Springing Forward - Helpful Tips for Waking Up and Getting to Work On Time

Today marks the beginning of Daylight Savings Time.  I love having that extra daylight in the evenings.  Even if I'm working late, it's still light when I get off.  Makes it a lot safer for commuting and  taking care of errands.

Downside:  It takes me about a week to adjust to that "lost" hour of sleep.

Here are a few tricks I've tried over the years.  And here's to hoping they work this year!

1.  If you wake up to music, change the station that you wake up with.  If you're waking up to classical, how about setting the station to rock.  That'll get your attention.

2.  Instead of taking a hot shower, try taking a lukewarm shower.  You won't freeze and you'll be more awake.

3.  If you have an automatic drip coffeemaker, program it the night before.  Grind your beans, place out your mug, etc.  Every minute counts.

4.  Plan your wardrobe the night before.  Just like when you were in school.  'Lay' out what you plan to put on in the morning.  No time for indecision.

5.  This might be a week to try minimal makeup if you can get away with it.  For me, it means maybe skipping the eyeliner.  My eyes don't focus the way they used to and I want to make sure I have a straight line.

6.  Mind over matter.  Don't focus on the hour you're losing in the morning.  Focus on the extra hour of daylight you'll have when you complete your workday.

And lastly, remember - it's beyond your control!  Change is good.  Next week this time, you'll be smiling!

LUNAFEST COMES TO EL CERRITO, El Cerrito High School’s Performing Arts Center in El Cerrito, CA on Saturday, March 2, 2013

 

LUNAFEST Returns to El Cerrito on March 2, 2013

Popular film festival brings world-class films and filmmakers to local audience

El Cerrito High School's Performing Arts Center

540 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito, CA, 94530

El Cerrito, CA, LUNAFEST®, the fundraising film festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women's issues, highlighting women filmmakers, and bringing women together in their communities, returns for a sixth year to El Cerrito High School’s Performing Arts Center in El Cerrito, CA on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Tickets range in price from $5 - $50 and can be purchased at http://eclunafest2013.eventbrite.com/.

This unique film festival highlights women as leaders in society, illustrated through nine short films by women filmmakers. The films range from animation to fictional drama, and cover topics such as women’s health, motherhood, body image, aging, cultural diversity and breaking barriers. Clips from the films can be viewed here: http://www.lunafest.org/elcerrito.

LUNAFEST East Bay will again be hosted by El Cerrito resident and actress Karen Grassle, “Ma” of the hit TV series, “Little House on the Prairie”. Ms. Grassle will also interview two of the filmmakers after the screening. This special feature of LUNAFEST East Bay allows the audience a peek behind the scenes and into the creative process of the films they have just watched. This year, Ms. Grassle will interview Sharon Arteaga, filmmaker, “When I Grow Up” and Jisoo Kim, filmmaker and artist, “The Bathhouse”.

This year’s event is dedicated to the memory of Wanna Wright (December 11, 1944 – May 19, 2012), Breast Cancer Fund board member, co-founder of the African American Breast Cancer Task Group (AABCTG), breast cancer prevention advocate and committee member of LUNAFEST East Bay. See http://www.insideprevention.org/2012/05/in-memory-of-wanna-wright-breast-cancer-prevention-advocate-extraordinaire.html for more about Ms. Wright’s extraordinary life.

All proceeds from LUNAFEST will benefit the Breast Cancer Fund, El Cerrito High’s IT Academy and World Neighbors. Thus far, LUNAFEST, which is created and funded by LUNA®, The Whole Nutrition Bar for Women®, raised over $556,000 for Breast Cancer Fund and over $1,000,000 for other women’s non-profit organizations.

Book Review: "GODS OF MISCHIEF: My Undercover Vendetta to Take Down the Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang " by GEORGE ROWE

Wow, what a ride! “Gods of Mischief – My Undercover Vendetta To Take Down The Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang” by George Rowe is aptly titled and a hold-on, rumbling read.

George Rowe is a “drug-dealin, multiple-felon, racist a__hole,” who seeks a metamorphosis by becoming an informant for the ATF and working for a little payback to the 1%-ers, for a deed that so far, went unpunished.  

The term “Vendetta,” says it all, as Rowe’s efforts proved to be a prolonged and arduous journey to retaliate and gain vengeance against the very group he became a part of.  

The Vago MC of California is well known as a violent and prolific trader of vice and mayhem.  George lived first-hand the lifestyle of the gang before becoming a part of the Club.

The read is interesting and absorbing.  I felt the author was asking me to believe his “evolved” since of morality.  But, with the several anecdotal flashbacks he provides to purge the actions of his dark past, and his repeated declarations stating he’s a changed man, I still don’t know if I am all the way there by the end of the 324 pages.  

In the end, I would define this work as a confession but not a penance.  I feel he has come fairly clean but I don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling that his previous propensities to violence and drinking have left him completely. 

In the end, it all about the book and what it does to/for the reader.  The book is good in the way it evokes emotional thought.  I kept wondering what I would do in similar scenarios and how I would handle some of the interpersonal relationships George came to endure.  

Answer is, I don’t know.  

I am not George, nor do I have a friend like George, nor have I had any interaction with 1%-ers…but now I have, thanks to this book!

