January Health Observances

The month of January has important health observances and I want to talk abut two of them.

January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month, sponsored by Prevent Blindness America.

Glaucoma? Many of us know people who have had glaucoma without having a disability. It cannot be cured, but it is often manageable. There are several treatments including eye drops, oral medication, and surgery. My uncle had surgery and has enjoyed good sight for years now. So if there are treatments, why is an awareness month needed?

(read more about glaucoma awareness
and preventing birth defects)

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Twittering Away

Twitter is a social network that makes use of micro-blogging and linking to highlight posts and articles you want to share. You can "follow" people with similar interests so you see what they want to share, and you might learn something kind of fun, rather interesting, or downright useful! Although I subscribed some time ago, I only recently began to learn to really use it. I still have a long way to go before becoming good at it, but I found a few posts that are helping me learn.

First is Garry's post listing 20+ Twitter Tools. Using one of the tools, Twubble, I found people I would not have found without it. This will allow me to create a more meaningful Twitter network.

Now that I see tools to make better use of Twitter, I still need to learn why I might like to subscribe. TwiTip is a blog that includes tips about Twitter. One post tells us specifically 5 ways I benefit from Twitter. It is worth browsing to learn more.

Another suggestion for making your network more useful to you is 7 Traits of Bad Twitter Follows. Meryl, found through a Twubble list, gives hints about selecting people to follow and what to write so you are followed by people who may be of interest to you.

Meryl's suggestions and Garry's list of tools will help you create a great Twitter network. I have found links for people interested in writing and marketing as well as fellow MSers!

technorati tags: vicki'sblog, twitter, socialnetwork,

Swindle, Swindle

Bernard Madoff has perpetrated the biggest Wall Street swindle in history (at least $50 billion). It is difficult to watch the news recently without hearing about him and his house arrest. Reporters refer to Madoff's particular type of swindle as a Ponzi scheme.

If Ponzi inspired Madoff, he must have made a bunch of money. Where is Ponzi now?

On this day in 1949, Charles Ponzi died destitute in the charity ward of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at age 66.

technorati tags: vicki'sblog, swindle, bernardmardoff, charlesponzi

Evolution of a Superhero

Batman's TV debut was on this date in 1966 starring Adam West. The series was cute, campy, a little funny, and really quite innocent. The series was short-lived, but popular, and probably not forgotten. There was also a Batman movie in 1966 using the same stars and the same quirky techniques that made he TV version work so well.

The Batman movies beginning in the 1980s started in the same style as Superman. My kids were excited to see the first one, and then more in the Batman film series as they were produced. He was definitely a superhero, though not as campy as the early TV version. At one time he was even .. well .. you know .. sexy (played by George Clooney!).

Over the last year he has been represented in darker, more serious film, The Dark Knight.

Batman has evolved and grown up over the last 40 years. The TV series that brought the comic hero life began 42 years ago on January 12.

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I Vow -- Do You?

Today I saw Deepak Chopra, founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (I tape them so I am usually a few days late to see the episodes). The Chopra Center for Wellbeing offers programs for physical healing, emotional freedom, and higher states of consciousness, and Chopra has an active schedule speaking around the world. He announced a new goal.

Deepak Chopra is trying to get 100 million people to take a "vow of non-violence in their words and in their deeds."

He said if one person vowed, the world would be "peaceful by one more person." His goal is 100 million people. That many people would change the world. He got me.

That's one.

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