Are You Really Ready For a Boxer Dog?
March 29, 2007
The answer is “no” if you are the type who mostly leave your dog on a chain. Boxers require much of your love, attention and companionship although they are easy to take care of. One Boxer-lover even said to never get one as pet if you work full time!
Another point to consider is that the costs for food, training, grooming, medical care, toys and other supplies do add up. Still, for many years now, the Boxer has ranked in the top 10 of favorite purebreds by the American Kennel Club, numbering about 35,000 Boxers registered in 2003.
Boxers Crave Attention
Boxers need constant attention and love to be babied. Treat your Boxer as your best friend and play, play, play with him. One three-month old Boxer loves her bath more when the owner sings to her. Be it playing, talking or singing to them or taking them for a walk, Boxers simply love the attention. Shower them with love, affection and attention as well as some treats.
These keep Boxers happy. Left to their own devices, Boxers can become very destructive when lonely, bored and ignored. One is known to jump over 6-footer fences if the owner is gone for too long.
What Nationally Published Columnist, Cindy Laferle Has To Say About Writing & Journalism
March 29, 2007
Today Norm Goldman, Editor of sketchandtravel and bookpleasures is honored to have as a guest, the nationally published newspaper columnist and author, Cindy LaFerle. Cindy recently published a book entitled, Writing Home, a collection of essays focusing on home, family and motherhood.
Cindy was at one time editor of a national travel magazine, the Innsider that focused on country inns, B&Bs, and small historic hotels in the USA.
She was also responsible for helping Uncle Ben´s (the rice company) launch its annual Best Country Inns award.
Good day Cindy and thank you for agreeing to participate in our interview.
Norm:
You indicated to me that the Innsider magazine set a standard of quality for smaller inns and B&Bs. Please explain.
Cindy:
Back in the early 1980s, when Innsider was newly launched, smaller historic inns and B&Bs were relatively new to the average American traveler.
They´d been popular for many years in Europe, as you know, Norm, but most Americans were not as comfortable with the idea of staying in small inn or B&B 20 years ago. The old term guest house had negative, seedy connotations and in some cases, that reputation was justified. Those little “Mom and Pop” guest houses weren´t typically AAA rated or listed in guidebooks back then, and sometimes there was a very good reason for that.
Bartering: A Modern Day Phenomenon
March 28, 2007
Back in the early days of America, families didn’t have much in the form of money. What they did have was skill, creativity, and a desire to help each other out. Most of us know of the "doctor" who is paid for his services with chickens, apples, or bread.
Bartering has deep roots in all of society. If you needed something and didn’t have the know- how or money to do it, you could always find someone who wanted something you had or could do and thus "barter" for it.
Ahhh, the good ole’ days when life was simple and trust was a family value. Did you know that in 2005 there are secret moms, dads, grandparents, and even children trading ‘aka’ bartering FAIRLY in the U.S.A.? Did you know that it even occurs on the World Wide Web?
The following tips might help you weed through the online bartering system:
1. Find a site or group that allows bartering
a. Do a google search for trade/barter/swap groups
2. Become a member
3. Make contacts and relationships with members thus getting to know whom you are doing business with.
Is A Boxer Dog The Right Pet For You?
March 28, 2007
Having a boxer dog as a pet, although low-maintenance, require your consistent attention, exercise, human interaction, consistent obedience training and lots of love. You cannot leave them to their own design for too long or they will get lonely, bored and into trouble.
Being a big and strong dog as well as a highly intelligent one, Boxers need both physical and mental stimulations to keep them even-tempered and dignified while still keeping their impish spirit and fearless courage in tact.
Their high prey drive (some owners called it play drive) needs proper outlets or they could get destructive as house pets, and tend to fight among themselves especially if the other family Boxers are of the same sex. The female, it seems, is often more aggressive than the male.
Keeping Boxers busy is the best way to keep them out of trouble! Tire them out with long walks, 3 times a day. Give them plenty of exercise, play with them, especially the inquisitive puppies or they would tear up your home out of boredom, pent up energy and frustration. For all your love and caring, be prepared for wet slobbery drool and kisses and love in return.
The Struggle
March 28, 2007
Sometime one must coax the words out.
Each day is a struggle to sit before the computer and produce-produce words that are appropriate, produce sentences that are logical, produce paragraphs that are focused, and produce a page that is relevant to the project-whether it is a poem, a short story, an article, an essay, or part of a novel.
Once the determination is made to sit and produce, then the output seems easier even if one has to wrest the words from a blank mind. Once started, the flow becomes inevitable, although the ideas may not be what was intended or planned. At times, it implies that one is not in command, and at other times one is not.
Sometime one must dredge the words from the soul to produce something, anything, but one must strive to be in control and focused on the piece that one has under consideration even if it is nothing more than an entry in a journal, a diary, or a forum of any kind.
