This article will focus on Step 3 of your home time management plan. The first is to examine (briefly) your current problems. The second is to identify what changes you want to make. Figuring out your first area of ​​focus is the next logical step. That’s because, of the various issues you listed and the various changes you’d like to see, it seems logical to choose a to get started.

There are many reasons for this:

• Gives you a good solid starting point
• Keep you from feeling overwhelmed
• Prevent you from overdoing it
• keeps you focused
• You can achieve your goal faster

Let’s look at each of these a little more closely.

Gives you a good solid starting point

A good starting point is essential to… well… start. Many people have great ideas about what their problems are and what they would like to see change, but they never pick that starting point and therefore never see the change. It would be like going round and round at the grocery store because you don’t know what to make for dinner.

So choosing a single area to tackle first helps ensure you start something.

For example, if you spend too much time picking things up around the house and trying to keep it in good shape while your kids are busy messing it up and playing… that might be your first area to address. However, if you’re feeling heavy pressure night after night with the mealtime craziness and end up serving…I’ll be nice here and not say it’s the most nutritious meal…then you might want to start by directing your energy towards creating weekly meal plans.

Keep you from feeling overwhelmed

I really don’t need to tell you that you will feel absolutely overwhelmed if you try to tackle too many changes at once. And, I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I was feeling overwhelmed, I’d end up on the couch watching TV…and I didn’t even care to watch TV. That feeling just drains you instead of energizing you.

So avoiding getting overwhelmed is one of the best things you can do to ensure your success.

Prevent you from overdoing it

This goes hand-in-hand with feeling overwhelmed, except you may feel comfortable tackling several major changes at once. If he does, he is likely to overreach himself and not be able to devote his full time and attention to either of them.

keeps you focused

Speaking of attention…focus is a powerful force in the entire “change” equation. Without focus, you probably won’t accomplish much, even if you’ve followed all the other steps. Let’s be honest…it takes focus to tackle that house that hasn’t been cleaned in a long time. It takes focus to create those weekly meal plans. It takes concentration… and a lot of patience… to teach a child to clean the bathroom from the bottom up. And it definitely takes focus to teach them how to do their own laundry.

You can achieve your goal faster

It should come as no surprise that when we devote all of our time and attention to a single task…with a few exceptions…we can accomplish it much faster than if that attention is shared across multiple tasks. If you’re working on creating those weekly meal plans, but your 6-year-old keeps asking questions about what he’s supposed to do to clean the bathroom, and your teen keeps interrupting with questions about clothes…well, it is better to try again later. . His attention was probably shot at the moment.

While American football has its roots in the 19th century, the list of Super Bowl winners doesn’t go back that far in history. The Walter Camp game took off like wildfire on college campuses across the country shortly after its inception, but it wasn’t until 1967 that the first professional-level championship matchup was staged. That first game between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum would kick off a tradition that has almost become a sanctioned holiday in America.

A look at the list of Super Bowl winners reveals that some of the sport’s most notable teams have dominated the competition since the inception of this highly anticipated, highly publicized and highly charged sporting event. The first winner, the Green Bay Packers, took the first two titles and ran with them. After these victories, the famed Packers gave way to such dominant teams as the Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

While the list of Super Bowl winners also includes a host of other teams that have won over the years, three teams are tied for the honors of having the most titles. The Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers have five wins to their credit. Pittsburgh, in fact, has a chance to become the winningest team of all time if it goes all out in Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on February 1. January 1, 2009. Of course, the Arizona Cardinals will work hard to prevent this and add their team’s name to the list of Super Bowl winners.

Those who have had the honor of being on the Super Bowl winners list have earned the pleasure of taking home not only the World Championship title, fancy rings and much prestige, but also the Vince Lombardi Trophy. This Tiffany & Co. designed trophy features a regulation size soccer ball in a kicking position that has been crafted in sterling silver. With an estimated value of over $25,000, this trophy is nothing to sneeze at and has been coveted by teams on the Super Bowl winning list and those that haven’t made it yet.

The trophy has been a part of Super Bowl lore since the very first game in 1967. Originally called the World Championship Game Trophy, it was renamed in 1970 in honor of Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi following his cancer death. The new name of the trophy commemorates not only the legendary coach, but also the fame of his team winning the first two bowls in a row. Presenting the trophy to the coach of the winning team on the field of play has been part of the festivities surrounding the game since Super Bowl XXX in 1996. Before then, it was presented to teams in their locker rooms.

