabletop, kitchen, houseware, living, furnishing and gift trends. With around 4,300 exhibitors, it is the biggest consumer-goods fair in the world.

Home sweet Home
We have not yet overcome the stressful times. The homing trend continues with home sweet home providing the protection needed. People are looking for somewhere peaceful, are staying at home more and transferring their activities into their own four walls. Inviting friends round, communal cooking and eating is more popular than ever before which is why the home needs to be cosy. This is evident above all from the demand for emotional products, which convey tradition and a sense of home. What is important here is that it is about high-quality, durable products. This also applies to cooking, eating and indulging, where attention is paid not only to the high quality of the products but most importantly to their functionality and sustainability.

And even guests have to think about what present would give the host the most pleasure. Currently, gifts for use in the home are extremely popular, especially all kinds of gourmet gifts. Trendy, stylish home accessories made of fabric, porcelain or glass are also likely to be well-received.

Inspiring Interior
This season, use is also made of natural materials, like wood, bamboo, wool, felt and glass. Matte surfaces, fine-glaze china – high quality down to the last detail. Floral motifs on fabrics and wallpapers and knitted-look textiles. Marbling, reminiscent of natural stone, engravings and delicate graphic designs. These can be found in furniture design, on walls and floors as well as on glassware and china.

Colour palette – strong and warm
The colours of the season are warm and high energy – from dark brown, camel and saffron to a luminous red – create an ultra dynamic colour palette. Lilac and berry tones in every nuance are still popular trend colours. Various blues and washed-out-look pastel shades provide the contrast to this. The new colours adorn not just furniture and home textiles but also crop up again on cooking pots, kitchen and homewares.

Tradition reinterpreted
Putting a new gloss on the tried and trusted is extremely popular. In line with this, classic trousseaus, for example, are given a totally new meaning, insofar as they are humorously jazzed up. Products are still monogrammed and consequently reminiscent of a traditional trousseau albeit with a broader function. A new kind of tea towel, which can be tied around the body and used as an apron and cooking spoons which fit onto the pot rim thanks to the addition of a groove.

CUT YOUR CANCER RISK

A population-based case control study of breast cancer among Chinese, Japanese and Filipino women in Los Angeles has suggested an inverse relationship between green tea consumption and breast cancer development.

There is evidence that suggests that green tea drinkers have a lower risk of dying from bowel disease.

Scientists have been aware since the 1970’s that green tea can help fight cell damage and changes, as evident in countries with low rates of this disease. In 2004, a study showed that EGCG can actually kill leukemia cells, and in a new study, published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology researchers from the Mayo Clinic found significant improvement in the symptoms of patients treated with EGCG extract.

SOOTHE YOUR SKIN

Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a cotton pad in it. The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed breakouts and blemishes, sunburns, even puffy eyelids.

PROTECT YOUR SKIN

In the lab, green tea applied directly to the skin (or consumed) helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, which is why you’re seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.

Skin ages depending upon time, and exposure to sun, leaving it rough, wrinkled and with imperfections. Experts write about the effects of creams that contain doses of green tea extract. The polyphenols in this extract are responsible from healing damaged, red, irritated skin. The antioxidants counteract the actions of free radicals; the end products of metabolism, associated with the aging process. The creams that are eco-friendly are those that contain no mineral oils, silicones, coloring agents or symthetic fragrances.

STEADY YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE

Having healthy blood pressure – meaning below 120/80 – is one thing. Keeping it that way is quite another. But people who sip just half a cup a day are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with hypertension than non-drinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.

PROTECT YOUR MEMORY, OR YOUR MOM’S

Green tea may also keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea’s big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

STAY YOUNG

The younger and healthier your arteries are, the younger and healthier you are. So fight plaque build-up in your blood vessels, which ups the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds years to your biological age (or Real Age), and saps your energy too.

The study followed more than 40,000 Japanese adults for a decade, and at the 7-year follow-up, those who had been drinking five or more cups of tea per day were 26 percent less likely to die of any cause compared with those who averaged less than a cup.

LOSE WEIGHT

Green tea provides high levels of polyphenols which are antioxidants with chemotherapeutic and anti-inflammatory effects. In other words, green tea speeds up your metabolism to burn more calories and slows down the ability of the body to store sugars and fat.

