Read this feature from past issues.

I am 4 and I am a PC

My computer has slowly begun the aging process complete with memory gaps and all that goes with being a four-year-old. Emily has not-so-slowly begun the process of growing up with tantrums and all that goes with being a four-year-old.

My computer gives me various warning signals when it is going to have an all out tantrum. Sometimes, it flashes the signal that it needs an update. If I ignore the first warning, it continues to ask for an update and then almost begs. When I ignore even those signals, it flips out momentarily and shuts down to do the update even if I haven't allowed it. When I turn the computer back on after an "unexpected shutdown" (which is just four-year-old computer talk for kicking and screaming on the docking station), my PC acts normal again. It follows my keyed instructions and completes the task I set before it without complaining. It also lets me know with a nice little dialogue box that it has completed the update that it needed and I should want.

Emily gives me various warning signals as well. She begins by whining that she needs her own form of update (juice, cookie, undivided attention, being carried because her legs hurt). If I ignore those first signals or tell her no, she whines some more and escalates her voice to a louder tone while grabbing my fingers to get my attention. When I ignore even those signals, she flips out momentarily and begins the shutdown process wherever we are. It is best if those shutdowns are at home. I eventually get the idea (sometimes in only 20 seconds which seems like an hour in the grocery store aisle). I pick her up and cuddle her. I get her a juice (if she hasn't just finished one). We stop what we are doing and sometimes she even falls asleep. When she returns to her usual happy self, she follows instructions without complaining. She holds my hand and whispers in my ear that she is feeling better and that she still loves me.

I know that I should pay more attention to my computer and my daughter. The warning signs are there for a reason. If my computer needs to protect me from a potential virus, I should let it update. If Emily is tired and hungry, I need to let her get rested and fed before trying to accomplish a day that is too long already.

I also need to pay attention to my own need for updates. I am not at my best when I am hungry or tired or frustrated. I can get my own snacks and juice. I usually cannot lie down and get a nap or even a fantastic night of sleep. However, I need my own updates in the form of a good book or a great piece of chocolate every once in awhile. It helps me to recognize the needs of my children when I am at my best.

I also realize the need to update how I approach raising my children. Emily is going to kindergarten in the fall. As we attend story hours and Easter egg hunts and events geared to the under-5 crowd, it is bittersweet that these will be the last times that she will be this age and attend these type of events. The Children's Museum is not as interesting to her anymore. Joel may not want to attend Easter egg hunts next year at all. I have to update. I have to realize that even as little as they are that they are growing up. I have to help them find things that are appropriate to their age and maturity levels. I can't shut down while I update or try to keep them little forever. I have to let myself move forward with them.

The Windows 7 commercials talk about people who realized a need in their computer system. By letting Microsoft know the problem, they think they are the inspiration for Windows 7. They equate themselves to their computer. I am not in love with Windows 7 or any other Microsoft product. Microsoft as a parent to all the computers is not the best example of parenting but they do try to keep up with updating and making things work better. I can picture Emily in her commercial announcing that she is an Emily and that she was her own inspiration. I look forward to seeing Emily 7 and 8 and 9 and 40 and 78. She will continue to update in good and not-quite-as-good ways as she grows up. Her progress will definitely outstrip anything Microsoft can up with. I just have to help her move forward with positive updates and education and inspiration and direction.

There are still days when I just have to power-down my computer and start it back up again. There will still be days when the only update Emily needs is a hug. A hug suddenly seems so much easier. Maybe Microsoft should make a hug button for Windows 8 or at the very least for four-year-old computers. The panic button will be a thing of the past. Emily will require the hug button to be pink. She can then star in Bill Gates' newest commercials for Window 14 pushing the button ninety-six times in a row. She will then sit on the ground and ask for a juice and a new pair of shoes before curling up for a nap. She is Emily and she is 4. I love this version and every version that is to come. If only Microsoft could figure out ways to make Windows as lovable.

Read this feature from past issues.

Feeding Your Feelings with Emotional Eating

What do feelings and emotional eating have to do with each other? Answer: Everything! When we speak of feelings we usually mean how we emotionally feel. The problem is that we have lots of practice ignoring feelings and little practice really dealing with them. For instance, how do many people deal with boredom? They fight it, right?

Have you ever heard anyone suggest embracing boredom? No, it's easier to feed boredom with food. That way boredom stays buried and the problem instead of being identified as boredom is eating too much.

Then there's frustration, upset, anger, happiness, excitement... If one is at a loss as to what to do with these feelings, then eating is the answer.

Truth is that you can have feelings and be free of eating them. The key is to move beyond the temptation to eat and identify the feeling.