The list of Super Bowl winners is long and proud. While it doesn’t date back to the beginning of the sport, the game has become as much of an American tradition as fireworks on the 4th of July and World Series hot dogs.

So what is important to NASCAR/Motorsport Binoculars?
In many ways binoculars for NASCAR or Motorsport can be very similar to other sporting events. The difference, however, is that motorsports spectators often find themselves in very hot, humid and crowded environments, more so than at other sporting events. You only need to watch a NASCAR event to see how packed the spectator stands can be. As a result, choosing the right pair of binoculars involves additional considerations to ensure they last longer and keep working.

When choosing a pair of binoculars for NASCAR events, there are 3 crucial features to have:
– A tough exterior
– Compact
– Wide field of vision

Rather than point out specific models of binoculars that are suitable, this guide serves to highlight the key features to consider when choosing binoculars for viewing NASCAR events. There are many models that differ in one way or another, but knowing what crucial features your binoculars should have, you can choose from your local optics store according to budget, specifications, etc.

Is a tough exterior important?
Owning a pair of rugged binoculars seems pretty commonplace, but for NASCAR viewers it’s probably more of a necessity than a “nice to have.” NASCAR events are filled with stands packed with spectators and people coming and going, usually with food and drinks in hand. It’s not uncommon for people watching sports to accidentally drop their binoculars or have them knocked over by a nearby spectator. Putting yourself in that environment for a couple of hours means you can’t afford a finicky pair of binoculars.

So what should I look for when buying rugged binoculars? First of all, rugged binoculars tend to have some kind of rubber armor covering them. This rubber armor does not make the binoculars completely shockproof, but what it does provide is a minimal level of protection against accidental drops or bumps.

The added benefit of having these molded rubber armor covers is the extra grip it offers. At a NASCAR event, temperatures can rise pretty quickly, so sweat can sometimes make it hard to grip a pair of binoculars. The extra grip gives you the opportunity to hold tighter and secure your binoculars.

An additional feature to consider is a waterproof feature. As mentioned, NASCAR races have a lot of people carrying drinks, so accidental spills are not uncommon. On top of that, one can never be too careful about sudden weather changes like rain. When choosing a pair of binoculars, always look for one that has a waterproof feature.

Compact binoculars are easy to carry and use!
The main reason you would want a compact pair of binoculars for your NASCAR event is that they are much easier to transport. If you haven’t owned a bulky pair of binoculars before, it will be hard to understand the difference a smaller pair can make to your sports experience. Motorsports is not a stay home and sit still event, you are constantly on the move and trying to get into better positions to see all the action, so a pair of compact binoculars is paramount!

The other main benefit that many people forget with compact binoculars is that they are much easier to use. Large binoculars tend to be very heavy and this makes them difficult to hold while looking at them. Simple things like moving from left to right or keeping your hands steady become very difficult with larger binoculars. It is for these reasons that large binoculars generally require a tripod. In NASCAR racing, you don’t have the space or time to use a tripod, so compact binoculars are much more suitable.

Typically, binoculars with 32mm to 42mm lenses are a good size for NASCAR events.

Having a wide field of vision is very important.
Now that you’ve found a pair of binoculars that are rugged and compact, it’s time to look at the magnification. Many people assume that high magnification binoculars are always better. This is not the case especially for NASCAR viewers. Higher magnification means you get a closer view of the action, but that’s not good for a high-speed sport like NASCAR. Imagine using a pair of binoculars that have enough magnification to get a good look at the drivers’ faces before the race. This seems great at first, until the race starts. Once the cars start racing, each driver will pass by so fast that his or her face, or the car, will barely be visible.

Instead, NASCAR viewers should consider using lower magnification binoculars (maximum 8x magnification) which will provide a closer view of the action without getting too close. Lower magnification binoculars make it easier to find the next car. High magnification binoculars, on the other hand, are so focused that trying to spot the next one because it will be very difficult. Avoid binoculars with 10x magnification. This is normally too loud to see anything significant.

And now that?
Now that you know the key criteria for choosing a pair of NASCAR/Motorsport binoculars, all you need to do is visit an optics store and tell them what you want. Most optical stores make it easy to buy binoculars and you just need to let them know what key criteria you are looking for. Don’t worry too much about understanding all the optics jargon, just make sure the binoculars meet the main criteria for use and you’ll be sure to have a great NASCAR experience.

I spent 2 years in Belize, Central America. While I was there, I spent quite a bit of time in the jungle and on logging operations. The climate is very different from southern Ontario. They have a dry season and a rainy season, but it’s always hot. That’s why I decided to plant trees in Belize.

