We’ve got an out of state friend visiting, so I don’t have much to share today – but what I do have is cool and cute pictures – all fun stuff!

Fun

Cute kittens!

Pretty bird!

Yucatan Golden Rays on a Mass Migration
– really cool pictures!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Its looks like this is going to be a short one again this week. Maybe the blogs I usually read just aren’t posting as much?

Health

JoLynn Braley asks: Healthy Weight Loss or Weight Loss at Any Cost – What’s Your Choice? Losing weight too quickly or not eating nutritiously can result in serious health problems, so I hope people take what she says seriously.

Change

Vered at Mom Grind says: You Read Women’s Magazines? I’ll Give You Ten Reasons To Stop. I agree. Totally. Women’s magazines are bad. We are capable of so much more!

Money

Beth Robinson is reading The Millionaire Next Door. I read that book a few years ago – I highly recommend it!

Career and Business

Anita asks: Are You OK With Workplace Hugs? The post has a really cute picture of two frogs hugging too! Ok, really they are probably fighting, but its a really cute picture!

Fun

I’ve been wanting a granola recipe for a while and just saw this post by Crunchy Domestic Goddess: Best Granola Recipe Ever. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks good!

Cool picture of a deep-sea gorgonian – no I don’t know what a gorgonian is either, but apparently they live deep in the sea: Friday Deep-sea Picture: Iridogorgia (09/04/08)

Know how I usually put links to cute pictures in this section? Well, this next one is not cute! Its kind of gross actually, but interesting: Giant Antarctic Marine Worm – Parbolasia Corrugatus. Be sure to scroll down for more pictures too – and actually the one with all the starfish is kind of cool.

Have a great weekend!

Kind of short this week for no particular reason. Maybe the holiday had something to do with it!

Health

Dr. Val interviews a mother whose healthy one and a half year-old baby died 2 days after being infected with MRSA: Deadly Bacteria (MRSA) Kill A Baby Boy, Part 1 and Deadly Bacteria (MRSA) Kill A Baby Boy, Part 2

Change

A lot of political stuff going on – I can’t even begin to fathom all the blog posts about it. I’ll just list a few here that I found recently: Another Reason I Love Gloria Steinem — Palin is Wrong Woman with Wrong Message, Fun with linguisitcs: Elite, and Apparently I am smoking crack and the world is upside down.

Parenting

Modern Mami asks: “Can you Recommend Some Cold Lunch Ideas?” for her husband, not for kids. But I think it can be difficult to come up with ideas to send with a kid for lunch too, if it can’t be heated up or even refrigerated. What do you do?

Career and Business

Wendy Piersall asks What Will Barack Obama Do for Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs as President? She has a real good summary – if you have a business I recommend reading it.

If not, Anita Bruzzese has 20 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself if You Want to Smarten Up About Your Career

Inspire

Liz Strauss asks: “What Do You Do When the World Makes You Feel Small?”

Fun

Cute picture of a Least Grebe – really, it may not have a cute sounding name, but I think it is really cute and has cool eyes.

Have a great weekend!

Hello! Lots of links this week! And I’ll warn you in advance – its mostly serious stuff this week. I didn’t find many funny or cute posts this time. Maybe its due to the Democratic convention? If you find something cute or funny to help lighten the mood – please feel free to add it in the comments!

Health

Dr. Val writes about the Snake Oil Crackdown: Enzyte CEO Goes To Jail For Fraud – not exactly a women’s health issue, but important to increase awareness of other snake oil salesmen.

Ovarian cancer has been and still is hard to detect in its early stages when it would be most helpful. There’s a new blood test available, but it doesn’t work that well either, read more: Cancer Test for Women Raises Hope, and Concern.

Concerned about the health effects of plastics? You might want to read: Just How Harmful Are Bisphenol-A Plastics?

There’s been a big resurgence in measles lately. Measles is a very serious disease. Before vaccinations for the disease it killed thousands of people each year. Now, due to people not getting their kids vaccinated, it is coming back again. Various stories about it this week: Measles, Once Declared At An End, Makes A Return, Measles is back, and it’s because your kids aren’t vaccinated, CDC measles expert weighs in on vaccinations, so does Amanda Peet and Mixing unvaccinated children with vaccinated children: Whose rights prevail?

Change

“I was raised to believe I could do it all, and that was very empowering. Then I got into the work force and realized there was really no support for me to do it all. … We either have to fix that or be honest about it.” – Michelle Obama, from the NYTimes (I found it from Sheril R. Kirshenbaum at The Intersection)

More about the Democratic National Convention later today (if I find the time) in a special edition of Friday Favorites.

Ever think about putting solar panels up on your house? We have – but I still think its too expensive, for us anyway. If you want to learn more about it SciAm.com has a story you might be interested in: “What You Need to Know Before Installing Solar Panels“.

