Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Inspire.

Sleep is totally underrated. I recently took a page from the book of a 4-month old baby, she slept so much. I realized something, I do not sleep enough. Much like the baby when I get overtired I get moody, instead of letting it all out like she does and crying until someone rocks me to sleep, I grab a coffee and attempt to push on through.

I'm currently doing a 30-day yoga challenge which is very rewarding and challenging. A good friend of mine is challenging herself to a detox involving: no sugar, no alcohol, and no caffeine for 30-days. Next month I'm thinking I may implement a 30-day eight hours of sleep a night challenge for myself. I bet it too will be very rewarding and, honestly, challenging to force myself to get to bed on time!

Arianna Huffington, creator of the Huffington Post, recently gave a short but sweet TED talk about the power of sleep. It seems like most of us could use a little more of it.

Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep | Video on TED.com

Monday, March 7, 2011

Create

The following is an article I have written up for my journalism class. The intent is to create a conversation, so I would love to know your response to this article!

Twitter or Facebook

The consistent knocks on Twitter and Facebook and other social media tools are that they create poor real life social skills and disconnect people from genuine social interaction. Detractors of Facebook say that if they want to talk to their friends they pick up the phone and call them, but with the high cost of long distance it’s not so easy to call your friends around the world. Skype is amazing but have you ever tried scheduling a skype talk with your friend in Australia? Negotiating the time change can get complicated.

What about the power of these tools?

The recent uprisings in Egypt were largely organized via Twitter and Facebook.

Charlie Sheen just landed himself in the Guinness Book for his record breaking accumulation of over 1 million followers on Twitter within a mere 24 hours. For some this makes Twitter more intriguing, for others the site just became a lot less desirable.

Recent BCIT grad, construction manager Nick Postle deleted his Facebook account after seeing “The Social Network” saying, “The movie just really turned me off. I don’t need to have a bunch of people I don’t really know as my friends on Facebook.” Naturally he also does not have a Twitter account.

Social media can be a great self-promotion tool.

UBC Human Kinetics grad Jenna Maxwell uses Twitter and Facebook to promote her personal training business FLIP, “I think it’s great.” she says “It makes me feel so connected to other people, especially, in the training community.” Everyone from business people to movie stars are using social media tools to remain connected within their industry and with the world. Again Nick disagrees with this logic, “I don’t think any of it is necessary as a marketing tool, so many people are like: “I’m Linked IN”, “follow me on Twitter”, “check out my fan page on Facebook”, but it’s unnecessary noise just let your work speak for itself.” Then he reconsiders, “Well I guess I could see how if you are just getting started and if it relates to your industry it could be a good tool, but I’m in construction it’s not necessary.”

Beyond a marketing tool Twitter is a great way to keep up with the news. More and more news stories are being broken on Twitter every day. You can follow reputable news organizations like: the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and click on postings that interest you and read the articles. On Twitter you don’t have to tweet you can just follow subjects you are interested in and leave it at that. On Facebook you don’t have to be friends with people you don’t know, you are allowed to deny friend requests, really it’s okay. Facebook is great for keeping up with out of town friends and family. It’s faster and easier than snail mail and less formal than email.

Social media sites on the web, like: Twitter and Facebook are keeping people more connected to one another than ever before. Since the technology is still new and people are still navigating their way around these sites it is going to be very interesting to see how social networking sites continue to develop.

If you use Twitter and Facebook, which do you prefer? If you don’t subscribe to any social media tools, why not?

(You can follow me on Twitter: @caitcromwell)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Eat.

I tried the following frittata recipe from Giada De Laurentis, courtesy of In Style magazine, the other night and it was DELICIOUS!

Egg-White Frittata with Lox & Arugula
serves 6

8 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 oz. lox or smoked salmon, chopped into 1/2" pieces
Grated zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 packed cups arugula
1 garlic clove

1- Place an oven rack in center of oven and preheat to 350F.
2- In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites until fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add cream, lox, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
3- In a 10inch ovenproof nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add arugula and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until arugula has wilted, about 1 minute.
4- Pour egg mixture into pan and stir to combine ingredients. Cook, without stirring, for 4 minutes.
5- Place skillet in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until frittata is set.
6- Slide frittata onto a platter. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Inspire.

Whoa it's been a rather long time! Full time school plus full time work has equaled zero time for blogging. Finally, I have a little breathing room and I am eager to share some fun stuff I have come across in class and in life. At this moment I am working on a music appreciation assignment and I am compelled to recommend the following:

Listen to: Claude Debussy's composition "Clouds" and Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", two totally different and beautiful pieces of modernist classical music.

Stravinsky's piece was composed for the Ballet Russes in Paris and an excerpt of the dance is performed in the movie "Moa's Last Dancer" directed by Bruce Beresford and based on the autobiographical book by Li Cunxin. If you enjoyed "Black Swan" and are hankering for more classical dance movies to watch check that one out. As long as I am recommending dance movies my favourite is "White Knights" directed by Taylor Hackford and starring dance legends: Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines! You'll be attempting pirouettes in your living room in no time!