Years ago when I was in college I took a 2 year horticulture program. What fascinated me most were the arboriculture classes. I had thought about setting up a tree farm for years, but when I got to the point of planting, a ‘killjoy’ would steal the limelight by making a comment like, “yes, you’ll be growing those trees for your kids.” That would stop me in my tracks. Trees in Canada are a very long term project and they were right. I would never see the money. Do not misunderstand. I love my children, but it is very likely that I will also need money in the future. That comment held me back for years because I felt it was more careful to put money into a Registered Retirement Savings Plan than to invest in my children’s retirement. I would leave it all to my children anyway, so there was no point in taking the risk and possibly becoming a burden to them in my old age. Then we moved to Belize for 2 years and everything changed.

As I mentioned before, I spent a lot of time in the jungle but also driving through the countryside and visiting tree plantations. There are a couple of large teak plantations in the southern part of Belize. That’s where the itching came back. I needed to start a tree farm. I teamed up with a fellow Canadian and started researching. The 2 most popular woods used for lumber in Belize are mahogany and Spanish cedar. We bought a cleared piece of land, got some seeds and opened a nursery. Our research showed that these 2 trees would grow well on the land we had purchased and that both trees grew about an inch in diameter each year. That would give us trees with a trunk diameter of 25 inches by the time I was 60 years old. That was very exciting. We thought we should supplement our plantation with some teak, even though we were a bit further north in the country. Teak would grow at about the same rate under ideal conditions, but we didn’t have those conditions. We plant around 10 thousand teak. Wood is expensive and the real advantage of teak is that it regenerates. You can cut down a teak tree and almost immediately a new shoot will emerge from the side of the stump and grow into a new tree. This can happen up to seven generations. That would take care of my children too.

I would love to tell you that everything has been roses since we planted, but that would not be the case at all. Mahogany and Spanish cedar trees have a borer problem that causes the tips of the branches to die. It seems there is nothing we can do about it except prune. The teak is growing slower than we expected due to soil and weather conditions. However, our hope is that second generation teak will grow much faster because the trees will already have established roots. We have a full-time worker on the plantation who we pay to look after the place and maintain it. After 5 years, the trees should be large enough to grow on their own. Now we wait for the harvest.

I believe that anyone can plant trees and that there will probably always be a demand for wood. In current market conditions, I’m glad I have money on trees instead of a Registered Retirement Savings Plan. I encourage everyone to plant some trees for retirement or for your children. The environment will benefit greatly for years to come.

The sports betting industry has developed a lot in recent years and has aroused the interest of more and more people. This true social phenomenon can be classified as an industry, since it generates great profits for the owners and is widespread, with each city having at least two bookmakers per square meter. You don’t need more than five minutes to find a betting agency wherever you are, being strategically located near the most important attractions, near schools and in or on the outskirts of all neighborhoods.

The number of bets placed doubles every year, people usually bet around one euro on each ticket and more than sixty million tickets are placed, which brings the value of this market to the incredible amount of fifty million dollars. This very lucrative business is shared between private betting agencies and the National Lottery. There are also smaller agencies that only make significant profits locally, but online betting is also becoming more popular. There’s no rule about what social backgrounds it’s best to come from and there’s also no rule when it comes to your age. Of course, underage children are supposedly not allowed to gamble, but reality has nothing to do with this. All the best try to use their knowledge in the field of sports to earn money. Some are content to earn small amounts of money, while others yearn for more and more, leading people to confess that they often invest a lot of money and earn very little.

Thus, people’s interest in sports has increased, but it is better to say that their interest in statistics, rankings and money has increased. So sports are now more like an exact science, requiring a lot of analysis and a lot of background.

Many people know Tony Dungy as the NFL head coach who took Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl in 2007. You can also tell by seeing him on TV as a broadcaster and just by looking at his mannerisms that he’s a decent guy. But many of us have no idea about his upbringing and the people and experiences that made him who he is today. Quiet Strength is a memoir that was written after Dungy’s Super Bowl victory and one of the most impactful years of his life.

The book takes us through Tony’s life in chronological order, beginning with his childhood and home life. Dungy had two honest and moral parents. He mentions in his book how they instilled in him a sense of calm and the difference between right and wrong. Dungy always says that when he gets frustrated or wants to confront someone, he should remember what his father used to say to him and figure out if yelling will do anything and actually make things better for him. From the beginning of the book, it can be said that Dungy is and has always been a family man.

