Are you crazy? Probably not!

I always have good memories of Reader's Digest magazine, which I would read with my dad (he still has his subscription, and I'm about to turn 42). I especially loved the Question and answer columns, the Laugh Out Loud column, and anything where readers shared their stories.

Now on line, RD has a great article entitled, Are You Normal or Nuts? where they share people's quirks with answers from medical professionals. Here are some of the quirks--

Not wanting to talk in public for fear of being though stupid.
Using everything until they fall apart before buying new things.
Not wanting to eat big food items in public.
Avoiding cracks in tiles or sidewalks because you feel them under your feet.
Trouble concentrating.

And guess what? None of these are considered abnormal crazy traits! That's right, all are in the realm of normal.

I have a few quirks myself. I avoid cracks in the sidewalk, I refuse to wear socks or underwear with holes or tears (no matter how small), and I feel completely disconnected without internet access.

If anything, Are You Normal or Nuts? shows us the range of clinically normal human behavior And trust me, we have a lot of room to play here!

Do you have any silly or annoying quirks? Are there things you do that you are sure must put you in the crazy category? Share with me, please, by leaving a comment.

Now, if any of this has upset or depressed you, head right over to Reader's Digest Laughs and you will feel better! Full of funney clean jokes, cartoons, photos, and videos. You'll have a great time.

Tags: readers digest, quirks, normal, nuts, jokes, laughs, lynda lippin

Harvest Your Own Stem Cells

No matter how you weigh in on the stem cell debate, you must admit that stem cell science is interesting. Just knowing that there could be the possibility of curing fatal diseases, reversing or eliminating debilitating illnesses, growing transplant tissue, and who knows what else is enough to make me consider saving some stem cells.

Now there is an easy way for menstruating women to harvest and store their own stem cells. C'elle is a company devoted to helping women easily and inexpensively collect their own menstrual blood for stem cell harvest. "The Monthly Miracle" is what they call it!

They have even made it affordable, with a $200 off promotion. It costs only $499 for a collection kit, FedEx, and one year's storage (it's $99 per year storage after that). And women are loving this idea, as yu can see on the C'elle Client Testimonial page.

And the science behind C'Elle is strong. According to their About the Science pages, C'elle menstrual stem cells have been clinically confirmed to replicate themselves on average every 24 hours and are able to differentiate into many other types of stem cells, including heart muscle, bone, cartilage, nerve, and fat cells.

Further, "At this time, C'elle menstrual stem cells are being evaluated in pre-clinical (non-human) studies related to potential cardiovascular, diabetes and neurodegenerative human regenerative therapies." Any moral issues you may have with utilizing stem cells from questionable sources are cleared because you know they are your cells!

It's a great idea whose time has come.

Tags: stem cells, news, c'elle, menstrual blood, lynda lippin

Trouble In Paradise?

OK, my google news alerts for Turks & Caicos have been a bit disturbing over the past few days. The country is in the middle of a British Enquiry into government corruption (we are still a British Overseas Territory), we just had a weird celebrity fight scene in the airport, and then...

After reports of his infidelity during the music festival Michael Misick announced his separation from American wife LisaRaye.

Local cable station WIV Channel 4 (which has been accused of being a spokes-channel for the currently in power PNP party) pulled the plug and canceled the opposition PDM party's TV show.

Nikky Blonsky's dad Carl was released from TCI prison on $3000 bail after appealing a lower court ruling to the Supreme Court.

It's just a little crazy.

Tags: Opinion, News, Turks and Caicos, Michael Misick, WIV, Blonsky, lynda lippin

Can You Become Nouveau Riche?

There is lot of discussion lately about the concept of the "Nouveau Riche", or Newly Rich. As early as 1991 you can see examples of both old and new money on Fortune's Billionaires List, and much of the new money was made in Real Estate investing. No matter what seems to happen to the economy, or what other businesses people invest in, Real estate is the investment that when done well just keeps on earning money.

Nouveau Riche University is an internet based accredited school and support community that helps ordinary people attain the riches they deserve. Learn about all aspects of Real Estate and then you too can go make some cold hard cash even in this "not great" economy.

If you look at the current lists of people who have made lots of money quickly, you will find that it is not that difficult to enter the realm of the Nouveau Riche. And just going down the first page of the 17 year old Fortune article you can see that most of the younger people on the list use Real Estate and Construction to amass their fortunes. I had a client and friend in the US who bought houses, rehabbed them, and flipped them for great profits. I even have a good friend here who came to do that sort of work in the Caribbean after being successful enough in the states to write a book on the subject, "The Girlz Guide to Building Wealth".

Tags: opinion, nouveau riche, real estate investment, making money, lynda lippin

Governor Tauwhare Speaks About TCI Issues

Well, apparently our outgoing British Governor Richard Tauwhare, speaking at a Chamber of Conference meeting in Providenciales on Monday 23 June 2008, had some interesting comments to make about the Turks and Caicos present financial situation. Mind you, he arrived when we did in 2005.

According to a commentary by David Tapfer on Caribbean Net News, Tauwhare recommended that the UK government look into how TCI was running back when he first came into office.

First regarding the commission of inquiry,
"[Gov. Tauwhare] stated that shortly after his arrival, replacing Governor Poston (now deceased), he found evidence of corruption that he felt warranted the appointment of a Commission of Enquiry at that time.