How does this work? You have a temptation to grab something to eat and you know that you've already had enough to eat for the day. Normally, you'd do some mind talk like, "I shouldn't eat that, but I'll just have a little—how can it hurt? I'll make up for it later or tomorrow."

It becomes an argument about food. The end result is that the food wins and you lose or rather "gain" weight.

Rather than engage in a self dialogue of whether you should eat or not or how and when you'll make up for eating, ask yourself what emotion you are feeling. Yes, stop and ask yourself what you are feeling.

Once you've identified what you are feeling then know that the choice is yours—take the emotion straight or dilute it with food. Yes, just as alcoholics dilute their feelings with alcohol, food alcoholics dilute their feelings with food.

You can conquer emotional eating by first recognizing the emotion you are feeling. Unfortunately, this is not always so easy to do since we've have much training in avoiding emotions.

However, with some basic coaching and understanding of emotional feelings, many of the old beliefs we have which keep us from feeling emotions such as:

An effective approach to conquer emotional eating involves asking important questions "What is missing here? Why are you not getting the results you've been promised?" It is clearly insane to keep dieting when the results are so poor. It's more important to gain a grasp on how to stop emotional eating—eating emotional stress than it is to read the scale. Besides focusing on the scale doesn't empower you to be a better more enlightened person, whereas learning how to overcome emotional eating empowers you in all aspects of your life. If you're a sales person, you'll be a better sales person. If you're an assembly line worker, you'll be a better assembly line worker; a mother, a better mother... Overall, you'll build self worth and find that what you really want to eat is far more nutritious and less in quantity than you ever before imagined possible.

Visit Richard Kuhns B.S.Ch.E., NGH certified, this new year. He is a prominent figure in the field of hypnosis with his best selling hypnosis and stress management cds at http://www.DStressDoc.com and http://www.PanicBusters.com. His aim is to make it possible for anyone to manage emotional binge eating. For more information please visit www.dstressdoc.com/BingeEatingEbook.htm

Read this feature from past issues.

THIS MONTH:
Poetry Corner

A poetic conversation with poets, Robin Hiersche, Darcie Ziel, David Wiley, Dennis O'Donnell.

Darcie Ziel

	
	
256 Shades of Grey

He has the ability to change his mask
as a well-intentioned method of self restraint
and he will never reach out or ask
why his lips taste like paint.

Or why, when he looks in the mirror
what he sees is just another face
that somehow has the power to erase
a few of the sins and the majority of fear
but not quite the memory of all that's held dear.

Sometimes when he stands face up in the rain
down his body's length the colors run
but it's difficult to count 256 grey shades
it's much easier to want the pain
or to feel controlled abandon
in the red burn of setting sun.
Yet, he has always come back 
when the sun fades
to wonder amazed at the colors
through which he wades.

For brief moments, he may think,
just as we do, 'Is this who I am?
Are all these colors some thing I've made?
Am I the Creator as well as the Lamb?
And will my song's picture eventually fade?'

Still there does seems to be an ability
that this genius has to see
and precisely what, we will never know
unless he decides to share and show
and uses his strengths to teach
keep your eyes on this mystery man�
Watch�with a blink his face is changing again�

Dennis O'Donnell

	

The Domes of Saint Sophia's
                                            
I like the Church of Santa Sophia,
with its pale blue domes
and its two gold crosses,
one on top of each dome.

I like to park my taxicab
in the lot beside the church 
because it's quiet there,
and cool
in the shade of a large tree
I do not know the name of.

On a slow day
I sit and doze,
forgetting  
the other world,
where I make a living.

                                      the parking lot
                           becomes 
a living garden

and the sound     
                        of traffic 
                                     going by

becomes fountains,
and streams
of flowing water.

What kind of cab driver am I?
you will ask.

I don't know.

Yesterday I dreamt
I was a sultan
in pale blue robes,
swinging two enormous
golden swords.

David Wiley

	
	
Fatal Disappearance

as the ghost of the spirit,
as the ghost of the flesh,
the vessel made of phosphenes,
the towering shadow
of the last person left,
fades in and out,
almost palpable,
at times almost a force,
moved and moving,
enchanted, as a garden
at dawn is enchanted,
seen and seeing,
at times,
breathing, even singing,
at times,
taking shape,
now and then,
becoming a Hydra,
at times inventing
the specter of progeny,
of its own design for bridges
between skin,
between fingertips,
between the memories
in the eyes,
it tell us again
that the patient
will not live
unless the patient
can find a way
to occupy some space.