As a teenager, Tony was an excellent athlete. He played basketball and football in high school. As a tall, lean and muscular young man, he excelled at basketball and was actually a quarterback on the football team. In fact, he was so good that he went on to play football at the University of Minnesota. Dungy played four solid years for the Golden Gophers and thought he had a great chance to play in the NFL. One thing, though, is that he didn’t have the typical college build or stats of an NFL quarterback and he would have to work his way up on a pro team the hard way. He was skeptical about being recruited, and his suspicions turned out to be true, as he never received a call from a professional team. However, the Steelers eventually gave him a chance and signed him as a free agent to play in their defensive backfield.

Dungy made the most of his time in the Steelers organization. He felt comfortable in Pittsburgh because the estate was more like family to him than just a boss. He made the team at defensive back due to his smaller size and won a Super Bowl during the short time he was there. Dungy was playing for the best team at the time and ended up with a ring during one of his three years as a player. Although he played professional football, he knew his days in the NFL were limited and he needed to think of another job he could do once he finished his playing days. As a smart young man who had experience as a quarterback and defenseman, he was in a unique position to become an excellent coach.

Tony has held various coaching positions for teams such as the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the NCAA and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings in the NFL. Dungy knew all the right people on the teams he used to play on and they sped him up in his coaching career because of his diligence and character. His first head coaching job came after several years as coordinator and assistant coach. The Glazers, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hired him as their head coach. The Glazers and Dungy had a great relationship throughout his career in Tampa Bay. They fully supported him and his direct ideas on how to run an entire football team. Dungy ended up leading his team to the NFC championships several years in a row, but never got to the biggest game. Therefore, the Glazers decided to release Coach Dungy. Not only was he fired from him, but also his coaching staff. This was what bothered Tony the most; he had a feeling he might find another job in the NFL, but he had a hard time knowing his assistant coaches, handpicked by Coach Dungy himself, might not have that future.

Not long after being fired from the Buccaneers organization and not knowing what God had planned for him, Coach Dungy returned home one day to find a message from the owner of the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts owner told him that he recently fired his coach and knew that Tony would be a perfect fit for the head coaching job in Indianapolis. Tony and his new boss would develop a soccer team as part of the community, not just to win games. Tony’s ideas about morality, self-responsibility, and family first for his football players would work well in Indianapolis.

Coach Dungy inherited an exceptional offense in Indianapolis, led by Peyton Manning. The defense needed work and confidence, but with Dungy’s help, they were quickly playing on a whole different level. The team began making the playoffs every year where they usually met their rivals, the New England Patriots. The Patriots usually got the better of the Colts, but not in 2007. Dungy won nearly all of their regular-season games, beat them all in the playoffs, and then destroyed the Chicago Bears in the NFL Super Bowl. Coach Dungy became the first African-American head coach to win the Super Bowl and instantly knew he had to apply his knowledge and fame to make the world a better place. Dungy knew that as a successful black man with such a major title and a world championship to his name, he could make an impact.

Tony Dungy has always been an extremely busy man, working seven days a week, usually with only a few hours of sleep. However, he has always found the time to do charity work. This includes church work, starting charities with his wife, Lauren, and running All Pro Dad. This organization is focused on making fathers across the country better people and teaching these men to be there for their sons. The concept is simple, but profoundly important. Imagine how many boys in this world don’t know who their fathers are and how they don’t have a male presence in their life. All Pro Dad teaches fathers and even male figures to be role models for the youth of the world.

While Coach Dungy has proven himself to be a great man and a noble person, it’s what he does behind the scenes that really makes him great; he puts his family first and always makes them his number one priority. Tony and Laura not only have numerous children of their own, but have begun adopting. Since they are in such a fortunate position in the world and financially well off, they have improved the lives of orphaned black children. Anyone who has children knows that they can be a blessing, but sometimes difficult. Often in life, children can bring incredible happiness, but also sad moments. The first child Tony and Laura adopted is missing a critical gene that would allow him to feel pain. Since the child cannot feel pain, the child’s parents must watch the child at all times to make sure that he is not doing anything that could unknowingly harm the child.

Most of Coach Dungy’s book is uplifting and has a positive vibe, but there is one part of the book that takes the reader by surprise. During Dungy’s 2007 championship season, he received a call in the middle of the night. Everyone knows that calls in the middle of the night are never good, and this call was heartbreaking; Coach Dungy’s son, Jamie, had committed suicide. Dungy repeatedly says that he will never know what caused Jamie to take his own life, but he knows that Jamie had put God first in his life and, without a doubt, he is now in heaven. It’s so sad to read about terrible things happening to such great people, but Dungy put a positive spin on the situation. He said that Jamie blessed his lives for eighteen years and that he should be remembered for all the joy he brought. Jamie never had an enemy and made friends very easily. From what Tony Dungy wrote about Jamie, it’s very clear that Jamie was as good a person as his father.