Parenting

National Wildlife Federation says Let’s Keep Our Kids Out and About! – “Studies demonstrate that unstructured play in natural settings is essential to all aspects of children’s health. ”

Erika Jurney reminds us that the “Boy Scouts regards homosexual conduct as not morally straight as required in the Scout Oath. ” – is that really being Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind?

Parents Rights vs Teachers Rights – an interesting discussion over at Moms In A Blog about a “12 year old student who was suspended from school for having pink hair.”

Inspire

What’s the poop in your road? and what do you do about it?

Career and Business

Need a job? Anita Bruzzese wrote this week about “What the Brady Bunch Can Teach You About Finding the Right Job”

Or do you want to start your own business? Modern Mami asks How Would You Start a Home-Based Business?

Or maybe you want to become a freelancer? Deb Wunder guest posted at Sharon Hurley Hall’s Get Paid to Write Online blog and talked about Taking the Plunge: Becoming a Freelancer

Or maybe you already have a freelance business and have Freelance Business Burnout – Ellen Wilson gives some tips.

Have a business and need to learn more about branding? Read Branding Bootcamp Week 1: Who Do You Think You Are? by Erin Blakemore guest posting at Kristen King’s Inkthinker blog.

Just for Fun!

Gourmeted.com has a recipe for Roasted Peaches that looks fantastically yummy!

Have a great weekend!

Health

Ruth at Eating Fabulous has some information about how eating flax is a good idea: Health Benefits of Flax

JoLynn Braley asks Are You Falling Behind in Your Weight Loss?

Healthbolt hosted another blog carnival (which once again I didn’t get around to sending anything into) – It’s Healthbolt Carnival Time!!!

Change

Kristen King said I Don’t Like the Olympics, after which a good discussion followed. I wonder is it possible for humanity to change enough that instead of everyone getting together to compete with each we could instead get together to work on solving some problems? Like get the best scientists together to brainstorm on ways to cure cancer? Poverty, etc. And televise it.

Parenting

Amy Smith asks What’s in your restaurant bag?

Inspire

Taking risks, is it worth it?

Fun

Judy Haley has pictures of really cute baby ducks: Duck Family

Here’s some really cool picture of insects with water on them – really its cool: Wet Insects.

If noisy chewing bothers you, never date a sea urchin: Noisy Eaters Are Cause of Mysterious Ocean Sounds!

The B5 Health & Wellness channel had a theme month about getting the most out of the end of summer – here’s some of the participants: Sunshine Can Help Your Brain Grow Big And Strong, Just a Bigger Boy on the Beach, Five fun ideas for an unforgettable end to summer, Marinated Grilled Meats Contain Less Carcinogens, Why Summer Fun is Just What the Doctor Ordered and Laziness is the Mother of Invention.

Have a great weekend!

Hello! I’m feeling much better this week and have lots of good links to share!

I found these two from a blogger I’ve just recently met:

10 Ways to find more time for reading – remember reading is important and a good example to set for your kids if you have them!

Somaly Mam – This is the web site of The Somaly Mam Foundation which is a nonprofit public charity working to end human trafficking. It is named after Somaly Mam who was “sold into a life of sexual slavery” and “was forced to work in a brothel with many other young girls”.

Environment

National Wildlife Federation reports that the Bush Administration Launching Sneak Attack on Endangered Species Act.

Health

Kristen King brings up an important problem for many college students – many don’t have health insurance or are under insured: Student Health Insurance

Methamphetamine is becoming a bigger problem all the time – Dr. Val interview the creator of an anti-meth program: Kansas and Australia Team Up To Fight Methamphetamine (Meth) Abuse.

Healthbolt had another great blog carnival (which I missed submitting anything to again!).

Work and Business

Tammy Lenski shared some tips on Conflict at work: How to know when to let it go?

Denise Wakeman discussed Organizing Your Business Education.

Quick Links

Anita Bruzzese wrote about how is it important to never give up if you want to be successful in Got Grit?

Elizabeth at GenBetween wrote about Sandwich Generation dilemmas.

I found a couple new blogs recently that I’d like to share with you: Women’s Voices for Change and Lip-Sticking – marketing to women online.

Just for Fun!

‘Separated by a common language’ is a blog I’ve been reading for a while now – it has nothing to do with mine, but I find it interesting. A recent post lists some of the different names that are used for vegetables by Americans and the British: the big list of vegetables – for example what we call eggplant in the US, the British call ‘aubergine’!

Have a great weekend!

I’m not feeling too well again today – so its a real short one! And no, I’m not sickly and I don’t have a serious illness – I think I just ate something that didn’t agree with me and also my back is hurting again today.

But what I have to today is all cute stuff!

125,000 western lowland gorillas were recently found in the Republic of the Congo, National Geographic has a video. I love gorillas! About half way through the video there is a mommy holding her baby!

A baby otter being fed a bottle:

A brief moment of ‘awwwwwwwwwwwwh’

Here’s a video of a baby bear that can’t hardly stay awake:

Have a great weekend!