Robin Hiersche and Dean Marson

	
	After midnight in the Lost and Found
	
   wet stuffed animals point and click

point and click
    
    at their imaginary foes.

   virtual mailboxes

explode


the rubber duck cries out in thirst

    
   fido flashes fluorescent

          BEWARE OF DOG


     enormous molecules

of silicon words
  
    twisting mechanical tongues

Read this feature from past issues.

If you know of a woman who will no longer grace our future because of domestic violence, please send us her story, or your own.

Get information on Domestic violence and violence against women at LadybugBooks.com

We invite any of you to contribute on this subject. We feel it is important to continue the discussion of domestic violence.

Read this feature from past issues.

We are looking for your stories remembering women's history. Send in your story and we will publish it.

Women Exceptional Women are Our History and Our Future:

Women

UN Millennium Project

We sometimes overlook the good work the United Nations has been doing for women lately, so we thought we would remind you:

Goals, targets and indicators

The internationally agreed framework of 8 goals and 18 targets was complemented by 48 technical indicators to measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. These indicators have since been adopted by a consensus of experts from the United Nations, IMF, OECD and the World Bank.

Each indicator below is linked to millennium data series as well as to background series related to the target in question.

Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty
Target 1. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day
Indicators

Target 2. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Indicators

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling Indicators

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015
Indicators

Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Target 5. Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
Indicators

Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Target 6. Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
Indicators

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
Target 7. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
Indicators

Target 8. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

Indicators

Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Target 9. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources
Indicators

Target 10. Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

Indicators

Target 11. Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

Indicators

32. Proportion of households with access to secure tenure (UN-HABITAT)

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Target 12. Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, nondiscriminatory trading and financial system (includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction—both nationally and internationally)
Target 13. Address the special needs of the Least Developed Countries (includes tariff- and quota-free access for Least Developed Countries? exports, enhanced program of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries [HIPCs] and cancellation of official bilateral debt, and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction)
Target 14. Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing states (through the Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions)
Target 15. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
Indicators

Market access

Debt sustainability

Target 16. In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth

Indicators

45. Unemployment rate of young people aged 15-24 years, each sex and total (ILO)

Target 17. In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries

Indicators

Target 18. In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technologie Indicators 47. Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population (ITU) 48. Personal computers in use per 100 population and Internet users per 100 population (ITU)

Reprinted in part from UN Millennium Project Goals. Please visit their site to find out more.

Read this feature from past issues.

A little bit in writing about what's happening at
LadybugLive.com, MooseMeals.com, and TeenTalkNetwork.com

Serious and Entertaining
We have it all

This Month:

Many of our audio hosts either begin with the written word or end up with it. Dene´ Ballantine, for instance, will soon have a book from the topics and information she is providing in her show, Train Your Brain, and a Ph.D. to go with it! And Don Williams of OpEd also has a column. And we wanted to take this opportunity to announce the release of Sue Storm, The Angle Lady's new book, Angel First Aid:

Angels are most definitely a part of our collective culture. There are movies and books and countless songs that are made in tribute to these celestial beings. Now, author Sue Storm has created an easy to follow guide that identifies different angels who can offer love, guidance, and support for any kind of problem: Prosperity, Relationships, Family, Finances, Health, and more!

ANGEL FIRST AID Remedies for Life, Love, and Prosperity ($17.95 / 9781402770876 / March 2010 / Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.) includes visualization exercises to summon the correct angel, as well as illustrative case studies of angels orchestrating serendipitous events-saving marriages, averting disasters and creating friendships. Easy to use, fun, and effective, ANGEL FIRST AID is a valuable resource for anyone who has ever hoped for a little guidance, counsel, or reassurance from "up there."

This Month Listen to:

A Special with Harriet Tramer on caring for aging parents
Overwhelm with Denè Ballentine

LadybugLive, Audio, Webcasting, Web Casting

Overwhelm:
Neutralizing the sting of criticism

Know someone who might want to be a host at TeenTalkNetwork.com? We have two teens on now and both are growing up fast. The only requirement is that they want to do it enough to stick to a schedule. They all find their voice as they go along. Desiree Nelson is older of our teens—she's in her first year of college this year and she and mom, Linda Nelson, are now cross-programmed to our site at LadybugLive—got a scholarship from Discover in large part because of her program. The other, Rae Quigley is a senior this year and has done several shows on how important it is for colleges that you do something outside the usual. So there are lots of benefits for the teen who can do this, not the least of which is the experience itself. It's a great gig for any teen!

If you are a writer and would like to become a NewVoices author or artist, contact:

Georgia@ladybugbooks.com
Please use the subject title: NewVoices Information

It's Not Your Same Old Radio!