After reading Coach Dungy’s memoir, one thing is clear: Coach Dungy lives his life for God. Life will put you through the highest moments and the lowest. What makes us all different and special is how we react to these situations. Dungy has learned to persevere through life’s tough times and remain modest through championship-caliber moments. Tony Dungy is a role model for all and we can all learn a positive lesson from reading his book. This book has a rating of 5 out of 5.

Before the Industrial Revolution (1750), almost all work had been done with hand tools. Many of the new technologies developed during the 18th and 19th centuries brought about dramatic changes. Improved mechanization, transportation, and communications had transformed the Western world (Europe and America) from primarily agrarian societies to industrial societies. This also had a profound effect on aesthetics. The shift in design thinking from “utilitarian” and “purposeful” to “decorative” was a result that remains with us today.

America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was an exciting time. He saw mass production methods, a growing middle class with discretionary funds available, and a growing demand for products. The creation of mail order catalogs such as Marshall Field, Sears, Roebuck and Company, Montgomery Ward, Macy’s, and many others filled this need. For the first time, middle-class American women could buy, at an affordable price, the precious clothes and possessions previously only available to “grand ladies.”

One of these items, always important to a lady, was the jewelery box, more popularly called the Jewel Box, a repository of her most precious jewelry and keepsakes. Where once every jewelry box had been hand-built by a goldsmith, now the most delicious cast-metal creations were produced in many designs and available (due to new mass-production methods) to every lady in America. The growth in popularity of these “Art Metal” jewelry boxes (also called jewelry boxes and caskets) paralleled the growth of catalog shopping. The jewelry boxes were promoted as “dainty gifts for Milady” or “M’lady’s jewelry box” and were made in sizes ranging from the smallest ring box to very large tissue and glove boxes.

Art Nouveau was the predominant design style in the United States between 1900 and 1910. Art Nouveau is a French term meaning “new art” that was coined by Maison de l’Art Nouveau, a Paris gallery that opened in 1895 This was a romantic style, influenced by the art forms of Japan, with many motifs taken from nature (flowers, women, birds, and vines) and recognizable by the “whip” curves and asymmetrical elements. Of the Art Nouveau jewelry boxes produced in the United States, those with floral motifs abounded.

Roses and poppies were the most popular, and there were many interpretations of these two flowers in jewelry boxes. Daisies, four-leaf clovers, lily-of-the-valley, pond lilies, grapes, violets, carnations, holly, and a myriad of other flowers also decorated jewelry boxes. This may be due, in part, to the not too distant Victorian period (1880-1900), when the “meaning of flowers” played such an important role.

The Victorians were noted for communicating their feelings through flowers, so much so that specific feelings were assigned to a wide variety of flowers and plants creating a “language” of their own. Entire conversations could be carried out using only a bouquet of flowers. This suited the Victorian concern with detail, and many books have been written on the subject. Even Collier’s Cyclopedia of Social and Commercial Information, published in 1883, contained an entire chapter on “The Language of Flowers,” specifying which flower spoke for each sentiment.

A second and important contributor to the importance of floral motifs was the “Flower of the Month” concept, promoted by jewelry and related trades in the early 20th century. Floral motifs had always appeared on cutlery, jewelry, and metal art objects such as jewelry boxes. Driven by the public’s desire for more decorative objects, the jewelry industry had improved production, distribution, and marketing methods. Little by little, the role of flowers as a decorative motif became the central theme. Manufacturers assigned specific flowers to birth months. And so we also find jewelery boxes decorated with roses for love (June), carnations for admiration (February) and holly for foresight (December).

Art Nouveau jewelry boxes were as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside. All the jewelry boxes were lined. The most common linings were fine silk, fault, jacquard and satin. Silk had always been prized as a precious and luxurious fiber. Its lustrous appearance has ceaselessly captured the fancy of ladies throughout history. In the 20th century, the United States was a major importer of silk from Japan and China. Because silk was easily dyed, it was available in a rainbow of colors, although very pale shades of pink, green, and blue were usually used in jewelry boxes. The linings were usually trimmed with a fine twisted silk cord.