Congratulations to me again! It appears I’ve won 2 contests on blogs recently: a book giveaway at Healtbolt and Staples new ‘M’ products at The Home Office Organizer. A while back I won a online press kit template at SEO Scoop. (haven’t had the time to use it yet Donna, sorry about that!). All of which makes me feel almost guilty. Maybe since I’m a blogger too I shouldn’t be entering these things? What do you think? Although I did say Happy Birthday to Donna without even realizing there was a contest taking place. And I plan to blog about the book. Have you won much stuff on blogs? Or am I just lucky? As much as I might feel just a bit guilty – the first blogger I see giving away a million dollars – I’m going to leave a comment, or whatever it is they want!

Anyway here is this weeks links. Doesn’t seem like at many this time, although I don’t know why.

Business and Work

The best bosses are women over 40 according to a post over at Women’s Voices for Change!

Health

Our Bodies, Our Blog wrote this week about the new Cochrane review which concluded that breast self-examination do not decrease mortality rates.

New research shows that our brain’s ability to store or consolidate memories which is a process that involves ‘replaying’ and filing away stuff that happened during the day while we sleep decreases as we age and may be responsible for some memory problems.

Kristen King reviews and discusses issues of people losing their jobs and their health insurance: What’s Worse Than Not Having a Job? Not Having Health Insurance

B5 has a new health blog: Grounded Fitness

Other Stuff

Ellen Wilson discusses ethics in photography – what is an invasion of a person’s privacy and what isn’t?

Sharon Hurley Hall announced a group writing project on her blog. If you blog, how did you get started doing it?

Really Cool Stuff!

NASA’s Phoenix Lander Confirms Water Ice Exists On Mars!

Have a great weekend!

Inspiration

Karen D. Swim wrote a post titled How to Get Your Groove Back and included pictures of boobies (did that get your attention?) with it! (blue footed boobies, that is)

JoLynn Braley is bothered that people sometimes label themselves as “being either good or bad based on how” they eat and says that you should “Love Yourself No Matter What”: Have You Been Good Today?

Environment

The National Wildlife Federation says there are 7 Reasons Bats are Just as Cool as Batman eating up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour is just one reason!

Health

Healthbolt had another edition of their Healthbolt Carnival

High HDL Cholesterol Linked To Slower Brain Aging

Aging May Be Controlled by Brake and Accelerator Genes

Top 5 Mental Health Concerns for Women by Alicia Sparks guest posting at Lively Women.

Ruth wrote about How Cranberry Juice Prevents Urinary Tract Infections

All about migraines in this Scientific American article that I read last night: Why Migraines Strike.

Panties for Peace

I became aware of this through Judy Haley – The Best Use for Worn Out Panties. Apparently “generals ruling Myanmar are superstitious and they believe that touching panties or the traditional women’s outfit sarong will eliminate their powers.”. So in response to their brutal crackdown and violence against women, people are mailing in their underpants. Read more: Panties for Peace.

Parenting

Girls Equal Boys at Math – a podcast.

Yuck to Yum tells us about Taming Picky Eaters

From Moms In A Blog – School Lunches: Keep Them Healthy

Crunchy Domestic Goddess wrote her Confessions of a less-than-perfect mommy

Business and Work

From Your Marketing Mavens: How to Develop a Social Media Plan for Your Business in 5 Steps

Sharon Hurley Hall asks: Are You Invisible?

Fun Stuff

Barbara Ling shares that there are over “over 250 acronyms that can be used for that most unique of 3 letter combinations, PMS?”

Video: There’s going to be a total solar eclipse in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere on Aug. 1

Have a great weekend!

(Short post today, not feeling too well)

Inspiration

Karen Swim has a great post about how you should Embrace your Obstacles to help you to succeed!

Kids and Parenting

ModernMami is looking for some tips on getting her 2 year old to eat more: Feeding My Toddler. Any ideas?

Health

Pain relief – Christina Lasich, MD has a post on her blog about how Hobbies Relieve Pain. When my back hurts its seems at least part of it is due to sitting too long and I’ve found when I spend time doing gardening my back feels much better.

Anita Bruzzese shares some great tips for reducing stress at work: Ten Rules Guaranteed to Cause You Less Stress.

InDenialHealth discusses 5 food myths.

Interesting

A group of people in the Amazon called the Piraha apparently don’t use numbers, at least not like we do. They just have words for relative amounts of things: People Found Who Don’t Use Numbers

Food

Just looking at the pictures of the chicken in this post makes me really hungry – Fry-Baked Chicken! Too bad I’m not much of a cook. I wonder if I can talk my husband into making this?

Fun for the weekend

Judy Haley always seems to get such nice pictures – this week she posted some of a woodpecker feeding its babies: How to Feed a Baby Woodpecker

Have a great weekend!