Shampoo

People concerned about the environment are starting to examine more aspects of our everyday lives. There is a "No Poo Movement". (No Shampoo- for those people who were just startled and wondered where I am going with this entry.)

Before the 1930's, people just rinsed their hair with water. Since then a vast industry has grown promoting the use of various products that will enhance our tresses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shampoo

A growing number of North American men and women are experimenting with this idea, and although the results are mixed. Basically, the logic is this: Our bodies produce oils that naturally clean and condition our hair. Using shampoo and conditioner, especially brands that contain synthetic chemicals can interfere with this process and cause the scalp to produce more oil than is necessary, thus making our hair greasy and leading to even more product purchasing.

Within the No Poo movement, there are three types of followers: Those who use absolutely nothing: those who use a combination of baking soda, water and apple cider vinegar each time they shower, perhaps with some essential oils; and those who mostly use nothing but occasionally resort to the baking soda and vinegar technique if, they've just run a marathon in the middle of summer.

Not sure that I am willing to try the experiment for 6 weeks, I might be asked to leave the stage when i am performing. but it would be interesting to try if I did not have to do anything social or public for 6 weeks.

Button Necklace

In the new economy, many of us are going to be more frugal. I already knit, darn socks sometimes ( yes, you read correctly), make most of my food from scratch and now I have a use for all those orphaned buttons. A button necklace! A Martha Stewart creation. It actually looks interesting and more economical than buying all the beads that some people use. I do admire beading and have a friend who teaches beading and makes wonderful creations but so far it has not claimed my interest. Remember, I did not say that I would not wear a beaded necklace. Love to wear them. Now, buttons that is good and I can do that.

This will be part of my plan to clear up clutter which has accumulated the past few years and restore order. My goal is to have it all cleared up and sorted by the summer. Life does not stop and I can only devote short periods of time to this. I did empty at least 20 files yesterday. They had material that was obviously no longer of interest, use or could be found elsewhere. I should take a before and after picture but the before would be frightening.

Don't be surprised if the next gift that you get from me is a button necklace!

Socializing is good

As I head out for another round of tennis, not only am I maintaining or trying establish physical health but I am also aiding my mental health. Research has determined that to help avoid dementia in my old age, it is a good idea to be calm and build a strong network of friends. This is the conclusion of a new study that explores the links between personality, lifestyle and dementia.
The researchers recruited 500 healthy seniors, who completed a series of questionnaires designed to assess personality traits and lifestyle habits. The seniors were then followed for six years. During that time, 144 of them developed dementia. This study was one of the first to examine the effects of multiple factors not just stress and socialization separately.
Their findings suggest that having a calm and outgoing personality in combination with a socially active lifestyle may decrease the risk of developing dementia.
Researcher. Dr. Hui-Xin Wang determined high levels of stress hormones appear to damage the brain's hippocampus "which may exacerbate cognitive deficits in old age and contribute to the development of dementia."
The study did acknowledge that it is hard to change your personality but it is important to begin to understand the impact of these factors on future mental health.
Time to socialize and enjoy.

York University Strike

Last fall, some of my former students started what they hoped would to be a short break from their university studies. Little did they know that on January 21, they would still be at home waiting to be called back.
One question, I asked as the strike dragged on was "how could a strike by contract instructors and teaching assistants cripple a university like this? Is the university so dependent on these staff members that it can not function without them? The answer is yes, apparently York University depends on over 900 contract faculty to provide instruction to its many students. In some American university, tenured staff are only 30% of the staff.
Contract staff must apply to teach courses each year despite the fact that some of them have been teaching for the university for up to 15 years. They are informed about their teaching load in June and have two months to prepare.
The tenure tract does not exist for many academics. Contract faculty earn about $14,000 for each full year course and can teach up to 5 1/2 courses over a calendar year. A tenured professor earns up to $90,000 or more for teaching no more than 2 1/2 courses per year, providing time for research as well as university duties.
It seems that universities have adopted some of the same practises as business and depend on contract workers who support the organization but do not receive the benefits as full-time tenured staff.
The university is proposing 5 year contracts and better pay. What happens at the end of 5 years? And what benefits do contract staff not receive? Some of these academics would have been better off getting into teaching at the secondary, more job security.
Hopefully, this strike will end soon. However since this practise of using a high percentage of contract workers has become accepted practise, it does not seem that an end is on the horizon which might even mean that some students will loose their academic year, a crisis academically and financially!

Financial Crisis spreads to the Met

Last night, I met with a good friend of mine and we discussed music groups; we are both involved with a number of music groups. One of the issues that we discussed was fundraising, always a challenge for non-profits. During the discussion, I mentioned that even the Metropolitan Opera is facing difficulties. Monday, an article mentioned that New York's venerable Metropolitan Opera is facing a $40 million deficit next season and it is about to start cost cutting. This does give others cause to be concerned. This is a well run organization.

It was the Met that launched the hugely successful high-definition simulcasts to opera fans over the world-including Toronto, where many Cineplex theatres are packed. In December, 21 out of 32 performances in Lincoln Centre were sold out. ( I have friends who are devoted to the performances in the movie houses because they are not able to travel to New York.)

What is the cause of this financial crisis? The Met's $300 million endowment has suddenly shrunk to $200 million and isn't going to yield enough investment income to help with operating expenses.

Peter Gelb, the general manager has decided not to raise ticket prices and cancelled some opera productions for next year. The Met could lose as much as $40 million next season on a budget of $291 million.

The Canadian Opera Company is looking south and examining its own situation and so far so good with a strong subscription base, a home that is paid for and revenue from the underground parking garage the organization is on a good financial footing.

This is going to be a challenging time for many organizations not just the banks and car companies. Hopefully, arts organizations will find ways to survive because it is at times like this that we need them most.

Music for the brain

The benefits of studying music continue to be analyzed. It seems that playing music may make the language areas of your brain more efficient. And there's hope for people even if they are not proficient on an instrument.
Researchers asked a group of musicians and non musicians to listen to -and reproduce-tone sequences. The musicians did better. The surprise was that scans of their brains as they reproduced the tones showed major activity in areas linked to language, which suggested that building music skills may bolster language areas of the brain, too. In other words, studying music is like doing push-ups for your brain.
Never studied music? Apparently, even listening to music and subconsciously learning the melody and words seems to work too.
Wonderful that something so beautiful can also be beneficial and enhance other areas of expertise.

Cake Wrecks

One of these days, companies are going to realize that their mistakes can now be seen around the world. One example is Cake Wrecks,http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ a blog with peoples' cake nightmares. If you are a company that uses pictures to present the finished product make sure that the final product closely resembles what you promised. A lesson for all of us.

The picture at the left is the cake that was ordered. The next cake is the cake that was actually received. Love the missing piece. Was the bride trying to find the cake that she ordered? This certainly created an unexpected memory for the bridal couple.