In the early 1900s, there were many American manufacturers producing metal art items, with jewelry boxes being one of the most popular items. Many of these manufacturers are long gone, but one, Rogers Brothers, still exists today. There were several “Rogers” brothers in the business at the turn of the century, and the name gained national recognition due, in large part, to the wide distribution of mail-order catalogues. The name became so popular that other companies tried to adopt it and laws abounded. The original Rogers family was primarily associated with silverware, but a brother of his, N. Burton Rogers, maintained his own metal art business and produced many Art Nouveau jewelry boxes.

Other American jewelry box manufacturers included The (MS) Benedict Mfg. Co, Jennings Brothers Mfg. Co. (JB), Kronheimer & Oldenbusch Co. (K&O), Weidlich Brothers Mfg.Co. (WBMfg Co), Brainard & Wilson Corp. (B&W). These companies produced entire “lines” of jewelry boxes as well as other decorative art metal items such as clocks, chandeliers, statues, etc. All of these companies also “signed” or “marked” many of their pieces (with the initials noted above), and for that reason we can identify much of their work today.

By 1915, the popularity of these art metal jewelry boxes had reached its peak. The First World War caused the production of metal articles of art to be curtailed and the continuity of fashion was broken. The first naturalistic yet interpretive Art Nouveau flowers, leaves, and vines had become “mainstream” floral decoration. 1925 saw the virtual end of these beautiful cast metal jewelry boxes. The Americans were in different styles and different materials.

Fortunately for us today, Art Nouveau jewelry boxes can be found almost everywhere, if you look closely: antique stores, malls, antique shows, the Internet, resale stores, even garage sales, though rarely. . Because jewelry boxes are somehow still “unrecognized” by the general public as a valuable antique collectible, they are often mislabeled, mispriced, and misplaced. Prices range from $20 to $700 each. Art Nouveau jewelry boxes seem to be one of the “best kept secrets” as there are actually many serious collectors in the United States and elsewhere, some with collections of up to 600 boxes!

I was born in Sydney, Australia and stayed there until I was nine years old. After that, I moved to California, which, until recently, was my home. My mom is a Chinese woman from Singapore and my dad is a Chinese man from Burma, so I am an Oriental raised with Western ideals.

Living so close to Hollywood, I definitely felt the effects of trying to achieve the perfect body. From a very young age, magazines, television and movies taught me that thinness is beautiful; anything else was disgusting.

As a child and teenager, he was quite lanky, maintaining a slim profile while consuming copious amounts of pizza, chips, and candy. I never weighed myself, never dieted and never thought about my weight. At 17, he was 5’6″ and weighed 120 pounds. People were always saying things like “You’re so skinny!” It must be because you’re Asian.” My biggest body problem back then was my dissatisfaction with my small breasts.

After high school, when I was in my 20s, I gained about 15 pounds. I was still eating the same as before, so I knew it wasn’t the dreaded “freshman 15” that people were said to earn in college. My metabolism just started to suck. My friend was on the Atkins diet, so I jumped on the bandwagon myself. It worked very well. I lost weight and was down to my high school size.

When I was 21, I tried acting. At every audition, I noticed the slender girls there, they looked so much smaller than me, even the non-Asian ones looked slimmer. I had packed on the pounds after Atkins, so being in the “business” made me diet again. I tried not to eat too much and went for a run. This also worked, I got my “slim” figure back but I was starving. I was always hungry and my head ached all the time.

I ended up quitting for spiritual reasons, not because it was hard but because I felt like I was drifting away from God. So after my restrictive diet, I went crazy. I got drunk on all the fat and sugar stuff. I went up to about 155 pounds, the heaviest I’ve ever been. I stopped hearing that I was skinny, I was getting less and less looks from handsome strangers. He wasn’t fat, but he was definitely heavier. One of my closest friends at the time told me that I wasn’t as “attractive as I used to be.” Needless to say, we stopped being so close, but his words made me think a lot about my weight. My dad commented on how fat he had gained weight and that was what hurt me the most. Once he was at a friend’s house, he went out for a few minutes to talk to his girlfriend. He left me alone with his brothers and friends, whom he had known for years but was not very close to. They began to make fun of my appearance and asked me if I was “stocking up for the winter”. This was the lowest I had ever felt in my life. I felt ugly.

I ended up losing 10 pounds so now I weigh 145. Sometimes I can go down to 141 and other times I go up to 148 but I stay in this range, it’s been like that for about five years now. I no longer get comments about my weight and I feel like I’m pretty average size for an American.

