If you work at home, it is important to define your workspace, and keep it separate from your living space. Defining these areas is the key to maintaining a healthy work/life balance in your home. When decorating your home office, you have the freedom to choose how you want it to look, so it is vital to choose something you can feel good about, and to choose something that inspires you to work well.

Place your desk in a “power position.” This means that your desk should face outwards, so those looking in cannot view your computer screen. Creating a power position establishes your home office as a place of production, and helps you feel confident about the work you are producing. Hang pictures of family in your home office, and also surround yourself with things that inspire you. Motivational sayings, and paintings from your favorite artist may inspire creativity while you work. It’s important to create comfortable sitting areas in your home office, so those visiting will feel welcome, especially if you need to hold meetings in your office. Appropriately decorating your home office is the most fundamental way to feel confident and productive while you work at home.

While I was working as a script doctor in Los Angeles, I have to say the most challenging job I had was revising a pilot for a series about Foodies.  At the time, I had no idea what a Foodie was, and after much research, I still don’t really understand them.  Or, maybe I don’t really care to.  We’ll see.

To cite Nicole Westons definition, “gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.”  I can tell you now that after all the re-writes I went through to try to nail these characters in the script, I would simply call them all obsessive.

I mean, to each his own.  I love food.  I love eating it.  I love cooking it.  But, I definitely wouldn’t call myself a foodie. One of the producers of the script gave me a note on one of the characters saying that she “loved to smell her dogs breath all day because it smelled like Cheetos, and it gave her ideas for what to cook for dinner.”  I know it sounds like these people could be entertaining to watch, and maybe they are – just not on TV.

It seems if people are this obsessed with food, they would go ahead and make to leap to professional.  But, I suppose we are all guilty of being know-it-alls without really being know-it-alls.   Perhaps being called a foodie is kind of aback-handed compliment of sorts.  So, to all your foodies – take the leap why dontcha?  If you can’t take the heat, get outta the kitchen.

When you are on your own you never think you will need storage. After all, how could you possibly acquire enough stuff to have to require additional storage? But after a while you realize all your hobbies have taken over your space and you need some place to store some of those items; like the bike and the kayak that hangs on the living room wall!

After you realize you need additional storage you then have to decide what kind of storage is best for the single person who has some but not a lot of stuff. Do you get a shed and put it in your backyard or just go rent an off-site storage bay at one of those storage rental places or maybe even ask a friend for some garage space at their place. Whatever you decide to do you need to consider what it will take to get your equipment when you want then. This is the one reason I decided to invest in a small plastic shed. It has made a great difference in my house as well as my love life!

I heard something very interesting on the radio today.   Several experts were being interviewed about sustainable cities.  It turns out that cities consume about 75% of all energy that is generated.  However, cities have the most opportunity to conserve and reuse energy because of the density of buildings and population.  Homes that share walls like apartments and condominiums save energy.  These types of homes are much more likely to be found in cities rather than suburbs or small towns.  City dwellers are also much more likely to walk and use public transportation.

We still have a long way to go.  Automobiles only use 20% of the fuel that is put into the tank.  Much of the energy is burned up and driven off into the environment. Many   European cities have advanced recycling and composting programs that help to pay for the changes toward more sustainable living.

It is possible to convert our current American mind set to provide a sustainable future for the next generation of Americans.  As sustainability becomes more popular or even fashionable, Americans will embrace sustainable lifestyles.

I have heard some people who are training to be good basketball players neglecting to practice their free throws. I have heard talk that free throws are just not that important. Some people think they are useless because they are only worth one point each. Well I consider myself a fan of basketball and I think that that is absolutely ridiculous. Free throws are incredibly important.

In fact, free throws are more often than not the reason teams win games. Have you ever seen a game that ended with the winning team winning by less than ten points? Those teams usually win because they made those ten free throws. And when one team loses a game by one point it’s not because they messed up one or two plays at the end of the game. The reason they lost is usually that they missed one or two free throws.

So free throws are a major factor in winning a game. Not only that but they can also be critical turning points in a game. If one team ends up fouling a lot and the other team makes all those free throws then they will end up winning by a lot. This could also happen if the other team is trying to stop the clock. If they make all of the free throws then they are sure win the game. But that is how it is in most cases. Sound a little bit like life; doesn’t it?