If the writer concentrates on communicating with the intended reader, the ideas will come, and if the ideas come, the words to express them will also come. That is the nature of writing-to share ideas with others.
Hot-Weather Fish Feeding Facts
March 28, 2007
Summertime provides the best time of the year to water garden ? and also to be on the alert for high-temperature problems.
To remain healthy and continue growing, fish need to get all the nutrients available from their food, so feed them food they can easily assimilate in their systems. If fish seem hungry, feed them once to three times daily.
Feeding small amounts guarantees all the food gets eaten, preventing leftover food from spoiling in high, summertime temperatures and dirtying the water. Don’t feed fish that aren’t hungry ? it only wastes money and soils their environment.
Oxygen dissolves easier in winter, when water temperatures are low. Warmer temperatures mean harder-to-acquire oxygen in water.
In summer, therefore, fish sometimes find it difficult to get enough dissolved oxygen ? particularly in severe summer heat. Even when fish eat, the motion caused by their feeding further depletes oxygen supplies.
Avoid stressing your fish in the summer by feeding them in the cool, morning hours of the day. And to increase oxygen in the water, add a fountain or other aeration method to circulate and add air to your pond water. Submergible plants also help to increase the amount of soluble oxygen.
How to Find Musical Ideas
March 27, 2007
The Russian Composer Igor Stravinsky once said: ” A good composer does not imitate; he steals.”
I think what he meant by this is that it’s OK to use a technique developed by another and make it your own. To imitate is to steal a technique or style and, somehow, not incorporate your own voice and energy into it.
We all get our ideas from somewhere, whether by accidentally listening to a piece of music and subconsciously storing it away, or by a conscious act where we say to ourselves: “This sounds great and I want to use it in my own music.”
Some people have the idea that everything created must be original and by that they mean that there must be no outside influences - but this is unrealistic. Haydn taught Beethoven. Italian composers influenced Bach and so on. All past and present composers on this planet have their influences whether they admit them or not.
Now, most of you know that I have two major influences: George Winston and John Herberman. You may or may not know of these people. The point is I admit that they shaped my own style. How? Because I liked listening to them. It’s that simple.
Float a Horses Teeth — What Does that Mean and Why is it Necessary?
March 27, 2007
So what does it mean to float a horse’s teeth? I’m sure you’ve heard this a time or two (if you haven’t, sooner or later you will from another horse owner or from your vet), and if you’re like me, you imagined for the longest time what this could possibly mean and wondered what it involved.
To float a horse’s teeth certainly sounds funny, too.
Floating means to smooth or contour your horse’s teeth with a file (called a “float”). Unlike your own teeth, your horse’s teeth keep growing. At times, your horse’s teeth may develop sharp edges, making it difficult for her to chew food, hold a bit, or simply have pain and discomfort inside her mouth.
An adult horse may have between 36-44 permanent teeth. And just like humans, your horse gets two sets of teeth in her lifetime. Your horse starts out with temporary baby teeth and by age five, will most likely have her full set of permanent teeth.
Making Your Own Bird Feeder
March 27, 2007
There is estimated to be over 100 billion individual wild birds on earth, and each one needs to eat certain amounts of food on a daily basis in order to survive. That’s where we come in! Birdfeeders are fun to make and are essential in order for birds to live. Bird houses can be made out of practically anything and are usually hung in different locations around your yard for birds to enjoy. Purchasing a bird feeder is another option, however this can be expensive and both methods serve practically the same purpose.
The following is a fun and easy way for children (or adults) to make a bird feeder:
What You Will Need:
? An empty milk or juice carton (any size will do)
? String (must be strong)
? Scissors
? Stapler
? Hole punch
? 2 small sticks or wooden rods
? Bird seed
? Markers, paint or anything which can be used to decorate the carton. Ensure the paint is water based not to hurt your feathered friends and try not to use anything that can be potentially dangerous to swallow.
Directions:
Freelance or Staff
March 27, 2007
There is no doubt that a staff writer enjoys advantages not availed by the freelancer. However, there are benefits available to the freelancer that a staff writer can never expect.
A staffer must produce and on a daily basis because of frequent, even daily, deadlines. As a result the staffer learns several things: how to organize time, how to write under pressure, how to write quickly, how to plan the writing (if not on paper, then mentally), and how to meet deadlines. Perhaps this results in the loss of creativity and inspiration, but it usually produces better mechanics of writing-better sentence structure, syntax, vocabulary, punctuation, and spelling.
The freelancer, on the other hand, enjoys the freedom of choosing the time to write, the topic or theme to write about, and the refinement of language and expression. The negative side of that is that the writer must be an editor and proofreader and must possess the discipline to sit at the desk and write which, of course, sounds so simple, but which is, in effect, the most difficult responsibility of the freelancer.