In October of 2005 he presented his recommendation to his superiors at Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), who reportedly considered the evidence [and ramifications?] carefully, but told him to leave it alone."

Regarding our tourism boom,
"The Governor also stated that the amounts budgeted to tourism promotion represent in his words “a 600 percent increase" and he indicated the benefits from this increase were not there.

In budget year 2008, the government’s budget documents indicate that $10 million has been allocated for tourism promotion. In addition to this $10 million, we also have $3.5 million due to Lisa Raye McCoy Misick, the Premier’s wife. This government agreed to pay her $7 million over two years for her to promote our country. The first payment may have been made and the second is due this year."

Regarding budget and liquidity,
"Governor Tauwhare’s most serious comments came forth when he noted that the current economic position of the country was tentative, in that our monthly income is below our monthly expenses."

And regarding health care costs,
"One final bombshell was dropped by Governor Tauwhare when he stated that overseas health care costs were completely out of control, rising 82 percent in recent years, while population was up only 14 percent."

Mind you, the Commission of Inquiry is charged with investigating both political parties here, as the inquiry will go back through the last administration. This is not simply an old "party against party" issue, but a deeper look into what it takes to lead a small Caribbean country through massive expansion and therefore massive infuxes of money. The results should be interesting to everyone, as these issues come up in every country, simply on much larger scale.

Tags: Turks and Caicos, Opinion, News, Providenciales, Caribbean, lynda lippin

Reverse Aging at PATH Medical

Dr. Eric Braverman, author of The Edge Effect and Younger You, is one of the world's leading experts in anti-aging medicine and is a true believer that we can in fact turn back the clock on aging. Dr. Braverman is the director of the Place for Achieving Total Health (PATH) Medical Centers in New York and Philadelphia. I had several 80 year old clients in my Philadelphia Main Line studio who were patients of Dr. Braverman's PATH Medical Center, and from what I could tell they all blossomed under his team's care.

The stated goal of PATH medical is to find your body's oldest and weakest parts and repair them (kind of like good auto maintenance). They begin with state of the art scanning, including brain maps; computerized tests of attention memory type, temperament, and personality; head to toe ultrasound backed with DEXA scans of body fat and bone density; and in some cases, CT IE angiograms, MRIs, and PET scans. You will learn things about your body you may not want to know!

Once the weak links have been identified, the PATH team will work with you, using cutting edge techniques to repair and reverse the hidden silent diseases that can kill us and destroy what could be perfectly productive and happy years. These techniques may include a delicate balance of creative new uses of conventional medicines, bioidentical hormones, Total Health Nutrients, changes in diet, lifestyle, relationships, and then thorough retesting to verify the fix. According to their website, "Many of our patients are able to reduce the amount of their side-effect-inducing medications through our clinically proven, gentle modalities combining alternative and traditional medicines."

The website includes a wealth of information, including Case Studies, what to expect on a first visit to PATH, an interactive age quiz, media links, and a free email newsletter to keep you informed of the very latest and greatest in anti-aging technology and research. Dr. Braverman knows what he is doing and has helped many people lead better quality lives for longer periods of time. Check out his websites and book; it couldn't hurt.

Tags: Reviews, Opinion, weight loss, PATH medical, anti-aging, dr. eric braverman, lynda lippin

The Great American Think Out

If you are at all interested in beating stress, exploring meditation, and studying with some of the greatest minds of our time (including Gregg Braden, Baron Baptiste, Hal Dwoskin, and Judith Orloff) then I highly recommend signing on to The Great American Think Out.

Friends and writers Richard Aranow and Stephanie Gunning started to hatch the idea in 2006. "Through a series of conversations about the importance of raising consciousness on the planet, and a shared love of laughter and play, they decided to launch a project that would inspire and support other people, such as you, the reader, to give themselves the experience of peace and joyful living on a daily basis in whatever way appeals to those people. They believe that shifting our minds from fear-based thoughts to a sense of presence with whatever is happening in the moment opens us to creativity and connection. Also, if people were to experience such peace in a bold, communal way, all on one day, it would change the energy of the world, reduce stress and conflict, and improve relationships. They hope you will join with them in an exploration of the possibility this idea holds. It's the next great adventure."

Each day there is a short writing and usually a downloadable MP3 of an interview or a short meditation. I have really enjoyed the Think Out so far (I'm on Day 19) and highly recommend it!

Tags: Blog, Meditation, Opinion, News, Reviews, Reiki, Great American Think Out, lynda lippin

BlogHer Barack Obama Interview

As a contributer to BlogHer, with a combined audience of nine million women each month via BlogHer.com and a publishing syndicate of 1,800 blogs (including this very one) I was interested to see which of the big 3 US Presidential candidates would accept our interview invitation. I thought for sure we'd hear from Hilary Clinton!

But Barack Obama is so far the only candidate to accept! "By answering these questions, I think Sen. Obama makes an important statement about the value he personally -- and his campaign -- places on voters, our questions and opinions, the communities we reach on our blogs and, ultimately, our votes. That's a powerful message. Especially since BlogHer is a non-partisan organization and the women in our network span the political spectrum. This isn't a presidential candidate preaching to the converted -- it's a presidential candidate reaching out to an important cross-section of American influencers, given the audiences these women reach on their blogs."

It's a great interview and makes me support him all the more!

Tags: Videos, News, Opinion, barack obama, blogher, hilary clinton, president, democrat, lynda lippin