I Have always believed that one of the best things for people to be is as self sufficient as possible. Even though I try really hard to live by this rule all of the time there are some things that you just can’t do by yourself. I can understand when the lock in a door will not work so you try to fix it by yourself. But when you need a new lock it is time to call a locksmith. Another example is if you try to install a new ceiling fan in your house you may be able to do it by yourself but if you have no experience or knowledge about doing something you should seriously get an electrician.

Some guys do it themselves because they are too proud to let some one else fix their house. That idea is just foolish because you could end up hurting yourself or you could just end up making the whole thing worse. You could break a whole in the ceiling, mess up the wires or break the fan. Now it’s all worse. The bottom line is; know when you can do it yourself and when you need to hire a professional.

Political opinions are something that everybody has. They are your personal opinions and it is very rare that you will find someone feels exactly as you do about politics. But one thing that everyone should agree on is the support of our countries troops. They don’t decide where they go to fight.

Those brave men and women who join the military have no choice in what they do and it is their commanding officers that tell them. They must do what they are told or they are severely punished. It is completely and totally unfair to blame them for any problem, issue or complaint you have with the government.

So even if you do not like the policies of our current leaders you should still not only respect and honor the sacrifice of these men and women but you should also support them. Whenever our country is in danger it is those troops who will be there to defend us. That is why you should never diminish the extreme sacrifice that they give every single day of their lives.

Humans can do some pretty amazing things. Throughout history there are plenty of examples of people who have endured some serious hardship doing what they believe is right or just trying to survive even though we can be fragile at times.

There are many stories of prisoners of war who have endured elaborate torture while staying quiet through the whole thing. These people were not only willing to die for something but they were also willing to suffer excruciating pain. Another example of the toughness of humans is the Long March of the Red Army in China. The army was at a loss and was forced to split up and retreat. One part of the army marched over 8,000 miles across China in little over a year, with the enemies at their heels. They eventually escaped, rejoined the rest of the army, and won the war.

So no matter how weak and insignificant people may seem, they can do some pretty amazing things. All it takes is some serious determination and persistence. If you keep at it there is nothing you cannot do. Remember this as you start your next do-it-yourself project.

Learning to drive can be very stressful for the person learning, the teacher and the parents. This is especially true if you don’t feel like paying for a driver’s education class and your parent is the teacher. This means all parties have to stay calm. That is truer for the teacher because if the teacher is freaking out about every little thing then the driver will not be able to learn anything. Its chaos and totally unmanageable and places unneeded stress on everyone involved.

The teacher needs to be calm and supportive and start out very slow. That way the driver’s confidence can work its way up. Starting out small lets the driver learn how to control the vehicle and all the little things that go along with that. Breaking smoothly, turning, and turn signals are all things that should be learned before actually getting on the road. And even when you get there, you should go easy.

Take back roads and roads that aren’t used very often or by lots of people. Guide the driver through these places if he or she is unfamiliar with them. Once they get the hang of the road, then they can learn to navigate themselves. And eventually you can turn the driver loose to be on their own even though you may want to ground them until they are thirty!

Do you ever watch children’s movie that you enjoyed as a kid nowadays. I always enjoy it because there are so many things I actually understand now that I am a little bit older. I think that filmmakers do this on purpose so that even people of all ages can enjoy their films.

Two great examples of these are Shrek and the Wizard of Oz. In the Wizard of Oz one of the witch’s evil tricks is to cover the yellow brick in poppy flowers. This reference just flew right over my head as a child. Now I understand that poppy becomes heroin and heroin makes people drowsy. That got a little chuckle out of me last night. Shrek also has some great ones. My favorites are the Donkeys constant musical references. One thing I’d like to say is that in my opinion, Donkey has a great taste in music. Now that I have become more familiar with music, his character is that much more enjoyable.

There are plenty more examples than these but those were just to name a few. I think it’s a good idea for people to go back and enjoy some of the older movies to see how much more they like them now. It might just be a good idea.