The only Asian countries I have visited have been Singapore and Malaysia, which is where I am temporarily living at the moment. The first time I visited these places as an adult, I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. I was taller and thicker than most of the girls there. When I tried on clothes, they were large or extra large. I have big thighs and a big butt. While this J.Lo body may be desirable in the US, it’s not here. Chinese girls are expected to be petite and slim. Well, you can say, “Jackie, how do you know this isn’t all just in your head?” I know because pretty much all of my relatives here (that’s like 12 aunts and uncles and 14 cousins) have told me I’m “too big.” Too big for Asia, land of the “skinny Asian girl”. I have seen some bigger girls here, but they are few and far between.

Last night, I was advised to lose weight to “fit in” and be more successful in my television production job here. This was a huge insult to me, before I got here my weight had dropped to 141 and stayed there, which I was very happy with. Also, what does my weight have to do with job performance? They told me that if I was thinner, I would look more like them, they would accept me and respect me more. I kindly listened to the advice they gave me, but said that I was happy with my body. If I lost weight, great, if not, I wouldn’t cry myself to sleep.

I may seem confident with my body, but there are many times when I look in the mirror and feel repulsed.

One of my friends in Australia, with whom I have managed to keep in touch for over 16 years, brought my poor body image to my attention when I visited there last year. He had said a phrase that many of my colleagues say in the United States; “I’m so fat!” This was said casually while trying on clothes or eating a handful of greasy potato chips. I didn’t even realize how often I use this phrase. It was just something I said, it didn’t mean I thought I was fat, maybe subconsciously I thought if I said it to myself, I wouldn’t have to hear it from others. My friend told me that Australian magazines try to reconstruct the body image of women. They feature women of all shapes and sizes on their covers. Even my friend, who is a happily plump Australasian, was photographed in her underwear in the pages of the Australian Cosmo. I am proud that she is proud of her appearance.

I really wanted to write about this topic, not only as an Asian woman, but as a woman in general. We are constantly bombarded with images that tell us that we have to look one way or another. We all buy it. As a larger Asian woman, I feel that other larger Asian women (ie those who are not a negative size 14) feel a lot more pressure to be thin than the average woman. Every race has its stereotypes. White men can’t dance. White men can’t jump. Blacks are thugs. All blacks are basketball players. Asians can’t drive. All Asians are skinny. Well, I disagree and I’m sure many of you do too. Justin Timberlake is a white man with extraordinary dancing skills. Larry Bird was a white man who could jump. Barack Obama (US presidential candidate in 2008) is a black man who is far from a bully. And I, Jackqueline Lou, am NOT a skinny Asian.

And I’m fine with that.

If you are planning an African safari in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, you should know a few things about the park before you arrive. It is one of the largest parks in Africa and offers many opportunities for recreation, learning, game viewing and nature photography.

Here is an overview of the Kgalagadi:

1. Uniqueness – The park is unique in that it comprises an endless sea of ​​red sand dunes where herds of gemsbok, springbok, eland and blue wildebeest follow the seasons, while towering camel thorn trees provide shade for huge black-maned lions and lookouts for leopards and many raptors. Welcome to the Kgalagadi!

two. Location and History – The park is located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa and borders Namibia to the west and Botswana to the east. Kalahari Gemsbok National Park was proclaimed in 1931 and merged with Botswana’s Gemsbok National Park in 2000 to form Africa’s first Transfrontier Park.

3. Size – 10,000 square kilometers in South Africa and 26,000 square kilometers in Botswana making a huge park of 36,000 square kilometers. The South African side of the park receives more than 120,000 visitors each year.

Four. known for – Birds of prey, wild camping, more than fifty watering holes along the tourist trails and in the camps, fantastic wild flower shows, such as devil’s claw in summer, and excellent animal and landscape photo opportunities.

5. Roads – The roads leading to the park from Johannesburg and Cape Town are all paved, but the roads in the park are dirt. You don’t need a 4×4 unless you’re going to Botswana or staying in Bitterpan or Gharagab camps. The park is located 350 km from Upington in the Northern Cape and about 900 km from Johannesburg. You can fly into Upington and then rent a car or drive as the roads are in good condition.

6. Climate – Kgalagadi means ‘land of thirst’ in the local San language, so summers are hot and can reach 50 degrees Celsius, while winter days are mild but nights can be chilly with temperatures below zero degrees Celsius . Annual precipitation is about 200 mm, which falls mainly between December and April. Two rivers run through the park but flow on average once every ten years.