"There are people who have something to say and those who have something to sell. We are interested in the ones with something special to teach the world."

For LadybugLive, TeenTalkNetwork, and MooseMeals to continue growing, we need correspondents and readers. The process is quite simple: submissions are by email. If accepted, a reader calls, either our local or our toll free number as directed in the acceptance email, to record. What will you be recording?

We are looking for: readings of original creative work, comment and commentary, and ideas for regularly appearing programming that can be done within this format. We are not able, as yet, to do direct call in shows, but shows that require listener (delayed) response are OK. All of this, of course, within the same guidelines as everything we do: Of interest to women (no particular restrictions). This format might also be ideal for some of those traditional topics, such as clothing and makeup, with a fresh "twist."

Send ideas and proposals to Georgia@ladybugbooks.com

We strive to bring you the best in women's writing.

And...

Keep up to date on what is happening at NewVoices and LadybugFlights by signing up for our monthly announcements!

We know online radio is new to many of you but we also know how rewarding it can be. So, if you need help to get started, don't hesitate to contact Georgia for help... And, hey! Our hosts love hearing from you!

Our teen site, TeenTalkNetwork.com programming is safe — no porn or other unwanted promotions are attached to our files.

The Internet promised and we are delivering.

New programming is always available at:
TeenTalkNetwork.com
MooseMeals.com
LadybugLive

Read this feature from past issues.

Win The LOTTO

Becoming financially successful one pay check at a time

Do you want to win a BIG, BIG prize? Do you want to have all your financial worries sorted out? Do you want to win the lottery? The secret is very, very simple. Anybody can manage it. All you have to do is buy a ticket with the numbers that are going to be drawn at the next draw. If you do this I can GUARANTEE you will win the lottery.

Okay, we all know this is not likely to happen, but there are practical steps we can take to feel like lotto winners. We can do this by making the most of employee benefits and tax breaks and usig that extra money to start investing.

Look for better ways to do your job. Streamline a procedure, shave costs, create a new profit center, become an expert on a specific topic, volunteer for a company committee -- anything that will make you stand out as a prime candidate for a promotion or a pay boost.

Negotiate. Employees who negotiated their salary increase their pay significantly compared with those who didn't bargain.

Document your worth to your company. Quantify how much the work you do adds to the company's bottom line. If that's not possible, highlight your value with comparable salaries for workers in your position from a Web site, such as Salary.com, or from a professional association.

Plan a strategy for moving on and up. Create a professional-looking page on MySpace that tells prospective employers why you're an exceptional candidate and us more conventional networking: Join a professional association or show up at school reunions and other meetings where you can hand out business cards.

Leverage the benefits

Contribute as much as you can to your 401(k) and other tax-deferred retirement plans. This will help you build a bigger nest egg, and you will cut your tax bill. In the 25% federal tax bracket, every $1,000 you contribute to a 401K cuts your taxes by $250. And you'll save on state income taxes, as well.

Use your tax-saving dollars. Contribute pretax dollars to a flexible spending account to pay for dependent care or out-of-pocket medical expenses. If you set aside $1,500 per year and you're in the 25% bracket, avoiding federal income and Social Security taxes means the Government will subsidize almost $500 of your expenses.

Do annual reviews of your tax withholding. If you're expecting a refund this spring, you're having too much tax withheld from your paycheck, and making an interest-free loan to the Government. That's not the way to become a millionaire. Put more money in your pocket by planning a more effective withholding plan that will free up money to use to leverage your investments and then fill out a new Form W-4.

Put savings in a Roth IRA if you're eligible. Withdrawals in retirement, including decades of compounded earnings, will be tax-free. This year, income-eligibility limits for a Roth increased to $114,000 for individuals and $166,000 for married couples.

Invest like you only had one chance

Don't delay. The quicker you get a jump on putting money aside, the easier it will be to build up a million dollar cushion. If you start at age 25, for example, investing $286 per month will get you $1 million by age 65, assuming you earn 8% annually.

Invest your money automatically. You can do this through your employer's retirement plan or by setting up a regular deposit to a mutual fund or broker. You won't miss miss the money, and this will keep you from making two big mistakes: buying too much when stock prices are high and not buying at all when prices fall.

Keep an eye on for fund fees. The more you pay, the harder it is to earn an above-average return. The typical hedge fund, for example, takes 20% of any gains, a huge loss to overcome. A better strategy is to use no-load mutual funds with expense ratios are 1% or less. If you trade individual stocks, watch the commissions.