(Reviewed by JRS)

"Gods of Mischief" by George Rowe - A Touchstone Book, a division of Simon and Schuster

"Gods of Mischief" - by George Rowe - REVIEW COMING SOON

 

 

GODS OF MISCHIEF: My Undercover Vendetta to Take Down the Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (Touchstone Hardcover / Simon & Schuster; February 12, 2013) by George Rowe is the high-octane, no-holds-barred telling of history’s first private citizen to voluntarily infiltrate an outlaw motorcycle gang for the U.S. government.

 

These tales of murder, mayhem, and incredibly heroic acts of a bad guy turned good, feel more like a season of Sons of Anarchy or Breaking Bad than someone’s actual life. But George Rowe lived it and is now telling his story for the first time in this gritty and harrowing memoir.

 

Rowe is currently living in an undisclosed location and a part of the U.S. Witness Security Program. If you are interested in receiving a finished copy of GODS OF MISCHIEF for review, please be in touch with your mailing address. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

CLICK HERE for the catalog page.

New Year - New Look (I Wish)

It's almost February and while I didn't make any "resolutions," per say, I really did promise myself that I was going to update my face.

If I can't get rid of the lines, but, at least I can do a better job of covering them.

I was looking at one of the young secretaries in my office the other day and I'm pretty sure she thought I was either crazy or trying to hit on her because of the look on my face.  What I wanted to say, but didn't, is "I sure do miss my youth."

Oh, I don't want to do the 20-something thing again.  I'm not going to lie, I wouldn't mind the 30s again, but what's done is done.  And the alternative to getting old, is well - let's not go there.

But, as long as Lady Clairol is alive, I'm going to fight the gray, well I'm trying to fight the gray, and at least put on a little, as my mother would say, "blush and lipstick."

But makeup has evolved to a whole lot more than blush and lipstick.  And while you can't believe everything you read, you sure as heck can give it the old college try.

That said, I wanted to forewarn you that, from time to time, I will digress from talking the latest in fonts and formatting and foray into the world of beauty.

I'm not an expert as my office-mates can attest, but I do enjoy trying new products.

First up - Dr. Hauschka's Moisturizing Day Cream.

The winter weather is really doing a number on your girl, and I thought that instead of buying my usual moisturizer, I would venture to try something different.  I love Dr. Hauschka's hand creams and bath oil, so I figured that the moisturizer would be good for me too.

I love the feel of the cream in my hands on on my face.  But check it out for yourself before you buy.  That's what I did.  I got a sample from the esthetician (about three days worth) and checked out the results before I purchased.

It's been almost two weeks and so far it's working. . .I'll let you updated.

If you have beauty tips, I'd love to hear them Email me

BULLIES IN THE LUNCH ROOM

You don’t have to be a kid to be a bully.  And you might not even realize you are a bully.  Let's just give people the benefit of the doubt.

However, I’ve noticed an alarming trend in ye ole local lunch room lately.  People are pairing up into groups.  Or cliques.  Or, you might call them “office gangs.”

We’re talking fully grown adults who will only eat with “certain” people.  In fact, it’s so bad, that if they walk in the lunchroom and their “buddies” aren’t there, they will turn around and leave.  But, what if you’re like me and don’t belong to a clique?

It’s bad enough that only the staff eats in the lunch room around here.  Attorneys wouldn’t be caught dead in there.  And, of course, people are always coming in for the leftovers from attorney meetings and such.  Basically, I’m telling you that the“gleaners” are discriminating against other “gleaners.”

Me, myself, I bring my own lunch or food that I’ve purchased.  I mean, I do have some pride.  However, as one of the newest people at this particular firm, it does make me stop and think, “Whatever happened to camaraderie, friendship among peers and plain old-fashioned manners?”

After all, it’s just a lunchroom:  a microwave, a few tables and a soda dispenser.  It’s not exactly “Mr. Chow.”

Come on people, can’t we just all get along?

JANUARY/FEBRUARY TRAINING FROM DAVIDSON STAFFING

January & February Webinars

  

Modifying Styles & Generating a Table of Contents 

in MS Word 2007 & 2010 - $49

Wed., Jan. 23, 2013 from 12:00 to 1:15 pm  REGISTER NOW

Learn how to format a pleading using Heading Styles and Multi-Level Numbering and to automatically generate a Table of Contents.

E-Filing in Federal Civil Court

 - $99 

1.0 MCLE Credit Offered

Wed., Feb. 13, 2013 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm  REGISTER NOW

This webinar introduces the CM/ECF ("e-file") program being used in the Federal Civil Courts. Topics include an overview of the system, variations in local rules, document preparation and tips on integrating e-filing and electronic document management into daily work responsibilities.
 

Adobe Acrobat X (10.0) Professional - $49

Wed., Feb. 20, 2013 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm  REGISTER NOW

Increase your efficiency in Adobe Acrobat X Professional. This webinar will show you how to convert PDFs to Word and/or Excel, create bookmarks, links, add headers/footers, combine PDF files, redact information and sequentially number documents with Bates Numbering.

Introduction to Legal Calendaring (CA State & Fed. Courts) - $99 1.0 MCLE Credit Offered

Wed., Feb. 27, 2013 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm  REGISTER NOW
Explore the structure, details and management of the litigation calendar. Topics include CCP and FRCP references, calculating due dates, dealing with conflicts and managing the master calendar.

  

VIEW 2013 WEBINAR SCHEDULE