From: http://food.yahoo.com/blog/beautyeats/26529/7-reasons-to-drink-green-tea

Red leaves of maple trees carpeting entire mountain sides, valleys and forest floor this time of the year pull in thousands of visitors to Phu Kradung National Park in Loei. However, there is another place nearby _ Phu Luang Wildlife Sanctuary _ that offers easier access and a more spectacular profusion of maples and flowers of virtually every shade imaginable.

Loei is 558 kilometres northeast of Bangkok, and the sanctuary with its thick cover of red rhododendrons, wild flowers and orchids is vibrant with colours in the cool season.

Phu Luang was the start of our exploratory tour of attractions located off Highway 203, which connects the districts of Phu Rua and Dan Sai, marked by several stops interspersed with treks along nature trails.

Actually in Phu Rua district you see decorative plants and flowers sold in pots by local vendors along the highway all time of the year. In fact the length of the road as it cuts through the district looks like a long flower belt. You can buy the flowers at half the price they are sold in Bangkok.

Off Highway 203 is a local road leading to Phu Rua National Park that has tourist bungalows as well as an area where visitors can pitch tents. The road is in good condition and the park is also a popular picnic spot for locals. One road sign pointing to the park is conspicuous by its prominent thermometer, as if needing to tell visitors to Phu Rua that here they can enjoy cool breeze all year round.

West of the park on the road to Dan Sai sits one of the district’s popular landmarks, Phra That Si Song Rak, a pagoda built in the Ayutthaya period as mark of goodwill between the rulers of Ayutthaya and Lan Xang, now part of Laos. Not far from the temple is the Phi Ta Khon Museum at Phonchai Temple where you can learn the origins of the province’s annual Phi Ta Khon ghost mask festival held in the month of June or July and how the masks and dresses used in the festival are made.

Driving back to Loei town, if you have spare time, check out the scenery at Huay Krathing reservoir, vast and noted for its quiet ambience, where locals like to go to relax and enjoy fishing.

I suppose that headline sounds a little harsh, but screw it. I got a point to make and, by god, I aims to make it.

We were talking specifically about romantic relationships, but I think this applies to any type of interpersonal relationships as well. Friends, family, whatever. Is it just luck? Timing? An aligning of the stars?Kismet?

I think that the root of the problem (or success) is that you get what you give. So, in other words, if you have a good positive attitude, then you will attract good positive people back to you. And conversely if you give out a lot of negativity, then you’ll get negativity back. And, by the way, I’m not talking about some kooky, mystical super power that causes this. I’m talking about things I see every day.

Think about it. How much time do you really want to spend around someone who’s moping around all of the time and talking about how terrible their life is? I’m guessing… not that much. But if you have a friend who’s always in a good mood and having a good time, and joking around, or whatever it is, then don’t you prefer their company? I know it sounds obvious, but it seems to go over a lot of heads. Especially when I hear someone complain about their significant other, or about not having a significant other in the first place.

Romantic relationships are pretty similar to any other type of relationship you could have, but people don’t often view it that way. They think they need to act differently around their husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend than they do around their friends, which is awfully strange if you think about it. You’re essentially creating a separate persona that you have to maintain every time that person is around. Who the hell wants to do that?

I’d imagine that leads to a lot of frustration in the long run, and most likely a break up or an unhappy situation. And then more negativity. And then more bad relationships. And so on. Some people live off of negativity. They’ll even cause things to go wrong intentionally (maybe without knowing it) so that they can have something to complain about. And feel justified in doing it, because who’s really going to tell you that you’re being a big cry baby when something bad just happened to you?

So it’s understandable when I see it in others, but also a little baffling. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say something along the lines of, “I’m a magnet for jerks”, and then thought to myself, “Well, yeah, you probably are.”

Now, I’m not trying to tell you that you should never feel down. Of course you’re going to have those moments. I’m just saying don’t let them take over your life. And for the record, you’re much better off being single than in a bad relationship. You probably already knew that, but I felt like it needed to be said. Just in case.

The bottom line is, if you want a good, strong, healthy, positive relationship then you need to start by being positive yourself, and then seek out someone positive to be with. Don’t settle for less. You’ll get back what you give out.