Keep it simple. Watch out for get-rich-quick schemes or sales ideas for complex investments, such as oil-and-gas partnerships, that trade on the millionaire cachet to lure investors into buying high-fee products they don't understand. Most millionaire households accumulate their wealth over the long term by sticking to a regular investing plan in a balanced portfolio.

Field Trips

How much can you save

How you measure up

Is your budget in balance

How much debt is to much

Happy Trails,

B.S.

Read this feature from past issues.

Books, Cooks, Looks & Ms. Elani

Dear Friends and Readers,

Opening the school was the easy part.

Reason for Hope
by Jane Goodall with Phillip Berman
ISBN 9780446676137

Dr. Jane Goodall is known to many as the woman who not only taught us about chimpanzees in Gombe but actually lived many of her years in Gombe, Africa. The book Reason for Hope, by Jane Goodall with Phillip Berman is a spiritual journey, comparing human's understanding of life and the many ramifications of living with that of chimpanzees. Goodall weaves her beliefs and ideals throughout this insightful memoir.

From the time Goodall was a young girl she loved animals of any type. She grew up in her grandparents home, the Birches, in England. Life for her, during World War II, was mixed with the joy of learning and the realities of the Nazi's and Hitler. She was lucky enough to land an intern job in Gombe with Louis Leakey, and eventually a permanent position with Leakey, to study Chimpanzees.

The goal was to determine if this animal actually used the brain to think in ways akin to humans. In an amazingly short time Goodall was able to study the chimp, David Greybeard, use, in a planned execution, a blade of grass to gather termites from a hole to add protein to his diet. As she gathered the trust of the animals in this group, she proved more ways in which chimps and humans were alike.

The spiritual involvement in Goodall's life allowed her to see nature as an integral part of the circle of life. Her belief in God in no way made evolution or science be in conflict. The awareness of the beauty around her allowed her to see the connections between animals and their surroundings in a way unusual for most humans. Through postwar hardships, loss of her husband, vicious rumors and hostage attacks Goodall watched and learned from the chimps to see if she could cope with what was going on in her life. In each incidence, what she learned from an animal she loved, helped her explain the crisis going on around her. The message to readers is clear: Dr. Goodall believes humans must work with nature to help control the environmental destructions of her beloved chimps as well as the earth itself.

Read this feature from past issues.

From the EDITOR

Turning Points and Talking Points

There's nothing new under the sun. It's a cliché, but the thing about clichés is that they are usually true.

Take the emails people send around, those clever "Beautiful Women", "Best Friends Day", any holiday or "I just found this cute thing" emails...I find myself laughing and then thinking "That's familiar; I must have already seen it." And I have. How many of them have you already seen? Most, if not all. They are still funny though, or maybe they are only funny until we remember that we have seen them before? My point is that something new is hard to come up with.

Humor, even humor that is sent through email, tends to reflect life. If it didn't it wouldn't be funny to us (see the writing tutorial on humor). Reflecting life in one form or another is at the heart of all writing. It is what we try to do here every month.

LadybugFlights has been going for a full dozen years this year. We have celebrated that profusion of thought and thought provoking information but we seldom talk in public about how we can keep it fresh, interesting and flowing. I think it is time we did that now.

We work hard on Flights but when I notice the readership numbers (individual hits) going down a red flag goes up and we all start thinking about how we can make it more interesting, more relevant, more of what more of our readers want. We know that the flattering answer is that it takes a lot of time to go through all of the offerings here and not everyone has that much time every month—but we are intended as a real magazine, one you do need to spend time with—so we are not going to accept the compliment and forget the question: What is it our readers want?

No magazine can keep publishing if it doesn't keep pace with reader trends and at some point every publication asks itself...Probably at many points, even, regularly...if it should keep publishing. Is the demand for what we work so hard to put out still there? Are we preforming a service?

Over the years, and from month to month for that matter, we have changed. Some issues are more political, more determined to make points we consider important (war, women's rights, health... are just some of those subjects). Some issues are softer and feature a lot of poetry and fiction. Most issues are not exclusively either of those. We try for balance. But is that enough?

Maybe you are tired of issues, tired of poetry; want to see more creative fiction and more poetry? Maybe you want science and news—or one or the other? Maybe you think that magazines no longer have a place on the Internet or would like to see the format changed? Tell us what you like best and what you want to see us do more of; what you like least as well. We would really like to know. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to make this a magazine you will love, please spend some time thinking about how we can do that and let us know.

Georgia Jones, Editor

Read this feature from past issues.

Please write to us. We want to hear what you think:
LadybugFlights.com