7. Accommodation – There are three main camps (of which only Twee Rivieren and Mata Mata are air-conditioned), one luxury lodge (!Xaus Lodge) and six wilderness camps, all with fully equipped kitchens and en-suite bathrooms in the chalets and cabins . . There are camping spots at all three main campgrounds. ‘Twee Rivieren’ is Dutch for ‘Two Rivers’ and, as the name suggests, the camp is situated at the confluence of the Nossob and Auob rivers.

8. Activities and Facilities– You can do morning or sunset tours, morning walks, 4×4 trails, self-drive safaris and there are lectures and slideshows. There are only four game viewing trails: two long river trails that follow the dry beds of the Nossob and Auob rivers and two short dune trails that connect the two long trails. There are also picnic sites, tents at the three main campgrounds, and swimming pools at the three main campgrounds plus Kalahari Tented Camp. Nossob and Mata Mata have a hideout in the camp where you can see animals drinking day or night. All camps, with the exception of Twee Rivieren, have their own watering hole where animals can be seen day and night. Only Twee Rivieren, being the largest camp, has a restaurant.

9. Security advice – Please stay well hydrated, especially in the summer months. At night walk around the campgrounds with shoes on and use a flashlight as there are lots of scorpions and stay in your vehicles when in the park!

10 Things to look for in the Kgalagadi:

1. Gemsbok: These amazing desert antelopes are the emblem of the park.
2. Suricate: These hyperactive little omnivores, also called meerkats, have a wonderfully intricate family structure.
3. Black-Maned Kalahari Lions: These are the kings of the Kalahari!
4. Sociable Weavers: These little birds build huge communal nests that get so heavy they can break the branch they’re on!
5. Pygmy Falcons: The park is famous for its birds of prey and the pygmy falcon is Africa’s smallest falcon, often seen near colonies of sociable weavers that feed on the birds.
6. Brown Hyena – This is a rare sighting – watch for them between dusk and dawn.
7. The Predator Exhibit at Nossob Camp, the Photo Exhibit at Twee Rivieren, and the Auchterlonie Museum at the Auob River Bed
8. Summer storms and cloud formations make for amazing landscape photography.
9. Wilderness camps are unbeatable for a true wilderness experience
10. The panoramic views from the towers in the wild camps of Gharagab and Bitterpan

The park’s remoteness and true wilderness feel have a charm that keeps visitors coming back year after year!

In 2004, Alex Ovechkin was selected first overall in the NHL draft by The Washington Capitals. The NHL’s lockout occurred the season after he was selected. While the Canadian Hockey League gained popularity during the NHL lockout, Sidney Crosby was the most talked about player in junior hockey. Crosby led the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL to the final game of the Memorial Cup series before losing to the heavily favored London Knights. Crosby scored an unreal 31 points in just 13 playoff games and before the playoffs began he scored 168 points in the 2004-2005 regular season. Crosby was then drafted first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2005 NHL draft and went on to become one of the best NHL players of his era. Ovechkin still had a great season playing for Dynamo Moscow in Russia in 2005 and the following year when they started playing in the NHL he beat Crosby for the Calder Memorial Trophy that season and it was during that season that the rivalry between Ovechkin and Crosby was first established and this intense rivalry between hockey players still exists today.

Now, here’s a truly shocking philosophy on player rivalry that has already generated a lot of buzz. Nail Yakupov is a very explosive Russian hockey player just like Ovechkin. He was selected first overall in the 2012 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, as was Ovechkin, and neither of these players were able to play the following post-draft season due to a lockout. There is a young player who has been in the headlines and his name is Nathan Mackinnon and he has striking similarities to Crosby. Both are from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, both played their junior hockey years in the QMJHL and there was talk of both being the first overall pick in the NHL draft the year before it happened. It is unknown at this time if Mackinnon will be drafted first overall, but regardless, there is another phenomenal rivalry in the making between Mackinnon and Yakupov. Yakupov is 2 years older than Mackinnon just as Ovechkin is 2 years older than Crosby and both the Russians are older while the Canadians are younger. The scenario could not be more similar with 8 years difference. The difference now is that there will be 2 superstar rivalries between Canada and Russia instead of just one and that makes things twice as exciting.

Once everything is in order when the lockout ends, fans could see an infusion of talent that may interest fans more than ever. With all the talent that was drafted in 2012, the 2013 draft looks better according to some NHL scouts and the players on that list include Seth Jones, Sean Monahan, Hunter Shinkaruk and more. Goals scored in the NHL are expected to increase from the previous season, which could be a trend that may continue for several years due to more advanced physical and mental training that is available now that hasn’t been before.